Portable Vehicular Electro-Hydraulic Jack

The disabling of a vehicle due to flat tires is always a constant concern for vehicles operators. In dealing with the problems, operators are often faced with the complexity of car jacks, not to mention the traffics hazards and other forms of damages that can occur under the inexperience hands. Standard mechanical car jacks are known as a screw jack, which is sturdy and cumbersome to handle. Other than that, operators can opt for hydraulic jacks that are commercially available in the market with variety of lifting capacities. A research was conducted on improving the portable vehicular hydraulic jack. An effort was made in converting manual operated hydraulic jack into a powered actuation. A reciprocating linkage was introduced in between the hydraulic jack and an electric motor, and thus removing the manual actuation handle. A hand-held controller was also introduced in controlling the lifting process of the jack. The result had shown that with proper engineering analysis, the improved electric powered portable hydraulic jack manage to lift any vehicle with ease, using available power provided by the vehicle battery

Seroprevalence and detection of contagious bovine pleuropneumonia (CBPP) in northeast states of Peninsular Malaysia

Contagious Bovine Pleuropneumonia (CBPP) is a highly infectious disease of cattle caused by Mycoplasma mycoides subsp. mycoides Small Colony (MmmSC). It is a disease recognised by OIE that needs to be controlled or eradicated through surveillance system. This study establishes the sero-prevalence of CBPP, as well as attempts to isolate and identify the agent of CBPP from cattle in Kelantan and Terengganu, the northeastern states of Peninsular Malaysia, where cattle movement was high. A total of 3,242 sera from 428 farms were processed between 2011 and 2014 using the competitive ELISA (c-ELISA). The animal-level prevalence ranged between 5% (46/917) in Terengganu and 9% (220/2325) in Kelantan, whereas the herd prevalence ranged between 12% (22/210) in Terengganu and 24% (53/218) in Kelantan. The overall animal-level prevalence was 8% (266/3242), while the herd prevalence was 17% (75/428). Two hundred and four nasal swabs from 18 positive herds in Kelantan and 163 lung and mediastinal lymph node samples were processed for isolation of MmmSc before confirmation by PCR and immunoperoxidase. Forty-one samples showed turbidity in PPLO broth and 15 lung and mediastinal lymph node samples had 'fried-egg colony' growth on the PPLO agar, which were suggestive of Mycoplasma infection. However, all were negative for MmmSC by PCR and immunoperoxidase. Thus, the northeastern part of Peninsular Malaysia remains positive serology for CBPP without isolation

Molecular characterization of Vibrio harveyi virulence associated serine protease and outer membrane protein genes for vaccine development

Vibrio harveyi is the most pathogenic species associated with the infection in a wide range of marine species in aquaculture industries. A few virulence-associated genes have been discovered in V. harveyi. This study reports the cloning, sequence analysis and phylogenetic study of serine protease (VHS) and outer membrane protein (OMP) from a pathogenic V. harveyi, which isolated from a local outbreak of diseased tiger grouper. Molecular identification revealed that VHS and OMP consist of 1368 and 816 base pairs and encoded for mature peptides of 429 and 251 amino acids, respectively. The amino acids sequence identities of VHS was 100% similarity with protease of V. harveyi and OMP was 99% of membrane protein of V. harveyi, as compared to published sequence. Phylogenetic analysis and conserved domain search proposed that VHS is a serine endoprotease DegQ and OMP is an OmpK type. Signal peptide, transmembrane beta-barrel and subcellular localization have supported the findings whereby demonstrated VHS belonged to periplasmic serine protease DegQ, composed one beta-barrel and two alpha-barrels region. OMP displayed six beta-barrels and twelve alpha-barrels suggesting it is belonged to outer membrane integral membrane protein, specifically act as a porin type outer membrane protein. Prediction of antigenic sites revealed that VHS composed 62 sites and OMP have 36 antigenic sites, assuming that they can provoke immune response of the infected hosts. In conclusion, it is strongly suggests that both genes can be potentially used for developing an effective live-attenuated vaccine candidate against vibriosis and further be applied in aquaculture industries

Vibrio harveyi protease deletion mutant as a live attenuated vaccine candidate against vibriosis and transcriptome profiling following vaccination for Epinephelus fuscoguttatus

