bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Arbitral Jurisdiction and Court Review: Three Swiss Federal Supreme Court Decisions to Reconsider
Authors: Stojiljkovic Mladen
Published: April 2022

This article discusses three recent decisions of the Swiss Federal Supreme Court that show inconsistent approaches with regard to the availability of court review in connection with issues of arbitral jurisdiction. In the first case, the Court considered itself bound by the arbitrator’s finding of an agreement to arbitrate, only because the arbitrator had come to his conclusion by way of subjective interpretation, rather than objective interpretation. The article argues that court review ought to be available regardless of whether the arbitrator’s finding of an agreement to arbitrate is based on subjective or objective interpretation. The second case relates to multi-tiered dispute resolution clauses. Here, the Court accepted to review a challenge for violation of a pre-condition to arbitration, regardless of whether the objection to arbitration was “jurisdictional,” on the sole ground that the violation at issue needed to be sanctioned one way or another. This is unconvincing. Court review ought to be available only if the objection to arbitration raises a genuine issue of jurisdiction, which this case did not. In the third case, the Court addressed the situation where a party objects to the courts’ jurisdiction on the ground that the parties agreed to arbitrate the dispute. In this decision, the Court created a twotiered review of such objections, requiring full review of the issue whether an arbitration agreement had come to existence, and limited review for issues of scope. This gives both arbitrators and courts equal powers to examine whether an arbitration agreement exists, which may lead to undesirable parallel proceedings on the issue whether an arbitration agreement exists. These three cases, and the reasoning that underlies them, should be reconsidered.
La réforme des articles du Code civil sur larbitrage en France
Authors: Clay Thomas
Published: April 2022

Even if it covers many areas of French procedural law, the “21st Century Justice” law specifically encourages Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), with an entire title dedicated to it. The new law adopts a broad concept of ADR, including mediation, conciliation, participatory procedure, negotiation and arbitration. It modifies, sometimes substantially, their legal regimes in order to develop and facilitate their use. The purpose of this article is to trace the story of this reform and explain its content, in the context of arbitration only. In relation to the domestic arbitration agreement, Article 2061 of the French Civil Code has been rewritten in two major ways: on the one hand, its scope has been significantly broadened since it can now be introduced in all contracts, including civil ones, as long as the parties freely dispose of their rights and agreed to it. This means that the arbitration agreement is no longer reserved for professionals only. On the other hand, when it is part of a consumer contract, it is also valid but the consumer will be able to waive it once the dispute has arisen. The modernity of its solutions and the fair balance between the parties are the two sides of this small revolution that projects arbitration into the 21st century.
The application of EU law by arbitral tribunals seated in Switzerland
Authors: Bieri Sandra de Vito
Published: April 2022

Arbitral tribunals with seat in Switzerland are required to apply EU law under various conditions: It seems fairly clear that the arbitral tribunal needs to apply EU law, if the parties have chosen the law of an EU member state as lex causae, as EU law forms in this case part of the chosen law. The same applies when the parties have forgone to make a choice of law and the closest connection test results in the application of the law of an EU member state. In case the parties have chosen a third state’s law as lex causae, the arbitral tribunal needs to consider EU law, if a party invokes its application. Last, the arbitral tribunal may in some instances apply EU law ex officio, even if none of the parties have invoked the application of EU law.

Although the arbitral tribunal may be required to apply EU law, the failure to apply or the wrong application of EU law does not necessarily result in setting aside of the award by the Swiss Federal Supreme Court. The failure to apply or the wrong application of EU law does not violate public policy. Hence, a challenge of the arbitral award based on art. 190 (2) e PILA will be unsuccessful. This holds also true if the arbitral tribunal decides not to apply EU competition law, as the Swiss Federal Supreme Court does not consider EU competition law part of public policy. The failure to apply EU law by the arbitral tribunal will only then result in a successful challenge of the arbitral award based on art. 190 (2) b PILA, if the arbitral tribunal found that EU law would be applicable to the dispute but denies its jurisdiction to decide the EU law issue.
Prescription Trap? Continuation of Freezing the Legal Prescription in International Arbitration  in Korean, Austrian, German and Swiss Context
Authors: Nowak Krzysztof , Kwon Innhwa
Published: April 2022

The article explores the provisions on prescription under four civil law jurisdictions – Switzerland, Germany, Austria and Korea – in view of interruption or suspension of prescription effected by initiation of arbitral proceedings. It scrutinizes in particular whether and how a claim filed before an arbitral tribunal that lacks jurisdiction could be effectively supplemented by a subsequent filing in view of saving the claim from lapse of prescription.
Time limit to file petition for the recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards: a comparative perspective
Authors: Thien LE Nguyen Gia
Published: April 2022

In most cases, the award debtor will perform his obligations voluntarily. However, if the debtor refuses to comply with the award, the award creditor can seek to have the award recognised and enforced before a competent court. A fundamental issue that the award creditor must consider is the time that is available for him to file a petition for the recognition and enforcement of a foreign award in a given jurisdiction. Statutes and case law address this matter differently. In some jurisdictions, the time limit to file a petition for the recognition and enforcement of a foreign award was very short, ranging from half year to 1 year. In other jurisdictions, time limits are set at 30 years. Still others provide time limits of 3, 5, 6 or even 10 years. This article draws a comparative picture of current statutes and case law relating to time limits for the recognition and enforcement of arbitral awards by analysing different jurisdictions from both civil and common law systems.
Objective scope of res judicata of arbitral awards  Is there room for discretion?
Authors: Zaugg Niklaus
Published: April 2022

In its landmark decision DFT 141 III 229 – also known as the “US law firm decision” –, the Swiss Federal Tribunal confirmed its previously established doctrine on the controlled transfer of a foreign award’s effects (“Kontrollierte Wirkungsübernahme”) when determining the objective scope of res judicata of a foreign arbitral award. The concept implies that the binding effect of a foreign award cannot go beyond the determinations contained in its operative (or dispositive) part.

