Conservation of mangroves in Kuala Perlis, Malaysia : a case study of socio-economic attributes of fishermen driving valuation in sustaining livelihoods through forest management

A mangrove ecosystem provides a wide range of services which benefit people, society and the economy at large. Local communities are highly dependent on mangrove ecosystems especially for food resources, firewood, charcoal, timber, etc. Mangrove forests are important to fishermen for sustaining rich seafood supplies as a source of income, however due to land conversion to aquaculture and coastal development, mangrove deforestation is faced. Thus it is important that the mangroves in Kuala Perlis are conserved and used by the local community for fishing and aquaculture activities. The fishery sector has a significant impact on the socio-economics of the local community. Face-to-face interviews were conducted among these fishermen. A binary logit model, specifically the Contingent Valuation Method (CVM) was used to determine factors that influenced the fishermen’s willingness to pay (WTP) for conservation. The logit model is one of the most preferred methods that is used to model binary dependent variables in the presence of more than one explanatory variable. The results indicated that the WTP of fishermen was significantly influenced by bid level, education level and marital status. It also shows that socio-demographic factors also influenced the respondent’s willingness to pay for the conservation of nature. These WTP factors are crucial in providing information for better policy options to decision-makers in designing sustainable mangrove forest management for the benefit of the future generations in Malaysia

Pengaruh Pembiayaan Musyarakah dan Mudharabah Terhadao Profit Perbankan Syariah di Indonesia

Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui apakahpembiayaan mudharabah dan pembiayaan musyarakahmempengaruhi profit Perbankan Syariah di Indonesia. Metode pemilihan sampel adalah purposive samplingdan diperoleh sampel sebanyak empat Bank Syariah, yaitu Bank Muamalat Indonesia, Bank Mega Indonesia, Bank Syariah Mandiri, dan Bank BRI Syariah pada periode triwulan I 2009 – triwulan IV 2013. Metode yang digunakan adalah regresi data panel dengan bantuan Eviews 8.0. Hasil pengujian menunjukkan bahwa secara simultan pembiayaan mudharabah dan musyarakah berpengaruh signifikan terhadap profit perbankan syariah. Sedangkan secara, parsial, pembiayaan mudharabah berpengaruh positif tidak signifikan terhadap profit pada bank syariah di Indonesia. Sehingga penurunan atau kenaikan tingkat pembiayaan berpengaruh positif namun tidak signifikan terhadap besarnya nilai profit pada bank syariah di Indonesia

Spontaneous Massive Streptococcus constellatus Empyema Thoracis in a healthy individual: a case report

Empyema thoracis is a well-known condition that is characterised by a collection of pus in the pleural space and has historically been related to high mortality rate. The cause of high mortality rate is unknown, but it may have higer risk in pneumonia cases or immunocompromised patients. This case study presented a 50-year-old man with no chronic co-morbidities, admitted with the diagnosis of sepsis secondary to community-acquired pneumonia, which was covered with ceftriaxone. Subsequently, he developed massive spontaneous right lung empyema, necessitating an urgent thoracotomy and comprehensive right decortication. Broad-spectrum antibiotics, meropenem, was then given to him. Streptococcus constellatus was discovered in the pleural fluid’s culture and sensitivity test. On his tenth day of stay, the patient had a right thoracotomy and decortication. The patient was extubated on day two post-operative and recovered on subsequent days. He was then discharged at 30 days post-operatively. We reported a case of adult spontaneous empyema thoracis from a patient with few risk factors: he was not immunocompromised, had no chronic illnesses and had no interaction with tuberculosis patients

Delivering medical abortion at scale: a study of the retail market for medical abortion in Madhya Pradesh, India.

