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  1. 10th Kuwait Dermatology Update and Laser Symposium, April 23-25, 2019, Kuwait City
    Schwartz RA
    Dermatol Ther, 2019 Jun 07.
    PMID: 31172646 DOI: 10.1111/dth.12990
    The tenth edition of this extraordinary dermatologic congress was held in the Crowne Plaza Hotel in the magnificent Kuwait City on April 23-25, 2019, thanks to the patronage of His Excellency, the Honorable Dr. Basel H Al-Sabah, Minister of Health, Kuwait. It was organized and shepherded by the renowned Chairman of the Dermatology Council in Kuwait, Professor Nawaf Al-Mutairi, FRCP Edin This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
    Matched MeSH terms: Copyright
  2. Conservation focus: the challenge of conservation in changing tropical southeast asia
    Lynam AJ, Porter L, Campos-Arceiz A
    Conserv Biol, 2016 10;30(5):931-932.
    PMID: 27341391 DOI: 10.1111/cobi.12781
    Southeast Asia is a biodiversity hotspot where the risk of extinction for many vertebrates is high (Duckworth et al. 2012) due to the loss and degradation of habitats resulting from burgeoning human populations and economies, expansion of agricultural development, and unsustainable harvest of wildlife and other natural resources (Sodhi et al. 2010). Important conservation challenges in the region, especially in the terrestrial and coastal realms, include reducing the loss and degradation of native vegetation and reducing the risk of species' extinction and extirpation. This will involve mitigating impacts of land-use change, reducing human-wildlife conflicts, improving management of protected areas, resolving land-tenure conflicts, increasing community engagement in in resource conservation, and ultimately developing proconservation behaviors in Asian societies as a whole. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
    Matched MeSH terms: Copyright
  3. Interaction of Aqueous Solutions of a Surface Active Copper(II) Complex with Several Common Surfactants
    Lim YY, Lim KH
    J Colloid Interface Sci, 1997 Dec 01;196(1):116-9.
    PMID: 9441659
    Micellar properties of binary mixed surfactants of a surface active mixed copper(II) chelate, [Cu(C12-tmed)(acac)Cl] (where C12-tmed is N,N,N'-trimethyl-N'-dodecylethylenediamine) with three common surfactants, viz. sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB), and octaethylene glycol monododecyl ether (C12E8), were investigated by surface tensiometry, ESR, and UV-visible absorption techniques. The surface tension data were treated with Rubingh's method for mixed micelle formation and Rosen's method for mixed monolayer formation at the aqueous solution/air interface. It was found that in the mixed micelle there is strong attractive interaction between cationic copper surfactant and anonic dodecyl sulfate while there is almost ideal mixing between copper surfactant and CTAB and C12E8. From the ESR and UV-visible studies, a mixed block-type arrangement of head groups is proposed. Copyright 1997 Academic Press. Copyright 1997Academic Press
    Matched MeSH terms: Copyright
  4. Fulltext SkytiderTM - overcomes the difficultness of installing and lowering the outdoor bunting
    Asrizam Esam, Mohammad Hisham Omar, Muhammad Izzat Nor Adzmi, Mohd Mas’Ataillah Ismail, Norliyana Kamarudin, Hafliza Hussin, et al.
    Jurnal Inovasi Malaysia, 2019;2(2):71-92.
    MyJurnal
    Bunting is a medium to promote advertisements or programs that are widely used in Universiti Putra Malaysia in conjunction with the programs. There are two types of bunting that are commonly used; indoor and outdoor bunting. Outdoor bunting is a bunting that is installed outside of a building and it is usually installed at the street lamp poles, fence or at dedicated space. In UPM, outdoor buntings usually installed at the street lamp poles, around the campus. Issues faced by staff when installing and uninstalling the outdoor buntings are; method used, number of staff needed, time consuming and securities issues. All these factors lead UPM to hire external contractor for installing the outdoor buntings. These issues are also faced by other universities/institutions and external contractors. Several initiatives have been identified in order to mitigate this issues including the implementation of ‘Program Bebas Dawai’, an improvement of Standard Operating Procedure for bunting installation and creation of a new innovation called SkytiderTM. SkytiderTM is an installation tool for outdoor buntings that will expedite method without using ladder, minimize time, improve security measures and save costs by hiring less external contractor. SkytiderTM protected under industrial design, trademark and copyright protection. SkytiderTM is widely used in Serdang Campus, Selangor, Bintulu, Sarawak and Port Dickson, Negeri Sembilan.
    Matched MeSH terms: Copyright
  5. Fulltext Invariant domain watermarking using heaviside function of order alpha and fractional Gaussian field
    Abbasi A, Woo CS, Ibrahim RW, Islam S
    PLoS One, 2015;10(4):e0123427.
    PMID: 25884854 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0123427
