Complex chromosome rearrangements (CCRs) are structural aberrations or rearrangements involving three or more cytogenetics breakpoints on two or more chromosomes [1]. Balanced and unbalanced are known to have significant risk of mental retardation and phenotypic anomalies. CCRs are also associated with infertility in males and recurrent abortion in females. Here we report one case of apparently balanced CCR involving three chromosomes 3, 5 and 12 in a child with abnormal features. G banding and FISH were performed to clarify the nature of this complex abnormality.
Thalassaemia screening programme was conducted to reduce the burden of the disease [1]. Here, we describe one unexpected discovery in a 33-year-old gentleman and also the importance of DNA analysis in detecting the globin gene mutation.
MeSH terms: Diagnostic Tests, Routine; DNA; Globins; Mass Screening; Mutation; Thalassemia; Respiratory Transport
Lung cancer is the second most common contributor to overall cancer–associated death in Malaysia after breast cancer. Many cases of late diagnosis are due to patient’s failure in recognizing the signs and symptoms of this disease. Objective: The aim of this research was to evaluate the knowledge on lung cancer and perception on its screening among IIUM Kuantan students. Method: This was a cross-sectional study whereby convenient sampling was used as the sampling method strategy. A total of 186 students participated, whereby majority was female students, single, and aged between 21 to 29 years old. Knowledge and perception scores were analyzed using descriptive statistics by denoting it in terms of frequency and percentages. Independent t-test, as well as one-way ANOVA, Mann-Whitney and Pearson correlation tests was used to find the association of gender, faculty, marital status, age and year of study (respectively) with knowledge and perception of students. Association between knowledge of lung cancer with perception of its screening was also evaluated using Pearson correlation test. Results: Most of IIUM Kuantan students portrayed good level of knowledge and perception. Socio-demographic factors that were significantly associated with students’ knowledge were age (p=0.001), year of study (p=
To report a rare case of an elderly gentleman who presented with herpes zoster ophthalmicus, complicated with persistent hyphema and orbital apex syndrome. A 75-year-old Malay gentleman presented with left herpes zoster ophthalmicus that was complicated with complete ophthalmoplegia and ptosis. He developed total hyphema in the affected eye with a secondary elevated intraocular pressure after a week. He was treated with oral acyclovir and topical corticosteroids. However, the total hyphema persisted that required an anterior chamber washout surgery. Herpes Zoster Ophthalmicus complicated with persistent hyphema and orbital apex syndrome is rare and very challenging to manage. Radiological imaging is important to exclude other causes of OAS. It is recommended to treat HZO with systemic acyclovir for a longer duration in view of ocular and neurological involvement.
Early detection and prompt treatment of eye diseases can prevent visual disability. To our knowledge, there is no published data on factors associated with delayed presentation of eye diseases in Malaysia. Our objective is to determine the proportion of patients with eye disease who had a delayed presentation to an ophthalmologist after an initial screening, as well as the factors associated with delay in seeking treatment. This was a retrospective cohort study of patients with eye diseases detected during a Community Eye Survey (CES) program from September 2004 to December 2012 who were referred to the ophthalmologist in Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM). Delayed presentation of eye disease was defined as patients who came to the eye clinic more than six months after eye screening. Multiple logistic regression was used for analyses. A total of 434 patients who were referred to Hospital USM, Kubang Kerian were included in the study. Their mean (standard deviation) age was 55.65 (21.62) years. The majority of patients (76%) had delayed presentation of eye disease post screening. Type of ocular diseases was not associated with delayed presentation. The factors associated with delayed presentation were unemployment (adjusted odds ratio (OR): 2.51, 95% CI (1.36, 4.64), p
Study site: Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia (HUSM)
Glaucoma is a chronic disease that could affect the quality of life and is a potential stressor for patients. Visual field assessment is important in monitoring disease progression among glaucoma patients. Stress could influence the performance of patients in visual field test that may affect the reliability of the test. Our objective in this study was to determine the association between stress score using Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS) questionnaire and reliability indices of Humphrey visual field analysis (HFA). A total of 155 primary and secondary glaucoma patients were recruited in the study. Face to face interview using stress component of DASS questionnaire was conducted after automated HFA test. Reliability indices; i.e. fixation loss, false positive, and false negative error, were used to determine the accuracy of HFA result. Only 12 patients (7.7%) were found to have elevated stress score. No significant correlation was found between DASS stress score and the reliability indices of HFA. There was 0.2 folds (95% confidence interval (CI) [-2.35, -0.06], p = 0.039) reduction of fixation loss for every number of HFA done. For every one year increase in age, there was 0.2 folds (95% CI [-0.38, -0.07], p = 0.006) reduction in false positive error in HFA.
