13474 research outputs found
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Discovery and analysis of Paraburkholderia fungorum genome associated with Manis javanica / Tan Ka Yun
No full textThe Paraburkholderia fungorum, a Gram-negative environmental species has been commonly used in agriculture, as an agent of biodegradation and bioremediation. However, there are debates on whether these bacterial species could affect human health as there are cases where P. fungorum have been identified in clinical specimens, but no evidence to show that they can cause disease in humans nor in other mammals. We previously sequenced and analysed the genomic DNA from brain tissue of a pregnant Malayan pangolin (“UM3”), which is a placental mammal and endangered species. Interestingly, sequencing data revealed a considerable amount of foreign bacterial DNA that had high similarity with the sequence of Paraburkholderia fungorum (hereinafter referred to as “Pf”), indicating that the brain tissue might be infected by Pf. The pangolin associated Pf sequences were further analysed and characterized using molecular and bioinformatics approaches. To examine and confirm the presence of this bacterial species in pangolin, DNA extracted from different organ specimens of the pangolin were screened by performing PCR using in-house designed primers targeting specific genomic regions of the Pf and a generic 16S primer set. Clear positive PCR bands were found in samples from the pangolin cerebrum, cerebellum, blood, lung, and fetal gastrocnemius muscle. To confirm whether the presence of Pf in pangolin UM3 was an isolated case, the blood samples of seven individual pangolins (seized in two independent anti-animal trafficking operations) were screened. Of the seven pangolins, DNA from four of the pangolins were PCR positive, suggesting that the presence of this bacterial species in pangolin is not an isolated case. Histological staining of sections of the positive specimen showed the presence of Gram-negative rod-shaped bacteria in the pangolin brain, which could likely be Pf. To further study the taxonomic position and potential gene functions of the pangolin associated Pf, the genome sequence was assembled using CLC Assembly Cell with a reference genome of P. fungorum ATCC-BAA-463, which yielded a genome size of 7.7Mbps with 86% of genome completeness. The sequence was further confirmed to be Pf as supported by evidence from phylogenetic analyses generated using selected marker genes and the core-genome SNPs, and ANI analysis. Genome annotation revealed genes related to stress response that may play a role in bacterial adaptation to various stress environments such as oxidative stress, periplasmic stress, heat shock, cold shock, and detoxification; genes annotated related to virulence disease and a defense subsystem, that may help the bacteria to survive in harsh environments and that may also play a role in its pathogenic potential. Urease (Urea ABC transporter urtBCDE) and toxin-antitoxin system (higAB and ygiUT) that are associated with emerging roles to withstand different stress environments and reduce production of virulence factors as well as biofilm formation were also predicted. Interestingly, genome annotation also revealed several secretion systems that are also found in infectious Burkholderial species such as T6SS, a virulence factor associated with potential pathogenic bacterial-host interactions and is associated with tolerance to the innate immune response in Gram-negative bacteria. This study provides the first evidence on the possibility that Pf can infect a non-human placental mammal and specifically a pangolin. The likelihood that Pf has pathogenic capabilities suggests that caution should be taken for its use and application in agriculture or bioremediation
Emotional blunting among depressed patients in Malaysia teaching hospitals / Chan Mei Ling
No full textEmotional blunting is a condition characterized by a restriction in emotions which
presents clinically as emotional indifference and detachment, reduced in both positive and negative
emotion. It is related to adverse effects of antidepressants and residual symptoms of depression.
