Air Pollution Modelling to Predict Maximum Ground Level Concentration for Dust from a Palm Oil Mill Stack

The study is to model emission from a stack to estimate ground level concentration from a palm oil mill. The case study is a mill located in Kuala Langat, Selangor. Emission source is from boilers stacks. The exercise determines the estimate the ground level concentrations for dust to the surrounding areas through the utilization of modelling software. The surround area is relatively flat, an industrial area surrounded by factories and with palm oil plantations in the outskirts. The model utilized in the study was to gauge the worst-case scenario. Ambient air concentrations were garnered calculate the increase to localized conditions.Keywords: emission, modelling, palm oil mill, particulate, POM

Snake Venom Peptides and Toxin targeting the Main Protease of SARS-CoV-2

The corona virus began to spread in Wuhan, China which caused it to spread worldwide creating a global pandemic in the beginning of 2020, infecting over 243 million and killing over 4.5 million people worldwide. Significant efforts were made to produce vaccines against the virus, which led the recognition of a few vaccines that has been approved by FDA. These vaccines, Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson, which all have efficacy against Covid-19. Despite having vaccines, COVID-19 is still present and infecting millions and killing thousands of people every day. Multiple therapeutic options would allow us to slow down or even stop this pandemic. Snake venom peptides are known to have antiviral and antimicrobial properties. In this study, we have performed computational screening of well-known venom peptides OHCATH (KF-34), Cathelicidin (BF-30), Lycotoxin I (IL-25), and Lycotoxin II (KE-24) as well as 50 venom and toxin peptides against the main protease (Mpro/3CLpro) of SARS-CoV-2. The 3CLpro protein acquired attention because of its crucial role in post-translational processing of replicase polyproteins and viral replication. The venom and toxin peptides contain 7 to 34 amino acids. These peptides were modelled using PEP-Fold where sequence was used as an input. To perform molecular docking between 3CLpro and peptide, initially PATCH-DOCK was used. The clusters obtained from PATCH-DOCK were further refined by FIRE-DOCK. The Peptides with the highest binding affinity also interact with the active site residues such as His41 and Cys145. Cathlecidin (BF-30), Lycotoxin I (IL-25), and Lycotoxin II (KE-27) displayed the highest binding affinity ranging from –63.73 to –41.28 kcal/mol. Various nonbonding interactions such as hydrogen bonding and hydrophobic interactions are detected in peptide–3CLpro complexes. The best peptides will undergo molecular dynamics simulations followed by protease assay and native mass spectrometry experiments

The Study of Intelligence Profiles Between Islands: A Preliminary Study Towards Norm Development

The aim of this study was to compare the intelligence of Indonesians residing in different islands using the Indonesian WAIS-IV (WAIS-IV-ID), which could be further considered in standardized norm development. Statistical analyses using ANOVAs were performed on the 15 subtests, four indices, and the Full-Scale Intelligence Quotient (FSIQ) of the WAIS-IV-ID. This study involved 506 healthy participants, the majority were females, in productive age-groups ranging from 16 to 59 years old, and from middle educational background. Results showed that three indices and 13 subtest scores had significant results and the sample from Java Island had significantly higher scores than the sample from Sumatra, Borneo, and Sulawesi Islands. Based on the conducted analysis, the normative data of the WAIS-IV-ID need to be classified differently between islands or between Java Island and Non-Java Island for more accurate score interpretation. The interpretations and implications of the findings are discussed

IFRS Based Zakat Reporting: Adoption Rational Western Method Into Institutional Accountability

This study aims to evaluate the characteristics of zakat institution and proposes the adoption of International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS) since it has developed and provides various product i.e zakat for productive purpose. This is important, considering that one of the measurement of accountability and transparency of an institution is providing brief financial report towards its beneficaries. Thereby, this study found that practically zakat institution is simillar to the SMEs, and there are 11 strandard of IFRS for SMEs that could be applicable to zakat institutionto achieve accountability and transparency. However, this study is preliminary study that proposes a conceptual frameworkwhich limited to the sharia compliance of IFRS that could be applicable to zakat Institution

