The Dundee Ready Education Environment Measure (DREEM) was planned and designed to quantify the educational environment precisely for medical schools and health-related professional schools. DREEM is now considered a valid and reliable tool, which is globally accepted for measuring the medical educational environment. The educational environment encountered by students has an impact on satisfaction with the course of study, perceived sense of well-being, aspirations, and academic achievement. In addition to being measurable, the educational environment can also be changed, thus enhancing the quality of medical education and the environment, and the medical education process. The objective of this study was to assess the educational environment of the Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin (UniSZA) undergraduate medical program from the students' perspective. The study expected to explore UniSZA medical students' overall perceptions, perceptions of learning, teachers, atmosphere, academic self-perception, and social self-perception using the DREEM questionnaire.
Mohammad Anwar Mohamed Iqbal, Muhammad Zulhelmi Nazri, Mohammad Norazmi Ahmad, Erna Normaya Abdullah, Umie Fatihah Mohamad Haziz, Mohd Rizal Razali, et al.
Silver (I) dicyanonitrosomethanide, Ag[ONC(CN)2] represent a 3D interwoven coordination polymer organization in which all the donor atoms of the functional groups of ONC(CN)2- are coordinated to the Ag(I). Oxidation of styrene utilizing H2O2 as an oxidant in acetonitrile (CH3CN) was used as a model reaction to investigate the catalytic potential of the Ag (I) complex. The CH3CN was chosen as the solvent based on the data collected from Conductor like Screening Model for Real Solvents (COSMO-RS) study. The data indicate that the Ag [ONC(CN)2] complex was compatible and soluble in CH3CN. Different parameters such as styrene:H2O2 molar ratio, reaction time, catalyst mass, and reaction temperature were studied. Highest styrene conversion (36%) with 100% selectivity towards benzaldehyde (BZ) was achieved when 25 mg catalyst, 1:1 styrene to H2O2 molar ratio were used. The reaction was carried out at 303 K for 3 h. The catalytic conversion of styrene to BZ is proposed to take place via [Ag-H2O2] adduct with styrene oxide (StO) as an intermediate. Molecular Electrostatic Potential (MEP) shows that the Ag atom has the highest probability to coordinate with the oxygen atom of H2O2. The MEP data confirms the proposed mechanism.
Introduction:Orang Asli (OA) in Malaysia is considered vulnerable to social, economic and legal abuse. The in-crease in prevalence of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) among OA was reported due to their lifestyle changes. Our study aimed to determine the level of knowledge on NCDs among OA community and its’ association with demographic factors. Methods: A cross-sectional study by face-to-face interview was conducted among consented adult OA in Jelebu, Negeri Sembilan using a validated questionnaire. Their knowledge on risk factors, complica-tions and treatment of cardiovascular diseases, diabetes mellitus, and chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases was asked. Respective thresholds and ranges for poor, moderate and good categories were set as 0-15, 15–21 and 21-28. Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis test was used to test the association between the demographic profile and knowledge score since the data was not normally distributed. Results: A total of 325 respondents with mean age 39.94 (±13.196) ranged from 18 to 83-year-old participated in this study. Majority were females (71.1%) with pri-mary education (39.1%) and mean household income of RM 615.47 (± 446.79). Their mean knowledge score was 12.82 (±9.671). Majority of them had poor knowledge (51.7%). The respondents with higher education background had significantly better knowledge score compared to lower education background (p
Ipomea aquatica, locally known as water spinach, is one of the most common vegetable consumed by
Malaysian. Based on previous studies, crude extract and phenolic compounds of I. aquatica exhibited
several biological activities including antioxidant, anti-microbial and anti-proliferative. The presence
of phenolic compounds in I. aquatica may contributed to their ability to inhibit enzymes, chelate
metals and scavenge free radicals. Currently, no study reported on anti-inflammatory activity of I.
aquatica with respect to lipoxygenase, hyaluronidase and xanthine oxidase enzymes. The present
study aims to enhance current knowledge on biological properties of I. aquatica crude extract
particularly on anti-inflammatory activity. Three enzymes that involve in inflammatory pathway were
selected in this study including lipoxygenase, hyaluronidase and xanthine oxidase. I. aquatica was
extracted in methanol and tested for lipoxygenase, hyaluronidase and xanthine oxidase at different
concentrations using direct enzyme inhibition assay. Lipoxygenase, hyaluronidase and xanthine
oxidase inhibitory activities of the methanol crude extract increased with increasing
concentration. Highest inhibition activity against lipoxygenase, hyaluronidase and xanthine oxidase
were observed at a concentration of 1000 µg/ml with inhibition of 87.18%, 95.36% and 78.38%,
respectively. Our finding in this study indicates potential anti-inflammatory activity of I. aquatica
crude extract through inhibition of lipoxygenase, hyaluronidase and xanthine oxidase.
