Search

Graphical Abstract:

Basal stem rot (BSR) disease, caused by the Ganoderma boninensepathogen, is a significant threat in oil palm-producing nations, particularly in Malaysia and Indonesia. The disease proliferates extensively within oil palm plantations and is anticipated to persist for an extended duration. Although various assessment methods have been deployed at different stages of BSR infection, none of them seem to be effective. Therefore, this research proposes a predictive modeling approach to evaluate plant stress conditions induced by BSR disease. This approach incorporates variables such as water use efficiency (WUE) alongside other leaf physiology parameters and hyperspectral imagery subjected to various digital image processing transformations to increase assessment accuracy. The results indicate that images denoised with CR transformation offer superior performance compared with alternative methods. Furthermore, five significant wavelengths (w717.4, w736.7, w741, w790.8, w860.7) were identified, which were strongly correlated with WUE and BSR disease severity through pairwise comparisons. Both Model 3 and Model 4 produced acceptable and relatively high accuracy results for WUE prediction. Ultimately, the study advocates for the adoption of Model 4 (integrating leaf physiology variables and hyperspectral data: Ci, Pr, gs, with w741) for WUE prediction in oil palm, as it shows lower training and validation model RMSE values (0.44, 0.37) with the highest regression plot values (R2: 0.92, 0.98), thereby offering a more robust analytical perspective than Models 1, 2, and 3 (individual leaf physiology variables: Ci, Prand gs).

PurposeChildren with anorectal malformation (ARM) and Hirschsprung’s disease (HD) often experience bowel symptoms into adulthood, despite definitive surgery. This study evaluates the quality of life (QOL) and bowel functional outcome of children treated for ARM and HD in comparison to healthy controls.MethodsBetween December 2020 and February 2023, we recruited patients with ARM and HD aged 3–17 years at four tertiary referral centres, who had primary corrective surgery done >12 months prior. Healthy controls were age-matched and sex-matched. All participants completed the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory Generic Core Scales 4.0, General Well-Being (GWB) Scale 3.0 and Family Impact (FI) Module 2.0 Questionnaires. Bowel Function Score (BFS) Questionnaires were also administered. We also performed subgroup analysis according to age categories. Appropriate statistical analysis was performed with p<0.05 significance. Ethical approval was obtained.ResultsThere were 306 participants: 101 ARM, 87 HD, 118 controls. Patients with ARM and HD had significantly worse Core and FI Scores compared with controls overall and in all age categories. In the GWB Scale, only ARM and HD adolescents (13–17 years) had worse scores than controls. ARM and HD had significantly worse BFSs compared with controls overall and in all age categories. There was significant positive correlation between BFS and Core Scores, GWB Scores and FI Scores.ConclusionPatients with ARM and HD had worse QOL than controls. Lower GWB Scores in adolescents suggests targeted interventions are necessary. Bowel function influences QOL, indicating the need for continuous support into adulthood.

Safe drinking water is quite possibly one of the most difficult-to-find issues on our earth intently influencing the well-being and cleanliness of humanity, animals, and plants. The smart speed of industrialization and the conspicuous significance of horticulture with cultivating pesticides have impelled water contamination to a colossal degree. Safe water is likewise worried about its verdure. In this article, a low-cost and low-power is proposed to screen the nature of water that can be utilized in all networks wherever consumption of water is typically provided by means of the water dispersion framework. Planned Sensor hubs are viable with existing circulation organizations. Sensor nodes can collect the data for the electrochemical properties of water to the server. A developed algorithm using the Decision Tree and Naive Bayes methods identifies cloud predictions for safe drinkable water and alerts on divergence from a World Health Organization-specified safer range. For efficacy, the suggested method is scientifically evaluated in two villages, Mandalgarh and Bassi, Rajasthan, India, where drinking water is in short supply. Naive Bayes, Gradient Boosted Classifier, support vector machine, and artificial neural network models are applied to collected data of water quality and analyzed by the Naive Bayes. The obtained results efficiently with 0.56 F1-Score. The nodes of the distributed network can work in harsh conditions as well and low power consumption and information transmission viability are precisely estimated. The empirical results are verified by laboratory studies, and it is demonstrated that the method has a significant impact on the prevention of water-borne infections, especially in rural regions.

