Aim: To investigate the concurrent validity and reliability of the WBB for balance assessment in healthy young adults.
Methods: Thirty-two young adults participated in this study. Their ability to balance was tested while standing on a WBB and a laboratory-grade force platform, under three conditions: feet together with eyes open, feet together with eyes closed and semi-tandem standing with eyes open. They had 10 min resting period between tests. The agreement between the WBB and the laboratory-grade force platform was investigated, and the reliability of the WBB was determined.
Results: A poor agreement between the WBB and the laboratory-grade force platform was found for all standing conditions [intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) = 0.03 to 0.07]. A moderate to high reliability was found for the WBB for balance assessment in healthy young adults (ICC = 0.66 to 0.76).
Conclusion: The WBB was found to be a reliable tool for static balance assessment in healthy young adults. However, it had poor validity compared to the laboratory-grade force platform.
Methods: The participants were 381 Malay students (188 male; 193 female), aged 10-12 years old, with a mean age of 10.94 (SD = 0.81). The original version of the TTM was translated into the Malay language using forward and backward translation. Certain phrases were adapted based on the local culture and vocabulary suitable for primary school students.
Results: The final measurement models and their fit indices were: processes of change (CFI = 0.939, TLI = 0.925, SRMR = 0.040, RMSEA = 0.030); decisional balance (CFI = 0.897, TLI = 0.864, SRMR = 0.045, RMSEA = 0.038); and self-efficacy (CFI = 0.934, TLI = 0.915, SRMR = 0.042, RMSEA = 0.032).
Conclusion: Care must be taken when using the TTM with children, as it has been prevalently validated with adults. The final version of the TTM questionnaire for Malay primary school children had 24 items for process of changes, 13 items for self-efficacy and 10 items for decisional balance.
Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out at the Kubang Kerian Nursing College, Kelantan which involved 346 respondents using simple random sampling method. The inclusion criteria were year one, two and three of nursing students who have clinical posting and voluntarily joining the study. Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and Brief COPE inventory were utilised in the data collection. Higher mean score indicates higher degree of stress.
Results: Clinical assignments and workload were the main stressor (mean = 3.19, SD = 1.09). Religion approach was the most coping strategy applied (mean = 3.30, SD = 0.71). Pearson's correlation coefficient test found that six domains of stressors during clinical practices (taking care of patients; clinical educators/instructors and ward staff; clinical assignments and workload; peers and nursing students from other college; lack of professional knowledge and skills and clinical environment) were statistically significant correlation with coping strategies, where P-value < 0.05.
Conclusion: Clinical assignment was the main stressor among nursing students; therefore, successful activities should be promoted to help them in managing clinical assignment and enhancing knowledge in religion.
Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out on 400 pregnant women who were selected using stratified random sampling technique from eight private maternity centers located in Indore city. A questionnaire collected information on socio-demographic characteristics, oral hygiene practices, previous dental visit and past medical history. OHRQOL was assessed using Oral Health Impact Profile-14 questionnaire. Lifestyle factors were assessed using the Health practice Index.
Results: The lifestyle factors were the strongest predictor for poor OHRQOL. The pregnant women (OR = 3.22, P-value < 0.0001*) with poor lifestyle had significantly poor OHRQOL. Logistic regression analysis showed that poor socio-economic status (OR = 2.63, P-value = 0.025*), brushing frequency of less than or equal to once daily (OR = 2.02, P-value = 0.025*), and suffering from systemic diseases (OR = 2.11, P-value = 0.017*) were other important predictors for poor OHRQOL in pregnant women.
Conclusions: Our findings showed that lifestyle factors significantly impact OHRQOL in pregnant women. Thus, it is recommended that effective policies should be drafted to improve lifestyle factors and OHRQOL in pregnant women.
Methods: A quasi-experimental study was conducted in Kuala Lumpur Hospital, Malaysia. Data were collected from November 2014 to January 2015 with a total of 58 respondents who met the inclusion criteria. The respondents received a 20-min one-on-one education programme regarding coronary heart disease, treatment and prevention, and healthy lifestyle. A questionnaire comprising demographic data was administered and the cardiovascular health index was measured before and after four weeks of the education programme. Data were analysed with descriptive and inferential statistics.
