Karakteristisasi Limbah Bagasse Ash Pabrik Gula sebagai Alternatif Bahan Dasar Zeolit Sintesis

Bagasse ash merupakan limbah yang dihasilkan dari residu proses pembakaran ketel uap (boiler). Pemanfaatan bagasse ash belum maksimal dikarenakan jumlahnya yang terus meningkat setiap hari seiring berjalannya proses produksi pada musim giling. Jumlah penumpukan bagasse ash dengan pemanfaatan yang minim akan menimbulkan masalah pencemaran dan mengurangi estetika lingkungan. Faktanya, bagasse ash memiliki kandungan silika yang tinggi didalamnya sehingga berpotensi untuk dimanfaatkan sebagai bahan dasar adsorben, yaitu zeolit sintesis. Zeolit sintesis dapat diaplikasikan dalam proses adsorpsi dalam menurunkan kandungan logam berat dalam air limbah. Penelitian ini membahas mengenai hasil karakterisasi bagasse ash menggunakan Difraksi Sinar-X (XRD), Spektrofotometer Inframerah (FTIR), dan Mikroskop Elektron (SEM- EDX) yang dapat mendukung bahwa kandungan silika dalam bagasse ash dapat dimanfaatkan sebagai zeolit sintesis. Perlakuan pada bagasse ash yaitu dipanaskan terlebih dahulu dengan menggunakan oven pada suhu 100°C selama 2 jam dan diayak dengan variasi ukuran diameter partikel 100 mesh dan 200 mesh. Hasil penelitian menunjukan bahwa bagasse ash memiliki kristalinitas yang rendah pada analisis XRD. Analisis FTIR menunjukan adanya serapan kuat pada bilangan gelombang 2000 cm-1 sampai dengan 450 cm-1. Bagasse ash memiliki kandungan silika sebesar 31,65% dengan morfologi permukaan partikel yang tidak beraturan yang ditunjukan dari hasil analisis SEM-EDX

Multi-class of endocrine disrupting compounds in aquaculture ecosystems and health impacts in exposed biota

Fishes are a major protein food source for humans, with a high economic value in the aquaculture industry. Because endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) have been introduced into aquatic ecosystems, the exposure of humans and animals that depend on aquatic foods, especially fishes, should be seriously considered. EDCs are emerging pollutants causing global concern because they can disrupt the endocrine system in aquatic organisms, mammals, and humans. These pollutants have been released into the environment through many sources, e.g., wastewater treatment plants, terrestrial run-off (industrial activities, pharmaceuticals, and household waste), and precipitation. The use of pharmaceuticals, pesticides, and fertilizers for maintaining and increasing fish health and growth also contributes to EDC pollution in the water body. Human and animal exposure to EDCs occurs via ingestion of contaminated matrices, especially aquatic foodstuffs. This paper aims to review human EDC exposure via fish consumption. In respect to the trace concentration of EDCs in fish, types of instrument and clean-up method are of great concerns

Quantification of multi-classes of endocrine-disrupting compounds in estuarine water

Emerging pollutants known as endocrine-disrupting compounds (EDCs) are a contemporary global issue, especially in aquatic ecosystems. As aquaculture production through mariculture activities in Malaysia supports food production, the concentration and distribution of EDCs in estuarine water ecosystems may have changed. Therefore, this current study aims to prepare a suitable and reliable method for application on environmental samples. Besides, this study also presented the occurrence of EDCs pollutant in Pulau Kukup, Johor, where the biggest and most active mariculture site in Malaysia takes place. Analytical methods based on a combination of solid-phase extraction with liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (Solid-phase extraction (SPE)-LC-MS/MS) have been modified and optimised to examine the level of targeted EDCs contaminant. In the current study, this method displays high extraction recovery for targeted EDCs, ranging from 92.02% to 132.32%. The highest concentration detected is diclofenac (<0.47–79.89 ng/L) followed by 17β-estradiol (E2) (<5.28–31.43 ng/L) and 17α-ethynylestradiol (EE2) (<0.30–7.67 ng/L). The highest percentage distribution for the targeted EDCs in the current study is diclofenac, followed by EE2 and dexamethasone with the percentages of 99.44%, 89.53% and 73.23%, respectively. This current study can be a baseline assessment to understand the pollution profile of EDCs and their distribution in the estuarine water of the mariculture site throughout the world, especially in Malaysia. Owing to the significant concentration of targeted EDCs detected

Development of Corynebacterium glutamicum as staphylococcal-targeting chassis via the construction of autoinducing peptide (AIP)-responsive expression system

Despite increasing reports of antimicrobial activities of commensal and non-pathogenic bacteria such as Corynebacterium spp., previous studies on bioengineered therapeutics traditionally employed probiotics and food-grade bacteria which limits further advancements into microbial therapeutics research. In this study, Corynebacterium glutamicum, a generally recognised as safe (GRAS) and model bacterium was employed as a new chassis for the development of bioengineered corynebacterial chassis tailored towards Staphylococcus sp. via autoinducer peptide (AIP)-based quorum sensing (QS) interactions. To develop C. glutamicum as a staphylococcal-targeting chassis, the bacteria were transformed with the pResponse plasmid harboring AIP-responding accessory regulatory proteins agrAC and red fluorescent protein (RFP) genes under the control of the PaceA and P3 promoter, respectively, which was expected to stimulate the production of fluorescence signals in the presence of AIPs. Fluorescence activity of the C. glutamicum pResponse strain was compared to control C. glutamicum pRFP strain containing only the P3-RFP gene without the agrAC gene cassette. Using AIP-I as the input biomolecule, C. glutamicum pResponse strain fluoresced under different concentrations of AIP-I whereas no fluorescence was observed in the control C. glutamicum pRFP strain. When tested with S. aureus culture supernatant, the pResponse strain exhibited increasing fluorescence over the incubation period with the highest fluorescence signal of 183 relative fluorescence units (R.F.U) was observed at the 48 h point thereby demonstrating a functional QS-responsive protein expression system in bioengineered C. glutamicum. These findings demonstrated the feasibility and promising potential of developing bioengineered C. glutamicum as a staphylococcalresponsive and -targeting chassis

