MyMedR

Role of norepinephrine & angiotensin II in the neural control of renal sodium & water handling in spontaneously hypertensive rats

Salman IM, Sattar MA, Ameer OZ, Abdullah NA, Yam MF, Salman HM, et al.

Indian J Med Res, 2010 Jun;131:786-92.

PMID: 20571167

A wealth of information concerning the essential role of renal sympathetic nerve activity (RSNA) in the regulation of renal function and mean arterial blood pressure homeostasis has been established. However, many important parameters with which RSNA interacts are yet to be explicitly characterized. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the impact of acute renal denervation (ARD) on sodium and water excretory responses to intravenous (iv) infusions of either norepinephrine (NE) or angiotensin II (Ang II) in anaesthetized spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR).

Fulltext Prospective surveillance of nosocomial device-associated bacteremia in three adult intensive units in Malaysia

Gopal Katherason S, Naing L, Jaalam K, Kamarul Iman Musa K, Nik Abdullah NM, Aiyar S, et al.

Trop Biomed, 2010 Aug;27(2):308-16.

PMID: 20962730 MyJurnal

Nosocomial blood stream infection (or nosocomial bacteremia) is a common problem in hospitals worldwide, including Malaysia. A three-year prospective cohort study (October 2003-March 2007) of the incidences, risk factors, and patterns of the microorganisms causing bacteremia was conducted using a validated surveillance form in three intensive care units (ICUs) in Malaysia. Center for Disease Control criteria were used to diagnose bacteremia. Patients were monitored from admission until the end point of study, which was the first detection of bacteremia in the blood in each patient. The frequency of occurrence of bacteremia with clinical symptoms was 10.7% (n=23). Bacteremia was observed to occur within a mean length of stay of 10 days in ICU. The rate of device-related infection was 10.4% per device utilization days with a device utilization rate of 95.9%/1000 patient days. The total number of patient days was 2309 and the period of device utilization was 2211 days. The common bacteria detected were extended-spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBLs) Klebsiella pneumoniae (n=6); Pseudomonas aeruginosa (n=6); Acinetobacter species (n=5); Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)(n=3); and (non- ESBL) Klebsiella pneumoniae (n=2). Multivariable analysis using Cox Proportional Hazard Model showed that the predictors for developing bacteremia were cancer, MRSA carriage, duration of central venous catheter (CVC) infusion, frequency change of CVC, and the administration of hydrocortisone drugs. These results indicate that a combination of nursing and medical interventions as well as patients' severity of illness could lead to bacteremia in ICU. Strategic implementation of quality assurance measures in ICUs could help to control this problem.

Clinical significance of Helicobacter pylori cagA and iceA genotype status

Amjad N, Osman HA, Razak NA, Kassian J, Din J, bin Abdullah N

World J Gastroenterol, 2010 Sep 21;16(35):4443-7.

PMID: 20845512

AIM: To study the presence of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) virulence factors and clinical outcome in H. pylori infected patients.

METHODS: A prospective analysis of ninety nine H. pylori-positive patients who underwent endoscopy in our Endoscopy suite were included in this study. DNA was isolated from antral biopsy samples and the presence of cagA, iceA, and iceA2 genotypes were determined by polymerase chain reaction and a reverse hybridization technique. Screening for H. pylori infection was performed in all patients using the rapid urease test (CLO-Test).

RESULTS: From a total of 326 patients who underwent endoscopy for upper gastrointestinal symptoms, 99 patients were determined to be H. pylori-positive. Peptic ulceration was seen in 33 patients (33%). The main virulence strain observed in this cohort was the cagA gene isolated in 43 patients. cagA was associated with peptic ulcer pathology in 39.5% (17/43) and in 28% (16/56) of non-ulcer patients. IceA1 was present in 29 patients (29%) and iceA2 in 15 patients (15%). Ulcer pathology was seen in 39% (11/29) of patients with iceA1, while 31% (22/70) had normal findings. The corresponding values for iceA2 were 33% (5/15) and 33% (28/84), respectively.

