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The Malaysian experience in the typing of genetic variants of alpha-1-antitrypsin

Desa NM, Ismail Z, Beran Z, Musa SH

Southeast Asian J. Trop. Med. Public Health, 1995;26 Suppl 1:311-4.
PMID: 8629132

It is known that alpha1-antitrypsin deficiency is associated with emphysema in adults and liver cirrhosis in neonates. The phenotypes PiZZ and PiSZ are considered to be high risk groups. alpha1-antitrypsin deficiency is one of the most common lethal congenital disorders in Europe and the USA, occurring in approximately 1 in 2,000 caucasians of North European descent. Studies in Malaysia have found that the phenotypes PiZ and PiS are present in our population. Out of 950 samples analyzed, it was found that 10 samples were shown to be apparently Z homozygous phenotype. The phenotype is determined by high resolution isoelectrofocusing on an ultra-thin polyacrylamide gel embedded with narrow range Pi phamarlyte. The isoelectrofocused bands are confirmed by immunofixation and the plasma alpha1-antitrypsin levels determined by electroimmunoassay. The abnormal phenotypes are further confirmed by polymerase chain reaction using allele specific oligonucleotides.

Matched MeSH terms: United States
Fulltext Western impressions of the Hong Kong health care system

Bennett CL, Pei GK, Ultmann JE

West. J. Med., 1996 Jul-Aug;165(1-2):37-42.
PMID: 8855683

Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, and Malaysia are initiating health care reform to meet the changing demands of populations with improved socioeconomic status and access to modern technologies and who are living longer than in previous generations. Hong Kong, in particular, is facing a unique set of circumstances as its people prepare for the transition in 1997 from a British colony to a Special Administrative Region of China. While spending only 4% of its gross domestic product on health care, it has a large and regulated public hospital system for most inpatient medical care and a separate, loosely regulated private health care system for most outpatient medical care. In 1993 the Secretary for Health and Welfare of Hong Kong initiated a year-long process to debate the pros and cons of 5 fundamental programs for health care reform. After a year of open consultation, options were chosen. We describe the Hong Kong health care system, the fundamental changes that have been adopted, and lessons for reformers in the United States.

Matched MeSH terms: United States
Selecting international markets: lessons from for-profit hospitals

Zinn JS, Kashlak RJ, Balotsky ER

Hosp Health Serv Adm, 1994;39(1):17-30.
PMID: 10132097

As growth potential in the U.S. market declines and regulatory constraints increase, providers of health-related services may look increasingly to international opportunities as a way to supplement the lost domestic market. In this article, critical factors bearing on the decision to compete in international markets are identified. Existing theories of multinational competition are expanded to provide a framework for analyzing international competition. Applied in the context of the proprietary hospital industry, the critical factors governing both the selection of foreign markets and mode of entry are proposed to be host country receptivity and market growth potential.

Matched MeSH terms: United States
[Evolution of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia]

Pfleiderer A

Gynakologe, 1981 Dec;14(4):194-8.
PMID: 7033078
Matched MeSH terms: United States
Cardiopulmonary fitness in a sample of Malaysian population

