The burden of non-communicable diseases is increasing in Malaysia. Insufficient Physical Activity, which is an important risk factor for non-communicable diseases, is less researched in Malaysia. We aimed to assess the level of physical activity and identify its correlates. An online survey was carried out during October, 2011 in the University Tunku Abdul Rahman by the opinion poll research committee. Young adults answered the Short International Physical Activity Questionnaire and a questionnaire about factors according to a socio-ecological model which was adapted from published studies. Metabolic equivalent (MET)-hours and MET-minutes were calculated. Physical activity was classified as sufficient when MET-minutes were > 840. The mean age of the 474 participants was 22.4 years (S.D. = 4.7), and 253 (53.4%) were females. Their mean and median of MET-hours of PA done during the previous seven days were 31.36 (S.D., 52.19) and 14.7 (IQR, 5.77-32.07), respectively. Physical activity done was sufficient among 242 (51.1%) participants. Using univariate analysis, being male, good self-rated health, positive intention, self-efficacy, perceived benefits, social support, and availability of facilities were associated with sufficient physical activity. Using multivariate analysis sufficient physical activity was associated with participants' intention (OR 0.75, 95% CIs 0.64, 0.88), self-efficacy (OR 0.91, 95% CIs 0.85, 0.97) and facility availability (OR 0.81, 95% CIs 0.73, 0.91). The proportion of participants with sufficient physical activity was low. Positive intention and self-efficacy associated with sufficient physical activity should be supported by availability of facilities and a safely-built environment. A nationwide survey about physical and associated socialecological factors is needed to design rational health promotion strategies.
Information about medical students' choice of specialty can be helpful for planning health manpower. However, such information from medical students in Malaysian medical schools is lacking. We carried out a cross-sectional questionnaire survey among fourth- and fifth-year medical undergraduate students at Melaka-Manipal Medical College. A total of 425 students responded to the survey questionnaire. Nearly a quarter of the students indicated internal medicine as their choice of specialty. Other choices were general surgery (13.2%), pediatrics (11.3%), orthopedics (12.7%) and obstetrics & gynecology (Ob/Gyn) (12.1%). Female students (OR 1.91; 95% CI 1.18-3.08), fourth-year students (OR 1.9; 95% CI 1.15-3.12), and students who reported a higher self-rated knowledge of their subject of choice were more likely to choose internal medicine and allied specialties (OR 1.53; 95% CI 1.07-2.19). The influence of teaching faculty and consultants at the teaching hospitals (74.4%) and inspiration obtained during clinical postings (71.9%) were the factors which were rated by the most students as 'important' for choosing a specialty. About half of the students intended to pursue their postgraduate studies in Malaysia, most of the rest in the United Kingdom or Australia. While internal medicine and surgical subspecialties were preferred, students were not inclined towards primary care or diagnostic subspecialties. Incentives should be provided and other measures should be taken to make these branches more attractive.
Abnormalities of Rb-pathway components are common in the formation of cancer. The immunostaining for cyclin D1 and p16 protein was applied on 1 mm serial tissue microarray (TMA) paraffin sections. Tissue microarray (TMAs) is potentially a good method to find the molecular features of the genes and expressions of them. The aim of this study was to evaluate the protein expressions of cyclin D1 and p16 genes in squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs) of skin and compare with the normal skin tissue. Twenty-five cases of cutaneous SCCs expressed cyclin D1 and p16 proteins. All SCCs samples on the slides showed positive protein expressions of cyclin D1 and p16 genes. Our findings suggested that the increased protein expressions of cyclin D1 and p16 genes might lead to aberrant expressions of these proteins in the affected tumor cells. This study demonstrated that cell cycle controlled deregulation and uncontrolled cell cycle progression might result in the carcinogenesis.
During pre-mRNA splicing events, introns are removed from the pre-mRNA, and the remaining exons are connected together to form a single continuous molecule. Alternative splicing is a common mechanism for the regulation of gene expression in eukaryotes. More than 90% of human genes are known to undergo alternative splicing. The most common type of alternative splicing is exon skipping, which is also known as cassette exon. Other known alternative splicing events include alternative 5' splice sites, alternative 3' splice sites, intron retention, and mutually exclusive exons. Alternative splicing events are controlled by regulatory proteins responsible for both positive and negative regulation. In this review, we focus on neuronal splicing regulators and discuss several notable regulators in depth. In addition, we have also included an example of splicing regulation mediated by the RBFox protein family. Lastly, as previous studies have shown that a number of splicing factors are associated with neuronal diseases such as Alzheime's disease (AD) and Autism spectrum disorder (ASD), here we consider their importance in neuronal diseases wherein the underlying mechanisms have yet to be elucidated.