Browse publications by year: 2023

  1. Sazgar T, Al-Jaf NM, Norman NH, Alias A
    Eur J Dent, 2023 Feb;17(1):97-106.
    PMID: 35436793 DOI: 10.1055/s-0042-1743149
    OBJECTIVES:  This study aimed to investigate the size and shape variations of soft-tissue patterns in different sagittal skeletal patterns using the geometric morphometrics method (GMM) obtained from lateral cephalograms.

    MATERIALS AND METHODS:  This is a retrospective study, where the sample comprised of 188 Malaysian Malay subjects aged between 18 and 40 years and with different sagittal skeletal patterns. Overall, 71 males and 117 females were gathered for all size and shape analyses. This study incorporated 11 soft-tissue landmarks, which underwent landmark application using tpsDig2 software version 2.31, while the shape analysis was done using MorphoJ software version 1.07a.

    STATISTICAL ANALYSIS:  Statistical analyses were performed using IBM SPSS Statistics 26. The result of the analysis of variance (ANOVA) test showed significant differences in some of the parameters between the landmarks. Length D, Length E, Length F, Length H, and Length I showed significant differences (p  0.05).

    RESULTS:  The shape variation of soft-tissue landmarks in different skeletal patterns existed in 18 different dimensions which showed by 18 principal components (PCs). Procrustes ANOVA and canonical variate analysis showed the size and shape differences of soft-tissue patterns between Class II and III and gender groups (p 

  2. Nugraha AP, Sibero MT, Nugraha AP, Puspitaningrum MS, Rizqianti Y, Rahmadhani D, et al.
    Eur J Dent, 2023 Feb;17(1):46-56.
    PMID: 35453169 DOI: 10.1055/s-0041-1741374
    OBJECTIVE:  Mangrove (Aegiceras corniculatum) is an abundant natural marine resource of Indonesia, which can be explored for treating periodontal disease due to its potential as immunoregulatory, antibacterial, and antioxidant properties. The objective of this study was to investigate the active compound from Indonesian mangrove leaf extract (A. corniculatum) (MLE) for developing a herbal-based mouthwash through in silico and in vitro studies.

    MATERIALS AND METHODS:  Phytochemistry and liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS) were done to explore the active compounds in MLE. Chemistry screening and interaction, absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion (ADME), molecular docking simulation, and visualization of MLE active compounds as anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and antibacterial were investigated in silico The inhibition zone of MLE against Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans (Aa), Porphyromonas gingivalis (Pg), and Fusobacterium nucleatum (Fn) as periodontopathogenic bacterias was performed by diffusion method. Doxycycline 100 mg was used as a positive control, as a treatment group, there were five groups, namely 0%, 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100% MLE.

    RESULTS:  Alkaloid, saponin, flavonoid, triterpenoid, steroid, tannin, and quinone were detected in MLE. A high concentration of (-)epicatechin and coumaric acid (CA) were found in MLE. MLE in 100% concentration has the most effective ability to inhibit Fn, Pg, Aa growth in vitro. (-)-Epicatechin has a higher negative binding affinity than CA that can enhance heat shock protein (HSP)-30, HSP-70, HSP-90, interleukin-10, and FOXP3 and also inhibit interleukin-6, peptidoglycan, flagellin, and dectin in silico.

    CONCLUSION:  MLE of A. corniculatum has antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antibacterial activities that can be a potential raw material for developing a herbal-based mouthwash.