Minimal stress may not affect the reliability of HFA assessment. Minimising stress among glaucoma patients is important not only for assessment of visual field but also for improvement of quality of life.
MeSH terms: Anxiety; Chronic Disease; Depression; Depressive Disorder; Glaucoma; Humans; Quality of Life; Surveys and Questionnaires; Visual Fields; Reproducibility of Results; Confidence Intervals; Tetrahymenina; Disease Progression; Visual Field Tests
A hemangioma is a benign vascular tumor of the brain, which rarely occurs in the cavernous sinus. We report a rare case of cavernous sinus hemangioma presenting with binocular diplopia. A 23-year-old lady presented with binocular diplopia associated with restricted left lateral gaze for 3 months. Visual acuity of both eyes was 6/6 with normal pupillary reaction. Both anterior and posterior segment were unremarkable. Contrasted computed tomography of brain showed an irregular mass within the left cavernous sinus causing pressure effect on the adjacent bone. Cerebral magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed a convexity in the left cavernous sinus, with a well-defined heterogeneous lesion with mixed hypo and hyperintensity in T1WI and T2WI; post gadolinium contrast, it was minimally enhanced. The patient was managed conservatively and at one-year post presentation, her symptoms improved but the lesion morphology and size remained static. We highlight the classic radiological presentation of a hemangioma and discuss the features differentiating it from the more commonly observed meningioma seen in the cavernous sinus.
A 65-year-old lady complained of occasional flashes of light over her left eye for 2 months. She was referred for ocular assessment after she underwent refractive assessment at the optometrist. On examination, best corrected visual acuity in both eyes was 6/9. Both eyes anterior segments were normal, with normal intraocular pressure. The pupils were equal with no relative afferent pupillary defect. Left eye fundus examination was normal. On the contrary, the "normal" right eye fundus examination revealed a huge, well-circumscribed hypo-pigmented elevated choroidal mass. B scan ultrasonography of the right eye showed a mushroom-shaped intraocular mass. Magnetic resonance imaging showed an intraocular lesion. Comprehensive systemic examination and investigations to rule out distant primary malignancy were unremarkable. A provisional diagnosis of right eye primary choroidal melanoma was made. Despite good vision in the affected eye, she underwent right eye enucleation in view of the large intraocular mass. The diagnosis was confirmed by histopathological examination.
In this present study, enzymatic esterification synthesis of fructose laurate was performed in organic media using lipase from Candida antarctica immobilized on acrylic resin. Screening phase of esterification reaction was done using two commonly used commercial immobilized lipases, in three different solvents, molecular sieve loadings, and reaction time to observe their effect on the yield of fructose laurate. The highest yield was obtained by using ethanol as the solvent, 0.02 g lipase loading, 0.10 g molecular sieves loading, and 24 hr of reaction time. By using response surface methodology (RSM) with central composite design (CCD), it was found that the optimum operational conditions were 40°C, 0.13 g lipase loadings, 200 rpm agitation rate, and without molecular sieve needed for the system. The optimized esterification conditions could give the yield of fructose laurate about 93.21 ± 0.13% with 92.91% confidence level.
Breast cancer is considered as one of the most common cancers all over the world. A huge effort has been made to create a safe and cost effective breast cancer treatment. All of these features exist in the plants sources. In this study, the effect of local vegetable salad, Premna serratifolia (Bebuas) against MCF-7 cells (human breast adenocarcinoma) was determined. The optimum condition to extract breast cancer cytotoxic compound from the plant was investigated and the exact cytotoxic compound was identified as well. To determine the plant cytotoxicity effect against MCF-7 cells, MTT assay was used. Two important parameters in the sonication extraction method which are duration of time and temperature were optimized by carrying out a series of experiments which were designed by Face Centered Central Composite Design (FCCCD). The extraction efficiency of each experiment was determined by measuring the yield of extract and the half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) of the extract against MCF-7 cells. The results obtained from the experiments were fitted to the second order polynomial model to generate equation that was used to determine best extraction processing condition. Based on the generated equation, the best sonication processing condition to extract the cytotoxic compound is at 30oC for 67 min. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed that the duration of extraction time has great influence (p
MeSH terms: Adenocarcinoma; Analysis of Variance; Breast Neoplasms; Humans; Sonication; Temperature; Vegetables; Models, Statistical; Inhibitory Concentration 50; MCF-7 Cells
Gastrodin elata blume (Tianma in Chinese, Chunma in Korean) is a perennial parasitic herbaceous plant native to Korea, Japan and China (Chae et al., 2008). The plant has recently received very good attention, especially in Korea, due to its excellent health-promoting properties. This plant is reported to have excellent antioxidant, anticancer and anti-inflammatory properties. This paper briefly reviews some characteristics and functional properties of Chunma.
