A simulation study of single cell inside an integrated dual nanoneedle-microfludic system

Electrical properties of living cells have been proven to play significant roles in understanding of various biological activities including disease progression both at the cellular and molecular levels. Analyzing the cell’s electrical states especially in single cell analysis (SCA) lead to differentiate between normal cell and cancer cell. This paper presents a simulation study of micro-channel and nanoneedle structure, fluid manipulation and current flow through HeLa cell inside a microfluidic channel. To perform electrical measurement, gold dual nanoneedle has been utilized. The simulation result revealed, the cell penetration occurs at microchannel dimension and solution flow rate is 22 µm x 70 µm x 25 µm (width x length x height) and 0.396 pL/min, respectively. The purposed device has capability to characterize the electrical property of single cells can be used as a novel method for cell viability detection in instantaneous manner

Primary Productivity and Mineral Nutrient Status of some Estuarine and Coastal Waters along the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia during the off Monsoon Period.

A study of the organic and inorganic mineral status, primary productivity and related environmental parameters of some estuarine and coastal waters along the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia indicates that the estuarine waters act as nutrient sources for the adjacent coastal waters. The net photosynthetic values at the estuarine stations ranged from 82.0-125.4 and 104.0-257.9 fJ.g C/1/h while that of coastal stations ranged from 42.0-164.5 and 66.0-198.2 fJ.g C/1/h during the high and low tides respectivelv. During the low tides, at both the estuarine and coastal stations, the dissolved organic nitrogen, particulate orgMlic phosphorus and inorganic ammonium nitrogen were present in high concentrations while that of dissolved oxygen, inorganic nitrate nitrogen and nitrite nitrogen were low throughout the study period

Preliminary Studies on the Steam Explosion Pretreatment of the Oil Palm Stem

Steam explosion was found to be an effective method of improving the enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose in the oil palm stem. The pretreatment also caused the degradation of hemicelluloses and Tendered them water-soluble. By aqueous extraction of the exploded material 23-31 % hemicelulosa with xylose contents up to 83% after acid hydrolysis coultd be recovered. This paper also discusses some m0rphological changes which occurred in the pretreatment

Studies of Sea Surface Temperature and Chlorophyll-a Variations in East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia

This paper attempts to classify the oceanographic conditions of the fishing grids in east coast of Peninsular Malaysia using surface chlorophyll-a content and sea surface temperature (SST) data from satellite. The variation of SST and chlorophyll-a content in the South China Sea is greatly affected by the monsoon system. Analysis results showed that both SST and chlorophyll-a variations of the fishing grids are closely related to their geographical locations. The classification using chlorophyll-a on the fishing grids give a clearer variation compared to SST. Hierarchical cluster analysis gave a better means of understanding the variations of these oceanographic conditions and the relationship among the fishing grids. However, to understand how these variations of oceanographic condition affect the marine fisheries catch in Malaysian Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), further studies should be conducted using longer time scale data

Multiculturalism in Malaysia: the Need of Local Knowledge to Grapple with Identity and Ethnicity

Kearifan lokal dibutuhkan untuk masuk ke dalam diskursus tentang multikulturalisme. Multikulturalisme, multietnisitas, pluralisme dan pluralitas pada saat dikaitkan dengan identitas dan pembangunan bangsa dapat saja bermakna banyak hal untuk masing-masing orang. Seringkali kegagalan dalam memahami “basis kearifan lokal dari identitas” membawa konsekuensi sosial-politik yang merusak kepada “komunitas” yang pada akhirnya terbawa bersama kepada level kebangsaan. Skenario ini secara historis membuktikan kepada bangsa bahwa konstruksi yang disusun oleh penguasa kolonial yang menempatkan kepentingan ekonomi mereka pada posisi pertama dibandingkan kepentingan komunitas lokal membentuk batas politik dari bangsa. Kajian ini dimaksudkan untuk menunjukkan bahwa identitas orang Malaysia sangat berhubungan dekat dengan aspek etnisitas

RULA: Postural Loading Assessment Tools for Malaysia Mining Industry

The ergonomics and environment factors have been the core issue for the mining industry for many years, and its profiles are rising. To ensure an ergonomics work environment, it is possible to require specific attention especially in this industries sector. It is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore the essential issue in Malaysia due to lack of ergonomics knowledge and low awareness among the engineers in the mining sector. The focus of this study is to evaluate and validate the physical risk factor associated with work-related musculoskeletal disorder (WMSDs) by using Rapid Upper Limb Assessment (RULA) among mining industry workers. All the physical risk factors involved the main body regions such as upper arm, lower arm, wrist, trunk, neck and leg that has been identified associated with WMSDs. There were 18 subjects selected to involve in this study. Those subjects were chosen according to their job task. To increase the reliability of the result, each subject was evaluated thrice in the trials. From the analysis, the average of final score of the RULA is 7 indicates high risk and calls for engineering/or work method changes to reduce or eliminate muscular disorder risk. The results of the analysis were used to improve the process of work, design of workstation and also improving the work posture to enhance the comfort level of operators. This study is crucial among the mining industry that is a lack of the information and research about the ergonomics issues in the industry. The overall finding indicated that the whole process of selected work task will contribute to musculoskeletal disorder either for a short or long time exposure