MyMedR

Fulltext A Gate-to-gate Case Study of the Life Cycle Assessment of an Oil Palm Seedling

Muhamad H, Sahid IB, Surif S, Ai TY, May CY

Trop Life Sci Res, 2012 May;23(1):15-23.

The palm oil industry has played an important role in the economic development of Malaysia and has enhanced the economic welfare of its people. To determine the environmental impact of the oil palm seedling at the nursery stage, information on inputs and outputs need to be assessed. The oil palm nursery is the first link in the palm oil supply chain. A gate-to-gate study was carried out whereby the system boundary was set to only include the process of the oil palm seedling. The starting point was a germinated seed in a small polyethylene bag (6 in × 9 in) in which it remained until the seedling was approximately 3 to 4 months old. The seedling was then transferred into a larger polyethylene bag (12 in × 15 in), where it remained until it was 10-12 months old, when it was planted in the field (plantation). The functional unit for this life cycle inventory (LCI) is based on the production of one seedling. Generally, within the system boundary, the production of an oil palm seedling has only two major environmental impact points, the polybags used to grow the seedling and the fungicide (dithiocarbamate) used to control pathogenic fungi, as both the polybags and the dithiocarbamate are derived from fossil fuel.

Fulltext Omega 3 polyunsaturated fatty acid improves spatial learning and hippocampal peroxisome proliferator activated receptors (PPARα and PPARγ) gene expression in rats

Hajjar T, Meng GY, Rajion MA, Vidyadaran S, Othman F, Farjam AS, et al.

BMC Neurosci, 2012;13:109.

PMID: 22989138 DOI: 10.1186/1471-2202-13-109

This study examined the effects of dietary polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) as different n-6: n-3 ratios on spatial learning and gene expression of peroxisome- proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) in the hippocampus of rats. Thirty male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly allotted into 3 groups of ten animals each and received experimental diets with different n-6: n-3 PUFA ratios of either 65:1, 22:1 or 4.5:1. After 10 weeks, the spatial memory of the animals was assessed using the Morris Water Maze test. The expression of PPARα and PPARγ genes were determined using real-time PCR.

Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) use by Malaysian oncology patients

Farooqui M, Hassali MA, Abdul Shatar AK, Shafie AA, Seang TB, Farooqui MA

Complement Ther Clin Pract, 2012 May;18(2):114-20.

PMID: 22500849 DOI: 10.1016/j.ctcp.2011.09.003

The current study sought to evaluate Malaysian oncology patients' decision making about the use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) for the management of their care. Patients were interviewed across three major Malaysian ethnic groups, Malay, Chinese and Indian. Thematic content analysis identified four central themes: Conceptualizing CAM, the decision making process; rationale given for selecting or rejecting CAM and barriers to CAM use. Participants generally used the term 'traditional medicine', referred to locally as 'ubat kampung', meaning medicine derived from 'local traditions'. Mixed reactions were shown concerning the effectiveness of CAM to cure cancer and the slow progression of CAM results and treatment costs were cited as major barriers to CAM use. Concerns regarding safety and efficacy of CAM in ameliorating cancer as well as potential interactions with conventional therapies highlighted the importance of patients' knowledge about cancer treatments.

Fulltext A longitudinal study of the effects of ART on plasma chemokine levels in Malaysian HIV patients

Chew CS, Cherry CL, Kamarulzaman A, Yien TH, Aghafar Z, Price P

Dis Markers, 2011;31(5):303-9.

PMID: 22048272 DOI: 10.3233/DMA-2011-0844

Chemokines influence the migration of leukocytes to secondary lymphoid tissue and sites of inflammation. In HIV patients, they are implicated in inflammatory complications of antiretroviral therapy (ART), notably Immune Reconstitution Disease (IRD) and Sensory Neuropathy (SN). However most chemokines have not been monitored as patients begin ART or correlated with IRD and SN.

TiO2/Ag modified penta-bismuth hepta-oxide nitrate and its adsorption performance for azo dye removal

Abdullah EA, Abdullah AH, Zainal Z, Hussein MZ, Ban TK

J Environ Sci (China), 2012;24(10):1876-84.

