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  1. Abd Aziz NAA, Chatterjee A, Chatterjee R, Durairajanayagam D
    Andrologia, 2019 Apr;51(3):e13199.
    PMID: 30461035 DOI: 10.1111/and.13199
    This study examined whether tocotrienol supplementation to corticosterone-treated male rats could prevent foetal loss in females upon their mating. Epididymides of adult male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats with proven fertility were surgically separated at the testis-caput junction. Twenty-four hours post-surgery, these animals received for 7 days either: tocopherol-stripped corn oil (Control), corticosterone 25 mg/kg s.c. (CORT), CORT 25 mg/kg s.c. and tocotrienol-rich fraction (TRF) 100 mg/kg orally (CORT + TRF) or TRF 100 mg/kg orally (TRF). On day 8, males were cohabited with proestrus females. A spermatozoa-positive vaginal smear indicated pregnancy. Males were euthanised for analysis of testosterone and antioxidant activities. Reproductive organs were weighed. On day 8 of pregnancy, females were laparotomised to count the number of implantation sites. Pregnancy was continued until term. Number of pups delivered and their weights were determined. Data were analysed using ANOVA. Malondialdehyde levels were significantly lower in CORT + TRF group compared with CORT group. Enzymatic antioxidant activities, testosterone level and reproductive organ weights were significantly higher in CORT + TRF group compared with CORT group. Number of implantation sites and live pups delivered, and their birth weights from females mated with CORT + TRF males were significantly higher compared to CORT group. Therefore, TRF prevents foetal loss in females mated with CORT + TRF-treated males.
  2. Almabhouh F, Abdul Aziz NAA, Durairajanayagam D, Singh HJ
    Reprod Biol, 2020 Mar;20(1):106-110.
    PMID: 31987773 DOI: 10.1016/j.repbio.2020.01.003
    Low sperm concentration, increased fraction of morphologically abnormal sperm, and raised levels of markers of oxidative stress are often reported in the seminal plasma of infertile obese males. The precise reason for changes remains unknown. This short review summarises evidence from human and animal studies linking leptin to the reproductive dysfunction reported in obese males and presents a possible mechanism for this based on the available data in the literature. Serum leptin concentrations correlate positively with body fat mass but its precise link to semen abnormalities reported in obese males has yet to be conclusively established. Decreased sperm concentration, increased fraction of morphologically abnormal sperm and increased markers of oxidative stress have been reported following six weeks of daily leptin treatment to normal weight rats. In addition, decreased expression of endogenous antioxidant enzymes and increased expression of respiratory chain enzymes noted in the testes of leptin treated rats increases the propensity to oxidative stress. Besides that, leptin's interference with histone to protamine transition in the DNA of sperm increases the susceptibility of sperm to free radical attack and may explain the often reported higher DNA fragmentation index in sperm of obese males. Concurrent supplementation of melatonin, a natural anti-oxidant, to these rats prevents the effects of leptin. The role of leptin in obesity-related reproductive dysfunction has to be considered seriously and these effects of leptin might involve increased oxidative stress.
  3. Kurnianto H, Ramanoon SZ, Aziz NAA, Indarjulianto S
    Vet World, 2022 Jun;15(6):1438-1448.
    PMID: 35993064 DOI: 10.14202/vetworld.2022.1438-1448
    BACKGROUND AND AIM: Fasciolosis is a significant problem in veterinary and public health, causing huge economic losses. Epidemiological studies of fasciolosis in dairy cattle in Indonesia are few and existing reports primarily focus on prevalence. This study aimed to determine the prevalence, risk factors, and infection intensity of fasciolosis in dairy cattle in Boyolali, Indonesia.

    MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional study included 400 dairy cattle from 72 household farms in eight subdistricts. Fecal samples (n=400) were examined using the Flukefinder® kit and the simple sedimentation technique was the gold standard for fasciolosis. In-person interviews using questionnaires collected data on farmers, farms, and animal characteristics. Chi-square and logistic regression analyses were performed to evaluate the associated risk factors for fasciolosis, and p < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

    RESULTS: The overall prevalence of fasciolosis in dairy cattle in Boyolali, Indonesia, was 16.50% (95% confidence interval [CI] 12.85-20.15) at the animal level (n = 400), whereas 40.28% at household farms (n = 72) level (95% CI 18.67-51.88). The relative sensitivity and specificity of the Flukefinder® kit compared with those of the gold standard were 79.49% and 92.52%, respectively, with a moderate agreement (kappa=0.59; p < 0.001). Fasciolosis was more likely in cattle originating from the Mojosongo subdistrict than from other subdistricts (odds ratio (OR)=5.28, 95% CI 1.22-22.94); from farms that did not process manure versus from those that did (OR = 3.03, 95% CI 1.43-4.71); and with farmers that had never attended extension programs compared with those who had (OR = 4.72, 95% CI 1.99-11.19). Studied cattle were mostly affected by light Fasciola spp. infections (92.4%, 95% CI 77.8-100%) followed by moderate (6.1%, 95% CI 0-22.2%) and heavy (1.5%, 95% CI 0-5.6%) infections.

    CONCLUSION: Fasciolosis is prevalent in dairy cattle in Boyolali, Indonesia. Control efforts should target the high-risk Mojosongo subdistrict, emphasize the importance of processing manure, and encourage farmers to attend extension programs. Flukefinder® is a practical on-site diagnostic kit for fasciolosis in Indonesian dairy farms. Parasite species identification and a malacological survey of intermediate hosts of Fasciola spp. in the farming environment are required for further research.

