CURRENT APPLIED SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Understand Noise on Universal Quantum Adder Circuit

Wiphoo Methachawalit — 2023-12-14

Quantum Fourier Transform (QFT) is an essential algorithm for quantum computers. There are many uses of QFT in the application of quantum computing. In this work, we proposed a generalized adder circuit that was fundamental for QFT. We designed and ran the experiments with the proposed adder circuit on an IBM quantum computer facility. We observed that the number of qubits was one factor in the error rate. We found that our proposed two-qubits adder circuit running on the IBM quantum computer had an error rate of around 25%. The complexity of the adder circuit includes qubit connectivity, physical devices, and error from noise due to the environment. We demonstrated the constraints of the proposed adder circuit.

Visually Estimating and Forecasting PM2.5 Levels Using Hybrid Architecture Deep Neural Network

Sirisup Laohakiat — 2023-12-14

Air pollutants, particularly particulate matter with a diameter of less than 2.5 microns (PM2.5), have been linked to a number of negative climatic and health effects, including irritation and damage to internal organs in the short and long term. Knowing current and future levels of PM2.5 is therefore crucial for both public health and environmental management. Photos of the sky and buildings can aid in assessing visibility and air quality because PM2.5 alters the appearance of the sky and its surroundings. This research proposes a method that employs digital images to not only estimate but also forecast PM2.5 concentration levels using deep learning technologies. A convolutional neural network (CNN) was used as the base layer to automatically extract image features, while a long short-term memory (LSTM) network was used as the output layer to analyze the sequence of features. The sky and its surroundings were captured hourly from a high-rise building in Bangkok, Thailand, and the ground-truth PM2.5 data were obtained from the nearest monitoring station facing the same direction. The experimental results show that the hybrid CNN and LSTM model outperformed conventional CNN models in estimating and forecasting PM2.5 levels by 5% and 30%, respectively.

Investigation of the Yeast Yarrowia lipolytica Cultivation on Tuna Head Protein Hydrolysate

Ngoc Thi Minh Ta — 2023-12-18

Tuna (Thunnus spp.) is a significant commodity within the fishing industry. However, up to half of the total tuna weight ends up as waste, including tuna heads, which contain valuable nutrients such as protein, polyunsaturated fatty acids, enzymes, minerals, and trace elements. The purpose of this study was to investigate an environmentally sustainable approach for tuna head processing by yeast cultivation. The oleaginous yeast Yarrowia lipolytica was successfully cultured on tuna head protein hydrolysate and the effects of culture conditions including inoculum size, hydrolysate pH and incubation volume on nutrition utilization and on yeast growth were investigated. Y. lipolytica showed good biomass accumulation when cultured on tuna head protein hydrolysates. The yeast biomass increased with decreasing incubation volume and reached 8.6 g/L. The yeast also showed the ability to reduce up to 83.7% of hydrolysate lipid content while remaining 70.7% of nitrogen content. The culture conditions had more effect on lipid reduction than on nitrogen reduction and a good correlation between the specific growth rate and lipid reduction was observed. The yeast biomass was 64.0% in protein content and 9.6% in lipid content, without optimization. The investigation results demonstrated the potential improvement of tuna head utilization as well as the potential application of yeast biomass cultivation.

Dietary Exposure to Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons and the Probabilistic Health Risk Assessment of Eating Roasted Yams (Dioscorea Species) by African Population

