The tectonic evolution of Borneo and the affiliation between Southern and Northern Borneo remains unclear.The Rajang and Crocker Fan sediments,as one of the largest ancient submarine fans in Southeast Asia have witnes...The tectonic evolution of Borneo and the affiliation between Southern and Northern Borneo remains unclear.The Rajang and Crocker Fan sediments,as one of the largest ancient submarine fans in Southeast Asia have witnessed the tectonic evolution of Borneo since at least the late Mesozoic.In this study,we present laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer(LA-ICP-MS)U-Pb dating and Hf isotopic results of detrital zircons from the Trusmadi and Crocker formations within the Crocker Fan of Sabah,Northern Borneo.Our results,coupled with previous data,show that the Crocker Fan sediments in Sabah of Northern Borneo display similar age spectra to the Rajang Fan sediments in Sarawak of Central Borneo,with two major age clusters at 130-80 and 280-200 Ma.Further provenance analysis based on mineral shape with a prismatic characteristic and similar detrital zircon Hf isotopes of the two formations illustrates that the Jurassic-Cretaceous and partly Triassic detrital zircons of the Crocker and Rajang Fan sediments were derived from the erosion of contemporaneous magmatic rocks;part of Permian-Triassic ones could be the recycling of the Jurassic deposits in SW Borneo.The initial provenance of these Permian-Triassic detritus could be synchronous magmatic rocks in the Tin belt of the Malay Peninsula.Combining with previous data,we propose that the entire Borneo continent,including both Southern and Northern Borneo,developed a common Mesozoic continental magmatic arc.Moreover,we postulate that the Rajang and Crocker fans formed in a fore-arc extensional rift basin related to the retreat of the subducted Paleo-Pacific Plate beneath the Northern Borneo margin.展开更多
Sabah is one of the 13 states within the Federation of Malaysia and is located in the northernmost part of Borneo.It is the second largest state in Malaysia with a landmass of approximately 7.4million hectares.The tot...Sabah is one of the 13 states within the Federation of Malaysia and is located in the northernmost part of Borneo.It is the second largest state in Malaysia with a landmass of approximately 7.4million hectares.The total forested area is 4.7 million hectares.Sabah,being part of Borneo,is rich in plant biodiversity.There is also an abundance of medicinal plants and other plants for everyday use.There is a great awarness regarding association between low density lipoprotein reduction and decreased cardiovascular disease mortality.The antihyperlipidaemic activity of herbs plays an important role in the reduction of cardiovascular diseases,which is the top disease that causes mortality all over the world.Lipid-lowering activity of medicinal plant for phytomedicine research and drug development for such a disease are now focused all over the world.A plant-based diet rich in fruit,vegetables,and legumes and low in saturated fat is an effective prescription for anyone with more severe atherosclerosis.Howerver,there are few herbs available that provide some protection for persons with the above disease.The antihyperlipidaemia property in plant plays a vital role to reduce atherosclerosis.Thus,there is an increasing search for the lipid lowering agents from natural origin.In this review an attempt has been made to give an overview of the antihyperlipidemic activity in traditional medicinal plants found widely in Kadazan and Dusun communities in Sabah,Malaysia.The antihyperlipidemic activity of the traditional medicinal plants in these communities is more helpful for the development of new drugs used in the protection against dyslipidemia or atherosclerosis.展开更多
Sarawak and Sabah forms part of the continental margin extending belt of Southeast Asia.Based on the discussion of sedimentary, magmatic and metamorphic formations resulting from geotectonic development from the Paleo...Sarawak and Sabah forms part of the continental margin extending belt of Southeast Asia.Based on the discussion of sedimentary, magmatic and metamorphic formations resulting from geotectonic development from the Paleozoic to the Cenozoic. this area may be subdivided into two different tectonic regions. Geotectonic development and evolution of the regional crust are subsequently discussed in the paper.展开更多