Singh R, Singh HJ, Sirisinghe RG

Jpn. J. Physiol., 1989;39(4):475-85.
PMID: 2601189

Lung capacity and maximum oxygen uptake (VO2max) were measured directly in 167 healthy males, from all the main races in Malaysia. Their ages ranged from 13 to 59 years. They were divided into five age groups (A to E), ranging from the second to the sixth decade. Lung capacities were determined using a dry spirometer and VO2max was taken as the maximum rate of oxygen consumption during exhaustive exercise on a cycle ergometer. Mean forced vital capacity (FVC) was 3.3 +/- 0.5 l and it correlated negatively with age. Mean VO2max was 3.2 +/- 0.2 l.min-1 (56.8 +/- 3.5 ml.kg-1.min-1) in Group A (13-19 years) compared to 1.7 +/- 0.2 l.min-1 (28.9 +/- 2.9 ml.kg-1.min-1) in Group E (50-59 years). Regression analysis revealed an age-related decline in VO2max of 0.77 ml.kg-1.min-1.year-1. Multiple regression of the data gave the following equations for the prediction of an individual's VO2max: VO2max (l.min-1) = 1.99 + 0.035 (weight)-0.04 (age), VO2max (ml.kg-1.min-1) = 67.7-0.77 (age), where age is in years, weight in kg. In terms of VO2max as an index of cardiopulmonary performance. Malaysians have a relatively lower capacity when related to the Swedish norms or even to those of some Chilean workers. Malaysians were, however, within the average norms of the American Heart Association's recommendations. Age-related decline in VO2max was also somewhat higher in the Malaysians.

Matched MeSH terms: United States
Ethnopharmacology of some Buddleja species

Houghton PJ

J Ethnopharmacol, 1984 Aug;11(3):293-308.
PMID: 6482480

Buddleja species play a minor role in the ethnopharmacology of several areas of the world where they are indigenous. Phytochemical investigation of the genus has been somewhat neglected but a picture is emerging of the type of constituents which are present in reasonable quantities, namely iridoid and flavonoid glycosides. Many of the uses of Buddleja in folk medicine such as a topical antiseptic and a diuretic can be partially explained at least by the known biological activity of compounds identical or similar to those found in the genus. Other reputed uses are, as yet, without explantation due to the incomplete state of knowledge of the chemistry and, to an even greater extent, the pharmacology of Buddleja.

Matched MeSH terms: United States
Ischaemic heart disease and its risk factors in Singapore in comparison with other countries

Hughes K, Yeo PP, Lun KC, Sothy SP, Thai AC, Wang KW, et al.

Ann Acad Med Singap, 1989 May;18(3):245-9.
PMID: 2774470

Mortality from ischaemic heart disease in Singapore is now reaching comparability with the West. For the early 1980s, rates for Indians and Malays were higher than in U.S.A. and England and Wales and while those for Chinese were lower they were considerably higher than in Japan. In keeping with this the levels of the major risk factors in Singapore are now comparable to the West. Cigarette smoking in males is virtually the same as in Britain, while the proportion of hypertensives on medication is higher than in the West. The main cause for concern is the current high levels of serum cholesterol in Singapore and strenuous health education efforts are needed to bring about dietary changes.

Matched MeSH terms: United States
Rights of patients: comparative perspectives from five countries

Blum JD, Talib N, Carstens P, Nasser M, Tomkin D, McAuley A

Med Law, 2003;22(3):451-71.
PMID: 14626880

Recognition and articulation of patient rights are core issues in the medical jurisprudence of most nations. While the nature of rights in medical care may vary from country to country, reflecting the idiosyncrasies of domestic law and health delivery, there are commonalities in this area of law that cut across borders. This paper presents five case studies in the patient rights area from Malaysia, Ireland, South Africa, Indonesia and the United States, respectively. The case discussions range from ongoing and fundamental concerns over broad patient rights issues, such as access to health care and informed consent, to rights concerns of those suffering from HIV/AIDS, to a novel consideration over ethical and legal issues concerning ownership of infant organs. It is the hope of the authors that individually, and collectively, the cases will provide helpful insights into this core area of medical law.

Matched MeSH terms: United States
Fatal aspergillosis in imported parrots

Kaplan W, Arnstein P, Ajello L, Chandler F, Watts J, Hicklin M

Mycopathologia, 1975 Jul 30;56(1):25-9.
PMID: 1097931

Spontaneous fatal aspergillosis occurred in several species of parrots imported from Latin America, Australia, Malaya and Ghana for studies on the control of psittacosis. Over a period of 4 years, 655 parrots were imported for use in these studies. All birds that died during these investigations were necropsied, and the internal organs of 45 were found to have macroscopic lesions suggestive of aspergillosis. Of these 45 suspected cases, 32 were confirmed as aspergillosis by both histopathology and culture, and three others by histopathology alone. There was no evidence that the remaining 10 had this disease. Of the 32 culturally confirmed cases, 13 were found to be caused by Aspergillus fumigatus, 16 by A. oryzae, and three by both fungi. In this series, three sets of circumstances appear to have been associated with the development of fatal aspergillosis. Their capture and transport to the United States, the administration of chlortetracycline used in the control of psittacosis, and the administration of cortisone acetate in an attempt to activate existent latent psittacosis infections. The possible causal relationship of these factors are discussed.

