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The study aims to analyze the situation of employment in West Sumatra Province using indicators such as the employment status, sector/business field, and type of work, labor productivity, and labor elasticity during the period 2018-2020. The descriptive quantitative approach was employed, using secondary data from Badan Pusat Statistik (BPS). The data used include the main job status, economic sector, type of work, and constant price GRDP. The statistical data obtained describe the characteristics of the employment situation in the Province of West Sumatra. Information on the results of data analysis is visualized in the form of tables, graphs, and descriptions. Calculations are carried out to determine the value of labor productivity and elasticity. This method is carried out by calculating the ratio between the growth of employment opportunities and the growth of GRDP from different time points. The results of this study indicate that employment status in West Sumatra is dominated by formal workers. The primary and tertiary business sectors absorb more labor than the secondary sector. The agricultural, forestry, hunting, and fishery business workers are very dominant in absorbing labor in West Sumatra Province in 2018-2020. Total labor productivity decreased in 2020 due to a decrease in regional income in several sectors/business fields during the Covid-19 pandemic. Labor elasticity by sector/business field in West Sumatra mostly has a value of less than zero with the water supply, waste management, waste, and recycling sectors having the highest labor elasticity values.

Abstract: The review aims to summarize the major and dominant natural antioxidants and their resources from medicinal and herbal plants with antiviral, anti-inflammation and antimicrobial activities. For this review manuscript, online databases, including Web of Science, Scopus, PubMed, and Science Direct, were searched for papers published from 1960 to November, 2021. Search terms consisted of “medicinal plants”, “traditional Iranian medicine”, “traditional Persian medicine”, “pharmaceutical properties”, “antioxidant activity”, “antiviral activity”, “anti-inflammation”, “antimicrobial” and “antibacterial activities”. (-)-Epicatechin, Caffeic acid, Gallic acid, Hydroxytyrosol, Kaempferol, and Resveratrol are some of the most important chemical compounds with antioxidant properties. Rosmarinic acid, Caffeic acid, Carnosol, P-Coumaric acid, Carnosic acid, Luteolin, Apigenin, and Kaempferol are the major chemical compounds with antiviral properties. Curcumin, Colchicine, Resveratrol, Capsaicin, (-)-Epigallocatechin, Quercetin, Myristicin, and Elmicin are the principal chemical compounds with anti-inflammatory properties. Isoeugenol, Coumarin, Piperonal, Scoparone, Spathulenol, D-Limonene, and Myrcene are the principal chemical compounds with antibacterial properties in traditional Iranian medicine. Persian traditional medicine, or Iranian traditional medicine, is one of the main ancient forms of traditional medicine, which has influenced knowledge regarding other medicinal plants in various countries. It has also been considered one of the most well-known traditional and holistic systems of medicine.

Background: High-performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC) was developed and validated for the determination of aloe-emodin in accordance with ICH guidelines. In addition, a novel RP-UHPLC method was developed, and both methods were used to analyse the herbal extract and herbal formulation. Methods: Separation was carried out on a silica gel 60 F254 HPTLC plate using the mobile phase Toluene: Methanol (9:1). The linearity was good across the 800-4000 ng/spot range. Validation results are within acceptable limits. The percent RSD for accuracy was 0.58-1.77, and precision was 1.10-1.97 and 1.45-1.94 for intraday and interday, respectively. The percentage of aloe-emodin found in the herbal extract and aloe vera capsule was 99.83 ± 1.19 and 99.53 ± 1.29, respectively, using this method. Results: Quantification of aloe-emodin in herbal extract and herbal formulation were done using a novel UHPLC method with chromatographic conditions of orthophosphoric acid Methanol (0.1 percent OPA): Water (65:35, v/v) and pH 3, a flow rate of 1.2 ml/min, and elute detection at 254 nm. At 6.32 minutes, a sharp and symmetric peak was observed. The method developed was validated in accordance with ICH guidelines. The percent RSD numerical value of accuracy was 0.304-0.576, and the inter-day and intraday precision were 0.32-3.08 and 0.51-2.78, respectively. Herbal extract and aloe vera capsule were analysed using the new UHPLC method. Aloe-emodin percentages were reported as 100.3 ± 0.89 and 99.53 ± 1.29, respectively. Conclusion: The antimicrobial and anti-oxidant activities of an aloe-vera herbal formulation were studied, and the results were positive.

