Pusat Pengajian Sains Kesihatan - Monograf
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- PublicationCombined effects of oat bran consumption and brisk walking exercise on immune functions in 40 to 50 years old women.(2016)Abidin, Muhammad Amrun HaziqModerate physical activity and adequate nutritional intake arebelieved can enhance immune function of an individual. To date, little is known about combination effects of exercise and oat bran consumption on immune functions in 40 to 50 years old women. Therefore, the present study was carried out. This study was carried out to examine the beneficial effects of combined brisk walking exercise and oat bran consumption on immune functions in 40 to 50 years old women. Thirty three 40 to 50 years old women were recruited and assigned into three groups, with eleven participants per group (n= 1 1): sedentary without oat bran consumption control (C), oat bran consumption alone (Ob) and combined oat bran consumption and brisk walking exercise (ObEx) groups. The brisk walking exercise was performed by the participants three times per week for six weeks. Oat bran powder was consumed by the participants with two sachets per day (18g of oat bran powder containing 3.6 grams of P-glucan) diluted with plain water, 7 days per week for 6 weeks in Ob and ObEx groups. Participants in ObEx consumed oat bran drink one hour before performing the exercise. Immediately before and after six weeks of the experimental period, participants’ anthropometric parameters were measured. Blood samples were taken before and after experimental period in order to measure total white blood cells, neutrophils, basophils, eosinophils, monocytes, total lymphocytes, total T lymphocytes (CD3+), T helper cells (CD4~), T cytotoxic cells (CD8+) and natural killer cells (CD16+) for determining the level of immune functions Participants’ body weight decreased significantly (p<0.05) at post test in Ob and ObEx group. There were significant (p<0.05) increases in eosinophil and neutrophil counts in post test compared to pre test in Ob group. There were also significant (p<0.05) decreases in values of T cytotoxic (CDS^ and natural killer cells (CD16+) in post test compared to pre test in ObEx groups. For white blood cells, monocytes, basophils, total lymphocytes, total T lymphocytes (CD3+) and T helper cells (CD4+), no significant changes were observed in post test compared to pre test among all groups. Six weeks of oat bran consumption alone elicited the beneficial effect on immune functions. Thus, consumption of oat bran alone may have the potential to be recommended for increasing immune functions in 40 to 50 years old women. Nevertheless, future study with different exercise intensities and longer duration are proposed to be carried out to investigate the effects of combined oat bran consumption and brisk walking exercise on immune functions in this population.
- PublicationA biomechanical analysis of the knee joint during power clean.(2016)Umar, Muhammad AimanTo date, the biomechanical analysis of upper limb during clean and jerk event for analyzing the movement of the upper limb and reducing the risk of injury have been on-going being investigated. However, little is known about the biomechanical analysis of lower limb (knee joint) during clean and jerk event in young males and females best state-level weightlifters. This study was carried out to compare the knee joint range of motion following 1 Repitition Maximum (1-RM) and 50% of 1-RM power clean, to compare the barbell acceleration following 1-RM and 50% of 1-RM power clean at the second pull phase and to measure and analyse the knee joint reaction force during 50% of 1-RM power clean weightlifting. Twenty-five best state-level weightlifters (17 males and 8 females) volunteered to participate in this study. The biomechanical analysis was included the two-dimension (2D) kinematic analysis and three-dimension (3D) motion capture analysis. For 2D analysis test, the participants were encouraged to perform 1 Repetition Maximum (1- RM) power clean and the performances of the participants were recorded using the video camera. Meanwhile, for 3D analysis test, the power clean test at 50% of 1-RM was recorded using high speed motion capture cameras The result of this study indicated that the mean value of the knee joint range of motion (ROM) and barbell acceleration at 50% of 1-RM power clean were greater compared to at 1-RM power clean. Both parameters were statistically significant (p<0.05) between 1-RM and 50% 1-RM power clean. The knee joint reaction force (JRF) data were not comparable due to huge gap of the number of male and female weightlifters. Therefore, only the descriptive data were shown. Based on the result, the demographic data showed the overall physical evaluation of the athletes, which was in fair category. Moreover, the values of the knee joint range of motion during 50% of 1-RM and 1-RM power clean were lower than the normal range. Then, The change of the barbell acceleration was affected by the intensity of the training. Furthermore, the value of the knee joint reaction force during the second pull phase among male and female was not in the normal range. In conclusion, two-dimensional kinematic analysis was able to explore the power clean technique while the three-dimensional motion capture analysis was able to investigate the mechanical principles of power clean.
