The objective of this study was to describe and compare the pathways followed by Malay patients with psychoses (schizophrenia and schizophreniform disorder) and Malay patients with epilepsy to a tertiary health center in the northeastern area of peninsular Malaysia. There were 60 patients in each group. The most popular pathway for both groups was first contact with traditional or alternative healers. Consultation with Malay traditional healers (bomohs) and/or homeopathic practitioners (44.2%) was significantly higher for psychotic patients (61.7%) than for patients with epilepsy (26.7%) (chi(2)(2)=15.609, P<0.001). Direct access (24.2%) was the second most popular pathway and almost equally followed by both groups of patients. The third and last pathway was initial contact with private general practitioners and government doctors, respectively. Patients with epilepsy dominated the last two pathways. The treatment delay (TD) was significantly longer in epileptic than psychotic patients regardless of their visit to a bomoh and/or homeopathic practitioner (P<0001) or not (p<0.01). The socioeconomic status of psychotic patients also was significantly better than people with epilepsy (chi(2)=9.957, chi(2)(4), p=0.041).
Study site: Psychiatric clinic, Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia HUSM
A literate and numerate population is the goal of any modern industrialized society. Literacy and mathematics skills carry the means by which children are equipped for the education processes on which their future will depend. Deaf and hard of hearing students' reading and mathematics skills are lower than that of others due to their inability. Before enhancing their literacy and mathematics skills, their standard of literacy and mathematics skills should first be identified. For this reason, the Malaysian Ministry of Education initiated the Literacy and Numeracy Screening (LINUS) program in 2009. However, problems arose in the assessment method of LINUS screening for these students since the LINUS screening method does not accommodate these students' situation and needs. Therefore, the researchers introduced internet-based Literacy and Mathematics Assessment (iLiMA) prototype that can overcome those problems. In the iLiMA prototype, sign language instruction video is used to standardize the assessment method in order to ensure that non-bias assessment could be established. The methodology used to develop this system is the Evolutionary Process Model - Prototype. The iLiMA prototype usability was assessed with the Computer System Usability Questionnaire (CSUQ) and conducted by using web-based survey method. The results indicate that the iLiMA prototype is usable and teachers are satisfied with it. Finally, the iLiMA prototype which had the potential to accommodate deaf and hard of hearing students to get a standardized and non-bias literacy and mathematics assessment was developed.
We present the mixing and merging of two reactive droplets on top of an open surface. A mobile droplet (1.0 M HCl solution + iron oxide particles) is magnetically-actuated to merge with a sessile droplet (1.0 M NaOH + phenolphthalein). The heat from the exothermic reaction is detected by a thermocouple. We vary the droplet volume (1, 5 and 10 μL), the magnet speed (1.86, 2.79, 3.72 and 4.65 mm/s) and the iron oxide concentration (0.010, 0.020 and 0.040 g/mL) to study their influences on the mixing time, peak temperature and cooling time. The sampled recording of these processes are provided as supplementary files. We observe the following trends. First, the lower volume of droplet and higher speed of magnet lead to shorter mixing time. Second, the peak temperature increases and cooling time decreases at the increasing speed of magnet. Third, the peak temperature is similar for bigger droplets, and they take longer to cool down. Finally, we also discuss the limitations of this preliminary study and propose improvements. These observations could be used to improve the sensitivity of the open chamber system in measuring the exothermic reaction of biological samples.
Five prenylflavonoids and two prenylchalcones from Artocarpus lowii King, A. scortechinii King and A. teysmanii Miq., and acetylated derivatives of cycloheterophyllin and artonin E were investigated for their ability to inhibit arachidonic acid (AA), collagen and adenosine diphosphate (ADP)-induced platelet aggregation in human whole blood by using an electrical impedance method. Among the tested compounds, only cycloheterophyllin inhibited AA-induced platelet aggregation with an IC(50) value of 100.9 microM. It also showed strong inhibition against ADP-induced aggregation, with an IC(50) value of 57.1 microM. Isobavachalcone, 2',4'-dihydroxy-4-methoxy-3'-prenyldihydrochalcone, cycloartobiloxanthone, artonin E and artonin E triacetate showed selective inhibition against ADP-induced aggregation, with IC(50) values ranging from 55.3 to 192.0 microM, but did not show such effect against other inducers.
In this study, 550 nm thick cubic silicon carbide square diaphragms were back etched from Si substrate. Then, indentation was carried out to samples with varying dimensions, indentation locations, and loads. The influence of three parameters is documented by analyzing load-displacement curves. It was found that diaphragms with bigger area, indented at the edge, and low load demonstrated almost elastic behaviour. Furthermore, two samples burst and one of them displayed pop-in behaviour, which we determine is due to plastic deformation. Based on optimum dimension and load, we calculate maximum pressure for elastic diaphragms. This pressure is sufficient for cubic silicon carbide diaphragms to be used as acoustic sensors to detect poisonous gasses.
