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Fulltext Maintenance vitamin D3 dosage requirements in Chinese women with post menopausal osteoporosis living in the tropics

Venugopal Y, Hatta SFWM, Musa N, Rahman SA, Ratnasingam J, Paramasivam SS, et al.

Asia Pac J Clin Nutr, 2017 May;26(3):412-420.
PMID: 28429905 DOI: 10.6133/apjcn.042016.10

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol) dose required to maintain sufficiency in non- Caucasian women with postmenopausal osteoporosis (PMO) inthe tropics has not been well studied. Some guidelines mandate 800-1000 IU vitamin D/day but the Endocrine Society (US) advocates 1500-2000 IU/day to maintain 25-hydroxyvitamin-D (25(OH)D) concentration at >75 nmol/L. We aimed to establish oral cholecalciferol dose required to maintain 25(OH)D concentration at >75 nmol/L in PMO Chinese Malaysian women, postulating lower dose requirements amongst light-skinned subjects in the tropics.

METHODS AND STUDY DESIGN: 90 Chinese Malaysian PMO women in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (2°30'N) with baseline serum 25(OH)D levels >=50 nmol/L were recruited. Prior vitamin D supplements were discontinued and subjects randomized to oral cholecalciferol 25,000 IU/4-weekly (Group-A) or 50,000 IU/4-weekly (Group- B) for 16 weeks, administered under direct observation. Serum 25(OH)D, PTH, serum/urinary calcium were measured at baseline, 8 and 16 weeks.

RESULTS: Baseline characteristics, including osteoporosis severity, sun exposure (~3 hours/week), and serum 25(OH)D did not differ between treatment arms. After 16 weeks, 91% of women sufficient at baseline, remained sufficient on 25,000 IU/4-weekly compared with 97% on 50,000 IU/4-weekly with mean serum 25(OH)D 108.1±20.4 and 114.7±18.4 SD nmol/L respectively (p=0.273). At trial's end, 39% and 80% of insufficient women at baseline attained sufficiency in Group A and Group B (p=0.057). Neither dose was associated with hyperparathyroidism or toxicity.

CONCLUSIONS: Despite pretrial vitamin D supplementation and adequate sun exposure, 25.6% Chinese Malaysian PMO women were vitamin D insufficient indicating sunshine alone cannot ensure sufficiency in the tropics. Both ~900 IU/day and ~1800 IU/day cholecalciferol can safely maintain vitamin D sufficiency in >90% of Chinese Malaysian PMO women. Higher doses are required with baseline concentration <75 nmol/L.
Lack of association between expression of MRP2 and early relapse of colorectal cancer in patients receiving FOLFOX-4 chemotherapy

Mirakhorli M, Shayanfar N, Rahman SA, Rosli R, Abdullah S, Khoshzaban A

Oncol Lett, 2012 Nov;4(5):893-897.
PMID: 23162618

Recurrence following failure of chemotherapy limits the application of high doses of anticancer drugs currently used for eliminating cancerous cells. It has been identified that ATP-binding cassette (ABC) multidrug transporters are associated with chemoresistance, which is a major obstacle in cancer therapy. The present study aimed to investigate the association of pretherapeutic multidrug resistance-associated protein 2 (MRP2) expression with response to chemotherapy in stage II/III colorectal cancer (CRC). Protein expression was determined by immunohistochemical analysis of 50 archival samples from patients who had not received preoperative chemotherapy and radiotherapy. All patients were treated with 5-fluorouracil/leucovorin (FL) plus oxaliplatin (FOLFOX-4) regimen for 6 months following curative resection. During the 12 months of follow-up, local and distant recurrences were observed in 15 (30%) cases, of which 5 occurred at the time of chemotherapy. MRP2 expression was observed in 24 (48%) and 7 (14%) cases in the tumor tissues and matched normal tissues, respectively. A significant difference was observed between the positive expression frequency in the tumor tissues compared to the surrounding normal mucosa (P=0.003). The incidence of recurrence and metastasis for patients in the MRP2-positive group was lower than that in the MRP2-negative group (P>0.05); however, all 5 cases who demonstrated recurrence during their treatment were MRP2-positive (P=0.022). MRP2 expression was not correlated with the clinicopathological markers in this group of patients. Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed that MRP2 expression was not associated with a shorter disease-free survival or overall survival of patients (P>0.05). The results of this study indicated that MRP2 is overexpressed in the course of CRC development and progression. However, expression of MRP2 was not associated with recurrence of patients treated with FL and oxaliplatin in the population studied.
Fulltext Ketamine Infusion in a Resistant Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Patient in Bangladesh with Severe Suicidal Ideation: A Case Report

