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  1. Vythilingam I, Tan CH, Asmad M, Chan ST, Lee KS, Singh B
    Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg, 2006 Nov;100(11):1087-8.
    PMID: 16725166
    Four species of malaria parasites are known to infect humans. A fifth species, Plasmodium knowlesi, has been reported to infect humans in Malaysian Borneo. Here we report for the first time the incrimination of Anopheles latens as the vector of P. knowlesi among humans and monkeys in Sarawak, Malaysia.
  2. Ting CY, Abd Wahab MS, Lee KS, Tan RT, Ming LC
    Ther Innov Regul Sci, 2017 Mar;51(2):212-220.
    PMID: 30231729 DOI: 10.1177/2168479016674041
    BACKGROUND: Because of the large size of Sarawak and the high proportion of people residing in rural areas in this Malaysian state, disseminating drug-related information there can be challenging. It is, therefore, important to recognize the type of mass media for drug-related information that are salient to the people of Sarawak. This study was aimed at identifying the use of and the preferences for mass media to obtain drug-related information among the public in Sarawak. We also aimed to recognize the media perceived as the most reliable for drug-related information.

    METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study using a self-administered questionnaire carried out from September to October 2013. Survey respondents were recruited from 4 divisions in Sarawak: Kuching, Sibu, Miri, and Bintulu.

    RESULTS: A total of 433 completed questionnaires were obtained at the end of the study period. All respondents had access to common mass media such as television (89.8%, 389/433), radio (68.6%, 297/433), and the Internet (66.1%, 286/433). Among all respondents, television (71.4%, 309/433) was noted as the most preferred media for drug-related information. Compared with rural respondents, urban respondents were significantly more likely to have access to and prefer the Internet to obtain drug-related information. On the other hand, rural respondents were more likely to have access to and prefer radio for such information compared to their urban counterparts.

    CONCLUSIONS: Television can be an important and attractive choice of mass media in a quality use of medicines (QUM) campaign. The Internet can be used to disseminate drug-related information in urban areas, whereas radio can be used in a QUM campaign targeting the rural public.

