Road accident is not stranger matter in Malaysia. Subsequently, often leads to a claim for personal injury by the persecuted party. In Malaysia, the method for calculating claims applies a multiplier-multiplicand approach. This approach is no longer relevant and unfair to the claimant as it excludes personal status in the quantum calculation of damages. Hence, this study uses the Ogden Table as introduced in the United Kingdom as benchmarking guidelines, by taking into account of all aspect of claimant's personal condition for the purpose of such calculation. This study is built upon a proposed framework of data modelling system known as Entity Relationship Diagram (ERD) and the created process modelling known as data flow diagram (DFD). Doing so, the claimants will insert their input data, run it through the first process, and store the information in the claim injury part database. They can also edit and store to claim injury part database on their own. This will generate a report with the information in claim injury part database and can be viewed by claimant, court and lawyer as target users. It is hoped that it will facilitate the calculation of injury claim which would serve justice and accuracy of personal injury in road accidents
Introduction: Sudden cardiac death is the most common medical cause of death in athletes.
The aim of this study was to identify the electrocardiogram (ECG) pattern changes and its
association with echocardiography among Malaysian footballers during a pre-participation
evaluation (PPE). Methods: A retrospective study was conducted on footballers attending a
PPE at a primary care centre. Secondary data collection was conducted and the proforma
included clinical history, physical examination, ECG, Echocardiogram and cardiovascular risk
factors assessment such as heart rate, blood pressure, lipid profile, fasting blood sugar and
creatinine. Data were extracted from the medical records, echocardiogram report and the
original ECG. The ECG patterns were analysed according to the International consensus for
ECG interpretation in athletes to determine physiological versus pathological changes. The
data was analysed using SPSS v24. Results: This study included 85 male Malaysian
footballers with a mean age of 20.1 ± 3.0 years. The mean resting heart rate was 55.2 ± 9.3
beats per minute. Abnormal ECG changes were found in 20% of the participants, which were
higher compared to that reported in other studies (14% – 17.3%). The normal ECG findings in
athletes were sinus bradycardia (76.5%), J-point elevation (68.2%), prolonged PR interval
(3.5%) and incomplete right bundle branch block (4.7%). The abnormal ECG changes were
multiple T wave inversions (5.9%), hypertrophy (2.4%), and deep Q-waves (8.2%). Four
abnormal ECGs were consistent with abnormal echocardiography findings and out of these,
two ECGs with hypertrophic changes were consistent with mild inter atrial septal bulging and
apical hypertrophy. Conclusions: Malaysian footballers have ECG changes that are
consistent with physiological changes in athlete’s heart. The positive association between ECG
and Echocardiogram findings are useful in confirming pathological ECG changes. Physicians
should be trained in PPE protocol and ECG interpretation in athletes in order to improve
identification of those at risk of sudden cardiac death.
Friendship is a topic that should be emphasized and studied, and it can be positive or negative. There are many forms of friendship that can be termed, but it may also differ from one's perspective and certain characteristics of a person. The value of friendship is very important to study in order to know the level of our friendships. In college student development, peer influence can also influence student engagement in engaging in their college activities. It can be seen in terms of involvement in sports activities, curriculum activities and more. The main purpose of this study was to develop of Friendship instrument in chemistry and engagement of SQS UUM students and find the relationships between genders with chemistry and engagement. Using Factor Analysis in order to develop valid and reliable of the friendship Instrument based on chemistry and engagement. In order to study the validity of the data, face validity was used before the instrument was distributed in which the pilot study was conducted. To determine which factor is best, the analysis uses varimax rotation and selects which component is best and meets the criteria. Normality test was used to find the data was normal or nonnormal. Spearman Correlation and Chi Square Test method used in the non-normal data to find the relationship of selected variables.
Macaranga tanarius distribution has been identified in a study conducted by almost all states in Peninsular Malaysia. Assessment on the distribution of M. tanarius was based on the records available and type specimens housed in three different herbarium namely the Kepong Herbarium (KEP) in Forest Research Institute Malaysia, the herbarium in the Faculty of Forestry in Universiti Putra Malaysia and the Herbarium Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. While field surveys were carried out from July 2012 until October 2013. There are 128 specimens were assessed from the three herbaria which made in the year of 1925 to 2005. Field surveys showed that M. tanarius can be found from the state of Perlis in the north, to the state of Johor in the south. From the observation, M. tanarius is a commonly found species along the highways and the road sides, whether as single individuals or as mono-stands. It can be seen growing together with other pioneer species of shrubs or trees. The study also shows the growing pioneer species in disturbed habitats and the creation of new space to meet before the displacement process other quality species grows in the forest opening. This study is first surveys involving M.tanarius species including the entire state in peninsular Malaysia. It is intended for the collection and distribution -related service information management for the study of phenology of collecting seeds to be planting material.
