Displaying publications 61 - 80 of 360 in total

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  1. Chua BL, Karim S, Lee S, Han H
    PMID: 32872267 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph17176276
    This study investigated restaurant customers' perceived importance of key factors in accordance with dining occasions and restaurant segments. Our investigation into restaurant selection and situational factors present two types of empirical evidence regarding customers' choice of restaurant. First, menu price was customers' top priority in restaurant selections for full-service, quick-casual, and quick-service restaurants. Second, restaurant customers rated the importance level of restaurant selection criteria differently according to eating-out occasions. The importance of menu price was greatest for both quick meal/convenience and social occasion, brand reputation was the most important factor for business necessity, and word-of-mouth recommendation was greatest for celebration.
  2. New SY, Lee ST, Su XD
    Nanoscale, 2016 Oct 20;8(41):17729-17746.
    PMID: 27722695
    12 years after the introduction of DNA-templated silver nanoclusters (DNA-AgNCs), exciting progress has been made and yet we are still in the midst of trying to fully understand this nanomaterial. The prominent excellence of DNA-AgNCs is undoubtedly its modulatable emission property, of which how variation in DNA templates causes emission tuning remains elusive. Based on the up-to-date DNA-AgNCs, we aim to establish the correlation between the structure/sequence of DNA templates and emission behaviour of AgNCs. Herein, we systematically present a wide-range of DNA-AgNCs based on the structural complexity of the DNA templates, including single-stranded DNA (ssDNA), double-stranded DNA (dsDNA), triple-stranded DNA (tsDNA) and DNA nanostructures. For each DNA category, we discuss the emission property, quantum yield and synthesis condition of the respective AgNCs, before cross-comparing the impact of different DNA scaffolds on the properties of AgNCs. A future outlook for this area is given as a conclusion. By putting the information together, this review may shed new light on understanding DNA-AgNCs while we are expecting continuous breakthroughs in this field.
  3. An JU, Ho H, Kim J, Kim WH, Kim J, Lee S, et al.
    Front Microbiol, 2018;9:3136.
    PMID: 30619204 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2018.03136
    Campylobacter jejuni is a major foodborne pathogen that is increasingly found worldwide and that is transmitted to humans through meat or dairy products. A detailed understanding of the prevalence and characteristics of C. jejuni in dairy cattle farms, which are likely to become sources of contamination, is imperative and is currently lacking. In this study, a total of 295 dairy cattle farm samples from 15 farms (24 visits) in Korea were collected. C. jejuni prevalence at the farm level was 60% (9/15) and at the animal level was 23.8% (68/266). Using the multivariable generalized estimating equation (GEE) model based on farm-environmental factors, we estimated that a high density of cattle and average environmental temperature (7 days prior to sampling) below 24°C affects the presence and survival of C. jejuni in the farm environment. Cattle isolates, together with C. jejuni from other sources (chicken and human), were genetically characterized based on analysis of 10 virulence and survival genes. A total of 19 virulence profile types were identified, with type 01 carrying eight genes (all except hcp and virB11) being the most prevalent. The prevalence of virB11 and hcp was significantly higher in isolates from cattle than in those from other sources (p < 0.05). Multilocus sequence typing (MLST) of C. jejuni isolates from three different sources mainly clustered in the CC-21 and CC-48. Within the CC-21 and CC-48 clusters, cattle isolates shared an indistinguishable pattern with human isolates according to pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and flaA-restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) typing. This suggests that CC-21 and CC-48 C. jejuni from dairy cattle are genetically related to clinical campylobacteriosis isolates. In conclusion, the farm environment influences the presence and survival of C. jejuni, which may play an important role in cycles of cattle re-infection, and dairy cattle represent potential reservoirs of human campylobacteriosis. Thus, environmental management practices could be implemented on cattle farms to reduce the shedding of C. jejuni from cattle, subsequently reducing the potential risk of the spread of cattle-derived C. jejuni to humans through the food chain.
