Displaying publications 7521 - 7540 of 8505 in total

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  1. Safdar ME, Wang X, Abbas M, Ozaslan C, Asif M, Adnan M, et al.
    PLoS One, 2021;16(11):e0258920.
    PMID: 34739485 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0258920
    Weed infestation is a persistent problem for centuries and continues to be major yield reducing issue in modern agriculture. Chemical weed control through herbicides results in numerous ecological, environmental, and health-related issues. Moreover, numerous herbicides have evolved resistance against available herbicides. Plant extracts are regarded as an alternative to herbicides and a good weed management option. The use of plant extracts is environmentally safe and could solve the problem of herbicide resistance. Therefore, laboratory and wire house experiments were conducted to evaluate the phytotoxic potential of three Fabaceae species, i.e., Cassia occidentalis L. (Coffee senna), Sesbania sesban (L.) Merr. (Common sesban) and Melilotus alba Medik. (White sweetclover) against seed germination and seedling growth of some broadleaved weed species. Firstly, N-hexane and aqueous extracts of these species were assessed for their phytotoxic effect against lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.). The extracts found more potent were further tested against germination and seedling growth of four broadleaved weed species, i.e., Parthenium hysterophorus L. (Santa-Maria), Trianthema portulacastrum L. (Pigweed), Melilotus indica L (Indian sweetclover). and Rumex dentatus L. (Toothed dock) in Petri dish and pot experiments. Aqueous extracts of all species were more toxic than their N-hexane forms for seed germination and seedling growth of lettuce; therefore, aqueous extracts were assessed for their phytotoxic potential against four broadleaved weed species. Aqueous extracts of all species proved phytotoxic against T. portulacastrum, P. hysterophorus, M. indica and R. dentatus and retarder their germination by 57, 90, 100 and 58%, respectively. Nevertheless, foliar spray of C. occidentalis extract was the most effective against T. portulacastrum as it reduced its dry biomass by 72%, while M. alba was effective against P. hysterophorus, R. dentatus and M. indica and reduced their dry biomass by 55, 68 and 81%, respectively. It is concluded that aqueous extracts of M. alba, S. sesban and C. occidentalis could be used to retard seed germination of T. portulacastrum, P. hysterophorus, M. indica and R. dentatus. Similarly, aqueous extracts of C. occidentalis can be used to suppress dry biomass of T. portulacastrum, and those of M. alba against P. hysterophorus, R. dentatus. However, use of these extracts needs their thorough testing under field conditions.
  2. Noh ASM, Chuan TD, Khir NAM, Zin AAM, Ghazali AK, Long I, et al.
    PLoS One, 2021;16(12):e0260423.
    PMID: 34879087 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0260423
    Complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA) has been used to develop the arthritic or inflammatory condition in the animal, but there is a lack of information concerning high CFA doses on nociceptive behaviour and inflammatory parameters. This study aimed to compare the effects of different high doses of CFA in rat to closely mimic nociceptive and inflammatory parameters of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in humans. Twenty-four male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into four groups (n = 6): Control (C), CFA-induced polyarthritic groups at 5.0 mg/mL (CFA 5.0), 7.5 mg/mL (CFA 7.5) and 10.0mg/mL (CFA 10.0). The rats' right hindpaw was inoculated with CFA intradermally and developed into a polyarthritic state within 20 days. Nociceptive behavioural assessments, including von Frey and hot plate tests and spontaneous activities, were conducted on day 0, 7, 15 and 20. Bilateral ankle joints diameter and circumference, full blood count, joints and paw histological examinations were also conducted throughout the study period. Based on the results, CFA 5.0 and CFA 7.5 groups showed a significant increase in spontaneous activities and development of thermal hyperalgesia but no change in body weight and food intake, no development of tactile allodynia and haematological indices, and no significant morphological changes of joints histology. Meanwhile, CFA 10.0 group demonstrated significant and constant changes in all nociceptive and inflammatory parameters investigated. In conclusion, CFA at the dose of 10mg/mL has the most potential and reliable dosage to develop polyarthritis in a rat model to mimic RA condition in humans.
  3. Sher A, Arfat MY, Ul-Allah S, Sattar A, Ijaz M, Manaf A, et al.
    PLoS One, 2021;16(12):e0260673.
