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Fulltext Pregnancy with hypoplastic left lung complicated by pneumothorax and pulmonary embolism

Zainudin LD, Abdul Hafidz MI, Zakaria AF, Mohd Zim MA, Ismail AI, Abdul Rani MF

Respirol Case Rep, 2016 Mar;4(1):19-21.
PMID: 26839696 DOI: 10.1002/rcr2.143

We report a case of a 34-year-old lady with past history of asthma and pulmonary tuberculosis, who presented 5 weeks pregnant with acute dyspnea. Her chest X-ray showed left-sided complete lung collapse and concomitant right-sided pneumothorax. The pneumothorax was initially managed conservatively with a chest tube but due to its persistence despite suction, was subsequently changed to a Pneumostat(TM), with which she was later discharged. She had a normal echocardiography (ejection fraction [EF] 67%) at 5 weeks of gestation but developed pulmonary hypertension (EF 55%, pulmonary arterial pressure 40.7 mmHg) as the pregnancy progressed. She delivered a healthy baby at 35 weeks via elective lower section caesarean section with spinal anesthesia. We followed her up postnatally and noted the presence of left-sided pulmonary embolism, hypoplastic left lung, and left pulmonary artery. The management of this complex case involved a multidisciplinary effort between general medical, respiratory, obstetric, and cardiothoracic teams.
Effect of donor strength of extended alkyl auxiliary groups on optoelectronic and charge transport properties of novel naphtha[2,1-b:6,5-b']difuran derivatives: simple yet effective strategy

Chaudhry AR, Ahmed R, Irfan A, Shaari A, Isa AR, Muhammad S, et al.

J Mol Model, 2015 Aug;21(8):199.
PMID: 26177706 DOI: 10.1007/s00894-015-2743-9

The present study spotlights the designing of new derivatives of 2,7-bis (4-octylphenyl) naphtho [2,1-b:6,5-b'] difuran (C8-DPNDF) by substituting the alkyl groups (methyl, ethyl, propyl, butyl, pentyl, hexyl, and heptyl groups) at para position. Density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) methods are employed to optimize the molecular structures in ground and first excited states, respectively. Several electro-optical properties including hole/electron reorganization energies (λh/λe), electron affinities (EAs), ionization potentials (IPs), molecular electrostatic potentials (MEP), and frontier molecular orbitals (FMOs) have been evaluated. Furthermore their transfer integrals and intrinsic mobilities values have also been calculated. From this study, it is found that hole mobility of octyl containing derivative is raised to 4.69 cm(2) V(-1) s(-1). Moreover with attaching octyl group, hole transfer integral values have also been enhanced in newly designed derivatives. The balanced hole and electron reorganization energies, and improved transfer integrals lead to enhanced mobility in derivatives with octyl group, highlighting them as an efficient hole transfer material. Unlike the other electro-optical properties, the intrinsic hole mobility has increased because of transfer integral values of octyl containing derivative C8-DPNDF due to the dense and close crystal packing of C8-DPNDF. However, photostability of furan-based materials has not changed by increasing length of extended alkyl chain. Thus our present investigation highlights the importance of alkyl auxiliary groups that are often neglected/replaced with simple methyl group to save computation costs. Graphical Abstract The hole and electron reorganization energies of naphtho[2,1-b:6,5-b']difuran derivatives.
Fulltext Normothermia for pediatric and congenital heart surgery: an expanded horizon

