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  1. Rebitanim NA, Hanafi MM, Idris AS, Abdullah SNA, Mohidin H, Rebitanim NZ
    Biomed Res Int, 2020;2020:3063710.
    PMID: 32420335 DOI: 10.1155/2020/3063710
    Basal stem rot (BSR) caused by Ganoderma boninense is a major threat to sustainable oil palm production especially in Southeast Asia and has brought economic losses to the oil palm industry around the world. With no definitive cure at present, this study introduces a new fertilizer technology called GanoCare®, as an effort to suppress BSR incidence in oil palm. Experiments were carried out to evaluate the effect of GanoCare® on growth, physiology, and BSR disease suppression using sitting technique in the oil palm nursery stage. A follow-up using similar treatments was carried out in the field to test on severity of Ganoderma using baiting technique under natural condition. Treatments tested were 10 g/month and 30 g/three months given as pretreatment only or continuous treatment. Results showed that GanoCare® increased the height, bulb diameter, leaf area, chlorophyll content, photosynthesis rate, and fresh and dry weight of the leaf, bole, and root of oil palm seedlings in the nursery trial. Seedlings treated with GanoCare® exhibited reduced percentage of disease severity, incidence, and dead seedlings, compared to the control. In nursery and field, lowest percentage of dead seedlings due to Ganoderma was found in seedlings given combination of pretreatment and continuous treatment of 30 g/three months (T4) with 5.56 and 6.67%, while control seedlings significantly marked the maximum percentage of 94.45 and 93.33%. The most successful treatment in both nursery and field was T4 with disease reductions of 77.78 and 82.36%, respectively, proving that nutrients contained in GanoCare® are essential in allowing better development of a strong defense system in the seedlings.
    Matched MeSH terms: Disease Resistance/drug effects*
  2. Chiu PWY, Ng SC, Inoue H, Reddy DN, Ling Hu E, Cho JY, et al.
    Gut, 2020 Jun;69(6):991-996.
    PMID: 32241897 DOI: 10.1136/gutjnl-2020-321185
    Coronavirus-19 (COVID-19) caused by SARS-CoV-2 has become a global pandemic. Risk of transmission may occur during endoscopy and the goal is to prevent infection among healthcare professionals while providing essential services to patients. Asia was the first continent to have a COVID-19 outbreak, and this position statement of the Asian Pacific Society for Digestive Endoscopy shares our successful experience in maintaining safe and high-quality endoscopy practice at a time when resources are limited. Sixteen experts from key societies of digestive endoscopy in Asia were invited to develop position statements, including patient triage and risk assessment before endoscopy, resource prioritisation and allocation, regular monitoring of personal protective equipment, infection control measures, protective device training and implementation of a strategy for stepwise resumption of endoscopy services after control of the COVID-19 outbreak.
    Matched MeSH terms: Infectious Disease Transmission, Patient-to-Professional/prevention & control
  3. Mehta M, Satija S, Paudel KR, Liu G, Chellappan DK, Hansbro PM, et al.
    Future Med Chem, 2020 05;12(10):873-875.
    PMID: 32352313 DOI: 10.4155/fmc-2020-0091
    Matched MeSH terms: Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive/drug therapy*
  4. Jayaraman T, Lee YY, Chan WK, Mahadeva S
    JGH Open, 2020 Jun;4(3):332-339.
    PMID: 32514433 DOI: 10.1002/jgh3.12275
    Liver diseases form a heterogenous group of acute and chronic disorders of varying etiologies. Not only do they result in significant morbidity and mortality, but they also lead to a marked reduction in quality of life, together with a high socioeconomic burden globally. A better understanding of their global distribution is necessary to curb the massive health-care and socioeconomic burden that they entail. Notable differences and similarities have been described between common liver disease conditions occurring in Asia and the West (Europe and North America), giving rise to the need for an updated collective appraisal of this subject. In this review, the epidemiological differences of common liver conditions, specifically acute liver failure, drug-induced liver injury, acute-on-chronic liver failure, hepatocellular carcinoma, and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, between Asia and the West are discussed.
    Matched MeSH terms: Chronic Disease; Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease
  5. Mahmud R, Ariffin F, Shanmuganathan P
    Korean J Fam Med, 2020 Jul;41(4):263-266.
    PMID: 32512984 DOI: 10.4082/kjfm.18.0161
    The presence of erythrocytosis along with the diagnosis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) may veer a primary care clinician in a busy clinic towards attributing the erythrocytosis to hypoxia secondary to COPD; however, this is not always the case. This case highlights the importance of investigation and the significance not excluding a primary cause in COPD patients with erythrocytosis. A 57-year-old male, presenting with chronic cough, was subsequently diagnosed with COPD clinically and confirmed by spirometry. Erythrocytosis was also incidentally noted. The patient did not have any symptoms of polycythemia or hepatosplenomegaly. Therefore, the erythrocytosis was initially thought to be caused by hypoxia secondary to COPD. However, the JAK2 V617F gene mutation was detected and hence the diagnosis of polycythemia vera was made. Although the erythrocytosis was initially attributed secondary to the underlying pulmonary disease, investigations proved it to be primary in origin. This case report highlights the importance of investigating the underlying cause and to confirm the diagnosis of erythrocytosis as primary and secondary polycythemia differ in their management approach. This will avoid inappropriate diagnosis, treatment, and undesirable outcomes.
    Matched MeSH terms: Chronic Disease; Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive
  6. Chandrasekhar J, Zeebregts D, Kalkman DN, Sartori S, Roumeliotis A, Aquino MB, et al.
    Cardiovasc Revasc Med, 2020 12;21(12):1542-1547.
    PMID: 32507695 DOI: 10.1016/j.carrev.2020.05.002
    BACKGROUND: Small vessel diameter is associated with higher risk of target lesion revascularization (TLR) after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). The COMBO sirolimus-eluting biodegradable-polymer stent has a proprietary anti-CD34 antibody layer to enhance homogeneous endothelialization, which may be advantageous in treating small vessels.