    PMID: 34932582 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0260673
    Sunflower production is significantly lower in arid and semi-arid regions due to various crop management problem. Conservation of tillage provides the most excellent opportunity to reduce degradation of soil reserves and increase soil productivity. The main objective of this study was to investigate the combined effects of conservation tillage and drought stress on growth and productivity of different sunflower hybrids. Experimental treatments included two sunflower hybrids ('NK-Senji' and 'S-278'), two drought stress treatments (i.e., well-watered and drought stress at flowering and grain filling stages) and three tillage practices (i.e., conservation, minimum and deep tillage). The results indicated that morphological and physiological parameters, and yield-related traits were significantly (P≤0.05) affected by all individual factors; however, their interactive effects were non-significant. Among sunflower hybrids, 'NK-Senji' performed better for morphological, physiological, and yield-related traits than 'S-278'. Similarly, conservation tillage observed better traits compared to the rest of the tillage practices included in the study. Nonetheless, conservation tillage improved growth and yield-related traits of hybrid 'NK-Senji' under drought stress. Hence, it is concluded that conservation tillage can improve the productivity of sunflower under low moisture availability. Therefore, conservation tillage could be suggested in the areas of lower water ability to improve sunflower production. Nonetheless, sunflower hybrids or varieties need thorough testing for their adaptability to conservation tillage and low moisture availability before making recommendations.
  4. Dakheel KH, Abdul Rahim R, Al-Obaidi JR, Neela VK, Hun TG, Mat Isa MN, et al.
    Biotechnol Lett, 2022 Feb 05.
    PMID: 35122191 DOI: 10.1007/s10529-022-03229-y
    OBJECTIVE: The degradation activity of two bacteriophages UPMK_1 and UPMK_2 against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus phages were examined using gel zymography.

    METHODS: The analysis was done using BLASTP to detect peptides catalytic domains. Many peptides that are related to several phage proteins were revealed.

    RESULTS: UPMK_1 and UPMK_2 custom sequence database were used for peptide identification. The biofilm-degrading proteins in the bacteriophage UPMK_2 revealed the same lytic activity towards polysaccharide intercellular adhesin-dependent and independent of Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) biofilm producers in comparison to UPMK_1, which had lytic activity restricted solely to its host.

    CONCLUSION: Both bacteriophage enzymes were involved in MRSA biofilm degradation during phage infection and they have promising enzybiotics properties against MRSA biofilm formation.

  5. Wei AC, Ali MA, Yoon YK, Ismail R, Choon TS, Kumar RS, et al.
    Bioorg Med Chem Lett, 2012 Aug 1;22(15):4930-3.
    PMID: 22749825 DOI: 10.1016/j.bmcl.2012.06.047
    A series of twelve dispiropyrrolidines were synthesized using [3+2]-cycloaddition reactions. The synthesized compounds were screened for their antimycobacterial activity against M. tuberculosis H(37)Rv and INH resistant M. tuberculosis strains using agar dilution method, four of them showed good activity with MIC of less than 1 μM. Compound 4'-[5-(4-fluorophenyl)pyridin-3-yl]-1'-methyldispiro[indan-2,2' pyrrolidine-3',2″-indan]-1,3,1″-trione (4b) was found to be the most active with MIC of 0.1215 and 5.121 μM, respectively.
  6. Salleh SH, Hussain HS, Swee TT, Ting CM, Noor AM, Pipatsart S, et al.
    Int J Nanomedicine, 2012;7:2873-81.
    PMID: 22745550 DOI: 10.2147/IJN.S32315
    Auscultation of the heart is accompanied by both electrical activity and sound. Heart auscultation provides clues to diagnose many cardiac abnormalities. Unfortunately, detection of relevant symptoms and diagnosis based on heart sound through a stethoscope is difficult. The reason GPs find this difficult is that the heart sounds are of short duration and separated from one another by less than 30 ms. In addition, the cost of false positives constitutes wasted time and emotional anxiety for both patient and GP. Many heart diseases cause changes in heart sound, waveform, and additional murmurs before other signs and symptoms appear. Heart-sound auscultation is the primary test conducted by GPs. These sounds are generated primarily by turbulent flow of blood in the heart. Analysis of heart sounds requires a quiet environment with minimum ambient noise. In order to address such issues, the technique of denoising and estimating the biomedical heart signal is proposed in this investigation. Normally, the performance of the filter naturally depends on prior information related to the statistical properties of the signal and the background noise. This paper proposes Kalman filtering for denoising statistical heart sound. The cycles of heart sounds are certain to follow first-order Gauss-Markov process. These cycles are observed with additional noise for the given measurement. The model is formulated into state-space form to enable use of a Kalman filter to estimate the clean cycles of heart sounds. The estimates obtained by Kalman filtering are optimal in mean squared sense.
  7. Ashraf Ali M, Ismail R, Choon TS, Kumar RS, Osman H, Arumugam N, et al.
    Bioorg Med Chem Lett, 2012 Jan 1;22(1):508-11.
