Displaying publications 1 - 20 of 41 in total

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  1. Wasli NS, Ridzwan IE, Azzubaidi MS, Kasmuri AR, Ahmed QU, Ming LC, et al.
    J Pharm Bioallied Sci, 2020 Nov;12(Suppl 2):S826-S830.
    PMID: 33828384 DOI: 10.4103/jpbs.JPBS_379_19
    Introduction: κ-opioid receptor (KOPr) system has been linked to relapse to many substances, especially opioids. Positive responses were recently reported in morphine and methamphetamine (polydrug)-dependent mice treated with buprenorphine and naltrexone, a functional κ antagonist.

    Objectives: This study aimed to determine the specific brain region that is responsive to KOPr treatment following polydrug dependence.

    Materials and Methods: The polydrug-dependent mice model was developed using conditioned place preference (CPP) method. Following successful withdrawal phase, the mice were treated with 0.3 mg/kg buprenorphine and 1.0 mg/kg naltrexone. Four brain regions (hippocampus, prefrontal cortex, amygdala, and striatum) were investigated using immunohistochemistry technique. This is to quantify the changes in KOPr expression in each major brain region that was primarily involved in addiction neurocircuits of many substances. Unpaired Student's t test was used to analyze all results, where P < 0.05 is considered significant.

    Results: The results showed that treatment with buprenorphine and naltrexone successfully attenuated relapse in 60% of mice (n = 14). A significant upregulation of KOPr was detected in striatum at the end of post-withdrawal phase (P < 0.01, n = 12). This treatment successfully suppressed KOPr in striatum (P < 0.001, n = 12), which supports the positive results seen in the CPP setting. No significant changes were observed in other brain regions studied.

    Conclusion: The hyperactivity of striatum suggests that the affected brain region following KOPr antagonist treatment is the region that primarily controls the drug rewarding activity, in which nucleus accumbens is located. This indicates that manipulation of KOPr system is one of the potential targets to treat morphine- or methamphetamine-dependence problem.

    Matched MeSH terms: Reward
  2. Wan Nasru WN, Ab Razak A, Yaacob NM, Wan Azman WN
    Malays J Pathol, 2021 Apr;43(1):25-32.
    PMID: 33903302
    INTRODUCTION: The amino acids that function as co-agonists at the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor have been investigated in bipolar disorder (BD). However, studies comparing amino acid levels in the plasma of BD patients with healthy controls have yielded inconsistent results. We, therefore, conducted a study in Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia to determine the plasma levels of glutamate, glycine, and alanine in BD patients and compared them with the healthy controls.

    MATERIALS AND METHODS: An overnight fast of 10-hour plasma levels of glutamate, glycine, alanine, and tryptophan were measured in 83 bipolar patients, and were compared to a group of 82 healthy controls.

    RESULTS: The mean (SD) age of bipolar patients was 40.9 (12.1), while the mean (SD) age for control groups was 35.6 (7.7) years. The median (25th, 75th percentile) of glutamate and alanine levels in bipolar patients was 111.0 (65.0,176.0) and 530.0 (446.0,629.0), respectively, while the mean (SD) of glycine level in bipolar patients was 304.0 (98.1). Significant higher glutamate, glycine, and alanine levels were found in bipolar disorder patients in the manic episode as compared to the healthy controls.

    CONCLUSION: Although the exact relationship between peripheral NMDA receptor co-agonist levels in the pathogenesis of BD is not well understood, these findings should be explored and may enlighten some new paths for BD therapy which could reward the patients also clinicians.

