Selected fermented indigenous vegetables and fruits from Malaysia as potential sources of natural probiotics for improving gut health

In the Peninsular Malaysia and Northern Borneo island of Malaysia, various rich indigenous leafy vegetables and fruits grow and contribute to the nutritional and dietary values of the population. They have high water contents, thus, naturally vulnerable to rapid food spoilage. Food preservation and processing play a vital role in the inhibition of food pathogens in fruits and vegetables that are prevalent in Malaysia. Lactic acid fermentation is generally a local-based bioprocess, among the oldest form and well-known for food-processing techniques among indigenous people there. The long shelf life of fermented vegetables and fruits improves their nutritional values and antioxidant potentials. Fermented leaves and vegetables can be utilized as a potential source of probiotics as they are host for several lactic acid bacteria such as Lactobacillus confusus, Weissella paramesenteroides, Enterococcus faecalis, Lactobacillus plantarum, Lactobacillus buchneri, Lactobacillus paracasei, Lactobacillus pentosus, Pediococcus acidilactici, Pediococcus pentosaceus and Leuconostoc mesenteroides. These strains may be more viable in metabolic systems whereby they can contribute to a substantial increase in essential biologically active element than industrial starter cultures. This review is aimed to address some essential fermented fruits and vegetables in Malaysia and their remarkable reputations as a potential sources of natural probiotics.

Diet of Juvenile Crocodylus porosus at Kuching Wetlands National Park,Sarawak,East Malaysia

The diet of juvenile,including hatchlings and presumed yearlings of the Saltwater Crocodile,Crocodylus porosus,was studied at the Kuching Wetlands National Park,western Sarawak,East Malaysia(Borneo),using both frequency of occurrence and volumetric composition of diet through the stomach flushing technique.Crustaceans form the primary component of the diet of juvenile crocodiles,comprising shrimps of the family Atyidae(Caridina sp.,and Penaeus indicus),occurring in the stomach of 17 individuals(53%by occurrence).An estimated 91.7%of hatchlings stomach-flushed had shrimps,and the emergence of hatchlings may be associated by inland migration of its shellfish prey,as reported in the literature.The secondary food item of hatchlings and presumed yearlings was ocypodid crabs,occurring in 16 individuals(in addition to a subadult),and comprise 47%-50%by occurrence.Other items taken incidentally include rodents(in large yearlings,exceeding 100 cm in total length),and fish(in seven hatchlings and in one subadult),or in 29%of total individuals captured(47.7%in hatchlings and 15%in yearlings).A dietary change in ontogeny is therefore evident,as reported earlier in crocodilians.

Does Health Literacy Predict Preventive Lifestyle on Metabolic Syndrome? A Population-Based Study in Sarawak Malaysia

Poor health literacy (HL) is a risk factor for developing metabolic syndrome. In Malaysia, about 93% of adults’ population has limited HL—a huge prevalence yet understudied phenomenon. This study aims to determine the predictors of preventive lifestyles on metabolic syndrome among adult population in Sarawak are timely. This was a population-based study, conducted from September 2016 till December 2017 using a multistage stratified sampling method. Health Literacy Scale and Simple Lifestyle Indicator Questionnaire were used to measure health literacy and preventive lifestyles respectively. Analysis of Variance and logistic regression were used to analyze the data. A total of 743 respondents were involved in this study with half of them have acceptable score for health literacy (M = 46.9, SD = 6.3) and good preventive lifestyles (M = 7.3, SD = 1.4). Critical health literacy was a significant influence of preventive lifestyles. The Malay ethnic group has the highest scores for both critical health literacy [F (3, 739) = 17.82, p p = 0.025]. The other Native groups scored the lowest for critical health literacy. Individual with higher score of critical health literacy tend to perform physical activities. Gender, education level, distance of health facilities, critical health literacy and employment status were identified as predictors for preventive lifestyle in this study. Health literacy is a key to preventive lifestyle behaviors in metabolic syndrome among adult population in Sarawak. Future program should focus on improving HL status with specific program targeting ethnic minorities.

Rediscovery and Redescription of Tropidophorus micropus van Lidth de Jeude,1905(Squamata:Sauria:Scincidae)from Sarawak,East Malaysia(Borneo)

Tropidophorus micropus van Lidth de Jeude, 1905, described from the upper Mahakkam River, Kalimantan, Indonesia, is here redescribed, based on new material from upper Baleh, Sarawak, East Malaysia（Borneo）, collected after over 100 years. The new locality is ca. 94 km to the north of the type locality, and comprises a new national record.