Shamsuddin AM, Nikman AM, Ali S, Zain MR, Wong AR, Corno AF

Front Pediatr, 2015;3:23.
PMID: 25973411 DOI: 10.3389/fped.2015.00023

Cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) in pediatric cardiac surgery is generally performed with hypothermia, flow reduction and hemodilution. From October 2013 to December 2014, 55 patients, median age 6 years (range 2 months to 52 years), median weight 18.5 kg (range 3.2-57 kg), underwent surgery with normothermic high flow CPB in a new unit. There were no early or late deaths. Fifty patients (90.9%) were extubated within 3 h, 3 (5.5%) within 24 h, and 2 (3.6%) within 48 h. Twenty-four patients (43.6%) did not require inotropic support, 31 (56.4%) received dopamine or dobutamine: 21 ≤5 mcg/kg/min, 8 5-10 mcg/kg/min, and 2 >10 mcg/kg/min. Two patients (6.5%) required noradrenaline 0.05-0.1 mcg/kg/min. On arrival to ICU and after 3 and 6 h and 8:00 a.m. the next morning, mean lactate levels were 1.9 ± 09, 2.0 ± 1.2, 1.6 ± 0.8, and 1.4 ± 0.7 mmol/L (0.6-5.2 mmol/L), respectively. From arrival to ICU to 8:00 a.m. the next morning mean urine output was 3.8 ± 1.5 mL/kg/h (0.7-7.6 mL/kg/h), and mean chest drainage was 0.6 ± 0.5 mL/kg/h (0.1-2.3 mL/kg/h). Mean ICU and hospital stay were 2.7 ± 1.4 days (2-8 days) and 7.2 ± 2.2 days (4-15 days), respectively. In conclusion, normothermic high flow CPB allows pediatric and congenital heart surgery with favorable outcomes even in a new unit. The immediate post-operative period is characterized by low requirement for inotropic and respiratory support, low lactate production, adequate urine output, minimal drainage from the chest drains, short ICU, and hospital stay.
Distribution of radium in oil and gas industry wastes from Malaysia

Omar M, Ali HM, Abu MP, Kontol KM, Ahmad Z, Ahmad SH, et al.

Appl Radiat Isot, 2004 May;60(5):779-82.
PMID: 15082059

Radium concentrations in 470 samples of the various types of waste from oil and gas industries were analysed using gamma spectrometers. The results showed that the radium concentration varied within a wide range. The highest mean 226Ra and 228Ra concentrations of 114,300 and 130,120 Bq/kg, respectively, were measured in scales. Overall, 75% of the waste, mostly sludge and extraction residue lies within the normal range of radium concentration in soils of Malaysia. However, some platform sludge can have radium concentration up to 560 Bq/kg.
Modeling and development of screen-printed impedance biosensor for cytotoxicity studies of lung carcinoma cells

Mansor AFM, Ibrahim I, Zainuddin AA, Voiculescu I, Nordin AN

Med Biol Eng Comput, 2018 Jan;56(1):173-181.
PMID: 29247387 DOI: 10.1007/s11517-017-1756-1

Electrical cell-substrate impedance sensing (ECIS) is a powerful technique to monitor real-time cell behavior. In this study, an ECIS biosensor formed using two interdigitated electrode structures (IDEs) was used to monitor cell behavior and its response to toxicants. Three different sensors with varied electrode spacing were first modeled using COMSOL Multiphysics and then fabricated and tested. The silver/silver chloride IDEs were fabricated using a screen-printing technique and incorporated with polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) cell culture wells. To study the effectiveness of the biosensor, A549 lung carcinoma cells were seeded in the culture wells together with collagen as an extracellular matrix (ECM) to promote cell attachment on electrodes. A549 cells were cultured in the chambers and impedance measurements were taken at 12-h intervals for 120 h. Cell index (CI) for both designs were calculated from the impedance measurement and plotted in comparison with the growth profile of the cells in T-flasks. To verify that the ECIS biosensor can also be used to study cell response to toxicants, the A549 cells were also treated with anti-cancer drug, paclitaxel, and its responses were monitored over 5 days. Both simulation and experimental results show better sensitivity for smaller spacing between electrodes. Graphical abstract The fabricated impedance biosensor used screen-printed silver/silver chloride IDEs. Simulation and experimental results show better sensitivity for smaller between electrodes.
Fulltext A comparative study of aerobic capacity – VO2 max between common ethnic populations of Sabah, Malaysia

Nagesh Chodankar N., Vinoth Kumar, Urban John Arnold D’Souza, Ahmad Faris Abdullah

