The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak has led to imposed movement restrictions and lockdowns to curb the spread of COVID-19 cases in the community. These lockdowns had greatly changed people’s daily lives, including physical activity and sedentary behaviour. The aim of this scoping review was to establish available evidence linked to physical activity (PA) and sedentary behaviour (SB) among adults in the Asia region during the COVID-19 outbreak. This scoping review was conducted using Arksey & O’Malley’s protocol with 132 studies included after full-text screening. Changes in PA were reported in 122 studies and SB in 50 studies. Most studies reported a reduction in the total level of PA and a hike in sedentary and screen time. This decrement in PA and increment in SB was related to poor mental health, body weight increase and complications in COVID-19 patients, while participants who maintained or improved their PA reported better health outcomes.

Knowledge on surface anatomy enables medical students and graduates to locate anatomical structures exteriorly, improve their clinical and procedural skills and interpret ultrasonographic and radiographic images. Hence, a standard surface anatomy knowledge is essential for attainment of clinical skill competency. Nevertheless, there is lack of attention given on surface anatomy in the medical curriculum as it is usually delivered didactically or during selfstudy by the students. Owing to limitations in cadaveric dissection in many institutions, lecture-based instruction, e-learning materials, living anatomy models, radiological imaging and anatomy software are used in teaching surface anatomy; however, none of these methods proved to be effective over the others. Furthermore, some of these teaching resources lack clinical relevancy, possibly impeding students’ appreciation on learning surface anatomy. Hence, integrating clinical input during surface anatomy teaching by involving patients in an actual clinical environment is pertinent. This article demonstrates the benefits and challenges of teaching surface anatomy in the clinical setting to medical students and highlights the need to design an evidence-based framework of work-based surface anatomy learning.

Obturator hernia is an uncommon intra-abdominal hernia with the incidence of 0.05-1.4% of all hernias. Diagnosis is often delayed as the clinical picture is usually non-specific and poses a diagnostic challenge to clinicians. This report describes a case of an 80-year-old woman, who presented to the Emergency Department with left lower quadrant abdominal pain that radiates to the left hip region for one day. Plain abdominal radiography showed dilated loops of small bowel in the pelvic region. Contrasted Enhanced Computed Tomography (CECT) of abdomen and pelvis demonstrated left obturator hernia with small bowel obstruction. Emergency laparoscopic obturator hernia repair was performed. Intraoperative findings confirmed a left incarcerated obturator hernia. The small bowel was reduced and viable. Subsequently, a primary closure of the hernia orifice was performed. This case report emphasizes the successful use of a laparoscopic approach in obstructed obturator hernia and its feasibility in an emergency setting.
Laparoscopy

Introduction: Despite abundant sunshine for cutaneous vitamin D synthesis, low levels of vitamin D have been documented among the Malaysian population. The aim of this study was to characterise the effects of occupational sunlight exposure and monsoon season on serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] concentration. Methods: A comparative cross-sectional study was performed among Malay outdoor (n=119) and indoor workers (n=119) in Kelantan. Two-point data were collected on the same participants, first during non-monsoon season and second during the northeast monsoon season. Data collection comprised of anthropometry measurements (body mass index and body fat), fasting blood test [serum 25(OH)D concentration], and questionnaire (physical activity level, sun exposure, sun protection use, and vitamin D intake). Vitamin D classification was based on the 2011 Endocrine Society Clinical Practice Guidelines. Results: This study found that serum 25(OH)D concentrations were significantly higher in outdoor compared to indoor workers irrespective of season (p<0.001) and sex (p<0.001). Monsoonal differences in serum 25(OH)D concentration was only observed in male outdoor workers (mean difference=10.39 nmol/l, p<0.001). Significant association between vitamin D status and occupation was also observed (p<0.001). However, no significant association was found between vitamin D status and monsoon season [χ2(1)=0.076, p=0.783]. Conclusion: Seasonal and occupational factors should be considered while evaluating individual serum 25(OH)D concentration and in comparing community studies, especially among workers.