CONCLUSION: Virulence factors were not common in our cohort. The incidence of factors cagA, iceA1 and iceA2 were very low although variations were noted in different ethnic groups.

Simplex-centroid mixture formulation for optimised composting of kitchen waste

Abdullah N, Chin NL

Bioresour Technol, 2010 Nov;101(21):8205-10.

PMID: 20624604 DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2010.05.068

Composting is a good recycling method to fully utilise all the organic wastes present in kitchen waste due to its high nutritious matter within the waste. In this present study, the optimised mixture proportions of kitchen waste containing vegetable scraps (V), fish processing waste (F) and newspaper (N) or onion peels (O) were determined by applying the simplex-centroid mixture design method to achieve the desired initial moisture content and carbon-to-nitrogen (CN) ratio for effective composting process. The best mixture was at 48.5% V, 17.7% F and 33.7% N for blends with newspaper while for blends with onion peels, the mixture proportion was 44.0% V, 19.7% F and 36.2% O. The predicted responses from these mixture proportions fall in the acceptable limits of moisture content of 50% to 65% and CN ratio of 20-40 and were also validated experimentally.

Fulltext Expression and mutational analysis of GATA3 in Malaysian breast carcinomas

Bong PN, Zakaria Z, Muhammad R, Abdullah N, Ibrahim N, Emran NA, et al.

Malays J Pathol, 2010 Dec;32(2):117-22.

PMID: 21329183 MyJurnal

The GATA3 gene is a potential tumour marker and putative tumour suppressor gene in breast cancer. Its expression is associated with better prognosis and disease free survival in breast cancer patients. We aimed to evaluate GATA3 transcriptome expression and mutation in breast carcinomas and correlate its expression with oestrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), lymph node (LN) status, tumour grade and c-erbB-2 expression. Twenty-two breast infiltrating ductal carcinomas and paired normal tissues were used in Branch DNA assay to detect GATA3 mRNA expression. Normalized data for GATA3 mRNA expression were grouped according to the ER, PR and LN status, tumour grade and c-erbB-2 expression of the tumours. Statistical significance was tested using t-test and ANOVA at 95% confidence interval level. Mutational analysis of GATA3 was performed by direct sequencing of the coding regions of GATA3 mRNA. Our findings showed that GATA3 gene were over-expressed and under-expressed by > 2 fold change in 12 and 4 tested samples, respectively. Eighty per cent of ER positive breast carcinomas were GATA3 positive. There was a statistically significant correlation between GATA3 expression and ER at 95% confidence interval level between the study groups. On the contrary, GATA3 expression was not statistically significant with PR, LN, tumour grade and c-erbB-2 expression in our study. In addition, we observed that there was no mutation in mRNA coding region in 16 breast carcinomas that showed GATA3 differential gene expression. Our preliminary results suggested that GATA3 is linked to the ER. This scenario suggests that GATA3 may play a crucial role in oestrogen receptor positive breast cancer patients. Whether GATA3 expression is involved in regulating tumour cell growth in oestrogen responsive breast cancer is a key question that remains to be answered.

Effect of ultrasonic pre-treatment on low temperature acid hydrolysis of oil palm empty fruit bunch

Yunus R, Salleh SF, Abdullah N, Biak DR

Bioresour Technol, 2010 Dec;101(24):9792-6.

PMID: 20719502 DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2010.07.074

Various pre-treatment techniques change the physical and chemical structure of the lignocellulosic biomass and improve hydrolysis rates. The effect of ultrasonic pre-treatment on oil palm empty fruit bunch (OPEFB) fibre prior to acid hydrolysis has been evaluated. The main objective of this study was to determine if ultrasonic pre-treatment could function as a pre-treatment method for the acid hydrolysis of OPEFB fibre at a low temperature and pressure. Hydrolysis at a low temperature was studied using 2% sulphuric acid; 1:25 solid liquid ratio and 100 degrees C operating temperature. A maximum xylose yield of 58% was achieved when the OPEFB fibre was ultrasonicated at 90% amplitude for 45min. In the absence of ultrasonic pre-treatment only 22% of xylose was obtained. However, no substantial increase of xylose formation was observed for acid hydrolysis at higher temperatures of 120 and 140 degrees C on ultrasonicated OPEFB fibre. The samples were then analysed using a scanning electron microscope (SEM) to describe the morphological changes of the OPEFB fibre. The SEM observations show interesting morphological changes within the OPEFB fibre for different acid hydrolysis conditions.

