Trace elements play a significant role in giving nutritional benefits to the body because they act as essential cofactors for all physiological processes. However, there are some trace elements which may bring more harm than good when entering the human body. Due to its ability to incorporate trace elements in an amount that is proportional to an individual’s dietary intake and environmental exposure, human fingernails are suitable biomarkers in assessing the health status of an individual as they reflect on the trace element concentration present in the body. This study has analysed fingernail samples of 23 adult females residing in Kuching and Kota Samarahan, Sarawak, Malaysia for four elements, namely Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn. By using flame atomic absorption spectroscopy (FAAS), the mean elemental concentrations found in fingernail samples of research participants were 171.8 ± 33.8 μg/g for Zn, 27.8 ± 14.8 μg/g for Cu and 2.64 ± 0.94 μg/g for Pb. Cd concentrations were not able to be detected as they were below the detection limits. A standard reference material, NIST 1568b Rice Flour was used to verify the methods used in elemental analysis using FAAS. Independent t-test which was used to compare the means of Zn and Cu between vegetarians and non-vegetarians showed no significant differences for both elements. Moreover, correlation analysis showed negative correlations between Cu/Zn pair and Pb/Zn pair, whereas significant positive correlation was obtained for Cu/Pb pair. The overall data from this study showed good agreements with data obtained from studies in other countries. Therefore, the current data in this study represents the latest background elemental concentrations in fingernails of the residents in Kuching and Kota Samarahan, Sarawak.
Listeria spp. and Salmonella spp. are capable of causing food-borne outbreaks and diseases in humans. This study aimed to quantify and detect the occurrence of Listeria monocytogenes and Salmonella Typhimurium in fruit juices by utilizing Most Probable Number (MPN) in combination with Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). In this study, a total of 50 fruit juice samples, consisting of orange, papaya, watermelon, honeydew and apple were collected from Kota Samarahan and Kuching. Specific Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) assay targeting the virulence gene, hlyA gene in L. monocytogenes and fliC gene in S. Typhimurium was performed, with the expected size of 730 bp and 559 bp, respectively. MPN analysis showed that the estimated microbial loads of Listeria spp. and Salmonella spp. in all samples were more than 1100 MPN/g. However, based on the PCR analysis, none of the samples (0%) were positive for L. monocytogenes or S. Typhimurium. This study presented as a preliminary food safety screening for the occurrence of Listeria spp. and Salmonella spp. from retailed fruit juices. Hygienic practices and food safety measures should be adhered by all food vendors and restaurants in order to avoid foodborne disease outbreaks in the future.
This study documented details of the dentitions, skulls and other skeletal remains of Crocodylus porosus and Tomistoma schlegelii, from western part of Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo. The remains of both reptiles were exhumed, followed by standard cleaning procedures and then detail morphological assessments were carried out accordingly. Both species show similar structure of vertebral columns, but T. schlegelii has the following unique structures: a long and narrower snout, D-shaped eye sockets, long and sharp pointed protruding quadratojugal bones, straight maxillae and dentary, a smooth surfaced skull, elongated triangular suborbital fenestrae, round shaped internal nares and visible supraoccipital from a dorsal view. C. porosus has heterodont dentition with blunt-pointed and irregular size of teeth whereas T. schlegelii has almost homodont dentition with sharp and similar size teeth. This is the first collection of teeth, skulls and other skeletal remains of both species obtained from Sarawak, and the materials have been used regularly to educate the public through science exhibitions, hoping they will spark the interests of young budding scientists to be involved in wildlife taphonomic studies in the future.
Soil hardness plays a vital role in evaluating the physical properties of soil structure. With regards to the impact of compaction on practical forest management issues, most report and review forms were available. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate the soil condition in riparian forest restoration planted with indigenous species along Kayan Ulu River with special reference to soil hardness. Soil hardness was measured by using Hasegawa-type cone penetrometer from the surface soils to 100 cm depth, with a total of 48 random points for both study sites surveyed; restoration sites planted with Shorea macrophylla in year 1996 and 1998 (SPD96 and SPD98, respectively) for both on and between planting lines. Our findings indicated that, soil hardness in SPD98 was harder as compared to SPD96 at shallow depth presented in one drop penetrability. Likewise, soil penetration resistance on planting line in SPD98 was significantly higher than SPD96 at surface soils (0-20 cm) and subsurface soils (20-40 cm). A high number of strikes and soil penetration resistance indicate that the soils were highly compacted. However, there was no significant difference in term of soil penetration resistance between planting line. In order to avoid effects on tree productivity, it is recommended that in future, the evaluation of soil hardness should be determined during the early establishment for future restoration of riparian ecosystem.