    Matched MeSH terms: Reward
  3. Vijeepallam K, Pandy V, Murugan DD, Naidu M
    Metab Brain Dis, 2019 12;34(6):1713-1722.
    PMID: 31396844 DOI: 10.1007/s11011-019-00477-2
    In the current study, the effect of methanolic extract of Mitragyna speciosa leaf (MMS) against the rewarding and reinforcing properties of ethanol using a mouse model of conditioned place preference (CPP) and runway model of drug self-administration was studied. Subsequently, the effect of MMS on dopamine level in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) of the mouse brain was further investigated. From the data obtained, MMS (50 and 75 mg/kg, p.o.) significantly reversed the ethanol-place preference in mice, which is similar to the effect observed in the reference drugs acamprosate (300 mg/kg, p.o.) and clozapine (1 mg/kg, p.o.) treatment groups in CPP test. Likewise, the escalating doses of ethanol-conditioned mice reduced the runtime to reach goal box, infers the positive reinforcing effects of alcohol. Interestingly, MMS (50, 75 and 100 mg/kg, p.o.) significantly prolonged the runtime in ethanol-conditioned mice. Besides, MMS (50 and 75 mg/kg, p.o.) and reference drugs; acamprosate (300 mg/kg, p.o.) and clozapine (1 mg/kg, p.o.) treated mice significantly decreased the alcohol-induced elevated dopamine level in the NAc region of the brain. Overall, this study provides first evidence that MMS inhibits ethanol seeking behaviour in mice. Based on these findings, we suggest that Mitragyna speciosa may well be utilized for novel drug development to combat alcohol dependence.
    Matched MeSH terms: Reward*
  4. Tumin M, Noh A, Chong CS, Lim SK, Abdullah N, Ng KP
    Clin Transplant, 2013 May-Jun;27(3):E316-9.
    PMID: 23600843 DOI: 10.1111/ctr.12132
    Malaysians indicating that they did not intend to become organ donors upon their death were surveyed regarding interest in non-fungible financial incentives to be granted to surviving family members. Among the 730 (56% of the total sample of 1311) indicating unwillingness to be donors, 29.6% (216/730) subsequently indicated that they would be willing donors if the government introduced policies that, upon their death, "rewarded your (their) family with incentives for your (their) deeds." Among the 69% (504/730) who insisted that they would not become organ donor even with incentive, nearly 80% (404/501) of them were able to identify relevant incentives they thought should be provided by the state to those who make organ donations upon death. The majority of both groups preferred the state provide medical benefits to a surviving family member, suggesting this may be an attractive policy option for the state to raise the deceased organ donation pool.
    Matched MeSH terms: Reward
  5. Tan SB, Lee YL, Tan SN, Ng TY, Teo YT, Lim PK, et al.
    J Hosp Palliat Nurs, 2020 10;22(5):407-414.
    PMID: 32898385 DOI: 10.1097/NJH.0000000000000678
    Palliative care providers find meaning in their work, even though stress, burnout, and compassion fatigue can be a concern. In this study, we aimed to explore the experiences of well-being of palliative care providers in Malaysia. Data collected using semistructured interviews were thematically analyzed. Eighteen palliative care providers participated: 9 doctors and 9 nurses. Five subthemes were generated: (1) values and strengths, (2) coping and work-life balance, (3) social support and spirituality, (4) passion and satisfaction, and (5) learning, growth, and transformation. These subthemes were further categorized into 2 themes: resilience and reward. The results may inform the development of interventions in the promotion and sustenance of well-being of palliative care providers.
    Matched MeSH terms: Reward
  6. Soe HHK, Than NN, Lwin H, Phyu KL, Htay MNN, Moe S, et al.
    J Family Med Prim Care, 2018 9 21;7(4):756-761.
    PMID: 30234049 DOI: 10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_300_17
    Background: Disease surveillance is one of the major components to combat against infectious diseases. As health-care professionals are indispensable to mandatory notifiable disease surveillance, their knowledge and attitudes toward infectious disease notification played an important role for timely and effective reporting to the surveillance system. Therefore, we aimed to determine the knowledge of mandatory notifiable infectious diseases in Malaysia and attitude towards infectious disease reporting among final year medical students.

    Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted from May to June 2017 in the private medical college in Malaysia.

    Materials and Methods: We purposively selected the final year (semester 10) medical students and a total of 124 students participated in this study. We collected data using a self-administered, structured questionnaire. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, independent t-test, and one-way analysis of variance.

    Results: Among the final year medical students, 47.5% had moderate knowledge but 4.2% had good knowledge of mandatory infectious disease notification. Only 3.2% of the students correctly answered all the notifiable diseases listed in the questionnaire. Most of the students had positive attitude toward communicable diseases reporting, rewards, and penalty for notification. There was no significant relationship between sociodemographic characteristics and knowledge and attitude of infectious disease notification.

