The study on range of motion of hip and knee in prayer by adult Muslim males. A preliminary report

Introduction: Praying represents a fundamental activity of daily living in Muslim community. Muslims need to adopt several postures that require deep flexion of the knee and hip to perform this daily obligation. This is a preliminary report of the study on hip and knee range of motion conducted to obtain normative passive and functional range of flexion data during Muslim prayers in both weight-bearing joints of normal Muslim adults. Methods: A cohort of Malay men aged between 20 to 30 years was recruited in this cross-sectional study. Passive range of motion and flexion angles of the joints in various postures during prayer were measured using a standard goniometer. The difference against existing normative range of motion database available and the influence of various factors were analysed. Factors analysed include body mass index and other anthropometric measurements. Results: Sixty participants recruited for the preliminary phase of this study. The mean (SD) of passive hip and knee flexions were higher compared to other existing normative range of motion database. A unit increase in body mass index will have 0.782 units lower of knee range of motion. The hip and knee flexion arc were from 74.1° to 119.0° and from 3.3° to 119.7° respectively. Conclusion: The range of motion involved for prayers was more for the knee but less for the hip as compared to the measured passive range of motion. Body mass index has a significant linear negative relationship with the passive range of motion of the knee, but not the hip

Geographical Information System (GIS) as an Innovative Adoption to Ease Customers in Locating SME Business Premises in Malacca

Geographical Information System (GIS) is one of the recent innovation to ease users in locating places. GIS is a system designed to capture, store, manipulate, analyze, manage, and present all types of spatial or geographical data. It can also be used by customers in locating business premises. Research related to application of GIS in locating SME business premises especially in Malacca as a tourist state is still very limited. This study used a survey method to produce more generalizable findings. Quantitative procedures for data collection and analysis were rigorously applied to ensure reliability and validity of the findings. A total of 160 usable responses was collected from 400 distributed questionnaires. This study found all variables significant and therefore, all hypotheses were accepted. In the future, researchers may extend this study to other areas to understand more about current usage patterns and reasons for its adoption. Studies which cover non-Malaysian respondents and different education levels can further document different perspectives of GIS adoption

Geographical Information System (GIS) as an Innovative Adoption to Ease Customers in Locating SME Business Premises in Malacca

Geographical Information System (GIS) is one of the recent innovation to ease users in locating places. GIS is a system designed to capture, store, manipulate, analyze, manage, and present all types of spatial or geographical data. It can also be used by customers in locating business premises. Research related to application of GIS in locating SME business premises especially in Malacca as a tourist state is still very limited. This study used a survey method to produce more generalizable findings. Quantitative procedures for data collection and analysis were rigorously applied to ensure reliability and validity of the findings. A total of 160 usable responses was collected from 400 distributed questionnaires. This study found all variables significant and therefore, all hypotheses were accepted. In the future, researchers may extend this study to other areas to understand more about current usage patterns and reasons for its adoption. Studies which cover non-Malaysian respondents and different education levels can further document different perspectives of GIS adoption

The apoptotic effect of 1’S-1’-Acetoxychavicol Acetate (ACA) enhanced by inhibition of non-canonical autophagy in human non-small cell lung cancer cells

