Displaying publications 161 - 180 of 456 in total

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  1. Inflammation targeted chitosan-based hydrogel for controlled release of diclofenac sodium
    Gull N, Khan SM, Butt OM, Islam A, Shah A, Jabeen S, et al.
    Int J Biol Macromol, 2020 Nov 01;162:175-187.
    PMID: 32562726 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2020.06.133
    Inflammation is a key challenge in the treatment of chronic diseases. Spurred by topical advancement in polymer chemistry and drug delivery, hydrogels that release a drug in temporal, spatial and dosage controlled fashion have been trendy. This research focused on the fabrication of hydrogels with controlled drug release properties to control inflammation. Chitosan and polyvinyl pyrrolidone were used as base polymers and crosslinked with epichlorohydrin to form hydrogel films by solution casting technique. Prepared hydrogels were analyzed by swelling analysis in deionized water, buffer and electrolyte solutions and gel fraction. Functional groups confirmation and development of new covalent and hydrogen bonds, thermal stability (28.49%) and crystallinity were evaluated by FTIR, TGA and WAXRD, respectively. Rheological properties including gel strength and yield stress, elasticity (2309 MPa), porosity (75%) and hydrophilicity (73°) of prepared hydrogels were also evaluated. In vitro studies confirmed that prepared hydrogels have good biodegradability, excellent antimicrobial property and admirable cytotoxicity. Drug release profile (87.56% in 130 min) along with the drug encapsulation efficiency (84%) of prepared hydrogels was also studied. These results paved the path towards the development of hydrogels that can release the drugs with desired temporal patterns.
  2. Fulltext Treatment Outcomes of Extensively Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis in Pakistan: A Countrywide Retrospective Record Review
    Abubakar M, Ahmad N, Ghafoor A, Latif A, Ahmad I, Atif M, et al.
    Front Pharmacol, 2021;12:640555.
    PMID: 33867989 DOI: 10.3389/fphar.2021.640555
    Background: The current study is conducted with the aim to the fill the gap of information regarding treatment outcomes and variables associated with unsuccessful outcome among XDR-TB patients from Pakistan. Methods: A total of 404 culture confirmed XDR-TB patients who received treatment between 1st May 2010 and June 30, 2017 at 27 treatment centers all over Pakistan were retrospectively followed until their treatment outcomes were reported. A p-value <0.05 reflected a statistical significant association. Results: The patients had a mean age 32.9 ± 14.1 years. The overall treatment success rate was 40.6% (95% confidence interval [CI]:35.80-45.60%). A total of 155 (38.4%) patients were declared cured, 9 (2.2%) completed treatment, 149 (36.9%) died, 60 (14.9%) failed treatment and 31 (7.7%) were lost to follow up (LTFU). The results of the multivariate binary logistic regression analysis revealed that the patients' age of >60 years (OR = 4.69, 95%CI:1.57-15.57) and receiving high dose isoniazid (OR = 2.36, 95%CI:1.14-4.85) had statistically significant positive association with death, whereas baseline body weight >40 kg (OR = 0.43, 95%CI:0.25-0.73) and sputum culture conversion in the initial two months of treatment (OR = 0.33, 95%CI:0.19-0.58) had statistically significant negative association with death. Moreover, male gender had statistically significant positive association (OR = 1.92, 95%CI:1.04-3.54) with LTFU. Conclusion: The treatment success rate (40.6%) of XDR-TB patients in Pakistan was poor. Providing special attention and enhanced clinical management to patients with identified risk factors for death and LTFU in the current cohort may improve the treatment outcomes.
  3. Lipid-based Nanocarriers for Cancer and Tumor Treatment
    Ansari MT, Ramlan TA, Jamaluddin NN, Zamri N, Salfi R, Khan A, et al.
    Curr Pharm Des, 2020;26(34):4272-4276.
