There is not much information available on the distribution of the Sunda colugo (Galeopterus variegates) in Malaysia, despite it being one of only two known species in the order Dermoptera. Data on the presence of the Sunda colugo and the vernacular names used by various ethnic groups throughout Malaysia were collected and compiled from various primary and secondary sources. There were 27 locations from Peninsular, 11
locations from Sabah and 34 locations from Sarawak that reported the presence of the Sunda colugo throughout Malaysia. The various ethnic groups of Malaysia adopted 37 different vernacular names to describe the Sunda colugo. This baseline data can be useful for the management authorities in conducting periodic monitoring and will enhance our knowledge of the population dynamics of the Sunda colugo in Malaysia.
The oil palm seed production unit that generates germinated oil palm seeds is the first link in the palm oil supply chain, followed by the nursery to produce seedling, the plantation to produce fresh fruit bunches (FFB), the mill to produce crude palm oil (CPO) and palm kernel, the kernel crushers to produce crude palm kernel oil (CPKO), the refinery to produce refined palm oil (RPO) and finally the palm biodiesel plant to produce palm biodiesel. This assessment aims to investigate the life cycle assessment (LCA) of germinated oil palm seeds and the use of LCA to identify the stage/s in the production of germinated oil palm seeds that could contribute to the environmental load. The method for the life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) is modelled using SimaPro version 7, (System for Integrated environMental Assessment of PROducts), an internationally established tool used by LCA practitioners. This software contains European and US databases on a number of materials in addition to a variety of European- and US-developed impact assessment methodologies. LCA was successfully conducted for five seed production units and it was found that the environmental impact for the production of germinated oil palm was not significant. The characterised results of the LCIA for the production of 1000 germinated oil palm seeds showed that fossil fuel was the major impact category followed by respiratory inorganics and climate change.
The palm oil industry has played an important role in the economic development of Malaysia and has enhanced the economic welfare of its people. To determine the environmental impact of the oil palm seedling at the nursery stage, information on inputs and outputs need to be assessed. The oil palm nursery is the first link in the palm oil supply chain. A gate-to-gate study was carried out whereby the system boundary was set to only include the process of the oil palm seedling. The starting point was a germinated seed in a small polyethylene bag (6 in × 9 in) in which it remained until the seedling was approximately 3 to 4 months old. The seedling was then transferred into a larger polyethylene bag (12 in × 15 in), where it remained until it was 10-12 months old, when it was planted in the field (plantation). The functional unit for this life cycle inventory (LCI) is based on the production of one seedling. Generally, within the system boundary, the production of an oil palm seedling has only two major environmental impact points, the polybags used to grow the seedling and the fungicide (dithiocarbamate) used to control pathogenic fungi, as both the polybags and the dithiocarbamate are derived from fossil fuel.
Endophytic nitrogen fixing bacteria were isolated from the leaves, stems and roots of industrial variety (cv. U-Thong 3; UT3), wild and chewing sugarcane plants grown for 6 weeks in nitrogen (N)-free sand. Eighty nine isolates of endophytic bacteria were obtained on N-free agar. An acetylene reduction assay (ARA) detected nitrogenase activity in all 89 isolates. Three isolates from the chewing (C2HL2, C7HL1 and C34MR1) sugarcane and one isolate from the industrial sugarcane (UT3R1) varieties were characterised, and their responses to different yeast extract concentrations were investigated. Three different responses in nitrogenase activity were observed. Isolates C2HL2 and C7HL1 exhibited major increases with the addition of 0.005% yeast extract, C34MR1 exhibited no response, and UT3R1 exhibited a significant decrease in nitrogenase activity with 0.005% yeast extract. In all the isolates, nitrogenase activity decreased with further increase of the yeast extract to 0.05%. The highest nitrogenase activity was observed in isolates C2HL2 and C7HL1, which had 16S rRNA gene sequences that were closely related to Novosphingobium sediminicola and Ochrobactrum intermedium, respectively.