The epidermal mucus of fish contains antimicrobial agents that act as biological defence against disease. This study aims to identify antibacterial activity and protein concentration of epidermal mucus of Barbodes everetti, a Bornean endemic freshwater fish. The epidermal mucus was extracted with 3% acetic acid, 0.85% sodium chloride and crude solvents. The mucus activity against eight strains of human pathogenic bacteria, including Bacillus cereus ATCC 33019, Escherichia coli O157:H7, Listeria monocytogenes ATCC 7644, Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 27853, Salmonella braenderup ATCC BAA 664, Salmonella typhimurium, Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25933, and Vibrio cholerae, were tested. The acetic acid mucus extract of B. everetti was able to inhibit five strains of bacteria and show no activity toward E. coli O157:H7, B. cereus ATCC 33019 and L. monocytogenes ATCC 7644. Moreover, the highest protein concentration was quantified in crude extract, followed by aqueous and acetic acid extracts. This study provides a preliminary knowledge on the activity of epidermal mucus of B. everetti towards five out of the eight human pathogens tested, therefore it may contain potential sources of novel antibacterial components which could be further extracted for the production of natural antibiotics towards human-related pathogenic bacteria.
Birds are easily infested with ectoparasites due to their fitness, foraging behaviour, nesting cavities, micro- and macro-habitats. However, the status of ectoparasite infestation on birds in Sarawak is widely unknown. Rice field provides food resources to a variety of birds. This study was conducted to determine the species composition of ectoparasites from birds in a rice field at Kuap Village, Samarahan, Sarawak. A total of 69 birds consists of five species were caught from the rice field and the most common bird species found was the Chestnut Munia (Lonchura atricapilla). From these, 55 were found infested with ectoparasites with the infestation prevalence of 79.71%. A total of 2,513 ectoparasites from eight species were recovered from this study which comprised of six species of mites, one species of soft tick, and one species from the class Insecta. The most dominant ectoparasite species was mite namely, Nanopterodectes sp. with a total of 1,626 individuals. This baseline data on the ectoparasite composition and infestation of birds is important as some of the ectoparasites have the potential in transmitting zoonotic diseases to the farmers working at the rice fields in this region.
This study reports the caffeine content in seven locally available coffee. The caffeine was extracted with chloroform and analysed using Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR). The method reports an average recovery of 101% with the limit of determination established at 0.1%. The absorption band at 1654 cm-1 was used to construct the calibration curve for quantification of caffeine where the regression was fitted with satisfactory linearity. An average of 0.55% of caffeine was detected in the seven coffee products with Arabica coffee demonstrating lower caffeine concentration. The study evidenced that caffeine content in coffee is determined by the coffee types. The caffeine content found in the local coffee products was relatively lower likely due to the solvent types, extraction procedure and analytical method used.
Emotional Intelligence appears to be a significant influencing factor in academic achievements. This study aims to identify the relationship between trait emotional intelligence and mathematics achievements (a relatively sparse research areas of academic achievements) among undergraduates in higher learning institution of Sarawak. 100 respondents from a higher-level institution of Sarawak participated in this study. Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire (TEIQue) is used to measure the trait emotional intelligence of the undergraduates. The result was analysed using descriptive analysis and inferential analysis, namely two-way ANOVA and Pearson’s correlation. Two-way ANOVA was used to test if there is significant difference in demographic attributes (gender and place of residence) towards maths achievements and trait emotional intelligence of the undergraduates. Pearson Correlation was used to test the relationship between trait emotional intelligence and mathematics achievements of the undergraduates. Generally, this study found that there is no significant difference for factors related to demographic attributes (gender and place of residence) against maths achievements and trait emotional intelligence of the undergraduates. Meanwhile, a relationship was found between trait emotional intelligence and mathematics achievements among undergraduates in higher learning institution in Sarawak. The outcome of the study appears to suggest that trait emotional intelligence can help undergraduates to understand themselves more and to control and manage their emotions and feelings and have better relationship with their surroundings. And this could positively impact on their maths achievements.
