The changing of geopolitical environment in Northeast Asia after the Cold War illustrates some
fundamental shift in Japan’s security environment. The post-Cold War era provide a new set of
challenges and difficulties that must be diligently comprehend not only by Japanese policy maker but
also her military echelon as well. With the receding of Soviet Union threat from the north comes a
new and emerging volatile situation from her immediate neighbors; People’s Republic of China and
Democratic Republic of Korea. Aside from this, threats from Japan domestic security also did not
demonstrate any indication of declination. This article explores each international actor that can be
considered as security predicament to Japan and why each actor behaves in an aggressive manner
towards Japan. By analyzing issues that occur both domestic and beyond her border, the author show
how past threats that emerged will eventually be replace by a new and more volatile situations –
instances where PRC challenging Japan sovereignty over Senkaku and DPRK nuclear and ballistic
missile test. Variety of methodology tools has been used to provide an adequate data analysis to
interpret every states action in Northeast Asia, ranging from the using of primary and secondary
sources that seek to contribute to the argument of this article.
Results of serum lithium performed in the Chemical Pathology Laboratory, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, over a years' period (June 1991 till May 1992) formed the subject of study. A total of 277 tests were carried out on 148 patients, giving a frequency of about 23.1 tests per month. Complete data regarding age, sex and ethnic group was available for 140 subjects. There were 74 males and 66 females. Racial distribution was 72 Malays, 42 Chinese and 26 Indians. Their ages ranged from 15 to 80 years. One hundred and twenty-three subjects (87.6%) were within the 3rd to 5th decade of life. 136/277 (49.1%) of serum lithium levels were less than 0.6 mmol/l and 24/277 (8.7%) gave results greater than 1.0 mmol/l. Only 6 tests gave values which exceeded 2 mmol/l. This study reveals the need to conduct a prospective study to determine the underlying cause of the high incidence of low serum lithium levels and whether this situation is associated with a satisfactory treatment response in the said population.
A retrospective six-month study of serum calcium and albumin in patients treated at the Kuala Lumpur Hospital was carried out. There were 19,291 subjects, of which the prevalences of hypocalcemia (corrected serum calcium of < or = 2.1 mmol/l) and hypercalcemia (corrected serum calcium of > 2.7 mmol/l) were 18.0% (3460 subjects) and 2.4% (468 subjects) respectively. Persistent hypocalcemia (a minimum of first two consecutive corrected serum calcium of < or = 2.1 mmol/l) was found in 408/19,291 subjects 2.1%). Serum calcium values of < 2.00 mmol/l were found in 98.5% of this group. Persistent hypercalcemia (a minimum of first two consecutive corrected serum calcium of > 2.7 mmol/l) was found in 108/19,291 subjects (0.5%) and 52/108 subjects (48.1%) had serum calcium values of > or = 3.0 mmol/l. 2902/3460 subjects (83.8%) and 313/468 subjects (66.9%) the hypocalcemia and hypercalcemia groups respectively failed to be retested (singletons). In the hypocalcemia group, 1115/2902 (38.4%) showed corrected serum calcium values of < 2.00 mmol/l), whilst 100/313 subjects (31.9%) of the hypercalcemia group had corrected serum calcium values of > or = 3.00 mmol/l. There were no significant differences between the mean corrected serum calcium between 3 age groups of the test population, namely in childhood ( < or = 65 years).
A study to determine the prevalence of goitre and abnormal thyroid status during pregnancy in Malaysian women was conducted. Two hundred and three women (Malay = 85, Chinese = 47 and Indian = 71) in the third trimester and with no known thyroid disease were studied. There was a marked racial disparity in the prevalence of goitre: Indian 61%, Malay 28% and Chinese 29% (p = 0.001). The serum thyrotropic hormone (TSH) was significantly higher in Indians (median: 1.36 uIU/ml) compared to Malays (1.14 uIU/ml, p = 0.009). The serum albumin was also significantly lower in Indians (mean +/- sd; 36.12 +/- 3.9 mmol/l) compared to Malays (39.3 +/- 4.8 mmol/l) or Chinese (39.1 +/- 5.2) (p < 0.001). Thyroid antibody was detected in 14.6% of these women with no significant racial difference in its prevalence. Three women were found to be thyrotoxic but none were hypothyroid. This study found a high prevalence of goitre among the pregnant Indian women, probably related to the protein malnutrition state. The high prevalence of positive thyroid antibody in our population indicates that a high percentage of women are at risk of developing postpartum thyroiditis.
Methanolic extract of Cynometra cauliflora whole fruit was assayed for cytotoxicity against the human promyelocytic leukemia HL-60 and the normal mouse fibroblast NIH/3T3 cell lines by using the MTT assay. The CD(50) of the extract for 72 hours was 0.9 μg/mL whereas the value for the cytotoxic drug vincristine was 0.2 μg/mL. The viability of the NIH/3T3 cells was at 80.0% when treated at 15.0 μg/mL. The extract inhibited HL-60 cell proliferation with dose dependence. AO/PI staining of HL-60 cells treated with the extract revealed that majority of cells were in the apoptotic cell death mode. Flow cytometry analysis of HL-60 cells treated at CD(50) of the extract showed that the early apoptotic cells were 31.0, 26.3 and 19.9% at 24, 48, and 72 hours treatment, respectively. The percentage of late apoptotic cells was increased from 62.0 at 24 hours to 64.1 and 70.2 at 48 and 72 hours, respectively. Meanwhile, percent of necrotic cells were 4.9, 6.6, and 8.5 at 24, 48, and 72 hours, respectively. This study has shown that the methanolic extract of C. cauliflora whole fruit was cytotoxic towards HL-60 cells and induced the cells into apoptotic cell death mode, but less cytotoxic towards NIH/3T3 cells.