Quality of life satisfaction among converted Kelantan Chinese Muslims

This article investigates the quality of life of the Kelantan Chinese Muslim community before and after conversion to Islam, focusing on their level of satisfaction in term of economic aspect. This research was carried out using the sequential explanatory mixed method design involving 75 respondents selected for quantitative and five respondents for qualitative. The sampling method adopted was convenience and snowball samplings. The research data was collected using questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. The results revealed that respondents were moderately satisfied before conversion and satisfied after conversion. Besides that, there is no significant difference of quality of life before and after conversion to Islam (F = 0.868, p = 0.355) and it was not influenced by the period of conversion to Islam (F = 0.832, p = 0.589). This analysis indicates numerous respondents are still moderately satisfied in their quality of life even though the average data shows they are satisfied after conversion

Isolation and Identification Studies on Potential Xylanase Producing Strain Trichoderma sp. WICC F46 Isolated from Tropical Soil

Trichoderma is one of few fungal species of high potential application as bio factory for xylanase production. During last few years increased demand have been observed on the need to isolate high efficient strains from soil sample and to use different microbiological and bioprocess engineering approaches to increase the production yield. In this work, efficient xylanase producer strain was isolated from soil and fully identified using phylogeny analysis. In order to develop an efficient submerged medium for xylanase production, media screening was carried out followed by optimization using one factor at a time (OFAT) method. After optimization of medium composition, the maximal xylanase volumetric production reached 311.71 UmL-1. This medium was composed of corn cob, peptone, magnesium sulphate, calcium chloride, and ammonium sulphate

Identification of critical source areas under present and projected land use for effective management of diffuse pollutants in an urbanized watershed

The land-use characteristics of a watershed determined the amount of pollution produced in it, which can be curtailed by implementation of best management practices (BMPs) in an identified critical source area (CSA). Present and future land-use scenarios of the watershed were produced, and the hydrological simulation program FORTRAN model was used to model the hydrology and in-stream pollutants’ concentrations. The validated model was utilized to identify the CSA for diffuse total nitrogen, total phosphorus, sediment, and biochemical oxygen demand considering the two land-use scenarios. The results showed that CSA and the water quality index produced by the two land-use scenarios varied in each of the diffuse pollutants considered. It was observed that some portion of the identified CSA remains unchanged despite the changes in the land use and this was attributed to consistent urban development in these areas. The results in this study illustrate that BMPs can be included in the design and planning of future urban expansion based on the identified CSA derived from the expected future land-use changes. As anticipated, this approach will provide resilience on the effects of urbanization on the diffuse pollutants loads in a rapidly urbanized watershed

Production of high cell mass of bacillus firmus using statistical medium optimization

Growing concern over agricultural losses due to nematodes infection had drawn huge interest in using biological control of Bacillus firmus as an agent to reduce the damages and increase crop yield. Bacillus firmus strains are well known for their ability to terminate nematode Meloidogyne incognita activity. They are also able to secrete beneficial enzyme for use in food, animal feed and industrial sector. Therefore, production of high cell mass for this microbeis required. Extensive study for the development of a suitable medium composition and cultivation strategy is needed. The aim of this study is to increase the biomass production of Bacillus firmus through optimization of medium composition using statistical approach. Different production media from previous literatures were screened to supports high cells growth. The best medium was found to yield the highest cell mass of about 6.27 g L-1. The composition of the medium was screened for significant factors and further being optimized using statistical method which employed Box Behnken design. The optimized mediumwas found to efficiently increased the cell mass of about 10.22 g L-1. This value is 49.85% higher compared to the unoptimized medium

Catalytic activity and stability of laccase entrapped in sol-gel silica with additives

This study investigated the effects of different additives and precursors on the catalytic activity of laccase entrapped in sol-gel silica. It was found that the laccase catalytic activity and stability of sol-gel laccase could be enhanced if the entrapment was performed in the presence of additives such as PVA, PEG and APTS. The use of TEOS as a precursor showed slightly higher laccase catalytic activity compared to TMOS. The PVA as an additive showed a better catalytic activity enhancement compared to the PEG and APTMS with the optimum PVA concentration of 0.03 mg/mL. The optimal temperatures of sol-gel laccase without and with additives were found to be at 40 and 27°C, respectively. After 70 days of storage at 27°C, the catalytic activity of the immobilized sol-gel laccase with additives maintained its catalytic activity compared to only 30% of its original catalytic activity for the sol-gel laccase without additives

Isolation and identification studies on potential xylanase producing strain trichoderma sp. Wicc f46 isolated from tropical soil

Trichoderma is one of few fungal species of high potential application as bio factory for xylanase production. During last few years increased demand have been observed on the need to isolate high efficient strains from soil sample and to use different microbiological and bioprocess engineering approaches to increase the production yield. In this work, efficient xylanase producer strain was isolated from soil and fully identified using phylogeny analysis. In order to develop an efficient submerged medium for xylanase production, media screening was carried out followed by optimization using one factor at a time (OFAT) method. After optimization of medium composition, the maximal xylanase volumetric production reached 311.71 UmL(-1). This medium was composed of corn cob, peptone, magnesium sulphate, calcium chloride, and ammonium sulphate

Biocontrol activity of aureubasidium pullulans and candida orthopsilosis isolated from tectona grandis l. Phylloplane against aspergillus sp. In post-harvested citrus fruit

This study aimed to isolate and identify moulds from rotten Citrus sinensis post-harvests and to investigate the activity of antagonist and biocontrol activity moulds that cause citrus fruit rotting. A total of 12 mould isolates were obtained. Following the pathogenicity test, two representative mould isolates were selected and identified based on the sequence analyses of internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions of the rDNA. Methods used in this study include isolation of fungal postharvest diseases, pathogenicity assay, antagonism assay, growth curve analysis, in vitro biocontrol assay, and molecular phylogenetic analysis. Two isolates of fungal postharvest diseases were determined as the most destructive pathogens. The biocontrol assay showed that isolates of Y1 and Y10 were capable to reduce the growth of fungal isolates K6 and K9 and mitigate up to 100% of the damage of sweet citrus fruits after 7 days of incubation. The moulds were identified as K6 (Aspergillus flavus sensu lato) and K9 (Aspergillus niger sensu lato). Phylogenetic analysis showed that the Y10 yeast isolate was identified as Candida orthopsilosis, whereas the Y1 isolate had a close genetic relationship with Aureobasidium pullulans and possibly belongs to a new species. Further analysis is necessary to confirm this finding

Malaysian forestry guidelines for mitigating water quality impacts in rainforests: implications from 20 years of local hydrological science.

Many tropical rivers are experiencing large and rapid changes in their water quality. Quantifying those features of the disturbed tropical forest landscape that are the dominant sources of sediment or agro-chemicals requires local hydrological research if commercially-viable forestry pratices are to be modified to maintain water quality. The findings presented illustrate how hydrological research in Malaysia is able to quantify the dominant sources of river sediments in areas distrubed by commercial tropical forestry. This is integrated with a discussion of the ways that so-called 'Reduced Impact Logging' practices in Malaysia can be used to mitigate the worst hydrological impacts

Changes in the spatial distribution of erosion within a selectively logged rain-forest catchment in Borneo, 1988-2002.

[No abstract available