The large stomach worm, Haemonchus contortus is an important pathogen of goats (Capra hircus) and sheep (Ovis aries). This paper describes characteristics of surface cuticular ridges (synlophe) of H. contortus adults from the two hosts. There were more ridges in H. contortus from goats compared to that from sheep. Total body length, vulvar morphology, spicule length and cervical papillae had been considered as markers of physical adaptation and were studied and described.
Sheep ; Haemonchus contortus ; Length ; upper case aitch ; Malaysia

Aims: Piper sarmentosum Roxb. has a long history of medicinal usage and potential in treating many diseases and ailments. It is known for its medicinal properties and contains a variety of active chemical compounds. This study was conducted to identify and quantify the phenolic compounds of the leaf and fruit extract of P. sarmentosum, as well as their antibacterial activities. Methodology and results: High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) was carried out to identify the phenolic compounds in the samples. Antibacterial performance of the samples was measured using agar well and disc diffusion assay, where its MIC values were then determined. After going through HPLC-UV, the major phenolic compounds identified in both extracts were tannic acid, gallic acid, quercetin and naringin. The leaf and fruit of P. sarmentosum exhibited moderate to strong antibacterial activity when tested against pythopathogenic bacteria with an inhibition range of 10.67-17.33 mm at 100 mg/mL. Conclusion, significance and impact of study: The leaf and fruit extracts of P. sarmentosum were proven to have effective inhibitory effects on Pseudomonas fuscovaginae and Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae, which are also the causal agents of sheath brown rot and bacterial leaf blight in rice. This is believed to be due to the presence of the phenolic compounds in these samples. In a subsequent study, the researchers are planning to apply a formulation, developed from the crude extract, in the glasshouse and field trial.

Pheochromocytoma during pregnancy is potentially disastrous to the mother and fetus. Its ambiguous presentation is often mistaken for pre-eclampsia, although it may imitate other problems during pregnancy. Early diagnosis and timely, appropriate management reduces possible maternal and fetal complications. We identified a case of pheochromocytoma during pregnancy; the condition was initially diagnosed as pre-eclampsia complicated with gestational diabetes. Surgical intervention via left adrenalectomy was successfully performed in the second trimester. After surgery, all of the patient’s medical problems nearly subsided and she did not require further treatment. However, her fetus displayed restricted intrauterine growth, and the patient eventually had premature delivery via a caesarean section. A multidisciplinary team to identify and treat pheochromocytoma is mandatory to ensure optimal conditions for tumour removal and to anticipate any possible catastrophic events.

Abstract. A comparative seroprevalence study on bovine trypanosomiasis and anaplasmosis was conducted. Sera of adult cattle and buffaloes of different breeds from farms from five different states in Malaysia were collected and tested for the presence of Trypanosoma evansi antibodies by CATT and Anaplasma marginale antibodies by c-ELISA. Of the 116 samples, 14.7% tested positive for bovine trypanosomiasis and 77.6% for bovine anaplasmosis.

OBJECTIVE: The present, case-control, study investigates binaural hearing performance in schizophrenia patients towards sentences presented in quiet and noise. METHODS: Participants were twenty-one healthy controls and sixteen schizophrenia patients with normal peripheral auditory functions. The binaural hearing was examined in four listening conditions by using the Malay version of hearing in noise test. The syntactically and semantically correct sentences were presented via headphones to the randomly selected subjects. In each condition, the adaptively obtained reception thresholds for speech (RTS) were used to determine RTS noise composite and spatial release from masking. RESULTS: Schizophrenia patients demonstrated significantly higher mean RTS value relative to healthy controls (p=0.018). The large effect size found in three listening conditions, i.e., in quiet (d=1.07), noise right (d=0.88) and noise composite (d=0.90) indicates statistically significant difference between the groups. However, noise front and noise left conditions show medium (d=0.61) and small (d=0.50) effect size respectively. No statistical difference between groups was noted in regards to spatial release from masking on right (p=0.305) and left (p=0.970) ear. CONCLUSION: The present findings suggest an abnormal unilateral auditory processing in central auditory pathway in schizophrenia patients. Future studies to explore the role of binaural and spatial auditory processing were recommended.
Auditory Pathways ; Case-Control Studies ; Ear ; Hearing* ; Humans ; Masks ; Noise* ; Schizophrenia*

