Displaying publications 61 - 80 of 216 in total

Abstract:
Sort:
  1. Goh DL, Chua KY, Chew FT, Liang RC, Seow TK, Ou KL, et al.
    J Allergy Clin Immunol, 2001 Jun;107(6):1082-7.
    PMID: 11398089
    BACKGROUND: We have previously described anaphylaxis induced by edible bird's nest (BN) and demonstrated that this condition is IgE mediated.

    OBJECTIVES: This study aimed at describing the immunochemical properties of the BN allergens. Comparative studies between 3 commercially available sources (according to the country of origin) of BN were also made.

    METHODS: Crude extracts of commercially available processed BN from Sarawak (Malaysia), Thailand, and Indonesia and fresh unprocessed BN from the caves of Sarawak were obtained by means of aqueous extraction. Specific IgE toward these sources were determined by using fluorescence allergosorbent tests (FASTs). Cross-reactivity studies between the 3 sources of commercially available processed BN were carried out by means of FAST inhibition. Immunochemical characterization by means of IgE immunoblot, periodate treatment, and heat stability studies were carried out on fresh unprocessed BN from Sarawak.

    RESULTS: Serum from allergic patients showed differences in IgE binding to the 3 sources of commercially available BN, with the highest levels of specific IgE recorded with the Sarawak source (P

    Matched MeSH terms: Birds*
  2. OGAKI M
    Am J Trop Med Hyg, 1949 Jul;29(4):459-62.
    PMID: 18153046
    Matched MeSH terms: Birds*
  3. Mutafchiev Y, Mariaux J, Georgiev BB
    Syst Parasitol, 2014 Jun;88(2):103-17.
    PMID: 24832183 DOI: 10.1007/s11230-014-9483-6
    Quazithelazia rostrata n. sp. from Ceyx erithaca (L.) (type-host) and Alcedo euryzona Temminck (Coraciiformes, Alcedinidae) and Q. alata n. sp. from Enicurus ruficapillus Temminck (Passeriformes, Muscicapidae) are described from vicinities of Gombak Biological Station, Selangor, Malaysia; both species are parasitic under the koilin lining of the gizzard. Paratypes of Schistogendra pelargopsis Nandi, De & Majumdar, 1985, a parasite of Pelargopsis capensis (L.) (Alcedinidae) from India, are redescribed and the species is recognised as a junior synonym of the type-species of Quasithelazia, Q. tenuis Maplestone, 1932 (new synonymy), a species originally described from Halcyon smyrnensis (L.) (Alcedinidae) in India. An amended diagnosis of the genus Quasithelazia Maplestone, 1932 is proposed. Currently, this genus includes eight species occurring in the Old World, six of them parasitic in kingfishers (Alcedinidae) and two species parasitic in flycatchers (Muscicapidae). These include, inter alia, Q. halcyoni n. comb. for Viktorocara halcyoni Ryzhikov & Khokhlova, 1964 from Halcyon smyrnensis and H. pileata (Boddaert) in Vietnam and the Russian Far East, Q. microcordonis n. comb. for Rusguniella microcordonis Schmidt & Kuntz, 1971 from Halcyon coromanda major (Temminck & Schlegel) in Taiwan and Q. multipapillata n. comb. for Schistogendra multipapillata Zhang, 1993 from Tarsiger cyanurus (Pallas) (Muscicapidae) in China. Comparative morphological data for Quasithelazia spp. are presented. Schistogendra oligopapillata Zhang & An, 2002 from domestic ducks in China is considered a species incertae sedis.
    Matched MeSH terms: Birds/parasitology*
  4. Kahar-Bador M, Nathan AM, Soo MH, Mohd Noor S, AbuBakar S, Lum LC, et al.
    Singapore Med J, 2009 Mar;50(3):e112-3.
    PMID: 19352555
    The rapid diagnosis and subtyping of influenza is particularly important in areas where avian influenza (H5N1) is present. The ability to recognise both typical and atypical presentations of influenza is also critical in such settings. A six-month-old male child who visited a H5N1-affected area subsequently died from a severe febrile diarrhoeal illness with minimal respiratory symptoms, and was initially diagnosed with influenza A of an unknown subtype. The final microbiological results showed a highly unusual combination of influenza A (H3N2) and Campylobacter jejuni infection.
    Matched MeSH terms: Birds
  5. Tambyah PA
    Singapore Med J, 1999 May;40(5):329-30.
