The radiation-response characteristics of polymetharylic acid gel dosimeter prepared with different concentrations of monomer and cross-linker is described in these studies. The dosimeters were prepared under the hypoxic condition in a glove box and were then irradiated with gamma-rays produced by Co-60 radionuclide that was generated at 1.25MeV energy. The irradiation took place at different doses ranged from 0Gy to 19Gy. Due to the radiation activities, chain-reaction polymerisation processes had taken place in the formation of polymethacrylic acid (PMAA) gel, which cause the dose response mechanism increased in the NMR relaxation rates of protons. It has been observed that for higher concentration of monomer and cross-linker, the polymerization rate was increased.
Human postocclusive forearm skin reactive hyperemia is not only a potential means of identifying early signs of cardiovascular diseases, it can also be used in the assessment of local microvascular response to topically applied compounds on skin. The method is not fully characterized. In this study, we investigated the influence of occlusion time on postocclusive forearm skin reactive hyperemia using laser Doppler fluximetry (LDF).
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) has been the number one cause of death since the last three decades in Malaysia and diabetes mellitus and hypertension are considered as major risk factors. A study to reduce risk factors for cardiovascular diseases in the community (PIKOM) through education and lifestyle changes was undertaken. The study population was from four different areas in Peninsular Malaysia - Kota Bharu and Bachok in Kelantan ; Raub in Pahang; Gunung Besout in Perak and Felda Palong in Negri Sembilan. The subjects invited to participate in this study ware aged between 30 - 65 years, did not have any debilitating illnesses and no known history of diabetes mellitus, hypertension or cardiovascular disease. Subjects were asked to come to the local clinic in a fasting state and after physical examination, blood was taken for plasma glucose and lipids. Oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) was then performed. A total of 4,121 subjects participated in the study. The proportion of subjects with diabetes mellitus was highest in Felda Palong area (20.3%) and lowest in Raub area (7.1%). The proportion of subjects with hypertension was also highest in Felda Palong area (38.6%) and lowest in Raub area (29.1%). This could be attributable to the subjects in Felda Palong having the highest mean Body Mass Index (BMI) and Waist-to-Hip Ratio (WHR). There were significant associations between diabetes and hypertension with age and obesity. Subjects with diabetes mellitus and hypertension also had the highest mean age, BMI, WHR and plasma cholesterol.In conclusion, the proportion of patients with risk factors for CVD was high and intervention studies through education and lifestyle changes were being carried out to see their effectiveness.
We experimentally demonstrate a simple method for generating a multiwavelength Brillouin comb by utilizing a linear cavity of hybrid Brillouin-erbium fiber lasers (BEFLs). The optimization of Brillouin pump wavelength, power, and erbium gain played a significant role in determining the maximum number of Brillouin Stokes signals generated. Simultaneous and stable multiple-wavelength laser output of 22 lines with 10.88-GHz channel spacing has been obtained with good flatness. Various parameters such as 980-nm pump power, Brillouin pump wavelength, and Brillouin pump power that affect the performance of a multiwavelength BEFL system have been investigated. An analysis of the tuning range of the system is presented.
Postocclusive reactive hyperemia in forearm skin is a commonly used model for studying microvascular reactivity function, particularly in the assessment of vascular effect of topically applied pharmacological substances. In this study, we investigated the reproducibility of several different laser-Doppler-derived parameters in the measurement of postocclusive reactive hyperemia at forearm skin in healthy subjects.
Cancer of uterine cervix is one of the most common cancers among women worldwide, second only to breast cancer in incidence and mortality. Industrialized countries have dramatically reduced the incidence of mortality from cervical cancer in the last 50 years through aggressive screening programs utilizing pelvic examinations and Papanicolaou (pap) smears. The main objective of the study was to determine the relationship between socio-demography, knowledge, attitude and practice regarding pap smear screening among female patients in Hospital Teluk Intan. There was statistically significant association between level of knowledge and practice (p
A common practice in psychiatry when treating patients is the concurrent administration of anticholinergics along with antipsychotics, either to prevent or treat extrapyramidal syndrome reactions from occurring. However, most antipsychotics have inherent anticholinergic properties themselves. Therefore, this subtype of these patients have a higher than usual risk of developing anticholinergic side-effects, of which the central nervous manifestations can mimic psychosis, and may cloud judgement on patients’ progress towards their treatment.
