MyMedR

Displaying publications 21 - 40 of 61 in total

Abstract:

Sort:

Fulltext Molecular markers for eurycoma longifolia and orthosiphon stamineus

Rodrigues, K. F., Tam, H. K.

Buletin Persatuan Genetik Malaysia, 2009;15(1):4-6.
MyJurnal

This paper describes the first reported attempt to isolate DNA sequences containing repeat motifs in Eurycoma longifolia and Orthosiphon stamineus. A library enriched for genomic repeat motifs was developed using novel oligonucleotides designed with inosine residues incorporated at predetermined positions. A total of eight and twelve specific molecular markers were developed for O. stamineus and E. longifolia respectively. These markers have a potential application in estimating population diversity levels and QTL mapping in these two medicinal plants, which are widely used in the Malaysian herbal industry.

Matched MeSH terms: Libraries
Field calibration of blowfly-derived DNA against traditional methods for assessing mammal diversity in tropical forests

Lee PS, Gan HM, Clements GR, Wilson JJ

Genome, 2016 May 11.
PMID: 27696907

Mammal diversity assessments based on DNA derived from invertebrates have been suggested as alternatives to assessments based on traditional methods; however, no study has field-tested both approaches simultaneously. In Peninsular Malaysia, we calibrated the performance of mammal DNA derived from blowflies (Diptera: Calliphoridae) against traditional methods used to detect species. We first compared five methods (cage trapping, mist netting, hair trapping, scat collection, and blowfly-derived DNA) in a forest reserve with no recent reports of megafauna. Blowfly-derived DNA and mist netting detected the joint highest number of species (n = 6). Only one species was detected by multiple methods. Compared to the other methods, blowfly-derived DNA detected both volant and non-volant species. In another forest reserve, rich in megafauna, we calibrated blowfly-derived DNA against camera traps. Blowfly-derived DNA detected more species (n = 11) than camera traps (n = 9), with only one species detected by both methods. The rarefaction curve indicated that blowfly-derived DNA would continue to detect more species with greater sampling effort. With further calibration, blowfly-derived DNA may join the list of traditional field methods. Areas for further investigation include blowfly feeding and dispersal biology, primer biases, and the assembly of a comprehensive and taxonomically-consistent DNA barcode reference library.

Matched MeSH terms: Libraries
Fulltext Data on degradome sequencing and analysis from mock-inoculated and Fusarium oxysporum treated leaves samples in Persicaria minor

Samad AFA, Sajad M, Jani J, Murad AMA, Ismail I

Data Brief, 2018 Oct;20:555-557.
PMID: 30197911 DOI: 10.1016/j.dib.2018.08.034

Degradome sequencing referred as parallel analysis of RNA ends (PARE) by modifying 5'-rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE) with deep sequencing method. Deep sequencing of 5' products allow the determination of cleavage sites through the mapping of degradome fragments against small RNAs (miRNA or siRNA) on a large scale. Here, we carried out degradome sequencing in medicinal plant, Persicaria minor, to identify cleavage sites in small RNA libraries in control (mock-inoculated) and Fusarium oxysporum treated plants. The degradome library consisted of both control and treated samples which were pooled together during library preparation and named as D4. The D4 dataset have been deposited at GenBank under accession number SRX3921398, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sra/SRX3921398.

Matched MeSH terms: Libraries
Fulltext The impact of plurality in Malaysia-Singapore relations post Malaya

Ayu Nor Azilah Mohamad, Mohamed Ali Haniffa, Wayu Nor Asikin Mohamad

Malaysian Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2018;3(3):53-63.
MyJurnal

This article discusses the impact of plurality on Malaysia-Singapore relations after the formation of
Malaysia on September 16, 1963. The establishment of the Federation of Malaysia agreement was
signed in London on July 8, 1963 by the representatives of the British government, the Federation of
Malaya, Singapore, Sabah and Sarawak. All parties agreed to the change in name from Federation of
Malaya to Malaysia. The declaration of Malaysia was made on September 16, 1963 simultaneously
throughout the country. This study uses secondary sources and library research methods. The findings
show that Singapore's existence in Malaysia was seen to have raised racial issues leading to the
separation of Singapore from Malaysia on August 9, 1965. Ethnic-related problems need to be
addressed wisely in order to not be a threat to racial relations among the plural society in Malaysia.

