Enhanced Water Management for Muang Fai Irrigation Systems through Remote Sensing and SWOT Analysis

Water Resources Management - The areas of northern Thailand rely heavily on water management by Muang Fai irrigation systems. Outstanding features of these typical systems include public...     

Analyzing the adoption and diffusion of voice-enabled smart-home systems: empirical evidence from Thailand

Universal Access in the Information Society - The market for voice assistants (VAs) and other allied voice-based smart-home products is gradually emerging. The initial growth has been slower than...     

Neutron scintillators of transparent silica xerogel monolith via a sealed container system and pi-pi interactions

Transparent crack-free lithiated sol-gel scintillating monoliths were developed by taking advantage of a sealed container system for a syneresis and the pi-pi interactions between sol-gel components and organic fluors to yield a better homogeneity and scintillating efficiency. The transparency of the resulting materials indicates that the new scintillating material composites are mesoscopically dispersed. The silica monolith can be prepared without cladding the monolith with an engineering plastic such as a poly(ether ether ketone) (PEEK) or a liquid mounting medium. A successful detection of neutron particles by using these lithiated scintillating monoliths was demonstrated.     

Antimicrobial and antioxidant activity of spice essential oils

Essential oils of anise, bastard cardamom, cinnamon, dill, mace, zedoary, prikhom, and bitter ginger were determined for their antimicrobial and antioxidant activities. Of all, cinnamon oil had the highest antibacterial activity. The most sensitive bacteria was Bacillus cereus (0.5mg/mL minimum inhibitory concentration, MIC). Anise, cinnamon, dill, and prikhom exhibited strong antifungal activity against Rhodotorula glutinis, Aspergillus ochraceus, and Fusarium moniliforme. Two oil combinations: i) cinnamon and mace oils and ii) cinnamon and prikhom oils showed a synergistic effect against Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas fluorescens, and Salmonella Rissen (0.32–0.38 mg/mL fractional inhibitory concentration index, FICI). Cinnamon, mace, and prikhom oils had strong antioxidant activity with 0.29–5.66 mg/mL IC₅₀, 61.46–68.52% antioxidant activity, 0.22–2.19 mM/mg reducing capacity, and 78.28–84.30% inhibition by 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), β-carotene bleaching, ferric reducing (FRAP), and superoxide anion scavenging activity assays, respectively. These oils contained high amount of total phenolics (51.54–140.9 μg gallic acid equivalents/mg oil).     

Lactic acid bacteria isolated from raw and fermented pork products: Identification and characterization of catalase-producing Pediococcus pentosaceus

Food Science and Biotechnology - Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) from raw and fermented pork samples were screened for their inhibitory activity by an agar spot test in order to obtain a LAB strain with...