Displaying publications 21 - 40 of 83 in total

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  1. Song SL, Lim PE, Phang SM, Lee WW, Hong DD, Prathep A
    BMC Res Notes, 2014;7:77.
    PMID: 24490797 DOI: 10.1186/1756-0500-7-77
    Gracilaria tenuistipitata is an agarophyte with substantial economic potential because of its high growth rate and tolerance to a wide range of environment factors. This red seaweed is intensively cultured in China for the production of agar and fodder for abalone. Microsatellite markers were developed from the chloroplast genome of G. tenuistipitata var. liui to differentiate G. tenuistipitata obtained from six different localities: four from Peninsular Malaysia, one from Thailand and one from Vietnam. Eighty G. tenuistipitata specimens were analyzed using eight simple sequence repeat (SSR) primer-pairs that we developed for polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification.
  2. Ashaari NS, Ramarad S, Khairuddin D, Akhir NA, Hara Y, Mahadi NM, et al.
    BMC Res Notes, 2015;8:669.
    PMID: 26563904 DOI: 10.1186/s13104-015-1637-3
    Protein microarrays have enormous potential as in vitro diagnostic tools stemming from the ability to miniaturize whilst generating maximum evaluation of diagnostically relevant information from minute amounts of sample. In this report, we present a method known as repeatable arrays of proteins using immobilized DNA microplates (RAPID-M) for high-throughput in situ protein microarray fabrication. The RAPID-M technology comprises of cell-free expression using immobilized DNA templates and in situ protein purification onto standard microarray slides.
  3. Chew KS, Liaw SY, Ahmad Zahedi AZ, Wong SSL, Singmamae N, Kaushal DN, et al.
    BMC Res Notes, 2019 Oct 21;12(1):670.
    PMID: 31639035 DOI: 10.1186/s13104-019-4698-x
    OBJECTIVES: This paper describes the development and translation of a questionnaire purported to measure (1) the perception of the placement strategy of automated external defibrillator, (2) the perception on the importance of bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation and automated external defibrillator (3) the perception on the confidence and willingness to apply these two lifesaving interventions as well as (4) the fears and concerns in applying these two interventions. For construct validation, exploratory factor analysis was performed using principal axis factoring and promax oblique rotation and confirmatory factor analysis performed using partial least square.

    RESULTS: Five factors with eigenvalue > 1 were identified. Pattern matrix analysis showed that all items were loaded into the factors with factor loading > 0.4. One item was subsequently removed as Cronbach's alpha > 0.9 which indicates redundancy. Confirmatory factor analysis demonstrated acceptable factor loadings except for one item which was subsequently removed. Internal consistency and discriminant validity was deemed acceptable with no significant cross-loading.

  4. Liew SC, Das-Gupta E, Chakravarthi S, Wong SF, Lee N, Safdar N, et al.
    BMC Res Notes, 2012;5:201.
    PMID: 22537619 DOI: 10.1186/1756-0500-5-201
    Angiogenesis has been reported to be one of the contributory factors to the pathogenesis of psoriasis vulgaris. This study aims to compare the expression of different angiogenesis growth factors namely (1) the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) subfamily: A, B, C, D and placenta growth factor (PlGF); (2) nerve growth factor (NGF) and (3) von Willebrand factor (vWFr) in the skins of patients with psoriasis vulgaris and non-psoriatic volunteers.

    Study site: Dermatology Department of Hospital Kuala Lumpur, Kuala Lumpur and Tuanku Ja’afar Hospital, Seremban, Malaysia
  5. Tan CS, Noni V, Sathiya Seelan JS, Denel A, Anwarali Khan FA
    BMC Res Notes, 2021 Dec 20;14(1):461.
    PMID: 34930456 DOI: 10.1186/s13104-021-05880-6
    OBJECTIVE: Coronaviruses (CoVs) are natural commensals of bats. Two subgenera, namely Sarbecoviruses and Merbecoviruses have a high zoonotic potential and have been associated with three separate spillover events in the past 2 decades, making surveillance of bat-CoVs crucial for the prevention of the next epidemic. The study was aimed to elucidate the presence of coronavirus in fresh bat guano sampled from Wind Cave Nature Reserve (WCNR) in Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo. Samples collected were placed into viral transport medium, transported on ice within the collection day, and preserved at - 80 °C. Nucleic acid was extracted using the column method and screened using consensus PCR primers targeting the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) gene. Amplicons were sequenced bidirectionally using the Sanger method. Phylogenetic tree with maximum-likelihood bootstrap and Bayesian posterior probability were constructed.

