Thursday, June 27, 2013

PENGALAMAN PERTAMA DI IPTA

WAH,, aku tak tahulah perkataan apa yang boleh aku gambar kan kepada korang sumua.. nak kata teruja, takkk.... happy pon takkk... so apa ek...

ok, perasaan bila aku menjejakkan kaki ini ke IPTA, perasaan bercampur baur.. Sedih meliputi segala-segalanya, hah ambik kau dah masuk bahasa sastera. First day aku dah rasa nak lari balik rumah tau, al maklum laa aku kan tak pernah berjauhan dengan keluarga, bila berjauhan masih terasa hangat kasihmu ayah,,,

mak aku plak siap warning subuh-subuh,, nak tau pe dia cakap...

" kau dah masuk sini, jangan gatal-gatal nak balik sana. nanti kalau dah balik sana, tak mau belajar laa kamu..."

nampak tak ayat macam halau aku dari rumah, macam laa aku ni derhaka sampai kan aku di halau oleh keluarga sendiri,, tak payah nak felling,, felling sangat laa... kau nak pergi belajar je pon, kalau mak kau tak cakap macam tu,, aku rasa kau tak kan bertahan sampai ke ari ni tau..

27/6/2013 genap laa sebulan aku di UiTM Melaka ni dan genap laa sebulan aku tak menjejak kan kaki ini di bumi SELANGOR, waaaarrggghhhhh............... setiap hari aku akan menangis teringatkan keluarga yang nun jauh di sana, ... haha,, tak payah dramatik sangat laa kan, sedang kan jauh Melaka dengan Selangor mengambil beberapa minit je kan... tapi serious wei,, setiap kali roomate aku balik rumah, (semua orang melaka + negeri sembilan ) .... aku akan bersendirian di kolej melayan perasaan,, bila rindu tak de pulak aku nak call my parents,, tergedik-gedik mengadu itu dan ini... anak solehah kan, tak mau menyusahkan mereka.. so cara terbaik adalah mengadu pada yang Maha Mendengar.. zikrullah dan ayat-ayat al-Quran menjadi peneman di kala duka... sepanjang aku duduk di bawah ketiak mak bapa aku,, x de laa nak buka al-Quran wei.. ok pengakuan berani mati ni... tapi kan,, aku bersyukur kepada Allah kerna Die telah menghantar aku ke sini,, dan Insya-Allah lebih mendekatkan diri ini kepada yang Maha Pencipta.

Mahasiswa/siswi part 1 ni banyak tau cabarannya... kepada adik-adik yang telah menanamkan azam dan impian untuk melanjutkan pelajaran ke peringkat yang lebih tinggi ,, akak kat sini nak nasihatkan , bersedia laa dari peringkat awal, belajar laa rajin-rajin, (CEHH,, akak laa sangat kan.... haha,,, nak nasihat orang je lebih, diri sendiri tak terurus..)

pape pon,,, kalau dah masuk U nie,, korang kena laa rajin-rajin kan diri... kalau jadi pelajar U nie tido mesty laa pukul 2-3 pagi,, bangun... hah kau sebelum subuh... penat ooooooiiiii,,, dengan aktiviti kolej, fakulti, beljar,universiti... rasa macam nk belah empat belas je badan nie...

so sediakan laa akal dan minda sebelum menjejakkan kaki anda ke menara gading,,, sekian.....

note : jom ramai-ramai kita kerat badan kita kepada 14 ... haha,,, sapa mau join,, mcj saya ok !!!

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Homeless man freed of murder charge

KUALA LUMPUR: A homeless man was freed of a murder charge without his defence being called after the High Court ruled that the closed-circuit television recording tendered as evidence, which captured the alleged assault, was inadmissible.

Judge Amelia Tee Hong Geok Abdullah, in acquitting Mohd Abdul Aziz Ibrahim, 24, said there was no oral evidence to prove the recording was produced by a computer in the course of its ordinary use.

Amelia said the prosecution had also failed to produce documented proof of the CCTV recording.

Abdul Aziz, who lived under a bridge near the Klang bus station, here, was charged with the murder of a Myanmar refugee known as Bar Bar, in Restoran Shukran, Wisma Cahaya Suria, Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock on Oct 15, 2011.

