Displaying publications 1 - 20 of 240 in total

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  1. Abdullah, S.
    MyJurnal
    Cystic Fibrosis (CF) is a life-threatening inherited disease that particularly affects the airways and digestive systems, which is caused by mutations in the Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane Conductance Regulator (CFTR) gene. CF is considered as the most common autosomal recessive disorder in the Caucasian population. However, the prevalence of this disease amongst Asians is considered to be low, hence the lack of awareness of this disease amongst geneticists and physicians in Malaysia. This review will describe the features of CF, its molecular genetics, the current classification of CFTR mutation classes, the genotype-phenotype correlations, the effects of modifier genes, and the discourse of the disease pathogenesis, in the hope of raising public awareness of the condition and ultimately to improve the clinical and social care of those affected by CF in Malaysia.
  2. Abdullah S
    Ann Acad Med Singap, 1988 Jul;17(3):388-91.
    PMID: 3218930
    The results of speech, language and hearing assessment of repaired cleft palate children and adults over a 4-year period at the Speech/Language therapy unit, Department of ENT, Faculty of Medicine, UKM are reported. The subjects were 33 incomplete cleft lip palate (ICLP), 48 unilateral complete cleft lip and palate (UCLP) and 26 bilateral complete cleft lip and palate (BCLP). Results obtained for the following assessments are reported and discussed: (i) Hearing assessment, (ii) intelligibility rate, (iii) severity of hyper-nasality and (iv) types of articulation errors and school/behaviour problems and nasal grimace. Due to subject variability in ethnicity, language and dialects and the lack of normal data, it is difficult to compare or repeat previously reported results. Assessment of intelligibility, hypernasality and articulation were conducted using the Malay language. Results obtained were compared among the three groups of subjects. The significant findings were that hypernasality, intelligibility and articulation errors were more severe in the ICLP group than in the UCLP or BCLP groups of patients. This is contrary to expectations and cannot be explained in terms of the type and/or the degree of clefting. Hence, special attention should be paid to the less overt type of cleft patients in so far as their speech assessment and rehabilitation are concerned.
  3. Nur Sakinah, M.J., Misran, A., Mahmud, T.M.M., Abdullah, S.
    MyJurnal
    Volvariella volvacea (Family: Plutaceae), also more commonly known as paddy straw mushroom, is an edible mushroom with high nutritional content. It is usually cultivated using lignocellulosic-based materials for enhanced production. However, V. volvacea is highly perishable and easily deteriorates in terms of quality and appearance after harvest. The present paper thus aimed to provide a critical review on aspects related to the production of V. volvacea using palm oil empty fruit bunch as cultivation substrate. The different stages of V. volvacea development are also highlighted. The present review also provides some information on the preservation techniques and appropriate postharvest management in extending V. volvacea shelf life to further boost the paddy straw mushroom industry
  4. Abdullah SF
    Med J Malaysia, 2021 03;76(2):177-182.
    PMID: 33742625
    INTRODUCTION: It is estimated that at least 30 to 40% of asthma attacks in adults are related to respiratory infections with viruses. The majority of asthma-related viruses include respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), rhinovirus, and parainfluenza. Inflammatory cytokines are supposed to play a vital role in causing inflammation of the respiratory tract as regulators of proliferation, chemotaxis, and activation of inflammatory cells.

    OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study is to assess the role of Granulocyte Macrophage-Colony Stimulating Factor (GMCSF) in asthmatic airway hyper-responsiveness associated with RSV infections.

    MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forty five asthmatic cases and 45 healthy individuals were studied in a cross-sectional design. All asthmatics underwent symptom score assessment.GMCSF concentrations in sputum and RSV-IgM/IgG in serum samples were measured for all participants by Enzyme Linked Immuno-Sorbent Assay (ELISA).

