Browse publications by year: 2021

The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Future Nursing Career Turnover Intention Among Nursing Students

Lin Y, Hu Z, Danaee M, Alias H, Wong LP

Risk Manag Healthc Policy, 2021;14:3605-3615.
PMID: 34475792 DOI: 10.2147/RMHP.S322764

Introduction: A shortage of nurses has been a major global concern, particularly during pandemics. Nursing students turning away from the nursing profession upon graduation may exacerbate nursing workforce shortfalls. The main objective of this study was to assess perceived occupational turnover intention among nursing students and associated factors (fear of COVID-19 and life satisfaction). Students were also asked to provide suggestions that could enhance their intention to join the nursing profession.
Methods: An online survey was sent to all registered undergraduate nursing students at Fujian Medical University, China. The partial least squares structural equation model (PLS-SEM) was used to investigate key factors influencing turnover intention.
Results: A total of 1020 complete responses were received (response rate: 86.2%). Nearly half (49.1%) reported that they would choose not to be on a nursing course if given a choice, 45.4% often think of not going into the nursing profession in the future, and 23.7% would consider entering a healthcare industry that has zero contact with patients. The total turnover intention score range was 3 to 15, and the mean ± standard deviation (SD) was 9.2 (SD ± 2.5). PLS-SEM path analysis revealed that fear of COVID-19 (β = 0.226, p < 0.001) had a positive effect on turnover intention. Satisfaction with life (β = -0.212, p < 0.001) had a negative effect on turnover intention. Analysis of open-ended survey data on students' perspectives on how to encourage nursing students to enter the nursing workforce revealed five central themes: 1) professional role, respect, and recognition; 2) higher wages; 3) reduce workload; 4) enhance occupational health and safety; and 5) career advancement opportunities.
Conclusion: Factors influencing turnover intention and suggestions to reduce students' apprehension towards joining the nursing profession found in this study should be seriously taken into consideration in initiatives to address the nurse shortages.
The Impact of Private Standards on Corporate Social Responsibility Compliance and Rural Workers' Motivation in Developing Countries: A Study of Mango Farms in Pakistan

Tang H, Rasool Z, Khan AI, Khan AA, Khan MA, Azaz GA

Int J Food Sci, 2021;2021:9985784.
PMID: 34476257 DOI: 10.1155/2021/9985784

This study examines the role of a private standard on corporate social responsibility (CSR) compliance in the Pakistani mango industry and how this compliance affects rural workers' motivation. Pakistan is the fifth largest mango producer in the world and the fourth largest exporter in global mango trade; also, mango is the biggest fruit crop within the country. Mango trade is subject to trade terms, where buyers decide the conditions of trade agreements by means of codes of conduct. The key dimensions of the codes involved in agrofood trade are food safety, traceability, worker welfare, and environmental consideration, issues which are all connected with CSR. Private standards ensure compliance with these codes of conduct. This study draws on interviews and a questionnaire survey with certified mango producers and farm workers in Pakistan. The mango industry also involves other stakeholders such as government institutes and NGOs; interviews were also conducted with their representatives. Given that this study is an impact assessment research, the researcher designed a theoretical framework using a mixed method approach to investigate the rationale behind acquiring the standard by the mango growers in Pakistan and what impact (if any) this shift has generated with regard to the farm workers' job satisfaction and motivation. This study is the first to empirically examine good agricultural practices in Pakistan and evaluate their impact. This study shows that private standards play a significant role in ensuring compliance, and CSR practices implemented through them were found to be positively related to the rural workers' job satisfaction and motivation. Furthermore, this study has made separate contributions to theory, methodology, and practice. The production of the synergistic model for improving compliance is among the key highlights of the study. The findings of this study can extend to other agriculture and primary production industry workers in Pakistan and even beyond to other developing countries' rural agriculture workers.
Induction of apoptosis on ovarian adenocarcinoma cells, A2780 by tricyclohexylphosphanegold (I) mercaptobenzoate derivatives via intrinsic and extrinsic pathways

