Immunomodulatory effects of 17-O-acetylacuminolide in RAW264.7 cells and HUVECs : involvement of MAPK and NF-κB pathways

The terpenoid 17-O-acetylacuminolide (AA) was shown to inhibit the production of several inflammatory mediators. However, the mechanisms by which this compound elicited its anti-inflammatory activity remain to be elucidated. In this study, we analyzed the effects of AA on inflammatory gene expression in two different cell types with primordial importance in the inflammatory processes-endothelial cells and macrophages. In human umbilical vein endothelial cells, AA inhibited the expression of inflammatory proteins including the adhesion molecules intercellular adhesion molecule 1; vascular cell adhesion molecule 1; and E-selectin, as well as the release of the chemokine interleukin-8. Additionally, AA hindered the formation of capillary-like tubes in an in vitro model of angiogenesis. AA's effects in endothelial cells can be attributed at least in part to AA's inhibition of tumor necrosis factor alpha-induced nuclear factor of kappa light polypeptide gene enhancer in B-cells (NF-kappa B)'s translocation. Also, in lipopolysaccharide-stimulated macrophage-like RAW264.7 cells, AA was able to downregulate the expression of the genes cyclooxygenase 2, inducible nitric oxide synthase, interleukin-6, and chemokine (C-C motif) ligand 2. Moreover, AA inhibited the phosphorylation of nuclear factor of kappa light polypeptide gene enhancer in B-cells inhibitor-alpha (I kappa B alpha), I kappa B kinase (IKK), and the mitogen-activated protein kinases JNK, ERK, and p38. In conclusion, the present results further support the anti-inflammatory potential of AA in different models of inflammation

The determinants of internet financial disclosure: The perspective of Malaysian listed companies

This paper investigates whether Internet Financial Disclosure (IFD) can be explained by the elements of the company’s characteristics and dominant personalities in board committees.Ten variables have been tested using data collected from 194 Malaysian listed companies’ websites, namely, internationality, leverage, foreign shareholders, information technology (IT) experts, firm’s age, number of shareholders, listing status, dominant personalities in the audit committee, chairman of audit and nomination committees, and dominant personalities in the audit and nomination committees.It is found that IT experts, firm’s age, number of shareholders and listing status are significantly affected by the level of IFD. However dominant personalities in the audit and nomination committees are negatively related to the level of IFD in Malaysia.The study provides some evidence to support the signalling theory and the cost and benefit hypothesis in relation to Internet disclosure

The displaced plantation workers: A case study of rubber estates in Kedah

Eviction of plantation workers, due to the development of estate lands and changing land ownerships, has been a big and unresolved issue. Many plantation areas have been sold to make way either for housing projects or industrial sites. When an estate is sold, the estate workers lose not only their jobs, but also their homes and additional sources of income from farming and animal husbandry. They are also entitled to receive termination benefits. The majority of these displaced workers have skills only in the agricultural sector and many of them are old aged. The main objective of this study was to analysis the socioeconomic situations of the displaced workers due to the development of the rubber estate lands in Kedah. The snowball sampling method was used to identify the respondents. The survey was based on 11 estates and 349 ex-workers of these estates were interviewed. The areas of this study were in Sungai Petani and Kulim. The results clearly showed that the majority of the evicted workers migrated to locations that were on average around 3km from their original estates. The majority of them worked with private sector companies upon their evictions. However, many of them are still in their estate houses, waiting for better compensation to be paid in the form of new houses elsewhere. It is suggested in this paper that the compensation should be in terms of home ownership, provided jointly by the government and firms. There have also been some suggestions to solve the issue through programmes provided by the Ministry of Agriculture

Internal Audit Effectiveness: An Approach Proposition to Develop the Theoretical Framework

Until now, there is no consensus among researchers either about the factors influencing internal auditing and how it can be measured, or the best framework for internal audit effectiveness. This could be partly related to lack of sufficient attention to the theories. This paper extends the literature of internal auditing, and its originality; and the argument is that agency theory, institutional theory, and communication theory could serve as an approach to build a theoretical framework of internal audit effectiveness. In addition to that, this study argues that the internal audit effectiveness is impacted directly by internal auditors’ characteristics and internal audit department performance, as well as organization members’ support as a moderating variable on these relationships which could provide insights for future research. Keywords: internal audit effectiveness, agency theory, institutional theory, communication theory, theoretical framework of internal audit effectiveness

Enhanced divide-and-conquer algorithm with 2-block policy

The number of comparisons involved in searching minimum and maximum elements from a set of data will determine the performance of an algorithm. A Divide-and-Conquer algorithm is the most efficient algorithm for searching minimum and maximum elements of a set of data of any size. However, the performance of this algorithm can still be improved by reducing the number of comparisons of certain sets of data. In this paper a 2-block (2B) policy under the divide-and-conquer technique is proposed in order to deal with this problem. On the basis of this policy, the divide-and-conquer algorithm is enhanced. It is shown that the performance of the proposed algorithm performs equally at par when compared with the established algorithm of data size of power of two and better when compared with data size of not a power of two

