Browse publications by year: 2021

  1. Sathya U, Nirmal Ram JS, Gomathi S, Ramu S, Jegan Jennifer S, Ibrahim AR
    IUCrdata, 2021 Apr;6(Pt 4):x210379.
    PMID: 36339106 DOI: 10.1107/S2414314621003795
    The title compound, C6H2N3O7 -·C10H13Cl2N2 +, crystallizes with one 1-(2,3-di-chloro-phen-yl)piperazine (DP) cation and one picrate (PA) anion in the asymmetric unit. In the crystal structure, the DP cation and PA anion are inter-connected via several N-H⋯O and C-H⋯O hydrogen bonds. The DP cation and PA anion are further connected through C-Cl⋯π [3.8201 (4), 3.7785 (4) Å] and N-O⋯π [3.7814 (4) Å] inter-actions. The DP cations are further inter-connected via a weak inter-molecular Cl⋯Cl [3.2613 (4) Å] halogen-halogen inter-action. The combination of these supra-molecular inter-actions leads to a herringbone like supra-molecular architecture.
  2. Tada H, Yeo KK, Li JJ, Tan K, Ako J, Krittayaphong R, et al.
    JACC Asia, 2021 Dec;1(3):294-302.
    PMID: 36341217 DOI: 10.1016/j.jacasi.2021.08.008
    Approximately one-half of the phenotypic susceptibility to atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) has a genetic basis. Although individual allelic variants generally impart a small effect on risk for ASCVD, an emerging body of data has shown that the aggregation and weighting of many of these genetic variations into "scores" can further discriminate an individual's risk beyond traditional risk factors alone. Consistent with the theory of population genetics, such polygenic risk scores (PRS) appear to be ethnicity specific because their elements comprise single-nucleotide variants that are always ethnicity specific. The currently available PRS are derived predominantly from European ancestry and thus predictably perform less well among non-European participants, a fact that has implications for their use in the Asia-Pacific region. This paper describes the current state of knowledge of PRS, the available data that support their use in this region, and highlights the needs moving forward to safely and effectively implement them in clinical care in the Asia-Pacific region.
  3. Naveen S, Al-Maqtari HM, Jamalis J, Sirat HM, Lokanath NK, Abdoh M
    IUCrdata, 2021 Oct;6(Pt 10):x211077.
    PMID: 36342890 DOI: 10.1107/S2414314621010774
    [This corrects the article DOI: 10.1107/S2414314617002346.].
  4. Citation: Health Technology Assessment Unit. Clinical Practice Guidelines on Management of Dementia, Third Edition. Putrajaya: Ministry of Health, Malaysia; 2021

