• Environmental Engineering Research
• /
• v.21 no.2
• /
• pp.152-163
• /
• 2016

Present study investigates the potential of cassava peel and rubber tree bark for the removal of Cr (VI) from aqueous solution. Removal efficiency of more than 99% was obtained during the kinetic adsorption experiments with dosage of 3.5 g/L for cassava peel and 8 g/L for rubber tree bark. By comparing popular isotherm models and kinetic models for evaluating the kinetics of mass transfer, it was observed that Redlich-Peterson model and Langmuir model fitted well ($R^2$ > 0.99) resulting in maximum adsorption capacity as 79.37 mg/g and 43.86 mg/g for cassava peel and rubber tree bark respectively. Validation of pseudo-second order model and Elovich model indicated the possibility of chemisorption being the rate limiting step. The multi-linearity in the diffusion model was further addressed using multi-sites models (two-site series interface (TSSI) and two-site parallel interface (TSPI) models). Considering the influence of interface properties on the kinetic nature of sorption, TSSI model resulted in low mass transfer rate (5% for cassava peel and 10% for rubber tree bark) compared to TSPI model. The study highlights the employability of two-site sorption model for simultaneous representation of different stages of kinetic sorption for finding the rate-limiting process, compared to the separate equilibrium and kinetic modeling attempts.

• Advances in concrete construction
• /
• v.14 no.1
• /
• pp.15-34
• /
• 2022

The use of waste rubber in concrete can reduce natural aggregate consumption and improve some technical properties of concrete. Although there are several equations for estimating the mechanical properties of concrete containing waste rubber, limited numbers of machine learning-based models have been proposed to predict the mechanical properties of rubbercrete. In this study, an extensive database of the mechanical properties of rubbercrete was gathered from a comprehensive survey of the literature. To model the mechanical properties of rubbercrete, M5P tree and linear gene expression programming (LGEP) methods as two machine learning techniques were employed to achieve reliable mathematical equations. Two procedures of input variable selection were considered in this study. The crucial component ratios of rubbercrete and concrete age were assumed as the input variables in the first procedure. In contrast, the volumes of the coarse and fine waste rubber and the compressive strength of concrete without waste rubber were considered the second procedure of the input variables. The results show that the models obtained by LGEP are more accurate than those achieved by the M5P model tree and existing traditional equations. Besides, the volumes of the coarse and fine waste rubber and the compressive strength of concrete without waste rubber are better predictors of the mechanical properties of rubbercrete compared to the first procedure of input variable selection.

• Genes and Genomics
• /
• v.40 no.11
• /
• pp.1181-1197
• /
• 2018

Tropical plant rubber tree (Hevea brasiliensis) is the sole source of commercial natural rubber and low-temperature stress is the most important limiting factor for its cultivation. To characterize the gene expression profiles of H. brasiliensis under the cold stress and discover the key cold stress-induced genes. Three cDNA libraries, CT (control), LT2 (cold treatment at $4^{\circ}C$ for 2 h) and LT24 (cold treatment at $4^{\circ}C$ for 24 h) were constructed for RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) and gene expression profiling. Quantitative real time PCR (qRT-PCR) was conducted to validate the RNA-Seq and gene differentially expression results. A total of 1457 and 2328 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in LT2 and LT24 compared with CT were respectively detected. Most significantly enriched KEGG pathways included flavonoid biosynthesis, phenylpropanoid biosynthesis, plant hormone signal transduction, cutin, suberine and wax biosynthesis, Pentose and glucuronate interconversions, phenylalanine metabolism and starch and sucrose metabolism. A total of 239 transcription factors (TFs) were differentially expressed following 2 h or/and 24 h of cold treatment. Cold-response transcription factor families included ARR-B, B3, BES1, bHLH, C2H, CO-like, Dof, ERF, FAR1, G2-like, GRAS, GRF, HD-ZIP, HSF, LBD, MIKC-MADS, M-type MADS, MYB, MYB-related, NAC, RAV, SRS, TALE, TCP, Trihelix, WOX, WRKY, YABBY and ZF-HD. The genome-wide transcriptional response of rubber tree to the cold treatments were determined and a large number of DEGs were characterized including 239 transcription factors, providing important clues for further elucidation of the mechanisms of cold stress responses in rubber tree.

