Almond milk production and study of quality characteristics / Nor Aishah Hasan

Almond milk production at pilot plant and basic characterization were performed. The study included the effect of 0.03 % lecithin addition to the raw product and pasteurization (90 ºC, 15 s) with two step homogenization (180 MPa and 40 MPa), resulting in the comparison of four different almond milks: raw product (PB), raw product with lecithin (PBL), pasteurized product (PH) and pasteurized product with lecithin (PHL). Compositional characteristic of almond milks showed the proximate composition similar to those found in the market. The effect of lecithin addition is to improve product stability and these differences were observed at days 2 and 7 of storage at 4 oC and 25 oC. Total counts and Micrococcacceae were reduced by 2.21 and 3.64 log cycles at pasteurized almond milk while no viable Enterobacteriaceae nor yeast and mould remained in any pasteurized milk samples. Pasteurized almond milk inactivated lipoxygenase activity compared to untreated almond milk. The formations of oxidized substances (malondialdehyde and lipid hydroperoxides) in almond milk were all greatly reduced by pasteurization

Penggunaan sistem VoTe bagi pengurusan kewangan geran penyelidikan yang efisien (Use of VoTe system for efficient research grant financial management) / Nur Jannah Azman … [et al.]

Fungsi Unit Pengurusan Penyelidikan (RMU), UiTM Cawangan Negeri Sembilan adalah mengurus, mengkoordinasi dan menyediakan perkhidmatan berkaitan penyelidikan, perundingan dan penerbitan. Selain itu RMU bertanggungjawab meningkatkan impak keseluruhan penyelidikan untuk memperluas kerjasama dan mengukuhkan perkongsian dengan universiti penyelidikan yang lain. Dalam usaha membudayakan aktiviti penyelidikan dalam kalangan pensyarah, pihak RMU dan penyelidik, terutamanya pemegang geran menghadapi masalah ketiadaan sistem/ templat geran penyelidikan yang seragam di mana pemegang geran terpaksa bergantung penuh kepada pihak Bendahari dalam mendapatkan maklumat (baki geran penyelidikan). Masalah ini menyebabkan kesulitan lain timbul seperti bilangan projek penyelidikan yang melanjutkan tempoh masa penyelidikan bertambah, pemegang geran akan bertumpu pada satu projek dengan tempoh yang sangat lama dan akhirnya mengakibatkan bilangan geran yang diperolehi oleh UiTM Cawangan Negeri Sembilan semakin berkurangan. Hasilnya, objektif kualiti kampus untuk memastikan geran penyelidikan mencapai RM200,000.00 agak sukar untuk dicapai. Rentetan itu, idea yang terbit untuk membantu menangani punca masalah pemegang geran terhasil, iaitu sistem VoTe yang mana inovasi ini berjaya membantu mereka membuat perbelanjaan yang efisien sambil memantau kewangan dalam setiap vot dalam geran penyelidikan

Application of Fuzzy Logic Controller for Safe Braking System: An Anti-Theft Tracking

Automotive security has become more challenging with the increasing of sophisticated modern technologies nowadays. While the transformation of automotive has brought major advancement in efficiency, it also led to the possibility of new threats in automotive field such as vehicle theft. In Malaysia, an average of sixty vehicles get stolen every day. Numbers of vehicle’s security and safety devices or system has been marketed such as safety alarms, door jammer, gearshift lock and global positioning system (GPS) tracker. However, there are also few limitations of these devices such as easily disable, notify false alarm and requires strong cellular network for continuous tracking. This paper describes the preliminary research and application of fuzzy logic based controller for braking system of stolen vehicle. In our future study, this system will be incorporated in the anti-theft tracking device with smartphone integration. In this study, two input parameters are considered which are the vehicle velocity and the sight distance. The proposed system will assist the user or vehicle owner to decide for safe braking control. Thus, reduce the risk of property loss or life loss

IN-SITU FILM-FORMING SOLUTION FOR TOPICAL APPLICATION OF TERBINAFINE HCL: BIOPHARMACEUTICAL EVALUATION AND IN VIVO ANTIFUNGAL PERFORMANCE USING ANIMAL MODEL

Objective: The main purpose of this study is to develop a film-forming solution with optimum physical-mechanical characteristics and excellent antifungal activity to enhance deposition and penetration into the stratum corneum (SC). Methods: The film-forming solutions of terbinafine HCl were formulated using methacrylate copolymers, polyethylene glycol 400, and ethanol as diluent. The selected formulations were subjected to test of physical-mechanical properties, drug release, drug permeation across the stratum corneum and drug deposition study. The best formulation was further evaluated for in vivo antifungal efficacy. Results: The selected formulations exhibited superior pharmaceutical characteristics, including rapid drying, non-stickiness, and being transparency on the skin. Formulation A (FA) had significantly lower tensile strength (4.78 N/m2, p<0.05) and higher percentage elongation at break (33.61%, p<0.05), which reduced the firmness of the film, allowing it to be super-flexible in following the movement of the skin and preventing loss of film through abrasion. FA showed significantly (p<0.05) rapid drug permeation (1510.51 µg/cm2) across the stratum corneum (SC) at 24 h when compared with the other formulations and the positive control proprietary drug (PD), Terbex® cream formulation (475.8 µg/cm2). Conclusion: Having superior physical-mechanical and drug permeation characteristics, FA can be considered as an efficient, reproducible, and efficacious antifungal formulation for topical application

Antioxidant Potential of Chloranthus erectus (Chloranthaceae) from various solvents extract

Chloranthus erectus is a herbaceous plant that has been used as a medicinal plant in several regions such as China and Southeast Asia. Although it possesses valuable medicinal properties, till now there is not much research has been carried out on the medicinal properties of this plant and the knowledge of this plant is limited among the research fertility. Therefore, this study aimed to identify the phytochemicals, total phenolic content (TPC), and antioxidant activity of leaf and twig of C. erectus in various solvents extract (hexane, petroleum ether, chloroform, ethyl acetate, and methanol). Phytochemical screening of extracts showed the presence of alkaloids, flavonoids, terpenoids, saponins, quinones, glycosides, and steroids. The highest phenolic content for leaf and twig samples was determined from the methanolic (9.64 ± 0.15 µg GAE/g) and hexanoic extract (7.39 ± 0.27 µg GAE/g), respectively. Meanwhile, the highest antioxidant activity was reported from the methanolic extract of both leaf (88.36 ± 0.24%) and twig (91.25 ± 0.10%) samples. Hence, the results of the study can be concluded that C. erectus has the potential to become a good natural antioxidant and the information from this study can be utilized by the communities as well as other researchers

Genetic analysis and identification of SSR markers associated with rice blast disease in a BC2F1 backcross population

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) blast disease is one of the most destructive rice diseases in the world. The fungal pathogen, Magnaporthe oryzae, is the causal agent of rice blast disease. Development of resistant cultivars is the most preferred method to achieve sustainable rice production. However, the effectiveness of resistant cultivars is hindered by the genetic plasticity of the pathogen genome. Therefore, information on genetic resistance and virulence stability are vital to increase our understanding of the molecular basis of blast disease resistance. The present study set out to elucidate the resistance pattern and identify potential simple sequence repeat markers linked with rice blast disease. A backcross population (BC2F1), derived from crossing MR264 and Pongsu Seribu 2 (PS2), was developed using marker-assisted backcross breeding. Twelve microsatellite markers carrying the blast resistance gene clearly demonstrated a polymorphic pattern between both parental lines. Among these, two markers, RM206 and RM5961, located on chromosome 11 exhibited the expected 1:1 testcross ratio in the BC2F1population. The 195 BC2F1 plants inoculated against M. oryzae pathotype P7.2 showed a significantly different distribution in the backcrossed generation and followed Mendelian segregation based on a single-gene model. This indicates that blast resistance in PS2 is governed by a single dominant gene, which is linked to RM206 and RM5961 on chromosome 11. The findings presented in this study could be useful for future blast resistance studies in rice breeding programs

Identification of bacterial leaf blight resistance genes in Malaysian local rice varieties

Xanthomonas oryzae pv oryzae (Xoo) is a bacterial pathovar that causes a serious bacterial leaf blight disease of rice. This disease poses significant constraint on food security in Asia, as it causes yield loss in rice. There is an urgent need to control bacterial blight disease through resistance cultivars. However, the genetic potential of Malaysian rice cultivars has not been explored. We screened 10 cultivated Malaysian varieties with high yield performance for resistance genes using three simple sequence repeat and two sequence tagged sites markers coupled with phenotypic screening. All 10 rice genotypes were found to carry xa recessive gene. Four genotypes had two resistance genes tightly linked with the specific markers; Mahsuri Mutant carried the dominant resistance genes, xa4 and xa2 whereas NMR152 and the Tongkat Ali mutant had the dominant genes, xa21 and xa2. However, xa13 and xa5 resistance genes were not detected in this Malaysia rice germplasm group. In a greenhouse assessment, genotypes carrying more than a single resistance gene were found to be resistant against Xoo MXO 1410 isolates. These cultivars have potential as genetic materials for rice quality breeding programs

Synthesis of Green Cerium Oxide Nanoparticles Using Plant Waste from Colocasia esculenta for Seed Germination of Mung Bean (Vigna radiata)