    PMID: 32693760 DOI: 10.2174/1381612826666200720235752
    Cancer and tumor have been major reasons for numerous deaths in this century across the world. Many strategies have been designed to treat, diagnose, or prevent cancer. The success of chemotherapy largely depends on drug targeting. The advent of nanotechnology has vastly improved drug delivery for targeting and diagnosis. Nevertheless, the accuracy of drug targeting with polymeric nanoparticles has always been questionable. The polymeric nanoparticles synthesized from varieties of lipid-based compounds or combined with vectors, such as liposomes, ethosomes, and transfersomes, may allow the drug to overcome the issue of resistance to drug absorption in biological membranes. The combined effects of lipid-based nanocarriers are known to improve the efficacy and accuracy of polymeric nanoparticles. The present review explores the application of lipid based nanocarriers in the treatment and diagnosis of cancer A special focus is given to the use of lipid-based nanocarriers in the treatment, diagnosis, and mitigation of cancer located in blood, brain, lung, and colon. The treatment of these cancers has always been questionable as the chances of relapse are very high. The review encompasses the use of lipid-based nanocarriers in targeting tissue-specific cancer cells.
  4. Fulltext Design, synthesis, and spasmolytic activity of thiophene-based derivatives via Suzuki cross-coupling reaction of 5-bromothiophene-2-carboxylic acid: their structural and computational studies
    Rasool N, Ikram HM, Rashid A, Afzal N, Hashmi MA, Khan MN, et al.
    Turk J Chem, 2020;44(5):1410-1422.
    PMID: 33488240 DOI: 10.3906/kim-1911-51
    In the current research work, a facile synthesis of a series of novel thiophene-based derivatives of 5-bromothiophene-2-carboxylic acid ( 1 ) have been synthesized. All analogs ( 5a - 5e , 10a - 10f ) were obtained from the coupling reaction of 5-bromothiophene-2-carboxylic acid ( 1 ) and different arylboronic acids with moderate-to-good yields under controlled and optimal conditions. The structures of the newly synthesized compounds were characterized through spectral analysis and their spasmolytic activity, and most of the compounds exhibited potentially good spasmolytic effect. Among the synthesized analogs, compound phenethyl 5-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)thiophene-2-carboxylate ( 10d ) particular showed an excellent spasmolytic effect with an EC 50 value of 1.26. All of the compounds were also studied for their structural and electronic properties by density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Through detailed insight into frontier molecular orbitals of the compounds and their different reactivity descriptors, it was found that the compounds 10c and 5c are the most reactive, while 10a is the most stable in the series. Furthermore, compounds 10c and 5c showed a very good NLO response with the highest β values.
  5. Synthesis of novel derivatives of oxindole, their urease inhibition and molecular docking studies
    Taha M, Ismail NH, Khan A, Shah SA, Anwar A, Halim SA, et al.
    Bioorg Med Chem Lett, 2015 Aug 15;25(16):3285-9.
    PMID: 26077497 DOI: 10.1016/j.bmcl.2015.05.069
    We synthesized a series of novel 5-24 derivatives of oxindole. The synthesis started from 5-chlorooxindole, which was condensed with methyl 4-carboxybezoate and result in the formation of benzolyester derivatives of oxindole which was then treated with hydrazine hydrate. The oxindole benzoylhydrazide was treated with aryl acetophenones and aldehydes to get target compounds 5-24. The synthesized compounds were evaluated for urease inhibition; the compound 5 (IC50 = 13.00 ± 0.35 μM) and 11 (IC50 = 19.20 ± 0.50 μM) showed potent activity as compared to the standard drug thiourea (IC50 = 21.00 ± 0.01 μM). Other compounds showed moderate to weak activity. All synthetic compounds were characterized by different spectroscopic techniques including (1)H NMR, (13)C NMR, IR and EI MS. The molecular interactions of the active compounds within the binding site of urease enzyme were studied through molecular docking simulations.
