MyMedR

Fulltext Clinical presentation of patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma

Suzina SAH, Hamzah M

Med J Malaysia, 2003 Oct;58(4):539-45.

PMID: 15190630

The poor prognosis for patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma is principally due to its advanced stage at the time of diagnosis. The symptoms and clinical findings at presentation of 56 patients with confirmed nasopharyngeal carcinoma is described and analysed. Recognising the common modes of presentation is essential to diagnose the disease at an early stage.

Fulltext Recombinant bromelain production in Escherichia coli: process optimization in shake flask culture by response surface methodology

Muntari B, Amid A, Mel M, Jami MS, Salleh HM

AMB Express, 2012;2:12.

PMID: 22336426 DOI: 10.1186/2191-0855-2-12

Bromelain, a cysteine protease with various therapeutic and industrial applications, was expressed in Escherichia coli, BL21-AI clone, under different cultivation conditions (post-induction temperature, L-arabinose concentration and post-induction period). The optimized conditions by response surface methodology using face centered central composite design were 0.2% (w/v) L-arabinose, 8 hr and 25°C. The analysis of variance coupled with larger value of R2 (0.989) showed that the quadratic model used for the prediction was highly significant (p < 0.05). Under the optimized conditions, the model produced bromelain activity of 9.2 U/mg while validation experiments gave bromelain activity of 9.6 ± 0.02 U/mg at 0.15% (w/v) L-arabinose, 8 hr and 27°C. This study had innovatively developed cultivation conditions for better production of recombinant bromelain in shake flask culture.

Massive epistaxis from traumatic aneurysm of the internal carotid artery

Saim L, Rejab E, Hamzah M, Sakijan S, Selvapragasam T

Aust N Z J Surg, 1993 Nov;63(11):906-10.

PMID: 8216074

Intracavernous carotid artery aneurysm following head injury is a rare occurrence. Two such cases presenting with delayed but massive and repeated epistaxis are reported and the literature reviewed. The first case required a trapping procedure while the second case had only cervical carotid ligation to control the bleeding. Both resulted in no neurological sequelae.

Use of bovine xenograft in reconstruction of traumatic anterior cranial fossa bone defects involving the frontal sinus

Abdullah J, Rushdan A, Hamzah M, Ariff AR, Rani A

Ann. Transplant., 1999;4(3-4):28-31.

PMID: 10853777

Four patients underwent reconstruction of anterior cranial fossa of skull defects between November 1997 and January 1998. All of them had traumatic anterior cranial fossa defect and were reconstructed with lyophilised bovine cortical bone graft. There was no cerebrospinal fluid leakage, meningitis, extradural abscess or other infections. This study demonstrates that the use of bovine bone graft in the reconstruction of anterior base defects is safe.

Objective assessment of nasal resistance in patients with nasal disease

Suzina AH, Hamzah M, Samsudin AR

J Laryngol Otol, 2003 Aug;117(8):609-13.

PMID: 12956914

Nasal obstruction is a subjective complaint in patients with nasal disease. The ability to quantitate the nasal ventilation dysfunction would be useful for making the appropriate choice of nasal disease management. This cross-sectional study comprised of 200 adult subjects. They underwent assessment of relevant symptoms, nasal examination and investigations before undergoing active anterior rhinomanometry (AAR) assessment. A group of 88 normal subjects and 112 patients with nasal disease were included. The mean total nasal air resistance (NAR) was significantly higher in patients with nasal disease (0.33 Pa/cm(3)/s) as compared to normal subjects (0.24 Pa/cm(3)/s). There was no significant difference in total NAR between patients with symptoms of nasal obstruction and those without the symptoms (p = 0.42). It is concluded that AAR is a sensitive but not a specific tool for the detection of abnormalities in NAR and it failed to relate to the symptom of nasal obstruction.

Active anterior rhinomanometry analysis in normal adult Malays

Suzina AH, Hamzah M, Samsudin AR

J Laryngol Otol, 2003 Aug;117(8):605-8.

PMID: 12956913

The differences in facial anatomical structures of the major ethnic groups, may also be reflected in nasal resistance. Active anterior rhinomanometry (AAR) is the recommended technique for the objective assessment of nasal airway resistance (NAR). This study comprised of 85 adult Malay subjects. All the subjects had to undergo a primary assessment of relevant symptoms of nasal disease and nasal examination before undergoing AAR assessment. The mean value of total nasal airway resistance (NAR) was 0.19 Pa/cm(3)/s (ranged from 0.09 to 0.55 Pa/cm(3)/s) at 75 Pa pressure point and 0.24 Pa/cm(3)/s (ranged from 0.12 to 0.52 Pa/cm(3)/s) at 150 Pa pressure point. The mean unilateral NAR was 0.46 Pa/cm(3)/s at a reference pressure of 75 Pa and 0.51 Pa/cm(3)/s at a reference pressure of 150 Pa. In this study we presented normal values for NAR in healthy Malay adult subjects. AAR proves to be a valuable clinical method for recording and quantitating nasal resistance.

