Indoor air quality (IAQ) in educational institutions: a review on risks of poor IAQ, sampling strategies, and building-related health symptoms

Health and academic achievement of students from every level of education are affected by the provision of good Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) since the students spend more than 5 hours of a day in school on average. Hence, this paper discusses on issues related to IAQ studies in maintaining a healthy level in educational institution. The presence of indoor pollutants such as VOCs, CO2, and other hazardous elements were assessed in terms of its effects on students’ well-being and health. This paper also examines commonly reported health problems related to poor IAQ such as sick building syndrome (SBS) and asthma. Every measurements and consideration regarding IAQ provision comes with different techniques and strategies, which were highlighted regarding its relative importance and frequency of use by different researchers. The review suggested substitution of natural-based products for indoor cleaning agents and installation of air ventilation and purification systems for a more acceptable indoor air quality

The IntelliCage system: a review of its utility as a novel behavioral platform for a rodent model of substance use disorder

The use of animal models for substance use disorder (SUD) has made an important contribution in the investigation of the behavioral and molecular mechanisms underlying substance abuse and addiction. Here, we review a novel and comprehensive behavioral platform to characterize addiction-like traits in rodents using a fully automated learning system, the IntelliCage. This system simultaneously captures the basic behavioral navigation, reward preference, and aversion, as well as the multi-dimensional complex behaviors and cognitive functions of group-housed rodents. It can reliably capture and track locomotor and cognitive pattern alterations associated with the development of substance addiction. Thus, the IntelliCage learning system offers a potentially efficient, flexible, and sensitive tool for the high-throughput screening of the rodent SUD model

A mobile phone app for the prevention of type 2 diabetes in Malaysian women with gestational diabetes mellitus: Protocol for a feasibility randomized controlled trial

Background: Over 50% of women with a history of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) will develop type 2 diabetes (T2D) in later life. Asian women experience a disproportionate risk of both GDM and T2D compared to women from other ethnic backgrounds. Lifestyle interventions and behavior change can delay or even prevent the onset of T2D. We have developed a digitalized diabetes prevention intervention for the prevention of T2D in Malaysian women with GDM. Objective: The protocol describes a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to test the feasibility of undertaking a definitive trial of a diabetes prevention intervention, including a smartphone app and group support. Secondary aims are to summarize anthropometric, biomedical, psychological, and lifestyle outcomes overall and by allocation group, and to undertake a process evaluation. Methods: This is a two-arm parallel feasibility RCT. A total of 60 Malaysian women with GDM will be randomized in the antenatal period to receive the intervention or standard care until 12 months post partum. The intervention is a diabetes prevention intervention delivered via a smartphone app developed based on the Information-Motivation-Behavioral Skills model of behavior change and group support using motivational interviewing. The intervention provides women with tailored information and support to encourage weight loss through adapted dietary intake and physical activity. Women in the control arm will receive standard care. The Malaysian Ministry of Health’s Medical Research and Ethics Committee has approved the trial (NMRR-21-1667-60212). Results: Recruitment and enrollment began in February 2022. Future outcomes will be published in peer-reviewed health-related research journals and presented at national, regional, or state professional meetings and conferences. This publication is based on protocol version 2, January 19, 2022. Conclusions: To our knowledge, this will be the first study in Malaysia that aims to determine the feasibility of a digital intervention in T2D prevention among women with GDM. Findings from this feasibility study will inform the design of a full-scale RCT in the future

The role of mesolimbic system and lateral habenular molecular targets (CB₁, GluA₁ and NK₁ receptors) in mitragyna speciosa korth (ketum) addiction in the mitragynine-sensitised swiss albino mice