Introduction: Total calcium concentration is widely used to assess body calcium status although limited by many
confounding factors. Thus, this study aimed to derive and internally validate an albumin-adjusted calcium equation
for a selected Malaysian population. Method: This cross-sectional study involved 1011 adults at an emergency
department of a tertiary hospital. Patients who had total calcium, ionised calcium and albumin measurements
taken simultaneously were included. Derivation of the albumin-adjusted calcium equation was based on the
adjustment equation obtained from the Association for Clinical Biochemistry and Laboratory Medicine 2015
position paper. Additionally, the equation was internally validated and compared with ionised calcium
(gold standard) and the conventional Payne’s equation. Results: The newly derived equation =
total calcium + 0.017 (41.35 – albumin). Internal validation exhibited the amount of shrinkage of 0.049.
It tends to overestimate the adjusted calcium by a mean difference of 0.029 mmol/L compared to Payne’s equation.
The comparison between Payne’s equation and the new equation with ionised calcium reclassified
402 and 486 patients, respectively into different calcium status. When both equations were compared,
calcium status classification significantly differed in all and hypoalbuminaemic subjects by 90 and 16 patients,
respectively. Conclusion: Locally derived albumin-adjusted calcium equation differed statistically in calcium
status classification when compared to the Payne’s equation. However, to confirm this significance, the
result must be compared to ionised calcium under strict, controlled preanalytical conditions. In terms of clinical
significance, there was no difference in classification of calcium status between Payne’s and the new equation at
medical decision limits
The activities of lipase produced by five lipases-producing thermophilic bacteria strains (SY1, SY5, SY6, SY7 and SY9) isolated from Selayang Hot Spring in the western part of Peninsular Malaysia were analyzed and compared. SY7 and SY9 had considerably higher lipolytic activities than those of SY1, SY5 and SY6. Thermostabilities of lipase produced by all strains were determined after heating at 80°C for 30 minutes. Strain SY7 retained the highest lipolytic activity of 77%, while others had infinitesimally low thermostability (retaining less than 34% of their original activity) at the same temperature and time. SY7 was chosen for further characterization because it showed exceptionally high lipase activity and thermostability. It was identified as belonging to Bacillus species by the conventional Gram-staining technique, Biochemical tests and Biolog Microstation system. By using 16S rRNA gene sequencing, strain SY7 generated the same expected PCR product with molecular weight of 1500 base pair. It displayed 98% sequence similarity to Bacillus cereus strain J-1 16S rRNA gene partial sequence with accession number: AY305275 and has been deposited in the database of Genbank.
Suatu kajian mengenai pemencilan dan pengenalpastian mikroflora bakteria dari kolam air panas telah dilakukan di kolam air panas Bentong, Pahang. Kebanyakan bakteria yang dipencil dari kolam air panas adalah dari Bacillus sp. kerana ia mempunyai ciri adaptasi yang membolehkannya hidup di kawasan suhu yang tinggi dengan pembentukan endospora. Objektif kajian adalah untuk mengenal pasti spesies bakteria selain daripada spesies Bacillus sp. yang boleh dipencilkan dari kolam air panas. Tiga buah kolam air panas (A, B dan C) dikenal pasti dengan julat suhunya antara 36°C-52°C dan nilai pH antara 7.88-8.65. Kajian ini telah berjaya memencilkan dua pencilan bakteria kokus Gram positif dan tiga spesies basilus Gram negatif. Spesies Gram positif tersebut adalah dari genus Streptococcus dan Staphylococcus, manakala bagi Gram negatif pula terdapat masalah dalam pengenalpastian dan hanya dikenali sebagai X, XI and XII.
Accepted 07 August 2011.
Introduction Chronic kidney disease (CKD) has emerged as a major medical illness that drew the attention of the community. This research focused on the prevalence of five contributing factors to the progression of CKD, namely blood pressure control, glycaemic control, lipid control, smoking and alcohol intake, and explored significant association between these variables. This was a crosssectional study that examined the progression of CKD based on the worsening of CKD stages.
