The haemagglutinin-neuraminidase (HN) gene ofNewcastle disease virus (NDV) strain AF2240, amplifiedfrom the viral genomic RNA ( approximately 1.8 kb) was directionallycloned and inserted into a baculovirus expressionvector system. The recombinant glycoprotein expressedin Spodoptera frugiperda (Sf9) cellsshowed haemagglutinin (HA), neuraminidase (NA) andhemadsorption activities. HA activity was detected inboth extra- and intra-cellular recombinant HN(recHNAF2240) samples. In addition, both HA andhemadsorption activities were inhibited by polyclonalanti-NDV sera. Furthermore, significant expression ofthe recombinant protein was observed on the surface ofinfected cells. SDS-PAGE analysis revealed thepresence of visually distinguishable bands between the70 and 80 kDa in size that were absent in thewild-type samples. Western blot analysis showed thatthe distinct approximately 63 kDa band and a approximately 75 kDa bandcorresponded to the unglycosylated and glycosylated HNglycoprotein respectively as reported in anotherstudy. These observations indicated that the HNrecombinant protein was not only expressed on thesurface of the infected cells as well as with theviral coat protein, but also appears to be functional.
A sensitive and specific RT-nested PCR coupled with an ELISA detection system for detecting Newcastle disease virus is described. Two nested pairs of primer which were highly specific to all the three different pathotypes of NDV were designed from the consensus fusion gene sequence. No cross-reactions with other avian infectious agents such as infectious bronchitis virus, infectious bursal disease virus, influenza virus, and fowl pox virus were observed. Based on agarose electrophoresis detection, the RT-nested PCR was about 100 times more sensitive compared to that of a non-nested RT-PCR. To facilitate the detection of the PCR product, an ELISA detection method was then developed to detect the amplified PCR products and it was shown to be ten times more sensitive than gel electrophoresis. The efficacy of the nested PCR-ELISA was also compared with the conventional NDV detection method (HA test) and non-nested RT-PCR by testing against a total of 35 tissue specimens collected from ND-symptomatic chickens. The RT-nested PCR ELISA found NDV positive in 21 (60%) tissue specimens, while only eight (22.9%) and two (5.7%) out of 35 tissue specimens were tested NDV positive by both the non-nested RT-PCR and conventional HA test, respectively. Due to its high sensitivity for the detection of NDV from tissue specimens, this PCR-ELISA based diagnostic test may be useful for screening large number of samples.
Introduction: Leptospirosis is a re-emerging zoonotic disease caused by Leptospira bacteria. The clinical manifes-tations of leptospirosis include mild-fever to a severe or even fatal. Increased levels of inflammatory cytokines pro-duced in response to the Leptospira infection by the host immune system were hypothesized as among the causes of severity in leptospirosis. Besides the classical presentation with the triad of febrile, jaundice, and renal failure, patients with leptospirosis also can pose with predominant sign and symptoms of pulmonary involvement. This study aimed to compare the levels of TNF-α, IL-1b, IL-4, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IL-12, IL-13, IL-17A, IL-18, and IL-22 In the plasma of samples of leptospirosis patients with and without pneumonia. Methods: Circulating cytokine levels in plasma were measured in seventeen patients hospitalized and diagnosed with leptospirosis in Malaysia (January 2016 – December 2017) and nineteen healthy individuals as controls. Patients were categorized into leptospirosis without pneumonia (n=12) and with pneumonia (n=5). Cytokine was measured using SimplePlexTM assays (San Jose, CA, USA). Measurement was performed in triplicate and statistical analysis was conducted using Graphpad® Prism v6 (San Diego, CA, USA). Results: Elevation of plasma TNF-α, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IL-18, and IL-22 levels were observed among leptospirosis patients with pneumonia compared to without, although no statistical differences were observed between these two groups. Conclusion: There are no significant differences observed between the levels of plasma TNF-α, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IL-18, and IL-22 in patients with pneumonia compared to without.
The purpose of this study was to study the association between selected demographic characters
and stress among primary school teachers. The respondents constituted of 60 male
and female school teachers who were chosen using stratified sampling technique. Study was
conducted in Jilin Province. Study design was cross sectional. SPSS was used to analyze
both descriptive and inferential statistics. The main results were as follows. Female teachers
experienced more stress compared to male teachers. Teachers below the age of 40 had more
stress probably, due to teaching experience, as this study revealed that teachers who had
more teaching experience had less stress. Marriage plays and important role in stress, unmarried
teachers experienced comparatively higher levels of stress compared to those married.
