Prevalence of Depression and its Associated Factors Among Adults during Third Wave of COVID-19 Pandemic in Malaysia, 2021

Malaysia recently entered third-wave of COVID-19 pandemic starting from October 2020 to end of January 2021. Therefore, objective of our study was to identify the prevalence of depression and its associated factors among adults during third wave of COVID-19 pandemic in Malaysia. A total of 1468 Malaysian adults participated in this cross-sectional web-based survey. A standardized questionnaire was generated using the Google Form, and the link was shared through social media such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and WhatsApp. Patient Health Questionnaires (PHQ-9) was used to assess the levels of depression. Among 1468 participants, 320 (22 %) and 358 (24.6 %) indicated to have moderate to severe depression during third-wave of COVID-19 in Malaysia. Multiple predictors were identified that contributed to depression. These included female gender, family’s source income affected by the pandemic, do not perform exercise, victim of abuse and those with family and/or friends infected with COVID-19 virus. COVID-19 pandemic had caused the implementation of lockdown and physical distancing in Malaysia and nations across the globe. The pandemic had brought serious negative impacts on mental health of the adults especially depression especially during third wave of pandemic. The findings of our study suggested that new interventions or strategies are needed to be developed to address the severity of depression among Malaysian adults

Factors associated with psychological distress among Myanmar residents during COVID-19 pandemic crises

Background: COVID-19 pandemic reached a public health emergency status of international concern. The impacts and events associated with this were associated with adverse psychological impacts among the general public globally. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of psychological distress and to identify predictors associated with psychological distress due to the COVID-19 pandemic among the population in Myanmar. Design and Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted from March to April 2020 among adults, 18 years old and above, who reside in Myanmar through a structured questionnaire distributed in social media platforms. Univariate and Bivariate analyses were used to estimate the prevalence of COVID-19 Peritraumatic Distress Index (CPDI) symptoms and to test the associations between CPDI and the exposure variables. Logistic Regression Analysis was done to identify significant predictors of distress. Results: There were 530 participants in this study.37.4% of them did not have psychological distress,55.6% experienced mild to moderate psychological distress, and 7% experienced severe psychological distress due to COVID-19 pandemic. Simple and Multiple Logistic Regression Analyses were performed to determine the factors associated with psychological distress due to COVID-19. Conclusions: It was shown that the self-employed group and age group older than 45 years old had more psychological distress than others. However, Buddhists and people from the capital city had less distress than other religions and districts. This study recommends the government to develop better strategies for self-employed groups, elders, and the poor for a support, relief, and resettlement of their ruined status

Assessment of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorders and its Associations with Suicidal Behaviour among Adults Following Movement Control Order During COVID-19 Pandemic in Malaysia

A rapid review of previous outbreaks shows that a quarantine policy had greater effects on one’s psychological state including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), confusion and anger caused by various stressors. This study aimed to assess the levels of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and its associations with suicidal behavior among Malaysian adults following Movement Control Order (MCO) during the COVID-19 pandemic in Malaysia. This cross-sectional study was distributed using an online standardized questionnaire composed of three parts, the socio-demographic characteristics, PTSD assessment using PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 and the suicidal behavior assessment using Suicidal Behaviors Questionnaire-Revised (SBQ-R). Almost half of the respondents had high PTSD symptoms (41.7 %) and low PTSD was 58.3 % among Malaysian adults. Furthermore, 69.6 % of participants had no suicidal behavior but, 30.4 % from the participants has suicidal behavior. This study found single status with highest PTSD (83.3 %) and marital status had significant correlation with PTSD which p-value was < 0.05. Malay was high percentage in high PTSD (74.6 %) and significant correlation between race and PTSD (p < 0.05). Employment status also had significant correlation with PTSD with p-value was 0.002 and students was counted highest PTSD (65.7 %). This study identified some socio-demographic factors and suicidal behavior associated with PTSD among Malaysian adults, which may lay ground for further interventions