Abstract: The world needs a paradigm change from the current views on many plants to secure future food and nutrition. Many neglected and underutilized plants, specially medicinal and aromatic plants, are nutrient dense, appropriate in diversifying diets, provide enough vitamins and micronutrients for people, high resistant to diseases and pests, and can be adapted in many regions and of course with tremendous pharmaceutical benefits. Many of the medicinal plant species which were common in traditional medicine are still neglected and underutilized, especially in developing and under-developing countries. Lack of attention to these plants means their potential medicinal properties are under exploited and underestimated. The searches focused on publications from 1980 to July 2021 using PubMed, Google Scholar, Science Direct, and Scopus databases. Review of the literature was carried out using the following keywords, "medicinal plants", "neglected plants", "underutilized plants", "aromatic plants", "traditional medicine science", and "South America". In this review article, the authors have focused on medicinal values of Schinusterebinthifolius, Uncaria tomentosa, Phyllanthusamarus, Astrocaryum aculeatum, Croton cajucara, Arrabidaea chica, Bauhinia forticata, Copaifera langsdorffii, Cordia verbenacea, Caesalpinia ferrea, Salix alba L., Casearia sylvestris, Carapa guianensis, Costus spicatus, and Eugenia uniflora L., in both modern and traditional science. Although many studies have evaluated the biological characteristics of these plants, little has been done to identify and characterize its chemical components, which is certainly a niche that requires to be further explored.

The study aimed to investigate the role of the practical education course (1) in enhancing the educational competencies of the modern Palestinian teacher under the Corona pandemic abstract This study aimed to reveal the role of the practical education course (1) in enhancing the educational competencies of the modern Palestinian teacher in light of the Corona pandemic. Dura, and data were collected using an interview. The results of the study showed that practical education contributed to providing student teachers with the adequacy of prior lesson planning, and the formulation of comprehensive behavioural goals for the domains (cognitive, emotional, and psychomotor). In the area of the adequacy of implementing the educational situation, they acquired the skill of preparing the students for the lesson, linking the new learning with the students’ previous experiences, using vocabulary appropriate to the students’ level, using appropriate reinforcement, linking the lesson to the students’ realities of life, and attracting the students’ attention. Taking into account individual differences through dialogue, role-playing, brainstorming and problem solving. In the field of personal competencies, they acquired the skills of paying attention to public appearance, speaking in a sound language, the importance of maintaining a good relationship and encouraging students to express themselves. In the field of diversification in teaching methods and methods, they acquired the skill of employing modern teaching methods, classroom communication methods and the surrounding environment to enhance learning. As for the adequacy of employing modern methods and educational technology, they acquired the skill of using audio-visual aids, using illustrative models and flash cards, and employing modern technologies such as computers and the Internet. and home assignments, taking into account the continuity of the students’ learning assessment using the formative assessment during the course of the lesson and the final assessment at its end, preparing tests according to the specifications of a good test, and developing the students’ self-assessment skill. The researchers recommended the necessity of continuing to develop the course of practical education (1) from time to time in line with recent developments, setting plans and programs for faculty members, and giving training courses in teacher training programs. And the integration between the course of practical education (1) and other courses at the university. Documenting the link between diversification in teaching methods and employing activities and technology as one unit. Keywords: Practical Education 1, Educational Competencies, The Corona Pandemic.

The structural, electronic and optical properties of lithium niobate (LiNbO3) and manganese (Mn)-doped LiNbO3 are investigated using a first-principles study. The first-principles calculation in this work is implemented using CASTEP computer code with GGA-PBE correlation. The band structure and density of states are calculated to analyze the effect of Mn doping on the electronic properties of LiNbO3. Hubbard U correction is applied to Nb 4d state with U= 11 eV and the corrected band gap obtained is 3.771 eV. LiNbO3 doped with Mn shows a reduction in the band gap energy which is 1.9889 eV. The dielectric constant and refractive index of LiNbO3 and Mn-doped LiNbO3 are also calculated. The optical absorption results suggest there is a shift in the absorption edge towards the visible region in comparison with the LiNbO3. The improvement in band gap and optical absorption in Mn-doped LiNbO3 making it a promising material for photovoltaic and photocatalysis applications.

Indium doped zinc oxide (IZO) thin films were fabricated on glass substrates by spin coating technique for transparent conducting oxide (TCO) application. Effect of different indium concentration on their properties were investigated. IZO thin films were deposited on glass substrate using sol-gel spin coating techniques using zinc acetate dihydrate, indium nitrate hydrate, absolute ethanol, and monoethanolamine (MEA). The concentration of indium was varied at 1, 3, 4, and 5 at.%. to study the characteristics of the IZO thin films in terms of structural, optical, and electrical, which is to achieve high visibility of IZO as transparent conducting oxide. The UV-Vis examination of IZO thin film observed that the highest transparency of thin films was IZO with indium concentration of 4% which shows a75.6%. The optical band gap were calculated using Tauc’s plot and was found to be in the range between 3.10 to 3.2 eV. For electrical properties, the lowest resistivity was observed for IZO thin film at 4% doping concentration with a value of 3.25 Ωcm, while the highest resistivity was observed at IZO thin film at 1% which is 15.26 Ωcm.

