Hospitalized Muslim Trauma Patients Ibadah Disability Scale (HM[T]-IDS)

The HM[T]-IDS is an assessment tool developed to be used as a standard, objective evaluation scale to determine disability levels of Muslim trauma patients in performing religious physical cleansing and prayer during hospitalization and improve the deliverance of assistance they need. It is constructed based on the patients' and physicians' perspectives on the difficulties in performing religious duties. The use of this assessment tool is to assist physicians and hospital staff in scrutinizing the types of assistance required by the patients. The patients will be assessed based on five major disabilities/ difficulties, which include: A. Pain, B. Mobility, C. Extremity Involvement, D. Bandage/ Cast Application, and E. Toileting. These disabilities/ difficulties are organized in a form of a scoring sheet that utilizes a Linkert scale based on the severity of the disabilities/ difficulties. It was designed in two languages: English and Malay. The total score a patient can be given ranged between 5 and 25. From the total score obtained, the patients are categorized into four categories based on the assistance required by them: Category I (score of 5-8) - patients require least or no assistance, Category II (score of 9-14) - patients require assistance in the form of equipment or aids without the support of an assistant, Category III (score of 15-20) - patients require assistance in the form of equipment or aids with the support of an assistant, and Category IV (score of 21-25) - patients require full support from an assistant as well as supporting equipment. It is hoped that the new assessment tool can provide a new practical measure to evaluate disability among Muslim patients in performing their religious duties. It will provide a balance approach in trauma care

Narrative Review: Use of Competent Stimulating Peptide in Gene Transfer Via Suicide Plasmid in Streptococcus pneumoniae

Natural competency for genetic transformation of Streptococcus pneumoniae causes the emergence of novel or non-vaccine preventable pneumococcal serotypes. This phenomenon has become a global concern as it can spread quickly in the population through inhalation and close contact. The colonisation of S. pneumoniae at the upper respiratory tract can either become commensal or pathogenic. Once the bacterium invades into the body system, it will secrete its toxin and virulence protein to facilitate the invasion. Besides, S. pneumoniae can undergo natural biological transformation via uptake of exogenous DNA by horizontal gene transfer for integration and recombination of the genome. S. pneumoniae natural transformation is aided by competence-stimulating peptide (CSP) that induces the competence of bacteria. Natural transformation cascade of S. pneumoniae via CSP is triggered in the presence of conserved 17-amino acids peptide which is regulated and encoded by comC, comD and comE operon, where comC is responsible in secreting precursor CSP. Nowadays, researchers transforming S. pneumoniae by inserting the mutated S. pneumoniae gene through a vector, suicide plasmid. Suicide plasmids such as pID701, pAUL-A and pVA891 can be transferred but cannot replicate in the bacteria. Homologous recombination process occurs once the mutated gene of suicide plasmid is integrated with wild-type S. pneumoniae. Previous studies had used the transformation of suicide plasmid into S. pneumoniae as it can integrate with host DNA at specific insert for gene transfer. But there is no evidence on the role of CSP in horizontal/gene replacement via suicide plasmid in Streptococcus pneumoniae. This narrative review's scope as per defined purpose statement is to relate and recommend the use of competent stimulating peptide in efficient horizontal gene transfer via suicide plasmids in Streptococcus pneumoniae.Keywords: Streptococcus pneumoniae transformation; CSP-based transformation; Gene transfer via suicide plasmid; Genetic exchange; Competence-stimulating peptid

Stress among medical students and advantages of metallisation therapy in general: A review of literatures

Stress is a constraining force that causes bodily or mental tension and may be a factor in disease causation. The study showed that medical students have more proneness to higher stress than students study in non-medical fields. The objective of this study is to discover the stress as evident among Malaysian medical students and general positive effects of mentation programmes in stress management. The current study was worked with the review of literature of the past study reports regarding stress in Malaysian medical students and general positive effect of mentation in stress management. The study had used electronic databases for rummaging and reviewing literature articles published on stress and other psychological determinants among medical students and mindfulness in the management of stress. Stress, mindfulness and related terminologies are used in searching related articles. In the current study, data were extracted through reviewing various related research articles focussing more on the prevalence and stress management in medical students. Stress among medical students found to be more than 50% needs close attention and monitoring. The academically related stressors were found to be high with the existence of other stressors with financial and relationship problem. Mentors help and religious sources were used as coping strategy. Medical education is found to be highly stressful. Developing awareness effects of managing stress through mindfulness and mentation among students and teachers and facilitate students to cope with academic and other stress that can negatively affect students' mental health. Prospective studies are encouraged using matured mentation programmes in medical schools

