Asian Journal of Medicine and Biomedicine最新文献

{"title":"Awareness on Stroke Warning Signs and Risk Factors amongst Rural Population in Selangor","authors":"Deviga Genasan, N. N. Nik Ramli","doi":"10.37231/ajmb.2022.6.s1.544","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.37231/ajmb.2022.6.s1.544","url":null,"abstract":"Stroke is a neurological disorder known to be the third leading cause of death in Malaysia. Eighty percent of the cases occurred due to abrupt blockage of blood supply to the brain causing the affected brain area to become damaged and lead to disability or even death [1]. The gold standard treatment via tissue plasminogen activator, however, is most effective to be administered within three hours after the onset of stroke symptoms [2]. According to previous report in 2020, most of the stroke patients that arrived late at the emergency medical care unit were due to the delay in deciding to seek medical attention following the stroke symptoms [3]. Lack of knowledge about the stroke risk factor, signs, and symptoms as well as the tendency of procrastination can result in delay in seeking medical treatment. Several studies had reported the poor level of understanding as well as awareness of stroke signs and symptoms among urban population in Malaysia [4,5]. Therefore, the objective of this cross-sectional study is to explore the awareness and action towards stroke symptoms and risk factors amongst rural population in Selangor, Malaysia. \u0000  \u0000A cross- sectional questionnaire-based study via snowball sampling was conducted amongst the adult individuals residing in several districts of Hulu Selangor, Sabak Bernam and Kuala Selangor that are recognized as rural areas by the Selangor state council. The study used a set of developed questionnaires that consists of two sections: sociodemographic characteristics as well as the awareness and action towards stroke symptoms and risk factors. Descriptive analysis was used to express the variables. \u0000  \u0000Of the 343 respondents, the mean ±SD for awareness on stroke symptoms was 3.9±1.82 out of a total score of 8 whereas awareness on stroke risk factors was 8.9±3.68 out of a total score of 13 (Table 1). The awareness about the stroke symptoms was considered poor as only 36.44% subjects were able to identify all five symptoms of stroke. Meanwhile only 32.4% of respondents were aware of all the risk factors for stroke despite all of them (100%) had heard about stroke. Although most of the respondents recognized stroke as an emergency condition, only 31.8% of them were aware of the appropriate action of calling an ambulance upon recognizing stroke symptoms (Table 2). \u0000Previous reports on awareness of stroke symptoms and risk factors were mostly conducted among urban population is Selangor. In 2014, a similar survey conducted among residents in Kajang reported that only 35% of the respondents had satisfactory knowledge of the stroke warning signs while 29% had satisfactory knowledge on the stroke risk factors. Although 78% can correctly recall Emergency Medical Systems number, only 11% were aware of calling the ambulance as the most appropriate action towards witnessing stroke symptoms in individuals [4]. On the other hand, a more recent study conducted among Petaling Jaya residents in 2019 reported that 82.9% to 92.1% of","PeriodicalId":189900,"journal":{"name":"Asian Journal of Medicine and Biomedicine","volume":"27 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-11-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"116246646","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Tuberculosis (TB) Mucosal Vaccines: Current Efforts and Future Approaches","authors":"Nur Ain Mohd Asri, Keh Min Xuan, Rafeah Suppian, Norazmi Mohd Nor, M. Azlan, F. Camacho","doi":"10.37231/ajmb.2022.6.s1.582","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.37231/ajmb.2022.6.s1.582","url":null,"abstract":"It is now known that the existing vaccination, Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG), is unable to stop the global Tuberculosis (TB) epidemic, and TB continues to pose a serious threat to public health [1]. Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), the causing agent, enters the body by inhalation, causing TB predominantly a respiratory infection [1]. Therefore, there is solid evidence to support the idea that a mucosally administered TB vaccination would be more successful than one administered systemically. Our team in Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) has been working with several organisations in conjunction with Malaysia’s National Vaccine Roadmap (PPVN) to address this problem as well as the government's goal to produce vaccines that are high-quality, efficient, and secure following the guidelines established by the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency (NPRA). \u0000Therefore, the development of TB mucosal vaccines