Introduction: Detecting breast cancer at earlier stage is crucial to increase the survival rate. Mammography as the golden screening tool has shown to be less effective for younger women due to denser breast tissue. Infrared Ther- mography has been touted as an adjunct modality to mammography. Further investigation of thermal distribution in breast cancer patient is important prior to its clinical interpretation. Therefore, thermal profiling using 3D compu- tational simulation was carried out to understand the effect of changes in size and location of tumour embedded in breast to the surface temperature distribution at different breast densities. Methods: Extremely dense (ED) and pre- dominantly fatty dense (PF) breast models were developed and simulated using finite element analysis (FEA). Pennes’ bioheat equation was adapted to show the heat transfer mechanism by providing appropriate thermophysical prop- erties in each tissue layer. 20 case studies with various tumour size embedded at two asymmetrical positions in the breast models were analysed. Quantitative and qualitative analyses were performed by recording the temperature values along the arc of breast, calculating of temperature difference at the peaks and comparing multiple thermal images. Results: Bigger size of tumour demands a larger increase in breast surface temperatures. As tumour is located far from the centre of the breast or near to the edge, there was a greater shift of temperature peak. Conclusion: Size and location of tumour in various levels of breast density should be considered as a notable factor to thermal profile on breast when using thermography for early breast cancer detection.
Breast cancer is the commonest cancer among women worldwide and the probability of a woman dying from breast cancer is high (about 1 in 38 of total human population (2.6%)).The main factor for mortality is due to the resistance of this particular disease to chemotherapeutic agents. One of the most well-known proteins to be found to correlate significantly with breast cancer resistance to chemotherapeutic agent is the ATP-binding cassette super-family G member 2 (ABCG2). Knowledge on ABCG2 gene regulation is still lacking in terms of how the increased cytotoxic levels are closely related to induce a hype in gene transcript levels and ultimately cause of the reduction in chemotherapeutic agents. The approach taken in this study is through mutational analysis of selected transcription factor governing the expression of ABCG2. In order to achieve this, a previously cloned ABCG2 promoter which has been isolated (around 1500 bp in size) from Danio rerio and inserted into pGL3.0 plasmid, was subjected to site-directed mutagenesis. Selected transcription factor which is AP-1 was successfully mutated by deletion of 5'- TGACGCG -3' sequence at position 1113 bp from TSS+1 where it would bind in order to define their role in ABCG2 physiological function. Sequencing result after site-directed mutagenesis shows high similarities about 98% with ABCG2 gene of Danio rerio. Upon validation, it was found that the intended AP-1 binding site has been mutated. In future work, the mutated clone here will be subjected to transfection analysis where dual-luciferase assay will be conducted to verify the loss of activity from the ABCG2 promoter upon mutation of the targeted AP-1 site. Hence, the mutagenesis analysis of ABCG2 promoter are able to provide information on the involvement of AP-1 transcription factor in multidrug resistance mechanism of breast cancer and thus will be a potential target for chemotherapeutic agent.
Islam provides a comprehensive way of life where the revelations bestowed by Allah from the Quran and Hadithcover all aspects that leads to a well-balanced life. This study compiles all the Quranic verses related to visual functions which may serve as a reference for Muslims as well as non-Muslim primary eye care practitioners during their patients’ treatment and consultation. A website named “Search Truth” on http://www.searchtruth.com/was used as a tool to identify the Quranic verses related to visual function by typing in the keywords “eye/eyes”, “see”, “light”, “sight” and “vision” in the search boxes provided in the website. The program embedded in the website then listed the Quranic verses based on their English translation containing the respective keywords. The listed Quranic verses and their translations were verified manually using the Holy Quran Tafseer. The frequency of Quranic verses for each chosen keyword was determined. There were 34 Quranic verses related to visual function and could be explained scientifically. The frequency of Quranic verses related to visual function under the classification of “eye/eyes”, “light”, “see”, “sight” and “vision” were 15, 8, 3, 7 and 1 respectively. The fundamentals of visual functions may be explained scientifically based on the Quranic verses.
