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Neurophysiological correlates of depressive symptoms in young adults: A quantitative EEG study

Lee PF, Kan DPX, Croarkin P, Phang CK, Doruk D

J Clin Neurosci, 2018 Jan;47:315-322.
PMID: 29066239 DOI: 10.1016/j.jocn.2017.09.030

BACKGROUND: There is an unmet need for practical and reliable biomarkers for mood disorders in young adults. Identifying the brain activity associated with the early signs of depressive disorders could have important diagnostic and therapeutic implications. In this study we sought to investigate the EEG characteristics in young adults with newly identified depressive symptoms.
METHODS: Based on the initial screening, a total of 100 participants (n = 50 euthymic, n = 50 depressive) underwent 32-channel EEG acquisition. Simple logistic regression and C-statistic were used to explore if EEG power could be used to discriminate between the groups. The strongest EEG predictors of mood using multivariate logistic regression models.
RESULTS: Simple logistic regression analysis with subsequent C-statistics revealed that only high-alpha and beta power originating from the left central cortex (C3) have a reliable discriminative value (ROC curve >0.7 (70%)) for differentiating the depressive group from the euthymic group. Multivariate regression analysis showed that the single most significant predictor of group (depressive vs. euthymic) is the high-alpha power over C3 (p = 0.03).
CONCLUSION: The present findings suggest that EEG is a useful tool in the identification of neurophysiological correlates of depressive symptoms in young adults with no previous psychiatric history.
SIGNIFICANCE: Our results could guide future studies investigating the early neurophysiological changes and surrogate outcomes in depression.

Matched MeSH terms: Female
Prevalence of neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder in the multi-ethnic Penang Island, Malaysia, and a review of worldwide prevalence

Hor JY, Lim TT, Chia YK, Ching YM, Cheah CF, Tan K, et al.

Mult Scler Relat Disord, 2018 Jan;19:20-24.
PMID: 29100047 DOI: 10.1016/j.msard.2017.10.015

BACKGROUND: Neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD) occurs worldwide in all ethnicities. Recently, population-based studies have shown that NMOSD is more common among non-White populations. There is scarce data about NMOSD prevalence in South East Asian populations.
METHODS: (1) A population-based study was undertaken to estimate NMOSD prevalence in the multi-ethnic Penang Island, Malaysia, comprising Chinese, Malays, and Indians. Medical records of NMOSD patients followed up at the Penang General Hospital (the neurology referral centre in Penang Island) were reviewed. The 2015 diagnostic criteria of the International Panel for NMO Diagnosis were used for case ascertainment. (2) A review of population-based prevalence studies of NMOSD worldwide was carried out. PubMed and conference proceedings were searched for such studies.
RESULTS: Of the 28 NMOSD patients, 14 were residents of Penang Island on prevalence day [13 (93%) Chinese and one (7%) Malay]. All 14 patients were females and aquaporin 4 seropositive. The prevalence of NMOSD in Penang Island was 1.99/100,000 population; according to ethnicities, the prevalence in Chinese was significantly higher than in Malays (3.31/100,000 vs 0.43/100,000, respectively, p = 0.0195).
CONCLUSION: Based on our and other population-based studies, among Asians, East Asian origin populations (Chinese and Japanese) appear to have higher NMOSD prevalence than other Asian ethnic groups. Worldwide, Blacks seem to have the highest NMOSD prevalence. More studies in different geographical regions and ethnic groups will be useful to further inform about potential factors in NMOSD pathogenesis.

Matched MeSH terms: Female
Enhanced conflict monitoring via a short-duration, video-assisted deep breathing in healthy young adults: an event-related potential approach through the Go/NoGo paradigm

Cheng KS, Chang YF, Han RPS, Lee PF

PeerJ, 2017;5:e3857.
PMID: 29018605 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.3857

