The life and health challenges of young Malaysian couples: results from a stakeholder consensus and engagement study to support non-communicable disease prevention

BACKGROUND: Malaysia faces burgeoning obesity and diabetes epidemics with a 250% and 88% increase respectively between 1996 and 2006. Identifying the health challenges of young adults in Malaysia, who constitute 27.5 % of the population, is critical for NCD prevention. The aim of the study was two-fold: (1) to achieve consensus amongst stakeholders on the most important challenge impacting the health of young adults, and (2) to engage with stakeholders to formulate a NCD prevention framework.METHODS: The Delphi Technique was utilised to achieve group consensus around the most important life and health challenges that young adults face in Malaysia. Subsequently, the results of the consensus component were shared with the stakeholders in an engagement workshop to obtain input on a NCD prevention framework.RESULTS: We found that life stress was a significant concern. It would seem that the apathy towards pursuing or maintaining a healthy lifestyle among young adults may be significantly influenced by the broader distal determinant of life stress. The high cost of living is suggested to be the main push factor for young working adults towards attaining better financial security to improve their livelihood. In turn, this leads to a more stressful lifestyle with less time to focus on healthier lifestyle choices.CONCLUSIONS: The findings highlight a pivotal barrier to healthier lifestyles. By assisting young adults to cope with daily living coupled with realistic opportunities to make healthier dietary choices, be more active, and less sedentary could assist in the development of NCD health promotion strategies<br/

Preliminary Trials on juvenile Macrobrachium rosenbergii Production under modified Static 'Green water' Conditions

The methods of juvenile production of Udang Galah (Macrobrachium rosenbergii) have been documented by several workers (ling, 1969 .. Ling and Costello, 1976 .. Fujimura 7966, 1967, 1968, 1972 .. Fujimura and okomoto, 1970,. Sandifer etl.1976). The methods given by these workers involve intensive hatchery management such as frequent water change and cleaning of larval tanks to ensure good sanitation. Such a technique would involve wastage of sea water and at the same time is labour intensive. 'to overcome the above mentioned problems a study 'was conducted at the hatchery of the Faculty of Fisheries and marine Science, Serdang, to produce" Udang Galah" juveniles 'Without water change and by using «green water' at salinities 6~8°100 and 12-14% 0 respectively. Previous studies by Cohen et al. (1976) have conclusively shozon that (green water' is an efficient system to remove toxic metabolites such as ammonia from the culture medium. The 'green water' 'which mainly consists of unicellular algae such as Chlorella is produced by expos;'lg 'loater of salim'ty 6°(00 'Which contained Sarothcrodon mossambicus to sunlight (Fujimura

An Evaluation of the Use of Egg Yolk, Artemia nauplii, Microworms and Moina as Diets in Larval Rearing of Helostoma temmincki Cuvier and Valenciennes

Five day old Helostoma temmincki larvae measing 4.6 ± 0.1 mm in total length were stocked into 12 larval culture tanks at the rate of 1000 larvae/tank (l0 larvae/l). The larvae were fed Diet I (Egg yolk), Diet II (Egg yolk + Artemia naupliz), Diet III (Egg yolk +microworms), and Diet IV (Egg yolk + Moina) for iz period of4 weeks. After 1 week of rearing, larvae fed Diet III measun'ng 8. 4 mm total length and 7.0 mg weight were larger than larvae fed the other diets (P < 0.05). A t the end of two weeks, larvae fed Diets II, III and IV were larger than larvae fed Diet I (P < 0.05). FrOm" week 3 onwards, larvae fed Diet IV were consistently larger (P <0.05). This experiment shows that microworms were very suitable as a starter feed and that Moina was suitable for feeding Helostoma temmincki larvae after week 2 under tropical conditions

A Preliminary Study on Induced Spawning of the Catfish Clarias batrachus (Linnaeus) in Malaysia

Ten gravid Clarias batrachus females were administered with a single dose of common carp pituitary homogenate (CPR). Bifore injection, the eggs were light yellow and the diameter rangedfrom 0.94 mm to 1.08 mm. Ovulation occurred approximately 12 hours after the adminstration of CPR. The colour of the eggs turned brown and the diameter rangedfrom o. 99 mm to 1.27 mm. The fertilization rates rangedfrom 10-81%. The eggs hatched after about 30-36 hours of incubation at 26°C to 28°C. The hatching rates ranged from 13-67070

