BACKGROUND: The field of study addressing the relationship between FSD and male sexual dysfunction (MSD) represents a pivotal worldwide health issue as interrelationship between FSD and MSD studies are still inconclusive. AIM: To review the interrelationship between FSD and MSD and to conclude whether there is a definitive risk of men developing sexual dysfunction when his partner is suffering from FSD. METHODS: The investigation was conducted following the standard practice for conducting and reporting the findings of systematic reviews and meta-analyses comprising of 4 electronic databases, that is, Embase, PsycInfo, Cochrane Library and Ovid (Medline) from inception to December 2019. Search strategies were developed based on relevant keywords with appropriate truncation and Boolean operators’ approach. The quality of studies was employed using the McMaster Critical Review Form for Quantitative Studies and were assessed by independent reviewers. The levels of evidence of the included studies were also determined. OUTCOMES: MSD who had been exposed to FSD. RESULTS: From more than 8,000 studies searched, 26 studies were finally included, and most included studies have reasonable quality. Meta-analysis found a significant sexual dysfunction in men who are partnered with women with FSD. It found a consistent correlation between FDS and sexual dysfunction in men with a significant 3-fold increase in MSD who are partnered with women with FSD (odds ratio ¼ 3.011, 95% confidence interval: 1.856e4.885, P ¼ <.001, I2 ¼ 42.26%). Among subtypes of MSD, likelihood increased 4-fold for erectile dysfunction and that of premature ejaculation doubled. The data for several other domains on their components were mixed. CLINICAL TRANSLATION: These findings support the notion that clinicians should evaluate sexual function pertaining to both partners and encompassing several dimensions and needing an interdisciplinary approach. STRENGTH & LIMITATIONS: This review exhaustively examines data search from vast electronic databases and as the comparison of studies is extracted from English journal publications, not all regions worldwide are represented. CONCLUSION: This meta-analysis and systematic review found an association between sexual dysfunction in men partnered with women with FSD, especially in the domains of erectile and ejaculatory function. Chew PY, Choy CL, Sidi Hb, et al. The Association Between Female Sexual Dysfunction and Sexual Dysfunction in the Male Partner: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. J Sex Med 2020;XX:XXXeXXX.

Background: There is increasing evidence on the exponential use of technology-based social media in medical field that has led to a proliferation of unprofessional behaviors in digital realm. Educating, training, and changing the behaviors of healthcare professionals are essential elements to restrain the rising unprofessional incidents. Therefore, this research was designed to determine the impact of an interventional workshop on the medical and dental students in improving their professional behaviors in the digital world using the newly developed medical Education e-Professionalism (MEeP) framework. Methods: We adopted the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) as a benchmark reference which explores constructs intertwined with the mission-based MEeP framework; values (whistleblowing-raising concerns), behaviors (being responsible in the digital world) and identity (reflective practice in the digital world). A multicentre 3-phased mixed-method study was conducted using a pre-workshop survey, an online interventional workshop, and a post-workshop survey. SPSS and NVivo were the tools used for the data analysis. Results: A total of 130 students registered for workshop out of which 120 completed the pre-workshop survey, 62 joined the workshop and 59 completed the workshop and post-workshop survey. From the whistleblowing – raising concern perspective, we found that attitudes and perceived behavioral control had a significant relationship. While for responsible in digital world category, attitude and perceived behavioral control had a significant bearing on the intentions. Third, for reflective practice, attitude and subjective norms significantly enhanced the intention of participants. A multi layered thematic analysis yielded four overarching themes of attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control and intentions. Most students showed positive attitudes of being reflective, self-directed, and humane. Students realized the subjective norms had made them conscientious, self-aware and conformative. While perceived behavioural control manifested as identity and Intentions were heavily reliant on self-actualization. Conclusion: Our mixed method study found that the interventional workshop using MEeP framework significantly improved attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, and intentions. This study provides valuable evidence of MEeP framework evaluation using the theoretical underpinning of TPB by reporting positive changes in professional values, behaviors, and identities of undergraduate medical and dental students.

