Modified Impact Factor (MIF) at Specialty Level: A Way Forward

AbstractJournal Impact Factor (JIF) is gold standard in the field of bibliometric whether published or perished. Its opposition is mainly because of inter- and intra-disciplinary discrepancies. By normalization compared to highest JIF, Modified Impact Factor (MIF) were calculated at disciplines, branches and specialties level & termed as Red, Yellow and Green MIF respectively. For this purpose 10 Top JIF during 2010 from some disciplines of medical & engineering were taken. Then JIF of their branches and specialties were accounted and converted to MIF. Comparative analysis of MIF was more meaningful to remove inter- and intra-disciplinary discrepancies. This new method will help universities as well as researchers to find their proper place values at the specialty level in the era of advancing bibliometric in general & journal reputation, in particular

Antioxidant activities and polyphenolics of various solvent extracts of red seaweed, Gracilaria changii

This study determined the levels of polyphenols, flavonoids, carotenoids and antioxidant activity of the edible red seaweed, Gracilaria changii. Freeze-dried G. changii powder was extracted using five solvent systems: 80 % ethanol, 80 % methanol, 80 % acetone, ethyl acetate and water. The antioxidant activity of the extracts was measured using three assays, namely 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), ferric reducing power (FRAP) and β-carotene bleaching assays (BCB). The total phenolics (TPC) and total flavonoids content (TFC) and the total carotenoids content (TCC) were also determined. Ethanol extract had the highest yield followed by methanol > water > acetone > ethyl acetate extract. The radical scavenging effects of all the extracts showing dose-dependency properties with the ethyl acetate extract of G. changii exhibiting the highest radical scavenging effect (EC50 of 0.51±0.09 mg mL−1), while the water extract had the lowest scavenging effect of 7.80±0.57 mg mL−1. Ferric reducing power was in the following descending order: ethyl acetate > ethanol > methanol > acetone > water. TPC was highest in the ethyl acetate extract (21.57±2.58 mg PGE g−1) and least in the water extract (6.06±0.52 mg PGE g−1). The TFC of G. changii was in the range of 18.97±0.89–200.87± 3.61 mg RE g−1. The results revealed the effect of different extracting solvents in altering the antioxidant potential of G.changii, and ethyl acetate was identified as the most efficient solvent for extracting bioactive compounds from this red seaweed

Oxidative stress biomarkers in organs of hyperlipidaemic and natural rats fed tropical red seaweed, Gracilaria changii

The aim of the study was to evaluate the effects of normal and high-cholesterol/fat diet supplemented with 5 and 10% freeze-dried red seaweed, Gracilaria changii powder on rat organs (liver, kidney and heart), lipid peroxidation and antioxidant enzyme activities. The results showed that feeding with atherogenic diet alone caused lipid peroxidation which eventually leads to oxidative stress of the rat’s organs. Nevertheless, with 10 % G. changii supplementation, it significantly decreased the liver lipid peroxidation by 52.24 %, and the antioxidant enzyme activities were significantly increased by 52.09 to 94.42 %. Similarly, with G. changii supplementation, it significantly enhanced the kidney antioxidant enzyme activities. This suggests that G. changii suppress oxidative stress and protect the rats’ organs. In conclusion, G. changii could be a promising functional food ingredient in the management of hyperlipidaemia

Postural Photogrammetry as Promising Tool for Clinical Use: A Reliability Study

Many studies on postural photogrammetry had reported various intra-class correlation coefficients (ICC) across postural variable measurements, however no conclusive solution was given. This reliability and cross-sectional study was done in June 2016 at the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Malaysia Sabah. A total of 24 male adult subjects with mean age 28.5 years (± 4.8 years), body mass 24.97 kg (± 3.85 kg) and height 166.6 cm (± 6 cm) were evaluated for standing postural photogrammetry. Four sets of manually digitized posture image files (by 4 raters) were measured and statistically analyzed for inter-rater agreement as well as the influence of image resolution and camera height from the floor on various postural variable measurements. The ICC between 4 raters for all postural variables was excellent (the lowest ICC was 0.940 for Q Angle of the Right Knee measurements). Two-Way ANOVA showed that postural variable measurements were not affected by either image resolution or camera height from the floor. Scrupulous attempts done on standing postural photogrammetry amplified the potential for standing postural evaluation in clinical settings

