Antiplasmodial Activity of Some Medicinal Plants Used in Sudanese Folk-medicine

Ten plants indigenous to Sudan and of common use in Sudanese folk-medicine, were examined in vitro for antimalarial activity against schizonts maturation of Plasmodium falciparum, the major human malaria parasite. All plant samples displayed various antiplasmodial activity. Three plant extracts caused 100% inhibition of the parasite growth at concentrations of plant material ≤ 500 ug/ml. The two most active extracts that produced 100% inhibition of the parasite growth at concentration of plant material ≤ 50 μg/ml were obtained from the seeds of Nigella sativa and the whole plant of Aristolochia bracteolata. The ten plants were phytochemically screened for their active constituents. The two most active plants showed the presence of sterols, alkaloids and tannins

Web-based Dairy Cattle’s Feeding Allocation System

Dairy farming industry plays an important role in agriculture structures adjustment in Malaysia due to the growing demand for livestock and dairy products. In the cattle farm management, cattle feeding are the most important task in dairy farming. However, there exist several problems specifically in determining the quantity and proportion of feeding concentrates to sustain the cattle needs. Therefore, decision making system is required to assist the farmers. Thus, this paper proposed the dairy cattle’s feeding allocation system to determine the sufficient amount of dietary nutrients and feeding concentrates in cattle feeding. The prototype of this system is constructed using software prototyping methodology as well as structured method for data modeling. The prototype is expected to decrease workload and reduce redundancy for making decisions in cattle feeding. It is not only support dairy farmers to make a right decision for allocating feeding concentrates in cattle feeding but potentially become one of information centre and learning resources to help farmers to develop their own expertise

Prevalence, extent and severity of the psychosocial impact of dental aesthetics among Malaysian adolescents

This study aimed to assess the prevalence, extent and severity of the psychosocial impact of dental aesthetics (PIDA) among Malaysian adolescents especially those with self-perceived malocclusion, and to determine if age and gender affected their PIDA. A cross-sectional study using a self-administered questionnaire was conducted on 12-17 year old schoolchildren from schools across Malaysia selected via a multi-stage sampling method. The questionnaire included the Malaysian Psychosocial Impact of Dental Aesthetics (Malaysian PIDA) questionnaire and the Aesthetic Component of the Index of Orthodontic Treatment Need (IOTN-AC). The Malaysian PIDA measured four domains: (Dental Self Confidence, 6 items; Social Impact, 8 items; Psychological Impact, 6 items; and Aesthetic Concern, 2 items) to assess impacts on the oral health-related quality of life specific to malocclusion. While the IOTN-AC comprised a 10-point photographic scale to assess self-perceived malocclusion. Data analysis using SPSS version 20 was involved using complete data on 901 participants. The prevalence of PIDA was 90.0% while prevalence associated with self-perceived malocclusion was 96.0%. Impact of dental aesthetics was highest on the psychological wellbeing of the adolescents, followed by their self-confidence. In terms of the extent of impact, 14.0% reported significant impact on all four domains and 19.2% were associated with self-perceived malocclusion. The prevalence of impacts was higher in younger adolescents and females. In terms of the extent and severity of impacts, younger adolescents reported higher impacts but with small effect sizes, while differences between boys and girls were not significant

Online Theme Landscaping Decision Support System

The landscape theme has become an important feature for home exterior design. However, selecting a landscape theme based on client preference is difficult due to multiple criteria and budget constraint during the selection process. This paper proposed online decision support systems for selecting landscape theme design that can be use by exterior designer consultant in assisting home owner to make decision within their own budget range. This prototype is constructed using a decision tree as an analysis tool. This online application was developed using PHP as programming language and mySQL as the database platform. This system may not provide the best theme but it will assist the home owner in deciding which one of the design concepts is most suitable according to their needs and preferences

Modified Bianchi pyloromyotomy versus laparoscopic pyloromyotomy for patients with infantile hypertrophic pyloric stenosis: Intraoperative considerations and parents’ satisfaction