Nowadays, electricity consumption especially in Malaysia has increased by the year. One of the factors that led to the increase in electricity consumption of a building is the usage of air conditioners (AC). The inability of conventional AC remote controls to monitor indoor environment conditions of the building will lead to unnecessary extreme temperature setting, then causing unnecessary high electrical consumption. Also, the conventional AC remote control is not able to store and perform analysis on the environment condition data of the building for the use of energy management strategy. The conventional AC remote control is only able to show the temperature set point value of the system, which could not represent the comfort experienced by occupants. In this project, a new device which can monitor the indoor environment condition and estimated electricity consumption on a web server is developed. The device monitors a comprehensive thermal comfort index Predicted Mean Vote (PMV) representing the comfort experienced by the occupants. The device is equipped with wireless sensor modules for indoor and outdoor remote monitoring. The device can monitor the outdoor temperature, indoor temperature, and indoor relative humidity along with indoor PMV value and electricity consumption. This device can grant advance feature to conventional AC remote control without causing physical modification to the existing system.

Vibriosis causes a major setback in the marine aquaculture industry. In controlling vibriosis, vaccination of the broodstock could help in transferring the initial immunity to the fry and perhaps giving immunity to them during the culture period. This study determines the efficacy of three live-attenuated Vibrio harveyi vaccine (LAVh) derivatives on zebrafish broodstock in providing immunological protection to their offspring against pathogenic Vibrio spp. Zebrafish were vaccinated intraperitoneally with full effective dose (ED80) and monitored for 14 weeks. On week 6, the specimens were intraperitoneally (i.p.) challenged with pathogenic 107 CFU/ml of Vibrio spp., and subsequently another batch was left to spawn. Thereafter, the antibody level of larvae was monitored for 4 weeks post-hatching. Groups of juvenile zebrafish were given booster vaccination via immersion (1 × 107 CFU/mL) with vaccines similar to their predecessor. The fish were sampled weekly for four weeks to determine their antibody profile and pro-inflammatory gene expression. Finally, at week 3, the juvenile fish were challenged with pathogenic strains of Vibrio spp. Results of antibody profiling in the adult zebrafish model indicated that freeze-dried and stale LAVh delivers a longer immunological protective duration, while the FKVh vaccination group failed to provide immunological protection against V. alginolyticus. However, the gene expression of pro-inflammatory interleukin 1β (IL-1β) in the FKVh vaccinated group was elevated longer than that in the freeze-dried LAVh vaccinated group. Nevertheless, the relative percent survival (RPS) of both vaccination groups against pathogenic Vibrio spp. displayed 100% immunity. Overall, the freeze-dried LAVh vaccine was found to confer maternal immune protection for its offspring, provide a long duration of immunological protection and cross-protection coverage against pathogenic Vibrio spp., and have a longer shelf life. It is proposed to be commercially available for farmers to protect against Vibrio spp. infection.

The development of low energy buildings in hot subtropical and desert like climates such as Australia and Kuwait, requires strategies that are rather challenging. Five (5) experimental rooms are going to be built to assess these energy saving techniques for a research program jointly between Kuwait and Australia. Before the construction phase, these rooms are simulated in TRNSYS18 for the two sites based on available weather data collected from Kuwait International Airport and Rockhampton Airport. The objectives are to investigate room orientation and walling materials on energy performance of the rooms. It was found that all rooms return identical temperature profiles in each of the eight (8) dominant directions, i.e., N, NE, E, SE, S, SE, E, and NW. Five (5) different commercially available wall materials were employed for the five (5) simulated rooms in Kuwait and Australia. It was found that autoclaved aerated concrete (AAC) wall materials and north (N) building face orientation are the preferred construction material and orientation in both sites. The energy performance index (EPI) showed that AAC wall materials for the room faced towards north (N) provides the lowest cooling EPI of 646 and 448.4 kW/m2/year in Kuwait and Rockhampton, Australia, respectively.

This study aims to determine the impact of corporate governance mechanism on the directors' remuneration disclosure level and firm value. Data were collected from annual reports of 200 selected companies listed in Bursa Malaysia from 2013 to 2019. Pooled OLS, longitudinal data and 2SLS was carried out to accomplish the objective. The results show that board independence significantly impact the directors’ remuneration disclosure level while CEO duality and board size are insignificant on the directors’ remuneration disclosure level. Another finding revealed that directors’ remuneration disclosure level and board size were significant in affecting the firm value. It was also found that directors’ remuneration disclosure does not mediated the relationship between board structure and firm value. This finding deserves the attention of the stakeholders, investors, policymakers, and organizations in modelling a high-level disclosure and governance structure in the corporate environment in enhancing firm value.

This work explicates a simple, rapid, and sensitive method for the electrochemical detection of dopamine (DOP) utilising 1-phenyl-3-methyl-4-orthofluorobenzoyl-5-pyrazolone (HPMoFBP)/multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) carbon paste electrode (CPE). The electrochemical behaviour of DOP was performed through cyclic voltammetry and square wave voltammetry. HPMoFBP/MWCNT showed a higher current at the lower potential for the oxidation of DOP compared to bare MWCNT. The sensor's improved electrocatalytic activity was observed to detect in a 1.0 x 10-1 M phosphate buffer saline (PBS) solution at pH 8.0. A good linear regression analysis was observed between electrical response and the concentration of DOP in the range of 1 to 1000 µM. Under optimized experimental conditions, 1.0 x 10-7 M has been determined as the limit of detection (LOD). The sensor has expressed considerable sensitivity towards DOP detection without interference and is successfully used to determine DOP in dopamine hydrochloride injection. KEY WORDS: Electrochemical sensor, Dopamine, Pyrazolone, MWCNT, Voltammetry Bull. Chem. Soc. Ethiop. 2023, 37(4), 845-857. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/bcse.v37i4.4

