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Development of molecular tools for simultaneous analyses of multiple key traits in the cultivated and weedy rice (Oryza sativa L.) / Noraikim Mohd Hanafiah
No full textIn the twenty-first century, a new paradigm of agriculture that utilises fewer resources
than it did during the green revolution is required to feed the constantly expanding
population while combating climate change, particularly for global major crops such as
rice (Oryza sativa L.), which feeds more than half of the world's population. More
improved rice varieties must be developed to meet changing demands, such as fragrant
rice with desirable amylose content, as well as to combat the negative effects of global
warming, which increases major biotic stressors such as bacterial leaf blight (BLB),
sheath blight (SB), and blast. One viable option is to use weedy germplasms that have
been reported to contain many valuable genes; however, the challenge is that available
literature on the potential use of the genetic resources of these species in the development
of climate-resilient varieties is sparse. It is also critical to develop reliable yet affordable
methods to assist rice breeding programmes in resource-constrained settings, particularly
in developing countries like Malaysia. Although numerous important genes have been
reported for major rice diseases and quality, it remains unclear whether these genes work
for local cultivated and weedy rice. The aims of this study were to synthesise previous
studies on rice biology and genetics, highlighting key research gaps and future directions
in rice improvement using weedy rice, and to identify reported genes and molecular
markers suitable for simultaneously screening of important biotic stresses and quality
traits in rice. This study used the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and
Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) protocol to conduct the systematic review, and involved the
development of multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-assays to identify BLB, SB, and blast with fragrance and amylose content in both local cultivated and weedy rice. The
amplification products were analysed using high-resolution gel and capillary
electrophoresis, and the results were validated using sequencing. A total of 30 primer sets
were selected from the literature to be tested, with 12 found to be functional polymorphic
via uniplex PCR. Of these, six polymorphic primer sets (pTA248, RM6836, RM8225,
RM202, fgr- SNP, and Wx-SSR) were chosen for the development of multiplex assays
due to their clear polymorphisms and non-overlapping band sizes. After validation
through sequencing, eight multiplex assays that can analyse up to four primer sets were
developed in this study. High-resolution gel agarose electrophoresis was found to be less
expensive (USD 0.30/sample) and more practical for screening disease resistance and
quality genes in rice, particularly in laboratories with limited resources. One of the
developed multiplex assays (Multiplex-7: RM8225, RM202, pTA248) was then used to
screen 100 weedy rice biotypes, with 12%, 19%, and 89% of the biotypes showing
resistance to SB, blast and BLB, respectively. A total of fifteen weedy rice biotypes used
in molecular screening were selected for greenhouse phenotyping, and the molecular and
phenotyping results were compatible for all three biotic stresses studied. This
demonstrates that the multiplex assay developed in this study can be used to effectively
screen all the major rice diseases in weedy rice biotypes in a single PCR reaction, which
can aid in the exploration of the use of weedy rice. Overall, the findings of this project
can assist rice breeding programmes in Malaysia and other rice producing countries
Analisis berita konflik Lahad Datu tahun 2013 berdasarkan Teori Sistemik-Fungsional / Norhafizah Mohamed Husin
