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Antibiogram and molecular typing of multidrug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus isolated from occupational livestock handlers in Malaysia
No full textStaphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) is an opportunistic bacterium that causes a wide
range of infections. Recently, the emergence of multidrug-resistant Staphylococcus
aureus (MDRSA) in animal farming industry has become an increasing public health
concern worldwide. Nevertheless, data regarding the genotypes of MDRSA isolated
from occupational livestock exposure is limited. The objectives of this study were to
identify the antibiotic resistant patterns and characterize the dominant staphylococcal
protein A (spa), accessory gene regulator (agr) and immune evasion cluster (IEC) types
of MDRSA isolated from veterinarians, abattoir and livestock farm workers in Malaysia.
Thirty MDRSA isolates from 420 animal handlers were involved in this study. S. aureus
isolates were confirmed via PCR amplification of the nuc gene. S. aureus isolates
showing resistant towards more than 3 antimicrobial groups, were categorized as
multidrug-resistant (MDR) strains using the disk-diffusion assay. The genomic DNA of
the bacteria isolates was extracted using simple boiling method. The genotypes of the
MDRSA were confirmed using spa and agr typing. PCR detection of IEC, including scn,
sak, chp, sea and sep genes were carried out to determine the IEC types of MDRSA
isolates. Antibiogram have shown that MDRSA isolates were resistant towards
tetracycline, erythromycin and β-lactam antibiotics. A total of 17 different spa types
were detected among the 30 MDRSA, with t189 (16.7%) been the predominant spa types.
66.6% of MDRSA belong to agr I while 33.3% were from agr II. Meanwhile, the
predominant IEC type was type E (16.7%)
Caprine mammary protease-activated receptor 2 expressions with staphylococcus aureus and MRSA based mastitis
No full textMastitis is an inflammation of mammary glands resulting from imbalance interaction
between the agent, the susceptible animal, and the environment [1,2]. Clinically, it is
characterized by fever, warm, painful, and swollen mammary gland [3,4]. PAR2 a cell surface
G protein- coupled receptor, plays an important role in the induction and amplification of the
inflammatory response through proteolytic cleavage by serine proteases [5]. In ruminants,
increased protease activity has been observed in milk from mastitis animals [6]. The objective
of this study was to quantify PAR2 mRNA expression in the healthy and inflamed mammary
gland tissue of goats due to infection caused by S. aureus and MRSA
Knowledge, attitude and practices (KAP) analysis towards antimicrobial resistance among animal handlers in peninsular Malaysia
No full textThe emergence of zoonotic bacteria strain with antimicrobial resistance (AMR) trait such as
methicillin-resistant S. aureus in human and animals is a global health concerns. The collaborative effort of
promoting responsible antibiotics usage under One Health concept has been shown able to reduce the
unregulated usage of antibiotics that could leads to the emergence of AMR. In Malaysia, research that study
on KAP of AMR among animal handlers is limited. This cross-sectional study was conducted to determine
and compare the knowledge, attitude and practices towards AMR among animal handlers. A total of 349
animal handlers from Peninsular Malaysia were recruited in this study, where the respondents were required to
answer a questionnaire consisting of four different sections: demographics, knowledge, attitude and practices
towards AMR. The results are presented in percentages with the parameter to categorize the level of
awareness been set at high (˃50%), moderate (25 % - 50%) and low (˂25%). Out of 349 respondents, 188
(53.9%) were university graduates and 187 (53.6%) of respondents were male. Data collected from KAP
analysis revealed that the respondents were moderately aware on AMR related issues. 28.4% (99/349) of the
respondent aware of MRSA threats while the other 24.4% or 85 of the respondents were familiar regarding
the development and transmission of AMR microorganisms. Furthermore, 35.8% (125/349) of the
respondents were aware on the One Health concept. Majority of the respondents (90%) that were aware on
AMR, MRSA and the One Health concept were university graduates. These findings demonstrated that there
is a huge knowledge gap between university graduate with non-university graduate in regards to the danger of
AMR and the important of One Health concept
Protease-activated receptor 2 expression in the mammary gland tissues in correlation with mastitis severity in goats
No full textMastitis is a common disease in small ruminant industry. The present study aimed to determine the
presence of protease activated receptor-2 (PAR2) mRNA expression in the mammary gland of mastitis
challenged goats. 30 clinically healthy mix breed lactating goats were divided into three groups,
consisting of Staphylococcus aureus (Group 1), methicillin-resistant S. aureus (Group 2) and sterile
phosphate-buffered saline (Control) groups. The data regarding physical condition of udder and clinical
parameters of goats were recorded while milk samples and mammary gland tissues were collected at
24 and 48 hours post infection. Somatic cell count (SCC) was measured by direct microscopic method.
The presence of PAR2 mRNA in the mammary gland tissue samples was detected by real-time PCR.
