Northeastern Peninsular Malaysia Research Articles

Biological and ecological determinants of Hand Foot and Mouth Disease (HFMD) in Coastal District of Northeastern Peninsular Malaysia: A 5-Year retrospective study

Hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) is a common viral communicable disease in Malaysia, characterized by its self-limiting nature, yet it leads to numerous outbreaks and fatalities, particularly among young children. The current study aimed to determine the prevalence, geographic distribution, temporal patterns, and associated factors of HFMD cases within the Bachok District of Kelantan, spanning the years 2018 to 2022. A retrospective cohort study analysed extract data on independent factors and notification status from the Communicable Disease Control Information System (CDCIS). Simple and multiple logistic regression analyses were employed on a cohort of 1351 HFMD’s notifications. The retrospective analysis reveals a predominant HFMD’s notification were males (56.7%). Outpatient care was common (98.4%), with primary health care being the main choice. Logistic regression indicates higher odds for HFMD in those attending primary health care or private practitioners, daycare attendees, during the Southwest Monsoon season, and before the Movement Control Order (MCO) implementation, emphasizing key risk factors for HFMD. This study’s integrative approach recognizes that health and disease are often influenced by a combination of factors spanning the ecological, biological, and clinical domains. Thus, emphasizing the need for a comprehensive understanding when formulating public health strategies particularly in primary healthcare settings and daycare facilities during the Southwest Monsoon season.

Knowledge and attitude regarding obstructive sleep apnoea among medical and dental practitioners working in North-Eastern Peninsular Malaysia: A comparative cross-sectional study.

Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) is a temporary airflow obstruction during periods of sleep. Patients with OSA often suffer from poor work performance, compromised sleep quality, and low quality of life which may lead to a life-threatening event. Adequate knowledge and a positive attitude toward OSA among medical and dental practitioners are crucial to the initial diagnosis and treatment. This study aimed to identify the differences in knowledge and attitude toward OSA between medical and dental practitioners working in North-Eastern Peninsular Malaysia. A comparative cross-sectional study was performed from February 2020 to February 2021. A total of fifty-two medical practitioners and fifty-two dental practitioners working at university-based outpatient clinics, government health clinics, and oral health clinics located in Kelantan State of Malaysia participated in the study, and data were collected by the structured questionnaire including sociodemographic inquiry and OSAKA questionnaire by non-probability stratified random sampling. The Mann-Whitney U test was used to compare knowledge and attitude scores between the two groups. The mean age of the respondents was 34.6 years. The current study shows that 92.3% of medical doctors and 96.1% of dental doctors were able to correctly answer the question "Most of the patients with OSA snore" a significant finding in our study. Only 1% of medical professionals could answer seventeen questions correctly with a median score of 11, and only 1% of dental professionals could answer sixteen questions correctly with a median score of 9. None of them could provide an accurate answer to all the knowledge questions. Medical and dental practitioners exhibited different knowledge levels on OSA (z- statistics=-4.39, U = 827.00 with p < 0.05, and effect size, r = 0.61). However, no significant differences were found in total knowledge score by gender (p-value>0.05), ethnicity (p-value>0.05), total service years (p-value>0.05), and training attended. In addition, significant differences in attitude levels between medical and dental practitioners have been observed (z-statistics=-3.42, U = 725.00 with p < 0.05, and effect size, r = 0.47). Nevertheless, no significant differences have been seen in total attitude score by ethnicity (p-value > 0.05), total service years (p-value > 0.05), attending training on OSA (p-value > 0.05), and professional status (p-value > 0.05) except gender (p-value < 0.05). A Significant difference is evident concerning knowledge and attitude toward OSA diagnosis and management between medical and dental practitioners working in North-Eastern Peninsular Malaysia. Medical practitioners in this study recorded a higher knowledge and attitude score compared to dental practitioners.

