Seasonal fluxes and sources apportionment of dissolved inorganic nitrogen wet deposition at different land-use sites in the Three Gorges reservoir area.

To identify seasonal fluxes and sources of dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) wet deposition, concentrations and δN signatures of nitrate (NO) and ammonium (NH) in wet precipitation were measured at four typical land-use types in the Three Gorges reservoir (TGR) area of southwest China for a one-year period. Higher DIN fluxes were recorded in spring and summer and their total fluxes (averaged 7.58 kg N ha) were similar to the critical loads in aquatic ecosystems.

Hypertension in a mountainous province of Vietnam: prevalence and risk factors.

Background: Hypertension (HTN) significantly contributes to global disease burden, and its prevalence varies amongst different countries and regions. This work is aimed to characterize the hypertensive prevalence and identify risk factors for HTN among the residents in five locations (four communes and one town) of Moc Chau district (Son La province, Vietnam).

Methods: A cross-sectional study with a cross-sectional methodology was done in selected places from August 2018 to December 2018.

Mapping the cumulative impacts of long-term mining disturbance and progressive rehabilitation on ecosystem services.

Open-cut coal mining can seriously disturb and reshape natural landscapes which results in a range of impacts on local ecosystems and the services they provide. To address the negative impacts of disturbance, progressive rehabilitation is commonly advocated. However, there is little research focusing on how these impacts affect ecosystem services within mine sites and changes over time.

Antibacterial activities of the extracts, fractions and isolated compounds from Canarium patentinervium Miq. against bacterial clinical isolates.

Background: Canarium patentinervium leaves are used by the local indigenous people of Malaysia for wound healing. The current study is undertaken to screen the comprehensive antibacterial activity of the leaves and barks extracts, fractions and isolated compounds from this plant. Bioassay guided fractionation was also undertaken to deeply evaluate the antibacterial activity of the water fraction of the leaves extract.

Unlocking the Secret of Bio-additive Components in Rubber Compounding in Processing Quality Nitrile Glove.

The sustainability of nitrile glove production process is essential both in the financial and energy perspective. Nitrile glove has the lowest material cost with positive mechanical and chemical performance quality for the disposable glove market. Nitrile glove also holds a major market in disposable gloves sector, and nitrile rubber compounds may contribute to the huge reduction of the capital cost for a pair of surgical gloves due to the inexpensive raw material compares with other synthetic polyisoprene or neoprene.

Greenhouse gas emissions resulting from conversion of peat swamp forest to oil palm plantation.

Conversion of tropical peat swamp forest to drainage-based agriculture alters greenhouse gas (GHG) production, but the magnitude of these changes remains highly uncertain. Current emissions factors for oil palm grown on drained peat do not account for temporal variation over the plantation cycle and only consider CO emissions. Here, we present direct measurements of GHGs emitted during the conversion from peat swamp forest to oil palm plantation, accounting for CH and NO as well as CO.

Some animals are more equal than others: Validation of a new scale to measure how attitudes to animals depend on species and human purpose of use.

Globally, many millions of animals are used by humans every year and much of this usage causes public concern. A new scale, devised to measure attitudes to animal use in relation to the purpose of use and species, the Animal Purpose Questionnaire (APQ), was completed by in total 483 participants, 415 British nationals and 68 participants from 39 other countries. The APQ was presented in two survey formats, alongside an established Animal Attitudes Scale (AAS).

Autobiographical Memory Increases Pupil Dilation.

Background: Pupil activity has been widely considered as a "summed index" of physiological activities during cognitive processing.

Methodology: We investigated pupil dilation during retrieval of autobiographical memory and compared pupil diameter with a control condition in which participants had to count aloud. We also measured pupil diameters retrieval of free (i.

Phenotypic and microRNA characterization of the neglected CD24+ cell population in MCF-7 breast cancer 3-dimensional spheroid culture.

Background: In vitro 3-dimensional (3D) spheroid culture has been widely used as model to enrich CD44CD24 cancer stem cells (CSC) with high aldehyde dehydrogenase 1 (ALDH1) activity. Although CD24 subpopulation was known to be present in 3D spheroids and may influence cancer drug therapies, its characteristics and CSC properties were not well defined.

Methods: In this study, CD24 population from the Michigan Cancer Foundation-7 (MCF-7) spheroid was sorted and subjected to spheroid formation test, stem cell markers immunofluorescence, invasion and migration test, as well as microRNA expression profiling.

University Students' Notion of Autism Spectrum Conditions: A Cross-Cultural Study.

Cultural background might influence knowledge and attitudes regarding autism, influencing willingness to interact. We studied whether beliefs, knowledge, contact, and attitude differed between the UK and Malaysia. With mediation analyses, we studied how these factors influenced willingness to interact.

Measurement challenge: protocol for international case-control comparison of mammographic measures that predict breast cancer risk.

Introduction: For women of the same age and body mass index, increased mammographic density is one of the strongest predictors of breast cancer risk. There are multiple methods of measuring mammographic density and other features in a mammogram that could potentially be used in a screening setting to identify and target women at high risk of developing breast cancer. However, it is unclear which measurement method provides the strongest predictor of breast cancer risk.

The Psychological Science Accelerator: Advancing Psychology through a Distributed Collaborative Network.

