INTRODUCTION: This paper presents a comprehensive review of acne grading and measurement. Acne is a chronic disorder of the pilosebaceous units, with excess sebum production, follicular epidermal hyperproliferation, inflammation and Propionibacterium acnes activity. Most patients are affected with acne vulgaris, which is the prevalent type of acne. Acne vulgaris consists of comedones (whitehead and blackhead), papules, pustules, nodules and cysts.
OBJECTIVES: To review and identify the issues for acne vulgaris grading and computational assessment methods. To determine the future direction for addressing the identified issues.
METHODS: There are two main methods of assessment for acne severity grading, namely, lesion counting and comparison of patient with a photographic standard. For the computational assessment method, the emphasis is on computational imaging techniques.
RESULTS: Current acne grading methods are very time consuming and tedious. Generally, they rely on approximation for counting lesions and hence the assessment is quite subjective, with both inter and intra-observer variability. It is important to accurately assess acne grade to evaluate its severity as this influences treatment selection and assessment of response to therapy. This will further help in better disease management and more efficacious treatment.
CONCLUSION: Semi-automated or automated methods based on computational imaging techniques should be devised for acne grade assessment.
Methyl salicylate-lactose physical mixture (1:1 and 1:1.5 ratios) was incorporated into calcium alginate beads by a coacervation method involving an ionotropic gelation/polyelectrolyte complexation approach.
To determine the general characteristics of people with mental disorders in traditional healers centres in Sudan in terms of sociodemographic profile, common clinical presentations and diagnostic features, and to look at the treatment methods and intervention procedures used in these centres for treating people with mental illness.
MeSH terms: Adult; Mental Disorders/therapy*; Demography; Female; Humans; Interviews as Topic; Male; Middle Aged; Surveys and Questionnaires; Sudan; Medicine, African Traditional/methods*; Young Adult
Drug addiction is a multifactorial disorder. Researchers have posited that an individual's inherited behavioral propensity or temperament contributes to the disorder by shaping a personality strongly linked with the risk of drug abuse. Further, they hypothesize that the polymorphism of dopamine D2 receptor increases the susceptibility to and severity of addiction. We, therefore, investigated possible associations between dopamine D2 receptor (DRD2) and personality traits among intravenous heroin addicts.
MeSH terms: Base Sequence; Heroin/adverse effects*; Humans; Male; Opioid-Related Disorders/genetics*; Opioid-Related Disorders/psychology*; Personality/genetics*; Polymorphism, Genetic*; Surveys and Questionnaires; Receptors, Dopamine D2/genetics*; DNA Primers
The prophenoloxidase activating system is an important innate immune response against microbial infections in invertebrates. The major enzyme, phenoloxidase, is synthesized as an inactive precursor and its activation to an active enzyme is mediated by a cascade of clip domain serine proteinases. In this study, a cDNA encoding a prophenoloxidase activating enzyme-III from the giant freshwater prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergii, designated as MrProAE-III, was identified and characterized. The full-length cDNA contains an open reading frame of 1110 base pair (bp) encoding a predicted protein of 370 amino acids including an 22 amino acid signal peptide. The MrProAE-III protein exhibits a characteristic sequence structure of a long serine proteases-trypsin domain and an N- and C-terminal serine proteases-trypsin family histidine active sites, respectively, which together are the characteristics of the clip-serin proteases. Sequence analysis showed that MrProAE-III exhibited the highest amino acid sequence similarity (63%) to a ProAE-III from Atlantic blue crab, Callinectes sapidus. MrProAE-III mRNA and enzyme activity of MrProAE-III were detectable in all examined tissues, including hepatopancreas, hemocytes, pleopods, walking legs, eye stalk, gill, stomach, intestine, brain and muscle with the highest level of both in hepatopancreas. This is regulated after systemic infectious hypodermal and hematopoietic necrosis virus infection supporting that it is an immune-responsive gene. These results indicate that MrProAE-III functions in the proPO system and is an important component in the prawn immune system.