Furthermore, those living alone experienced more stress. Occupational stress is known
to cause burnout. It may be a good strategy to provide training in stress management techniques
A balanced dietary intake plays an important role in the prognosis of breast cancer and is one of the modifiable factors in preventing cancer recurrence. This study aims to determine the dietary intake among breast cancer survivors in East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia. A total of 125 breast cancer survivors, aged 37 to 72 years, with mean duration of survivorship of 6.1 ± 3.9 years were recruited from two main referral hospitals in Terengganu and Kelantan. Majority of the respondents were Malay (94.4%) with a mean BMI of 27.7 ± 5.07 kg/m², and were diagnosed with stage II cancer (66.0%). Dietary intake was estimated using a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). The results show that the mean daily intake of energy was 1764 ± 378 kcal/day, protein was 72.38 ± 33.6 g/day (16.5% of energy), carbohydrate was 243.0 ± 62.2 g/day (55% of energy) and fat was 55.8 ± 15.6 g/day (28% of energy). Overall, breast cancer survivors in this study had an adequate daily intake of vitamins and minerals according to Malaysian Recommended Nutrient Intakes (RNI) except for dietary fibre (10.6 ± 4.2 g/day), monounsaturated fatty acids (20.7 ± 5.7 g/day), polyunsaturated fatty acids (8.0 ± 2.2 g/day), calcium (561.0 ± 257.1 mg/day), iron (18.3 ± 7.2 mg/day) and potassium (1813.4 ± 531.1 mg/day) which was lower than the recommendation. Meanwhile, intake of sodium (2592 ± 1697 mg/day), protein (80.4 ± 33.6 g/day), saturated fatty acids (26.9 ± 14.2 g/day), vitamin B2 (1.9 ± 1.1 mg/day) and vitamin C (151.1 ± 149.3 mg/day) exceeded the recommendation by 135.0%, 139.0%, 166.9%, 154.6% and 152.0%, respectively. There was no significant difference in dietary intake between cancer survivors who were diagnosed in the past five years and those who were diagnosed more than five years ago (p>0.05) except for fat (p<0.001), saturated fatty acid (p=0.006), monounsaturated fatty acid (p=0.005) and polyunsaturated fatty acid (p=0.003). As a conclusion, breast cancer survivors in East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia had an adequate intake of most nutrients except for dietary fibre, monounsaturated fatty acids, polyunsaturated fatty acids, calcium, iron and potassium which was below the recommendation and sodium, protein, saturated fatty acids, vitamin B2, vitamin C which was above the recommendation. The intakes between long-term and short-term survivors were also comparable showing sustained dietary intake throughout survivorship.
Introduction:Despite significant advancements in testing technologies and treatment, 80% of 80 million chronically hepatitis C virus (HCV) infected people remain undiagnosed. FIND in collaboration with Ministries of Health and local partners, initiated seven Unitaid funded Hepatitis C Elimination through Access to Diagnostics (HEAD-Start) projects in four countries (Georgia, India, Malaysia and Myanmar) to demonstrate innovative models of HCV care to inform programme scale-up nationally and globally. Here, we describe preliminary findings for patient retention in the HCV cascade for each project. Methods: Target populations and settings include people who inject drugs (PWID) in harm reduction sites (Manipur, Georgia, Myanmar), high risk patients in primary health care facilities (Malaysia), general population in polyclinics and district hospitals (Delhi) and people living with HIV (PLHIV) in antiretroviral therapy (ART) clinics (Punjab). All projects employ rapid diagnostic tests for HCV screening. HCV seropositive patients received confirmatory testing either on site (Georgia, Myanmar) or via centralized laboratory (Malaysia, Georgia, Delhi) or testing hubs (Punjab, Manipur). Results: In Malaysia, 4,613 patients were screened - 23% (1,042) are HCV seropositive, 57% (594) received RNA confirmatory testing and 11% (54) confirmed RNA-positive initiated treatment. In Delhi, 17,101 patients were screened – 2% (355) are seropositive, 92% (326) received confirmatory testing and 70% (180) initiated treatment. In Punjab, 17,507 patients were screened – 19% (3,368) are seroposi-tive, 94% (3,165) received confirmatory testing and 31% (828) initiated treatment. In Manipur, 3,845 patients were screened - 56% (2,180) are seropositive, 73% (1,591) received confirmatory testing and 67% (823) initiated treat-ment. In Myanmar, 199 patients were screened – 96% (191) are seropositive, 100% received confirmatory testing and 86% (151) initiated treatment. In Georgia (Arm 1) - 100% (619) received confirmatory testing and 76% (389) initiated treatment. Conclusion: The fully decentralised HCV testing model demonstrated higher numbers of patients progressing to each step in the care cascade.