Matched MeSH terms: Libraries
De novo whole genome sequencing data of two mangrove-isolated microalgae from Terengganu coastal waters

Teh KY, Afifudeen CLW, Aziz A, Wong LL, Loh SH, Cha TS

Data Brief, 2019 Dec;27:104680.
PMID: 31720332 DOI: 10.1016/j.dib.2019.104680

Interest in harvesting potential benefits from microalgae renders it necessary to have the many ecological niches of a single species to be investigated. This dataset comprises de novo whole genome assembly of two mangrove-isolated microalgae (from division Chlorophyta); Chlorella vulgaris UMT-M1 and Messastrum gracile SE-MC4 from Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, Malaysia. Library runs were carried out with 2 × 150 base paired-ends reads, whereas sequencing was conducted using Illumina Novaseq 2500 platform. Sequencing yielded raw reads amounting to ∼11 Gb in total bases for both species and was further assembled de novo. Genome assembly resulted in a 50.15 Mbp and 60.83 Mbp genome size for UMT-M1 and SE-MC4, respectively. All filtered and assembled genomic data sequences have been submitted to National Centre for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) and can be located at DDBJ/ENA/GenBank under the accession of VJNP00000000 (UMT-M1) and VIYE00000000 (SE-MC4).

Matched MeSH terms: Libraries
Fulltext Muslim female healthcare personnel dress code: a proposed guideline

Saidun, S., Akhmetova, E., Awang Abd Rahman, A.

International Medical Journal Malaysia, 2018;17(2):57-70.
MyJurnal

Introduction: The struggle of Muslim women to comply with Islamic teaching while working in the healthcare sector has been a long-standing issue. Following the case of a Muslim nurse who was allegedly fired for non-adherence to the short-sleeve uniform rule, the Malaysian Muslim Consumers Association highlighted the need for a uniform guideline to prevent similar instances. Yet, no guideline has been issued to date. Materials and Methods: This conceptual study employed library research method to gather relevant materials. Library research was able to retrieve guidelines from seven Muslim-minority countries but none from Muslim-majority countries. Document analysis of the materials gathered was undertaken. The different guidelines were compared, with special reference to awrah-related issues. Results: Several major issues that healthcare personnel dress code considers are the safety, health, cleanliness, and comfort for both patients and healthcare personnel. Islamic dressing requirement is not only in line with clinical practice but Islam also highly promotes maintenance of safety, health, cleanliness, and comfort. The widely adopted ‘bare below the elbows (BBE) policy is the only practice that may contradict Islamic rules. However, some healthcare institutions in Muslim-minority countries allow modifications of uniform rules on religious grounds; some of the modifications are not observed in Muslim-majority countries. When providing direct patient care that requires BBE, the use of disposable over-sleeves is a good alternative to adhere to both clinical and Islamic standards. Conclusion: Healthcare personnel dress code policy that is concordant to both clinical and Islamic standards is possible although it may require greater resources.

Matched MeSH terms: Libraries
Optimization of illumina truseq targeted RNA Expression (TREx) library quality

Nadiah Abu, Noraini Nordin, Noorjahan Banu Alitheen, Nadiah Abu, Sheau Wei Tan, Swee Keong Yeap, et al.

Sains Malaysiana, 2018;47:303-308.

RNA-seq has become an essential tool in molecular research. Nevertheless, application of RNA-seq was limited by cost and technical difficulties. Illumina has introduced the cost effective and ease to handle Truseq Targeted RNA Sequencing. In this study, we present the requirements and the optimization procedure for this Truseq Targeted RNA sequencing on cell line. Total RNA was recommended as starting materials but it required optimization including additional purification step and adjusting the AMPure beads ratio to eliminate unwanted contaminants. This can be resolved by using PolyA-enriched mRNA as starting material. TREx is a useful assay to evaluate gene expression. Quality library of TREx can be prepared by adding multiple washing steps or changing input sample to mRNA.