  4. Hasnul MA, Aziz NAA, Alelyani S, Mohana M, Aziz AA
    Sensors (Basel), 2021 Jul 23;21(15).
    PMID: 34372252 DOI: 10.3390/s21155015
    Affective computing is a field of study that integrates human affects and emotions with artificial intelligence into systems or devices. A system or device with affective computing is beneficial for the mental health and wellbeing of individuals that are stressed, anguished, or depressed. Emotion recognition systems are an important technology that enables affective computing. Currently, there are a lot of ways to build an emotion recognition system using various techniques and algorithms. This review paper focuses on emotion recognition research that adopted electrocardiograms (ECGs) as a unimodal approach as well as part of a multimodal approach for emotion recognition systems. Critical observations of data collection, pre-processing, feature extraction, feature selection and dimensionality reduction, classification, and validation are conducted. This paper also highlights the architectures with accuracy of above 90%. The available ECG-inclusive affective databases are also reviewed, and a popularity analysis is presented. Additionally, the benefit of emotion recognition systems towards healthcare systems is also reviewed here. Based on the literature reviewed, a thorough discussion on the subject matter and future works is suggested and concluded. The findings presented here are beneficial for prospective researchers to look into the summary of previous works conducted in the field of ECG-based emotion recognition systems, and for identifying gaps in the area, as well as in developing and designing future applications of emotion recognition systems, especially in improving healthcare.
  5. Md Mokhtar AH, Malik IA, Abd Aziz NAA, Almabhouh FA, Durairajanayagam D, Singh HJ
    Andrologia, 2019 Apr;51(3):e13196.
    PMID: 30456785 DOI: 10.1111/and.13196
    This study examined the effects of PI3K and AMPK signalling pathway inhibitors on leptin-induced adverse effects on rat spermatozoa. Sprague-Dawley rats, aged 14-16 weeks, were randomised into control, leptin-, leptin + dorsomorphin (AMPK inhibitor)-, and leptin+LY294002 (PI3K inhibitor)-treated groups with six rats per group. Leptin was given once daily for 14 days via the intraperitoneal (i.p.) route at a dose of 60 ug kg-1 body weight. Rats in the leptin and inhibitor-treated groups received concurrently either dorsomorphin (5 mg kg-1  day-1 ) or LY294002 (1.2 mg kg-1  day-1 ) i.p. for 14 days. Controls received 0.1 ml of normal saline. Upon completion, sperm count, sperm morphology, seminiferous tubular epithelial height (STEH), seminiferous tubular diameter (STD), 8-hydroxy-2-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) and phospho-Akt/total Akt ratio were estimated. Data were analysed using ANOVA. Sperm count, STEH and STD were significantly lower, while the percentage of spermatozoa with abnormal morphology and the level of 8-OHdG were significantly higher in rats treated with leptin and leptin + dorsomorphin when compared to those in controls and LY294002-treated rats. Testicular phospho-Akt/total Akt ratio was significantly higher in leptin and leptin + LY294002-treated rats. In conclusion, LY294002 prevents leptin-induced changes in rat sperm parameters, suggesting the potential role of the PI3K signalling pathway in the adverse effects of leptin on sperm parameters.
  6. Janaydeh M, Ismail A, Omar H, Zulkifli SZ, Bejo MH, Aziz NAA
    Environ Monit Assess, 2017 Dec 27;190(1):47.
    PMID: 29282545 DOI: 10.1007/s10661-017-6416-2
    Heavy metal pollution has become a global concern due to accumulation in tissue and transferable effects to humans via the food chain. This study focused on monitoring the accumulation of cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb) in surface soil and body content: bone, heart, brain, liver, lung, muscle, kidney, feathers, feces, and gizzard contents of house crow Corvus splendens in the Klang region, Malaysia. The results revealed the occurrence of Pb and Cd in all biological samples from house crows, food contents, and surface soil samples. Heart and kidney accrued high amounts of Cd, while high amounts of Pb were found to accumulate in bones and feathers. Major discrepancies were also discovered in the concentrations of metals between juvenile and adults, as well as female and male bird samples. Concentrations of Pb and Cd in house crow internal tissues correlated significantly with that of bird feathers, but none could be established with that of surface soil. In addition, a significant correlation was observed between Pb concentration in the internal tissues to that of the feces, but the same was not the case when compared with the surface soil concentration. Metal accrual in the house crows feathers and feces may be through a long-term transmission via the food chain, which are eliminated from feathers via molting. This may suggest the utility of molted breast feathers of house crow in the bio-monitoring of Cd and Pb contamination, whereas feces of house crow appear only to be suitable for the bio-monitoring of Pb contamination.
  7. Sampa MB, Biswas T, Rahman MS, Aziz NHBA, Hossain MN, Aziz NAA
    JMIR Diabetes, 2023 Nov 24;8:e49113.
    PMID: 37999944 DOI: 10.2196/49113
    BACKGROUND: Over the past few decades, diabetes has become a serious public health concern worldwide, particularly in Bangladesh. The advancement of artificial intelligence can be reaped in the prediction of blood glucose levels for better health management. However, the practical validity of machine learning (ML) techniques for predicting health parameters using data from low- and middle-income countries, such as Bangladesh, is very low. Specifically, Bangladesh lacks research using ML techniques to predict blood glucose levels based on basic noninvasive clinical measurements and dietary and sociodemographic information.

    OBJECTIVE: To formulate strategies for public health planning and the control of diabetes, this study aimed to develop a personalized ML model that predicts the blood glucose level of urban corporate workers in Bangladesh.

    METHODS: Based on the basic noninvasive health checkup test results, dietary information, and sociodemographic characteristics of 271 employees of the Bangladeshi Grameen Bank complex, 5 well-known ML models, namely, linear regression, boosted decision tree regression, neural network, decision forest regression, and Bayesian linear regression, were used to predict blood glucose levels. Continuous blood glucose data were used in this study to train the model, which then used the trained data to predict new blood glucose values.

    RESULTS: Boosted decision tree regression demonstrated the greatest predictive performance of all evaluated models (root mean squared error=2.30). This means that, on average, our model's predicted blood glucose level deviated from the actual blood glucose level by around 2.30 mg/dL. The mean blood glucose value of the population studied was 128.02 mg/dL (SD 56.92), indicating a borderline result for the majority of the samples (normal value: 140 mg/dL). This suggests that the individuals should be monitoring their blood glucose levels regularly.

