No abstract

The number of students pursuing science and engineering is reducing drastically over the years which is of great concern to the country. Hence, in 2011, the Malaysia Education Blueprint was initiated emphasizing on the role of STEM for establishing a scientific and innovative society. The National STEM Movement has taken the step forward to make the blueprint a reality by initiating the STEM Mentor-Mentee program in schools facilitated by universities. Universiti Selangor (Unisel) contributed actively through the participation of lecturers as facilitators and students as mentors. Fondly known as the Unisel Fun with STEM program, the team has shared their modules with seven schools in Selangor. This particular study is focusing on one of the schools, SMK Sungai Burong involving 60 students and 3 teachers, assessing the effectiveness of the module and the impact of mentoring approach. A five Likert scale survey was conducted at the end of the program with each of the four domains received positive feedback. The program itself was well-executed with the mean score of 4.24. The response towards the mentoring approach was very favourable, resulting in the mean score of 4.61. This outreach program is considered effective as students demonstrated positive attitude towards the module and STEM field.

Fermented tilapia (Tilapia nicoliticus) is one of the famous fermented food in Malaysia. Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) which well known as GRAS (Generally Regarded as Safe) are present in most fermented foods and they are well-known non-pathogenic bacteria that play an important role in everyday life. Apart from LAB, spices have also been used for centuries across different regions of the world to improve aroma, flavour and food preservative. This research was aimed to explore a potential natural food preservative using LAB isolated from fermented Tilapia nicoliticus incorporated with various spices (9% turmeric, 6% chilli and 9% black pepper) against foodborne pathogens. The isolation of LAB in different media (MRS, MRS+CaCO3, M17 and Tomato Juice Agar) showed the highest LAB count on day-9 and day-15 during the fermentation period in fermented Tilapia incorporated with black pepper, turmeric and chilli. The highest antimicrobial activity by LAB against Bacillus cereus was observed in fermented tilapia incorporated with black pepper. On the other hand, fermented fish incorporated with chilli showed the highest antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium. Higher antimicrobial activity was detected in fermented Tilapia in the presence of LAB together with the spices, in comparison to the presence of LAB alone, suggesting synergistic effects between LAB in fermented fish with spices could enhance stronger antimicrobial activities against food pathogens and therefore, served as a natural food preservative.

Probiotics are living microorganism that can be employed as a new approach to promote human health. These organisms are found to have attractive means for health due to their probiotic properties particularly in generating antimicrobial activity. Lactobacillus spp. is one of the main genera commonly used for probiotic purpose. Human milk is a potential source of Lactobacillus spp. and one of the criteria that found beneficial is that it is of human origin, which could be more reliable sources to be used in human. Lack of studies on isolation of probiotic bacteria from human milk was reported and some probiotic properties show a variation between strains from different regions and population. Therefore, it is important to carry out the isolation of Lactobacillus spp. from a large number of species in the genera to facilitate the finding of the most competent strain to be incorporated as probiotic agent. Moreover, to ensure suitability and compatibility for human use, the probiotic agent originated from human milk should not be an exception. In addition, certain probiotics show a great correlation with prebiotic existed in human milk to boost their function and may suggest an added value to be a suitable candidate as probiotic. This review provides an overview of studies related to human milk as the promising sources for isolation of probiotic microorganisms.

A total of 70 isolates of Escherichia coli O157:H7 isolated from beef samples were examined with respect to plasmid profiles and random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) patterns. All isolates carried the 90 kb pO157 plasmid alone or in combination with other smaller plasmids. Using Gen1-50-02 (5'-CAATGCGTCT-3'), Gen1-50-09 (5'-AGAGGCGATG-3') and Gen1-50-10 (5'-CCATTTACGC-3') as primers, respectively, we obtained DNA polymorphisms which allowed us to discriminate the E. coli O157:H7 isolates into one, six and five RAPD patterns; providing bands ranging in size from 0.25 to 4.0 kb. Our results demonstrate that both plasmid profiling and RAPD-PCR fingerprinting methods are suitable tools for a fast and reliable molecular typing of E. coli O157:H7. The RAPD-PCR method is more sensitive with respect to the individualization of isolates and that RAPD-PCR assay could be a valuable technique for epidemiological studies.