    OBJECTIVE: We examined for differences in 1-year clinical outcomes after PCI by maximum implanted stent diameter from the COMBO collaboration.

    METHODS: The COMBO collaboration (n = 3614) is a patient-level pooled dataset of patients undergoing PCI with COMBO stents in the MASCOT and REMEDEE multicenter registries. Stent diameter was available in 3590 (99.3%) patients. We compared patients receiving COMBO stents <3 mm versus ≥3 mm. The primary endpoint was 1-year target lesion failure (TLF), composite of cardiac death, target vessel-myocardial infarction (TV-MI) or clinically driven TLR. Secondary outcomes included stent thrombosis (ST). Adjusted outcomes were assessed using Cox regression methods.

    RESULTS: The study included 792 (22%) patients with small stents <3 mm and 2798 (78%) patients with large stents ≥3 mm. Small stent patients included more women with lower body mass index and higher prevalence of diabetes but similar prevalence of acute coronary syndrome. Risk of 1-year TLF was similar in small and large stent groups (4.4% vs. 3.8%, HR 1.12, 95% CI 0.74-1.72, p = 0.58). There were no differences in the rates of cardiac death (1.7% vs. 1.5%, p = 0.74), TV-MI (1.4% vs. 1.2%, p = 0.58) or TLR (2.7% vs. 2.1%, p = 0.31). Definite or probable ST occurred in 1.3% of the small stent and 0.7% of the large stent PCI patients, p = 0.14, HR 2.13, 95% CI 0.93-5.00, p = 0.07.

    CONCLUSIONS: One-year ischemic outcomes after COMBO PCI were similar irrespective of stent diameter in this all-comers international cohort.

    Matched MeSH terms: Coronary Artery Disease*
  7. Gunadi, Juwitasari T, Damayanti NNR, Kaniashari DS, Kencana SMS, Hastuti J
    Med J Malaysia, 2020 05;75(Suppl 1):28-31.
    PMID: 32483104
    INTRODUCTION: Despite various definitive methods that are used for treating Hirschsprung's disease (HSCR), there are few studies comparing the effect of different pull-through methods on the growth outcomes of patients. We aimed to compare the effect of three different pull-through methods, namely Duhamel, Soave and transanal endorectal pullthrough (TEPT), on HSCR growth outcomes of patients.

    METHODS: Medical records of all HSCR patients who underwent pull-through at the Dr. Sardjito Hospital, Indonesia between January 2010 and August 2016 were reviewed for their growth outcomes before and after the surgery.