  3. Lim CP, Kok BH, Lim HT, Chuah C, Abdul Rahman B, Abdul Majeed AB, et al.
    Pathog Glob Health, 2023 Mar;117(2):134-151.
    PMID: 35550001 DOI: 10.1080/20477724.2022.2072456
    The ongoing pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has globally devastated public health, the economies of many countries and quality of life universally. The recent emergence of immune-escaped variants and scenario of vaccinated individuals being infected has raised the global concerns about the effectiveness of the current available vaccines in transmission control and disease prevention. Given the high rate mutation of SARS-CoV-2, an efficacious vaccine targeting against multiple variants that contains virus-specific epitopes is desperately needed. An immunoinformatics approach is gaining traction in vaccine design and development due to the significant reduction in time and cost of immunogenicity studies and increasing reliability of the generated results. It can underpin the development of novel therapeutic methods and accelerate the design and production of peptide vaccines for infectious diseases. Structural proteins, particularly spike protein (S), along with other proteins have been studied intensively as promising coronavirus vaccine targets. Numbers of promising online immunological databases, tools and web servers have widely been employed for the design and development of next generation COVID-19 vaccines. This review highlights the role of immunoinformatics in identifying immunogenic peptides as potential vaccine targets, involving databases, and prediction and characterization of epitopes which can be harnessed for designing future coronavirus vaccines.
    MeSH terms: Humans; Quality of Life; Reproducibility of Results; Epitopes, T-Lymphocyte; Epitopes, B-Lymphocyte; Molecular Docking Simulation
  4. Ardani IGAW, Budipramana M, Rachmawati E, Nugraha AP, Ardana IKKG, Budhy TI, et al.
    Eur J Dent, 2023 Feb;17(1):183-190.
    PMID: 35672017 DOI: 10.1055/s-0042-1744371
    OBJECTIVE:  The aim of this article is to analyze and compare the presence of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of COL1A1 and FGFR2 in class II and class III Javanese populations.

    MATERIALS AND METHODS:  Cephalometric radiographs from total 63 patients of class II and III were analyzed. SNP analysis was performed based on both COL1A1 and FGFR2 sequences amplified from total DNA of patients' fresh blood. Principal component analysis was done to calculate the data and find the correlation of the cephalometric indicators influenced by each mutation. t-test and Mann-Whitney analysis were performed to check the significance of differences occurred in each studied parameter (p 

