Never in the history of modern Malaysia, the general population at all levels are being threatened by food security. Food becoming less available and more expensive. Many factors, both long- and short-term, have contributed to the shortage. At a global level, available data seems to indicate that we have been consuming more than what we produce. Then came the shortfall in global rice production caused by the impact of climate change such as the widespread drought in India and China in 2002, typhoons in the Philippines in 2006, and the major flooding in Bangladesh in 2007. This was followed by the returns of pests such as planthoppers, and the various virus diseases transmitted particularly at regions with growing seasons having abnormally higher temperatures caused by climate change. Since the crisis started, scientists particularly breeders all over the world were requested to strengthen and upgrade the breeding program and facilities for the development of new varieties with increased tolerance to drought, flooding, and salinity as well resistant to insects and diseases. An important pre-requisite for such activities is the free flow of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture (pgrfa). The adoption of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) has drastically slowed down the movement of many plant genetic resources and this has threatened the future supply of food. The International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resource for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA or the Treaty) is a global reaction to the rising tide of measures taken by many governments as a result CBD to extend their sovereign control over genetic resources. Many countries felt that those measures are inappropriate for food and agricultural crop genetic resources. The Treaty on the other hand recognizes that access and benefit sharing for agricultural biodiversity must be treated differently from the way it is generally treated under CBD. This paper discusses some of the key points and provisions from the treaty and some issues arising from its negotiation and future implementation in Malaysia.
Elevated temperature affects marine benthic algae by reducing growth and limits the transport of electron or carbon fixation which may reduce the ability of the cell to use light. This resulting excess light energy may cause photoinhibition. In this study, the photosystem II of the benthic microalgal communities from Casey, eastern Antarctic were relatively unaffected by significant changes in temperatures up to 8ºC, along with high PAR level (450 μmol photons m–2 s–1). Similarly, the community was able to photosynthesize as the temperature was reduced to –5ºC. Recovery from saturating and photoinhibiting irradiances was not significantly influenced by temperatures at both –5ºC and 8ºC. These responses were consistent with those recorded by past experiments on Antarctic benthic diatoms and temperate diatoms which showed that climate change did not have a significant impact on the ability of benthic microalgae to recover from photoinhibitory temperature stress.
In agricultural systems, animals play a very important multifunctional role for developing communities
throughout the world. This is reflected in the generation of value-added products like meat, milk and eggs for food security; socio-economic benefits like increased income, security and survival, and an infinite variety of services such as the supply of draught power and dung for soil fertility. However, and despite this importance, the situation is awesome since the projected total meat and milk consumption levels in 2020 are far in excess of anticipated supply, and projections of both meat and milk will have to be doubled by 2050 to meet human requirements. Strategies for productivity growth from animals are therefore urgent, and are discussed in the context of the scenario of waning agriculture, extreme poverty and hunger, food crisis, the current contributions from the components of the animal industries, prevailing constraints, opportunities and strategies for improved production. Current trends suggest that the non-ruminant pig and poultry industries will continue to contribute the major share of meat and all of egg production to meet projected human needs. With ruminants by comparison, overall meat production continues to come mainly from the slaughter of numbers. Strategic opportunities exist for maximising productivity in improved production systems. These include targeting rainfed areas, development of small farms, integrated crop-animal systems, intensive application of productivity-enhancing technologies, promoting intensive use of crop residues and expanding the R&D frontiers with interdisciplinarity and farming
systems perspectives. The issues, together with increased investments and institutional commitment, provide for expanded animal production systems and productivity which can forcefully impact on improved human welfare in Asia in the immediate tomorrow.
In this study the effects of phosphorus and nitrogen levels, temperature and light-dark cycle on the algal growth potential (AGP) of an Antarctic Chlorococcum isolated from an ephemeral stream at Reeve Hill, Antarctica was investigated. The highest AGP was attained when the cultures were grown at high nitrogen concentration (329.87 mg NO3-N/l) and low phosphorus concentration (2.6 mg PO4-P/l) at 4ºC on a 12 h:12 h light-dark cycle. The results showed that Chlorococcum sp. required a high concentration of nitrogen, low concentration of phosphorus, low temperature with equal lengths of light and dark period (12 h:12 h) for optimum growth.