Emotional blunting may predict functional impairment and depressive relapse. Oxford Depression
Questionnaire (ODQ) was created to measure emotional blunting among depressed patient. The goal of
the study was to translate ODQ into Malay language and validate the scale. It also studied the
association factors between emotional blunting among depressed patients. Method The study was
cross-sectional in design and consisted of 245 depressed patients. Participants were given ODQ,
SHAPS-M, PHQ-9 to assess emotional blunting, hedonic state and also depression. SDS also was used
to assess the functional disability. The ODQ was translated into Malay language and to be validated to
be used in Malaysia context. Internal consistency test, and construct validity of the ODQ in Malay
version was tested. Result Malay version of the ODQ demonstrated good internal consistency
(Cronbach’s alpha=0.9) and good concurrent validity. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) resulted a four-
factor solution. Item 1, item 13, item 15 and item 17 on the scale showed low factor. Factor loading
Item 19 showed cross loading to other items. Receiver Operating Characteristics (ROC) analysis
demonstrated a cut-off value of 66.5 on the Malay version of the ODQ to determine substantial
emotional blunting. There were statistically significant association between age, ethnic, religion and
fluoxetine with emotional blunting. Both PHQ-9 and ODQ in Malay version were good predictor to
emotional blunting. Conclusion Malay version of the ODQ established good validity and reliability for
assessing emotional blunting. It showed high acceptability and easy to be administered
Numerical analysis of multistenosed multiphase patient’s specific left coronary artery subjected to fluid structure interaction / Abdulgaphur Athani
No full textThe cardiovascular diseases (CVD’s) constitute a primary cause of morbidity and mortality. Atherosclerosis, often known as plaque, is a chronic inflammatory condition characterized by changes in arterial tissues that last a lifetime. Blood elements deposit and alter due to plaque ruptures, resulting in acute myocardial infarction. This research contributes to the influence of multiphase blood flow in multi-stenosed Left Coronary Artery (LCA) to reduce CVD’s. Initially, 3D ideal artery models were developed for Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and Fluid Structure Interaction (FSI) investigations with varying percentile of stenosis. Furthermore, the research has been expanded to include patient’s specific CT scan data to analyse the hemodynamic parameters with combining CFD and Medical Image Processing software, with a focus on the coronary artery wall for deformations.
For the first time, a computational study of multi-phase blood flow via multiple stenosis in LCA (both ideal and patient’s data) was carried using the multiphase mixture theory model. In these instances, the plasma is modelled as a continuous liquid phase and the Red Blood Cells (RBCs) are modelled as a dispersed phase, with the Carreau non-Newtonian viscosity model being used to investigate the RBCs macroscopic behavior in three different degrees of multiple-stenosis (MDOS) geometries, namely 70-70, 80-80, and 90-90 percentile.
FSI results reveal that, the degree of stenosis has a significant impact on stress values, leading to high deformation and high Von-Mises stresses. Furthermore, the main findings of the study demonstrated that, the number of stenosis influences the shear stress regions and increases the stress levels with increase of stenosis percentages. However, the recirculation zone found to be greater for multiphase analysis compared to single phase blood flow due to presence of drag forces between two phases. Hence, it concludes that, the atherosclerosis is a disease of the artery wall that develops in vulnerable areas due its blood coagulation and wall effects which later cause of the CVDs.
Entirely, the described multiphase blood flow through multiple stenosis arteries with presence of endothelium wall for different degrees of multi-stenosis (MDOS) severity indices with imaging modalities enables the health professionals to diagnose the CVD’s more accurately and to treat the disease before it becomes fatal
Development of clay-derived hybrid solidstate electrolyte for potential use in sodium-ion batteries / Nur Sofina Mohamad Johari
No full textAll-solid-state sodium-ion battery (SIB) is a very attractive technology in achieving a safe
and environmentally responsible energy storage device for large scale applications such
as grid storage. However, to date, solid-state electrolytes (SSE) have not met the stringent
demands that are required to realize the aspiration. Herein, a hybrid SSE (HybSSE) made
of halloysite clay-derived Na2ZnSiO4 (Clay-NZS) ceramic and Py14TFSI-NaTFSI ionic
liquid (IL) solution has been developed to overcome some of the limitations of pure
ceramic electrolytes. Their structural and electrochemical characteristics have been
investigated by several testing methods in normal laboratory setup as well as in highthroughput