    PMID: 10489488
    Matched MeSH terms: Birds; Influenza in Birds/epidemiology*
  6. SANDOSHAM AA, BENNETT GF, FONG YL, OMAR EI
    Singapore Med J, 1965 Mar;6(1):47-8.
    PMID: 14306412
    An immature Glossy Tree-Starling (Aplonis panayensis strigatus), also known as ‘burong perling’ in Malay, was captured in the vicinity of the Institute for Medical Research, Kuala Lumpur. It was found to harbour a small malaria parasite which showed the characteristics of the sub-genus Novyella (Corradetti et al, 1963) viz:
    1. Trophozoites small with little cytoplasm, relatively large nuclear elements, the parasite usually applied to the host-cell nucleus.
    2. Schizonts with usually less than eight merozoites. 3. Pigment small and difficult to see except in the schizonts and in the gametocytes where the pigment granules are large and usually clustered at one end.
    4. The parasite rarely distorts the host erythrocyte. Unfortunately the bird died a few days later before detailed work on duration of the schizogonic cycle and experimental transmission could be done. The parasite has the following morphological features and most of the larger forms, asexual and sexual, assume the characteristic position proximal to the nucleus of the avian erythrocyte. Trophozoites: The earliest forms are ‘rings’ with a fairly marked vacuole. As the organism grows older, it produces a grain or two of pigment. The parasite at this stage tends to occupy a polar position in the host erythrocyte. Schizonts: The segmenting forms are usually attached to the pole end of the host-cell nucleus. The number of chromatin segments varies from 3 to 8, with a prevalent range of 4 to 6. The cytoplasm is scanty and pale with a prominent little mass of blackish-brown pigment or a close collection of granules. A rare mature schizont with 8 merozoites was seen in which the nucleus of the parasitised erythrocyte was displaced somewhat similar to figure 20 of Plate I portrayed in the original paper by Manwell (1935). Gametocytes: The sexual forms are often narrow and elongate, and are closely applied to the nucleus of the host erythrocyte. The outline of the parasite is frequently irregular. The cytoplasm is pale and vacuolated with coarse conspicuous granules of blackish-brown pigment usually collected at one end; sometimes either one or both ends curved around the host-cell nucleus. Although this parasite has some affinites to both P. nucleophiltim and P. hexamerium the lack of adequate study of the avian malarias of South-East Asia precludes even provisional identification of this parasite. On two occasions numerous gametocytes were seen in the peripheral blood of the bird and four species of laboratory-reared culicines (three indigenous to Malaya) were allowed to feed on it. Ten Andes togoi, 19 Culex sitiens and seven Culex fatigans were completely refractory to development of the parasite. Two of 17 Aedes aegypti had a single small oocyst each; both oocysts appeared to be degenerating. A Giemsa-stained thin blood film together with drawings made from the microscope showing the different forms of the parasite were demonstrated. REFERENCES
    Corradetti, A., Garnham, P. C. & Laird, M. (i963). Parassitologia, 5, 1-4.
    Manwell, R. D. (l935). Amer. J. Trop. Med 15, 265-283.
    ...(1938). Ibid., 18, 565-575
    Matched MeSH terms: Birds*
  7. Musa SA, Raja Abdullah RSA, Sali A, Ismail A, Rashid NEA
    Sensors (Basel), 2019 Jul 29;19(15).
    PMID: 31362452 DOI: 10.3390/s19153332
    The increase in drone misuse by civilian apart from military applications is alarming and need to be addressed. This drone is characterized as a low altitude, slow speed, and small radar cross-section (RCS) (LSS) target and is considered difficult to be detected and classified among other biological targets, such as insects and birds existing in the same surveillance volume. Although several attempts reported the successful drone detection on radio frequency-based (RF), thermal, acoustic, video imaging, and other non-technical methods, however, there are also many limitations. Thus, this paper investigated a micro-Doppler analysis from drone rotating blades for detection in a special Forward Scattering Radar (FSR) geometry. The paper leveraged the identified benefits of FSR mode over conventional radars, such as improved radar cross-section (RCS) value irrespective of radar absorbing material (RAM), direct signal perturbation, and high resolutions. To prove the concept, a received signal model for micro-Doppler analysis, a simulation work, and experimental validation are elaborated and explained in the paper. Two rotating blades aspect angle scenarios were considered, which are (i) when drone makes a turn, the blade cross-sectional area faces the receiver and (ii) when drone maneuvers normally, the cross-sectional blade faces up. The FSR system successfully detected a commercial drone and extracted the micro features of a rotating blade. It further verified the feasibility of using a parabolic dish antenna as a receiver in FSR geometry; this marked an appreciable achievement towards the FSR system performance, which in future could be implemented as either active or passive FSR system.
