Displaying publications 1 - 20 of 2346 in total

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  1. Gopal K, Nagarajan P, Jedy J, Raj AT, Gnanaselvi SK, Jahan P, et al.
    PLoS One, 2013;8(6):e67098.
    PMID: 23826202 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0067098
    Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is a common chronic degenerative disease characterized by progressive aortic dilation and rupture. The mechanisms underlying the role of α-tocopherol and β-carotene on AAA have not been comprehensively assessed. We investigated if α-tocopherol and β-carotene supplementation could attenuate AAA, and studied the underlying mechanisms utilized by the antioxidants to alleviate AAA. Four-months-old Apoe(-/-) mice were used in the induction of aneurysm by infusion of angiotensin II (Ang II), and were orally administered with α-tocopherol and β-carotene enriched diet for 60 days. Significant increase of LDL, cholesterol, triglycerides and circulating inflammatory cells was observed in the Ang II-treated animals, and gene expression studies showed that ICAM-1, VCAM-1, MCP-1, M-CSF, MMP-2, MMP-9 and MMP-12 were upregulated in the aorta of aneurysm-induced mice. Extensive plaques, aneurysm and diffusion of inflammatory cells into the tunica intima were also noticed. The size of aorta was significantly (P = 0.0002) increased (2.24±0.20 mm) in the aneurysm-induced animals as compared to control mice (1.17±0.06 mm). Interestingly, β-carotene dramatically controlled the diffusion of macrophages into the aortic tunica intima, and circulation. It also dissolved the formation of atheromatous plaque. Further, β-carotene significantly decreased the aortic diameter (1.33±0.12 mm) in the aneurysm-induced mice (β-carotene, P = 0.0002). It also downregulated ICAM-1, VCAM-1, MCP-1, M-CSF, MMP-2, MMP-9, MMP-12, PPAR-α and PPAR-γ following treatment. Hence, dietary supplementation of β-carotene may have a protective function against Ang II-induced AAA by ameliorating macrophage recruitment in Apoe(-/-) mice.
  2. Bashir S, Teo YY, Naeem S, Ramesh S, Ramesh K
    PLoS One, 2017;12(7):e0179250.
    PMID: 28678803 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0179250
    There has been significant progress in the last few decades in addressing the biomedical applications of polymer hydrogels. Particularly, stimuli responsive hydrogels have been inspected as elegant drug delivery systems capable to deliver at the appropriate site of action within the specific time. The present work describes the synthesis of pH responsive semi-interpenetrating network (semi-IPN) hydrogels of N-succinyl-chitosan (NSC) via Schiff base mechanism using glutaraldehyde as a crosslinking agent and Poly (acrylamide-co-acrylic acid)(Poly (AAm-co-AA)) was embedded within the N-succinyl chitosan network. The physico-chemical interactions were characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM). The synthesized hydrogels constitute porous structure. The swelling ability was analyzed in physiological mediums of pH 7.4 and pH 1.2 at 37°C. Swelling properties of formulations with various amounts of NSC/ Poly (AAm-co-AA) and crosslinking agent at pH 7.4 and pH 1.2 were investigated. Hydrogels showed higher swelling ratios at pH 7.4 while lower at pH 1.2. Swelling kinetics and diffusion parameters were also determined. Drug loading, encapsulation efficiency, and in vitro release of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) from the synthesized hydrogels were observed. In vitro release profile revealed the significant influence of pH, amount of NSC, Poly (AAm-co-AA), and crosslinking agent on the release of 5-FU. Accordingly, rapid and large release of drug was observed at pH 7.4 than at pH 1.2. The maximum encapsulation efficiency and release of 5-FU from SP2 were found to be 72.45% and 85.99%, respectively. Kinetics of drug release suggested controlled release mechanism of 5-FU is according to trend of non-Fickian. From the above results, it can be concluded that the synthesized hydrogels have capability to adapt their potential exploitation as targeted oral drug delivery carriers.
  3. Yu F, Bracken CP, Pillman KA, Lawrence DM, Goodall GJ, Callen DF, et al.
    PLoS One, 2015;10(6):e0129190.
    PMID: 26061048 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0129190
    p53 is a master tumour repressor that participates in vast regulatory networks, including feedback loops involving microRNAs (miRNAs) that regulate p53 and that themselves are direct p53 transcriptional targets. We show here that a group of polycistronic miRNA-like non-coding RNAs derived from small nucleolar RNAs (sno-miRNAs) are transcriptionally repressed by p53 through their host gene, SNHG1. The most abundant of these, sno-miR-28, directly targets the p53-stabilizing gene, TAF9B. Collectively, p53, SNHG1, sno-miR-28 and TAF9B form a regulatory loop which affects p53 stability and downstream p53-regulated pathways. In addition, SNHG1, SNORD28 and sno-miR-28 are all significantly upregulated in breast tumours and the overexpression of sno-miR-28 promotes breast epithelial cell proliferation. This research has broadened our knowledge of the crosstalk between small non-coding RNA pathways and roles of sno-miRNAs in p53 regulation.
  4. Yang B, Wang Q, Li Y, Li L, Zhang Y, Leong Bin Abdullah MFI, et al.
    PLoS One, 2023;18(4):e0282488.
    PMID: 37099528 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0282488
    OBJECTIVE: The present study opted for the adrenal phaeochromocytoma (PC12) cell line to frame a neuronal injury model induced by alcohol exposure in vitro, aiming to probe whether TAp73 and miR-96-5p are involved in the neuronal injury process induced by alcohol and elucidate the regulatory relationship between miR-96-5p and TAp73.