OBJECTIVES: Practitioners of mindfulness are reported to have greater cognitive control especially in conflict monitoring, response inhibition and sustained attention. However, due to the various existing methods in each mindfulness practices and also, the high commitment factor, a barrier still exists for an individual to pick up the practices. Therefore, the effect of short duration deep breathing on the cognitive control is investigated here.
METHODS: Short duration guided deep breathing videos consisting of 5, 7 and 9 min respectively were created and used on subjects training. The effect on cognitive control was assessed using a Go/NoGo task along with event-related potential (ERP) measurements at Fz, Cz, and Pz.
RESULTS: From the study, the significant outcome showed at the follow-up session in which participants engaged for 5 min deep breathing group showed a profound NoGo N2 amplitude increment as compared to the control group, indicating an enhanced conflict monitoring ability. An inverse relationship between the NoGo N2 amplitude and the breathing duration is observed as well at the follow-up session.
CONCLUSION: These results indicated the possibility of performing short duration deep breathing guided by a video to achieve an enhanced conflict monitoring as an alternative to other mindfulness practices and 5 min is found to be the optimum practice duration.
SIGNIFICANT: This study is the first to establish a relationship between deep breathing and conflict monitoring through ERP. The study population of young adults taken from the same environment reduces the variance in ERP results due to age and environment.
LIMITATION: A larger sample size would provide a greater statistical power. A longer duration of deep breathing should be investigated to further clarify the relationship between the practice duration and the NoGo N2 amplitude. The result can be split by gender and analyzed separately due to the different brain structure of males and females.

Matched MeSH terms: Female
The relationship between schizotypal facets and conspiracist beliefs via cognitive processes

Barron D, Furnham A, Weis L, Morgan KD, Towell T, Swami V

Psychiatry Res, 2018 01;259:15-20.
PMID: 29024855 DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2017.10.001

This study sought to replicate previous work showing relationships between components of schizotypy and conspiracist beliefs, and extend it by examining the mediating role of cognitive processes. An international online sample of 411 women and men (mean age = 35.41 years) completed measures of the schizotypal facets of Odd Beliefs or Magical Thinking and Ideas of Reference, conspiracist beliefs, and cognitive processes related to need for cognition, analytic thinking, and cognitive insight. Path analysis confirmed the associations between both schizotypal facets and conspiracist beliefs in the present sample. Confirmatory evidence was found for the association between analytic thinking and conspiracist beliefs, and results also suggested an association between cognitive insight and conspiracist beliefs. Cognitive insight also mediated the link between Odd Beliefs or Magical Thinking and Ideas of Reference with conspiracist beliefs. However, analytic thinking provided a mediating link to conspiracy ideation for Odd Beliefs or Magical Thinking and not Ideas of Reference. Finally, there was an association between Odd Beliefs or Magical Thinking and need for cognition, but this path did not extend to conspiracist beliefs. These results suggest possible mediating roles for analytic thinking and self-certainty between schizotypy and conspiracist beliefs.

Matched MeSH terms: Female
Fulltext Sonographically abnormal placenta: an association with an increased risk poor pregnancy outcomes

Wan Masliza WD, Bajuri MY, Hassan MR, Naim NM, Shuhaila A, Das S

Clin Ter, 2017 10 19;168(5):e283-e289.
PMID: 29044348 DOI: 10.7417/T.2017.2021

BACKGROUND: The placenta is a most interesting but unfortunately often ignored and misunderstood organ. Placental abnormalities, therefore, can be an "early warning system" for fetal problems. A complete prenatal sonographic examination of the placenta is an essential component as its abnormalities can have a direct effect on fetal or maternal outcomes, obstetrical management and future fertility.
OBJECTIVE: To determine whether any association exists between the finding of an increased thickness of placenta, abnormal placenta shape, placental calcification, placental lake and abnormal cord insertion site at 20-22 and 30-32 weeks gestation with an increased risk of uteroplacental complications or a poor pregnancy outcome.
METHODOLOGY: A real-time ultrasound was used at the time of detail scan (at 20-22 weeks gestation) and at 30-32 weeks gestation to look for placenta appearance, fetal growth and anomaly. The main outcome measures were risk of hypertension disease in pregnancy, fetal growth restriction and poor fetal outcomes such as low Apgar score and low cord pH.
RESULT: The majority of the participants were Malay (77.9%). Abnormal placenta found at both gestations were placental lakes and thickness, and only one case had marginal cord insertion. Approximately 6% of the cases were confirmed placenta previa. No abnormal shape or abnormal calcification found at both gestations. About 10% patient developed hypertensive disease in pregnancy, 15% of the fetus was found to have growth restriction and another 16% have low umbilical cord pH. Majority of them delivered at term (90%) and via vaginal delivery (81%). There was no significance between presence of abnormal placental lake and thickness at both gestations with the maternal and fetal outcome.
CONCLUSION: Presence of abnormal placental thickness and lakes at 30-32 weeks scan associated with maternal hypertensive disease, fetal growth restriction and low umbilical cord pH, however these were not statistically significant.

