The physical and mechanical properties of mortar containing synthetic cosurfactants as air entraining agent are investigated. The cosurfactants consist of a combination of 2% dodecyl benzene sodium sulfonate (DBSS) and either 1.5% polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) or 1.5% polyoxyethylene glycol monomethyl ether (POE). Also these cosurfactants were used to prepare copolymers latex: styrene/butyl methacrylate (St/BuMA), styrene/methyl methacrylate (St/MMA), and styrene/glycidyl methacrylate (St/GMA), in order to study their effects on the properties of mortar. The properties of mortar examined included flow table, W/C ratio, setting time, water absorption, compressive strength, and combined water. The results indicate that the latex causes improvement in mortar properties compared with cosurfactants. Also polymer latex containing DBSS/POE is more effective than that containing DBSS/PVA.
'Causal' direction is of great importance when dealing with complex systems. Often big volumes of data in the form of time series are available and it is important to develop methods that can inform about possible causal connections between the different observables. Here we investigate the ability of the Transfer Entropy measure to identify causal relations embedded in emergent coherent correlations. We do this by firstly applying Transfer Entropy to an amended Ising model. In addition we use a simple Random Transition model to test the reliability of Transfer Entropy as a measure of 'causal' direction in the presence of stochastic fluctuations. In particular we systematically study the effect of the finite size of data sets.
MeSH terms: Models, Theoretical; Temperature; Time Factors; Causality*; Entropy*
Oil palm empty fruit bunch (EFB) was pretreated by Formiline process to overcome biomass recalcitrance and obtain hemicellulosic syrup and lignin. Higher formic acid concentration led to more lignin removal but also higher degree of cellulose formylation. Cellulose digestibility could be well recovered after deformylation with a small amount of lime. After digested by enzyme loading of 15 FPU+10 CBU/g solid for 48 h, the polysaccharide conversion could be over 90%. Simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) results demonstrated that ethanol concentration reached 83.6 g/L with approximate 85% of theoretic yield when performed at an initial dry solid consistency of 20%. A mass balance showed that via Formiline pretreatment 0.166 kg of ethanol could be produced from 1 kg of dry EFB with co-production of 0.14 kg of high-purity lignin and 5.26 kg hemicellulosic syrup containing 2.8% xylose. Formiline pretreatment thus can be employed as an entry for biorefining of EFB.
MeSH terms: Ethanol/chemistry*; Conservation of Energy Resources; Formates/chemistry*; Chemical Fractionation/methods; Hydrolysis; Lignin/chemistry; Polysaccharides/chemistry*; Arecaceae/chemistry*; Biofuels*
Copy number variation (CNV) has been recognized as a major contributor to human genome diversity. It plays an important role in determining phenotypes and has been associated with a number of common and complex diseases. However CNV data from diverse populations is still limited. Here we report the first investigation of CNV in the indigenous populations from Peninsular Malaysia. We genotyped 34 Negrito genomes from Peninsular Malaysia using the Affymetrix SNP 6.0 microarray and identified 48 putative novel CNVs, consisting of 24 gains and 24 losses, of which 5 were identified in at least 2 unrelated samples. These CNVs appear unique to the Negrito population and were absent in the DGV, HapMap3 and Singapore Genome Variation Project (SGVP) datasets. Analysis of gene ontology revealed that genes within these CNVs were enriched in the immune system (GO:0002376), response to stimulus mechanisms (GO:0050896), the metabolic pathways (GO:0001852), as well as regulation of transcription (GO:0006355). Copy number gains in CNV regions (CNVRs) enriched with genes were significantly higher than the losses (P value <0.001). In view of the small population size, relative isolation and semi-nomadic lifestyles of this community, we speculate that these CNVs may be attributed to recent local adaptation of Negritos from Peninsular Malaysia.
In a computerized image analysis environment, the irregularity of a lesion border has been used to differentiate between malignant melanoma and other pigmented skin lesions. The accuracy of the automated lesion border detection is a significant step towards accurate classification at a later stage. In this paper, we propose the use of a combined Spline and B-spline in order to enhance the quality of dermoscopic images before segmentation. In this paper, morphological operations and median filter were used first to remove noise from the original image during pre-processing. Then we proceeded to adjust image RGB values to the optimal color channel (green channel). The combined Spline and B-spline method was subsequently adopted to enhance the image before segmentation. The lesion segmentation was completed based on threshold value empirically obtained using the optimal color channel. Finally, morphological operations were utilized to merge the smaller regions with the main lesion region. Improvement on the average segmentation accuracy was observed in the experimental results conducted on 70 dermoscopic images. The average accuracy of segmentation achieved in this paper was 97.21 % (where, the average sensitivity and specificity were 94 % and 98.05 % respectively).