  3. Yap YY, Wong CP, Lee KS, Ming LC, Khan TM
    Ther Innov Regul Sci, 2017 Jul;51(4):446-459.
    PMID: 30227055 DOI: 10.1177/2168479017697253
    This article aims to discuss the main consequences of the implementation of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TTPA) in the pharmaceutical sector in regard to public health, focusing on the accessibility and affordability of medicines. This paper also looks at the likely impact of the TPP agreement on access to affordable medicines. The potential effects of provisions in the final text are explored based on the context of developed and developing countries. A meta-synthesis study design was used. The thematic analysis technique was used to generate themes and a decision tree of the TTPA meta-synthesis. PubMed, EBSCOhost, Ovid, and Scopus databases from inception until the first week of January 2016 were used. Only peer-reviewed journals that discussed TPPA's impact on the pharmaceutical sector were included. Data were extracted by 2 reviewers and then verified by 3 senior researchers. The extracted data were imported into Excel spreadsheets and coded line by line. Codes were organized into descriptive themes. The identified themes were cross-checked against original articles to ensure consistency. A total of 85 full articles and reports were reviewed and, finally, 32 of them were used in the meta-synthesis. Two central themes to the TTPA emerged: intellectual property rights and transparency. Five subthemes were identified under intellectual property rights: patent subject matter (representing scope of patentability), patent term adjustment for patent office delays (representing patent term extension), protection of undisclosed test or other data (representing data exclusivity), protection of undisclosed test or other data (representing patent linkage), and compulsory licensing. Meanwhile, transparency and anti-corruption-procedural fairness, which presents restriction of coverage program and reimbursement, were identified as the subthemes of transparency. Findings indicate that the TPPA could potentially hinder the affordability and accessibility of medicine, which could increase risks to public health.
  4. Ling TY, Soo CL, Heng TL, Nyanti L, Sim SF, Grinang J, et al.
    ScientificWorldJournal, 2018;2018:8682951.
    PMID: 30622445 DOI: 10.1155/2018/8682951
    Assessment of river water quality is essential as it provides the knowledge required to make informed decisions. Therefore, water quality was determined at 15 tributary stations located along the Batang Baleh, Sarawak. Results of the study indicate that all tributaries were well-aerated (≈ 7.7 mg/L) with pH (≈ 7.3) and conductivity (≈ 37.3 μS/cm) values falling within acceptable ranges. However, there were tributaries that showed very high turbidity (> 1000 NTU) and suspended solids (> 800 mg/L) which were contributed by the soil erosion from logging activities in the watershed. Tributary stations associated with logging activities also showed significantly higher total phosphorus and organic nitrogen. Cluster analysis demonstrated that water quality at tributary stations along the Batang Baleh exhibited a longitudinal variation from upstream to downstream regions, particularly, dissolved oxygen, five-day biochemical oxygen demand, and nitrite-nitrate nitrogen, which were found higher in upstream region and steadily decreased towards the downstream region. Two stations located at Sg. Serani and Sg. Melatai were distinct from the other stations with the highest concentrations of turbidity, total suspended solids, organic nitrogen, and total phosphorus. Thus, there is an urgent need to reduce the pollutants in the tributaries of Batang Baleh for the health of the sensitive aquatic organisms.
  5. Soo KC, Lee KS, Ooi SY, Darwina A, Sannasey S, Lee HG
    Med J Malaysia, 2021 03;76(2):251-253.
    PMID: 33742639
    Melioidosis is endemic in the State of Sabah, Malaysia. We report a case of a 34-year-old man with one-week history of fever and cough, three days history of diarrhoea and vomiting, which was associated with a loss of appetite and loss of weight for one-month. Clinically, he had hepatosplenomegaly and crepitation over his right lower zone of lung. Chest radiograph showed right lower lobe consolidation. Ultrasound abdomen showed liver and splenic abscesses. Ultrasound guided drainage of splenic abscess yielded Burkholderia pseudomallei. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) lumbosacral confirmed right sacral intraosseous abscess after he developed back pain a week later. He received 6 weeks of intravenous antibiotics and oral co-trimoxazole, followed by 6 months oral co-trimoxazole and had full recovery.
  6. Hapuarachchi HC, Bandara KB, Sumanadasa SD, Hapugoda MD, Lai YL, Lee KS, et al.
    J Gen Virol, 2010 Apr;91(Pt 4):1067-76.
    PMID: 19955565 DOI: 10.1099/vir.0.015743-0
    Chikungunya fever swept across many South and South-east Asian countries, following extensive outbreaks in the Indian Ocean Islands in 2005. However, molecular epidemiological data to explain the recent spread and evolution of Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) in the Asian region are still limited. This study describes the genetic Characteristics and evolutionary relationships of CHIKV strains that emerged in Sri Lanka and Singapore during 2006-2008. The viruses isolated in Singapore also included those imported from the Maldives (n=1), India (n=2) and Malaysia (n=31). All analysed strains belonged to the East, Central and South African (ECSA) lineage and were evolutionarily more related to Indian than to Indian Ocean Islands strains. Unique genetic characteristics revealed five genetically distinct subpopulations of CHIKV in Sri Lanka and Singapore, which were likely to have emerged through multiple, independent introductions. The evolutionary network based on E1 gene sequences indicated the acquisition of an alanine to valine 226 substitution (E1-A226V) by virus strains of the Indian sublineage as a key evolutionary event that contributed to the transmission and spatial distribution of CHIKV in the region. The E1-A226V substitution was found in 95.7 % (133/139) of analysed isolates in 2008, highlighting the widespread establishment of mutated CHIKV strains in Sri Lanka, Singapore and Malaysia. As the E1-A226V substitution is known to enhance the transmissibility of CHIKV by Aedes albopictus mosquitoes, this observation has important implications for the design of vector control strategies to fight the virus in regions at risk of chikungunya fever.
  7. CMS Collaboration, Khachatryan V, Sirunyan AM, Tumasyan A, Adam W, Bergauer T, et al.
    Eur Phys J C Part Fields, 2014 09 26;74(9):3036.
    PMID: 25814912
    Searches for the direct electroweak production of supersymmetric charginos, neutralinos, and sleptons in a variety of signatures with leptons and [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text], and Higgs bosons are presented. Results are based on a sample of proton-proton collision data collected at center-of-mass energy [Formula: see text] with the CMS detector in 2012, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.5 [Formula: see text]. The observed event rates are in agreement with expectations from the standard model. These results probe charginos and neutralinos with masses up to 720 [Formula: see text], and sleptons up to 260 [Formula: see text], depending on the model details.
  8. Sirunyan AM, Tumasyan A, Adam W, Ambrogi F, Asilar E, Bergauer T, et al.
    Eur Phys J C Part Fields, 2019;79(5):444.
    PMID: 31265003 DOI: 10.1140/epjc/s10052-019-6926-x
    A search for supersymmetry is presented based on events with at least one photon, jets, and large missing transverse momentum produced in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13



