13474 research outputs found
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The effectiveness of Sunnah intermittent fasting in reducing elevated blood pressure among civil servants in Aceh, Indonesia / Dharina Baharuddin
No full textHypertension is increasing in prevalence worldwide, including in Aceh, one of the provinces in Indonesia. Elevated blood pressure (EBP) is the first stage that occurs before the onset of hypertension and is often undetected, leading to cardiovascular disease and organ damage. Since only hypertension information was available in Aceh,
it was assumed that the prevalence of hypertension was equal to the prevalence of EBP. Several recent studies have suggested intermittent fasting (IF) to be effective in decreasing metabolic factors compared to non-interventions. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the effectiveness of IF in the form of Islamic Sunnah intermittent
fasting (Sunnah-IF) compared to usual dietary intake in reducing EBP among workingaged adults after 12 weeks of intervention and a further 12 weeks of the maintenance phase. This study was a quasi-experiment conducted among employees of two separate civil departments in Banda Aceh. Employees aged 18–60 at the Governor's office in Banda Aceh were assigned as the intervention group (IG), while those at the Aceh Besar Regency secretariat office were appointed as the control group (CG). The IG was required to perform two days of Sunnah-IF in a week, amounting to 14 hours of fast. The CG followed the usual healthy lifestyle recommended by Indonesia's Ministry of Health, without requiring fasting. The required sample size was estimated based on the findings of recent studies with the largest sample size for 1.5 kg weight loss, using b=80% and a=5% (106 participants-53 per arm). Considering a 30% attrition rate, the total sample size needed was 140 participants (70 per arm). The primary outcomes were the change in systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP). The secondary outcomes were the change in body weight (BW), body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), and energy intake. All outcomes were measured at baseline, week 12, and week 24, with the data imputation method was the last observation carried forward. Data were analysed using inferential statistics and a generalized estimating equation (GEE) adjusted for potential confounding. All five outcomes showed a significant reduction (p0.05). The interaction between time and group was significant for SBP (p=0.03), DBP (p=0.03), BW (p<0.001), BMI (p<0.001), and energy intake (p<0.001). Based on the findings of this study, it was concluded that Sunnah-IF was effective compared to a usual dietary intake in reducing SBP, DBP, BW, BMI, and energy intake during 24 weeks of study duration. The findings provide crucial evidence for the Indonesian government to promote Sunnah-IF as a healthy lifestyle and alternative option to reduce EBP in Aceh and Sumatra island office workers. It is recommended to conduct this study with a longer duration to determine the long-term effects of Sunnah-IF
Contagion threshold and contagion probability in arbitrary finite networks / Keng Ying Ying
No full textGiven a simple undirected connected network ⌧ = (+, ⇢), we study how likely a given seed set (will cause full contagion throughout the network, considering both heterogeneous and homogeneous distributions of adoption thresholds among nodes. We assume that the nodes in ( stay active throughout the spreading dynamics, while each non-seed E is active if and only if the fraction of its currently active neighbors is at least its adoption threshold q(E). The contagion probability ?2 (() of ( is the probability that full contagion occurs from ( when each node chooses its adoption threshold independently and uniformly at random from [0, 1]. By mapping each threshold function q : + ! [0, 1] to a point in the =-cube [0, 1]=, where = = |+|, we call q a contagious point of ( if q can induce full contagion from (. Thus ?2 (() is naturally the Lebesgue measure or the volume of the set of contagious points of ( in [0, 1]=. We derive a formula for ?2 ((), applicable to any seed set (. The formula leads to the observation that ?2 (() is the sum of the probabilities that influence from ( can spread to the entire network through each spanning tree of the quotient graph ⌧( of ⌧ in which the set ( is represented as a single node. As a specific corollary, the contagion probability of each node is directly proportional to its degree. In the homogeneous case, all nodes share the same adoption threshold that is chosen uniformly at random from [0, 1] and the likelihood of ( causing full contagion is quantified using the contagion threshold @2 (() of (, which is the relative length of the set of contagious points of ( along the main diagonal of [0, 1]=. In contrast to contagion probability, contagion threshold of individual nodes does not always preserve the vicinal preorder. More specifically, the inclusion of the closed (resp. open) neighborhood of a node D in that of another node E guarantees that @2 (D) @2 (E) if the degree of D is at most 6 (resp. 3); however, this does not extend to higher degrees of D in some networks. Besides, we characterize the seed sets that have a sufficiently high contagion threshold. In addition, we make some comparisons between contagion probability and contagion threshold. We show that the presence of a cycle in ⌧( is a necessary but not sufficient condition for ?2 (() > @2 (()
Prosthodontic treatment modalities for microstomia patients: A systematic review / Khairini Nordin
No full textMicrostomia, a condition characterized by a reduced oral aperture size, posed challenges in dental procedures and prosthetic rehabilitation. This systematic review critically evaluated published case reports and case series related to the prosthodontic treatment of microstomia. The review identified the most common methods for measuring the severity of microstomia and suggested appropriate treatment options tailored to the severity of the condition.