Matched MeSH terms: Female
Novel Multipin Electrode Cap System for Dry Electroencephalography

Fiedler P, Pedrosa P, Griebel S, Fonseca C, Vaz F, Supriyanto E, et al.

Brain Topogr, 2015 Sep;28(5):647-656.
PMID: 25998854 DOI: 10.1007/s10548-015-0435-5

Current usage of electroencephalography (EEG) is limited to laboratory environments. Self-application of a multichannel wet EEG caps is practically impossible, since the application of state-of-the-art wet EEG sensors requires trained laboratory staff. We propose a novel EEG cap system with multipin dry electrodes overcoming this problem. We describe the design of a novel 24-pin dry electrode made from polyurethane and coated with Ag/AgCl. A textile cap system holds 97 of these dry electrodes. An EEG study with 20 volunteers compares the 97-channel dry EEG cap with a conventional 128-channel wet EEG cap for resting state EEG, alpha activity, eye blink artifacts and checkerboard pattern reversal visual evoked potentials. All volunteers report a good cap fit and good wearing comfort. Average impedances are below 150 kΩ for 92 out of 97 dry electrodes, enabling recording with standard EEG amplifiers. No significant differences are observed between wet and dry power spectral densities for all EEG bands. No significant differences are observed between the wet and dry global field power time courses of visual evoked potentials. The 2D interpolated topographic maps show significant differences of 3.52 and 0.44% of the map areas for the N75 and N145 VEP components, respectively. For the P100 component, no significant differences are observed. Dry multipin electrodes integrated in a textile EEG cap overcome the principle limitations of wet electrodes, allow rapid application of EEG multichannel caps by non-trained persons, and thus enable new fields of application for multichannel EEG acquisition.

Matched MeSH terms: Female
Shear wave elastography for characterization of breast lesions: Shearlet transform and local binary pattern histogram techniques

Acharya UR, Ng WL, Rahmat K, Sudarshan VK, Koh JEW, Tan JH, et al.

Comput Biol Med, 2017 12 01;91:13-20.
PMID: 29031099 DOI: 10.1016/j.compbiomed.2017.10.001

Shear wave elastography (SWE) examination using ultrasound elastography (USE) is a popular imaging procedure for obtaining elasticity information of breast lesions. Elasticity parameters obtained through SWE can be used as biomarkers that can distinguish malignant breast lesions from benign ones. Furthermore, the elasticity parameters extracted from SWE can speed up the diagnosis and possibly reduce human errors. In this paper, Shearlet transform and local binary pattern histograms (LBPH) are proposed as an original algorithm to differentiate malignant and benign breast lesions. First, Shearlet transform is applied on the SWE images to acquire low frequency, horizontal and vertical cone coefficients. Next, LBPH features are extracted from the Shearlet transform coefficients and subjected to dimensionality reduction using locality sensitivity discriminating analysis (LSDA). The reduced LSDA components are ranked and then fed to several classifiers for the automated classification of breast lesions. A probabilistic neural network classifier trained only with seven top ranked features performed best, and achieved 98.08% accuracy, 98.63% sensitivity, and 97.59% specificity in distinguishing malignant from benign breast lesions. The high sensitivity and specificity of our system indicates that it can be employed as a primary screening tool for faster diagnosis of breast malignancies, thereby possibly reducing the mortality rate due to breast cancer.

Matched MeSH terms: Female
Fulltext In vivo bone strain and finite element modeling of a rhesus macaque mandible during mastication

Panagiotopoulou O, Iriarte-Diaz J, Wilshin S, Dechow PC, Taylor AB, Mehari Abraha H, et al.