Anticholinesterase Activity of Eight Medicinal Plant Species: In Vitro and in Silico Studies in the Search for Therapeutic Agents against Alzheimer's Disease

Many Bangladeshi medicinal plants have been used to treat Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative diseases. In the present study, the anticholinesterase effects of eight selected Bangladeshi medicinal plant species were investigated. Species were selected based on the traditional uses against CNS-related diseases. Extracts were prepared using a gentle cold extraction method. In vitro cholinesterase inhibitory effects were measured by Ellman's method in 96-well microplates. Blumea lacera (Compositae) and Cyclea barbata (Menispermaceae) were found to have the highest acetylcholinesterase inhibitory (IC50, 150 11 and 176 14 g/mL, respectively) and butyrylcholinesterase inhibitory effect (IC50, 297 13 and 124 2 g/mL, respectively). Cyclea barbata demonstrated competitive inhibition, where Blumea lacera showed an uncompetitive inhibition mode for acetylcholinesterase. Smilax guianensis (Smilacaceae) and Byttneria pilosa (Malvaceae) were also found to show moderate AChE inhibition (IC50, 205 31 and 221 2 g/mL, respectively), although no significant BChE inhibitory effect was observed for extracts from these plant species. Among others, Thunbergia grandiflora (Acanthaceae) and Mikania micrantha (Compositae) were found to display noticeable AChE (IC50, 252 22 g/mL) and BChE (IC50, 314 15 g/mL) inhibitory effects, respectively. Molecular docking experiment suggested that compounds 5-hydroxy-3,6,7,3,4-pentamethoxyflavone (BL4) and kaempferol-3-O-α-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1LongRightArrow6)-β-D-glucopyranoside (BL5) from Blumea lacera bound stably to the binding groove of the AChE and BChE by hydrogen-bond interactions, respectively. Therefore, these compounds could be candidates for cholinesterase inhibitors. The present findings demonstrated that Blumea lacera and Cyclea barbata are interesting objects for further studies aiming at future therapeutics for Alzheimer's disease

Processing and properties of an ethylene–vinyl acetate blend foam incorporating ethylene–vinyl acetate and polyurethane waste foams

Waste polyurethane foam (w-PU) and waste ethylene–vinyl acetate foam (w-EVA) were used as fillers for the production of an ethylene–vinyl acetate (EVA) blend foam. Two different foaming techniques (single-stage and heat–chill processes) were used for this purpose. The waste foam concentration was varied up to 30 wt % of the original EVA. The physical, mechanical, and morphological properties of the filled foam were studied. The single-stage process produced blend foams with a lower density and a greater cell size than the foams obtained by the heat–chill process. The density and compression strength of the blend foam increased as the percentage of w-PU foam increased. However, for the w-EVA/EVA blend foams, the addition of w-EVA foam did not significantly affect the density or compression strength compared to the original EVA foams

An ingenious multiple communicator concept for next generation smart metering communication system

In this article, we propose and study a self-switching network concept known as an ingenious multiple communicator mechanism which can be applied to energy provider’s smart metering device. We outline reasons why such multiple connections networks are required through real case study scenarios and key components that drive towards such concept. We have gathered actual measurement values for a particular network and identified in what situation this is most suitable and applicable. We have come out with the basic system model for this multiple communicator. We also observed that a less fluctuating and similar pattern of network performance helps to design better network predictive analytics function. Finally numerical examples and analysis of the results are presented

Analysis of meteorological and hydrological droughts in the Niger-South Basin, Nigeria

