Tanah runtuh jenis rayapan merupakan salah satu fenomena geobencana yang sering terjadi dalam skala yang besar dan amat berkait rapat dengan perubahan tekanan air liang. Ia bercirikan canggaan jangka masa panjang maka dengan itu pengetahuan mendalam terhadap tindak balas rayapan di dalam keadaan tepu dan tidak tepu air adalah penting untuk meramal pergerakan masa hadapan. Kertas ini bertujuan mengkaji tindak balas rayapan di dalam sampel lempung bebola menggunakan kotak ricih terus yang terubah suai. Simulasi rayapan dibuat menggunakan model analog mekanik hasil gabungan spring dan peredam. Parameter γo (pergerakan rayapan awal) yang diperoleh daripada ujian kotak ricih terubah suai digunakan sebagai input parameter bersama-sama dengan parameter lain yang diperoleh berdasarkan kaedah kuasa dua terkecil. Simulasi oleh model analog mekanik terhadap tindak balas rayapan yang direkod di makmal berjaya merakam tindak balas rayapan awal dan akhir. Keputusan kajian mendapati bahawa tindak balas rayapan adalah lebih signifikan di dalam keadaan tepu air berbanding keadaan tidak tepu air.
Influenza has always been wrongly perceived as a minor disease which is no dwerent than common cold. Influenza affecting all age groups cause a considerable morbidity and mortality although the data are not well established in Asia Pacwc. In the United States, it claims similar order of mortality as that due to car accidents. Inflluenza A and B can cause epidemic human disease. New Influenza virus variants develop frequently due to antigenic dry?. The rapid evolution of both influenza A and B virus is responsible for annual influenza epidemics in humans. Although in Malaysia, Influenza Surveillance began in 1954, the disease awareness is still low. It is
prudent to continue the surveillance throughout in order to monitor the seasonal trend, circulating strain as well to prepare us from an epidemic or pandemic. Institute for Medical Research, being the sole WHO National Reference lab in this country committed in improving the Influenza Surveillance which will involve all the states in Malaysia in the near future.
The MLF since its inception in 1996 has endeavored to develop a coordinated approach towards the improved care and treatment of liver diseases in Malaysia. Its close liaison with the Malaysian MOH, local medical associations, and corporate bodies has contributed to the success of its many programs. Educating the public, research, and training have been important elements of successful hepatitis disease control programs. Hepatitis Days have been proven to be very successful in raising the awareness of the general public to hepatitis disease. Rapid screening and vaccination has also helped to remove the social stigma associated with the disease, eliminated the need for numerous clinic appointments, and rendered vaccination more accessible to the public. The MLF perspective emphasizes the need for collaborative effort between Government bodies and other agencies, such as non-governmental organizations, laboratories, and the medical fraternity, to ensure the overall success of hepatitis disease management programs.
Tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) is a viral infection of the central nervous system and is caused by tick bites, usually after travel to rural or forested areas. The disease is prevalent in Scandinavia, Western Europe, Central Europe and the former Soviet Union and East Asia including Japan. In Malaysia, so far there are no reported cases of TBE. In the present time, many illnesses have been attributed to traveling to other parts of the world. Thus it is important to carry out TBE prevalence study to determine whether the virus is present among Malaysian population. Samples (sera and CSF) from patients admitted to major MOH hospitals in Peninsular Malaysia and Sabah with a clinical diagnosis of encephalitis but is IgM negative for JE, were tested for TBEV IgM ELISA and TBEV IgG ELISA (DRG, Germany). Out of the 600 samples screened for TBEV IgG, all were non-reactive. In addition, out of the 100 samples screened for TBEV IgM, all the samples were also non-reactive. Our results indicate that currently TBE is not present in the Malaysian population. Among the reasons for this could be lack of the infection agent, absence of the suitable vector or subjects selected for the study did not fit the criteria of possible exposure to TBE infections. Hence we recommend that for any future study, the selection of subjects should include those who returned from tick-infested forested areas.
Nowadays, many of the tropical fruits have been commercialized worldwide due to increasing demand. In 2018, global tropical fruit has reached an unprecedented peak of 7.1 million tonnes. As such, a lot of large scale farming has been initiated to cultivate the fruit for commercialization. The nature of tropical fruit is perishable make the fruit easily undergo post-harvest losses especially when the fruit travels in a long distance for distribution. Losses of tropical fruit is estimated around 18-28% after harvesting. Then, the losses will continually develop during the trading process. Applying fruit coating on the fruit can minimize substantial privation. This article compendiously reviews the needs of coating and discuss different types of coating materials. The efficiency of different coating materials; polysaccharide, protein, lipid and composite based coating on tropical fruit is highlighted. There are various types of coating available for major fruit such as banana, mango, pineapple and avocado that can effectively extend the post-harvest life, minimize water loss, reduce chilling injuries and fight against post-harvest disease. Coating from minor fruit such as durian, rambutan, passion-fruit and mangosteen are still limited especially made from lipid and protein coating. In choosing the most appropriate coating for tropical, the nature of fruit needs to be understood. In addition, the chemistry of coating components and techniques of application is important in modulating the fruit quality.