PMID: 23520859

A modified hydrophilic penta-bismuth hepta-oxide nitrate (Bi5O7NO3) surface was synthesized via a precipitation method using TiO2 and Ag as modified agents. The synthesized product was characterized by different analytical techniques. The removal efficiency was evaluated using mono- and di-sulphonated azo dyes as model pollutants. Different kinetic, isotherm and diffusion models were chosen to describe the adsorption process. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) results revealed no noticeable differences in the chemical states of modified adsorbent when compared to pure Bi5O7NO3; however, the presence of hydrophilic centres such as TiO2 and Ag developed positively charged surface groups and improved its adsorption performance to a wide range of azo dyes. Dyes removal was found to be a function of adsorbent dosage, initial dye concentration, solution pH and temperature. The reduction of Langmuir 1,2-mixed order kinetics to the second or first-order kinetics could be successfully used to describe the adsorption of dyes onto the modified adsorbent. Mass transfer can be described by intra-particle diffusion at a certain stage, but it was not the rate limiting step that controlled the adsorption process. Homogenous behavior of adsorbent surface can be explored by applying Langmuir isotherm to fit the adsorption data.

p53 codon 72 polymorphisms and random amplified polymorphic DNA analysis of non-melanoma skin cancer through archival formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue

Yoke-Kqueen C, Ab Mutalib NS, Sidik SM, Learn-Han L, Geok-Chin T

Oncol Rep, 2012 Mar;27(3):753-63.

PMID: 22159872 DOI: 10.3892/or.2011.1581

Non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC) is classified among the ten most frequent cancers in Malaysia. A common polymorphism at codon 72 of the p53 tumor suppressor gene and its influence on cancer risk has been studied for different types of cancer with mixed and inconsistent results with limited published data on the Malaysian population so far. In the present study, the frequency of p53 codon 72 polymorphism in 60 patients with NMSC was investigated from archival formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissue obtained from Hospital Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (HUKM). Additionally, random amplified polymorhic DNA -polymorphic chain reaction (RAPD-PCR) was employed for preliminary biomarker development. NMSC FFPE samples (70%) possess Arg/Arg, 20% with Pro/Pro and 10% with Arg/Pro. In total, there was no significant difference in the p53 codon 72 genotypes between histological types of NMSC, gender, race, tumor location and age group. However, there was an apparent age-associated increase in the Arg/Arg genotype but did not reach statistical significance (P=0.235). NMSC types and demographic characteristics did not influence genotype distribution. On the other hand, BCC and SCC distributions are influenced by age group, race and tumor location.

Fulltext An artifacts removal post-processing for epiphyseal region-of-interest (EROI) localization in automated bone age assessment (BAA)

Chai HY, Wee LK, Swee TT, Salleh ShH, Chea LY

Biomed Eng Online, 2011;10:87.

PMID: 21952080 DOI: 10.1186/1475-925X-10-87

Segmentation is the most crucial part in the computer-aided bone age assessment. A well-known type of segmentation performed in the system is adaptive segmentation. While providing better result than global thresholding method, the adaptive segmentation produces a lot of unwanted noise that could affect the latter process of epiphysis extraction.

Sequential synthesis of amino-1,4-naphthoquinone-appended triazoles and triazole-chromene hybrids and their antimycobacterial evaluation

Devi Bala B, Muthusaravanan S, Choon TS, Ashraf Ali M, Perumal S

Eur J Med Chem, 2014 Oct 6;85:737-46.

PMID: 25129868 DOI: 10.1016/j.ejmech.2014.08.009

A general method for the synthesis of a library of hitherto unreported amino-1,4-naphthoquinone-appended triazoles was accomplished via a sequential three-component reaction of substituted N-propargylaminonaphthoquinones with variously substituted alkyl bromides/2-bromonaphthalene-1,4-dione and sodium azide in the presence of Et3N/CuI in water. Aminonaphthoquinone-appended iminochromene-triazole hybrid heterocycles were also synthesized from the amino-1,4-naphthoquinone-appended-1,2,3-triazolylacetonitriles. All the triazole hybrids were screened for their in vitro activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv (MTB). Among the triazoles, 2-(((1-benzyl-1H-1,2,3-triazol-4-yl)methyl)(4-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)amino)naphthalene-1,4-dione (7d) emerged as the most active one with IC50 = 1.87 μM, being more potent than the anti-TB drugs, cycloserine (6 times), pyrimethamine (20 times) and equipotent as the drug ethambutol (IC50

Benzimidazoles as new scaffold of sirtuin inhibitors: green synthesis, in vitro studies, molecular docking analysis and evaluation of their anti-cancer properties

Yoon YK, Ali MA, Wei AC, Shirazi AN, Parang K, Choon TS

Eur J Med Chem, 2014 Aug 18;83:448-54.