As a developing country with the rapid growth of economic and population like Malaysia, energy and electricity play a critical role towards sustaining and supporting the development of the nation. However, like many c...As a developing country with the rapid growth of economic and population like Malaysia, energy and electricity play a critical role towards sustaining and supporting the development of the nation. However, like many countries across the world, Malaysia is facing challenges in reducing the carbon footprint while attending the expanding growth. In the Eleventh Malaysia Plan, Malaysia has pledged to renew and increase its commitment to the environment and long-term sustainability by adopting green growth initiatives. According to the plan, one of the approaches towards pursuing green growth is by undertaking the sustainable consumption and production concept that promotes economic growth without compromising the environment. One of the strategies is to focus on promoting renewable energy sources as well as boosting up the development of the systems. The last decade has seen a growing trend towards renewable energy in Malaysia, particular in solar photovoltaic applications in recent years. This paper will investigate the potentials of installing 5 MW solar PV plants in the state of Sabah according to feed in tariff incentives and its financial and environmental assessment in order to promote large scale solar PV in Malaysia. This paper calculates the economic viability through IRR and simple payback indicators and the environmental impact through CO2 emission reduction indicator for the proposed 5 MW plant.展开更多
The southwest Lahad Datu felsic rocks were previously thought to have formed in the late Triassic as part of the microcontinental crystalline basement.Based on U-Pb ages,geochemistry,and the Hfisotopes of zircon from ...The southwest Lahad Datu felsic rocks were previously thought to have formed in the late Triassic as part of the microcontinental crystalline basement.Based on U-Pb ages,geochemistry,and the Hfisotopes of zircon from the southeastern Sabah gabbro and granite,in this study,the tectonic properties of the Sabah area during the Triassic were investigated.The weighted average U-Pb zircon ages of the gabbro and granite samples were determined to be(230.9±2.5)Ma and(207.1±3.3)Ma,respectively.The granite had SiO_(2) contents of 66.54%-79.47%,low TiO_(2) contents of 0.08%-0.3%,Al_(2)O_(3) contents of 10.97%-16.22%,Na_(2)O contents of 5.91 %-6.39%,and low K_(2)O contents of 0.15%-0.65%.The chondrite-normalized rare earth element(REE) patterns exhibit light REE enrichment,with right-sloping curves.The primitive mantle-normalized trace element spider diagrams exhibit Th,U,La,Sr,and Zr enrichment and Nb,Ta,P and Ti depletions,i.e.,the geochemical characteristics of typical island arc igneous rocks.The tectonic discriminant diagram indicates that the granite is a volcanic arc granite.The Hf isotopic an alysis of gabbro zircon revealed that the zircons have ε_(Hf)(t)values of 12.08-16.24(mean of 14.32) and two-stage model ages(t_(DM2)) of 223-491 Ma(mean of 347 Ma).This indicates that the diagenetic magma of the gabbro was mainly derived from melting of newly formed crustal materials.The ophiolite in southeast Sabah has existed since the early Late Triassic.The crystalline basement granite in southeastern S abah was emplaced lasted from late Triassic to early Cretaceous.Based on previous studies and global plate reconstruction models,it is speculated that the southeastern Sabah granite may have been formed in an island arc setting,i.e.,where the oceanic crust of the Paleo-Tethys Ocean collided with the oceanic crust of the Panthalassa Ocean.展开更多
The black shale samples collected from two Neogene formations in the Klias Peninsula area,West Sabah,have been assessed and characterized in details by gas chromatography,gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and a var...The black shale samples collected from two Neogene formations in the Klias Peninsula area,West Sabah,have been assessed and characterized in details by gas chromatography,gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and a variety of organic geochemical parameters.The aims of this study are to describe the characteristics of organic matter of these sediments in terms of source/type of the organic matter,assess its thermal maturity and paleoenvironment of deposition,based primarily on