  5. Kristanti RA, Mardarveran P, Almaary KS, Elshikh MS, AbdelGawwad MR, Tang DKH
    Bioprocess Biosyst Eng, 2023 Mar;46(3):373-379.
    PMID: 35773493 DOI: 10.1007/s00449-022-02745-5
    Bauxite wastewater creates soil contamination and produces toxic effects on human health such as respiratory and skin rash problems. In this study, we investigated the phytoremediation ability of Jatropha curcas to remove bauxite wastewater from soil. Pot experiments were conducted to investigate the bauxite wastewater on the phytoremediation potential of J. curcas grown in contaminated soils. J. curcas exhibited a significant increase in plant growth leaf, root activity, plant height, and plant shoot when grown in bauxite contaminated soils compared with J. curcas grown in uncontaminated soils after 30 d treatment. Under bauxite exposure, a higher aluminium removal (88.5%) was observed in soils planted with J. curcas than unplanted soils (39.6%). The bioconcentration factor was also found to be 5.62, indicating that J. curcas have great tolerance and hyperaccumulator of aluminium under high aluminium concentrations and are capable of phytoextraction of soil contaminated with bauxite wastewater.
    MeSH terms: Aluminum; Aluminum Oxide; Biodegradation, Environmental; Humans; Soil; Soil Pollutants*; Jatropha*; Waste Water
  6. Nor FHM, Abdullah S, Ibrahim Z, Nor MHM, Osman MI, Al Farraj DA, et al.
    Bioprocess Biosyst Eng, 2023 Mar;46(3):381-391.
    PMID: 35779113 DOI: 10.1007/s00449-022-02749-1
    An effective biosurfactant producer and extremophiles bacteria, Bacillus cereus KH1, was isolated from textile effluent and the biosurfactant was produced using molasses as the sole carbon source. Growth parameters such as pH, temperature, salinity and concentration of molasses were optimised for decolourising the textile effluent with 24-h incubation. The biosurfactant property of B. cereus KH1 was evaluated based on haemolytic activity, oil displacement technique, drop-collapsing test and emulsification index. The results of the produced biosurfactant showed a positive reaction in haemolytic activity, oil displacement technique, drop-collapsing test and exhibiting a 67% emulsification index. The cell-free broth was stable in 40 °C pH 7, 7% salinity and 7% molasses. Thin-Layer Chromatography and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy analysis revealed that the biosurfactant was a lipopeptide with a yield 2.98 g L-1. These findings proved the synergistic action of B. cereus KH1 with lipopeptide biosurfactant may accelerated the decolourisation efficiency to 87%.
    MeSH terms: Bacillus cereus; Environmental Pollutants*; Surface-Active Agents/chemistry; Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared; Lipopeptides/chemistry; Waste Water; Extremophiles*
  7. Lau YY, Wong YS, Ong SA, Lutpi NA, Sam ST, Teng TT, et al.
    Bioprocess Biosyst Eng, 2023 Mar;46(3):359-371.
    PMID: 35796867 DOI: 10.1007/s00449-022-02743-7
    The under-treated wastewater, especially remaining carcinogenic aromatic compounds in wastewater discharge has been expansively reported, wherein the efficiency of conventional wastewater treatment is identified as the primary contributor source. Herein, the advancement of wastewater treatments has drawn much attention in recent years. In the current study, combined sequential and hybridized treatment of thermolysis and coagulation-flocculation provides a novel advancement for environmental emerging pollutant (EP) prescription. This research is mainly demonstrating the mitigation efficiency and degradation pathway of pararosaniline (PRA) hybridized and combined sequential wastewater treatment. Notably, PRA degradation dominantly via a linkage of reaction: thermal cleavage, deamination, silication and diazene reduction. Thermolysis acts as an initiator for the PRA decomposition through thermally induced bond dissociation energy (BDE) for molecular fragmentation whilst coagulation-flocculation facilitates the formation of organo-bridged silsesquioxane as the final degradation product. Different from conventional treatment, the hybridized treatment showed excellent synergistic degradability by removing 99% PRA and its EPs, followed by combined sequential treatment method with 86% reduction. Comprehensive degradation pathway breakdown of carcinogenic and hardly degradable aromatic compounds provides a new insight for wastewater treatment whereby aniline and benzene are entirely undetectable in effluent. The degradation intermediates, reaction derivatives and end products were affirmed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometry (GC-MS, FTIR and UV-Vis). This finding provides valuable guidance in establishing efficient integrated multiple-step wastewater treatments.
    MeSH terms: Benzene/analysis; Environmental Pollutants*; Waste Water
  8. Bizami NA, Tasir Z, Kew SN
    Educ Inf Technol (Dordr), 2023;28(2):1373-1425.
    PMID: 35919874 DOI: 10.1007/s10639-022-11243-w
    Blended learning is widely known for its ability to improve learning, nevertheless little is still known about the best ways of designing effective blended learning environment which can support immersive learning such as greater learning experience and accessibility to education. In this respect, this study investigates the mapping of the principles of three Education 4.0 innovative pedagogies, namely, heutagogy, peeragogy, and cybergogy, with the capabilities of three technological learning tools, that is, Facebook (FB), Learning Management System (LMS), and Blog, via a systematic literature review technique. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines were used as the methodology, and the literature was further selected using Gough's Weight of Evidence criteria, resulting in 59 studies. The results show that cognitive factor is the most linked pedagogical principle to the four main capabilities of technological learning tools, that is, time, self-related, learning task, and learning community-related. This mapping is useful for instructors to plan learning and teaching by choosing the technological learning tools that match with appropriate Education 4.0 pedagogies for optimising the immersive blended learning practices.