Prevalence and Factors Associated with Smartphone Addiction among Adolescents–A Nationwide Study in Malaysia

Smartphone ownership among adolescents is getting common in this decade especially in Malaysia;Adolescent are strongly devoted to their smartphone and this may lead to smartphone addiction.Studies have reported that smartphone addiction has become an emerging social and health problem especially among the youth in many countries however there is lack of study among adolescents in Malaysia.This study aimed to examine the prevalence and factors associated with smartphone addiction among adolescents in Malaysia.This was a cross-sectional study involving adolescents from 15 primary care clinics throughout the country.Respondents were assessed on their smartphone activities using the Malaysian short version of the Smartphone addiction scale(SAS-M-SV).Multiple logistic regression was used to determine the predictors of smartphone addiction among adolescents.The study was conducted among 921 adolescents with 49.6%male(n=457).The mean age of adolescents was 16.4±2.4 years.The ethnicity distribution were 74.6%Malay,7.3%Chinese,4.7%Indian and 13.4%other ethnicities.The prevalence of smartphone addiction was 37.1%(342/921);37.4%in male and 36.9%in female.Based on multiple logistic regression analysis,longer duration of smartphone use per week was associated with higher odds of smartphone addiction among adolescent(odd ratio=1.005%,95%confidence interval=1.000–1.009,p-value=0.039).Smartphone addiction is present in nearly four in ten adolescents in Malaysia.Adolescents who spend longer duration in smartphone usage per week were associated with higher odds of having smartphone addiction.Parents should be more alert and vigilant about this finding.Hence,parents should limit their children from spending too much of time with smartphone in order to prevent their children from getting smartphone addiction.

Evaluating the Efficiency of CBAM-Resnet Using Malaysian Sign Language

The deaf-mutes population is constantly feeling helpless when others do not understand them and vice versa.To fill this gap,this study implements a CNN-based neural network,Convolutional Based Attention Module(CBAM),to recognise Malaysian Sign Language(MSL)in videos recognition.This study has created 2071 videos for 19 dynamic signs.Two different experiments were conducted for dynamic signs,using CBAM-3DResNet implementing‘Within Blocks’and‘Before Classifier’methods.Various metrics such as the accuracy,loss,precision,recall,F1-score,confusion matrix,and training time were recorded to evaluate the models’efficiency.Results showed that CBAM-ResNet models had good performances in videos recognition tasks,with recognition rates of over 90%with little variations.CBAMResNet‘Before Classifier’is more efficient than‘Within Blocks’models of CBAM-ResNet.All experiment results indicated the CBAM-ResNet‘Before Classifier’efficiency in recognising Malaysian Sign Language and its worth of future research.

Contribution of public places in proliferation of dengue vectors in Penang Island,Malaysia

Objective: To determine abundance, distribution and diversity of potential breeding container habitats of the dengue vectors in public places including schools, restaurants,mosques and parks in southwest areas of Penang Island, Malaysia.Methods: Premises at restaurants, schools, parks and mosques were surveyed simultaneously and inspected visually for container habitats and production of immature mosquitoes from March 2015 to March 2016. Abundance(mean ± SE) of breeding containers between sites was compared using One-way ANOVA. Independent sample ttest was used to compare total number of Aedes albopictus(Ae. albopictus) and Aedes aegypti(Ae. aegypti) surveyed.Results: The surveyed locations yielded a total of 3 741 breeding containers and 19 537 immature mosquitoes from four areas. Concurrent artificial and natural containers produced 78.4% immature Ae. albopictus and 6.3% Ae. aegypti mosquitoes in wet season,with 14.2% Ae. albopictus and 1.1% Ae. aegypti mosquitoes in dry season. Artificial containers accounted for 98.1% of the total containers recorded, with restaurants being the most productive locations(8 012) and schools being the least productive(2 234).Conclusions: It was concluded that public places are good sources of potential container habitats of Aedes mosquitoes in Penang Island, Malaysia and Ae. albopictus has exclusively replaced the home-grown Ae. aegypti even in urban areas. Therefore, treatment of artificial containers in such locations is critical in Aedes mosquito control campaigns during dengue outbreaks.

