171 research outputs found
Molecular Characterisation of Escherichia Coli Isolated from Raw Milk and Village Chicken and Broiler Litter
Get PDFThirty five litter samples of village chickens, 35 broilers and 32 samples of
raw milk were examined for the presence of E. coli. All samples were positive for
E. coli. Three hundred and five isolates of E. coli were isolated from litter samples
of village chickens (105 isolates), broilers (105 isolates) and raw milk samples (95
isolates). All the isolates were examined for antibiotic resistance, plasmid profiles
and polymorphism using random amplification of polymorphic DNA (RAPD)
analysis. Isolates isolated from litter of village chickens and broilers had a multiple
antibiotic resistance (MAR) index of 0.31 to 0.75 and 0.44 to 0.69, respectively.
Isolates isolated from raw milk had a MAR index of 0.31 to 0.88. High MAR
index suggests that all the isolates originated from high risk sources. The E. coli
isolates isolated from village chickens, broilers and raw milk samples were grouped into 34,30 and 28 distinct antibiotypes, respectively. Eighty (76.2%) and
99 (94.3%) isolates were found to harbour plasmids ranging in size from 1.2 to 64
MDa and 1.2 to 80 MDa among isolates isolated from village chickens and
broilers, respectively. Isolates isolated from raw milk harboured plasmids ranging
in size from 1.4 to 68 MDa. Based on their plasmid profiles, the E. coli isolates
isolated from village chickens, broilers and raw milk were grouped into 28, 57 and
5 plasmid patterns, respectively. Three l0-mer oligonucleotides primers (Gen1-50-02, Gen1-50-09 and Gen1-50-10) were used to amplify genomic DNA. The
profiles observed after electrophoretic separation for the three primers when
combined together were able to distinguish the E. coli isolates from village
chickens, broilers and raw milk into 92, 96 and 50 RAPD patterns, respectively.
The large number of subgroups within these isolates indicates that there is a high
degree of diversity within E. coli isolates, isolated from village chickens, broilers
and raw milk samples. Isolates, isolated from village chickens, broilers and raw
milk are genotypically diverse as shown by RAPD pattern, suggesting that
different strains have been brought into the geographic region and strains already
present have continued to evolve. These results suggest that RAPD-PCR assay is
more discriminating than plasmid profiling and antibiotyping, and could be a
valuable tool for epidemiological studies
Prevalence and Characterisation of Listeria Monocytogenes Isolated From Chicken and Beef
Get PDFListeria monocytogenes is an opportunistic haemolytic pathogen of humans and animals involved in several outbreaks and sporadic cases of listeriosis associated with the consumption of contaminated food. Growing antibiotic resistance demands the constant reassessment of antimicrobial efficacy, particularly in countries with wide antibiotic used in veterinary science, where higher resistance prevalence is often found and it has been reported that antibiotic resistant is associated with plasmid in bacteria. The purpose of this study is to characterize L. monocytogenes isolated from chicken and beef meat by antibiotic resistance test, plasmid DNA profile and arbitrarily primed (AP)- and repetitive sequence (RS)-PCR analysis and to determine whether there is any correlation between the antibiotic resistant and the incidence of plasmid. A total of 112 samples of chicken meat and 101 samples of beef were collected from different wet markets and night markets in Malaysia. Listeria spp. were detected in 39 (34.8%) of the chicken meat and 21 (20.8%) of the beef samples, respectively. L. monocytogenes were detected in 27 (24.1%) and 17 (16.8%) of the chicken meat and beef, respectively. Out of all the Listeria spp., 42 and 20 isolates from the chicken meat and beef, respectively, were confirmed as L. monocytogenes. The antibiotic susceptibility test with sixteen different types of antibiotics revealed that the highest prevalence of resistance among the L. monocytogenes isolates was observed against nalidixic acid (100%). None (0%) of the isolates were resistant to vancomycin. The L. monocytogenes strains showed resistance to at least two or more of the antibiotics tested with their multiple antibiotic resistance index (MARI) ranging between 0.13 to 0.63. Thirty-three different patterns of resistance were observed among all the L. monocytogenes isolates. Plasmid analysis of the L. monocytogenes strains revealed that 24 (38.7%) of the strains carried plasmid DNA ranging in sizes from 1.75 to 104.0 megadalton (MDa). Spearman’s rho correlation analysis was utilised to determine the correlation coefficient between MARI and the incidence of plasmid in the L. monocytogenes isolates. The result shows that there were no significant correlation between the MARI and the incidence of the plasmid (r= 