Antioxidant and hypolipidaemic properties of red seaweed, Gracilaria changii

The edible red seaweed, Gracilaria changii, was collected from the coastal area of Sarawak, Malaysia, and evaluated for its hypolipidaemic properties using high cholesterol/high fat (HF) induced male Sprague–Dawley rats. In the in vivo study, the HF diet group showed significantly higher total cholesterol (TC), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), atherogenic index (AI) and body weight gain as compared to other treatment groups. At the end of treatment period, rats fed with a HF diet supplemented with 5 % freeze-dried G. changii powder had significantly reduced plasma TC (−39.19 %), LDL-C (−36.36 %), and triglycerides (TG) content (− 25.45 %). Meanwhile, 10 % seaweed powder significantly lowered the plasma TC, LDL-C and TG content by −40.34, −35.95 and −30.91 % respectively, compared to the HF group. The AI of rats supplemented with 10 % seaweed powder was the lowest among the treatment groups and indicates a lowered risk for cardiovascular diseases. The plasma lipid peroxidation of the seaweed powder-fed groups was also significantly lower than the HF group, while the erythrocyte enzyme antioxidant activities of superoxide dismutase, catalase and glutathione peroxidase of the treatment groups were also improved. Diets supplemented with seaweed powder also decreased plasma aspartate aminotransferase and the alanine aminotransferase levels

A model proposal for tele-pathology labs (TelePol)

Telepathology is the use of telecommunications technologies in the practice of anatomic or surgical pathology. In the usual telepathology scenario, a remotely located pathologist views images of tissues samples in order to render a diagnosis of the biopsy. Numbers of medical institutes are increasing rapidly because of health awareness & financial attractions. Pathology labs, being backbone of hospitals are integral part of medical education. Shortage of pathologists & high cost of usual labs are of great concern. The model of Telepathology labs is designed for School of Medicine, University Malaysia Sabah to overcome such situation. In the first section, Teleconsultation & Telereferral (Tele-consolation) leading to telediagnosis are defined for pathology & the classification of Tele-pathology Labs (TelePol) by using internet technology is established. In the second section the current literature on telepathology is reviewed and analyzed. The third section is concerned with the better understanding of static & dynamic telepathology. Finally, the role of TelePol in medical tele-education & followed by conclusions are given. © 2009 ACM

Physicochemical properties of crackers fortified with red seaweed, kappaphycus alvarezii powder

Seaweeds have been used as food since ancient times mainly in the Asian countries while in the Western countries, they are mainly used as phycocolloids for the food, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic industry. The edible red seaweed, Kappaphycus alvarezii is the 5th world’s most cultivated seaweed and it is mainly farmed for its source of carrageenan, a gelling agent widely used in many industries. There are limited uses of this seaweed in food although K. alvarezii has a significant amount of protein, a high amount of dietary fibre, and minerals. The objective of this study is to develop crackers fortified with K. alvarezii powder at various concentrations of 1%, 2.5%, 5%, 7.5%, and 10%. The effects of K. alvarezii powder on physicochemical properties of crackers such as colour, water activity, pH, spreadability factor, hardness, and fracturability were investigated. The result indicates that increasing the percentage of K. alvarezii powder decreases the L* value, water activity, pH as well as the spreadability of crackers. It shows a decreasing trend in terms of its texture profile whereby higher percentage of K.alvarezii decreases significantly (p<0.05) the hardness and increases significantly (p<0.05) the fracturability of crackers. Overall, it can be concluded that 1% and 2.5% K.alvarezii powder added into cracker samples has similar physicochemical properties to control sample