A study has been carried out to characterize hydrocarbons emitted from the burning of three tropical wood species. The woods were burned to ember and smoke aerosols emitted were sampled using high volume sampler fitted with a pre-cleaned glass fibre filters. Hydrocarbons were extracted using ultrasonic agitation with dichloromethane-methanol (3:1 v/v) as solvent and the extracts obtained were then fractionated on silica-alumina column. Detection and quantification of aliphatic and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) compounds were carried out using GC-MS. The results indicated that the major aliphatic hydrocarbons characterized were straight chain n-alkanes in the range of C12-C35 with Cmax in the range of C27-C33. Rhizophora apiculata and Hevea brasiliensis wood smoke exhibited a weak odd to even carbon number predominance with carbon preference index (CPI) values greater than one whereas Melaleuca cajuputi wood smoke aerosols did not exhibit similar pattern with CPI obtained close to one. The results obtained also indicated that burning of these wood resulted in formation of PAHs compounds in their smoke aerosols with predominance of three to four rings PAHs over the two, five and lesser of six rings PAHs. PAH diagnostic ratios calculated except for Flan/(Flan+Py) and Indeno/(Indeno+BgP) were consistent with the ratios suggested for wood combustion source as reported in literatures. In the case of the latter, two diagnostic ratios, the values were generally lower than the range normally reported for wood combustion.
Dalam kajian ini, bakteria asid laktik (LAB) serta sebatian aroma ikan pekasam daripada spesies yang berbeza
ditentukan. Persampelan ikan pekasam iaitu tilapia, loma, lampam, sepat dan gelama diperoleh daripada pembekal
Perusahaan Ikan Pekasam Kiah di Kuala Kangsar, Perak. Penentuan spesies LAB dijalankan melalui kaedah pencairan
bersiri, pengkulturan LAB, ujian katalase, ujian pewarnaan spora serta ujian pengesanan Gram bakteria dan morfologi.
Pengesahan spesies LAB dijalankan melalui pengekstrakan asid deoksiribonukleik (DNA), amplifikasi dengan tindak
balas rantaian polimerasi (PCR), analisis elektroforesis gel dan penjujukan DNA. Hasil jujukan DNA yang diperoleh
dibandingkan dengan jujukan dalam pangkalan data GenBank di NCBI menggunakan BLAST. Didapati Lactobacillus
brevis KB290 DNA dan Lactobacillus casei W56 wujud dalam pekasam tilapia, Lactobacillus plantarum 16 dalam
pekasam lampam, Lactobacillus casei BD-II kromosom dan Lactobacillus plantarum WCFS1 dalam pekasam sepat,
Corynebacterium vitaeruminis DSM 20294 dan Streptococcus anginosus C1051 dalam pekasam gelama. Manakala
Staphylococcus carnosus subsp. carnosus TM300 kromosom adalah LAB dominan dalam pekasam loma. Sementara
itu, sebatian aroma ditentukan melalui kaedah pengekstrakan cecair menggunakan pelarut metanol dan heksana.
Pemprofilan sebatian aroma dijalankan dengan kromatografi gas-spektometer jisim (GC-MS). Sebatian aroma dalam
ekstrak metanol dan heksana daripada lima jenis ikan pekasam dibandingkan. Bilangan sebatian aroma yang diekstrak
menggunakan metanol adalah lebih banyak berbanding dengan yang menggunakan heksana. Sebatian aroma yang
paling banyak dikesan adalah daripada pekasam loma. Asid karboksilik merupakan sebatian yang paling dominan
dalam ikan pekasam dan memberi bau hamis serta tengik.
The use of cell lines such as Madin-Darby Canine Kidney (MDCK) and African Green Monkey Kidney (Vero) cells in
influenza vaccine production is much advocated presently as a safer alternative to chicken embryonated eggs. It is
thus essential to understand the influenza virus replication patterns in these cell lines prior to utilizing them in vaccine
production. The infectivity of avian influenza A virus (A/Chicken/Malaysia/5858/2004) H5N1 in MDCK and Vero cell
lines was first assessed by comparing the cytopathic effect (CPE) caused by the virus infection. The viral loads in both
of the infected media and cells were also compared. The results showed that both of the MDCK and Vero cells began to
exhibit significant CPE (p<0.05) after 48 h post-infection (h p.i). The MDCK cell line was more susceptible to the virus
infection compared to Vero cell line throughout the incubation period. A higher viral load was also detected in the host
cells compared to their respective culturing media. Interestingly, after reaching its maximum titer at 48 h p.i, the viral
load in MDCK cells declined meanwhile the viral load in Vero cells increased gradually and peaked at 120 h p.i. Overall,
both cell lines support efficient H5N1 virus replication. While the peak viral loads measured in the two cell lines did
not differ much, a more rapid replication was observed in the infected MDCK samples. The finding showed that MDCK
cell line might serve as a more time-saving and cost-effective cell culture-based system compared to Vero cell line for
influenza vaccine production.
