Pusat Pengajian Sains Kesihatan - Monograf
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- PublicationForensic analysis of gasoline on burnt carpet by gas chromatography technique.(2016)Samri, Mohamad Abdin ShakirinThe presence of ignitable liquid residues is important to confirm the involvement of arson attack in a fire scene. During forensic investigation, the chances of finding sufficient ignitable liquid remained in an unaltered form after a fire is relatively low. Therefore, this study focused on the effect of different fire extinguishing methods in influencing the possibility of detection of gasoline residues on burnt carpets. In this study, carpets doused with gasoline were burnt to simulated fire condition followed by five different fire extinguishing methods, namely ABC powder fire extinguisher, water, cloth, sand and also on self-extinguishment. Through gas chromatography (GC) examination, the profiles of gasoline residue from simulated conditions were generated. No interfering product due to the different extinguishing methods was observed. The profiles of gasoline were still observable when compared with the profile of neat gasoline. However, the gasoline residue showed some degree of chromatographic swift possibly due to loss of lighter hydrocarbon compounds. Principal Component Analysis provided an objective characterisation but it allowed only the differentiation of samples subjected to water extinguishing method from the others. In conclusion, the study enabled the detection of gasoline on burnt carpets but the use of varying fire extinguishing methods did not influence the possibility to detect gasoline on burnt carpets. The findings suggested that residues of gasoline could still be detected although subjected to extinguishment unless the gasoline was totally burnt during a fire.
- PublicationTlymphocyte cells and t helper cells response following bee propolis supplementation and endurance running.(2016)Muin, Maziana Binti AbdulTo date, to our knowledge, no study has been carried out to investigate the effect of bee propolis supplementation on T lymphocyte cells and Thelper (Th) cells count following endurance running among male recreational runners. To investigate the effect of bee propolis supplementation on T lymphocyte cells and Th cells count following endurance running among male recreational runners. In this study, eleven participants (age: 21.0 ± 1.5 years; BMI: 22.3 ± 2.5 kg/m2) were recruited whereby they carried out 3 preliminary tests which involved a submaximal test, a maximum oxygen uptake (VO2max) test and a familiarisation test. After that, participants performed the first running trial which involved 90 min running at 60% VO2max after an overnight fast. After that, participants consumed bee propolis tablets (500 mg/tablet) for 4 weeks, 2 tablets per day. After 4 weeks of the supplementation period, participants performed the second running trial (90 min running at 60% of VO2max)- For each running trial, blood samples were collected from the participants before, during, post-, and 1 h post-exercise for analysing T and Th cells count. Oxygen uptake (VO2) and rate of perceived exertion (RPE) were recorded before, during and after exercise. Endurance exercise significantly increased T lymphocyte cells count and Th cells count during the first 30 min of exercise but then decreased until the end of exercise and continue to decrease 1 hour post-exercise. In addition, the present study also discovers that T lymphocyte cells count and Th cells count were not significantly different between the pre- and post supplementation trials. Similarly, VO? and RPE were not significantly different between both trials The present findings showed that there were no significant effect of bee propolis supplementation on the T lymphocyte and Th cells count, VO2 and RPE following endurance running in male recreational runners.
- PublicationComparison of bullet stration pattern using ibis bullettrax-3d and aliconainfinite focus microscope.(2016)Anting, Maria Magdalina Dennis JFirearm identification is a process to determine whether a bullet or cartridge was fired by a particular weapon based on individual characteristic. The unique patterns created on the surfaces of the bullet or cartridge carry an individual characteristic which is useful for firearm identification. Four different pistols of same model were used in this study and six bullets were obtained per pistol. The objective of this study is to exercise objective comparison of bullet striation patterns within the same model of semiautomated pistols, Walther P99 by automated comparison performed using Integrated Bullet Identification System (IBIS) BULLLETRAX-3D and Alicona-Infinite Focus Microscope. IBIS BULLETTRAX-3D gives 3D images of the bullet’s surfaces while Alicona-Infinite Focus Microscope also gives images and surface topography measurement for identification. Analysis using IBIS BULLETTRAX-3D showed striation images which required the final decision by the examiner for bullet identification. Meanwhile, Alicona-Infinite Focus Microscope also captured visual images of the bullet surface as well as surface topography profile with dataset for each sample. Pairwise comparison with Pearson Product Moment Correlation (PPMC) from summarised datasets showed positive correlation among the bullet fired from the gun (r = 0.99 and above). Both methods potentially may complement each other and will be beneficial for forensic firearm identification.
