Margaret Kit Yok Chan

Universiti Teknologi MARA | UiTM · Faculty of Plantation and Agrotechnology

Communities of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) in plant roots improve host plant growth. In this study, AMF communities in the roots of the sago palm (Metroxylon sagu Rottb.) were investigated in mineral soil (MS) and shallow peat soil (SPS) in Sarawak, Malaysia. MS exhibited lower moisture content (MS, 38.1; SPS, 79.8%), higher pH (H2O) (MS, 4....

The initial technological pedagogical and content knowledge (TPACK) model was theorised on seven clearly identified factors. However, many studies have failed to empirically identify these seven factors, and elements influencing TPACK level, such as national context, gender, and age, remain unclear. The study is focused on teacher educators’ TPACK...

Cucurbita sp (yellow pumpkin) commonly grown in Malaysia. Being very easy to grow within two to three months and hold for as long as six months as fruit in the storage, it has been encouraged to be grown in Samarahan, which is considered a food belt in the northern region of Sarawak, Malaysia especially for Kuching. However, in reality, there is a...

In Malaysia, a multi-racial and religious nation, Islam is the most widely professed religion with the proportion of 61.3 per cent with other major religions embraced being Buddhism of 19.8%, Christianity of 9.2% and Hinduism of 6.3% based on the 2010 population census. The Biohead-Citizen research project aimed at analysing Malaysian teachers’ con...

Students tend to learn faster through hands on participations. Guided problems solving outside the classroom environment has been regarded as better and a motivating learning method for these young generation. Innovation engagement among students from higher institution are very much encourage as their participation in the activities belief to resu...

Sarawak, a state of Malaysia has 30 national parks, six wildlife sanctuaries and eight nature reserves with 15 of the totally protected areas opened to the public. The national parks, nature reserves and wildlife centres draw tourists who are attracted to the nature for inspirational, educative, cultural and recreational purposes expecting a degree...

Major challenges still exist in the cost-competitive production of cellulosic ethanol. Lignocellulose deconstruction using physiochemical pretreatments continues to be the most efficient way to remove lignin and expose cellulose for enzyme-mediated sugar reduction. Recent interest in the development of “value-added” lignin co-products and the desir...

Enhancing visitor experiences is arguably the primary and most important goal for interpretation by many protected area managers and tourism business. However, little research has been conducted in Sarawak, Malaysia to directly quantify the effects of thematic interpretation has on tourist experiences. Drawing on the TORE-model of interpretation an...

The Third Principle which is pertaining to the right to development in Agenda 21 of the Rio Declaration or Earth Summit asserts that it must be fulfilled so that development must be sustainable which has been defined as development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own need. Amo...

Our recent phytochemical investigation on the roots of Garcinia eugenifolia gave a new benzophenone,( 3,4-dihydroxyphenyl)(3-hydroxy-5-methoxyphenyl) methanone(1), one other benzo-phenone,(3- hydroxy-phenyl)3,4,5-trihydroxyp- henyl) methanone (2), together with four triterpenoids, magniferolic acid (3), euphadienol(4), β-sitosterol (5) and friedeli...

Our recent phytochemical investigation on the roots of Garcinia eugenifolia gave a new benzophenone,( 3,4-dihydroxyphenyl)(3-hydroxy-5-methoxyphenyl) methanone(1), one other benzo-phenone,(3- hydroxy-phenyl)3,4,5-trihydroxyp- henyl) methanone (2), together with four triterpenoids, magniferolic acid (3), euphadienol(4), β-sitosterol (5) and friedeli...

The dieback in the mangrove forest in Bako National Park, Sarawak prompted an investigation on soil nutrient levels as one of the factors causing dieback of mangrove forest. Sampling was conducted at four locations: Telok Assam, Telok Delima, Sg Serait and Telok Lakei based a line plot sampling method with ten sampling plots of area 100 in each at...

Homalomena debilicrista Y.C.Hoe is described and illustrated as a species new to science from the Matang massif sandstone formation, Kuching Division, NW Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo. It represents the sixth species of the informal Hanneae Complex, a morphotaxon apparently endemic to Borneo and composed wholly of nomenclaturally novel species. Inflore...

Homalomena matangae Y.C.Hoe, S.Y.Wong & P.C.Boyce is described and illustrated as a new species from and endemic to the Matang massif sandstone formation, Kuching Division, NW Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo, from where it was originally collected by Odorado Beccari during his first ascent of Matang. Viene descritta ed illustrata la nuova specie Homalome...

Bee colony has to be at optimum health in order to produce optimum production of honey or to act as pollination agents for crop plantations. Current methods in the evaluation of bee colony health through trained personnel visual judgement and estimation and manual counting using wire grid as guidance are time consuming and accuracy individual depen...

The traditional beekeeping of Apis cerana to produce honey is being practiced in the rural communities in Sarawak using traditional hives adopted originated with simple structures or containers either enclosed cylindrical logs or boxes made of wood and bark with combs fixed on the internal surface which are technically described as fixed-comb hives...

Sarawak has a long tradition in the industry of processing flour from the sago palm, Metroxylon sagu Rottboll and is the main exporting State in Malaysia in this commodity. Therefore, the industry has abundant sago waste such as the bark and fiber of extracted sago flour in which the locals use the barks of the trunk as timber fuel, wall materials,...

Soil samples from 18 Aphanomyces infested fields were tested by the disease severity index (DSI) method and by direct counting of oospores. There was a curvilinear relationship (r = 0.97***) between DSI and the number of oospores in soil. This was confirmed when a known number of oospores produced in culture were added to non-infested soil. Both as...

Aphanomyces euteiches was found to infect Medicago sativa L., Trifolium repens L., Stellaria media, Viola arvensis, and Capsella bursapastoris in the glasshouse and field. Infected plants showed no symptoms, but in the roots were oospores, a conspicuous diagnostic character which distinguishes Aphanomyces euteiches from other root rot pathogens. Th...

Growing Brassica napus in Aphanomyces euteiches infested soils for four months reduced the disease severity index (DSI) from 58 to 27, 72 to 53, and 81 to 56 for each of three soils tested. Over the same period there was no change in DSI when Triticum aestivum, Trifolium repens, or no plants were grown in the same soils. When dried leaves and stems...

This disease was recorded in 1978 in New Zealand, and found to be a serious disease of peas in the South Island. Disease avoidance is possible, i.e. growing peas only in infested soils with low or moderate amount of inoculum. The literature on the pathogen and factors affecting development of the disease are reviewed, and these aspects studied to d...