    Digital image watermarking is an important technique for the authentication of multimedia content and copyright protection. Conventional digital image watermarking techniques are often vulnerable to geometric distortions such as Rotation, Scaling, and Translation (RST). These distortions desynchronize the watermark information embedded in an image and thus disable watermark detection. To solve this problem, we propose an RST invariant domain watermarking technique based on fractional calculus. We have constructed a domain using Heaviside function of order alpha (HFOA). The HFOA models the signal as a polynomial for watermark embedding. The watermark is embedded in all the coefficients of the image. We have also constructed a fractional variance formula using fractional Gaussian field. A cross correlation method based on the fractional Gaussian field is used for watermark detection. Furthermore the proposed method enables blind watermark detection where the original image is not required during the watermark detection thereby making it more practical than non-blind watermarking techniques. Experimental results confirmed that the proposed technique has a high level of robustness.
    Matched MeSH terms: Copyright
  6. Fulltext Posterior capsule rupture-causes, associations and outcomes: eight year analysis in a Malaysian General Hospital
    Thevi T, Zin MM
    International Eye Science, 2016;16:600-606.
    AIM: To see the causative factors, associations and outcomes of posterior capsule rupture (PCR). METHODS: A retrospective cohort study was done of all patients with PCR from 2007 to 2014 in Melaka Hospital. Associations between ocular comorbidities, lens related complications, surgeon grade, type of cataract surgery, whether done alone or in combination, with the occurrences of PCR were studied. The final visual outcome of cases with PCR was studied. RESULTS: PCR was the commonest intraoperative complication (n=623, 4.8%) among 12 846 patients. Ocular comorbidities and status of the lens did not cause PCR. Experience and seniority of surgeons were significantly associated with PCR. Medical officers had more PCRs than gazetting specialists (P=0.0000), who inturn had more PCRs than specialists (P=0.000). Each type of cataract surgery done was also significantly associated with PCR-phacoemulsification (phaco), phaco convert to extracapsular cataract extraction (ECCE) and intracapsular cataract extraction (ICCE) (P=0.000), lens aspiration (P=0.020), and ECCE (P=0.003). Specialists got good outcomes compared to trainees without PCR occurring (P=0.001) and also with PCR occurring (P=0.013). However, no difference was observed in the occurrence of PCR in complicated cases between specialists and trainees. Vision was compromised mainly by astigmatism following PCR. Impaired vision (P=0.000) and poor vision (P=0.000) were more than good vision. Poor vision was more in PCR compared to other complications.(P=0.000). CONCLUSION: PCR occurs in all types of cataract surgeries and is the main intraoperative complication causing poor vision. Good outcomes were significantly more when specialists got PCR compared to trainees. Junior surgeons should practice in wet labs and be given more cases. Copyright 2016 by the IJO Press.
    Matched MeSH terms: Copyright
  7. Changing NAFLD Epidemiology in China
    Lee HW, Wong VW
    Hepatology, 2019 Jul 12.
    PMID: 31298746 DOI: 10.1002/hep.30848
    In Factfulness, the late Dr. Hans Rosling illustrated how most people grossly underestimated education, income, life expectancy, and vaccination rates in low-income countries.(1) It is natural human psychology to have fixed images about the developing world. Nonetheless, the world is changing. According to the latest World Bank figures, 184 of 218 (84%) countries or regions are now classified as middle-income or high-income economies.(2) Many countries previously labeled as developing countries (such as Armenia, Colombia, Malaysia, and Serbia) are now classified as upper-middle-income economies. Although many problems remain and deserve our attention, Dr. Rosling emphasized that it is equally important to recognize that there is progress and many policies do work. Otherwise, we risk dismissing useful strategies and impeding their implementation. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
    Matched MeSH terms: Copyright
  8. Surface engineered iron oxide nanoparticles as efficient materials for antibiofilm application
    Velusamy P, Su CH, Kannan K, Kumar GV, Anbu P, Gopinath SCB
    Biotechnol Appl Biochem, 2021 Mar 10.
    PMID: 33751641 DOI: 10.1002/bab.2146
    Overuse of antibiotics has led to the development of multi drug resistant strains. Antibiotic resistance is a major drawback in the biomedical field since medical implants are prone to infection by biofilms of antibiotic resistant strains of bacteria. With increasing prevalence of antibiotic resistant pathogenic bacteria, the search for alternative method is utmost importance. In this regard, magnetic nanoparticles are commonly used as a substitute for antibiotics that can circumvent the problem of biofilms growth on the surface of biomedical implants. Iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs) have unique magnetic properties that can be exploited in various ways in the biomedical applications. IONPs are engineered employing different methods to induce surface functionalization that include the use of polyethyleneimine and oleic acid. IONPs have a mechanical effect on biofilms when in presence of an external magnet. In this review, a detailed description of surface engineered magnetic nanoparticles as ideal antibacterial agents is provided, accompanied by various methods of literature review. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
    Matched MeSH terms: Copyright
