Displaying all 20 publications

Abstract:
Sort:
  1. Hong S
    PLoS One, 2025;20(1):e0316841.
    PMID: 39888932 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0316841
    Future time perspective is closely related to students' academic achievement, potentially affecting academic achievement through academic emotions. This study examines the relationship between future time perspective and academic achievement, exploring the mediating roles of academic burnout and academic engagement among 686 university students. Using a cross-sectional quantitative design, we investigated both the direct relationship between future time perspective and academic achievement, and the indirect effects mediated by burnout and engagement. Structural equation modeling revealed that future time perspective predicts academic achievement directly, and also indirectly through increasing academic engagement and reducing academic burnout. Notably, the mediating effect of academic burnout was found to be more significant than that of academic engagement. Overall, the results highlight the crucial role of future time perspective and its mediating mechanisms in promoting academic success, suggesting potential interventions to enhance students' future orientation and academic well-being.
  2. Hong S, Hanafi Z
    Sci Rep, 2024 Sep 03;14(1):20430.
    PMID: 39227739 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-71696-6
    University students are highly vulnerable to experiencing academic burnout due to various pressures, necessitating an exploration of its causes and effects. Time perspective theory emphasizes how individuals' perspectives of past, present, and future events shape their behavior. Yet, the relationship between time perspective, burnout, and academic achievement remains unclear. This study investigates this association in Chinese undergraduates using survey and official grade point average (GPA) data. Results indicate positive correlations between Past-Negative, Present-Hedonistic (PH), Present-Fatalistic time perspectives, and academic burnout. Additionally, only Present-Hedonistic (PH) and future time perspectives significantly predict GPA. A mediation model reveals misbehavior as a mediator between Present-Hedonistic (PH) time perspective and GPA. These findings highlight time perspective's importance in academic well-being and outcomes, shedding light on the distinct roles of future and Present-Hedonistic time perspectives.
  3. Low PS, Saha N, Tay JS, Hong S
    Acta Paediatr, 1996 Dec;85(12):1476-82.
    PMID: 9001661
    In multiracial Singapore, the prevalence of coronary artery disease is highest in ethnic Indian and lowest in ethnic Chinese populations. Since susceptibility to coronary artery disease is closely associated with plasma lipid traits, we studied the cord blood lipid and apolipoprotein profiles of the three ethnic groups in Singapore to determine if ethnic differences in lipid profile are present at birth. The high-risk lipid traits of high LDL-cholesterol, triglycerides and apo B, low HDL-cholesterol and apo A-I were found to be highest in ethnic Indian and lowest in ethnic Chinese populations. This difference was concordant with the relative coronary mortality rates for their respective adult populations in Singapore.
  4. Saha N, Hong SH, Wong HA, Jeyaseelan K, Tay JS
    Jinrui Idengaku Zasshi, 1991 Dec;36(4):307-12.
    PMID: 1811096 DOI: 10.1007/BF01883603
    Biochemical characteristics of one non-deficient fast G6PD variant (GdSingapore) and six different deficient variants (three new, two Mahidol, one each of Indonesian and Mediterranean) were studied among the Malays of Singapore. The GdSingapore variant had normal enzyme activity (82%) and fast electrophoretic mobilities (140% in TEB buffer, 160% in phosphate and 140% in Tris-HCl buffer systems respectively). This variant is further characterized by normal Km for G6P; utilization of analogues (Gal6P, 2dG6P; dAmNADP), heat stability and pH optimum. The other six deficient G6PD variants had normal electrophoretic mobility in TEB buffer with enzyme activities ranging from 1 to 12% of GdB+. The biochemical characteristics identity them to be 2 Mahidol, 1 Indonesian and 1 Mediterranean variants and three new deficient variants.
  5. Sowndhararajan K, Hong S, Jhoo JW, Kim S, Chin NL
    Saudi J Biol Sci, 2015 Nov;22(6):685-91.
    PMID: 26586994 DOI: 10.1016/j.sjbs.2015.03.010
    Acacia species are multipurpose trees, widely used in the traditional systems of medicine to treat various ailments. The major objective of the present study was to determine the gene expression of enzymatic antioxidants by acetone extract from the stem bark of three Acacia species (Acacia dealbata, Acacia ferruginea and Acacia leucophloea) in hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)-induced human hepatoma (HepG2) cells. The expression of antioxidant enzymes such as superoxide dismutase containing copper-zinc (CuZnSOD)/manganese (MnSOD), catalase (CAT) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) in HepG2 cells was evaluated by real-time PCR. The results of antioxidant enzyme expression in real-time PCR study revealed that the H2O2 (200 μM) challenged HepG2 cells reduced the expression of enzymes such as SOD, GPx and CAT. However, the cells pre-treated with acetone extracts of all the three Acacia species significantly (P > 0.05) up-regulated the expression of antioxidant enzymes in a concentration dependent manner (25, 50 and 75 μg/mL). In conclusion, the findings of our study demonstrated that the acetone extract of Acacia species effectively inhibited H2O2 mediated oxidative stress and may be useful as a therapeutic agent in preventing oxidative stress mediated diseases.
  6. Zhu C, Lv W, Hong S, Han M, Song W, Liu C, et al.
    Sci Total Environ, 2024 May 04;931:172962.
    PMID: 38705306 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.172962
    Perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) is a typical persistent organic pollutant that is characterized by environmental persistence, bioaccumulation, and toxicity. In this study, we investigated the gut microbial response of the red claw crayfish Cherax quadricarinatus after 28 days of exposure to 0 ng/L, 1 ng/L, 10 μg/L, or 10 mg/L of PFOS as a stressor. We measured oxidative stress-related enzyme activities and expression of molecules related to detoxification mechanisms to evaluate the toxic effects of PFOS. We found that PFOS disturbed microbial homeostasis in the gut of C. quadricarinatus, resulting in increased abundance of the pathogen Shewanella and decreased abundance of the beneficial bacterium Lactobacillus. The latter especially disturbed amino acid transport and carbohydrate transport. We also found that the activities of glutathione S-transferase and glutathione peroxidase were positively correlated with the expression levels of cytochrome P450 genes (GST1-1, GSTP, GSTK1, HPGDS, UGT5), which are products of PFOS-induced oxidative stress and play an antioxidant role in the body. The results of this study provided valuable ecotoxicological data to better understand the biological fate and effects of PFOS in C. quadricarinatus.
  7. Zhu T, Yao C, Hong S, Song W, Zanuri NM, Lv W, et al.
    Sci Total Environ, 2024 Nov 15;951:175680.
    PMID: 39173758 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.175680
    We investigated the effects of different nanoplastic (NP, size = 100 nm) concentrations on red crayfish (Cherax quadricarinatus) and examined toxicity mechanisms. We established four concentration groups (control (CK): 0 μg/L; Low: 100 μg/L; Medium: 500 μg/L; and High: 1000 μg/L) and analyzed toxicity effects in C. quadricarinatus hepatopancreas using histopathological, transcriptomic, metabolomic, and fluorescence methods. NP exposure caused histological lesions and oxidative stress in hepatopancreas, and also significantly decreased glutathione (GSH) (P 
  8. An JU, Ho H, Kim J, Kim WH, Kim J, Lee S, et al.
    Front Microbiol, 2018;9:3136.
    PMID: 30619204 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2018.03136
    Campylobacter jejuni is a major foodborne pathogen that is increasingly found worldwide and that is transmitted to humans through meat or dairy products. A detailed understanding of the prevalence and characteristics of C. jejuni in dairy cattle farms, which are likely to become sources of contamination, is imperative and is currently lacking. In this study, a total of 295 dairy cattle farm samples from 15 farms (24 visits) in Korea were collected. C. jejuni prevalence at the farm level was 60% (9/15) and at the animal level was 23.8% (68/266). Using the multivariable generalized estimating equation (GEE) model based on farm-environmental factors, we estimated that a high density of cattle and average environmental temperature (7 days prior to sampling) below 24°C affects the presence and survival of C. jejuni in the farm environment. Cattle isolates, together with C. jejuni from other sources (chicken and human), were genetically characterized based on analysis of 10 virulence and survival genes. A total of 19 virulence profile types were identified, with type 01 carrying eight genes (all except hcp and virB11) being the most prevalent. The prevalence of virB11 and hcp was significantly higher in isolates from cattle than in those from other sources (p < 0.05). Multilocus sequence typing (MLST) of C. jejuni isolates from three different sources mainly clustered in the CC-21 and CC-48. Within the CC-21 and CC-48 clusters, cattle isolates shared an indistinguishable pattern with human isolates according to pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and flaA-restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) typing. This suggests that CC-21 and CC-48 C. jejuni from dairy cattle are genetically related to clinical campylobacteriosis isolates. In conclusion, the farm environment influences the presence and survival of C. jejuni, which may play an important role in cycles of cattle re-infection, and dairy cattle represent potential reservoirs of human campylobacteriosis. Thus, environmental management practices could be implemented on cattle farms to reduce the shedding of C. jejuni from cattle, subsequently reducing the potential risk of the spread of cattle-derived C. jejuni to humans through the food chain.
  9. Yang E, Hong S, Ma J, Park SJ, Lee DK, Das T, et al.
    ACS Nano, 2024 Aug 15.
    PMID: 39146081 DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.4c04316
    In this work, we report an n-type metal-oxide-semiconductor (nMOS) inverter using chemical vapor deposition (CVD)-grown monolayer WS2 field-effect transistors (FETs). Our large-area CVD-grown monolayer WS2 FETs exhibit outstanding electrical properties including a high on/off ratio, small subthreshold swing, and excellent drain-induced barrier lowering. These are achieved by n-type doping using AlOx/Al2O3 and a double-gate structure employing high-k dielectric HfO2. Due to the superior subthreshold characteristics, monolayer WS2 FETs show high transconductance and high output resistance in the subthreshold regime, resulting in significantly higher intrinsic gain compared to conventional Si MOSFETs. Therefore, we successfully realize subthreshold operating monolayer WS2 nMOS inverters with extremely high gains of 564 and 2056 at supply voltage (VDD) of 1 and 2 V, respectively, and low power consumption of ∼2.3 pW·μm-1 at VDD = 1 V. In addition, the monolayer WS2 nMOS inverter is further expanded to the demonstration of logic circuits such as AND, OR, NAND, NOR logic gates, and SRAM. These findings suggest the potential of monolayer WS2 for high-gain and low-power logic circuits and validate the practical application in large areas.
  10. Lau SC, Azim E, Abdul Latiff Z, Syed Zakaria SZ, Wong SW, Wu LL, et al.
    Med J Malaysia, 2018 12;73(6):382-387.
    PMID: 30647208
    INTRODUCTION: A smooth transition of healthcare for young people with chronic illnesses from paediatric to adult healthcare services is important to ensure optimal outcome. At the moment, there are no standard guidelines to assess a patient's readiness to transfer care.