Kinesin-1 is involved in chondrocytes adhesion to extracellular matrix and motility

Intercalation movement of proliferative chondrocytes is crucial for their columnar organization which is essential for proper function of growth plate cartilage. The conventional motor protein kinesin‐1 directionally transporting various cargos along microtubules might be involved in this polarized cell movement. Kinesin‐1 is suggested to transport unknown cargo(s) modulating focal adhesion (FA) turnover which is a key step in cell movement. To investigate kinesin‐1’s role in chondrocytes intercalation, we generate kinesin‐1 heavy chain (Kif5b) knockout mouse. In the growth plate of KIF5B deficient mouse, we observed abnormal cell morphology and disrupted columnar structure. Isolated mutant chondrocytes show reduced motility and adhesion ability to ECM proteins. Vinculin, the key regulator of focal adhesions, is found as a potential protein associated with KIF5B in mouse chondrocytes. Further study will investigate whether KIF5B affects chondrocytes motility and adhesion via FAs modulation.postprin

Approximability of Connected Factors

Finding a d-regular spanning subgraph (or d-factor) of a graph is easy by Tutte's reduction to the matching problem. By the same reduction, it is easy to find a minimal or maximal d-factor of a graph. However, if we require that the d-factor is connected, these problems become NP-hard - finding a minimal connected 2-factor is just the traveling salesman problem (TSP). Given a complete graph with edge weights that satisfy the triangle inequality, we consider the problem of finding a minimal connected $d$-factor. We give a 3-approximation for all $d$ and improve this to an (r+1)-approximation for even d, where r is the approximation ratio of the TSP. This yields a 2.5-approximation for even d. The same algorithm yields an (r+1)-approximation for the directed version of the problem, where r is the approximation ratio of the asymmetric TSP. We also show that none of these minimization problems can be approximated better than the corresponding TSP. Finally, for the decision problem of deciding whether a given graph contains a connected d-factor, we extend known hardness results.Comment: To appear in the proceedings of WAOA 201

Plastron osteotomy in the management of fishing hook ingestion in a Malayan box turtle (Cuora amboinensis)

An adult male Malayan box turtle was diagnosed with foreign body obstruction of fishing hook. Upon presentation, the animal had pale mucous membrane and fishing line protruding out from the oral cavity. Diagnosis of foreign body ingestion was based on plain radiograph where the fishing hook was evidenced on the lateral and ventrodorsal radiographic view. Plastron osteotomy surgical removal was performed after endoscopy guided forcep removal failed. Procedures were carried out under the injectable anesthesia using a combination of ketamine and xylazine hydrochloride. Antibiotic, anti-inflammatory and parenteral fluid therapy was given pre and post-surgically as medical treatment and stabilisation

Travel app shopping: understanding the success factors influencing in-app travel purchase intentions

Purpose - While many benefits are purported by travel app developers, there is scant research on the factors driving behaviour when using travel apps. With the diffusion of innovation theory (DOI) and theory of planned behaviour (TPB) as the guiding theoretical perspectives, this research identifies the factors motivating user attitudes and in-app purchase intentions. The moderating impact of user inertia towards TPB constructs was also explored. Design/methodology/approach - A total of 500 responses were received via an online-survey fielded from July to October 2021. The data were then analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM). Findings - The results indicated that attitudes toward travel app shopping were predominantly determined by perceived relative advantages, compatibility, and complexity. While findings also suggested that in-app purchase intentions are positively influenced by attitudes, communicability, and perceived behavioural control, and are moderated by user inertia. Originality/Value - A holistic framework integrating theoretical foundations from two disciplines (information systems and psychology) was designed to explain factors motivating user intentions to purchase travel products and services from apps. This research found a missing link in previous studies by showing the indirect role of attitudes that bridges the diffusion of innovation (DOI) and theory of planned behaviour (TPB), and the importance of inertia as a key boundary condition

Genome sequences of two cold-adaptedCryobacterium spp. SO1 and SO2 from FildesPeninsula, Antarctica

Psychrophilic and psychrotrophic bacteria play important roles in nutrient cycling in cold environments. These bacteria are suitable as model organisms for studying cold-adaptation, and sources of cold-active enzymes and metabolites for industrial applications. Here, we report the genome sequences of two Cryobacterium sp. strains SO1 and SO2. Genes coding major proteins related to cold- or thermal-stress adaptations and those with industrial applications found in their genomes are described