Ultrastructural Changes of Hevea brasiliensis Muell.-Arg. Seeds during Imbibed Storage

Ultra structural changes were observed in Hevea seeds stored at 10C, 22C and 27C Membrane degeneration appeared to be the most common feature of deterioration. At all storage temperatures, the plasma lemma was observed to be increasingly folded, disintegrated or withdrawn from the cell wall. The dissolution of the tonoplast was also widely observed

Desiccation and Cryopreservation of Embryonic Axes of Hevea brasiliensis Muell. - Arg.

Hevea embryonic axes were desiccated for a period of 1 - 5 hours and the moisture content was determined at the end of each hour of desiccation. Another set of embryonic axes were aseptically desiccated for the same period before they were cryopreserved for 16 hours by direct immersion in liquid nitrogen (-196°C). At a moisture content between 14 - 20% (desiccation for 2 - 5 hours), 20 - 69% of the embryonic axes survived cryopreservation and formed seedlings with normal roots and shoots when cultured in vitro. A bnormalities were deteched in some seedlings however, hence, refinement of the technique is needed

(N,N′-Diisopropyldithiocarbamato)triphenyltin(IV): crystal structure, Hirshfeld surface analysis and computational study

The crystal and molecular structures of the title triorganotin dithiocarbamate, [Sn(C6H5)3(C7H14NS2)], are described. The molecular geometry about the metal atom is highly distorted being based on a C3S tetrahedron as the dithiocarbamate ligand is asymmetrically chelating to the tin centre. The close approach of the second thione-S atom [SnS = 2.9264 (4) A˚ ] is largely responsible for the distortion. The molecular packing is almost devoid of directional interactions with only weak phenyl-C—HC(phenyl) interactions, leading to centrosymmetric dimeric aggregates, being noted. An analysis of the calculated Hirshfeld surface points to the significance of HH contacts, which contribute 66.6% of all contacts to the surface, with CH/HC [26.8%] and SH/HH [6.6%] contacts making up the balance

The influence of desiccation and rehydration on the survival of polyembryonic seed of Citrus suhuiensis cv. limau madu

A study was carried out to investigate the influence of desiccation and freezing followed by various presowing rehydration procedures on thedesiccation sensitivity of the seed of Citrus suhuiensis cv. limau madu. The freshly harvested seeds of limau madu were desiccated under a broadrange of relative humidity (RH) to various equilibrium water contents (g H2O g_1 dw). The desiccated and desiccated�frozen seeds were eitherdirectly sown under germination conditions or subjected to presowing rehydration procedures: seed preheating, prehumidification andosmoconditioning. The hydrated and desiccated seeds were sown in controlled germination conditions and the survival was evaluated 4�6weeks after sowing. The results showed that desiccation progressively reduced the percentage of normal seedling of the seeds of limau madu and the viability is almost lost at water contents below 0.08 g H2O g_1 dw. The estimated desiccation sensitivity was substantially high (WC50 = 0.143 g H2O g_1 dw) when the desiccated seeds were rapidly rehydrated (uncontrolled rehydration). In contrast, seed prehumidification, preheating and osmoconditioning (controlled rehydration procedures) markedly enhanced normal seedling percentages decreasing the estimated values ofWC50 (between 0.08 and 0.127 g H2O g_1 dw). While the rapidly rehydrated desiccated�frozen seeds were almost killed at water content of 0.15 g H2O g_1 dw, prehumidification and preheating have noticeably increased percentage of frozen seeds survival at the same water content. However, at water content of 0.21 g H2O g_1 dw preheating significantly (P < 0.05) increased percentage of normal seedling of the frozen seeds. Seed desiccation markedly reduced the percentages of germinated seeds with multiple seedlings. Seed controlled rehydration remarkably increased the survival of polyembryos. The beneficial effect of seed controlled rehydration on the survival of the desiccated seeds was pronounced at medium water contents (0.08�0.25 g H2O g_1 dw)

Engineering elements profile among first- and final-year engineering students in Malaysia

Under the Malaysian New Economic Model, a few strategic reform initiatives (SRI) call for globally competitive and excellent engineers. The recruitment of students into engineering programs at Malaysian higher education institutes is based solely on the students' examination results. Hence, it is not known whether students who apply for engineering programs have the correct pre-conception of what constitute engineering. This study aims at identifying engineering elements that can be integrated into school science and mathematics curriculum to introduce engineering at the school level. The engineering elements serve as the basis to produce an engineering profile database which is useful to identify potential school students to enroll in engineering programs. This paper reports the identification of engineering elements and surveys carried out among first-year and final-year engineering students studying at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, the only research university in Malaysia that specialized in engineering. The engineering elements, namely inquiry, design, operation and sustainability, were identified through literature review and interview with experts in engineering education while a set of questionnaire was used to identify the profiles of the students. The profiles of the first-year and final-year engineering students were compared to map out the engineering elements developed among them

Faktor Risiko Jenayah Pecah Rumah dan Impak Kepada Kesejahteraan Hidup Masyarakat

Jenayah pecah rumah merupakan suatu jenayah harta benda yang kerap terjadi dan jenayah ini sering kali dilaporkan berbanding jenayah kekerasan di Malaysia. Kegagalan melakukan pencegahan jenayah dalam mengawal permasalahan jenayah pecah rumah akan memberikan kesan kepada kesejahteraan masyarakat Malaysia. Artikel ini bertujuan untuk membincangkan mengenai faktor risiko jenayah pecah rumah dan impaknya terhadap kesejahteraan masyarakat. Kaedah kajian yang digunakan adalah berdasarkan kepada penelitian terhadap kajian-kajian lepas. Oleh itu, penelitian kajian lepas bagi faktor-faktor yang menyebabkan berlakunya jenayah pecah rumah serta impaknya terhadap kesejahteraan akan dibincangkan. Faktor kurangnya kawalan keselamatan, pemantauan pihak berkuasa PDRM dan Rukun Tetangga, serta sasaran penjenayah antara sebab berlakunya jenayah pecah rumah. Kesimpulannya, faktor-faktor berkenaan haruslah dititikberatkan supaya dapat mencegah daripada berlakunya jenayah pecah rumah. Artikel ini juga diharapkan dapat membantu pihak bertanggungjawab dalam merancang langkah pencegahan jenayah pecah rumah bagi menjamin kesejahteraan masyarakat