Feeding Regime and Management of Captive Saltwater Crocodile, Crocodylus Porosus in Kota Tinggi, Johor

Crocodylus porosus is the largest species of crocodile and can be found in estuarine and riverine area in Malaysia. Crocodile in captivity can be found in Malaysia for various purposes such as tourism, conservation and leather industry. However, the management practice in established crocodile farm varies across park for example in terms of feeding regime. Thus, this study focusses on the feeding regime of C. porosus in captivity and evaluation of management of crocodile of Teluk Sengat Crocodile Farm. This study was carried out for 35 days in two different ponds of Teluk Sengat Crocodile Farm, Kota Tinggi, Johor. The results show majority of the food given to crocodile were chicken (64%), followed by fish (28%) and prawn (8%). Prawn was only given to juvenile crocodile every day, while fish and whole chicken were given to adult crocodile once a week. The feeding frequency are adequate for the juvenile crocodile however, the feeding quantity for adult pond are worrying. Future research should be conducted on other captive population of C. porosus in other areas in Malaysia as well to better understand the overall management practices in Malaysia.

Ethno-ornithology of Temuan Community in Ledang, Johor

Ethno-ornithology is the study of the relationship between people and birds. It is a natural scientific approach that explains the relationship between people’s knowledge and the use of birds in their culture. Temuan community is one of the aborigine ethnics in Malaysia. They practice lifestyles that closely associated with nature. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the ethno-ornithology knowledge and practice by Temuan Community lived around the Gunung Ledang National Park, Johor, Malaysia. A set of questionnaires was distributed to 40 respondents from the Temuan community to gather the information of birds used in their daily activities. In addition, the information was also obtained from the interview session with the head of the village (Tok Batin). The identification of the birds obtained from the questionnaire and interview was further confirmed by using reliable resources. A total of 29 bird species was successfully identified. Temuan community used birds in their daily life in many ways such as, food, pet, folklore, entertainment, and many more. Understanding ethno-ornithology between local community and avifauna is good as it helps conservationists to keep track of bird species they use and identify the sustainable ways of this practice that align with the conservation of avifauna species.

A Short Review on Recent Development of Laccase Immobilization on Different Support Materials

Laccase is a bio catalytic agent and multi-copper enzyme containing oxidases that are potentially great for oxidizing large number of phenolic and non-phenolic compounds. However, drawbacks do arise when laccase use in large scale; low in stability, high production cost, non-reusability, sensitive towards denaturing and poor storage ability of free enzymes. These problems lead to the progress in laccase immobilization in order to facilitate the efficient recovery and re-use of the enzyme, thus enabling cost-effective in continuous processes. Apart from discussing on different methods in laccase immobilization such as entrapment, encapsulation and cross-linking in general, we have reviewed a recent development in laccase immobilization on different supports or carriers binding (natural and synthetic). Future works are recommended to focus on innovative strategies on the modified supports to improve the enzyme immobilization as well as sensible entrapment techniques for industrial applications.

Design and Built a Prototype Kit for Fire Detection in a Peat Swamp Forest: A Preliminary Results

Peat forest fire detectors need to be developed immediately due to the frequency of peat forest fires in Malaysia during the summer is very high. This can affect the life in the forest and the health of the surrounding population. Among them is the Ayer Hitam Muar Forest Reserve, Johor which is almost 50,000 acres in size and experiences fires every year. However, fire monitoring management methods still need to be improved in terms of speed, accuracy and systematic channeling fire alerts. Apart from location and area factors, the main challenge of the early fire detection process is the lack of manpower to monitor and notify fires. The conventional method through patrols and phone calls from farmers who see a fire is less effective because of the delay in the notification received by the authorities. Initially, the work of identifying the location of the fire and measuring the signal strength of the telco service in the Forest Reserve was done with the help of rangers from the Muar district forestry department. This article proposes a prototype for detecting peat forest fires capable of monitoring and sending early fire notifications using a smartphone. The prototype uses an ESP32 microcontroller, GSM/GPRS modem and industry-standard sensors incluing smoke, temperature, humidity and motion detectors. A total of five prototype units were developed as sensor nodes (SN) 1 to 5 with unique IDs that can send information to UTHM web servers simultaneously. Data from each SN is displayed in real-time while notifications of smoke detection and motion alerts are sent to the authorities via the Telegram application. Solar panels are used as a source of electricity supply while the authorities can access information via smartphones. This prototype was tested to see its stability and operational accuracy while the data obtained were recorded. The developed system can help the authorities detect fires at an early stage and the location of the fire can be known based on the SN information received on the smartphone screen.

