Carbon Dioxide Enrichment Effects on Growth and Physiological Attributes of Oil Palm Seedlings

The demand for Elaeis guineensis Jacq. (oil palm) seedlings keeps increasing by the years due to an increased need in replanting of palms over the age of 25 years. In 2006, about 89% of oil palm area was under mature palms. However, replanting of oil palm is faced with major constraint due to the long period of seedling establishment, which usually takes about 11 – 12 month in nursery before seedlings can be transplanted out to the field. Subsequently, cost of seedling establishment and nursery management remains high and economic pay back slows due to relatively late bearing. Development of a new technique that can enhance seedling growth and reduce nursery period would mean generation of high income to oil palm propagators and growers. One possible way to enhance seedling growth and development is by CO2 enrichment although responses to CO2 enrichment can be species dependent. Therefore, the main objective of the study was to examine the effects of CO2 enrichment on the growth and physiological responses of three progenies of oil palm seedlings. It was hypothesized that CO2-enriched palms would increase their relative growth rate (RGR) and total biomass through the enhanced of water use efficiency (WUE) and net photosynthesis (A). In accomplishing the research, two experiments were carried out bearing the following specific objectives, namely: 1) to investigate the effects of different CO2 concentrations on seedling growth, leaf gas exchange and macronutrients status of three oil palm progenies; and; 2) to examine the effects of different durations of CO2 enrichment on growth of oil palm seedlings. In experiment one, three tenera progenies of oil palm seedlings, Deli Urt, Deli Yangambi and Deli AVROS were exposed to three levels of CO2 enrichment viz ambient CO2 (control) twice ambient carbon CO2 (800 μmol/mol) and thrice ambient CO2 (1200 μmol/mol). The enrichment treatments were carried out continuously for six days per week between 0800 to 1000am for 15 weeks. Treatments were arranged in a Split Plot RCBD design replicated three times. Each treatment consisted of 10 palms with CO2 levels as the main plot and progenies, as the subplot. Results showed there were no interaction between CO2 and progenies enrichment neither were there preference for CO2 by the progenies observed. However, CO2 imposed (p≤0.05) a very marked effect on the growth and the leaf gas exchange parameters although all the variables measured did not differ significantly when palms were exposed to 800 and 1200 μmol/mol of CO2. Exposing seedlings to higher (800 μmol/mol) CO2 concentration resulted in higher total biomass, net assimilation rate (NAR), RGR, plant height, frond number, basal diameter and total leaf area compared to the controlled seedlings. As further increase in CO2 concentration (1200 μmol/mol) occurred, seedlings become acclimatized to increased quantum efficiency of PSII (Fv/Fm). However total chlorophyll content and stomata density (pores/mm2) reduced. Higher CO2 concentration than ambient affected leaf gas exchange. Upon enrichment, net photosynthesis (A) and WUE increased, but there was reduction in stomata conductance (gs) and evapotranspiration rate (E). Increase in WUE under increased CO2 concentration implied that plant could utilize water per unit carbohydrate produced especially when undergoing stress. Seedlings treated with high CO2 increased their apparent quantum yield (α) and A max but light compensation point was reduced. Nutrient analysis from leaves showed that oil palm seedling treated with high CO2 are deficient in nutrients compared to control. Total N, P, K, Ca and Mg were significantly reduced (p≤0.05) in all the CO2 treatments but total carbon and C:N ratio increased. Enrichment with 800 μmol/mol CO2 was most efficient in enhancing growth and photosynthetic traits of oil palm seedlings although there was no significant difference between the three progenies. Result suggested, that enrichment with CO2 could improve growth of oil palm seedling. The study also proved that a two-hour straight fertilization with CO2 was able to enhance the growth of oil palm seedlings by increasing the photosynthetic rate, WUE and apparent quantum yield (α). In the second experiment, seedlings were exposed to different duration of CO2 enrichment viz: two hours (0800 – 1000; Control), three hours (0800 – 1100), and four hours (0800 – 1200) at 800 μmol/mol CO2. The treatments were arranged in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) replicated three times, and each treatment consisted of 12 palms. There was no significant difference in frond number, total chlorophyll contents, plant height, basal diameter, leaf area, total plant biomass, leaf area ratio, leaf weight ratio, shoot to root ratio, NAR and RGR when palms were exposed to different duration of CO2 enrichment. The result suggested that enrichment for two hours was efficient to enhance growth of oil palm seedling and that further increase in exposure time to CO2 enrichment did not help to further increase the growth. The results showed that CO2 at 800 μmol/mol with 2-hours of exposure was effective in increasing plant growth by increasing total biomass, RGR and NAR by 112, 18 and 70% respectively thus reducing the time for plants to be maintained in the nursery by 4 months