    PMID: 22142546 DOI: 10.1016/j.bmcl.2011.10.087
    Pyrrolothiazolyloxindole analogues share vital pharmacological properties, considered useful in Alzheimer's disease (AD). The aim of this study was synthesis and evaluate pyralothiazolyloxindole analogues if possess acetyl cholinesterase (AChE) inhibitory activity. The easily accessible one-pot synthesis of these compounds resulted to be significantly less difficult and expensive than that of donepezil. Several compounds possess anti-cholinesterase activity in the order of micro and sub-micromolar. Particularly, compound was the most potent inhibitors of the series against acetyl cholinesterase enzyme with IC(50) 0.11μmol/L.
  8. Beng TS, Guan NC, Seang LK, Pathmawathi S, Ming MF, Jane LE, et al.
    Am J Hosp Palliat Care, 2014 Feb;31(1):45-56.
    PMID: 22956340 DOI: 10.1177/1049909112458721
    A qualitative study was conducted with semi-structured interviews to explore the experiences of suffering in 20 adult palliative care inpatients of University Malaya Medical Centre. The results were thematically analyzed. Ten basic themes were generated (1) loss and change → differential suffering, (2) care dependence → dependent suffering, (3) family stress → empathic suffering, (4) disease and dying → terminal suffering, (5) health care staff encounters → interactional suffering, (6) hospital environment → environmental suffering, (7) physical symptoms → sensory suffering, (8) emotional reactions → emotional suffering, (9) cognitive reactions → cognitive suffering, and (10) spiritual reactions → spiritual suffering. An existential-experiential model of suffering was conceptualized from the analysis. This model may inform the development of interventions in the prevention and management of suffering.
  9. Waran V, Devaraj P, Hari Chandran T, Muthusamy KA, Rathinam AK, Balakrishnan YK, et al.
    J Clin Neurosci, 2012 Apr;19(4):574-7.
    PMID: 22305869 DOI: 10.1016/j.jocn.2011.07.031
    In neurosurgery and ear, nose and throat surgery the application of computerised navigation systems for guiding operations has been expanding rapidly. However, suitable models to train surgeons in using navigation systems are not yet available. We have developed a technique using an industrial, rapid prototyping process from which accurate spatial models of the cranium, its contents and pathology can be reproduced for teaching. We were able to register, validate and navigate using these models with common available navigation systems such as the Medtronic StealthStation S7®.
  10. Vincent JR, Carson RT, DeShazo JR, Schwabe KA, Ahmad I, Chong SK, et al.
    Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 2014 Jul 15;111(28):10113-8.
    PMID: 24982171 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1312246111
    Inadequate funding from developed countries has hampered international efforts to conserve biodiversity in tropical forests. We present two complementary research approaches that reveal a significant increase in public demand for conservation within tropical developing countries as those countries reach upper-middle-income (UMI) status. We highlight UMI tropical countries because they contain nearly four-fifths of tropical primary forests, which are rich in biodiversity and stored carbon. The first approach is a set of statistical analyses of various cross-country conservation indicators, which suggests that protective government policies have lagged behind the increase in public demand in these countries. The second approach is a case study from Malaysia, which reveals in a more integrated fashion the linkages from rising household income to increased household willingness to pay for conservation, nongovernmental organization activity, and delayed government action. Our findings suggest that domestic funding in UMI tropical countries can play a larger role in (i) closing the funding gap for tropical forest conservation, and (ii) paying for supplementary conservation actions linked to international payments for reduced greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in tropical countries.
  11. Ning TZ, Kin WW, Noordin R, Cun ST, Chong FP, Mohamed Z, et al.
    BMC Infect Dis, 2013;13:144.
    PMID: 23514636 DOI: 10.1186/1471-2334-13-144
    Amoebic liver abscess (ALA) is the most frequent clinical presentation of extra-intestinal amoebiasis. The diagnosis of ALA is typically based on the developing clinical symptoms, characteristic changes on radiological imaging and serology. Numerous serological tests have been introduced for the diagnosis of ALA, either detecting circulating amoebic antigens or antibodies. However those tests show some pitfalls in their efficacy and/or the preparation of the tests are costly and tedious. The commercial IHA kit that used crude antigen was reported to be useful in diagnosis of ALA, however high antibody background in endemic areas may cause problems in its interpretation. Thus, discovery of well-defined antigen(s) is urgently needed to improve the weaknesses of current serodiagnostic tests.
  12. Waran V, Menon R, Pancharatnam D, Rathinam AK, Balakrishnan YK, Tung TS, et al.
    Am J Rhinol Allergy, 2012 Sep-Oct;26(5):e132-6.
