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  1. Fulltext Toward developing a sustainability index for the Islamic Social Finance program: An empirical investigation
    Widiastuti T, Prasetyo A, Robani A, Mawardi I, Rosida R, Al Mustofa MU
    PLoS One, 2022;17(11):e0276876.
    PMID: 36413519 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0276876
    Several previous studies state that the Islamic Social Finance program has not fully succeeded in creating prosperity, and there are no definite measurements to show the sustainability impact of the program. Thus, a measurement is needed to analyze various aspects in achieving the success and sustainability of Islamic social finance programs. This study developed an index for performance evaluation with an emphasis on the success and sustainability of the Islamic Social Finance program. The study used the Analytical Network Process to determine and analyze priority components. Furthermore, the Multistage Weighted Index method was used to calculate the final index score. The index was built by taking into consideration various factors, stakeholders, aspects, and indicators. This study indicates that aspects of funding contribution from donors (0.22), involvement of donors in giving advice (0.99), and controlling of supervisor (0.08) are priority aspects in the success and sustainability of the program. An empirical investigation was performed on three different programs in Indonesia: A, B, and C. Program A (0.81) and C (0.80) have succeeded in improving the beneficiaries' quality of life to the level of economic resilience, although at a low level of sustainability (76-84.33). On the other hand, program B (0.73) is at the economic reinforcement and has not yet achieved sustainability. This index can be seen as a comprehensive tool for measuring the success and sustainability of the program at several levels.
  2. Differentiation of osteoblasts: the links between essential transcription factors
    Khotib J, Marhaeny HD, Miatmoko A, Budiatin AS, Ardianto C, Rahmadi M, et al.
    J Biomol Struct Dyn, 2023 Nov;41(19):10257-10276.
    PMID: 36420663 DOI: 10.1080/07391102.2022.2148749
    Osteoblasts, cells derived from mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) in the bone marrow, are cells responsible for bone formation and remodeling. The differentiation of osteoblasts from MSCs is triggered by the expression of specific genes, which are subsequently controlled by pro-osteogenic pathways. Mature osteoblasts then differentiate into osteocytes and are embedded in the bone matrix. Dysregulation of osteoblast function can cause inadequate bone formation, which leads to the development of bone disease. Various key molecules are involved in the regulation of osteoblastogenesis, which are transcription factors. Previous studies have heavily examined the role of factors that control gene expression during osteoblastogenesis, both in vitro and in vivo. However, the systematic relationship of these transcription factors remains unknown. The involvement of ncRNAs in this mechanism, particularly miRNAs, lncRNAs, and circRNAs, has been shown to influence transcriptional factor activity in the regulation of osteoblast differentiation. Here, we discuss nine essential transcription factors involved in osteoblast differentiation, including Runx2, Osx, Dlx5, β-catenin, ATF4, Ihh, Satb2, and Shn3. In addition, we summarize the role of ncRNAs and their relationship to these essential transcription factors in order to improve our understanding of the transcriptional regulation of osteoblast differentiation. Adequate exploration and understanding of the molecular mechanisms of osteoblastogenesis can be a critical strategy in the development of therapies for bone-related diseases.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.
  3. Fulltext Diagnostic performance of two non-invasive biomarkers used individually and in sequential combination for cirrhosis associated with hepatitis C virus infection
    Suan MAM, Chan HK, Sem X, Shilton S, Hassan MRA
    Sci Rep, 2022 Nov 23;12(1):20153.
    PMID: 36418369 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-24612-9
    This cross-sectional study evaluated the performance of the Aspartate Aminotransferase-to-Platelet Ratio Index (APRI) and the Fibrosis-4 (FIB-4) Index when they were used individually and in sequential combination to diagnose cirrhosis associated with hepatitis C virus infection. The final evaluation involved 906 people living with hepatitis C. The diagnostic performance of individual biomarkers at cut-off scores of 1.5 and 2.0 for the APRI and at 3.25 for the FIB-4 index was assessed. For the sequential combination method, the cirrhosis status of individuals with an APRI score between 1.0 and 1.5 were reassessed using the FIB-4. Transient elastography (TE) was used as the reference standard for diagnosing cirrhosis. The APRI, at a cut-off score of 1.5, showed a sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) of 44.9%, 97.6%, 91.1% and 76.3%, respectively. Increasing the cut-off score to 2.0 produced a much lower sensitivity (29.6%) and NPV (71.9%). The FIB-4, at a cut-off score of 3.25, yielded a sensitivity, specificity, PPV and NPV of 40.8%, 97.3%, 89.1% and 75.0%, respectively. The sequential combination method demonstrated a much more optimal diagnostic performance (50.2% sensitivity, 96.6% specificity, 89.0% PPV and 77.9% NPV). Overall, the APRI and FIB-4 Index performed better in diagnosing cirrhosis associated with hepatitis C when they were used in sequential combination.
