Salmonella in native village chickens (Gallus domesticus): prevalence and risk factors from farms in South-Central Peninsular Malaysia

Village chicken or Ayam Kampung, common to Southeast Asian countries, has always been regarded as superior in comparison to commercial broiler chicken in terms of wholesomeness and health benefits. The current study investigates the prevalence and risk factors of Salmonella among village chicken flocks from the central and southern states of Peninsular Malaysia. A total of 35 village flocks were sampled from Selangor (n = 19), Melaka (n = 10), Johor (n = 4), and Negeri Sembilan (n = 2). In total, 1,042 samples were collected; these included cloacal swabs (n = 675), eggs (n = 62), pooled drinking water (n = 175), pooled feeds (n = 70), and pooled flies (n = 60). Isolation of Salmonella from cloacal swabs, poultry drinking water, and feeds was carried out according to the protocols and recommendations of the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) terrestrial manual. The prevalence of Salmonella at an individual bird-level was 2.5% (17/675, 95% CI: 1.6 to 4.0). All eggs screened were negative; in the case of environmental samples, however, Salmonella was detected in 5.14% (9/175), 7.14% (5/70), and 5.0% (3/60) for water, feed, and flies, respectively. A total of 34 isolates and 8 Salmonella serotypes were identified. Weltevreden (20.6%) was the most common, followed by Typhimurium and Agona (17.6%), Albany and Enteritidis (8.8%), Molade (5.9%), Corvallis and Schleissheim (2.9%), and others grouped as Salmonella spp. (11.8%). Multivariable logistic regression models revealed that Salmonella positivity among flocks could be strongly predicted by storage of feeds (uncovered feeds; OR = 10.38; 95% CI: 1.25 to 86.39; p = 0.030) and uncovered water tanks (uncovered tank; OR = 6.43; 95% CI: 1.02 to 40.60; p = 0.048). The presence of Salmonella in village chickens in the study area was lower than that of commercial chickens in Malaysia

Graduates’ employability skills based on current job demand through electronic advertisement

Abstract In Malaysia, there is a profusion of evidence of high graduate unemployment since many graduates are found lacking of what are needed to acquire and to maintain their jobs. In this paper, graduate employability skills were analyzed based on four major criteria: qualification, academic score, experience and specific soft skills. The data and information used were extracted from 300 online job advertisements accessed via electronic databases at http://www.JobStreet.com.my from January to March 2011. A simple checklist form was developed to quantify the information from ads into quantitative data that was later keyed in the Statistical Package for Social Science for descriptive analyses. Based on the data, it was concluded that graduates with bachelor degrees were more likely to be employable due to high demand. It was also found that academic excellence based on CGPA was not the utmost factor for graduate employability. However, since less than one-third ads were free from work experiences requirement, fresh graduates only secured a little chance to be recruited. Another factor that limited graduates employability was high demand of specific soft skills requested by employers, among which were graduates with high quality of communication/interpersonal skills, foreign language proficiency, ICT/technical skills, high spirit of teamwork and specific personal attributes. Results concluded that graduate unemployment rate will continue to increase unless the Higher Education Institution (HEI) and the graduates are prepared to sharpen their soft skills according to market niche. It is suggested that the HEI work more closely with industries, professional bodies and society through the establishment of university-industry link cooperation that will become a catalyst for soft skills enhancement

Synthesis and surface modification of biocompatible water soluble core-shell quantum dots

In this study, the applications of CdSe/ZnS quantum dots (QDs) and its role in advanced sensings has been explored. The CdSe/ZnS was synthesized by using hot injection method with the shell ZnS layer was made using successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR) method. The morphology of the CdSe/ZnS QDs was studied using Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM) and the average particle size was in 10-12 nm range. The prepared QDs were optically characterized using spectrofluorescence and strong emission was observed at 620 nm. Comparison of the fluorescence emissions of CdSe/ZnS capped with various capping ligands such as L-cysteine, thioglycolic acid (TGA), mercaptopropionic acid (MPA), mercaptosuccinic acid (MSA) and mercaptoundecanoic acid (MUA) were studied. The CdSe/ZnS capped with TGA gave the strongest fluorescence emission compared to others