MeSH terms: Amino Acid Sequence; Animals; Base Sequence; Brachyura/enzymology; Immunity, Innate/genetics*; Models, Molecular*; Molecular Sequence Data; Protein Conformation; Serine Endopeptidases/genetics*; Serine Endopeptidases/metabolism*; Species Specificity; Specific Pathogen-Free Organisms; Spectrophotometry; Open Reading Frames/genetics; Sequence Homology; Sequence Analysis, DNA; DNA, Complementary/genetics; Densovirinae/immunology*; Palaemonidae/enzymology*; Palaemonidae/immunology; Palaemonidae/virology; Gene Components; Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction
Dental rehabilitation of a completely edentulous geriatric patient has always been a challenge to the clinician, especially in treating those with higher expectations and demands. Treatment duration and the amount of residual alveolar bone available are often important considerations when planning for dental implant-based fixed treatment for these patients. With the introduction of zygomatic implants, a graftless alternative solution has emerged for deficient maxillary bone with provision for immediate loading. This article describes the treatment of a completely edentulous elderly patient using zygomatic implants in conjunction with conventional implants. The implants were immediately loaded using a definitive acrylic resin fixed denture reinforced with a cast metal framework, to provide function and aesthetics.
The purpose of the study was to investigate relationships between vocal fold vibrations and voice quality. Laryngeal images obtained from high-speed digital imaging (HSDI) were examined for their open-closed timing characteristics and perturbation values. A customized software delineated the glottal edges and used the Hilbert transform-based method of analysis to provide objective quantification of glottal perturbation. Overlay tracings of the transformed glottal cycles provided visual patterns on the overall vibratory dynamics. In this paper, we described the use of this method in looking at vibratory characteristics of a group of young female speakers (N=23). We found that, females with no voice complaints and who had been perceived to have normal voices were not a homogeneous group in terms of their glottal vibratory patterns during phonation. Their vibratory patterns showed characteristics similar to exemplar voices targeted to be clear (50%), pressed (27%), breathy (15%), or a mixed quality (8%). Perturbation range in terms of cycle-to-cycle frequency and amplitude was small and did not discriminate patterns. All these patterns yielded perceptually normal voices suggesting that in normal young speakers, the level of perturbation may be more important to the judgment than the actual pattern of closure.
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small RNAs (sRNAs) with approximately 21-24 nucleotides in length. They regulate the expression of target genes through the mechanism of RNA silencing. Conventional isolation and cloning of miRNAs methods are usually technical demanding and inefficient. These limitations include the requirement for high amounts of starting total RNA, inefficient ligation of linkers, high amount of PCR artifacts and bias in the formation of short miRNA-concatamers. Here we describe in detail a method that uses 80 μg of total RNA as the starting material. Enhancement of the ligation of sRNAs and linkers with the use of polyethylene glycol (PEG8000) was described. PCR artifacts from the amplification of reverse-transcribed sRNAs were greatly decreased by using lower concentrations of primers and reducing the number of amplification cycles. Large concatamers with up to 1 kb in size with around 20 sRNAs/concatamer were obtained by using an optimized reaction condition. This protocol provide researchers with a rapid, efficient and cost-effective method for the construction of miRNA profiles from plant tissues containing low amounts of total RNA, such as fruit flesh and senescent leaves.
The origin of Malagasy DNA is half African and half Indonesian, nevertheless the Malagasy language, spoken by the entire population, belongs to the Austronesian family. The language most closely related to Malagasy is Maanyan (Greater Barito East group of the Austronesian family), but related languages are also in Sulawesi, Malaysia and Sumatra. For this reason, and because Maanyan is spoken by a population which lives along the Barito river in Kalimantan and which does not possess the necessary skill for long maritime navigation, the ethnic composition of the Indonesian colonizers is still unclear. There is a general consensus that Indonesian sailors reached Madagascar by a maritime trek, but the time, the path and the landing area of the first colonization are all disputed. In this research, we try to answer these problems together with other ones, such as the historical configuration of Malagasy dialects, by types of analysis related to lexicostatistics and glottochronology that draw upon the automated method recently proposed by the authors. The data were collected by the first author at the beginning of 2010 with the invaluable help of Joselinà Soafara Néré and consist of Swadesh lists of 200 items for 23 dialects covering all areas of the island.
Emerging zoonoses threaten global health, yet the processes by which they emerge are complex and poorly understood. Nipah virus (NiV) is an important threat owing to its broad host and geographical range, high case fatality, potential for human-to-human transmission and lack of effective prevention or therapies. Here, we investigate the origin of the first identified outbreak of NiV encephalitis in Malaysia and Singapore. We analyse data on livestock production from the index site (a commercial pig farm in Malaysia) prior to and during the outbreak, on Malaysian agricultural production, and from surveys of NiV's wildlife reservoir (flying foxes). Our analyses suggest that repeated introduction of NiV from wildlife changed infection dynamics in pigs. Initial viral introduction produced an explosive epizootic that drove itself to extinction but primed the population for enzootic persistence upon reintroduction of the virus. The resultant within-farm persistence permitted regional spread and increased the number of human infections. This study refutes an earlier hypothesis that anomalous El Niño Southern Oscillation-related climatic conditions drove emergence and suggests that priming for persistence drove the emergence of a novel zoonotic pathogen. Thus, we provide empirical evidence for a causative mechanism previously proposed as a precursor to widespread infection with H5N1 avian influenza and other emerging pathogens.