Boesenbergia rotunda is a medicinal ginger that has been found to contain several bioactive compounds such as
boesenbergin A, panduratin A, cardamonin, pinostrobin and pinocembrin. These compounds are useful in treating various
ailments, such as oral diseases, inflammation and have also been used as an aphrodisiac. In this study, an efficient
protocol for developing and isolating protoplast cultures for B. rotunda has been established. Rhizome buds of B. rotunda
were used as explants to initiate callus growth and the established cell suspension cultures were used to optimize their
growth conditions. Our results indicated that embryogenic suspension cultures in liquid Murashige and Skoog (MS)
medium supplemented with 3% (w/v) sucrose produced the highest growth rate (µ = 0.1125), whereas no promotive effect
was seen in the presence of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid and those that underwent sonication treatment. Amount of
protoplasts isolated ranging from 1-5 × 105
protoplast per mL were isolated using 0.25% (w/v) macerozyme and 1%
(w/v) cellulase for 24 h under continuous agitation (50 rpm) in dark condition. Of the isolated protoplasts, 54.93% were
viable according to fluorescein diacetate staining test. Micro-colonies were recovered in liquid MS medium containing
9 g/L mannitol, 2 mg/L 1-naphthaleneacetic acid and 0.5 mg/L benzylaminopurine (BAP) for 4 weeks and subsequently
transferred to solid MS medium supplemented with 0.5 mg/L BAP for callus initiation. The protoplast system established
in this study would be useful for genetic manipulation and modern breeding program of B. rotund
The use of honey as a therapeutic agent dates back at 8000 years and has markedly increased interest into its potential
health benefits. The by-products of the flower nectar have a complex chemical composition which promotes benefits in
underlying mechanism of human diseases. Malaysian Tualang Honey (MTH) is a multifloral jungle honey produced by
the rock bee (Apis dorsata). This review consolidates the results of carious studies involving biochemical assays of tissue
culture and animal trials of anti-cancer properties of MTH. Often studied in the context of breast cancer cell lines, MTH
has promising data for possible mechanisms in anti-cancer activity. These include apoptosis via depolarization of the
mitochondrial membrane, caspase-dependent apoptosis, reduction of angiogenesis and the promotion of cell cycle arrest
without posing cytotoxic effect on normal cell lines. Despite positive outcomes in tissue cultures, the oral administration
of MTH in breast cancer animal models showed slower tumour progression, reduction in tumour size and better grading
of histological features. The alleviation of breast carcinogenesis via modulation of hematologic, estrogenic and apoptotic
activities promotes MTH as a promising anticancer agent. With confidence in a conclusion that MTH is a useful treatment
for cancer, further experimental and clinical studies should be conducted.
Bacteria play an important roles in the soil ecosystem and in the rhizosphere, they are intricately linked to nutrient content
and its accessibility to plants, plant protection and sometimes pathogenicity. Banana grows well in the tropics and it is
popularly grown in Orang Asli (OA) (indigenous people) settlements. Banana is also grown in commercial plantations.
In traditional planting practices, the OA do not add pesticide nor fertilizer to their crops which are planted for selfsustenance
mainly. On the other hand, fertilizer and pesticide are added to commercial banana plantations to maximise
yield. Rhizosphere bacteria from the banana plant, Pisang Nipah, grown in OA fields and commercial plantations were
identified by clone library construction of the 16S rRNA gene. This was to determine whether farming practices influenced
the bacterial community in the banana plant rhizosphere. Acidobacteria, Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria were found in
all the soil. Other common phyla found in some soil (but not all) were Nitrospirae, Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, Chloroflexi,
Verrumicrobia, Gemmatimonadetes and Cyanobacteria. The bacterial diversity was a little more diverse in the OA fields
than the commercial plantations. The latter had higher contents of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. These could
have exerted selective pressure to reduce the bacterial diversity in the commercial plantations.
