Morphological and molecular characterization of Curvularia and related species associated with leaf spot disease of rice in Peninsular Malaysia

Curvularia species are important phytopathogens reported worldwide. They are closely related; consist of major destructive pathogens mainly for grasses and cereal plants including rice (Oryza sativa). A leaf spot symptom of rice is one of the common symptoms found in the rice field and caused reduction of rice yield. However, there are no reports on Curvularia species associated with rice leaves showing spot symptoms. The objectives are to isolate and characterize Curvularia and related species from leaf spot of rice by using morphological and molecular characterization and to determine the phylogenetic relationship between the isolated fungi. Fungal isolation was done from diseased rice leaves showing leaf spot symptoms collected throughout Peninsular Malaysia. Thirty-three isolates were recovered and identified based on their morphological characteristics such as conidia morphology, colony appearance, pigmentation and growth rate for species delimitation. Internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region was amplified to confirm the species identification. The 33 isolates were identified as Bipolaris sorokiniana (10 isolates), Curvularia hawaiiensis (8 isolates), C. geniculata (6 isolates), C. eragrostidis (6 isolates), C. aeria (2 isolates) and C. lunata (1 isolate). A phylogenetic tree was constructed based on ITS sequences using neighbour-joining method. The tree grouped members of Curvularia and Bipolaris into different clades. The phylogenetic tree indicated that the presence of two groups of fungi species; highly virulent and mild pathogens. In conclusion, Curvularia species and Bipolaris sorokiniana were present in rice field in Malaysia and associated with leaf spot of rice

Load-deformation analysis on a slope at Gunung Pulai water treatment plant, Sultan Ibrahim reservoir

The Sultan Ibrahim Reservoir located at Gunung Pulai catchment area was previously managed by the Singapore's Public Utilities Board before the Board handed over the reservoir to Johor State Government under current management of the Syarikat Air Johor. At the present time, the Syarikat Air Johor is operating a Gunung Pulai Water Treatment Plant consisted of two main plants, i.e. Water Sedimentation Plant and Water Filtration Plant for treating raw water from the reservoir before supplying to the consumers. However, the integrity of water treatment plant's structure should be checked due to several cracks were observed, and moreover the structure was built over more than 90 years. The formation of the cracks in the Gunung Pulai Water Treatment Plant may be induced by movement of the sloping area to the south-east of Water Sedimentation Plant. The calculated Factor of Safety (FOS) via sensitivity analysis for cross sections of original slope indicates any decrease in friction angle and/or cohesion strength or increase in horizontal seismic load will further cause instability on slope. Also, the results of Load-Deformation analysis on cross sections of original slope show significant vertical displacement and horizontal displacement on the bottom and both sides of sedimentation tanks, respectively. The results indicate applied structural and water loads significantly affect deformation at both vertical and horizontal directions which could have contributed to FOS < 1 in slope stability analysis

Perceptions of Health During Pregnancy Increase the Risk of Cardiovascular Disease

OBJECTIVES: To examine the prospective association between perception of health during pregnancy and cardiovascular risk factor of mothers 21 years after the index pregnancy. \ud \ud METHODS: Data used were from the Mater University Study of Pregnancy (MUSP), a community- based prospective birth ohort study begun in Brisbane, Australia, in 1983. Logistic regression analyses were conducted. \ud \ud RESULTS: Data were available for 3692 women. Women who perceived themselves as not having a straight forward pregnancy had twice the odds (adjusted OR 2.0, 95% CI 1.1-3.8) of being diagnosed with heart disease 21 years after the indexpregnancyascomparedtowomenwith a straight forward pregnancy. Apart from that, women who had complications (other than serious pregnancy complications) during the pregnancy were also at30%increased odds (adjustedOR 1.3, 95% CI 1.0-1.6) of having hypertension 21 years later. \ud \ud CONCLUSIONS: As a whole, our study suggests that pregnant women who perceived that they had complications and did not have a straight forward pregnancy are likely to experience poorer cardiovascular outcomes 21 years after the pregnancy

Chemically reduced graphene oxide-reinforced poly(lactic acid)/poly(ethylene glycol) nanocomposites: preparation, characterization, and applications in electromagnetic interference shielding

In this study, a nanocomposite of reduced graphene oxide (RGO) nanofiller-reinforcement poly(lactic acid) (PLA)/poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) matrix was prepared via the melt blending method. The flexibility of PLA was improved by blending the polymer with a PEG plasticizer as a second polymer. To enhance the electromagnetic interference shielding properties of the nanocomposite, different RGO wt % were combined with the PLA/PEG blend. Using Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and X-ray diffraction, the structural, microstructure, and morphological properties of the polymer and the RGO/PLA/PEG nanocomposites were examined. These studies showed that the RGO addition did not considerably affect the crystallinity of the resulting nanomaterials. Thermal analysis (TGA) reveals that the addition of RGO highly improved the thermal stability of PLA/PEG nanocomposites. The dielectric properties and electromagnetic interference shielding effectiveness of the synthesized nanocomposites were calculated and showed a higher SE total value than the target value (20 dB). On the other hand, the results showed an increased power loss by increasing the frequency and conversely decreased with an increased percentage of filler