    METHODS: Immunofluorescence staining was used to observe the structural features of PC12 cells after culturing in medium with nerve growth factor (NGF). After different doses and different durations of alcohol treatment, CCK-8 assay was performed to detect the viability of PC12 cells, flow cytometry assay was carried out to detect the apoptosis rate of PC12 cells, dual-luciferase reporter assay was used to definitude the regulatory relationship between miR-96-5p and Tp73, and western blot was used to detect the protein expression of TAp73.

    RESULTS: The result of immunofluorescence staining demonstrated that PC12 cells abundantly expressed Map2, CCK-8 assay illustrated alcohol exposure significantly downregulated the cell viability of PC12 cells, Treatment with miR-96-5p inhibitor induced apoptosis and upregulated the expression of TAp73 in PC12 cells. Contrastingly, miR-96-5p mimic reversed the above effects and downregulation of TAp73 inhibited the apoptosis of PC12 cells.

    CONCLUSION: The present study demonstrated that miR-96-5p participates in alcohol-induced apoptosis in PC12 cells via negatively regulating TAp73.

  5. Uddin MJ, Khan WA, Amin NS
    PLoS One, 2014;9(6):e99384.
    PMID: 24927277 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0099384
    The unsteady two-dimensional laminar g-Jitter mixed convective boundary layer flow of Cu-water and Al2O3-water nanofluids past a permeable stretching sheet in a Darcian porous is studied by using an implicit finite difference numerical method with quasi-linearization technique. It is assumed that the plate is subjected to velocity and thermal slip boundary conditions. We have considered temperature dependent viscosity. The governing boundary layer equations are converted into non-similar equations using suitable transformations, before being solved numerically. The transport equations have been shown to be controlled by a number of parameters including viscosity parameter, Darcy number, nanoparticle volume fraction, Prandtl number, velocity slip, thermal slip, suction/injection and mixed convection parameters. The dimensionless velocity and temperature profiles as well as friction factor and heat transfer rates are presented graphically and discussed. It is found that the velocity reduces with velocity slip parameter for both nanofluids for fluid with both constant and variable properties. It is further found that the skin friction decreases with both Darcy number and momentum slip parameter while it increases with viscosity variation parameter. The surface temperature increases as the dimensionless time increases for both nanofluids. Nusselt numbers increase with mixed convection parameter and Darcy numbers and decreases with the momentum slip. Excellent agreement is found between the numerical results of the present paper with published results.
  6. Arshad R, Sohail MF, Sarwar HS, Saeed H, Ali I, Akhtar S, et al.
    PLoS One, 2019;14(6):e0217079.
    PMID: 31170179 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0217079
    Post-operative surgical site infections (SSI) present a serious threat and may lead to complications. Currently available dressings for SSI lack mucoadhesion, safety, efficacy and most importantly patient compliance. We aimed to address these concerns by developing a bioactive thiolated chitosan-alginate bandage embedded with zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs) for localized topical treatment of SSI. The FTIR, XRD, DSC and TGA of bandage confirmed the compatibility of ingredients and modifications made. The porosity, swelling index and lysozyme degradation showed good properties for wound healing and biodegradation. Moreover, in-vitro antibacterial activity showed higher bactericidal effect as compared to ZnO-NPs free bandage. In-vivo wound healing in murine model showed significant improved tissue generation and speedy wound healing as compared to positive and negative controls. Over all, thiolated bandage showed potential as an advanced therapeutic agent for treating surgical site infections, meeting the required features of an ideal surgical dressing.
  7. Guadamuz TE, Cheung DH, Wei C, Koe S, Lim SH
    PLoS One, 2015;10(5):e0126658.
    PMID: 25973907 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0126658
    BACKGROUND: Poor HIV testing uptake by MSM may be attributable to unique challenges that are localized in Southeast Asia.

