METHODS: The theoretical framework of this module was founded from the Health Belief Model (HBM). The participants were assessed using 6-item pre- and post-test questionnaires that measured some of the known HBM constructs namely cues to action, perceived severity and perceived benefit. Data was analysed using PASW Statistics 18.0.
RESULTS: The pre- and post-test questionnaires were administered to 88 participants (31 males). In general, there was a significant increase in the total score in post-test (97.34 ± 6.13%) compared to pre-test (92.80 ± 12.83%) (p 85%) at post-test (84.1%) compared to pre-test (70.5%) (p
METHOD: A genre analysis was conducted to identify writing patterns and convention practices of engineering undergraduate students thus a corpus of N = 35 was selected from electrical engineering students in their final year of study. This study adopted Genre Theory as its theoretical framework, Ngowu 1997 analytical framework and BCU approach for analysis procedure. A pilot test was conducted to determine the model that fits the best to describe moves and steps of ELR. Coding scheme was developed and intercoder reliability showed a significance of 0.91 The study benchmarks a move or step to be present in at least 60% of the reports.
RESULTS: The finding shows the introduction consists of one main move which is providing background information of the experiment and followed by four subsequent steps which are reference to research purposes, reference to theoretical knowledge in the field, providing an overview of the study and identification of main research apparatus. The move 1 and all four steps identified above are viewed as obligatory, conventional and optional move and steps in introduction section among undergraduates in academic context. The exemplification of finding shows lack of compliance among undergraduates to produce EELR based on university's guideline in discussing previous literature and underpinning theories, lack of referencing and citation, absence in describing apparatus used and non-sequential moves steps.
CONCLUSION: This study posits the importance of collaboration between English for Academic (EAP) practitioners such as English-writing instructors and discipline specific specialist from engineering field to further improve on genre-based writing instruction, and to identify student learning needs. The method employed in this study may be replicated to analyse other sections of scientific and technical reports such as method, result, discussion and conclusion (MRDC) that may pave ways to address grey areas for improvement in this genre.
MATERIAL AND METHODS: A prospective cohort study "Relative Risk of Determinants of Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes Among Pregnant Mothers Attending Government Health Clinics, Peninsular Malaysia, PEN-MUM" was conducted from March 2022 until March 2023 at 20 government health clinics in Peninsular Malaysia that were randomly selected through a multistage sampling method. Malaysian pregnant mothers between 18 and 49 years old were recruited at 12-18 weeks of gestation and followed up at three time points: 1 (24-28 weeks of gestation), 2 (36-40 weeks of gestation), and 3 (post-delivery). Eight exposure factors of LBW were studied: gestational weight gain, dengue infection, urinary tract infection, COVID-19 infection, gestational hypertension, preeclampsia, maternal anemia, and gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM).
RESULTS: Among 507 participants enrolled in the cohort, 40 were lost to follow-up. A total of 467 were included in the final analysis, giving an attrition rate of 7.9%. The incidence of LBW infants in Peninsular Malaysia was 14.3%. After adjusting for three covariates (ethnicity, employment status, and gestational age at birth), three determinants of LBW were identified. The risk of giving birth to LBW infants was higher among those with inadequate gestational weight gain (aRR = 2.86, 95% CI: 1.12, 7.37, p = 0.03), gestational hypertension (aRR = 4.12; 95% CI: 1.66, 10.43; p = 0.002), and GDM (aRR = 2.21; 95% CI: 1.18, 4.14; p = 0.013) during the second and third trimesters.
CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of LBW infants in Peninsular Malaysia can be considered high. Having inadequate gestational weight gain, gestational hypertension, and GDM in the second and third trimesters increased the risk of LBW infants by threefold, fivefold, and twofold respectively. Thus, intervention strategies should target prevention, early detection, and treatment of gestational hypertension and GDM, as well as promoting adequate weight gain during antenatal care.
METHOD: In this review, we have covered recent articles within the years of 2016 to 2018 which focus on several aspects including the latest findings on the compound composition of mangosteen fruit as well as its medicinal usages.