Oral cancer survival among Malay patients in Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kelantan

Razak AA, Saddki N, Naing NN, Abdullah N

Asian Pac J Cancer Prev, 2010;11(1):187-91.

PMID: 20593955

AIMS: This study was performed to determine oral cancer survival among Malay patients in Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia (HUSM), Kelantan.

METHODS: The medical records of 118 Malay patients with oral cancer admitted in HUSM from 1st January 1986 to 31st December 2005 were reviewed. Data collected include socio-demographic background, high-risk habits practiced, clinical and histological characteristics, and treatment profile of the patients. Survival status and duration were determined by active validation until 31st December 2006. Data entry and analysis were accomplished using SPSS version 12.0. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to perform survival estimates while the log-rank test and the Cox proportional hazards regression model were employed to perform univariate analysis and multivariable analysis of the variables, respectively.

RESULTS: The overall five-year survival rate of Malay patients with oral cancer was 18.0%, with a median survival time of 9 months. Significant factors that influenced survival of the patients were age, sex, tumour site, TNM stage, histological type, and treatment received.

CONCLUSION: Survival of oral cancer patients in HUSM was very low. Being elderly, male, presenting with an advanced stage at diagnosis, and not having treatment all contributed to poor survival.

Fulltext Characterization of mixed xWO3(1-x)Y2O3 nanoparticle thick film for gas sensing application

Abadi MH, Hamidon MN, Shaari AH, Abdullah N, Misron N, Wagiran R

Sensors (Basel), 2010;10(5):5074-89.

PMID: 22399925 DOI: 10.3390/s100505074

Microstructural, topology, inner morphology, and gas-sensitivity of mixed xWO(3)(1-x)Y(2)O(3) nanoparticles (x = 1, 0.95, 0.9, 0.85, 0.8) thick-film semiconductor gas sensors were studied. The surface topography and inner morphological properties of the mixed powder and sensing film were characterized with X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Also, gas sensitivity properties of the printed films were evaluated in the presence of methane (CH(4)) and butane (C(4)H(10)) at up to 500 °C operating temperature of the sensor. The results show that the doping agent can modify some structural properties and gas sensitivity of the mixed powder.

Fulltext Diaqua-(1,4,8,11-tetra-aza-cyclo-tetra-decane-κN,N,N,N)copper(II) bis-(4-methyl-benzoate) monohydrate

Ahmad Tajidi NS, Abdullah N, Arifin Z, Tan KW, Ng SW

Acta Crystallogr Sect E Struct Rep Online, 2010;66(Pt 8):m890.

PMID: 21588135 DOI: 10.1107/S1600536810026012

The Cu(II) atom in the title salt, [Cu(C(10)H(24)N(4))(H(2)O)(2)](C(8)H(7)O(2))(2)·H(2)O, is chelated by the four N atoms of the 1,4,8,11-tetra-aza-cyclo-tetra-decane (cyclam) ligand and is coordinated by two water mol-ecules in a Jahn-Teller-type of tetra-gonally distorted octa-hedral geometry. The cations, anions and lattice water mol-ecules are linked by N-H⋯O and O-H⋯O hydrogen bonds to form a layer structure parallel to (001).

Fulltext Diaqua-(1,4,8,11-tetra-aza-cyclo-tetra-decane-κN,N,N,N)copper(II) bis-(2,3,4,5,6-penta-fluoro-benzoate) dihydrate

Ahmad Tajidi NS, Abdullah N, Arifin Z, Tan KW, Ng SW

Acta Crystallogr Sect E Struct Rep Online, 2010;66(Pt 8):m889.