As age advances most of body system will follow a process of deterioration too and the same goes for reproductive health. There is a gap between the prevalence of reproductive health disorders and rates of treatment. This gap among middle aged and older men is still wide compared to other chronic disease. In Islam, seeking medical treatment for the cure of diseases is part of the Prophet’s tradition and the Prophet (PBUH.) said in the Hadith the following: “For every disease there is a medicine, and if that medicine is applied to the disease, he will recover by Allah’s Leave.” Therefore the aim of this study is to identify a health seeking behaviour among men in for men’s health (MH) disorders in Kuantan. A cross sectional study was conducted among 157 respondents from four governments agencies and the data was collected using self-administered questionnaire modified from a valid and reliable measure. The results showed that 68.2% of the respondents (n=107) have high attitude in seeking for health regarding men’s health while for the rest of the respondents (n=50, 31.8%) have low attitude in seeking for MH. Men from the Service factor are perceived the highest compared the other two factors which are cultural and economic factors. This study showed that MH that includes reproductive disorders has always been taken lightly by the community itself. A Lack of awareness regarding ME issue causes men to ignore the importance of health screening. This should be improved in order to produce a healthy community for better Ummahsince good heredity begins with good ME.
Expression of beta-human chorionic gonadotropin (bHCG) mRNA in early cleavage cell stages is important in predicting embryo viability at blastocyst stage of development. Embryo viability is crucial for in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment to be successful in terms of increment of implantation and pregnancy rate. In order to establish fertilization outside the human body, optimum condition mimicking the natural body environment like hormones and growth factors as well as impeccable timing must be established. ImamMuslim narrated from Hudhayfa ibn Asad that the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) said: “After the sperm-and-ovum drop (nut.fa) has been [in the uterus] forty-two days, Allah sends it an angel that gives it form and fashions its hearing, sight, skin, flesh, and skeleton”. Therefore the aim of this study is to find the significant association of bHCG expression with early cell stage cleavages and its relationship as predictive marker for potential embryo implantation. Our study focuses on leftover frozen embryos from eight patients consists of six pregnant patients and two non-pregnant patients. We assessed the human bHCG mRNA expression at different cell cleavage stages in these frozen embryos using reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Our results have shown three out of eight patients with five to ten cells of blastomeres were expressed with bHCG. This study indicated that bHCG was expressed on froze-thawed late cleavage stage of embryos in IVF patients.
Upper extremity musculoskeletal disorder (MSD) has become a common problem among office workers in Malaysia. Studies have shown that an appropriate work-rest schedule can reduce fatigue and MSDs among office workers. In Malaysia, there has been an increase in the occurrence of MSDs, especially in work that require intensive computer use. Operators who used computers continuously for more than 4 hours a day have shown to develop CTDs. Studies on the effect of break time on the performance of office workers in Malaysia are still lacking. As such this study was aimed to evaluate effect of work rest schedule on the discomfort, performance and muscular load levels of computer users in Malaysia. The effect of break time starting with no break, one minute and 30 seconds break interval were carried out on the 15 subjects. EMG was measured for each task given. Performance which was calculated by multiplying speed and accuracy (WPM) showed 30 seconds break was 13.5% higher than 1 minute break and 20.14% higher than schedule with no break. EMG analyses showed 30 seconds have lowest mean AEMG which was 0.035 for flexor carpi ulnaris and 0.0331 for radialis muscles. It also recorded least discomfort scale for upper extremity muscles compared to the other two schedules. This study showed that more frequent microbreaks can improve performance of office workers and reduce MSD problem from occurring.
