Anti-gout potential of selected Malaysian local fruits

This study aimed to investigate the in vitro xanthine oxidase (XO) inhibitory activity and phytochemical content of guava, water rose apple, Malay gooseberry, pineapple and ambarella. The xanthine oxidase inhibitory activity was measured spectrophotometrically at 295 nm. The phytochemical analysis tested were total phenolic, total flavonoid and total anthocyanin contents of each methanolic extract of the fruits. The highest amount of phenolic was found in ambarella (0.245 mg GAE/g) while guava had the highest amount of flavonoid (0.472 mg RE/g). Meanwhile, water rose apple had the highest anthocyanin content (5.001 mg c-3-gE/g). For the XO inhibitory activity, water rose apple displayed the lowest IC50 value (26.86 μg/mL), showing better anti-gout activity as compared to that of other fruit samples. Positive correlation between total phenolic content and XO inhibitory activity was also observed in this study. Further study on the isolation of bioactive compounds from the fruit samples that act as XO inhibitor is greatly needed in the future

Integrity of employees: dimensions of human governance through the personality of leaders in the workplace

This paper is an analytical discussion on the integrity of employees from the dimension of human governance through the personality of the leaders in the workplace. Discussions are encircling the concepts of integrity, human governance and personality, impact, outlooks and challenges. In this new millennium, the world is increasingly emphasizing the development of human capital as a human resource in society, religion, race and nation. In fact, we do not deny that the development of human capital should be in line in the physical and material development of the country. Certainly we want the world to have first class facilities, but the soul of human capital and a first class mentality are most important. In the same fashion, all employees in a workplace or organization are human resources. There should be an ideal capacity of human capital in terms of human governance in order to produce quality work and have a strong value of integrity. Therefore, leaders in the workplace must have a high level of emotional and spiritual intelligence to be able to form a positive culture among employees and develop consistency of practice on an on-going basis, so that they become habits that give comfort to all parties in the working environment. The end of this paper will clearly show the need for all leaders to have good personalities that are based on the strength of their affect and mentality from the dimension of human governance to help enhance employee integrity and to enable workers to develop their human capital. Therefore, integrity among employees can achieve its optimum level and thus can help achieve the percentage of success in realizing the vision and mission of an organization

Empowering Education: Unveiling The Transformative Potential of Pedagogical Competence for Educator and Learners

Paper writing aims to explain the empowering education unveiling the transformative potential of pedagogical competence for educator and learners. Pedagogics is a science that discusses education, namely the science of children's education. So pedagogic explains the ins and outs of children's education, pedagogic is a theory of children's education. Pedagogics as a science is needed by teachers. The task of the teacher is not only to teach to convey or transform knowledge to students at school, but the teacher has the task of developing the personality of his students in an integrated manner. The teacher develops the child's mental attitude, develops the child's conscience or the child's heart so that the child will be sensitive to humanitarian issues, human dignity, as well as the teacher only develops children's skills, life skills in society so that he is able to face all the problems of his life. Conclusion in writing papers: pedagogy competence is a set of knowledge, skills, and behaviors that must be possessed, lived and mastered by teachers or lecturers in carrying out professional duties. This type of research uses qualitative research by means of researchers conducting observations, interviews and documentation with key informants and supporting informants, namely, teachers and students at the Muhammadiyah Kendari Private High School, and the novelty of the results of this research will be useful for the development of science, especially related educational sciences. how teachers and lecturers must master pedagogical competence, social competence, personality competence and social competence.  Conclusion: pedagogical competence has a central role in shaping quality and relevant education. The transformative potential of pedagogical competence not only enriches students' learning experiences, but is also the key to the sustainability and success of the education system in the future. Therefore, continuous efforts in developing and strengthening pedagogical competence need to be implemented as a long-term investment to improve the quality of education

Measuring usability for application software using the quality in use integration measurement model

User interfaces of application software are designed to make user interaction as efficient and as simple as possible. Market accessibility of any application software is determined by the usability of its user interfaces. A poorly designed user interface will have little value no matter how powerful the program is. Thus, it is significantly important to measure usability during the system development lifecycle in order to avoid user disappointment. Various methods and standards that help measure usability have been developed. However, these methods define usability inconsistently, which makes software engineers hesitant in implementing these methods or standards. The Quality in Use Integrated Measurement (QUIM) model is a consolidated approach for measuring usability through 10 factors, 26 criteria, and 127 metrics. It decomposes usability into factors, criteria, and metrics, and it is a hierarchical model that helps developers with no or little background of usability metrics. Among 127 metrics of QUIM, essential efficiency (EE) is the most specific metric used to measure the usability of user interfaces through an equation. This study involves a comparative analysis between three case studies that use the QUIM model to measure usability in terms of EE for three case studies: (1) Public University Registration System, (2) Restaurant Menu Ordering System, and (3) ATM system. A comparison is made based on the percentage of EE for each element of the use cases in each use case diagram. The results obtained revealed that the user interface design for Restaurant Menu Ordering System scored the highest percentage of EE, thus proving to be the most user-friendly application software among its counterparts

