Ibogaine (iboga tabernanthe) as a potential anti-addictive treatment in the pipeline : a short communication

Opioid addiction is still an emerging problem worlwide. In this South East Asia region, particularly Malaysia, opioid is identified as the main substance of dependency. Due to its nestled relationship between Intravascular opiod usage and the seroprevalence of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) in the population, the Malaysian government has adopted methadone maintenance therapy (MMT) as one of the harm reduction approaches in curbing the problem. Despite evidents of succes, methadone therapy has shown variabilities in terms of results and clinical outcomes which is very much dose and adherence dependence. This has no doubt suggesting for further research and development of anti-addiction treatment. Ibogaine on the other hand is far left behind from the streamline treatment of substance addiction though studies keep on showing auspicious results on the clinical use. Ibogaine or the name Iboga tabernanthe is one of the African shrubs which is used in ritual of African Bwiti Community. Due to its pharmacological properties, it is classified as psychedelic and has been used in various countries (Canada, New Zealand, Australia and Africa) to treat drug addiction. Pharmacologically, Ibogaine was found to exert its effects at various neurological systems including dopaminergic, glutamatergic, serotonergic, nicotinic and colinergic pathway as well as receptors including opioid, sigma and neurotransmitters such as gamma amino butyric acid (GABA). The mechanism of action is through its active metabolites of noribogaine which may act as addiction interrupter. With long half life, it will sustain in the blood concentration and prolong the pharmacological effects. In the case of opioid addiction, ibogaine exhibits the ability to reduce extracellular level of dopamine in the nucleus accumbens and further, its effects on dopaminergic function are largely regulated by its interaction with serotonin receptors. Physical side effects include QT prolongation, ataxia, dystonia, nausea, vomiting and light sensitivity. Various clinical and animal studies have been conducted worlwide with promising results. This paper will review the feasible evidence of clinical application. Keywords : Ibogaine, anti addictive, addiction interrupter

Pembinaan harga diri pelajar melalui program PINTAR di sekolah kebangsaan: Adakah kita berjaya?

Pembinaan harga diri, nilai kekeluargaan dan kemahiran sosial merupakan aspek yang perlu dibentuk dan diterapkan kepada pelajar terutamanya semasa di sekolah rendah. Ianya merupakan agenda utama untuk membentuk harga diri bagi menghindar konflik penagihan dadah dan penyalahangunaan bahan terlarang. Program Intelek Asuhan Rohani(PINTAR) merupakan salah satu usaha Kementerian Pelajaran Malaysia membina harga dan ketahanan diri pelajar, melalui proses transformasi kemahiran, nilai dan sikap terhadap pelajar. Kajian keberkesanan program PINTAR dilakukan dengan menganalisis kandungan terhadap program pendidikan dari segi perlaksanaan, keberkesanannya dun statistik berkaitan dengannya.Penilaian dilakukan terhadap pembinaan harga din, pengaruh sekolah, ibubapa dan rakan sebaya terhadap pelajar. Kajian berbentuk eksperimen ini dijalankan ke atas kanak-kanak yang mendapat program tersebut sepenuhnya, menerima separuh program dan kanak-kanak yang tidak menerima program sebagai kumpulan kawalan. Hasil kajian mendapati terdapat perbezaan yang signifikan aspek-aspek yang dinilai berdasarkan fasa penilaian antara kumpulan tersebut. Keberkesanan program yang dilaksanakan amat bergantung kepada kekerapan penyelarasan dan pemantauan dari agensi yang terlibat secara langsung, latihan guru,kesedaran pentadbir sekolah, pengiktirafan kemahiran dan kepakaran guru terlibat, dan pencegahan menjurus kepada kumpulan yang tepat sesuai dengan objektif pendidikan pencegahan dadah

Traffic light control design approaches: a systematic literature review

To assess different approaches to traffic light control design, a systematic literature review was conducted, covering publications from 2006 to 2020. The review’s aim was to gather and examine all studies that looked at road traffic and congestion issues. As well, it aims to extract and analyze protruding techniques from selected research articles in order to provide researchers and practitioners with recommendations and solutions. The research approach has placed a strong emphasis on planning, performing the analysis, and reporting the results. According to the results of the study, there has yet to be developed a specific design that senses road traffic and provides intelligent solutions. Dynamic time intervals, learning capability, emergency priority management, and intelligent functionality are all missing from the conventional design approach. While learning skills in the adaptive self-organization strategy were missed. Nonetheless, the vast majority of intelligent design approach papers lacked intelligent fear tires and learning abilities

Examining religiosity and its relationship to self-control, procrastination and academic achievement

This paper examines the relationship between religiosity level and general self-regulation as well as academic self-regulation. A study was carried out on 23 male and 122 female undergraduate students to examine the relationship between Islamic religiosity level and self-control, procrastination, academic control and academic achievement. Results indicate that religiosity is significantly correlated to all the above factors except for academic achievement. The authors examine the concept of volition or 'will-power' from the Islamic perspective and compare it with the Western perspective. They further propose an lslamic musabarah scale to measure an individual's level of volition according to the Islamic perspective

Characterization of Protein Complexes and Subcomplexes in Protein-Protein Interaction Databases