Breast cancer remains a significant cause of mortality in females worldwide, despite advances in technology and treatment. MicroRNA expression in breast cancer is studied both as potential biomarkers and for therapeutic purposes. Accumulated evidence revealed microRNA profile of various types of cancer cells following antineoplastic treatment. The progression of research in this area provides better understanding on the anti-cancer mechanism of various natural compounds and drugs specifically on the microRNA regulation. Hence, we aim to systematically review differentially expressed microRNA in MCF-7, a commonly studied breast cancer cell line, after treatment with anti-neoplastic agents. Relevant keywords were used to screen for research articles that reported on the differentially expressed microRNAs in experimental models of MCF-7 before and after anti-neoplastic treatment. Target genes of microRNAs were identified from MiRTarbase and further in silico functional analysis of the target genes were performed using DAVID bioinformatic resources. Two upregulated microRNAs (mir-200c and let-7d) and 3 downregulated microRNAs (mir-27a, mir-27b and mir-203) were identified by highest number of studies. Three microRNAs (let-7a, mir-23a and mir-7) showed inconsistent direction of expression. Genes functional analysis revealed the regulatory effect of microRNA on genes related to angiogenesis, hypoxia, P53, FoxO and PI3K-AKT signalling. Clusters of genes associated to the pathway of angiogenesis, cancers, cell proliferation and apoptosis were noted through protein-protein interaction analysis. MicroRNAs, especially the mir-200c, let-7d, mir-27a, mir-27b and mir-203 from this review could be further validated experimentally to serve as molecular target or biomarkers for anti-neoplastic therapy

Background: In recent years, social networking sites (SNSs) have evolved beyond connection and networking to become a powerful instructional tool. There is still a dearth of knowledge on the professional use of SNSs for education particularly among students from diverse backgrounds. This study examined the extent and pattern of SNSs usage for education across six institutions and then conducted an interventional workshop to fortify and regulate the educational use of SNSs. Methods: This multicenter study was done in two phases. In the first phase, an online cross-sectional survey using a validated inventory was administered to determine the prevalence, extent, and preferences of SNSs usage by undergraduate students in medicine, health sciences and dentistry across five centers. Later, the second phase of the study was undertaken in a 75-min guided live workshop about the appropriate use of SNSs in academia. Additionally, preand post-test surveys were conducted to assess the impact and outcome of workshop. Results: Of the 1722 respondents, 1553 (90%) reported using SNSs with the frequency of once a month to three to five times per day for education and to stay in touch with others. Most students agreed with the benefits of SNSs for education mainly in terms of information gathering, networking and collaboration. Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest were noted as the most preferred SNSs for education. Nevertheless, 63% perceived that proper instruction was required for the efficient use of SNSs. Following the guided workshop, there was a significant improvement in web technology understanding, digital professionalism, skills and knowledge on the productive use of SNSs. Students rated the efficient for conceptual learning, connection to community practice, e-portfolio, and collaborative learning as the top four major teaching and learning strategies, respectively, in the post-workshop survey. Conclusion: Our study demonstrates that SNSs can be used as learning tools in medical education. However, SNSs usage should be regulated and guided for a more collegial and coherent learning climate in the digital realm. We urge medical educators to integrate SNSs into their courses for a technologically advanced and impactful curriculum.