biomarker distributions.The results of both formations do not reveal significant differences within the rock extracts.The gas chromatograms of the saturated hydrocarbon fractions of the Setap Shale and the Belait formations displayed monomodal n-alkane distributions and nearly identical regular sterane compositions with a predominance of C27 regular steranes.These are consistent with open marine depositional environments dominated by marine biological matter.Another related feature of these rock extracts is the presence of a high relative abundance of gammacerane,indicating anoxic marine hypersaline source depositional environment.The relatively high abundance of common land plant-derived biomarkers,such as bicadinanes and oleananes,is a clear indication of a major terrigenous input to the source of the extractable organic matter.The predominance of oleanane biomarkers in both formations is indicative of angiospermis input and Tertiary source rocks.The high C29/C30 hopane ratios,moderate development of C33-C35 hopanes,high abundance of tricyclic terpanes and a slight predominance of C27 regular sterane over C28 and C29 steranes are characteristic features tending to suggest a significant marine influence on these source rocks,thereby suggesting a mixed source input.The 22S/(22S+22R)C32 hopane ratio has reached equilibrium,and this is supported by the high maturity level as indicated by the 22S/22SC31-33 extended hopane ratios and 20S/(20S+20R)C29 regular steranes ratios.展开更多
The X-ray fluorescence and ICP methods were used to analyze 60 outcrop samples of black shale, of which 15 were collected from Belait, 15 from the Setap Shale, 15 from Temburong, and 15 from the Trusmadi for- mations....The X-ray fluorescence and ICP methods were used to analyze 60 outcrop samples of black shale, of which 15 were collected from Belait, 15 from the Setap Shale, 15 from Temburong, and 15 from the Trusmadi for- mations. The average compositions of the shales from the study area are 64.62%, 63.95%, 62.32%, 63.84% SiO2, 1.84%, 2.14%, 2.04%, 1.99% MgO, 2.55%, 3.12%, 2.89%, 2.72% K2O, 0.32%, 0.30%, 0.32%, 0.53% CaO, 5.86%, 6.06%, 7.14%, 6.60% Fe2O3, 207×10-6, 180×10-6, 213×10-6, 200×10-6 Rb, and 56×10-6, 49×10-6, 50×10-6, 32×10-6 Sr for the Setap Shale, Temburong, Belait and Trusmadi samples, respectively. The high Rb/Sr ratios of 3.8, 3.7, 4.2, and 6.1 are attributed to the lowest contents of Sr due to reducing conditions prevailing. The high Rb/K ratio sug- gests either brackish marine or rapid deposition that prevented equilibrium between Rb and K in the shales and ma- rine waters.展开更多
Background Tuberculosis(TB)is of high public health importance in Malaysia.Sabah State,located on the island of Borneo,has previously reported a particularly high burden of disease and faces unique contextual challeng...Background Tuberculosis(TB)is of high public health importance in Malaysia.Sabah State,located on the island of Borneo,has previously reported a particularly high burden of disease and faces unique contextual challenges compared with peninsular Malaysia.The aim of this study is to describe the epidemiology of TB in Sabah to identify risk groups and hotspots of TB transmission.Methods We conducted a retrospective review of TB cases notified in Sabah,Malaysia,between 2012 and 2018.Using data from the state’s‘myTB’notification database,we calculated the case notification rate and described trends in the epidemiology,diagnostic practices and treatment outcomes of TB in Sabah within this period.The Chi-squared test was used for determining the difference between two proportions.Results Between 2012 and 2018 there were 33193 cases of TB reported in Sabah(128 cases per 100000 population).We identified several geographic hotspots,including districts with>200 cases per 100000 population per year.TB rates increased with age and were highest in older males.Children<15 years accounted for only 4.6%of cases.Moderate or advanced disease on chest X-ray and sputum smear positivity was high(58 and 81%of cases respectively),suggesting frequent late diagnosis.Multi-drug resistant(MDR)TB prevalence was low(0.3%of TB cases),however,rapid diagnostic test coverage was low(1.2%)and only 18%of all cases had a positive culture result.Treatment success was 83%(range:81–85%)in those with drug-sensitive TB and 36%(range:25–45%)in cases of MDR-TB.Conclusion Between 2012 and 2018,TB notifications in Sabah State equated to 20%of Malaysia’s total TB notifications,despite Sabah representing only 10%of Malaysia’s population.We found hotspots of TB in urbanised population hubs and points of migration,as well as evidence of late presentation and diagnosis.Ensuring universal health coverage and expansion of GeneXpert®coverage is recommended to reduce barriers to care and early diagnosis and treatment for TB.展开更多
