Effects of Cataranthus roseus on Electrolyte Derangement Induced by Chlorpropamide (Diabinese)R on Normoglycemic Albino Wistar Rat

This study was designed to evaluate the efficacy (or otherwise) of Cataranthus roseus extract in ameliorating electrolyte imbalance following treatment with anti-diabetic drug chlorpropamide (Diabinese)R. A total of 32 rats of mixed sexes were randomly assigned into 4 treatment groups of 8 rats each. Group A (control) received placebo (0.14ml of 30% ethanol)/ kg body weight of rat. Group B received Diabinese in a dose of 1.6mg/kg body weight of rat while group C received 400mg /kg body weight of Cataranthus roseus (C. roseus) extract. Group D received Diabinese in a dose of 1.6mg/kg body weight plus 400mg/kg body weight C. roseus extract. The above dosages were administered twice daily via orogastric intubation in a 12 hour cycle. The administration was terminated at the end of 14 days, animal sacrificed, serum collected and electrolyte (Na+, K+ and CL-) profile assayed. The result obtained showed no-significant (P>0.05) decrease in serum concentration of chloride ion in Group B-D relative to control. There is however, a significant (

Evaluation of electrolyte imbalance among tuberculosis patients receiving treatments in Southwestern Nigeria

Background: Electrolyte disturbances have been reported in both tuberculosis (TB) infection alone and TB-HIV co-infected patients.Objectives: To evaluate the effects of treatments on the imbalance of some electrolytes among patients infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis in Osogbo Southwestern Nigeria.Methodology: A total of one hundred and ten patients participated in this study. They were divided into four groups as follows: group 1 contains 50 normal patients without TB or HIV infection (M = 25; F = 25), group 2 20 new positive cases of TB patients without HIV infection (M = 13; F =07), group 3 20 new positive cases of tuberculosis co-infected with HIV infection (M = 10; F = 10), and group 4 20 positive cases of TB patients on anti tuberculous drugs (M = 11; F =09). All patients were screened for the  presence and absence of TB, HIV and the level of some electrolytes in plasma (sodium, potassium, chloride and bicarbonates) were determined using standard methods.Results: Levels of sodium in TB patients on drugs (TBD) were significantly lowered compared to new case tuberculosis (NCT) patients (134.80 ± 5.83 mmol/L vs 142.10± 6.68 mmol/L) while potassium levels were significantly elevated in TB patients on drugs compared with their new case counterparts (3.75 ± 0.15 mmol/L vs 3.07 ± 0.42 mmol/L) P < 0.05 respectively. Chloride levels were significantly decreased in TB patients on treatment compared to new case tuberculosis NCT (99.26± 6.85 mmol/L vs 108.76± 8.42 mmol/L) while serum bicarbonate levels were significantly elevated in TB patients on drug (TBD) compared to their NCT counterparts (24.00± 1.81 mmol/L vs 21.00± 2.05 mmol/L, P< 0.05, respectively).Conclusion: Hyponatraemia, hyperkalaemia, and hypochloremia characterized some of the electrolyte imbalance among TB patients receiving treatments. The raised level of bicarbonate may be attributed to overcorrection of respiratory acidosis often found in patients with tuberculosis. Monitoring electrolytes is therefore an important component of TB management

Curriculum Infusion Through Case Studies: Engaging Undergraduate Students In Course Subject Material and Influencing Behavior Change

This study investigated infusing health promotion topics into an engineering course via problem-based case studies and lecture to assess student learning and self-reported behavior. Junior-level systems engineering students in two sections participated: one section with 52 students and one with 36. One section received a celebratory drinking case; one received distracted driving case and a lecture about hazardous drinking. Student ability ratings related to the course subject matter generally improved with both cases. The lecture appeared to enhance health promotion knowledge. Students self-reported behavior change with both cases. Case studies as a form of curriculum infusion for health promotion topics show promise. The use of case studies overall was well-received by students and coupled with lecture material can increase student health promotion knowledge and behavior change

Herbert Alexander Simon: 15th June, 1916–9th February, 2001 A Life

We present a concise summary of the personal and professional life of Herbert Alexander Simon

Intermittent Moderate Energy Restriction Improves Weight Loss Efficiency in Diet-Induced Obese Mice

BACKGROUND:Intermittent severe energy restriction is popular for weight management. To investigate whether intermittent moderate energy restriction may improve this approach by enhancing weight loss efficiency, we conducted a study in mice, where energy intake can be controlled. METHODS:Male C57/Bl6 mice that had been rendered obese by an ad libitum diet high in fat and sugar for 22 weeks were then fed one of two energy-restricted normal chow diets for a 12-week weight loss phase. The continuous diet (CD) provided 82% of the energy intake of age-matched ad libitum chow-fed controls. The intermittent diet (ID) provided cycles of 82% of control intake for 5-6 consecutive days, and ad libitum intake for 1-3 days. Weight loss efficiency during this phase was calculated as (total weight change) ÷ [(total energy intake of mice on CD or ID)-(total average energy intake of controls)]. Subsets of mice then underwent a 3-week weight regain phase involving ad libitum re-feeding. RESULTS:Mice on the ID showed transient hyperphagia relative to controls during each 1-3-day ad libitum feeding period, and overall ate significantly more than CD mice (91.1±1.0 versus 82.2±0.5% of control intake respectively, n = 10, P<0.05). There were no significant differences between CD and ID groups at the end of the weight loss or weight regain phases with respect to body weight, fat mass, circulating glucose or insulin concentrations, or the insulin resistance index. Weight loss efficiency was significantly greater with ID than with CD (0.042±0.007 versus 0.018±0.001 g/kJ, n = 10, P<0.01). Mice on the CD exhibited significantly greater hypothalamic mRNA expression of proopiomelanocortin (POMC) relative to ID and control mice, with no differences in neuropeptide Y or agouti-related peptide mRNA expression between energy-restricted groups. CONCLUSION:Intermittent moderate energy restriction may offer an advantage over continuous moderate energy restriction, because it induces significantly greater weight loss relative to energy deficit in mice