    Matched MeSH terms: Birds
  8. Wolfe N
    Sci. Am., 2009 Apr;300(4):76-81.
    PMID: 19363924
    Matched MeSH terms: Birds/microbiology
  9. Ramli R, Fauzi A
    Saudi J Biol Sci, 2018 Mar;25(3):513-519.
    PMID: 29686514 DOI: 10.1016/j.sjbs.2016.01.017
    Black-shouldered Kite (Elanus caeruleus) is a well-known raptor that inhabits open areas such as oil palm plantation or paddy field. To determine preferable habitat and nesting site of Black-shouldered Kite in oil palm landscape, we conducted a study on Black-shouldered Kite's nesting biology in Carey Island, Selangor, Malaysia. We divided the island into six types of habitat and conducted road-side count of Black-shouldered Kite from April 2009 to February 2011. Whenever the Black-shouldered Kite was detected, we thoroughly searched the surrounding area for their nest. In total, we have recorded forty nests. The nests were built on 15 species of trees but most of the trees shared common physical characteristics. Some novice breeders also used oil palm tree as their nesting site. Structure and building materials of nests constructed on oil palm trees were different from nests built on other trees. Of all breeding attempts, only four nests which were located in residential area adjacent to young oil palm habitat were successful. Among important characteristics of successful nesting site include taller trees with strong branches and good leaf coverage. These trees not only protect nests from predator detection (except from other predatory birds) and physical environment but also facilitate Black-shouldered Kite's foraging activities by providing good vantage point.
    Matched MeSH terms: Birds
  10. Mohammad Saiful Mansor, Shukor Md. Nor, Rosli Ramli
    Sains Malaysiana, 2018;47:1045-1050.
    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.
    Matched MeSH terms: Birds
  11. Sutter E
    Rev. Suisse Zool., 1974 Oct;81(3):684-9.
    PMID: 4445815
    Matched MeSH terms: Birds/anatomy & histology*
  12. Eagles D, Siregar ES, Dung DH, Weaver J, Wong F, Daniels P
    Rev. - Off. Int. Epizoot., 2009 Apr;28(1):341-8.
    PMID: 19618637
    Since the first H5N1 highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (HPAIV) infection in the region in August 2003, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam have all recorded outbreaks of the disease. The HPAIV continues to occur in some countries in Southeast Asia despite control programmes encompassing surveillance, vaccination and stamping out strategies. A number of strains have been circulating in the region since the first outbreaks in 2003, and although the source of the initial outbreaks in domestic poultry is not known, the continuing propagation of disease in the region is primarily the result of the movement of domestic poultry and poultry products, and people. A comprehensive approach using all the strategies available to break the chain of transmission of the virus in poultry will be needed to achieve lasting disease control.
    Matched MeSH terms: Birds; Influenza in Birds/epidemiology*; Influenza in Birds/prevention & control
  13. Lim KL, Jazayeri SD, Yeap SK, Mohamed Alitheen NB, Bejo MH, Ideris A, et al.
    Res Vet Sci, 2013 Dec;95(3):1224-34.
    PMID: 23948357 DOI: 10.1016/j.rvsc.2013.07.013
    We had examined the immunogenicity of a series of plasmid DNAs which include neuraminidase (NA) and nucleoprotein (NP) genes from avian influenza virus (AIV). The interleukin-15 (IL-15) and interleukin-18 (IL-18) as genetic adjuvants were used for immunization in combination with the N1 and NP AIV genes. In the first trial, 8 groups of chickens were established with 10 specific-pathogen-free (SPF) chickens per group while, in the second trial 7 SPF chickens per group were used. The overall N1 enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) titer in chickens immunized with the pDis/N1+pDis/IL-15 was higher compared to the chickens immunized with the pDis/N1 and this suggesting that chicken IL-15 could play a role in enhancing the humoral immune response. Besides that, the chickens that were immunized at 14-day-old (Trial 2) showed a higher N1 antibody titer compared to the chickens that were immunized at 1-day-old (Trial 1). Despite the delayed in NP antibody responses, the chickens co-administrated with IL-15 were able to induce earlier and higher antibody response compared to the pDis/NP and pDis/NP+pDis/IL-18 inoculated groups. The pDis/N1+pDis/IL-15 inoculated chickens also induced higher CD8+ T cells increase than the pDis/N1 group in both trials (P<0.05). The flow cytometry results from both trials demonstrated that the pDis/N1+pDis/IL-18 groups were able to induce CD4+ T cells higher than the pDis/N1 group (P<0.05). Meanwhile, pDis/N1+pDis/IL-18 group was able to induce CD8+ T cells higher than the pDis/N1 group (P<0.05) in Trial 2 only. In the present study, pDis/NP was not significant (P>0.05) in inducing CD4+ and CD8+ T cells when co-administered with the pDis/IL-18 in both trials in comparison to the pDis/NP. Our data suggest that the pDis/N1+pDis/IL-15 combination has the potential to be used as a DNA vaccine against AIV in chickens.