Axial vibration mode of coupled liquid-structure-gas system in a rigid cylindrical container

This paper describes the axial vibration analysis of a closed ends rigid cylindrical container containing liquid and gas which separated by a thin circular plate at their interface. The liquid depths inside the container were varied and then the mode of vibration and the natural frequencies were analyzed. The natural frequencies obtained experimentally were compared favorably with those of commercial finite element analysis software, ANSYS. The vibration mode of the liquid-structure interaction of the tank system can be visualized from the software post processing animation/plot. The visualized modes are also consistent with the measurement by the respective experimental transducers. It was found that strong coupling predominantly occur between liquid and structure. In weak coupling conditions, the modes are predominantly gas mod

Plasma isoflavones in Malaysian men according to vegetarianism and by age

Epidemiological studies indicate lower prevalences of breast and prostate cancers and cardiovascular disease in Southeast Asia where vegetarianism is popular and diets are traditionally high in phytoestrogens. This study assessed plasma isoflavones in vegetarian and non-vegetarian Malaysian men according to age. Daidzein, genistein, equol (a daidzein metabolite), formononetin, biochanin A, estrone, estradiol and testosterone were measured by validated liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LCMSMS). Plasma isoflavone and sex hormone concentrations were measured in 225 subjects according to age (18-34, 35-44 and 45-67 years old). In all age groups, vegetarians had a higher concentration of circulating isoflavones compared with non-vegetarians especially in the 45-67 year age group where all isoflavones except equol, were significantly higher in vegetarians compared with omnivores. By contrast, the 18-34 year group had a significantly higher concentration of daidzein in vegetarians and significantly higher testosterone and estrone concentrations compared with non-vegetarians. In this age group there were weak correlations between estrone, estradiol and testosterone with some of the isoflavones. This human study provides the first Malaysian data for the phytoestrogen status of vegetarian and nonvegetarian men

Internet Financial and Environmental Disclosures by Malaysian Companies

This paper investigates whether determinants of financial disclosure are similar to environmentaldisclosure through the Internet. In other words, this paper examines the relationshipbetween Internet financial disclosure (IFD), Internet environmental disclosures (IED) and sixvariables, namely, ethnic of chief executive officer (CEO), leverage, level of technology, listingstatus, profitability, and firm size. Six hypotheses formulated in this study were analyzed usingdata collected from the websites of 189 Malaysian listed companies in 2006. The results indicatethat level of technology, ethnic of CEO and firm size are significant factors in explainingboth IFD and IED. It is also observed that listing status is positively related to the level of IFDbut not IED. On the other hand, profitability is significant factor in explaining the level of IEDbut not IFD. Finally, leverage is not significantly related to both IFD and IED. Copyright © www.iiste.or

A survey of microbiological quality of fish sold in two local wet markets

Eight marine fish species were obtained from two nearby wet markets (Sungei Besi and Kajang). The fish were analysed for total viable counts, coliforms, Vibrio parahaemolyticus and histamine-producingbacteria. Total viable count was determined using Plate Count Agar; coliforms using McConkey Broth; Vibrio parahaemolyticus by TCBS a garand histamine-producing bacteria were determined using Niven's media. The total counts on all fish from both markets ranged from 1rf to 1rf per gram offish, coliforms ranged from 1rJ to 1rf pergram, and all thefish examined were positive for both Vibrio parahaemolyticus and histamine-producing bacteria

Radiographic findings in panoramic radiographs of patients attending Kulliyyah of Dentistry, IIUM

This research was done to study the radiographic finding of the jaws amongst the patients attending at the polyclinic using Orthopanthomograph (OPG). The OPG was taken using the Planmeca Promax 3D and the Planmeca Romexis software (Version 2.1.1.R). The first step was collecting all the OPG images from 1st April 2009 until 31st January 2011. Then, the abnormal radiographs were further divided into 3 groups which were radiolucent, radiopaque and mixed. This classification includes site, size, border, and possible diagnosis as part of the lesion`s appearance. One thousand four hundred and five OPG images were retrieved, 96 images were discarded because of poor quality. The data collected were analyzed statistically by using SPSS Version 16.0. Among 77 abnormal radiographic images, 41 images were radiopaque, 30 images were radiolucent and 6 images were mixed. Out of 77 abnormal images, 34 images that showed bone lesion were from male patients while the rest which was 43 images from female. In conclusion, most of the pathological lesion occur in the mandible