Comparative analysis of text classification algorithms for automated labelling of quranic verses

The ultimate goal of labelling a Quranic verse is to determine its corresponding theme. However, the existing Quranic verse labelling approach is primarily depending on the availability of Quranic scholars who have expertise in Arabic language and Tafseer. In this paper, we propose to automate the labelling task of the Quranic verse using text classification algorithms. We applied three text classification algorithms namely, k-Nearest Neighbour, Support Vector Machine, and Naïve Bayes in automating the labelling procedure. In our experiment with the classification algorithms English translation of the verses are presented as features. The English translation of the verses are then classified as “Shahadah” (the first pillar of Islam) or “Pray” (the second pillar of Islam). It is found that all of the text classification algorithms are capable to achieve more than 70% accuracy in labelling the Quranic verses

The nutritional status of Orang Asli children after participating in the community feeding program (CFP) in Gua Musang and Jeli, Kelantan

Background: Malnutrition is one of the main causes of death and disease among children globally. The economic, social, and medical impacts of malnutrition are serious and long-lasting. It can affect the growth and development of children and had subsequently, chronic diseases in adults. To counteract malnutrition, nutrition programs have been put in place to improve the nutritional well-being of Malaysian children. The Community Feeding Program (CFP), focused specifically on the underprivileged community such as the Orang Asli due to the persistently high prevalence of malnutrition. Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the proportion and factors associated with the successful outcome of the CFP among Orang Asli children in Gua Musang and Jeli, Kelantan. Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted involving 175 recipients of Orang Asli children aged between six months to six years old who participated in the CFP in Gua Musang and Jeli, Kelantan. Data were collected from Buku Kanak-Kanak Kekurangan Zat Makanan (BKKKZM) using a proforma. This program involved a combination of three interventions; provision of Ready to Used Therapeutic Food (RUTF), Supplementary Feeding, and Community Health Empowerment Program Result: This study showed an improvement in the nutritional status indicators such as height, weight, height-for-age (stunting), and weight-for-age (underweight) after six months in the program. The proportion of successful outcome of nutritional status increased to 64.0% for underweight and 65.1% for stunting. Factors associated with the underweight successful outcome include location of feeding centres (AOR; 3.34, 95% CI:1.550, 7.180) and percentage of attendance (AOR; 1.058, 95% CI: 1.189, 6.738). While factors associated with the stunting successful outcome include location of feeding centres (AOR; 4.07, 95% CI:1.86, 8.90) and fathers education (AOR; 2.83, 95% CI: 1.03, 1.08). Conclusion: The Community Feeding Program showed the improvement in the nutritional status of Orang Asli children, thus this program should be sustained to increase the success of the program

The beneficial of wetland Tanjung Piai to community

Wetlands are one of the natural resources that can be seen are suffering for the past few years from human activities. The destruction of wetlands not only came from human activities but also from natural event such as continuous erosion that occurs at Tanjung Piai. The destruction of wetlands not only occurs in Malaysia but also in other country. The study was carried out at wetlands located in Tanjung Piai to identify the beneficial of wetland Tanjung Piai to community and wildlife. For the past few years, problem related to water such as flooding and water pollution worsen but wetlands seems to be one of the method to reduce these events. Wetland becomes storage area that accepts rainwater that cannot be accepted by river. Water that went through as groundwater recharge will go through filtration first thus, reducing the unwanted material in the water. Other than that wetland also acts as habitat for animals and measures to reduce erosion. Despite of the benefit of wetlands to community, wetland suffers from pollution, extinction of the mangrove and climate change. The study was carried out through observation and interview on the person in charge of the Tanjung Piai wetland. The objectives of the study are to identify the benefit of the wetland, problems that was suffered by wetland and measures to make sure wetland are in good condition

Lemon essential oil; the organic insect repellent

Commercial insecticides are widely used in most sectors of the agricultural production to avoid or reduce losses by insects and hence it can improve the production as well as the quality of the product produced. In some ways, it can also improve the value of food and also its safety. Insecticides can be considered as an economic, labour-saving and efficient tool of insect management in agricultural production [1]