Algin S, Banik D, Rahman SA, Mahmud Tusher S, Tuj Johora F, Akter A, et al.

Cureus, 2024 Apr;16(4):e57877.
PMID: 38596207 DOI: 10.7759/cureus.57877

Treatment of resistant obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) typically results in insufficient symptom alleviation, and even long-term medication often fails to have the intended effect. Ketamine is a potent non-competitive antagonist of the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor. Studies have shown that low-dose ketamine infusion results in a considerable reduction in obsessive-compulsive symptoms and a rapid resolution of suicidal ideation. This is a case report on the effect of intravenous ketamine infusion on a patient with resistant OCD and severe suicidal ideation. Intravenous (IV) ketamine was given once a week over consecutive three weeks with necessary precautions. Psychometric tools such as the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS), the Clinical Global Impressions Scale (CGI-S), the Beck Scale for Suicidal Ideations (BSSI), and Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale 21 (DASS-21) were applied before and after infusions. Obsessive-compulsive symptoms and suicidal severity started to decrease rapidly after the first infusion. However, after a transient improvement, these symptoms again began to increase after a stressful incident on the second day of the first infusion. All the symptoms measured by validated rating scales showed continued improvement after the following two infusions. The improvement was sustained until discharge (one week after the last infusion) and subsequent follow-up in the sixth and 12th weeks. The role of ketamine in reducing suicidal thoughts and behavior is already established. Very few studies emphasized its effectiveness in improving severe/resistant obsessive-compulsive symptoms. This pioneering work may offer scope for similar research in the relevant field.
Increased protein expression of p16 and cyclin D1 in squamous cell carcinoma tissues

Eshkoor SA, Ismail P, Rahman SA, Mirinargesi M, Oshkour SA

Biosci Trends, 2009 Jun;3(3):105-9.
PMID: 20103831

Abnormalities of Rb-pathway components are common in the formation of cancer. The immunostaining for cyclin D1 and p16 protein was applied on 1 mm serial tissue microarray (TMA) paraffin sections. Tissue microarray (TMAs) is potentially a good method to find the molecular features of the genes and expressions of them. The aim of this study was to evaluate the protein expressions of cyclin D1 and p16 genes in squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs) of skin and compare with the normal skin tissue. Twenty-five cases of cutaneous SCCs expressed cyclin D1 and p16 proteins. All SCCs samples on the slides showed positive protein expressions of cyclin D1 and p16 genes. Our findings suggested that the increased protein expressions of cyclin D1 and p16 genes might lead to aberrant expressions of these proteins in the affected tumor cells. This study demonstrated that cell cycle controlled deregulation and uncontrolled cell cycle progression might result in the carcinogenesis.
Fulltext High-risk human papillomavirus in the oral cavity of women with cervical cancer, and their children

Saini R, Khim TP, Rahman SA, Ismail M, Tang TH

Virol J, 2010;7:131.
PMID: 20550718 DOI: 10.1186/1743-422X-7-131

Association of High-risk Human Papillomavirus (HR-HPV) with oral cancer has been established recently. Detecting these viruses in oral cavity is important to prevent oral lesions related to them. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of HR-HPV in the oral cavity of women with cervical cancer, and their children. A total of 70 women, previously diagnosed with cervical cancer, and 46 children of these women, born by vaginal delivery only, were selected for this study. Buccal swabs were collected from their oral cavity and HPV detection was carried out using Hybrid Capture 2 high-risk HPV (HC2 HR-HPV) detection system.
Fulltext Hierarchical Si/ZnO trunk-branch nanostructure for photocurrent enhancement

Dee CF, Chong SK, Rahman SA, Omar FS, Huang NM, Majlis BY, et al.

