Establishment of FTIR Database of Roselle Raw Material Originated From Western Coastline in Peninsular Malaysia

Herbs from different geographical regions may differ qualitatively and quantitatively, hence it is crucial to determine the active components of herbs from different regions and build a reference database. This study focused on the database establishment for the authentication of the raw material of roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa) collected at seven selected locations of the western coastline in Peninsular Malaysia. The validation on the unknown sample at the end of the study is to verify the accuracy of the established database. The inter-material distance (IMD) was presented as the mean distance of each sphere created by each batch of data from different locations. They were clustered with different folders and discriminated by Soft independent modelling by class analogy (SIMCA) algorithm. All materials from seven farms achieved 100% separation rate. The average IMD of these seven locations was 9.04. The FTIR techniques established in this study can be used to distinguish the geographical origin of the selected H. sabdariffa farm samples

Improving Visual Style Classification in Digital Games Using Intercoder Reliability Assessment

The digital gaming community appreciates visual style information in digital games as it facilitates information seeking. Nevertheless, learned scholars have discovered that the digital game visual style classification is inconsistent and easily modified, potentially limiting the information and leading to inaccurate visual terminologies during information discovery. Therefore, this cross-sectional study was performed to assess multiple visual style classification terms and their definitions among Malaysian game developers using the closed card sorting exercise. A total of seven professional game developers participated in an online survey that comprised thirty-five digital game case studies using a card sorting technique. They were asked to classify nineteen visual style classification terms, including psychedelic, text, illusionism, photorealism, televisualism, handicraft, caricature, celshaded, comic book (anime), watercolour, Lego, minimalism, pixel art, silhouette, bright, dark, maplike, colourful, and black and white. The Fleiss’ kappa intercoder reliability assessment was performed to measure the coders’ agreement on visual style classification, followed by the think-aloud protocol descriptive analysis to gather assessment insights into the visual style descriptions. The intercoder reliability test achieved a significantly moderate agreement based on the results. The professional game developers agreed on eighteen visual styles and rejected the bright visual style classification due to its overlapping description with the colourful visual style. The definition of ten visual style classifications was improved from the existing Video Game Metadata Schema (VGMS) description, contributing to the digital game’s coherence and consistency. This improvement will enhance visual style classification information for machine-learning-based recommendation systems for digital game distribution platforms and digital archiving

Oestrogenic activity of mimosine on MCF-7 breast cancer cell line through the ERα-mediated pathway

Hormone replacement therapy has been a conventional treatment for postmenopausal symptoms in women. However, it has potential risks of breast and endometrial cancers. The aim of this study was to evaluate the oestrogenicity of a plant-based compound, mimosine, in MCF-7 cells by in silico model. Cell viability and proliferation, ERα-SRC1 coactivator activity and expression of specific ERα-dependent marker TFF1 and PGR genes were evaluated. Binding modes of 17β-oestradiol and mimosine at the ERα ligand binding domain were compared using docking and molecular dynamics simulation experiments followed by binding interaction free energy calculation with molecular mechanics/Poisson-Boltzmann surface area. Mimosine showed increased cellular viability (64,450 cells/ml) at 0.1 μM with significant cell proliferation (120.5%) compared to 17β-oestradiol (135.2%). ER antagonist tamoxifen significantly reduced proliferative activity mediated by mimosine (49.9%). Mimosine at 1 μM showed the highest ERα binding activity through increased SRC1 recruitment at 186.9%. It expressed TFF1 (11.1-fold at 0.1 μM) and PGR (13.9-fold at 0.01 μM) genes. ERα-mimosine binding energy was -49.9 kJ/mol, and it interacted with Thr347, Gly521 and His524 of ERα-LBD. The results suggested that mimosine has oestrogenic activity

The development of an inhibitive determination method for zinc using a serine protease

A new inhibitive heavy metals determination method using trypsin 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 bioassay was able to detect zinc and mercury with IC50 (concentration causing 50% inhibition) values of 5.78 and 16.38 mg l-1 respectively.The limits of detection (LOD), for zinc and mercury were 0.06 mg l-1 (0.05-0.07, 95% confidence interval) and 1.06 mg l-1 (1.017-1.102, 95% confidence interval), respectively. The limits of quantitation (LOQ) for zinc and mercury were 0.61 mgl-1 (0.51-0.74 at a 95% confidence interval)and 1.35 mg l-1 (1.29-1.40 at a 95% confidence interval), respectively. The IC50 value for zinc was much higher than the IC50 values for papain and Rainbow trout, but was within the range of Daphnia magna and MicrotoxTM. The IC50 value for zinc was only lower than those for immobilized urease. Other toxic heavy metals, such as lead, silver, arsenic, copper and cadmium, did not inhibit the enzyme at 20 mg l-1. Using this assay,we managed to detect elevated zinc concentrations in several environmental samples. Pesticides, such as carbaryl, flucythrinate, metolachlor, glyphosate, diuron, diazinon, endosulfan sulphate, atrazine, coumaphos, imidacloprid, dicamba and paraquat, showed no effect on the activity of trypsin relative to control (One-way ANOVA, F12, 26 = 0.3527, p> 0.05). Of the 17 xenobiotics tested, only (sodium dodecyl sulphate) SDS gave positive interference with 150 % activity higher than that of the control at 0.25% (v/v)

An inhibitive determination method for heavy metals using bromelain, a cysteine protease

