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  1. A comparative study between xerographic, computer-assisted overlay generation and animated-superimposition methods in bite mark analyses
    Tai MW, Chong ZF, Asif MK, Rahmat RA, Nambiar P
    Leg Med (Tokyo), 2016 Sep;22:42-8.
    PMID: 27591538 DOI: 10.1016/j.legalmed.2016.07.009
    This study was to compare the suitability and precision of xerographic and computer-assisted methods for bite mark investigations. Eleven subjects were asked to bite on their forearm and the bite marks were photographically recorded. Alginate impressions of the subjects' dentition were taken and their casts were made using dental stone. The overlays generated by xerographic method were obtained by photocopying the subjects' casts and the incisal edge outlines were then transferred on a transparent sheet. The bite mark images were imported into Adobe Photoshop® software and printed to life-size. The bite mark analyses using xerographically generated overlays were done by comparing an overlay to the corresponding printed bite mark images manually. In computer-assisted method, the subjects' casts were scanned into Adobe Photoshop®. The bite mark analyses using computer-assisted overlay generation were done by matching an overlay and the corresponding bite mark images digitally using Adobe Photoshop®. Another comparison method was superimposing the cast images with corresponding bite mark images employing the Adobe Photoshop® CS6 and GIF-Animator©. A score with a range of 0-3 was given during analysis to each precision-determining criterion and the score was increased with better matching. The Kruskal Wallis H test showed significant difference between the three sets of data (H=18.761, p<0.05). In conclusion, bite mark analysis using the computer-assisted animated-superimposition method was the most accurate, followed by the computer-assisted overlay generation and lastly the xerographic method. The superior precision contributed by digital method is discernible despite the human skin being a poor recording medium of bite marks.
  2. Syntheses of new 3-thiazolyl coumarin derivatives, in vitro α-glucosidase inhibitory activity, and molecular modeling studies
    Salar U, Taha M, Khan KM, Ismail NH, Imran S, Perveen S, et al.
    Eur J Med Chem, 2016 Oct 21;122:196-204.
    PMID: 27371923 DOI: 10.1016/j.ejmech.2016.06.037
    3-Thiazolylcoumarin derivatives 1-14 were synthesized via one-pot two step reactions, and screened for in vitro α-glucosidase inhibitory activity. All compounds showed inhibitory activity in the range of IC50 = 0.12 ± 0.01-16.20 ± 0.23 μM as compared to standard acarbose (IC50 = 38.25 ± 0.12 μM), and also found to be nontoxic. Molecular docking study was carried out in order to establish the structure-activity relationship (SAR) which demonstrated that electron rich centers at one and electron withdrawing centers at the other end of the molecules showed strong inhibitory activity. All the synthesized compounds were characterized by spectroscopic techniques such as EI-MS, HREI-MS, (1)H NMR and (13)C NMR. CHN analysis was also performed.
  3. Fulltext A prospective observational study assessing the outcome of Sepsis in intensive care unit of a tertiary care hospital, Peshawar
    Ullah AR, Hussain A, Ali I, Samad A, Ali Shah ST, Yousef M, et al.
    Pak J Med Sci, 2016 May-Jun;32(3):688-93.
    PMID: 27375715 DOI: 10.12669/pjms.323.9978
    The current study aims to explore the factors associated with outcome among patients with severe sepsis and septic shock admitted to the intensive care unit, Northwest General Hospital and Research Centre, Peshawar, Pakistan.
  4. Classification of ankle joint movements based on surface electromyography signals for rehabilitation robot applications
    Al-Quraishi MS, Ishak AJ, Ahmad SA, Hasan MK, Al-Qurishi M, Ghapanchizadeh H, et al.
    Med Biol Eng Comput, 2017 May;55(5):747-758.
    PMID: 27484411 DOI: 10.1007/s11517-016-1551-4
    Electromyography (EMG)-based control is the core of prostheses, orthoses, and other rehabilitation devices in recent research. Nonetheless, EMG is difficult to use as a control signal given the complex nature of the signal. To overcome this problem, the researchers employed a pattern recognition technique. EMG pattern recognition mainly involves four stages: signal detection, preprocessing feature extraction, dimensionality reduction, and classification. In particular, the success of any pattern recognition technique depends on the feature extraction stage. In this study, a modified time-domain features set and logarithmic transferred time-domain features (LTD) were evaluated and compared with other traditional time-domain features set (TTD). Three classifiers were employed to assess the two feature sets, namely linear discriminant analysis (LDA), k nearest neighborhood, and Naïve Bayes. Results indicated the superiority of the new time-domain feature set LTD, on conventional time-domain features TTD with the average classification accuracy of 97.23 %. In addition, the LDA classifier outperformed the other two classifiers considered in this study.
  5. Fulltext Anti-obesity effect of ethanolic extract from Cosmos caudatus Kunth leaf in lean rats fed a high fat diet
    Rahman HA, Sahib NG, Saari N, Abas F, Ismail A, Mumtaz MW, et al.
    BMC Complement Altern Med, 2017 Feb 22;17(1):122.
    PMID: 28228098 DOI: 10.1186/s12906-017-1640-4
    BACKGROUND: Obesity is a major health concern both in developed and developing countries. The use of herbal medicines became the subject of interest for the management of obesity due to its natural origin, cost effectiveness and minimal side effects. The present study aimed at investigating anti-obesity potential of ethanolic extract from Cosmos caudatus Kunth leaf (EECCL).