Sulfonamides (SAs), synthetic antibiotics, are commonly used by veterinarians in chicken for therapeutic, prophylactic or as growth promoter and halt the growth of bacteria in animal production. Four common SAs, Sulfadiazine (SDZ), Sulfamethazine (SMZ), Sulfamethoxazole (SMX) and Sulfaquinoxaline (SQX), were determined in chicken breast and liver samples using reverse phase HPLC using UV detector at 266nm. The concentration of SAs detected in samples from 11 states in Peninsular Malaysia ranged from 0.006-0.062 µg/g in breast meat samples and 0.08-0.193 µg/g in liver samples. Except for sample from Johor, concentration of SAs in all the samples were lower than MRLs established by Malaysia (0.1 µg/g). Exposure of sulfonamides in Malaysian consumers ranged from 0.002-0.088 µg/kg body wt. /day. The highest value of sulfonamides exposure was found in Johor with an estimated daily intake (EDA) of Sulfamethoxazole (SMX) in Johor.
This study evaluated lipid oxidation in refrigerated (±4ºC) duck meatballs treated with novel antioxidants over 21 days of storage. The duck meatballs were treated with a control substance, Cosmos caudatus (ulam raja) or Polygonum minus (kesum) extract, or BHT (butylated hydroxytoluene), and data was collected every three days. These results showed that Cosmos caudatus and Polygonum minus had better antioxidant effects on duck meatballs than BHT or the control. Folding and microbial potency test results were not significantly different among the three antioxidants tested but were better in antioxidant-treated samples than in control samples. However, Cosmos caudatus and Polygonum minus were slightly more effective in preventing microbial growth. This result suggests that Cosmos caudatus and Polygonum minus may be potentially useful natural resources for enhancing the shelf life of duck meatballs.
Mating studies were conducted on 78 isolates of Fusarium species section Liseola from rice, sugarcane and maize. From the crosses with tester strains of Gibberella fujikuroi species complex, 64.1% (50 out of 78 isolates) were cross-fertile with tester strains of mating populations A to E. The results of the mating studies showed that of the 50 isolates, 19 belonged to mating population A (Gibberella moniliformis), 18 to mating population B (Gibberella sacchari), 4 to mating population E (Gibberella subglutinans), 6 to mating population D (Gibberella intermedia) and 3 to mating population C (G. fujikuroi). Identification of several mating populations from rice,sugarcane and maize could be important biological entities under field conditions.
This study aims to determine the combined effects of hydrolysis time, temperature, pH and ratio of enzyme to substrate on the degree of hydrolysis (DH) of silver catfish frame using Response Surface Methodology. The proximate compositions of silver catfish frame and silver catfish hydrolysate powder were determined as well. The effects of independent factors were described using a three-level factors Face Centered Central Composite design. The suggested hydrolysis conditions for obtaining the optimum DH using Alcalase® were – temperature of 55oC, hydrolysis time of 163 min, pH of substrate at 9.45 and an enzyme concentration of 2.0%. The generated model showed a quadratic fit with experimental data. Proximate analyses revealed that silver catfish frame contained 25.02% protein, 68.21% fat and 7.08% ash. While silver catfish frame hydrolysate powder contained 65.05% protein, 32.92% fat and 0.86% ash. The protein recovery in silver catfish frame hydrolysate was as high as 71.6%.
