Patient attitudes towards medical students at Damascus University teaching hospitals

Background: The cooperation of patients and their consent to involve medical students in their care is vital to clinical education, but large numbers of students and lack of experience as well as loss of privacy may evoke negative attitudes of patients, which may sometimes adversely affect the clinical teaching environment. This study aimed to explore the attitudes of patients towards medical students at Damascus University hospitals, and to explore the determinants of those attitudes thus discussing possible implications applicable to clinical teaching. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted at three teaching hospitals affiliated to the Faculty of Medicine at Damascus University. Four hundred patients were interviewed between March and April 2011 by a trained sociologist using a structured questionnaire. Results: Of the patients interviewed, 67.8 % approved the presence of medical students during the medical consultation and 58.2 % of them felt comfortable with the presence of students, especially among patients with better socio-economic characteristics. 81.5 % of the patients agreed to be examined by students in the presence of the supervisor, while 40.2 % gave agreement even in the absence of the supervisor. Privacy was the most important factor in the patients ’ reticence towards examination by the students, whilst the relative safety and comfort if a supervisor was available determined patients ’ agreement

Fatty acid composition of oil obtained from irradiated and non-irradiated whole fruit and fruit flesh of olives (Olea europaea L.)

This study aimed to investigate the fatty acid profile of olive oil extracted from whole fruit and fruit flesh of "Kaissy cultivar" olives, irradiated with 0, 2 and 3 kGy doses of gamma irradiation, and stored for 0, 6 and 12 months. Results on the fatty acid profile showed that the studied oils contained mostly oleic acid (68.1570.80%) followed by palmitic acid (14.38-15.89%) and linoleic acid (10.3412.51%). Generally, there are slight differences in the fatty acid profile between the oil extracted from whole olives and fruit flesh, but sometime significant (p<0.05). Also, the storage time influenced to a limited extent the fatty acid profile of both type of oils. Immediately after treatment, irradiation caused a significant (p<0.01) gradual decrease in the unsaturated fatty acid content and a significant (p<0.01) saturated fatty acid content increased in virgin olive oils

Maternal and neonatal influences on, and reproducibility of, neonatal aortic pulse wave velocity

Aortic pulse wave velocity (aPWV), a noninvasive measure of vascular stiffness, is an independent predictor of cardiovascular disease both before and in overt vascular disease. Its characteristics in early life and its relationship to maternal factors have hardly been studied. To test the hypothesis that infant aPWV was positively related to maternal anthropometry and blood pressure (BP) at 28 weeks gestation, after adjusting for neonatal anthropometry and BP, 148 babies born in Manchester were measured 1 to 3 days after birth. A high reproducibility of aPWV, assessed in 30 babies within 3 days of birth, was found with a mean difference between occasions of &ndash;0.04 m/s (95% CI: &ndash;0.08 to 0.16 m/s). Contrary to our hypothesis, a significant inverse relation was found between neonatal aPWV (mean: 4.6 m/s) and maternal systolic BP (mean: 108.9 mm Hg; r=&ndash;0.57; 95% CI: &ndash;0.67 to &ndash;0.45) but not maternal height nor weight. Neonatal aPWV was positively correlated with birth length, birth weight, and systolic BP. In multiple regression, neonatal aPWV remained significantly inversely associated with maternal systolic BP (adjusted &szlig; coefficient: &ndash;0.032; 95% CI: &ndash;0.040 to &ndash;0.024; P&lt;0.001), after adjustment for maternal age, birth weight, length, and neonatal BP (all independently and positively related to aPWV) and for gestational age, maternal weight, and height (unrelated). These results suggest that infant aPWV may be a useful index of infant vascular status, is less disturbing to measure than infant BP, and is sensitive to the gestational environment marked by maternal BP. <br /

Adiponectin in umbillcal cord blood is inversely related to low-density lipoprotein cholesteril but not ethnicity

Context: Adiponectin is a recognized protective risk marker for cardiovascular disease in adults and is associated with an optimal lipid profile. The role of adiponectin at birth is not well understood, and its relationship with the neonatal lipid profile is unknown. Because ethnic disparities in cardiovascular risk have been attributed to low adiponectin and its associated low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), investigation at birth may help determine the etiology of these risk patterns.Objective: Our objective was to investigate the relationship between neonatal adiponectin and lipid profile at birth in two ethnic groups in cord blood.Design, Setting, and Participants: Seventy-four healthy mothers and their newborns of South Asian and White European origin were studied in this cross-sectional study at St. Mary&rsquo;s Hospital, Manchester, United Kingdom.Main Outcome Measures: Serum adiponectin, total cholesterol, HDL-C, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and triglyceride levels were measured in umbilical venous blood at birth and in maternal blood collected at 28 wk gestation.Results: Cord adiponectin was significantly inversely associated with cord LDL-C (r = &ndash;0.32; P = 0.005) but not HDL-C. In a multiple regression analysis, cord LDL-C remained the most significant association of cord adiponectin (&szlig; = &ndash;0.13; P &lt; 0.001). We did not find any significant ethnic differences in cord adiponectin or lipids with the exception of triglycerides, which were significantly lower in South Asian newborns (P &lt; 0.05).Conclusion: This is the first report of an inverse relationship between cord adiponectin and LDL-C at birth. In contrast to adult studies, we found no significant association between adiponectin and HDL-C in cord blood. Our results and the strong independent association between adiponectin and HDL-C observed in adult studies suggest a role for adiponectin in lipid metabolism. Ethnic differences in adiponectin may arise after birth.<br /