Nowadays, the foodborne outbreaks associated with fresh produces, including ulam, are increasing worldwide. The biofilm formation or bacterial attachment to plant surface is the initial step towards the contamination in fresh produce. The biofilm phenotype of bacteria grown on congo red agar is termed as red, dry and rough (rdar) morphotype. The binding of congo red dye with both biological proteins and inert surfaces is due to the presence of curli fimbriae and cellulose as the main extracellular components. The objective of this study was to determine the rdar morphotypes, biofilm ability and the role of csgA gene of Escherichia coli and Salmonella spp. isolated from ulam or Malaysian herbs. A total of 29 isolates, including 23 E. coli and 6 Salmonella spp. were analyzed for their ability to produce biofilm by colony morphology test, microtiter plate biofilm assay and qualitative biofilm test (pellicle formation). The presence of the csgA gene of E. coli was identified by PCR, which demonstrated the potential gene that able to produce curli fimbriae. Results revealed that 16 (69.6%) E. coli isolates were categorized as strong biofilm producers, 2 (8.7%) as moderate biofilm producers, 3 (13%) as weak biofilm producers, whereas 2 (8.7%) as negative biofilm producers (did not produce biofilm). While 4 (66.7%) Salmonella spp. isolates were identified as strong biofilm producers, 1 (16.7%) as moderate biofilm producers and 1 (16.7%) as negative biofilm producers. Majority of the E. coli strains (69.6%) were identified as strong biofilm producers and able to express rdar morphotypes. The ability of the of E. coli and Salmonella spp. isolates to form biofilm reveals the ability of these isolates to persist on the fresh vegetables and become hosts for the disease transmission to humans or/and animals.

Human capital quality health issue among university students in Malaysia is critical and worrying. The number of obese, overweight, and mental health students is steadily increasing. Additionally, the students are having difficulty securing a job after they graduate. Hence, this study examines the obesity, overweight, and mental status among university students in Malaysia. Furthermore, we will identify a link between quality health and employment opportunities. There are 1087 students from 12 public and private universities who participated in this study. The questionnaire is used to collect the data; meanwhile, the data is analyzed by using SPSS 21. Furthermore, descriptive statistics and chi-square were used to answer the study's objective. The result indicated that the students perceived that quality health is not linked with employment opportunities. Therefore, they were confident to be hired after graduating. However, the student's quality of health is inadequate, and the rate of overweight, obese I, II, and III, and underweight was significant. Finally, some of them claimed that they had experienced severe and extremely severe levels of depression and anxiety.

Diabetes Mellitus (DM), commonly known as diabetes, is one of the diseases that recorded high mortality rate. World Health Organization (WHO) reported in 2016, about 1.6 million deaths were directly caused by diabetes. Other studies had reported there were about 387 million diabetic patients globally in 2014. While it is expected that 145 million people with diabetes would be in the South East Asia region and 2.5 million people are in Malaysia in 2025. Based on statistics showed by International Diabetes Federation (IDF) the number of diabetic patients will rise to 700 million by 2045. This study reports on finding a new source of amylase inhibitor that contribute to minimize the percentage of people with diabetic disease in Malaysia generally and Selangor specifically. Matured and young leaves of Anacardium occidentale used in the study were extracted using aqueous extraction method. Ten grams of dried leave was dissolved in 100 ml of distilled. The mixture was filtered using Whatman’s filter paper No. 1. Active compounds extraction from Anacardium occidentale leaves using aqueous method of different concentrations, different incubation periods and different incubation temperature indicated most of the extracted sample from different types of Anacardium occidentale leaves (young and matured) revealed their effectiveness as antidiabetic. Extract from the matured leaves showed its ability to reduce amylase activity from 0.12 U/ml to 0.06 U/ml when it was incubated for 15 minutes. The amylase activity was recorded at 0.053 when it was further incubated for 30 minutes. Nonetheless, the amylase activity remains unchanged when it was further incubated for 45 and 60 minutes. On the other hand, the extract from young leaves revealed there is slight reducing in the amylase activity (0.11 U/ml) for 15 minutes incubation. However, the extract showed its ability to reduce the amylase activity to 0.107 U/ml, 0.085 U/ml and 0.062 U/ml when it was further incubated for 30, 45 and 60 minutes, respectively.  It is anticipated that consuming Anacardium occidentale leaves (Cashew nuts leaves) would enhance the level of healthier community both domestically and globally which is in line with the National Vison Policy 2020 and the 4th National Mission Thrust which both aim at improving the standard and sustainability quality of Malaysians life.