    CONCLUSIONS: This ML-enabled web application for blood glucose prediction helps individuals to self-monitor their health condition. The application was developed with communities in remote areas of low- and middle-income countries, such as Bangladesh, in mind. These areas typically lack health facilities and have an insufficient number of qualified doctors and nurses. The web-based application is a simple, practical, and effective solution that can be adopted by the community. Use of the web application can save money on medical expenses, time, and health management expenses. The created system also aids in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly in ensuring that everyone in the community enjoys good health and well-being and lowering total morbidity and mortality.

  8. Mohamad-Radzi NN, Che-Amat A, Aziz NAA, Babjee SMA, Mazlan M, Hamid NFS, et al.
    J Parasit Dis, 2021 Mar;45(1):169-175.
    PMID: 33746402 DOI: 10.1007/s12639-020-01291-9
    Mites infestation and gastrointestinal parasites including coccidia are common problems reported in pets, petting farms and farmed practices. Sarcoptes sp. and Cheyletiella sp. could be a potential zoonosis from rabbits to human. Detection of mites and coccidia with their zoonotic potential in meat-farmed rabbits from three (3) commercial farms in Selangor were investigated. Tape impression, fur pluck, skin scraping and ear swab tests were used for mites detection and faecal samples was used for coccidia examination by using McMaster's technique and the identification of Eimeria spp. was further analysed by sporulation technique. The overall prevalence of mites and Eimeria spp. (oocysts) in rabbits were 51.85% ± 0.38 (standard deviation; S.D.) and 76.47% ± 0.42 respectively. Sarcoptes scabiei was the most frequent mite found (25.92% ± 0.44), followed by Cheyletiella parasitovorax and Psoroptes cuniculi. Nine Eimeria spp. were identified and the oocysts of E. perforans shows the highest prevalence (64.71% ± 3.97) followed by E. exigua, E. coecicola, E. magna, E. flavescens, E. irresidua, E. intestinalis, E. media and E. stiedai. There was a significant difference (p = 0.013) where large-scale farm has a higher prevalence of coccidia than small scale farms apparently due to the excessive stocking density as coccidia are easily transmitted among rabbits through ingestion of sporulated oocysts. In conclusion, mites and coccidia are commonly present in the commercial rabbit farms, thus control and preventive measures should be executed to reduce the incidence of parasites. The zoonotic mites Sarcoptes scabiei and Cheyletiella parasitovorax detected in this study could be regarded as a public health concern especially when handling the rabbit.
  9. Harizt AM, Malahubban M, Syed-Hussain SS, Ramanoon SZ, Sadiq MB, Sarbini SR, et al.
    Trop Biomed, 2021 Sep 01;38(3):318-326.
    PMID: 34508339 DOI: 10.47665/tb.38.3.072
    The objectives of this study were to investigate the prevalence and associated risk factors for gastrointestinal (GI) parasites in buffaloes from various areas of Sarawak, and to assess current management practices of GI parasites among farmers. Faecal samples were collected from 15 farms and 129 animals, as well as data on farm and animal-based characteristics. A total of 129 faecal samples were examined for GI parasites using a modified McMaster and sedimentation. Association between potential risk factors and the prevalence of GI parasites was investigated using Chi-square statistic. The prevalence of Paramphistomum sp., strongyles, and coccidia were 75.2% (95% CI±7.5), 52.7% (95% CI±8.6) and 48.1% (95% CI±8.6), respectively. Farms which had a grazing area less than 50 acres in size had significantly higher prevalence of strongyles (70.5%, χ2 = 8.34, P = 0.004) and paramphistomes (88.6%, χ2 = 6.46, P = 0.01) relative to farms with a larger grazing area (43.5% and 68.2%, respectively). Prevalence of strongyles was lower in farms that did not implement a cut- and-carry system (45.6%, χ2 = 4.17, P = 0.04) in comparison to those that did (64%). The prevalence of paramphistomes was higher on farms with more than 40 animals (80.6%, χ2 = 3.18, P = 0.05) relative to farms with fewer animals. The majority of farmers surveyed (67.9%) showed awareness of GI parasite infection and reported that they recognized the associated symptoms. Most farmers practised deworming, and ivermectin was the most commonly used anthelminthic (60.4%); only 1.9% of farmers used albendazole. Overall this study revealed a high prevalence of GI parasites in buffalo in Sarawak. Although farmers report they are aware of parasitic diseases, further education is still required. This could include how they can successfully implement on-farm changes to reduce the prevalence of GI parasites in their herds.