The current study aimed to determine the best dose of methanol extract of Ocimum tenuiflorum L. leaves extract, and it is a fraction to blood-glucose-lowering in diabetic rats, and evaluated the α-amylase, α-glucosidase inhibitors and insulin level of diabetic rats used to achieve greater control over hyperglycemia. The result of the antihyperglycaemic of oral administration of a different dose of methanol extract in streptozotocin-induced rats showed that the highest dose of methanol extract significantly reduced the blood glucose level compared to another dose. Also, the result of repeated administration of methanol fractions indicates that ethyl acetate-butanol fraction exhibited a stronger antihyperglycemic effect than chloroform and ethanol-water fractions. Moreover, the result showed that effect of methanol extract and its fraction on α-glucosidase and α-amylase enzymes activities and its insulin level by in vitro study, ethyl acetate-butanol fraction could control with low concentration compared to other fractions and acarbose that used as a positive control. From the result of insulin level, methanol extract and fraction did not show any significant. These findings indicated that the active crude extract (methanol) and its active fractions (ethyl acetate/butanol) could exert significant glucose-lowering effect due to the presence of polyphenolics active constituents. In conclusion, isolation of the active components of Ocimum tenuiflorum L. may pave the way to the development of new agents for the treatment of diabetes and its complications.
This study provides the first marine gastropod checklist from the Sarawak Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). Gastropod samples were collected from selected stations in the Sarawak EEZ using an otter trawl net with a stretched mesh size of 38 mm at the cod end. The trawling operations were conducted more than 12 nautical miles from the coast, and the area was divided into three depth strata: I) 20-50 m, II) 50-100 m and III) 100-200 m. A total of 23 gastropod species were identified during the two-month sampling period from 16 August until 6 October 2015, representing 8 superfamilies, 15 families and 20 genera. Superfamily Tonnoidea was represented by 7 species, followed by Muricoidea (5 species), Cypraeoidea (4 species), and Buccinoidea and Conoidea (both with 2 species). Other superfamilies were represented by a single species. Only 3 species were obtained in 2 depth strata, namely Melo melo, Murex aduncospinosus and Tonna galea. In addition, 9, 13 and 4 species of gastropods were found in strata I, II and III, respectively. The information on gastropod distributions at different depth strata in the Sarawak EEZ could be useful in updating the Malaysian species diversity database.
Aqueous extracts prepared from the powdered entire pomaces and their parts (seeds and peels) of two Iraqi grape cultivars (Shada and Des-Alanez) were evaluated for their ovicidal, larvicidal, and pupicidal activities against housefly, Musca domestica (Linnaeus 1758) and compared them with chemical insecticide (Agita 10 WG; Austria). The highest insecticidal activity was shown by the aqueous extracts of powdered seeds followed by the entire pomace and then peels. The water extracts from the seeds, peels and pomaces were able to inhibit completely the hatching of the eggs at a concentration of 150 μg/ml while the Agita insecticide was able to inhibit the hatching process at a concentration of 50 μg/ml. The water extracts also were able to kill the L3 larvae and the activity was increasing with the increasing of the concentration. It is very interesting to note that the addition of the powdered entire pomaces, seeds, and peels on top or at the bottom of the cow manure was able to inhibit the development of up to 50% and 47.5% of L1 to pupae and to adult flies, respectively. Taking into consideration the huge amounts of grape pomaces that produced annually, the cheap price and the ease in dealing with, make them a good candidate as alternative insecticides and environmentally more friendly than the chemical insecticides.
