Long term glucocorticoids administration induces oxidative stress which leads to alteration of bone structure and strength. Palm oil is rich in tocotrienol, an antioxidant. It can be used for the prevention of oxidative stress related diseases. The main objective of this study was to determine the mechanism of palm tocotrienol in maintaining the bone structure and strength in glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis. Thirty two adult male Sprague-Dawley rats, aged 3 months, weighing 300-320 g rats were used in this study. Sixteen rats undergone adrenalectomy and were administered with 120μg/kg/day intramuscular injection of dexamethasone. Eight rats were supplemented with oral palm tocotrienol 60 mg/kg/day (Adrx+Dex+PTT) and the other eight rats were given oral vehicle palm olein 0.1 ml/kg/day (Adrx+Dex). Eight rats underwent sham procedure and were given vehicle palm olein 0.05 ml/kg/day by intramuscularly and oral 0.1 ml/kg/day (Sham). The rats were euthanized after two months of treatments. Eight rats were euthanized after acclimatic action without receiving any treatment (Baseline). The right femurs were used for bone biomechanical strength and histomorphometry analysis while the left for gene expression and oxidative stress enzymes activities. The results indicated that long-term glucocorticoid treatment significantly increased bone resorption marker, CTX (6060.7 ± 410 pg/ml) and decreased bone structure and strength. Osteoblast and osteoclast related genes expressions indicated an increase in bone turnover. Supplementation of palm tocotrienol had maintained serum resorption (2619.4 + 209 pg/ml) marker level and preserved bone structure and strength. Gene expression analysis showed decrease in bone resorption. The findings suggested that palm tocotrienol has potential benefits against glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis by regulating osteoblast and osteoclast related gene expression

Motivation camp is one of the learning interventions to assist underperform students in improving their academicperformances in term of GPA (Grade Point Average). An intervention study was carried out to know the effectiveness ofa motivation camp in improving the academic performances among the biomedical science students at the UniversitiKebangsaan Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur. Total of 44 respondents were involved in this study from year 2 and year 3 and hadbeen categorized into control and intervention groups (n = 22 per group). The intervention group was given motivationaltalks followed by a group discussion and self-reflection. The students in the intervention group were also assigned withacademicians to facilitate and guide them throughout the motivational camp. The students were interested in motivationaltalks activity the most. The average GPA showed a significant improvement after the motivation camp with 3.01 ± 0.30(p < 0.05) for the intervention group. Yet, control group also displayed a significant increment in the average GPA, 3.24± 0.06 (p < 0.05). In conclusion, motivation camp is one of the many learning intervention tools that strategize to helpstudents in improving their academic performances but it should be complemented with other intervention methods.Keyword