Displaying publications 121 - 140 of 680 in total

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  1. Rampal, L., Somayeh, A. B., Salmiah, M. S., Faisal, I., Sharifah Zainiyah, S. Y.
    MyJurnal
    Introduction: In Malaysia, cardiovascular diseases (CVD) have been the leading cause of death for the past 40 years. Hypertension is the leading treatable risk factor for CVD mortality.
    Objectives: to determine the prevalence and factors associated with hypertension among University Putra Malaysia staff.
    Methods: A Cross sectional study design was used in this study. The sample was selected using table of random numbers. Two blood pressure measurements were taken from respondents aged 30 years and above. Data on socio-demographic variables and lifestyle-related risk factors were collected using a pre-tested structured questionnaire. Weight and height measurements were also taken.
    Results: Out of 517 respondents selected, 454 subjects agreed to participate, giving a response rate of 87.8%. The overall mean systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) for 454 respondents was 126.2 mmHg and 80.17 mmHg respectively. The mean SBP was significantly higher in males (129.68 mmHg) as compared to the females (122.65 mmHg). The mean SBP and DBP significantly increased with age in both males and females (p<0.05). There was a significant relationship between SBP and BMI (r = 0.55, r2 = 0.30 p <0.001) and diastolic blood pressure and BMI (r = 0.53, r2 = 0.28, p <0.001). The overall prevalence of hypertension was 34.4% and 33.9% had pre hypertension. Hypertension was significantly associated with age, gender, family history of hypertension, BMI and alcohol consumption. Conclusions: Prevalence of hypertension and pre-hypertension is high. There is an urgent need for implementation of a comprehensive CVD prevention program. Routine blood pressure measurements should be taken to improve the detection, prevention and treatment of hypertension.
    Keywords: Hypertension, Prevalence, Risk Factors, University Staff, Prevalence
  2. Mohd Yazid, B., Ayesyah, A., Mohd Rohaizat, H., Nurhanani, A. B.
    Medicine & Health, 2017;12(2):210-219.
    MyJurnal
    Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) was established to increase oxygenation and antimicrobial effect that potentially improve the healing of chronic ulcer. Present study aim to assess the effects of HBOT in chronic diabetic foot ulcer (DFU). A total of sixty patients classified according to Wagner 1, 2 or 3 chronic diabetic foot ulcers, were recruited and subsequently divided randomly into two groups; HBOT and control group. All patients underwent the standard treatment for DFU, but for the HBOT group, underwent 20 HBOT sessions, each lasted 80 – 90 mins at 2.5 atmospheres absolute (ATA). White cell count (WCC) and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels were taken during inclusion, at second and fourth week of treatment. Wound sizes were documented at each follow up until six months follow up. SF-36 at one-month post hyperbaric oxygen therapy was used to measure the health-related quality of life. Reduction of WCC and CRP in HBOT group were significant throughout the treatment (p=0.046 and p=0.039, respectively). A total of 26 patients (86.7%) from the HBOT group achieved complete ulcer healing at six months’ follow-up, while 18 patients (60%) in the control group’s ulcer healed completely. Patients treated with HBOT had significantly better mental and physical health constituent of quality of life. It must be emphasised that HBOT is an adjunctive therapy to the standard management of chronic DFU in accelerating wound healing for a better quality of life.
    Keywords: oxygenation, quality of life, wound healing
  3. Rajakumar MK, Suleiman AB, Lee CH, Cheah M, Yeoh PH
    Citation: Rajakumar MK, Abu Bakar Suleiman, Lee CH, Cheah M, Yeoh PH. The Future of The Health Services in Malaysia. A Report of a Committee of Council of the Malaysian Medical Association. Kuala Lumpur: Malaysian Medical Association, 1980
  4. Abdul, R., Hasnain, J., Zarfishan, T., Aina, S. Z., Warda, F., Iftkhar, A., et al.
    MyJurnal
    This study was aimed to find out the prevalence of HCV infection and frequency of its genotypes in the
    population of the Karol war village i.e. situated in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. It was a descriptive crosssectional study model. Tests were performed in the Department of Bacteriology, Institute of Public
