Malaysia has good environmental laws to protect the outdoor environment and public health. However there are no laws governing indoor air quality (IAQ) and the knowledge among the public about its importance is also lacking. Environmental professionals think it is not a priority and this influences the policy decisions in the country. Therefore there is a need to create awareness by way of research, education and other promotional activities. What is much needed at this time is the establishment of standards for the conduct of risk assessment studies. To establish standards we need reliable data which can be used to develop appropriate guidelines for the purpose of mitigation and adaptation programmes. IAQ can have significant influence on health resulting in drop in productivity and economy of a country. It has been estimated that in the US, building related illnesses (BRI) symptoms have a relationship with decrease (3 to 5%) in work performance in an affected population resulting in an annual loss of US$60 billion in revenue. However, based on efficient management programmes they have also projected that the potential annual savings can be in the region of US$10 to 30 billion. This establishes that fact that good management programmes based on efficient guidelines is of economic value to a country and wellbeing of the population. The IMU has embarked on a research programme to collect the much-needed data for the framing of a good IAQ guideline for Malaysia.

The purpose of this study was to compare four groups of Oriental young adults (169 males and 174 females) with normal occlusion and well balanced faced. Lsteral cephalograms of 100 Koreans, 100 Chinese, 73 Vitnamese and 71 Japanese were digitized and six profile measures were computed. Analyses of variance showed that total facial profile(GI'-Pr'-Pg') of Chinese was significantly less convex than the profile of Koreans or Vietnamese. Facial profile(GI'-Pr'-Pg') of Chinese was also significantly less convex than that of Vietnamese. Holdaway's soft tissue angle(Pg'-LS:N-B) was significantly greater in Vietnamese than Chinese and Koreans, who were in turn greater than Janpanese. The upper of Vietnamese is significantly closer to Ricketts' esthetic plane, than Chinese; Koreans and Japanese are significantly further behind the plane than Chinese. The lower lip of Koreans and Janpanese was close to the esthetic lpane, while Chinese and Vietnamese were approximately wmm ahead. The nasolabial angle was significantly smaller for Chinese and Japanese than Koreans and Vietnamese. Sex differences were primarily dependent on the nose; total facial convexity and the nasolabial angle wee significantly larger in females than males. The results of this study demonatrate that a single standard of facial profile id not sufficient or appropriate for Oriental patients.
Adult* ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Female ; Humans ; Lip ; Male ; Nose ; Sex Characteristics ; Young Adult

A retrospective descriptive study on the relative frequency of surgical site infection (SSI) among 235 operated cancer patients at Chong Hua Hospital was done covering the period from January 1991 up to May 1993. SSI occurred in 9.4 percent (22/235). There was a significant increase in SSI as the population became older (p=0.01). Dirty operations had a significantly higher infection rate of 50 percent (2/4) compared to 8.7 percent (20/211) for the rest (p=0.45). Clean operations had a significantly lower infection rate of 2.5 percent (3/121) compared to 16.7 percent (19/114) for the rest. There was no difference in SSI between early and late stage cancer cases. Operations in the alimentary tract had a significantly higher infection rate of 19.3 percent (11/57) compared to 6.4 percent (11/172) for operations on the other sites (p=0.004). Operations on solf tissues, breast and thyroid had a signifanctly lower rate of 4.6 percent (4/87) compared to 12.7 percent (18/142) for operations on other sites (p=0.045).(Author)

Human ; Male ; Female ; Aged 80 And Over ; Aged ; Middle Aged ; Surgical Wound Infection ; Thyroid Gland ; Hospitals ; Patients ; Neoplasm

OBJECTIVE: To determine risk factors associated with recurrence in patients with high intermediate risk (HIR) endometrioid adenocarcinoma. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of patients with HIR endometrioid adenocarcinoma who underwent hysterectomy, bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy, with or without pelvic/para-aortic lymphadenectomy at the University of Pennsylvania between 1990 and 2009 was performed. RESULTS: A total of 103 women with HIR endometrial cancer were identified. Multivariable analysis revealed that > or =2/3 myometrial invasion (HR, 4.79; p=0.010) and grade 3 disease (HR, 3.04; p=0.045) were independently predictive of distant metastases. The 5-year distant metastases free survival (DMFS) for patients with neither or one of these risk factors was 89%, and the 5-year DMFS for patients with both risk factors was 48% (p<0.001). CONCLUSION: Patients with both grade 3 disease and deep third myometrial invasion have a high risk of distant metastases. Identifying these patients may be important in rationally selecting patients for systemic therapy.
Carcinoma, Endometrioid ; Endometrial Neoplasms ; Female ; Humans ; Hysterectomy ; Lymph Node Excision ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Pennsylvania ; Recurrence ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors

