METHODS: Malaria is a notifiable infection in Malaysia. The data used in this study were extracted from the Disease Control Division, Ministry of Health Malaysia, contributed by the hospitals and health clinics throughout Malaysia. The population data used in this study was extracted from the Department of Statistics Malaysia. Data analyses were performed using Microsoft Excel. Data used for mapping are available at EPSG:4326 WGS84 CRS (Coordinate Reference System). Shapefile was obtained from igismap. Mapping and plotting of the map were performed using QGIS.
RESULTS: Between 2000 and 2007, human malaria contributed 100% of reported malaria and 18-46 deaths per year in Malaysia. Between 2008 and 2017, indigenous malaria cases decreased from 6071 to 85 (98.6% reduction), while during the same period, zoonotic Plasmodium knowlesi cases increased from 376 to 3614 cases (an 861% increase). The year 2018 marked the first year that Malaysia did not report any indigenous cases of malaria caused by human malaria parasites. However, there was an increasing trend of P. knowlesi cases, with a total of 4131 cases reported in that year. Although the increased incidence of P. knowlesi cases can be attributed to various factors including improved diagnostic capacity, reduction in human malaria cases, and increase in awareness of P. knowlesi, more than 50% of P. knowlesi cases were associated with agriculture and plantation activities, with a large remainder proportion linked to forest-related activities.
CONCLUSIONS: Malaysia has entered the elimination phase of malaria control. Zoonotic malaria, however, is increasing exponentially and becoming a significant public health problem. Improved inter-sectoral collaboration is required in order to develop a more integrated effort to control zoonotic malaria. Local political commitment and the provision of technical support from the World Health Organization will help to create focused and concerted efforts towards ensuring the success of the National Malaria Elimination Strategic Plan.
SHORT CONCLUSION: In conclusion, INDELs and VNTRs could have important functional consequences in the pathophysiology of obesity, and research on them should be continued to facilitate obesity prediction, prevention, and treatment.
METHODS: Ten Japanese and ten Malaysian males with matched physical characteristics (height, body weight, and peak oxygen consumption) participated in this study. Participants performed exercise for 60 min at 55% peak oxygen uptake followed by a 30-min recovery at 32°C and 70% relative air humidity with hydration (4 times each, 3 mL per kg body weight, 37°C) or without hydration. Rectal temperature, skin temperature, heart rate, skin blood flow, and blood pressure were measured continuously. The percentage of body weight loss and total sweat loss were calculated from body weight measurements. The percentage change in plasma volume was estimated from hemoglobin concentration and hematocrit.
RESULTS: Malaysian participants had a significantly lower rectal temperature, a smaller reduction in plasma volume, and a lower heart rate in the hydrated condition than in the non-hydrated condition at the end of exercise (P <0.05), whereas Japanese participants showed no difference between the two hydration conditions. Hydration induced a greater total sweat loss in both groups (P <0.05), and the percentage of body weight loss in hydrated Malaysians was significantly less than in hydrated Japanese (P <0.05). A significant interaction between groups and hydration conditions was observed for the percentage of mean cutaneous vascular conductance during exercise relative to baseline (P <0.05).
CONCLUSIONS: The smaller reduction in plasma volume and percentage body weight loss in hydrated Malaysians indicated an advantage in body fluid regulation. This may enable Malaysians to reserve more blood for circulation and heat dissipation and thereby maintain lower rectal temperatures in a hydrated condition.
METHODS: Data on dengue infection were extracted from the dengue database of the state of Sabah from 2013 through 2018. DENV NS-1-positive serum samples from multiple sites throughout Sabah were sent to the state public health laboratory, Kota Kinabalu Public Health Laboratory, for serotype determination. The analysis of factors associated with severe dengue was determined from the data of 2018 only.
RESULTS: In 2013, there were 724 dengue cases; however, from 2014, dengue cases increased exponentially and resulted in 3423 cases in 2018. Increasing dengue cases also led to increased dengue mortality. The number of dengue deaths in 2013 was only five which then gradually increased, and in 2018, 29 patients died. This is an increase of 580% from 2013 to 2018. Deaths were considerably more in the districts of the east coast of Sabah compared with districts in the west coast. During the study period, all DENV serotypes could be identified as serotypes circulating in Sabah. In 2018, the predominant serotype was DENV-3. The monthly peak of dengue infection varied in different years. In the logistic regression analysis, it was identified that children were 6.5 times, patients infected with mixed serotype of DENV were 13 times, and cases from the districts of the east coast were 5.2 times more likely to develop severe dengue.
CONCLUSIONS: An increasing trend of dengue infection has been observed in Sabah. The burden of dengue, severe dengue, and mortality was noted especially in the districts of the east coast of Sabah. Severe dengue was most likely developed in children, cases from the east coast, and patients infected with mixed serotype of DENV.
METHODS: Young Chinese adults recruited from Singapore in the Singapore/Malaysia Cross-Sectional Genetic Epidemiology Study (SMCGES) were analyzed. We used the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) protocol and a skin prick test to determine atopic dermatitis (AD), allergic rhinitis (AR), and asthma status. Information regarding total sleep time (TST) and sleep quality (SQ) was also obtained.