  6. Genome-wide screening of vaccine targets prioritization and reverse vaccinology aided design of peptides vaccine to enforce humoral immune response against Campylobacter jejuni
    Zeb A, Ali SS, Azad AK, Safdar M, Anwar Z, Suleman M, et al.
    Comput Biol Med, 2021 06;133:104412.
    PMID: 33934066 DOI: 10.1016/j.compbiomed.2021.104412
    Campylobacter jejuni, gram-negative bacteria, is an infectious agent of foodborne disease-causing bloody diarrhea, abdominal pain, fever, Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) and Miller Fisher syndrome in humans. Campylobacter spp. with multidrug resistance to fluoroquinolones, tetracycline, and erythromycin are reported. Hence, an effective vaccine candidate would provide long-term immunity against C. jejuni infections. Thus, we used a subtractive proteomics pipeline to prioritize essential proteins, which impart a critical role in virulence, replication and survival. Five proteins, i.e. Single-stranded DNA-binding protein, UPF0324 membrane protein Cj0999c, DNA translocase FtsK, 50S ribosomal protein L22, and 50S ribosomal protein L1 were identified as virulent proteins and selected for vaccine designing. We reported that the multi-epitopes subunit vaccine based on CTL, HTL and B-cell epitopes combination possess strong antigenic properties and associates no allergenic reaction. Further investigation revealed that the vaccine interacts with the immune receptor (TLR-4) and triggered the release of primary and secondary immune factors. Moreover, the CAI and GC contents obtained through codon optimization were reported to be 0.93 and 53% that confirmed a high expression in the selected vector. The vaccine designed in this study needs further scientific consensus and will aid in managing C. jejuni infections.
  7. Prospect of Anterior Gradient 2 homodimer inhibition via repurposing FDA-approved drugs using structure-based virtual screening
    Ullah S, Khan SU, Khan A, Junaid M, Rafiq H, Htar TT, et al.
    Mol Divers, 2021 Jun 28.
    PMID: 34181147 DOI: 10.1007/s11030-021-10263-x
    Anterior Gradient 2 (AGR2) has recently been reported as a tumor biomarker in various cancers, i.e., breast, prostate and lung cancer. Predominantly, AGR2 exists as a homodimer via a dimerization domain (E60-K64); after it is self-dimerized, it helps FGF2 and VEGF to homo-dimerize and promotes the angiogenesis and the invasion of vascular endothelial cells and fibroblasts. Up till now, no small molecule has been discovered to inhibit the AGR2-AGR2 homodimer. Therefore, the present study was performed to prepare a validated 3D structure of AGR2 by homology modeling and discover a small molecule by screening the FDA-approved drugs library on AGR2 homodimer as a target protein. Thirteen different homology models of AGR2 were generated based on different templates which were narrowed down to 5 quality models sorted by their overall Z-scores. The top homology model based on PDB ID = 3PH9 was selected having the best Z-score and was further assessed by Verify-3D, ERRAT and RAMPAGE analysis. Structure-based virtual screening narrowed down the large library of FDA-approved drugs to ten potential AGR2-AGR2 homodimer inhibitors having FRED score lower than - 7.8 kcal/mol in which the top 5 drugs' binding stability was counter-validated by molecular dynamic simulation. To sum up, the present study prepared a validated 3D structure of AGR2 and, for the first time reported the discovery of 5 FDA-approved drugs to inhibit AGR2-AGR2 homodimer by using structure-based virtual screening. Moreover, the binding of the top 5 hits with AGR2 was also validated by molecular dynamic simulation. A validated 3D structure of Anterior Gradient 2 (AGR2) was prepared by homology modeling, which was used in virtual screening of FDA-approved drugs library for the discovery of prospective inhibitors of AGR2-AGR2 homodimer.
  8. Biology-oriented drug synthesis (BIODS), in vitro urease inhibitory activity, and in silico studies on ibuprofen derivatives
    Seraj F, Kanwal, Khan KM, Khan A, Ali M, Khalil R, et al.
