Can auditory icons induce food intake mimicry?

This research hypothesized that auditory icons that represent eating can be used to induce mimicry in food intake behavior.Numerous studies show that, when two people are eating together, they mimic each other’s eating behavior.To test this hypothesis, participants were asked to eat diced apples.While eating, they can hear auditory icons that represent other people’s eating sound.In reality, the auditory icons used were a sound loop.Their food intake was monitored. If eating occurred within 5 seconds after the participants heard the auditory icons, they were considered to mimic the sound.It was found that, auditory icons that represent eating cause food intake mimicry in human.In the future, results gained from this research may be applied in the design and development of persuasive technology to persuade people to eat slowly since it is beneficial to health

Association of smoking and severity of Covid-19 infection among 5,889 patients in Malaysia: a multi-center observational study

Objective: This study aims to investigate the association between smoking and the severity of COVID-19 infection during the initial wave of this pandemic in Malaysia. Methods: This is a multi-center observational study using secondary hospital data collected retrospectively from February 1, 2020, until May 30, 2020. Clinical records of all real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR)-confirmed COVID-19 cases with smoking status, co-morbidities, clinical features, and disease management were retrieved. Severity was assessed by the presence of complications and outcomes of COVID-19 infection. Logistic regression was used to determine the association between COVID-19 disease severity and smoking status. Results: A total of 5,889 COVID-19 cases were included in the analysis. Ever smokers had a higher risk of having COVID-19 complications, such as acute respiratory distress syndrome (odds ratio [OR] 1.69; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.09-2.55), renal injury (OR 1.55; 95% CI 1.10-2.14), and acute liver injury (OR 1.33; 95% CI 1.01-1.74), compared with never smokers. However, in terms of disease outcomes, there were no differences between the two groups. Conclusion: Although no significant association was found in terms of disease outcomes, smoking is associated with a higher risk of having complications owing to COVID-19 infection

Subchronic toxicity, immunoregulation and anti-breast tumor effect of Nordamnacantal, an anthraquinone extracted from the stems of Morinda citrifolia L.

Background: Morinda citrifolia L. that was reported with immunomodulating and cytotoxic effects has been traditionally used to treat multiple illnesses including cancer. An anthraquinone derived from fruits of Morinda citrifolia L., nordamnacanthal, is a promising agent possessing several in vitro biological activities. However, the in vivo anti-tumor effects and the safety profile of nordamnacanthal are yet to be evaluated. Methods: In vitro cytotoxicity of nordamnacanthal was tested using MTT, cell cycle and Annexin V/PI assays on human MCF-7 and MDA-MB231 breast cancer cells. Mice were orally fed with nordamnacanthal daily for 28 days for oral subchronic toxicity study. Then, the in vivo anti-tumor effect was evaluated on 4T1 murine cancer cells-challenged mice. Changes of tumor size and immune parameters were evaluated on the untreated and nordamnacanthal treated mice. Results: Nordamnacanthal was found to possess cytotoxic effects on MDA-MB231, MCF-7 and 4T1 cells in vitro. Moreover, based on the cell cycle and Annexin V results, nordamnacanthal managed to induce cell death in both MDA-MB231 and MCF-7 cells. Additionally, no mortality, signs of toxicity and changes of serum liver profile were observed in nordamnacanthal treated mice in the subchronic toxicity study. Furthermore, 50 mg/kg body weight of nordamncanthal successfully delayed the progression of 4T1 tumors in Balb/C mice after 28 days of treatment. Treatment with nordamnacanthal was also able to increase tumor immunity as evidenced by the immunophenotyping of the spleen and YAC-1 cytotoxicity assays. Conclusion: Nordamnacanthal managed to inhibit the growth and induce cell death in MDA-MB231 and MCF-7 cell lines in vitro and cease the tumor progression of 4T1 cells in vivo. Overall, nordamnacanthal holds interesting anti-cancer properties that can be further explored

Prevalence of Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) Infection Among Patients in Surgical ad Orthopaedic Wards of PPUKM

