Detection of Antibiotic Residues and Isolation of Antibiotic Resistant Escherichia Coli from Chicken Meat and Chickens in Malaysia

Public health is intrinsically related to food animal production. Antibiotic residues in the food of animal origin and antibiotic resistant bacteria threaten human health. There is an increase in population and the demand for chicken meat in Malaysia is also increasing. Not much data is available on antibiotic residues and antibiotic resistant E. coli from chickens and foods of animal origin in Malaysia. In this study, a total of 400 chicken meat samples were subjected to antibiotic residues screening tests. The prevalence of antibiotics residues in chicken meat was between 111% to 217%, using three microbial growth inhibition tests; namely, fast antimicrobial screening test (FAST), Baedlus stearothermophdus disc assay (BSDA) and a commercial test kit (TAT) with reference to four plate test (FPT) The test performances were evaluated on sensitivity, specificity, positive predtcnve value and negative predictive value. The sensitivity of these tests ranged from 55.6 to 65% and specificity, from 82 to 90.6%. Kappa agreement was between 0.5 to 0.8. Based on the above performance parameters, as well as the cost, simplicity and incubation period, BSDA is a screening test of choice. A total of 182 E. coli isolates from these chicken meat samples were found resistant to twelve antibiotics; vancomycin (99.4%), trimethoprim (98.9%), nalidixic acid (97.2%), tetracycline and cephradine (96.7%), ampicillin (94.5%), enrofloxacin (83.5%), erythromycin (82.9%), ciprofloxacin (81.3%), cefoperazone (80.2%), chloramphenicol (74.4%) and kanamycin (68.6%). Forty-six antibiotypes and nine antibiogroups were observed. Escherichia coli isolated from antibiotic residues positive samples and antibiotic residues negative samples were tested for antibiotic susceptibility to twelve antibiotics. A higher percentage of antibiotic resistance was observed in E. coli isolates from antibiotic residues positive samples compared to those from antibiotic residues negative samples. 58.3% and 29.2% of E. coli isolates from antibiotic residues positive samples and 25% and 17.1% of E. coli isolates from antibiotic residues negative samples were resistant to 12 and 11 antibiotics, respectively. Plasmid isolation was conducted in 132 of the E. coli isolated. Plasmid occurrence rate of 81.8% were observed in this study with high diversity of plasmids profiles among E. cob isolates from different sources. The number of plasmids ranged from 0 to 8 and the sizes of plasmids ranged from 1.2 MDa to 118.6 MDa. Forty-five different plasmid profiles were observed. No apparent correlation was found between the plasmid profiles of the strains and their antibiotic resistance patterns. In another study, the occurrence of antibiotic resistant E. coil was determined in four flocks where in three flocks, chickens were given commercial feed containing antibiotics and in one flock the feed given were without antibiotics. Escherichia colt isolates from chickens given feed without antibiotics showed low resistance to all antibiotics even at one day old. The screening of antibiotic residues was done in 20 of these chickens at the age of 42 days old. The occurrence of antibiotic residues was 10% in chickens given feed containing antibiotics. It was observed that E. coli isolates from the antibiotic residues positive samples were also resistant to 12 antibiotics while those from antibiotic residues negative samples were resistant to 2-8 antibiotics. This observation requires further investigation. Klebseilla spp., Pseudomonas spp. and E. coil were isolated from the feeds and water of the flock where chickens given feed without antibiotics. All these bacteria were resistant to 4-10 antibiotics. Antibiotic resistant E. coli was observed in day-old chicks without any selective pressure, such as even when no antibiotic was added to the ration. Thus, proliferation of antibiotic resistant E. colt is less dependent on the use of antibiotics/antimicrobials in poultry farms and most likely that chickens obtain antibiotic resistant E. colt from the environment

The Life-Cycle Motive and Money Demand: Further Evidence

This study takes a closer look at the relationship between money demand and the life-cycle motive using panel data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation. Findings indicate that the life-cycle motive exerts a direct impact on household demand for interest-earning monetary assets, but not on non-interest-earning checking deposits. The strength of the relationship, however, varies among households with divergent characteristics. There is no evidence of a unitary income elasticity for both interest- and non-interest-yielding monetary assets. The demand for interest-earning monetary assets is very sensitive to changes in the own rate of interest, but the interest rate elasticity for non-interest-earning checking accounts is quite small.life-cycle motive

Use of mangroves for aquaculture: Myanmar.