The effect of partial substitution of pumpkin flour for rice flour on the physical properties and sensory attributes of gluten-free muffin were investigated. Pumpkin flour was used to replace 10, 15 and 20% rice flour in a control gluten-free muffin formulation (without pumpkin flour). The partial substitution of pumpkin flour for rice flour did not affect moisture content of gluten-free muffins. However, the pumpkin flour substitution caused significant reduction in water activity of gluten-free muffins. Results on the volume, specific volume and height of all gluten-free muffins showed no significant effect with the increasing percentage of pumpkin flour substitution. However, pumpkin flour substitution significantly reduced the firmness of composite muffins, and improved its springiness. The colour of crumb progressively became darker as the level of pumpkin flour substitution increased. Moreover, the results also showed that the substitution of pumpkin flour caused an increase in yellowness (b*) value of crust and crumb of gluten-free muffin. Sensory evaluation indicated that all gluten-free muffins incorporated with pumpkin flour received similar score when compared to that of control.
A new innovation has been created which is called AUTOMATIC MEAT SLICING (AMS) MACHINE. The main purpose of the machine creation is to replace the old-style method in slicing the chicken meat to modern method. BABARITTOS DELIGHT supplies Tortillas Wrap to the latest trend of Food & Beverage (F&B) business called Food Truck. The main ingredient of Burritos is slices of boneless chicken meat, where each slice is approximately has to be 5 mm thick. Formerly, the slicing procedure used a normal cutting knife and its production rate was truncated as the demands of the Burritos are going higher by days. This method requires 3 to 4 workers to team up to complete the 30 kg boneless chicken meat to be cut into roughly 5 mm per slice within one and half hour. The AMS machine is predominant to help the company to grow the output of sliced meat and at the same time can reduce the number of workers. The usage of AMS machine is only required one worker for the operation and the output can be up to 30kg per 30mins, which is actually can end up almost 3 times quantity of output and 3 times labor cost-saving. Meanwhile the quality of the sliced meat is much enhanced as most of the slice meat is precisely 5mm thick. The AMS concept design is cutting the meat using several circular cutting blades, where the chicken will be put on the moving conveyor and finally will fall onto the hygienic tray.
Anaemia in patients on renal replacement therapy is a cornmon problem and response to treatment with erythropoietin may be limited by functiollal iron deficiency. We recently studied prospectively for 22 weeks the effect of iron supplemetltation via intramuscular and oral vs intramuscular vs oral routes in 16 patients on chronic haemodialysis with renal anaenlia treated with erythropoietin injections. The rise in haemoglobin was significant in all patients except those on intramuscular iron only. This study supports unconfirmed observations that oral iron supplementation may be effective in patients with renal anaemia associated with functional iron deficiency. KEYWORDS: Renal, Anaemia, Erythropoietin, Iron deficiency, Oral, Parenteral.
Familial amyloid polyneuropathy is most commonly associated with variant plasma transthyretin (TTR) although it has been described in association with variant apolipoprotein A1 and gelsolin. More than 40 TTR variants, all consisting of single amino acid substitutions diskibuted widely along the length of the 127 residue TTR subunit have now been described. We report here a novel TTR variant, Glu18, in a Colombian woman with TTR amyloidosis.
Certain public service pre-school teachers have been trained as vision screeners of children. However, there are no studies that assessed the knowledge and skills retention of these screeners. This study determines the level of knowledge retention among pre-school teachers who have been trained to perform vision screening on children. In 2013, 180 KEMAS pre-school teachers were recruited in a vision screening training which included both theory and practical sessions. Teachers were assessed through a theory test which comprised of 15 questions, firstly a category on the preparations needed for vision screening and secondly on the implementation of vision screening. They were then asked to conduct pre-school vision screening annually at their working premises. In 2016, 136 teachers who had been involved in the earlier program were recruited as subjects in this study. All these subjects answered the same set of theory test questions used in 2013. The Student’s t-test result indicated that the mean theory test scores obtained by the pre-school teachers in 2013 (84.3 ± 7.8) differed significantly with the mean scores obtained in 2016 (67.5 ± 11.3) (p < 0.001). The mean scores in 2013 for questions in the first and second categories were 4.5 and 4.4, decreasing to 4.2 and 3.7 in 2016. The knowledge level of pre-school teachers thus decreased with time and this effect was found significant after 3 years. There is therefore a need to conduct re-certification training, so that the screening conducted by these pre-school teachers remains effective and in accordance with established standards.