    PMID: 23168144 DOI: 10.2500/ajra.2012.26.3808
    Surgical navigation systems have been used increasingly in guiding complex ear, nose, and throat surgery. Although these are helpful, they are only beneficial intraoperatively; thus, the novice surgeon will not have the preoperative training or exposure that can be vital in complex procedures. In addition, there is a lack of reliable models to give surgeons hands-on training in performing such procedures.
  13. Darawi MN, Ai-Vyrn C, Ramasamy K, Hua PP, Pin TM, Kamaruzzaman SB, et al.
    BMC Med Genet, 2013;14:27.
    PMID: 23419238 DOI: 10.1186/1471-2350-14-27
    The incidence of Alzheimer's disease, particularly in developing countries, is expected to increase exponentially as the population ages. Continuing research in this area is essential in order to better understand this disease and develop strategies for treatment and prevention. Genome-wide association studies have identified several loci as genetic risk factors of AD aside from apolipoprotein E such as bridging integrator (BIN1), clusterin (CLU), ATP-binding cassette sub-family A member 7 (ABCA7), complement receptor 1 (CR1) and phosphatidylinositol binding clathrin assembly protein (PICALM). However genetic research in developing countries is often limited by lack of funding and expertise. This study therefore developed and validated a simple, cost effective polymerase chain reaction based technique to determine these single nucleotide polymorphisms.
  14. Subenthiran S, Choon TC, Cheong KC, Thayan R, Teck MB, Muniandy PK, et al.
    PMID: 23662145 DOI: 10.1155/2013/616737
    The study was conducted to investigate the platelet increasing property of Carica papaya leaves juice (CPLJ) in patients with dengue fever (DF). An open labeled randomized controlled trial was carried out on 228 patients with DF and dengue haemorrhagic fever (DHF). Approximately half the patients received the juice, for 3 consecutive days while the others remained as controls and received the standard management. Their full blood count was monitored 8 hours for 48 hours. Gene expression studies were conducted on the ALOX 12 and PTAFR genes. The mean increase in platelet counts were compared in both groups using repeated measure ANCOVA. There was a significant increase in mean platelet count observed in the intervention group (P < 0.001) but not in the control group 40 hours since the first dose of CPLJ. Comparison of mean platelet count between intervention and control group showed that mean platelet count in intervention group was significantly higher than control group after 40 and 48 hours of admission (P < 0.01). The ALOX 12 (FC  =  15.00) and PTAFR (FC  =  13.42) genes were highly expressed among those on the juice. It was concluded that CPLJ does significantly increase the platelet count in patients with DF and DHF.
  15. Chua KH, Lee TH, Nagandran K, Md Yahaya NH, Lee CT, Tjih ET, et al.
    PMID: 23339380 DOI: 10.1186/1472-6882-13-19
    Osteoarthritis (OA) is a degenerative joint disease that results in the destruction of cartilage. Edible Bird's Nest (EBN) extract contains important components, which can reduce the progression of osteoarthritis and helps in the regeneration of the cartilage. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of EBN extract on the catabolic and anabolic activities of the human articular chondrocytes (HACs) isolated from the knee joint of patients with OA.
  16. Beng TS, Guan NC, Seang LK, Pathmawathi S, Ming MF, Jane LE, et al.
    Am J Hosp Palliat Care, 2013 Aug;30(5):473-89.
    PMID: 23341445 DOI: 10.1177/1049909112473633
    A qualitative study was conducted with semi-structured interviews to explore the experiences of suffering in 15 palliative care informal caregivers in University Malaya Medical Centre. The data were thematically analyzed. Seven basic themes were generated (1) empathic suffering, (2) anticipatory grief, (3) obsessive-compulsive suffering, (4) helpless-powerless suffering, (5) obligatory suffering, (6) impedimental suffering, and (7) repercussion suffering. A model of compassion suffering was conceptualized from the analysis. This model may serve as a guide in the assessment and management of suffering in palliative care informal caregivers.
  17. Hammond D, Kin F, Prohmmo A, Kungskulniti N, Lian TY, Sharma SK, et al.
    Asia Pac J Public Health, 2008;20(3):193-203.
    PMID: 19124313 DOI: 10.1177/1010539508317572
    At present, 70% of the world's 1.1 billion smokers are in developing countries, with over 50% in Asia alone. The current study examined patterns of youth smoking in Thailand and Malaysia. Respondents were 2002 youths between the ages of 13 and 17 from Thailand (n = 1000) and Malaysia (n = 1002). Respondents were selected using a multistage cluster sampling design and surveyed between January 2005 and March 2005. Approximately 3% of youth between the ages of 13 and 17 were current smokers, with an additional 10% to 12% reporting experimental smoking. Males were between 7 and 15 times more likely to report smoking behavior than females. Less than 1% of females respondents in either country met the criteria for current smoking, and less than 5% met the criteria for experimental smoking. In contrast, more than 50% Thai males and approximately one-third of Malaysian males aged 17 met the criteria for either experimental or current smoking.
