The Sibling Inventory of Differential Experience (SIDE; Daniels & Plomin, 1985) is a self-report to assess children’s perception of parental differential treatment (PDT). Specifically, SIDE measures two specific constructs of PDT: control and affection. The present study applied both the traditional (twocorrelated-factor model) and novel (bifactor) modeling approaches to derive the most optimal measurement structure of the Chinese version of SIDE (SIDE-C). Respondents were 225 primary school students who have only one sibling in the family. Results showed that, while the two-correlated-factor model was acceptable, the bifactor model had a better fit. The bifactor model is preferable in terms of fit indices and the principle of parsimony. Additionally, Omega hierarchical coefficient supported the strength of the general factor over the specific factors of parental differential treatment. The findings not only shed light on the factorial validity of the SIDE-C but also suggest future studies to consider the roles of the general and specific factors of PDT.
This study aims to examine the significant difference in self-esteem, cognitive emotion regulation strategies and depression between males in early adulthood and middle adulthood. The relationships between self-esteem and cognitive emotion regulation strategies to depression are also examined. This cross-sectional study used convenience sampling technique to collect data from 180 adult male respondents in the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur. The inventories used in this study are Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSE) to measure the self-esteem level, Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire short version (CERQ-short) to examine the strategy that is used after experiencing negative event and Beck Depression Inventory II (BDI-II) to measure the depression level. Results show that older male adults had a higher level of self-esteem compared to younger male adults, t(178) = -1.993, p < 0.05. Younger male adults use maladaptive coping styles more often and had a higher level of depression than older male adults. Self-esteem is associated with depression significantly (r = -0.602, p < 0.01). The results could also provide information for program designed to increase the level of self-esteem and reduce the use of maladaptive coping styles in order to reduce the depression level.
Personal characteristics like gender has been shown to be related to people’s attitude towards medical treatment. A negative attitude towards health care provider can be expressed as mistrust. This paper examines the relationship between personal characteristics (generalized trust, sex including whether the person had obtained treatment at a health care centre) and mistrust to a university health care centre. Survey respondents are 420 university students with age ranging from 18 to 29 (M=21.6, SD=1.26). Both types of trusts were similar between the sexes and between students who had and had not visited the health care centre. The finding reveals that generalized trust is not related to mistrust towards healthcare provider. Further studies are needed to establish the extent to which a domain-specific mistrust has marginal benefits over a generalized trust
The scenario of drug addiction is a chain of threats to individual, families and communities. This is shown through the increasing statistics in addiction relapse causing epidemic to communities. The effects of drug relapse affect individual’s health with problems of comorbidity, psychopathology and psychosocial. After 40 years, Malaysia undertook various efforts in treatment and rehabilitation programs, but these efforts do not indicate success. This situation has led to the study of various factors that contribute towards high-risk situations in drug relapse. Hence this study aims to identify intrapersonal factors consisting of motivation to change and coping strategy as mediator of high-risk situations for drug relapse, which include negative emotions, interpersonal conflict and social pressure. This study employed a cross sectional design which utilized questionnaires administered to 600 clients in the Cure & Care Clinic, Malaysia. The questionnaires used were The Stages of Change Readiness and Treatment Eagerness Scale (SOCRATES), Brief COPE and the tendency of high risk situation for drug relapse scale. Data were analyzed using multiple regression analysis and PROCESS for SPSS. Results showed significant influences of intrapersonal factors and coping strategies towards high-risk situations for drug relapse. In addition, coping strategy mediated the relationship between motivation to change and the tendency of high-risk situations for drug relapse. These findings should be taken into account in establishing treatment and rehabilitation programs for drug relapse in Malaysia.
Keywords: motivation to change, coping strategy, addiction relapse, high risk situations, mediator
MeSH terms: Adaptation, Psychological; Adult; Ambulatory Care Facilities; Cross-Sectional Studies; Humans; Malaysia; Substance-Related Disorders*; Drug Users
The present study investigates the role of parenting styles on effort perseverance with mediating roles of conscientiousness and mindfulness as moderators. For this purpose, 272 Iranian high school girl students were chosen by stratified random sampling. Data were analyzed by Path Analysis and Hierarchical Regression methods. The results showed that maternal control, parental control and maternal responsibility predict effort perseverance through conscientiousness; and paternal responsibility indicates positive and significant relationship with effort perseverance. Furthermore, findings showed that the relationship between conscientiousness and effort perseverance was moderated by mindfulness. Parenting style is an important factor in predicting effort perseverance through conscientiousness. In addition, being mindfulness has an effective role in relation to conscientiousness and effort perseverance.