No full textKajian ini merupakan analisis linguistik mengenai konflik yang berlaku di Lahad Datu, Sabah pada tahun 2013, seperti yang dilaporkan dalam Utusan Malaysia, Berita Harian, Utusan Borneo dan The New Sabah Times. Dengan menggunakan arkib berita dalam talian, kajian kuantitatif dan kualitatif ini bertujuan mengenal pasti unsur-unsur bahasa yang menggambarkan konflik, memetakan tipologinya, dan melihat perbezaan pelaporan konflik oleh setiap akhbar bagi menggambarkan peristiwa tersebut. Daripada unsur-unsur bahasa yang ditemui dalam korpus kajian, konflik Lahad Datu boleh dibahagikan kepada dua kategori utama, iaitu peristiwa konflik, dan pengurusan dan penyelesaian konflik. Peristiwa konflik melibatkan konflik jenis verbal dan jenis fizikal bersenjata. Dengan menggunakan analisis transitiviti Teori Sistemik-Fungsional oleh Halliday (1981, 1985), konsep-konsep konflik verbal diungkapkan oleh hipernim hina, lekeh, nafi, bohong, tuduh, bantah, amaran dan andaian. Konflik fizikal bersenjata digambarkan dengan merujuk Manusia sebagai Pelaku Nyata, Pelaku Tersembunyi dan Penderita, Peristiwa konflik, Suasana dan kesan yang terbit daripada konflik, Kaedah konflik dan Akibat konflik. Pengurusan konflik diungkapkan oleh hipernim Taktik termasuklah yang dinyatakan secara verbal, Sikap dan Tindakan, manakala penyelesaian konflik timbul daripada inisiatif sehala dan dua hala, berserta gencatan senjata yang berlangsung dalam tempoh tertentu sehinggalah akhirnya perdamaian dapat dicapai antara dua pihak dalam konflik. Hipernim dalam kategori-kategori konflik yang dinyatakan di atas mempunyai makna asas dan makna terbitan. Bagi menentukan persamaan dan perbezaannya, pendekatan Asmah (2013), berdasarkan teori Lehrer (1974) diterapkan. Hubungan hipernim-hiponim ini menjadi asas kepada pemetaan tipologi konflik Lahad Datu. Kepelbagaian tafsiran oleh akhbar yang berbeza dalam pelaporan berita konflik jelas dilihat daripada pilihan kata dan struktur tematik klausa. Kesimpulannya, penerapan Teori Sistemik-Fungsional dan kerangka metodologi yang dipilih, sesuai digunakan untuk mengkaji konflik seperti yang berlaku di Lahad Datu ini
English for specific purposes for aviation management trainees: Course evaluation and development / Reshminder Kaur Satvindar Singh
No full textA strong aviation management system depends on the efficient communications and
coordination skills of aviation management (AVM) personnel. To illustrate this point, the
management of air traffic, airport, airline, and cargo requires AVM personnel to
demonstrate the ability for professional use of English when communicating to manage
the operations of local and international air transport system. Notably, AVM personnel
proficiency in English does not only determine the personnel’s competency in this
language, but it also allows skilled communication in this specialised field. This condition
is vital due to the role of English as the lingua franca, which connects the aviation
stakeholders from different regions and parts of the globe with diverse languages, slangs,
and accents. Although English courses are compulsory courses that are included in most
AVM training programmes in Malaysia, whether the courses equip trainees with the
proficiency and required language skills remains questionable. Hence, AVM personnel’s
views and opinions should be investigated to determine the needs for English among the
AVM trainees, including the importance of specialised training and English proficiency
assessment as a measurement to gauge and enhance trainees’ ability to communicate
professionally before joining the aviation industry in the future. Comprehensive TSA and
PSA were initiated to investigate the gaps between the current English courses and the
actual needs of AVM trainees to explore the suitable approach in teaching, materials to
be adopted, and assessment criteria to measure the graduates’ proficiency before
graduating. The research employed an exploratory design due to the importance of
qualitative methods. Besides, the study was the first study that involved aviation
management personnel. The findings obtained from the analysis were triangulated to
develop materials and syllabus for the proposed curriculum, which was validated by
stakeholders of the programme. The final stage involved determining the types of oral
and written assessments, including the minimum acceptable criteria for AVM trainees
based on the findings gathered and aligned with the ICAO English language requirement
set for aviation personnel. It was indicated from the findings that the ELT for AVM
trainees should adopt the ESP approach, with a specific focus on task-based training and
assessment. Similarly, the inclusion of authentic materials is crucial to expose AVM
trainees to the language skills required besides developing the trainees’ ability to use
appropriate aviation language functions and vocabulary. The results of the evaluation and validation of the proposed ESP curriculum suggested that the curriculum designed for the
aviation management trainees should meet the programme learning requirement and be
implemented to replace the current GE course
Petroleum source rock evaluation and palynofacies analysis of Bongaya formation in Pitas area, Northern Sabah / Nor Aainaa Farhana Md Nor ‘Azam