We have compared a simple four-strand flexor tendon repair, the single cross-stitch locked repair using a double-stranded suture (dsSCL) against two other four-strand repairs: the Pennington modified Kessler with double-stranded suture (dsPMK); and the cruciate cross-stitch locked repair with single-stranded suture (Modified Sandow). Thirty fresh frozen cadaveric flexor digitorum profundus tendons were transected and repaired with one of the core repair techniques using identical suture material and reinforced with identical peripheral sutures. Bulking at the repair site and tendon-suture junctions was measured. The tendons were subjected to linear load-to-failure testing. Results showed no significant difference in ultimate tensile strength between the Modified Sandow (36.8 N) and dsSCL (32.6 N) whereas the dsPMK was significantly weaker (26.8 N). There were no significant differences in 2 mm gap force, stiffness or bulk between the three repairs. We concluded that the simpler dsSCL repair is comparable to the modified Sandow repair in tensile strength, stiffness and bulking.
In two experiments, we investigated age-related changes in how prosodic pitch accents affect memory. Participants listened to recorded discourses that contained two contrasts between pairs of items (e.g., one story contrasted British scientists with French scientists and Malaysia with Indonesia). The end of each discourse referred to one item from each pair; these references received a pitch accent that either denoted contrast (L + H* in the ToBI system) or did not (H*). A contrastive accent on a particular pair improved later recognition memory equally for young and older adults. However, older adults showed decreased memory if the other pair received a contrastive accent (Experiment 1). Young adults with low working memory performance also showed this penalty (Experiment 2). These results suggest that pitch accents guide processing resources to important information for both older and younger adults but diminish memory for less important information in groups with reduced resources, including older adults.
Measurements of (222)Rn activity concentration were carried out in 39 samples collected from the domestic and drinking water sources used in the island and mainland of Penang, northern peninsular, Malaysia. The measured activity concentrations ranged from 7.49 to 26.25 Bq l(-1), 0.49 to 9.72 Bq l(-1) and 0.58 to 2.54 Bq l(-1) in the raw, treated and bottled water samples collected, respectively. This indicated relatively high radon concentrations compared with that from other parts of the world, which still falls below the WHO recommended treatment level of 100 Bq l(-1). From this data, the age-dependent associated committed effective doses due to the ingestion of (222)Rn as a consequence of direct consumption of drinking water were calculated. The committed effective doses from (222)Rn resulting from 1 y's consumption of these water were estimated to range from 0.003 to 0.048, 0.001 to 0.018 and 0.002 to 0.023 mSv y(-1), for age groups 0-1, 2-16 and >16 y, respectively.
This paper is a report of a study of nurses' perception towards the role of pharmacist in Pakistan healthcare setup.
MeSH terms: Adult; Attitude of Health Personnel*; Cooperative Behavior; Cross-Sectional Studies; Delivery of Health Care; Female; Humans; Interprofessional Relations*; Male; Middle Aged; Nursing Staff, Hospital/psychology*; Pakistan; Patient Care Team/organization & administration*; Pharmacists*; Pharmacy Service, Hospital; Drug Prescriptions; Professional Competence/standards; Surveys and Questionnaires; State Medicine; Professional Role*; Young Adult
This study aimed to compare the process of care and the choice of antihypertensive medications used in both public and private primary care clinics in Malaysia. A cross-sectional survey was completed in 2008 on randomly selected 100 public health clinics and 114 private primary care clinics in Malaysia. A total of 4076 patient records, 3753 (92.1%) from public clinics and 323 (7.9%) from private clinics were analyzed. Less than 80% of the records documented the recommended clinical and laboratory assessments. The rates of documentation for smoking status, family history of premature death, retinal assessment, and urine albumin tests were lower in public clinics. Overall, 21% of the prescription practices were less than optimal. The process of care and the use of antihypertensive medications were not satisfactory in both settings.