Morphological and molecular characterization of fungus isolated from tropical bed bugs in Northern Peninsular Malaysia, Cimex hemipterus(Hemiptera: Cimicidae)

Objective:To investigate some morphological and molecular characteristics of fungal parasites isolated from wild tropical bed bug, Cimex hemipterus.Methods: A series of culture methods were used to obtain fungal isolates from i eld-collected bed bugs. Characteristics of the isolates such as colony appearance, mycelial texture and pigmentation were studied to explore their morphology. Isolates were also subjected to a PCRbased genotyping test.Results: There were noticeable dif erences in morphological characteristics among the four isolates. Conidial areas of one isolate were dark green, whereas those of the remaining colonies were olive-green, black or dark brown. Conidia of the dark green isolate were globose, while those of olive-green, black and dark brown isolates were globose to subglobose, globose to spherical and globose to subglobose/i nely roughened, respectively. These morphological specii cities and the molecular analyses showed that the fungal internal transcribed spacer ribosomal region and β-tubulin gene sequences of the isolates shared clade with Trichoderma and Aspergillus sequences.Conclusions: Overall, the new discovery of common pathogens in agricultural i eld developed in live bed bugs storage tank may initiate the use of biological agents in later years.

Evaluation of “C” Values to Head Loss and Water Pressure Due to Pipe Aging: Case Study of Uni-Central Sarawak

Samarahan has transformed from a small village into education hub for the past 2 decades. Rapid development and population growth had led to speedy growth in water demand. The situation is getting worse as the pipes are deteriorating due to pipe aging. Therefore, there is a need to study the adequacy of water supply and relationships among roughness coefficient (C) values in Hazen Williams’ Equation with head loss and water pressure due to pipe aging at Uni-Central, a residential area located at Samarahan Sarawak. Investigations were carried out with Ductile Iron, Abestos Cement and Cast Iron pipes at age categories of 0 - 10 years, 10 - 30 years, 30 - 50 years, 50 - 70 years and >70 years. Six critical nodes named as A, B, C, D, E and F were identified to study the water pressure and head loss. Model was developed with InfoWorks Water Supply (WS) Pro software. The impact of pipe aging and materials to water pressure and head loss was not significant at Nodes A, B, C and F. However, max water pressure at Nodes D and F were only reaching 6.30 m and 7.30 m, respectively for all investigations. Therefore, some improvement works are required. Results also show that Asbestos Cement pipe has the least impact on the head loss and water pressure, followed by Ductile Iron pipe and lastly Cast Iron pipe. Simulation results also revealed that older pipes have higher roughness coefficients, indicated with lower “C” values, thus increase the head loss and reduce the water pressure. In contrast, as “C” values increased, head loss will be reduced and water pressure will be increased.

Trophic Ecology of Ansonia latidisca at Gunung Penrissen, Sarawak, North-Western Borneo

Dietary data on Ansonia latidisca, the little known Bornean Rainbow Toad, are presented, through an investigation of a population at Gunung Penrissen, Sarawak, Malaysia(north-western Borneo), at elevations between 1,100–1,229 m asl. Standard sampling techniques, including visual encounter surveys, were employed and individuals encountered stomach-flushed, ma rked, a nd released. The volume of food ingested by adults, apart from large females, did not vary monthly, and there was no significant difference between wet and dry periods, the dominance index between the two periods showing no significant difference, indicating that seasonal variation does not affect the dietary constitution of the species across months. The mean longest prey was recovered from a female in March, during the end of the wet season. Larger individuals did not consume larger prey in the species, although larger females did harvest the largest insects, and as may be expected, had fewer prey items in their stomachs at the time. Males fed on fewer prey items than females, the adult male diet predominantly comprised of members of the Hymenoptera, including formicids(ants), as indicated by percentage frequency of occurrence of 78.69, while for adult females, equivalent figure was 90.70. Coleopterans(beetles) were found secondary in importance(48.8% in females, 5.85% in males), the rest categorized as tertiary. Plant items(including bryophytes) had a high frequency of occurrence(23.3% in females, 4.64% in males). Females examined in the month of July had voluminous stomach contents, and may have eaten more to increase fat reserves for breeding in the upcoming wet season. Since the diet of all size classes consisted of hymenopterans(ants) and coleopterans, the study species is here considered to have a narrow food preference, and consequently, is a dietary specialist.

