Displaying publications 1181 - 1200 of 4000 in total

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  1. Tong SF, Abd Aziz NA, Chin GL, Khairani O
    Malays Fam Physician, 2006;1(1):15-8.
    PMID: 26998201 MyJurnal
    Identifying clinical features that differentiate acute febrile thrombocytopaenia from acute febrile illness without thrombocytopaenia can help primary care physician to decide whether to order a full blood count (FBC). This is important because thrombocytopaenia in viral fever may signify more serious underlying aetiology like dengue infection.
  2. Rahman RN, Ghaza FM, Salleh AB, Basri M
    J Microbiol, 2006 Jun;44(3):354-9.
    PMID: 16820766
    This study examined the capacity of immobilized bacteria to degrade petroleum hydrocarbons. A mixture of hydrocarbon-degrading bacterial strains was immobilized in alginate and incubated in crude oil-contaminated artificial seawater (ASW). Analysis of hydrocarbon residues following a 30-day incubation period demonstrated that the biodegradation capacity of the microorganisms was not compromised by the immobilization. Removal of n-alkanes was similar in immobilized cells and control cells. To test reusability, the immobilized bacteria were incubated for sequential increments of 30 days. No decline in biodegradation capacity of the immobilized consortium of bacterial cells was noted over its repeated use. We conclude that immobilized hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria represent a promising application in the bioremediation of hydrocarbon-contaminated areas.
  3. Yen Nhi TT, Mohd Shazili NA, Shaharom-Harrison F
    Exp Parasitol, 2013 Jan;133(1):75-9.
    PMID: 23146722 DOI: 10.1016/j.exppara.2012.10.014
    Thirty snakehead fish, Channa micropeltes (Cuvier, 1831) were collected at Lake Kenyir, Malaysia. Muscle, liver, intestine and kidney tissues were removed from each fish and the intestine was opened to reveal cestodes. In order to assess the concentration of heavy metal in the environment, samples of water in the surface layer and sediment were also collected. Tissues were digested and the concentrations of manganese (Mn), zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb) were analysed by using inductively-coupled plasma mass-spectrometry (ICP-MS) equipment. The results demonstrated that the cestode Senga parva (Fernando and Furtado, 1964) from fish hosts accumulated some heavy metals to a greater extent than the water and some fish tissues, but less than the sediment. In three (Pb, Zn and Mn) of the five elements measured, cestodes accumulated the highest metal concentrations, and in remaining two (Cu and Cd), the second highest metal accumulation was recorded in the cestodes when compared to host tissues. Therefore, the present study indicated that Senga parva accumulated metals and might have potential as a bioindicator of heavy-metal pollution.
  4. Rahman RN, Geok LP, Basri M, Salleh AB
    Bioresour Technol, 2005 Mar;96(4):429-36.
    PMID: 15491823
    The physical factors affecting the production of an organic solvent-tolerant protease from Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain K was investigated. Growth and protease production were detected from 37 to 45 degrees C with 37 degrees C being the optimum temperature for P. aeruginosa. Maximum enzyme activity was achieved at static conditions with 4.0% (v/v) inoculum. Shifting the culture from stationary to shaking condition decreased the protease production (6.0-10.0% v/v). Extracellular organic solvent-tolerant protease was detected over a broad pH range from 6.0 to 9.0. However, the highest yield of protease was observed at pH 7.0. Neutral media increased the protease production compared to acidic or alkaline media.
  5. Chan BT, Lim E, Chee KH, Abu Osman NA
    Comput Biol Med, 2013 May;43(4):377-85.
    PMID: 23428371 DOI: 10.1016/j.compbiomed.2013.01.013
    The heart is a sophisticated functional organ that plays a crucial role in the blood circulatory system. Hemodynamics within the heart chamber can be indicative of exert cardiac health. Due to the limitations of current cardiac imaging modalities, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) have been widely used for the purposes of cardiac function assessment and heart disease diagnosis, as they provide detailed insights into the cardiac flow field. An understanding of ventricular hemodynamics and pathological severities can be gained through studies that employ the CFD method. In this research the hemodynamics of two common myocardial diseases, dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) and myocardial infarction (MI) were investigated, during both the filling phase and the whole cardiac cycle, through a prescribed geometry and fluid structure interaction (FSI) approach. The results of the research indicated that early stage disease identification and the improvement of cardiac assisting devices and therapeutic procedures can be facilitated through the use of the CFD method.
  6. Rahman RN, Baharum SN, Basri M, Salleh AB
    Anal Biochem, 2005 Jun 15;341(2):267-74.
    PMID: 15907872
    An organic solvent-tolerant S5 lipase was purified by affinity chromatography and anion exchange chromatography. The molecular mass of the lipase was estimated to be 60 kDa with 387 purification fold. The optimal temperature and pH were 45 degrees C and 9.0, respectively. The purified lipase was stable at 45 degrees C and pH 6-9. It exhibited the highest stability in the presence of various organic solvents such as n-dodecane, 1-pentanol, and toluene. Ca2+ and Mg2+ stimulated lipase activity, whereas EDTA had no effect on its activity. The S5 lipase exhibited the highest activity in the presence of palm oil as a natural oil and triolein as a synthetic triglyceride. It showed random positional specificity on the thin-layer chromatography.
