Legal analysis of the Malaysian Animals Act 1953 (revised 2006) in regard to animal testing: with special reference to the legal position in the United Kingdom / Afiqah Najiha Mahadi … [et al.]

This research attempts to analyze the adequacy of the present legislation, Animals Act 1953 (Revised 2006) in addressing the animals rights with regards to animal testing. On top of that, the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 implemented in the United Kingdom will be examined and compared with the Malaysian Animals Act 1953 (Revised 2006). The reason behind United Kingdom being chosen as a comparison is because the country imposes a stricter law on industries and scientists who use animals as their experimentation object. Comparison between these two countries is also made so that it will give a clearer view that Malaysia is still lacking in regulations when it comes to animal testing despite the existence of the Animals Act 1953 (Revised 2006). In operating this research, an analytical and critical study will be conducted using a qualitative method whereby the data will be accumulated through doctrinal and empirical methods. Therefore, this research targets to urge the policy makers to pass the Animal Welfare Bill as well as having standardized regulations, guidelines and procedures to safeguard animals' rights and welfare in filling our lacunae in the existing law. The researchers have addressed the weaknesses in this research by providing the solutions that can be done in order to strengthen the integrity of enforcement and suggested a few amendments to make the animals law become more effective in Malaysia

Biogasoline synthesis via fluid catalytic cracking of waste cooking oil using treated eggshell

This paper reports on preparation and characterization of eggshell for fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) reaction of waste cooking oil (WCO) to produce biogasoline. Hydrocarbon from condensate of gas emitted from a spherical flask reactor was agitated at 350, 400 and 450 resolution per minute (rpm) under 350, 400 and 450 oC reaction temperature by the one-factorat-a-time (OFAT) approach was analyzed by using a gas chromatography mass spectrometer (GC-MS). Acid compounds were also recorded. Earlier, the eggshell was ground, calcined at 900 oC for three hours and sieved into 250 – 425 m range of particle size before being analyzed using Fourier-transform-infrared-spectroscopy (FTIR) for calcium oxide content. About 30 wt% of biogasoline ranged from C4 to C12 of alkanes and alkenes was obtained from the 350-oC hydrocarbon condensate after 30, 45 and 60 min of which aromatic compounds increased with the reaction temperature. However, the biogasoline compounds decreased with the reaction temperature. More than 20 wt% was esters and free fatty acids of carbon number greater than 20 were also formed, respectively. Stirring speeds generally increased condensate yield but the increment does not have pattern due to various volatility of the content. The highest biogasoline yield through the FCC reaction was 4.5 wt% at 350 0C at 400 rpm stirring speed, and the product was found comparable with previous research and commercial gasoline

Antimicrobial activity of the mint extract against campylobacter jejueni isolated from chicken sample

Foodborne infectious diseases are seen around the world. One of the most common contaminants found in chicken meat products is Campylobacter jejuni. This study tries to: To assess the utilization of Mint extract in various concentrations as natural antimicrobial against C. jejueni, 100 chicken samples were collected From the city center of AL- Diwaniyah, 50 samples of fresh poultry meat and 50 samples of frozen poultry meat, and the evaluation was done on them after preparation.The antimicrobial activity of methanolic, ethanolic, and aqueous extracts of mint was evaluated in multi-well micro-titer plates using the well diffusion method. Mint extract was evaluated for antimicrobial property against C. jejuni at different concentrations (80%, 40%, and 20%), and the highest inhibitory effect was observed in the ethanolic extract of mint, followed by the methanolic extract, while the aqueous extract was active only at a high concentration of 80% using the well diffusion method. Due to the biologically active properties of the compounds in mint, which are antimicrobial, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, anticancer, antioxidant, and antifungal, mint extracts exhibit biological activity against C. jejueni

Hepatoprotective effects of almond shells against carbon tetrachloride induced liver injury in albino rats