Excessive stress during adolescence might contribute to various problems. Given that female adolescents tend to perceive more stress than male adolescents, the present study aimed to determine the relationships between parent-adolescent relationship, prosocial behaviour, academic self-efficacy, and stress among female adolescents in Malacca, Malaysia. Participants of the present study are 235 female school-going adolescents aged between 13 and 19 years old. Results of Pearson correlation analysis revealed that parent-adolescent relationship, prosocial behaviour, and academic self-efficacy were negatively correlated with stress. Additionally, all the three independent variables significantly predicted stress among female adolescents, where parent-adolescent relationship was the strongest predictor of stress. In essence, female adolescents who reported more positive relationship with parent, higher prosocial behaviour, and higher academic self-efficacy tend to have lower stress. The current findings highlight the significant role of parents and individual factors in combating stress among female adolescents. Parents should maintain affectionate relationship with their female adolescent-aged children. Related authorities as well as parents can help promote prosocial behaviour and academic selfefficacy among adolescents.
The number of adolescents involved in drug addiction increases every year. Statistic shows that in 2015 there were 6,406 addicts from age 13 to 24 years old compared to 4,954 detected in 2014. The majority of those addicts had major depression. It is predicted that by 2020, depression will be the second leading causes of global burden of diseases after heart disease. This study aims to identify the relationship between social support and depression among adolescent drug addicts. The study used quantitative method by distributing the questionnaires to respondents. A total of 367 adolescent drug adddicts were involved in this study. The results showed a significant negative relationship between social support and depression. The results of the study also showed that there were relationships between social support from guardian, friends and closed friends and depression. The implication of the study suggested that the role of social support such as family members and close friends are crucial to help adolecents cope with depression and addiction.
MeSH terms: Adolescent; Depression; Depressive Disorder, Major; Family; Heart Diseases; Humans; Social Support; Behavior, Addictive; Substance-Related Disorders; Friends; Drug Users; Global Burden of Disease
This study was conducted to examine the vulnerability of Malaysian children towards online sexual grooming by ascertaining the level of vulnerability and the relationships with social media profiles and demographical factors. To achieve the objectives of this study, a quantitative method using a cross-sectional research design with the aid of electronic questionnaire via Google Form was used to gather the data. A total of 205 Malaysian children from the age of 10 to 17 years old participated in this study with their parents’ consent. Based on the analyses of the items, it was found that each child was vulnerable towards sexual grooming at different levels. This study also found that the frequency of social media usage was directly correlated with online sexual grooming vulnerability (r = 0.14, p = 0.05) and age of the respondents (r = 0.20, p = 0.006). Children with more social media accounts were also found to be more vulnerable towards online sexual grooming compared to those with lower number of social media accounts (F (2, 191) = 7.30, p = 0.001). Findings also revealed that there was no significant difference on online sexual grooming vulnerability in terms of gender (t (191) = -0.39, p = 0.149). As a conclusion, this study provide in-depth exposure related to online sexual grooming vulnerability to public
MeSH terms: Adolescent; Child; Cross-Sectional Studies; Humans; Malaysia; Social Media
This program was conducted to analyze the effect of a robotic program in assessing technological problem solving among primary school children. The content in the learning module which contain technological problem solving and visible thinking activities has been going through expert validation before it were applied in this study. The instrument used to measure the technological problem solving is Technological Problem Solving Inventory (PSI-TECH). Quasi-experiments was implemented in this study, involving experimental and control group which were equal and homogeneous in selected characteristics. The robotic and basic visual coding program was conducted for 5 months, with an hour of lesson each week, consistent with the school syllabus and activities. Result obtained by collecting the data before and after the program, and quantitative analysis of t-test and MANOVA were used. Result had shown a significance positive value for the experimental group after the program. This study contributes in the field of education, in investigating the technological problem-solving skills among students. In addition, help to diversify the studies in the field of robotics.
MeSH terms: Child; Humans; Learning; Problem Solving; Schools; Students; Thinking; Control Groups
The purpose of this study is to verify the constructs found in the technological problem solving instrument. The instrument used to measure the technological problem solving is the Technology Problem Solving Inventory (PSI-TECH), derived from the original instrument PSI-PSYCH which consists of three constructs. Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA); KaiserMeyer-Olkin (KMO) and Barlett's analysis were applied for factor analysis in the validity and reliability of the PSI-TECH instrument. The minimum weighting factor is 0.60, used as the cut off value for factor loading. Meanwhile, the Cronbach alpha value 0.70 and above is considered reliable in this study. A total of 102 primary school students, 12 years old were randomly selected among Miri district primary school students in Sarawak. After the survey was carried out, the results of the analysis confirmed that there were three constructs that had been successfully extracted as described in the original PSI-TECH. However, 4 items were dropped from the list. The results of the analysis can provide guidance to researchers in developing this technological problem solving questionnaire, since demographics and geographies tested were diverse. As a result, the findings provide guidance to local researchers in using these instruments.
