This research was conducted to determine the mental skill among school athletes. This research was conducted using survey method among 24 ten-pin bowlers that represented Perak in the Majlis Sukan Sekolah Malaysia (MSSM) 2018 tournament. Sport pErsonality Questionnaire (SPQ20) questionnaire was used to measure the 20 mental skill dimensions that consisted of 4 main domains that are achievement and competitiveness, confidence and resilience, interaction and sportsmanship, and power and aggression. SPQ20 also determine the athletes’ trend on the mental skill matric and leadership potential. Descriptive analysis is based on the Red, Amber, Green (RAG) Traffic Light system approach. Results showed all the mental skill domains were at the yellow level (intermediate). Based on the mental skill metric, highest number of athletes were in the confident achiever group (54.2%). Based on the leadership potential matric, highest number of athletes were in the democratic captain group (33.3%). The research demonstrate the importance of evaluating the athletes’ mental skill level, methods on using suitable measuring tools to gain information on the mental skill level, and the way to report results of study in order to enhance coaching aspect.
Workers in manufacturing industries are highly exposed to visual hazards which lead to visual dysfunctions or eye injuries while performing their tasks at the workplace. This article aims to describe vision problems, visual hazards and eye occupational safety and health among workers in manufacturing industries in Selangor, Malaysia. A self-administered Visual Profile Questionnaires (VPQ) was distributed to 1522 workers from manufacturing industries aged between 20-60 years during a vision screening program. Vision screening was conducted using Snellen standard visual acuity test at 6 meter following full eye examination by qualified optometrists. A total of 1214 (959 Male, 255, Female) participants with mean aged of 39.33 ± 9.80 years completed the study. Blurred vision (55.4%), reading a small print (38%), visual fatigue or visual strain (36.7%), dry eyes (34.4%) and Itchiness (33.4%) are among the major eye problems. Meanwhile, smoke/dust (55.8%), chemical (30.2%) and eye injuries (20.4%) are the major visual hazards experienced by the workers. More than 72% of workers did not get proper eye tests, not wear eye protection shield and had a poor knowledge on visual hazards while performing their job at the workplace. Regular eye examination, assessment and policy on the eye related occupational safety and health are needed to be established for manufacturing industries to help prevent eye problems and improve employees’ productivity at the workplace.
Postmenopausal osteoporosis is one of the main health problems in aging women. It was due to several factors including oxidative stress, which can be controlled through intake of antioxidants from food sources. Virgin coconut oil (VCO) is one of the natural product rich in antioxidants and has been proven to protect osteoporotic bone. This study was conducted to gain in-depth understanding on virgin coconut oil’s activity on osteoporosis at molecular level. Thirty two female Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into four groups, namely Sham operated group, ovariectomized control group (Ovx+Ctrl), ovariectomized with VCO treatment (Ovx+VCO), and ovariectomized with estrogen treatment (Ovx+E). All treatments were administered orally for ten weeks. Bone samples were obtained to examine changes on expression of superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPX), osteocalcin and runt-related transcription factor 2 (Runx2) genes. The results indicated that rats receiving VCO treatment had experienced significant increments in SOD, GPX and osteocalcin gene expressions compared to the ovariectomized control group, besides the gene expressions of Runx2 which also showed an increment pattern. In conclusion, VCO helps to protect bone in osteoporotic rat model by increasing the expressions of antioxidant genes and genes which increase the osteoblast acitivities.
Keywords: Osteoporosis; ovariectomized rat model; postmenopausal; virgin coconut oil
Introduction There is a strong and increased worldwide interest on the aspects of
prevention of oral disease and oral health promotion in dental education.
However, some studies imply that dental students are not knowledgeable
enough in this issue. This study aimed to evaluate the knowledge of, attitude
towards and practice on preventive dentistry among senior dental students in
Yemen.
Methods Self-administered questionnaires were distributed among senior dental
students in six dental schools in Yemen. The questionnaire obtained personal
information, and questions about knowledge on preventive dental care,
attitudes towards and practice on preventive dentistry.
Results Among 346 students who filled the questionnaire, a total of 91.6% has good
knowledge about fissure sealant effectiveness, only 34.7% knows about the
importance of fluoride toothpaste compared to brushing technique in
preventing caries, with significant gender difference (p=0.005). Odds of good
knowledge among non-Qat chewers was 1.9 (95%CI: 1.26-4.42).