Extraction of Hydrocolloids from Plants, Fruits, Skins and Eggs

Sodium alginate is natural polysaccharides that are extracted from brown seaweeds (Macrocystintetgrifolia).The preparation of sodium alginate is divided into five steps such as acidification, alkaline extraction, solid/liquid separation, precipitation and drying. For the preparation of sodium alginate, the varying amount of hydrochloric acid concentration, weight of sodium carbonate and volume of hypochlorite wert investigated The pectin from pomelo (Citrus Maxima) rind was used in the manufacture of jams, jellies and marmalades. The inherent bitterness and colouring matter in pomelo rinds were reduced by extraction with ethanol rather than normally used technique of boiling with ammonium chloride and adding appropriate preservative to extend its shelf-life. The extraction of gelatin from fish skin (Nga Gin) (Cirrhinus cirrhosis) and it was used in the preparation of marshmallow. In this research, fish skin was pretreated with hydrochloric acid or lime water and then gelatin was extracted using pure water. The extracted gelatin and pectin wert identified by the solubility test precipitate formations, development of turbidity test and gel formation test. Lecithin was extracted from quail yolk by using solvent partition method. Ethanol and hexane were used to extract total lipids. After that, acetone precipitation was necessary to remove cholesterol. The physio-chemical properties of prepared sodium alginate, pectin, gelatin and lecithin such as trace elements, moisture content, ash content, pH, colour and viscosity were determined and compared with Food and Agricultural Organization specification and British Pharmacopeia specifications. The resultant products of sodium alginate and pectin were identified by IT-IR spectroscopy

Modeling and simulation of data center ethernet

Proceedings of the IASTED International Conference on Applied Simulation and Modelling, ASM 200924-2

Assessment of internet addiction during COVID 19 pandemic in India, 2022

Introduction: The effect of COVID-19-related changes (such as disturbance of face-to-face human association, breakdown of propensities, vulnerability almost long-term, money related frailty, and depression) on people's mental well-being.&nbsp; The enormous utilize of the Web can be a double-edged sword: on the one hand, get to to innovation has cultivated people's well-being and has encouraged the get to to social back; on the other hand, it may have turned into tricky utilize, particularly with respect to compulsive utilize and cognitive distraction. &nbsp;Methods: A sample of 311 was calculated by using the Raosoft software. Descriptive analysis, univariate analysis and multivariate analysis were carried out. Binary logistic regression and multiple logistic regression were used for analysis to access the associated factors with internet addiction. Results: The majority of respondents 323(61.5%) belonged to the normal level of internet addiction, which was followed by Moderate level of internet addiction by 113(21.5%) respondents. 8(1.5%) respondents were severely addicted to internet. Conclusion: During COVID 19 pandemic, the prevalence of psychological problems such as Internet Addiction increased especially among young adults. Therefore, national policy should be refined to reduce the stressful lifestyle in order to reduce the impact of internet addiction especially for young adults in India

Biochemical and biological characterization of the venoms of Naja kaouthia and Naja mandalayensis from Myanmar and neutralization effects of BPI cobra antivenom

Snakebite is a neglected public health issue, with many scientific and medical issues to be solved. Cobras are among the most common venomous snakes in Myanmar and are responsible for a considerable number of severe snakebite envenoming. There are three species of cobra (Naja kaouthia, Naja mandalayensis and Ophiophagus hannah) in Myanmar. The study aims to characterize the N. kaouthia and N. mandalayensis venoms and to investigate the efficacy of anti-cobra antivenom (BPI) against the two venoms. Protein components and fibrinogenolytic activity were determined by SDS-PAGE. Enzymatic activities for PLA2, protease and acetylcholinesterase were determined by spectrophotometric method. Anticoagulant activity was determined by recalcification time of citrated human plasma. Myotoxicity, necrotizing activity, median lethal dose (LD50) and median effective dose (ED50) were determined by WHO recommended methods. The SDS-PAGE displayed the proteins and enzymes containing in two venoms were different. N. kaouthia venom exhibited more in PLA2, acetylcholinesterase, anticoagulant, fibrinogenolytic and necrotizing activities than N. mandalayensis venom. N. mandalayensis venom had more protease activity and myotoxicity than N. kaouthia venom. The median lethal dose (LD50) of N. kaouthia and N. mandalayensis venom was 4.33 μg/mouse and 5.04 μg/mouse respectively. Both venoms induced fibrinogen Aα chain degradation in 30 min (N. kaouthia) and in 6 h (N. mandalayensis). The same median effective dose (ED50) (19.56 μg/mouse) showed that anti-NK antivenom can neutralize against lethal effect of N. mandalayensis venom. It can also neutralize the protease activity, anticoagulant activity and fibrinogenolytic activity of both venoms. Immunodiffusion and immunoblotting studies showed that the antivenom recognized its homologous venom (N. kaouthia) and cross-reacted against the heterologous venom (N. mandalayensis). The anti-NK antivenom is suitable to use for N. mandalayensis bite if monospecific antivenom is not available

