The present study was aimed to identify the gene of drug resistance betalactamase producing bacteria and clinical features of the infected patients at Hospital University Kebangsaan Malaysia. Blood samples from the patients were collected, processed and betalactamase producing drug resistance bacteria were identified by antibiotic sensitivity testing. Genes of the drug resistance bacteria were detected and characterized by polymerase chain reaction. A total of 34 isolates of drug resistance Betalactamase producing E. coli and Klebsiella spp. were isolated from 2,502 patients. Most common drug resistance gene TEM was found in 50% of the isolates. 11% was found positive for both TEM and SHV. Next 11% of the isolates expressed only SHV genes. Clinical features of the patients were recorded from where the bacteria isolated. Regarding community affiliations 70.5% of the infected patients were Malay 17.6% were Indian and 11.7% were Chinese. Majority of the patients has an underlying pre-morbid condition as reflected by their diagnosis. Better infection control and hygiene in hospitals, plus controlled and prudent use of antibiotics, is required to minimize the impact of drug resistance betalactamase producing bacteria and the spread of infections.
Pangasius micronemus (Black Pangasius sp.) and Pangasius nasutus (Fruit Pangasius sp.) are two species of silver catfish widely consumed in Malaysia. The present study evaluated fatty acid profiles of fish muscles in these two Pangasius sp. from different farms and locations to determine which species or location is better in term of lipid quality. The results showed MUFAs (Monounsaturated fatty acid) content was highest (35.0-44.4%) followed by SFA (Saturated fatty acid) [32.0-41.5%] and PUFAs (polyunsaturated fatty acids) [9.3-19.3%]. P. micronemus of Sg. Kanchong displayed higher palmitic acid (SFA; 29.0%) than P. nasutus from Peramu (23.5%). In contrast, oleic acid (MUFA) revealed highest in P. nasutus (38.1%) while lowest in P. micronemus of Sg. Kanchong (29.7%). Additionally, utmost PUFAs belonged to P. micronemus of Sg. Kanchong (19.3%) and lower most in P. nasutus from Peramu (9.3%). P. micronemus presented with a higher EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) [1.0-1.4%], DHA (Docosahexaenoic acid) [1.7-2.8%] and LA (Linoleic acid) [11.8-12.0%] than P. nasutus (EPA; 0.3%, DHA; 1.0%, LA; 4.8%). However, P. nasutus established higher GLA (gamma-linolenic acid) [0.4%] than P. micronemus (0.04-0.06%). Both Pangasius sp. can be regarded as good supplies of omega-3 and omega-6. Overall, P. micronemus from Sg. Kanchong is the best choice among all for reason high in EPA and DHA.
The concentration of four metals: Cd, Ni, Cr, and Sn, in the surface sediment samples from the Langat River were evaluated. Multivariate techniques were used to apportion the sources of the metals. The results showed that the highest concentration of metals in the Langat River were found at Jenjarom station, with the concentration of these metals decreasing in the order of Sn>Cr>Ni>Cd (114.27, 21.03, 7.84, 0.59 μg g(-1) dry weight). The level of pollution in the sediment was assessed using contamination factor (CF), pollution load index (PLI), geo-accumulation index (Igeo), and enrichment factor (EF). The results of the pollution assessment showed that the Langat River sediments have severe enrichment of Sn and moderate to severe enrichment of Cd. The results of the PLI for the Langat River suggest that the sampling stations are not polluted with the exception of the Jugra, Jenjarom, and Jalan Hulu Langat stations.
Managers of water quality and water monitoring programs are often faced with constraints in terms of budget, time, and laboratory capacity for sample analysis. In such situation, the ideal solution is to reduce the number of sampling sites and/or monitored variables. In this case, selecting appropriate monitoring sites is a challenge. To overcome this problem, this study was conducted to statistically assess and identify the appropriate sampling stations of monitoring network under the monitored parameters. To achieve this goal, two sets of water quality data acquired from two different monitoring networks were used. The hierarchical agglomerative cluster analysis (HACA) were used to group stations with similar characteristics in the networks, the time series analysis was then performed to observe the temporal variation of water quality within the station clusters, and the geo-statistical analysis associated Kendall's coefficient of concordance were finally applied to identify the most appropriate and least appropriate sampling stations. Based on the overall result, five stations were identified in the networks that contribute the most to the knowledge of water quality status of the entire river. In addition, five stations deemed less important were identified and could therefore be considered as redundant in the network. This result demonstrated that geo-statistical technique coupled with Kendall's coefficient of concordance can be a reliable method for water resource managers to identify appropriate sampling sites in a river monitoring network.
The present study applied the use of sequential extraction technique and simple bioaccessibility extraction test to investigate the bioavailable fractions and the human bioaccessible concentration of metals collected from nine stations in surface sediment of the Bernam River. The concentrations of total and bioaccessible metals from different stations were in the range of 0.30-1.43 μg g(-1) and 0.04-0.14 μg g(-1) for total cadmium and bioaccessibility of cadmium, respectively, 6.20-288 μg kg(-1) and 2.06-8.53 μg kg(-1) for total mercury and bioaccessibility of mercury, respectively, and 9.2-106.59 μg g(-1) and 0.4-2.75 μg kg(-1) for total tin and bioaccessibility of tin, respectively. The chemical speciation of Cd in most sampling stations was in the order of oxidisable-organic > acid-reducible > residual > exchangeable, while the chemical speciation of Hg was in the order of exchangeable > residual > oxidisable-organic > acid-reducible and the chemical speciation of Hg was in the order of residual > oxidisable-organic > acid-reducible > exchangeable. The principal component analysis showed that the main factors influencing the bioaccessibility of mercury in surface sediments were the sediment total organic matter, cation exchange capacity, and easily, freely, or leachable and exchangeable fraction, and the factors influencing the bioaccessibility of tin were the total tin and cation exchange capacity, while the bioaccessibility of Cd in surface sediments was influenced by the only factor which is the easily, freely, or leachable and exchangeable fraction.
The evaluation of the importance of having accurate and representative stations in a network for river water quality monitoring is always a matter of concern. The minimal budget and time demands of water quality monitoring programme may appear very attractive, especially when dealing with large-scale river watersheds. This article proposes an improved methodology for optimising water quality monitoring network for present and forthcoming monitoring of water quality under a case study of the Selangor River watershed in Malaysia, where different monitoring networks are being used by water management authorities. Knowing that the lack of financial resources in developing countries like Malaysia is one of the reasons for inadequate monitoring network density, to identify an optimised network for cost-efficiency benefits in this study, a geo-statistical technique coupled Kendall's W was first applied to analyse the performance of each monitoring station in the existing networks under the monitored water quality parameters. Second, the present and future changes in non-point pollution sources were simulated using the integrated Cellular Automata and Markov chain model (CA-Markov). Third, Station Potential Pollution Score (SPPS) determined based on Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) was used to weight each station under the changes of non-point pollution sources for 2015, 2024, and 2033 prior to prioritisation. Finally, according to the Kendall's W test on kriging results, the weights of non-point sources from the AHP evaluation and fuzzy membership functions, six most efficient sampling stations were identified to build a robust network for the present and future monitoring of water quality status in the Selangor River watershed. This study proposes a useful approach to the pertinent agencies and management authority concerned to establish appropriate methods for developing an efficient water quality monitoring network for tropical rivers.