Ang KP, Chan PF, Hamid RA

J Biol Inorg Chem, 2021 10;26(7):833-853.
PMID: 34476610 DOI: 10.1007/s00775-021-01892-6

Tricyclohexylphosphanegold(I) n-mercaptobenzoate (n = 2, 3, 4) labelled as 1-3 were previously reported to significantly suppress thioredoxin reductase (TrxR) activities towards ovarian cancer cells, A2780, in vitro. Herein, we explored the role of 1-3 for their apoptosis inducing ability against A2780 cells. 1-3 exhibited IC50 values at 1.19 ± 0.03 µM, 2.28 ± 0.04 μM and 0.78 ± 0.01 μM, respectively, compared to cisplatin at 26.8 ± 0.15 µM. The compounds induced A2780 apoptosis via a caspase-dependent mitochondrion pathway as evidenced by ROS production, cytochrome c release, caspases-3/7, -8, -9 and -10 activation, APAF1 and BAX upregulation as well as BCL2A1 and BCL2 genes' downregulation. In addition, the death mode of 1-3 was also mediated via death receptor extrinsic pathway manifested by FAS, FASL, FADD, and TNFR1 genes' upregulation via Human Rt PCR analysis. In addition, 1-3 significantly caused A2780 arrest at S phase, which was associated with the upregulation of TP53, E2F1, RB1 and CDKN1A upregulation and downregulation of CDK1, CDK4, CDC25A and CDC25C genes. Based on these promising results, these phosphanegold(I) thiolate derivatives could act as feasible candidates for further advanced in vivo ovarian cancer studies to develop novel chemotherapeutic agents derived from metal-based agents.

MeSH terms: Adenocarcinoma*; Cisplatin/pharmacology; Female; Humans; Apoptosis; Cell Line, Tumor
Fulltext Detection of SARS-CoV-2 by antigen ELISA test is highly swayed by viral load and sample storage condition

Adnan N, Khandker SS, Haq A, Chaity MA, Khalek A, Nazim AQ, et al.

Expert Rev Anti Infect Ther, 2021 Sep 11.
PMID: 34477019 DOI: 10.1080/14787210.2021.1976144

BACKGROUND: Rapid increase in COVID-19 suspected cases has rendered disease diagnosis challenging, mainly depending upon RT-qPCR. Reliable, rapid, and cost-effective diagnostic assays that complement RT-qPCR should be introduced after thoroughly evaluating their performance upon various disease phases, viral load, and sample storage conditions.
OBJECTIVE: We investigated the correlation of cycle threshold (Ct) value, which implies the viral load and infection phase, and the storage condition of the clinical specimen with the diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 through our newly developed in-house rapid enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) system.
METHOD: Naso-oropharyngeal samples of 339 COVID-19 suspected cases were collected and evaluated through RT-qPCR that were stored up to 30 days in different conditions (i.e. -80°C, -20°C and initially at 4°C followed by -80°C). The clinical specimens were evaluated with our in-house ELISA system after finalizing the assay method through checkerboard assay and minimizing the signal/noise ratio.
RESULT: The ELISA system showed the highest sensitivity (92.9%) for samples with Ct ≤30 and preserving at -80°C temperature. The sensitivity reduced proportionally with increasing Ct value and preserving temperature. However, the specificity ranged between 98.3% and 100%.
CONCLUSION: The results indicate the necessity of early infection phase diagnosis and lower temperature preservation of samples to perform rapid antigen ELISA tests.
Non-Enzymatic Glucose Sensors Involving Copper: An Electrochemical Perspective