Social intelligence of parents with autism spectrum disorders impacts their emotional behaviour: A new proposed model for stabilising emotionality of these parents impacting their social intelligence

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may affect all spheres of a child's life. Indeed, parents and siblings also live with emotional instabilities in the family. The experience of parents with ASD child can be distressing since they need to make more adjustments to the demanding need to cope with their life situations. Perhaps, their life is drastically exaggerated with their complexities of life. Particularly, their social life is radically affected. The presence of pervasive and severe deficits in children with ASD isolates these parents from their social life; demanding adjustments to their social environment of parents in their life situations shove them into distress and unstable emotions. Finally, they culminate being shattered in their interpersonal relationship, their family and social life. Indeed, these aspects of distress mask social intelligence of these parents, thus narrow down their focus more on the treatment rather than holistic management of their child. Thus, the management of ASD with these parents of the deficit children to reach their fullest abilities remains doubtful. Therefore, the objectives of this study are as follows: (a) to examine the impact of emotionality on social intelligence of parents blessed with autistic child, (b) to develop awareness regarding social intelligence and its significance among these parents, (c) to propose a new model stabilising emotionality of these parents through developing social adaption skills and (d) to suggest a new model as a guide in the current intervention regimens to ensure the emotional well-being and better social adoption. This study is made based on the keenly examined past evidence with the correlation of emotionality and its impact on social intelligence of the parents with ASD children. The results reveal that the social intelligence is perceived as lowered evidenced by poor social adjustment reflected in social isolation observed in the parents of children with ASD. A new model proposed for stabilising and developing awareness of social intelligence among the parents of ASD children. Integrating this model with the existing treatment paradigm has been suggested to attain the better result. The conclusion is drawn in this study by analysing the fact that considerable improvement in the diagnosed child may not amend the parent and family distress and drastically affect social intelligence. Indeed, the intervention can be more promising with the healthy personality of parents, where their multiple aspects of intelligence are not affected. The new proposed model of intervention can pave the way for further research in this regard

Measuring the Relationship between Obesity and Low Back Pain: A Review Article

Abstract Low back pain (LBP) is a common and elusive disorder. It cannot be comfortably diagnosed through clinical procedures, and little is understood about its etiology. From a public health perspective, it would be important to know if lifestyle factors, such as body weight, play an important role in its genesis. However, a look at the literature reveals some misperceptions. There are several hypotheses relating to a link between obesity and LBP. Increased mechanical demands resulting from obesity have been suspected of causing LBP through excessive wear and tear, and it has been suggested that metabolic factors associated with obesity may be detrimental. Thus, some consider it possible, but not particularly strong contributing factor of LBP, whereas others do not think that it is a risk factor of LBP. It has also been postulated that obesity may be a marker or an organizer for some other factors that are considered the causes of LBP. This study aims to measure the relationship between body weight and low back pain (LBP)

Knowledge and attitudes toward HPV vaccination among healthcare givers: First multicentre survey in Malaysia

Background Cervical cancer is an important public health concern worldwide, and in both developed and developing countries. In Malaysia, cervical cancer is the second most common cancer in women after breast cancer and colorectal cancer. The relation between cervical cancer and oncogenic human papillomavirus (HPV) infection has been well-established and it has been reported that almost all cervical cancers are correlated to oncogenic HPV DNA. Worldwide around 70 per cent of cervical cancer cases are caused by HPV type 16 and HPV type 18 and responsible for 90 per cent of penile and anal cancer in men. However, HPV type 6 and 11 cause over 90 per cent of genital warts in both men and women. Aims The objective was to assess the knowledge and attitude level among health givers and to compare among the groups. Methods This was a cross-sectional multi-centre study. Simple random sampling was adopted to collect the data. A questionnaire has been developed and it was pretested. Medical doctors and nurses of Malaysian health service were the study population. The data was evaluated with the necessary statistical tests as applicable. P-values <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results Total participants of this study were 629. They mainly doctor and nurses. The average age was 31.68±7.20 years. Regarding HPV vaccination, their mean knowledge and attitude scores (SD) were 13.32±2.30 and 9.38±1.45 respectively. Conclusion Medical doctors have statistically significantly higher knowledge and attitude scores than paramedical staff. Knowledge level was statistically significantly correlated with attitude. More in-depth prospection interventional research has been advocated to safeguard the Malaysian population from the atrocities of cervical cancer

Knowledge and attitudes toward HPV vaccination among healthcare givers: First multicentre survey in Malaysia