    RESULTS: CoV-RNA was detected in ten specimens (47.6%, n  = 21). Six alphacoronavirus and four betacoronaviruses were identified. The bat-CoVs can be phylogenetically grouped into four novel clades which are closely related to Decacovirus-1 and Decacovirus-2, Sarbecovirus, and an unclassified CoV. CoVs lineages unique to the Island of Borneo were discovered in Sarawak, Malaysia, with one of them closely related to Sarbecovirus. All of them are distant from currently known human coronaviruses.

  6. Heera R, Sivachandran P, Chinni SV, Mason J, Croft L, Ravichandran M, et al.
    BMC Res Notes, 2015;8(1):754.
    PMID: 26645211 DOI: 10.1186/s13104-015-1726-3
    Next-generation transcriptome sequencing (RNA-Seq) has become the standard practice for studying gene splicing, mutations and changes in gene expression to obtain valuable, accurate biological conclusions. However, obtaining good sequencing coverage and depth to study these is impeded by the difficulties of obtaining high quality total RNA with minimal genomic DNA contamination. With this in mind, we evaluated the performance of Phenol-free total RNA purification kit (Amresco) in comparison with TRI Reagent (MRC) and RNeasy Mini (Qiagen) for the extraction of total RNA of Pseudomonas aeruginosa which was grown in glucose-supplemented (control) and polyethylene-supplemented (growth-limiting condition) minimal medium. All three extraction methods were coupled with an in-house DNase I treatment before the yield, integrity and size distribution of the purified RNA were assessed. RNA samples extracted with the best extraction kit were then sequenced using the Illumina HiSeq 2000 platform.
  7. Kho SS, Chan SK, Yong MC, Tie ST
    BMC Res Notes, 2017 Jul 21;10(1):304.
    PMID: 28732541 DOI: 10.1186/s13104-017-2635-4
    BACKGROUND: Massive hemoptysis is a common encounter in respiratory medicine. Bronchoscopy plays an important role in localizing the origin of bleeding, as well as endoscopic treatment of centrally located lesions. Endobronchial embolization is a novel technique enabling the management of hemoptysis arising even from peripheral lesions, via occlusion of the culprit bronchus, thereby securing the airway. Endobronchial Watanabe Spigot had been advocate in the treatment of bronchopleural fistula and the use of this novel technique had since then been expanded into the management of massive hemoptysis. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first reported case in Malaysia.

    CASE PRESENTATION: 78-year-old lady who presented with life-threatening hemoptysis leading rapidly to cardiac arrest upon arrival. Spontaneous circulation was restored after resuscitation with an urgent thoracic computed tomography angiogram revealed bleeding likely from the posterior basal segment of left lower lobe, with bronchiectatic changes. Urgent flexible bronchoscopy revealed airway flooding, with bleeding originating from the lingular and posterior-basal segment of the left lower lobe. Airway toileting was performed and two 7 mm Endobronchial Watanabe Spigots were plugged into the culprit bronchi. Urgent bronchial artery embolization was then attempted, but was unsuccessful. She was managed conservatively, as surgical resection was deemed high risk. The spigots were removed 4 days later uneventfully. There was no recurrence of hemoptysis, and patient remained well during 1-month follow up.

    CONCLUSIONS: The utmost priority in managing life-threatening hemoptysis is to prevent airway flooding. Endobronchial embolization with Endobronchial Watanabe Spigot is useful as a temporary measure before definitive therapy, or can itself be the main therapeutic player in the hemoptysis armament for high-risk patients.

  8. Husaini R, Ahmad M, Soo-Beng Khoo A
    BMC Res Notes, 2011;4:551.
    PMID: 22185663 DOI: 10.1186/1756-0500-4-551
    Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is an epithelial malignancy, which commonly occurs in Southern China, Taiwan, North Africa and Southeast Asia. Nasopharyngeal carcinoma is strongly associated with Epstein-Barr virus infection. The p53 tumour suppressor protein is rarely mutated in NPC suggesting that the inactivation of p53 pathway in NPC could be due to the presence of EBV proteins. The aim of this work was to determine the effects of EBV proteins namely LMP1 and LMP2A on the expression levels of p53 protein.
  9. Chandrasekaran R, Dávoli M, Muda Z, Pérez-Lozano U, Salhi N, Saxena N, et al.
    BMC Res Notes, 2023 Nov 10;16(1):327.
    PMID: 37950292 DOI: 10.1186/s13104-023-06552-3
    OBJECTIVE: Haemophilia A (HA) is associated with high clinical and healthcare burden. We developed an Excel-based model comparing current practice to improved management in severe HA patients currently managed on demand (OD). Outcomes included short- and long-term bleed events. Expected annual bleeds were estimated based on locally-derived OD annualised bleed rate (ABR), adjusted by relative prophylaxis-related ABRs (published literature). The objective of our study was to explore the impact of improving HA prophylaxis in target countries with limited published data (Algeria, Argentina, Chile, India, Malaysia, Mexico, Taiwan and Thailand). Bleed-related healthcare resource use (HCRU) and costs were estimated as a function of bleed type, with inputs obtained from local expert estimates. Clotting factor concentrates (CFC) consumption related to treatment and prophylaxis was estimated based on locally relevant dosing. CFC costs were not included.

