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Fulltext Iodine deficiency disorders in Sarawak, Malaysia

Kiyu A, Tambi Z, Ahmad Y

Asia Pac J Clin Nutr, 1998 Dec;7(3/4):256-61.
PMID: 24393680

The state of Sarawak in Malaysia has a high prevalence of iodine deficiency disorders (IDD). This has been revealed through a review of goitre surveys that were carried out in the State from the early 1970s to the 1990s. The primary cause was low iodine intake. Contributory factors were low iodine content in the soil and water as well as high cassava consumption. Virtual elimination of IDD is one of the nutritional goals of the IDD prevention and control programs. The strategies adopted include the iodination of coarse salt, which is sold in the market by shopkeepers and also provided free from government health clinics; legislation requiring that salt sold in IDD-gazetted areas must be iodised; and the use of iodinators to iodise water supplied by the gravity-feed system to villages and boarding schools in rural areas. The indicators used in the monitoring and evaluation of the program include the availability of iodised salt in the market and households, iodine levels in water supply that had been fitted with iodinators, goitre volume measured by ultrasound, and urinary iodine excretion among school children.
Fulltext Inhibitory effects of palm tocotrienol-rich fraction supplementation on bilirubin-metabolizing enzymes in hyperbilirubinemic adult rats

Kamisah Y, Lim JJ, Lim CL, Asmadi AY

PLoS One, 2014;9(2):e89248.
PMID: 24586630 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0089248

Phenylhydrazine, a hemolytic agent, is widely used as a model of experimental hyperbilirubinemia. Palm tocotrienol-rich fraction (TRF) was shown to exert beneficial effects in hyperbilirubinemic rat neonates.
Fulltext Spatial pattern and influencing factors of tourism based on POI data in Chengdu, China

Liang W, Ahmad Y, Mohidin HHB

Environ Dev Sustain, 2023 Mar 27.
PMID: 37362977 DOI: 10.1007/s10668-023-03138-8

Based on the analysis of the spatial distribution characteristics and influencing factors of 2879 attractions POI in Chengdu, this paper studies the spatial distribution types, spatial concentration, and equilibrium of attractions by using standard deviation ellipse, geographic concentration index, and kernel density estimation. Buffer analysis, near analysis, correlation analysis, and grey relation analysis are used to study the influencing factors of tourism in Chengdu. The results show that: (1) The overall attractions POI in Chengdu is in an east-west direction, and except for other types of attractions POI, the remaining types are also in an east-west direction. (2) The spatial agglomeration areas of different types of attractions POI in Chengdu were quite different. Among them, parks and city squares were mainly concentrated in the central urban areas, namely Jinjiang, Qingyang, Jinniu, Wuhou, and Chenghua, forming a prominent gathering area. (3) There were differences in the influence degree of each factor on the spatial distribution of attractions POI. Topography and drainage, transportation, tourist source market, and other factors significantly correlated with the distribution of attractions, which were the main factors affecting the spatial distribution of attractions. Industrial development and economic population were also important factors affecting the distribution of attractions. Tourism is an important thrust for urban development. The study of the spatial distribution of tourism and its influencing factors has clear guiding significance for later tourism development, which can help optimize the integration of tourism resources, promote the cooperation of regional tourism development and provide a basis for decision-making for tourism development.
Fulltext The 2019 Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia Staff Survey: Determining the Level and Predictors of Quality of Life

Nazali MIM, Razali S, Ariaratnam S, Ahmad Y, Nawawi H

Front Psychiatry, 2021;12:705018.
PMID: 34434129 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2021.705018

