Culture conflict amongst Malaysian children

Culture is an essential part of conflict and conflict resolution. Culture is in our lives and relationships, giving us messages that shape our perceptions, attributions, judgments, and ideas of self and others. Though cultures are powerful, they are often unconscious, influencing conflict and attempts to resolve conflict in imperceptible ways. Two things that are essential to remember about culture: they are always changing, and they relate to the symbolic dimension of life. The symbolic dimension is the place where we are constantly making meaning and enacting our identities. Cultural messages from the groups we belong in giving us information about what is meaningful or important, and who we are in the world and in relation to others. Therefore, this paper will discuss the culture conflict undergo by children in Malaysia arise from different cultural groups i.e ethnicity, from generation, socioeconomic class, sexual orientation, ability and disability, and religious affiliation, language, and gender. The study sample comprises from 30 primary school students from three locations; urban, city and rural areas in Malaysia. Data were gathered using recording, interview, and questionnaire. Data will be analysed by using socio-pragmatic approach. The outcome of the research also indicated that aspects of context and cognition have also played an important role to overcome the cultural conflicts among Malaysian children

Host range and control strategies of Phytophthora palmivora in Southeast Asia perennial crops

Phytophthora palmivora is a destructive plant pathogenic oomycete that has caused lethal diseases in a wide range of hosts. It is a pan-tropical distributed pathogen that can infect plants at all growth stages. Extensive studies have linked P. palmivora to severe diseases in several crops, such as black pepper, rubber, cocoa, and durian, causing global economic losses. This review covers the following topics in depth: (i) P. palmivora as phytopathogen; (ii) identification and infection mechanism in rubber, cocoa, and durian; and (iii) management and control applied for P. palmivora diseases. Effective management strategies were studied and practiced to prevent the spread of P. palmivora disease. Genetic resistance and biocontrol are the best methods to control the disease. A better understanding of P. palmivora infection mechanisms in our main crops and early disease detection can reduce the risk of catastrophic pandemics

Healing garden: Modul aktiviti dan pelaksanaan

Modul dibina bagi rujukan sekolah bekeperluan khas (pelajar autistik) yang boleh merujuk senarai aktiviti yang boleh dilakukan dalam Healing Garden

Bacteria associated with rice panicle blight and grain discolouration in Penang

Rice panicle blight and grain discoloration condition is a newly paddy disease that firstly discovered from China in 2020 and recently discovered in Malaysia with adverse impact on our granary production. The symptoms first appeared on the glumes as light-brown spots that progressed to darker brown or black spots, dotted spots that varied in shape and size, hollow light weight panicles, or even unfilled grains. Therefore, the objective of this research was to study the bacteria associated from rice panicle blight and grain discolouration by identifying the causal pathogen based on their phenotypic and molecular characterization. Sampling was done in naturally infected granary areas and the collected panicles have been performed throughout surface sterilization for bacteria isolation until obtained single pure colony. 11 representatives of pure isolates obtained have been identified and classified through phenotypic and molecular characteristics. Based from that, 4 genera of bacteria were obtained. They were from Pseudomonas sp., Pantoea sp., Enterobacter sp. and Paenibacillus sp. Hence, to alleviate this serious disease, a precise identification of the pathogen is required in order to control the disease from spreading which results in a rice grain yield reduction

Genome-scale compositional comparisons towards drought tolerant genes in rice, date palm, maize and thale cress

