Science Heritage Journal | Galeri Warisan Sains (GWS)

The inhibition of α-amylase enzyme by the inhibitor proteins extracts of all the three types of commercial rice, white rice (WR), brown rice (BR) and glutinous rice (GR) were investigated. Among the three types of rice, the BR has significantly the highest concentration of the inhibitor protein (0.030 ± 0.002 mg/ml) compared to glutinous rice (0.006 ± 0.001 mg/ml) and white rice (0.005 ± 0.001 mg/ml). In term of the percentage of inhibition of the α-amylase enzyme of the Aspergillus oryzae, the brown rice shows the highest inhibition (61.22 %) among the three types of rice with the lowest maltose liberated. The acarbose (0.1 mg/ml) which was used as a positive control represent the highest inhibition of the α-amylase enzyme inhibitor among all of the tested samples. Even though inhibitor protein extract of BR is possessed lower ability to inhibit the α-amylase, yet it still can be one of the best option and alternative for the Diabetes Mellitus patients for their daily consumption compared to the WR and GR.

Biosurfactants play an important role in bioremediation of organic pollutants such as petroleum hydrocarbon. The unique properties of biosurfactants make them possible to be used in the remediation of hydrocarbon contaminated sites. Therefore, the existence of indigenous microorganisms that have the ability to consume petroleum hydrocarbon as carbon source and simultaneously produce biosurfactants in order to facilitate the hydrocarbon metabolism can be manipulated for bioremediation purposes. In this study, isolation and screening of potential biosurfactant-producing bacteria from two sampling points in Kuantan Port seawater were successfully done. Amongst the isolates, 4 out of 7 isolates from Point A were Gram negative bacteria and 2 out 5 isolates from Point B were Gram negative bacteria. The positive oxidase test resulted for all isolates from Point A and only B5 from Point B produced negative result. Catalase test conducted produced positive results on isolates from Point A (A3, A5, A6& A7) and Point B (B1, B2, B4 & B5).The highest percentage emulsification index measured belonged to isolate B4 and B5 which are 67%, thus make these isolates to be the most promising biosurfactant producers. Further identification by 16S rRNA gene found that isolates were closely related to Rhodococcus erythropolis (A1), Psedomonas stutzeri (A2), Pseudoalteromonas lipolytica (A3, A6 and B4), Vibrio brasiliensis (A4 and B2), Vibrio tubiashii (B1), Marinobacter salsuginis (A5), Labrenzia aggregate (A7), Marinococcus halophilus (B3) and Thalassospira xianmenensis(B5). Hence, through biosurfactant activities exhibited by isolates, B4 and B5 were the most potential isolates to produce biosurfactant. Therefore, these isolates can potentially be exploited to aid in bioremediation of petroleum hydrocarbon contaminated sites and would also be useful to enhance oil recovery in petroleum industry.

According to the questionnaire survey of 500 graduate students on mental health, spiritual belief and self-harmony, through mathematical statistical analysis, it was found that :(1) overall, the psychological status of graduate students was unhealthy, and there were significant differences in some demographic variables; (2) self-flexibility has a significant positive predictive effect on political belief, nationalism, life pursuit and family pursuit; (3) the rigidity of ego has significant negative and positive predictive effect on nationalism and money pursuit respectively; (4) the disharmony between self and experience has a significant positive predictive effect on religious belief and god worship.

Agarwood plant has been used in traditional medicine to treat wide range of disorders aside from the main function of its fragrant wood in perfumery. In this present study, we are interested to maximize the yield of extract and investigate the cytotoxic/anti-cancer effects of uninfected branch extracts. Uninfected branch is readily available from agarwood plantation particularly during the early years before inoculation process that formed the fragrant wood (resin); and as such is seen as an economical raw material. Uninfected branch from Aquilaria subintegra was subjected to response surface methodology (RSM) – guided ethanolic extraction to achieve maximum yield while maintaining the biological activity. Cytotoxicity/anti-cancer assays including cell attachment assay, cell viability assay and sulforhodamine B (SRB) assay were carried out on the extracts. Run 11 with 12 hours extraction time, 50 °C temperature, 100 rpm and 60 ml extraction volume gave the highest yield of 0.2130 ± 0.036 g/g agarwood branch extract (ABE). Experimental extract from run 16 showed the most promising cytotoxic effects against MCF-7 with IC50 of 8 µg/ml. The study showed that ABE possess potential cytotoxic/anti-cancer activities against MCF-7 cells and further research is warranted to identify the bioactive compounds and mechanism of action.

A study on the diversity and some ecological aspects that related to the abundance of infaunal bivalve species was done at Tok Bali mangrove, Kelantan, Malaysia. Samples and data collection was conducted during three different seasonal periods, on dry season (July), pre-monsoon (September) and monsoon (December) in the year 2005. Sampling stations were chosen in four mangrove forests which were encompassed with Rhizophora spp., Avicennia spp., Nypa fruticans and Mixed Mangrove. A collection of bivalve samples and sediment samples were done within 0.25 m2 quadrates and measurement of physico-chemical parameters were conducted using Hydrolab Quanta. Temperature, salinity and pH showed the normal mangrove value and decreased during monsoon, while dissolved oxygen show increasing during monsoon. Mean of grain size (ø) value ranged from 1.9 to 2.66 indicated that the sediment is fine sand. Mean TOM ranged from 0.67-1.45 g/g. A total of five (5) species of infaunal bivalves were observed, which were Polymesoda expansa, Marcia japonica, Gari ambigua, Pillsbryoconcha exilis and Donax faba. Diversity index H’ ranges from 0.72-1.27 and evenness index E’ ranged from 0.53-0.95 and richness index varied from 0.42-0.78. ANOVA tests showed that there were no significant differences for all biodiversity indices during dry, pre-monsoon and monsoon season (P>0.05). The results showed the low biodiversity of infaunal bivalves in the mangroves of Tok Bali. They could be more affected by the spatial factors rather than the monsoon. Long-term data collection is suggested to determine the seasonal pattern of their biodiversity and contribution to the mangrove ecosystem in the area.

