Year: 2021

The Faculty of Law, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia (UiTMLaw) was honoured to be invited by the Faculty of Law, Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGMLaw), to officiate their Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) at the faculty level through a virtual signing ceremony during the 75th Anniversary of the UGMLaw on 17 February 2021.

The Vice-Chancellor of Universiti Teknologi MARA, Professor Emeritus Datuk Ir. Dr Mohd Azraai Kassim, has executed the MoA before the event. The ceremony was attended by the Deans of both faculties, Associate Professor Dr Hartini Saripan and Professor Dr Sigit Riyanto and witnessed by both institutions’ management and lecturers.

The MoA sparks more opportunities for both institutions to venture into the new legal education realm, especially with unconstrained communication channels and inexpensive travel. It allows for partnership in various academic undertakings, thereby presenting the promise of mutual benefit to staff and students of both faculties.

In this globalised society, international collaboration programs help by providing students with the ability to study, work, and travel in an international setting via student mobility programmes. Likewise, staff exchange programmes enable staff from both faculties to enrich their teaching experience by teaching and handling a diverse audience.

Furthermore, research partnerships facilitate the ability to scrutinise, debate, and share experiences on vital legal issues from the perspective of both Malaysia and Indonesia. Other possible collaboration activities include publication, innovation and community services.

UiTMLaw believes that this collaboration will enhance the visibility of both institutions in academic circles internationally. UiTMLaw is hopeful that the excellent relationship will thrive and the prevailing bond between the two faculties will continue to flourish.

Scientists of Tomsk Polytechnic University jointly with colleagues from different countries have developed a new sensor with two layers of nanopores. In the conducted experiments, this sensor showed its efficiency as a sensor for one of the doping substances from chiral molecules. The research findings are published in Biosensors and Bioelectronics (IF: 10,257; Q1) academic journal.

The material is a thick wafer with pores of 20-30 nm in diameter. The scientists grew a layer of metal-organic frameworks (MOF) from Zn ions and organic molecules on these thick wafers. The MOF has about 3 nm nanopores only. It plays the role of a trap for molecules, which must be detected.

“This sensor can operate with chiral molecules. Such substances consisting of chiral molecules are a lot among medical drugs and biologically active compounds. Their feature lies in consisting of a couple of enantiomers, which are actually identical molecules with identical structure and physical properties, however, they are mirror images of each other. Due to this difference, enantiomers can have various biological effect: one enantiomer can be effective, while the second one will cause harm. The main challenge is that both enantiomers must be detected in a biological sample. Our research team specializes in creating chiral sensors, operating on the effect of surface plasmon resonance. We have already had a wide range of interesting efficient material sensors in this field, however, we offered absolutely a new structure in this research work,” Pavel Postnikov, Associate Professor of the TPU Research School of Chemistry and Applied Biomedical Sciences, says.

If the light (for instance, a laser ray) is directed on this material, the effect of surface plasmon resonance occurs on the gold porous film. The surface plasmon resonance is the origin of an analytic signal that can be sensed by a portable surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) sensor. Due to the signal, it is possible to define, what substance is captured by the MOF and in what volume. The overall analysis procedure takes less than 5 minutes.

ELETS organised the “18th Edition of World Education Summit”, which included two Premier Global Events.

The first one was organised from March 3rd to March 6th, wherein, Dr Madhu Chitkara, Pro-Chancellor, shared her valuable insights during the Panel Discussion on the topic, “Preparing Students for Industry 4.0” and about how these changes are rapid and complex.

She mentioned that in order to meet the ever-evolving industry, learning, unlearning and relearning” has to be the success mantra. She emphasised the fact that alignment and collaboration with industries will be the deciding factor and that schools have to be fertile breeding ground with more flexibility.

She added, “Gradual changes from IQ to EQ and now to SQ is a constant reminder that human capital continues to be the biggest asset. Further, a global prospect will give a deciding edge to all stakeholders.”

The second event was organised from March 10th to March 13th. In this event, Chitkara University was awarded as India’s Leading University in Design Education by Digital Learning- elets Technomedia, New Delhi. The purpose of the four-day summit was to bring the Top School Leaders on one platform to communicate and share the best practices and challenges.