setup. Optimization of sol-gel synthesis allows the Clay-NZS ceramic to
become an SSE with ionic conductivity of 5.28 ´ 10-8 S cm-1 at room temperature (RT),
where Na2ZnSiO4 synthesised from standard Si source is only able to ionically conduct
at extremely high temperature i.e., 9.44 ´ 10-8 S cm-1 at 300°C. The IL solution mixture
has been optimized at 10 wt% NaTFSI salt dissolved in Py14TFSI where after infusing
the IL solution into the ceramic pores of Clay-NZS through slow soaking, Clay-NZS
HybSSE has managed to achieve an ionic conductivity of up to 0.16 ´ 10-3 S cm-1 at RT,
which is much higher than the ionic conductivity of the IL solution as a standalone
electrolyte itself. Moreover, the optimized IL solution mixture also enabled Clay-NZS
HybSSE to achieve an ionic transference number of 0.991 and Na+ ion transference
number of 0.506. This shows that the electronic contribution in this material is negligible
and Na+ ion is the main ionic species in the conductivity of this HybSSE ion. A total of
22 different dopants (A) were introduced into Clay-NZS at 8 different doping levels (x),
using Na2Zn1-xSi1-xA2xO4 stoichiometry. It is found that there is no trend that determines whether an element will improve or deteriorate this HybSSE. The highest ionic
conductivity is achieved by Na2Zn0.9Si0.9In0.2O4 HybSSE, with ionic conductivity values
of 0.453 ´ 10-3 S cm-1 at RT and 2.27 ´ 10-3 S cm-1 at 48°C. The improved ionic
conductivities of the compound now make this HybSSE a viable candidate for quasi-solid
SIBs. Moreover, further screening of the electronic conductivity has shown that dendrite
growth throughout all tested HybSSEs is not expected to be a concern. On the other hand,
the electrochemical stability window (ESW) of undoped Clay-NZS HybSSE is
determined to be 1.28 – 3.45 V. Meanwhile, Na2Zn0.9Si0.9In0.2O4 HybSSE showed
stability at a bigger window of 4.11 V down to 0.8 V vs Na. Widest ESW is shown by
Na2Zn0.9Si0.9Fe0.2O4 HybSSE at a window of 2.14 – 4.79 V. All variations of Clay-NZS
HybSSE studied were found to be unstable towards Na metal, due to the ceramic material.
Therefore, Na metal is not feasible as an anode for this HybSSE without the use of a
suitable buffer. In a nutshell, the results exhibit a significant improvement in this category
of electrolyte and should serve as a guide in future research & development required to
enable the use of this electrolyte in a full cell of SIB
The effect occupational safety and health programmes on organization performance: A case study of spirit Aerosystem Sdn Bhd / Nur Faseeha Hairuddin
No full textThis study aims on the occupational health and safety programmes effect on organizational performance, using Spirit AeroSystems Sdn Bhd as a case study. The study focused on investigating management performance that show commitment to health and safety programmes, health and safety management systems in the context of an organization, the significant contribution of occupational health and safety programmes to performance and identifying the obstacles affecting workplace health and safety programm. Semi-structured interviews and questionnaire were used to collect data. Based to the findings of the respondent analysis, the occupational health and safety programme had a positive impact on the company or organization. However, challenges exist that prohibit the company from reaching total achievement in occupational health and safety. Provide training and education, as well as employee engagement, and incentives, as suggested by researchers
An ethnographic study on developing and communicating identity in the Kano Kantin Kwari business community, Nigeria / Hauwa A. M. Salihu
No full textMost studies on the African communities tend to disregard how identity nowadays supports the need for social make-up reflecting styles embedded in peoples’ practices and structures. However, little attention has been paid to the indigenous business communities found in the African continent, particularly, Nigeria. This study is thus concerned with addressing this research gap from an interdisciplinary perspective using ‘community of practice’ (CoP) and ‘acts of identity’ frameworks to explore how participants develop and communicate identity in the Kano Kantin Kwari business community, Nigeria. Using qualitative linguistic ethnographic methods for data collection and analysis, 5 focus groups and 20 individual participants were selected through a snowball sampling. The findings obtained showed Kantin Kwari’s CoPs through collaboration, networks of role relationships, and social situations. Findings also offered social and pedagogical implications and revealed how the participants develop identity by learning-in-practice and thus identity-in-practice. For the most part, macro influences and micro-practices determined members’ domain and negotiation of their identities by flexibly performing narrated, executed and enacted identities. Likewise, members revealed the significance of sociocultural, socio-historical, and sociopsychological backgrounds in projecting, focusing and diffusing different identities of the ‘DanKwari (individual), ‘YanKwari (group), and multiple identities. Accordingly, members communicated their identities using language, metaphors, and symbols that exposed growing ethnolinguistic identification of Hausaness (ethnicised identity) and ‘languaging’ and unfreezing the legacy affiliated with English as Nigerian lingua franca. Despite the ethnographic fieldworker’s constraints like the ethics, context, rigours, and cultural redefinition that occasionally muddled the entire field, it provided the researcher with a better understanding of the fieldwork basics. This study provides implications for similar under-represented and muffled communities as it reveals how identity as an ongoing phenomenon is socially constructed, developed, practised and communicated
