Speculative Influences In Stock Market : A Case Study Of Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the existence of speculative influences in Malaysia stock market by utilizing quarterly time series data from first quarter of 1990 until fourth quarter of 1999. Models are reapply in order to test (i) the extent excess volatility in KLSE (ii) to determine the relationship between stock market and the real economy (iii) to examine whether the price of the stocks are based on their intrinsic values. The results indicate that excess volatility in the actual price of stocks does exist, especially during the boom period. The prices are found to be volatile at 1 or 2 times than the ex post rational price. It is also shown that the weak form of rational expectation hypothesis is satisfied. Regression of stock prices on measures of the real economic activity over the same period indicate that there is no evidence that the stock return could have been driven by expectation of real activity in the economy during the whole period. The relation is weak, suggesting that the production and GDP growth are not significant in explaining variations in stock return. With regards to the test of existence of intrinsic bubbles, the results indicate that intrinsic bubbles do occur in Malaysia stock market

Dinoprostone in first trimester miscarriages: a prospective observational study in a Malaysian Tertiary Healthcare Institution

The objective of this paper was to evaluate the outcome of medical evacuation of first trimester miscarriages using dinoprostone. A prospective observational study in a tertiary centre between 1st January and 31st December 2018 in Obstetrics and Gynaecology unit, UKM Medical Centre. Women diagnosed with incomplete and missed miscarriage (n=41) at or less than 13 weeks of gestation were recruited. Dinoprostone 3 mg was inserted into the posterior fornix, twice within 6 h apart on day-1 followed by similar protocol on day-2. Patients were reassessed clinically and sonographically upon passing out products of conception, at 48 h and day-7. Complete evacuation was defined as closed cervical os and/or endometrial thickness of less than 15 mm sonographically. Treatment failure was defined as failure to achieve complete evacuation by day-7. Overall success rate was 55.3% (n=26) being better in incomplete (n=6, 100%) as compared to missed miscarriage (n=21, 48.8%, p=0.03). Those with successful evacuation required dinosprostone at a mean of 8.4 ± 2.9 mg achieving complete miscarriage within a mean of 27.8 ± 16.6 h. Mean pain score was 5.8 ± 0.8 with mean patient satisfaction score of 8.7 ± 0.8. Mean drop in haemoglobin was 0.7 ± 0.2 g/dL. No major adverse effects were reported. Medical evacuation of miscarriage using intravaginal dinoprostone is safe and promising, with acceptable success rate and high patient satisfaction. This study supported previous studies suggesting presence of prostaglandin E2 receptors in the first trimester

Antenatal iron deficiency in an urban Malaysian population

Iron deficiency anemia is the most common form of anemia in pregnancy. The present study was carried out to determine the prevalence of antenatal anemia and iron deficiency in the Malaysian population and its correlation with socio-demographic and obstetric profile. It was a cross-sectional study conducted at an urban health clinic over a period of six months. A single blood sample was drawn from apparently healthy pregnant mothers at antenatal booking and sent for laboratory assessment of full blood count and serum ferritin as screening tools for anemia and iron status. SPSS version 19.0 was used for statistical analyses. The results showed that out of 250 subjects, 43.6% had anemia and 31.6% had iron deficiency. Whilst 47.7% of subjects with anemia were iron deficient, 19.1% of subjects without anemia were also iron deficient. Serum ferritin correlated negatively with period of gestation at booking (p<0.001), with 77.6% of these women not having prior iron supplements. Serum ferritin was also significantly lower among grandmultiparae (p=0.01). Iron deficiency was significantly (p=0.024) more common among Indians (42.5%) compared to Malays (33.5%) and Chinese (13.0%). In conclusion, continuation of the current practice of routine antenatal iron supplementation is still warranted and justifiable in Malaysia as there is high prevalence of iron deficiency in pregnancy not only in the presence of anemia but also in the presence of normal hemoglobin values

Development and validation of a questionnaire to predict intention to comply to iron supplement during pregnancy

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has recommended iron supplementation to overcomeanaemia in pregnancy. In Malaysia, about half of pregnant women with anaemia do notcomply to iron supplement. The purpose of this study is to develop and validate aquestionnaire that assesses the attitude towards iron supplementation and later to predictintention to comply with daily iron supplement among pregnant women. Based on theguidelines for construction of the Theory of Planned Behaviour questionnaire, 18 items werecreated initially by using the findings from an open-ended questionnaire survey, literaturereviews and experts’ opinion. From content validity by 3 experts, 15 items with contentvalidity ratio (CVR) of ≥0.99 were retained. From a pilot test for exploratory factor analysis(EFA), total of 12 items were retained, and classified into 3 components and termed as“Attitudes”, “Subjective Norms” and “Perceived Behaviour Control”. Cronbach Alpha for the12 items was 0.814, and for each component were 0.844, 0.813 and 0.901 respectively, whichindicates acceptable internal consistency. During the Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), afinal 10 items were retained. The construct validity was good where the Fitness Index haveachieved the threshold i.e. p-value &gt;0.05, RMSEA &lt;0.08, CFI &gt;0.90 and the ChiSq/df ratio&lt;3.00. The convergent validity and composite reliability were good i.e. Average VarianceExtracted (AVE) ≥0.50, and Composite Reliability (CR) ≥0.60 respectively. As a conclusion,the validation of this newly developed questionnaire has shown promising result andpotentially reliable in predicting compliance to iron supplement among pregnant womenspecifically in Malaysia

Disengagement of impacted fetal head during caesarean section in advanced labour using C-snorkel device versus the conventional method: a randomised control trial.