Methods This study was conducted among CKD patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus who attended Nephorology Clinic, UKMMC from April to May 2011. The progression of CKD was observed for 3 consecutive visits with 3 months intervals between the visits. Information regarding demographic data and social history were obtained through face-to-face interview, followed by case note review of the blood results. Data collected was analysed using SPSS version 19.0.
Results A total of 201 respondents were investigated, which included 39.3% (n=79) female and 60.7% (n=122) male. The mean age for the respondents was 66.9 years old (±SD 9.00). Among the respondents, 71.5% had poor glycaemic control; 59.7% had poor blood pressure control; 65.2% had poor lipid control; 19.9% smoked and 3.5% consumed alcohol. There was poor correlation, there were statistically significant association between systolic blood pressure control with the glomerular filtration rate (GFR) (p=0.001; r=-0.229). From this research, high systolic blood pressure was associated with low GFR, which indicated poor kidney function and resulted in progression of CKD.
Conclusions This study has clearly demonstrated that the control of blood pressure was essential in delaying the progression of CKD.
Recurrent respiratory papillomatosis (RRP) is a rare cause of childhood stridor which typically presents before the age of five years and results from the vertical transmission of the human papilloma virus. Genotypes 11 and 6 are commonly implicated in RRP. Following vertical transmission, the human papilloma virus (HPV) causes overgrowth of the airway epithelium which causes partial airway obstruction and the symptoms of stridor. The mainstay management is surgical debridement of the papillomata but the recurrence rate subsequent to surgery is high, such that most children will require repeated surgical procedures at regular interval. Medical adjuvant therapy can be used, but data is limited and the medications are used on an off-label basis. This case highlights the ethical considerations that need to be made when using off-label medications in paediatric patients.
Betulinic acid (BA) is a pentacyclic triterpene found in several botanical sources that has been shown to cause apoptosis in a number of cell lines. This study was undertaken to determine the in vitro cytotoxic properties of BA towards the human mammary carcinoma cell line MDA-MB-231 and the human promyelocytic leukaemia cell line HL-60 and the mode of the induced cell death. The cytotoxicity and mode of cell death of BA were determined using the MTT assay and DNA fragmentation analysis, respectively. In our study, the compound was found to be cytotoxic to MDA-MB-231 and HL-60 cells with IC50 values of 58 μg/mL and 134 μg/mL, respectively. Cells treated with high concentrations of BA exhibited features characteristic of apoptosis such as blebbing, shrinking and a number of small cytoplasm body masses when viewed under an inverted light microscope after 24h. The incidence of apoptosis in MDA-MB-231 was further confirmed by the DNA fragmentation analysis, with the formation of DNA fragments of oligonucleosomal size (180-200 base pairs), giving a ladder-like pattern on agarose gel electrophoresis. BA was more cytotoxic towards MDA-MB-231 than HL-60 cells, and induced apoptosis in MDA-MB-231 cells.
Kajian ini dilakukan untuk menentukan prevalens jangkitan vaginosis bakteria di kalangan wanita yang berumur 20 hingga 59 tahun di Hospital Umum Sarawak, Malaysia melalui pemeriksaan ke atas lumuran Pap lazim. Prevalens jangkitan ini dikaji di kalangan lima kumpulan etnik yang utama iaitu kaum Iban, Cina, Melayu, Bidayuh dan kaum Orang Ulu. Penyaringan mikroskopi dijalankan ke atas 300 sampel slaid yang telah diproses dan dicelup menggunakan pencelup Papanicolaou. Berdasarkan kepada maklumat pada borang permohonan penyaringan lumuran Pap, tanda dan gejala jangkitan diambil kira sebagai petunjuk penting semasa penyaringan kerana melalui tanda dan gejala jangkitan, lumuran Pap mempunyai hubungan yang rapat dengan ciri gambaran sitomorfologi jangkitan yang berlaku ke atas sel–sel epitelium sekiranya ia mengalami jangkitan. Kategori umur untuk setiap golongan etnik juga dijadikan sebagai salah satu faktor pengukur bagi menilai tahap kekerapan jangkitan. Hasil kajian menunjukkan jangkitan vaginosis bakteria mencatatkan sebanyak 79.7% (239/300 kes). Jangkitan berlaku pada kesemua kumpulan etnik dan jangkitan lebih kerap ditemui pada golongan umur 20 tahun hingga 39 tahun. Majoriti kes (93.3%) menunjukkan tanda dan gejala jangkitan. Hasil kajian ini menunjukkan kepentingan menjalani ujian lumuran Pap sebagai ujian mengesan jangkitan vaginosis bakteria selain saringan awal pengesanan kanser serviks.