The judge noted that the prosecution's case was primarily based on the CCTV recording from Restoran Shukran.

She added that the court found that without the evidence of the recording, the prosecution had failed to establish that it was the accused who had caused the death of the deceased.

"The court has to ask itself this question: If I call on the accused to enter his defence, and if he elects to remain silent, am I prepared to convict him based solely on the evidence adduced by the prosecution?

"The court is of the view that without the evidence of the CCTV recording, the answer is a loud and resounding 'no'," Amelia said.

The judge added that she was also unable to find a prima facie case made out on any lesser charge.

Deputy public prosecutor P. Viknesvaran prosecuted, while Abdul Aziz was represented by counsel Halim Ashgar Hilmi.

Green Technology: Biomedical device industry

set to improve healthcare

According to the Ministry of Health, Malaysia’s medical device industry is valued at about RM3.5 billion last year and is expected to reach RM5.3 billion by 2015. This seems likely as the global medical device industry is valued at US$320 billion (RM977 billion), which represents 25 per cent of the overall healthcare market.

The growth will be fuelled by an aging population, increase access to healthcare especially in Asia Pacific, changes in lifestyle, and a trend towards health tourism.

SIRIM has a long history of research and development of useful products that take advantage of Malaysia’s rich natural biodiversity. Advances in biotechnology and materials help produce more environmentally friendly solutions than traditional industrial process.

Medical technology has been identified as one of SIRIM’s three flagships areas along with energy and environment, and plant and machinery. Research teams in SIRIM are now working on developing biomedical devices and products that are safe for both the society as well as the environment.

Research and development are conducted in pilot plants that are designed to achieve good manufacturing practices (GMP) certification to ensure the quality of the products.

“We produce these biomedical devices in pilot plants before clinical trials because we can control everything in this scale in terms of the environment of the production,” explains Dr Ahmad Hazri Abdul Rashid, the General Manager of the Industrial Biotechnology Research Centre in SIRIM.

Advanced wound management systems

There are two biomedical pilot plants in located at SIRIM’s Branch in Sepang which focus on advanced wound management systems. The team, led by researchers Dr Ahmad Hazri and Dr Kartina Noorsal, develops six medical-grade products using chitosan in the form of thin film, sheet, paste, scar cream, sponge, and skin regenerating template (SRT).

Chitosan is naturally abundant and can be obtained from the exoskeleton of crustaceans, which also makes it cost effective. Because of its biocompatibility, biodegradability, hypoallergenic, and antibacterial properties, chitosan is suitable for open wound protection and for encouraging cellular regeneration.

The product is currently under clinical trial and samples are tested for biocompatibility and toxicity studies as part of the process of obtaining Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) certification.

According to Dr Ahmad Hazri, the trials have so far shown favourable response from the patients, with some patients even specifically requests for SIRIM’s chitosan medical products. He adds that the progress is a step towards the right direction, although new advancements are still waiting to be unleashed.

“We used to rely on synthetic wound dressing products. In the future, perhaps we can even use products made out of our own body. This can significantly reduce or eliminate the chances of rejection,” he explains. On top of that, this process would take nothing from external resources, which make it a lot more environmentally friendly.

Medical injection moulding

Another key research and development project by SIRIM in medical device focus on the use of metal injection moulding (MIM) to manufacture stainless steel surgical implants. SIRIM is one of the first institutions in the world to utilise this technique.

MIM is ideal for making intricate and precisely measured medical implants as the process begins with a soft and malleable metal paste unlike traditional metalwork.

It produces practically zero waste and has a very low defect rate compared to conventional machining processes, making it ideal for high-value objects made of expensive metals such as components in micro-machines, automotive and aerospace applications.

The project is currently focused on producing simple, six-hole dynamic compressions plates (DCPs) designed to fix bone fractures. Although DCP is one of the most widely used metal implants to repair fractures, imported plates from Europe or the US tend to be designed for Caucasian bones. This makes some imported DCPs an ill-fit for the Asian bone structure. With locally made DCPs, this will soon be an issue of the past.

The project is conducted in two of SIRIM’s pilot plants in Penang, and is led by Dr Afian Omar, an award-winning researcher from Advanced Materials Research Centre, SIRIM.

As with any medical devices, the product will have to undergo a successful clinical trial, which is scheduled to commence soon, before it enters the market.