RESULTS: Of 1558 participants with a mean age of 25.0 years (SD = 7.6), 61.4% were female, and the mean total sleep time (TST) was 6.8 h (SD = 1.1). The proportions of AD, AR, and asthma were 24.5% (393/1542), 36.4% (987/1551), and 14.7% (227/1547), respectively. 59.8% (235/393) of AD cases suffered from AD-related sleep disturbances, 37.1% (209/564) of AR cases suffered from AR-related sleep disturbances, and 25.1% (57/227) of asthma cases suffered from asthma-related sleep disturbances. Only asthma cases showed a significantly lower mean TST than those without asthma (p = 0.015). Longer TST was significantly associated with lower odds of AR (OR = 0.905, 95% CI = 0.820-0.999) and asthma (OR = 0.852, 95% CI = 0.746-0.972). Linear regression analyses showed that lower TST was significantly associated with asthma (β = - 0.18, SE = 0.076, p-value = 0.017), and AR when adjusted for AR-related sleep disturbances (β = - 0.157, SE = 0.065, p-value = 0.016). Only sleep disturbances due to AR were significantly associated with a poorer SQ (OR = 1.962, 95% CI = 1.245-3.089).
CONCLUSIONS: We found that sleep quality, but not sleep duration was significantly poorer among AD cases, although the exact direction of influence could not be determined. In consideration of the literature coupled with our findings, we posit that TST influences allergic rhinitis rather than vice versa. Finally, the association between TST and asthma is likely mediated by asthma-related sleep disturbances, since mean TST was significantly lower among those with nighttime asthma symptoms. Future studies could consider using objective sleep measurements coupled with differential expression analysis to investigate the pathophysiology of sleep and allergic diseases.
MAIN BODY: A total of 42 studies were included in the analysis, with a total number of 41,054 individuals (of which 10,442 were in the athlete group and 30,612 in the control group). For each study included in the analysis, the agreement of genotype frequencies with Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium was tested, as well as the presence of an excess or deficit of heterozygotes. Prediction intervals for the overall effect size (OR-odds ratio) was estimated. Both in the subgroups of athletes and controls, a significant difference FIS from zero was found, suggesting inbreeding or outbreeding, as well as a very wide 95% CI for FIS. A meta-analysis was conducted for dominant, codominant, and recessive inheritance models. The obtained ORs and their 95% CIs were in the range of almost negligible values or have very wide CIs. The evaluation for the recessive model showed 95% PI for the OR lies between 0.74 to 1.92. Statistically, it does not differ from zero, which means that in some 95% of studies comparable to those in the analysis, the true effect size will fall in this interval.
CONCLUSION: Despite numerous attempts to identify genetic variants associated with success in elite sports, progress in this direction remains insignificant. Thus, no sports or sports roles were found for which the C > T variant of the ACTN3 gene would be a reliable prognostic marker for assessing an individual predisposition to achieve high sports performance. The results of the present meta-analysis support the conclusion that neutral gene polymorphism-from evolutionary or adaptive point of view-is not a trait that can be selected or used as a predictive tool in sports.
MAIN BODY: A total of 48 studies were included, revealing 30 loci that were confirmed to be associated with skin ageing by multiple studies (e.g., AFG3L1P: odds ratio 1.133 95% confidence interval [1.044, 1.222]; BPIFA3: 1.859 [1.567, 2.151]; CLPTML1: 1.164 [1.0.99, 1.229]; CPNE7: 0.905 [0.852-0.958]; DEF8: 1.186 [1.042, 1.331]; IRF4: 1.260 [1.025, 1.495]; MYO16: 2.303 [1.697, 2.908]; PRDM16: 1.105 [1.084, 1.127]; RORA: 1.391 [1.206, 1.577]; SPG7: 0.922 [0.897, 0.947]; SPON1: 2.214 [1.204, 3.225]; SPTLC1: 1.464 [1.432, 1.495]; TYR: 1.175 [1.007, 1.343]). The lack of significance for many loci may be due to studies analysing different SNPs within the same locus, weakening the overall associations. Several loci were associated with specific phenotypic categories (e.g., skin colour related, skin cancer related, wrinkling and sagging related), suggesting shared biological pathways are involved in the pathogenesis of different skin ageing phenotypes. This pattern was also observed in several of the loci that do not have a significant overall association with skin ageing.
CONCLUSION: Despite significant heterogeneity among the included studies and the use of subjective visual methods for phenotype assessment, our review highlights the critical role of fundamental biological processes, such as development and cellular organisation, in skin ageing. Future research that targets the same SNP across multiple populations could strengthen the association of additional loci with skin ageing. Further investigation into these underlying biological processes would significantly advance our understanding of the pathogenesis of skin ageing phenotypes.
METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, we performed a broad assessment of forty-one signs of skin ageing and characterised the phenotypes that constituted key components of skin ageing. We also explored the interrelationship among forty-one skin ageing phenotypes using Spearman's Correlation and Principal Component Analysis.
RESULTS: We analysed our study population, which is composed of 3281 ethnic Chinese participants from the Singapore/Malaysia Cross-sectional Genetics Epidemiology Study (SMCGES). The first ten principal components cumulatively explain 46.88% of the variance of skin ageing phenotypes in our study population. We discovered that the commonly discussed forms of skin ageing (i.e., wrinkles, pigmentation, and photo-ageing) only accounted for a small portion (24.39%) of the variance of all skin ageing phenotypes in our study population. Telangiectasia, a poor lip fullness, a lighter skin colour, xerosis, ephelides (freckles), ptosis of eyelids (droopy eyelids), eyebags, and a low eyebrow positioning were other key components of skin ageing, accounting for a further 22.49% of the variance of skin ageing phenotypes in our study population. We found that each of these ten skin ageing phenotypes characterises a key and important aspect of skin ageing. In this broad assessment of skin ageing, we first described the prevalence of forty-one signs of skin ageing and then characterised in detail both the prevalence and severity distribution of ten key skin ageing phenotypes.
CONCLUSIONS: We presented clear evidence that skin ageing is much more than just wrinkles, pigmentation and photo-ageing. The addition of telangiectasia, poor lip fullness, a lighter skin colour, xerosis, ephelides, ptosis of eyelids, eyebags, and a low eyebrow positioning added more dimensions to skin ageing phenotype presentations.