Mengurai kelopak musim: sebuah catatan kembara ilmu

Catatan perjalanan hidup ini dinukilkan sebagai tanda ingatan ketika diri penulis dalam proses mempelajari nilai kehidupan yang sebenar. Pengembaraan meraih ilmu dan melewati perjalanan kehidupan di rantau orang menjadikan penulis lebih memerhati, lebih responsif dan lebih dewasa. Meredah musim-musim dengan budaya yang berbeza di rantauan semasa dalam proses menimba ilmu telah menjadi wadah muhasabah diri untuk seorang insan yang cuba melakukan yang terbaik sebagai isteri, ibu, anak, pelajar pascasiswazah, teman, rakan sekerja dan pelbagai lagi fungsi seorang individu di dunia juga akhirat

Koleksi pantun halal untuk kanak-kanak dan remaja

Pantun Melayu tak lekang dek panas, tak lapuk dek hujan. Dalam buku ini, pantun dipilih sebagai wadah menyampaikan mesej halal sebagai gaya hidup yang holistik kepada kumpulan sasaran kanak-kanak dan remaja. Buku ini menyentuh isu-isu halal, antara lain seperti binatang sembelihan halal, ramuan halal, barang gunaan, ubat-ubatan, kewangan dan logo Halal JAKIM. Penulis merupakan gandingan ayahanda, Nazel Hashim Mohamad dan puteri bongsu Yumi Zuhanis Has-Yun, dengan latar belakang penulisan dan ilmu berkaitan halal. Bahan bacaan santai tetapi sarat dengan maklumat ini, diharap dapat menerapkan ilmu tentang halal di kalangan kanak-kanak dan remaja dalam usaha melahirkan generasi yang celik halal dan seterusnya mengamalkan gaya hidup halal dalam kehidupan

Pathway analysis of genes affected in MCF-7 breast cancer cells treated with recombinant bromelain

The contributing molecular pathways underlying the pathogenesis of breast cancer need to be better characterized. The goal of the present study is to understand the probable molecular mechanism and the associated pathway related to recombinant bromelain treatment on MCF-7 breast cancer cells. Within 1102 known genes differentially expressed to a significant degree (p<0.001) set, 34 genes were significantly changed between treated cells and the control cells with cutoff fold change more than 2. These genes are LYRM2, TUBB2C, LRRFIP1, HMGN2, HMGN2, GLTSCR2, RN28S1, HIST2H4B, HIST2H4A, PA2G4, ACTB, C1orf152, RPS3A, C12orf51, RAP1B, FLJ16171, CCDC59, MGEA5, KIFAP3, GPBP1, KLHDC2, TBPL1, STK38L, RIOK3, CLK4 SNORD46, C7orf60, BTG1, TMEM59, ARID4A, C6orf62, FRG1, DEFB109P1B and RBMS1. With this exploratory study using Ingenuity Pathway Analysis IPA, we aim to identify the overlapping pathways associated with recombinant bromelain treatment and its anti-cancer mechanisms in MCF-7 breast cancer cells. The pathways identification has been shown to be associated with recombinant bromelain function on cell cycle, cancer, cell death & survival, cellular development, tumor morphology, cellular growth and proliferation. This finding will enhance the power of In-vitro breast cancer study and lead to better understandin

Anti-cancer activity of un-inoculated agarwood branch against MCF-7 breast cancer cells

Agarwood or Gaharu by definition is the resin impregnated heartwood from Aquilaria species that produces unique aromatic scent when burnt. apart from religious rituals and perfumes, agarwood has also been used as traditional medicines leading to the interest of this study which is to screen for anti-cancer properties to further support the traditional medicine claims. This present study aims to investigate the potential anto-cancer activity of un-inoculated A.sub-integra agarwood branch against MCF-7 breast cancer cells and screen for the most influential extraction parameters. Experimental design was generated using the MODDE software from SIMCA-P+ V12.0.1. Parameters included in the design were temperature °C, time (hour), igitation speed (rpm), and ratio of sample to the solvent (g/ml). Sulforhodamine B (SRB) assay was used to determine the potential cytotoxic effects of ABE against MCF-7 breast cancer cells. It was found that ethanolic-extract of agarwood branch (ABE) from experimental run 11 with 12 hours extraction time, 50 °C temperature, 100 rpm and 1:20 ratio of solid to extraction solvent gave the highest yield of 21.3% (g/g) of ABE from 3 gram of sample material. regression analysis found that agitation speed has significant negative effects. Meanwhile, run 16 (extraction time of 24hours, 50 °C extraction temperature, agitation speed of 200rpm and 1:20 solid to extraction solvent ratio) gave the lowest IC 50 of 8 ug/ml against MCF-7 cells. In conclusion, results from this study were able to confirm the anto-cancer effects of un-inoculated agarwood branch. More studies are warranted to elucidate the mechanism of agarwood extract in cancer prevention and therapeutics. This will further add value to the currently growing agarwood industry