    OBJECTIVE: To characterize MSM who never tested for HIV, to identify correlates of never testing, and to elucidate the perceived barriers to HIV testing.

    METHODS: The present study used data from the Asian Internet MSM Sex Survey (AIMSS) and restricted the analysis to 4,310 MSM from the ten member countries of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN).

    RESULTS: Among MSM participants from ASEAN in our sample, 1290 (29.9%) reported having never been tested for HIV, 471 (10.9%) tested for HIV more than 2 years ago, and 2186 (50.7%) reported their last test date was between 6 months and two years ago, with only 363 (8.4%) of these men having been tested in the past 6 months. In multivariable logistic regression, younger MSM (age 15-22 years old [AOR: 4.60, 95% CI: 3.04-6.96]), MSM with lower education (secondary school or lower [AOR: 1.37, 95% CI: 1.03-1.83]), MSM who identify as bisexual or heterosexual (compared to gay-identified) (AOR: 1.94, 95% CI: 1.60-2.35), and MSM who had never used a condom with male partners (AOR: 1.61, 95% CI: 1.32-1.97) had higher odds of never been HIV tested. Main reason for not being tested was a low risk perception of HIV exposure (n = 390, 30.2%).

    CONCLUSION: Current HIV prevention response must not leave MSM "in the dark," but instead meet them where they are by utilizing the Internet creatively through social media and smart phones. As ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) is quickly becoming a reality, so must there be an equally fast and united response to slowing down the HIV epidemics among MSM in ASEAN.

  8. Tan CB, Stephen ID, Whitehead R, Sheppard E
    PLoS One, 2012;7(1):e29714.
    PMID: 22253762 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0029714
    East Asian and white Western observers employ different eye movement strategies for a variety of visual processing tasks, including face processing. Recent eye tracking studies on face recognition found that East Asians tend to integrate information holistically by focusing on the nose while white Westerners perceive faces featurally by moving between the eyes and mouth. The current study examines the eye movement strategy that Malaysian Chinese participants employ when recognizing East Asian, white Western, and African faces. Rather than adopting the Eastern or Western fixation pattern, Malaysian Chinese participants use a mixed strategy by focusing on the eyes and nose more than the mouth. The combination of Eastern and Western strategies proved advantageous in participants' ability to recognize East Asian and white Western faces, suggesting that individuals learn to use fixation patterns that are optimized for recognizing the faces with which they are more familiar.
  9. Haque E, Banik U, Monwar T, Anthony L, Adhikary AK
    PLoS One, 2018;13(3):e0194516.
    PMID: 29590206 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0194516
    Human adenovirus type 3 (HAdV-3) respiratory infections occurs worldwide in both children and adults, leading to severe morbidity and mortality, particularly in the paediatric age group and especially in neonates. During HAdV infection, neutralizing antibodies are formed against the epitopes located in the hyper variable regions (HVRs) of the hexon protein. These neutralizing antibodies provide protection against reinfection by viruses of the same type. Therefore it is reasonable to speculate that variations of HAdV-3 in the HVRs could impair the immunity acquired by previous infection with a different strain with variation in its HVRs. HAdV-3 has recently become the major agent of acute respiratory infection worldwide, being responsible for 15% to 87% of all adenoviral respiratory infections. However, despite the increased prevalence of HAdV-3 as respiratory pathogen, the diversity of hexon proteins in circulating strains remains unexplored. This study was designed to explore the variation in HVRs of hexon among globally distributed strains of HAdV-3 as well as to discover possible relationship among them, thus possibly shedding light on the cause for the increased prevalence of HAdV-3. In this study, for the first time we analysed the hexon proteins of all 248 available strains of HAdV-3 from the NCBI database and compared them with those of the HAdV-3 prototype (GB stain). We found that the HVRs of HAdV-3 strains circulating worldwide were highly heterogeneous and have been mutating continuously since -their original isolation. Based on their immense heterogeneity, the strains can be categorized into 25 hexon variants (3Hv-1 to 3Hv-25), 4 of which (3Hv-1 to 3Hv-4) comprises 80% of the strains. This heterogeneity may explain why HAdV-3 has become the most prevalent HAdVs type worldwide. The heterogeneity of hexon proteins also shows that the development of a vaccine against HAdV-3 might be challenging. The data on hexon variants provided here may be useful for the future epidemiological study of HAdV-3 infection.
  10. Pai S, Patil V, Kamath R, Mahendra M, Singhal DK, Bhat V
    PLoS One, 2021;16(8):e0256663.
    PMID: 34428247 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0256663
    BACKGROUND: The Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in 2019, has shocked the entire world. As an effort to control the disease spread, the Indian government declared a nationwide lockdown on March 25th, 2020. As dental treatment was considered high risk in the spread of COVID-19, dentistry became one of the most vulnerable professions during this time. Dental professionals had to face job layoffs, salary cuts in professional colleges, closure of private clinics resulting in huge psychological, moral, and financial crises. Studies during the previous and present pandemics have shown mental issues among health care workers necessitating institutional reforms, along with early care and support. A balance in the work-life amongst professionals is the key to better efficiency and, was majorly affected during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown due to sudden unexpected changes. Hence this study was conducted to understand the changes they underwent both at home and professional front with a hypothesis that physical and mental health, activities, relationship status, and workplace influence the work-life balance.

