Browse publications by year: 2019

  1. Marin-Mogollon C, van de Vegte-Bolmer M, van Gemert GJ, van Pul FJA, Ramesar J, Othman AS, et al.
    Sci Rep, 2019 May 03;9(1):7061.
    PMID: 31053746 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-43505-y
    A correction to this article has been published and is linked from the HTML and PDF versions of this paper. The error has been fixed in the paper.
    MeSH terms: Humans
  2. Jomori T, Shiroyama S, Ise Y, Kohtsuka H, Matsuda K, Kuranaga T, et al.
    J Nat Med, 2019 Sep;73(4):814-819.
    PMID: 31054009 DOI: 10.1007/s11418-019-01315-6
    Two new steroidal saponins, scrobiculosides A and B, were isolated from the deep-sea sponge Pachastrella scrobiculosa, collected at a depth of 200 m off Miura Peninsula, Japan. The aglycones of scrobiculosides A and B feature a vinylic cyclopropane and a ∆24,25 exomethylene on the side chains, respectively. Both saponins have a common sugar moiety composed of β-D-galactopyranosyl-(1 → 2)-6-acetyl-β-D-glucopyranoside, with the exception of an acetyl group on C6″ in scrobiculoside A. Scrobiculoside A exhibited cytotoxicity against HL-60 and P388 cells, with IC50 values of 52 and 61 μM, respectively.
    MeSH terms: Animals; Humans; Japan; Porifera/metabolism*; Saponins/isolation & purification*; Saponins/pharmacology*; Saponins/chemistry; Steroids/isolation & purification; Steroids/pharmacology*; Steroids/chemistry; Molecular Structure; HL-60 Cells; Cell Line, Tumor
  3. Zeeshan F, Tabbassum M, Kesharwani P
    Protein J, 2019 10;38(5):551-564.
    PMID: 31054037 DOI: 10.1007/s10930-019-09837-4
    Protein drugs are important therapeutic agents however; they may degrade during formulation processing. The objective of this study was to investigate the correlation between secondary structure alterations and the retentions of biological activity of protein upon the application of thermal stress. Catalase, horseradish peroxidase and α- chymotrypsin were employed as model proteins. Each protein was heated in a solid and solution state at a temperature of 70 °C for 1 h. Attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, size-exclusion chromatography and biological activity assay were performed. Results showed that heat-exposure of protein solids at 70 °C caused minimum changes in secondary structure and biological activity was almost retained. However, thermal exposure of protein aqueous solution induced significant changes in the secondary structure indicated by area overlap values and caused considerable reduction in the biological activity. The changes in secondary structures were found to be in full alignment with the loss of biological activity for both protein solids as well as aqueous solutions. Catalase lost entire biological activity upon heating in the solution state. In conclusion, the findings of the present study indicate a direct correlation between protein secondary structure alterations and the retention of biological activity which can be taken into account during the development and delivery of protein drugs formulations.
    MeSH terms: Animals; Catalase/chemistry; Chromatography, Gel; Chymotrypsin/chemistry; Pharmaceutical Preparations/chemistry; Hot Temperature; Horseradish Peroxidase/chemistry; Humans; Protein Denaturation*; Proteins/chemistry*; Protein Structure, Secondary; Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared
  4. Ahmed Z, Wang Z, Mahmood F, Hafeez M, Ali N
    Environ Sci Pollut Res Int, 2019 Jun;26(18):18565-18582.
    PMID: 31054053 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-019-05224-9
    This study focuses to investigate the relationship between globalization and the ecological footprint for Malaysia from 1971 to 2014. The results of the Bayer and Hanck cointegration test and the ARDL bound test show the existence of cointegration among variables. The findings disclose that globalization is not a significant determinant of the ecological footprint; however, it significantly increases the ecological carbon footprint. Energy consumption and economic growth stimulate the ecological footprint and carbon footprint in Malaysia. Population density reduces the ecological footprint and carbon footprint. Further, financial development mitigates the ecological footprint. The causality results disclose the feedback hypothesis between energy consumption and economic growth in the long run and short run.
    MeSH terms: Energy-Generating Resources/economics*; Malaysia; Internationality*; Economic Development*; Carbon Footprint/economics*
  5. Ibau C, Md Arshad MK, Gopinath SCB, Nuzaihan M N M, M Fathil MF, Estrela P
    Biosens Bioelectron, 2019 Jul 01;136:118-127.
    PMID: 31054519 DOI: 10.1016/j.bios.2019.04.048
