Disruption of the ADG gene in Arabidopsis results in 6% increase of total fatty acids in mature desiccated seeds. A starchless mutant of Arabidopsis thaliana, ADP glucose pyrophosphorylase (adg1-1) has been investigated concerning the lack of starch in its leaves. In this work of metabolic analysis of adg1-1 mutant, there was very little or no starch accumulation throughout seed development. Even though the growth of these mutant plants was delayed, seed development of the mutants did not show much difference from the wild type. In mature desiccated seeds, there was no significant difference in the seed dry weight of the mutant compared to the wild type. The adg1-1 mutant showed a shift in carbon partitioning to fatty acid (FA) and sucrose accumulation. Major changes have occurred in FA 18.0 (stearic), FA 18.1 (oleic) and FA 18.2 (linoleic). In mature seeds of adg1-1, there was a 70% increase in FA 18.2, a 75% increase in FA 18.1 and a 76% reduction in FA 18.0. The results show that th.....

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_-N-methylamino-L-alanine (BMAA) is a nonprotein amino acid found naturally in some cyanobacteria and artificial form as chemical product. BMAA is a neurotoxin and once ingested, BMAA can apparently be bound by proteins within the body, resulting in a slow release of free BMAA over years as contaminated proteins is metabolized. This study identified the effects of BMAA on Danio rerio (zebrafish) early development. Hatching success was not affected by BMAA but later developmental stages of embryos were more sensitive to BMAA than embryonic stage. Higher concentrations of BMAA (500 to 50000 _g L-1) caused increases in the egg diameter, yolk sac length and width, and eye length and width of Danio rerio embryos. All investigated BMAA concentrations increased the larval heart rate during the exposure period. Abnormalities and conditions including oedema, helical body, tail deformities, bend body, flat face, eye deficiency and active performance were observed as a result of exposure to BMAA .....

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The diimine 2-diacetylpyridine-(1R)-(-)-fenchone azine {fench=NN=CMe}C5H5N (4) was prepared by heating 2-diacetylpyridine with fenchone hydrazone (3) in boiling ethanol in the presence of acetic acid as the catalyst. Treatment of [Mo(CO)4(nbd)], [Cr(CO)4(nbd)] or [W(CO)4(nbd)] (nbd = norbornadiene) with 2-diacetylpyridine-(1R)-(-)-fenchone azine {fench=NN=CMe}C5H5N (4) gave the five-membered chelated N,N bonded carbonylcomplex of (5), (6) or (7), respectively. Treatment of [PdCl2(NCPh)2] with the azine ligand (4) gave the palladium-complex (8). Treatment of (8) with LiBr or NaI gave the metathesis product of (9) or (10), respectively. Treatment of [{(_3-2-MeC3H4)PdCl2}2] with the azine ligand (4) gave the chloride salt which was then isolated as the corresponding PF6 salt (11). Keywords Molybdenum complexes, tungsten complexes, palladium complexes, bidentate N-N ligand complexes, fenchone azine ligand complexes..

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Pelan Induk Pembangunan Pendidikan (PIPP) 2006_2010 (Kementerian Pendidikan Malaysia, 2007) berhasrat untuk memastikan bukan sahaja dapat melahirkan guru yang berkualiti malahan untuk memastikan mereka yang berkualiti ini kekal dalam sistem pendidikan negara dan kekal berkualiti di sepanjang tempoh perkhidmatan mereka. Bagi mencapai hasrat ini, standard pengajaran yang berkesan dan berkualiti harus diamalkan di kalangan guru-guru khususnya guru matematik. Kajian ini melibatkan tiga peringkat. Pertama, kajian literatur dilaksanakan secara intensif tentang standard pengajaran matematik yang diperkenalkan di luar negara seperti National Council of Teacher of Mathematics (NCTM, 2000), The Australian Association of Mathematics Teachers (AAMT, 2006) dan Training and Development Agency for School (TDA, 2007). Di Malaysia, Standard Kualiti Pendidikan (2003) dan Standard Guru Malaysia (2007) turut diperkenalkan dalam usaha untuk meningkatkan kualiti guru dalam perkhidmatan dan praperkhidmatan. .....

