Analysis of the association between cetp taq1B polymorphism (rs708272) and cholesterol lowering effects among statin users with hyperlipidaemia from HUSM : a pilot study

Statin, a cholesterol lowering agent, is widely used for treatment of hyperlipidemia (HPL) nowadays. Generally, statin is effective in reducing cholesterol level. However, there is a marked inter-patient variation with regard to response to statin treatment possibly due to differences in patients’ genetic makeup, their demographic profiles, and other clinical factors. A single nucleotide polymorphism(SNP) in Cholesteryl Ester Transfer Protein (CETP) Taq1B (rs708272) gene was reported as a promising predictive genetic marker for cholesterol lowering effect in many populations Until now, there is no genetic association study among Malaysian population has been explored the influence of the particular SNP on statin’s cholesterol lowering effects. Hence, we aim to study the association of CETP Taq1B (rs708272) variants together with other clinical factors on cholesterol lowering effect of statin among HPL patients from Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia (HUSM), Kelantan. This is a retrospective study which involves 81 HPL patients. The details regarding demographic and clinical characteristics of patients were obtained via interview and patient’s medical record. The genotyping of DNA samples of HPL patients were performed by using Polymerase Chain Reaction-Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). The results indicate that there were no significant association between patients’ demographic profiles as well as clinical factors and their statin cholesterol lowering effects. Interestingly, variant in CETP Taq1B rs708272 has been associated with statin’s cholesterol lowering effects for a certain degree. In homozygousmutant patient with B2B2 (AA) genotype has higher HDL-C level (P<0.05) than other genotypes (1.39±0.33 vs 1.29±0.32 and 1.26±0.29). The LDL-C and TC level were decreased significantly (P<0.01) in heterozygous variant patient with B1B2 (AG) genotype. While TG level was decreased significantly in B1 carrier. This finding warrants further multicenter investigation to confirm the association of the SNP with regards to the statin effectiveness on both LDL-C and HDL-C profile

Bad Religion: How Ex-Mormon Fiction Reinforces Normative Views of American Religion

This project examines recent fiction by ex-Mormon authors and highlights how these novels reinforce an American ideal of “good religion.” These texts reveal the boundaries of American religious freedom by illustrating examples of “bad religion” and providing favorable alternatives. The paper looks at scholarship on 19th century anti-Mormon literature, which provides a foundation for the more modern literature at hand. Through the recent narratives, authors point to an abstract concept of benign, acceptable religion, marking as harmful that which does not share these key characteristics. While these fictional sects appear differently in each work, they comment on similar themes, such as the threat of rigid authority structures and figures, community isolation and insulation, coercive proselytizing and manipulation, and an emphasis on escaping the sect. These themes highlight the existence of a particular brand of American “good religion,” which is antithetical to such groups illustrated in these texts

Gaya pembelajaran dan kesannya terhadap penglibatan pelajar tahun akhir kursus SPP, SPK dan SPT Fakulti Pendidikan dalam persekitaran E-Pembelajaran

Kajian ini dijalankan adalah untuk mengetahui gaya pembelajaran pelajar tahun akhir dan juga untuk mengkaji perkaitan antara gaya pembelajaran dan kesan terhadap penglibatan pelajar dalam persekitaran E-Pembelajaran di UTM. Responden kajian adalah terdiri daripada 69 orang pelajar-pelajar tahun akhir 4SPP, 4SPT dan 4SPK Fakulti Pendidikan, UTM. Gaya pembelajaran yang digunakan didalam kajian ini adalah Gaya Pembelajaran Kolb. Instrumen kajian terdiri daripada 1 set boring soal selidik yang mengandungi 39 item terdiri daripda 4 bahagian. Nilai kebolehpercayaan alpha yang diperoleh adalah 0.832. Data dianalisis secara deskriptif menggunakan perisian Statictical Packages for Sosial Science (SPSS) versi 11.5 dan dipersembahkan dalam bentuk peratusan dan min bagi setiap item didalam borang soal selidik. Penggunaan sistem E-Pembelajaran adalah pada tahap tinggi iaitu lebih daripada 70% responden mengakses E-Pembelajaran antara 2 hingga 5 kali dalam seminggu manakala 11.6% mengakses setiap hari. Hasil kajian mendapati bahawa kebanyakkan pelajar bersetuju sistem E-Pembelajaran memberikan bahan yang berguna yang membantu proses P&P pelajar adalah kandungan isi pembelajaran. Kesemua faktor-faktor dalam kategori ini memberikan nilai min yang tinggi iaitu 3.83. Selain itu, dapatan berikutnya menyatakan kebanyakkan responden cenderung mempunyai gaya pembelajaran jenis Asimilasi. Akhirnya, didapati hubungan yang singnifikan antara gaya pembelajaran dengan penglibatan pelajar didalam E-Pembelajaran (r=0.419). Kesimpulannya, keputusan daripada kajian ini mendapati bahawa perkaitan antara gaya pembelajaran dan kesan terhadap penglibatan pelajar dalam persekitaran E-Pembelajaran adalah pada tahap sederhana

TINJAUAN YURIDIS PEMBATALAN AKTA IKRAR WAKAF AKIBAT SENGKETA TANAH DI DESA CITATAH KABUPATEN BANDUNG BARAT BERDASARKAN UNDANG-UNDANG NOMOR 41 TAHUN 2004 TENTANG WAKAF DI INDONESIA