- PublicationThe effect of nasal corticosteroid treatment on aerobic fitness in junior tennis player.(2016)Aziz, Lukman Hakim AbdObjective of this study is to investigate the effect of nasal corticosteroid treatment on aerobic fitness in junior tennis players. Twenty junior tennis players aged 8-17 years old with average more than 1 year of tennis history background were recruited in this study. In the beginning of the study, standard multistage 20 m beep test run (pre-test) were carried out to determine the level of their aerobic fitness. After that, they were given a set of AQUA questionnaire to determine if they suffered from Allergic rhinitis (AR) or not. Accordingly, participants were grouped into AR and no AR groups. The AR group received nasal corticosteroid treatment (nasal spray) twice per day for 8 weeks. After 8 weeks, another standard multistage 20 m beep test run (posttest) were conducted. This study reveals that there were significant interaction between time (e.g ,. Pre- and post-tests) and treatment used (AR vs no AR) in this study. There were significant changes for AR group in terms of beep test level. The treatment of nasal spray were important for allergic rhinitis patient to maintain and increase the aerobic capacity thus to perform well.
- PublicationVerification of glutamate as the amino acid residue responsible for manganese ion preference in entamoeba histolytica choline kinase.(2016)Yee, Low SinEntamoeba histolytica is a parasitic protozoan that causes amoebiasis, a major public health problem in developing countries. Amoebiasis can be presented with no, mild, or severe symptoms such as abdominal pain, mild diarrhea, bloody diarrhea or severe colitis with tissue death and perforation. The plasma membrane of£. histolytica is important in its invasiveness and contact dependence cytotoxicity. The major component of its plasma membrane (60- 70%) is phospholipid. Phosphatidylcholine (PC) is one of the predominant phospholipids of the plasma membrane in E. histolytica. PC synthesis begins with phosphorylation of choline by choline kinase (CK). It is widely accepted that the CK of many organisms prefer Mg2+ as their cofactor for phosphorylation. However, previous studies showed an unusual preference of E. histolytica choline kinase (EhCK) towards Mn2+ ion. EhCK activity was shown to increase 24 folds in the presence of Mn2+. Based on the protein sequence alignment, three amino acid residues, including glutamate-100, were identified and predicted to be responsible for the preference of Mn2+ ion as a cofactor. The aim of this study was to validate the role of glutamate-100 in Mn2+ ion cofactor preference. Glutamate-100 was replaced with glutamine (E100Q) utilizing PCR site directed mutagenesis. Mutant EhCK-ElOOQ and wild type EhCK open reading frame (ORF) were respectively cloned into pGEX-RB vectors. The proteins were expressed and purified. Both of the proteins were used in the assay by employing pyruvate kinase-lactate dehydrogenase coupled spectrophotometric assay. Different Mn2+ concentrations were used in the assay in order to determine the Ko s. The Ko s for wild type EhCKand EhCK-ElOOQ were 10.5 mM and 9.14 mM, respectively. In conclusion, this study showed that the predicted amino acid glutamate-100 was not the specific amino acid residue that was responsible for the protein preference using Mn2+ as its cofactor. Further studies need to be carried out on other amino acid residues to identify the correct amino acid that actually plays the role in the Mn2' preference. This study lays the groundwork for future study on EhCK. inhibition.