Aun TT, Salleh NM, Ali UFM, Manan NSA

Crit Rev Anal Chem, 2021 Sep 03.
PMID: 34477020

Non-enzymatic glucose sensors based on the use of copper and its oxides have emerged as promising candidates to replace enzymatic glucose sensors owing to their stability, ease of fabrication, and superior sensitivity. This review explains the theories of the mechanism of glucose oxidation on copper transition metal electrodes. It also presents an overview on the development of among the best non-enzymatic copper-based glucose sensors in the past 10 years. A brief description of methods, interesting findings, and important performance parameters are provided to inspire the reader and researcher to create new improvements in sensor design. Finally, several important considerations that pertain to the nano-structuring of the electrode surface is provided.
Quality of life of older adults with primary open angle glaucoma using Bahasa Malaysia version of Glaucoma Quality of life 36 questionnaire

Tharmathurai S, Huwaina AS, Azhany Y, Razak AA, Che-Hamzah J, Fazilawati Q, et al.

Curr Aging Sci, 2021 Sep 03.
PMID: 34477541 DOI: 10.2174/1874609814666210903155251

BACKGROUND: Primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) is an age-related chronic optic neuropathy causing progressive constriction of visual field, which compromised quality of life (QoL) of older adults.
OBJECTIVE: The study aims to determine the QoL according to the severity of visual field using Bahasa Malaysia version of the Glaucoma Quality of Life- 36 (Glau-QoL 36) in older adults with POAG in Malaysia.
METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted in two tertiary hospitals in Malaysia: Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kelantan, and Hospital Selayang, Selangor. POAG patients who were ≥ 60 years old at the time of recruitment had minimal cataract, underwent cataract or trabeculectomy surgery at least 3 months prior and were on medical and surgical treatment. The severity of POAG was based on the modified Advanced Glaucoma Intervention Study (AGIS) score on two reliable reproducible Humphrey visual field SITA program 24-2 analysis. Face to face, one-on-one interview was conducted using validated Bahasa Malaysia version of GlauQol 36.
RESULTS: A total of 360 older adults with POAG were recruited. Majority were between ages 60-67 (38.3%) with 64 (17.8%) mild, 93 (25.8%) moderate, 115 (31.9%) severe POAG and 88 (24.4%) end-stage severity of POAG. The majority of the recruited patients were not working (88.9%) and live with their families (68.1%). There was a significant association between GlauQoL 36 score of all domains: daily living, driving, physiological well-being, self-image, anxiety, burden of treatment and confidence in healthcare with the severity of POAG (p<0.001). Increased severity of POAG was associated with decreased QoL in all GlauQoL 36 domains except confidence in healthcare. There was also a significant increase in dependency, with a majority of the end-stage were living with their families (p<0.001).
CONCLUSIONS: QoL and independency of older adults with POAG decrease with worsening of visual field defect. Addressing the problem of visual-related activities in older adults with POAG may reduce their dependency and QoL. Happy living is important to lead to healthy living among older adults with POAG.
Language Matters: The Autism-Spectrum Quotient in English, Mandarin and Bahasa Malaysia

Chee ZJ, de Vries M

J Autism Dev Disord, 2021 Sep 03.
PMID: 34478019 DOI: 10.1007/s10803-021-05253-9

The autism-spectrum quotient (AQ) measures autistic traits and has been studied in different countries, sometimes with the English version, and sometimes with translated versions. However, the language of the questionnaire might influence non-native English speakers' answering tendency. In the current study we compared the responses on the AQ of multilingual Malaysians (96 participants filled out the AQ in English and Mandarin, and 79 participants filled out English and Bahasa Malaysia). Participants scored higher on the English AQ compared to the Mandarin AQ, whereas there was no difference between the English and Bahasa Malaysia AQ score. Analysis of the response style suggests the same person might display discrepant response styles in different languages, which seems to be related to language proficiency.
An Overview of the Psychodynamics of Addiction

Alfonso CA

Psychodyn Psychiatry, 2021;49(3):363-369.
PMID: 34478324 DOI: 10.1521/pdps.2021.49.3.363