Concerns have been growing about the veracity of psychological research. Many findings in psychological science are based on studies with insufficient statistical power and nonrepresentative samples, or may otherwise be limited to specific, ungeneralizable settings or populations. Crowdsourced research, a type of large-scale collaboration in which one or more research projects are conducted across multiple lab sites, offers a pragmatic solution to these and other current methodological challenges.

Anti-inflammatory, analgesic and acute toxicity effects of fermented soybean.

Background: Tempeh is a widely known fermented soybean that contains elevated level of bioactive contents. Our previous study has shown that anaerobic fermented Nutrient Enriched Soybean Tempeh (NESTE) with increase amino acid and antioxidant levels possessed better hepatoprotective effect than raw soybean.

Methods: In this study, the anti-inflammatory effect of the NESTE aqueous extract and raw soybean aqueous extract (SBE) were evaluated by quantifying the inhibition of IL-1β, TNF-α and nitric oxide (NO) secretion in LPS treated RAW 264.

Correction to: Efficacy of a medication management service in improving adherence to tyrosine kinase inhibitors and clinical outcomes of patients with chronic myeloid leukaemia: a randomised controlled trial.

Revised Funding Information.

Promising applications of cold plasma for microbial safety, chemical decontamination and quality enhancement in fruits.

Consumers' demand is increasing for safe foods without impairing the phytochemical and sensory quality. In turn, it has increased research interest in the exploration of innovative food processing technologies. Cold plasma technology is getting popularity now days owing to its high efficacy in decontamination of microbes in fruit and fruit-based products.

Facile sonochemical synthesis of AgO-guar gum nanocomposite as a visible light photocatalyst for the organic transformation reactions.

Silver Oxide (AgO)-Guar gum nanocomposite was fabricated via a simple sonochemical co-precipitation method. The obtained photocatalyst was characterized with various techniques such as X-ray diffraction, thermogravimetric analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, photoluminescence spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy along with energy dispersion X-ray spectroscopy. The findings have demonstrated that AgO nanoparticles are spherical of 5-20 nm and were dispersed on the surface of polysaccharide guar gum to form AgO-guar gum nanocomposite.

Efficacy of a medication management service in improving adherence to tyrosine kinase inhibitors and clinical outcomes of patients with chronic myeloid leukaemia: a randomised controlled trial.

Purpose: Suboptimal adherence to tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) contributes to poor clinical outcomes in chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). This randomised controlled trial (RCT) aimed to evaluate the impact of a medication management service (MMS) on adherence to TKIs and clinical outcomes.

Methods: A parallel RCT was conducted in two hospitals in Malaysia, where 129 CML patients were randomised to MMS or control (usual care) groups using a stratified 1:1 block randomisation method.

The Molecular and Enzyme Kinetic Basis for Altered Activity of Three Cytochrome P450 2C19 Variants Found in the Chinese Population.

Background: There is a large inter-individual variation in cytochrome P450 2C19 (CYP2C19) activity. The variability can be caused by the genetic polymorphism of CYP2C19 gene. This study aimed to investigate the molecular and kinetics basis for activity changes in three alleles including CYP2C19*23, CYP2C19*24 and CYP2C19*25found in the Chinese population.

Author Correction: Evaluation of dental arch dimensions in 12 year-old Vietnamese children - A cross-sectional study of 4565 subjects.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

Basilar artery thrombectomy: assessment of outcome and identification of prognostic factors.

Mechanical thrombectomy (MT) has been demonstrated as an effective treatment for acute ischemic stroke (AIS), thanks to large vessel occlusion (LVO), especially in case of anterior cerebral artery with many randomized clinical trials (RCTs) every year. On the other hand, there is a limited number of basilar artery occlusion (BAO)-related studies which have been conducted. The fact prompts our range of case studies, which furnish BAO understanding with our experience, results and some prognosis factors of MT.

Genetic Diversity and Demographic History of in Oil Palm Plantations of Sarawak, Malaysia Inferred from ITS Regions.

causes basal stem rot (BSR) and is responsible for substantial economic losses to Southeast Asia's palm oil industry. Sarawak, a major producer in Malaysia, is also affected by this disease. Emergence of BSR in oil palm planted on peat throughout Sarawak is alarming as the soil type was previously regarded as non-conducive.

Trans-national conservation and infrastructure development in the Heart of Borneo.

The Heart of Borneo initiative has promoted the integration of protected areas and sustainably-managed forests across Malaysia, Indonesia, and Brunei. Recently, however, member states of the Heart of Borneo have begun pursuing ambitious unilateral infrastructure-development schemes to accelerate economic growth, jeopardizing the underlying goal of trans-boundary integrated conservation. Focusing on Sabah, Malaysia, we highlight conflicts between its Pan-Borneo Highway scheme and the regional integration of protected areas, unprotected intact forests, and conservation-priority forests.

Catalytic thermal degradation of Chlorella vulgaris: Evolving deep neural networks for optimization.

The aim of this study is to identify the optimum thermal conversion of Chlorella vulgaris with neuro-evolutionary approach. A Progressive Depth Swarm-Evolution (PDSE) neuro-evolutionary approach is proposed to model the Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) data of catalytic thermal degradation of Chlorella vulgaris. Results showed that the proposed method can generate predictions which are more accurate compared to other conventional approaches (>90% lower in Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) and Mean Bias Error (MBE)).