METHODS: A modified and validated Dundee Ready Education Environment Measure (DREEM) questionnaire was used to collect data regarding student perception of their educational environment.
RESULTS: The mean DREEM scores for three time periods were in the accepted positive range of 101 to 150 indicating that most of the students perceived the changes positively. The results indicated that most students preferred blended learning over online learning or face-to-face learning alone. Areas where students were unsatisfied with their learning environment that need improvement were identified by poor item-wise scores.
CONCLUSION: Strategic remedial measures for these concerns need to be developed to improve the quality of education received by the students. However, the results of our study indicated that most of the students were able to adapt positively to the new education environment due to the change in the circumstances during COVID.
METHODS: This study was carried out through a desk review of the secondary source of information covering the impact of COVID-19 in Malaysia particularly in the agri-food aspect, and a wide range of strategies and initiatives as the effective measures to overcome the crisis of this pandemic. Online desk research of the government published data and customer desk research were utilized to complete this study. Search engines such as Google Scholar and the statistical data from the official websites including the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) and the Food and Fertilizer Technology Center for the Asian and Pacific Region (FFTC-AP), were utilized. Keywords such as impact of COVID-19, pandemic, and agri-food supply chain were used to conduct the searches. The articles identified to be related to the study's objective were then downloaded and included in the study. Descriptive methods were used as the primary analysis technique following the descriptive analysis and visual data analysis in performing the sources obtained.
RESULTS: This devastating impact damages the lives by causing 4.3 million confirmed infections and more than 290,000 deaths. This disease presents an unprecedented challenge to the public health. The lockdown restriction under the movement control order (MCO), for more than of the world's population in the year 2020 to control the virus from spreading, has disrupted most of the economic sectors. The agriculture industry was seen as one of the essential industries and allowed to operate under strict standard operating procedures (SOP). Working under strict regulations came with a huge price paid for almost all industries.
CONCLUSION: This pandemic has affected the national agri-food availability and accessibility in Malaysia. This outbreak created a reflection of opportunity for sharing a more flexible approaches in handling emergencies on agricultural food production and supply chains. Therefore, the government should be ready with the roadmap and enforce the measures to control the pandemic without disrupting the agri-food supply chain in the near future.
Methods: A total of 72 rats were divided into six groups, 12 rats in each: control (C), 20 and 80 jumps (20E, 80E), honey (H), and 20 and 80 jump with honey (20EH, 80EH).
Results: The endometrium was significantly thicker in the rats in H, 20EH and 80EH groups compared to C, 20E, and 80E. The myometrium thickness was significantly lower in 80E and significantly higher in 80EH compared to C, respectively. There was significantly higher myometrium thickness in 20EH and 80EH compared to 20E and 80E and H. The number of glands of the uterus in 20E and 80E was significantly lower than C. However, there was a significantly higher number of glands in H, 20EH, and 80EH compared to 20E and 80E. The numbers of uterus vessels were significantly lower in 80E compared to 20E. However, the numbers of vessels were significantly higher in H, 20EH, and 80EH compared to 80E. The number of ovarian haemorregia was significantly lower in 20E, 80E, H, 20EH, and 80EH compared to C. The number of corpora lutea was significantly lower in 80EH, H, 80E, and 20E compared to C. However, the number of corpora lutea was significantly higher in 20EH compared to J20 and H.
Conclusion: This study suggested that jumping exercises in particularly high-intensity exercise may induce histopathological changes in uterus and ovary in rats, and honey supplementation may ameliorate these effects.
RESULTS: Several reaction conditions of the LAMP reaction were optimized to ensure efficient amplification of the target DNA. The sensitivity of the developed LAMP assay obtained using a pure Leptospira culture was 2 × 104 copies of genomic DNA per reaction (equivalent to 0.1 ng) for a 40-minute reaction time. No cross-reactions were observed in the LAMP reaction against a series of non-leptospiral bacteria, indicating a specific reaction. The applicability of the LAMP assay was demonstrated on human blood and urine specimens collected from suspected leptospirosis patients and rat kidney specimens collected from suspected leptospirosis outbreak areas and high-risk areas. The developed LAMP assay demonstrated a higher detection rate for leptospiral DNA compared with the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay, possibly due to the presence of inhibitory substances, especially in rat kidney specimens, to which the PCR method is more susceptible. The present findings also highlight the importance of urine sample collection from patients for routine monitoring of the disease.
CONCLUSIONS: In short, the developed LAMP assay can serve as a feasible alternative tool for the diagnosis of leptospirosis and be used for epidemiological and environmental surveillance of the disease, considering its robustness, rapidity, sensitivity, and specificity, as demonstrated in this study.
Methods: Comparative proteomics profiling of serum samples from OSCC patients, oral potentially malignant disorder (OPMD) patients, and healthy individuals were performed using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE) coupled with mass spectrometry (MS) (n = 60) and bioinformatics analysis. The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) (n = 120) and immunohistochemistry (IHC) (n = 70) were used to confirm our findings.
