Assessment of reproductive performance and abortion occurrence of boer goats as influenced by farm systems and feeding practices

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of farm systems (intensive and semi-intensive) and feeding practices on reproductive performance (kidding rate and abortion occurrence) of female Boer goats in Peninsular Malaysia. By using a survey-purposive sampling approach, a total of 212 goat farms were surveyed and 123 farms rearing Boer goats either in intensive or semi-intensive farm system with at least of a year of operation were included in the analysis. Data on feeding practices were also gathered. In both farm systems, majority of the goat producers fed their goats twice a day and about half of them (48.6%) provided feed supplement to the pregnant goat. This feeding practice was mentioned as a method to improve the kidding rate. However, no significant different was found between the two farm systems in kidding rate (P>0.05: intensive 1.19 ± 0.09; semi-intensive 1.10 ± 0.07). In addition, the abortion incidence was rare, particularly in early and late pregnancy in intensive and semi-intensive farm systems (p>0.05; X 2 = 7.57 and 2.21, respectively). In conclusion, the rearing Boer female goats either in intensive or semi-intensive farm systems does not affect their kidding rate and abortion frequency

Optimization of Coconut Fibers Toward Heat Insulator Applications

In this research, usage of coconut fibers and natural rubber as main materials for heat insulation application has been investigated. Both materials have significant advantages due to their high quality characteristic and abundant availability in Malaysia. Cold press technique was used to produce 12 different compositions of latex, which are 5 wt.%, 10 wt.%, 15 wt.%, 20 wt.%, 25 wt.%, 30 wt.%, 35 wt.%, 40 wt.%, 45 wt.%, 50 wt.%, 55 wt.% and 60 wt.%. The result showed that composite specimen with 30 wt. % latex is the best compositions as it can absorb 95% of heat in the heat test. This is better than actual product that was made by synthetic rubber material. Also, the best result of the tensile test and compression test for the Young’s Modulus values are 33.473 kPa and 79.59 kPa respectively. Hence, the composite with 30 wt. % of natural latex is most suitable for the heat insulator application

Length–weight relationships of 20 fish species from Pahang River, Maran district, Pahang, Malaysia

This study reports the length–weight relationships (LWR) of 20 fish species from the Pahang River, Maran district, Pahang, Malaysia. The river supplies fishes mainly for local consumption and is a principal body of water for freshwater aquaculture in Malaysia. A total of 12 LWR of fishes were unknown to FishBase, and five new maximum lengths of fishes were identified from the study

Length-weight relationships of 13 fish species from Pahang River, Temerloh district, Pahang, Malaysia

Length–weight relationships (LWRs) are described for 13 fish species from Pahang River, Temerloh district, Pahang, Malaysia. The river serves as a main water body for freshwater aquaculture in the country and also supplies various fishes for local consumption. This is the first record of LWRs for nine fish species and new maximum lengths for three species in fishbase

Text-message reminders increase uptake of routine breast screening appointments : a randomised controlled trial in a hard-to-reach population

Background: There is a need for interventions to promote uptake of breast screening throughout Europe. Methods: We performed a single-blind randomised controlled trial to test whether text-message reminders were effective. Two thousand two hundred and forty women receiving their first breast screening invitation were included in the study and randomly assigned in a 1 : 1 ratio to receive either a normal invitation only (n=1118) or a normal invitation plus a text-message reminder 48 h before their appointment (n=1122). Findings: In the intention-to-treat analysis, uptake of breast screening was 59.1% among women in the normal invitation group and 64.4% in the text-message reminder group (χ2=6.47, odds ratio (OR): 1.26, 95% confidence intervals (CI): 1.05–1.48, P=0.01). Of the 1122 women assigned to the text-message reminder group, only 456 (41%) had a mobile number recorded by their GP and were thereby sent a text. In the per-protocol analysis, uptake by those in the control group who had a mobile number recorded on the GP system was 59.77% and by those in the intervention group who were sent a reminder 71.7% (χ2=14.12, OR=1.71, 95% CI=1.29–2.26, P<0.01). Interpretation: Sending women a text-message reminder before their first routine breast screening appointment significantly increased attendance. This information can be used to allocate resources efficiently to improve uptake without exacerbating social inequalities