Ekene John Nweze — 2023-12-18

The roasting of food is one of the oldest food preparation and preservation technologies. Although roasted foods have been associated with potential health hazards, this processing method is still used in many foods. This study was carried out to ascertain the health risks of ingesting white (Dioscorea rotundata), and bitter yam (Dioscorea dumetorum) roasted with firewood, charcoal, and charcoal augmented with PET bottles. The PAH content in all the roasted yam samples was identified and analyzed using gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy (GC-MS). A total of 8 PAHs were identified in both yam species; however, bitter yam roasted with augmented charcoal contained 9 PAHs. The total EDI showed that bitter yam roasted with augmented charcoal (6.59E-1) had the highest PAH content while white yam roasted with only charcoal contained the lowest (1.27E-1). The hazard quotients and indexes revealed that bitter yam had the highest HQ in all the roasting methods except for napathalene, fluoranthene and benzo (a) pyrene in samples roasted with charcoal. The HI for both species in all the roasting methods was above 1 (>1), while firewood produced the highest HI. Benzo (a) anthracene was the most potent PAH identified across the yam species and the roasting techniques. The evaluated ILCR showed that dibenzo (a, h) anthracene identified in white yam smoked with charcoal had the highest tendency to cause cancer (6.38E-1) while the least PAH was acenaphthylene (3.35E-6) which was seen in bitter yam roasted with charcoal. Therefore, it is necessary to inform the consumers of the possible health implications associated with consuming roasted yams and especially yam roasted with augmented charcoal

Zooplankton Community as Indicator of Trophic Status of Lake Tadlac in Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines

Mc Jervis Soltura Villaruel — 2023-12-18

Tadlac Lake was heavily used for aquaculture until the late 1990s which resulted in a deterioration of its water quality. Aquaculture operations were banned to rehabilitate the lake after a massive fish kill in 1999. However, no thorough assessment of the rehabilitation's effectiveness has been conducted. In order to assess the success of the rehabilitation efforts, this study evaluated the lake's trophic status through study of its zooplankton community and physical-chemical parameters. Zooplankton samples and physical-chemical parameters were collected once a month from October 2017 to March 2018. Overall, 25 zooplankton species were documented during the sampling period. Rotifera dominated the zooplankton community with a relative density of 46.19%, followed by Copepoda (36.70%) and Cladocera (17.11%). Eutrophic indicator species Brachionus forficula had the highest density among the zooplankton taxa, followed by Keratella tropica and Brachionus havanaensis. Significant variation in zooplankton density was documented over the sampling period (p<0.05). Cluster analysis and analysis of similarities (ANOSIM) showed variation in the zooplankton density across the sampling months. Similarity percentage (SIMPER) revealed that the differences in plankton density were due to the densities of the most abundant taxa. Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) showed that the zooplankton community was highly influenced by dissolved oxygen, conductivity, pH, biological oxygen demand, and temperature. The high density of the eutrophic indicator zooplankton species and the nutrient concentration of the lake indicated that Tadlac lake was still under eutrophic conditions. Biotic indices further confirmed that the lake was experiencing eutrophic conditions with moderate organic pollution. Therefore, additional approaches are necessary to effectively control the nutrient enrichment in the lake to improve its condition.

Extraction and Characterization of Fish Collagen for Enhanced Wound Healing Activity on A549 Cell Lines

Vimal Arasan Anbuselvan — 2024-02-12

Collagen is a proteinaceous material that is present abundantly in animal tissues and gives physical strength and stability to the tissues. Collagen extracted from animal tissues has been applied in the biomedical and healthcare sectors. In recent days, aquatic organisms have shown great potential for collagen extraction and purification. In the present study, we selected three fish species: Naucrates ductor, Oreochromis mossambicus and Cyprinus carpiofor collagen extraction from both their skin and scales. The biomass was pre-treated to remove any non-collagenous matter and fat. Acid-soluble collagen was extracted using acetic acid and a maximum extraction of 51.55±1.02% was reported. The total protein fractions and the denaturation temperatures of the collagen extractswere measured. The molecular weights and the subunit compositions of the collagen extracts were analyzed using SDS-PAGE and the presence of two α chains, one β, and one γ chain. Amino acid profiling was done in an amino acid analyzer after hydrolysis and about one third of the total amino acid content was glycine. The solubility characteristics of the collagenextracts were analyzed at different ranges of pH and salinity. The antimicrobial activities of the collagen extracts were examined against four bacterial species, and it was proven that skin-derived collagens had greater antibacterial potential than extracts of the scales. In vitro studies on the wound healing capacity of the extracted collagen were performed using A549 cell line cultured in F-12K medium, and 95% of cell regeneration was observed in collagen-supplemented dispersed cell lines.