We determined the differential expression levels of proteins in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of patients with dengue fever (DF) and dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF). Proteins were subjected to two-dimensional electrophoresis, mass spectrometry and Western blot analysis. We identified 8 proteins that were 2-fold or more up-regulated in patients compared to healthy control, three of which, aldolase, thioredoxin peroxidase and alpha tubulin, were related to dengue infection. Both thioredoxin peroxidase and alpha tubulin were over-expressed 4.9 and 3.3 times respectively in DHF compared to DF patients while aldolase was up-regulated 2.2 times in DF compared to DHF patients. Alpha tubulin and thioredoxin peroxidase have the potential to be utilized as biomarkers for DHF.
Dengue infection is a major public health problem affecting millions of people living in tropical countries. With no suitable vaccines and specific antiviral drugs, treatment for dengue is usually symptomatic and supportive. Early diagnosis and recognition of severe disease is therefore crucial for better management of the patient. Two-dimension electrophoresis was used to identify disease-associated proteins that can be used for diagnosis and as drug targets for treatment. Two markers, identified by mass spectrometry analysis as alpha1-antitrypsin and NS1 proteins were found to be upregulated in dengue fever (DF; n=10) and dengue haemorrhagic fever (DHF; n=10) patients compared with healthy individuals (n=8). Both alpha1-antitrypsin and NS1 proteins were overexpressed two-fold in DHF patients compared with DF patients. Our study suggests that alpha1-antitrypsin and NS1 protein could be used as biomarkers as early indicators of DHF risk among patients with suspected dengue infection.
A novel methodological approach was developed to quantified the volume of industrial waste desposal (IWD) site, combined with municipal waste materials (MWM), through the integration of a non-invasive, fast, and less expenssive RES2-D Electrical Resistivity Technique (ERT), using Wenner-Schlumberger electrode array geophysical method with Oasis Montaj software. Underground water bearing structures, and the eco-system are being contaminated through seepage of the plumes emanating from the mixtures of the industrial waste materials (IWM), made of moist cemented soil with municipal solid wastes (MSW) dumped at the site. The distribution of the contiminant hazardous plumes emanating from the waste materials' mixtures within the subsurface structural lithological layers was clearly map and delineated within the near-surface structures, using the triplicate technique to collect samples of the soil with the waste mixtures, and the water analysis for the presence of dissolved ions. The deployed method helped to monitor the seepage of the contaminant leachate plumes to the groundwater aquifer units via the ground surface, through the subsurface stratum lithological layers, and hence, estimation of the waste materials' volume was possibly approximated to be 312,000 m3. In summary, the novel method adopted are as presented below:•The novel method is transferable, reproduce-able, and most importantly, it is unambiguous technique for the quantification of environmental, industrial and municipal waste materials.•It helps to map the distribution of the plumes emanating from the waste materials' mixtures within the subsurface structural lithological layers that was clearly delineated within the near-surface structures underlain the study site.•The procedure helped in the monitoring of leachate contaminants plumes seepages into the surface water bodies and the groundwater aquifer units, via the ground surface, through to the porous subsurface stratum lithological layers.
Environmental hazards, industrial, and municipal wastes geochemical and geophysical assessments were carried out at an industrial waste disposal (IWD) site at Bukit Kepong, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. RES2-D geophysical method was applied, capable of identification and quantification of the industrial wastes; buried hazardous materials (BHM) and their effects on the subsurface stratum, from the moderately saturated zones, to fully saturated zones housing the aquifer units underneath the water table. Six RES2-D survey profiles were respectively acquired along E-W, and N-S directions. The perpendicular arrangement of the RES2-D survey lines, was tenaciously designed to make possible, the industrial waste materials (IWM)and municipal solid waste (MSW) quantification, with sufficient length of survey lines set at 200 m, and electrode spacing of 5 m, to cover as much details segments of the IWM and MSW as possible. The six RES2-D inversion results, helped in the subsurface stratum classification into three layers, namely; soft layers, which encompasses the waste materials, with varied resistivity values i.e., 0-100 Ω-m, at 10-15 m depths. The consolidated layers produced varied resistivity values i.e., 101-400 Ω-m, at 15-20 m depths. The bedrock has the highest resistivity values i.e., 401-2000 Ω-m, at depths > 20 m. The estimated volume of the waste materials was 312,000 m 3, using 3-D Oasis Montaj modeling via rectangular prism model generated from the inverted RES2-D. Results from the geochemical analysis helped in the validation of the site as a potential contaminated zone with severe health effects.