Gene silencing by microrna in pineapple: discovery, involvement in the control of fruit development and its application as artificial gene regulators

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of small RNAs, usually 19-24 nt in length, which are found endogenously within the cell and do not code for any protein. However, they participate in regulating the level of mRNA transcripts through cleavage or translational inhibition, creating an effect called gene silencing. MicroRNAs have been shown to be essential for major biological and physiological development in plants, including pineapple. A hundred and fifty-three miRNAs, regulating many aspects of plant growth, have been described in pineapple to date. Reports of the existence of this natural gene silencing system have led to the development of a similar system at a synthetic level. Artificial microRNA (amiRNA) is a unique custom-designed molecule of RNA, approximately 21 nt in length, with the sole function of silencing the expression of its target gene by mimicking the action of miRNA in the RNA interference (RNAi) pathway. In pineapple, target genes have not only been silenced using this technique but the silencing has occurred in a specific manner, i.e., the target genes were silenced without affecting the expression of other, unrelated genes. This technique has addressed the limitations of conventional breeding techniques, as amiRNA silencing can be performed rapidly and is time-consuming and occurs in a specific manner

Greening tea consumtion / Maisarah Abd Rahim...[et al.]

Greening tea consumption would be one of the alternatives that help energizing innovative ecosystem. It is a way to reduce, reuse or recycle a waste thing which refers to reused tea bag and loose leaf tea. Tea bags or even loose leaf tea always can be used more than once, whether for a second cup of tea or by using it for numerous purposes. Rather throw it away to dustbin which is considered as a waste, it is better to reuse or recycle it for certain purposes. Imagines how much can we cut down our waste packaging which refer to individual tea bag whereby we have thrown out about 1095 tea bags each year assuming that we use only once a tea bag per cup and drinks on average three cups of tea per day. Tea bags and loose leaf teas can be multipurpose which they can be reused for cleaning, health and beauty, kitchen purpose, gardening, painting, dye fabrics, tell the future and self- analyze. As a conclusion, greening our tea consumption actually would give many good impact to our daily life which we are not realized on and would save our ecosystem in the future

Total phenolic content, total flavonoid content and radical scavenging activity from zingiber zerumbet rhizome using subcritical water extraction

Subcritical water extraction (SWE) is an alternative technique implemented water as a solvent. The objective of this work was to extract Zingiber zerumbet rhizome using SWE at a temperature range from 100ºC to 180ºC with duration from 5 to 25 min. The extracts were analysed for total phenolic content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC) and radical scavenging activity (RSA). Soxhlet extraction using ethanol was used for a comparison purpose. Results showed the highest TPC and TFC was obtained at 180ºC and 25 min extraction, with the yield of 18.52 mg GAE/gDW and 2.34 mg QE/gDW of rhizome for TPC and TFC, respectively. RSA at peak of 83.9 % inhibition at the condition of 180ºC and 10 min extraction. In comparison to Soxhlet extraction, the extract after SWE gives the highest amount of TPC and RSA. However, the values for TFC are lower as compared to ethanolic extract. Therefore, SWE process for Zingiber zerumbet extract is favourable for higher TPC and RSA. A direct linear correlation between the RSA with the TPC and TFC of the extracts shows that a strong correlation was observed between TPC and the RSA with the R2 obtained was 0.910 as compared to moderate correlation (R2=0.785) perceived in TFC. Thus, it shows higher radical scavenging activity in Zingiber zerumbet was contributed by phenolic content as compared to its flavonoid content. In overall, SWE is a potential alternative extraction process that should be further explored

[Understanding of Academic Members Kuala Terengganu Ipta The Concept of Breastfeeding Milk According The Islamic Perspective] Kefahaman Ahli Akademik Ipta Kuala Terengganu Terhadap Konsep Penyusuan Susu Ibu Menurut Perspektif Islam

An understanding of breastfeeding according to the Islamic perspective is very important in ensuring the success of breastfeeding, especially among working mothers. The absence of a study related to the understanding of the concept of breastfeeding according to the Islamic perspective among IPTA academics while they are the educated group that should be used as a guide among other women is the main problem of this study. Therefore, this study was built to study the understanding of academics at IPTA Kuala Terengganu about breastfeeding according to the Islamic perspective. This study was conducted in the field (field studies) and using quantitative methods. Data were collected through questionnaires and interviews with experts in the field of Islamic family Fiqh. A total of 140 out of 180 respondents were selected from selected locations are UiTM Kuala Terengganu, UMT and UniSZA. The results show that the respondents have a good understanding regarding breastfeeding according to the Islamic perspective with an average mean value between 2.67-3.92. These findings show that the knowledge of Islam is an important foundation in ensuring the successful implementation of breastfeeding.   Kefahaman terhadap  penyusuan susu ibu menurut perspektif Islam sangat penting dalam memastikan kejayaan penyusuan susu ibu terutamanya dalam kalangan ibu yang bekerjaya. Ketiadaan kajian berkaitan kefahaman terhadap konsep penyusuan susu ibu menurut perspektif Islam dalam kalangan ahli akademik IPTA sedangkan mereka adalah golongan terpelajar yang perlu dijadikan panduan dalam kalangan wanita lain merupakan permasalahan utama kajian ini. Justeru itu, kajian ini dibina untuk mengkaji kefahaman ahli akademik di IPTA Kuala Terengganu tentang penyusuan menurut perspektif Islam. Kajian ini dilakukan secara lapangan (field studies) dan menggunakan kaedah kuantitatif. Data dikumpulkan melalui instrumen soal selidik dan temu bual bersama pakar pakar dalam bidang Fiqh kekeluargaan Islam.Seramai 140 daripada 180 orang responden telah dipilih dari lokasi yang terpilih ialah UiTM Kuala Terengganu, UMT dan UniSZA. Hasil dapatan menunjukkan para responden mempunyai kefahaman yang baik berkenaan dengan penyusuan susu ibu menurut perspektif Islam dengan purata nilai min antara 2.67-3.92. Dapatan ini menunjukkan bahawa ilmu pengetahuan tentang Islam merupakan asas yang penting dalam memastikan kejayaan pelaksanaan penyusuan susu ibu ini.   Kata kunci: Ahli Akademik, Kuala Terengganu, Penyusuan Susu Ib