Geology and Landslide Susceptibility Using GIS at Kampung Belahat, Jeli, Kelantan

The geological study of Kampung Belahat in Jeli, Kelantan, Malaysia, which is located close to the Thai border in northeastern Peninsular Malaysia, is the main subject of this research. The Jeli district, which spans an area of roughly 2,552 square kilometers, has three different geomorphological types: low, hills, and mountainous. Kampung Belahat is surrounded by a mix of flat, hilly, and mountainous terrain due to the area’s height range of 80m to 900m. The goal of the study is to update Kampung Belahat’s geological map, with a particular emphasis on geomorphology, lithology, and structural geology and to determine the landslide susceptibility of study area. Comprehensive geological data was gathered by laboratory work, sampling, and traversing during the geological mapping process. The area’s lithology consists of high-grade metamorphic rock types and intrusive igneous rock, with granite and gneiss being the main rock types. The granite rock shows signs of metamorphic processes, including 33% biotite, 46% quartz, 11% alkali feldspar, and 10% plagioclase. Gneiss rock, on the other hand, has flattened minerals as a result of metamorphism; it contains 13% alkali feldspar, 35% quartz, and 52% biotite. Granite was the primary geological structure observed, combined with visible quartz veins and joint and fault structures. The study took into account five factors: aspect, drainage density, lithology, slope, and land use. The Weightage Overlay Method (WOM) was used to process the data. The study area is categorized into three risk levels on the resulting landslide susceptibility map: low (5%), moderate (30%), and high (65%). This knowledge is essential for putting safety precautions in place, reducing potential harm during future development in the area, and reducing the likelihood of landslides.

Oxidative stress responses of the scleractinian coral Acropora digitifera from the tropical Bidong Island, Malaysia - focus on protein thiol groups' detection

Over the past 40 years, recurrent episodes of coral bleaching have been observed around the world, which have led to coral reef degradation. The investigation of several biomarkers' responses is essential to understand the phenomenon. The present field experiment study was conducted on nine healthy colonies of the scleractinian coral Acropora digitifera collected in Bidong Island (north-eastern Peninsular Malaysia) between 2019 and 2020 to evaluate their oxidative stress status through the assessment of Symbiodiniaceae (SD) density, antioxidant enzyme activities, lipid oxidation, and protein thiol, with special emphasis on temperature. This study revealed that the presence of the dominant SD ITS2 type C3 from 2019 to 2020 suggests that the relationship between A. digitifera and the genus Cladocopium remains unaffected by the temperature. Concomitantly, there was no significant increase in antioxidant enzyme activities (glutathione S-transferase and catalase) with temperature, indicating that A. digitifera was capable of managing oxidative stress even in a warm environment. The monthly mean antioxidant enzyme activities and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels were lowest in July 2020 and then increased significantly in the subsequent sampling month, indicating a biochemical regulation to maintain cellular homeostasis. Meanwhile, the level of sensitive protein thiol was highest at 30.8 °C and significantly reduced up to 60% as temperature fluctuated, showing that proteins undergo only a small range of oxidative modifications. In addition, we found a weak negative correlation between SD density and thiol content, which may indicate that (1) the presence of SD constantly causes subtle oxidative pressure on coral hosts and (2) the presence of high SD density increases the potential for thiol oxidation. We conclude that there is no direct evidence of A. digitifera experiencing considerable oxidative stress and cellular damage, provided the rate of disturbance remains low.

The Performance of Antigen-detecting Rapid Diagnostic Test Among COVID-19 Outbreaks in North-Eastern Peninsular Malaysia

Background and aims: Accurate and timely diagnosis is crucial for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreaks. Antigen-detecting rapid diagnostic tests (Ag-RDTs) are easily accessible and affordable, producing rapid results. They are an alternative to the limited gold-standard real-time reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR) tests. This study assessed the performance of Ag-RDTs for COVID-19 outbreaks in institutional settings with high disease prevalence in Kelantan State, Malaysia. Methods: This study analyzed a total of 303 individuals from five institutional outbreaks with paired nasopharyngeal specimens tested for COVID-19 by Ag-RDTs and rRT-PCR. The diagnostic performance of Ag-RDTs was evaluated through rRT-PCR as the gold standard based on cycle threshold (Ct) value, disease prevalence, and manufacturers. Results: There was a moderate agreement between Ag-RDTs and RT-PCR (κ=0.603; 95% CI: 0.520- 0.686; P&lt;0.001). The overall specificity was 97.9% (95% CI: 94.1%-99.6%), sensitivity was 63.3% (95% CI: 55.3%-70.8%), accuracy Ag-RDTs was 81.2% (95% CI: 76.4%-85.5%), while positive and negative predictive value was 96.6% (95% CI: 90.2%-98.9%) and 74.1% (95% CI: 70.0%-77.9%), respectively. Further, lower median Ct was reported in 100 (33.0%) true-positive cases compared to 58 (19.1%) false-negative cases (20.3 vs 31.4, P&lt;0.001). The sensitivity was higher (P&lt;0.001) in those with high viral load (Ct value≤25.0) with better performance and a prevalence&gt;10%. In addition, no significant difference was observed between the studied manufacturers. Conclusion: The Ag-RDTs performed well in diagnosing COVID-19 among outbreaks with higher viral load and disease prevalence. High-risk cases tested negative by Ag-RDTs may have low viral load and require confirmation by rRT-PCR.