BackgroundCervical cancer is an important public health concern worldwide, and in both developed and developing countries. In Malaysia, cervical cancer is the second most common cancer in women after breast cancer and colorectal cancer. The relation between cervical cancer and oncogenic human papillomavirus (HPV) infection has been well-established and it has been reported that almost all cervical cancers are correlated to oncogenic HPV DNA. Worldwide around 70 per cent of cervical cancer cases are caused by HPV type 16 and HPV type 18 and responsible for 90 per cent of penile and anal cancer in men. However, HPV type 6 and 11 cause over 90 per cent of genital warts in both men and women.AimsThe objective was to assess the knowledge and attitude level among health givers and to compare among the groups.Methods This was a cross-sectional multi-centre study. Simple random sampling was adopted to collect the data. A questionnaire has been developed and it was pretested. Medical doctors and nurses of Malaysian health service were the study population. The data was evaluated with the necessary statistical tests as applicable. P-values < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results Total participants of this study were 629. They mainly doctor and nurses. The average age was 31.68±7.20 years. Regarding HPV vaccination, their mean knowledge and attitude scores (SD) were 13.32±2.30 and 9.38±1.45 respectively.ConclusionMedical doctors have statistically significantly higher knowledge and attitude scores than paramedical staff. Knowledge level was statistically significantly correlated with attitude. More in-depth prospection interventional research has been advocated to safeguard the Malaysian population from the atrocities of cervical cancer

Antibiotic therapy of choice for community-acquired pneumonia in Malaysian Hajj pilgrims: the pattern and associated factors

Introduction : Pneumonia is a potentially life-threatening illness that poses global health teething troubles particularly among elderly population and performing Hajj. Empirical antibiotic treatment has been recommended for all suspected community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) patients as initial treatment on admission. Aim of the research : To describe the antibiotic therapy of CAP and determine the associated factors related to the treatment options among Malaysian Hajj pilgrims. Material and methods: This was a cross-sectional study involving 91 patients who were admitted to Tabung Haji Hospital, Makkah in 2012, with the clinical diagnosis of pneumonia during Hajj season. The antibiotic treatment for the patients as well as demographic factors and co-morbidity, which potentially influence the treatment options, were studied. Results : The mean age of the hajj pilgrims was 71.4 ±8.7 years. The most frequently prescribed antibiotic was levofloxacin (44.0%), followed by azithromycin (40.7%), cefuroxime (23.1%), ampicillin + sulbactam (16.5%), and amoxicillin + clavulanate (15.4%). The age of patients was significantly associated with levofloxacin, azithromycin, and meropenem (p = 0.032, 0.028, and 0.026, respectively). Patients with diabetes were statistically significantly highly prescribed with cefuroxime (p = 0.036). Conclusions : Levofloxacin and azithromycin were classified as the most common antibiotic treatment given to Malaysian Hajj pilgrim with CAP and their choice was associated with older age of patients. Otherwise, cefuroxime was the prescription of choice in diabetics

Effects of apigenin, luteolin, and quercetin on the natural killer (NK-92) cells proliferation: a potential role as immunomodulatory

Cancer can be classified as a fourth leading cause of death in Malaysia. There is a continuous effort by scientists in finding alternative cure to cancer due to the known side effects of chemotherapy and radiation therapy as well as recurrences. One of the latest methods to kill cancerous cells is by using immune cells known as natural killer (NK) cells. Flavonoids such as flavone and flavonol are also known for their antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory and anticancer properties. This study was carried out to determine the role of flavonoid compounds of apigenin, luteolin, and quercetin to facilitate the growth of NK-92 cells. NK-92 cell line was grown in tissue culture flasks containing α- Minimum Essential Medium (MEM) medium enriched with L-glutamine, 12.5% fetal bovine serum, 12.5% horse serum, 0.2 mM myo-inositol, 0.02 mM folic acid, and 100 - 200 U/mL recombinant interleukin 2 (IL-2). The cell viability was determined via trypan blue staining where the cells were manually counted by a haemocytometer. The 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay was used to determine the cell viability of NK-92 cells after treatment with apigenin, luteolin, and quercetin. Results showed a dose-dependent proliferative effects of apigenin, luteolin, and quercetin on the proliferation of NK-92 cells showing the highest percentage of proliferation at 100 µg/mL for all compounds (*P < 0.05). However, exceeding the dose of 100 µg/mL had resulted in a decline of cell proliferations percentage. Based on these findings, flavonoid compounds comprising apigenin, luteolin and quercetin were able to induce proliferative effects on NK-92 cells