    RESULTS: We included 64 HSCR patients, 45 males and 19 females, of which 14, 17, and 33 patients underwent Duhamel, Soave, and TEPT respectively. There were no nutritional status differences in HSCR patients after Duhamel, Soave, and TEPT surgery (p=0.07, 0.17, and 0.79, respectively). Z-score average of weight-for-age did not differ between three surgical methods (p=0.77 and 0.15 for preoperative and postoperative, respectively). In addition, the improvement of nutritional status was achieved in 21.2% HSCR patients after TEPT, 14.3% post Duhamel and 5.9% following Soave procedure, but these differences did not reach a significant level (p=0.34).

    DISCUSSION: Our study shows no difference in effect on the growth outcomes in HSCR patients following Duhamel, Soave and TEPT procedure. Further study with a larger sample size is important to give valuable long-term growth outcomes for HSCR patients after pull-through.

    Matched MeSH terms: Hirschsprung Disease/surgery*
  8. Um Min Allah N, Arshad S, Mahmood H, Abbas H
    Asia Pac Psychiatry, 2020 Dec;12(4):e12409.
    PMID: 32767510 DOI: 10.1111/appy.12409
    Matched MeSH terms: Disease Outbreaks*
  9. Huang L, Liu Z, Li H, Wang Y, Li Y, Zhu Y, et al.
    Geohealth, 2020 Jul 07.
    PMID: 32838101 DOI: 10.1029/2020GH000272
    The outbreak of COVID-19 in China has led to massive lockdowns in order to reduce the spread of the epidemic and control human-to-human transmission. Subsequent reductions in various anthropogenic activities have led to improved air quality during the lockdown. In this study, we apply a widely used exposure-response function to estimate the short-term health impacts associated with PM2.5 changes over the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) region due to COVID-19 lockdown. Concentrations of PM2.5 during lockdown period reduced by 22.9% to 54.0% compared to pre-lockdown level. Estimated PM2.5-related daily premature mortality during lockdown period is 895 (95% confidential interval: 637-1081), which is 43.3% lower than pre-lockdown period and 46.5% lower compared with averages of 2017-2019. According to our calculation, total number of avoided premature death associated PM2.5 reduction during the lockdown is estimated to be 42.4 thousand over the YRD region, with Shanghai, Wenzhou, Suzhou (Jiangsu province), Nanjing, and Nantong being the top five cities with largest health benefits. Avoided premature mortality is mostly contributed by reduced death associated with stroke (16.9 thousand, accounting for 40.0%), ischemic heart disease (14.0 thousand, 33.2%) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (7.6 thousand, 18.0%). Our calculations do not support or advocate any idea that pandemics produce a positive note to community health. We simply present health benefits from air pollution improvement due to large emission reductions from lowered human and industrial activities. Our results show that continuous efforts to improve air quality are essential to protect public health, especially over city-clusters with dense population.
    Matched MeSH terms: Communicable Disease Control; Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive
  10. Netto, Marcus
    MyJurnal
    Dengue fever and its fatal complications have made a comeback since its control in the 1990’s. The Flavivirus has evolved into 4 serotypes DEN 1,2,3,4 which can be passed on by the mosquitoes for 7 generations for each serotype. This communicable disease is predominantly confined to urban areas. Quick control of the spread of the disease will prevent it from becoming an epidemic. The two species mosquitoes involved have different behaviours. The Aedes aegypti is an indoor vector which breeds in clean, clear and calm freshwater. The Aedes albopictus is an outdoor breeding mosquito which breeds in stagnant waters. Surveillance of the areas prone to outbreaks is vital. One of the roles of the entomologist is to monitor the vector for resistance to the insecticides. Localities that have been subjected to recurrent outbreaks will have vector which develop resistance to the insecticides used.
    Matched MeSH terms: Disease Outbreaks; Disease Vectors
  11. Liew CH, Flaherty GT
    J Public Health (Oxf), 2021 04 12;43(1):e135-e136.
    PMID: 32756915 DOI: 10.1093/pubmed/fdaa125
    As countries emerge from pandemic lockdown, many countries are relaxing international travel restrictions. Commercially available serologic tests for anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies are being performed. The concept of an 'immunity passport' has gained popularity, whereby evidence of SARS-CoV-2 antibody production would signal immunity to reinfection. For an immunity certificate to be validated for travel purposes, it should meet certain criteria. The introduction of such certificates faces multiple challenges. While there may be a future role for immunity passports in limited circumstances in the event that a protective vaccine becomes freely available, for now at least the risks of such an approach outweigh the perceived benefits.
    Matched MeSH terms: Communicable Disease Control/methods
  12. James SL, Castle CD, Dingels ZV, Fox JT, Hamilton EB, Liu Z, et al.
    Inj Prev, 2020 Oct;26(Supp 1):i125-i153.
    PMID: 32839249 DOI: 10.1136/injuryprev-2019-043531
    BACKGROUND: While there is a long history of measuring death and disability from injuries, modern research methods must account for the wide spectrum of disability that can occur in an injury, and must provide estimates with sufficient demographic, geographical and temporal detail to be useful for policy makers. The Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2017 study used methods to provide highly detailed estimates of global injury burden that meet these criteria.

