Red-fleshed pitaya fruit is a potential fruit for betacyanins extraction. However, there is lack of report on profiles and total contents of betacyanins in the peel and flesh. The objectives of this study were to determine colour, total betacyanins content and its separation in the peel and flesh of red-fleshed pitaya fruit harvested at 25, 30 and 35 days after flower anthesis (DAA) and to examine the usefulness of tristimulus colour measurement as predictors of pigment content in red-fleshed pitaya fruits. There were significant relationships between DAA and colour (L*, C* and h° values), and total betacyanins contents of peel and flesh of red-fleshed pitaya fruit. A total of three types betacyanins were separated from peel and flesh of pitaya fruit at 30 and 35 DAA while for 25 DAA, only one type of betacyanins was separated. The total concentration of betacyanins in the fruit peel of 25, 30 and 35 DAA was 0.24, 3.99 and 8.72 mg/mL, respectively. The fruit flesh contains 2.40, 7.93 and 11.70 mg/mL betacyanins at 25, 30 and 35 DAA, respectively, which was higher than peel. The tristimulus measurements can be adequately used to estimate the total betacyanins content of peel and flesh of red-fleshed pitaya fruit instead of tedious pigment extraction methods.
Introduction: Global health awareness is sorely lacking in medical curricula and the general public, leading to increasing apathy and decreased levels of volunteerism. Much knowledge about pertinent global health issues is sequestered with academicians and researchers, with little public trickle down. The aim of the study was to increase awareness among Sabahan public about global health issues and promote discussion. Methods: A global health film club was established at community level and discussions about issues and potential individual action points was conducted. Films were screened every month in both UMS and Palliative Care Center Sabah. Global health issues ranging from First World manipulation of HIV/AIDS medication prices, deregulation of medical devices industries, heroin addiction, ADHD drug abuse, and stigma in psychiatry were covered. Public participants’ responses were collected qualitatively. Results: The films largely were well received by participants, with most participants prefer-ring the expose-type films over the more narrative approaches. Films spurred discussion about how foreign or global issues were related to local level, for example unscrupulous sale of medical devices in Malaysian populations and abuse of sleeping medications from local health providers. Also each film screening vastly increased participants’ awareness of pertinent issues, and spurred them to evangelise about said issues to others and take small actions. Conclusion: Global health is a somewhat neglected part of medical and community curricula. Lack of awareness about global health issues reduces the public’s capacity for collective action in exerting pressure on stakeholders, governments, and civil society in taking action. It is hoped such regular global health film screenings at local level brings literacy on urgent public health issues to the people for whom it matters most – the communities where ad-verse global health consequences eventually arise.
Neuropsychiatric symptoms are symptoms that caused by organic brain
disorders. Multiple neuropsychiatric symptoms can occur concurrently in the
course of brain related organic disorders. Two main components of
neuropsychiatric symptoms are cognitive impairment and disturbance of
consciousness while other neuropsychiatric symptoms, such as hallucinations,
delusions, mood disorders, anxiety, apathy, behavioural and personality
changes also commonly occur. Some of the mild neuropsychiatric symptoms
could possibly be the earliest manifestations of brain related organic
disorders. Clinicians should carefully evaluate organic factors in the
treatment of psychosis, especially in patients of very young age or older age.
They should have enough knowledge and experience in the integrating
neuroscience, that is, neuropsychiatry. The present report illustrates a case of
organic disorder with neuropsychiatric manifestations. It is about a young
male patient who was diagnosed with anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis and
subsequently developed acute delirium secondary to the illness.
Delayed neuropsychiatric sequelae is an important condition which commonly occur during recovery from acute carbon monoxide poisoning. Typical presentation would be apathy, disorientation, amnesia, hypokinesia, bizarre behavior, insomnia and neurological manifestations such as gait disturbance, hypertonia and tremor. We report here a case of a man presented with delayed neuropsychiatric sequelae one month after the carbon monoxide poisoning in his suicidal attempt. He presented with the typical presentation and diagnosis confirmed with the MRI findings. His MRI showed abnormal signal in subcortical hemisphere white matter of both temporo-fronto-parietal-occipital regions along the insula and both globus pallidus. He was treated with Olanzapine, Fluvoxamine, Chlorpromazine and Levodopa and his condition slowly improved. It is important for clinicians to recognize the symptoms and risk factors to develop delayed neuropsychiatric sequelae in patients who previously had carbon monoxide poisoning.
A case of persistent aphagia in frontal lobe syndrome after traumatic brain injury (TBI) with successful use of olanzapine to improve the eating disorder is presented. A 20-year-old man suffered a severe TBI with right frontal intracerebral haemorrhage At four-month post-TBI, he had agitation, concurrent apathy with constant refusal for oral swallow despite gustatory sensory stimulation, hence the needs for nasogastric tube (NGT) feeding. He was diagnosed with frontal lobe syndrome and prescribed olanzapine 5mg daily that was optimised to 10mg due to worsened aggression. One month later, the aggression reduced with gradual improvement in oral intake. Percutaneous enterogastrostomy (PEG) tube insertion was cancelled and the NGT was sucessfully removed. Olanzapine prescription in this case improved aggression and aphagia simultaneously. Although olanzapine is proven beneficial and surgical intervention for long-term enteral feeding was avoided in this case, its usage requires judicious judgement.