Promoting Malaysian Traditional Knowledge Using Digital Ethnobotanical Garden Website

Erosion of traditional knowledge (TK) is a worrisome issue that is faced globally due to the rapid urbanization and forest loss. Thus, it is vital to protect and preserve the traditional knowledge as it benefits many sectors, especially in pharmaceutical research. This study aimed to promote the traditional knowledge and plant conservation among UTHM students by developing an ethnobotanical garden online website. The ethnobotanical garden located at UTHM Parit Raja Campus was selected as the study site. An online survey was done to understand the students’ level of knowledge about the utilization of plants and evaluate the effectiveness of the website towards conservation and promotion of traditional knowledge. The Ethnogarden UTHM website was developed and a total of 23 plants were recorded on the website. A majority of the respondents understood the basic roles of plants in daily lives and the importance of conserving it, but 20% of them were disagreed with the statement of a high reliance on traditional herbal medicine and 37% of them were uncertain about it. After accessing the website, about 83% of the respondents agreed that the development of ethnobotanical garden website could deliver the traditional knowledge effectively and they would promote this website to their families and friends. In short, the development of Ethnogarden UTHM website is a good strategy to promote the traditional knowledge and emphasize the significance of plant conservation among UTHM students.

Building a Smart Gardening System and Plant Monitoring Using IoT

Gardening activities usually required a lot of time and gardeners may face varieties of problems such as sticking to the designated watering schedule. Thus, this paper intends to solve these problems by introducing the Smart Gardening System. By using this system, users will be able to control and monitor the watering schedule and the sufficiency of lights while ensuring that the plants are taken care of accordingly. The smart gardening system is different from the normal gardening products that are already available in the market because of the implementation of Internet of Things (IoT) in the system to facilitate the work for its users. By using this home-based system, users can set the watering and lighting schedule automatically by using the designated application via smartphone. Besides, users will also be notified on the moisture level of soil, light-exposure, and the water level in water tank through the application. This will allow the users to monitor the watering system and only come to refill it when the water tank is empty. This system is an advantage as it can run automatically. From this research, the benefit of smart gardening system is proven via the execution of IoT which requires less human intervention for the system to operate. Moreover, the sensors are used to gather and update all the data that is convenience to the user to keep updated on the parameter and information about the plant in a real time without physical present.

Agonistic Behavior of Captive Saltwater Crocodile, Crocodylus Porosus in Kota Tinggi, Johor

Agonistic behavior in Crocodylus porosus is well known in the wild, but the available data regarding this behavior among the captive individuals especially in a farm setting is rather limited. Studying the aggressive behavior of C. porosus in captivity is important because the data obtained may contribute for conservation and the safety for handlers and visitors. Thus, this study focuses on C. porosus in captivity to describe systematically the agonistic behaviour of C. porosus in relation to feeding time, daytime or night and density per pool. This study was carried out for 35 days in two different ponds. The data was analysed using Pearson’s chi-square analysis to see the relationship between categorical factors. The study shows that C. porosus was more aggressive during daylight, feeding time and non-feeding time in breeding enclosure (Pond C, stock density =0.0369 crocodiles/m2) as compared to non-breeding pond (Pond B, stock density =0.3317 crocodiles/m2) where it is only aggressive during the nighttime. Pond C shows the higher domination in the value of aggression in feeding and non-feeding time where it is related to its function as breeding ground. Chi-square analysis shows that there is no significant difference between ponds (p=0.47, χ2= 2.541, df= 3), thus, there is no relationship between categorical factors. The aggressive behaviour of C. porosus is important for the farm management to evaluate the risk in future for the translocation process and conservation of C. porosus generally.

