Polyphenoloxidase from Starfruit (Averrhoa carambola, L.) I

Polyphenoloxidase (PPO) was z50lated from starfruit (Averrhoa carambola, L.) and purified by acetone precipitation and dialysis. The optimum pH for the aCl}tone purified PPO catalysed oxidation of catechol was found to be pH 7.2 Heat 'inactivation studies showed that the enzyme was heat-labile. Haif-Hvesfor PPO 'inactiivation at 70°C and 75°C were found to be 4.6 min and 3.1 min respectively. The Michaeline constant (K j and V for catechol with PPO was O. 061M and 20 U ml-1 respectively

Time-cost effective factor of a Midimew connected Mesh network

Hierarchical Interconnection Network (HIN) is indispensable for the practical implementation of future generation massively parallel computer systems which consists of hundred thousands nodes or even millions of nodes. Because it yields good performance with low cost due to reduction of communication links and by exploring the locality in the communication & traffic patterns. A Midimew connected Mesh Network (MMN) is an HIN comprised of numerous basic modules, where the basic modules are 2D-mesh networks and they are hierarchically interconnected using midimew network to construct the higher level networks. In this paper, we present the architecture of a MMN and evaluate the time-cost effective factor of MMN, TESH, mesh, and torus networks. It is found that the proposed MMN yields slightly high time-cost effectiveness factor with small diameter and average distance as compared to other networks. Overall, performance with respect to time-cost effectiveness factor with small diameter and average distance suggests that the proposed MMN will be a indispensable choice for the next generation massively parallel computer systems

The association of shift work and coronary heart disease risk factors among male factory workers in Kota Bharu, Kelantan

Shift work is one of the work hour systems in which a relay of employees extends the period of production beyond the conventional 8-hour working day. It has been found to be associated with various health problems and there is concern that shift workers are at higher risk to develop risk factors for coronary heart disease (CHD). The study was undertaken to examine relationships between shift work and CHD risk factors, namely hypertension, dyslipidaemia (either hypercholesterolaemia, hyper-low density lipoprotein-cholesterolaemia, hypo-high density lipoprotein-cholesterolaemia or hypertriglyceridaemia), high body mass index (BMI), hyperglycemia and physical inactivity among male factory workers in a factory in Kota Bharu, Kelantan. METHODS: This study was a contrived cross-sectional study of 76 shift and 72 day workers from one ofthe factories in Kota Bharu, Kelantan. Data was collected through a questionnaire on psychosocial and life-style factors, anthropometric and blood pressure measurement, fasting blood sugar and fasting lipid proJiles analyses. RESULTS: The prevalence of hypertension, hypercholesterolaemia, hypertriglyceridaemia and high body mass index (BMO were significantly higher among shift workers compared to day workers. There was no difference in the prevalence of hyperg[ycemia, hypo-high-density lipoprotein-cholesterolaemia, hyper-high-density lipoprotein-cholesterolaemia and physical inactivity. When the shiji workers were compared with the day workers, the aajusted odds ratio (OR) for hypertension, high BMI andphysical inactivity were 9.1 (95% CI 1.4-56.8), 2.9 (95% CI 1.3-6.1) and 7.7 (95% CI 2.1-27.5) respectively. There was neither association of shift work with dyslipidaemia, nor with hyperglycemia. CONCLUSIONS: There were positive association between shiji work and hypertension, high BMI andphysical inactivity which denotes a higher risk of CHD risk factors among shift workers compared to day workers

Cost effective factor of a midimew connected mesh network

Background and Objective: Hierarchical Interconnection Network (HIN) is very much essential for the practical implementation of future generation Massively Parallel Computers (MPC) systems which consists of millions of nodes. It yields better performance with low cost due to reduction of wires and by exploring the locality in the communication\and traffic patterns. The main objective of this paper is to analyze the static cost effective factor of Midimew connected Mesh Network (MMN). Materials and Methods: A Midimew connected Mesh Network (MMN) is a HIN comprised of numerous basic modules, where the basic modules are 2D-mesh networks and they are hierarchically interconnected using midimew network to assemble the higher level networks. Results: This study, present the architecture of a MMN and evaluate the cost effective factor of MMN, TESH (Tori-connected Mesh), mesh and torus networks. The results shows that the cost effective factor of MMN was trivially higher than that of mesh and torus network. Conclusion: It was revealed that the proposed MMN yields a little bit high cost effectiveness factor with small diameter and average distance. Overall, performance with respect to cost effective factor with small diameter and average distance suggests that the MMN will be a promising choice for next generation MPC system

Preliminary analysis of the anti-inflammatory activity of essential oils of Zingiber zerumbet

Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) have been widely used for the treatment of inflammation. However, despite their effectiveness, most NSAIDs cause various side effects that negatively affect the management of inflammation and, in part, pain. Thus, there is a need to search for new anti-inflammatory agents with few, or no, side effects. Natural products of plant, animal, or microorganism origin have been good sources of new bioactive compounds. The present study was carried out to evaluate the acute and chronic anti-inflammatory activities of the essential oil of the rhizomes of Zingiber zerumbet (Zingiberaceae) using the carrageenan-induced paw edema and cotton pellet-induced granuloma tests, respectively. The effect of the essential oil on inflammatory- and noninflammatory-mediated pain was also assessed using the formalin test. Essential oil of Z. zerumbet, at doses of 30, 100, and 300 mg/kg, was administered intraperitoneally to rats. The substance exhibited significant anti-inflammatory activity both in acute and chronic animal models. The essential oil also inhibited inflammatory- and noninflammatory-mediated pain when assessed using the formalin test. In conclusion, the essential oil of Z. zerumbet possessed anti-inflammatory activity, in addition to its antinociceptive activity, which may explain its traditional uses to treat inflammatory-related ailments