The investments and costs of infrastructure, communication, medical-related equipments, and software within the global healthcare ecosystem portray a rather significant increase. The emergence of this proliferation is then expected to grow. As a result, information and cross-system communication became challenging due to the detached independent systems and subsystems which are not connected. The overall model fit expending over a sample size of 320 were tested with structural equation modelling (SEM) using AMOS 20.0 as the modelling tool. SPSS 20.0 is used to analyse the descriptive statistics and dimension reliability. Results of the study show that system utilisation and system impact dimension influences the overall level of services of the healthcare providers. In addition to that, the findings also suggest that systems integration and security plays a pivotal role for IT resources in healthcare organisations. Through this study, a basis for investigation on the need to improvise the Malaysian healthcare ecosystem and the introduction of a cloud computing platform to host the national healthcare information exchange has been successfully established.
MeSH terms: Cooperative Behavior; Malaysia; Models, Theoretical; Computer Security; Efficiency, Organizational; Systems Integration*; Information Management/organization & administration*; Health Care Sector/organization & administration*; Internet*
The 1997 and 2009 WHO dengue case classifications were compared in a systematic review with 12 eligible studies (4 prospective). Ten expert opinion articles were used for discussion. For the 2009 WHO classification studies show: when determining severe dengue sensitivity ranges between 59-98% (88%/98%: prospective studies), specificity between 41-99% (99%: prospective study) - comparing the 1997 WHO classification: sensitivity 24.8-89.9% (24.8%/74%: prospective studies), specificity: 25%/100% (100%: prospective study). The application of the 2009 WHO classification is easy, however for (non-severe) dengue there may be a risk of monitoring increased case numbers. Warning signs validation studies are needed. For epidemiological/pathogenesis research use of the 2009 WHO classification, opinion papers show that ease of application, increased sensitivity (severe dengue) and international comparability are advantageous; 3 severe dengue criteria (severe plasma leakage, severe bleeding, severe organ manifestation) are useful research endpoints. The 2009 WHO classification has clear advantages for clinical use, use in epidemiology is promising and research use may at least not be a disadvantage.
MeSH terms: Capillary Permeability; Dengue/classification*; Dengue/diagnosis; Dengue/virology; Hemorrhage; Humans; Sensitivity and Specificity; Severity of Illness Index; Thrombocytopenia; World Health Organization; Practice Guidelines as Topic; Severe Dengue/classification; Severe Dengue/diagnosis; Severe Dengue/virology
A bacterial strain, designated UTM-3(T), isolated from the rhizosphere soil of Artocarpus integer (cempedak) in Malaysia was studied to determine its taxonomic position. Cells were Gram-stain-negative, non-spore-forming rods, devoid of flagella and gliding motility, that formed yellow-pigmented colonies on nutrient agar and contained MK-6 as the predominant menaquinone. Comparative analysis of the 16S rRNA gene sequence of strain UTM-3(T) with those of the most closely related species showed that the strain constituted a distinct phyletic line within the genus Chryseobacterium with the highest sequence similarities to Chryseobacterium lactis NCTC 11390(T), Chryseobacterium viscerum 687B-08(T), Chryseobacterium tructae 1084-08(T), Chryseobacterium arthrosphaerae CC-VM-7(T), Chryseobacterium oncorhynchi 701B-08(T), Chryseobacterium vietnamense GIMN1.005(T), Chryseobacterium bernardetii NCTC 13530(T), Chryseobacterium nakagawai NCTC 13529(T), Chryseobacterium gallinarum LMG 27808(T), Chryseobacterium culicis R4-1A(T), Chryseobacterium flavum CW-E2(T), Chryseobacterium aquifrigidense CW9(T), Chryseobacterium ureilyticum CCUG 52546(T), Chryseobacterium indologenes NBRC 14944(T), Chryseobacterium gleum CCUG 14555(T), Chryseobacterium jejuense JS17-8(T), Chryseobacterium oranimense H8(T) and Chryseobacterium joostei LMG 18212(T). The major whole-cell fatty acids were iso-C15 : 0 and iso-C17 : 1ω9c, followed by summed feature 4 (iso-C15 : 0 2-OH and/or C16 : 1ω7t) and iso-C17 : 0 3-OH, and the polar lipid profile consisted of phosphatidylethanolamine and several unknown lipids. The DNA G+C content strain UTM-3(T) was 34.8 mol%. On the basis of the phenotypic and phylogenetic evidence, it is concluded that the isolate represents a novel species of the genus Chryseobacterium, for which the name Chryseobacterium artocarpi sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is UTM-3(T) ( = CECT 8497(T) = KCTC 32509(T)).