  9. Accelerated wound closure - Systematic evaluation of cellulose acetate effects on biologically active molecules release from amniotic fluid stem cells (AFSCs)
    Nuge T, Liu X, Tshai KY, Lim SS, Nordin N, Hoque ME, et al.
    Biotechnol Appl Biochem, 2021 Apr 07.
    PMID: 33826152 DOI: 10.1002/bab.2162
    Despite a lot of intensive research on cells-scaffolds interaction, focused are mainly on the capacity of construct scaffolds to regulate cell mobility, migration and cytotoxicity. The effect of the scaffold's topographical and material properties on the expression of biologically active compounds from stem cells is not well understood. In this study, the influence of cellulose acetate (CA) on the electrospinnability of gelatin and the roles of gelatin-cellulose acetate (Ge-CA) on modulating the release of biologically active compounds from amniotic fluid stem cells (AFSCs) is emphasized. It was found that the presence of a small amount of CA could provide a better microenvironment that mimics AFSCs' niche. However, a large amount of CA exhibited no significant effect on AFSCs migration and infiltration. Further study on the effect of surface topography and mechanical properties on AFSCs showed that the tailored microenvironment provided by the Ge-CA scaffolds had transduced physical cues to biomolecules released into the culture media. It was found that the AFSCs seeded on electrospun scaffolds with less CA proportions has profound effects on the secretion of metabolic compounds compared to those with higher CA contained and gelatin coating. The enhanced secretion of biologically active molecules by the AFSCs on the electrospun scaffolds was proven by the accelerated wound closure on the injured human dermal fibroblast (HDF) model. The rapid HDF cell migration could be anticipated due to a higher level of paracrine factors in AFSCs media. Our study demonstrates that the fibrous topography and mechanical properties of the scaffold is a key material property that modulates the high expression of biologically active compounds from the AFSCs. The discovery elucidates a new aspect of material functions and scaffolds material-AFSCs interaction for regulating biomolecules release to promote tissue regeneration/repair. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report describing the scaffolds material-AFSCs interaction and the efficacy of scratch assays on quantifying the cell migration in response to the AFSCs metabolic products. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
    Matched MeSH terms: Copyright
  10. Fulltext Extensive Genetic Variation at the Sr22 Wheat Stem Rust Resistance Gene Locus in the Grasses Revealed Through Evolutionary Genomics and Functional Analyses
    Md Hatta MA, Ghosh S, Athiyannan N, Richardson T, Steuernagel B, Yu G, et al.
    Mol Plant Microbe Interact, 2020 Nov;33(11):1286-1298.
    PMID: 32779520 DOI: 10.1094/MPMI-01-20-0018-R
    In the last 20 years, severe wheat stem rust outbreaks have been recorded in Africa, Europe, and Central Asia. This previously well controlled disease, caused by the fungus Puccinia graminis f. sp. tritici, has reemerged as a major threat to wheat cultivation. The stem rust (Sr) resistance gene Sr22 encodes a nucleotide-binding and leucine-rich repeat receptor which confers resistance to the highly virulent African stem rust isolate Ug99. Here, we show that the Sr22 gene is conserved among grasses in the Triticeae and Poeae lineages. Triticeae species contain syntenic loci with single-copy orthologs of Sr22 on chromosome 7, except Hordeum vulgare, which has experienced major expansions and rearrangements at the locus. We also describe 14 Sr22 sequence variants obtained from both Triticum boeoticum and the domesticated form of this species, T. monococcum, which have been postulated to encode both functional and nonfunctional Sr22 alleles. The nucleotide sequence analysis of these alleles identified historical sequence exchange resulting from recombination or gene conversion, including breakpoints within codons, which expanded the coding potential at these positions by introduction of nonsynonymous substitutions. Three Sr22 alleles were transformed into wheat cultivar Fielder and two postulated resistant alleles from Schomburgk (hexaploid wheat introgressed with T. boeoticum segment carrying Sr22) and T. monococcum accession PI190945, respectively, conferred resistance to P. graminis f. sp. tritici race TTKSK, thereby unequivocally confirming Sr22 effectiveness against Ug99. The third allele from accession PI573523, previously believed to confer susceptibility, was confirmed as nonfunctional against Australian P. graminis f. sp. tritici race 98-1,2,3,5,6.[Formula: see text] Copyright © 2020 The Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license.
    Matched MeSH terms: Copyright
  11. Fulltext 'To be or not to be in the ward': The Impact of Covid-19 on the Role of Hospital-Based Clinical Pharmacists - A Qualitative Study
    Cheong MWL
    Journal of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy : JACCP, 2020 Aug 12.
    PMID: 32838225 DOI: 10.1002/jac5.1315
    Introduction: The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has significantly affected health care systems around the world. In many hospitals and health care facilities, services and health care workers have been reorganized and restructured to meet the demands of the pandemic. The impact of the pandemic on hospital-based clinical pharmacists and their ability to deliver pharmaceutical care is currently unknown.

