Displaying publications 1 - 20 of 343 in total

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  1. Azman MS, Wan Saudi WS, Ilhami M, Mutalib MS, Rahman MT
    Nutr Neurosci, 2009 Feb;12(1):9-12.
    PMID: 19178786 DOI: 10.1179/147683009X388904
    Neurogenesis involves cell proliferation, cell cycle arrest, differentiation, migration and the natural developmental death of the neural precursors. These processes are highly co-ordinated and governed by cell-cycle genes and neural transcription factors. Zn plays a crucial role as a functional and structural component of enzymes and transcription factors and components of the intracellular signaling pathway associated with the regulation of cell proliferation. The influence of additional Zn intake during pregnancy on the neuronal proliferation at ventricular zone of the developing fetus has been studied. Pups delivered by the group of mice provided with drinking water with 4.0 mM Zn supplement throughout pregnancy contained an increased number of proliferating neurons in the ventricular zone at P0 compared to those delivered by the mice provided with drinking water without any Zn supplement. This finding provides direct evidence to support the notion that maternal Zn levels influence the development of the nervous system of the offspring.
    Matched MeSH terms: Drinking
  2. Hasan H, Parker A, Pollard SJT
    Sci Total Environ, 2021 Feb 10;755(Pt 1):142868.
    PMID: 33348485 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.142868
    We explore the interplay between preventative risk management and regulatory style for the implementation of water safety plans in Malaysia and in England and Wales, two jurisdictions with distinct philosophies of approach. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 32 water safety professionals in Malaysia, 23 in England and Wales, supported by 6 Focus Group Discussions (n = 53 participants). A grounded theory approach produced insights on the transition from drinking water quality surveillance to preventative risk management. Themes familiar to this type of regulatory transition emerged, including concerns about compliance policy; overseeing the risk management controls of regulatees with varied competencies and funds available to drive change; and the portfolio of interventions suited to a more facilitative regulatory style. Because the potential harm from waterborne illness is high where pathogen exposures occur, the transition to risk-informed regulation demands mature organisational cultures among water utilities and regulators, and a laser-like focus on ensuring risk management controls are delivered within water supply systems.
    Matched MeSH terms: Drinking Water
  3. Ahmad Zaharin Aris, Wan YL, Sarva MP, Mohd Kamil Yusoff, Muhamma Firuz Ramli, Hafizan Juahir
    Sains Malaysiana, 2014;43:377-388.
    The water chemistry of selected rivers in Kota Marudu, Sabah was studied based on the major ion chemistry and its suitability for drinking and irrigation purposes. Ten sampling stations were selected and water samples were collected from each station to assess its chemical properties. The physico-chemical variables including temperature, electrical conductivity (EC), total dissolved solids (TDS), salinity, dissolved oxygen (DO), pH, turbidity, ammoniacal-nitrogen (NH3-N), biological oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD) and total suspended solid (TSS) were measured. The cations (K, Mg, Ca, Na) were analyzed by ICP-MS. Most of the variables were within the drinking water quality standards stipulated by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Ministry of Health (MOH), Malaysia except for turbidity. Sodium adsorption ratio (SAR) and salinity hazard were calculated to identify the suitability of the water as irrigation water. The Wilcox diagram classifies that only 10% of samples are not suitable for the purpose of irrigation. The overall results showed that most of the rivers in Kota Marudu are still in a clean condition and suitable for drinking and irrigation purposes except for Sumbilingan River, which is considered as slightly polluted. The results are supported by the hierarchical cluster analysis as the stations were grouped into two groups; low and high pollution intensities. This preliminary result can update the baseline data of selected water quality parameters in the Kota Marudu and could serve as tool for assisting relevant government bodies in regulating the water resources policies in the future.
