Displaying all 19 publications

Abstract:
Sort:
  1. Fulltext Malaysia healthcare system: Protect the public or the industry?
    Ashraf A, Ong SC
    Health Promot Perspect, 2021;11(2):117-118.
    PMID: 34195035 DOI: 10.34172/hpp.2021.16
  2. Size-Controlled and Optical Properties of Platinum Nanoparticles by Gamma Radiolytic Synthesis
    Gharibshahi E, Saion E, Ashraf A, Gharibshahi L
    Appl Radiat Isot, 2017 Dec;130:211-217.
    PMID: 29028581 DOI: 10.1016/j.apradiso.2017.09.012
    Gamma radiolytic synthesis was used to produce size-controlled spherical platinum nanoparticles from an aqueous solution containing platinum tetraammine and polyvinyl pyrrolidone. The structural characterizations were performed using X-ray diffraction, and transmission electron microscopy. The transmission electron microscopy was used to determine the average particle diameter, which decreased from 4.4nm at 80kGy to 2.8nm at 120kGy. The UV-visible absorption spectrum was measured and found that platinum nanoparticles exhibit two steady absorption maxima in UV regions due to plasmonic excitation of conduction electrons, which blue shifted to lower wavelengths with a decrease in particle size. We consider the conduction electrons of platinum nanoparticles to follow Thomas-Fermi-Dirac-Weizsacker atomic model that they are not entirely free but weakly bounded to particles at lower-energy states {n = 5, l = 2 or 5d} and {n = 6, l = 0 or 6s}, which upon receiving UV photon energy the electrons make intra-band quantum excitations to higher-energy states allowed by the principles of quantum number that results the absorption maxima. We found an excellent agreement between the experimental and theoretical results, which suggest that the optical absorption of metal nanoparticles could be fundamentally described by a quantum mechanical interpretation, which could be more relevant to photo-catalysis and heterogeneous catalysis.
  3. Fulltext Cambered profile of a California sea lion's body
    Ul-Haque A, Asrar W, Omar AA, Sulaeman E, Mohamed Ali JS
    J Exp Biol, 2015 Apr 15;218(Pt 8):1270-1.
    PMID: 25911735 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.117556
  4. Fulltext Increased recovery and improved purity of PHA from recombinant Cupriavidus necator
    Anis SN, Iqbal NM, Kumar S, Al-Ashraf A
    Bioengineered, 2013 Mar-Apr;4(2):115-8.
    PMID: 23018620 DOI: 10.4161/bioe.22350
    A simple procedure for recovering biodegradable polymer from bacterial cells has been developed using economical and environmentally friendly solvent or chemicals. Recombinant bacterium, Cupriavidus necator harboring pBBR1MCS-C2 plasmid polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) synthase gene was used for the production of copolymer P(3HB-co-3HHx) from crude palm kernel oil (CPKO). NaOH was chosen in this study as it could give high purity and recovery yield. Increase of NaOH concentration had resulted in an increase of the PHA purity, but the recovery yield had decreased. The greater improvement of PHA purity and recovery were achieved by incubating the freeze-dried cells (10-30 g/L) in NaOH (0.1 M) for 1-3 h at 30°C and polishing using 20% (v/v) of ethanol. The treatment caused negligible degradation of the molecular weight of PHA recovered from the bacterial cells. The present review also highlights other extraction methods to provide greater insights into economical and sustainable recovery of PHA from bacterial cells.
  5. Concomitant dengue fever in Varicella zoster infection - A rare presentation
    Shaiful Ehsan SM, Iskandar FO, Mohd Ashraf AR
    Med J Malaysia, 2019 08;74(4):347-348.
    PMID: 31424049
    Varicella zoster infection is one of the self-limiting viral infections during childhood and dengue fever is an endemic infection in Malaysia, which commonly occurs in the form of nonspecific febrile illness at the initial stage. It is rare for the two viral infections to occur simultaneously. A case of dengue fever without warning sign in a five-year old girl was reported, with early symptoms of fever and vesicular rashes. She was clinically diagnosed with varicella zoster infection during the first visit. Surprisingly, she remained febrile even on day six of illness despite no new vesicular lesions on her skin. Due to suspicion of another infection, follow-up investigation was done and revealed isolated thrombocytopenia. This finding was confirmed with positive NS1Ag. A case of rare dengue fever concomitant with varicella zoster infection was reported.