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The main aim of this article is to investigate the application of the quarter-sweep iteration in solving linear Fredholm integral equations of the second kind. The effectiveness of the quarter-sweep iteration concept with Gauss-Seidel iterative method, known as the Quarter- Sweep Gauss-Seidel (QSGS), by using quarter-sweep approximation equation based on quadrature scheme to solve the problem is examined. In addition, the formulation and implementation of the proposed method are also presented. Some numerical simulations are carried out to show that the proposed method is superior compared to the standard method. Keywords Linear Fredholm equations; Quarter-sweep iteration, Quadrature, Gauss- Seidel..

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This study aimed to examine the impact of expenditure structure i.e. personnel expenditure, public expenditure, capital construction expenditure, goods and services expenditure, capital expenditure, and financial aid expenditure on financial performance as well as the effect of financial support as a mediator in the relationship between expenditure structure and financial performance of local colleges and universities in China. This study adopted the quantitative research approach using panel data regression analysis. The sample size consisted of 31 provinces _ local general colleges and universities and they were selected using a non-probability sampling technique. The secondary data were obtained from the Yearbook of Education Statistics and the Statistical Yearbook of Education Expenditure from 2010 to 2021 in China. Data were analysed using descriptive statistic and panel data analysis. A Pearson correlation analysis showed most significant relationship between expenditure structur.....

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The aims of this study were: to evaluate the effectiveness of gamification on the learning and retention of vocabulary among undergraduates, to evaluate the effectiveness of game elements: leader boards and rewards, in retaining students_ vocabulary, and to understand students_ perspectives of gamification. In this quasi-experimental study, the sequential mixed method was used. There were three groups of students, one control (n=18) and two experimental groups (Group 1 n=19, and Group 2 n=20), from mixed backgrounds and nationalities. Data was collected quantitatively through pre, post and delayed post vocabulary tests, and qualitatively using semi structured interviews. A questionnaire, observation checklists, Moodle analytics and activity completion form were used as instruments. The data from these instruments were used to triangulate the quantitative and qualitative data. The quantitative data was analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics: t-tests and ANOVA and the qual.....

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A method to construct the transition curves by using a family of the quartic Bezier spiral is described. The applications of quartic spiral discussed are G2 transition curve joining a straight line and a circle, and joining two straight lines with a pair of spiral segment. A spiral is a curve of monotone increasing or monotone decreasing curvature of one sign. Thus, a spiral cannot have an inflection point or curvature extreme. The family of quartic Bezier spiral form which was introduced has more degrees of freedom and will give a better approximation to clothoid spiral. These methods of constructing transition curves can be simplified by transformation process which extends the application area, and it gives a family of transition curves that allow more flexible curve designs. Keywords Transition curve, curvature, quartic Bezier spiral..

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The electrical current noise of a metal-insulator-semiconductor (MIS) diode-like device fabricated by Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) technique has been studied at low to moderate dc bias current at room temperature. The result shows that the current noise spectral density SI(f) is 1/f like and the noise power was highly dependent on the bias current. The 1/f noise was not observed at zero bias. It is believed that at low bias current, the origin of noise was due to the bulk phenomena - silicon substrate and contacts whilst at higher bias current, the origin of noise in the device was solely from the LB films _ surface influence. Keywords LB films, low-frequency noise measurement, 1/f noise, current noise spectral density..

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This paper presents a study on the design and performance of a photovoltaic thermal (PV/T) water based system. The objective of the study is to improve the performance of the designed photovoltaic thermal system. Water is used to cool the photovoltaic module by passing it through the thermal solar collector under the bottom surface of the module. Thus, both electrical energy and heat can be generated simultaneously. The system was tested under three simulated solar intensities of 200 W/m2, 400 W/m2 and 600 W/m2. Each intensity was conducted in three modes of condition; a single PV, PV/T with and without water flowing to compare the efficiency and also the maximum power output generation. The results obtained were analyzed in I-V and P-V curves. From the comparison made between a single PV module and PV/T with water flow, the results showed that the photovoltaic efficiency increased by an average of 0.29%. The maximum power output of photovoltaic at the PV/T with water flow increased by.....

112 hits