Introduction Infantile hypertrophic pyloric stenosis is a common cause of persistent nonbilious vomiting during infancy. Ramstedt pyloromyotomy through right upper quadrant transverse incision is the conventional treatment. The laparoscopic and Tan-Bianchi approaches were introduced to improve the cosmesis and decrease postoperative morbidity. In this study, we compared between laparoscopic and modified Bianchi approaches regarding intraoperative technical considerations and postoperative outcomes.Patients and methods The study included 40 patients with infantile hypertrophic pyloric stenosis. Overall, 20 patients underwent laparoscopic pyloromyotomy (LP) and the other 20 patients underwent modified Bianchi pyloromyotomy (MBP). Patients’ characteristics, including age, sex, gestational age, and associated  comorbidities, were documented. Intraoperative details and complications and postoperative outcomes were recorded.Results The operative time and intraoperative complications including mucosal perforation and bleeding did not significantly differ between both the groups. From the laparoscopic group, one (5%) case was complicated by mucosal perforation and converted to open and another case (5%) developed hypercapnia. There was no statistically significant difference between the two groups regarding time till full feed (P=0.648) and postoperative hospital stay (P=0.082). In addition, there was no statistically significant difference between the two groups regarding postoperative complications, with one (5%) case from the laparoscopic group underwent incomplete myotomy and required redo-operation and another case (5%) developed wound infection. MBP had a significantly more parent satisfaction regarding cosmesis than LP (P=0.016).Conclusion MBP is comparable to LP regarding intraoperative complications and postoperative outcomes; however, the modified Bianchi approach offered more parent satisfaction than laparoscopic approach.  Keywords: laparoscopic, modified Bianchi, pyloric stenosis, pyloromyotom

The Effectiveness Of Visual Research In Enhancing The Cultural Knowledge And Practices In Creative Industry

This paper aims to explain the effectiveness of visual research to investigate cultural objects as the way to enhance cultural knowledge and practices in the creative industry. Based on the experiential study that was participated by the researcher, has discovered the factors that influenced the effectiveness in visual research based on the three different case studies which particularly on the cultural heritage of Parang Bajau at Kg. Siasai, Kota Belud, Ring Ladies of Embhan Community at Padawan, Sarawak, and Megalith Cultures of Kelabit Highlands at Bario, Miri. Through the comparisons based on the three case studies has identified three factors of visual research which is internal, external and the context of the research subject. These factors will contribute for better documentation, especially in visual, particularly for practicing researcher in the cultural studies, enhancing the information of cultural knowledge, developing the creative economy through the representation of visual cultures and most significant for the society purposes that own the culture

Serum magnesium and calcium levels in relation to ischemic stroke : Mendelian randomization study

ObjectiveTo determine whether serum magnesium and calcium concentrations are causally associated with ischemic stroke or any of its subtypes using the mendelian randomization approach.MethodsAnalyses were conducted using summary statistics data for 13 single-nucleotide polymorphisms robustly associated with serum magnesium (n = 6) or serum calcium (n = 7) concentrations. The corresponding data for ischemic stroke were obtained from the MEGASTROKE consortium (34,217 cases and 404,630 noncases).ResultsIn standard mendelian randomization analysis, the odds ratios for each 0.1 mmol/L (about 1 SD) increase in genetically predicted serum magnesium concentrations were 0.78 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.69-0.89; p = 1.3 7 10-4) for all ischemic stroke, 0.63 (95% CI 0.50-0.80; p = 1.6 7 10-4) for cardioembolic stroke, and 0.60 (95% CI 0.44-0.82; p = 0.001) for large artery stroke; there was no association with small vessel stroke (odds ratio 0.90, 95% CI 0.67-1.20; p = 0.46). Only the association with cardioembolic stroke was robust in sensitivity analyses. There was no association of genetically predicted serum calcium concentrations with all ischemic stroke (per 0.5 mg/dL [about 1 SD] increase in serum calcium: odds ratio 1.03, 95% CI 0.88-1.21) or with any subtype.ConclusionsThis study found that genetically higher serum magnesium concentrations are associated with a reduced risk of cardioembolic stroke but found no significant association of genetically higher serum calcium concentrations with any ischemic stroke subtype

Anemia prevalence in women of reproductive age in low- and middle-income countries between 2000 and 2018

Anemia is a globally widespread condition in women and is associated with reduced economic productivity and increased mortality worldwide. Here we map annual 2000–2018 geospatial estimates of anemia prevalence in women of reproductive age (15–49 years) across 82 low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), stratify anemia by severity and aggregate results to policy-relevant administrative and national levels. Additionally, we provide subnational disparity analyses to provide a comprehensive overview of anemia prevalence inequalities within these countries and predict progress toward the World Health Organization’s Global Nutrition Target (WHO GNT) to reduce anemia by half by 2030. Our results demonstrate widespread moderate improvements in overall anemia prevalence but identify only three LMICs with a high probability of achieving the WHO GNT by 2030 at a national scale, and no LMIC is expected to achieve the target in all their subnational administrative units. Our maps show where large within-country disparities occur, as well as areas likely to fall short of the WHO GNT, offering precision public health tools so that adequate resource allocation and subsequent interventions can be targeted to the most vulnerable populations.Peer reviewe

Search for leptophobic Z ' bosons decaying into four-lepton final states in proton-proton collisions at root s=8 TeV

Peer reviewe