Methods: A total of 174 samples of seven cephalopod species were collected from the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia. Both upper and lower beaks were extracted from the samples and the left lateral views of upper and lower beak images were acquired. Three types of traditional morphometric features were extracted namely grey histogram of oriented gradient (HOG), colour HOG, and morphological shape descriptor (MSD). In addition, deep features were extracted by using three pre-trained convolutional neural networks (CNN) models which are VGG19, InceptionV3, and Resnet50. Eight machine learning approaches were used in the classification step and compared for model performance.
Results: The results showed that the Artificial Neural Network (ANN) model achieved the best testing accuracy of 91.14%, using the deep features extracted from the VGG19 model from lower beak images. The results indicated that the deep features were more accurate than the traditional features in highlighting morphometric differences from the beak images of cephalopod species. In addition, the use of lower beaks of cephalopod species provided better results compared to the upper beaks, suggesting that the lower beaks possess more significant morphological differences between the studied cephalopod species. Future works should include more cephalopod species and sample size to enhance the identification accuracy and comprehensiveness of the developed model.
Methods: We used known GSL genes to construct a comprehensive GSL co-expression network. This network was analyzed with the DPClusOST algorithm using a density of 0.5. 0.6. 0.7, 0.8, and 0.9. Generating clusters were evaluated using Fisher's exact test to identify GSL gene co-expression clusters. A significance score (SScore) was calculated for each gene based on the generated p-value of Fisher's exact test. SScore was used to perform a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) study to classify possible GSL genes using the ROCR package. ROCR was used in determining the AUC that measured the suitable density value of the cluster for further analysis. Finally, pathway enrichment analysis was conducted using ClueGO to identify significant pathways associated with the GSL clusters.
Results: The density value of 0.8 showed the highest area under the curve (AUC) leading to the selection of thirteen potential GSL genes from the top six significant clusters that include IMDH3, MVP1, T19K24.17, MRSA2, SIR, ASP4, MTO1, At1g21440, HMT3, At3g47420, PS1, SAL1, and At3g14220. A total of Four potential genes (MTO1, SIR, SAL1, and IMDH3) were identified from the pathway enrichment analysis on the significant clusters. These genes are directly related to GSL-associated pathways such as sulfur metabolism and valine, leucine, and isoleucine biosynthesis. This approach demonstrates the ability of the network clustering approach in identifying potential GSL genes which cannot be found from the standard similarity search.
Methods: PRISMA guidelines were used as the basis of this systematic review. Relevant studies were identified by searching the following databases: Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), MEDLINE (PubMed), as well as Epistemonikos for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and controlled clinical trials published not later than January 2021 involving adults with prediabetes and diabetes mellitus who were consuming brown rice compared to those consuming white rice. The primary outcomes measured were glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) and fasting blood glucose (FBG) levels. The secondary outcomes were body weight, waist circumference, systolic and diastolic blood pressure levels, LDL and HDL-cholesterol levels. The mean differences (MDs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) between brown and white-rice-diet groups were calculated using a random-effects model.
Results: Seven trials involving 417 adults with prediabetes or type 2 diabetes were included in this study. Brown-rice diet did not improve the glycemic control because it had no effect on the HbA1c level (p = 0.15) and the FBG level (p = 0.95) compared to white-rice diet. Brown-rice diet reduced body weight (p
Survey methodology and objectives: A traditional review approach was taken to focus on the engineering of microbial -amylases to enhance industrially favoured characteristics. The action mechanisms of - and -amylases were compared to avoid any bias in the research background. This review aimed to discuss the advances in modifying microbial -amylases via protein engineering to achieve longer half-life in high temperature, improved resistance (acidic, alkaline and oxidative) and enhanced specificities (substrate and product). Captivating results were discussed in depth, including the extended half-life at 100C, pH 3.5 and 10, 1.8 M hydrogen peroxide as well as enhanced substrate (65.3%) and product (42.4%) specificities. These shed light to the future microbial -amylase engineering in achieving paramount biochemical traits ameliorations to apt in the industries.
Conclusions: Microbial -amylases can be tailored for specific industrial applications through protein engineering (rational design and directed evolution). While the critical mutation points are dependent on respective enzymes, formation of disulfide bridge between cysteine residues after mutations is crucial for elevated thermostability. Amino acids conversion to basic residues was reported for enhanced acidic resistance while hydrophobic interaction resulted from mutated hydrophobic residues in carbohydrate-binding module or surface-binding sites is pivotal for improved substrate specificity. Substitution of oxidation-prone methionine residues with non-polar residues increases the enzyme oxidative stability. Hence, this review provides conceptual advances for the future microbial -amylases designs to exhibit industrially significant characteristics. However, more attention is needed to enhance substrate specificity and oxidative stability since they are least reported.
