Prevalence of mouse and rat parasites in resource recovery plants, farms and housing areas of Southern Selangor: implication for public health

Parasites of small mammals living in human areas cause a tremendous burden of vector borne disease. Small mammals infected with parasites can readily facilitate parasitic transmission to humans and other susceptible animal hosts. The objective of this study was to determine the presence of parasites in small mammals (rats and mice) from the Semenyih Recovery Plant (RESBS) and to compare this with parasites from a plantation farm, Ladang Pertanian Bersepadu, Universiti Putra Malaysia (LPB UPM), and a housing area, Sri Serdang housing area (SSHA), Selangor, Malaysia. The methods employed in this study was to trap small mammals in the resource recovery plant, the plantation farm and the housing area. All the captured small mammals were examined microscopically for the presence of endo and ectoparasites. The brine gravity floatation method was used to determine the presence of parasitic eggs in the feces of the small mammals. The staining method of Semichon’s acetic carmine was employed to find the parasites infesting the internal organs of the mammals. Twenty-three small mammals were trapped alive in the study. Rattus sabanus (10) and Suncus murinus (2) were captured in the Semenyih resource recovery plant; Rattus argentiventer (7) in the farm area of Ladang Pertanian Bersepadu UPM and Mus musculus (1) and Suncus murinus (3) species in the Sri Serdang housing area. R. sabanus, R. argentiventer and M. musculus were found to be heavily infected with Echinolaelaps echidinus (mites). Polyplax spinulosa (lice) infected the R. sabanus species. The intestinal parasite, cestode Hymenolepididae tapeworm, was found to have invaded the small mammals from Semenyih, the resource recovery plant and the farm area of Ladang Pertanian Bersepadu UPM. The nematodes were also found in the small mammals from RESBS. The small mammals captured from RESBS were found to be heavily infected with both external and internal parasites including E. echidinus, P. spinulosa, cestode tapeworms and nematodes compared to the farm and housing areas. Therefore, the existence of small mammals carrying parasites found mainly in waste disposal areas needs to be addressed to prevent serious disease that can cause harm to human health

Comparative nutritional and toxicity analyses of beverages from date seed and barley powders as caffeine-free coffee alternatives

Coffee is one of the most preferred beverages due to its flavour and aroma, which is partially contributed by the presence of caffeine. However, there are many negative effects of caffeine on human health. Alternative products like date seed and barley beverage have become an interest to switch from caffeine to caffeine-free beverages. The present work thus aimed to evaluate the nutritional properties and toxicity of date seed and barley powders as compared to Arabica coffee powder. Samples were analysed for its caffeine content, antioxidant activity, and toxicity activity from boiled water extract, whereas the nutrition compositions and heavy metal contents were analysed based on respective extraction method performed. A mass spectral peak of caffeine was detected in the Arabica coffee but not in the date seed and barley powders. All three samples were shown to possess antioxidant activities with Arabica coffee yielding the highest. Arabica coffee, however, exhibited a moderate level of toxicity to human lung fibroblast (MRC-5) cell line with IC50 of 230 ± 40 µg/mL at the extract concentration. There was no inhibition on 50% MRC-5 cell viability showed by the date seed and barley powders up to 10 mg/mL extract concentration. The abundance of heavy metals detected in all samples was lower than the regulatory limits. Our findings therefore further supported the advantages of date seed and barley powders as alternatives to coffee beverage as both contained undetected amount of caffeine, low fat and high carbohydrate contents, and possessed good antioxidant activity with low potential health risks

Effects of Honey-Spices Marination on Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons and Heterocyclic Amines Formation in Gas-Grilled Beef Satay

The effects of honey-spices marination on simultaneous formation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and heterocyclic amines (HCAs) in gas-grilled beef satay were investigated at different grilling temperatures (150 °C, 250 °C, and 350 °C). Beef satay samples used in this study were prepared using two types of honey-spices marination (Apis mellifera-spices and Trigona sp.-spices). Quantifications of fifteen PAHs using high performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection (HPLC-FLD) and nine HCAs using liquid chromatography tandem-mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS) were performed with gradient programme. Results on PAHs and HCAs in marinated samples were compared with control. Highest concentrations (p < 0.05) of PAHs (marinated beef satay) and HCAs (control) were detected at 350 °C. The most prominent PAH and HCA were phenanthrene (24.61–84.36 ng/g) and 9H-pyrido-[4,3-b]indole (Norharman) (2.67–393.89 ng/g). Marination significantly (p < 0.05) reduced naphthalene, fluorene, pyrene, 2-amino-9H-pyrido[2,3-b]indole (AαC), 1-methyl-9H-pyrido-[4,3-b]indole (Harman), and Norharman in gas-grilled beef satay across all temperatures. Overall, inverse quantitative profiles of PAHs and HCAs formation were observed in marinated gas-grilled beef satay