    A simple, single-masked gold interdigitated triple-microelectrodes biosensor is presented by taking the advantage of an effective self-assembled monolayer (SAM) using an amino-silanization technique for the early detection of a prostate cancer's biomarker, the prostate-specific antigen (PSA). Unlike most interdigitated electrode biosensors, biorecognition happens in between the interdigitated electrodes, which enhances the sensitivity and limit of detection of the sensor. Using the Faradaic mode electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) technique to quantify the PSA antigen, the developed sensing platform demonstrates a logarithmic detection of PSA ranging from 0.5 ng/ml to 5000 ng/ml, an estimated LOD down to 0.51 ng/ml in the serum, and a good sensor's reproducibility. The sensor's detection range covers the clinical threshold value at 4 ng/ml and the crucial diagnosis 'grey zone' of 4-10 ng/ml of PSA in serum for an accurate cancer diagnosis. The selectivity test revealed an excellent discrimination of other competing proteins, with a recorded detection signals at 5 ng/ml PSA as high as 7-fold increase versus the human serum albumin (HSA) and 8-fold increase versus the human glandular kallikrein 2 (hK2). The stability test showed an acceptable stability of the aptasensor recorded at six (6) days before the detection signal started degrading below 10% of the peak detection value. The developed sensing scheme is proven to exhibit a great potential as a portable prostate cancer biosensor, also as a universal platform for bio-molecular sensing with the versatility to implement nanoparticles and other surface chemistry for various applications.
    MeSH terms: Humans; Microelectrodes*; Biosensing Techniques/methods*; Prostate-Specific Antigen/blood*; Microscopy, Atomic Force; Photoelectron Spectroscopy; Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions
  6. Ayakannu R, Abdullah NA, Radhakrishnan AK, Lechimi Raj V, Liam CK
    Hum Immunol, 2019 Sep;80(9):755-763.
    PMID: 31054782 DOI: 10.1016/j.humimm.2019.04.018
    Asthma is a complex disorder involving immunologic, environmental, genetic and other factors. Today, asthma is the most common disease encountered in clinical medicine in both children and adults worldwide. Asthma is characterized by increased responsiveness of the tracheobronchial tree resulting in chronic swelling and inflammation of the airways recognized to be controlled by the T-helper 2 (Th2) lymphocytes, which secrete cytokines to increase the production of IgE by B cells. There are many cytokines implicated in the development of the chronic inflammatory processes that are often observed in asthma. Ultimately, these cytokines cause the release of mediators such as histamine and leukotrienes (LT), which in turn promote airway remodeling, bronchial hyperresponsiveness and bronchoconstriction. The CD4+ T-lymphocytes from the airways of asthmatics express a panel of cytokines that represent the Th2 cells. The knowledge derived from numerous experimental and clinical studies have allowed physicians and scientists to understand the normal functions of these cytokines and their roles in the pathogenesis of asthma. The main focus of this review is to accentuate the relationship between various cytokines implicated in human asthma. However, some key findings from animal models will be highlighted to support the discoveries from clinical studies.
    MeSH terms: Adult; Animals; Asthma/genetics*; Asthma/immunology*; Asthma/pathology; Child; Humans; Hypersensitivity/immunology; Immunoglobulin E/biosynthesis; Lymphocyte Activation/immunology; Cytokines/genetics*; Cytokines/metabolism*; Mice, Knockout; Th2 Cells/immunology; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide/genetics; Mice
  7. Westbury MV, Petersen B, Garde E, Heide-Jørgensen MP, Lorenzen ED
    iScience, 2019 Apr 08.
    PMID: 31054839 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2019.03.023
    The narwhal (Monodon monoceros) is a highly specialized endemic Arctic cetacean, restricted to the Arctic seas bordering the North Atlantic. Low levels of genetic diversity have been observed across several narwhal populations using mitochondrial DNA and microsatellites. Despite this, the global abundance of narwhals was recently estimated at ∼170,000 individuals. However, the species is still considered vulnerable to changing climates due to its high specialization and restricted Arctic distribution. We assembled and annotated a genome from a narwhal from West Greenland. We find relatively low diversity at the genomic scale and show that this did not arise by recent inbreeding, but rather has been stable over an extended evolutionary timescale. We also find that the current large global abundance most likely reflects a recent rapid expansion from a much smaller founding population.
  8. Lee SZ, Halim AS
    Burns, 2019 09;45(6):1386-1400.
    PMID: 31054957 DOI: 10.1016/j.burns.2019.04.011
    INTRODUCTION: Autologous skin grafting is the mainstay of treatment in burn patients. Extensive full thickness burns remains a challenge to the burns surgeon due to the lack of autologous skin donor sites. The conventional split thickness skin grafting (SSG) and the Meek micrografting (Meek) technique are part of the armamentarium of the burns surgeon to curtail the challenge of paucity of donor sites. With advances in burn care, mortality rates of burn patients have reduced. As a result, with more patients surviving acute burn, there is a paradigm shift of research towards assessment of functional outcomes and quality of life of the burn survivors. As there is lack of research regarding the functional outcome of the Meek technique, this study was designed to examine the long term functional outcome of the Meek technique and SSG in burns.

