Health and nutrition of Orang Asli (Che Wong) at Krau Wildlife Reserve, Pahang – a descriptive study

This study was conducted to determine the nutritional status of Orang Asli (Che Wong) men, women and children. Through purposive sampling, 29 households consisting of 29 men, 28 women, and 20 children (10 female and 10 male) were chosen. Demographic and socioeconomic information were collected using structured questionnaire. Men and women were measured for height, weight, blood pressure and waist circumference while weight and height was measured for children. Mean age for men, women and children were 39.89±17.09 years, 33.7±16.08 years, and 3.25±1.33 years respectively. Only 6.9% of men and 14.3% of women completed 3 years of primary school education. The average household income was RM 261.56±254.40. Mean Body Mass Index (BMI) for men was 21.83±3.40 (underweight: 13.8%, normal: 72.4%, overweight: 10.3%, and obese: 3.3%). Mean Body Mass Index (BMI) for women was 28.6±4.05 (underweight: 23.3%, normal weight: 46.3%, and overweight: 26.7%). The mean circumference for men was 74.43±6.09cm and for women, it was 73.92±6.80 cm. However, caution should be exercised when interpreting the BMI results when none of them had waist circumference more than 102 cm (men) and 88 cm (women). About 10.3% of the men and 10.7% of women had blood pressure of more than 130/85 mmHg. The prevalence of underweight, stunting and wasting of children was 45%, 35% and 30% respectively. Food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) consisting of seven food groups (cereals, meats, fish, fruits, vegetables, dairy products and drinks) was used to determine the dietary diversity score. The minimum score was 0 and the maximum score was 37. Mean total score for men was 9.46±3.70 (maximum score of 18) and for women, it was 9.48 ± 4.63 (maximum score of 21). Food patterns for both male and female were similar whereby fruits and milk groups were the least consumed. In conclusion, further research should be conducted in the Che Wong community to determine the association between food intake and nutritional status of Orang Asli

Variation of the Fine-Structure Constant from the de Sitter Invariant Special Relativity

There are obvious discrepancies among various experimental constraints on the variation of the fine-structure constant, $\alpha$. We attempt to discuss the issue in the framework of de Sitter invariant Special Relativity (${\cal SR}_{c,R}$) and to present a possible solution to the disagreement. In addition, on the basis of the observational data and the discussions presented in this Letter, we derive a rough theoretical estimate of the radius of the Universe.Comment: 8 pages, no figure

Nonlinear energy-loss straggling of protons and antiprotons in an electron gas

The electronic energy-loss straggling of protons and antiprotons moving at arbitrary nonrelativistic velocities in a homogeneous electron gas are evaluated within a quadratic response theory and the random-phase approximation (RPA). These results show that at low and intermediate velocities quadratic corrections reduce significantly the energy-loss straggling of antiprotons, these corrections being, at low-velocities, more important than in the evaluation of the stopping power.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, to appear in Phys. Rev.

Pengaruh Penambahan Beberapa Esens Buah pada Perangkap Metil Eugenol terhadap Ketertarikan Lalat Buah Bactrocera Dorsalis Kompleks pada Pertanaman Mangga di Desa Pasirmuncang, Majalengka

Fruit fly (Bactrocera dorsalis Complex) is one of the major pests in horticultural commodities in Indonesia. In this present study, a control method of formulating methyl eugenol and the addition of fruit essences was tested to attract B. dorsalis Complex. The objective was to find out the effect of fruit essences addition in the performance of methyl eugenol in attracting fruit flies and to obtain the most effective fruit essences for attracting male and female fruit flies. The experiment was conducted on mango plantation in Pasirmuncang village, Majalengka, West Java from March 2016 until December 2016. Several synthetic fruit essences which were separately added to methyl eugenol in this experiment were mango, citrus, guava, and starfruit essences. The results showed that the addition of fruit essences on methyl eugenol traps had the same effectiveness or as good as any single methyl eugenol trap. Moreover, the additions of mango and orange essences were not effective enough in attracting female fruit flies, although the number of female fruit flies that were caught were more than the other treatments. IntisariLalat buah Bactrocera dorsalis Kompleks merupakan salah satu hama utama pada komoditas hortikultura. Pada penelitian ini, metode pengendalian dengan memformulasikan metil eugenol dan tambahan esens buah diuji untuk menarik B. dorsalis Kompleks. Tujuannya adalah untuk mengetahui efek penambahan esens buah pada kinerja perangkap metil eugenol dalam menarik lalat buah serta untuk mendapatkan esens buah yang efektif untuk menarik lalat buah betina. Penelitian ini dilakukan di perkebunan mangga di desa Pasirmuncang, Majalengka, Jawa Barat dari bulan Maret 2016 hingga bulan Desember 2016. Beberapa jenis esens buah sintetik yang secara terpisah ditambahkan pada metil eugenol pada percobaan ini adalah mangga, jeruk, jambu biji, dan belimbing. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa penambahan esens buah pada perangkap metil eugenol memiliki keefektifan yang sama baiknya dengan perangkap metil eugenol secara tunggal. Selain itu, penambahan esens mangga dan esens jeruk belum cukup efektif dalam menarik lalat buah betina meskipun jumlah lalat buah betina yang tertangkap lebih banyak dibandingkan dengan perlakuan lainnya

