METHOD: A cross-sectional study at government preschools in Kota Setar District was conducted from February to April 2020. Selection of preschools and students was done using multistage simple randomisation. A self-administered questionnaire containing demographic and digital device use details was filled by parents.
RESULTS: The prevalence of digital device use among preschool children was 95.9% and mostly used smartphones (94.2%). Most children (95%) did not own the device, and usage was under supervision (95.7%). The reason for supervision was to prevent exposure to inappropriate content (70.5%). The common reasons for allowing digital device use were for educational (37.4%) and entertainment purposes (36%) through videos (30.9%) and games (30.2%). Approximately 21.5% and 50.3% of the children spent more than 1 and 2 hours on digital devices during weekdays and weekends, respectively.
CONCLUSION: The prevalence of digital device use among the preschool children in Kota Setar District was very high. Most of them used digital devices for educational and entertainment purposes under parental supervision. However, some exceeded the recommended screen time on weekends. These findings could promote awareness of digital device use among young children and help design public health awareness programmes and future policies.
METHODS: A total of 25 items were developed based on literature reviews encompassing four main constructs: sexual intention, attitude, social norms and self-efficacy. The YSI-Q then underwent a validation process that included content and face validity, exploratory factor analysis (EFA), reliability analysis, and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). This study was conducted on unmarried youths aged 18 to 22 years who were studying in colleges around Klang Valley, Malaysia.
RESULTS: EFA supported the four factor structure, but five items were removed due to incorrect placement or low factor loading (<0.60). Internal reliability using Cronbach's alpha ranged between 0.89 and 0.94. The CFA further confirmed the construct, convergent and discriminant validity of the YSI-Q with χ 2 = 392.43, df = 164, p
METHODS: This is a prospective, single-centre, single-blind, randomised controlled pilot feasibility study: The Kegel Exercise Pregnancy Training app (KEPT-app) Trial. Sixty-four incontinent pregnant women who attended one primary care clinic for the antenatal follow-up will be recruited and randomly assigned to either intervention or waitlist control group. The intervention group will receive the intervention, the KEPT-app developed from the Capability, Opportunity, Motivation-Behaviour (COM-B) theory with Persuasive Technology and Technology Acceptance Model.
DISCUSSION: This study will provide a fine-tuning for our future randomised control study on the recruitment feasibility methods, acceptability, feasibility, and usability of the KEPT-app, and the methods to reduce the retention rates among pregnant women with UI.
TRIAL REGISTRATION: This study was registered on ClinicalTrials.gov on 19 February 2021 (NCT04762433) and is not yet recruiting.
Methods: In this study, comparative genome analysis was carried out using the G. boninense NJ3 genome to identify and characterize carbohydrate-active enzyme (CAZymes) including CWDE in the fungal genome. Augustus pipeline was employed for gene identification in G. boninense NJ3 and the produced protein sequences were analyzed via dbCAN pipeline and PhiBase 4.5 database annotation for CAZymes and plant-host interaction (PHI) gene analysis, respectively. Comparison of CAZymes from G. boninense NJ3 was made against G. lucidum, a well-studied model Ganoderma sp. and five selected pathogenic fungi for CAZymes characterization. Functional annotation of PHI genes was carried out using Web Gene Ontology Annotation Plot (WEGO) and was used for selecting candidate PHI genes related to cell wall degradation of G. boninense NJ3.
Results: G. boninense was enriched with CAZymes and CWDEs in a similar fashion to G. lucidum that corroborate with the lignocellulolytic abilities of both closely-related fungal strains. The role of polysaccharide and cell wall degrading enzymes in the hemibiotrophic mode of infection of G. boninense was investigated by analyzing the fungal CAZymes with necrotrophic Armillaria solidipes, A. mellea, biotrophic Ustilago maydis, Melampsora larici-populina and hemibiotrophic Moniliophthora perniciosa. Profiles of the selected pathogenic fungi demonstrated that necrotizing pathogens including G. boninense NJ3 exhibited an extensive set of CAZymes as compared to the more CAZymes-limited biotrophic pathogens. Following PHI analysis, several candidate genes including polygalacturonase, endo β-1,3-xylanase, β-glucanase and laccase were identified as potential CWDEs that contribute to the plant host interaction and pathogenesis.
Discussion: This study employed bioinformatics tools for providing a greater understanding of the biological mechanisms underlying the production of CAZymes in G. boninense NJ3. Identification and profiling of the fungal polysaccharide- and lignocellulosic-degrading enzymes would further facilitate in elucidating the infection mechanisms through the production of CWDEs by G. boninense. Identification of CAZymes and CWDE-related PHI genes in G. boninense would serve as the basis for functional studies of genes associated with the fungal virulence and pathogenicity using systems biology and genetic engineering approaches.