We reviewed the literature regarding Japan's contribution to research in medicine in 1991-2000. Japan contributed 7.6% of all articles in English listed in the Medline database. The contribution ranged from 0.6 to 11.4% for various clinical science fields and 3.8 to 11.9% for basic science categories of reputable journals. The lowest contributions were in the categories “General and General Internal Medicine” and “Epidemiology”, where Japan contributed only 0.6% and 1.1% of the articles, respectively. The Japanese contribution to high quality clinical research (randomized controlled trials, case-control studies, cohort studies) was meager, while that to the basic sciences was more satisfactory than to the clinical science categories. Appropriate academic and social initiatives should be made to accelerate clinical research in Japan.

Teachers face one of the highest demands of any professional group to use their voices at work. Thus, they are at higher risk of developing voice disorder than the general population. The consequences of voice disorder may have impact on teacher’s social and professional life as well as their mental, physical and emotional state and their ability to communicate. Objectives of this study are to determine the prevalence of voice disorder and the relationship between voice disorder with associated risk factors such as teaching activities and lifestyle factors among primary school teachers in Bintulu, Sarawak. A cross sectional study was conducted based on random sample of 4 primary schools in Bintulu, Sarawak between January-March 2014. A total of 100 full-time primary school teachers were invited to participate in the study. Data were collected through a self-administered questionnaire addressing the prevalence of voice disorder and potential risk factors. Descriptive analysis and chi-square test was used to measure the relationship between voice disorder and associated risk factors. The response rate for this study was 78% (78/100). The study found that the prevalence of voice disorder among primary school teachers in Bintulu, Sarawak was 13%. Chi-square test results revealed that factors significantly associated with voice disorder (p<0.05) were smoking (p=0.012), consuming alcohol beverages (p=0.012) for lifestyle factors while teaching session (p=0.049) for teaching activities. A low prevalence of voice disorder exists among primary school teachers in Bintulu, Sarawak. Smoking, consuming alcohol beverages and teaching session has proven to be significantly associated causing voice disorder among them.

The aim was to study the prevalence and sociodemographic features of odontogenic, non-odontogenic and salivary glands lesions among patients seen in Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia. This information is essential to assist clinician in formulating reliable differential diagnosis of such lesion. Data on patient demographics, lesion location, tissue of origin and microscopic diagnosis were extracted from the Laboratory and Diagnosis record registries for biopsy specimen accessioned from year 2000 to 2012. This data was subsequently analyzed based on World Health Organization Classification of Head and Neck Tumours (2005). A total of 748 cases were included in the study. Out of the total number of cases, 367 cases were males and 377 cases were females. Ninety seven cases (13%) were of odontogenic origin, while 90 cases (12%) and 197 cases (26%) were of non-odontogenic and salivary gland origin respectively. Forty five percent of cases involved oral mucosal lesions. The most prevalent odontogenic lesion reported within the twelve years period was radicular cyst and ameloblastoma. Non-odontogenic bone lesion was rarely encountered with it making up less than two percent of total cases reported. Pleomorphic adenoma was the most prevalent benign salivary glands neoplasm reported within similar time period.

Doctor-patient communication skills are important in family medicine and can be taught and learned. This paper summarizes the salient contents and main methods of the teaching and learning of doctor-patient communication, especially those applicable to the discipline.
Patients ; Communication ; Family Practice ; Educational process of instructing ; Primary Health Care

Kajian terdahulu menunjukkan kualiti hidup dapat ditingkatkan melalui amalan keagamaan dan kerohanian. Hafazan al-Quran merupakan amalan keagamaan dan kerohanian yang memperkasa aspek mental dan fizikal. Namun, kajian saintifik yang mengaitkan hafazan al-Quran dengan kualiti hidup masih terhad terutamanya dalam konteks pelajar tahfiz. Maka, kajian ini bertujuan untuk mengenal pasti hubungan antara hafazan al-Quran dengan kualiti hidup dalam kalangan pelajar tahfiz di Selangor, Malaysia. Satu kajian keratan rentas telah dijalankan ke atas 116 pelajar dengan pensampelan rawak berstrata dari tiga buah sekolah tahfiz di Selangor. Pelajar tahfiz dikategorikan kepada tiga tahap hafazan berdasarkan jumlah juzuk yang telah dihafaz iaitu Tahap 1 (1-10 juzuk), Tahap 2 (11-20 juzuk) dan Tahap 3 (21-30 juzuk). Borang soal selidik telah digunakan untuk mendapatkan data sosiodemografi dan borang soal selidik Short Form-36 Quality of Life (SF-36) versi Bahasa Malaysia telah digunakan untuk menilai tahap kualiti hidup. Data telah dianalisa menggunakan SPSS versi 23.0. Hasil kajian mendapati wujud hubungan positif yang signifikan antara hafazan al-Quran dengan kesihatan fizikal (r = 0.300, p < 0.05) dan kesihatan mental (r = 0.194, p < 0.05). Ini jelas menunjukkan bahawa semakin banyak pelajar menghafaz al-Quran semakin tinggi tahap kualiti hidup mereka. Faktor yang mempengaruhi kesihatan mental dan fizikal adalah jumlah muka surat hafazan. Kesimpulannya, hafazan al-Quran berpotensi meningkatkan kualiti hidup serta kesihatan mental dan fizikal pelajar tahfiz.