Phytochemical and toxicity analysis of Leucas zeylanica crude extracts

Leucas zeylanica (L.) R. Br. (L. zeylanica) originated from Lamiaceae family which is also known as “Pokok ketumbit” by local Malaysian is famous for therapeutic treatment uses especially in India and Sri Lanka. Throughout this study, four different solvents which were n-hexane, chloroform, methanol, and distilled water used in the extraction method using cold maceration technique. Optimization was done and methanol became the best solvent that produced highest percentage yield compared to the other solvents and also been chose to carry out a few other analysis. The extracts were subjected to qualitative and quantitative analyses to determine the phytochemical constituents present in aerial parts of L. zeylanica. The Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy – Attenuated Total Reflection (FTIR-ATR) results showed few significance peaks according to extracted solvents. Qualitative analysis on the methanolic extract showed that L. zeylanica contains phenol, flavonoid and tannin through phytochemical screening tests using colorimetric method. The Gas Chromatography – Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) results demonstrated few fatty acids been extracted in both n-hexane and chloroform extracts with high peak area, while Liquid Chromatography Tandem with Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS-MS) results identified that chloroform extract showed fragment spectrum of tricin [M+H]+ ion at m/z 328.1 with retention time of 19.49 min, while methanol extract had two fragment spectrum of tricin and apigenin at m/z 282.3 and 270.4 in positive ion mode at 19.53 min and 16.70 min respectively. Quantitative analysis on methanolic extract was done via Ultra Violet-visible spectrophotometric assay for estimation of total phenolic content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC) and total tannin content (TTC). TPC showed a gallic acid standard calibration curve, y = 0.0063x + 0.02 and estimated amount was 151.54 ± 0.04 mg of gallic acid equivalent/ 1 g of extract, meanwhile TFC displayed a quercetin standard calibration curve of y = 0.0050x + 0.037 and estimated amount of flavonoids was 71.76 ± 0.2 mg of quercetin equivalent/ 1 g of extract. Additionally, The toxicity test for the L. zeylanica extract showing that this compound is safe and non-toxic in term of skin irritation, cytotoxicity and also genotoxicity

New Insights on the Evolution of the Sweet Taste Receptor of Primates Adapted to Harsh Environments

Taste perception is an essential function that provides valuable dietary and sensoryinformation, which is crucial for the survival of animals. Studies into the evolution of the sweet tastereceptor gene (TAS1R2) are scarce, especially for Bornean endemic primates such asNasalis larvatus(proboscis monkey),Pongo pygmaeus(Bornean orangutan), andHylobates muelleri(Muller’s Borneangibbon). Primates are the perfect taxa to study as they are diverse dietary feeders, comprising specialistfolivores, frugivores, gummivores, herbivores, and omnivores. We constructed phylogenetic trees oftheTAS1R2gene for 20 species of anthropoid primates using four different methods (neighbor-joining,maximum parsimony, maximum-likelihood, and Bayesian) and also established the time divergenceof the phylogeny. The phylogeny successfully separated the primates into their taxonomic groupsas well as by their dietary preferences. Of note, the reviewed time of divergence estimation for theprimate speciation pattern in this study was more recent than the previously published estimates. It isbelieved that this difference may be due to environmental changes, such as food scarcity and climate change, during the late Miocene epoch, which forced primates to change their dietary preferences.These findings provide a starting point for further investigation

A multi-stakeholder strategy to identify conservation priorities in Peninsular Malaysia

Malaysia, with its rapidly growing economy, exemplifies the tensions between conservation and development faced by many tropical nations. Here we present the results of a multi-stakeholder engagement exercise conducted to (1) define conservation priorities in Peninsular Malaysia and (2) explore differences in perceptions among and within stakeholder groups (i.e. government, academia, NGOs and the private sector). Our data collection involved two workshops and two online surveys where participants identified seven general conservation themes and ranked the top five priority issues within each theme. The themes were: (1) policy and management, (2) legislation and enforcement, (3) finance and resource allocation, (4) knowledge, research and development, (5) socio-economic issues, (6) public awareness and participation and (7) rights of nature. In spite of their very different backgrounds and agendas, the four stakeholder groups showed general agreement in their priority preferences except for two issues. Respondents from government and private sector differed the most from each other in their priority choices while academia and NGO showed the highest degree of similarity. This ranked list of 35 conservation priorities is expected to influence the work of policy-makers and others in Peninsular Malaysia and can be used as a model to identify conservation priorities elsewhere