OBJECTIVE: To determine risk factors associated with recurrence in patients with high intermediate risk (HIR) endometrioid adenocarcinoma. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of patients with HIR endometrioid adenocarcinoma who underwent hysterectomy, bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy, with or without pelvic/para-aortic lymphadenectomy at the University of Pennsylvania between 1990 and 2009 was performed. RESULTS: A total of 103 women with HIR endometrial cancer were identified. Multivariable analysis revealed that > or =2/3 myometrial invasion (HR, 4.79; p=0.010) and grade 3 disease (HR, 3.04; p=0.045) were independently predictive of distant metastases. The 5-year distant metastases free survival (DMFS) for patients with neither or one of these risk factors was 89%, and the 5-year DMFS for patients with both risk factors was 48% (p<0.001). CONCLUSION: Patients with both grade 3 disease and deep third myometrial invasion have a high risk of distant metastases. Identifying these patients may be important in rationally selecting patients for systemic therapy.
Carcinoma, Endometrioid ; Endometrial Neoplasms ; Female ; Humans ; Hysterectomy ; Lymph Node Excision ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Pennsylvania ; Recurrence ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors

We report a 32 year-old Chinese lady with history of tetralogy of Fallot, presented to us with chest pain due to hypocalcemia secondary to hypoparathyroidism. With her dysmorphic facial features and intellectual disability 22q11.2 deletion was suspected and confirmed by genetic study. Clinicians should consider the diagnosis of DiGeorge syndrome in adult patient with past medical history of congenital heart disease, facial dysmorphism, intellectual disability and primary hypoparathyroidism.
Adult ; Delayed Diagnosis ; DiGeorge Syndrome ; diagnosis ; genetics ; Female ; Humans ; Hypocalcemia ; diagnosis ; genetics

As a dioxygenase, Ten-Eleven Translocation 2 (TET2) catalyzes subsequent steps of 5-methylcytosine (5mC) oxidation. TET2 plays a critical role in the self-renewal, proliferation, and differentiation of hematopoietic stem cells, but its impact on mature hematopoietic cells is not well-characterized. Here we show that Tet2 plays an essential role in osteoclastogenesis. Deletion of Tet2 impairs the differentiation of osteoclast precursor cells (macrophages) and their maturation into bone-resorbing osteoclasts in vitro. Furthermore, Tet2 mice exhibit mild osteopetrosis, accompanied by decreased number of osteoclasts in vivo. Tet2 loss in macrophages results in the altered expression of a set of genes implicated in osteoclast differentiation, such as Cebpa, Mafb, and Nfkbiz. Tet2 deletion also leads to a genome-wide alteration in the level of 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC) and altered expression of a specific subset of macrophage genes associated with osteoclast differentiation. Furthermore, Tet2 interacts with Runx1 and negatively modulates its transcriptional activity. Our studies demonstrate a novel molecular mechanism controlling osteoclast differentiation and function by Tet2, that is, through interactions with Runx1 and the maintenance of genomic 5hmC. Targeting Tet2 and its pathway could be a potential therapeutic strategy for the prevention and treatment of abnormal bone mass caused by the deregulation of osteoclast activities.
5-Methylcytosine ; analogs & derivatives ; chemistry ; metabolism ; Animals ; Cell Differentiation ; Cells, Cultured ; Core Binding Factor Alpha 2 Subunit ; genetics ; metabolism ; DNA-Binding Proteins ; physiology ; Genome ; Genomics ; Mice ; Mice, Knockout ; Osteoclasts ; cytology ; metabolism ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins ; physiology

Although genome-wide association studies have identified more than eighty genetic variants associated with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) risk, biological mechanisms of these variants remain largely unknown. By integrating a large-scale genotype data of 15 581 lung adenocarcinoma (AD) cases, 8350 squamous cell carcinoma (SqCC) cases, and 27 355 controls, as well as multiple transcriptome and epigenomic databases, we conducted histology-specific meta-analyses and functional annotations of both reported and novel susceptibility variants. We identified 3064 credible risk variants for NSCLC, which were overrepresented in enhancer-like and promoter-like histone modification peaks as well as DNase I hypersensitive sites. Transcription factor enrichment analysis revealed that USF1 was AD-specific while CREB1 was SqCC-specific. Functional annotation and gene-based analysis implicated 894 target genes, including 274 specifics for AD and 123 for SqCC, which were overrepresented in somatic driver genes (ER = 1.95, P = 0.005). Pathway enrichment analysis and Gene-Set Enrichment Analysis revealed that AD genes were primarily involved in immune-related pathways, while SqCC genes were homologous recombination deficiency related. Our results illustrate the molecular basis of both well-studied and new susceptibility loci of NSCLC, providing not only novel insights into the genetic heterogeneity between AD and SqCC but also a set of plausible gene targets for post-GWAS functional experiments.
Adenocarcinoma of Lung/genetics* ; Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung/genetics* ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell/genetics* ; Genetic Heterogeneity ; Genetic Predisposition to Disease ; Genome-Wide Association Study ; Humans ; Lung Neoplasms/genetics* ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide