BROWN SPOT CAUSED BY CURVULARIA SPP., A NEW DISEASE OF ASPARAGUS

The distribution, aetiology and symptomatology of a new disease on asparagus ferns, which we have termed brown  spot,  is  described.  Descriptions  of  and  a  key  to  identification  of  the  causal  organisms,  Curvularia brachyspora, C. eragrostidis, C. lunata and C. pallescens, are also presented. Pathogenicity tests showed that C. lunata was the dominant and most virulent of the four species. Inoculation with conidial suspensions or mycelial transfers through wounded ferns were more effective in inducing the disease than inoculations on unwounded ferns. This is the first record of C. brachyspora in Malaysia and the first report of this disease on asparagus.Key words:  Malaysia/Plant diseases/Brown spotJCurvularia brachyspora/Curvularia eragrostidts/Curvularia lunata/Curvularia pallescens/Asparagus

Regionalization and harmonization in TVET

A transversal skill is one of the skills needed in every type of workplace setting. There is limited information about the perceptions of which transferable skills are needed in the workplace. The objective of this study is to explore the transferable skills among students and lecturers in TVET higher learning institutions in Indonesia and Malaysia. In the present study, transferable skills consist of communication skills, collaboration skills, problem-solving skills, entrepreneurship, and learning to learn skills. A qualitative research was conducted using survey. The five Likert scale questionnaire was distributed to lecturers and students from selected Malaysian and Indonesian universities who have bachelor program in engineering. Based on the analysis outcomes, it is clearly shown that Malaysian university engineering students yielded significantly higher scores on the perceptions of transferable skill acquisition in all measured components compared to their counterparts in Indonesia. Similar patterns of data distribution have been observed in Malaysian and Indonesian engineering students. Based on the lecturers’ perception, Malaysian and Indonesian Engineering Lecturers have comparable perceptions in the aspects of problem solving skills and entrepreneurship skills. In contrast, Malaysian university engineering lecturers gained significantly higher scores on the perception of communication skill, collaboration skill, and learning to learn skill compared to the Indonesian lecturers. The results indicate the need to increase transferable skills of both lecturers and students

The Evolution of Android Malware and Android Analysis Techniques

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Field evaluation of the efficacy of the mosquito killing system

A preliminary field study was undertaken to evaluate the efficacy of a mosquito trap; Mosquito Killing System (MKS) in capturing mosquitoes and other insects. MKS has an automatic activation by the use of a photocell. It is also supplemented with carbon dioxide and heat as attractants for mosquitoes and other insects. Three units of MKS were employed at three different locations within two study sites for ten days. The mosquitoes and other insects that were trapped in MKS were collected and morphologically identified daily in the laboratory. A total of 1,928 mosquitoes and other insects were trapped in all units of MKS. High numbers of mosquitoes (93.05%), particularly Aedes sp. and Culex sp. were captured from MKS. Among these, Culex quinquefasciatus (91.81%) was most abundant species collected. Only 0.84% of Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus trapped in MKS. Female mosquitoes (83.44%) were found to be more attracted to MKS compared to male mosquitoes of various species. These findings illustrated the potency of MKS utilization in surveillance and control activities of Cx. quinquefasciatus; a nuisance mosquito and also potential vector of urban brancroftian filariasis in Malaysia

Application of genetic algorithm on model-based optimisation of supercritical carbon dioxide extraction: An overview

Green supercritical carbon dioxide extraction technology has gained enormous interest especially in the application of extraction of natural products. The use of carbon dioxide as solvent in the extraction process is very advantageous as carbon dioxide is cheap, non-Toxic, high selectivity, and can easily be separated. Supercritical carbon dioxide extraction is considered as a complex process as more factors affect the outcome of the process as compared to conventional extraction methods. This technology requires higher cost to setup and maintain the equipment. For these reasons, the whole process needs to be fully understood to ensure that the process is well optimised. Mathematical modelling is a way to explain the relationship between process variables and the outcome of the process. The optimisation of supercritical carbon dioxide extraction needs to be highly integrated to be feasible, which means that a complex mathematical model is involved. In overcoming this problem, genetic algorithm was applied in several studies. Genetic algorithm is one of the optimisation methods that is able to optimise a complex and large scale of problems, with high accuracy and practicality. This paper intends to give an overview on the application of genetic algorithm in the optimisation of mathematical modelling of supercritical carbon dioxide extraction process