Matched MeSH terms: Libraries
Controversies in the vascular theory of glaucomatous optic nerve degeneration

Ahmad SS

Taiwan J Ophthalmol, 2016 Oct-Dec;6(4):182-186.
PMID: 29018738 DOI: 10.1016/j.tjo.2016.05.009

An understanding of the pathogenesis of glaucoma is one of the foundations in glaucoma management. A number of theories have been presented to explain glaucomatous neural degeneration. The vascular theory attempts to explain the causation of glaucoma on the basis of vasogenic factors and altered he-modynamics in the body; however, this theory remains controversial. There are proponents for and against the role played by vascular factors in the development of glaucomatous optic nerve degeneration. This review aims to analyze the various studies performed to provide evidence for and against the vascular theory of glaucoma. It also affirms the need to undertake further studies regarding the path-ogenesis of glaucoma and integrate them into our management strategies. The literature search for this systemic analysis was performed using search engines, such as PubMed, The Virtual Library of the Ministry of Health Malaysia, Google Scholar, and ClinicalKey.

Matched MeSH terms: Libraries, Digital
Fulltext Informed consent in clinical trials with reference to information disclosure to patient-subjects

Yuhanif Yusof, Anisah Che Ngah, Zaki Morad Mohamad Zaher

Int J Public Health Res, 2014;4(1):384-390.
MyJurnal

Introduction The aim of this study was to examine the aspect of information disclosure by doctor-investigator during the process of obtaining informed consent in clinical trials.
Methods This research employed a mixed-method data collection that is library research and interview. A qualitative methodology and analysis were used in an open-ended, face-to-face interviews with 17 patient-subjects. The interview questions were based on information that needed to be disclosed to patient-subjects during the process of obtaining informed consent. Each interview took place in Kajang Hospital and National Heart Institute and lasted 25-30 minutes. Interviews were conducted in Bahasa Melayu and English. The interviews were tape-recorded, and the main points from the interviews were jotted down to ensure that all information was adequately gathered. Interviewed occurred in Kajang Hospital and National Heart Institute. The participants were patients who had been referred to the Kajang Hospital and National Heart Institute. They were recruited (8 from Kajang Hospital and 9 from National Heart Institute) by their own doctors to participate in a study to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of the investigational stent after been diagnosed with coronary artery disease and also in a study to investigate drug for antidepressant. respectively.
Results The study revealed that doctor-investigators fail to disclose full information to patient-subjects. Instead, doctor-investigators only disclosed information which they thought were necessary for the patient-subjects to know. The study also showed that there were doctor-investigators who did not disclose information at all to the patient-subjects.
Conclusions This study implies that the aspect of information disclosure in the process of obtaining informed consent in clinical trials is rather poor and did not fulfill the criterion of good medical practice. A random monitoring task to be conducted by the research ethics commitees during the informed consent process is suggested.

Matched MeSH terms: Libraries
Fulltext γ-Secretase Inhibitors and Modulators Induce Distinct Conformational Changes in the Active Sites of γ-Secretase and Signal Peptide Peptidase

Gertsik N, Chau DM, Li YM

ACS Chem. Biol., 2015 Aug 21;10(8):1925-31.
PMID: 26030233 DOI: 10.1021/acschembio.5b00321

γ-Secretase inhibitors (GSIs) and modulators (GSMs) are at the frontline of cancer and Alzheimer's disease research, respectively. While both are therapeutically promising, not much is known about their interactions with proteins other than γ-secretase. Signal peptide peptidase (SPP), like γ-secretase, is a multispan transmembrane aspartyl protease that catalyzes regulated intramembrane proteolysis. We used active site-directed photophore walking probes to study the effects of different GSIs and GSMs on the active sites of γ-secretase and SPP and found that nontransition state GSIs inhibit labeling of γ-secretase by activity-based probes but enhance labeling of SPP. The opposite is true of GSMs, which have little effect on the labeling of γ-secretase but diminish labeling of SPP. These results demonstrate that GSIs and GSMs are altering the structure of not only γ-secretase but also SPP, leading to potential changes in enzyme activity and specificity that may impact the clinical outcomes of these molecules.

Matched MeSH terms: Small Molecule Libraries/pharmacology*; Small Molecule Libraries/chemistry*
Pro-apoptotic carboxamide analogues of natural fislatifolic acid targeting Mcl-1 and Bcl-2

Gapil Tiamas S, Daressy F, Abou Samra A, Bignon J, Steinmetz V, Litaudon M, et al.

