METHODS: Thirty-four (N = 34) 11-year-old students were randomly assigned to either intervention (n = 17) or waitlist-control (n = 17) groups. The participants from the intervention group were required to attend a 4-week online GIR session and practice the techniques daily for 5 min-10 min. The Stress in Children (SiC) questionnaire, the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire-Parent Reported (SDQ-PR) and tracking form were administered pre- and post-intervention.
RESULTS: Eleven (64.7%) participants attended all sessions and eight (47.0%) completed daily practices. Mixed-model ANOVA indicated no significant difference between participants from intervention and waitlist-control groups across pre- and post-intervention time points, with P-values greater than 0.05 for stress and well-being.
CONCLUSION: Issues regarding online intervention, including managing children's activities from a distance, Internet connectivity, and time limitations might have affected their adherence and the research outcome. Nonetheless, the online-delivered GIR technique is a promising intervention modality. However, its implementation should be improvised to be more impactful.
METHODS: The patients (n = 54) were divided into mild and moderate TBI. Both groups were assessed at 3 months and 6 months post-trauma for the same measures. Diagnosis of CI was done using the Montreal cognitive assessment (MoCA) questionnaire while NM screening was performed using the 12-items General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) followed by MINI International Neuropsychiatry Interview (MINI).
RESULTS: We found five patients (19.2%) with mild TBI had CI and five patients (19.2%) had NM at 3 months. Only one patient (3.8%) persistently has CI at 6 months while the rest recovered. As for moderate TBI, 11 patients (39.3%) had CI and seven patients (25%) had NM at 3 months but none had persistent CI or NM at 6 months. Age (P < 0.05) and blood pressure were significant risks (P < 0.05) for CI and NM at 3 months.
CONCLUSION: This study highlighted the importance of screening following mild and moderate TBI at 3 months and 6 months. Early recognition facilitates effective rehabilitation programmes planning hence improve prognosis in the future.
METHODS: This is a retrospective study of incidence and pattern of BT admitted to the Neurosurgery Department in HSNZ. Data was collected from the yearly census of BT registered from 2013 to 2018.
RESULTS: A total number of 386 new cases of primary BT were registered. The number of cases of BT was found to be lowest among children (0 to 10 years old) with only 4.4% but at peak among elderly aged between 51 to 60 years old (26.2%). As for gender, males constituted about 44.5% (n=172) whereas females accounted for 55.5% (n= 214) of the cases. In total, meningioma was found to have the highest incidence (27.2%) followed by metastases brain tumour (18.1%) and glioma (17.4%).
CONCLUSIONS: This study has shown that the incidence of BT was led by meningioma which had a high prevalence among the elderly population, followed by metastasis BT and gliomas.
METHODS: A multistage sampling was performed across rural primary schools in Kuala Krai, Kelantan, Malaysia. Data were collected using self-administered questionnaires and the children aged 10-11 years (n=312) were subjected to cognitive tests including digit span, letter-number sequencing, coding, and symbol search. Cognitive performance was tested using subscales derived from the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children.
RESULTS: The prevalence of SHS exposure at home was 55.8%, where 11.9% of children lived with one smoker, while 43.9% of children lived with ≥2 smokers. There was a significant difference in the mean score of the combined cognitive tests between SHS-exposed and non-exposed children after adjustment for sex, parental educational level, family income and academic performance [Pillai's Trace=0.084, F statistic (df)=6.803 (4302), p<0.001].
CONCLUSIONS: More than half of the primary school children in rural Kuala Krai were exposed to SHS from at least one smoker at home. There was a significant association between SHS exposure at home and cognitive performance.
METHODOLOGY: After collection and purification of caprine islets with Euro-Ficoll density gradients, islets were considered for viability and functionality procedures with DTZ (dithizone) staining and GSIST (glucose-stimulated insulin secretion test) subsequently. Batches of islet were selected for immunostaining and study through confocal microscopy and flow cytometry.
RESULTS: Histological sections of caprine pancreatic islets showed that α-cells were segregated at the periphery of β-cells. In caprine islets, α- and δ-cells remarkably were intermingled with β-cells in the mantle. Such cytoarchitecture was observed in all examined caprine pancreatic islets and was also reported for the islets of other ruminants. In both small and large caprine islets (< 150 and > 150 μm in diameter, respectively), the majority of β-cells were positioned at the core and α-cells were arranged at the mantle, while some single α-cells were also observed in the islet center. We evaluated the content of β-, α-, and δ-cells by confocal microscopy (n = 35, mean ± SD; 38.01 ± 9.50%, 30.33 ± 10.11%, 2.25 ± 1.10%, respectively) and flow cytometry (n = 9, mean ± SD; 37.52 ± 9.74%, 31.72 ± 4.92%, 2.70 ± 2.81%, respectively). Our findings indicate that the caprine islets are heterogeneous in cell composition. The difference could be attributed to species-specific interaction between endocrine cells and blood.
CONCLUSIONS: Comparative studies of islet architecture may lead to better understanding of islet structure and cell type population arrangement. These results suggest the use of caprine islets as an addition to the supply of islets for diabetes research.