    METHODS: A cross-sectional study using a self-administered questionnaire, adapted from UNC (University of North Carolina) TRxANSITION self-assessment tool was conducted to evaluate patients' transition care readiness in paediatric haematology and paediatric diabetes clinic.

    RESULTS: A total of 80 patients (37 thalassaemia and 43 diabetes) with the mean age of 21.2 (SD±4.3) years, were recruited during the 3-month study period. Majority of the patients have basic knowledge regarding their medications, and were able to comply with their follow-up. The mean total score obtained by the respondents on this questionnaire was 15.3 (SD±3.59). Self-management skills and knowledge on disease were the two poorly scored section; with mean score of 3.78 (SD±1.38) and 4.28 (SD±1.20) respectively. Overall, only 21 (26.2%) respondents obtained high score (score above 75th percentile). Seventy-five percent of the respondents admitted that they were not ready for transfer to an adult healthcare service yet at the time of the study.

    CONCLUSION: We suggest that patients with high score should be prepared for transition to adult facility whereas those with a low score need to be identified to ensure provision of continuous education.
  11. Pagliuca S, Gurnari C, Hercus C, Hergalant S, Hong S, Dhuyser A, et al.
    Res Sq, 2023 Apr 05.
    PMID: 37066269 DOI: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-2773498/v1
    Graft-versus-leukemia (GvL) reactions are responsible for the effectiveness of allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation as a treatment modality for myeloid neoplasia, whereby donor T- effector cells recognize leukemia neoantigens. However, a substantial fraction of patients experience relapses because of the failure of the immunological responses to control leukemic outgrowth. Here, through a broad immunogenetic study, we demonstrate that germline and somatic reduction of human leucocyte antigen (HLA) heterogeneity enhances the risk of leukemic recurrence. We show that preexistent germline-encoded low evolutionary divergence of class II HLA genotypes constitutes an independent factor associated with disease relapse and that acquisition of clonal somatic defects in HLA alleles may lead to escape from GvL control. Both class I and II HLA genes are targeted by somatic mutations as clonal selection factors potentially impairing cellular immune reactions and response to immunomodulatory strategies. These findings define key molecular modes of post-transplant leukemia escape contributing to relapse.
  12. Pagliuca S, Gurnari C, Hercus C, Hergalant S, Hong S, Dhuyser A, et al.
    Nat Commun, 2023 May 31;14(1):3153.
    PMID: 37258544 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-38113-4
    Graft-versus-leukemia (GvL) reactions are responsible for the effectiveness of allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation as a treatment modality for myeloid neoplasia, whereby donor T- effector cells recognize leukemia neoantigens. However, a substantial fraction of patients experiences relapses because of the failure of the immunological responses to control leukemic outgrowth. Here, through a broad immunogenetic study, we demonstrate that germline and somatic reduction of human leucocyte antigen (HLA) heterogeneity enhances the risk of leukemic recurrence. We show that preexistent germline-encoded low evolutionary divergence of class II HLA genotypes constitutes an independent factor associated with disease relapse and that acquisition of clonal somatic defects in HLA alleles may lead to escape from GvL control. Both class I and II HLA genes are targeted by somatic mutations as clonal selection factors potentially impairing cellular immune responses and response to immunomodulatory strategies. These findings define key molecular modes of post-transplant leukemia escape contributing to relapse.
  13. Strobl C, Churchill Cihlar J, Lagacé R, Wootton S, Roth C, Huber N, et al.
    Forensic Sci Int Genet, 2019 09;42:244-251.
    PMID: 31382159 DOI: 10.1016/j.fsigen.2019.07.013