Such narrow approach to res judicata has been criticised by various authors. It is considered inappropriate in the context of international arbitration because arbitrating parties ordinarily wish to have their disputes resolved in a comprehensive manner. Given the lack of any pertinent and authoritative transnational principles, it is further argued that arbitral tribunals should be vested with the power to discretionarily determine the scope of res judicata of a previous award. In doing so, arbitral tribunals are expected to notably take into account the legal traditions and the parties’ expectations involved in a specific arbitration.

It is suggested by the author of this article that an arbitral tribunal’s entitlement to discretionarily determine the objective scope of res judicata of a previous award not only conflicts with the provisions of the Swiss lex arbitri but also with the parties’ need for legal certainty and, as the case may be, their interest to have certain aspects of a dispute omitted from a final adjudication. The legitimate interest of parties in having a dispute settled in a comprehensive manner should be addressed by enabling them to flexibly decide what aspects of a dispute they wish to submit to a final adjudication, and at what point in time. The respective intentions of the parties should be communicated to the arbitral tribunal by filing or abstaining from filing corresponding applications for prejudicial declaratory relief.
Challenges of Swiss Arbitral Awards. Updated Statistical Data as of 2017
Authors: Dasser Felix , Wójtowicz Piotr
Published: April 2022

This article updates and extends previously published statistical data of challenges of international arbitral awards under Article 190(2) PILA (current database: 1989 through 2017). Additionally, it updates and extends data on requests for the revision of international arbitral awards (1989 through 2017) and challenges of domestic arbitral awards pursuant to Article 389 et seq. CCP (2011 through 2017).

Under Article 190(2) PILA, 74 decisions have been rendered in 2016 and 2017. The tally of challenges amounts to 576 decisions. The percentage of successful challenges in non-sports (mainly commercial) arbitration remains at around 7%. The data now also suggest a chance of approx. 7% for sports arbitration. The median duration of the procedure before the Federal Court is roughly 6 months, while it has been slightly declining again for the past two years.

Since 1992, the Federal Court has published 27 decisions on requests for revision of international awards. Thus far, three requests have been successful. The duration is a tad shorter than the one of challenges.

Finally, 79 decisions in domestic arbitration under Article 393(a)-(f) CCP have been issued to date. 18% of the decisions concerned employment matters. The chance of success of a challenge amounts to 19%. That fairly high number is largely due to successful challenges based on arbitrariness, a ground for challenge that is only available in domestic arbitration proceedings. As of 2017, the median duration of domestic setting aside proceedings amounts to roughly 5 months.
Presidents Message: Simplicity and Sophistication (Of Furniture, Nails, Screws and Glue)
Authors: Geisinger Elliott
Published: April 2022

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Noch einmal das Rücktrittsrecht des Schiedsrichters: Zurück zum receptum arbitri, und sodann Rezepte gegen die Untat böser Buben
Authors: Bucher Eugen
Published: April 2022

In issue 1/2002 of the ASA Bulletin, Bernhard Berger took on the issue of arbitrators stepping down during the proceedings. Eugen Bucher revisits the problems based on a new decision of the Swiss Federal Tribunal. Bucher compares this case with the Tribunal’s earlier decision (Milutinovic), where an award was set aside on the grounds that one of the arbitrators resigned and had not been replaced.

In Bucher’s view, the contract between the parties and the arbitrators is not a mandate but a contract of its own, i.e., the receptum arbitri. Based on the Roman law tradition, the author contends that arbitrators, except in the case of serious illness, have no right to resign.
Importance and Characteristics of Nanoparticles in Drug Designing
Authors: Hassan Syeda Mona , Rauf Asad , Javaid Kashif , Khan Abdul Rehman , Ashraf Faizan
Published: April 2022

Nano particles along with physical software are used in order to increase the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamics action of the drug medication. Nano particles are used to maintain an organized way for drug at the place of action. Because of the healing benefits Nano particles have become modern technology in the field of medicine. Scientists are interested to redevelop the dominant pills to bind the uncomplimentary concerns and to grow the healing effects. Modern principles such as Nano-shipping, maintain launch, and many others have advancement. The major conception of the paper is to implement the elementary principles in the discipline of nanoparticles.
Potent Implications of Nanotechnology in Food Industries
Authors: Javed Zeeshan , Rubab Pakeeza , Anum Faiza , Alam Ayesha , Raza Shahid
Published: April 2022

Nanotechnology is a remarkable technique that has application in almost all fields of life. Classically, two basic methods such as the top-down or bottom-up constitute this advanced technique. Nanomaterial although smaller is size 10-100nm they have been utilized by many industries for variety of purposes. One such example is the use of these tiny molecules in food industry. Nanomaterials have broad range of implications in food industries such as food packaging, food safety, and development of texture, color, taste and even the presentation of food. Nanotechnology possess never ending perspective to our various industries. Nanoparticle obtained from the materials like carbon and silicon dioxide are have been a signature feature of nanobiotechnology. This review aims to discuss the prospect of nanotechnology in the food sector and emphasize on the use of various nanomaterials for food industry. In recent years nanotechnology has emerged as a new type of skill set that has revolutionized the food industry.
Spectrophotometric Assay of Drinking Water in Remote Areas of Chiniot City, Pakistan
Authors: Sarfraz Sadaf , Ameer Safdar , Nawaz Shaista , Saleem Yasir
Published: April 2022