    RESULTS: The GM-CSF concentration level was significantly higher in asthmatics (270.27± 194.87pg/mL) especially among moderate and severe disease with mean concentration of 197.33±98.47 and 521.08± 310.04 respectively, compared to healthy controls (22.20±21.27 pg/ mL) (p =0.0001). The sputum level of GM-CSF in asthmatics is highly significant associated with positive anti-RSV IgG sera which represents 35/45(77.8%) with mean GM-CSF concentration of (276.99± 86.42) compared with controls at about 31/45 (68.9%) with GM-CSF mean concentration of (22.84±23.47). On the other hand, positive anti-RSV IgM in asthma cases was 8 out of 45(17.8 %) with GM-CSF mean concentration of (307.25± 306.65). Furthermore, GM-CSF sputum level was significantly correlated with eosinophil count especially in moderate and severe asthma.

    CONCLUSIONS: This study revealed that GM-CSF level is associated with eosinophilia and indicates asthma severity that might be evident during RSV infection .The distinctive GM-CSF features observed in the sputum from asthmatics with RSV may be useful as a diagnostic methods to help match patients with antibody therapy.

  5. Leong, J.F., Levin, K.B., Rajkumar V., Abdullah, S., Jamari, S.
    Medicine & Health, 2019;14(2):261-265.
    MyJurnal
    Cavernous lymphangioma is a congenital malformation of lymphatic system causing dilated lymphatic sinuses that involve the skin and subcutaneous tissues. This was an interesting case of dystrophic macrodactyly of the left ring and little finger in a 18-month-old girl who presented with swollen and sausage like fingers deformity which turned out to be an isolated cavernous lymphangioma. This tumor, although rare to occur in the extremeties, must be differentiated from other congenital vascular lesions of the hand that include arteriovenous malformations and hemangiomas. Diagnosis should be solely based on histopathological analysis of the excised tissue mass. Surgical excision is usually necessary for satisfactory functional and cosmetic outcome
  6. Abdullah, S., Putra, T.E., Nuawi, M.Z., Nopiah, Z.M.
    MyJurnal
    This paper presents a new approach to identify fatigue damaging potential locations using the Morlet wavelet coefficients. For solving the subject matter, the 122.4 second SAESUS strain signal was selected for the simulation purpose. As the result, the Morlet wavelet coefficients predicted that the maximum fatigue damage occurs at 40.4 - 42.6 seconds and 67.4 - 70 seconds. For the validation purpose, the Morrow’s fatigue damaging value was calculated and was obtained that the maximum fatigue damage occurs at 0 seconds and 99.7 seconds. The fatigue damaging value at the points was 0.0047 cycles to failure. Since both the plots had similar pattern, the Morlet wavelet coefficients could be used as the early warning of the fatigue damaging potential locations, although the locations were not entirely correct.
  7. Jawarneh S, Abdullah S
    PLoS One, 2015;10(7):e0130224.
    PMID: 26132158 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0130224
    This paper presents a bee colony optimisation (BCO) algorithm to tackle the vehicle routing problem with time window (VRPTW). The VRPTW involves recovering an ideal set of routes for a fleet of vehicles serving a defined number of customers. The BCO algorithm is a population-based algorithm that mimics the social communication patterns of honeybees in solving problems. The performance of the BCO algorithm is dependent on its parameters, so the online (self-adaptive) parameter tuning strategy is used to improve its effectiveness and robustness. Compared with the basic BCO, the adaptive BCO performs better. Diversification is crucial to the performance of the population-based algorithm, but the initial population in the BCO algorithm is generated using a greedy heuristic, which has insufficient diversification. Therefore the ways in which the sequential insertion heuristic (SIH) for the initial population drives the population toward improved solutions are examined. Experimental comparisons indicate that the proposed adaptive BCO-SIH algorithm works well across all instances and is able to obtain 11 best results in comparison with the best-known results in the literature when tested on Solomon's 56 VRPTW 100 customer instances. Also, a statistical test shows that there is a significant difference between the results.
  8. Jaddi NS, Abdullah S
    PLoS One, 2019;14(1):e0208308.
