ON-FARM GROWER-FRIENDLY NURSERY TECHNIQUE FOR ACCLIMATIZATION OF TISSUE-CULTURED BANANA SEEDLINGS

Banana is one of the common fruit preferences in the world. The market demand for this crop increasing year round. Tissue-cultured banana seedlings are getting widely used as planting materials among the growers for its quality assured properties, particularly for commercial plantation. However, most of the small scale growers are still using conventional planting sources (water suckers and sword suckers). They do not prefer tissue-cultured seedlings due to its expensive price, delicate to handle and often result in high post-transplanting mortality rate. The considerably high cost is due to the process of producing the tissue-cultured seedlings at the nursery stage (acclimatization). Even at the nursery stage, the conventional acclimatization process of the plantlets in the nursery results in non-uniformity of establishment and high mortality rate. The research was conducted to develop a nursery technique that will improve these drawbacks in order to improve greater acceptance and responsive level for the growers towards tissue-cultured seedlings. Based on the results, the developed technique has increased the survival rate (reducing mortality rate) of seedlings as compared to the conventional technique. In addition, this developed technique can be adopted on-farm instead of using protected nursery as conventionally practiced. Using this technique, the seedlings would be more easily adapted to the farm after transplanting. Ordinary farmers prefer younger seedlings (10-15cm in height) for planting as they grow faster than that of older seedlings with common quality (15-25cm in height). Girth size of seedlings would be the higher consideration in meeting the requirement for transplanting purpose. The developed technique has shown better growth performance in both height and girth parameters in the first 36 days as compared to conventional technique. Meaning that this helps to shorten the nursery period and create an alternative standard for seedlings to be transplanted

A study of frequency and pulses for stepper motor controller system by using programmable logic controller

The stepper motor movement process produced different frequency and pulses. This research explained about the frequency and pulses for the stepper motor movement by using Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) as research method. The study was done to find the suitable frequency and pulses for stepper motor movement by developing a prototype stepper motor controller system. The pulse frequency used did not affected the distance of moving load in the stepper motor operations. The increasing number of pulse frequency only will affect the time taken for the stepper motor to complete its operations. The result showed that number of pulse frequency at high operation was 5000 Hz. Pulse number reacted as a manipulated variable that affected both factor which is time taken of stepper motor operation and the distance of moving load

Differential Responses to Blood Pressure and Oxidative Stress in Streptozotocin-Induced Diabetic Wistar-Kyoto Rats and Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats: Effects of Antioxidant (Honey) Treatment

Oxidative stress is implicated in the pathogenesis and/or complications of hypertension and/or diabetes mellitus. A combination of these disorders increases the risk of developing cardiovascular events. This study investigated the effects of streptozotocin (60 mg/kg; ip)-induced diabetes on blood pressure, oxidative stress and effects of honey on these parameters in the kidneys of streptozotocin-induced diabetic Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) and spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). Diabetic WKY and SHR were randomized into four groups and received distilled water (0.5 mL) and honey (1.0 g/kg) orally once daily for three weeks. Control SHR had reduced malondialdehyde (MDA) and increased systolic blood pressure (SBP), catalase (CAT) activity, and total antioxidant status (TAS). SBP, activities of glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and glutathione reductase (GR) were elevated while TAS was reduced in diabetic WKY. In contrast, SBP, TAS, activities of GPx and GR were reduced in diabetic SHR. Antioxidant (honey) treatment further reduced SBP in diabetic SHR but not in diabetic WKY. It also increased TAS, GSH, reduced glutathione (GSH)/oxidized glutathione (GSSG) ratio, activities of GPx and GR in diabetic SHR. These data suggest that differences in types, severity, and complications of diseases as well as strains may influence responses to blood pressure and oxidative stress

A non-dominated sorting Differential Search Algorithm Flux Balance Analysis (ndsDSAFBA) for in silico multiobjective optimization in identifying reactions knockout

Metabolic engineering is defined as improving the cellular activities of an organism by manipulating the metabolic, signal or regulatory network. In silico reaction knockout simulation is one of the techniques applied to analyse the effects of genetic perturbations on metabolite production. Many methods consider growth coupling as the objective function, whereby it searches for mutants that maximise the growth and production rate. However, the final goal is to increase the production rate. Furthermore, they produce one single solution, though in reality, cells do not focus on one objective and they need to consider various different competing objectives. In this work, a method, termed ndsDSAFBA (non-dominated sorting Differential Search Algorithm and Flux Balance Analysis), has been developed to find the reaction knockouts involved in maximising the production rate and growth rate of the mutant, by incorporating Pareto dominance concepts. The proposed ndsDSAFBA method was validated using three genome-scale metabolic models. We obtained a set of non-dominated solutions, with each solution representing a different mutant strain. The results obtained were compared with the single objective optimisation (SOO) and multi-objective optimisation (MOO) methods. The results demonstrate that ndsDSAFBA is better than the other methods in terms of production rate and growth rate