Bronchopulmonary lophomoniasis is rare but immunocompromised individual is susceptible to this infection. We reported a case of bronchopulmonary lophomoniasis in a Malaysian female with systemic lupus erythromatosus. She presented with productive cough, shortness of breath and high-grade fever for 2 weeks. Physical examination revealed bronchial sound and crackles over the left lung with, reduced expansion and dull percussion in lower left lobe. Chest radiography showed consolidation of the left lung. Routine laboratory tests revealed general low cell count. Blood and sputum culture were negative. Bronchoalveolar lavage stain and culture for bacterial and fungal were negative. Bronchoalveolar lavage for Lophomonas blattarum was positive. Patient was treated with antiprotozoal drug, metronidazole. All her clinical problems resolved and she was discharged 14 days after admission.
The COVID-19 pandemic and the restrictions imposed that changed the teaching and learning activities may add a psychological impact to the existing academic stress faced by university students. Past studies have associated low levels of psychological disorder with high religiosity and positive religious coping (RC). This study aimed to determine the level of psychological disorder among university students in Malaysia during the COVID-19 pandemic and measure their association with religiosity and religious coping (RC). An online cross-sectional survey was conducted between March and June 2020 involving 450 students. The survey instruments consisted of sociodemographic proforma, Duke University Religious Index (DUREL) for religiosity, Brief RCOPE Scale for RC and General Health Questionnaire-12 (GHQ-12) for psychological disorder; 36% of the participants experienced psychological disorder. Younger age, being a Muslim, living in the Green/Yellow zone and higher negative RC were significantly associated with psychological disorder. Higher positive RC was found to be protective against psychological disorder. However, the level of religiosity had no significant association with psychological disorder. In conclusion, the level of psychological disorder among university students has been high during the pandemic. Measures and interventions focusing on positive RC and reducing negative RC are recommended to improve the psychological well-being.
Thermoplastic olefin (TPO) is the principal material for automotive instrument panels and is prone to fracture especially under heavy airbag deployment, which can prevent the airbag deploying properly. Thus, polyolefin elastomer (POE) was introduced to improve impact properties and fracture resistance. Fundamental methods to characterise TPO with the addition of POE are proposed. The influence of POE content on the mechanical properties was examined. With increasing POE content, the storage modulus and glass transition temperature values decreased, and the damping increased due to the POE increasing the polymer chain mobility. The tensile modulus, ultimate tensile strength and yield stress decreased with increasing POE content, while the ductility of the blends significantly increased. Furthermore, the POE reduced hardness and increased energy absorption during impact. In the fracture analysis, the addition of POE content increased the fracture resistance by increasing the crack energy and decreasing the resistance to crack initiation. Fractographic analysis showed how stretched microfibrils in the blends increase the fracture resistance. These results gave a significant indication of the utility of the elastomer in improving some mechanical properties and impact toughness of the interior automotive material to resist an undesired failure or over-fracture in airbag deployment.
Electromyography (EMG) signals can be used for clinical/biomedical applications, Evolvable Hardware Chip (EHW) development, and modern human computer interaction. EMG signals acquired from muscles require advanced methods for detection, decomposition, processing, and classification. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the various methodologies and algorithms for EMG signal analysis to provide efficient and effective ways of understanding the signal and its nature. We further point up some of the hardware implementations using EMG focusing on applications related to prosthetic hand control, grasp recognition, and human computer interaction. A comparison study is also given to show performance of various EMG signal analysis methods. This paper provides researchers a good understanding of EMG signal and its analysis procedures. This knowledge will help them develop more powerful, flexible, and efficient applications.
This paper was originally published in Biological Procedures Online (BPO) on March 23, 2006. It was brought to the attention of the journal and authors that reference 74 was incorrect. The original citation for reference 74, "Stanford V. Biosignals offer potential for direct interfaces and health monitoring. Pervasive Computing, IEEE 2004; 3(1):99-103." should read "Costanza E, Inverso SA, Allen R. 'Toward Subtle Intimate Interfaces for Mobile Devices Using an EMG Controller' in Proc CHI2005, April 2005, Portland, OR, USA."
Haemolytic Disease of Foetus and Newborn (HDFN) and Haemolytic Transfusion Reaction (HTR) may occur due to antibodies against Kidd antigen. In Malaysia, the prevalence of RBC alloimmunization due to Kidd antibody for cases of HDFN and HTR have been reported [1-2] however there is insufficient data in Hospital Umum Sarawak (HUS).The aim of this study is to determine whether Kidd alloimmunization causes HDFN and HTR. Indirectly categorize Kidd phenotype blood in regular blood donors.