    Mol Divers, 2021 Feb;25(1):143-157.
    PMID: 31965436 DOI: 10.1007/s11030-019-10032-x
    Novel ibuprofen derivatives 1-19 including ibuprofen hydrazide 1, and substituted thiourea derivatives 2-19 were synthesized and characterized by EI-MS, FAB-MS, HREI-MS, HRFAB-MS, 1H-, and 13C-NMR spectroscopic techniques. The synthetic molecules 1-19 were examined for their in vitro urease inhibition and were found to display a diversified degree of inhibitory potential in the range of IC50 = 2.96-178 μM as compared to the standard thiourea (IC50 = 21.32 ± 0.22 μM). Out of nineteen, thirteen derivatives 2-4, 6, 7, 9, 11-15, 17, and 18 demonstrated remarkable inhibitory activity with IC50 values of 2.96 ± 1.11 to 16.1 ± 1.07 μM, compound 5 exhibited moderate inhibition with IC50 value of 37.3 ± 0.41 μM, whereas, compounds 1, 8, and 10 demonstrated weak inhibition against urease enzyme. Almost all structural features are participating in the activity; however, limited structure-activity relationship was discussed on the basis of different structural features, i.e., different functional groups and their positions at aryl part. In addition, molecular docking study was performed in order to understand the ligands binding interactions with the active site of urease enzyme.
  9. Fulltext Awareness of cervical cancer among women in Malaysia
    Seng LM, Rosman AN, Khan A, Haris NM, Mustapha NAS, Husaini NSM, et al.
    Int J Health Sci (Qassim), 2018 7 20;12(4):42-48.
    PMID: 30022903
    Objectives: The purpose of this study is to evaluate and ascertain the current knowledge, perception, level of awareness, and attitudes toward cervical cancer (CC) among women in Malaysia.

    Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted which involved 210 women aged between 21 and 60 years old at the public in Malaysia, a subsequent statistical analysis was performed by SPSS version 22.

    Results: In comparison with other studies, there is still lacking of awareness on CC and these induced informal cluelessness and poor attitudes toward it. In terms of risk factors, there are two factors with some degree of awareness among women in Malaysia, i.e., multiple sexual partners and sexually transmitted diseases. Women in Malaysia have less awareness on the causes and clinical manifestations of the disease (P < 0.05). They are aware that regular papanicolaou (Pap) smear would screen CC and surgery could be a treatment of choice. In addition, women in Malaysia also have moderate awareness about Pap smear as prevention to detect and prevent CC at the early stage.

    Conclusions: Women in Malaysia only has a good awareness about multiple sex partner and sexually transmitted disease as a risk factor for CC, they also have good knowledge on regular Pap smear as a tool to diagnose and surgery as a treatment. Future, further effort is required to promote awareness of women's perception and attitudes toward CC.
  10. Design, synthesis, in vitro Evaluation and docking studies on dihydropyrimidine-based urease inhibitors
    Iftikhar F, Ali Y, Ahmad Kiani F, Fahad Hassan S, Fatima T, Khan A, et al.
    Bioorg Chem, 2017 10;74:53-65.
    PMID: 28753459 DOI: 10.1016/j.bioorg.2017.07.003
    In our previous report, we have identified 3,4-dihydropyrimidine scaffold as promising class of urease inhibitor in a structure based virtual screen (SBVS) experiment. In present study, we attempted to optimize the scaffold by varying C-5 substituent. The elongation of the C-5 chain was achieved by the reaction of C-5 ester with hydrazine leading to C-5 carbohydrazides which were further used as building blocks for the synthesis of fifteen new compounds having diverse moieties. A significantly higher in vitro urease inhibitory activity with IC50 values in submicromolar range was observed for semithiocarbazide derivatives (4a-c, 0.58-0.79µM) and isatin Schiff base derivative 5a (0.23µM). Docking analysis suggests that the synthesized compounds were anchored well in the catalytic site and extending to the entrance of binding pocket and thus restrict the mobility of the flap by interacting with its key amino acid residues. The overall results of urease inhibition have shown that these compounds can be further optimized and developed as lead urease inhibitors.