Effects of anthropogenic activities on the heavy metal levels in the clams and sediments in a tropical river

The present study aimed to assess the effects of anthropogenic activities on the heavy metal levels in the Langat River by transplantation of Corbicula javanica. In addition, potential ecological risk indexes (PERI) of heavy metals in the surface sediments of the river were also investigated. The correlation analysis revealed that eight metals (As, Co, Cr, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn) in total soft tissue (TST) while five metals (As, Cd, Cr, Fe and Mn) in shell have positively and significantly correlation with respective metal concentration in sediment, indicating the clams is a good biomonitor of the metal levels. Based on clustering patterns, the discharge of dam impoundment, agricultural activities and urban domestic waste were identified as three major contributors of the metals in Pangsun, Semenyih and Dusun Tua, and Kajang, respectively. Various geochemical indexes for a single metal pollutant (geoaccumulation index (I geo), enrichment factors (EF), contamination factor (C f) and ecological risk (Er)) all agreed that Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni and Zn are not likely to cause adverse effect to the river ecosystem, but As and Pb could pose a potential ecological risk to the river ecosystem. All indexes (degree of contamination (C d), combined pollution index (CPI) and PERI) showed that overall metal concentrations in the tropical river are still within safe limit. River metal pollution was investigated. Anthropogenic activities were contributors of the metal pollution. Geochemical indexes showed that metals are within the safe limit

Effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on surgery for indeterminate thyroid nodules (THYCOVID): a retrospective, international, multicentre, cross-sectional study

Background Since its outbreak in early 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has diverted resources from non-urgent and elective procedures, leading to diagnosis and treatment delays, with an increased number of neoplasms at advanced stages worldwide. The aims of this study were to quantify the reduction in surgical activity for indeterminate thyroid nodules during the COVID-19 pandemic; and to evaluate whether delays in surgery led to an increased occurrence of aggressive tumours.Methods In this retrospective, international, cross-sectional study, centres were invited to participate in June 22, 2022; each centre joining the study was asked to provide data from medical records on all surgical thyroidectomies consecutively performed from Jan 1, 2019, to Dec 31, 2021. Patients with indeterminate thyroid nodules were divided into three groups according to when they underwent surgery: from Jan 1, 2019, to Feb 29, 2020 (global prepandemic phase), from March 1, 2020, to May 31, 2021 (pandemic escalation phase), and from June 1 to Dec 31, 2021 (pandemic decrease phase). The main outcomes were, for each phase, the number of surgeries for indeterminate thyroid nodules, and in patients with a postoperative diagnosis of thyroid cancers, the occurrence of tumours larger than 10 mm, extrathyroidal extension, lymph node metastases, vascular invasion, distant metastases, and tumours at high risk of structural disease recurrence. Univariate analysis was used to compare the probability of aggressive thyroid features between the first and third study phases. The study was registered on ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT05178186.Findings Data from 157 centres (n=49 countries) on 87 467 patients who underwent surgery for benign and malignant thyroid disease were collected, of whom 22 974 patients (18 052 [78 center dot 6%] female patients and 4922 [21 center dot 4%] male patients) received surgery for indeterminate thyroid nodules. We observed a significant reduction in surgery for indeterminate thyroid nodules during the pandemic escalation phase (median monthly surgeries per centre, 1 center dot 4 [IQR 0 center dot 6-3 center dot 4]) compared with the prepandemic phase (2 center dot 0 [0 center dot 9-3 center dot 7]; p<0 center dot 0001) and pandemic decrease phase (2 center dot 3 [1 center dot 0-5 center dot 0]; p<0 center dot 0001). Compared with the prepandemic phase, in the pandemic decrease phase we observed an increased occurrence of thyroid tumours larger than 10 mm (2554 [69 center dot 0%] of 3704 vs 1515 [71 center dot 5%] of 2119; OR 1 center dot 1 [95% CI 1 center dot 0-1 center dot 3]; p=0 center dot 042), lymph node metastases (343 [9 center dot 3%] vs 264 [12 center dot 5%]; OR 1 center dot 4 [1 center dot 2-1 center dot 7]; p=0 center dot 0001), and tumours at high risk of structural disease recurrence (203 [5 center dot 7%] of 3584 vs 155 [7 center dot 7%] of 2006; OR 1 center dot 4 [1 center dot 1-1 center dot 7]; p=0 center dot 0039).Interpretation Our study suggests that the reduction in surgical activity for indeterminate thyroid nodules during the COVID-19 pandemic period could have led to an increased occurrence of aggressive thyroid tumours. However, other compelling hypotheses, including increased selection of patients with aggressive malignancies during this period, should be considered. We suggest that surgery for indeterminate thyroid nodules should no longer be postponed even in future instances of pandemic escalation.Funding None.Copyright (c) 2023 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

The relationships between harvest index, grain yield and biomass in rice (Hubungkait antara indeks penuaian, hasil dan biomas padi)

Abstrak Nilai indeks penuaian dan biomas didapati lebih tinggi pada musim biasa berbanding dengan luar musim bagi kebanyakan varieti padi yang dikaji. Hubungkait tidak linear yang ketara diperoleh antara indeks penuaian dengan hasil dan antara hasil dengan biomas. Kajian ini menunjukkan terdapatnya arah aliran peningkatan nilai indeks penuaian dan hasil pada varieti yang diisytiharkan. Kadaria (42.4%) dan MR 84 (40.5%) memperoleh nilai indeks penuaian yang tinggi pada luar musim 1988 manakala indeks penuaian Setanjung (51.3%) dan MR 84 (49.1%) paling tinggi pada musim biasa 1988/89. Hasil Malinja dan Mahsuri paling tinggi pada luar musim manakala hasil MR 84 dan Setanjung paling tinggi pada musim biasa. Sungguhpun hubungkait antara hasil dengan biomas ketara, kebanyakan varieti yang baru diisytiharkan menunjukkan peningkatan hasil tanpa peningkatan biomas. Peningkatan hasil yang diiringi dengan peningkatan nilai indeks penuaian terjadi mungkin disebabkan oleh bertambahnya kecekapan ' partitioning' . Abstract Harvest index, grain yield and biomass were significantly higher in the main season than in the off-season for most of the 20 released varieties studied. Significant non-linear relationships were observed for harvest index and grain yield, and for grain yield and biomass. The study indicated a general tendency of improvement in harvest index and grain yield among the released varieties. Kadaria (42.4%) and MR 84 (40.5%) had the highest harvest index in the offseason 1988, while harvest indices of Setanjung (51.3%) and MR 84 (49.1%) were highest in the main season 1988/89. Malinja and Mahsuri had the highest grain yields in the off-season while that of MR 84 and Setanjung were highest in the main season. Although the relationship between grain yield and biomass was strongly positive, it was observed that the recent released varieties achieved higher yield without concomitant increase in biomass. Increase in grain yield, accompanied by increased harvest index, was probably attributed to increase in partitioning efficiency

A comparative signaling cost analysis of macro mobility scheme in NEMO with mobility management protocol

NEMO BSP is an upgraded addition to Mobile IPv6 (MIPv6). As MIPv6 and its enhancements (i.e. HMIPv6) possess some limitations like higher handoff latency, packet loss, NEMO BSP also faces all these shortcomings by inheritance. Network Mobility (NEMO) is involved to handle the movement of Mobile Router (MR) and it’s Mobile Network Nodes (MNNs) during handoff. Hence it is essential to upgrade the performance of mobility management protocol to obtain continuous session connectivity with lower delay and packet loss in NEMO environment. The completion of handoff process in NEMO BSP usually takes longer period since MR needs to register its single primary care of address (CoA) with home network that may cause performance degradation of the applications running on Mobile Network Nodes. Moreover, when a change in point of attachment of the mobile network is accompanied by a sudden burst of signaling messages, "Signaling Storm" occurs which eventually results in temporary congestion, packet delays or even packet loss. This effect is particularly significant for wireless environment where a wireless link is not as steady as a wired link since bandwidth is relatively limited in wireless link. Hence, providing continuous Internet connection without any interruption through applying multihoming technique and route optimization mechanism in NEMO are becoming the center of attention to the current researchers. In this paper, we propose a handoff cost model to compare the signaling cost of MM-NEMO with NEMO Basic Support Protocol (NEMO BSP) and HMIPv6.The numerical results shows that the signaling cost for the MM-NEMO scheme is about 69.6 % less than the NEMO-BSP and HMIPv6

An Improved Scatter Search Algorithm for Parameter Estimation in Large-Scale Kinetic Models of Biochemical Systems

Background: Mathematical models play a central role in facilitating researchers to better understand and comprehensively analyze various processes in biochemical systems. Their usage is beneficial in metabolic engineering as they help predict and improve desired products. However, one of the primary challenges in model building is parameter estimation. It is the process to find nearoptimal values of kinetic parameters which may culminate in the best fit of model prediction to experimental data. Methods: This paper proposes an improved scatter search algorithm to address the challenging parameter estimation problem. The improved algorithm is based on hybridization of quasi oppositionbased learning in enhanced scatter search (QOBLESS) method. The algorithm is tested using a largescale metabolic model of Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) cells. Results: The experiment result shows that the proposed algorithm performs better than other algorithms in terms of convergence speed and the minimum value of the objective function (loglikelihood). The estimated parameters from the experiment produce a better model by means of obtaining a reasonable good fit of model prediction to the experimental data Conclusion: The kinetic parameters’ value obtained from our work was able to result in a reasonable best fit of model prediction to the experimental data, which contributes to a better understanding and produced more accurate model. Based on the results, the QOBLESS method can be used as an efficient parameter estimation method in large-scale kinetic model building