Aims: Brewer’s rice is one of the by-products from rice processing industry that is rich in bioactive compounds but currently underutilized. Exploitation of agro-industrial by-products as substrates in solid-state fermentation processes provides value-addition to these underutilized by-products. The purpose of this research is to evaluate the potentiality of brewer’s rice as a source of cosmeceutical or cosmetic bio-ingredient by utilizing solid-state fermentation process. Methodology and results: Brewer’s rice was submitted to solid-state fermentation with Aspergillus oryzae from MARDI’s Collection of Functional Food Culture (CFFC). Extracts of unfermented and fermented brewer’s rice were later subjected to determination of biological content and biological activities, as well as measurement of their phenolic and organic acids content. The extract of fermented brewer’s rice exhibited an increase in total phenolic and total flavonoid content and showed enhanced 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical-scavenging and ferric-reducing activities. Additionally, it was also found that the tyrosinase and elastase inhibition activities of fermented brewer’s rice extract is significantly higher with nearly 7- and 57-fold, respectively, than the unfermented extract. Ferulic and kojic acid – two of the most important compounds in cosmeceutical formulations, were also detected in fermented brewer’s rice extract. Conclusion, significance and impact of study Antioxidant, anti-pigmentation and anti-wrinkle properties of brewer’s rice were successfully enhanced by fermentation with A. oryzae. Fermented brewer’s rice extract has high potential to be developed as functional bio-ingredient for cosmeceutical as well as nutraceutical products.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Over the past few decades, Malaysia has been experiencing an increased prevalence of overweight and obesity that threatens the health of Malaysians. Poor dietary intake is one of the major contributors to the development of obesity and many non-communicable diseases. The dietary intakes of adults in Malaysia were assessed to determine the association between the dietary intake variables and the body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC) measurements. This study examined whether the dietary intake achieved the recommended nutritional guidelines and compared the intakes between both sexes. SUBJECTS/METHODS: The height, weight, and WC of four-hundred-and-ninety adults (n = 490) in Malaysia were measured using standard procedures. The three-day 24-hour dietary recalls were conducted on 422 out of the 490 adults and their dietary intakes were evaluated in detail. The selected dietary intake variables were used to determine the associations with the obesity indicators. RESULTS: Among the participants, 52.8% were overweight or obese. After data analysis, the mean energy intake was 1,550 kcal/day, in which male participants had a significantly higher energy and macronutrients intake than females. Protein consumption and its percentage of energy contribution exceeded the recommended range. The consumption of fruits, vegetables, and milk and milk products were lower than the recommended number of servings for a healthy diet. The male participants consumed significantly more servings of carbohydrate-based foods, meat, and fats, oils, and sweets than females. Among the selected dietary intake variables, only the carbohydrate intake was negatively associated with the BMI (Estimate b = −0.008) and WC measurements (Estimate b = −0.019) after adjusting for covariates. CONCLUSIONS: This study evaluated the dietary intakes of a sample of Malaysian adults and its association with the obesity indicators. The results highlight the need for improvements and modifications of the dietary intake of Malaysians to reduce the overweight and obesity rates.
Adult ; Body Mass Index ; Diet ; Energy Intake ; Fats ; Female ; Fruit ; Humans ; Malaysia ; Male ; Meat ; Micronutrients ; Milk ; Obesity ; Obesity, Abdominal ; Oils ; Overweight ; Prevalence ; Statistics as Topic ; Vegetables ; Waist Circumference

Globally, peptide-based anticancer therapies have drawn much attention. Marine organisms are a reservoir of anticancer peptides that await discovery. In this study, we aimed to identify cytotoxic oligopeptides from Sarcophyton glaucum. Peptides were purified from among the S. glaucum hydrolysates produced by alcalase, chymotrypsin, papain, and trypsin, guided by a methylthiazolyldiphenyl-tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay on the human cervical cancer (HeLa) cell line for cytotoxicity evaluation. Purification techniques adopted were membrane ultrafiltration, gel filtration chromatography, solid phase extraction (SPE), and reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC). Purified peptides were identified by de novo peptide sequencing. From papain hydrolysate, three peptide sequences were identified: AGAPGG, AERQ, and RDTQ (428.45, 502.53, and 518.53 Da, respectively). Peptides synthesized from these sequences exhibited cytotoxicity on HeLa cells with median effect concentration (EC₅₀) values of 8.6, 4.9, and 5.6 mmol/L, respectively, up to 5.8-fold stronger than the anticancer drug 5-fluorouracil. When tested at their respective EC₅₀, AGAPGG, AERQ, and RDTQ showed only 16%, 25%, and 11% cytotoxicity to non-cancerous Hek293 cells, respectively. In conclusion, AERQ, AGAPGG, and RDTQ are promising candidates for future development as peptide-based anticancer drugs.
Amino Acid Sequence ; Animals ; Anthozoa/chemistry* ; Antineoplastic Agents/pharmacology* ; Chromatography, Gel ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Chromatography, Reverse-Phase ; Cytotoxins/pharmacology* ; Drug Discovery ; HEK293 Cells ; HeLa Cells ; Humans ; Hydrolysis ; Marine Toxins/pharmacology* ; Oligopeptides/pharmacology* ; Solid Phase Extraction ; Tandem Mass Spectrometry