    Matched MeSH terms: Drinking Water
  4. AlMarri TS, Oei TP, AbRahman RM
    Addict Behav, 2009 Sep;34(9):776-8.
    PMID: 19481874 DOI: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2009.05.009
    The influence of an individuals' belief in their ability to resist drinking alcohol has recognised importance in understanding the pattern of drinking behaviours among Caucasian samples. Measures used to investigate this construct, such as the drinking refusal self-efficacy questionnaire-revised (DRSEQ-R; [Oei, T. P. S., Hasking, P. A., & Young, R. M. (2005). Drinking refusal self-efficacy questionnaire-revised (DRSEQ-R): A new factor structure with confirmatory factor analysis. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 78, 297-307.]) have been widely used and have established psychometric properties. However, the exploration of the utility of this questionnaire with samples of different ethnicity, religion and living in different countries remains scarce. In the current study, Arab Muslim samples living in the United Arab Emirates and Oman (n=356) and Asian predominately Muslim samples living in Malaysia and Indonesia (n=256) were used. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis demonstrated that the DRSEQ-R has a three factor structure. Internal consistency ranged from alpha .96 to alpha .86 and validity was good. This study offers evidence of the utility of this measure with Arab and Asian samples.
    Matched MeSH terms: Alcohol Drinking/prevention & control; Alcohol Drinking/psychology*
  5. Kumar M, RaoT S, Isloor AM, Ibrahim GPS, Inamuddin, Ismail N, et al.
    Int J Biol Macromol, 2019 May 15;129:715-727.
    PMID: 30738161 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2019.02.017
    Cellulose acetate (CA) and cellulose acetate phthalate (CAP) were used as additives (1 wt%, 3 wt%, and 5 wt%) to prepare polyphenylsulfone (PPSU) hollow fiber membranes. Prepared hollow fiber membranes were characterized by surface morphology using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), surface roughness by atomic force microscopy (AFM), the surface charge of the membrane was analyzed by zeta potential measurement, hydrophilicity by contact angle measurement and the functional groups by fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Fouling resistant nature of the prepared hollow fiber membranes was evaluated by bovine serum albumin (BSA) and molecular weight cutoff was investigated using polyethylene glycol (PEG). By total organic carbon (TOC), the percentage rejection of PEG was found to be 14,489 Da. It was found that the hollow fiber membrane prepared by the addition of 5 wt% of CAP in PPSU confirmed increased arsenic removal from water as compared to hollow fiber membrane prepared by 5 wt% of CA in PPSU. The removal percentages of arsenic with CA-5 and CAP-5 hollow fiber membrane was 34% and 41% with arsenic removal permeability was 44.42 L/m2h bar and 40.11 L/m2h bar respectively. The increased pure water permeability for CA-5 and CAP-5 hollow fiber membrane was 61.47 L/m2h bar and 69.60 L/m2 h bar, respectively.
    Matched MeSH terms: Drinking Water/chemistry*
  6. Chong Vh VH, Sharif F, Bickle I
    Med J Malaysia, 2014 Dec;69(6):257-60.
    PMID: 25934955 MyJurnal
    INTRODUCTION: Melioidosis is endemic to the tropical regions, in particular Thailand and Northern Australia. Any organ can be affected by melioidosis. Involvement of the urogenital system is common in Northern Australia, but is less common in other regions. This study assesses the characteristics of melioidosis affecting the urogenital system treated in a tertiary referral centre in Brunei Darussalam.