BACKGROUND: Medical abortion (mifepristone and misoprostol) has the potential to contribute to reduced maternal mortality but little is known about the provision or quality of advice for medical abortion through the private retail sector. We examined the availability of medical abortion and the practices of pharmacists in India, where abortion has been legal since 1972. METHODS: We interviewed 591 pharmacists in 60 local markets in city, town and rural areas of Madhya Pradesh. One month later, we returned to 359 pharmacists with undercover patients who presented themselves unannounced as genuine customers seeking a medical abortion. RESULTS: Medical abortion was offered to undercover patients by 256 (71.3%) pharmacists and 24 different brands were identified. Two thirds (68.5%) of pharmacists stated that abortion was illegal in India. Only 106 (38.5%) pharmacists asked clients the timing of the last menstrual period and 38 (13.8%) requested to see a doctor's prescription - a legal requirement in India. Only 59 (21.5%) pharmacists correctly advised patients on the gestational limit for medical abortion, 97 (35.3%) provided correct information on how many and when to take the tablets in a combination pack, and 78 (28.4%) gave accurate advice on where to seek care in case of complications. Advice on post-abortion family planning was almost nonexistent. CONCLUSIONS: The retail market for medical abortion is extensive, but the quality of advice given to patients is poor. Although the contribution of medical abortion to women's health in India is poorly understood, there is an urgent need to improve the practices of pharmacists selling medical abortion

The Individual Blood Cell Telomere Attrition Rate Is Telomere Length Dependent

Age-associated telomere shortening is a well documented feature of peripheral blood cells in human population studies, but it is not known to what extent these data can be transferred to the individual level. Telomere length (TL) in two blood samples taken at ∼10 years interval from 959 individuals was investigated using real-time PCR. TL was also measured in 13 families from a multigenerational cohort. As expected, we found an age-related decline in TL over time (r = –0.164, P<0.001, n = 959). However, approximately one-third of the individuals exhibited a stable or increased TL over a decade. The individual telomere attrition rate was inversely correlated with initial TL at a highly significant level (r = –0.752, P<0.001), indicating that the attrition rate was most pronounced in individuals with long telomeres at baseline. In accordance, the age-associated telomere attrition rate was more prominent in families with members displaying longer telomeres at a young age (r = –0.691, P<0.001). Abnormal blood TL has been reported at diagnosis of various malignancies, but in the present study there was no association between individual telomere attrition rate or prediagnostic TL and later tumor development. The collected data strongly suggest a TL maintenance mechanism acting in vivo, providing protection of short telomeres as previously demonstrated in vitro. Our findings might challenge the hypothesis that individual TL can predict possible life span or later tumor development

Antimicrobial Resistance, Virulence Factors and Genetic Diversity of Escherichia coli Isolates from Household Water Supply in Dhaka, Bangladesh

Background: Unsafe water supplies continue to raise public health concerns, especially in urban areas in low resource countries. To understand the extent of public health risk attributed to supply water in Dhaka city, Bangladesh, Escherichia coli isolated from tap water samples collected from different locations of the city were characterized for their antibiotic resistance, pathogenic properties and genetic diversity. Methodology/Principal Findings: A total of 233 E. coli isolates obtained from 175 tap water samples were analysed for susceptibility to 16 different antibiotics and for the presence of genes associated with virulence and antibiotic resistance. Nearly 36% (n = 84) of the isolates were multi-drug(≥3 classes of antibiotics) resistant (MDR) and 26% (n = 22) of these were positive for extended spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL). Of the 22 ESBL-producers, 20 were positive for blaCTX-M-15, 7 for blaOXA-1-group(all had blaOXA-47) and 2 for blaCMY-2. Quinolone resistance genes, qnrS and qnrB were detected in 6 and 2 isolates, respectively. Around 7% (n = 16) of the isolates carried virulence gene(s) characteristic of pathogenic E. coli; 11 of these contained lt and/or st and thus belonged to enterotoxigenic E. coli and 5 contained bfp and eae and thus belonged to enteropathogenic E. coli. All MDR isolates carried multiple plasmids (2 to 8) of varying sizes ranging from 1.2 to >120 MDa. Ampicillin and ceftriaxone resistance were co-transferred in conjugative plasmids of 70 to 100 MDa in size, while ampicillin, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole and tetracycline resistance were co-transferred in conjugative plasmids of 50 to 90 MDa. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis analysis revealed diverse genetic fingerprints of pathogenic isolates. Significance: Multi-drug resistant E. coli are wide spread in public water supply in Dhaka city, Bangladesh. Transmission of resistant bacteria and plasmids through supply water pose serious threats to public health in urban areas