Nanoscale Res Lett, 2014;9(1):469.
PMID: 25246872 DOI: 10.1186/1556-276X-9-469

Hierarchical Si/ZnO trunk-branch nanostructures (NSs) have been synthesized by hot wire assisted chemical vapor deposition method for trunk Si nanowires (NWs) on indium tin oxide (ITO) substrate and followed by the vapor transport condensation (VTC) method for zinc oxide (ZnO) nanorods (NRs) which was laterally grown from each Si nanowires (NWs). A spin coating method has been used for zinc oxide (ZnO) seeding. This method is better compared with other group where they used sputtering method for the same process. The sputtering method only results in the growth of ZnO NRs on top of the Si trunk. Our method shows improvement by having the growth evenly distributed on the lateral sides and caps of the Si trunks, resulting in pine-leave-like NSs. Field emission scanning electron microscope image shows the hierarchical nanostructures resembling the shape of the leaves of pine trees. Single crystalline structure for the ZnO branch grown laterally from the crystalline Si trunk has been identified by using a lattice-resolved transmission electron microscope. A preliminary photoelectrochemical (PEC) cell testing has been setup to characterize the photocurrent of sole array of ZnO NR growth by both hydrothermal-grown (HTG) method and VTC method on ITO substrates. VTC-grown ZnO NRs showed greater photocurrent effect due to its better structural properties. The measured photocurrent was also compared with the array of hierarchical Si/ZnO trunk-branch NSs. The cell with the array of Si/ZnO trunk-branch NSs revealed four-fold magnitude enhancement in photocurrent density compared with the sole array of ZnO NRs obtain from VTC processes.
Fulltext Gene transfer into the lung by nanoparticle dextran-spermine/plasmid DNA complexes

Abdullah S, Wendy-Yeo WY, Hosseinkhani H, Hosseinkhani M, Masrawa E, Ramasamy R, et al.

J Biomed Biotechnol, 2010;2010:284840.
PMID: 20617146 DOI: 10.1155/2010/284840

A novel cationic polymer, dextran-spermine (D-SPM), has been found to mediate gene expression in a wide variety of cell lines and in vivo through systemic delivery. Here, we extended the observations by determining the optimal conditions for gene expression of D-SPM/plasmid DNA (D-SPM/pDNA) in cell lines and in the lungs of BALB/c mice via instillation delivery. In vitro studies showed that D-SPM could partially protect pDNA from degradation by nuclease and exhibited optimal gene transfer efficiency at D-SPM to pDNA weight-mixing ratio of 12. In the lungs of mice, the levels of gene expression generated by D-SPM/pDNA are highly dependent on the weight-mixing ratio of D-SPM to pDNA, amount of pDNA in the complex, and the assay time postdelivery. Readministration of the complex at day 1 following the first dosing showed no significant effect on the retention and duration of gene expression. The study also showed that there was a clear trend of increasing size of the complexes as the amount of pDNA was increased, where the sizes of the D-SPM/pDNA complexes were within the nanometer range.
Fulltext Food intakes and habits of rural elderly Malays

Shahar S, Earland J, Rahman SA

Asia Pac J Clin Nutr, 2000 Jun;9(2):122-9.
PMID: 24394398

A cross-sectional nutritional survey was carried out on 350 elderly Malays aged 60 and above from 11 randomly selected villages in a rural area on the east coast of Malaysia. The findings indicated that the mean intakes of energy and of all of the nutrients investigated were below the Malaysian Recommended Dietary Allowances, except for protein and vitamin C. With respect to dietary habits, almost all of the subjects reported that they had breakfast (99.3%), lunch (97.9%) and dinner (90.4%) daily or almost daily (5-6 times/week). However, approximately half of the subjects, especially women, had particular beliefs and prohibitions about specific foods. Most of the subjects usually ate their meals at home, particularly dinner, with 99.3% always having dinner in their own home. Thus, although the rural elderly Malays studied had regular meal intakes, the dietary intake was inadequate. There is a need to plan community-based intervention programmes in order to prevent the subsequent consequences of malnutrition that lead to increased morbidity and mortality.
Fulltext Floating teeth appearance: A radiographic dilemma