Diarrheal diseases cause illness and death among children younger than 10 years in developing countries. Conventional testing for the detection of hemorrhagic bacteria takes 2 to 5 days to yield complete information on the organism and its antibiotic sensitivity pattern. Hence, in the present study, we developed a molecular-based diagnostic assay that identifies common hemorrhagic bacteria in stool samples. A set of specific primers were designed for the detection of Salmonella spp., Shigella spp., enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC), and Campylobacter spp., suitable for use in a one-tube PCR assay. The assay in the present study simultaneously detected five genes, namely, ompC for the Salmonella genus, virA for the Shigella genus, eaeA for EHEC, 16S rRNA for the Campylobacter genus, and hemA for an internal control. Specific primer pairs were successfully designed and simultaneously amplified the targeted genes. Validation with 20 Gram-negative and 17 Gram-positive strains yielded 100% specificity. The limit of detection of the multiplex PCR assay was 1 × 10(3) CFU at the bacterial cell level and 100 pg at the genomic DNA level. Further evaluation of the multiplex PCR with 223 bacterium-spiked stool specimens revealed 100% sensitivity and specificity. We conclude that the developed multiplex PCR assay was rapid, giving results within 4 h, which is essential for the identification of hemorrhagic bacteria, and it might be useful as an additional diagnostic tool whenever time is important in the diagnosis of hemorrhagic bacteria that cause diarrhea. In addition, the presence of an internal control in the multiplex PCR assay is important for excluding false-negative cases.
BACKGROUND:
Students' perceptions of their learning environment, by defining its strengths and weaknesses, are important for continuous improvement of the educational environments and curriculum. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore students' perceptions of their learning environment, among medical students in Malaysia. Various aspects of the education environment were compared between year levels and sex.
METHODS:
This cross-sectional study was conducted at the Management and Science University, Shah Alam, Malaysia in 2012. A total number of 438 medical students participated in this study, and the response rate was 87.6%. Data were analyzed using SPSS. Comparisons of the mean scores of Dundee Ready Education Environment Measure (DREEM) subscales were calculated. The t-test was used to determine statistically significant differences.
RESULTS:
The majority of the study participants were female, Malay, and from year 3 (68.7%, 65.3%, and 55.7%; respectively). Analysis of each of the 50 items of the DREEM inventory showed that 47 items scored ranged between 2.00 and 3.00, and three items scored below 2.00. These were identified as problem areas in this medical school that are required to be critically addressed. The overall score showed that the medical students' perceptions were positive. The students' perception toward educational environment was positive for all five DREEM subscales.
CONCLUSION:
The study found that, in general, the perceptions of the participants about the learning environment were positive. Nevertheless, the study also found there is a need for curriculum improvement in this school and identified priority areas for such improvement.
KEYWORDS:
DREEM; Malaysia; learning environment; medical education; students’ perceptions
MeSH terms: Curriculum; Malaysia; Perception; Students, Medical
The aim of the current study was to develop a simple, precise, and accurate capillary zone electrophoresis method for the determination of zolpidem tartrate in tablet dosage form. Separation was conducted in normal polarity mode at 25°C, 22 kV, using hydrodynamic injection for 10 s. Separation was achieved using a background electrolyte of 20 mM disodium hydrogen phosphate adjusted with phosphoric acid (85%), pH at 5.50, and detection at 254 nm. Using the above optimized conditions, complete determination took place in less than 3 min using amiloride HCl as the internal standard. The method was linear over the range of 3-1000 μg mL(-1) with a correlation coefficient of 0.9999. Forced degradation studies were conducted by introducing a sample of zolpidem tartrate standard and pharmaceutical sample solutions to different forced degradation conditions, being neutral (water), basic (0.1 M NaOH), acidic (0.1 M HCl), oxidative (10% H2O2), temperature (60°C in oven for 3 days), and photolytic (exposure to UV light at 254 nm for 2 h). Degradation products resulting from the stress studies did not interfere with the detection of zolpidem tartrate and the assay can be considered stability-indicating.