Information gained from drought analysis can serve as the basis for water resources planning and management under the prevailing climate change condition especially at the basin scale. The aim of this work is to apply two meteorological drought indices - Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI), Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) and a hydrological drought index - Standardized Runoff Index (SRI) to investigate the occurrence of drought in the Niger-South Basin (NSB), a sub-catchment of the Niger River Basin in Nigeria, during the period 1970–2008. The results showed that the period between 1970 and 1981 was dominated by wet conditions; second, from 1982 to 1998, a period of droughts ranging from moderate dry to extreme dry alternated with moderate wet conditions, while the third period beginning from 1999 to 2008 displayed another round of severe droughts sparingly intercepted by occasional moderate wet conditions. High correlation values of between 0.66 (at 3-month scale) and 0.56 (at 12-month scale) show comparativeness in the performance of the two drought indices. For the hydrological drought, a severe drought was observed in 1982 and near normal and moderately wet since 1997. The higher agreement between the SRI and SPEI, suggests that hydrological droughts are more affected by temperature (warming) than precipitation (drying) in the basin. Further analysis of the frequency of the various conditions shows that it has been more of near normal conditions (> 60%), while extremely dry and wet conditions (2% each) have been very rare. However, given the projected global warming conditions, a reversal of the present normal condition might be witnessed in the nearest future, hence, the results of this study can serve as a basis for effective water resources planning and management in the basin

Development of (4-Phenylamino)quinazoline Alkylthiourea Derivatives as Novel NF-κB Inhibitors

For many inflammatory diseases, new effective drugs with fewer side effects are needed. While it appears promising to target the activation of the central pro-inflammatory transcription factor NF-κB, many previously discovered agents suffered from cytotoxicity. In this study, new alkylthiourea quinazoline derivatives were developed that selectively inhibit the activation of NF-κB in macrophage-like THP−1 cells while showing low general cytotoxicity. One of the best com pounds, 19, strongly inhibited the production of IL-6 (IC50 = 0.84 µM) and, less potently, of TNFα (IC50 = 4.0 µM); in comparison, the reference compound, caffeic acid phenethyl ester (CAPE), showed IC50s of 1.1 and 11.4 µM, respectively. Interestingly, 19 was found to block the translocation of the NF-κB dimer to the nucleus, although its release from the IκB complex was unaffected. Furthermore, 19 suppressed the phosphorylation of NF-κB-p65 at Ser468 but not at Ser536; however, 19 did not inhibit any kinase involved in NF-κB activation. The only partial suppression of p65 phosphorylation might be associated with fewer side effects. Since several compounds selectively induced cell death in activated macrophage-like THP−1 cells, they might be particularly effective in various inflam matory diseases that are exacerbated by excess activated macrophages, such as arteriosclerosis and autoimmune diseases

Evaluation of porogen factors for the preparation of ion imprinted polymer monoliths used in mercury removal

In the present study, ion imprinted polymer monoliths (IIPMs) were developed to overcome the limitations of ion imprinted polymer particles (IIPPs) used for the removal of Hg(II) ions from waste water samples. The adsorbents preparation, characterization and Hg(II) removal were very well reported. The IIPMs on porogen optimization was prepared using the molding technique with Hg(II) as a template ion, [2-(methacryloyloxy)ethyl]trimethylammonium cysteine (MAETC) as ligand, methacrylic acid (MAA) as functional monomer, ethylene glycol dimethacrylamide (EGDMA) as cross-linker, benzoyl peroxide as an initiator and methanol and acetonitrile as porogen in the polypropylene tube (drinking straw) as mold. The IIPMs prepared with higher volumes of porogen were indicated to have a good adsorption rate for the Hg(II) removal along with good water permeability and larger porosity as compared to a lower volume of porogen. The IIPMs prepared using the binary porogen were able to improve the porosity and surface area of the monolithic polymers as compared to the single porogen added IIPMs. Finally, we indicate from our analysis that the IIPM having the efficient capacity for the Hg(II) ions is easy to prepare, and has higher water permeability along with high porosity and high adsorption capacity and all these factors making it one of the suitable adsorbent for the successful removal of Hg(II) ions