Time Series Modelling for Share Price Behaviour of Top Five Palm Oil Industries: Bursa Malaysia (2004-07)

Kajian ini telah berusaha untuk mengenal pasti satu model yang sesuai untuk harga saham lima syarikat minyak sawit mentah yang tersenarai di papan utama Bursa Malaysia. This Study has attempted to find a suitable model for the share prices of top-5 companies in terms of revenue, principally engaged in Palm Oil Industry and listed on Bursa Malaysia’s Main Board

Isolation and characterization of lactic acid bacteria from gastrointestinal tract of snakehead (channa striatus, bloch) as probiotic for freshwater fish

The intensive application of antibiotics to prevent and control the bacterial diseases in aquaculture has resulted in development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Therefore, probiotics as an alternative strategy have been suggested to be used as replacement for antimicrobial drugs and growth promoters. Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) constitute a group of G+ve bacteria with a high ability to produce antibacterial compounds and improve fish performance which makes them excellent probiotics. In the present study, snakehead (Channa striatus), an indigenous commercial freshwater fish in Southeast Asia countries was chosen for the isolation of LAB. Isolates obtained on de Man Rogosa and Sharp (MRS) agar and broth showed 27 and 9 pure isolates from the fingerling and adults fishes, respectively. According to the antagonistic plate test against Aeromonas hydrophila as a main freshwater fish pathogen, five LABs i.e. three isolates from the fingerlings and two from the adults that showed the greatest inhibition zone were selected. The selected LABs were identified as Aerococcus viridans, Lactobacillus delbreuckii sp. delbreuckii and Enterococcus faecalis from fingerlings and Lactobacillus fermentum and Leuconostoc mesenteroides sp.mesenteroides from adult fish. Probiotic property evaluation of LAB candidates showed that they could survive and grow at pH 3 up to 8 (P < 0.05). They could also tolerate bile salt concentrations from 0.0 to 0.3% (P < 0.05). The LABs were active at different levels of NaCl (0.0 to 4%) and also, at various temperatures ranging from 15 oC to 45 oC, but showed no growth at 10 oC and 50 oC. Antagonistic effects against three tested fish pathogens i.e. A. hydrophila, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Shewanella putrefaciens indicated that En. faecalis, L. fermentum and Leu. mesenteroides sp. mesenteroides had the highest inhibition activities. The antibiotic sensitivity test showed that En. faecalis had more antibiotic’s resistance property against some antibiotics as compared to other LAB (P < 0.05). According to probiotic characterization as screening, En. faecalis, L. fermentum and Leu. mesenteroides were selected for in vivo experiments. The viability of LABs in feed stored at 4 oC was higher than 25 oC during four weeks storage.Significant increased of the LAB proportion was observed in the fish intestine fed LAB-fortified diets as compared to the control group (P < 0.05). In addition, the lower G-ve bacteria population in the fish intestine was observed for experimental groups as compared to the control group. Effects of mono and multi-species of LAB candidates on the body composition of Javanese carp (Puntius gonionotus) indicated that LAB-fortified diets could not seriously affect the chemical composition of experimental fish carcasses. The survivability was the same for all experimental groups. The concentration of 107 cfu/g diets was overall more effective than 105 and 109 cfu/g diets. The use of En.faecalis as probiotic had more positive effects than L. fermentum and Leu.mesenteroides on growth, feed conversion ratio, specific growth rate, and protein efficiency ratio (P < 0.05). Moreover, the use of En. faecalis resulted in an increase in the production of protease and lipase enzymes in the digestive tract of Javanese carp. Results obtained from the short chain fatty acid determination which included acetate, propionate and butyrate showed that treated group with En. faecalis could significantly (P < 0.05) enhance the propionate and butyrate production as compared to the control. An in vivo challenge test of A. hydrophila as a fish pathogen with En. faecalis as a probiotic on Javanese carp indicated that this probiotic could protect the fish against A. hydrophila and showed a higher survivability compared to the control. The presence of En. faecalis in the diet could affect immune response to enhance the antibody level as a humoral response. The fish treated with a LAB-fortified diet (En. faecalis) and added pathogen (A. hydrophila) into the water showed the highest antibody level as compared to the control group (P > 0.05). In conclusion, LABs can be normal microbiota in the gastrointestinal tract of the snakehead. In addition, the use of En. faecalis as a probiotic had positive effects on overall fish performance, digestive enzymes and short chain fatty acid production, survivability in challenge with pathogen and increased humoral immune response in Javanese carp. This LAB as an environmental friendly agent can be suggested as an alternative to antibiotics in freshwater fish culture

Analyzing emotions on Twitter during the 2014 Purdue University shooting crisis

Social media has recently attracted much attention as an emergency management tool. Providing public emotional support is one of the aspects of emergency management where social media can be extremely useful. However, before we can effectively use social media for this purpose, we need to fully understand the dynamics of emotions on social media platforms. This study contributes to this understanding. In this thesis I look into the emotional expressions on Twitter following the 2014 Purdue shooting incident. I analyze how different types of users emotionally reacted to the incident during the critical one and a half hours following the shooting. Various types of emotions and their trends over this time period are described and analyzed. Moreover, I give some suggestions for providing effective emotional support using social media in times of crisis

Resolution of Posterior Nutcracker Syndrome through Left Renal Vein Ligation: A Case Report

This case report presents the clinical course of a 54-year-old male patient diagnosed with posterior Nutcracker Syndrome (NCS). The patient experienced recurrent episodes of macroscopic hematuria and severe left flank pain. He was diagnosed with retro-aortic left renal vein (RLRV), an unusual congenital abnormality, which can result in the compression of the left renal vein between the aorta and the vertebra. Initial attempts at conservative management and endovascular interventions were unsuccessful. An open surgical intervention was ultimately performed. The surgery involved ligation of the left renal vein. Postoperatively, the patient experienced marked improvement in symptoms, with complete resolution of hematuria and pain. Furthermore, renal function remained stable, and no kidney-related complications were reported. This case suggests that, in certain situations where endovascular intervention and transposition of LRV or re-implantation of the left gonadal vein are not feasible, ligation of the LRV may provide a safe and practical treatment option for patients with posterior NCS. Future research is needed to validate these findings

Laser Therapy in Lumbar Disc Surgery : A Narrative Review

Introduction: Low back pain is one of the most chronic debilitating conditions involving considerable loss of cash, work, and quality time. Lasers are utilized in different fields of drugs, providing unique advantages. They are useful and advantageous in treating lumbar disc disease. In this research, an attempt is made to examine the role and importance of different lasers in lumbar disc surgeries.Methods: We conducted studies about laser therapy in lumbar disc surgery. Our primary search began with reviewing English-language citations from PubMed and Scopus between 1990 and 2019 using the keywords: (laser therapy) OR (lumbar disc AND disc surgery). The initial search yielded 97 articles. However, about 49 articles were selected and used in the present study.Results: Based on the present study, it can be found that there are several methods of using lasers to treat lumbar disc surgery. These methods all have their strengths and weaknesses.Conclusion: The development of laser lumbar disc surgery can be very helpful due to the reduction of surgical risks and the length of the patients’ hospital stay. However, the choice of method used for this type of surgery should be made according to the patient’s condition and based on the opinion of the treating physician