Papers by Abdullah Al Mamun
Paracetamol (acetaminophen) with caffeine is a combination medicine indicated for the temporary r... more Paracetamol (acetaminophen) with caffeine is a combination medicine indicated for the temporary relief of pain and discomfort associated with a number of conditions such as headache or muscle pain. There is a controversy going on this combination concerning their safety in patients, since 1 year later of their introduction in 1950. Paracetamol is a first-line therapy of choice in adults and children with fever and pain. Caffeine is used in this product to increase the pain relieving effects of paracetamol. Paracetamol has a narrow safety margin and there are number of risks associated with paracetamol. It is only safe and effective when used according to directions on OTC (Over-The-Counter) and R x labeling. FDA (Food and Drug Administration) drug safety communication state that prescription paracetamol products to be limited to 325 mg per tablet, capsule, or other dosage unit, making these products safer for patients. Chronic or excessive administration of
Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 2008
Journal of Sustainable Development, 2011
Journal of Human Hypertension, 2012
Hypertensive disorder of pregnancy (HDP) is considered an important determinant in the prediction... more Hypertensive disorder of pregnancy (HDP) is considered an important determinant in the prediction of future hypertension. The aim of this study is to examine whether HDP improves prediction of future hypertension, over prediction based on established risk factors measured during pregnancy. We used a community based cohort study of 2117 women who received antenatal care at a major hospital in Brisbane between 1981 and 1983 and had blood pressure assessed 21 years after the index pregnancy. Of these 2117 women, 193 (9.0%) experienced HDP and 345 (16.3%) had hypertension at 21 years postpartum. For women with HDP, the odds of being hypertensive at 21 years postpartum were 2.46 (95% CI 1.70, 3.56), adjusted for established risk factors including age, education, race, alcohol, cigarettes, exercise and body mass index. Addition of HDP did not improve the prediction model that included these established risk factors, with the area under the curve of receiver operator (AUROC) increasing from 0.710 to 0.716 (P-value for difference in AUROC ¼ 0.185). Our findings suggest that HDP is strongly and independently associated with future hypertension, and women who experience this condition should be counselled regarding lifestyle modification and careful ongoing blood pressure monitoring. However, the development of HDP during pregnancy does not improve our capacity to predict future hypertension, over risk factors identifiable at the time of pregnancy. This suggests that counseling regarding lifestyle modification and ongoing blood pressure monitoring might reasonably be provided to all pregnant and postpartum women with identifiable risk factors for future hypertension.
International Business Research, 2011
This study employs a cross sectional design with stratified random sampling method to examine how... more This study employs a cross sectional design with stratified random sampling method to examine how common household factors affect repayment performance of Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia (AIM)'s hardcore poor microcredit program clients in Peninsular Malaysia. This study designed and tested a structural equation model to investigate how uses of loan, household income, number of gainfully employed members, number of sources of income and total savings affect repayment performance. Findings of this study show a significant model fit and negative linear relationship between repayment problem with uses of loan in income generating activities, household income, number of gainfully employed members, and number of sources of income. AIM should therefore focus on designing and providing appropriate training and development programs to enable the hardcore poor households' ability to use credit in income generating activities, grasp employment generating opportunities as well as find and invest in new income generating activities.
BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, 2011
Background: It is relatively less known whether pre-pregnancy obesity and excess gestational weig... more Background: It is relatively less known whether pre-pregnancy obesity and excess gestational weight gain (GWG) are associated with caesarean delivery, pregnancy complications, preterm birth, birth and placenta weights and increased length of postnatal hospital stay. Methods: We used a population-based cohort of 6632 women who gave birth in Brisbane, Australia, between 1981 and 1983. The independent associations of pre-pregnancy obesity, GWG and institute of medicine (IOM) categories of combined pre-pregnancy BMI and GWG with outcomes were examined using multivariable regression (for continuous outcomes) and multivariable multinomial regression (for categorical outcomes) models. Results: We found women who were obese prior to pregnancy and women who gained excess weight during pregnancy were at greater risk for a pregnancy complications (OR: 2.10; 1.74, 2.54; age adjusted model), caesarean section (OR 1.29; 1.09, 1.54), higher birth weight difference (206.45 gm; 178.82, 234.08) and greater placental weight difference (41.16 gm; 33.83, 48.49) and longer length of hospital stay. We also found that mothers who gained inadequate weight or were underweight before pregnancy were at greater risk of preterm birth (2.27; 1.71, 3.00), lower risk of pregnancy complications (0.58; 0.44, 0.77) and had lower birth (-190.63;-221.05,-160.20) and placental (-37.16;-45.23,-29.09) weights. Results indicate that all associations remain consistent after adjustment for a range of potential confounding factors with the exception of the association between pre-pregnancy obesity and hospital stay. Conclusions: Pre-pregnancy obesity or excessive GWG are associated with greater risk of pregnancy complications, caesarean delivery and greater birth and placenta weight. Excess GWG is associated with a longer stay in hospital after delivery, independent of pre-pregnancy BMI, pregnancy complications and caesarean delivery. In addition to pre-pregnancy obesity, it is vital that clinical practice considers excess GWG as another indicator of adverse pregnancy outcomes.
