Food forgery has posed considerable risk to public health, religious rituals, personal budget and wildlife. Pig, dog, cat, rat and monkey meat are restricted in most religions, but their sporadic adulteration are rampant. Market controllers need a low-cost but reliable technique to track and trace suspected species in the food chain. Considering the need, here we documented a lab-on-a-chip-based multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay for the authentication of five non-halal meat species in foods. Using species-specific primers, 172, 163, 141, 129 and 108-bp sites of mitochondrial ND5, ATPase 6 and cytochrome b genes were amplified to detect cat, dog, pig, monkey and rat species under complex matrices. Species-specificity was authenticated against 20 different species with the potential to be used in food. The targets were stable under extreme sterilisation (121°C at 45 psi for 2.5 h) which severely degrades DNA. The assay was optimised under the backgrounds of various commercial meat products and validated for the analysis of meatballs, burgers and frankfurters, which are popular fast food items across the globe. The assay was tested to detect 0.1% suspected meats under commercial backgrounds of marketed foods. Instead of simplex PCR which detects only one species at a time, such a multiplex platform can reduce cost by at least fivefolds by detecting five different species in a single assay platform.
Introduction: Psychological insulin resistance is the reluctance of diabetes patients or physicians to initiate or in-tensify insulin therapy. The insulin usage among Malaysian type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients is low, only 21.4% of audited T2DM patients were on insulin therapy despite 76.2% of the audited T2DM patients had poorly controlled diabetes with HbA1c ≥ 6.5% in year 2012. This study aims to identify the predictors of psychological insulin resistance (PIR) among insulin naïve T2DM patients. Methods: A cross-sectional study using interviewer assisted questionnaires was conducted among adult insulin naïve T2DM patients in government health clinics at a district of Penang, Malaysia. Insulin Treatment Appraisal Scale (ITAS) was used to assess the dependent variable (PIR) and validated self-developed questionnaires were used for assess the independent variables (socio-demographic characteristics, diabetes profile, and individual factors). Multiple linear regression analysis was performed to identify the predictors of PIR. Results: As high as 72.7% out of 385 participants were reluctant to initiate insulin therapy. Emotional factors (fears), perceived personal failure and perceived severity significantly predicted higher PIR whereas perceived benefit and self-efficacy significantly predicted lower PIR. Total 49.8% variability of PIR was explained by the entire individual predictors (R2=49.8%, p = 0.001). Emotional factor was the strongest predictor. Conclusion: This study revealed a high level of PIR among Malaysian T2DM patients. It is vital to tackle the predictors that predict high PIR and strengthen the predictors that lead to low PIR in our health education and health intervention programs.
Objectives: To assess oral health related quality of life (OHRQoL) among orthodontic patients who had been allocated into three methods of orthodontic anchorage; transpalatal arch (TPA), modified TPA-Nance (TPA-Nance) and mini-implant (MI). Materials and Methods: This study was conducted in Faculty of Dentistry, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Sungai Buloh and Puncak Perdana campus. Thirty-six orthodontic patients with anchorage requirement between 18 and 30 years old were recruited. The subjects were equally divided into three groups, which included 28 females and 8 males. The assessment of patients’ oral health related quality of life (OHRQoL) towards the anchorage supplementation using modified oral health impact profile (S-OHIP-14) questionnaires were carried out. The questionnaire was given at two time points, which was before the insertion of the allocated anchorage regime (T0) and after a week of insertion of the allocated anchorage regime (T1). Results: There was no statistical significant difference on functional limitation, physical pain, psychological discomfort, physical disability, psychological disability, social disability and handicap domains of OHIP-14 questionnaire between the three anchorage groups (p>0.05). Conclusion: The OHRQoL patterns, during the treatment with the anchorage reinforcement were very similar. This suggests that TPA, TPA-Nance and MI do not affect patients’ OHRQoL. The OHRQoL trends observed during the study can be communicated to patients and used to increase patients’ compliance since they are made aware of the whole treatment process.