over the past few years for worldwide as well as in USM is outlined in this presentation. It aims to discuss immunological and practical factors in the development of mucosal vaccines and emphasises some of the current and future approaches in USM. \u0000As a result, it is acknowledged globally that matching the path of infection with the path of immunisation is an appealing strategy for the development of TB vaccines. Several approaches have been made in USM to produce a vaccine candidate that significantly induces mucosal immunity. The design of the study showed the manipulation of IgA, which is a hallmark of mucosal immunity, with multi-epitopes of TB to produce IgA: TB recombinant protein by using goat’s milk as a bioreactor. The concept of oral immunisation in-vivo also is an important approach in our effort to maximise the production of the immune system at the point of entry of bacteria. \u0000In a conclusion, as a boost to a prior respiratory or systemic immunisation, the mucosal method might be more effective. In addition to systemic immunity obtained by injected vaccines, vaccines to induce pathogen-specific IgA are being developed to provide a first line of defence at these entry sites. Therefore, combining these concepts into developing new recombinant vaccine against TB would be a promising alternative.","PeriodicalId":189900,"journal":{"name":"Asian Journal of Medicine and Biomedicine","volume":"18 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-11-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125558730","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"COVID-19 Vaccine Acceptance Among Pregnant Women in Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia","authors":"Siti Nur Aisyah Zaid, H. Embong, Norhasmah Mohd Zain","doi":"10.37231/ajmb.2022.6.s1.576","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.37231/ajmb.2022.6.s1.576","url":null,"abstract":"Many reports recently showed the worried outcomes such as neonatal pneumonia, preterm birth, postpartum infections to the mother, and COVID-19 vertical transmission to the foetus happened in pregnancy [1,5-6]. COVID-19 vaccination is an effective and safe approach to controlling the pandemic and decreasing associated morbidity and mortality [2]. Pregnant women are more likely develop more severe symptoms of COVID-19 than their non-pregnant peers [3]. Also, there is still less study conducted in Malaysia to assess COVID-19 vaccine acceptance among pregnant women. \u0000  \u0000This cross-sectional study aimed to determine the COVID-19 vaccine acceptance rate among pregnant women in Hospital USM. Initially, 367 respondents estimated using Raosoft Software but only 254 were recruited using simple random sampling method. The link of the questionnaire was given through a WhatsApp platform. The questionnaire used were adapted from Goncu Ayhan [4] consists of three parts: sociodemographic data, acceptance rates of COVID-19 vaccine and the reasons for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine. The questionnaire was translated to Bahasa Malaysia, checked by the Language Unit USM, and validated by the experts, three nursing lecturers. The Cronbach Alpha result from the pilot test was 0.744. The data were analysed using IBM SPSS system version 26.0 and the significant level (α value) was set at 5% for all statistical analyses. All null hypotheses will be rejected if (p<0.05). The Descriptive Analysis test and the Pearson Chi-Square test were used to analyse the data. Both Human Research Ethics Committee USM and Obstetrics & Gynaecology Department in Hospital USM have approved this study. No conflict of interest in the study. \u0000  \u0000A total of 254 pregnant women, most of them being 198 were aged 20 to 35, 246 were Malays, 180 respondents with college/university education, and 110 housewives. The 68 prevalence of participants' household incomes ranged from RM1000 to RM1999 and RM4000-RM4999, and their gravida and parity are primarily at 2-3 times, with the majority occurring between 20 and 30 weeks of gestation (Table 1). This study included only 58 pregnant women who had comorbidities during their pregnancy. The results revealed pregnant women in Hospital USM had moderate acceptance of COVID-19 (M=70.00, SD=14.629) with a minimal percentage of 55% and a maximal percentage of 82%. It was revealed that 174 (68.5%) showed moderate acceptance while 42 (16.5%) showed high acceptance. Meanwhile, only 38 (15%) indicate low acceptance of the COVID-19 vaccine. \u0000  \u0000The main reasons for them to refuse the vaccine were lack of data on the safety of the COVID-19 vaccination in pregnant women, they believed that if they are sick, both mother and baby will not encounter any negative effects, and some of the family members were hesitant to be vaccinated. This study also examined the correlation between the COVID-19 vaccine acceptance rate and sociodemographic factors