This study investigated the functional specialisation characteristics of brain in multiple right-hand dominant subjects pertaining to the activation of the cerebral motor cortices evoked by unilateral finger tapping, especially in primary motor (M1) and supplementary motor (SMA) areas. This multiple-subject study used unilateral (UNIright and UNIleft) selfpaced tapping of hand fingers to activate the M1 and SMA. Brain activation characteristics were analysed using statistical parametric mapping (SPM). Activation for UNIright and UNIleft showed the involvement of contralateral and ipsilateral M1 and SMA. A larger activation area but with a lower percentage of signal change (PSC) were observed in the left M1 due to the control on UNIright (4164 voxels at a = 0.001, PSC = 1.650) as compared to the right M1 due to the control on UNIleft (2012 voxels at a = 0.001, PSC = 2.377). This is due to the influence of the tapping rate effects which is greater than what could be produced by the average effects of the dominant and sub-dominant hands. The significantly higher PSC value observed in the right M1 (p < 0.05) is due to a higher control demand used by the brain in coordinating the tapping of the sub-dominant fingers. The findings obtained from this study showed strong evidence of the existence of brain functional specialisation and could be used as baseline references in determining the most probable motor pathways in a sample of subjects.
The aims of this study are to identify and characterize the Haemoglobin G Makassar. Haemoglobin G Makassar was identified in Makassar, Sulawesi (Celebes), Indonesia in 1969 and has been reported in a family of Thai origin in 2002. Haemoglobin G Makassar was found to share identical properties with haemoglobin S in routine haemoglobin separation by cation-exchange HPLC. It is therefore, patients with Haemoglobin G Makassar and Haemoglobin S may sometimes be mistakenly identified for each other.
There were four cases identified from year 2015 to 2016 in Peninsular Malaysia by Molecular Genetics Laboratory, Institute for Medical Research. All patients were asymptomatic with mild hypochromic microcytic anaemia. All patients were analysis with Haemoglobin S trait. Analysis by Capillary Electrophoresis showed that these patients had 39.9 to 44.0% of haemoglobin variant in zone S. Alpha and Beta globin gene analysis were performed on these samples.
DNA sequence analysis, revealed a single nucleotide substitution GAG to GCG at codon 6 of the beta-globin gene (Glu>Ala), indicating of Haemoglobin G Makassar for all the patients (Fig. 1). All patients were positive with Haemoglobin S trait. Multiple Amplification Refractory Mutation System (MARMS) PCR for Haemoglobin S was negative in all cases. However alpha-globin gene analysis showed that two of them had single alpha deletion (α3.7). The mean reading for HGB is 11.95 g/dL, for MCV is 72.1 fL and for MCH is 23.65 pg which all are lower than normal peoples.
The screening method may mistakenly identify Haemoglobin G Makassar as Haemoglobin S. Therefore identification and characterization of Haemoglobin G Makassar by several molecular methods such as polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and sequence analysis are necessary for confirmation of the diagnosis.
Medical radioisotope is a small quantity of radioactive substance used for the purpose of diagnostic and therapy of various diseases. In Malaysia, the emerging of new nuclear medicine centers or institutions in both government and private sectors rose abruptly for the past few years. Currently, there are no data available on the usage and demand of these medical radioisotope or radiopharmaceuticals. The aim of this study is to assess current medical radioisotopes and radiopharmaceuticals usage and also to provide data on current medical radioisotope and radiopharmaceuticals demand for both private and government hospitals or institutions in Malaysia. A survey for a period of 3 months was conducted across Malaysia. The survey was divided into five (5) main parts and it was distributed among healthcare professionalsinvolved working with medical radioisotope and radiopharmaceuticals in private, government and university based hospitals or institutions and was distributed manually either by hand, mail ore-mail.Data is presented in either pie chart or bar chart. Survey results found out that the highest demand and the highest usage among all radioisotopes are Technetium-99m and radioiodine isotopes such as the iodine-131, iodine-131 MIBG, iodine-123 and iodine-123 MIBG. Technetium-99m is the backbone of nuclear medicine whereby more than 80% of Nuclear Medicine services utilize this radioisotope. Technetium-99m supply chain is unstable globally and in coming future, two main reactors that produce 60% of world Molybdenum-99 will shut down and the supply of molybdenum-99 will be disrupted. In radioiodine services, currently, Iodine-123 can’t be obtained in Malaysia and neighboring countries due to its short half-life. Iodine-123 is useful in diagnostic of thyroid related diseases. As for PET services, the highest demands are F-18 FDG and gallium-68 Generator. It is important for Malaysia to self-produced medical radioisotope and radiopharmaceuticals to meet the local market demand.
