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  1. A thematic review on therapeutic toys and games for the elderly with Alzheimer's disease
    You D, Hasley Bin Ramli S, Ibrahim R, Hibatullah Bin Romli M, Li Z, Chu Q, et al.
    Disabil Rehabil Assist Technol, 2025 Jan;20(1):1-13.
    PMID: 38299880 DOI: 10.1080/17483107.2023.2299713
    PURPOSE: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a common and devastating neurological ailment that affects millions of the elderly worldwide. Therapeutic toys and games have emerged as potential non-pharmacological interventions for AD. However, despite a growing number of documents on the subject, research on the future direction of therapeutic toys and games for AD remains scarce. To address this gap, this study aims to (1) map the future trends of therapeutic toys and games for AD and (2) identify the categories and design characteristics.

    MATERIALS AND METHODS: Using a thematic review framework, a systematic literature search was conducted in two electronic databases (Scopus and WoS) using established criteria. Thematic analysis was done using ATLAS.ti 23 to identify prominent themes, patterns and trends.

    RESULTS: A total of 180 documents were found. Twenty-five articles met the inclusion criteria. A thematic review of these 25 articles identified 13 initial codes, which were been clustered into four themes: detection and evaluation; intervention; toy/game category; and design characteristics. The word "Cognitive" appears most frequently in documents according to word cloud.

    CONCLUSIONS: Therapeutic toys and games are used to detect and as an intervention for AD. Most of the current studies focused on specific cognitive functions. More research is needed about play therapy for neuropsychiatric symptoms. This thematic review also proposed a conceptual framework for designing toys and games tailored to the needs of the elderly with AD, offering valuable insights to future researchers focusing on this domain.

  2. Cryptanalysis of the SHMW signature scheme
    Lau TSC, Kamel Ariffin MR, Yip SC, Chin JJ, Ting CY
    Heliyon, 2024 Jan 30;10(2):e24185.
    PMID: 38298683 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e24185
    In recent research, Durandal, a signature scheme based on rank metrics following Schnorr's approach, was introduced to conceal secret key information by selectively manipulating the vector subspace of signatures. Later, an enhancement, namely the SHMW signature scheme, with smaller keys and signatures while maintaining EUF-CMA security, was proposed. Both Durandal and SHMW require adversaries to solve hard problems (i.e., Rank Support Learning, Rank Syndrome Decoding, and Affine Rank Syndrome Decoding) for secret key retrieval, in which the parameters are designed to withstand at least 128-bit computational complexity. The authors claimed that the security of the SHMW scheme is deemed superior to that of the original Durandal scheme. In this paper, we introduce a novel approach to identifying weak keys within the Durandal framework to prove the superiority of the SHMW scheme. This approach exploits the extra information in the signature to compute an intersection space that contains the secret key. Consequently, a cryptanalysis of the SHMW signature scheme was carried out to demonstrate the insecurity of the selected keys within the SHWM scheme. In particular, we proposed an algorithm to recover an extended support that contains the secret key used in the signature schemes. Applying our approach to the SHMW scheme, we can recover its secret key with only 97-bit complexity, although it was claimed that the proposed parameters achieve a 128-bit security level. The results of our proposed approaches show that the security level of the SHMW signature scheme is inferior compared to that of the original Durandal scheme.
  3. Phylogenetic Relationships of Sun Bear (Helarctos malayanus) Based on Mitochondrial DNA from Sumatra and Other Southeast Asian Regions
    Roesma DI, Tjong DH, Syaifullah, Aidil DR, Maulana MR, Salis VM
    Pak J Biol Sci, 2023 Nov;26(12):615-627.