In the Chinese community, patriotism had been a strong sentiment, but this sentiment had not been shown openly among the Chinese. Thus, this article aimed to identify the patrotic sentiments of the Chinese community in the Malay poems by applying relevance theory pioneered by Sperber and Wilson (1986). This is a qualitative study. Three poems written by Lim Swee Tin (LST), a famous Malaysian poet were analysed. Poetic lines in the poems that manifested the patriotic sentiments were identified from corpora and they were further analysed with relevance theory. Findings of the study showed that data consisting the patriotic sentiments practised by the Chinese were identified in LST’s poems. The results also showed that there were implicit meanings behind the data analysed and the implied meanings and messages had been found to be in relevance with the values and cultures practised in the Chinese community. Not only that, the study also highlighted the importance of relevance theory in analysing the data as results obtained were more theoretical, academic and of high validity. Thus, the results obtained were not only undisputed, but it also an add-on to the existing facts, understanding and knowledge to the Chinese community particularly on the culture of Chinese community.
Rural areas play traditionally important role for our economy as well maintaining social stability. Most of the development is entirely dependent on natural resources in the area which is specialized in a limited number of industries such as agriculture, livestock, forestry, fisheries and local tourism. People that live in rural areas have fewer choices in the social and economic terms. They are facing many problems such as low income, unemployment, low quality of social services like education and healthcare. In addition, remoteness from major urban centres is also one of the problems which is implying the need for well-developed transport infrastructure to support economic development. As stated in the Eleventh Malaysia Plan, the Malaysian Government is committed to ensuring equitable opportunities for all segments of society.
The process in recruitment and selection of new workers give an impact on the quality of human resource. This process is the main factor that influences the success of an organization. Nevertheless, there is one practice that could influence the process of recruitment and selection of new worker. This is the practice of nepotism. The practice of nepotism is an issue frequently debated because it is one of the dominant factor that influences the appraisal of an organization. This practice has to be abolished in order for our country to develop.
The aim of this study is to examine the factors that drive students’ self-disclosure on Social Networking Sites (SNSs). A total of 215 undergraduates from two public universities in East Malaysia were recruited as respondents. This study adapts self-disclosure model by Elmi, A.Iahad and Ahmed (2012), where the model proposed trust as one of the factors that complementing other existing factors in online self-disclosure. This study proved that privacy concerns (r = -.212, p < .01), perceived trust (r = .22, p < .01), perceived ease of use (r = .213, p < .01), and perceived enjoyment (r = .28, p < .01) are significantly related to students’ online self-disclosure on SNSs. In addition, as trust plays a vital role in moderating the users’ online self-disclosure behavior, this study formulated students’ trusts on SNSs based on three dimensions which are individual, institutional and online trust. Findings of study suggested that there is a significant difference between online trust based on male and female respondents.
This article examines the impact of gender socialization in Malaysian families, especially on daughters regarding their perception towards work inside and outside the home. Hence, this study utilized in-depth interview as part of the qualitative methods to obtain quality data needed. The study establishes, that patriarchy environment, especially one with the classic model of ‘breadwinner father, housewife mother’ creates a pressure on women to bear more household responsibility. Thus, the dominant gender ideologies are entangled with ‘motherhood mandate’ and ‘superior feminine virtue’ that is associated with the reason women left the labour force. It was equally necessary to point out here that other agents of socialization such as media, peers and education played its part as well and influenced the respondent’s conformity to patriarchal values.
The study aims to identify an inventory of vowel phonemes of Melanau Rajang dialect in Belawai under the administration of Tanjung Manis District, Sarawak. This study is a field survey using interview methods to obtain data. A total 250 Swadesh list (Samarin, 1967) are used as a guide for data collection. In this study, two infotmants of different genders aged between 40 and 60 years old were selected based on criteria of informant selections according to Asmah Haji Omar (2001). In analysis data, qualitative method is used based on structural approaches. The findings show that there are eight (8) vowel phonemes have been identified; four (4) front vowels [i, e, ε, a]; one (1) central vowel [ə]; and three (3) back vowels [u, o, ɔ]. Besides that, the distribution/alternation of all vowel phonemes of Melanau Rajang dialect in Belawai are also discussed in this study. The findings also indicate that active vowel phonemes are vowels [a, i, u], while inactive vocal phonemes are vowels [ɔ, o, ε, ə, e].
