As we move towards the knowledge (K) era, the challenge in R&D is to focus on the development of original K-based products that can compete in the global market. The development of commercially viable, patented K-based products within a university environment require an innovation system and innovation policies in place and a change in the paradigm towards the approach to research. A crucial agent towards the success of the innovation system is development and training of the human capital that would be the future drivers of the K-industry. Awareness of intellectual property rights, the need for original research, entrepreneurship as well as the development and strengthening of self-confidence and leadership are among the factors needed towards the training of K-workers facing the new economy.
For effective management of typhoid, diagnosis of the disease must be done with speed and accuracy. Development of such a test would require antigens that are specific for typhoid diagnosis. Attempts at finding the specific antigen have been carried out throughout the years. The finding of such an antigen can lead to carrier detection as well. Candidate antigens have been used in the development of antigen or antibody detection tests with variation in sensitivity and specificity. Further characterization and understanding of the candidate antigens combined with use of innovative technologies will allow for the ideal test for typhoid and typhoid carriers to be within reach.
A study of heavy metal contents in freshwater snails from rice fields have been made. The results indicate that the levels of heavy metals, Pb, Cu, Zn and Cd, are low and within the permissible limit of Malaysian Food Regulations. The results can serve as background data for further reference.
Analysis of diarrhoeal disease patterns in Malaysia from 1981-1986 suggested that infectious hepatitis ranked as the most predominant diarrhoeal disease followed by typhoid, food poisoning, dysentery and cholera. Although these five major food and water-borne diseases are still endemic in this country, diarrhoeal diseases per se no longer become an important public health problem in Malaysia. Enforcement of the cholera control program brought the incidence of the disease to a minimal. Unfortunately, this fatal form of diarrhoeal disease caused the greatest mortality compared to the others. Seasonal influence also played a part in controlling the occurrence of the disease. There was a preponderance of diarrhoeal diseases during the rainy season implicating contaminated water as a source of transmission. Although greater than half of the population has been supplied with piped water and sanitary latrines, a lot more has to be done before diarrhoeal diseases could be eliminated from this country.
This study was initiated to determine the mechanism of iron-uptake in Salmonella typhi. When stressed for iron, microorganisms produce siderophores to obtain the necessary nutrient. Generally two types of siderophores exist: the phenolate-type predominantly produced by bacteria and the hydroxamate-type commonly secreted by fungi. Results of this investigation showed that S. typhi produced siderophores of the phenolate-type since culture supernatant of the organism grown under iron-deprivation supported the growth of the phenolate-dependent auxotroph. The culture supernatant when extracted for phenolate siderophores, also supported the growth of the phenolate auxotroph but not the hydroxamate auxotroph. Production of phenolate-type siderophores were further confirmed using biochemical assays. These results showed that S. typhi utilized the high-affinity iron transport system to obtain the necessary iron.
The concentrations of cadmium, copper, zinc and lead, in the total soft tissues of green-lipped mussel Perna viridis of a wide range of sizes (2-11 cm), were determined from a population at Pasir Panjang. The metal contents (μg per individual) and concentrations (μg per g) of cadmium, lead, copper and zinc were studied in P. viridis to find the relationships with body sizes. Smaller and younger mussels showed higher concentrations (μg per g) of Cd, Pb and Zn than the larger and older ones. The results of the present study showed that the plotting of the metal content, against dry body flesh weight on a double logarithmic basis, gave good positive straight lines; this observation is in agreement with Boyden’s formula (1977). This indicated that P. viridis showed a different physiological strategy for each metal being studied, which is related to age.
Five underutilized wild vegetables namely Limnophila aromaticoides, Ceratopetris thalictroides, Crassocephalum crepidioides, Etlingera elatoir and Monochoria vaginalis were analyzed for nutritional values, phenolic components and antioxidant activities. These wild greens were found to have high fibre (11.3-19.8 g/100g) and ash (13.0-17.6 g/100g) contents as compared to commercialized species, Brassica juncea. The iron content of Monochoria vaginalis is four times higher than Brassica juncea (33.1 mg/g dry weight). Crassocephalum crepidioides demonstrated remarkable lipid peroxidation inhibition (90.4%). The phenolic content of Etlingera elatoir is two times higher than Brassica juncea. Thus, it is of both great free radical scavenger and iron chelators with the lowest EC50 values of 1.8 mg/ml and 2.3 mg/ml respectively. As a conclusion, these wild vegetables could be potentially used in alleviating micronutrients deficiency especially for the rural populace and as a potent source of natural antioxidants.