Matched MeSH terms: United States
Fulltext Greater absolute risk for all subtypes of breast cancer in the US than Malaysia

Horne HN, Beena Devi CR, Sung H, Tang TS, Rosenberg PS, Hewitt SM, et al.

Breast Cancer Res Treat, 2015 Jan;149(1):285-91.
PMID: 25537643 DOI: 10.1007/s10549-014-3243-9

Hormone receptor (HR) negative breast cancers are relatively more common in low-risk than high-risk countries and/or populations. However, the absolute variations between these different populations are not well established given the limited number of cancer registries with incidence rate data by breast cancer subtype. We, therefore, used two unique population-based resources with molecular data to compare incidence rates for the 'intrinsic' breast cancer subtypes between a low-risk Asian population in Malaysia and high-risk non-Hispanic white population in the National Cancer Institute's surveillance, epidemiology, and end results 18 registries database (SEER 18). The intrinsic breast cancer subtypes were recapitulated with the joint expression of the HRs (estrogen receptor and progesterone receptor) and human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER2). Invasive breast cancer incidence rates overall were fivefold greater in SEER 18 than in Malaysia. The majority of breast cancers were HR-positive in SEER 18 and HR-negative in Malaysia. Notwithstanding the greater relative distribution for HR-negative cancers in Malaysia, there was a greater absolute risk for all subtypes in SEER 18; incidence rates were nearly 7-fold higher for HR-positive and 2-fold higher for HR-negative cancers in SEER 18. Despite the well-established relative breast cancer differences between low-risk and high-risk countries and/or populations, there was a greater absolute risk for HR-positive and HR-negative subtypes in the US than Malaysia. Additional analytical studies are sorely needed to determine the factors responsible for the elevated risk of all subtypes of breast cancer in high-risk countries like the United States.

Matched MeSH terms: United States
Six-year multicenter study on short-term peripheral venous catheters-related bloodstream infection rates in 727 intensive care units of 268 hospitals in 141 cities of 42 countries of Africa, the Americas, Eastern Mediterranean, Europe, South East Asia, and Western Pacific Regions: International Nosocomial Infection Control Consortium (INICC) findings

Rosenthal VD, Bat-Erdene I, Gupta D, Belkebir S, Rajhans P, Zand F, et al.

Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol, 2020 05;41(5):553-563.
PMID: 32183925 DOI: 10.1017/ice.2020.20

BACKGROUND: Short-term peripheral venous catheter-related bloodstream infection (PVCR-BSI) rates have not been systematically studied in resource-limited countries, and data on their incidence by number of device days are not available.
METHODS: Prospective, surveillance study on PVCR-BSI conducted from September 1, 2013, to May 31, 2019, in 727 intensive care units (ICUs), by members of the International Nosocomial Infection Control Consortium (INICC), from 268 hospitals in 141 cities of 42 countries of Africa, the Americas, Eastern Mediterranean, Europe, South East Asia, and Western Pacific regions. For this research, we applied definition and criteria of the CDC NHSN, methodology of the INICC, and software named INICC Surveillance Online System.
RESULTS: We followed 149,609 ICU patients for 731,135 bed days and 743,508 short-term peripheral venous catheter (PVC) days. We identified 1,789 PVCR-BSIs for an overall rate of 2.41 per 1,000 PVC days. Mortality in patients with PVC but without PVCR-BSI was 6.67%, and mortality was 18% in patients with PVC and PVCR-BSI. The length of stay of patients with PVC but without PVCR-BSI was 4.83 days, and the length of stay was 9.85 days in patients with PVC and PVCR-BSI. Among these infections, the microorganism profile showed 58% gram-negative bacteria: Escherichia coli (16%), Klebsiella spp (11%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (6%), Enterobacter spp (4%), and others (20%) including Serratia marcescens. Staphylococcus aureus were the predominant gram-positive bacteria (12%).
CONCLUSIONS: PVCR-BSI rates in INICC ICUs were much higher than rates published from industrialized countries. Infection prevention programs must be implemented to reduce the incidence of PVCR-BSIs in resource-limited countries.