The incidence of neonatal jaundice among aborigines is increasing with the morbidity and mortality among this group are
well recognized. This study aimed to assess the knowledge and attitude status on neonatal jaundice among Orang Asli in
Sepang, Selangor. Cross-sectional study was conducted within two weeks in Kampung Orang Asli in Sg. Pelek, Sepang,
Selangor. A simple random sample of adults aged 18 years and above was selected. Data were collected by an interviewed
structured questionnaire. Overall, out of 152 residents, 67% were aware about neonatal jaundice. Majority of them were
female (72%), married (78.4%) and respondents who have children (86%). Among those who were aware, almost 68%
have good knowledge, in which 70% recognized jaundice by yellow discoloration on the body. High pitched crying (12.7%)
and not feeding (10.8%) were among symptoms they knew. Almost 50% of the respondents believed neonatal jaundice
may cause mental retardation. As for management of neonatal jaundice at home, majority of them (47%) will expose
the baby under the sun, 7.8% will take herbal medication whereas 2% will continue with breast feeding. Almost eighty
percent of the respondents will send their jaundiced baby to the hospital immediately, whereas 23% prefer management
by nurse at home. Although majority of respondents in Kg. Orang Asli Sg. Pelek have good knowledge & good attitude
on neonatal jaundice, some mothers are still likely to resort to self-treatment with potentially harmful therapies.
Imaging modality has become increasingly important in hospital setting especially in cases of unknown site of infection/pyrexia of unknown origin (PUO) and osteomyelitis (OM). In recent years, nuclear imaging has been used and is known to deliver prompt and precise diagnoses of numerous infectious diseases. The purpose of the study is to detect and localise the site of infection using Tc99m-besilesomab and to assess the added contributions of single photon emission computed tomography/computed tomography (SPECT/CT) over planar scan in patients with PUO and OM. Methods: Tc99m-besilesomab with SPECT/CT were prospectively performed in 23 patients (eight males, 15 females) with suspected infection. True findings were diagnosed by both cold and hot spot in the scan with reference to positive blood or tissue cultures, or other additional imaging. Results: Tc99m-besilesomab managed to detect presence of infection with high sensitivity of 87.5% and specificity of 71.4%. Interobserver variability agreement that was obtained between the presence of infection and the ability of Tc99m-besilesomab imaging to detect it was significant (p
Kajian ke atas sifat kehubungan efektif dalam korteks auditori dilakukan ke atas lima orang subjek Melayu lelaki sihat berumur antara 20 hingga 40 tahun menggunakan pengimejan resonans magnet kefungsian (fMRI), pemetaan statistik berparameter (SPM5) dan pemodelan dinamik penyebab (DCM). Paradigma pengimejan senyap digunakan untuk mengurangkan artifak bunyi pengimbas di atas imej kefungsian. Subjek dikehendaki menumpukan perhatian kepada stimulus hingar putih yang diperdengarkan secara binaural pada keamatan 70 dB lebih tinggi daripada aras pendengaran manusia normal. Pengkhususan kefungsian dikaji menggunakan perisian SPM5 yang berasaskan Matlab melalui analisis kesan malar (FFX), kesan rawak (RFX) dan konjunksi. Analisis individu ke atas semua subjek menunjukkan pengaktifan bilateral yang tidak simetri di antara korteks auditori kanan dan kiri pada kawasan Brodmann (BA)22, 41 dan 42 melibatkan korteks auditori primer dan sekunder. Tiga kawasan auditori di korteks auditori kanan dan kiri tersebut dipilih untuk penentuan kehubungan efektif melalui pembentukan sembilan model rangkaian. Kehubungan efektif ditentukan ke atas empat daripada lima subjek dengan mengecualikan seorang subjek yang mempunyai koordinat BA22 yang terletak terlalu jauh daripada koordinat BA22 yang diperoleh daripada analisis kumpulan. Keputusan DCM menunjukkan kewujudan kehubungan efektif di antara ketiga-tiga kawasan auditori yang dipilih di kedua-dua korteks auditori. Pada korteks auditori kanan, BA42 dikenalpasti sebagai pusat masukan dengan kehubungan efektif satu arah selari BA42 → BA41 dan BA42 → BA22. Walau bagaimanapun, untuk korteks auditori kiri, pusat masukan adalah BA41 dengan kehubungan efektif satu arah selari BA41→BA42 dan BA41→BA22. Kehubungan di antara kawasan auditori yang mengalami pengaktifan mencadangkan kewujudan lintasan isyarat dalam korteks auditori walaupun semasa subjek mendengar bunyi hingar.
