UV initiated and UV plus ceric(iv) initiated polymerisations of N-vinyl pyrrolidinone and poly(ethylene glycol)diacrylate in the presence of konjac glucomannan generated semi-interpenetrating networks or graft conetworks. Both systems were cytocompatible but only the graft conetworks stimulated fibroblast growth and migration.
The influence of effective microorganisms (EM), microbial inoculant containing yeasts, fungi, bacteria and actinomycetes was evaluated in field trials of Aerob 1 paddy cultivation in Jasin, Melaka. Aerobic paddy is a new way of rice cultivation in areas where water resources have been scare and affected by the climate change. As water shortage and climate change is becoming severe, the technology of growing rice with aerobic rice systems need to be further refined or developed to ensure the quality of rice production in water-short areas. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of additional EM on the growth pattern, and to evaluate the efficiency of EM uptake on the aerobic plant. This experiment was carried out by using random controlled Randomized Controlled Block Design (RCBD) consisted of three treatments with two replications in four blocks. Aerobic seed cv. Aeron1 was used as planting materials and has been applied by three different treatments of EM during vegetative growth. The treatment for this study was T1 = 1.8 g NPK with urea (control) while T2 was 1.8 g NPK and T3, with 0.9 g NP with 100 mL of EM respectively during 15 (early vegetative stage) and 45 DAS (late vegetative stage). The RCBD experimental design was used with two replications in each treatment in four blocks. There are three series of harvesting (35, 50 and 60 DAS) was conducted throughout this study. The growth parameter studied was shoot and root dry biomass, number of tillers, RGR at each of harvesting. Our finding revealed that the application of EM did not improve plant growth parameter but the growth pattern of T2 and T3 showed steady improvement, although not significant compared to T1. The application of EM at different growth stages did not enhance the relative plant growth rate of Aeron 1 under aerobic condition, but in comparison to T1 and T2, T3 treatment with 50% reduction of NPK and EM could significantly reduce the cost of land management and fertilizer.
Sphathiphyllum cannifolium is abundantly planted in Malaysia as a landscape plant. However, this plant also has medical benefit to human as it was previously found to possess anti-bacteria and anti-cancer activities. In the present study, the plant was evaluated for its anti inflammatory activity and the optimum condition for the extraction of bioactive compounds with anti inflammatory activity was determined. Semi purification of the compounds possessing anti inflammatory activity was conducted as well. To extract the bioactive compound, sonication with methanol as a solvent extraction was carried out. Face-Centered Central Composite Design (FCCCD) and Response Surface Methodology (RSM) were used to design and identify the optimum condition to extract the compound, respectively. The results showed that the plant was positive for the anti inflammatory activity with IC50 6.3 µg/ml. Sonication for 60 min at 40°C using medium frequency was the optimum condition to carry out the extraction for bioactive compounds. After semi purification of the initial crude extract by solvent partitioning, chloroform fraction was found to be positive for anti inflammatory activity. In conclusion, this study suggested that S. cannifolium possess anti inflammatory activity and should be further analyzed to identify the specific compounds that responsible for this activity.
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