Prevalence, Risk Factors and Microbiological Profile of Orthopaedic Surgical Site Infection in North-Eastern Peninsular Malaysia.

The devastating outcome of orthopaedic surgical site infections (SSI) are largely preventable if its risk factors, causative organisms and antimicrobial susceptibility patterns in the regional area are known. We conducted a retrospective study to address the lack of epidemiological and microbiological data on orthopaedic SSI in Malaysia. All the 80 patients diagnosed and treated for microbiologically proven orthopaedic SSIs in a tertiary hospital in Malaysia from April 2015 to March 2019 were included in a 1:2 case control study. The prevalence of SSI in clean and clean-contaminated surgeries was 1.243%, which is consistent with most of the studies worldwide, but is low compared to other studies done in Malaysia. The most common type of orthopaedics SSI were internal fixation infections (46.25%), superficial SSIs (25.2%) and Prosthetic joint infections (18.75%). Obesity and tobacco use were found to be significant risk factors of orthopaedic SSI. The most common perioperative prophylaxis used was IV cefuroxime. Majority of the cases (86.5%) received prolonged prophylactic antibiotics. The most common causative agent was Staphylococcus aureus (31.25%), followed by Pseudomonas aeruginosa (26.25%) and Enterobacter spp (7.5%). Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) accounted for 20% of the S. aureus infections. Up to 19.4% of the Gram-negative organisms are multidrug resistant. The higher rate of isolation of organisms resistant to the prophylactic antibiotics being used may be related to the prolonged use of prophylactic antibiotics, which exerted selective pressure for the acquisition of resistant organisms. Despite its relatively low prevalence in our local institution and worldwide, the prevention of SSI in orthopaedic practice is crucial to avoid morbidity, mortality and high healthcare cost. This may be achieved by control of modifiable risk factors such as obesity and tobacco use, appropriate use of prophylactic antibiotics and implementation of good surgical and infection control practices.

Low morphological and genetic variation within the glass-perchlet Parambassis siamensis (Teleostei: Ambassidae) in Peninsular Malaysia.

We compare several populations of the glass-perchlet Parambassis siamensis (Fowler 1937) (Teleostei: Ambassidae) sampled throughout Peninsular Malaysia to determine their degree of differentiation, using both morphological and molecular characters. Our morphological analyses do not show evidence for the presence of more than one species, with the range of morphometric and meristic characters overlapping among populations. Our genetic analysis using partial sequences of the mitochondrial gene coding for the protein cytochrome c oxidase I (COI) reveals the existence of two clades that diverge from each other by a minimum uncorrected p-distance of 2.2%. The first clade comprises of specimens from south-eastern Peninsular Malaysia (Pahang and Endau-Rompin River basins) along with those from Cambodia (lower Mekong River). The second clade comprises of specimens from western Peninsular Malaysia (Selangor, Kurau, Perak, Muda and Kerian River basins) and north-eastern Peninsular Malaysia (Terengganu River basin), along with those from Chao Phraya River basin nearby Bangkok (type locality of P. siamensis). The presence of specimens with numerous melanophores on body sides in each of these two clades indicates that body marking pattern is not a valuable taxonomic character. This finding supports the conclusion that Chanda punctulata Fraser-Brunner 1955 is a junior synonym of P. siamensis. Altogether, our results support the hypothesis that all populations of P. siamensis in Peninsular Malaysia (along those from Chao Phraya and lower Mekong basins) are conspecific, comprising two genetically distinct, although close lineages. We further discuss the phenotypic plasticity within P. siamensis in relation to lotic and lentic habitats. Finally, we briefly discuss some implications for biogeography and possible causes explaining the distribution pattern.