    PMID: 30608936 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0208308
    Optimization of an artificial neural network model through the use of optimization algorithms is the common method employed to search for an optimum solution for a broad variety of real-world problems. One such optimization algorithm is the kidney-inspired algorithm (KA) which has recently been proposed in the literature. The algorithm mimics the four processes performed by the kidneys: filtration, reabsorption, secretion, and excretion. However, a human with reduced kidney function needs to undergo additional treatment to improve kidney performance. In the medical field, the glomerular filtration rate (GFR) test is used to check the health of kidneys. The test estimates the amount of blood that passes through the glomeruli each minute. In this paper, we mimic this kidney function test and the GFR result is used to select a suitable step to add to the basic KA process. This novel imitation is designed for both minimization and maximization problems. In the proposed method, depends on GFR test result which is less than 15 or falls between 15 and 60 or is more than 60 a particular action is performed. These additional processes are applied as required with the aim of improving exploration of the search space and increasing the likelihood of the KA finding the optimum solution. The proposed method is tested on test functions and its results are compared with those of the basic KA. Its performance on benchmark classification and time series prediction problems is also examined and compared with that of other available methods in the literature. In addition, the proposed method is applied to a real-world water quality prediction problem. The statistical analysis of all these applications showed that the proposed method had a ability to improve the optimization outcome.
  9. Khan ES, Ariff MS, Eshagroni A, Haflah NHM, Abdullah S, Sapuan J
    MyJurnal
    We describe a case of a giant pyogenic granuloma affecting the left index finger of a 23-year-old pregnant lady requiring surgical excision. Pyogenic granuloma gravidarum is a benign hyperplastic lesion that commonly presents on oral mucosa, typically the gums, in approximately 5% of pregnant women. Skin lesions over the fingers are an unusual site during pregnancy with only a few cases reported in the literature. The lesion was excised and a diagnosis of lobular capillary haemangioma was made based on histopathological evaluation. We delayed surgery until after parturition since recurrence is likely to be lower due to lower levels of circulating oestrogen and progesterone. The prognosis is usually excellent following resection. However, recurrences have been reported regardless of the treatment method.
  10. A RS, Abdullah S
    J Hand Surg Asian Pac Vol, 2016 10;21(3):439-43.
    PMID: 27595972 DOI: 10.1142/S2424835516970018
    A report on the 10(th) Asia-Pacific Federation of Societies for the Surgery of the Hand and 6(th) Asia-Pacific Federation of Societies for Hand Therapists is submitted detailing the numbers of attendees participating, papers presented and support received as well the some of the challenges faced and how best to overcome them from the local conference chair and scientific chair point of view.
  11. Dayangku, N.P.S., Marina, M.B., Mawaddah, A., Sharifa Ezat, W.P., Abdullah, S.
    MyJurnal
    Background: The resultant dysphonia and aspiration in unilateral vocal cord palsy can be overcome with
    medialisation thyroplasty. With this background, we aim to determine the aetiology of the unilateral vocal
    cord palsy and effectiveness of the phonosurgical procedure with Gore-Tex as a sole treatment. Methods:
    Within a seven year period, 37 Gore-Tex medialisation thyroplasty were performed for unilateral vocal cord
    palsy at our institution and medical records were retrospectively reviewed. Results: There were 18
    males and 19 females with mean age of 48.7 years (range 19–81 years). The predominant aetiology was
    thyroidectomy (43.2%) with benign thyroid disease predominates (n=13) over thyroid malignancy (n=3). Voice
    outcome was evaluated subjectively using visual analogue scoring system, results indicating that Gore-Tex
    medialisation thyroplasty was effective in addressing dysphonia in 62.5% (n=15) patients. However it alone
    cannot address aspiration seen in those with high vagal nerve lesion. Airway compromise occurred in two
    cases postoperatively (5.4%) presenting as acute stridor. Conclusion: In unilateral vocal cord palsy, Gore-Tex
    medialisation thyroplasty can effectively improve the resultant dysphonia and often accompanying aspiration
    which would otherwise be disabling for the patients.