The pathogenic role of the renal proximal tubular cell in diabetic nephropathy

Abstract A growing body of evidence indicates that the renal proximal tubular epithelial cell (PTEC) plays an important role in the pathogenesis of diabetic nephropathy (DN). Microalbuminuria that intensifies over time to overt proteinuria, a hallmark of DN, is already known to activate the PTEC to induce tubulointerstitial inflammation. In addition to proteins, a number of diabetic substrates including high glucose per se, advanced glycation end-products and their carbonyl intermediates, angiotensin II, and ultrafiltered growth factors activate a number of signaling pathways including nuclear factor kappa B, protein kinase C, extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2, p38, signal transducer and activator of transcription-1 and the generation of reactive oxygen species, to culminate in tubular cell hypertrophy and the accumulation in the interstitium of a repertoire of chemokines, cytokines, growth factors and adhesion molecules capable of orchestrating further inflammation and fibrosis. More recently, the kallikreinkinin system (KKS) and toll-like receptors (TLRs) in PTECs have been implicated in this process. While in vitro data suggest that the KKS contributes to the progression of DN, there are conflicting in vivo results on its precise role, which may in part be strain-dependent. On the other hand, there are both in vitro and in vivo data to suggest a role for both TLR2 and TLR4 in DN. In this review, we offer a critical appraisal of the events linking the participation of the PTEC to the pathogenesis of DN, which we believe may be collectively termed diabetic tubulopathy

PCK Model Shulman Berdasarkan Pengalaman Mengajar Guru Fisika

Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah untuk menentukan kompetensi PCK dengan model Shulman guru fisika berdasarkan pengalaman mengajar. Metode penelitian yang digunakan adalah deskriptif kualitatif dengan analisis wacana. Subyek penelitian adalah dua guru fisika di sekolah menengah. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa guru fisika yang memiliki pengalaman mengajar lebih lama lebih fleksibel, terfokus pada kedalaman materi dan lebih bervariasi dalam menggunakan model pembelajaran, sedangkan guru dengan pengalaman mengajar yang buruk fokus pada kedalaman materi. Berdasarkan hasil ini dapat diketahui karakteristik mengajar guru berdasarkan pengalaman mengajar. Studi ini berguna sebagai rekomendasi bagi para pemangku kepentingan untuk menentukan sejauh mana integrasi kompetensi pedagogis dan konten dari masing-masing guru

Theory of control of optomechanical transducers for quantum networks

We present a scheme of control for the arbitrary optical interface mediated by a nanoscale mechanical oscillator between flying qubits and optical nonactive solid-state qubits. This quantum interface lays the foundation for many key functions of a quantum network, such as transferring, swapping, and entangling qubits between distant nodes of a quantum network. Numerical simulations of the quantum interface operations show high fidelities and robust tolerance under realistic experimental conditions. Compared with a previous scheme, it may significantly increase the speed of state transfer operation of high fidelity

The Validity of MotionSense HRV in Estimating Sedentary Behavior and Physical Activity under Free-Living and Simulated Activity Settings.

MotionSense HRV is a wrist-worn accelerometery-based sensor that is paired with a smartphone and is thus capable of measuring the intensity, duration, and frequency of physical activity (PA). However, little information is available on the validity of the MotionSense HRV. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to assess the concurrent validity of the MotionSense HRV in estimating sedentary behavior (SED) and PA. A total of 20 healthy adults (age: 32.5 ± 15.1 years) wore the MotionSense HRV and ActiGraph GT9X accelerometer (GT9X) on their non-dominant wrist for seven consecutive days during free-living conditions. Raw acceleration data from the devices were summarized into average time (min/day) spent in SED and moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA). Additionally, using the Cosemed K5 indirect calorimetry system (K5) as a criterion measure, the validity of the MotionSense HRV was examined in simulated free-living conditions. Pearson correlations, mean absolute percent errors (MAPE), Bland-Altman (BA) plots, and equivalence tests were used to examine the validity of the MotionSense HRV against criterion measures. The correlations between the MotionSense HRV and GT9X were high and the MAPE were low for both the SED (r = 0.99, MAPE = 2.4%) and MVPA (r = 0.97, MAPE = 9.1%) estimates under free-living conditions. BA plots illustrated that there was no systematic bias between the MotionSense HRV and criterion measures. The estimates of SED and MVPA from the MotionSense HRV were significantly equivalent to those from the GT9X; the equivalence zones were set at 16.5% for SED and 29% for MVPA. The estimates of SED and PA from the MotionSense HRV were less comparable when compared with those from the K5. The MotionSense HRV yielded comparable estimates for SED and PA when compared with the GT9X accelerometer under free-living conditions. We confirmed the promising application of the MotionSense HRV for monitoring PA patterns for practical and research purposes

The Scientific Life Of John Bahcall

This article follows the scientific life of John Norris Bahcall, including his tenacious pursuit of the solar neutrino problem, his contributions to our understanding of galaxies, quasars, and their emissions, and his leadership of and advocacy for astronomy and astrophysics.Comment: Prefactory for Annual Reviews of Nuclear and Particle Science; 23 pages, 6 figure