    METHOD: A cross-sectional study was conducted in Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia to assess patients with burns between 10 to 40% total body surface area (TBSA) and with at least one year after injury. The Burn Specific Health Score-brief (BSHS-B) was utilized to compare the functional outcome whilst the Vancouver Scar Scale (VSS) was used for comparison on the scar outcome of the two skin grafting techniques.

    RESULTS: Forty three patients (Meek,15; SSG,28) were included. The mean current age (years old) of Meek and SSG was 24.7 (range, 7-75) and 25.9 (range, 7-65) respectively. The mean TBSA (%) of the Meek group was 26.7 (range, 13-40) while that of the SSG group was 16.1 (range, 10-32). A simplified domain structure was used for the BSHS-B questionnaire. The work and sexuality subscale were analyzed separately due to missing data. There mean scores of affect and relations was higher in Meek compared to SSG (Meek, 3.86; SSG, 3.75; p > 0.05). Function domain was also better in Meek compared to SSG (Meek, 3.88; SSG, 3.73; p > 0.05). The Meek group displayed superior scar outcome compared to SSG as evidenced by the statistically significant difference in score for the pigmentation, pliability, height and total VSS score.

    CONCLUSION: The Meek group showed more favorable BSHS-B scores compared to the SSG group. The scar outcome of the Meek technique is significantly superior to SSG. Therefore, the Meek technique is superior in the management of burns because the long term scar and functional outcome of this technique is better compared to conventional SSG.

    MeSH terms: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Arm Injuries/surgery; Burns/surgery*; Child; Cicatrix/pathology; Cicatrix/physiopathology*; Cross-Sectional Studies; Female; Hand Injuries/surgery*; Craniocerebral Trauma/surgery; Humans; Leg Injuries/surgery; Male; Middle Aged; Cohort Studies; Skin Transplantation/methods*; Treatment Outcome; Neck Injuries/surgery; Young Adult; Torso
  9. Musa H, Kasim FH, Gunny AAN, Gopinath SCB, Chinni SV, Ahmad MA
    Int J Biol Macromol, 2019 Jul 15;133:1288-1298.
    PMID: 31055112 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2019.05.003
    A report on the de novo Whole Genome Sequence (WGS) of Marinobacter litoralis SW-45, a moderately salt-tolerant bacterium isolated from the seawater in Malaysia is presented. The strain has a genome size of 3.45 Mb and is capable of producing halophilic lipase, protease and esterase enzymes. Computational prediction of non-coding RNA (ncRNA) genes in M. litoralis SW-45 was performed using standalone software known as the non-coding RNA characterization (nocoRNAc). In addition, a phylogenetic tree showing the evolutionary relationship between the strain and other members of the genus Marinobacter was constructed using 16SrRNA sequence information. A total of 385 ncRNA transcripts, 1124 terminator region, and 2350 Stress Induced Duplex Destabilization sites were predicted. The current WGS shotgun project has provided the relevant genetic information that may be useful for the strain's improvement studies. This manuscript gives the first description of M. litoralis with a complete genome.
    MeSH terms: Phylogeny; RNA, Ribosomal, 16S/genetics; Evolution, Molecular; RNA, Untranslated/genetics*; Marinobacter/genetics*
  10. Abdullahi A, Shohaimi S, Kilicman A, Ibrahim MH
    J Biol Dyn, 2019 12;13(1):345-361.
    PMID: 31056007 DOI: 10.1080/17513758.2019.1605003
    Seed dispersals deal with complex systems through which the data collected using advanced seed tracking facilities pose challenges to conventional approaches, such as empirical and deterministic models. The use of stochastic models in current seed dispersal studies is encouraged. This review describes three existing stochastic models: the birth-death process (BDP), a 2 dimensional (
    2