  18. Chan SL, Ong TC, Gao YF, Tiong YS, Wang de Y, Chew FT, et al.
    J Immunol, 2008 Aug 15;181(4):2586-96.
    PMID: 18684949
    A high incidence of sensitization to Blomia tropicalis, the predominant house dust mite species in tropical regions, is strongly associated with allergic diseases in Singapore, Malaysia, and Brazil. IgE binding to the group 5 allergen, Blo t 5, is found to be the most prevalent among all B. tropicalis allergens. The NMR structure of Blo t 5 determined represents a novel helical bundle structure consisting of three antiparallel alpha-helices. Based on the structure and sequence alignment with other known group 5 dust mite allergens, surface-exposed charged residues have been identified for site-directed mutagenesis and IgE binding assays. Four charged residues, Glu76, Asp81, Glu86, and Glu91 at around the turn region connecting helices alpha2 and alpha3 have been identified to be involved in the IgE binding. Using overlapping peptides, we have confirmed that these charged residues are located on a major putative linear IgE epitope of Blo t 5 from residues 76-91 comprising the sequence ELKRTDLNILERFNYE. Triple and quadruple mutants have been generated and found to exhibit significantly lower IgE binding and reduced responses in skin prick tests. The mutants induced similar PBMC proliferation as the wild-type protein but with reduced Th2:Th1 cytokines ratio. Mass screening on a quadruple mutant showed a 40% reduction in IgE binding in 35 of 42 sera of atopic individuals. Findings in this study further stressed the importance of surface-charged residues on IgE binding and have implications in the cross-reactivity and use of Blo t 5 mutants as a hypoallergen for immunotherapy.
  19. Abdul-Rahman MR, Seong NK, Hee TG, Aljada ME, Reda TA, Sumin JO, et al.
    Heart Surg Forum, 2009 Jun;12(3):E184-6.
    PMID: 19546075 DOI: 10.1532/HSF98.20091016
    Various techniques of sternal stabilization via either metal plates or wires have been described. We describe an alternative technique of simple median sternotomy followed by reduction and wire fixation of the sternal fracture. The 2 patients described in this report had traumatic comminuted and displaced sternal fractures. Even though wire repair was deemed to be tedious and achieved poor approximation of the bone, we performed median sternotomy and achieved simple wire fixation with an excellent result.
  20. Amin A, Ali A, Kurunathan S, Cheong TG, Al-Jashamy KA, Jaafar H, et al.
    Histol Histopathol, 2009 05;24(5):559-65.
    PMID: 19283664 DOI: 10.14670/HH-24.559
    Vibrio cholerae is the causative agent of the infectious disease, cholera. The bacteria adhere to the mucosal membrane and release cholera toxin, leading to watery diarrhea. There are >100 serovars of V. cholerae, but the O1 and O139 serovars are the main causative agents of cholera. The present study aimed to compare the severity of intestinal mucosal infection caused by O1 El Tor and O139 V. cholerae in a rabbit ileal loop model. The results showed that although the fluid accumulation was similar in the loops inoculated with O1 and O139 V. cholerae, the presence of blood was detected only in the loops inoculated with the O139 serovar. Serosal hemorrhage was confirmed by histopathological examination and the loops inoculated with O139 showed massive destruction of villi and loss of intestinal glands. The submucosa and muscularis mucosa of the ileum showed the presence of edema with congested blood vessels, while severe hemorrhage was seen in the muscularis propria layer. The loops inoculated with O1 El Tor showed only minimal damage, with intact intestinal villi and glands. Diffuse colonies of the O139 serovar were seen to have infiltrated deep into the submucosal layer of the intestine. Although the infection caused by the O1 serovar was focal and invasive, it was more superficial than that due to O139, and involved only the villi. These observations were confirmed by immunostaining with O1 and O139 V. cholerae-specific monoclonal antibodies. The peroxidase reaction demonstrated involvement of tissues down to the submucosal layer in O139 V. cholerae infection, while in O1 El Tor infection, the reaction was confined mainly to the villi, and was greatly reduced in the submucosal region. This is the first reported study to clearly demonstrate the histopathological differences between infections caused by the O139 Bengal and O1 El Tor pathogenic serovars of V. cholerae.
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