Synthesis, characterisation and evaluation on the performance of ferrofluid for microplastic removal from synthetic and actual wastewater

Synthesis of ferrofluid without the addition of stabilizing agents or surfactants is an innovation of new method for microplastic removal. This study focuses on the ability of several types of oils as carriers and how they may improve the removal efficiency of the microplastic. The method is relatively low cost, simple and sustainable. The formation of ferrofluid involved the mixing of oil and iron oxide powder. The experimental work was commenced by adding 2 mm polyethylene terephthalate (PET) microplastics into synthetic ferrofluid. Then, the removal efficiency of microplastics was examined by varying the elements of ferrofluid based on three specific parameters, namely type of oil, volume of oil and dosage of iron oxide to obtain a standard formulation of the optimum results. Overall findings of the study indicated that the optimum formulation for ferrofluid preparation was at a ratio of 1:2.5 (volume of oil: dosage of magnetite) using lubricating oil which has successfully removed 99% of microplastic from water media. Subsequently, the physical and chemical properties of the prepared ferrofluid were also analysed using scanning electron microscope (SEM) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Performance evaluation of the prepared ferrofluid on actual wastewater (laundry wastewater) revealed that 64% of microplastics were removed after treatment

Ergosterol Peroxide and Stigmasterol from The Stembark of Aglaia simplicifolia (Meliaceae) and Their Cytotoxic against HeLa Cervical Cancer Cell Lines

Two steroid compounds, ergosterol peroxide (1) and stigmasterol (2) have been isolated from the stembark of Aglaia simplicifolia belong to Meliaceae family. The chemical structures of 1 and 2 were identified based on spectroscopic evidence including UV, IR, 1D NMR, 2D NMR as well as mass spectra and by comparison with those previously reported spectra data. Both compounds were evaluated for their cytotoxic effects against cervical cancer HeLa cells in vitro. Compounds 1 and 2 showed cytotoxicity activity against HeLa cervical cancer cells with IC50 values of 0.80 and 26.42 µM, respectively

Anti-proliferative, apoptotic induction, and anti-migration effects of hemi-synthetic 1′S-1′-acetoxychavicol acetate analogs on MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells

Nine analogs of 1′S-1′-acetoxychavicol acetate (ACA) were hemi-synthesized and evaluated for their anticancer activities against seven human cancer cell lines. The aim of this study was to investigate the anti-proliferative, apoptotic, and anti-migration effects of these compounds and to explore the plausible underlying mechanisms of action. We found that ACA and all nine analogs were non toxic to human mammary epithelial cells (HMECs) used as normal control cells, and only ACA, 1′-acetoxyeugenol acetate (AEA), and 1′-acetoxy-3,5-dimethoxychavicol acetate (AMCA) inhibited the growth of MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells with a half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) value of 30.0 μM based on 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay results, and were selected for further investigation. DNA fragmentation assays showed that these three compounds markedly induced apoptosis of MDA-MB-231 cells. Western blot analysis revealed increased expression levels of cleaved PARP, p53, and Bax, while decreased expression levels of Bcl-2 and Bcl-xL were seen after treatment, indicating that apoptosis was induced via the mitochondrial pathway. Moreover, ACA, AEA, and AMCA effectively inhibited the migration of MDA-MB-231 cells. They also downregulated the expression levels of pFAK/FAK and pAkt/Akt via the integrin β1-mediated signaling pathway. Collectively, ACA and its hemi-synthetic analogs, AEA and AMCA are seen as potential anticancer agents following their abilities to suppress growth, induce apoptosis, and inhibit migration of breast cancer cells

Flavonoids from the Roots of Amomum compactum Soland Ex Maton (Zingiberaceae)

Amomum compactum Soland Ex Maton is one of the Zingiberaceae family plants which is the endemic plants from West Java, Indonesia. This study was aimed to determine the chemical structure of flavonoid compounds from n-hexane extract of A.compactum Sol. Ex Maton roots. Dried powder of the roots was extracted consecutively with n-hexane, ethyl acetate, and methanol solvents. Three flavonoids, 5-hydroxy-3,7,4`-trimethoxy kaempferol (1), 5-hydroxy-3,7,3',4'-tetra methoxy kaempferol (2) and 4'-hydroxy-3,5,7-trimethoxy kaempferol (3), have been isolated from the roots of A. compactum Sol. Ex Maton.  The chemical structures of compounds 1-3 were identified by spectroscopy data including infrared 1D-NMR, 2D-NMR and HRTOF-MS as well as by comparison with previously reported spectral data. Compounds 1-3 were isolated from this plant for the first time and showed free radical DPPH scavenging activity

Technolite Enterprise : Technolite / Nur Anis Adila Azmin ...[et al.]

