The present study was aimed at evaluating the role of a real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay in the diagnosis of tuberculous meningitis (TBM) and pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) and comparison of its performance with the in-house conventional PCR (C-PCR) assay. A RT-PCR assay using SYBR green methodology and C-PCR targeting a segment of the gene for mycobacterial IS6110 region were e...

The indirect immunoperoxidase (HP) test has been used extensively in most government hospitals in Malaysia for the serodiagnosis of scrub typhus, murine typhus and tick typhus during the 1990s. The test was used to determine the IgG and IgM antibody titers in patients' sera for three rickettsial species, ie Orientia tsutsugamushi OT; the causative agent of scrub typhus), Rickettsia typhi (RT; t...

BACKGROUND Re-irradiation (re-RT) of the thorax is challenging due to the impact of prior therapies on normal tissues, and there are few reports of definitive re-RT. The treatment toxicities and efficacy of re-RT are not well known. The aim of the present study was to assess the safety and efficacy of definitive re-RT of the thorax. METHODS Patients who were treated with thoracic re-RT betwee...

Background After radical prostatectomy (RP) radiotherapy (RT) plays a role, both as adjuvant or salvage treatment. If negative features are present such as extracapsular extension, seminal vesicle invasion, lymph invasion, and positive surgical margins, RT after RP reduces the risk of recurrence, although it is associated with an increased risk of acute and late toxicities. An intensified RT de...

Elevated salt intake induces changes in the extracellular matrix collagen, leading to myocardial stiffness and impaired relaxation. Resistance training (RT) has been used as a remarkably successful strategy in the treatment of heart disease. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the effects of RT on preventing pathological adaptation of the left ventricle (LV) induced by salt over...

Background Five-year survival in squamous cell carcinoma of maxillary antrum is low. This article examines the results of various approaches to treatment as given in our hospital in past 26 years. Methods From 1979 to 2005, 379 patients with squamous cell carcinoma of maxillary antrum managed with curative intent were studied. Twenty-eight patients had T2, 237 patients had T3, and 114 had T4 ...

There has been ascending demand on beverages enriched with dairy proteins. Calcium chelators can improve transparency and stability of nonfat dry milk (NFDM) resulting from dissociation casein micelles. In this study, vanilla-flavored model 5% or 10% w/w NFDM were manufactured without 0.43% sodium hexametaphosphate (SHMP), physical properties studied during 70-day storage at 4 °C room temperatu...

Human enterovirus 71 (EV71) is the major causative agent of hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) worldwide and has been associated with neurological complications which resulted in fatalities during recent outbreak in Asia pacific region. A direct reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (direct RT-LAMP) assay using heat-treated samples without RNA extraction was developed a...