HEALTHY LIFESTYLE INSTRUMENT

The main purpose of this study was to develop an instrument to measure the Healthy Lifestyle among employees of KPTM Ipoh, KPTM Alor Setar, UniSHAMS and Intel Kulim. The sample was collected using self-administered questionnaire from 16 people for our focus group based on our sampling frame design and distributed four instruments for each strata group. The total instrument from the pilot study are 64 instruments. Three (3) constructs of the Healthy Lifestyle Instrument primarily consist of Fitness Wellness, Dietary Wellness and Behavior Wellness. The result of descriptive analysis show that the alpha reliability of the construct items in healthy lifestyle are acceptable. This would be express that the Healthy Lifestyle Instrument be considered reliable. However, in the exploratory factor analysis show that the findings are expanded from three factors to seven factors of employee healthy lifestyle practices. As related to this and previous analysis, we conclude that the Healthy Lifestyle Instrument are valid and reliable. However, this will require full data collection in order to fully validate the instrument. Therefore, the 3 aspects of employee’s healthy lifestyle practices will remain the same as before the test performed. This is due to small sample size in pilot study. The same analysis procedure will be performed using sufficient sample size. However, in term of factor analysis in the main study, the finding of new emerge factors from the previous pilot study will be executed in order to conclude the final factoring involve. Keywords: health, lifestyles, exploratory factor analysi

Lateral flow immunoassay for naked eye detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Detection and control of infectious diseases is a major problem, especially in developing countries. Lateral flow immunoassay (LFIA) has been introduced as a handheld immunoassay-based point-of-care platform for an automated detection of TB. The CFP10-ESAT6 antigen of M. tuberculosis was used as the target in early detection of TB using LFIA strip-based POC strategy. An interesting platform based on optical signals is implemented as a colour change in the detection area that is visible to the naked eye. The gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) were used as the colour probe for the detection of a target of interest. The high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) image and ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometer (UV-Vis) analysis confirmed that the synthesized AuNPs were appropriate for the immunoassay designed. The platform consists of AuNPs conjugated with specific antibodies (Ab) to capture the antigen of M. tuberculosis. Under the capillary effect, sandwich immunoreactions of AuNP-Ab-antigen were performed on the test pad of the immunostrip, which can be observed by the colour signal on the test line of the strip with a short assay time. Furthermore, the newly developed biosensor was utilized in CFP10-ESAT6 antigen detection in human sputum specimens with satisfactory results. The characteristic coloured bands enable visual detection (naked eye) of target analyte without instrumentation. This noninvasive diagnose system which is sputum-based detection could provide user-friendly and affordable diagnostic tests in developing countries

Occurrence and distribution of endocrine-disrupting chemicals in mariculture fish and the human health implications

The presence and distribution of endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) in the mariculture fish from Pulau Kukup, Johor of Malaysia have been studied along with the impact on human health. Six different species of mariculture fish were collected, due to their high consumption in the Asian region—especially Malaysia, to assess their levels of EDCs. The highest concentration of EDCs detected in the muscle was dexamethasone (2.37–15.84 ng/g) and (0.77–13.41 ng/g), in the liver was dexamethasone (<2.54–43.56 ng/g) and progesterone (2.23–9.78 ng/g), and in the reproductive organ are dexamethasone (<2.54–37.23 ng/g) and caffeine (0.21–18.92 ng/g). The human health risk assessment in the current study suggested that there is no potential risk to the consumer because the hazard index was below 1 (HI < 1). The present study provides information on the pollution profile of EDCs and the associated human health risk with EDCs in mariculture fish

The impact of school environment, student attitude and peer influence towards aggressive behaviour among secondary schools students in Johor Bahru

The objective of the study is to identify the significant differences between school environment, student attitude and peer influence among among secondary schools students in Johor Bahru according to gender. Secondly, this research is to identify school environment, student attitude and peer influence are predictors to aggressive behavior among students among secondary schools students in Johor Bahru. About 260 questionnaires were distributed at random stage to aggressive student from secondary one, two and four with total of 260 students. The instrument used was the Mooney Problem Check List which was later analysis by the SPSS 26.0 (Statistical Package for Sosial Science). T-test and regression (stepwise) used to analyse the data. The hypothesis shows that there is no significant difference between aggressive factor and student rate. There is no significant differences on school environment, family background, student attitude, peer influence and psychology according to gender. Thus, this research found that school environment, student attitude and peer influence are predictor to aggressive behaviour among student. The study suggested that the school should identify aggressiveness culture among the students and should implement the peer program therefore the problems will be decreas