    Te



    . The data correspond to an integrated luminosity of 35.9



    fb

    -
    1



    and were recorded at the LHC with the CMS detector in 2016. The analysis characterizes signal-like events by categorizing the data into various signal regions based on the number of jets, the number of
    b
    -tagged jets, and the missing transverse momentum. No significant excess of events is observed with respect to the expectations from standard model processes. Limits are placed on the gluino and top squark pair production cross sections using several simplified models of supersymmetric particle production with gauge-mediated supersymmetry breaking. Depending on the model and the mass of the next-to-lightest supersymmetric particle, the production of gluinos with masses as large as 2120



    Ge



    and the production of top squarks with masses as large as 1230



    Ge



    are excluded at 95% confidence level.
  9. Sirunyan AM, Tumasyan A, Adam W, Ambrogi F, Asilar E, Bergauer T, et al.
    Eur Phys J C Part Fields, 2019;79(2):90.
    PMID: 30814908 DOI: 10.1140/epjc/s10052-019-6556-3
    A search is presented for the single production of vector-like quarks in proton-proton collisions at


    s

    =
    13

    TeV

    . The data, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9



    fb

    -
    1



    , were recorded with the CMS experiment at the LHC. The analysis focuses on the vector-like quark decay into a top quark and a
    W
    boson, with one muon or electron in the final state. The mass of the vector-like quark candidate is reconstructed from hadronic jets, the lepton, and the missing transverse momentum. Methods for the identification of
    b
    quarks and of highly Lorentz boosted hadronically decaying top quarks and
    W
    bosons are exploited in this search. No significant deviation from the standard model background expectation is observed. Exclusion limits at 95% confidence level are set on the product of the production cross section and branching fraction as a function of the vector-like quark mass, which range from 0.3 to 0.03


    pb

    for vector-like quark masses of 700 to 2000


    GeV

    . Mass exclusion limits up to 1660


    GeV

    are obtained, depending on the vector-like quark type, coupling, and decay width. These represent the most stringent exclusion limits for the single production of vector-like quarks in this channel.
  10. Sirunyan AM, Tumasyan A, Adam W, Ambrogi F, Asilar E, Bergauer T, et al.
    Eur Phys J C Part Fields, 2019;79(11):969.
    PMID: 31886778 DOI: 10.1140/epjc/s10052-019-7451-7
    Measurements are presented of the triple-differential cross section for inclusive isolated-photon+jet events in