Using the PICO framework, the study reviewed English publications up to May 2024, emphasising only on mouth opening assessments and treatments while excluding temporomandibular joint issues.
The search methodology encompassed multiple electronic databases, including PubMed, Medline, EBSCO host, Scopus, and Web of Science, using keywords and MESH terms: microstomia, limited oral opening, limited oral access, prosthodontic, and prosthesis. Data extraction was followed by a standardised process, verified by multiple reviewers for accuracy.
The findings of this review revealed that the most adopted approach to measure maximal mouth opening (MMO) in microstomia patients was the lip-to-lip technique for edentulous and combination cases, while the interincisal technique was predominantly used for partially dentate patients. After removing all duplicates and screening, the total articles were 82 case reports, of which 15 were excluded due to insufficient details such as a lack of follow-up regarding patient outcomes. The correlation analysis was conducted using the remaining 67 reports. The Fisher Exact Test indicated that there was no significant correlation between the severity of microstomia and the choice of prosthodontic treatment approaches. None of the authors used conventional dentures for cases with a severely reduced maximum mouth opening (less than 20mm for edentulous and less than 25mm for partially dentate or combination).
In conclusion, the lip-to-lip technique is the most common way to measure maximal mouth opening (MMO) for edentulous and combination cases, while the interincisal technique was preferred for partially dentate patients. There was no significant link between the severity of microstomia and the treatment chosen. Therefore, more research is needed to better understand this relationship
Metabolomic profiling of oral bacteria in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and periodontitis / Foong Su Wen
No full textBackground and Objective. Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and periodontitis (PD) are both chronic inflammatory diseases, and they share similar pathological features. Dental plaque harbours many species of bacteria and the dynamic, complex host-microbiome interaction play a significant role in initiating periodontal disease. Several oral bacteria have been shown to influence the progression of rheumatoid arthritis. Nevertheless, the underlying mechanism has become the focus of further investigation. Bacteria interact differently to ensure adaptation and reorganisation periodically. Metabolites which are the end stage of the biological system could provide insights into the functions of the oral microbiome. Therefore, the identification of the expressed metabolites in dental plaque, particularly in the early stage of rheumatoid arthritis may present the opportunity for more efficient management of RA. The aim of the present study is to profile metabolites in dental plaque in relation to RA and PD and correlate the differentially expressed metabolites with clinical parameters.
Materials and methods. This pilot study consisted of 27 participants who were categorised into different groups based on their diagnosis. The groups included early RA with periodontitis (ERAPD), early RA without periodontitis (ERANPD), chronic RA with periodontitis (CRAPD), chronic RA without periodontitis (CRANPD), non-RA with periodontitis (NRAPD) and non-RA without periodontitis (NRANPD). Periodontal assessment, PPD, CAL, VPI and GBI were evaluated while DAS-28 and ESR were extracted from the electronic medical records. Subsequently, dental plaque samples were collected and metabolites were extracted and analysed using liquid chromatography quadruple time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LC-Q-ToF-MS) to profile the metabolites.
Results. A total of 27 plaque samples from, ERAPD (3), ERANPD (4), CRAPD (5), CRANPD (5), NRAPD (5), and NRANPD (5) were analysed. 1065 different metabolites were detected in ERANPD in comparison to the NRANPD. A notable variation of metabolite expression was also observed between CRANPD in comparison to ERANPD with a total of 769 metabolites. Conversely, number of expressed metabolites were lower in CRAPD when compared to CRANPD group, as well as in the ERAPD compared to ERANPD. Bivariate correlation analysis revealed strong correlation with statistically significant difference (p<0.05) between nine metabolites and clinical parameters.
