Perceived Social Support and Depression Level Among Elderly Living in Institution

The Elderly is commonly withdrawn and live alone due to a lack of social support, which impacts psychological issues. This study was conducted to identify the relationship between perceived social support and the level of depression among the elderly. This cross-sectional study enrolled 92 older people who lived at Rumah Seri Kenangan Cheng, Malacca. They completed the Multidimensional Scale for Perceived Social Support and Geriatric Depression Scale, which measured levels of social support and levels of depression, respectively. Findings indicated the elderly received moderate social support from family and friends, that affecting the level of depression in the elderly population. Keywords: Elderly, institutionalization, social support, depression. eISSN: 2398-4287 © 2022. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open access article under the CC BYNC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians/Africans/Arabians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21834/ebpj.v7i20.344

Inhibition ability of cocoa pod extract on tyrosinase activity

Cocoa pod is a waste from cocoa industry. About 75 percentage weight of cocoa fruit is pod. The pods have variety of colors which resemble the various active compounds with potential health benefits. Normally, the cocoa pods were utilized as fertilizers, source of potash and activated carbon. However, the application of cocoa pods as cosmeceutical ingredients has not been extensively explored and documented. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of cocoa pod extract on tyrosinase activity where good suppression of tyrosinase activity may indicate its potential to be used as skin whitening agent. In tyrosinase assay, the effects of cocoa pod extract on the activity of tyrosinase from mushroom to oxidize L-DOPA substrate were measured. Results showed the cocoa pod extract had better performance of tyrosinase reduction activity at almost two-folds compared with kojic acid and ascorbic acid. Hence, cocoa pod extract has the potential to be used as skin whitening active ingredients

Development and partial characterization of new marine cell line from brain of Asian sea bass Lates calcarifer for virus isolation

A new cell line, Asian sea bass brain (ASBB), was derived from the brain tissue of Asian sea bass Lates calcarifer. This cell line was maintained in Leibovitz L-15 media supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS). The ASBB cell line was subcultured more than 60 times over a period of 15 mo. The ASBB cell line consists predominantly of fibroblastic-like cells and was able to grow at temperatures between 20°C and 30°C with an optimum temperature of 25°C. The growth rate of these cells increased as the proportion of FBS increased from 2% to 20% at 25°C with optimum growth at the concentrations of 10% or 15% FBS. Polymerase chain reaction products were obtained from ASBB cells and tissues of sea bass with primer sets of microsatellite markers of sea bass. An isolate of piscine nodavirus from juveniles of marine fish species tested positive by IQ2000 kit for viral nervous necrosis detection and was examined for its infectivity to a fish cell line of ASBB. A marine fish betanodavirus was tested to determine the susceptibility of this new cell line in comparison with commercial highly permissive SSN-1 cells. The ASBB cell line was found to be susceptible to nodavirus (RGNNV genotype), and the infection was confirmed by comparison cytopathic effect (CPE) with commercial SSN-1 and reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction. A nodavirus was further elucidated by electron microscopy, and the virus tested was shown to induce CPE on ASBB cells with significant high titer. This suggests that the ASBB cell line has good potential for the isolation of fish viruses

Development and partial characterization of new marine cell line from brain of Asian sea bass Lates calcarifer for virus isolation.

A new cell line, Asian sea bass brain (ASBB), was derived from the brain tissue of Asian sea bass Lates calcarifer. This cell line was maintained in Leibovitz L-15 media supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS). The ASBB cell line was subcultured more than 60 times over a period of 15 mo. The ASBB cell line consists predominantly of fibroblastic-like cells and was able to grow at temperatures between 20°C and 30°C with an optimum temperature of 25°C. The growth rate of these cells increased as the proportion of FBS increased from 2% to 20% at 25°C with optimum growth at the concentrations of 10% or 15% FBS. Polymerase chain reaction products were obtained from ASBB cells and tissues of sea bass with primer sets of microsatellite markers of sea bass. An isolate of piscine nodavirus from juveniles of marine fish species tested positive by IQ2000 kit for viral nervous necrosis detection and was examined for its infectivity to a fish cell line of ASBB. A marine fish betanodavirus was tested to determine the susceptibility of this new cell line in comparison with commercial highly permissive SSN-1 cells. The ASBB cell line was found to be susceptible to nodavirus (RGNNV genotype), and the infection was confirmed by comparison cytopathic effect (CPE) with commercial SSN-1 and reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction. A nodavirus was further elucidated by electron microscopy, and the virus tested was shown to induce CPE on ASBB cells with significant high titer. This suggests that the ASBB cell line has good potential for the isolation of fish viruses. © 2010 The Society for In Vitro Biology