Aquaculture has only started to develop rapidly in the past few decades, due to better knowledge of culture species, improved methodologies and techniques in breeding, nutrition and increasing demand for food fish of high-value species such as shrimps, sea bass and groupers. Mangrove deforestation has an impact on shrimp culture itself, the success of the latter (when traditional culture method is used) depends on stocking of wild fry. For semi-intensive and intensive shrimp culture, the number of wild caught spawners may decrease because wild shrimp populations also use mangrove swamps as its feeding ground. Other negative effects of mangrove destruction to make way to shrimp ponds, include water pollution from pond effluents, sedimentation from the release of solid materials from pond, interruption of the tidal water flow, dwindling natural shrimp and fish stock due to increased pollution or product contamination due to indiscriminate use of chemicals. Chemicals and drugs (antibiotic) should not be used in fish and shrimp culture for prevention and control of bacteria and viral diseases. In order to ensure the sustainable development of aquaculture, it is important to bear in mind the interdependence of technology and natural resource under various socioeconomic setting

A comparative study of five Dutch disease models: a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy in Social Sciences at Massey University

During the past decade, the sudden and sharp increases in oil prices, coupled with the discovery and extraction of oil in the North Sea, have contributed considerable interest in the macroeconomic problems of oil-exporting countries. It is well known that a domestic oil discovery can give rise to wealth effects that cause a squeeze in the traded goods sector of an open economy. The decline of the manufacturing sector following an oil discovery is termed the 'Dutch disease', and has been investigated in many recent studies which embody a general equilibrium model. This is detailed in Chapter One where the development of Dutch disease literature is discussed. Despite the development of a wide range of the Dutch disease models, There is still a lack of consensus regarding the analysis on the issue of Dutch disease. This thesis aims to study a number of different models of the Dutch disease by focussing on the following considerations: i) the underlying theoretical framework with reference to some main-stream economic theories, such as those based on Trade theory, Neoclassical and Keynesian traditions; ii) the assumptions made within each framework regarding monetary and supply-side conditions; iii) analysis of the various effects of exogenous disturbances on the economy; and iv) evaluation of the relationship between the underlying assumptions and the conclusions drawn from the model analysis. Chapter Two outlines the classification of the Dutch disease model into three broad categories. These categories distinguish between the types of macroeconomic effects which give rise to the Dutch disease phenomenon. Detailed algebraic specification of each model, using standard notations developed for this thesis, along with the assumptions made are described in Chapter Three. Chapter Four is devoted to a comparative study of the models. In each section, two models are compared to draw out the differences in their assumptions and approach, and to show how these differences can affect their final conclusions about the effect of various exogenous disturbances. A summary of the main results of the comparative study is given in Chapter Five. Some points for further research are also briefly discussed

The Relationship of Teachers’ Perception towards Leadership Capacity with Their Demographic Factors at Mon National Middle Schools, in Ye Township, Mon State, Myanmar

The main purpose of this study was to determine the relationships of teachers’ perception towards leadership capacity and their demographic factors: age, education background, work experience, and training experience at Mon National Schools, Ye Township, Mon State, Myanmar. A total of 90 teachers from eight Mon National Middle Schools in the same state and the same township were surveyed for this study. The main source of the data was questionnaires that investigated teachers’ demographic factors including age, education background, work experience, and training experience, and leadership capacities. The collected data were analyzed by using the Descriptive Statistics, Frequency, Percentage, Standard Deviation, Mean, and Pearson Product Moment Correlation. The study found that teachers’ leadership capacities from eight middle schools were perceived as “good enough” in their schools. On the other hand, the correlation analysis found that there were no relationships between teachers’ perceived leadership capacities and teachers’ demographic factors including age, education background, and training experience. However, there was a positive relationship between leadership capacities and teachers’ work experience at Mon National Middle School, Mon State, Myanmar. In order for the schools to become more sustainable, administrators from 8 Mon National Middle Schools are recommended to innovate, develop, and create more opportunities for all teachers to share ideas, to control teacher stability and other uncompleted situations. It could be a valuable research other researcher can conduct the similar research in other organizations and countries, and can also conduct the research on the relationship between leadership capacity and sustained high level of student achievement