Zoology (Jena), 2017 10;124:13-29.
PMID: 29037463 DOI: 10.1016/j.zool.2017.08.010

Finite element analysis (FEA) is a commonly used tool in musculoskeletal biomechanics and vertebrate paleontology. The accuracy and precision of finite element models (FEMs) are reliant on accurate data on bone geometry, muscle forces, boundary conditions and tissue material properties. Simplified modeling assumptions, due to lack of in vivo experimental data on material properties and muscle activation patterns, may introduce analytical errors in analyses where quantitative accuracy is critical for obtaining rigorous results. A subject-specific FEM of a rhesus macaque mandible was constructed, loaded and validated using in vivo data from the same animal. In developing the model, we assessed the impact on model behavior of variation in (i) material properties of the mandibular trabecular bone tissue and teeth; (ii) constraints at the temporomandibular joint and bite point; and (iii) the timing of the muscle activity used to estimate the external forces acting on the model. The best match between the FEA simulation and the in vivo experimental data resulted from modeling the trabecular tissue with an isotropic and homogeneous Young's modulus and Poisson's value of 10GPa and 0.3, respectively; constraining translations along X,Y, Z axes in the chewing (left) side temporomandibular joint, the premolars and the m1; constraining the balancing (right) side temporomandibular joint in the anterior-posterior and superior-inferior axes, and using the muscle force estimated at time of maximum strain magnitude in the lower lateral gauge. The relative strain magnitudes in this model were similar to those recorded in vivo for all strain locations. More detailed analyses of mandibular strain patterns during the power stroke at different times in the chewing cycle are needed.

Matched MeSH terms: Female
Fulltext Agreement between calcaneal quantitative ultrasound and osteoporosis self-assessment tool for Asians in identifying individuals at risk of osteoporosis

Chin KY, Low NY, Kamaruddin AAA, Dewiputri WI, Soelaiman IN

Ther Clin Risk Manag, 2017;13:1333-1341.
PMID: 29070951 DOI: 10.2147/TCRM.S145519

BACKGROUND: Calcaneal quantitative ultrasound (QUS) is a useful tool in osteoporosis screening. However, QUS device may not be available at all primary health care settings. Osteoporosis self-assessment tool for Asians (OSTA) is a simple algorithm for osteoporosis screening that does not require any sophisticated instruments. This study explored the possibility of replacing QUS with OSTA by determining their agreement in identifying individuals at risk of osteoporosis.

METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted to recruit Malaysian men and women aged ≥50 years. Their bone health status was measured using a calcaneal QUS device and OSTA. The association between OSTA and QUS was determined using Spearman's correlation and their agreement was assessed using Cohen Kappa and receiver-operating curve.

RESULTS: All QUS indices correlated significantly with OSTA (p<0.05). The agreement between QUS and OSTA was minimal but statistically significant (p<0.05). The performance of OSTA in identifying subjects at risk of osteoporosis according to QUS was poor-to-fair in women (p<0.05), but not statistically significant for men (p>0.05). Changing the cut-off values improved the performance of OSTA in women but not in men.

CONCLUSION: The agreement between QUS and OSTA is minimal in categorizing individuals at risk of osteoporosis. Therefore, they cannot be used interchangeably in osteoporosis screening.

Matched MeSH terms: Female
Modified method of dental age estimation of Malay juveniles

Bunyarit SS, Jayaraman J, Naidu MK, Yuen Ying RP, Danaee M, Nambiar P

Leg Med (Tokyo), 2017 09;28:45-53.
PMID: 28772147 DOI: 10.1016/j.legalmed.2017.07.009
Matched MeSH terms: Female
Fulltext The effect of lighting conditions and use of headlights on drivers' perception and appraisal of approaching vehicles at junctions

Lee YM, Sheppard E

Ergonomics, 2018 Mar;61(3):444-455.
PMID: 28782425 DOI: 10.1080/00140139.2017.1364790

Use of Daytime Running Lights (DRL) is mandatory in many countries for motorcycles, and in some for cars. However, in developing countries, DRLs may be optional or compliance low. The effect of car or motorcycle headlights and lighting conditions on Malaysian drivers' ability to perceive and judge the safety of pulling out was investigated. Stimuli were photographs depicting either daytime or nighttime taken at a T-junction with approaching vehicles with headlights on or off. Headlights improved drivers' ability to perceive cars and motorcycles in the nighttime photographs but not the daytime photographs, although this could be due to the bright weather in the photographs. Drivers judged it less safe to pull out when approaching motorcycles had headlights on than off, regardless of the lighting conditions, supporting the utility of DRL for motorcycles. Headlights did not affect judgements for cars, questioning the utility of DRL for cars. Practitioner Summary: The effect of headlights and lighting conditions on drivers' ability to perceive and make judgements about the safety of pulling out was investigated. Daytime Running Lights influenced drivers' decision-making about the safety of pulling out in front of motorcycles, illustrating the importance of having automatic headlights equipped.

