INFLUENCE OF ELECTROLYTE AND LIQUOR RATIO ON EXHAUSTION AND COLOR COORDINATES OF COTTON FABRIC DYED WITH MONO-FUNCTIONAL AND BI-FUNCTIONAL REACTIVE DYES

Abu Naser Md. Ahsanul Haque

BGMEA University of Fashion & Technology, Uttara, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Email: naser.wg@gmail.com

ABSTRACT. Effects of electrolyte and liquor ratio were observed on dyeing of cotton fabric with bi-functional Fluoro Chloro Pyrimidene (FCP), bi-functional Monochlorotriazine-Vinyl Sulphone (MCT-VS) and mono functional Monochlorotriazine (MCT) reactive dyes. For this experiment single joursey knitted fabrics were taken. The selected dyestuffs were Drimarene Yellow K-2R (FCP), Drimarene Red CI-5B (MCT-VS) and Drimarene Navy X-GN (MCT). 1% on the weight of fabric (owf) of each dye was considered for producing 15 single shades by varying the electrolyte amount and liquor ratio. Gluaber salt was used in each dye bath as electrolyte. The post dye liquors were tested in absorbance spectrophotometer (UV 1800) to measure the absorbance of those solutions. Beer-Lambert law was used to get concentration from absorbance and then the exhaustion% was calculated. The dyed fabric samples were tested in a reflectance spectrophotometer (datacolor 650) to get the color coordinates (L*, a*, b*, c*, h*). The results show that FCP dye exhaustion was the best among these three and MCT dye exhaustion was the least but it can be improved by increasing the electrolyte. MCT-VS dye has a tendency to changing its hue in higher electrolyte amount or higher liquor ratios.

KEYWORDS. Electrolyte; Liquor ratio; Chroma; Hue; Exhaustion.

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EFFECT OF BASAL MEDIA AND CARBON SOURCES ON CALLUS CULTURE MAINTENANCE OF Vanda dearei

Roslina Jawan, Gabriela J. Joeplik, Halyena Indan, Mary Magdelina Binti George, & Jualang Azlan Gansau*

School of Science and Technology,
Unit for Orchid Studies, Institute for Tropical Biology and Conservation,
Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Jalan UMS, 88400 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah
Email: azlanajg@ums.edu.my

ABSTRACT. Vanda dearei is an endemic orchid of Borneo and has been listed as an endangered orchid in Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Vanda dearei has beautiful pale yellow-flowers, large petals and strongly scented. Therefore, in vitro micropropagation has been applied in order to develop a novel micropropagation method to mass produce this species. Through callus culture techniques, orchids with limited resources can be mass propagated in a shorter period. However, callus culture in orchid is hardly maintain due somatic embryogenesis properties and easily regenerated to plantlets. Thus, this study aims to develop an efficient protocol for callus cultures of V. dearei by manipulating basal media strengths and carbon sources. Callus induced from the leaf segments of V. dearei were used as explants and were cultured on KC, Mitra, MS and VW basal medium at different nutrient strengths (1/4, 1/2, 1 and 2x) added with 1.0:0.1 mg/l TDZ:NAA and 1 to 4% (w/v) of sucrose, glucose or fructose, respectively. All cultures were incubated in the dark with temperature of 25±2°C. Results showed that callus growth has improved with decreased nutrients strength of basal media. Quarter strength of Mitra medium promotes the best condition for callus maintenance to approximately 8.00±17.89% at 8 weeks of culture. This is followed by the ½ strength of MS and ¼ strength of VW with 8.00±10.95% and 5.00±10.00%, respectively. Callus grown on the other basal strengths are mainly differentiated and developed into protocorm like bodies (PLBs), especially at double strengths (100±0% explants turn into PLBs). In addition, low percentage of necrosis (less than 28%) was also observed on Mitra basal medium compared to the other media (more than 36%). Sucrose has been identified as the best carbon source to support callus growth followed by glucose and fructose. Addition of 1% (w/v) sucrose increased callus maintenance up to 32±17.9%, promote cell differentiation and increased average size of callus (1.52±0.63 callus score). This treatment also support the longest retention time of explant maintained in callus for 5 weeks and has the lowest percentage of callus necrosis (20±24.5%).