    Health Lahore, Pakistan. Cases positive for Anti-HCV antibodies by chemiluminescence assay were
    subjected to HCV RNA detection by PCR. Genotyping was done by Geno-Sen’s HCV Genotyping
    1/2/3/4 Real Time PCR kit for Rotor Gene. A total of 396 patients were enrolled for this study. The
    incidence of positive HBSAg and HCV cases were 11.86% and 1.5% respectively. Males were more
    affected with 61.7% (n=29) while positive cases in females were 38.3% (n=18). Age group of 31-45
    years had higher infection rate among other ages (n=20). The frequency of genotypes 3, 1 and 2 was
    36, 4 and 3 respectively while the genotype of 4 patients was found to be indeterminate. Genotype 3 is
    the most prevalent genotype in the studied individuals which corresponds to the local data available so
    far however 11.86 % positivity figure is quite alarming figure for that area.
  5. Aliya, S., Shamim, A. K., Ilyas, M. N., Saif, U. K., Nordin, S., Atif, A. B.
    MyJurnal
    Smoking is a known established threat playing a definite role in destroying youth, the future foundation for any generation. Whether steps taken are being effective or not have to be tested vigilantly as most of the previous results are based on self-reported questionnaires and the reliability of the questionnaires can be dubious. For most of the Asian parents, tobacco consumption can be a taboo especially if the teenagers are involved. Different studies have shown that prevalence of smoking among youngsters are as high as 37% to as low as 11.5% in Malaysia. How can these figures are verified as they are self-reported and how can be generations protected from ill effects of tobacco consumption. The onus not only lies on the government but also on parents/guardians, healthcare setup at various levels of care and on general population. Despite of stringent steps taken there are loopholes in the system providing these children and adolescents easy access to tobacco.
  6. Shahrom AW, Md Azman AB, Hasnah H, Md Yusof M
    Family Physician, 1991;3:28-29.
    Blood alcohol levels from 155 UKM forensic postmortem cases of various causes of death from August 1988 to mid-September 1989 were studied. 59 cases (38%) were related to fatal road traffic accidents. 13 of these 59 cases (22%) showed blood alcohol levels of more than 50 mg/dl. 11 of these 13 cases (84.6%) revealed blood alcohol levels of more than 100 mg/dl after correction. Further analysis showed 53.8% were Indian, 76.9% aged between 20 and 40 years, 84.6% of the accidents occurred between 8.00 p.m. and 4.00 a.m. and all the alcohol related fatal road traffic accident victims studied in this series were males. This study provides helpful information.
  7. Nordiana, A. B., Wan Rosli, W. I., Wan Amir Nizam, W. A.
    MyJurnal
    The present work was carried out to formulate a pasta with oyster mushroom flour (OMF), and to evaluate the effect of its addition on the nutritional compositions, physicochemical properties, and sensorial acceptability of the formulated pasta. Four pasta formulations with different levels of OMF (0%, 5%, 10%, and 15%) were developed prior to the determination of the nutritional composition, physicochemical properties, and sensorial acceptability. Proximate components such as protein, ash, and fat increased with increasing OMF levels except for carbohydrates and energy, which were decreased with increasing OMF levels. Lightness (L*) and yellowness (b*) significantly decreased with increasing OMF levels, while redness (a*) increased with increasing OMF levels. The results showed that the optimum cooking time, elasticity, firmness, and shear work decreased with increasing OMF levels, while there were no significant differences in hardness or adhesiveness between the samples. In sensory evaluation, the pasta fortified with up to 10% OMF was generally well accepted by the sensory panellists. The addition of 10% OMF into the pasta resulted in an increase in its nutritional values, thus affecting its physicochemical properties, and improving some of its sensorial attributes.
  8. Ahip SS, Ting CY, Abdillah MAB, Tan YJ, Sabri SAB, Theou O, et al.
    J Frailty Aging, 2024;13(3):313-318.
    PMID: 39082778 DOI: 10.14283/jfa.2024.42
    BACKGROUND: This study aimed to evaluate the implementation stage of Malaysia's GeKo-Integrated Service Delivery (ISD) model for frailty management in primary care and explore its effectiveness in improving frailty scores.

