The genetics of suicide is increasingly recognized and relevant for mental health literacy, but actual beliefs may lag behind current knowledge. We examined such beliefs in student samples (total N = 686) from Estonia, Malaysia, Romania, the United Kingdom, and the United States with the Beliefs in the Inheritance of Risk Factors for Suicide Scale. Cultural effects were small, those of key demographics nil. Several facets of construct validity were demonstrated. Marked differences in perceived plausibility of evidence about the genetics of suicide according to research design, observed in all samples, may be of general interest for investigating lay theories of abnormal behavior and communicating behavioral and psychiatric genetic research findings.
MeSH terms: Cross-Cultural Comparison; Culture*; Estonia/epidemiology; Female; Great Britain/epidemiology; Humans; Malaysia/epidemiology; Male; Surveys and Questionnaires*; Risk Factors; Romania/epidemiology; Suicide/statistics & numerical data*; United States/epidemiology; Incidence; Young Adult
We review renal registry data from the Asia-Pacific region with an emphasis on their uses in health care and in dialysis care in particular. The review aims to demonstrate the information value of registry data. While renal registry provides a useful data resource for epidemiological research, there are severe methodological limitations in its application for analytical or therapeutic research. However, it is the use of renal registry data for public health and health-care management purposes that registry really comes into its own, and it is primarily for these that governments have invested in national patient and disease registries. We apply data from several renal registries in the Asia-Pacific region to illustrate its wide application for planning dialysis services, for evaluating dialysis practices and health outcomes, with a view to improving the quality of dialysis care. In the course of preparing the review, we have found that the quality and accessibility of renal registry data were highly variable across the region. Given the value of renal registry, every country in the Asia-Pacific region should establish one or should ensure that their current registries are better resourced and developed. Greater data sharing and collaboration among registries in the region could help advance the nephrology to serve our patients better.
MeSH terms: Adult; Age Factors; Asia/epidemiology; Cooperative Behavior; Cost-Benefit Analysis; Female; Humans; International Cooperation; Kidney Diseases/economics; Kidney Diseases/ethnology; Kidney Diseases/mortality; Kidney Diseases/therapy*; Male; Middle Aged; Research Design*; Residence Characteristics; Sex Factors; Time Factors; Treatment Outcome; Health Care Costs; Practice Guidelines as Topic; Benchmarking; Australasia
The existing clinical teaching in small group sessions is focused on the patient's disease. The main dual limitation is that not only does the clinical skill testing become secondary but there is also a slackening of student involvement as only 1 student is evaluated during the entire session. A new methodology of small group teaching being experimented shifted the focus to testing students' clinical skills with emphasise on team participation by daily evaluation of the entire team. The procedure involved was that the group underwent training sessions where the clinical skills were taught demonstrated and practiced on simulated patients (hear-see-do module). Later the entire small group, as a team, examined the patient and each student was evaluated for 1 of 5 specific tasks--history taking, general examination, systemic examination, discussion and case write-up. Out of 170 students, 69 students (study) and 101 students (control) were randomly chosen and trained according to the new and existing methods respectively. Senior faculty (who were blinded as to which method of teaching the student underwent) evaluated all the students. The marks obtained at 2 examinations were tabulated and compared for tests of significance using t-test. The difference in the marks obtained showed a statistically significant improvement in the study group indicating that the new module was an effective methodology of teaching. The teaching effectiveness was evaluated by student feedback regarding improvement in knowledge, clinical and communication skills and positive attitudes on a 5-point Likert scale. Psychometric analysis was very positively indicative of the success of the module.
MeSH terms: Clinical Competence/standards; Education, Medical/methods*; Educational Measurement/methods; Feedback*; Group Processes*; Humans; Random Allocation; Students, Medical*; General Surgery/education*
Variations in the arterial pattern of the upper limb have been observed frequently, either in the routine dissections or in clinical practice. The aim of the present study was to describe the anatomical, surgical and embryological importance of major arteries of upper limbs of human beings. The present article is the report of low division and trifurcation of brachial artery and abnormal course of radial artery (passing deep to the pronator teres muscle) found in a 45-year-old embalmed male cadaver. Knowledge of the arterial variations in the upper limb is of considerable importance during invasive and non-invasive investigative procedures or orthopedic, reconstructive, or surgical procedures.