Results: There were statistically significant decreases in the score of anxiety, stress, depression, body mass index, and smoking status (P < 0.001) between pre-test and post-test.
Conclusion: The findings suggest that the one-on-one education programme could improve the cardiovascular health index of patients with MI. Furthermore, nurses need to develop and implement a standard education structure programme for patients with MI to improve health outcomes.
Method: This study is to evaluate the outcome of patients with mild head injury which were managed in non-neurosurgical centres with the help of teleneurosurgery. The study recruits samples from five primary hospitals utilising teleneurosurgery for neurosurgical consultations in managing mild head injury cases in Johor state. Two main outcomes were noted; favourable and unfavourable, with a follow up review of the Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS) at 3 and 6 months.
Results: Total of 359 samples were recruited with a total of 11 (3.06%) patients have an unfavourable. no significant difference in GOS at 3 and 6 months for patient in the unfavourable group (P = 0.368).
Conclusion: In this study we have found no significant factors affecting the outcome of mild head injury patients managed in non-neurosurgical centres in Johor state using the help of teleneurosurgery.
Methods: In this exploratory qualitative study, two focus group discussion (15 teachers) and 30 individual in-depth interviews were conducted among female adolescents in the eighth grade in Zahedan, Iran. Qualitative content analysis was used for data evaluation.
Results: The views of students and teachers demonstrated nine of needs including: informing students about the schools' health project aims, education and training all dimensions of health with an emphasis on mental health, use of experts in various fields for education from other organisations, employing capable and trusted counselors in schools, utilisation of a variety of teaching methods, activating reward systems for encouraging students' participation in group activities, teaching communication and the ability to establish good relationships with parents and strategies for resolving family conflict, teaching parents and students high-risk behaviours and strategies for handling them as well as reforming wrong attitudes and indigenous sub-culture.
Conclusion: This study found the different needs of Iranian female students compared to other cultures about a health promoting school programme. Therefore, their contribution can provide an insight for formulating policies and intervention in schools.
Objective: To investigate the nephroprotective effect of quercetin (QT) against renal injury induced by titanium dioxide nanoparticles (NTiO2) in rats.
Methods: NTiO2-intoxicated rats received 50 mg/kg of NTiO2 for seven days. The QT + NTiO2 group was pretreated with QT for seven days before being administered NTiO2. Uric acid, creatinine, and blood urea nitrogen were considered to be biomarkers of nephrotoxicity. Catalase (CAT) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activities and renal levels of malondialdehyde (MDA) were measured to assess the oxidative stress caused by NTiO2.
Results: NTiO2 significantly increased the plasma level of the biomarkers. It also significantly decreased the activities of CAT (P = 0.008) and SOD (P = 0.004), and significantly increased the MDA levels (P = 0.007). NTiO2 caused proximal tubule damage, the accumulation of red blood cells, the infiltration of inflammatory cells, and reduced the glomerular diameters, as well as induced apoptosis in the proximal tubules. Pre-treatment with QT attenuated the histological changes, normalised the plasma biomarkers, suppressed oxidative stress, ameliorated the activities of CAT (P = 0.007) and SOD (P = 0.006), and reduced apoptosis (P < 0.001).
Conclusion: QT was found to have a potent protective effect against nephrotoxicity induced by NTiO2 in rats. It also reduced apoptosis caused by NTiO2.
Methods: The control group was administered with phosphate buffer solution (PBS) while the other two groups received PCM alone (1000 mg/kg) and PCM + 25 mg/kg ZER, respectively, at 0 h and 4 h after PCM injection. After 24 h, the blood and liver were collected for differential white blood cell count, liver histological observation and biochemical analysis including alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and total protein concentration in serum and liver.
Results: Treatment with ZER was found to significantly reduce ALT (P = 0.041), AST (P = 0.044) and total hepatic protein (P = 0.045) in comparison to PCM-induced rats. Rats treated with ZER exhibited the normal structure of hepatocytes with no vacuolisation or necrosis and showed significantly reduced neutrophil count (P = 0.037). This finding suggests its ability to suppress the inflammatory processes caused by PCM overdosage and decrease the hepatocytes tendency to go through necrotic processes.