Betanodavirus infection in marine fish aquaculture in Malaysia

Betanodavirus is known to cause mass mortality in many marine aquaculture fish species. In this study, we detected the virus in four different marine aquaculture fish species in Malaysia. These included humpback grouper (Cromileptisaltivelis), brown marbled grouper (Epinephelusfuscoguttatus), Asian seabass (Latescalcarifer) and golden pompano (Trachinoltusblochii). Out of 246 fish specimens analyzed using RT-PCR, 60.98% detected infected by the virus. Histological pathological analysis showed extensive cell vacuolationin the brain and retina tissues of severely infected specimens. However, some of the fish specimens detected positive using RT-PCR did not exhibit cell vacoulation which indicate the carrier state of those specimens. The RT-PCR amplification method developed in this study was shown useful as biosecurity tool in monitoringBetanodavirus infection in aquaculture. Although the origin of Betanodavirus in Malaysia is difficult to ascertained, evidence showed that some infections may have been contributed by the importation of fish fingerlings form neighboring countries. Currently, effective treatment of the viral disease is still impossible hence strict biosecurity measures need to be carried out in order to control the spread of the virus in fish stocks. These can include enforcement of biosecurity check and quarantine of every batch of imported fish, the use of virus-free broodstocks in hatchery, and proper disposal of infected fish stocks. In addition, good aquaculture practices must be carried in aquaculture farms or fish nursery all the time

Detection of Koi herpesvirus (KHV) in Cyprinius carpio (Koi) stocks using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA)

Koi herpesvirus (KHV), which is also known as Cyprinid herpesvirus 3 (CyHV-3) infection, is an OIE(international des epizootis) listed disease that caused high losses in common and koi carp in Indonesiaand Japan in 2002 and 2003. Since the mid of 2006, the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) has been usedin Malaysia for surveillance of koi fingerlings to detect virus nucleic acid, but it has been found to produceunreliable results. Following this, an alternative enzyme-link immunosorbent assay (ELISA) technique forthe detection of antibody against KHV was used to find evidence of KHV infection in koi carp stocks on farmsthat had been sampled for the PCR. For this purpose, a total of 245 serum samples from koi carp stocks werecollected and tested for the antibody to KHV by the ELISA at the Centre for Environment, Fisheries andAquaculture Science (CEFAS) laboratory, Weymouth, UK. Two hundred and eight samples were found to benegative but 37 others were either definitely positive or close to borderline positive and all were retested. Thefinal results showed that 222 (90%) samples were confirmed as negative and 19 (8%) others were definitelypositive. Meanwhile, four samples (1.6%) were positive at dilutions of 1:400 or 1:200, but cross reactionswith CyHV-1 (causing herpesviral epidermal hyperplasia) could have occurred at those dilutions. Three of thesamples were the only positive fish at two sites, but the fourth sample came from a site at which there were 4definite positive samples (from 20 fish sampled). Thus this study confirmed that Malaysian koi stocks havepreviously been exposed to KHV. With the lack of bio-security measures and awareness, there was a highprobability that the koi carp had been exposed to KHV, leading to subclinical infections and some fish mightpossibly have become carriers of the virus. Hence, further surveillance needs to be conducted to determinethe true situation of the KHV infection in Malaysia

Post-streptococcal acute glomerulonephritis in a 7-year-old boy: Islamic perspective on the prevention of the disease