INTRODUCTION:Human Immunodeficiency virus infection (HIV) and Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) has become one of the most serious health problems in the world. Medical students awareness, attitudes and opinions must be assessed as they are leading health care professionals who provide treatment and care to the HIV and AIDS individuals. This survey was conducted to assess the level of awareness, attitudes and opinions of third year till fifth year medical students concerning HIV and AIDS from universities around Klang Valley area, Malaysia.
MATERIALS AND METHODS:A total of 327 medical students of third to fifth been took part in the survey. Self prepared and self validated questionnaire was used to assess the study outcomes. Students were asked to fill the consent forms before filling the questionnaires. The results were analyzed by using SPSS version 17. A cross-sectional study among medical students was performed. Data was analyzed with non-parametric spearman's correlation test to find the difference at p-value < 0.05.
RESULTS: A great majority knew that HIV can be spread via tattoo or body piercing (89.3%), from mother to child (97.9%), being a homosexual (93.3%) and even having circumcision for protection (71.9%). Also, they were aware that HIV cannot be transferred via sneezing and cough (95.1%), swimming pools (89.0%), and toilet seats (89.6%). However, only a few were aware of other modes of transmission, such as visiting the barbers (41.3%) , and having blood splashed on outer body surface including mouth and eyes (49.2%). Only a few negative attitudes were shown such as being unsure about keeping close vicinity to HIV patients and being unsure of whether HIV negative people should be allowed to marry HIV positive patients (median=3).
CONCLUSION: An optimal plan of education with awareness campaign and preclinical experiences should be made in the future curriculum to increase the knowledge, confidence and minimize phobia among students.
KEYWORDS: Cross-sectional study; Prevention; Transmission
Study site: Two universities in Klang Valley, Malaysia
MeSH terms: Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome*; Adult; Cross-Sectional Studies; Humans; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; Malaysia; Students, Medical; Universities; HIV Infections*
Oxidation of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) has been strongly suggested as the key factor in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. Mushrooms have been implicated in having preventive effects against chronic diseases due especially to their antioxidant properties. In this study, in vitro inhibitory effect of Hericium erinaceus on LDL oxidation and the activity of the cholesterol biosynthetic key enzyme, 3-hydroxy-3-methyl glutaryl coenzyme A (HMG Co-A) reductase, was evaluated using five liquid-liquid solvent fractions consisting of methanol : dichloromethane (M : DCM), hexane (HEX), dichloromethane (DCM), ethyl acetate (EA), and aqueous residue (AQ). The hexane fraction showed the highest inhibition of oxidation of human LDL as reflected by the increased lag time (100 mins) for the formation of conjugated diene (CD) at 1 µg/mL and decreased production (68.28%, IC50 0.73 mg/mL) of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) at 1 mg/mL. It also mostly inhibited (59.91%) the activity of the HMG Co-A reductase at 10 mg/mL. The GC-MS profiling of the hexane fraction identified the presence of myconutrients: inter alia, ergosterol and linoleic acid. Thus, hexane fraction of Hericium erinaceus was found to be the most potent in vitro inhibitor of both LDL oxidation and HMG Co-A reductase activity having therapeutic potential for the prevention of oxidative stress-mediated vascular diseases.
Mycelium-bound lipase (MBL), from a locally isolated Geotrichum candidum strain, was produced and characterized as a natural immobilized lipase. A time course study of its lipolytic activity in 1 L liquid broth revealed the maximum MBL activity at 4 h for mycelium cells harvested after 54 h. The yield and specific activity of MBL were 3.87 g/L dry weight and 508.33 U/g protein, respectively, while less than 0.2 U/mL lipase activity was detected in the culture supernatant. Prolonged incubation caused release of the bound lipase into the growth medium. The growth pattern of G. candidum, and production and properties of MBL were not affected by the scale. The stability of mycelia harboring lipase (MBL), harvested and lyophilized after 54 h, studied at 4 °C depicted a loss of 4.3% and 30% in MBL activity after 1 and 8 months, while the activity of free lipase was totally lost after 14 days of storage. The MBL from G. candidum displayed high substrate selectivity for unsaturated fatty acids containing a cis-9 double bond, even in crude form. This unique specificity of MBL could be a direct, simple and inexpensive way in the fats and oil industry for the selective hydrolysis or transesterification of cis-9 fatty acid residues in natural triacylglycerols.