    Objective: This study aimed to explore the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on hospital-based clinical pharmacists working in Malaysia and the implications on how clinical pharmacy is perceived as a health care service.

    Methods: A qualitative study was designed to meet the research objectives. Nineteen hospital-based clinical pharmacists consented and participated in one-on-one, semi-structured interviews. The interviews were transcribed and analyzed using an iterative thematic analysis approach.

    Results: The experiences and views of the participants were reported. Three main themes were developed: 'Reassignment and other changes in clinical pharmacist roles', 'Adapting clinical pharmacy services to COVID-19', and 'The need for clinical pharmacists in the ward'. The findings indicate that in many cases, clinical pharmacy services were fully or partially withdrawn from the ward to reduce the risk of infection and to conserve the usage of personal protective equipment. Despite this, clinical pharmacists continued to support patient care in hospitals through the use of technology. The withdrawal of clinical pharmacy services, however, raises concern that the role of clinical pharmacists is still poorly recognized.

    Conclusion: Clinical pharmacists in hospitals continue to support patient care despite the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Greater support and recognition of their role is required in order to empower and enhance their ability to deliver pharmaceutical care.This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

    Matched MeSH terms: Copyright
  12. Fulltext FGFR3 mutation increases bladder tumourigenesis by suppressing acute inflammation
    Foth M, Ismail NFB, Kung JSC, Tomlinson D, Knowles MA, Eriksson P, et al.
    J Pathol, 2018 Nov;246(3):331-343.
    PMID: 30043421 DOI: 10.1002/path.5143
    Recent studies of muscle-invasive bladder cancer show that FGFR3 mutations are generally found in a luminal papillary tumour subtype that is characterised by better survival than other molecular subtypes. To better understand the role of FGFR3 in invasive bladder cancer, we examined the process of tumour development induced by the tobacco carcinogen OH-BBN in genetically engineered models that express mutationally activated FGFR3 S249C or FGFR3 K644E in the urothelium. Both occurrence and progression of OH-BBN-driven tumours were increased in the presence of an S249C mutation compared to wild-type control mice. Interestingly, at an early tumour initiation stage, the acute inflammatory response in OH-BBN-treated bladders was suppressed in the presence of an S249C mutation. However, at later stages of tumour progression, increased inflammation was observed in S249C tumours, long after the carcinogen administration had ceased. Early-phase neutrophil depletion using an anti-Ly6G monoclonal antibody resulted in an increased neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio at later stages of pathogenesis, indicative of enhanced tumour pathogenesis, which supports the hypothesis that suppression of acute inflammation could play a causative role. Statistical analyses of correlation showed that while initial bladder phenotypes in morphology and inflammation were FGFR3-dependent, increased levels of inflammation were associated with tumour progression at the later stage. This study provides a novel insight into the tumour-promoting effect of FGFR3 mutations via regulation of inflammation at the pre-tumour stage in the bladder. Copyright © 2018 Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
    Matched MeSH terms: Copyright
  13. Enhancing erythrocyte-influenza virus specificity by glycan-conjugated gold nanoparticle: Validation of hemagglutination by aptamer and neuraminidases
    Ye M, Lin L, Yang W, Gopinath SCB