    D

    ) symmetric random walks and a
    2

    D

    intermittent walks. The three models possess Markovian property, which make them flexible for studying natural phenomena. Only a few of applications in ecology are found in seed dispersals. The review illustrates how the models are to be used in seed dispersals context. Using the nonlinear BDP, we formulate the individual-based models for two competing plant species while the cover time model is formulated by the symmetric and intermittent random walks. We also show that these three stochastic models can be formulated using the Gillespie algorithm. The full cover time obtained by the symmetric random walks can approximate the Gumbel distribution pattern as the other searching strategies do. We suggest that the applications of these models in seed dispersals may lead to understanding of many complex systems, such as the seed removal experiments and behaviour of foraging agents, among others.
    MeSH terms: Algorithms*; Animals; Computer Simulation; Models, Biological*; Stochastic Processes; Seed Dispersal/physiology*
  11. Yap JF, Wai YZ, Ng QX, Lim LT
    J Med Case Rep, 2019 May 06;13(1):131.
    PMID: 31056080 DOI: 10.1186/s13256-019-2064-1
    BACKGROUND: This is a case report of an iatrogenic intralenticular broken steroid (Ozurdex™) implant in a patient with uveitis. There are only a few case reports on broken Ozurdex™ implants in the vitreous cavity, with none of them involving the crystalline lens. A few authors have described the accidental injection of an Ozurdex™ implant into the crystalline lens, but all of the implants remained in one piece in the lens and none of them were broken. We report an unusual case of an Ozurdex™ implant which was injected inadvertently into the crystalline lens, resulting in a broken Ozurdex™ implant with an entry and exit wound through the posterior capsule of the lens.

    CASE PRESENTATION: An ophthalmic trainee performed an Ozurdex™ intravitreal injection into a 48-year-old Asian man's right eye under aseptic conditions. This patient was then followed up for further management. On day 7 post-procedure, a slit lamp examination revealed that the Ozurdex™ implant was injected into the intralenticular structure of his right eye and had fractured into two pieces. The posterior capsule of the right lens was breached, with one half of the Ozurdex™ implant stuck at the entry and the other stuck at the exit wound of the posterior capsule. This patient underwent right eye cataract extraction and repositioning of the fractured implant; he made an uneventful recovery.

    CONCLUSIONS: Ophthalmologists should be aware of the potential risk of injecting an Ozurdex™ implant into an anatomical structure other than the vitreous cavity. Adequate training and careful administration of the Ozurdex™ implant are necessary to avoid such a complication, which fortunately is rare.

    MeSH terms: Clinical Competence/standards*; Drug Implants/adverse effects*; Humans; Iatrogenic Disease; Lens, Crystalline/injuries*; Male; Middle Aged; Uveitis/drug therapy*; Vitreous Body; Treatment Outcome; Intravitreal Injections; Slit Lamp Microscopy
  12. Lee WS, Tee CW, Tan AG, Wong SY, Chew KS, Cheang HK, et al.
    Pediatr Neonatol, 2019 12;60(6):676-683.
    PMID: 31056340 DOI: 10.1016/j.pedneo.2019.04.004
    BACKGROUND: Parents often express concerns about feeding difficulties in their child. We hypothesized that these parental concerns were associated with adverse growth status in early childhood. We aimed to determine the prevalence of such concerns and whether these concerns were associated with adverse growth status in early childhood.