The study analyzes the current status of vision according to the environment of the campus, to understand the main problems and the reasons for its existence, combined with a large number of actual design cases, the use of field exploration and access methods of phenomenology, thinking of visual identity design to adapt to the campus environment, and further into the future for designers reference campus visual logo design principles.

Dinoflagellate is the second largest group of phytoplankton in the marine environment and many of the species have been recognized as toxic species. The high abundance of this species can cause a lot of problems to human health, marine organisms especially caged fish and to the natural environment. In Malaysia, several species of Alexandrium have been reported to cause human intoxication after consumption of contaminated shellfish. During the event, shellfish was banned and lead to economic lost especially to the local fishermen. Therefore, this study was conducted to find alternative way to mitigate the blooms of harmful algae particularly Alexandrium tamiyavanichii using ornamental plant, Sanseviera trifasciata or known as mother-in-law tongue. The extraction of this plant was done in distilled water using dried and fresh plants. Different concentrations of crude extracts (0.001, 0.01, 0.1, 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2 and 2.5 mg/mL) were tested on A. tamiyavanichii within 24 hours. The removal efficiencies (RE) were determined for each concentration tested. The extracts were also tested on brine shrimp to see the possible harmful effect. Results indicate that both extraction methods yielded positive results on A. tamiyavanichii whereby the crude extracts managed to mitigate the species. The LC50 of brine shrimp recorded were 30 mg/ml for fresh plant extract and 70 mg/mL for dried plant extracts. This indicates the possibility of the extractions to be used to mitigate harmful algal bloom (HAB) particularly Alexandrium and provide an alternative way to the relevant agencies to minimize the impact of HAB.

Nigella sativa (NS) or also known as black seeds is one of the traditional herbs that were identified to have anticancer properties due to the presence of an active compound, thymoquinone. In this study, the cytotoxic effect of the aqueous extracts of NS were tested on the breast cancer cell line, MCF-7. Aqueous extraction of NS using cold water producing 3.8% of yield. The cytotoxic effect of aqueous extracts of NS were tested after incubation at 5 hours, 24 hours and 48 hours by using a modified MTT colorimetric assay. Interestingly, the IC50 of aqueous extracts of NS on MCF-7 was at 11.5 µg/ml. Additionally, aqueous extracts of NS at the concentration beyond 11.5 µg/ml causing the swelling of MCF-7 and leads to cell burst. In conclusion, aqueous extracts of NS have been proved to have cytotoxic effect on MCF-7.

Sungai Pusu is a river that flows through the campus of the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM), Gombak. This river could have been affected by pollution and urbanization making the water to be cloudy in appearance. The massive deterioration of the river was identified caused by housing construction at the upstream. There is also waste dumping area located near tributary of Sungai Pusu which may lead to leachate seeping into the river. The location within university area with lots of residents makes the river exposed to daily pollution. This study was carried out with samples taken from 8 stations within the campus to determine the bacterial distribution and the physicochemical parameters at the Sungai Pusu, Gombak. Physicochemical parameters (temperature, specific conductivity, dissolved oxygen and pH) were analyzed by using Hydrolab (Data Sonde 4A). Temperature range was found from 30°C to 34°C, pH range from 7.67 to 8.42, dissolved oxygen ranged from 2.80mg/l to 4.88mg/l, and specific conductance ranged from 0.041ms/cm to 0.134ms/cm. High bacterial colony (cfu mL-1) was observed at Station 8 (39,272 cfu mL-1) followed by Station 5 (30,311 cfu mL-1) while, the lowest bacterial colony was found at Station 6 (2,005 cfu mL-1). This study provides an overview on the distribution of the bacterial varied with physicochemical parameters throughout the river which might be due to the human intervention and natural.

A study on the diversity and distribution of terrestrial and epiphytic fern in Kuantan, Pahang was conducted from January to November 2017. Fourteen species of both terrestrial and epiphytic ferns, respectively have been collected and examined from five districts of Kuantan namely Kuala Kuantan, Ulu Kuantan, Penor, Ulu Lepar and Sungai Karang. This study was carried out to examine and evaluate the distribution and to assess the abudance of epiphytic fern in Kuantan, Pahang. The materials obtained for this study were collected from sampling sites and prepared as herbarium voucher. Morphological characteristics were studied, observed and annotated. Based on this study, the terrestrial and epiphytic fern families namely Nephrolepidaceae, Gleicheniaceae, Lygodiaceae, Lindsaeceae, Woodiaceae and Thelypteridaceae, Polypodiaceae, Pteridaceae, Davalliaceae, Aspleniaceae, Blechnaceae and Cyatheaceae were recorded. It mostly can be found in the rainforest area. An updated checklist of terrestrial and epiphytic ferns has been prepared for comparison and future reference.