ANC, the one that got away

Last Wednesday was the last Majlis Anugerah Dekan for me. Finally the thought of my student life is over starts to kick in. I never thought the day would come. 7 long years it has been.

Majlis Anugerah Dekan reminds me of my tale of near miss. Back in Diploma days, I missed my Anugerah Naib Cansellor (ANC) by only 0.01 GPA, back in the 4th semester. ANC are awarded to those who scored 3.5 GPA on ALL SEMESTER throughout your diploma or degree program. Oh it would have been sweet in my resume if I did. That was the only award that we targeted as there were no such things as first class or second class upper for Diploma. Well, it was like a splinter in my flesh because Diploma provides the most realistic chance of getting it.

Degree, as expected was much harder to achieve ANC. In fact, no one has been able to make the cut. I missed out on 2 occasions out of the 8 semester. sigh.

I managed to get cGPA of 3.62 for both Diploma and Degree. And for the overall count, I managed to score above 3.5 GPA on 10 occasions out of 13. Though my dream of having to wear the ANC thingie on my convocation will always be a splinter in my flesh, it will be forgotten when this time around, I could enjoy the moment of having be on the first class honours list! and even sweeter, I can escape my RM28k loan repayment to PTPTN!! woohooooo!! SWEET!

What? Viagra For Females??

Who knew Viagra now can be used by females for sexual dysfunction!

Well to be more specific, female on antidepressant medication. Sexual dysfunction is a common antidepressant adverse effect, occur about 30-70% of major depression patients. This leads to non-compliance problem.

Antidepressant medication needs a long period of time before it could exert its full effect. Imagine this scenario. A major depression patient just started to take the antidepressant medication. At the initial stage (1-2 weeks), she still feeling depressed as the full effect of the medication is delayed. However at the same time, she develops sexual dysfunction such as orgasm delay, decreased libido (sexual drive), difficulty with arousal and anorgasmia (no orgasm) because of that medication that she took. As a result, she feels depress even more. And being a typical patient, she stops or skips in taking the antidepressant because of that sexual dysfunction effect. This will further delay the already long period to achieve the peak effect of antidepressant medication. This will result in much longer time frame to treat her major depression.

But dont worry, theres hope. In recent case reports and small studies, its shows that women taking Sildenafil (Viagra) group appeared to suffer sexual dysfunction less than the placebo group! Well, a further large, randomise control studies need to be done before this indication could be approved. But it will definitely help to bring down the anti-depressant non-compliance problems.

Whatever it is, the idea of the little blue pills for females just tickles me. haha.

The Study Highlight

• Inclusion criteria were ages 18 to 50 years, major depressive disorder in remission, taking SRIs for at least 8 weeks, persistent sexual dysfunction for at least 4 weeks, and regular sexual activity (at least twice a month).
• Exclusion criteria were other sexual disorder, sexual dysfunction before use of SRIs, genital anatomic abnormality, hysterectomy with or without ovariectomy, substance abuse, major relationship change, partner with sexual dysfunction, use of hormonal therapy, and psychiatric and serious medical disorders.
• Major depressive disorder in remission and sexual dysfunction (impaired desire, arousal, and orgasm and sexual pain) were diagnosed according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, criteria.
• Women were recruited via outpatient and media advertising.
• Women received a physical examination including the Papanicolaou test and blood tests at baseline.
• The primary outcome was difference in score for the Clinical Global Impression scale adapted for sexual function.
• Secondary outcomes were differences in scores for the Sexual Function Questionnaire, the Arizona Sexual Experience scale-female version, and the University of New Mexico Sexual Function Inventory-female version.
• The 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating scale was administered at baseline and at weeks 2, 4, and 8 to monitor depression.
• Patient-recorded event logs were reviewed for frequency and percentage of successful intercourse attempts and number of satisfactory attempts at orgasm.
• 98 women met inclusion criteria and were randomly assigned to sildenafil (n = 49) or placebo (n = 49).
• Women were instructed to take 1 to 2 tablets 1 to 2 hours before anticipated intercourse (not more than once daily).
• Mean age was 36.7 years, and they had been taking antidepressants for a mean of 27.7 months.
• 83% to 93% of women had a partner, fewer than 20% smoked, more than 80% drank alcohol, and 78% to 90% were premenopausal.
• 77.6% completed the study (75.5% in the placebo group and 79.6% in the sildenafil group).
• The prevalence of sexual problems was high at baseline: mean number of problems was 3.0 for the sildenafil group and 2.8 for the placebo group, and 95.8% of women complained of more than 1 problem.
• The difference from baseline to endpoint in the mean change in Clinical Global Impression scale improvement in sexual function was 0.8 (P = .001), with a difference of 1.91 for the sildenafil group vs 1.10 for the placebo group.
• Women in the sildenafil group had a higher mean improvement in sexual function vs women on placebo for all domains except pain on the Sexual Function Questionnaire.
• In the Arizona and University of New Mexico questionnaires, the ability to reach orgasm and experience orgasm satisfaction was significantly better for those in the sildenafil group.
• The mean differences from baseline between the 2 groups were 0.5 (P = .01) for the Arizona questionnaire and 0.7 (P = .01) for the New Mexico questionnaire.
• At baseline, the 2 groups had similar Hamilton depression scores.
• Scores remained similar at the end of the study.
• No recurrence or relapse of major depression occurred in any of the women.
• Women whose sexual function improved had a higher mean baseline level of testosterone.
  The most common adverse event was headache reported by 43% in the sildenafil group and 27% in the placebo group (P = .09), followed by flushing (24% vs 0%; P < .001), dyspepsia (12% vs 0%; P = .01), nasal congestion (37% vs 6%; P < .001), and transient visual disturbance (14% vs 2%; P = .03).
• No serious adverse effects were reported.