Blindness is an area of inadequate the visual conception because of physiological or even neurological aspects. The partial blindness corresponds to the insufficient integration in the expansion of the optic confidence or perhaps visual center of the eye, and also over-all total blindness is the complete inadequacy of the visual light perception. Within this research, a basic, inexpensive, friendly user, sensible blind assist technique is developed to be integrated with the portability of both blind and even visually impaired people in a particular region. The presented work consists of a wearable apparatus is made up of the head hat to facilitate the blind particular person to get around single-handedly safely and securely in order to keep away from any kind of obstructions that could be experienced, even if mounted and also mobile phone, to avoid virtually any probable accident. The primary function of this product is the Ultrasonic sensing unit which is able to inform the blind people if there exist any specific obstacles or otherwise not around them along with the vibrating motor probably would informs the blind people who which negative are the obstacles located. In addition, by pressing the home or work button this system will straight away link to MIT app inventor and the app will send a signal to Google maps to guide the blind people to its desired location. The implemented system is fast, and easy to use and an innovative affordable solution to blind and visually impaired people in third world countries.
Currently, there is no effective therapy for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), although intensive calorie restriction is typically recommended but dietary adherence is an issue. The current study aimed to determine the effectiveness and adherence of eight weeks of modified alternate-day calorie restriction (MACR) in the control of NAFLD activity. This was a randomized controlled trial with MACR as the intervention and normal habitual diet as control. The outcome measures were body mass index (BMI), blood lipids, fasting blood sugar (FBS), liver enzymes (ALT and AST), and ultrasonographic measurements of liver steatosis and shear wave elastography (SWE). Per-protocol (PP) and intention-to-treat (ITT) analysis were performed within and between-groups with P 0.22). Both liver steatosis grades and fibrosis (SWE) scores were reduced in between-group analyses of MACR vs. controls (PP and ITT, all P
Mekanisme pengambilan dan penghasilan asid amino bagi mikroorganisma psikrofil yang bermandiri dan berpoliferasi
pada persekitaran sejuk melampau masih belum difahami sepenuhnya. Objektif kajian ini ialah untuk mengenal pasti
gen yang terlibat dalam penjanaan asid amino bagi yis psikrofil, Glaciozyma antarctica serta menentukan pengekspresan
gen tersebut semasa kehadiran dan kekurangan asid amino dalam medium pertumbuhan. Pengenalpastian gen telah
dilakukan melalui penjanaan penanda jujukan terekspres (ESTs) daripada dua perpustakaan cDNA yang dibina daripada
sel yang dikultur dalam medium pertumbuhan kompleks dan medium pertumbuhan minimum tanpa asid amino. Sebanyak
3552 klon cDNA daripada setiap perpustakaan dipilih secara rawak untuk dijujuk menghasilkan 1492 transkrip unik
(medium kompleks) dan 1928 transkrip unik (medium minimum). Analisis pemadanan telah mengenl pasti gen mengekod
protein yang terlibat di dalam pengambilan asid amino bebas, biosintesis asid amino serta gen yang terlibat dengan
kitar semula asid amino berdasarkan tapak jalan yang digunakan oleh yis model, Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Analisis
pengekspresan gen menggunakan kaedah RT-qPCR menunjukkan pengekspresan gen mengekod protein yang terlibat di
dalam pengambilan asid amino bebas iaitu permease adalah tinggi pada medium kompleks manakala pengekspresan
kebanyakan gen mengekod protein yang terlibat dalam kitar semula dan biosintesis asid amino adalah tinggi di dalam
medium minimum. Kesimpulannya, gen yang terlibat dalam penjanaan dan pengambilan asid amino bagi mikroorganisma
psikrofil adalah terpulihara seperti mikroorganisma mesofil dan pengekspresan gen-gen ini adalah diaruh oleh kehadiran
atau ketiadaan asid amino bebas pada persekitaran.
Oxidation of p-Cresol was investigated by using ozonation process. The aim of this research is to assess the effectiveness
of ozonation on oxidation of micropollutant such as p-Cresol. Ozonation performance was evaluated based on p-Cresol
concentration reduction and chemical oxidation demand (COD) reduction. It was found ozonation at pH11 achieved
the highest p-Cresol degradation, with 95.8% of p-Cresol reduced and 96.0% of COD reduced, for an initial 50 mgL-1
of p-Cresol. The degradation of p-Cresol could be expressed by second-order of kinetic model. The second-order rate
constant k increases as the initial pH increased, but decreases with the increasing of initial p-Cresol concentrations.