    p
    p

    collisions at


    s

    =
    8

    TeV as a function of photon transverse momentum (

    p

    T


    γ




    ), photon pseudorapidity (

    η

    γ




    ), and jet pseudorapidity (

    η
    jet

    ). The data correspond to an integrated luminosity of

    19.7



    fb

    -
    1




    that probe a broad range of the available phase space, for


    |


    η

    γ





    |
    <
    1.44


    and


    1.57
    <
    |


    η

    γ





    |
    <
    2.50


    ,


    |


    η
    jet


    |
    <
    2.5


    ,

    40
    <

    p

    T


    γ




    <
    1000




    GeV

    , and jet transverse momentum,

    p

    T

    jet

    , > 25


    GeV

    . The measurements are compared to next-to-leading order perturbative quantum chromodynamics calculations, which reproduce the data within uncertainties.
  11. Sirunyan AM, Tumasyan A, Adam W, Asilar E, Bergauer T, Brandstetter J, et al.
    Eur Phys J C Part Fields, 2017;77(12):845.
    PMID: 31985736 DOI: 10.1140/epjc/s10052-017-5317-4
    A search is presented for an excess of events with heavy-flavor quark pairs (

    t

    t
    ¯


    and

    b

    b
    ¯


    ) and a large imbalance in transverse momentum in data from proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13


    TeV

    . The data correspond to an integrated luminosity of 2.2



    fb

    -
    1



    collected with the CMS detector at the CERN LHC. No deviations are observed with respect to standard model predictions. The results are used in the first interpretation of dark matter production in