The author provides an overview of the psychodynamics of addiction, diverging from outdated conceptualizations such as orality and regression, and emphasizing the clinical relevance of the self-medication hypothesis. Rado and Bion paved the way for Khantzian's self-medication hypothesis by describing the drug user's need to escape unpleasure and seek self- containment. The author reviews research corroborating the relevance of the self-medication hypothesis and other relevant constructs such as self-deceptive attempts at adaptation, inability to prioritize self-care or delay gratification, excessive hedonism and novelty seeking, and impulsivity. Adverse childhood experiences, abuse and neglect are known to cause epigenetic changes altering gene expression, which may endure throughout life and be transmitted intergenerationally. Effective psychotherapeutic interventions have the potential to reverse DNA methylation and other epigenetic changes triggered by trauma and co-morbid psychopathology. Lastly, this editorial also introduces the psychodynamically informed clinical recommendations of Baurer and Gottdiener, further described in separate articles in this issue of Psychodynamic Psychiatry.

MeSH terms: Child; Child Abuse*; Humans; Psychotropic Drugs; Self Medication; Comorbidity; Behavior, Addictive*
Transcranial direct current stimulation with multiple oral re-reading therapy for pure alexia without agraphia: a case report

Mohamad NA, Che Adinan SN, Yusof Khan AHK, Nik Abdul Ghani NNH, Kamis MFA, Wan Sulaiman WA, et al.

Neurocase, 2021 Oct;27(5):391-395.
PMID: 34478345 DOI: 10.1080/13554794.2021.1974487

Pure alexia without agraphia is characterized by impaired reading due to damage to the occipitotemporal cortex with preserved writing skills. In this case report, we investigate the effect of multiple oral re-reading (MOR) therapy adjunct with transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) in improving reading recovery of a 64-year-old patient with pure alexia without agraphia following a stroke. His MRI revealed an area of infarct with microhemorrhages at the left occipitotemporal region. The patient was blinded to each therapy and underwent seven consecutive sessions of sham tDCS followed by seven consecutive sessions of real tDCS, coupled with 1-hour MOR therapy during each session. Western Aphasia Battery (WAB) was performed at baseline, before sham and real-tDCS, and 6 weeks after completing tDCS therapy. The patient showed improvement using both sham and real-tDCS with better reading comprehension, average reading time, and word per minute after real-tDCS. This study suggests that MOR, coupled with tDCS therapy may accelerate the reading recovery in patients with pure alexia.
Asian minorities in Asian countries: intersecting disparities affecting minoritised groups

Dee EC, Paguio JA, Yao JS, Lim J, Lasco G

Lancet Oncol, 2021 09;22(9):e381.
PMID: 34478665 DOI: 10.1016/S1470-2045(21)00350-8
MeSH terms: Asia/epidemiology; African Americans*; Humans; Asian Continental Ancestry Group; Healthcare Disparities*
EEG feature fusion for motor imagery: A new robust framework towards stroke patients rehabilitation

Al-Qazzaz NK, Alyasseri ZAA, Abdulkareem KH, Ali NS, Al-Mhiqani MN, Guger C

Comput Biol Med, 2021 10;137:104799.
PMID: 34478922 DOI: 10.1016/j.compbiomed.2021.104799

Stroke is the second foremost cause of death worldwide and is one of the most common causes of disability. Several approaches have been proposed to manage stroke patient rehabilitation such as robotic devices and virtual reality systems, and researchers have found that the brain-computer interfaces (BCI) approaches can provide better results. Therefore, the most challenging tasks with BCI applications involve identifying the best technique(s) that can reveal the neuron stimulus information from the patients' brains and extracting the most effective features from these signals as well. Accordingly, the main novelty of this paper is twofold: propose a new feature fusion method for motor imagery (MI)-based BCI and develop an automatic MI framework to detect the changes pre- and post-rehabilitation. This study investigated the electroencephalography (EEG) dataset from post-stroke patients with upper extremity hemiparesis. All patients performed 25 MI-based BCI sessions with follow up assessment visits to examine the functional changes before and after EEG neurorehabilitation. In the first stage, conventional filters and automatic independent component analysis with wavelet transform (AICA-WT) denoising technique were used. Next, attributes from time, entropy and frequency domains were computed, and the effective features were combined into time-entropy-frequency (TEF) attributes. Consequently, the AICA-WT and the TEF fusion set were utilised to develop an AICA-WT-TEF framework. Then, support vector machine (SVM), k-nearest neighbours (kNN) and random forest (RF) classification technique were tested for MI-based BCI rehabilitation. The proposed AICA-WT-TEF framework with RF classifier achieves the best results compared with other classifiers. Finally, the proposed framework and feature fusion set achieve a significant performance in terms of accuracy measures compared to the state-of-the-art. Therefore, the proposed methods could be crucial for improving the process of automatic MI rehabilitation and are recommended for implementation in real-time applications.

