Malaysia: State and Society Measures in Safety and Security Against COVID-19

COVID-19 pandemic is now a global crisis, with the number of known cases climbing daily and millions of people stranded at home. As countries toil to preserve the lives of their people, economies are grinding to a halt. At that dismal time, Malaysia is going through a vast political crisis with a new leader, and several states have new governments. In this vein, the present study aims at shedding how Malaysian responses to the COVID-19 pandemic? This study adopted a qualitative approach by using the secondary data collected from the journal, the official website of the government sector, NGOs, authorized bodies, and newspapers. Our finding shows although Malaysia had COVID-19 during the political crisis, a new ruling party is competent to manage the issue accordingly with the Ministry of Health and the National Security Council plays a vital role in the management of the pandemic. The government has taken various kinds of measures to ensure the pandemic to be reduced, and economic recession could be minimizing that benefit Malaysian and non-citizenship notably to vulnerable with the amalgamate by numerous NGOs

Optimisation of enzymatic protein hydrolysis of mud crab (Scylla sp.) to obtain maximum angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitory (ACEI) activity using response surface methodology

Optimisation is commonly employed to find the conditions that produce the best possible response, thus minimizing the cost and time of a particular process. Response Surface Methodology (RSM) is a widely used tool in optimisation. This study reported the optimisation of enzymatic hydrolysis of mud crab meat using RSM by employing a face-centered Central Composite Design (CCD) to obtain maximum angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitory (ACEI) activity. Screening of commercial food grade proteinases was carried out using Alcalase®, Protamex®, Neutrase® and papain shows that Protamex® gave the highest ACEI activity. The enzymatic hydrolysis conditions used in the optimisation were temperature (45-65ºC), pH (pH 5.5-7.5), hydrolysis time (1-4 hours) and Protamex® enzyme to substrate (E/S) ratio (1-3%). It was found that quadratic model was able to explain the relationship between the hydrolysis conditions and ACEI activity. The optimum conditions were obtained at 65ºC, pH 5.6, 1% E/S ratio and 4 hours of hydrolysis time. The experimental ACEI activity (88.93±1.02%) was not significantly difference (p>0.05) with the predicted ACEI activity (91.10%). It was found that the IC50 of the mud crab hydrolysate prepared at optimum condition was 1.96±0.13 mg/mL. This study shows that RSM can be used to explain the relationship between enzymatic hydrolysis conditions of mud crab meat and its ACEI activity

Optimisation of enzymatic protein hydrolysis of mud crab (Scylla sp.) to obtain maximum antioxidant activity using response surface methodology

This study reported optimisation of enzymatic hydrolysis of mud crab meat using Protamex® to obtain maximum antioxidant activity using Response Surface Methodology (RSM). Prior to optimisation, screening of commercial food grade proteinases was carried out using Alcalase®, Protamex®, Neutrase® and papain. Protamex® was observed to give the highest DPPH scavenging activity. The enzymatic hydrolysis conditions used in the optimisation study were temperature (45-65ºC), pH (5.5-7.5), hydrolysis time (1-4 hours) and enzyme to substrate (E/S) ratio (1-3% Protamex®). A face-centered Central Composite Design (CCD) was employed. It was found that the relationship between hydrolysis conditions and DPPH scavenging activity could be explained by a quadratic model. Optimum condition was found to be at 54ºC, pH 5.5, 1% Protamex® and 1 hour of hydrolysis time. Validation experiment shows that the experimental DPPH scavenging activity (82.39 ± 0.16%) was close to the predicted value (82.64%). The hydrolysate prepared at optimum condition contained 5.52% moisture, 74.81% crude protein, 13.13% ash, 6.26% carbohydrate and 0.28% crude fat with IC50 for DPPH scavenging activity of 3.48 ± 0.05 mg/mL. This study shows that RSM can be used to explain the relationship between enzymatic hydrolysis conditions of mud crab meat and its antioxidant activity

Study of Heavy Metal Levels among Farmers of Muda Agricultural Development Authority, Malaysia