Industrial Process Water Treatment By Adsorption

Activated carbon was modified with sodium acetate at concentration of 10% and 15 % and used in fixed-bed column to study the adsorption of copper ions. Synthetic wastewater containing 258mg/l of copper was passed through plain activated carbon and modified activated carbon. Plain activated carbon was able to adsorb 20mg of Cu and activated carbon modified by treatment of 10% sodium acetate adsorbed 33mg of Cu. The highest adsorption capacity was found for the activated carbon modified by the treatment with 15% of sodium acetate, which adsorbed 45 mg of Cu; i.e 2.2 time as much as the polain activated carbon. After regeneration with MaOH, the activated carbon modified by the treatment with 15% sodium acetate was able to adsorb 60 mg of Cu; i.e three times as much as plain activated carbon

Increased Carbon Dioxide concentration improves the antioxidative properties of the Malaysian herb Kacip Fatimah (Labisia pumila Blume).

A randomized complete randomized design (RCBD) 3 by 3 experiment was designed to investigate and distinguish the relationships among production of secondary metabolites (total phenolics, TP; total flavonoids, TF), gluthatione (GSH), oxidized gluthatione (GSSG), soluble carbohydrate and antioxidant activities of the Malaysian medicinal herb Labisia pumila Blume under three levels of CO₂ enrichment (400, 800 and 1,200 µmol mol⁻¹) for 15 weeks. It was found that the treatment effects were solely contributed by interaction of CO₂ levels and secondary metabolites distribution in plant parts, GSH, GSHH and antioxidant activities (peroxyl radicals (ROO), superoxide radicals (O₂), hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) and hydroxyl radicals (OH). The records of secondary metabolites, glutahione, oxidized gluthathione and antioxidant activities in a descending manner came from the leaf enriched with 1,200 µmol/mol CO₂ > leaf 800 µmol/mol CO₂ > leaf 400 µmol/mol CO₂ > stem 1,200 µmol/mol CO₂ > stem 800 µmol/mol CO₂ > stem 400 µmol/mol CO₂ > root 1,200 µmol/mol CO₂ > root 800 µmol/mol CO₂ > root 400 µmol/mol CO₂. Correlation analyses revealed strong significant positive coefficients of antioxidant activities with total phenolics, flavonoids, GSH and GSHH indicating that an increase in antioxidative activity of L. pumila under elevated CO₂ might be up-regulated by the increase in production of total phenolics, total flavonoids, GSH, GSHH and soluble sugar. This study implied that the medicinal potential of herbal plant such as L. pumila can be enhanced under elevated CO₂, which had simultaneously improved the antioxidative activity that indicated by the high oxygen radical absorbance activity against ROO, O₂, H₂O₂, and OH radicals

Balai cerap astrofiqh di Malaysia: kesinambungan ilmu falak syarie dari Asia Barat

Balai cerap Astrofiqh dalam konteks Malaysia ialah balai cerap astronomi yang diurus tadbir oleh kerajaan dan berfungsi sebagai pusat penyelidikan, pendidikan ilmu falak dan penentuan ibadah umat Islam dan takwim di Malaysia. Kebanyakan elemen dan aplikasi falak dalam ibadah di dalam balai cerap tersebut berasaskan ilmu falak syarie yang dipindahkan daripada Asia Barat oleh para ulama Melayu. Ini menjadikan ia berbeza dengan balai cerap astronomi biasa. Kajian ini bertujuan untuk meninjau kewujudan balai cerap astrofiqh ini di Malaysia di sudut sejarah, perkembangan dan nilai-nilai yang menggambarkan bahawa ia adalah kesinambungan ilmu Falak Syarie daripada Asia Barat . Kajian ini juga melihat sepintas lalu beberapa nama penting dari kalangan alim ulama yang pernah menyumbang dalam kesinambungan ini di samping mengenal pasti beberapa peralatan falak yang terdapat di balai cerap tersebut sebagai bukti. Kajian perpustakaan, pengumpulan data, temu bual dan pemerhatian telah digunakan dalam kajian ini, di mana kitab turath dan moden telah dirujuk untuk mendapatkan bahan. Pemerhatian dan temu bual telah dibuat dengan cara lawatan terus ke balai cerap untuk memastikan kewujudan nilai-nilai yang boleh dianggap sebagai kesinambungan ilmu falak daripada Asia barat di balai cerap tersebut. Kajian ini mendapati bahawa Balai Cerap Astrofiqh di Malaysia adalah legasi ilmu falak dari Asia Barat yang telah dimulakan oleh ulama Melayu. Penglibatan mereka dalam bidang ini telah mengilhamkan kewujudan balai-balai cerap Astrofiqh tersebut sekali gus meninggalkan kesan dan nilai Asia Barat seperti penamaan dan peralatan falak tradisi yang masih dipelajari sehingga ke hari ini

Late and non-payments issues in the Malaysian construction industry : perspective of building material suppliers / Mohd Fisal Ishak, Kartina Alauddin and Mohd Shahrol Hafiz Ibrahim