Introduction: Amniotic fluid (AF) consists of heterogenous population of cells with high diagnostic
and therapeutic values. The study of rat amniotic fluid cells is very limited, despite the extensive use
of this animal model in biomedical research. Primary culture of rat AF cells, especially from full term pregnancies has not been well established. Here we attempt to determine the suitable medium in
culturing rat AF cells that would enhance the cell viability, growth rate and heterogeneity. Methods:
The cell viability, growth rate and heterogeneity of rat AF cells were compared upon culturing the
primary cells in two different media; Amniomax or RPMI. Cell viability study was carried out using
trypan blue staining, while the growth rate was monitored based on the time required to passage the cells (population doubling time in hour). The heterogeneity of cells was examined based on the morphology of the cells. Statistical analysis was performed using t-test. Results: Amniomax was observed to provide a better culture condition in culturing rat AF cells as the cells are more viable, grow faster and more heterogenous as compared to the cells grown in RPMI. Conclusion: Amniomax is a more suitable medium for high quality and viability of full term rat AF cell culture, as compared to RPMI. Thus, warranting propagation of more rat AF cells for biomedical research.
Objective: To investigate the prevalence of Female Orgasmic Dysfunction (FOD) focusing on the orgasm domain among female patients attending PPUKM Psychiatric clinic. To compare the prevalence of orgasmic dysfunction between female patients on Escitalopram and on Fluoxetine therapy.
Methods: A validated questionnaire for sexual function was used to assess orgasmic function. A total of 112 women aged between 24 and 57 participated in this study. The orgasmic dysfunction was compared between patients on selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) fluoxetine and escitalopram.
Results: The prevalence of female orgasmic dysfunction was 58.9% (33/56) among patients treated with Fluoxetine and 41.1% (23/56) among patients treated with Escitalopram. However, there was no statistically significant difference between these two treatment groups (p=0.059). The odds to have FOD among patients on higher dose of antidepressants was found to be higher compared to those patients who were on lower dose of antidepressants (Odds ratio 5.32, p= 0.001).
Conclusion: There was no significant difference of Female Orgasmic Dysfunction between patients on Fluoxetine and Escitalopram.
Study site: Psychiatric clinics, Pusat Perubatan Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (PPUKM), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
This study was performed to enumerate the total viable cell count of probiotic in five brands (A to E) of commercially cultured milk drinks that are available in the Malaysian market as well as to test their tolerance to various pH and bile concentrations by simulating the human gastrointestinal pH and bile concentration. The acid tolerance test was studied under pH 1.5 and 3.0 with 7.2 as control. The cell count for the acid tolerance test was obtained at an interval of 0, 1.5 and 3 hours respectively and was plated onto duplicate MRS agars to be incubated at 37°C for 48 hours. All cells recovered after 3 hours of pH treatment were selected for bile tolerance test in MRS broth containing bile concentrations of 0% (control), 0.3% and 2.0% and cell counts were recorded after 24 hours of incubation. The probiotic strains in products A, B, C & D met the suggested initial count of 106 CFU/ml with brand C recording the highest at 9.19 ± 0.14 log CFU/ml. Strains in product A, B & C showed good tolerance to pH 3.0 and 7.2 recording a count of >106 CFU/ml after 3 hours with a range of 6.60 – 9.04 log CFU/ml. The higher bile concentrations resulted in lower growth of strains in all the brands. Upon pH 1.5 treatment, only brand C recorded growth in all bile concentrations. After pH 3.0 treatment, all brands except brand E met the requirement of survival at 0.3% bile concentration. Results showed probiotics in product A, B & C met the initial count requirement, and exhibited good acid and bile tolerance therefore being a potentially good source of probiotic.
Pineapple (Ananas comosus), Bromeliaceae family, is a fruit grows in tropical countries including Malaysia. This fruit has several pharmacological benefits due to the presence of high concentration of bromelain (cysteine proteases). Condition of elevated temperature will induce deformation of enzyme and result in loss of activity. Sulfhydryl groups in cysteine proteases are readily to be oxidized and might account for the denaturation of bromelain at elevated temperature. Polyphenol from ethanolic cashew leave extract could be complexed with bromelain to stabilize the enzymatic activity. In thermal stability test, the heat damage effect on bromelain was ten times reduced after complexing with cashew extract. The enzymatic activity of free bromelain decreased gradually from 25 o C to 95 o C. Complexed bromelain was stable in activity to heating up to 85 o C. Bromelainpolyphenol complex showed a good heat resistance. The result revealed that polyphenol could protect bromelain in pineapple juice from heat denaturation.