    MATERIAL AND METHODS: All patients treated for melioidosis of the urogenital system were identified and retrospectively reviewed.

    RESULTS: There were 9 patients with 11 episodes of urogenital infections treated over 13 years. The median age at diagnosis was 38 years old (range 29 - 63) with men predominantly affected. The major risk factor was underlying diabetes mellitus (n=9), including three patients diagnosed at the time of diagnosis of melioidosis. The median glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA1c) was 12.8% (range 6.4 to 16.6%). One patient's risk factor was only moderate alcohol consumption. Common symptoms included; fever, lethargy, rigor and anorexia. Dysuria was reported by two patients. The median duration of symptoms before presentation was 7 days (range 2 to 21 days) and the median number of sites involved were 3 (range of 2 to 6). Urogenital involvement included prostate (n=6), kidney (n=8), seminal vesicles (n=1) and testis (n=1). Radiological imaging showed that large prostate abscesses (>4.5cm) were common, and in some patients, the kidney abscess had the 'honeycomb' previously described as typical for melioidosis liver abscess. All patients were successfully treated for melioidosis and at a median follow up of 34 months (range 1 - 97), there was one death from complications of diabetes mellitus.

    CONCLUSION: Urogenital melioidosis only accounted for a small proportion of all melioidosis involvement, with prostate and kidney most commonly affected. Concomitant involvement of other sites were common. The major risk factor was poorly controlled diabetes mellitus.
    Matched MeSH terms: Alcohol Drinking
  7. Htet AS, Bjertness MB, Sherpa LY, Kjøllesdal MK, Oo WM, Meyer HE, et al.
    BMC Public Health, 2016 12 05;16(1):1225.
    PMID: 27919240
    BACKGROUND: Recent societal and political reforms in Myanmar may upturn the socio-economy and, thus, contribute to the country's health transition. Baseline data on urban-rural disparities in non-communicable disease (NCD) risk factors are not thoroughly described in this country which has been relatively closed for more than five decades. We aim to investigate urban-rural differences in mean values and the prevalence of selected behavioral and metabolic risk factors for non-communicable diseases and 10-years risk in development of coronary heart diseases (CHD).

    METHODS: Two cross-sectional studies were conducted in urban and rural areas of Yangon Region in 2013 and 2014 respectively, using the WHO STEPwise approach to surveillance of risk factors of NCDs. Through a multi-stage cluster sampling method, 1486 participants were recruited.

    RESULTS: Age-standardized prevalence of the behavioral risk factors tended to be higher in the rural than urban areas for all included factors and significantly higher for alcohol drinking (19.9% vs. 13.9%; p = 0.040) and low fruit & vegetable consumption (96.7% vs. 85.1%; p = 0.001). For the metabolic risk factors, the tendency was opposite, with higher age-standardized prevalence estimates in urban than rural areas, significantly for overweight and obesity combined (40.9% vs. 31.2%; p = 0.023), obesity (12.3% vs.7.7%; p = 0.019) and diabetes (17.2% vs. 9.2%; p = 0.024). In sub-group analysis by gender, the prevalence of hypercholesterolemia and hypertriglyceridemia were significantly higher in urban than rural areas among males, 61.8% vs. 40.4%; p = 0.002 and 31.4% vs. 20.7%; p = 0.009, respectively. Mean values of age-standardized metabolic parameters showed higher values in urban than rural areas for both male and female. Based on WHO age-standardized Framingham risk scores, 33.0% (95% CI = 31.7-34.4) of urban dwellers and 27.0% (95% CI = 23.5-30.8) of rural dwellers had a moderate to high risk of developing CHD in the next 10 years.

    CONCLUSION: The metabolic risk factors, as well as a moderate or high ten-year risk of CHD were more common among urban residents whereas behavioral risk factors levels were higher in among the rural people of Yangon Region. The high prevalences of NCD risk factors in both urban and rural areas call for preventive measures to reduce the future risk of NCDs in Myanmar.