Neonatal mastitis and abscess are rare and most often unilateral. Neonatal breast massage for physiological breast hypertrophy is suspected to be a predisposing factor in the case reported here: a 14-day-old neonate with bilateral neonatal breast abscess, treated effectively with intravenous cloxacillin and surgical aspiration.
Many studies have been carried out to produce magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) phantoms as alternative to water phantom. Among the important properties of a phantom are the T1 and T2 relaxation times. The objective of this study is to investigate the T1 and T2 characteristics of the agarose gel phantoms with different relaxation modifier (gadolinium (III) oxide, Gd2O3) concentrations or [Gd2O3]. Six agarose gel phantoms were prepared with different [Gd2O3]. The T1 (fixed echo time (TE) and different repetition time (TR)) and T2 (fixed TR and different TE) measurements on all phantoms were conducted using the 3-T MRI system via spin echo (SE) and turbo spin echo (TSE) sequences, respectively. The signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of all phantoms was calculated using Image-J software by implementing the region of interest (ROI) analysis. The SNR against TR and SNR against TE curves were fitted to the exponential equations for saturation, T1 and T2 determination. For every phantom, T1 curve demonstrated that the SNR increased exponentially with increasing TR, while T2 curves showed that the SNR decreased exponentially with increasing TE. Gd2O3 was found to successfully act as the relaxation modifier for the T1 but not the T2 curves. The T1 curve started to show saturated SNR (SNRo) and increasing SNRo for TR > 1000 ms and [Gd2O3] = 0.005 g/ml or higher. These behaviours are explained based on the dipole-dipole interaction that increases in phantoms with higher [Gd2O3], thus shortening the T1 relaxation. However, a systematic change in the T2 parameters with increasing [Gd2O3] was not observed. While Gd2O3 has significant effects on T1 relaxation parameters, the T2 relaxation parameters were minimally affected. With a shorter T1, the Gd2O3 added agarose gel can potentially be used as test phantom in fast imaging sequence, e.g. gradient echo pulse sequences.
Introduction: It is mandatory that every blood donor must have their haemoglobin (Hb) values measured before blood donation. High Hb may indicate an underlying hidden pathological condition. The aim of this study is to investigate the occurrence of the JAK2 V617F gene mutation in blood donors with erythrocytosis. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted over a nine-month period involving blood donors with high pre-donation Hb. A total of 45 blood donors with total white cell (TWC) > 12.0x 109/l, platelet > 450x109/ l and Hb > 18g/dL were subjected to JAK2 V617F gene mutation analysis. Samples were collected and analysed for haematological tests and detection of JAK2 V617F mutation. Results: From a total of 2238 blood donors, 175 blood donors had high haemoglobin value. Samples from forty-five of these donors were then analysed for JAK2 V617F using allele-specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The prevalence of blood donors with erythrocytosis was 7.8%. All samples were negative for the JAK2 V617F mutation. Conclusions: Erythrocytosis can be relative or absolute and the different causes can be distinguished on the basis of clinical signs and symptoms. An absence of the JAK2 V617F mutation cannot by itself excludes the diagnosis of polycyhaemia vera (PV) since erythrocytosis is the single clinical feature that sets PV apart from other types of myeloproliferative neoplasm (MPN). Further study is required for the detection of other gene mutations that activates the JAK-STAT signalling pathway that could be identified in JAK2 V617F-negative MPN patients.
Emanuel syndrome, also referred to as supernumerary der(22) or t(11;22) syndrome, is a rare genomic syndrome. Patients are normally presented with multiple congenital anomalies and severe developmental disabilities. Affected newborns usually carry a derivative chromosome 22 inherited from either parent, which stems from a balanced translocation between chromosomes 11 and 22. Unfortunately, identification of Emanuel syndrome carriers is diffi- cult as balanced translocations do not typically present symptoms. We identified two patients diagnosed as Emanuel syndrome with identical chromosomal aberration: 47,XX,+der(22)t(11;22)(q24;q12.1)mat karyotype but presenting variable phenotypic features. Emanuel syndrome patients present variable phenotypes and karyotypes have also been inconsistent albeit the existence of a derivative chromosome 22. Our data suggests that there may exist ac- companying genetic aberrations which influence the outcome of Emanuel syndrome phenotypes but it should be cautioned that more patient observations, diagnostic data and research is required before conclusions can be drawn on definitive karyotypic-phenotypic correlations.