Highly adaptable methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) was documented as the most common commensal pathogen detected in hospitals. Thus, screening for the infection has become one of the essential active control approaches in eradicating the transmission of MRSA which is currently the concern of most medical practitioners. The objective of this study is to compare the prevalence of MRSA infection by universal screening among the patients in surgical and orthopaedic wards of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Center (PPUKM). A total of 41 samples of nasal, throat and armpit swabs were collected from 15 patients in both wards (9 and 6 patients from orthopaedic and surgical ward respectively) and tested on ORSAB media and MSAO agar, before further tested on MHA, DNAse and koagulase media for sensitivity and resistance tests. There were 0% prevalence of MRSA infections recorded out of 25 samples taken from the patients in orthopedic ward, whilst one patient from the surgical ward was positive with MRSA infections (6.25% prevalence) which was obtained from a nasal sample. The result show that the prevalence of MRSA infection in surgical ward was potentially higher as compared to orthopaedic ward although there were smaller number of samples taken from the surgical ward. There is also a tendency that MRSA inhabiting nasal in a relatively higher number than in throat or armpit surfaces of warded patients

The perception of nurses in high risk wards regarding the cost-effectiveness and practically of universal screening for methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) among patients

Introduction: Staphylococcus aureus can commonly be found as normal flora in human but the pathogenic strain can lead to health problems. Prompt treatment of patients is important to prevent the spread of infection, especially because it has become resistant to multiple antibiotics including methicillin (thus Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus or MRSA) which can lead to higher cost of treatment and increasing mortality. Aim: The objective of this research was to evaluate the perceptions of nurses working in high risk wards in Pusat Perubatan Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (PPUKM), namely the surgical and orthopaedic wards, regarding the cost-effectiveness and practical issues of universal screening for MRSA on patients admitted to the hospital, as opposed to the screening of only high risk patients as of the current practice. Methodology: This qualitative study used focus group discussions of the purposely selected nurses as the data collection method. Results: The results show that a majority of the participants agreed for universal screening of MRSA being carried out upon admission of patients, irrespective of the cost. Among others, the reasons given were to prevent the transmission of infection to hospital staff or other healthy individuals and to shorten the length of stay in hospital, which indirectly would be more cost-effective in the long run. Most of them also perceived that cohort isolation would be more cost-effective as compared to individual isolation of MRSA infected patients as a preventive method. All of them had experienced taking swabs from patients for MRSA screening and they thought of it as a simple procedure. Conclusion: Majority of the participants perceived that universal screening for MRSA and cohort isolation would be more cost-effective in the prevention of MRSA, besides perceiving no major practical issues if it is going to be carried out in PPUKM

The perception of nurses in high risk wards regarding the cost-effectiveness and practicality of universal screening for Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) among patients

Staphylococcus aureus can commonly be found as normal flora in human but the pathogenic strain can lead to health problems. Prompt treatment of patients is important to prevent the spread of infection, especially because it has become resistant to multiple antibiotics including methicillin (thus Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus or MRSA) which can lead to higher cost of treatment and increasing mortality. The objective of this research was to evaluate the perceptions of nurses working in high risk wards in Pusat Perubatan Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (PPUKM), namely the surgical and orthopaedic wards, regarding the cost-effectiveness and practical issues of universal screening for MRSA on patients admitted to the hospital, as opposed to the screening of only high risk patients as of the current practice. This qualitative study used focus group discussions of the purposely selected nurses as the data collection method. The results show that a majority of the participants agreed for universal screening of MRSA being carried out upon admission of patients, irrespective of the cost. Among others, the reasons given were to prevent the transmission of infection to hospital staff or other healthy individuals and to shorten the length of stay in hospital, which indirectly would be more cost-effective in the long run. Most of them also perceived that cohort isolation would be more cost-effective as compared to individual isolation of MRSA infected patients as a preventive method. All of them had experienced taking swabs from patients for MRSA screening and they thought of it as a simple procedure. In conclusion, majority of the participants perceived that universal screening for MRSA and cohort isolation would be more cost-effective in the prevention of MRSA, besides perceiving no major practical issues if it is going to be carried out in PPUKM

