Introduction: The monkey parasite Plasmodiumknowlesi is an emerging public health issue in Southeast Asia. In Sabah, Malaysia, P. knowlesiis now the dominant cause of human malaria. Molecular detection methods for P. knowlesiare essential for accurate diagnosis and in monitoring progress towards malaria elimination of other Plasmodium species.However,recent commercially available PCR malaria kits have unpublished P. knowlesigene targets or have not been evaluated against clinical samples.Methods:Two real-time PCR methods currently used in Sabahfor confirmatorymalaria diagnosis and surveillance reportingwere evaluated: theQuantiFast™ Multiplex PCR kit (Qiagen, Germany) targeting the P. knowlesi18S SSU rRNA;and the abTES™ Malaria 5 qPCR II kit (AITbiotech, Singapore), with an undisclosedP. knowlesi gene target. Diagnostic accuracywas evaluatedusing 52P. knowlesi, 25P. vivax, 21 P. falciparum, and 10 P. malariaeclinical isolates, and 26 malaria negative controls, and compared against a validated referencenested PCR assay. The limit of detection (LOD) for each PCR method and Plasmodium species was also evaluated. Results:The sensitivity of the QuantiFast™ and abTES™ assays for detecting P. knowlesiwas comparable at 98.1% (95%CI 89.7-100) and 100%(95%CI 93.2-100) respectively. Specificity of the QuantiFast™ and abTES™ for P. knowlesiwas high at 98.8% (95%CI 93.4-100) for both assays.The QuantiFast™ assay demonstrated falsely-positive mixed Plasmodium species at low parasitaemias in both the primary and LOD analysis. Diagnostic accuracy of both PCR kits fordetecting P. vivax, P. falciparum, and P. malariae was comparable to P. knowlesi.The abTES™ assay demonstrated a lower LOD for P. knowlesiof ≤0.125 parasites/µL compared to QuantiFast™ witha LOD of20 parasites/µL.Hospital microscopy demonstrated a sensitivity of 78.8% (95%CI 65.3-88.9) and specificity of 80.4% (95%CI 67.6-89.8) compared to reference PCR for detecting P. knowlesi.Conclusion:The QuantiFast™ and abTES™ commercial PCR kits performed well for the accurate detection of P. knowlesi infections. Although the QuantiFast™ kit is cheaper, the abTES™ kit demonstrated a lower LOD, supportingits use as a second-line referral-laboratory diagnostic toolin Sabah, Malaysia.
As concerns for accountability, social responsibility and the environment grow, users of the financial reports expect more social information to be included in the financial statements for decision‐makings. Although the amount of social information has increased over the past decades, it has not yet fulfilled the needs of the users. This paper identifies the miscommunication between providers and users of information as the main reason for the failure. The preparers of financial report do not appear to be in communication with the users and visa‐versa The preparers seldom provide the information needed by the users and the users seldom communicate to the preparers the information they require. It then gives suggestions and recommendations to bridge this gap. In order to bridge this gap, the co‐operation from all parties involved is greatly necessary. The users have to identify the kind of information they need and the importance of the preparers to communicate what information they can realistically provide. To make sure that the information provided is accurate and credible, the accounting profession has to play a role in formulating guidelines and standards. The profession needs to communicate with the universities and academicians in their effort to develop a suitable curriculum to link teaching with research. Universities on the other hand need to develop a curriculum that fits with what is practiced and is foreseen will be practiced. Apart from re‐educating the public and companies on the importance of moral, ethical and religious values the government will have to weigh and decide whether to impose environmental regulations or not. On part of the companies, they will have to be more aware of the social responsibilities, develop training programs in order to educate the staff and the community about social responsibilities.
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