RESULT: Mangosteen has been vastly used in medicinal areas including in anti-cancer, anti-microbial, and anti-diabetes treatments. Furthermore, we have also described the benefits of mangosteen extract in protecting various human organs such as liver, skin, joint, eye, neuron, bowel, and cardiovascular tissues against disorders and diseases.
CONCLUSION: All in all, this review describes the numerous manipulations of mangosteen extracted compounds in medicinal areas and highlights the current trend of its research. This will be important for future directed research and may allow researchers to tackle the next big challenge in mangosteen study: drug development and human applications.
METHOD: This cross-sectional survey was conducted among community pharmacists in all 14 states of Malaysia between November 2021 and July 2022. The self-administered survey was shared to relevant groups through various social media platforms.
RESULTS: A total of 312 community pharmacists were involved in the survey. Majority of the respondents were females (66%), with a mean age (SD) of 32.9 (8.4) years. Most of the respondents showed satisfactory practice for patient counselling, but improvements are needed particularly in risk assessment and collaborative care aspect. Most of them expressed their interest for dyslipidemia management training (89.4%). Lack of access to medical records (71.2%) and lack of CVD-related educational materials (70.8%) were the two main perceived barriers identified.
CONCLUSION: Community pharmacists in Malaysia provide a satisfactory role in the provision of cardiovascular disease-related health promotion activities, especially in providing patient counselling. Strengthening collaborative care is essential for providing comprehensive and patient-centered intervention in dyslipidemia management. This requires ongoing efforts to address and overcome existing barriers for effective teamwork and coordination among healthcare professionals.
METHODS: The study design was a single-blinded, randomized controlled trial with two parallel arms (weight loss intervention vs control). Study participants were recruited using the convenience sampling method through public advertisements posted and disseminated through social media. Interested and potential participants were asked to visit the Diet Clinic for eligibility screening. A total of 62 women were recruited and randomized into weight loss intervention and control group. The intervention duration was three months. The intervention group received individual consultation sessions with the dietitian and tailored energy-restricted diets. Physical activity levels, dietary intake, anthropometric measurements and clinical markers were measured at baseline and end of the trial.
RESULTS: There was a significant decrease (p < 0.001) in body weight of the intervention group (-7.4 ± 2.7 kg) that was associated with significant improvements in iron status and its markers (p < 0.01). The intervention group experienced a significant increase in hemoglobin (0.5 ± 0.6 g/dL), serum ferritin (5.6 ± 5.8 ng/mL), and serum iron (13.0 ± 16.2 µg/dL), and a significant decrease in high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (-5.2 ± 5.6 mg/L), and serum hepcidin level (-1.9 ± 2.2 ng/mL) at the end of the trial.
CONCLUSION: Our findings indicate that diet-induced weight loss among participants was associated with an improvement in iron status and its related clinical markers.
CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: [https://www.thaiclinicaltrials.org/show/TCTR20221009001], identifier [TCTR20221009001].
MATERIALS AND METHODS: Three hundred and fifty oral and nasal swabs were taken from pet and stray dogs and cats and pet owners; all samples were subjected to culture and biochemical tests and polymerase chain reaction; the selected isolates were put through disk diffusion test and multilocus sequence typing.
RESULTS: One S. aureus isolate and three S. pseudintermedius isolates were identified as MRSA and MRSP, respectively, of which the MRSA isolate and one of the MRSP isolates showed multidrug resistance and the remaining two MRSP isolates were resistant to one or two antimicrobials. Multilocus sequence typing showed that the MRSA isolate belongs to clonal complex (CC) 789, while for the MRSP isolates, two were in CC45 and one was a singleton.
CONCLUSION: This study is the first study in Malaysia to perform molecular characterization of MRSP isolated from pet dogs and cats and pet owners. The outcomes of this study reveal that even healthy pet dogs and cats and their owners can be carriers of drug-resistant staphylococci, highlighting the role of pets and pet owners as carriers of MRSA and MRSP in Malaysia.