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Fulltext Development and evaluation of a new growth medium for Helicobacter pylori

Sasidharan S, Uyub AM

FEMS Immunol. Med. Microbiol., 2009 Jun;56(1):94-7.
PMID: 19309485 DOI: 10.1111/j.1574-695X.2009.00554.x

The present study was aimed at modifying the original formulation of Commercial Eugon agar (CEA) to develop a new H. pylori growth medium. Initial studies were carried out to determine the number of H. pylori colonies recovered on in-house H. pylori agar (IHPA), IHPA without L-cysteine and sodium sulfite (IHPA-NC), IHPA without L-cysteine (IHPA-C), IHPA without sodium sulfite (IHPA-N) and CEA as the control. Significant differences (P < 0.001) in the number of colonies recovered were observed between IHPA-N, IHPA-NC and IHPA-C. Incorporation of sodium sulfite decreased the number of colonies recovered, indicating that sodium sulfite was inhibitory to H. pylori growth. Removal of L-cysteine reduced the number of colonies recovered, suggesting that L-cysteine is necessary for the growth of H. pylori. In the subsequent study, incorporation of K(2)HPO(4) further increased the number of colonies recovered compared with IHPA-N (P < 0.001), and 0.25% (w/v) of K(2)HPO(4) yielded the highest numbers of colonies (P < or = 0.04). Finally, thirty other H. pylori clinical isolates were evaluated for their growth in the IHPAP-N, a new medium consisting of 1.5% (w/v) pepticase, 0.5% (w/v) peptone, 0.4% (w/v) sodium chloride, 0.03% (w/v) L-cysteine, 0.55% (w/v) dextrose, 0.25% (w/v) K(2)HPO(4) and 1.5% (w/v) agar. The number of colonies recovered in IHPAP-N was significantly (P < 0.005) higher than that of CEA. IHPAP-N with 0.25% K(2)HPO(4) and without sodium sulfite were adequate solid media for the growth of H. pylori.
Medical image watermarking with tamper detection and recovery

Zain JM, Fauzi AM

Conf Proc IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc, 2007 10 20;2006:3270-3.
PMID: 17945763

This paper discussed security of medical images and reviewed some work done regarding them. A fragile watermarking scheme was then proposed that could detect tamper and subsequently recover the image. Our scheme required a secret key and a public chaotic mixing algorithm to embed and recover a tampered image. The scheme was also resilient to VQ attack. The purposes were to verify the integrity and authenticity of medical images. We used 800 x 600 x 8 bits ultrasound (US) greyscale images in our experiment. We tested our algorithm for up to 50% tampered block and obtained 100% recovery for spread-tampered block.
Clinical evaluation of watermarked medical images

Zain JM, Fauzi AM, Aziz AA

Conf Proc IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc, 2007 10 20;2006:5459-62.
PMID: 17946306

Digital watermarking medical images provides security to the images. The purpose of this study was to see whether digitally watermarked images changed clinical diagnoses when assessed by radiologists. We embedded 256 bits watermark to various medical images in the region of non-interest (RONI) and 480K bits in both region of interest (ROI) and RONI. Our results showed that watermarking medical images did not alter clinical diagnoses. In addition, there was no difference in image quality when visually assessed by the medical radiologists. We therefore concluded that digital watermarking medical images were safe in terms of preserving image quality for clinical purposes.
Apoptosis in Acanthamoeba castellanii belonging to the T4 genotype

Baig AM, Lalani S, Khan NA

J Basic Microbiol, 2017 Jul;57(7):574-579.
PMID: 28466971 DOI: 10.1002/jobm.201700025

Here we describe features of apoptosis in unicellular Acanthamoeba castellanii belonging to the T4 genotype. When exposed to apoptosis-inducing compounds such as doxorubicin, A. castellanii trophozoites exhibited cell shrinkage and membrane blebbing as observed microscopically, DNA fragmentation using agarose gel electrophoresis, and phosphatidylserine (PS) externalization using annexin V immunostaining. Overall, these findings suggest the existence of apoptosis in A. castellanii possibly mediated by intrinsic apoptotic cascade. Further research in this field could provide avenues to selectively induce apoptosis in A. castellanii by triggering intrinsic apoptotic cascade.
Existence of two emm-like "mrp" and "emm" genes in the mga regulon of the Streptococcus pyogenes strain ST4547