Multivariable regression analysis indicated that female gender was associated
with higher positive attitudes (OR: 2.03, 95%CI:1.21-3.36,p=0.007).
Attitudes were significantly associated with Qat chewing (OR = 1.95,
95%CI: 1.04-3.66, p=0.03), type of university (OR = 0.59, 95%CI: 0.36-0.94,
p=0.02), and mothers' level of education (OR = 1.91, 95%CI: 1.05-3.47,
p=0.03). There was a high percentage of competency in practicing preventive
measures among students (80.9%).
Conclusions Dental education should emphasize the overall aspects of preventive dentistry
with early exposure of preventive dental training in order to improve
students' knowledge and attitudes and consequently practice on preventive
care.
BACKGROUND: The aim of the study was to assess the knowledge and attitude of secondary school students in Sana'a Yemen related to exposure to second-hand smoking.
METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted in Sana'a city. The total sample size was 336 students in which 63 were males and 273 were females. These students were stratified random sampling . Data were collected by using Questionnaire comprising of 3 parts: Part 1- consists of socio-demographic data. Part 2- consists of the knowledge regarding smoking and second-hand smoking and Part 3-consists of adolescents' attitude in relation to second-hand smoking.
RESULTS: Out of 336 students, majority were between 14-18 years old (75.9%), males (81.2%) , (55.7%)of them was fathers' occupation private employee and low educated mother was (86.3%).The students who do not have smoking habit were (94.3%),and those who do not have friends with the habit of smoking was (57.4%). (57.10) having some one else at home who smokes beside them .The reaction of non printed mass media for SHS warning was (83.3%) . The exposed to smoke out door was (60.1%) . In this study, the majority of students had inadequate knowledge about the second-hand smoke was (52.7%). A higher percentage of students who had unfavorable attitudes toward secondhand smoke was(86.6%).
CONCLUSION: We concluded that The level of knowledge and attitude about the second-hand smoke is relatively low among the secondary school student in Sana'a Yemen .The finding of this study emphasized the need of effective awareness programs to increase level of consciousness and knowledge regarding SHS. Keywords: Second-hand Smoking, Secondary School, Adolescent, Sana'a .
Power systems are usually exposed to numerous disturbances that can have an adverse effect on system
operation. Insufficient generation could lead to frequency declination and subsequently system collapse
in the absence of immediate control action. Frequency Load Shedding (UFLS) is a technique commonly
applied to overcome overloading and restore the system frequency. This paper presents an adaptive load
shedding approach to determine the best location with minimum amount of load to be shed. Load Ranking
Fuzzy Logic (LRFL) is used to rank the load based on their sensitivity and stability index. In order to
achieve this, the proposed strategy is verified using 11 kV Malaysian distributed network consisting of
different type of loads connected with single and multiple Distribution Generator (DG). The simulation
results show that the proposed strategy successfully stabilizes the system’s frequency.
This review explores the effects of pomegranate on the pathogenesis of bone loss in osteoporosis, osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. A systematic review of the literature was conducted to identify the relevant studies on pomegranate and osteoporosis/osteoarthritis/rheumatoid arthritis. A comprehensive search was conducted in Medline and CINAHL for relevant studies published between the years 1946 to 2012. The main inclusion criteria were research articles published in English, studies had to report the association or effect of pomegranate and these bone and joint diseases: osteoporosis, osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis. The literature search identified 35 potentially relevant articles, whereby 8 met the inclusion criteria. Two animal studies, two combinations of animal and in vitro studies, three in vitro studies and one human study were included in this review. All the studies reported positive effects of pomegranate extract or juice on osteoporosis, osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. This evidence-based review highlighted the potential of pomegranate extract being used for treating bone loss in osteoporosis, osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. Further studies are required to identify the active ingredients and molecular mechanisms before controlled human observational studies are conducted to provide stronger evidence.
Fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) has been widely accepted as a safe method for diagnosis of salivary gland lesions and its accuracy is increased with increasing the experience of the physician. This study was conducted to examine the sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of FNAC of salivary gland lesions by cyto-histological correlation and to identify the discrepancies that contribute to false diagnoses.
