The Potential Source of B. licheniformis Contamination During Whey Protein Concentrate 80 Manufacture

The objective of this study was to determine the possible source of predominant Bacillus licheniformis contamination in a whey protein concentrate (WPC) 80 manufacturing plant. Traditionally, microbial contaminants of WPC were believed to grow on the membrane surfaces of the ultrafiltration plant as this represents the largest surface area in the plant. Changes from hot to cold ultrafiltration have reduced the growth potential for bacteria on the membrane surfaces. Our recent studies of WPCs have shown the predominant microflora B. licheniformis would not grow in the membrane plant because of the low temperature (10 °C) and must be growing elsewhere. Contamination of dairy products is mostly due to bacteria being released from biofilm in the processing plant rather from the farm itself. Three different reconstituted WPC media at 1%, 5%, and 20% were used for biofilm growth and our results showed that B. licheniformis formed the best biofilm at 1% (low solids). Further investigations were done using 3 different media; tryptic soy broth, 1% reconstituted WPC80, and 1% reconstituted WPC80 enriched with lactose and minerals to examine biofilm growth of B. licheniformis on stainless steel. Thirty‐three B. licheniformis isolates varied in their ability to form biofilm on stainless steel with stronger biofilm in the presence of minerals. The source of biofilms of thermo‐resistant bacteria such as B. licheniformis is believed to be before the ultrafiltration zone represented by the 1% WPC with lactose and minerals where the whey protein concentration is about 0.6%.     

Prebiotic properties of xylooligosaccharide extracted from sugarcane wastes (pith and rind): a comparative study

Wastes from agricultural industry are often disposed. Nevertheless, these wastes contain nutraceuticals and functional compounds. Xylooligosaccharide (XOS) was extracted from two sugarcane wastes (SW); rind (SR) and pith (SP), and the prebiotic properties of both XOS were examined. SR and SP had different mixture of XOS and were resistant towards α-amylase and gastric juice digestion in vitro. Although the growth of Lactobacillus casei Shirota (LcS) and Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. Lactis ATCC® 700541™ increased significantly in both XOS after 48 h of incubation, XOS from SR showed better enrichment of probiotics growth. Both XOS were found to be more fermentable by LcS and acetic acid was the predominant end product of the fermentation. Since XOS composition was different between SR and SP and such difference can affect their prebiotic properties, it is important to choose the appropriate parts of SW to extract XOS with high fermentable properties and obtain the best synbiotics combination.     

Applied whispering gallery modes on ZnO nanorods coated glass for humidity sensing application

In this letter, a humidity sensor is demonstrated by applying a whispering gallery mode (WGM) from a microsphere resonator onto the ZnO nanorods coated glass surface. The diameter of the microsphere was 234 µm and the glass surface was coated with ZnO nanorods using the hydrothermal method at growth duration of 12 h. A significant response to humidity level ranging from 35%RH to 85%RH has been observed with the sensitivity of 0.014 2 nm/%RH. The proposed humidity sensor has successfully employed to enhance interaction between the whispering gallery mode evanescent and surrounds analyte with the assistance of ZnO nanorods coated glass.     

Towards the use of remote-sensing data for monitoring of abandoned oil palm lands in Malaysia: a semi-automatic approach

Oil palm is a commercial crop that is important for its food value and as a biofuel, along with its other benefits towards the economy and human health. Currently, Malaysia cultivates approximately 5.64 million ha of oil palm. To date, a study identifying abandoned oil palm areas using satellite images is almost non-existent. Conventionally, the monitoring of abandoned oil palm lands is tedious and time consuming, especially over large areas. Hence, in this article, the capability of high resolution satellite image via Satellite Pour I’Observation de la Terre-6 (SPOT-6) products to extract abandoned oil palm areas was explored, as was the use of multi-temporal Landsat Operational Land Imager (OLI) imagery to develop the phenology of abandoned oil palm sites. Homogeneity measures derived through SPOT images played a more important role to identify abandoned oil palm than crop phenology characteristics extracted from high spectral resolution of Landsat images. With the advancement of object-oriented classification, monitoring of abandoned oil palm areas can be done semi-automatically with an accuracy of 92±1%.     

Visual interface for searching and browsing children’s WebOPAC

This study focuses on the visual interface design of WebOPAC, which assists children in carrying out searching and browsing activities for bibliographical information in a library database. The existing interface of WebOPAC, called Ilmu, is investigated in this study; the interface is efficient in retrieving information from the database; however, its poor graphic design causes major usability problems. The graphic design of Ilmu is important in helping children to understand and visualise concepts of searching and browsing. Therefore, the interface must be constructed in such a way that can meet the needs of children aged 7–11 years. In this study, an analysis has been carried out on children’s requirements for the graphic design through participatory design activities using two approaches: cooperative inquiry and sketching of ideas. The cooperative Inquiry approach involved 40 children, while sketching children’s ideas involved 20 children as respondents. A total of 14 requirement specifications were generated and categorised into four areas—use of space, information organisation, function and use of colours; these would serve as a basis in designing a new WebOPAC interface. Synthesis of these requirements has shown that they are best supported through the implementation of visual interface display techniques. Chi-squared (χ ²) test was used to test the responses of children towards the usability of the new interface; the results showed a high level of acceptance by the children, recording a rate of 83.98 %.     

