Beneficial Effects of Artocarpus Lakoocha Extracts in Rat Models Suffering from Atherosclerosis

Objective: To evaluate the anti-inflammatory effects of A. lakoocha extracts by utilizing the rat models with induced hyperlipidemia.Methodology: Twenty-four well-fed rats (Wistar breed), were selected for the current study, weighing average 150-250 grams each and divided into three groups; GROUP I served as healthy control group, fed with normal diet composed of carbohydrates, proteins and fats. Group II were hyperlipidemic rats, with atherosclerosis, and considered as disease group. They were fed with high fat diet. Group III rats were fed with extracts of A. lakoocha, extending from day 20 up to day 60 of this experiment.Results In the disease group, significantly decreased (P < 0.001) expression levels of IL-5 were found in (14.76 ± 2.65) compared with control group (26.54 ± 3.98). IN the group treated with A. lakoocha extracts (22.01 ± 4.53) significantly enhanced (P < 0.01) the expression levels of IL-5 were observed. In addition, plasma IL-6 levels were significantly enhanced (P < 0.05) in the disease group (44.19 ± 10.90) compared with the control group (32.59 ± 4.51). Treatment of rats with A. lakoocha extract (20.22 ± 2.75) caused significant reduction (P < 0.001) in the expression levels of IL-6 as compared with the disease group. Significantly raised (P < 0.01) expression levels of TNF-α within the disease group (31.78 ± 4.71) compared with the control group (23.34 ± 2.25) group. Moreover, A. lakoocha extracts (24.60 ± 4.26) significantly reduced (P < 0.05) the expression of TNF-α levels, compared with the disease group.  Conclusion: Current study demonstrates that A. lakoocha extracts significant protective and anti-inflammatory properties in selected rat models, subsequently leading to atherosclerosis. The present study highlighted the down-regulation of inflammatory cytokines such as IL-6, TNF-α, IL-6 and NF-кB, while simultaneously up-regulating the plasma levels of IL-15, in rat models treated with extracts of A. lakoocha

Land Utilization, Development Expenditure, Agricultural Productivity and Economic Growth: Evidence from Pakistan

The main purpose of this study was investigates and explores the association between land utilization, development expenditure, agricultural production and economic growth in Pakistan based on the time series data over the year of 1983 to 2014. Data were analyzed applying the Phillips-Perron (P-P) unit root test, and results were interpreted implying the cointegration test. OLS was adopted to assess the effect of land utilization, development expenditure and agricultural productivity on economic growth of Pakistan. The estimated results of cointegration test show that there presence a long-run association among development expenditure for agricultural sector, land utilization, agricultural productivity and economic growth in Pakistan. The results of OLS regression analysis show that development expenditure and agricultural productivity have a significant impact on economic growth of Pakistan while land utilization (total land used for crops) has a positive relation with economic growth but found statistically insignificant. This study suggested that the government should increase expenditure development for growth and development of agricultural sector that will enhance the economic growth of Pakistan

Study of Embedded Class-I Fluid Spheres in f(R,T)f(R,T) Gravity with Karmarkar Condition

In this article, we explore some emerging properties of the stellar objects in the frame of the $f(R,T)$ gravity by employing the well-known Karmarkar condition, where $R$ and $T$ represent Ricci scalar and trace of energy momentum tensor respectively. It is worthy to highlight here that we assume the exponential type model of $f(R,T)$ theory of gravity $f(R,T)=R+\alpha(e^{-\beta R}-1)+\gamma T$ along with the matter Lagrangian $\mathcal{L}_{m}=-\frac{1}{3}(p_{r}+2 p_{t})$ to classify the complete set of modified field equations. We demonstrate the embedded class-I technique by using the static spherically symmetric line element along with anisotropic fluid matter distribution. Further, to achieve our goal, we consider a specific expression of metric potential $g_{rr}$, already presented in literature, and proceed by using the Karmarkar condition to obtain the second metric potential. In particular, we use four different compact stars, namely $LMC~X-4,$ $EXO~1785-248,$ $Cen~X-3$ and $4U~1820-30$ and compute the corresponding values of the unknown parameters appearing in metric potentials. Moreover, we conduct various physical evolutions such as graphical nature of energy density and pressure progression, energy constraints, mass function, adiabatic index, stability and equilibrium conditions to ensure the viability and consistency of our proposed model. Our analysis indicates that the obtained anisotropic outcomes are physically acceptable with the finest degree of accuracy.Comment: 12 pages, 10 figures, Accepted for publication in Chinese Journal of Physic

Concordance of Clinical Examination and Duplex Scan Findings for Prediction of Surgery in Patients Presenting with Varicose Vein

