Recently Published Articles
Increase Writing Performance using A Shaping Procedure with a Patient with Sequelae Caused by Cardiovascular Accident
Abstract:
Behavioral procedures have proven to be effective with elderly adults in nursing home. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a shaping procedure as a means of increasing writing performance. More specifically, our aim was to reeducate a motor behavior in a patient for whom the behavior was no longer present. The participant was an elderly (76-year-old) who had sequelae from a cardiovascular accident since 2011, and was asked to write some selected words. Data were collected though face-to-face interviews then analyzed using cotation methods. The shaping and chaining procedures were efficient and performance of writing increased, even for infre...
Reversal of Obesity: The Quest for the Optimum Dietary Regimen
Abstract:
A new approach to weight loss and weight loss maintenance is urgently needed, with the global epidemic of obesity leading to ever higher levels of chronic disease. This new approach should be cheap and simple, it should maintain essential nutrients and not deplete lean mass, should have minimal adverse effects and be carried out safely at home without support from the healthcare profession. This review looked at the forms of caloric restriction (CR) investigated in randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and found that supervised continuous and intermittent CR was more effective than other forms of weight loss over periods from 12 weeks to 2 years and could improve cardiovascular and diabetes risk factors. CR was equally as effective as bariatric surgery, suggesting that it is the post-surgery caloric restriction that has the impact on weight, rather than the surgery itself. Intermittent CR, including alternate day fasting (ADF), was as effective as continuous CR but ...
Optimization of drying temperature and time in gesho “Rhamuns Prinoide” leaf powder processing as hop substitute in commercial beer brewing industries
Abstract:
Beer is typically brewed from four basic ingredients (water, a starch source, brewer’s yeast and flavoring agent such as hops). In Ethiopian case hops are coasty ingredient of beer which is imported with hard currency of the country. But this flavoring agent (hops) in beer production can also be substituted by locally available flavouring agent called gesho “Rhamuns Prinoide” leaf. In this study the effect of drying temperature and time on brewing components of gesho “Rhamuns Prinoide” leaf was examined using oven dryer. Brewing components of gesho “Rhamuns Prinoide” leaf were compared by taking the commercial hop brewing component as a standard. Drying temperature and time have a significant effect (P< 0.05) on major beer brewing components (Resin, Hop oil, Polyphenol, Mineral and Protein) of gesho leaf. Not only drying temperature and time but also the interaction effect has significant effect on these major brewing components of the leaf. The o...
High Performance Liquid Chromatographic-UV Method for Determination of Atorvastatin Calcium in Pharmaceutical Formulations
Abstract:
The effectiveness of atorvastatin calcium in lowering cholesterol is dose-related. It is available in 10, 20, 40, and 80 mg film coated tablets. In order to ensure quality, safety and efficacy of tablets in formulations, the objective of this presented work was to develop a new high performance liquid chromatographic-UV method for quantitation of active atorvastatin calcium in pharmaceutical formulations. The method was based on reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatographic-UV separation of atorvastatin at detection wavelength of 246 nm using Acclaim 120 C18 reversed phase LC column (5 mm, 250×4.6 mm) with mobile phase of acetonitrile-dichloromethane-acetic acid (68.6: 30.6: 0.8 v/v/v) at a flow rate of 1.0 mL min-1 at 25°C. Different variables affecting chromatographic separation were carefully studied and optimized. The study results provided chromatogram of atorvastatin with retention time of 2.68 min. The calibration curve was linear over...
Macular Ganglion Cell Layer Thickness in Patients Using Oral Isotretinoin
Abstract:
Determining the effects on macular ganglion cell layer thickness in patients using isotretinoin by utilization of optical coherence tomography. Sixty eyes of 30 patients using isotretinoin and 60 eyes of 30 control group patients in the same age range were included in this study. The average age of the patients using isotretinoin was; 21.2 ± 3.62 years, whereas the average age of the patients in the control group was 22.7 ± 3.7 years. The thickness of the macular ganglion cell layer (GCL), the retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) and subfoveal macular thickness of all patients were measured with optical coherence tomography (OCT). The macular ganglion cell layer thickness in the OCT of ...
Liver Stiffness by ARFI does not Correlate with Decompensation and Portal Hypertension in Patients with Cirrhosis
Abstract:
Establishing the degree of fibrosis is important in determining the prognosis of patients with chronic liver disease. Acoustic Radiation Force Impulse Imaging (ARFI) has been validated as a reliable method to estimate liver fibrosis. It remains unclear if ARFI readings may be a useful way to stage patients with established cirrhosis and predict the development of complications. The aim of this study was to determine if ARFI liver stiffness measurements correlate with the severity of liver disease in patients with cirrhosis, and predict the development of complications and decompensation. All patients attending our institution who had a prior clinical diagnosis of cirrhosis and an ARFI liver stiffness measurement (LSM) over 26 months were included. Area under the receiver operating c...
Serum Vitamin D Level in Oral Lichen Planus Patients of North India- A Case-Control Study.
Abstract:
Studies have unveiled lower levels of serum vitamin D in autoimmune diseases and the role of vitamin D in inhibition of helper T cells proliferation, stimulation of regulatory T cells, diminishing of B-lymphocyte differentiation and inhibition of immunoglobulin secretion has been discussed in the literature. Oral lichen planus (OLP) is an autoimmune mucocutaneous disorder in which cell mediated immunity plays an important part and so it may also be related to serum vitamin D levels. To estimate serum vitamin D in oral lichen planus patients of North India, compare it to the controls and to evaluate various factors influencing vitamin D level in OLP cases such as sun exposure, gender, psychosocial factors, meteorological influences, religion and diet.
Single Daily Activity or Exercise Capacity Measurements Did not Predict Future Changes in Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Congenital Heart Disease
Abstract:
Studies suggest that cardiovascular risk of patients with congenital heart disease (CHD) is increased. This study aims on the predictive value of a single daily activity and exercise capacity assessments on the change of body-mass-index (BMI) and blood pressure in the future. We retrospectively analyzed all patients with CHD who underwent a daily activity assessment by triaxial accelerometry and accompanied cardiopulmonary exercise testing. From 276 patients 16 years or older (120 female, 28.6 ± 8.5 years) current BMI and blood pressure could be abstracted from their last outpatient visit. After a mean follow-up of 5.5 ± 1.5 years, the BMI of the patients has increased from 23.0 ±...
Hearing Loss Induced for Pesticides in a Rural Worker: A Case Report
Abstract:
The use of pesticides by agricultural workers without protection can damage the hearing. This report describes the characteristics of work with pesticides, and compares the results of high-frequency audiometry over 36 months.
Frailty and the Immune System
Abstract:
Frailty describes a medical syndrome that confers increased vulnerability to disproportionate changes in health status following minor stressors. With loss of homeostatic reserve in multiple physiological systems, frailty conveys an increased risk of adverse health outcomes. Despite the lack of a clear universal definition, the utilisation of two landmark operational models has allowed a rapid expansion in frailty-centred research. The pathophysiology of frailty is yet to be elucidated in the literature, but a critical role for a heightened inflammatory state is hypothesised. Raised levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines are associated with frailty, with emerging evidence relating their biochemical action with development of the frailty phenotype. Dysregulation of both the innate and adaptive immune system are key components of the frailty syndrome. Remodelling of the T cell compartment and upregulated inflammatory pathways are theoris...