Introduction: Occult HCV infection has a predilection for specific populations such as haemodialysis (HD) patients. The exact natural course, epidemiology, pathogenesis and clinical importance of OCI are unknown. We investigated the existence of OCI among local patients undergoing routine HD at a referral hospital in Pahang, Malaysia. Methods: Serum and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PMBCs) were collected from peripheral venous blood samples of seropositive (anti-HCV positive) and seronegative (anti-HCV negative) HD patients as well as healthy individuals (negative control group). Inclusion criteria for the seronegative patients included elevated liver enzymes. Both conventional PCR and strand-specific PCR were used to detect the viral RNA and to indicate active viral replication in PBMCs respectively. Direct DNA sequencing was done to confirm the viral HCV RNA and their genotypes. Results: In the majority (90-100%) of seropositive chronic hepatitis C patients, viral RNA was detected in both serum and PMBCs . Meanwhile, out of 22 seronegative patients, 6 (27%) showed active viral replication in PBMCs but no detectable viral RNA presence in the serum. None of the negative control group had detectable viral RNA. All seronegative patients with OCI were infected with HCV genotype 3 and two of them (2/6) had a slight elevation of their liver enzymes. Conclusion: Seronegative OCI does exist among local hemodialysis patients, with normal or persistently abnormal liver enzyme values. Further investigation is needed to study the mode of viral transmission and clinical significance of OCI in HD setting.

The objectives of this study are to determine the prevalence of hand-arm vibration (HAVS) among the automobile assembly workers and the associated risks. A cross sectional study was conducted to determine the prevalence of HAVS and also ascertain the association between HAVS and reduction in VPT among workers using vibration hand held tool in automobile industry. Aim of this study was to determine the prevalence Hand Arm Vibration Syndrome (HAVS) among vibrating hand held tool exposed workers. A cross sectional study design using structured questionnaire and invasive measurement of vibrotactile perception threshold (VPT) at the fingertips was conducted in one of the automobile company in Klang Valley. All the respondents were hand arm vibration exposed workers. A total 109 assembly line workers with at least one year job tenure participated in this study. The finding revealed that 27.5% of workers reported HAVS through questionnaire. This study consisted of 109 respondents. All of them were male. The mean age was 32.9 years. The mean daily vibration exposure for 8-hours was 1.41m/s2. There was 11% of the tools measured were above the Action Level recommended by European Union Directive 2002. The overall prevalence of HAVS based on reported symptom through questionnaire was 27.5%. None of the respondent reported any whiteness at their fingers due to exposure to vibration. However, 36.7% of the respondent reported tingling sensation and 57.8 % reported the feeling of numbness in their hands. Only 10.1% claim that the pain was persistence. Since this study was done among exposed workers without control group, the thresholds were measured by comparing the observed VPT with the VPT of healthy population provided by ISO 13091-2. The result showed that 98.2% of the respondent in this study having positive threshold which indicate the percentage of respondent that having deterioration in finger tactile perception. The positive threshold from comparison above showed that the respondent of this study was affected with the vibration exposure. The value proven that the exposure has caused the deterioration of tactile sensitivity in 98.2% of respondent in this study which showed by having positive threshold compared to healthy population. The result also showed that there was a significant correlation between daily vibration exposure A (8) and VPT at both frequency tested which was 31.5Hz (r = 0.417, p = 0.002) and 125Hz (r = 0.480, p = 0.001). Even though the mean daily vibration exposure for 8-hours was low and below the recommended level, the workers still exposed to the effect of hand arm vibration

The large stomach worm, Haemonchus contortus is an important pathogen of goats (Capra hircus) and sheep (Ovis aries). This paper describes characteristics of surface cuticular ridges (synlophe) of H. contortus adults from the two hosts. There were more ridges in H. contortus from goats compared to that from sheep. Total body length, vulvar morphology, spicule length and cervical papillae had been considered as markers of physical adaptation and were studied and described.
Sheep ; Haemonchus contortus ; Length ; upper case aitch ; Malaysia

Personal identification in forensic investigation is not an easy process. Lip print analysis is one of the techniques that can be used to assist in human identification. This study was conducted to investigate the sex based on lip print pattern among Malaysian Malay population in Klang Valley, using photograph on lipstick-cellophane tape technique and the Suzuki and Tsuchihashi classification. A total of 360 subjects (180 males and 180 females) aged 15 and above were included in this study. The lip print was taken by pressing a cellophane tape to the lipstick applied on lip, pasted it onto a plain A4 paper and then photographed using a smart phone camera (OPPO F1). The images were then analysed using Adobe Photoshop software. A lip print image were divided into six sections: upper left, upper middle, upper right, lower right, lower middle and lower left. The Pearson chi-square test showed that there are significant differences between sexes in each section except for the upper middle section. Type V (irregular pattern) was the dominant pattern for the upper left, upper right, lower right and lower left sections (ranging from 71.1% to 86.7% for males and 80.6% to 83.9% for females) while type IV (reticular pattern) was mostly found in upper middle and lower middle section. Malaysian female displayed type V as the dominant lip print pattern in every section (ranging from 39.4% to 83.9%) except upper middle section and for Malaysian male, type V dominated the lip print pattern in all section (ranging from 71.1% to 86.7%) except for the upper and lower middle section. The result of this study can be applied in assisting the human identification for forensic science investigation.

OBJECTIVE: To examine Japan's overall biomedical research productivity and its trend in the last decade.
METHODS: Articles published during 1991-2000 were accessed through Medline database. The number of articles having affiliation with a Japanese institution was elicited using standard search strategy.
RESULTS: In total 3.8 million articles were published during 1991-2000 while 330, 513 articles (8.7% of total) were originated from Japan. With language limited to English, there were 3.3 million articles in total and 252, 635 (7.6% of total) from Japan. Yearly numbers of articles significantly increased as a whole and also for Japan. The number of English-language articles from Japan increased by 63% during 2000 compared to 1991 while it was 34% on average for all other countries. On the other hand, the number of Japanese-language articles was 77, 878 with a 16.5% decrease in the same time.
CONCLUSION: The number of English-language articles originating from Japan has been increasing at a pace higher than that for all other countries together.