Autophagy plays a role in deciding the fate of cells by inducing either survival or death. 1’S-1-acetoxychavicol acetate (ACA) is a phenylpropanoid isolated from rhizomes of Alpinia conchigera and has been reported previously on its apoptotic effects on various cancers. However, the effect of ACA on autophagy remains ambiguous. The aims of this study were to investigate the autophagy-inducing ability of ACA in human non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and to determine its role as pro-survival or pro-death mechanism. Cell viability assay was conducted using MTT. The effect of autophagy was assessed by acridine orange staining, GFP-LC3 punctate formation assay, and protein level were analysed using western blot. Annexin V-FITC/PI staining was performed to detect percentage of cells undergoing apoptosis by using flow cytometry. ACA inhibits the cell viability and induced formation of cytoplasmic vacuoles in NSCLC cells. Acidic vesicular organelles and GFP-LC3 punctate formation were increased in response to ACA exposure in A549 and SK-LU-1 cell lines; implying occurrence of autophagy. In western blot, accumulation of LC3-II accompanied by degradation of p62 was observed, which further confirmed the full flux of autophagy induction by ACA. The reduction of Beclin-1 upon ACA treatment indicated the Beclin-1-independent autophagy pathway. An early autophagy inhibitor, 3-methyaldenine (3-MA), failed to suppress the autophagy triggered by ACA; validating the existence of Beclin-1-independent autophagy. Silencing of LC3-II using short interfering RNA (siRNA) abolished the autophagy effects, enhancing the cytotoxicity of ACA through apoptosis. This proposed ACA triggered a pro-survival autophagy in NSCLC cells. Consistently, co-treatment with lysosomal inhibitor, chloroquine (CQ), exerted a synergistic effect resulting in apoptosis. Our findings suggested ACA induced pro-survival autophagy through Beclin-1-independent pathway in NSCLC. Hence, targeting autophagy pathway using autophagy inhibitor such as CQ represented a novel promising approach to potentiate the cytotoxicity of ACA through apoptosis in NSCLC

Cytotoxic Effects of Pinnatane A Extracted from Walsura pinnata (Meliaceae) on Human Liver Cancer Cells

Background: Pinnatane A from the bark of Walsura pinnata was investigated for its anti-cancer properties by analyzing the cytotoxic activities and cell cycle arrest mechanism induced in two different liver cancer cell lines. Methods: A 3-(4,5-Dimethyl-2-thiazolyl)-2,5-diphenyl-2H-tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay was used to analyze the pinnatane A selectivity in inducing cell death in cancer and normal cells. Various biological assays were carried out to analyze the anti-cancer properties of pinnatane A, such as a live/dead assay for cell death microscopic visualization, cell cycle analysis using propidium iodide (PI) to identify the cell cycle arrest phase, annexin V-fluorescein isothiocyanate (annexin V-FITC)/PI flow cytometry assay to measure percentage of cell populations at different stages of apoptosis and necrosis, and DNA fragmentation assay to verify the late stage of apoptosis. Results: The MTT assay identified pinnatane A prominent dose- and time-dependent cytotoxicity effects in Hep3B and HepG2 cells, with minimal effect on normal cells. The live/dead assay showed significant cell death, while cell cycle analysis showed arrest at the G0/G1 phase in both cell lines. Annexin V-FITC/PI flow cytometry and DNA fragmentation assays identified apoptotic cell death in Hep3B and necrotic cell death in HepG2 cell lines. Conclusions: Pinnatane A has the potential for further development as a chemotherapeutic agent prominently against human liver cells

Plant-Based Biosynthesis of Copper/Copper Oxide Nanoparticles: An Update on Their Applications in Biomedicine, Mechanisms, and Toxicity

Plants are rich in phytoconstituent biomolecules that served as a good source of medicine. More recently, they have been employed in synthesizing metal/metal oxide nanoparticles (NPs) due to their capping and reducing properties. This green synthesis approach is environmentally friendly and allows the production of the desired NPs in different sizes and shapes by manipulating parameters during the synthesis process. The most commonly used metals and oxides are gold (Au), silver (Ag), and copper (Cu). Among these, Cu is a relatively low-cost metal that is more cost-effective than Au and Ag. In this review, we present an overview and current update of plant-mediated Cu/copper oxide (CuO) NPs, including their synthesis, medicinal applications, and mechanisms. Furthermore, the toxic effects of these NPs and their efficacy compared to commercial NPs are reviewed. This review provides an insight into the potential of developing plant-based Cu/CuO NPs as a therapeutic agent for various diseases in the future

Anti-Cancer Effects of Synergistic Drug–Bacterium Combinations on Induced Breast Cancer in BALB/c Mice

