CLINICAL PRESENTATION OF LEPTIN LEVELS IN PATIENTS WITH HISTORY OF PARENTAL OBESITY

Objective: The role of adipose tissue as an endocrine organ is of great interest and leptin seems to be involved in it. The aim of this study is to document the characteristic of subjects with respect to leptin and BMI, with both parental history of central obesity and to describe the association in it.Study design: This was a cross sectional study. The subjects with both parental history of central obesity were selected in both normal and diabetic study population along with the controls.Results: Leptin values obtained was higher in those subjects with both parental history of central obesity with a mean difference of 11.1units (P<0.001) in diabetic subjects and  6.44 units (P<0.001) among the normal subjects though BMI showed no much difference between the groups.Conclusion: The data of this study demonstrated the  genetic relationship between leptin levels and obesity

Relationship between Sialic acid and metabolic variables in Indian type 2 diabetic patients

BACKGROUND: Plasma sialic acid is a marker of the acute phase response. Objective is to study the relationship between sialic acid relationship with metabolic variables in Indian type 2 diabetes with and without microvascular complications. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: Fasting Venous blood samples were taken from 200 subjects of which 50 were of diabetes mellitus (DM) and nephropathy patients, 50 patients with type 2 diabetes and retinopathy, 50 patients with type 2 diabetes without any complications and 50 healthy individuals without diabetes. The Indian subject's aged 15–60 years with type 2 diabetes were recruited for the study. Simultaneously urine samples were also collected from each of the subjects. All the blood samples were analyzed for total cholesterol, triglyceride (TG), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), high-density lipoprotein (HDL), fasting and postprandial glucose on fully automated analyzer. Serum and urine sialic acid along with microalbumin levels were also estimated. RESULTS: There was a significantly increasing trend of plasma and urine sialic acid with severity of nephropathy (P < 0.001) and with degree of urinary albumin excretion (P < 0.001). Serum sialic acid correlated with increasing serum creatinine concentration (P < 0.001). Elevated serum sialic acid concentrations were also associated with several risk factors for diabetic vascular disease: diabetes duration, HbA(1)c, serum triglyceride and cholesterol concentrations, waist-to-hip ratio and hypertension. Significant correlations were found between sialic acid concentration and cardiovascular risk factors like LDL and TG in the diabetic subjects. CONCLUSION: The main finding of this study is that elevated serum and urinary sialic acid and microalbumin concentrations were strongly related to the presence of microvascular complications like diabetic nephropathy and retinopathy and cardiovascular risk factors in Indian type 2 diabetic subjects. Further study of acute-phase response markers and mediators as indicators or predictors of diabetic microvascular complications is therefore justified

BENEFICIAL EFFECTS OF COFFEE AND MAINTENANCE OF URIC ACID LEVELS

Objective: This study aimed in finding out if drinking coffee over a long term showed a marked influence on the serum uric acid level and Fasting blood glucose level.Methods: The study population had 200 healthy subjects out of whom 143 were coffee drinkers and 90 diabetic subjects out of which 48 were coffee drinkers.Results: It was seen that the mean value of uric acid in coffee consumers was significantly lower in both normal and diabetic study population. Further, the relation of Fasting blood glucose (FBG) with uric acid in diabetic coffee consuming study population was much linear than in the normal study population.Conclusion: Since hyperglycemia and hyperuricemia are associated with the risk of cardiovascular disease and end-stage renal disorder in type 2 diabetes, coffee is considered to be useful in such subjects. The amounts of chlorogenic acid and caffeine in coffee are now considered beneficial on long term usage since it improves insulin sensitivity and lowers the uric acid and sugar level.Keywords: Coffee, Fasting Blood Glucose, Type 2 diabetes, Uric acid

INCONSISTENT LIPID PROFILES EXHIBITED AMONG THE DIABETIC ASIAN INDIANS OF INDIA AND TRINIDAD–A COMPARATIVE STUDY

Objective: This was an cross-sectional observational study wherein clinical parameters were compared between the population of two countries like India and Trinidad.Methods: One hundred and six diabetic and 100 healthy individuals from Dakshina Kannada District of India were chosen and compared with 106 Type 2 diabetic and 100 healthy individuals of Trinidad. Along with anthropometric variables and blood pressure, blood samples were collected from the subjects aged above 35years of both genders who would fit with the inclusion criteria. Total cholesterol, triglyceride, VLDL, LDL and sugar levels were estimated from the blood samples collected.Results: Though both the study population were of similar BMI, we found considerable higher values from the baseline among the systolic pressure, total cholesterol and fasting blood glucose level in both the countries. Though the normal study population showed a small change in the mean values, most of the difference was not statistically significant. We found that Indian diabetic population had a higher risk of future complication of diabetes with significantly higher LDL (p=0.002) and systolic pressure (p=0.000).Conclusion: This study shows important difference among biochemical parameters and other risk factors in the Asian phenotypic races with countries like India and Trinidad. The data also showed that Indian diabetic population are at higher risk of developing complications when compared to Trinidadians