Hepatitis A is a liver infection caused by the hepatitis A virus (HAV). Outbreaks of hepatitis A have been linked to the consumption of both raw and cooked shellfish. These outbreaks could induce a public confidence problem over shellfish safety and may result in important economic losses for the seafood industry. The work presented in this study investigated the presence of HAV in shellfish from Peninsular Malaysia. A total of 365 of cultured and wild shellfish from 36 sampling locations located throughout Peninsular Malaysia were examined using a commercial nucleic acid extraction and reverse transcription -polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) kit. HAV was not detected in almost all of the shellfish samples xamined. Only one cockle sample from Changkat, Seberang Perai was positive for HAV. The results suggest the absence of HAV or very low amount of HAV viral particles in most of the shellfish examined.
Pitaya peel (Hylocereus polyrhizus), which consists approximately 22% of the whole fruit weight, is discarded during processing. Physico-chemical properties of the discarded pitaya peel were determined in
order to evaluate its potential for recovery of any value-added materials. The moisture content of the peel was approximately 92.7% and it was low in total soluble solids, protein, ash and fat content. Betacyanin pigment (150.46 ± 2.19 mg/100 g) and pectin (10.8%) were high in the peel. Glucose, maltose and fructose were detected in the peel but not sucrose and galactose. The peel also had very high insoluble and soluble dietary fibre which had exhibited a good ratio of insoluble dietary fibre to soluble dietary fibre (3.8: 1.0).
Amitraz poisoning is rare and there has been no reported cases in the Malaysian literature. Ingestion of this compound carries many life threatening side effects. We describe a case of Amitraz poisoning in an 18 years old young adult. He developed hypotension, required ventilatory support and a day of intensive care unit stay. He had a quick recovery after he was treated symptomatically and was discharged well after 3 days.
Disaster can strike at any time on a small or large scale, but if an institution is prepared, the damage may be reduced or avoided. A disaster is a serious disruption of the functioning of a society, causing widespread human, material, or environmental losses which exceed the ability of affected society to cope using only its own resources. Disasters are often classified according to their speed of onset (sudden or ‘slow burning’), or according to their cause (natural or man-made). There is no single and specific method in handling a disaster. The application and method of disaster management do not only depend on types, location and levels of disaster, but also depend on the effectiveness and good system of management as well as the total commitment of first responders and disaster managers involved in handling a disaster. National Security Council Directive No. 20 is both a proactive and reactive generic plan to manage disasters in Malaysia. It is an integrated disaster management plan in mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery.
There are many essential and non-essential elements including metals and radionuclides present in vegetables. Howeve r, the accumulation of the several metals and radionuclides might cause the contamination to vegetables itself. Green m ustard (Brasissca rapa var. Parachinesis L.) was selected to represent the vegetable in this study. Objectives of this stud y are to determine the concentration of metals and radionuclides in the samples and to calculate the enrichment factor ( EF) and also to estimate the uptake, base on biological accumulation coefficient (BAC), for the various parts of selecte d vegetables. Three farmlands in the Cameron Highlands were studied namely Bharat, Kg Raja and Bertam area. The g reen mustard and soil samples were collected during the harvest season. Samples were dried, ground and sieved prior t o analysis. Analyses for both samples were done by using X-rays Fluorescence Spectroscopy (XRF) to measure the conc entration of Fe, Zn, Hg, U and Th. The concentration of all elements in the soils is lower than their concentration in the control soil, except for Zn, U and Th. The concentration of all elements in Green Mustard is lower than their concentrat ion in the soil where it was grown. The EF values in the Brasissca rapa var. Parachinesis L are lower than 2 except for U and Th, indicating some degree of contamination due to anthropogenic activities or naturally origin. The BAC values show that Zn and Hg were accumulated in the green mustard, depending on where the plant grows.
