Resting-state electroencephalography (EEG) microstates of healthy individuals following mild sleep deprivation.

Mild sleep deprivation is widespread in many societies worldwide. Electroencephalography (EEG) microstate analysis provides information on spatial and temporal characteristics of resting brain network, serving as an indicator of neurophysiological activities at rest. This study seeks to investigate potential neural markers in EEG following mild sleep deprivation of a single night using EEG microstate analysis. Six-minute resting EEG was conducted on thirty healthy adults within 6 hours of waking in the morning and after at least 18 h of sleep deprivation. Translated and validated Malay language Karolinska Sleepiness Scale was used to assess the participants' degree of sleepiness. Microstate characteristics analysis was conducted on the final 24 subjects based on four standard microstate maps. Microstate C shows a significant increase in mean duration, coverage and occurrence, while microstate D has significantly higher occurrence after sleep deprivation. This study demonstrates notable changes in resting state EEG microstates following mild sleep deprivation. Present findings deepen our understanding of the brain's spatiotemporal dynamics under this condition and suggest the potential utility of neural markers in this domain as components of composite markers for sleep deprivation.

Effectiveness of a brief intervention for smoking cessation using the 5A model with self-help materials and using self-help materials alone: A randomised controlled trial

@#Introduction: The ‘5A’ model for smoking cessation was introduced in 2000 by the US Department of Health and Services. This brief intervention was recommended worldwide for smoking cessation. However, little is known about its effectiveness for smoking cessation in a primary care setting in Malaysia. Objective: To determine the effectiveness of a brief intervention for smoking cessation using the ‘5A’ model with self-help materials compared to using self-help materials alone. Methods: This randomised controlled trial was conducted at the Primary Care Clinic at the University Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC) between June and October 2009. Subjects were all current smokers aged 18 years and above. A total of 208 subjects were recruited and randomised into two groups. Subjects in the intervention group were given a brief intervention based on the ‘5A’ model with selfhelp materials, while the control group received self-help materials alone. Subjects were later followed up at one and four months via telephone calls. The outcome measure was a self-reported attempt to quit smoking. Results: At one-month follow-up, 15/77 (19.5%) of the participants in the intervention group had attempted to quit smoking compared to 8/80 (10.0%) in the control group. There was no significant difference between the two groups (p=0.09). At the four-month follow-up, 13/58 (22.4%) participants in the intervention group had attempted to quit smoking compared to 9/57 (15.8%) in the control group. Once more, there was no significant difference between the two groups (p=0.37). Conclusion: This study showed that there was no significant difference between a brief intervention using the ‘5A’ model with self-help materials and using self-help materials alone for smoking cessation in a Malaysian primary care setting. However, these results do need to be treated with caution when taking into consideration the high dropout rate and bias in the study design.

Reference interval establishment of full blood count extended research parameters in the multi-ethnic population of Malaysia

@#Haematological cellular structures may be elucidated using automated full blood count (FBC) analysers such as Unicel DxH 800 via cell population data (CPD) analysis. The CPD values are generated by calculating volume, conductivity, and five types of scatter angles of individual cells which would form clusters or populations. This study considered 126 CPD parameter values of 1077 healthy Malaysian adults to develop reference intervals for each CPD parameter. The utility of the CPD reference interval established may range from understanding the normal haematological cellular structures to analysis of distinct cellular features related to the development of haematological disorders and malignancies.