Loji rawatan kumbahan (STP) sedia ada khususnya di Malaysia tidak direka untuk menyingkirkan bahan farmaseutik yang
tergolong dalam kategori bahan cemar baru muncul. Oleh kerana farmaseutik yang hadir dalam persekitaran akuatik
ialah pada kepekatan yang sangat rendah iaitu dalam julat bahagian per bilion dan trilion, satu kaedah pengekstrakan
dan analisis yang peka perlu dibangunkan. Dalam kajian ini, kaedah analisis berdasarkan pengekstrakan fasa pepejal
(SPE) diikuti dengan kromatografi cecair-spektrometri jisim masa penerbangan (LC-TOF-MS) menggunakan mod pengionan
secara semburan elektro positif telah berjaya dibangunkan untuk menentukan kehadiran sepuluh farmaseutik terpilih
dalam air kumbahan dan air sungai. Farmaseutik yang dikaji termasuk acetaminophen, theophylline, caffeine, metoprolol,
sulfamethoxazole, carbamazepine, prednisolone, ketoprofen, norgestrel dan simvastatin. Kaedah SPE menggunakan
langkah pengekstrakan tunggal yang menggunakan isi padu sampel yang rendah sebanyak 100 mL dan pelarut elusi
yang minimum telah berjaya dicapai. Peratus perolehan semula untuk kesemua farmaseutik dalam sampel air sungai
berada dalam julat 54-99% manakala bagi sampel efluen STP pula berada dalam julat 57-96%. Jangka masa analisis
LC-TOF-MS termasuk masa imbangan adalah selama 25 min dengan menggunakan suntikan sampel 20 μL. Prosedur SPE
bersama-sama dengan kaedah analisis yang telah dibangunkan menghasilkan had kuantifikasi (LOQ) dalam lingkungan
0.031-0.882 μg/L untuk sampel STP dan 0.030-0.926 µg/L untuk sampel air sungai.
Dietary study provides understanding in predator-prey relationships, yet diet of tropical forest birds is poorly understood.
In this study, a non-invasive method, next-generation sequencing (Illumina MiSeq platform) was used to identify prey in
the faecal samples of the Rufous-winged Philentoma (Philentoma pyrhoptera). Dietary samples were collected in lowland
tropical forest of central Peninsular Malaysia. A general invertebrate primer pair was used for the first time to assess
diet of tropical birds. The USEARCH was used to cluster the COI mtDNA sequences into Operational Taxonomic Unit (OTU).
OTU sequences were aligned and queried through the GenBank or Biodiversity of Life Database (BOLD). We identified
26 distinct arthropod taxa from 31 OTUs. Of all OTUs, there was three that could be identified up to species level, 20 to
genus level, three to family level and five could not assigned to any taxa (the BLAST hits were poor). All sequences were
identified to class Insecta belonging to 18 families from four orders, where Lepidoptera representing major insect order
consumed by study bird species. This non-invasive molecular approach provides a practical and rapid technique to
understand of how energy flows across ecosystems. This technique could be very useful to screen for possible particular
pest insects consumed by insectivores (e.g. birds and bats) in crop plantation. A comprehensive arthropod studies and
local reference sequences need to be added to the database to improve the proportion of sequences that can be identified.
SHAKE Technical Package outlines the policies and interventions in reducing population salt intake which includes five overarching elements needed to create a successful salt reduction programme followed by the five elements of the SHAKE Package for salt reduction that consist of (1) surveillance, (2) harness the industry, (3) adopt the standards for labelling and marketing, (4) knowledge, and (5) environment. The aim for the present work was to critically review the documents related to the dietary sodium reduction strategies in Malaysia as compared to the SHAKE Technical Package. This review involves online and physical document searches of documents related to dietary sodium reduction within the Ministry of Health Malaysia. Visits to each related department via a liaison officer were done for clarification about the documents. Data was sorted according to the SHAKE Framework and a SWOT analysis was done. A total of 32 documents related to salt reduction policies and 15 health education materials were identified. Malaysia’s salt reduction policies comply to four out of five overarching elements of a successful salt reduction program with the presence of political commitment, dedicated programme leadership and governance, partnership with other ministries and stakeholders and integration with iodine deficiency elimination programme. For the SHAKE Package, Malaysia’s policies comply with all the five SHAKE Package elements. However, further investigation revealed that the food products involved in the food reformulation programme were limited. The SWOT analysis revealed that Malaysia has developed a specific plan for a national salt reduction strategy by producing its own Salt Reduction Strategy to Prevent and Control Non-Communicable Diseases for Malaysia Guidelines 2015-2020. Currently, there is no comprehensive database on the salt content of processed foods in Malaysia mainly due to the absence of mandatory labelling for sodium content in processed foods, which is a significant threat to the implementation of salt reduction initiative in the country. Pro-active non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and civil society groups advocating salt reduction in the community is needed to place salt high on the political and developmental agenda Salt reduction strategy as a policy in Malaysia includes almost all recommendations in the SHAKE Framework Malaysia. However, it is still in its early stage.
