MyMedR

Displaying all 10 publications

Abstract:

Sort:

Fulltext Urut Melayu, the traditional Malay massage, as a complementary rehabilitative care in postpartum stroke

Fadzil F, Anuar HM, Ismail S, Abd Ghani N, Ahmad N

J Altern Complement Med, 2012 Apr;18(4):415-9.
PMID: 22401300 DOI: 10.1089/acm.2010.0802

The case of a 32-year-old Malay woman who developed postpartum stroke is reported.
Fulltext Urut Melayu for poststroke patients: a qualitative study

Anuar HM, Fadzil F, Ahmad N, Abd Ghani N

J Altern Complement Med, 2012 Jan;18(1):61-4.
PMID: 22236030 DOI: 10.1089/acm.2010.0797

BACKGROUND: Urut Melayu, the traditional Malay massage, had been introduced into three pioneer hospitals in Malaysia, as part of the integrated hospital program. It was introduced primarily for the rehabilitation of poststroke patients. After almost 3 years since it was first implemented, there are currently plans to extend it to other hospitals in the country. Information from this study will contribute toward a better future implementation plan.
OBJECTIVES: This study was conducted to gain an insight into the experiences and views of poststroke patients and their urut Melayu practitioners.
METHODS: A qualitative study design was adopted. A total of 17 semistructured in-depth interviews were carried out with poststroke patients who were undergoing urut Melayu treatment at one of the three integrated hospitals. Information was solicited from their accompanying caregivers whenever necessary. The 2 urut Melayu practitioners at the hospital were also interviewed. All the interviews were carried out in Malay by the authors, at the Traditional and Complementary Medicine unit of the relevant hospital. The interviews were audiotaped, transcribed, and coded into categories through a constant-comparison method of data analysis. Illustrative quotations were identified to supplement the narrative descriptions of the themes.
RESULTS: It was found that urut Melayu was sought by patients who had experienced stroke brought about by hypertension and postdelivery complications. They reported the unique characteristics of urut Melayu and their positive experiences with it.
CONCLUSIONS: Urut Melayu has potential as a complementary therapy for poststroke patients. It is recommended that the number of practitioners at the Traditional and Complementary Medicine unit be increased to provide the optimum care for poststroke patients.
Fulltext Evaluating acute toxicity of amino acid ionic liquids towards Poecilia reticulata fish for designing sustainable chemical processes

Parameswaran J, Abd Ghani N, M Yunus NB, Bt Hasanudin N

Toxicol Rep, 2024 Jun;12:414-421.
PMID: 38590341 DOI: 10.1016/j.toxrep.2024.03.014

An acute toxicity study assessed the LC50 values for eight different amino acid ionic liquids (AAILs), featuring two cations, tetrabutylphosphonium [P4444] and tetrabutylammonium [N4444], coupled with four anions [PHE], [ASP], [SER], and [GLY]. According to the OECD 203 standard for acute fish toxicity tests with guppy fish (Poecilia reticulata, all the AAILs exhibited low toxicity levels, and were practically nontoxic and harmless. The LC50 values surpassed 100 mg/L and 1000 mg/L. This study provides valuable insights for industrial professionals in utilizing tetrabutylphosphonium-based amino acid ionic liquids [P4444] [AA] and tetrabutylammonium-based amino acid ionic liquids [N4444][AA] in chemical processes, indicating their safety in aquatic environments. These promising results highlight the potential of incorporating these AAILs into diverse chemical processes while ensuring minimal ecological impact.
A qualitative study on urut Melayu: the traditional Malay massage

Anuar HM, Fadzil F, Sallehuddin SM, Ahmad N, Abd Ghani N

J Altern Complement Med, 2010 Nov;16(11):1201-5.
PMID: 21058886 DOI: 10.1089/acm.2009.0592

OBJECTIVE: We conducted this study to gain an insight into the experiences and views of practitioners of urut Melayu, the traditional Malay massage, which will be used in developing a preliminary framework of the urut Melayu process. DESIGN: We adopted a qualitative study design. We carried out a total of five focus group discussions (FGDs) comprising 6-10 urut Melayu practitioners each.
LOCATION: We carried out three FGDs at the Traditional and Complementary Medicine Division, Ministry of Health and two FGDs at a district Health Clinic.
SUBJECTS: All participants of the FGDs were urut Melayu practitioners registered with the Ministry of Health. Three (3) FGDs comprised all females while two comprised all males. A total of 12 males and 24 females participated in the study.
RESULTS: We identified six themes from the study, namely, indications for urut Melayu, the urut Melayu technique, other treatments in conjunction with urut Melayu, outcome of urut Melayu, ethics of urut Melayu, and practitioners' source of skills and knowledge.
CONCLUSIONS: Urut Melayu is a unique form of massage carried out for various purposes. Although it is common belief that there are vast differences in the way it is performed from one practitioner to another, this study revealed that similarities do exist and there is potential to develop a standard framework for urut Melayu for regulation and training purposes.
Fulltext A Kinetic Approach of DPPH Free Radical Assay of Ferulate-Based Protic Ionic Liquids (PILs)