Conclusion. The metabolites observed in ERA exhibited a wide range of diversity, with a majority showing upregulation. This finding indicates a potential involvement of nine metabolites, His-his, 5-Aminopentanoic acid, 12-hydroxy-10-octadecynoic acid, N-Acetyl-b-glucosaminylamine, 4-Isopropylbenzoic acid, Stigmatellin Y, Saccharopines, N-Cyclohexanecarbonylpentadecylamine, and Anandamide (20:l, n-9) in pathogenesis of RA and PD
Awareness and knowledge of dental advertising guidelines among dental graduates in Malaysia / Ong Vivian
No full textIntroduction: Unethical advertising is still the third most common case investigated by Malaysian Dental Council (MDC). This puts the offending dental practitioner at risk of receiving disciplinary action from the dental council such as temporary suspension of the practicing certificate, a penalty, or both. This risks the practitioner’s income and reputation. Furthermore, unethical advertisements have the potential to mislead the public. Many dental practitioners may be unaware or unclear about the advertising guidelines set by the MDC. Hence it is timely to investigate the knowledge of advertising guidelines among newly graduated dental practitioners as they represent the future of the profession.
Objective: The objective of this study was to assess the level of awareness and knowledge of dental advertising guidelines among local dental graduates from the year 2023.
Materials & Methods: This was a cross-sectional study using a survey instrument developed and validated for the purpose of this study using the Code of Professional Conduct Guidelines (CPC) and the Guidelines and Provisions for Public information (GPPI) as references. An initial sample size of 239 participants was calculated based on 95% confidence interval according to a finite population of 624. An additional of 15% was included to compensate for attrition rate, totalling the sample size requirement to 275. The questionnaire consisted of questions on participant demographics, a 5-point Likert scale to measure awareness, and seven knowledge domains: (1) Provision of dental information, (2) Display of fees, (3) Recommendation of specific products, (4) Online professionalism, (5) Description of clinic facilities and services, (6) Patient testimonials, and (7) Advertisement of specific treatment to measure their knowledge. The questionnaire was distributed via Google Forms to graduates from eight local dental schools using cluster sampling to ensure proportionate representation from public and private dental schools from different regions in Malaysia.
Results: A total of 253 participants responded to the questionnaire (92%). The awareness of the public universities was significantly higher than their private counterparts (p-value < 0.05). The mean knowledge score was 61.8%. The domain with the highest knowledge score was ‘Online professionalism’ (71.30%). The domain with the lowest knowledge score was ‘Recommendation of specific products’ with only 46.77%. Independent t-test reported significant results (p-value < 0.05) between public and private dental graduates for ‘Description of clinic facilities’ and ‘Advertisement of specific treatment’. There was no gender predilection for the knowledge attained.
Conclusion: This study concludes that there is an imbalance of advertising awareness and knowledge among university graduates from public and private institutions especially in specific knowledge domains. (410 words
Salivary metabolomic profiling for discriminating primary sjogren syndrome from healthy controls: Identifying potential biomarkers - A pilot study / Fatin Izzatti Amalina Abd Aziz
No full textSalivary biomarkers such as proteins, metabolites, hormones, and nucleic acid can provide biological information for a variety of medical problems such as cancer, stress, systemic disorders, and neurodegenerative and infectious diseases. The proteome and metabolomic alterations observed in saliva appear to match those observed in blood, reflecting the cells' cellular activity and physiological status. Objectives: This study aims to identify the potential salivary biomarkers that can help distinguish patients with primary Sjogren syndrome (pSS) from healthy controls. Methods: A case-control study of the salivary metabolome of two different groups of subjects; 5 control cases, and 5 pSS patients. Salivary metabolites profiling was carried out using 2 analytical approaches: Nuclear magnetic resonance (1H-NMR) and Liquid Chromatography Quadrupole Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry (LC-Q-TOF-MS) with HMDB, BRMB, and Metlin databases respectively. Metabolite biomarkers identified will be further interpreted through chemometric analysis (unscrambler software) and statistical packages for the social sciences (SPSS) software to evaluate the diagnostic ability of each of the discriminant metabolites. Results: A total of 269 metabolites were obtained using LC-Q-TOF-MS, there was one metabolite that was associated with pSS which is purine. Purine was significantly upregulated in the saliva of pSS when compared to control (p-value = 0.01). For 1H-NMR, a total of 241 metabolites were found with only 63 metabolites with VIP scores >1. The top 5 upregulated metabolites were mapped into 12 metabolic pathways. Conclusion: There was a significant difference in the salivary metabolites profile (purine) between patients with pSS and healthy control subjects thus the study hypothesis was accepted, and the null hypothesis was rejected
Research data governance for research performing organizations in Malaysia: A modified Delphi approach / Norzelatun Rodhiah Hazmi
No full textThe rapid growth of research data and its influence on research practices have led to an
increased recognition of the importance of research data governance (RDG) worldwide.