MeSH terms: Algorithms; Electroencephalography; Humans; Imagination; Imagery (Psychotherapy); Stroke*; Brain-Computer Interfaces*; Stroke Rehabilitation*
Sustainability at airports: Technologies and best practices from ASEAN countries

Sreenath S, Sudhakar K, Yusop AF

J Environ Manage, 2021 Dec 01;299:113639.
PMID: 34479146 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.113639

Sustainability has become a focus area for practitioners and scholars due to the growing socio-economic issues. The sustainability of airport operations is being raised in various international platforms. This paper aims to identify the dimensions of sustainability and evaluate sustainable practices in airports of selected ASEAN countries. The various dimensions associated with the environmental aspect are energy management, emissions management, water and effluents management, solid waste management. It was understood that noise management, employee development, and community investment belong to the social dimension. Similarly, the factors such as economic contribution, passenger experience, airport safety, and security are inclined to economic dimensions of sustainability. It was found that environmentally sustainable practices have greater importance than social and economic initiatives in the airport context which provide quantifiable benefits for airports in the long term. Airport operators in South East Asia strived to mitigate carbon emissions, reduce waste and effluents, enhance the economic contribution, satisfy passengers, and meet employee needs. Compared to the total economic and social benefits obtained from these airports, the negative impacts of airport operation (such as noise emission from aircraft) are minimal but significant. The most common sustainable initiatives in airports, such as employee development, energy management, and passenger safety, supported sustainable development goals (SDG) 8, SDG 9, and SDG 11. A weak connection is observed between SDG 14 & SDG 15 and the airport's sustainable practices. The new technological innovations are concentrated in busy and profitable airports. A slow trend towards the adoption of new technologies for sustainable practices is observed in airports. The paper concludes that major airport operators in South-East Asia have effectively responded to the growing sustainability challenges in aviation markets. The sustainable dimensions and practices discussed will be valuable resource for airports striving to achieve sustainability goals.

MeSH terms: Aircraft; Technology; Waste Management*; Airports*; Solid Waste
Impact of risk-based partial vaccination on clinical incidence and seroprevalence of foot and mouth disease in Lao PDR

Han JH, Subharat S, Wada M, Vink D, Phiri BJ, Sutar A, et al.

Transbound Emerg Dis, 2021 Aug 19.
PMID: 34412164 DOI: 10.1111/tbed.14299

Foot and mouth disease (FMD) is endemic in the Lao People's Democratic Republic (PDR) and it causes economic loss to smallholder husbandry systems. An intervention programme based on a risk-based partial vaccination strategy was implemented in three provinces of Lao PDR (Champasak, Savannakhet and Xiangkhouang) to immunise domestic cattle and buffalo during 2016-2020. Two cross-sectional surveys were conducted in 2016/17 and 2020 to evaluate the impact of the vaccination programme on the prevalence of FMD virus exposure and clinical incidence of the disease. A total of 212 villages were visited during the two surveys, collecting 1609 household-level questionnaire results and 5931 blood samples of domestic cattle and buffalo. Blood samples were tested for the presence of antibodies to the non-structural proteins of FMD virus, and seroprevalence of 42.5 and 47.5% in 2016/17 and 2020, respectively were found. Multivariable regression analysis indicated that the efficacy of the FMD vaccination programme for reducing FMD virus circulation varied by province. In general, the incidence of clinical FMD increased toward the end of the 5-year intervention period, coinciding with a reduction of vaccine coverage in the last 2 years of the period. The findings suggest that the risk-based vaccination strategy achieved a marginally protective effect against the circulation of FMD virus with the possible limiting factors being operational constraints of public veterinary services, lack of farmers' compliance and unsustainable funding. We conclude that consistent resource availability and higher vaccination coverage is required to successfully control FMD with a risk-based vaccination strategy in Lao PDR.
Fulltext Effects of Manufacturing Process Variables on the Tablet Weight Variation of Mini-tablets Clarified by a Definitive Screening Design