  4. Fulltext A computational classification method of breast cancer images using the VGGNet model
    Khan A, Khan A, Ullah M, Alam MM, Bangash JI, Suud MM
    Front Comput Neurosci, 2022;16:1001803.
    PMID: 36405784 DOI: 10.3389/fncom.2022.1001803
    Cancer is one of the most prevalent diseases worldwide. The most prevalent condition in women when aberrant cells develop out of control is breast cancer. Breast cancer detection and classification are exceedingly difficult tasks. As a result, several computational techniques, including k-nearest neighbor (KNN), support vector machine (SVM), multilayer perceptron (MLP), decision tree (DT), and genetic algorithms, have been applied in the current computing world for the diagnosis and classification of breast cancer. However, each method has its own limitations to how accurately it can be utilized. A novel convolutional neural network (CNN) model based on the Visual Geometry Group network (VGGNet) was also suggested in this study. The 16 layers in the current VGGNet-16 model lead to overfitting on the training and test data. We, thus, propose the VGGNet-12 model for breast cancer classification. The VGGNet-16 model has the problem of overfitting the breast cancer classification dataset. Based on the overfitting issues in the existing model, this research reduced the number of different layers in the VGGNet-16 model to solve the overfitting problem in this model. Because various models of the VGGNet, such as VGGNet-13 and VGGNet-19, were developed, this study proposed a new version of the VGGNet model, that is, the VGGNet-12 model. The performance of this model is checked using the breast cancer dataset, as compared to the CNN and LeNet models. From the simulation result, it can be seen that the proposed VGGNet-12 model enhances the simulation result as compared to the model used in this study. Overall, the experimental findings indicate that the suggested VGGNet-12 model did well in classifying breast cancer in terms of several characteristics.
  5. Fulltext Gelatin-based hemostatic agents for medical and dental application at a glance: A narrative literature review
    Irfan NI, Mohd Zubir AZ, Suwandi A, Haris MS, Jaswir I, Lestari W
    Saudi Dent J, 2022 Dec;34(8):699-707.
    PMID: 36570577 DOI: 10.1016/j.sdentj.2022.11.007
    Uncontrolled bleeding is linked to higher treatment costs, risk of post-surgical infection and increased disease and death. Hemostatic agents are used to treat excessive bleeding. A good hemostatic agent controls bleeding effectively, reduces the need for blood transfusion, removes the need for systemic drugs to control bleeding, results in shorter surgery time, and reduces the cost and length of hospital stay of the patient. Gelatin-based hemostatic agents have been widely used in medical and dental procedures, owing to their biodegradability and biocompatibility, as well as availability and low cost of raw materials. In this narrative literature review, we discuss the background and different types of gelatin-based hemostatic agents in medical and dental procedures, the comparison of gelatin-based and non-gelatin-based hemostatic agents, and the usage and development of enhanced or novel gelatin-based hemostatic agents. Gelatin-based hemostatic agents are effective and important part of bleeding control, as evidenced by its wide application in medicine and dentistry. The development of novel combination gelatin-based hemostatic agents has much potential for effective control of excessive bleeding.
  6. Fulltext Sequence, Secondary Structure, and Phylogenetic Conservation of MicroRNAs in Arabidopsis thaliana
    Mazhar MW, Yusof NY, Shaheen T, Saif S, Raza A, Mazhar F
    Bioinform Biol Insights, 2022;16:11779322221142116.