MeSH terms: Anti-Inflammatory Agents; Antioxidants; Attention; Benzyl Alcohols; China; Glucosides; Japan; Republic of Korea
This paper reviews reported studies on the hydrolysis of starch especially sago via acid and enzyme. The review begins with overview of sago palm and the starch industry, followed by process of extracting the starch from sago pith. Physicochemical properties of sago starch were tabulated for better understanding of hydrolysis process. Factors or process condition influencing hydrolysis process is discussed based on results from previous researches. Advantages and disadvantages of each hydrolysis is also discussed. Generally, there are very few researches dedicated on sago starch as compared to other starches. It can be concluded that, enzyme hydrolysis gives higher yield at milder process conditions. However, the reaction rate of enzyme hydrolysis is still low compared to acid hydrolysis.
Considerable attention has been directed to nanoparticles based on gelatin biopolymer due to its numerous available active group sites for attaching target molecules and acting as a drug or nutraceutical delivery system aiming to improve the therapeutic effects and also to reduce the side effects of formulated drugs as gelatin is a natural biodegradable biocompatible polymer, nontoxic, readily available, cheap and is used in parental formulations. With mammalian gelatin (pig and cow) as the major source of gelatin production, alternatives are required due to sociocultural and health concerns to maintain halal status. This paper aims at reviewing fish skin gelatin from warm water species which can provide a potential alternative source of gelatin with almost the same rheological properties as mammalian gelatin and is a beneficial way to use fish waste such as skin, bones and fin which is generally discarded. The study also entails a lot of research being done in the field of nanoencapsulation of gelatin with various nutraceuticals as well as drug and gene therapy. There is an especially increasing interest in encapsulating biopeptides within gelatin nanoparticles in the functional food industry due to their role in preventing or delaying the onset of various diseases, food fortification, improvement of food quality, increase in shelf life, targeted peptide delivery and hence can be used as additives in food products. This review also attempts to provide an overview of the application of gelatin nanoparticles in nanoencapsulation in the food industry.
Objective: EpiNet was established to encourage epilepsy research. EpiNet is used for multicenter cohort studies and investigator-led trials. Physicians must be accredited to recruit patients into trials. Here, we describe the accreditation process for the EpiNet-First trials.
Methods: Physicians with an interest in epilepsy were invited to assess 30 case scenarios to determine the following: whether patients have epilepsy; the nature of the seizures (generalized, focal); and the etiology. Information was presented in two steps for 23 cases. The EpiNet steering committee determined that 21 cases had epilepsy. The steering committee determined by consensus which responses were acceptable for each case. We chose a subset of 18 cases to accredit investigators for the EpiNet-First trials. We initially focused on 12 cases; to be accredited, investigators could not diagnose epilepsy in any case that the steering committee determined did not have epilepsy. If investigators were not accredited after assessing 12 cases, 6 further cases were considered. When assessing the 18 cases, investigators could be accredited if they diagnosed one of six nonepilepsy patients as having possible epilepsy but could make no other false-positive errors and could make only one error regarding seizure classification.
Results: Between December 2013 and December 2014, 189 physicians assessed the 30 cases. Agreement with the steering committee regarding the diagnosis at step 1 ranged from 47% to 100%, and improved when information regarding tests was provided at step 2. One hundred five of the 189 physicians (55%) were accredited for the EpiNet-First trials. The kappa value for diagnosis of epilepsy across all 30 cases for accredited physicians was 0.70.
Significance: We have established criteria for accrediting physicians using EpiNet. New investigators can be accredited by assessing 18 case scenarios. We encourage physicians with an interest in epilepsy to become EpiNet-accredited and to participate in these investigator-led clinical trials.
The aim of the study was to isolate and identify Bacillus cereus from meat curry and to subtype the isolated B. cereus using RAPD-PCR and antibiotic resistance pattern. Ready to eat (RTE) meat curry samples purchased from 12 different restaurants at Kajang, Serdang and KL Sentral regions located in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Twenty-four isolates biochemically identified as B. cereus. Antimicrobial resistance analysis demonstrated that B. cereus isolates were highly resistance to ceftriaxone (100%), vancomycin (87.5%), clindamycin (91.6%) and nalidixic acid (100%). None of the B. cereus isolates were resistance towards ciprofloxacin (100%), streptomycin (91.6%) and chloramphenicol (83.4%). The B. cereus isolates were examined for randomly amplified polymorphic DNA-polymerase chain reaction (RAPDPCR) using primer S30 (5’-GTGATCGCAG-3’) and discriminated into nine profiles. The antimicrobial analysis showed seven patterns and phenotypically less heterogeneous when compared to RAPD-PCR. A total number of nineteen types of B. cereus have produced by a combination of phenotype and genotype methods. These results demonstrated that both typing method provides evidence of the presence of similarity and diversity of the B. cereus strains from RTE meat curry.
