Societal Dimension of Conflicts in Central Asia: The Case of Kyrgyzstan

( Bustam Burnashev ),( Irina Chernykh ) 한국민족연구원 2011 민족연구 Vol.0 No.46

The article written on the Copenhagen School methodology is devoted to analysis structural foundations of societal conflicts in Central Asian countries. The societal dimension of any conflict appear when a large identity group or its particular members determine something as a threat to their survival as a community and start to act in proper way. Main nodal points of societal conflicts in the region are identifications connected with understanding what are the state, the nation, and the government. The article argues that the nation is considered through the prism of the titular nation [ethnos] concept and government stands as transcendent actor [subject] relative to the state and nation. The events in the southern Kyrgyzstan [Osh and Jalal-Abad oblasts] happened in June 2010 is used as a most illustrative case of societal conflicts in Central Asia. There was indicated the conflict based on contraposition of the titular nation [the Kyrgyz] and marginalized non-titular ethnic groups [the Uzbeks in this case] who are positioned as ``the Others`` posing unquestionable threat to Kyrgyz statehood due to either their separatist sentiment or aspiration to become included into Kyrgyz government structures.

Risk of Treatment Related Death and Febrile Neutropaenia with Taxane-Based Adjuvant Chemotherapy for Breast Cancer in a Middle Income Country Outside a Clinical Trial Setting

Phua, Chee Ee,Bustam, Anita Zarina,Yusof, Mastura Md.,Saad, Marniza,Yip, Cheng-Har,Taib, Nor Aishah,Ng, Char Hong,Teh, Yew Ching Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2012 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.13 No.9

Background: The risk of treatment-related death (TRD) and febrile neutropaenia (FN) with adjuvant taxane-based chemotherapy for early breast cancer is unknown in Malaysia despite its widespread usage in recent years. This study aims to determine these rates in patients treated in University Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC). Patients and Methods: Patients who were treated with adjuvant taxane-based chemotherapy for early breast cancer stages I, II or III from 2007-2011 in UMMC were identified from our UMMC Breast Cancer Registry. The TRD and FN rates were then determined retrospectively from medical records. TRD was defined as death occurring during or within 30 days of completing chemotherapy as a consequence of the chemotherapy treatment. FN was defined as an oral temperature > $38.5^{\circ}C$ or two consecutive readings of > $38.0^{\circ}C$ for 2 hours and an absolute neutrophil count < $0.5{\times}10^9/L$, or expected to fall below $0.5{\times}10^9/L$. Results: A total of 622 patients received adjuvant chemotherapy during this period. Of these patients 209 (33.6%) received taxane-based chemotherapy. 4 taxane-based regimens were used namely the FEC-D, TC, TAC and AC-PCX regimens. The commonest regimen employed was the FEC-D regimen accounting for 79.9% of the patients. The FN rate was 10% and there was no TRD. Conclusion: Adjuvant taxane-based chemotherapy in UMMC for early breast cancer has a FN rate of 10%. Primary prophylactic G-CSF should be considered for patients with any additional risk factor for FN.

Symptom Experiences and Coping Strategies among Multi-ethnic Solid Tumor Patients Undergoing Chemotherapy in Malaysia

Yahaya, Nor Aziyan,Subramanian, Pathmawathi,Bustam, Anita Zarina,Taib, Nur Aishah Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2015 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.16 No.2

Background: This study was performed to assess patient symptoms prevalence, frequency and severity, as well as distress and coping strategies used, and to identify the relationships between coping strategies and psychological and physical symptoms distress and demographic data of cancer patients. This cross-sectional descriptive study involved a total of 268 cancer patients with various types of cancer and chemotherapy identified in the oncology unit of an urban tertiary hospital. Materials and Methods: Data were collected using questionnaires (demographic questionnaire, Medical characteristics, Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale (MSAS) and Brief COPE scales and analyzed for demographic, and disease-related variable effects on symptom prevalence, severity, distress and coping strategies. Results: Symptom prevalence was relatively high and ranged from 14.9% for swelling of arms and legs to 88.1% for lack of energy. This latter was the highest rated symptom in the study. The level of distress was found to be low in three domains. Problem-focused coping strategies were found to be more commonly employed compared to emotion-focused strategies, demonstrating significant associations with sex, age group, educational levels and race. However, there was a positive correlation between emotion-focused strategies and physical and psychological distress, indicating that patients would choose emotion-focused strategies when symptom distress increased. Conclusions: These findings demonstrate that high symptom prevalence rates and coping strategies used render an improvement in current nursing management. Therefore development of symptoms management groups, encouraging the use of self-care diaries and enhancing the quality of psychooncology services provided are to be recommended.