Ahmad NA, Jumbri K, Ramli A, Abd Ghani N, Ahmad H, Lim JW

Molecules, 2018 Dec 05;23(12).
PMID: 30563037 DOI: 10.3390/molecules23123201

The antiradical efficiency (AE) and kinetic behavior of a new ferulate-based protic ionic liquids (PILs) were described using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical assay. The reduction of the DPPH free radical (DPPH•) was investigated by measuring the decrease in absorbance at 517 nm. The time to reach steady state for the reaction of parent acid (ferulic acid) and synthesized PILs with DPPH• was continuously recorded for 1 h. Results revealed that the AE of 2-butylaminoethanol ferulate (2BAEF), 3-dimethylaminopropanol ferulate (3DMAPF) and 3-diethylaminopropanol ferulate (3DEAPF) PILs have improved compared to ferulic acid (FA) as the reaction class changes from low to medium. This attributed to the strong hydrogen abstraction occurred in the PILs. Furthermore, these PILs were found to have a good kinetic behavior compared to FA due to the high rate constant (k₂) (164.17, 242.84 and 244.73 M-1 s-1, respectively). The alkyl chain length and more alkyl substituents on the nitrogen atom of cation were believed to reduce the cation-anion interaction and speed up the hydrogen atom transfer (HAT) and electron transfer (ET) mechanisms; hence, increased rate constant was observed leading to a strong antioxidant activity of the synthesized PILs.
Fulltext Unexpected acceleration of Ultrasonic-Assisted iodide dosimetry in the catalytic presence of ionic liquids

Krishnan S, Abd Ghani N, Aminuddin NF, Quraishi KS, Razafindramangarafara BL, Baup S, et al.

Ultrason Sonochem, 2021 Jun;74:105576.
PMID: 33975186 DOI: 10.1016/j.ultsonch.2021.105576

This study investigates the potential of using small amounts of ionic liquids (IL) to enhance ultrasound-assisted extraction of lipids content from green microalgae. Three imidazolium-based ILs (butyl, octyl and dodecyl), each of them with two anions (bromide and acetate) were tested as additives. Viscosity and surface tension of the ILs aqueous mixtures were analyzed to determine the influence of ILs' anions and alkyl chain length, whereas KI dosimetry experiments were used as an indicator of radicals formation. A key finding suggests that the small addition of ILs improves the ultrasonication either by enhancing the viscosity and reducing the water surface tension, leading to a more powerful acoustic cavitation process or by increasing HO° production likely to oxidize the microalgae cells membranes, and consequently disrupting them on a more efficient manner. KI dosimetry also revealed that long ILs alkyl chain is detrimental. This experimental observation is confirmed thus strengthened as the yield of extracted lipids from green microalgae has shown an incremental trend when the IL concentration also increased. These hypotheses are currently under investigation to spot detailed impact of ILs on cavitation process.
Fulltext Thermal Kinetics of Monocationic and Dicationic Pyrrolidinium-Based Ionic Liquids

Ab Rahim AH, Abd Ghani N, Hasanudin N, Yunus NM, Azman NS

Materials (Basel), 2022 Feb 08;15(3).
PMID: 35161194 DOI: 10.3390/ma15031247

This work presents an in-depth kinetic thermal degradation comparison between traditional monocationic and the newly developed dicationic ionic liquid (IL), both coupled with a bromide (Br-) anion by using non-isothermal thermogravimetric analysis. Thermal analyses of 1-butyl-1-methylpyrrolidinium bromide [C4MPyr][Br] and 1,4-bis(1-methylpyrrolidinium-1-yl)butane dibromide [BisC4MPyr][Br2] were conducted at a temperature range of 50-650 °C and subjected to various heating rates, which are 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25 °C/min. Thermogravimetric analysis revealed that dicationic IL, [BisC4MPyr][Br2] is less thermally stable compared to monocationic [C4MPyr][Br]. A detailed analysis of kinetic parameters, which are the activation energy (Ea) and pre-exponential factor (log A), was calculated by using Kissinger-Akahira-Sunose (KAS), Flynn-Wall-Ozawa (FWO) and Starink. This study revealed that the average Ea and log A of [BisC4MPyr][Br2] are lower than [C4MPyr][Br], which may be contributed to by its low thermal stability. Conclusively, it proved that the Ea and log A of ILs are strongly related to the thermal stability of ILs.
Fulltext Prevalence of Subthreshold Depression Among Constipation-Predominant Irritable Bowel Syndrome Patients

Mokhtar NM, Bahrudin MF, Abd Ghani N, Abdul Rani R, Raja Ali RA

Front Psychol, 2020;11:1936.
PMID: 32849137 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01936