Development of protoplast isolation and DNA free CRISPR-CAS9 genome editing protocols for banana (Musa acuminata cv Berangan) / Leh Lin San
No full textBanana is an important crop in the tropics and subtropics and is ranked the fourth most important crop after rice, wheat and maize. In Malaysia, Musa acuminata cultivar Berangan (with an AAA genome) is the most widely cultivated banana cultivar due to its sweet taste and high nutritional value. However, banana production is seriously affected by environmental stress. Soil salinity has become an emerging challenge for banana farmers as most banana plants are grown in marginal soil with high salinity. Hence, developing a cultivar with enhanced salinity tolerance in bananas is imperative. Sugar Transport Protein 13 (STP13) maybe a valuable target for banana improvement due to its essential stress response role in plants. However, improving bananas via modern breeding and conventional genetic engineering is often limited by the recalcitrance and complexity of the genetic system of bananas. Hence, this study aimed to establish efficient protoplast isolation and DNA-free CRISPR/Cas9 ribonucleoprotein-mediated transformation protocols for banana cultivar Berangan. In this study, immature male flowers and bracts of bananas were used for protoplast isolation. The results showed that immature male flower buds produced more protoplasts (1.54 × 107 protoplasts/g FW) than bracts in an enzymatic mixture of 1% cellulase RS, 1% macerozyme and 0.15% pectolyase. Therefore, immature male flower buds were used for the subsequent experiments. The efficiency of isolating protoplasts under different vacuum infiltration times and mannitol concentrations were then determined. The application of 10 minute-vacuum infiltration twice and 0.5 M mannitol significantly increased the number of protoplasts. To optimise the protoplast transfection procedures, the isolated protoplasts were transfected with pCAMBIA1304-GFP using polyethylene glycol solution for different incubation times. About 76.89% of the pCAMBIA1304-GFP-transformed protoplasts were GFP-positive after 15 minutes of transfection. Next, STP13 digested by different molar ratios of CRISPR/Cas9 ribonucleoprotein complex targeting the banana STP13 gene. A 3:1 ratio resulted in the highest percentage of cleavage at 12.5%. The protoplasts were transfected with 3:1 Cas9: STP13gRNA were then sampled for targeted deep sequencing. The results showed that mostly indels (-1 bp) occurred at the target sites of STP13 with a mutation rate of 4.40-4.90%, indicating that the established protocols can efficiently modify the genomes of recalcitrant plants like bananas
Antimicrobial activity of silver nanoparticles for the control of microbial spoilage of grey oyster mushroom (Pleurotus pulmonarius) / Sugendra Kumar Vinodamaney
No full textGrey oyster mushroom (Pleurotus pulmonarius) is one of the most popular mushrooms in Malaysia and contains a high amount of nutrients. However, the fresh grey oyster mushroom is having short shelf life thus reducing its quality and economic value. Limited study on maintaining the fresh quality and prolonging the shelf life of the fresh grey oyster mushroom. Silver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs) are known to act as antimicrobial agents against a wider range of microorganisms. Therefore, this study aimed to identify the 11 spoilage bacteria strains isolated from rotten grey oyster mushrooms and evaluate the antimicrobial activity of different sizes of Ag-NPs (30.88 nm, 60.52 nm, 99.16 nm) to inhibit the growth of spoilage bacteria using the broth microdilution method. The spoilage bacterial strains were identified as Raoultella ornithinolytica, Raoultella planticola, Klebsiella sp., Enterobacter cloacae, and Cedecea neteri based on biochemical assay and 16S rRNA sequencing. At 50 μg/ml, Ag-NPs (30.88 nm) showed inhibition (ranged from 99.21-100%) on the growth of the 11 strains of spoilage bacteria. Also, Ag-NPs 30.88 nm and Ag-NPs 60.52 nm exhibited higher minimum inhibitory concentration to the spoilage bacteria as compared to Ag-NPs 99.16 nm. In conclusion, smaller-sized Ag-NPs have higher bacterial inhibitory capacity compared to large-sized Ag-NPs
Privacy-by-design framework for privacy and personal data protection in mobile cloud computing / Hussain Mutlaq H Alnajrani