Biochar as soil amendment: impact on chemical properties and corn nutrient uptake in a Podzol

A study was conducted to investigate the impact of biochar amendment on chemical properties and corn nutrient uptake in a sandy Podzol soil. Four rates of biochar (0, 5, 10, and 15 g kg−1) and two rates of inorganic fertilizer (0 and local recommendation rate for corn) were randomly applied to a completely randomized design with four replicates. Corn was grown for 45 d in a glasshouse using sandy Podzol. The increase in pH of the soil was concomitant with a decrease of exchangeable Al. The fertilized soil significantly increased total N, with a concomitant decrease in soil pH due to a N nitrification. Positive changes did occur in the soil due to biochar application, leading to a significant increase in dry matter yield and corn height. Corn N and K uptakes were significantly increased by the addition of biochar, but the same was not true for Ca and Mg. However, it was found that the concentrations of N, Ca, and Mg in the corn tissue were still lower than their critical level. Our results demonstrate that application of biochar alone is not able to supply enough nutrients for the healthy growth of corn

Managing water loss for sustainability of rural water supply

Water supply for rural areas flows through pipelines from many sources such as underground water and reservoirs. Due to factors such as human activities, geographic changes and natural hazards, pipelines are exposed to the ground, crack, leak and burst. Water flows out from the pipelines before reaching to the consumers is considered as water loss and this is a major component in non-revenue water. This paper highlights a framework and a work procedure for non-revenue water analysis. Based on this analysis, a comprehensive and flexible web based prototype has been developed to manage the water loss. Functions that have been developed are data recording,non-revenue water estimation and report generation. This prototype can be used by the water authority for assisting decision making and planning

Dimensions of Social Skills and their Relationship with Empathy among Gifted and Talented Students in Malaysia

AbstractGifted and talented students have always be considered as individuals who are absorb with their own world. Nonetheless, as part of the living community, they are required to interact with their environments. Concomitantly, they need the necessary social skills and empathic understanding to live comfortably within the society. This study examines six dimensions of social skills (the ability to influence others, to manage conflict, leadership, and ability to be a catalyst for change, to bond with others, to work collaboratively, to work as a team and to communicate effectively) and their relationship with empathy among gifted and talented students in Malaysia. Two hundred and forty (male = 81, female = 159) 15-year old gifted and talented students participated in the study. These students were identified as gifted and talented by the Malaysian National Gifted Centre and at present are studying at the centre as full time high school students. Data was collected using Malaysian Emotional Quotient Inventory (MEQI) developed by the researchers. A survey method was used and data was collected during a school holiday program that they have participated. Findings from the study show that all dimensions of social skills correlate positively with empathy (p < 0.00, n = 240) and the r values are more than 0.60. This article also discusses the findings in relation to counseling provision for the gifted and talented

Using Nintendo Wii to improve Cognition in Traumatic Brain Injury

The unfortunate accident of Michael Schumacher had highlighted the fact that Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) can happen unexpectedly. Those who survive have to grapple with physical and cognitive disabilities. Hence it is important to investigate all possible treatment approaches to curtail TBI-related morbidity. This paper explores and evaluates the research evidence pertaining to treatment approaches relating to cognitive remediation and the use of electronic virtual reality. It describes a study whose objective was to identify improvement of cognition among Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) patients by using Nintendo Wii Sports (NWS) as the intervention tool and to determine if months since injury, virtual reality experience and Glasgow Coma Scale affect Mini Mental State Examination Score after intervention. The experiment can be easily repeated in Neuro Clinics &amp; Wards and Occupational Therapy Centres to test for improvements in cognition in the treatment of other ailments or injuries which have resulted in brain impairments. Thirty (30) Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) patients with Mild Glasgow Coma scale (GCS) 33.3% (10) and Moderate Glasgow Coma scale (GCS) 66.7% (20) were selected.They were ? 16 years old and the number of months after injury was calculated at the time when GCS test was conducted.This is not to be confused with the work done at UCLA (Babikian et al., 2011) where the studies were on a  sample of children with mild TBI . The number of months was longitudinal time points of the study. The main outcome measures used was the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE). It was observed that there was significant improvement in cognitive functions from purposeful use of NWS. Even patients with moderate traumatic brain injury improved MMSE score after intervention. Mean MMSE result increased from 19.8 to 26.4. NWS intervention did show significant improvement in cognition among Traumatic Brain Injury patients with mild or moderate score of GCS independent of VR experience. Keywords Nintendo Wii Game Sports (NWS), Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS), Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE), Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI