Ichthyotoxic properties and essential oils of Syzygium malaccense (Myrtaceae)

The preliminary ichthyotoxic test on all parts of Syzygium malaccense (Myrtaceae) revealed that the leaves fraction was the most ichthyotoxic against tilapia-fish (Tilapia oreochromis). Three compounds, namely ursolic acid (1), β-sitosterol (2) and sitost-4-en-3-one (3), were isolated and their structures were elucidated with the aid of spectroscopic data and comparison with previously reported investigations. However none of these compounds gave any significant ichthyotoxicity. The volatile constituents of the leaves and fruit were determined by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometer (GC-MS), with 180 and 203 compounds being identified in the aroma concentrates, respectively

Seed germination and seedling growth of hexaploid wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) varieties as influenced by different levels of sodium chloride

This experiment was conducted in the laboratory of plantation crops/Faculty of Agriculture/University Putra Malaysia in 2015 to evaluate salinity effects on seed germination percentage and some seedling growth traits of eight bread wheat cultivars and genotypes (Triticum aestivum L.). Salinity treatments were measured (0, 50, 100, 150, 200, 250 and 300 mM sodium chloride). Distilled water was added to control treatment for each cultivar for comparison. Data regarding germination percentage, water uptake (%), plumule and radicle length (cm), strong seed index and salt tolerance index were counted. Based on salt tolerance index, only one genotype (G8) fell in the tolerant class; three accessions (G1, G6 and G10) were moderately salt tolerant; one genotype (G2) was moderately salt susceptible and three accessions (Abo-Graib, Forat and Dijla) were salt susceptible. Results showed that increasing concentration of NaCl solution resulted in the gradual reduction in all studied parameters in all wheat varieties and genotypes. The G8 genotype showed significant superiority on the other genotypes and varieties in all traits above which can be used as an improved genotype against salt stress in breeding programmes, while the Abo-Graib gave the lowest rate under the probability level of significance of 0.05. These were positively and significantly (P≤0.01) correlated between the traits studied under six concentrations (mM) of NaCl stress except the relationship between germination percentage and each of water uptake, plumule length, radicle length, while strong seed index was positively but not significantly correleted. Whereas the correlation was positive and significant (P≤0.05) between water uptake and plumule length, radicle length and strong seed index

An improved pheromone-based kohonen self-organising map in clustering and visualising balanced and imbalanced datasets

The data distribution issue remains an unsolved clustering problem in data mining, especially in dealing with imbalanced datasets. The Kohonen Self-Organising Map (KSOM) is one of the well-known clustering algorithms that can solve various problems without a pre-defined number of clusters. However, similar to other clustering algorithms, this algorithm requires sufficient data for its unsupervised learning process. The inadequate amount of class label data in a dataset significantly affects the clustering learning process, leading to inefficient and unreliable results. Numerous research have been conducted by hybridising and optimising the KSOM algorithm with various optimisation techniques. Unfortunately, the problems are still unsolved, especially separation boundary and overlapping clusters. Therefore, this research proposed an improved pheromone- based PKSOM algorithm known as iPKSOM to solve the mentioned problem. Six different datasets, i.e. Iris, Seed, Glass, Titanic, WDBC, and Tropical Wood datasets were chosen to investigate the effectiveness of the iPKSOM algorithm. All datasets were observed and compared with the original KSOM results. This modification significantly impacted the clustering process by improving and refining the scatteredness of clustering data and reducing overlapping clusters. Therefore, this proposed algorithm can be implemented in clustering other complex datasets, such as high dimensional and streaming data

Soluble starch synthase IIa (SSIIa) enzyme expression in endosperm and alkali disintegration in seeds of Myanmar rice cultivars.

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is grown all over the world and consumed by human beings worldwide. It is the most important crop in Myanmar because it is the main staple food of the entire nation. Starch is the end product of carbon fixation in photosynthesis and is accumulated in storage organs as an energy source. It comprises 90% of the total dry matter in the rice grain and can mainly affect grain quality. Starch biosynthesis in cereal plants is catalyzed by four classes of enzymes, namely; ADP-glucose pyrophosphorylase (AGPase), soluble starch synthase (SSS), starch-branching enzyme (BE), and starch-debranching enzyme (DBE) (Smith et al.,1997; Myers et al., 2000; Nakamura, 2002; Fujita et al., 2006). Starch synthase proteins from rice and other plant species can be grouped into five classes, soluble starch synthase I (SSI), soluble starch synthase II (SSII), soluble starch synthase III (SSIII), soluble starch synthase IV (SSIV) and granule-bound starch synthase (GBSS). One gene for SSI, three genes for SSII (SSIIa, SSIIb, SSIIc) and, two genes for SSIII (SSIIIa, SSIIIb), SSIV (SSIVa, SSIVb) and GBSS can be found in rice (Hirose and Terao, 2004)

Lovebirds

The romance of birds are expressed and manifested in how they impress and attract their love counterparts. The colourful males such as the peacock (Pavo cristatus) and the golden pheasant (Chrysolophus pictus) would undergo detailed grooming to ensure flawless appearance to impress the beloved in the competitive world of the wild. The males of certain species would pour their dedication and effort to build the mating court as splendid as a castle to invite the queen of their heart such as shown by the bowerbird (Ptilonorhynchus violaceus) and the baya weaver (Ploceus philippinus)

Breaking-off tissue specific activity of the oil palm metallothionein-like gene promoter in T1 seedlings of tomato exposed to metal ions

Metallothioneins (MTs) are cysteine-rich metal-binding proteins that are involved in cell growth regulation, transportation of metal ions and detoxification of heavy metals. A mesocarp-specific metallothionein-like gene (MT3-A) promoter was isolated from the oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq). A vector construct containing the MT3-A promoter fused to the β-glucuronidase (GUS) gene in the pCAMBIA 1304 vector was produced and used in Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of tomato. Histochemical GUS assay of different tissues of transgenic tomato showed that the MT3-A promoter only drove GUS expression in the reproductive tissues and organs, including the anther, fruit and seed coat. Competitive RT-PCR and GUS fluorometric assay showed changes in the level of GUS mRNA and enzyme activity in the transgenic tomato (T0). No GUS mRNA was found in roots and leaves of transgenic tomato. In contrast, the leaves of transgenic tomato seedlings (T1) produced the highest GUS activity when treated with 150 μM Cu2+ compared to the control (without Cu2+). However, Zn2+ and Fe2+ treatments did not show GUS expression in the leaves of the transgenic tomato seedlings. Interestingly, the results showed a breaking-off tissue-specific activity of the oil palm MT3-A promoter in T1 seedlings of tomato when subjected to Cu2+ ions

ELA REMIND : A medicine box reminder system for elderly living alone (ELA) implementing the infrared sensor, internet of things and mobile application

Studies had shown a high statistic of the elderly often forgetting to take their medicine each day due to their forgetfulness. And living alone far from their family, make things harder. As a human of 60 years old and above, they might have difficulties to remember and become alert of the medicine time. Thus, developing this ELA Remind which is a medicine box reminder system for Elderly Living Alone (ELA) by implementing the Infrared Sensor, Internet of Things and Mobile Application. By having this system, elderly will always be reminded on time to take their medicine every day without fail. In fact, it helps to check on their medication intake history to ensure that the elderly was taking the medicine as per schedule. At the same time, it helps reduce the wastage of medication as well. Besides, the most impactful element in this system is that the reminder will also be sent to the elderly's families so that they can monitor their elders remotely through the mobile application. In addition, this system will enable users or families to check back on the history of time taken of the medicine whenever needed

The oil palm stearoyl-acyl-carrier-protein desaturase (Des) promoter drives transient gene expression in tomato fruits and is affected by gibberellic acid

Stearoyl-acyl-carrier-protein (ACP) desaturase gene plays an important role in oil palm mesocarp where main substrate stearic acid is converted to oleic acid. In this study, ß-glucuronidase (GUS) activity regulated by the oil palm stearoyl-ACP desaturase promoter (Des) and the effects of gibberellic acid (GA3) treatment on promoter activation were evaluated in transgenic tomato. A high level of GUS activity in transformed tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) revealed that Des promoter is active in heterologous system. With histochemical assays, we detected GUS activity in all of the agroinfiltrated tomato tissues. Fluorometric GUS assays indicated that the GUS activity was markedly higher when regulated by the Des promoter constructs in comparison with the CaMV 35S promoter. The analysis of 5’-deletion of the Des promoter indicated that the GUS activity driven by a 590-bp region were approximately 1.2-fold stronger than that of the full-length Des promoter. Semi-quantitative reverse transcriptase PCR results also showed that the 590-bp region of Des promoter directed the highest level of uidA expression. The GUS activity of Des1-transformed tomato mesocarp was induced by 1.7-fold, whereas the expression driven by the shortest promoter fragment of Des4 was reduced by 1.9-fold following incubation with 10 µM GA3. These results suggest that gibberellic acid-responsive elements reside within the region between nt -590 and nt -306 of the Des promoter, and based on our 5’-deletion analysis, the cis-element(s) necessary for strong promoter activity is also located within the region from -590 to -306 from the transcriptional start site. The oil palm Des promoter was activated by GA3 and is potentially useful for engineering fruit-specific gene expression to enhance quality of fruits

Gasochromic response of optical sensing platform integrated with polyaniline and poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) exposed to NH3 gas

The optical NH3 gas sensing performance of polyaniline (PANI) and poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene (PEDOT) in the form of bilayers and copolymers was analysed in this study. The order of the bilayers and the presence of acid dopant on the fabrication of the sensing platform produced different absorbance responses upon exposure to NH3 gas. The limit of detection of the bilayer (PANI(aq.)/PEDOT(aq.)) was 7.86 ppm which is under the threshold limit value of NH3, with response and recovery times of 2.33 min and 46.8 s, respectively. The gasochromic behaviour of PANI and PEDOT during the adsorption of NH3 gas was closely related to the changes in the oxidation state which have simultaneously altered the colour intensity of the respective sensing layer

Real-time threshold-based fall detection system using wearable IoT

This paper presents a Real-Time Fall Detection System (FDS) in the form of a wearable device integrating an ADXL335 accelerometer as a fall detection sensor, and classify the falling condition based on the threshold method. This system detects the wearer's movements and analyses the result in binary output conditions of 'Fall' for any fall occurrence or 'Normal' for other activities. The transmitter or FDS-Tx which is attached to the user's garment will constantly transmit data reading to the receiver or FDS-Rx via XBee module for data analysis. Raspberry Pi as the processor in FDS-Rx provides computational resources for immediate output analysis, by using threshold method, the computed results are sent to the cloud utilizing the Wi-Fi to display the user's condition on the authority's dashboard for further action. The working conditions of the systems are validated through an experiment of 10 volunteers whose perform several activities including fall events. Based on the threshold proposed, the results showed 97% sensitivity, 69% specificity and 83% accuracy from the experiment. Thus, this system fulfilled the real-Time working condition integrating (IoT) as accordingly