Matched MeSH terms: United States
Cultural considerations in forgoing enteral feeding: A comparison between the Hong Kong Chinese, North American, and Malaysian Islamic patients with advanced dementia at the end-of-life

Ngan OMY, Bergstresser SM, Sanip S, Emdadul Haque ATM, Chan HYL, Au DKS

Dev World Bioeth, 2020 06;20(2):105-114.
PMID: 31241234 DOI: 10.1111/dewb.12239

Cultural competence, a clinical skill to recognise patients' cultural and religious beliefs, is an integral element in patient-centred medical practice. In the area of death and dying, physicians' understanding of patients' and families' values is essential for the delivery of culturally appropriate care. Dementia is a neurodegenerative condition marked by the decline of cognitive functions. When the condition progresses and deteriorates, patients with advanced dementia often have eating and swallowing problems and are at high risk of developing malnutrition. Enteral tube feeding is a conventional means of providing artificial nutrition and hydration to meet nutritional needs, but its benefits to the frail population are limitedly shown in the clinical evidence. Forgoing tube feeding is ethically challenging when patients are mentally incompetent and in the absence of an advance directive. Unlike some developed countries, like the United States of America, death and dying is a sensitive issue or even a taboo in some cultures in developing countries that forgoing enteral tube feeding is clinically and ethically challenging, such as China and Malaysia. This article in three parts 1) discusses the clinical and ethical issues related to forgoing tube feeding among patients with advanced dementia, 2) describes how Hong Kong Chinese, North American, and Malaysian Islamic cultures respond differently in the decision-making patterns of forgoing tube feeding for patients with advanced dementia, and 3) reiterates the clinical implications of cultural competence in end-of-life care.

Matched MeSH terms: United States
Fulltext A standardized dataset for conservation prioritization of songbirds to support CITES

Juergens J, Bruslund S, Staerk J, Oegelund Nielsen R, Shepherd CR, Leupen B, et al.

Data Brief, 2021 Jun;36:107093.
PMID: 34041313 DOI: 10.1016/j.dib.2021.107093

In this article we present a standardized dataset on 6659 songbirds (Passeriformes) highlighting information relevant to species conservation prioritization with a main focus to support the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Data were collected from both scientific and grey literature as well as several online databases. The data are structured into six knowledge categories: Conventions and Treaties, Human Use, Extinction Risk, Management Opportunities, Biological Information, and Intrinsic Values. The Conventions and Treaties category includes the listings for two international conventions, CITES and the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), as well as EU listings for the EU Wildlife Trade Regulations and the EU Birds Directive. The Human Use category contains information on both regulated trade collected from the CITES Trade Database and the United States' Law Enforcement Management Information System (LEMIS), and highly aggregated data on seizures which we obtained from TRAFFIC, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and two data sources on traditional medicine. We also present, for the first time, the complete Songbirds in Trade Database (SiTDB), a trade database curated by taxon expert S. Bruslund based on expert knowledge, literature review, market surveys and sale announcements. Data on the types of human use, including traditional medicine are also provided. The knowledge area on Extinction Risk contains data on the species' IUCN Red List status, the Alliance for Zero Extinction Trigger Species status, site and population at the site, the species' IUCN Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment, and the listing of priority species at the Asian Songbird Crisis Summit. In the Management Opportunities category, we gathered data on ex-situ management from Species360 zoo holdings as well as species management plans from the European and North American Zoo Associations (EAZA and AZA, respectively). Biological Information includes data on body mass, clutch size, diet, availability of data from the IUCN Red List on habitat systems, extent of occurrence, generation length, migration pattern, distribution, and biological data from the Demographic Species Knowledge Index, number of occurrences recorded by the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) as well as genomic data from the Bird 10 000K Genomes (B10K) project, Vertebrate Genome Project (VGP) and GenBank. Information on invasive species is also part of this knowledge area. The Intrinsic Value category refers to two measures of the species' intrinsic value, namely Ecological and Evolutionary Distinctiveness. In order to make these knowledge areas comparable, we standardized data following the taxonomy of the Handbook of the Birds of the World and Birdlife (Version 4, 2019). The data enable a broad spectrum of analyses and will be useful to scientists for further research and to policymakers, zoos and other conservation stakeholders for future prioritization decisions.