KEYWORDS. Vanda dearei; Orchid; Micropropagation; Callus Maintenance

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SLOPE STABILITY ASSESSMENT OF THE TEMBURUNG FORMATION ALONG BEAUFORT-TENOM RAILWAY, SABAH

Ismail Abd Rahim

Natural Disasters Research Unit,
School of Sciences & Technology,
Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Jalan UMS
88400 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia
Phone: 088 320000 (5734/5999), Fax: 088 435324
Email: arismail@ums.edu.my

ABSTRACT. This paper discusses the stability and to propose preliminary rock cut slope protection and stabilization measures for the Oligocene to Late Miocene Temburung Formation along the Beaufort-Tenom railway, Sabah. Nine (9) slopes were selected for this study. Geological mapping, discontinuity survey, kinematic analysis and prescriptive measures were used in this study. Result of this study conclude that the mode of failures are wedge, planar, circular and complex types. Gunite, soil nails, wire mesh, weep holes, subsurface drainage, slope reprofiling, terracing and surface drainage are proposed stabilization and protection measures for the slope in study area.

KEYWORDS. Temburung Formation, Beaufort-Tenom, Railway, slope stability, mode of failure.

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SURFACE SEDIMENT ANALYSIS ON HEAVY METALS IN COASTAL AREA OF UMS – TUARAN, SABAH

Siti Aishah Mohd Ali*, Tan Wei Hsiang, Rohana Tair, Apsa Abdul Naser, & Fatin Sualin

Water Research Unit, School of Science and Technology,
Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Jalan UMS, 88400 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah
*Email: ctaishah@ums.edu.my

ABSTRACT. Heavy metal concentrations (Cd, Cr, Cu, Pb and Zn) were investigated in surface sediments from Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) – Tuaran coastal area, Sabah. Samples were collected using Ponar grab sampler in ten different stations at the site area. The heavy metals were analyzed using Inductively Coupled Plasma – Optical Emission Spectrometer (ICP-OES) after the surface sediments were digested with aqua regia (HNO3: HCl) solution. The overall mean and range of heavy metal concentrations in the surface sediments were: Cd (0.55, 0.27 – 1.06 mg/kg), Cr (4.93, 1.97 – 10.30 mg/kg), Cu (7.40, 0 – 18.57 mg/kg), Pb (3.88, 0 – 14.4 mg/kg) and Zn (31.84, 11.60 – 67.1 mg/kg) respectively. Overall, the heavy metal concentrations in surface sediments were not exceeded the Interim Sediment Quality Guidelines (ISQG) limit except for Cd which a bit higher than 0.7 mg kg-1 indicating considered slightly pollute.

KEYWORDS. Heavy metals, ICP-OES, aqua-regia solution, surface sediments

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THE PRESENCE OF TOTAL COLIFORM AND FECAL COLIFORM IN THE PRIVATE BEACH RESORT OF SABAH

Carolyn Payus* & Usha Nandini

Water Research Unit,
Environmental Science Program,
Faculty of Science & Natural Resources,
Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Jalan UMS, 88400 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia
*Email: cpayus@gmail.com

ABSTRACT. The research was conducted to determine the hygiene quality of private beach resort seawater in Sabah. Total coliform and fecal coliform were analyzed at five selected sampling locations at the resort located in Kota Kinabalu. Identification was done through the Membrane Filtration Method from APHA standard. The results showed that the highest concentration of total coliform has reached 105 cfu/100ml; and fecal coliform reached up to 92 cfu/100ml. This showed that total coliform and fecal coliform were presence in the private beach of the resort. However, it is still acceptable under Class IIB Malaysian Interim Water Quality Standard whereby both coliform contents were below 5000 cfu/ml for total coliform and 400 cfu/ml for fecal coliform. Thus, it can be concluded that the private beach is still in a good condition and suitable for recreational purposes. Contributing factors to the level of coliform contamination in the private beach of the resort are believed to be related due to the recreational activity and also the improper sanitation from the nearby local housing area. Therefore, to ensure the water quality of private beach is always under control, water quality monitoring should be done continuously to assure the recreational water is safe to be used by many.