The use of proverbs in Iban community illustrates that the community exercise language politeness in giving reproach, advice or insinuation to others. The elements used in the proverbs also reflect and describe the culture of this community by applying their experiences and observations to the environment. This study is conducted to analyze the natural elements in Ibans’ proverbs using inquisitive semantic analysis. This research is based on two objectives, namely listing and identifying Ibans’ proverbs (jaku' sempama) which contain elements of nature in the creation and to analyzing the mind and philosophy of Iban community in the creation of proverbs (jaku' sempama) by using inquisitive semantics as the theoretical framework. The natural elements identified are divided into 4 domains, namely animals, plants, resources or energy, and the universe. This is a qualitative research. Corpus data is gathered and two informants were interviewed. The meanings of the proverbs, the cognitive and the philosophy behind the creation of the proverbs plus the intellects of the Iban community are incorporated to reveal the Iban ingenuity behind the creation of a particular proverb. This study also incorporated knowledge from other areas in giving answers on the use of the natural elements identified in the Iban proverbs. Findings show that there are hidden philosophy behind the creations of the proverbs and this philosophy can be attributed to the culture of the community that behold the proverbs.
Proverbs are created when people started to observe and understand the nature around them. Proverbs consist of literal meanings and implicated meanings. The way these proverbs have been said, portrays the beauty and smoothness of the language to which the proverbs belong. This research is mainly conducted to distinguish Indian community's intellectual and philosophical abilities in conveying direct and indirect meanings. The theoretical framework used in this research is inquisitive semantics by Nor Hashimah Jalaluddin (2014). This is a qualitative research. The researcher attained 25 datas by interviewing four (4) Indian informants. However, this research acquired only three 3 data in which the image of sugarcane has been used. Finding shows that the Indian community's proverbs are established from their observation towards nature and the Indian community has their own philosophical understanding and also intellectual standards in the creation of proverbs. Actual meanings behind the data used in this research have been successfully decoded using the theory of inquisitive semantics. In a nutshell, this study is highly justifiable as the theory used in this research is a renowned and authoritative theory.
This article explores the issues of hybridity and its impacts and bearing to identity crisis in relation to kinship practices among the Euro-Asian families in Malaysia. To demonstrate the empirical and scientific nature of this study, qualitative methods were used whereby respondents were interviewed either face to face interview or through audio interviews. Furthermore, focus Group Discussion and empirical observation were fully utilized to obtain and analyzed for both quality and logical conclusion. Indeed, the data from the field demonstrate that the offspring of mixed marriages had either conscious identity crisis, unconscious or denied identity crisis or no identity crisis due to factors such as religion, socializing, education, and exposure by parents. Thus, the majority of the research respondents identified themselves based on “Others” but there are complexities to this when it comes to formal and informal identification.
When we heard Retro design, people will think about the fashion, music, poster, style and trend of the 1940s to1980s. The trend retro-futurism, however, is entirely different. It is a trend that was created by writers, artists and film directors in the past and is closely related to science fiction. This research concentrates on investigating the characteristics of retro-futurism and how it can be used to incorporate its features into building design for 3D animation. An exploratory method was used to analyse the architectural design of the past. The gathered information could give some insights and understanding of what retro-futurism is and the reason behind why the architectural design in the previous era was created that way. The process and challenges of implementing retro-futurism visual style are also discussed. As the result of the collected data, developing a design with the aesthetic of retro-futurism become more accessible and well-planned.
The occupational safety and health of workers are aimed to protect employees.. Safety at workplace is a crucial aspect in a company’s organization. Safety in workplace is important in guaranteeing the worker’s wellbeing. The Malaysia Government has taken the required steps by introducing the Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994 on 25th of February 1994. The responsibilities in enforcing Occupational Safety and Health Act is given to the Occupational Safety and Health Department (OSHD) which is under the Ministry of Human Resource.
The presence of foreign workers is very crucial in the development of our country. Their presence in Sabah has created a big issue and it is difficult to be solved since 1990s. Migrant workers migrate to Malaysia in search of income although they are offered a low salary, unconducive living arrangements and long working hours. This has encouraged the rise of human trafficking. Ministry of Internal Affairs Malaysia is trying to solve this issue by abolishing recruitment of foreign workers through agents and rectify the policy on managing and recruiting foreign workers.