Integration of health education for sustainable development: Sabah's initiatives

Sabah, located north of Borneo, is bordered by Sarawak on its south-west and by East Kalimantan of Indonesia to the south. The area that Sabah encompasses-73,711 square kilometers-makes the state the second largest in Malaysia. Sabah is popularly known as the land below the wind

BRIDGING THE REAL WORLD ENGLISHES IN THE RURAL ESL CLASSROOM THROUGH TRANSLATION

Translation can play a role in the development of communicative abilities since speakers are often engaged in the work of sharing and negotiating meaning. It fosters speculation and discussion, apart from developing abilities considered fundamental for communication, such as interpretation, negotiation, and expression of meaning. However, there are views against translation in the ESL classrooms even though the method has been applied in the pedagogical process. As a result, ESL students who are weak in English are not given the opportunity to excel in the second language from their own bilingual strength. This paper attempts to study and disclose in what ways pedagogogical translation in rural ESL classrooms in Sabah is reflected into practice, thereby assessing whether the gap between pedagogical translation and translation pedagogy has beeen been bridged. In this case study, five primary teachers were selected and their knowledge and practice of translation were assessed through qualitative content analysis in pre- teaching, while teaching and post-teaching activities. A translation framework has been designed and used in assessing the teachers’ performances in using translation. This pilot study reveals that teachers have translated from the first language (L1) into the second language (L2) as a means to help students to understand the content of the English lesson. They did not have adequate knowedge on translation strategies. Thus, the designed translation framework may be used by teachers as a guide in using translation in the ESL context

A study of contextual situatedness of english language teachers’ beliefs and practices about the form-focused instruction: a case study in Sandakan district, Sabah

This paper discusses the teachers’ beliefs and practices about form-focused instruction - a grammar instruction approach. It deals with EFL/ESL teachers regarding their relationship between beliefs and practices as well as factors shaping their beliefs. This study is presumed to give an understanding of the voices of classroom teachers who come across such problems during their daily interactions and develop working solutions for the recipients. In this study, my argument is that teachers’ beliefs are both intrapersonal and interpersonal, they partly originate from the public theories, and partly from their life experiences, and are modified through their practical environments. Actually beliefs are context-bound and situated, so the choice of a case study strategy presumed to be appropriate for the actual study to investigate the beliefs about grammar teaching, the individual teacher hold. This study is proposed to harvest certain approaches for grammar teaching strategies. It is also expected that such a study will have some contributions in adding to an understanding of teachers’ beliefs in terms of research methodology and theoretical understanding with reference to teacher cognition and professional development in the specific educational context where English is undertaken by non-native-English-speaking teachers. The preliminary study claims that expert theories of practice have little impact on teachers’ beliefs and practices and there is an indication that communicative language teaching (CLT) did influence teachers’ beliefs to some extent as articulated in the interview

Knowledge Sharing Among School Teachers

Today, knowledge is considered as wealth to the individual and the society. The purpose of this study is to investigate the relation of organization culture, attitude and motivation toward knowledge sharing among teachers in Keningau district, Sabah, Malaysia. In this study a total of number of 176 respondent was randomly selected from 10 primary schools in Keningau, Sabah. A structured questionnaire was then administered to the respondents. The structured questionnaire in this study was designed precisely to capture the three main variables, namely; knowledge sharing, organization cultures and, attitude and motivation. The result indicated that there is significant relation between organization culture, (r=.49, P<.05), attitude (r=.288, p<.05) and motivation (r=.350, p<.05) with knowledge sharing. The study shows that knowledge sharing among teachers can be enhanced by developing work group for discussion. It can encourage workers to communicate and share their knowledge effectively as a community of practitioners, through knowledge network in retrospective ways

Responses of pro-inflammatory cytokines, acute phase proteins and cytological analysis in serum and cerebrospinal fluid during haemorrhagic septicaemia infection in buffaloes

Sudden death is usually the main finding in field animals during haemorrhagic septicaemia outbreaks caused by Pasteurella multocida type B:2 that causes acute, fatal and septicaemic disease in cattle and buffaloes. This situation may be due to failure in early detection of the disease where early treatment of antibiotics may improve the prognosis of the animal and other surviving animals. Thus, there is a grey area on the knowledge on the potential usage of pro-inflammatory cytokines and acute phase proteins as early biomarkers in the diagnosis of haemorrhagic septicaemia. In addition, exploration of the cerebrospinal fluid during infection has never been studied before. Therefore, this study was designed to fill up the grey areas in haemorrhagic septicaemia research. Twenty-one buffalo calves were divided into seven treatment groups where group 1 was inoculated orally with 10 mL of sterile phosphate-buffered saline pH 7 which act as a negative control group. Groups 2 and 3 were inoculated orally and subcutaneously with 10 mL of 1012 colony-forming unit of P. multocida type B:2. Group 4 and 5 buffaloes were inoculated orally and intravenously with 10 mL of lipopolysaccharide broth. Groups 6 and 7 were administered orally and subcutaneously with 10 mL of outer membrane protein broth. During the post-infection period of 21 days, blood and cerebrospinal fluid were sampled for the analyses of pro-inflammatory cytokines, acute phase proteins and cytological examination. Buffalo calves infected with P. multocida and its immunogens via different routes of inoculation showed significant changes (p < 0.05) of pro-inflammatory cytokines, acute phase proteins and cytological changes in both the serum and cerebrospinal fluid. Buffalo calves from groups 3 and 7 showed the highest pro-inflammatory cytokines, whereas group 6 had the highest acute phase protein concentration and group 5 revealed the highest value for cytology changes. In summary, results obtained in this study could be used as a profiling study to add novel knowledge to the haemorrhagic septicaemia research as well as the development of biomarker