No full textBongaya Formation is Miocene sediment consisting of mostly sandstone interbedded with shale, coal, and mudstone presence and located on Borneo's northern tip. This study focuses on assessing the organic geochemistry (source rock analyzation, bitumen evaluation, and molecular analysis) of the onshore Bongaya Formation to identify their petroleum hydrocarbon potential. The quantitative pyrolysis technique and petrographic analysis (vitrinite reflectance and maceral counting) are then correlated in the study for better provision where palynology analysis is also conducted to reconstruct the paleoenvironment model of the formation. This work was prompted by the scarcity of geochemical evaluations of the Bongaya Formation in the Pitas area and seismic record suggesting hydrocarbon indicators in the adjacent unexplored offshore basin, which includes the Bongaya Formation (Mazlan et al., 1999). Bulk geochemistry results showed fair to excellent amount of carbon contains, up until 63.1 wt%. The highest TOC value is coals, followed by carbonaceous shales and shale, whereas the lowest (fair) TOC amount is mudstones. The relationship between HI and TOC brings to the identification of kerogen type possessed by Bongaya source rock, as mainly shows Type III kerogen. However, pyrolysis details analysis reveals that there is a possibility of Type II/III kerogen to be present. Bongaya Formation is dominant in generating gas-prone source rock and little oil for some samples, according to intense liptinite occurrence and Py-GC analysis. Petrographic and maceral analysis identified that some of the coal has high resinite constituents, which potentially produce waxy oil. Nevertheless, the variations of Tₘₐₓ data (369.6 –437.3 ˚C) are consistent with huminite reflectance measurements (0.32-
0.43 Rₒ %), indicating that this formation is thermally immature to generate petroleum. The paleoenvironment of organic matter is determined to be colonized by the mangrove area. However, besides mangroves, inland vegetation and back mangrove were also interpreted as a part of the Bongaya Formation depositional environment. The majority of the Bongaya formation was produced from terrestrial organic materials and was primarily maintained in a suboxic environment. There are some indications that some organic materials may be deposited in anoxic conditions, albeit this is not the case in the majority of cases
Neurobehavioural and neurohistological effects of Nigella sativa after neurotoxicant toluene administration in mice / Nur Lisa Mohd Yusoff
No full textHumans are readily exposed to the environmental pollutant toluene, commonly in small amount, e.g., from daily household products, petroleum, and occupational settings. Reports showed that toluene toxicity is detrimental to human physiological systems, especially the central nervous system (CNS). Hence, the intensive search for substances that can offer neuroprotection, ideally, sourced from the natural product, considering it to be less costly and possibly with less side effects. One such candidate is the Nigella sativa (NS), a traditionally consumed natural supplement, also known to have antioxidant properties and the potentials for neuroprotective effects. The current study aimed to investigate NS protective potentials from neurobehavioural aspect through recognition memory and neurohistological aspect of hippocampal region of mice exposed to toluene. The study consisted of three main experiments: Experiment 1 (preliminary toluene toxicity test), Experiment 2 (preliminary Novel Object Recognition (NOR) behavioural test), and Experiment 3 (NS neuroprotective test). Experiment 1 and 2 were conducted to determine the toluene dosage capable of causing the highest abnormalities in the brain of the experimental animals as well as its consequent effects on learning and behaviour. From the two preliminary tests, 500 mg/kg toluene caused the most recognition memory impairment in NOR and demonstrated smaller hippocampal neuron size in mice brain. Adult male ICR mice (8 weeks old) were used in this study. For all three tests, corn oil was used as the control. In the NS neuroprotective test, treatments were conducted for 14 consecutive days. Mice were orally supplemented from day 1 and continued until day 14 with three different forms of NS: NS seeds (NSS), NS oil (NSO), and its selected bioactive NS constituent, thymoquinone (TQ). Toluene was intraperitoneally injected (i.p.) in mice starting from day 7 until day 14. Following the treatments, NOR test was conducted, and mice were intracardially perfused. Brain was