A common practice in psychiatry when treating patients is the concurrent administration of anticholinergics along with antipsychotics, either to prevent or treat extrapyramidal syndrome reactions from occurring. However, most antipsychotics have inherent anticholinergic properties themselves. Therefore, this subtype of these patients have a higher than usual risk of developing anticholinergic side-effects, of which the central nervous manifestations can mimic psychosis, and may cloud judgement on patients' progress towards their treatment. KEYWORDS: Anticholinergics, anticholinergig toxicity, antipsychotics
Given that functional abnormalities of the microcirculation are one of the primary abnormalities in cardiovascular disease pathogenesis, various noninvasive clinical tools have been developed recently to assess the microvascular function, particularly at the skin. The common techniques used to assess cutaneous microvascular function in vivo include capillaroscopy, venous occlusion plethysmography, and laser-Doppler instruments (laser-Doppler fluximetry and laser-Doppler imaging). These noninvasive techniques can be used as an early measure of functional abnormalities within the microvascular tree, predominantly in population at high risk for cardiovascular events. This review discusses some underlying application principle of these techniques, including its clinical significance, method reproducibility and limitations.
BACKGROUND: Data comparing the effect of losartan and perindopril on aortic stiffness among hypertensive subjects without A(1166)C polymorphism was not available.
METHODS: The short-term and long-term effects of losartan (50 mg) and perindopril (4 mg) on aortic stiffness measured as carotid femoral pulse wave velocity (PWV) were compared in 39 middle-aged Malay subjects with mild-to-moderate hypertension in a 4-month, double-blind, randomized, controlled, parallel-design study.
RESULTS: Four-month treatment with both drugs showed a significant reduction in blood pressure (BP) (P < .005) and PWV (P < .05) as compared to the baseline. On the other hand 1-month treatment showed a significant reduction in BP only in perindopril group (P < .05) but not in the losartan group. There was no significant reduction in pulse pressure and PWV after 1 month treatment by both drugs. No significant difference was seen in reduction in BP after 1 month and 4 months treatment between the two drugs. Similarly no significant difference was seen in reduction in PWV between the two drugs after 1 month (P = .613) and 4 months (P = .521) of treatment. Reduction in PWV by losartan (r = 0.470) and perindopril (r = 0.457) correlated significantly only with reduction in DBP (P < .05) and remained significant even after controlling for reduction in DBP (P < .05). Reduction in PWV by both losartan and perindopril was independent of reduction in BP by these drugs.
CONCLUSIONS: These results showed that long-term treatment with losartan shows similar pressure independent reduction in PWV as perindopril among Malay hypertensive subjects with a homogenous "AA" genotype for angiotensin II type 1 receptor and may serve as a suitable alternative to perindopril.
There has been a change in the lifestyles of populations, including reduced physical activity and consumption of foods high in calories. Overweight and obesity are now replacing the more traditional public health concerns such as under-nutrition and infectious diseases as some of the most significant contributors to ill health. Determination of the body mass index (BMI) profile and nutritional status of adults of two rural coastal villages in Northern Malaysia was part of a community diagnosis in a community survey. Height and weight were measured and BMI calculated. Blood pressure was measured using a manual sphygmomanometer according to WHO guidelines. A standardised questionnaire was used to interview the villagers concerning their health. Out of the total population, 504 were above 20 years of age. Data was available for 441 persons for analysis. There were 210 (47.6%) males and 231 (52.4%) females. The prevalence of underweight was 9.8% (n=43), overweight 25.9% (n=114) and obesity 17% (n=75). The problem of over-nutrition was significantly higher among females, especially housewives. (p< 0.05). Those in ages 41-70 years were the majority with problems of over-nutrition (p=<0.05). More than half (52.9%; n=39) of those who were obese had hypertension (p=<0.05). Results show that a higher number of women especially housewives were obese and more than half of those obese subjects had hypertension. A more thorough nutritional profile using waist, hip and body fat measurement as well as an assessment of the dietary intake and activity regime of these villagers is needed. Interventions need to be carried out before more serious complications of obesity become rooted in this community.
OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether pharmacological interventions with rosiglitazone/ramipril can reverse preclinical vasculopathy in newly diagnosed untreated patients with type 2 diabetes (T2DM) and impaired glucose tolerance (IGT).
METHODS: In this randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study, 33 T2DM and 33 IGT patients were randomised to 4 mg rosiglitazone or 5 mg ramipril or placebo for 1 year. The subjects were newly diagnosed, untreated, normotensive, nonobese, nonsmoker, and nonhyperlipidaemic. Haemodynamic variables were measured at three treatment phases and pulse wave velocity (PWV) and augmentation index (AI) were measured throughout the treatment period.
RESULTS: Rosiglitazone showed a significant reduction in PWV (p=0.039) and AI (p=0.031) and ramipril demonstrated a significant reduction of AI (p=0.025) in IGT in comparison to placebo on the 12th month of treatment. No significant difference was observed in PWV and AI in T2DM with rosiglitazone/ramipril in comparison to placebo during overall treatment period.
CONCLUSIONS: Rosiglitazone significantly reversed preclinical vasculopathy in IGT as evident by significant decrease in PWV and AI after 1 year of treatment. Ramipril also reduced large artery stiffness as shown by significant decrease of AI after 1 year of treatment in IGT. Further trials are needed for a longer period of time, maybe with higher doses, to show whether rosiglitazone/ramipril can reverse preclinical vasculopathy in T2DM.
Fishing industry in Malaysia is dominated by small scale fishing, scattered along the coast of the country. The risk associated with fishing industry is well known but few studies have been done among those in the small scale fishing community. Fishermen not only have to cope with the uncertainty of nature but also the physical demands of the occupation. The objective of the study was to determine the injuries and its associated factors related to the small scale fishing industry. The study was conducted in a fishing village in northern Malaysia, which was hit by tsunami. Most of the boats and fishing gear were donated by many relief agencies. A descriptive cross sectional study was conducted using a standardized questionnaire. 50 (83.3%) of the 60 fishermen had consented for the study. All the fishermen were Malays males. 46% (n=23) of the fishermen reported to having sustained injuries. Most of the injuries occurred offshore (p
BACKGROUND: Knowledge of candidate gene polymorphisms in a population is useful for a variety of gene-disease association studies, particularly for some complex traits. A single nucleotide variant of the angiotensinogene gene (AGT M235T) and endothelial nitric oxide synthase gene (eNOS G894T) have been associated with hypertension.
METHOD: A cross-sectional study consisting of 200 hypertensives and 198 age- and sex-matched controls was conducted. Subjects involved in this study were pure Malay for 3 generations. The AGT M235T and eNOS G894T polymorphisms were determined by PCR-RFLP method.
RESULTS: The distribution of M235T genotype in the population was 3.5% for MM, 30.4% for MT and 66.1% for TT. No significant difference was observed in genotype (chi(2)=1.30, p=0.52) and allele (chi(2)=0.87, p=0.35) frequencies among the 2 study group. In contrast, the distribution of genotypes for G894T was 74.1% for GG, 24.6% for GT and 1.3% for TT, respectively. Similarly, no significant difference was observed in genotype (chi(2)=0.94, p=0.33) and allele (chi(2)=0.60, p=0.44) frequencies between both study groups.
CONCLUSION: The AGT M235T and eNOS G894T polymorphisms are unlikely to play an important role in the pathogenesis of hypertension in Malays.
Study site: Outpatient clinic, Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia (HUSM); government clinics, Kelantan, Malaysia.
Enteric duplication is an uncommon malformation of the gastrointestinal tract which is either asymptomatic or presents with vague symptoms mimicking other more common pathology. It is most commonly diagnosed when complications such as bleeding, intestinal obstruction or perforation occurs. This is a case report of a patient with this condition presenting with right iliac fossa pain and localised peritonitis mimicking acute appendicitis.
