A prevalence of elevated ARR in rural Selangor

Abstract The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of elevated Aldosterone Renin Ratio (ARR) in Rural Selangor. Methods This was a cross sectional study involving subjects in Kuala Selangor and Tanjung Karang. The World Health Survey Kish tables were used to select eligible subjects (≥18 years old) from each household. Their social demography, past medical history, anthropometric measurement and blood pressure were recorded. Blood were withdrawn for Aldosterone (ALD), Plasma Renin Activity (PRA), Creatinine (creat) and potassium (K). Raised ARR is defined as aldosterone/renin ratio of more than 20. Results A total of 392 subjects (age 55 +/- 14.1) were enrolled. Fourty three (11%) subjects showed an ARR > 20. Out of those with raised ARR, 16 (38%) were hypertensive, 2 of which were not taking any anti-hypertensive drugs and 27 subjects (62.8%) were normotensive. Only 2 (4.7%) of them were hypokalemic, one of them being hypertensive. Conclusion The prevalence of raised ARR in Rural Selangor was 11%, and only 4.7% of them were hypokalemic

Innovative development of a flying robot with a flexible manipulator for aerial manipulations

This paper presents an innovative development of a flying robot or an aerial robot, with a flexible manipulator, called the Dexterous Aerial Robotic System (DFTS), for aerial manipulations, especially for inspections and reparations of various structures such as wind turbines, power lines and open gas pipelines, decorations and painting of high industrial chimneys and walls of high buildings, as well as transport and delivery of courier shipments, relocation and manipulation of assemblies and units in inaccessible or dangerous environments. The proposed DFTS consists of two independent but interconnected systems or functional units, which have two main separate functions respectively, including a basic carrying function, and a precise positioning and stabilization function. The system with a basic carrying function is actually the main flying system, the un-manned aerial vehicle (UAV); it is remotely controlled and piloted. Meanwhile, the aerial manipulation platform, called the vertical take-off and landing platform VTOL, which is an active flying platform with 6 degrees of freedom (DOF) is used for positioning and stabilization; and it is attached to the UAV via the soft link. With the use of a long soft link, the problems which are caused by the air turbulent flows generated by the UAV are minimized, and the aerial manipulations of objects are safely controlled and operated. The VTOL which is equipped with a grasping mechanism was successfully developed, prototyped and tested. The experimental results showed that, the developed VTOL can self-stabilize with the inclination angle of being up to 8 degrees

Development of a smart system for early detection of forest fires based on unmanned aerial vehicles

The naturally occurring wildfires and the people-related forest fires are events, which in many cases have significant impact on the environment, the wildlife and the human population. The most devastating among these events usually start in unpopulated remote areas, which are difficult to inspect or are not constantly being monitored or observed. This gives the local small-sized fires enough time to evolve into full-scale wide-area disasters, which in turn makes their suppression and extinguishing very difficult. In this paper, we present an autonomous system for early detection of forest fires, named THEASIS-M. The presented system represents a solution that is based on a combination of innovative technologies, including computer vision algorithms, artificial intelligence and unmanned aerial vehicles. In the first part of the study, we provide an overview on the present applications of the UAVs in the forestry domain. The paper then introduces the general architecture of the THEASIS-M system and its components. The system itself is fully autonomous and is based on several different types of UAVs, including a fixed-wing drone, which provides the overall forest monitoring capabilities of the proposed solution, and a rotary-wing UAV that is used for confirmation and monitoring of the detected fire event. The widely used technologies for computer vision and image processing, which are used for the detection of fire and smoke in the real-time video streams sent from the UAVs to the ground control station, are highlighted in the next section of this study. Finally, the experimental tests and demonstrations of the proposed THEASIS-M system are presented and briefly discussed

Prevalence of thyroid disorders and thyroid autoantibodies among coastal communities of Malaysia (part of nationwide study of thyroid disorders in Malaysia)

Objectives To determine the prevalence of thyroid disorders and thyroid autoantibodies in the coastal communities of Malaysia. This study is part of a nationwide study looking into the prevalence of thyroid disorders. Methods A cross sectional study was performed in two coastal districts of rural Selangor. A village from each district was chosen where a participant from each household from the village was selected using KISH tables. Sociodemographic data, medical history, anthropometric measurement and thyroid examination were performed. The presence of goiter was recorded according to the World Health Organization (WHO) goiter grading system. Blood withdrawn was tested for thyroid function and thyroid autoantibodies. Thyroid antibodies analyses were done using Immulite 2000 system. Lowest detectable limit for anti-thyroperoxidase (antiTPO) and antithyroglobulin (antiTG) are 10 IU/mL and 20 IU/mL respectively. Low, moderate and high titre is defined 40 - 100 IU/mL, 101-1000 IU/mL and >1000 IU/mL respectively. Results A total of 418 subjects were recruited with a mean age of 54.1 ± 14.2 years. Majority were Malays (86.8%), followed by Indians (11.7%) and Chinese (1.4%). Among respondents, 2.9% had Grade 1 and 8.9% had Grade 2 goitre. A mere 3.4% had clinically palpable thyroid nodules. A total of 411 blood samples were available for thyroid level assessment, with 1.9% of respondents were found to have hypothyroidism while 85.6% had TSH in the range of 0.32-2.5 mIU/L. The prevalence of overt and subclinical hypothyroidism was 0.2% and 1.7% AFES 2015 10 – 13 December 2015 respectively. On the otherhand, 3.4% of respondents were hyperthyroid (TSH < 0.32 mIU/L) with prevalence of overt and subclinical hyperthyroidism being 0.5% and 2.9% respectively. Among 417 samples which were available for antiTPO analysis, 8.9% has detectable antiTPO titre (>40.0 IU/mL), with 4.3% had moderate and 2.4% had high antiTPO titres. One respondent (10%) from among those with high antiTPO titres was found to have T3 thyrotoxicosis. Fourty percent of euthyroid respondents with high titre and 38.9% with moderate titre had high normal TSH, in the range of 2.51 – 5.00 mIU/L (p<0.001). Among 417 samples which are available for antiTG analysis, 3.4% and 5.3% had low detectable and moderate antiTG titres respectively. Only 0.5% (2 respondents) had high antiTG titre (>1000 IU/mL) and found to be hypothyroid. Among those with moderately positive titre, 9.1% were hyperthyroid and majority (63.6%), although euthyroid, had TSH levels between 0.32 – 2.50 mIU/L (p<0.001). Conclusion The low prevalence of thyroid antibodies and thyroid disorders in coastal communities could be attributed to the iodine sufficient status in those areas. Euthyroid respondents with moderate and high antiTPO titres tend to have higher TSH levels, while those with moderate and high antiTG titres had lower TSH levels