Malaysian Journal of Medicine and Health Sciences, 2019;15(106):47-47.
MyJurnal

Introduction: Aerobic power reflects the physical fitness of the individual. Evidences support differences in phys-iological responses to exercise. There is less data on VO2 max among common ethnic population of Sabah. Ob-jective of this study was to investigate VO2 max among Kadazan, Dusun, Brunei Melayu, Bugis, Murut and others of Sabah in male and female young adult population. Methods: A total of 385 participants were randomly selected. Monark 894 E leg bicycle ergo meter was used to measure aerobic power VO2 max. Based on the heart rate male and female respectively 450 & 300 kilogram-force meter/minute was chosen. Based on Astrand rhyming nomogram (age correction factor included-VO2 Max multiplied by 1.05) calculations Vo2Max was calculated in l/min. The age correction done VO2 Max (l/min) was multiplied by 1000 and later divided by the body weight to derive the actual VO2Max in ml/kg/min. The recovery heart rate after 1 minute was taken and the difference were calculated for the further analysis. Data was tabulated and analysed by one way ANOVA test - Hocherberg’s GT2. Results: There was no significant difference in VO2 max between the common ethnic young adult population both in males and fe-males. Conclusion: There is no significant difference in VO2 max among the common ethnic adult but have a similar aerobic capacity in the study group.
Fulltext The effect of the job demand and perceived job burnout in the context of academicians’ role performance

Raja Mayang Delima Mohd Beta, Nordayana Zulkifli, Noor Hasvenda Abd Rahim, Mumtaz Ahmad, Masilah Mohamad

Journal of Academia Universiti Teknologi MARA Negeri Sembilan, 2019;7(101):57-71.
MyJurnal

With the high demands on research ou tputs, academicians are under pressure to cope with their teaching responsibilities as well as other managerial and administrative responsibilities that may affect their in role and extra role performance. Four hundred and thirty one (431) academicians fr om twen ty (20) Malaysian public universities were sampled which drawn from a stratified sampling The study examined the factors affecting in role and extra role performance among academicians in Malaysian public universities. There were two (2) propose d affecting factors that being examined; namely job demands as independent factor, perceived job burnout as the mediating factor and religious perso nality as a moderating factor. The job demands, in role performance and extra role performance questi onnaire revised by Bakker (2014), while the perceived job burnout questionnaire by Demerouti (2010) and religious personality questionnaire by Krauss (2007) were adopted and adapted. The Job demands resources theory of burnout guided the study through a q uantita tive research design. Data were analysed using SPSS 23.0 and AMOS 23.0 approaches of structural equation modelling t o test the hypothesised model. The findings of this study largely supported the hypothesised relationships proposed in the theoreti cal mod el especially the mediating effect of perceived job burnout between job demands towards in role and extra role performance. The study concluded that all research objectives were successfully answered and achieved. Future studies applying the propos ed mode l are therefore recommended to be conducted at the institutions of higher learning across Malaysia in order to verify these findings.
Fulltext Revisiting consumer brand preference sustaining strategy through co-creation corporate social responsibility in the hospitality industry

Siti Hajar Md. Jani, Irwan Ibrahim, Afizan Amer, Nordayana Zulkifli, Mumtaz Ahmad

Journal of Academia Universiti Teknologi MARA Negeri Sembilan, 2019;7(101):117-125.
MyJurnal

When a hotel firm loses their existing customers, the organization needs to draw new customers. This is to maintain their market share in the industries. However, in order to attract and capture new customers, it may need higher cost on advertising and promotional activities. Brand preference is generally used to quantify the effect of brand equity that will lead to brand awareness and customers brand loyalty. Therefore, this research is conducted to examine how co-creation corporate social responsibility (CSR) influence brand preference sustaining strategy in the hospitality industry. The study involved three main variables to distinguish the effect of environment, society and stakeholders (CSR) base program on consumer brand preferences. This research is conducted at one of the hotels in Kuala Lumpur City. The scope of the research focusing on the impact of co-creation (CSR) programs towards consumer brand preference. The respondents are among the walk-in consumer the hotel. Result of the study found that there is significant impact of the three base (CSR) programs on consumer brand preference in the hotel industries. This study also built up a useful insight to the industry players and (CSR) research to gain knowledge on the future development of co-creation CSR programs which promotes low cost and high impact result.
Fulltext Internal, external, networking factors and challenges of small medium enterprise (SMEs) internationalization