  7. Norhayati MN, Nik Hazlina NH, Sulaiman Z, Azman MY
    BMC Public Health, 2016;16(1):229.
    PMID: 26944047 DOI: 10.1186/s12889-016-2895-2
    Severe maternal conditions have increasingly been used as alternative measurements of the quality of maternal care and as alternative strategies to reduce maternal mortality. We aimed to study severe maternal morbidity and maternal near miss among women in two tertiary hospitals in Kota Bharu, Kelantan, Malaysia.
  8. Norhayati MN, Nik Hazlina NH, Aniza AA
    Women Birth, 2016 Oct;29(5):443-449.
    PMID: 26972285 DOI: 10.1016/j.wombi.2016.02.002
    Little is known regarding the impact on maternal functional status in women who have survived severe obstetric complications.
  9. Masomian M, Rahman RN, Salleh AB, Basri M
    PLoS One, 2016;11(3):e0149851.
    PMID: 26934700 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0149851
    Thermostable and organic solvent-tolerant enzymes have significant potential in a wide range of synthetic reactions in industry due to their inherent stability at high temperatures and their ability to endure harsh organic solvents. In this study, a novel gene encoding a true lipase was isolated by construction of a genomic DNA library of thermophilic Aneurinibacillus thermoaerophilus strain HZ into Escherichia coli plasmid vector. Sequence analysis revealed that HZ lipase had 62% identity to putative lipase from Bacillus pseudomycoides. The closely characterized lipases to the HZ lipase gene are from thermostable Bacillus and Geobacillus lipases belonging to the subfamily I.5 with ≤ 57% identity. The amino acid sequence analysis of HZ lipase determined a conserved pentapeptide containing the active serine, GHSMG and a Ca(2+)-binding motif, GCYGSD in the enzyme. Protein structure modeling showed that HZ lipase consisted of an α/β hydrolase fold and a lid domain. Protein sequence alignment, conserved regions analysis, clustal distance matrix and amino acid composition illustrated differences between HZ lipase and other thermostable lipases. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that this lipase represented a new subfamily of family I of bacterial true lipases, classified as family I.9. The HZ lipase was expressed under promoter Plac using IPTG and was characterized. The recombinant enzyme showed optimal activity at 65 °C and retained ≥ 97% activity after incubation at 50 °C for 1h. The HZ lipase was stable in various polar and non-polar organic solvents.
  10. Halim NHA, Zakaria N, Satar NA, Yahaya BH
    Methods Mol Biol, 2016;1516:371-388.
    PMID: 27032945 DOI: 10.1007/7651_2016_326
    Cancer is a major health problem worldwide. The failure of current treatments to completely eradicate cancer cells often leads to cancer recurrence and dissemination. Studies have suggested that tumor growth and spread are driven by a minority of cancer cells that exhibit characteristics similar to those of normal stem cells, thus these cells are called cancer stem cells (CSCs). CSCs are believed to play an important role in initiating and promoting cancer. CSCs are resistant to currently available cancer therapies, and understanding the mechanisms that control the growth of CSCs might have great implications for cancer therapy. Cancer cells are consist of heterogeneous population of cells, thus methods of identification, isolation, and characterisation of CSCs are fundamental to obtain a pure CSC populations. Therefore, this chapter describes in detail a method for isolating and characterizing a pure population of CSCs from heterogeneous population of cancer cells and CSCs based on specific cell surface markers.
  11. Warid W, Hizam H, Mariun N, Abdul-Wahab NI
    PLoS One, 2016;11(3):e0149589.
    PMID: 26954783 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0149589
    This paper proposes a new formulation for the multi-objective optimal power flow (MOOPF) problem for meshed power networks considering distributed generation. An efficacious multi-objective fuzzy linear programming optimization (MFLP) algorithm is proposed to solve the aforementioned problem with and without considering the distributed generation (DG) effect. A variant combination of objectives is considered for simultaneous optimization, including power loss, voltage stability, and shunt capacitors MVAR reserve. Fuzzy membership functions for these objectives are designed with extreme targets, whereas the inequality constraints are treated as hard constraints. The multi-objective fuzzy optimal power flow (OPF) formulation was converted into a crisp OPF in a successive linear programming (SLP) framework and solved using an efficient interior point method (IPM). To test the efficacy of the proposed approach, simulations are performed on the IEEE 30-busand IEEE 118-bus test systems. The MFLP optimization is solved for several optimization cases. The obtained results are compared with those presented in the literature. A unique solution with a high satisfaction for the assigned targets is gained. Results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed MFLP technique in terms of solution optimality and rapid convergence. Moreover, the results indicate that using the optimal DG location with the MFLP algorithm provides the solution with the highest quality.
  12. Norzailin AB, Noor Azman S, Mohd Helmee MN, Khairul Anuar Z
    Med J Malaysia, 2016 02;71(1):1-7.
    PMID: 27130735
    OBJECTIVE: The purpose of the study was to determine the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) of post mortem computed tomography (PMCT) in detecting liver and splenic injuries due to road traffic accidents.