Primary small cell neuroendocrine carcinoma: a rare entity of bladder neoplasm

Primary small cell neuroendocrine carcinoma (SCNEC) is a rare high-grade malignant neoplasm with neuroen- docrine differentiation derived from the urothelium. Herein, we report a case which presented with symptomatic anaemia secondary to haematuria, complicated with acute kidney injury following obstructive uropathy caused by the SCNEC, along with the discussion of the clinical presentation, radiological imaging and pathological findings of the disease

Reflections of pharmacy students on experiential education in providing health services to people with history of substance use disorders in Malaysia

Introduction: Accreditation standards for pharmacy students’ education include the requirement for experiential education (EE) and acknowledge, in building life-long learning skills, the need to develop students’ skills in analysing their practice-based performance. The goal of this qualitative study was to assess students’ ability to reflect on their experience providing face-to-face care to patients with a history of substance use disorders (PHSUDs). Materials and methods: Interviews were conducted with undergraduate pharmacy students who provided care to PHSUDs in an EE programme. An interview guide was used to explore students’ experiences and their perceptions regarding the challenges they encountered, changes in their attitude towards PHSUDs and ways to improve their ability to care for PHSUDs. Data relevant to the study was extracted from interview transcripts,manually sorted and coded using Microsoft Excel and subjected to thematic analysis. Results: The themes identified were 1) Increased self-confidence in face-to-face interactions with PHSUDs 2) Increased empathy towards PHSUDS 3) Reduction in stigmatised attitudes towards PHSUDs 4) Positive nature of the interactions with PHSUDs 5) Appreciation for the opportunity to apply knowledge in practice 6) Recognition of the need for improved communication skill training 7) Recognition of the need to improve training for dealing with unexpected questions and situations. Conclusion: Pharmacy students demonstrated reflective skills in identifying multiple positive learning outcomes stemming from a one-day EE programme involving PHSUDs. In addition, they provided insights useful to faculty in curriculum planning

Regional frequency analysis of extreme rainfalls in the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia using partial l-moments

This study was to reinstate the development of regional frequency analysis using L-moments approach. The Partial L-moments (PL-moments) method was employed and a new relationship for homogeneity analysis is developed. For this study, the PL-moments for generalized logistic (GLO), generalized pareto (GPA) and generalized value (GEV) distributions were derived based on the formula defined by Wang (Water Resour Res 32:1767-1771, 1996). The three distributions are used to develop the regional frequency analysis procedures. As a case of study, the Selangor catchment that consists of 30 sites which located on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia has chosen as sample. Based on L-moment and PL-moment ratio diagrams as well as Z-test statistics, the GEV and GLO were identified as the best distributions to represent the statistical properties of extreme rainfalls in Selangor. Monte Carlo simulation shows that the method of PL-moments would outperform L-moments method for estimation of large returns period event

Electronic media studies in upgrading learning and teaching: effective strategy provided by RTM

Listening to the radio is one of the mediums of communication that is still popular among Malaysians, no matter the age or gender or economic status. It is the choice of all segments of society as it is relevant to our daily lives. However, most Malaysian listeners still preferred listening to the Top Five private radio stations such as Hot FM, Suria FM and ERA FM as compared to RTM-owned ones. The listeners’ perception is the main factor that is closely aligned with the acceptance and popularity of radio stations. This study used the quantitative research method to analyze the factors that contribute to the effectiveness of radio stations provided by Radio Television Malaysia (RTM) among listeners in Klang Valley. It focused on 130 respondents residing around the Klang Valley area. The variables tested in this study include perception, acceptance, radio deejays (DJs), radio content, songs, and promotion. As a result, radio station DJs are the main factor that influences the effectiveness of radio stations provided by RTM. In conclusion, the results from this study will help improve RTM’s services and quality to increase the listeners’ interest in the radio stations through the identification of the factors that contribute to the effectiveness of radio stations among the listeners in the Klang Valley area