Nur Zania Azurin Abdullah Sani, Ahmad Shazeer Mohamed Thaheer, Zahariah Mohd Zain

Journal of Academia Universiti Teknologi MARA Negeri Sembilan, 2019;7(101):133-141.
MyJurnal

Internationalization procedure of small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is part of the increasing economy. The study aims to identify relationships between the factors influencing the SMEs to internationalize and identifying the most impactful factor that affects the internationalization of SMEs. The factors affecting internationalization of SMEs identified were external, internal, networking as well as barriers and challenges. The study focusses on SMEs in the service sector in Klang Valley, Malaysia. The methods used to conduct the survey is by distributing the questionnaire through email. There are 100 selected SMEs in the service sector which are listed in SME Corp Malaysia website and MATRADE website. Regardless of whether the SME’s are practising international business or not, they will still be one of the potential respondents. The data were examined and obtained using the statistical software SPSS. The analysis used is reliability analysis, correlation analysis and regression analysis to meet the research objectives. The expected outcome from this research is to analyze the factors that will impact the internationalization of SMEs. The results of the analysis show that all the variables have a low positive correlation. The most influential factors that effects SMEs decision to go international are barriers and challenges.
Fulltext The readiness of takaful operators to adopt waqf (endowment) as additional feature in takaful policy

Amirul Afif Muhamat, Siti Zubaidah Ahmad, Azreen Roslan, Norzitah Abdul Karim, Norfaridah Ali Azizan

Journal of Academia Universiti Teknologi MARA Negeri Sembilan, 2019;7(101):72-81.
MyJurnal

This paper aims to explore the readi n ess of takaful operators to integrate waqf as part of their product feature by assessing on the components of as proposed in the New Product Development Model: marketing supports; formalized development process and top management supports. Questionnaire w a s employed in this survey and takaful operators’ employees who involved in product development were selected such as actuaries, business development managers and their executives. Unexpectedly, several takaful operators withdrew from participating in the s urvey (it was last minute) which is limitation in this study. Accordingly, it caused the use of non parametric tests in this study since the data is not normally distributed. Spearman rank correlation shows that formalized development process is the sig n ificant factor that influenced the readiness of the takaful operators to integrate waqf in their products. However, the other two independent variables which are marketing supports and top management supports depicted insignificant result. Nevertheless, t h e findings were still able to provide insights on the integration of waqf by takaful operators as their latest products’ feature.
Fulltext Association between eating behaviour and weight gain among primary school children in Bandar Baru Bangi, Selangor

Norliza Ahmad, Munn-Sann Lye, Zalilah Mohd Shariff, Firdaus Mukhtar, Lim Poh Ying