    PMID: 36570328 DOI: 10.1177/11779322221142116
    MicroRNAs are small non-coding RNA molecules that are produced in a cell endogenously. They are made up of 18 to 26 nucleotides in strength. Due to their evolutionary conserved nature, most of the miRNAs provide a logical basis for the prediction of novel miRNAs and their clusters in plants such as sunflowers related to the Asteraceae family. In addition, they participate in different biological processes of plants, including cell signaling and metabolism, development, growth, and tolerance to (biotic and abiotic) stresses. In this study profiling, conservation and characterization of novel miRNA possessing conserved nature in various plants and their targets annotation in sunflower (Asteraceae) were obtained by using various computational tools and software. As a result, we looked at 152 microRNAs in Arabidopsis thaliana that had already been predicted. Drought tolerance stress is mediated by these 152 non-coding RNAs. Following that, we used local alignment to predict novel microRNAs that were specific to Helianthus annuus. We used BLAST to do a local alignment, and we chose sequences with an identity of 80% to 100%. MIR156a, MIR164a, MIR165a, MIR170, MIR172a, MIR172b, MIR319a, MIR393a, MIR394a, MIR399a, MIR156h, and MIR414 are the new anticipated miRNAs. We used MFold to predict the secondary structure of new microRNAs. We used conservation analysis and phylogenetic analysis against a variety of organisms, including Gossypium hirsutum, H. annuus, A. thaliana, Triticum aestivum, Saccharum officinarum, Zea mays, Brassica napus, Solanum tuberosum, Solanum lycopersicum, and Oryza sativa, to determine the evolutionary history of these novel non-coding RNAs. Clustal W was used to analyze the evolutionary history of discovered miRNAs.
  7. Enantioselective dihydroxylation of xanthorrhizol from Curcuma xanthorrhiza via biotransformation using Aspergillus Niger
    Aminudin NI, Abdul Aziz AA, Zainal Abidin ZA, Susanti D, Taher M
    Nat Prod Res, 2024 May;38(9):1583-1590.
    PMID: 36577029 DOI: 10.1080/14786419.2022.2161543
    Biotransformation is acknowledged as one of the green chemistry methods to synthesis various analogues for further valorization of natural product compounds chemistry and bioactivities. It has huge advantage over chemical synthesis due to its cost-efficiency and higher selectivity. In this work, a xanthorrhizol derivatives, namely (7 R,10S)-10,11-dihydro-10,11-dihydroxyxanthorrhizol was produced in 60% yield from the biotransformation process utilizing A. niger. The structure of the compound was established by extensive spectroscopic methods and comparison with literature data. This biotransformation successfully afforded enantioselective dihydroxylation reaction via green chemistry route. This is the first report on both biotransformation of xanthorrhizol and utilization of A. niger as its biocatalyst.
  8. Oestrogen-induced epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in endometriosis: Aetiology of vaginal agenesis in Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser (MRKH) syndrome
    Lih Yuan T, Sulaiman N, Nur Azurah AG, Maarof M, Rabiatul Adawiyah Razali, Yazid MD
    Front Physiol, 2022;13:937988.
    PMID: 36582359 DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2022.937988
    Endometriosis occurs when endometrial-like tissue forms and grows outside the uterus due to oestrogen-induced epithelial-mesenchymal transition in the female reproductive tract. Factors that suppress this event could become potential therapeutic agents against disease occurrence and progression. However, an overview of these studies is still lacking. This review assessed the impact of a number factors on oestrogen-mediated epithelial-mesenchymal transition in the emergence of several diseases in the female reproductive tract, primarily endometriosis. The association between epithelial-mesenchymal transition and Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser (MRKH) syndrome was also investigated. Oestrogen, Wnt4 and epithelial-mesenchymal transition were chosen as keywords in Scopus, PubMed, and Web of Science searches performed on 28th June 2021. Study selection was refined to cancer-irrelevant, English, original articles published between years 2011-2021. The full-text assessment was carried out for topic-related articles after title and abstract screening. Included studies were summarised and assessed for their risk of bias using the Office of Health Assessment and Translation tool. In this review, 10 articles investigating oestrogen and epithelial-mesenchymal transition in the female reproductive tract were summarised and classified into two groups: seven studies under 'factor'-modulated epithelial-mesenchymal transition and three studies under 'factor'-manipulated oestrogen-induced epithelial-mesenchymal transition. The current evidence proposes that epithelial-mesenchymal transition is one of the prime causes of reproductive-related disease. This event could be mediated by distinct stimuli, specifically oestrogen and Wnt4 aberration. The results of this review suggest that oestrogen and Wnt4 participate in epithelial-mesenchymal transition in vaginal epithelial cells in MRKH syndrome, adopting from the theories of endometriosis development, which could therefore serve as a foundation for novel target treatment, specifically related to vaginal epithelialisation, to ensure better surgical outcomes.