Lastly, the organising committee of World Education Summit- 2021 expressed their appreciation to Pro-Chancellor, Dr. Madhu Chitkara for addressing the audience and sharing her views on the topic ‘Preparing students for Industry 4.0- Approach, Opportunities & Challenges’.

Faculty of Business and Management (FBM), Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Malaysia recently collaborated with the Malaysian Women’s Graduate Association (PSWM), on a special Webinar program, You Are The Source of My Inspiration (KSIK).

The motivation program anchored on three PSWM inspirational icons, Rashidi Abdullah (Shidi), Khairil Azreen Mohd Jasni (Khai) and Dinie Rashid (Dinie). The inspiring fact is that all three of the icons were not born blind but one day in their teens found themselves blind.

Assoc. Prof. Dr Geetha Subramaniam, an FBM lecturer and also an exco-member of PSWM, together with two lecturers from FBM, Mrs Ainie Hairianie Aluwi and Mr Muhammad Abd Hadi Abd Rahman organised the three-hour programme, assisted by students from the Human Resource Society UiTM, Puncak Alam (HURES). The President of PWSM, Datin Fauziah Mohd Ramly, moderated the session with Mohammad Danish Durrani (HURES representative) as the emcee.

Considering all the challenges faced by students, with the shift of campus experience to online classes, this program was designed as a motivational session with a difference for the UiTM students.

Despite the loss of their sight, the three young men shared how they used their enhanced senses to develop other talents, like singing, playing instruments, creating and reciting poems. This talent management would not have happened if not for the President of PSWM Datin Fauziah Mohd Ramly, who recognised their hidden talent, nurtured them with love and brought them out as role models who could motivate the younger generation of students at schools and universities.

Throughout the Webinar, the PSWM icons touched the hearts of the UiTM academics and students by inspiring them with their experiences in overcoming adversity. The underlying theme throughout the webinar expressed by Shidi, Khai and Dinie i.e “To have an attitude of gratitude for everything you have” kept the 650 attendees spell-bound for a good three hours.

The participants listened to the experiences of these icons who are in their 20s who highlighted that “There’s no point of having Sight without Vision”. Some of the feedback from students include, ‘Very Touching”, “We feel so small in front of these three Blind youngsters”, “Such a peaceful and calm presence”, etc.

They further showcased their talents and mesmerised everybody with their guitar, poem and songs. In fact one of the icons –Dinie beat hundreds of youngsters in a highly competitive talent show called BIG STAGE and successfully made it to the top five finalists, coming out fourth placing. Despite his sight impairment every week he put up a very impressive performance in terms of singing and dancing too.

This type of university – Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) partnership should definitely be conducted more for the betterment of students and society. As Fauzi says, “Go, Go, Go – Sky is the Limit”.

The research titled “Exploration of Behavioral Changes during COVID-19” was undertaken by Mr Pachara Sukwiboon, a student from the Master of Business Administration Program (MBA) Thammasat Business School, Thammasat University. Associate Professor Dr Sakun Boon-itt is the advisor.

The study aims to understand the changes in people’s behaviour during the COVID-19 outbreak and found that people from different generations have different behaviours while some generations share some similar behaviours.

The study explored behaviours of Generation Baby Boomers, Generation X, Generation Y, Generation Z, and people who have knowledge related to COVID-19. The result indicates that “behaviours of each generation across the periods of COVID-19 outbreak have changed differently and knowledge level is one of the main factors leading to behaviour changes in order to prevent themselves from disease infection.”

The research explores behavioural changes during 3 periods- before the COVID-19 pandemic, during the COVID-19 pandemic (during the discovery of the first COVID-19 infected in Thailand until lockdown phase 5 or13 Jaunary 2020 – 30 June 2020), and after the COVID-19 pandemic (after lockdown phase 5 or after 30 June 2020)

According to the results of the study of 241 subjects via an online questionnaire, there are 3 types of behavioural changes for each period.