    METHODS: In this study, we report and discuss the methods used in GBD 2017 for injury morbidity and mortality burden estimation. In summary, these methods included estimating cause-specific mortality for every cause of injury, and then estimating incidence for every cause of injury. Non-fatal disability for each cause is then calculated based on the probabilities of suffering from different types of bodily injury experienced.

    RESULTS: GBD 2017 produced morbidity and mortality estimates for 38 causes of injury. Estimates were produced in terms of incidence, prevalence, years lived with disability, cause-specific mortality, years of life lost and disability-adjusted life-years for a 28-year period for 22 age groups, 195 countries and both sexes.

    CONCLUSIONS: GBD 2017 demonstrated a complex and sophisticated series of analytical steps using the largest known database of morbidity and mortality data on injuries. GBD 2017 results should be used to help inform injury prevention policy making and resource allocation. We also identify important avenues for improving injury burden estimation in the future.

    Matched MeSH terms: Global Burden of Disease*
  13. Yunita Sari E, Saddki N, Yusoff A
    PMID: 33049972 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph17197337
    The integration of oral health into primary health care denotes the important role of medical counterparts as the front liners in antenatal care to help screen mothers for oral symptoms and refer them to dentists accordingly. However, the validity of self-perceived oral health status is inconclusive. This study determined the association between self-perceived oral symptoms and the presence of clinically diagnosed oral diseases in a sample of pregnant women. A total of 192 pregnant women participated in this cross-sectional study. Clinical oral examinations were performed to record dental caries experience, gingival health and periodontal health. The women were also asked about their oral symptoms. Most women had at least one oral symptom (84.9%): cavitated tooth (62.0%), bad breath (38.5%), bleeding gums (28.6%), and toothache (22.9%). About half of the women had untreated dental caries (58.9%), and the odds were significantly higher in women who complained of having cavitated tooth. About half of the women had moderate to severe gingivitis (53.7%), and the odds were significantly higher in women who complained of bleeding gums. About half had periodontal pockets (46.3%), and the odds were higher in women who complained of bleeding gums and bad breath although lower in women who complained of swollen gums. In conclusion, the prevalence of dental caries and periodontal disease among pregnant women in this study were relatively high. The presence of untreated dental caries, moderate and severe gingivitis, and periodontal pockets were significantly associated with their corresponding oral symptoms.
    Matched MeSH terms: Disease*; Periodontal Diseases*
  14. Tan LK, Too CL, Diaz-Gallo LM, Wahinuddin S, Lau IS, Heselynn H, et al.
    Arthritis Res Ther, 2021 01 30;23(1):46.
    PMID: 33514426 DOI: 10.1186/s13075-021-02431-z
    BACKGROUND: Fine-mapping of human leukocyte antigen (HLA) region for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) risk factors has identified several HLA alleles and its corresponding amino acid residues as independent signals (i.e., HLA-A, HLA-B, HLA-DPB1, and HLA-DQA1 genes), in addition to the well-established genetic factor in HLA-DRB1 gene. However, this was mainly performed in the Caucasian and East Asian populations, and data from different Asian regions is less represented. We aimed to evaluate whether there are independent RA risk variants in both anti-citrullinated protein antibody (ACPA)-positive and ACPA-negative RA patients from the multi-ethnic Malaysian population, using the fine-mapping of HLA region strategy.

    METHODS: We imputed the classical HLA alleles, amino acids, and haplotypes using the Immunochip genotyping data of 1260 RA cases (i.e., 530 Malays, 259 Chinese, 412 Indians, and 59 mixed ethnicities) and 1571 controls (i.e., 981 Malays, 205 Chinese, 297 Indians, and 87 mixed ethnicities) from the Malaysian Epidemiological Investigation of Rheumatoid Arthritis (MyEIRA) population-based case-control study. Stepwise logistic regression was performed to identify the independent genetic risk factors for RA within the HLA region.