Payment in the Malaysian construction industry has generally been an issue of concern. Late and non-payment problem is endemic in construction and needs to be addressed. The aim of this study is to investigate the issues related to late and non-payment based on the building materials suppliers’ perspective. Questionnaires were distributed to suppliers of building materials in the Klang Valley. Findings from the study shows the main cause of late and non-payment is the paymaster’s poor financial management while the main effect of late and non-payment is problem with the cash flow. The most recommended possible solution to cope with the issue is for the paymaster to conduct training on financial and cash flow management to the management team in the company

Relationship between extractable chlorophyll content and SPAD values in three varieties of Kacip Fatimah under greenhouse conditions

Relationship between extractable chlorophyll and relative chlorophyll values obtained using Soil Plant Analytical Development (SPAD)-502 meter were determined in three varieties of Labisia pumila (alata, pumila, lanceolata) under greenhouse conditions using fresh weight basis. The experiment was arranged as a complete randomized design replicated three times with each experimental unit containing five plants. There were no significant differences (P ≥ 0.05) for all the three varieties in their chlorophyll a, b and total. Best fit relationship was found to be linear in chlorophyll a, b and total (P ≤ 0.01) with ascending slope as SPAD values intensified. Chlorophyll b was higher than chlorophyll a in all the varieties indicating species as shade-loving plants. The chlorophyll content of L. pumila leaves can be conveniently determined using SPAD-502 chlorophyll meter, a technique providing simple, rapid, and nondestructive method to estimate leaf chlorophyll content which could also be an indicator of leaf nitrogen (N) status

The relationship of nitrogen and C/N ratio with secondary metabolites levels and antioxidant activities in three varieties of Malaysian Kacip Fatimah (Labisia pumila Blume).

Kacip Fatimah (Labisia pumila Blume), one of the most famous and widely used herbs, especially in Southeast Asia, is found to have interesting bioactive compounds and displays health promoting properties. In this study, the antioxidant activities of the methanol extracts of leaves, stems and roots of three varieties of L. pumila (var. alata, pumila and lanceolata) were evaluated in an effort to compare and validate the medicinal potential of this indigenous Malaysian herb species. The antioxidant activity determined by the 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay, as well as the total amount of phenolics and flavonoids were the highest in the leaves, followed by the stems and roots in all the varieties. A similar trend was displayed by the ferric reducing antioxidant potential (FRAP) activity, suggesting that the L. pumila varieties possess high foliar antioxidant properties. At low FRAP activity concentrations, the values of the leaves' inhibition activity in the three varieties were significantly higher than those of the stems and roots, with var. alata exhibiting higher antioxidant activities and total contents of phenolics and flavonoids compared to the varieties pumila and lanceolata. The high production of secondary metabolites and antioxidant activities in var. alata were firmly related to low nitrogen content and high C/N ratio in plant parts. The study also demonstrated a positive correlation between secondary metabolite content and antioxidant activities, and revealed that the consumption of L. pumila could exert several beneficial effects by virtue of its antioxidant activity

Conceptual model of continuance intention to use of the Islamic blog / Mohd Nurul Hafiz Ibrahim, Mohd Sazili Mohd Shahibi and Mohamad Noorman Masrek.

The purpose of this paper is to offer greater insight in the role of content-related factor in the continuance used of the Islamic weblogs as the source of Islamic teachings and practices. Information System (IS) continuance intention Model is being employed as a conceptual tool to re-interpret the existing evidence of the continuance used of the weblogs. Additional elements including credibility, reliability and objectivity are being included to further clarify the role of content-related factor in determining the continued used of the weblogs. The analysis demonstrated that people tend to revisit the weblogs with reliable and credible information. The paper presents the importance of content in terms of credibility, objectivity, and reliability in encouraging people to continue use the Islamic weblogs in disseminating the Islamic information and knowledge significantly influences the people’s intention to revisit the weblogs in future

Photosynthetic capacity, photochemical efficiency and chlorophyll content of three varieties of Labisia pumila Benth. Exposed to open field and greenhouse growing conditions.

Three varieties (Alata, Pumila and Lanceolata) of Malaysian indigenous medicinal herb Labisia pumila Benth. grown in greenhouse and open field were tested to evaluate and compare their photosynthetic and maximal quantum efficiency of photosystem II (F v/F m) reactions. Every variety grown in greenhouse demonstrated higher light-saturated photosynthetic capacity than in the open field. The diurnal net photosynthesis (A) curve in the open field also displayed dual peaks with lower daily average A compared to the greenhouse. Varieties Alata and Pumila were found to acclimatize better under both growing conditions. The diurnal patterns of F v/F m indicated that plants grown under greenhouse encountered less photoinhibition than in open field condition. A decrease in chlorophyll (chl) a/b ratio in leaves of greenhouse plants with significant increase in chl b was observed. This study indicates that var. Alata and var. Pumila have the capacity to acclimatize to greenhouse growth condition