Background: Plants have played an essential role in the search for new compounds for the most diverse therapeutic purposes. Recently, more attention has been paid to natural antioxidants because of the possible insecurity of synthetic antioxidants. Objective: The review is aimed at summarizing the most important and common natural antioxidants and their resources from medicinal plants. Method: The research was performed using data bases of PubMed, Google Scholar, Science Direct, Taylor and Francis, etc. to search for all collected scientific publications. Results: The most important medicinal plants with antioxidant activities in Iran are Artemisia, berberry fruit, borage, calendula, coriander, cumin, green tea, hawthorn, jujube, pomegranate, rose, rosemary, black zira, tea, and thyme. Important traditional medicinal plants with antioxidant activities in China are Asparagus, bindii, blueberries, camellia, Chinese bayberry, Chinese bitter melon, Chinese cabbage, Chinese cherry, Chinese jujube, Chinese olive, pomegranate, Chinese rose tea, Chinese toon, Chinese watermelon, black tea, knotweed, Chinese quince, Chinese rhubarb, sumac, wolfberry, dendrobium, drumstick tree, Fiscus species, ginger, ginkgo, goji berry, grape, Jerusalem thorn, kiwifruit seed oil, and liquorice root. Anacardium occidentale L., Ananas comosus (L.) Merril, Baccharis trimera (Less) DC., Carapa guianensis Aubl., Casearia sylvestris Sw., Cordia verbenacea DC., Croton lechleri Müll. Arg., and Eugenia uniflora L. are the main medicinal plants with antioxidant activities in Brazil. Conclusion: Antioxidants are those molecules that are involved in the scavenging of these reactive species causing oxidative stress and are defined as those substances which could prevent the oxidation of the substrate at low concentrations. The main derived exogenous natural antioxidants are derived from medicinal plants, fruits, foods, flowers, and traditional herbal medicines in different parts of the world

Abstract: The review is aimed at summarizing the most important and common natural antioxidants and their resources from traditional Irani and Chinese medicinal sciences. The most important medicinal plants with antioxidant activities in Iran are Artemisia, berberry fruit, borage, calendula, coriander, cumin, green tea, hawthorn, jujube, pomegranate, rose, rosemary, black zira, tea, and thyme. Important traditional medicinal plants with antioxidant activities in China are Asparagus, bindii, blueberries, camellia, Chinese bayberry, Chinese bitter melon, Chinese cabbage, Chinese cherry, Chinese jujube, Chinese olive, pomegranate, Chinese rose tea, Chinese toon, Chinese watermelon, black tea, knotweed, Chinese quince, Chinese rhubarb, sumac, wolfberry, dendrobium, drumstick tree, Fiscus species, ginger, ginkgo, goji berry, grape, Jerusalem thorn, kiwifruit seed oil, and licorice root. The present review article highlights the most important medicinal plants which have been used in Iran and China as traditional herbal medicines for hundreds of years due to their tremendous antioxidant activities.

Abstract: Different compounds with bioactive constitutents can be applied as biostimulants to increase plant growth and development under both normal and stressful conditions. Biostimulants utilization can be considered as a sustainable and beneficial nutritional crop management, and may decrease the negative impacts associated with excessive chemical fertilization. Google scholar (scholar.google.com), Science Direct (sicencedirect.com), CAB Direct (cabdirect.org), Springer Link (springerlink.com), Scopus (scopus.com), Web of Science (web of knowledge.com), Taylor and Francis (tandfonline.com), and Wiley Online Library (onlinelibrary.wiley.com) have been checked. The search was done to all manuscript sections according to terms "Glomus intraradices", "Trichoderma atroviride", "Trichoderma reesei", "Heteroconium chaetospira", "Artherobacter spp.", "Acinetobacter spp.", "Enterobacer spp.", "Pseudomonas spp.", "Ochrobactrum spp.", "Bacilus spp.", "Rhodococcus spp.", "Biostimulants", and "Plant growth promotion". On the basis of initial check, Titles and Abstracts have been reviwed on the basis of online literature, and then articles were read carefully. Withinin the framework of sustainable crop management, this review article was aimed to provide an overview of the application of the most common fungi and bacteria as plant biostimulants on various crops.

Hyperkalaemia is an electrolyte abnormality that warrants urgent intervention and has well-recognised electrocardiographic changes. Peaking T wave is the most appreciated ECG sign, but hyperkalaemia manifesting electrocardiographically as acute ischemia with ST segment elevation is a very rare condition. We present a case of acute kidney injury, complicated by severe hyperkalaemia causing ST segment elevation changes in ECG simulating acute myocardial infarction. Rapid serum potassium level in arterial blood gases blood test guide treatment in this case saved the need for unnecessary activation of the catheterisation lab and more importantly, saved the patient from malignant dysthymia in case of treatment delay. Aggressive treatment of hyperkalaemia resulted in successful reduction of serum potassium level; ECG changes returned to baseline without any evidence of pseudoinfarction pattern. The medical staff should be aware of this condition in order to administer correct therapy and prevent unnecessary interventions and the associated risk of complications.

