In vitro adventitious shoot regeneration and acclimatisation of Brassica oleracea subsp. italica cv. Green Marvel

Cotyledonary explants of Brassica oleracea subsp. italica (broccoli) cv. Green Marvel were cultured on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium containing different combinations of the growth regulators 6- benzylaminopurine (BAP) and α-naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) for shoot regeneration. The optimal medium for inducing shoots contained 3 mgl-1 BAP and 1 mgl-1 NAA, which produced a shoot induction percentage of 53.33% and a mean number of 0.43 shoot per explant. The shoots were subsequently rooted in MS medium that contained 0.2 mgl-1 of indol-3-butyric acid (IBA). Different potting media were assessed during plantlet acclimatization. The highest percentage of plant survival (83.33%) was on the medium that contained sand and soil (1:1), while maximum root length (4.37 cm) and plant height (7.87 cm) were attained in potting medium that consisted peat moss, perlite and vermiculite (3:1:1).Key words: Brassica oleracea, broccoli, 6-benzylaminopurine, α-naphthalene acetic acid, indole-3- butyric acid

Prolific plant regeneration through organogenesis from scalps of Musa sp cv. Tanduk

A prolific plant regeneration system using scalps derived from shoot tips of Musa spp. cv. Tanduk was developed. Highly proliferating scalps, produced after four monthly subcultures of shoot tip explant on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with 100 mM BAP and 1.0 mM IAA, were placed on MS basal medium supplemented with 1.0, 2.5 and 5.0 mM BAP. Rooting of shoots was assessed on hormone-free half strength and full strength MS media and on MS medium supplemented with 1.0, 5.0and 10 mM IBA. Four types of potting media comprising of sand, peat, sand + top soil + goat dung (3:2:1 v/v) and top soil + sand (1:1 v/v) were evaluated during acclimatization of the plantlets. Prolific shootregeneration from scalps was obtained on MS medium containing 2.5 mM BAP, at 9.61 and 40.6 shoots per explant after 4 and 8 weeks of culture, respectively. Meanwhile, the highest mean shoot height of 2.19 cm was attained on MS medium with 1.0 mM BAP after 8 weeks of culture. Full-strength MS medium supplemented with 5.0 mM IBA produced the highest mean number of roots per explant at 15.08, while the highest mean root length of 11.07 cm was obtained on hormone-free half strength MS medium at week 4 of culture. The highest plant survivability of 77.5% was achieved in potting medium consisting of top soil + sand + goat dung after 6 weeks of acclimatization. The plants were morphologically normalwith vigorous stems and broad green leaves

Feature Selection with Integrated Gaussian Seahorse Optimization Data Mining for Cross-border Business Cooperation between the Malaysian Medical Industry and Tourism Industry

The cross-border collaboration between the medical industry and the tourism industry has gained significant attention as a promising avenue for economic growth and development. Data mining techniques are employed to extract valuable patterns and insights from large-scale datasets, shedding light on the opportunities and challenges associated with this collaborative effort. This study proposes an integrated approach that combines feature selection with Gaussian Seahorse Optimization Data Mining (GSH-DM) to identify the most relevant features and optimize the data mining process. The GSH-DM assembling comprehensive datasets encompassing information from both the Malaysian medical industry and tourism industry. The integrated GSH-DM model then applies the Gaussian Seahorse Optimization algorithm to optimize the data mining process, enhancing the accuracy and efficiency of pattern discovery. the GSH-DM model, this study aims to uncover hidden patterns, relationships, and predictive models that can guide decision-making and strategy development for cross-border business cooperation. The findings of this study contribute to a deeper understanding of the factors that influence cross-border business cooperation between the Malaysian medical industry and the tourism industry. The integrated GSH-DM approach showcases the potential of combining feature selection techniques with advanced optimization algorithms in data mining applications. The results of GSH-DM provide actionable insights for stakeholders, enabling them to make informed decisions and foster successful cross-border collaborations between the Malaysian medical industry and the tourism industry. The analysis of the results demonstrated that GSH-DM exhibits improved performance for feature selection and classification

Molecular buffer using a PANDA ring resonator for drug delivery use

A novel design of molecular buffer for molecule storage and delivery using a PANDA ring resonator is proposed. The optical vortices can be generated and controlled to form the trapping tools in the same way as the optical tweezers. In theory, the trapping force is formed by the combination between the gradient field and scattering photons, which is reviewed. By using the intense optical vortices generated within the PANDA ring resonator, the required molecules can be trapped and moved (transported) dynamically within the wavelength router or network, ie, a molecular buffer. This can be performed within the wavelength router before reaching the required destination. The advantage of the proposed system is that a transmitter and receiver can be formed within the same system, which is available for molecule storage and transportation

Complete genome sequence of the Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteriophage phiIBB-PAA2

Pseudomonas aeruginosa phage phiIBB-PAA2 is a broad-host-range virus isolated from raw hospital sewage (Porto, Portugal). This phage has a terminally redundant (183 bp), 45,344-bp double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) genome encoding 66 coding sequences (CDSs) and 3 tRNAs. It belongs to the family Podoviridae and the genus Luz24likevirus.D.P.P. and S.S. acknowledge the financial support from the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) through the grants SFRH/BD/764407/2011 and SFRH/BPD/48803/2008. This work was supported by the FEDER fund through the COMPETE program and through the National fund of FCT in the scope of the project PTDC/EBB-BIO/114760/2009 (FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-014759)