A PSO-based model to increase the accuracy of software development effort estimation

Development effort is one of the most important metrics that must be estimated in order to design the plan of a project. The uncertainty and complexity of software projects make the process of effort estimation difficult and ambiguous. Analogy-based estimation (ABE) is the most common method in this area because it is quite straightforward and practical, relying on comparison between new projects and completed projects to estimate the development effort. Despite many advantages, ABE is unable to produce accurate estimates when the importance level of project features is not the same or the relationship among features is difficult to determine. In such situations, efficient feature weighting can be a solution to improve the performance of ABE. This paper proposes a hybrid estimation model based on a combination of a particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm and ABE to increase the accuracy of software development effort estimation. This combination leads to accurate identification of projects that are similar, based on optimizing the performance of the similarity function in ABE. A framework is presented in which the appropriate weights are allocated to project features so that the most accurate estimates are achieved. The suggested model is flexible enough to be used in different datasets including categorical and non-categorical project features. Three real data sets are employed to evaluate the proposed model, and the results are compared with other estimation models. The promising results show that a combination of PSO and ABE could significantly improve the performance of existing estimation models.     

The Intra- and Extra-Telomeric Role of TRF2 in the DNA Damage Response

Telomere repeat binding factor 2 (TRF2) has a well-known function at the telomeres, which acts to protect the telomere end from being recognized as a DNA break or from unwanted recombination. This protection mechanism prevents DNA instability from mutation and subsequent severe diseases caused by the changes in DNA, such as cancer. Since TRF2 actively inhibits the DNA damage response factors from recognizing the telomere end as a DNA break, many more studies have also shown its interactions outside of the telomeres. However, very little has been discovered on the mechanisms involved in these interactions. This review aims to discuss the known function of TRF2 and its interaction with the DNA damage response (DDR) factors at both telomeric and non-telomeric regions. In this review, we will summarize recent progress and findings on the interactions between TRF2 and DDR factors at telomeres and outside of telomeres.     

Drying Kinetics of Oil Palm Frond Particles in an Agitated Fluidized Bed Dryer

The drying kinetics of oil palm frond particles in a laboratory-scale agitated fluidized bed dryer were investigated under various operating conditions: inlet air temperature (50–80°C), superficial air velocity (0.6–1.0 m/s), bed load (200–300 g), and agitation speed (300–500 rpm). To study the effects of these variables on the drying time and drying rate, an experimental design using Taguchi orthogonal array was employed. Based on analysis of variance (ANOVA), the results indicated that inlet air temperature greatly affected the drying rate, followed by superficial air velocity and bed load. The effect of agitation speed on the drying rate was found to be small. The experimental drying kinetics data were compared with the values obtained from three different models, namely, the Page model, modified quasi-stationary method (MQSM), and a new composite model. It was found that the proposed new model could satisfactorily predict the complete drying rate curve for the drying of oil palm fronds.     

3,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetate interleaved into anionic clay for controlled release formulation of a new environmentally friendly agrochemical

A new layered organic–inorganic nanohybrid material, zinc-aluminum-3,4-dicholorophenoxyacetate (N3,4-D) in which an agrochemical, 3,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (3,4-D), is intercalated into zinc-aluminum-layered double hydroxide (ZAL), was synthesized by coprecipitation method. A well-ordered nanomaterial was formed with a percentage loading of 53.5% (w/w). Due to the inclusion of 3,4-D, basal spacing expanded from 8.9 Å in ZAL to 18.7 Å in N3,4-D. The Fourier transform infrared study shows that the absorption bands of the resulting nanohybrid composed of both the 3,4-D and ZAL further confirmed the intercalation episode. Thermal analysis shows that ZAL host enhances the thermal stability of 3,4-D. Controlled-release experiment shows that the release of 3,4-D in the aqueous media is in the order of phosphate > carbonate > sulfate > chloride. These studies demonstrate the successful intercalation of the 3,4-D and its controlled release property in various aqueous media.     

Effects of newcastle disease virus strains AF2240 and V4-UPM on cytolysis and apoptosis of leukemia cell lines

Newcastle disease virus (NDV) is used as an antineoplastic agent in clinical tumor therapy. It has prompted much interest as an anticancer agent because it can replicate up to 10,000 times better in human cancer cells than in most normal cells. This study was carried out to determine the oncolytic potential of NDV strain AF2240 and V4-UPM on WEHI-3B leukemia cell line. Results from MTT cytotoxicity assay showed that the CD(50) values for both strains were 2 and 8 HAU for AF2240 and V4-UPM, respectively. In addition, bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) and trypan blue dye exclusion assays showed inhibition in cell proliferation after different periods. Increase in the cellular level of caspase-3 and detection of DNA laddering using agarose gel electrophoresis on treated cells with NDV confirmed that the mode of cell death was apoptosis. In addition, flow-cytometry analysis of cellular DNA content showed that the virus caused an increase in the sub-G1 region (apoptosis peaks). In conclusion, NDV strains AF2240 and V4-UPM caused cytolytic effects against WEHI-3B leukemic cell line.