  4. Ahmad SN, Zaharim WN, Sulaiman S, Hasan Baseri DF, Mohd Rosli NA, Ang LS, et al.
    ACS Omega, 2020 Dec 29;5(51):33253-33261.
    PMID: 33403287 DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.0c04937
    Density functional theory computational investigation was performed to study the electronic structures, muon sites, and the associated hyperfine interactions in [Au25(SR)18]0 and [Au25(SeR)18]0 where R is phenylethane. The calculated electronic structures show inhomogeneous spin density distribution and are also affected by different ligands. The two most stable muon sites near Au atoms in the thiolated system are MAu11 and MAu6. When the thiolate ligands were replaced by selenolate ligands, the lowest energy positions of muons moved to MAu6 and MAu5. Muons prefer to stop inside the Au12 icosahedral shell, away from the central Au and the staple motifs region. Muonium states at phenyl ring and S/Se atoms in the ligand were found to be stable and the Fermi contact fields are much larger as compared to the field experienced by muons near Au atoms.
  5. Zaharim WN, Ahmad SNA, Sulaiman S, Rozak H, Hasan Baseri DF, Mohamad Rosli NA, et al.
    ACS Omega, 2021 Nov 09;6(44):29641-29650.
    PMID: 34778635 DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.1c03956
    Density functional theory method at the B3LYP/6-31G level was used to determine the structure of 12mer single-strand guanine oligomers. The length and width of the optimized structure are 38.7 and 18.2 Å, respectively, and the observed high-resolution transmission electron microscopy image of the 12mer single-strand guanine sample shows similar oligomer dimensions with the calculated ones. Both HOMO and LUMO are significantly delocalized, and the calculated HOMO-LUMO gap is 3.31 eV. A total of 96 muonium trapping sites at C2, C4, C5, C6, C8, N3, N7, and O6 were investigated. All 12 C8 sites have lower energy than the other 84 sites and are clustered in the energy-muon hyperfine coupling constant scatter plot. The calculated muon hyperfine coupling constant at C8 sites range from 384.6 to 481.1 MHz, and the corresponding estimated ALC-μSR resonance for |ΔM| = 1 range from 1.419 to 1.775 T.
  6. Sirunyan AM, Tumasyan A, Adam W, Ambrogi F, Bergauer T, Dragicevic M, et al.
    Eur Phys J C Part Fields, 2021;81(4):312.
    PMID: 34727148 DOI: 10.1140/epjc/s10052-021-08949-5
    This paper presents new sets of parameters ("tunes") for the underlying-event model of the H E R W I G 7 event generator. These parameters control the description of multiple-parton interactions (MPI) and colour reconnection in H E R W I G 7 , and are obtained from a fit to minimum-bias data collected by the CMS experiment at s = 0.9 , 7, and 13 Te . The tunes are based on the NNPDF 3.1 next-to-next-to-leading-order parton distribution function (PDF) set for the parton shower, and either a leading-order or next-to-next-to-leading-order PDF set for the simulation of MPI and the beam remnants. Predictions utilizing the tunes are produced for event shape observables in electron-positron collisions, and for minimum-bias, inclusive jet, top quark pair, and Z and W boson events in proton-proton collisions, and are compared with data. Each of the new tunes describes the data at a reasonable level, and the tunes using a leading-order PDF for the simulation of MPI provide the best description of the data.
  7. Lee JY, Lee SW, Nasir NH, How S, Tan CS, Wong CP
    Diabet Med, 2015 Dec;32(12):1658-61.
    PMID: 26103794 DOI: 10.1111/dme.12836
    AIM: This pilot study evaluated the short-term benefits of a telemonitoring-supplemented focused diabetic education compared with education alone in participants with Type 2 diabetes who were fasting during Ramadan.