TECHNOLITE ENTERPRISE provides any types of electronic components products to any individual, institution or company in addition of providing workshop. Our main objectives are to become the market leader in distribution of electronic components in Malaysia, and as source of reference for bumiputera entrepreneurs in the same field. There has been a need for high quality, durable electronic components in any company or institution for a long time, which prompted us to develop this business. The company plans to distinguish itself from other competing businesses by offering quality electronic components that can be in any sizes, brands, and types desired by the customers and in favorable price

Development of semi-automated guided vehicle for fertigation agriculture

The design of this project is to carry the pesticide spraying system for the fertigation purpose. The system is basically a semiautomated guided vehicle controlled by Arduino Uno and guided by railway meanwhile the man power is minimized by only turned on the switch and it will move accordingly as set

Conceptual Design of Natural Composite Grating Platform

There are several types of grating, such as platform, bridge decks and filters. In design process, there are several important terms that have to be prioritised; engineering design, strength to weight ratio, cost, maintainability, reparability etcetera. Advanced materials, such as composite materials offer great strength to weight ratio and high mechanical properties for grating fabrication. Furthermore the reparability and maintenance problems could be solved as it is anti corrosion and the long service life attribute of composite makes it a great design material for replacement of conventional steel or aluminium. Bio composites, such as bamboo and coir fiber yield advantage in terms of less cost and abundance availability compared to commercial unidirectional composite materials, such as glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) and carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) which is considerably expensive yet possess higher mechanical properties. This papers presents a conceptual design of grating design utilizing bamboo composite as material. Pugh method has been chosen as design criteria selection matrix in finalizing the design of industrial grating for scaffolding (Pugh, 1991).

Azadirone-Type Limonoids from the Fruit of Chisocheton lasiocarpus and Their Cytotoxic Activity Against MCF-7 Breast Cancer Lines

Limonoid is derivatives of triterpenoid compound that have a wide variety of structures due to various ring-opening, rearrangements, and high-degree of oxidation. Limonoid is known as compounds that have wide-range of biological activities, including anticancer activity. This research was aimed to determine the chemical structure and cytotoxic activity of limonoid in the n-hexane extract of Chisocheton lasiocarpus fruit. Dried powder of C. lasiocarpus fruit was extracted using methanol followed by fractionated using n-hexane, ethyl acetate, and n-butanol. Five azadirone-type limonoids, 6α-(acetoxy)-14β,15β-epoxyazadirone (1), dysobinin (2), 7α-acetylneotricilenone (3), 6α-O-acetyl-7-deacetylnimocinol (4), and 7α-hyroxyneotricilenone (5), were isolated from the n-hexane extract of Chisocheton lasiocarpus fruit. The chemical structure of all compounds was identified by spectroscopic analysis, including 1D, 2D-NMR, IR, UV and HR-TOF MS as well as by comparison with previous reported spectra data. Compounds 1-5 were investigated from this plant for first time. The cytotoxic activity of the isolated compounds against MCF-7 breast cancer line were examined and the results showed that 7α-hyroxyneotricilenone (5) showed the moderate activity with IC50 values of 53 μ

Microcredit Programmes Publication Trends, its Contributions and Future Research Directions: A Bibliometrics Study from 2000 to 2021

This study aims to provide insight into the publication trends of microcredit programmes from 2000 to 2021. This study conducted a bibliometric analysis of 1,241 scholarly works related to microcredit programmes as recorded in the Scopus database in September 2022. Specifically, this paper will analyse the evolution of microcredit programmes research by examining (a) document and source types, (b) year of publications and languages, (c) types of sources and subject area, (d) keyword analysis, (e) geographical distribution and citation analysis as well as (f) citation clustering analysis. The results of the bibliometric study provide important information on publications’ current and future trends in the field of microcredit programmes. Based on the data, the number of publications on microcredit programme research has fluctuated over 21 years since 2000. The results, also, present the United States as the largest contributor to microcredit programmes research, followed by India. Meanwhile, the Journal of World Development published the most publications related to research on microcredit programmes. The implications of this study indicate the evolving nature of microcredit programme research and the need for continuous exploration and analysis in this field. Understanding publication trends, identifying leading contributors, and to considering additional databases for research can contribute to the development of current and future studies on microcredit programme