  11. Fulltext Kelussia odoratissima Mozaff. activates intrinsic pathway of apoptosis in breast cancer cells associated with S phase cell cycle arrest via involvement of p21/p27 in vitro and in vivo
    Karimian H, Arya A, Fadaeinasab M, Razavi M, Hajrezaei M, Karim Khan A, et al.
    Drug Des Devel Ther, 2017;11:337-350.
    PMID: 28203057 DOI: 10.2147/DDDT.S121518
    BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to evaluate the anticancer potential of Kelussia odoratissima. Several in vitro and in vivo biological assays were applied to explore the direct effect of an extract and bioactive compound of this plant against breast cancer cells and its possible mechanism of action.

    MATERIALS AND METHODS: K. odoratissima methanol extract (KME) was prepared, and MTT assay was used to evaluate the cytotoxicity. To identify the cytotoxic compound, a bioassay-guided investigation was performed on methanol extract. 8-Hydroxy-ar-turmerone was isolated as a bioactive compound. In vivo study was performed in the breast cancer rat model. LA7 cell line was used to induce the breast tumor. Histopathological and expression changes of PCNA, Bcl-2, Bax, p27 and p21 and caspase-3 were examined. The induction of apoptosis was tested using Annexin V-fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) assay. To confirm the intrinsic pathway of apoptosis, caspase-7 and caspase-9 assays were utilized. In addition, cell cycle arrest was evaluated.

    RESULTS: Our results demonstrated that K. odoratissima has an obvious effect on the arrest of proliferation of cancer cells. It induced apoptosis, transduced the cell death signals, decreased the threshold of mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), upregulated Bax and downregulated Bcl-2.

    CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated that K. odoratissima exhibits antitumor activity against breast cancer cells via cell death and cell cycle arrest.

  12. Synthesis of indole-substituted thiosemicarbazones as an aldose reductase inhibitor: an in vitro, selectivity and in silico study
    Shehzad MT, Khan A, Halim SA, Hameed A, Imran A, Iqbal J, et al.
    Future Med Chem, 2021 07;13(14):1185-1201.
    PMID: 34148377 DOI: 10.4155/fmc-2020-0060
    Aim: Indole is an important component of many drug molecules, and its conjugation with thiosemicarbazone moiety would be advantageous in finding lead compounds for the development of diabetic complications. Methodology: We have designed, synthesized and evaluated a series of 17 indole-thiosemicarbazones (3a-q) as aldose reductase (ALR2) and aldehyde reductase (ALR1) inhibitors. Results: After in vitro evaluation, all indole-thiosemicarbazones showed significant inhibition against both enzyme ALR1 and ALR2 with IC50 in range of 0.42-20.7 and 1.02-19.1 μM, respectively. The docking study was also carried out to consider the putative binding of molecules with the target enzymes. Conclusion: Compound 3f was found to be most active and selective for ALR2. The indole-thiosemicarbazones series described here has selective hits for diabetes-mellitus-associated complications.
  13. Fulltext Synergistic effects of Cu-doped ZnO nanoantibiotic against Gram-positive bacterial strains
    Khalid A, Ahmad P, Alharthi AI, Muhammad S, Khandaker MU, Faruque MRI, et al.
    PLoS One, 2021;16(5):e0251082.