Extreme and unpredictable weather has gradually posed a threat to the global production of the world’s staple food crops such as rice, wheat, and maize. For instance, drought had caused significant losses which makes drought-tolerant planting materials increasingly important not only for food security but also for the sustainability of agricultural activities. This could be done by first exploring the genetic materials that are responsible for survival in hot and dry conditions other than solely relying on conventional methods. The availability of various comparative genomics tools has allowed the identification of several potential drought-tolerant genes in plants such as wheat, tomato, maize and others. In this study, potential drought-tolerant genes in rice are predicted by identifying orthologous proteins between four species; Oryza sativa (rice), Arabidopsis thaliana (thale cress), Zea mays (maize) and Pheonix dactylifera (date palm) using InParanoid, SonicParanoid and Mauve software tool. From the 9,952 orthologous proteins found among the four species, 8,573 sequences were annotated and assigned to 5,729 GO terms; classified into the biological process category (54%, 2777 sequences), molecular function category (65%, 3223 sequences) and cellular component category (58%, 2539 sequences). Sixty five genes were found to be represented under four drought tolerance GO terms; regulation of response to water deprivation (GO:2000070; 1 gene, 1.54% ); response to water deprivation (GO:0009414, 47 genes, 72.31%); behavioural response to water deprivation (GO:0042630, 11 genes, 16.92%) and; cellular response to water deprivation (GO:0042631, 6 genes, 9.23%). Narrowing down potential drought-stress response genes through this study could contribute to a better understanding and knowledge on the biological and functional analysis of drought-tolerant genes in rice

Transcriptome profiling of stevia rebaudiana ms007 revealed genes involved in flowedevelopment

Stevia rebaudiana is a medicinal plant recommended to diabetic or obese patients as an alternative sweetener owing to its low-calorie property. Previous studies have found that the stevioside level is highest at the time of flower bud formation and lowest at the time of preceding and following flower bud formation. Hence, this study aims to identify the genes involved in the flowering of local S. rebaudiana accession MS007 by investigating the transcriptomic data of two stages of growth, before flowering (BF) and after flowering (AF) that were deposited under accession number SRX6362785 and SRX6362784 at the NCBI SRA database. The transcriptomic study managed to annotate 108299 unigenes of S. rebaudiana with 8871 and 9832 genes that were differentially expressed in BF and AF samples, respectively. These genes involved in various metabolic pathways related to flower development, response to stimulus as well as photosynthesis. Pheophorbide A oxygenase (PAO), eukaryotic translation initiation factor 3 subunit E (TIF3E1), and jasmonate ZIM domain-containing protein 1 (JAZ1) were found to be involved in the flower development. The outcome of this study will help further research in the manipulation of the flowering process, especially in the breeding programme to develop photo-insensitive Stevia plant

In-vitro melanogenesis, cytotoxicity, and antioxidant activities of Peltophorum pterocarpum leaf extracts

Melanin is a protective pigment against cellular damage and skin cancer. Peltophorum pterocarpum has been used for centuries to treat skin diseases like eczema and psoriasis. However, whether P. pterocarpum leaf extract can affect melanin synthesis with the advantage of antioxidant defense against ultraviolet (UV) radiation remains to be investigated. We aimed to examine the melanogenesis, cytotoxicity, and antioxidant activities of P. pterocarpum leaf extracts. A two-dimensional (2D) cell culture model was employed to demonstrate the effect of P. pterocarpum extracts on melanin synthesis. The cell viability of B16-F1 melanoma cells was measured by Neutral Red Uptake (NRU) assay. Antioxidant activity was accessed using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and 2’,7’-dichlorodihydrofluorescein diacetate (DCFH-DA) assays. The ethanol extract of P. pterocarpum dose-dependently increased the melanin content and displayed cytotoxicity to B16-F1 melanoma cells at the highest concentration. In contrast, the equal amounts of the aqueous extract significantly inhibited melanin synthesis and did not show any cytotoxic effects on B16-F1 melanoma cells. The P. pterocarpum ethanol extract had a significantly higher total phenolic and flavonoid content than the aqueous extract and was more effective at scavenging DPPH free radicals and intracellular ROS induced by UVB, with IC50 of 519.24 ± 122.57 vs 1798.45 ± 143.09 μg/mL and 878.00 ± 23.50 vs 1379.00 ± 21.81 μg/mL, respectively. These findings suggest that the pro-melanogenic and anti-melanogenic activities of P. pterocarpum extract with antioxidant capacity against UVB-induced cellular damage are affected by the total phenolic and flavonoid contents

In-vitro melanogenesis, cytotoxicity, and antioxidant activities of Peltophorum pterocarpum leaf extracts

