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Fulltext Routine histological examination for nasal polyp specimens: is it necessary?

Irfan M, Shamim AK

Med J Malaysia, 2009 Mar;64(1):59-60.
PMID: 19852324 MyJurnal

Nasal polyp is one of the common causes of nasal obstruction. The diagnosis is usually made on clinical ground and rarely needs histological examination. However, when a candidate is selected for the surgical option of polyp removal, there is tendency to send all specimens for routine histological examination. The objective of this study was to assess the necessity of routinely performed histological examination in all nasal polyp specimens. A retrospective review of all nasal polyp histological reports was done from patients who underwent polypectomy or functional endoscopic sinus surgery in Universiti Sains Malaysia Hospital between January 2000 to July 2006. It consisted of 95 patients. Majority of the reports came back as inflammatory nasal polyp (93.6%) and other varieties of benign nasal mass (5.3%). However, one specimen was noted to be malignant (1.1%). In conclusion all nasal polyp specimens should be sent for histological examination in order to confirm the diagnosis.
Fulltext Prevalence of smoking in Malaysian adolescents: are strategies enough to counter its ill effects?

Aliya, S., Shamim, A. K., Ilyas, M. N., Saif, U. K., Nordin, S., Atif, A. B.

Asian Journal of Medicine and Biomedicine, 2018;1(1):5-9.
MyJurnal

Smoking is a known established threat playing a definite role in destroying youth, the future foundation for any generation. Whether steps taken are being effective or not have to be tested vigilantly as most of the previous results are based on self-reported questionnaires and the reliability of the questionnaires can be dubious. For most of the Asian parents, tobacco consumption can be a taboo especially if the teenagers are involved. Different studies have shown that prevalence of smoking among youngsters are as high as 37% to as low as 11.5% in Malaysia. How can these figures are verified as they are self-reported and how can be generations protected from ill effects of tobacco consumption. The onus not only lies on the government but also on parents/guardians, healthcare setup at various levels of care and on general population. Despite of stringent steps taken there are loopholes in the system providing these children and adolescents easy access to tobacco.
Fulltext Candidaemia and antifungal susceptibility testing in a teaching hospital

Tzar MN, Shamim AS

Med J Malaysia, 2009 Mar;64(1):61-4.
PMID: 19852325 MyJurnal

We reviewed cases of candidaemia at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre from 1st January 2005 to 30th June 2006. All blood cultures positive for Candida species or its teleomorphs within the study period were identified and antifungal susceptibility testing was performed. Out of 50 blood isolates, 20 (40%) were identified as Candida albicans, 16 (32%) C. tropicalis, five (10%) C. parapsilosis, three (6%) C. famata, two (4%) C. glabrata, two (4%) Pichia ohmeri, one (2%) C. krusei and one (2%) P. etchell/carsonii. Susceptibility to amphotericin B was 100%, fluconazole 90%, itraconazole 40%, ketoconazole 88%, 5-flucytosine 98% and voriconazole 98%.
Fulltext Critical product features' identification using an opinion analyzer

Shamim A, Balakrishnan V, Tahir M, Shiraz M

ScientificWorldJournal, 2014;2014:340583.
PMID: 25506612 DOI: 10.1155/2014/340583

The increasing use and ubiquity of the Internet facilitate dissemination of word-of-mouth through blogs, online forums, newsgroups, and consumer's reviews. Online consumer's reviews present tremendous opportunities and challenges for consumers and marketers. One of the challenges is to develop interactive marketing practices for making connections with target consumers that capitalize consumer-to-consumer communications for generating product adoption. Opinion mining is employed in marketing to help consumers and enterprises in the analysis of online consumers' reviews by highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of the products. This paper describes an opinion mining system based on novel review and feature ranking methods to empower consumers and enterprises for identifying critical product features from enormous consumers' reviews. Consumers and business analysts are the main target group for the proposed system who want to explore consumers' feedback for determining purchase decisions and enterprise strategies. We evaluate the proposed system on real dataset. Results show that integration of review and feature-ranking methods improves the decision making processes significantly.
Fulltext The prevalence of anatomical variations in osteomeatal unit in patients with chronic rhinosinusitis

Azila A, Irfan M, Rohaizan Y, Shamim AK

Med J Malaysia, 2011 Aug;66(3):191-4.
PMID: 22111438 MyJurnal

The complexities of the anatomy of the nose and paranasal sinuses, as well as its variations may create technical difficulties during surgery. The significance of these anatomical variations in pathogenesis of rhinosinusitis, which is the commonest disease in the region, is still unclear.
Primary non-Hodgkins lymphoma of the lacrimal sac: mortality-related epiphora