- PublicationA comparative study on the antioxidant activity of leaf, flower, stem and root extracts of peperomia pellucida (l.) hbk (piperaceae).(2016)Fang, Mok SiewPeperomia pellucida is an underexploited annual herb abundantly available in Malaysia. It is widely used as ethnomedicines in treating various ailments throughout the tropical and subtropical regions of the world. Previous studies evidenced that P. pellucida possessed antioxidant properties. However, there is no antioxidant study on different parts of the plant was reported. The aim of this study is to determine and compare the antioxidant properties of leaf, flower, stem, and root of P. pellucida, hence providing additional scientific evidence of its potential. Each part of the plant collected was washed, freeze-dried, and ground into fine powder before extracted using 70% ethanol, 70% methanol and distilled water (1:10 w/v). DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-lpicrylhydrazyl) radical scavenging assay was used to determine the antioxidant capacity. Only moderate [half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) >0.05 mg/ml] antioxidant activities were detected in all P. pellucida extracts with mean IC50 ranging from 2.14 mg/ml (ethanol flower extract) to 10.06 mg/ml (methanol stem extract). The mean IC50 of all P. pellucida extracts is significantly different from that of standard reference, gallic acid (0.03 mg/ml) (p<0.05). Generally, P. pellucida leaf extracts showed the highest antioxidant activity, followed by flower, root, and stem extracts. However, ethanolic flower extract (IC50 2.14 mg/ml) showed significantly higher antioxidant activity than ethanolic leaf extract (IC50 2.79 mg/ml) (p<0.05). In terms of extraction solvent, ethanolic extracts of P. pellucida generally showed higher antioxidant activity than that of methanolic and aqueous extracts. However, methanolic root extract (IC50 4.35 mg/ml) showed significantly higher antioxidant activity than ethanolic root extract (IC50 6.15 mg/ml) (p<0.05). The results revealed that ethanol is a better extraction solvent than methanol and distilled water for leaf, flower and stem of P. pellucida to show their highest antioxidant activity while methanol is a better extraction solvent for P. pellucida root to show its highest antioxidant activity on DPPH assay.
- PublicationEBT2 film dosimetry using Imaged software analysis in comparison to Verisoft software at High Energy Electron Beam.(2016)Yusop, Mohd Fahrizuan MdThis study was conducted, to compare ImageJ and Verisoft softwares in EBT2 Gafchromic film dosimetry in High Energy Electron Beam. Film was cut into 3 cm x 3 cm dimension. 6 MeV and 9MeV energy use under Siemens Primus (LINAC), for calibration purpose, the film was exposed to dose 0 cGy to 600 cGy and for measuring FDD and beam profile, another film was irradiated with 400MU monitor unit. The irradiated films were scanned with Epson Expression 10 000XL flatbed scanner. The percentage depth dose (PDD) and beam profile of 6 MeV and 9 MeV electron beams were analyzed by using ImageJ and Verisoft software. Result of this study shows, the discrepancy (% of error) of ImageJ towards Verisoft for all depth are 4.05 % and discrepancy (% of error) comparison between ImageJ software with Ionization Chamber reading are 29.4 %. The highest beam flatness of Verisoft and ImageJ software are 5.88 % and 8 % respectively, the highest penumbra size for Verisoft and ImageJ software are 4 cm both. In conclusions, ImageJ software can be use as software in electron beam dosimetric analysis since it has less percent of error compare to Verisoft software and Ionization Chamber reading.
- PublicationDevelopment of adp-glo™ assay for entamoeba histolytica choline kinase activity measurement.(2016)Hassan, Mohammad ShafiqEntamoeba histolytica choline kinase (EhCK) is the first enzyme in the biosynthesis of phosphatidylcholine (PtdCho). Phosphatidylcholine (PtdCho) is one of the major glycerophospholipids in E. histolytica membrane. Therefore, EhCK inhibition has been suggested as a potential anti-amoebic strategy. Currently, pyruvate kinase-lactate dehydrogenase (PK-LDH) coupled assay is one of the enzyme assays used to measure EhCK activity. A high consumption of enzyme protein, large volume of assay reagents, and long experimental duration in PK-LDH coupled assay, suggesting a new method to measure EhCK activity is required. This study reports the development of ADP-Glo™ assay as a new method for the measurement of EhCK activity. E. coli BL21 that had been transformed with pGEX-RB-GST-EhCK plasmid was cultured in 100 mL of LB broth supplemented with 100 pg of ampicillin and induced with a final concentration of 1 mM of IPTG, for 16 hours at 27°C for the expression of GST-EhCK. The EhCK expressed was then purified by using GST*bind resin. Two types of EhCK was co-purified which were GST-tagged EhCK and untagged EhCK with a molecular weight of ~60 kDa and 40 kDa, respectively. To determine the linear range of EhCK reaction using ADP-Glo™ assay, the EhCK reaction was performed with different kinase reaction times. It was found that the ADP-Glo assay was linear until 60 minutes and 20 minutes for reaction with Mg2 and Mn2+ ion as cofactors, respectively. The EhCK activity measurement using ADPmeasure Gio™ assay was subsequently performed based on the assay condition and kinase reaction time that represent linear range of EhCK reaction. The activities measured using ADP-Glo™ assay were then compared to the activities obtained from PK-LDH coupled assay. The independent t-test results showed a significant difference (p<0.05) in the Vmax values obtained from the two methods, for choline in the presence of Mg2+ ion, where the ADP-Glo™ assay had a higher value (0.712 U/mg) than PK-LDH coupled assay (0.144 U/mg). A significant difference in the Kni values was obtained for choline (p<0.05) in the presence of Mn2+ ion as cofactor, where ADP-Glo™ assay had lower Km values (0.227 mM) compared to PK-LDH coupled assay (0.655 mM). Other kinetic parameters showed no significant difference between the two methods. In conclusion, this study had successfully developed a new enzyme assay for measurement of EhCK activity by using ADP-Glo™ assay.