Introduction: Gait pattern analysis is a scientific procedure used for describing the human walking pattern and examining it for characteristic idiosyncrasies.The identification of perpetrators by means of Closed-circuit Television (CCTV) is commonly used.But footprint based gait patterns are generally found at crime scenes like burglary, murder, rape etc. This study was aimed to study the footprint based gait analysis among Malaysian Indians.
Method: The study subjects consist of 100 Malaysian Indians (50 males, 50 females) and gait patterns were collected by using footprint ink, roller and footprint plate following the standard procedure for analysis.
Result: The result of this study shows that gender can be determined from footprint based gait pattern analysis. The study also proved that no two gait patterns are similar, like fingerprints.
Conclusion: Footprint based gait pattern analysis is a promising method for inclusion and exclusion of suspects and finally for person identification and the findings can be very well applied in real scene of crime in forensic perspective.
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is known to cause acute and chronic active hepatitis. In addition, HCV also has systemic disorder involvement that links to various extra-hepatic complications. We report a case of a patient which has been diagnosed to have Hepatitis C Genotype 3A who has been started on antiviral. He achieved end treatment response and sustained virologic response. During routine follow up, he experienced acute kidney injury. Renal biopsy showed type III membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis. His proteinuria improved greatly with the addi- tion of angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor. This case highlights the possibility of appearance of HCV related glomerulonephritis in patient who has sustained virological response.
Strongyloides stercoralis is an intestinal nematode which is endemic in tropical and subtropical countries. The global prevalence of Strongyloides is unknown. Strongyloidiasis is found more frequently in the socioeconomically disadvantaged, in institutionalized populations, and in rural areas. The spectrum of disease varies. It may cause asymptomatic infection, mild eosinophilia or hyperinfection syndrome in the most severe form. Here we reported a case of Strongyloides hyperinfection syndrome in an immunosuppressed patient. This patient is a 54-year-old man with myasthenia gravis on long term azathioprine and prednisolone. He presented with fever associated with diarrhoea and was in septic shock. His blood culture was positive forKlebsiella pneumoniae.Strongyloides stercoralis larvae were detected in his sputum and stool sample. He was diagnosed to have Strongyloides hyperinfection and was treated with subcutaneous ivermectin. He recovered well. Our case demonstrated the association of Strongyloideshyperinfection with superimposed gram-negative sepsis as a consequence of prolonged immunosuppression. A high index of suspicion is needed in approaching patient with risk factors of hyperinfection syndrome.
Today sport and tourism are among the developed worlds’ most sought after leisure experiences and are becoming very important reflecting the hos t venue both socially and culturally. In this new era, many challenges were even more significant for Malaysia as she is not yet developed like other countries. Therefore, a careful selection of a potential place as a host venue for sports’ event is import an t. In line with that notion, this study aims to examine residents’ perception towards social and cultural impacts on hosting World Kite Festival in Pasir Gudang, Johor. A self administered questionnaire was developed. A total of 461 residents were succes sf ully surveyed and their perceptions towards social and cultural impacts were assessed by utilizing Scale of Perceived Social Impact (SPSI). All obtained data were further analyzed by using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS). In order to achiev e the research objectives, descriptive statistic was used for assessing the percentages, mean, rank and standard deviation. While independent t Test was used to investigate the gender differences among residents at World Kite Festival. The finding indicate s that there was a positive impact of hosting a sports’ event to the resident at Pasir Gudang although some negative impacts were witnessed. Thus, some improvement is needed.