collected, histologically processed and Nissl stained with Cresyl Violet dye. Brain gross morphology was measured, and then somatic size and shape of hippocampal CA1 pyramidal neurons were quantified according to specific morphometric parameters. Results from the current study showed that toluene had the tendency to reduce recognition memory performance of mice and somatic size of hippocampal CA1 pyramidal neurons. Contradictorily, the other treatments, especially involving TQ, NSO, and NSS improved the mice recognition memory and somatic size of hippocampal CA1 pyramidal neurons. Meanwhile, brain morphology and somatic shape of hippocampal CA1 pyramidal neurons showed no significant differences between all NS treatment groups. The key findings from the current study concluded that 500 mg/kg toluene could cause impairment, while NS induced improvement of mice neurobehavioural performance and neurohistological brain and neuronal structure, though not significantly
Chemical health risk assessment (CHRA) at water treatment service provider for semiconductor industry / Maisarah Yusoff
No full textThe assessment of chemical health risk in the workplace is necessary for every employer to ensure their employee's wellness under the Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994 and the Use and Standard of Exposure of Chemicals Hazardous to Health (USECHH), 2000 Regulations. In this assessment, the goal is to determine and analyse the level of chemical exposure to the workers. One work unit, which is the Facilities Workers, has been selected. The assessment was carried out according to CHRA Manual 3rd Edition. A qualitative approach was used to assess the risk and adequacy of control measures, which included a site visit, observation of employee tasks while handling chemicals, and examination of the work manual and other relevant record and documents. A total of 12 chemicals were assessed. It was concluded that all chemicals were classified as Chemicals Hazardous to Health (CHTH) but Action Priority 3 (AP3) was given, where the existing control measures were adequate to curb the exposure
Mammogram breast mass classification using deep convolutional neural network / Mohd Nafie Maslan
No full textThe aim of this study is to investigate a deep convolutional neural network (DCNN) image classification technique to classify breast mass (i.e., benign or malignant) on mammogram image. DCNN architecture model of AlexNet, GoogLeNet and VGG-16 was compared to evaluate the performance of classifying breast mass patch. The dataset of breast mass was obtained from public database, Curated Breast Imaging Subset of Digital Database for Screening Mammography (CBIS-DDSM). Transfer learning which pre-trained the DCNN model on large-scale ImageNet, and data augmentation to increased number of data technique, were applied in this study. In total, 13,260 images of training dataset were imported into the NVIDIA deep learning GPU training system (DIGITS). A trained model of AlexNet, GoogLeNet and VGG-16 was created and selected based on the high accuracy and low loss. 540 images of testing dataset were applied to the trained DCNN model. The classification performance between the prediction and actual images were evaluated using confusion matrix and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, to calculate accuracy, sensitivity/ recall, precision, specificity, F1-score and area under the curve (AUC). As a result; AlexNet and GoogLeNet have the highest specificity (71.48%); GoogLeNet have the highest accuracy (73.89%) and precision (72.79%); VGG-16 have the highest sensitivity/ recall (80%) and F1-score (75.26%). VGG-16 (0.8207) has the highest AUC, trailed by GoogLeNet (0.8064) abd AlexNet (0.7601). As conclusion, the overall ability of VGG-16 and GoogLeNet was superior over AlexNet in discriminated benign and malignant of breast mass patch
Design and preliminary finite element analysis of planar rotary spring for BioApps RoMicP® ankle-foot prosthesis / Aufar Syehan
No full textSeries elastic actuator (SEA) is an excellent option for a powered ankle-foot prosthesis. However, to achieve the best actuator performance, the optimum stiffness of the planar rotary spring should be defined by using a dynamic model. The main objective of this study is to develop a planar rotary spring design with an optimum stiffness. Maraging 300 Alloy Steel or commercially known as Vascomax-300 was selected as the material of the planar rotary spring for the BioApps RoMicP®️ ankle-foot prosthesis. Furthermore, Archimedean spiral was chosen as the topological shape of the spring.