  12. Jackson AA, Manan WA, Gani AS, Carter YH
    PMID: 15689100
    Studies have shown that smokers rationalize smoking by self-exempting beliefs. This study explored lay beliefs about smoking in Kelantan, Malaysia, using focus groups among outpatients, medical students and staff, and a questionnaire survey of 193 male smokers. In focus groups, patients said they could do something to make smoking safe. When asked, 'Do you think there are any safe ways to smoke?' 132/193 (68%) male smokers described at least one way. The commonest were 'drink water' (69/193, 36%), 'use a filter' (60/193, 31%), 'smoke after food' (27/193, 14%), and 'take sour fruit' (21/193, 11%). At three- or six-month follow-up, numbers agreeing with these beliefs were: for 'drink water' 67/115 (58%), for 'take sour fruit' 61/115 (53%), and for 'smoke after food' 38/115 (33%), with 88/115 (77%) supporting at least one. The main explanations for water were that it cleaned or moistened the lungs or throat. Sour fruit was described as cleaning, and sometimes as 'sharp', able to scrape out the essence of cigarettes. The conclusion is that self-exempting false beliefs about smoking are widespread, and here they probably represent an extension of the traditional humoral system. Anti-smoking campaigns and health workers in smoking cessation services should address these beliefs.
    Study site: outpatients clinic (Klinik Perubatan Masyarakat, KPM), Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia (HUSM), Kelantan, Malaysia
  13. Abdullah S, Jaafar JM, Das S, Sapuan J
    Clin Ter, 2009;160(6):427-33.
    PMID: 20198282
    BACKGROUND: Industrial hand injuries are a common occurrence and contributes to a large segment of workers' morbidity. The main aim of this study was to look into the day pattern, types and location of upper limbs injures, identify the types of machines involved and highlight the treatment received.
    MATERIALS AND METHODS: The present study was performed on 57 industrial workers admitted and treated by the Orthopaedic team of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre (UKMMC) for acute injuries sustained whilst working.
    RESULTS: The majority of the workers were male (93%). The commonest age group involved was between 25-35 years (48%). The right hand was injured more then the left with majority of injuries involving the fingers. Interestingly, we also observed that injuries occurred more on Saturdays. Laceration was the most common injury followed by fractures and crush injuries. Treatment depends on the type and severity of injuries. For most lacerated wounds, treatment was debridement, primary suturing and antibiotic therapy. Injuries on Saturdays indicated that workers needed a longer time break especially during weekends after a long hectic week.
    CONCLUSIONS: Injuries sustained by workers may be prevented by proper working techniques and conditions together with wearing of protective gadgets.

    Study site: Pusat Perubatan Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (PPUKM)
  14. Jalal Abdullah S, Shaikh Mohammed J
    Disabil Rehabil Assist Technol, 2019 11;14(8):849-858.
    PMID: 30556753 DOI: 10.1080/17483107.2018.1539130
    Purpose: Some wheelchair users continue to struggle in maneuvering a wheelchair and navigating through manual doors. Several smart wheelchairs and robotic manipulators were developed to minimize such challenges facing disabled people. Disappointingly, a majority of these high-tech solutions are restricted to laboratories and are not extensively available as commercial products. Previously, a low-tech wheelchair accessory (arc-shaped with many wheels) for pushing doors was modelled and simulated. This work demonstrates the fabrication and testing of the first-generation prototype of the accessory.Materials and methods: The accessory has side portions with a straight arrangement of wheels and a front portion with a straight-arc-straight arrangement of wheels. The accessory was fabricated using conventional manufacturing, off-the-shelf components, and 3D printed ABS fasteners. Stress analysis simulations were done for the fasteners that attach the front accessory to the wheelchair frame. The proof-of-concept of the prototype installed onto a powered wheelchair was tested with a door and an obstacle, each with ∼50 N resistance force.Results: Prototype tests demonstrate the ability of the accessory along with the mechanical robustness of the 3D printed fasteners to push open doors allowing easy navigation through doors and to push/glide against obstacles. The accessory is foldable and detachable.Conclusion: The low-cost of the accessory makes it affordable to many users intending to improve their quality of life. The current study provides an engineering perspective of the accessory, and a clinical perspective is crucial. Other potential applications of the wheelchair accessory include use with scooters, walkers and stretchers.Implications for rehabilitationLow-cost, low-tech accessory is foldable and detachable.Accessory is effective for pushing doors and pushing/gliding against obstacles.Protective nature of the front accessory could prove highly beneficial to some wheelchair users.