  10. Mohd-Zainurian NFN, Esah HD, Mohamad-Fauzi N, Hashim NH, Mazlishah MSH, Shamsuddin SAA, et al.
    Anim Sci J, 2024;95(1):e70005.
    PMID: 39552140 DOI: 10.1111/asj.70005
    Mature coconut water (MCW) has been demonstrated to contain bioactive compounds with antioxidant properties. In vivo research showed that MCW supplementation increased semen quality in rats, suggesting that it may boost reproductive performance. This study investigated the impact of MCW on the reproduction of Boer bucks. Two groups of 12 sexually mature bucks were given either plain water (control) or MCW at 5 mL/kg of body weight daily for 60 days. Sexual behaviors were studied using the focal observation technique, whereas semen was collected for quality assessment. Oxidative stress markers, namely, malondialdehyde (MDA) and glutathione (GSH), along with reproductive hormones, specifically luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), and testosterone, were quantified in blood serum samples via enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The oxidative stress analysis showed elevated GSH and reduced MDA levels, accompanied by enhanced sperm quality, including superior motility, concentration, viability, and fewer morphological abnormalities (p 
  11. Low SY, Lau SF, Ahmad NI, Sharma RSK, Rosli MZ, Mohd-Taib FS, et al.
    Zoonoses Public Health, 2023 Nov;70(7):636-646.
    PMID: 37403513 DOI: 10.1111/zph.13072
    Angiostrongylus malaysiensis is a potential zoonotic parasite, which reported to co-occur with A. cantonensis in human cerebrospinal fluid. It is a heteroxenous nematode that primarily develops through the early larval stages in gastropods and attains sexual maturity within rats. This study was conducted to determine the host species responsible for the reservoir of A. malaysiensis and investigate the risk factor for transmission among the hosts in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Sampling was conducted in six recreational parks. The rats were trapped alive using steel wire traps with bait, while the gastropods were collected by active searching. The rats were euthanized and dissected to collect any adult worms observed. The molecular detection of A. malaysiensis was performed by PCR on gastropod tissue samples. Biotic and landscape factors were recorded for risk factor analysis. In total, 82 rats and 330 gastropods were collected throughout the study. Overall, 3.64% of gastropods and 32.9% of rats were infected with A. malaysiensis. Rattus tiomanicus (Malayan wood rat) and Parmarion martensi (Yellow-shelled semi-slug) were found as important hosts for A. malaysiensis. Host species, sampling site and macrohabitat type are risk factors associated with the prevalence of A. malaysiensis infection in rats. For gastropods, host species and sampling site are risk factors that correlate with the parasite detection. In total, 128 adult A. malaysiensis were recovered from the infected rats. The mean intensity of infection with adult A. malaysiensis was 4.65 for Rattus rattus complex and 4.90 for R. tiomanicus. Adult worms were found in the pulmonary artery or right ventricle, while eggs and first-stage larvae were found in capillaries of the caudal lung lobe. Infected lungs showed extravasated red blood cells in the alveolar spaces. The pulmonary arteries in the infected lung lobe were thickened. Kepong Metropolitan Park is the hotspot area for A. malaysiensis in Kuala Lumpur. These results provide essential information for public health officials to develop targeted interventions to reduce the transmission of A. malaysiensis in urban areas, particularly in recreational parks.
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