Delta 6-asid lemak desaturase dan delta 12-asid lemak desaturase merupakan enzim yang diperlukan bagi langkah desaturasi semasa proses biosintesis asid gamma-linolenik (GLA) oleh kulat oleaginus. Objektif kajian ini ialah untuk menganalisis profil pengekspresan gen mengekod enzim delta 6-asid lemak desaturase (des6) dan delta 12-asid lemak desaturase (des12) kulat oleaginus Cunninghamella bainieri semasa penghasilan GLA. Jujukan gen separa bersaiz 1372 pb bagi des6 dan 1008 pb bagi des12 telah dipencil daripada C. bainieri. Analisis pengekspresan gen menggunakan kaedah tindak balas berantai polimerase kuantitatif masa sebenar (RT-qPCR) menunjukkan perubahan kadar pengekspresan des6 adalah lebih tinggi berbanding kadar pengekspresan des12 semasa penghasilan GLA. Pengekspresan des6 adalah tertinggi selepas 24 jam dikultur dalam medium penghasilan GLA. Namun, kadar pengekspresannya menurun hingga jam ke-96 pertumbuhan tetapi meningkat semula pada jam ke-120. Bagi des12, kadar pengekspresannya adalah lebih sekata dengan pengekspresan tertinggi dikesan pada jam ke-120. Analisis penghasilan GLA menunjukkan jumlah GLA dalam sel berkolerasi dengan kadar pengekspresan des6. Hasil kajian mencadangkan bahawa aras pengekspresan des6 adalah penting dalam menentukan aras GLA dalam C. bainieri.
In this study, the asymmetry of the main effects of action, background and tonal frequency during a pitch memory processing
were investigated by means of brain activation. Eighteen participants (mean age 27.6 years) were presented with low and
high frequency tones in quiet and in noise. They listen, discriminate and recognize the target tone against the final tone
in a series of four distracting tones. The main effects were studied using the analysis of variance (ANOVA) with action (to
wring (rubber bulb) vs. not to wring), background (in quiet vs. in noise) and frequency (low vs. high) as the factors (and
levels respectively). The main effect of action is in the right pre-central gyrus (PCG), in conformation with its contralateral
behavior. The main effect of background indicated the bilateral primary auditory cortices (PAC) and is right lateralized,
attributable to white noise. The main effect of frequency is also observed in PAC but bilaterally equal and attributable to
low frequency tones. Despite the argument that the temporo-spectral lateralization dichotomy is not especially rigid as
revealed by the main effect of frequency, right lateralization of PAC for the respective main effect of background clearly
demonstrates its functional asymmetry suggesting different perceptual functionality of the right and left PAC.
High sensitivity signal detection for a sparse temporal sampling (STS) functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is compensated by the increase in the number of scans (Ns) and consequently the scan time. A long scan time would result in fatigue and restlessness in participants, while a short scan time is undesirable for an STS-fMRI due to insufficient Ns for averaging. The purpose of this study was to determine the Ns practically sufficient for a sparse fMRI study. Eighteen participants were presented with white noise during a sparse fMRI scan. The height extent of activation was determined via t statistics and region of interest (ROI) based percentage of signal change (PSC). The t statistics and PSC for Heschl’s gyrus (HG) and superior temporal gyrus (STG) during which the participants listened to the white noise were calculated for different number of scans which were 6, 12, 18, 24, 30 and 36. The t statistics and PSC values calculated for the bilateral HG and STG qualitatively indicated a minimal change over Ns = 12 to 36. Both ROIs showed a consistent common right lateralization of activation for all Ns, indicating the right-hemispheric dominance of auditory cortex in processing white noise stimulus. It was proposed that for a sparse fMRI study, Ns may practically fall between 12 and 36