Evidence of gut microbiota involvement in regulating glucose metabolism and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) progression is accumulating. The understanding of microbial dysbiosis and specific alterations of gut microbiota composition that occur during the early stages of glucose intolerance, unperturbed by anti-diabetic medications, is especially essential. Hence, this systematic review was conducted to summarise the existing evidence related to microbiota composition and diversity in individuals with prediabetes (preDM) and individuals newly diagnosed with T2DM (newDM) in comparison to individuals with normal glucose tolerance (nonDM). A systematic search of the PubMed, MEDLINE and CINAHL databases were conducted from inception to February 2021 supplemented with manual searches of the list of references. The primary keywords of “type 2 diabetes”, “prediabetes”, “newly-diagnosed” and “gut microbiota” were used. Observational studies that conducted analysis of the gut microbiota of respondents with preDM and newDM were included. The quality of the studies was assessed using the modified Newcastle-Ottawa scale by independent reviewers. A total of 18 studies (5,489 participants) were included. Low gut microbial diversity was generally observed in preDM and newDM when compared to nonDM. Differences in gut microbiota composition between the disease groups and nonDM were inconsistent across the included studies. Four out of the 18 studies found increased abundance of phylum Firmicutes along with decreased abundance of Bacteroidetes in newDM. At the genus/species levels, decreased abundance of Faecalibacterium prausnitzii, Roseburia, Dialister, Flavonifractor, Alistipes, Haemophilus and Akkermansia muciniphila and increased abundance of Lactobacillus, Streptococcus, Escherichia, Veillonella and Collinsella were observed in the disease groups in at least two studies. Lactobacillus was also found to positively correlate with fasting plasma glucose (FPG), HbA1c and/or homeostatic assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) in four studies. This renders a need for further investigations on the species/strain-specific role of endogenously present Lactobacillus in glucose regulation mechanism and T2DM disease progression. Differences in dietary intake caused significant variation in specific bacterial abundances. More studies are needed to establish more consistent associations, between clinical biomarkers or dietary intake and specific gut bacterial composition in prediabetes and early T2DM.

The aims of this study were to determine whether placebo treatment in randomised controlled trials (RCTs) is effective for fibromyalgia and to identify possible determinants of the magnitude of any such placebo effect. A systematic literature search was undertaken for RCTs in people with fibromyalgia that included a placebo and/or a no-treatment (observation only or waiting list) control group. Placebo effect size (ES) for pain and other outcomes was measured as the improvement of each outcome from baseline divided by the standard deviation of the change from baseline. This effect was compared with changes in the no-treatment control groups. Meta-analysis was undertaken to combine data from different studies. Subgroup analysis was conducted to identify possible determinants of the placebo ES. A total of 3912 studies were identified from the literature search. After scrutiny, 229 trials met the inclusion criteria. Participants who received placebo in the RCTs experienced significantly better improvements in pain, fatigue, sleep quality, physical function, and other main outcomes than those receiving no treatment. The ES of placebo for pain relief was clinically moderate (0.53, 95%CI 0.48 to 0.57). The ES increased with increasing strength of the active treatment, increasing participant age and higher baseline pain severity, but decreased in RCTS with more women and with longer duration of fibromyalgia. In addition, placebo treatment in RCTs is effective in fibromyalgia. A number of factors (expected strength of treatment, age, gender, disease duration) appear to influence the magnitude of the placebo effect in this condition.

The purpose of this study is to conduct an experiment on undergraduate students (the Generation Y) with the fundamental knowledge on fiqh muamalat (Islamic legal study on business transactions). The research examines the impact of experiential learning to the level of knowledge on Shariah contracts embedded in the game by measuring the pre and post score of the students on the features of the contracts. 114 students from business-related programme took part in the study. They answered pre-experiment questionnaire, played the game and eventually answered post-experiment questionnaire. The game referred to as Muamalat Interactive Game (MIG), an innovation that incorporates the concepts and operations for retail products offered by Islamic banks adopted for personal financial management. This game involves the participants (contracting parties) in several muamalat contracts commonly practiced in Islamic banks, such as as ijarah, tawarruq, rahnu, musharakah mutanaqisah, murabahah and other supporting contracts. The players of the game interactively transact among them to acquire assets, manages cash flow, pay tithe on income and wealth and contribute to charity, applying the muamalat contracts mentioned. The study found that the knowledge of the students significantly enhanced, after the experience of playing the game. They are doing better after the game when identifying the main features of the muamalat contracts, the sequence of transactions forming the contracts and the distinguishing the differences among the contracts. The results also revealed that the game experience made it easy for the students to visual the personal financial management. The results of the experiment revealed the usefulness of using experiential learning for teaching and learning.