Pattern of third molar impactions in north-eastern peninsular Malaysia: A 10-year retrospective study.

Third molar impaction, if left untreated, has the potential to cause several complications. The evaluation of surgical difficulty of impacted third molar extraction aids in better formulation of treatment plan by minimizing surgical complications. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of third molar impaction and related pathologic conditions in a cohort of patients living in North-eastern Peninsular Malaysia. In this retrospective study, 490 orthopantomograms (OPGs) of patients who were referred to the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery department between January 2010 and December 2019 were assessed. Data including age, gender, ethnicity, frequency of third molar impactions, their angulations and levels of eruption, retromolar space, and associated pathologic conditions were collected. Statistical analysis was performed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 24.0. The significance level was set to P < 0.05. A total of 490 patients with a mean age of 28.87 years (range: 20-64) demonstrated 1957 impacted third molars (1022 mandibular + 935 maxillary). Impacted third molars were more likely present in females than males (1:2.20) (p < 0.05); and in Malay-ethnic (44.49%) patients followed by Chinese (34.45%) and Indians (21.02%). Mesioangular was the most common angulation of impaction both in the maxilla (24.68%) and mandible (18.34%). The most common pattern of third molar impaction was IIA (61.67%), and the retromolar space was significantly larger in males (13.6 mm; P < 0.05) than females (11.6 mm). The most frequently occurring pathological condition associated with third molars impaction is dental caries in the second or third molar (15.38%). This study highlights mesioangular impaction with their occlusal plane at the same level as the occlusal plane of the adjacent tooth being the most prevalent pattern of third molar impaction in North-eastern Peninsular Malaysia.

The upper respiratory tract microbiome of indigenous Orang Asli in north-eastern Peninsular Malaysia

Much microbiome research has focused on populations that are predominantly of European descent, and from narrow demographics that do not capture the socio-economic and lifestyle differences which impact human health. Here we examined the airway microbiomes of the Orang Asli, the indigenous peoples of Malaysia. A total of 130 participants were recruited from two sites in the north-eastern state of Terengganu in Peninsular Malaysia. Using 16S rRNA sequencing, the nasal microbiome was significantly more diverse in those aged 5–17 years compared to 50+ years (p = 0.023) and clustered by age (PERMANOVA analysis of the Bray–Curtis distance, p = 0.001). Hierarchical clustering of Bray–Curtis dissimilarity scores revealed six microbiome clusters. The largest cluster (n = 28; 35.4%) had a marked abundance of Corynebacterium. In the oral microbiomes Streptococcus, Neisseria and Haemophilus were dominant. Using conventional microbiology, high levels of Staphylococcus aureus carriage were observed, particularly in the 18–65 age group (n = 17/36; 47.2% 95% CI: 30.9–63.5). The highest carriage of pneumococci was in the <5 and 5 to 17 year olds, with 57.1% (4/7) and 49.2% (30/61), respectively. Sixteen pneumococcal serotypes were identified, the most common being the nonvaccine-type 23A (14.6%) and the vaccine-type 6B (9.8%). The prevalence of pneumococcal serotypes covered by pneumococcal conjugate vaccines support introduction into a Malaysian national immunisation schedule. In addition, the dominance of Corynebacterium in the airway microbiomes is intriguing given their role as a potentially protective commensal with respect to acute infection and respiratory health.

Detection of microplastics in human colectomy specimens.

Background and AimWhile dietary exposure to microplastics is increasingly recognized, it is unknown if ingested plastics remain within the digestive tract. We aimed to examine human colectomy specimens for microplastics and to report the characteristics as well as polymer composition of the particles.MethodsColectomy samples were obtained from 11 adults (mean age 45.7, six males) who were residents of Northeastern Peninsular Malaysia. Microplastics were identified following chemical digestion of specimens and subsequent filtration. The samples were then examined for characteristics (abundance, length, shape, and color) and composition of three common polymer types using stereo‐ and Fourier Transform InfraRed (FTIR) microscopes.ResultsMicroplastics were detected in all 11 specimens with an average of 331 particles/individual specimen or 28.1 ± 15.4 particles/g tissue. Filaments or fibers accounted for 96.1% of particles, and 73.1% of all filaments were transparent. Out of 40 random filaments from 10 specimens (one had indeterminate spectra patterns), 90% were polycarbonate, 50% were polyamide, and 40% were polypropylene.ConclusionOur study suggests that microplastics are ubiquitously present in the human colon.