Malaysian Journal of Medicine and Health Sciences, 2019;15(104):86-86.
MyJurnal

Introduction: Childhood obesity is increasing in prevalence in Malaysia. Excess in dietary intake and inadequate physical activity contribute to the development of obesity among children. The objective of this study was to de-termine the association between eating behaviour and excess weight among primary school children in an urban community in Malaysia. Methods: This is a baseline data of a randomized control field trial of a family-based inter-vention to reduce adiposity in overweight and obese children. It involved five primary government schools in Bandar Baru Bangi, Selangor. The inclusion criteria include parent-child dyad; children aged 7 to 10 years with body mass index (BMI) z-score of +1 standard deviation or more. Parents completed the validated self-administered Children Eating Behaviour Questionnaire (CEBQ). This questionnaire assessed children’s eating behaviour that includes food responsiveness, enjoyment of food, emotional overeating, desire to drink, slowness in eating, satiety responsiveness, emotional undereating and food fussiness. The children’s weight and height were measured and the BMI z-score was calculated. The association between CEBQ subscales and obesity was assessed using multiple linear regression, adjusted for sex and family income. Results: One hundred and thirty-four parent-child dyads had participated in this study. The food responsiveness was found to be significant with excess weight (β = 0.094, 95% CI: 0.02-0.17, p= 0.014). Conclusion: The food responsiveness subscale was associated with excess weight. This eating behaviour need to be taken into consideration in the development and implementation of health campaign targeted at the re-duction of childhood obesity.
Fulltext Combination expression of Gα12 and MAGED4B associated with poor prognosis in OSCC

Wan NurHazirah Wan Ahmad Kamil, Zuraiza Mohamad Zaini, Anand Ramanathan, Thomas Abraham, Rosnah Mohd Zain

Malaysian Journal of Medicine and Health Sciences, 2019;15(108):47-47.
MyJurnal

Introduction: Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is a major health problem worldwide. The overall survival rate remains at 50% despite numerous studies and various treatment modalities in OSCC. The presence of lymph node metastasis in OSCC is well established as an independent prognostic factor. This present study aims to investigate the association of four tumour antigens; FJX-1, GNα12, IFITM3 and MAGED4B with the sociodemographic and clinicopathological parameters of OSCC. The potential use of these markers as a prognostic indicator of patient sur-vival and lymph node metastasis in OSCC was explored. Methods: 35 cases of OSCC with available formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) specimens involving the tongue, buccal mucosa, gingiva, alveolus and floor of mouth were evaluated by immunohistochemistry for FJX-1, GNA12, IFITM3 and MAGED4B expression. Assessment of the expression of these tumour antigens was based on the cellular sub-site, intensity and percentage of staining in the OSCC samples. Results: The expression of all four tumour markers were expressed in all samples (n=35) but none statistically associated with any clinicopathological or socio-demographic parameters. Survival analysis using Kaplan-Meier test showed high expression of GNA12, IFITM3 and MAGED4B individually with poor prognosis in OSCC patients. A combination of markers, GNA12 and MAGED4B demonstrated a significant association with pa-tient survival in OSCC (p=0.014). Multivariate analysis after adjustment for selected socio-demographic factors (age, gender, risk habits and sub-sites of the oral cavity) revealed that high expression of both MAGED4B and GNA12 remained as an independent prognostic factor for poor prognosis in OSCC (HRR =5.231, 95% CI 1.601,17.084; p=0.006). Conclusion: We concluded that high combined expression of both marker (Gα12 and mAGED4B) might be used as an independent prognostic indicator in OSCC.
Fulltext Genetic Variations Associated with Non-Syndromic Cleft Lip and Palate in Malays with Whole Exome Sequencing: Case Report and Gene Review

Nurul Syazana Mohamad Shah, Sarina Sulong, Wan Azman Wan Sulaiman, Ahmad Sukari Halim

Malaysian Journal of Human Genetics, 2020;1(1):35-44.
MyJurnal

Introduction: Exome sequencing technology which is part of Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) is known for detection of various disease mutations through commercially available platforms. Less reports in identifying genetic variation in non-syndromic cleft lip with or without cleft palate (NSCL/P) in Malaysia had embarked for discovery of susceptible genes to fill in the gaps with the healthcare delivery for a better treatment and management to the patients and family. Methods: Whole exome sequencing was carried out on two Malay NSCLP patients. Blood samples were withdrawn and intact DNA was extracted, fragmented, purified and hybridized using exome sequencing capture and sequenced with Agilent 2100 Bioanalyzer platform. Bioinformatic analyses were done and reviewed with GenBank and PubMed database. Variants were filtered based upon a high impact variant. Results: We have identified single nucleotide polymorphisms in 2 genes (PDE4DIP and PDE11A) and InDels frameshift mutations in 4 genes (PDE4DIP, LTBP4, MMP12 and MMP28). Our preliminary study presents the successful application of whole exome sequencing to elucidate the genetic basis of NSCLP in Malays. Conclusion: Mutations that have been identified would shed more light on the susceptible genes to non-syndromic clefts and further investigation shall be carried out to confirm.
Fulltext Perceived benefits and risks: A survey data set towards Wolbachia-infected Aedes Mosquitoes in Klang Valley

Arham AF, Amin L, Mustapa MAC, Mahadi Z, Arham AF, Yaacob M, et al.