Heavy metals, particularly cadmium, lead, and arsenic, constitute a significant potential threat to human health. This study was conducted to determine the levels of cadmium, lead, and arsenic in nail samples from farmers at Muda Agricultural Development Authority (MADA), Kedah, Malaysia, and evaluate factors that can contribute to their accumulations. A total of 116 farmers participated in this study. Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) was used to analyze concentration of heavy metals in the nail samples and questionnaires were given to participants to get demographic, health status, and their agricultural activities data. In this paper, the level of heavy metals was within the normal range and varies according to demographic factors. We found that there were significant correlations between working period with level of lead and arsenic (r = 0.315 and r = 0.242, resp., P < 0.01) and age with lead level (r = 0.175, P < 0.05). Our findings suggested that agricultural activities could contribute to the accumulation of heavy metals in farmers. Hence, the control of environmental levels of and human exposure to these metals to prevent adverse health effects is still an important public health issue

Gene mutation effect of aqueous and methanol extracts of salted fish from Pulau Pinang, Malaysia towards V79 lung fibroblast cells

Salted fish is a locally processed raw food which is used in everyday cooking among Malaysians. Previous studies suggested that salted fish intake was a risk of nasopharyngeal cancer. Hence, this study was carried out to evaluate gene mutation effects through the induction of mutagenic effect of aqueous and methanol extracts of salted fish from Balik Pulau, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia. Balik Pulau was chosen for sampling purpose due to its popularity as a commercial centre for local raw fisheries in Malaysia. Evaluation of mutagenic effect was carried out by hprt Gene Mutation Assay towards V79 lung fibroblast cells. It was found that the aqueous and methanol extracts of salted fish were not cytotoxic towards V79 lung fibroblast cells. It was also found that the extracts of salted fish from Balik Pulau were not mutagenic towards hprt gene of V79 lung fibroblast cells as the mutation frequency of the extracts did not exceed 3 times of the value for negative control mutation frequency. In conclusion, both aqueous and methanol extracts of salted fish from Balik Pulau did not have gene mutation effect towards hprt gene in vitro. However, other toxicological profile could be assessed to determine the mechanism of toxicity of salted fish

Purification and characterisation of angiotensin I converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitory peptide from blood cockle (Anadara granosa) meat hydrolysate

Blood cockle (Anadara granosa) is the most abundant and available bivalves in Malaysia. Blood cockles meat has high protein content and has potential to generate bioactive peptides. To date, no study has been reported on purification and identification of angiotensin I converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitory peptides from blood cockle meat. Thus, the objectives of this study were to purify and characterize ACE inhibitory peptide from blood cockle meat hydrolysate. ACE inhibitory peptides from blood cockle meat hydrolysate (CMH) were prepared by enzymatic protein hydrolysis using Protamex®. Crude CMH was characterized for its stability against gastrointestinal proteases, at varying pH (2–11) and temperature (4–90°C). Next, crude CMH was purified by ultrafiltration, ion exchange chromatography and reverse-phase chromatography and its amino acid sequence was identified. It was found that crude CMH was highly stable at low pH and temperature, and was resistant to gastrointestinal proteases (pepsin and trypsin). A three-step purification increased the inhibitory activity of CMH, reducing its IC50 from 0.35 mg/ml to 0.0094 mg/ml. The amino acid sequence of the purified peptide was determined as VNDLLSGSFKHFLY, with a molecular weight of 1621.88 Da. This study suggested the potential of ACE inhibitory peptide derived from cockle meat as a nutraceutical ingredient in functional food

Malaysia: State and Society Measures in Safety and Security Against COVID-19

COVID-19 pandemic is now a global crisis, with the number of known cases climbing daily and millions of people stranded at home. As countries toil to preserve the lives of their people, economies are grinding to a halt. At that dismal time, Malaysia is going through a vast political crisis with a new leader, and several states have new governments. In this vein, the present study aims at shedding how Malaysian responses to the COVID-19 pandemic? This study adopted a qualitative approach by using the secondary data collected from the journal, the official website of the government sector, NGOs, authorized bodies, and newspapers. Our finding shows although Malaysia had COVID-19 during the political crisis, a new ruling party is competent to manage the issue accordingly with the Ministry of Health and the National Security Council plays a vital role in the management of the pandemic. The government has taken various kinds of measures to ensure the pandemic to be reduced, and economic recession could be minimizing that benefit Malaysian and non-citizenship notably to vulnerable with the amalgamate by numerous NGOs