Experiencing good quality of life (QOL) among university staff is extremely crucial to ensuring academic excellence; however, there are limited data on factors that contribute to QOL among university staff. This study aims to determine the level and the predictors for good QOL among university staff. The consenting participants were selected using a stratified sampling method. Participants who had fulfilled the selection criteria were provided with socio-demographic, medical illness, job factor, and family background questionnaires. QOL and psychological well-being (depression, anxiety, and stress) were assessed using the World Health Organization Quality of Life brief version (WHOQOL-BREF) and Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS-21) questionnaires, respectively. A total of 278 staff (mean ± SD age: 38.84 ± 7.85 years, 44.2% males, 82.7% married) had participated in this study. This study found that participants had low QOL in the domains of physical health [P-QOL] (11.2%), psychological health [PSY-QOL] (9.7%), social relationships [SR-QOL] (19.1%), and environment [E-QOL] (14.4%). The predictors of P-QOL were depression, medical illness, and number of dependents, while those of PSY-QOL were work promotion, depression, medical illness, and number of dependents. Additionally, the predictors of SR-QOL were campus location, depression, and work promotion, while those of E-QOL were age, level of education, depression, work promotion, and medical illness. Depression significantly affected all domains of QOL. Younger participants without medical illness and those with tertiary level of education had increased odds of having good QOL. Participants having dependents without work promotion and employed in suburban areas had decreased odds of having good QOL. The relevant authority should be identified and then assist staff with difficulties to ensure the staff benefited from having a good QOL.
Fulltext Cure & Care 1Malaysia Clinics: Measuring the Effectiveness via Dyads Lens Involving Receivers and Providers

Mustapha SZ, Ahmad Y, Aziz NA, Abd Hamid SNF

J Patient Exp, 2023;10:23743735231179070.
PMID: 37332831 DOI: 10.1177/23743735231179070

Drug treatment and rehabilitation programs are one of the initiatives to alleviate the global epidemic of drug addiction. The efforts were undertaken by everyone, particularly the government. However, the rising number of drug relapses among patients or clients ponders the effectiveness of the drug treatment and rehabilitation programs implemented in the country. This paper aims to study the drug relapse prevention initiatives and the effectiveness of the center in dealing with drug addiction issues. A case study of 4 drug treatment and rehabilitation centers, namely Cure & Care 1Malaysia Clinics in Selangor, Malacca, Penang, and Kelantan, was selected. In-depth interviews were conducted with 37 participants-26 clients and 11 providers, and the data were analyzed using thematic analysis and NVivo version 12. The findings indicate that relapse prevention initiatives are a signal for the effectiveness of the center to reduce drug relapse cases. The implementation of drug treatment and rehabilitation programs was effective based on key aspects consisting of (1) knowledge and life skills learned; (2) staff reception; (3) individual changes; and (4) client acceptance. Therefore, by experiencing relapse prevention activities, it helps to improve the effectiveness of the implementation of drug treatment and rehabilitation programs.
Fulltext Case review of sarcoidosis resembling Sjogren's syndrome

Ahmad Y, Shahril NS, Hussein H, Said MS

J Clin Med Res, 2010 Dec 11;2(6):284-8.
PMID: 22043264 DOI: 10.4021/jocmr482w

We would like to report a case of a 29-year-old male patient who presented with multiple lymphadenopathy and vague symptoms of low grade fever, cough, weight loss, rashes, vomiting, dry eyes and dry mouth. Physical examination revealed submandibular lymphadenopathy, vasculitic rashes over both lower limbs, and parotid gland enlargement. Blood investigations showed mild anemia with leukocytosis, predominantly eosinophilia and high erythrocyte sedimentation rate and C-reactive protein. Computed tomography of the neck, thorax and abdomen showed bilateral submandibular, submental adenopathy, mediastinal and para-aortic lymphadenopathy with generalized reticulonodular densities in both lower lobes. There were hepatomegaly and bilateral enlarged kidneys with renal cyst. Histopathological examination from the cervical lymph node later revealed non-caseating granuloma, consistent of sarcoidosis. Patient responded well to prednisolone 50 mg daily with subsequent reduction in the size of cervical lymphadenopathy and parotid swelling.

KEYWORDS: Lymphadenopathy; Granuloma; Sjogren; Sarcoidosis.
Fulltext Development of electronic medical records for clinical and research purposes: the breast cancer module using an implementation framework in a middle income country- Malaysia

Mohd Nor NA, Taib NA, Saad M, Zaini HS, Ahmad Z, Ahmad Y, et al.