A social networking-based advertising to enhance customer reach target

A traditional advertising is a method to deliver commercial messages to mass audiences through the newspaper, outdoor billboards, radio, and television. This method is quite expensive for the small and medium company. The new concept of advertising such as social media, website, and application provide an inexpensive way to promote businesses. The proposed idea is to create a new platform for advertising and promotional tools which is called Tagme. This system is developed based on web environment on Windows and Android. Tagme allows marketers to promote their event, business or store and give promotions including vouchers to customers. Tagme also will notify customers instantly with any events or promotions such as free voucher giveaway that will be managed by the marketers themselves. Tagme provides a form of solution for marketers to promote their business efficiently as it provides web analytics and users preferences functions. This will allow marketers to promote their business to specific and focused customers

Feasibility study of worker safety at highway emergency lane

Safety procedures at highways are essential to ensure safe, clean and accessible roads and highways. The workers were often exposed to hazardous situations, as seen by numerous accidents involving highway workers on the road in recent years. Safety technologies in the highway construction work zone may help improve the roadway construction and maintenance workers’ safety. This paper reviews the statistics of road accidents in Malaysia, highway work zone safety problems and existing applications of safety sensor systems as an improvement of safety technology in the construction work zones. As an improvement towards the safety technology, Signal Warning Detector (SWAD) system was developed to increase the safety at highway work zone especially on PLUS highways in Malaysia. The development of the SWAD system’s parameter setting was discussed later in the methodology section of this pape

A review of reliability tests on safety technologies

A road maintenance employee is someone who ensures that roads and highways are safe, clean, and accessible. They perform a variety of tasks that demand physical exertion, such as repairing damaged automobiles, performing routine check-up procedures, or performing restoration work, among others. As a result, these workers may be exposed to hazardous situations, as there have been multiple accidents involving highway workers on the road recently. Signal Warning Detector casing structure was designed as part of a safety system to provide early warning to highway workers as traffic accidents among highway workers have become a concern. This study reviews the different reliability tests done on casing structure by previous researchers. Therefore, this study applies laboratory experiments to further test the reliability for the SWAD transmitter and receiver casing structure as a development step towards producing a reliable SWAD syste

Atrasentan and renal events in patients with type 2 diabetes and chronic kidney disease (SONAR): a double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled trial

Background: Short-term treatment for people with type 2 diabetes using a low dose of the selective endothelin A receptor antagonist atrasentan reduces albuminuria without causing significant sodium retention. We report the long-term effects of treatment with atrasentan on major renal outcomes. Methods: We did this double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled trial at 689 sites in 41 countries. We enrolled adults aged 18–85 years with type 2 diabetes, estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR)25–75 mL/min per 1·73 m 2 of body surface area, and a urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio (UACR)of 300–5000 mg/g who had received maximum labelled or tolerated renin–angiotensin system inhibition for at least 4 weeks. Participants were given atrasentan 0·75 mg orally daily during an enrichment period before random group assignment. Those with a UACR decrease of at least 30% with no substantial fluid retention during the enrichment period (responders)were included in the double-blind treatment period. Responders were randomly assigned to receive either atrasentan 0·75 mg orally daily or placebo. All patients and investigators were masked to treatment assignment. The primary endpoint was a composite of doubling of serum creatinine (sustained for ≥30 days)or end-stage kidney disease (eGFR <15 mL/min per 1·73 m 2 sustained for ≥90 days, chronic dialysis for ≥90 days, kidney transplantation, or death from kidney failure)in the intention-to-treat population of all responders. Safety was assessed in all patients who received at least one dose of their assigned study treatment. The study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT01858532. Findings: Between May 17, 2013, and July 13, 2017, 11 087 patients were screened; 5117 entered the enrichment period, and 4711 completed the enrichment period. Of these, 2648 patients were responders and were randomly assigned to the atrasentan group (n=1325)or placebo group (n=1323). Median follow-up was 2·2 years (IQR 1·4–2·9). 79 (6·0%)of 1325 patients in the atrasentan group and 105 (7·9%)of 1323 in the placebo group had a primary composite renal endpoint event (hazard ratio [HR]0·65 [95% CI 0·49–0·88]; p=0·0047). Fluid retention and anaemia adverse events, which have been previously attributed to endothelin receptor antagonists, were more frequent in the atrasentan group than in the placebo group. Hospital admission for heart failure occurred in 47 (3·5%)of 1325 patients in the atrasentan group and 34 (2·6%)of 1323 patients in the placebo group (HR 1·33 [95% CI 0·85–2·07]; p=0·208). 58 (4·4%)patients in the atrasentan group and 52 (3·9%)in the placebo group died (HR 1·09 [95% CI 0·75–1·59]; p=0·65). Interpretation: Atrasentan reduced the risk of renal events in patients with diabetes and chronic kidney disease who were selected to optimise efficacy and safety. These data support a potential role for selective endothelin receptor antagonists in protecting renal function in patients with type 2 diabetes at high risk of developing end-stage kidney disease. Funding: AbbVie

