Validation of sejahtera living inventory

The first aim of the study was to construct-validate the sejahtera living inventory in terms of its convergent validity, discriminant validity, and composite reliability. The second purpose was to evaluate sample type-invariant of the maqasid shariah driven measurement model, and therefore its generality. An online self-reported Sejahtera Living inventory was created to collect the data. It is a questionnaire that contains 21 content-validated items measuring five facets of sejahtera living, namely the preservation of religion, life, intellect, dignity, and wealth and resources. A total of 1,057 students and employees at a public university in Malaysia participated in the study. The results of confirmatory factor analysis found that the five-factor sejahtera living model was consistent with the data; the statistics satisfied the requirements deemed necessary for a good fit measure. The results also supported the prevalence of the model’s configural invariance and metric invariance. Thus, the study offers additional understanding about the adequacy of a measure of good life based on maqasid shariah

Prevalence and underlying structure of students’ Sejahtera Living vis-à-vis Maqāṣid al-Sharī’ah

This study explored the prevalence of sejahtera living—an idea rooted in the belief that Islam is a way of life—among students at an Islamic university in Malaysia, and tested the extent to which the students’ responses to the questionnaire items on the concept constituted meaningful and interpretable facets of sejahtera living. A total of 596 students voluntarily participated in the study, with the sample being split into two random halves. The first subsample (n1 = 298) was used to identify the underlying facets of sejahtera living, while the other half (n1 = 298) served as the sample for a cross-validation procedure. The respondents filled out an online questionnaire containing 50 items that measured the prevalence of sejahtera living. Descriptive statistics and exploratory factor analysis were used to address the two research objectives. Results showed that students’ reports of experiencing sejahtera living varied across items. The exploratory factor analyses, with principal axis factoring and the Promax rotation procedure, extracted five strong and reliable factors that explain the inter-correlations among items. The five-factor solution was supported by the results of a parallel analysis. As expected, the underlying facets of sejahtera living were factors associated with the preservations of faith (alDin), life (al-Nafs), intellect (al-Aql’), property (al-Mal) and progeny (al Nasl). The findings contribute to our current limited understanding about Muslim students’ sejahtera living, which would lead up to policy formulation and intervention

Gaharu (agarwood) distillate-incorporated roselle health drink

In this work, a nutraceutical product based on Gaharu distillate was developed. Gaharu (Agarwood) is a scented resin produced by trees of the Aquilaria species upon infection by fungus. While various components and parts of Gaharu tree have traditionally been reported to have medicinal values, it is the resin that is most sought after. Meanwhile, less have been focused on the distillates, a waste by-product of Gaharu oil distillation process. In this study, Gaharu distillate was found to have acidic pH of 3.60 and safe for consumption as it is devoid of steroids, has total suspended solid of less than 25 mg/L and an LC50 of 398000 ppm based on Brine Shrimp Lethality Assay. Gaharu distillate was also found to have antioxidant and antimicrobial properties as well as being selective towards killing cancer cells. To increase market acceptability, formulation of Gaharu distillate incorporated Roselle health drink was developed and optimized. By discovering, developing and commercializing new use of Gaharu distillates(coupled with scientific evidences on safety and potential health benefits), we can ensure the sustainability of Gaharu industry as well as provide new means of income-generating activities

Precise measurement of the W-boson mass with the CDF II detector

We have measured the W-boson mass MW using data corresponding to 2.2/fb of integrated luminosity collected in proton-antiproton collisions at 1.96 TeV with the CDF II detector at the Fermilab Tevatron collider. Samples consisting of 470126 W->enu candidates and 624708 W->munu candidates yield the measurement MW = 80387 +- 12 (stat) +- 15 (syst) = 80387 +- 19 MeV. This is the most precise measurement of the W-boson mass to date and significantly exceeds the precision of all previous measurements combined

Global variation in anastomosis and end colostomy formation following left-sided colorectal resection