Kidd blood group system is distributed differently within populations. In Malaysia, the prevalence of Kidd phenotypes have been reported but not in Hospital Umum Sarawak (HUS).We characterised Kidd phenotypes among regular blood donors in HUS. Methods: A cross-sectional study was done from 1st September 2015 to 10th September 2015. Blood samples were collected from 250 regular blood donors of different ethnicities in HUS. Samples were then investigated for Kidd blood group phenotypes by utilising Seraclon anti-Jka and anti-Jkb reagents employing the Diamed-ID gel card system. Results: Phenotype Jk(a+b+) was found in 110 out of 250 (44.0%) and phenotype Jk (a-b-) phenotype in seven out of 250 (2.8%) blood donors. Jk(a+b-) was detected in 60 out of 250 (24.0%) and Jk(a-b+) in 73 out of 250 (29.2%) donors. Kidd phenotype was detected in four ethnics; Chinese 50.8%, Malays 38.4%, Bidayuh 10.0% and Iban 0.8%. Jk(a-b-) phenotype was present only in the Malays; seven out of 250 (2.8%) but not found in other ethnicities. Conclusion: Jk(a+b+) is the most common Kidd phenotype found in regular blood donors in HUS in the four ethnicities studied. Only Malays exhibit the Jk(a-b-) phenotype which is a rare phenotype. The results of this study may serve as a preliminary database for Kidd blood group profile of regular blood donors in HUS.
Electroencephalogram (EEG) serves as an extremely valuable tool for clinicians and researchers to study the activity of the brain in a non-invasive manner. It has long been used for the diagnosis of various central nervous system disorders like seizures, epilepsy, and brain damage and for categorizing sleep stages in patients. The artifacts caused by various factors such as Electrooculogram (EOG), eye blink, and Electromyogram (EMG) in EEG signal increases the difficulty in analyzing them. Discrete wavelet transform has been applied in this research for removing noise from the EEG signal. The effectiveness of the noise removal is quantitatively measured using Root Mean Square (RMS) Difference. This paper reports on the effectiveness of wavelet transform applied to the EEG signal as a means of removing noise to retrieve important information related to both healthy and epileptic patients. Wavelet-based noise removal on the EEG signal of both healthy and epileptic subjects was performed using four discrete wavelet functions. With the appropriate choice of the wavelet function (WF), it is possible to remove noise effectively to analyze EEG significantly. Result of this study shows that WF Daubechies 8 (db8) provides the best noise removal from the raw EEG signal of healthy patients, while WF orthogonal Meyer does the same for epileptic patients. This algorithm is intended for FPGA implementation of portable biomedical equipments to detect different brain state in different circumstances.
This study was carried out to determine the antibody responses and protective capacity of an inactivated recombinant vaccine expressing the fimbrial protein of Pasteurella multocida B:2 following intranasal vaccination against hemorrhagic septicemia in goats. Goats were vaccinated intranasal with 10(6) CFU/mL of the recombinant vaccine (vaccinated group) and 10(6) CFU/mL of pET32/LIC vector without fimbrial protein (control group). All three groups were kept separated before all goats in the three groups were challenged with 10(9) CFU/mL of live pathogenic P. multocida B:2. During the course of study, both serum and lung lavage fluid were collected to evaluate the antibody levels via enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. It was found that goats immunized with the inactivated recombinant vaccine developed a strong and significantly (p
Twelve compounds isolated from Alpinia mutica Roxb., Kaempferia rotunda Linn., Curcuma xanthorhiza Roxb., Curcuma aromatica Valeton and Zingiber zerumbet Smith (Family: Zingiberaceae) and three synthesized derivatives of xanthorrhizol were evaluated for their ability to inhibit arachidonic acid- (AA), collagen- and ADP-induced platelet aggregation in human whole blood. Antiplatelet activity of the compounds was measured in vitro by the Chrono Log whole blood aggregometer using an electrical impedance method. Among the compounds tested, curcumin from C. aromatica, cardamonin, pinocembrine and 5,6-dehydrokawain from A. mutica and 3-deacetylcrotepoxide from K. rotunda showed strong inhibition on platelet aggregation induced by AA with IC(50) values of less than 84 microM. Curcumin was the most effective antiplatelet compound as it inhibited AA-, collagen- and ADP-induced platelet aggregation with IC(50) values of 37.5, 60.9 and 45.7 microM, respectively.