Matched MeSH terms: United States
Pollen structure and development in Nymphaeales: insights into character evolution in an ancient angiosperm lineage

Taylor ML, Cooper RL, Schneider EL, Osborn JM

Am J Bot, 2015 Oct;102(10):1685-702.
PMID: 26419810 DOI: 10.3732/ajb.1500249

A knowledge of pollen characters in early-diverging angiosperm lineages is essential for understanding pollen evolution and the role of pollen in angiosperm diversification. In this paper, we report and synthesize data on mature pollen and pollen ontogeny from all genera of Nymphaeales within a comparative, phylogenetic context and consider pollen evolution in this early-diverging angiosperm lineage. We describe mature pollen characters for Euryale, Barclaya, and Nymphaea ondinea, taxa for which little to no structural data exist.

Matched MeSH terms: United States
A study of immunoglobulin levels among Singapore infants and children

Paul FM, Leng T, Wee R

J Singapore Paediatr Soc, 1972 Apr;14(1):1-16.
PMID: 4626321
Matched MeSH terms: United States
Pills easier to obtain as nations start to relax rules

Popul Dyn Q, 1975;3(1):18.
PMID: 12259672
Matched MeSH terms: United States
Transcultural aspects of community psychiatry

Hartog J

Ment Hyg, 1971 Jan;55(1):35-44.
PMID: 5549644
Matched MeSH terms: United States
An International Working Conference on Nutrition and Infection

Gordon JE, Scrimsha NS

Arch. Environ. Health, 1969 Aug;19(2):199-216.
PMID: 5817545
Matched MeSH terms: United States
A Single Institution's Experience with Cytogenetic and MRD Outcomes in Pediatric Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

Amjad A, Wali RM, Anjum S, Mansoor R

J Coll Physicians Surg Pak, 2019 Jun;29(6):549-552.
PMID: 31133155 DOI: 10.29271/jcpsp.2019.06.549

