Practices and beliefs among Malaysian dentists and periodontists towards smoking cessation intervention

This study compared the attitudes, practices and perceived barriers among Malaysian dentists and periodontists towards smoking cessation interventions (SCI) for patients. A self-administered questionnaire, which covered respondents beliefs, practices as well as barriers and limitations towards SCI, were posted to 289 dentists from four Malaysian states and 35 Malaysian periodontists. In all, 236 (82) dentists and 26 (80) periodontists responded. More periodontists than dentists routinely record patient's smoking status at first visit (89.3 vs 19.1) (pp<0.001), recommend nicotine replacement aids (37 vs 16.3) (p=0.031), refer to smoking cessation clinics (40.7 vs 14) (p=0.001), followed-up smoking cessation with patients (70.4 vs 11.3) (pp<0.001) and described themselves as being committed to patients' SCI (81.5 vs 53.4) (p=0.013). Limitations faced by dentists as compared to periodontists in SCI were due to insufficient time (pp<0.001) and fear it will affect dentist-patient relationship (p=0.034). The findings in this study emphasize the importance of SCI and the need for further training in SCI among Malaysian periodontists and government dentists. Copyright Reserved © 2007 Sains Malaysiana

EVALUATION OF A STANDARDIZED EXTRACT OF GINKGO BILOBA IN VITILIGO REMEDY

Introduction Vitiligo is a common acquired, idiopathic skin disorder, this study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of Ginkgo biloba in patients with vitiligo. Material and Methods Fifty persons were included, twelve patients received Ginkgo biloba capsule (75mg) twice daily compared with twelve patients received placebo capsule for 8 weeks at Al-Kadhimyia Teaching Hospital. Twenty six healthy volunteers considered as control. Patient's history was taken and measurement of neutrophils percentage, serum Glutathione (Elleman methods), Malonialdehyde (Stocks and Dormandy methods), Interlukine -6 (Elisa) and Vitiligo area scoring index (VASI) at baseline, 4 and 8 weeks interval, as a parameters to indicate the impact of Ginkgo biloba on the disease.  Results and discussion showed significant decrease in serum interlukin-6 (S. IL-6) after 4 weeks between Ginkgo biloba group and placebo group. No significant difference was found in Neutrophils percent between Ginkgo biloba group and placebo group after 4 and 8 weeks. There was a significant increase in serum glutathione (S. GSH) after 4 and 8 weeks in Ginkgo biloba. Serum malondialdehyde (S. MDA) showed no significant difference between Ginkgo biloba group and placebo group after 4 and 8 weeks and no changes in VASI were found after 8 weeks between Ginkgo biloba and placebo group. Conclusion Ginkgo biloba may has good activity in vitiligo treatment. Keywords: Ginkgo biloba, vitiligo, antioxidant

Conceptual framework for a cardiac surgery simulation laboratory and competency-based curriculum in Pakistan - a short innovation report

Simulation is a commonly utilized technique in healthcare education as it provides trainees a realistic, but safe, environment to learn a variety of skills. Trainees belonging to fields known for high stakes with low margins for error, such as cardiac surgery, can greatly benefit from simulation-based education. We propose the establishment of the first multi-tier high fidelity cardiac surgery simulation lab with a structured curriculum that will eventually provide multidisciplinary training to promising cardiac surgeons across Pakistan. The simulation lab may also be used for research, grant acquisition and patent development. Our setup will include the following levels of simulation: a simple bench model, a virtual reality simulator and a unique human performance simulator. Our multitiered approach allows for appropriate sequential trainee skill progression. Finally, we hope that our model inspires the development of similar curricula and modules for trainees belonging to other surgica

Digital hacking and cyber-attacks: cyber security from Islamic perspective

As the number of devices connected to the Internet increase and the amount of data available online grow, the cyber-attacks will keep increasing in number and their severity. For Malaysia specifically, as of the second quarter of 2022, a total of 44.2 million accounts have been breached putting the security, privacy, and confidentiality of the account owners’ data in danger. Cyber hacking can become a strong power which can be harmful if the necessary skills are learned without ethical standards. On the other hand, learning the skills for ethical hacking became a necessity to protect digital systems, discover vulnerabilities and mitigate them. An Islamic approach to cyber security issues is presented in this paper. As Islam is a revealed religion from Allah SWT to be guidance to the Muslims in all matters, we can derive many ethical standards in any field following the holy Quran and the Sunnah of the Prophet (Peace be upon him)