OBJECTIVE: Electrophysiological studies, which are mostly focused on afferent pathway, have proven that auditory processing deficits exist in patients with schizophrenia. Nevertheless, reports on the suppressive effect of efferent auditory pathway on cochlear outer hair cells among schizophrenia patients are limited. The present, case-control, study examined the contralateral suppression of transient evoked otoacoustic emissions (TEOAEs) in patients with schizophrenia. METHODS: Participants were twenty-three healthy controls and sixteen schizophrenia patients with normal hearing, middle ear and cochlear outer hair cells function. Absolute non-linear and linear TEOAEs were measured in both ears by delivering clicks stimuli at 80 dB SPL and 60 dB SPL respectively. Subsequently, contralateral suppression was determined by subtracting the absolute TEOAEs response obtained at 60 dBpe SPL during the absence and presence of contralateral white noise delivered at 65 dB HL. No attention tasks were conducted during measurements. RESULTS: We found no significant difference in absolute TEOAEs responses at 80 dB SPL, in either diagnosis or ear groups (p>0.05). However, the overall contralateral suppression was significantly larger in schizophrenia patients (p<0.05). Specifically, patients with schizophrenia demonstrated significantly increased right ear contralateral suppression compared to healthy control (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: The present findings suggest increased inhibitory effect of efferent auditory pathway especially on the right cochlear outer hair cells. Further studies to investigate increased suppressive effects are crucial to expand the current understanding of auditory hallucination mechanisms in schizophrenia patients.
Afferent Pathways ; Auditory Pathways ; Case-Control Studies ; Diagnosis ; Ear ; Ear, Middle ; Efferent Pathways ; Hair ; Hallucinations ; Hearing ; Humans ; Noise ; Schizophrenia*

We report a case of steroid withdrawal syndrome in a 74-year-old woman who was suspected of having an occult exogenous Cushing’s syndrome secondary to prolonged traditional complementary medicine use. She presented with non-specific symptoms of lethargy, malaise, and poor oral intake with weight loss for 1 month, and investigations showed suboptimal 9 AM cortisol level. She has responded well to steroid replacement.

Aims: Quercus infectoria (QI) gall extract is known to have broad spectrum anti-microbial activity in vitro. However, its mechanism of microbial growth inhibition is not well understood. The objectives of this study were to determine the antimicrobial effect of methanolic QI gall extract on bacteria and yeast and changes to their cell morphology. Methodology and results: The minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of methanolic QI gall extract against Streptococcus agalactiae (ATCC 13813), Proteus vulgaris (ATCC 49312) and Candida albicans (ATCC 10231) were determined using two fold serial microdilution technique at concentrations ranging from 0.01 mg/mL to 5.00 mg/mL (for bacteria) and 0.02 mg/mL to 12.00 mg/mL (for yeast). Minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) and minimum fungicidal concentration (MFC) were determined by subculturing the broth from the microtitre wells which showed no apparent growth or turbidity onto the nutrient agar plates. The scanning electron microscope (SEM) was used to analyze the morphology of bacteria and yeast cells treated with 1× MIC and 4× MIC of the extract. Substantial antimicrobial activity was observed against ATCC strains of S. agalactiae, P. vulgaris and C. albicans in this study. The MBC/MFC to MIC ratio (≤4) indicated the methanolic QI gall extract was bactericidal and fungicidal against all the tested strains. Changes to the cell morphology were more obvious at higher extract concentration (4× MIC). Conclusion, significance and impact of study: This study showed that QI gall extract has antimicrobial effects on the bacterial and yeast cell morphology and thus, provides scientific information suggesting its possible antimicrobial mechanisms on the cell wall and membrane integrity.

Floods are considered an annual natural disaster in Kelantan. However, the record-setting flood of 2014 was a ‘tsunami-like disaster’. Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia was the only fully functioning hospital in the state and had to receive and manage cases from the hospitals and clinics throughout Kelantan. The experiences, challenges, and recommendations resulting from this disaster are highlighted from an emergency medicine perspective so that future disaster preparedness is truly a preparation. The history of how the health campus was constructed with the collaboration of Perunding Alam Bina and Perkins and Willis of Chicago is elaborated.

A study was conducted to determine the level of mothers' perception on children with cleft deformity and its associated factors This was a cross sectional study involving 110 mothers with children attending the Plastic And Reconstructive Surgery Clinic. Data was gathered from a face to face interview based on a questionnaire that assesses the level of perception and its associated factors. The level of perception was evaluated from a scoring method and divided into four domains namely psychosocial, care management, treatment and education. The level of perception was high in all four domains ranged from 62% for treatment and 80% for education. Factors that were significantly associated with the level of perception were ethnicity, religion, type of cleft deformity and level of information. Information regarding cleft deformity must be tailored toward mothers’ personal characteristics and type of cleft deformity to improve mothers' perception on this problem.