Occurrence of Campylobacter and Salmonella in ducks and duck eggs in Selangor, Malaysia

The importance of Campylobacter and Salmonella as foodborne pathogens is well recognised globally. A recent work in Penang found ducks in commercial farms were infected with these organisms. The aim of the study was to detect the presence of Campylobacter and Salmonella in ducks and Salmonella in duck eggs in farms in a small part of Selangor. Cloacal swabs were obtained from 75 ducks and 30 duck eggs from three farms. The isolation and identification of Campylobacter and Salmonella were done using conventional methods. Twelve percent of Campylobacter and 16.0% of Salmonella were isolated from the ducks sampled. Salmonella was absent on and in eggs. Campylobacter isolates consisted of 22% Campylobacter jejuni and the remaining was Campylobacter coli. Three Salmonella serovars identified were Salmonella Agona, S. Braenderup and S. Corvallis. The presence of Campylobacter and Salmonella in ducks may cause contamination of the meat during processing and handling which can constitute public health hazard. Moreover, the farm workers may be exposed to the organisms through contact with the infected animals

Impact of serum and follicular fluid kisspeptin and estradiol on oocyte maturity and endometrial thickness among unexplained infertile females during ICSI

Objective: To relate serum and follicular fluid (FF) kisspeptin and estradiol levels in different stages of stimulation during Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI) with oocyte maturity and endometrial thickness among unexplained infertile females.Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out at the Australian Concept Infertility Medical Centre from March 2017 till March 2018. Fifty unexplained infertile females, booked for ICSI, were included in the study. Serum kisspeptin and estradiol were estimated by Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay in all four stages; 1: follicular stimulation, 2: ovulation induction, 3: oocyte pickup, and 4: embryo transfer. FF was aspirated during oocyte retrieval (stage 3) for the analysis of KP and estradiol. Pregnancy outcomes were categorized as non-pregnant, preclinical abortion, and clinical pregnancy.Results: The age of the study subjects was 32.04 ± 2.29 (Mean±SD) years, with mean BMI of 28.51 ± 4.15 (Mean±SD) kg/m2. Mean serum kisspeptin and estradiol levels increased in all subjects as the stimulation proceeded stages 1-3; however, the mean dropped after retrieval of the oocytes (stage 4). Out of 27 female subjects who completed the cycle, 17 remained non-pregnant, 4 had preclinical abortion, and 6 acquired clinical pregnancy. The FF kisspeptin concentration was significantly higher than serum concentrations and positively correlated with serum and FF estradiol concentrations. FF-kisspeptin correlated with serum kisspeptin in Stage 3 (r = 0.930, p\u3c0.001), maturity of oocyte (r = 0.511, p = 0.006) and endometrial thickness (r = 0.522, p = 0.005). Kisspeptin in stage 3 was also found to correlate with endometrial thickness (r = 0.527, p = 0.005) and with estradiol (r = 0.624, p = 0.001) independently.Conclusion: Increase in serum and FF-kisspeptin and estradiol levels from stages 1 to 3, resulted in an optimum endometrial thickness, probability of fertilization of oocytes and chances of clinical pregnancy in Assisted Reproductive Techniques /ICSI cycles of unexplained infertile females

Exploring multiculturalism in ‘The Weight of Our Sky’ by Hanna Alkaf among TESL pre-service teachers

One of the aspirations of the teaching of literature in English is to teach and promote ethics and values to students through literary texts by examining social cultural and political issues. In this study, we aim to examine the effectiveness of using ‘The Weight of Our Sky’ by Hanna Alkaf to interrogate multicultural issues. This novel is based on one of the darkest periods in Malaysian history, the 13th May 1969 racial riots. Since then, racial issues continue to be a concern and permeate our politics, culture, and social fabric. We examined interpretations of the text relating to multicultural issues of race and race relations by 48 Year 2 TESL student teachers from the Faculty of Education, UKM. This study employed a mixed methodology research, utilising questionnaire, and interview as instruments in collecting the data. The analysis of the data has yielded two main themes, a) the value of ‘TWOOS’ in terms of its i) multicultural values, lessons and conflicts, ii) multicultural themes, iii) multicultural characters, iv) multicultural settings, v) young adult related, and b) the relevance of TWOOS in discussing issues of multiculturalism. This study revealed the value of the novel by encouraging young adult readers to think deeply, be empathetic and be critical when discussing about the multicultural issues in our country

Assessment of antibacterial potential of Saccharum spontaneum Linn. (family: Poaceae), against different pathogenic microbes- an in vitro study.

In this study, Saccharum spontaneum (Family: Poaceae), was evaluated for its antibacterial potential against human pathogenic bacterial strains. In-vitro antibacterial tests were performed by disc diffusion method on nutrient agar, in order to analyze the percentage zone of inhibition. Whole plant’s extract showed the significant zone of inhibition (mm), against Staphylococcus aureus (17.00), Streptococcus pneumoniae (16.50), Bacillus cereus (15.90), Bacillus pumilus (15.45), Escherichia coli (18.00), Klebsiella pneumoniae (17.10), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (15.20) and Citrobacter freundii (14.00), with relative percentages of inhibition of 76.90, 71.60, 57.40, 56.85, 70.40, 69.90, 61.05 and 54.30 respectively. Modified agar well diffusion method was used to measure the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and MIC values lies within the range of 75 to 300?g /ml for the G+ve strains while 75 to 600?g /ml for G-ve.  Due to presence of tannins and flavonoids, it inhibits the growth of bacteria on most regulatory levels such as peptidoglycan, DNA, RNA and protein synthesis

Impact of opioid-free analgesia on pain severity and patient satisfaction after discharge from surgery: Multispecialty, prospective cohort study in 25 countries

Background: Balancing opioid stewardship and the need for adequate analgesia following discharge after surgery is challenging. This study aimed to compare the outcomes for patients discharged with opioid versus opioid-free analgesia after common surgical procedures.Methods: This international, multicentre, prospective cohort study collected data from patients undergoing common acute and elective general surgical, urological, gynaecological, and orthopaedic procedures. The primary outcomes were patient-reported time in severe pain measured on a numerical analogue scale from 0 to 100% and patient-reported satisfaction with pain relief during the first week following discharge. Data were collected by in-hospital chart review and patient telephone interview 1 week after discharge.Results: The study recruited 4273 patients from 144 centres in 25 countries; 1311 patients (30.7%) were prescribed opioid analgesia at discharge. Patients reported being in severe pain for 10 (i.q.r. 1-30)% of the first week after discharge and rated satisfaction with analgesia as 90 (i.q.r. 80-100) of 100. After adjustment for confounders, opioid analgesia on discharge was independently associated with increased pain severity (risk ratio 1.52, 95% c.i. 1.31 to 1.76; P \u3c 0.001) and re-presentation to healthcare providers owing to side-effects of medication (OR 2.38, 95% c.i. 1.36 to 4.17; P = 0.004), but not with satisfaction with analgesia (β coefficient 0.92, 95% c.i. -1.52 to 3.36; P = 0.468) compared with opioid-free analgesia. Although opioid prescribing varied greatly between high-income and low- and middle-income countries, patient-reported outcomes did not.Conclusion: Opioid analgesia prescription on surgical discharge is associated with a higher risk of re-presentation owing to side-effects of medication and increased patient-reported pain, but not with changes in patient-reported satisfaction. Opioid-free discharge analgesia should be adopted routinely