  9. Roslan MHB, Chen CJ
    Educ Inf Technol (Dordr), 2023;28(2):1427-1453.
    PMID: 35919875 DOI: 10.1007/s10639-022-11259-2
    This study attempts to predict secondary school students' performance in English and Mathematics subjects using data mining (DM) techniques. It aims to provide insights into predictors of students' performance in English and Mathematics, characteristics of students with different levels of performance, the most effective DM technique for students' performance prediction, and the relationship between these two subjects. The study employed the archival data of students who were 16 years old in 2019 and sat for the Malaysian Certificate of Examination (MCE) in 2021. The learning of English and Mathematics is a concern in many countries. Three main factors, namely students' past academic performance, demographics, and psychological attributes were scrutinized to identify their impact on the prediction. This study utilized the Orange software for the DM process. It employed Decision Tree (DT) rules to determine the characteristics of students with low, moderate, and high performance in English and Mathematics subjects. DT and Naïve Bayes (NB) techniques show the best predictive performance for English and Mathematics subjects, respectively. Such characteristics and predictions may cue appropriate interventions to improve students' performance in these subjects. This study revealed students' past academic performance as the most critical predictor, as well as a few demographics and psychological attributes. By examining top predictors derived using four different classifier types, this study found that students' past Mathematics performance predicts their MCE English performance and students' past English performance predicts their MCE Mathematics performance. This finding shows students' performances in both subjects are interrelated.
  10. Rosli NSA, Abd Gani S, Khayat ME, Zaidan UH, Ismail A, Abdul Rahim MBH
    Mol Cell Biochem, 2023 Mar;478(3):517-530.
    PMID: 35943655 DOI: 10.1007/s11010-022-04528-8
    The benefits of gut microbiota-derived short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) towards health and metabolism have been emerging since the past decade. Extensive studies have been carried out to understand the mechanisms responsible in initiating the functionalities of these SCFAs towards body tissues, which greatly involves the SCFA-specific receptors free fatty acid receptor 2 (FFAR2) and free fatty acid receptor 3 (FFAR3). This review intends to discuss the potential of SCFAs particularly in regulating insulin secretion in pancreatic β-cells, by explaining the production of SCFAs in the gut, the fate of each SCFAs after their production, involvement of FFAR2 and FFAR3 signalling mechanisms and their impacts on insulin secretion. Increased secretion of insulin after SCFAs treatments were reported in many studies, but contradicting evidence also exist in several other studies. Hence, no clear consensus was achieved in determining the true potential of SCFA in regulating insulin secretion. In this review, we explore how such differences were possible and hopefully be able to shed some perspectives in understanding SCFAs-signalling behaviour and preferences.
    MeSH terms: Fatty Acids, Nonesterified*; Fatty Acids, Volatile/metabolism; Insulin/metabolism
  11. Falkowski A, Ciminata G, Manca F, Bouttell J, Jaiswal N, Farhana Binti Kamaruzaman H, et al.
    Pathog Glob Health, 2023 Mar;117(2):104-119.
    PMID: 35950264 DOI: 10.1080/20477724.2022.2106108
    Health Technology Assessment (HTA) is a multidisciplinary tool to inform healthcare decision-making. HTA has been implemented in high-income countries (HIC) for several decades but has only recently seen a growing investment in low- and middle-income countries. A scoping review was undertaken to define and compare the role of HTA in least developed and lower middle-income countries (LLMIC). MEDLINE and EMBASE databases were searched from January 2015 to August 2021. A matrix comprising categories on HTA objectives, methods, geographies, and partnerships was used for data extraction and synthesis to present our findings. The review identified 50 relevant articles. The matrix was populated and sub-divided into further categories as appropriate. We highlight topical aspects of HTA, including initiatives to overcome well-documented challenges around data and capacity development, and identify gaps in the research for consideration. Those areas we found to be under-studied or under-utilized included disinvestment, early HTA/implementation, system-level interventions, and cross-sectoral partnerships. We consider broad practical implications for decision-makers and researchers aiming to achieve greater interconnectedness between HTA and health systems and generate recommendations that LLMIC can use for HTA implementation. Whilst HIC may have led the way, LLMIC are increasingly beginning to develop HTA processes to assist in their healthcare decision-making. This review provides a forward-looking model that LLMIC can point to as a reference for their own implementation. We hope this can be seen as timely and useful contributions to optimize the impact of HTA in an era of investment and expansion and to encourage debate and implementation.
    MeSH terms: Developing Countries*; Biomedical Technology
  12. AlSahow A, AlQallaf A, AlYousef A, Bahbahani H, Bahbahani Y, AlHelal B, et al.
    Int Urol Nephrol, 2023 Mar;55(3):721-727.
    PMID: 36136260 DOI: 10.1007/s11255-022-03368-1
    INTRODUCTION: Hemodialysis (HD) patients are at increased risk of severe COVID-19 infection but infection rates vary. Our objectives are to describe COVID-19 positive HD patients' characteristics, infection rates, and factors associated with mortality in HD COVID-19 cases in Kuwait.