Matched MeSH terms: Female
Fulltext Ponticulus posticus of atlas vertebrae: an incidental finding in Malaysian orthodontic patients

Donald PM, Nagraj SK, Pallivathukkal RG, Ismail ARB

BMJ Case Rep, 2017 Aug 21;2017.
PMID: 28827299 DOI: 10.1136/bcr-2017-220851
Matched MeSH terms: Female
Fulltext Familial antithrombin III deficiency in a Malay patient with massive thrombosis

Wan Ab Rahman WS, Abdullah WZ, Hassan MN, Hussin A, Zulkafli Z, Haron J

Malays J Pathol, 2017 Aug;39(2):197-200.
PMID: 28866705 MyJurnal

Patients with low antithrombin III (AT III) has increased risk for arteriovenous thromboembolic (TE) disease. We report a 28-year-old Malay lady who presented with spontaneous right calf pain and swelling of one week duration. She was on oral contraceptive pills and had a history of travelling for a long distance prior to the presentation. Her brother who was diagnosed with AT III deficiency had arterial thrombosis at a young age. She was diagnosed as having right popliteal vein thrombosis by ultrasound and treated with subcutaneous fondaparinux. While on treatment, she developed massive bilateral pulmonary embolism (PE). Thrombophilia study showed reduced AT III activity (38μl/dl) and normal results for protein C, protein S, activated protein C resistance and lupus anticoagulant assays. This patient has heterozygous AT III deficiency added with significant acquired factors responsible for the TE events. Those with AT III deficiency may have resistance to heparin therapy and require higher doses of heparin.

Matched MeSH terms: Female
Fulltext A sudden paediatric death due to hand, foot and mouth disease: the importance of vigilance

Rahimi R, Omar E, Tuan Soh TS, Mohd Nawi SFA, Md Noor S

Malays J Pathol, 2017 Aug;39(2):167-170.
PMID: 28866699 MyJurnal

BACKGROUND: Hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) is caused by enteroviruses such as Coxsackie virus A16 (CVA16) and Enterovirus 71 (EV71). The diagnostic hallmarks are oral ulcers and maculo-papular or vesicular rash on the hands and feet. Severe form of this disease can lead to death due to neurological and cardiopulmonary complications. This case report aims to describe a fatal case of HFMD with minimal oral and skin manifestations.
CASE REPORT: A four-year-old girl was brought to a hospital after suddenly becoming unresponsive at home. She had a history of fever and lethargy for three days prior to her demise. The patient, and f ive other children in her neighbourhood had been diagnosed to have HFMD at a local health clinic; the other children had recovered without complications.
RESULTS: Autopsy revealed a few punctate, sub-epidermal vesicles measuring 1 to 2 mm on the palm of her right hand and sole of the right foot, visible only with a magnifying glass. Internal examination revealed prominent nodularity at the oro- and hypopharynxes. The lungs were markedly congested and oedematous. Histopathology of the lung showed marked oedema and haemorrhage with mild pneumonic changes. Oedema with increase in macroglia and astrocytic proliferation were seen in the cerebral tissue, but no lymphocytic infiltration was evident. Enterovirus EV71 was detected by polymerase chain reaction in samples from the lung, cerebrospinal fluid and serum. The cause of death was given as HFMD complicated by pneumonia.
CONCLUSION: Fatal HFMD may have minimal signs. A complete history, careful physical examination and relevant investigations lead to a diagnosis at post mortem examination. Awareness of the subtle signs and rapid deterioration associated with a fatal case of HFMD is a challenge to clinicians who encounter these cases.