  9. Anammox process for aquaculture wastewater treatment: operational condition, mechanism, and future prospective
    Ismail IN, Taufik M, Umor NA, Norulhuda MR, Zulkarnaini Z, Ismail S
    Water Sci Technol, 2022 Dec;86(12):3093-3112.
    PMID: 36579872 DOI: 10.2166/wst.2022.403
    Treatment of ammonia- and nitrate-rich wastewater, such as that generated in the aquaculture industry, is important to prevent environmental pollution. The anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) process has been reported as a great alternative in reducing ammoniacal nitrogen concentration in aquaculture wastewater treatment compared to conventional treatment systems. This paper will highlight the impact of the anammox process on aquaculture wastewater, particularly in the regulation of ammonia and nitrogen compounds. The state of the art for anammox treatment systems is discussed in comparison to other available treatment methods. While the anammox process is viable for the treatment of aquaculture wastewater, the efficiency of nitrogen removal could be further improved through the proper use of anammox bacteria, operating conditions, and microbial diversity. In conclusion, a new model of the anammox process is proposed in this review.
  10. Fulltext ReSTiNet: An Efficient Deep Learning Approach to Improve Human Detection Accuracy
    Sumit SS, Rambli DRA, Mirjalili S, Miah MSU, Ejaz MM
    MethodsX, 2023;10:101936.
    PMID: 36578294 DOI: 10.1016/j.mex.2022.101936
    Human detection is an important task in computer vision. It is one of the most important tasks in global security and safety monitoring. In recent days, Deep Learning has improved human detection technology. Despite modern techniques, there are very few optimal techniques to construct networks with a small size, deep architecture, and fast training time while maintaining accuracy. ReSTiNet is a novel small convolutional neural network that overcomes the problems of network size, detection speed, and accuracy. The developed ReSTiNet contains fire modules by evaluating their number and position in the network to minimize the model parameters and network size. To improve the detection speed and accuracy of ReSTiNet, the residual block within the fire modules is carefully designed to increase the feature propagation and maximize the information flow in the network. The developed approach compresses the well-known Tiny-YOLO architecture while improving the following features: (i) small model size, (ii) faster detection speed, (iii) resolution of overfitting, and (iv) better performance than other compact networks such as SqueezeNet and MobileNet in terms of mAP on the Pascal VOC and MS COCO datasets. ReSTiNet is 10.7 MB, five times smaller than Tiny-YOLO. On Tesla k80, mAP is 27.3% for MS COCO and 63.74% for PASCAL VOC. The validation of the proposed ReSTiNet model has been done on INRIA person dataset using the Tesla K80.•All the necessary steps, algorithms, and mathematical formulas for building the net- work are provided.•The network is small in size but has a faster detection speed with high accuracy.
  11. Fulltext Effectiveness and safety of early versus late caffeine therapy in managing apnoea of prematurity among preterm infants: a retrospective cohort study
    Yun WZ, Kassab YW, Yao LM, Khairuddin N, Ming LC, Hadi MA
    Int J Clin Pharm, 2022 Oct;44(5):1140-1148.
    PMID: 35915341 DOI: 10.1007/s11096-022-01437-0
    BACKGROUND: Early administration of intravenous (IV) caffeine (initiation within 2 days of life) is an effective treatment strategy for the management of apnoea of prematurity among infants. However, the safety and effectiveness of early administration of oral caffeine treatment is not be fully established.

    AIM: We aimed to compare the effectiveness and safety of early versus late caffeine therapy on preterm infants' clinical outcomes.

    METHOD: A retrospective matched cohort study was conducted using data of patients admitted to neonatal intensive care units of two tertiary care hospitals between January 2016 and December 2018. The clinical outcomes and mortality risk between early caffeine (initiation within 2 days of life) and late caffeine (initiation ≥ 3 days of life) were compared.

    RESULTS: Ninety-five pairs matched based on gestational age were included in the study. Compared to late initiation, preterm infants with early caffeine therapy had: a shorter duration of non-invasive mechanical ventilation (median 5 days vs. 12 days; p 

  12. Impact of age and breast thickness on mean glandular dose of standard digital mammography and digital breast tomosynthesis
    Norsuddin NM, Mei Sin JG, Ravintaran R, Arasaratnam S, Abdul Karim MK
    Appl Radiat Isot, 2023 Feb;192:110525.