    Conclusions: The majority of the final year medical students had moderate level of knowledge and positive attitude of infectious disease notification; however, there were some deficiencies. Better instruction and training on infectious disease notification procedures of Malaysia should be provided to the final year medical students which could not only reduce underreporting but also improve timely and effective reporting in future.

    Matched MeSH terms: Reward
  7. Sirageldin, Abubakr, Baharum Baharudin, Low, Tang Jung
    MyJurnal
    Developing a trust management scheme in mobile computing environment is increasingly important,
    and the effective trust management model is a challenging task. Business, education, military, and
    entertainment have motivated the growth of ubiquitous and pervasive computing environments, which are always available due to the widespread of portable and embedded devices. Wireless and mobile computing are good example of ubiquitous and pervasive computing environments. Due to the uncertainty and mobility in such environments, the issue of trust has been regarded as an important security problem. Malicious nodes are a major threat to these networks; the trust system can monitor the behaviour of nodes and accordingly rewards well-behaved nodes and punishes misbehaving ones. At present, there are a lot of endeavours on the trust model of the pervasive computing environment. In this paper, a trust management framework for mobile computing is presented. The hybrid framework is based on a fusion of the support vector machine (SVM) and fuzzy logic system. From the results, it can be stated that the framework is effective, dynamic, lightweight, and applicable.
    Matched MeSH terms: Reward
  8. Singh R, Bansal Y, Parhar I, Kuhad A, Soga T
    Neurochem Int, 2019 12;131:104545.
    PMID: 31494132 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuint.2019.104545
    Neuropsychiatric disorders (NPDs) exert a devastating impact on an individual's personal and social well-being, encompassing various conditions and brain anomalies that influence affect, cognition, and behavior. Because the pathophysiology of NPDs is multifactorial, the precise mechanisms underlying the development of such disorders remain unclear, representing a unique challenge in current neuropsychopharmacotherapy. Transient receptor potential vanilloid (TRPV) type channels are a family of ligand-gated ion channels that mainly include sensory receptors that respond to thermal, mechanical and chemical stimuli. TRPV channels are abundantly present in dopaminergic neurons, thus playing a pivotal role in the modulation of the reward system and in pathophysiology of diseases such as stress, anxiety, depression, schizophrenia, neurodegenerative disorders and substance abuse/addiction. Recent evidence has highlighted TRPV channels as potential targets for understanding modulation of the reward system and various forms of addiction (opioids, cocaine, amphetamines, alcohol, nicotine, cannabis). In this review, we discuss the distribution, physiological roles, ligands and therapeutic importance of TRPV channels with regard to NPDs and addiction biology.
    Matched MeSH terms: Reward
  9. Shekhawat KS, Chauhan A
    Indian J Dent Res, 2019 3 23;30(1):125-126.
    PMID: 30900670 DOI: 10.4103/ijdr.IJDR_27_17
    Counting citations have been the usual norm to determine the impact of any research and/or scholar. However, with majority of the scholarly activities happening on the World Wide Web, traditional counting of citations is now being termed "slower." The recent explosion of online data storage for many articles may serve as a pool which uses social media sites to navigate. Altmetrics has been proposed as the new entity which aims to change the focus of the scholarly reward system to value and encourage web-native scholarship. This paper makes an attempt to understand altmetrics.
    Matched MeSH terms: Reward
  10. Sharifat H, Suppiah S
    Med J Malaysia, 2021 05;76(3):401-413.
    PMID: 34031341
    INTRODUCTION: Internet Addiction Disorder (IAD) is an umbrella term for various types of Internet-based behavioural addiction, whereas Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD) addresses a specific type of IAD that is postulated to be due to a lack of control in impulse inhibition. IGD is an area of concern in the Diagnostic and Statistics Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), which can be objectively assessed by dysfunctional behaviour and the increasing time of being online, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Electroencephalography (EEG) identifies amplitude changes in the evoked response potential (ERP) among IGDs, correlated with underlying comorbidities.