Prevalence, awareness and control of hypertension in rural areas in Selangor and Perak

Abstract The aim of this study was to describe the prevalence, awareness and control of hypertension in the rural population of Perak and Selangor. Methods This was a population based cross-sectional study involving subjects in Kuala Selangor, Tanjung Karang and Bidor. The World Health Survey Kish tables were used to select eligible subject (≥18 years old) from each selected household. A Case Report Form (CRF) was used to record their social demography, past medical history, anthropometry measurement and blood pressure (BP). Hypertension was defined as a blood pressure > 140/90 mmHg. Hypertension controlled was defined as a blood pressure of < 140/90 mmHg. Results A total of 761 people participated in this study. Of which 287 (37.8%) were males and 473 (62.2%) were females. Out of this, 271 (35.6%) were hypertensive. The study showed 36 (4.7%) subjects were not aware that they have hypertension. Only 76% of hypertensive subjects were on HPT medication. One hundred and five (51%) subjects were on monotherapy, 66 (32%) were on dual therapy, 27 (13.1%) on triple therapy, 8 (3.9%) were on more than 3 medications. 73 (26.9%) of the hypertensive subjects were not on any HPT medications having a SBP of 133.9 +/- 17 and DBP of 86.2 +/- 49.3

Effects of pre-operative isolation on postoperative pulmonary complications after elective surgery: an international prospective cohort study

We aimed to determine the impact of pre-operative isolation on postoperative pulmonary complications after elective surgery during the global SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. We performed an international prospective cohort study including patients undergoing elective surgery in October 2020. Isolation was defined as the period before surgery during which patients did not leave their house or receive visitors from outside their household. The primary outcome was postoperative pulmonary complications, adjusted in multivariable models for measured confounders. Pre-defined sub-group analyses were performed for the primary outcome. A total of 96,454 patients from 114 countries were included and overall, 26,948 (27.9%) patients isolated before surgery. Postoperative pulmonary complications were recorded in 1947 (2.0%) patients of which 227 (11.7%) were associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection. Patients who isolated pre-operatively were older, had more respiratory comorbidities and were more commonly from areas of high SARS-CoV-2 incidence and high-income countries. Although the overall rates of postoperative pulmonary complications were similar in those that isolated and those that did not (2.1% vs 2.0%, respectively), isolation was associated with higher rates of postoperative pulmonary complications after adjustment (adjusted OR 1.20, 95%CI 1.05-1.36, p = 0.005). Sensitivity analyses revealed no further differences when patients were categorised by: pre-operative testing; use of COVID-19-free pathways; or community SARS-CoV-2 prevalence. The rate of postoperative pulmonary complications increased with periods of isolation longer than 3 days, with an OR (95%CI) at 4-7 days or ≥ 8 days of 1.25 (1.04-1.48), p = 0.015 and 1.31 (1.11-1.55), p = 0.001, respectively. Isolation before elective surgery might be associated with a small but clinically important increased risk of postoperative pulmonary complications. Longer periods of isolation showed no reduction in the risk of postoperative pulmonary complications. These findings have significant implications for global provision of elective surgical care

Variations in fatty acids composition of pikeperch (Sander lucioperca) liver with respect to gonad maturation

We examined seasonal variations in liver condition factor, total lipid and fatty acid composition of maturing pikeperch (Sander lucioperca) from Lake Egirdir, Turkey. The spawning of pikeperch in Egirdir Lake started in March, continued very fast during May and gradually ended in July as determined by measuring the gonadosomatic index. The total lipid content of male and female liver reached its highest level in September and November (the end of dense feeding period during which temperature decreased sharply), but declined to the lowest level in May Oust after spawning). The highest level of liver condition factor was observed in January and March during which gonads mature rapidly. Palmitic acid was the predominant saturated fatty acid (SFA) in female and male liver. The ratio of monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) was higher than that of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) in both sexes. Docosahexaenoic acid (22:6n-3), eicosopentaenoic acid (20:5n-3) and arachidonic acid (20:4n-6) were the predominant PUFA. Seasonal variations in PUFA were more evident than that in other fatty acids. PUFA, especially the n-3 fatty acids ratio, increased to the maximum level during the sharp decreases in temperature (in November). However, the amount of PUFA decreased to the lowest level in reproductive period. The results suggest that the ratio of pikeperch liver fatty acids is influenced by gonad maturation and temperature variations and that pikeperch requires a large amount of PUFA and the n-3 fatty acids for the development of gonads