Extended patient monitoring has become increasingly important for detection of cardiac conditions, such as irregularities in the rhythms of the heart, while patient is practicing normal daily activity. This paper presents a design of a single lead wireless cardiac rhythm interpretive instrument that capable of capture the electrocardiogram (ECG) in digital format and transmitted to a remote base-station (i.e. PC) for storage and further interpretation. The design has achieved high quality of ECG and free of interference in the presence of motion.
MeSH terms: Diagnosis, Computer-Assisted/instrumentation*; Diagnosis, Computer-Assisted/methods; Equipment Design; Heart Rate/physiology*; Pilot Projects; Sensitivity and Specificity; Reproducibility of Results; Electrocardiography, Ambulatory/instrumentation*; Telemedicine/instrumentation*; Telemedicine/methods; Equipment Failure Analysis
Software technology enables computerized analysis to offer second opinion in various screening and diagnostic tasks to assist the clinicians. Yet, the performance of these computerized methods for medical images is questioned by experts in CAD research, owing to the use of different databases and criteria for evaluating the computer results for comparison. This paper intends to substantiate this statement by illustrating the effects of such issues with the use of 1D physiologic data and multiple databases. For this purpose, the detection of desaturation events in Sp02 and spike events in EEG are used. This is the first time that comparison between different algorithms on a common basis is carried out on an individual effort. The appraisal for all the algorithms is made on the same databases and criteria. It is surprising to find that issues for 2/3D images concur with those found in 1D data here. In evaluating the accuracy of a new algorithm, a single independent database gives results fast. This paper reveals weaknesses of such an approach. It is hoped that the supportive evidence shown here is enough for researchers to innovate a better platform for credibility in reporting performance comparison of computerized analysis algorithms.
MeSH terms: Action Potentials/physiology*; Algorithms*; Brain/physiology*; Diagnosis, Computer-Assisted/methods*; Electroencephalography/methods*; Nerve Net/physiology*; Sensitivity and Specificity; Reproducibility of Results; Databases, Factual*
This study presents a new approach to determine the significant prognosis factors in dengue patients utilizing the self-organizing map (SOM). SOM was used to visualize and determine the significant factors that can differentiate between the dengue patients and the healthy subjects. Bioimpedance analysis (BIA) parameters and symptoms/signs obtained from the 210 dengue patients during their hospitalization were used in this study. Database comprised of 329 sample (210 dengue patients and 119 healthy subjects) were used in the study. Accordingly, two maps were constructed. A total of 35 predictors (17 BIA parameters, 18 symptoms/signs) were investigated on the day of defervescence of fever. The first map was constructed based on BIA parameters while the second map utilized the symptoms and signs. The visualized results indicated that, the significant BIA prognosis factors for differentiating the dengue patients from the healthy subjects are reactance, intracellular water, ratio of the extracellular water and intracellular water, and ratio of the extracellular mass and body cell mass.
A "single-trial" signal subspace approach for extracting visual evoked potential (VEP) from the ongoing 'colored' electroencephalogram (EEG) noise is proposed. The algorithm applies the generalized eigendecomposition on the covariance matrices of the VEP and noise to transform them jointly into diagonal matrices in order to avoid a pre-whitening stage. The proposed generalized subspace approach (GSA) decomposes the corrupted VEP space into a signal subspace and noise subspace. Enhancement is achieved by removing the noise subspace and estimating the clean VEPs only from the signal subspace. The validity and effectiveness of the proposed GSA scheme in estimating the latencies of P100's (used in objective assessment of visual pathways) are evaluated using real data collected from Selayang Hospital in Kuala Lumpur. The performance of GSA is compared with the recently proposed single-trial technique called the Third Order Correlation (TOC).