Usuda S, Masukawa N, Leong KH, Okada K, Onuki Y

Chem Pharm Bull (Tokyo), 2021;69(9):896-904.
PMID: 34470954 DOI: 10.1248/cpb.c21-00427

This study investigated the effect of manufacturing process variables of mini-tablets, in particular, the effect of process variables concerning fluidized bed granulation on tablet weight variation. Test granules were produced with different granulation conditions according to a definitive screening design (DSD). The five evaluated factors assigned to DSD were: the grinding speed of the sample mill at the grinding process of the active pharmaceutical ingredient (X1), microcrystalline cellulose content in granules (X2), inlet air temperature (X3), binder concentration (X4) and the spray speed of the binder solution (X5) at the granulation process. First, the relationships between the evaluated factors and the granule properties were investigated. As a result of the DSD analysis, the mode of action of granulation parameters on the granule properties was fully characterized. Subsequently, the variation in tablet weight was examined. In addition to mini-tablets (3 mm diameter), this experiment assessed regular tablets (8 mm diameter). From the results for regular tablets, the variation in tablet weight was affected by the flowability of granules. By contrast, regarding the mini-tablets, no significant effect on the variation of tablet weight was found from the evaluated factors. From this result, this study further focused on other important factors besides the granulation process, and then the effect of the die-hole position of the multiple-tip tooling on tablet weight variation was proven to be significant. Our findings provide a better understanding of manufacturing mini-tablets.

MeSH terms: Drug Evaluation, Preclinical; Molecular Weight; Particle Size; Tablets/chemical synthesis; Tablets/chemistry; Drug Design*
The contribution of insects to global forest deadwood decomposition

Seibold S, Rammer W, Hothorn T, Seidl R, Ulyshen MD, Lorz J, et al.

Nature, 2021 Sep;597(7874):77-81.
PMID: 34471275 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-021-03740-8

The amount of carbon stored in deadwood is equivalent to about 8 per cent of the global forest carbon stocks1. The decomposition of deadwood is largely governed by climate2-5 with decomposer groups-such as microorganisms and insects-contributing to variations in the decomposition rates2,6,7. At the global scale, the contribution of insects to the decomposition of deadwood and carbon release remains poorly understood7. Here we present a field experiment of wood decomposition across 55 forest sites and 6 continents. We find that the deadwood decomposition rates increase with temperature, and the strongest temperature effect is found at high precipitation levels. Precipitation affects the decomposition rates negatively at low temperatures and positively at high temperatures. As a net effect-including the direct consumption by insects and indirect effects through interactions with microorganisms-insects accelerate the decomposition in tropical forests (3.9% median mass loss per year). In temperate and boreal forests, we find weak positive and negative effects with a median mass loss of 0.9 per cent and -0.1 per cent per year, respectively. Furthermore, we apply the experimentally derived decomposition function to a global map of deadwood carbon synthesized from empirical and remote-sensing data, obtaining an estimate of 10.9 ± 3.2 petagram of carbon per year released from deadwood globally, with 93 per cent originating from tropical forests. Globally, the net effect of insects may account for 29 per cent of the carbon flux from deadwood, which suggests a functional importance of insects in the decomposition of deadwood and the carbon cycle.