    Matched MeSH terms: Alcohol Drinking/epidemiology
  8. Kato M, Azimi MD, Fayaz SH, Shah MD, Hoque MZ, Hamajima N, et al.
    Chemosphere, 2016 Dec;165:27-32.
    PMID: 27619645 DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2016.08.124
    Toxic elements in drinking water have great effects on human health. However, there is very limited information about toxic elements in drinking water in Afghanistan. In this study, levels of 10 elements (chromium, nickel, copper, arsenic, cadmium, antimony, barium, mercury, lead and uranium) in 227 well drinking water samples in Kabul, Afghanistan were examined for the first time. Chromium (in 0.9% of the 227 samples), arsenic (7.0%) and uranium (19.4%) exceeded the values in WHO health-based guidelines for drinking-water quality. Maximum chromium, arsenic and uranium levels in the water samples were 1.3-, 10.4- and 17.2-fold higher than the values in the guidelines, respectively. We next focused on uranium, which is the most seriously polluted element among the 10 elements. Mean ± SD (138.0 ± 1.4) of the (238)U/(235)U isotopic ratio in the water samples was in the range of previously reported ratios for natural source uranium. We then examined the effect of our originally developed magnesium (Mg)-iron (Fe)-based hydrotalcite-like compounds (MF-HT) on adsorption for uranium. All of the uranium-polluted well water samples from Kabul (mean ± SD = 190.4 ± 113.9 μg/L; n = 11) could be remediated up to 1.2 ± 1.7 μg/L by 1% weight of our MF-HT within 60 s at very low cost (<0.001 cents/day/family) in theory. Thus, we demonstrated not only elevated levels of some toxic elements including natural source uranium but also an effective depurative for uranium in well drinking water from Kabul. Since our depurative is effective for remediation of arsenic as shown in our previous studies, its practical use in Kabul may be encouraged.
    Matched MeSH terms: Drinking Water/analysis*
  9. Shoesmith WD, Oo Tha N, Naing KS, Abbas RB, Abdullah AF
    Alcohol Alcohol, 2016 Nov;51(6):741-746.
    PMID: 26903070
    Aims: To identify the characteristics of current drinker and risky alcohol-drinking pattern by profiles in Malaysia.
    Methods: We analyzed data from the National Health and Morbidity Survey 2011. It was a cross-sectional population-based with two stages stratified random sampling design. A validated Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test Malay questionnaire was used to assess the alcohol consumption and its alcohol related harms. Analysis of complex survey data using Stata Version 12 was done for descriptive analysis on alcohol use and risky drinking by socio-demography profiles. Logistic regression analysis was used to measure the association of risky drinking status with the socio- demography characteristics.
    Results: The prevalence of current alcohol use was 11.6% [95% confidence interval (CI): 10.5, 12.7], among them 23.6% (95% CI: 21.0, 26.4) practiced risky drinking. The onset for alcohol drinking was 21 years old (standard deviation 7.44) and majority preferred Beer. Males significantly consumed more alcohol and practiced risky drinking. Current alcohol use was more prevalent among urbanites, Chinese, those with high household income, and high education. Conversely, risky drinking was more prevalent among rural drinkers, Bumiputera Sabah and Sarawak, low education and low household income. The estimated odds of risky drinking increased by a factor of 3.5 among Males while a factor of 2.7 among Bumiputera Sabah and Sarawak. Education status and household income was not a significant predictor to risky drinking.
    Conclusion: There was an inverse drinking pattern between current drinker and risky drinking by the socio-demography profiles. Initiating early screening and focused intervention might avert further alcohol related harms and dependence among the risky drinkers.
    Study name: National Health and Morbidity Survey (NHMS-2011)
    Matched MeSH terms: Alcohol Drinking/adverse effects; Alcohol Drinking/economics; Alcohol Drinking/epidemiology
  10. Arul P, Gowthaman NSK, John SA, Lim HN
    ACS Omega, 2020 Jun 23;5(24):14242-14253.
    PMID: 32596560 DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.9b03829