    MATERIALS AND METHODS: A scoping review was performed to elaborate on the research regarding resting-state EEG and task-based EEG, particularly for Go/No-go paradigms pertaining to subjects with IAD or specifically IGD. The role of EEG was identified in its diagnostic capability to identify the salient changes that occurred in the response to reward network and the executive control network, using restingstate and task-based EEG. The implication of using EEG in monitoring the therapy for IAD and IGD was also reviewed.

    RESULTS: EEG generally revealed reduced beta waves and increased theta waves in addicts. IGD with depression demonstrated increased theta and decreased alpha waves. Whereas increased P300, a late cognitive ERP component, was frequently associated with impaired excessive allocation of attentional resources of the IAD towards addiction-specific cues. IGD had increased whole brain delta waves at baseline, which showed significant reduction post therapy.

    CONCLUSION: EEG can identify distinct neurophysiological changes among Internet Addiction Disorder and Internet Gaming Disorder that are akin to substance abuse disorders.

    Matched MeSH terms: Reward*
  11. Sharifa Ezat, A., Aljunid, S.M.
    MyJurnal
    A cross·sectional study was done to determine the capacity of Public Health Inspectors in Selangor using a seh administered questionnaire and universal sampling, to determine the enforcement of public health legislation and its influencing factors. A total of 99 respondents from the District Health Offices and 100 respondents from the Local Health Departments participated. The level of enforcement is generally low in all the units except for the Food Unit and Sanitary and Hygiene Units. Factors influencing enforcement of Public Health Legislations are the unit where the respondents worlc and the length of service with the unit. Further analysis using multiple logistic regression, found that respondents from the Food Unit (OR ZZ; 95% C1: 7 .9-58.9 ) , being in the
    U8 category (OR 5; 95% C1: l.4» 17.6), service offour years and above in the same unit (OR 6; 95% C1: 2.2»13.8) , received service rewards (OR 3; 95% C1 : 1.2· 6.9); low exposure to bribery (OR 46; 95% C1: 2.3·100.0) and offered bribes while on the field (OR 3; 95% C1: 1.02» 4.8) have higher kvel enforcement performance. Attention must be given to the enforcement organization with respect to duration of service, service awards and monitoring of bribes exposure to help develop the enforcement of public health legislations.
    Matched MeSH terms: Reward
  12. Shaiful Ehsan Shalihin, Mohd Aznan MA, Mohamad Haniki NM
    MyJurnal
    Number of active smokers in Malaysia is increasing despite availability of stop smoking clinics and smoking cessation medications. Thus, the practice of the healthcare professionals involved in providing smoking cessation intervention using evidence-based guidelines needs to be assessed using validated assessment tool. Newly invented reliable and valid questionnaire locally is needed. This study aimed to develop and validate a newly modified questionnaire to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice of medical doctors based on national smoking cessation guidelines and factors contributing to the score. The 22 items consists of true/false questions and Likert scaling response based on domain of 5A’s (ask, assess, advice, assist, arrange) and 5R’s (relevant, risks, rewards, roadblocks, repetitions) of the national stop-smoking guideline. Sample size is calculated based on five respondents to one item ratio. The questionnaires were distributed to 131 primary care doctors. Reliability was determined using Cronbach’s alpha for internal consistency while construct validity was assessed using factor analysis. A high degree of internal consistency was observed (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.87), with good knowledge subscale (0.72), attitude subscale (0.58) and practice subscale (0.92). Factor analysis showed three meaningful finalized components (knowledge, attitude and practice) which represent the smoking cessation framework. This study indicates that this revised questionnaire is more reliable and valid tool to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice on stop smoking guidelines compared to previous questionnaire.
    Matched MeSH terms: Reward
  13. Salim MA, van der Veen FM, van Dongen JD, Franken IH
    Biol Psychol, 2015 Sep;110:50-8.
    PMID: 26188154 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2015.07.001