• Journal of Mushroom
• /
• v.14 no.1
• /
• pp.1-5
• /
• 2016

To minimize cultivation costs, prevent insect-pest infestation, and improve the production efficiency of thermophilic mushrooms, plant substrates obtained from local areas in Cambodia were used for production of both spawn and mushrooms. In this experiment, different sawdusts different organic wastes and grain ingredients and analyzed for improvement of spawn-production efficiency. Four thermophilic mushroom species, Pleurotus sajor-caju (oyster mushroom, Sambok), Ganoderma lucidum (deer horn shaped), Auricularia auricula (ear mushroom), and Lentinula edodes (shiitake), were used to identify efficient new substrates for spawn and mushroom production. Although the mycelia in the rubber tree sawdust medium showed a slightly slower growth rate (10.9 cm/15 days) than mycelia grown in grains (11.2 cm/15 days in rice seeds), rubber tree sawdust appeared to be an adequate replacement for grain spawn substrates. Th findings indicate that rubber tree sawdust, sugarcane bagasse, and acacia tree sawdust supplemented with rice bran and calcium carbonate could be new alternative the substrates for. Although sugarcane bagasse and rubber tree sawdust showed similarly high biological efficiencies (BE) of 60% and 60.8%, respectively, acacia tree sawdust exhibited relatively a low biological efficiency of 22.4%. However, it is expected that acacia sawdust has potential for the mushroom cultivation when supplemented with currently used sawdust substrates in Cambodia, because of its relatively low price. The price of the sawdust (20 kg sawdust= 6500 Riel or 1.6 USD) currently used was 6.5 times higher than the price of acacia sawdust (201000 Riel or 0.25 USD). Therefore, utilization for acacia sawdust for mushroom cultivation could become feasible as it would reduce by producing costs of mushrooms in rural areas of Cambodia.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
• /
• v.26 no.12
• /
• pp.872-877
• /
• 2013

In this study, the leakage current - voltage characteristic and leakage current - time characteristic for the undegradated Ethylene Propylene Rubber and the Ethylene Propylene Rubber which is degradated by water tree for 200 hours have been measured on the temperature range of $50{\sim}80^{\circ}C$ and applied DC voltage range of 200 V~800 V for 90 minutes. The results of this study are listed below. In case the temperature is $50^{\circ}C$, it founds that the leakage current have shown a increase in proportion to the applied voltage as 2 pA in 200 V, 6 pA in 400 V, 10 pA in 600 V and 15 pA in 800 V. It founds that the leakage current increased with the rise of temperature. It founds that the leakage current was consistent as time goes by, the leakage current of the sample degradated by water tree for 200 hours has increased more than undegradated sample.

• Food Science and Biotechnology
• /
• v.15 no.4
• /
• pp.603-605
• /
• 2006

Our previous study demonstrated that aqueous ethanolic extract of hardy rubber tree (HRT; Eucommia ulmoides Oliver) leaves potently inhibited glycation, and that two known flavonols and one new flavonol were the active compounds in protein glycation in vitro using the model system of bovine serum albumin and fructose. The aim of this study was to examine the effectiveness of HRT extract and its flavonols against the glycation of hemoglobin (Hb) in primary cultured rat erythrocytes. The extract at $40-400\;{\mu}g/mL$ and the flavonols at $0.2-20\;{\mu}g/mL$ significantly inhibited Hb glycation in a concentration-dependent manner. They were more effective than aminoguanidine, a well-known inhibitor of glycation. Three flavonols seemed to be responsible for the inhibitory activity of the extract, furthermore, the extract of HRT leaves showed advantages over single isolated flavonols in the inhibition of Hb glycation.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
• /
• v.37 no.3
• /
• pp.243-257
• /
• 2021