0.143, p= 0.269). The AP- and RS-PCR analyses generated diverse PCR patterns with multiple DNA fragments in sizes ranging between 250 and 3000 bp. Dendrograms generated from the PCR patterns clustered the isolates into several groups and subgroups. PCR analyses with primers GEN1-50-02, GEN1-50-10 and repetitive primer clustered the chicken isolates into 3, 13 and 6 main groups; and the beef isolates into 2, 4 and 5 main groups; respectively. These main groups were further clustered into several subgroups. Isolation of L. monocytogenes from the beef and chicken meat suggests that there is a risk of acquiring listeriosis through these popular meat sources in Malaysia. L. monocytogenes will be killed by cooking and raw or semi raw meat are not consumed in Malaysia. However, L. monocytogenes in raw beef and chicken meat may pose a health hazard in kitchen if contaminating cooked food or other ready to eat food. Considering outbreaks of listeriosis associated with different foods, avoidance of consumption of insufficiently cooked meat by at-risk populations is recommended. Hygiene quality control of meat and its products must be recommended during the slaughtering, transportation carriage, other used devices and stuff carriers. Diligent enforcement of sanitary conditions of food contact surface and handling areas, and personal hygiene practices should reduce the potential contamination of meat products by L. monocytogenes at the retail level. Resistance to two or more antibiotics among these isolates was common. It is suggested that incorrect use of these antimicrobial agents for therapeutical purposes in veterinary science may lead to the development of antibiotic resistance. The high MARI value indicated that the L. monocytogenes strains were originated from high risk sources of contamination in the geographical area. L. monocytogenes can no longer be thought to be uniformly susceptible to antibiotics active against Gram-positive bacteria. Continued surveillance of emerging antimicrobial resistance among L. monocytogenes is important to ensure effective treatment of human listeriosis. The non-significant correlation between the antibiotic resistance and the incidence of plasmid suggest that the plasmids could be cryptic plasmids which have no apparent effect on the phenotype, especially the antibiotic resistance of the host. The presence of hemolysin gene in the beef and chicken meat isolates is of public health concern, as this virulence gene is associated with pathogenicity of the bacteria in human listeriosis. Both AP-PCR and RS-PCR, having high discriminatory power, have revealed the high diversity of food related L. monocytogenes isolates and their suitability to track down the contamination sources. The results suggest how complex the epidemiology of the L. monocytogenes in the study area, as a result of several strains as opposed to the widespread transmission of a single type. The results do not support that certain genetically related strains are better adapted to a particular food source. The genomic heterogeneity of the L. monocytogenes found in this study confirms the usefulness of the AP- and RS-PCR analyses for the rapid differentiation and grouping of this organism
Tasik Biru as a Modern Analogue for the Ancient Ocean -An International Research Collaboration
No full textA research collaboration activity between
researcher from IBEC and researchers from
Universities in Germany, USA and Mexico
was carried out at Tasik Biru on June 10-
16, 2024. The group from the international
was led by Dr Muammar Mansor from
University of Tuebingen, Germany. The
research plan was to: (1) conduct water
sampling and multiparameter analysis
using Sonde (pH, temperature, DO, etc.)
in Tasik Biru, (2) filter microorganisms on
filter paper, extract DNA, carry out NGS
sequencing & bioinformatic analysis, (3)
conduct biominerals analysis with electron
microscopy & X-ray diffraction, (4) preserve
lake sediment with fixatives (glutaraldehyde)
and kept frozen for further analysis
Bacterial Diseases Transmitted Through Water Environment and Zoonotic Exposures
Get PDFThe health of the people is no longer separated from the health of the animals and the surrounding environments such as water, soil and air. The ongoing interactions among the people, animals and environments have changed because of certain factors, among others are the growing human population, climate change and the increasing movement of people and animals as well as animal product across borders. The changes have linked to the outbreak of known and emerging infectious zoonotic diseases, which are the diseases that spread between animals and human. A diverse range of microbial diseases can spread from wild and pet animals to human population. These includes bacteria, viruses, parasites, prions and other microbial agents. Water is one of the most vital resources for all life on earth.