    Excess levels of nitrite ion in drinking water interact with amine functionalized compounds to form carcinogenic nitrosamines, which cause stomach cancer. Thus, it is indispensable to develop a simple protocol to detect nitrite. In this paper, a Cu-metal-organic framework (Cu-MOF) with graphene oxide (GO) composite was synthesized by ultrasonication followed by solvothermal method and then fabricated on a glassy carbon (GC) electrode for the sensitive and selective determination of nitrite contamination. The SEM image of the synthesized Cu-MOF showed colloidosome-like structure with an average size of 8 μm. Interestingly, the Cu-MOF-GO composite synthesized by ultrasonic irradiation followed by solvothermal process produce controlled size of 3 μm colloidosome-like structure. This was attributed to the formation of an exfoliated sheet-like structure of GO by ultrasonication in addition to the obvious influence of GO providing the oxygen functional groups as a nucleation node for size-controlled growth. On the other hand, the composite prepared without ultrasonication exhibited 6.6 μm size agglomerated colloidosome-like structures, indicating the crucial role of ultrasonication for the formation of size-controlled composites. XPS results confirmed the presence of Cu(II) in the as-synthesized Cu-MOF-GO based on the binding energies at 935.5 eV for Cu 2p3/2 and 955.4 eV for Cu 2p1/2. The electrochemical impedance studies in [Fe(CN)6]3-/4- redox couple at the composite fabricated electrode exhibited more facile electron transfer than that with Cu-MOF and GO modified electrodes, which helped to utilize Cu-MOF-GO for trace level determination of nitrite in environmental effluent samples. The Cu-MOF-GO fabricated electrode offered a superior sensitive platform for nitrite determination than the Cu-MOF and GO modified electrodes demonstrating oxidation at less positive potential with enhanced oxidation current. The present sensor detects nitrite in the concentration range of 1 × 10-8 to 1 × 10-4 M with the lowest limit of detection (LOD) of 1.47 nM (S/N = 3). Finally, the present Cu-MOF-GO electrode was successfully exploited for nitrite ion determination in lake and dye contaminated water samples.
    Matched MeSH terms: Drinking Water
  11. Idros N, Chu D
    ACS Sens, 2018 09 28;3(9):1756-1764.
    PMID: 30193067 DOI: 10.1021/acssensors.8b00490
    Heavy metals are highly toxic at trace levels and their pollution has shown great threat to the environment and public health worldwide where current detection methods require expensive instrumentation and laborious operation, which can only be accomplished in centralized laboratories. Herein, we report a low-cost, paper-based microfluidic analytical device (μPAD) for facile, portable, and disposable monitoring of mercury, lead, chromium, nickel, copper, and iron ions. Triple indicators or ligands that contain ions or molecules are preloaded on the μPADs and upon addition of a metal ion, the colorimetric indicators will elicit color changes observed by the naked eyes. The color features were quantitatively analyzed in a three-dimensional space of red, green, and blue or the RGB-space using digital imaging and color calibration techniques. The sensing platform offers higher accuracy for cross references, and is capable of simultaneous detection and discrimination of different metal ions in even real water samples. It demonstrates great potential for semiquantitative and even qualitative analysis with a sensitivity below the safe limit concentrations, and a controlled error range.
    Matched MeSH terms: Drinking Water/analysis
  12. Fauziah SH, Agamuthu P
    Waste Manag Res, 2012 Jul;30(7):656-63.
    PMID: 22455994 DOI: 10.1177/0734242X12437564
    In Malaysia, landfills are being filled up rapidly due to the current daily generation of approximately 30,000 tonnes of municipal solid waste. This situation creates the crucial need for improved landfilling practices, as sustainable landfilling technology is yet to be achieved here. The objective of this paper is to identify and evaluate the development and trends in landfilling practices in Malaysia. In 1970, the disposal sites in Malaysia were small and prevailing waste disposal practices was mere open-dumping. This network of relatively small dumps, typically located close to population centres, was considered acceptable for a relatively low population of 10 million in Malaysia. In the 1980s, a national programme was developed to manage municipal and industrial wastes more systematically and to reduce adverse environmental impacts. The early 1990s saw the privatization of waste management in many parts of Malaysia, and the establishment of the first sanitary landfills for MSW and an engineered landfill (called 'secure landfill' in Malaysia) for hazardous waste. A public uproar in 2007 due to contamination of a drinking water source from improper landfilling practices led to some significant changes in the government's policy regarding the country's waste management strategy. Parliament passed the Solid Waste and Public Cleansing Management (SWPCM) Act 2007 in August 2007. Even though the Act is yet to be implemented, the government has taken big steps to improve waste management system further. The future of the waste management in Malaysia seems somewhat brighter with a clear waste management policy in place. There is now a foundation upon which to build a sound and sustainble waste management and disposal system in Malaysia.
