A survey of specialisation choices was conducted for two batches of medical officers applying to the local medical schools for specialisation in Malaysia. A total of 359 doctors responded, giving a response rate of 71%, with 169 male (44.4%) and 187 female (55.6%) respondents. Surgery ranked highest among the male doctors followed by orthopaedic surgery and internal medicine. Family medicine ranked highest among female doctors followed by public health and anaesthesiology. Among the other specialties, the male doctors preferred otorhinolaryngology while female doctors preferred Pathology. Both male and female doctors chose to be a clinical consultant in a general hospital as the first choice. They prefer to work in or near their hometowns.
Forensically important entomological specimens recovered from 95 forensic cases of human cadavers from April 1993 to May 1996 in Malaysia were identified and analysed. The results indicated that 73.7% of these specimens were Chrysomya species, occurring either as single or mixed infestations. Of these, the most prominent species were Ch megacephala (F.) and Ch rufifacies (Macquart). Other fly maggots recovered included Sarcophaga spp., Lucilia spp. and Hermetia spp., mostly occurring together with other calliphorine flies. A member of Muscidae fly, Ophyra spp. was also recovered for the first time.
In certain countries of east and south-east Asia, traditional Chinese medicine continues to be used by many people. However, the pattern of use favours the advance of the drug-retailing side of this sector rather than medical care, and there is consequently some concern about the professional status of practitioners in the long term.
Matched MeSH terms: Medicine, Chinese Traditional*
The term 'tropical' refers to the region of the Earth lying between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. Located between these equatorial parallels demarcating the Torrid Zone are several underdeveloped and developing countries: Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, southern India, Sri Lanka, Brazil, Cuba, Ethiopia, Sudan and Nigeria, to name but a few considered to be 'tropical'. The climate in most of these countries is characterized by high temperatures and high humidity. The tropical climate and general state of socio-economic underdevelopment in such countries provide an ideal environment for pathogenic organisms, their vectors and intermediate hosts to flourish. Furthermore, the cultural habits and educational background of the people living in such countries expose them to pathogens and, when these people become infected, they readily become reservoirs for, or carriers of, those organisms. Ultimately, the adverse socioeconomic conditions of underdeveloped countries impede attempts to eradicate or control tropical diseases.
Iban categories of hot and cold are examined in the context of humoral medical systems in southeast Asia. These categories are more than binary and oppositional: they are also contradictory and can only be understood in terms of their capacity for transformation in 'depth'. Analysis of the Iban epistemology of temperature sensation reveals the limitations of reductionist empirical approaches to hot and cold. Illness is apprehended, at one level, in terms of unusual conjunctions of opposite temperatures which signify a deeper disturbance in the relationship between body and soul, humans and spirits. Iban therapy redefines and relocates these categories in their proper place and at their appropriate level. It progresses from hot lay treatments to cool ritual treatments, yet cannot be accounted for within a limited framework of homeostatic balance. This paper develops an ethnographically grounded definition of humoralism which emphasizes non-reductive logic, cultural practice and transformation. The key element, transformation, is defined as a transition between categories and a shift in the level of interpretation which fundamentally alter the Iban experience of body and illness.
The deliberate inhalation of solvents among children and adolescents "for kicks" is becoming more common in the West. It was generally regarded as a relatively harmless practice and consequently little attention had been paid to the isolation of the toxic agent from the variety of substances used. It is now well recognised that solvent abuse not only can result in sudden death but also cause pathological changes to the liver, kidney, brain, heart and lungs. A case of toluene associated death in Malaysia is discussed both from a medico-legal and pathological standpoint.