Nevertheless, a lack of literature explicitly delineates RDG implementation, and practices
undertaken by research performing organizations (RPOs). This study sought to fill the
existing gap in the literature by exploring the implementation and practices of RDG by
RPOs within a post-positivist research paradigm. To achieve this, two methods were
employed: a content analysis of RDG/Research Data Management (RDM) policy
documents through desk research, and a four-round modified Delphi method, involving
systematic solicitation and collection of feedback from a pool of experts comprising
research data practitioners. This was accomplished through a series of designed sequential
surveys formulated based on the findings of desk research. These surveys used in the
Delphi study were tailored to systematically explore RDG activities, focusing on
governance tasks, areas of involvement, and decision domains, as well as the roles
responsible for governing research data within RPOs in Malaysia. Additionally, it sought
to understand the experiences and practices of research data practitioners in Malaysia
RPOs in terms of governing research data. The study employs descriptive and inferential
statistics, encompassing percentages, interquartile range, mean and median scores, mean
differences, t-values, and significance levels obtained from the paired-sample t-tests. The
analysis of responses unveiled a significant consensus among the experts on 106 out of
119 RDG task statements across various roles, nineteen (19) areas, and eight (8) decision
domains deemed significant to RDG implementation within RPOs. The gap analysis
between actual implementation and perceived importance reveals that while certain tasks are considered highly important, they may not be implemented to the same extent, as all
mean differences show negative values. Besides the RDG activities, key players,
structural positions, and ideal nomenclatures of identified RDG roles were determined.
The aim of the study was to develop an RDG framework based on the findings obtained.
By providing an RDG framework that can be used as a set of best practices, this study
can assist RPO leaders in considering implementing RDG and its efforts in their
organizations.
SDGs: Quality Education; Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure; Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions; Partnerships for the Goal
Penggunaan emas dalam produk kosmetik, farmaseutikal dan makanan dari perspektif hukum Islam semasa / Norhaleeda Dzulkifly
No full textPenggunaan emas dalam produk telah digunakan secara meluas berikutan manfaat dan khasiatnya yang pelbagai. Ketiadaan penjelasan hukum berkaitan penggunaan emas dalam produk kosmetik, farmaseutikal dan makanan dari perspektif hukum Islam semasa khususnya buat golongan lelaki di Malaysia menjadi persoalan utama dalam kajian ini. Oleh itu, kajian ini membincangkan kedudukan emas dari perspektif hukum Islam serta mengenalpasti penggunaan emas dalam produk kosmetik, farmaseutikal dan makanan. Seterusnya, analisis hukum penggunaan emas dalam produk kosmetik, farmaseutikal dan makanan dari perspektif hukum Islam semasa dijalankan dengan menilai aspek sumber, tujuan dan manfaat serta implikasi penggunaan emas ke atas produk tersebut. Kajian ini memberi kepentingan buat pihak pengusaha produk berasaskan emas, pengguna khususnya golongan lelaki dan pengkaji seterusnya. Bagi mencapai objektif kajian, kajian kepustakaan yang menggunakan metode dokumentasi diaplikasikan dengan meneliti literatur daripada pelbagai sumber. Pengkaji turut menjalankan kajian lapangan dengan menggunakan metode temubual separa struktur bersama beberapa orang pakar syariah dan