Anemia in remote interior communities in Sarawak, Malaysia

A cross-sectional survey of 365 individuals, (51.9% males, 48.1% females; ages 5-85 years), from five remote interior communities in upper Rejang River basin Sarawak, Malaysia, found 24.4% were anemic. The range and mean of Hb concentration in male and female were: 7.2-17.0 mg/ml and 13.7 mg/ml and 7.9-15.7 mg/ml and 12.9 mg/ml respectively. Amongst the five tribes surveyed, the prevalence of anemia (range: 10.6-46.7%), was higher among the Penans (46.7%), Kenyahs (31.1%), Kajangs (27.8%) and Kayans (19.3%), than amongst the Ukits (10.6%). Anemia is more common among males > 40 years and among adolescents and young reproductive females, as well as elderly females > 61 years old. Of the 83 anemic individuals, 6.0% and 3.6% had Trichuris trichiura or hookworm respectively; however there is no clear association with intestinal worm infection

Seroepidemiological study of leptospirosis among the indigenous communities living in the periphery of Crocker Range Park Sabah, Malaysia

Leptospirosis has been known to affect both man and animal worldwide resulting in morbidity and mortality. Infection in domestic animals and wildlife can lead to economic loss and pose a potential spread to the communities. Man contacted the disease by direct contact with infected blood, tissues, organs or urine of infected hosts. Transmission can also occur by direct penetration of the leptospira organism through the conjunctiva or surface epithelium

Inhibition of GSK3 attenuates the intracellular multiplication of burkholderia pseudomallei and modulates the inflammatory response in infected macrophages and A549 epithelial lung cells

Burkholderia pseudomallei, the causative agent of melioidosis, is an intracellular pathogen capable of invading and multiplying in both phagocytic and non-phagocytic cells. Infection results in an inflammatory response involving production of both pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines. The cellular mechanism regulating this response, believed to play an important role in the pathogenesis of meliodoisis, is not fully understood. In recent years, glycogen synthase kinase-3 (GSK3) has been shown to assume a pivotal role in regulating production of these cytokines. Bacterial infection of host cells activates Toll-like receptors (TLRs) and results in the phosphorylation of GSK3β through activation of the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) pathway. In this study, we investigated the effects of GSK3 inhibition in regulating B. pseudomallei-induced inflammatory response in macrophages and A549 epithelial lung cells. Our results showed that infection of cells with B. pseudomallei resulted in the increase of anti-inflammatory cytokine, IL-10 and pro-inflammatory cytokine, TNF-α. Pre-treatment of infected cells with GSK3 inhibitors caused further increase in the level of IL-10 but a significant decrease in TNF-α. These changes corresponded with the detection of phosphorylated GSK3β in infected cells treated with LiCl; suggesting that modulation of inflammatory response in B. pseudomallei infection involves phosphorylation of GSK3β (Ser 9). This could explain our observations from the invasion assays that pre-treatment of B. pseudomallei-infected cells with GSK3 inhibitors resulted in decreased intracellular replication of bacteria within macrophages and A549 epithelial lung cells. In summary, our results demonstrate a regulatory function of GSK3 in the modulation of cytokine levels during B. pseudomallei infection

Eksotoksin Pseudomonas pseudomallei dan diagnos Melioidosis dalam biri-biri.

Eksotoksin maut dan juga hemolisin P.pseudomallei yang telah ditulenkan daripada filtrat kultur pertumbuhan patogen ini telah digunakan untuk mengesan antibodi antitoksin dan antihemolisin dalam serum haiwan malalui kaedah ELISA. Sejumlah 606 sampel serum daripada biri-biri dan kambing telah diuji untuk kehadiran antibodi. Hasil kajian ini menunjukkan bahawa hampir 50% daripada 346 sampel serum biri-biri daripada ladang yang dipercayai terinfeksi P.pseudomallei mempunyai titer antitoksin (>100). Aras titer antibodi antitoksin >100 dicerap bagi 64% daripada 130 sampel serum kambing. Sebaliknya hanya 11% daripada 130 sampel serum biri-biri dari ladang yang dipercayai bebas melioidosis mempunyai titer >100. Ujian kehadiran antibodi antihemolisin ke atas sampel-sampel serum di atas,menunjukkan profil aras titer yang hampir serupa dengan profil titer antitoksin. Hasil kajian ini jelas menunjukkan bahawa titer antibodi antitoksin atau antihemolisin adalah tiggi dalam serum haiwan dari ladang-ladang yang dianggap terinfeksi dengan P.pseudomallei berbandingkan dengan serum haiwan dari ladnag yang dianggap bebas melioidosis. Dengan menggunakan kaedah ELISA bertanding,ujian ke atas 22 serum biri-biri menunjukkan kehadiran eksotoksin (6.5-46ug/ml) dalam 11 daripada 17 serum yang mempunyai titer antitoksin (>100) manakala tiada eksotoksin dikesan dalam kelima-lima serum yang negatif untuk titer antitoksin. Kajian awal menunjukkan bahawa pengesanan eksotoksin melalui ELISA berpotensi diwujudkan sebagai ujian serologi yang berkesan dalam diagnosis melioidosis

Report of the first prototype of non-imaging focusing heliostat and its application in high temperature solar furnace

Following the publication on the principle and theory of a newly proposed non-imaging focusing heliostat, this paper presents a report on the design, optical alignment and application of the first prototype heliostat. In the architecture of the first prototype, 25 mirrors, each with a dimension of 40×40 cm, are arranged into five rows and five columns to form a total reflective area of 4 m2. The design of the essential part of the first prototype heliostat will be discussed in this paper, which consists of two primary elements; a rotation–elevation system for tracking a mirror support frame which carries 25 mirror facets, and a separate two-axis tracking system for compensating (each second) off-axis aberrations of 24 slave facets relative to the central mirror, which is fixed in the mirror frame. The rotation–elevation system consists of a pedestal supporting a rotational tracking mechanism carrying a U-shaped arm and a second tracking system for tracking a moving frame in elevation. The moving frame carries a central stationary (relative to the frame) mirror, called a master mirror. Slave mirrors are arrayed in five rows and five columns, and eight stepper motors drive the outer four rows and columns relative to the master mirror via a computer programme implementing newly proposed formulas to eliminate the first-order aberration. With a second stage concentrator comprising a small aperture size parabolic mirror (diameter of 60 cm), a cost-effective high temperature solar furnace was constructed. In our experiment, the highest furnace temperature of 3400°C has been recorded through the melting of pure tungsten wires