Almost 70% of earth’s surface is covered with water. The importance of pure water lies in the fact that it is the basic need of every human. In one of the studies reported by WHO it has been mentioned that that almost 80% of diseases are water borne. One of the major reasons of water pollution is the wastes generated from industries, domestic waste discharge, extensive increase in population, Industrialization, domestic waste discharge, extensive use of fertilizers. In the present study an assay of quality of drinking water has been conducted to analyze the life standards and health of people dwelling in the low lying regions of Pakistan. From the results obtained it is found that various water parameters and quality of water reflects poor standards of living conditions in the nearby villages of Chiniot city.
Ev Eksenli Çalışma Bağlamında Evin ve Boş Zamanın Değişen Anlamları: Kayseri/Kocasinan Örneği Üzerinden Bir Değerlendirme
Authors: PURKIS Semra , ÇELEBİ Ezgi
Published: April 2022

Kapitalizmin neo liberal evresinde iş bölümünün dünya ölçeğinde yeniden yapılanmasıyla birlikte üretim süreci parçalanarak üretimin farklı bölümleri emek maliyetlerini minimize edecek ve kar oranlarını en çoklaştıracak biçimde mekânsal olarak kaydırılmıştır. Ev eksenli çalışma bu sürece en zayıf halka olarak en alttan entegre edilmiştir. Bu işin ev ve bakım işleriyle birlikte evde yürütülmesi ve kadınlarca yapılması, yapılan işi ve kadının emeğinin ürünlerini değersizleştirmekte hem işverenler hem de çalışanların onu hane gelirine katkı niteliğinde bir boş zaman aktivitesi olarak görmelerine yol açmaktadır. Bu çalışmanın amacı evin ve boş zamanın tarihsel ve sınıfsal olarak değişen anlamlarını ev eksenli çalışan kadınlar üzerinden analiz etmektir. Çalışmanın ampirik bölümünde Kayseri’nin merkez ilçelerinden Kocasinan’ın yoksul mahallelerinde Mayıs 2021’de yapılan geniş kapsamlı bir saha araştırmasının konuyla ilgili verilerinden yararlanılmıştır. Saha araştırmasında nitel araştırma yöntemi ve derinlemesine mülakat tekniği kullanılmıştır. Saha çalışmasının bulguları ev eksenli çalışmanın, halihazırda var olan ve pandeminin de etkisiyle derinleşen krizin arttırdığı yoksullaşmayı aşmaya/hafifletmeye çalışan kadınlarca yapılan, uzun saatler ve yoğun çalışma temposu gerektiren bir iş olduğunu ve bu işi yapan kadınların bazen geçim yükünü hanedeki erkek bireylerle paylaştıklarını bazen de evin ana gelir getireni olduklarını göstermiştir. Dolayısıyla, çalışmada ev eksenli çalışmanın hane bütçesine katkı amacıyla yapılan bir boş zaman aktivitesi değil, patriarkal kapitalizmin başka bir seçenek bırakmaması sonucu, yoksul kadınların buldukları bir ayakta kalma stratejisi olduğu iddia edilmektedir.
Fabrika Kapanmaları Sonucu Karşılaşılan İşsizlik Riskine İşçi Sınıfının Bir Yanıtı Olarak “Geri Kazanılmış İşletmeler”
Authors: GÜRLER Deniz
Published: April 2022

Seksenli yıllardan günümüze uzanan dönem, neoliberal politikaların egemen olduğu ve geleneksel işçi sınıfı örgütlerinin krizde olduğu bir dönemdir. Bu koşullar, işçi sınıfının yeni/alternatif örgütlenme ve mücadele arayışını tetiklemektedir. Geri kazanılmış fabrikalar ve geri kazanılmış fabrikalar hareketi, kriz ve rekabet sarmalında ayakta kalamayan fabrikalarda/işletmelerde, işsizlik riskiyle karşı karşıya kalan işçilerin işlerini savunmak amacıyla harekete geçmelerinden doğmuştur. Bu taban hareketi, işçilerin doğrudan eylemine dayalıdır ve otonom karakterdedir. 2001 Arjantin krizinde yüzlerce fabrikanın işçilerce işgal edilmesi ve bu fabrikalarda tekrar üretime geçilmesi sonucu ortaya çıkan geri kazanılmış fabrikalar hareketi, bugün başta Güney Amerika ülkeleri olmak üzere, dünyanın farklı ülkelerine de yayılmış durumdadır.
Pilot trial of telemedicine in urology: Video vs. telephone consultations
Authors: Nguyen David-Dan , Nguyen Anne Xuan-Lan , Bouhadana David , Bensaadi Kahina , Peloquin François , Lattouf Jean-Baptiste , Liberman Daniel , Choinière Manon , Bhojani Naeem
Published: April 2022