One of the most important and debilitating complication of diabetes mellitus is foot problem such as ulcers, infections and amputations. However, these complications are preventable by simple intervention such as regular foot care practice. This study aims to assess the foot care practice and its associated factors among type 2 diabetes mellitus patients attending primary health clinics in Kuantan. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study conducted at four primary health clinics in Kuantan involving 450 study participants who were selected by using universal sampling method. Level of awareness and practice toward diabetic foot care was assessed using validated self-administered questionnaire. Multiple logistic regressions were performed to identify factors associated with poor foot care practice among the respondents. RESULTS:About 59.6% of respondents had poor foot care practice and 50.9% had poor awareness level. Multivariate logistic regression analysis identified that, increasing age (OR0.97, 95% CI: 0.955-0.993) and good awareness towards foot problem (OR0.43, 95%CI: 0.289-0.643) were less likely to have poor foot care practice. However, Malay ethnicity (OR 1.81, 95% CI: 1.002-3.271) and obesity (OR1.9, 95% CI: 1.225-2.976) were associated with poor foot care practice after controlling other variables. CONCLUSION:Majority of the respondents had poor foot care practice and poor awareness. Respondents who are older and have better awareness are less likely to have poor foot care practice. Diabetic patients who are Malays and/or obese are predicted to have poor diabetic foot practice and hence must be prioritized for a sustainable patient education and compliance towards foot care practice at primary care level.
Merremia vitifolia (Burm.f.) Hallier f., an ethnomedicinally important plant, used in the tribal areas to treat various ailments including fever, headache, eye inflammation, rheumatism, dysentery, jaundice and urinary diseases. The present study explored the biological efficacy of the aqueous fraction of M. vitifolia leaves (AFMV) through in vitro and in vivo experimental models. The thrombolytic and anti-arthritic effects of AFMV were evaluated by using the clot lysis technique and inhibition of protein denaturation technique, respectively. The anti-nociceptive activity of AFMV was investigated in Swiss Albino mice by acetic acid-induced writhing test and formalin-induced paw licking test. The antioxidant activities of AFMV, including 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical and total reducing power, were also tested. The qualitative phytochemical assays exhibited AFMV contains secondary metabolites such as alkaloid, carbohydrate, flavonoid, tannin, triterpenoids and phenols. In addition, AFMV showed strong antioxidant effects with the highest scavenging activity (IC50 146.61 µg/mL) and reducing power was increased with a dose-dependent manner. AFMV also revealed notable clot lysis effect and substantial anti-arthritic activity at higher doses (500 µg/mL) as compared with the control. The results demonstrated a promising reduction of the number of writhing and duration of paw licking in acetic acid-induced writhing test and formalin-induced paw licking test in a dose-dependent manner, respectively. In conclusion, AFMV provides the scientific basis of its folkloric usage, suggesting it as the vital source of dietary supplement.
Acute pancreatitis is relatively rare in children. Published local data on childhood pancreatitis is even vanishingly scarce. Our intent is to evaluate the demography, aetiology, clinical course, and complications of children with acute pancreatitis.Materials andMethods:A single-centre, retrospective review of patients aged 12 years or younger, admitted between January 2016 to February 2018 with the diagnosis of acute pancreatitis performed. Demographic data, aetiology, and serum amylase on admission were collected. DeBanto score for assessment of severity was calculated (at admission and at 48H) and patients’ clinical outcome was assessed.Results:A total of eight patients, aged between 3 to 12 years (median 8.0 years) were diagnosed with acute pancreatitis. Malays made up the majority (50%) but the Orang Asli is over-represented at 37.5%. Most were idiopathic (50%), but 25% of pancreatitis were caused by helminths. All patients presented with abdominal pain as the primary complaint. Most of them followed a mild course of disease; all but one patient had a DeBanto score of
The diabetic foot at risk is the diabetic foot which is at risk of ulceration, hence the importance of identifying the foot at this stage. This study aims to assess the prevalence of diabetic foot at risk and its associated factors among type 2 diabetes mellitus patients’ attending primary health clinics in Kuantan.Methods and methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted at four primary health clinics in Kuantan involving 450 study participants who were selected by using universal sampling method. Foot examination was carried out and foot at risk was classified based on the Kings’ Classification. Multiple logistic regressions were performed to identify the predictors for diabetic foot at risk. Results: The prevalence of diabetic foot at risk was 31.3%. Multivariate logistic regression analysis identified age (OR 1.04, 95% CI: 1.01-1.06), smoker (OR 4.11, 95% CI: 1.96-8.63) and duration of diabetes more than 10 years (OR1.77, 95% CI: 1.05-2.98) as risk factors for diabetic foot at risk. Respondents with higher diabetic foot practice score (OR 0.87, 95% CI: 0.77-0.98) have lesser risk of developing diabetic foot at risk. Conclusion: Patients who are older, smoker and/or have chronic diabetes are predicted to be at higher risk to develop the diabetic foot at risk. This study also showed that patients with better foot care practice has lesser risk. Therefore, these are the groups of patients that need to be targeted for early detection and intervention to prevent serious complications.