Cancer development and progression are extremely complex due to the alteration of various genes and pathways. In most cases, multiple agents are required to control cancer progression. The purpose of this study is to investigate, using a mouse model, the synergistic interactions of anti-cancer agents, 1′-S-1′-acetoxychavicol acetate (ACA), Mycobacterium indicus pranii (MIP), and cisplatin (CDDP) in double and triple combinations to treat chemo-sensitize and immune-sensitize breast cancer. Changes in tumor volume and body weight were monitored. Organs were harvested and stained using hematoxylin-eosin for histopathological assessment. Milliplex enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was performed to determine cytokine levels, while immunohistochemistry (IHC) was conducted on tumor biopsies to verify systemic drug effects. In vivo mouse models showed tumor regression with maintenance of regular body weight for all the different treatment regimens. IHC results provided conclusive evidence indicating that combination regimens were able to down-regulate nuclear factor kappa-B activation and reduce the expression of its regulated pro-inflammatory proteins. Reduction of pro-inflammatory cytokines (e.g., IL-6, TNF-α, and IFN-γ) levels were observed when using the triple combination, which indicated that the synergistic drug combination was able to significantly control cancer progression. In conclusion, ACA, MIP, and CDDP together serve as promising candidates for further development and for subsequent clinical trials against estrogen-sensitive breast cancer. © 2019 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland

Acute and 28-day sub-acute intravenous toxicity studies of 1’-S-1′-acetoxychavicol acetate in rats

1′-S-1′-acetoxychavicol acetate (ACA) has been previously reported to reduce tumor volume in nude mice, at an effective dose of 1.56 mg/kg body weight. However, the detailed toxicological profile for ACA has not yet been performed. Herein, we investigated the toxicity of intravenous administration of ACA in male and female Sprague-Dawley rats, both acutely (with single doses of 2.00, 4.00 and 6.66 mg/kg body weight, for 14 days), and sub-acutely (with weekly injections of 0.66, 1.33, and 2.22 mg/kg, for 28 days). In both toxicity studies, treatment with ACA did not affect behavior, food/water intake or body weight, nor did it induce any changes in clinically relevant hematological and biochemical parameters or mortality, suggesting that the LD 50 of ACA was higher than 6.66 mg/kg body weight, regardless of sex. Sub-acutely, there was however, mild focal inflammation of kidneys and lobular hepatitis, but these were not associated with significant functional adverse effects. Therefore, the no-observed-adverse-effect level (NOAEL) for intravenous administration of ACA in the present 28-day sub-acute study was 2.22 mg/kg body weight, in both male and female rats. These findings provide useful information regarding the safety of ACA use in a healthy, non-tumor-bearing rat model

The effect of body mass index (BMI) on the performance in prayer by Muslims : preliminary report of the study on range of motion of the hip and knee.

Background and Objectives: Praying or solah, represent a paramount and fundamental activity of daily living in Muslim community. Muslims need to adopt several postures that require deep flexion of the knee and hip to perform this daily obligation. The intention of this study is to simultaneously obtain normative passive and functional range of flexion data during Muslim prayers in the knee and hip joints of normal Muslim adults. Methodology: A cohort of Malay men aged between 20 to 30 years was recruited in this cross-sectional study. Passive range of motion and flexion angles of the hip and knee joints in various postures during prayer were measured using a standard goniometer. The difference against existing normative range of motion database available and the influence of various factors formed the core matter of this study. Factors analyzed include body mass index (BMI), length of limbs, abdominal and limb circumferences. Results: 60 participants were recruited for the preliminary phase of this study. The mean (SD) of the passive hip flexion and passive knee flexion were higher compared to other existing normative range of motion database. The BMI demonstrated a significant correlation with the passive range of motion of the knee joint but not statistically proven with the hip joint. The hip and knee flexion arc in this study were from 74.1° to 119.0° and from 3.3° to 119.7° respectively for the young Malay male adults performing prayers. Conclusion: The ROM involved for prayers was more for the knee joint and less for the hip joint as compared to the measured passive ROM. This reflects that a higher knee flexion angle compared to hip flexion is necessary to attain the sitting postures. BMI has a significant linear negative relationship with the knee passive ROM. A unit increase in BMI will have 0.782 units lower of ROM of the knee joint