  15. Alzaqebah M, Abdullah S, Jawarneh S
    Springerplus, 2016;5(1):1298.
    PMID: 27547672 DOI: 10.1186/s40064-016-2940-8
    The natural behaviour of the honeybee has attracted the attention of researchers in recent years and several algorithms have been developed that mimic swarm behaviour to solve optimisation problems. This paper introduces an artificial bee colony (ABC) algorithm for the vehicle routing problem with time windows (VRPTW). A Modified ABC algorithm is proposed to improve the solution quality of the original ABC. The high exploration ability of the ABC slows-down its convergence speed, which may due to the mechanism used by scout bees in replacing abandoned (unimproved) solutions with new ones. In the Modified ABC a list of abandoned solutions is used by the scout bees to memorise the abandoned solutions, then the scout bees select a solution from the list based on roulette wheel selection and replace by a new solution with random routs selected from the best solution. The performance of the Modified ABC is evaluated on Solomon benchmark datasets and compared with the original ABC. The computational results demonstrate that the Modified ABC outperforms the original ABC also produce good solutions when compared with the best-known results in the literature. Computational investigations show that the proposed algorithm is a good and promising approach for the VRPTW.
  16. Maria SW, Sapuan J, Abdullah S
    Malays Orthop J, 2015 Jul;9(2):54-56.
    PMID: 28435612 MyJurnal DOI: 10.5704/MOJ.1507.002
    Scapulo-thoracic dissociation is an infrequent injury resulting from high energy trauma which is often associated with severe neurological and vascular injuries which may be unrecognised at the time of presentation. A 24 year-old female presented with bilateral rib fractures, pneumothorax, liver and kidney injuries following a road traffic accident. She also sustained fractures of her right scapula, odontoid, right transverse processes of the thoracic and lumbar vertebrae and a closed fracture of her right femur. Her right upper limb was later noted to be flail and pulseless, due to complete right brachial plexus injury, scapula-thoracic dissociation and subclavian artery avulsion. We managed the upper limb injuries non-operatively, and focused on resuscitation of the patient. Early exploration of the complete brachial plexus injury was not undertaken in spite of the possible associated poor functional outcome as there was no life-threatening indication.
  17. Othman, M. R., Mohammad Roose, A.R, Abdullah, S., Abdul Majid, N. N., Mohd Razali, I. S., Wan Husin, W.N.I.
    MyJurnal
    This study explores the use of Adolescent Problems and Risk Behaviours Inventory (IPERI) to predict the relationship of personal problems on risky behaviour among adolescence aged 14 to 17. The objective of this research is to analyse the influence of personal problems such as study problems, family support, financial problems, career indecision, peer influence, spiritual management and health condition on the development of risky behaviours among adolescents. The risky behaviours comprise of eight (8) behaviours which include discipline problems, physical bulling, suicidal thoughts, free sex, tobacco consumption, alcohol abuse, drug abuse and media influence. A survey using Adolescent Problems and Risk Behaviours Inventory (IPERI) is administered to three hundred and seventy-nine (379) respondents, age between 14 to 17. The analysis of Pearson Correlation Coefficient and Standard Multiple Regression showed the existence of significance between all the problem variables, study problems (r = .316), family support (r = .256), financial problems (r = .240), health condition (r = .134), peer influence (r = .189), career indecision (r = .185) and spiritual management (r = .242), with the risky behaviour variables. This research contributes to the profiling of adolescents’ risky behaviours which can guide the development of interventions in tackling adolescent’s risky behaviours.
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