OBJECTIVE: To determine the frequency of cytogenetic type and its significance in the prognostic outcome of the pediatric patients in acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), aged 1 to 15 years, and also determine the importance of minimal residual disease (MRD) in the management of the condition.
STUDY DESIGN: An observational study.
PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY: Pediatric Oncology Ward, Shaukat Khanum Cancer Hospital, Lahore, from January 2015 to July 2017.
METHODOLOGY: Patients aged 1-15 years, diagnosed with ALL, were included. Studied variables were cytogenetic type and MRD outcome in patients with ALL. Patients under one year of age and more than 15 years, or those having comorbidities, were excluded.
RESULTS: Total 150 patients' data were retrieved from the Hospital database. One hundred and thirty-three belonged to age 1 to 5 years group (89%) and 17 (11%) were in 5 to 10 years group. The mean age of the patient was 4.3 +3.1 years. One hundred and two (68%) were males; whereas, 48 (32%) were females. Pre B acute lymphoblastic leukemia was diagnosed in 139 (93%) patients and 11(7%) were diagnosed with Pre T acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Standard risk was observed in 120 (80%) patients and 30 (20%) patients were on high risk as per National Cancer Institute (NCI) Guidelines. Regimen A was used in 125 (83.3%), Regimen B in 16 (10.7%), and Regimen C in 9 (6%) patients. BCR-ABL was positive in 2 (1.30%), TEL-AML in 68 (45%), MLL in 5 (3.30%), and normal in 54 (36%). MRD at day 29 was negative in 40 (93%) and positive in 3 (7%). The karyotyping was done in 128 (85%) patients, out of which 68 (53%) were hyperploids, 41 (32%) euploid, and 19 (15%) were hypoploid. Death was observed in 22 (15%) patients. Nineteen (86%) deaths were due to fungal and bacterial sepsis; and disease-related deaths were noted in 3 (14%) patients.
CONCLUSION: The role of MRD and cytogenetics in risk assessment has improved in the early prognosis determination.

Matched MeSH terms: United States
Occurrence and Molecular Characterization of Squash leaf curl Phillipines virus in Taiwan

Tsai WS, Shih SL, Green SK, Jan FJ

Plant Dis, 2007 Jul;91(7):907.
PMID: 30780410 DOI: 10.1094/PDIS-91-7-0907A

Whitefly-transmitted, cucurbit-infecting begomoviruses (genus Begomovirus, family Geminiviridae) have been detected on cucurbit crops in Bangladesh, China, Egypt, Israel, Malaysia, Mexico, the Philippines, Thailand, United States, and Vietnam. Pumpkin plants showing leaf curling, blistering, and yellowing symptoms were observed in the AVRDC fields (Tainan, Taiwan) during 2001 and in nearby farmers' fields during 2005. Two samples from symptomatic plants were collected in 2001 and six collected in 2005. Viral DNAs were extracted (2), and the PCR, with previously described primers, was used to detect the presence of begomoviral DNA-A (4), DNA-B (3), and associated satellite DNA (1). Begomoviral DNA-A was detected in one of the 2001 samples and in all 2005 samples. The PCR-amplified 1.5 kb viral DNA-A from one positive sample each from the 2001 and 2005 collections was cloned and sequenced. On the basis of the 1.5-kb DNA-A sequences, specific primers were designed to completely sequence the DNA-A component. The overlap between fragments obtained using primer walking ranged from 43 to 119 bp with 100% nt identities. The complete DNA-A sequences were determined for the two isolates as 2,734 bp (2001) (GenBank Accession No. DQ866135) and 2,733 bp (2005) (GenBank Accession No. EF199774). Sequence comparisons and analyses were performed using the DNAMAN Sequence Analysis Software (Lynnon Corporation, Vaudreuil, Quebec, Canada). The DNA-A of the begomovirus isolates each contained the conserved nanosequence-TAATATTAC and six open reading frames, including two in the virus sense and four in the complementary sense. On the basis of a 99% shared nucleotide sequence identity, they are considered isolates of the same species. BLASTn analysis and a comparison of the sequence with others available in the GenBank database ( http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ) indicated that the Taiwan virus shared its highest nt identity (more than 95%) with the Squash leaf curl Philippines virus (GenBank Accession No. AB085793). Virus-associated satellite DNA was not found in any of the samples. DNA-B was found in both samples, providing further evidence that the virus was the same as the bipartite Squash leaf curl Philippines virus. To our knowledge, this is the first report of Squash leaf curl Philippines virus in Taiwan. References: (1) R. W. Briddon et al. Virology 312:106, 2003. (2) R. L. Gilbertson et al. J. Gen. Virol. 72:2843, 1991. (3) S. K. Green et al. Plant Dis. 85:1286, 2001. (4) M. R. Rojas et al. Plant Dis. 77:340, 1993.

Matched MeSH terms: United States

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