Background: Endometrial cancer is the most common gynaecologic malignancy among females worldwide. The purpose of this study was to determine the median survival time of endometrial cancer patients at the Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM). Methods: A list of 121 endometrial cancer cases registered at Hospital USM between 2000 until 2011 was retrospectively reviewed. The survival time of the endometrial cancer patients was estimated by Kaplan-Meier survival analysis. Log-rank tests were performed to compare the survival of the patients based on socio-demographics and clinical presentation. Results: Only 108 patients, 87.0%, were included who were of Malay ethnicity. Previous history included menopause in 67.6% of patients and diabetes mellitus in 39.8% of patients; additionally, 63.4% of patients were nulliparous. Tumour staging was as follows: 24.5% stage I, 10.8% stage II, 26.5% stage III and 38.2% stage IV. The overall median survival time of the endometrial cancer patients was 70.20 months (95% confidence interval (CI): 51.79, 88.61). The significant factors were age, the presence of lymphovascular invasion and treatment received. Conclusion: The overall survival of endometrial cancer was low. A prospective study needs to be carried out to discover more effective and accurate tests for the early detection of endometrial cancer.

Relaxation technique is a method, process, procedure or activity that helps a person to relax. There are several methods of relaxation techniques that can be used proven beneficial to improve the individual state of relaxation. Relaxation can be performed individually or in a group. With suitable technique of relaxation, it will improve quality of life as well as emotional and physical. This study aims to investigate the impact of three different relaxation techniques, namely Autogenic (AGR), Progressive Muscle (PMR) and Music Relaxation (MR) on mood states among Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin (UniSZA) athletes. Eighty UniSZA athletes aged between 18 to 25 years old were randomly assigned into four groups which were AGR, PMR, MR and control group. Each groups consisted of 20 subjects which were male and female athletes with multidiscipline of the sports involvement. The mood states were determined by Brunel Mood Scale (BRUMS) during pre and post-intervention. The subjects in the three intervention groups received relaxation training twice a week for four weeks, 30 minutes per sessions. While, a control group not received any relaxation training during the intervention time. Repeated measure ANOVA conducted showed that the two parameters in BRUMS significantly changes in post-intervention such vigour (F=16.083, p<0.0001) and confusion (F=3.412, p=0.022). Other negative mood scores showed no significant changes such; (anger; F=2.235, p=0.091, depression; F=0.960, p=0.416, fatigue; F=0.724, p=0.540, tension; F=16.083, p=0.913).The results of Pairwise Comparison revealed that the three types of relaxation techniques (AGR, PMR and MR) effective to enhance vigour (positive mood) score among the adult subjects. In this study, PMR was the most effective relaxation technique followed by AGR and MR to regulate the mood state among adults.

Relaxation technique is a method, process, procedure or activity that helps a person to relax. There are several methods of relaxation techniques that can be used proven beneficial to improve the individual state of relaxation. Relaxation can be performed individually or in a group. With suitable technique of relaxation, it will improve quality of life as well as emotional and physical. This study aims to investigate the impact of three different relaxation techniques, namely Autogenic (AGR), Progressive Muscle (PMR) and Music Relaxation (MR) on mood states among Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin (UniSZA) athletes. Eighty UniSZA athletes aged between 18 to 25 years old were randomly assigned into four groups which were AGR, PMR, MR and control group. Each groups consisted of 20 subjects which were male and female athletes with multidiscipline of the sports involvement. The mood states were determined by Brunel Mood Scale (BRUMS) during pre and post-intervention. The subjects in the three intervention groups received relaxation training twice a week for four weeks, 30 minutes per sessions. While, a control group not received any relaxation training during the intervention time. Repeated measure ANOVA conducted showed that the two parameters in BRUMS significantly changes in post-intervention such vigour (F=16.083, p<0.0001) and confusion (F=3.412, p=0.022). Other negative mood scores showed no significant changes such; (anger; F=2.235, p=0.091, depression; F=0.960, p=0.416, fatigue; F=0.724, p=0.540, tension; F=16.083, p=0.913).The results of Pairwise Comparison revealed that the three types of relaxation techniques (AGR, PMR and MR) effective to enhance vigour (positive mood) score among the adult subjects. In this study, PMR was the most effective relaxation technique followed by AGR and MR to regulate the mood state among adults.
Autogenic Relaxation (AGR) ; Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR) ; Music Relaxation (MR) ; mood states ; adult athletes.