    METHODS: The implementation stage of Malaysia's first three GeKo- ISD clinics was assessed using the WHO-ICOPE (Integrated Care of the Older Persons) scorecard. This involved evaluating documents related to the GeKo services and conducting in-depth interviews with key informants identified from those documents. The efficacy of GeKo-ISD was assessed by documenting the change in mean frailty scores between baseline and 3 months post intervention, measured by the Pictorial Fit Frail Scale Malay Version (PFFS-M), in patients who received GeKo-ISD care from October 2022 to April 2023.

    RESULTS: All three GeKo clinics achieved the sustaining implementation level, scoring a total of 50 out of 52. The paired t-test reported a significant reduction (p= 0.001) in the PFFS-M scores from baseline to 3 months after the GeKo-ISD intervention. The mean (SD) scores were 8.6 (4.6) at baseline and 7.0 (4.1) at 3 months post-intervention.

    CONCLUSION: GeKo-ISD is a comprehensive approach of integrated care for older people, leveraging existing public funded primary care infrastructure. It shows promise, was impacted by the pandemic but now, with support from the government, exists in 32 centers across one state in Malaysia.

  9. Adeyemi KD, Ebrahimi M, Samsudin AA, Sabow AB, Sazili AQ
    J Anim Sci Technol, 2015;57:42.
    PMID: 26644913 DOI: 10.1186/s40781-015-0076-y
    Dietary fats can alter the deposition and distribution of body fats in ruminants. The deposition and distribution of body fat play a vital role in the quality of ruminant carcasses and are of great commercial value since they influence the profitability and consumer acceptability of ruminant meat. The current study examined the effects of dietary blend of 80 % canola oil and 20 % palm oil (BCPO) on carcass characteristics, meat yield and accretion of fatty acid (FA) in subcutaneous, omental, perirenal, and mesentery adipose depots and m. supraspinatus (SS) in goats.
  10. Amid M, Manap MY, Zohdi NK
    Biomed Res Int, 2014;2014:259238.
    PMID: 25328883 DOI: 10.1155/2014/259238
    The thermoalkaline protease enzyme from pitaya (Hylocereus polyrhizus) waste was purified by a factor of 221.2 with 71.3% recovery using ammonium sulphate precipitation, gel filtration, and cation exchange chromatography. Gel filtration chromatography together with sodium dodecyl sulphate gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) revealed that the enzyme is monomeric with a molecular weight of 26.7 kDa. The apparent K m and V max of the protease were 2.8 mg/mL and 31.20 u/min, respectively. The optimum pH and temperature were 8.0 and 70°C. The enzyme was highly active and stable over a wide pH range (from pH 3.0 to pH 11.0 with the optimum activity at pH 8.0). The protease has broad specificity toward azocasein, casein, hemoglobin, and gelatine. Activity of the enzyme was inhibited by Fe(2+) and Zn(2+), while protease activity was increased in the presence of Ca(2+) and Mg(2+) and Cu(2+) by factors of 125%, 110%, and 105%, respectively. The alkaline protease showed extreme stability toward surfactants and oxidizing agent. The purified protease exhibited extreme stability in the presence of organic solvents and inhibitors. In addition, the enzyme was relativity stable toward organic solvents and chelating agents, such as ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA). The enzyme, derived from pitaya peel, possesses unique characteristics and could be used in various industrial and biotechnological applications.
  11. Kamruzzaman M, Jumaat MZ, Sulong NH, Islam AB
    ScientificWorldJournal, 2014;2014:702537.
    PMID: 25243221 DOI: 10.1155/2014/702537
    In recent decades, the application of fibre-reinforced polymer (FRP) composites for strengthening structural elements has become an efficient option to meet the increased cyclic loads or repair due to corrosion or fatigue cracking. Hence, the objective of this study is to explore the existing FRP reinforcing techniques to care for fatigue damaged structural steel elements. This study covers the surface treatment techniques, adhesive curing, and support conditions under cyclic loading including fatigue performance, crack propagation, and failure modes with finite element (FE) simulation of the steel bridge girders and structural elements. FRP strengthening composites delay initial cracking, reduce the crack growth rate, extend the fatigue life, and decrease the stiffness decay with residual deflection. Prestressed carbon fibre-reinforced polymer (CFRP) is the best strengthening option. End anchorage prevents debonding of the CRRP strips at the beam ends by reducing the local interfacial shear and peel stresses. Hybrid-joint, nanoadhesive, and carbon-flex can also be attractive for strengthening systems.
  12. Filippou A, Teng KT, Berry SE, Sanders TA
    Eur J Clin Nutr, 2014 Sep;68(9):1036-41.
    PMID: 25052227 DOI: 10.1038/ejcn.2014.141
    BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Dietary triacylglycerols containing palmitic acid in the sn-2 position might impair insulin release and increase plasma glucose.

    SUBJECTS/METHODS: We used a cross-over designed feeding trial in 53 healthy Asian men and women (20-50 years) to test this hypothesis by exchanging 20% energy of palm olein (PO; control) with randomly interesterified PO (IPO) or high oleic acid sunflower oil (HOS). After a 2-week run-in period on PO, participants were fed PO, IPO and HOS for 6 week consecutively in randomly allocated sequences. Fasting (midpoint and endpoint) and postprandial blood at the endpoint following a test meal (3.54 MJ, 14 g protein, 85 g carbohydrate and 50 g fat as PO) were collected for the measurement of C-peptide, insulin, glucose, plasma glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide and glucagon-like peptide-1, lipids and apolipoproteins; pre-specified primary and secondary outcomes were postprandial changes in C-peptide and plasma glucose.