    Older version:
    Second edition (2009). https://www.moh.gov.my/moh/attachments/3972.pdf
    First edition (2003)
    MeSH terms: Dementia; Humans; Malaysia; Neurology; Guidelines as Topic
  5. Citation: National Institutes of Health (NIH) Guidelines for Conducting Research in Ministry of Health (MOH) Institutions and Facilities, Third Edition. Putrajaya: Ministry of Health, Malaysia; 2021
    MeSH terms: Malaysia; Research; Guidelines as Topic
  6. Mohammed TJ, Albahri AS, Zaidan AA, Albahri OS, Al-Obaidi JR, Zaidan BB, et al.
    Appl Intell (Dordr), 2021;51(5):2956-2987.
    PMID: 34764579 DOI: 10.1007/s10489-020-02169-2
    As coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) spreads across the world, the transfusion of efficient convalescent plasma (CP) to the most critical patients can be the primary approach to preventing the virus spread and treating the disease, and this strategy is considered as an intelligent computing concern. In providing an automated intelligent computing solution to select the appropriate CP for the most critical patients with COVID-19, two challenges aspects are bound to be faced: (1) distributed hospital management aspects (including scalability and management issues for prioritising COVID-19 patients and donors simultaneously), and (2) technical aspects (including the lack of COVID-19 dataset availability of patients and donors and an accurate matching process amongst them considering all blood types). Based on previous reports, no study has provided a solution for CP-transfusion-rescue intelligent framework during this pandemic that has addressed said challenges and issues. This study aimed to propose a novel CP-transfusion intelligent framework for rescuing COVID-19 patients across centralised/decentralised telemedicine hospitals based on the matching component process to provide an efficient CP from eligible donors to the most critical patients using multicriteria decision-making (MCDM) methods. A dataset, including COVID-19 patients/donors that have met the important criteria in the virology field, must be augmented to improve the developed framework. Four consecutive phases conclude the methodology. In the first phase, a new COVID-19 dataset is generated on the basis of medical-reference ranges by specialised experts in the virology field. The simulation data are classified into 80 patients and 80 donors on the basis of the five biomarker criteria with four blood types (i.e., A, B, AB, and O) and produced for COVID-19 case study. In the second phase, the identification scenario of patient/donor distributions across four centralised/decentralised telemedicine hospitals is identified 'as a proof of concept'. In the third phase, three stages are conducted to develop a CP-transfusion-rescue framework. In the first stage, two decision matrices are adopted and developed on the basis of the five 'serological/protein biomarker' criteria for the prioritisation of patient/donor lists. In the second stage, MCDM techniques are analysed to adopt individual and group decision making based on integrated AHP-TOPSIS as suitable methods. In the third stage, the intelligent matching components amongst patients/donors are developed on the basis of four distinct rules. In the final phase, the guideline of the objective validation steps is reported. The intelligent framework implies the benefits and strength weights of biomarker criteria to the priority configuration results and can obtain efficient CPs for the most critical patients. The execution of matching components possesses the scalability and balancing presentation within centralised/decentralised hospitals. The objective validation results indicate that the ranking is valid.
  7. Hiew FL, Thit WM, Alexander M, Thirugnanam U, Siritho S, Tan K, et al.
    J Cent Nerv Syst Dis, 2021;13:11795735211057314.
    PMID: 35173510 DOI: 10.1177/11795735211057314
    Therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE) is an effective and affordable treatment option in most parts of Southeast Asia (SEA). In 2018, the SEA TPE Consortium (SEATPEC) was established, consisting of regional neurologists working to improve outcome of various autoimmune neurological diseases. We proposed an immunotherapeutic guideline prioritizing TPE for this region. We reviewed disease burden, evidence-based treatment options, and major guidelines for common autoimmune neurological disorders seen in SEA. A modified treatment algorithm based on consensus agreement by key-opinion leaders was proposed. Autoimmune antibody diagnostic testing through collaboration with accredited laboratories was established. Choice of first-line immunotherapies (IVIg/corticosteroid/TPE) is based on available evidence, clinicians' experience, contraindications, local availability, and affordability. TPE could be chosen as first-line therapy for GBS, CIDP, MG (acute/short term), IgG, A paraproteinemic neuropathy, and NMDAR encephalitis. Treatment is stopped for acute monophasic conditions such as GBS and ADEM following satisfactory outcome. For chronic immune disorders, a therapy taper or long-term maintenance therapy is recommended depending on the defined clinical state. TPE as second-line treatment is indicated for IVIg or corticosteroids refractory cases of ADEM, NMOSD (acute), MG, and NMDAR/LGI1/CASPR2/Hashimoto's encephalitis. With better diagnosis, treatment initiation with TPE is a sustainable and effective immunotherapy for autoimmune neurological diseases in SEA.
  8. Bai X, Soh KG, Omar Dev RD, Talib O, Xiao W, Cai H
    Front Public Health, 2021;9:829367.
    PMID: 35174137 DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2021.829367
    BACKGROUND: Although the elderly frequently engages in brisk walking as a form of exercise, little has been reported in the literature about the effect of brisk walking on health-related physical fitness, balance, and overall life satisfaction.

    OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this systematic review is to determine the effect of brisk walking on the elderly's health-related physical fitness, balance, and life satisfaction.

    DESIGN: We conducted a comprehensive search from the PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, and SPORTDiscus databases from January to September 2021. We selected studies through PICOS and conducted a systematic literature review according to the PRISMA guidelines.

    RESULTS: Thirteen studies met all criteria; 11 were classed as low risk of bias, while two were classified as high risk of bias. Generally, brisk walking has been shown to improve cardiorespiratory fitness, muscular strength, and body composition. Limited evidence was presented on flexibility, muscular endurance and development and life satisfaction, and there was conflicting evidence on balance. Moreover, evidence of restriction proves that high-intensity (80-85%) brisk walking is more effective than moderate-intensity (60-75%) brisk walking on the aerobic capacity of the elderly. Furthermore, there was less research conducted on males.