Evaluation of Growth, Chlorophyll Content, and Photosynthesis Rate of Curcuma xanthorrhiza With Different Shade Levels

Zelvy Amelia Murwani — 2024-02-12

Curcuma xanthorrhiza RoxB. is a medicinal plant found in Indonesia and is often cultivated for therapeutic purposes. Curcuma xanthorrhiza typically thrives in shaded, low-light environments. In this study, plant growth, photosynthetic rate, and chlorophyll content of C. xanthorrhiza in the same growing environment with different shade treatments were evaluated. The level of shade was adjusted using paranet at 0%, 25%, 50%, and 75%. Growth observations of C. xanthorrhiza were carried out from 1 to 6 months after planting (MAP). Chlorophyll content was measured using a UV-Vis spectrophotometer at 649 and 665 nm. The photosynthetic rate was measured using Li-Cor 6400 at 5 MAP. The results revealed that 50% shade gave the best response for plant height at 2 MAP. However, the highest number of leaves was found at 25% shade at 4 and 5 MAP. The shade level of 25% produced a significant response for C. xanthorrhiza rhizome biomass. The highest photosynthetic rate was found at 0% shade (26.69 µmol CO₂ m^-2s^-1) and the lowest at 75% shade (15.12 µmol CO₂ m^-2s^-1). Meanwhile, the chlorophyll content and number of tillers of C. xanthorrhiza leaves were unaffected by shade treatment. This study shows that shade treatments at 25%-50% levels gave the best growth responses in the C. xanthorrhiza plants.

Sericin and Pineapple Fruit Extract as Natural Agents Inhibiting Browning and Improving Antioxidant Activity in Fresh-cut Ripe Mangoes cv. Nam Dok Mai

Mathurot Kumthongwathana — 2024-02-15

Recently, the use of natural agents to improve quality has attracted a lot of attention on fresh-cut produce and minimally processed fruit. The aims of this work were to investigate the efficiency of sericin and fresh pineapple juice (selected natural agents) on browning inhibition and antioxidant activity of fresh-cut ‘Nam Dok Mai’ mangoes during refrigeration (4°C). Based on a preliminary study and our previous work, 2% sericin (S) and 50% pineapple juice (PJ) were selected. Biological parameters related to enzymatic browning incidence, antioxidants and antioxidant enzyme activity of the fresh-cut mangoes immersed in 2% S, 50% PJ and 50% PJ incorporated with 2% S (PJ+S) were investigated. Immersion in S, PJ or PJ+S inhibited enzymatic browning due to delaying of discoloration, lowering of browning index (BI) and increases in polyphenol oxidase (PPO) and peroxidase (POD) activities compared to control treatment. The lowest PPO and POD activities and total phenolic content were found in the S treated fresh-cut mangoes. PJ+S treated fresh-cut mangoes had antioxidant activities higher than other treatment. All treatments enhanced the activities of antioxidant enzymes, especially PJ immersion. Therefore, S and PJ show potential as natural agents that can inhibit browning and improve antioxidant activity in fresh-cut mangoes during refrigeration.

Development of Aqueous Organic Flow Battery Using SPEEK Membrane and Eco-Friendly Electrolytes

Sanphop Dumkrang — 2024-02-15

Aqueous organic redox flow batteries (AORFBs) are a type of flow battery that offers a promising solution for energy storage, and one of the main issues is selecting low-cost membranes with high ion conductivity to enhance performance and efficiency. In this study, low-cost sulfonated poly ether ether ketone (SPEEK) membranes were fabricated using the casting method, with the polymer/solvent ratios of SPEEK and N,N'-dimethylformamide (DMF) being varied. The Nafion 117 membrane was used as a benchmark for comparison. The performance of aqueous organic redox flow batteries employing anthraquinone-2-sulfonic acid (AQS) and 1,2-benzoquinone-3,5-disulfonic acid (BQDS) as electrolytes was evaluated. The SPEEK membranes were determined to have dense, homogeneous surfaces with no flaws and a thickness of 60 microns. In addition, their physicochemical properties, such as water uptake, swelling ratio, ion exchange capacity, and degree of sulfonation, were investigated. The results showed that the SPEEK membranes had better rate performance and cycle stability when compared to the Nafion117 membrane during charge-discharge cycles. Additionally, the SPEEK membranes exhibited slower potential drops and higher power density during constant current mode operation, despite showing no significant differences in energy efficiency and power density. These findings demonstrate the potential of SPEEK membranes for use in AORFBs and as a benchmark for future research and development.