Rahman NA, Harun MH, Rahman SA, Mohammad NSA

J Taibah Univ Med Sci, 2020 Apr;15(2):160-165.
PMID: 32368214 DOI: 10.1016/j.jtumed.2020.02.005

Gorham disease (GD) is an extremely rare disorder that is characterised by massive osteolysis of the affected bone with unknown aetiology and an unpredictable prognosis. Additionally, no standard treatment is available for GD. This article describes a case report of a 61-year-old Malay woman who was diagnosed with GD of the anterior mandible without a prior history of trauma. She presented with pain and mobility of the dentoalveolar segment for 3 months. The radiographic findings showed "floating teeth" with widening of the periodontal ligament space and localized area of bony destruction. Histopathologically, there was proliferation of numerous dilated endothelial-lined channels within the intertrabecular tissue. Some areas of bone were replaced by fibrous connective tissue giving rise to the appearance of a benign fibroosseous lesion. The patient was managed with simple removal of the affected bone segment under local anaesthesia, followed by prosthodontic rehabilitation. Healing of the surgical site was uneventful, and no recurrence was reported at the 3-year follow-up.
Fulltext Factors influencing mHealth adoption and its impact on mental well-being during COVID-19 pandemic: A SEM-ANN approach

Alam MMD, Alam MZ, Rahman SA, Taghizadeh SK

J Biomed Inform, 2021 Apr;116:103722.
PMID: 33705856 DOI: 10.1016/j.jbi.2021.103722

The objectives of this study are to examine the factors affecting the intention and actual usage behavior on mHealth adoption, investigate the effect of actual usage behavior of mHealth on mental well-being of the end-users, and investigate the moderating role of self-quarantine on the intention-actual usage of mHealth under the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic situation. The required primary data were gathered from the end-users of mHealth in Bangladesh. Using the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT2), this study has confirmed that performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, hedonic motivation, and facilitating conditions have a positive influence on behavioral intention whereas health consciousness has an impact on both intention and actual usage behavior. mHealth usage behavior has an affirmative and meaningful effect on the mental well-being of the service users. Moreover, self-quarantine has strong influence on actual usage behavior but does not moderate the intention-behavior relationship. In addition, due to the existence of a non-linearity problem in the data set, the Artificial Neural Network (ANN) approach was engaged to sort out relatively significant predictors acquired from Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). However, this study contributes to the emergent mHealth literature by revealing how the use of the mHealth services elevates the quality of patients' mental well-being under this pandemic situation.
Fulltext Epidemiology of Maxillofacial Fractures at a Teaching Hospital in Malaysia: A Retrospective Study

Abosadegh MM, Saddki N, Al-Tayar B, Rahman SA

Biomed Res Int, 2019;2019:9024763.
PMID: 30895196 DOI: 10.1155/2019/9024763

Background/Aim: Epidemiology of maxillofacial fractures (MFF) varies between populations. This study investigated the epidemiology of MFF treated at the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery (OMFS) Unit, Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM).
Methods: A retrospective review of 473 medical records of patients with MFF treated from June 2013 to December 2015 was conducted. Information on demographic characteristics of patients, aetiology of injury, types of MFF, and treatment was obtained. Descriptive analysis, Pearson's chi-squared test, and multiple logistic regression analysis were conducted. The level of significance was set at 0.05.
Results: Most patients treated for MFF were males (82.2%), aged 30 and below (63.1%), and from Malay ethnic (97.4%). Road traffic accident was the most common cause of MFF (83.1%), with motorcycle accident accounting for most injuries (73.6%). Orbital wall fracture was the most frequent MFF type (51.2%). About half of MFF patients (51.4%) were treated conservatively. Patients aged more than 20 years old were at higher odds of sustaining orbital wall fracture (AOR= 1.76; 95% CI: 1.214-2.558; P= 0.003) but were at lower odds of sustaining mandibular fracture (AOR= 0.47; 95% CI: 0.315-0.695; P= 0.001) than patients who are 20 years old and younger. Helmet use among motorcyclists was significantly associated with the nasal, orbital wall, and maxillary sinus wall fractures (P= 0.006, 0.010, and 0.004, respectively).
Conclusion: Motorcycle accident was the most common cause of MFF in Kelantan, Malaysia. Ages of patient and helmet use were associated with the type of MFF sustained. This study provides important information to facilitate the planning of MFF prevention strategies among motorcyclists and emphasizes the importance of using a helmet when riding a motorcycle.
Fulltext Electrical characterization of gold-DNA-gold structures in presence of an external magnetic field by means of I-V curve analysis