    CONCLUSION: Brisk walking has been shown to improve cardiorespiratory fitness, muscular strength, and body composition. Other outcomes (balance, flexibility, muscular endurance, and life satisfaction) and the impact of the intensity of brisk walking on the elderly should be confirmed. Therefore, there remains insufficient research on brisk walking, while single brisk walking cannot meet requirements of elderly in terms of their health-related physical fitness, balance, and life satisfaction. Future research should aim to examine the effectiveness of combining several types of exercises to promote general health in the elderly, as the World Health Organization recommends. Unintelligible FITT (frequency, intensity, time, type) principles of brisk walking training should be trenched for the results of scientific and effective physical exercise.

    MeSH terms: Aged; Exercise Therapy; Humans; Male; Personal Satisfaction*; Physical Fitness*; Exercise; Walking
  9. Kamalden TMIT, Yusof ANM, Misron K
    J Int Adv Otol, 2021 Nov;17(6):570-573.
    PMID: 35177397 DOI: 10.5152/iao.2021.21189
    The aim of this study is to evaluate the incidence of delayed facial nerve paresis after total endoscopic ear surgery. This review also aims to describe the possible contributing factors and its management. This is a retrospective review of all patients who had undergone total endoscopic ear surgery for all otologic cases that required endoscopic intervention in a single otologic center from 2014 up to 2020. The delayed facial nerve paresis is defined as deterioration of facial nerve function 72 hours after total endoscopic ear surgery. A total of 56 patients were included in the study. Delayed facial nerve paresis following total endoscopic ear surgery was observed in 2 patients (3.4%). Facial weakness sets in on day 6 post operation and another one developed at day 16 after the surgery. Both patients were investigated and only one of them showed a higher titer of Varicella zoster virus antibody while another patient showed no raise of titer. Thus, explanation of postoperative edema or mechanical compression is discussed. The incidence of delayed facial nerve paresis following total endoscopic ear surgery is rare. It can occur probably several days after surgery up to 3 weeks. Our 2 cases revealed that virus reactivation may not be the only factor for delayed facial nerve palsy after surgery. The overall prognosis for incomplete delayed facial nerve paresis is very good as both patients recovered well few days after treatment with steroids.
  10. Lim JZ, Mountstephens J, Teo J
    Front Neurorobot, 2021;15:796895.
    PMID: 35177973 DOI: 10.3389/fnbot.2021.796895
    CONTEXT: Eye tracking is a technology to measure and determine the eye movements and eye positions of an individual. The eye data can be collected and recorded using an eye tracker. Eye-tracking data offer unprecedented insights into human actions and environments, digitizing how people communicate with computers, and providing novel opportunities to conduct passive biometric-based classification such as emotion prediction. The objective of this article is to review what specific machine learning features can be obtained from eye-tracking data for the classification task.

    METHODS: We performed a systematic literature review (SLR) covering the eye-tracking studies in classification published from 2016 to the present. In the search process, we used four independent electronic databases which were the IEEE Xplore, the ACM Digital Library, and the ScienceDirect repositories as well as the Google Scholar. The selection process was performed by using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) search strategy. We followed the processes indicated in the PRISMA to choose the appropriate relevant articles.

    RESULTS: Out of the initial 420 articles that were returned from our initial search query, 37 articles were finally identified and used in the qualitative synthesis, which were deemed to be directly relevant to our research question based on our methodology.

    CONCLUSION: The features that could be extracted from eye-tracking data included pupil size, saccade, fixations, velocity, blink, pupil position, electrooculogram (EOG), and gaze point. Fixation was the most commonly used feature among the studies found.