    METHODS: A pre-validated questionnaire survey was done on dentists across India. Structural Equation Modelling and path analysis were applied to the data collected.

    RESULTS: The results of the study supported the hypothesis that factors like physical and mental health, activities, relationship status, and workplace influenced the work-life balance directly. A significant imbalance was seen amongst the female dentists.

    CONCLUSION: The present study proved the unpreparedness among dental professionals. Hence an evolutionary phase in every field with better working protocols, robust mental health support, and a focus on strategies to face future such emergencies is required.

  11. Bay SS, Kamaruzaman L, Mohd R, Azhar Shah S
    PLoS One, 2024;19(3):e0297378.
    PMID: 38536785 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0297378
    INTRODUCTION: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a major public health issue with significant socioeconomic impacts. In Malaysia, the prevalence of CKD in 2018 was 15%. Complications of CKD such as anaemia, mineral bone disease, and infections led to frequent hospitalizations resulting in work disability and unemployment. To date, there is no data of employment status of CKD patients in Malaysia.

    METHODS: A cross-sectional study of patients with advanced CKD (stage 4 and 5 non-dialysis) treated in our centre. We interviewed those aged 18 to 60 years old who were selected based on random sampling of their employment status and associated factors. Work disabilities and quality of life were assessed using work productivity and activity impairment (WPAI-GH) questionnaire and kidney disease and quality of life (KDQOL-36) questionnaire. These questionnaires were assisted by the main investigators to aid participants in facilitating their response process.

    RESULT: A total of 318 patients recruited, 53.5% were males, with a mean age of 49.0 ± 9.0 years old. The main cause of CKD was diabetes (67.0%) followed by hypertension (11.3%). Majority of them were obese (55.3%) with a mean body mass index of 28.81 ± 6.3 kg/m2. The mean household income was RM 4669.50 ± 3034.75 (USD1006.27 ± 653.99). The employment rate was 50% (n = 159). 86% of the unemployed patients were in B40 income category. Multiple Logistic Regression was performed on the significant factors affecting employment status showed one year increase in age increased 6.5% odds to be unemployed. Female and dyslipidaemia had 2.24- and 2.58-times higher odds respectively to be unemployed. Meanwhile, patients with tertiary level of education were 81% less odds to be unemployed. Patients with advanced CKD had a mean percentage of 24.35 ± 15.23 work impairment and 13.36 ± 32.34 mean percentages of face absenteeism due to the disease burden. Furthermore, patients who were unemployed had significant perceived symptoms and problem lists, effects, and burden of kidney disease (p<0.01) and showed poor mental and physical composites (p<0.01) as compared with those who were employed.