This pilot study was a randomized control trial conducted in the labour ward and operating theatre of Pusat Perubatan UKM, between May 2013 to September 2013. The trial included 34 women whom were in advance labour during caesarean section. The C-snorkel device was used to disengage an impacted fetal head during caesarean section. Maternal outcomes evaluated were blood loss, blood transfusion, duration of surgery, incidence of extended tears and post operative infection. The fetal outcomes evaluated were APGAR score at 1 and 5 minutes, umbilical cord pH, trauma to the fetus during delivery and admission to the neonatal intensive care unit

To assess placental volume in first and second trimester of pregnancy in UKM Medical Centre.

This was a prospective cohort study. From May 2011 to June 2012, pregnant women were recruited via the obstetric clinic, patient admission centre and wards in UKM Medical Centre (UKMMC). An ultrasound scan was performed at 11-16 weeks and again at 18-26 weeks of gestation to check for placental volume and Uterine Artery Resistance Index (UARI) and Pulsatility Index (UAPI). The placental volume was measured by three-dimensional ultrasound using the Virtual Organ Computer-Aided Analysis (VOCAL) technique

Role of the Placental Vitamin D Receptor in Modulating Feto-Placental Growth in Fetal Growth Restriction and Preeclampsia-Affected Pregnancies

Fetal growth restriction (FGR) is a common pregnancy complication that affects up to 5% of pregnancies worldwide. Recent studies demonstrate that Vitamin D deficiency is implicated in reduced fetal growth, which may be rescued by supplementation of Vitamin D. Despite this, the pathway(s) by which Vitamin D modulate fetal growth remains to be investigated. Our own studies demonstrate that the Vitamin D receptor (VDR) is significantly decreased in placentae from human pregnancies complicated by FGR and contributes to abnormal placental trophoblast apoptosis and differentiation and regulation of cell-cycle genes in vitro. Thus, Vitamin D signaling is important for normal placental function and fetal growth. This review discusses the association of Vitamin D with fetal growth, the function of Vitamin D and its receptor in pregnancy, as well as the functional significance of a placental source of Vitamin D in FGR. Additionally, we propose that for Vitamin D to be clinically effective to prevent and manage FGR, the molecular mechanisms of Vitamin D and its receptor in modulating fetal growth requires further investigation

Anaesthesiology & Critical Care Postgraduate Training in Malaysia : training curriculum

This document is the National Postgraduate Medical Curriculum (NPMC) for Anaesthesiology and Critical Care, and is part of the NPMC Project which is intended to cover the development of curricula for all clinical medical specialists in Malaysia. It is to ensure that the training is consistent and competency based, and meets the standards required by the respective national bodies and the National Specialist Register (NSR)

The effectiveness of a theory-based intervention program for pregnant women with anemia: A randomized control trial

Anemia in pregnancy is a public health concern. It has been diagnosed in 27% of pregnant women in Malaysia and up to 40% of pregnant women globally. This study aimed to develop and evaluate the effectiveness of an intervention initiative based on the health belief model. The MyPinkMom program was disseminated through a mobile messaging application to pregnant women to educate them on the prevention of anemia in pregnancy. We conducted a two-arm cluster-assignment, single-blinded, randomized control trial at two government antenatal clinics in Selangor. One clinic was randomly chosen as the intervention group, and the other was chosen as the control group. Sixty pregnant women with anemia from the intervention group received the MyPinkMom intervention program in the form of six infographic video clips, and 60 pregnant women with anemia from the control group received routine counseling on anemia in pregnancy. Pregnant women who had anemia secondary to hemoglobinopathy or other chronic diseases were excluded from this study. MANOVA showed significant increases in hemoglobin, knowledge, attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control scores for adherence to iron supplements, dietary iron, and dietary vitamin C intake (p < 0.001) in the intervention group at week 6. A significant reduction also occurred in dietary tannin intake (p < 0.001) in the intervention group at week 6. The intervention group at week 6 showed a large effect on hemoglobin level increments (partial eta squared, Ƞp2 0.268), dietary iron intake (Ƞp2 0.213), knowledge of anemia in pregnancy (Ƞp2 0.622), subjective norm scores for adherence to iron supplements (Ƞp2 0.167), and reduction in dietary tannin intake (Ƞp2 0.353). Similarly, repeated measures ANOVA showed that changes in hemoglobin levels were significantly different over time (i.e., at baseline, week 6, and week 12) between the intervention and control groups (p < 0.001). Hemoglobin increased rapidly over time among participants in the intervention group but gradually in the control group. To conclude, the newly developed MyPinkMom program that was delivered through a messaging application showed effectiveness in preventing anemia during pregnancy