Source: Medscape Pharmacist

Aston Martin Vanquish

Ok lets cuci mata~

Road Trip

Ok thats quite enough D.I.Y post for the moment. Im running out of ideas anyway on my next D.I.Y project.

Im running out of time actually to complete my Malaysian Road Trip before my Hospital posting. The UIA guys has recieved their offer letter and will be reporting in on 1st of August. It means that ours is not too far away.

So far, Ive already covered Melaka, Negeri Sembilan, Johor and Pahang. InsyAllah in 11 days time, i will cover Perak and Kelantan as well. Im trying to squeeze in Terengganu and Kedah in between, but it doesnt look that good at the moment: no buddy to go with and of course money is a big factor as well. (being a penganggur for 3 months has finally taken its toll)

Oh well, theres always next time.

[D.I.Y] Soundproofing Your Ride

Have you ever wish your car cabin room is as quiet as those luxurious car? Well, in this D.I.Y, though it wont be as quiet as you desire, but it is able to tone down the decibles.

What do u need?

1. 4x 50x50cm soundproofing materials

2. 1x ready made/cut soundproofing material

3. some of ur time & patients

First, get yourself soundproofing materials. Theres many types, but I chose this one. Got mine at Brothers, KJ for RM12.50 for each.

Next, you need to cut them accordingly because there is a safety bar inside your inner panel that prevent u from sticking the whole piece. The dimension is mentioned in the following pictures. [read: this is only true for Proton Satria model. Other cars, you need to inspect for yourself and determine the dimension]

Then, you need to open your door panel.

Next, peel the adhesive part to reveal the sticky part

then stick it according to the 3rd picture and walla, you are done with the panels.

Next part, soundproofing ur engine bay. U need a ready made/cut soundproofing material. Bought mine for RM38 at Brothers. If u want to save even more, u can buy another 2 50x50cm materials instead and cut it yourself. You need to trace it first to make a template. This is too time consuming and hassle for me and not worth my RM13.

Next is to figure out which match with which section. Its like playing jigsaw puzzle! When u have idenfify them, peel the adhesive and stick it! its really FUN!

and WALLA, you are done! Your car will feel more comfortable to your ears and feel more luxurious. Just dont expect a total silence as sound will still enter the car via other body part and windows, and also do remember, those luxurious car uses very expensive tyres, which is very quiet as compared to our normal cheap tyres. (like my Silverstone tyres, its the cheapest around, but the loudest too)

[D.I.Y] Door Visor Spray

What do you need?
1. Sand paper grade 1000-2000
2. Spray cans - color of choice + Clear coat
3. Some of your time

I believe there are quite a number of people out there experiencing the same problem with their door visor as me - ugly purpulish discoloration. This is common aging process for low quality door visor. Unfortunately for me, the discoloration happens only to one side.

If it discolored evenly, I wont be bothersome so much. But this is just an eyesore! It must be rectify!! Buy a new set? Hell no, this one alone had cost me RM 88. So a quick, simple, yet brilliant solution? D.I.Y spray paint!!
Ok just like any other paintwork, the first step is sanding. In previous D.I.Y post, sanding is to smoothen up the uneven surface thus a coarser sand paper grade was use. In this D.I.Y however, the plastic surface is soo smooth that the paint won't stick if we spray directly. So the sanding purpose is to make the surface slightly rough for the paint to cling on to. For that purpose, you only need a fine grade of sand paper, like grade 1000-2000.

If you are allergic to dust or asthma, you can do wet sanding procedure. This will eliminate the dusting problem. Just open the tap water, let the water flow through the visor while you sand it.

After sanding, wash or rinse the visor to remove all the remaining loose dust and particle. Then let it dry. After that, apply a thin layer of undercoat. I choose silver because it was readily available at my house. [read: cilok Mak punyer]

After the undercoat layer is well dried, apply your color of choice. Again, Ive chosen flat black. As explained in previous D.I.Y post, apply multiple thin layer of paint with 10-15 minutes of interval for drying.

Then lastly, apply clear coat to make it shiny!
and walla!! there you go. A brand new visor! :)

Anniversary

3 and half years and counting!

:)