MyMedR

Population genetic structure of the tropical moss Acanthorrhynchium papillatum as measured with microsatellite markers

Leonardía AA, Tan BC, Kumar PP

Plant Biol (Stuttg), 2013 Mar;15(2):384-94.

PMID: 22882300 DOI: 10.1111/j.1438-8677.2012.00640.x

Mosses and other bryophytes are vital components of forests, because they sustain a tremendous diversity of invertebrates and influence significant ecological functions. There have been few studies on moss population diversity in Southeast Asia, despite the escalating deforestation in this region of rich biodiversity. The genetic diversity of the tropical moss Acanthorrhynchium papillatum (Harv.) Fleisch., collected from forested areas in Singapore and Peninsular Malaysia, was elucidated using eight microsatellite markers developed for this species. Significant levels of allelic and haplotypic diversity were observed among clumps of the moss. Differences in allelic richness and genotypic diversity among the populations were higher in less disturbed forests compared to the more disturbed areas, suggesting that genetic diversity is affected by habitat quality. Genetic diversity levels within the clumps studied were low, indicating that vegetative reproduction was more important within clumps than sexual reproduction. However, multilocus genotypes of samples within the clumps studied were not all alike, providing evidence of microsatellite mutation or of occasional sexuality. Despite the isolation of populations, A. papillatum can introduce genetic variability by mutation among vegetatively propagated individuals. This study provides baseline information on the genetic diversity of A. papillatum tropical rain forests.

Matched MeSH terms: Genetics, Population*

Fulltext Predictive modeling and mapping of Malayan Sun Bear (Helarctos malayanus) distribution using maximum entropy

Nazeri M, Jusoff K, Madani N, Mahmud AR, Bahman AR, Kumar L

PLoS One, 2012;7(10):e48104.

PMID: 23110182 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0048104

One of the available tools for mapping the geographical distribution and potential suitable habitats is species distribution models. These techniques are very helpful for finding poorly known distributions of species in poorly sampled areas, such as the tropics. Maximum Entropy (MaxEnt) is a recently developed modeling method that can be successfully calibrated using a relatively small number of records. In this research, the MaxEnt model was applied to describe the distribution and identify the key factors shaping the potential distribution of the vulnerable Malayan Sun Bear (Helarctos malayanus) in one of the main remaining habitats in Peninsular Malaysia. MaxEnt results showed that even though Malaysian sun bear habitat is tied with tropical evergreen forests, it lives in a marginal threshold of bio-climatic variables. On the other hand, current protected area networks within Peninsular Malaysia do not cover most of the sun bears potential suitable habitats. Assuming that the predicted suitability map covers sun bears actual distribution, future climate change, forest degradation and illegal hunting could potentially severely affect the sun bear's population.

Matched MeSH terms: Population Density; Population Dynamics

Do older people with visual impairment and living alone in a rural developing country report greater difficulty in managing stairs?

Hairi NN, Bulgiba A, Peramalah D, Mudla I

Prev Med, 2013 Jan;56(1):8-11.

PMID: 23103916 DOI: 10.1016/j.ypmed.2012.10.016

Managing stairs is a challenging activity of daily living (ADL) for older people. This study aims to examine the association between visual impairment and difficulty in managing stairs among older people living alone and those living with others.

Matched MeSH terms: Rural Population*

Who are eating and not eating fruits and vegetables in Malaysia?

Yen ST, Tan AK

Int J Public Health, 2012 Dec;57(6):945-51.

PMID: 22331314 DOI: 10.1007/s00038-012-0343-3

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the roles of sociodemographic factors in fruit and vegetable (FV) consumption in Malaysia.

METHODS: Data are obtained from the Malaysia Non-Communicable Disease Surveillance-1. Logistic regressions are conducted using a multiracial (Malay, Chinese, Indian and other ethnic groups) sample of 2,447 observations to examine the factors affecting individual decisions to consume FV on a daily basis.