    METHODS: Data on demographics, comorbidities, and treatments received, as well as mortality for HD patients admitted to hospitals for COVID-19, from 1/March to 31/July 2020, prospectively collected and analyzed.

    RESULTS: A total of 141 infected HD patients were admitted (Mean age 58 ± 16.1; Males 56%), representing 7% of the total HD population and 0.2% of all COVID-19 cases during the study period. Of those 141 infected HD patients, 27 (19%) died, and this represents 6% of total COVID-19-related mortality and 27% of the total HD mortality. In contrast, total covid-19-related mortality of all positive cases was only 0.7%, and total HD mortality during the study period was only 5%. COVID-19-positive HD patients who died were older and 59% were males. However, the differences were not statistically significant. Of the 61 infected HD patients who needed to be switched to continuous kidney replacement therapy (CKRT), 34% died, and of the 29 infected HD patients who needed admission to intensive care, 65% died.

    CONCLUSION: HD population represents a small fraction of the total population; however, positive HD COVID-19 cases represent a sizable proportion of COVID-19 cases and a significant percentage of total COVID-19-related mortality, and total HD mortality.

    MeSH terms: Adult; Aged; Female; Renal Dialysis/adverse effects; Hospitalization; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Prospective Studies; Comorbidity
  13. Kristanti RA, Hadibarata T, Wulandari NF, Sibero MT, Darmayati Y, Hatmanti A
    Bioprocess Biosyst Eng, 2023 Mar;46(3):429-441.
    PMID: 36149484 DOI: 10.1007/s00449-022-02784-y
    The introduction of plastic sectors has resulted in the presence of microplastics (MPs) in water systems, which has become a global issue that has attracted scientific and community awareness. MPs can be detected in a variety of sources such as beauty products, manufacturing effluent, or fishing activities. This study examined the repercussions posed by MPs' prevalence on land and marine environments and human health issues. Henceforth, remediation technologies must be introduced to shift out MPs from the water supplies in order to sustain the environmental quality for future generations, the benefits and drawbacks of the technology applied. This study also portrays difficulties encountered in MP research as the hurdles must be mastered in order to properly comprehend the MPs. The cooperation between nations is the most critical aspect in fully tackling MP issues as it can be easily carried by wind or water and its damage can be larger than predicted.
    MeSH terms: Environmental Monitoring; Humans; Plastics; Waste Disposal, Fluid
  14. Kusin FM, Hasan SNMS, Molahid VLM, Yusuff FM, Jusop S
    Environ Sci Pollut Res Int, 2023 Feb;30(9):22188-22210.
    PMID: 36282383 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-022-23677-3
    Mining waste that is rich in iron-, calcium- and magnesium-bearing minerals can be a potential feedstock for sequestering CO2 by mineral carbonation. This study highlights the utilization of iron ore mining waste in sequestering CO2 under low-reaction condition of a mineral carbonation process. Alkaline iron mining waste was used as feedstock for aqueous mineral carbonation and was subjected to mineralogical, chemical, and thermal analyses. A carbonation experiment was performed at ambient CO2 pressure, temperature of 80 °C at 1-h exposure time under the influence of pH (8-12) and particle size (
    MeSH terms: Calcium Carbonate/chemistry; Carbonates/chemistry; Iron; Minerals/chemistry; Silicates/chemistry; Ferrosoferric Oxide; Carbon Sequestration
  15. Taoufik N, Janani FZ, Khiar H, Sadiq M, Abdennouri M, Sillanpää M, et al.
    Environ Sci Pollut Res Int, 2023 Feb;30(9):23938-23964.
    PMID: 36329247 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-022-23690-6
    In the present work, we prepared MgO-La2O3-mixed-metal oxides (MMO) as efficient photocatalysts for degradation of organic pollutants. First, a series of MgAl-%La-CO3-layered double hydroxide (LDH) precursors with different contents of La (5, 10, and 20 wt%) were synthesized by the co-precipitation process and then calcined at 600 °C. The prepared materials were characterized by XRD, SEM-EDX, FTIR, TGA, ICP, and UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. XRD indicated that MgO, La2O3, and MgAl2O4 phases were found to coexist in the calcined materials. Also, XRD confirms the orthorhombic-tetragonal phases of MgO-La2O3. The samples exhibited a small band gap of 3.0-3.22 eV based on DRS. The photocatalytic activity of the catalysts was assessed for the degradation of two dyes, namely, tartrazine (TZ) and patent blue (PB) as model organic pollutants in aqueous mediums under UV-visible light. Detailed photocatalytic tests that focused on the impacts of dopant amount of La, catalyst dose, initial pH of the solution, irradiation time, dye concentration, and reuse were carried out and discussed in this research. The experimental findings reveal that the highest photocatalytic activity was achieved with the MgO-La2O3-10% MMO with photocatalysts with a