Khatir NM, Banihashemian SM, Periasamy V, Ritikos R, Majid WHA, Rahman SA

Sensors (Basel), 2012;12(3):3578-3586.
PMID: 22737025 DOI: 10.3390/s120303578

This work presents an experimental study of gold-DNA-gold structures in the presence and absence of external magnetic fields with strengths less than 1,200.00 mT. The DNA strands, extracted by standard method were used to fabricate a Metal-DNA-Metal (MDM) structure. Its electric behavior when subjected to a magnetic field was studied through its current-voltage (I-V) curve. Acquisition of the I-V curve demonstrated that DNA as a semiconductor exhibits diode behavior in the MDM structure. The current versus magnetic field strength followed a decreasing trend because of a diminished mobility in the presence of a low magnetic field. This made clear that an externally imposed magnetic field would boost resistance of the MDM structure up to 1,000.00 mT and for higher magnetic field strengths we can observe an increase in potential barrier in MDM junction. The magnetic sensitivity indicates the promise of using MDM structures as potential magnetic sensors.
Educating medical students in oral health care: current curriculum and future needs of institutions in Malaysia and Australia

Ahmad MS, Abuzar MA, Razak IA, Rahman SA, Borromeo GL

Eur J Dent Educ, 2017 Nov;21(4):e29-e38.
PMID: 27273317 DOI: 10.1111/eje.12211

Poor oral health has been associated with compromised general health and quality of life. To promote comprehensive patient management, the role of medical professionals in oral health maintenance is compelling, thus indicating the need for educational preparation in this area of practice. This study aimed to determine the extent of training in oral health in Malaysian and Australian medical schools. An audio-recorded semi-structured phone interview involving Academic Programme Directors in Malaysian (n = 9, response rate=81.8%) and Australian (n = 7, response rate = 35.0%) medical schools was conducted during the 2014/2015 and 2014 academic years, respectively. Qualitative data was analysed via thematic analysis, involving coding and grouping into emerging themes. Quantitative data were measured for frequencies. It was found that medical schools in Malaysia and Australia offered limited teaching of various oral health-related components that were mostly integrated throughout the curriculum, in the absence of structured learning objectives, teaching methodologies and assessment approaches. Barriers to providing oral health education included having insufficient expertise and overloaded curriculum. As medical educators demonstrated support for oral health education, collaboration amongst various stakeholders is integral to developing a well-structured curriculum and practice guidelines on oral health management involving medical professionals.
Does GSTP1 polymorphism contribute to genetic damage caused by ageing and occupational exposure?

Eshkoor SA, Ismail P, Rahman SA, Moin S

Arh Hig Rada Toksikol, 2011 Dec;62(4):291-8.
PMID: 22202462 DOI: 10.2478/10004-1254-62-2011-2088

The aim of our study was to see the effects of GSTP1 polymorphism on biomarkers of ageing, including micronuclei (MN), comet tail length, and relative telomere length in automobile repair workers, who are exposed to a broad spectrum of potential mutagens. The analysis was performed on buccal cells collected from occupationally exposed and non-exposed (control) subjects. Samples were analysed using cytogenetic and molecular methods, including restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP), MN test, comet assay, and real-time PCR. The results confirmed the DNA damaging effects of substances used in the mechanical workshops, but did not confirm the influence of GSTP1 gene polymorphism on DNA damage. However, further studies on both occupationally exposed and control populations are needed to understand the relationship between GSTP1 polymorphism and genome damage.
Distribution of Heavy Metals in Core Marine Sediments of Coastal East Malaysia by Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis and Inductively Coupled Plasma Spectroscopy

Ashraf A, Saion E, Gharibshahi E, Yap CK, Kamari HM, Elias MS, et al.