Energy consumption is an important part of life today because without the power a work cannot be done. The energy used today will be lost or waste without renewable energy or power recycle back. In reality, energy use has always had a noticeable impact on the environment. Overconsumption of energy is the main trigger for the global warming that is now threatening to cause devastation in many areas of the world. Each year, electricity consumption in Malaysia is always an increase. This can contribute to the occurrence of global warming. This project will be designed for renewable energy or recycle power to avoid waste of energy from lost. Also, this project consider regarding the Green Technology without polluting the environment. The objective is to develop a prototype or hardware that aims to renewable energy using the 12V DC Motor as a generator which is use rear shaft of table fan as a medium to drive the 12V DC Motor and also to analyze the power consumption of table fan before and after install with hardware. The methods used to design the connector and DC motor holder is using a solidwork software, then construct the circuit simulation using a proteus software and also use a microcontroller PIC16F877A as a controller. The result obtained from the testing and experiments by integrating the hardware part, electrical part and software part. Finally, with the development of a power recycling prototype for renewable energy using DC Motor application, the wasted energy can be reused from conversion to other energy and energy can be used as renewable energy.
This study examined the influence of pH and salt concentration on the protein solubility of slaughtered and non-slaughtered broiler chicken meat. Three types of salt (NaCl, Na2SO4, and (NH4)2SO4), five different pH levels (5.0, 6.0, 7.0, 8.0 and 9.0) and five salt concentrations (0.4, 0.8, 1.2, 1.6, and 2.0 M) were examined. Each type of salt showed distinctive activities for slaughtered and non-slaughtered meat protein solubility. Soluble protein concentration increased as pH increased (p<0.05) from pH5.0 to 8.0 and decreased from pH8.0 to 9.0. It was also observed that protein solubility increased as the salt concentration increased. Protein solubility significantly increased (p<0.05) in the non-slaughtered meat compared to the slaughtered meat at pH8.0 for Na2SO4 at 1.2 M.
The application of La0.6Sr0.4Co0.2Fe0.8O3-δ (LSCF) as a potential cathode working on a BaCe0.54Zr0.36Y0.1O2.95 (BCZY)
electrolyte for proton conducting solid oxide fuel cell was investigated. LSCF nanoceramic powders were synthesized by
an activated carbon-assisted sol-gel process using metal nitrate-based chemicals. The LSCF powder was transformed to a
slurry and spin-coated onto both surfaces of BCZY pellet to form a symmetrical cell with the configuration of LSCF|BCZY|LSCF.
The symmetrical cell was subsequently sintered at 950°C for 2 h to allow a good contact formation between electrode/
electrolyte layers. The phase structural verification of the calcined powders was investigated by X-Ray diffractometer
(XRD). Field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) was employed to examine the morphology of the sintered
cell. The electrochemical behaviour of the symmetrical cell was studied by an electrochemical impedance spectroscopy.
The formation of a single perovskite LSCF phase with a crystallite size of 20 nm was obtained at 700°C as corroborated
by XRD analysis. The FESEM images showed a good contact between LSCF cathode and BCZY electrolyte at electrode/
electrolyte interfacial layer. The ASR obtained for LSCF symmetrical cell measured at 700°C with and without Pt current
collector is 0.87 and 31.25 Ωcm2, respectively.
A computational fluid dynamic analysis (CFD) is presented in the study of low Reynolds number fluid flow moving past bluff bodies. The study is focusing on the understanding of the effects of the apex-angles orientation on the flow structure and related occurring force. The apex-angle both facing upstream and downstream were computationally investigated. The simulation results of the cylinder solid are compared with available experimental data to justify the results and the model used. Results obtained in the present work were Strouhal number, drag coefficient, and Fast Fourier Transform (FFT). The study had found that the value of the drag force is increasing directly proportional to the apex angle. In contrast, the value of Strouhal number inversely proportional to the increasing of the apex angle. This was due to the flow over a cylinder creating a vortex shedding in the wake region which influenced the flow separation of fluid. Through the changing on orientation of the apex angle, it was also found that the characteristic linear dimension of the geometry will also be changed, thus affecting the flow pattern.
Fistula-in-ano is a benign anorectal disease which always poses a big dilemma to the surgeons
because of their significant recurrent rate following surgery. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study
involving 42 patients undergoing core out fistulectomy in the Hospital Tengku Ampuan Afzan, Kuantan,
Pahang, Malaysia were included in this study. Demographic data of patients were assessed. Endoanal
ultrasound (EAUS) was done prior to the surgery to determine types of fistula and classified using Park’s
classification. Follow up was made post-operatively at 4th week, 2nd month, 3rd month, 4th month, 5th month
and 6th month to look for the duration of healing or recurrence. Results: 5 out of 42 patients were lost to
follow up leaving 37 patients available for the analysis. Mean age of the patient was 38.4 (13.8) years old.