PMID: 21588134 DOI: 10.1107/S1600536810025705

The Cu(II) atom in the title salt, [Cu(C(10)H(24)N(4))(H(2)O)(2)](C(6)F(5)CO(2))(2)·2H(2)O, is chelated by the four N atoms of the 1,4,8,11-tetra-aza-cyclo-tetra-decane (cyclam) ligand and is coordinated by two water mol-ecules in a Jahn-Teller-type tetra-gonally distorted octa-hedral geometry. The Cu(II) atom lies on a center of inversion. The cations, anions and uncoordinated water mol-ecules are linked by N-H⋯O and O-H⋯O hydrogen bonds, forming a layer structure parallel to (001).

Fulltext Diaqua-(1,4,8,11-tetra-aza-cyclo-tetra-decane-κN,N,N,N)copper(II) dideca-noate dihydrate

Ahmad Tajidi NS, Abdullah N, Arifin Z, Tan KW, Ng SW

Acta Crystallogr Sect E Struct Rep Online, 2010;66(Pt 8):m888.

PMID: 21588133 DOI: 10.1107/S1600536810025699

The Cu(II) atom in the title salt, [Cu(C(10)H(24)N(4))(H(2)O)(2)][CH(3)(CH(2))(8)CO(2)](2)·2H(2)O, is chelated by the four N atoms of the 1,4,8,11-tetra-aza-cyclo-tetra-decane (cyclam) ligand and is coordinated by two water mol-ecules in a Jahn-Teller-type tetra-gonally distorted octa-hedral geometry. The Cu(II) atom lies on a center of inversion. The cations, anions and uncoordinated water mol-ecules are linked by N-H⋯O and O-H⋯O hydrogen bonds, forming a layer structure parallel to (001).

Fulltext Diaqua-(1,4,8,11-tetra-aza-cyclo-tetra-decane-κN,N,N,N)copper(II) dihepta-noate dihydrate

Ahmad Tajidi NS, Abdullah N, Arifin Z, Tan KW, Ng SW

Acta Crystallogr Sect E Struct Rep Online, 2010;66(Pt 8):m887.

PMID: 21588132 DOI: 10.1107/S1600536810025687

The Cu(II) atom in the title salt, [Cu(C(10)H(24)N(4))(H(2)O)(2)][CH(3)(CH(2))(5)CO(2)](2)·2H(2)O, is chelated by the four N atoms of the 1,4,8,11-tetra-aza-cyclo-tetra-decane (cyclam) ligand and is coordinated by two water mol-ecules in a tetra-gonally Jahn-Teller-distorted octa-hedral geometry. The Cu(II) atom lies on a center of inversion. The cations, anions and uncoordinated water mol-ecules are linked by N-H⋯O and O-H⋯O hydrogen bonds, forming a layer structure parallel to (100). The alkyl chain of the anion is disordered over two positions in a 0.82 (1):0.18 (1) ratio.

Fulltext Aqua-(2,2'-bipyridine-κN,N')bis-(4-iodo-benzoato-κO)copper(II)

Mohamadin MI, Abdullah N, Lo KM, Ng SW

Acta Crystallogr Sect E Struct Rep Online, 2010;66(Pt 12):m1530.

PMID: 21589230 DOI: 10.1107/S1600536810044995

The Cu(II) atom in the title compound, [Cu(C(7)H(4)IO(2))(2)(C(10)H(8)N(2))(H(2)O)], is N,N'-chelated by a 2,2'-bipyridine ligand and is coordinated by two monodentate carboxyl-ate ions and a water mol-ecule in a distorted square-pyramidal geometry. The apical site is occupied by one of the carboxyl-ate O atoms. The water mol-ecule forms intra-molecular hydrogen bonds to the uncoordinated carboxyl O atoms. The crystal studied was a nonmerohedral twin with minor components in 0.381 (3) and 0.108 (2) proportions.

Fulltext {6,6'-Dibromo-4,4'-dichloro-2,2'-[o-phenyl-enebis(nitrilo-methyl-idyne)]diphenolato}nickel(II)

Ali A, Abdullah N, Maah MJ, Lo KM

Acta Crystallogr Sect E Struct Rep Online, 2010;66(Pt 4):m458.