Appl Radiat Isot, 2018 Feb;132:222-231.
PMID: 29183762 DOI: 10.1016/j.apradiso.2017.11.012

Fifty-five core marine sediments from three locations at South China Sea and one location each at Sulu Sea and Sulawesi Sea of coastal East Malaysia were analyzed for heavy metals by instrumental neutron activation analysis and inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy. The enrichment factor and the modified degree of contamination were used to calculate the anthropogenic and pollution status of the elements in the samples. The enrichment factor of As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn varied from 0.42-4.26, 0.50-2.34, 0.31-0.82, 0.20-0.61, 0.91-1.92, 0.23-1.52, and 0.90-1.28, respectively, with the modified degree of contamination values below 0.6. Comparative data showed that coastal East Malaysia has low levels of contamination.
Development of hearing impairment inventory for religious duties of Muslim adult

Rahmat S, Rahman SA, Tukiran NH, Musa R, Othman NA, Dzulkarnain AAA

Med J Malaysia, 2021 03;76(2):205-211.
PMID: 33742629

OBJECTIVE: This study is a preliminary work to develop a Malay version questionnaire named 'Inventori Persepsi bagi Muslim yang Memiliki Masalah Pendengaran (IPM3P)' to assess the perception on Islamic understanding and practice among Muslim adults with hearing impairment.
METHODS: The scale development involved three phases: i) generation of domains based on the literature, ii) generation of sub-domains based on literature review and Islamic panel survey, and iii) generation of items.
RESULTS: Preliminary version of IPM3P consists of 59 items was produced, representing three domains: Obligation (18 items), Practice (21 items), and Difficulty (20 items), and seven sub-domains ('Ibadah', 'Aqidah', 'Muamalat', 'Tasawwuf', 'Akhlak','Da'wah', and 'Sirah').
CONCLUSION: The preliminary version of IPM3P needs to be psychometrically tested. This pioneering study may become an impetus towards more research pertaining to understanding the effect of hearing loss towards religious life in the future in Malaysia.
Fulltext Development and analysis of acceptance of a nutrition education package among a rural elderly population: an action research study

Shahar S, Adznam SN, Rahman SA, Yusoff NA, Yassin Z, Arshad F, et al.

BMC Geriatr, 2012 Jun 07;12:24.
PMID: 22676577 DOI: 10.1186/1471-2318-12-24

BACKGROUND: It is well known that older adults are often vulnerable to malnutrition. This action research was conducted to develop a nutrition education package for promoting healthy ageing and reducing risk of chronic diseases among older adults in a rural area of Malaysia.
METHODS: This study was designed and conducted in three stages, including needs assessment, development of the package and analysis of acceptance among 33 older adults aged 60 years and over in rural communities, and 14 health staff members at rural health clinics. Subjects completed a questionnaire including sociodemographic factors and acceptance evaluation of the nutrition education package with respect to content, graphics and design. Data were analysed descriptively using numbers and percentages.
RESULTS: A nutrition education package comprising a booklet, flipchart and placemats was developed. A total of 42.4% of the older adults expressed that the sentences in the flipchart needed to be simplified and medical terms explained. Terminology (60%), illustrations (20%) and nutrition recommendations (20%) were the aspects that prevented elderly subjects from fully understanding the booklet. Information on the placemats was easily understood by subjects.
CONCLUSIONS: A well accepted nutrition education package for promoting healthy ageing and reducing risk of chronic diseases was developed that incorporated modifications based on feedback from older adult subjects and health clinic staff in a rural area. It is a tool that can effectively be used for health education in this population.
Detection and characterization of Leptospira spp. in dogs diagnosed with kidney and/or liver disease in Selangor, Malaysia

Rahman SA, Khor KH, Khairani-Bejo S, Lau SF, Mazlan M, Roslan A, et al.