Making Health Services Adolescent-Friendly in Northeastern Peninsular Malaysia: A Mixed-Methods Study.

A mixed-methods study was conducted in a Malaysian state beginning with a cross-sectional quantitative study to determine the relationship between clinic characteristics and clinic score of adolescent-friendliness. Subsequently, perceptions of healthcare providers on the facilitating factors for the provision of adolescent-friendly health services were explored qualitatively to support the quantitative findings. Availability of trained healthcare providers, adequate privacy, dedicated adolescent health services team, and adolescent health promotional activities were the clinic characteristics that significantly (p < 0.05) related with clinics’ scores of adolescent-friendliness. The facilitating factors required for adolescent-friendly health services were (1) healthcare providers’ commitment and prioritization towards adolescent-friendly health services; (2) organizational supports; (3) appropriate clinic settings; and (4) external supports for adolescent health promotional activities. The qualitative findings reaffirmed those of the quantitative study on the significant clinic characteristics required for adolescent-friendly health services. This study provides valuable insight for the Ministry of Health to elicit the required facilitating factors to further improve the quality of adolescent health services in Malaysia.

Oral health and nutritional status of children with cerebral palsy in northeastern peninsular Malaysia.

To investigate the oral health and nutritional status of children with cerebral palsy (CP). Oral health assessment included dental caries and dental plaque maturity scores (DPMS) while the nutritional assessment included children's height-for-age Z-score (HAZ), body mass index-for-age Z-score (BAZ), mid-upper-arm circumference (MUAC), nutrient intake, cariogenic food frequency (CFF) and daily sugar exposure (DSE). Ninety-three CP children were recruited. The prevalence of caries was 81.7% (95% CI: 72.7%-88.3%). The median (IQR) of the DMFT and dft scores were 0.5(4.0) and 3.0(8.0), respectively. Most of the participants had acid-producing plaque (90.3%), severely stunted (81.4%), and 45% were severely thin with acute malnutrition. Intakes of calcium, iron, zinc, vitamin A, vitamin D and total fat were below 77% of the Recommended Nutrient Intakes for Malaysian children (RNI 2017). Nine types of cariogenic foods/drinks were consumed moderately, and DSE indicated that 45% of the children were at moderate risk of dental caries. Untreated dental caries, severe stunting and thinness were prevalent, and cariogenic foods/drinks were consumed moderately suggesting a moderate risk of caries. Therefore, controlling cariogenic food intake is crucial, but monitoring daily nutrient intake is needed for the optimum growth of children with CP.

Two new Tytthoscincus Linkem, Diesmos, Brown (Squamata; Scincidae) from Peninsular Malaysia and another case of microsyntopy between ecologically specialized, unrelated, leaf-litter species.

Two new species of diminutive, sympatric, lowland, leaf-litter skinks of the genus Tytthoscincus Linkem, Diesmos Brown from the Sekayu region of Hulu Terengganu, Terengganu State in northeastern Peninsular Malaysia are described on the basis genetic and morphological data. One of the new species, T. monticolus sp. nov., was collected in a hilly riparian area along Sungai (=river) Bubu and is most closely related to an undescribed species from the Tembak Reservoir area. The other, T. keciktuek sp. nov. collected along Sungai Peres, is most closely related to T. perhentianensis Grismer, Wood, Grismer from Pulau (=island) Perhentian Besar. Sympatry and syntopy of multiple, specialized, unrelated, leaf-litter species of Tytthoscincus was previously only known from upland areas and these new species represent the first example of lowland of sympatry. More importantly, however, these endemic species add to a growing body of research and discoveries that continue to underscore the unrealized biodiversity of the riparian systems of Hulu Terengganu and the Sekayu region and their need for protection and continued study.

Prevalence of Clostridium difficile infection and colonization in a tertiary hospital and elderly community of North-Eastern Peninsular Malaysia.