Bacillus pumilus is the causal agent of trunk bulges disease affecting rubber and rubberwood quality and yield production. In this study, B. pumilus and other closely related species were included in B. pumilus group, as they shared over 99.5% similarity from 16S rRNA analysis. Multilocus sequence analysis (MLSA) of five housekeeping genes and repetitive elements-based polymerase chain reaction (rep-PCR) using REP, ERIC, and BOX primers conducted to analyze the diversity and systematic relationships of 20 isolates of B. pumilus group from four rubber tree plantations in Peninsular Malaysia (Serdang, Tanah Merah, Baling, and Rawang). Multi rep-PCR results revealed the genetic profiling among the B. pumilus group isolates, while MLSA results showed 98-100% similarity across the 20 isolates of B. pumilus group species. These 20 isolates, formerly established as B. pumilus, were found not to be grouped with B. pumilus. However, being distributed within distinctive groups of the B. pumilus group comprising of two clusters, A and B. Cluster A contained of 17 isolates close to B. altitudinis, whereas Cluster B consisted of three isolates attributed to B. safensis. This is the first MLSA and rep-PCR study on B. pumilus group, which provides an in-depth understanding of the diversity of these rubber-pathogenic isolates in Malaysia.

• Journal of Information Science Theory and Practice
• /
• v.7 no.4
• /
• pp.56-64
• /
• 2019

Planting intercropping in rubber plantations is another alternative for generating more income for farmers. However, farmers still lack the knowledge of choosing plants. In addition, information for decision making comes from many sources and is knowledge accumulated by the expert. Therefore, this research aims to create a decision support system for growing rubber trees for individual farmers. It aims to get the highest income and the lowest cost by using semantic web technology so that farmers can access knowledge at all times and reduce the risk of growing crops, and also support the decision supporting system (DSS) to be more intelligent. The integrated intercropping ontology and rule are a part of the decision-making process for selecting plants that is suitable for individual rubber plots. A list of suitable plants is important for decision variables in the allocation of planting areas for each type of plant for multiple purposes. This article presents designing and developing the intercropping ontology for DSS which defines a class based on the principle of intercropping in rubber plantations. It is grouped according to the characteristics and condition of the area of the farmer as a concept of the rubber plantation. It consists of the age of rubber tree, spacing between rows of rubber trees, and water sources for use in agriculture and soil group, including slope, drainage, depth of soil, etc. The use of ontology for recommended plants suitable for individual farmers makes a contribution to the knowledge management field. Besides being useful in DSS by offering options with accuracy, it also reduces the complexity of the problem by reducing decision variables and condition variables in the multi-objective optimization model of DSS.

• Research in Plant Disease
• /
• v.24 no.3
• /
• pp.237-241
• /
• 2018

A circular bark with a 30 cm width was artificially removed from the trunk of a 250-year-old zelkova tree (Zelkova serrata) heavily damaged by artificial girdling in Sunchang, Jeonbuk Province in March of 2005. The debarked area was cleaned approximately 10 days after artificial girdling and bark margins with 2 cm width above and below the girdled portion were cut off to promote wound callus formation. Nine pieces of fresh bark (width 8 cm, length 35 cm, thickness 0.5 cm) were then prepared from branches of neighbor zelkova trees broken by heavy snowfalls and pasted onto the girdled portion of the tree, after which a Vaseline dressing was applied to water-proof the area and rubber bars were used to hold the implants to the trunk. Two pieces of the implanted fresh barks were successfully grafted onto the girdled area and the damaged tree has been vigorously growing over 13 years. To our knowledge, this is the first case of successful bark implantation to cure a 250-year-old zelkova tree heavily damaged by artificial girdling. This bark implantation technique will be utilized for the conversation and management of heavily damaged big and old trees in the future.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
• /
• 1998.06a
• /
• pp.293-296
• /
• 1998

Surface electrical conduction in insulator is most important factor to assess the insulation performances of outdoor insulating materials. In this paper, contamination performance of the widely used materials for outdoor insulator - porcelain, EPDM, Silicone rubber - were discussed by measuring properties of average leakage current and scintillation discharge pulses under artificial contamination conditions. The artificial contaminations used were deionized distilled water fog, 0.5wt% NaCl salt fog of light pollution and 2wt% NaCl salt fog of medium pollution. The average leakage current was appeared linearly with applied voltage at dry and clean surface condition. The magnitude of leakage current was almost same at different kinds of samples. In case of deionized distilled water fog, the characteristics of leakage current and applied voltage was most different to that in case of dry and clean condition. In case of salt fog pollution condition, The leakage current was increased above critical voltage. The scintillation discharges were also activated at the level. the leakage current and scintillation discharges were increased with increasing pollution degree. The resistance to pollution properties of silicone rubber appeared excellent among them.