    METHODS: In this study, the rats were randomly divided into six groups i.e., (1) Normal Diet (ND); (2) Normal Diet and 175 mg/kgBW of EECCL (ND + 175 mg/kgBW); (3) Normal Diet and 350 mg/kgBW of EECCL (ND + 350 mg/kgBW); (4) High Fat Diet (HFD); (5) High Fat Diet and 175 mg/kgBW of EECCL (HFD + 175 mg/kgBW); (6) High Fat Diet and 350 mg/kgBW of EECCL (HFD + 350 mg/kgBW). The anti-obesity potential was evaluated through analyses of changes in body weight, visceral fat weight, and blood biochemicals including total cholesterol, triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-c), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-c), leptin, insulin, adiponectin, ghrelin and fecal fat content. In addition, metabolite profiling of EECCL was carried out using NMR spectroscopy.

    RESULTS: Rats receiving EECCL together with HFD showed significant (p  0.05) different with those of ND rats. Other related obesity biomarkers including plasma lipid profiles, insulin, leptin, ghrelin and adiponectin levels also showed significant improvement (p 

  6. PVA-PEG physically cross-linked hydrogel film as a wound dressing: experimental design and optimization
    Ahmed AS, Mandal UK, Taher M, Susanti D, Jaffri JM
    Pharm Dev Technol, 2018 Oct;23(8):751-760.
    PMID: 28378604 DOI: 10.1080/10837450.2017.1295067
    The development of hydrogel films as wound healing dressings is of a great interest owing to their biological tissue-like nature. Polyvinyl alcohol/polyethylene glycol (PVA/PEG) hydrogels loaded with asiaticoside, a standardized rich fraction of Centella asiatica, were successfully developed using the freeze-thaw method. Response surface methodology with Box-Behnken experimental design was employed to optimize the hydrogels. The hydrogels were characterized and optimized by gel fraction, swelling behavior, water vapor transmission rate and mechanical strength. The formulation with 8% PVA, 5% PEG 400 and five consecutive freeze-thaw cycles was selected as the optimized formulation and was further characterized by its drug release, rheological study, morphology, cytotoxicity and microbial studies. The optimized formulation showed more than 90% drug release at 12 hours. The rheological properties exhibited that the formulation has viscoelastic behavior and remains stable upon storage. Cell culture studies confirmed the biocompatible nature of the optimized hydrogel formulation. In the microbial limit tests, the optimized hydrogel showed no microbial growth. The developed optimized PVA/PEG hydrogel using freeze-thaw method was swellable, elastic, safe, and it can be considered as a promising new wound dressing formulation.
  7. Age estimation from structural changes of teeth and buccal alveolar bone level
    Koh KK, Tan JS, Nambiar P, Ibrahim N, Mutalik S, Khan Asif M
    J Forensic Leg Med, 2017 May;48:15-21.
    PMID: 28407514 DOI: 10.1016/j.jflm.2017.03.004
    Forensic odontology plays a vital role in the identification and age estimation of unknown deceased individuals. The purpose of this study is to estimate the chronological age from Cone-Beam Computed Tomography (CBCT) images by measuring the buccal alveolar bone level (ABL) to the cemento-enamel junction and to investigate the possibility of employing the age-related structural changes of teeth as studied by Gustafson. In addition, this study will determine the forensic reliability of employing CBCT images as a technique for dental age estimation. A total of 284 CBCT images of Malays and Chinese patients (150 females and 134 males), aged from 20 years and above were selected, measured and stages of age-related changes were recorded using the i-CAT Vision software. Lower first premolars of both left and right side of the jaw were chosen and the characteristics described by Gustafson, namely attrition, secondary dentine formation and periodontal recession were evaluated. Linear regression analysis was performed for the buccal bone level and the R values obtained were 0.85 and 0.82 for left and right side respectively. Gustafson's characteristics were analysed using multiple regression analysis with chronological age as the dependent variable. The results of the analysis showed R values ranged from 0.44 to 0.62. Therefore it can be safely concluded that the buccal bone level highly correlated with the chronological age and is consequently the most suitable age-related characteristic for forensic age estimation.
  8. Incidence and pattern of medication errors in a general paediatric ward in a developing nation
    Tang KL, Wimmer BC, Akkawi ME, Ming LC, Ibrahim B
    Res Social Adm Pharm, 2018 Mar;14(3):317-319.
    PMID: 28365153 DOI: 10.1016/j.sapharm.2017.03.053
  9. Fulltext The influence of lightning induced voltage on the distribution power line polymer insulators
    Izadi M, Abd Rahman MS, Ab-Kadir MZ, Gomes C, Jasni J, Hajikhani M
    PLoS One, 2017;12(2):e0172118.
    PMID: 28234930 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0172118
    Protection of medium voltage (MV) overhead lines against the indirect effects of lightning is an important issue in Malaysia and other tropical countries. Protection of these lines against the indirect effects of lightning is a major concern and can be improved by several ways. The choice of insulator to be used for instance, between the glass, ceramic or polymer, can help to improve the line performance from the perspective of increasing the breakdown strength. In this paper, the electrical performance of a 10 kV polymer insulator under different conditions for impulse, weather and insulator angle with respect to a cross-arm were studied (both experimental and modelling) and the results were discussed accordingly. Results show that the weather and insulator angle (with respect to the cross-arm) are surprisingly influenced the values of breakdown voltage and leakage current for both negative and positive impulses. Therefore, in order to select a proper protection system for MV lines against lightning induced voltage, consideration of the local information concerning the weather and also the insulator angles with respect to the cross-arm are very useful for line stability and performance.
  10. Generalized classification modeling of activated sludge process based on microscopic image analysis
