The objective of this survey was to evaluate the knowledge of final year dental and medical students of Universiti Sains Malaysia concerning epidemiology, aetiology, clinical aspects, prevention, early detection and treatment of oral cancer and oral potentially malignant disorders (OPMD). A pre-tested, self-administered questionnaire with 36 questions was used. Forty five dental students and 147 medical students participated in the study. Dental students were relatively better informed than their medical colleagues concerning most issues addressed in the questionnaire. Yet, in some areas of knowledge, the dental students did not differ significantly from their medical colleagues. Only a small proportion of both groups of students expressed confidence in their knowledge and skills in oral cancer prevention and detection. This study revealed areas of deficiency in the awareness of these students concerning oral cancer and OPMD. It points to a necessity to strengthen these aspects of medical and dental undergraduate curricula.
Mouth Neoplasms ; Awareness ; Data Collection ; Students, Medical

Aims: Corn is grown primarily for human consumption. It is considered as the second most important cereal crop after rice in Asia. Many diseases affect this crop due to planting of susceptible hybrids. This research is aimed to characterize the causative agent of northern corn leaf blight disease in Malaysia, caused by Exserohilum turcicum. Methodology and results: Leaf samples were collected from infected farms of 2 corn growing areas of Peninsular Malaysia in 2015. A total of 5 fungal isolates were examined for cultural, morphological and molecular properties, and based on the results, the five isolates were identified as E. turcicum. The conidial shapes were observed to be elongated and spindle. Cultural characteristics showed that variation existed among the isolates in colony growth and colour. Mycelia growth rates of the isolates were significantly different on potato dextrose agar (PDA), corn meal agar (CMA) and potato sucrose agar (PSA) media, growth on CMA was faster than on PSA and PDA. The isolates were grouped into three groups based on colony colour i.e. light gray, gray and dark gray. The isolates were categorized into 2 groups based on growth namely, moderate growth and profused growth. The number of septa ranged from 5-7 to 7-10 representing isolates ET002 and ET003, respectively. Similarly, conidial length varied from 56.7 µm to 89.44 µm for isolates ET002 and ET003, respectively. The pathogenic variability tested on Thai Super Sweet (TSS) corn variety, showed that isolates ET001 and ET003 were more aggressive while isolate ET005 was less aggressive among the isolates tested. Conclusion, significance and impact of the study: Both morphology and molecular results showed that, the isolates were identified as E. turcicum. The findings of this study will serve as a baseline for future studies and will help to minimize losses in yield.
Zea mays

Objective: This study investigates functional specialisation in, and effective connectivity between the precentral gyrus (PCG) and supplementary motor area (SMA) in seven right handed female subjects. Methods: Unimanual (UNIright and UNIleft) and bimanual (BIM) self-paced tapping of hand fingers were performed by the subjects to activate PCG and SMA. Brain activations and effective connectivity were analysed using statistical parametric mapping (SPM), dynamic causal modeling (DCM) and Bayesian model selection (BMS) and were reported based on group fixed (FFX) and random (RFX) effects analyses. Results: Group results showed that the observed brain activation for UNIright and UNIleft fulfill contralateral behavior of motor coordination with a larger activation area for UNIright. The activation for BIM occurs in both hemispheres with BIMright showing higher extent of activation as compared to BIMleft. Region of interest (ROI) analyses reveal that the number of activated voxel (NOV) and percentage of signal change (PSC) on average is higher in PCG than SMA for all tapping conditions. However, comparing between hemispheres for both UNI and BIM, higher PSC is observed in the right PCG and the left SMA. DCM and BMS results indicate that most subjects prefer PCG as the intrinsic input for UNIright and UNIleft. The input was later found to be bi-directionally connected to SMA for UNIright.The bi-directional model was then used for BIM in the left and right hemispheres. The model was in favour of six out of seven subjects. DCM results for BIM indicate the existance of interhemispheric connectivity between the right and left hemisphere PCG. Conclusion: The findings strongly support the existence of functional specialisation and integration i.e. effective connectivity in human brain during finger tapping and can be used as baselines in determining the probable motor coordination pathways and their connection strength in a population of subjects