The identification and characterization of protein complexes implicated in protein-protein interaction data are crucial to the understanding of the molecular events under normal and abnormal physiological conditions. This paper provides a novel characterization of subcomplexes in protein interaction databases, stressing definition and representation issues, quantification, biological validation, network metrics, motifs, modularity, and gene ontology (GO) terms. The paper introduces the concept of “nested group” as a way to represent subcomplexes and estimates that around 15% of those nested group with the higher Jaccard index may be a result of data artifacts in protein interaction databases, while a number of them can be found in biologically important modular structures or dynamic structures. We also found that network centralities, enrichment in essential proteins, GO terms related to regulation, imperfect 5-clique motifs, and higher GO homogeneity can be used to identify proteins in nested complexes

Differences in self-esteem and personality profile of recovering drug addicts, residents of a TC drug rehabilitation program and government drug treatment program

The purpose of this paper is to compare the self-esteem and personality profile of recovering drug addicts and residents who are still in treatment. Two types of treatment facilities are involved, that is the Serenti government drug rehabilitation center and Pengasih House, an NG0 that employed therapeutic community (TC) approach to rehabilitate persons addicted to drugs. Data were collected from the recovering drug addicts of the house and residents from government treatment programs. Respondents were required to answer a battery of test consisting of the Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory, the 16PF and questions related to demo graphical and personal information. This study found that the level of self esteem among the recovering drug addicts who have been drug free for more than 2 years differ significantly than those who are still in the program. However, there is no significant difference in the personality factors between the two groups. This support the hypothesis that the personality of drug addicts remain fairly stable over time and that it is one of the factor that promote relapse among recovering drug users even after a long period of abstinence

Psikologi perkembangan kanak-kanak: Satu perihalan asas

Psikologi perkembangan manusia khususnya pada zaman bayi dan kanak-kanak merupakan satu subjek yang amat kompleks dan menyeluruh. Pada amnya,sub-bidang psikologi perkembangan emosi, tingkah laku, moral, kognitif, fizikal, personaliti, perhubungan sosial serta segala bentuk permasalahan yang berkaitan dengannya.Kajian mengenai perkembangan manusia ini bermula dengan peringkat perkembangan janin, zaman bayi, kanak-kanak, remaja, dewasa muda, dewasa lanjutan dan seterusnya ke zaman tua. Dalam bahagian ini, perbincangan akan ditumpukan kepada perkembangan tahap bayi dan kanak-kanak sahaja. Apakah yang dimaksudkan dengan "perkembangan"? Secara amnya, perkembangan adalah pembesaran dan pembangunan organisma. Secara khususnya pula, iaitu dari fahaman psikologikal, perkembangan ialah perubahan dengan masa, yakni perubahan dari segi umur (kronologi) dan perubahan dari segi evolusi(ontogenik). Perkembangan dari segi umur adalah jelas. Bayi membesar secara kuantitatif apabila umurnya meningkat. Bagi perkembangan ontogenik pula ia membawa maksud perubahan evolusi dari segi sahsiah, kognitif, moral fizikal, sosial dan lain-lain aspek lagi.Perkembangan ini ialah dari sudut kuantitatif dan kualitatif

Usahawan melayu dan bukan melayu adakah sifat mereka berbeza?

Usaha pihak kerajaan untuk menambah bilangan usahawan di negara ini berhadapan dengan pelbagai cabaran kejayaan. Proses pemilihan usahawan kepada sesuatu program pembangunan usahawan oleh pelbagai agensi dikenalpasti sebagai satu batasan yang perlu diteliti dengan lebih mendalam lagi memandangkan kadar atau bilangan usahawan yang berjaya bertahan dalam bidang ini adalah tidak banyak. lantas itu kajian ini bertujuan untuk mengenalpasti ciri sahsiah usahawan agar ia boleh digunakan untuk tujuan pemilihan dan penapisan. Ujian 16 Personality Factors (16PF) digunakan untuk tujuan penelitian ke atas 106 usahawan yang mengendalikan perniagaan berskala kecil di sekitar negeri-negeri Kedah, Pulau Pinang dan Perlis. Kajian mendapati bahawa profail usahawan yang diteliti condong ke arah mudah bersosial, cerdas, tekun, spontan, suka mencuba sesuatu yang baru dan yakin akan kebolehan diri sendiri

Policy and tolerance towards substance use and abuse in Malaysian organizations

Since 1983, the Malaysian government has treated its drug problem as a security issue. From the legal aspect, it has four Acts that deal with issues on drug possession, use, abuse, manufacturing, trafficking, and distribution of illegal substances. Individuals who traffic drugs would be served a death sentence and those who use drugs would be subjected to mandatory treatment and rehabilitation in governmental rehabilitation centers. With the current legal scenario, the likely assumption is that there is acceptable organizational tolerance towards drug use and abuse at the workplace. Therefore, the objective of this study is to explore the types of tolerances that organizations have towards different types of drug use at the workplace. In addition, the study also identified guidelines and provisions that organizations have towards its employees who use drugs and their wouldingness to submit their employees to either a mandatory or private drug treatment or rehabilitation. These were then compared with different categories of employees, and special focus given to employees categorized as white collar, valued, high performing, and productive. Moreover, this article also discussed possible biases HR practices in this context, that aim to retain valued employees for the purpose of maintaining organizational competitiveness and dismiss those who are not considered as contributing to the achievement of organizational objectives