The Effect of Medical Nutrition Therapy on Weight Loss

Introduction: In this retrospective study, we evaluated the effects of Jefferson’s medical nutrition therapy (MNT) program on weight loss. We anticipate that participation in the MNT program will lead to an improvement in weight and metabolic syndrome parameters. Methods: We selected a convenience sample of 10 participants with BMI \u3e 25 for this pilot retrospective chart review. Subjects were screened for various exclusion criteria such as past bariatric surgery, heart failure, malignancy, renal dialysis, and uncontrolled conditions such as hypothyroidism, anemia, or B12 deficiency. Weight measurements were collected from EPIC records starting from baseline, defined as 3 months prior to initiation of MNT, until present to analyze for net weight loss, any fluctuations, and maintenance of weight loss after completing the program. Results: Our pilot sample of patients included x women and y men. Weight loss of z pounds and BMI reduction of xy% was observed upon completion of the MNT program. Wx% of participants who attended r or more sessions lost an average of st% more weight. X% of the patients maintained or continued to lose weight after finishing the program. Discussion: We are anticipating a positive correlation between duration of participation in the MNT program and weight loss, which would indicate that medical nutrition counseling is helpful for persistent weight loss in patients who are overweight or obese. Our study emphasizes the impact nutrition counseling can have on improving the long term health of patients

Chemical Profiling and Bioactivities of Selective Organic Compounds from Fruits of Olea ferruginea and its Comparison with Olea europaea

This study evaluate the chemical profiling and bioactivities of selective organic compounds from fruits of Olea ferruginea and its comparison with Olea europaea from three unexplored locations of Pakistan. The oil was characterized into fatty acids by GC-MS and FT-IR. Antioxidant activities were detected by DPPH, ABTS and H₂O₂ scavenging bioassays. For cytotoxicity, Brine-Shrimp-Cytotoxicity-Bioassay was tested. The extracted oil was checked against five bacterial strains. Higher quantity of phytochemicals and yields of oil were present in fruit of Olea ferruginea collected from Malakand as compared to other locations. Prominent inhibitory activity against E.coli and S.aureus was observed during antibacterial assay. Good quality oil with antioxidant properties obtained from fruit of Olea ferruginea from Malakand. The comparative studies revealed the same qualitative composition of both species but Olea europaea showed greater oil-yield than Olea ferruginea. In consequence, the wild species Olea ferruginea was found to be economical, wild and drought tolerant. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

Climate change and potential distribution of potato (Solanum tuberosum) crop cultivation in Pakistan using Maxent

The impacts of climate change are projected to become more intense and frequent. One of the indirect impacts of climate change is food insecurity. Agriculture in Pakistan, measured fourth best in the world, is already experiencing visible adverse impacts of climate change. Among many other food sources, potato crop remains one of the food security crops for developing nations. Potatoes are widely cultivated in Pakistan. To assess the impact of climate change on potato crop in Pakistan, it is imperative to analyze its distribution under future climate change scenarios using Species Distribution Models (SDMs). Maximum Entropy Model is used in this study to predict the spatial distribution of Potato in 2070 using two CMIP5 models for two climate change scenarios (RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5). 19 Bioclimatic variables are incorporated along with other contributing variables like soil type, elevation and irrigation. The results indicate slight decrease in the suitable area for potato growth in RCP 4.5 and drastic decrease in suitable area in RCP 8.5 for both models. The performance evaluation of the model is based on AUC. AUC value of 0.85 suggests the fitness of the model and thus, it is applicable to predict the suitable climate for potato production in Pakistan. Sustainable potato cultivation is needed to increase productivity in developing countries while promoting better resource management and optimization