The energy intake and expenditure of 20 healthy soldiers (mean age, 25 years, weight 61 kg and height 1.67 m) was assessed. Trained personnel stayed in the camp throughout the 5 weeks study period. Each soldier was subjected to a 7-day comprehensive protocol involving anthropometric, food intake, activity pattern and energy expenditure measurements. The mean change in body weight and fat content was minimal, -0.2kg and -0.25%, respectively. Body fat and BMI ranges from 10.0-21.6% and 19.8-24.9, respectively. The mean energy intake of 2190 ± 197 kcal was well below (81%) the recommended allowance of 2700 kcal for the Malaysian Armed Forces. The ration scale analysed chemically provides 2900 kcal thus suggesting a 24% wastage of daily ration. Contribution of protein (15%), fat (25%) and carbohydrate (60%) to energy intake appears to be in line to healthy dietary guidelines. Energy cost of standardised activities were found to be lower in Malaysian soldiers as compared to British soldiers studied under similar environment in the tropics. The mean total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) for soldiers were 2886 ± 222 kcal with a negative energy balance of about 700 kcal. The results suggested that there is a need to review the current provision with regard to food supply and preparation in army camps, to ensure that the menu provided are appealing as well as nutritious for the soldiers.
Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) have been recognized as the leading cause of mortality worldwide, accounting for 31% of global mortality. Among the risk factors of CVD, hyperlipidemia has been established as the most potent risk factor. Statins, a class of drug that reduces lower-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), are the preferred medical treatment. However, due to the development of statin-associated muscle symptoms, statins are associated with patients' discontinuation and nonadherence. Other statin-induced side effects, such as hepatotoxicity and gastrointestinal upset, all contribute to patients choosing alternative medicines. Squalene (SQ), an unsaturated hydrocarbon naturally synthesized in plants and animals, could become the alternative treatment or supplementary agent for cardiovascular health. SQ has been shown to exert cardioprotective effect via its antioxidant activity. Oxidative stress and inflammatory responses are closely related to each other, which proposes an interdependence relation between antioxidant and anti-inflammatory. Therefore, this review explores the interdependence between the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects of SQ implicated on cardiovascular health.
Drought stress is the main abiotic factor affecting rice production. Rain-fed upland rice which is grown on unbounded fields and totally dependent on rainfall for moisture is more prone to drought stress compared to rice from other ecosystems. However, upland rice has adapted to this limited water condition, thus are more drought tolerant than rice from other ecosystems. We performed the first transcriptome sequencing of drought tolerant indica upland rice cultivar Kuku Belang to identify differentially expressed genes related to drought tolerance mechanism. Raw reads for non-treated and PEG-treated Oryza sativa subspecies indica cv. Kuku Belang were deposited in the NCBI SRA database with accession number SRP074520 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sra?term=SRP074520).
Cutaneous metastasis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is very rare, accounting for less than 0.8% of all known cutaneous metastases and occurring in 2.7-3.4% of HCCs. With less than 50 such cases reported worldwide, most of which were diagnosed histologically on excised lesions, it can only be expected that diagnosis made on cytological features alone would be challenging. We report a case of cutaneous metastasis of HCC diagnosed based on cytological features and confirmed by Hep Par 1 immunopositivity of the cell block material. An 81-year-old man, who was known to have unresectable HCC, presented with a 1-month history of painless, left nasal alae mass. The mass measured 1.5 cm in diameter, and was multilobulated with a central necrosis. Fine needle aspiration of the mass was done. Smears were cellular, comprising of malignant cells in loose clusters and aggregates as well as singly dispersed. The malignant cells displayed moderate nuclear pleomorphism, occasional prominent nucleoli, and intranuclear pseudoinclusion. Cell block material demonstrated the trabeculae pattern of the malignant cells and Hep Par 1 immunopositivity. The final diagnosis of a metastatic cutaneous HCC was made. In conclusion, cutaneous HCC metastasis is rare and should be considered in the differential diagnosis in patients with a history of HCC presenting with suspicious skin lesion. In the right clinical setting, a confident diagnosis can be made in such cases by using the fine needle aspiration technique aided with immunopositivity for Hep Par 1 antibody of the aspirated material.
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV2) caused imminent acute infection of respiratory tract known as Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Complications of hepatobiliary system especially liver often found in post-acute COVID-19 patients. However, there are only few studies specifically discussing about liver abscess in patients who had history of contracted COVID-19. We present a case of a 54-years-old gentleman with no previous medical illness and no history of vaccination, who was presented with ruptured liver abscess post COVID-19 infection Category 4 (symptomatic with lung infection and the need of oxygen supplementation). Percutaneous drainage was performed to drain the abscess and collections.