A total of 101 entomological specimens recovered from human cadavers were processed and studied. Analysis of the data indicated that about 95% of these specimens were maggots of flies. Maggots of the blowfly Chrysomya (Family: Calliphoridae) especially Ch. rufifacis and Ch. megacephala were predominantly found in 77 cases (76.2%) while larvae of several other flies of the genera Sarcophaga, Calliphora, Lucilia and hermetia were also recovered. It was notable that Musca domestica or other related flies were not found in all these specimens. The age of these larvae was useful in the determination of the minimum time lapsed after death. However, more biological studies on animal carcases should be conducted for more accurate determinations. Methods of collection, preservation and despatching of specimens were also discussed.
The nutritional status of 158 soldiers drawn from four army camps in Selangor, Negeri Sembilan and Pahang has been assessed by biochemical procedures, nutritional anthropometry and dietary (chemical) analysis. Biochemical assessment showed that with the exception of thiamin and riboflavin nutriture, the nutritional status of the soldiers appeared generally satisfactory and seemed to have improved slightly over those examined by the Inter-Departmental Committee on Nutrition and National Defence (ICNND), USA, in 1962 by similar methods. The anthropometric assessment indicated that the present day soldiers have the same mean height as those examined in 1962. Although they appeared slightly heavier, obesity did not seem to be a problem. Chemical analysis of their diet showed that there is room for improvement in the dietary supply of vitamin A and some of the water-soluble vitamins, particularly riboflavin, thiamin and vitamin C. There was also a significant discrepancy between the nutritional content of the chemically-analysed cooked meals and those calculated from the ration scales using Food Composition Tables, suggesting a need to review the current system of food supply,
preparation and food sertnce unthin army camps in
Malaysia.
Four cases of tropical myositis seen over a period of four months at the Penang General Hospital are reported here. All were young local residents in whom large amounts of pus were found deep within skeletal muscles without an obvious aetiological factor.
In vitro fertilization (IVF) is a hallmark of reproductive medicine. However, the inconclusive outcome leads to marital disharmonies; thus, the choices of gamete donation and surrogacy (GD/S) are often offered. In restricted countries, the child-rearing choice through foster/adoption care is promising, but the uptake remains low. We explore the current reproductive services and adoption scenarios in Asian countries to delineate this issue. The web and literature search using PubMed and Ichushi was conducted in Japanese and English using the keywords "adoption", "foster care", "reproductive medicine", including the interview with the respective Asian clinicians. We found that an established adoption system was seen in China, Malaysia, and the Philippines, mainly due to the restriction of GD/S. Although GD/S were allowed in Thailand, Singapore, and India, the different local affordability of IVF cost led to various adoption system scenarios. Nevertheless, the country's economic aspect does influence the establishment of adoption care, mainly due to financial support from local government. Otherwise, the significant barrier was the cultural/religious background leading to low adoption rates. We concluded that the adoption option should always be highlighted as an alternative strategy as it synergistically contributes to children's and infertile couples' welfare.
Copper-67 (T1/2 = 61.83 h, Eβ-mean=141 keV, Iβ-total=100%; Eγ = 184.577 keV, Iγ = 48.7%) is a promising radionuclide for theranostic applications especially in radio immunotherapy. However, one of the main drawbacks for its application is related to its limited availability. Various nuclear reaction routes investigated in the last years can result in 67Cu production, although the use of proton beams is the method of choice taken into account in this work. The goal of this work is a revision of the cross-sections aimed at 67Cu yield, which were evaluated for the 68Zn(p,2p)67Cu reaction route up to 80 MeV proton energy. A well-defined statistical procedure, i.e., the Simultaneous Evaluation on KALMAN (SOK), combined with the least-squares concept, was used to obtain the evaluated data together with the covariance matrix. The obtained evaluated data were also compared to predictions provided by the nuclear reaction model codes TALYS and EMPIRE, and a partial agreement among them has been found. These data may be useful for both existing and potential applications in nuclear medicine, to achieve an improvement and validation of the various nuclear reaction models, and may also find applications in other fields (e.g., activation analysis and thin layer activation).
Matched MeSH terms: Nuclear Medicine; Precision Medicine