Matched MeSH terms: Female
Safety Evaluation of Sclerotium from a Medicinal Mushroom, Lignosus cameronensis (Cultivar): Preclinical Toxicology Studies

Lee SS, Tan NH, Pailoor J, Fung SY

Front Pharmacol, 2017;8:594.
PMID: 28919858 DOI: 10.3389/fphar.2017.00594

Twenty-eight days subacute toxicity studies performed in rats using sclerotial powder of Lignosus cameronensis cultivar was conducted to assess its safety for consumption prior to other scientific investigations on its medicinal benefits, nutraceutical or pharmaceutical application of the mushroom. The study was conducted at 250, 500, and 1000 mg/kg sclerotial powder of L. cameronensis cultivar (n = 5 for each respective dose, on both male and female groups) while control groups received only distilled water. At the end of the study (29th day), the animals were sacrificed followed by blood and organs collection for analysis. Subacute toxicity studies done shows that sclerotial powder of L. cameronensis cultivar at 250, 500, and 1000 mg/kg did not induce treatment related changes on behavioral patterns, gross physical appearance, growth pattern, body weight gain, values of hematological and clinical biochemical panels as well as histopathological findings on kidney, spleen, heart, lung and liver of the experimental rats. The no-observed-adverse-effect level dose for sclerotial powder of L. cameronensis cultivar in 28-days sub-acute toxicity study is determined to be 1000 mg/kg.

Matched MeSH terms: Female
Fulltext Primary Central Nervous System Fibrosarcoma

Vinodh VP, Harun R, Sellamuthu P, Kandasamy R

J Neurosci Rural Pract, 2017 Aug;8(Suppl 1):S111-S113.
PMID: 28936084 DOI: 10.4103/jnrp.jnrp_165_17

We report a rare case of a young female with primary brain fibrosarcoma, and to the best of our knowledge, we believe that only <50 cases have been reported or described worldwide so far. Fibrosarcoma is a malignant neoplasm, in which histologically the predominant cells are fibroblasts that divide excessively without cellular control and they can invade local tissues or metastasize. Primary central nervous system fibrosarcomas are very aggressive neoplasms and generally have a poor prognosis. This tumor is either from sarcomatous transformation of a meningioma or arises de novo within the brain parenchyma. Our patient, a 48-year-old woman, who presented with progressive speech disorder over the period of 4 months, showed a left temporoparietal lesion with surrounding edema and local mass effect. Total surgical resection was achieved. Histopathology revealed classical fibrosarcoma features and secondary screening revealed no other distant lesion as diagnosis of primary brain fibrosarcoma was established. This case is deemed to be extremely rare because most reports claim that recurrence is within 6 months with poor prognosis; however, this patient is currently recurrence-free at 3 years. This would suggest of the possibility for a relook into this disease's course and recurrence rate when complete excision is achieved. Due to extreme rarity of these tumors, more comparative studies will be needed to improve the disease outcome.

Matched MeSH terms: Female
A New Black Fly Species of Simulium (Gomphostilbia) (Diptera: Simuliidae) From Laos

Takaoka H, Srisuka W, Saeung A, Maleewong W, Low VL

J Med Entomol, 2017 11 07;54(6):1543-1551.
PMID: 28968910 DOI: 10.1093/jme/tjx134

Simulium (Gomphostilbia) laosense sp. nov. is described based on adults, pupae, and mature larvae from Laos. This new species is placed in the Simulium batoense species-group of the subgenus Gomphostilbia Enderlein. It is characterized by the pupal gill with eight filaments arranged as 3 + 3 + 2 from dorsal to ventral, of which an inner filament of the ventral pair is slightly longer than its counter filament, and is 1.7-1.8 times as long as filaments of the middle triplet. Taxonomic notes are provided to distinguish this new species from Simulium (G.) johorense Takaoka, Sofian-Azirun & Ya'cob from Peninsular Malaysia and four other related species. The phylogenetic position of this new species in the S. batoense species-group is also presented based on the mitochondrial COI gene. This new species represents the second species known from Laos.

Matched MeSH terms: Female
Fulltext Work engagement among breast cancer survivors: are they less engaged in their work?

Zoharah Omar, Roohangiz Karimi, Nor Azida Nayan, Najwa Haneem Mohamad, Nor Aina Emran

Int J Public Health Res, 2014;4(2):457-464.
MyJurnal

Introduction This study investigates work engagement of employed breast cancer
survivors in comparison to unmatched control samples of healthy working
women without cancer and any other chronic diseases from the general
population.