Conclusion: ZER possessed protective activity against PCM-induced acute hepatotoxicity in a rat model.
Methods: This study involved 93 disabled athletes in Malaysia. The setting of the study is at National Sports Council, Malaysia. The data obtained are analysed using chi-square test using SPSS.
Results: This study shows that the most common types of eating behaviour among disabled athletes are emotional eating (37.6%), followed by uncontrolled eating (34.3%) and cognitive restraint (28%). Most of the overweight and obese disabled athletes are prone to emotional eating (19.4%) as compared to non-overweight athletes (18.3%).
Conclusion: As a conclusion, recognising the eating behaviour in disabled athletes is important as more effective and innovative interventions and measures can be undertaken to prevent eating disorder which can enhance sports performance.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among the undergraduate students using a self-administered questionnaire. After using a purposive sampling method, 562 students completed the questionnaire. Mplus 8 was employed to conduct the confirmatory factor analysis on the psychometric properties of Bandura's 18-item SE scale with three factors (internal feeling, competing demands and situational). Then, the composite reliability was calculated for each factor.
Results: Most of the students were Malay (73.3%) females (79.0%) who exercised 2.62 times a week for an average of 43.37 min per session. The final measurement model was obtained after removing six problematic items, and the model was deemed fit based on several indices [Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA) = 0.067, Standardised Root Mean Square Residual (SRMR) = 0.004, Comparative Fit Index (CFI) = 0.924]. The composite reliability values of the three factors were acceptable (0.65 to 0.84).
Conclusion: The simplified 12-item SE scale with three factors displayed good fit indices with regard to the data, and they were considered to be acceptable for the current sample.
Objective: To investigate the outcome of second courses of TMS.
Method: A naturalistic investigation-we prospectively studied 30 MDE in-patients and routinely collected information, including pre- and post-treatment with Six-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD6), a six-item Visual Analogue Scale (VAS6) and the Clinical Global Impression-Severity (CGI-S). Two categories of patients were considered: i) those who had remitted with a first course, but relapsed, and ii) those who had not remitted with the first course.
Results: Thirty individuals received a second TMS course. The mean time to the second course was 27.5 weeks. Based on the HAMD6, 26 (87%) achieved remission after the first course, and 22 (73%) achieved remission after the second course. Furthermore, based on the HAMD6 results, of the four patients who did not achieve remission with a first course, three (75%) did so with a second course.
Conclusion: In MDE, a second course of TMS is likely to help those who remitted to a first course and then relapsed, as well as those who did not achieve remission with a first course.
Methods: Subjects' food intakes were calculated by using dietary history questionnaire and food frequency questionnaire for polyphenols. The subjects' mental health and cognitive status were measured by general health questionnaire-28 (GHQ-28) and Rey's auditory verbal learning test (RAVLT).
Results: More than 40% of middle-aged adults were identified as having signs of poor mental health. A total of 67.9% of the subjects had poor cognitive status according to RAVLT immediate recall. Hierarchical binary logistic regression indicated that fat intake was associated with somatic symptoms for both men [adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 1.04; P < 0.05] and women (AOR = 1.06; P < 0.05). Intake of lignan (AOR = 1.071; P < 0.05) was associated with better RAVLT immediate recall among women. Additionally, high cholesterol (AOR = 3.14; P < 0.05) was associated with poor score of RAVLT delayed recall for women.
Conclusions: Early detection of poor mental health and cognitive is crucial to prevent Alzheimer's disease in old age.
Methods: Human ALDH1+ BCSCs were grown in serum-free Dulbecco's Modified Eagle Medium (DMEM)/F12, while MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 were cultured in DMEM supplemented with 10% foetal bovine serum under standard conditions. Total RNA was extracted using the Tripure Isolation Reagent. The relative mRNA expressions of OCT4, ALDH1A1 and CD44 associated with stemness as well as TGF-β1, TβR1, ERα1 and MnSOD associated with aggressiveness in BCSCs and MCF-7 cells were determined using the quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR).