MeSH terms: Animals; Climate; Insects/metabolism*; International Cooperation; Trees/metabolism*; Ecosystem; Carbon Cycle*; Carbon Sequestration; Geographic Mapping; Forests*
Enhancing yeast growth with carboxylates under multiple nutrient limitations

Yusof TY, Lian MQ, Ong EBB, Teh AH

3 Biotech, 2021 Sep;11(9):409.
PMID: 34471591 DOI: 10.1007/s13205-021-02955-w

Yeast cell death is triggered when essential nutrients such as potassium and lipid are limited but ammonium is in excess. When ammonium and glucose were maintained at 100% of the normal concentration while all the other essential nutrients in yeast nitrogen base (YNB) were reduced to 2%, yeast growth was halted by ammonium toxicity. Yeast started to grow again when either ammonium was also reduced to 2% or gluconate was added, but simultaneously adding gluconate as well as reducing all the nutrients except glucose 50-fold revived yeast growth to a greater extent, i.e. a quarter of the normal growth. Gluconate, as well as formate and alginate, stimulated yeast growth by buffering the drop in pH. Yeast cells were seemingly more susceptible to low pH under the nutrient-limited conditions, entering the stationary phase at pH higher than that of the normal condition. Carboxylate salts may prove a cost-efficient replacement for large proportions of the essential nutrients as yeast cells, in the presence of 2 mg ml-1 gluconate, could still achieve nearly 90% of the normal growth when cultured in only 10% of the normal YNB concentration.
Fulltext Deep Learning Approach for Robust Prediction of Reservoir Bubble Point Pressure

Alakbari FS, Mohyaldinn ME, Ayoub MA, Muhsan AS

ACS Omega, 2021 Aug 24;6(33):21499-21513.
PMID: 34471753 DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.1c02376

The bubble point pressure (P b) is a crucial pressure-volume-temperature (PVT) property and a primary input needed for performing many petroleum engineering calculations, such as reservoir simulation. The industrial practice of determining P b is by direct measurement from PVT tests or prediction using empirical correlations. The main problems encountered with the published empirical correlations are their lack of accuracy and the noncomprehensive data set used to develop the model. In addition, most of the published correlations have not proven the relationships between the inputs and outputs as part of the validation process (i.e., no trend analysis was conducted). Nowadays, deep learning techniques such as long short-term memory (LSTM) networks have begun to replace the empirical correlations as they generate high accuracy. This study, therefore, presents a robust LSTM-based model for predicting P b using a global data set of 760 collected data points from different fields worldwide to build the model. The developed model was then validated by applying trend analysis to ensure that the model follows the correct relationships between the inputs and outputs and performing statistical analysis after comparing the most published correlations. The robustness and accuracy of the model have been verified by performing various statistical analyses and using additional data that was not part of the data set used to develop the model. The trend analysis results have proven that the proposed LSTM-based model follows the correct relationships, indicating the model's reliability. Furthermore, the statistical analysis results have shown that the lowest average absolute percent relative error (AAPRE) is 8.422% and the highest correlation coefficient is 0.99. These values are much better than those given by the most accurate models in the literature.
Fulltext Effect of Addition of Palm Oil Biodiesel in Waste Plastic Oil on Diesel Engine Performance, Emission, and Lubricity

Awang MSN, Mohd Zulkifli NW, Abbas MM, Amzar Zulkifli S, Kalam MA, Ahmad MH, et al.

