Comparative water relation of three varieties of Hibiscus cannabinus L. (Kenaf)

Kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus L.) is an industrial fiber crop that is being grown increasingly in tropical and subtropical areas. Choosing the proper variety with the most growth rate and biomass content is a critical point for successful commercial cultivation of kenaf. Since growth and biomass production of plants are strictly related to their physiology attribute, it is therefore, necessary to provide knowledge on the physiologic characteristics of kenaf varieties. This study was designated to elucidate water relation characteristics of three kenaf varieties; Guatemala 4 (G4), kohn-kaen 60 (KK60) and V36. 20 plants of each varieties were cultivated in completely randomized design under controled conditions. Throughout a period of 120 days, parameters of gas exchange characteristics were measured within four regular intervals of 30 days. The results of this study showed that varieties significantly differ in water use efficiency so that the greatest value belonged to variety KK60. It was concluded that KK60 could be considered as preferable choice of kenaf variety for cultivation.Key words: Kenaf, gas exchange, water use efficiency

Growth characteristics and biomass production of kenaf

Kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus L.) is one of the important fibre crops next to cotton, which is planted throughout the world. It is cultivated for its core and bast fibres. Unlike cotton, the fibre of kenaf is obtained from vegetative part of plant. Hence, growth and biomass production of kenaf is a fundamental issue that should be considered for its successful commercial cultivation. This study was designed to elucidate growth and biomass production of three kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus L.) varieties; Guatemala 4 (G4), kohn-kaen 60 (KK60) and V36. 24 plants of each varieties were cultivated in completely randomize design under control conditions throughout a period of 105 days. Parameters of height, diameter and internode were measured within four to six regular intervals of 10 to 15 days, while biomass production parameters of dry one meter stalk mass (DMSM), defoliated plant mass (DPM), one meter stalk mass (MSM) and fresh plant mass (FPM) were measured at harvest time. There was no significant difference between them in terms of diameter and number of internode. However, KK60 was found to have significant higher height than V36 and G4. The varieties, G4 and KK60, showed significant greater fresh plant mass (FPM), defoliated plant mass (DPM), one meter  stalk mass (MSM) and dry one meter stalk mass (DMSM) than V36. In all of biomass parameters of FPM, DPM, MSM and DMSM, the highest value belonged to G4 except for DMSM where KK60 showed greater value. Results of this study indicated that G4 is a more efficient variety of kenaf for biomass production compared to the other two varieties of KK60 and V36.Key words: Kenaf, biomass, growth, internode

Isolation and characterization of an acrylamide-degrading yeast Rhodotorula sp. strain MBH23 KCTC 11960BP

As well as for chemical and environmental reasons, acrylamide is widely used in many industrial applications. Due to its carcinogenicity and toxicity, its discharge into the environment causes adverse effects on humans and ecology alike. In this study, a novel acrylamide-degrading yeast has been isolated. The isolate was identified as Rhodotorula sp. strain MBH23 using ITS rRNA analysis. The results showed that the best carbon source for growth was glucose at 1.0% (w/v). The optimum acrylamide concentration, being a nitrogen source for cellular growth, was at 500 mg l–1. The highest tolerable concentration of acrylamide was 1500 mg l–1 whereas growth was completely inhibited at 2000 mg l–1. At 500 mg l–1, the strain MBH completely degraded acrylamide on day 5. Acrylic acid as a metabolite was detected in the media. Strain MBH23 grew well between pH 6.0 and 8.0 and between 27 and 30 °C. Amides such as 2-chloroacetamide, methacrylamide, nicotinamide, acrylamide, acetamide, and propionamide supported growth. Toxic heavy metals such as mercury, chromium, and cadmium inhibited growth on acrylamide

Etika Kerja Islam sebagai Penyederhana dalam Hubungan antara Kecerdasan Emosi dan Kepemimpinan Administrator Universitas Negeri