Introduction: In the past year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, in-person clinical activities have been drastically restricted, driving the already growing interest in the use of telemedicine in the urban setting to reduce unnecessary commute. Therefore, there has been a rapid shift to telephone and video consultations in outpatient practice. We sought to conduct a pilot trial to establish feasibility and acceptability of video consultations as an alternative to telephone consultations in urology patients to inform the design of a future randomized controlled trial.
Methods: We conducted a single-center, prospective, non-randomized pilot trial comparing telephone consultations (TC) vs. video consultations (VC) for urology outpatient visits. Two patient questionnaires were used to collect demographic information, as well as data about acceptability, feasibility, satisfaction, cost, and issues with telemedicine. Questions were identical for both VC and TC except for certain questions inquiring about issues specific to each technology.
Results: Forty-eight TC and 66 VC urology patients were included in this study. Patients believed that telemedicine visits did not significantly hinder their ability to communicate with their urologists and that these visits would be associated with cost savings. There was 1/48 (2.1%) failed TC and 16/66 (24.2%) failed VC. VC failures were concentrated at the beginning of the trial prior to giving feedback to the VC platform creators, with only one failure occurring thereafter. When comparing TC to VC, differences between the two patient groups were small but tended to be in favor of VC. Patients’ satisfaction was greater with VC compared to TC. Both modalities were associated with many cost benefits for patients.
Conclusions: Despite more technical issues with VC, this modality is feasible and acceptable to patients, likely due to improved shared decision-making with VC. Future considerations for trials comparing VC and TC should include adequate Wi-Fi infrastructure and choice of platform. For the VC, continuous knowledge transfer between investigators and platform engineers plays an important role in limiting failed encounters.
Characterization of Bangladeshi Aus rice landraces under drought stress
Authors: Khalil M.I. , Hossain M.R. , Chowdhury A.K. , Hassan M.M.
Published: April 2022

Genetic diversity is a prerequisite for crop improvement. This study, which was carried out at Patuakhali Science and Technology University, Bangladesh, explored the genetic diversity of 38 Bangladeshi aus rice (Oryza sativa L.) landraces under drought stress by using phenotypic and simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers. Nonhierarchal clustering analysis with Mahalanobis‟ D2 statistic based on the data of morphological traits divided the studied landraces into four groups. High variability was found among the groups. Group 3 had the highest number of tillers per plant, spikelets per panicle, and panicle length. Group 2 had high 100-seed weight, and group 4 showed the highest yield per plant. Spikelets per panicle showed the maximum variation among all of the traits in the four groups. Principal component analysis showed that PC1 contributed 32.24% of the total variation, whereas PC2 accounted for 26.20%. Compared with the other traits, plant height, spikelet per panicle, and yield per plant exhibited a greater influence on the phenotypic variation observed in PC1. Compared with other traits, 100-grain weight, days to harvesting, and days to 50% flowering contributed highly to the variation found in PC2. In SSR analysis, the highest polymorphism information content (PIC) of 0.87 was observed for markers RM207 and RM256 and the lowest PIC of 0.64 was observed for markers RM212 and RM274. „Madab jata‟ showed the highest similarity value (0.7) with „BRRI dhan 42.‟ „Lonka gora binni‟ exhibited a similarity value of 0.588, and „Koba binni,‟ „Parija‟, „Gota irri,‟ „Chitri‟, and „Putiraj‟ presented a similarity value of 0.556 with „BRRI dhan 42‟. Among these genotypes, „Madab jata,‟ „Lonka gora binni,‟ and „Koba binni‟ formed a cluster with „BRRI dhan 42‟ with the coefficient of 0.53. Therefore, „Madab jata,‟ „Lonka gora binni,‟ and „Koba binni‟ might contain drought-tolerant alleles and can be used for future research programs. The high genetic variability obtained in this work indicates that the studied rice genotypes contain drought-tolerant alleles and could be used for breeding drought-tolerant rice cultivars.
Phenology of elm seed bug (Arocatus melanocephalus) in Almaty City of Southeastern Kazakhstan
Authors: Myrkassimova A.S. , Demeuov S.N. , Kulanbay K.
Published: April 2022

The phenology of the elm seed bug (Arocatus melanocephalus) and the effects of environmental factors on its population dynamics were studied during the months of May and June from 2016 to 2019 in the Almaty region, Kazakhstan. The study comprised the sampling of 15 elm trees at 10 different selected sites. The insects were caught using entomological nets for population dynamics studies. The extent of leaf damage was determined by measuring the damaged square area using Blunk’s formula. In the Almaty region, the elm seed bug laid eggs in mid-April, and the imago appeared in mid-June. The insect laid eggs on the regenerative organs of the elm trees and caused significant damage to the leaves, ranging from 60%–95%. However, the significant leaf damage was not caused by the said elm trees insect as what is common in other regions of the world. In the Almaty region, the elm tree foliar damage is notably made by bugs. A negative correlation was recorded between the insect population and rainfall during May. The elm seed bug reproduction and growth occurred, and population size grew during May and June, but, no correlation was found on temperature for these two months. The present results would help in understanding the phenology and population dynamics of the elm seed bug and design the strategies for its control.
Pest species composition of fragrant trees in the parks and gardens of Yerevan City, Armenia
Authors: Babayan A.H.
Published: April 2022