    Psychopathy has been associated with behavioral adaptation deficits, which might be associated with problems in feedback and reward processing. In the present study, we examined the relation between psychopathic traits and reward processing in a passive gambling task. A total of 39 male participants who scored high (HP) and 39 male participants who scored low (LP) on the Triarchic Psychopathy Measure (TriPM), total score were tested. Feedback-related Event-Related Potentials (ERPs; i.e., P2, FRN, and P3) on predicted and unpredicted rewards and reward omissions were compared between both groups. It was found that in HP individuals, the P2 was enhanced for predicted rewards and reward omissions, but not for unpredicted stimuli. Moreover, HP individuals as compared to the LP individuals demonstrated a generally reduced P3 amplitude. The FRN amplitude, however, did not differ between the two groups. In addition, HP individuals showed enhanced reward sensitivity on the self-report level. Taken together, these findings suggest that HP individuals show enhanced sensitivity to early and reduced sensitivity to later markers of processing reinforcement learning signals, which points in the direction of compromised behavioral adaptation.
    Matched MeSH terms: Reward*
  14. Sakai S, Inoue T
    Am J Bot, 1999 Jan;86(1):56-61.
    PMID: 21680345
    Lowiaceae, a family of the Zingiberales, comprise 11 species in the single genus Orchidantha. Here we present the first report on the pollination of Lowiaceae and describe a new system of dung-beetle pollination from Sarawak, Borneo. Orchidantha inouei has a zygomorphic flower located just above the ground. Observations revealed that the plant is visited frequently and is pollinated by scarabaeid dung beetles, mainly members of the genus Onthophagus. All four species of Onthophagus collected on O. inouei have also been caught using traps baited with dung or carrion in Borneo. Onthophagus was presumably attracted to the dung-like odor of the flower. Pollination of O. inouei is different from other examples of beetle pollination in that its flower provides neither reward nor protected space. Dung beetles are excellent at following a particular dung scent. Orchidantha is the only genus that includes species lacking floral nectar. It is interesting that this deception pollination using dung beetles was found in Zingiberales, in which all known species have mutual and specialized relationships with their long-distance, but costly, pollinators-bees, birds, and bats.
    Matched MeSH terms: Reward
  15. Sakai S, Momose K, Yumoto T, Kato M, Inoue T
    Am J Bot, 1999 Jan;86(1):62-9.
    PMID: 21680346
    Pollination ecology of an emergent tree species, Shorea (section Mutica) parvifolia (Dipterocarpaceae), was studied using the canopy observation system in a lowland dipterocarp forest in Sarawak, Malaysia, during a general flowering period in 1996. Although the species has been reported to be pollinated by thrips in Peninsular Malaysia, our observations of flower visitors and pollination experiments indicated that beetles (Chrysomelidae and Curculionidae, Coleoptera) contributed to pollination of S. parvifolia in Sarawak. Beetles accounted for 74% of the flower visitors collected by net-sweeping, and 30% of the beetles carried pollen, while thrips accounted for 16% of the visitors, and 12% of the thrips carried pollen. The apical parts of the petals and pollen served as a reward for the beetles. Thrips stayed inside the flower almost continuously after arrival, and movements among flowers were rare. Fruit set was significantly increased by introduction of beetles to bagged flowers, but not by introduction of thrips. Hand-pollination experiments and comparison of fruit set in untreated, bagged, and open flowers suggested that S. parvifolia was mainly outbreeding.
    Matched MeSH terms: Reward
  16. Sahak MK, Mohamed AM, Hashim NH, Hasan Adli DS
    PMID: 24454487 DOI: 10.1155/2013/180598
    Nigella sativa, an established historical and religion-based remedy for a wide range of health problems, is a herbal medicine known to have antioxidant and neuroprotective effects. This present study investigated the effect of Nigella sativa oil (NSO) administration on the spatial memory performance (SMP) of male adult rats using eight-arm radial arm maze (RAM). Twelve Sprague Dawley rats (7-9 weeks old) were force-fed daily with 6.0  μ L/100 g body weight of Nigella sativa oil (NSO group; n = 6) or 0.1 mL/100 g body weight of corn oil (control) (CO group; n = 6) for a period of 20 consecutive weeks. For each weekly evaluation of SMP, one day food-deprived rats were tested by allowing each of them 3 minutes to explore the RAM for food as their rewards. Similar to the control group, the SMP of the treated group was not hindered, as indicated by the establishment of the reference and working memory components of the spatial memory. The results demonstrated that lesser mean numbers of error were observed for the NSO-treated group in both parameters as compared to the CO-treated group. NSO could therefore enhance the learning and memory abilities of the rats; there was a significant decrease in the overall mean number of working memory error (WME) in the NSO-treated group.
    Matched MeSH terms: Reward
  17. Rakhshani F, Moghaddam AA, Shahraki-Sanavi F, Mohammadi M, Fakhrerahimi S
    Malays J Med Sci, 2018 Mar;25(2):82-94.
    PMID: 30918458 DOI: 10.21315/mjms2018.25.2.9
    Background: This study was carried out on Iranian female adolescents to understand health needs for the purpose of designing health promoting intervention in schools.