Carleysmith and Fox (1984) stated “without doubt, the single most vital yet most problematical value sought duringfermentation is biomass estimation”. Achieving a positive result in determining biomass remains a major challenge insolid state fermentation (SSF). Fungi are well-characterised microorganisms and are widely used in SSF due to theirability to colonise and penetrate into the solid substrate. The compressed structure of the mycelia and the solid substratedoes not allow a complete recovery of the biomass, which may not be insurmountable. Since the use of a directtechnique such as the dry weight method is impractical, the use of an indirect estimation technique is the only alternative.This review examines strategies that have been used to estimate biomass in SSF. Many promising indirect estimationtechniques are available, which can be classified into six categories as follows; (i) measuring cell components notpresent in the substrate; (ii) measuring biomass component present in both substrate and biomass; (iii) measuring othersecondary metabolites; (iv) measuring metabolic activity; (v) measuring images from direct microscopic observation and(vi) measuring biomass from the substrate matrix. New potential technique and future directions are also discussed inthis review. Although significant advances have been made with the availability of various techniques; however, progresshas been very unsatisfactory. The evaluation of microbial growth in SSF may sometimes become laborious, impracticaland inaccurate. Essentially, this remains another critical issue for monitoring growth. The information of the profile offungal biomass growth throughout any SSF process constitutes an essential parameter in estimation of kinetic variablesand subsequently, scale-up of the process.

Aims: Pickled fruits are a popular condiment not only in Malaysia but throughout the world. Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are known to be able to produce several antibacterial compounds during the pickling process. Pickled Eleiodoxa conferta or kelubi is among the commonly consumed pickled fruits in Malaysia and may be a promising source of LAB. This study was carried out to isolate and identify LAB from local pickled E. conferta and to determine their antibacterial activity against foodborne pathogens. Methodology and results: The isolation of LAB was conducted using standard methods and the isolated colonies were preliminarily identified based on their morphology on De Man, Rogosa and Sharpe (MRS) agar, Gram-positive staining characteristics and their catalase-negative reactions and subsequently chosen for identification with polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification of the 16S rRNA gene and sequencing. A total of four LAB isolates were successfully isolated and identified: Lactobacillus brevis (LABK1 and LABK2), L. plantarum (LABK3) and Leuconostoc mesenteroides (LABK4). The antibacterial activity of the identified LAB was determined against 10 commonly known foodborne bacterial pathogens using LAB cell cultures by agar spot test method. The antibacterial activity was also evaluated using the cell free supernatant (CFS) of the LAB through agar well diffusion method. All four LAB cultures were able to demonstrate antibacterial activity and inhibited five Gram-positive and five Gram-negative bacterial pathogens. Conclusion, significance and impact of study This study demonstrated that the isolated LAB from E. conferta has antibacterial effects against several foodborne pathogens. These LAB strains may have potential as a natural food preservative.

Aims:In this study, measurement of colour changes during solid state fermentation (SSF) are presented as one of the potential techniques that can be used to describe growth, complementary to other biomass estimation, such as weight of fungus, spores concentration, organic matter loss, glucosamine and enzyme activity, which is directly related to growth.Methodology and results: In this study, fungal fermentation of Aspergillus awamoriand A.oryzaeare carried out on complex heterogeneous solid media; wheat bran, soybean hull and rapeseed meal, which are constituted of various soluble and insoluble solid particles. Fermented mass was extracted using distilled water to obtain a cell free extract, which canbe determined quickly and accurately using UV-Visible spectrophotometermeasured absorbance at 300 nm. The results showed a significant correlation between colours produced from fungal SSF and the concentration of spores, weight of fungus cells, organic matter loss, glucosamine and enzyme activity. We found that the colour density proportionally increased when the studied parameters mentioned above increased.For the growth of A. awamoriand A. oryzaeon wheat bran, soybean hulls and rapeseed meal, it was confirmed that colour production was directly proportional to fungal growth. In general, colour-based methods seem to be the most promising approach for biomass estimation in SSF.Conclusions, significance and impacts of study:The theory of measuring colour changes in SSF by UV-visible spectroscopy demonstrates that the colour method gives some valuableinformation than just obtaining a visual observation or spore count to describe growth of fungal mycelium in SSF. The ideas obtained from this exercise might provide a quick and convenient method for quality control of fungal growth. The advantages of this method are that the procedure is simple to carry out, it is non-destructive and no special and expensive reagents are required and the process is very cheap.This newapproach is an important complimentation to the existing techniques especially for basic studies.