    RESULTS: When 20% of OD patients were switched to prophylaxis, projected reduction in bleeds was estimated between 3% (Taiwan) through 14% (Algeria and India); projected reductions in hospitalisations ranged from 3% (Taiwan) through 15% (India). Projected HCRU-related annual cost savings were estimated at USD 0.45 m (Algeria), 0.77 m (Argentina), 0.28 m (Chile), 0.13 m (India), 0.29 m (Malaysia), 2.79 m (Mexico), 0.15 m (Taiwan) and 0.78 m (Thailand). Net change in annual CFC consumption ranged from a 0.05% reduction (Thailand) to an overall 5.4% increase (Algeria). Our model provides a flexible framework to estimate the clinical and cost offsets of improved prophylaxis. Modest increase in CFC consumption may be an acceptable offset for improvements in health and healthcare capacity in resource constrained economies.

  10. Khan MU, Ahmad A, Fayyaz M, Ashraf N, Bhagavathula A
    BMC Res Notes, 2016;9(1):183.
    PMID: 27005815 DOI: 10.1186/s13104-016-1996-4
    The objective of this study was to assess the association of the constructs of theory of planned behaviour (behavioural beliefs, normative beliefs, control beliefs) and demographic variables with the intentions of pharmacy students to become pharmacy owner.
  11. Sani NA, Sapri HF, Neoh HM, Hussin S
    BMC Res Notes, 2014;7:597.
    PMID: 25186825 DOI: 10.1186/1756-0500-7-597
    Staphylococcus epidermidis is a pathogen associated with nosocomial infections whose medical importance has increased due to progressively invasive medical procedures. In this study, we characterized the molecular epidemiology of S. epidermidis strains circulating in our university hospital situated in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
  12. Toh C, Mohd-Hairul AR, Ain NM, Namasivayam P, Go R, Abdullah NAP, et al.
    BMC Res Notes, 2017 Nov 02;10(1):554.
    PMID: 29096695 DOI: 10.1186/s13104-017-2872-6
    BACKGROUND: Vanda Mimi Palmer (VMP) is commercially valuable for its strong fragrance but little is known regarding the fragrance production and emission sites on the flowers.

    RESULTS: Olfactory perception detected fragrance only from the petals and sepals. Light and Environmental Scanning Electron microscopy analyses on fresh tissues showed distributions of stomata and trichomes concentrated mostly around the edges. These results paralleled the rich starch deposits and intense neutral red stain, indicating strong fragrance and trichomes as potential main fragrance release sites. Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) transcriptomic data of adaxial and abaxial layers of the tissues showed monoterpene synthase transcripts specifically linalool and ocimene synthases distributed throughout the tissues. qPCR analyses taken at different time points revealed high levels of linalool and ocimene synthases transcripts in the early morning with maximal level at 4.00 am but remained low throughout daylight hours.

    CONCLUSIONS: Knowledge of the VMP floral anatomy and its fragrance production characteristics, which complemented our previous molecular and biochemical data on VMP, provided additional knowledge on how fragrance and flower morphology are closely intertwined. Further investigation on the mechanisms of fragrance biosynthesis and interaction of potential pollinators would elucidate the evolution of the flower morphology to maximize the reproduction success of this plant.

  13. Loch A, Bewersdorf JP, Kofink D, Ismail D, Abidin IZ, Veriah RS
    BMC Res Notes, 2017 Jul 17;10(1):291.
    PMID: 28716156 DOI: 10.1186/s13104-017-2617-6
    BACKGROUND: In a world of ever increasing health care costs, generic drugs represent a major opportunity to ensure access to essential medicines for people who otherwise would be unable to afford them. However, some clinicians and patients are still questioning the safety and effectiveness of generic formulations compared to the proprietary drugs necessitating further systematic research analyzing the generic drugs' efficacy. Our objective was to compare the lipid lowering effects of generic and branded atorvastatin.