The Distribution of Riparian Corridor Plants and the Relations to River Water Salinity along Perai River,Penang,Malaysia

Ecological surveys were carried out to investigate the distribution and characterization of riparian corridor plants along the Perai River,Penang,Malaysia from July 2007 to March 2008.Surveys were design to represent horizon-tal sections of the river starting from the river mouth towards the upper reaches for 20 km.A total of 84 species of plants from 30 families were recorded.They consisted of 28 species of standing plants(plants with height of more than 1 m)and 56 species of weedy plants(plants with height of less than 1 m).Standing plants consisted of ferns,palms,herbs,shrubs and mangroves while weedy plants comprised of aroids,grasses,sedges and broad leaf weed.Species abundance and dominance for each zone were relatively different.Dominant species was determined using Important Species Index(ISI).Based on ISI,the important species of standing plants were Sonneratia alba,Acrostichum aureum,Nypa fruti-cans,Avicennia marina,Rhizophora apiculata,Acrostichum speciosum and Rhizophora mucronata.Weedy plants were dominated by Mikania micrantha,Cryptocoryne ciliata,Wedelia trilobata and Asystasia intrusa.The distribution of the corridor plant species was closely related to the pattern of river water salinity measurements.The distribution of mangrove species with tolerance and adaptation to seawater appeared as follows:Avicennia marina,Rhizophora apiculata,Rhizo-phora mucronata,Sonneratia alba,Nypa fructicans,Acrostichum aureum and Acrostichum speciosum.

Effectiveness of Centralized Wastewater Treatment Plant in Removing Emerging Contaminants: A Case Study at Kuching, Malaysia

Before the construction of the Kuching Centralized Wastewater Treatment System Package 1 (KCWTSP1), partially treated blackwater and greywater were discharged directly into natural waterways. The accumulated wastewater had polluted Sarawak river, which is regulated and cannot discharge freely into the South China Sea. The polluted Sarawak river has endangered human health, river water quality, and aquatic ecosystems. Hence, the KCWTSP1 commissioned in 2015 serves the purpose of removing pollutants from wastewater before it is discharged into natural waterways. However, the effectiveness of KCWTPP1 is unknown. This paper is aimed to discuss and review the effectiveness of KCWTPP1 in treating wastewater since its inception in 2015. From 2017 to 2020, KCWTPP1 has treated an average of 4,200,000 m3 of wastewater per year. Generally, most of the discharge effluent met Environmental Quality Act (1974) Standard A criteria, except for the oil and grease parameter. Initially, the plant could not treat suspended solids and total phosphorus, but this was greatly improved in subsequent years. Therefore, some improvements are required to treat oil and grease parameters effectively and efficiently to ensure that only Standard A effluent is discharged into the Sarawak River in the future.

FOTool: Modelling Indigenous Community Cultures in Sarawak

Formal-Object Tool (FOTool) is a software modelling approach that integrates formal specification and object oriented model. FOTool integrates the rigour of formal methods and the ease of use of OO techniques. The idea of FOTool is to provide an easy interface by allowing the application developer to develop the software model by using the object-models, while the verification of the models is carried out by using formal models. Before the verification process, the object static and dynamic models need to be transformed into formal models based on the transformation rules defined in FOTool. This paper presents the FOTool architecture, the transformation rules from object to formal models, and discusses the application of FOTool in our continuous research in modeling, the indigenous communities’ knowledge in Sarawak, and also the challenges of modelling the complex cultural, taboos and beliefs of indigenous communities. The knowledge is generated from the heterogeneous cultural, taboos and beliefs of various ethnic groups in Sarawak. The traditional knowledge is then mapped to a logical explanation in relation to modern life style.

Sarawak River Flow Behaviour after Matang Bypass Channel Construction during Low Tide Using InfoWorks River Simulation (RS)

Flood is occurring more frequently in Kuching nowadays due to the impact of climate change and rapid urbanization. The only discharge outlet for Sarawak River Basin currently is at Kuching Barrage and Shiplock. Sarawak State Government had decided to build Matang Bypass Channel from Sarawak River’s “Oxbow” to Batang Salak River for mitigating the flooding issues within Sarawak River Basin. Matang Bypass Channel had a bottom width of 250 m, 500 m reserve width and 8 Km in length. Flow behaviour with two discharge outlets during low tides are unknown yet. Therefore, this research is carried out to study Sarawak River flow behaviour after construction of Matang Bypass Channel using InfoWorks River Simulation (RS). Rainfall data used is January 2018. Four scenarios investigated are 1) Open two gates at Matang Bypass Channel opens and all gates at Kuching Barrage, 2) Open all gates at Matang Bypass Channel and Kuching Barrage, 3) Open gates at Matang Bypass Channel, but close all gates at Kuching Barrage, 4) Close all gates at Matang Bypass Channel, but open all gates at Kuching Barrage. Results revealed that when water gates are opened, sea water has the potential to backflow into Sarawak River basin through Kuching Barrage since sea level at Kuching Barrage discharge outlet is always 0.5 m higher than Matang Bypass Channel discharge outlet. When the gates at Matang Bypass Channel are fully opened and Kuching Barrage are closed, Kuching Barrage will retain the excess water and the river water will only be discharged into ocean through Matang Bypass Channel. In contrast, as the gates at Matang Bypass Channel are closed and at Kuching Barrage are fully opened, Matang Bypass Channel will store the excess water and river water will be discharged through Kuching Barrage alone.