This case report describes a rare event of an undiagnosed bilateral carotid-cavernous fistula manifesting as intraoperative suprachoroidal hemorrhage during cataract surgery

An unprecedented Cs2CO3-mediated intramolecular cyclization/rearrangement cascade that transforms α-nitroethylallenic esters to functionalized pyrrolin-2-ones has been uncovered. This reaction provides a new and practical approach for the synthesis of medicinally privileged 5-hydroxy-3-pyrrolin-2-ones under mild conditions. The broad potential of this new method was demonstrated by an efficient Au/Ag-catalyzed heteroarylation of 5-hydroxy-3-pyrrolin-2-ones employing electron-rich heteroarenes to furnish heteroaryl-lactam derivatives.

The differential diagnosis of a paediatric abdominal mass can be extensive, as it potentially involves multiple organs including gastrointestinal, genitourinary, endocrine, and gynaecological systems. Hence, a systematic approach to history taking and physical examination is needed to clinch the diagnosis. Specifically, the approach for assessing, investigating, and managing a ballotable left hypochondrial mass in a child can be challenging.

AbstractThis case illustrates acute myocarditis with complete heart block in a 13-year-old teenager as a rare complication of acute dengue illness. He required urgent temporary pacing with inotropic support and antifailure medications. Complete heart block in dengue myocarditis is an acute but reversible condition. A similar presentation in a dengue-endemic country or with a history of travelling to tropical countries warrants a suspicion of dengue infection.

Gender has always been a favourite topic of researchers to dig down. Considerable research works have focused the role of gender in the domain of consumer behaviour, but there is much more to explore in the area of experiential marketing as it is relatively a new concept in this field. The article discusses an examination of the differences in the ways men and women perceive sense, feel, think, act and relate experiences while using social networking sites (SNS), such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Purpose of the study is to examine the gender differences within the context of five experiences of experiential marketing. Through convenience sampling, 250 set of questionnaires were distributed to the university students, out of which 226 were found usable. T-test was applied for the analysis of data using SPSS software version 21. Shopping habits of women are considered to be highly influenced by social media. But results of the study indicate that men relate the experience provided by the sites with them more than the women do. Marketers can use the findings in tailoring their sites to enhance the customer experience.

The paper presents the co-crystal screening study of carbamazepine (CBZ) and ibuprofen (IBU) as a co-crystal former (CCF) using non-stoichiometric (solid addition of CBZ to saturated solution of co-crystal former (CCF) and stoichiometric (1:1 mol of CBZ and CCF) methods. In the non-stoichiometric method, CBZ-IBU co-crystal was prepared in various solvents and left to equilibrate in three conditions; stagnant, manually agitated and shaking in 72 hours whereas in the stoichiometric method, evaporation, solvent drop grinding and dry grinding were used. The crystals produced from the screening process were characterized using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and optical microscopy. The co-crystal of CBZ-IBU was found to have successfully formed via the non-stoichiometric method in formic acid. DSC analysis revealed that the remaining crystals produced were either CBZ or IBU as indicated by their respective melting point.

It is important to understand that the heel effect contributes higher dose to cathode bound. This study is to verify this effect and consequently utilized it to minimize the radiation dose to staff involved in fluoroscopy procedures especially those using mobile C-arm unit. Water phantom with size of 20 x 30 x 30 cm was used in this study. It was exposed to x-rays from a mobile C-arm unit with auto brightness control (ABC) function. An ion chamber and a solid state detector were used to measure the scattered radiation and primary beam profile. Based on the result it was clear that scattered radiation measured was highest on the cathode bound side. Hence personnel involves in fluoroscopy procedure should avoid or spend the least possible time within this cathode bound area in order to lessen the radiation risk.