    METHODS: We performed a cross-sectional study among healthy children aged 12-36 months attending three well-baby clinics in three urban areas in Malaysia and Singapore between December 2016 and February 2017. Parents were interviewed for concerns about their child's feeding and presence of behavioral and organic red flags for feeding difficulties. We defined growth faltering as weight-for-age < 3rd centile and short stature as height-for-age < 3rd centile according to World Health Organization Growth Standards.

    RESULTS: Of the 303 children studied (boys = 160, 52.8%; mean [± SD] chronological age at interview 21.3 [± 4.0] months), 13% (n = 38/292) had growth faltering and 19.5% (n = 50/256) had short stature. Overall, 36.3% (n = 110) of parents expressed concerns about their child's feeding behavior. Sixty-eight percent (n = 206) of parents reported presence of at least one behavioral and 18.5% (n = 56) had at least one organic red flag for feeding difficulties, respectively. 9.9% (n = 30) had both behavioral and organic red flags for feeding difficulties. Growth faltering was significantly associated with parental concern about feeding (odds ratio [OR] 3.049, p 

    MeSH terms: Child, Preschool; Cross-Sectional Studies; Feeding Behavior; Female; Growth Disorders/etiology*; Humans; Infant; Male; Parents*; Feeding and Eating Disorders of Childhood/complications*
  13. Lichterman BL, Wong SN, Likhterman LB
    World Neurosurg, 2019 Aug;128:149-157.
    PMID: 31042604 DOI: 10.1016/j.wneu.2019.04.178
    The article is dedicated to the life and work of Dr. Roy Selby (1930-2002), an American neurosurgeon who founded neurosurgery in Malaysia. Dr. Selby stayed in Malaysia from July 1963 to May 1970. He opened the first neurosurgical department at the general hospital in Kuala Lumpur and established a training program under which Malaysian physicians and nurses were sent to neurosurgery centers in the United States and Canada. Some physicians came back and headed local neurosurgical units. On his return to the United States, Dr. Selby practiced neurosurgery until 1986, when he had to give it up due to the impact of progressive congestive heart failure. From 1986 to 1994, Dr. Selby taught graduate courses in the Department of Psychology at East Texas State University, Texarkana, Texas. He was a pioneer of spinal surgery and founded the Lumbar Spine Society. Dr. Selby was a world citizen neurosurgeon and advocated international standards of training in neurosurgery. From 1985 to 1994, he was chairman of the Archives Committee of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons. Dr. Selby serves as a model of a physician as a humanist.
    MeSH terms: Humanism*; Malaysia; Neurosurgery/education; Neurosurgery/history*; United States; History, 20th Century; History, 21st Century
  14. Gunawardena TNA, Masoudian Z, Rahman MT, Ramasamy TS, Ramanathan A, Abu Kasim NH
    PLoS One, 2019;14(5):e0216003.
    PMID: 31042749 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0216003
    Alopecia is a clinical condition caused by excessive hair loss which may result in baldness, the causes of which still remain elusive. Conditioned media (CM) from stem cells shows promise in regenerative medicine. Our aim was to evaluate the potential CM of dental pulp stem cells obtained from human deciduous teeth (SHED-CM) to stimulate hair growth under in vitro and in vivo conditions. SHED and hair follicle stem cells (HFSCs) (n = 3) were cultured in media combinations; i) STK2, ii) DMEM-KO+10% FBS, iii) STK2+2% FBS and profiled for the presence of positive hair growth-regulatory paracrine factors; SDF-1, HGF, VEGF-A, PDGF-BB and negative hair growth-regulatory paracrine factors; IL-1α, IL-1β, TGF-β, bFGF, TNF-α, and BDNF. The potential of CM from both cell sources to stimulate hair growth was evaluated based on the paracrine profile and measured dynamics of hair growth under in vitro conditions. The administration of CM media to telogen-staged synchronized 7-week old C3H/HeN female mice was carried out to study the potential of the CM to stimulate hair growth in vivo. SHED and HFSCs cultured in STK2 based media showed a shorter population doubling time, higher viability and better maintenance of MSC characteristics in comparison to cells cultured in DMEM-KO media. STK2 based CM contained only two negative hair growth-regulatory factors; TNF-α, IL-1 while DMEM-KO CM contained all negative hair growth-regulatory factors. The in vitro study confirmed that treatment with STK2 based media CM from passage 3 SHED and HFSCs resulted in a significantly higher number of anagen-staged hair follicles (p<0.05) and a significantly lower number of telogen-staged hair follicles (p<0.05). Administration of SHED-CM to C3H/HeN mice resulted in a significantly faster stimulation of hair growth in comparison to HFSC-CM (p<0.05), while the duration taken for complete hair coverage was similar for both CM sources. Thus, SHED-CM carries the potential to stimulate hair growth which can be used as a treatment tool for alopecia.