PMID: 21580544 DOI: 10.1107/S1600536810010949

In the title complex, [Ni(C(20)H(10)Br(2)Cl(2)N(2)O(2))], the Ni(II) ion is coordinated by two phen-oxy O atoms and two imino N atoms of the tetradentate ligand, forming a slightly distorted square-planar environment. The mol-ecule is essentially planar, with an r.m.s. deviation of 0.088 Å for the mean plane defined by all non-H atoms in the mol-ecule.

Fulltext Aqua-(2,2'-bipyridine-κN,N')(3,5-dinitro-benzoato-κO)copper(II) tetra-hydro-furan monosolvate

Abdullah N, Mohamadin MI, Safwan AP, Tiekink ER

Acta Crystallogr Sect E Struct Rep Online, 2010;66(Pt 9):m1055-6.

PMID: 21588481 DOI: 10.1107/S1600536810030436

The title complex, [Cu(C(7)H(3)N(2)O(6))(2)(C(10)H(8)N(2))(H(2)O)]·C(4)H(8)O, features a penta-coordinate Cu(II) atom bound by two monodentate carboxyl-ate ligands, a bidentate 2,2'-bipyridine mol-ecule [dihedral angle between pyridine rings = 5.0 (2)°] and a water mol-ecule. The resulting N(2)O(3) donor set defines a distorted square-pyramidal geometry with the coordinated water mol-ecule in the apical position. In the crystal, the presence of O-H(w)⋯O(c) (w = water and c = carbon-yl) hydrogen bonding leads to the formation of a supra-molecular chain propagating along the c axis, which associates into a double chain via C-H⋯ O and π-π contacts between pyridyl rings [centroid-centroid distance = 3.527 (3) Å]. The solvent mol-ecules, which are disordered over two orientations in a 0.678 (11):0.322 (11) ratio, occupy voids defined by the complex mol-ecules and are held in place via C-H⋯O inter-actions.

Enhancement of viability of a probiotic Lactobacillus strain for poultry during freeze-drying and storage using the response surface methodology

Khoramnia A, Abdullah N, Liew SL, Sieo CC, Ramasamy K, Ho YW

Anim Sci J, 2011 Feb;82(1):127-35.

PMID: 21269371 DOI: 10.1111/j.1740-0929.2010.00804.x

A rotatable central composite design (CCD) was used to study the effect of cryoprotectants (skim milk, sucrose and lactose) on the survival rate of a probiotic Lactobacillus strain, L. reuteri C10, for poultry, during freeze-drying and storage. Using response surface methodology, a quadratic polynomial equation was obtained for response value by multiple regression analyses: Y = 8.59546-0.01038 X(1)-0.09382 X(2)-0.07771 X(3)-0.054861 X(1)(2)-0.04603 X(3)(2)-0.10938 X(1)X(2). Based on the model predicted, sucrose exerted the strongest effect on the survival rate. At various combinations of cryoprotectants, the viability loss of the cells after freeze-drying was reduced from 1.65 log colony forming units (CFU)/mL to 0.26-0.66 log CFU/mL. The estimated optimum combination for enhancing the survival rate of L. reuteri C10 was 19.5% skim milk, 1% sucrose and 9% lactose. Verification experiments confirmed the validity of the predicted model. The storage life of freeze-dried L. reuteri C10 was markedly improved when cryoprotectants were used. At optimum combination of the cryoprotectants, the survival rates of freeze-dried L. reuteri C10 stored at 4°C and 30°C for 6 months were 96.4% and 73.8%, respectively. Total viability loss of cells which were not protected by cryoprotectants occurred after 12 and 8 weeks of storage at 4°C and 30°C, respectively.

Identification of major allergens of wildflower honey

Yadzir ZH, Misnan R, Abdullah N, Arip M, Murad S

Southeast Asian J. Trop. Med. Public Health, 2011 Mar;42(2):370-5.