Transphincteric and intersphincteric type of fistula accounted for 54.5% and 40.1%, respectively. 62.2%
(n=23) of patients achieved primary healing after the procedure. The mean for healing duration was 3.7
(3.1) months. Recurrence of the disease was seen only in 37.8% (n=14) of the patients. Conclusions: Even
though we managed to achieve significant success rate cumulatively, recurrence of fistula still impose a
significant challenge toward patient’s management. Therefore, further prospective study with a bigger
sample size is recommended to look into this method to reduce recurrence of fistula.
The local government or also known as the local authority is the last tier and most important unit in the government’s administrative structure in Malaysia after the federal and state governments. Local government is fully responsible for the delivery of services as well as the provision of basic facilities to the local people within its administrative area that has been designated by the state government. The existence of local government acted as a facilitator to the federal government and the state government because the roles and responsibilities held by the local government are very large and essential to the nation’s development. This study discussed students’ understanding of local government where the average between people and students is particularly confused about the concepts that are often used in the local government as well as local government-related jurisdictions. With the creation of these Pocket Dictionary on local Government, Glossary of local government terms and QR Code Mode for Local Government Terms Word Index, it help students and the local people to better understand the local government in Malaysia by knowing the concepts related.
Microwave imaging (MI) is a consistent health monitoring technique that can play a vital role in diagnosing anomalies in the breast. The reliability of biomedical imaging diagnosis is substantially dependent on the imaging algorithm. Widely used delay and sum (DAS)-based diagnosis algorithms suffer from some significant drawbacks. The delay multiply and sum (DMAS) is an improved method and has benefits over DAS in terms of greater contrast and better resolution. However, the main drawback of DMAS is its excessive computational complexity. This paper presents a compressed sensing (CS) approach of iteratively corrected DMAS (CS-ICDMAS) beamforming that reduces the channel calculation and computation time while maintaining image quality. The array setup for acquiring data comprised 16 Vivaldi antennas with a bandwidth of 2.70-11.20 GHz. The power of all the channels was calculated and low power channels were eliminated based on the compression factor. The algorithm involves data-independent techniques that eliminate multiple reflections. This can generate results similar to the uncompressed variants in a significantly lower time which is essential for real-time applications. This paper also investigates the experimental data that prove the enhanced performance of the algorithm.
Introduction: Collagen and gelatin are essential protein in vertebrates and extensively used in various industries. Methods: In this study, acid-solubilized collagen and gelatin were extracted from the scales of three different species of freshwater fish namely Kelah (Tombroides), Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) and Snakehead fish (Channidae) and then further quantified using Bradford assay and separated by molecular weight using SDS-PAGE. Results: The extracted collagen in Tilapia fish scale was found to be the highest with 0.018 of protein absorbance among the other three fish; Kelah fish (0.017) and Snakehead fish (0.011). For gelatin, Snakehead fish scales showed the highest amount of total protein concentration followed by Tilapia and Kelah fish with 0.467, 0.144 and 0.037 μg/μL per g, respectively. Based on the SDS-PAGE results, collagen from all the three freshwater fishes were identified as a type 1 (molecular weight approximately from 95 to 130 kDa) collagen. As for gelatin, only gelatin from Snakehead fish scale was identified to be a type 1(molecular weight approximately from 95 to 130 kDa) while the other two freshwater fishes showed no clear band due to high viscosity of the gelatin produced. Conclusion: It can be said that the fishes investigated in this study have a potential to be the alternative source of collagen and gelatin.
