Recent Articles

Milk consumption is popular in Malaysia especially among the younger ages. Nonetheless, there is a lack of quantitative data on milk consumption by children in Malaysia.

Use of gas chromatography (GC) combined with time-of –flight mass spectrometry (TOFMS) with soft ionization generated with three different plasma gases (i.e., Xe, Kr, Ar) was evaluated for the identification of several pyrrolidinophenone-type designer drugs that are commercially available.

Thyroid hemiagenesis is a rare abnormality in which one thyroid lobe fails to develop. A careful clinical assessment, including thyroid function tests, thyroid ultrasonography and scintigraphy, plays an important role in diagnosis of thyroid hemiagenesis. We report a case of a 35 year-old man with an incidental finding of a left thyroid lobe hemiagenesis.

Methamphetamine is one of the most commonly abused illegal stimulants and causes the release of dopamine, norepinephrine and serotonin. These neurotransmitters trigger vasospasm, causing persistent tachycardia, hypertension, and direct myocardial toxicity. Moderate usage of methamphetamine can increase cardiac output and myocardial contractility. However, larger doses can cause depression of the myocardium.

Streptococcus mutans and Lactobacillus species are major bacteria associated with dental caries. In the presence of fermentable sugars and poor oral hygiene these bacteria increase risk of caries. Some studies have associated obesity with dental caries while others did not. High sugar snacks are risks for both obesity and dental caries. This study aimed at determining Streptococcus mutans and Lactobacillus species infection and its relationship with dental caries among obese and non-obese children. Oral plaque was taken from 75 each of obese and non-obese children from private schools in Accra, Ghana. The plaque was pre-enriched in thioglycollate broth for 48 hours at 37 °C.

Good oral hygiene protects against oral diseases such as caries and gum infections. Twice daily tooth brushing with fluoride pastes and flossing are recommended to keep mouth clean and reduce plaque bacterial growth. Poor access to oral cleaning material and dental care services expose children from poor backgrounds to oral diseases.

Relapsed high-grade gliomas (HGG) respond poorly to known chemotherapeutic agents with a median survival of 3 to 6 months. Several phase II trials of Bevacizumab for salvage therapy, reported excellent response rates. The optimal dose of Bevacizumab in GBM has not been defined to date. We performed a prospective phase II trial of bevacizumab using 5 mg/kg every 2 weeks.

The pathogenic potential of Fusobacterium nucleatum and its significance in infections has gained new interest. This retrospective study assessed the epidemiology of patients with infections and culture isolated F. nucleatum at two county hospitals in Houston, Texas. Clinical, epidemiological and microbiological data were obtained from the electronic medical record for both Ben Taub General Hospital and Lyndon B. Johnson Hospital from January 1, 2002 to December 31, 2011.

Enteroviruses are responsible for causing several recent well-publicized outbreaks in the United States, including gastrointestinal and upper respiratory infections. Enteroviruses are also capable of infecting the central nervous system, leading to manifestations of meningitis and encephalitis. Because enteroviruses are often overlooked as the etiology of CNS infections, we explore data from national surveillance, typical presentation and diagnostic information, as well as patterns of infection and transmission in an effort to remind practitioners to be mindful of this frequent cause of infection and its propensity to be spread from person to person.

Universal salt iodization is cost-effective, safe and sustainable strategy to ensure adequate intake of iodine by all populations. Worldwide the proportion of people consuming iodized salt dramatically increased while, the coverage of universal salt iodization is still low in Ethiopia.

Methadone, a long-acting opioid agonist, binds to and occupies mu-opioid receptors, preventing withdrawal symptoms for 24 hours or longer, reduces craving for opioids, and, by maintaining high levels of opioid tolerance, reduces the euphoric effects of subsequent illicit opioid use. As a controlled substance with potential for abuse, methadone use is regulated in the US and other countries.

In Papua New Guinea (PNG), under-five mortality rate still remains high (69 per 1,000 live birth), and infectious diseases contribute to 38% of deaths among under-five children, possibly due to not only low immunization coverage but also undernutrition.

Guillain-Barr´e syndrome (GBS) usually presents with lower motor neuron (LMN) symmetrical weakness, areflexia, and hypotonia. GBS has rarely been reported with up going plantars’ response. We report a case of GBS with up going plantars during the course of the disease.

Bariatric surgery (BS) is a potential cause for malabsorption resulting in nutritional deficiency-related neuropathies and myelopathy.

Terbinafine hydrochloride (TH) is first line drug against treatment of onychomycosis; which is the commonest fungal infection of nail plate. However, strong barrier property of nail plate restricts the effective topical treatment of onychomycosis. In this study, TH loaded solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs) were prepared and subsequently incorporated into a gel system. SLNs were prepared by high pressure homogenization (HPH) technique using glyceryl monosterate (GMS), compritol 888ATO and a co-processed lipid. They were evaluated for particle size, polydispersity index, zeta potential, % entrapment efficiency (%EE), % drug loading (%DL), drug content and in-vitro drug release. Optimized SLNs were incorporated into chitosan gel and further evaluated for in-vitro drug release and ex-vivo antifungal study.

A total of 150 patients categorized into 100 cases (urolithiasis-positive) with urinary stone disease, aged from 5 to 18 years, and met the characteristics of idiopathic urolithiasis in children as well as 50 controls (urolithiasis-negative) that had relatively similar demographic criteria except for idiopathic urolithiasis.

The Congenital Rubella Syndrome is a multisystemic disease and CNS involvement occurs in the form of microcephaly, mental/motor disabilities, leptomeningitis, encephalitis, vascular damage and retardation of myelination. We report a case of gross non-communicating hydrocephalus in a neonate of Congenital Rubella Syndrome which is a rare presentation.

The recent resurgence of interest in m6A has been spurred by some intriguing findings detailing the effects and dynamics of this epigenetic modification. The m6A modification is a highly reactive and fluid modification which can respond rapidly to a broad variety of stimuli, and translate these signals into cellular activity. The little information that has been established on its functional capacity has opened up many new avenues of research and has tremendous implications for several fields of study.

During the 19th Century, there was a difficult choice concerning whether a pancreatic cancer is primary or secondary. However, in this paper, it is shown that some views were decidedly in favor of attack from other primaries. Indeed, the evidence of spread to the pancreas included either concise or coalescent lesions.

Here we describe the case of a 35 year old male, with a harmonic phenotype, who sought medical assistance to assess the etiology of his infertility. As a result of clinical examination, karyotyping, FISH and molecular studies, we obtained the following karyotype: mos 45,X[18]/46,XY,idic(Y)q(11.2)[82]. Furthermore, the Y chromosome was characterized by the absence of the regions AZF2 (former AZFb, within the 11.22 band, and AZFc, within the 11.23 band), whereas the region AZF1 was conserved. Male infertility can be caused by several genetic alterations.