Urban forestry is understood to be the management of trees and forests in urban areas. It yieldsmany environmental and material benefits. In Sabah, the environmental services of urban forestry are moreimportant than m...Urban forestry is understood to be the management of trees and forests in urban areas. It yieldsmany environmental and material benefits. In Sabah, the environmental services of urban forestry are moreimportant than material products. The potential of practising urban forestry in various zones and underdifferent land ownership is evaluated. As urbanisation has occurred recently in Sabah, urban forestry hasonly been practised to a limited extent. Tourism is an economic sector which has gained prominence in recentyears and has huge growth potential. With the numerous environmental services provided by urban forestryto make urban areas more inhabitable, the increasing tourism activities necessitate intensification of urbanforestry activities. The main urban centres contain many tourist attractions, and are also the gateways tomany other ecotourist destinations located throughout Sabah. With tourism high on the development agendain Sabah, urban forestry needs to be promoted so that both locals and visitors can enjoy the numerous social,environmental and economic benefits.展开更多
Understanding foraging strategies of birds is essential to understanding mechanisms of their community assembly. To provide such information on a key Southeast Asian rainforest family, the babblers （Timaliidae）, we ...Understanding foraging strategies of birds is essential to understanding mechanisms of their community assembly. To provide such information on a key Southeast Asian rainforest family, the babblers （Timaliidae）, we evaluated foraging behavior and abundance in 7 morphologically and behaviorally similar sympatric species （Cyanoderma erythropterum, C. rufifrons, Stachyris maculata, S. nigricollis, S. poliocephala, Macronus ptilosus, and Mixornis gularis） in 5 habitats defined by structural complexity： （1） continuous native rainforest, （2） logged native rainforest fragments, （3） mature industrial tree plantation, （4） young industrial plantation, and （5） oil palm plantation. Enough data were obtained to compare abundance in all 7 species and foraging behavior in 5. All species were common in forest fragments and mature industrial tree plantations and less so in continuous rainforest and young industrial plantations; only M. gularis occurred in oil palm. In terms of foraging, M. gularis was the greatest generalist; C. rufifrons foraged mainly on live leaves in the forest midstory; and S. maculata, C. eryth- ropterum, and M. ptilosus foraged mainly on dead leaves suspended in understory vegetation at sig- nificantly different heights. The dead-leaf substrate depends on a rich supply of falling leaves and ex- tensive understory structure, conditions most common in native forest and old industrial plantations, and less so in mature forest, young plantations, and oil palm. Because of the importance of foraging data to understanding and managing biodiversity, we encourage the development of foraging fields in eBird （ebird.org）, so that birdwatchers may help collect these relatively rare data.展开更多
Assessments of phytoplankton diversity in Sabah waters,North Borneo,have primarily relied on morphology-based identification,which has inherent biases and can be time-consuming.Next-Generation Sequencing(NGS)technolog...Assessments of phytoplankton diversity in Sabah waters,North Borneo,have primarily relied on morphology-based identification,which has inherent biases and can be time-consuming.Next-Generation Sequencing(NGS)technology has been shown to be capable of overcoming several limitations of morphology-based methods.Samples were collected from the Sepanggar Bay over the course of the year 2018 in different monsoon seasons.Morphology-based identification and NGS sequencing of the V8–V9 region of the 18S LSU rDNA were used to investigate the diversity of the phytoplankton community.Microscopy and NGS showed complementary results with more diatom taxa detected by microscopy whereas NGS detected smaller and rarer taxa.The harmful algal genera in the study site comprised of Skeletonema,Margalefidinium,Pyrodinium,Takayama,and Alexandrium as detected by NGS.This study showed that that an integrative approach of both morphological and molecular techniques could provide more comprehensive information about the phytoplankton community as the approach captured quantitative variability as well as the diversity of phytoplankton species.展开更多