Besides, the absorption spectra of p-Cresol over ozonation time were analyzed by spectrophotometry. The evolution of
absorption spectra of p-Cresol degradation suggests that the oxidation of p-Cresol follows three stages mechanisms
with cycloaddition as the first step to produce aromatic intermediates followed by ring-opening reactions, degradation
of the intermediates, and subsequently achieved mineralization.
In the designed research work, a series of 2-furoyl piperazine based sulfonamide derivatives were synthesized as therapeutic agents to target the Alzheimer's disease. The structures of the newly synthesized compounds were characterized through spectral analysis and their inhibitory potential was evaluated against butyrylcholinesterase (BChE). The cytotoxicity of these sulfonamides was also ascertained through hemolysis of bovine red blood cells. Furthermore, compounds were inspected by Lipinki Rule and their binding profiles against BChE were discerned by molecular docking. The protein fluctuations in docking complexes were recognized by dynamic simulation. From our in vitro and in silico results 5c, 5j and 5k were identified as promising lead compounds for the treatment of targeted disease.
This research work was executed to determine chemical composition, anti-oxidant and anti-microbial potential of the essential oils extracted from the leaves and stem of Daphne mucronata Royle. From leaves and stem oils fifty-one different constituents were identified through GC/MS examination. The antioxidant potential evaluated through DPPH free radical scavenging activity and %-inhibition of peroxidation in linoleic acid system. The stem's essential oil showed the good antioxidant activity as compared to leaves essential oil. Results of Antimicrobial activity revealed that both stem and leaves oils showed strong activity against Candida albicans with large inhibition zone (22.2 ± 0.01, 18.9 ± 0.20 mm) and lowest MIC values (0.98 ± 0.005, 2.44 ± 0.002 mg/mL) respectively. Leaves essential was also active against Escherichia coli with inhibition zone of 8.88 ± 0.01 mm and MIC values of 11.2 ± 0.40 mg/mL. These results suggested that the plant's essential oils would be a potential cradle for the natural product based antimicrobial as well as antioxidant agents.
Farah Fadwa Benbelgacem, Oualid Abdelkader Bellag, Adibah Parman, Ibrahim Ali Noorbatcha, Mohd Noor Mat Isa, Muhammad Alfatih Muddathir Abdelrahim, et al.
Metagenomic DNA library from palm oil mill effluent (POME) was constructed and subjected to high-throughput screening
to find genes encoding cellulose- and xylan-degrading enzymes. DNA of 30 positive fosmid clones were sequenced with next
generation sequencing technology and the raw data (short insert-paired) was analyzed with bioinformatic tools. First,
the quality of 64,821,599 reverse and forward sequences of 101 bp length raw data was tested using Fastqc and SOLEXA.
Then, raw data filtering was carried out by trimming low quality values and short reads and the vector sequences were
removed and again the output was checked and the trimming was repeated until a high quality read sets was obtained.
The second step was the de novo assembly of sequences to reconstruct 2900 contigs following de Bruijn graph algorithm.
Pre-assembled contigs were arranged in order, the distances between contigs were identified and oriented with SSPACE,
where 2139 scaffolds have been reconstructed. 16,386 genes have been identified after gene prediction using Prodigal
and putative ID assignment with Blastp vs NR protein. The acceptable strategy to handle metagenomic NGS-data in order
to detect known and potentially unknown genes is presented and we showed the computational efficiency of de Bruijn
graph algorithm of de novo assembly to 21 bioprospect genes encoding cellulose-degrading enzymes and 6 genes
encoding xylan-degrading enzymes of 30.3% to 100% identity percentage.
Food related disease or food poisoning is prevalent worldwide and is associated with high mortality. It can be caused by bacteria, viruses, parasites, enterotoxins, mycotoxins, chemicals, histamine poisoning (scombroid) ciguatera and harmful algal bloom (HAB). Illness can also result by red tide while breathing in the aerosolized brevitoxins (i.e. PbTx or Ptychodiscus toxins). Bacterial toxin food poisoning can affect within 1-6 hours and 8-16 hours, and illness can be with or without bloody diarrhea. The common symptoms of food poisoning include abdominal cramps, vomiting and diarrhea. Diagnosis includes examination of leftover food, food preparation environment, food handlers, feces, vomitus, serum and blood. Treatment involves oral rehydration, antiemetic, and anti-peristaltic drugs. Antimicrobial agents may be needed in the treatment of shigellosis, cholera, lifesaving invasive salmonellosis and typhoid fever. Proper care in handling and cooking is important to prevent any food borne diseases.