Involvement of oral health educators among non-health professionals in oral health promotion is important in the prevention of oral diseases. This study was carried out to compare the level of oral health knowledge among pre-school teachers before and after oral health seminar. Pre-test data was collected by distributing questionnaire to pre-school teachers in Pasir Mas, who attended the seminar on "Oral Health" (n=33) and they were required to fill anonymously before the seminar started. The questions consisted of information on general background, perceived oral health status, oral health knowledge and the environment where they work. After two weeks, post-test data was collected using the same structured questionnaire and identification code was used to match the pre and post data. SPSS 11.5 was use for statistical analysis. Two out of 33 eligible preschool teachers were considered non-respondents due to absenteeism during the post-test data collection. The response rate was 94.0% (n = 31). The study shows a significant improvement in oral health knowledge among pre-school teachers in Pasir Mas, after seminar (p < 0.001) as compared to controls. Thus, we can conclude that the oral health programme (seminar) appeared effective at influencing oral health educator's knowledge towards oral health.
Type II diabetes patients have increased risk of macrovascular complications compared with the general population. Arterial stiffness is considered as an independent predictor of macrovascular events. This study investigated arterial stiffness in newly diagnosed never treated diabetes and impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) patients without any traditional cardiovascular diseases (CVD) risk factors. After preliminary screening of 1620 individuals, 30 diabetic and 30 IGT patients were recruited and compared with age- and sex-matched 30 normoglycaemic subjects. The subjects were newly diagnosed, never treated, normotensive, non-obese, non-hyperlipidaemic and non-smoker. Haemodynamic variables, pulse wave velocity (PWV) and augmentation index (AI) were measured. The PWV was significantly higher in diabetic patients (10.37+/-2.64m/s vs. 8.70+/-1.29m/s; p=0.035) and was of borderline significant in IGT subjects (9.54+/-1.56m/s vs.8.70+/-1.29m/s, p=0.078) compared to normoglycaemic individuals. Augmentation index was higher of borderline significant in diabetic (134.53+/-17.32% vs. 129.17+/-11.18%, p=0.055) and IGT patients (132.02+/-16.11% vs. 129.17+/-11.18%, p=0.059) compared to normoglycaemic individuals. The study demonstrated that newly diagnosed never treated diabetic patients without any CV complications had early manifestation of macrovascular diseases as evident by increased arterial stiffness. The findings also revealed early manifestations of preclinical vasculopathy and potentially increased risk for development of macrovascular diseases at an early age in diabetic patients.
Tooth wear is the non-carious loss of tooth tissue, which results from three processes namely attrition, erosion and abrasion. These can occur in isolation or simultaneously. Very mild tooth wear is a physiological effect of aging. This study aims to estimate the prevalence of tooth wear among 16-year old Malay school children and determine a feasible sample size for further study. Fifty-five subjects were examined clinically, followed by the completion of self-administered questionnaires. Questionnaires consisted of socio-demographic and associated variables for tooth wear obtained from the literature. The Smith and Knight tooth wear index was used to chart tooth wear. Other oral findings were recorded using the WHO criteria. A software programme was used to determine pathological tooth wear. About equal ratio of male to female were involved. It was found that 18.2% of subjects have no tooth wear, 63.6% had very mild tooth wear, 10.9% mild tooth wear, 5.5% moderate tooth wear and 1.8 % severe tooth wear. In conclusion 18.2% of subjects were deemed to have pathological tooth wear (mild, moderate & severe). Exploration with all associated variables gave a sample size ranging from 560 - 1715. The final sample size for further study greatly depends on available time and resources.
Recent development had allowed non-invasive assessment of microvascular function in vivo; however, the method has not been fully optimized and standardized. In this study, we aimed to characterize the "effective" occlusion duration needed to elicit sufficient postocclusive hyperemia (PORH) responses in forearm skin using laser Doppler fluximetry (LDF), in subjects with differing age, gender and menstrual phases.