    Matched MeSH terms: Influenza in Birds/immunology*; Influenza in Birds/prevention & control
  14. Edwards DP, Larsen TH, Docherty TD, Ansell FA, Hsu WW, Derhé MA, et al.
    Proc Biol Sci, 2011 Jan 7;278(1702):82-90.
    PMID: 20685713 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2010.1062
    Southeast Asia is a hotspot of imperiled biodiversity, owing to extensive logging and forest conversion to oil palm agriculture. The degraded forests that remain after multiple rounds of intensive logging are often assumed to be of little conservation value; consequently, there has been no concerted effort to prevent them from being converted to oil palm. However, no study has quantified the biodiversity of repeatedly logged forests. We compare the species richness and composition of birds and dung beetles within unlogged (primary), once-logged and twice-logged forests in Sabah, Borneo. Logging had little effect on the overall richness of birds. Dung beetle richness declined following once-logging but did not decline further after twice-logging. The species composition of bird and dung beetle communities was altered, particularly after the second logging rotation, but globally imperiled bird species (IUCN Red List) did not decline further after twice-logging. Remarkably, over 75 per cent of bird and dung beetle species found in unlogged forest persisted within twice-logged forest. Although twice-logged forests have less biological value than primary and once-logged forests, they clearly provide important habitat for numerous bird and dung beetle species. Preventing these degraded forests from being converted to oil palm should be a priority of policy-makers and conservationists.
    Matched MeSH terms: Birds/physiology*
  15. Smith GJ, Fan XH, Wang J, Li KS, Qin K, Zhang JX, et al.
    Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 2006 Nov 07;103(45):16936-41.
    PMID: 17075062
    The development of highly pathogenic avian H5N1 influenza viruses in poultry in Eurasia accompanied with the increase in human infection in 2006 suggests that the virus has not been effectively contained and that the pandemic threat persists. Updated virological and epidemiological findings from our market surveillance in southern China demonstrate that H5N1 influenza viruses continued to be panzootic in different types of poultry. Genetic and antigenic analyses revealed the emergence and predominance of a previously uncharacterized H5N1 virus sublineage (Fujian-like) in poultry since late 2005. Viruses from this sublineage gradually replaced those multiple regional distinct sublineages and caused recent human infection in China. These viruses have already transmitted to Hong Kong, Laos, Malaysia, and Thailand, resulting in a new transmission and outbreak wave in Southeast Asia. Serological studies suggest that H5N1 seroconversion in market poultry is low and that vaccination may have facilitated the selection of the Fujian-like sublineage. The predominance of this virus over a large geographical region within a short period directly challenges current disease control measures.
    Matched MeSH terms: Influenza in Birds/epidemiology; Influenza in Birds/virology
  16. Brodie JF
    Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 2017 11 07;114(45):11998-12002.
    PMID: 29078339 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1710172114
    Large, fruit-eating vertebrates have been lost from many of the world's ecosystems. The ecological consequences of this defaunation can be severe, but the evolutionary consequences are nearly unknown because it remains unclear whether frugivores exert strong selection on fruit traits. I assessed the macroevolution of fruit traits in response to variation in the diversity and size of seed-dispersing vertebrates. Across the Indo-Malay Archipelago, many of the same plant lineages have been exposed to very different assemblages of seed-dispersing vertebrates. Phylogenetic analysis of >400 plant species in 41 genera and five families revealed that average fruit size tracks the taxonomic and functional diversity of frugivorous birds and mammals. Fruit size was 40.2-46.5% smaller in the Moluccas and Sulawesi (respectively), with relatively depauperate assemblages of mostly small-bodied animals, than in the Sunda Region (Borneo, Sumatra, and Peninsular Malaysia), with a highly diverse suite of large and small animals. Fruit color, however, was unrelated to vertebrate diversity or to the representation of birds versus mammals in the frugivore assemblage. Overhunting of large animals, nearly ubiquitous in tropical forests, could strongly alter selection pressures on plants, resulting in widespread, although trait-specific, morphologic changes.