    PMID: 33989295 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0251082
    A viable hydrothermal technique has been explored for the synthesis of copper doped Zinc oxide nanoparticles (Cu-doped ZnO-NPs) based on the precursor's mixture of Copper-II chloride dihydrate (CuCl2.2H2O), Zinc chloride (ZnCl2), and potassium hydroxide (KOH). X-ray diffraction (XRD) reported the hexagonal wurtzite structure of the synthesized Cu-doped ZnO-NPs. The surface morphology is checked via field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), whereas, the elemental compositions of the samples were confirmed by Raman, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), respectively. The as-obtained ZnO-NPs and Cu-doped ZnO-NPs were then tested for their antibacterial activity against clinical isolates of Gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pyogenes) and Gram-negative (Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumonia) bacteria via agar well diffusion method. The zone of inhibition (ZOI) for Cu-doped ZnO-NPs was found to be 24 and 19 mm against S. Aureus and S. pyogenes, and 18 and 11 mm against E. coli and K. pneumoniae, respectively. The synthesized Cu-doped ZnO-NPs can thus be found as a potential nano antibiotic against Gram-positive multi-drug resistant bacterial strains.
  14. Structural probing of HapR to identify potent phytochemicals to control Vibrio cholera through integrated computational approaches
    Tahir Ul Qamar M, Ahmad S, Khan A, Mirza MU, Ahmad S, Abro A, et al.
    Comput Biol Med, 2021 11;138:104929.
    PMID: 34655900 DOI: 10.1016/j.compbiomed.2021.104929
    Cholera is a severe small intestine bacterial disease caused by consumption of water and food contaminated with Vibrio cholera. The disease causes watery diarrhea leading to severe dehydration and even death if left untreated. In the past few decades, V. cholerae has emerged as multidrug-resistant enteric pathogen due to its rapid ability to adapt in detrimental environmental conditions. This research study aimed to design inhibitors of a master virulence gene expression regulator, HapR. HapR is critical in regulating the expression of several set of V. cholera virulence genes, quorum-sensing circuits and biofilm formation. A blind docking strategy was employed to infer the natural binding tendency of diverse phytochemicals extracted from medicinal plants by exposing the whole HapR structure to the screening library. Scoring function criteria was applied to prioritize molecules with strong binding affinity (binding energy 
  15. Role of Epithelial-to-Mesenchymal Transition Markers in Different Stages of Endometriosis: Expression of the Snail, Slug, ZEB1, and Twist Genes
    Kazmi I, Alharbi KS, Al-Abbasi FA, Almalki WH, G SK, Yasmeen A, et al.
    Crit Rev Eukaryot Gene Expr, 2021;31(2):89-95.
    PMID: 34347983 DOI: 10.1615/CritRevEukaryotGeneExpr.2021037996
    Among various epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT)-related transcription factors (TFs), altered expression levels of Snail-1, Snail-2/Slug, Twist, and ZEB1 have shown a significant association in different cancers having a higher risk of metastasis. However, their role in the circulation of endometriosis patients is not well understood. Hence, the present study was designed to evaluate the crucial role of these TFs in defining the molecular pathogenesis for endometriosis progression and differentiation from control subjects. The qualitative and quantitative expression analysis of Snail-1, Snail-2/Slug, Twist, and ZEB1 were analyzed in peripheral blood samples of 75 different stages of endometriosis patients and compared with 50 control subjects. Total RNA was extracted and converted into complementary DNA (cDNA) for relative quantification of each gene transcript using SYBRGreen-based reverse transcriptase quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). The Livak method of relative quantification was used for calculating the fold change in each TF compared with endogenous control. All four selected TFs showed significantly upregulated expression levels in endometriosis patients compared with control subjects. A three-fold increase was observed for Snail-1 (p = 0.0001), and a two-fold increase was observed for Snail-2 (p = 0.01), Twist (p = 0.0002), and ZEB1 (p = 0.001) in stage III and IV compared with stage I and II of endometriosis patients. The present study revealed that EMT-related TFs play a crucial role in the pathogenesis and differentiating different stages of endometriosis patients through expression analysis of specific molecular cascades using non-invasive tools.