Bioorg Med Chem Lett, 2020 04 01;30(7):127003.
PMID: 32035700 DOI: 10.1016/j.bmcl.2020.127003

A library of 26 novel carboxamides deriving from natural fislatifolic acid has been prepared. The synthetic strategy involved a bio-inspired Diels-Alder cycloaddition, followed by functionalisations of the carbonyl moiety. All the compounds were evaluated on Bcl-xL, Mcl-1 and Bcl-2 proteins. In this series of cyclohexenyl chalcone analogues, six compounds behaved as dual Bcl-xL/Mcl-1 inhibitors in micromolar range and one exhibited sub-micromolar affinities toward Mcl-1 and Bcl-2. The most potent compounds evaluated on A549 and MCF7 cancer cell lines showed moderate cytotoxicities.

Matched MeSH terms: Small Molecule Libraries/chemical synthesis; Small Molecule Libraries/pharmacology
Multi-step molecular docking and dynamics simulation-based screening of large antiviral specific chemical libraries for identification of Nipah virus glycoprotein inhibitors

Kalbhor MS, Bhowmick S, Alanazi AM, Patil PC, Islam MA

Biophys Chem, 2021 03;270:106537.
PMID: 33450550 DOI: 10.1016/j.bpc.2020.106537

Nipah virus (NiV) infections are highly contagious and can cause severe febrile encephalitis. An outbreak of NiV infection has reported high mortality rates in Southeast Asian countries including Bangladesh, East Timor, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Madagascar, Philippines, Thailand and India. Considering the high risk for an epidemic outbreak, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared NiV as an emerging priority pathogen. However, there are no effective therapeutics or any FDA approved drugs available for the treatment of this infection. Among the known nine proteins of NiV, glycoprotein plays an important role in initiating the entry of viruses and attaching to the host cell receptors. Herein, three antiviral databases consisting of 79,892 chemical entities have been computationally screened against NiV glycoprotein (NiV-G). Particularly, multi-step molecular docking followed by extensive molecular binding interactions analyses, binding free energy estimation, in silico pharmacokinetics, synthetic accessibility and toxicity profile evaluations have been carried out for initial identification of potential NiV-G inhibitors. Further, molecular dynamics (MD) simulation has been performed to understand the dynamic properties of NiV-G protein-bound with proposed five inhibitors (G1-G5) and their interactions behavior, and any conformational changes in NiV-G protein during simulations. Moreover, Molecular Mechanics Poisson-Boltzmann Surface Area (MM-PBSA) based binding free energies (∆G) has been calculated from all MD simulation trajectories to understand the energy contribution of each proposed compound in maintaining and stabilizing the complex binding interactions with NiV-G protein. Proposed compounds showed high negative ∆G values ranging from -166.246 to -226.652 kJ/mol indicating a strong affinity towards the NiV-G protein.

Matched MeSH terms: Small Molecule Libraries/pharmacology*; Small Molecule Libraries/chemistry
Fulltext Biomedical and health sciences publication productivity from Malaysia

Zainal H, Zainab AN

Health Info Libr J, 2011 Sep;28(3):216-25.
PMID: 21831221 DOI: 10.1111/j.1471-1842.2011.00943.x

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to examine Malaysian contributions in the field of biomedical and health sciences.
METHODS: In this study, 3697 publications affiliated to Malaysian addresses from the sci database between 1990 and 2005 were sampled. This study also explored publication productivity trends, authorship and collaboration pattern, core journals used, and citations obtained.
RESULTS: Main contributions were journal articles (73.3%). Most authors (63.7%) contributed only one article and 16.1% produced over 30-68 publications. Multi-authored works were the norm. The productive authors were named either first or second in publications. There were active collaborations with authors from Asia-Pacific countries (35%) and Europe (30%). The majority of publications were contributed by institutions of higher learning (87%). Core journals used follow quite close to Bradford's zonal ratios of 44:152:581. The active research areas were identified. About 71.3% of publications received citations especially those published from 1995 to 1999.
CONCLUSION: This study helped librarians identify active researchers, active research areas and journals relevant to biomedical and health sciences researchers and useful when producing reports to university management and planning medical collection policies and deciding on journal subscriptions and cancellations.