Goats from group 1 developed mild to moderate clinical signs while Group 2 exhibited moderate to
severe clinical signs. SCC was higher in both challenged groups than control group. PAR2 mRNA
expression was detected in all mammary gland samples from Group 1 and Group 2. The gene
expression was significantly highly in mammary gland tissue with severe clinical signs. The finding of
PAR2 expression in caprine mammary gland is novel and important, suggesting serine proteases
involved the development of mastitis in goat
Associated factors and dietary interventions of tuberculosis among adults and elderly: A scoping review
No full textObjective Tuberculosis (TB) remains to be a leading cause of death worldwide. Hence, this study review mainly focuses on the associated factors and dietary interventions of TB.
Methodology PRISMA-ScR method was used in this study review, and it focused on the relevant English academic journals published from 2010 to 2020. A total of 29 studies were selected from 48,555 studies screened from the electronic databases, namely PubMed, Scopus, Science Direct, and MEDLINE Complete at EBSCOhost.
Results & Discussion TB has been associated with lifestyle factors (alcohol use and smoking), pathophysiological factors (diabetes mellitus, Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), anemia, Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD), malignant disease, liver transplant, and glucose intolerance), close contact with TB patients, sociodemographic factors (age, gender, poverty, living in a rural area, healthcare workers and incarceration), and nutritional status (underweight and malnourished and vitamin A deficiency). Dietary interventions for TB include providing various macro and micronutrients supplementations, namely protein, phosphorus, calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium, iron, vitamin A, thiamin, riboflavin, vitamin B-6, vitamin B-12, folic acid, niacin, vitamin C, vitamin E, vitamin D, selenium, copper, and zinc.
Conclusion Future research should be more focused on the effective dietary interventions of TB to improve the quality of life of TB patients
Special tax scheme for Malaysia’s social enterprise: An incentive for public good
No full textSocial enterprise operations are always associated with the dual mission, i.e. social mission and profit orientation.
These two missions are embedded as a mechanism for combating social problems through innovative approach in the
organization of social enterprises. Social enterprise operates in Malaysia through different form business entities, such
as partnership, company, and limited liability partnership. Social entrepreneurs will have the capacity through these
business enterprises to produce their own profit and profits without relying on the government. Although their
primary purpose is to serve social needs, Malaysia's social enterprise denies the benefit of tax exemption as applied to
charities. These are being also levied on other private business companies with high rate taxes. The goal of this paper
is therefore to explore the possibility of implementing new tax treatment for social enterprise in Malaysia, in order to
encourage their involvement in social mission. This paper adopted library research approach combining legal research
methodology which mainly involves document analysis such as case law, legal provision and legal theories to see how
they might be used to the subject matter
Development of skill performance test for talent identification in amateur skateboarding sport
No full textTalent identification is a vital process of mapping out athletes with the potentiality to excel in the future sporting
career. To ensure success in this process, appropriate skill test in tandem to the capability of the athlete level is
required to avoid dropout and demotivation of the athletes. A variety of skateboarding tricks are available for testing
and identification of potential skateboarders, however, many of such skills are hard to deliver properly particularly for
amateurs. The present investigation is aimed at identifying the suitable skateboarding tricks that could be used for
mapping out talent in amateur skateboarding. The most common skateboarding tricks that consisted of Ollie, Kickflip,
Shove-it, Nollie and Frontside 180 were identified while an experienced amateur skateboarder executed each skill five
times. A customized ORY skateboard integrated with IMU sensors were used to stream the data in real-time during
the performance of the tricks. The average datasets from the acceleration and angular velocity of the x, y and z-axis
were obtained and a Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was used to study the dimension of the related data tricks as
well as to identify the important trick manoeuvres that could be suitable for the level of the athlete’s performance. The
results revealed that the dataset contained two dimensions based on the Eigenvalue analysis of the PCA whilst Ollie
and Nollie tricks were identified to be the most important tricks due to their higher factor loading (>0.80). It is
therefore postulated that the Ollie and Nollie tricks could be used as a skill related test for the identification of talented
amateur skateboarders. This may be invaluable to coaches and talent scouters in saving time, effort as well as
manpower during the talent identification program in this sport
Electronic healthcare system: Mental disorder assessment and intervention with self-treatment using rule-based techniques
No full textAlmost one million people worldwide die by suicide each year. One of the main reasons is due to depression. Life
stresses, high depressions, and anxiety are commonly prevalent in mental health problems. Early detection and
recognition are in need to allow better treatment and prevention on mental disorders as well as other complications.
However, some patients skip their checkup routine due to multiple hospital procedures and long-waiting process.
Motivated with the fog computing as a recent technological advancement, this chapter aims to facilitate a new version
of an online system on electronic Mental Assessment and Self-Treatment System (e-MAST) for all patients. This system
provides patients with stress questionnaires, anxiety questionnaires, and depressive symptoms questionnaires
generated using rule-based techniques. Besides, the sum of answers from the patients will be calculated using
weighted sum method. This system offers life stress controls and self-treatment techniques while awaiting
professional help. This system helps to increase the scientific community’s awareness of mental health and creates an
opportunity to embrace a healthy generation of people. Also, this system can be used at all times, anywhere, and can
be benefited by all toward smart hospital ideas. © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