The second law analysis of a humidification-dehumidification desalination system using M-cycle

Humidification-dehumidification desalination (HDD) systems offer a feasible approach for the production of fresh water in inaccessible areas as they can be operational using renewable energy and require little maintenance. Various studies are being carried out to boost the system performance. In this paper, an open air open water HDD system is proposed that exploits the enhanced evaporation and condensation processes by implementing with the Maisotsenko cycle (M-cycle). The system utilizes solar energy as the energy input to heat the saline water. A thermodynamic model is formulated under steady-state conditions, considering the first and second law of thermodynamics. The energetic and exergetic performance of the system is studied. The model is first validated with the experimental data and a good agreement is found where the maximum discrepancy is about 6.0 %. Effects of different operating conditions on key performance parameters such as the Gain Output Ratio (GOR), specific energy consumption (SEC), exergy destruction, and exergy efficiency are analyzed. An improvement is observed in the GOR when the inlet air temperature is raised at constant humidity ratio. The system exhibits better performance in dry air environment when compared with humid air environment. The analysis shows a maximum mass flow rate of desalinated water of 22.3 kg/h, recovery ratio (RR) of 0.223, GOR of 3, SEC of 0.23 kWh/kg and an exergy efficiency of 43.21 %

Characterization of inter-seasonal climatic variability through dry-season rice productivity in the north-west region of Bangladesh

Inter-annual climatic variability in Bangladesh is significant and the probability of occurrence of extreme episodic/ climatic events has increased in the last couple of decades and thus threatening food security. Impact of inter-seasonal climatic va riability on Boro rice (dry season) yield in north-western parts of Bangladesh was analyzed using the historic weather datasets for 1971 to 2010 and MAKESENS model. Boro rice yield increased from 1980 onwards and the growth rate picked up with time. Inter-annual and inter-seasonal climatic variability was noticed through maximum and minimum temperatures, rainfall and sunshine hours. In general, temperatures and rainfall showed increasing trends but sunshine hours were decreasing gradually during the study period. Growth rates in average annual maximum, minimum and mean air temperatures were 0.001, 0.016 and 0.009°C year-1, respectively. On regional scale, Boro-rice seasonal maximum temperature was decreasing by 0.013°C year-1 but minimum and mean temperatures were increasing by 0.024 and 0.006°C year-1, respectively. Annual average sunshine hours in the study location were in decreasing trend by 0.027 hr year-1, but reduction in seasonal sunshine hours was 0.035 hr year-1. Inter-seasonal climatic variability was characterized through the Boro-rice yields in four test regions of north-west region of Bangladesh. Trend line equations were evolved for assessing the impact of climatic variations on Bororice yield. If maximum temperature changes by 1oC, Boro rice yield could be increased by 0.13 t ha-1, but it would reduce by 0.34 t ha-1 with one degree rise in minimum temperature. If sunshine hour decreases by 1 hr, Boro rice yield would decrease by 0.70 t ha-1 in study locations. Combined effects of maximum and minimum temperatures and sunshine hours showed significant influence on grain yields of Boro rice. These imply that temperature tolerant and solar radiation use-efficient rice varieties need to be bred for combating climate change impact in Bangladesh. There is a need to identify optimum sowing/transplanting window for the region, choice of suitable cultivars/ideo-types, and adoption of appropriate water and nutrients management strategies and adoption of appropriate resource conservation technologies for sustainable Boro rice production in Bangladesh

THE IMPACT OF THE USE OF GEOGEBRA ON STUDENT’S MATHEMATICAL REPRESENTATION SKILLS AND ATTITUDE

Mathematics is important and applies to science, technology, society or the natural sciences. It is applied directly or indirectly. Most students find this to be a very stimulating, complex, and well-understood subject. Maths in high school is extremely important. The study was designed to investigate the impact of students' mathematical representation skills and their attitudes towards GeoGebra. This study was quasi-experimental and carried out on high school students. We have two groups belonging to the same standard class. The control group consisted of 22 students, while the experimental group consisted of 28 participants. The conventional approach was used to teach certain concepts of plane geometry to the students in the control group. On the other hand, the experimental group taught similar teachings using GeoGebra. The results show that students have more skills in mathematical representation using GeoGebra. The semi-empirical test also showed a significant change in students' attitudes between the pre-test and the post-test. Students are more active in mathematical representation skills in GeoGebra.  Article visualizations

Effect of plant growth regulators and activated charcoal on in vitro growth and development of oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq. var. Dura) zygotic embryo

The effect of plant growth regulators and activated charcoal (AC) on in vitro regeneration and plantlet development of oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq. var. Dura) zygotic embryos were assessed. Zygotic embryos were cultured on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with a blend of 0.05 or 0.1 mg/L of each plant growth regulators (PGR) (gibberellic acid, 6-benzlaminopurine and α-naphthaleneacetic acid) without or with 2 g/L AC. The growth and development of the embryos were affected by the types of media formulations. Zygotic embryos cultured on MS medium supplemented with both PGR and AC enhanced shoot initiation and subsequent plantlet development, while PGR supplemented MS media without AC led to abnormal growth, suggesting that AC is indispensable for oil palm plantlet regeneration in vitro. The best medium for growth and development of plantlets was MS medium supplemented with 0.1 mg/L PGR and 2 g/L AC which significantly increased plantlet height (9.4 cm) as well as root length (4.4 cm) than the remaining media formulations.Key words: Activated charcoal, oil palm, plant growth regulators, zygotic embryo