Archives of General Psychiatry, 2006
Little is known about the contribution of fetal alcohol exposure to the development of alcohol di... more Little is known about the contribution of fetal alcohol exposure to the development of alcohol disorders in early adulthood. Objective: To examine the independent effect of maternal alcohol use during early vs late periods in pregnancy on the time of onset of alcohol disorders in offspring. Design: Follow-up study of the Mater-University of Queensland Study of Pregnancy and Its Outcomes (MUSP), a population-based birth cohort study commenced in Brisbane, Australia, in 1981 and designed to examine the association of maternal alcohol exposure with the onset of alcohol disorders. Mothers and children were followed up at birth, 6 months, and 5, 14, and 21 years after the initial interview. Maternal alcohol use was assessed before pregnancy, in early and late pregnancy, and at the 5-and 14-year follow-up visits. Alcohol disorders in early adulthood were assessed at age 21 years using the lifetime version of the Composite International Diagnostic Interview-computerized version.
American Journal of Epidemiology, 2007
It has been suggested that sleeping problems are causally associated with obesity in early life, ... more It has been suggested that sleeping problems are causally associated with obesity in early life, but most studies examining this association have been cross-sectional. The authors used a population-based birth cohort of 2,494 children who were born between 1981 and 1983 in Brisbane, Australia, to examine the prospective association between early-life sleeping problems (at ages 6 months and 2-4 years) and obesity at age 21 years. The authors compared mean body mass indices (BMIs; weight (kg)/height (m) 2) and persons in the categories of overweight (BMI 25.0-29.9) and obesity (BMI 30) among offspring at age 21 years according to maternally reported childhood sleeping problems. They found that young adult BMI and the prevalence of obesity were greater in offspring who had had sleeping problems at ages 2-4 years than in with those who had not had sleeping problems. These associations were robust to adjustment for a variety of potential confounders, including offspring sex, maternal mental health, and BMI, and several mediators, including adolescent dietary patterns and television-watching. These findings provide some evidence for a long-term impact of childhood sleeping problems on the later development of obesity.
American Journal of Epidemiology, 2006
It is unclear whether there is a fetal origin of adult depression. In particular, previous studie... more It is unclear whether there is a fetal origin of adult depression. In particular, previous studies have been unable to adjust for the potential effect of maternal depression during pregnancy on any association. The association of birth weight with adult symptoms of depression was examined in an Australian prospective birth cohort, the Mater University Study of Pregnancy and its outcomes. Depressive symptoms were assessed with the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale among 3,719 participants at the 21-year follow-up in 2002-2005. In multivariable analyses, there were a weak inverse association between birth weight and symptoms of depression in the whole cohort and some evidence of sex differences in this association. Among females, there was a graded inverse association: In the fully adjusted model, the odds ratio for a high level of depressive symptoms for a 1-standard deviation increase in birth weight (gestational age-standardized z score) was 0.82 (95% confidence interval: 0.73, 0.92). Among males, there was no association (with sex in all models: p interaction < 0.004). Study results provide some support for a fetal origin of adult depression and suggest that the association is not explained by maternal mental health characteristics during pregnancy. Further research is needed to better understand the mechanisms underlying the association.
American Journal of Epidemiology, 2006
The authors used a population-based birth cohort of 3,253 children (52% males) born in Brisbane, ... more The authors used a population-based birth cohort of 3,253 children (52% males) born in Brisbane, Australia, between 1981 and 1984 to prospectively examine whether maternal smoking during pregnancy was associated with offspring overweight and obesity. The authors compared mean body mass indexes (weight (kg)/height (m) 2) and levels of overweight and obesity at age 14 years among offspring by patterns of maternal smoking (never smoked, smoked before and/or after pregnancy but not during pregnancy, or smoked during pregnancy). Adolescent body mass index and prevalences of overweight and obesity were greater in offspring whose mothers had smoked during pregnancy than in those whose mothers had never smoked. Body mass index and levels of overweight and obesity among adolescent offspring whose mothers stopped smoking during pregnancy but smoked at other times in the child's life were similar to those among offspring whose mothers had never smoked. These results were independent of a range of potentially confounding factors and suggest a direct effect of maternal smoking during pregnancy on adolescent overweight and obesity. They provide yet another incentive for pregnant women to be persuaded not to smoke and for young women to be encouraged to never take up smoking.
