METHOD: TVS of the cervix was performed before term labor induction. Induction was considered successful if vaginal delivery was achieved within 24 hours; 231 women were available for final analysis.

RESULTS: Analysis of the receiver operator characteristics curve showed an optimal cut-off for cervical length of < or = 20 mm for successful induction. Following multivariate logistic regression analysis, a sonographic short cervix (AOR 5.6; p < 0.001) was an independent predictor of successful induction but not a favorable Bishop score (p = 0.47). Among multiparas with a short cervix, positive and negative predictive values for successful induction were 98% (95% CI 90-100%) and 21% (95% CI 13%-32%) and among nulliparas, predictive values were 69% (95% CI 53%-82%) and 77% (95% CI 64%-87%) respectively.

METHODS: A total of 2,461 secondary school students aged 12-17 years from 19 schools in Sarawak participated in the study. Questionnaire was used to obtain socio-demographic data, parental history of hypertension, and self-reported physical activity. Anthropometric and blood pressure measurements were taken. Data was entered and analysed using SPSS version 23.0.

RESULTS: The prevalence of adolescents with elevated blood pressure, overweight, central obesity, and overfat were 30.1%, 24.3%, 13.5%, and 6.7%, respectively. Multivariate logistic regression demonstrated the predictors significantly associated with elevated blood pressure among respondents: overweight (adjusted odds ratio=3.144), being male (adjusted odds ratio=3.073), being Chinese (adjusted odds ratio=2.321) or Iban (adjusted odds ratio=1.578), central obesity (adjusted odds ratio=2.145), being overfat (adjusted odds ratio=1.885), and being an older adolescent (adjusted odds ratio=1.109). Parental history of hypertension, locality, and physical activity showed no significant associations.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Records of 688 women between January 2004 and July 2017 were retrospectively reviewed. Patients received urodynamic studies, 1-hour pad test, Urogenital Distress Inventory-6 and Incontinence Impact Questionnaire-7, and were divided into normal weight, overweight and obese. Objective cure at 1 year was defined as no involuntary urine leakage during filling cystometry and pad test less than 2 gm. Subjective cure was established by negative response to question 3 on Urogenital Distress Inventory-6. McNemar's test, chi-square test, Mann-Whitney U and Fisher's exact test were used for paired categorical variables. Independent samples t-tests and paired t-test were used for continuous parametric variables. Multivariate logistic regression was used to identify risk factors for failure.

RESULTS: Objective and subjective cure in normal, overweight and obese patients was 91.4% and 89.1%, 87.5% and 86%, and 76% and 70.1%, respectively. There was no difference in surgical complications. Obese patients had worse quality of life scores preoperatively and postoperatively. Risk factors in obese patients with failed mid urethral sling included 66 years old or older (OR 2.02, 1.56-3.98), menopause (OR 4.21, 1.21-14.22), previous prolapse surgery (OR 4.57, 2.36-8.52), diabetes (OR 2.79, 1.61-5.99) and intrinsic sphincter deficiency (OR 5.06, 3.08-9.64).

MATERIALS AND METHODS: A prospective cohort study was carried out among 684 infants attending goverment health clinics in 2 states in Malaysia. Body weight, length, and clinical assessment were measured on the same day for 9 visits, scheduled every month until 6 months of age and every 2 months until 12 months of age. All of the 3 z-scores for weight for age (WAZ), length for age (HAZ), and weight for length (WHZ) were calculated using WHO Anthro for Personal Computers software.

RESULTS: The average sensitivity and specificity for the visual clinical assessment for the detection of thinness were higher using the WHO 2006 standard as compared with using NCHS 1977. However, the overall sensitivity of the visual clinical assessment for the detection of thin and lean children was lower from 1 month of age until a year as compared with the WHO 2006 standard and NCHS 1977 reference. The positive predictive value (PPV) for the visual clinical assessment versus the WHO 2006 standard was almost doubled as compared with the PPV of visual clinical assessment versus the NCHS 1977 reference. The overall average sensitivity, specificity, PPV, and negative predictive value for the detection of stunting was higher for visual clinical assessment versus the WHO 2006 standard as compared with visual clinical assessment versus the NCHS 1977 reference.

METHOD: This retrospective study included patients with major trauma injuries reported to a trauma centre of Hospital Sultanah Aminah over a 6-year period from 2011 and 2017. Model validation was examined using the measures of discrimination and calibration. Discrimination was assessed using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) and 95% confidence interval (CI). The Hosmer-Lemeshow (H-L) goodness-of-fit test was used to examine calibration capabilities. The predictive validity of both MTOS-TRISS and NTrD-TRISS models were further evaluated by incorporating parameters such as the New Injury Severity Scale and the Injury Severity Score.

RESULTS: Total patients of 3788 (3434 blunt and 354 penetrating injuries) with average age of 37 years (standard deviation of 16 years) were included in this study. All MTOS-TRISS and NTrD-TRISS models examined in this study showed adequate discriminative ability with AUCs ranged from 0.86 to 0.89 for patients with blunt trauma mechanism and 0.89 to 0.99 for patients with penetrating trauma mechanism. The H-L goodness-of-fit test indicated the NTrD-TRISS model calibrated as good as the MTOS-TRISS model for patients with blunt trauma mechanism.