Development of real time experimental system for investigating photochromic response to UV irradiation

Photochemistry is a field of chemistry that deals with the chemical effects of light such as ultraviolet (UV), visible (Vis) or infrared (IR) radiation. Among many types of photochromic molecules, particular attentions have been given on spiropyrans because of their potential applications in industrial fields. Spiropyrans have the ability to change their chemical structure after exposed to a certain appropriate wavelength of light. However, spiropyrans are very sensitive dyes. For these reasons, an UV irradiation chamber was developed to control the surrounding environment which governs the external light intervention during photochromic work and when direct absorption measurement was performed. The chamber was then exploited to investigate the substituent effect on the absorption spectra of Benzo Indolino Pyrano Spiran (BIPS) dyes, 6-nitro BIPS and 8-ethoxy-6-nitro BIPS. Thus, our results suggest that the developed chamber was successfully utilized for photochromic system since it can protect the dyes from environmental intervention

Production of cyclodextrin glucanotransferase (CGTase) from alkalophilic Bacillus sp. TS1-1: Media optimization using experimental design

Cyclodextrin glucanotransferase (CGTase) was produced when the Bacillus sp. TS1-1 was grown in a medium containing sago starch, yeast extract, phosphorus and mineral salt sources, using shake flask mode at 37°C for 24 h. Response surface methodology (RSM) was applied to optimize the medium constituents with respect to CGTase production and activity. A 24 full factorial design (first order model) was carried out to identify the significant effect of medium components towards CGTase production. The variables involved in this initial screening study were sago starch, yeast extract, K2HPO 4 and MgSO4·7H2O. Statistical analysis of results have shown that only sago starch and yeast extract have a significant effect on CGTase production. A second-order model was proposed by using 2 2 central composite design to represent the production CGTase activity as a function of sago starch and yeast extract. The optimized values of 1.48% and 1.89% of sago starch and yeast extract was obtained, respectively. Under these proposed optimized conditions, the model predicted a CGTase activity of 79.66 U/ml and via experimental rechecking the model, an activity of 84 U/ml was attained

The Signal Warning Detector (SWAD) for Sustainable Working Environment at Highways

Work environment in highway construction are hazardous due to the particular dynamic and limited workspace availability. Within highway work zones, a variety of encounters involving employees, passing cars, and moving construction equipment exists, creating risky situations that may result in injury or death. Active approaches, such as the deployment of intrusion detection and alert devices in highway employees and the construction and maintenance of transportation infrastructure, can be effective in reducing these unforeseen situations. The study focus on development of the emergency signal system for the safety of highway workers was carried out to prevent accidents or danger from happening in the straight emergency line on the highway by developing a system of hazard detectors using a distance sensor. Therefore, the development of the Signal Warning Detector (SWAD) for the safety of highway workers was carried out to prevent accidents or danger from happening in the straight emergency line on the highway by developing a system of hazard detectors using a distance sensor. The distance sensor sensed the target at a certain distance and transmitted the signal emitted through the siren device and the emergency lamp mounted on the PLUS Malaysia Berhad (PLUS) car, while the signal was also transmitted to the receiver to create a danger signal to alert the worker by vibrating the vibrator motor located at the worker's hand. The study findings show that commercially accessible technologies have the ability to improve employee health in the work zone by providing early signal warning as vibration. This study adds to the knowledge base by offering methods for the collection and application of intruder sensing technologies for active protection in the work zone. The data produced in the result reveals that by performing the study, it was possible to find the best parameter setting for the Danger Signal Detector system. The farthest distance observed was at 14° of angle, 2.2 meter distance from center, and 1.8 meter sensor height