Species Identification and Relationship of Sea Cucumber species from Pulau Tinggi and Sedili Kechil, Johor Based on Ossicle Shape

Sea cucumbers are an abundant echinoderm group in Malaysia which provides commercial and medicinal values to local people. Due to the lack of data on sea cucumbers status in Johor coastal seawaters, this study was conducted. This study aimed to identify the species and relationship of sea cucumber from two selected Johor coastal seawater; Pulau Tinggi and Sedili Kechil based on ossicle shape. The current study recorded 53 individuals of sea cucumbers, of which 23 individuals were from Pulau Tinggi, Mersing District and 30 individuals were from Sedili Kechil, Kota Tinggi District. A number of 10 species of sea cucumber were found in the coastal waters of Pulau Tinggi, Mersing and three species in Sedili Kechil, Kota Tinggi, Johor. A total of 10 ossicle shapes were observed and extracted from the sea cucumber samples namely button, perforated plate, table, C-shaped rod, rosette, anchor, spider, I-shaped rod, boomerang, and J-shaped rod. The species relationship based on ossicle shapes was analysed using clustering option of PAST (PAleontological STatistics) software version 4.03. The analysis concluded that two groups of sea cucumber families i.e. Holothuriidae and Stichopodidae were present, although S. chloronotus clustered closer with the members of family Holothuriidae. Although more specimens are required to generate better conclusive results, the outcomes provided updated data on sea cucumber species in Johor seawater.

Designing an Automated Composter for Food Waste Management with the Implementation of Internet of Things

Composting food waste is a delicate procedure that requires specific infrastructure and machinery that can gradually transform the wastes to nutrient-rich manure. Nevertheless, it also desires a constant attention by experts to achieve a quality outcome. Therefore, automatic composting machinery is a promising new idea as modern technology is taking over the world with it high efficiency. The objective of this paper is to build a fully automated composting machine that can help to reduce food waste using a more efficient and environmentally friendly method. This machine has its special features of heating, cooling and grinding which is simple and easy to use for every consumer at just one touch of a button. In addition, it uses a special filter to eliminate unpleasant odor to ensure consumer’s space of mind. The composting process uses node microcontroller (MCU) to run its operation and Internet of Things (IoT) with a developed mobile application to measure the amount of food waste, current process and its moisture content before turning the waste into high nutrient flakes at around 10% of its original volume. It will also notify the consumer when the whole process is done and the final product is ready to use. The produced flakes are good for nurturing soils, use as fertilizer, and renewable source of energy or animal feed. The benefit is to help reduce handling cost of waste at landfill. Excessive logistical energy is required to send food waste to landfill if conventional equipment is applied. This product has a high potential to penetrate the end users who usually cooks at home and also the industrial food manufacturers whether from medium to large which produces a lot of raw waste. Essentially, this machine allows food waste, through implementation of IoT to be converted to usable fertilizer.

Characterisation of Asystasia Gangetica and Phyllanthus Niruri Extracts: Total Phenolic Content, Antioxidant and Antibacterial Activities

Antioxidant plays a significant role in inhibiting and scavenging free radicals, which protectshuman against infection and degenerative diseases. Nowadays, most studies focus on “natural antioxidants” from herbs due to safe therapeutic. In this study, performance on different extraction methods, i.e. Soxhlet, cold maceration and traditional extraction method assisted with ultrasonic-assisted extraction (UAE) for Asystasia gangetica leaves and Phyllanthus niruri plant are investigated by means of antioxidant, total phenolic content and antibacterial activity. The extracts were characterized for its antioxidant activity and total phenolic content by means of DPPH radical scavenging method and Folin-Ciocalteau reagent respectively. Optimization studies were carried out on combined cold-maceration and UAE extraction method by using Response Surface Method. Then, the optimized extracts were further characterized for antibacterial activity using Escherichia coliand Staphylococcus epidermidisby the agar disc diffusion method. Sample containing cold macerated A. gangetica and P. niruri indicates the highest antioxidant property as it contains the highest percentage of DPPH scavenging activity (59.57% and 51.14% respectively). While, the total phenolic content of macerated A. gangetica and P. niruri are 2.73 mg GAE/g and 2.68 mg GAE/g respectively. Consequently, after the determination of highest percentage of DPPH scavenging activity, the extracts werefurther optimized using UAE. From the optimization, the optimum condition was determined to be power of 17.57±0.01W and time of 5.83±0.01minutes for A. gangetica while, the power of 98.14±0.01W and 0.17±0.01minutes for P. niruri. Both optimized extracts showed potent antibacterial activity with high degree of antibacterial against E. coli. In conclusion, combination of cold maceration and UAE method increase the amount of antioxidant from extracts of A. gangetica and P. niruri. The finding from this study can be useful in pharmaceutical and cosmeceutical industries.