Data Brief, 2020 Oct;32:106262.
PMID: 32944607 DOI: 10.1016/j.dib.2020.106262

Perceived Benefits and Risks: A survey data set towards Wolbachia-infected Aedes Mosquitoes in the Klang Valley, Malaysia. Introduction: The paper presents data collected using measures of perceived benefits, perceived risks, trust in key players, attitude towards nature versus material, attitude towards technology, religiosity, and attitude towards the Wolbachia-infected Aedes mosquitoes (WiAM) technique. The validated questionnaires were used to randomly survey targeted stakeholders in the Klang Valley, Malaysia, who had been asked to voluntarily participate in face-to-face interviews. Completed questionnaires were received from 399 respondents (adults above 18 years old) and comprised two stakeholder groups: scientists (n = 202), and the public (n = 197). The detailed findings serve numerous opportunities to examine the social acceptance of Wolbachia-infected Aedes mosquitoes, to ensure the development of policy and action plans, and to encourage further study by other researchers interested in the measures and data presented.
Fulltext Dynamic Hepatocellular Carcinoma Model Within a Liver Phantom for Multimodality Imaging

Ahmad MS, Suardi N, Shukri A, Nik Ab Razak NNA, Oglat AA, Makhamrah O, et al.

Eur J Radiol Open, 2020;7:100257.
PMID: 32944594 DOI: 10.1016/j.ejro.2020.100257

Introduction: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common cancer in the world, and the effectiveness of its treatment lies in its detection in its early stages. The aim of this study is to mimic HCC dynamically through a liver phantom and apply it in multimodality medical imaging techniques including magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computed tomography (CT), and ultrasound.
Methods and materials: The phantom is fabricated with two main parts, liver parenchyma and HCC inserts. The liver parenchyma was fabricated by adding 2.5 wt% of agarose powder combined with 2.6 wt% of wax powder while the basic material for the HCC samples was made from polyurethane solution combined with 5 wt% glycerol. Three HCC samples were inserted into the parenchyma by using three cylinders implanted inside the liver parenchyma. An automatic injector is attached to the input side of the cylinders and a suction device connected to the output side of the cylinders. After the phantom was prepared, the contrast materials were injected into the phantom and imaged using MRI, CT, and ultrasound.
Results: Both HCC samples and liver parenchyma were clearly distinguished using the three imaging modalities: MRI, CT, and ultrasound. Doppler ultrasound was also applied through the HCC samples and the flow pattern was observed through the samples.
Conclusion: A multimodal dynamic liver phantom, with HCC tumor models have been fabricated. This phantom helps to improve and develop different methods for detecting HCC in its early stages.
Fulltext Treatment Of Waste Engine Oil Using Optimized Acid/Clay Refining Method

Fathin Nadhirah Binti Kamal Ariffin, Yusilawati Ahmad Nor, Sarina Sulaiman, Nur Ayuni Jamal