The temporary behavioural change includes hanging out with friend or family, going to a large open space, going to a large closed space, going to places with more than 20 people, and travelling by public transportation. In these behaviour groups, people show short-term adaptation before the spread of COVID-19 until the spread of COVID-19 in order to prevent themselves from disease infection. However, they resume their normal behaviours during the normal situation. In other words, the frequency of this behaviour before the spread of COVID-19 and now is only slightly different.

Non-adaptive behaviours or slight-to-medium adaptive behaviours are buying luxury goods, using social media, shopping online, using online food delivery, using serving spoons when sharing food, consuming healthy food or supplementary food, greeting for chatting with friend or family on social media, regularly exercising, seek medical attention when they have a fever, cough, sneeze or difficulty breathing, and using hands or other parts to cover when they cough or sneeze.

In these behaviour groups, people show indirect adaptation to prevent themselves from disease infection. For example, they use technology more and meet other people less or they keep fit in order to reduce infection risk. In other words, the frequency of this behaviour before the spread of COVID-19 and during the spread of COVID-19 is comparatively different. As a result, the frequency of doing these behaviours now is different from the pre-COVID19 situation.

New Normal behaviours are avoiding touching eyes, nose, mouth with uncleaned hands, maintain a safe distance from anyone who cough or sneeze, wear a mask before leaving the house or staying at a public area, and cleaning hands with soap or alcohol gel before and after touching something. These behaviours are characterized as disease prevention adaptation.

Moreover, these are policies encouraged by the government and the private sector to comply. It means that before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, the frequency of doing these behaviours is completely different. Moreover, the frequency of doing these behaviours now is also different from the pre-COVID-19 time.

In terms of the behaviour’s difference in each generation, the study shows that Generation Baby Boomers and Generation X share similar behavioural changes to prevent themselves from COVID-19 infection, while Generation Y and Generation Z share similar behavioural changes. However, some adaptation behaviours of Generation Z are different from other generations such as hanging out, going to a large open space, going to a large closed space, and going to a place with more than 20 people. Generation Z tends to do these activities more after the spread of COVID-19 than during the spread of COVID-19.

In terms of the differences in knowledge level, people with different knowledge level show similar behavioural changes to prevent themselves from disease infection. However, they have different behavioural adaption, including hanging out and using public transportation.

The specialists of the Medical Chemistry Center at Togliatti State University (TSU) in collaboration with colleagues from Saint Petersburg State University (SPbU) and the University of Florence have developed new carbonic anhydrase inhibitors, pharmaceuticals that can inhibit the growth of cancer. The results of the research will be published in the scientific journal European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry (Q1).

Carbonic anhydrases (CAs) is an important class of enzymes in the human body that regulate the level of carbon dioxide (CO2), bicarbonate anion, and protons. There are 16 carbonic anhydrase isoforms that function in regulating various physiological processes maintaining equilibrium within the cell by the concentrations of CO2 and pH – acid-base balance. Unlike a normal cell, a cancer cell has different mechanisms for survival. One of these mechanisms is provided by the increased expression of carbonic anhydrase. CAs can be localized in any part of the cell but scientists are interested in those that are located on the cell surface.

“The tumour behaves like a parasite in our body. It kills everything normal around and frees up space for its own growth. While in an unfavourable environment, the cancer cell intensively expresses (synthesizes) carbonic anhydrase on the surface which acidifies the tumour microenvironment killing healthy cells and creating conditions for tumour growth. At the same time, the cell is still able to multiply in the preserved healthy environment. So, can this mechanism be used to fight the tumour? Our task was to find a chemical compound that can suppress the carbonic anhydrase activity,” explains Professor Mikhail Krasavin, the head of New Synthetic Methods and Chemical Pharmacology Laboratory (Institute of Chemistry, Saint Petersburg State University).

Carbonic anhydrase inhibitors are successfully used by doctors to control eye pressure in glaucoma. Now scientists from all around the world are working on a hypothesis according to which it is possible to suppress cancerous tumour growth by inhibiting the carbonic anhydrase activity.

The world leader in this field is Claudiu Supuran, a professor at the University of Florence (Italy). He is the creator of a unique laboratory where in vitro studies on the carbonic anhydrase activity can be taken. And it was the place where SPbU scientists sent a new set of sulfonamides (potential CAs inhibitors that they created).