No full textAs an outcome of a shift in technology, Mobile Cloud Computing (MCC) has been established using the combination of universal mobile networks and cloud computing. Currently, users move their data to cloud storage due to the limitations of mobile devices. As a result of the significant concern of MCC users, privacy and personal data protection are receiving significant attention in the domain. Privacy and personal data protection are increasingly recognized as key security issues in the domain. Several studies on MCC have been done with attention to privacy and personal data protection. Despite this advancement, no single study developed a Privacy by Design (PbD) framework to preserve Privacy and Personal Data Protection (PPDP) in mobile cloud computing. PbD is a general philosophy that demonstrates privacy should not be overviewed as an afterthought but rather as a first-class requirement in the design of Information Technology (IT) systems. This thesis aims to develop a PbD framework to preserve PPDP in MCC. In the literature review, a systematic mapping study (SMS) was conducted, and a systematic literature review (SLR) was applied. The SMS identified existing threats and attacks on data privacy, and privacy solutions were proposed on PPDP in MCC. The SLR determined the determinants that influence the preservation of PPDP in MCC. In this research, a framework is projected to preserve PPDP in mobile cloud computing, utilizing PbD. The proposed framework uses PbD visibility and transparency by considering location transparency, laws, and regulations. A survey was conducted to test the formulated hypotheses. In the survey, a questionnaire was circulated and a pilot test with 100 responses was conducted along with the real data collection where 386 responses were received. Both studies utilized the SmartPLS for analysis. The SmartPLS analysis tool was chosen since it is a distinguished software implementation for Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The results of this research supported the articulated hypothesis (SE = 0.056, β = 0.552, p = 0.000) that cues to action of PbD considering visibility location transparency, laws, and regulations are positively related to privacy and personal data protection behavior in MCC. Furthermore, the outcomes of this research supported the formulated hypothesis (Standard error (SE) =0.001, Sample Beta (β) = 0.003, P-value (p) =0.015) that cues to action of privacy by design considering visibility location transparency, laws, and regulations are positively related to the perceived threat. The result will help to determine the PbD framework to preserve privacy and personal data protection in MCC, showing the relation of the perceived threat with privacy and personal data protection behavior in mobile cloud computing, the relation between cues to action with privacy and personal data protection behavior in MCC, and the relation of cues to action with the perceived threat
Isolation and expression analysis of oil palm suppressor of PPI1 Locus1 (SP1) / Mohd Azrai Loh Mohd Azlan Loh
No full textSUPPRESSOR OF PPI1 LOCUS1 (SP1) is an important regulator of the translocon at the outer envelope membrane of chloroplasts (TOC) machinery, which is responsible for the import of precursor protein into plastid which effects the plastid biogenesis and functions. Previous studies on Arabidopsis thaliana had reported the upregulation of SP1 would accelerate plastid differentiation during de-etiolation and senescence. SP1 potential effect in improving the plastid differentiation efficiency, makes it an interesting enzyme to study for crop improvement at large. In this study, data mining using NCBI and PalmXplore was able to identify a putative oil palm SP1 homolog namely Elaeis guineensis SP1 (EgSP1) (LOC105060424) that encodes two protein isoforms: X1 and X2 variants. This SP1 homolog contains the C3HC4 (RING-finger) domain that is conserved in SP1 proteins and showed a high sequence identity (73.76% and 73.47% for X1 and X2 variants, respectively) with the Arabidopsis SP1. Moreover, a phylogenetic tree analysis of SP1 proteins from several selected plants showed that EgSP1 clustered together with other monocots species. Next, the coding sequence of EgSP1 was successfully isolated from cDNA derived from leaves RNA. Using specific primers, amplicons with the size of ~1000 bp were obtained, isolated, and cloned into pGEM-T Easy Vectors. After the transformation of pGEM-T Easy Vector harbouring EgSP1 was performed into E. coli cells, seven PCR positive colonies were selected and subjected for plasmid extraction. From sequencing analysis of the plasmids, it was found that only the X1 transcript variants were able to be cloned and none of the plasmids harbour the X2 variants. In addition, quantitative expression analysis (qPCR) of EgSP1 in several vegetative tissues revealed that SP1 transcripts (variant X1) were highly expressed in the leaf tissues, followed by the roots, with the lowest expression in the stem tissues. The findings uncovered in this study may provide the basis for future agricultural applications of the SP1 gene in the development of oil palm genetic improvement