    Khan MB, Nisar H, Ng CA, Lo PK, Yap VV
    Environ Technol, 2018 Jan;39(1):24-34.
    PMID: 28278778 DOI: 10.1080/09593330.2017.1293166
    The state of activated sludge wastewater treatment process (AS WWTP) is conventionally identified by physico-chemical measurements which are costly, time-consuming and have associated environmental hazards. Image processing and analysis-based linear regression modeling has been used to monitor the AS WWTP. But it is plant- and state-specific in the sense that it cannot be generalized to multiple plants and states. Generalized classification modeling for state identification is the main objective of this work. By generalized classification, we mean that the identification model does not require any prior information about the state of the plant, and the resultant identification is valid for any plant in any state. In this paper, the generalized classification model for the AS process is proposed based on features extracted using morphological parameters of flocs. The images of the AS samples, collected from aeration tanks of nine plants, are acquired through bright-field microscopy. Feature-selection is performed in context of classification using sequential feature selection and least absolute shrinkage and selection operator. A support vector machine (SVM)-based state identification strategy was proposed with a new agreement solver module for imbalanced data of the states of AS plants. The classification results were compared with state-of-the-art multiclass SVMs (one-vs.-one and one-vs.-all), and ensemble classifiers using the performance metrics: accuracy, recall, specificity, precision, F measure and kappa coefficient (κ). The proposed strategy exhibits better results by identification of different states of different plants with accuracy 0.9423, and κ 0.6681 for the minority class data of bulking.
  11. Hybrid soliwave technique for mitigating sulfate-reducing bacteria in controlling biocorrosion: a case study on crude oil sample
    Mohd Ali MKFB, Abu Bakar A, Md Noor N, Yahaya N, Ismail M, Rashid AS
    Environ Technol, 2017 Oct;38(19):2427-2439.
    PMID: 27875932 DOI: 10.1080/09593330.2016.1264486
    Microbiologically influenced corrosion (MIC) is among the common corrosion types for buried and deep-water pipelines that result in costly repair and pipeline failure. Sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) are commonly known as the culprit of MIC. The aim of this work is to investigate the performance of combination of ultrasound (US) irradiation and ultraviolet (UV) radiation (known as Hybrid soliwave technique, HyST) at pilot scale to inactivate SRB. The influence of different reaction times with respect to US irradiation and UV radiation and synergistic effect toward SRB consortium was tested and discussed. In this research, the effect of HyST treatment toward SRB extermination and corrosion studies of carbon steel coupon upon SRB activity before and after the treatment were performed using weight loss method. The carbon steel coupons immersed in SRB sample were exposed to HyST treatment at different time of exposure. Additionally, Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy coupled with Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy were used to investigate the corrosion morphology in verifying the end product of SRB activity and corrosion formation after treatment. Results have shown that the US irradiation treatment gives a synergistic effect when combined with UV radiation in mitigating the SRB consortium.
  12. Co-Morbid Erectile Dysfunction (ED) and Antidepressant Treatment in a Patient - A Management Challenge?
    Zainol M, Sidi H, Kumar J, Das S, Ismail SB, Hatta MH, et al.
    Curr Drug Targets, 2019;20(2):182-191.
    PMID: 28302034 DOI: 10.2174/1389450118666170315110902
    Throughout the world, antidepressants (AD) and phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitors (PDE-5i) are the commonly prescribed psychopharmacological agents for treating patients with co-morbid mental health problem and sexual dysfunction (SD). The serotonergic and noradrenergic ADs, although effective, are not without any SD adverse-effects, especially erectile dysfunction (ED). ED is a failure to obtain a satisfactory erection for rewarding sexual coitus during the phases of male's sexual arousal. It is recognized as an important reason why non-adherence to treatment was observed in patients who were on AD. AD intervention caused remission to some of the pre- treatment psychopathology of ED. However, in many patients, AD potentially magnified the unwanted sexual sideeffects. This made the situation challenging for the mental health professional. These challenges are based on the complexity of ED, its etiology and the associated risk factors, which further add to its AD side-effect. The neuro-psychopharmacological basis for AD treatment selection was deliberated. Bio-psycho-social interventions are recommended at two pivotal stages. Firstly, a step should be taken for proper assessment (e.g. detailed history, psychosocial and laboratory investigations); and identify few modifiable risk factors for ED and associated mental health issues. Secondly, with guidance of an algorithm pathway, a practical intervention should include strategies such as dose reduction, augmentation or changing to an AD with lesser or no sexual adverse-effects. It is recommended that bupropion and mirtazepine to be prescribed when patients develop adverse sexual effects with serotonin selective reuptake inhibitor (SSRI), serotonin norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (SNRI) and tricyclic antidepressant (TCA). Few suggestions which may be borne in mind are revising sexual scripts and improving sexual techniques, life-style modifications, psychotherapy and other nonpharmacological approaches which may be beneficial to both patients and their partners.
  13. Vitamin D and Calcium Intakes, Physical Activity, and Calcaneus BMC among School-Going 13-Year Old Malaysian Adolescents
    Suriawati AA, Majid HA, Al-Sadat N, Mohamed MN, Jalaludin MY
    Nutrients, 2016 Oct 24;8(10).
    PMID: 27783041
    BACKGROUND: Dietary calcium and vitamin D are essential for bone development. Apart from diet, physical activity may potentially improve and sustain bone health.

    OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship between the dietary intake of calcium and vitamin D, physical activity, and bone mineral content (BMC) in 13-year-old Malaysian adolescents.

    DESIGN: Cross-sectional.

    SETTING: Selected public secondary schools from the central and northern regions of Peninsular Malaysia.

    PARTICIPANTS: The subjects were from the Malaysian Health and Adolescents Longitudinal Research Team Cohort study (MyHeARTs).

    METHODS: The data included seven-day diet histories, anthropometric measurements, and the BMC of calcaneal bone using a portable broadband ultrasound bone densitometer. Nutritionist Pro software was used to calculate the dietary calcium and vitamin D intakes from the diet histories, based on the Nutrient Composition of Malaysian Food Database guidance for the dietary calcium intake and the Singapore Energy and Nutrient Composition of Food Database for vitamin D intake.

    RESULTS: A total of 289 adolescents (65.7% females) were recruited. The average dietary intakes of calcium and vitamin D were 377 ± 12 mg/day and 2.51 ± 0.12 µg/day, respectively, with the majority of subjects failing to meet the Recommended Nutrient Intake (RNI) of Malaysia for dietary calcium and vitamin D. All the subjects had a normal Z-score for the BMC (-2.00 or higher) with a mean of 0.55 ± 0.01. From the statistical analysis of the factors contributing to BMC, it was found that for those subjects with a higher intake of vitamin D, a higher combination of the intake of vitamin D and calcium resulted in significantly higher BMC quartiles. The regression analysis showed that the BMC might have been influenced by the vitamin D intake.

    CONCLUSIONS: A combination of the intake of vitamin D and calcium is positively associated with the BMC.