In this research wok, three different techniques of change detection were used to detect changes in forest areas. One of the techniques used a local similarity measure approach to detect changes. This new approach of change detection technique, which used mutual information to measure the similarity between two multi-temporal images, was developed based on correspondence of the pixel values, rather than the difference in their intensity. Pixels suffering any changes will be maximally dissimilar. The study was conducted using multi-temporal SPOT 5 satellite images, with the resolution of 10 m x10 m on 5th August 2005 and 13th June 2007. The experimental results show that local mutual information provides more reliable results in detecting changes of the multitemporal images containing different lighting condition compared to the image differencing and NDVI technique, specifically in areas with less plant growth. In addition, it can also overcome the problem on selecting the threshold value. Besides, the findings of this study have also shown that band 3, which is sensitive to vegetation biomass, gave the best result in detecting area of changes compared to the others.
Lead-free solder paste printing processes account for the majority of assembly defects in the electronic manufacturing industry. In the stencil printing process, the solder paste must be able to withstand low and high shear rates which result in continuous structural breakdown and build-up. This study investigated the effect of the addition of nickel and platinum powders to the thixotropic behaviour of lead-free Sn/Ag/Cu solder pastes using the structural kinetic model. A hysteresis loop test and constant shear test were utilized to investigate the thixotropic behaviour of the pastes using parallel plate rheometry at 25ºC. In this study, the shear rates were increased from 0.01 s–1 to 10 s–1 and the second curve was a result of decreasing the shear rate from 10 s–1 to 0.01 s–1. For the constant shear test, the samples were subjected to five different shear rates of 0.01s–1, 0.1s–1, 1s–1, 10s–1 and 100s–1. The constant shear rate test was designed to study the structural breakdown and build-up of the paste materials. From this investigation, the hysteresis loop test was shown to be an effective test method to differentiate the extent of structural recovery in the solder pastes. All the pastes showed a high degree of shear thinning behaviour with time. This might be due to the agglomeration of particles in the flux that prohibited paste flow under low shear rate. The action of high shear rate would break the agglomerates into smaller pieces which facilitated the flow of pastes, thus viscosity was reduced at high shear rate.
Respiratory metabolism of the larvae of Malaysian horseshoe crab Tachypleus gigas (Müller) was studied under different salinities, pH, and temperature. The trend in oxygen consumption was uniform at all salinities, ranging from 10-40 ppt, indicating insignificant influence on the oxygen consumption by the larvae. Similarly, the correlation coefficient values showed that the relationship between oxygen consumption and salinity was not significant (P > 0.05; r = 0.245). During the first three hours, the oxygen consumption was 8.89, 10.72, 17.4, and 12.06% at 10, 20, 30, and 40 ppt salinities, respectively. Meanwhile, the maximum oxygen consumption was recorded after 12 hrs, i.e. at salinity 20 ppt. A sudden drop in oxygen consumption was recorded during 3-6 hours of the experiment. This was followed by a gradual increase in the consumption of oxygen up to 12 hours of experiment. A similar trend in the oxygen consumption was observed in different pH levels, ranging from 5 to 9. At pH 6 and 9, during the first six hour, a moderate consumption of oxygen was observed. However, at pH 6, 7 and 8, the rates of oxygen consumption were found to be relatively greater after six hours, indicating unfavourable conditions. The data were statistically tested and it was found that a high degree of correlations existed between pH and oxygen consumption (r = 0.97). The analysis of covariance showed a significant relationship between oxygen consumption and pH (P < 0.05). Meanwhile, minimal variation in oxygen consumption was recorded between 30 and 40oC, with a
gradual decrease in dissolved oxygen concentration up to 12 hours of experimental time. At 50oC,
almost all dissolved oxygen was consumed by the larvae. The rate of oxygen consumption between
30 and 40oC was low during the first 9 hours of the experiment but it was significantly increased at later hours. A sudden increase in the oxygen consumption was recorded at 50oC, suggesting that it
might be the most unfavourable temperature condition. Meanwhile, a significant relationship was
observed between temperature and oxygen consumption (P < 0.05; r = 0.98).