    PMID: 38334154 DOI: 10.3923/pjbs.2023.615.627
    <b>Background and Objective:</b> The <i>Helarctos malayanus</i> is the sole bear species-living in Indonesia (Sumatra and Borneo). The available biological data for sun bears (<i>H. malayanus</i>) in Sumatra is limited, especially for morphological and genetic data. A morphological approach is difficult to do. Therefore, a molecular approach is the most likely choice. Phylogenetic analysis was carried out on <i>H. malayanus</i> in Central Sumatra (Dharmasraya, South Solok and Riau) using the Cytochrome B gene. <b>Materials and Methods:</b> Blood samples from three individuals of <i>H. malayanus</i> were obtained at the Sumatran Tiger Rehabilitation Center, Dharmasraya. Three <i>H. malayanus</i> Central Sumatra sequences and 62 GenBank sequences were used in the analysis. The DNA sequences were analyzed using the DNA Star, AliView, Bioedit, DNA SP, haplotype network, IQ Tree and MEGA software. <b>Results:</b> Forty-one haplotypes were identified in 65 sequences, with 17 haplotypes belonging to <i>H. malayanus</i>. Haplotype network analysis divides <i>H. malayanus</i> into Haplogroup I (Sundaland) and Haplogroup II (Mainland). All individuals of <i>H. malayanus</i> in Central Sumatra have the same haplotype as Peninsular Malaysia sequence. The sun bear (<i>H. malayanus</i>) has a monophyletic relationship with other bear species. The <i>H. malayanus</i> has a higher genetic distance between the two lineages (1.0-2.3%) than the genetic distance within the subpopulations of each lineage. <b>Conclusion:</b> The study results supported sun bear (<i>H. malayanus</i>) divided into two different lineages: Mainland (subcluster 1) and Sundaland (subcluster 2 and 3). The geographic isolation causes the absence of gene flow, which results in high genetic distance between sun bears (<i>H. malayanus</i>) in Sundaland and Mainland lineages.
  4. Neuroprotective effect from stem bark extracts of Knema laurina against H₂O₂- and Aβ(1-42)-induced cell death in human SH-SY5Y cells
    Ismail N, Akhtar MN, Ismail M, Zareen S, Shah SA, Lajis NH, et al.
    Nat Prod Res, 2015;29(16):1571-4.
    PMID: 25471591 DOI: 10.1080/14786419.2014.985676
    The stem bark extracts of Knema laurina inhibited the hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)- and aggregated amyloid β-peptide 1-42 length (Aβ(1-42))-induced cell death in differentiated SH-SY5Y cells. Exposure of 250 μM H2O2 or 20 μM Aβ(1-42) to the cells for 24 h reduced 50% of cell viability. Pretreatment of cells with ethyl acetate extract (EAE) or n-butanol extract (BE) at 300 μg/mL and then exposure to H2O2 protected the cells against the neurotoxic effects of H2O2. Besides, methanolic extract (ME) at 1 and 10 μg/mL exerted neuroprotective effect on Aβ(1-42)-induced toxicity to the cells. These results showed that EAE, BE and ME exhibited neuroprotective activities against H2O2- and Aβ(1-42)-induced cell death. Flavonoids (3-6) and β-sitosterol glucoside (8) were isolated from the EAE. Compound 1 was isolated from hexane extract, and compounds 2 and 7 were isolated from dichloromethane extract. All these observations provide the possible evidence for contribution in the neuroprotective effects.
  5. Silver(I) complexes of mono- and bidentate N-heterocyclic carbene ligands: synthesis, crystal structures, and in vitro antibacterial and anticancer studies
    Haque RA, Choo SY, Budagumpi S, Iqbal MA, Al-Ashraf Abdullah A
    Eur J Med Chem, 2015 Jan 27;90:82-92.