    RESULTS: We confirmed that the HLA-DRB1 amino acid at position 11 with valine residue conferred the strongest risk effect for ACPA-positive RA (OR = 4.26, 95% CI = 3.30-5.49, PGWAS = 7.22 × 10-29) in the Malays. Our study also revealed that HLA-DRB1 amino acid at position 96 with histidine residue was negatively associated with the risk of developing ACPA-positive RA in the Indians (OR = 0.48, 95% CI = 0.37-0.62, PGWAS = 2.58 × 10-08). Interestingly, we observed that HLA-DQB1*03:02 allele was inversely related to the risk of developing ACPA-positive RA in the Malays (OR = 0.17, 95% CI = 0.09-0.30, PGWAS = 1.60 × 10-09). No association was observed between the HLA variants and risk of developing ACPA-negative RA in any of the three major ethnic groups in Malaysia.

    CONCLUSIONS: Our results demonstrate that the RA-associated genetic factors in the multi-ethnic Malaysian population are similar to those in the Caucasian population, despite significant differences in the genetic architecture of HLA region across populations. A novel and distinct independent association between the HLA-DQB1*03:02 allele and ACPA-positive RA was observed in the Malays. In common with the Caucasian population, there is little risk from HLA region for ACPA-negative RA.

    Matched MeSH terms: Genetic Predisposition to Disease/genetics
  15. Cheah, Pike-See, Mason, John O., Ling, King-Hwa
    MyJurnal
    The human brain is made up of billions of neurons and glial cells which are interconnected and organized into specific patternsof neural circuitry, and hence is arguably the most sophisticated organ in human, both structurally and functionally.Studying the underlying mechanisms responsible for neurologicalor neurodegenerativedisorders and the developmental basis of complex brain diseases such as autism, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease has proven challenging due to practical and ethical limitations on experiments with human material and the limitationsof existing biological/animal models. Recently,cerebral organoids havebeen proposed as apromisingand revolutionary model for understanding complex brain disorders and preclinical drug screening.
    Matched MeSH terms: Alzheimer Disease; Parkinson Disease
  16. Sivananthan KS
    Med J Malaysia, 2001 Jun;56 Suppl C:1-2.
    PMID: 11814241
    Matched MeSH terms: Iatrogenic Disease*
  17. Choo J, Pang E, Prociv P
    Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg, 2000 4 5;94(1):21-2.
    PMID: 10748891
    Matched MeSH terms: Disease Vectors*
  18. Noh LM, Amir HL, Hung LC, Zulkifli I, Nasuruddin BA
    Med J Malaysia, 1997 Mar;52(1):88-91.
    PMID: 10968061
    A 3-month-old Malay male infant presented with multiple infections (candidiasis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Cytomegalovirus), persistent pneumonia, intractable diarrhoea and failure to thrive. There was lymphopaenia affecting both T and B subsets. He developed Graft versus Host disease weeks following transfusion with non irradiated blood. In spite of aggressive microbicidal and supportive therapy including regular immunoglobulin infusions, the child succumbed to infection before a bone marrow transplant could be instituted.
    Matched MeSH terms: Graft vs Host Disease/etiology
  19. Teh A, Bosco JJ, Leong KW, Saw MH, Menaka N, Devashanti P
    Med J Malaysia, 1997 Mar;52(1):26-32.
    PMID: 10968050
    Prior to 1993, bone marrow transplantation for adult patients was not available in Malaysia. Adult allogeneic bone marrow transplantation commenced in Malaysia when the first transplant was conducted at the University Hospital, Kuala Lumpur on 2 November 1993. Up till July 1995, 10 adult bone marrow transplants had been conducted at the University Hospital. Five patients had acute myeloid leukaemia in first remission, 4 had chronic myeloid leukaemia and 1 had acute lymphoblastic leukaemia in first partial remission. The age range of patients at the time of transplant is 16-40 years (mean 25.5 years). All patients engrafted successfully and the survival for the first 100 days post-transplant is 90%. One patient demonstrated haematological relapse post-transplant but achieved remission with donor buffy-coat infusion. The mean drug cost incurred was RM28,269 for the first 100 days. Locally available adult allogeneic bone marrow transplantation is safe, affordable and has comparable results with reputable overseas transplant centres.
    Matched MeSH terms: Graft vs Host Disease/etiology
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