Vocational education for autism spectrum disorder students towards the market employment

Autism is the disability of complex childhood development that is usually realized within the first three years of neurological disorders that affect the functioning of the brain. Autism problems occur without the exception of ethnicity, the level of family income, lifestyle, and education level. The case study attempts to explore the knowledge and skills provided by private institutions to Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) students before they enter the job market. Five teachers at private institutions of vocational education were interviewed using a set of interview protocols. The interviewed teacher has over five years of teaching experience of ASD students. The interview data obtained was transcribed in verbatim form. Keywords or phrases have been extracted, grouped, and translated in the form of a theme. The themes are the basic skills, job-related skills and personal qualities. The findings show that teachers have applied the ability to work (marketability) to ASD students. This study has implications for the provision of appropriate workability capability based on the strengths and abilities of ASD students

Enhancing spatial ability skills in basic engineering drawing using a 3d solid model

Spatial ability skills are an important component of an engineer's ability to create and interpret engineering drawings, which involves thinking and problem-solving processes. The ability of an engineer to visualize 3D image is a cognitive skill that is essential to succeed in basic engineering drawing subjects. Based on previous literature and preliminary study, engineering technology students with poor spatial ability skills had challenges in understanding basic engineering drawing topics. Hence, this study is aiming at enhancing spatial ability skills using a 3D solid model among first-year engineering and technology education students. The quasi-Experimental research design was adopted for this study. A targeted class of 43 first-year technology education students who are in the first semester was used for the study. The students were divided into control and experimental groups respectively. A pre and post-test were used to collect data from the students to measure their level of spatial ability skills enhancement. However, after the treatment using a 3D solid model, the experimental group had a higher performance than the control group likewise the students with non-engineering background in the experimental group performed above average. The results indicate that a solid 3D model was effective for improving spatial ability skills among first-year technology education students. This study implies to educators that there is a need to appropriately enforce the use of a 3D solid model for effective teaching and learning of basic engineering drawing. It is, therefore, affirmed that the use of a 3D solid model in teaching basic engineering drawings should be enhanced with other teaching methods

Multiple intelligence focusing on practical subjects among final year students of school of education, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia

This study was conducted to identify the significant differences between female students and male students who took the workshop’s practical subjects. Therefore, three objectives of the study are to identify the multiple intelligences among students, the dominant of multiple intelligence in the workshop’s practical subjects and to identify the significant differences between multiple intelligences and the gender of the 4th year student from School of Education, Faculty of Social Science and Humanities, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia in the subject practical workshop. The design of this study is a descriptive study using quantitative data. In this study, the population identified consists of 204 4th year students of the School of Education, Faculty of Social Science and Humanities who attended the Bachelor of Technology with Education in Mechanical Engineering (SPPJ), Buildings (SPPQ), Electrical and Electronic (SPPR) and Living Skills (SPPH). A total of 180 samples were identified based on sampling formula and the instrument used was a set of questionnaire with reliability value of α = 0.86 which contained 48 items in part B based on multiple intelligence and respondent demographic in part A. The study data was processed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences SPSS version 25 to get the results of the study in the form of descriptive analysis like percentage, frequency, mean score and standard deviation while inference analysis with independent Ttest to find mean difference between gender. The findings show that each student has more than one intelligence for each respondent and the intelligence of Naturalist, Intrapersonal, Verbal Linguistics and Kinestatic Body is the dominant intelligence of the students. In addition, the findings showed that there was no significant difference between the multiple intelligences and the gender of the students