  6. Theory and experiment of optical absorption of platinum nanoparticles synthesized by gamma radiation
    Gharibshahi E, Saion E, Johnston RL, Ashraf A
    Appl Radiat Isot, 2019 May;147:204-210.
    PMID: 30953937 DOI: 10.1016/j.apradiso.2019.02.015
    Platinum nanoparticles were synthesized using the gamma radiolytic technique in an aqueous solution containing Platinum tetraammine chloride in presence of poly vinyl pyrrolidone, isopropanol, tetrahydrofuran and deionized water. The gamma irradiation was carried out in a60Co gamma source chamber and the particle size was found to decrease from 4.88 to 3.14 nm on increasing the gamma radiation dose from 80 to 120 kGy. UV-visible absorption spectra were measured and revealed two steady absorption maxima at 216 and 264 nm in the UV region, which was blue shifted (i.e. toward lower wavelength) with decreasing particle size. By taking the conduction electrons of an isolated particle that are not entirely free, but instead bound to their respective quantum levels, the optical absorption of platinum nanoparticles can be calculated via intra-band quantum excitation for particle sizes similar to those measured experimentally. We found that the calculated absorption maxima of electronic excitations matched the measured absorption maxima well. This finding suggests that the optical absorption of metal nanoparticles commonly applied in nanoscience and nanotechnology can be described accurately by the quantum excitation of conduction electrons.
  7. Fulltext Silent cries behind closed doors: An online empirical assessment of fear of COVID-19, situational depression, and quality of life among Pakistani citizens
    Ashraf MU, Raza S, Ashraf A, Mehmood W, Patwary AK
    J Public Aff, 2021 Jul 04.
    PMID: 34512182 DOI: 10.1002/pa.2716
    The present study aimed to investigate the effects of fear of COVID-19 and situational depression on the quality of life (QOL) of Pakistani citizens. An online cross-sectional survey was conducted on Pakistani citizens via the snowball sampling technique. A total of 377 respondents (256 males and 121 females) participated in this study from August to October 2020. Adapted scales were validated using confirmatory factor analysis, and partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was applied to the data to test the hypothesised model. The study's findings showed a negative relationship between fear of COVID-19 and QOL. Likewise, a reciprocal relationship was found between situational depression and quality of life. The results indicate that fear of COVID-19 and situational depression during the pandemic have affected the lives of Pakistani citizens. The findings are particularly relevant for improving the QOL by limiting the information received from media and social networks. There is a need to control these mediums and promote community-based interventions to provide accurate knowledge regarding COVID-19. Fear of COVID-19 and situational depression may be reduced in this way. Based on the current findings, psychotherapy and counselling programmes must be planned to minimise the adverse effects of fear of COVID-19 and depression on the QOL of citizens due to the ongoing progression of the pandemic.
  8. Fulltext First comprehensive in silico analysis of the functional and structural consequences of SNPs in human GalNAc-T1 gene
    Mohamoud HS, Hussain MR, El-Harouni AA, Shaik NA, Qasmi ZU, Merican AF, et al.
    Comput Math Methods Med, 2014;2014:904052.
    PMID: 24723968 DOI: 10.1155/2014/904052
    GalNAc-T1, a key candidate of GalNac-transferases genes family that is involved in mucin-type O-linked glycosylation pathway, is expressed in most biological tissues and cell types. Despite the reported association of GalNAc-T1 gene mutations with human disease susceptibility, the comprehensive computational analysis of coding, noncoding and regulatory SNPs, and their functional impacts on protein level, still remains unknown. Therefore, sequence- and structure-based computational tools were employed to screen the entire listed coding SNPs of GalNAc-T1 gene in order to identify and characterize them. Our concordant in silico analysis by SIFT, PolyPhen-2, PANTHER-cSNP, and SNPeffect tools, identified the potential nsSNPs (S143P, G258V, and Y414D variants) from 18 nsSNPs of GalNAc-T1. Additionally, 2 regulatory SNPs (rs72964406 and #x26; rs34304568) were also identified in GalNAc-T1 by using FastSNP tool. Using multiple computational approaches, we have systematically classified the functional mutations in regulatory and coding regions that can modify expression and function of GalNAc-T1 enzyme. These genetic variants can further assist in better understanding the wide range of disease susceptibility associated with the mucin-based cell signalling and pathogenic binding, and may help to develop novel therapeutic elements for associated diseases.