Results: The mRNA expressions of OCT4 (5.19-fold ± 0.338; P = 0.001), ALDH1A1 (3.67-fold ± 0.523; P = 0.006), CD44 (2.65-fold ± 0.307; P = 0.006), TGF-β1 (22.89-fold ± 6.840; P = 0.015), TβR1 (3.74-fold ± 1.446; P = 0.045) and MnSOD (4.6-fold ± 1.096; P = 0.014) were higher in BCSCs than in MCF-7 but were almost similar to MDA-MB-231 cells. In contrast, the ERα1 expression of BCSCs (0.97-fold ± 0.080; P = 0.392) was similar to MCF-7 cells, indicating that BSCSs are oestrogen-dependent breast cancer cells.
Conclusion: The oestrogen-dependent BCSCs express stemness and aggressiveness genes at a higher level compared to oestrogen-dependent MCF-7 but are almost similar to oestrogen-independent MDA-MB-231 cells.
Methodology: Thirty rats were treated to receive 0.5 mL phosphate-buffered saline (group A, control), 0.5 mL corn oil (group B), 0.2% CPZ (group C), for 6 weeks, 0.2% CPZ for 3 weeks and then 200 mg/kg of Kv for 3 weeks (group D), or 200 mg/kg of Kv for 3 weeks followed by 0.2% CPZ for 3 weeks (group E). Rats were assessed for exploratory functions and anxiety-like behaviour before being euthanised and perfused transcardially with 4% paraformaldehyde. Prefrontal and hippocampal thin sections were stained in hematoxylin and eosin and cresyl fast violet stains.
Results: CPZ-induced demyelination resulted in behavioural impairment as seen by reduced exploratory activities, rearing behaviour, stretch attend posture, center square entry, and anxiogenic characteristics. Degenerative changes including pyknosis, karyorrhexis, neuronal hypertrophy, and reduced Nissl integrity were also seen. Animals treated with Kv showed significant improvement in behavioural outcomes and a comparatively normal cytoarchitectural profile.
Conclusion: Kv provides protective roles against CPZ-induced neurotoxicity through prevention of ribosomal protein degradation.
Methods: A total of 11 isolates from respiratory cultures in intensive care unit of a 24 bed tertiary hospital obtained over a one months period and one isolate obtained from the nebuliser during environmental screening were investigated. The bacteria were identified by Phoenix 100 system. The clonal relatedness was evaluated by PFGE and semi-automated repetitive sequence-based PCR. Genotyping tests were repeated for 10 serial subcultures.
Results: PFGE and DiversiLab yielded 10 genotypic profiles for 12 isolates. Four to eight different genotypes were observed from 10 subcultures of the same isolate.
Conclusion: We conclude that, high genetic diversity and supposed multiclonal appearance of the outbreak isolates may be due to changing profiles during subcultures most probably depending on hypermutation.
Methods: Anti-cholinesterase, anti-oxidant, and total phenolic and flavonoid contents were established using standard procedures.
Results: The three polyherbal extracts exhibited significant concentration dependent acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitory activity (P = 0.001). The highest AChE inhibition was observed with the Neocare Herbal Tea (NHT) with 99.7% (IC50 = 324 μg/mL); whereas the Herbalin Complex Tea (HCT) and Phytoblis Herbal Tea (PHT) exhibited 73.8% (IC50 = 0.2 μg/mL) and 60.6% (IC50 = 0.7 μg/mL) inhibition, respectively, relative to eserine at 100% inhibition (IC50 = 0.9 μg/mL) at 200 μg/mL. The order of percentage increase in inhibition of AChE was NHT > HCT > PHT; while the order of decrease in potency was HCT > PHT > NHT.Radical scavenging activities of HCT, NHT and PHT were 82.13% (IC50 = 0.08 μg/mL), 77.43% (IC50 = 0.01 μg/mL) and 76.28% (IC50 = 0.3 μg/mL), respectively, at 1 mg/mL concentrations. The reducing power revealed a dose-dependent effect, with NHT > PHT > HCT. The order of total phenolics content in the extracts were PHT > HCT > NHT, and for total flavonoids content: PHT > NHT > HCT.
Conclusion: The three polyherbal standardised products possess significant acetylcholinesterase inhibitory activity and secondary metabolites that could collectively contribute to their memory-enhancing effects.