“The anti-cancer effect can be achieved by inhibiting two carbonic anhydrase isoforms -CAs IX and CAs XII. Claudiu Supuran’s laboratory confirmed the presence of an inhibitory effect of CAs IX, and it was a great joy for us,” said Mikhail Krasavin. “But it is almost impossible to create an inhibitor of any particular carbonic anhydrase isoform, the search is always conducted by screening*, and this has already become the field of activity of TSU Medical Chemistry Center.”

The OpenHTS project implemented at TSU Medical Chemistry Center is an open platform for high-throughput screening which allowed us to test new sulfonamides on cell lines and select those that showed the desired effect.

“Our task in this research was to study the possibility of translating the inhibitory activity on the protein, which was shown by professor Supuran, to both cancer and healthy cells. After all, making sure that the protein is inhibited in vitro is one thing, and showing the presence of the desired effect on the cell which contains thousands of different proteins is a whole different situation,” says the director of TSU Medical Chemistry Center Alexander Bunev.

“We conducted an extended screening and found that two compounds provided by Professor Krasavin’s group demonstrated the selectivity** on cell lines and high level of activity.”

“The fact that there is such a well-equipped and modern centre providing complex high-throughput screening of chemical compounds for anti-cancer activity in TSU allows us to expect a substantive breakthrough in the development of anticancer agents based on the inhibition of carbonic anhydrase,” claims Mikhail Krasavin. “We should study all sulfonamides as the monoagents and as a combination with known antitumor drugs on a large number of cell lines. Now it is all possible thanks to TSU Medical Chemistry Center.”

TSU Medical Chemistry Center and SPbU are planning to sign a long-term cooperation agreement at the end of April.

The results of the joint work of Togliatti, Saint Petersburg and Florence scientists will be presented in the European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry which publishes research on medical chemistry sections and original research papers.

Chulalongkorn University researchers answered the needs of small-scale dairy farmers by expanding the window of the delivery time for raw milk without refrigeration while reducing costs and preserving the product quality for consumers.

Transportation costs of fresh cow’s milk from the farms to raw milk collection centres have always been a burden on dairy farmers. In a tropical country like Thailand, microorganisms grow quickly and milk spoils easily, so, farmers must work against the clock, and shoulder refrigeration costs in transport as well.

“Cow’s milk spoils so easily.  It has to be refrigerated right after being milked, and on the way to raw milk collection centres; otherwise, it goes to waste along the way, and the raw milk centres will not buy it because it is too risky.  The only common solution now is refrigeration.  Chillers and refrigerators are very pricey, and they add costs for dairy farmers.  As a result, consumers have to pay a higher milk price.  This is the major question in our research,” explained David Makarapong, a researcher in the Technopreneurship and Innovation Management Program (CUTIP), Chulalongkorn University Graduate School, about the origins of the inventive project PASS+.

“This innovation helps slow down the growth of microorganisms in cow’s milk by ultraviolet irradiation. We found that PASS+ reduced the number of microorganisms by up to 90% keeping milk from going bad even when not refrigerated while retaining the full benefits of milk.”

David further elaborated that once the cow’s milk is processed with the PASS+ machine, farmers will have an additional 30 minutes to 2 hours for delivery, which is enough to preserve the milk quality during transport.

“Once we can prolong milk freshness without refrigeration, we drastically reduce the transportation costs.  Farmers no longer have to buy chillers, and consumers will also receive fresh, great quality cow’s milk at a lower price.”

PASS+ has already been patented as an innovation of Thailand.  Many small dairy farmers affiliated with the Dairy Farming Promotion Organization of Thailand who tried PASS+ are satisfied with it.

“PASS+ innovation will significantly transform the dairy farming industry, by not only yielding small farmers higher profit but also providing an alternative to the development of milk quality from farms, while reducing milk price for consumers,” concluded David.

A series of studies led by researchers from Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU) have revealed that hyocholic acid and its derivatives (collectively known as HCAs), a component of bile acids that facilitate fat digestion, are a promising risk indicator of type 2 diabetes. The strong efficacy of HCAs in regulating blood glucose levels and protecting against diabetes has also been uncovered. The findings open a window for the development of HCA-based predictive markers as well as anti-diabetic drugs.