Optimization of the process conditions of mixed culture of bacidiomycete fungi for improved protein enrichment of fruit peels is necessary to ease replication and scale-up processes. Sixday fermentation period and temperature of 32°C were optimum for elevated protein synthesis and enzyme activities (78.99 units/ml for α-amylase and 0.36 units/ml for cellulase). A highly significant quadratic model obtained from Face Centered Central Composite Design (FCCCD) described the process optimization. Linear effect of pH and inoculum size were significant (p < 0.05) while pH and moisture content (MC) interact significantly. 70.2% MC, pH 5.4 and 6.1% inoculum were the optimum level for a maximum crude protein synthesis of 198.77 mg/g. The crude protein contained essential and non-essential amino acid at a comparable level with other bioprocessed materials that are currently used as animal feed supplement.
The anti-atherosclerotics activity of tocotrienols (TCT) compared to alpha-Tocopherol (α-TOC) in in vitro study is not much being reported especially in human endothelial cells. The aim of the present study was to study the effects of TTMF, TCT and α-TOC on monocytes adherence to stimulated endothelial cells and to investigate the correlation between monocytes adherence and adhesion molecules in endothelial cells treated with TTMF, pure TCT isomers and α-TOC. Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) were incubated with TTMF, TCT isomers and α-TOC (0.3-10 µM) together with lipopolysaccharide, LPS (1 μg/ml). Monocytes adherence was measured by Rose Bengal staining. Soluble ICAM-1, VCAM-1 and e-selectin and NFκB binding were measured by ELISA. TTMF and TCT isomers inhibit monocytes adhesion to LPS-stimulated HUVECs but not α-TOC. δ-TCT exhibit the highest % inhibition of monocytes adhesion compared to the other TCT isomers. Only TCT isomers show positive correlation of monocytes adhesion with certain adhesion molecules and NFκB but not TTMF and α-TOC. In conclusion, TTMF and TCT isomers exhibit reduction of adhesion of monocytes to LPS stimulated endothelial cells. The reduction of monocytes adhesion by TCT isomers especially δ-TCT are positively correlated with reduction of adhesion molecules and NFκB deactivation. It can be suggested that TCT especially the δ-TCT isomers is beneficial in the prevention of early atherogenesis in human.
Previous studies proved the antioxidant properties of dates. However, studies on date byproducts especially date vinegar are still lacking. Hence, it is the aim of the present study to compare the physicochemical properties, total phenolic content, and antioxidant capacity between homemade and commercial date vinegar. Physicochemical properties such as total sugar content, pH, and total titratable acidity of homemade and commercial date vinegar were studied. Both homemade and commercial date vinegar showed significant difference in physicochemical properties including pH, sugar content and total titratable acidity (p
The effects of inlet temperatures of 140, 160, 180, 200 and 220ºC and maltodextrin (DE10-12) concentrations at 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50% (w/v) on the total phenolic content (TPC) and colour profile of spray dried Sapodilla powders were studied. The colour profiles and TPC of the sapodilla powder produced were measured using a Hunter Laboratory Calorimeter (L*, a* and b*) and Folin-Ciocalteu method, respectively. TPC of powders were significantly affected by the inlet temperature. However, an increase in the concentration of maltodextrin from 20 to 50% (w/v) did not significantly affect the adjusted TPC. A slight decreased in adjusted TPC when maltodextrin concentration increased from 10 to 20% (w/v). An increase in drying temperature did not significantly affect the a* (greenness to redness) and b* (blueness to yellowness) values. Spray dried Sapodilla powder slightly lost its L* (lightness) when inlet temperature increased from 200 to 220ºC. Higher concentrations of maltodextrin resulted in lower a* and b* values. L* increased significantly when the addition of maltodextrion increased from 10 to 20% (w/v). Spray dried Sapodilla powder added with 20 or 30% (w/v) maltodextrin and processed at 200ºC inlet temperature shows acceptable colour and TPC.
Discovery of novel dietary fibre (DF)-rich food ingredient is of great interest to meet the rising consumer demand for healthy food. Intake of DF-enriched food has been positively associated with a decreased risk of chronic diseases. Pleurotus sajor-caju (PSC), one of the prominent edible mushrooms widely cultivated in Malaysia, is useful for its culinary and medicinal purpose. This study aimed to determine the nutritional, physical, colour and sensorial properties of cinnamon biscuit formulated with PSC powder as partial replacement (0, 4, 8 and 12%) for wheat flour. Results indicated that elevated incorporation levels of PSC powder significantly (P