Comparison of the Effects of Coconut Oil and Soyabean Oil on TSH Level and Weight Gain in Rabbits

The present study was conducted on 12 albino rabbits of either sex and weighing between 1-1.5kg to see the influence of coconut oil and soyabean oil on serum TSH levels and weight gain for a period of 12 weeks.  The rabbits were divided into 2 groups of six each.  Rabbits in group 1 were fed on coconut oil and in group 2 were fed on soyabean oil in addition to their standard diet.  At the end of 12 weeks we found that rabbits fed on soyabean oil had significant increase in TSH levels (p= 0.003) and gained more weight (p=0.000) when compared to rabbits fed on coconut oil

PARENTAL AWARENESS ON PRENATAL CONCERNS: AN EDUCATIONAL PERSPECTIVE

Having a healthy baby is a dream of every parent and a cherished goal of every nation. However, the latest statistics indicate that in US about one in every 33 babies is born with birth defects or disabilities, and that the birth defects are one of the most leading causes of infant deaths, accounting for more than 20% of all infant deaths. Many of these birth defects or disabilities are avoidable if precautions are taken and care is provided during prenatal period. Awareness among parents about such prenatal concerns is therefore, critical. This exploratory pilot study was conducted to find out the level of basic awareness among parents about prenatal concerns and avoidable factors leading to birth defects and disabilities. The subjects (N= 73) were African American parents residing in the city of Dover and surrounding areas in Delaware State. The subjects were interviewed and administered the Prenatal Concerns Survey designed for this research. The results on various aspects revealed unawareness among parent on many critical issues, and the overall results indicate that 19.4% of the parents expressed ignorance about the basic prenatal concerns. A broad based research is recommended for in-depth analysis

Interference of five problematic weed species with rice growth and yield

Five weed species namely, Cyperus rotundus L., Cyperus difformis L., Echinochloa colonum (L.) Link., Paspalum paspaloides (Mich.) Scribner, and Marsilea minuta L. were selected for the assessment of their level of competition with two commonly grown rice varieties viz. Basmati-385 and Super Basmati. Root and shoot growth as well as grain yield, in both rice cultivars, were adversely affected due to the weed competition in the field experiments. In general, Super Basmati was found to be comparatively more tolerant to weed infestation than Basmati-385. There were 6 to 40% and 21 to 56% reduction in grain yield of Super Basmati and Basmati-385, respectively, due to different weed species. E. colonum was found to be the most damaging weed which resulted in the highest grain yield losses of 56 and 42% in Basmati-385 and Super Basmati, respectively. P. paspaloides was found to be the second most damaging weed species which caused 47% yield losses in Basmati-385. It was concluded from the study that E. colonum was the most competitive weed. It resulted in the highest yield losses in rice especially in var. Basmati-385.Keywords: Rice, weeds, yield losses

Peri-articular diseases of the hip: emerging frontiers in arthroscopic and endoscopic treatments

The precise diagnosis of both intra and extra-capsular disease of the hip is now possible because of commonly available advanced diagnostic imaging techniques. An increasing number of reports in the orthopedic literature describe new endoscopic and arthroscopic techniques to address peri-articular pathology of the hip. The purpose of this paper is to review current techniques in the management of extra-articular hip conditions

Root Cause Analysis Heart Failure Readmissions at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital

Under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services established significant financial penalties for hospitals that do not meet certain benchmarks for decreased readmission rates. Heart failure patients account for more readmissions in US hospitals than any other illness. While the rates of heart failure readmission are well-established, the patient perspectives behind these increased visits remain unclear. The purpose of this study is to identify the root causes for high hospital readmission rates for heart failure patients at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital (TJUH) in Philadelphia. Additionally, goals include assessing health status of recently readmitted patients and obtaining patient-perceived reasons behind hospital readmissions. These reasons are considered in the context of current programs that aim to decrease readmission rates. Individual patient interviews and a validated survey tool were conducted with twelve patients readmitted to TJUH within 30-days over a period from April 2012 to August 2012. The survey results were calculated quantitatively and the interviews were coded into common themes for qualitative analysis. Results identified several factors influencing readmission rates: missed follow-up appointments, medication non-compliance, dietary non-compliance, lack of education on health management, and lack of family or community support. Based on the findings, each step or change in medication management should be thoroughly outlined to the patient, as well as increased efforts by hospital staff to provide a sample meal plan for dietary restrictions. Furthermore, psychological counseling should be offered while in the hospital to any patient suffering from heart failure. The results of this study support a need for improved continuity of care between services provided at the hospital and those maintained through home health services (i.e. Jefferson Home Care). Presentation: 27 minute

Quantitative characterization of viscoelastic behavior in tissue-mimicking phantoms and ex vivo animal tissues.