Introduction: Rac1 and STIM1 genes are emerging therapeutic targets for cancers. However, their roles in acute my- eloid leukaemia (AML) are not well understood. The goal of this study was to evaluate the effects of dose and time on Rac1 and STIM1 knockdown in the AML cell line model (THP-1 cells). Methods: THP-1 cells were transfected with siRac1 at doses of 50, 100, and 200 nM or dsiSTIM1 at doses of 2, 5, and 10 nM. Expression level of Rac1 and STIM1 then were assessed at time points between 12 and 72 h post-transfection using real-time reverse transcription poly- merase chain reaction. Results: Compared to the control, 87% Rac1 knockdown was attained with 50 nM siRac1 at 24 h post-transfection, and 70% STIM1 knockdown was achieved with 10 nM dsiSTIM1 at 48 h post-transfection. Conclusion: These results show that effective knockdown of Rac1 and STIM1 is possible, and therapy that includes Rac1 and STIM1 inhibitors eventually could provide a new and highly effective strategy for AML treatment.
Wound management is important as it helps to promote healing without microbial infection. Euphorbia hirta, a species of Euphorbiaceae family, also known as Ara tanah among Malaysians, is traditionally used to promote wound healing where its poultice is applied to the sores on the legs, bruises and wounds. Several reported pharmacological properties including antioxidant, antimicrobial, antidiabetic, anti-anaphylactic activities have been reported on this plant. The aim of this review was to evaluate the wound healing effects of E. hirta. Information involving only in vivo studies on wound healing effect of E. hirta was searched using electronic databases. The electronic databases include PubMed, Google Scholar, Ovid, CENTRAL, LILACS, and ClinicalTrials.gov from year 1962 to 2020. A total of five out of 70 studies were included and assessment was made. All included articles studied different wound models in rats. All showed significant wound healing activity with different mechanism of action for incision, excision and dead space wound. Quality assessment of the included studies suggested that experimental animal study design can be improved. It can be concluded that E. hirta displayed potential as a wound healing agent in vivo studies although further research on structure-activity relationship of compounds responsible for the wound healing effect and toxicological studies before it can proceed to clinical studies.
Dural arteriovenous fistulas (DAVFs) are abnormal connections between branches of the intracranial arteries and dural veins or sinuses. Advancements in the technique of endovascular embolization has made it the treatment of choice for DAVFs. The goal of treatment is to completely occlude the fistula orifice while maintaining the normal cerebral venous drainage. Depending on the site of the DAVF, endovascular treatment has its own challenges to the performing physician. In this case report, we will discuss complex anterior cranial fossa DAVFs, treatment approaches, and complications of the treatment.
Pressure relief system is a system to prevent overpressure inside protected equipment that exceeds its maximum allowable working pressure (MAWP) to disposal treatment. Relief system is designed on two different plant case studies, which are dimethyl-ether and ethylbenzene plants by using conventional design procedure. Nevertheless, the conventional design steps are not considering cost optimization of plant installed with relief system. Thus, the design pressure of protected equipment, piping diameter, and disposal treatment is set to be manipulated variables to determine the cost minimization. Pressure drops of inlet piping and backpressure are as constraint variables due to standard requirements. The standards state that inlet piping pressure drops should be below 3% of set pressure and outlet piping pressure drop to set pressure percentage based on range to determined types of the relief valve to be used. From that, optimum plant design with consideration of pressure relief system’s installation can be achieved by calculating the total cost of plant designed with relief system when set pressures are changed. As a result, dimethyl-ether plant shows a minimum point of the total cost at 170% of set pressure increment, which is lower than its original design. On the other hand, ethylbenzene plant gives optimum point at original design as the total cost is higher at set pressure increment.
