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Introduction: The treatment of Plasmodium vivax malaria with 8-aminoquinolines is contraindicated in glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficient individuals due to the risk of acute haemolytic anaemia. Effective G6PD screening is paramount to avoid adverse drug reactions. This study aimed to evaluate the performance of novel quantitative point-of-care (POC) tests as a new screening method for G6PD deficiency in Malaysia. Materials and Methods: A total of 153 neonatal cord blood, 99 peripheral blood of older children aged between 1 month to 12-years old, and 62 peripheral adult blood were screened for G6PD deficiency using two quantitative POC tests, CareStartTM biosensor (Carestart) and CareStartTM Biosensor 1 (S1). The results were compared with OSMMR2000D kit as a reference assay. Two statistical analyses were performed in this study to evaluate the POC test performances, the Spearman's correlation test and the Cohen's kappa method. Results: Both Carestart and S1 tests showed significant positive correlations to OSMMRS000D with r² = 0.7916 and r² = 0.7467. Their measurement of agreement showed a kappa (κ) value of 0.805 (p<0.001, 95% CI), and 0.795 (p<0.001, 95% CI), respectively. Analysis of the area under the Receiver Operating Curve (ROC) at 60% cut-off illustrated that the Carestart had 90.2% sensitivity, 98.9% specificity, 98.3% positive predictive value (PPV), and 93.8% negative predictive value (NPV). The corresponding values for the S1 were 95.2%, 100%, 100%, and 96.8%, respectively. Conclusion: This study showed that the Carestart and S1 biosensors have high-performance reliability for screening of G6PD deficiency, which can guide safe prescriptions of anti-malaria medications and hence, eradication of Plasmodium vivax malaria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent reports of the use of ultrasound for communication by nocturnal mammals have expanded our understanding of behaviour in these animals. The vocal repertoire of colugos has so far only been known to include audible sound. Here, we report the use of ultrasound calls by Sunda colugos (Galeopterus variegatus, order Dermoptera). We recorded one type of call emitted by seven individuals with mean individual frequencies between 37.4 ± 0.6 and 39.2 ± 0.7 kHz during its maximum energy and lasting 28.7 ± 1.6 to 46.9 ± 21.1 ms. Each call showed 3–36 sequential pulses with individual mean interpulse intervals between 423.0 ± 101.4 and 1230.0 ± 315.4 ms. High frequency calls may serve as cryptic anti-predator alarm calls. Our observations suggest that more species of nocturnal mammals may use ultrasound to communicate, and that further studies are needed to determine the occurrence, function and diversity of these calls. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]