    MATERIAL & METHOD: 61 road traffic accidental death cases underwent both PMCT and conventional autopsy. The imaging findings were compared to the conventional autopsy findings.

    RESULT: The sensitivity, specificity, PPV and NPV for liver injuries in PMCT was 71%, 82%, 68% and 85% while that of splenic injuries was 73%, 80%, 55% and 90% respectively. The accuracy of PMCT scan was 79% for both liver and splenic injuries. There is strong association between lower left ribs fracture and splenic injury (p=0.005) and significant association between positive liver and splenic PMCT finding and intraabdominal fatal injury (p=0.037).

    CONCLUSION: In conclusion PMCT has high specificity and NPV for liver and splenic injuries; however the sensitivity and PPV are low. The overall accuracy is not high enough to enable PMCT to be used as a replacement for conventional autopsy; however it is a useful complementary examination and has potential to be used as decision making tool for selective internal autopsy.

  13. Jeyaprakasam NK, Razak MF, Ahmad NA, Santhanam J
    Mycopathologia, 2016 Jun;181(5-6):397-403.
    PMID: 26847667 DOI: 10.1007/s11046-016-9984-8
    Although non-sporulating molds (NSM) are frequently isolated from patients and have been recognized as agents of pulmonary disease, their clinical significance in cutaneous specimens is relatively unknown. Therefore, this study aimed to identify NSM and to determine the keratinolytic activity of isolates from cutaneous sites. NSM isolates from clinical specimens such as skin, nail, and body fluids were identified based on their ribosomal DNA sequences. Of 17 NSM isolates (7 Ascomycota, 10 Basidiomycota), eleven were identified to species level while five were identified to the genus level. These include Schizophyllum commune, a known human pathogen, Phoma multirostrata, a plant pathogen, and Perenniporia tephropora, a saprophyte. To determine fungal pathogenicity, keratinolytic activity, a major virulence factor, was evaluated ex vivo using human nail samples by measuring dye release from keratin azure, for NSM along with pathogens (Trichophyton mentagrophytes, Trichophyton rubrum, Microsporum canis and Fusarium spp.) and nonpathogenic (endophyte) fungi for comparison. This study showed that pathogenic fungi had the highest keratinolytic activity (7.13 ± 0.552 keratinase units) while the nonpathogenic endophytes had the lowest activity (2.37 ± 0.262 keratinase units). Keratinolytic activity of two Ascomycota NSM (Guignardia mangiferae and Hypoxylon sp.) and one Basidiomycota NSM (Fomitopsis cf. meliae) was equivalent to that of pathogenic fungi, while Xylaria feejeensis showed significantly higher activity (p 
  14. Muhammad NA, Shamsuddin K, Sulaiman Z, Amin RM, Omar K
    J Relig Health, 2017 Dec;56(6):1916-1929.
    PMID: 26809242 DOI: 10.1007/s10943-016-0185-z
    One of the popular approaches of preventing youth sexual activity in Malaysia is using religion to promote premarital sexual abstinence. Despite this intervention, youth continue to practise premarital sex. Thus, the purpose of this exploratory mixed methods study was to understand the role of religion on sexual activity among college students in Klang Valley, Malaysia. A self-administered questionnaire survey to determine the relationship between religiosity and youth sexual activity was carried out on 1026 students recruited from 12 randomly selected colleges. Concurrently, face-to-face interviews were conducted on 15 students to explore how religiosity had influenced their decision on sexual activity. The survey data were analysed using logistic regression, while the qualitative data from