The aim of the study was to document the prevalence of learning disability among the children attending the Paediatric Clinic in Hospital Tuanku Ja’afar Seremban. The demographic distribution of these patients; the age of detection of the problem; the associated medical conditions and types of intervention received by these patients were documented. Patients who were between the ages of five to twelve years were included in the study. Learning disability was divided into three categories: speech and articulation problems, academic skills disorder and other categories which included developmental delay. Children with cerebral palsy were excluded from the study. Out of 1320 patients screened, 355 were found to have learning disorders. Majority were Malays, with the male to female ratio of 1.9:1. Most of the patients stayed in Seremban. The learning problem was most commonly detected at the age of 4 years and below. The commonest type of learning disorder was developmental delay, followed by academic skills disorder, speech and academic skills problems and speech disorders. Problems that were detected early were speech problems and developmental delay. Majority of the children had associated medical conditions. Most of the patients received some form of intervention but 11.3% did not attend any intervention program at all. A strategy should be formulated and implemented to help this group of children.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the management and clinical outcome of transfusion-dependent thalassaemia children receiving care in the Paediatric Ambulatory Care Centre, Hospital Tuanku Ja'afar Seremban in comparison to The Malaysian Clinical Practice Guidelines. The demography, management and clinical outcome of the patients were documented using a checklist. Information on compliance to chelation agents was obtained through interview. There were twenty-six patients recruited in this study out of thirty seven patients registered in the centre. This study showed that more effort and vigilance should be given to ensure that the management of these patients adheres to the guidelines and clinical outcome of these patients monitored closely.

The contact and topical activity of two household disinfectants containing chloroxylenol and benzyl chlorophenol against, Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus and Dermatophagoides farinae mites were evaluated in the laboratory. For contact activity, 30 adult mites were placed for 24 hrs on Whatman No. 1 filter paper impregnated with disinfectant. For topical activity, each disinfectant was directly applied to individual body of all 30 dust mites and observed for 24hrs. All treatments were replicated 12 times. Chloroxylenol disinfectant was found to be more effective compared to benzyl chlorophenol disinfectant in killing pyroglyphid mites.

Objective: To establish a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique based on cytochrome b (cytb) gene of mitochondria DNA (mtDNA) for blood meal identification. Methods: The PCR technique was established based on published information and validated using blood sample of laboratory animals of which their whole gene sequences are available in GenBank. PCR was next performed to compile gene sequences of different species of wild rodents. The primers used were complementary to the conserved region of the cytb gene of vertebrate’s mtDNA. A total of 100 blood samples, both from laboratory animals and wild rodents were collected and analyzed. The obtained unknown sequences were compared with those in the GenBank database using BLAST program to identify the vertebrate animal species. Results: Gene sequences of 11 species of wild animals caught in 9 localities of Peninsular Malaysia were compiled using the established PCR. The animals involved were Rattus (rattus) tanezumi, Rattus tiomanicus, Leopoldamys sabanus,Tupaia glis, Tupaia minor, Niviventor cremoriventor, Rhinosciurus laticaudatus, Callosciurus caniseps, Sundamys muelleri, Rattus rajah and Maxomys whiteheadi. The BLAST results confirmed the host with exact or nearly exact matches (>89% identity). Ten new gene sequences have been deposited in GenBank database since September 2010. Conclusions: This study indicates that the PCR direct sequencing system using universal primer sets for vertebrate cytb gene is a promising technique for blood meal identification.

Objective: To identify different stages of Ixodes granulatus (I. granulatus) based on morphological characters prior to molecular identification which is significant for con-firming and identifying the nymphal stages of I. granulatus. Methods: A total of 14 individuals of adult, engorged and nymphal ticks collected from three different localities were examined morphologically using taxonomic keys, followed by PCR using cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI). Clustering analysis based on COI sequences was carried out by constructing neighbor-joining and maximum parsimony tree to clarify the genetic variation and diversity of local I. granulatus. Results: Based on external morphological characterizations, nine individuals (64.3%) were successfully identified as I. granulatus, while five individuals were recognized only as Ixodes sp. due to lack of morphological characters visible and development during that stage. Molecular analysis of local I. granulatus using COI gene revealed 93%–94%sequence homology from available sequence in GenBank and was in concordance with the morphological identification. Furthermore, a low intraspecific variation was observed among the species of I. granulatus collected from different localities (0%–3.7%). Conclusions: These findings demonstrated for the first time the establishment of COI gene for identifying I. granulatus nymphal tick which is of paramount importance to the control of potential tick-borne infections in Malaysia. Moreover, this study provides evidence that a combination of morphology and molecular data was corroborated as an accurate tool for tick identification.