Biological and Natural Resources Engineering Journal, 2019;2(2):37-48.
MyJurnal

This paper addresses the treatment of waste engine oils (WEO) by acid/clay refining method using glacial acetic acid. An optimization of the process parameters in terms of settling time, stirring speed and mixing temperature for treating the WEO was performed using Response Surface Methodology to improve the quality of treated lubricating oil. The quality of the treated WEO (Castrol brand) was evaluated in terms of viscosity index and flash point value. The treated fuel quality is found to have about 95% similarity to the fresh oil used as a standard at the settling time of 24 hours, temperature of 50 °C and mixing speed of 150 rpm. Analysis of variances (ANOVA) showed that settling time plays the most significant parameters of the process followed by the mixing temperature. Solid contaminants which were collected after the treatment were analyzed using SEM-EDS. They contained rough heteregenous shaped particles with elements such as carbon (97%), calcium (1.12%), zinc (0.74%), sulphur (0.73%) and phosphorus (0.29%). Then, four different brands of WEO (Liqui Moly, Castrol, Shell and Pennzoil) were treated at the optimized conditions to determine the feasibility of the method to treat any brands of WEO. It can be concluded that the optimized treatement method is suitable to treat most of WEO. The findings of this study provide the information on the best process condition for treating WEO as well as the solid contaminants present in it.
Fulltext The effect of synbiotic Streptococcus salivarius K12 and Musa acuminata on Candida albicans biofilm formation

Nurul Alia Risma Rismayuddin, Munirah Mokhtar, Noratikah Othman, Ahmad Faisal Ismail, Mohd Hafiz Arzmi

Malaysian Journal of Medicine and Health Sciences, 2019;15(108):37-37.
MyJurnal

Introduction:Candida albicans is an opportunistic fungus that is associated with oral carcinogenesis. In addition, biofilm formation has been one of the important virulence factors of the yeast. Streptococcus salivarius K12 is an oral probiotic while Musa acuminata is a well-known prebiotic. The objective of this study is to investigate the effect of S. salivarius K12 and M. acuminata skin aqueous extract (synbiotic) on C. albicans with the hypothesis that S. salivariusK12 and M. acuminata inhibit C. albicans biofilm formation. Methods: To develop mono-species biofilm, C. albicans(ATCC MYA-4901 and cancer isolates, ALC2 and ALC3 strains) and S. salivarius K12 were standardised to 105 cells and 106 cells, respectively and grown in 96-well plate in nutrient broth (NB) or RPMI at 37 °C for 72 h. Polymicro-bial biofilms were developed by inoculating both microorganisms in the same well with similar cell number as in mono-species. To determine the effect of synbiotic, similar protocol was repeated by mixing with 800 mg mL-1 of M. acuminata skin extract and incubated at 37 °C for 72 h. The medium was replenished at every 24 h, aseptically. Finally, the biofilms were assessed using crystal violet assay and the optical density was measured at OD620nm. Results:C. albicans strain MYA-4901 and ALC3, when grown in polymicrobial with S. salivarius K12 in NB that is predominated by yeast-form C. albicans, exhibited decreased biofilms by 71.40±11.7% and 49.40±3.9%, respec-tively when compared to the expected biofilms. Meanwhile in RPMI, which C. albicans strain ATCC MYA-4901, ALC2 and ALC3 were predominated by hyphal-form showed decreased biofilms by 72.0±26.7%, 53.4±14.4% and 65.7±6.7%, respectively when compared to the expected biofilms. Conclusion:S. salivarius K12 and M. acuminata skin extract synbiotic inhibit biofilm formation of C. albicans yeast and hyphal forms thus supported the hypothesis of the present study.
Fulltext Potential inhibitors of α -glucosidase and α -amylase enzymes from locally available fruit wastes by solid state fermentation

Barkat, Anumsima Ahmad, Jamal, Parveen, Azlin Suhaida Azmi, Noorbacha, Ibrahim Ali, Zulkarnain Mohamed Idris, Arbain, Dachyar