The spring model was developed in an iterative method, where the width and thickness of the spring’ arm were the parameters to be modified until the spring model reached the optimum stiffness value. The definition of an optimum torsional spring stiffness is when the power required by the motor is minimum. Following the completion of the design advancement the reliability of the preliminary spring design was examined by using the Finite Element Method (FEM). Based on the simulation, the planar rotary spring model was able to withstand a maximum torque of 102.793 Nm. The spring rotation was 0.163 rad, corresponding to a torsional stiffness between 620 and 630 Nm/rad
Development of alkylamine-functionalized graphene oxides and its composites with metal disulfides as friction modifier and anti-wear additives in lubricating oil / Nurul Athirah Ismail
No full textMore than half of a vehicle’s fuel consumption is spent overcoming friction in moving mechanical systems. Friction-related losses directly impact fuel consumption and fuel economy. Thus, increased sales of motorcycles, cars, and other vehicles increased the demands and consumption of automotive lubricant and lubricant additives to minimize friction and enhance fuel economy. Graphene was selected as the starting material to be synthesized as a friction modifier and anti-wear additives. Its excellent performance in minimizing friction and wear, excellent mechanical strength, chemical inertness, are easily sheared, and provides the lamellar mechanism of lubrication. However, graphene does not disperse in oil and is prone to settling at the bottom, forming sediments, limiting its use as lubricant additives. Exploration of graphene-based material in lubricants is a novel endeavor, and the literature on it remains limited. Graphene was functionalized to improve its dispersion stability in oil via attachment of a polar head and long straight hydrocarbon tail to make it more suitable for use as lubricant additives. The covalent functionalization method via amidation reaction was selected to attach the polar head and straight hydrocarbon tails by grafting alkylamine to the graphene, taking advantage of the multiple oxygen-containing functional groups on graphene oxide (GO). Besides improving its dispersion stability in oil, the tribological performance was further enhanced by the attachment of metal disulfide on the surface of the functionalized graphene. Composites of functionalized graphene were prepared at multiple mass ratios of functionalized graphene and metal disulfide, and the composites showed significant improvement in tribological performance, confirming their suitability as lubricant additives
The quality management of Chinese real estate landscape project / Gu Hongming
Get PDFWith globalization and urbanization, people's demand for the urban environment and
living environment is more diversified. The requirements for the quality of landscape
design are becoming higher and higher. Nowadays, all over the world are building a
variety of garden projects and are constantly building. Many developers build projects
because they have a business philosophy of following the crowd. However, most of
these garden projects were of low quality, especially real estate. In order to repay the
investment fund, many developers choose the high-speed development mode, and they
will not consider the quality management of landscape engineering. Under the
environment of high-speed requirements and a considerable workload, practitioners can
only ensure that the quality of landscape projects meets the most basic requirements.
However, with the development of society, human needs have become diversified,
which not only needs to meet the basic needs of human practicality and economy but
also needs to consider the needs of spirit and aesthetics. It also represents the standard
of landscape quality because customers' needs are improving. At present, real estate
landscape practitioners encounter many complaints about quality problems because they
cannot meet customers' needs. In addition, the landscape quality also affects the
decision-making of house buyers, that is, the house sales of developers. Therefore,
developers and users pay more attention to the quality management of today's real estate
landscape.
However, there is often a contradiction between the work requirements of real estate
landscape practitioners and customers' needs. Customers' needs are improving, but the
practitioners' knowledge of project management, especially quality management, has
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not increased accordingly. This study found the challenges, influencing factors, and
quality management tools of China's real estate landscape quality management through
the literature review. Then, this study interviewed nine real estate landscape project
experts to verify the conclusion of the literature review. For the customer demand,
which is the most critical factor affecting China's real estate quality management, this
study used the questionnaire method to investigate the residents' satisfaction with the
landscape quality of phase I of project A and the potential buyers' demand for the
landscape quality of phase II of project a. This study collects a large amount of data
through mixed methods and verifies each other to ensure the effectiveness of the data.
This study promotes Chinese real estate landscape practitioners to use improved quality
management tools to implement customer demand-oriented quality management for
landscape projects to improve landscape design and engineering quality. That is to
provide practical improvement suggestions and methods for China's real estate
landscape quality management. Indirectly contributing to solving the existing quality
problems, improving the existing quality tools, increasing employees' quality
management knowledge, and improving the industry quality standards