Flying foxes are threatened throughout their geographic range, and there are large gaps in the understanding of their landscape-scale habitat use. This study identified potential habitats in Limbang, Sarawak and informed potential distribution based on dispersal and interview surveys. Here, biological surveys were combined with interviews of local communities in Limbang Mangrove National Park (LMNP), Sarawak to illustrate distribution and the communities' perception on the protected flying fox (Pteropus vampyrus). Mangrove forest areas were surveyed for for the presence of flying foxes and villagers were interviewed regarding the use by flying foxes of agricultural areas and instances of conflict. Boat and questionnaire surveys were conducted for nine days from 18 to 27 February 2021. The surveys did not record any flying fox roosting sites within the national park and was instead observed to fly from Menunggul Island, Brunei into the national park in the evenings and back to Brunei in the mornings. A total of 27 flying foxes were recorded during the boat survey. Flying foxes were detected from 8/154 survey points and their spatial distribution appeared to be concentrated along Sungai Limpaku Pinang. Most respondents were aware of the species while some have directly observed them in fruit orchards, mangroves, rivers and mixed dipterocarp forests. Eleven perception-based questions were presented, and results showed that locality and income were the most influential parameters exhibiting conservation awareness through Boosted Regression Trees (BRT) analysis. Most respondents believe that flying foxes can uplift the local economy through ecotourism opportunities. However, these findings need to be carefully interpreted as the species has a large home range. Hence, long-term monitoring should be established to generate a larger dataset for stronger analysis to better represent the distribution and occurrence of this species in LMNP.
Environmental temperature rises are powerful stimuli that can alter both the sympathetic nervous system and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical axis (HPA). Heat stress has been shown to harm pregnancy outcomes such as causing spontaneous abortion, low birth weight, growth retardation and stillbirth. Supplementation of bee bread in pregnant rats under heat stress exposure has been shown to improve the pregnancy outcomes. However, whether supplementation of bee bread during heat stress exposure may also reduce the level of the stress hormone, corticosterone has yet been reported. Therefore, this study aims to determine the effect of bee bread on corticosterone level, progesterone level, oestradiol level and zonation of the adrenal cortex of pregnant rats under heat stress exposure. Pregnant rats were randomly categorised into four groups (n = 6): Control (C: standard feeding), Treatment 1 (T1: 0.5 g bee bread/kg body weight/day), Treatment 2 (T2: standard feeding with heat exposure), and Treatment 3 (T3: 0.5 g bee bread/kg body weight/day with heat exposure). Bee bread (0.5 g/kg body weight/day) was force-fed to pregnant rats through oral gavage beginning on day 0 of pregnancy and continuing until delivery. Heat stress was generated experimentally by putting both T2 and T3 rats in an egg incubator for 45 min daily at a temperature of 43°C till delivery. On a postnatal Day 21, dams were euthanised to assess serum corticosterone, progesterone, oestradiol levels and adrenal gland histology. Rats in the T2 group had a significantly (P < 0.05) increase in the zona fasciculata thickness (94.95 ± 1.55 μm) and higher corticosterone levels (49.57 ± 1.57 ng/mL) compared with control. However, supplementation of bee bread during heat stress was able to show an improvement in adrenal zona fasciculata thickness by decreasing to 79.89 ± 3.08 μm and corticosterone level reduced to 35.31 ± 1.73 ng/mL significantly (P < 0.05). Therefore, these findings may imply that bee bread is effective as a neutralizer in lowering the production of stress hormone.
A comparison study was conducted to determine the bird species composition, relative abundance, species diversity and feeding guilds based on point count (PC) and mist netting (MN) at the Paya Indah Wetland Reserve (PIWR), Peninsular Malaysia. A total of 13872 bird observations belonging to 100 species and 38 families were recorded using the PC method over 15 consecutive months, and a total of 1478 bird individuals
belonging to 65 species and 33 families were captured using the MN method over 1260 netting hours. The results showed that Treron vernans (1723 observations; 12.42%) was the most abundant bird species using the PC method, whereas Pycnonotus goiavier (378 individuals; 25.64%) was the most abundant bird species using the MN method. The Ardeidae (9 species; 23.68%) was the most dominant family using the PC method, but the Rallidae (6 species; 18.18%) was the most dominant family using the MN method. The PC method produced higher species diversity (Shannon’s N1 = 31.22) and richness (Margalef’s R1 = 10.42) than MN, whereas the MN method produced higher species evenness (McIntosh’s E = 0.86) than the PC method. Frugivore/insectivore comprised of bulbuls, orioles, pigeons and starlings was the most dominant feeding guild in both methods (PC = 27.81% and MN = 32.88%). In contrast, carnivore was the rarest feeding guild in both methods (i.e. PC = 0.17% and MN = 0.20%). These findings indicate that the PC method is more efficient and produces better results than the MN method.