PMID: 24992072 DOI: 10.1016/j.ejmech.2014.06.060

Two series of novel benzimidazole derivatives were designed, synthesized and evaluated for their SIRT1 and SIRT2 inhibitory activity. Among the newly synthesized compounds, compound 4j displayed the best inhibitory activity for SIRT1 (IC50 = 54.21 μM) as well as for SIRT2 (IC50 = 26.85 μM). Cell proliferation assay showed that compound 4j possessed good antitumor activity against three different types of cancer cells derived from colon (HCT-116), breast (MDA-MB-468) and blood-leukemia (CCRF-CEM) with cell viability of 40.0%, 53.2% and 27.2% respectively at 50 μM. Docking analysis of representative compound 4j into SIRT2 indicated that the interaction with receptor was primarily due to hydrogen bonding and π-π stacking interactions.

Synthesis and evaluation of antimycobacterial activity of new benzimidazole aminoesters

Yoon YK, Ali MA, Wei AC, Choon TS, Ismail R

Eur J Med Chem, 2015 Mar 26;93:614-24.

PMID: 24996257 DOI: 10.1016/j.ejmech.2013.06.025

A total of 51 novel benzimidazoles were synthesized by a 4-step reaction starting from basic compound 4-fluoro-3-nitrobenzoic acid under relatively mild reaction conditions. The structure of the novel benzimidazoles was confirmed by mass spectra as well as (1)H NMR spectroscopic data. Out of the 51 novel synthesized compounds, 42 of them were screened for their antimycobacterial activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv strain using BacTiter-Glo™ Microbial Cell Viability (BTG) method. Results of activity screened using Alamar Blue method was also provided for comparison purposes. Two of the novel benzimidazoles synthesized showed moderately good activity with IC50 of less than 15 μM. Compound 5g, ethyl 2-(4-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)-1-(2-morpholinoethyl)-1H-benzo[d]imidazole-5-carboxylate, was found to be the most active with IC50 of 11.52 μM.

Fulltext A large response range reflectometric urea biosensor made from silica-gel nanoparticles

Alqasaimeh M, Heng LY, Ahmad M, Raj AS, Ling TL

Sensors (Basel), 2014 Jul 22;14(7):13186-209.

PMID: 25054632 DOI: 10.3390/s140713186

A new silica-gel nanospheres (SiO2NPs) composition was formulated, followed by biochemical surface functionalization to examine its potential in urea biosensor development. The SiO2NPs were basically synthesized based on sol-gel chemistry using a modified Stober method. The SiO2NPs surfaces were modified with amine (-NH2) functional groups for urease immobilization in the presence of glutaric acid (GA) cross-linker. The chromoionophore pH-sensitive dye ETH 5294 was physically adsorbed on the functionalized SiO2NPs as pH transducer. The immobilized urease determined urea concentration reflectometrically based on the colour change of the immobilized chromoionophore as a result of the enzymatic hydrolysis of urea. The pH changes on the biosensor due to the catalytic enzyme reaction of immobilized urease were found to correlate with the urea concentrations over a linear response range of 50-500 mM (R2 = 0.96) with a detection limit of 10 mM urea. The biosensor response time was 9 min with reproducibility of less than 10% relative standard deviation (RSD). This optical urea biosensor did not show interferences by Na+, K+, Mg2+ and NH4+ ions. The biosensor performance has been validated using urine samples in comparison with a non-enzymatic method based on the use of p-dimethylaminobenzaldehyde (DMAB) reagent and demonstrated a good correlation between the two different methods (R2 = 0.996 and regression slope of 1.0307). The SiO2NPs-based reflectometric urea biosensor showed improved dynamic linear response range when compared to other nanoparticle-based optical urea biosensors.

Fulltext Smartphone-based solutions for fall detection and prevention: challenges and open issues

Habib MA, Mohktar MS, Kamaruzzaman SB, Lim KS, Pin TM, Ibrahim F

Sensors (Basel), 2014 Apr 22;14(4):7181-208.