Leadership practices of high performing schools principals in Malaysia

The Ministry of Education (MOE) has set up guidelines to ensure that leaders are appointed from among those who are knowledgeable, skillful and competent but many related studies have found that some of the principals in Malaysia do not fulfil the criteria. On the contrary, there are High Performing School (HPS) with exceptional principals who have proven their leadership by sustaining their performance over several years. Thus, characteristics and practices of these HPS principals should be investigated and be used as a guide by other principals to attain success for their own schools. This study aimed to identify the model of leadership practices of HPS principals. This study used a qualitative methodology with a case study design. The key subjects were three principals of three selected HPS in Malaysia. There were also three groups of HPS informants comprising a senior assistant, teacher, school staff, student and chairman of the Parent Teacher Association (PTA) from each school. Data were collected through interviews, observations and analysis of relevant documents and reports and analyzed through several stages of coding, categorizing, cross-case analysis and interpretation using N-VIVO10. The findings of the study revealed that the HPS principals practised Transformational Leadership by using strategies such as setting the direction, developing people, redesigning organization, managing instructional process or programme and high performing management. Based on the findings of the study, a model of HPS principal leadership practices for Malaysian schools has been developed and can be used as a guide to assist school principals who aim to achieve HPS status

Non thermal pasteurization for orange juice using pulsed electric field

Pasteurization is an act or a process to minimize or eliminate all forms of life, particularly microorganisms in food products. Its aim is to reduce or eliminate the number of viable pathogens, which are likely to cause diseases. Pasteurization can be in the form of thermal and non-thermal methods. Thermal pasteurization typically uses high heat and temperature to reduce or eliminate microorganisms. Although this method has been practiced and proven effective, the process is associated with many side effects. Due to this problem, new approaches using a non-thermal pasteurization to generate pulsed electric field (PEF) is proposed. In this paper, non-thermal sterilization using Cascaded H-Bridge Multilevel Inverter (CHMI) pulse power generator was evaluated in order to produce pulsed electric field in inactivating of microorganisms such as Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Escherichia coli in orange juice. The experimental set-up was conducted where an orange juice was placed inside the treatment chamber. The electrodes between the treatment chamber were applied with pulsed electric field up to 15 kV/cm by using the CHMI. The hardware development was implemented using MOSFET 2K3748 power devices and the gate signal generator was controlled by using dSPACE DS 1104. The experimental results show that, an output voltage of 1.2 kVp−p was effective to inactivate Escherichia coli and Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Thus, power consumption was decreased and energy was saved. The pulsed width of 1000 μs with repetitive rate of 50 Hz was generated from the hardware implementation. The results proved that the specifications of the experimental set-up meet the requirements for liquid food sterilization, particularly to inactivate Escherichia coli and Saccharomyces cerevisiae microorganisms in orange juice by using streaking plate techniques

Knowledge and misconceptions regarding hand washing as perceived by the food handlers in school food service operations

The rising issue of food borne diseases due to unhygienic food preparation is burgeoning in our society. The risk of food contamination largely depends on the hygiene practices of food handlers. However, previous studies had shown that hand hygiene practices is often neglected by the food handlers. This study sought to evaluate the perceived hand washing knowledge among food handlers with reference to the proper hand washing procedure as well as the knowledge on appropriate times to wash hands. The study sample is comprised of 146 food handlers who were selected by means of random cluster sampling. The questionnaire used was adapted from previous studies on hand washing. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Findings revealed that hand washing knowledge scores among food handlers were high where 84.9% respondents had good knowledge with score ≥ 70%, 14.4% respondents had satisfactory knowledge with score range of 50 to 69%. Only one respondent had a poor knowledge of hand washing (score below 50%). However, outcome from the study also indicated that there are some misconceptions concerning proper hand washing practices and appropriate times to wash hands. Thus, leads to a conclusion that although food handlers had knowledge of how and when to wash hands, some of them shows that they had a misconception of a certain facts on hand washing

The roles of an effective supervisor in technical and vocational education and training

This paper is focusing on the roles of an effective supervision in TVET. Supervision is designed to promote teaching and learning activities particularly in university, colleges and school. TVET supervisees relay on the instructions of their teachers, instructors and supervisor whom their duty is to teach, direct, advice and guide them in the acquisition of skills, knowledge and attitudes that will make them to become quality graduates after leaving school. However, the study adopted a systematic review approach to search for relevant literatures, TVET supervision, types of supervision in TVET education, Roles of a TVET supervisor, such where the key words used for the selection of the relevant literatures, from data web-based provider such as web of science, Scopus, google scholar and online library. From which the results of the study revealed the appropriate roles of a TVET supervisor in education such as a good relationship process or interpersonal relationship, learning needs, consultation and appointment, experience, training and personality, monitoring and implementation among others. It is therefore recommended that teachers or supervisors should embrace the revealed roles of the study in guiding their supervisees for effectiveness in their career pursuit