The distribution of benthic Foraminifera throughout the coastal waters of Taman Negara Pulau Pinang (Penang National Park), Malaysia was studied to assess the impact of various anthropogenic activities, such as fishing, ecotourism and floating cage culture. Samples were obtained at 200 m intervals within the subtidal zone, extending up to 1200 m offshore at Teluk Bahang, Teluk Aling, Teluk Ketapang and Pantai Acheh. The depth within coastal waters ranged between 1.5 m and 10.0 m, with predominantly muddy substrate at most stations. Water quality analysis showed little variation in micronutrient (nitrite, NO2; nitrate, NO3; ammonia, NH4 and orthophosphate, PO4) concentrations between sampling stations. Temperature (29.6±0.48°C), salinity (29.4±0.28 ppt), dissolved oxygen content (5.4±0.95 mg/l) and pH (8.5± 0.13) also showed little fluctuation between stations. A total of nine genera of foraminifera were identified in the study (i.e., Ammonia, Elphidium, Ammobaculites, Bigenerina, Quinqueloculina, Reopax, Globigerina, Textularia and Nonion). The distribution of benthic foraminifera was dominated by opportunistic groups that have a high tolerance to anthropogenic stressors. Ammonia had the highest frequency of occurrence (84.7%), followed by Bigenerina (50%), Ammobaculites (44.2%) and Elphidium (38.9%). The Ammonia-Elphidium Index (AEI) was used to describe the hypoxic condition of benthic communities at all sites. Teluk Bahang had the highest AEI value. The foraminiferal assemblages and distribution in Teluk Bahang, Teluk Aling, Teluk Ketapang and Pantai Acheh showed no correlation with physical or chemical environmental parameters.
This study investigated the influence of spent mushroom compost (SMC) of Pleurotus eous strain P-31 on the growth, development and soil rhizobial population associated with nodulation of cowpea (Vigna unguiculata Walp.) black-eye variety, under greenhouse conditions at 28 ± 2ºC for 12 weeks. Sandy loam soil was combined with different percentages of SMC to obtain the following combinations (0%, 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, 25%, 30%, 100%). Lower concentrations, SMC (5%-25%) promoted plant height, number of leaves, total leaf area, total chlorophyll, chlorophyll a and b as well as dry matter accumulation of shoot and roots after 12 weeks at 28°C-32°C. Soil: SMC concentrations beyond 30% SMC variably depressed the various developmental criteria used in assessing growth. The trend obtained in the assessed parameter were statistically significant (p ≤ 0.05) in decreasing order: 5% SMC < 10% SMC < 15% SMC, < 20% SMC, < 25% SMC, < 30% SMC, < 100% SMC. The cowpea plant efficiently assimilated nitrogen (N2) from the soil: compost. Nodule formation by cowpea was commensurate with increasing percentage of spent compost was highest in 5% SMC (89/plant) and declined with increasing proportion of SMC: soil mixture up to 25% but nodulation of cowpea plant was completely depressed in the absence of soil (100% SMC) pots. The Nodule Index data showed that the best nodule size and weight were formed by cowpea growing in medium containing 5% SMC (18) and 10% SMC (12) and thereafter declined. The nodules were red to pinkish in colour epitomising leghaemoglobin which could initiate nodulation and N2 fixation in soil. This study has shown that 5% SMC-20% SMC could provide favourable conditions in soil as a biofertiliser to improve the growth, development and nodulation of cowpea.
Macrophages provide the first line of defense against Shigella flexneri infection in the gastrointestinal tract by inducing a variety of inflammatory and antimicrobial responses. Secondary metabolites of plants are used as drugs against infections that are resistant to common antibiotics. In this study, the innate effects of asiaticoside on the proinflammatory activity of mouse macrophages infected with S. flexneri were investigated. The viability of the infected mouse macrophages were examined using viability assay, while the pro-inflammatory cytokines productions were determined using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for determination of IL-1β, IL-12 p40 and TNF-α levels. The production of nitric oxide (NO) and the expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) protein were determined using the Griess assay and western blot, respectively. Statistical analyses were performed using the Statistical Package of Social Sciences (SPSS) software, version 20. The data obtained from independent experiments (n = 3) were presented as the mean ± standard error of mean (SEM). The results showed that, asiaticoside stimulated the infected macrophages by stimulating increased production of TNF-α, IL-12 p40 and NO as well as increased expression of iNOS in a dose-dependent manner. In contrast the viability of the cells and the production of IL-1β and were reduced also in a dose-dependent manner when compared to untreated cells. These results indicate that asiaticoside has immunomodulatory effects on the innate immune function of infected macrophages, showing the potential use of this compound to reduce the clinical symptoms of the infections.