degradation efficiency of 97.4% and 93.87% for TZ and PB, respectively, within 150 min of irradiation. The addition of La to the sample was responsible for its highest photocatalytic activity. Response surface methodology (RSM) and gradient boosting regressor (GBR), as artificial intelligence techniques, were employed to assess individual and interactive influences of initial dye concentration, catalyst dose, initial pH, and irradiation time on the degradation performance. The GBR technique predicts the degradation efficiency results with R2 = 0.98 for both TZ and PB. Moreover, ANOVA analysis employing CCD-RSM reveals a high agreement between the quadratic model predictions and the experimental results for TZ and PB (R2 = 0.9327 and Adj-R2 = 0.8699, R2 = 0.9574 and Adj-R2 = 0.8704, respectively). Optimization outcomes indicated that maximum degradation efficiency was attained under the following optimum conditions: catalyst dose 0.3 g/L, initial dye concentration 20 mg/L, pH 4, and reaction time 150 min. On the whole, this study confirms that the proposed artificial intelligence (AI) techniques constituted reliable and robust computer techniques for monitoring and modeling the photodegradation of organic pollutants from aqueous mediums by MgO-La2O3-MMO heterostructure catalysts.
    MeSH terms: Artificial Intelligence; Catalysis; Magnesium Oxide*; Oxides; Photolysis; Water/chemistry
  16. Alsaleh M, Abdul-Rahim AS
    Environ Sci Pollut Res Int, 2023 Feb;30(9):24223-24241.
    PMID: 36334199 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-022-23377-y
    There are many advantages of geothermal energy as an environmentally friendly resource; however, there are quite a several challenges that need to be overcome to completely harness sustainable and renewable energy that is also natural. The primary aim of this study is to examine what influence geothermal energy will have on land use changes among the considered 27 states in the European Union from the time being 1990 to 2021. The study adopts the auto-regressive distributed lag (ARDL); the findings show that geothermal energy growth could be leveraged to achieve remarkable growth in land use change among the 13 European developing economies than among the 14 EU developed economies. On the other hand, results from analysis further show that a remarkable decrease in land use change could be better attained among the 14 EU developed economies that among the 13 EU developing economies as a result of institutional quality. Furthermore, the result suggests that through economic growth, there could be a remarkable increase in land use change among the 14 EU developed economies than among the 13 EU developing economies. It was further revealed by the study that the level of land use change among the 27 EU nations could be remarkably increased, boosting the level of geothermal energy production that will assist in attaining the aims behind the 2030 energy union. This will eventually help in curbing the incidence of climate change and pollution in the environment; the projected calculations are observed to be valid, as confirmed through the chosen three estimators for this research. The chosen estimators are the pooled mean group, mean group, and dynamic fixed effect. The regulations and governors in 27 European Union countries should give priority to using geothermal in their renewable energy mix to reduce the incidence of changes in land structures. Also, an increased level of efficiency and effectiveness should be made to the generation of geothermal energy by state actors and investors to prompt sustainability and attainability with no further depreciation in agricultural and forest natural states.
    MeSH terms: Carbon Dioxide/analysis; Environmental Pollution/analysis; European Union; Economic Development; Renewable Energy; Geothermal Energy*
  17. Pradhan RP, Arvin M, Nair MS, Bennett S, Hall JH
    Environ Sci Pollut Res Int, 2023 Feb;30(9):24256-24283.
    PMID: 36334209 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-022-23641-1
    There is strong scientific evidence to suggest that carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are one of the key drivers of global warming. Rising CO2 emissions across the globe have been traced back to increasing global trade and rapid industrial development powered by fossil fuels. High CO2 emissions have had an adverse effect on the quality of life and economic growth of communities across the globe. In this study, the Granger causality approach is used to examine scientifically some causal relationships between energy consumption, CO2 emissions, economic growth, and key macroeconomic variables (trade openness and foreign direct investment) in the panel of Financial Action Task Force (FATF) countries. FATF countries are signatories to agreements to adhere to good financial practices to ensure sustainable development of their economies. The empirical analysis was conducted for the period 1980 to 2020. Results indicate a strong endogenous relationship between the variables in the short and long run. The analysis suggests that careful co-curation of economic, trade, energy, foreign direct investment, and environmental management policies is needed to ensure sustainable economic development in the FATF countries. Global trade and foreign direct investment policies must foster new environmental-friendly industries and greater use of clean renewable energy among these countries. Note: Arrows indicate direction of possible causal links between the variables.