  14. Fulltext Use of complementary and alternative medicines among Malaysian cancer patients: A descriptive study
    Farooqui M, Hassali MA, Shatar AK, Farooqui MA, Saleem F, Haq NU, et al.
    J Tradit Complement Med, 2016 Oct;6(4):321-326.
    PMID: 27774413
    The use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM; bǔ chōng yǔ tì dài yī xué) has been rapidly increasing among cancer patients. However, this pervasiveness is still largely unexplored among Malaysian cancer patients. The current study aimed to evaluate the patterns of CAM use among cancer patients from a local hospital in Malaysia. In addition, the study focused on the information-seeking behavior and CAM use disclosure to doctors. Of 393 patients, 184 (46.1%) had used CAM for their cancers. CAM usage was significantly associated with gender (p = 0.021), level of education (p = 0.001), employment status (p = 0.02), and monthly income (p 
  15. Fulltext Throughput Measurement of a Dual-Band MIMO Rectangular Dielectric Resonator Antenna for LTE Applications
    Nasir J, Jamaluddin MH, Ahmad Khan A, Kamarudin MR, Yen BL, Owais O
    Sensors (Basel), 2017 Jan 13;17(1).
    PMID: 28098807 DOI: 10.3390/s17010148
    An L-shaped dual-band multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) rectangular dielectric resonator antenna (RDRA) for long term evolution (LTE) applications is proposed. The presented antenna can transmit and receive information independently using fundamental TE111 and higher order TE121 modes of the DRA. TE111 degenerate mode covers LTE band 2 (1.85-1.99 GHz), 3 (1.71-1.88 GHz), and 9 (1.7499-1.7849 GHz) at fr = 1.8 GHz whereas TE121 covers LTE band 7 (2.5-2.69 GHz) at fr = 2.6 GHz, respectively. An efficient design method has been used to reduce mutual coupling between ports by changing the effective permittivity values of DRA by introducing a cylindrical air-gap at an optimal position in the dielectric resonator. This air-gap along with matching strips at the corners of the dielectric resonator keeps the isolation at a value more than 17 dB at both the bands. The diversity performance has also been evaluated by calculating the envelope correlation coefficient, diversity gain, and mean effective gain of the proposed design. MIMO performance has been evaluated by measuring the throughput of the proposed MIMO antenna. Experimental results successfully validate the presented design methodology in this work.
  16. Biology-oriented drug synthesis (BIODS): In vitro β-glucuronidase inhibitory and in silico studies on 2-(2-methyl-5-nitro-1H-imidazol-1-yl)ethyl aryl carboxylate derivatives
    Salar U, Khan KM, Taha M, Ismail NH, Ali B, Qurat-Ul-Ain, et al.
    Eur J Med Chem, 2017 Jan 05;125:1289-1299.
    PMID: 27886546 DOI: 10.1016/j.ejmech.2016.11.031
    Current study is based on the biology-oriented drug synthesis (BIODS) of 2-(2-methyl-5-nitro-1H-imidazol-1-yl)ethyl aryl carboxylate derivatives 1-26, by treating metronidazole with different aryl and hetero-aryl carboxylic acids in the presence of 1,1'-carbonyl diimidazole (CDI) as a coupling agent. Structures of all synthetic derivatives were confirmed with the help of various spectroscopic techniques such as EI-MS, (1)H -NMR and (13)C NMR. CHN elemental analyses were also found in agreement with the calculated values. Synthetic derivatives were evaluated to check their β-glucuronidase inhibitory activity which revealed that except few derivatives, all demonstrated good inhibition in the range of IC50 = 1.20 ± 0.01-60.30 ± 1.40 μM as compared to the standard d-saccharic acid 1,4-lactone (IC50 = 48.38 ± 1.05 μM). Compounds 1, 3, 4, 6, 9-19, and 21-24 were found to be potent analogs and showed superior activity than standard. Limited structure-activity relationship is suggested that the molecules having electron withdrawing groups like NO2, F, Cl, and Br, were displayed better activity than the compounds with electron donating groups such as Me, OMe and BuO. To verify these interpretations, in silico study was also performed, a good correlation was observed between bioactivities and docking studies.
  17. Anti-Proliferative Effects of Dendrophthoe pentandra Methanol Extract on BCR/ABL-Positive and Imatinib-Resistant Leukemia Cell Lines
    Zamani A, Mat Jusoh SA, Al-Jamal HA, Sul'ain MD, Johan MF
    Asian Pac J Cancer Prev, 2016 11 01;17(11):4857-4861.
    PMID: 28030911