    The emergence of Massively Parallel Sequencing technologies enabled the analysis of full mitochondrial (mt)DNA sequences from forensically relevant samples that have, so far, only been typed in the control region or its hypervariable segments. In this study, we evaluated the performance of a commercially available multiplex-PCR-based assay, the Precision ID mtDNA Whole Genome Panel (Thermo Fisher Scientific), for the amplification and sequencing of the entire mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) from even degraded forensic specimens. For this purpose, more than 500 samples from 24 different populations were selected to cover the vast majority of established superhaplogroups. These are known to harbor different signature sequence motifs corresponding to their phylogenetic background that could have an effect on primer binding and, thus, could limit a broad application of this molecular genetic tool. The selected samples derived from various forensically relevant tissue sources and were DNA extracted using different methods. We evaluated sequence concordance and heteroplasmy detection and compared the findings to conventional Sanger sequencing as well as an orthogonal MPS platform. We discuss advantages and limitations of this approach with respect to forensic genetic workflow and analytical requirements.
  14. Koppikar S, Oaknin A, Babu KG, Lorusso D, Gupta S, Wu LY, et al.
    ESMO Open, 2023 Feb;8(1):100774.
    PMID: 36696825 DOI: 10.1016/j.esmoop.2022.100774
    The most recent version of the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Clinical Practice Guidelines for the diagnosis, treatment and follow-up of patients with endometrial cancer was published in 2022. It was therefore decided, by both the ESMO and the Indian Society of Medical and Paediatric Oncology (ISMPO), to convene a virtual meeting in July 2022 to adapt the ESMO 2022 guidelines to take into account the variations in the management of endometrial cancer in Asia. These guidelines represent the consensus opinion of a panel of Asian experts representing the oncological societies of China (CSCO), India (ISMPO), Indonesia (ISHMO), Japan (JSMO), Korea (KSMO), Malaysia (MOS), the Philippines (PSMO), Singapore (SSO), Taiwan (TOS) and Thailand (TSCO). Voting was based on scientific evidence and was conducted independently of the current treatment practices and treatment access constraints in the different Asian countries, which were discussed when appropriate. The aim of this guideline manuscript is to provide guidance for the optimisation and harmonisation of the management of patients with endometrial cancer across the different regions of Asia, drawing on the evidence provided by Western and Asian trials whilst respecting the variations in clinical presentation, diagnostic practices including molecular profiling and disparities in access to therapeutic options, including drug approvals and reimbursement strategies.
  15. BaHammam AS, Al-Abri MA, Al Oweidat K, Amra B, Chan JWY, Chirakalwasan N, et al.
    J Clin Sleep Med, 2025 Apr 01;21(4):627-638.
    PMID: 39625189 DOI: 10.5664/jcsm.11484
    STUDY OBJECTIVES: To develop a comprehensive Asian adult sleep medicine fellowship training curriculum to address the significant disparities in sleep medicine training across Asia, guided by the principle of "One Curriculum, Many Contexts," providing a standardized yet adaptable framework for sleep medicine education across the diverse health care landscapes of Asian countries.

    METHODS: The curriculum development process involved a gap analysis, comprehensive literature review, and expert consensus through a modified RAND/UCLA appropriateness method/Delphi survey.

    RESULTS: The curriculum offers 2 flexible tracks: a 1-year program (Track A) and a 2-year program (Track B), accommodating varied educational pathways and health care system structures across Asia. Key features of the curriculum include detailed learning outcomes, competency-based educational content, and recommendations for teaching and learning activities. The assessment strategy incorporates summative and formative methods, with standard setting and program evaluation guidelines. The curriculum also provides recommendations for program accreditation, fellow-faculty ratios, and funding considerations.

