Influence of physical environment towards leisure time physical activity (LTPA) among adolescents

The purpose of this study is to identify the influence of physical environment towards leisure physical activities among adolescents. As many as 913 respondents aged between 13 to 17 years old from four districts (Seremban, Muar, Kota Star, Kuantan) in Peninsular Malaysia, were chosen through a layered cluster random sampling technique. The results show that the safety of the environment is in moderate level (busy road: M=3.51, SP=1.31; stray dog: M=3.46, SP=1.38; crime: M=3.23, SP=1.33) and it has no connection with the involvement of youth in LTPA (r=-0.01, p>0.05). It is also discovered that sports facilities limit them from undergoing physical activities during leisure hours. However, facilities are easy to be used (75%) by youth and this leads to a significant relationship with LTPA (r=0.10, p<0.05). The implication of research shows that physical environment is pivotal in order to increase the amount of youth involvement in overall free time physical activities. Thus, it is suggested that these physical activities can only take more of the teenagers’ time if they are carried out in environments which are creative, comfortable, safe and user-friendly

Profitability performance analysis: The evidence from private telecommunication firms in Malaysia

This paper examines the macroeconomic factors influencing the profitability performance of private telecommunication firms in Malaysia. A yearly basis data between 2007 and 2016, which contained a total number of 49 data observations were analyzed using the Random Effects Model to estimate the factors of concern. The sources of these data have been predominantly extracted from DataStream. The variables involved in this investigation were liquidity (LIQ), leverage (LEV), firm size (SIZE), and gross domestic product (GDP). This study has been motivated by the declining profitability performance of private telecommunication firms in Malaysia, which has been attributed to the decreasing return on assets. The findings suggest that leverage has a significant and negative relationship with return on assets, while liquidity has a negative insignificant towards the firms’ profitability. On the other hand, firm size and gross domestic product have a substantial and positive relationship with return on assets. Moreover, the findings seemed to suggest that the bigger the size of a firm, the higher the total assets would be, which in turn, would improve the firm’s profitable performance. In sum, the prerequisite attribute that a telecommunication firm needed to possess in attaining high profitability performance was its strong and high productivity in the management of its total assets

Kesan Persepsi Sosial, Ekonomi, Persekitaran Terhadap Kualiti Hidup Komuniti Di Acara Sukan Triathlon, Perak 2022

Penganjuran acara sukan utama sering memberi kesan kepada pembangunan masyarakat secara lestari, khususnya perhubungan sosial, ekonomi dan persekitaran (SEP). Kejayaan penganjuran ini sangat bergantung pada komuniti setempat negara yang menyedari faedah diperoleh apabila mengadakan acara tersebut dengan kehadiran penonton dan peminat dari dalam dan luar negara. Justeru, kajian ini bertujuan untuk melihat kesan persepsi sosial, ekonomi, persekitaran (SEP) terhadap kualiti hidup (QoL) komuniti yang memberi sokongan terhadap penganjuran sukan Perak Triathlon 2022 di Marina Island, Lumut Perak. Data dari instrumen Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) dan Impact Perception of Social, Economic and Environment dianalisis menggunakan statistik deskriptif dan inferensi. Kesan persepsi sosial menunjukkan skor min paling tinggi dengan M=3.93 (SD=0.901). Ini diikuti kesan persepsi ekonomi M=3.58 (SD=0.998) dan kesan persepsi persekitaran M=3.51( SD=0.953). Hasil dapatan hubungan antara kesan persepsi sosial, ekonomi, persekitaran (SEP) dan kualiti hidup (QoL) komuniti menunjukkan hubungan yang negatif dan lemah (r=-1.113, p &gt;.05). Hasil kajian ini dijangka memberi manfaat kepada pihak penganjur untuk memastikan komuniti mendapat pelbagai faedah dari penganjuran yang diadakan terutama dalam meningkatkan kualiti hidup masyarakat setempat

Phenotypic and genotypic characterization of colistin-resistant Escherichia Coli with mcr-4, mcr-5, mcr-6, and mcr-9 genes from broiler chicken and farm environment