  16. REVIEW-Novel corona virus disease (COVID-19): An updated review on epidemiology, pathogenicity, clinical course, treatments, migrant health concerns and risk factors predictions
    Anis S, Masood Khan M, Ali Z, Khan A, Arsalan HM, Naeem S, et al.
    Pak J Pharm Sci, 2021 Sep;34(5):1821-1836.
    PMID: 34803021
    The COVID-19 epidemic is considered the most important health disaster of the century and the largest humanitarian crisis since World War II. In December 2019, a new respiratory disease/disorder was discovered in Wuhan, Hubei province, China and World Health Organization named it COVID-19 (coronavirus 2019). It has been diagnosed with a new class of corona virus, called SARS-CoV-2 (a serious respiratory disease). According to the history of human civilization it is affected by the incidence of disease outbreaks caused by the number of viruses. Covid-19 is rapidly spreading across the globe, due to which mankind faces major health, economic, environmental and social challenges. The outbreak of coronavirus is seriously affecting the global economy. Almost all nations have problems limiting the spread of the disease by screening and treating patients, setting up suspects by keeping in touch, blocking large gatherings, maintaining full or partial closure etc. This paper describes the impact of COVID-19 on society and the global environment, and the ways in which the disease is likely to be controlled have been discussed.
  17. Managing crime through quality education: A model of justice
    Zaman K, Usman B, Sheikh SM, Iswan, Khan A, Kosnin ABM, et al.
    Sci Justice, 2019 11;59(6):597-605.
    PMID: 31606097 DOI: 10.1016/j.scijus.2019.08.004
    The study examines the role of quality education in access to justice, using a panel data of 21 diversified countries for the period of 1990-2015. The findings show that there is a positive relationship between the presence of scientific and technical journals (STJ) articles and crime rates. The R&D expenditures does not substantially reduce crime rate while per capita income, trademark applications, and technical cooperation grants significantly reduce crime rates across countries. The panel fixed effect (FE) model confirmed the inverted U-shaped relationship between per capita income (GDPpc) and crime rate in the presence of STJ, while this result is changed in the case of GMM estimator. The results of panel causality confirmed the unidirectional causality running from crime rate to STJ and R&D expenditures, while there is bidirectional causality between i) GDPpc and technical cooperation grants, and between ii) energy efficiency and refugee population by country. The variance decomposition analysis (VDA) shows that R&D expenditures have a greater share to influence crime rate, while technical cooperation grants will affect STJ for the next 10 years time. This finding bolsters the conversation on the relationship between education and a reduction in crime rates.
  18. Fulltext Cancer protective effects of plums: A systematic review
    Bahrin AA, Moshawih S, Dhaliwal JS, Kanakal MM, Khan A, Lee KS, et al.
    Biomed Pharmacother, 2022 Feb;146:112568.
    PMID: 34963086 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopha.2021.112568
    Plums is one of the most cultivated stone fruits due to its fast growing popularity. It has various traditionally recognized health benefits. There are two main commercial types of plums: the European plum (Prunus domestica) and the Japanese plum (Prunus salicina), each having many varieties. Researchers are gathering further evidence of pharmacological effects for plums by scientifically studying its anti-inflammatory, antioxidant properties. A systematic review analysing the literature related to the effects of plums on prevention and treatment of cancer is warranted. This is the first review examining the cancer-related effects of plums. Antioxidation properties of the active constituents of plum were also compared. Scopus, Google Scholar, PubMed, Medxriv and Cochrane Library databases, from their date of inception until July 2021 were utilized. The risk of bias was assessed using CONSORT checklist. A total of 6639 studies were screened and eventually only 54 studies were included. Full-text review of included studies revealed that plum extracts were rich in antioxidants. Overall, most of the studies that fulfilled the eligibility criteria were in vitro and a few clinical studies involving in vivo work. Therefore, it would be beneficial to perform more studies on animals or humans, to confirm that the result obtained from these in vitro studies are able to be extrapolated in a wider range of applications. Further clinical and in vivo studies are warranted to validate plums as a functional food for treatment and prevention of cancer.