Basal stem rot (BSR) is a devastating disease to Malaysian oil palm. Current techniques employed for BSR disease detection on oil palm are laborious, time consuming, costly, and subjected to accuracy limitations. An ergosterol detection method was developed, whereby it correlated well with the degree of infection in oil palm. This current study was designed to study the relationship between Ganoderma biomass, ergosterol concentration, BSR disease progress and to validate the efficiency of microwave assisted extraction (MAE) method for extraction of ergosterol compound. In addition, testing on the sensitivity of thin layer chromatography (TLC) analysis for detection of ergosterol was also the aim of this study. The optimised procedure involved extracting a small amount of Ganoderma-infected oil palm root tissues suspended in low volumes of solvent followed by irradiation in a conventional microwave oven at 70°C and medium high power for 30 s, resulting in simultaneous extraction and saponification. Based on the results obtained, MAE method may be effective in extracting low to high yields of ergosterol from infected oil palm roots demonstrating disease scale 2, 3 and 4. Positive relationship was observed between ergosterol content and inoculation period starting day 3 in the inoculated oil palm seedlings and hour 6 in germinated seeds. TLC analysis demonstrated a good correlation with high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) quantification. Therefore, a semi-quantitative TLC analysis may be applied for handling a large amount of samples during onset field survey.
To date, the ivermectin resistance in nematode parasites has been reported
and many studies are carried out to determine the causes of this problem. A free-living
Caenorhabditis elegans is used as a model system for this study to investigate the
response of C. elegans to ivermectin exposure by using larval development assay. Worms
were exposed to ivermectin at concentration from 1 ng/mL to 10 ng/mL and dimethyl
sulphoxide (DMSO) as a control. The developments of the worms were monitored for 24,
48, 72, and 96 hours until the worms become adults. Results indicated that worms’ growth
began to be affected by ivermectin at a concentration of 5 ng/mL, while at the
concentration of 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 ng/mL, the growth of worms were inhibited compared to
control worms. Further study of the protein expression in C. elegans should be done to
investigate the up-regulated and down-regulated proteins involve in ivermectin resistance.
Kerengga (Oecophylla smaragdina) adalah satu komuniti serangga yang penting di kanopi pokok. Walau bagaimanapun, kajian tentang aktiviti pencarian makanan kerengga adalah terhad. Oleh sebab itu, satu kajian lapangan dijalankan untuk mengkaji pemilihan makanan dan aktiviti pencarian makanan oleh semut ini dijalankan selama tiga hari. Pemilihan makanan oleh kerengga ini dikaji dengan menggunakan tiga jenis makanan (tuna, kulit ayam, dan susu tepung) yang mengandungi protein, lipid, dan karbohidrat. Aktiviti pencarian makanan dikaji berdasarkan dua parameter iaitu suhu persekitaran dan kelembapan relatif yang direkod sepanjang tempoh experimen. Keputusan experimen menunjukkan O. smaragdina lebih menggemari makanan berprotein berbanding makanan berlipid dan berkabohidrat, serta aktiviti pencarian makanan dipengaruhi oleh suhu persekitaran dan kelembapan relatif. Hasil kajian ini menunjukkan bagaimana kerengga bertindak balas terhadap tiga jenis makanan yang berbeza dan secara tidak langsung, menunjukkan aktiviti pencarian makanan yang strategik untuk memaksimumkan bekalan makanan kepada koloni mereka.