Objective: To assess the concordance of clinical examination and duplex scan findings for prediction of surgery in patients having varicose vein.Methodology: The cross sectional study was conducted in tertiary referral vascular surgery unit, Dublin, Ireland. From January 2015 to December 2016. The study conducted on the patients with varicose veins between 18-50 years who had duplex scan performed over the last two years (n=175) in the hospital. Clinical diagnosis was done by using Clinical-Etiological-Anatomical-Pathophysiology (CEAP) classification. Numerical variables age, duration of symptoms, weight, height and BMI were presented. Categorical variables gender and presence of varicose vein on clinical examination CEAP grade ≥2 and colored duplex ultrasound for the prediction of surgery was presented as concordance.Results: In 95% (n=166) of patient’s surgery was predicted and in remaining surgery was not predicted. 171 (97.7%) were diagnosed with incompetent varicose vein on Duplex Scan while 4 (2.3%) were not. Forty seven percent (n=82) patients had incompetent SFJ, 36% (n=63) had Incompetent SPJ and 11% (n=19) had mixed type of varicose veins when diagnosed on Duplex Ultrasound. The study results showed that in 97.7%(171) patient’s surgery was predicted by Duplex Ultrasound and in remaining surgery was not predicted.Conclusion. There is increase in prediction of surgery for varicose veins with duplex scan modality

Design and Evaluation of Modified Release Bilayer Tablets of Flurbiprofen Projekt i ocena dwuwarstwowych tabletek flurbiprofenu o zmodyfikowanym uwalnianiu

Abstract Objectives. To design and evaluate modified release bilayer tablets of flurbiprofen. Material and Methods. In this study, bilayer modified release (MR) tablets of flurbiprofen were formulated using ethyl cellulose (EC) and polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) in different ratios as release retardant materials using a wet granulation method. In vitro release studies were done in dissolution media of varying pH i.e. pH 1.2, 4.5, 7.0 and 7.5. Results. All tablets exhibited good physical quality with respect to appearance, content uniformity, hardness, weight variation and friability. In vitro dissolution data showed that increasing proportions of EC retarded whereas increasing PVP enhanced the drug release rate. The bilayer MR tablets showed an initial release of approximately 35% (i.e. 100 mg drug) in about 1 h, then sustaining the release for 12 h, ending up with 89.56% and 96.12% for formulation MR1 and MR2, respectively. The kinetic analysis of dissolution data showed that zero order release was observed in these tablets. When data was fitted to the Korsmeyer-Peppas model, a non-Fickian transport was observed with the MR tablets. A model independent approach showed that as the release rate increases, the MDT decreases, showing the retarding behavior of the non-biodegradable polymers employed in formulation development. Conclusions. Bilayer modified release tablets of flurbiprofen can be successfully formulated using ethylcellulose and polyvinylpyrrolidone in different ratios as release retardant materials employing a wet granulation method (Adv Clin Exp Med 2011, 20, 3, 343-349). Key words: ethylcellulose, polyvinylpyrrolidone, wet granulation method, non-Fickian release. Streszczenie Cel pracy. Zaprojektowanie i ocena dwuwarstwowych tabletek flurbiprofenu o zmodyfikowanym uwalnianiu. Materiał i metody. W badaniu tym dwuwarstwowe tabletki flurbiprofenu o zmodyfikowanym uwalnianiu (MR) zostały stworzone z użyciem etylocelulozy (EC) i poliwinylopirolidonu (PVP) w różnych proporcjach jako środki opóźniające uwolnienie metodą mokrej granulacji. W badaniach uwalniania in vitro użyto środków rozpuszczają-cych o różnym pH, tj. pH 1,2; 4,5; 7,0 i 7,5. Wyniki. Wszystkie tabletki miały dobre fizyczne właściwości w odniesieniu do wyglądu, jednolitości zawartości, twardości, wahań wagi i kruszenia. W badaniach in vitro wykazano, że zwiększenie zawartości EC spowalniało, a zwiększenie zawartości PVP przyspieszało tempo uwalniania leku. Dwuwarstwowe tabletki MR wykazały począt-kowo uwalnianie ok. 35% (tj. 100 mg leku) w ciągu około 1 godz., a następnie utrzymanie rozpuszczenia przez 12 godz., kończąc na 89,56 i 96,12% dla preparatów MR1 i MR2. Analiza kinetyczna danych na temat rozpuszczania pokazała, że w tych tabletkach wystąpiło uwalnianie rzędu zerowego. Gdy dane dopasowano do modelu Korsmeyera-Peppasa, obserwowano transport masy tabletek MR niezgodny z prawem Ficka. Niezależne podejście wykazało, że w miarę wzrostu szybkości uwalniania, MDT zmniejsza się, co pokazuje opóźniające działanie nieulegających biodegradacji polimerów stosowanych w produkcji preparatu. Wnioski. Dwuwarstwowe tabletki o zmodyfikowanym uwalnianiu flurbiprofenu z powodzeniem można produkować, stosując etylocelulozę i poliwinylopirolidon w różnych proporcjach jako środki opóźniające uwolnienie metodą mokrej granulacji Słowa kluczowe: etyloceluloza, poliwinylopirolidon, metoda mokrej granulacji, uwalnianie niezgodne z prawem Ficka

Three-dimensional black-blood T2 mapping with compressed sensing and data-driven parallel imaging in the carotid artery.

