Regionalization and harmonization in TVET

A transversal skill is one of the skills needed in every type of workplace setting. There is limited information about the perceptions of which transferable skills are needed in the workplace. The objective of this study is to explore the transferable skills among students and lecturers in TVET higher learning institutions in Indonesia and Malaysia. In the present study, transferable skills consist of communication skills, collaboration skills, problem-solving skills, entrepreneurship, and learning to learn skills. A qualitative research was conducted using survey. The five Likert scale questionnaire was distributed to lecturers and students from selected Malaysian and Indonesian universities who have bachelor program in engineering. Based on the analysis outcomes, it is clearly shown that Malaysian university engineering students yielded significantly higher scores on the perceptions of transferable skill acquisition in all measured components compared to their counterparts in Indonesia. Similar patterns of data distribution have been observed in Malaysian and Indonesian engineering students. Based on the lecturers’ perception, Malaysian and Indonesian Engineering Lecturers have comparable perceptions in the aspects of problem solving skills and entrepreneurship skills. In contrast, Malaysian university engineering lecturers gained significantly higher scores on the perception of communication skill, collaboration skill, and learning to learn skill compared to the Indonesian lecturers. The results indicate the need to increase transferable skills of both lecturers and students

Microfungal community in sandy beaches located in Kedah, Pahang and Sabah, Malaysia

Microfungi are fundamental organisms help in balancing the ecosystem. The aims of this study are to identify microfungi isolated from sandy beaches based on internal transcribed spacers (ITS) sequence analysis and to determine the phylogenetic relationship among the locations of sampling areas. Fifty-seven isolates of microfungi were obtained from six beaches located in Kedah (Chenang Beach), Pahang (Balok Beach) and Sabah (Mamutik Island, Manukan Island, Sapi Island and Tanjung Aru Beach) to be used in this study. From the finding, the highest identified species were Aspergillusspecies (27 isolates) followed by Trichodermaspecies (12 isolates), Penicilliumspecies (10 isolates), Fusariumspecies (6 isolates), Bipolarisspecies (1 isolate) and Chaetomiumspecies (1 isolate). ITS fragment of all isolates was amplified in within the size range of 533–658 bp. A phylogenetic tree was constructed using maximum likelihood (ML) method; the isolates were grouped into three clades according to their classes. In conclusion, diverse microfungi isolated from sandy beach soil depicting 19 species were discovered. Future studies are highly recommended to focus on intra-and interspecies diversity based on microsatellite markers analysis, consequently the originality and distribution of the fungal isolates. The outcome of this study includesa baseline data on the occurrence and species-diversity as well as important information on the status of microfungi in Malaysia beaches located in Kedah, Melaka and Sabah. It can be used as a checklist for future studies related to fungi distributionin the tropical beaches

Mitochondrial barcodes of dragonflies and damselflies originated from Taman Negara Endau Rompin, Johor, Malaysia

Dragonflies and damselflies (Odonates) are important biological indicators in freshwater ecosystems. However, identification among Odonates is often challenging due to their similar morphological features. Therefore, the incorporation of morphological identification by taxonomists and validation using mitochondrial barcodes such as cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) can be a more reliable approach to enhance the accuracy in species identification. In this study, four COI barcodes for Malaysian dragonflies (Neurothemis fluctuans) and damselflies (Neurobasis chinensis, Aristocypha fenestrella and Sundacypha petiolata) were generated. Three of the generated barcodes (D2 COI, D4 COI and D5 COI) supported the species identified by taxonomists meanwhile D3 COI deduced that the damselfly species was misidentified due to the very similar morphology between the same genus of damselfly. All of the COI barcodes are now available in the GenBank with the accession numbers of MT266926.1 (D2 COI), MT266925.1 (D3 COI), MT269676.1 (D4 COI) and MT266924.1 (D5 COI)

Zingiber zerumbet (L.) Smith: A Review of Its Ethnomedicinal, Chemical, and Pharmacological Uses

Zingiber zerumbet Sm., locally known to the Malay as “Lempoyang,” is a perennial herb found in many tropical countries, including Malaysia. The rhizomes of Z. zerumbet, particularly, have been regularly used as food flavouring and appetizer in various Malays' cuisines while the rhizomes extracts have been used in Malay traditional medicine to treat various types of ailments (e.g., inflammatory- and pain-mediated diseases, worm infestation and diarrhea). Research carried out using different in vitro and in vivo assays of biological evaluation support most of these claims. The active pharmacological component of Z. zerumbet rhizomes most widely studied is zerumbone. This paper presents the botany, traditional uses, chemistry, and pharmacology of this medicinal plant

Prevalence of needle stick injuries and compliance to infection control guidelines among health care workers in a teaching hospital, Malaysia