    PMID: 25461313 DOI: 10.1016/j.ejmech.2014.11.005
    A series of benzimidazole-based N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) proligands {1-benzyl-3-(2-methylbenzyl)-benzimidazolium bromide/hexafluorophosphate (1/4), 1,3-bis(2-methylbenzyl)-benzimidazolium bromide/hexafluorophosphate (2/5) and 1,3-bis(3-(2-methylbenzyl)-benzimidazolium-1-ylmethylbenzene dibromide/dihexafluorophosphate (3/6)} has been synthesized by the successive N-alkylation method. Ag complexes {1-benzyl-3-(2-methylbenzyl)-benzimidazol-2-ylidenesilver(I) hexafluorophosphate (7), 1,3-bis(2-methylbenzyl)-benzimidazol-2-ylidenesilver(I) hexafluorophosphate (8) and 1,3-bis(3-(2-methylbenzyl)-benzimidazol-2-ylidene)-1-ylmethylbenzene disilver(I) dihexafluorophosphate (9)} of NHC ligands have been synthesized by the treatment of benzimidazolium salts with Ag2O at mild reaction conditions. Both, NHC proligands and Ag-NHC complexes have been characterized by (1)H and (13)C{(1)H} NMR and FTIR spectroscopy and elemental analysis technique. Additionally, the structure of the NHC proligand 5 and the mononuclear Ag complexes 7 and 8 has been elucidated by the single crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. Both the complexes exhibit the same general structural motif with linear coordination geometry around the Ag centre having two NHC ligands. Preliminary in vitro antibacterial potentials of reported compounds against a Gram negative (Escherichia coli) and a Gram positive (Bacillus subtilis) bacteria evidenced the higher activity of mononuclear silver(I) complexes. The anticancer studies against the human derived colorectal cancer (HCT 116) and colorectal adenocarcinoma (HT29) cell lines using the MTT assay method, revealed the higher activity of Ag-NHC complexes. The benzimidazolium salts 4-6 and Ag-NHC complexes 7-9 displayed the following IC50 values against the HCT 116 and HT29 cell lines, respectively, 31.8 ± 1.9, 15.2 ± 1.5, 4.8 ± 0.6, 10.5 ± 1.0, 18.7 ± 1.6, 1.20 ± 0.3 and 245.0 ± 4.6, 8.7 ± 0.8, 146.1 ± 3.1, 7.6 ± 0.7, 5.5 ± 0.8, 103.0 ± 2.3 μM.
  6. Fulltext Mechanistic basis for protection of differentiated SH-SY5Y cells by oryzanol-rich fraction against hydrogen peroxide-induced neurotoxicity
    Ismail N, Ismail M, Imam MU, Azmi NH, Fathy SF, Foo JB, et al.
    BMC Complement Altern Med, 2014;14:467.
    PMID: 25475556 DOI: 10.1186/1472-6882-14-467
    Apoptosis is often the end result of oxidative damage to neurons. Due to shared pathways between oxidative stress, apoptosis and antioxidant defence systems, an oxidative insult could end up causing cellular apoptosis or survival depending on the severity of the insult and cellular responses. Plant bioresources have received close attention in recent years for their potential role in regulating the pathways involved in apoptosis and oxidative stress in favour of cell survival. Rice bran is a bioactive-rich by-product of rice milling process. It possesses antioxidant properties, making it a promising source of antioxidants that could potentially prevent oxidative stress-induced neurodegenerative diseases.
  7. Digital image processing and analysis for activated sludge wastewater treatment
    Khan MB, Lee XY, Nisar H, Ng CA, Yeap KH, Malik AS
    Adv Exp Med Biol, 2015;823:227-48.
    PMID: 25381111 DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-10984-8_13
    Activated sludge system is generally used in wastewater treatment plants for processing domestic influent. Conventionally the activated sludge wastewater treatment is monitored by measuring physico-chemical parameters like total suspended solids (TSSol), sludge volume index (SVI) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) etc. For the measurement, tests are conducted in the laboratory, which take many hours to give the final measurement. Digital image processing and analysis offers a better alternative not only to monitor and characterize the current state of activated sludge but also to predict the future state. The characterization by image processing and analysis is done by correlating the time evolution of parameters extracted by image analysis of floc and filaments with the physico-chemical parameters. This chapter briefly reviews the activated sludge wastewater treatment; and, procedures of image acquisition, preprocessing, segmentation and analysis in the specific context of activated sludge wastewater treatment. In the latter part additional procedures like z-stacking, image stitching are introduced for wastewater image preprocessing, which are not previously used in the context of activated sludge. Different preprocessing and segmentation techniques are proposed, along with the survey of imaging procedures reported in the literature. Finally the image analysis based morphological parameters and correlation of the parameters with regard to monitoring and prediction of activated sludge are discussed. Hence it is observed that image analysis can play a very useful role in the monitoring of activated sludge wastewater treatment plants.