    METHODS: In this pilot mixed-method study, we identified 37 participants and randomly allocated them to either a telemonitoring group (n = 18) or a group receiving Ramadan-focused pre-education only (usual care; n = 19). The telemonitoring group received goal-setting and personalized feedback.
    RESULTS: The telemonitoring group was less likely to experience hypoglycaemia than the usual care group (odds ratio: 0.1273; 95% confidence interval: 0.0267-0.6059). No significant differences were noted in glycaemic control at the end of study. Participants viewed telemedicine as a more convenient alternative although technological barriers remain a concern.
    CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study reinforce the need for monitoring as well as educational initiatives for Muslims with diabetes who fast during Ramadan. Telemonitoring offers an attractive option requiring further research. (Clinical Trial Registry No. NCT02189135).
  8. Ang KP, Nordin RB, Lee SCY, Lee CY, Lu HT
    Med J Malaysia, 2019 02;74(1):51-56.
    PMID: 30846663
    INTRODUCTION: We aim to study the diagnostic value of electrocardiogram (ECG) in cardiac tamponade.

    METHODS: This study was a single centre, retrospective casecontrol study. We recruited 42 patients diagnosed with cardiac tamponade of various aetiologies confirmed by transthoracic echocardiography and 100 controls between January 2011 and December 2015. The ECG criteria of cardiac tamponade we adopted was as follows: 1) Low QRS voltage in a) the limb leads alone, b) in the precordial leads alone or, c) in all leads, 2) PR segment depression, 3) Electrical alternans, and 4) Sinus tachycardia.

    RESULTS: Malignancy was the most common causes of cardiac tamponade, the two groups were of similar proportion of gender and ethnicity. We calculated the sensitivity (SN), specificity (SP), positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV) of each ECG criteria. Among the ECG abnormalities, we noted the SN of 'low voltage in all chest leads' (69%), 'low voltage in all limb leads' (67%) and 'sinus tachycardia' (69%) were higher as compared to 'PR depression' (12%) and 'electrical alternan' (5%). On the other hand, 'low voltage in all chest leads' (98%), 'low voltage in all leads' (99%), 'PR depression' (100%) and 'electrical alternans' (100%) has highest SP.

    CONCLUSION: Our study reaffirmed the findings of previous studies that electrocardiography cannot be used as a screening tool for diagnosing cardiac tamponade due to its low sensitivity. However, with clinical correlation, electrocardiography is a valuable adjuvant test to 'rule in' cardiac tamponade because of its high specificity.

  9. Chakranon P, Lai YK, Tang YW, Choudhary P, Khunti K, Lee SWH
    Diabet Med, 2020 12;37(12):1966-1976.
    PMID: 31631398 DOI: 10.1111/dme.14156
    AIM: To summarize and evaluate the existing evidence on the effectiveness of distal technology with regard to multiple health outcomes in people with diabetes.

    METHODS: We searched PubMed, EMBASE and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews from database inception to 31 August 2018 for systematic reviews and/or meta-analyses of studies that examined the impact of distal technology and reported any clinical or patient-related outcomes among people with type 1 or type 2 diabetes.

    RESULTS: The umbrella review identified 95 reviews, including 162 meta-analyses with 46 unique outcomes. Evidence from meta-analyses of randomized controlled studies supports the use of distal technology, especially telehealth and mHealth (healthcare delivered by mobile technology), in people with diabetes for improving HbA1c values by 2-4 mmol/mol (0.2-0.4%). For other health outcomes, such as changes in fasting plasma glucose levels, risk of diabetic ketoacidosis or frequency of severe hypoglycaemia, the evidence was weaker. No evidence was reported for most patient-reported outcomes including quality of life, self-efficacy and medication-taking. The evidence base was poor, with most studies rated as low to very low quality.

    CONCLUSION: Distal technologies were associated with a modest improvement in glycaemic control, but it was unclear if they improved major clinical outcomes or were cost-effective in people with diabetes. More robust research to improve wider outcomes in people with diabetes is needed before such technologies can be recommended as part of routine care for any patient group.