PMID: 21710860

The aim of this study was to identify the major allergens of wildflower honey in local patients with atopic disease. SDS-PAGE revealed ten protein bands of 25 to 110 kDa, with a heavy cluster in region of 40-75 kDa. Immunoblotting demonstrated seven IgE-binding bands of 39 to 110 kDa. The 60 kDa protein had the highest frequency of IgE-binding (100%) followed by 54 kDa protein (95%), thus identified as the major allergens of wildflowerhoney. Our findings indicate that the allergen extract used for diagnosis of honey allergy contains both the 54 kDa and 60 kDa proteins.

Genetic variability of oil palm parental genotypes and performance of its' progenies as revealed by molecular markers and quantitative traits

Abdullah N, Rafii Yusop M, Ithnin M, Saleh G, Latif MA

C. R. Biol., 2011 Apr;334(4):290-9.

PMID: 21513898 DOI: 10.1016/j.crvi.2011.01.004

Studies were conducted to assess the genetic relationships between the parental palms (dura and pisifera) and performance of their progenies based on nine microsatellite markers and 29 quantitative traits. Correlation analyses between genetic distances and hybrids performance were estimated. The coefficients of correlation values of genetic distances with hybrid performance were non-significant, except for mean nut weight and leaf number. However, the correlation coefficient of genetic distances with these characters was low to be used as predicted value. These results indicated that genetic distances based on the microsatellite markers may not be useful for predicting hybrid performance. The genetic distance analysis using UPGMA clustering system generated 5 genetic clusters with coefficient of 1.26 based on quantitative traits of progenies. The genotypes, DP16, DP14, DP4, DP13, DP12, DP15, DP8, DP1 and DP2 belonging to distant clusters and greater genetic distances could be selected for further breeding programs.

Fulltext Bis(μ-hexa-deca-noato-κO:O)bis-[(2,2'-bipyridine-κN,N')(hexa-deca-noato-κO)copper(II)] methanol disolvate

Che Mat AN, Abdullah N, Khaledi H, Tee JT

Acta Crystallogr Sect E Struct Rep Online, 2011 May 1;67(Pt 5):m599-600.

PMID: 21754319 DOI: 10.1107/S1600536811013559

The asymmetric unit of the title compound, [Cu(2)(C(16)H(31)O(2))(4)(C(10)H(8)N(2))(2)]·2CH(3)OH, contains one half-mol-ecule of the metal complex solvated by a methanol mol-ecule. In the complex, two of the metal atoms are doubly bridged by two monodentate bridging hexa-deca-noate ligands around a center of inversion. The square-pyramidal geometry around each Cu(II) ion is completed by a terminal hexa-deca-noate O atom and two N atoms from a 2,2'-bipyridine ligand. The alkyl chains of the carboxyl-ate ligands are arranged in a parallel manner with an all-trans conformation. In the crystal, a π-π inter-action formed by the bipyridine rings [centroid-centroid separation = 3.7723 (17) Å] and inter-molecular C-H⋯O hydrogen bonds link the complex mol-ecules into infinite chains along the b axis. An O-H⋯O interaction between the methanol solvate and one of the carboxylate O atoms is also observed.

Fulltext Diaqua-(1,4,8,11-tetra-aza-cyclo-tetra-decane-κN,N,N,N)copper(II) didodeca-noate dihydrate

Ahmad Tajidi NS, Abdullah N, Arifin Z

Acta Crystallogr Sect E Struct Rep Online, 2011 May 1;67(Pt 5):m588-9.

PMID: 21754311 DOI: 10.1107/S1600536811012773

The title compound, [Cu(C(10)H(24)N(4))(H(2)O)(2)][CH(3)(CH(2))(10)CO(2)](2)·2H(2)O, consists of one cationic copper(II) complex, two dodeca-noate anions and two water solvent mol-ecules. The Cu(II) atom is located on an inversion center and is chelated by the four aza N atoms of the neutral 1,4,8,11-tetra-aza-cyclo-tetra-decane (cyclam) ligand and by two water mol-ecules in axial positions, giving an octa-hedral coordination geometry, distorted as a consequence of the Jahn-Teller effect. The uncoordinated water mol-ecules link the complex cations and the dodeca-noate counter-ions through O-H⋯O hydrogen bonding, forming a layer structure parallel to (001). Inter-molecular N-H⋯O inter-actions also occur.

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