MeSH terms: Adult; Aged; Ambulatory Care Facilities; Antihypertensive Agents/therapeutic use*; China/ethnology; Cross-Sectional Studies; Female; Humans; Hypertension/drug therapy*; India/ethnology; Malaysia; Malaysia/ethnology; Male; Middle Aged; Practice Patterns, Physicians'/statistics & numerical data*; Primary Health Care/organization & administration*; Private Sector/statistics & numerical data*; Public Sector/statistics & numerical data*; Health Care Surveys
This work was carried out to study the effect of topical application of Andrographis paniculata on the rate of wound enclosure and its histological features. A wound was created in four groups of rat in posterior neck region. Blank placebo was applied topically to the wounds of Group 1. Groups 2 and 3 were dressed with placebo containing 5% and 10% extracts of A. paniculata, respectively. Intrasite gel was applied topically to the wounds of Group 4. Macroscopical examination revealed that the rate of wound healing was significantly accelerated in the wound dressed with A. paniculata extract compared to the blank placebo. The wounds dressed with 10% extract or Intrasite gel healed earlier compared to the wounds dressed with placebo containing 5% A. paniculata extract. Histologically, wounds dressed with A. paniculata extracts showed markedly less scar width and contained large amounts of fibroblast proliferation. More collagen and less angiogenesis with absence of inflammatory cells were seen for wounds dressed with 10% A. paniculata compared to the blank placebo. Conclusion, A. paniculata extracts significantly enhanced rate of wound healing in rats.
In most countries, millions of people are relying on herbal medicines as remedy for numerous ailments. In South-East Asia, Eurycoma longifolia Jack, also known as 'Malaysian ginseng' or Tongkat ali, is used to combat stress and disease and to improve physical strength. Moreover, the compounds of the roots of this plant are reported to have aphrodisiac and testosterone enhancing effects in the rat. Considering that human studies are not available, 76 of 320 patients suffering from late-onset hypogonadism (LOH) were given 200 mg of a standardised water-soluble extract of Tongkat ali for 1 month. The Ageing Males' Symptoms (AMS) according to the standardised rating scale and the serum testosterone concentration were taken. Results show that treatment of LOH patients with this Tongkat ali extract significantly (P < 0.0001) improved the AMS score as well as the serum testosterone concentration. While before treatment only 10.5% of the patients did not show any complaint according to the AMS scale and 35.5% had normal testosterone levels, after the completed treatment 71.7% and 90.8% of the patients showed normal values, respectively. Thus, Tongkat ali extract appears to be useful as a supplement in overcoming the symptoms of LOH and for the management of hypogonadism.
A series of (E)-1-(4-alkyloxyphenyl)-3-(hydroxyphenyl)-prop-2-en-1-one have been successfully synthesised via Claisen-Schmidt condensation. The synthesised chalcone derivatives consisted of hydroxyl groups at either ortho, meta or para position and differed in the length of the alkyl groups, C (n) H(2) (n) (+1,) where n = 6, 10, 12 and 14. The structures of all compounds were defined by elemental analysis, IR, (1)H- and (13)C-NMR. The antimicrobial studies were carried out against wild-type Escherichia coli American Type Culture Collection 8739 to evaluate the effect of the hydroxyl and the alkyl groups of the synthesised chalcones. All the synthesised compounds have shown significant antimicrobial activities. The optimum inhibition was dependent on the position of the hydroxyl group as well as the length of the alkyl chains.
Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is among the commonest cancers in Malaysia. The prognosis for NPC like most other head and neck cancer is dependent on its staging. Majority of patients in Malaysia at the time of diagnosis are either at stage III or IV (27 and 47%, respectively). The lack of knowledge among primary care medical doctors regarding NPC may contribute to this delay in diagnosis. The aim of this study was to assess the knowledge of the primary care doctors in the state of Perak on the various aspects of NPC. The doctors at the primary care level in the state of Perak were recruited to take part in this study on a voluntary basis. A total number of 154 out of 198 doctors participated in this survey. They were given a questionnaire to fill in to test their knowledge on different aspects of NPC and its treatment. The overall respondents' score was poor with a score of 67.5% on all sections. The doctors appear to be able to identify common presenting features of NPC with a mean score of 85.3% but for the uncommon presentations of NPC, the scores were poorer with 61.8%. In addition, 54.1% of the participants answered that they would refer a patient with symptoms suspicious of NPC after a period of 1 month from the onset of symptom. However, only 34% would refer within 2 weeks. Based on the results of this study, the authors feel that it is clear that the doctors posted in the primary care hospitals and clinics appear to have inadequate knowledge to diagnose and refer patients with suspected NPC. As early diagnosis can often lead to a better prognostic outcome, steps must be taken to raise the awareness among these doctors.