    CONCLUSION: The employment rate of advanced CKD patients was low with half of patients lost their jobs due to the disease burden and had poor mental and physical composites of quality of life. This raises the concern for financial support for long term renal replacement therapy.

  12. Al-Saiagh W, Tiun S, Al-Saffar A, Awang S, Al-Khaleefa AS
    PLoS One, 2018;13(12):e0208695.
    PMID: 30571777 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0208695
    Word sense disambiguation (WSD) is the process of identifying an appropriate sense for an ambiguous word. With the complexity of human languages in which a single word could yield different meanings, WSD has been utilized by several domains of interests such as search engines and machine translations. The literature shows a vast number of techniques used for the process of WSD. Recently, researchers have focused on the use of meta-heuristic approaches to identify the best solutions that reflect the best sense. However, the application of meta-heuristic approaches remains limited and thus requires the efficient exploration and exploitation of the problem space. Hence, the current study aims to propose a hybrid meta-heuristic method that consists of particle swarm optimization (PSO) and simulated annealing to find the global best meaning of a given text. Different semantic measures have been utilized in this model as objective functions for the proposed hybrid PSO. These measures consist of JCN and extended Lesk methods, which are combined effectively in this work. The proposed method is tested using a three-benchmark dataset (SemCor 3.0, SensEval-2, and SensEval-3). Results show that the proposed method has superior performance in comparison with state-of-the-art approaches.
  13. Ackermann L, Lo CH, Mani N, Mayor J
    PLoS One, 2020;15(12):e0240519.
    PMID: 33259476 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0240519
    In recent years, the popularity of tablets has skyrocketed and there has been an explosive growth in apps designed for children. Howhever, many of these apps are released without tests for their effectiveness. This is worrying given that the factors influencing children's learning from touchscreen devices need to be examined in detail. In particular, it has been suggested that children learn less from passive video viewing relative to equivalent live interaction, which would have implications for learning from such digital tools. However, this so-called video deficit may be reduced by allowing children greater influence over their learning environment. Across two touchscreen-based experiments, we examined whether 2- to 4-year-olds benefit from actively choosing what to learn more about in a digital word learning task. We designed a tablet study in which "active" participants were allowed to choose which objects they were taught the label of, while yoked "passive" participants were presented with the objects chosen by their active peers. We then examined recognition of the learned associations across different tasks. In Experiment 1, children in the passive condition outperformed those in the active condition (n = 130). While Experiment 2 replicated these findings in a new group of Malay-speaking children (n = 32), there were no differences in children's learning or recognition of the novel word-object associations using a more implicit looking time measure. These results suggest that there may be performance costs associated with active tasks designed as in the current study, and at the very least, there may not always be systematic benefits associated with active learning in touchscreen-based word learning tasks. The current studies add to the evidence that educational apps need to be evaluated before release: While children might benefit from interactive apps under certain conditions, task design and requirements need to consider factors that may detract from successful performance.
  14. Khalilpourfarshbafi M, Devi Murugan D, Abdul Sattar MZ, Sucedaram Y, Abdullah NA
    PLoS One, 2019;14(6):e0218792.
    PMID: 31226166 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0218792
    The increased prevalence of obesity and associated insulin resistance calls for effective therapeutic treatment of metabolic diseases. The current PPARγ-targeting antidiabetic drugs have undesirable side effects. The present study investigated the anti-diabetic and anti-obesity effects of withaferin A (WFA) in diet-induced obese (DIO) C57BL/6J mice and also the anti-adipogenic effect of WFA in differentiating 3T3- F442A cells. DIO mice were treated with WFA (6 mg/kg) or rosiglitazone (10 mg/kg) for 8 weeks. At the end of the treatment period, metabolic profile, liver function and inflammatory parameters were obtained. Expression of selective genes controlling insulin signaling, inflammation, adipogenesis, energy expenditure and PPARγ phosphorylation-regulated genes in epididymal fats were analyzed. Furthermore, the anti-adipogenic effect of WFA was evaluated in 3T3- F442A cell line. WFA treatment prevented weight gain without affecting food or caloric intake in DIO mice. WFA-treated group also exhibited lower epididymal and mesenteric fat pad mass, an improvement in lipid profile and hepatic steatosis and a reduction in serum inflammatory cytokines. Insulin resistance was reduced as shown by an improvement in glucose and insulin tolerance and serum adiponectin. WFA treatment upregulated selective insulin signaling (insr, irs1, slc2a4 and pi3k) and PPARγ phosphorylation-regulated (car3, selenbp1, aplp2, txnip, and adipoq) genes, downregulated inflammatory (tnf-α and il-6) genes and altered energy expenditure controlling (tph2 and adrb3) genes. In 3T3- F442A cell line, withaferin A inhibited adipogenesis as indicated by a decrease in lipid accumulation in differentiating adipocytes and protein expression of PPARγ and C/EBPα. The effect of rosiglitazone on physiological and lipid profiles, insulin resistance, some genes expression and differentiating adipocytes were markedly different. Our data suggest that WFA is a promising therapeutic agent for both diabetes and obesity.
  15. Yang TY, Dehghantanha A, Choo KK, Muda Z
    PLoS One, 2016;11(3):e0150300.
    PMID: 26982207 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0150300
    Instant messaging (IM) has changed the way people communicate with each other. However, the interactive and instant nature of these applications (apps) made them an attractive choice for malicious cyber activities such as phishing. The forensic examination of IM apps for modern Windows 8.1 (or later) has been largely unexplored, as the platform is relatively new. In this paper, we seek to determine the data remnants from the use of two popular Windows Store application software for instant messaging, namely Facebook and Skype on a Windows 8.1 client machine. This research contributes to an in-depth understanding of the types of terrestrial artefacts that are likely to remain after the use of instant messaging services and application software on a contemporary Windows operating system. Potential artefacts detected during the research include data relating to the installation or uninstallation of the instant messaging application software, log-in and log-off information, contact lists, conversations, and transferred files.
  16. Al-Samman AM, Azmi MH, Rahman TA, Khan I, Hindia MN, Fattouh A
    PLoS One, 2016;11(12):e0164944.
    PMID: 27992445 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0164944
    This work proposes channel impulse response (CIR) prediction for time-varying ultra-wideband (UWB) channels by exploiting the fast movement of channel taps within delay bins. Considering the sparsity of UWB channels, we introduce a window-based CIR (WB-CIR) to approximate the high temporal resolutions of UWB channels. A recursive least square (RLS) algorithm is adopted to predict the time evolution of the WB-CIR. For predicting the future WB-CIR tap of window wk, three RLS filter coefficients are computed from the observed WB-CIRs of the left wk-1, the current wk and the right wk+1 windows. The filter coefficient with the lowest RLS error is used to predict the future WB-CIR tap. To evaluate our proposed prediction method, UWB CIRs are collected through measurement campaigns in outdoor environments considering line-of-sight (LOS) and non-line-of-sight (NLOS) scenarios. Under similar computational complexity, our proposed method provides an improvement in prediction errors of approximately 80% for LOS and 63% for NLOS scenarios compared with a conventional method.
  17. Lim SH, Mburu G, Bourne A, Pang J, Wickersham JA, Wei CKT, et al.
    PLoS One, 2017;12(9):e0182838.
    PMID: 28902857 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0182838
    OBJECTIVE: We examined willingness to use pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV prevention among men who have sex with men (MSM) in Malaysia.