Architecture and network-on-chip implementation of a new hierarchical interconnection network

A Midimew-connected Mesh Network (MMN) is a minimal distance mesh with wrap-around links network of multiple basic modules (BMs), in which the BMs are 2D-mesh networks that are hierarchically interconnected for higher-level networks. In this paper, we present the architecture of the MMN, addressing of node, routing of message, and evaluate the static network performance of MMN, TESH, mesh and torus networks. In addition, we propose the network-on-chip (NoC) implementation of MMN. With innovative combination of diagonal and hierarchical structure, the MMN possesses several attractive features, including constant degree, small diameter, low cost, small average distance, moderate bisection width and high fault tolerant performance than that of other conventional and hierarchical interconnection networks. The simple architecture of MMN is also highly suitable for NoC implementation. To implement all the links of level-3 MMN, only four layers are needed which is feasible with current and future VLSI technologies

Cost effective factor of a Midimew connected Mesh Network

Hierarchical Interconnection network (HIN) is very much essential for the practical implementation of future generation massively parallel computers (MPC) systems which consists of millions of nodes. Because it yields better performance with low cost due to reduction of wires and by exploring the locality in the communication \& traffic patterns. A Midimew connected Mesh Network (MMN) is an HIN comprised of numerous basic modules, where the basic modluea are 2D-mesh networks and they are hierarchically interconnected using midimew network to assemble the higher level networks. In this paper, we present the architecture of a MMN and evaluate the cost effective factor of MMN, TESH, mesh, and torus networks. It is revealed that the proposed MMN yields a little bit high cost effectiveness factor with small diameter and average distance. Overall, performance with respect to cost effective factor with small diameter and average distance suggests that the MMN will be a promising choice for next generation MPC systems

Spatial water quality assessment of Langat River Basin (Malaysia) using environmetric techniques

This study investigates the spatial water quality pattern of seven stations located along the main Langat River. Environmetric methods, namely, the hierarchical agglomerative cluster analysis (HACA), the discriminant analysis (DA), the principal component analysis (PCA), and the factor analysis (FA), were used to study the spatial variations of the most significant water quality variables and to determine the origin of pollution sources. Twenty-three water quality parameters were initially selected and analyzed. Three spatial clusters were formed based on HACA. These clusters are designated as downstream of Langat river, middle stream of Langat river, and upstream of Langat River regions. Forward and backward stepwise DA managed to discriminate six and seven water quality variables, respectively, from the original 23 variables. PCA and FA (varimax functionality) were used to investigate the origin of each water quality variable due to land use activities based on the three clustered regions. Seven principal components (PCs) were obtained with 81% total variation for the high-pollution source (HPS) region, while six PCs with 71% and 79% total variances were obtained for the moderate-pollution source (MPS) and low-pollution source (LPS) regions, respectively. The pollution sources for the HPS and MPS are of anthropogenic sources (industrial, municipal waste, and agricultural runoff). For the LPS region, the domestic and agricultural runoffs are the main sources of pollution. From this study, we can conclude that the application of environmetric methods can reveal meaningful information on the spatial variability of a large and complex river water quality data

Improvement of a Lightweight Aluminium Cylinder Block Design Using Finite Element Stress Analysis

A SAE technical paper (2012-01-0406) has discussed about the design and manufacturing method of a lightweight cylinder block made from cast iron. In applying the features discussed in the paper to an aluminium cylinder block with a different displacement, certain modifications need to be made to the previously proposed design. In addition to that and following the ongoing trend, many modern engines have a boosting system thus necessitating the engines to be designed to withstand a higher peak combustion pressure. The mentioned SAE paper has a proven design for a 2-liter cylinder block, but the maximum peak cylinder pressure is only about 85 bar representing the naturally-aspirated engine. Thus, the new proposed design simulating a boosted engine with maximum pressure up to 120 bar requires modifications to be made especially to the critical fasteners in terms of the bolt designs, engaged thread and the structural reinforcements of the bolt bosses. The cylinder block was modelled using CATIA V5 software and stress analysis of the baseline and proposed designs were done using the same software to analyse the critical area and force distribution. Two main areas have been investigated which are near cylinder head bolt thread area and near crankshaft bearing cap thread area. It was found that, the alterations manage to increase the factor of safety and eliminating the concentrated force at certain locations. The design modifications made can improve the factor of safety by decreasing the stress and adding more structural strength focusing on cylinder head bolt threaded area and crankshaft bearing cap thread area

Preliminary study of Malaysian fruit bats species diversity in Lenggong Livestock Breeding Center, Perak: Potential risk of spill over infection

Aim: Farms that are neighboring wildlife sanctuaries are at risk of spillover infection from wildlife, and the objective of this research is to examine the species diversity of Malaysian fruit bats in livestock farm in determining the possible risk of spill over infection to livestock. Materials and Methods: Fifty individual fruit bats were captured using six mists net, from May to July 2017. The nets were set at dusk (1830 h) as bats emerge for foraging and monitored at every 30-min intervals throughout the night until dawn when they returned to the roost. The nets were closed for the day until next night, and captured bats were identified to species levels. Results: All the captured bats were mega chiropterans, and Cynopterus brachyotis was the highest captured species, representing 40% of the total capture. Shannon-Weiner index is 2.80, and Simpson index is 0.2. Our result suggests that there is a degree of species dominance with low diversity in Lenggong Livestock Breeding Center. Conclusion: We concluded that fruit bats are indeed, encroaching livestock areas and the species identified could be a potential source of infection to susceptible livestock. Hence, an active surveillance should be embarked on farms that border wildlife sanctuaries