RESULTS: Based on the binary outcomes of whether individuals consumed FV daily, results indicate that work hours, education, age ethnicity, income, gender, smoking status, and location of residence are significantly correlated with daily fruit consumption. Daily vegetable consumption is significantly correlated with income, gender, health condition, and location of residence.

CONCLUSIONS: Our results imply the need for programs to educate and motivate consumers to make healthier dietary choices. Interventions to increase FV consumption by changing behaviors should be considered, as should those that increase public awareness of the dietary benefits of FV. These intervention programs should be targeted at and tailored toward individuals who are less educated, younger, less affluent, males, smokers, and metropolitan dwellers.

Matched MeSH terms: Rural Population; Urban Population

Sex differences in educational encouragement and academic achievement

Khan A

Psychol Rep, 2012 Aug;111(1):149-55.

PMID: 23045856

Sex differences in educational encouragement and their predictiveness of academic achievement were examined among 442 secondary school students (M age = 13.2 yr., SD = 1.9). Education-related encouragement received from mothers, fathers, friends, and teachers was assessed. Academic achievement was based on student self-reports and grades. Female adolescents reported receiving statistically significantly more educational encouragement from their mothers, fathers, friends, and teachers than did male adolescents. In regression, sex and educational encouragement from parents, friends, and teachers were found to be significant predictors of academic achievement.

Matched MeSH terms: Rural Population; Urban Population

Attitudes towards dysmenorrhoea, impact and treatment seeking among adolescent girls: a rural school-based survey

Wong LP

Aust J Rural Health, 2011 Aug;19(4):218-23.

PMID: 21771164 DOI: 10.1111/j.1440-1584.2011.01213.x

Study aimed to determine the prevalence of dysmenorrhoea, its impact, and treatment-seeking behaviour of rural adolescent girls in Malaysia.

Matched MeSH terms: Rural Population/statistics & numerical data

Chronic diseases, depressive symptoms and functional limitation amongst older people in rural Malaysia, a middle income developing country

Hairi NN, Bulgiba A, Mudla I, Said MA

Prev Med, 2011 Oct;53(4-5):343-6.

PMID: 21864564 DOI: 10.1016/j.ypmed.2011.07.020

To determine prevalence and prevalence ratio of functional limitation amongst older people with combined chronic diseases and co-morbid depressive symptoms compared with older people with either chronic disease or depressive symptoms alone.

Matched MeSH terms: Rural Population*

Fulltext Population genetic structure of peninsular Malaysia Malay sub-ethnic groups

Hatin WI, Nur-Shafawati AR, Zahri MK, Xu S, Jin L, Tan SG, et al.

PLoS One, 2011;6(4):e18312.

PMID: 21483678 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0018312

Patterns of modern human population structure are helpful in understanding the history of human migration and admixture. We conducted a study on genetic structure of the Malay population in Malaysia, using 54,794 genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphism genotype data generated in four Malay sub-ethnic groups in peninsular Malaysia (Melayu Kelantan, Melayu Minang, Melayu Jawa and Melayu Bugis). To the best of our knowledge this is the first study conducted on these four Malay sub-ethnic groups and the analysis of genotype data of these four groups were compiled together with 11 other populations' genotype data from Indonesia, China, India, Africa and indigenous populations in Peninsular Malaysia obtained from the Pan-Asian SNP database. The phylogeny of populations showed that all of the four Malay sub-ethnic groups are separated into at least three different clusters. The Melayu Jawa, Melayu Bugis and Melayu Minang have a very close genetic relationship with Indonesian populations indicating a common ancestral history, while the Melayu Kelantan formed a distinct group on the tree indicating that they are genetically different from the other Malay sub-ethnic groups. We have detected genetic structuring among the Malay populations and this could possibly be accounted for by their different historical origins. Our results provide information of the genetic differentiation between these populations and a valuable insight into the origins of the Malay sub-ethnic groups in Peninsular Malaysia.

Matched MeSH terms: Genetics, Population*

Fulltext The conservation value of South East Asia's highly degraded forests: evidence from leaf-litter ants

Woodcock P, Edwards DP, Fayle TM, Newton RJ, Khen CV, Bottrell SH, et al.

Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci, 2011 Nov 27;366(1582):3256-64.

PMID: 22006966 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2011.0031

South East Asia is widely regarded as a centre of threatened biodiversity owing to extensive logging and forest conversion to agriculture. In particular, forests degraded by repeated rounds of intensive logging are viewed as having little conservation value and are afforded meagre protection from conversion to oil palm. Here, we determine the biological value of such heavily degraded forests by comparing leaf-litter ant communities in unlogged (natural) and twice-logged forests in Sabah, Borneo. We accounted for impacts of logging on habitat heterogeneity by comparing species richness and composition at four nested spatial scales, and examining how species richness was partitioned across the landscape in each habitat. We found that twice-logged forest had fewer species occurrences, lower species richness at small spatial scales and altered species composition compared with natural forests. However, over 80 per cent of species found in unlogged forest were detected within twice-logged forest. Moreover, greater species turnover among sites in twice-logged forest resulted in identical species richness between habitats at the largest spatial scale. While two intensive logging cycles have negative impacts on ant communities, these degraded forests clearly provide important habitat for numerous species and preventing their conversion to oil palm and other crops should be a conservation priority.

Matched MeSH terms: Population Density; Population Dynamics

Multilocus analysis of the evolutionary dynamics of rainforest bird populations in Southeast Asia

Lim HC, Sheldon FH

Mol Ecol, 2011 Aug;20(16):3414-38.

PMID: 21777318 DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-294X.2011.05190.x

Sundaland has a dynamic geographic history because its landmasses were periodically interconnected when sea levels fell during glacial periods. Superimposed on this geographic dynamism were environmental changes related to climatic oscillations. To investigate how tropical taxa responded to such changes, we studied the divergence and demographic history of two co-distributed rainforest passerine species, Arachnothera longirostra and Malacocincla malaccensis. We sampled birds primarily from Borneo and the Malay Peninsula, which straddle the now-submerged Sunda shelf, and analysed multilocus DNA data with a variety of coalescent and gene genealogy methods. Cross-shelf divergence in both species occurred well before the last glacial maximum, i.e., before the most recent land connection. However, post-divergence gene flow occurred, and it was more pronounced in A. longirostra (a highly vagile nectarivore/insectivore) than in M. malaccensis (an understory insectivore). Despite current habitat continuity on Borneo, the population of M. malaccensis in northeastern Borneo is substantially divergent from that on the rest of the island. The NE population experienced dramatic demographic fluctuations, probably because of competition with the other population, which expanded from western Borneo after the mid-Pleistocene. In contrast, the Borneo population of A. longirostra has little structure and appears to have experienced demographic expansion 16 kya, long after it had diverged from the Malay Peninsula population (630-690 kya). Malay Peninsula populations of both species have remained relatively stable. Overall, the most recent glacial period was not the chief determinant of the evolutionary dynamics of our study species, and in this respect, they are different from temperate species.

Matched MeSH terms: Population/genetics

Changes over time in the relationship between symptoms of asthma, rhinoconjunctivitis and eczema: a global perspective from the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC)

Asher MI, Stewart AW, Wong G, Strachan DP, García-Marcos L, Anderson HR, et al.

Allergol Immunopathol (Madr), 2012 Sep-Oct;40(5):267-74.