Diversity Analysis of 53 Soybean Accessions Introduced from China Based on Morphological Characteristics and SSR Markers

Rosliana Purwaning Dyah — 2024-02-15

Indonesia still faces challenges in meeting its national soybean demand. Genetic diversity can provide new resources to improve soybean production and quality. Genetic diversity of 53 soybean accessions introduced from China, based on morphological characteristics and 17 SSR markers, was analyzed in this study. Principal component analysis (PCA) conducted on morphological characters produced a total diversity value of 64.67% and identified four main components. Based on phylogenetic analysis and principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) two accessions showed low genetic similarity of 78% (China cult-55 and Mi yang niu mao huang), which indicated that they could be selected as parents for plant breeding programs. In addition, 772 SSR alleles at an average of 45 alleles per locus were detected. The average heterozygosity was 0.83, and the average polymorphic information content (PIC) value was 0.96. All SSR markers showed a PIC value > 0.8, indicating their informativeness in analyzing genetic diversity of soybean. The phylogenetic analysis indicated a genetic similarity of 82% and the accessions were grouped into two main clusters. The phylogenetic analysis depicted that several accessions could be grouped based on the growth type and origin. The results of morphological characterization and molecular markers in the analysis of genetic diversity are beneficial for selecting parental crosses when developing new varieties.

Expression of Synthetic pac Gene Encoding Penicillin G Acylase (PGA) Enzyme in E. coli BL21(DE3) and HB101

Achmad Makin Amin — 2024-02-15

High bacterial infection cases in Indonesia cause a high need for antibiotic drugs. Unfortunately, most of the raw materials used for antibiotic production in Indonesia are still imported. For this reason, the government is eager to find better ways to produce penicillin and its derivatives, which are widely used in society. The production of penicillin-derivative requires penicillin G acylase (PGA) as a catalyst. In previous studies, the expression of the syn-pac gene in E. coli BL21(DE3) to produce a recombinant PGA enzyme was performed, but the enzyme activity was low (0.01754 U/mg). Thus, the expression was carried out in different hosts and inducers. The purpose of this research was to obtain the production of PGA with higher enzyme activity. The transformation was carried out in the pET22b-pacEc in E. coli BL21(DE3) and HB101. For enzyme expression, the recombinant hosts were induced by 0.05 mM IPTG, 176 mM lactose, and 1998 mM arabinose at a temperature of 20°C and 150 rpm of shaking for 17 h. Protein isolation was performed by sonication and freeze-thawing to recover biologically active PGA. Verification of PGA was performed by SDS-PAGE and the enzyme activity was tested by pDAB. E. coli HB101 produced PGA with higher activity (10.17 U/mg) than BL21(DE3) (6.67 U/mg), and arabinose was the strongest inducer for enzyme expression.

Improving the Productivity and Nutritional Values of Sweet Potato (Ipomoea batatas L.) with a Combination of Soil and Foliar Zinc