    MeSH terms: Alopecia/therapy*; Animals; Dental Pulp/pathology; Female; Hair/drug effects*; Hair/growth & development; Mice, Inbred C3H; Culture Media, Conditioned/pharmacology*; Hair Follicle/drug effects; Hair Follicle/growth & development; Mice; Adult Stem Cells/metabolism
  15. Miron P, Beron-Vera FJ, Olascoaga MJ, Koltai P
    Chaos, 2019 Apr;29(4):041105.
    PMID: 31042951 DOI: 10.1063/1.5092132
    Markov-chain models are constructed for the probabilistic description of the drift of marine debris from Malaysian Airlines flight MH370. En route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, MH370 mysteriously disappeared in the southeastern Indian Ocean on 8 March 2014, somewhere along the arc of the 7th ping ring around the Inmarsat-3F1 satellite position when the airplane lost contact. The models are obtained by discretizing the motion of undrogued satellite-tracked surface drifting buoys from the global historical data bank. A spectral analysis, Bayesian estimation, and the computation of most probable paths between the Inmarsat arc and confirmed airplane debris beaching sites are shown to constrain the crash site, near 25°S on the Inmarsat arc.
  16. Ooi PC, Mohammad Haniff MAS, Mohd Razip Wee MF, Goh BT, Dee CF, Mohamed MA, et al.
    Sci Rep, 2019 May 01;9(1):6761.
    PMID: 31043694 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-43279-3
    In the interest of the trend towards miniaturization of electronic gadgets, this study demonstrates a high-density data storage device with a very simple three-stacking layer consisting of only one charge trapping layer. A simple solution-processed technique has been used to fabricate the tristable non-volatile memory. The three-stacking layer was constructed in between two metals to form a two-terminal metal-insulator-metal structure. The fabricated device showed a large multilevel memory hysteresis window with a measured ON/OFF current ratio of 107 that might be attributed to the high charge trapped in molybdenum disulphide (MoS2) flakes-graphene quantum dots (GQDs) heterostructure. Transmission electron microscopy was performed to examine the orientation of MoS2-GQD and mixture dispersion preparation method. The obtained electrical data was used further to speculate the possible transport mechanisms through the fabricated device by a curve fitting technique. Also, endurance cycle and retention tests were performed at room temperature to investigate the stability of the device.
    MeSH terms: Disulfides; Electronics; Graphite; Miniaturization; Molybdenum; Temperature; Information Storage and Retrieval; Quantum Dots; Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; Orientation, Spatial
  17. Chia YC, Ching SM, Chew BN, Devaraj NK, Siti Suhaila MY, Tay CL, et al.
    Eur Heart J Suppl, 2019 Apr;21(Suppl D):D77-D79.
    PMID: 31043885 DOI: 10.1093/eurheartj/suz061
    Elevated blood pressure (BP) is a growing burden worldwide, leading to over 10 million deaths each year. However there are still many individuals, particularly in many countries in Asia, who have poor BP control. In Malaysia, less than two-fifths have achieved BP control. We participated in BP screening in Malaysia in conjunction with the May Measurement Month 2017 (MMM17), a global initiative by the International Society of Hypertension (ISH) aimed at screening more individuals for earlier detection of hypertension. A nationwide screening of adults aged ≥18 was carried out through health campaigns at clinics, hospitals, during family day events, and charity runs from 1 April 2017 to 31 May 2017 in 42 centres. We used the detailed protocol provided by ISH for data collection. A total of 4116 individuals were screened during MMM17. After multiple imputation, 32.4% (n = 1317/4059) had hypertension. Out of this, 63.9% (842/1317) of those with hypertension were on treatment. Of individuals receiving antihypertensive medication with an imputed BP, 59.5% (n = 496/834) of them had controlled BP. MMM17 was the largest organized BP screening campaign undertaken by health professionals in Malaysia. This study identified that 32.4% of screened individuals had hypertension and 59.5% individuals with treated hypertension had achieved BP control.
  18. Kan KC, Subramaniam P, Shahrizaila N, Kamaruzzaman SB, Razali R, Ghazali SE
    Dement Geriatr Cogn Dis Extra, 2019 02 08;9(1):66-76.
    PMID: 31043965 DOI: 10.1159/000495107
    Background/Aims: This study aimed to investigate the validity and reliability of the Malay version of Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination III (ACE-III) for detecting mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia.