Reproductive hormonal variations and adenohypophyseal lesions in pre-pubertal buffalo heifers inoculated with Pasteurella multocida type B: 2 and its immunogens

BACKGROUND: Hemorrhagic septicemia is a fatal disease of cattle and buffaloes caused by P. multocida. Although the pathogenesis of the bacteria has been well established in literature, there is a paucity of information on the possible role of the bacteria and its immunogens; lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and outer membrane proteins (OMPs) on the reproductive capacity of buffalo heifers. METHODS: In this study, twenty one healthy prepubertal female buffaloes aged 8 months were divided into seven groups of 3 buffaloes each (G1-G7). Group 1 (G1) served as the negative control group and were inoculated orally with 10 mL sterile Phosphate Buffer Saline (PBS), groups 2 (G2) and 3 (G3) were inoculated orally and subcutaneously with 10 mL of 1012 colony forming unit (cfu) of P.multocida type B: 2, while groups 4 (G4) and 5 (G5) received 10 mL of bacterial LPS orally and intravenously, respectively. Lastly, groups 6 (G6) and 7 (G7) were orally and subcutaneously inoculated with 10 mL of bacterial OMPs. Whole blood was collected in EDTA vials at stipulated time points (0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 24, 36, 48, 72, 120, 168, 216, 264, 312, 360, 408, 456 and 504 h), while tissue sections of the pituitary glands were collected and transported to the histopathology laboratory in 10% buffered formalin for processing and Hematoxylin and eosin staining. Plasma levels of luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), progesterone (PG), estradiol (EST) and gonadotrophin releasing hormone (GnRH) were determined. RESULTS: The histopathological lesions observed in the pituitary gland included hemorrhage, congestion, inflammatory cell infiltration, hydropic degeneration, necrosis and edema. These changes were higher (p < 0.05) in distribution and severity in G3, G6 and G7. Hormonal concentrations of LH, FSH, PG, EST and GnRH declined in all inoculation groups as time elapsed and were lower (p < 0.05) than that of the control group. CONCLUSION: Based on these findings, P.multocida B: 2 and its immunogens can be said to negatively affect the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis, resulting in decreased levels of reproductive hormones which may predispose to infertility in buffalo heifers

Involvement of the nervous system following experimental infection with Pasteurella multocida B:2 in buffalo (Bubalus bubalis): a clinicopathological study

Haemorrhagic septicaemia (HS) is an acute, fatal, septicaemic disease of cattle and buffaloes caused by one of two specific serotypes of Pasteurella multocida B:2 and E:2 in Asian and African, respectively. It is well known that HS affect mainly the respiratory and digestive tracts. However, involvement of the nervous system in pathogenesis of HS has been reported in previous studies without details. In this study, nine buffalo calves of 8 months old were distributed into three groups. Animals of Group 1 and 2 were inoculated orally and subcutaneously with 10 ml of 1 × 1012 cfu/ml of P. multocida B:2, respectively, while animals of Group 3 were inoculated orally with 10 ml of phosphate buffer saline as a control. All calves in Group 1 and Group 3 were euthanised after 504 h (21 day) post-infection, while calves in Group 2 had to euthanise after 12 h post-infection as they develop sever clinical signs of HS. Significant differences were found in Group 2 in the mean scores of clinical signs, gross and histopathological changes which mainly affect different anatomic regions of the nervous system. In addition, successful bacterial isolation of P. multocida B:2 were obtained from different sites of the nervous system. On the other hand, less sever, clinical, gross and histopathological changes were found in Group 1. These results provide for the first time strong evidence of involving of the nervous system in pathogenesis of HS, especially in the peracute stage of the disease

Molecular detection and pathology of Pasteurella multocida B:2 in the reproductive system of pre-pubertal buffalo calves (Bubalus bubalis)

Pasteurella multocida is responsible for one of the major animal diseases with economic importance in both developed and developing countries. P. multocida B:2 causes haemorrhagic septicemia (HS) in cattle and buffaloes, which result in heavy economic losses through direct effect, resulting in high mortality rates and indirect effects through impairment of the animal productivity. It is well known that HS affects mainly the respiratory and digestive tracts of host animals. However, involvement of the reproductive system in the pathogenesis of HS has not been reported previously. This study was designed to present detailed detection and histopathological changes of the reproductive system and mammary glands of buffaloes experimentally infected with P. multocida B:2. Briefly, nine healthy buffalo calves aged 8-month-old were divided into three groups of three calves each. Calves from groups 1 and 2 were inoculated subcutaneously and orally with 10 mL of 1 × 1012 cfu/mL of P. multocida B:2, respectively, while calves of group 3 were inoculated orally with 10 mL of phosphate buffer saline as a sham control. All the calves in group 1 had to be euthanized after 12 h post-infection, while calves in group 2 were euthanized after day 21 post-infection. Successful isolation and PCR confirmation of P. multocida B:2 was achieved from different parts of the reproductive system, including ovary, oviduct, uterine horn, uterine body and vagina as well as mammary glands and supramammary lymph nodes of the buffaloes in group 1 after 12 h post-infection. However, P. multocida B:2 was not detected in the reproductive organs of buffaloes in group 2 and group 3 after 21 days post-infection. Significant differences (P < 0.05) were found in histopathological changes between the two groups, which mainly affected different anatomic regions of the reproductive system. This work provides an insight into the involvement of the female reproductive system of buffaloes during the pathogenesis of HS and shows that route of inoculation strongly affect the localization of the bacterium in the reproductive system