The objective of this cross -sectional study is to determine the prevalence and pattern of herbal medicines use during pregnancy among women in Tumpat district, Kelantan. A total of 210 mothers were interviewed using a structured questionnaire. There were 108 mothers (51.4%) who used at least one type of herbal medicines during pregnancy. The most common herbal medicines used (63.9%) was coconut oil which was ingested during the third trimester of pregnancy only. The most common indication was (89.8%) to facilitate labour. The majority of users (79.6%) used herbal medicines during the third trimester of pregnancy only. Many of them (81.5%) believed that herbal medicines were effective to solve their health problems and fulfilled the indications for use. The older generation like parents and in laws (63.9%) were the most common persons who suggested using herbal medicines. The majority of them used the herbs only once (56.5%) and one type (87.0%) throughout the pregnancy. Further research focusing on local commonly used herbal medicines is to be carried out to evaluate the safety and efficacy of the herbs.

Introduction: Premature ejaculation (PE) is an important sexual problem among men attending health clinic. Impacts of this condition towards quality of life still require further exploration.Aims: To determine the proportion and determinants for PE and theirs quality of life Methods: A cross-sectional study involving 290 respondents was conducted at a primary health clinic over the period of five months (Nov 2015-March 2016). A self-administrated questionnaire that consisted of socio-demographic questionnaire, clinical characteristics, premature ejaculation diagnostic tool (PEDT) and WHO quality of life (WHOQOL-BREF) was usedResults: The proportion of PE was 33.9% with PE 18.1% (49/271) and probable PE 15.8% (43/271). Multivariate analysis showed that level of education (p=0.002, OR 3.281/95% CI 1.183, 9.101) and hypertension (p=0.047, OR 1.788/95% CI 1.008, 3.170) were the only predictors for PE after controlling self-reported erectile dysfunction, pulmonary and neurological disorder. PE patients had lower median scores quality of life in all four domain namely physical health, psychological, social relationship, environment (all domains with p<0.001).Conclusion: The proportion of men diagnosed with premature ejaculation in this study is high. This condition is possibly associated with level of education and hypertension. Men with PE had lower quality of life in domains of physical health, psychological, social relationship and environment. Hence, it is recommended for PE screening among male attendees to primary health clinic especially those with hypertension and moderate level of education.

Phytochemical investigation from the stem bark of Beilschmiedia pulverulenta resulted in the isolation of five lignans, (+)-yangambin (1), (+)-sesartemin (2), (+)-excelsin (3), (+)-sesamin (4), and (+)-syringaresinol (5), together with lupeol (6), lupenone (7), β-sitosterol (8), and β-sitostenone (9). Their structures were established by the analysis of their spectroscopic (1D and 2D NMR) and spectrometric (MS) data, as well as by comparison with those reported in the literature. The isolated lignans were tested for their anticholinesterase (AChE: acetylcholine esterase and BChE: butyryl cholineesterase) and anti-inflammatory (COX-2: cyclooxygenase-2 and LOX: lipoxygenase) activities. All the isolated lignans (1 – 5) exhibited significant inhibition activities in AChE/BChE and COX-2/LOX assays with IC50 values ranging from 168.8 – 504.2 µM and 21.0 – 59.4 µM, respectively.
Acetylcholine ; Cyclooxygenase 2 ; Inhibitory Concentration 50 ; Lignans

Sporotrichosis is a fungal infection caused by Sporothrix, a thermally dimorphic fungus that affects humans and animals. It is most commonly associated with cutaneous and subcutaneous tissue exposed to fungus-containing soil, moss, or organic material. Sporotrichosis is challenging to diagnose because it can mimic various other dermatological diseases. Thus, as demonstrated in this case, the importance of making a diagnosis based on history and a thorough physical examination, as misdiagnosis can delay proper treatment. A 53-year-old Malay woman presented with bilateral thumb swelling that had been treated with two courses of antibiotics but had failed, resulting in disease progression. Clinical suspicion of lymphocutaneous sporotrichosis was made based on history, physical examination, and investigations finding. The patient was started on an empirical course of Itraconazole 200mg twice daily, and the lesions responded well.