Improving diagnosis of tuberculous lymphadenitis by combination of cytomorphology and MPT64 immunostaining on cell blocks from the fine needle aspirates

Background: Extra pulmonary tuberculosis (EPTB) constitutes 18% of all tuberculosis (TB) cases and tuberculous lymphadenitis (TBL) constitutes 20–40% of EPTB. Diagnosis of TBL is challenging because of the paucibacillary nature of the disease. Objective: To investigate the diagnostic potential of a new antigen detection test based on the detection of M. tuberculosis complex specific antigen MPT64 from fine needle aspirate (FNA) cytology smears and biopsies obtained from patients with clinically suspected TBL using immunohistochemistry (IHC). Materials and methods: This study was conducted at Khyber Teaching Hospital and Rehman Medical Institute, Peshawar, Pakistan, from January 2018 to April 2019. Samples, including FNA (n = 100) and biopsies (n = 8), were collected from 100 patients with presumptive TBL. Direct smears and cell blocks were prepared from the FNA samples. All samples were subjected to hematoxylin–eosin (H&E) staining, Ziehl-Neelsen (ZN) staining, and immunostaining with polyclonal anti-MPT64 antibody. The culture was performed only for biopsy specimens. All patients were followed until the completion of anti-TB treatment. The response to treatment was included in the composite reference standard (CRS) and used as the gold standard to validate the diagnostic tests. Results: The sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values for ZN staining were 4.4%,100%,100%,56%, for culture were 66%,100%,100%,50%, for cytomorphology were 100%,90.91%,90%,100%, and for immunostaining with anti-MPT64 were all 100%,respectively. The morphology and performance of immunohistochemistry were better with cell blocks than with smears. Conclusion: MPT64 antigen detection test performed better than ZN and cytomorphology in diagnosing TBL. This test applied to cell blocks from FNA is robust, simple, and relatively rapid, and improves the diagnosis of TBL

Amalgam management among clinical dental students a knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) survey

To evaluate the knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) of amalgam management by International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) clinical dental students. Materials and methods: Validated written questionnaires were distributed to the year 4 and year 5 students as well as lecturers who were involved in the clinical sessions. Data was collected over two months. Statistical analysis was conducted using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 16.0 software. There were no significant differences between the students and clinical lecturers in terms of (1) knowledge of mercury exposure from amalgam and (2) amalgam handling practices (p > .05), except for the usage of high-volume evacuators and rubber dams as well as pouring of amalgam wastes from the filters into the sinks. As for amalgam-disposal practices, the responses were varied but there were no significant differences between the both groups as well (p > .05). Overall, 83% and 52.4% of the students disposed of non-contact and contact amalgam wastes respectively into closed containers which contained oil. Interestingly, 69.2% of the students claimed that they followed the prescribed amalgam management protocol at the clinic, even though 70.8% of them did not know the exact protocol and wanted to learn more about the same. The KAP of IIUM’s clinical dental students were not significantly different from those of the lecturers. However, the amalgam management protocol at the clinic should be revised to better organize the same

Economic Implications of Tomato Production in Naushahro Feroze District of Sindh Pakistan