  10. Khachatryan V, Sirunyan AM, Tumasyan A, Adam W, Bergauer T, Dragicevic M, et al.
    Eur Phys J C Part Fields, 2015 07 01;75(7):302.
    PMID: 26190937
    This paper presents distributions of topological observables in inclusive three- and four-jet events produced in pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7[Formula: see text] with a data sample collected by the CMS experiment corresponding to a luminosity of 5.1[Formula: see text]. The distributions are corrected for detector effects, and compared with several event generators based on two- and multi-parton matrix elements at leading order. Among the considered calculations, MadGraph interfaced with pythia6 displays the overall best agreement with data.
  11. Lee SK, Sirajudeen KN, Sundaram A, Zakaria R, Singh HJ
    Clin Exp Pharmacol Physiol, 2011 Dec;38(12):854-9.
    PMID: 21973174 DOI: 10.1111/j.1440-1681.2011.05624.x
    1. The hypotensive effect of cross-fostering in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) is thought to involve adjustments in renal function. However, its association with renal anti-oxidant/oxidant balance during cross-fostering is not known. 2. The present study examined the effect of cross-fostering and in-fostering of 1-day-old offspring between SHR and Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) dams on renal anti-oxidant/oxidant status and systolic blood pressure (SBP). Renal anti-oxidant/oxidant status and SBP were determined in the offspring from 4-16 weeks of age. 3. Cross-fostered SHR had significantly lower SBP than in-fostered SHR at 6, 8 and 12 weeks, but not at 16 weeks (127 ± 1 vs 144 ± 2, 138 ± 1 vs 160 ± 1, 174 ± 2 vs 184 ± 2 and 199 ± 2 vs 194 ± 3 mmHg at 6, 8, 12 and 16 weeks, respectively). No differences in SBP were evident between cross-fostered and in-fostered WKY rats. There were no significant differences in levels of thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances (TBARS), protein carbonyl and total anti-oxidant status (TAS) or superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione peroxidase (GPx), glutathione S-transferase and glutathione reductase activity between cross-fostered and in-fostered SHR or WKY offspring. However, compared with WKY rats, catalase activity was higher at 6 and 16 weeks, TAS was higher at 16 weeks and GPx activity and TBARS were lower at 16 weeks in SHR. 4. It appears that cross-fostering of SHR offspring to WKY dams during the early postnatal period causes a transient delay in the rise in blood pressure in SHR and that this does not involve the renal anti-oxidant/oxidant system.
  12. Aisyah HA, Paridah MT, Khalina A, Sapuan SM, Wahab MS, Berkalp OB, et al.
    Polymers (Basel), 2018 Nov 28;10(12).
    PMID: 30961245 DOI: 10.3390/polym10121320
    The effects of different fabric materials namely weave designs (plain and satin) and fabric counts (5 × 5 and 6 × 6) on the properties of laminated woven kenaf/carbon fibre reinforced epoxy hybrid composites were evaluated. The hybrid composites were fabricated from two types of fabric, i.e., woven kenaf that was made from a yarn of 500tex and carbon fibre, by using vacuum infusion technique and epoxy resin as matrix. The panels were tested for tensile, flexural, and impact strengths. The results have revealed that plain fabric is more suitable than satin fabric for obtaining high tensile and impact strengths. Using a fabric count of 5 × 5 has generated composites that are significantly higher in flexural modulus as compared to 6 × 6 which may be attributed to their structure and design. The scanned electron micrographs of the fractured surfaces of the composites demonstrated that plain woven fabric composites had better adhesion properties than satin woven fabric composites, as indicated by the presence of notably lower amount of fibre pull out.
  13. Lee SK, Sirajudeen KN, Sundaram A, Zakaria R, Singh HJ
    J Physiol Biochem, 2011 Jun;67(2):249-57.
