The attitudes shown by community towards the mentally ill patient can have implications for recovery. To gather robust evidence regarding community attitudes towards people with mental illness, a data collection is required. A cross sectional study was carried out to examine the community attitudes towards the mentally ill patients and its associated factors in Tampoi Town, Johor among 347 respondents. This study was conducted from June 2012 to June 2013. Community Attitudes towards the Mentally Ill questionnaire was used to examine public attitudes towards the mentally ill patients. Another questionnaire was used to determine media influence and history or experience with the mentally ill patients was administered by a researcher. The community in this town had a positive attitude towards the mentally ill patients. Benevolence attitude which represent the positive attitude has the highest mean score [37.13 (4.18)]. Social Restrictiveness attitude which represent the negative attitude has the lowest mean score [25.42 (4.82)]. Results indicated that race, educational level and previous experience with the mentally ill patients had a significant association with community attitudes towards the mentally ill patients. Meanwhile, age, gender, religion, occupation, income and media have no association with community attitudes towards the mentally ill patients. These results are expected to help the related parties in conducting various comprehensive and holistic programs or campaign. Specifically, medical social worker should be more sensitive to the public attitude toward the mentally ill patients so that they could recognize the contributing factors on negative attitudes and prevent them.

Breast tuberculosis (TB) is rare even in endemic countries. Most of these cases occur as secondary TB due to a concurrent infection. Primary breast TB is diagnosed when it is the only site of disease without other foci of infection. The presentation of primary breast TB may often mimic carcinoma of the breast. While imaging is not specific, histopathology provides a definitive diagnosis. Here, we present a case of primary breast TB in a breast cancer patient and review the literature.
Breast Neoplasms

Human papillomavirus (HPV) plays an important role in the pathogenesis of cervical cancer. HPV has been found in 99.7% of cervical cancers worldwide. In Malaysia, it is the second most common cancer among women in all major ethnic groups. The main purpose of this study was to establish the method of SyBrGreen Real-Time PCR and apply it for identification of multiple infections of the two high risk HPV subtypes. In this study, 57 positive samples for HPV 16 and HPV 18 were used to establish a simple and sensitive method to detect and identify HPV infection in the cervical neoplasia at different stages of the disease by using real-time ABICycler SyBrGreen 1 technology. The results showed 67 HPV genomes in 57 samples. HPV 16 genome was detected in 55/67 (82%) cases while HPV 18 was detected in 8/67 (12%) cases with 4 cases showing multiple infections of HPV 16 and HPV 18. HPV 16 was the most prevalent followed by HPV 18. Using SyBr Green Real-Time PCR techniques, the results showed that DNA melting curve for HPV 16 had a peak around 80.2ºC and Ct value of 20 cycles whereas the DNA melting curve for HPV 18 around 79.2ºC and Ct INTRODUCTION value of 22 cycles. In conclusion, a SyBr Green Real-Time PCR method has the potential for clinical usage in detection and identification of HPV infection in cervical neoplasia at different stages of the disease.

Aims: Diabetic patients with foot ulcer showed 150-fold increased risk of amputation, which is primarily caused by microbial infection. Silver ions are commonly incorporated into wound dressing to enhance the antimicrobial property. However, concerns have been expressed about the development of bacterial resistance to heavy metals. In this study, we extracted the nano-cellulose from medical cotton and reinforced with gelatin to develop a film for wound dressing. Methodology and results: Garcinia mangostana L pericarp extract was incorporated into the nano-cellulose film as antimicrobial finishing. The efficacy of the developed nano-cellulose film was evaluated on diabetic wound microorganisms. We observed cellulose nano crystals with an average length of 133.71 nm under transmission electron microscope. The developed film showed gradual release of the extract over a period of 48 h and no burst effect was observed. The film exhibited significant inhibitory activity on three Gram positive bacteria, three Gram negative and all filamentous fungi tested. On Hohenstein challenge test, all test microorganisms showed significant growth reduction, with the treatment of the film. We also noticed that the antimicrobial activity of the film sustained even after 20 washes. Conclusion, significance and impact of study Our results indicate that the G. mangostana L pericarp extract loaded nano-cellulose films exhibited significant inhibitory activity on diabetic wound microorganisms. The developed film can be potentially used to prevent foot ulcer infection among diabetic patients.