Khandakar Abu Md Mostafizar Rahman — 2024-02-15

Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas L.) is an important crop and is a staple food in many countries across the globe; since they are a good source of nutrients including zinc (Zn). Zn is essential for plant growth and development, and a zinc deficiency can significantly impact crop productivity as well as the nutritional quality of the produce. The value of enrichment with Zn in many crops by applying Zn either to foliar or soil through agronomic biofortification has been investigated, but this information is still unavailable for sweet potatoes. Therefore, the current study aimed to evaluate the effect of soil and foliar Zn applications on yield, biochemical traits, and nutrient concentrations of different sweet potato genotypes. The study was conducted using a split-plot design with treatments of two doses (0 and 2.5 kg Zn ha^-1) of soil application and four doses (0, 15, 30, and 45 ppm) of foliar application of Zn on five sweet potato genotypes (SP-2, SP-14, SP-15, SP-16, SP-20). It was observed that growth and yield performance as well as nutrient concentrations in the tubers of sweet potatoes were greatly influenced by Zn application method and genotype. An increasing rate of foliar Zn, with or without soil-applied Zn, showed an increasing trend in amino acid, β-carotene, flavonoid, and phenolic content. The foliar Zn application had a more obvious effect on most of the examined traits than the soil Zn application and except for a few characteristics (dry matter and amino acids), most traits responded up to the foliar application of 15 ppm Zn, and thereafter no increase was seen with further increments of foliar Zn application.

New Ratio Estimators for Population Mean under Unequal Probability Sampling Without Replacement in the Presence of Missing Data: A Case Study on Fine Particulate Matter in Bangkok, Thailand

Chugiat Ponkaew — 2024-02-15

Missing data are frequently present in datasets and give rise to a myriad of issues that significantly affect data utilization. The missing data needs to be handled before data can be efficiently estimated and applied. New ratio estimators for population mean were proposed for use when data are missing completely at random and for a more flexible situation where missing data are missing at random in the study variable under unequal probability sampling without replacement. Furthermore, the variance estimators of the proposed ratio estimators were investigated under a reverse framework. We show theoretically that the proposed estimators were approximately unbiased estimators. The proposed estimators were utilized in simulation studies and were applied to the study of fine particulate matter data in Suan Luang District, Bangkok, Thailand in order to see how the proposed estimators performed. The results from the application to fine particulate matter showed that the ratio estimators and their variance estimators worked better than existing estimators, producing less estimated variances. Therefore, they could be applied to estimate the average fine particulate matter even when missing values appeared.

Identification of Repurposable Drugs for Colorectal Cancer Using Drug-Network-Based Classification Models

Keeratika Thongchaiprasit — 2024-02-15

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second most lethal cancer with more than one million new cases diagnosed worldwide every year. To defuse the increasing CRC threat, more effective and less harmful treatments for CRC patients are urgently needed. Computational drug repurposing, which is an in silico based approach to uncover new indications of approved drugs, is a promising strategy to accelerate the time to market of drugs. However, there are not many computational drug repurposing methods for CRC. In this work, we proposed drug-network-based classification models to identify repurposable drugs for CRC. Initially, four drug networks, the chemical structure network (CSN), the target protein network (TPN), the drug pathway network (PWN), and the drug-drug interaction network (DIN), were formulated. Based on the drug features properly extracted from the networks, we created four multi-layer perceptron (MLP) models. By comparing the performance of the models, the DIN model outperformed the others with the highest accuracy and an F₁ score of 96.9%. After predicting the repurposability of over 1,200 non-CRC approved drugs using the DIN model, 306 drugs discovered as potentially repurposable drugs for CRC. In summary, the drug-network-based classification models can efficiently identify repurposable drug candidates for CRC, which would be applicable for efficient therapeutic treatment of CRC.

A Review of Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) for Document Examination: Fundamentals, Mechanism, and Application

Adlina Syafura Ahmad Sabri — 2024-02-15

Document examination is one of the main types of investigations in forensic science, particularly in cases involving questioned documents. These documents include assorted forms of written or printed texts on different substrates (paper, banknotes, etc.) with uncertain authenticity. Ink analysis plays a vital role in document examination. It is often focused on understanding the chemical composition of the ink, which can be colorants, solvents, vehicles, and additives. Document examiners utilize several analytical tools including laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS). The use of this instrument has gained prominence for its ability to detect multiple elements, offer straightforward sample preparation, minimize sample destruction, and provide fast and accurate readings. This paper reviews previous research that employed LIBS for document examination, highlighting its modern applications and approaches in analysing various types of documents. Furthermore, this paper discusses the strengths and weaknesses of this instrument as a viable technique in the field of document examination.