    METHODS: This cross-sectional, retrospective cohort study was conducted at the University of Malaya Medical Centre from 1 May 2013 until 30 May 2013. We analyzed the lipid profiles (total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, triglycerides) of 629 patients before and at least 3 months after switching them from proprietary atorvastatin (Lipitor®) to generic atorvastatin (atorvastatin calcium from Ranbaxy Laboratories, Inc.). We also investigated if there was any difference in the effectiveness of both atorvastatin formulations in various ethnic groups.

    RESULTS: 266 patients were included in this study. When comparing the median values we found no statistically significant differences (Wilcoxon signed-rank test; p 

  14. Mussa A, Talib M, Mohamed Z, Hajissa K
    BMC Res Notes, 2019 Jun 11;12(1):334.
    PMID: 31186056 DOI: 10.1186/s13104-019-4361-6
    OBJECTIVE: Rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) play a crucial role in the management and control of malaria infection. The histidine-rich protein 2 (PfHRP-2) based RDTs are the most commonly used RDTs for malaria diagnosis in Sudan. Deletion of pfhrp2 in Plasmodium falciparum genome affect the accuracy of PfHRP-2 based RDT kits. This study aimed to identify molecular variation of pfhrp2 among suspected malaria patients from different clinics in Omdurman, Sudan.

    RESULTS: A noticeable variation between the RDT (Alltest Biotech, China) and nPCR results was observed, for RDT 78% (46/59) were P. falciparum positive, 6.8% (4/59) were co-infected with both P. falciparum and Plasmodium vivax, 15.3% (9/59) were negative by the RDT. However, when the nPCR was applied only 44.1% (26/59) and 55.9% (33/59) was P. falciparum positive and negative respectively. The pfhrp2 was further amplified form all nPCR positive samples. Only 17 DNA samples were positive from the 26 positive P. falciparum, interestingly, variation in band sizes was observed and further confirmed by DNA sequencing, and sequencing analysis revealed a high-level of genetic diversity of the pfhrp2 gene in the parasite population from the study area. However, despite extreme sequence variation, diversity of PfHRP2 does not appear to affect RDT performance.

  15. Wengert PC, Wong NH, Barton HA, Gan HM, Hudson AO, Savka MA
    BMC Res Notes, 2021 May 08;14(1):175.
    PMID: 33964980 DOI: 10.1186/s13104-021-05589-6
    OBJECTIVES: To characterize the bacterial community of Wind Cave's Madison aquifer through whole-genome sequencing, and to better understand the bacterial ecology by identifying genes involved in acyl-homoserine lactone (AHL) based quorum-sensing (QS) systems.

    RESULTS: Genome-based taxonomic classification revealed the microbial richness present in the pristine Madison aquifer. The strains were found to span eleven genera and fourteen species, of which eight had uncertain taxonomic classifications. The genomes of strains SD129 and SD340 were found to contain the archetypical AHL QS system composed of two genes, luxI and luxR. Surprisingly, the genomes of strains SD115, SD129, SD274 and SD316 were found to contain one to three luxR orphans (solos). Strain SD129, besides possessing an archetypical AHL QS luxI-luxR pair, also contained two luxR solos, while strain SD316 contained three LuxR solos and no luxI-luxR pairs. The ligand-binding domain of two LuxR solos, one each from strains SD129 and SD316, were found to contain novel substitutions not previously reported, thus may represent two LuxR orphans that detection and response to unknown self-produced signal(s), or to signal(s) produced by other organisms.

  16. Faustine I, Marteka D, Malik A, Supriyanto E, Syafhan NF
    BMC Res Notes, 2023 Sep 04;16(1):194.
    PMID: 37667339 DOI: 10.1186/s13104-023-06483-z
    OBJECTIVE: Genetic polymorphisms in ACE and ACE2 genes are involved in the RAS regulation of blood pressure and their activity may confer susceptibility to hypertension. In addition, they may play a role in SARS-CoV-2 pathogenesis and the severity of COVID-19. This study aims to determine the effect of genetic variations in the ACE (rs4331) and ACE2 (rs2074192) genes with hypertension comorbidity on the severity of COVID-19 in the Indonesian population.