MeSH terms: Demography; Factor Analysis, Statistical; Fibrinogen; Malaysia; Problem Solving; Surveys and Questionnaires; Schools; Students; Reproducibility of Results
Family functioning and achievement motivation are two aspects that have been frequently discussed by psychologists. Findings from previous research found that both aspects are related to each other. The objective of this research was to identify the levels of family functioning and motivation achievements among civil servants from the Ministry of Human Resources. Besides that, this research intended to observe the influence of family functioning towards motivation achievement of the same sample. This research involved 945 respondents comprised of employees with different grades and position within the Ministry of Human Resource in which they were chosen via simple random sampling. The Family Functioning Style Scale (FFSS) was used to measure family functioning while the Cassidy and Lynn Achievement Scale (CLAM) was used to measure achievement motivation. Analysis was carried out using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 22 on the data collected. Results showed that majority of the respondents were found to have high levels of family functioning, however, majority of the respondents reported average level of achievement motivation. Results also found that family functioning was influential to motivation achievement.
MeSH terms: Achievement; Humans; Motivation; Surveys and Questionnaires; Research Design; Social Sciences
The FK506-binding protein of Plasmodium knowlesi (Pk-FKBP35) is considerably a viable antimalarial drug target, which belongs to the peptidyl-prolyl cis-trans isomerase (PPIase) protein family member. Structurally, this protein consists of an N-terminal FK506-binding domain (FKBD) and a C-terminal tetratricopeptide repeat domain (TPRD). This study aims to decipher functional properties of these domains as a platform for development of novel antimalarial drugs. Accordingly, full-length Pk-FKBP35 as well as its isolated domains, Pk-FKBD and Pk-TPRD were overexpressed, purified, and characterized. The results showed that catalytic PPIase activity was confined to the full-length Pk-FKBP35 and Pk-FKBD, suggesting that the catalytic activity is structurally regulated by the FKBD. Meanwhile, oligomerization analysis revealed that Pk-TPRD is essential for dimerization. Asp55, Arg60, Trp77 and Phe117 in the Pk-FKBD were considerably important for catalysis as underlined by significant reduction of PPIase activity upon mutations at these residues. Further, inhibition activity of Pk-FKBP35 towards calcineurin phosphatase activity revealed that the presence of FKBD is essential for the inhibitory property, while TPRD may be important for efficient binding to calcineurin. We then discussed possible roles of FKBP35 in Plasmodium cells and proposed mechanisms by which the immunosuppressive drug, FK506, interacts with the protein.
and interest among students. Moreover, it encourages exploration and integration of
concepts and provides students with a novel way to demonstrate their understanding of scientific
principles. This pilot projects aimed to analyse views of participants on the academic benefits and
learning of medical sciences via poster presentations.
Methods: This cross-sectional study used the sequential exploratory type of mixed
methods design in which quantitative data analysis was performed via survey-based
questionnaires and qualitative study. For this purpose, we performed a thematic analysis of semistructured interview questions that were administered to all participants using the self-interview
technique.
Results: A majority of students were of the opinion that the process of making poster
preparation acted as an opportunity to promote deep learning. Moreover, a majority expressed
that making these presentations required teamwork, which gave them an insight into collaborative
learning.
Conclusion: Our study revealed that poster presentations, when used effectively as an
assignment, can facilitate a learner’s critical and reflective thinking and promoting active learning.
Previous generic guidelines for making posters were found to be an important step that led to a
systematic scientific approach amongst learners as well as for integrating basic science and
medical knowledge.
Background: Reliability studies are commonly used in questionnaire development studies
and questionnaire validation studies. This study reviews the sample size guideline for Cronbach’s
alpha test.
Methods: Manual sample size calculation using Microsoft Excel software and sample size
tables were tabulated based on a single coefficient alpha and the comparison of two coefficients
alpha.
Results: For a single coefficient alpha test, the approach by assuming the Cronbach’s alpha
coefficient equals to zero in the null hypothesis will yield a smaller sample size of less than 30 to
achieve a minimum desired effect size of 0.7. However, setting the coefficient of Cronbach’s alpha
larger than zero in the null hypothesis could be necessary and this will yield larger sample size. For
comparison of two coefficients of Cronbach’s alpha, a larger sample size is needed when testing for
smaller effect sizes.
Conclusions: In the assessment of the internal consistency of an instrument, the present
study proposed the Cronbach’s alpha’s coefficient to be set at 0.5 in the null hypothesis and
hence larger sample size is needed. For comparison of two coefficients’ of Cronbach’s alpha,
justification is needed whether testing for extremely low and extremely large effect sizes are
scientifically necessary.
Background: A new direct microplate-based colorimetric drug susceptibility test that
omits the initial isolation of Mycobacterium tuberculosis from sputum specimens was evaluated.