    PMID: 36436228 DOI: 10.1016/j.apradiso.2022.110525
    This study compares the mean glandular dose (MGD) across 2D, 3D projection and Contrast-Enhanced Digital Mammography (CEDM) mammographic techniques. The important metadata were extracted from the digital mammography console. 650 subjects were clustered based on projections, age and CBT. The MGD of 2D, 3D, and CEDM was positively correlated with CBT but inversely correlated with the age factor. This study indicate MGD of CEDM was 16% and 22% lower compared to 2D and 3D techniques, respectively.
  13. Fulltext Recent Progress of Electrode Architecture for MXene/MoS2 Supercapacitor: Preparation Methods and Characterizations
    Kosnan MA, Azam MA, Safie NE, Munawar RF, Takasaki A
    Micromachines (Basel), 2022 Oct 27;13(11).
    PMID: 36363860 DOI: 10.3390/mi13111837
    Since their discovery, MXenes have conferred various intriguing features because of their distinctive structures. Focus has been placed on using MXenes in electrochemical energy storage including a supercapacitor showing significant and promising development. However, like other 2D materials, MXene layers unavoidably experience stacking agglomeration because of its great van der Waals forces, which causes a significant loss of electrochemically active sites. With the help of MoS2, a better MXene-based electrodecan is planned to fabricate supercapacitors with the remarkable electrochemical performance. The synthesis of MXene/MoS2 and the ground effects of supercapacitors are currently being analysed by many researchers internationally. The performance of commercial supercapacitors might be improved via electrode architecture. This analysis will support the design of MXene and MoS2 hybrid electrodes for highly effective supercapacitors. Improved electrode capacitance, voltage window and energy density are discussed in this literature study. With a focus on the most recent electrochemical performance of both MXene and MoS2-based electrodes and devices, this review summarises recent developments in materials synthesis and its characterisation. It also helps to identify the difficulties and fresh possibilities MXenes MoS2 and its hybrid heterostructure in this developing field of energy storage. Future choices for constructing supercapacitors will benefit from this review. This review examines the newest developments in MXene/MoS2 supercapacitors, primarily focusing on compiling literature from 2017 through 2022. This review also presents an overview of the design (structures), recent developments, and challenges of the emerging electrode materials, with thoughts on how well such materials function electrochemically in supercapacitors.
  14. Fulltext Phytochemicals and Biological Activities of Garcinia atroviridis: A Critical Review
    Shahid M, Law D, Azfaralariff A, Mackeen MM, Chong TF, Fazry S
    Toxics, 2022 Oct 29;10(11).
    PMID: 36355947 DOI: 10.3390/toxics10110656
    Garcinia atriviridis Griff ex T. Anders (G. atroviridis) is one of the well-known species of the genus Garicinia that is native to Thailand, Myanmar, Peninsular Malaysia, and India. G. atroviridis is a perennial medium-sized tree that has a wide range of values, from food to medicinal use. Different parts of G. atroviridis are a great source of bioactive substances that have a positive impact on health. The extracts or bioactive constituents from G. atroviridis have demonstrated various therapeutic functions, including antioxidant, antimicrobial, anticancer, anti-inflammatory, antihyperlipidemic, and anti-diabetic. In this paper, we provide a critical review of G. atroviridis and its bioactive constituents in the prevention and treatment of different diseases, which will provide new insight to explore its putative domains of research.
  15. Fulltext Microwave brain imaging system to detect brain tumor using metamaterial loaded stacked antenna array
    Hossain A, Islam MT, Beng GK, Kashem SBA, Soliman MS, Misran N, et al.
    Sci Rep, 2022 Oct 01;12(1):16478.