Asia Pacific Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, 2020
PurposeThis study aims to provide a foundation for the performance-focused micro-entrepreneurship... more PurposeThis study aims to provide a foundation for the performance-focused micro-entrepreneurship development program; hence, this study is designed to investigate the effect of selected entrepreneurial competencies on micro-enterprise income and assets in Malaysia.Design/methodology/approachThis study adopts the cross-sectional design, and the quantitative data was collected from 300 randomly selected micro-entrepreneurs from the list of participants of several micro-enterprise development programs offered in Peninsular Malaysia.FindingsFindings revealed that micro-entrepreneur’s commitment competency and opportunity recognition competency have a significant positive effect on micro-enterprise income, whereas only opportunity recognition competency has a significant positive effect on the net worth of micro-enterprise assets.Originality/valueThis study examined the effect of key elements of entrepreneurial competencies on micro-enterprise income and asset, which provides the founda...
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2021
Previous studies on internet use frequency were focused on mental health impact, with little know... more Previous studies on internet use frequency were focused on mental health impact, with little known about the impact on physical health during the COVID-19 lockdown. This study examined the impact of internet use frequency on self-reported physical health during the COVID-19 lockdown in Bangladesh. A web-based cross-sectional study on 3242 individuals was conducted from 2 August–1 October 2020. The survey covered demographics, internet use frequency and self-reported physical health questions. Linear regression analyses were used to examine the impact of internet use frequency on physical health. 72.5%, 69.9%, 65.1% and 55.3% respondents reported headache, back pain, numbness of the fingers and neck pain, respectively. The analyses showed increased physical health impact among regular (coefficient β = 0.52, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.18–0.85, p = 0.003), frequent (β = 1.21, 95% CI: 0.88–1.54, p < 0.001) and intense (β = 2.24, 95% CI: 1.91–2.57, p < 0.001) internet users. O...
Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 2016
Entrepreneurship is regarded as one of the key economic development strategies to advance a count... more Entrepreneurship is regarded as one of the key economic development strategies to advance a country's economic growth and to sustain its competitiveness in facing the increasing trends of globalization. The Malaysian government has made tremendous efforts in promoting entrepreneurship education across the country. This paper therefore aims to review the programs and policies, together with empirical studies on entrepreneurial education, and its effects on students' entrepreneurial intentions. Finally, the review of the policies and practices in Malaysia shows that the government is mostly focused on the following aspects: improving the current policy on entrepreneurship education, providing various entrepreneurship programs to increase the number of young entrepreneurs, and highlighting the need to empower entrepreneurship education among graduates of HEIs.
Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 2015
The objective of this study is to determine the distribution of social capital across industries ... more The objective of this study is to determine the distribution of social capital across industries and states in Peninsular Malaysia, since social capital is considered one of the key factors that contribute to the performance of micro-enterprises. This study employs the cross-sectional approach and quantitative data were collected through structured interviews from 417 women micro-entrepreneurs in Peninsular Malaysia. It was found that the distribution of social capital is the same across industries except for 'shared meaning and interpretation' and 'cognitive social capital'. However, findings reported a significant difference in items of social capital among the states, except for 'network density'. Policy makers should therefore focus on interactive programs in order to increase the social capital of the states with a low level of social capital as social capital is linked to enterprise performance and economic development.
International Journal of Control, Automation and Systems, 2015
ABSTRACT Mechanical resonant modes of the actuator severely impede the efforts in achieving high ... more ABSTRACT Mechanical resonant modes of the actuator severely impede the efforts in achieving high precision in head positioning servo system of hard disk drives (HDD). Hence it is important that these modes be properly compensated. The conventional approach is to use a notch filter in cascade with the nominal controller, which works well if the resonant frequencies are known and do not vary during operation. However, in reality, frequency and damping ratio of the resonant modes vary in massproduced systems. They also get changed over time due to wear and tear. As a result, auto-tuning or adaptation of the notch filters is required to maintain the performance at the same level. In this paper, a discrete time adaptive controller is presented in a simple and yet efficient way to suppress the effects of resonant modes. Effectiveness of the proposed compensator is demonstrated through simulation and experiments by implementing the compensator for a Voice Coil Motor (VCM) actuator used in HDD.