J Vet Diagn Invest, 2021 Sep;33(5):834-843.
PMID: 34148436 DOI: 10.1177/10406387211024575

Leptospirosis is a serious bacterial disease that affects both humans and animals. A wide range of symptoms have been described in humans; the disease in dogs is commonly associated with kidney and/or liver disease. In Malaysia, information about the common serovars infecting dogs is limited. Therefore, we investigated the occurrences of leptospirosis in 124 pet dogs diagnosed with kidney and/or liver disease. Blood, urine, abdominal effusion, and/or kidney and liver were collected from the dogs. Based on microscopic agglutination testing, 53 of 124 (42.7%) dogs were seropositive for leptospiral exposure. Sera were frequently positive to serovars Bataviae (n = 12), Javanica (n = 10), and Icterohaemorrhagiae (n = 10). Direct detection using PCR showed that 42 of 124 (33.9%) of the whole blood and 36 of 113 (31.9%) urine samples were positive for pathogenic Leptospira spp. By PCR, 2 of 23 (9.1%) kidney and 2 of 23 (9.1%) liver were positive for pathogenic Leptospira spp. Abdominal effusion from 4 dogs were PCR-positive for pathogenic Leptospira spp. The species detected were L. interrogans, L. borgpetersenii, L. kirschneri, and L. kmetyi by partial 16S rRNA sequencing. We further identified and characterized 11 Leptospira spp. isolates from 8 dogs as serovars Bataviae, Javanica, and Australis. The mortality rate of the Leptospira-infected dogs was high (18 of 53; 34%).
Fulltext Dental Implants - Perceiving Patients' Satisfaction in Relation to Clinical and Electromyography Study on Implant Patients

Alam MK, Rahman SA, Rahaman SA, Basri R, Sing Yi TT, Si-Jie JW, et al.

PLoS One, 2015;10(10):e0140438.
PMID: 26465146 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0140438

The aim of this study is to evaluate the satisfaction of patients with posterior implants in relation to the clinical success criteria and surface electromyography (sEMG) findings of the masseter and temporalis muscles. Total 42 subjects were investigated. Twenty one subjects with posterior dental implants were interviewed using a questionnaire and the clinical success criteria were determined based on The International Congress of Oral Implantologists. The myofunction of the masticatory muscles were assessed using sEMG (21 subjects) and compared to the control group of subjects without implants (21 subjects). Out of 21 subjects, all were satisfied with the aesthetics of their implant. Twenty of them (95.2%) were satisfied with its function and stability. As for clinical criteria, 100% (50) of the implants were successful with no pain, mobility or exudates. sEMG findings showed that patients have significantly lower (p<0.01) basal or resting median power frequency but with muscle burst. During chewing, control subjects showed faster chewing action. There was no difference in reaction and recovery time of clenching for both groups. In conclusion, the satisfaction of implant patients was high, and which was in relation to the successful clinical success criteria and sEMG findings.
Fulltext Dataset on concentration and enrichment factor of rare earth elements (REEs) in sediments of Linggi River, Malaysia

Elias MS, Ibrahim S, Samuding K, Kantasamy N, Daung JAD, Rahman SA, et al.

Data Brief, 2019 Aug;25:103983.
PMID: 31194012 DOI: 10.1016/j.dib.2019.103983

This study is on the distribution of rare earth elements (REEs) concentrations in sediments collected from 113 sampling locations of Linggi River. The analysis of sediment samples was performed by Neutron Activation Analysis (NAA) and Inductively Coupled Plasma - Mass spectrometer (ICP-MS). The main compositions of Linggi river sediments were silt > sand > clay. The mean of total concentrations of REEs (ΣREE), light REEs (ΣLREE) and heavy REEs (ΣHREE) in Linggi sediment were 249, 228, and 22.0 mg/kg, respectively. The results of Linggi river sediment were normalised to several reference shale values. REEs of Linggi river sediments were comparable to MUQ reference shale values. Enrichment factors (EF) of mean values indicate Linggi River sediment can be categorised as having minor to moderate enrichment.

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