基金jointly supported by the Scientific Research Foundation of Third Institute of Oceanography,Ministry of Natural Resources,Xiamen(No.2018002)the Guangxi Natural Science Fundation(No.2022GXNSFBA035588)+1 种基金the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Nos.41506050,41402193)the Scientific Research Foundation of Guangxi Key Laboratory of Hidden Metallic Ore Deposits Exploration(No.19-185-17-09)。
文摘The tectonic evolution of Borneo and the affiliation between Southern and Northern Borneo remains unclear.The Rajang and Crocker Fan sediments,as one of the largest ancient submarine fans in Southeast Asia have witnessed the tectonic evolution of Borneo since at least the late Mesozoic.In this study,we present laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer(LA-ICP-MS)U-Pb dating and Hf isotopic results of detrital zircons from the Trusmadi and Crocker formations within the Crocker Fan of Sabah,Northern Borneo.Our results,coupled with previous data,show that the Crocker Fan sediments in Sabah of Northern Borneo display similar age spectra to the Rajang Fan sediments in Sarawak of Central Borneo,with two major age clusters at 130-80 and 280-200 Ma.Further provenance analysis based on mineral shape with a prismatic characteristic and similar detrital zircon Hf isotopes of the two formations illustrates that the Jurassic-Cretaceous and partly Triassic detrital zircons of the Crocker and Rajang Fan sediments were derived from the erosion of contemporaneous magmatic rocks;part of Permian-Triassic ones could be the recycling of the Jurassic deposits in SW Borneo.The initial provenance of these Permian-Triassic detritus could be synchronous magmatic rocks in the Tin belt of the Malay Peninsula.Combining with previous data,we propose that the entire Borneo continent,including both Southern and Northern Borneo,developed a common Mesozoic continental magmatic arc.Moreover,we postulate that the Rajang and Crocker fans formed in a fore-arc extensional rift basin related to the retreat of the subducted Paleo-Pacific Plate beneath the Northern Borneo margin.
基金Supported by a grant from Advanced Medical and Dental Institute(AMDI)/Universiti Sains Malaysia(USM)(FWA/IRB Registration No.00005517/00002273)
文摘Sabah is one of the 13 states within the Federation of Malaysia and is located in the northernmost part of Borneo.It is the second largest state in Malaysia with a landmass of approximately 7.4million hectares.The total forested area is 4.7 million hectares.Sabah,being part of Borneo,is rich in plant biodiversity.There is also an abundance of medicinal plants and other plants for everyday use.There is a great awarness regarding association between low density lipoprotein reduction and decreased cardiovascular disease mortality.The antihyperlipidaemic activity of herbs plays an important role in the reduction of cardiovascular diseases,which is the top disease that causes mortality all over the world.Lipid-lowering activity of medicinal plant for phytomedicine research and drug development for such a disease are now focused all over the world.A plant-based diet rich in fruit,vegetables,and legumes and low in saturated fat is an effective prescription for anyone with more severe atherosclerosis.Howerver,there are few herbs available that provide some protection for persons with the above disease.The antihyperlipidaemia property in plant plays a vital role to reduce atherosclerosis.Thus,there is an increasing search for the lipid lowering agents from natural origin.In this review an attempt has been made to give an overview of the antihyperlipidemic activity in traditional medicinal plants found widely in Kadazan and Dusun communities in Sabah,Malaysia.The antihyperlipidemic activity of the traditional medicinal plants in these communities is more helpful for the development of new drugs used in the protection against dyslipidemia or atherosclerosis.