Factors associated with effects of COVID-19 vaccine among adults in Malaysia

Introduction: Globally, the needs for more focused research to understand the effects of COVID-19 vaccines among the population to verify the previous research and generate more reliable data. Therefore, this cross-sectional study was aimed to identify the factors associated with the effects of COVID-19 vaccination among adults in Malaysia. Methods: Malaysian people aged 18 and up were enrolled in a cross-sectional online survey. For data collection, a Google form was used to design an online questionnaire which was distributed through social media and in person by the author. Results: A total of 446 responses were analyzed. 58% participants received Pfizer BioNTech Covid 19 vaccine followed by Sinovac (21%) and AstraZeneca (16%). The most reported effect was local reaction pain, swelling and redness at the site of injection with 54.3% of participants. It was seen more in Pfizer BioNTech (56.8%) and AstraZeneca (57.1%) recipients in comparison to Sinovac recipients (42.9%), but this difference was not significant (x2=3.453; p-value=0.315). Tiredness/fatigue was the next most reported effect 51.3% by participants. The other more frequently reported effects were body pain (43.3%), muscle pain (41%), fever (41%) and headache (33%) respectively, which are significantly associated with the type of vaccine.&nbsp

Evolutionary Dynamics of Whole-Genome Influenza A/H3N2 Viruses Isolated in Myanmar from 2015 to 2019

This study aimed to analyze the genetic and evolutionary characteristics of the influenza A/H3N2 viruses circulating in Myanmar from 2015 to 2019. Whole genomes from 79 virus isolates were amplified using real-time polymerase chain reaction and successfully sequenced using the Illumina iSeq100 platforms. Eight individual phylogenetic trees were retrieved for each segment along with those of the World Health Organization (WHO)-recommended Southern Hemisphere vaccine strains for the respective years. Based on the WHO clades classification, the A/H3N2 strains in Myanmar from 2015 to 2019 collectively belonged to clade 3c.2. These strains were further defined based on hemagglutinin substitutions as follows: clade 3C.2a (n = 39), 3C.2a1 (n = 2), and 3C.2a1b (n = 38). Genetic analysis revealed that the Myanmar strains differed from the Southern Hemisphere vaccine strains each year, indicating that the vaccine strains did not match the circulating strains. The highest rates of nucleotide substitution were estimated for hemagglutinin (3.37 &times; 10&minus;3 substitutions/site/year) and neuraminidase (2.89 &times; 10&minus;3 substitutions/site/year). The lowest rate was for non-structural protein segments (4.19 &times; 10&minus;5 substitutions/site/year). The substantial genetic diversity that was revealed improved phylogenetic classification. This information will be particularly relevant for improving vaccine strain selection

Serological evidence indicates widespread distribution of rickettsioses in Myanmar

Background Little research has been published on the prevalence of rickettsial infections in Myanmar. This study determined the seroprevalence of immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies to rickettsial species in different regions of Myanmar. Methods Seven hundred leftover blood samples from patients of all ages in primary care clinics and hospitals in seven regions of Myanmar were collected. Samples were screened for scrub typhus group (STG), typhus group (TG) and spotted fever group (SFG) IgG antibodies using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA). Immunofluorescence assays were performed for the same rickettsial groups to confirm seropositivity if ELISA optical density ≥0.5. Results Overall IgG seroprevalence was 19% [95% confidence interval (CI) 16–22%] for STG, 5% (95% CI 3–7%) for TG and 3% (95% CI: 2–5%) for SFG. The seroprevalence of STG was particularly high in northern and central Myanmar (59% and 19–33%, respectively). Increasing age was associated with higher odds of STG and TG seropositivity [per 10-year increase, adjusted odds ratio estimate 1.68 (p < 0.01) and 1.24 (p = 0.03), respectively]. Conclusion Rickettsial infections are widespread in Myanmar, with particularly high seroprevalence of STG IgG antibodies in central and northern regions. Healthcare workers should consider rickettsial infections as common causes of fever in Myanmar