Matched MeSH terms: Libraries, Medical
Fulltext Real-time teleteaching in medical physics

Woo M, Ng Kh

Biomed Imaging Interv J, 2008 Jan;4(1):e13.
PMID: 21614306 MyJurnal DOI: 10.2349/biij.4.1.e13

Medical physics is a relatively small professional community, usually with a scarcity of expertise that could greatly benefit students entering the field. However, the reach of the profession can span great geographical distances, making the training of students a difficult task. In addition to the requirement of training new students, the evolving field of medical physics, with its many emerging advanced techniques and technologies, could benefit greatly from ongoing continuing education as well as consultation with experts.Many continuing education courses and workshops are constantly being offered, including many web-based study courses and virtual libraries. However, one mode of education and communication that has not been widely used is the real-time interactive process. Video-based conferencing systems do exist, but these usually require a substantial amount of effort and cost to set up.The authors have been working on promoting the ever-expanding capability of the Internet to facilitate the education of medical physics to students entering the field. A pilot project has been carried out for six years and reported previously. The project is a collaboration between the Department of Medical Physics at the Toronto Odette Cancer Centre in Canada and the Department of Biomedical Imaging at the University of Malaya in Malaysia. Since 2001, medical physics graduate students at the University of Malaya have been taught by lecturers from Toronto every year, using the Internet as the main tool of communication.The pilot study explored the different methods that can be used to provide real-time interactive remote education, and delivered traditional classroom lectures as well as hands-on workshops.Another similar project was started in 2007 to offer real-time teaching to a class of medical physics students at Wuhan University in Hubei, China. There are new challenges as well as new opportunities associated with this project. By building an inventory of tools and experiences, the intent is to broaden the real-time teleteaching method to serve a wide community so that future students entering the field can have efficient access to high-quality education that will benefit the profession in the long term.

Matched MeSH terms: Libraries, Digital
Indole acrylonitriles as potential anti-hyperglycemic agents: Synthesis, α-glucosidase inhibitory activity and molecular docking studies

Solangi M, Kanwal, Mohammed Khan K, Saleem F, Hameed S, Iqbal J, et al.

Bioorg Med Chem, 2020 Nov 01;28(21):115605.
PMID: 33065441 DOI: 10.1016/j.bmc.2020.115605

One of the most prevailing metabolic disorder diabetes mellitus has become the global health issue that has to be addressed and cured. Different marketed drugs have been made available for the treatment of diabetes but there is still a need of introducing new therapeutic agents that are economical and have lesser or no side effects. The current study deals with the synthesis of indole acrylonitriles (3-23) and the evaluation of these compounds for their potential for α-glucosidase inhibition. The structures of these synthetic molecules were deduced by using different spectroscopic techniques. Acarbose (IC50 = 2.91 ± 0.02 μM) was used as standard in this study and the synthetic molecules (3-23) have shown promising α-glucosidase inhibitory activity. Compounds 4, 8, 10, 11, 14, 18, and 21 displayed superior inhibition of α-glucosidase enzyme in the range of (IC50 = 0.53 ± 0.01-1.36 ± 0.04 μM) as compared to the standard acarbose. Compound 10 (IC50 = 0.53 ± 0.01 μM) was the most effective inhibitor of this library and displayed many folds enhanced activity in contrast to the standard. Molecular docking of synthetic compounds was performed to verify the binding interactions of ligand with the active site of enzyme. This study had identified a number of potential α-glucosidase inhibitors that can be used for further research to identify a potent therapeutic agent against diabetes.