BMC Public Health, 2015
Background: Although cigarette smoking affects all biological systems of the human body including... more Background: Although cigarette smoking affects all biological systems of the human body including the gastrointestinal tract, there is a lack of evidence regarding its effect on the severity of diarrhoeal disease and whether a dose-response relationship exists. We therefore tested for the presence of specific causative pathogens for infectious diarrhoea, assessed the independent effect of smoking on its severity and tested whether any dose-response relationship existed while controlling for subjects' age, sociodemographic characteristics and presence of causative pathogens in an urban setting in Bangladesh. Methods: A total of 20,757 patients aged 15 years and above with diarrhoea were enrolled into the Diarrhoeal Disease Surveillance System, managed by the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh, from 1993 to 2012. We collected data on individuals' current daily consumption of cigarettes and bidis (traditional hand-rolled cigarettes) and conducted an ordered logistic regression to determine the effect of smoking on diarrhoeal disease severity and whether a dose-response relationship exists. Results: We identified 19 % of patients with diarrhoea as smokers, of whom 52 % smoked 1-9 cigarettes per day. While 97 % of smokers were male, 41 % were aged 15-30 years of age. Smokers were found to have a significantly lower severity of diarrhoeal disease (OR: 0.92, 95 % CI: 0.85-0.99, p = 0.025) after adjusting for age, wealth quintile, illiteracy and the presence of specific causative pathogens (Vibrio cholerae and Shigella). We observed no dose-response relationship between the number of cigarettes smoked per day and disease severity when adjusting for the same covariates. Smokers were more frequently infected with Shigella (7 vs. 6 %, p < 0.001) and less often with Vibrio cholerae (22 vs. 26 %, p < 0.001) than their non-smoking counterparts. Conclusions: The aetiology and severity of diarrhoeal disease differed between smokers and non-smokers in our sample. However, we found no dose-response relationship between disease severity and the number of cigarettes smoked per day.
Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 2014
Independent Component Analysis (ICA) has been widely used for separating artifacts from Electroen... more Independent Component Analysis (ICA) has been widely used for separating artifacts from Electroencephalographic (EEG) signals. Still, a few challenging problems remain. First, in real-time applications, visual inspection of components should be replaced with an automatic identification method or a heuristic for artifacts detection. Second, as we will explain more in the paper, we expect to have a clear order relationship between an electrode and a corresponding component. Third, we need to minimize the EEG information loss during artifact removal while also minimizing the residue of the artifact in the cleaned signal. In this paper, we propose a decomposition of the independent components. This decomposition separates each component into two vectors, one-we call local vector-maintains maximum information from the unique EEG information encoded by an electrode, while the other-we call shared vector-absorbs overlapping artifact information. We present an explicit Pareto-based multi-objective optimization formulation that trade-off similarity between the local vector and the original vector on the one hand, and the uncorrelatedness of all local vectors from all components on the other hand. We demonstrate that the proposed method can automatically isolate artifacts from an EEG signal while preserving maximum EEG information.
2006 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Biomimetics, 2006
The Gyrobot is a gyroscopically stabilized, single-wheeled robot. A fast spinning flywheel mounte... more The Gyrobot is a gyroscopically stabilized, single-wheeled robot. A fast spinning flywheel mounted inside the frame provides lateral stability of the wheel-shaped robot. Steering of the robot is effectuated by tilting the flywheel with the help of a tilt motor, and forward/backward motion is implemented by another motor mounted on the heavy platform. This structure of robot shows excellent dynamic stability and is, therefore, suitable for navigation in unknown, rough terrain. From this point of view, the Gyrobot has definite advantage over other types of wheeled robots. Moreover, the electronic components are placed inside the sealed shell of the wheel giving it an advantage in operations where navigation in wet surfaces is required, for example inspection of sewerage lines or chemical spills. In this paper, we report the design and fabrication of the Gyrobot and present the results of path following navigating algorithm designed for this robot. A linear feedback controller is adopted at this stage to control the tilt and forward/backward motion of the robot.
8th International Conference on Electrical and Computer Engineering, 2014
This paper briefly presents a stability analysis of interconnected systems with mixed passivity a... more This paper briefly presents a stability analysis of interconnected systems with mixed passivity and negative-imaginary properties in discrete-time. These results are analogous to previously established continuous-time case. As discretization of the system or discrete-time design is an important issue for control system design, this paper provides a base for discretization of “mixed” system with passivity and negative imaginary properties. Numerical example and simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed analysis.
Chemosphere, 2015
h i g h l i g h t s Water, hair and nail arsenic showed unique associations with serum VEGF level... more h i g h l i g h t s Water, hair and nail arsenic showed unique associations with serum VEGF levels. Arsenic exposure showed precise nature of dose-response relationship with VEGF levels. All the observed associations were significant after adjusting with relevant covariates. Increased serum VEGF may cause angiogenesis for arsenic-induced cancers and CVD.
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Papers by Abdullah Al Mamun