    t

    t
    ¯


    and

    b

    b
    ¯


    final states in a simplified model. This analysis is also the first to perform a statistical combination of searches for dark matter produced with different heavy-flavor final states. The combination provides exclusions that are stronger than those achieved with individual heavy-flavor final states.
  12. Sirunyan AM, Tumasyan A, Adam W, Ambrogi F, Bergauer T, Dragicevic M, et al.
    Eur Phys J C Part Fields, 2021;81(4):312.
    PMID: 34727148 DOI: 10.1140/epjc/s10052-021-08949-5
    This paper presents new sets of parameters ("tunes") for the underlying-event model of the H E R W I G 7 event generator. These parameters control the description of multiple-parton interactions (MPI) and colour reconnection in H E R W I G 7 , and are obtained from a fit to minimum-bias data collected by the CMS experiment at s = 0.9 , 7, and 13 Te . The tunes are based on the NNPDF 3.1 next-to-next-to-leading-order parton distribution function (PDF) set for the parton shower, and either a leading-order or next-to-next-to-leading-order PDF set for the simulation of MPI and the beam remnants. Predictions utilizing the tunes are produced for event shape observables in electron-positron collisions, and for minimum-bias, inclusive jet, top quark pair, and Z and W boson events in proton-proton collisions, and are compared with data. Each of the new tunes describes the data at a reasonable level, and the tunes using a leading-order PDF for the simulation of MPI provide the best description of the data.
  13. CMS Collaboration, Sirunyan AM, Tumasyan A, Adam W, Ambrogi F, Bergauer T, et al.
    Eur Phys J C Part Fields, 2021;81(7):629.
    PMID: 34727144 DOI: 10.1140/epjc/s10052-021-09236-z
    Results of the Model Unspecific Search in CMS (MUSiC), using proton-proton collision data recorded at the LHC at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV , corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb - 1 , are presented. The MUSiC analysis searches for anomalies that could be signatures of physics beyond the standard model. The analysis is based on the comparison of observed data with the standard model prediction, as determined from simulation, in several hundred final states and multiple kinematic distributions. Events containing at least one electron or muon are classified based on their final state topology, and an automated search algorithm surveys the observed data for deviations from the prediction. The sensitivity of the search is validated using multiple methods. No significant deviations from the predictions have been observed. For a wide range of final state topologies, agreement is found between the data and the standard model simulation. This analysis complements dedicated search analyses by significantly expanding the range of final states covered using a model independent approach with the largest data set to date to probe phase space regions beyond the reach of previous general searches.
  14. Tumasyan A, Adam W, Andrejkovic JW, Bergauer T, Chatterjee S, Dragicevic M, et al.
    Eur Phys J C Part Fields, 2021;81(11):970.
    PMID: 34793584 DOI: 10.1140/epjc/s10052-021-09721-5
    A combination of searches for top squark pair production using proton-proton collision data at a center-of-mass energy of 13 Te at the CERN LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 137 fb - 1 collected by the CMS experiment, is presented. Signatures with at least 2 jets and large missing transverse momentum are categorized into events with 0, 1, or 2 leptons. New results for regions of parameter space where the kinematical properties of top squark pair production and top quark pair production are very similar are presented. Depending on the model, the combined result excludes a top squark mass up to 1325 Ge for a massless neutralino, and a neutralino mass up to 700 Ge for a top squark mass of 1150 Ge . Top squarks with masses from 145 to 295 Ge , for neutralino masses from 0 to 100 Ge , with a mass difference between the top squark and the neutralino in a window of 30 Ge around the mass of the top quark, are excluded for the first time with CMS data. The results of theses searches are also interpreted in an alternative signal model of dark matter production via a spin-0 mediator in association with a top quark pair. Upper limits are set on the cross section for mediator particle masses of up to 420 Ge .
  15. Sirunyan AM, Tumasyan A, Adam W, Andrejkovic JW, Bergauer T, Chatterjee S, et al.
    Eur Phys J C Part Fields, 2021;81(9):800.
    PMID: 34781320 DOI: 10.1140/epjc/s10052-021-09538-2
    The measurement of the luminosity recorded by the CMS detector installed at LHC interaction point 5, using proton-proton collisions at s = 13 TeV in 2015 and 2016, is reported. The absolute luminosity scale is measured for individual bunch crossings using beam-separation scans (the van der Meer method), with a relative precision of 1.3 and 1.0% in 2015 and 2016, respectively. The dominant sources of uncertainty are related to residual differences between the measured beam positions and the ones provided by the operational settings of the LHC magnets, the factorizability of the proton bunch spatial density functions in the coordinates transverse to the beam direction, and the modeling of the effect of electromagnetic interactions among protons in the colliding bunches. When applying the van der Meer calibration to the entire run periods, the integrated luminosities when CMS was fully operational are 2.27 and 36.3 fb - 1 in 2015 and 2016, with a relative precision of 1.6 and 1.2%, respectively. These are among the most precise luminosity measurements at bunched-beam hadron colliders.