Poor sleep quality was frequently reported by opioid dependence patients during methadone maintenance therapy (MMT). The study investigated a sample of patients on MMT to investigate the severity and prevalence of sleep problems in MMT patients. We evaluated sleep quality and disturbances of 119 Malay male patients from MMT clinics in Kelantan, Malaysia between March and July 2013 using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI)-Malay version. Patients' demographic, clinical data, past drug history and methadone treatment variables were recorded. Patients averaged 37.5 years of age (SD 6.79) and their mean age of first time illicit drug use was 19.3 years (SD 4.48). Their mean age of entering MMT was 34.7 years (SD 6.92) and the mean duration in MMT was 2.8 years (SD 2.13). The mean current daily dosage of methadone was 77.8 mg (SD 39.47) and ranged from 20 to 360 mg. The mean global PSQI score was 5.6 (SD 2.79) and 43.7% patients were identified as 'poor sleepers' (global PSQI scores >5). This study confirms the poor overall sleep quality among patients on MMT. The prevalence and severity of sleep problems in MMT patients should not be underestimated.
Microalgae cultivation using open cultivation systems requires large area and it is susceptible to contamination as well as weather changes. Meanwhile, the closed systems require large capital investment, and they are susceptible to the build-up of dissolved oxygen. Air-liquid interface culture systems with low water-footprint, but high packing density can be used for microalgae cultivation if low-cost culture scaffolds are available. In this study, cellulose-based scaffolds were synthesized using NaOH/urea aqueous solution as the solvent. Titanium dioxide (TiO2), silica gel and polyethylene glycol 1000 (PEG 1000) nanoparticles were added into the membrane scaffolds to increase the hydrophilicity of nutrient absorbing to support the growth of microalgae. The membrane scaffolds were characterized by FTIR, SEM, contact angle, porosity and porometry. All three nanoparticles additives showed their ability in reducing the contact angle of membrane scaffolds from 63.4 ± 2.3° to a range of 52.6 ± 1.2° to 38.8 ± 1.5° due to the hydrophilic properties of the nanoparticles. The decreasing in pore size when nanoparticles were added did not affect the porosity of membrane scaffolds. Cellulose membrane scaffold with TiO2 showed the highest percentage of microalgae Navicula incerta growth rate of 22.1% because of the antibacterial properties of TiO2 in lowering the risk of cell contamination and enhancing the growth of N. incerta. The results exhibited that cellulose-based scaffold with TiO2 added could be an effective support in plant cell culture field.
Culture scaffolds allow microalgae cultivation with minimum water requirement using the air-liquid interface approach. However, the stability of cellulose-based scaffolds in microalgae cultivation remains questionable. In this study, the stability of regenerated cellulose culture scaffolds was enhanced by adjusting TiO2 loading and casting gap. The membrane scaffolds were synthesized using cellulose dissolved in NaOH/urea aqueous solution with various loading of TiO2 nanoparticles. The TiO2 nanoparticles were embedded into the porous membrane scaffolds as proven by Fourier transform infrared spectra, scanning electron microscopic images, and energy-dispersive X-ray spectra. Although surface hydrophilicity and porosity were enhanced by increasing TiO2 and casting gap, the scaffold pore size was reduced. Cellulose membrane scaffold with 0.05 wt% of TiO2 concentration and thickness of 100 μm attained the highest percentage of Navicula incerta growth rate, up to 37.4%. The membrane scaffolds remained stable in terms of weight, porosity and pore size even they were immersed in acidic solution, hydrogen peroxide or autoclaved at 121 °C for 15 min. The optimal cellulose membrane scaffold is with TiO2 loading of 0.5 wt% and thickness of 100 μm, resulting in supporting the highest N. incerta growth rate and and exhibits good membrane stability.
Treatment management for Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) has been challenging. However, electroencephalogram (EEG)-based predictions of antidepressant's treatment outcome may help during antidepressant's selection and ultimately improve the quality of life for MDD patients. In this study, a machine learning (ML) method involving pretreatment EEG data was proposed to perform such predictions for Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor (SSRIs). For this purpose, the acquisition of experimental data involved 34 MDD patients and 30 healthy controls. Consequently, a feature matrix was constructed involving time-frequency decomposition of EEG data based on wavelet transform (WT) analysis, termed as EEG data matrix. However, the resultant EEG data matrix had high dimensionality. Therefore, dimension reduction was performed based on a rank-based feature selection method according to a criterion, i.e., receiver operating characteristic (ROC). As a result, the most significant features were identified and further be utilized during the training and testing of a classification model, i.e., the logistic regression (LR) classifier. Finally, the LR model was validated with 100 iterations of 10-fold cross-validation (10-CV). The classification results were compared with short-time Fourier transform (STFT) analysis, and empirical mode decompositions (EMD). The wavelet features extracted from frontal and temporal EEG data were found statistically significant. In comparison with other time-frequency approaches such as the STFT and EMD, the WT analysis has shown highest classification accuracy, i.e., accuracy = 87.5%, sensitivity = 95%, and specificity = 80%. In conclusion, significant wavelet coefficients extracted from frontal and temporal pre-treatment EEG data involving delta and theta frequency bands may predict antidepressant's treatment outcome for the MDD patients.