    PMID: 21210316 DOI: 10.1007/s13105-010-0070-2
    Although melatonin lowers blood pressure in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR), its effect following antenatal and postpartum supplementation on the subsequent development of hypertension in SHR pups remains unknown. To investigate this, SHR dams were given melatonin in drinking water (10 mg/kg body weight/day) from day 1 of pregnancy until day 21 postpartum. After weaning, a group of male pups continued to receive melatonin till the age of 16 weeks (Mel-SHR), while no further melatonin was given to another group of male pups (Maternal-Mel-SHR). Controls received plain drinking water. Systolic blood pressure (SBP) was measured at 4, 6, 8, 12 and 16 weeks of age, after which the kidneys were collected for analysis of antioxidant enzyme profiles. SBP was significantly lower till the age of 8 weeks in Maternal-Mel-SHR and Mel-SHR than that in the controls, after which no significant difference was evident in SBP between the controls and Maternal-Mel-SHR. SBP in Mel-SHR was lower than that in controls and Maternal-Mel-SHR at 12 and 16 weeks of age. Renal glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and glutathione s-transferase (GST) activities, levels of total glutathione and relative GPx-1 protein were significantly higher in Mel-SHR. GPx protein was however significantly higher in Mel-SHR. No significant differences were evident between the three groups in the activities of superoxide dismutase, catalase and glutathione reductase. In conclusion, it appears that while antenatal and postpartum melatonin supplementation decreases the rate of rise in blood pressure in SHR offspring, it however does not alter the tendency of offspring of SHR to develop hypertension.
  14. Lee ST, Amin MJ
    Singapore Med J, 1994 Dec;35(6):591-4.
    PMID: 7761882
    Nonsedating selective peripheral H1 receptor antagonists are an important advance in antihistaminic therapy in allergic patients. This is a randomised, double-blind parallel group study comparing the use of two such agents viz loratadine 10mg daily and astemizole 10mg daily for two weeks in 39 Malaysian allergic rhinitis patients. At these dosages, both drugs were demonstrated to be efficacious (p < 0.05) for controlling nasal symptoms and safe in terms of short term biochemical and haematological changes and adverse effects noted. Evaluating efficacy criteria utilised in this study loratadine and astemizole were comparable but loratadine was significantly more effective in three areas viz: (i) in diminishing nasal symptoms after 2 weeks of treatment (p = 0.03); (ii) physician's efficacy evaluation after 2 weeks' treatment (p = 0.009); (iii) patient's efficacy evaluation after 2 weeks' treatment (p = 0.019).
    Study site: Allergy clinic, University Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
  15. Sirunyan AM, Tumasyan A, Adam W, Ambrogi F, Asilar E, Bergauer T, et al.
    Phys Rev Lett, 2018 Aug 24;121(8):082301.
    PMID: 30192601 DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.121.082301
    The elliptic azimuthal anisotropy coefficient (v_{2}) is measured for charm (D^{0}) and strange (K_{S}^{0}, Λ, Ξ^{-}, and Ω^{-}) hadrons, using a data sample of p+Pb collisions collected by the CMS experiment, at a nucleon-nucleon center-of-mass energy of sqrt[s_{NN}]=8.16  TeV. A significant positive v_{2} signal from long-range azimuthal correlations is observed for all particle species in high-multiplicity p+Pb collisions. The measurement represents the first observation of possible long-range collectivity for open heavy flavor hadrons in small systems. The results suggest that charm quarks have a smaller v_{2} than the lighter quarks, probably reflecting a weaker collective behavior. This effect is not seen in the larger PbPb collision system at sqrt[s_{NN}]=5.02  TeV, also presented.
  16. Koh KB, Lam HS, Lee SH
    Br J Urol, 1993 May;71(5):609-11.
    PMID: 8518872
    Four cases of emphysematous pyelonephritis are reported and the pathogenesis, surgical implications and preferred mode of management are discussed. We have not found percutaneous drainage to be useful, but feel there is an important place for surgical drainage alone because of the potential for renal recovery and the risks of emergency nephrectomy.