Patients suffering from irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) may have some form of affective disorders that may worsen their symptoms. Lack of screening among IBS patients is one of the reasons for depression unawareness among healthcare providers. The present study was conducted to evaluate the prevalence of depression among patients with constipation-predominant IBS (IBS-C). A total of 240 IBS patients who fulfilled Rome III criteria were enrolled. The psychiatric assessment was evaluated using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale Revised (CESD-R). Twenty items in CESD-R scale measured symptoms of depression in nine separate groups. Patients were categorized into five different subgroups: major depressive episode, probable major depressive episode, possible major depressive episode, subthreshold depressive symptoms, and without clinical significance of depression. Out of the 240 patients with IBS-C, the majority (n = 161, 67.1%) had no clinical significance of depression. Seventy seven (32.1%) had subthreshold depression and only two (0.83%) patients were regarded as having probable a major depressive episode. No patient was categorized into a major or possible major depressive episode. The prevalence of subthreshold depression was the highest among female (72.3%) patients with 51.1% being single, 44.7% were married, and 4.3% were divorcees. When stratified according to ethnicity, subthreshold depression was highly prevalent among Malays (76.6%), followed by Chinese (19.2%), and Indians (2.1%). A high percentage of the patients were found to be non-smokers (93.6%) and had lower income of less than RM 5000 (USD 1250) per month (89.4%). The moderately high prevalence of subthreshold depression among patients with IBS, justifies psychological evaluation in all patients with functional gastrointestinal disorders.
Risk of colorectal cancer due to Streptococcus gallolyticus: a systematic review

Mohammad Aidid E, Shalihin MSE, Md Nor A, Hamzah HA, Ab Hamid NF, Saipol Bahri NAN, et al.

Med J Malaysia, 2023 May;78(3):404-410.
PMID: 37271851

INTRODUCTION: World Health Organization (2019) has declared colorectal cancer (CRC) as the second most common cancer in females and third in males, where the incidence seems to rise year by year. One of the very few potential pathogens specifically associated with malignant colonic diseases is Streptococcus gallolyticus (Sg). Sg is a part of the intestinal flora which formerly known as biotype I of Streptococcus bovis, belongs to Group D streptococci. Owing to only a few researches done in determining evidence to support Sg as a determinant of CRC, a systematic review is constructed.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: Full-text articles on case-control and cohort studies published from 1st January 2010 to 1st October 2020 were searched using Google Scholar, PubMed and JSTOR. People of all age groups and Sg bacteraemia or colonisation were the type of participant and exposure used for the search strategy, respectively. Data collection was done by three reviewers and checked by two reviewers for discrepancies. All the papers were critically appraised using the STROBE statement. Qualitative synthesis was done by descriptive comparison, distribution of Sg according to stage comparison, method used for Sg detection comparison and risk of bias comparison.
RESULT: Seven out of 11 articles that fulfil the eligibility criteria were selected. Four papers have low overall risk of bias due to low confounding or selection bias. Sg is found to be a risk factor for CRC from three papers studied, whereas the other four papers did not include the strength of association. Only two papers studied the association between the distribution of Sg and stages of CRC, where the results were contradictory from each other, making it to be inconclusive. The most common method used for Sg detection is a culturing technique, followed by molecular and biochemical techniques.
CONCLUSION: There is insufficient evidence to prove the association between Sg bacteraemia as the risk factor for CRC as well as the association between the Sg distribution and stages of CRC. Culturing technique is the most common method used for the detection of bacteria, but it requires subsequent investigations to confirm the presence of Sg. Thus, it is recommended that more studies need to be done using strong statistical analysis to control for most of the confounders with comprehensive explanation and use of more methods in the detection of Sg.
Fulltext Synthesis and characterization of ammonium-based protic ionic liquids for carbon dioxide absorption

Ab Rahim AH, Yunus NM, Jaffar Z, Allim MF, Othman Zailani NZ, Mohd Fariddudin SA, et al.

RSC Adv, 2023 May 09;13(21):14268-14280.
PMID: 37179994 DOI: 10.1039/d3ra01345f

A series of ammonium-based protic ionic liquids (APILs) namely ethanolammonium pentanoate [ETOHA][C5], ethanolammonium heptanoate [ETOHA][C7], triethanolammonium pentanoate [TRIETOHA][C5], triethanolammonium heptanoate [TRIETOHA][C7], tributylammonium pentanoate [TBA][C5] and tributylammonium heptanoate [TBA][C7] was synthesized via proton transfer. Their structural confirmation and physiochemical properties namely thermal stability, phase transition, density, heat capacity (Cp) and refractive index (RI) have been determined. Specifically, [TRIETOHA] APILs have crystallization peaks ranging from -31.67 to -1.00 °C, owing to their large density values. A comparison study revealed the low Cp values of APILs in comparison to monoethanolamine (MEA) which could be advantageous for APILs to be used in CO2 separation during recyclability processes. Additionally, the performance of APILs toward CO2 absorption was investigated by using a pressure drop technique under a pressure range of 1-20 bar at 298.15 K. It was observed that [TBA][C7] recorded the highest CO2 absorption capacity with the value of 0.74 mole fraction at 20 bar. Additionally, the regeneration of [TBA][C7] for CO2 absorption was studied. Analysis of the measured CO2 absorption data showed marginal reduction in the mole fraction of CO2 absorbed between fresh and recycled [TBA][C7] thus proving the promising potential of APILs as good liquid absorbents for CO2 removal.