The occasional influenza pandemics and the seasonal influenza epidemics have destroyed millions of lives since
the last century. It is therefore necessary to understand the virus replication patterns as this provides essential
information on the virus infectivity, pathogenicity and spread patterns. This study aimed to investigate the replication
of avian influenza A virus H5N1 (A/Chicken/Malaysia/5858/2004) in MDCK cells. In this study, the TCID50 (50% tissue
culture infectious dose) of AIV H5N1 was first determined. The MDCK cells were then infected with AIV H5N1 at TCID50
for 0-48 h. The CPE (cytopathic effect) was observed and cell death was determined hourly. The virus-infected cells
and media were subsequently collected for gene analysis. The results showed that the TCID50 of AIV H5N1 was 10-9
dilution. The CPE percentage showed a strong and positive correlation with the infection period (r = 1.0, n = 9, p <
0.01). The amount of a highly conserved influenza viral gene, M2 gene amplified from infected media (r = 0.471, n =
9, p= > 0.05) and infected cell (r = 0.73, n = 9, p < 0.05) were also positively correlated with the infection period. In
conclusion, although CPE started to be observed in the early time points of infection, however, the M2 gene was only
amplified from the infected media and cells after 48 h and 24 h, respectively. This signifies that AIV H5N1 used in this
study is pathogenic and it is able to cause severe cytopathology to host cells even at low virus load.
BACKGROUND: Apolipoprotein E (apoE) is encoded by a polymorphic gene located on chromosome 19. The three common apoE alleles are epsilon2, epsilon3 and epsilon4. We studied the frequencies of the apoE alleles and genotypes in the three ethnic groups-Malay, Chinese and Indian-in Malaysia using DNA amplification followed by agarose gel electrophoresis.
METHODS: EDTA blood was collected and DNA was extracted using proteinase K-SDS digestion and purified by phenol-chloroform extraction. The apoE gene sequence was amplified using the PCR and apoE genotyping was performed by restriction enzyme digestion with HhaI.
RESULTS: Genotyping of the apoE gene produces six genotypes-E2/E2, E2/E3, E3/E3, E2/E4, E3/E4 and E4/E4. The most common apoE genotype in the Malays, Chinese and Indians studied was E3/E3, thus the most common apoE allele was epsilon3. The three common apoE genotypes were E3/E3 followed by E3/E4 and E2/E3, except in the Indians where E2/E3 was not detected. The three apoE alleles were confirmed in the Malays, Chinese and Indians except for the epsilon2 allele which was absent in the Indians.
CONCLUSION: The combined frequency of the apoE alleles in the Malays, Chinese and Indians was 0.058, 0.829 and 0.114 for epsilon2, epsilon3 and epsilon4, respectively.
Thermal processing of green coconut water (GCW) caused non-enzymic browning and development of rancidity. Effect of the addition of several combinations of ascorbic acid (AA) (0 to 100 ppm) and sodium metabisulfite (SMB) (0 to 30 ppm) on brown discolouration and rancidity of GCW during elevated thermal processing (121°C for 5 min at 15 psi) was investigated. Addition of AA and/or SMB significantly (P
Colon carcinogenesis is a malignant tumor, and is well-known as the third leading cancer,
which contributes to high mortality and morbidity worldwide. Brewers’ rice, known locally as
temukut, consists of a mixture of broken kernels with rice bran and rice germ which is a byproduct
produced in the rice industry. Although extensive studies on the anti-cancer properties
of rice bran, published data on the cytotoxicity of brewers’ rice are very limited. The present
study was conducted to evaluate the apoptosis induction capability of the water extract of
brewers’ rice (WBR) on human colorectal cancer (HT-29) cell line. The HT-29 cells were
treated with various concentrations (16, 32, and 64 μg/mL) of WBR for 24 and 48 hours. The
morphological analysis of apoptotic cells was evaluated using inverted light microscope and
fluorescence microscope. The apoptotic HT-29 cells was evaluated using Annexin V-FITC and
propidium iodide (PI) staining apoptosis test and cell cycle analyses. The data obtained were
evaluated using a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and P < 0.05 was considered statistical
significant. Overall analyses indicated that WBR induced typical characteristics of apoptosis in
HT-29 cells, including nuclear fragmentation (NF), nuclear compaction (NC), apoptotic bodies
(AB), cellular shrinkage (CS), and chromatin condensation (CC), as visualized under inverted
light microscope and fluorescence microscope. Cell cycle analyses and Annexin V-FITC and
propidium iodide (PI) staining apoptosis test using flow cytometry revealed that WBR induced
apoptotic population in HT-29 cells. In this study, our findings provide clear evidence that
WBR inhibits the growth of HT-29 cells via induction of apoptosis. Taken together, we suggest
that WBR may be a potential candidate for the prevention and treatment of colorectal cancer.