Bone Health Status among Thalassemia Children.

Low bone mineral density is a significant problem in children with Thalassemia which may lead to increased risk for fragility fractures and suboptimal peak bone mass. This cross-sectional study was conducted to determine the bone health status of Thalassemia children Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre and Paediatrics Insititute Kuala Lumpur Hospital. A total of 81 respondents diagnosed with transfusion dependant beta Thalassemia (41 boys and 40 girls) aged between 7 to 19 years old completed the study. The data collected were demographic information, anthropometric measurements, dairy frequency questionnaires, dietary habits of the respondents and their parents, dietary intakes and bone densitometry using Ultrasound Bone Densitometer. For Quantitative Ultrasound (QUS) parameters, T-score of 9.8% participants were lower than -1.0 and 30.9% of the participants had lower Speed of Sound(SOS) than healthy SOS. This study showed there was no difference in bone density by sex (p>0.05). The median bone density of boys was 1616.00 m/ sec (IQR= 39.00) and girls’ was 1579.00 m/ sec (IQR= 116.00). SOS was not increased with age, height and weight; but girls’ Body Mass Index (BMI). Malay children had significantly higher SOS than non-Malay children. This study highlights a need of proper intervention for the high risk group to achieve optimal bone health

Assessing the Nutritional Status of Children with Leukemia from Hospitals in Kuala Lumpur

A cross-sectional study was carried out to evaluate the nutritional status of 51 subjects with leukemia aged 4 to 12 years from the Haematology & Oncology Paediatric Ward, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre (PPUKM) and the Paediatric Institute of Kuala Lumpur. Nutritional status was assessed using anthropometric measurements, biochemical and haematological parameters. Subjects comprised 32 (62.7%) males and 19 (27.3%) females. Most of the subjects (41.2%) were in the age group of 4 to 6 years. More than half of the children were Malays (70.6%) followed by Indians (15.7%) and Chinese (13.7%). The subjects were diagnosed as acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) (84.3%) followed by acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) (13.7%) and chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) (2.0%) respectively. Most of the children were in remission status (54.9%). Underweight (<-2 SD for weight-for-age) was observed in 37.3% of the children while 17.6% of them were stunted (<-2 SD for height-for-age), and sign(s) of malnutrition (<-2 SD) for mid upper arm circumference (MUAC)-for-age was observed in 15.7% of the subjects. Approximately 20.0% of the subjects were in the severe malnutrition category with respect to low serum albumin levels (<3.5g/dl). All subjects had hemoglobin levels of less than the normal range. While the results indicated no significant differences in the nutritional status of subjects with leukemia at different stages of treatment, it was observed that the prevalence of malnutrition was higher in children with newly diagnosed leukemia. Thus, the nutritional status of children with leukemia should be monitored closely as there is a likelihood of deterioration owing to the disease

Bone Health Status among Thalassemia Children

ABSTRACT Receive

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Characteristics And Company Performance Of Malaysian Listed Companies

The main objective this research is to examine the relationship between Chief Executive Officer (CEO) characteristics and company performance specifically based on Return on Asset (ROA). Using a sample of 241 Malaysian listed companiesis examined from 2013 to 2015 in various industry listed on Bursa Malaysia. Regression analysis produce significant results for CEO’s education and experience effect ROA. Economic study is important to know in potential economic growth of develop conceptual models of behavior to predict responses to changes in policy and market conditions. CEO experience inthis research prove consistent that longer CEO that stay for a company for a long time may not care about their job and this may lead to poor performance of the company. The result also shows all control variables such as company size, company age and company leverage have significant relationship with the ROA. This study can be expanded using other CEOs characteristics and other performance measure such as Economic Value Added (EVA), Return on Equity (ROE) and Excess in Value

Role of Diet in Asthma.

Current understanding of the role of excluding certain foods in the treatment of asthma is still limited. A series of observational studies has been carried out monitoring the levels of food specific IgG antibodies to ovalbumin and β-lactoglobulin, utilising an in-house ELISA in young asthmatic children aged between 2-15 years and adults. The levels of these antibodies were also considered in relation to non-atopic individuals with no personal or family history of atopic conditions. Information from a self-administered comprehensive questionnaire provided additional information on all groups regarding family history of atopy, adverse reactions to foods and customary dietary habits. A wide range of anti-ovalbumin and anti-β-lactoglobulin IgG levels were observed in all asthmatic and non-atopic subjects. In both asthmatic young children and adults with or without other atopic conditions, the specific anti-ovalbumin IgG levels were significantly higher (between P<0.001 and P<0.05), than the non-atopic groups. In contrast, specific anti-β-lactoglobulin IgG levels were significantly higher (P<0.01) in asthmatic young children with other atopic conditions compared with the non-atopic subjects. However, specific anti-β-lactoglobulin IgG levels were significantly higher (P<0.01) in adults with asthma only compared with matched non-atopic subjects. A single blind prospective study was undertaken to examine the effects of dietary eggs and cows’ milk avoidance for 8 weeks in asthmatic children on the signs and symptoms of their asthma. Significantly reduced circulating levels of anti-ovalbumin IgG (P<0.01) and anti-β-lactoglobulin IgG (P<0.05), were observed in these children following the dietary exclusion, indicating compliance on the diet. Other benefits of the dietary intervention included less frequently reported episodes of asthmatic attack and significantly increased (P<0.05) PEFR reading. Undesirable outcomes of the diet intervention included slight weight loss in 7 of 13 children, although this was not statistically significantly different. Evidence from this thesis supports the concept of the role of diet in the induction of the asthmatic condition, together with the role of diet intervention in the treatment of the asthmatic condition

Role of Diet in Asthma.