Matched MeSH terms: Libraries
Identification of patients' rights to benefit from consumer health information services: A Delphi study

Ashrafi-Rizi H, Shahrzadi L, Dehghani-Champiri Z

J Educ Health Promot, 2019;8:102.
PMID: 31143819 DOI: 10.4103/jehp.jehp_18_19

INTRODUCTION: Patients have different rights, one of which is their right to access health information. The aim of this study was to identify patients' rights to benefit from consumer health information services using a qualitative method.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: The research method was qualitative using a Delphi technique. The statistical population consisted of 12 specialists in the field of medical library and information science and researchers and healthcare professionals. Eight dimensions and 42 items of patients' rights were identified and were approved by Delphi panel.
RESULTS: Regarding patients' rights to benefit from consumer health information services, eight dimensions including the right to health knowledge, the right to access to health information, the professional behavior of medical librarians with patients, content richness, information seeking skills, awareness of new services and products, the ease of using health information centers, and the professional behavior of healthcare professionals with patients were identified and approved.
CONCLUSION: Decreasing the gap between the health literacy of healthcare professionals and patients is one of the duties of medical librarians and health information professionals. Establishing of patient rights in the area of utilizing health information services is an important step in improving the quality of services received by patients.

Matched MeSH terms: Libraries, Medical
Fulltext Gynecological Endoscopic Society of Malaysia Statement and Recommendations on Gynecological Laparoscopic Surgery during COVID-19 Pandemic

Ghazali WAHW, Nallaluthan P, Hasan RZ, Adlan AS, Boon NK

Gynecol Minim Invasive Ther, 2020 10 15;9(4):185-189.
PMID: 33312860 DOI: 10.4103/GMIT.GMIT_109_20

Objectives: While the issue of aerosolization of virus from the blood occurs during usage of energy sources scare practitioners, there have been no reported instances of healthcare workers (HCWs) being infected. COVID-19 virus is primarily transmitted via respiratory droplets and contact routes. Therefore, the ultimate decision for surgery, should be based on which is the safest, quickest route and concurrently ensuring that HCWs are protected during these surgeries. During the time of crisis, HCWs need to concentrate and channel resources to the care of those affected by the coronavirus hence judicious allocation of resources is mandatory. We present the guidelines and recommendations on gynecological laparoscopic surgery during this COVID-19 outbreak in Malaysia.
Materials and Methods: Thorough search of articles and recommendations were done to look into the characteristics of the virus in terms of transmission and risks during surgery. Smoke plume characteristics, composition and risk of viral transmission were also studied. Search includes The WHO Library, Cochrane Library and electronic databases (PubMed, Google scholar and Science Direct).
Conclusion: We concluded that there is no scientific basis of shunning laparoscopic approach in surgical intervention. Ultimately, the guiding principles would be of reducing the anesthetic and surgical duration, the availability of full protective gear for HCWs during the surgery and the status of the patient. It is mandatory for viral swab tests to be done within the shortest window period possible, for all cases planned for surgery.

Matched MeSH terms: Libraries
Inclining Trend of the Researchers Interest in Antimicrobial Stewardship: A Systematic Review

Ahmad NJ, Althemery AU, Haseeb A, Yusuf RF, Hassali AA, Khan AH

J Pharm Bioallied Sci, 2020 01 29;12(1):11-15.
PMID: 32801595 DOI: 10.4103/jpbs.JPBS_186_19

Introduction: The implementation of antibiotic stewardship programs (ASPs) can improve the treatment of infections and can decrease the adverse events that result from antibiotics use. In the last decades, there is an increasing interest of the researchers in the implementation of ASPs.
Materials and Methods: The articles published in different journals were retrieved by searching many research databases such as Cochrane library, Europe PMC, PubMed, and Web of Science; we searched these databases for all published articles till November 2018.
Results and Discussion: The searching results using Cochrane library showed an increase in the number of randomized clinical trials that related to the keyword of "antimicrobial stewardship" specially in the last 5 years. Using Europe PMC, we found 6178 results. From these results, there are 3874 free full texts. In addition, there are 2132 original articles in PubMed and by searching Web of Science database till November 8 there are 3085 results. These results show that the number of trusted published articles was increased continuously; this shows the increasing interest of the researchers in ASPs. These researches will help health-care providers to use antibiotics appropriately and to overcome the barriers of implementing ASPs.
Conclusion: The results of this study show that the researchers had high levels of interest in participating in research activities related to the appropriate use on antibiotics and the implementation of antimicrobial stewardship programs.