Turner syndrome is one of the most common chromosomal abnormalities affecting newborn females. More than half of patients with Turner syndrome have a 45X karyotype. The rest of the patients may have structurally abnormal sex chromosomes or are mosaics with normal or abnormal sex chromosomes. Mosaicism with a second X sex chromosome is not usually of clinical significance. However, Turner syndrome patients having a second Y chromosome or Y chromosomal material are at risk of developing gonadoblastoma later in life. The aim of this study is to compare the results of conventional (karyotyping) and molecular cytogenetics (FISH), and discuss the advantages and limitations in the diagnosis of Turner syndrome. We also aim to compare the degree of mosaicism identified using conventional cytogenetics and FISH techniques. Conventional cytogenetics and FISH analyses were performed on eight peripheral blood samples of patients with Turner syndrome collected between 2004 and 2006. From this study, two out of eight patients with Turner syndrome were found to have the sex determining region on the Y chromosome (SRY) gene by FISH analysis. Our results showed that the rate of detection of mosaic cases in Turner syndrome was also increased to 88% after using the FISH technique. We concluded that FISH is more superior to conventional cytogenetics in the detection of the Y chromosomal material. FISH is also a quick and cost effective method in diagnosing Turner syndrome and assessing the degree of mosaicism.

Introduction: The 12- item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) has been translated into many languages and widely used in different settings and countries. Its reliability and psychometric properties were extensively studied in many population groups which suggested that it measures psychological distress in multidimensional construct. Objective: The objective of this study was to assess the reliability and factor structure of the Bahasa Malaysia version of the GHQ-12 among university students attending a health program at a Malaysian public university. Method: The cross sectional survey was conducted on 306 undergraduate students aged between 18 to 27 years old who visited the booth set up for mental health screening at a health program. The screening was conducted using a self-administered, validated Bahasa Malaysia version of GHQ-12 questionnaire. Results: Using exploratory factor analysis, the Bahasa Malaysia version of GHQ-12 was found to have a three factor structures namely depressive symptoms, self-esteem and perceived abilities which accounted for 58% of the item variance. The overall Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of the scale was found to be high (0.84) with each factor having acceptable inter-item consistency ranging from 0.61 to 0.82. Conclusion: The findings of the study show that the Bahasa Malaysia version GHQ-12 is reliable and has good structural characteristics. It can assess a few domains of the psychological status of university students. It also helps in providing more information on the domain which may become a focus target of intervention in the prevention of mental illness.
Quality of Life ; Delivery of Health Care

Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency is the most common enzyme deficiency worldwide including Malaysia. Screening of cord blood for partial G6PD deficiency is important as they are also prone to develop acute haemolysis. In this study, we determined the prevalence of partial G6PD deficient in paediatric population aged 1 month-12 years and normal term female neonates using OSMMR-D kit with haemoglobin (Hb) normalization and compare it with florescence spot test (FST). A total of 236 children, aged between between 1 month-12 years and 614 normal term female neonates were recruited for this study. Determination of normal means for G6PD activity and; cut-off points for partial and severe deficiency were determined according to WHO Working Group (1989). Determination of prevalence for partial deficiency for both groups (female patient) was done using this enzyme assay kit and findings were compared with FST. In this study, 15.7% (18/115) female children were classified as partial G6PD deficient by quantitative enzyme method (G6PD activity: 4.23-5.26U/gHb). However, FST only detected 0.9% (1/115) with minimal G6PD activity. The prevalence of partial G6PD deficiency in female neonate group was 3.42% (21/614) by enzyme assay versus 0.49% (3/614) by FST. This study concluded that our routine screening method using FST was unable to diagnose female heterozygotes. We recommend using this quantitative enzyme assay method by OSMMR-D kit since it was more sensitive in detecting G6PD deficiency in female neonates compared to FST.
Glucosephosphate Dehydrogenase Deficiency

Haemoglobin S D-Punjab is a rare compound heterozygous haemoglobinopathy characterised by the presence of two β globin gene variants: β6(GAG→GTG) and β121(GAA→CAA). These patients’ clinical and haematological features mimic haemoglobin S disease. We describe the first case of doubly heterozygous HbSD-Punjab from Malaysia managed with regular blood transfusion at the age of one. This case highlights the propensity for occurrence of rare phenotypes within our multi-ethnic population and emphasises the importance of accurate genotyping to avoid erroneous counselling, and to plan an effective patient management strategy before complication evolves.

West Nile virus (WNV), a neurotropic arbovirus, has been detected in mosquitos, birds, wildlife, horses, and humans in Malaysia, but limited information is available on WNV infection in Malaysian pigs. We tested 80 archived swine serum samples for the presence of WNV antibody and West Nile (WN) viral RNA using ID Screen West Nile Competition Multi-species enzymelinked immunosorbent assay kits and WNV-specific primers in reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction assays, respectively. A WNV seroprevalence of 62.5% (50/80) at 95% confidence interval (51.6%–72.3%) was recorded, with a significantly higher seroprevalence among young pigs (weaner and grower) and pigs from south Malaysia. One sample was positive for Japanese encephalitis virus antibodies; WN viral RNA was not detected in any of the serum samples.