Melanin is a protective pigment against cellular damage and skin cancer. Peltophorum pterocarpum has been used for centuries to treat skin diseases like eczema and psoriasis. However, whether P. pterocarpum leaf extract can affect melanin synthesis with the advantage of antioxidant defense against ultraviolet (UV) radiation remains to be investigated. We aimed to examine the melanogenesis, cytotoxicity, and antioxidant activities of P. pterocarpum leaf extracts. A two-dimensional (2D) cell culture model was employed to demonstrate the effect of P. pterocarpum extracts on melanin synthesis. The cell viability of B16-F1 melanoma cells was measured by Neutral Red Uptake (NRU) assay. Antioxidant activity was accessed using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and 2’,7’-dichlorodihydrofluorescein diacetate (DCFH-DA) assays. The ethanol extract of P. pterocarpum dose-dependently increased the melanin content and displayed cytotoxicity to B16-F1 melanoma cells at the highest concentration. In contrast, the equal amounts of the aqueous extract significantly inhibited melanin synthesis and did not show any cytotoxic effects on B16-F1 melanoma cells. The P. pterocarpum ethanol extract had a significantly higher total phenolic and flavonoid content than the aqueous extract and was more effective at scavenging DPPH free radicals and intracellular ROS induced by UVB, with IC50 of 519.24 ± 122.57 vs 1798.45 ± 143.09 μg/mL and 878.00 ± 23.50 vs 1379.00 ± 21.81 μg/mL, respectively. These findings suggest that the pro-melanogenic and anti-melanogenic activities of P. pterocarpum extract with antioxidant capacity against UVB-induced cellular damage are affected by the total phenolic and flavonoid contents

Inappropriate expression of an NLP effector in colletotrichum orbiculare impairs infection on cucurbitaceae cultivars via plant recognition of the C-terminal region

The hemibiotrophic pathogen Colletotrichum orbiculare preferentially expresses a necrosis and ethylene-inducing peptide 1 (Nep1)-like protein named NLP1 during the switch to necrotrophy. Here, we report that the constitutive expression of NLP1 in C. orbiculare blocks pathogen infection in multiple Cucurbitaceae cultivars via their enhanced defense responses. NLP1 has a cytotoxic activity that induces cell death in Nicotiana benthamiana. However, C. orbiculare transgenic lines constitutively expressing a mutant NLP1 lacking the cytotoxic activity still failed to infect cucumber, indicating no clear relationship between cytotoxic activity and the NLP1-dependent enhanced defense. NLP1 also possesses the microbe-associated molecular pattern (MAMP) sequence called nlp24, recognized by Arabidopsis thaliana at its central region, similar to NLPs of other pathogens. Surprisingly, inappropriate expression of a mutant NLP1 lacking the MAMP signature is also effective for blocking pathogen infection, uncoupling the infection block from the corresponding MAMP. Notably, the deletion analyses of NLP1 suggested that the C-terminal region of NLP1 is critical to enhance defense in cucumber. The expression of mCherry fused with the C-terminal 32 amino acids of NLP1 was enough to trigger the defense of cucurbits, revealing that the C-terminal region of the NLP1 protein is recognized by cucurbits and, then, terminates C. orbiculare infection

Classification of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder using variational autoencoder

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) categorize as one of the typical neurodevelopmental and mental disorders. Over the years, researchers have identified ADHD as a complicated disorder since it is not directly tested with a standard medical test such as a blood or urine test on the early-stage diagnosis. Apart from the physical symptoms of ADHD, clinical data of ADHD patients show that most of them have learning problems. Therefore, functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) is considered the most suitable method to determine functional activity in the brain region to understand brain disorders of ADHD. One of the ways to diagnose ADHD is by using deep learning techniques, which can increase the accuracy of predicting ADHD using the fMRI dataset. Past attempts of classifying ADHD based on functional connectivity coefficient using the Deep Neural Network (DNN) result in 95% accuracy. As Variational Autoencoder (VAE) is the most popular in extracting high-level data, this model is applied in this study. This study aims to enhance the performance of VAE to increase the accuracy in classifying ADHD using fMRI data based on functional connectivity analysis. The preprocessed fMRI dataset is used for decomposition to find the region of interest (ROI), followed by Independent Component Analysis (ICA) that calculates the correlation between brain regions and creates functional connectivity matrices for each subject. As a result, the VAE model achieved an accuracy of 75% on classifying ADHD