Green Roof Performance for Stormwater Management in Equatorial Urban Areas Using Storm Water Management Model (SWMM)

Many Low Impact Developments (LIDs) have recently been developed as a sustainable integrated strategy for managing the quantity and quality of stormwater and surrounding amenities. Previous research showed that green roof is one of the most promising LIDs for slowing down rainwater, controlling rainwater volume, and enhancing rainwater quality by filtering and leaching contaminants from the substrate. However, there is no guideline for green roof design in Malaysia. Hence, Investigating the viability of using green roofs to manage stormwater and address flash flood hazards is urgently necessary. This study used the Storm Water Management Model (SWMM) to evaluate the effectiveness of green roof in managing stormwater and improving rainwater quality. The selected study area is the multistory car park (MSCP) rooftop at Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak Campus. Nine green roof models with different configurations were created. Results revealed that the optimum design of a green roof is 100 mm of berm height, 150 mm of soil thickness, and 50 mm of drainage mat thickness. With the ability to reduce runoff generation by 26.73%, reduce TSS by 89.75%, TP by 93.07%, TN by 93.16%, and improved BOD by 81.33%. However, pH values dropped as low as 5.933 and became more acidic due to the substrates in green roof. These findings demonstrated that green roofs improve water quality, able to temporarily store excess rainfall and it is very promising and sustainable tool in managing stormwater.

Factors influencing COVID-19 vaccination intention among university students:A cross-sectional study in Malaysia

Vaccination is crucial in controlling the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19)that triggered the pandemic,but herd immunity can only work with high vaccination coverage in the population.This study aims to measure the COVID-19 knowledge level and determine the factors influencing COVID-19 vaccination intention among university students in Malaysia.A cross-sectional online survey was carried out with 1,274 Malaysian university students in July 2021.Univariate and multivariate analyses were employed to examine the relationships between the study variables.Results showed that the majority of university students had an acceptable level of knowledge of COVID-19.The knowledge,risk perception of COVID-19,social norms,and perceived benefit of COVID-19 vaccination were positively associated with vaccination intention.However,perceived trust in information sources of COVID-19 vaccination and the government's response to COVID-19 did not affect the university students’desire to receive the vaccination.These findings are essential for health policymakers and healthcare providers to implement evidence-based interventions to increase COVID-19 vaccination uptake among university students.

Modeling CO_(2)Emission in Residential Sector of Three Countries in Southeast of Asia by Applying Intelligent Techniques

Residential sector is one of the energy-consuming districts of countries that causes CO_(2)emission in large extent.In this regard,this sector must be considered in energy policy making related to the reduction of emission of CO_(2)and other greenhouse gases.In the present work,CO_(2)emission related to the residential sector of three countries,including Indonesia,Thailand,and Vietnam in Southeast Asia,are discussed and modeled by employing Group Method of Data Handling(GMDH)and Multilayer Perceptron(MLP)neural networks as powerful intelligent methods.Prior to modeling,data related to the energy consumption of these countries are represented,discussed,and analyzed.Subsequently,to propose a model,electricity,natural gas,coal,and oil products consumptions are applied as inputs,and CO_(2)emission is considered as the model’s output.The obtained R^(2) values for the generated models based on MLP and GMDH are 0.9987 and 0.9985,respectively.Furthermore,values of the Average Absolute Relative Deviation(AARD)of the regressions using the mentioned techniques are around 4.56%and 5.53%,respectively.These values reveal significant exactness of the models proposed in this article;however,making use of MLP with the optimal architecture would lead to higher accuracy.

Thermal Characteristics of Structural Lightweight Concrete

A higher cooling load is required with an increas­ing room temperature that resulted from the high thermal conductivity and low time lag of conven­tional construction materials[1].Such a high cooling load increases the carbon footprint from the energy consumption during building performance.The con­dition can be worsened with the urban heat island phenomenon,as the cooling load prolongs to night time for maintaining indoor thermal comfort.