Viscoelasticity of soft tissue is often related to pathology, and therefore, has become an important diagnostic indicator in the clinical assessment of suspect tissue. Surgeons, particularly within head and neck subsites, typically use palpation techniques for intra-operative tumor detection. This detection method, however, is highly subjective and often fails to detect small or deep abnormalities. Vibroacoustography (VA) and similar methods have previously been used to distinguish tissue with high-contrast, but a firm understanding of the main contrast mechanism has yet to be verified. The contributions of tissue mechanical properties in VA images have been difficult to verify given the limited literature on viscoelastic properties of various normal and diseased tissue. This paper aims to investigate viscoelasticity theory and present a detailed description of viscoelastic experimental results obtained in tissue-mimicking phantoms (TMPs) and ex vivo tissues to verify the main contrast mechanism in VA and similar imaging modalities. A spherical-tip micro-indentation technique was employed with the Hertzian model to acquire absolute, quantitative, point measurements of the elastic modulus (E), long term shear modulus (η), and time constant (τ) in homogeneous TMPs and ex vivo tissue in rat liver and porcine liver and gallbladder. Viscoelastic differences observed between porcine liver and gallbladder tissue suggest that imaging modalities which utilize the mechanical properties of tissue as a primary contrast mechanism can potentially be used to quantitatively differentiate between proximate organs in a clinical setting. These results may facilitate more accurate tissue modeling and add information not currently available to the field of systems characterization and biomedical research

Clinical Efficacy and Safety Profile of Prucalopride in Chronic Idiopathic Constipation

Chronic idiopathic constipation (CIC) can be defined as bowel movements that are difficult to pass, are not occurring frequently, or have incomplete evacuation during defecation. A high-fiber diet and laxatives are the commonly used treatments, but in many cases, they do not produce satisfactory results. The first line of treatment is osmotic laxatives. If there is no improvement, the second line is guanylate cyclase-C (GCC) agonists like linaclotide or prokinetic agents such as prucalopride. On December 14, 2018, the United States Food and Drug Administration (US FDA) approved prucalopride for treating chronic idiopathic constipation. Prucalopride is a prokinetic agent which works at the 5-hydroxytryptamine receptor 4 (5-HT4) as an agonist with greater receptor selectivity. Patients on prucalopride reported improved symptoms, quality of life and satisfaction. The most frequent adverse events were headaches and problems related to the gastrointestinal tract. Caution should be taken when using prucalopride in patients with impaired liver and renal function. In Canada, prucalopride has been approved for treatment of female patients with chronic idiopathic constipation who have failed therapy with at least two laxatives from different classes over a six-month period.Open access journalThis item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]

Gender differences and age-specific associations between Body Mass Index and other cardiovascular risk factors in CMV infected and uninfected people

Recent studies have highlighted Body Mass Index (BMI) as an important parameter associated with cardiovascular risk and cancer. Here we have explored the relationship between BMI and other cardiovascular risk factors such as white blood count (WBC) and mean arterial blood pressure (MAP) in young (20-35 years) and older (60-85 years) healthy donors stratified by gender and CMV IgG serostatus. We found a positive correlation between BMI and WBC in young women, which was significant in CMV+ women. Interestingly, there was a non-significant opposite trend in young men. In older women the positive trend was preserved in the presence of CMVinfection, but no clear trend was seen in older men. Gender differences were also observed by opposite trends regarding an association between MAP and WBC (positive in young women, negative in young men). These associations were not observed at older ages. However, in CMV+ older men, there was a significant association between MAP and WBC as well as neutrophil count (NC). CRP values were only available in older participants, and interestingly, correlated with WBC and NC only in women, and more closely in CMVwomen. This study reveals that the correlations between common inflammatory markers/cardiovascular risk factors depend on age, gender, and CMV infection status in a complex fashion. Our findings support the need to evaluate risk factors independently in men and women and to take into account CMV infection status. More focused studies will be required to shed light on these novel findings

ANALYSIS OF THE ADOPTION OF WHEAT SOWING RECOMMENDATIONS AMONG SMALL FARMERS USING WATER SAVING INTERVENTIONS

ABSTRACT Wheat is a staple food crop of Pakistan. Enhancing wheat yield by encouraging farmers, predominantly small farmers, to adopt agricultural innovations including efficient and judicious use of land and water resources for coping with the needs and demands of ever increasing population of Pakistan is a serious challenge. This challenge provided impetus to plan and conduct the present study. In order to evaluate the adoption of the latest technologies at small farms, district Faisalabad was selected as the study area. Area under study comprised five tehsils: Faisalabad, Jaranwala, Sammandri, Chak Jhumra and Tandlianwala. The cross sectional survey research design was applied. Field interviews were conducted with the help of a validated and reliable research instrument. Most of the respondents (58%) under observation were of middle age category. Majority of the respondents (~100%) adopted wheat sowing recommendations such as well preparation of soil, use of recommended dose of seed, application of fertilizer, best way of harvesting and better method of storage whereas, manual weed removing, and fumigation of seed were adopted 33.0% and 37.8 % respectively. Further more regarding extent of adoption of wheat sowing recommendations, the well preparation of soil and best method of storage were adopted by 84.4 %, and 63.7% respondent respectively where as the respondent adopted the wheat sowing recommendations such as use of recommended seed (56.3%) and use of weedicide (55.6%) to an average extent. Compatibility of farmers' preferences with the recommendations and actual practices provide useful adoption indicators