Oil spills generally cause worldwide concern due to their detrimental effects on the environment and the economy. An assortment of commercial systems has been developed to control these spills, including the use of agricultural wastes as sorbents. This work deals with raw and modified mangrove barks (Rhizophora apiculata), an industrial lignocellulosic waste, as a low cost adsorbent for oil-product-spill cleanup in the aquatic environment. Mangrove bark was modified using fatty acids (oleic acid and palmitic acid) to improve its adsorption capacity. The oil sorption capacity of the modified bark was studied and compared with that of the raw bark. Kinetic tests were conducted with a series of contact times. The influence of particle size, oil dosage, pH and temperature on oil sorption capacity was investigated. The results showed that oleic acid treated bark has a higher sorption capacity (2,860.00 ± 2.00 mg/g) than untreated bark for Tapis crude oil. A correlation between surface functional groups, morphology and surface area of the adsorbent was studied by Fourier transform infrared spectrum, field emission scanning electron microscopy images and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller analysis. Isotherm study was conducted using the Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models. The result showed that adsorption of crude oil on treated mangrove bark could be best described by the Langmuir model.
The field of bioethics aims to ensure that modern scientific and technological advancements have been primarily developed for the benefits of humankind. This field is deeply rooted in the traditions of Western moral philosophy and socio-political theory. With respect to the view that the practice of bioethics in certain community should incorporate religious and cultural elements, this paper attempts to expound bioethical tradition of the Malay-Muslim community in Malaysia, with shedding light on the mechanism used by the National Fatwa Council to evaluate whether an application of biological sciences is ethical or not. By using the application of the genetically modified food as a case study, this study has found that the council had reviewed the basic guidelines in the main references of shari'ah in order to make decision on the permissibility of the application. The fatwa is made after having consultation with the experts in science field. The council has taken all factors into consideration and given priority to the general aim of shari'ah which to serve the interests of mankind and to save them from harm.
This work proposes a long range ultrasonic transducers technique in conjunction with an active incremental Support Vector Machine (SVM) classification approach that is used for real-time pipeline defects prediction and condition monitoring. Oil and gas pipeline defects are detected using various techniques. One of the most prevalent techniques is the use of "smart pigs" to travel along the pipeline and detect defects using various types of sensors such as magnetic sensors and eddy-current sensors. A critical short coming of "smart pigs" is the inability to monitor continuously and predict the onset of defects. The emergence of permanently installed long range ultrasonics transducers systems enable continuous monitoring to be achieved. The needs for and the challenges of the proposed technique are presented. The experimental results show that the proposed technique achieves comparable classification accuracy as when batch training is used, while the computational time is decreased, using 56 feature data points acquired from a lab-scale pipeline defect generating experimental rig.
Osteoporosis is a progressive disease of the skeleton characterised by bone fragility due to a reduction in bone mass and possibly to alteration in bone architecture that lead to a propensity to fracture with minimum trauma. Most osteoporotic fractures occur at locations rich in trabecular or cancellous bone and usually related to post menopausal women. Recently, silymarin received attention due to its alternative beneficial effect on bone formation. It is a mixture of flavonoids with powerful antioxidant properties. This review focuses on the use of milk thistle or silymarin for the treatment of osteoporosis that may be related to fracture bone. Silymarin shows potent antioxidant herb that may modulate multiple genes in favour of helping to build bone and prevent bone loss. In the mouse fracture healing model, silymarin supplementation improved tibial healing with elevated BMD and serum levels of ALP and osteocalcin. Silymarin also demonstrated clear estrogenic antiosteoporotic effects in bone structure. Silymarin appears to play a crucial role to prevent bone loss and might regulate osteogenesis and may be beneficial for fracture healing. If silymarin is considered for the use of post menopausal women, it may be used for the treatment of osteoporosis. It would be of great benefit to postmenopausal women to develop an oestrogen antagonist that is as potent and efficacious as oestrogen in preventing bone loss without the major side effect associated with HRT.
With the rapid advancements made in biotechnology, bioethical discourse has become increasingly important. Bioethics is a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary field that goes beyond the realm of natural sciences, and has involved fields in the domain of the social sciences. One of the important areas in bioethical discourse is religion. In a country like Malaysia, where Muslims make up the majority of the population, Islam plays a crucial role in providing the essential guidelines on the permissibility and acceptability of biotechnological applications in various fields such as medicine, agriculture, and food processing. This article looks at the framework of a complementary model of bioethics derived from the perspective of Islam. The framework is based on 'maqasid al-shariah' (purposes or objectives of Islamic law) which aims to protect and preserve mankind's faith, life, intellect, progeny, and property. It is proposed that 'maqasid al-shariah' be used as a pragmatic checklist that can be utilized in tackling bioethical issues and dilemmas.