Surgical site infection after gastrointestinal surgery in high-income, middle-income, and low-income countries: a prospective, international, multicentre cohort study

Background: Surgical site infection (SSI) is one of the most common infections associated with health care, but its importance as a global health priority is not fully understood. We quantified the burden of SSI after gastrointestinal surgery in countries in all parts of the world. Methods: This international, prospective, multicentre cohort study included consecutive patients undergoing elective or emergency gastrointestinal resection within 2-week time periods at any health-care facility in any country. Countries with participating centres were stratified into high-income, middle-income, and low-income groups according to the UN's Human Development Index (HDI). Data variables from the GlobalSurg 1 study and other studies that have been found to affect the likelihood of SSI were entered into risk adjustment models. The primary outcome measure was the 30-day SSI incidence (defined by US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention criteria for superficial and deep incisional SSI). Relationships with explanatory variables were examined using Bayesian multilevel logistic regression models. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT02662231. Findings: Between Jan 4, 2016, and July 31, 2016, 13 265 records were submitted for analysis. 12 539 patients from 343 hospitals in 66 countries were included. 7339 (58·5%) patient were from high-HDI countries (193 hospitals in 30 countries), 3918 (31·2%) patients were from middle-HDI countries (82 hospitals in 18 countries), and 1282 (10·2%) patients were from low-HDI countries (68 hospitals in 18 countries). In total, 1538 (12·3%) patients had SSI within 30 days of surgery. The incidence of SSI varied between countries with high (691 [9·4%] of 7339 patients), middle (549 [14·0%] of 3918 patients), and low (298 [23·2%] of 1282) HDI (p < 0·001). The highest SSI incidence in each HDI group was after dirty surgery (102 [17·8%] of 574 patients in high-HDI countries; 74 [31·4%] of 236 patients in middle-HDI countries; 72 [39·8%] of 181 patients in low-HDI countries). Following risk factor adjustment, patients in low-HDI countries were at greatest risk of SSI (adjusted odds ratio 1·60, 95% credible interval 1·05–2·37; p=0·030). 132 (21·6%) of 610 patients with an SSI and a microbiology culture result had an infection that was resistant to the prophylactic antibiotic used. Resistant infections were detected in 49 (16·6%) of 295 patients in high-HDI countries, in 37 (19·8%) of 187 patients in middle-HDI countries, and in 46 (35·9%) of 128 patients in low-HDI countries (p < 0·001). Interpretation: Countries with a low HDI carry a disproportionately greater burden of SSI than countries with a middle or high HDI and might have higher rates of antibiotic resistance. In view of WHO recommendations on SSI prevention that highlight the absence of high-quality interventional research, urgent, pragmatic, randomised trials based in LMICs are needed to assess measures aiming to reduce this preventable complication

SARS-CoV-2 susceptibility and COVID-19 disease severity are associated with genetic variants affecting gene expression in a variety of tissues

Variability in SARS-CoV-2 susceptibility and COVID-19 disease severity between individuals is partly due to genetic factors. Here, we identify 4 genomic loci with suggestive associations for SARS-CoV-2 susceptibility and 19 for COVID-19 disease severity. Four of these 23 loci likely have an ethnicity-specific component. Genome-wide association study (GWAS) signals in 11 loci colocalize with expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) associated with the expression of 20 genes in 62 tissues/cell types (range: 1:43 tissues/gene), including lung, brain, heart, muscle, and skin as well as the digestive system and immune system. We perform genetic fine mapping to compute 99% credible SNP sets, which identify 10 GWAS loci that have eight or fewer SNPs in the credible set, including three loci with one single likely causal SNP. Our study suggests that the diverse symptoms and disease severity of COVID-19 observed between individuals is associated with variants across the genome, affecting gene expression levels in a wide variety of tissue types