Grouper aquaculture industries have a high risk of being inflicted by bacterial diseases such as vibriosis. Various types of vaccines for vibriosis have been studied throughout the years, yet the potential of live attenuated vaccines remains unsubstantial. Correspondingly, this study attempts to develop a Vibrio harveyi protease deletion mutant into a live attenuated vaccine candidate against vibriosis for Epinephelus fuscoguttatus. Site-directed mutagenesis (SDM) and allelic exchange replacement techniques are employed to synthesize genetically attenuated V. harveyi strain MVh-vhs. The evaluation on safety levels showed that MVh-vhs strain is safe when tested on E. fuscoguttatus. A 100% survival rate with no sign of vibriosis is indicated in fish challenged with the attenuated strain. In contrast, fish challenged with the parental strain showed obvious clinical signs of vibriosis. The median lethal dosage (LD50) of fish challenged with the parental strain is found at 10⁶ CFU/fish. A single dose IP administration of the attenuated strain at 10⁵ CFU/fish following a bacterial challenge at dose 10⁸ CFU/fish is done 4 weeks post vaccination. The vaccinated fish show 52% relative percentage survival (RPS). The transcriptomic profiling following vaccination evoked the regulation of autophagosome pathway and the coagulation and complement cascade pathways as well as antigen processing and presentation pathways. As a conclusion, the V. harveyi attenuated strain MVh-vhs has significant potential to be applied as a live vaccine candidate against vibriosis for E. fuscoguttatus

Comparative study on data searching in linked list & B-tree and B+tree techniques

There are many methods of searching large amount of data to find one particular piece of information. Such as finding the name of a person in a mobile phone record. Certain methods of organizing data make the search process more efficient. The objective of these methods is to find the element with the least time. In this study, the focus is on time of search in large databases, which is considered an important factor in the success of the search. The goal is choosing the appropriate search techniques to test the time of access to data in the database and what is the ratio difference between them. Three search techniques are used in this work namely; linked list, B-tree, and B+ tree. A comparison analysis is conducted using five case databases studies. Experimental results reveal that after the average times for each search algorithms on the databases have been recorded, the linked list requires lots of time during search process, with B+ tree producing significantly low times. Based on these results, it is clear that searching in B- tree is faster than linked list at a ratio of (1: 5). The searching time in a B+ tree is faster than B- tree at the ratio of (1: 2). The searching time in a B+ tree is faster than linked list at the ratio of (1: 8). With that, it can be concluded that B+ tree is the fastest technique for data access

Live vaccines against bacterial fish diseases: a review

Fish diseases are often caused either by bacteria, viruses, fungi, parasites, or a combination of these pathogens. Of these, bacterial fish diseases are considered to be a major problem in the aquaculture industry. Hence, the prevention of such diseases by proper vaccination is one of the integral strategies in fish health management, aimed at reducing the fish mortality rate in the aquaculture farms. Vaccination offers an effective yet low-cost solution to combat the risk of disease in fish farming. An appropriate vaccination regime to prevent bacterial diseases offers a solution against the harmful effects of antibiotic applications. This review discusses the role of live-attenuated vaccine in controlling bacterial diseases and the development of such vaccines and their vaccination strategy. The current achievements and potential applications of live-attenuated and combined vaccines are also highlighted. Vaccine development is concluded to be a demanding process, as it must satisfy the requirements of the aquaculture industry

Tahap pemahaman, penghayatan dan pengamalan jati diri bahasa Melayu dalam kalangan rakyat Malaysia

Kajian ini bertujuan mengenal pasti tahap jati diri Bahasa Melayu dalam kalangan 50 orang warganegara Malaysia dalam pelbagai kaum. Secara khusus, kajian ini bertujuan untuk mengenal pasti tahap pemahaman, penghayatan dan pengamalan jati diri bahasa Melayu dalam kalangan rakyat Malaysia dalam sektor pendidikan. Setiap kaum merangkumi 10 orang sebagai responden kajian. Responden tersebut dipilih secara rawak mudah dalam pelbagai latar belakang sosial, pekerjaan, taraf pendapatan, kawasan bandar dan luar bandar merangkumi pelbagai aspek segenap rakyat Malaysia. Instrumen soal selidik digunakan untuk pengumpulan data. Instrumen dibangunkan oleh pengkaji yang mempunyai tahap kesahan dan kebolehpercayaan yang tinggi, iaitu 0.73 Data dianalisis secara deskriptif dan inferensi menggunakan Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) versi 23.0. Dapatan kajian menunjukkan bahawa setiap warganegara Malaysia yang mewakili pelbagai kaum tetap kekalkan jati diri Bahasa Melayu mereka. Tahap penghayatan dan pengamalan Bahasa Melayu berada pada tahap masih kekal jati diri. Kaum Cina India, Bumiputera Sabah dan Sarawak paling kurang tahap pemahaman, penghayatan dan pengamalan jati diri Bahasa Melayu berbanding kaum yang lain dalam sektor pendidikan. Kaum Melayu pula merupakan kaum yang paling tinggi tahap jati diri Bahasa Melayu dalam ketiga-tiga aspek yang dikaji. Implikasi kajian ini adalah penekanan kepada penggunaan Bahasa Inggeris dalam semua aktiviti seharian baik dari segi lisan dan tulisan bahasa Inggeris oleh pelbagai pihak, sedikit sebanyak mempengaruhi tahap jati diri Bahasa Melayu dari segi pemahaman, penghayatan dan pengamalan Bahasa Melayu dalam kalangan rakyat Malaysia