BMC Bioinformatics, 2019 Feb 04;19(Suppl 13):402.
PMID: 30717675 DOI: 10.1186/s12859-018-2406-9

BACKGROUND: Advances in medical domain has led to an increase of clinical data production which offers enhancement opportunities for clinical research sector. In this paper, we propose to expand the scope of Electronic Medical Records in the University Malaya Medical Center (UMMC) using different techniques in establishing interoperability functions between multiple clinical departments involving diagnosis, screening and treatment of breast cancer and building automatic systems for clinical audits as well as for potential data mining to enhance clinical breast cancer research in the future.
RESULTS: Quality Implementation Framework (QIF) was adopted to develop the breast cancer module as part of the in-house EMR system used at UMMC, called i-Pesakit©. The completion of the i-Pesakit© Breast Cancer Module requires management of clinical data electronically, integration of clinical data from multiple internal clinical departments towards setting up of a research focused patient data governance model. The 14 QIF steps were performed in four main phases involved in this study which are (i) initial considerations regarding host setting, (ii) creating structure for implementation, (iii) ongoing structure once implementation begins, and (iv) improving future applications. The architectural framework of the module incorporates both clinical and research needs that comply to the Personal Data Protection Act.
CONCLUSION: The completion of the UMMC i-Pesakit© Breast Cancer Module required populating EMR including management of clinical data access, establishing information technology and research focused governance model and integrating clinical data from multiple internal clinical departments. This multidisciplinary collaboration has enhanced the quality of data capture in clinical service, benefited hospital data monitoring, quality assurance, audit reporting and research data management, as well as a framework for implementing a responsive EMR for a clinical and research organization in a typical middle-income country setting. Future applications include establishing integration with external organization such as the National Registration Department for mortality data, reporting of institutional data for national cancer registry as well as data mining for clinical research. We believe that integration of multiple clinical visit data sources provides a more comprehensive, accurate and real-time update of clinical data to be used for epidemiological studies and audits.
Prevalence and risk factors contributing to recidivism among patients admitted to Forensic Unit Hospital Permai Johor Bahru Malaysia

Jacob MFF, Razali S, Ali NF, Khamis J, Ahmad Y

Asian J Psychiatr, 2023 Jan;79:103325.
PMID: 36395701 DOI: 10.1016/j.ajp.2022.103325
Evaluating social sustainability of urban regeneration in historic urban areas in China: The case of Xi'an

Zhao P, Md Ali Z, Nik Hashim NH, Ahmad Y, Wang H

J Environ Manage, 2024 Nov;370:122520.
PMID: 39305874 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2024.122520

Urban regeneration involves a highly contested process of social transformation. Examples from China have shown that this process has led to poor social sustainability. Previous studies have not adequately addressed the issue of poor social sustainability. This study aims to address this gap by developing a set of valid and reliable performance indicators for assessing the social sustainability of urban regeneration initiatives in China's Historic Urban Areas (HUAs). Through an extensive literature review and a Delphi survey, critical social sustainability factors facilitating urban regeneration were identified. An assessment tool was subsequently proposed, comprising eight themes, 29 indicators, and a corresponding point-scoring system. Finally, Xi'an was selected as a case study to apply and test the applicability of the tool and to evaluate social sustainability performance to further explore improvement strategies. The results show that adequate housing, housing quality, participation in regeneration initiatives, and safe design were the most critical indicators determining the social sustainability of urban regeneration. Additionally, the results reveal indicators with limited contribution to achieving social sustainability in Xi'an. The research findings have policy implications for pushing socially sustainable urban regeneration initiatives in China.
Fulltext Experimental and numerical evaluations of composite concrete-to-concrete interfacial shear strength under horizontal and normal stresses

Al-Fasih MY, Mohamad ME, Ibrahim IS, Ahmad Y, Ariffin MAM, Sarbini NN, et al.

PLoS One, 2021;16(5):e0252050.
PMID: 34015027 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0252050

Effects of different surface textures on the interface shear strength, interface slip, and failure modes of the concrete-to-concrete bond are examined through finite element numerical model and experimental methods in the presence of the horizontal load with 'push-off' technique under different normal stresses. Three different surface textures are considered; smooth, indented, and transversely roughened to finish the top surfaces of the concrete bases. In the three-dimensional modeling via the ABAQUS solver, the Cohesive Zone Model (CZM) is used to simulate the interface shear failure. It is observed that the interface shear strength increases with the applied normal stress. The transversely roughened surface achieves the highest interface shear strength compared with those finished with the indented and smooth approaches. The smooth and indented surfaces are controlled by the adhesive failure mode while the transversely roughened surface is dominated by the cohesive failure mode. Also, it is observed that the CZM approach can accurately model the interface shear failure with 3-29% differences between the modeled and the experimental test findings.