    MeSH terms: Carbon Dioxide*; Investments; Public Policy; Quality of Life; Economic Development*; Renewable Energy
  18. Zakaria WNA, Wijaya A, Al-Rahbi B, Ahmad AH, Zakaria R, Othman Z
    Psychiatr Genet, 2023 Jun 01;33(3):102-112.
    PMID: 36825833 DOI: 10.1097/YPG.0000000000000338
    This study aims to use a bibliometric technique to evaluate the scientific output of gene and bipolar disorder research. The search query related to gene and bipolar disorder from the Scopus database identified 1848 documents from 1951 to 2020. The growth in the publications increased since early 1990, peaked in 2011, and started to decline thereafter. High occurrence in author keywords suggests that some research topics, such as "polymorphism", "linkage" and "association study" have waned over time, whereas others, such as "DNA methylation," "circadian rhythm," "" and "meta-analysis," are now the emerging trends in gene and bipolar disorder research. The USA was the country with the highest production followed by the UK, Canada, Italy and Germany. The leading institutions were Cardiff University in the UK, the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) in the USA, King's College London in the UK and the University of California, San Diego in the USA. The leading journals publishing gene and bipolar literature were the American Journal of Medical Genetics Neuropsychiatric Genetics, Molecular Psychiatry and Psychiatric Genetics. The top authors in the number of publications were Craddock N, Serretti A and Rietschel M. According to the co-authorship network analysis of authors, the majority of the authors in the same clusters were closely linked together and originated from the same or neighbouring country. The findings of this study may be useful in identifying emerging topics for future research and promoting research collaboration in the field of genetic studies related to bipolar disorder.
    MeSH terms: Germany; Humans; Italy; United States; Bibliometrics; Databases, Factual
  19. Zakaria WNA, Sasongko TH, Al-Rahbi B, Al-Sowayan N, Ahmad AH, Zakaria R, et al.
    Psychiatr Genet, 2023 Apr 01;33(2):37-49.
    PMID: 36825838 DOI: 10.1097/YPG.0000000000000336
    This study aimed to perform a bibliometric analysis on genetic studies in schizophrenia in the pregenome-wide association studies (GWAS) and post-GWAS era. We searched the literature on genes and schizophrenia using the Scopus database. The documents increased with time, especially after the human genome project and International HapMap Project, with the highest citation in 2008. The top occurrence author keywords were discovered to be different in the pre-GWAS and post-GWAS eras, reflecting the progress of genetic studies connected to schizophrenia. Emerging keywords highlighted a trend towards an application of precision medicine, showing an interplay of environmental exposures as well as genetic factors in schizophrenia pathogenesis, progression, and response to therapy. In conclusion, the gene and schizophrenia literature has grown rapidly after the human genome project, and the temporal variation in the author keywords pattern reflects the trend of genetic studies related to schizophrenia in the pre-GWAS and post-GWAS era.
    MeSH terms: Humans; Bibliometrics; Genetic Predisposition to Disease; Genome-Wide Association Study*
  20. Quadri MFA, Ahmad B
    Int J Paediatr Dent, 2023 Jul;33(4):394-408.
    PMID: 36825995 DOI: 10.1111/ipd.13060
    BACKGROUND: The evidence for the impact of oral health on academic performance is still unclear.

    AIM: To assess the impact of oral health conditions on poor academic performance in schoolchildren by including a range of clinical and self-reported OH measures in a modified cross-sectional study.

    DESIGN: This study was carried out on schoolchildren aged 12-14 years in Jazan, Saudi Arabia, using a stratified and randomised cluster sampling method. Clinical indices from oral screening and self-reported OH conditions and behaviours and school absence from the self-administered questionnaire were recorded a month before the school examination. Results of passing or failing the examination were obtained after the examination. Statistical associations were examined using bivariate and multiple logistic regressions. The oral health measures were categorised based on the types of conditions and briefly appraised.

    RESULTS: Measures of dental caries, dental pain, soft tissue problems, oral hygiene, tooth discolouration, tooth mobility and school absence due to dental pain were associated with greater odds of failing the examination (p 

    MeSH terms: Adolescent; Child; Cross-Sectional Studies; Dental Caries*; Humans; Oral Health; Pain; Prevalence
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