  8. Tracking of EEG activity using motion estimation to understand brain wiring
    Nisar H, Malik AS, Ullah R, Shim SO, Bawakid A, Khan MB, et al.
    Adv Exp Med Biol, 2015;823:159-74.
    PMID: 25381107 DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-10984-8_9
    The fundamental step in brain research deals with recording electroencephalogram (EEG) signals and then investigating the recorded signals quantitatively. Topographic EEG (visual spatial representation of EEG signal) is commonly referred to as brain topomaps or brain EEG maps. In this chapter, full search full search block motion estimation algorithm has been employed to track the brain activity in brain topomaps to understand the mechanism of brain wiring. The behavior of EEG topomaps is examined throughout a particular brain activation with respect to time. Motion vectors are used to track the brain activation over the scalp during the activation period. Using motion estimation it is possible to track the path from the starting point of activation to the final point of activation. Thus it is possible to track the path of a signal across various lobes.
  9. Fulltext Helicobacter pylori recombinant UreG protein: cloning, expression, and assessment of its seroreactivity
    Khalilpour A, Osman S, Yunus MH, Santhanam A, Vellasamy N, Noordin R
    BMC Res Notes, 2014;7:809.
    PMID: 25406411 DOI: 10.1186/1756-0500-7-809
    Helicobacter pylori is a human pathogen and during the process of infection, antigens from the bacterium elicit strong host humoral immune responses. In our previous report, native H. pylori UreG protein showed good reactivity with sera from H. pylori patients. This study was aimed at producing the recombinant form of the protein (rUreG) and determining its seroreactivities.
  10. Anti-inflammatory and anti-pyretic properties of Spirulina platensis and Spirulina lonar: a comparative study
    Somchit MN, Mohamed NA, Ahmad Z, Zakaria ZA, Shamsuddin L, Omar-Fauzee MS, et al.
    Pak J Pharm Sci, 2014 Sep;27(5):1277-80.
    PMID: 25176383
    Spirulina spp. is a blue-green algae belongs to the family of Oscillatoriaceae, which having diverse biological activity. The aim of this current study was to evaluate and compare the anti-pyretic and anti-inflammatory activity of Spirulina platensis/SP and Spirulina lonar/SL extracts. In the anti-pyretic study, the ability to reduce the rectal temperature of rats induced pyrexia with 2g/kg Brewer's Yeast (BY) was performed. Rats were dosed either 2 or 4 mg/kg SP or SL. Rectal temperature was taken every hour for 8 hours. Results shown that there were significant dose-dependent (p<0.05) reduction of both treatments. However, SP treatment revealed faster reduction in rectal temperature. For anti-inflammatory activity, the reduction in the volume of paw edema induced by Prostaglandin E2 (100 IU/rat intraplantar) was measured. Rats were dosed orally with 2 or 4 mg/kg SP or SL. The paw edema was measured every 30 minutes for 4 hours using plethysmometer. Results had shown a significant dose dependent reduction in diameter of paw edema (p<0.05). The finding suggests that SP and SL extracts have anti-pyretic and anti-inflammatory properties. However, SP was found to be more effective than SL as anti-pyretic and anti-inflammatory agent.
  11. Anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities of the methanol extract of Gynura segetum leaf
    Seow LJ, Beh HK, Umar MI, Sadikun A, Asmawi MZ
    Int Immunopharmacol, 2014 Nov;23(1):186-91.