MeSH terms: Algorithms*; Diagnosis, Computer-Assisted/methods; Electroencephalography/methods*; Evoked Potentials, Visual/physiology*; Humans; Sensitivity and Specificity; Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted*; Visual Cortex/physiology*; Reproducibility of Results; Event-Related Potentials, P300/physiology*
This study investigates the effects of tocotrienol (TT) or alpha-tocopherol (TF) supplementation on corticosterone level, noradrenalin level and gastric lesions in rats exposed to restraint stress. Twenty-four male Sprague Dawley rats were randomly assigned into 4 equally sized groups; two control groups were given olive oil, while the treated group was supplemented with either tocotrienol of tocopherol orally at a dose of 60 mg/kg body weight. After 28 days of treatment, one control group, TT group and TF group were subjected to restraint stress, 2 hours daily for 4 consecutive days. After the last exposure to stress, plasma samples were taken to determine the corticosterone and noradrenalin levels, after which the rats were sacrificed. The stomach was excised for the evaluation of gastric lesions. Our findings showed that TT and TF were able to maintain the corticosterone level to the prestress values, while only TT was able to maintain the noradrenalin level in rats exposed to stress. Tocotrienol was found to be better in preventing formation of gastric lesions compared to TF. As a conclusion, the protective effect of vitamin E was related to the ability to inhibit stress induced elevation of corticosterone and noradrenalin levels.
Xanthorrhizol is a natural sesquiterpenoid compound isolated from the rhizome of Curcuma xanthorrhizza Roxb (Zingerberaceae). Recent studies of xanthorrhizol in cell cultures strongly support the role of xanthorrhizol as an antiproliferative agent. In our study, we tested the antiproliferative effect of xanthorrhizol using different breast cancer cell lines. The invasive breast cancer cell line, MDA-MB-231, was then selected for further investigations. Treatment with xanthorrhizol caused 50% growth inhibition on MDA-MB-231 cells at 8.67 +/- 0.79 microg/ml as determined by sulforhodamine B (SRB) assay. Hoechst 33258 nuclear staining assay showed the rate of apoptosis of MDA-MB-231 cells to increase in response to xanthorrhizol treatment. Immunofluorescence staining using antibody MitoCapture and fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-labeled cytochrome c revealed the possibility of altered mitochondrial transmembrane potential and the release of cytochrome c respectively. This was further confirmed by Western-blotting, where cytochrome c was showed to migrate from mitochondrial fraction to the cytosol fraction of treated MDA-MB-231 cells. Caspase activity assay showed the involvement of caspase-3 and caspase-9, but not caspase-6 or caspase-8 in MDA-MB-231 apoptotic cell death. Subsequently, cleavage of PARP-1 protein is suggested. These data suggest treatment with xanthorrhizol modulates MDA-MB-231 cell apoptosis through the mitochondria-mediated pathway subsequent to the disruption of mitochondrial transmembrane potential, release of cytochrome c, activation of caspase-3 and caspase-9, and the modulation of PARP-1 protein.
MeSH terms: Animals; Breast Neoplasms/drug therapy*; Breast Neoplasms/metabolism; Breast Neoplasms/pathology; Cattle; Cell Line; Cercopithecus aethiops; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Enzyme Activation/drug effects; Bisbenzimidazole/chemistry; Humans; Isoenzymes/metabolism; Phenols/pharmacology*; Poly(ADP-ribose) Polymerases/metabolism; Staining and Labeling/methods; Vero Cells; Apoptosis/drug effects*; Caspases/metabolism; Cytochromes c/metabolism; Cell Line, Tumor; Cell Growth Processes/drug effects
This research, commissioned by the Malaysian AIDS Council in 2007, is qualitative and descriptive in nature. In depth face-to-face interviews were carried out with 15 mak nyah respondents from five major towns. The interviews were guided by an interview schedule that had seven main topics: brief background; hormone-taking behaviour; safe sex; health care; substance abuse; harassment from authorities; and HIV prevention. The HIV problem among the mak nyah, mak nyah sex workers and their clients is critical. Many do not have in-depth HIV/AIDS knowledge and do not practise safe sex. The problem gets worse when most mak nyah do not consider HIV/AIDS as a primary concern because of other pressing problems like employment and discrimination. There are also no HIV prevention activities in many parts of Malaysia. Mak nyah also face constant harassment from enforcement authorities for prostitution. This hampers HIV prevention work.