One of the best ways to evaluate persons’ health quality is through measuring their Quality of Life (QoL). The QoL concept gained rapid popularity over the last four decades in assessing health. It has been used as the sole endpoint in studies designed specifically to develop a positive physical or mental well-being of sick people. The purpose of this review is to address the needs of a new Islam-specific health-related QoL instruments for Muslim patients. A literature search was conducted using electronic databases. For the purpose of the review, QoL domains from WHOQOL SRPB instrument was referred. The identified QoL instruments were then reviewed for their domains and dimensions included in it. At present, there is no specific QoL instrument to assess health-related QoL among Muslim patients’ despite being fastest-growing religion and contribute 23% of the world population. Muslims believes that Islam is a comprehensive way of life which puts religiosity and spirituality as an essential part of life. In addition, QoL is regarded as an important aspect in health care by the World Health Organization (WHO) and spiritual well-being is one of the WHO QoL dimensions. To date, no instrument has been developed to measure QoL specifically according to Islamic perspective. Hence a specific assessment tool of health-related QoL for this growing world population is highly needed. Islam is not only a religion but it’s a way of life and QoL should be beyond the religion perspectives. Therefore, this paper will present the gap found in the review of the existing QoL instruments. Identifying this gap will enable us to develop a tool which is more sensitive to the Muslim population.
Learning Strategy and Study Inventory (LASSI) merupakan suatu instrumen laporan kendiri yang digunakan untuk menilai strategi pembelajaran berdasarkan model umum pembelajaran kognitif dan model strategik pembelajaran. untuk mendapatkan maklumat tentang strategi pembelajaran pelajar Perubatan dan Pergigian di Institusi Pengajian Tinggi Awam (IPTA) dan Swasta (IPTS). Instrumen yang telah dibangunkan oleh LASSI diadaptasi dan digunapakai. Tiga komponen utama yang diukur dalam LASSI iaitu KEMAHuAn, KEMAHIrAn dan PErATurAn KEnDIrI. Populasi kajian merangkumi pelajar lepasan STPM dan Matrikulasi dari IPTA dan IPTS yang mengikuti program Perubatan serta Pergigian atau program Perubatan sahaja. Secara keseluruhannya, persepsi pelajar menunjukkan keperihatinan pelajar untuk mempelajari maklumat baru, sikap dan minat terhadap bidang yang dipelajari dan disiplin diri amat rendah berbanding pelajar di negara maju. Perbandingan skor pelajar IPTA dan IPTS menunjukkan terdapat perbezaan bagi faktor Kebimbangan, Pemprosesan Maklumat dan Strategi Pengujianan. Perbandingan skor pelajar lepasan Matrikulasi dan STPM pula menunjukkan tiada perbezaan signifikan bagi hampir semua skor bagi faktor LASSI kecuali Mat Bantu Pembelajaran dan Pengujian Kendiri. Perbandingan skor pelajar Perubatan dan Pergigian pula menunjukkan strategi pembelajaran bagi kedua dua kumpulan pelajar yang mengikuti bidang kritikal tersebut adalah sama dengan tiada sebarang perbezaan yang signifikan dalam sebarang faktor LASSI. Dapatan kajian juga menunjukkan bahawa keseluruhan pelajar yang mengikuti program kritikal mempunyai strategi pembelajaran yang kurang baik. Sehubungan itu pihak pengurusan perlu mengambil inisiatif untuk membantu pelajar dalam memperkemaskan strategi pembelajaran mereka. Strategi pembelajaran yang kurang efektif akan mengundang kesan sampingan yang tidak sihat seperti kemurungan atau stress di kalangan pelajar.
Recurrent respiratory papillomatosis (RRP) is a rare cause of childhood stridor which typically presents before the age of five years and results from the vertical transmission of the human papilloma virus. Genotypes 11 and 6 are commonly implicated in RRP. Following vertical transmission, the human papilloma virus (HPV) causes overgrowth of the airway epithelium which causes partial airway obstruction and the symptoms of stridor. The mainstay management is surgical debridement of the papillomata but the recurrence rate subsequent to surgery is high, such that most children will require repeated surgical procedures at regular interval. Medical adjuvant therapy can be used, but data is limited and the medications are used on an off-label basis. This case highlights the ethical considerations that need to be made when using off-label medications in paediatric patients.
