Universiti Sains Malaysia

About: Universiti Sains Malaysia is a education organization based out in George Town, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Ring (chemistry). The organization has 23231 authors who have published 39356 publications receiving 655434 citations. The organization is also known as: USM & University of Science, Malaysia.

Sociodemographic characteristics of food handlers and their knowledge, attitude and practice towards food sanitation: a preliminary report.

Abstract: Diseases spread through food still remain a common and persistent problems resulting in appreciable morbidity and occasional mortality. Food handlers play an important role in ensuring food safety throughout the chain of production, processing, storage and preparation. This study is to explore the pattern of sociodemographic distribution and to determine knowledge, attitude and practice of food handlers towards food-borne diseases and food safety. A total of 430 food handlers were randomly selected from Kota Bharu district and interviewed by using structured questionnaire. Distribution of food handlers was Malays (98.8%), females (69.5%), married (81.4%), working in food stalls (64.2%), involved in operational areas (49.3%), having no license (54.2%) and immunized with Ty2 (60.7%). The mean age was 41 +/- 12 years and the mean income was RM 465 +/- 243/month. The educational level was found as no formal education (10.5%), primary school (31.9%), secondary school (57.0%) and diploma/degree holders (0.7%). A significant number of food handlers (57.2%) had no certificate in food handlers training program and 61.9% had undergone routine medical examinations (RME). Almost half (48.4%) had poor knowledge. Multiple logistic regression showed type of premise [Odd ratio (OR) = 4.0, 95% Confidence interval (CI) =1.8-7.5, p = 0.0004], educational level (OR = 4.0, 95% CI = 1.8-7.4, p = 0.0003) and job status of food handlers (OR = 0.5, 95% CI = 0.3-0.8, p = 0.0031) significantly influenced the level score of knowledge. No significant difference of attitude and practice between trained and untrained food handlers. Findings of this preliminary study may help in planning health education intervention programs for food handlers in order to have improvement in knowledge, attitude and practice towards food-borne diseases and food safety. Furthermore, it will in turn reduce national morbidity and mortality of food-borne diseases.

Structural and Morphology of ZnO Nanorods Synthesized Using ZnO Seeded Growth Hydrothermal Method and Its Properties as UV Sensing

Abstract: In this study, zinc oxide (ZnO) nanorod arrays were synthesized using a simple hydrothermal reaction on ZnO seeds/n-silicon substrate. Several parameters were studied, including the heat-treatment temperature to produce ZnO seeds, zinc nitrate concentration, pH of hydrothermal reaction solution, and hydrothermal reaction time. The optimum heat-treatment temperature to produce uniform nanosized ZnO seeds was 400°C. The nanorod dimensions depended on the hydrothermal reaction parameters. The optimum hydrothermal reaction parameters to produce blunt tip-like nanorods (770 nm long and 80 nm in top diameter) were 0.1 M zinc nitrate, pH 7, and 4 h of growth duration. Phase analysis studies showed that all ZnO nanorods exhibited a strong (002) peak. Thus, the ZnO nanorods grew in a c-axis preferred orientation. A strong ultraviolet (UV) emission peak was observed for ZnO nanorods grown under optimized parameters with a low, deep-level emission peak, which indicated high optical property and crystallinity of the nanorods. The produced ZnO nanorods were also tested for their UV-sensing properties. All samples responded to UV light but with different sensing characteristics. Such different responses could be attributed to the high surface-to-volume ratio of the nanorods that correlated with the final ZnO nanorods morphology formed at different synthesis parameters. The sample grown using optimum synthesis parameters showed the highest responsivity of 0.024 A/W for UV light at 375 nm under a 3 V bias.

Studies on the antioxidant properties of Tualang honey of Malaysia.

Abstract: Honey has been used since ancient times for its nutritional as well as curative properties. Tualang honey is collected from wild honey bees’ hives on Tualang trees found in the Malaysian rain forest. It has been used traditionally for the treatment of various diseases, where its therapeutic value has partly been related to its antioxidant properties. This study therefore assessed the colour intensity, total phenolic content, antioxidant activity and antiradical activity of gamma irradiated Tualang Honey. The colour intensity at ABS45O was 489.5 ± 1.7 mAU, total phenolic content was 251.7±7.9 mg gallic acid /Kg honey, total antioxidant activity by FRAP assay was 322.1±9.7 (µM Fe(II)) and the antiradical activity by DPPH assay was 41.30 ± 0.78 (% inhibition). The data confirms that the antioxidant properties of gamma irradiated Tualang honey are similar to other types of honeys reported in the literature.

A facile and efficient synthesis of styrene carbonate via cycloaddition of CO2 to styrene oxide over ordered mesoporous MCM-41-Imi/Br catalyst

Abstract: MCM-41 was successfully immobilized with imidazole using 3-chloropropyltriethoxysilane (CPTES) as the anchoring agent followed by alkylation with 1,2-dibromoethane at 110 °C. The resulting catalyst was designated as MCM-41-Imi/Br. TEM showed the catalyst had ordered mesoporous straight-channels with average wall thickness of 2.14 nm and average pore size of 1.56 nm. The 29Si MAS NMR analysis confirmed the presence of T2, T3, Q3 and Q4 silicon centers. The 13C MAS NMR showed that MCM-41-Imi/Br had three chemical shifts corresponding to the three carbon atoms of the propyl group. The aromatic imidazole peaks were detected at 110–140 ppm. The catalyst was used in the solvent-less synthesis of styrene carbonate (SC) from CO2 and styrene oxide (SO) under ambient conditions. It was demonstrated that the synergistic effect due to the stronger nucleophilicity of Br− and amine in the catalyst could lead to a maximum selectivity of 99.1%. Based on the results, a plausible reaction mechanism was proposed for the catalytic reaction. The catalyst could be recovered and reused several times without significant loss in the catalytic activity.