Eshaghi M, Ali AM, Jamal F, Yusoff K

J. Biochem. Mol. Biol. Biophys., 2002 Feb;6(1):23-8.
PMID: 12186779

Streptococcus pyogenes ST4547 is an opacity factor negative strain, which has been recently reported as a new emm type from Malaysia. Nucleotide sequencing of the mga regulon of this strain showed the existence of two emm-like genes. The emm gene located upstream of the scpA gene comprises 1305 nucleotides encoding the putative precursor M protein of 435 amino acids in length with an M(r) of 49 kDa. or a predicted mature protein of 394 amino acids with an M(r) of 44.8 kDa. Another gene mrpST4547 was located upstream of the emm gene and downstream of the mga gene. The sequence of this mrp gene comprises 1167 nucleotides encoding a predicted protein of 388 amino acids in length with an M(r) of 42.2 kDa. or a predicted mature protein of 347 amino acids with an M(r) of 37.9 kDa. The mga regulon of strain ST4547 has a mosaic structure comprising segments, which originated from different OF positive and OF negative strains. The sequences flanking the hyper-variable and C repeats of the emmST4547 gene showed high similarity to corresponding regions in the mga regulon of OF positive strains notably M15, M4, M22 and M50. In contrast, the sequence within the hyper-variable and C repeat regions of the emmST4547 gene revealed high similarity to equivalent regions in the OF negative strains. These data indicates that horizontal transfer of emm-like gene could have occurred between OF positive and OF negative strains resulting in architectural divergence in the mga regulon.
Primary care barriers to cataract surgery in the eastern zone of Peninsular Malaysia: an interpretative phenomenological analysis

Nurulain MZ, Ahmad S, Asma H, Abdul M

Med J Malaysia, 2018 04;73(2):67-72.
PMID: 29703868

OBJECTIVE: Cataract is the leading cause of blindness in Malaysia. There is an alarming backlog of cataract extraction surgery as the majority believes they did not require surgery. This study aimed to explore the barriers at the primary care level to cataract surgery from the perspective of patients with severe cataract blindness.
METHODS: Eleven participants were involved in this qualitative research which utilised the interpretative phenomenological analysis approach more renowned in health psychology research. All interviews conducted at their home. The interviews were recorded, typed verbatim, and the transcripts were analysed using NVivo software version 8.0.
RESULTS: The main barriers identified at the primary care level were 1) nondisclosure of their visual problems originated from their belated needs for better sight, delayed awareness of their visual status and social stigma and 2) patient-provider-related issues namely miscommunication and delayed referral. The first main theme explains their belief for not requiring surgery. This has led to their delayed awareness and impeded disclosure of their visual problems to family members or primary care providers. The second main theme reflects the provider-patient-related issues which retarded cataract detection and referral process required for earlier cataract extraction surgery.
CONCLUSION: Thus, the appropriate approach targeting these specific barriers at primary care level will be able to detect, motivate and assist patients for early uptake of cataract extraction surgery to improve their vision and prevent severe blindness.
Association of Malaysian Helicobacter pylori virulence polymorphisms with severity of gastritis and patients' ethnicity

Alfizah H, Ramelah M, Rizal AM, Anwar AS, Isa MR

Helicobacter, 2012 Oct;17(5):340-9.
PMID: 22967117 DOI: 10.1111/j.1523-5378.2012.00956.x

Polymorphisms of Helicobacter pylori cagA and vacA genes do exist and may contribute to differences in H. pylori infection and gastroduodenal diseases among races in the Malaysian population. This study was conducted to characterize the polymorphisms in H. pylori cagA and vacA in Malaysian population.
Two new xanthones from Artocarpus obtusus

Hashim N, Rahmani M, Sukari MA, Ali AM, Alitheen NB, Go R, et al.

J Asian Nat Prod Res, 2010 Feb;12(2):106-12.
PMID: 20390751 DOI: 10.1080/10286020903450411

Two new xanthones, pyranocycloartobiloxanthone A (1) and dihydroartoindonesianin C (2), were isolated from the stem bark of Artocarpus obtusus Jarrett by chromatographic separation. Their structures were determined by using spectroscopic methods and comparison with known related compounds. Pyranocycloartobiloxanthone A (1) showed strong free radical scavenging activity by using DPPH assay as well as cytotoxicity towards K562, HL-60, and MCF7 cell lines.
S-methyldithiocarbazate and its Schiff bases: evaluation of bondings and biological properties