Sepak takraw is a traditional sport in Asia in which the players use various
parts of their bodies to hit the ball, with the exception of their hands. Unlike
other sports such as soccer, boxing, and rugby, it is observed that none of
the studies in the literature have examined the injuries resulting from the
impact of the sepak takraw ball on the players’ heads during a game. This
study was initiated following the incidents of the 24th SEA Games in Korat,
Thailand, in year 2007, whereby a number of players from the Malaysian
Sepak Takraw Association (PSM) had to withdraw themselves from the
championship. These players suffered from headaches which were believed
to be caused by the impact of the sepak takraw ball, considering the fact that
heading is one of the basic movements used to hit the ball. Moreover, it is
expected that the sepak takraw ball travels at high velocities during the
game. Hence, the objective of this study is to investigate the impact of the
sepak takraw ball and its corresponding level of head injury among sepak
takraw players in Malaysia by means of numerical simulations and
experiments. In order to achieve this objective, a model of the scalp, skull,
cerebrospinal fluid and brain is first developed and simulations are then
carried out using finite element analysis (FEA) software. The results show
that the maximum speed of the sepak takraw ball before heading is 13.581 m/s while the maximum impact force on the head obtained from the simulations is 688.11 N. The maximum displacement and maximum linear acceleration of the brain’s centre of gravity is found to be 0.0080 m and 1674.5 m/s2, respectively, while the head impact power (HIP) is determined to be 11.366 kW. According to Newman, Shewchenko, and Welbourne(2000), the probability of concussion is 39% and based on the resultsobtained in this study, it can be concluded that the players may suffer from mild traumatic brain injuries (MTBI) due to the high impact of the sepak takraw ball during heading. Hence, it is recommended that the players wear protective headbands to reduce the impact during heading and prevent the occurrence of MTBI in the long term.
Objective: BigSib Students' Peer-Group Mentoring Programme was implemented as an innovative, interactive and integrated instructional method in the Universiti Sains Malaysia medical school curriculum designed to enhance and strengthen medical students training in soft skills and professional development. This study was conducted to evaluate first- and second-year medical students’ perceptions of and attitudes towards the Programme.
Methodology: A cross sectional study was carried on 314 medical students. Questionnaires assessing medical students' perceptions and attitudes towards the Programme were administered. Data were analysed by using SPSS version 12.
Results: 45.9 % of the students perceived the BigSib Students' Peer-Group Mentoring Programme as successful. More than 50% of the students are willing to participate in the Programme. About 60% of the students perceived it as an effective Programme in developing their soft skills and professionalism.
Conclusion: Medical students have positive attitudes toward the Programme and it is perceived as a successful and effective Programme in developing students' personal attributes. Similar peer-group mentoring programme may be considered relevant to be incorporated into the medical curriculum in the future.
Objective: A baseline functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study was carried out on a healthy right-handed male subject to attain further insights into the basic neuronal control mechanisms of bimanual and unimanual movements of hand fingers, an area that is still not fully understood. Methods : The study used the basic unimanual and bimanual movements of the left- and right-hand fingers to stimulate neuronal activity in the cerebral cortices. The subject was instructed to sequentially press his fingers either unimanually (UNI) or bimanually (BIM), against the thumb in a consistent alternative manner during the functional scans. The data were analysed using the MATLAB and SPM2 software packages. Results : Brain activations obtained via the F-test indicate a larger activation area as compared to that obtained from the T-test. The results showed that, the activated brain regions due to the self-paced finger movements are the precentral and postcentral gyrii covering the primary motor, premotor and somatosensory primer areas. The activestate signal intensity was found to be significantly (p < 0.05) higher than that of the resting-state. For UNI, brain activation showed contra-laterality with a larger activation area and a higher signal intensity at the point of maximum intensity for the left-hand finger
movement (UNIleft) compared to the right-hand finger movement (UNIright). Small ipsilateral activations were observed during UNIright and UNIleft. For BIM, the activation was observed in both hemispheres with the right hemisphere showing a higher signal intensity and coverage. The results support the fact that for a right-handed person performing either UNI or BIM type of movement, the activated motor area on the right hemisphere of the brain (movement of the left hand fingers) experience a higher intensity and larger coverage of hemodynamic response compared to the left hemisphere of the brain (movement of the right hand fingers). Analyses performed on the activated regions of interest (ROI) by
comparing the unimanual and bimanual types of activations revealed that during BIM, there are voxels in the left hemisphere controlling the movement of the left hand fingers (BIMleft) and voxels in the right hemisphere controlling the movement of the right hand fingers (BIMright). The interactions observed in this study resemble the existence of interhemispheric connection between both hemispheres during BIM. Conclusion : Although this is a single subject study, the hemodynamic response and the neuronal control mechanism in the cerebral cortices based on the BOLD mechanism can be studied and evaluated using fMRI and SPM.