    Methods: In this exploratory qualitative study, two focus group discussion (15 teachers) and 30 individual in-depth interviews were conducted among female adolescents in the eighth grade in Zahedan, Iran. Qualitative content analysis was used for data evaluation.

    Results: The views of students and teachers demonstrated nine of needs including: informing students about the schools' health project aims, education and training all dimensions of health with an emphasis on mental health, use of experts in various fields for education from other organisations, employing capable and trusted counselors in schools, utilisation of a variety of teaching methods, activating reward systems for encouraging students' participation in group activities, teaching communication and the ability to establish good relationships with parents and strategies for resolving family conflict, teaching parents and students high-risk behaviours and strategies for handling them as well as reforming wrong attitudes and indigenous sub-culture.

    Conclusion: This study found the different needs of Iranian female students compared to other cultures about a health promoting school programme. Therefore, their contribution can provide an insight for formulating policies and intervention in schools.

    Matched MeSH terms: Reward
  18. Rakesh, S., Hazli, Z., Ahmad Nabil, M.R.
    MyJurnal
    Objective: Individuals with ADHD are known to have more risk of developing substance use disorder (SUD). However the underlying mechanisms behind it are not straightforward. Method: We report a case of an adult with ADHD, who has a long standing history of polysubstance use, since the age of 10. He had multiple relapses, even after numerous efforts undertaken to keep him drug-free. Result: ADHD symptoms were not optimally treated during admission. He had preference towards opioid-based and amphetamine-type substances in order to attain euphoria. Conclusion: Taking into account the biological and psycho-social condition of this man, we discussed the role of ADHD from the perspective of dysfunctional rewards system and other possible factors in explaining his drug-craving behavior.
    Matched MeSH terms: Reward
  19. Othman, M., Boo, H.C., Wan Rusni, W.I.
    MyJurnal
    The role of adolescents in family decision making related to food consumption in Malaysia has received comparatively little or no attention by researchers although there were evidences of differences in influences found in other countries. This study addressed the research gap by testing adolescents’ bilateral strategies in influencing their family decision using family power theory. A survey of 500 adolescents from urban area was conducted to investigate their influence based on their involvement in family consumer tasks. Key findings include strong relationship between perception of influence and rewards thus indicate the existence of strategies in adolescents influence attempt.
    Matched MeSH terms: Reward
  20. Oleksandr Krasilshchikov
    MyJurnal
    Sports coaching and especially high performance coaching has long existed in some sort of duality. On one hand, sport coaching has been regarded by many as a prestigious and rewarding job, whereas on the other, sport coaching still lacks a reputation as a career opportunity mostly due to the fact that coaching is yet to receive its full professional recognition in the society. Given the vast variety of coaching qualifications, coaching roles and coaching occupations available within sport infrastructure in the society, the situation has got progressively complicated with the recognition of coaching qualifications. In addition, the growing popularity of high performance and participation sports in the society started drawing more attention from the public to the issues of coach education, competence and qualifications. Malaysian scenario on the issue is quite complicated as well, and growing demand to uplift the country’s performance in SEA, Asian, Commonwealth and Olympic Games requires interference from the higher education institutions and NGOs.
    Matched MeSH terms: Reward
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