MeSH terms: Adult; Developing Countries; Female; Health Education/methods*; Health Services Needs and Demand; Humans; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; Malaysia/epidemiology; Male; Middle Aged; Prostitution/statistics & numerical data; Surveys and Questionnaires; Transsexualism*; HIV Infections/epidemiology; HIV Infections/prevention & control*; HIV Infections/transmission; Incidence; Condoms*; Homosexuality, Male/statistics & numerical data; Homosexuality, Female/statistics & numerical data; Safe Sex/statistics & numerical data*
Catheter ablation has come to play an important therapeutic role in the management of some patients with ventricular arrhythmias. An important advance in catheter ablation of ventricular tachycardia (VT) has been the development of three-dimensional catheter-based mapping systems, which permit identification of the tachycardia circuit and facilitate a strategy for catheter ablation. As a result, patients who suffer from "focal" forms of VT have been identified. This can have implications with respect to underlying arrhythmia mechanism, patient prognosis, and therapeutic strategies. The article reviews some insights learned from catheter ablation of focal forms of VT.
Multidrug microbial resistance poses major challenges to the management of infection, particularly with the paucity of new drugs with activity against these bacteria. Since the turn of this century a few new antibiotics have been licensed, including linezolid, daptomycin and tigecycline. This supplement reports data presented at the 13th International Congress of Infectious Diseases held in Kuala Lumpur in June 2008. Dr R. Isturiz reviews the data on global resistance trends and the potential impact on empirical therapy; Dr J.-H. Song reviews new agents on the antimicrobial horizon; and the final paper in the supplement, by Dr L.R. Peterson, reviews the role of tigecycline in the management of complicated intra-abdominal and skin and soft tissue infections.
Metanilate-layered double hydroxide nanohybrid compound was synthesized for controlled release purposes through co-precipitation method of the metal cations and organic anion. The effect of various divalent metal cations (M2+), namely Zn2+, Mg2+ and Ca2+ on the formation of metanilate-LDH nanohybrids, in which metanilate anion was intercalated into three different layered double hydroxide (LDH) systems; Zn-Al, Mg-Al and Ca-Al were investigated. The syntheses were carried out with M2+ to Al3+ initial molar ratio, R of 4. The pH of the mother liquor was maintained at pH 7.5 and 10 during the synthesis, and the resulting mixture was aged at around 70 degrees C for about 18 h. The intercalation of metanilate anion into the host was found to be strongly influenced by the M2+ that formed the inorganic metal hydroxide layers. Under our experimental condition, the formation of the nanohybrid materials was found to be more feasible for the Zn-Al than for the other two systems, in which the former showed well-ordered layered organic-inorganic nanohybrid structure with good crystallinity. Intercalation is confirmed by the expansion of the interlayer spacing to about 15-17 A when metanilate was introduced into the interlamellae of Zn-Al LDHs. In addition, CHNS and FTIR analyses also support that metanilate anion has been successfully intercalated into the interlamellae of the inorganic LDH. Apart from M2+, this study also shows that the initial pH of the mother liquor plays an important role in determining the physicochemical properties of the resulting nanohybrids, especially the mole fraction of the Zn2+ substituted by the Al3+ ion in the LDH inorganic sheets which in turn controlled the loading percentage of the organic anion, surface properties and the true density. Preliminary study shows that LDH can be used to host beneficial guests, active agent with controlled release capability of the guests. Generally the overall process is governed by pseudo second order kinetic but for the first 180 min, the release process can be slightly better described by parabolic diffusion than the other models.