THE USE OF TITANIUM MESH IN GUIDED BONE REGENERATION

A number of strategies are already recommended for the bone regeneration in clientele with atrophic ridges. Presently, GBR symbolizes the paragon, as well as it provides acquiring adequate bone quantities for just about any proper implant-prosthetic rehabilitation. The basic object of this study is to execute a specialized investigation about the Titanium Meshes utilization in in GBR, as well as relating to the function we inclined fifty-three patients of Ameen Medical and Dental Centre Karachi., in an effort to examine the stability in the treatment, the regrowth acquired, along with some outages. Moreover, we intend to examine the achievements and also rate of survival belonging to the implanted augmentations as mentioned above fifty-three patients. The basic concern of the patients is perpendicular or even crosswise re-formation with all the alveolar ridge operating the grids of titanium, in affiliation or perhaps not through biomaterials, prior to concurrently with the placement of implant. This analysis contains comprehensive fifty-three patients, males were thirty-four and females were nineteen. Titanium grids in collaboration through autogenous bone had been applied as part of two instances, five in combination through a combination of autogenous bone and bone replacements. As a whole rate of success and survival of implants have been 98.3% and 85.25%, respectively. As per conclusion the study reveals exactly how the utilization of Titanium Mesh exemplified a foreseeable technique towards the reclamation of complicated atrophic places. Keywords: Bone augmentation, Bone resorption, Dental implants, Guided bone regeneration, Titanium mesh

Low-cost peer-taught virtual research workshops for medical students in Pakistan: A creative, scalable, and sustainable solution for student research

Background: Pakistan has not been a major contributor to medical research, mainly because of the lack of learning opportunities to medical students. With the increase in online learning systems during COVID-19, research related skills can be taught to medical students via low-cost peer taught virtual research workshops.Aim of the study: To assess the effectiveness of a comprehensive low-cost peer-taught virtual research workshops amongst medical students in Pakistan.Methods: This quasi-experimental study assessed the effectiveness of five virtual research workshops (RWs) in improving core research skills. RWs for medical students from across Pakistan were conducted over Zoom by medical students (peer-teachers) at the Aga Khan University, Pakistan, with minimal associated costs. The content of the workshops included types of research, ethical approval and research protocols, data collection and analysis, manuscript writing, and improving networking skills for research. Improvement was assessed via pre-and post-quizzes for each RW, self-efficacy scores across 16 domains, and feedback forms. Minimum criteria for completion of the RW series was attending at least 4/5 RWs and filling the post-RW series feedback form. A 6-month post-RW series follow-up survey was also emailed to the participants.Results: Four hundred medical students from 36 (/117; 30.8%) different medical colleges in Pakistan were enrolled in the RWs. However, only 307/400 (76.75%) medical students met the minimum requirement for completion of the RW series. 56.4% of the participants belonged to the pre-clinical years while the rest were currently to clinical years. The cohort demonstrated significant improvement in pre-and post-quiz scores for all 5 RWs (p \u3c 0.001) with the greatest improvement in Data Collection and Analysis (+ 34.65%), and in self-efficacy scores across all domains (p \u3c 0.001). 166/307 (54.1%) participants responded to the 6 months post-RWs follow-up survey. Compared to pre-RWs, Research involvement increased from 40.4 to 62.8% (p \u3c 0.001) while proportion of participants with peer-reviewed publications increased from 8.4 to 15.8% (p = 0.043).Conclusion: Virtual RWs allow for a wide outreach while effectively improving research-related knowledge and skills, with minimal associated costs. In lower-middle-income countries, virtual RWs are a creative and cost-effective use of web-based technologies to facilitate medical students to contribute to the local and global healthcare research community

Effectiveness of Nutritional Counseling and VLCD (very low calorie diet) for Weight Loss and Metabolic Syndromeketav.

Introduction: Obesity and Diabetes are highly prevalent conditions worldwide. Morbidity and mortality stemming from these conditions has critical implications on the health and day to day lives of patients. A Very Low- Calorie Diet (VLCD) may be an effective tool to aid in lowering weight for both obese and diabetic patients, but has not been well studied. Thus, the efficacy of a VLCD on lowering weight, BMI, blood pressure, HbA1c, Lipid levels, and blood glucose was explored in this pilot study. Methods: The study’s population is taken from an MNT (medical nutrition therapy) program at Jefferson. Patients who had prior bariatric surgery, hypothyroidism, a malignancy, or specific vitamin deficiencies were excluded to avoid confounding effects on variables. Participants in the program have their vitals tracked, along with their attendance and length of participation in the program. A retrospective chart review was performed on a sample of patients. Their baseline vitals and outcome variables were recorded from three months prior to their enrollment in the program, and compared to their vitals/outcomes following participation in the program at yearly intervals. Results: Our pilot sample included x men and y women. Preliminary results from conducting the study showed that following a VLCD regimen, participants on average lost xx pounds, associated with a decrease of yy in A1C over a zz period of time. Discussion: Initial pilot results show that VLCD and counseling are effective/ not effective in lowering HBA1C levels in patients. The underlying mechanism may be that a caloric deficit aids in lowering blood glucose, which over time, reduces the acetylation of blood cells, reflected in a lowered HBA1c value