using Pearson's Chi- Square tes","PeriodicalId":189900,"journal":{"name":"Asian Journal of Medicine and Biomedicine","volume":"29 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-11-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"117275492","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Potential Pathogenic Bacteria in Loose Oil Palm Fruit (LOPF) from Smallholdings in Serian, Sarawak","authors":"Casey Anak Nubun, S. Lihan","doi":"10.37231/ajmb.2022.6.s1.566","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.37231/ajmb.2022.6.s1.566","url":null,"abstract":"Oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) is a species of palm tree cultivated mainly for its oil. Malaysia is the second largest producer of oil palm behind Indonesia. During the harvesting of oil palm fruit bunch, some over ripped fruits will get detached from the fruit bunch and these loose fruits will be contaminated with bacteria from the soil. Collecting the loose fruits from the ground is normally done manually by hand and this may allow the transmission of bacteria from the soil to the workers. \u0000  \u0000According to Table 1, this study reported on the microbial contents of the oil palm loose fruits collected from three different locations of smallholding oil palm in Serian Sarawak, Malaysia. The result shows that F3S3 at Kampung Raeh Baru has the highest number of colonies, 20.4 x 105 CFU mL-1, while the lowest number of colonies was at F2S1, which was at Kampung Beradau, Siburan, with 2.4 x 105 CFU mL-1. \u0000This study was aimed to isolate and identify bacteria on the loose oil palm fruits (LOPF) and determine the microbial quality which may affect the safety and health of the farm workers. Loose oil palm fruits were collected from the ground of three smallholder farms located in Serian, Sarawak. The fruit were weighted and stomached with peptone water in stomacher bags and plated on Nutrient agar. The 16S rRNA PCR was carried out for the bacterial growing on the plate. The purified DNA product was sent to Apical Scientific Sdn. Bhd. for DNA sequencing. The sequences obtained were directly compared with the sequences in the Genbank through the Blastn server. The result obtained shows in Table 2 that 15 different bacterial species were identified from the loose fruit oil palm samples including Chryseobacterium indologenes, Enterobacter hormaechei, Klebsiella pneumonia, Klebsiella quasipneumoniae, Klebsiella sp., Pantoe dispersa, Pantoe sp., Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Pseudomonas mendocina, Pseudomonas nitroreducens, Serratia marcescens, Simplicispira metamorpha. \u0000Some of the bacterial species could be pathogenic, hence, it is important to communicate the findings of this research to provide sufficient knowledge to the farmers about the biological hazards associated with the loose oil palm fruits in order for them to take precaution in proper handling of the loose fruits.","PeriodicalId":189900,"journal":{"name":"Asian Journal of Medicine and Biomedicine","volume":"153 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-11-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"114733007","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Chronic Disease Management Behaviours among Malaysian Low-Income Workers: A Descriptive Study","authors":"A. S. A. Abu Bakar, Haliza Abdul Rahman, Hayati Kadir Shahar, Ahmad Iqmer Nashriq Mohd Nazan, K. Idris","doi":"10.37231/ajmb.2022.6.s1.545","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.37231/ajmb.2022.6.s1.545","url":null,"abstract":"Chronic disease is a global issue and is a growing concern in the world, including Malaysia. It is one of the most common causes of decreased quality of life, disability, and mortality [1]. Moreover, it has become a common problem in the community, especially among low-income households in Malaysia. Some evidence demonstrates that health problems associated with low-income workers are obesity, high body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), cardiovascular disease, hypertension, diabetes, kidney disease, coronary heart disease and cancer [2-12]. Prevention is better than cure; therefore, chronic disease management behaviours play a pivotal role dealing with the diseases and improving quality of life. Given the above scenario, it is crucial to understand chronic disease management behaviours. This study aims to assess the level of chronic disease management behaviours among low-income workers in Malaysia. This cross-sectional study was conducted among 280 support staff in the selected ministries in Putrajaya, Malaysia. The sampling technique was random cluster sampling, and the data was collected via online platforms from July 2021 to November 2021. Respondents received a questionnaire comprising two sections: (1) Sociodemographic data, (2) Self-management disease by the Chronic Illness Resources Survey (CRIS). Socio-demographic data included gender, age, ethnicity, level of education, marital status, and total monthly household income. Chronic Illness Resources Survey (CRIS) adapted from (13), which requires the respondents to rate their self-management disease from (1) Not at all to (5) A great deal consists of eight items. The items were measured on health care, planning and disease management goals. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse the data using IBM SPSS version 26.0. The quantitative data were analysed descriptively for frequency, percentages, mean and standard deviation. Most of the respondents were females (73.6%), Malay (95.0%), married (72.5%), aged between 30 to 39 years old (61.8%), had monthly household incomes ranging from RM 2501 – RM3000 (25.0%) and had educational levels of STPM/ Matriculation/ Diploma (43.6%). Table 2 indicates that more than half of the respondents (53.2%) had a high level of chronic disease management behaviours. This finding indicates that most respondents had good non-communicable disease management behaviours (Mean =3.73, SD =0.769). Table 3 shows that respondents had a higher score for items such as ‘I use prayer/ worship or meditation in managing the disease’, ‘I spend time taking care of my health and doing the things I enjoy’, ‘Chronic disease behaviours management is important to me in managing disease’ and ‘I focus on the things I do well to manage the disease’.  Whereas the moderate score is ‘I reward myself for managing illness’, ‘I share with others about disease management’, ‘I evaluate or think about my accomplishments in achieving goals for disease management” and I arrange the sc","PeriodicalId":189900,"journal":{"name":"Asian Journal of Medicine and Biomedicine","volume":"29 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-11-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"121927975","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Exploring Brain Activation of Single-Digit and Double-digit in Familiar and Unfamiliar Numerals: A Functional MRI Study","authors":"Fong Sze Wei, A. A. Abd Hamid, M. H. Senik","doi":"10.37231/ajmb.2022.6.s1.571","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.37231/ajmb.2022.6.s1.571","url":null,"abstract":"The ability to symbolise numbers using numerals is unique to humans and the acquisition of this ability needs to be done via learning [1]. Repeated exposure to sensory input can result in learning-induced alterations to the brain, forming memory engrams that are crucial for memory storage and retrieval [2]. Familiarity is an important factor that affects memory performance because familiar stimuli tend to have stronger memory strength with pre-existing knowledge representation stored in long-term memory, while unfamiliar or novel stimuli do not [1,3]. Past studies have suggested a few putative Number Form Area (NFA), located in the ventral occipitotemporal gyrus, are involved in processing visual number symbols [4 – 6]. It has been put forward that the acquisition of the semantic information of the numerical symbols might be a prerequisite for the activation of the NFA. However, much of its semantic information remains unknown. Figure 1 presented the conceptual framework of the present study. \u0000  \u0000The present study aims to explore the brain activation associated with familiar and unfamiliar numerals of single-digit and double-digit.  The targeted population of the present study will be Malaysian young adults between the age ranges of 18 to 30 years old. The present study will employ a quantitative cross-sectional observational research design. In particular, a within-subjects experimental study design with two factors: type of familiarity (familiar vs. unfamiliar) and the number of digits (single-digit vs. double-digit), will be used to measure the dependent variables including reaction time, accuracy, and brain activations of each participant in all experimental conditions: (1) familiar single-digit, (2) familiar double-digit, (3) unfamiliar single-digit, and (4) unfamiliar double-digit. An fMRI block design paradigm will be utilised, where the participants will be presented with single-digit and double-digit familiar (Chinese) numerals and unfamiliar (Arabic) numerals during the learning (encoding) phase and will be asked to complete the forced-choice memory task during the memory (retrieval) phase. In the experiment, participants’ structural and functional brain images will be collected using 3-Tesla Achieva MRI Scanner (Achieva, Philips, the Netherlands). Behavioural measurements such as reaction time and accuracy of the answer will be recorded based on the responses given by the participants during the fMRI task. Two-way repeated-measures ANOVA tests will be performed to compare the mean difference in reaction time, accuracy, and brain activation between the conditions. The brain activation will undergo pre- and post-processing using Matlab MATLAB