文摘Sarawak and Sabah forms part of the continental margin extending belt of Southeast Asia.Based on the discussion of sedimentary, magmatic and metamorphic formations resulting from geotectonic development from the Paleozoic to the Cenozoic. this area may be subdivided into two different tectonic regions. Geotectonic development and evolution of the regional crust are subsequently discussed in the paper.
文摘As a developing country with the rapid growth of economic and population like Malaysia, energy and electricity play a critical role towards sustaining and supporting the development of the nation. However, like many countries across the world, Malaysia is facing challenges in reducing the carbon footprint while attending the expanding growth. In the Eleventh Malaysia Plan, Malaysia has pledged to renew and increase its commitment to the environment and long-term sustainability by adopting green growth initiatives. According to the plan, one of the approaches towards pursuing green growth is by undertaking the sustainable consumption and production concept that promotes economic growth without compromising the environment. One of the strategies is to focus on promoting renewable energy sources as well as boosting up the development of the systems. The last decade has seen a growing trend towards renewable energy in Malaysia, particular in solar photovoltaic applications in recent years. This paper will investigate the potentials of installing 5 MW solar PV plants in the state of Sabah according to feed in tariff incentives and its financial and environmental assessment in order to promote large scale solar PV in Malaysia. This paper calculates the economic viability through IRR and simple payback indicators and the environmental impact through CO2 emission reduction indicator for the proposed 5 MW plant.
基金The National Science and Technology Major Project under contract No. 2016ZX05026-004the National Key R&D Program of China under contract No. 2019YFC0605402the National Natural Science Foundation of China under contract No.41790453。
文摘The southwest Lahad Datu felsic rocks were previously thought to have formed in the late Triassic as part of the microcontinental crystalline basement.Based on U-Pb ages,geochemistry,and the Hfisotopes of zircon from the southeastern Sabah gabbro and granite,in this study,the tectonic properties of the Sabah area during the Triassic were investigated.The weighted average U-Pb zircon ages of the gabbro and granite samples were determined to be(230.9±2.5)Ma and(207.1±3.3)Ma,respectively.The granite had SiO_(2) contents of 66.54%-79.47%,low TiO_(2) contents of 0.08%-0.3%,Al_(2)O_(3) contents of 10.97%-16.22%,Na_(2)O contents of 5.91 %-6.39%,and low K_(2)O contents of 0.15%-0.65%.The chondrite-normalized rare earth element(REE) patterns exhibit light REE enrichment,with right-sloping curves.The primitive mantle-normalized trace element spider diagrams exhibit Th,U,La,Sr,and Zr enrichment and Nb,Ta,P and Ti depletions,i.e.,the geochemical characteristics of typical island arc igneous rocks.The tectonic discriminant diagram indicates that the granite is a volcanic arc granite.The Hf isotopic an alysis of gabbro zircon revealed that the zircons have ε_(Hf)(t)values of 12.08-16.24(mean of 14.32) and two-stage model ages(t_(DM2)) of 223-491 Ma(mean of 347 Ma).This indicates that the diagenetic magma of the gabbro was mainly derived from melting of newly formed crustal materials.The ophiolite in southeast Sabah has existed since the early Late Triassic.The crystalline basement granite in southeastern S abah was emplaced lasted from late Triassic to early Cretaceous.Based on previous studies and global plate reconstruction models,it is speculated that the southeastern Sabah granite may have been formed in an island arc setting,i.e.,where the oceanic crust of the Paleo-Tethys Ocean collided with the oceanic crust of the Panthalassa Ocean.