Several fragrant tree species, i.e., Aesculus hippocastanum, Magnolia brooklynensis „Yellow Bird,‟ Catalpa bignonioides, and Prunus serrulata were previously registered in the database. A. hippocastanum, Ailanthus altíssima, C. bignonioides, and Robinia pseudoacacia were found to be the most common and important species in the parks and gardens of Yerevan, Armenia. These species were found in almost all of the studied gardens. The present study aimed to investigate the species composition of the pests of fragrant trees in different landscaped areas of Yerevan, Armenia, during 2020–2021. This study found 48 species of pests of fragrant trees in various parks and gardens. The species belonged to three taxonomic classes, 11 orders, and 33 families. These pest species significantly suppressed the growth and development of fragrant trees, and in some cases, even caused the trees to dry out. In the early spring, the pest species Parthenolecanium corni Bouche., Euproctis chrysorrhoea, Aphis laburni Kalt., Myzus cerasi, Panonychus ulmi, Tetranychus urticae, and Schizotetranychus pruni were observed on fragrant plants. Notably, this study revealed six species of fragrant tree pests, of which four, i.e., Dasineura gleditchiae, Halyomorpha halys, Trioza neglecta, and Calophya rhois, were found for the first time in the fauna of Armenia, and two, i.e., Obolodiplosis robiniae and Euura tibialis, were found previously in Tavush Region, Dilijan, Armenia.
Hybrid vigor and its deterioration in intraspecific populations of upland cotton
Authors: Mangi G.S. , Soomro Z.A. , Baloch G.M. , Chachar Q.D. , Mari S.N.
Published: April 2022

Seven lines (‘VH-292’, ‘VH-259’, ‘Bt-802’, ‘Sadori’, ‘Shahbaz’, ‘CRIS-342’, and ‘Bt.ZZ.NL-370’), and three testers (‘VH-291’, ‘FH-113’, and ‘IR-3701’) of upland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) were crossed through line-by-tester mating to produce 21 F1 hybrids. The lines, testers, and their F1 and F2 populations were grown in a randomized complete block design with three replications at Sindh Agriculture University, Tandojam, Pakistan, in consecutive cropping seasons. Analysis of variance revealed that the genotypes (including parental lines, testers, and their 21 F1 and F2 populations) and parent vs. hybrids differed significantly for all the studied traits, except for plant height in the F2 population and sympodial branches plant−1 in the F1 and F2 populations. Lines ‘VH-292’ and ‘VH-259’ and testers ‘VH-291’ and ‘FH-113’ exhibited higher plant height, sympodial branches, bolls plant−1, and boll weight than other genotypes and were identified as suitable parental genotypes for hybridization. The F1 and F2 populations of ‘VH-292’ × ‘VH-291’ and ‘VH-292’ × ‘FH-113’ produced more sympodial branches, bolls plant−1, and seed cotton yield plant−1 than other crosses. The F1 hybrid of ‘Bt-802’ × ‘VH-291’ and the F2 population of the ‘Sadori’ × ‘VH-291’ cross produced higher boll weight than other genotypes. Overall, the mean performance of the F1 hybrids for all the traits was better than that of their parents and the F2 populations likely due to heterotic effects in the F1 populations and inbreeding depression in the F2 populations. The significant mean squares for parental genotypes, crosses, and parents vs. crosses indicated that the data obtained in this work are valuable for determining parental performance, hybrid evaluation, heterotic effects, and inbreeding depression. Significant mean squares due to parents vs. crosses revealed the good scope of heterotic effects in the F1 populations for all the traits.
Physiological and molecular response of cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) to heat stress at the seedling stage
Authors: Sajid M. , Saddique M.A.B. , Tahir M.H.N. , Matloob A. , Ali Z. , Ahmad F. , Shakil Q. , Nisa Z.U. , Kifayat M.
Published: April 2022

The ideal temperature range for the optimal growth and development of cotton is 25 °C–32 °C and high temperature adversely affects the metabolic activities of plant cells. This study was aimed to screen heat-tolerant cotton genotypes based on physiological and molecular parameters. Experiments were carried out during 2019–2020 at the MNS-University of Agriculture, Multan, Pakistan. The research comprised two parts. In the first experiment, 30 cotton genotypes were sown in a completely randomized design with three replications under laboratory conditions for the determination of cell membrane thermostability. Principal component analysis was performed, and four genotypes, i.e., two heat-tolerant (‘CRIS-5A’ and ‘VH-338’) and two heat-sensitive (‘FH-242’ and ‘VH-281’) genotypes, were selected. In the second experiment, the screened cotton genotypes were sown in pots in a factorial complete randomized design with three replications and two treatments (normal and heat treatment). Heat stress was applied at the seedling stage, and eight leaf samples (one from each experimental unit) were collected. Two genes were used for molecular analysis and were amplified in all eight cDNA samples. Molecular analysis indicated the presence of HSP70 and HSP26 genes in the cotton genotypes, and the expression of these genes was measured by using ImageJ software. The gene expression level of HSP70 was very high (16.41%) in ‘VH-281’, which is a heat-sensitive genotype under heat stress. The sensitive genotype ‘FH-242’ exhibited the highest gene expression level of HSP26 (20.32%) under normal conditions. A similar sequence of HSP70 gene of Agave sisalana was amplified for the first time in cotton. It is a good indicator for screening heat tolerant cotton genotypes at the molecular level.
Characterization and expression of the partial flowering locus t-2 gene in the shallot (Allium cepa var. Aggregatum) cultivar ‘Lokananta’
Authors: Fairuzia F. , Sobir  , Ochiai M. , Maharijaya A. , Yamada K.
Published: April 2022