Acute glomerulonephritis is inflammation of the kidney mediated by an immunological process. Group A β-haemolytic streptococcal infection is common in children aged 5-12 years old and can lead to acute post-streptococcal glomerulonephritis which may develop after recovery from a streptococcal throat infection or skin infection (impetigo). 97% of cases occur in less developed country. The incidence has decreased in industrialized nations due to improved hygienic condition. A 7-year-old boy, the eldest child of 4 siblings from a divorced parent, was admitted to Hospital Tengku Ampuan Afzan Kuantan in March 2015 due to facial puffiness for 1 day duration. There was also dark colored urine. Patient had history of productive cough for 3 days and fever for 2 days. Father also complained of skin ulcer on patient’s right feet for about 1 month. There was hypertension (198/80 mmHg). Urine examination showed hematuria, proteinuria, and leucocyturia. Anti-streptolysin O titre was high (1:800) and complement C3 level was low (0.29). Patient was treated with antibiotic, diuretic, and anti-hypertension. The child is entrusted to the parents who will be called by the Almighty, who will ask them about this trust. Parents play vital role in maintaining and promoting the good health of the children. Parents should also pay attention to cleanliness, personal hygiene and the prevention of disease, especially infection. Islam paid attention to washing hands and cleansing the air inhaled into the lungs by regular cleaning of the nose as part of ablution before performing prayer. Parents are responsible in preserving life, health and growth of their children. Caring for cleanliness and hygiene is not only deemed a good habit in Islam but also rendered into rituals that constitute part of the faith itself

N-(3-Methyl­phen­yl)quinoxalin-2-amine monohydrate

The quinoxaline system in the title hydrate, C15H13N3·H2O, is roughly planar, the r.m.s. deviation for the 18 non-H atoms being 0.188 Å; this conformation features a short intra­molecular C—H⋯N(pyrazine) inter­action. In the crystal, the amine H atom forms an N—H⋯O hydrogen bond to the water mol­ecule, which in turn forms two O—H⋯N hydrogen bonds to the pyrazine N atoms of different organic mol­ecules. These inter­actions lead to supra­molecular arrays in the bc plane that are two mol­ecules thick; additional π–π inter­actions stabilize the layers [ring centroid–centroid distance = 3.5923 (7) Å]. The layers stack along the a-axis direction via C—H⋯π contacts

Long Lasting Modulation of Cortical Oscillations after Continuous Theta Burst Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation

Transcranial magnetic theta burst stimulation (TBS) differs from other high-frequency rTMS protocols because it induces plastic changes up to an hour despite lower stimulus intensity and shorter duration of stimulation. However, the effects of TBS on neuronal oscillations remain unclear. In this study, we used electroencephalography (EEG) to investigate changes of neuronal oscillations after continuous TBS (cTBS), the protocol that emulates long-term depression (LTD) form of synaptic plasticity. We randomly divided 26 healthy humans into two groups receiving either Active or Sham cTBS as control over the left primary motor cortex (M1). Post-cTBS aftereffects were assessed with behavioural measurements at rest using motor evoked potentials (MEPs) and at active state during the execution of a choice reaction time (RT) task in combination with continuous electrophysiological recordings. The cTBS-induced EEG oscillations were assessed using event-related power (ERPow), which reflected regional oscillatory activity of neural assemblies of θ (4–7.5 Hz), low α (8–9.5 Hz), µ (10–12.5 Hz), low β (13–19.5 Hz), and high β (20–30 Hz) brain rhythms. Results revealed 20-min suppression of MEPs and at least 30-min increase of ERPow modulation, suggesting that besides MEPs, EEG has the potential to provide an accurate cortical readout to assess cortical excitability and to investigate the interference of cortical oscillations in the human brain post-cTBS. We also observed a predominant modulation of β frequency band, supporting the hypothesis that cTBS acts more on cortical level. Theta oscillations were also modulated during rest implying the involvement of independent cortical theta generators over the motor network post cTBS. This work provided more insights into the underlying mechanisms of cTBS, providing a possible link between synchronised neural oscillations and LTD in humans