  11. Sakinah S, Priya SP, Mok PL, Munisvaradass R, Teh SW, Sun Z, et al.
    Front Cell Dev Biol, 2021;9:800659.
    PMID: 35178398 DOI: 10.3389/fcell.2021.800659
    [This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fcell.2021.637270.].
  12. Palanisamy C, Nagarajan S
    F1000Res, 2021;10:1030.
    PMID: 35169462 DOI: 10.12688/f1000research.70641.1
    Background - 3D printing is a dynamic process with many process parameters influencing the product, including the type of the material; it is often difficult to understand the combined influence of these parameters.   Purpose - The tensile strength of 3D printed parts is important for the functionality of components. The effects of process parameters on tensile strength must therefore be examined. The objective of this study is to develop a response surface model (RSM) to predict the final quality of a 3D printed bronze part from a different set of input parameters.   Methods - The tensile test specimen was built in a Makerbot 3D printer with bronze polylactic acid (PLA) material. The three controllable input parameters were; thickness of layers, number of shells, and infill density. The three levels of layer thickness were 0.1mm, 0.2mm and 0.3mm. The number of shells was 2, 3 and 4. The infill densities were 20%, 30% and 40%. A tensile experiment tested the strength of the specimens. RSM is a statistical approach for modelling and analyzing how different variables affect the response of interest, and for optimizing it.   Results - The result obtained shows that the specimen with a high layer thickness of 0.3mm and infill density of 40% is the best among all the other parameters. Finally, the regression equation produced was used for random values of layer thickness, the number of shells, and infill density, to see whether the values obtained from the tests fall into the range of experimental data.   Conclusion - Infill density and layer thickness are the two criteria that significantly influence the tensile property. The number of shells has the least influence on the tensile property. However, the best tensile strength is the part printed with higher infill density, a greater number of shells, and higher layer thickness.
  13. Yehya AHS, Asif M, Abdul Majid AMS, Oon CE
    Biomed J, 2021 Dec;44(6):694-708.
    PMID: 35166208 DOI: 10.1016/j.bj.2020.05.015
    BACKGROUND: Pancreatic cancer is one of the most notorious cancers and is known for its highly invasive characteristics, drug resistance, and metastatic progression. Unfortunately, many patients with advanced pancreatic cancer become insensitive towards gemcitabine treatment. Orthosiphon stamineus (O.s) is used widely as a traditional medicine for the treatment of multiple ailments, including cancer in South East Asia. The present in vitro study was designed to investigate the complementary effects of an ethanolic extract of O.s (Et. O.s) or rosmarinic acid in combination with gemcitabine on Panc-1 pancreatic cancer cells.

    METHOD: Cell viability and colony formation assays were used to determine the 50% inhibitory concentration (IC50) of Et. O.s, rosmarinic acid, and gemcitabine. Different doses of gemcitabine in combination with Et. O.s or rosmarinic acid were tested against Panc-1 to select the best concentrations which possessed synergistic effects. Elucidation of molecular mechanisms responsible for mediating chemo-sensitivity in Panc-1 was performed using Quantitative Real-time PCR (QPCR), flow cytometry and immunohistochemistry.

    RESULTS: Et. O.s was found to significantly sensitise Panc-1 towards gemcitabine by reducing the gene expression of multidrug-resistant protein family (MDR) (MDR-1, MRP-4, and MRP-5) and molecules related to epithelial-mesenchymal transition (ZEB-1 and Snail-1). An induction of the human equilibrate nucleoside transporter-1 (hENT-1) gene was also found in cells treated with Et. O.s-gemcitabine. The Et. O.s-gemcitabine combination induced cellular senescence, cell death and cell cycle arrest in Panc-1. In addition, the inhibition of Notch signalling was demonstrated through the downregulation of Notch 1 intracellular domain in this treatment group. In contrast, rosmarinic acid-gemcitabine combination showed no additional effects on cellular senescence, apoptosis, epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT) markers, the MRP-4 and MRP-5 multi-drug resistance protein family, hENT-1, and the Notch pathway through Notch 1 intracellular domain.

    CONCLUSION: This study provides valuable insights on the use of Et. O.s to complement gemcitabine in targeting pancreatic cancer in vitro, suggesting its potential use as a novel complementary treatment in pancreatic cancer patients.