Introduction: The mNUTRIC score is a nutritional assessment tool to identify critically
ill patients with high nutritional risk who could benefit from nutritional interventions.
This study was conducted to validate the 28-day mortality prognostic performance
of the mNUTRIC score in a Malaysian intensive care unit (ICU). Methods: This was
a retrospective cohort study of adult patients who were consecutively admitted to
the ICU from January 2017 to December 2018 for >24 hours. Data were collected on
variables required to calculate the mNUTRIC score. Patients with mNUTRIC score
≥5 points were considered to be at high nutritional risk. Main outcome was 28-
day mortality from all causes; ICU length of stay (LOS) and prolonged mechanical
ventilation (MV) (>2 days) were secondary outcomes. Results: From a total of 432
admissions, 382 (88.4%) patients fulfilled the study criteria. Seventy-seven (20.2%)
of these patients were at high nutritional risk. They had longer mean ICU LOS
(7.1±7.5 days versus 4.2±4.0 days, p=0.001), greater proportion of prolonged MV
(57.1% versus 14.4%, p
This study was conducted to determine the effects of increased edible palm oil consumption on community health status in the aboriginal communities in Tual Post (treatment group) and Sinderut Post (control group), Kuala Lipis, Pahang. Nutritional status, blood pressure, lipid profiles, fasting blood glucose (FBG), vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol) levels and lipid peroxidation product (malonaldehyde) levels were taken as indicators of health status. This is a pre-and post-controlled community trial in which similar variables were measured in each group. Every family of 2–6 household members was given 2–5 kg cooking palm oil per month for a period of 18 months. All subjects were measured for height (cm), weight (kg) and waist-hip ratio (WHR). For calorie intake measurement, house-to-house interviews were conducted using 24-hour dietary recall method. Blood pressure, percent body fat, lipid profiles, namely total cholesterol, high density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglyceride and fasting blood glucose (FBG) were also measured. Vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol) levels and lipid peroxidation products (MDA) were also determined. There was a significant increase (p
Plants have been a good source of therapeutic agents for thousands of years;
an impressive number of modern drugs used for treating human diseases are derived from
natural sources. The Theobroma cacao tree, or cocoa, has recently garnered increasing
attention and become the subject of research due to its antioxidant properties, which are
related to potential anti-cancer effects. In the past few years, identifying and developing
active compounds or extracts from the cocoa bean that might exert anti-cancer effects
have become an important area of health- and biomedicine-related research. This review
provides an updated overview of T. cacao in terms of its potential anti-cancer compounds
and their extraction, in vitro bioassay, purification, and identification. This article also
discusses the advantages and disadvantages of the techniques described and reviews the
processes for future perspectives of analytical methods from the viewpoint of anti-cancer
compound discovery.
Chironomus javanus (Kieffer) and Chironomus kiiensis Tokunaga were redescribed from materials collected from a rice field in Pulau Pinang, Malaysia. The larvae can only be distinguished after careful preparation and examination using a compound microscope, but the pupae were not useful to differentiate C. javanus from C. kiiensis. The adult specimens showed clear body and wing characteristics for rapid and accurate identification.
This review summarizes the evolution that has been made for organophosphates (OPs) detection technique using conventional technique (lab-based) and compact technique (colorimetric and electrochemical). Right after introduction section, a first section covers the types, chemical structure and risks of OPs. Methods for detection using conventional and compact technique were discussed next. An additional section covers the limitation of conventional detection technique and advantages of compact detection technique are addressed. Several Tables are presented that give an overview on the OPs detection using conventional and compact detection technique. A concluding section addresses a brief idea on the detection method available nowadays.