    Matched MeSH terms: Drinking Water
  13. Boland M, Fitzpatrick P, Scallan E, Daly L, Herity B, Horgan J, et al.
    Drug Alcohol Depend, 2006 Nov 8;85(2):123-8.
    PMID: 16735098 DOI: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2006.03.016
    Questionnaire surveys of medical students in an Irish university were carried out in 1973 (n=765), 1990 (n=522) and 2002 (n=537), with differentiation of western students (e.g., from the Republic of Ireland, the UK, or Australia) and non-western students (e.g., Malaysia). We report on changes in tobacco smoking, drinking and drug-taking over three decades, and we note that, among western students, estimated prevalence of being a current smoker has declined overall from 28.8% in 1973 to 15.3% in 1990 to 9.2% in 2002 (p<0.001), falling in both males (p<0.001) and females (p<0.01). Ex-smokers rose from 5.9% to 15.1% between 1990 and 2002, corresponding with the decline in current smokers. The prevalence of current drinkers has risen over the period, to 82.5% among western students in 2002 (p<0.05); female drinking has increased steadily since 1973 (p<0.001), and the overall proportion of CAGE-positive drinkers has risen since 1990 (p<0.001). The mean weekly alcohol consumption has risen in both sexes since 1990 (males 14.3 units to 19.4, p<0.01; females 6.0 to 9.5, p<0.001). There was an increase in the proportion of students ever offered drugs between 1973 and 2002 (p<0.001). Although smoking rates have fallen, our findings show a marked increase in alcohol and drug consumption between 1973 and 2002. Personal misuse of addictive substances by doctors may mean that doctors will fail to take misuse by patients seriously. A need for preventative and ameliorative action during the medical school years is clear.
    Matched MeSH terms: Alcohol Drinking/trends*
  14. Brindha K, Paul R, Walter J, Tan ML, Singh MK
    Environ Geochem Health, 2020 Nov;42(11):3819-3839.
    PMID: 32601907 DOI: 10.1007/s10653-020-00637-9
    Monitoring the groundwater chemical composition and identifying the presence of pollutants is an integral part of any comprehensive groundwater management strategy. The present study was conducted in a part of West Tripura, northeast India, to investigate the presence and sources of trace metals in groundwater and the risk to human health due to direct ingestion of groundwater. Samples were collected from 68 locations twice a year from 2016 to 2018. Mixed Ca-Mg-HCO3, Ca-Cl and Ca-Mg-Cl were the main groundwater types. Hydrogeochemical methods showed groundwater mineralization due to (1) carbonate dissolution, (2) silicate weathering, (3) cation exchange processes and (4) anthropogenic sources. Occurrence of faecal coliforms increased in groundwater after monsoons. Nitrate and microbial contamination from wastewater infiltration were apparent. Iron, manganese, lead, cadmium and arsenic were above the drinking water limits prescribed by the Bureau of Indian Standards. Water quality index indicated 1.5% had poor, 8.7% had marginal, 16.2% had fair, 66.2% had good and 7.4% had excellent water quality. Correlation and principal component analysis reiterated the sources of major ions and trace metals identified from hydrogeochemical methods. Human exposure assessment suggests health risk due to high iron in groundwater. The presence of unsafe levels of trace metals in groundwater requires proper treatment measures before domestic use.
    Matched MeSH terms: Drinking Water/analysis
  15. Schram A, Aisbett E, Townsend B, Labonté R, Baum F, Friel S
    Addiction, 2020 07;115(7):1277-1284.
    PMID: 31808205 DOI: 10.1111/add.14925
    BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Trade liberalization is hypothesized to increase the availability of imported alcoholic beverages in importing countries. This study provides the first longitudinal analysis of the impact of preferential trade agreements (PTAs) on alcohol imports.