Tarafder MT, Kasbollah A, Saravanan N, Crouse KA, Ali AM, Tin Oo K

J. Biochem. Mol. Biol. Biophys., 2002 Apr;6(2):85-91.
PMID: 12186762

Eight selective nitrogen-sulfur donor ligands have been synthesized from the condensation of S-methyldithiocarbazate (SMDTC) with aldehydes and ketones with a view to evaluating their antimicrobial and cytotoxic activities, and also to correlate the biological properties with the structure of the ligands. The compounds were all characterized by elemental analyses and other physicochemical techniques. SMDTC and the Schiff bases were screened for antimicrobial and cytotoxic activities. SMDTC showed very large inhibition zones (24-44 mm) against bacteria and fungi with a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 390-25,000 and 1562-6250 microg ml(-1), against different bacteria and fungi, respectively. Streptomycin and nystatin were used as the internal standards against bacteria and fungi, respectively. SMDTC along with its Schiff bases with pyridine-2-carboxaldehyde, acetylacetone and 2,3-butanedione were strongly antifungal and the MIC values were comparable to nystatin. Most of the Schiff bases were strongly cytotoxic. In particular, those with pyridine-2-carboxaldehyde and 2,3-butanedione have CD(50) values of 5.5, 1.9-2.0 microg ml(-1), respectively, against leukemic cells, while against colon cancer cells, the values were 3.7 and 2.0 microg ml(-1), respectively. The glyoxal Schiff base was strongly active only against leukemic cell with CD(50) value of 4.0 microg ml(-1). The present findings have been compared with standard drugs.
Fulltext MicroRNA and Transcription Factor: Key Players in Plant Regulatory Network

Samad AFA, Sajad M, Nazaruddin N, Fauzi IA, Murad AMA, Zainal Z, et al.

Front Plant Sci, 2017;8:565.
PMID: 28446918 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2017.00565

Recent achievements in plant microRNA (miRNA), a large class of small and non-coding RNAs, are very exciting. A wide array of techniques involving forward genetic, molecular cloning, bioinformatic analysis, and the latest technology, deep sequencing have greatly advanced miRNA discovery. A tiny miRNA sequence has the ability to target single/multiple mRNA targets. Most of the miRNA targets are transcription factors (TFs) which have paramount importance in regulating the plant growth and development. Various families of TFs, which have regulated a range of regulatory networks, may assist plants to grow under normal and stress environmental conditions. This present review focuses on the regulatory relationships between miRNAs and different families of TFs like; NF-Y, MYB, AP2, TCP, WRKY, NAC, GRF, and SPL. For instance NF-Y play important role during drought tolerance and flower development, MYB are involved in signal transduction and biosynthesis of secondary metabolites, AP2 regulate the floral development and nodule formation, TCP direct leaf development and growth hormones signaling. WRKY have known roles in multiple stress tolerances, NAC regulate lateral root formation, GRF are involved in root growth, flower, and seed development, and SPL regulate plant transition from juvenile to adult. We also studied the relation between miRNAs and TFs by consolidating the research findings from different plant species which will help plant scientists in understanding the mechanism of action and interaction between these regulators in the plant growth and development under normal and stress environmental conditions.
Fulltext Noncytotoxic and Antitumour-Promoting Activities of Garcinia Acid Esters from Garcinia atroviridis Griff. ex T. Anders (Guttiferae)

Mackeen MM, Mooi LY, Amran M, Mat N, Lajis NH, Ali AM

Evid Based Complement Alternat Med, 2012;2012:829814.
PMID: 22685487 DOI: 10.1155/2012/829814

The in vitro antitumour-promoting, cytotoxic, and antioxidant activities of two ester derivatives of garcinia acid, that is, 2-(butoxycarbonylmethyl)-3-butoxycarbonyl-2-hydroxy-3-propanolide (1) and 1',1''-dibutyl methyl hydroxycitrate (2), that had been previously isolated from the fruits of Garcinia atroviridis Griff. ex T. Anders (Guttiferae), were examined. Based on the inhibition of Epstein-Barr virus early antigen (EBV-EA) activation, compound 1 (IC(50): 70 μM) showed much higher (8-fold) antitumour-promoting activity than compound 2 (IC(50): 560 μM). In addition, both compounds were nontoxic towards CEM-SS (human T-lymphoblastic leukemia) cells (CD(50): >100 μM), Raji (human B-lymphoblastoid) cells (CD(50): >600 μM), and brine shrimp (LD(50): >300 μM). Although the antitumour-promoting activity of compound 1 is moderate compared with the known antitumour promoter genistein, its non-toxicity suggests the potential of compound 1 and related structures as chemopreventive agents. The weak antioxidant activity displayed by both compounds also suggested that the primary antitumour-promoting mechanism of compound 1 did not involve oxidative-stress quenching.
Hospital service quality: a managerial challenge