  9. Rare earth elements in core marine sediments of coastal East Malaysia by instrumental neutron activation analysis
    Ashraf A, Saion E, Gharibshahi E, Kamari HM, Kong YC, Hamzah MS, et al.
    Appl Radiat Isot, 2016 Jan;107:17-23.
    PMID: 26405840 DOI: 10.1016/j.apradiso.2015.09.004
    A study was carried out on the concentration of REEs (Dy, Sm, Eu,Yb, Lu, La and Ce) that are present in the core marine sediments of East Malaysia from three locations at South China Sea and one location each at Sulu Sea and Sulawesi Sea. The sediment samples were collected at a depth of between 49 and 109 m, dried, and crushed to powdery form. The entire core sediments prepared for Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis (INAA) were weighted approximately 0.0500 g to 0.1000 g for short irradiation and 0.1500 g to 0.2000 g for long irradiation. The samples were irradiated with a thermal neutron flux of 4.0×10(12) cm(-2) s(-1) in a TRIGA Mark II research reactor operated at 750 kW. Blank samples and standard reference materials SL-1 were also irradiated for calibration and quality control purposes. It was found that the concentration of REEs varies in the range from 0.11 to 36.84 mg/kg. The chondrite-normalized REEs for different stations suggest that all the REEs are from similar origins. There was no significant REEs contamination as the enrichment factors normalized for Fe fall in the range of 0.42-2.82.
  10. Recent trends in advanced oxidation process-based degradation of erythromycin: Pollution status, eco-toxicity and degradation mechanism in aquatic ecosystems
    Ashraf A, Liu G, Yousaf B, Arif M, Ahmed R, Irshad S, et al.
    Sci Total Environ, 2021 Jun 10;772:145389.
    PMID: 33578171 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.145389
    Wide spread documentation of antibiotic pollution is becoming a threat to aquatic environment. Erythromycin (ERY), a macrolide belonging antibiotic is at the top of this list with its concentrations ranging between ng/L to a few μg/L in various global waterbodies giving rise to ERY-resistance genes (ERY-RGs) and ERY- resistance bacteria (ERY-RBs) posing serious threat to the aquatic organisms. ERY seems resistant to various conventional water treatments, remained intact and even increased in terms of mass loads after treatment. Enhanced oxidation potential, wide pH range, elevated selectivity, adaptability and greater efficiency makes advance oxidation processes (AOPs) top priority for degrading pollutants with aromatic rings and unsaturated bonds like ERY. In this manuscript, recent developments in AOPs for ERY degradation are reported along with the factors that affect the degradation mechanism. ERY, marked as a risk prioritized macrolide antibiotic by 2015 released European Union watch list, most probably due to its protein inhibition capability considered third most widely used antibiotic. The current review provides a complete ERY overview including the environmental entry sources, concentration in global waters, ERY status in STPs, as well as factors affecting their functionality. Along with that this study presents complete outlook regarding ERY-RGs and provides an in depth detail regarding ERY's potential threats to aquatic biota. This study helps in figuring out the best possible strategy to tackle antibiotic pollution keeping ERY as a model antibiotic because of extreme toxicity records.
  11. Molecular basis of the anti-diabetic properties of camel milk through profiling of its bioactive peptides on dipeptidyl peptidase IV (DPP-IV) and insulin receptor activity
    Ashraf A, Mudgil P, Palakkott A, Iratni R, Gan CY, Maqsood S, et al.
    J Dairy Sci, 2021 Jan;104(1):61-77.