the interviews were examined using thematic analysis with separate analysis for each gender. Both quantitative and qualitative results were then compared and integrated. Religious activity significantly reduced the risk of continuing sexual activity among female students (AOR = 0.67, CI = 0.47, 0.95, p = 0.02) but not male students. There was no significant relationship of religious affiliation and intrinsic religiosity (inner faith) to sexual activity by gender. Having faith in religion and strong sexual desire were the main themes that explained participants' sexual behaviour. Engaging in religious activity might be effective at preventing female students from being sexually active. However, when sexual urges and desires are beyond control, religiosity might not be effective.
  15. Hasan NH, Ignjatovic J, Peaston A, Hemmatzadeh F
    Viral Immunol, 2016 05;29(4):198-211.
    PMID: 26900835 DOI: 10.1089/vim.2015.0127
    Vaccination is becoming a more acceptable option in the effort to eradicate avian influenza viruses (AIV) from commercial poultry, especially in countries where AIV is endemic. The main concern surrounding this option has been the inability of the conventional serological tests to differentiate antibodies produced due to vaccination from antibodies produced in response to virus infection. In attempts to address this issue, at least six strategies have been formulated, aiming to differentiate infected from vaccinated animals (DIVA), namely (i) sentinel birds, (ii) subunit vaccine, (iii) heterologous neuraminidase (NA), (iv) nonstructural 1 (NS1) protein, (v) matrix 2 ectodomain (M2e) protein, and (vi) haemagglutinin subunit 2 (HA2) glycoprotein. This short review briefly discusses the strengths and limitations of these DIVA strategies, together with the feasibility and practicality of the options as a part of the surveillance program directed toward the eventual eradication of AIV from poultry in countries where highly pathogenic avian influenza is endemic.
  16. Mohd Suan MA, Mohammed NS, Abu Hassan MR
    Asian Pac J Cancer Prev, 2015;16(18):8345-9.
    PMID: 26745083
    BACKGROUND: Although the incidence of colorectal cancer in Malaysia is increasing, awareness of this cancer, including its symptoms, risk factors and screening methods, remains low among Malaysian populations. This survey was conducted with the aim of (i) ascertaining the awareness level regarding colorectal cancer symptoms, risk factors and its screening among the general populations and (ii) assessing the public preference and willingness to pay for colorectal cancer screening.

    MATERIALS AND METHODS: The questionnaire was distributed in eight major cities in West Malaysia during the World Health Digestive Day (WDHD) campaign. Two thousand four hundred and eight respondents participated in this survey.

    RESULTS: Generally, awareness of colorectal cancer was found to be relatively good. Symptoms such as change in bowel habit, blood in the stool, weight loss and abdominal pain were well recognized by 86.6%, 86.9%, 83.4% and 85.6% of the respondents, respectively. However, common risk factors such as positive family history, obesity and old age were acknowledged only by less than 70% of the respondents. Almost 80% of the respondents are willing to take the screening test even without any apparent symptoms. Colonoscopy is the preferred screening method, but only 37.5% were willing to pay from their own pocket to get early colonoscopy.

    CONCLUSIONS: Continous cancer education should be promoted with more involvement from healthcare providers in order to make future colorectal cancer screening programs successful.