    PMID: 36183039 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-20944-8
    In this paper, proposes a microwave brain imaging system to detect brain tumors using a metamaterial (MTM) loaded three-dimensional (3D) stacked wideband antenna array. The antenna is comprised of metamaterial-loaded with three substrate layers, including two air gaps. One 1 × 4 MTM array element is used in the top layer and middle layer, and one 3 × 2 MTM array element is used in the bottom layer. The MTM array elements in layers are utilized to enhance the performance concerning antenna's efficiency, bandwidth, realized gain, radiation directionality in free space and near the head model. The antenna is fabricated on cost-effective Rogers RT5880 and RO4350B substrate, and the optimized dimension of the antenna is 50 × 40 × 8.66 mm3. The measured results show that the antenna has a fractional bandwidth of 79.20% (1.37-3.16 GHz), 93% radiation efficiency, 98% high fidelity factor, 6.67 dBi gain, and adequate field penetration in the head tissue with a maximum of 0.0018 W/kg specific absorption rate. In addition, a 3D realistic tissue-mimicking head phantom is fabricated and measured to verify the performance of the antenna. Later, a nine-antenna array-based microwave brain imaging (MBI) system is implemented and investigated by using phantom model. After that, the scattering parameters are collected, analyzed, and then processed by the Iteratively Corrected delay-multiply-and-sum algorithm to detect and reconstruct the brain tumor images. The imaging results demonstrated that the implemented MBI system can successfully detect the target benign and malignant tumors with their locations inside the brain.
  16. Ovarian tissue cryopreservation in Malaysia: a case series
    Mat Jin N, Ahmad SM, Mohd Faizal A, Abdul Karim AKB, Abu MA
    Horm Mol Biol Clin Investig, 2022 Dec 01;43(4):469-474.
    PMID: 35545610 DOI: 10.1515/hmbci-2021-0096
    OBJECTIVES: We aim to discuss the hematological cancer cases that opted for ovarian tissue cryopreservation (OTC) as fertility preservation before the gonadotoxic chemotherapy agent.

    CASE PRESENTATION: The ovarian tissue cryopreservation (OTC) was started in August 2020 in our center. Up to now, there were four cases have been performed and included in this report. The ovarian tissue cortex was cryopreserved with cryoprotectant using Kitazato™ (Tokyo, Japan) media and fit in the closed system devices. A total of four post-OTC patients were included. The mean age was 24 years old, whereas the mean serum AMH level was 30.43 pmol/L. Most of them were diagnosed with lymphoma, except one was leukemia. All of them received additional GnRH analog following OTC as a chemoprotective agent before cancer treatment. Currently, they are recovering well and on regular follow-up with the hematological department.

    CONCLUSIONS: Although The OTC is an ultimate option for prepubertal girls, it can be proposed as a good strategy for adult cancer women who could not delay cancer therapy.

  17. Fulltext In Vitro Assessment on Designing Novel Antibiofilms of Pseudomonas aeruginosa Using a Computational Approach
    Rachmawati D, Fahmi MZ, Abdjan MI, Wasito EB, Siswanto I, Mazlan N, et al.
    Molecules, 2022 Dec 15;27(24).
    PMID: 36558064 DOI: 10.3390/molecules27248935
    An anti-biofilm that can inhibit the matrix of biofilm formation is necessary to prevent recurrent and chronic Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection. This study aimed to design compounds with a new mechanism through competitive inhibitory activity against phosphomannomutase/phosphoglucomutase (PMM/PGM), using in vitro assessment and a computational (in silico) approach. The active site of PMM/PGM was assessed through molecular redocking using L-tartaric acid as the native ligand and other small molecules, such as glucaric acid, D-sorbitol, and ascorbic acid. The docking program set the small molecules to the active site, showing a stable complex formation. Analysis of structural similarity, bioavailability, absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion, and toxicity properties proved the potential application of ligands as an anti-biofilm. In vitro assessment with crystal violet showed that the ligands could reach up to 95.87% inhibition at different concentrations. The nitrocellulose membrane and scanning electron microscopic visualization showed that the untreated P. aeruginosa biofilm was denser than the ligand-treated biofilm.
  18. Fulltext Advancing the discourse of Muslim politics in Indonesia: A study on political orientation of Kiai as religious elites in Nahdlatul Ulama
    Yani MT, Mahfud C, Rangga Sa'adillah SAP, Bustami MR, Maskuri, Taufiq A
    Heliyon, 2022 Dec;8(12):e12218.