PMID: 24759116 DOI: 10.3390/s140407181

This paper presents a state-of-the-art survey of smartphone (SP)-based solutions for fall detection and prevention. Falls are considered as major health hazards for both the elderly and people with neurodegenerative diseases. To mitigate the adverse consequences of falling, a great deal of research has been conducted, mainly focused on two different approaches, namely, fall detection and fall prevention. Required hardware for both fall detection and prevention are also available in SPs. Consequently, researchers' interest in finding SP-based solutions has increased dramatically over recent years. To the best of our knowledge, there has been no published review on SP-based fall detection and prevention. Thus in this paper, we present the taxonomy for SP-based fall detection and prevention solutions and systematic comparisons of existing studies. We have also identified three challenges and three open issues for future research, after reviewing the existing articles. Our time series analysis demonstrates a trend towards the integration of external sensing units with SPs for improvement in usability of the systems.

Fulltext Choroidal neovascularization secondary to Best's vitelliform macular dystrophy in two siblings of a Malay family

Alisa-Victoria K, Jin-Poi T, Shatriah I, Zunaina E, Ngah NF

Clin Ophthalmol, 2014;8:537-42.

PMID: 24648718 DOI: 10.2147/OPTH.S55623

Best's vitelliform macular dystrophy complicated with choroidal neovascularization is rare in children. We report three children from a Malay family of five siblings with Best's vitelliform macular dystrophy, in which two of them subsequently developed choroidal neovascularization. The possible pathogenesis of this rare condition is described and highlighted in this report.

Fulltext Infratentorial benign cystic meningioma mimicking a hemangioblastoma radiologically and a pilocytic astrocytoma intraoperatively: a case report

Guan TK, Pancharatnam D, Chandran H, Hooi TK, Kumar G, Ganesan D

J Med Case Rep, 2013;7:87.

PMID: 23537099 DOI: 10.1186/1752-1947-7-87

Cystic meningiomas are rare variants of meningiomas; they can pose a radiological diagnostic dilemma.

Fulltext Outcomes and Safety of Retrograde Intra-Renal Surgery for Renal Stones Less Than 2 cm in Size

Ho CC, Hee TG, Hong GE, Singam P, Bahadzor B, Md Zainuddin Z

Nephrourol Mon, 2012;4(2):454-7.

PMID: 23573465 DOI: 10.5812/numonthly.2211

Retrograde intra-renal surgery (RIRS) has been used to remove stones of less than 2 cm in the kidney. However, its role is not well defined.

Fulltext The screening of visual impairment among preschool children in an urban population in Malaysia; the Kuching pediatric eye study: a cross sectional study

Premsenthil M, Manju R, Thanaraj A, Rahman SA, Kah TA

BMC Ophthalmol, 2013 Apr 19;13:16.

PMID: 23601160 DOI: 10.1186/1471-2415-13-16

BACKGROUND: To screen for visual impairment in Malaysian preschool children.

METHODS: Visual screening was conducted in 400 preschool children aged 4 to 6 years. The screening involved two basic procedures; the distant visual acuity test using the Sheridan Gardiner chart and the depth perception test using the Langs stereoacuity test. Criteria for referral were a visual acuity of 6/12 or less in the better eye or a fail in the depth perception test.

RESULTS: The prevalence of visual impairment was 5% (95% confidence interval [CI] = 3.3, 7.6). Of the 400 preschool children screened, 20 of them failed the distant visual acuity test or the stereopsis test. Refractive errors were the most common cause of visual impairment (95%, 95% CI = 76.2, 98.8); myopic astigmatism was the commonest type of refractive error (63.2%, 95% CI = 40.8, 80.9).

CONCLUSION: The study is a small but important step in the effort to understand the problem of visual impairment among our preschool children. Our study showed that it is feasible to measure distant visual acuity and stereopsis in this age group.

Fulltext Spontaneous malignant glaucoma in a patient with patent peripheral iridotomy

Premsenthil M, Salowi MA, Siew CM, ak Gudom I, Kah T

BMC Ophthalmol, 2012;12:64.

PMID: 23241197 DOI: 10.1186/1471-2415-12-64

To report a case of spontaneous malignant glaucoma in an Asian female. To propose the term "positive vitreous pressure glaucoma" to reflect the pathophysiology, treatment and prognosis of the condition.

