The deceiving encounter of a spontaneously ruptured urinary bladder

Spontaneous urinary bladder rupture is a rare condition. Radiotherapy treatment for malignancy of a pelvic organ such as cervix or prostate is one cause of this condition. We report a case of a 71-year-old woman who presented with this illness 30 years after radiotherapy treatment.

Hybrid Solar Cell using Conjugated Chlorophyll from Pandanus Amaryllifolius as Photosensitizers

Solar energy is one in all few sources to renewable power and it is considerably critical in our each day lifestyles usage thus resulted to ensure the practicality and usefulness of the devices which regularly used to capture and manipulate solar energy. In this work, studies the effect of conjugated chlorophyll (iCHLO) on power conversion efficiency with relation of iCHLO where optical and electrical properties were investigated. These hybrid solar cells consist of combination of organic (Poly (3, 4-ethylenedioxythiophene): poly (styrenesulfonate) and iCHLO) and inorganic (Titanium Dioxide, TiO2) materials. These hybrid solar cells were fabricated bilayer of ITO/TiO2/PEDOT: PSS/iCHLO/Al. Chlorophyll compound (CHLO) was extracted from the Pandanus amaryllifolius leaves. CHLO undergoes conjugate process by oxidation polymerization using Ferric Chloride (FeCl3) as catalyst. Different percentage of FeCl3 was varied by 5%, 10% and 15% of CHLO molecular weight. Result shows that UV-Vis absorption spectra of CHLO was absorbed in the range of 400 nm – 600 nm (CHLO-PA) and 240 nm - 360 nm (iCHLO-PA). The highest power conversion efficiency (PCE) was obtained at 1.33% and electrical conductivity is 0.135 Scm1 for ITO/TiO2/PEDOT: PSS/iCHLO-PA 10% hybrid solar cell.

Measurement of mass attenuation coefficients of the fabricated Rhizophora spp. particleboards at high energy photons by using Compton scattering method

The mass attenuation coefficients of the fabricated Rhizophora spp. particleboards were measured by using the Compton scattering technique and Ludlum configurations. The mass attenuation coefficents of the particleboards were measured at scattered gamma energies of 137Cs between 337.72 and 564.09 keV and compared to the its theoretical values and the values of water by using XCOM calculation. The results showed that the measured mass attenuation coefficients of the fabricated Rhizophora spp. particleboards were in good agreement to its theoretical values and water (XCOM) within 3.8 and 5.9% discrepancies. The results showed the near attenuation properties of the fabricated Rhizophora spp. particleboards to water at scattered gamma energies and the suitability of the Ludlum configuration for the measurement of mass attenuation coefficients of materials.

Detection of CYP2C19 Genetic Variants in Malaysian Orang Asli from Massively Parallel Sequencing Data

The human cytochrome P450 (CYP) is a superfamily of enzymes that have been a focus in research for decades due to their prominent role in drug metabolism. CYP2C is one of the major subfamilies which metabolize more than 10% of all clinically used drugs. In the context of CYP2C19, several key genetic variations that alter the enzyme’s activity have been identified and catalogued in the CYP allele nomenclature database. In this study, we investigated the presence of well-established variants as well as novel polymorphisms in the CYP2C19 gene of 62 Orang Asli from the Peninsular Malaysia. A total of 449 genetic variants were detected including 70 novel polymorphisms; 417 SNPs were located in introns, 23 in upstream, 7 in exons, and 2 in downstream regions. Five alleles and seven genotypes were inferred based on the polymorphisms that were found. Null alleles that were observed include CYP2C19*3 (6.5%), *2 (5.7%) and *35 (2.4%) whereas allele with increased function *17 was detected at a frequency of 4.8%. The normal metabolizer genotype was the most predominant (66.1%), followed by intermediate metabolizer (19.4%), rapid metabolizer (9.7%) and poor metabolizer (4.8%) genotypes. Findings from this study provide further insights into the CYP2C19 genetic profile of the Orang Asli as previously unreported variant alleles were detected through the use of massively parallel sequencing technology platform. The systematic and comprehensive analysis of CYP2C19 will allow uncharacterized variants that are present in the Orang Asli to be included in the genotyping panel in the future.

Systematic characterization and comparison of the CYP2C9 variability of the Orang Asli in Malaysia with 12 populations

We conducted a systematic characterization of CYP2C9 variants in 61 Orang Asli and 96 Singaporean Malays using the whole genome sequences data and compared the variants with the other 11 HapMap populations. The frequency of rs1057910 (CYP2C9*3) is the highest in the Orang Asli compared to other populations. Three alleles with clinical implication were detected in the Orang Asli while 2 were found in the Singaporean Malays. Large numbers of the Orang Asli are predicted to have reduced metabolic capacity and therefore they would require a lower dose of drugs which are metabolized by CYP2C9. They are also at increased risks of adverse effects and therapeutic failures. A large number of CYP2C9 variants in the Orang Asli were not in the Hardy Weinberg Equilibrium which could be due to small sample size or mutations that disrupt the equilibrium of allele frequencies. In conclusion, different polymorphism patterns, allele frequencies, genotype frequencies and LD blocks are observed between the Orang Asli, the Singaporean Malays and the other populations. The study provided new information on the genetic polymorphism of CYP2C9 which is important for the implementation of precision medicine for the Orang Asli.

Skin color variation in Orang Asli tribes of Peninsular Malaysia

Pigmentation is a readily scorable and quantitative human phenotype, making it an excellent model for studying multifactorial traits and diseases. Convergent human evolution from the ancestral state, darker skin, towards lighter skin colors involved divergent genetic mechanisms in people of European vs. East Asian ancestry. It is striking that the European mechanisms result in a 10–20-fold increase in skin cancer susceptibility while the East Asian mechanisms do not. Towards the mapping of genes that contribute to East Asian pigmentation there is need for one or more populations that are admixed for ancestral and East Asian ancestry, but with minimal European contribution. This requirement is fulfilled by the Senoi, one of three indigenous tribes of Peninsular Malaysia collectively known as the Orang Asli. The Senoi are thought to be an admixture of the Negrito, an ancestral dark-skinned population representing the second of three Orang Asli tribes, and regional Mongoloid populations of Indo-China such as the Proto-Malay, the third Orang Asli tribe. We have calculated skin reflectance-based melanin indices in 492 Orang Asli, which ranged from 28 (lightest) to 75 (darkest); both extremes were represented in the Senoi. Population averages were 56 for Negrito, 42 for Proto-Malay, and 46 for Senoi. The derived allele frequencies for SLC24A5 and SLC45A2 in the Senoi were 0.04 and 0.02, respectively, consistent with greater South Asian than European admixture. Females and individuals with the A111T mutation had significantly lighter skin (p = 0.001 and 0.0039, respectively). Individuals with these derived alleles were found across the spectrum of skin color, indicating an overriding effect of strong skin lightening alleles of East Asian origin. These results suggest that the Senoi are suitable for mapping East Asian skin color genes.