Rose RC, Uli J, Abdul M, Ng KL

Int J Health Care Qual Assur Inc Leadersh Health Serv, 2004;17(2-3):146-59.
PMID: 15301271

While much is known generally about predictions of customer-perceived service quality, their application to health services is rarer. No attempt has been made to examine the impact of social support and patient education on overall service quality perception. Together with six quality dimensions identified from the literature, this study seeks to provide a more holistic comprehension of hospital service quality prediction. Although 79 percent of variation is explained, other than technical quality the impact of the remaining factors on quality perception is far from constant, and socio-economic variables further complicate unpredictability. Contrary to established beliefs, the cost factor was found to be insignificant. Hence, to manage service quality effectively, the test lies in how well healthcare providers know the customers they serve. It is not only crucial in a globalized environment, where trans-national patient mobility is increasingly the norm, but also within homogeneous societies that appear to converge culturally.
Fulltext Morphological phylogenetic analysis of seven varieties of Ficus deltoidea Jack from the Malay Peninsula of Malaysia

Fatihah HN, Mat N, Zaimah AR, Zuhailah MN, Norhaslinda H, Khairil M, et al.

PLoS One, 2012;7(12):e52441.
PMID: 23285045 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0052441

This study is the first report to suggest a morphological phylogenetic framework for the seven varieties of Ficus deltoidea Jack (Ficus: Moraceae) from the Malay Peninsula of Malaysia. Several molecular-based classifications on the genus Ficus had been proposed, but neither had discussed the relationship between seven varieties of F. deltoidea to its allies nor within the varieties. The relationship between seven varieties of F. deltoidea is still debated due to the extreme morphological variabilities and ambiguous boundaries between taxa. Thus, the correct identification of these varieties is important as several morphological characters are variety-specific. To test the monophyly and further resolved the relationship in F. deltoidea, a morphological phylogenetic analysis was conducted based on herbarium specimens representing the seven varieties of F. deltoidea that were collected from the Malay Peninsula of Malaysia, by using related species of the genus Ficus; F. grossularioides, F. ischnopoda and F. oleifolia as the outgroups. Parsimony and neighbour-joining analyses indicated that F. deltoidea is monophyletic, in that the seven varieties of F. deltoidea nested into two clades; clade subspecies deltoidea (var. deltoidea, var. bilobata, var. angustifolia, var. kunstleri and var. trengganuensis) and clade subspecies motleyana (var. intermedia and var. motleyana).
Fulltext Willingness-to-pay for a COVID-19 vaccine and its associated determinants in Indonesia

Harapan H, Wagner AL, Yufika A, Winardi W, Anwar S, Gan AK, et al.

Hum Vaccin Immunother, 2020 12 01;16(12):3074-3080.
PMID: 32991230 DOI: 10.1080/21645515.2020.1819741

How countries, particularly low- and middle-income economies, should pay the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine is an important and understudied issue. We undertook an online survey to measure the willingness-to-pay (WTP) for a COVID-19 vaccine and its determinants in Indonesia. The WTP was assessed using a simple dichotomous contingent valuation approach and a linear regression model was used to assess its associated determinants. There were 1,359 respondents who completed the survey. In total, 78.3% (1,065) were willing to pay for the COVID-19 vaccine with a mean and median WTP of US$ 57.20 (95%CI: US$ 54.56, US$ 59.85) and US$ 30.94 (95%CI: US$ 30.94, US$ 30.94), respectively. Being a health-care worker, having a high income, and having high perceived risk were associated with higher WTP. These findings suggest that the WTP for a COVID-19 vaccine is relatively high in Indonesia. This WTP information can be used to construct a payment model for a COVID-19 vaccine in the country. Nevertheless, to attain higher vaccine coverage, it may be necessary to partially subsidize the vaccine for those who are less wealthy and to design health promotion materials to increase the perceived risk for COVID-19 in the country.
Fulltext Reheating of soy oil is detrimental to bone metabolism in oestrogen deficient rats

Ima-Nirwana S, Ahmad SN, Yee LJ, Loh HC, Yew SF, Norazlina M, et al.

Singapore Med J, 2007 Mar;48(3):200-6.
PMID: 17342287

The short-term and long- term effects of heated soy oil on bone metabolism in ovariectomised Sprague-Dawley rats were studied.
Fulltext Knowledge and attitude towards pregnancy-related issues of Zika virus infection among general practitioners in Indonesia

Harapan H, Rajamoorthy Y, Utomo PS, Anwar S, Setiawan AM, Alleta A, et al.