The main challenges for the HEIs are to provide a market driven academic programmes and able to respond to the changing needs of economic sectors. Apparently, the recent challenges require the staff to equip themselves with leadership quality in order to achieve organizational goals. Previous studies have shown several factors such as EI influenced effective leadership. Another significant issue in leadership is ethical behaviors. Therefore, this study intends to examine the relationship between EI and leadership practices when Islamic work ethic is practiced in Malaysian public universities. The respondents will consist of middle administrators in Malaysian public universities. Using qualitative and cross sectional approaches, surveys will be distributed to the stratified randomly selected respondents. Most of the past results suggested there were significant relationships between the variables. The findings are expected to have some contributions both to the practical and theoretical aspects and enable PHIs to improve their leadership training programmes

A simple method to screen for azo-dye-degrading bacteria

A stab-culture method was adapted to screen for azo dyes-decolorizing bacteria from soil and water samples. Decolorized azo dye in the lower portion of the solid media indicates the presence of anaerobic azo dyes-decolorizing bacteria, while aerobic decolorizing bacteria decolorizes the surface portion of the solid media. Of twenty soil samples tested, one soil sample shows positive results for the decolourisation of two azo dyes; Biebrich scarlet (BS) and Direct blue 71 (DB) under anaerobic conditions. A gram negative and oxidase negative bacterial isolate was found to be the principal azo dyes degrader The isolate was identified by using the Biolog identification system as Serratia marcescens

Alsolation and characterization of a heavy metalreducing enterobacteriaceae bacterium strain DRY 7 with the ability to assimilate phenol and diesel

Background/Objectives: Molybdenum, phenol and diesel are toxic to organism, and are part of global pollution. Their removal using microorganisms with multiple detoxification ability is being intensely sought as a cleaner and economic approach. Methods/Statistical analysis: A soil suspension was spread plated on a minimal salts media supplemented with molybdenum. Blue colonies, indicating molybdenum reduction was then screened for phenol and diesel degradation capabilities. Findings: A molybdenum-reducing bacterium locally isolated showed the ability to grow on phenol and diesel. The bacterium required pHs of between 5.8 and 6.3 and temperatures of between 30 and 40oC for optimal reduction. Among the carbon sources tested for supporting reduction, glucose was the best. A critical concentration of phosphate at just 5 mM was required, while molybdenum (sodium molybdate) was required between 15 and 25 mM. The absorption spectrum of the Mo-blue produced showed a characteristic maximum peak at 865 nm. The reduction of molybdenum was inhibited by the ions mercury, copper, chromium, lead and silver by 78.9, 78.4, 77.4, 53.5 and 36.8%, respectively. Analysis using phylogenetic analysis identifies the bacterium as Enterobacteriaceae bacterium strain DRY7. Growth on phenol and diesel as carbon sources showed that the optimal concentrations supporting growth was between 300 and 400 mg/L and between 300 and 500 mg/L, respectively. Application/Improvements: The capacity of this bacterium to detoxify a number of toxicants is an important property or bioremediation of soils contaminated with multiple toxicants

Competitive ability of cultivated rice against weedy rice biotypes – a review

Weedy rice has been identified as a threat to rice production worldwide. Its phenotypic and genotypic diversity and its potential to compete against rice in all development stages from germination to maturity have resulted in a loss of rice yield and grain quality, which is remarkably high in direct- seeded rice cultivation. Weedy rice dormancy varies, it has a higher germination rate, and tolerates deeper germination depth compared to rice cultivars. Interactions of weedy rice with cultivars often reflect early vigor, more tillering, nutrient utilization ability for shoot development with respect to rice cultivars even though the latter also show an improvement in shoot development under competition. An exponential relationship has been reported between cultivated rice loss and weedy rice density: this is true for all rice cultivars. The degree of loss is dependent on the competitive ability of the rice cultivar being studied, and each weedy rice biotype also interacts differently. Hence, the need for a comprehensive study of the biology of various weedy rice variants. Difficulties arise in the management of weedy rice due to its physiological, anatomical, and morphological similarities to cultivated rice. The manipulation of the environment to improve cultivated rice production and suppress the emergence of weedy rice variants is important in the management of weedy rice, as well as other cultural practices and use of pesticides. The development of herbicide-resistant rice cultivars is necessary to totally eliminate the weedy rice variants. This review provides information on the competitive ability of weedy rice against rice cultivars; this information is essential to create management options to control weedy rice