Maharajah KR, Hussein A, Mohamad H, Khan SA, At LS

Orbit, 2009;28(5):306-8.
PMID: 19874126 DOI: 10.3109/01676830903044346

We report a case of primary non-Hodgkins lymphoma of the lacrimal sac in a 60-year-old Asian lady, who presented with persistent epiphora and recurrent medial canthal swelling. Primary lymphoma of the lacrimal sac is rare and it can be easily misdiagnosed. Delayed in diagnosis may be related to mortality. To minimize the risk of overlooking specific pathology it is important to assess the appearance of the lacrimal sac and its surrounding structures intraoperatively. Biopsy of the lacrimal sac is required in cases where specific pathology is suspected.
Fulltext Co-creation or Co-destruction: A Perspective of Online Customer Engagement Valence

Siddique J, Shamim A, Nawaz M, Faye I, Rehman M

Front Psychol, 2020;11:591753.
PMID: 33613353 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.591753

The increasing interest in online shopping in recent years has increased the importance of understanding customer engagement valence (CEV) in a virtual service network. There is yet a comprehensive explanation of the CEV concept, particularly its impact on multi-actor networks such as web stores. Therefore, this study aims to fill this research gap. In this study, past literature in the marketing and consumer psychology field was critically reviewed to understand the concept of CEV in online shopping, and the propositional-based style was employed to conceptualize the CEV within the online shopping (web stores) context. The outcomes demonstrate that the valence of customer engagement is dependent on the cognitive interpretation of signals that are prompted by multiple actors on a web store service network. If the signals are positively interpreted, positive outcomes such as service co-creation are expected, but if they are negatively interpreted, negative outcomes such as service co-destruction are predicted. These notions create avenues for future empirical research and practical implications.
Fulltext Ride or Not to Ride: Does the Customer Deviate toward Ridesharing?

Shamim A, Khan AA, Qureshi MA, Rafique H, Akhunzada A

Int J Environ Res Public Health, 2021 10 01;18(19).
PMID: 34639652 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph181910352

Traditional taxi services have now been transformed into e-hailing applications (EHA) such as Uber, Careem, Hailo, and Grab Car globally due to the proliferation of smartphone technology. On the one hand, these applications provide transport facilities. On the other hand, users are facing multiple issues in the adoption of EHAs. Despite problems, EHAs are still widely adopted globally. However, a sparse amount of research has been conducted related to EHAs, particular in regards to exploring the significant factors of intention behind using EHAs Therefore, there is a need to identify influencing factors that have a great impact on the adoption and acceptance of these applications. Hence, this research aims to present an empirical study on the factors influencing customers' intentions towards EHAs. The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) was extended with four external factors: perceived mobility value, effort expectancy, perceived locational accuracy, and perceived price. A questionnaire was developed for the measurement of these factors. A survey was conducted with 211 users of EHAs to collect data. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to analyze the collected data. The results of this study exposed that perceived usefulness, perceived price, and perceived ease of use affect behavior intention to use EHAs. Furthermore, perceived ease of use was impacted by effort expectancy, perceived locational accuracy, and perceived mobility. The findings of the study provide a foundation to develop new guidelines for such applications that will be beneficial for developers and designers of these applications.
The efficacy of sustainability reporting towards cost of debt and equity reduction

Shad MK, Lai FW, Shamim A, McShane M

Environ Sci Pollut Res Int, 2020 Jun;27(18):22511-22522.
PMID: 32319056 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-020-08398-9

This paper empirically investigates the impact of overall sustainability reporting as well as its components (economic, environmental, and social sustainability reporting) on the cost of debt and equity capital for Malaysian oil and gas companies. The data was collected from 41 publicly listed oil and gas companies in Malaysia for the period from 2008 to 2017. Qualitative information was gathered for sustainability reporting and then converted into quantitative form by assigning weights according to the extent of reporting. The cost of capital information was sourced through Thomson Reuters Datastream. Panel data analysis was employed using generalized least square (GLS) random effects regression to examine the relationship between sustainability reporting and cost of capital. Firm reputation, size, and profitability were included as control variables. The findings indicate that overall sustainability reporting and one component, economic sustainability reporting, reduce both cost of debt and cost of equity. However, environmental sustainability reporting reduces only the cost of debt but does not reduce the cost of equity. Social sustainability reporting shows no effect on the cost of debt or equity. The findings of this paper should be useful for regulators, legislators, shareholders, creditors, and practitioners in pursuing sustainability practices that not only improve economic and environmental performance but also enhance overall performance by reducing the cost of capital. The results of the paper highlight that companies investing in sustainability can generate positive value through the enhancement of reputational capital. This study is the first to empirically investigate the relationship between overall sustainability reporting, including its three components, and the cost of both debt and equity capital.
Fulltext A social cognitive theory of customer value co-creation behavior: evidence from healthcare

Hasan MM, Chang Y, Lim WM, Kalam A, Shamim A

J Health Organ Manag, 2024 Oct 17;ahead-of-print(ahead-of-print):360-388.
PMID: 39413122 DOI: 10.1108/JHOM-02-2024-0074