Vaginal infection is widespread and > 80% of females encounter such infections during their lives. Topical treatment and prevention of vaginal infection allows direct therapeutic action, reduced drug doses and adverse effects, convenient administration and improved compliance. The advent of nanotechnology results in the use of nanoparticulate vehicle to control drug release, to enhance dosage form mucoadhesive properties and vaginal retention, and to promote mucus and epithelium permeation for both extracellular and intracellular drug delivery.
This study was conducted to investigate the effect of main emulsion components namely, modified starch, propylene glycol alginate (PGA), sucrose laurate and sucrose stearate on creaming index, cloudiness, average droplet size and conductivity of soursop beverage emulsions. Generally, the use of different emulsifiers or a mixture of emulsifiers has a significant (p < 0.05) effect on the response variables studied. The addition of PGA had a significant (p < 0.05) effect on the creaming index at 55 °C, while PGA-stabilized (PGA1) emulsions showed low creaming stability at both 25 °C and 55 °C. Conversely, the utilization of PGA either as a mixture or sole emulsifier, showed significantly (p < 0.05) higher cloudiness, as larger average droplet size will affect the refractive index of the oil and aqueous phases. Additionally, the cloudiness was directly proportional to the mean droplet size of the dispersed phase. The inclusion of PGA into the formulation could have disrupted the properties of the interfacial film, thus resulting in larger droplet size. While unadsorbed ionized PGA could have contributed to higher conductivity of emulsions prepared at low pH. Generally, emulsions prepared using sucrose monoesters or as a mixture with modified starch emulsions have significantly (p < 0.05) lower creaming index and conductivity values, but higher cloudiness and average droplet size.
A computationally-efficient systematic procedure to design an Optimal Type-2 Fuzzy Logic Controller (OT2FLC) is proposed. The main scheme is to optimize the gains of the controller using Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO), then optimize only two parameters per type-2 membership function using Genetic Algorithm (GA). The proposed OT2FLC was implemented in real-time to control the position of a DC servomotor, which is part of a robotic arm. The performance judgments were carried out based on the Integral Absolute Error (IAE), as well as the computational cost. Various type-2 defuzzification methods were investigated in real-time. A comparative analysis with an Optimal Type-1 Fuzzy Logic Controller (OT1FLC) and a PI controller, demonstrated OT2FLC׳s superiority; which is evident in handling uncertainty and imprecision induced in the system by means of noise and disturbances.
This study aimed to determine the effects of disability, physical activity, and functional status as well as environmental conditions on the risk of falls among the elderly with dementia after adjusting for sociodemographic factors. Data were derived from a group including 1210 Malaysian elderly who were demented and noninstitutionalized. The study was a national cross-sectional survey that was entitled "Determinants of Health Status among Older Malaysians." Approximately 17% of subjects experienced falls. The results showed that ethnic non-Malay (OR = 1.73) and functional decline (OR = 1.67) significantly increased the risk of falls in samples (P < 0.05). The findings indicated that increased environmental quality (OR = 0.64) significantly decreased the risk of falls (P < 0.05). Disability, age, marital status, educational level, sex differences, and physical activity were found irrelevant to the likelihood of falls in subjects (P > 0.05). It was concluded that functional decline and ethnic non-Malay increased the risk of falls but the increased environmental quality reduced falls.
Maghemite (γ-Fe2O3) nanoparticles have been synthesized using a chemical coprecipitation method at different nitric acid concentrations as an oxidizing agent. Characterization of all samples performed by several techniques including X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), alternating gradient magnetometry (AGM), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), dynamic light scattering (DLS), and zeta potential. The XRD patterns confirmed that the particles were maghemite. The crystallite size of all samples decreases with the increasing concentration of nitric acid. TEM observation showed that the particles have spherical morphology with narrow particle size distribution. The particles showed superparamagnetic behavior with decreased magnetization values at the increasing concentration of nitric acid. TGA measurement showed that the stability temperature decreases with the increasing concentration of nitric acid. DLS measurement showed that the hydrodynamic particle sizes decrease with the increasing concentration of nitric acid. Zeta potential values show a decrease with the increasing concentration of nitric acid. The increasing concentration of nitric acid in synthesis of maghemite nanoparticles produced smaller size particles, lower magnetization, better thermal stability, and more stable maghemite nanoparticles suspension.