The effects of size and synthesis methods of gold nanoparticle-conjugated MαHIgG4 for use in an immunochromatographic strip test to detect brugian filariasis

Makhsin SR, Razak KA, Noordin R, Zakaria ND, Chun TS

Nanotechnology, 2012 Dec 14;23(49):495719.

PMID: 23164811 DOI: 10.1088/0957-4484/23/49/495719

This study describes the properties of colloidal gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) with sizes of 20, 30 and 40 nm, which were synthesized using citrate reduction or seeding-growth methods. Likewise, the conjugation of these AuNPs to mouse anti-human IgG(4) (MαHIgG(4)) was evaluated for an immunochromatographic (ICG) strip test to detect brugian filariasis. The morphology of the AuNPs was studied based on the degree of ellipticity (G) of the transmission electron microscopy images. The AuNPs produced using the seeding-growth method showed lower ellipticity (G ≤ 1.11) as compared with the AuNPs synthesized using the citrate reduction method (G ≤ 1.18). Zetasizer analysis showed that the AuNPs that were synthesized using the seeding-growth method were almost monodispersed with a lower polydispersity index (PDI; PDI≤0.079), as compared with the AuNPs synthesized using the citrate reduction method (PDI≤0.177). UV-visible spectroscopic analysis showed a red-shift of the absorbance spectra after the reaction with MαHIgG(4), which indicated that the AuNPs were successfully conjugated. The optimum concentration of the BmR1 recombinant antigen that was immobilized on the surface of the ICG strip on the test line was 1.0 mg ml(-1). When used with the ICG test strip assay and brugian filariasis serum samples, the conjugated AuNPs-MαHIgG(4) synthesized using the seeding-growth method had faster detection times, as compared with the AuNPs synthesized using the citrate reduction method. The 30 nm AuNPs-MαHIgG(4), with an optical density of 4 from the seeding-growth method, demonstrated the best performance for labelling ICG strips because it displayed the best sensitivity and the highest specificity when tested with serum samples from brugian filariasis patients and controls.

The utilization of cranial models created using rapid prototyping techniques in the development of models for navigation training

Waran V, Pancharatnam D, Thambinayagam HC, Raman R, Rathinam AK, Balakrishnan YK, et al.

J Neurol Surg A Cent Eur Neurosurg, 2014 Jan;75(1):12-5.

PMID: 23315670 DOI: 10.1055/s-0032-1330960

Navigation in neurosurgery has expanded rapidly; however, suitable models to train end users to use the myriad software and hardware that come with these systems are lacking. Utilizing three-dimensional (3D) industrial rapid prototyping processes, we have been able to create models using actual computed tomography (CT) data from patients with pathology and use these models to simulate a variety of commonly performed neurosurgical procedures with navigation systems.

Fulltext Reheated palm oil consumption and risk of atherosclerosis: evidence at ultrastructural level

Xian TK, Omar NA, Ying LW, Hamzah A, Raj S, Jaarin K, et al.

Evid Based Complement Alternat Med, 2012;2012:828170.

PMID: 23320039 DOI: 10.1155/2012/828170

Background. Palm oil is commonly consumed in Asia. Repeatedly heating the oil is very common during food processing. Aim. This study is aimed to report on the risk of atherosclerosis due to the reheated oil consumption. Material and Methods. Twenty four male Sprague Dawley rats were divided into control, fresh-oil, 5 times heated-oil and 10 times heated-oil feeding groups. Heated palm oil was prepared by frying sweet potato at 180°C for 10 minutes. The ground standard rat chows were fortified with the heated oils and fed it to the rats for six months. Results. Tunica intima thickness in aorta was significantly increased in 10 times heated-oil feeding group (P < 0.05), revealing a huge atherosclerotic plaque with central necrosis projecting into the vessel lumen. Repeatedly heated oil feeding groups also revealed atherosclerotic changes including mononuclear cells infiltration, thickened subendothelial layer, disrupted internal elastic lamina and smooth muscle cells fragmentation in tunica media of the aorta. Conclusion. The usage of repeated heated oil is the predisposing factor of atherosclerosis leading to cardiovascular diseases. It is advisable to avoid the consumption of repeatedly heated palm oil.

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