Image Processing Techniques for Harumanis Disease Severity and Weighting Estimation for Automatic Grading System Application

Harumanis Mango is known as the king of Mangoes. It is very nutritious and rich with carotenes. However, many of the farmers and agriculture experts reported that they have problems in grading and inspecting the Harumanis Mango. Sometimes, Mango production loses its quality due to diseases that are not even visible to the naked eyes. Traditionally, farmers and agriculture experts will estimate the severity of the disease using their experiences. While for weight estimation, manual inspection was done by using a weight scale. This traditional method has its own drawbacks as it can lead to some errors due to inconsistencies made by human inspection. Furthermore, they are less efficient and very time-consuming. Therefore, an automated procedure that able to classify the disease severities and weight estimations would be much appreciated. With the aid of image processing techniques, diseases can be classified according to its scale, and its weight can be estimated. A number of pixels of Harumanis Mango will be used for classification. The analysis will be done by using the statistical method of regression. It shows that the accuracy of weight estimation is 72.25%

An inhibitive determination method for heavy metals using tomato crude proteases

A new inhibitive heavy metals determination method using extract from Lycopersicon esculentum or tomato from has been developed. The enzyme was assayed using the casein-Coomassie-dye-binding method. In the absence of inhibitors, casein was hydrolysed to completion and the Coomassie-dye was unable to stain the protein and the solution became brown. In the presence of metals, the hydrolysis of casein was inhibited and the solution remained blue. The inhibitions shown by lead, chromium and zinc were, 67.9, 53.1 and 53 %, respectively. The IC50 (concentration causing 50% inhibition) values were 1.407, 0.835 and 0.707 mg/l, respectively. The limits of quantitation (LOQ), for zinc, chromium and lead were 0.729, 0.506 and 0.541 mg/l, respectively. The limits of detection (LOD) for zinc, chromium and lead were 0.032, 0.0317 and 0.0317 mg/l, respectively. The IC50 value for zinc was much lower than the IC50 values for papain and Rainbow trout assays. The IC50 value for zinc was lower than the immobilized urease assay. Other toxic heavy metals, such as silver, arsenic, copper, mercury and cadmium, did not inhibit the crude proteolytic enzyme activity. Based on the characteristics, crude protease enzyme from L. esculentum (tomato) can be used to detect heavy metals in various samples in conjunction with the dye-binding assay

Characterization of an azo-dye-degrading white rot fungus isolated from Malaysia

Sixty-three local white-rot fungi were isolated from soil and wood samples on potato dextrose agar (PDA). All these isolates were screened for their ability to degrade 4 textile azo dyes;Ponceau 2R (C.I. 16450), Orange G (C.I. 16230), Direct Blue 71 (C.I. 34140) and Biebrich Scarlet (C.I. 26905). Out of 40 isolates that gave positive results, only 1 promising isolate which completely degrades all 4 dyes in the minimum amount of time was selected for further investigation. This isolate was sourced from University Putra Malaysia (UPM) Serdang campus.The isolate was tentatively identified as Coriolopsis sp. Strain arf5 based on the analysis of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region. Nutritional studies on defined solid medium showed that this isolate was only able to degrade the 4 azo dyes under nitrogen-limiting conditions and an additional carbon source (glucose) need to be added to provide sufficient energy for the degradation to occur. Various parameters were optimized