Liver injury is a prevalent pathological process that can give rise to conditions such as fatty liver, cirrhosis, fibrosis, and even cancer. It has been observed that plants and natural products possess significant protective effects against liver injury. Current study was performed to investigate the efficacy of almonds shell against carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) induced hepatotoxicity in rat model. As almonds shell contain a large variety of phenolic and flavonoid compounds, which are largely associated with antioxidant and hepatoprotective properties. For this purpose, screening of small-scale library of twenty plant extracts was performed for evaluation of antioxidant potential by DPPH assay. The data revealed that almonds shell extract (ASEE) exhibited potent antioxidant activity. This potent extract was further evaluated for hepatoprotective activity in in vivo rat model on 30 rats, divided into 6 groups of 5 rats each. On 29th day all rats were sacrificed and blood serum was collected for further analysis. Liver tissues were also preserved in formalin for histopathology. The results demonstrated that ASEE displayed a protective effect on liver function tests (LFT), renal function tests (RFT), and lipid biomarkers in comparison to the CCl4 group. The histological data also unveiled a substantial safeguarding impact on liver damage, characterized by a reduction in apoptosis, diminished liver hemorrhage, and decreased accumulation of cellular debris. The data indicates that ethanolic extract from almond shells possesses hepatoprotective potential, suggesting its viability as an alternative source for hepatoprotective drug development after pre-clinical research

Effects of Contract Governance on the Relation of Partnership Critical Success Factors and the Performance of Malaysia Public-Private Partnership Initiatives

Much research has been carried out to discover partnership critical success factors that influence public-private partnership success. Since most public-private partnership projects are long-term in nature and include contractual arrangements, there is still a lot to learn about contract governance’s role in public-private partnership performance. Therefore, this study examines the effect of contract governance on the relationship between partnership critical success factors and partnership performance in Malaysia. Stakeholder Theory serves as the underpinning theory for this study. This study employed a quantitative method based on the positivist paradigm to distribute questionnaires. The information was collected from 261 contracting parties’ officials in Malaysian public-private partnership projects regulated by the Malaysian Public-Private Partnership Unit, and a stratified random sampling method was employed. The structural equation model analysis found that eight out of ten hypotheses were supported. According to this study, it has been established that contract governance has a direct favorable influence on partnership performance. However, it is also found that contract governance does not moderate the relationship between partnership critical success factors and partnership performance. Due to time constraints and the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, this study was from a cross-sectional viewpoint and adopted a quantitative methodology. The findings of this study are important in the contract governance and partnership performance literature, providing policymakers and concessionaires with new information on the impact of contract governance on public-private partnership project performance. Managers of public-private partnership projects should also be able to enhance their projects’ performance by understanding how contract governance influences the performance of their projects

Metal free direct formation of various substituted pyrido[2′,1′:2,3]imidazo[4,5-c]isoquinolin-5-amines and their further functionalization

International audienceOriginal substituted pyrido[2′,1′:2,3]imidazo[4,5-c]isoquinolin-5-amines have been prepared following a Groebke–Blackburn–Bienaymé MCR combined with an N-deprotection and a spontaneous final cyclization step in moderate to good yields. The flexibility of the described method enables the introduction of diverse groups in the 6 and 7 positions on the resulting scaffold using commercially available starting materials. Furthermore, a Buchwald–Hartwig cross coupling with a wide range of aryl and hetaryl halides has been successfully reported using our heterocyclic primary amine derivatives