    Background: Imatinib mesylate, a tyrosine kinase inhibitor specifically targeting the BCR/ABL fusion protein, induces hematological remission in patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). However, the majority of CML patients treated with imatinib develop resistance with prolonged therapy. Dendrophthoe pentandra (L.) Miq. is a Malaysian mistletoe species that has been used as a traditional treatment for several ailments such as smallpox, ulcers, and cancers. Methods: We developed a resistant cell line (designated as K562R) by long-term co-culture of a BCR/ ABL positive CML cell line, K562, with imatinib mesylate. We then investigated the anti-proliferative effects of D. pentandra methanol extract on parental K562 and resistant K562R cells. Trypan blue exclusion assays were performed to determine the IC50 concentration; apoptosis and cell cycle analysis were conducted by flow cytometry. Results: D. pentandra extract had greater anti-proliferative effects towards K562R (IC50= 192 μg/mL) compared to K562 (500 μg/ mL) cells. Upon treatment with D. pentandra extract at the IC50. concentration: K562 but not K562R demonstrated increase in apoptosis and cell cycle arrest in the G2/M phase. Conclusion: D. pentandra methanol extract exerts potent anti-proliferative effect on BCR/ABL positive K562 cells.
  18. Association of ARID5B gene variants with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in Yemeni children
    Al-Absi B, Noor SM, Saif-Ali R, Salem SD, Ahmed RH, Razif MF, et al.
    Tumour Biol., 2017 Apr;39(4):1010428317697573.
    PMID: 28381164 DOI: 10.1177/1010428317697573
    Studies have shown an association between ARID5B gene polymorphisms and childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia. However, the association between ARID5B variants and acute lymphoblastic leukemia among the Arab population still needs to be studied. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between ARID5B variants with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in Yemeni children. A total of 14 ARID5B gene single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were genotyped in 289 Yemeni children, of whom 136 had acute lymphoblastic leukemia and 153 were controls, using the nanofluidic Dynamic Array (Fluidigm 192.24 Dynamic Array). Using logistic regression adjusted for age and gender, the risks of acute lymphoblastic leukemia were presented as odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals. We found that nine SNPs were associated with acute lymphoblastic leukemia under additive genetic models: rs7073837, rs10740055, rs7089424, rs10821936, rs4506592, rs10994982, rs7896246, rs10821938, and rs7923074. Furthermore, the recessive models revealed that six SNPs were risk factors for acute lymphoblastic leukemia: rs10740055, rs7089424, rs10994982, rs7896246, rs10821938, and rs7923074. The gender-specific impact of these SNPs under the recessive genetic model revealed that SNPs rs10740055, rs10994982, and rs6479779 in females, and rs10821938 and rs7923074 in males were significantly associated with acute lymphoblastic leukemia risk. Under the dominant model, SNPs rs7073837, rs10821936, rs7896246, and rs6479778 in males only showed striking association with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. The additive model revealed that SNPs with significant association with acute lymphoblastic leukemia were rs10821936 (both males and females); rs7073837, rs10740055, rs10994982, and rs4948487 (females only); and rs7089424, rs7896246, rs10821938, and rs7923074 (males only). In addition, the ARID5B haplotype block (CGAACACAA) showed a higher risk for acute lymphoblastic leukemia. The haplotype (CCCGACTGC) was associated with protection against acute lymphoblastic leukemia. In conclusion, our study has shown that ARID5B variants are associated with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in Yemeni children with several gender biases of ARID5B single nucleotide polymorphisms reported.
  19. Fulltext Subversion of immunoproteasome subunit expression in dengue virus serotype 2-infected HepG2 cells
    Gan CS, Lim PJ, Razif MF, Yusof R, Othman S
    Rev Soc Bras Med Trop, 2017 Jan-Feb;50(1):99-103.
    PMID: 28327809 DOI: 10.1590/0037-8682-0207-2016
    INTRODUCTION:: Infection with all serotypes of dengue virus (DV) results in augmented antigen presentation by MHC class I molecules. However, the upregulation of immunoproteasome subunits only results from infection with two serotypes. This study aims to elucidate changes in the expression of immunoproteasome subunits resulting from infection with DV, particularly DV serotype 2 (DV2).