Identifying merging galaxies in MaNGA using H-α and Hi observations

Reliable methods that could recognise and distinguish galactic mergers are important for better understanding of galaxy evolution. This paper explores the feasibility of using observations on Hα and HI as a method to identify mergers. Sixty sample galaxies were carefully selected from the MaNGA DR15 database and cross-checked with the MaNGA Deep Learning DR15 Morphology to determine the merger signature. The chosen galaxies were divided into two groups, where galaxies with P M E RG 0.8 were selected as mergers. The Hα emission line plot and Hα velocity maps were obtained from the MaNGA DR15 database while HI data comes from HI-MaNGA DR1 catalogue for all 60 galaxies. Seventeen of the 30 merging galaxies have more than Hα blobs (28.3% of the 60 galaxies) compared to 14 of the 30 non-merging galaxies (23.3%). Fourteen of the mergers (23.3% of 60 galaxies) have asymmetric Hα velocity plots compared to 8 of the non-mergers. Thirteen of the mergers have a well-defined HI peak (21.7%) versus 11 of the non-merging galaxies (18.3%). These parameters were found to be a feasible new method in determining merging galaxies in the universe

Isolation and pathogenicity of Streptococcus iniae in cultured red hybrid tilapia in Malaysia

This study describes the isolation and pathogenicity of Streptococcus iniae in cultured red hybrid tilapia (Nile Tilapia Oreochromis niloticus × Mozambique Tilapia O. mossambicus) in Malaysia. The isolated gram-positive S. iniae appeared punctiform, transparently white, catalase and oxidase negative and produced complete β-hemolysis on blood agar, while a PCR assay resulted in the amplification of the 16 S rRNA gene and lactate oxidase encoded genes. The isolate was sensitive to tetracycline, vancomycin, and bacitracin but was resistant to streptomycin, ampicillin, penicillin, and erythromycin. Pathogenicity trials conducted in local red hybrid tilapia (mean ± SE = 20.00 ± 0.45 g) showed 90.0, 96.7, and 100.0% mortality within 14 d postinfection following intraperitoneal exposure to 104, 106, and 108 CFU/mL of the pathogen, respectively. The clinical signs included erratic swimming, lethargy, and inappetance at 6 h postinfection, while mortality was recorded at less than 24 h postinfection in all infected groups. The LD50-336 h of S. iniae against the red hybrid tilapia was 102 CFU/mL. The post mortem examinations revealed congested livers, kidneys, and spleens of the infected fish. This is the first report of S. iniae experimental infection in cultured red hybrid tilapia in Malaysia

Parents’ awareness on compliance with the use of child restraint system: a quantitative pilot study at kindergarten and nursery in Parit Raja, Batu Pahat, Johor

It has been reported that children transported in private vehicles are the leading groups of casualties among those aged 1 to 9 years old in Malaysia. Child Restraint System (CRS) is made mandatory on 1 January 2020 to reduce road fatalities among those vulnerable children. However, study found that the use of CRS is still at an unsatisfactory level even though the law has been enforced. Hence, this pilot study was conducted to determine the awareness, usage, and compliance with the use of child restraint system by means of quantitative measures. Questionnaire and observation survey were conducted in 6 participating kindergartens and nurseries in Parit Raja and received a total of 34 respondents. The self-reported survey results show that 97.1% of the respondents are aware of the enforcement on 1 January 2020, only 35.3% of the parents used CRS every time riding in a vehicle. Challenges in complying with the use of CRS are household income, lack of awareness program and knowledge on the importance of CRS. Parents who send their children to government kindergartens by 4-wheel vehicle are observed to not use CRS. In short, parents in this pilot study show that they are aware of the risks of not using CRS, but majority is still unable to comply with CRS usage