Methods: In this cross-sectional study with retrospective record review, 403 established gouty arthritis patients were recruited to determine the incidence of UGIB and associated factors among gout patients who were on regular nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs).
Results: The mean age of the 403 gouty arthritis patients was 55.7 years old and the majority (n = 359/403; 89.1%) were male. The incidence of UGIB among gouty arthritis patients who were on NSAIDs was 7.2% (n = 29/403). Older age (p < 0.001), diclofenac medication (p = 0.003), pantoprazole medication (p = 0.003), end-stage renal failure (ESRF) (p = 0.007), smoking (p = 0.035), hypertension (p = 0.042) and creatinine (p = 0.045) were significant risk factors for UGIB among the gouty arthritis patients in univariable analysis. Older age (p = 0.001) and diclofenac medication (p < 0.001) remained significant risk factors for UGIB among the gouty arthritis patients in multivariable analysis.
Conclusions: Age and diclofenac were significantly associated with UGIB among patients with gouty arthritis on regular NSAIDs, indicating that these factors increased the risks of developing UGIB in gout patients. Hence, these high-risk groups of gouty arthritis patients should be routinely monitored to avoid the potential onset of UGIB. Our data also suggest that diclofenac should be prescribed for the shortest duration possible to minimize the risk of developing UGIB in gout patients.
Methods: The shoot, lateral sprout, and leaf derived explants of six chamomile genotypes including Isfahan, Shiraz, Kazeron, Goral, Sharokashari and Presso were used for direct and indirect regeneration. For indirect regeneration various doses of NAA and kinetin were used to induce calli which were cultured on MS media containing PGRs for direct and indirect regeneration. Later, cell suspension was established and morphological characterization of CrO3 stained cells was carried out using microscopy.
Results and Discussion: Our findings revealed that the highest callus percentage and callus volume were observed from lateral sprouts and shoots of genotype Isfahan on MS medium containing 1 mg/L NAA and 1 mg/L kinetin. The in vitro regeneration was found to be genotype dependent while 77% and 77.5% was the highest percentage for indirect and direct regeneration, respectively. Additionally, the maximum shoot number (two shoots/explant) and shoot length (2.22 cm) were also observed in Isfahan genotype. Cell suspension culture showed the highest fresh weight (18.59 g) and dry weight (1.707 g) with 0.75 g inoculum of the callus derived from lateral sprouts cultured on MS medium. Microscopy of CrO3 stained cells was carried on each 3rd day for 27 days that revealed larger and spongier cells in the early days as compared to final days when the cell number was greater but cell size was smaller.
Conclusion: The callogenesis, organogenesis, and cell suspension culture of chamomile may be genotype dependent. Hence, optimization of media ingredients and culture conditions is of utmost importance for devising tissue culture based conservation strategy of any chamomile genotype and secondary metabolite production.
Methodology: Electronic searches were conducted in SAGE, Science Direct, SCOPUS, and Pubmed. The search strategy consisted of medical subject headings and free-text search keywords, synonyms and variations of 'exercise intervention,' 'knee alignment,' 'dynamic knee valgus', 'knee abduction' that were merged via the Boolean operator 'AND' and 'OR'. The search was conducted on full-text journals that documented the impact of the exercise intervention program involving either the bottom-up or top-down DKV mechanism on the knee kinematics. Furthermore, exercise intervention in this review should last at least one week which included two or three sessions per week. This review also considered both men and women of all ages with a healthy or symptomatic knee problem. The risk of bias of the included studies was assessed by Cochrane risk assessment tool. The protocol of this review was registered at PROSPERO (registration number: CRD42021219121).
Results: Ten studies with a total of 423 participants (male = 22.7%, female = 77.3%; adults = 249, adolescents = 123; pre-adolescent = 51) met the inclusion criteria of this review. Seven studies showed the significant effects of the exercise intervention program (range from two weeks to ten weeks) on reducing DKV. The exercise training in these seven studies focused on muscle groups directly attached to the knee joint such as hamstrings and gastrocnemius. The remaining three studies did not show significant improvement in DKV after the exercise intervention (range between eight weeks to twelve weeks) probably because they focused on trunk and back muscles instead of muscles crossing the knee joint.
Conclusion: Exercises targeting specific knee-joint muscles, either from top-down or bottom-up kinetic chain, are likely to reduce DKV formation. These results may assist athletes and coaches to develop effective exercise program that could minimize DKV and ultimately prevent lower limb injuries.