Shallot (Allium cepa var. Aggregatum) is an economically important nutritive vegetable and medicinal plant. Given their low seed production, shallots are vegetatively propagated by using bulb material. Flowering is essential for transferring important traits, such as resistance to Fusarium oxysporum and tolerance to salinity. However, the flowering abilities and times of shallot cultivars are very diverse. Therefore, studying the mechanism and regulatory genes of flowering is mandatory. The AcFT2 gene has a significant correlation with flowering in shallots. The present research aims to obtain information on the gene sequence, relative expression, and correlation of AcFT2 with flowering in shallots under vernalized and nonvernalized conditions. This study was conducted from August 2019 until September 2019 at the Center for Tropical Horticulture Studies, IPB University, Tajur, Bogor, Indonesia. Gene isolation and expression analyses were conducted from October 2019 to July 2020 at the Horticulture Laboratory, Gifu University, Japan. The shallot cultivar ‘Lokananta’ was subjected to vernalization at 8 °C for 6 weeks under nonvernalization treatment and then planted for 30 days for gene isolation. The AcFT2 gene sequence generated from the shallot cultivar ‘Lokananta’ was analyzed by using Geneious, MUSCLE, and Molecular Evolutionary Genetics Analysis. Gene expression was analyzed via qRT-PCR. Results showed that the AcFT2-like gene obtained from shallot had high homology with other FT genes from other plants, especially plants in the Allium genus. The shallot cultivar ‘Lokananta’ showed relatively similar expression as the partial shallot AcFT2-like gene under vernalization and nonvernalization treatments given that the number of umbel flowers did not significantly differ between both treatments.
Spatial Temporal Analysis of Forest Fire in Malaysia Using ATSR Satellite Measurement
Authors: Ashâ€™aari Zulfa Hanan . , Badrunsham Ainul Sakinah
Published: April 2022

Over the last few decades, Malaysia experienced several severe forest fire episodes in history due to dry season and El-NiÃ±o events. In fact, research on fire event has become an important as its strongly responsive to climatic drivers, provide impacts on biogeochemical cycles and it tremendously affects ecosystems life. Therefore, this study aimed to collect and process Along Track Scanning Radiometer (ATSR) fire count data and to assess the distribution of fire occurrences in Malaysia. This study specifically used ATSR World Fire Atlas (WFA) product (Algorithm 2 data) from ATSR satellite data covering years 1997-2008. Preliminary results of this study show that there are 3 minor El-NiÃ±o events (June-December, July-November and September-October), and the large El-NiÃ±o event (January-April) had occurred as followed by an equally important La-NiÃ±a episode. Month of April and state of Sabah show the month and region with the highest fire events. There are several factors that can contribute to the forest fire events such as fire locations in Indonesia, anthropogenic activities, geographical and meteorological conditions and natural phenomenon such as lightning and El-NiÃ±o events. Findings from this study can be utilized to increase the understanding of spatial and temporal distribution of forest fire in Malaysia. ATSR Satellite measurements also found to be significantly helpful in providing a valuable fire data count.
Modelling the Growth of Nile Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) on Fed Diets Formulated from Local Ingredients in Cages
Authors: Umar Abubakar M. , Shukor Mohd Yunus Abd
Published: April 2022

The use of agricultural by-products as a fish meal is an attempt to minimize the cost of fish production to aquaculturist and to also create a more environmentally friendly practice. Due to high demand of Tilapia fish, efforts to improve its growth performance is highly needed. The application of linearization technique by natural logarithm transformation, even though standard, is inaccurate and can just provide an estimated value for the single parameter measured; the specific growth rate. In this paper, for the first time we used various kinetics models such as Von Bertalanffy, Baranyi-Roberts, modified Schnute, modified Richards, modified Gompertz, modified Logistics and most recent Huang were used to get values for the above constants or parameters from Nile Tilapia Oreochromis niloticus growth on fed diets formulated from local ingredients in cages. At the end of the modelling exercise, Baranyi-Roberts model proved to be the finest model with the highest adjusted R2 value and lowest RMSE value. The Accuracy and Bias Factors values were close to unity (1.0). The kinetics modelling shows that the most satisfactory fitting is with the Baranyi-Roberts model. The use of Nile Tilapia growth models to obtained exact growth rate is advantageous for further development of secondary model and this work has revealed the capability of such models.
Inhibitive Bacterial MTT Assay for River Monitoring of Heavy Metals
Authors: Ahmad Fazuriana , Halmi Mohd Izuan Effendi , Gunasekaran Baskaran , Johari Wan Lutfi Wan , Shukor Mohd Yunus , Syed Mohd Arif
Published: April 2022

An inhibitive assay for metals using a MTT-bacterium assay system is presented. The assay is based on the ability of respiring bacteria to reduce the tetrazolium dye MTT. Out of the 13 metals screened, silver, mercury and copper exhibit strong inhibition to bacterial respiratory activity. The calculated IC50s for silver, mercury and copper were 0.068, 0.092 and 0.517 mg/L, respectively. The IC50 values obtained for these heavy metals are comparable and in certain cases lower than existing bioassay methods such as Daphnia magna, rainbow trout, Microtoxâ„¢ and papain assays. Works on real water samples from several rivers in Malaysia using the MTTâ€“bacterium assay showed positive correlation with instrumental method (ICP-OES) in detecting heavy metals. The bacterium was tentatively identified as S. marcescens strain Dr.YS8 based on carbon utilization profiles using Biolog GN plates and partial 16s rDNA molecular phylogeny. The system could be used to biomonitor heavy metals extensively in Malaysian waters.
Characterization of diesel-degrading enzymes from Acinetobacter sp. strain DRY12
Authors: Shukor Mohd Yunus , Dahalan Farrah Aini , Salvamani Shamala , Jusoh Arif Zaidi , Shamaan Nor Aripin , Syed Mohd Arif
Published: April 2022