Investigations of novel nitrile-based ionic liquids as pre-treatment solvent for extraction of lignin from bamboo biomass

Nawshad Muhammad,Zakaria Man,M. Azmi Bustam,M.I. Abdul Mutalib,Sikander Rafiq 한국공업화학회 2013 Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Vol.19 No.1

In this work, nitrile-based ionic liquids (ILs) i.e., 1-propyronitrile-3-butylimidazolium chloride [C2CNBim]Cl, 1-propyronitrile-3-allylimidazolium chloride [C2CNAim]Cl, 1-propyronitrile-3-(2-hydroxyethyl)imidazolium chloride [C2CN HEim]Cl and 1-propyronitrile-3-benzyllimidazolium chloride [C2CN Bzim]Cl were used as pre-treatment solvent for the extraction of lignin from bamboo biomass. The pre-treatment process was investigated with respect to several factors such as the types of ionic liquid cation used, the effect of pretreatment temperature and time, sample loading and particle size, the effect of recycling the ionic liquid on lignin extraction and the effect of multi-extraction to enhance the recovery of lignin which were collectively found to have an impact on the lignin extraction as a whole. The crystallinity of the cellulose-rich material obtained from the extraction was analyzed using XRD while the extracted lignin was characterized using FTIR, NMR, TGA and elemental analysis. From the XRD analysis, the crystallinity of the cellulose-rich material obtained after treatment with the synthesized nitrile-based ILs was found to remain the same. Among the nitrile-based ILs used, [C2CN Bzim]Cl demonstrate the best performance for the extraction process in a predetermined condition (T = 120 8C,t = 24 h) where 53% of the lignin from the bamboo was successfully extracted. This was confirmed from the FTIR and NMR analysis showing the characteristic peaks indicating the presence of lignin in the spectra of the respective samples tested.

Reliability and Validity of the Malay Version of the Breast-Impact of Treatment Scale (MVBITS) in Breast Cancer Women undergoing Chemotherapy

Zainal, Nor Zuraida,Shuib, Norley,Bustam, Anita Zarina,Sabki, Zuraida Ahmad,Guan, Ng Chong Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2013 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.14 No.1

Background: Body image dissatisfaction among breast cancer survivors has been associated with psychological stress resultant from breast cancer and resultant surgery. This study aimed to examine the psychometric properties of the Malay Version of the Breast-Impact of Treatment Scale (MVBITS) and to investigate the associations of retained factors with the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES). Materials and Methods: The MVBITS was 'forward-backward' translated from English to Malay and then administered to 70 female breast cancer patients who came to the Oncology Clinic of University Malaya Medical Centre, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to undergo chemotherapy. Principal component analysis (PCA) with varimax rotation was performed to explore the factor structure of the MVBITS. Associations of retained factors were estimated with reference to Spearman correlation coefficients. Results: The internal consistency reliability of MVBITS was good (Cronbach's alpha 0.945) and showed temporal stability over a 3-week period. Principal component analysis suggested two factors termed as 'Intrusion' and 'Avoidance' domains. These factors explained 70.3% of the variance. Factor 1 comprised the effects of breast cancer treatment on the emotion and thought, while Factor 2 informed attempts to limit exposure of the body to self or others. The Factor 1 of MVBITS was positively correlated with total, depression and anxiety sub-scores of HADS. Factor 2 was positively correlated with total and anxiety sub-scores of HADS. MVBITS was also positively correlated with the RSES scores. Conclusions: The results showed that the Malay Version of Breast-Impact of Treatment Scale possesses satisfactory psychometric properties suggesting that this instrument is appropriate for assessment of body change stress among female breast cancer patients in Malaysia.