    Biotechnol Appl Biochem, 2021 Mar 26.
    PMID: 33769582 DOI: 10.1002/bab.2152
    This study demonstrated the terminated sialo-sugar chains (Neu5Acα2,6Gal and Neu5Acα2,3Gal) mediated specificity enhancement of influenza virus and chicken red blood cell (RBC) by hemagglutination assay. These glycan chains were immobilized on the gold nanoparticle (GNP) to withhold the higher numbers. With the preliminary optimization, a clear button formation with 0.5% RBC was visualized. On the other hand, intact B/Tokio/53/99 with 750 nM hemagglutinin (HA) displayed a nice hemagglutination. The interference on the specificity of RBC and influenza virus was observed by anti-influenza aptamer at the concentration 31 nM, however, there is no hemagglutination prevention was noticed in the presence of complementary aptamer sequences. Spiking GNP conjugated Neu5Acα2,6Gal or Neu5Acα2,3Gal or a mixture of these two to the reaction promoted the hemagglutination to 63 folds higher with 12 nM virus, whereas under the same condition the heat inactivated viruses were lost the hemagglutination. Neuraminidases from Clostridium perfringens and Arthrobacter ureafaciens at 0.0025 neuraminidase units are able to abolish the hemagglutination. Other enzymes, Glycopeptidase F (Elizabethkingia meningoseptica) and Endoglycosidase H (Streptomyces plicatus) did not show the changes with agglutination. Obviously, sialyl-Gal-terminated glycan conjugated GNP amendment has enhanced the specificity of erythrocyte-influenza virus and able to be controlled by aptamer or neuraminidases. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
    Matched MeSH terms: Copyright
  14. Initial development and validation of a novel nutrition risk, sarcopenia and frailty assessment tool in mechanically ventilated critically ill patients: The NUTRIC-SF score
    Lee ZY, Hasan MS, Day AG, Ng CC, Ong SP, Yap CSL, et al.
    JPEN J Parenter Enteral Nutr, 2021 May 22.
    PMID: 34021917 DOI: 10.1002/jpen.2194
    BACKGROUND: Nutrition risk, sarcopenia, and frailty are distinct yet inter-related. They may be due to suboptimal or prevented by optimal nutrition intake. The combination of nutrition risk (modified nutrition risk in the critically ill [mNUTRIC]), sarcopenia (SARC-CALF) and frailty (clinical frailty scale [CFS]) in a single score may better predict adverse outcomes and prioritizing resources for optimal nutrition (and exercise) in the intensive care unit (ICU).

    METHODS: This is a retrospective analysis of a single-center prospective observational study that enrolled mechanically ventilated adults with expected ≥96 hours ICU stay. SARC-F and CFS questionnaires were administered to patient's next-of-kin and mNUTRIC were calculated. Calf-circumference was measured at the right calf. Nutrition data was collected from nursing record. The high-risk scores (mNUTRIC ≥5, SARC-CALF >10 or CFS ≥4) of these variables were combined to become the NUTRIC-SF score (range: 0-3).

    RESULTS: Eighty-eight patients were analyzed. Multiple logistic model demonstrated increasing mNUTRIC score was independently associated with 60-day mortality while increasing SARC-CALF and CFS showed a strong trend towards higher 60-day mortality. Discriminative ability of NUTRIC-SF for 60-day mortality is better than it's component (AUROC 0.722, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.677-0.868). Every increment of 300 kcal/day and 30 g/day is associated with a trend towards higher rate of discharge alive for high [≥2; Adjusted Hazard Ratio 1.453 (95% CI 0.991-2.130) for energy, 1.503 (95% CI 0.936-2.413) for protein] but not low (<2) NUTRIC-SF score.

    CONCLUSION: NUTRIC-SF score may be a clinically relevant risk stratification tool in the ICU. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

    Matched MeSH terms: Copyright
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