KEYWORDS. Total coliform, fecal coliform, membrane filter method, in-situ water quality parameters, water quality monitoring

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RESOURCE RECOVERY FROM ANAEROBICALLY DIGESTED LIQUOR OF WASTEWATER SCREENINGS

Newati Wid* and Nigel Horan

School of Science & Technology,
Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Jalan UMS, 88400, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia.
School of Civil Engineering,
Faculty of Engineering, University of Leeds, LS2 9JT, Leeds, United Kingdom.
*Email: newati@ums.edu.my; newati@gmail.com

ABSTRACT. Phosphorus is a limited resource which is predicted to be exhausted at some point during the 21st century. However, it is present in wastewaters at concentrations that come close to supplying the nation’s annual requirements for fertiliser. Therefore, this study was conducted to study the potential of wastewater screenings which has received little attention that produced during wastewater treatment, for phosphorus recovery. Many papers have addressed the recovery of phosphate or ammonia as struvite from different type of waste. The most prominent usage of struvite (magnesium ammonium phosphate hexahydrate) is as a slow-release fertiliser, suitable as replacement for chemical fertiliser, for agricultural application. In this study, digested liquor was obtained from anaerobically digested of wastewater screening. The experiments were carried out with and without chemical amendment to study the feasibility of phosphorus recovery, at different Mg:P molar ratio, i.e. 1.56:1 (without chemical amendment), 2:1 and 3:1 (with chemical amendments). Precipitation at 1.56:1 showed that phosphorus removal efficiency was 68% and recovered 0.52g amorphous calcium carbonate. Precipitation at 2:1 reduced phosphorus removal efficiency to 53% and the recovered solid was found to be calcium phosphate, with 0.33g precipitate. Precipitation at 3:1 was not economically interesting for P recovery as shown by its lowest removal efficiency and highest chemical usage. The results demonstrated that the presence of calcium and carbonate ion in the digested liquor highly interfere with phosphorus recovery in the form of struvite.

KEYWORDS. Phosphorus recovery; wastewater screenings; anaerobically digested liquor; precipitation technique.

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PERSPECTIVES ON BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION

Yong Enn Lun

School of Science and Technology,
Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Jalan UMS, 88400 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah

ABSTRACT. The objective of this paper is to expose some empirical evidence regarding the relationship between economic development and environmental degradation, as stated by the Environmental Kuznet Curve theory. The issue here concerns specifically one dimension of environmental problems, which is the endangered biodiversity in the context of heavily globalised phenomenon and economic development around the world. Particularly, several groups of endangered biodiversity including bird, fish, mammal, and plant species are focused to represent the biodiversity loss circumstance. The analysis involves the construction of one composite indicator of endangered biodiversity. Scatter plots and correlation tests are used to identify the current status of most countries in terms of biodiversity loss against the international trade. The analysis uses the recent data of 2012 of the biodiversity and four decades of trade data of 180 countries. The paper also suggests four possibilities in which successful conservation of the current global biodiversity ecosystem is possible, but under some challenging pressures.

KEYWORDS. Biodiversity degradation, economics, trade.

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SOR METHOD FOR THE IMPLICIT FINITE DIFFERENCE SOLUTION OF TIME-FRACTIONAL DIFFUSION EQUATIONS

A. Sunarto*, J. Sulaiman, & A. Saudi

School of Science and Technology,
Universiti Malaysia Sabah, 88400 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah.
School of Engineering and Information Technology
Universiti Malaysia Sabah, 88400 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah.
Email: andang99@gmail.com

ABSTRACT. In this study, we derive an unconditionally implicit finite difference approximation equation from the discretization of the one-dimensional linear time fractional diffusion equations by using the Caputo’s time fractional derivative. Then this approximation equation hence will be used to generate the corresponding system of linear equations. The approximation solution of the linear system is described via the implementation of Successive Over-Relaxation (SOR) iterative method. An example of the problem is presented to illustrate the effectiveness of SOR method. The findings of this study show that the proposed iterative method is superior compared with the Gauss-Seidel iterative method.

KEYWORDS. Caputo’s fractional derivative; Implicit Finite Difference Scheme; SOR Method

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