  16. Sirunyan AM, Tumasyan A, Adam W, Bergauer T, Dragicevic M, Erö J, et al.
    Eur Phys J C Part Fields, 2021;81(9):852.
    PMID: 34727147 DOI: 10.1140/epjc/s10052-021-09570-2
    Collinear (small-angle) and large-angle, as well as soft and hard radiations are investigated in three-jet and Z  + two-jet events collected in proton-proton collisions at the LHC. The normalized production cross sections are measured as a function of the ratio of transverse momenta of two jets and their angular separation. The measurements in the three-jet and Z  + two-jet events are based on data collected at a center-of-mass energy of 8 TeV , corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.8 fb - 1 . The Z  + two-jet events are reconstructed in the dimuon decay channel of the Z  boson. The three-jet measurement is extended to include s = 13 TeV data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 2.3 fb - 1 . The results are compared to predictions from event generators that include parton showers, multiple parton interactions, and hadronization. The collinear and soft regions are in general well described by parton showers, whereas the regions of large angular separation are often best described by calculations using higher-order matrix elements.
  17. Sirunyan AM, Tumasyan A, Adam W, Ambrogi F, Asilar E, Bergauer T, et al.
    Eur Phys J C Part Fields, 2019;79(9):773.
    PMID: 31713548 DOI: 10.1140/epjc/s10052-019-7276-4
    A measurement for inclusive 2- and 3-jet events of the azimuthal correlation between the two jets with the largest transverse momenta, Δ ϕ 12 , is presented. The measurement considers events where the two leading jets are nearly collinear ("back-to-back") in the transverse plane and is performed for several ranges of the leading jet transverse momentum. Proton-proton collision data collected with the CMS experiment at a center-of-mass energy of 13 Te and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb - 1 are used. Predictions based on calculations using matrix elements at leading-order and next-to-leading-order accuracy in perturbative quantum chromodynamics supplemented with leading-log parton showers and hadronization are generally in agreement with the measurements. Discrepancies between the measurement and theoretical predictions are as large as 15%, mainly in the region 177 ∘ < Δ ϕ 12 < 180 ∘ . The 2- and 3-jet measurements are not simultaneously described by any of models.
  18. Sirunyan AM, Tumasyan A, Adam W, Ambrogi F, Asilar E, Bergauer T, et al.
    Eur Phys J C Part Fields, 2019;79(7):564.
    PMID: 31397444 DOI: 10.1140/epjc/s10052-019-7058-z
    A search is presented for a heavy pseudoscalar boson A decaying to a Z  boson and a Higgs boson with mass of 125 GeV . In the final state considered, the Higgs boson decays to a bottom quark and antiquark, and the Z  boson decays either into a pair of electrons, muons, or neutrinos. The analysis is performed using a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb - 1 collected in 2016 by the CMS experiment at the LHC from proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 Te . The data are found to be consistent with the background expectations. Exclusion limits are set in the context of two-Higgs-doublet models in the A boson mass range between 225 and 1000 GeV .
  19. Sirunyan AM, Tumasyan A, Adam W, Ambrogi F, Asilar E, Bergauer T, et al.
    Eur Phys J C Part Fields, 2019;79(4):364.
    PMID: 31180390 DOI: 10.1140/epjc/s10052-019-6855-8
    A search for the pair production of heavy vector-like partners T and B of the top and bottom quarks has been performed by the CMS experiment at the CERN LHC using proton-proton collisions at s = 13 Te . The data sample was collected in 2016 and corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb - 1 . Final states studied for T T ¯ production include those where one of the T quarks decays via T → t Z and the other via T → b W , t Z , or t H , where H is a Higgs boson. For the B B ¯ case, final states include those where one of the B quarks decays via B → b Z and the other B → t W , b Z , or b H . Events with two oppositely charged electrons or muons, consistent with coming from the decay of a Z boson, and jets are investigated. The number of observed events is consistent with standard model background estimations. Lower limits at 95% confidence level are placed on the masses of the T and B quarks for a range of branching fractions. Assuming 100% branching fractions for T → t Z , and B → b Z , T and B quark mass values below 1280 and 1130 Ge , respectively, are excluded.
  20. Sirunyan AM, Tumasyan A, Adam W, Ambrogi F, Asilar E, Bergauer T, et al.
    Eur Phys J C Part Fields, 2019;79(4):313.
    PMID: 31031568 DOI: 10.1140/epjc/s10052-019-6788-2
    A top quark mass measurement is performed using 35.9 fb - 1 of LHC proton-proton collision data collected with the CMS detector at s = 13 TeV . The measurement uses the t t ¯ all-jets final state. A kinematic fit is performed to reconstruct the decay of the t t ¯  system and suppress the multijet background. Using the ideogram method, the top quark mass ( m t ) is determined, simultaneously constraining an additional jet energy scale factor ( JSF ). The resulting value of m t = 172.34 ± 0.20 (stat+JSF) ± 0.70 (syst) GeV is in good agreement with previous measurements. In addition, a combined measurement that uses the t t ¯ lepton+jets and all-jets final states is presented, using the same mass extraction method, and provides an m t measurement of 172.26 ± 0.07 (stat+JSF) ± 0.61 (syst) GeV . This is the first combined m t extraction from the lepton+jets and all-jets channels through a single likelihood function.
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