METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted among Malaysians aged 20 years old and over, who had accessed the internet and used the WhatsApp application. The sampling method was a convenient snowball from 14 Malaysian states. This study was conducted online using questionnaires during the Movement Control Order due to the pandemic.
RESULTS: Approximately 40.0%, 46.1% and 47.4% of 1,290 participants had a score above the median (good score) for preventive behaviour, attitude and knowledge, respectively. Age was significantly associated with poor knowledge (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 0.98; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.97, 0.99; P = 0.026). Males (AOR 1.35; 95% CI: 1.05, 1.74; P = 0.021), Malays (AOR 1.41; 95% CI: 1.01, 1.98; P = 0.043) and Chinese (AOR 2.19; 95% CI: 1.17, 4.13; P = 0.015) were the associated factors for poor attitude. Chinese ethnicity was significantly associated with poor preventive behaviour (AOR 2.80; 95% CI: 1.39, 5.61; P = 0.004).
CONCLUSION: The level of knowledge, attitude and practices were high except for a few questions. The young, males and Malay and Chinese individuals need health education.
FINDINGS: We optimized the assembly of a Hevea bark transcriptome based on 16 Gb Illumina PE RNA-Seq reads using the Oases assembler across a range of k-mer sizes. We then assessed assembly quality based on transcript N50 length and transcript mapping statistics in relation to (a) known Hevea cDNAs with complete open reading frames, (b) a set of core eukaryotic genes and (c) Hevea genome scaffolds. This was followed by a systematic transcript mapping process where sub-assemblies from a series of incremental amounts of bark transcripts were aligned to transcripts from the entire bark transcriptome assembly. The exercise served to relate read amounts to the degree of transcript mapping level, the latter being an indicator of the coverage of gene transcripts expressed in the sample. As read amounts or datasize increased toward 16 Gb, the number of transcripts mapped to the entire bark assembly approached saturation. A colour matrix was subsequently generated to illustrate sequencing depth requirement in relation to the degree of coverage of total sample transcripts.
CONCLUSIONS: We devised a procedure, the "transcript mapping saturation test", to estimate the amount of RNA-Seq reads needed for deep coverage of transcriptomes. For Hevea de novo assembly, we propose generating between 5-8 Gb reads, whereby around 90% transcript coverage could be achieved with optimized k-mers and transcript N50 length. The principle behind this methodology may also be applied to other non-model plants, or with reads from other second generation sequencing platforms.
Methods: A total of 32 Sprague-Dawley male rats were randomly assigned into four groups (n = 8); control healthy, control diabetic (PDN), and PDN rats that received 80 µg or 160 µg intrathecal minocycline respectively. The rats were induced to develop diabetes and allowed to develop into the early phase of PDN for two weeks. Hot-plate and formalin tests were conducted. Intrathecal treatment of minocycline or normal saline was conducted for 7 days. The rats were sacrificed to obtain the lumbar enlargement region of the spinal cord (L4-L5) for immunohistochemistry and western blot analyses to determine the expression of phosphorylated (pNR2B) and total NR2B (NR2B).
Results: PDN rats showed enhanced flinching (phase 1: p
RESEARCH DESIGN /SETTING: A cross-sectional validation study was conducted in middle and south of West Bank from February 2019 to June 2020. Two-hundred postpartum women were given self-administered and online questionnaire. Content and face validity were assessed. The "satisfaction of care" and "perceived quality of care" domains were analyzed using exploratory factor analysis, while items in "experience of mistreatment" domain were evaluated descriptively. Cronbach's alpha was used to assess the reliability of the questionnaire items.
FINDINGS: The new questionnaire consisted of three domains: "satisfaction of care", "perceived quality of care", and "experience of mistreatment" during childbirth. Five new items were added and two items were removed during content validation. Another two items were deleted through face validation. Exploratory factor analysis was conducted for the "satisfaction of care" and "perceived quality of care" domains. Two factors were identified for each domain, with a factor loading of more than 0.5. Twelve items were deleted from "satisfaction of care" domain and two items from "perceived quality of care" domain. The Cronbach's alpha values for the two factors in both domains were more than 0.87. The items in the "experience of mistreatment during childbirth" domain were evaluated descriptively.
KEY CONCLUSIONS: The new questionnaire is valid and reliable. The final questionnaire consists of 11 items for "satisfaction of care", 16 items for "perceived quality of care" and 43 items for "experience of mistreatment of women during childbirth".
METHODS: This is a retrospective cohort study on patients in medical ward Hospital Kuala Lumpur, admitted between January 2016 and June 2019. A Kaplan-Meier survival curve and Fleming-Harrington test were used to compare the overall survival rates between early, late, and those not de-escalated on antibiotics while multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression was used to determine prognostic factors associated with mortality and the impact of de-escalation on 30-day all-cause mortality.
RESULTS: Overall mortality rates were not significantly different when patients were not de-escalated on extended or restricted antibiotics, compared to those de-escalated early or later (p = 0.760). Variables associated with 30-day all-cause mortality were a Sequential Organ Function Assessment (SOFA) score on the day of antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) intervention and Charlson's comorbidity score (CCS). After controlling for confounders, early and late antibiotics were not associated with an increased risk of mortality.
CONCLUSION: The results of this study reinforce that restricted or extended antibiotic de-escalation in patients does not significantly affect 30-day all-cause mortality compared to continuation with extended and restricted antibiotics.