    PMID: 25194675 DOI: 10.1016/j.intimp.2014.08.020
    Gynura segetum, family Compositae, is a cultivated species and can be found growing in the tropical regions of Indonesia and Malaysia. The plant is known for its use for the treatment of cancer, inflammation, diabetes, hypertension and skin afflictions. In the current study, in vivo anti-inflammatory effect of the methanol extract G. segetum leaf and its antioxidant effect in vitro have been investigated for the first time. The in vitro antioxidant activities of the methanol extract were measured using common methods including total phenolic content; total flavonoid content; scavenging of 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and β-carotene bleaching assays. The in vivo anti-inflammatory activities were tested using the cotton pellet implanted animal model. The measurement of pro-inflammatory cytokine (TNF-α and IL-1) levels in the blood samples of the rats was carried out by using ELISA kits. The inhibitory activity on cyclooxygenase (COX) enzyme of methanol extract was also evaluated. The methanol extract exhibited good antioxidant activity which is associated with their total phenolic and flavonoid contents. Methanol extract strongly inhibited the granuloma tissue formation in rats and the anti-inflammatory potential was mediated through the inhibition of pro-inflammatory cytokines and COX-2 enzyme activities. Taken together, the present study suggests that G. segetum's leaf is a natural source of antioxidants and has potential therapeutic benefits against chronic inflammation.
  12. Fulltext Lateral flow test using Echinococcus granulosus native antigen B and comparison of IgG and IgG4 dipsticks for detection of human cystic echinococcosis
    Khalilpour A, Sadjjadi SM, Moghadam ZK, Yunus MH, Zakaria ND, Osman S, et al.
    Am J Trop Med Hyg, 2014 Nov;91(5):994-9.
    PMID: 25200268 DOI: 10.4269/ajtmh.14-0170
    Cystic echinococcosis (CE) caused by infection with Echinococcus granulosus is of major concern for humans in many parts of the world. Antigen B was prepared from E. granulosus hydatid fluid, and Western blots confirmed eight batches showing a band corresponding to the 8-/12-kDa subunit with positive serum and no low-molecular mass band (< 15 kDa) with negative serum. The batches were pooled and used to prepare lateral flow immunoglobulin G4 (IgG4) and IgG dipsticks. Diagnostic sensitivity was determined using serum samples from 21 hydatidosis patients, and diagnostic specificity was established using sera from 17 individuals infected with other parasites and 15 healthy people. IgG4 dipstick had a diagnostic sensitivity of 95% (20 of 21) and a specificity of 100% (32 of 32). The IgG dipstick had a sensitivity of 100% (21 of 21) and a specificity of 87.5% (28 of 32). Thus, both IgG and IgG4 dipsticks had high sensitivities, but IgG4 had greater specificity for the diagnosis of human CE.
  13. Fulltext Crystal structure of (E)-N'-benzyl-idene-2-meth-oxy-benzohydrazide
    Taha M, Baharudin MS, Zaki HM, Yamin BM, Naz H
    Acta Crystallogr Sect E Struct Rep Online, 2014 Sep 01;70(Pt 9):o1071-2.
    PMID: 25309231 DOI: 10.1107/S1600536814019011
    In the title benzoyl-hydrazide derivative, C15H14N2O2, the dihedral angle between the planes of the two phenyl rings is 12.56 (9)°. The azomethine double bond adopts an E configuration stabilized by an N-H⋯O hydrogen bond. In the crystal, the components are linked by C-H⋯O inter-actions to form chains along the b axis.
  14. Sequential hollow-fiber liquid phase microextraction for the determination of rosiglitazone and metformin hydrochloride (anti-diabetic drugs) in biological fluids
    Ben-Hander GM, Makahleh A, Saad B, Saleh MI, Cheng KW
    Talanta, 2015 Jan;131:590-6.
    PMID: 25281145 DOI: 10.1016/j.talanta.2014.08.037
    A new analytical method for the simultaneous determination of the antidiabetic drugs rosiglitazone (ROS) and metformin hydrochloride (MH) with marked differences in their affinity towards organic solvents (log P of 2.4 and -1.43, respectively) was developed. Prior to the HPLC separation, the drugs were subjected to a sequential hollow fiber liquid phase microextraction (HF-LPME) procedure. Two sequential HF-LPME approaches were considered, the preferred one involves the use of two vials containing solution mixtures for the extraction of ROS (vial 1) and MH (vial 2), respectively, but using the same fiber and acceptor phase. Important parameters that affect the extraction efficiency such as extracting solvent, donor phase conditions, HCl concentration, agitation, extraction time, addition of salt, etc. were studied. Under the optimum conditions, good enrichment factors (EF, 471 and 86.6 for ROS and MH, respectively) were achieved. Calibration curves were linear over the range 1-500 (r(2)=0.998) and 5-2500 ng mL(-1) (r(2)=0.999) for ROS and MH, respectively. The relative standard deviation values (RSD%) for six replicates were below 8.4%. Detection and quantitation limits based on S/N ratio of 3 and 10 were 0.12, 1.0 and 0.36, 3.0 ng mL(-1) for ROS and MH, respectively. The proposed method is simple, sensitive and opens up new opportunities for the microextraction of analytes with contrasting properties.
