Randomly Amplified Polymorphic DNA Analysis Of Seagrass Halophila Ovalis.

Seagrasses are an important component of coastal system, not only important as nursery ground and shelter for many species of marine life, but also have great value in stabilizing and protecting coastlines from erosion due to the physical character of their leaves and root-rhizome system (Sudara et al. 1992

Insecticidal and repellant activities of Southeast Asia plants towards insect pests: a review

Crops are being damaged by several plant pests. Several strategies have been developed to restrict the damage of cultivated plants by using synthetic pesticides and repellants. However, the use to control these insects is highly discouraged because of their risks on humans. Therefore, several alternatives have been developed from plant extracts to protect crops from plant pests. Accordingly, this review focuses on outlining the insecticidal and repellant activities of Southeast Asia plants towards insect pests. Several extracts of plants from Southeast Asia were investigated to explore their insecticidal and repellant activities. Azadiracha indica (neem) and Piper species were highly considered for their insecticidal and repellant activities compared to other plants. This review also addressed the investigation on extracts of other plant species that were reported to exert insecticidal and repellant activities. Most of the conducted studies have been still in the primarily stage of investigation, lacking a focus on the insecticidal and repellant spectrum and the identification of the active constituents which are responsible for the insecticidal and repellant activity

Optical Routers based on Microring Resonator for Optical Networks-on-chip

Optical technology has boosted the revolution of Optical Networks-on-Chip (ONoC). In this paper, a passive microring resonator (MRR) semiconductor switching element is proposed. The design of a resonator router based on high-order of microring resonators is demonstrated in Silicon-on-Insulator (SOI). The suitability of the MRR as the basic building block for ONoC applications was investigated based on the insertion loss, extinction ratio (ER) and FSR. This model was designed on the silicon and modeled using COMSOL software. The result shows that excellent performance was achieved with huge FSR, low insertion loss, 3-dB bandwidth of less than 2nm and high extinction ratio

IMPACT OF ASPARTAME CONSUMPTION ON NEUROTRANSMITTERS IN RAT BRAIN

Background: Aspartame (APM), a common artificial sweetener, has been used for diabetic subjects and body weight control for a long time. The goal of the present study was to evaluate the impact of APM consumption on neurotransmitters and oxidative stress in rat’s brain. Materials and Methods: Four groups of male Wistar albino rats was used: Group1, control (Rats fed on normal diet). Group 2: Rats were received aspartame (50 mg/kg b w). Group3: Rats were received aspartame (75 mg/kg b w). Group 4: Rats were received aspartame (125 mg/kg b w). Five rats were decapitated after 10, 20, 30 and 40 days from start of experiment. Blood and brain tissue were collected for biochemical analysis. Biochemical analysis of brain tissue includes neurotransmitters (Acetylcholine, epinephrine, norepinephrine, γ-aminobutyric acid and serotonin). Serum for determination of lipid peroxidation (MDA), reduced glutathione and superoxide dismutase (SOD). Results: the data obtained showed that antioxidant activities (SOD and GSH) were reduced significantly (

Analysis of WiMAX Positioning Using Received-Signal-Strength Method

This paper presents an analysis of WiMAX positioning by using received-signal-strength (RSS) method. A simulator was developed using MATLAB to demonstrate the ability of RSS method for WiMAX positioning. With this simulator, the user can specify their own data or parameters in analyzing and obtaining the target object location. In this study, the analysis was done in three different scenarios that simulate various conditions for WiMAX positioning. Result shows that channel or propagation models are crucial part in the process of analyzing the communication system where it will affect the performance of positioning detection. Selection of perfect model that resemble the real environment will led to better wireless positioning system. By the performance evaluation, the user can plan better simulation system and can create more accurate algorithms for radio positionin