  17. Konuma A, Tsumura Y, Lee CT, Lee SL, Okuda T
    Mol Ecol, 2000 Nov;9(11):1843-52.
    PMID: 11091320
    Pollen flow and population genetic structure among 30 potentially flowering individuals of Neobalanocarpus heimii, a tropical emergent tree, were investigated in a lowland tropical rainforest of Malaysia using microsatellite polymorphism. The 248 offspring in the vicinity of five reproductive trees of the 30 potentially flowering trees were used in paternity analysis for pollen-flow study. Four primer pairs, developed in different species of dipterocarps, were adopted to detect microsatellite polymorphism. Based upon microsatellite polymorphism, pollen flow and seed migration were detected. Pollen-flow events of more than 400 m were observed directly, based on paternity analysis in the study plot. The estimated average mating distance of the five reproductive trees was 524 m. This result suggests that reproduction of this species is mediated by a long-distance pollinator. The haplotypes of some offspring were not compatible with the nearest reproductive tree. Thus, the results suggest that some seeds are dispersed by a seed dispersal vector. Investigation of genetic structure showed significant and negative correlation of genetic relatedness and spatial distances between the 30 potentially flowering trees, but this correlation was weak. We suggest that long-distance gene flow and seed migration are responsible for the poorly developed genetic structure of this species.
  18. Dwiyanto J, Hussain MH, Reidpath D, Ong KS, Qasim A, Lee SWH, et al.
    Sci Rep, 2021 01 29;11(1):2618.
    PMID: 33514807 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-82311-3
    No studies have investigated the influence of ethnicity in a multi-ethnic middle-income country with a long-standing history of co-habitation. Stool samples from 214 Malaysian community members (46 Malay, 65 Chinese, 49 Indian, and 54 Jakun) were collected. The gut microbiota of the participants was investigated using 16S amplicon sequencing. Ethnicity exhibited the largest effect size across participants (PERMANOVA Pseudo-F = 4.24, R2 = 0.06, p = 0.001). Notably, the influence of ethnicity on the gut microbiota was retained even after controlling for all demographic, dietary factors and other covariates which were significantly associated with the gut microbiome (PERMANOVA Pseudo-F = 1.67, R2 = 0.02, p = 0.002). Our result suggested that lifestyle, dietary, and uncharacterized differences collectively drive the gut microbiota variation across ethnicity, making ethnicity a reliable proxy for both identified and unidentified lifestyle and dietary variation across ethnic groups from the same community.
  19. Thirthagiri E, Lee SY, Kang P, Lee DS, Toh GT, Selamat S, et al.
    Breast Cancer Res, 2008;10(4):R59.
    PMID: 18627636 DOI: 10.1186/bcr2118
    The cost of genetic testing and the limited knowledge about the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes in different ethnic groups has limited its availability in medium- and low-resource countries, including Malaysia. In addition, the applicability of many risk-assessment tools, such as the Manchester Scoring System and BOADICEA (Breast and Ovarian Analysis of Disease Incidence and Carrier Estimation Algorithm) which were developed based on mutation rates observed primarily in Caucasian populations using data from multiplex families, and in populations where the rate of breast cancer is higher, has not been widely tested in Asia or in Asians living elsewhere. Here, we report the results of genetic testing for mutations in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes in a series of families with breast cancer in the multi-ethnic population (Malay, Chinese and Indian) of Malaysia.
  20. Tan SP, Bux SI, Kumar G, Razack AH, Chua CB, Lee SH, et al.
    Transplant Proc, 2004 Sep;36(7):1914-6.
    PMID: 15518697
    Catheter angiography is traditionally used to determine renal arterial anatomy in live renal donors. Three-dimensional (3D) contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRA) has been suggested as a noninvasive replacement. We assessed the possibility of using MRA in live renal donors in Malaysia.
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