    RESULTS: Low density lipoprotein cholesterol was 0.3 mmol/l (95% confidence interval (95% CI)) 0.1, 0.5; P<0.001) lower on HOS than on PO or IPO as predicted, indicating good compliance to the dietary intervention. There were no significant differences (P=0.58) between diets among the 10 male and 31 female completers in the incremental area under the curve (0-2 h) for C-peptide in nmol.120 min/l: GM (95% CI) were PO 220 (196, 245), IPO 212 (190, 235) and HOS 224 (204, 244). Plasma glucose was 8% lower at 2 h on IPO vs PO and HOS (both P<0.05).

    CONCLUSION: Palmitic acid in the sn-2 position does not adversely impair insulin secretion and glucose homeostasis.

  13. Islam SM, Hashim R, Islam AB, Kurnia R
    ScientificWorldJournal, 2014;2014:328516.
    PMID: 24982941 DOI: 10.1155/2014/328516
    The popularity of low cost, lightweight, and environmentally affable masonry unit in building industry carries the need to investigate more flexible and adaptable brick component as well as to retain the requirements confirmed in building standards. In this study, potential use of local materials used as lightweight building materials in solving the economic problems of housing has been investigated. Experimental studies on peat added bricks have been carried out. It demonstrates the physicomechanical properties of bricks and investigates the influence of peat, sand, and cement solid bricks to the role of various types of constructional applications. The achieved compressive strength, spitting strength, flexural strength, unit weight, and ultrasonic pulse velocity are significantly reduced and the water absorption is increased with percentage wise replacement of peat as aggregate in the samples. The maximum 20% of (% mass) peat content meets the requirements of relevant well-known international standards. The experimental values illustrate that, the 44% volumetric replacement with peat did not exhibit any sudden brittle fracture even beyond the ultimate loads and a comparatively smooth surface is found. The application of peat as efficient brick substance shows a potential to be used for wall and a viable solution in the economic buildings design.
  14. Mishra RK, Ramasamy K, Ahmad NA, Eshak Z, Majeed AB
    J Mater Sci Mater Med, 2014 Apr;25(4):999-1012.
    PMID: 24398912 DOI: 10.1007/s10856-013-5132-x
    Stimuli responsive hydrogels have shown enormous potential as a carrier for targeted drug delivery. In this study we have developed novel pH responsive hydrogels for the delivery of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) in order to alleviate its antitumor activity while reducing its toxicity. We used 2-(methacryloyloxyethyl) trimetylammonium chloride a positively charged monomer and methacrylic acid for fabricating the pH responsive hydrogels. The released 5-FU from all except hydrogel (GEL-5) remained biologically active against human colon cancer cell lines [HT29 (IC50 = 110-190 μg ml(-1)) and HCT116 (IC50 = 210-390 μg ml(-1))] but not human skin fibroblast cells [BJ (CRL2522); IC50 ≥ 1000 μg ml(-1)]. This implies that the copolymer hydrogels (1-4) were able to release 5-FU effectively to colon cancer cells but not normal human skin fibroblast cells. This is probably due to the shorter doubling time that results in reduced pH in colon cancer cells when compared to fibroblast cells. These pH sensitive hydrogels showed well defined cell apoptosis in HCT116 cells through series of events such as chromatin condensation, membrane blebbing, and formation of apoptotic bodies. No cell killing was observed in the case of blank hydrogels. The results showed the potential of these stimuli responsive polymer hydrogels as a carrier for colon cancer delivery.
  15. Ku PX, Abu Osman NA, Yusof A, Wan Abas WA
    J Biomech, 2012 Jun 1;45(9):1638-42.
    PMID: 22507349 DOI: 10.1016/j.jbiomech.2012.03.029
    Postural stability is crucial in maintaining body balance during quiet standing, locomotion, and any activities that require a high degree of balance performance, such as participating in sports and dancing. Research has shown that there is a relationship between stability and body mass. The aims of this study were to examine the impact that two variables had on static postural control: body mass index (BMI) and gender. Eighty healthy young adults (age=21.7±1.8 yr; height=1.65±0.09 m; mass=67.5±19.0 kg) participated in the study and the static postural control was assessed using the Biodex Balance System, with a 20 Hz sampling rate in the bipedic stance (BLS) and unipedic stance (ULS) for 30s. Five test evaluations were performed for each balance test. Postural control was found to be negatively correlated with increased adiposity, as the obese BMI group performed significantly poorer than the underweight, normal weight and overweight groups during BLS and ULS tests. The underweight, normal weight and overweight groups exhibited greater anterior-posterior stability in postural control during quiet stance. In addition, female displayed a trend of having a greater postural sway than male young adults, although it was evidenced in only some BMI groups. This study revealed that BMI do have an impact on postural control during both BLS and ULS. As such, BMI and gender-specific effects should be taken into consideration when selecting individuals for different types of sporting activities, especially those that require quiet standing.