  14. Chai TT, Koh JA, Wong CC, Sabri MZ, Wong FC
    Molecules, 2021 Dec 06;26(23).
    PMID: 34885982 DOI: 10.3390/molecules26237396
    Some seed-derived antioxidant peptides are known to regulate cellular modulators of ROS production, including those proposed to be promising targets of anticancer therapy. Nevertheless, research in this direction is relatively slow owing to the inevitable time-consuming nature of wet-lab experimentations. To help expedite such explorations, we performed structure-based virtual screening on seed-derived antioxidant peptides in the literature for anticancer potential. The ability of the peptides to interact with myeloperoxidase, xanthine oxidase, Keap1, and p47phox was examined. We generated a virtual library of 677 peptides based on a database and literature search. Screening for anticancer potential, non-toxicity, non-allergenicity, non-hemolyticity narrowed down the collection to five candidates. Molecular docking found LYSPH as the most promising in targeting myeloperoxidase, xanthine oxidase, and Keap1, whereas PSYLNTPLL was the best candidate to bind stably to key residues in p47phox. Stability of the four peptide-target complexes was supported by molecular dynamics simulation. LYSPH and PSYLNTPLL were predicted to have cell- and blood-brain barrier penetrating potential, although intolerant to gastrointestinal digestion. Computational alanine scanning found tyrosine residues in both peptides as crucial to stable binding to the targets. Overall, LYSPH and PSYLNTPLL are two potential anticancer peptides that deserve deeper exploration in future.
    MeSH terms: Antineoplastic Agents/metabolism*; Antineoplastic Agents/chemistry; Antioxidants/metabolism*; Antioxidants/chemistry; Drug Stability; Humans; Peroxidase/metabolism; Peroxidase/chemistry; Peptides/metabolism*; Peptides/chemistry; Plant Extracts/metabolism*; Plant Extracts/chemistry; Protein Binding; Seeds/chemistry*; Xanthine Oxidase/metabolism; Xanthine Oxidase/chemistry; Catalytic Domain; Drug Discovery/methods*; Molecular Dynamics Simulation; Molecular Docking Simulation; Kelch-Like ECH-Associated Protein 1/metabolism; Kelch-Like ECH-Associated Protein 1/chemistry
  15. Chai SS, Cheah WL, Goh KL, Chang YHR, Sim KY, Chin KO
    Comput Math Methods Med, 2021;2021:2794888.
    PMID: 34917164 DOI: 10.1155/2021/2794888
    This study outlines and developed a multilayer perceptron (MLP) neural network model for adolescent hypertension classification focusing on the use of simple anthropometric and sociodemographic data collected from a cross-sectional research study in Sarawak, Malaysia. Among the 2,461 data collected, 741 were hypertensive (30.1%) and 1720 were normal (69.9%). During the data gathering process, eleven anthropometric measurements and sociodemographic data were collected. The variable selection procedure in the methodology proposed selected five parameters: weight, weight-to-height ratio (WHtR), age, sex, and ethnicity, as the input of the network model. The developed MLP model with a single hidden layer of 50 hidden neurons managed to achieve a sensitivity of 0.41, specificity of 0.91, precision of 0.65, F-score of 0.50, accuracy of 0.76, and Area Under the Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) Curve (AUC) of 0.75 using the imbalanced data set. Analyzing the performance metrics obtained from the training, validation and testing data sets show that the developed network model is well-generalized. Using Bayes' Theorem, an adolescent classified as hypertensive using this created model has a 66.2% likelihood of having hypertension in the Sarawak adolescent population, which has a hypertension prevalence of 30.1%. When the prevalence of hypertension in the Sarawak population was increased to 50%, the developed model could predict an adolescent having hypertension with an 82.0% chance, whereas when the prevalence of hypertension was reduced to 10%, the developed model could only predict true positive hypertension with a 33.6% chance. With the sensitivity of the model increasing to 65% and 90% while retaining a specificity of 91%, the true positivity of an adolescent being hypertension would be 75.7% and 81.2%, respectively, according to Bayes' Theorem. The findings show that simple anthropometric measurements paired with sociodemographic data are feasible to be used to classify hypertension in adolescents using the developed MLP model in Sarawak adolescent population with modest hypertension prevalence. However, a model with higher sensitivity and specificity is required for better positive hypertension predictive value when the prevalence is low. We conclude that the developed classification model could serve as a quick and easy preliminary warning tool for screening high-risk adolescents of developing hypertension.
    MeSH terms: Adolescent; Anthropometry; Bayes Theorem; Cross-Sectional Studies; Female; Humans; Hypertension/classification*; Hypertension/epidemiology; Malaysia/epidemiology; Male; Prevalence; Neural Networks (Computer)*; Computational Biology
  16. Ramkissoon H
    Curr Opin Psychol, 2021 Dec 14;45:101290.
    PMID: 35151946 DOI: 10.1016/j.copsyc.2021.11.008
    Humans are particularly drawn to social connections. Prosociality in times of loss and separation requires intervention designs aimed at reinforcing social bonds to help those grieving. Prosocial behaviors reinforce social support, contribute to resilience, and promote mental health, overall well-being, and quality of life. This review summarizes multidisciplinary evidence from the literature showing emerging trends in prosocial behavior, loss, and separation research with adaptive prosocial interventions to promote resilience contributing to mental well-being and quality-of-life outcomes. A summary of research findings showing the digital transformation to promote prosocial behaviors for mental well-being is provided. Finally, new and classic evidence of prosocial behaviors for adaptation and resilience in the community is discussed to promote future prosociality in loss and separation.
  17. Awang NMSH, Haron A, Abdullah B
    Gulf J Oncolog, 2021 Sep;1(37):85-90.
    PMID: 35152200
    BACKGROUND: The parapharyngeal tumour is a rare case of head and neck tumour. Benign and malignant tumours can arise from any of the structures contained within the parapharyngeal space. Pleomorphic adenoma is the most typical salivary gland tumour that is found in this space and surgical resection is the main treatment for this tumour. Since the modern era of the medicine, different kinds of diagnostic imaging and surgical approaches have been introduced to evaluate this tumour.