Akta Ikrar Wakaf merupakan bukti pernyataan kehendak wakif untuk mewakafkan harta benda miliknya, Akta Ikrar Wakaf dinyatakan sah apabila semua syarat dan rukun yang ditentukan telah terpenuhi. Salah satu Rukun tersebut adanya peruntukan harta benda wakaf yang dimiliki oleh wakif ( harta milik sendiri).Praktek Ikrar Wakaf dimasyarakat belum sepenuhnya berjalan tertib dan efisien karena adanya sengketa Tanah yang diwakafkan dan sudah mempunyai Akta Ikrar Wakaf memiliki dua kepemilikan atas tanah yang diwakafkan tersebut. Adapun identifikasi masalah dalam penelitian ini, Bagaimana Undang-Undang mengatur tentang sahnya Ikrar Wakaf, Bagaimana pelaksanaannya didalam Masyarakat, Bagaimana Alternatif solusi terhadap Sengketa Pembatalan Akta Ikrar Wakaf . Metode Pendekatan yang dipergunakan dalam penulisan skripsi ini adalah yuridis normatif sebuah pendekatan yang digunakan untuk menentukan suatu hukum sesuai dengan ketentuan-ketentuan yang telah ada dan hasil penelitiannya disajikan secara deskriptif analitis dengan mengkaji dan meneliti data sekunder berupa sumber-sumber Hukum Wakaf dan bahan-bahan kepustakaan terkait untuk mengetahui dan memahami tentang akibat hukum Pembatalan Akta Ikrar Wakaf. Berdasarkan penelitian yang telah dipaparkan di atas maka penelitian ini dapat disimpulkan Akta Ikrar Wakaf menurut UndangUndang Nomor 41 Tahun 2004 tentang Wakaf Pasal 3 adalah wakaf yang telah diikrarkan tidak dapat dibatalkan. Akta Ikrar Wakaf sebagaimana disebutkan dalam Pasal 21 ayat (2) salah satu syaratnya adanya Data dan Keterangan Harta Benda Wakaf. Praktek pembuatan Akta Ikrar Wakaf dalam masyarakat masih menimbulkan permasalahan dalam kepemilikan tanah yang akan diwakafkan. Kata Kunci : Akta Ikrar Wakaf, Sengketa Tanah, Undang-Undan

Compressibility in the Integer Quantum Hall Effect within Hartree-Fock Approximation

Electron-electron interactions seem to play a surprisingly small role in the description of the integer quantum Hall effect, considering that for just slightly different filling factors the interactions are of utmost importance causing the interaction-mediated fractional quantum Hall effect. However, recent imaging experiments by Cobden et al. and Ilani et al. constitute strong evidence for the importance of electron-electron interactions even in the integer effect. The experiments report on measurements of the conductance and electronic compressibility of mesoscopic MOSFET devices that show disagreement with predictions from the single particle model. By diagonalising a random distribution of Gaussian scatterers and treating the interactions in Hartree-Fock approximation we investigate the role of electron-electron interactions for the integer quantum Hall effect and find good agreement with the experimental results.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, Proceedings of "Transport in Interacting and Disordered Systems (TIDS11)", submitted for publication in phys. stat. sol. (c), including pss style file

Sodium-dependent transport of phosphate in neuronal and related cells

AbstractSodium-dependent phosphate entry into neuronal cells was demonstrated in synaptic plasma membrane vesicles and synaptosomes prepared from rat brains, in PC12 cells and in primary culture of pituitary cells. The extent of the sodium-dependent phosphate transport in the synaptic plasma membrane preparation, at [Na]out=110 mM and [Pi]out=0.1 mM, varied between 0.28 to 1.02 nmol phosphate/mg membrane protein/min. In pituitary cells the value was only about 0.05 nmol Pi/mg protein/min. In PC12 cells the activity increased from 0.0085 to 0.26 nmol Pi/mg protein/min in the transit from undifferentiated to differentiated cells. The dependence of phosphate on sodium concentrations fits a model in which two sodium ions are required to transfer the phosphate into the cells with a K[Na]0.5 of 43 mM. The Km for the phosphate transport in the synaptic plasma membrane preparations was between 0.1 and 0.45 mM. It is concluded that sodium-driven active transport of phosphate is a ubiquitous activity in various types of neuronal cells

Production of xylitol by candida krusei using xylose from oil palm empty fruit bunch (opefb) as a substrate

The most important application of xylitol is its use as an alternative sweetener in foods for diabetic patients. Besides that, xylitol also important are as an anticariogenic agent in tooth paste formulations, as thin coatings on chewing vitamin tablets, in mouth washes, beverages and in bakery products (Rahman et al., 2006). There are few ways to gain this product. One of the ways is by using alkali extraction process. In this process, the main important reagent is Sodium Hydroxide (NaOH-5%) which will be used to gain the desire product (Sun et al., 1999). Besides that, the other method that can be used to get this product is by using acid hydrolysis and as this process is simpler, and this experiment will be done by using this acid hydrolysis method to obtain the product. By using acid hydrolysis process, the EFB will put in contact with the acid and as the reaction occur, xylose will be produced. The product obtained then will be filtrate to separate the solution with the insoluble EFB during the experiment (Rahman et al., 2006). In order to produce xylitol from xylose, fermentation process using suitable microorganism is required. Therefore, xylose will undergo fermentation process by using Candida krusei a type of yeast which can convert xylose to xylitol after certain period time with suitable culture media (Mohamad et al., 2009). There are three parameters that were used in this experiment which are the effect of time of hydrolysis, effect of pH and effect of amount of hydrolysate to the production of xylitol. From the result obtained it was found that the duration time for acid hydrolysis was found to be 150 minutes, the pH was 2 and the value of the hydrolysate was found to be 50 mL. All these parameter value lead to the high production of xylitol