This study evaluated and compared the antioxidant capacity between freshly prepared and lactic fermented Malaysian herbal teas. Herbal teas are rich in antioxidants. Fermentation has been known to be the oldest and cost effective method with the ability to preserve or improve food nutritional qualities. Information on the antioxidant capacity of lactic fermented food or beverage is still lacking. Hence, the objective of this study is to determine the changes in the antioxidant properties of Malaysian herbal teas after being subjected to lactic fermentation. Commercially available local herbal teas were used for this study. Herbal teas such as “Allspice”, “Scaphium”, “Gora” and “Cinnamon” were purchased from the local store in Malaysia and were subjected to 24-hour lactic fermentation. Lactic fermented herbal teas were analyzed for their total phenolic, total flavonoid and antioxidant properties via DPPH, FRAP, and β-carotene linoleate bleaching assay. All lactic fermented herbal teas exhibited higher phenolic contents, flavonoid contents and antioxidant properties compared to the freshly-prepared herbal teas with majority showing significant changes (p < 0.05) in FRAP and β-carotene bleaching assay. Lactic fermented herbal teas also showed an increase in antioxidant capacity in DPPH assay, however non-significant changes were observed.
In this study, the Hg levels in eight parts of Asystasia gangetica (L.) T. Anderson collected from 14 sites were determined using a Mercury Atomizer MA-1S and a Mercury Detector MD-1. It was found that the ranges for all the parts were 3.21-18.2 μg/kg dry weight for flowers, 1.29-11.2 μg/kg dry weight for stalks, 0.32- 29.4 μg/kg dry weight for seeds, 0.87-10.2 μg/kg dry weight for pericarps, 1.45-18.1 μg/kg dry weight for remainders, 11.8-68.2 μg/kg dry weight for leaves, 0.73-20.9 μg/kg dry weight for stems, and 3.40-33.1 μg/kg dry weight for roots. The overall Hg accumulation pattern in decreasing concentrations was leaf > root > flower > flower remains > stalk > stem > pericarp > seed. This study provided the background levels of Hg in this non-native invasive weed species in Malaysia. However, further studies are needed to confirm it as a biomonitors of Hg in this region.
FTIR spectroscopy in combination with multivariate calibrations, i.e. partial least square (PLS) and principle component regression (PCR) was developed for quantitative analysis of cod liver oil (CLO) in binary mixture with corn oil (CO). The spectra of CLO, CO and their blends with certain concentrations were scanned using horizontal attenuated total reflectance (HATR) accessory at mid infrared (MIR) region of 4,000 – 650 cm-1. The optimal spectral treatments selected for calibration models were based on its ability to provide the highest values of coefficient of determination (R2) and the lowest values of root mean error of calibration (RMSEC). PLS was slightly well suited for quantitative analysis of CLO compared to PCR. FTIR spectroscopy in combination with multivariate calibration offers rapid, no excessive chemical reagent, and easy in operational to be applied for determination of CLO in binary mixture with other oils.
Land development, especially construction works, increase storm water volumes and pollution loads into rivers and lakes. The temporary drainage system at construction sites, particularly during the construction stage discharges a large amount of pollutants that can damage the aquatic system of the receiving water bodies. The potential of vegetative swale to alleviate this problem was evaluated. The size of the constructed vegetative swale was 7cm deep, 400cm long and 15cm wide at the bottom, and 17cm wide at the top. The experiment was conducted batch wise by filling the storage tank with the run-off water from the construction site. The water was allowed to flow through a pipe into the retention basin to maintain uniform flow before it entered the swale. The study showed that the run-off infiltrated through the soil at a rate of 489.6 mm/hr. Samples of surface run-off and infiltration water were collected at the end and the bottom of the swale. The results indicate that chemical oxygen demand (COD), total suspended solid (TSS), turbidity, iron and zinc were reduced by 85.4%, 80.8%, 36.4%, 52.8% and 96.0%, respectively, by surface flow and 91.1%, 98.8%, 58.2% 55.5% and 98.1%, respectively, by infiltration. Removal of nitrate and phosphorus by the planted vegetation was 69.4% and 21.1%, respectively, by infiltration. However, nutrient removal by surface flow was negligible. In conclusion, the vegetative swale was able to improve the water quality of the storm water run-off from the construction site from Class V to Class III, according to the Interim National Water Quality Standards for Malaysia.
