Bis-anthraquinones with a unique molecular backbone, (+)-2,2’-epicytoskyrin A (epi) and (+)-1,1′-bislunatin (bis), was produced by endophytic fungi Diaporthe sp GNBP-10 associated with Gambir plant (Uncaria gambier). Epi and bis possess robust antimicrobial activity toward various pathogens. This study focus on knowing the optimum condition of epi and bis production from Diaporthe sp GNBP-10. A series of culture media with various nutrient compositions was investigated in epi and bis production. The content of epi and bis was determined by measuring the area under the curve from TLC-densitometric (scanner) experiment. The linear regression analysis was then applied to obtain the results. The optimi

    Identification of complex communities in biological networks is a critical and ongoing challenge since lots of network-related problems correspond to the subgraph isomorphism problem known in the literature as NP-hard. Several optimization algorithms have been dedicated and applied to solve this problem. The main challenge regarding the application of optimization algorithms, specifically to handle large-scale complex networks, is their relatively long execution time. Thus, this paper proposes a parallel extension of the PSO algorithm to detect communities in complex biological networks. The main contribution of this study is summarized in three- fold; Firstly, a modified PSO algorithm with a local search operator is proposed

In this work, the photodetection performance of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) nanofibers and its composite with yttrium oxide (Y2O3) at different concentrations (2.5, 5, 10) wt% are examined deposited on p-type Si with (111) orientation. Electrospinning technique was used to create nanofiber composites. Adding Y2O3 significantly impacts the PVA nanofibers where ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopy optical absorption energy gap decreases with increased concentration (2.8, 2.6, and 2.3) eV. X-ray diffraction was used to investigate crystal structure, which is cubic structure. The chemical composition study was conducted using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) spectra, which revealed the stretching vibrations related to the Y-O bon

Most Internet of Vehicles (IoV) applications are delay-sensitive and require resources for data storage and tasks processing, which is very difficult to afford by vehicles. Such tasks are often offloaded to more powerful entities, like cloud and fog servers. Fog computing is decentralized infrastructure located between data source and cloud, supplies several benefits that make it a non-frivolous extension of the cloud. The high volume data which is generated by vehicles’ sensors and also the limited computation capabilities of vehicles have imposed several challenges on VANETs systems. Therefore, VANETs is integrated with fog computing to form a paradigm namely Vehicular Fog Computing (VFC) which provide low-latency services to mo

This study was conducted to explore the effects of using ionized water on the productive and physiological performance of Japanese quails (Coturnix japonica). Our study was conducted at a private farm from 20th April, 2016 to 13th July, 2016 (84 d). One hundred 42-day-old Japanese quail chicks were used, divided randomly into 5 groups with 4 replicates. Treatments consisted in a control group (T1 - normal water:), alkaline (T2 - pH 8 and T3 - pH 9), and acidic water (T4 - pH 6 and T5 - pH 5). All birds were fed a balanced diet of energy and protein. The egg production ratio, egg weight, cumulative number of eggs, egg mass, feed conversion ratio, productivity per hen per week, and effects on plasma lipids, uric acid, glucose, calcium, and ph

In this paper, the effects of subsurface water retention technology (SWRT) on crop coefficient (k_c) and crop evapotranspiration (ET_c) of eggplant were investigated in sandy loam soil. For this purpose, two treatments plot (with SWRT and without using SWRT) were adopted during 93 days of cultivation. The study was conducted in open field within Al-Fahamah Township, Baghdad, Iraq during summer growing season 2017. The accumulated ET_c of eggplant was 403.3 and 515.2 mm for SWRT treatment and control plot, respectively by reduction percentage 21.7 %. The average values of ET_c during the growing season were 4.3 and 5.5 mm/day, respectively. The crop coefficients value during the gro

In this research, the effect of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) on the alumina/chromia (Al₂O₃/Cr₂O₃) nanocomposites has been investigated. Al₂O₃/Cr₂O₃-MWCNTs nanocomposites with variable contents of Cr₂O₃ and MWCNTs were fabricated using coprecipitation process and followed by spark plasma sintering. XRD analysis revealed a good crystallinity of sintered nanocomposites samples and there was only one phase presence of Al₂O₃-Cr₂O₃ solid solution. Density, Vickers microhardness, fracture toughness and fracture strength have been measured in the sintered samples. The results show tha