  17. Mohd Nor NS, Lee S, Bacha F, Tfayli H, Arslanian S
    Pediatr Diabetes, 2016 09;17(6):458-65.
    PMID: 26251318 DOI: 10.1111/pedi.12303
    BACKGROUND: There is a need for simple surrogate estimates of insulin sensitivity in epidemiological studies of obese youth because the hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamp is not feasible on a large scale.

    OBJECTIVE: (i) To examine the triglyceride glucose (TyG) index (Ln[fasting triglycerides (mg/dL) × fasting glucose (mg/dL)/2]) and its relationship to in vivo insulin sensitivity in obese adolescents (OB) along the spectrum of glucose tolerance and (ii) to compare TyG index with triglyceride/high-density lipoprotein TG/HDL and 1/fasting insulin (1/IF ), other surrogates of insulin sensitivity.

    PATIENTS AND DESIGN: Cross-sectional data in 225 OB with normal glucose tolerance (NGT), prediabetes (preDM), and type 2 diabetes (T2DM) who had a 3-h hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamp and fasting lipid measurement.

    RESULTS: Insulin-stimulated glucose disposal (Rd) declined significantly across the glycemic groups from OB-NGT to OB-preDM to OB-T2DM with a corresponding increase in TyG index (8.3 ± 0.5, 8.6 ± 0.5, 8.9 ± 0.6, p 

  18. Al-Haddad A, Abu Kasim NH, Che Ab Aziz ZA
    Dent Mater J, 2015;34(4):516-21.
    PMID: 26235718 DOI: 10.4012/dmj.2015-049
    This study evaluated and compared the sealer thickness and interfacial adaptation of bioceramic sealers (Sankin Apatite III, MTA Fillapex(®), EndoSequence(®) BC) to root dentin against AH Plus(®) sealer. Sixty extracted single-root premolars were prepared and equally divided into four groups. Sealers were labeled with 0.1% Rhodamine B fluorescent dye. Roots were dissected along the transverse plane at 1 mm (apical), 3 mm (middle), and 6 mm (coronal) levels. Sealer-to-whole canal area ratio was evaluated. Percentage of gap-containing region to canal circumference was calculated using a confocal laser microscope. Sealer thickness was significantly higher at apical and middle levels than at coronal level. EndoSequence BC had the significantly highest thickness compared with MTA Fillapex and AH Plus. The coronal level had significantly less interfacial gaps compared with apical and middle levels. Bioceramic sealers showed more gaps compared with AH Plus, with no significant differences among them.
  19. Zimisuhara B, Valdiani A, Shaharuddin NA, Qamaruzzaman F, Maziah M
    Int J Mol Sci, 2015 Jun 24;16(7):14369-94.
    PMID: 26114389 DOI: 10.3390/ijms160714369
    Genetic structure and biodiversity of the medicinal plant Ficus deltoidea have rarely been scrutinized. To fill these lacunae, five varieties, consisting of 30 F. deltoidea accessions were collected across the country and studied on the basis of molecular and morphological data. Molecular analysis of the accessions was performed using nine Inter Simple Sequence Repeat (ISSR) markers, seven of which were detected as polymorphic markers. ISSR-based clustering generated four clusters supporting the geographical distribution of the accessions to some extent. The Jaccard's similarity coefficient implied the existence of low diversity (0.50-0.75) in the studied population. STRUCTURE analysis showed a low differentiation among the sampling sites, while a moderate varietal differentiation was unveiled with two main populations of F. deltoidea. Our observations confirmed the occurrence of gene flow among the accessions; however, the highest degree of this genetic interference was related to the three accessions of FDDJ10, FDTT16 and FDKT25. These three accessions may be the genetic intervarietal fusion points of the plant's population. Principal Components Analysis (PCA) relying on quantitative morphological characteristics resulted in two principal components with Eigenvalue >1 which made up 89.96% of the total variation. The cluster analysis performed by the eight quantitative characteristics led to grouping the accessions into four clusters with a Euclidean distance ranged between 0.06 and 1.10. Similarly, a four-cluster dendrogram was generated using qualitative traits. The qualitative characteristics were found to be more discriminating in the cluster and PCA analyses, while ISSRs were more informative on the evolution and genetic structure of the population.
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