The purpose of this work was to elucidate the type of metabolic pathway involved in the degradation of diesel by a diesel-degrading bacterium. The isolate was tentatively identified as Acinetobacter sp. strain dry12 based on partial 16s rDNA molecular phylogeny and BiologÂ® GN microplate panels and MicrologÂ® database. Crude extract of the bacterium showed the presence of alkane-oxidizing, alcohol dehydrogenase and aldehyde dehydrogenase activities. The presence of these enzymes was further confirmed by the detection of 1-decanol, 1-decanal and 1-decanoic acid in the respective enzyme reaction mixtures. GC-MS fingerprint of several fatty acids detected in the growth media also suggested a terminal attack on diesel.
Production of rhamnolipids by locally isolated Pseudomonas aeruginosa using sunflower oil as carbon source
Authors: Wasoh Helmi , Baharun Sarinah , Halim Murni , Lajis Ahmad Firdaus , Ariff Arbakariya , Lai Oi-Ming
Published: April 2022

Biosurfactants are surface active compounds and amphiphatic in nature which consist of hydrophilic head and hydrophobic tail accumulating at the interphase of two immiscible liquid with different polarity. A study was conducted to investigate the effectiveness of sunflower oil in the production of rhamnolipids (RLs) by locally isolated Pseudomonas aeruginosa in shake flask fermentation. In this process, four different fermentation treatments were done for seven days at 30Â°C and 180 rpm. Sampling was carried out in time intervals of 24 h followed by monitoring of cell growth and biosurfactants production. Colorimetric Orcinol analysis was used for determination of RLs concentrations (g/L). The RLs were studied for emulsification activity using emulsification index (E24%) methods. In addition, oil displacement activity and thermal stability were also studied (4-120Â°C). All treatments allow the growth of P. aeruginosa and the utilization of sunflower oil as carbon source and glucose as growth initiator were observed to be the best strategy for maximum RLs production. The maximum RLs production was achieved after 120 h with 3.18 g/L of RLs. Diesel shows the highest emulsification activity among the substrate tested ranging from 55.56% - 60.00%. The oil displacement activity was corresponding to RLs concentration with stability up to 120Â°C (for 60 min). Therefore, from this research a good potential of RLs that may provide good application for industry were produced.
The development of banana peel/corn starch bioplastic film: a preliminary study
Authors: Sultan Noor Fatimah Kader , Johari Wan Lutfi Wan
Published: April 2022

The aim of this study is to develop bioplastic film from a combination of two biopolymers of same source, namely banana peel and corn starch. Five banana peel films (BP film) were prepared with different concentrations of corn starch (1% up to 5%) as co-biopolymer and film without corn starch acted as a control. The films were carried out with several durability tests and characterization analyses. Based on the results obtained, the BP film with 4% corn starch gave the highest tensile strength 34.72 N/m2 compared to other samples. The water absorption test showed that BP films with 3% corn starch were resistant to water uptake by absorbing water up to 60.65%. In terms of characterization, spectra of Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) obtained for BP control film and BP film with 4% corn starch were comparable with most of the peaks were present. The thermal analysis by differential screening calorimetric (DSC) detected the melting temperature for both BP control film and BP film with 4% corn respectively at Tonset of 54.41Â°C and 67.83Â°C. Overall, combination of starches from two different sources can be used as an alternative in producing bioplastics.
Isolation and characterization of a metal-reducing Pseudomonas sp. strain 135 with amide-degrading capability
Authors: Yakasai Mohd Hafeez , Rahman Mohd Fadhil Abd , Rahim Mohd Badrin Hanizam Abd , Khayat Mohd Ezuan , Shamaan Nor Aripin , Shukor Mohd Yunus
Published: April 2022

The presence of both heavy metals and organic xenobiotic pollutants in a contaminated site justifies the application of either a multitude of microbial degraders or microorganisms having the capacity to detoxify a number of pollutants at the same time. Molybdenum is an essential heavy metal that is toxic to ruminants at a high level. Ruminants such as cow and goats experience severe hypocuprosis leading to scouring and death at a concentration as low as several parts per million. In this study, a molybdenum-reducing bacterium with amide-degrading capacity has been isolated from contaminated soils. The bacterium, using glucose as the best electron donor reduces molybdenum in the form of sodium molybdate to molybdenum blue. The maximal pH reduction occurs between 6.0 and 6.3, and the bacterium showed an excellent reduction in temperatures between 25 and 40 oC. The reduction was maximal at molybdate concentrations of between 15 and 25 mM. Molybdenum reduction incidentally was inhibited by several toxic heavy metals. Other carbon sources including toxic xenobiotics such as amides were screened for their ability to support molybdate reduction. Of all the amides, only acrylamide can support molybdenum reduction. The other amides; such as acetamide and propionamide can support growth. Analysis using phylogenetic analysis resulted in a tentative identification of the bacterium as Pseudomonas sp. strain 135. This bacterium is essential in remediating sites contaminated with molybdenum, especially in agricultural soil co-contaminated with acrylamide, a known soil stabilizer.
Isolation of Endophytic Bacteria and Phytoremediation of Soil Contaminated with Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons Using Cajanus cajan and Lablab purpereus
Authors: Riskuwa-Shehu M.L. , Ismail Haruna Yahya
Published: April 2022

