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Having been among the top ranks of worldwide ICT outsourcing indices for a number of years, Malaysia is familiar with the role outsourcing has played in changing today’s business landscape. However, concerns of data privacy and security, and the risks of data leakage arise during the course of outsourcing as the process may involve the exposure or handling of sensitive and confidential client and organization information to outsource providers since the company has little control over its outsourced data when it is in the provider’s possession. Empirical findings on the risks and countermeasures of data leakage are presented, in the context of outsourcing in Malaysia. From the findings, it was apparent that the inherent risks were signifi cant and that the countermeasures were positively correlated to reducing the risks. This study contributes to the limited pool of knowledge on data leakage issues in outsourcing. Organizations engaging in or contemplating outsourcing will find the results beneficial not only in understanding the data leakage concerns but also in supporting the high priority for these concerns to be addressed. However, more effort is required to enforce the countermeasures as prudent precautionary routines to reduce data leakage risks.

Aims To determine the bioequivalence of several T1 mapping sequences in myocardial characterization of diffuse myocardial fibrosis. Methods and results We performed an intra-individual sequence comparison of three types of T1 mapping sequences [MOdified Look-Locker Inversion recovery (MOLLI), Shortened MOdified Look-Locker Inversion recovery ((sh)MOLLI), and SAturation recovery single-SHot Acquisition (SASHA)]. We employed two model diseases of diffuse interstitial fibrosis [patients with non-ischaemic dilated cardiomyopathy (NIDCM), n = 32] and aortic stenosis [(AS), n = 25)]. Twenty-six healthy individuals served as controls. Relationship with collagen volume fraction (CVF) was assessed using endomyocardial biopsies (EMB) intraoperatively in 12 AS patients. T2 mapping (GraSE) was also performed. Myocardial native T1 with MOLLI and shMOLLI showed, firstly, an excellent discriminatory accuracy between health and disease [area under the curves (P-value): 0.94 (0.88-0.99); 0.87 (0.79-0.94); 0.61 (0.49--0.72)], secondly, relationship between histological CVF [native T1 MOLLI vs. shMOLLI vs. SASHA: r = 0.582 (P = 0.027), r = 0.524 (P = 0.046), r = 0.443 (P = 0.150)], and thirdly, with native T2 [r = 0.628(P < 0.001), r = 0.459 (P = 0.003), r = 0.211 (P = 0.083)]. The respective relationships for extracellular volume fraction with CVF [r = 0.489 (P = 0.044), r = 0.417 (0.071), r = 0.353 (P = 0.287)] were significant for MOLLI, but not other sequences. In AS patients, native T2 was significantly higher compared to controls, and associated with levels of C-reactive protein and troponin. Conclusion T1 mapping sequences differ in their bioequivalence for discrimination between health and disease as well as associations with diffuse myocardial fibrosis." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the influence of theranostic nanoparticles in biomedical applications including information on the therapeutic targeting in chronic kidney diseases, impact of positively charged theranostic particles, and development of theranostic nanoparticles.

The Education Management Information System (EMIS) plays a significant role in helping the education policy-makers, decision-makers, and managers in Malaysia to make timely and good decisions. This requires high quality data to be made available to relevant people. However, EMIS has been plagued with data quality problems. Education data is important for the purpose of macro level administration and management. These data include staff emoluments, teacher deployment, school development, decision making, policy analysis, and evaluation that were gathered through the State Education Department from schools throughout the country. Since data collection involves the processes of importing, merging, and exporting at various levels, factors such as lack of facilities and skilled staff, or even data manipulation errors can affect data quality. The study aims to measure the EMIS data completeness using custom tools and to identify possible causes for EMIS data quality problems. Analysis indicates that EMIS data completeness has achieved the desired level of completeness targeted by its developers. Practical suggestions for improving the quality of EMIS data collection are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Stem cell‐based regenerative therapies have been intensively studied with the aim to define an ideal cell type for the treatment of myocardial infarction. We tested systemically delivered, platelet‐targeted induced vascular progenitor cells (iVPCs) to study their potential to salvage damaged myocardium after ischemia‐reperfusion injury. Methods: Using a mouse model of ischemia‐reperfusion injury, we tested the potential of platelet‐targeted iVPCs (1 × 106 targ‐iVPCs) compared to non‐targ‐iVPCs and a saline control. Bioluminescence imaging, echocardiography, and histological analyses were performed. Results: Four weeks after ischemia‐reperfusion injury, systemic delivery of targ‐iVPCs led to reduced fibrosis and infarct size (PBS: 25.7 ± 3.9 vs targ‐iVPC: 18.4 ± 6.6 vs non‐targ‐iVPC: 25.1 ± 3.7%I/LV, P < 0.05), increased neovascularization, and restored cardiac function (PBS: 44.0 ± 4.2 vs targ‐iVPC: 54.3 ± 4.5 vs non‐targ‐iVPC: 46.4 ± 3.8%EF, P < 0.01). Cell tracking experiments revealed entrapment of intravenously injected iVPCs in the pulmonary microvasculature in both cell‐treated groups. Conclusions: Systemic delivery of iVPCs after cardiac ischemia‐reperfusion injury is limited by pulmonary entrapment of the cells. Nevertheless, targ‐iVPCs reduced infarct size, fibrosis, increased neovascularization, and most importantly retained cardiac function. These findings contribute to the mechanistic discussion of cell‐based therapy and ultimately identify activated platelet‐targeted iVPCs as candidates for cell therapy and also describe cell therapy benefits without the necessity of engrafting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors reflect on the role of myocardial T1 mapping as a non-invasive alternative method to tissue diagnosis. Topics include the advantage of cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) compared with other non-invasive imaging methods, late gadolinium enhancement (LGE), and role of CMR in cardiomyopathy diagnosis and treatment.

Aims: To determine the bioequivalence of several T1 mapping sequences in myocardial characterization of diffuse myocardial fibrosis., Methods and Results: We performed an intra-individual sequence comparison of three types of T1 mapping sequences [MOdified Look-Locker Inversion recovery (MOLLI), Shortened MOdified Look-Locker Inversion recovery ((sh)MOLLI), and SAturation recovery single-SHot Acquisition (SASHA)]. We employed two model diseases of diffuse interstitial fibrosis [patients with non-ischaemic dilated cardiomyopathy (NIDCM), n = 32] and aortic stenosis [(AS), n = 25)]. Twenty-six healthy individuals served as controls. Relationship with collagen volume fraction (CVF) was assessed using endomyocardial biopsies (EMB) intraoperatively in 12 AS patients. T2 mapping (GraSE) was also performed. Myocardial native T1 with MOLLI and shMOLLI showed, firstly, an excellent discriminatory accuracy between health and disease [area under the curves (P-value): 0.94 (0.88-0.99); 0.87 (0.79-0.94); 0.61 (0.49-0.72)], secondly, relationship between histological CVF [native T1 MOLLI vs. shMOLLI vs. SASHA: r = 0.582 (P = 0.027), r = 0.524 (P = 0.046), r = 0.443 (P = 0.150)], and thirdly, with native T2 [r = 0.628(P < 0.001), r = 0.459 (P = 0.003), r = 0.211 (P = 0.083)]. The respective relationships for extracellular volume fraction with CVF [r = 0.489 (P = 0.044), r = 0.417 (0.071), r = 0.353 (P = 0.287)] were significant for MOLLI, but not other sequences. In AS patients, native T2 was significantly higher compared to controls, and associated with levels of C-reactive protein and troponin., Conclusion: T1 mapping sequences differ in their bioequivalence for discrimination between health and disease as well as associations with diffuse myocardial fibrosis.