The excretion of cyclodextrin glucanotransferase (CGTase) into the culture medium offers significant advantages over cytoplasmic expression. However, the limitation of Escherichia coli is its inability to excrete high amount of CGTase outside the cells. In this study, modification of the hydrophobic region of the N1R3 signal peptide using site-saturation mutagenesis improved the excretion of CGTase. Signal peptide mutants designated M9F, V10L and A15Y enhanced the excretion of CGTase three-fold and demonstrated two-fold higher secretion rate than the wild type. However, high secretion rate of these mutants was non-productive for recombinant protein production because it caused up to a seven-fold increase in cell death compared to the wild type. Our results indicated that the excretion of CGTase is highly dependent on hydrophobicity, secondary conformation and the type and position of amino acids at the region boundary and core segment of the h-region.
The relationship based on trust is exceptionally important in healthcare, where life or death and quality of health are major concerns. Relational crack jeopardises the provision of quality healthcare when trust is taken for granted. Trust is believed to be the vital key to minimise medical negligence, lawsuits and patient complaints towards healthcare providers while acting as an empowering agent to significant clinical outcomes. Trust is indispensable to healthcare. However, to identify its deterioration is not a simple feature. Moreover, lack of research and public dissemination complicate this topic further. Hence, understanding medical mistrust issues and their associated indicators is urgently needed to ensure the top-notch provision of healthcare. We employed narrative review methodology together with key terms matching for the selected electronic databases for this article. Our review concluded that an "Increasing number of medical litigations and complaints towards physicians", "Physicians' low mastery of interpersonal communication skill" and "Patients' demand, practice, and non-disclosure of alternative treatments" are the possible indicators to predict mistrust. Efforts to restore and strengthen trust can only be made when these indicators are well understood firsthand.
Introduction: Methylation of promoter region of p16 leading to gene silencing has been implicated ina wide range of malignancies including lymphomas. In diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) particularly, a varying percentage of epigenetic inactivation of p16 promoter region was observed ranging from 16 -54%. However, quantitative analysis of p16 promoter methylation in DLBCL has not been extensively studied in Malaysia. Objective: This study aims to quantitatively analyse p16 methylation in DLBCL samples using pyrosequencing technique. Methods: Genomic DNA was extracted from 16 formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded lymphoma tissue blocks from patients diagnosed with DLBCL. Samples were retrieved from Hospital Tengku Ampuan Afzan, Pahang and Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kelantan. Primers were designed to amplify bisulfite-treated DNA targeting p16 promoter region. Methylation status of 7 CpG sites was determined by pyrosequencing. Results: All the 16 samples studied showed promoter methylation of p16. The range of mean methylation percentage was between 18 to 81%. Conclusion: The present study has successfully measured the level of methylation of p16 in all 7 CpG sites despite the limitation in sample size. Since p16 methylation is a common event in our series of DLBCL cases, it is worth including a larger sample size in future studies to increase the chance of finding a significant correlation with clinical parameters.
Hantaviruses are etiological agents of zoonotic diseases and certain other dis-
eases, which pose a serious threat to human health. When rodent and predator popula-
tions share in an ecology, the competitive force of the populations can lead to a reduction
or elimination of a hantavirus outbreak. The effect of the predator eliminating rodents
and predator populations that tends to reduce or eliminate hantavirus infection is investi-
gated. The existence of several equilibrium points of the model is identified and local and
global stabilities of the model at these equilibrium points are analysed in detail. Numerical
simulations are carried out to illustrate our model results.
Malaysia is a surplus poultry producing country with well-established commercial slaughtering and processing plants. Immense quantity of heads, feet, viscera, blood and feathers are usually discarded and not optimally utilized. Chicken heads are rich in protein, and could be a potential source of gelatin. The aim of the present work was therefore to find a simpler, faster, cheaper and greener gelatin extraction technology as compared to current available methods of gelatin extraction from poultry heads. A comparison of three different gelatin extraction methods with alkaline-acid pretreatment (E1), single acid pretreatment (E2) and single alkaline pretreatment (E3) were studied to extract gelatin from chicken heads. E1 and E2 produced gelatins of Type A, while E3 produced gelatin of Type B. High bloom gelatin (>300 g) with