A classification framework for drug relapse prediction

This paper proposes a framework for relapse prediction using Artificial Neural Networkalgorithms among drug addicts at Pusat Rawatan Inabah. The data collected will be miningthrough Artificial Neural Network algorithms to generate patterns and useful knowledge andthen automatically classifying the relapse possibility. This research collaborates with PusatRawatan Inabah, which is one of the rehabilitation centers that provide a specific treatment torehabilitate the drug addicts from addiction. We expect that among the classification datamining algorithms, Artificial Intelligence Neural Network (ANN) is one of the bestalgorithms to predict relapse among drug addicts. This may help the rehabilitation center topredict relapse individually and the prediction result is hoped to prevent drug addicts fromrelapse.Keywords: classification; artificial neural network; drug addiction; Inabah rehabilitation

Future Opportunities for Port City Development: A Reciprocal Evaluationfor Competitive Advantage for Malaysian Seaports

The seaport is a crucial feature of economic progress since it facilitates commerce, provides additionalbenefits to a port and city and enables domestic and international companies to expand their openingsin the market. One of Malaysia?s least urbanised areas is the East Coast Region (ECR) of the Penin-sular, which is also experiencing several development challenges. For instance, many inhabitants arepoor or unemployed, while many households suffer from a low income. The region also is underde-veloped in logistical and transportation terms, as well as in its infrastructure and related facilities. Thisstudy presents an analysis of how the ?port city? has been defined, the ways that ports and cities existsymbiotically, and the principal influences over the way port cities develop. This study employed semi-structured interviews with 14 respondents, the majority of whom possessed considerable knowledgeand experience in the related field. The result shows that eight factors influence port city development,such as facilities and infrastructure; relationships; port city planning; port performance and competi-tion; green environment and quality of life; population growth; port city attractions and benchmarking.In addition, the port-city reciprocation needs to be strengthened to boost economic growth in the ECRof Peninsular Malaysi

The Development of the Vulnerability Index (VI) using Principal Component Analysis (PCA)

Climate change elevates the rate of emergence of urban heat islands (UHIs), especially in the tropics. UHIs severely affect human comfort and health. Many studies have suggested that urban areas should be properly mitigated or planned. To cope with this, it is best to present the issue using easy-to-understand approaches to allow for better decision-making, especially during urban planning. Based on the information, adaptations and mitigation strategies can be suggested in order to reduce the impact. Hence, this research was aimed at determining the heat vulnerability index (HVI) of urban areas. This study was conducted in Malaysia in the Klang Valley, a tropical city with a complex urban morphology. Remote sensing techniques were employed to extract and derive the spatial index values for exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity. A principal component analysis (PCA) was used to estimate the vulnerability as well as to generate the HVI. The most vulnerable districts were found to be Petaling (1.00), Kuala Lumpur (0.99), and Putrajaya (0.95). Kuala Lumpur had a level of exposure that was high (0.56), a level of sensitivity that was high (0.84), and capacity to adapt that was low (0.54), while Petaling had a high exposure value (0.56), very high sensitivity (1), and high adaptive capacity (0.72). A Pearson’s correlation (r) test also revealed that the variables used were highly correlated. From the preliminary findings, the vulnerability of the population to high temperatures in the Klang Valley can be identified to help develop adaptative plans that are targeted as a response to rapid warming in the future in Malaysia

Mitochondrial barcodes of dragonflies and damselflies originated from Taman Negara Endau Rompin, Johor, Malaysia

Dragonflies and damselflies (Odonates) are important biological indicators in freshwater ecosystems. However, identification among Odonates is often challenging due to their similar morphological features. Therefore, the incorporation of morphological identification by taxonomists and validation using mitochondrial barcodes such as cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) can be a more reliable approach to enhance the accuracy in species identification. In this study, four COI barcodes for Malaysian dragonflies (Neurothemis fluctuans) and damselflies (Neurobasis chinensis, Aristocypha fenestrella and Sundacypha petiolata) were generated. Three of the generated barcodes (D2 COI, D4 COI and D5 COI) supported the species identified by taxonomists meanwhile D3 COI deduced that the damselfly species was misidentified due to the very similar morphology between the same genus of damselfly. All of the COI barcodes are now available in the GenBank with the accession numbers of MT266926.1 (D2 COI), MT266925.1 (D3 COI), MT269676.1 (D4 COI) and MT266924.1 (D5 COI)