Adoption of the Mobile Health Screening Programme for Farming Communities: A Study Among Pesticide-Exposed Farmers from North East of Peninsular Malaysia

Health awareness promotion among farming communities are important for a sustainable agriculture activities. A crosssectional study was conducted to assess health status among farming communities in Cameron Highlands, Pahang (n = 61) and Bachok and Pasir Puteh, Kelantan (n = 143). Mobile Health Screening Programme composed of assessment of blood glucose, blood cholesterol, haemoglobin, blood pressure, pterygium, lung function and nerve conductive velocity was utilized. Our results indicate that the percentage of Cameron Highland’s farmers with hyperglycaemia, systolic hypertension, diastolic hypertension and anaemia were 8.2%, 14.8%, 11.5% and 8.2%, respectively. However, higher percentage of farmers in Bachok and Pasir Puteh, Kelantan with hyperglycaemia (32.8%), hypercholesterolaemia (83%), anaemia (24.2%) and systolic hypertension (41.9%) were observed. Pterygium was positive for 88.6% of farmers in Cameron Highlands and 94.4% in Bachok and Pasir Puteh. Lung function test shows that 61.7% and 11.4% of farmers in Cameron Highlands had restrictive and obstructive lung, respectively. In Bachok and Pasir Puteh, a total of 19.8%, 55.5% and 23.9% of farmers were found to have obstructive, restrictive and combined obstructive and restrictive lung, respectively. Current Perception Threshold (CPT) value which indicate nerve conductive velocity were signifi cantly increased (p < 0.05) among Cameron Highland’s farmers for both median and peroneal nerve at all frequencies (5 Hz, 250 Hz and 2000 Hz). In Bachok and Pasir Puteh, the values of the CPT for median nerve was signifi cantly increased (p < 0.05) for all frequencies (5, 250 and 2000 Hz). Meanwhile, a signifi cant increased (p < 0.05) was observed for the CPT values for peroneal nerve at the frequencies of 250 and 2000 Hz as compared to control groups. In conclusion, analysis revealed different health problem among the studied farming communities which could be infl uenced by the differences in farming practices. Thus, employed Mobile Health Screening Programme offers a monitoring approach that could highlight the need for suitable health services and awareness programmes for different farming communities

Perceptions, barriers and enablers on salt reduction in the out-of-home sectors in Malaysia (MySaltOH) from the perspective of street food vendors, caterers and consumers

Abstract Objective: To explore the perspectives, barriers and enablers on salt reduction in out-of-home sectors in Malaysia among street food vendors, caterers and consumers. Design: A qualitative study involving twenty-two focus group discussions and six in-depth interviews was conducted, recorded and transcribed verbatim. An inductive thematic analysis approach was employed to analyse the data. Setting: Two in-depth interviews and twenty-two focus group discussions were conducted face-to-face. Four in-depth interviews were conducted online. Participants: Focus group discussions were conducted among twenty-three street food vendors, twenty-one caterers and seventy-six consumers of various eateries. In-depth interviews were conducted among two street food vendors and four caterers, individually. Results: Consumers and food operators perceived a high-salt intake within Malaysia’s out-of-home food sectors. Food operators emphasised the necessity for a comprehensive salt reduction policy in the out-of-home sector involving all stakeholders. Consumers faced limited awareness and knowledge, counterproductive practices among food operators and challenges in accessing affordable low-Na food products, whereas food operators faced the lack of standardised guidelines and effective enforcement mechanisms and uncooperative consumer practices. Both groups expressed that food quality and price of salt were also the barriers, and they advocated for awareness promotion, enhanced regulation of manufactured food products and stricter enforcement targeting vendors. Consumers also suggested promoting and recognising health-conscious food premises, whereas food operators suggested on knowledge enhancement tailored to them, strategies for gaining consumers acceptance and maintaining food quality. Conclusions: These findings provide valuable insights that serve as foundational evidence for developing and implementing salt reduction policies within Malaysia’s out-of-home sectors