Chronic pain is a devastating condition affecting the physical, psychological, and socioeconomic status of the patient. Inflammation and immunometabolism play roles in the pathophysiology of chronic pain disorders. Electrical neuromodulation approaches have shown a meaningful success in otherwise drug-resistant chronic pain conditions, including failed back surgery, neuropathic pain, and migraine. A literature review (PubMed, MEDLINE/OVID, SCOPUS, and manual searches of the bibliographies of known primary and review articles) was performed using the following search terms: chronic pain disorders, systemic inflammation, immunometabolism, prediction, biomarkers, metabolic disorders, and neuromodulation for chronic pain. Experimental studies indicate a relationship between the development and maintenance of chronic pain conditions and a deteriorated immunometabolic state mediated by circulating cytokines, chemokines, and cellular components. A few uncontrolled in-human studies found increased levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines known to drive metabolic disorders in chronic pain patients undergoing neurostimulation therapies. In this narrative review, we summarize the current knowledge and possible relationships of available neurostimulation therapies for chronic pain with mediators of central and peripheral neuroinflammation and immunometabolism on a molecular level. However, to address the needs for predictive factors and biomarkers, large-scale databank driven clinical trials are needed to determine the clinical value of molecular profiling.
Medicinal importance of the sulfonylhydrazones is well-evident owing to their binding ability with zinc containing metalloenzymes. In the present study, we have synthesized different series of sulfonylhydrazones by using facile synthetic methods in good to excellent yield. All the successfully prepared sulfonylhydrazones were screened for ectonucleotidase (ALP & e5'NT) inhibitory activity. Among the chromen-2-one scaffold based sulfonylhydrazones, the compounds 7 was found to be most potent inhibitor for h-TNAP (human tissue non-specific alkaline phosphatase) and h-IAP (human intestinal alkaline phosphatase) with IC50 values of 1.02 ± 0.13 and 0.32 ± 0.0 3 µM respectively, compared with levamisole (IC50 = 25.2 ± 1.90 µM for h-TNAP) and l-phenylalanine (IC50 = 100 ± 3.00 µM for h-IAP) as standards. Further, the chromen-2-one based molecule 5a showed excellent activity against h-ecto 5'-NT (human ecto-5'-nucleotidase) with IC50 value of 0.29 ± 0.004 µM compared to standard, sulfamic acid (IC50 = 42.1 ± 7.8 µM). However, among the series of phenyl ring based sulfonylhydrazones, compound 9d was found to be most potent against h-TNAP and h-IAP with IC50 values of 0.85 ± 0.08 and 0.52 ± 0.03 µM, respectively. Moreover, in silico studies were also carried to demonstrate their putative binding with the target enzymes. The potent compounds 5a, 7, and 9d against different ectonucleotidases (h-ecto 5'-NT, h-TNAP, h-IAP) could potentially serve as lead for the development of new therapeutic agents.
In the present study, 2-bromo-4-chlorophenyl-2-bromobutanoate (3) was synthesized via the reaction of 2-bromo-4-chlorophenol with 2-bromobutanoyl bromide in the presence of pyridine. A variety of 2-bromo-4-chlorophenyl-2-bromobutanoate derivatives (5a-f) were synthesized with moderate to good yields via a Pd-catalyzed Suzuki cross-coupling reaction. To find out the reactivity and electronic properties of the compounds, Frontier molecular orbital analysis, non-linear optical properties, and molecular electrostatic potential studies were performed.
Bunting is a medium to promote advertisements or programs that are widely used in Universiti Putra Malaysia in conjunction with the programs. There are two types of bunting that are commonly used; indoor and outdoor bunting. Outdoor bunting is a bunting that is installed outside of a building and it is usually installed at the street lamp poles, fence or at dedicated space. In UPM, outdoor buntings usually installed at the street lamp poles, around the campus. Issues faced by staff when installing and uninstalling the outdoor buntings are; method used, number of staff needed, time consuming and securities issues. All these factors lead UPM to hire external contractor for installing the outdoor buntings. These issues are also faced by other universities/institutions and external contractors. Several initiatives have been identified in order to mitigate this issues including the implementation of ‘Program Bebas Dawai’, an improvement of Standard Operating Procedure for bunting installation and creation of a new innovation called SkytiderTM. SkytiderTM is an installation tool for outdoor buntings that will expedite method without using ladder, minimize time, improve security measures and save costs by hiring less external contractor. SkytiderTM protected under industrial design, trademark and copyright protection. SkytiderTM is widely used in Serdang Campus, Selangor, Bintulu, Sarawak and Port Dickson, Negeri Sembilan.