Contaminated water and poor sanitation have been associated with transmission of bacterial pathogens such as cholera, diarrhoea, dysentry, typhoid and many other diseases. The presence of diverse bacterial pathogens in the water environment with their characteristic of exhibiting multiple antibiotic resistance has become a global health issue. Water has become the reservoir for the antibiotic resistant
bacteria and the transmission of the bacteria could be possible through certain routes including the drinking of contaminated water and through direct contact during recreational activities. The bacterial pathogens from the animal and water environment have caused significant morbidity and mortality among human population. Over a billion of the people have been afflicted and millions of annual deaths. The outbreak of zoonoses have not only affecting human health but also have adverse impact on regional economics. In this presentation, the presence of bacteria in the water environment and animals as well as the characteristics of the bacterial pathogens from the water and animals will be discussed. The possible routes of the
transmission of the bacterial diseases form both sources to human will also be highlighted
Video game telemetry as a critical tool in the study of complex skill learning
Get PDFCognitive science has long shown interest in expertise, in part because prediction and control of expert development would have immense practical value. Most studies in this area investigate expertise by comparing experts with novices. The reliance on contrastive samples in studies of human expertise only yields deep insight into development where differences are important throughout skill acquisition. This reliance may be pernicious where the predictive importance of variables is not constant across levels of expertise. Before the development of sophisticated machine learning tools for data mining larger samples, and indeed, before such samples were available, it was difficult to test the implicit assumption of static variable importance in expertise development. To investigate if this reliance may have imposed critical restrictions on the understanding of complex skill development, we adopted an alternative method, the online acquisition of telemetry data from a common daily activity for many: video gaming. Using measures of cognitive-motor, attentional, and perceptual processing extracted from game data from 3360 Real-Time Strategy players at 7 different levels of expertise, we identified 12 variables relevant to expertise. We show that the static variable importance assumption is false - the predictive importance of these variables shifted as the levels of expertise increased - and, at least in our dataset, that a contrastive approach would have been misleading. The finding that variable importance is not static across levels of expertise suggests that large, diverse datasets of sustained cognitive-motor performance are crucial for an understanding of expertise in real-world contexts. We also identify plausible cognitive markers of expertise.Peer reviewedFinal article publishedvideo gamesgamessportspermutationlearningforestshuman learningmachine learnin
Tactile Flash Lag Effect: Taps with Changing Intensities Lead Briefly Flashed Taps
No full textA brief flash, presented in spatial alignment with a moving object, appears to lag behind the moving object. This illusion has been known as the visual flash lag effect. Sheth et al. (2000) demonstrated that when observers compared the colors of a linear array of flashing circular disks with that of a concurrently-flashed disk of the same color, the former was perceived to lead the latter. An analogous tactile flash-lag illusion is reported here. A sequence of tactile taps with increasing (or decreasing) intensity was presented on one finger. The temporally-middle tap in the sequence was perceived to be weaker in both cases than a synchronous single tap on another finger. This illusion could be accounted by a mechanism of temporal compensation and tactile masking.Computer Science, Theory & MethodsEngineering, Electrical & ElectronicEICPCI-S(ISTP)
How many neural oscillators we need on sub- and supra-second intervals processing in the primate brain: comments on Gupta (2014)-Frontiers in psychology: Perception Science
No full textPsychology, MultidisciplinaryPubMedSSCI0EDITORIAL [email protected]
Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) Validated Microbial Inoculation: Saving Wild Agarwood Through Sustainable Biotechnological Cultivation
Get PDFThis study develops an innovative fungal biotechnology to accelerate resin formation in Aquilaria species for sustainable agarwood production. Three microbial consortia,