Cytokinetic study of uninfected agarwood branch ethanolic extract on breast cancer cells

Breast cancer is the most common malignancy in women with over 500,000 global death toll annually. Ethnopharmaceutical practices provide evidences of Aquilaria spp. as traditional treatment for numerous illness. This study intended to look into the cytotoxic kinetics of uninfected agarwood branch ethanolic extract from Aquilaria subintegra against MCF-7 breast cancer cell line that could help grasp the effect and provide baseline towards development of agarwood-based therapeutics. Extract was subjected to a series of kinetic studies in order to investigate the growth rate, death rate, doubling time and death time of MCF-7 between the treated and control groups. Results obtained indicated that the extract lowered the growth rate from 0.0421 h-1 to 0.0158 h-1 and stretched the doubling time from 16.4 hours to 43.8 hours. Death rate was escalated from 0.0058 h-1 to 0.0563 h-1. Closer inspection on the population density images revealed that the extract-treated MCF-7 cells showed abnormal appearance with blebs, volume reduction, cell shrinking and loss of cell-cell contact. These discoveries implied that agarwood uninfected branch ethanolic extract altered the kinetics of MCF-7 cells and additional study should be made to substantiate the hypothesis and elucidate the effects against cancer

In-silico approach in risk assessment of nutraceutical properties

Dietary supplements, including those containing botanical ingredients and botanical-derived compounds, have been marketed to consumers globally for many decades. However, the legislative framework for such products remains inconsistent across jurisdictions internationally. A common problem, concerning these nutraceutical product, is deficient information and lack of data for assessing the hazards posed to human health. The main objective is to explore the use of in silico tools in a risk assessment context of nutraceutical product, to relate properties of the molecular structure to the toxic effect of the chemical substance, by using principles and methods of computational chemistry. Further consideration of the actual impact of adverse events arising from nutraceutical food supplement usage will be helpful in guiding such issue as potential for misidentification, and adulteration of botanical supplements by pharmacologically active substances

Uninfected agarwood branch extract possess cytotoxic and inhibitory effects on MCF-7 breast cancer cells

Apart from the highly sought agarwood resin primarily for perfumery industry, agarwood or gaharu (Aquilaria spp.) in general has been one of basic components in traditional medicine including Ayurvedic, Traditional Chinese Medicine and other communities in the Asian region. While the resin is formed in infected trees, this present study reported the cytotoxicity and attachment inhibition effects of leaf and branch extracts from uninfected agarwood tree against breast cancer cells. Qualitative extraction screening process was first conducted to screen for suitable extraction solvents and parts of plant (leaf or branch). Then, the in vitro anti-cancer screening assays including cytotoxicity and attachment assays were conducted. Branch sample extracted using ethanol and distilled water resulted in higher yield and more potent cancer inhibiting effects as compared to other solvents. Crude extract obtained after drying process using ethanol as solvent yielded 9.47 % g/g (branch) and 13.2 % g/g (leaf); distilled water as solvent yielded 9.33 % g/g (branch) and 12.8 % g/g (leaf), respectively. However, branch extract exhibited more potent cancerinhibiting effects with IC50 of 23 µg/mL (ethanol) and 38 µg/mL (distilled water) as compared to leaf (no intersection points in the plot). To this end, it can be concluded that extracts from uninfected agarwood tree (Aquilaria subintegra) possesses cytotoxic and anti-attachment effects on MCF-7 breast cancer cells with ethanolic branch extract being the most promising. The screening and selection of extraction solvent and plant type are crucial steps towards cost-effective extraction and further bioprocessing of bioactive compounds from agarwood tree