The potential of kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus L.) for phytoremediation of lead (Pb) on sand tailings was investigated. A pot experiment employing factorial design with two main effects of fertilizer and lead was conducted in a nursery using sand tailings from an ex-tin mine as the growing medium. Results showed that Pb was found in the root, stem, and seed capsule of kenaf but not in the leaf. Application of organic fertilizer promoted greater biomass yield as well as higher accumulation capacity of Pb. In Pb-spiked treatments, roots accumulated more than 85% of total plant Pb which implies that kenaf root can be an important sink for bioavailable Pb. Scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM) X-ray microanalysis confirmed that electron-dense deposits located along cell walls of kenaf roots were Pb precipitates. The ability of kenaf to tolerate Pb and avoid phytotoxicity could be attributed to the immobilization of Pb in the roots and hence the restriction of upward movement (translocation factor < 1). With the application of fertilizer, kenaf was also found to have higher biomass and subsequently higher bioaccumulation capacity, indicating its suitability for phytoremediation of Pb-contaminated site.
An assemblage of beetle specimens from family Carabidae (ground beetles) was carried out at Kenyir water catchment as an indicator to measure disturbance. The samplings were conducted from 30th July to 1st August 2007 at limestone forest of Teluk Bewah and the dipterocarp forest of Sungai Cicir. 28 individuals from 13 species were collected from Teluk Bewah whereas 54 individuals from ten species was sampled from Sungai Cicir. The carabids were more specious (Simpson Diversity index: 0.97) and more abundant (Margalef index: 5.35) at Teluk Bewah compared to Sungai Cicir (Simpson Diversity index, 0.72: Margalefindex, 2.22). Light trapping was most efficient assembling 97.56% of ground beetles compared to Malaise trap, pitfall and net sweeping. This is the first record of beetle assemblage at Kenyir water catchment, Malaysia. New records for Kenyir, Terengganu, Malaysia are Abacetus sp. 1, Abacetus sp. 2, Acupalpus rectifrotis, Aephnidius adelioides, Dischissus notulatus, Dolichoctis sp., Dolichoctis sp. 2, Dolichoctis straitus, Ophinoea bimaculata, Perigona sp., Pheropsophus piciccollis, Pheropsophus occipitalis, Stenolophus quinquepustulatus, Stenolophus smaragdulus, Stenolophus sp., Tachys coracinus, Casnoidea sp., Orthogonius sp. Seven species coded as Cara C, Cara J, Cara M, Cara N, Cara O, Cara R and Cara S were unidentified and are probably new species to be described in another report. There is moderately high diversity (Simpson Diversity index: 0.846) of Carabidae indicating that ecotourism does not affect diversity of ground beetle at Kenyir Lake.
MeSH terms: Animals; Beetles/physiology*; Conservation of Natural Resources; Ecology; Environment; Geography; Malaysia; Phylogeny; Population Density; Species Specificity; Water/metabolism*; Ecosystem; Biodiversity
The occipital sinus (OS) lies in the attached margin of the faix cerebelli in the internal occipital crest of the occipital bone. The OS extends from the foramen magnum to the confluence of sinuses. Standard textbooks and research reports do not describe in detail any variation in the groove for the occipital sinus.
The last 20 years have seen a tremendous growth in the field of computing with special reference to mobile computing. Ergonomic issues pertaining to this theme remains unexplored. With special reference to readability in mobile computing, an experimental research was conducted to study the gender effect on human performance under the impact of vibration in a human computer interaction environment. Fourteen subjects (7 males and 7 females) participated in the study. Three independent variables, namely gender, level of vibration and screen text/background colour, were selected for the experimental investigation while the dependent variable was the number of characters read per minute. The data collected were analyzed statistically through an experimental design for repeated measures. Results indicated that gender as an organismic variable, the level of vibration and screen text/background colour revealed statistically significant differences. However, the second order interaction was found to be statistically non-significant. These findings are discussed in light of the previous studies undertaken on the topic.
MeSH terms: Adult; Automobiles*; Color; Female; Humans; Human Engineering*; Lighting; Male; Microcomputers*; Reading*; Sex Factors; Task Performance and Analysis; User-Computer Interface; Vibration; Computer Terminals*