    RESULT: 186 patients were enrolled and assigned into the COVID-19 group (n = 95) and non-COVID-19 group (n = 91) in this cross-sectional study. GG genotype frequency was dominant in ACE gene, but there were no significant differences between the groups (p = 0.163). The two groups had a significant difference (p = 0.000) for the CC genotype frequency (0,37 vs. 0.01) in the ACE2 gene. The proportion of women with COVID-19 is higher (51%), but men with hypertension had more severe symptoms (44%). Men with hypertension comorbidity, GG (ACE), and TT (ACE2) genotypes tended to have moderate-to-severe symptoms (25%). Similarly, women with hypertension as well as GG and CT genotypes tended to have moderate-to-severe symptoms (21%). We conclude that hypertension and mutations in the ACE (rs4331) and ACE2 (rs2074192) genes affect the severity of COVID-19.

  17. Runtuwene LR, Sathirapongsasuti N, Srisawat R, Komalamisra N, Tuda JSB, Mongan AE, et al.
    BMC Res Notes, 2022 Feb 12;15(1):44.
    PMID: 35151353 DOI: 10.1186/s13104-022-05927-2
    OBJECTIVE: To disseminate the portable sequencer MinION in developing countries for the main purpose of battling infectious diseases, we found a consortium called Global Research Alliance in Infectious Diseases (GRAID). By holding and inviting researchers both from developed and developing countries, we aim to train the participants with MinION's operations and foster a collaboration in infectious diseases researches. As a real-life example in which resources are limited, we describe here a result from a training course, a metagenomics analysis from two blood samples collected from a routine cattle surveillance in Kulan Progo District, Yogyakarta Province, Indonesia in 2019.

    RESULTS: One of the samples was successfully sequenced with enough sequencing yield for further analysis. After depleting the reads mapped to host DNA, the remaining reads were shown to map to Theileria orientalis using BLAST and OneCodex. Although the reads were also mapped to Clostridium botulinum, those were found to be artifacts derived from the cow genome. An effort to construct a consensus sequence was successful using a reference-based approach with Pomoxis. Hence, we concluded that the asymptomatic cow might be infected with T. orientalis and showed the usefulness of sequencing technology, specifically the MinION platform, in a developing country.

  18. Wan Mohd Zin RM, Ahmad Kamil ZI, Tuan Soh TR, Embong M, Wan Mohamud WN
    BMC Res Notes, 2013 Dec 18;6:540.
    PMID: 24344903 DOI: 10.1186/1756-0500-6-540
    BACKGROUND: Measurement of HbA1c has been widely used for long-term monitoring and management of diabetes control. There is increasing use of point-of-care (POC) devices for measuring HbA1c where quicker results would allow immediate clinical management decisions to be made. Therefore, it is important to evaluate and compare the performance of such devices to the reference laboratory method.

    FINDINGS: A total of 274 venous blood was collected from normal healthy adults during the community screening programmes. The performance of POC devices, Afinion and Quo-test were compared to central laboratory HPLC method; Adams A1c HA 8160. Both POC devices showed good correlation to HA 8160 with r = 0.94 (p < 0.001) and r = 0.95 (p < 0.001) for Afinion and Quo-test respectively. The means difference were statistically higher between POC and HA 8160 with 0.23% (95% CI 0.19-0.26, p < 0.001) and 0.29% (95% CI 0.24-0.34, p < 0.001) for Afinion and Quo-test respectively.

    CONCLUSIONS: Both POC devices could be considered in health clinics for diabetes management but not to be used for the diagnostic purposes.

  19. Hassan NN, Plazzer JP, Smith TD, Halim-Fikri H, Macrae F, Zubaidi AA, et al.
    BMC Res Notes, 2016;9:125.
    PMID: 26915360 DOI: 10.1186/s13104-015-1798-0
    Databases for gene variants are very useful for sharing genetic data and to facilitate the understanding of the genetic basis of diseases. This report summarises the issues surrounding the development of the Malaysian Human Variome Project Country Node. The focus is on human germline variants. Somatic variants, mitochondrial variants and other types of genetic variation have corresponding databases which are not covered here, as they have specific issues that do not necessarily apply to germline variations.
  20. Bala U, Tan KL, Ling KH, Cheah PS
    BMC Res Notes, 2014;7:714.
    PMID: 25304607 DOI: 10.1186/1756-0500-7-714
    Over the past several decades, many studies concerning peripheral nerve damage or regeneration have been performed. Mice have been widely used for many of these studies, with the sciatic nerve being the most targeted and preferred nerve. Therefore, techniques for harvesting mouse sciatic nerves of a maximum length that is sufficient for different analyses will be highly valuable. Here we describe a simple step-by-step guide for harvesting the maximum length of mouse sciatic nerve and compare the length of the harvested nerves gathered with the proposed method with nerves obtained using a conventional mid-thigh incision approach.
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