The research results have been published in the international scientific journals Cell Metabolism and Nature Communications.

 High concentration of HCAs protects pigs from diabetes

Inspired by the traditional Chinese medical book Compendium of Materia Medica, which recorded the use of pig bile to treat excessive thirst, a condition known today as diabetes, Professor Jia Wei, Chair Professor of the School of Chinese Medicine at HKBU, led research teams to conduct a series of studies on the role of HCAs in glucose homeostasis and diabetes prevention.

Diabetes is characterised by high blood glucose levels. Through a series of tests conducted on 55 humans, 32 mice and 12 pigs, Professor Jia’s team confirmed that fasting blood glucose levels in pigs are significantly lower than that of humans and mice. As HCAs constitute nearly 80% of bile acids in pigs, while the proportions in humans and mice are only about 2% and 3% respectively, a negative correlation between HCAs and blood glucose levels was observed.

The result indicates the potential role of HCAs in the maintenance of stable glucose levels. This may explain why pigs, unlike humans, seldom suffer from diabetes despite their low physical activity levels and consumption of a calorie-rich diet.

HCAs correlate with diabetes and metabolic health

To analyse the correlation between the levels of HCAs and the occurrence of diabetes in humans, data was collected from two large-scale cohort studies, namely the Shanghai Obesity Study and the Shanghai Diabetes Study. The researchers examined the serum bile acid profiles of 1,107 participants of the Shanghai Obesity Study, which was published in 2013. The participants were divided into three groups: healthy lean, healthy obese and obese with type 2 diabetes. It was discovered that the levels of serum HCAs were significantly lower in the healthy obese and obese with type 2 diabetes groups.

In another study, the serum bile acids of 132 participants of the Shanghai Diabetes Study were investigated. They were all healthy (at baseline) when they were enrolled in the study between 1998 and 2001. Ten years later, 86 of them had become metabolically unhealthy, while 46 remained healthy. Analysis showed that, compared with those who remained healthy ten years later, those who had become metabolically unhealthy had significantly lower baseline levels of serum HCAs, illustrating that levels of HCAs are a strong predictor of metabolic syndromes such as diabetes.

HCAs regulate blood glucose levels in animal models

Through a series of laboratory experiments, the researchers looked further into the mechanisms that underpin the key role that HCAs play in regulating blood glucose levels. In an animal model experiment, the researchers suppressed the synthesis of HCAs in the livers of a group of pigs by around 30%, and they found that their blood glucose levels increased by 30% when compared with the control group. HCAs were then given to the pigs, after which their blood glucose levels eased off.

Another experiment conducted by the researchers focused on the effect of HCAs on glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1). GLP-1 is a hormone produced by L-cells, a type of enteroendocrine cell that enhances insulin secretion and decreases blood glucose. In a laboratory setting, different kinds of bile acids, including HCAs, were applied to L-cells, at varying levels of concentration. Results showed that at a high concentration of 50 micromolar, HCAs were the most effective at stimulating GLP-1 secretion when compared with other types of bile acids. The findings also revealed that HCAs regulate blood glucose levels by stimulating the secretion of GLP-1 and thus insulin production.

Potential for diabetes prediction and treatment

“The results of our studies provide evidence of how HCAs help to regulate blood glucose levels, and they have revealed the mechanism of how it is achieved at a cellular level. HCAs demonstrate promising potential, and they could be developed into an agent for the prediction and treatment of type 2 diabetes,” said Professor Jia.

“As gut microbiota can regulate the metabolism of HCAs, targeting the intestines instead of the pancreas could be a prospective novel strategy for treating diabetes. We will further investigate how to increase the secretion levels of HCAs in diabetic patients by regulating the intestinal bacteria,” he added.

Researchers from the Shanghai Jiao Tong University Affiliated Sixth People’s Hospital, Peking University, the Affiliated Drum Tower Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, China Agricultural University, Sichuan University and the University of Hawaii were also involved in the studies.