  16. Balachandran R, Prepageran N, Prepagaran N, Rahmat O, Zulkiflee AB, Hufaida KS
    J Laryngol Otol, 2012 Apr;126(4):345-8.
    PMID: 22310164 DOI: 10.1017/S0022215112000047
    The Bluetooth wireless headset has been promoted as a 'hands-free' device with a low emission of electromagnetic radiation.
  17. Abd Razak NA, Abu Osman NA, Wan Abas WA
    Disabil Rehabil Assist Technol, 2013 May;8(3):255-60.
    PMID: 22830946 DOI: 10.3109/17483107.2012.704654
    This study examined the kinematic differences between a body-powered prosthesis and a biomechatronics prosthesis as a transradial amputee performed activities that involve flexion/extension and supination/pronation of the wrist.
  18. Shah AH, Saleha AA, Zunita Z, Murugaiyah M, Aliyu AB, Jafri N
    Transbound Emerg Dis, 2013 Feb;60(1):9-16.
    PMID: 22280210 DOI: 10.1111/j.1865-1682.2012.01311.x
    Prevalence, distribution and antibiotic resistance of Arcobacter spp. were investigated in cattle, goats, floor and treated water samples in this study. The prevalence of Arcobacter in adult and young was recorded as 8/110 (7.27%) and 4/83 (4.81%), respectively, which showed insignificant difference (P = 0.3503) in detection rates between adult and young cattle. A total of 33.33% of the floor samples and 11.11% of the treated water samples analysed were determined as positive for Arcobacter. Among the species isolated, over all, A. butzleri (45%) was the most frequently detected species, followed by A. skirrowii (5%). A. butzleri was isolated from adult cattle, floor and water samples at the rates of 75.0%, 33.4% and 50%, respectively. Co-colonization of species was not uncommon, and 50% of the samples were carrying more than one Arcobacter species. Only 12.5% sample from cattle (adult) was detected positive for only A. skirrowii. All samples from young animals, floor and water contained mixed isolates. None of the samples from goat farm was found to be carrying Arcobacter species. On profiling of antimicrobial resistance patterns, it was found that only one A. butzleri isolate (3.7%) was sensitive to all nine antibiotics tested. A. butzleri was found highly resistant to ampicillin (55.6%), followed by cefotaxime (33.4%) and ciprofloxacin (33.4%). Overall, 20% of the isolates showed multidrug resistance (resistant ≥4 antibiotics). Gentamicin and enrofloxacin can be used as drugs of choice for the treatment for Arcobacter infections.
  19. Mohd-Hairul AR, Sade AB, Yiap BC, Raha AR
    Genet. Mol. Res., 2011;10(4):2757-64.
    PMID: 22095601 DOI: 10.4238/2011.November.8.1
    DNA extraction was carried out on 32 medicinal plant samples available in Malaysia using the TriOmic(TM) extraction kit. Amounts of 0.1 g flowers or young leaves were ground with liquid nitrogen, lysed at 65°C in RY1(plus) buffer and followed by RNAse treatment. Then, RY2 buffer was added to the samples and mixed completely by vortexing before removal of cell debris by centrifugation. Supernatants were transferred to fresh microcentrifuge tubes and 0.1 volume RY3 buffer was added to each of the transferred supernatant. The mixtures were applied to spin columns followed by a centrifugation step to remove buffers and other residues. Washing step was carried out twice by applying 70% ethanol to the spin columns. Genomic DNA of the samples was recovered by applying 50 μL TE buffer to the membrane of each spin column, followed by a centrifugation step at room temperature. A modification of the TriOmic(TM) extraction procedure was carried out by adding chloroform:isoamyl alcohol (24:1) steps in the extraction procedure. The genomic DNA extracted from most of the 32 samples showed an increase of total yield when chloroform:isoamyl alcohol (24:1) steps were applied in the TriOmicTM extraction procedure. This preliminary study is very important for molecular studies of medicinal plants available in Malaysia since the DNA extraction can be completed in a shorter period of time (within 1 h) compared to manual extraction, which entails applying phenol, chloroform and ethanol precipitation, and requires 1-2 days to complete.
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