PURPOSE: Customer value co-creation behavior is promising but undertheorized. To bridge this gap, this study examines the viability of a social cognitive theory positing that customers' value co-creation behavior is shaped by their co-creation experience, self-efficacy, and engagement.
DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: Using healthcare as a case, a stratified random sample comprising 600 patients from 40 hospitals across eight metropolitan cities in an emerging economy was acquired and analyzed using co-variance-based structural equation modeling (CB-SEM).
FINDINGS: Customers' co-creation experience has a positive impact on their co-creation self-efficacy, co-creation engagement, and value co-creation behavior. While co-creation self-efficacy and engagement have no direct influence on value co-creation behavior, they do serve as mediators between co-creation experience and value co-creation behavior, suggesting that when customers are provided with a co-creation experience, it enhances their co-creation self-efficacy and engagement, ultimately fostering value co-creation behavior.
ORIGINALITY/VALUE: A theory of customer value co-creation behavior is established.
Fulltext A Lightweight Radio Propagation Model for Vehicular Communication in Road Tunnels

Qureshi MA, Noor RM, Shamim A, Shamshirband S, Raymond Choo KK

PLoS One, 2016;11(3):e0152727.
PMID: 27031989 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0152727

Radio propagation models (RPMs) are generally employed in Vehicular Ad Hoc Networks (VANETs) to predict path loss in multiple operating environments (e.g. modern road infrastructure such as flyovers, underpasses and road tunnels). For example, different RPMs have been developed to predict propagation behaviour in road tunnels. However, most existing RPMs for road tunnels are computationally complex and are based on field measurements in frequency band not suitable for VANET deployment. Furthermore, in tunnel applications, consequences of moving radio obstacles, such as large buses and delivery trucks, are generally not considered in existing RPMs. This paper proposes a computationally inexpensive RPM with minimal set of parameters to predict path loss in an acceptable range for road tunnels. The proposed RPM utilizes geometric properties of the tunnel, such as height and width along with the distance between sender and receiver, to predict the path loss. The proposed RPM also considers the additional attenuation caused by the moving radio obstacles in road tunnels, while requiring a negligible overhead in terms of computational complexity. To demonstrate the utility of our proposed RPM, we conduct a comparative summary and evaluate its performance. Specifically, an extensive data gathering campaign is carried out in order to evaluate the proposed RPM. The field measurements use the 5 GHz frequency band, which is suitable for vehicular communication. The results demonstrate that a close match exists between the predicted values and measured values of path loss. In particular, an average accuracy of 94% is found with R2 = 0.86.
Fulltext Crystal structure of [(2R,3R,4S)-3,4-bis(acet-yloxy)-5-iodo-3,4-di-hydro-2H-pyran-2-yl]methyl acetate

Zukerman-Schpector J, Caracelli I, Stefani HA, Shamim A, Tiekink ER

Acta Crystallogr E Crystallogr Commun, 2015 Jan 1;71(Pt 1):o53-4.
PMID: 25705505 DOI: 10.1107/S205698901402564X

In the title compound, C12H15IO7, the 3,4-di-hydro-2H-pyran ring is in a distorted half-boat conformation with the atom bearing the acet-yloxy group adjacent to the C atom bearing the methyl-acetate group lying 0.633 (6) Å above the plane of the remaining ring atoms (r.m.s. deviation = 0.0907 Å). In the crystal, mol-ecules are linked into a supra-molecular chain along the a axis through two C-H⋯O inter-actions to the same acceptor carbonyl O atom; these chains pack with no specific inter-molecular inter-actions between them.
Chromosomal alterations in Malaysian patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma analyzed by comparative genomic hybridization

Natasya Naili MN, Hasnita CH, Shamim AK, Hasnan J, Fauziah MI, Narazah MY, et al.

Cancer Genet. Cytogenet., 2010 Dec;203(2):309-12.
PMID: 21156250 DOI: 10.1016/j.cancergencyto.2010.07.136

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is one of the most common cancers in Malaysia, mainly occurring among the Chinese population. To detect common genetic alterations in NPC, we screened seven cases of NPC using the comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) technique. Before proceeding to the CGH technique, the tumors were first confirmed to consist of 75% tumor cells or more. In brief, the technique consists of binding tumor DNA with normal DNA and human Cot-1 DNA, which is then hybridized to normal metaphase spreads. The slides were then counterstained with 4,6 diamino-2-phenylindole (DAPI II) for detection. Analyses were performed using CGH software (Cytovision). We found genetic alterations in all seven NPC samples. The common chromosomal gains (57%, four cases) were found on chromosome arms 1q, 4p, 5, 7q, 11, 14p, 15q, 18p, and 21p, and common chromosomal losses (43%, three cases) were found on chromosome arm 16p. Our results showed chromosomal alterations in all seven NPC cases in the Malaysian population. This result provides the platform for further investigations to locate tumor suppressor genes and oncogenes at specific chromosomal regions in Malaysian NPC patients.

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