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are among the major compounds posing environmental and health problems worldwide. In the present study, phytoremediation of PAHs using Cajanus cajan and Lablab purpereus in addition to isolation of endophytic bacteria associated with the plant tissues was undertaken. Soil samples contaminated with PAHs were collected from a mechanic workshop in Sokoto metropolis and analysed using standard laboratory procedures. Seeds of the two plants species were sown in the contaminated soil and irrigated for eight weeks to determine the plantsâ€™ ability to remediate PAHs. Bacterial count revealed that the plantsâ€™ tissues contained 2.3Ã—104 cfu/g and 2.7Ã—104 cfu/g of endophytes. The endophytes were identified to be the members of Pseudomonas, Micrococcus, Bacillus, Rhodococcus and Flavobacterium. GC-MS analysis revealed that the soil samples contained 19.21 ppm PAHs, which were reduced to 2.34 ppm (12.18%) and 4.88 ppm (25.40%) in soils treated with C. cajan and L. purpureus, respectively. Naphthalene was completely degraded in both cases, whereas pyrene, flourene and flouranthene were either completely degraded or significantly reduced. Only indeno (1,2,3 cd) pyrene was least degraded with more than 50% residual concentration. Therefore, the plant species was considered as an important tool in the remediation of PAHs contaminated soil and the role of their endophytes in degradation was thoroughly investigated.
Acute Effect of Copper on Puntius javanicus Survival and a Current Opinion for Future Biomarker Development
Authors: Sabullah Mohd Khalizan , Ahmad Siti Aqlima , Jirangon Husain , Gansau Azlan Jualang , Sulaiman Mohd Rosni
Published: April 2022

Puntius javanicus experimental groups were exposed with to different concentration of copper (II) sulfate for 96 hours. Their mortality was recorded to determine LC50 value of copper concentration based on arithmetic, logarithmic and probit graphic analyses. The results obtained from these three mathematical analyses were 11.37Â±0.58, 11.01Â±0.73 and 10.68 mg/L, respectively. From the present study, we suggested that in the future, the range of 0 to 5.0 mg/L can be used to study the effect of copper concentration on fish activity at biochemical andphysiological levels. Based on probit analysis, this maximum range is lower than LC10 value i.e. 6.11 mg/L. Therefore, it can be positively hypothesised that there would be no mortality occur except for several symptoms of adverse effects beyond of 5.0 mg/L treatment.
Isolation and characterization of a molybdenum-reducing Bacillus pumilus strain lbna
Authors: Abo-Shakeer Abo-Shakeer , Ahmad S.A. , Shukor M.Y. , Shamaan N.A. , Syed M.A.
Published: April 2022

The reduction of heavy metals by microorganisms has an important role in biological system and also in the cycling of metals in the environment to remove its toxic effects in soil and wastewater. A molybdenum-reducing bacterium was isolated from soil obtained from Seri Kembangan, Selangor. This isolate is Gram positive bacteria and was identified as bacillus pumilus strain based on 16s rRNA gene sequencing. Molybdenum reduction is optimally supported by glucose at 1.0% (w/v). The optimum phosphate and molybdate concentrations for molybdate reduction in Bacillus pumilusstrain Lbnawas between 2.5 and 5 mM phosphate and 40 mMmolybdate. Molybdate reduction is optimum at 37 ÂºC. The metal ions arsenic, lead, zinc, silver, cadmium, chromium, mercury and copper caused 33.7, 36.0, 51.2, 60.5, 63.9, 91.3, 92.3 and 98.0% inhibition to molybdenum reduction.
Antibacterials and phytochemicals investigations of Chromolaenaodorata (L.F.) King and Robinson (asteraceae) from Sabah, Malaysia
Authors: Jualang A.G. , Azlinah M. , Lee P.C. , How S.E.
Published: April 2022

Antimicrobial properties and phytochemical constituents in leaf extract of Chromolaenaodorata was evaluated in this study. C. odorataleaves were subjected to liquid-liquid extraction by using methanol, hexane, ethyl acetate, chloroform, buthanol and water. All extract partitions were tested for antibacterial activity against five Gram positive and Gram negative bacteria by using disc diffusion method. Crude methanolic extract (CME), ethyl acetate extract (EAE) and chloroform extract (CE) showed good antibacterial properties against the tested bacterial strains. However, only the CE was further separated using silica column chromatography. About 10 semi purified fractions was obtained and fraction 2 (F2) showed consistent inhibitory zones against all bacterial tested. Phytochemical investigations on the extract partitions and fractions showed the presence of alkaloids, flavonoids, tannins, polyphenols, saponins and triterpenoids. Fraction F2 was subjected to GC-MS analysis to characterised the bioactive compounds.  The GC-MS spectral data has identified 10 major compounds which are hexachloro-ethane, n-nonylaldehyde, methyl-4-oxooctanoate, longiverbenone, 2-butenal,2-methyl-4-(2,6,6-trimethyl-1-cyclohexen-1-yl), neophytadiene, phytol, dihydro-neoclovene, 2,6-ditert-butylquinone and aromadendrene
Phenol and its toxicity
Authors: Gami Afilah Abd , Shukor M.Y. , Khalil Khalilah Abdul , Dahalan Farrah Aini , Khalid Ariff , Ahmad Siti Aqlima
Published: April 2022

The present of phenol and phenolic compound pollutant are the common problems faced by worldwide population due to natural and chemical process that comes from either industrial or human activity. Exceeding the standard level in our environment was not a new issue nowadays especially in developed or developing countries. The study concerning to the phenolic compound was started in the early 1908 where researchers started to look for solution and are interested in phenol-related research due to its toxicity and ability to retain in environment for a long period. Higher level of phenol leakage within the environment can actually affects the whole ecosystem. A toxicological property of phenol has been contributed by the formation of organic and free radical species and also due to its hydrophobicity. The structure of phenol itself shows its reactivity which lead to its properties like persistence in environment, toxicity and the possibilities of carcinogenic properties toward living organism.