In addition to scoping the impacts of the four most reported sources of recreational disturbance on shorebirds, this study also advances the concept of Tropical Asia (TA) to collectively describe tourist destinations in the ecologically and geopolitically diverse part of the planet that incorporates the tourism megaregion of South and Southeast Asia. At a time of growing global concern about the rapid decline of shorebird populations, many governments in TA are embracing and capitalising on the exponential growth in demand for coastal recreation and tourism across the region. This political response is partly driven by efforts to deliver economic development, aligned to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, in order to secure the livelihoods of people living in less developed coastal areas. However, the rapid increase in visitor numbers and the development of infrastructure to support the booming demand for coastal tourism destinations in TA are further exacerbating the pressures on shorebird populations across the region. Despite these growing pressures and the wealth of research reporting on shorebird populations across the Asian flyways, this scoping study identified surprisingly little research that reports on the recreational disturbance (RD) of shorebirds in TA. While undertaken to inform future research, this study also provides a synthesis of management strategies reported in the global literature into a set of management recommendations for coastal destinations in TA.
A molybdenum reducing bacterium with the novel ability to decolorise the azo dye Metanil Yellow is reported. Optimal conditions for molybdenum reduction were pH 6.3 and at 34°C. Glucose was the best electron donor. Another requirement includes a narrow phosphate concentration between 2.5 and 7.5 mM. A time profile of Mo-blue production shows a lag period of approximately 12 hours, a maximum amount of Mo-blue produced at a molybdate concentration of 20 mM, and a peak production at 52 h of incubation. The heavy metals mercury, silver, copper and chromium inhibited reduction by 91.9, 82.7, 45.5 and 17.4%, respectively. A complete decolourisation of the dye Metanil Yellow at 100 and 150 mg/L occurred at day three and day six of incubations, respectively. Higher concentrations show partial degradation, with an approximately 20% decolourisation observed at 400 mg/L. The bacterium is partially identified based on biochemical analysis as Bacillus sp. strain Neni-10. The absorption spectrum of the Mo-blue suggested the compound is a reduced phosphomolybdate. The isolation of this bacterium, which shows heavy metal reduction and dye-decolorising ability, is sought after, particularly for bioremediation.
Bird surveys were conducted in the Bukit Kepala Gajah limestone area in Lenggong, Perak from July 2010 to January 2011. The study area was divided into three zones: forest edge, forest intermediate and forest interior. A point-count distance sampling method was used in the bird surveys. The study recorded 7789 detections, representing 100 bird species belonging to 28 families. Pycnonotidae, Timaliidae and Nectariniidae were the dominant families overall and showed the highest number of observations recorded in the study area whereas Motacillidae showed the fewest observations. The bird species were grouped into three feeding guilds: insectivores, frugivores and others (omnivores, carnivores, nectarivores and granivores). The species richness of insectivorous birds differed significantly among the forest zones sampled (Kruskal-Wallis: α=0.05, H=10.979, d.f.=2, p=0.004), with more insectivorous birds occurring in the forest interior. No significant differences were found among the zones in the species richness of either the frugivore guild or the composite others guild.
Bird surveys were conducted in the Padawan Limestone Area for seven days at each of two study sites, Giam and Danu, from August to December 2008. The purpose of the study was to compare the area's bird species richness and abundance of bird species in other limestone areas and in other forest types. The study also compared the species richness and relative abundance of birds in undisturbed and disturbed areas at both study sites. Twenty mist nets were deployed for 12 hours daily. During this study period, direct observations of birds were also made. In all, 80 species from 34 families were recorded at both sites. At Giam, 120 birds were mist-netted. These birds represented 31 species from 16 families. The direct observations at Giam recorded 13 species from 11 families. In the undisturbed area, 21 species from 13 families were mist-netted, whereas in the disturbed area, 21 species from 10 families were mist-netted. In Danu, a total of 48 birds, representing 25 species from 12 families, were mist-netted. The observations at Danu recorded 34 species from 19 families. Twelve species from 7 families were mist-netted in the undisturbed area, whereas 18 species from 11 families were mist-netted in the disturbed area. Statistical analysis showed that the species diversity index differed significantly between undisturbed and disturbed areas.