Awareness and knowledge on modern biotechnology

Biotechnology has been considered as a very important industry in helping Malaysia to achieve its goal of becoming a highly industrialized nation by 2020. Thus, assessment of people’s knowledge and awareness on biotechnology is very important and according to a theory on decision making, people only form attitudes about technologies when they have acquired relevant information. The purpose of this paper is to study the awareness and knowledge level of the Malaysia public in the Klang Valley region and to compare their awareness and knowledge level across stakeholder groups. A survey was carried out in the Klang Valley region from August 2009 till February 2010 using self constructed  multidimensional instrument measuring ethical perception of transgenic banana. The respondents (n = 434) were stratified according to stakeholder groups which consisted of eleven groups: Producers, scientists, policy makers, NGOs, media, religious scholars, university students and consumers. Results of the survey showed that overall mean score for awareness and knowledge on modern biotechnology were moderate. ANOVAs showed significant differences in awareness on modern biotechnology across several background variables such as stakeholders’ group and educational level. Knowledge level differed significantly across stakeholder groups, educational level, religion, races, age groups and gender. The research findings serve as a useful database for understanding the level of awareness among the public in developing country.Key words: Awareness, knowledge, engagement, modern biotechnology, Malaysia

Investigation on Dynamics Characteristic of Multilayer Steel Plate Impacted by Projectile

The paper describes a work focused on the process of perforation of multilayer advanced high strength steel (AHSS). A numerical investigation has been carried out to analyze in details the perforation process subjected to normal impact by different nose shapes of projectiles. The perforation process has been simulated by the application of 3D analysis using IMPACT dynamic FE program suite. The comparison on failure modes depending on the projectile nose shape have been studied and evaluated. An appropriate constitutive relation was applied to describe the material behaviour of the multilayer target plate. The study covered different failure modes of perforated advanced high strength steel (AHSS) sheet according to different level of impact velocity ranging from 22 m/s to 78 m/s. The blunt projectile impact towards multilayer target plate leads to generation of plug formation and fragmentation while hemispherical projectile impact shows almost similar petals formation between first, second and third layer

The Impact of Diluted Detergents on Escherichia coli K12 (JM109)

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of diluted detergents namely, Clorox, Dettol and Aganol against Escherichia coli K12 (JM109), at different concentrations. Frequent usage of diluted detergents and disinfectants without knowing their effectiveness in killing microbes can act as a medium for infections in susceptible hosts. Moreover, it is known that the regular application of diluted detergents and disinfectants may actually cause antibiotic resistance. The efficacy of diluted detergents is determined by the minimum inhibition concentration (MIC) and the minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) using tube dilution assay. The susceptibility test is conducted using the disc diffusion technique. Dettol and Clorox exhibited effective bacteriostatic agents where the MIC is 0.75%. The lowest concentration of Dettol and Clorox required to kill E. coli K12 (JM109) or MBC is at the concentration of 3.0% and 5.0%, respectively. Aganol showed less effective bacteriostatic and bactericidal agents, where it required higher MIC of 1.25% and MBC of 10%. The susceptibility test indicated that the Clorox is the most effective antibacterial agent with the minimum inhibition zone of 7 mm at a concentration of 1.75%. Higher concentrations of Dettol and Aganol (of 10% and 20%, respectively) are needed to exhibit the antibacterial activity with the minimum inhibition zone of 7 mm