    CASE PRESENTATION: We present a case report of a parapharyngeal space mass that was found to be pleomorphic adenoma of minor salivary gland, their clinical presentation, radiological imaging and literature review of the transoral surgical approaches for parapharyngeal tumour.

    DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: The transoral approach remains one of the classical and effective methods for the resection of the benign prestyloid parapharyngeal tumour. The surgeons need to have a good knowledge of diagnostic imaging and surgical techniques to determine which surgical procedure is the best for the patients in order to eradicate the diseases and minimize the complications ultimately.

    MeSH terms: Head and Neck Neoplasms*; Humans
  18. Lamry NA, Misron K, Tengku Kamalden TMI, Mohamad S
    Gulf J Oncolog, 2021 Sep;1(37):91-94.
    PMID: 35152201
    Soft tissue sarcoma, especially synovial sarcoma is extremely rare in infancy. Only few cases were reported, and challenges lies in disease eradication and subsequent adjuvant therapy. Due to particularly small size of head and neck region with important structures are in intimate location with each other, surgical resection is very challenging, in order to ensure total disease resection as well as maintaining function and cosmetic outcome post-operatively. We present an uncommon case of synovial sarcoma of infratemporal fossa diagnosed in a 3-month-old infant. Due to extreme age, it poses difficulty to the managing team with regards to surgical intervention and oncological regimes. Keywords : Synovial sarcoma; infratemporal fossa; infant.
    MeSH terms: Combined Modality Therapy; Humans; Infant; Sarcoma*
  19. Latha S, Muthu P, Lai KW, Khalil A, Dhanalakshmi S
    Front Aging Neurosci, 2021;13:828214.
    PMID: 35153728 DOI: 10.3389/fnagi.2021.828214
    Atherosclerotic plaque deposit in the carotid artery is used as an early estimate to identify the presence of cardiovascular diseases. Ultrasound images of the carotid artery are used to provide the extent of stenosis by examining the intima-media thickness and plaque diameter. A total of 361 images were classified using machine learning and deep learning approaches to recognize whether the person is symptomatic or asymptomatic. CART decision tree, random forest, and logistic regression machine learning algorithms, convolutional neural network (CNN), Mobilenet, and Capsulenet deep learning algorithms were applied in 202 normal images and 159 images with carotid plaque. Random forest provided a competitive accuracy of 91.41% and Capsulenet transfer learning approach gave 96.7% accuracy in classifying the carotid artery ultrasound image database.
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