There is a growing trend to use the leaves of Malaysian folklore medicinal plant Mitragyna speciosa Korth. (or ketum) for recreational high and as a self-medication alternative to traditional opiates, hence subjecting it to addictive liabilities. Mitragynine (ketum major alkaloid) is an atypical opioid agonist exhibiting complex psychostimulant and morphine-like analgesic effects, although the exact mechanisms remain unclear. In recent years, studies demonstrated a wide array of overlapping and integrated neuronal circuits in addiction, including the opioid-cannabinoid-glutamate AMPA-neurokinin-dopaminergic systems. This study aimed to demonstrate the involvement of the cannabinoid (CB1), glutamate (GluA1) and neurokinin (NK1) receptors in the hippocampus, ventral tegmental area (VTA) and lateral habenula (LHb) brain regions as the neurobiological bases of ketum abuse potential through its interaction with mitragynine. One hundred and twenty (n=120) male Swiss albino mice were subjected to 28-days (chronic) regimen with untreated and Tween-20 vehicle control, morphine sulphate, THC or mitragynine, either with/without coadministration with CB1, GluA1 or NK1 receptor antagonists (i.e. NIDA-41020, PhTx- 74 or RP-67580, respectively). The IntelliCage® system was used as the behavioural sensitisation setting to assess mice cognitive performances and addiction-like behaviours following chronic drug treatment. Findings revealed that chronic mitragynine exposure (incremental doses of 5 to 25 mg/kg) resulted in hyperlocomotion (p < 0.05), potentiated preference and persistence for natural reward (i.e. 10% sucrose) (p < 0.01), resistance to punishment (p < 0.05), and spatial learning memory deficit (p < 0.05), comparable to those observed in morphine- and THCsensitised mice (p > 0.05). The mitragynine-, morphine- and THC-induced spatial learning and memory impairments were attenuated by NIDA-41020 (p < 0.05), PhTx- 74 (p < 0.05) and RP-67580 (p < 0.05), suggesting the CB1, GluA1 and NK1 receptors putative role in the drugs’ mechanism of actions. The underlying adaptations in mice key brain mesolimbic areas, with regards to CB1, GluA1 and NK1 receptors, were investigated using immunohistochemistry, Western Blot and quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) studies. Mitragynine-sensitised mice demonstrated enhanced CB1 receptor proteins and genes expression at hippocampus CA1 (p < 0.001) and VTA regions (p < 0.001). GluA1 receptor proteins and genes were also up-regulated at hippocampus CA1 regions (p < 0.001), whereas NK1 were up-regulated at the LHb (p < 0.05). These mitragynine-induced receptor up-regulations resembled those observed with chronic morphine (p > 0.05). Neuronal changes as seen in mitragynine- and morphine-sensitised mice appeared to be absent in drug paired with respective receptor antagonist groups, thus providing affirmative clues to the behavioural changes observed. Taken together, these findings demonstrate the seeming integrated role of brain CB1, GluA1 and NK1 receptors in mitragynine/ketum addictive liabilities, leading to behavioural and probable adaptive changes in the brain mesolimbic reward pathway. However, the extent and nature of these receptor interactions in ketum misuse remain unclear. The study findings lend the first correlative relationship that implicates drug molecular targets not previously known (i.e. cannabinoid-glutamate AMPA-neurokinin systems) in relation to chronic mitragynine misuse. This may also provide new insight to inform the phytomedicinal potentials that are linked to this plant

Rambut sehat dan terawat

iv, 60 hlm. ; 14,8 x 21 cm

Chessbot: a chemical safety and security telegram chatbot in Bahasa Malaysia

Laboratory exercises are an acknowledged way to stimulate students learning subject matter, not the least in the subject of chemistry, where the craft of laboratory work also is essential for future studies and careers in chemistry. Key learning objectives are therefore that students develop their ability to plan, implement, interpret, and report experiments and observations as well as their ability to handle chemicals and equipment. Having acquired good chemical safety habits early, students are better prepared when they move on to more advanced courses. However, teachers and students are exposed to chemical hazards and incidents especially related to chemical handling. Due to the health impacts caused by these incidents, we aimed to provide chatbot with all the information related to chemical handling and safety. This chatbot will provide quick access to the information and background (hazard and safety) of the chemicals that will be used. The chatbot is developed in Python using PyTelegrambotAPI with /nama and /cas as triggering commands, and the search function is conducted using Pandas. At the moment, this chatbot is deployed on PythonAnywhere and accessible for end-users via Telegram at @chemicalsafetybot. Using CheSSBot, users can check chemical safety and security information in Bahasa Malaysia. Simply launch CheSSBot in Telegram. Next, users may check chemical information based on name by typing /nama followed by chemical name. Alternatively, users may also check based on CAS number by typing /cas. Once sent, the chatbot will return the type of chemical (jenis bahan kimia), related GHS codes (amaran bahaya), storage method (kaedah penyimpanan), how to dispose of the chemical (cara pelupusan) and a link to PubChem for further info (info lanjut). We chose to develop this chatbot in Telegram so that users may retrieve the information from Android devices, iPhones or Telegram desktop chatbot. With this information being easily accessible to users, it is hoped that chemicals will be stored and disposed of in a much safer way

Integration of Sensing Framework with a Decision Support System for Monitoring Water Quality in Agriculture

Water is an essential element for every plant to survive, absorb nutrients, and perform photosynthesis and respiration. If water is polluted, plant growth can be truncated. The aim of this research is to develop a water quality monitoring system for agriculture purposes based on integration of sensing framework with a smart decision support method. This research consists of three stages: (1) the first stage: developing sensing framework which has four different water quality parameter sensors such as potential hydrogen (pH), electrical conductivity (EC), temperature, and oxidation-reduction potential (ORP), (2) the second stage: developing a hardware platform that uses an Arduino for sensor array of data processing and acquisition, and finally (3) the third stage: developing soft computing framework for decision support which uses python applications and fuzzy logic. The system was tested using water from many sources such as rivers, lakes, tap water, and filtered machine. Filtered water shows the highest value of pH as the filtered machine produces alkaline water, whereas tap water shows the highest value of temperature because the water is trapped in a polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipe. Lake water depicts the highest value of EC due to the highest amount of total suspended solids (TSS) in the water, whereas river water shows the highest value of ORP due to the highest amount of dissolved oxygen. The system can display three ranges of water quality: not acceptable (NA), adequate (ADE) and highly acceptable (HACC) ranges from 0 to 9. Filtered water is in HACC condition (ranges 7–9) because all water quality parameters are in highly acceptable ranges. Tap water shows ADE condition (ranges 4–7) because one of the water quality parameters is in adequate ranges. River and lake water depict NA conditions (ranges 0–4) as one of the water quality parameters is in not acceptable ranges. The research outcome shows that filtered water is the most reliable water source for plants due to the absence of dissolved solids and contaminants in the water. Filtered water can improve pH and reduce the risk of plant disease. This research can help farmers to monitor the quality of irrigated water which eventually prevents crop disease, enhances crop growth, and increases crop yield