Providing a total solution in medical device

The teams behind SIRIM’s research and development efforts in biomedical are made up of material scientists, engineers, and chemists. The pilot plants are designed by SIRIM’s engineers. In addition, the researchers work with medical faculties in local universities to develop and test products in the lab as well as on clinical trials. SIRIM’s primary contribution is in the product development, while the universities oversee the medical aspects of the research.

“This type of collaboration takes into account the materials, engineering, as well as the patient’s need. It’s a total solution for the medical device products,” says Dr Ahmad Hazri.

New technology will also pave the way for new or improved medical devices to be developed in the future. There is a big potential in stem cell research and genetic engineering that can propel the biomedical devices industry towards this advancement.

Since the field of medical devices is still relatively new everywhere in the world, Dr Ahmad Hazri believes that it is an ideal time to be a key player in the industry, or risk losing opportunities.

In order to do that, it is important to keep up with the fast-paced nature of the industry and develop human capital. “Our people need to be of the right competencies. We need to invest in research and have the right facilities to enable the studies to be carried out,”he says.

It also has to be a joint effort between the government, local industry players, and the research institutes, as well as the consumers to develop this industry. The government is already taking the step in the right direction by focusing on biotechnology economy as one of the National Key Economic Areas, establishing ‘green lane’ policies for local biotech products, and introducing the Medical Device Act 2012.

The Act requires both imported and local medical devices to be registered with the Ministry of Health. Under this new act, medical devices are well regulated by assessing the safety, effectiveness and quality of the products before being placed in the market.

Presently, there are very few products that go into the market because most of the products are imported. There are also not many institutes doing research in medical devices.

“SIRIM has a role to play to fill in this gap and develop new devices and methodologies to test these products,” says Dr Ahmad Hazri. With the pilot plants, SIRIM can kick start the production of medical devices to help the local industry in terms of production capacity, which brings products into the market much quicker. In addition, SIRIM’s efforts pave the way for local companies to achieve sustainability faster as the companies need only to focus on the marketing of the products.

On top of that, Dr Ahmad Hazri expresses his hope that SIRIM’s research efforts in biomedical devices will help healthcare practitioners provide the best options for patients to heal faster and better.

Hey, Fellas, Olive Oil And Nuts Tied To Prostate Cancer Survival

by ALLISON AUBREY

June 10, 2013 6:00 PM

Olive oil and nuts tied to prostate cancer survival.

Enlarge image

Heather Rousseau/NPR

Sometimes, it doesn't take a major diet overhaul to get significant health benefits. Small changes can be helpful, too.

This seems to be the take-home message from a new study in JAMA Internal Medicine linking olive oil and nuts to improved survival from prostate cancer.

Researchers studied the fat intake of more than 4,500 men who had been diagnosed with non-metastatic prostate cancer (this is cancer that's still confined to the prostate gland and has not spread to another place in the body).

It turns out that men who replaced 10 percent of their total daily calories from carbohydrates (such as rice, bread and sweets) with vegetable fats (such as olive oil and canola) after their cancer diagnosis had a 29 percent lower risk of developing lethal prostate cancer and a 26 percent reduced risk of death during a median of eight years of follow-up.

In addition, adding a daily ounce of nuts to their diets was linked to an 18 percent lower risk of developing metastatic prostate cancer.

So what's at play in the body?

"I think it could be several things," study author Erin Richman of the University of California, San Francisco, told me by phone. "Consumption of oils and nuts increases plasma antioxidants and reduces circulating insulin ... and inflammatory markers," she explains. And this could be significant, since high levels of insulin, cell damage and inflammation can all play a role in the progression of cancer.

Richman says she wasn't necessarily surprised by the results, though "the finding that vegetable fat [was beneficial] was new" and worthy of follow-up studies. This was an observational study, so it's tough to suss out whether it's the high intake of vegetable fat or a lower intake of carbs that is responsible for the effect observed.

As the researchers point out, there are lots of men who could potentially benefit from dietary changes. The American Cancer Society estimates there will be about 238,000 new cases of prostate cancer diagnosed this year. And about 2.5 million men currently have the disease.

The findings fit with a larger body of evidence pointing toward multiple health benefits of reducing consumption of refined carbohydrates and replacing foods high in saturated fats with plant-based sources of fat, including oils, nuts and avocados.