Higher serum levels of periostin and the risk of exacerbations in moderate asthmatics

BACKGROUND: In asthma, exacerbations and poor disease control are linked to airway allergic inflammation. Serum periostin has been proposed as a systemic biomarker of eosinophilic inflammation. This pilot study aims at evaluating whether in patients with moderate asthma, higher baseline levels of serum periostin are associated with a greater risk of exacerbation. METHODS: Fifteen outpatients with moderate allergic asthma were recruited. Serum concentrations of periostin were assessed (ELISA) at baseline, and the frequency of asthma exacerbations was recorded during a one-year follow-up. RESULTS: Patients (M/F: 10/5, mean age of 47.6\u2009\ub1\u200911.0 years) had mean ACQ score of 5.5\u2009\ub1\u20094.2 and FEV1%pred of 81.9\u2009\ub1\u200921.7 %. Baseline serum levels of periostin did not correlate with lung function parameters, nor with the ACQ score (p 650.05 for all analyses). Five subjects (33 % of the study group) reported one or more exacerbations during the following year. Baseline serum levels of periostin were significantly higher in subjects who experienced one or more exacerbations during the one year period of follow-up, compared with subjects with no exacerbations: median serum periostin level was 4047 ng/ml (range: 2231 to 4889 ng/ml) and 222 ng/ml (range 28.2 to 1631 ng/ml) respectively; p\u2009=\u20090.001. CONCLUSION: The findings of the present pilot study could form the basis for the design of larger studies aiming at developing strategies to identify asthmatic patients at risk for exacerbations

Short-Term Memory Maintenance of Object Locations during Active Navigation: Which Working Memory Subsystem Is Essential?

The goal of the present study was to examine the extent to which working memory supports the maintenance of object locations during active spatial navigation. Participants were required to navigate a virtual environment and to encode the location of a target object. In the subsequent maintenance period they performed one of three secondary tasks that were designed to selectively load visual, verbal or spatial working memory subsystems. Thereafter participants re-entered the environment and navigated back to the remembered location of the target. We found that while navigation performance in participants with high navigational ability was impaired only by the spatial secondary task, navigation performance in participants with poor navigational ability was impaired equally by spatial and verbal secondary tasks. The visual secondary task had no effect on navigation performance. Our results extend current knowledge by showing that the differential engagement of working memory subsystems is determined by navigational ability

Design, synthesis, molecular modelling and in vitro screening of monoamine oxidase inhibitory activities of novel quinazolyl hydrazine derivatives

Funding: Deanship of Scientific Research at Taibah University, Al-Madinah Al-Munawarah, Saudi Arabia (project # 7101).A new series of N'-substituted benzylidene-2-(4-oxo-2-phenyl-1,4-dihydroquinazolin-3(2H)-yl)acetohydrazide (5a-5h) has been synthesized, characterized by FT-IR, NMR spectroscopy and mass spectrometry and tested against human monoamine oxidase (MAO) A and B. Only (3-methoxy-4-hydroxy)benzoyl substituted compounds gave submicromolar inhibition of MAO-A and MAO-B. Changing the phenyl substituent to methyl on the unsaturated quinazoline ring (12a-12d) decreased inhibition but a less flexible linker (14a-14d) resulted in selective micromolar inhibition of hMAO B providing insight for ongoing design.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

The momentum analyticity of two-point correlators from perturbation theory and AdS/CFT

The momentum plane analyticity of two point function of a relativistic thermal field theory at zero chemical potential is explored. A general principle regarding the location of the singularities is extracted. In the case of the N=4 supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory at large $N_c$, a qualitative change in the nature of the singularity (branch points versus simple poles) from the weak coupling regime to the strong coupling regime is observed with the aid of the AdS/CFT correspondence.Comment: 18 pages, 3 figures, typos fixed, 1 figure update

MicroRNA-101 expression is associated with JAK2V617F activity and regulates JAK2/STAT5 signaling.

Philadelphia negative myeloproliferative neopl 28 asms (MPNs) are clonal haematological diseases characterized by excessive production of mature blood cells. Exome sequencing of patient samples have showed a relatively low degree genomic complexity for these diseases1. The majority of MPN patients carry somatic mutations in the JAK2 gene, with the JAK2V617F missense mutation being the most common in poly33 cythemia vera (PV, 95%) and essential thrombocythemia (ET, 60%) 2.FP was supported by Fondazione Umberto Veronesi, and Institute Pasteur - Fondazione Cenci Bolognetti