    METHODS: An online survey of 990 MSM was conducted between March and April 2016. Eligibility criteria included being biological male, Malaysian citizen, 18 years of age or above, identifying as MSM, and being HIV negative or unknown status. Participants' demographics, sexual and drug use behaviors, attitudes towards PrEP, and preferences regarding future access to PrEP were collected. Bivariate analysis and logistic regression were performed to determine factors associated with willingness to use PrEP.

    RESULTS: Fewer than half of participants (44%) knew about PrEP before completing the survey. Overall, 39% of the sample were willing to take PrEP. Multivariate logistic regression indicated that Malay men (AOR: 1.73, 95% CI:1.12, 2.70), having 2 or more male anal sex partners in the past 6 months (AOR: 1.98, 95% CI: 1.29, 3.05), previous knowledge of PrEP (AOR: 1.40, 95%CI: 1.06, 1.86), lack of confidence in practising safer sex (AOR: 1.36, 95% CI: 1.02, 1.81), and having ever paid for sex with a male partner (AOR: 1.39, 95% CI: 1.01, 1.91) were independently associated with greater willingness to use PrEP, while men who identified as heterosexual were less willing to use PrEP (AOR, 0.36, 95% CI: 0.13, 0.97). Majority of participants preferred to access PrEP at affordable cost below 100 Malaysian Ringgit (USD25) per month from community based organisations followed by private or government hospitals.