  19. Administrative Stressors and Islamic Coping Strategies Among Muslim Primary Principals in Malaysia: A Mixed Method Study
    Tahir LM, Khan A, Musah MB, Ahmad R, Daud K, Al-Hudawi SHV, et al.
    Community Ment Health J, 2018 07;54(5):649-663.
    PMID: 29151201 DOI: 10.1007/s10597-017-0206-8
    Principals are school leaders who experienced stress while leading their schools towards excellence. However, principals stress experiences are always ignored and least studied. This mixed-methods study investigates primary principals' stress experiences and their Islamic coping strategies used in incapacitating the stress experiences. A total of 216 Muslim primary principals across different gender, types of schools and years of experiences as school leaders responded to the administrative stress and the Islamic coping strategies items. In addition, seven primary principals were purposefully selected and interviewed in exploring their reasons of using Islamic coping strategies for their relieving process. Results discovered that primary principals experienced fairly stress level and they perceived managing students' academic achievement was the most stressor followed by managing teachers' capabilities. Although findings revealed that no significant differences in terms primary principals' demographics; male primary principals, and experienced between 6 and 10 years and positioned in schools with least students (SLS) category have slightly higher level of stress. In terms of Islamic coping strategies used by primary principals, saying dhua to Allah, performing dhikir and reciting the Yassen are selected coping approaches employed in handling their stress. From interviews, primary principals also revealed that they used Islamic religious approaches as part of meaningful activities not just to overcoming their stress but also as part of religious approaches in remembering Allah, thinking back their past mistakes as part of the Muhasabah process. Therefore, we believed that religious approaches should be taken into consideration in principals' training as it provides peaceful and treatment in managing principals' stress issue.
  20. Environmental quality indicators and financial development in Malaysia: unity in diversity
    Alam A, Azam M, Abdullah AB, Malik IA, Khan A, Hamzah TA, et al.
    Environ Sci Pollut Res Int, 2015 Jun;22(11):8392-404.
    PMID: 25537287 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-014-3982-5
    Environmental quality indicators are crucial for responsive and cost-effective policies. The objective of the study is to examine the relationship between environmental quality indicators and financial development in Malaysia. For this purpose, the number of environmental quality indicators has been used, i.e., air pollution measured by carbon dioxide emissions, population density per square kilometer of land area, agricultural production measured by cereal production and livestock production, and energy resources considered by energy use and fossil fuel energy consumption, which placed an impact on the financial development of the country. The study used four main financial indicators, i.e., broad money supply (M2), domestic credit provided by the financial sector (DCFS), domestic credit to the private sector (DCPC), and inflation (CPI), which each financial indicator separately estimated with the environmental quality indicators, over a period of 1975-2013. The study used the generalized method of moments (GMM) technique to minimize the simultaneity from the model. The results show that carbon dioxide emissions exert the positive correlation with the M2, DCFC, and DCPC, while there is a negative correlation with the CPI. However, these results have been evaporated from the GMM estimates, where carbon emissions have no significant relationship with any of the four financial indicators in Malaysia. The GMM results show that population density has a negative relationship with the all four financial indicators; however, in case of M2, this relationship is insignificant to explain their result. Cereal production has a positive relationship with the DCPC, while there is a negative relationship with the CPI. Livestock production exerts the positive relationship with the all four financial indicators; however, this relationship with the CPI has a more elastic relationship, while the remaining relationship is less elastic with the three financial indicators in a country. Energy resources comprise energy use and fossil fuel energy consumption, both have distinct results with the financial indicators, as energy demand have a positive and significant relationship with the DCFC, DCPC, and CPI, while fossil fuel energy consumption have a negative relationship with these three financial indicators. The results of the study are of value to both environmentalists and policy makers.
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