Retropharyngeal abscess: recent trends

Sharma HS, Kurl DN, Hamzah M

Auris Nasus Larynx, 1998 Dec;25(4):403-6.

PMID: 9853664

Retropharyngeal abscess (RPA) is relatively rare today. A study of 17 cases of RPA treated at our hospital in the past 10 years showed a shift in the disease from children below 6 years of age (41%) to older children and adults (58%). Upper respiratory tract infection (URTI) was found to be the commonest (52%) aetiological predisposing factor in all age groups. Other aetiological factors were septicaemia (11%) in children below the age of 6 years and trauma due to foreign body (35%) in the older children and adult age groups. Klebsiella, Staphylococcus and Streptococcus were the commonest species of microorganisms grown from pus. The changing clinical trends, microbiology, choice of antibiotics, usefulness of radiology, and complications of this potentially fatal illness are discussed.

Bilateral internal jugular vein ectasia: a report of two cases

Gendeh BS, Dhillon MK, Hamzah M

J Laryngol Otol, 1994 Mar;108(3):256-60.

PMID: 8169515

Internal jugular vein ectasia is a venous anomaly commonly presenting as a unilateral neck swelling in children and adults. Literature reports of bilateral presentation are rare. Bilateral Doppler ultrasonography is the diagnostic investigation of choice. The possible pathology, aetiology and management are discussed. Conservative management of bilateral cases is recommended in uncomplicated cases.

Temporal variation of Malaysian rotavirus electropherotypes

Rasool N, Othman RY, Adenan MI, Hamzah M

J Clin Microbiol, 1989 Apr;27(4):785-7.

PMID: 2470775

An analysis of rotavirus electropherotypes circulating in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, over 7 years showed that all except 1 of the 360 electropherotypes encountered were characteristic of group A rotaviruses. The long electropherotype predominated annually, and there was a rarity of short electropherotypes. Extensive genome variability and cocirculation of different electropherotypes were observed annually. A sequential appearance of the predominant electropherotype was observed in all years of the study, except for 1985 and 1988, when one electropherotype predominated throughout the study periods. There was no shift in the predominant electropherotype over a 6-year period.

The use of a molecular technique for the detection of porcine ingredients in the Malaysian food market

Farouk AE, Batcha MF, Greiner R, Salleh HM, Salleh MR, Sirajudin AR

Saudi Med J, 2006 Sep;27(9):1397-400.

PMID: 16951781

To develop a molecular technique that is fast and reliable in detecting porcine contamination or ingredients in foods.

Prehospital emergency medical services in Malaysia

Hisamuddin NA, Hamzah MS, Holliman CJ

J Emerg Med, 2007 May;32(4):415-21.

PMID: 17499697

Once a very slowly developing country in a Southeast Asia region, Malaysia has undergone considerable change over the last 20 years after the government changed its focus from agriculture to developing more industry and technology. The well-known "Vision 2020," introduced by the late Prime Minister, set a target for the nation to be a developed country in the Asia region by the year 2020. As the economy and standard of living have improved, the demand from the public for a better health care system, in particular, emergency medical services (EMS), has increased. Despite the effort by the government to improve the health care system in Malaysia, EMS within the country are currently limited, best described as being in the "developing" phase. The Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education, Civil Defense, and non-governmental organizations such as Red Crescent and St. John's Ambulance, provide the current ambulance services. At the present time, there are no uniform medical control or treatment protocols, communication systems, system management, training or education, or quality assurance policies. However, the recent development of and interest in an Emergency Medicine training program has gradually led to improved EMS and prehospital care.

Fulltext Underlay myringoplasty: comparison of human amniotic membrane to temporalis fascia graft

Harvinder S, Hassan S, Sidek DS, Hamzah M, Samsudin AR, Philip R

Med J Malaysia, 2005 Dec;60(5):585-9.

PMID: 16515109

Human amniotic membrane as a homograft material was compared to temporalis fascia to close tympanic membrane perforations in 50 patients with chronic otitis media. Human amniotic membrane was used in 20 patients while temporalis fascia was used in the remaining 30. Anatomical closure of the perforation and reduction of the air-bone gap was measured. The graft uptake showed a 65% success rate for the amniotic membrane and 56.7% for the temporalis fascia at 3 months post-operatively. Significant closure of air-bone gap was observed in the human amniotic group. These results indicate comparable outcomes between human amniotic membrane and the temporalis fascia graft.