文摘The black shale samples collected from two Neogene formations in the Klias Peninsula area,West Sabah,have been assessed and characterized in details by gas chromatography,gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and a variety of organic geochemical parameters.The aims of this study are to describe the characteristics of organic matter of these sediments in terms of source/type of the organic matter,assess its thermal maturity and paleoenvironment of deposition,based primarily on biomarker distributions.The results of both formations do not reveal significant differences within the rock extracts.The gas chromatograms of the saturated hydrocarbon fractions of the Setap Shale and the Belait formations displayed monomodal n-alkane distributions and nearly identical regular sterane compositions with a predominance of C27 regular steranes.These are consistent with open marine depositional environments dominated by marine biological matter.Another related feature of these rock extracts is the presence of a high relative abundance of gammacerane,indicating anoxic marine hypersaline source depositional environment.The relatively high abundance of common land plant-derived biomarkers,such as bicadinanes and oleananes,is a clear indication of a major terrigenous input to the source of the extractable organic matter.The predominance of oleanane biomarkers in both formations is indicative of angiospermis input and Tertiary source rocks.The high C29/C30 hopane ratios,moderate development of C33-C35 hopanes,high abundance of tricyclic terpanes and a slight predominance of C27 regular sterane over C28 and C29 steranes are characteristic features tending to suggest a significant marine influence on these source rocks,thereby suggesting a mixed source input.The 22S/(22S+22R)C32 hopane ratio has reached equilibrium,and this is supported by the high maturity level as indicated by the 22S/22SC31-33 extended hopane ratios and 20S/(20S+20R)C29 regular steranes ratios.
文摘The X-ray fluorescence and ICP methods were used to analyze 60 outcrop samples of black shale, of which 15 were collected from Belait, 15 from the Setap Shale, 15 from Temburong, and 15 from the Trusmadi for- mations. The average compositions of the shales from the study area are 64.62%, 63.95%, 62.32%, 63.84% SiO2, 1.84%, 2.14%, 2.04%, 1.99% MgO, 2.55%, 3.12%, 2.89%, 2.72% K2O, 0.32%, 0.30%, 0.32%, 0.53% CaO, 5.86%, 6.06%, 7.14%, 6.60% Fe2O3, 207×10-6, 180×10-6, 213×10-6, 200×10-6 Rb, and 56×10-6, 49×10-6, 50×10-6, 32×10-6 Sr for the Setap Shale, Temburong, Belait and Trusmadi samples, respectively. The high Rb/Sr ratios of 3.8, 3.7, 4.2, and 6.1 are attributed to the lowest contents of Sr due to reducing conditions prevailing. The high Rb/K ratio sug- gests either brackish marine or rapid deposition that prevented equilibrium between Rb and K in the shales and ma- rine waters.
文摘Background Tuberculosis(TB)is of high public health importance in Malaysia.Sabah State,located on the island of Borneo,has previously reported a particularly high burden of disease and faces unique contextual challenges compared with peninsular Malaysia.The aim of this study is to describe the epidemiology of TB in Sabah to identify risk groups and hotspots of TB transmission.Methods We conducted a retrospective review of TB cases notified in Sabah,Malaysia,between 2012 and 2018.Using data from the state’s‘myTB’notification database,we calculated the case notification rate and described trends in the epidemiology,diagnostic practices and treatment outcomes of TB in Sabah within this period.The Chi-squared test was used for determining the difference between two proportions.Results Between 2012 and 2018 there were 33193 cases of TB reported in Sabah(128 cases per 100000 population).We identified several geographic hotspots,including districts with>200 cases per 100000 population per year.TB rates increased with age and were highest in older males.Children<15 years accounted for only 4.6%of cases.Moderate or advanced disease on chest X-ray and sputum smear positivity was high(58 and 81%of cases respectively),suggesting frequent late diagnosis.Multi-drug resistant(MDR)TB prevalence was low(0.3%of TB cases),however,rapid diagnostic test coverage was low(1.2%)and only 18%of all cases had a positive culture result.Treatment success was 83%(range:81–85%)in those with drug-sensitive TB and 36%(range:25–45%)in cases of MDR-TB.Conclusion Between 2012 and 2018,TB notifications in Sabah State equated to 20%of Malaysia’s total TB notifications,despite Sabah representing only 10%of Malaysia’s population.We found hotspots of TB in urbanised population hubs and points of migration,as well as evidence of late presentation and diagnosis.Ensuring universal health coverage and expansion of GeneXpert®coverage is recommended to reduce barriers to care and early diagnosis and treatment for TB.
