Plasma gamma-glutamyltranspeptidase (gamma-GT), glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and glutathione reductase (GR) activities were determined in normal and nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) patients. No difference in enzyme activities was observed in the three major races of the Malaysian population, i.e. Malay, Chinese and Indian patients. However, plasma gamma-GT, erythrocyte glutathione S-transferase (GST) and GPx activities were significantly increased in all NPC patients, while GR activity remained unchanged. Patients with elevated plasma gamma-GT activities also had increased GST and GPx activities. Plasma gamma-GT and GPx activities were then found to be affected by treatment. Patients with plasma gamma-GT activity greater than 70 IU/l had very poor prognoses but patients with decreased gamma-GT activities were found to be in remission.
Bats are slowly gaining recognition as a potential reservoir for viruses harmful to human (Smith and Wang, 2013). Bats are reservoir to viruses causing Ebola virus diseases (EBV) (Leroy et al., 2005), Nipah Encephalitis (NiV) (Chua et al., 2002), SARS(Li et al., 2005) and MERS-CoV (Yang et al., 2015) being the latest one making headlines. About 18 years ago, a major outbreak of Nipah virus encephalitis occurred in Peninsular Malaysia resulted in the deaths of 105 persons and the slaughter of approximately 1.1 million pigs. In 2006, a novel bat orthoreovirus was found to be associated with acute respiratory syndrome in Malaysia. Following that incidents, many studies have been done on bats, particularly to determine their species, behaviour, and antibody level and there were also studies in human on antibody prevalence to batsrelated viruses e.g. Nipah and Hendra and PRV. Humans may become infected with viruses from bats through intermediate host (swine, horse) or through aerosol or direct contact with bats. Communities living adjacent to bat roosts should aware of possible risk of infection transmission from bats. An earlier study in Guatemala demonstrated that risk of exposure to bats in communities near bats roosts was common, but recognition of the potential for disease transmission from bats was low (Moran et al., 2015). Surprisingly, there is no local published data on public awareness towards bats-related infection despite potential risk of getting the infection. This study aimed to determine knowledge and awareness on bat-related infections, attitudes towards bats and practices related to health-seeking behaviours following exposure to bats.
Introduction. Trawling is a method of catching fish in a large volume where fish nets are pulled through water using one or two boats. Bottom trawling is where the nets are pulled over on the seabed. The gear of the bottom trawling would impact the exposed subsea pipeline, on the seabed. Subsea pipelines transport crude oil and gas from the offshore platform to shore facility. This study assesses the risk of fish trawling activities to the subsea pipelines at Sabah and Labuan offshore. The specification of trawl equipment used by local trawlers in Sabah was determined by the on-site survey. The frequency of a fish trawler crossing over the pipelines was calculated based interview on operation and site survey. The calculation of the pull-over load of the otter board was calculated using the DNVGL algorithm. The severity and frequency index of the risk matrix was developed based on literature review. Results showed that the pull-over load of the otter board would not damage the pipelines. The risk posed by the fish trawler activity to the pipelines is low and moderate.
Effective management of end-of-life vehicles (ELVs) represents a sound strategy to mitigate global climate change. ELVs are contaminants that pollute water, air, soil, and landscape. This waste flow must be adequately treated, but no proper rule oversees the disposal of ELV waste in Malaysia. This study aims to determine the extent of implementing the ELV policy and the social readiness in implementing environmentally friendly ELV disposal in Malaysia. The questionnaire seeks public input on critical ELV concerns such as public perception of the phenomena, environmental and safety standards, and recycling and treatment facilities. This research uses a cross-sectional design with 448 respondents in the survey. Fit models in structural equation modeling are evaluated using a variety of goodness-of-fit indicators to ensure an actual hypothesis. This study's advantages include the availability of representative samples and allowing for comparable and generalizable conclusions to larger communities throughout Malaysia. It is found that personal experience is significantly correlated with social readiness. The cause of ELV vehicles knowledge was the vital mediator, along with recycling costs knowledge. Thus, knowledge regarding ELV management costs is the most decisive mediation variable to predict public acceptance. The recommended strategy to reduce resentment and rejection of ELV policy is to disseminate information about the negative ELV impact on environmental and social sustainability.