In this review, our aim was to examine the influence of geographic variations on asthma prevalence and morbidity among adults, which is important for improving our understanding, identifying the burden, and for developing and implementing interventions aimed at reducing asthma morbidity. Asthma is a complex inflammatory disease of multifactorial origin, and is influenced by both environmental and genetic factors. The disparities in asthma prevalence and morbidity among the world's geographic locations are more likely to be associated with environmental exposures than genetic differences. In writing this article, we found that the indoor factors most consistently associated with asthma and asthma-related symptoms in adults included fuel combustion, mold growth, and environmental tobacco smoke in both urban and rural areas. Asthma and asthma-related symptoms occurred more frequently in urban than in rural areas, and that difference correlated with environmental risk exposures, SES, and healthcare access. Environmental risk factors to which urban adults were more frequently exposed than rural adults were dust mites,high levels of vehicle emissions, and a westernized lifestyle.Exposure to indoor biological contaminants in the urban environment is common.The main risk factors for developing asthma in urban areas are atopy and allergy to house dust mites, followed by allergens from animal dander. House dust mite exposure may potentially explain differences in diagnosis of asthma prevalence and morbidity among adults in urban vs. rural areas. In addition, the prevalence of asthma morbidity increases with urbanization. High levels of vehicle emissions,Western lifestyles and degree of urbanization itself, may affect outdoor and thereby indoor air quality. In urban areas, biomass fuels have been widely replaced by cleaner energy sources at home, such as gas and electricity, but in most developing countries, coal is still a major source of fuel for cooking and heating, particularly in winter. Moreover, exposure to ETS is common at home or at work in urban areas.There is evidence that asthma prevalence and morbidity is less common in rural than in urban areas. The possible reasons are that rural residents are exposed early in life to stables and to farm milk production, and such exposures are protective against developing asthma morbidity. Even so, asthma morbidity is disproportionately high among poor inner-city residents and in rural populations. A higher proportion of adult residents of nonmetropolitan areas were characterized as follows:aged 55 years or older, no previous college admission, low household income, no health insurance coverage, and could not see a doctor due to healthcare service availability, etc. In rural areas, biomass fuels meet more than 70% of the rural energy needs. Progress in adopting modern energy sources in rural areas has been slow. The most direct health impact comes from household energy use among the poor, who depend almost entirely on burning biomass fuels in simple cooking devices that are placed in inadequately ventilated spaces. Prospective studies are needed to assess the long-term effects of biomass smoke on lung health among adults in rural areas.Geographic differences in asthma susceptibility exist around the world. The reason for the differences in asthma prevalence in rural and urban areas may be due to the fact that populations have different lifestyles and cultures, as well as different environmental exposures and different genetic backgrounds. Identifying geographic disparities in asthma hospitalizations is critical to implementing prevention strategies,reducing morbidity, and improving healthcare financing for clinical asthma treatment. Although evidence shows that differences in the prevalence of asthma do exist between urban and rural dwellers in many parts of the world, including in developed countries, data are inadequate to evaluate the extent to which different pollutant exposures contribute to asthma morbidity and severity of asthma between urban and rural areas.
Osteoporosis is characterized by skeletal degeneration with low bone mass and destruction of microarchitecture of bone tissue which is attributed to various factors including inflammation. Women are more likely to develop osteoporosis than men due to reduction in estrogen during menopause which leads to decline in bone-formation and increase in bone-resorption activity. Estrogen is able to suppress production of proinflammatory cytokines such as IL-1, IL-6, IL-7, and TNF-α. This is why these cytokines are elevated in postmenopausal women. Studies have shown that estrogen reduction is able to stimulate focal inflammation in bone. Labisia pumila (LP) which is known to exert phytoestrogenic effect can be used as an alternative to ERT which can produce positive effects on bone without causing side effects. LP contains antioxidant as well as exerting anti-inflammatory effect which can act as free radical scavenger, thus inhibiting TNF-α production and COX-2 expression which leads to decline in RANKL expression, resulting in reduction in osteoclast activity which consequently reduces bone loss. Hence, it is the phytoestrogenic, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidative properties that make LP an effective agent against osteoporosis.