Menthol brand cigarette has been found to be linked with early initiation of smoking and addiction of nicotine. This study was designed to find out the factors associated with smoking menthol brand cigarettes among adult population in Sarawak. This was a cross-sectional study conducted among the adult population in Sarawak. Data were collected from ten villages in Kota Samarahan and Kuching Division by face to face interview using modified Global Adult Tobacco Survey questionnaire. Non-probability purposive sampling method was adopted to select the villages. All the households of the villages were visited, and an adult member was selected randomly from each household irrespective of sex. After missing value imputation, 1000 data sets were analysed using statistical software SPSS 19.0 version. Analysis showed that 28.8% of the respondents were current smokers, and 7.8% were past smokers. Among the smokers, 56.3% were habituated with menthol brand cigarette. Logistic regression analysis revealed that age at initiation of smoking before 15 years of age (OR=11. 68, 95% CI: 4.25, 32.10), smoking within five minutes of wake up from sleep (OR=3. 20, 95% CI: 1.35, 7.54), nature of job as business (OR=4. 81, 95% CI: 2.13, 10.86) and service holders (OR= 3.85, 95% CI: 2.07, 7.16) and family size 5 and above (OR=2. 22, 95% CI: 1.25, 3.94) appeared to be important determinants of smoking any menthol brand cigarette (p<0.05). Menthol is a prominent design feature to attract and retain younger smokers. It does not necessarily make the transition from experimenting with cigarettes, but to encourage early smokers to become a confirmed smoker. So, anti-tobacco public health programme should focus on age-specific community approach.
Smoking ; Tobacco Products ; Adult

Sarcoidosis typically affects young adults with bilateral hilar lympadenopathy, lung parenchymal disease and/or skin lesion. Childhood sarcoidosis is relatively a rare entity. Concurrent ocular and renal involvements are extremely uncommon especially in childhood sarcoidosis. We presented a case of an Asian teenager with bilateral recurrent anterior uveitis and features of renal failure due to childhood sarcoidosis. He showed remarkable clinical improvements after combination of oral corticosteroids and methotrexate. His final visual outcome was satisfactory following augmented trabeculectomy in both eyes due to intractable glaucoma. It is essential to make a prompt diagnosis and initiate proper management to avoid ocular mobidity in this unusual presentation.

Caring for stroke survivors is inevitably a burden to caregivers. It is not uncommon for stroke survivors who are discharged from the hospital and found themselves at home without any help and care from the supposed caregivers. However, in instances where there are available and willing caregivers, a sudden and unpredictable task of caring for stroke survivors require the stroke caregivers to apply their coping strategies due to the demanding nature of looking after a survivor. This study aimed to determine coping strategies undertaken by stroke caregivers in caring for stroke survivors. This was an exploratory qualitative study and data was collected from the caregivers of stroke survivor using a semi-structured guided questionnaire. A total of 18 caregivers were included in the study. The data were collected from November 2015 until June 2016 at a selected community rehabilitation centre in Kuching, Sarawak. The qualitative data analysis revealed that the coping strategies undertaken by stroke caregivers include change of role in life, self-motivation, sharing with other people, crying, trying to forget things that happen, hoping survivors will get better, emotion suppression and self-blame. The study highlighted the experiences by the caregivers for caring for stroke patients and focused on the coping strategies undertaken by the caregivers. Better ununderstanding of these experiences does help the service providers to provide better support and resources for caregivers in caring for stroke survivors.

Aims: Biofilm is a complex structure that provides protection towards the bacteria within the barrier. Enhanced biogas production from Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME) can be achieved by applying biofilm based anaerobic digestion system.Methodology and results:Bacteria that produces biofilm were isolated and tested on its hydrolytic enzyme secretion. The biofilm produced were also characterized. Out of 120 strains isolated from POME, PKC and food waste compost, only 33 strains were producing biofilm and only 11 of them exhibited significant amount of biofilm produced at optical density of wavelength 595 nm (>0.01). In hydrolysis enzyme assay test, all strains were not able to secrete protease enzyme. The biofilms were extracted and characterized to show similar characteristic for all strains. Strain numbers of 11, 9C, 23C and 30C showed positive result for cellulase, amylase and lipase enzymes, to be tested as single strain bacteria and also mixed with other isolated bacterium for prospect research on effective hydrolysis towards enhanced biogas production. The composition of biofilms from different bacteria mixture also similar under the same incubation condition.Conclusion, significance and impact of study: Bacteria producing biofilm are very limited and does not secrete the same hydrolytic enzymes. Utilization of these bacteria may eliminate the problem of microbial instability in a system.

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopment disorder with an unidentified etiology and wide-ranging functional impact. This narrative review aimed to identify various behaviours and oral health problems among children with ASD, recognize the barriers towards oral health care, and identify the strategies for oral health care management. Online databases (Scopus, PubMed and Google Scholar) were used by using various search terms. All types of articles with different level of evidence were included. Articles which were not in English and were not available in full text were excluded. Various behavioural problems among ASD contributed to various oral healthcare challenges that lead to compromise oral health status. Caregivers and dental professionals have to identify these problems towards strategizing an effective oral health management for them. Therefore, this narrative review provide an insight towards controlling the oral health problems faced through preventative and practical approach for the chidlren with ASD.

Introduction: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is associated with behavioural problems which may affect children’s oral health statuses. Caregivers have crucial roles in caring for these children’s oral health. Thus, this study is aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of the Oral Health Care for Children with ASD (OHASD) Module in improving caregivers’ tooth-brushing difficulties in children ASD. Methods: Quasi-experimental study on caregivers of children with ASD aged 7 to 12 years who were registered at the Psychiatry Clinic Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Kelantan. The sociodemographic data obtained, and behavioural problems were assessed. Tooth-brushing difficulties were evaluated at pre- and six months post-intervention using OHASD Module. Data were analysed using IBM SPSS 26.0. Results: A total of 32 Malay children with ASD including their caregivers participated in this study. Caregivers were mostly mothers (78.1%) and children were mostly boys (84.4%), with mean age (SD) of 39.1 (4.19) and 8.8 (1.52) years respectively. Parent-reported questionnaire using the Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers (M-CHAT) showed 65.6% of children were highly sensitive to noises, 53.1% sometimes stared at nothing or wandered without purpose and 59.4% were unable to imitate caregivers’ faces. Significant differences between pre- and post-intervention for items; children who liked to close their mouths, turn their heads in different directions, did not understand the purpose of tooth-brushing (P<0.05). Conclusion: OHASD Module is useful in assisting caregivers in practising daily tooth-brushing of children with ASD.