In this study, Cerium (Ce) and Praseodymium (Pr) containing lead silicate glasses were produced with 2 different weight percentage (low 0.2 wt% and high 0.4 wt% content). The presence of Ce and Pr in the glass mixture might be expected to alter the structural and leaching glass properties. The radiation shielding properties of the synthesized glasses is explained in the form of lead equivalent study. The FTIR (Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometer) was performed as to observe the structural changes of the synthesis glasses at 1.5 Gy gamma radiation exposures. Leaching study is performed by ICP (Inductively coupled plasma spectrometry) analysis.

The increment in world population has led to the increasing demands for fish supply as principal source of animal protein that represents about 17% of animal protein consumption globally. The world aquaculture industry has expanding remarkably but limited source of fishmeal and fish oil which known as important ingredients in fish feed has led to seeking of alternative sources for their replacement in aquafeed formulation. Many potential and cheaper ingredients derived from vegetable oils or agricultural by-products have been investigated to replace fish meal and fish oil which shown promising results in fish productivity and fish health status including olive oil by-products. Varies depending on its type, olive oil composes of antioxidants, healthy type of fats such as MUFA and PUFA, and high in vitamins that provide human health benefits for heart and liver, help in many diseases and reducing the risk of cancer. In agriculture industry, olive and olive oil production processes have resulted to by-products such as olive mill wastewater (OMW), olive leaf and olive pomace. The inclusion of these by-products in animal feeds is the solution for agricultural waste management. The first report of utilization of olive oil by-products in fish feed was documented in 2004 and since then, many researches has been conducted to investigate fish health benefits that showed improvement in fish carcass composition and fish immunity depending on type of by-products used and fish species. Additionally, antioxidant contents in olive oil extract were reported could provide antimicrobial, antifungal and antioxygenic characteristics which potentially improve the fish health. This review discussed the opportunities and challenges in application of olive oil by-products in aquafeed which provides significant prospects in fish growth performance that could boost aquaculture industry development.

The installation and upgrading of Digital Language Lab (DLL) from the analogue language laboratories into all Malaysia‟s polytechnic to improve the students‟ English language learning experience has received feedback both positive and negative from their English Language lecturers. This study explores the challenges of Seberang Perai Polytechnic English Language lecturers faced upon the utilization of DLL and its integration toward their teaching of English. The challenges are classified under three categories: challenges from the lab facilities, challenges from the teaching practices and challenges from the students themselves. This purpose of this study was to identify issues faced by the lecturers during DLL sessions that are detrimental in improving polytechnics students‟ language proficiency. From a total of 18 English Language lecturers from Seberang Perai Polytechnics, seven interviewees were purposively sampled and consented to be interviewed for in- depth research. Findings of this research reflect that majority of lecturers agree that although digital language lab enhances their teaching experiences in a variety of ways consecutively to catch up with the digitally native students yet at the same time informs of various challenges faced in order to integrate DLL into their lesson plan.

n this study, HA is embedded onto superplastic Ti-6Al-4V through continuous pressing technique at temperature below the allographic temperature to improve the poor bonding strength obtained by the commercial methods. The cross section morphologies of the HA layer show uniform structure without any delamination or cracks at the interface with the surface hardness of approximately 500±5HV. The EDX and line scan analysis shows that interfacial reaction occur between the HA layer and the substrate. Wear test evaluations show that embedded layer on superplastic Ti-6Al-4V substrate can withstand higher pressure compared to the as-received substrate.

In this research, we present a method for the embedment of hydroxyapatite (HA) into superplastic Ti6Al4V where the elements of HA and Ti6Al4V diffuse into each other to form a high quality implanted layer. The implantation process into superplastic titanium alloy was divided to two steps; first, the superplastic forming of Ti6Al4V was carried out using high-temperature compression test machine. In the second step, HA was embedded into superplastic Ti6Al4V by using a special designed clamp with an initial compressive load at high temperatures. The EDX and Line Scanning analyses indicate that the resulted film is composed of elements of HA and titanium alloy and due to the diffusion of HA and Ti6Al4V elements into each other, a good embedment is achieved. The elemental diffusion of HA and Ti6Al4V increases by increasing the temperature of the implantation process therefore the thickness of the implanted layer and the hardness of the embedded surface increase with the temperature.