We asked outside experts who were not involved in the study to comment on the findings.

"These data in cancer patients, specifically men with prostate cancer, echo what we have seen in healthy individuals," wrote Dr. Lawrence Appel of Johns Hopkins University in an email. "Vegetable fat (mostly oils) appear to be beneficial."

And this year, we've seen some of the most convincing evidence that following a Mediterranean diet, rich in fish, vegetables, beans and fruits — as well as olive oil and nuts — can significantly cut the risk of cardiovascular events, such as strokes, among at-risk individuals.

comment :

"Vegetable fat (mostly oils) appear to be beneficial."
Ridiculous. Olive oil and whole nuts are found to be protective, and the takeaway is we should use industrial vegetable oils like corn, soy, cottonseed, canola, etc.? These are the WORST things to cook with. If you're sauteeing with "healthy" sunflower or safflower oil, you're exposing yourself to lots of oxidative damage. This article needs to be read with a good dose of skepticism and a solid understanding of SFAs, MUFAs, and PUFAs.
The data says one thing, and the analysis says another. Just incredible. Is there no on on the NPR staff who can look at this with some degree of critical analysis, or is it just a matter of parroting whatever they can find to toe the line of conventional wisdom?

Olive oil = high in monounsaturated fats (MUFAs). "Vegetable" oils = high in polyunsaturated fats (PUFAs).

PUFAs from fish and nut

Asparagus Helps Lower Blood Pressure (At Least In Rats)

by JOE PALCA

June 08, 2013 8:35 AM

Enlarge image

In a recent study, rats that munched on asparagus saw their blood pressure drop.

Muffet/Flicker

Here's another reason to eat asparagus, in case you were looking for one.

Researchers at the Kagawa Nutrition University in Japan fed a diet consisting of 5 percent asparagus to rats with high blood pressure. As they report in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, published online on May 30, after 10 weeks, the rats on the asparagus diet had lower blood pressure than the ones fed a standard rat diet without asparagus.

The rats on the asparagus diet also had less protein in their urine, a sign of a healthier kidney. And they had less activity of ACE, or angiotensin-converting enzyme. Drugs that reduce the activity of ACE are used to treat hypertension in humans.

The Japanese researchers think a compound found in asparagus called 2"-hydroxynicotianamine is responsible for inhibiting ACE activity in the rats. There's not a lot of literature on hydroxynicotianamine. It seems to be found in buckwheat sprouts, buckwheat leaves and buckwheat, where it also seems to be an ACE inhibitor.

Of course, it's far too soon to known whether 2"-hydroxynicotianamine has a similar effect on humans. But if it does, perhaps this could open new vistas in the treatment of hypertension. In fact, for the treatment of high blood pressure, this could be the dawning of the age of asparagus.

Student activist released from prison

KUALA LUMPUR: A student activist who was sentenced to a month’s jail by a magistrate’s court last Friday for obstructing a Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) enforcement officer from arresting another activist at Dataran Merdeka has been released from prison.

This follows the High Court's decision yesterday to allow Umar Mohamad Azmi's stay application pending disposal of his appeal to the High Court.

In allowing the stay, judge Amelia Tee Hong Geok Abdullah raised the bail amount from RM1,000 to RM5,000.

The judge also reminded Umar, represented by Syahredzan Johan, to avoid being involved in similar offences.

"The prosecution is to apply immediately to revoke bail if he is found to be involved in similar offences. Then he will have to serve his sentence immediately," she said.

Tee also addressed Umar's father Mohd Azmi Mohd Amin who was in the gallery and advised him to keep his son in check during the bail period.

Azmi told reporters later that he would post the additional sum to secure the release of Umar, 23, who was being held at the Kajang prison.

Apart from the custodial sentence, magistrate Zaki Asyraf Zubir also fined Umar RM1,000 or a month's jail. The amount was also paid.

Umar was found guilty of intentionally preventing enforcement officer Mohd Masran Mamat from arresting Mohd Fahmi Reza Zarin at 8am on April 22.

The accused was said to be involved in the anti National Higher Education Fund (PTPTN) movement camped out in the square.

Umar, a final-year student in a private college, is currently undergoing his internship in Johor Baru.