Matched MeSH terms: Libraries
Fulltext A review of pharmacist-led interventions on diabetes outcomes: an observational analysis to explore diabetes care opportunities for pharmacists

Iqbal MZ, Khan AH, Iqbal MS, Syed Sulaiman SA

J Pharm Bioallied Sci, 2019 10 18;11(4):299-309.
PMID: 31619911 DOI: 10.4103/jpbs.JPBS_138_19

A strict and adherence treatment is required by the patient with diabetes mellitus and it demands a proper self-medication by the patient. Pharmacists are involved in providing self-management support to the patients. This review evaluates the interventions of pharmacist for patients to improve self-management with diabetes mellitus and also to improve the clinical outcomes of diabetes mellitus. A comprehensive literature search was performed by using different keywords "pharmacist-led intervention," "diabetes," "effect of pharmacist on outcome of diabetes," and "self-management of diabetes" with the help of various electronic databases such as PubMed, Science Direct, Embase, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Library from the beginning of the database through September 2018. The primary outcome was glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), whereas the secondary outcomes were blood glucose level, blood pressure (BP) measure, body mass index, lipids, adherence to medication, and quality of life. Twenty-five studies comprising 2997 diabetic patients were included in the analysis. Pharmacist-led intervention was involved in all included studies in the form of education on diabetes and its complications, medication adherence, lifestyle, and education about self-management skills. Pharmacist-led interventions are able to reduce HbA1c levels with a mean of 0.75%. Most studies do not expose the material and methods used in pharmacist-led intervention. The variation in the reduction of HbA1c, fasting blood sugar, BP, and lipid profile was due to the lack of this standardization. The included studies indicated that pharmacist-led interventions in diabetes mellitus can significantly improve the outcomes of diabetes mellitus and its complication later on. Hence, these long-term improvements in outcomes added more value of pharmacists in health-care system of the world.

Matched MeSH terms: Libraries
Fulltext A systematic review of automated pre-processing, feature extraction and classification of cardiotocography

Al-Yousif S, Jaenul A, Al-Dayyeni W, Alamoodi A, Jabori I, Md Tahir N, et al.

PeerJ Comput Sci, 2021;7:e452.
PMID: 33987454 DOI: 10.7717/peerj-cs.452

Context: The interpretations of cardiotocography (CTG) tracings are indeed vital to monitor fetal well-being both during pregnancy and childbirth. Currently, many studies are focusing on feature extraction and CTG classification using computer vision approach in determining the most accurate diagnosis as well as monitoring the fetal well-being during pregnancy. Additionally, a fetal monitoring system would be able to perform detection and precise quantification of fetal heart rate patterns.
Objective: This study aimed to perform a systematic review to describe the achievements made by the researchers, summarizing findings that have been found by previous researchers in feature extraction and CTG classification, to determine criteria and evaluation methods to the taxonomies of the proposed literature in the CTG field and to distinguish aspects from relevant research in the field of CTG.
Methods: Article search was done systematically using three databases: IEEE Xplore digital library, Science Direct, and Web of Science over a period of 5 years. The literature in the medical sciences and engineering was included in the search selection to provide a broader understanding for researchers.
Results: After screening 372 articles, and based on our protocol of exclusion and inclusion criteria, for the final set of articles, 50 articles were obtained. The research literature taxonomy was divided into four stages. The first stage discussed the proposed method which presented steps and algorithms in the pre-processing stage, feature extraction and classification as well as their use in CTG (20/50 papers). The second stage included the development of a system specifically on automatic feature extraction and CTG classification (7/50 papers). The third stage consisted of reviews and survey articles on automatic feature extraction and CTG classification (3/50 papers). The last stage discussed evaluation and comparative studies to determine the best method for extracting and classifying features with comparisons based on a set of criteria (20/50 articles).
Discussion: This study focused more on literature compared to techniques or methods. Also, this study conducts research and identification of various types of datasets used in surveys from publicly available, private, and commercial datasets. To analyze the results, researchers evaluated independent datasets using different techniques.
Conclusions: This systematic review contributes to understand and have insight into the relevant research in the field of CTG by surveying and classifying pertinent research efforts. This review will help to address the current research opportunities, problems and challenges, motivations, recommendations related to feature extraction and CTG classification, as well as the measurement of various performance and various data sets used by other researchers.

Matched MeSH terms: Libraries, Digital

Filters

Please provide feedback to Administrator (afdal@afpm.org.my)

External Links