    PMID: 33162074 DOI: 10.3168/jds.2020-18627
    The molecular basis of the anti-diabetic properties of camel milk reported in many studies and the exact active agent are still elusive. Recent studies have reported effects of camel whey proteins (CWP) and their hydrolysates (CWPH) on the activities of dipeptidyl peptidase IV (DPP-IV) and the human insulin receptor (hIR). In this study, CWPH were generated, screened for DPP-IV binding in silico and inhibitory activity in vitro, and processed for peptide identification. Furthermore, pharmacological action of intact CWP and their selected hydrolysates on hIR activity and signaling and on glucose uptake were investigated in cell lines. Results showed inhibition of DPP-IV by CWP and CWPH and their positive action on hIR activation and glucose uptake. Interestingly, the combination of CWP or CWPH with insulin revealed a positive allosteric modulation of hIR that was drastically reduced by the competitive hIR antagonist. Our data reveal for the first time the profiling and pharmacological actions of CWP and their derived peptides fractions on hIR and their pathways involved in glucose homeostasis. This sheds more light on the anti-diabetic properties of camel milk by providing the molecular basis for the potential use of camel milk in the management of diabetes.
  12. Distribution of Trace Elements in Core Marine Sediments of Coastal East Malaysia by Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis
    Ashraf A, Saion E, Gharibshahi E, Kamari HM, Yap CK, Hamzah MS, et al.
    Appl Radiat Isot, 2017 Apr;122:96-105.
    PMID: 28129589 DOI: 10.1016/j.apradiso.2017.01.006
    A study was carried out on the distribution and enrichment of trace elements in the core marine sediments of East Malaysia from three stations at South China Sea and one station each at Sulu Sea and Sulawesi Sea. Five stations of sediment cores were recovered and the vertical concentration profiles of six elements namely Br, Cs, Hf, Rb, Ta, and V were determined using the instrumental neutron activation analysis. The enrichment factor, geoaccumulation index and the modified degree of contamination were used to calculate the anthropogenic and pollution status of the elements in the samples. Except for Cs and Hf, which by the enrichment factor are categorized from minimum enrichment to moderate enrichment in all stations and for V and Rb in Sulu Sea and Sulawesi Sea, which are categorized minimum enrichment, other elements are found to be no enrichment at all stations. The geoaccumulation index of Hf in one station shows moderately polluted and for other elements are unpolluted. However, the modified degree values of all samples are less than 1, suggesting very low contamination of elements found in all the stations.
  13. Distribution of Heavy Metals in Core Marine Sediments of Coastal East Malaysia by Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis and Inductively Coupled Plasma Spectroscopy
    Ashraf A, Saion E, Gharibshahi E, Yap CK, Kamari HM, Elias MS, et al.
    Appl Radiat Isot, 2018 Feb;132:222-231.
    PMID: 29183762 DOI: 10.1016/j.apradiso.2017.11.012
    Fifty-five core marine sediments from three locations at South China Sea and one location each at Sulu Sea and Sulawesi Sea of coastal East Malaysia were analyzed for heavy metals by instrumental neutron activation analysis and inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy. The enrichment factor and the modified degree of contamination were used to calculate the anthropogenic and pollution status of the elements in the samples. The enrichment factor of As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn varied from 0.42-4.26, 0.50-2.34, 0.31-0.82, 0.20-0.61, 0.91-1.92, 0.23-1.52, and 0.90-1.28, respectively, with the modified degree of contamination values below 0.6. Comparative data showed that coastal East Malaysia has low levels of contamination.
  14. Insight into microwave-assisted synthesis of the chitosan-MOF composite: Pb(II) adsorption
    Gul Zaman H, Baloo L, Kutty SR, Aziz K, Altaf M, Ashraf A, et al.
    Environ Sci Pollut Res Int, 2023 Jan;30(3):6216-6233.