文摘Urban forestry is understood to be the management of trees and forests in urban areas. It yieldsmany environmental and material benefits. In Sabah, the environmental services of urban forestry are moreimportant than material products. The potential of practising urban forestry in various zones and underdifferent land ownership is evaluated. As urbanisation has occurred recently in Sabah, urban forestry hasonly been practised to a limited extent. Tourism is an economic sector which has gained prominence in recentyears and has huge growth potential. With the numerous environmental services provided by urban forestryto make urban areas more inhabitable, the increasing tourism activities necessitate intensification of urbanforestry activities. The main urban centres contain many tourist attractions, and are also the gateways tomany other ecotourist destinations located throughout Sabah. With tourism high on the development agendain Sabah, urban forestry needs to be promoted so that both locals and visitors can enjoy the numerous social,environmental and economic benefits.
文摘Understanding foraging strategies of birds is essential to understanding mechanisms of their community assembly. To provide such information on a key Southeast Asian rainforest family, the babblers （Timaliidae）, we evaluated foraging behavior and abundance in 7 morphologically and behaviorally similar sympatric species （Cyanoderma erythropterum, C. rufifrons, Stachyris maculata, S. nigricollis, S. poliocephala, Macronus ptilosus, and Mixornis gularis） in 5 habitats defined by structural complexity： （1） continuous native rainforest, （2） logged native rainforest fragments, （3） mature industrial tree plantation, （4） young industrial plantation, and （5） oil palm plantation. Enough data were obtained to compare abundance in all 7 species and foraging behavior in 5. All species were common in forest fragments and mature industrial tree plantations and less so in continuous rainforest and young industrial plantations; only M. gularis occurred in oil palm. In terms of foraging, M. gularis was the greatest generalist; C. rufifrons foraged mainly on live leaves in the forest midstory; and S. maculata, C. eryth- ropterum, and M. ptilosus foraged mainly on dead leaves suspended in understory vegetation at sig- nificantly different heights. The dead-leaf substrate depends on a rich supply of falling leaves and ex- tensive understory structure, conditions most common in native forest and old industrial plantations, and less so in mature forest, young plantations, and oil palm. Because of the importance of foraging data to understanding and managing biodiversity, we encourage the development of foraging fields in eBird （ebird.org）, so that birdwatchers may help collect these relatively rare data.
基金The Partial Funding from Sandric Leong through the National University of Singaporethe Fundamental Research Grant Scheme of the Ministry of Education,Malaysia under contract No.FRGS/1/2017/WAB09/UMS/02/1.
文摘Assessments of phytoplankton diversity in Sabah waters,North Borneo,have primarily relied on morphology-based identification,which has inherent biases and can be time-consuming.Next-Generation Sequencing(NGS)technology has been shown to be capable of overcoming several limitations of morphology-based methods.Samples were collected from the Sepanggar Bay over the course of the year 2018 in different monsoon seasons.Morphology-based identification and NGS sequencing of the V8–V9 region of the 18S LSU rDNA were used to investigate the diversity of the phytoplankton community.Microscopy and NGS showed complementary results with more diatom taxa detected by microscopy whereas NGS detected smaller and rarer taxa.The harmful algal genera in the study site comprised of Skeletonema,Margalefidinium,Pyrodinium,Takayama,and Alexandrium as detected by NGS.This study showed that that an integrative approach of both morphological and molecular techniques could provide more comprehensive information about the phytoplankton community as the approach captured quantitative variability as well as the diversity of phytoplankton species.