Analisis keberkesanan projek bersepadu dalam penerapan kemahiran generik

Jabatan Kejuruteraan Kimia dan Proses (JKKP), Fakulti Kejuruteraan dan Alam Bina, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia telah mengambil satu initiatif untuk melaksanakan Projek Bersepadu (PB) bagi pelajar Tahun II dan III sejak Sesi 2006/2007 sebagai satu langkah untuk meningkatkan lagi mutu proses pengajaran dan pembelajaran terhadap pelajar. Projek ini menggabungkan tiga atau empat kursus wajib jabatan yang ditawarkan bagi setiap semester. Projek bersepadu yang diberikan kepada pelajar ini merupakan permasalahan kejuruteraan kimia/biokimia yang memerlukan penyelesaian terbuka. Pendekatan ini membolehkan penerapan kemahiran generik terhadap pelajar seperti kepimpinan, bekerja dalam kumpulan, berkomunikasi secara lisan dan bertulis serta belajar mencari maklumat terkini melalui proses pembelajaran sepanjang hayat. Pencapaian pelajar dalam menyiapkan PB telah diukur dan dinilai melalui pembentangan lisan dan laporan bertulis. Kajian ini dilakukan bagi mengukur keberkesanan PB setelah empat tahun dilaksanakan di JKKP. Oleh itu, satu soal selidik telah diagihkan kepada kumpulan pelajar pertama yang telah mengharungi sepenuhnya PB di sepanjang pengajian di JKKP dalam satu majlis ramah mesra sebaik mereka tamat perkuliahan mereka. Keputusan analisis terhadap keberkesanan PB telah menunjukkan peningkatan keyakinan diri dalam kemahiran generik seperti komunikasi lisan dan penulisan, kerja berkumpulan, pembelajaran sepanjang hayat dan pengenalpastian isu-isu semasa dalam diri pelajar semenjak PB diperkenalkan. Maklum balas yang positif juga diperoleh daripada pelajar dan mereka berpendapat PB perlu diteruskan di masa akan datang kerana PB amat membantu mereka dalam menjalankan projek reka bentuk di tahun akhir pengajian mereka

Global variation in postoperative mortality and complications after cancer surgery: a multicentre, prospective cohort study in 82 countries

© 2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licenseBackground: 80% of individuals with cancer will require a surgical procedure, yet little comparative data exist on early outcomes in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). We compared postoperative outcomes in breast, colorectal, and gastric cancer surgery in hospitals worldwide, focusing on the effect of disease stage and complications on postoperative mortality. Methods: This was a multicentre, international prospective cohort study of consecutive adult patients undergoing surgery for primary breast, colorectal, or gastric cancer requiring a skin incision done under general or neuraxial anaesthesia. The primary outcome was death or major complication within 30 days of surgery. Multilevel logistic regression determined relationships within three-level nested models of patients within hospitals and countries. Hospital-level infrastructure effects were explored with three-way mediation analyses. This study was registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03471494. Findings: Between April 1, 2018, and Jan 31, 2019, we enrolled 15 958 patients from 428 hospitals in 82 countries (high income 9106 patients, 31 countries; upper-middle income 2721 patients, 23 countries; or lower-middle income 4131 patients, 28 countries). Patients in LMICs presented with more advanced disease compared with patients in high-income countries. 30-day mortality was higher for gastric cancer in low-income or lower-middle-income countries (adjusted odds ratio 3·72, 95% CI 1·70–8·16) and for colorectal cancer in low-income or lower-middle-income countries (4·59, 2·39–8·80) and upper-middle-income countries (2·06, 1·11–3·83). No difference in 30-day mortality was seen in breast cancer. The proportion of patients who died after a major complication was greatest in low-income or lower-middle-income countries (6·15, 3·26–11·59) and upper-middle-income countries (3·89, 2·08–7·29). Postoperative death after complications was partly explained by patient factors (60%) and partly by hospital or country (40%). The absence of consistently available postoperative care facilities was associated with seven to 10 more deaths per 100 major complications in LMICs. Cancer stage alone explained little of the early variation in mortality or postoperative complications. Interpretation: Higher levels of mortality after cancer surgery in LMICs was not fully explained by later presentation of disease. The capacity to rescue patients from surgical complications is a tangible opportunity for meaningful intervention. Early death after cancer surgery might be reduced by policies focusing on strengthening perioperative care systems to detect and intervene in common complications. Funding: National Institute for Health Research Global Health Research Unit