Lukman Nul Hakim Md Khairi, Farah Syakirah Ahmad, Nur Liyana Mohd Fozi, Aimi Shazana Muhammad Anuar, Wan Najiah W. Mokhtar @ W. Moxtor, Maznuraini Zainuddin
Bedside dispensing (BD) is one of the clinical services offered by the Pharmacy Department to patients prior to their hospital discharge. Increment in number of BD may improve the patients’ discharge process, patients’ satisfaction and their medication knowledge. This project aimed at increasing the percentage of BD in adult medical wards of Hospital Sultanah Nur Zahirah (HSNZ). The proposed standard of BD percentage was at least 30% within four months of intervention. The project was conducted from November 2016 to December 2019. The monthly report of pharmacy BD record was analysed to assess the achievement of BD. A pre-interventional retrospective BD data review of discharge prescriptions received throughout 2016 showed that only 8.1% of discharge prescriptions were dispensed at the bedside. A closed-ended questionnaire to evaluate knowledge, experience and perceived contributing factors to the low percentage of BD was distributed to nurses, inpatient pharmacists and ward pharmacists. The main contributing factors identified included time constraint, poor understanding of BD workflow, inadequate staff awareness and lack of cooperation among healthcare providers. Institutional BD workflow was implemented involving the introduction of discharge prescriptions pick-up points at medical wards, and a scheduled timing for prescriptions collection and dispensing during office hours. Three face-to-face educational sessions on overview of BD and its latest workflow were given to staff nurses, inpatient pharmacists at discharge pharmacy unit and ward pharmacists. In 2017, the percentage of BD increased from 8.1% to 28.0% after the implementation of interventions, and subsequently to 60.0% in the latest maintenance phase of January until December 2019. The sustainable implementation of this BD program could be shared and implemented at other facilities with inpatient discharge services to improve healthcare delivery.
The study attempts to use multivariate analysis to evaluate the profile of male player for developments of Long-Term Talent in Sports (LT-TiS) model based on anthropometric and motor fitness components. Data of anthropometric and motor fitness included power, flexibility, coordination and speed were obtained from 2019 respondents aged 7.32±0.52 year. Data interpretations were carried out using multivariate analysis of Principle Components Analysis (PCA) and Discriminant analysis (DA). The adequacy of sampling has been measured using Bartletts tests on sphericity and Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) has been used, with this conformance of running the Principal Component Analysis (PCA). Then, Discriminant Analysis (DA) were used to validate the correctness of group classification by LT-TiS model. Then, Discriminant Analysis (DA) were used to validate the correctness of group classification by LT-TiS. As a result, two factors with eigenvalues greater than 1 were extracted which accounted for 55.00% of the variations present in the original variables was found. The two factors were used to obtain the factor score coefficients explained by 27.86% and 27.21% of the variations in player performance respectively. Factor 1 revealed high factor loading on motor fitness compared to factor 2 as it was significantly related to anthropometrics. A model was obtained using standardized coefficient of factor 1. Three clusters of performance were shaped in view by categorizing; LT−TiS≥65%, 40%≤LT−TiS
Introduction: Tobacco induced illness remains a major contribution to premature death and global burden of dis- eases. The introduction of MPOWER policies by World Health Organization held the value to monitor the imple- mentation of the anti-smoking measures in all signatory countries. This paper aimed to investigate the application of the six MPOWER indicators among Malaysia population. Methods: We utilized the data of Global Adult Tobacco Survey-Malaysia (GATS-M) which recruited 5112 nationally representative samples of Malaysians of 15 years old and above. Descriptive statistical analysis was used to illustrate the social demographic characteristic of the respon- dents while cross tabulation was employed to describe all elements of the MPOWER indicators. Results: About one quarter (23.1%) of Malaysian adults were current tobacco users. The SHS exposure at home (38.4%) and restaurant (42.1%) were high. Approximately eight in ten (80.2%) of the smokers intended to quit, while for those attempted to quit in past one year, 9.0% utilized pharmacotherapy and 4.4% attended counseling. The awareness about tobacco related diseases was generally excellent. The overall tax make up of the cigarettes’ retail price ranging from 41.7% up to 80%. Conclusion: Tobacco consumption remains prevalent and plateau among Malaysian adults over the last two decades with substantial proportion of the population exposed to SHS. The inadequacy in the current anti-smoking policies needs urgent improvement in order to reduce the smoking norms among Malaysians population besides to achieve the ultimate goal of tobacco control end game by year 2045.