Biological fertilizers are a group of living organisms whose activities can improve soil fertility, fertilizers that contain microbes and are useful for helping plant growth. The purpose of this study was to analyze the growth and production of rice plants against the application of biological fertilizers. There are 7 bacterial isolates used as biofertilizers, namely, Bacillus sp., two Pseudomonas sp. strains, two Azospirillum sp. strains, and two Azotobacter sp. strains. This study used an experimental design method through a one-factor randomized block design. The treatment in the study consisted of no fertilization, compost, 100% NPK, 7 isolates enriched compost, 7 isolates enriched compost+50% NPK, 4 isolates enriched compost, and 4 isolates enriched compost+50% NPK. The results showed that compost enriched with biological fertilizers could increase the nutrient content of the soil, thereby increasing the growth and production of rice plants. Treatment of compost enriched with 7 isolates+50% NPK gave the highest yield, both for rice plants. The use of biological fertilizers can reduce the dose of inorganic fertilizer use by up to 50% in rice cultivation.

This paper presents the signal strength measurement of the 4G network for an outdoor environment. The signal strength is measured at the Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) at 1.8 GHz and 2.6 GHz. The signal measurement is compared with the simulation using WinProp software. The database was created for the simulation, and the received signals were recorded at certain locations. The measured and simulated results show that the signal is comparable, where the highest signal is -56 dBm at 1.8 GHz and -49 dBm at 2.6 GHz.

Let S denote the subclass of the analytic function and univalent functions in D, where D is defined as the unit disk and having the Taylor representation form of S. In this paper, we will estimate the second Hankel determinant which the elements are the logarithmic coefficients of the class close-to-convex function with respect to the Koebe function in S

Mimosa pudica is a medicinal plant worthy of therapeutic properties. It is often overlooked as one of the weed species, and the potential was underappreciated despite its abundance in nature, particularly in tropical climate countries. Considering the aptitude of this species, the micropropagation protocol of M. pudica was revisited and enhanced. The seed surface sterilization and germination were assessed, followed by shoot multiplication rate and root initiation efficiency. Seeds of M. pudica were best surface sterilized with 35% of Clorox and recorded the highest germination rate at 65.55% in media of three-quarter strength Murashige and Skoog (MS) combined with 30 g of sucrose. The explants were harvested and subcultured into multiplication media fortified with 6-benzylaminopurine, kinetin, and coconut water. The highest number of new shoots and leaves were obtained at 3 shoots and 3.27 cm in media of MS combined with 17.6 μm kinetin. Half-strength MS media devoid of hormone was recommended for root induction, resulting in the 5 healthy roots at 2.06 cm after 4 weeks of culture. Overall, the developed micropropagation protocol of M. pudica could facilitate its large-scale cultivation, indicating its potential as a medicinal crop for the extraction of bioactive compounds.

Background:Hypertension is a public health problem used to describe high blood pressure where the blood vessels are persistently increased in force. According to WHO, hypertension has been reported in one in four men and one in five women. Worldwide, hypertension is a common health problem that affects 20-30% of the adult population and more than 5-8% of pregnancies, and it is frequently curable when detected and treated early enough. Objective: This paper aims to validate the factor associatedwith hypertension status among patients with dyslipidemia and type 2 diabetes mellitus. This could help to improve the prediction of the probability of hypertension among studied patients. Material and Methods: 39 patients were recruited from the Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM). In this retrospective study, advanced computational statistical modeling methodologies were used to evaluate data descriptions of several variables such as hypertension, marital status, smoking status, systolic blood pressure, fasting blood glucose, total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein, alanine transferase, alkaline phosphatase, and urea reading. The R-Studio software and syntax were used to implement and test the hazard ratio. The statistics for each sample were calculated using a combination model that included bootstrap and multiple logistic regression methods. Results: The statistical strategy showed R demonstrates that regression modeling outperforms an R-squared. It revealed that the hybrid model technique better predicts the outcome when data is partitioned into a training and testing dataset. The variable validation was determined using the well-established bootstrap-integrated MLRtechnique. In this case, eight variables are considered: marital status, systolic blood pressure, fasting blood glucose, total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein, alanine transferase, alkaline phosphatase, and urea reading. It’s important to note that six things affect the hazard ratio: Marital status (β1: 1.183519; p< 0.25), systolic blood pressure ( :-0.144516; p< 0.25), total cholesterol (β2: 0.9585890; p< 0.25), high-density lipoprotein ( :-5.927411; p< 0.25), alkaline phosphatase ( :-0.008973; p> 0.25), and urea reading ( :0.064169; p< 0.25).There is a 0.003469102 MSE for the linear model in this scenario. Conclusion: In this study, a hybrid approach combining bootstrapping and multiple logistic regression will be developed and extensively tested. The R syntax for this methodology was designed to ensure that the researcher completely understood the illustration. In this case, a hybrid model demonstrates how this critical conclusion enables us to understand better the utility and relative contribution of the hybrid method to the outcome. The statistical technique used in this study, R, demonstrates that regression modelingoutperforms R-squared values of 0.9014 and 0.00882 for the Predicted Mean Squared Error, respectively. Thus, the study’s conclusion establishes the superiority of the hybrid model technique used in the study. Bangladesh Journal of Medical Science Vol. 22 No. 02 April’23 Page : 422-431