    PMID: 35989404 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-022-22438-6
    Heavy metal contamination has increased over the globe, causing significant environmental issues owing to direct and indirect releases into water bodies. As a result, metal removal from water entities must be addressed soon. Various adsorbents such as MOFs and chitosan have demonstrated promising results in water treatment. The present study prepared a composite material (chitosan-UiO-66-glycidyl methacrylate MOF) by a microwave-assisted method. The structure and morphology of the chitosan-MOF composite were studied using FE-SEM, EDX, XRD, BET, FT-IR, and TGA techniques. In addition, the adsorption of Pb(II) from aqueous solution onto the chitosan-MOF composite was analyzed in a batch study concerning pH, contact time, initial metal ion concentration, and adsorbent dosage. The composite has a large surface area of 867 m2/g with a total pore volume of 0.51 cm3/g and thermal stability of up to 400 [Formula: see text]. Following an analysis of the adsorption isotherms, kinetics, and thermodynamics, the Langmuir model showed an excellent fit with the adsorption data (R2 = 0.99) and chi-squared (X2 = 3.609). The adsorption process was a spontaneous exothermic reaction and the pseudo-second-order rate equation fitted the kinetic profile well. Moreover, the composite is recyclable, retaining 83.45% of its removal effectiveness after 5 consecutive cycles, demonstrating it as a sustainable adsorbent for metal recovery. This study introduces a novel synthesized composite with enhanced recyclability and a higher potential for eliminating pollutants from industrial wastewater.
  15. Micro-anatomical changes in major blood vessel caused by dengue virus (serotype 2) infection
    Priya SP, Sakinah S, Ling MP, Chee HY, Higuchi A, Hamat RA, et al.
    Acta Trop, 2017 Jul;171:213-219.
    PMID: 28427958 DOI: 10.1016/j.actatropica.2017.04.010
    Dengue virus (DENV) has emerged as a major economic concern in developing countries, with 2.5 billion people believed to be at risk. Vascular endothelial cells (ECs) lining the circulatory system from heart to end vessels perform crucial functions in the human body, by aiding gas exchange in lungs, gaseous, nutritional and its waste exchange in all tissues, including the blood brain barrier, filtration of fluid in the glomeruli, neutrophil recruitment, hormone trafficking, as well as maintenance of blood vessel tone and hemostasis. These functions can be deregulated during DENV infection. In this study, BALB/c mice infected with DENV serotype 2 were analyzed histologically for changes in major blood vessels in response to DENV infection. In the uninfected mouse model, blood vessels showed normal architecture with intact endothelial monolayer, tunica media, and tunica adventitia. In the infected mouse model, DENV distorted the endothelium lining and disturbed the smooth muscle, elastic laminae and their supporting tissues causing vascular structural disarrangement. This may explain the severe pathological illness in DENV-infected individuals. The overall DENV-induced damages on the endothelial and it's supporting tissues and the dysregulated immune reactions initiated by the host were discussed.
  16. Xanthenone-based hydrazones as potent α-glucosidase inhibitors: Synthesis, solid state self-assembly and in silico studies
    Tariq QU, Malik S, Khan A, Naseer MM, Khan SU, Ashraf A, et al.
    Bioorg Chem, 2019 03;84:372-383.
    PMID: 30530108 DOI: 10.1016/j.bioorg.2018.11.053
    Xanthenone based hydrazone derivatives (5a-n) have been synthesized as potential α-glucosidase inhibitors. All synthesized compounds (5a-n) are characterized by their FTIR, 1H NMR, 13C NMR and HRMS, and in case of 5g also by X-ray crystallographic technique. The compounds unveiled a varying degree of α-glucosidase inhibitory activity when compared with standard acarbose (IC50 = 375.38 ± 0.12 µM). Amongst the series, compound 5l (IC50 = 62.25 ± 0.11 µM) bearing a trifluoromethyl phenyl group is found to be the most active compound. Molecular modelling is performed to establish the binding pattern of the more active compound 5l, which revealed the significance of substitution pattern. The pharmacological properties of molecules are also calculated by MedChem Designer which determines the ADME (absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion) properties of molecules. The solid state self-assembly of compound 5g is discussed to show the conformation and role of iminoamide moiety in the molecular packing.
  17. In silico and BSA binding study of some new biological analogs of 1,2,4-triazolependant with azinane through microwave and conventional synthesis
    Virk NA, Rehman A, Abbasi MA, Siddiqui SZ, Ashraf A, Lateef M, et al.
    Pak J Pharm Sci, 2018 Nov;31(6 (Supplementary):2645-2654.