ahli akademik. Data yang dikumpulkan telah dianalisis menggunakan metode deskriktif dan kaedah tematik. Hasil kajian mendapati penggunaan emas dalam produk dibenarkan ke atas wanita manakala bagi golongan lelaki hukumnya merujuk kepada beberapa keadaan seperti telah mendapat pengesahan pakar dan dalam keadaan darurat. Sumber emas yang digunakan perlu menepati parameter yang telah ditetapkan iaitu kadar kuantiti emas yang sedikit. Bagi tujuan dan kesan penggunaan yang positif penggunaannya adalah diharuskan manakala bagi tujuan dan kesan yang negatif penggunaannya adalah diharamkan
Chemical investigations and antiproliferative activities of the alkaloids from Tabernaemontana polyneura / Tang Sin Yee
No full textThe alkaloidal content of a Malaysian plant, Tabernaemontana polyneura (family: Apocynaceae), was investigated. A total of 72 alkaloids (1−72) were isolated and characterized from the bark and leaf extracts of T. polyneura, collected from Fraser’s Hill, in the state of Pahang, Peninsular Malaysia. The bark extract yielded 16 new alkaloids, including ten iboga (1−10), one chippiine (30), three vobasine (33−35), one cleavamine (54), and one vobasinyl-iboga bisindole alkaloids (66), while the leaf extract only yielded known alkaloids. Among the new alkaloids, polyneurine A (1) is characterized by a -lactone unit embedded within the iboga skeleton, while polyneurines I (30) and J (9) are the first examples of chippiine and seco-coronaridine alkaloids that incorporate an additional pyrrolidine ring. The biosynthetic pathways toward alkaloids 1, 3−5, 9, and 30 were also proposed. Polyneurine P and four known bisindole alkaloids (66−70) displayed pronounced growth inhibitory activity (IC50 0.34−9.02 μM) against HT-29, HCT 116, MDA-MB-231, A549, and MCF7 cancer cells
Secondary metabolites from the bark of Goniothalamus giganteus and their cytotoxic activities / Siti Nor Aisyah Abd Rahman
No full textStyryl lactones, which are ubiquitous in the genus Goniothalamus, have emerged as promising anticancer agents due to their ability to induce apoptosis in the targeted cells. Therefore, this study aimed to rapidly identify styryl lactones from the bark of Malaysian plant, Goniothalamus giganteus, by combining traditional phytochemical methods with 13C-NMR-based dereplication analysis. From the 13C-NMR-based dereplication analysis of G. giganteus using the MixONat software, a total of nineteen compounds were identified, including sixteen styryl lactones; altholactone 2, goniobutenolide A 3, goniobutenolide B 4, 8-acetylgoniofufurone 5, goniofufurone 9, goniofupyrone 12, goniopypyrone 15, 8-epimer of goniobutenolide A 27, 3-acetyl-6,7-dihydroxy-6,7-dihydro-altholactone 68, 7-epi-goniobutenolide B 69, 3-acetyl-6,7-diacetoxy-6,7-dihydro-altholactone 71, dihydrogoniothalenol 74, digoniodiol 81, crassalactone D 83, 8-epi-9-deoxygoniopypyrone acetate 85, and (2R,3R,3aS,7R,7aS)-3-hydroxy-7-isopropoxy-2-phenyltetrahydro-2H-furo[3,2-b]pyran-5(6H)-one 86, two terpenes; stigmaterol 58 and poriferasterol 63, and one flavonoid; pinocembrin 59. Purification exercise led to the isolation of thirteen compounds including two new compounds; goniogigantone A 61 and goniogigantone B 62 (bis-styryllactone skeleton), together with eleven known compounds; altholactone 2, goniobutenolide A 3, 8-acetylgoniofufurone 5, 8-epi-goniofufurone 6, goniofufurone 9, goniopypyrone 15, 8-acetylgoniotriol 24, cardiobutanolide 26, stigmasterol 58, pinocembrin 59, and chrysin 60. Being the major compound in this species, altholactone 2 had showed the highest cytotoxic effect against both oral cancer cell lines, H103 and H400 with IC50 values of 5.81 μM and 5.08 μM, respectively