Search

Village chicken or Ayam Kampung, common to Southeast Asian countries, has always been regarded as superior in comparison to commercial broiler chicken in terms of wholesomeness and health benefits. The current study investigates the prevalence and risk factors of Salmonella among village chicken flocks from the central and southern states of Peninsular Malaysia. A total of 35 village flocks were sampled from Selangor (n = 19), Melaka (n = 10), Johor (n = 4), and Negeri Sembilan (n = 2). In total, 1,042 samples were collected; these included cloacal swabs (n = 675), eggs (n = 62), pooled drinking water (n = 175), pooled feeds (n = 70), and pooled flies (n = 60). Isolation of Salmonella from cloacal swabs, poultry drinking water, and feeds was carried out according to the protocols and recommendations of the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) terrestrial manual. The prevalence of Salmonella at an individual bird-level was 2.5% (17/675, 95% CI: 1.6 to 4.0). All eggs screened were negative; in the case of environmental samples, however, Salmonella was detected in 5.14% (9/175), 7.14% (5/70), and 5.0% (3/60) for water, feed, and flies, respectively. A total of 34 isolates and 8 Salmonella serotypes were identified. Weltevreden (20.6%) was the most common, followed by Typhimurium and Agona (17.6%), Albany and Enteritidis (8.8%), Molade (5.9%), Corvallis and Schleissheim (2.9%), and others grouped as Salmonella spp. (11.8%). Multivariable logistic regression models revealed that Salmonella positivity among flocks could be strongly predicted by storage of feeds (uncovered feeds; OR = 10.38; 95% CI: 1.25 to 86.39; p = 0.030) and uncovered water tanks (uncovered tank; OR = 6.43; 95% CI: 1.02 to 40.60; p = 0.048). The presence of Salmonella in village chickens in the study area was lower than that of commercial chickens in Malaysia.

Background: Waterpipe tobacco smoking has becoming popular especially among young people worldwide. Smokers are attracted by its sweeter, smoother smoke, social ambience and the misconception of reduced harm. The objective of this study was to systematically review the effects of waterpipe tobacco policies and practices in reducing its prevalence. Materials and Methods: A systematic review was conducted electronically using the PubMed, OVID, Science Direct, Proquest and Embase databases. All possible studies from 1980 to 2013 were initially screened based on titles and abstracts. The selected articles were subjected to data extraction and quality rating. Results: Three studies met the inclusion criteria and were eligible for this review. Almost all of the waterpipe tobacco products and its accessories did not comply with the regulations on health warning labelling practices as stipulated under Article 11 of WHO FCTC. In addition, the grisly new warning labels for cigarettes introduced by Food and Drug Administration did not affect hookah tobacco smoking generally. Indoor air quality in smoking lounges was found to be poor and some hookah lounges were operated without smoke shop certification. Conclusions: Our findings revealed the availability of minimal information on the practices in controlling waterpipe smoking in reducing its prevalence. The lack of comprehensive legislations or practices in controlling waterpipe smoking warrants further research and policy initiatives to curb this burgeoning global epidemic, especially among the vulnerable younger population.

Higher education is critical success of young adults. Higher education can provide a gateway for social mobility and play a critical role in countering social stratification in Malaysia, particularly for the Bumiputera students in Malaysia society. However, change hurts. The transition from school to university is a change that every school students have to face in their quest for higher education. The current scenario giving some signals that there is a challenging life transition in the development of young adults, and many students are inadequately prepared for the psychological, emotional, and academic realities of higher education. These new university students are confronted with the adaptational challenges of living apart from family and friends, adjusting to the academic regimen, assuming responsibility for the tasks of daily living, and developing a new array of social relationships with peers and faculty. Futhermore, not many research have been conducted on this issue except that focused had been made to the secondary and/or high school students only. Therefore, this paper takes the challenge of filling these gaps by analysing some crucial conceptual undertanding what factors exactly influence the student's life at the higher institution.

Objectives Manual work is associated with increased lung cancer risk possibly because of increased exposure to occupational and other carcinogens, reduced use of healthcare services and/or a less healthy lifestyle. The aim of this study was to examine whether the association between manual work and lung cancer risk has changed over time. Methods Over a 10-year period three separate case-control studies investigating lung cancer risk were carried out in an area of Manchester characterised by high deprivation and unemployment (in 1996-7, 1998–2000 and 2003-5) in patients attending a bronchoscopy clinic. Cases (n=321) were patients newly diagnosed with a tumour of the lung, trachea or bronchus and controls (n=542) were patients free of tumours at the time of, and prior to, examination. Patients were interviewed using the same structured questionnaire and associations between risk factors and lung cancer examined. Results The study population in all three studies was similar with little difference in smoking history across the three studies. In each study smoking was associated with lung cancer risk. However, lung cancer risk was significantly higher in manual workers (compared to managers and other professionals) in the first (OR 2.5, 95% CI 2.0 to 5.4) and second study (OR 2.7, 95% CI 0.9 to 8.8) but not the third (OR 0.93, 95% CI 0.54 to 1.61). Conclusions This study suggests that even after taking into account known occupational and environmental causes of cancer, there is a residual cancer risk associated with manual work. However this appears to have attenuated recently for as yet unknown reasons.