A heavy-metal assay has been developed using bromelain, a protease. The enzyme is assayed using casein as a substrate with Coomassie dye to track completion of hydrolysis of casein. In the absence of inhibitors, casein is hydrolysed to completion, and the solution is brown. In the presence of metal ions such as Hg2+ and Cu2+, the hydrolysis of casein is inhibited, and the solution remains blue. Exclusion of sulfhydryl protective agent and ethylenediaminetetraacetic in the original assay improved sensitivity to heavy metals several fold. The assay is sensitive to Hg2+ and Cu2+, exhibiting a dose-response curve with an IC50 of 0.15 mg 1(-1) for Hg2+ and a one-phase binding curve with an IC50 of 0.23 mg 1(-1) for Cu2+. The IC50 value for Hg2+ is found to be lower to several other assays such as immobilized urease and papain assay, whilst the IC50 value for Cu2+ is lower than immobilized urease, 15-min Microtox, and rainbow trout

Antifungal activity of the bark and leaf oils of Cinnamomum verum J.S. Presl. alone and in combination against Various Fungi

The leaf and bark oils of Cinnamomum verum J.S. Presl. were examined for their antifungal activity against 6 dermatophytes (Trichophyton rubrum, T. mentagrophytes, T. tonsurans, Microsporum canis, M. gypseum and M. audouini), one filamentous fungi(Aspergillus fumigatus) and 5 strains of yeasts (Candida albicans, Ca. glabrata, Ca.tropicalis, Ca. parapsilosis and Crytococcus neoformans) by using the broth microdilution method. The antifungal activities of 4 standard compounds(cinnamaldehyde, eugenol, linalool and α-terpineol) which were major constituents in the oils were also investigated in an effort to correlate the effectiveness of the oils with those of the components of the oils. The combined antifungal effect of the oils against M.canis, M. gypseum and Cr. neoformans was investigated by the checkerboard assay. Isobolograms were constructed and Fractional Inhibitory Concentrations Index (FICI) were calculated to determine the combination effects between the oils. The chemical composition of the oils was analyzed by gas chromatography (GC) and gaschromatography- mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The oils showed strong activity against all the tested fungi with Minimum Inhibition Concentration (MIC) values ranging from 0.04 to 0.31 mg/ml. Cinnamaldehyde which was the most abundant component of the bark oil of C. verum showed the strongest activity against all the fungi studied. Based on the results of the assay on standard samples, it may be that the high levels of cinnamaldehyde and eugenol in the oils and in combination with the minor components could be responsible for the high antifungal activity of the oils. The antifungal effect of the leaf and bark oils of C. verum in combination against the tested fungi was not synergistic. However, the effect was additive against M. gypseum and antagonistic against Cr. neoformans and M. canis

Xanthine oxidase inhibitory and DPPH radical scavenging activities of some primulaceae species

Xanthine oxidase (XO) is an enzyme that catalyzes the metabolism of hypoxanthine and xanthine into uric acid. XO also serves as an important biological source of free radicals that contribute to oxidative damage involved in many pathological processes. Antioxidant effects of several Primulaceae species have been reported but their XO inhibitory activity has not been investigated. Thus, this study was conducted to determine the XO inhibitory and free radical scavenging activities of Primulaceae species and to correlate these activities with their total phenolic contents (TPC). A total of 129 extracts of different plant parts of twelve Primulaceae species were assayed for XO inhibition spectrophotometrically at 290 nm using allopurinol as a positive control. The antioxidant activity was determined using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging assay and TPC of the extracts were determined by the Folin-Ciocalteau method. The Pearson correlation analysis indicated that the TPC of the extracts showed moderate positive correlations with XO inhibition (r=0.31, p<0.05) and DPPH antioxidant activity (r=0.31, p<0.05) for all of the dichloromethane extracts. Amongst the extracts tested, the dichloromethane extract of the roots of Labisia pumila var. alata showed the strongest inhibitory effects for XO (IC50 4.8 μg/mL) and DPPH free radical capacity (IC50 1.7 μg/mL). The results suggested that Primulaceae species, particularly the dichloromethane extract of L. pumila var. alata roots, are the potential source of useful leads for the development of XO inhibitors

Perbandingan Pelbagai Kaedah Pengekstrakan Air Labisia pumila var. alata

The water decoction of Labisia pumila var. alata is used traditionally in childbirth, as well as for the treatment of flatulence, dysentery, dysmenorrhoea and join pains. This study was carried out to determine the best method and optimum parameters of aqueous axtraction of the leaves and roots of this species. The laboratory methos esed were maceration, ddecoction, reflux and Saxhlet, whereas the parameters studied were temperature, duration and pH of axtraction. The yields and thin layer chromatographic profiles of the freeze-dried extracts were analysed. The study showed that in general the percentage yields of the water soluble extracts were higher for the roots than the leaves, as well as the extracts obtained from heating than those obtained at room temperature. The most effective extraction parameters for L. pumila var. alata were as follows:maceration (25 C, at least 6 hr), decoction (60 C, not exceeding 10 min) and reflux (100 C, not exceeding 4 hr). Saxhlet method was found to be the least effective. The pH analysis had shown the possibility of degradation of some of the phytochemicals at extreme pH values of 1,2 and 14

Etnobotani ke atas tumbuhan yang digunakan sebagai ulam di Malaysia

This ethnobotanical survey is an effort to collect, identify and generate information on the variety of plants which are being utilized as salads by the Malays in Malaysia. The research was based on a literature survey and interviews carried out at the markets of Kuala Lumpur and downtown Port Dickson, Negeri Sembilan. A total of 109 species from 52 families had been successfully recorded to be consumed as salads. Of these, 47 species from 27 families are popular salads while 62 species from 38 families are traditional salads. Most of the salads are believed to possess a variety of medicinal values and are used to treat various diseases especially of a mild nature such as skin infections, digestion problems, mild pain, cut and ulcer, fever, cough and as anti-aging agents