Job Content Questionnaire (JCQ) has been proven a reliable and valid instrument to assess job stress in many countries and among various occupations. In Malaysia, both English and Malay versions of the JCQ have been administered to automotive workers, schoolteachers, and office workers. This study assessed the reliability and validity of the instrument with research laboratory staff in a university. A cross sectional study was conducted among 258 research laboratory staff in Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM). Malaysian laboratory staff who have worked for at least one year were randomly selected from nine faculties and institutes in the university that have research laboratory. A self-administered English and Malay version of Job Content Questionnaire (JCQ) was used. Three major scales of JCQ: decision latitude, psychological job demands, and social support were assessed. Cronbach's alpha coefficients of two scales were acceptable, decision latitude and psychological job demands (0.70 and 0.72, respectively), while Cronbach's alpha coefficient for social support (0.86) was good. Exploratory factor analysis showed five factors that correspond closely to the theoretical construct of the questionnaire. The results of this research suggest that the JCQ is reliable and valid for examining psychosocial work situations and job strain among research laboratory staff. Further studies should be done for confirmative results, and further evaluation is needed on the decision authority subscale for this occupation.
Vibrio alginolyticus is a Gram-negative bacterium commonly associated with mackerel poisoning. A bacteriophage that specifically targets and lyses this bacterium could be employed as a biocontrol agent for treating the bacterial infection or improving the shelf-life of mackerel products. However, only a few well-characterized V. alginolyticus phages have been reported in the literature. In this study, a novel lytic phage, named ΦImVa-1, specifically infecting V. alginolyticus strain ATCC 17749, was isolated from Indian mackerel. The phage has a short latent period of 15 min and a burst size of approximately 66 particles per infected bacterium. ΦImVa-1 remained stable for 2 h at a wide temperature (27-75 °C) and within a pH range of 5 to 10. Transmission electron microscopy revealed that ΦImVa-1 has an icosahedral head of approximately 60 nm in diameter with a short tail, resembling those in the Schitoviridae family. High throughput sequencing and bioinformatics analysis elucidated that ΦImVa-1 has a linear dsDNA genome of 77,479 base pairs (bp), with a G + C content of ~ 38.72% and 110 predicted gene coding regions (106 open reading frames and four tRNAs). The genome contains an extremely large virion-associated RNA polymerase gene and two smaller non-virion-associated RNA polymerase genes, which are hallmarks of schitoviruses. No antibiotic genes were found in the ΦImVa-1 genome. This is the first paper describing the biological properties, morphology, and the complete genome of a V. alginolyticus-infecting schitovirus. When raw mackerel fish flesh slices were treated with ΦImVa-1, the pathogen loads reduced significantly, demonstrating the potential of the phage as a biocontrol agent for V. alginolyticus strain ATCC 17749 in the food. KEY POINTS: • A novel schitovirus infecting Vibrio alginolyticus ATCC 17749 was isolated from Indian mackerel. • The complete genome of the phage was determined, analyzed, and compared with other phages. • The phage is heat stable making it a potential biocontrol agent in extreme environments.