    Matched MeSH terms: Birds
  17. Kai Z, Woan TS, Jie L, Goodale E, Kitajima K, Bagchi R, et al.
    PLoS One, 2014;9(1):e86598.
    PMID: 24466163 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0086598
    The value of local ecological knowledge (LEK) to conservation is increasingly recognised, but LEK is being rapidly lost as indigenous livelihoods change. Biodiversity loss is also a driver of the loss of LEK, but quantitative study is lacking. In our study landscape in SW China, a large proportion of species have been extirpated. Hence, we were interested to understand whether species extirpation might have led to an erosion of LEK and the implications this might have for conservation. So we investigated peoples' ability to name a selection of birds and mammals in their local language from pictures. Age was correlated to frequency of forest visits as a teenager and is likely to be closely correlated to other known drivers of the loss of LEK, such as declining forest dependence. We found men were better at identifying birds overall and that older people were better able to identify birds to the species as compared to group levels (approximately equivalent to genus). The effect of age was also stronger among women. However, after controlling for these factors, species abundance was by far the most important parameter in determining peoples' ability to name birds. People were unable to name any locally extirpated birds at the species level. However, contrary to expectations, people were better able to identify extirpated mammals at the species level than extant ones. However, extirpated mammals tend to be more charismatic species and several respondents indicated they were only familiar with them through TV documentaries. Younger people today cannot experience the sights and sounds of forest animals that their parents grew up with and, consequently, knowledge of these species is passing from cultural memory. We suggest that engaging older members of the community and linking the preservation of LEK to biodiversity conservation may help generate support for conservation.
    Matched MeSH terms: Birds
  18. Priyadarshani N, Marsland S, Castro I, Punchihewa A
    PLoS One, 2016;11(1):e0146790.
    PMID: 26812391 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0146790
    Automatic recording of birdsong is becoming the preferred way to monitor and quantify bird populations worldwide. Programmable recorders allow recordings to be obtained at all times of day and year for extended periods of time. Consequently, there is a critical need for robust automated birdsong recognition. One prominent obstacle to achieving this is low signal to noise ratio in unattended recordings. Field recordings are often very noisy: birdsong is only one component in a recording, which also includes noise from the environment (such as wind and rain), other animals (including insects), and human-related activities, as well as noise from the recorder itself. We describe a method of denoising using a combination of the wavelet packet decomposition and band-pass or low-pass filtering, and present experiments that demonstrate an order of magnitude improvement in noise reduction over natural noisy bird recordings.
    Matched MeSH terms: Birds
  19. Nakabayashi M, Inoue Y, Ahmad AH, Izawa M
    PLoS One, 2019;14(6):e0217590.
    PMID: 31194749 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0217590
    Ficus species are keystone plants in tropical rainforests, and hemi-epiphytic figs play a notably important role in forest ecosystems. Because hemi-epiphytic figs have strict germination requirements, germination and establishment stages regulate their populations. Despite the ecological importance of hemi-epiphytic figs in the rainforests, seed dispersal systems by fig-eating animals under natural conditions remain unknown because of the difficulty in tracing the destiny of dispersed seeds in the canopy. Therefore, seed dispersal effectiveness (SDE) has never been evaluated for hemi-epiphytic figs. We evaluated the SDE of hemi-epiphytic figs using qualitative and quantitative components by three relatively large-sized (> 3 kg) arboreal and volant animals in Bornean rainforests that largely depend on fig fruits in their diets: binturongs Arctictis binturong, Mueller's gibbons Hylobates muelleri, and helmeted hornbills Rhinoplax vigil. The SDE values of binturongs was by far the highest among the three study animals. Meanwhile, successful seed dispersal of hemi-epiphytic figs by gibbons and helmeted hornbills is aleatory and rare. Given that seed deposition determines the fate of hemi-epiphytic figs, the defecatory habits of binturongs, depositing feces on specific microsites in the canopy, is the most reliable dispersal method, compared to scattering feces from the air or upper canopy. We showed that reliable directed dispersal of hemi-epiphytic figs occurs in high and uneven canopy of Bornean rainforests. This type of dispersal is limited to specific animal species, and therefore it may become one of the main factors regulating low-success hemi-epiphytic fig recruitment in Bornean rainforests.
    Matched MeSH terms: Birds
Filters
Contact Us

Please provide feedback to Administrator (afdal@afpm.org.my)

External Links