Methods: A total of 51 M. tuberculosis acid fast bacilli (AFB) smear-positive sputum
specimens were inoculated directly into drug-free and serial dilutions of drug-containing
Middlebrook 7H9 broth media. With this direct resazurin micro plate assay (REMA) method,
resazurin dye was used as a growth indicator in microplate wells. The minimum inhibitory
concentrations (MIC) of isoniazid (INH) and rifampicin (RIF) were compared with those of the
‘gold standard’ absolute concentration method (ACM). The turnaround time (TAT) of the direct
REMA and the ACM were also determined.
Results: At the selected cut-off points (INH: 0.0625 µg/mL; RIF: 0.125 µg/mL), good drug
susceptibility test results were obtained for INH and RIF with an average sensitivity, specificity
and accuracy of 90%, 100% and 97%, respectively, with a TAT of 15 days. The REMA method also
correctly classified the resistant isolates with positive predictive values of 95% and negative
predictive values of 98% for the two drugs.
Conclusions: The direct REMA was reliable in routine diagnostic laboratories for the
drug susceptibility testing of M. tuberculosis and the rapid detection of multi-drug-resistant
tuberculosis.
Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is one of the most common primary brain tumours
in adults, accounting for almost 65% of all cases. Among solid tumours, GBM is characterised by
strong angiogenesis, including the highest degree of vascular proliferation and endothelial cell
hyperplasia. Despite numerous improvements in existing treatment approaches, the prognosis
of GBM patients remains poor, with a mean survival of only 14.6 months. Growing evidence has
shown significant overexpression of the ephrin type-A receptor 2 (EphA2) receptor in various
malignancies, including GBM, as well as a correlation to poor prognoses. It is believed that
EphA2 receptors play important roles in mediating GBM tumourigenesis, including invasion,
metastasis, and angiogenesis. Despite the clinical and pathological importance of tumourassociated vasculature, the underlying mechanism involving EphA2 is poorly known. Here,
we have summarised the current knowledge in the field regarding EphA2 receptors’ roles in the
angiogenesis of GBM.
Anastomotic leak after bariatric surgery is a rare complication with a recent prevalence
ranging from 0.8% to 1.5%. The complication nevertheless can result in morbidity and even
mortality. The purpose of this paper is to present a patient who suffered from an anastomotic leak
presenting 2 days after laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy in our intensive care unit. Review of the
current literature regarding this complication from critical care perspective is also attempted.
There are two dosing methods for radioiodine dose administration including empirical fixed dose and calculated dose. Recent meta-analysis supported that dose calculation is better than empirical fixed dose. However, dose calculation by dosimetry or 24 hours radioiodine uptake ratio can be tedious. Pertechnetate thyroid scintigraphy is a simple nuclear imaging that can be completed on the same day and pertechnetate thyroid uptake ratio determined from the scintigraphy can be used to calculate the radioiodine dose. This research is done to measure the efficacy of the calculated dose regime. Methods: Hyperthyroidism patients referred for first radioiodine therapy were recruited. Pertechnetate thyroid scintigraphy was done and pertechnetate uptake ratio used for dose calculation. The outcome of the treatment was determined at six months. Results: A total of 95 patients were recruited. Six months after treatment, 82.1% of the calculated dose cohort achieved euthyroid or hypothyroid state. Participants with multinodular goitre had higher failure rate than those with Graves’ disease (p=0.032) although there was no difference in the median RAI dose given (p=0.866). Conclusion: This calculated dose method showed good outcome with 82.1% cure rate at six months post treatment.
Mitragyna speciosa (Korth.) or kratom is a native medicinal plant of Southeast Asia. Commonly used by hard labours in harsh working environment, the ingestion of brewed kratom decoction is reported to produce dose-dependent stimulant and opioid-like effects. Kratom is also regularly consumed as a pain killer and as traditional cure for common maladies such as fever and cough. However, it remains unknown whether regular consumption of kratom decoction is associated with brain abnormalities in regular users in traditional settings. Methods: A total of 14 subjects (7 regular kratom users and 7 non-kratom users) voluntarily participated in this cross-sectional study. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with kratom users to determine history of kratom use and later these respondents underwent brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Results: There were no significant differences (p>0.05) in the intracranial volume (ICV), cortical volumes (frontal, parietal, temporal, occipital, or cingulate lobe), or subcortical volumes (striatum, hippocampus, or amygdala), as well as in the diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) metrics, fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD) between kratom users and the controls. Conclusion: This preliminary study showed long-term consumption of kratom decoction is not significantly associated with altered brain structures in regular kratom users in traditional settings. However, further study is needed to establish more data for kratom use and its effects.
MeSH terms: Amygdala; Analgesics, Opioid; Asia, Southeastern; Corpus Striatum; Cough; Cross-Sectional Studies; Hippocampus; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Pain; Plants, Medicinal; Surveys and Questionnaires; Anisotropy; Neostriatum; Mitragyna; Diffusion Tensor Imaging