Methods A case-control study design using unmatched controls was adopted in this
study. The case comprised of 80 female breast cancer survivors who have
returned to full-time employment selected using purposive sampling
technique. Meanwhile, controls were 88 healthy female working women in
full time paid employment, selected using quota sampling. Questionnaire
covering socio-demographic characteristics and self-rated work engagement
measured using Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES) was distributed to
the cancer survivors through face-to-face meeting during their hospital visits.
For the healthy controls the questionnaires were distributed using drop-andcollect
method through the human resource personnel of the participating
organization.

Results The results revealed, after controlling for age, marital status, ethnic group and
tenure with organization, no significant differences in the overall work
engagement was found between the breast cancer survivors [mean (SD) =
4.66 (0.92)] and the healthy controls [mean (SD) = 4.75 (0.85)]; F(1, 163)
=1.70. In comparison to the work engagement domains, only the Vigor
domain was found to be significantly lower for the survivors, survivors [F (1,
163) =14.94; p

Matched MeSH terms: Female
The Effects and Action Mechanisms of Phytoestrogens on Vasomotor Symptoms During Menopausal Transition: Thermoregulatory Mechanism

Hairi HA, Shuid AN, Ibrahim N', Jamal JA, Mohamed N, Mohamed IN

Curr Drug Targets, 2019;20(2):192-200.
PMID: 28814228 DOI: 10.2174/1389450118666170816123740

BACKGROUND: Phytoestrogens have recently been claimed to positively influence menopausal discomforts, including hot flashes. However, little is known about the influence of phytoestrogens on core body temperature during oestrogen fluctuation at menopause.
OBJECTIVE: Previously published findings showed that phytoestrogens could relieve menopausal complaints, thus, the present review was aimed at assessing the effects of phytoestrogens on thermoregulatory mechanism during menopausal transition.
RESULTS: The molecular mechanisms underlying hot flashes are complex. Oestrogen fluctuations cause hypothalamic thermoregulatory centre dysfunction, which leads to hot flashes during menopause. The phytoestrogens of interest, in relation to human health, include isoflavones, lignans, coumestans, and stilbenes, which are widely distributed in nature. The phytoestrogens are capable of reducing hot flashes via their oestrogen-like hormone actions. The potential effects of phytoestrogens on hot flashes and their molecular mechanisms of action on thermoregulatory centre are discussed in this review.
CONCLUSION: The effects of phytoestrogens on these mechanisms may help explain their beneficial effects in alleviating hot flashes and other menopausal discomforts.

Matched MeSH terms: Female
Regression equations for sex and population detection using the lip print pattern among Egyptian and Malaysian adult

Abdel Aziz MH, Badr El Dine FM, Saeed NM

J Forensic Leg Med, 2016 Nov;44:103-110.
PMID: 27743546 DOI: 10.1016/j.jflm.2016.10.003

INTRODUCTION: Identification of sex and ethnicity has always been a challenge in the fields of forensic medicine and criminal investigations. Fingerprinting and DNA comparisons are probably the most common techniques used in this context. However, since they cannot always be used, it is necessary to apply different and less known techniques such as lip prints.
AIM OF THE WORK: Is to study the pattern of lip print in Egyptian and Malaysian populations and its relation to sex and populations difference. Also, to develop equations for sex and populations detection using lip print pattern by different populations (Egyptian and Malaysian).
SUBJECTS AND METHODS: The sample comprised of 120 adults volunteers divided into two ethnic groups; sixty adult Egyptians (30 males and 30 females) and sixty adult Malaysians (30 males and 30 females). The lip prints were collected on a white paper. Each lip print was divided into four compartments and were classified and scored according to Suzuki and Tsuchihashi classification. Data were statistically analyzed.
RESULTS: The results showed that type III lip print pattern (intersected grooves) was the predominant type in both the Egyptian and Malaysian populations. Type II and III were the most frequent in Egyptian males (28.3% each), while in Egyptian females type III pattern was predominant (46.7%). As regards Malaysian males, type III lip print pattern was the predominant one (41.7%), while type II lip print pattern was predominant (30.8%) in Malaysian females. Statistical analysis of different quadrants showed significant differences between males and females in the Egyptian population in the third and fourth quadrants. On the other hand, significant differences were detected only in the second quadrant between Malaysian males and females. Also, a statistically significant difference was present in the second quadrant between Egyptian and Malaysian males. Using the regression analysis, four regression equations were obtained.

Matched MeSH terms: Female

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