Expression of segment a of infectious bursal disease virus in pichia pastoris

Recombinant plasmid containing segment A open reading frame 2 (ORF2) gene of infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV) of a very virulent subtype from local outbreak (strain 3529/92) was constructed. The gene encoding the IBDV structural polyprotein (N-VP2-VP3-VP4-C) was inserted into an expression vector, pPICZ prior to its transformation into Pichia pastoris by electroporation. After the induction of P. pastoris transformant with 0.5% methanol, the production of IBDV polyprotein was observed using Western blot. In P. pastoris, co- or post-translational processing of the large polyprotein occurred, generating a stable C-terminal product (VP3) of correct size, but without any detectable N-terminal product (VP2). The failure to observe the VP2 protein in Western blot analysis was probably due to the conformational epitope problem

Length-weight relationships of 15 fish species from Tembeling River, Pahang, Malaysia

This study reports the length–weight relationships (LWR) of 15 fish species from Tembeling River, Pahang, Malaysia. The river flows adjacent to the National Park, Pahang, and supplies fishes for local consumption. In addition, this river also functions as a main water body for protection and breeding of commercial fish species. A total of eight LWRs were unknown to FishBase, and five new maximum lengths were identified from the study

Enhancing the decolorization of methylene blue using a low-cost super-absorbent aided by response surface methodology

The presence of organic dyes from industrial wastewater can cause pollution and exacerbate environmental problems; therefore, in the present work, activated carbon was synthesized from locally available oil palm trunk (OPT) biomass as a low-cost adsorbent to remove synthetic dye from aqueous media. The physical properties of the synthesized oil palm trunk activated carbon (OPTAC) were analyzed by SEM, FTIR-ATR, and XRD. The concurrent effects of the process variables (adsorbent dosage (g), methylene blue (MB) concentration (mg/L), and contact time (h)) on the MB removal percentage from aqueous solution were studied using a three-factor three-level Box–Behnken design (BBD) of response surface methodology (RSM), followed by the optimization of MB adsorption using OPTAC as the adsorbent. Based on the results of the analysis of variance (ANOVA) for the three parameters considered, adsorbent dosage (X1) is the most crucial parameter, with an F-value of 1857.43, followed by MB concentration (X2) and contact time (X3) with the F-values of 95.60 and 29.48, respectively. Furthermore, the highest MB removal efficiency of 97.9% was achieved at the optimum X1, X2, and X3 of 1.5 g, 200 mg/L, and 2 h, respectivel

Lengthweight relationships of seven fish species from the upper Pelus River, Kuala Kangsar district, Perak, Malaysia

Length–weight relationships (LWR) are reported for seven fish species from the upper Pelus River, Kuala Kangsar district, Perak, Malaysia. This river is located in a remote area and supplies fishes for the aboriginal peoples. Fish samplings were conducted in three different seasons, the dry (June 2014), wet (August 2014), and moderately wet (April 2015). All samples were collected using fish electro–shocker and scoop nets with a 1 cm mesh size. A total of seven LWRs were unknown to FishBase, and four new maximum fish lengths were identified in the study

Comparison of phytoplankton diversity and succession between two small man-made lakes in Serdang, Selangor

Information on the relations between phytoplankton communities and the environment is limited for the man-made lakes in Malaysia. This paper presents the results of a study on the diversity and seasonal succession of phytoplankton in Seri Serdang Lake and Faculty of Engineering Lake conducted between November 2013 and February 2014. A total of 27 species from four phyla (Chlorophyta, Euglenophyta, Cyanobacteria, Bacillariophy ta) and 33 species belonging to Cyanobacteria, Chlorophyta, Bacillariophyta, Euglenophyta and Dinophyta were identified from Seri Serdang Lake and the Faculty of Engineering Lake, respectively. Chlorophyta were most dominant in both lakes. Highest number of species recorded was Monoraphidium sp. in Seri Serdang Lake and Pediastrum tetras in Faculty of Engineering Lake. Seri Serdang Lake had lower phytoplankton density (20 cells ml–1 to 396 cells ml–1) as compared to the Faculty of Engineering Lake (250 cells ml–1 to 300 cells ml–1). Although the distance between the two lakes is short, they do not share the same tributary probably leading to the observed differences in water quality, species diversity and succession pattern