    Methods: A total of 152 participants (dementia = 53, MCI = 38, controls = 61) were recruited from two teaching hospitals. The Malay version of ACE-III was translated following the standard guidelines for cross-cultural adaptation of measure. All the participants were assessed with the Malay version of ACE-III and Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE).

    Results: The reliability of the Malay version of ACE-III was good with Cronbach's α coefficient of 0.829 and intraclass correlation coefficient of 0.959. There was a strong positive correlation between the Malay version of ACE-III and MMSE (r = 0.806). Age (r = -0.335) and years of education (r = 0.536) exerted a significant correlation with total score performance. The cutoff score to discriminate dementia from healthy controls was 74/75 (sensitivity = 90.6%, specificity = 82.0%) whereas to discriminate MCI, the cutoff score was 77/78 (sensitivity = 63.2%, specificity = 63.9%). The diagnostic accuracy of ACE-III was higher than that of MMSE in the detection of dementia (area under the curve: ACE-III = 0.929 vs. MMSE = 0.915).

    Conclusions: The Malay version of ACE-III demonstrated to be a reliable and valid screening tool for dementia.

  19. Yusoff AAM, Abdullah WSW, Khair SZNM, Radzak SMA
    Oncol Rev, 2019 Jan 14;13(1):409.
    PMID: 31044027 DOI: 10.4081/oncol.2019.409
    Mitochondria are cellular machines essential for energy production. The biogenesis of mitochondria is a highly complex and it depends on the coordination of the nuclear and mitochondrial genome. Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) mutations and deletions are suspected to be associated with carcinogenesis. The most described mtDNA deletion in various human cancers is called the 4977-bp common deletion (mDNA4977) and it has been explored since two decades. In spite of that, its implication in carcinogenesis still unknown and its predictive and prognostic impact remains controversial. This review article provides an overview of some of the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying mDNA4977 formation and a detailed summary about mDNA4977 reported in various types of cancers. The current knowledges of mDNA4977 as a prognostic and predictive marker are also discussed.
    MeSH terms: Cell Nucleus; DNA, Mitochondrial; Humans; Mitochondria; Mutation; Neoplasms; Prognosis; Sequence Deletion; Genome, Mitochondrial; Carcinogenesis
  20. Dinh TC, Bac ND, Minh LB, Ngoc VTN, Pham VH, Vo HL, et al.
    Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis, 2019 Sep;38(9):1585-1590.
    PMID: 31044332 DOI: 10.1007/s10096-019-03563-6
    Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia have reported first cases of Zika virus (ZIKV) infection since 2010 (Cambodia) and 2016 (Vietnam and Laos). One case of ZIKV-related microcephaly was recognized among a hundred infected cases in these areas, raising a great concern about the health risk related to this virus infection. At least 5 cases of ZIKV infection among travelers to Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia were recorded. It is noticeable that ZIKV in these areas can cause birth defects. This work aims to discuss the current epidemics of ZIKV in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia and update the infection risk of ZIKV for travelers to these areas.
    MeSH terms: Zika Virus Infection/complications; Zika Virus Infection/epidemiology*; Cambodia/epidemiology; Disease Outbreaks/statistics & numerical data; Humans; Laos/epidemiology; Microcephaly/virology; Risk Factors; Travel*; Vietnam/epidemiology; Epidemics*
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