Three myrmecophilous genera of Aleocharinae (Staphylinidae) associated with Leptogenys distinguenda (Emery, 1887) and Leptogenys mutabilis (Smith, 1861) are reviewed with descriptions of new taxa: Maschwitzia Kistner, 1989, Togpelenys Kistner, 1989 and Witteia Maruyama & von Beeren, gen. n. (type species: Witteia dentilabrumMaruyama & von Beeren, sp. n.). The following new combinations are proposed: Zyras (s. lat.) aenictophila (Kistner, 1997),comb. n. (exMaschwitzia), Zyras (s. lat.) dichthadiaphila (Kistner in Kistner et al., 2003), comb. n. (exMaschwitzia), Maschwitzia derougemonti (Pace, 1984), comb. n. (exWroughtonilla Wasmann, 1899), Maschwitzia watanabei (Maruyama, 2004), comb. n. (exWroughtonilla), Maschwitzia dilatata (Pace, 2005), comb. n. (exWroughtonilla), Witteia borneensis (Pace, 1986), comb. n. (ex Wroughtonilla). These genera belong to the Wroughtonilla genus group of the tribe Lomechusini.
The Malaysian Association of Medical Physics (MAMP) was set up in the year 2000 to promote and further develop the field that was relatively new in Malaysia. The article briefly summarises key developments in medical physics since the first discovery of x-rays in 1895. The resulted rapid progress in the field was also highlighted and related to the pace of development in Malaysia. Key activities organised by MAMP were also addressed. The international practices related to the field and the profession were highlighted and compared to the current status in Malaysia. Although the field has progressed well in the country, there are several gaps identified to further improve the field and the profession in Malaysia.
In this study, we assessed the impact of COVID-19 on the course of HFmrEF by determining the biomarkers furin and NT-proBNP, questionnaires (EQ-5D-5L), and cardiac ultrasound. A comprehensive examination of 72 patients with HFmrEF (main group) and 18 apparently healthy individuals (control group). The main group was divided into two subgroups depending on the history of coronavirus disease. All patients gave their consent to participate in the study. In the group of patients with a history of coronavirus infection compared to the patients without a COVID-19 history were established: significantly higher concentrations of NT-proBNP (1002.79±215.94 pg/ml and 405.37±99.06 pg/ml, respectively, p-value 0.01), uric acid (429.08±27.01 mmol/l vs. 354.44±28.75 mmol/l, p-value 0.04) and a lower furin to NT-proBNP ratio (0.87± 0.26 and 1.38 ± 1.16, p-value 0.045) in blood serum; using the EQ-5D-5L questionnaire, a significant deterioration of quality of life indicators (64.21±3.04 points vs. 72.81±1.82 points by VAS, p-value 0.02); higher indicators of LVMMi (157.39±6.14 g/m2 and 138.68±6.02 g/m2, p-value 0.03), LA dimensions (43.74±0.95 mm and 41.12±0.85 mm, p-value 0.04) and RA dimensions (40.76±1.23 mm and 37.75±0.85 mm, p-value 0.04). Coronavirus infection in patients with HFmrEF leads to disorders of intracardiac hemodynamics and persistent negative structural changes of the heart. The ratio of furin to NT-proBNP serum levels can be used to determine the impact of the HF syndrome itself on the patients' subjective assessment of their quality of life.