including F1 (Trichoderma sp. and Aspergillus sp.), F2 (Fusarium sp. and Penicillium sp.),and F3 (Trichoderma sp., Lasiodiplodia sp. and Curvularia sp.), were inoculated into
Aquilaria species using a bottle drip method, an efficient and low-cost technique. Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis revealed that F3 produced the superior resin yield, with exclusive aromatic compounds (e.g., guaia-1 (10),11-diene and cryptomeridiol) during the dry seasons. This biotechnological approach using optimised
fungal consortia and inoculation methods can enhance agarwood production sustainably, reducing reliance on wild harvesting. This study method aligns with green
technology and SDG 15 by promoting eco-friendly cultivation, minimising environmental impact, and meeting global demand without endangering natural populations. The success of F3 inoculants demonstrates the potential of fungal Biotechnology as a scalable solution for sustainable agarwood industries
Potential Pathogenic Bacteria in Loose Oil Palm Fruit (LOPF) from Smallholdings in Serian, Sarawak
No full textOil palm (Elaeis guineensis) is a species of palm tree cultivated mainly for its oil. Malaysia is the second largest producer of oil palm behind Indonesia. During the harvesting of oil palm fruit bunch, some over ripped fruits will get detached from the fruit bunch and these loose fruits will be contaminated with bacteria from the soil. Collecting the loose fruits from the ground is normally done manually by hand and this may allow the transmission of bacteria from the soil to the workers. According to Table 1, this study reported on the microbial contents of the oil palm loose fruits collected from three different locations of smallholding oil palm in Serian Sarawak, Malaysia. The result shows that F3S3 at Kampung Raeh Baru has the highest number of colonies, 20.4 x 105 CFU mL-1, while the lowest number of colonies was at F2S1, which was at Kampung Beradau, Siburan, with 2.4 x 105 CFU mL-1.This study was aimed to isolate and identify bacteria on the loose oil palm fruits (LOPF) and determine the microbial quality which may affect the safety and health of the farm workers. Loose oil palm fruits were collected from the ground of three smallholder farms located in Serian, Sarawak. The fruit were weighted and stomached with peptone water in stomacher bags and plated on Nutrient agar. The 16S rRNA PCR was carried out for the bacterial growing on the plate. The purified DNA product was sent to Apical Scientific Sdn. Bhd. for DNA sequencing. The sequences obtained were directly compared with the sequences in the Genbank through the Blastn server. The result obtained shows in Table 2 that 15 different bacterial species were identified from the loose fruit oil palm samples including Chryseobacterium indologenes, Enterobacter hormaechei, Klebsiella pneumonia, Klebsiella quasipneumoniae, Klebsiella sp., Pantoe dispersa, Pantoe sp., Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Pseudomonas mendocina, Pseudomonas nitroreducens, Serratia marcescens, Simplicispira metamorpha. Some of the bacterial species could be pathogenic, hence, it is important to communicate the findings of this research to provide sufficient knowledge to the farmers about the biological hazards associated with the loose oil palm fruits in order for them to take precaution in proper handling of the loose fruits
Phytochemical analysis and antibacterial activity on methanolic extract of Boesenbergia stenophylla (Jerangau Merah) rhizome against waterborne bacteria
Get PDFBoesenbergia stenophylla, locally known as Jerangau Merah, is a native wild ginger in Borneo Highlands, Sarawak. It is commonly used by the local as a traditional medicine for various diseases. The purposes of the current study are to investigate the phytochemicals and evaluate the antibacterial activities of methanolic B. stenophylla rhizome extract against Bacillus sp., Staphylococcus sp., Citrobacter sp. and Enterobacter sp. The rhizomes of B. stenophylla were extracted with pure methanol using Soxhlet method at 64°C for 8 h. The antibacterial properties of methanol extract were assessed using disc-diffusion assay. Phytochemical assays analysis revealed the presence of alkaloids, terpenoids, steroids, saponins, flavonoids and phenols. The antibacterial activity revealed that the extract had high to moderate inhibition against the growth of Bacillus sp. and Staphylococcus sp. at 100 mg/mL, with inhibition zones of 16.3 mm and 11.3 mm, respectively. Thus, the methanolic extract from B. stenophylla has potential to act as antibacterial agent
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