Current understanding of the role of excluding certain foods in the treatment of asthma is still limited. A series of observational studies has been carried out monitoring the levels of food specific IgG antibodies to ovalbumin and β-lactoglobulin, utilising an in-house ELISA in young asthmatic children aged between 2-15 years and adults. The levels of these antibodies were also considered in relation to non-atopic individuals with no personal or family history of atopic conditions. Information from a self-administered comprehensive questionnaire provided additional information on all groups regarding family history of atopy, adverse reactions to foods and customary dietary habits. A wide range of anti-ovalbumin and anti-β-lactoglobulin IgG levels were observed in all asthmatic and non-atopic subjects. In both asthmatic young children and adults with or without other atopic conditions, the specific anti-ovalbumin IgG levels were significantly higher (between P<0.001 and P<0.05), than the non-atopic groups. In contrast, specific anti-β-lactoglobulin IgG levels were significantly higher (P<0.01) in asthmatic young children with other atopic conditions compared with the non-atopic subjects. However, specific anti-β-lactoglobulin IgG levels were significantly higher (P<0.01) in adults with asthma only compared with matched non-atopic subjects. A single blind prospective study was undertaken to examine the effects of dietary eggs and cows’ milk avoidance for 8 weeks in asthmatic children on the signs and symptoms of their asthma. Significantly reduced circulating levels of anti-ovalbumin IgG (P<0.01) and anti-β-lactoglobulin IgG (P<0.05), were observed in these children following the dietary exclusion, indicating compliance on the diet. Other benefits of the dietary intervention included less frequently reported episodes of asthmatic attack and significantly increased (P<0.05) PEFR reading. Undesirable outcomes of the diet intervention included slight weight loss in 7 of 13 children, although this was not statistically significantly different. Evidence from this thesis supports the concept of the role of diet in the induction of the asthmatic condition, together with the role of diet intervention in the treatment of the asthmatic condition

Degradation of acid red 27 by the recombinant flavin reductase

This paper focuses on the degradation of azo compound C.I. Acid Red 27 (AR27, amaranth) by the recombinant enzyme flavin reductase (FRE) from Citrobacter freundii strain A1. The enzyme was obtained via re-transformation of recombinant plasmid pET-43.1c(+)freBP containing the flavin reductase gene (fre) into E. coli NovaBlue. The plasmid was subsequently transformed into E. coli BL21(DE3)pLysS for overexpression of FRE fusion protein. Prior to that, the stability of fre gene was first verified using PCR amplification and also sequencing of the nucleotides and consequently compared with the original fre gene sequence from C. freundii A1. The protein was expressed as inclusion bodies and was isolated and refolded in order to obtain a properly-folded and active flavin reductase. The activity and the protein yield were monitored using a modified flavin reductase assay and Bradford assay respectively. The active enzyme was further subjected to the degradation of AR27 and the degradation profile was constructed

In silico analyses of flavin reductase from citrobacter freundii A1

Objective: The aim of the present study was to describe the structural and phylogenetic features of flavin reductase from C.freundii Al using bioinfonnatics tools. Materials and methods:The flavin reductase (Ire) gene from a dye-degrading bacterium, C. freundii Al was isolated and amplified by Polymerase Chain Reaction (peR). The gene encodes for NAD(P)H:flavin oxidoreductase, an enzyme that catalyzes the reduction of soluble flavins by reduced pyridine nucleotides this was believed to be the azoreductase from C. freundii AI. The gene, approximately 0.8 kb was sequenced and in silica analyses of the nucleotide sequence were performed. Results: From phlyogenetic analyses, we observed that flavin reductase enzyme generally existed in most microorganisms and the enzyme from C.freundii Al is conserved among the Gram-negative bacteria. The protein function of the flavin reductase coded was predicted based on the motifs of deduced amino acid sequence. The amino acid sequence of flavin reductase from C. freundii Al was compared with other azoreductases and was found to be a unique NADPH-preferred azoreductase. Conclusion: Hence, in silica characterization of flavin reductase gene presented various features of the gene and this would facilitate molecular studies of the gene and reveal the functional role of the enzyme

Reduction of azo dyes by flavin reductase from citrobacter freundii A1

Citrobacter freundii A1 isolated from a sewage treatment facility was demonstrated to be able to effectively decolorize azo dyes as pure and mixed culture. This study reports on the investigation on the enzymatic systems involved. An assay performed suggested the possible involvement of flavin reductase (Fre) as an azo reductase. A heterologouslyexpressed recombinant Fre from C. freundii A1 was used to investigate its involvement in the azo reduction process. Three model dyes were used, namely Acid Red 27 (AR27), Direct Blue 15 (DB15) and Reactive Black 5 (RB5). AR27 was found to be reduced the fastest by Fre, followed by RB5, and lastly DB15. Redox mediators nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) and riboflavin enhance the reduction, suggesting the redox activity of the enzyme. The rate and extent of reduction of the model dyes correlate well with the reduction potentials (Ep). The data presented here strongly suggest that Fre is one of the enzymes responsible for azo reduction in C. freundii A1, acting via an oxidation-reduction reaction