Methods: Comparative proteomics profiling of serum samples from OSCC patients, oral potentially malignant disorder (OPMD) patients, and healthy individuals were performed using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE) coupled with mass spectrometry (MS) (n = 60) and bioinformatics analysis. The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) (n = 120) and immunohistochemistry (IHC) (n = 70) were used to confirm our findings.
Results: The 2-DE analysis revealed that 20 differentially expressed proteins were detected in OPMD and OSCC (p
Materials and Methods: Gastric biopsy samples were obtained from treatment-naïve patients. Bacterial genomic DNA was extracted using a commercial kit and continued with DNA amplification using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with specific primers. The PCR amplicons were subjected to sequencing on 23S rRNA gene targeting nucleotide positions at 2,146, 2,147, 2,186 and amino acids at gyrA positions 87 and 91 and gyrB positions 436, 438, 481, 484 to investigate the possible mutations or polymorphisms of genes that lead to clarithromycin and levofloxacin resistance respectively.
Results: Sixty-one urease-positive gastric biopsy samples were studied. The findings revealed the primary resistance rates to clarithromycin was 14.8% and to levofloxacin was 3.3% in our current scenario based on detection of reported resistance-related mutations of A2147G and D91N in 23S rRNA and gyrA genes, respectively. Interestingly, we found a high rate of silent mutations of the gyrA codon 87Asn (32.8%, 20/61) and two polymorphisms of the gyrB D481E (16.4%, 10/61) and R484K (21.3%, 13/61). The role of these polymorphisms in gyrB remained to be elucidated whether the levels of levofloxacin resistance are related to the position/amino acid.
Conclusion: The primary resistance rate of H. pylori to clarithromycin has increased compared to the previous report in Malaysia. Therefore, molecular screening could aid and is important for the selection of antibiotics for H. pylori eradication therapies.
Methods: Respondents were surveyed as part of several health-related programs organized by the Kepong District Health Office involving local communities in and around the district from April 2019 to December 2019. Urinalysis of two urine samples was carried out using a Mission reagent strip and an Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) test to detect the presence and level of urinary cadmium.
Results: A total of 240 respondents were enrolled from April 2019 to December 2019. Urinalysis of two urine samples was carried out using a Mission reagent strip and an Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) test to detect the level of urinary cadmium. The respondents' average age was 41-year-old (±13.23). Among them, 49.6% were male, 85.0% Malay, 5.8% Chinese and 8.3% Indian. 55.0% had background of tertiary, 39.6% secondary and 5.4% primary level of education. 52.1% were categorized in B40, 34.6% in M40 and 13.3% in T20 based on monthly household income category. 26.7% were hypertensive, 6.7% diabetic, 4.2% had dyslipidemia, 51.7% had urinary cadmium above the alert level, and 27.1% had albuminuria.
Discussion: Risk factors for albuminuria that have been identified are age with adjusted odds ratio (AOR) 3.53 (1.41-8.83; p
METHODS: In this study, we generated whole genome sequences of eight clinical strains of Mtb that were isolated from the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of patients presenting with tuberculous meningitis (TBM) in Malaysia, and compared them to the genomes of H37Rv and other respiratory Mtb genomes either downloaded from public databases or extracted from local sputum isolates. We aimed to find genomic features that might be distinctly different between CSF-derived and respiratory Mtb.
RESULTS: Genome-wide comparisons revealed rearrangements (translocations, inversions, insertions and deletions) and non-synonymous SNPs in our CSF-derived strains that were not observed in the respiratory Mtb genomes used for comparison. These rearranged segments were rich in genes for PE (proline-glutamate)/PPE (proline-proline-glutamate), transcriptional and membrane proteins. Similarly, most of the ns SNPs common in CSF strains were noted in genes encoding PE/PPE proteins. Protein globularity differences were observed among mycobacteria from CSF and respiratory sources and in proteins previously reported to be associated with TB meningitis. Transcription factors and other transcription regulators featured prominently in these proteins. Homologs of proteins associated with Streptococcus pneumoniae meningitis and Neisseria meningitidis virulence were identified in neuropathogenic as well as respiratory mycobacterial spp. examined in this study.
DISCUSSION: The occurrence of in silico genetic differences in CSF-derived but not respiratory Mtb suggests their possible involvement in the pathogenesis of TBM. However, overall findings in this comparative analysis support the postulation that TB meningeal infection is more likely to be related to the expression of multiple virulence factors on interaction with host defences than to CNS tropism associated with specific genetic traits.