PMID: 22297190 DOI: 10.1016/j.aller.2011.11.004

BACKGROUND: The International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) identified trends in the prevalence of symptoms of asthma, rhinoconjunctivitis and eczema over a seven-year period. We hypothesised that environmental influences on the three diseases are different and therefore investigated the correlation over time between trends in the prevalence of these diseases and their combinations at centre and individual level.
METHODS: Centre level analyses were correlations between time trends in the prevalence of symptoms. At an individual level, odds ratios were calculated for associations between symptoms between Phases One and Three. We also investigated potential effect modification in the younger versus older age group; male versus female; and by average Gross National Income per capita (GNI).
RESULTS: Both phases were completed in 66 centres in 37 countries for the 6-7 year age group and in 106 centres in 56 countries for the 13-14 year age group. We found that the correlations in time trends were stronger for the older age group than the younger one. Between symptoms of diseases, correlations of time trends were the strongest for rhinoconjunctivitis with eczema and weakest for eczema with asthma. The relationship between the three diseases was generally consistent over the seven-year period, and there was little association found with average GNI.
CONCLUSIONS: Despite some increase in the proportion of children with symptoms of asthma, rhinoconjunctivitis and eczema, the pattern between the three diseases has not changed much, suggesting that similar factors may be affecting them at a global level.

Matched MeSH terms: Population*

Fulltext Risk of metabolic syndrome among children living in metropolitan Kuala Lumpur: a case control study

Wee BS, Poh BK, Bulgiba A, Ismail MN, Ruzita AT, Hills AP

BMC Public Health, 2011;11:333.

PMID: 21592367 DOI: 10.1186/1471-2458-11-333

With the increasing prevalence of childhood obesity, the metabolic syndrome has been studied among children in many countries but not in Malaysia. Hence, this study aimed to compare metabolic risk factors between overweight/obese and normal weight children and to determine the influence of gender and ethnicity on the metabolic syndrome among school children aged 9-12 years in Kuala Lumpur and its metropolitan suburbs.

Matched MeSH terms: Urban Population*

Development of an algorithm of satellite markers for monitoring chimerism status in post-allogeneic haematopoietic stem cell transplantation patients

Choong SS, Rosmanizam S, Ibrahim K, Gan GG, Ariffin H

Int J Lab Hematol, 2011 Apr;33(2):182-6.

PMID: 20868447 DOI: 10.1111/j.1751-553X.2010.01264.x

Analysis of variable number tandem repeats (VNTRs) by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is a common method used to predict engraftment status in post-allogeneic haematopoeitic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) patients. Different populations have different copies of repeated DNA sequence and hence, different percentage of informativeness between patient and donor.

Matched MeSH terms: Continental Population Groups/genetics

Endemic fluorosis among 14-year-old Yemeni adolescents: an exploratory survey

Kadir RA, Al-Maqtari RA

Int Dent J, 2010 Dec;60(6):407-10.

PMID: 21302739

To assess the extent of fluorosis in a representative sample of 14-year-old Yemeni adolescents.

Matched MeSH terms: Rural Population; Urban Population

Fulltext Modelling the species distribution of flat-headed cats (Prionailurus planiceps), an endangered South-East Asian small felid

Wilting A, Cord A, Hearn AJ, Hesse D, Mohamed A, Traeholdt C, et al.

PLoS One, 2010;5(3):e9612.

PMID: 20305809 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0009612

The flat-headed cat (Prionailurus planiceps) is one of the world's least known, highly threatened felids with a distribution restricted to tropical lowland rainforests in Peninsular Thailand/Malaysia, Borneo and Sumatra. Throughout its geographic range large-scale anthropogenic transformation processes, including the pollution of fresh-water river systems and landscape fragmentation, raise concerns regarding its conservation status. Despite an increasing number of camera-trapping field surveys for carnivores in South-East Asia during the past two decades, few of these studies recorded the flat-headed cat.

Matched MeSH terms: Population Density*

Fulltext Mitochondrial and Y-chromosome diversity of the Tharus (Nepal): a reservoir of genetic variation

Fornarino S, Pala M, Battaglia V, Maranta R, Achilli A, Modiano G, et al.

BMC Evol. Biol., 2009;9:154.

PMID: 19573232 DOI: 10.1186/1471-2148-9-154

Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent represent an area considered as a source and a reservoir for human genetic diversity, with many markers taking root here, most of which are the ancestral state of eastern and western haplogroups, while others are local. Between these two regions, Terai (Nepal) is a pivotal passageway allowing, in different times, multiple population interactions, although because of its highly malarial environment, it was scarcely inhabited until a few decades ago, when malaria was eradicated. One of the oldest and the largest indigenous people of Terai is represented by the malaria resistant Tharus, whose gene pool could still retain traces of ancient complex interactions. Until now, however, investigations on their genetic structure have been scarce mainly identifying East Asian signatures.