Identification of a human group C rotavirus in Malaysia

Rasool NB, Hamzah M, Jegathesan M, Wong YH, Qian Y, Green KY

J Med Virol, 1994 Jul;43(3):209-11.

PMID: 7931180

Stool specimens from 334 infants and young children hospitalized with diarrhea in the General Hospital, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia between August and November, 1987 were analyzed for the presence of rotavirus double-stranded (ds) RNA by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Of the 334 specimens analyzed, 32 (9.6%) were positive for rotavirus RNA. One specimen (designated G147) exhibited a ds RNA electropherotype profile characteristic of Group C rotavirus and was selected for further characterization. In Northern blot hybridization studies, the gene 5 segment of strain G147 hybridized with a cDNA probe generated from the cloned gene 5 (which encodes the VP6 inner capsid protein that is group specific) of porcine Group C rotavirus strain Cowden, confirming the classification of strain G147 in Group C. The association of Group C rotavirus with diarrheal illness in Malaysia is consistent with earlier studies that suggest a global distribution of this virus and supports the need for additional epidemiologic studies.

Fulltext Problem characterization for visual analytics in MOOC learner's support monitoring: A case of Malaysian MOOC

Asli MF, Hamzah M, Ibrahim AAA, Ayub E

Heliyon, 2020 Dec;6(12):e05733.

PMID: 33426320 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2020.e05733

Malaysia and many other developing countries progressively adopting massively open online course (MOOC) in their national higher education approach. We have observed an increasing need for facilitating MOOC monitoring that is associated with the rising adoption of MOOCs. Our observation suggests that recent adoption cases led analyst and instructors to focus on monitoring enrolment and learning activities. Visual analytics in MOOC support education analysts in analyzing MOOC data via interactive visualization. Existing literature on MOOC visualization focuses on enabling visual analysis on MOOC data from forum and course material. We found limited studies that investigate and characterize domain problems or design requirements of visual analytics for MOOC. This paper aims to present the empirical problem characterization and abstraction for visual analytics in MOOC learner's support monitoring. Detailed characterization and abstraction of the domain problem help visualization designer to derive design requirements in generating appropriate visualization solution. We examined the literature and conducted a case study to elicit a problem abstraction based on data, users, and tasks. We interviewed five Malaysian MOOC experts from three higher education institutes using semi-structured questions. Our case study reveals the priority of enabling MOOC analysis on learner's progression and course completion. There is an association between design and analysis priority with the pedagogical type of implemented MOOC and users. The characterized domain problems and requirements offer a design foundation for visual analytics in MOOC monitoring analysis.

Fulltext Emergency lung-sparing surgical repair of a complete transection of the right mainstem bronchus due to blunt chest trauma

Sachithanandan A, Tan YS, Abdul Muis J, Rapi AR, Mohd Arif MN, Badmanaban B, et al.

Med J Malaysia, 2014 Apr;69(2):92-4.

PMID: 25241820 MyJurnal

Traumatic chest injury with complete tracheo- bronchial disruption is uncommon and occurs in approximately 1% of motor vehicle accidents (MVA) (1,2). Such injuries carry a high mortality and patients rarely survive transfer to hospital. A high index of suspicion facilitates early diagnosis. Early operative intervention is vital for survival. We describe a rare case of traumatic complete disruption of the right mainstem bronchus (RMB) due to blunt chest trauma. The transected airway was reanastomosed emergently avoiding a lung resection.

Fourth branchial pouch cyst: an unusual cause of neonatal stridor

Sharma HS, Razif A, Hamzah M, Dharap AS, Mahbar Z, Kamal MZ, et al.

Int J Pediatr Otorhinolaryngol, 1996 Dec 20;38(2):155-61.

PMID: 9119603

Fourth branchial pouch anomalies are extremely rare and only a few such cases showing sinuses and cystic masses have been reported in the literature. We describe a patient who presented on the third day of life with cystic neck swelling of fourth branchial pouch origin giving rise to respiratory obstruction and stridor. Despite repeated aspiration of the cystic mass to relieve respiratory obstruction, rapid recurrence of the mass continued to cause stridor and ultimately required surgical excision. The clinical, radiological, and histopathological findings of this unusual condition are discussed with a review of the literature.

The use of magnetic resonance phase-contrast cine in Chiari malformation with syringomyelia

Goh CH, Hamzah MR, Kandasamy R, Ghani ARI, Wong SH, Idris Z, et al.