Introduction: Job stress is defined as harmful physical, negative, emotional responses that occur when the require-ments of the job do not match the capabilities, resources or needs of the worker. Factors influencing job stress among nurses in primary healthcare in Malaysia are poorly identified. The objective of this study is to assess the job stress score and identify the predictors of job stress among nurses in Primary Health Care (PHC) facilities in Kuala Lan-gat district of Selangor. Methods: A cross-sectional study conducted among 216 nurses in PHC facilities of Kuala Langat District. Data collection conducted using self-administered questionnaire adopted and modified from Job Stress Scale, Nursing Stress Scale (NSS) and Expanded Nursing Stress Scale (ENSS). Results: There is evidence of job stress with mean score of 28.4(5.5) among nurses in PHC facilities of Kuala Langat District, Selangor, Malaysia. There are association between age, role in organization, duration of services, outside job scope, family size, doing house chores, balance between work and family, balance between work and leisure activities, workload, inadequate preparation, lack of staff support, uncertainty concerning treatment, role conflicts and patients and their families with job stress (p
Al Quran and Al Hadith are not book of sciences, but books of Divine guidance which can be referred to inspire in understanding things including the scientific nature of creation. This study was performed to compile the Quranic verses (Juz 16-30) and Hadith of Sahih Muslim which are related to visual function with scientifically proven facts. Five keywords were chosen based on the process of seeing which were “light”, “eye/eyes” and “sight” and the synonyms of sight which were “vision” and “see”. Search engine, Search Truth was used to help gather the verses and hadiths comprising the keywords. Cross reference with the original copy of the Holy Quran and book of Sahih Muslim was done to ensure the authenticity of the Quranic verses and hadiths. Existing scientific facts regarding the revelation were then gathered to support the findings.There were 377 Quranic verses (Juz 16-30) containing the words “light”, “eye/eyes” and “sight” (and its synonyms). Out of this, only 6 Quranic verses have relation to visual function and have been scientifically proven. For hadith of Sahih Muslim, there were 1285 hadiths containing the words “light”, “eye/eyes” and “sight” (and its synonyms). Out of 1285 hadiths only 8 hadiths of Sahih Muslim found to have relation to visual function and has scientifically proven facts.
Previous studies approved that not all lesson activities are suitable for gifted and talented students.
This study is designed to identify what are the proper musical activities that can fill the needs of gifted
and talented students in Malaysia. The research sample is among gifted and talented students from the
whole Malaysia who are studying in Pusat PERMATApintar Negara. Result in this study may be used
as reference for educators who want to teach music on gifted and talented children, so that educators
may choose the right and effective activities to implement on those children. Therefore, the researcher
collects data using Focus Group Discussion Techique,and Indepth Interview on gifted and talented
children who had experienced music in formal class. Observation is also conducted in music classes in
Pusat PERMATApintar Negara to identify their behavioral on the musical activities conducted. Result
reveals that all the students believe the most proper musical activities are playing musical instruments, performance, music theory and singing. Teachers may attract students’ attention by using interactive
learning apparatus, relates theory and practical, and justify the importance of music study.
The prediction of rainfall on monthly and seasonal time scales is not only scientifically challenging but is also important for planning and devising agricultural strategies. In this paper, the study is conducted to examine the pattern of monthly rainfall in Alor Setar, Kedah within ten years which is from 2008 to 2018. This paper considered a model based on real data that obtained from Department of Meteorology Malaysia. This study indicates that the monthly rainfall in Alor Setar has a seasonal and trend pattern based on yt vs t plotting, autocorrelation function and Kruskal Wallis Test for seasonality. The examined rainfall time-series modelling approaches include Naïve Model, Decomposition Method, Holt-Winter’s and Box-Jenkins ARIMA. Multiplicative Decomposition Method was identified as the best model to forecast rainfall for the year of 2019 by analysing the previous ten-year’s data (2008-2018).As a result from the forecast of 2019, October is the wettest month with highest forecasted rainfall of 276.15mm while the driest month is in February with lowest forecasted rainfall of 50.55mm. The model is therefore adequate and appropriate to forecast future monthly rainfall values in the catchment which can help farmers to plan their farming activities ahead of time.
The consumption of low-power electronic devices has increased rapidly, where almost all applications use power electronic devices. Due to the increase in portable electronic devices’ energy consumption, the piezoelectric material is proposed as one of the alternatives of the significant alternative energy harvesters. This study aims to create a prototype of “Smart Shoes” that can generate electricity using three different designs embedded by piezoelectric materials: ceramic, polymer, and a combination of both piezoelectric materials. The basic principle for smart shoes’ prototype is based on the pressure produced from piezoelectric material converted from mechanical energy into electrical energy. The piezoelectric material was placed into the shoes’ sole, and the energy produced due to the pressure from walking, jogging, and jumping was measured. The energy generated was stored in a capacitor as piezoelectric material produced a small scale of energy harvesting. The highest energy generated was produced by ceramic piezoelectric material under jumping activity, which was 1.804 mJ. Polymer piezoelectric material produced very minimal energy, which was 55.618 mJ. The combination of both piezoelectric materials produced energy, which was 1.805 mJ from jumping activity.