Abstract Background Colistin is an antibiotic used as a last-resort to treat multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacterial infections. Colistin had been used for a long time in veterinary medicine for disease control and as a growth promoter in food-producing animals. This excessive use of colistin in food animals causes an increase in colistin resistance. This study aimed to determine molecular characteristics of colistin-resistant Escherichia coli in broiler chicken and chicken farm environments. Results Four hundred fifty-three cloacal and farm environment samples were collected from six different commercial chicken farms in Kelantan, Malaysia. E. coli was isolated using standard bacteriological methods, and the isolates were tested for antimicrobial susceptibility using disc diffusion and colistin minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) by broth microdilution. Multiplex PCR was used to detect mcr genes, and DNA sequencing was used to confirm the resistance genes. Virulence gene detection, phylogroup, and multilocus sequence typing (MLST) were done to further characterize the E. coli isolates. Out of the 425 (94%; 425/453) E. coli isolated from the chicken and farm environment samples, 10.8% (48/425) isolates were carrying one or more colistin-resistance encoding genes. Of the 48 colistin-resistant isolates, 54.2% (26/48) of the mcr positive isolates were genotypically and phenotypically resistant to colistin with MIC of colistin ≥ 4 μg/ml. The most prominent mcr gene detected was mcr-1 (47.9%; 23/48), followed by mcr-8 (18.8%; 9/48), mcr-7 (14.5%; 7/48), mcr-6 (12.5%; 6/48), mcr-4 (2.1%; 1/48), mcr-5 (2.1%; 1/48), and mcr-9 (2.1%; 1/48) genes. One E. coli isolate originating from the fecal sample was found to harbor both mcr-4 and mcr-6 genes and another isolate from the drinking water sample was carrying mcr-1 and mcr-8 genes. The majority of the mcr positive isolates were categorized under phylogroup A followed by phylogroup B1. The most prevalent sequence typing (ST) was ST1771 (n = 4) followed by ST206 (n = 3). 100% of the mcr positive E. coli isolates were multidrug resistant. The most frequently detected virulence genes among mcr positive E. coli isolates were ast (38%; 18/48) followed by iss (23%; 11/48). This is the first research to report the prevalence of mcr-4, mcr-5, mcr-6, mcr-7, and mcr-8 genes in E. coli from broiler chickens and farm environments in Malaysia. Conclusion Our findings suggest that broiler chickens and broiler farm environments could be reservoirs of colistin-resistant E. coli, posing a risk to public health and food safety

Antimicrobial activities of graphene oxide against biofilm and intracellular Staphylococcus aureus isolated from bovine mastitis

Abstract Background S. aureus is one of the causative agents of bovine mastitis. The treatment using conventional antimicrobials has been hampered due to the development of antimicrobial resistance and the ability of the bacteria to form biofilms and localize inside the host cells. Objectives Here, the efficacy of graphene oxide (GO), a carbon-based nanomaterial, was tested against the biofilms and intracellular S. aureus invitro. Following that, the mechanism for the intracellular antimicrobial activities and GO toxicities was elucidated. Methods GO antibiofilm properties were evaluated based on the disruption of biofilm structure, and the intracellular antimicrobial activities were determined by the survival of S. aureus in infected bovine mammary cells following GO exposure. The mechanism for GO intracellular antimicrobial activities was investigated using endocytosis inhibitors. GO toxicity towards the host cells was assessed using a resazurin assay. Results At 100 ug/mL, GO reduced between 30 and 70% of S. aureus biofilm mass, suggesting GO’s ability to disrupt the biofilm structure. At 200 ug/mL, GO killed almost 80% of intracellular S. aureus, and the antimicrobial activities were inhibited when cells were pre-treated with cytochalasin D, suggesting GO intracellular antimicrobial activities were dependent on the actin-polymerization of the cell membrane. At < 250 ug/mL, GO enhanced the viability of the Mac-T cell, and cells were only affected at higher dosages. Conclusion The in vitro efficacy of GO against S. aureus in vitro suggested the compound could be further tested in Vivo to zrecognize its potential as one of the components of bovine mastitis therapy