    METHODS:: HepG2 cells were grown in various culture milieu. Total cellular RNA and proteins were extracted and quantified.

    RESULTS:: Results demonstrated sequestration of immunoproteasome subunits LMP2 and LMP7 in DV2-infected cells.

    CONCLUSIONS:: This study provides insights into the mechanisms underlying immune evasion by DV.
  20. Fulltext Validity of Time to Sputum Culture Conversion to Predict Cure in Patients with Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis: A Retrospective Single-Center Study
    Javaid A, Ahmad N, Afridi AK, Basit A, Khan AH, Ahmad I, et al.
    Am J Trop Med Hyg, 2018 06;98(6):1629-1636.
    PMID: 29611497 DOI: 10.4269/ajtmh.17-0936
    To evaluate the predictive value of time to sputum culture conversion (SCC) in predicting cure and factors associated with time to SCC and cure in multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) patients, a retrospective study was conducted at programmatic management unit of drug resistant tuberculosis (TB), Peshawar. A total of 428 pulmonary MDR-TB patients enrolled at the study site from January 1, 2012 to August 31, 2014 were followed until treatment outcome was recorded. Survival analysis using Cox proportional hazards model and multivariate binary logistic regression were, respectively, used to identify factors associated with time to SCC and cure. A P value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Overall, 90.9% patients achieved SCC, and 76.9% were cured. Previous use of second-line drugs (SLDs) (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.637; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.429-0.947), ofloxacin resistance (HR = 0.656; 95% CI = 0.522-0.825) and lung cavitation (HR = 0.744; 95% CI = 0.595-0.931) were significantly associated with time to SCC. In predicting cure, sensitivities of SCC at 2, 4, and 6 months were 64.1% (95% CI = 58.69-69.32), 93.0% (95% CI = 89.69-95.52), and 97.6% (95% CI = 95.27-98.94), respectively, whereas specificities were 67.7% (95% CI = 57.53-76.73), 51.5% (95% CI = 41.25-61.68), and 44.4% (95% CI = 34.45-54.78), respectively. Furthermore, patients' age of 41-60 (odds ratio [OR] = 0.202; 95% CI = 0.067-0.605) and > 60 years (OR = 0.051; 95% CI = 0.011-0.224), body weight > 40 kg (OR = 2.950; 95% CI = 1.462-5.952), previous SLD use (OR = 0.277; 95% CI = 0.097-0.789), lung cavitation (OR = 0.196; 95% CI = 0.103-0.371) and ofloxacin resistance (OR = 0.386; 95% CI = 0.198-0.749) were significantly associated with cure. Association of SCC with cure was substantially stronger at 6 months (OR = 32.10; 95% CI = 14.34-71.85) than at 4 months (OR = 14.13; 95% CI = 7.92-25.21). However in predicting treatment outcomes, the combined sensitivity and specificity of SCC at 4 months was comparable to SCC at 6 months. Patients with risk factors for delayed SCC were also at high risk of unsuccessful outcomes.
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