Effectiveness of a Primary Care Nutrition Education/VLCD Diet Program

Introduction: Jefferson currently has a Medical Nutrition Therapy (MNT) program via an educational component delivered via Zoom to assist patients with managing their diet, exercise, medication changes and understanding the physiology of their conditions. We aim to study the effectiveness of the MNT program, along with the impact of duration of program participation, on weight loss, blood pressure, glucose and total cholesterol. In addition, I am focusing on triglycerides, HDL and LDL. We hypothesize that patients in our MNT program will have lower weight, blood pressure, blood glucose and total cholesterol, with a further positive effect of longer participation in the program. Methods: Data from EPIC Medical record review and attendance records were collected from a sample of patients in the Jefferson MNT program. Outcomes will be compared controlling for patient demographics (sex, age, race, ethnicity), medical history and comorbidities, medications. Study outcomes are weight, height, BMI, blood glucose, triglycerides, HbA1c, blood pressure and heart rate, before, during and following program participation. Final results will be analyzed using paired t-tests and multivariate analysis. Results: Of XX patients evaluated (data pending) we found a X% decrease in triglycerides, total cholesterol, and LDL in patients enrolled in the MNT program from start to end. Weight, BMI, blood glucose, cholesterol, HbA1c, heart rate and blood pressure were also reduced, by x, x.., respectively. Discussion: Patients who complete the MNT program will have improved weight, BMI, blood glucose, triglycerides, HbA1c, heart rate and blood pressure. Implementation of effective weight loss programs is beneficial to improving patients’ quality of life and overall health

Comparative arsenic tolerance and accumulation potential between wild Tagetes patula and Tagetes minuta

Arsenic (As) is a bioactive metalloid that is highly toxic to humans, animals, and plants. Environmental contamination of As especially in groundwater increases due to natural and anthropogenic activities. The present study was performed to evaluate the potential of wild Tagetes species for the phytoremediation of As contaminated soil/water. This comparative research aims to analyze As accumulation and tolerance in two wild species of Tagetes, T. minuta and T. patula. The 20 days old seedlings were grown hydroponically and exposed to the different concentrations of As, 0, 50, 150, and 300 µM As2 O3 for 1-, 4- and 7- days intervals.Effect of As stress was measured on the rate of seed germination, growth parameters like fresh and dry biomass weight, root/shoot length, chlorophyll contents and As contents in root and shoot in both Tagetes species. Increasing concentration of As restricts the growth activity of T. minuta with toxicity symptoms on leaves such as chlorosis. Accumulation of As in the shoot was significantly (p ≤ 0.01) high (634 µg g-1 DW) in T. patula as compared to T. minuta (397 µg g-1 DW) at 300 µM As2 O3 . Both Tagetes species exhibited high variation for As tolerance parameters as well as for As accumulation patterns. Comparatively good tolerance and accumulation of As in T. patula suggests that this species could be used in phytoextraction and re-vegetation in As contaminated sites

Evaluation of stability derivatives of an Ogive in a Newtonian limit

Stability derivatives for an ogive are obtained in the limiting case of the Mach number when it tends to infinity. The derivative in stiffness declines with the position of the pivot for the whole extent of semi-vertex angles. For half wedge angles from 20 to 25 degrees, there is a thoughtful expansion in the derivative of Stiffness. The derivative of damping declines through the pivot point for different directions of semi-vertex and accomplishes a minimal value at h = 0.75. Afterward, together with expansion in the pivot point, there is an in-direct augmentation in damping derivatives. There is a broad variation in the mathematical worth for more incredible semi-vertex perspectives in the scope of 20 degrees and above. The derivative in Stiffness increases with the angle of the semi-vertex for different varied positions of the pivot. The derivative in damping with the angle of semi vertex for varied fixed positions of pivot supposedly increases directly with the angle of semi vertex. It is additionally seen that this pattern of linear increment will, in general, get non-direct for the angle of the semi vertex in the extent of 20 degrees and past