Introduction: Health care workers (HCW) are constantly exposed to blood-borne illnesses through needle stick injuries (NSI). Despite the increasing trend of NSI, evidence regarding the actual practice of universal precautions among these HCWs is lacking. This study assessed the practice of universal precautions towards prevention of NSI among HCWs in a teaching hospital setting. Methods: This cross-sectional survey involved a newly-designed self-completed questionnaire assessing demographic data, exposure to NSI and practice of universal precautions. Questionnaires were distributed to every ward and completed questionnaires were collected after a period of 7 days. Results: A total of 215 HCWs responded to the survey. 35.8% were exposed to bodily fluid, with 22.3% had NSI in the last 12 months. Blood taking was the commonest procedure associated with NSI. Of practices of universal precautions, recapping needle and removing needle from syringe were still wrongly practiced by the HCWs assessed. Conclusion: NSI among HCW are still common despite the introduction of universal precautions in our hospital. Incorrect practices in handling sharps should be looked into in order to reduce the incidence of blood-borne illnesses through NSI in the hospital

Hepatoprotective Activity of Dried- and Fermented-Processed Virgin Coconut Oil

The present study aims to determine the hepatoprotective effect of MARDI-produced virgin coconut oils, prepared by dried- or fermented-processed methods, using the paracetamol-induced liver damage in rats. Liver injury induced by 3 g/kg paracetamol increased the liver weight per 100 g bodyweight indicating liver damage. Histological observation also confirms liver damage indicated by the presence of inflammations and necrosis on the respective liver section. Interestingly, pretreatment of the rats with 10, but not 1 and 5, mL/kg of both VCOs significantly (P < .05) reduced the liver damage caused by the administration of paracetamol, which is further confirmed by the histological findings. In conclusion, VCO possessed hepatoprotective effect that requires further in-depth study

Ecofeminism in the 21st Century

This paper considers the influence of ecofeminism on policy concerning gender (in)equality and the environment during the past 20 years. It reviews the broad contours of the ecofeminist debate before focusing on the social construction interpretation of women's relationship with the environment. It will argue that there have been substantial policy shifts in Europe and the UK in both the environmental and equalities fields, and that this is in part a result of lobbying at a range of scales by groups informed by ecofeminist debates. Nevertheless, the paper cautions that these shifts are largely incremental and operate within existing structures, which inevitably limit their capacity to create change. As policy addresses some of the concerns highlighted by ecofeminism, academic discourse and grass roots activity have been moving on to address other issues, and the paper concludes with a brief consideration of contemporary trajectories of ecofeminism and campaigning on issues that link women's, feminist and environment concerns

DNA barcoding for authentication of Orthosiphon stamineus herbal medicinal product using ITS2 nuclear marker originating from Malaysia

Orthosiphon stamineus (Misai Kucing) has become the focus of commercialization in Malaysia due to its potential health treatment benefits that can attract huge consumers' demand. Although the quality of herbal medicinal product (HMP) remains a major concern for consumers due to its high adulteration rate, there is insufficient testing done to determine whether the herb species used in HMP are as claimed in their ingredients. HMP authentication can be done by using a DNA barcoding approach which is species-specific. In this work, the first nuclear ITS2 barcode (279bp) from the fresh plant of O. stamineus (MKP) originating from Malaysia was successfully generated and deposited in Genbank (MT251295.1). The efficiency of the novel barcode in O. stamineus HMP authentication was tested in two samples, tea (MKT) and capsule (MKC) based on BLAST and NJ-tree analysis. The success of applying DNA barcoding by using ITS2 barcode generated in this work for HMP authentication makes it possible to complement conventional methods for O. stamineus HMP quality assurance testing and authentication in Malaysian herbal industry

Mitochondrial barcodes of three malaysian butterflies originating from Taman Negara Endau Rompin Johor, Malaysia

Butterflies are projected as reliable and economical biodiversity indicator. Traditionally, taxonomists identified and classified butterfly species based on highly similar and ambiguous morphological appearances which can result in problematic species identification process leading to misidentification of species. DNA barcoding has been developed for taxonomic identification of butterflies to species level. Nonetheless, this approach is hampered by the paucity of reference barcodes encompassing butterflies of all families and species in Malaysia. This study reported four novel DNA barcodes (two cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) and two cytochrome b, cytb) of Malaysian butterflies generated using Sanger sequencing. One barcode (DIB032 COI) supported the species identified by taxonomists whereas the other three barcodes (DIB034 COI, DIB034 cytb and DIB046/049 cytb) deduced that the butterfly species were either misidentified or unidentified up to species level due to the lack of reference barcodes in GenBank. The four novel DNA barcodes were deposited in GenBank under the accession number MT210226.1 (DIB032 COI), MT210227.1 (DIB034 COI), MT210228.1 (DIB034 cytb) and MT210229.1 (DIB046/049 cytb)