Capecitabine Pattern of Usage, Rate of Febrile Neutropaenia and Treatment Related Death in Asian Cancer Patients in Clinical Practice

Phua, Vincent Chee Ee,Wong, Wei Quan,Tan, Pei Lin,Bustam, Anita Zarina,Saad, Marniza,Alip, Adlinda,Ishak, Wan Zamaniah Wan Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2015 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.16 No.4

Background: Oral capecitabine is increasingly replacing intravenous 5-fluorouracil in many chemotherapy regimens. However, data on the risk of febrile neutropaenia (FN) and treatment related death (TRD) with the drug remain sparse outside of clinical trial settings despite its widespread usage. This study aimed to determine these rates in a large cohort of patients treated in the University of Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC). Materials and Methods: We reviewed the clinical notes of all patients prescribed with oral capecitabine chemotherapy for any tumour sites in University Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC) from $1^{st}$ January 2009 till $31^{st}$ June 2010. Information collected included patient demographics, histopathological features, treatment received including the different chemotherapy regimens and intent of treatment whether the chemotherapy was given for neoadjuvant, concurrent with radiation, adjuvant or palliative intent. The aim of this study is to establish the pattern of usage, FN and TRD rates with capecitabine in clinical practice outside of clinical trial setting. FN is defined as an oral temperature > $38.5^{\circ}C$ or two consecutive readings of > $38.0^{\circ}C$ for 2 hours and an absolute neutrophil count < $0.5{\times}10^9/L$, or expected to fall below $0.5{\times}10^9/L$ (de Naurois et al., 2010). Treatment related death was defined as death occurring during or within 30 days of last chemotherapy treatment. Results: Between $1^{st}$ January 2009 and $30^{th}$ June 2010, 274 patients were treated with capecitabine chemotherapy in UMMC. The mean age was 58 years (range 22 to 82 years). Capecitabine was used in 14 different tumour sites with the colorectal site predominating with a total of 128 cases (46.7%), followed by breast cancer (35.8%). Capecitabine was most commonly used in the palliative setting accounting for 63.9% of the cases, followed by the adjuvant setting (19.7%). The most common regimen was single agent capecitabine with 129 cases (47.1%). The other common regimens were XELOX (21.5%) and ECX (10.2%). The main result of this study showed an overall FN rate of 2.2% (6/274). The overall TRD rate was 5.1% (14/274). The FN rate for the single agent capecitabine regimen was 1.6% (2/129) and the TRD rate was 5.4% (7/129). All the TRDs were with single agent capecitabine regimen were used for palliative intent. Conclusions: Oral capecitabine is used widely in clinical practice in a myriad of tumour sites and bears a low risk of febrile neutropaenia. However, capecitabine like any other intravenous chemotherapeutic agent carries a significant risk of treatment related death.

Factors affecting CO2 absorption efficiency in packed column: A review

L.S. Tan,K.K. Lau,M.A. Bustam,A.M. Shariff 한국공업화학회 2012 Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Vol.18 No.6

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is a major greenhouse gas that results in the climate change. Hence, efforts are in place to control CO2 emissions into the atmosphere. CO2 removal is also an essential step in many industrial processing operations such as coal gasification, natural gas processing and hydrogen manufacturing. Thus far, absorption is the widely used process in industrial for capturing CO2. This paper presents a review on the factors affecting the absorption efficiency for CO2 capture in packed column. Challenges related to the absorption efficiency improvement and the impacts to real application as well as future directions are highlighted.

Synthesis, characterization, and CO2 separation performance of polyether sulfone/[EMIM][Tf2N] ionic liquid-polymeric membranes (ILPMs)

H.A. Mannan,D.F. Mohshim,H. Mukhtar,T. Murugesan,Z. Man,M.A. Bustam 한국공업화학회 2017 Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Vol.54 No.-

The objective of this research is to combine the superior features of polyethersulfone (PES) polymer and higher affinity of 1-ethyl-3-methyl imidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide ([emim][Tf2N]) ionic liquid for CO2 gas, in ionic liquid-polymeric membranes (ILPMs) at higher ionic liquid concentrations. The ionic liquid embedded membranes were characterized and tested for pure carbon dioxide and methane gases at 25 C temperature and at a relatively higher pressure range of 5–25 bar. The morphology of the membranes was dense and defect free as deduced from FESEM analysis. The gas permeation studies confirmed that increasing IL content in ILPMs resulted in the enhancement of both CO2 permeability and CO2/CH4 selectivity simultaneously, due to high affinity of CO2 in IL. This was observed when the permeation of carbon dioxide increased significantly from 2.42 barrer for neat PES membrane to 298.84 barrer (124-fold increment) for ILPM containing 50 wt. % IL, at 25 C and 25 bar. The resultant selectivity was improved from 15.91 to 57.53, which accounted for 3.6-fold increase in the ideal selectivity. The synthesized membranes are promising materials for industrial gas separation membranes for CO2 removal from CH4 gas at higher pressures and higher IL contents.