Religiosity among Muslims: a scale development and validation study

While religiosity as a field of inquiry has been gaining research interest in recent years, a central issue about its conceptualisation, measurement, and relationships with work outcomes remains unresolved. The aims of this paper are: (1) to introduce a new scale designed to measure religiosity among Muslims, based on an Islamic perspective that centres on the bodily action or human activity (islam), the mind or understanding of God (iman), and the spirit or actualisation of virtue and goodness (ihsan); and (2) to demonstrate how religiosity relates to various work outcomes. We followed a rigorous multi-steps scale development procedure using four empirical studies involving 703 participants. The final scale yielded one factor with 10 underlying items. Our results showed that religiosity was positively correlated with job satisfaction, positive work behaviour, workplace integrity, and organisational commitment, but negatively correlated with antagonistic work behaviour. This new scale also showed incremental validity over an existing Muslim attitude scale in predicting organisational commitment and integrity. Overall, this new scale demonstrates good psychometric properties and is a promising tool for the measurement of religiosity among Muslims in organisational settings

Event-Related Potential N100 Vs. N170 Wave Results Comparison On Driving Alertness

Driver’s attention, especially during long rides, is very crucial to avoid road accidents, which may lead to injuries and fatalities on the roadway. However, with modern technologies, the decline in driver’s attention can be investigated through the electrical activity of the brain. Event-Related Potential (ERP) is the electrophysiological brain response measurement that related to the sensory, cognitive and motor events. By using simple averaging techniques, ERPs can give reliable result to measure the attentiveness of the driver during driving. In this paper, N100 and N170 wave results were presented, which obtained from temporal and occipital lobes respectively and been compared to measure the driver’s attention. In term of attentiveness difference percentage, it is 0.09% and 38% differences were observed from N100 and N170 wave results respectively. From the results, it clearly can be seen that using N170 wave from occipital lobe is more significant to measure the driver’s alertness compared to N100 wave that recorded from the temporal lobe

The experience of traditional massage practitioners in supporting breastfeeding practice

Strategies that have been successful in promoting breastfeeding practice and to increase breastfeeding education include mother-to-mother support and close contact with breastfeeding support members through home visits. The objective of this study is to explore the experience of traditional massage practitioners in promoting and supporting breastfeeding practice. A qualitative study using semi structured face-to-face interview was conducted among breastfeeding support group members who are working as traditional massage practitioners. The data was transcribed and analyzed using thematic analysis. Three themes were revealed involving participants real enjoyed the experiences, gaining knowledge on breastfeeding technique and breastfeeding challenges. This study identified that the traditional massage practitioners have shown good support towards breastfeeding practice and recommended the need of massage therapy for continuity of this practice

Attitude of healthcare professionals towards people with disabilities in Hospital Tengku Ampuan Afzan, Pahang

Attitude of healthcare professionals gives big influence towards self-esteem of people with disabilities. Not treated with respect, not equipped with suitable equipment, and denied health services are some problems encountered by people with disabilities in healthcare setting. Profession, age, gender, years of working experience, and contact with people with disabilities are factors that would affect their attitudes. Thus, this study is aimed to identify general attitude of healthcare professionals from Hospital Tengku Ampuan Afzan (HTAA), Kuantan towards people with disabilities. A descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted among healthcare professionals from HTAA. A validated questionnaire namely Scale of Attitudes toward Disabled Persons (SADP) was used to collect data from the respondents. Descriptive statistics, independent sample t-test, one-way ANOVA, post hoc analysis and Pearson correlation were used to analyse the data using IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, version 20. A total of 350 respondents were recruited in this study. Physician was found to have the most favorable attitude followed by optometrist. With respect to gender, male was found to hold significant (p=0.002) more favorable attitudes compared to female. Respondents who have close relatives or family members with disabilities developed more favorable attitude compared with those who do not have (p= 0.32). Besides, it was found that, when the age and years of working experience increase, respondents held less favorable attitude. Weak negative correlation was found between attitude score with both age (r = - 0.154) and working experience (r = - 0.189). Profession, gender, contact with people having disabilities, age and working experience play a role in determining their attitude