In the present study, attempt was made to explore the economic implication of tomato in Nausharo Feroze Sindh. For this purpose 60 growers were selected from different villages of District Naushero feroz of Sindh province during the year 2013 using survey method of study.  The data on various costs, physical and revenue productivity were collected from 60 randomly selected tomato farmers. Result revealed that the education level of selected growers was in order of 25.00% primary (5years), 36.66% of middle (8years), 16.66% matriculate (10years) 3.33% educated from college and university, 1.70% graduate the 18.33% of tomato respondents were illiterate. Results further indicate that farmers incurred an average per hectare fixed costs. Rs 33187.00 include Rs 700.00 for land tax, Rs 32487.00 for rent of land. The results revealed that tomato farmers incurred an average per hectare cost of Rs 19780.75 as labor cost. An average per acre marketing cost of 30457.65 on tomato capital input used, and an average per acre marketing cost was Rs. 4191.73 On an average per acre spent a total cost of production of Rs. 87617.13. An average per acre Physical productivity was 186.00 in mounds. An average per acre Revenue productivity was Rs.158750.00 and the Net income was 71133.00 an availed input output ratio 1:1.81 it means that with the investment of Rs.1.00 in tomato enterprises they yielded Rs.1.81. The cost benefit ratio of the cultivation of tomato at 1:0.81 it means that the tomato growers fetched Rs.0.81 on each rupee investment of tomato. The poor production implies that the soil quality, inadequate canal water, insect pest and poor extension services could be the causes this low production. The empirical result indicates that significant increase in input of tomato in the study area could be traced mainly to use of latest technology. Keywords: Tomato, cost, fruit yield, labor, net returns, and cost-benefit ratio

Spray-dried immobilized lipase from Geobacillus sp. strain ARM in sago

Sago starch is traditionally used as food especially in Southeast Asia. Generally, sago is safe for consumption, biodegradable, easily available and inexpensive. Therefore, this research was done to expand the potential of sago by using it as a support for enzyme immobilization. In this study, ARM lipase, which was isolated from Geobacillus sp. strain ARM, was overexpressed in Escherichia coli system and then purified using affinity chromatography. The specific activity of the pure enzyme was 650 U/mg, increased 7 folds from the cell lysate. The purified enzyme was immobilized in gelatinized sago and spray-dried by entrapment technique in order to enhance the enzyme operational stability for handling at high temperature and also for storage. The morphology of the gelatinized sago and immobilized enzyme was studied by scanning electron microscopy. The results showed that the spray-dried gelatinized sago was shrunken and became irregular in structure as compared to untreated sago powder. The surface areas and porosities of spray-dried gelatinized sago with and without the enzyme were analyzed using BET and BJH method and have shown an increase in surface area and decrease in pore size. The immobilized ARM lipase showed good performance at 60-80 °C, with a half-life of 4 h and in a pH range 6-9. The immobilized enzyme could be stored at 10 °C with the half-life for 9 months. Collectively, the spray-dried immobilized lipase shows promising capability for industrial uses, especially in food processing

Loss-to-follow-up and delay to treatment initiation in Pakistan's national tuberculosis control programme

BACKGROUND: Researchers and policy-makers have identified loss to follow-up as a major programmatic problem. Therefore, the objective of this study is to quantify TB related pre-treatment loss to follow up and treatment delay in private sector health care facilities in Pakistan. METHODS: This was a retrospective, descriptive cohort study using routinely collected programmatic data from TB referral, diagnosis and treatment registers. Data from 48 private healthcare facilities were collected using an online questionnaire prepared in ODK Collect, for the period October 2015 to March 2016. Data were analysed using SPSS. We calculated the: (1) number and proportion of patients who were lost to follow-up during the diagnostic period, (2) number and proportion of patients with pre-treatment loss to follow-up, and (3) the number of days between diagnosis and initiation of treatment. RESULTS: One thousand five hundred ninety-six persons with presumptive TB were referred to the laboratory. Of these, 96% (n = 1538) submitted an on-the-spot sputum sample. Of the 1538 people, 1462 (95%) people subsequently visited the laboratory to submit the early morning (i.e. the second) sample. Hence, loss to follow-up during the diagnostic process was 8% overall (n = 134). Of the 1462 people who submitted both sputum samples, 243 (17%) were diagnosed with sputum smear-positive pulmonary TB and 231 were registered for anti-TB treatment, hence, loss in the pre-treatment phase was 4.9% (n = 12). 152 persons with TB (66%) initiated TB treatment either on the day of TB diagnosis or the next day. A further 79 persons with TB (34%) commenced TB treatment within a mean time of 7 days (range 2 to 64 days). CONCLUSION: Concentrated efforts should be made by the National TB Control Programme to retain TB patients and innovative methods such as text reminders and behavior change communication may need to be used and tested