  15. Synthesis, Molecular Modeling, and Biological Evaluation of Novel 1, 3-Diphenyl-2-propen-1-one Based Pyrazolines as Anti-inflammatory Agents
    Bukhari SN, Zhang X, Jantan I, Zhu HL, Amjad MW, Masand VH
    Chem Biol Drug Des, 2015 Jun;85(6):729-42.
    PMID: 25328063 DOI: 10.1111/cbdd.12457
    A novel series of 1,3-diphenyl-2-propen-1-one (chalcone) derivatives was synthesized by a simple, eco-friendly, and efficient Claisen-Schmidt condensation reaction and used as precursors for the synthesis of new pyrazoline derivatives. All the synthesized compounds were screened for anti-inflammatory related activities such as inhibition of phospholipase A(2) (PLA(2)), cyclooxygenases (COX-1 and COX-2), IL-6, and TNF-α. The results of the above studies show that the compounds synthesized are effective inhibitors of above pro-inflammatory enzymes and cytokines. Overall, the results of the studies reveal that the pyrazolines with chlorophenyl substitution (1b-6b) seem to be important for inhibition of enzymes and cytokines. Molecular docking experiments were performed to clarify the molecular aspects of the observed COX-inhibitory activities of the investigated compounds.
  16. Combination of Er:YAG laser and CO2 laser treatment on skin tissue
    Anayb Baleg SM, Bidin N, Suan LP, Sidi Ahmad MF, Krishnan G, Johari AR, et al.
    Photochem Photobiol, 2015 Jan-Feb;91(1):134-8.
    PMID: 25327511 DOI: 10.1111/php.12369
    Skin is the most important organ in our body, as it protects us from external environmental effects. Study the ability of the skin to stretch and the histological examinations of irradiated tissues have significant values in scientific and medical applications. Only a few studies have been done to study the correlation between epidermis ablation and the changes that occur at dermal levels when using dual lasers in ablative resurfacing mode. The aim of this work is to determine this correlation and to estimate the effects of multiple pulses on induced collagen remodeling and the strength of skin exposed with dual lasers in an in vivo rat model. All laser exposures led to mark improvement in the skin's strength compared to their own controls. The histological investigation indicated that there was a thickness loss in the epidermis layer with the induction of deep collagen coagulation in the dermis layer as the dual laser pulses increased. Additionally, more collagen fibers were remolded in the treated samples by dual wavelengths. We conclude that by combining dual lasers with multiple pulses targeted at not only the epidermis layer of the skin, it could also induce some heat diffusion in the dermis layer which causes more coagulation of collagen fibers. The tensile results confirmed by our histological data demonstrate that the strength of irradiated skin with dual wavelengths increased more than using both lasers separately on the skin tissue since more collagen is induced.
  17. Fulltext A comparison study of portable foot-to-foot bioelectrical impedance scale to measure body fat percentage in Asian adults and children
    Sim PY, Su TT, Abd Majid H, Nahar AM, Jalaludin MY
    Biomed Res Int, 2014;2014:475659.
    PMID: 25258711 DOI: 10.1155/2014/475659
    To compare the measurements of body fat percentage (BF%) using the foot-to-foot bioelectrical impedance analysis (FTF-BIA) with the direct segmental multifrequency BIA (DSM-BIA).
  18. Fulltext Beliefs, attitudes and self-use of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, and Homeopathy medicines among senior pharmacy students: An exploratory insight from Andhra Pradesh, India
    Ahmad A, Khan MU, Kumar BD, Kumar GS, Rodriguez SP, Patel I
    Pharmacognosy Res, 2014 10 1;7(4):302-8.