BMC Infect Dis, 2019 Aug 06;19(1):693.
PMID: 31387537 DOI: 10.1186/s12879-019-4297-4

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to assess the knowledge and attitudes towards pregnancy-related issues of Zika virus (ZIKV) infection among general practitioners (GPs), a frontline healthcare worker group, in Indonesia.
METHODS: A cross-sectional, online survey assessing knowledge and attitudes towards ZIKV infection on multiple-item scales was sent to GPs in the Sumatra and Java islands of Indonesia. The associations between independent factors and either knowledge or attitude were assessed with logistic regressions. The correlation and association between knowledge and attitude were estimated.
RESULTS: We included 457 (53.7%) out of 850 responses in the analysis. Among these, 304 (66.5%) and 111 (24.2%) respondents had a good knowledge and attitude, respectively. No demographic, workplace, professional development, or experiential characteristics related to ZIKV infection were associated with knowledge. In the multivariate analysis, only contact experience was associated with attitude. There was a significant, positive correlation between knowledge and attitude scores.
CONCLUSIONS: Although knowledge of pregnancy-related complications of ZIKV infection is relatively high among GPs in Indonesia, more than 75% of them had a poor attitude towards pregnancy-related issues of Zika. Strategies for enhancing the capacity of GPs to develop positive attitudes and respond to ZIKV infection are needed.
Effectiveness of first-aid education in road traffic crashes on non-healthcare professionals' knowledge, attitude, and skills: a systematic review

Ufashingabire Minani C, Soh KL, Rosliza Abdul M, Mani KKC, Ibrahim B, Mohamed Dirie A, et al.

Int J Inj Contr Saf Promot, 2023 Sep;30(3):447-454.
PMID: 37177800 DOI: 10.1080/17457300.2023.2210554

This review aimed to evaluate and synthesize information on the effects of first-aid education in road traffic crashes on knowledge, attitudes, and skills among non-healthcare professionals. A qualitative study was designed according to the Prepared Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) standards to evaluate three outcomes, knowledge, skills, and attitude. The search strategy was performed in five databases (Science Direct, Scopus, CINAHL Plus, PubMed, and Google Scholar) to retrieve primary studies published between January 2011 and December 2021. In addition, the full texts of randomized controlled trials conducted on adults were included. Among the 2,399 articles retrieved from the databases, 2,388 were discarded, and only five studies met the inclusion criteria and were used in the final analysis and synthesis. Three of the five studies suggested that knowledge and skills are crucial in differentiating outcome factors between intervention and control groups regarding the effectiveness of first aid education. However, two studies on attitude and behaviour toward first-aid found no discernible change between the intervention and the control group. Therefore, our review revealed that only a well-structured first aid education is crucial to leverage the knowledge and skills of non-healthcare professionals before first aid provision, not attitude or behaviours.
Acceptance and willingness to pay for a hypothetical vaccine against monkeypox viral infection among frontline physicians: A cross-sectional study in Indonesia

Harapan H, Wagner AL, Yufika A, Setiawan AM, Anwar S, Wahyuni S, et al.

Vaccine, 2020 10 07;38(43):6800-6806.
PMID: 32861468 DOI: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2020.08.034

BACKGROUND: A clinical trial is ongoing to evaluate the safety and efficacy of a monkeypox vaccine among healthcare workers (HCWs). The critical question that needs to be addressed is whether HCWs are willing to accept and purchase this vaccine. The objective of this study was to evaluate the acceptance and willingness to pay (WTP) for the vaccine among HCWs.
METHODS: From May to July 2019, a cross-sectional study was conducted among registered general practitioners (GPs) in Indonesia. A contingent valuation method was employed to evaluate the WTP. Besides acceptance and WTP, various explanatory variables were also collected and assessed. A logistic regression and a multivariable linear regression were used to explore the explanatory variables influencing acceptance and WTP, respectively.
RESULTS: Among 407 respondents, 391 (96.0%) expressed acceptance of a free vaccination. The mean and median WTP was US$ 37.0(95%CI:US$ 32.76-US$ 41.23) and US$ 17.90(95%CI:US$ 17.90-US$ 17.90), respectively. In an unadjusted analysis, those 30 years old or younger had 2.94 times greater odds of vaccine acceptance compared to those who were older (95%CI: 1.07-8.08). Location of alma mater, type of workplace, length of individual medical experience, and monthly income of GPs were all significantly associated with WTP.
CONCLUSION: Although the vast majority of GPs would accept a freely provided vaccine, they were also somewhat price sensitive. This finding indicates that partial subsidy maybe required to achieve high vaccine coverage, particularly among GPs at community health centres or those with a shorter duration of medical practice.

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