Advancements in Monitoring Water Quality Based on Various Sensing Methods: A Systematic Review

Nowadays, water pollution has become a global issue affecting most countries in the world. Water quality should be monitored to alert authorities on water pollution, so that action can be taken quickly. The objective of the review is to study various conventional and modern methods of monitoring water quality to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the methods. The methods include the Internet of Things (IoT), virtual sensing, cyber-physical system (CPS), and optical techniques. In this review, water quality monitoring systems and process control in several countries, such as New Zealand, China, Serbia, Bangladesh, Malaysia, and India, are discussed. Conventional and modern methods are compared in terms of parameters, complexity, and reliability. Recent methods of water quality monitoring techniques are also reviewed to study any loopholes in modern methods. We found that CPS is suitable for monitoring water quality due to a good combination of physical and computational algorithms. Its embedded sensors, processors, and actuators can be designed to detect and interact with environments. We believe that conventional methods are costly and complex, whereas modern methods are also expensive but simpler with real-time detection. Traditional approaches are more time-consuming and expensive due to the high maintenance of laboratory facilities, involve chemical materials, and are inefficient for on-site monitoring applications. Apart from that, previous monitoring methods have issues in achieving a reliable measurement of water quality parameters in real time. There are still limitations in instruments for detecting pollutants and producing valuable information on water quality. Thus, the review is important in order to compare previous methods and to improve current water quality assessments in terms of reliability and cost-effectiveness

Nanotechnology-based approaches for antitubercular drug delivery

Tuberculosis (TB) is an old disease that may have coexisted with humans for at least 15,000 years before the Neolithic [1]. TB is a communicable disease caused by Mycobac- terium tuberculosis and it remains the deadliest infectious disease killing 60 million people since 2000 [2,3]. The disease can be spread through the respiratory route, such as coughing from an infected person or gastrointestinal route possibly by drinking milk contaminated by bovine tubercle bacillus (M. bovis) by infecting the lung (pulmonary TB) and other sites (extrapulmonary TB) [1]. Almost a quarter of the world population is infected with TB [3] affecting more men than women. However, the treatment of TB has a fundamental issue that the long duration of the therapy which induce patient non-compliance, treatment failure and development of drug resistant by the pathogen [4]. Therefore, innovative strategy in the delivery of TB drugs such as in nanotechnology approach particularly in nanoparticle delivery would be more effective than conventional antibiotic treatment regimens via oral delivery. Nanoparticles which are administered via pulmonary inhalation gains special interest due to their intrinsic antimicrobial activity which acts directly to the lungs and avoiding first-pass metabolism reduction of dose and user-friendly administration (Fig. 10.1A) [5]. Nanoparticle is a small molecule sized less than 1000 nm that can encapsulate drugs and works efficiently in terms of improving physicochemical, stability and effectiveness of a drug. Nanoparticles can be made from different materials such as organic and polymer based nanocarriers (e.g polymer, solid lipid (SLNs), liquid crystal (LC), liposomes (LIP), micro- emulsions (MEs), carbon, and nanomicelles (NMs)) as well as inorganic nanocarriers (e.g gold, silver, and iron oxide) [6,7]. There are different methods available to produce nanopar- ticles resulting in different structures and sizes [5]. Some composition of different types of nanoparticles that have been tested for activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis, such as those encapsulations first-or second-line anti-TB drugs, alone or in combination, as well as other potentially useful particles such as antimicrobial peptide and other therapeutic agents. Different properties of nanoparticles may influence their absorption, distribution, and efficacy in nanoparticle-based therapeutics as shown in Fig. 10.1B [5]

T6SS-5 and the cGAS-STING pathway in Burkholderia pseudomallei infection and immunity

Burkholderia pseudomallei is a causative agent of melioidosis that can infect humans and animals in endemic countries, specifically in Southeast Asia and tropical Australia. A fundamental component for the pathogenesis of Burkholderia pseudomallei is the capability of the bacterium to enter, survive, replicate, and cause disease in a host cell by inducing the host cell fusion. Cell fusion results in multinucleated-giant cell formation, thus enabling the dissemination of Burkholderia pseudomallei intracellularly. cGAS reacts to Burkholderia pseudomallei infection by activating the cGAS-STING pathway and subsequently limiting host’s aberrant cell division and cellular replication by inducing autophagic cell death. In this review, we discuss the host-pathogen interactions between the type Ⅵ secretion system 5 (T6SS-5) of Burkholderia pseudomallei and human cGAS pathway in melioidosis infections. Since T6SS-5 is a main virulent factor in Burkholderia pseudomallei and the cGAS pathway is vital for host immune response, elucidating their functions is important for better understanding the pathogenesis of Burkholderia pseudomallei