Antioxidant modulation in restoring mitochondrial function in neurodegeneration

Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Parkinson's disease (PD) are the leading causes of disability associated with neurodegeneration worldwide. These diseases are influenced by multiple genetic and environmental factors and share similar mechanisms as both are characterized by accumulation and aggregation of misfolded proteins – amyloid-beta (Aβ) in AD and α-synuclein in PD. Over the past decade, increasing evidence has shown that mitochondrial dysfunction and the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) are involved in the pathology of these diseases, and the contributions of these defects to the cellular and molecular changes that eventually cause neuronal death have been explored. Using mitochondrial protective agents, such as antioxidants, to combat ROS provides a new strategy for neurodegenerative treatment. In this review, we highlight the potential of multiple types of antioxidants, including vitamins, phytochemicals, fatty acids and minerals, as well as synthetic antioxidants specifically targeting the mitochondria, which can restore mitochondrial function, in the treatment of neurodegenerative disorders at both the pre-clinical and clinical stages by focusing on AD and PD.     

Sociodemographic factors associated with semen quality among Malaysian men attending fertility clinic

The worldwide declining trend in male fertility has been a steady concern since the past few decades. Male infertility reportedly accounts for half of the overall infertility cases in the world. Despite the evidences of reduced fertility rates in Malaysia in the recent years, there is lack of interventions regarding the reproductive parameters in Malaysian men. Complexity in determining the underlying causatives in most of the male subfertility and infertility cases limits the scope of management. The sociodemographic impacts upon overall health as well as on reproductive health of men are undeniable. The present study has analysed the data collected from patients' records in the Fertility Clinic, International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM), from the January 2009 until December 2018. A total of 300 male patients were included in the study and were categorised according to their seminal fluid analysis (SFA) records. The sociodemographic characteristics for each subject were analysed. The results presented significant correlations among essential sociodemographic factors, such as educational attainment, marital duration as well as the age of wife, with the levels of semen abnormalities in the subjects. The study thereby unleashes scope for further investigations focusing upon the demographic factors for better insights to ameliorate male reproductive health in the Malaysian population.     

Early Childhood Research Landscape on Children’s Profile: Coherent Taxonomy,Motivation, Open Challenges,Recommendations and,Pathways for Future Research

To survey researchers’ efforts in depth in learning new problems, issues, motives on research related to children’s profiles; sculpting the literature into a clear and structed taxonomy; and determining the basic attributes of this research in terms of motivation and challenges, as well as recommendations and future studies. A focused search for each article was conducted on child profiles in four major databases: ScienceDirect, Web of Science, EBSCO, and ERIC. These databases are broad and sufficient to cover child profile studies in the literature. The initial query search resulted in 99 articles: (15/99) from ScienceDirect database, (45/99) from WoS, (23/99) from ERIC, and (16/99) articles from EBSCO, from 2011 to 2016. Those papers were thoroughly perused for the main purpose of developing a general map for research conducted on this emerging topic. Most of the articles (81.82%; 81/99) were measurement and evaluation papers; (15.15%; 15/99) were review and survey papers that refer to the literature in order to describe the child profile; and (3.03%; 3/99) were a design. Since 2011, researchers have followed the trend of child profile applications in many ways, while leaving certain aspects for further attention. Regardless of their categorization, articles focus on several challenges that hinder the full utility of child profile apps and do recommend mitigations. Research on child profiles is active and highly varied. In this paper, we hope that this review of previous studies will contribute to understanding the challenges and gaps that are available to other researchers to join this research line.