Synthesis of cerium oxide (CeO2) nanoparticles (NPs) via biological approach has received a lot of interest to reduce the harmful effects of chemical synthesis. In the present study, Colocasia esculenta leaf extract facilitated the preparation of CeO2-NPs by using the sol-gel technique. The crystal structural of CeO2-NPs was proven by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) investigation to be cubic with size of 2.94 nm according to Debye–Scherrer equation. As demonstrated in the transmission electron microscopy (TEM) image, CeO2-NPs have a spherical form with an average size of 2.04 nm which is almost consistent with a finding from XRD analysis. Energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) measurements exhibited high-intensity peaks attributed to Ce and oxygen and further proved the creation of CeO2-NPs. The Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis revealed the presence of Ce-O stretching, indicating the formation of CeO2-NPs. Functional groups of O-H, C-O, and C=O peaks were found in a spectrum due to the phytochemical components that were responsible for reducing and stabilizing during the synthesis process of CeO2-NPs. The examined UV-visible spectra exhibited the absorbance peak at 213 nm. The synthesized NPs produced in this study were further investigated for mung bean seed germination, whereby the influence of grain germination and growth rate demonstrated the significant finding

Antimicrobial activity of nigella sativa seed extract

Pathogenic bacterial infections have become a major health problem worldwide. New antimicrobial agents are urgently needed to overcome this problem. In this study, antibacterial activity of Nigella sativa seed extract against some pathogenic bacterial strains (Streptococcus pyogene, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebseilla pneumoniae and Proteus vulgaris) was evaluated. Methanol extract at the concentration of 100 mg/mL had a remarkable sensitivity towards all tested bacteria in this study. Klebseila pneumonia and Proteus vulgaris showed resistance against aqueous extract at 20 mg/mL. Methanol extract of Nigella sativa exhibited significant antibacterial activity at the concentration of 50 mg/mL (p ≤ 0.01) against Streptococcus pyogenes with a greater inhibition zone of 19 mm, while a 15 mm zone of inhibition was observed in Pseudomonas aeruginosa, pneumonia and Proteus vulgaris. Kruskal Wallis analysis showed that both aqueous and methanol extract of black seed exhibited a greater inhibition on Gram positive bacteria (Streptococcus pyogenes) compared with Gram negative bacteria (Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebseilla pneumoniae and Proteus vulgaris). Our study also showed that species, strains and concentrations of Nigella sativa extract are some of the factors that may influence the sensitivity of the tested bacteria. A significant correlation was observed between zone of inhibition and concentration of extract

Mengapa kami jadi begini? konflik masyarakat orang Seletar dan pembangunan Iskandar, Johor Bahru, Malaysia (conflicts in the Iskandar development region: the case of Johor Bahru’s Orang Seletar, Malaysia)

Kertas ini membicarakan impak pembangunan wilayah Iskandar kepada masyarakat asli Orang Seletar di lapan buah perkampungan yang terletak dalam Daerah Johor Bahru. Umumnya tinjauan yang dilakukan ke semua perkampungan tersebut mendapati komuniti Orang Seletar ini tidak menunjukkan keupayaan mereka untuk bergerak bersama dan terserap ke dalam perubahan dan pembangunan yang kian pesat berkembang di Johor Bahru. Mereka masih hidup dalam kemiskinan dan meneruskan kegiatan tradisi menangkap ikan secara kecil-kecilan dikawasan perairan sekitar Selat Teberau. Antara faktor yang menyebabkan mereka berhadapan dengan kemelesetan kehidupan ialah kerana pembangunan Iskandar yang direncanakan itu bukan bertujuan untuk membela komuniti pinggiran seperti mereka, tetapi adalah untuk menjana ekonomi Johor dengan menjadikannya sebuah pusat perdagangan yang bertaraf dunia. Pembangunan tersebut hanya akan dapat dimanfaatkan oleh mereka yang punya kemahiran, pengetahuan dan kewangan yang selaras dengan tuntutan global. Pembangunan tersebut bukan sahaja telah meminggirkan Orang Seletar lebih jauh daripada masyarakat arus perdana kerana kekurangan yang mereka miliki, tetapi juga telah merosakkan sumber pendapatan mereka akibat pencemaran dan sekatan yang dikenakan kepada mereka. Kesimpulannya, adalah wajar perkampungan mereka dipindahkan ke kawasan yang boleh dimajukan untuk pertanian. Selagi mereka tinggal dikawasan yang terdapat sekarang, dan terus bergantung kepada kegiatan menangkap ikan secara tradisi seperti yang mereka amalkan dan pencemaran akibat pembangunan yang sedang pesat berlaku disekitar tempat kediaman mereka, selagi itulah mereka akan terus terperangkap dalam kemiskinan