software, Statistical Parametric Mapping 12, CONN toolbox and MarsBar toolbox. \u0000A significantly shorter reaction time and higher accuracy are expected to be observed in familiar as compared to unfamiliar conditions because familiar stimuli are being encountered relatively often in different contexts","PeriodicalId":189900,"journal":{"name":"Asian Journal of Medicine and Biomedicine","volume":"25 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-11-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"117120422","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Pathogenicity Classification using Phylogenetic Analysis of Escherichia coli Strains","authors":"Ahmed Mohamed Ibrahim, N. Yusof, Shuhaila Mat-Sharani","doi":"10.37231/ajmb.2022.6.s1.584","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.37231/ajmb.2022.6.s1.584","url":null,"abstract":"Escherichia coli (E. coli) is an adaptable gram-negative bacillus facultative an aerobic bacterium that belongs to the family of Enterobacteriaceae. It is well known to be a commensal of the human and animal gastrointestinal tract and environments unrelated to the host, such as water, soil, manure, and food.  This study was focused on identifying the pathogenicity of three local isolated E. coli strains (Malaysia) compared to the other 22 completed genome strains from the available database. The local strains are INF13/18/A [1], INF32/16/A [2], and INF191/17/A [3]. which are identified as extended-spectrum beta-lactamase types. 16S rRNA was used to build a phylogenetic tree by using MUSCLE for alignment and MEGA with 1000 bootstraps to build a tree (Figure 1), and then Figtree was used for visualisation. The outlier in this phylogenetic analysis is H3RV (a mycobacterium strain). \u0000  \u0000The analysis revealed that the 22 completed genome strains can be divided into two main clusters with one cluster mainly more pathogen and least pathogen. Based on previous pathogenicity studies revealed that Shiga-toxin-producing E. coli are pathogens that are ER strains that cause diarrheal disease in humans and are of a public health concern due to their ability to cause outbreaks and severe diseases such as haemorrhagic colitis or haemolytic-uremic syndrome [4]. \u0000  \u0000Furthermore, CVM strains also reported as pathogen (GCA_008385405.1, GCA_008386375.1, GCA_004281435.2, GCA_008385205.1, and GCA_008383145.1). Therefore, the first cluster containing all ER strains and CVM is pathogenic. The second cluster included all local strains, two of the local strains (INF13/18/A and INF191/17/A) closely with Al Ain [5] and AR-0427 (GCF_008727195.1) which both are known to be Shiga-toxin producing strains (0157). This suggested that these two local strains are true pathogens. While one of the other local strains INF32/16/A shares a recent common ancestor with a non-pathogenic laboratory strain K-12 substr. MG1655 [6], which could be probably suggested that this local strain is non-pathogenic. \u0000  \u0000In addition to that the second clusters, JME strains were clustered together with ecMN1F (GCA_008824125.1). The distribution of lineage is also not related to sampling locations because the first cluster has CVM strains and ER strains from the USA and New Zealand, respectively. While the two local strains from Malaysian strains were also found close to the United States of America (K-12 substr. MG1655) [6]. \u0000  \u0000In conclusion, this study shows the pathogenicity group classification of E. coli strains and requires further investigation to determine the level of pathogenicity of these organisms. \u0000A phylogenetic of E. coli used 16S rRNA, shows dividing into two common ancestors and the outlier, the strains of the above common ancestor such as CVM and ER [7] strains are true pathogenic, while the strains of the second common ancestor are showing some pathogenic and some non-pathogenic which c","PeriodicalId":189900,"journal":{"name":"Asian Journal of Medicine and Biomedicine","volume":"677 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-11-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"116105981","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"In Silico Analysis of miR-181a and miR-155 and Their Target Genes in the Pathogenesis of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia","authors":"Nur Insyirah Sha’ari Sha’ari","doi":"10.37231/ajmb.2022.6.s1.569","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.37231/ajmb.2022.6.s1.569","url":null,"abstract":"Acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) represents 80% of acute leukaemia in children and 20% in adults. In most cases, the cause remains unknown; however, genetic predisposition is found in most patients. Clinically, a patient is diagnosed with ALL when peripheral blood smear or bone marrow aspirate is overpopulated with lymphoblasts. Although the 5-year overall survival rate exceeds 90% using available