The Impact Of Workload On Job Performance Among Doctors In The Public Sector

This research is focused on exploring the impact of workload on job performance among doctors in a public hospital. A qualitative approach was used and the method is used by the researcher is open-ended questionnaires. Purposive sampling was used in order to collect the data from informants. In this studied, four informants are doctors at the public hospital, Sarikei, Sarawak. Data analysis used by the researcher in this studied is content analysis. Based on the research findings, factors which contribute to the workload among doctors such as insufficient staff, the number of patients, inadequate equipment, inappropriate working hours and so on. In addition, the short term impact of workload on doctors’ performance can be positive and negative. But, the long term impact of workload on doctors’ performance more on negative impact such make a mistake, intention to leave organization, mental and physical health problem, decrease family relation and increasing divorce rates. This study also proposes related research implication and recommendation for further research

Fabrication of Titanium Dioxide Nanorod Arrays-Polyaniline Heterojunction for Development of UV Photosensor

An ultraviolet (UV) photosensor is successfully fabricated via heterojunction device consisted of n-type titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanorod arrays (TNAs), and p-type polyaniline (PANI) by a facile method on fluorine tin oxide (FTO)-coated glass substrate. The fabricated UV photosensor demonstrated a UV-catalyst activity through the generation of photocurrent under UV irradiation (365 nm, 750 µW/cm2). The measured UV response showed the highest generation of photocurrent of 0.52 μAcm-2, and responsivity of 0.65 mA/W at 1.0 V reverse bias. The results indicate that the fabricated TNAs/PANI heterojunction-based device could be a promising candidate for the application of UV photosensor

EPIdemiology of Surgery-Associated Acute Kidney Injury (EPIS-AKI) : Study protocol for a multicentre, observational trial

More than 300 million surgical procedures are performed each year. Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a common complication after major surgery and is associated with adverse short-term and long-term outcomes. However, there is a large variation in the incidence of reported AKI rates. The establishment of an accurate epidemiology of surgery-associated AKI is important for healthcare policy, quality initiatives, clinical trials, as well as for improving guidelines. The objective of the Epidemiology of Surgery-associated Acute Kidney Injury (EPIS-AKI) trial is to prospectively evaluate the epidemiology of AKI after major surgery using the latest Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) consensus definition of AKI. EPIS-AKI is an international prospective, observational, multicentre cohort study including 10 000 patients undergoing major surgery who are subsequently admitted to the ICU or a similar high dependency unit. The primary endpoint is the incidence of AKI within 72 hours after surgery according to the KDIGO criteria. Secondary endpoints include use of renal replacement therapy (RRT), mortality during ICU and hospital stay, length of ICU and hospital stay and major adverse kidney events (combined endpoint consisting of persistent renal dysfunction, RRT and mortality) at day 90. Further, we will evaluate preoperative and intraoperative risk factors affecting the incidence of postoperative AKI. In an add-on analysis, we will assess urinary biomarkers for early detection of AKI. EPIS-AKI has been approved by the leading Ethics Committee of the Medical Council North Rhine-Westphalia, of the Westphalian Wilhelms-University Münster and the corresponding Ethics Committee at each participating site. Results will be disseminated widely and published in peer-reviewed journals, presented at conferences and used to design further AKI-related trials. Trial registration number NCT04165369

Signatures of muonic activation in the Majorana Demonstrator

Experiments searching for very rare processes such as neutrinoless double-beta decay require a detailed understanding of all sources of background. Signals from radioactive impurities present in construction and detector materials can be suppressed using a number of well-understood techniques. Background from in situ cosmogenic interactions can be reduced by siting an experiment deep underground. However, the next generation of such experiments have unprecedented sensitivity goals of 1028 years half-life with background rates of 10-5cts/(keV kg yr) in the region of interest. To achieve these goals, the remaining cosmogenic background must be well understood. In the work presented here, Majorana Demonstrator data are used to search for decay signatures of metastable germanium isotopes. Contributions to the region of interest in energy and time are estimated using simulations and compared to Demonstrator data. Correlated time-delayed signals are used to identify decay signatures of isotopes produced in the germanium detectors. A good agreement between expected and measured rate is found and different simulation frameworks are used to estimate the uncertainties of the predictions. The simulation campaign is then extended to characterize the background for the LEGEND experiment, a proposed tonne-scale effort searching for neutrinoless double-beta decay in Ge76