    DESIGN: Panel data comprising alcohol-product (n = 15) by importing country (n = 16) observations from 1988 to 2016 constructed from global databases. The relationship between PTA status, tariff level and alcohol imports were assessed using a log-linear model. Unobserved heterogeneity was addressed through a combination of differencing and product-year fixed-effects.

    SETTING: Australia and its 16 free trade partners (PTA year in parentheses), classified by low [ 50%: Chile (2009), China (2015), Japan (2015), Korea (2014), Laos (2010), New Zealand (1983, 2010), Philippines (2010), Singapore (2003, 2010) and United States (2005)] percentage of alcohol consumers in the population.

    MEASUREMENTS: Independent variables were the existence of a PTA with Australia and tariff (border tax) rate on Australian products. Outcomes were (log) Australian imports; and a binary indicator of any imports from Australia.

    FINDINGS: Introducing a PTA has been associated with a statistically significant increase in the share of Australian alcoholic beverage imports in its partner country's total alcoholic beverage import supply, mainly from trade in new alcoholic beverage categories (0.067, P 

    Matched MeSH terms: Alcohol Drinking/economics*; Alcohol Drinking/trends*
  16. Affum AO, Osae SD, Nyarko BJ, Afful S, Fianko JR, Akiti TT, et al.
    Environ Monit Assess, 2015 Feb;187(2):1.
    PMID: 25600401 DOI: 10.1007/s10661-014-4167-x
    In recent times, surface water resource in the Western Region of Ghana has been found to be inadequate in supply and polluted by various anthropogenic activities. As a result of these problems, the demand for groundwater by the human populations in the peri-urban communities for domestic, municipal and irrigation purposes has increased without prior knowledge of its water quality. Water samples were collected from 14 public hand-dug wells during the rainy season in 2013 and investigated for total coliforms, Escherichia coli, mercury (Hg), arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd) and physicochemical parameters. Multivariate statistical analysis of the dataset and a linear stoichiometric plot of major ions were applied to group the water samples and to identify the main factors and sources of contamination. Hierarchal cluster analysis revealed four clusters from the hydrochemical variables (R-mode) and three clusters in the case of water samples (Q-mode) after z score standardization. Principal component analysis after a varimax rotation of the dataset indicated that the four factors extracted explained 93.3 % of the total variance, which highlighted salinity, toxic elements and hardness pollution as the dominant factors affecting groundwater quality. Cation exchange, mineral dissolution and silicate weathering influenced groundwater quality. The ranking order of major ions was Na(+) > Ca(2+) > K(+) > Mg(2+) and Cl(-) > SO4 (2-) > HCO3 (-). Based on piper plot and the hydrogeology of the study area, sodium chloride (86 %), sodium hydrogen carbonate and sodium carbonate (14 %) water types were identified. Although E. coli were absent in the water samples, 36 % of the wells contained total coliforms (Enterobacter species) which exceeded the WHO guidelines limit of zero colony-forming unit (CFU)/100 mL of drinking water. With the exception of Hg, the concentration of As and Cd in 79 and 43 % of the water samples exceeded the WHO guideline limits of 10 and 3 μg/L for drinking water, respectively. Reported values in some areas in Nigeria, Malaysia and USA indicated that the maximum concentration of Cd was low and As was high in this study. Health risk assessment of Cd, As and Hg based on average daily dose, hazard quotient and cancer risk was determined. In conclusion, multiple natural processes and anthropogenic activities from non-point sources contributed significantly to groundwater salinization, hardness, toxic element and microbiological contamination of the study area. The outcome of this study can be used as a baseline data to prioritize areas for future sustainable development of public wells.
    Matched MeSH terms: Drinking Water/microbiology; Drinking Water/chemistry*
  17. Armstrong RW
    Int J Addict, 1985 11 1;20(11-12):1803-8.
    PMID: 3833811
    Data from 100 Chinese, 50 Malay, and 50 Indian adults resident in 1980 in the greater urban area of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, indicate a heavy use of cigarettes among males of all ethnic groups, light use among female Chinese, and none among female Malay and Indian. Consumption of other tobacco products was important only among Indian males; chewing betal quid among Indian males and also among Malay and Indian females. Alcohol use is increasing among both sexes and all ethnic groups, but Chinese and Indian groups use alcoholic drinks more frequently and in larger quantity than Malay. Beer and liquor are the most common drinks.
