Towards benchmarking youth engagement with adults in the Malaysian youth service through cross-national research

This paper reports on a current cross-national research initiative to study the effectiveness and impact of youth-adult partnerships (Y-APs) on developmental youth outcomes in four countries: the United States, Canada, Portugal and Malaysia. In Western contexts, Y-APs have been conceptualized as youth and adults working collaboratively for program or community action and are characterized by mutuality in teaching and learning as well as in program and organizational decision-making. Y-APs have been utilized as an effective tool for youth leadership development by engaging young people and adults in meaningful participation and working together for the sake of their organizations and communities. As Malaysia continues to move forwards toward its national goal of development and high-income status, there is a need to empower its youth by helping them acquire the needed skills and competences to fulfill their role as partners in national development. This paper puts forward the idea that Y-APs are a promising approach to further this aim, especially among Malaysian youth in the 18-to-25 year-old age group

Factors affecting the health related quality of life (HRQoL) of lecturers at UiTM Shah Alam / Norin Rahayu Shamsuddin, Dr Adriana Ismail and Prof Madya Dr Shaare Endot

Lecturers in varsities and academic institutions are assets of the varsities and institutions. The progress and achievement of a varsity greatly depend on the work performance of their staff mainly the lecturers. In work performance, productivity is one of the most important outcome measures. The productivity of a lecturer is measured by their teaching and research work, in which adds to the faculty academic profile as well as the university profile. Univeristi Teknologi MARA (UiTM) is one of the comprehensive universities in Malaysia that strives to earn the status of a research university (RU). In order for the university to be an RU, the eight criteria listed out by the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) are needed for recognition. With increasing number of students enrollment each year and fulfilling the Ninth Malaysia Plan (9MP) of enrolling 200 000 students by the 2010 (Abdullah, 2008) increase the tense especially to the lecturers. The scenario may lessen the quality of life and decrease the health status of a lecturer. There is no doubt that with good health and good quality of life a lecturer is able to give the best teaching ability and conduct best research work. A lecturer who is having problems with her health might affect her teaching ability. There has been preconceived notion that lecturer suffer poor social and poor emotional functioning due to stress brought by excessive teaching, insufficient resource, time and funding research, administrative workload and insufficient recognition and rewards (Gillespie, Walsh, Winefield, Dua, & Stough, 2001). Lecturers and teachers are claimed to be exposed to high risk of stress and occupational burnout (Chan, Lai, Ko, & Boey, 2000; Tsigilis, Zachopoulou, & Grammatikopoulos, 2006). This in turn might also affect their mental health. Quality of life (QOL) displays the aspect of happiness and satisfaction of individual with their life as a whole. The meaning and the state of of QOL is different for each person as well as in a group of people (Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, 2000). Although health is an important determinant of a person's quality of life, however there are other factors that give the impact on the quality of life such as culture, religion, environment, education and finance (Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, 2000; Lam, 1997). The HRQOL become an important health outcome indicator as the number of people with chronic disease and disabilities have increase (Fryback, 2010; Lam, 1997). It encompass all the aspect in QOL that have an effect towards health of a person either physically or mentally (McHorney, 1999). By measuring the HRQoL, it can help in identifying subgroup of people with poor perceived of health and determine the factors that influence their health to improve their QOL

Case Report: Hyponatremia Secondary to Desmopressin Administration Prior to Percutaneous Kidney Biopsy: A Case-Based Review

Bleeding remains the most clinically relevant complication of kidney biopsy and several prophylactic approaches were proposed, including desmopressin administration. We present the case of a 60-year-old man with a history of liver transplantation, admitted for the evaluation of a renal dysfunction. As part of our department protocol, desmopressin 60 μg was administered orally, 2 h before the percutaneous kidney biopsy. The patient developed acute, severe, symptomatic hyponatremia (i.e., headache and recurrent vomiting), followed by a life-threatening upper gastrointestinal bleeding due to a Mallory-Weiss syndrome. Although it is often used as bleeding prophylaxis prior to kidney biopsy, data regarding the efficacy and safety of desmopressin in this setting are inconsistent. Accordingly, we performed a thorough literature review of the use of desmopressin as bleeding prophylaxis prior to kidney biopsy, focusing on the incidence of hyponatremia. The reported incidence of hyponatremia (<130 mmol/l) was 7–11%, probably because serum sodium was monitored in few studies. Nevertheless, hyponatremia was rarely symptomatic but, in some cases, like the one presented here, its complications could be severe. Pre-biopsy low serum sodium and estimated glomerular filtration rate as well as high spot urine sodium and non-restricted fluid intake were reported to be associated with hyponatremia incidence. However, the current evidence cannot clearly establish which patients benefit the most from desmopressin use with respect to bleeding complications. We propose that when desmopressin is used for bleeding prophylaxis prior to kidney biopsy, measurements of serum sodium levels, before and every 6 h after, should complement ultrasound and hemoglobin as part of the patient post-procedural monitoring. Also, water intake should be restricted in the day of biopsy. However, this proposed approach should be adequately evaluated in a clinical trial

New insecticide screening platforms indicate that Mitochondrial Complex I inhibitors are susceptible to cross-resistance by mosquito P450s that metabolise pyrethroids