Little is known about Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) in Asia. The aims of our study were to explore (i) the prevalence, risk factors and molecular epidemiology of CDI and colonization in a tertiary academic hospital in North-Eastern Peninsular Malaysia; (ii) the rate of carriage of C. difficile among the elderly in the region; (iii) the awareness level of this infection among the hospital staffs and students. For stool samples collected from hospital inpatients with diarrhea (n = 76) and healthy community members (n = 138), C. difficile antigen and toxins were tested by enzyme immunoassay. Stool samples were subsequently analyzed by culture and molecular detection of toxin genes, and PCR ribotyping of isolates. To examine awareness among hospital staff and students, participants were asked to complete a self-administered questionnaire. For the hospital and community studies, the prevalence of non-toxigenic C. difficile colonization was 16% and 2%, respectively. The prevalence of CDI among hospital inpatients with diarrhea was 13%. Out of 22 C. difficile strains from hospital inpatients, the toxigenic ribotypes 043 and 017 were most common (both 14%). In univariate analysis, C. difficile colonization in hospital inpatients was significantly associated with greater duration of hospitalization and use of penicillin (both P < 0·05). Absence of these factors was a possible reason for low colonization in the community. Only 3% of 154 respondents answered all questions correctly in the awareness survey. C. difficile colonization is prevalent in a Malaysian hospital setting but not in the elderly community with little or no contact with hospitals. Awareness of CDI is alarmingly poor.

Extreme Rainstorms that Caused Devastating Flooding across the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia during November and December 2014

Abstract During the early boreal winter (northeast) monsoon (November–December), cold air frequently bursts out from intense Siberian highs toward the Chinese coast in response to the development and movement of a 500-hPa trough. The resultant strong low-level northwesterlies turn into northeasterlies across the South China Sea as “cold surges.” On interacting with the near-equatorial trough, mesoscale convective systems form north of the trough, normally giving rise to heavy downpours and severe flooding, mainly along the coastal stretch in the east coast states of Peninsular Malaysia. In November 2014, a 1-week-long episode of heavy downpours, producing more than 800 mm of rain, occurred along the coastal stretch of northeastern Peninsular Malaysia. However, during December 2014, two episodes of extreme rainfall occurred mostly over inland and mountainous areas of the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia, in particular across its northern sector. These two unusual events, which lasted a total of 11 days and delivered more than 1100 mm of precipitation, resulted in extreme and widespread flooding, as well as extensive damage, in many inland areas. Analysis shows that the stronger wind surges from the South China Sea due to very intense cold-air outbreaks of the Siberian high developed under ENSO-neutral conditions. In addition, the mesoscale convective systems that developed across the northeastern Indian Ocean (near northern Sumatra) in response to the propagation of a 500-hPa short-wave trough across the Indian subcontinent toward China were the combined factors for these unusual extreme rainfall and flooding events along the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia.

Climate change impacts under CMIP5 RCP scenarios on water resources of the Kelantan River Basin, Malaysia

This study aims to evaluate the potential impacts of climate change on water resources of the Kelantan River Basin in north-eastern Peninsular Malaysia using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model. Thirty-six downscaled climate projections from five General Circulation Models (GCMs) under the three Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs) 2.6, 4.5 and 8.5 scenarios for the periods of 2015–2044 and 2045–2074 were incorporated into the calibrated SWAT model. Differences of these scenarios were calculated by comparing to the 1975–2004 baseline period. Overall, the SWAT model performed well in monthly streamflow simulation, with the Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency values of 0.75 and 0.63 for calibration and validation, respectively. Based on the ensemble of five GCMs, the annual rainfall and maximum temperature are projected to increase by 1.2–8.7% and 0.6–2.1°C, respectively. This corresponds to the increases in the annual streamflow (14.6–27.2%), evapotranspiration (0.3–2.7%), surface runoff (46.8–90.2%) and water yield (14.2–26.5%) components. The study shows an increase of monthly rainfall during the wet season, and decrease during the dry season. Therefore, the monthly streamflow and surface runoff are likely to increase significantly in November, December and January. In addition, slight decreases in the monthly water yield are found between June and October (1.9–8.9%) during the 2015–2044 period. These findings could act as a scientific reference to develop better climate adaptation strategies.