    CONCLUSIONS: Overall, MSM in Malaysia reported a relatively low level of willingness to use PrEP, although willingness was higher among those previously aware of PrEP. There is a need to provide PrEP at affordable cost, increase demand and awareness of PrEP, and to provide access to this preventative medication via diverse, integrated and tailored sexual health services.

  18. Rajamoorthy Y, Radam A, Taib NM, Rahim KA, Munusamy S, Wagner AL, et al.
    PLoS One, 2019;14(4):e0215125.
    PMID: 30964934 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0215125
    BACKGROUND: In Malaysia, one million individuals are estimated to be infected with the hepatitis B virus. A vaccine for infants has been compulsory since 1989, whereas those born before 1989 need to spend their own money to be vaccinated in private clinics or hospitals. The aim of this study was to investigate and ascertain the determinants of willingness to pay (WTP) for adult hepatitis B vaccine in Selangor, Malaysia.

    METHODS: In 2016, 728 households were selected through a stratified, two stage cluster sample and interviewed. Willingness to pay for hepatitis B vaccine was estimated using the Contingent Valuation Method, and factors affecting WTP were modelled with logit regression.

    RESULTS: We found that 273 (37.5%) of the households were willing to pay for hepatitis B vaccination. The mean and median of WTP was estimated at Ringgit Malaysia (RM)303 (approximately US$73) for the three dose series. The estimated WTP was significantly greater in those with higher levels of education, among Malays and Chinese (compared to others, predominantly Indians), and for those with greater perceived susceptibility to hepatitis B virus infection. Other factors-perceived severity, barriers, benefits and cues to action-were not significantly associated with WTP for adult hepatitis B vaccination.

    CONCLUSION: Additional resources are needed to cover the households that are not willing to pay for hepatitis B vaccination. More awareness (particularly in regards to hepatitis B virus susceptibility) could change the national perception towards self-paid hepatitis B virus vaccination and increase hepatitis B vaccine coverage.

  19. Zhang C, Phoong SW
    PLoS One, 2024;19(1):e0297977.
    PMID: 38295093 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0297977
    The evolution of Internet technology is closely mirrored by the innovative business and profit models emerging within the platform economy. Integrating this economic framework, online video platforms are dynamically refining their pricing strategies to optimize profit margins. This paper, anchored in the theoretical construct of second-degree price discrimination, selects the Chinese online video platforms iQiyi and Tencent Video for in-depth case studies. It charts the progression of its pricing strategies and juxtaposes these with those of prominent international online video sites to highlight both congruities and divergences. The synthesis of theoretical models with real-world case studies culminates in strategic recommendations to foster the growth of Chinese online video platforms in the global Internet arena.
  20. Fujinuma J, Harrison RD
    PLoS One, 2012;7(5):e37321.
    PMID: 22615977 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0037321
    Edge-effects greatly extend the area of tropical forests degraded through human activities. At Pasoh, Peninsular Malaysia, it has been suggested that soil disturbance by highly abundant wild pigs (Sus scrofa), which feed in adjacent Oil Palm plantations, may have mediated the invasion of Clidemia hirta (Melastomataceae) into the diverse tropical lowland rain forest. To investigate this hypothesis, we established three 1 km transects from the forest/Oil Palm plantation boundary into the forest interior. We recorded the distribution of soil disturbance by wild pigs, C. hirta abundance, and environmental variables. These data were analyzed using a hierarchical Bayesian model that incorporated spatial auto-correlation in the environmental variables. As predicted, soil disturbance by wild pigs declined with distance from forest edge and C. hirta abundance was correlated with the level of soil disturbance. Importantly there was no effect of distance on C. hirta abundance, after controlling for the effect of soil disturbance. Clidemia hirta abundance was also correlated with the presence of canopy openings, but there was no significant association between the occurrence of canopy openings and distance from the edge. Increased levels of soil disturbance and C. hirta abundance were still detectable approximately 1 km from the edge, demonstrating the potential for exceptionally large-scale animal mediated edge effects.
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