    Matched MeSH terms: Alcohol Drinking*
  18. Muhammad Lutfi Mohamed Halim, Nora Azirah Mohd Zayi, Mohd Yusof Mohamad, Mohd Hafiz Arzmi
    MyJurnal
    Introduction: Oral cancer is the sixth most common malignancy in the world. It is a major concern in Southeast Asia primarily due to betel quid chewing, smoking, and alcohol consumption. In Malaysia, oral cancer related cases accounts for 1.55% of the cause of deaths. Despite recent advances in cancer diagnoses and therapies, the survival rate of oral cancer patients only reached 50% in the last few decades. Tissue engineering (TE) principles may pro-vide new technology platforms to study mechanisms of angiogenesis and tumour cell growth as well as potentially tumour cell spreading in cancer research. The use of biomaterial, appropriate cell source and proper signalling mol-ecules are vital components of TE. Collagen biomaterial are widely used scaffold or membrane in oral application. Nevertheless, no review has been performed on the its usage for the study of oral cancer. This study aimed to sys-tematically review the use of collagen scaffold in oral cancer application. Methods: Research articles were searched using Scopus, Pubmed and Web of Science (WOS) databases. The keywords were limited to “collagen membrane OR collagen scaffold” AND “oral cancer”. Results: Initial search yielded 61 papers (Scopus:37, Pubmed: 12, WOS: 12). Further scrutinization of the papers based on the inclusion criteria resulted total of 3 papers. Two of the papers used collagen membrane for regeneration of oral mucosal defect and increment of alveolar ridge height post-surgery. The remaining paper utilize collagen biomaterial as scaffold for the culture of adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC) cells. All papers reported significant role of collagen biomaterial in terms of tissue formation, healing scaffold and cellular proliferation. Conclusion: Collagen utilization as biomaterial offers potential use for regeneration of oral related structures as well providing useful model for therapeutics anti-cancer research.
    Matched MeSH terms: Alcohol Drinking
  19. Cheah Y.K.
    Medicine & Health, 2014;9(1):62-73.
    MyJurnal
    The primary objective of the present study was to investigate the impact of sociodemographic factors on smoking and alcohol consumption among adults in Penang (Malaysia). A cross-sectional primary survey data with 398 respondents was used for analysis. The present study applied logistic regression models to examine the factors affecting the odds of smoking and alcohol consumption. The results showed that gender, ethnicity and education could significantly affect smoking. In particular, males (OR: 26.678) had a higher likelihood of smoking compared to the females, whereas Chinese (OR: 0.177), Indians/others (OR: 0.331) and individuals with tertiary education (OR: 0.258) had a lower likelihood of smoking than others. In terms of alcohol, gender, ethnicity and marital status were found to have a significant influence on the likelihood of alcohol consumption. Specifically, males (OR: 5.051), Chinese (OR: 37.796) and Indians/others (OR: 10.863) were more likely to consume alcohol than others, while married individuals (OR: 0.380) were less likely to consume alcohol than unmarried individuals. Based on the findings of the present study, numerous population-based intervention measures were suggested.
    Matched MeSH terms: Alcohol Drinking
  20. Villiers-Tuthill A, Copley A, McGee H, Morgan K
    BMC Public Health, 2016 07 22;16:627.
    PMID: 27448397 DOI: 10.1186/s12889-016-3158-y
    BACKGROUND: Health behaviour patterns in older groups, including tobacco and alcohol use, are key factors in chronic disease prevention. We explore ageing self-perceptions as motivating factors behind smoking and drinking alcohol in older adults, and the complex reasons why individuals engage harmfully in these behaviours.

    METHODS: Cigarette and alcohol use was assessed in a large cross-sectional national sample aged 50 years and above from the Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA) (n = 6,576). The Brief Ageing Perceptions Questionnaire (BAPQ) assessed individual's views of their own ageing across five domains. Study hypothesis that stronger beliefs on each of the BAPQ domains would be related to drinking and smoking was examined using multinomial logit models (MNLM). Regression parameter estimates for all variables were estimated relative risk ratios (RRR).

    RESULTS: More women were non-drinkers (30 % vs. 20 %) and men displayed significantly higher alcohol use patterns. One in five older Irish adults was a current smoker (16.8 % of women, 17 % of men), and smoking and harmful drinking were strongly associated (P 

    Matched MeSH terms: Alcohol Drinking/epidemiology*; Alcohol Drinking/psychology
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