    CONCLUSIONS: The Asian adult sleep medicine fellowship training curriculum provides a standardized yet adaptable framework for sleep medicine education across diverse Asian health care landscapes. By emphasizing flexibility and customization while maintaining high training standards, the curriculum aims to bridge the gap in sleep medicine training across Asia, ultimately improving the quality of sleep health care and patient outcomes throughout the region.

    CITATION: BaHammam AS, Al-Abri MA, Al Oweidat K, et al. Asian adult sleep medicine fellowship training curriculum: one curriculum, many contexts. J Clin Sleep Med. 2025;21(4):627-638.

  16. Kuznetsov N, Daida K, Makarious MB, Al-Mubarak B, Brolin KA, Malik L, et al.
    bioRxiv, 2024 Nov 23.
    PMID: 39605431 DOI: 10.1101/2024.11.22.624040
    Copy Number Variations (CNVs) play pivotal roles in the etiology of complex diseases and are variable across diverse populations. Understanding the association between CNVs and disease susceptibility is of significant importance in disease genetics research and often requires analysis of large sample sizes. One of the most cost-effective and scalable methods for detecting CNVs is based on normalized signal intensity values, such as Log R Ratio (LRR) and B Allele Frequency (BAF), from Illumina genotyping arrays. In this study, we present CNV-Finder, a novel pipeline integrating deep learning techniques on array data, specifically a Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) network, to expedite the large-scale identification of CNVs within predefined genomic regions. This facilitates the efficient prioritization of samples for subsequent, costly analyses such as short-read and long-read whole genome sequencing. We focus on five genes-Parkin (PRKN), Leucine Rich Repeat And Ig Domain Containing 2 (LINGO2), Microtubule Associated Protein Tau (MAPT), alpha-Synuclein (SNCA), and Amyloid Beta Precursor Protein (APP)-which may be relevant to neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's disease (AD), Parkinson's disease (PD), or related disorders such as essential tremor (ET). By training our models on expert-annotated samples and validating them across diverse cohorts, including those from the Global Parkinson's Genetics Program (GP2) and additional dementia-specific databases, we demonstrate the efficacy of CNV-Finder in accurately detecting deletions and duplications. Our pipeline outputs app-compatible files for visualization within CNV-Finder's interactive web application. This interface enables researchers to review predictions and filter displayed samples by model prediction values, LRR range, and variant count in order to explore or confirm results. Our pipeline integrates this human feedback to enhance model performance and reduce false positive rates. Through a series of comprehensive analyses and validations using both short-read and long-read sequencing data, we demonstrate the robustness and adaptability of CNV-Finder in identifying CNVs with regions of varied sparsity, noise, and size. Our findings highlight the significance of contextual understanding and human expertise in enhancing the precision of CNV identification, particularly in complex genomic regions like 17q21.31. The CNV-Finder pipeline is a scalable, publicly available resource for the scientific community, available on GitHub (https://github.com/GP2code/CNV-Finder; DOI 10.5281/zenodo.14182563). CNV-Finder not only expedites accurate candidate identification but also significantly reduces the manual workload for researchers, enabling future targeted validation and downstream analyses in regions or phenotypes of interest.
  17. Kim H, Liu Y, Lu K, Chang CS, Sung D, Akl M, et al.
    Nat Nanotechnol, 2023 May;18(5):464-470.
    PMID: 36941360 DOI: 10.1038/s41565-023-01340-3
    Layer transfer techniques have been extensively explored for semiconductor device fabrication as a path to reduce costs and to form heterogeneously integrated devices. These techniques entail isolating epitaxial layers from an expensive donor wafer to form freestanding membranes. However, current layer transfer processes are still low-throughput and too expensive to be commercially suitable. Here we report a high-throughput layer transfer technique that can produce multiple compound semiconductor membranes from a single wafer. We directly grow two-dimensional (2D) materials on III-N and III-V substrates using epitaxy tools, which enables a scheme comprised of multiple alternating layers of 2D materials and epilayers that can be formed by a single growth run. Each epilayer in the multistack structure is then harvested by layer-by-layer mechanical exfoliation, producing multiple freestanding membranes from a single wafer without involving time-consuming processes such as sacrificial layer etching or wafer polishing. Moreover, atomic-precision exfoliation at the 2D interface allows for the recycling of the wafers for subsequent membrane production, with the potential for greatly reducing the manufacturing cost.
  18. Sartelli M, Weber DG, Ruppé E, Bassetti M, Wright BJ, Ansaloni L, et al.
    World J Emerg Surg, 2017;12:35.
    PMID: 28785301 DOI: 10.1186/s13017-017-0147-0
    [This corrects the article DOI: 10.1186/s13017-016-0089-y.].
Related Terms
Filters
Contact Us

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

External Links