Epoxidized fatty hydrazides (EFHs) which have amine, amide and epoxide functional groups in their molecules are a versatile starting material for synthesizing of many industrially important compounds. In this report we describe the results of our preliminary study of synthesizing these compounds using a chemical reaction of epoxidized palm olein (EPO) and hydrazine monohydrate. The products were characterized by using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) technique and CHN elemental analyser. The optimum reaction conditions for the hydrazide preparation were investigated by studying effect of each important reaction parameters on the product yields. The study shows that the optimum conditions to produce EFHs were using EPO to hydrazine monohydrate (mol ratio of 1 to 12), n-hexane as the solvent and at the temperature of 69 ̊C.
An unhealthy dietary practice as a result of environmental and societal changes is increasingly exposed to adults. These unhealthy practices lead to an increased cardiometabolic risk, and obese adults are at a higher risk as compared to normal-weight adults. The best strategy to promote healthy lifestyle practices among Malaysian obese adult is still fragmented. Materials and Methods: A single-centre randomised controlled trial was carried out to determine the effect of the lifestyle modification intervention (LMI) with the motivational construct, in comparison to the current standard LMI on the dietary macronutrient intake among obese adults. The dietary macronutrient intake and changes in body weight were assessed at baseline and after six months. Seventy-nine participants completed the study. Results: Our finding showed that six months of LMI with motivational construct resulted in a higher reduction of total fat and cholesterol from the dietary intake as compared to the control. In addition, the participants in the intervention group had a significant body weight loss after six months (-1.97 kg, 95% CI: -0.324, 1.360, t(39) = 3.397, p= 0.002). Conclusion: This study demonstrates that the intervention had a meaningful impact on improving the dietary macronutrient intake, which is beneficial to support body weight loss in obese adults. Future trials with additional nutritional biomarkers are needed to extend these findings.
The aim of this study was to examine the effect of modified equipment on skill acquisition among novice badminton players. The participants (24 boys, 16 girls) aged between 7 – 9 years old, without any prior formal badminton experience, were randomly divided into four groups: standard racquet with standard court (SRSC), standard racquet with modified court (SRMC), modified racquet with standard court (MRSC) and modified racquet with modified court (MRMC). Children’s hitting opportunities and stroke effectiveness were tabulated using videotaped and notated during a minicompetition after a five-week training program. The result showed that there was a significant difference in hitting opportunities between the groups, F (3, 36) = 5.178, p < 0.05, η2 = 0.301. The results in terms of stroke effectiveness also showed that there were significant differences between groups F (3, 36) = 4.178, p < 0.05, η2 = 0.258. Based on the results, the children who practiced using modified racquet with the modified court (MRMC), recorded the highest hitting opportunities and stroke effectiveness compared to the others groups. The participants who practiced using the standard equipment recorded less hitting opportunities and stroke effectiveness during the minicompetition. This study demonstrated the advantages for children playing using modified equipment with a smaller court. By manipulating the task constraints, skill acquisition can be enhanced among children.
This study investigated the jumping performance and lower limbs kinematics among boys with Down syndrome. The participants (n = 23) were required to perform standing broad jump test and their jumping performance was evaluated using Motor Skills Inventory for locomotor skills analysis. In addition, the jumping performance was also recorded for lower limb kinematic analysis using 2-Dimensional video recording tools. Results revealed that 91.3% of the participants scored ‘Poor’ values of standing broad jump distances. Based on the Motor Skills Inventory analysis, five participants were grouped as ‘Rudimentary’, nine participants were ‘Functional’ and the other nine participants were ‘Mature’ level of motor development. Based on these three groups, further analysis was conducted on the lower limbs kinematics during jumping performance (three phases: take off, jump peak height and landing). Finding showed that there were no significant differences on lower limb kinematics between the groups during these three phases of jumping. Proper intervention strategies are needed in order to improve the jumping skills among children with Down syndrome.
Shape recognition is an important aspect in Computer Vision. From the point of view of different object recognition problem has been solved and some of the modifications in the method of recognition is still ongoing. This is the main reason that the identification form used in applications with a large number of major challenges, including sound, degradations. In this paper a number of forms of identification methods have been defined from which researchers can get an idea for an efficient technique modified.