Relationship between Depressive Symptoms and Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors in African American Individuals

Objective. To examine the relationship between depressive symptoms and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors in a group of African American individuals. Design. A nonrandom sample of 253 (age 43.7 ± 11.6 years; 37% male) African American individuals was recruited by advertisements. Data were obtained by validated questionnaires, anthropometric, blood pressure, and blood sample measurements. Results. Regression analyses were performed to assess the relationship between depressive symptoms and CVD risk factors controlling for socioeconomic status indicators. These analyses demonstrated that those with higher levels of depressive symptoms had larger waist-to-hip ratios, higher percent body fat, higher triglycerides, and were more likely to be smokers. Conclusions. It has been well documented that higher levels of depressive symptoms are associated with higher CVD risk. However, this evidence is derived primarily from samples of predominantly Caucasian individuals. The present investigation demonstrates that depressive symptoms are related to CVD risk factors in African American individuals

Role of plasma adiponectin /C-reactive protein ratio in obesity and type 2 diabetes among African Americans.

Background: Obesity is a modifiable risk factor for hypertension and T2D. Objective(s): We examined relations between fasting plasma adiponectin (ADIP), C-reactive protein (CRP) concentrations and markers of T2D in African Americans (AA). Methods: Fasting plasma ADIP, CRP, Insulin (IN), HOMA-IR, lipid profiles, body fat percent (%BF), waist circumference (WC), body mass index (BMI) and blood pressure measures were determined in AA women (W: n=77) and men (M: n=34). Participants were classified into: 1) Normal fasting glucose (FG) and Normal %BF; 2) Normal FG and High %BF; and 3) High FG. Results: Compared to men, women had significantly higher mean ADIP (W: 31.4\ub12.9 vs. M: 18.0\ub14.4 ng/L), CRP (W: 3.2\ub10.3 vs. M: 2.0\ub10.5 mg/L), %BF (W: 41.2\ub10.9 vs. M: 27.2\ub11.3), and BMI (W: 32.3\ub10.7 vs. M: 29.2\ub11.1 kg/m2). Women with normal FG and %BF had significantly higher ADIP (64.0\ub16.0) and lower CRP (1.3\ub10.6) concentrations than normal FG/ high %BF (ADIP: 37.0\ub15.0 and CRP: 3.1 \ub10.5) and high FG (ADIP: 15.1\ub14.1 and CRP: 4.0 \ub1 0.5) groups. Women with high ADIP to CRP ratio had favorable metabolic and anthropometric profiles. Conclusion: Low ADIP and high CRP are associated with excessive %BF and FG in AA women. ADIP/CRP, may be useful for detecting metabolic dysregulation

Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density

Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals <1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data

Etiologic diagnosis of acute shortness of breath in the emergency department

Background-Dyspnea is the term applied to sensation of breathlessness and the patient’s reaction to that sensation, In the BLUE (Bedside Lung Ultrasound in Emergency) protocol, lung profiles have been designed for the main etiologies of dyspnea (acute pulmonary edema, COPD, pulmonary embolism, pneumothorax, pneumonia) with an accuracy of >90%. Objectives-•To investigate if BLUE protocol will improve diagnostic accuracy of patients with acute dyspnea •To compare the diagnostic accuracy of BLUE protocol findings alone with final diagnosis in patients with acute dyspnea. Methods-This study was a cross-sectional, hospital-based, follow-up observational study conducted in 130 patients who presented to the Emergency Department of Pushpagiri Institute of Medical Sciences, Tiruvalla, Kerala during January 2020 to August 2020, with complains of dyspnea of acute onset. It was done by incorporating the Bedside Lung Ultrasound in Emergency (BLUE) protocol for diagnosing the etiology of dyspnea. Epiinfo 7 was used for analysis. Results-the study sample included 130 subjects who fulfilled the inclusion criteria.Amongthestudypopulation,76(58.5%)weremalesand54(41.5%) were females. The mean age of the study population was 66.6 with a standard deviation of 14.1. The minimum age included in the study was 32 years and the maximum age was 91years.&nbsp

Perception of teachers towards NEP 2020

The NEP 2020 is a visionary policy of the Government of India that promises to transform education for all. NEP 2020 lays impartial to potential of each and every individual and to cultivate ingenuity and skills development. Education is necessary in all aspect of the economy to ensure better growth, employment opportunities, promote innovation, democratic progress, strengthen rule of law, invigorate civic values etc. Teachers are one of the major stakeholders in education. This research is a descriptive study on the perception of college teachers towards the important features of NEP 2020 and brings out suggestions thereby. This study analyses the agreement and disagreement of teachers towards the highlighted features of NEP 2020 on Indian Higher education. Quantitative techniques were used in this analysis and draw conclusion. This research paper analyses the crucial part of policy that aim Indian higher education system like – research culture, use of regional language, privatisation, workload, Establishment of NPST (National Professional Standards for Teachers), training etc.  Study is focused on college teachers of southern Kerala and sampling was done through stratified sampling technique

Multipoint incremental motor unit number estimation versus amyotrophic lateral sclerosis functional rating scale and the medical research council sum score as an outcome measure in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Introduction: Monitoring the disease progression in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a challenge due to different rates of progression between patients. Besides clinical methods to monitor disease progression, such as the ALS functional rating scale (ALSFRS) and the medical research council (MRC) sum score, quantitative methods like motor unit number estimation (MUNE) are of interest. Objective: The objective of the present study is to evaluate the rate of progression in ALS using multipoint incremental MUNE and to compare MUNE, ALSFRS and MRC sum score at baseline and at 6 months for progression of the disease. Materials and Methods: Multipoint incremental MUNE using median nerve, ALS-FRS and MRC sum score was carried out in 29 ALS patients at baseline and then at 6 months. Results: Of the 29 ALS patients studied, the mean MUNE at baseline was 21.80 (standard deviation [SD]: 19.46, range 4-73), 15.9 in the spinal onset group (SD: 14.60) and 30.16 (SD: 22.89) in the bulbar onset group. Spinal onset patients had 74.02% of baseline MUNE value while bulbar onset patients had only 24.74% baseline value MUNE at 6 months follow-up (Unpaired t-test, P = 0.001). ALSFRS and MRC sum score showed statistically significant decline (P < 0.001) at 6 months follow-up. MUNE had the highest sensitivity for progression of the disease when compared to the ALS FRS and MRC sum score. Conclusion: Multipoint incremental MUNE is a valuable tool for outcome measure in ALS and other diseases characterized by motor unit loss. The rate of decline of multipoint incremental MUNE is more sensitive than that of MRC sum score and ALSFRS-R, when expressed as the percentage change from baseline

Relationship between depressive symptoms and cardiovascular disease risk factors in african american individuals,” Depression Research and Treatment

Objective. To examine the relationship between depressive symptoms and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors in a group of African American individuals. Design. A nonrandom sample of 253 (age 43.7 ± 11.6 years; 37% male) African American individuals was recruited by advertisements. Data were obtained by validated questionnaires, anthropometric, blood pressure, and blood sample measurements. Results. Regression analyses were performed to assess the relationship between depressive symptoms and CVD risk factors controlling for socioeconomic status indicators. These analyses demonstrated that those with higher levels of depressive symptoms had larger waist-to-hip ratios, higher percent body fat, higher triglycerides, and were more likely to be smokers. Conclusions. It has been well documented that higher levels of depressive symptoms are associated with higher CVD risk. However, this evidence is derived primarily from samples of predominantly Caucasian individuals. The present investigation demonstrates that depressive symptoms are related to CVD risk factors in African American individuals