    PMID: 36544840 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e12218
    The present study was designed to investigate the political interactions of Kiai of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) in the national political arena and its current impact on the Indonesian Muslim community. The data were garnered through interviews and focus group discussions with Kiai and related parties. The results of the study suggest that the political orientation of the Kiai of NU in Indonesia is oriented to pragmatism and oriented to piety idealism in politics based on Islamic ethics. The Kiai, as a symbol of religious leaders, is expected to lead the Muslim community on a political path that is valuable and morally based. The phenomenon of Kiai interaction in practical politics is a significant leap and break that should be translated into a more comprehensive political perspective on social and historical aspects. The study findings implicate that Kiai as a religious figure, should be put on the front row for Indonesian political discourses among Nahdlatul Ulama followers.
  19. Fulltext Prevalence of Metabolic Syndrome and its Associated Risk Factors in Pediatric Obesity
    Wan Mahmud Sabri WMN, Mohamed RZ, Yaacob NM, Hussain S
    J ASEAN Fed Endocr Soc, 2022;37(1):24-30.
    PMID: 35800595 DOI: 10.15605/jafes.037.01.05
    OBJECTIVE: We aimed to study the prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) and the factors associated with metabolic syndrome among obese children.

    METHODOLOGY: We recruited 175 subjects, aged 7 to 18 years old, referred for obesity. We studied their demography (age, gender, ethnicity, family background), performed clinical/auxological examinations [weight, height, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), blood pressure (BP)], and analyzed their biochemical risks associated with metabolic syndrome [fasting plasma glucose (FPG), fasting lipid profile (FLP), fasting insulin, liver function tests (LFT)]. MetS was identified according to the criteria proposed by the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) for pediatric obesity. Multiple logistic regression models were used to examine the associations between risk variables and MetS.

    RESULTS: The prevalence of metabolic syndrome among children with obesity was 56% (95% CI: 48.6 to 63.4%), with a mean age of 11.3 ± 2.73 years. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed age [adjusted odds ratio (OR) 1.27, 95% CI: 1.15 to 1.45] and sedentary lifestyle (adjusted OR 3.57, 95% CI: 1.48 to 8.59) were the significant factors associated with metabolic syndrome among obese children.

    CONCLUSION: The prevalence of metabolic syndrome among obese children referred to our centers was 56%. Older age group, male gender, birth weight, sedentary lifestyle, puberty and maternal history of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) were found to be associated with MetS. However, older age group and sedentary lifestyle were the only significant predictors for metabolic syndrome.

  20. Inhibitory influence of amino acids on the formation kinetics of methane hydrates in oil-water and oil-brine systems
    Almashwali AA, Khan MS, Lal B, Jin QC, Sabil KM, Khor SF
    Chemosphere, 2023 Jan;312(Pt 2):137325.
    PMID: 36423723 DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.137325
    This experimental study evaluates the inhibition performance of kinetic hydrates inhibitors (KHIs) of three amino acids, namely: glycine, proline, and alanine. It includes the performance comparison with the conventional inhibitor i.e., polyvinyl pyrrolidine (PVP) on methane (CH4) hydrate in oil systems in two different systems, i.e., deionized and brine water systems. The experiments were conducted in a high-pressure hydrate reactor replicating subsea pipeline conditions, i.e., the temperature of 274 K, pressure 8 MPa, and concentration of 1 wt%, by applying the isochoric cooling technique. The formation kinetics results suggest that all the studied amino acids effectively worked as kinetic inhibitors by potentially delaying CH4 hydrate formations due to their steric hindrance abilities. The interesting phenomenon was observed that the different studied amino acids behave differently in the brine-oil and deionized water-oil systems due to their side chain interaction. In a deionized water-oil system, glycine gives the highest inhibition performance by reducing the hydrate formation risk. On the contrary, in the brine-oil system, proline showed a significant inhibition effect. It should be noted that both glycine and proline were giving almost similar inhibition performance compared to the conventional hydrate inhibitor PVP, however glycine and proline significantly reduced CH4 consumption into hydrate due to their high surface active under CH4 conditions, which strengths the surface tension of the liquid/CH4 interface. Furthermore, according to the findings, it shows that increased side alkyl chain lengths of amino acids increase the efficacy of their kinetic hydration inhibition performance due to better surface adsorption abilities. The amino acids' ability to suppress growth is also linked strongly with hydrophobicity and alkyl side chain length. The findings of this study contribute significantly to current efforts to limit gas hydrate formation in offshore pipelines, particularly in oil-dominant pipelines.
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