Biological and Natural Resources Engineering Journal, 2019;2(1):56-63.
MyJurnal

A therapeutic approach for treating diabetes is to decrease thepost-prandial hyperglycaemia. This is done by retarding the absorption of glucose through the inhibition of carbohydrate hydrolyzing enzymes, α-amylaseand α-glucosidase, in the digestive tract. Inhibition of both enzymes helpsto reduce the glucose level in the blood of a diabetic patient. This study was aimed to investigate the production of α-glucosidase and α-amylase inhibitors from local fruit wastes (honeydew skin, banana peel, and pineapple skin) using solid state fermentation. Each of the fruit wastes was fermented with three different types of white rot fungus Phenarochaete chrysosporium(PC), Panus tigrinusM609RQY(M6) andRO209RQY(RO2)for 7 days. Sampling was carried out starting from day 4 to day 7 to determine the enzyme inhibition activity. The samples were extracted using water prior to enzyme analysis. Most of the fruit samples showed varying degree of percentage inhibition activity depending on the sampling time. Extract of fermented banana peels with RO2 on day 4 showed the higherα-glucosidase inhibition (56.57±0.32%), followed byhoneydew extract fermented with the same fungus on the same day (39.68±0.05%). Extracts of each fruit wastesample fermented with PCshowed the least α-glucosidase inhibition (below 15%). Meanwhile for α-amylase inhibition activity, the extract from fermented honeydew skins with PCon day7 showed the highest inhibition activity i.e.98.29±0.63%. The least inhibition activity (43.37±0.54%) was observed in the extract from honeydew skins fermented withM6 on day 5. All positive resultsshowed that fruit wastes could be the alternative sourcesfor antidiabetic agent especially for α-amylase and α-glucosidase inhibitors.
Fulltext A review of Malaysian experience in tissue engineering research and development: an online database study using scopus

Muhammad Aa’zamuddin Ahmad Radzi, Nur Syamimi Mohd. Azharuddin, Abdulrezak Abdulahi Hashi, Azran Azhim, Munirah Sha’ban

International Journal of Allied Health Sciences, 2018;2(3):507-516.
MyJurnal

Tissue engineering (TE) research serves to overcome the major obstacles in organ transplantation. This paper summarizes the progress of TE in Malaysia. The online database of Elsevier’s SCOPUS was accessed. Publications related to TE from 1960 till 2017 were scrutinized. The results show an increasing trend in tissue engineering research and development in Malaysia. The search result identified and examined 264 original article publications. It is hoped that the outcomes of this study could serve as a point of reference for researchers on the status of TE research and development in Malaysia. The findings of this study could assist TE researchers in Malaysia to identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and obstacles towards further enhancement in their activities. Consolidating, realigning and re-strategizing those initiatives should also be seen within the context of nurturing potential and budding researchers in TE.
Fulltext Permanent deformation investigation of rubber polymer modified binder in superpave hot mix asphalt mixture

Ekarizan Shaffie1, Ahmad Kamil Arshad, Ramadhansyah Putra Jaya, Khairil Azman Masri, Wardati Hashim

Journal of Academia Universiti Teknologi MARA Negeri Sembilan, 2020;8(1):45-52.
MyJurnal

Moisture susceptibiltiy is one of the common types of pavement failure found in asphaltic pavements.
Climatic factor such as temperature and moisture has a profound effect on the durability of hot mix
asphalt pavements. Couple with high traffic loads/stresses made stripping of pavement materials
inevitable. Thus, it has become necessary to improve the efficiency of the design of hot mix asphalt
(HMA) for better performance and safe riding comfort. This study investigates and discusses the findings
on the stripping performance of dense graded Superpave mixes using two type of binder; un-modified
binder and rubber polymer modified binder (RPM) using Superpave mix design (AASHTO TP4)
procedure. The RPM binder consists of 4% of both rubber crumb and EVA polymer. Modified Lottman
and Resilient Modulus tests were used to evaluate the stripping performance in these mixtures and this
study also documents the effect of different temperature on tensile strength ratio (TSR) and resilient
modulus ratio (RMR) on the HMA mixtures. Experimental evidences show that the RPM binder mixes
were found to have significantly improved the resistance to moisture damage compared to unmodified
binder mixtures. The RPM binder application may able to alleviate problems related to aggregate
stripping and potholes on our road. Statistical analysis showed good correlation between resilient
modulus and tensile strength ratio.

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