Fenazaquin, pyridaben, tolfenpyrad and fenpyroximate are Complex I inhibitors offering a new mode of action for insecticidal malaria vector control. However, extended exposure to pyrethroid based products such as long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs) has created mosquito populations that are largely pyrethroid-resistant, often with elevated levels of P450s that can metabolise and neutralise diverse substrates. To assess cross-resistance liabilities of the Complex I inhibitors, we profiled their susceptibility to metabolism by P450s associated with pyrethroid resistance in Anopheles gambiae (CYPs 6M2, 6P3, 6P4, 6P5, 9J5, 9K1, 6Z2) and An. funestus (CYP6P9a). All compounds were highly susceptible. Transgenic An. gambiae overexpressing CYP6M2 or CYP6P3 showed reduced mortality when exposed to fenpyroximate and tolfenpyrad. Mortality from fenpyroximate was also reduced in pyrethroid-resistant strains of An. gambiae (VK7 2014 and Tiassalé 13) and An. funestus (FUMOZ-R). P450 inhibitor piperonyl butoxide (PBO) significantly enhanced the efficacy of fenpyroximate and tolfenpyrad, fully restoring mortality in fenpyroximate-exposed FUMOZ-R. Overall, results suggest that in vivo and in vitro assays are a useful guide in the development of new vector control products, and that the Complex I inhibitors tested are susceptible to metabolic cross-resistance and may lack efficacy in controlling pyrethroid resistant mosquitoes

Epicardium-derived cells are important for correct development of the Purkinje fibers in the avian heart

During embryonic development, the proepicardial organ (PEO) grows out over the heart surface to form the epicardium. Following epithelial-mesenchymal transformation, epicardium-derived cells (EPDCs) migrate into the heart and contribute to the developing coronary arteries, to the valves, and to the myocardium. The peripheral Purkinje fiber network develops from differentiating cardiomyocytes in the ventricular myocardium. Intrigued by the close spatial relationship between the final destinations of migrating EPDCs and Purkinje fiber differentiation in the avian heart, that is, surrounding the coronary arteries and at subendocardial sites, we investigated whether inhibition of epicardial outgrowth would disturb cardiomyocyte differentiation into Purkinje fibers. To this end, epicardial development was inhibited mechanically with a membrane, or genetically, by suppressing epicardial epithelial-to-mesenchymal transformation with antisense retroviral vectors affecting Ets transcription factor levels (n = 4, HH39-41). In both epicardial inhibition models, we evaluated Purkinje fiber development by EAP-300 immunohistochemistry and found that restraints on EPDC development resulted in morphologically aberrant differentiation of Purkinje fibers. Purkinje fiber hypoplasia was observed both periarterially and at subendocardial positions. Furthermore, the cells were morphologically abnormal and not aligned in orderly Purkinje fibers. We conclude that EPDCs are instrumental in Purkinje fiber differentiation, and we hypothesize that they coo

A preliminary assessment of load consumption and solar power potential at Kota Belud, Sabah

This paper presents a detailed preliminary assessment of load consumption and solar power potential at the Eco- Tourism Centre of Liogu Ku Silou-Silou (EPLISSI), Kota Belud, Sabah. This initial investigation assessed the feasibility of an off-grid solar PV system at EPLISSI with a suitable solar panel system for project installation and commissioning purposes. Due to the absence of an electrical grid and power supply, no pre-existing electrical appliances could be found in EPLISSI. Hence, an excel-based software, the ESCoBox, was used to produce the load profiles. The input data for this software came from a list of required electrical appliances (LED lights, fans, and phone chargers) and the historical frequency of visitors to EPLISSI.Meanwhile, to assess the solar power potential at EPLISSI, an online simulator known as Global Solar Atlas version 2.3 or GSA 2.3 was used. As an input for the GSA 2.3, the initial solar panel system capacity was set for 0.5kWp, and then an increment of 0.1kWp was entered until specific criteriaweremet. The selection of the suitable size is made when the systemcan satisfy the daily total average load demand and a specific load fulfillment demand. As a result, it was found that the site requires a total average demand and a total peak demand of 4.60 and 11.87kWh/day, respectively. From the GSA 2.3 generated report, an off-grid solar PV system with the capacity of 2.50kWp solar PV can satisfy the daily total average load demand of this area, where the average PV energy output is within the range of between 7.74–9.80kWh/day or an average of 8.72kWh/day. In conclusion, this preliminary assessment indicates that installing an off-grid solar PV system in this area is possible

Health related quality of life in Malaysian children with thalassaemia

BACKGROUND: Health Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) studies on children with chronic illness such as thalassaemia are limited. We conducted the first study to investigate if children with thalassaemia have a lower quality of life in the four dimensions as measured using the PedsQL 4.0 generic Scale Score: physical, emotional, social and role (school) functioning compared to the healthy controls allowing for age, gender, ethnicity and household income. METHODS: The PedsQL 4.0 was administered to children receiving blood transfusions and treatments at Hospital Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia using PedsQL 4.0 generic Scale Score. Accordingly, the questionnaire was also administered to a control group of healthy school children. Socio-demographic data were also collected from patients and controls using an interview schedule designed for the study. RESULTS: Of the 96 thalassaemia patients approached, 78 gave consent to be interviewed giving a response rate of 81.3%. Out of 235 healthy controls approached, all agreed to participate giving a response rate of 100%. The mean age for the patients and schoolchildren is 11.9 and 13.2 years respectively. The age range for the patients and the schoolchildren is between 5 to 18 years and 7 to 18 years respectively. After controlling for age and demographic background, the thalassaemia patients reported having significantly lower quality of life than the healthy controls. CONCLUSION: Thalassaemia has a negative impact on perceived physical, emotional, social and school functioning in thalassaemia patients which was also found to be worse than the children's healthy counterparts. Continuing support of free desferal from the Ministry of Health should be given to these patients. More understanding and support especially from health authorities, school authorities and the society is essential to enhance their quality of life