ACS Omega, 2021 Aug 24;6(33):21655-21675.
PMID: 34471769 DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.1c03073

This research was aimed to examine the diesel engine's performance and emission of secondary fuels (SFs), comprising waste plastic oil (WPO) and palm oil biodiesel (POB), and to analyze their tribological properties. Their compositions were analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Five SFs (10-50% POB in WPO) were prepared by mechanical stirring. The results were compared to blank WPO (WPO100) and Malaysian commercial diesel (B10). WPO90 showed the maximum brake power (BP) and brake torque (BT) among the SFs, and their values were 0.52 and 0.59% higher compared to B10, respectively. The increase in POB ratio (20-50%) showed a negligible difference in BP and BT. WPO70 showed the lowest brake-specific fuel consumption among the SFs. The brake thermal efficiency (BTE) increased with POB composition. The maximum reductions in emission of hydrocarbon (HC, 37.21%) and carbon monoxide (CO, 27.10%) were achieved by WPO50 among the SFs. WPO90 showed the maximum reduction in CO2 emission (6.78%). Increasing the POB composition reduced the CO emissions and increased the CO2 emissions. All SFs showed a higher coefficient of friction (COF) than WPO100. WPO50 showed the minimal increase in COF of 2.45%. WPO90 showed the maximum reduction in wear scar diameter (WSD), by 10.34%, compared to B10. Among the secondary contaminated samples, SAE40-WPO90 showed the lowest COF, with 5.98% reduction compared to SAE40-WPO100. However, with increasing POB content in the secondary contaminated samples, the COF increased. The same trend was also observed in their WSD. Overall, WPO90 is the optimal SF with excellent potential for diesel engines.
Applications of medicinal chemistry for drug discovery against Acanthamoeba infections

Ahmed U, Anwar A, Ong SK, Anwar A, Khan NA

Med Res Rev, 2021 Sep 02.
PMID: 34472107 DOI: 10.1002/med.21851

Acanthamoeba is a genus of free-living amoebae, pervasively found in the environment. Most of its pathogenic species are the causative agent of sight-threatening Acanthamoeba keratitis and fatal granulomatous amoebic encephalitis. Despite the advancements in the field of chemotherapy, treating Acanthamoeba infections is still challenging due to incomplete knowledge of the complicated pathophysiology. In case of infection, the treatment regimen for the patients is often ineffective due to delayed diagnosis, poor specificity, and side-effects. Besides the resistance of Acanthamoeba cysts to most of the drugs, the recurrence of infection further complicates the recovery. Thus, it is necessary to develop an effective treatment which can eradicate these rare, but serious infections. Based on various computational and in vitro studies, it has been established that the synthetic scaffolds such as heterocyclic compounds may act as potential drug leads for the development of antiamoebic drugs. In this review, we report different classes of synthetic compounds especially heterocyclic compounds which have shown promising results against Acanthamoeba. Moreover, the antiamoebic activities of synthetic compounds with their possible mode of actions against Acanthamoeba, have been summarized and discussed in this review.
Glycosylated biomarker sensors: advancements in prostate cancer diagnosis

Abd Rahman SF, Md Arshad MK, Gopinath SCB, Fathil MFM, Sarry F, Ibau C

Chem Commun (Camb), 2021 Sep 23;57(76):9640-9655.
PMID: 34473143 DOI: 10.1039/d1cc03080a

Prostate cancer is currently diagnosed using the conventional gold standard methods using prostate-specific antigen (PSA) as the selective biomarker. However, lack of precision in PSA screening has resulted in needless biopsies and delays the treatment of potentially fatal prostate cancer. Thus, identification of glycans as novel biomarkers for the early detection of prostate cancer has attracted considerable attention due to their reliable diagnostic platform compared with the current PSA systems. Therefore, biosensing technologies that provide point-of-care diagnostics have demonstrated the ability to detect various analytes, including glycosylated micro- and macro-molecules, thereby enabling versatile detection methodologies. This highlight article discusses recent advances in the biosensor-based detection of prostate cancer glycan biomarkers and the innovative strategies for the conjugation of nanomaterials adapted to biosensing platforms. Finally, the article is concluded with prospects and challenges of prostate cancer biosensors and recommendations to overcome the issues associated with prostate cancer diagnosis.

MeSH terms: Glycosylation; Humans; Male; Prostatic Neoplasms/diagnosis*; Biomarkers, Tumor/analysis*; Biosensing Techniques*; Prostate-Specific Antigen/analysis*

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