This study determines the validity and reliability of the Malay version of the World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL) assessment instrument in patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. A cross-sectional study on 157 patients with HIV seen at the Infectious Disease Unit, Hospital Raja Perempuan Zainab II, Kota Bharu, Kelantan was conducted. Factor analysis identified five major domains: physical needs, spirituality, social relationship, psychological, and environment. Significant correlation was found between each domain scores and the general health questions. The instrument was able to discriminate between asymptomatic and symptomatic HIV positive patients for all domain scores except for the spirituality domain. The internal consistency of the five domains ranged from 0.70 to 0.83. The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) ranged from 0.60 to 0.87 across all domains. In conclusion, the Malay version of WHOQOL-HIV BREF is a valid and reliable instrument in assessing quality of life in HIV positive patients.

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Problem statement: DNA samples from fourteen modern human bloods (seven males and seven females) and two ancient skeletal samples excavated from Kalumpang Island and Dungun, Peninsular Malaysia were subjected for molecular genders determination using specific primers of human AMELX and AMELY. Approach: A standard multiple PCR mixture with forward primer and either a human X-specific reverse primer for AMELX or a human Y-specific reverse primer for AMELY amplifications were used to assess the presence of these genes in male and female samples. Results: PCR amplification of a modern male sample yielded 329 and 235 bp bands, whereas a modern female sample only 329 bp band. The Kalumpang Island sample produced two positive bands of AMELY and AMELX. After reamplification of the Dungun sample, only an AMELY band was visible. All amplified bands were cloned into TA plasmid and sequenced. BLAST analysis showed that the 329 bp band is AMELX, while the 235 bp product is AMELY. Conclusion/Recommendations: The skeletal remains of both Kalumpang Island and Dungun samples from west and east of Peninsular Malaysia respectively, are males.

Abstract. Haematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) are used in the therapy of blood disorders due to the ability of these cells to reconstitute haematopoietic lineage cells when transplanted into myeloablative recipients. However, substantial number of cells is required in order for the reconstitution to take place. Since HSCs present in low frequency, larger number of donor is required to accommodate the demand of transplantable HSCs. Therefore, in vitro expansion of HSCs will have profound impact on clinical purposes. The aim of this study was to expand lineage negative (Lin -) stem cells from human peripheral blood. Total peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMNCs) were fractionated from human blood by density gradient centrifugation. Subsequently, PBMNCs were subjected to magnetic assisted cell sorter (MACS) which depletes lineage positive (Lin + ) mononuclear cells expressing lineage positive markers such as CD2, CD3, CD11b, CD14, CD15, CD16, CD19, CD56, CD123, and CD235a to obtained Lin -cell population. The ability of Lin + and Lin -to survive in vitro was explored by culturing both cell populations in complete medium consisting of Alpha-Minimal Essential Medium (AMEM) +10% (v/v) Newborn Calf Serum (NBCS)+ 2% (v/v) pen/strep. In another experiment, Lin + and Lin -were cultured with complete medium supplemented with 10ng/mL of the following growth factors: stem cell factor (SCF), interleukin (IL)-3, granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF), 2IU/mL of Erythropoietin (Epo) and 20ng/mL of IL-6. Three samples were monitored in static culture for 22 days. The expansion potential was assessed by the number of total viable cells, counted by trypan blue exclusion assay. It was found that Lin + mononuclear cells were not able to survive either in normal proliferation medium or proliferation medium supplemented with cytokines. Similarly, Lin -stem cells were not able to survive in proliferation medium however, addition of cytokines into the proliferation medium support Lin -stem cells for at least 18 days. The Lin -stem cells started to response to the cytokines added as early as Day 2 of culture. It is concluded that Lin -stem cells can be expanded in vitro by culturing in proliferation medium supplemented with cytokines.

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