Results: The 2-DE analysis revealed that 20 differentially expressed proteins were detected in OPMD and OSCC (p
Methodology: The pangolin P. fungorum (pangolin Pf) genome has a genomic size of approximately 7.7 Mbps with N50 of 69,666 bps. Our study showed that pangolin Pf is a Paraburkholderia fungorum supported by evidence from the core genome SNP-based phylogenetic analysis and the ANI analysis. Functional analysis has shown that the presence of a considerably large number of genes related to stress response, virulence, disease, and defence. Interestingly, we identified different types of secretion systems in the genome of pangolin Pf, which are highly specialized and responsible for a bacterium's response to its environment and in physiological processes such as survival, adhesion, and adaptation. The pangolin Pf also shared some common virulence genes with the known pathogenic member of the Burkholderiales. These genes play important roles in adhesion, motility, and invasion.
Conclusion: This study may provide better insights into the functions, secretion systems and virulence of this pangolin-associated bacterial strain. The addition of this genome sequence is also important for future comparative analysis and functional work of P. fungorum.
METHODOLOGY: Here, we further confirmed and characterized this bacterial species using PCR, histological staining, whole-genome sequencing, and bioinformatics approaches. PCR assays with in-house designed primer sets and 16S universal primers showed clear positive bands in the cerebrum, cerebellum, lung, and blood of UM3 suggesting that UM3 might have developed septicaemia. Histological staining showed the presence of Gram-negative rod-shaped bacteria in the pangolin brain and lungs, indicating the colonization of the bacteria in these two organs. In addition, PCR screening of UM3's fetal tissues revealed the presence of P. fungorum in the gastrocnemius muscle, but not in other tissues that we examined. We also sequenced and reconstructed the genome of pangolin P. fungorum, which has a genome size of 7.7 Mbps.
CONCLUSION: Our study is the first to present detailed evidence of the presence of P. fungorum in a pangolin and her fetus (although preliminary results were presented in our previous article). Here, we raise the concern that P. fungorum may potentially infect humans, especially YOPI (young, old, pregnant, and immunocompromised) people. Therefore, caution should be exercised when using this bacterial species as biodegradation or bioremediation agents in agriculture.
METHODS: To determine the antibacterial effectiveness of the MAC against Pseudomonas aeruginosa, we conducted minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) assays. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) techniques were employed to observe bacterial morphology and biofilm formation. We further performed a biofilm inhibition assay to assess the effect of the MAC on biofilm formation. Whole-transcriptome sequencing and bioinformatics analysis were employed to elucidate the antibacterial mechanism of the MAC. Additionally, the expression levels of differentially expressed genes were validated using the real-time PCR approach.
RESULTS: Our findings demonstrated the antibacterial activity of the MAC against P. aeruginosa. SEM analysis revealed that the MAC can induce morphological changes in bacterial cells. The biofilm assay showed that the MAC could reduce biofilm formation. Whole-transcriptome analysis revealed 1093 differentially expressed genes consisting of 659 upregulated genes and 434 downregulated genes, in response to the MAC treatment. Mechanistically, the MAC inhibited P. aeruginosa growth by targeting metabolic processes, secretion system, signal transduction, and cell membrane functions, thereby potentially compromising the survival of this human pathogen. This study provides valuable insights into the antibacterial and antibiofilm activities of the MAC, a synergistic and cost-effective malic acid combination, which holds promise as a potential therapeutic drug cocktail for treating human infectious diseases in the future.
Materials and Methods: Gastric biopsy samples were obtained from treatment-naïve patients. Bacterial genomic DNA was extracted using a commercial kit and continued with DNA amplification using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with specific primers. The PCR amplicons were subjected to sequencing on 23S rRNA gene targeting nucleotide positions at 2,146, 2,147, 2,186 and amino acids at gyrA positions 87 and 91 and gyrB positions 436, 438, 481, 484 to investigate the possible mutations or polymorphisms of genes that lead to clarithromycin and levofloxacin resistance respectively.
Results: Sixty-one urease-positive gastric biopsy samples were studied. The findings revealed the primary resistance rates to clarithromycin was 14.8% and to levofloxacin was 3.3% in our current scenario based on detection of reported resistance-related mutations of A2147G and D91N in 23S rRNA and gyrA genes, respectively. Interestingly, we found a high rate of silent mutations of the gyrA codon 87Asn (32.8%, 20/61) and two polymorphisms of the gyrB D481E (16.4%, 10/61) and R484K (21.3%, 13/61). The role of these polymorphisms in gyrB remained to be elucidated whether the levels of levofloxacin resistance are related to the position/amino acid.
Conclusion: The primary resistance rate of H. pylori to clarithromycin has increased compared to the previous report in Malaysia. Therefore, molecular screening could aid and is important for the selection of antibiotics for H. pylori eradication therapies.