    PMID: 30587474
    Microwave and conventional techniques were employed to synthesize a novel array of compounds 7a-g with 1,2,4-triazole and piperidine rings having great biological importance. The microwave assisted method has a better operational scope with respect to time and yield comparative to the conventional method. 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR and IR techniques were employed to justify the structure of synthesized compounds. The antioxidant, butyrylcholinesterase inhibition and urease inhibition potential of every synthesized compound was evaluated. Every member of the synthesized series was found potent against mentioned activities. Compound 7g was the most active anti-urease agent having IC50 (μM) value 16.5±0.09 even better than the thiourea with an IC50(μM) value of 24.3±0.24. The better urease inhibition potential of 7g was also elaborated and explained by docking and bovine serum albumin (BSA) binding studies.
  18. Fulltext Detecting fake news and disinformation using artificial intelligence and machine learning to avoid supply chain disruptions
    Akhtar P, Ghouri AM, Khan HUR, Amin Ul Haq M, Awan U, Zahoor N, et al.
    Ann Oper Res, 2022 Nov 01.
    PMID: 36338350 DOI: 10.1007/s10479-022-05015-5
    Fake news and disinformation (FNaD) are increasingly being circulated through various online and social networking platforms, causing widespread disruptions and influencing decision-making perceptions. Despite the growing importance of detecting fake news in politics, relatively limited research efforts have been made to develop artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) oriented FNaD detection models suited to minimize supply chain disruptions (SCDs). Using a combination of AI and ML, and case studies based on data collected from Indonesia, Malaysia, and Pakistan, we developed a FNaD detection model aimed at preventing SCDs. This model based on multiple data sources has shown evidence of its effectiveness in managerial decision-making. Our study further contributes to the supply chain and AI-ML literature, provides practical insights, and points to future research directions.
  19. Fulltext Excessive smartphone use and its correlations with social anxiety and quality of life among medical students in a public university in Malaysia: A cross-sectional study
    Mohd Salleh Sahimi H, Norzan MH, Nik Jaafar NR, Sharip S, Ashraf A, Shanmugam K, et al.
    Front Psychiatry, 2022;13:956168.
    PMID: 36506446 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.956168
    INTRODUCTION: Smartphone usage has significantly increased in the last decade among young adults has significantly increased in the last decade. While its benefits are undeniable, its negative implications are increasingly emerging. Studies are needed to investigate the effects of excessive smartphone use on a young person's life. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of excessive smartphone use among medical students and its relations with social anxiety, self-esteem, and quality of life.

    METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted among medical students from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) in UKM Medical Center. A total of 273 students have consented to participate and completed self-reported questionnaires encompassing sociodemographic information, the Short Version Smartphone Addiction Scale (SAS-SV), the Social Interaction Anxiety Scale (SIAS), the World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL-BREF) and the Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale (RSES). Sociodemographic data, SIAS score, WHOQOL-BREF score and the Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale score were treated as independent variables. Smartphone addiction Scale score was treated as the dependent variable. Bivariate analysis was used to explore the relationship between independent and dependent variables using the Fisher exact test, Pearson Chi-Square and Pearson correlation coefficient. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to analyze the variables with a p-value of < 0.05 from the Pearson correlation coefficient test.

    RESULTS: The percentage of excessive smarphone use among UKM medical students is 48%. The bivariate analysis showed that excessive smartphone use has a small but significant positive correlation with social anxiety (r = 0.173, p = 0.004) and negative correlations with physical health (r = -0.133, p = 0.028), psychological wellbeing (r =-0.135, p = 0.026), social relationships (r = -0.232, p = 0.001), environment (r = -0.260, p = 0.001) and self-esteem (r = -0.128, p = 0.035). In the multiple regression analysis, a better environment predicted a reduced risk for smartphone addiction (β = -0.233, p = 0.013).

    CONCLUSION: Almost half of the students were found to have smartphone overdependence. Excessive smartphone use has shown a significant relationship with an increased risk for social anxiety, reduction in self-esteem, and quality of life among medical students. A closer look into the possible intervention is needed in the future to curb the negative effects arising from excessive smartphone use.

Related Terms
    Try searching for something
Filters
Contact Us

Please provide feedback to Administrator (afdal@afpm.org.my)

External Links