treatments, the life-threatening effects still affect some patients [1]. Therefore, further improvement in clinical outcomes and reduction of adverse effects require novel therapeutic approaches such as microRNAs (miRNAs) biomarkers. In addition, miRNAs have demonstrated distinct expression profiles in classifying the ALL subtypes and involved in various cancers [2]. \u0000  \u0000Previously, miR-181a and miR-155 have been discussed, either acting as oncogenic or tumour suppressive miRNAs in carcinogenesis. The study aims to investigate the role of miR-181a and miR-155 and their predicted target genes in the pathogenesis of ALL. Hence, in silico analysis was conducted using miRDB 6.0 software to identify the predicted target genes and GeneCodis 4.0 software to identify signalling pathways regulated by miR-181a and miR-155. As presented in Table 1, miR-181a was found to be downregulated whereas miR-155 was significantly upregulated in ALL groups as compared to control groups [3]. \u0000Analysis of target expression was conducted to identify predicted target genes in ALL cell line, DND-41. In this study, the predicted target genes are regulated by miR-181a and miR-155 (with target score ≥ 80 and target expression ≥ 20) revealed 57 genes and 29 genes, respectively. The most significant genes regulated by miR-181a and miR- 155 were DUSP6 and H3F3A, respectively. DUSP6 is a regulator for hyperactivation of the extracellular signal- regulated kinase (ERK) in relapsed pre-B ALL patients. Thus, this reaction caused lesions in the RAS pathway and oncogenic tyrosine kinases (e.g., BCR-ABL1). \u0000  \u0000Additionally, a complete transformation of pre-B ALL clones was done by BCR-ABL1 and correlated with the activity of other MAPKs such as MAPK14 and MAP2K1. Therefore, ERK was identified as a negative feedback regulator of the RAS-ERK pathway [4]. \u0000  \u0000H3F3A was reported to be involved in the pathogenesis of paediatric leukaemia caused by mutated genes that encoded proteins during epigenetic regulation. The mutation in H3F3A led to the inability of this residue to undergo periodic regulatory post-translational modifications and blocked trimethylation of all H3 during T-ALL pathogenesis. Specifically, the recurrent T-ALL patients found the lysine-to-arginine mutations at H3K27 and H3K36. Hence, the reduced expression of H3 proteins was associated with unfavourable prognosis [5]. \u0000  \u0000The functional enrichment analysis of KEGG pathway was conducted by using GeneCodis 4.0 software. The most significant pathway targeted by miR-181a and miR-155 was p53 signalling pathway and MAPK pathway, re","PeriodicalId":189900,"journal":{"name":"Asian Journal of Medicine and Biomedicine","volume":"171 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-11-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"121278631","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Relative Caregivers’ Satisfaction towards Nursing Care of Neuro Patients in Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM)","authors":"Nurul Nadzirah Khairuddin, Salmi Ab Aziz","doi":"10.37231/ajmb.2022.6.s1.585","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.37231/ajmb.2022.6.s1.585","url":null,"abstract":"Over the past decade, the provision of medical care had received increased attention in the general critical care community [1]. In the neurointensive care unit (neuro ICU), it is important to build a good rapport with their family member as the patient unable to decide for themselves. Assessing relative satisfaction level toward nursing care of neuro patients provides a way to determine whether the nursing care goals were attained.  Directly measuring this in patients in the neuro ICU is difficult because of their clinical status. Thus, relative (surrogate) satisfaction is used as a proxy measure [3]. \u0000  \u0000The satisfaction survey, Family Satisfaction-ICU (FS-ICU), has been thoroughly validated in the general critical care population [2]. The survey has been used in many countries which helped in improving the satisfaction of care of the relative caregivers with nursing care [4]. The assessment of the level of satisfaction among relative caregivers towards nursing care is important to enhance the decision-making for the patients. The current study aimed to assess the level of satisfaction among relative caregivers towards nursing care of neuro patients and to determine the relationship between the satisfaction among relative caregivers towards nursing care and decision-making related to patient care in neuro ICU, Hospital USM. \u0000The study was conducted in the neuro ICU ward, Hospital USM. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 80 respondents using the Malay version of the Family Satisfaction Intensive Care Unit (FS-ICU) questionnaire. The statistical analysis was conducted using descriptive statistics and the Pearson correlation test. There are three items to measure the satisfaction level among relative caregivers towards nursing care which are concern and quality of care toward patients; the service and efforts in meeting their needs; and skills, care, and the atmosphere in the ICU. These items were given the score of 1-5 (very dissatisfied) and 6-10 (very satisfied). \u0000  \u0000In this study, a total of 80 patients’ relatives were included. The sociodemographic characteristics and the frequency of distribution among participants and their percentage were shown in Table 1. The items for service and effort in meeting their needs (Question 1-6) showed the highest mean score, 9.21 (SD=0.58). Next, the concern and quality of care towards patients (Question 7-12) stated a mean score of 9.20 (SD=0.56), and the items for skills, care, and the atmosphere in the ICU (Question 13-18) stated a mean score of 8.71 (SD=0.71). Taken together, the relative caregivers were satisfied with the treatment and care for the patient. The scores of a single item of the FS-ICU were presented in Table 2. There was a significant correlation between the satisfaction level among relative caregivers towards nursing care and decision-making related to patient care in the neuro ICU, Hospital USM (r = 0.805, p < 0.001) (Table 3). \u0000A previous study reported a significant improvement","PeriodicalId":189900,"journal":{"name":"Asian Journal of Medicine and Biomedicine","volume":"35 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-11-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129981708","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Antimicrobial Activity and Prebiotic Effects of Senna alata Leaf Extracts","authors":"Nik Hasanah Zakaria, ,. M. D. Sul’ain, Wan Nor Amilah Wan Abdul Wahab","doi":"10.37231/ajmb.2022.6.s1.574","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.37231/ajmb.2022.6.s1.574","url":null,"abstract":"Medicinal plants are a great source of antibacterial and prebiotic properties that can treat a wide range of human diseases. Senna alata, also known as \"candle bush,\" has many health benefits. It has antimicrobial properties and has been used for centuries to treat skin infections [1] and digestion-related problems such as constipation, stomach discomfort, and liver diseases [2]. This study aimed to screen the phytoconstituents of S. alata leaf extracts, study their antimicrobial activity against several intestinal pathogens, and investigate their potential prebiotic effects against a few probiotic strains. \u0000  \u0000Aqueous and ethanolic S. alata leaf extracts were obtained by the maceration method, then dried and stored until used. A qualitative phytochemical analysis of S. alata leaf extracts was performed to determine the presence of biomolecules such as anthraquinones, carbohydrates, flavonoids, phenols, saponins, tannins, and alkaloids. For the antimicrobial study, serial two-fold dilutions of leaf extracts in concentrations ranging from 10 mg/mL to 0.02 mg/mL were performed in a 96-well microplate to determine the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC). For the prebiotic study, serial two-fold dilutions of leaf extracts in concentrations ranging from 10 mg/mL to 1.25 mg/mL were conducted in a 96-well microplate to study the growth rate of probiotics by measuring its optical density (OD) at 0 and 24 hours of incubation at 600 nm. \u0000  \u0000Aqueous and ethanolic leaf extracts showed the presence of tannin, saponins, alkaloids, carbohydrates, and flavonoids. Anthraquinones were not detected in any of the extracts, and phenols could only be detected in the ethanolic leaf extract. At the tested concentrations, both leaf extracts showed antimicrobial activity against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella Typhi, and Klebsiella pneumoniae based on the MIC values (Table 1). The growth rate of Lactobacillus helveticus and Bifidobacterium longum were significantly increased (p <0.05) after being treated with aqueous leaf extract at 24 hours of incubation (Figure 1). A similar growth pattern was obtained with L. helveticus and B. longum treated with ethanolic leaf extracts (Figure 2). \u0000In conclusion, aqueous and ethanolic S. alata leaf extracts displayed antimicrobial activities to certain intestinal pathogenic bacteria at the preliminary extract concentrations employed in the present study. Besides, the extracts have a stimulative effect on the growth of probiotic microorganisms which are typical members of intestinal microbiota. This study provides further evidence that suggests S. alata is one of the prebiotics which could potentially be used to ease the related digestive problems.","PeriodicalId":189900,"journal":{"name":"Asian Journal of Medicine and Biomedicine","volume":"21 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-11-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125638434","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}