Med J Malaysia, 2020 11;75(6):666-671.

PMID: 33219175

INTRODUCTION: Chiari malformation (CM) is a disorder of mesodermal origin and is commonly associated with syringomyelia. Foramen magnum decompression is the first-line of standard treatment in symptomatic patients with a confirmed radiographic diagnosis. Magnetic resonance (MR) cine allows accurate evaluation of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) physiology at the craniovertebral junction but often this is under-utilised in Malaysia.

METHODS: In this series, we looked into nine cases of CM with syringomyelia from clinical and radiological perspective before and after surgery. The radiological parameters were herniated tonsillar length, syrinx: cord ratio, syrinx length and diameter. Flow velocity and morphologic changes in Chiari were illustrated.

RESULTS: Seven patients showed either reduction in syrinx length, syrinx: cord ratio or both postoperatively. Clinical recovery somewhat varied in motor and sensory symptoms. Four patients gained better functional grade in modified Rankin scale (MRS) while the rest remained similar. The study highlighted the advantage of CSF flow dynamics information over MR anatomical radiographic improvement in addressing the neurologic and functional recovery. We also discussed the practicality of cine sequence in preoperative patient selection, syrinx analysis and postoperative flow evaluation in anticipation of clinical outcome.

CONCLUSION: Phase-contrast cine MRI is a useful tool dictated by resource availability. We recommend its routine use in preoperative analysis and subsequent observational follow-up after surgery.

Fulltext Synthesis of Nano-Magnetite from Industrial Mill Chips for the Application of Boron Removal: Characterization and Adsorption Efficacy

Abba MU, Che Man H, Syahidah Azis R, Idris AI, Hazwan Hamzah M, Abdulsalam M

Int J Environ Res Public Health, 2021 Feb 03;18(4).

PMID: 33546264 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph18041400

The present study synthesized nano-magnetite (Fe3O4) from milled steel chips using the high energy ball milling (HEBM) method, characterized it, and then utilized it as a sorbent to remediate boron concentration at various pH (4-9), dosages (0.1-0.5 g), contact times (20-240 min), and initial concentrations (10-100 mg/L). The nano-sorbents were characterized based on SEM structure, elemental composition (EDX), surface area analysis (BET), crystallinity (XRD), and functional group analysis (FTIR). The highest adsorption capacity of 8.44 mg/g with removal efficiency of 84% was attained at pH 8, 0.5 g dosage, contact time of 180 min, and 50 mg/L initial concentration. The experimental data fit best with the pseudo-second-order kinetic model with R2 of 0.998, while the Freundlich adsorption isotherm describes the adsorption process with an R2 value of 0.9464. A regeneration efficiency of 47% was attained even after five cycles of reusability studies. This efficiency implies that the nano-magnetite has the potential for sustainable industrial application.

Cavernous sinus thrombosis secondary to sinusitis

Amran M, Sidek DS, Hamzah M, Abdullah JM, Halim AS, Johari MR, et al.

J Otolaryngol, 2002 Jun;31(3):165-9.

PMID: 12121021

Fulltext Novel PVDF-PVP Hollow Fiber Membrane Augmented with TiO2 Nanoparticles: Preparation, Characterization and Application for Copper Removal from Leachate

Abba MU, Man HC, Azis RS, Isma Idris A, Hazwan Hamzah M, Yunos KF, et al.

Nanomaterials (Basel), 2021 Feb 04;11(2).

PMID: 33557323 DOI: 10.3390/nano11020399

High proportion of copper has become a global challenge owing to its negative impact on the environment and public health complications. The present study focuses on the fabrication of a polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF)-polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) fiber membrane incorporated with varying loading (0, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, and 2.0 wt%) of titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles via phase inversion technique to achieve hydrophilicity along with high selectivity for copper removal. The developed fibers were characterized based on scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), permeability, porosity, zeta potential, and contact angle. The improved membrane (with 1.0 wt% TiO2) concentration recorded the maximum flux (223 L/m2·h) and copper rejection (98.18%). Similarly, 1.0 wt% concentration of TiO2 nanoparticles made the membrane matrix more hydrophilic with the least contact angle of 50.01°. The maximum copper adsorption capacity of 69.68 mg/g was attained at 1.0 wt% TiO2 concentration. The experimental data of adsorption capacity were best fitted to the Freundlich isotherm model with R2 value of 0.99573. The hybrid membrane developed in this study has considerably eliminated copper from leachate and the concentration of copper in the permeate was substantially reduced to 0.044 mg/L, which is below standard discharge threshold.

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