Background: Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH) is common in aging men with worldwide prevalence at 20-62%, while Malaysian prevalence was 39.3% (2001) and increased at 8% per decade. In surgical treatment of BPH, Trans-Urethral Resection of Prostate (TURP) remains the gold standard. Other surgical options would mostly also require general anesthesia (GA). Therefore, more Local-Anaesthesia (LA) based options should be made available for patients who are not fit or unwilling to be under GA. Those currently available LA-based procedure has shown promising results including prostatic stents and trans-urethral lifts, but have drawbacks due to being expensive, not widely available, less suitable in median lobe enlargement or may cause complications including migration, overgrowth of prostatic tissue or foreign-body related complications which may require GA for their treatment. Prostatic Artery Embolization (PAE), initially an LA-based emergency treatment option for persistent life-threatening hematuria from a bleeding BPH, now has been proven to be a safe elective treatment. In Malaysia this novel technique was first reported in 2017 for treatment of post TURP intractable hematuria. Methods and Material: We retrospectively evaluated all 13 catheter-dependent BPH patients in two tertiary urology centres treated with PAE from April 2019 until December 2021 to assess post-treatment efficacy. Results: One patient failed removal of catheter within 3 months post-procedure but 12 out of 13 patients safely got their catheter removed within 1-3 months and resulted in significant IPSS improvement. Conclusion: PAE is a safe and effective treatment option for BPH patients of the Malaysian population but needs prospective evaluation.

This study examines the relationship between macroeconomic factors and foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows in developing countries. The data from the World Bank covers 21 years, from 2000 to 2020 was analyzed using the panel regression approach with E-Views. Panel regression analysis, including model selections and diagnostics, is used for inferential analysis. The main contribution of this study is the influence of political factors on FDI inflows. Political stability and corruption control are technically the most important conditions for FDI inflows in developing countries and were introduced in this study. This study found a positive relationship between GDP growth rate, imports, inflation, and corruption index with FDI inflow, confirmed by previous studies. The study also implies that the exchange rate, exports, and political stability have a negative relationship with the level of FDI in developing countries. In addition, the study found that GDP growth rate, imports, and exports significantly impact FDI inflows in developing countries, while the other variables are not significant. In other words, this result shows that macroeconomic and political factors such as import, export, exchange rate, corruption control, and political stability impact FDI inflows. Moreover, this paper provides policy recommendations to support developing countries' economies by attracting FDI and increasing its inflow.

The development of alternative food packaging films using bio-based residues is in great demand for replacing petroleum-based packaging materials. However, large-scale application is severely limited by costly production and poor performance. This study investigates the ex-situ modification of bacterial cellulose (BC) produced by Acetobacter xylinum in oil palm fronds juice to obtain BC-Chitosan (BCC) films. FTIR revealed the structure of amide I and II bands, confirming the presence of chitosan in BCC films. The FE-SEM images of BCC films showed the formation of a thick chitosan layer with increasing chitosan incorporated into the BC surface structure. The coated chitosan layer observed improved mechanical properties in BCC films due to the disappearance of empty pores between BC fibers. Increments in chitosan concentration slightly decreased the thermal behavior of BCC. The antimicrobial effects of BCC films were effective against Gram-positive bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus) when the concentration of chitosan incorporated was above 0.6 %w/v. This study reveals the potential of extending the application of BC derived from oil palm frond juice (OPFJ) for developing food packaging materials.

Legal harmonization is a fundamental notion of comparative law that has been on the international and national agendas for the last decade. Harmonization, which derives from the word “harmony,” has a variety of meanings, one of which, in the perspective of the discussion of this topic, is the readiness and the openness to recognize, acknowledge, adopt, or accept anything produced, practiced by or originating from man-made laws, modern secular traditions, customs and usages, cultures, societies, systems or institutions which is considered to be in “harmony” with or not opposed to the worldview, principles, values, teachings, and norms of Islam. Thus, the conceptualizing approach of harmonization of legal knowledge and education is a process of actualizing the divine imperatives in the legal arena. In Malaysia, several endeavors have sought the similarity between legal rules from different jurisdictions; however, their achievements remain contested since there is no comprehensive understanding of the nature and extent of harmonization. Thus, this article examines different facets of harmonization by considering it a legal phenomenon instead of a distinct process of drafting similar rules. Adopting a comprehensive understanding of harmonization as a legal phenomenon may help better assess the strengths of the implementation processes and formulate adequate new legal endeavors.