Background End colostomy rates following colorectal resection vary across institutions in high-income settings, being influenced by patient, disease, surgeon and system factors. This study aimed to assess global variation in end colostomy rates after left-sided colorectal resection. Methods This study comprised an analysis of GlobalSurg-1 and -2 international, prospective, observational cohort studies (2014, 2016), including consecutive adult patients undergoing elective or emergency left-sided colorectal resection within discrete 2-week windows. Countries were grouped into high-, middle- and low-income tertiles according to the United Nations Human Development Index (HDI). Factors associated with colostomy formation versus primary anastomosis were explored using a multilevel, multivariable logistic regression model. Results In total, 1635 patients from 242 hospitals in 57 countries undergoing left-sided colorectal resection were included: 113 (6·9 per cent) from low-HDI, 254 (15·5 per cent) from middle-HDI and 1268 (77·6 per cent) from high-HDI countries. There was a higher proportion of patients with perforated disease (57·5, 40·9 and 35·4 per cent; P < 0·001) and subsequent use of end colostomy (52·2, 24·8 and 18·9 per cent; P < 0·001) in low- compared with middle- and high-HDI settings. The association with colostomy use in low-HDI settings persisted (odds ratio (OR) 3·20, 95 per cent c.i. 1·35 to 7·57; P = 0·008) after risk adjustment for malignant disease (OR 2·34, 1·65 to 3·32; P < 0·001), emergency surgery (OR 4·08, 2·73 to 6·10; P < 0·001), time to operation at least 48 h (OR 1·99, 1·28 to 3·09; P = 0·002) and disease perforation (OR 4·00, 2·81 to 5·69; P < 0·001). Conclusion Global differences existed in the proportion of patients receiving end stomas after left-sided colorectal resection based on income, which went beyond case mix alone

Anticancer activity of agarwood distillates on lung cancer cells

Agarwood or gaharu is the fragrant, resinous heartwood that results when some trees, such as Aquilaria malaccensis, are attacked by fungi. Aside from its value as perfume oil, many medicinal claims have been associated with the agarwood itself. This highly-prized heartwood contains a wide array of chemical compounds that fall under various classes of healthy phytochemicals such as terpenoids, alkaloids, and flavonoids. Previous studies have shown promising results when agarwood essential oils were studied for anticancer effects. However, very little information can be found on agarwood distillates, the clear by-products of the agarwood distillation process that possess a characteristic smell, including their therapeutic effects. This paper presents some of the findings in a study of the anticancer activity of agarwood distillates on human lung cancer cells. Two-factor, Face-centred Central Composite Design was used to study the effects of agarwood distillate concentration and time of exposure on attachment (via Trypan blue dye exclusion assay) and cytotoxicity (via MTT assay) of Calu-3 cells cultured in EMEM supplemented with 10% (v/v) FBS. Carried out at three exposure durations (12, 24, and 36 hours), the IC50 values were found to be at concentrations of approximately 20, 80 µL/mL and 150 µL/mL agarwood distillate, respectively, for the Trypan blue dye. The MTT assay yielded IC50 values of approximately 20, 250 µL/mL and 35 µL/mL agarwood distillate, respectively. These results suggest that agarwood distillates possess anti-attachment and cytotoxic effects on Calu-3 lung cancer cells

Chitosan microcarriers in mammalian cell culture

Chitosan is a naturally-occuring biomaterial with many advantages, including being non-toxic, biocompatible and biodegradable. It has a wide range of applications due to its numerous properties, and thus finds uses in wound dressings, biopesticides, tissues engineering, and pharmaceuticals. Chitosan microspheres have been produced via a variety of tehniques that exploit the different properties of chitosan, espeecially its gelling properties, and do so with the intended application in mind. These techniques are often discussed in light of their use as drug carriers. As such, chitosan has not received much attention as a microcarrier substrate for cell culture. This review provides and indight into the various reported techniques of production of chitosan microspeheres for use in mammalian cell culture and highlights recent findings of the evaluation of chitosan as a microcarrier substrate

Anticancer potential and chemical profile of agarwood hydrosol

This is the first report discussing the chemical profile of agarwood hydrosol and its potential anticancer effects. Agarwood hydrosols, from two batches, obtained from Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia, were used in this study. Calu-3 cancer cells were used as a model cell line for lung cancer. The cells were cultured in Eagle’s minimum essential medium (EMEM) supplemented with 10% (v/v) fetal bovine serum (FBS). The study was carried out in two phases, namely the anticancer study via an attachment (AT) assay and cell viability (CV) assay, and then profiling the hydrosol from the two batches via GCMS and hSPME-GCMS. Design Expert software’s two-factor face-centered central composite design (FCCCD) was used to study the effects of agarwood hydrosol amount and time of exposure on cell attachment (AT) and viability (CV). The findings suggest that agarwood hydrosols of Aquilaria malaccensis possess both anti-attachment and cytotoxic effects on Calu-3 lung cancer cells. A linear model was developed for anti-attachment effects and a quadratic model for the cytotoxic effects with exposure duration being significant in both cases. From the profiling data, 1- tricosene and 16-hentriacontanone were identified as potential contributors to the anti-attachment and/or cytotoxic activity observed. In conclusion, agarwood hydrosol holds a potential to be further investigated as a source of anti-cancer compounds