Varicocele, the most important treatable cause of male infertility, is present in 15% of adult males, 35% of men with primary infertility, and 80% of men with secondary infertility. On the other hand, 80% of these men will not present infertility. Therefore, there is a need to differentiate a varicocele that is exerting a deleterious effect that is treatable from a "silent" varicocele. Despite the growing evidence of the cellular effects of varicocele, its underlying molecular mechanisms are still eluding. Proteomics has become a promising area to determine the reproductive biology of semen as well as to improve diagnosis of male infertility. This review aims to discuss the state-of-art in seminal plasma proteomics in patients with varicocele to discuss the challenges in undertaking these studies, as well as the future outlook derived from the growing body of evidence on the seminal proteome.

Propolis has been used worldwide for years in folk medicine and currently marketed by the pharmaceutical industry. In Brazil, propolis was classified into 13 groups based on their organoleptics and physicochemical characteristics. The 13th type named red prop-olis has been an important source of investigation since late 90s. Their property comes from the countless compounds, including terpenes, pterocarpans, prenylated benzophe-nones and especially the flavonoids. This last compound class has been indicated as the responsible for its potent pharmacological actions, highlighting the antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, healing and antiproliferative activities. The red propolis can also be found in other countries, especially Cuba, which has similar features as the Brazilian. Therefore, with the compilation of 80 papers, this review aims to provide a key reference for researchers interested in natural products and discovery of new active compounds, such as from propolis.

Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser (MRKH) syndrome can be treated through numerous surgical and nonsurgical methods. We present a surgical technique in which a neovagina was reconstructed and shaped by a vaginal expander with acellular porcine dermal matrix (XCM Biologic Tissue Matrix) and mucosal interposition using microfragments harvested from the hymen. In our case, we found this procedure to be safe and effective, resulting in satisfactory sexual function and good cosmetic results, without donor site morbidity. To our best knowledge, this tissue-engineered biomaterial has never been used for vaginal reconstruction before.

Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the surrounding and underlying shades’ effect on the color adjustment potential (CAP) of a single-shade composite used in a thin layer. Materials and Methods: Cylinder specimens (1.0 mm thick) were built with the Vittra APS Unique composite, surrounded (dual specimens) or not (simple specimens) by a control composite (shade A1, A2, or A3). Simple specimens were also built only with the control composites. Each specimen’s color was measured against white and black backgrounds or the simple control specimens with a spectrophotometer (CIELAB system). The whiteness index for dentistry (WID ) and translucency parameters (TP 00 ) were calculated for simple specimens. Differences (ΔE00 ) in color between the simple/dual specimens and the controls were calculated. The CAP was calculated based on the ratios between data from simple and dual specimens. Results: The Vittra APS Unique composite showed higher WID and TP00 values than the controls. The highest values of ΔE00 were observed among simple specimens. The color measurements of Vittra APS Unique (simple or dual) against the control specimens presented the lowest color differences. Only surrounding the single-shade composite with a shaded composite barely impacted the ΔE00 . The highest CAP values were obtained using a shaded composite under simple or dual specimens. Conclusions The CAP of Vittra APS Unique was strongly affected by the underlying shade, while surrounding this composite with a shaded one barely affected its color adjustment.

This report gives a better emphasis on the role of targeted effectors (e.g. a combination of 5-FC with CD-NSPCs as compared to the application of NSPCs alone) and how such delivery of pro-drug activating enzymes and other tumor-killing substances may overcome melanocytic defence system, interact with and promote the host defence and immune response modulations not only in melanoma but, potentially, in other highly-metastatic cancers.
Brain Neoplasms ; immunology ; surgery ; Humans ; Immunity, Innate ; immunology ; Melanoma ; immunology ; secondary ; surgery ; Models, Immunological ; Stem Cell Transplantation ; methods