The Formula SAE competition is organised for students who want to design and build a Formula-style race car. To limit the car's performance for safety and to encourage problem-solving skills, a 20mm restrictor was installed between the carburetor and the intake manifold to reduce air intake. When airflow is restricted, a bottleneck effect occurs, and less air is supplied to the engine for combustion, lowering engine efficiency. The goal of this project is to find a solution to this problem within the rules' limitations. This is accomplished by selecting an intake manifold that provides the best uniform distribution through each outlet and selecting a material that can withstand engine stress and vibrations while maintaining a relatively low temperature to ensure consistent velocity and pressure. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) software is used to analyse the design's fluid flow, static, and thermal analysis, and the results are compared for each design. The best design and material will be used on the Universiti Malaysia Perlis Automotive Racing Team (UniART) race car

The greatest challenge for educators during the pandemic Covid 19 situation today is to motivate their students to adopt e-learning. Therefore, it is important for lecturers in higher institutions to understand how to motivate their learners in choosing the types of motivation. Motivation refers to the concern with arousal, direction and persistence of behaviour towards the achievement of a specific goal, which classified into intrinsic and extrinsic. The objective of this study is to explore the types of motivation in adopting e-learning among the student-athletes of Sport Science and Recreation Faculty at University Technology MARA (UiTM), Malaysia. One hundred and twenty student t- athletes participated in this study. They were categorized into four ranking known as national, state, district and university based on their achievement in sports. The overall result showed that the student-athletes have the highest level of motivation in External Regulation (mean= 27.51), followed by Introjected Regulation (mean= 25.74), Identified Regulation (mean= 22.32), Amotivation (mean= 20.34), Intrinsic Motivation to Experience (mean= 17.17), Intrinsic Motivation to Know (mean= 15.31) and Intrinsic Motivation to Accomplish (mean= 12.55). Furthermore, national level athletes scored higher mean in both types of e-learning motivation except for Amotivation. In contrast, university ranking student-athletes scored the lowest on all the types of motivations for e-learning but highest in Amotivation. The findings obtained in this study supported by Self-Determination theory that e-learning involves the interaction of both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Therefore, educators should use intrinsic and extrinsic types of motivation to enhance the e learning habits among student-athletes to increase their performance in academic.

This paper reviews several studies of image de-noising on digital image processing and applications. Noisy images contain different noise that exist either due to environment or electronic interferences. Ergo, de-noising is crucial to eliminate the noise that disturb data collecting process. The impact of de-noising on image processing can result for accurate and precise data collected from the image. Additionally, de-noising process required several crucial steps that help to enhance knowledge on digital image and its application. Hence, study and understanding de-noising can improve multiple aspect such as image quality, data sensitivity and specificity, accuracy of the collected data, and increase the percentage of each parameter.

This study aims to develop digital comics for learning magnetism in learning Science in Elementary Schools. This type of research is development research, which refers to the Four-D. The location of this research is at Kota Tengah 80 Public Elementary School, Bulangu Timur 1 Public Elementary School, and Telaga Biru 1 Public Elementary School. The results of the study show that digital comic magnets developed for science learning in elementary schools: (1) are categorized as valid and feasible; (2) Practically used, this is indicated by the very good response from students with a percentage of 90% in the limited trial class and 93.75% in the extended trial class. The implementation of learning in the limited trial class obtained an average percentage of 90.91%, while in the extended trial class it was 96.15%; (3) Effectiveness, indicated by good student activity with a percentage of 82% in both limited trial classes and extended trial classes, as well as student learning outcomes that are in very good criteria. Based on this, the digital comics magnet that has been developed is stated to be valid, practical and effective, so that it can be used in the science learning process in class V of elementary school

Over the past eight decades, numerous research has been conducted on the extraction of Zingiber zerumbet rhizome. The mini-review includes information on the pharmacological properties of zerumbone extracted from Z. zerumbet rhizome and the extraction methods conducted over the previous 80 years. Zerumbone is recognised as having a proven pharmacological effect and is a significant medicinal component used to treat various ailments. The pharmacological values are stated based on the research findings. The extraction method and technology are essential to extract zerumbone. Thus, the review helps the reader keep up with the history of each technique or technology used in extracting zerumbone from Z. zerumbet rhizome, starting with conventional technology and moving toward advanced technology.