    PMID: 26692742 DOI: 10.4103/0974-8490.158438
    OBJECTIVES: To assess the beliefs, attitudes and self-use of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, and Homeopathy (AYUSH) medicines among senior pharmacy students.

    METHODOLOGY: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study conducted among pharmacy students in four pharmacy schools located in Andhra Pradesh in South India. This study was conducted from the August to September 2014. The study population included all pharmacy students enrolled in Doctor of Pharmacy, Bachelor of Pharmacy and Diploma in Pharmacy programs in studied pharmacy schools. The pretested AYUSH survey had 8 questions on AYUSH related beliefs and 8 question on AYUSH related attitudes. The survey also asked participants about AYUSH related knowledge, frequency of use of AYUSH and the reason for using AYUSH. The data analysis was performed using SPSS Version 20. Chi-square test and Mann-Whitney U-test were employed to study the association between the independent and dependent variables.

    RESULTS: A total of 428 pharmacy students participated in the survey. 32.2% of the study population was females and 32.5% of the population resided in rural areas. Males were more likely to have positive beliefs about AYUSH when compared to females (odd ratio [OR] = 4.62, confidence interval [CI] = 2.37-8.99, P < 0.001). Similarly, students living in hostels were more positive in their beliefs about AYUSH compared with students living at home (OR = 2.14, CI = 1.12-4.07, P < 0.05). Students living in hostel also had a positive attitude about AYUSH use (OR = 1.74, CI = 1.03-2.93, P < 0.05).

    CONCLUSION: Pharmacy students held favorable attitude and beliefs about AYUSH use. This baseline survey provides important information about the pharmacy student's perception about AYUSH. Further research is needed to explore the reasons that shape the pharmacy student's beliefs and attitudes about AYUSH.

  19. Environment and air pollution: health services bequeath to grotesque menace
    Qureshi MI, Rasli AM, Awan U, Ma J, Ali G, Faridullah, et al.
    Environ Sci Pollut Res Int, 2015 Mar;22(5):3467-76.
    PMID: 25242593 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-014-3584-2
    The objective of the study is to establish the link between air pollution, fossil fuel energy consumption, industrialization, alternative and nuclear energy, combustible renewable and wastes, urbanization, and resulting impact on health services in Malaysia. The study employed two-stage least square regression technique on the time series data from 1975 to 2012 to possibly minimize the problem of endogeniety in the health services model. The results in general show that air pollution and environmental indicators act as a strong contributor to influence Malaysian health services. Urbanization and nuclear energy consumption both significantly increases the life expectancy in Malaysia, while fertility rate decreases along with the increasing urbanization in a country. Fossil fuel energy consumption and industrialization both have an indirect relationship with the infant mortality rate, whereas, carbon dioxide emissions have a direct relationship with the sanitation facility in a country. The results conclude that balancing the air pollution, environment, and health services needs strong policy vistas on the end of the government officials.
  20. Apoptotic activities of thymoquinone, an active ingredient of black seed (Nigella sativa), in cervical cancer cell lines
    Ichwan SJ, Al-Ani IM, Bilal HG, Suriyah WH, Taher M, Ikeda MA
    Chin J Physiol, 2014 Oct 31;57(5):249-55.
    PMID: 25241984 DOI: 10.4077/CJP.2014.BAB190
    Thymoquinone (TQ) is the main constituent of black seed (Nigella sativa, spp) essential oil which shows promising in vitro and in vivo anti-neoplastic activities in different tumor cell lines. However, to date there are only a few reports regarding the apoptotic effects of TQ on cervical cancer cells. Here, we report that TQ stimulated distinct apoptotic pathways in two human cervical cell lines, Siha and C33A. TQ markedly induced apoptosis as demonstrated by cell cycle analysis in both cell lines. Moreover, quantitative PCR revealed that TQ induced apoptosis in Siha cells through p53-dependent pathway as shown by elevated level of p53-mediated apoptosis target genes, whereas apoptosis in C33A cells was mainly associated with the activation of caspase-3. These results support previous findings on TQ as a potential therapeutic agent for human cervical cancer.
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