Objective: To investigate the role of toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) in inflammatory activity of macrophage infected with the recombinant Mycobacterium bovis bacillus Calmette-Guerin (rBCG). Methods: Mouse macrophage cell line J774A.1 was infected with Mycobacterium bovis bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) and rBCG cultures for 48 h in the presence or absence of 10 μg/mL of TLR2 inhibitor. Untreated macrophages were used as a negative control while lipopolysaccharide-stimulated macrophages were used as a positive control. The ability of the macrophage to engulf the BCG and rBCG in the absence or presence of TLR2 inhibitor was assessed using a phagocytic assay, while the production of inflammatory cytokines and nitric oxide by the infected macrophages was evaluated using ELISA and Griess reagent method, while the expression of the inducible nitric oxide synthase was determined using Western blot analysis. Results: The results showed that blocking TLR2 function reduced the phagocytic activity, nitric oxide production and proinflammatory cytokine secretion such as TNF- α, IL-1 β and IL-12p40 as well as inducible nitric oxide synthase expression in the infected macrophages. These data showed the importance of TLR2 in the activation of macrophages following BCG and rBCG infections. Conclusions: Through exploring the immunological mechanism which underlies the protection conferred by the candidate vaccine, this study will improve our understanding of the vaccine candidate's mechanism to protect the host from malaria infection.

Objective: To examine the proapoptotic properties of Oroxylum indicum methanol extract on cervical cancer cells. Methods: Methylene blue assay was used to determine the IC

Aedes mosquito-borne diseases such as dengue, chikungunya and Zika are classified as emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases across the globe. There is no permanent treatment or vaccine developed and the effort is still on-going. Several mitigation methods were introduced to control Aedes mosquitoes and the outbreak of these diseases. However, they had only been temporarily effective due to the lack of practices and participation of all community members who can contribute to the prevention of Aedes mosquito-borne diseases. Awareness on these diseases is still limited while the knowledge, attitude and practice of an individual strongly determines their level of involvement at community level towards prevention. This review highlights an overview of knowledge, attitude and practice studies on Aedes mosquito-borne diseases among different communities in Malaysia, the limitation in the knowledge, attitude and practice studies and the improvement that can be made to the knowledge, attitude and practice approach to encourage a more inclusive community involvement in Malaysia.

Chikungunya is an infection caused by chikungunya virus which at present has spread to new countries and continents. Chikungunya is associated with self-limiting and non-fatal infection in the past. However, in recent times, increased severity of the disease has been reported resulting in health and economic burden. The threat and burden of chikungunya would grow in future in the absence of specific antiviral or vaccine to control or eliminate the infection. This review discusses chikungunya in general including transmission of its etiological agent and clinical manifestations of the disease. Subsequently, management and treatment of chikungunya virus will be reviewed with particular emphasis on natural products or their active compounds with potential anti-chikungunya virus activities.

Introduction: Vascular dysregulation is postulated to be involved in the pathogenesis of primary open angle glaucoma (POAG). Systemic arterial stiffness may accelerate the pre-existing damage. The purpose of this study was to determine the association of arterial stiffness with severity and progression of visual field in Malay patients with POAG. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted with 55 patients with POAG and 55 age- and sex-matched control subjects. The patients with POAG were further divided in accordance with their Advanced Glaucoma Intervention Study (AGIS) scores on their visual fields (VFs) (mild in 23 patients, moderate in 18, and severe in 14). Progression was defined as the worsening of the VF defect quantified as an increase in AGIS score of 4 points from the baseline. Arterial stiffness was measured using SphygmoCor and quantified as pulse wave analysis (PWA) and pulse wave velocity (PWV). Results: No significant differences in PWA and PWV were found between the patients with POAG and the control subjects (p=0.333 and p=0.443, respectively). The mean follow-up duration for the patients with POAG was 4.7±3.1 years. PWA and PWV showed no significant association with POAG severity after the confounding factors were controlled for. Ten patients with progression of VF were identified. In the analysis of covariance, a significantly higher PWV was found in the patients with disease progression (p=0.036). Conclusion: VF severity and progression were not associated with systemic arterial stiffness. The probable reason is that other factors affecting retinal microcirculation may play a larger role in the severity and progression of POAG.

Introduction: C-reactive protein (CRP), urea, albumin, CRP/albumin ratio (CAR) and urea/albumin ratio (UAR) could be valuable biomarkers for determining the severity of illness in patients with COVID-19. This study aimed to determine the association between these markers and disease severity in COVID-19 patients on admission and days five to seven after admission. Methods: This retrospective study includes 153 adult COVID-19 patients admitted to Hospital Raja Perempuan Zainab II and Hospital Ampang from January 2021 to December 2021. Patients’ serum CRP, urea, albumin and creatinine levels were recorded on admission and on days five to seven after admission. The patients were categorised based on the Annex 2e guidelines published by the Ministry of Health, Malaysia and further classified as mild to moderate disease (stages 1-3) and severe to critical illness (stages 4-5). Results: On admission, urea, creatinine, CRP, UAR and CAR were significantly higher in the severe to critical group (p<0.001). The optimal cut-off value for the UAR was 0.16; the area under the curve (AUC) was 0.760, and sensitivity and specificity were 63.6% and 85.7%, respectively. The AUC of the CAR was 0.752, with 54.2% sensitivity and 91.4% specificity at an optimal cut-off value of 1.63. In severe to critical COVID-19 patients, albumin levels decreased significantly on days five to seven after admission, while urea levels remained significantly higher in this group (p<0.001, p<0.05, respectively). Conclusion: CRP, urea, albumin, CAR and UAR are promising biomarkers for predicting the severity of disease in COVID-19 patients.