Ziziphus mauritiana methanol crude extract was evaluated for its insecticidal properties against Aedes aegypti, Ae. albopictus, and Culex quinquefasciatus mosquito larvae. Bioassays against larvae mosquitoes were done following World Health Organization’s guidelines. Late third and/or early fourth instar of mosquito larva were assayed for five different concentrations viz. 100, 150, 200, 250, and 300 mg ml–1 of Z. mauritiana crude extracts. From the results obtained, Aedes aegypti was the most susceptible to Z. mauritiana crude extracts. The percentage of mortality exhibited above 50% of 200, 250, and 300 mg ml–1 in 24, 48, and 72 hr exposure. Thus, it gives the lowest LC50 within 24 hr of exposure (121.98 mg L–1), followed by Ae. albopictus (189.89 mg L–1) and Cx. quinquefasciatus (246.22 mg L–1). Observation of the morphology effect of the dead larvae shows Ae. aegypti was the most affected, followed by Ae. albopictus and Cx. quinquefasciatus. A ruptured midgut was observed in 100 and 200 mg ml–1 concentrations. In contrast, in higher concentrations of 300 mg ml–1, the abdominal segments were indistinguishable, and the head and thorax regions were severely damaged. This study suggested that Z. mauritiana methanolic crude extracts were potent against Ae. aegypti larvae mosquitoes and have the potential to be used as an alternative larvicide in population control. However, further studies are required to establish the potential of Z. mauritiana larvicidal effects in the field setting.

Exopolysaccharides (EPS) are well-known biopolymers secreted by several lactic acid bacteria with combination of various strains. The aim of this study is to increase EPS production by co-culturing Lactobacillus plantarum ATCC 8014 with Saccharomyces cerevisiae ICA-Y01 and study the changes in the functional characteristics of the EPS from both cultivations. In this study, the production and functional characteristics of EPS from co-cultivation culture of L. plantarum ATCC 8014 with S. cerevisiae ICA-Y01 were evaluated. The co-cultivation of L. plantarum ATCC 8014 with S. cerevisiae ICA-Y01was markedly increased EPS production up to 55.84% with 6.8 g/l yield after 20 hours cultivation. The pH of the co-cultivation culture was remained constantly at 5.2 until the end of cultivation. Furthermore, co-cultivation under pH 6 in the 16L bioreactor showed a higher growth rate of 0.214 h-1 and EPS production increased up to 104.44% when compared with single cultivation of L. plantarum ATCC 8014. This result clearly indicates the importance of growing the cells in the controlled pH condition when cultivated with S. cerevisiae ICA-Y01 to enhance EPS production. The functional characteristics of EPS secreted from both cultivation strategies were also evaluated. FT-IR spectroscopy confirmed EPS presence from both cultivations, indicating functional group of the polysaccharide with D-glucose units bound by α-(1→6). The EPS production from single cultivation showed a higher DPPH radical scavenging activity (88.21%) and IC50 (19.57%) as compared to EPS produced from co-cultivation with DPPH scavenging exhibited 32.45% with no IC50 value detected. Furthermore, solubility and water uptake of EPS from single cultivation are higher in comparison to co-cultivation. In conclusion, higher efficiency in the bioactivity of EPS from the single cultivation of L. plantarum ATCC 8014 was confirmed even though the EPS yield is low as compared to EPS synthesis through inter-kingdom cultivation.

This article focuses on the production of tensile test (ASTM D638-03) specimens using fused deposition modelling technique as preliminary study for preparation of 3D-printed SUAV wings. Carbon-PLA (nylon 6/66 copolymer adding with 20% of carbon fiber) was used as 3D filament. There were 7 printing orientations: 0o, 15o, 30o, 45o, 60o, 75o, and 90o based on tensile axis with 3 specimens for each direction (21 specimens in total). Printing parameters were set using open-source slicing application CURA. It was found delamination and fracture outside the gauge length causing high deviation of the mechanical properties value. So, the result of the testing test seems like do not comply with theoretical aspect of relationship between fiber orientation and tensile properties of composite materials. Taking care of printing parameters and increasing the number of specimens has an opportunity to achieve high precision results since precise data is crucial as a starting point for the development of SUAV wings.

Background The oxidation of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) by reactive oxygen species (ROS) causes inflammation, which results in the expression of adhesion molecules and monocyte adhesion and migration. This eventually leads to the progression of atherosclerosis. Erythroxylum cuneatum (EC), locally known as “Chinta mula,” is used as traditional medicine in certain countries. However, the scientific evidence of its medicinal properties, particularly related to cardiovascular disease (CVD) is still limited. Objectives This study was designed to evaluate the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties of EC leaf extract in protecting against atherosclerosis in vitro. Materials and Methods Human aortic endothelial cells (HAoECs) induced by oxidized LDL (oxLDL) were treated with comparable concentrations (40 and 80 µg/ml) of EC ethanol and acetone leaf extracts. The antioxidant activities were determined by thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), ROS, and nitric oxide (NO) production assays. The anti-inflammatory effects of EC leaf extract were evaluated using monocyte adhesion and migration assays and the expression of adhesion molecules, namely, intracellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) and human vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1). Results Both EC extracts possess antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities against oxLDL-induced HAoECs, which were concentration-dependent. Acetone extract showed significant reduced TBARS levels and increased NO production compared to ethanol extract. It also caused a significant decrease in monocyte adhesion and expression of ICAM-1 as compared to ethanol extract. Conclusion These findings suggest that EC leaf extract is valuable in preventing atherogenesis. The superior effect of EC acetone extract warrants future studies to elucidate its mechanisms in the prevention of CVDs, particularly atherosclerosis.