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This study attempted to identify and determine distribution of Leptospira spp. in environmental samples using 16S rRNA and rpoβ genes amplification. The samples were collected from high risk areas in Selangor, Malaysia. A total of 105 environmental samples consisting of soil and water were subjected to direct DNA extraction and PCR reaction. PCR products were analysed using gel electrophoresis and subjected to sequence analysis. Thirteen out of 105 (12.38%) samples were amplified for 16S rRNA with an expected amplicon size of 330 bp, while 50 out of 105 (47.62%) samples showed amplification using rpoβ primers, but were not of expected size. Of the 13 16S rRNA amplified samples, only 5 were identified as Leptospira in the gene sequence analysis and clustered under uncultured group via phylogenetic tree. This study showed the DNA-based approach using PCR and sequence analysis is able to detect the presence of Leptospira, although environmental samples may contain diverse microbial populations that may complicate the detection. Overall, the study suggested the importance of surveillance for Leptospira from environmental samples.

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Diluted magnetic semiconductors (DMSs) have always been of great interest to study due to their wide applications in spintronics. This research was carried out to study the influence of different hydrogen gas flow rates annealing on the physical properties of Fe doped indium oxide. In 1.92 Fe 0.08 O 3 thin films were prepared by a sol-gel method and followed by a spin coating technique. Different flow rates of hydrogen gas were applied during the annealing process. All samples showed high orientation along the (222) direction and exhibit a polycrystalline structure. Grain size increased as the flow rate increased due to the stronger reduction of H 2 . FTIR studies showed the existence of an O-H bond in the range of 3000 -4000 cm -1 and it was caused by the flow of H 2 gas during the annealing process. The resistivity of In 1.92 Fe 0.08 O 3 thin films decreased and the carrier concentration increased with increasing hydrogen flow rates. This work has significance on the size-dependent properties and the chemical bonding in Fe doped In 2 O 3 films. Keywords: FTIR; H 2 gas flow rate; iron doped indium oxide; thin film ABSTRAK Semikonduktor magnetik cair (DMSs) sentiasa menjadi tarikan utama untuk dikaji disebabkan penggunaannya yang meluas dalam spintronik. Kajian ini dijalankan untuk mengkaji kesan perbezaan aliran gas hidrogen sepuh lindap pada sifat fizikal filem Fe terdop indium oksida. Filem In 1.92 Fe 0.08 O 3 telah disediakan melalui kaedah sol-gel diikuti dengan teknik salutan putaran. Kadar aliran gas hidrogen yang berlainan digunakan semasa proses penyepuh lindapan. Kesemua sampel menunjukkan orientasi tinggi pada arah (222) dan berstruktur polihablur. Saiz butiran bertambah apabila kadar aliran bertambah disebabkan pengurangan H 2 . Kajian FTIR menunjukkan kewujudan ikatan O-H dalam julat 3000 -4000 cm -1 dan ia disebabkan oleh aliran gas H 2 semasa proses penyepuh lindapan. Kerintangan filem nipis In 1.92 Fe 0.08 O 3 menurun dan kepekatan pembawa meningkat dengan peningkatan kadar aliran . Kajian ini mempunyai keberertian pada sifat kebergantungan kepada saiz dan ikatan kimia dalam filem Fe terdop In 2 O 3 . Kata kunci: Fe terdop indium oksida; filem nipis; FTIR; kadar aliran gas H 2

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