PURPOSE: To develop a 3D black-blood T2 mapping sequence with a combination of compressed sensing (CS) and parallel imaging (PI) for carotid wall imaging. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A 3D black-blood fast-spin-echo (FSE) sequence for T2 mapping with CS and PI was developed and validated. Phantom experiments were performed to assess T2 accuracy using a Eurospin Test Object, with different combination of CS and PI acceleration factors. A 2D multi-echo FSE sequence was used as a reference to evaluate the accuracy. The concordance correlation coefficient and Bland-Altman statistics were calculated. Twelve volunteers were scanned twice to determine the repeatability of the sequence and the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was reported. Wall-lumen sharpness was calculated for different CS and PI combinations. Six patients with carotid stenosis >50% were scanned with optimised sequence. The T2 maps were compared with multi-contrast images. RESULTS: Phantom scans showed good correlation in T2 measurement between current and reference sequence (r=0.991). No significant difference was found between different combination of CS and PI accelerations (p=0.999). Volunteer scans showed good repeatability of T2 measurement (ICC: 0.93, 95% CI 0.84-0.97). The mean T2 of the healthy wall was 48.0±9.5ms. Overall plaque T2 values from patients were 54.9±12.2ms. Recent intraplaque haemorrhage and fibrous tissue have higher T2 values than the mean plaque T2 values (88.1±6.8ms and 62.7±9.3ms, respectively). CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates the feasibility of combining CS and PI for accelerating 3D T2 mapping in the carotid artery, with accurate T2 measurements and good repeatability.The project was supported by the Addenbrooke's Charitable Trust and the NIHR comprehensive Biomedical Research Centre award to Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in partnership with the University of Cambridge

Ferumoxytol-enhanced three-dimensional magnetic resonance imaging of carotid atheroma- a feasibility and temporal dependence study

Funder: University of Cambridge | Christ&apos;s College, University of Cambridge (Christ&apos;s College); doi: https://doi.org/10.13039/501100000590Abstract: Ferumoxytol is an ultrasmall super paramagnetic particles of iron oxide (USPIO) agent recently used for magnetic resonance (MR) vascular imaging. Other USPIOs have been previously used for assessing inflammation within atheroma. We aim to assess feasibility of ferumoxytol in imaging carotid atheroma (with histological assessment); and the optimum MR imaging time to detect maximum quantitative signal change post-ferumoxytol infusion. Ten patients with carotid artery disease underwent high-resolution MR imaging of their carotid arteries on a 1.5 T MR system. MR imaging was performed before and at 24, 48, 72 and 96 hrs post ferumoxytol infusion. Optimal ferumoxytol uptake time was evaluated by quantitative relaxometry maps indicating the difference in T2* (ΔT2*) and T2 (ΔT2) between baseline and post-Ferumoxytol MR imaging using 3D DANTE MEFGRE qT2*w and iMSDE black-blood qT2w sequences respectively. 20 patients in total (10 symptomatic and 10 with asymptomatic carotid artery disease) had ferumoxytol-enhanced MR imaging at the optimal imaging window. 69 carotid MR imaging studies were completed. Ferumoxytol uptake (determined by a decrease in ΔT2* and ΔT2) was identified in all carotid plaques (symptomatic and asymptomatic). Maximum quantitative decrease in ΔT2* (10.4 [3.5–16.2] ms, p < 0.001) and ΔT2 (13.4 [6.2–18.9] ms; p = 0.001) was found on carotid MR imaging at 48 hrs following the ferumoxytol infusion. Ferumoxytol uptake by carotid plaques was assessed by histopathological analysis of excised atheroma. Ferumoxytol-enhanced MR imaging using quantitative 3D MR pulse sequences allows assessment of inflammation within carotid atheroma in symptomatic and asymptomatic patients. The optimum MR imaging time for carotid atheroma is 48 hrs after its administration

The excess insulin requirement in severe COVID‐19 compared to non‐COVID‐19 viral pneumonitis is related to the severity of respiratory failure and pre‐existing diabetes

Funder: National Institute of Health Research Academic Clinical FellowshipAbstract: Introduction: Severe COVID‐19 has been anecdotally associated with high insulin requirements. It has been proposed that this may be driven by a direct diabetogenic effect of the virus that is unique to SARS‐CoV‐2, but evidence to support this is limited. To explore this, we compared insulin requirements in patients with severe COVID‐19 and non‐COVID‐19 viral pneumonitis. Methods: This is a retrospective cohort study of patients with severe COVID‐19 admitted to our intensive care unit between March and June 2020. A historical control cohort of non‐COVID‐19 viral pneumonitis patients was identified from routinely collected audit data. Results: Insulin requirements were similar in patients with COVID‐19 and non‐COVID‐19 viral pneumonitis after adjustment for pre‐existing diabetes and severity of respiratory failure. Conclusions: In this single‐centre study, we could not find evidence of a unique diabetogenic effect of COVID‐19. We suggest that high insulin requirements in this disease relate to its propensity to cause severe respiratory failure in patients with pre‐existing metabolic disease

National guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of hilar cholangiocarcinoma

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