Matched MeSH terms: Genetics, Population*

Driver characteristics associated with child safety seat usage in Malaysia: a cross-sectional study

Kulanthayan S, Razak A, Schenk E

Accid Anal Prev, 2010 Mar;42(2):509-14.

PMID: 20159074 DOI: 10.1016/j.aap.2009.09.015

The rapidly motorizing environment in Malaysia has made child occupant safety a current public health concern. The usage of child safety seats (CSS) is a widely regarded intervention to enhance child occupant safety, yet no study has been conducted on CSS in Malaysia. This study aims to determine the CSS usage rates in Malaysia and to assess driver characteristics that are associated with CSS usage.

Matched MeSH terms: Rural Population; Urban Population

Bed sharing among mother-infant pairs in Klang district, Peninsular Malaysia and its relationship to breast-feeding

Tan KL

J Dev Behav Pediatr, 2009 Oct;30(5):420-5.

PMID: 19827222 DOI: 10.1097/DBP.0b013e3181ba083a

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to determine the prevalence of mother-infant bed sharing in Klang district, Peninsular Malaysia and to identify factors associated with bed sharing.

METHOD: This was a cross-sectional study involving 682 mother-infant pairs with infants up to 6 months attending government clinics in Klang district, Peninsular Malaysia. Data were collected by face-to-face interview using a pretested structured questionnaire for a 4-month period in 2006. Data regarding maternal, paternal, obstetric, infant, occupancy, breast-feeding characteristics, and bed-sharing practice were collected. Data on bed sharing were based on practice in the past 1-month period. Bed sharing was defined as an infant sharing a bed with mother, and infant must be within arms reach from the mother, whereas a bed was defined as either a sleeping mattress placed on a bed frame or placed on the floor. The prevalence of bed sharing was estimated. Relationship and magnitude of association between independent factors and bed sharing were examined using odds ratio and 95% confidence interval. Logistic regression analysis was used to control for confounding factors.

RESULTS: The prevalence of bed sharing among mothers with infants aged between 1 and 6 months was 73.5% (95% confidence interval: 70.0-76.7). In multivariate analysis, urban/rural differences, mothers' ethnicity, occupation, family income, husbands' support on bed sharing, number of children younger than 12 years staying in the house, and breast-feeding were associated with bed sharing.

CONCLUSIONS: These factors need to be considered in analyzing the overall risks and benefits of bed sharing, paying attention to breastfeeding practices.

Matched MeSH terms: Rural Population; Urban Population

Fulltext National Eye Database--a web based surveillance system

Goh PP, Elias H, Norfariza N, Mariam I, National Eye Database Steering Committee

Med J Malaysia, 2008 Sep;63 Suppl C:20-3.

PMID: 19227672

National Eye Database (www.acrm.org.my/ned) is a web based surveillance system which collects data on eye diseases and clinical performance in ophthalmology service. It is a prospective study with online data collection, concurrent descriptive data analysis and real time report. It includes cataract surgery registry, diabetic eye registry, glaucoma registry, contact lens related corneal ulcer surveillance and monthly ophthalmology service census. This article presents the methodology and some registries reports. The web based surveillance system has made dissemination of report prompt, easy and without barrier.

Matched MeSH terms: Population Surveillance/methods*

Mortality risk among recent-onset injection drug users in five U.S. cities

Vlahov D, Wang C, Ompad D, Fuller CM, Caceres W, Ouellet L, et al.

Subst Use Misuse, 2008;43(3-4):413-28.

PMID: 18365941 DOI: 10.1080/10826080701203013

To quantify the risk of death among recent-onset (< 5 years) injection drug users, we enrolled 2089 injection drug users (IDUs) age

Matched MeSH terms: Urban Population/statistics & numerical data*

Displaying publications 621 - 640 of 2034 in total