QUANTITATIVE PRECIPITATION FORECAST USING NUMERICAL WEATHER PREDICTION AND METEOROLOGICAL SATELLITE FOR KELANTAN AND KLANG RIVER BASINS

The unusual heavy rainfall episodes over Kelantan River Basin in 2014 had caused massive destruction and several deaths. The unprecedented storm events at the north-eastern Peninsular Malaysia and many other places indicate the need for enhanced storm forecasting to improve disaster preparedness among the civilian. Quantitative precipitation forecast (QPF) from atmospheric model combined with geostationary meteorological satellite information as input to hydrodynamic model for flood forecasting system can potentially provide improved lead time for warning. In this study, a QPF model is developed using the multilayer neural network with data inputs from the numerical weather prediction (NWP) model products combined with the geostationary meteorological satellite infrared and visible image features to forecast precipitation for a flood-prone area in a tropical region. The results indicate that the model can satisfactorily produce 1-hour rainfall forecast with improved accuracy for larger forecast area. The R2 for areal average rainfall for Kelantan river basin is 0.674 and for Klang river basin is 0.893 whereas the R2 for point rainfall is 0.392 for Kelantan river basin and 0.495 for Klang river basin.

First report on the amphibians and reptiles of a remote mountain, Gunung Tebu in northeastern Peninsular Malaysia

This is the first herpetological survey and checklist of the Mount Tebu (Gunung Tebu) region including the upland areas of Gunung Tebu, the surrounding lowlands of Hutan Lipur Lata Belatan, and the nearby lowland region of Hutan Lipur Lata Tembaka in Terrengganu, northeastern Peninsular Malaysia. Expanding upon the only previous herpetological survey in this region from Gunung Lawit (Dring 1979), we record a total of 106 species including 43 species previously unknown from this portion of Peninsular Malaysia.

New records and range-extension of the swimming crab Xiphonectes pseudohastatoides (Yang &amp; Tang, 2006) (Brachyura, Portunidae)

During an examination of swimming crabs of the Xiphonectes hastatoides species-complex from Malaysia and Vietnam, a series of specimens of Xiphonectes pseudohastatoides (Yang &amp; Tang, 2006) was identified. This small-sized species was recognized based on its flattened pilose carapace with typical shape of its frontal teeth, a pair of long posterior lateral teeth and sharp posterolateral angles forming spines, ‘T’-shaped male abdomen with widely fused segments, and strongly curved first male pleopods. These specimens represent the first record of X. pseudohastatoides outside the northern part of the South China Sea, and thus, an extension of the known species range to central Vietnam and northeastern peninsular Malaysia. A short description and photographs are provided for the examined specimens.

Long-roofed Houses of Northeastern Peninsular Malaysia: Sustainability of Its Identity in the Built Environment

Rumahbujangberselasar (single terraced house berselasar) and rumahtiangduabelas (twelve-pillared house) are the earliest and commonest house forms built among the old traditional houses of Kelantan and Terengganu in the northeastern part of Peninsular Malaysia. These long-roofed houses exhibit the distinctive form and the principal building components which contribute to their architectural identity. The houses in which the architectural form differs from the other Malay traditional house also give their distinctive distributions of ornate wood carvings. These houses are considered as the heritage of traditional Malay architecture originated from the region. Their survival and visibility in the past and present built environment reflect several changes in their architectural features. This paper aims to explore and elaborate the distinct characteristics and the features of the house architectural form that suggest the sustainability to preserve its identity within the existence of heterogeneous language and boundary. A few methods used to study this dimension of the house architecture include document review, face to face interviews with experts and on-site surveys and observation. The findings of research elucidate different patterns in continuing the existence of the house architecture since the 19th century until today. This includes: (1) modification or extension of the old structures, (2) adaptation/reuse of an old building, (3) reconstruction of the old structure, and (4) adoption of the architectural form in modern materials and construction. These preservation efforts are made by the descendant's initiatives, government agencies and individual or private patrons which exemplify the diversified modes in safeguarding the regional identity of the built form through the passage of time. The findings of this research illustrate a valuable spectrum on the meanings of long-roofed house in the traditional and modern environments which serve as a direction in developing the understanding and awareness of its heritage values.