Frequency of W24X Gene Polymorphism among the Students from Hearing Impaired Schools of Shimoga District

Introduction An important accompaniment of Non-syndromic sensorineural hearing loss is family history and consanguinity. One of the widely studied single nucleotide polymorphism is the gap junction protein beta-2 (GJB2) gene which encodes the protein connexin26. This study aims to detect the frequency of W24X mutation in a population with non-syndromic sensorineural hearing loss concerning the degree of consanguinity. Materials and Methods The study includes 76 subjects with Non-syndromic sensorineural hearing loss. These subjects had congenital sensorineural hearing loss and other causes for the same had been ruled out. The SNP rs 104894396 was identified by the PCR-RFLP method. Results The frequency of the wild allele was 0.84% and the mutant allele was 0.15%. The frequency of wild allele and mutant allele did not differ much between patients with and without consanguinity. The association between consanguineous marriage and allele frequency was not significant. Gene polymorphism was not present in 77 percent of our NSHL subjects, though 79 percent of our study population were a result of consanguineous marriage. Conclusion Though the role of consanguineous marriages in congenital sensorineural hearing loss is well established, the association between allele frequency and consanguineous marriage was not seen. We assume that other genes responsible for deafness may be involved in the population

Evaluation of Clinical, Demographic, and Biochemical Profiles of Trinidadian Patients Undergoing Coronary Angiography

Background Trinidad and Tobago ranks number 45 in the world for total deaths due to coronary heart disease. Predictive tests for coronary angiographic results set the basis for earlier monitoring of the disease before additional complications become obvious. Aims and Methods This study aimed to evaluate the anthropometric and biochemical parameters of 124 patients with suspected coronary artery disease (CAD) in Trinidad and how these parameters correlate to the findings at angiography. Results The biochemical parameters showed statistically significant correlations with CAD severity by Spearman's rank-order correlation. Two clinical parameters showed significant associations with CAD severity—ethnicity (χ2 (4) = 12.925, p = 0.012) and presence of type 2 diabetes at baseline (χ2 (4) = 21.483, p < 0.001). Conclusion Biochemical parameters such as fasting blood sugar, N-terminal pro B-type natriuretic peptide, creatinine, and hemoglobin A1c were well correlated and well associated with the severity of CAD after diagnosis by the process of coronary angiography. Hence, these factors can be taken into consideration to predict the severity of CAD

Design and Performance Test of a Micro-Reformer for Fuel-cell Application

PEMFC可以應用於微型燃料電池，原因是PEMFC電力密度高，而唯一要克服的是它需要攜帶足夠的氫氣能源。現代甲醇微型重組器可克服氫氣攜帶量的瓶頸，而重組可以利用適當的觸媒改善，其關鍵技術為甲醇重組觸媒種類與塗佈、反應器流道設計及系統控制，是值得研發者繼續克服的問題。甲醇重組為氫時，必須先將甲醇與水混合，並加熱成為氣態，然後才進入反應器，從中與觸媒接觸產生反應。因此，反應物溫度、甲醇與水的比例、反應物與觸媒的接觸面積與時間長短對於整體反應效率有極大的影響。因此，本研究將針對這些因素設計並建立一個微型重組系統，此微型甲醇重組器尺寸設計為100mm×120mm×15mm，其流道尺寸則為750μm×150μm×60mm，而塗佈之觸媒重量約為10mg左右，且觸媒CuO-ZnO-Al2O3係直接塗佈於流道上，以減少重組器的體積、製作成本。 實驗結果顯示，反應溫度越高，則甲醇轉化率隨溫度之增加而增加，氫氣產量也隨之變大。在反應溫度從180℃增加至260℃時，甲醇轉化率由5％增加到72％，氫氣產量由0.80E-04（mole/min）增加到7.50E-04（mole/min）。進料率方面，反應物進料率增大，氫氣產量也會跟著增加，但卻會導致甲醇轉化率降低。反應器面積明顯越大對反應效率越好，當反應面積為5.70E+03mm2、溫度增加至260℃、進料率為0.01ml/min時，甲醇轉化率即可高達85％，在進料率為0.50ml/min，氫氣產量也高達2.90E-03（mole/min），為實驗中最佳之數據，此氫氣產量也足以供應一般微型燃料電池的氫氣需求量。述會影響整個重組性能的因素都將逐一加以測試研究，而系統的性能則以甲醇轉化率、氫產生率及產物中的CO濃度為指標。最後則將甲醇的重組與其氫產物的純化併入一微型燃料電池，以測試整個系統的性能，並試圖找出最佳的匹配。PEMFC may be applied in micro-scale for its high density of energy. However, the disadvantage of the difficulty in storing gaseous hydrogen in the PEMFC system must be overcome. Fortunately, the problem may be solved by a fuel-processing system for generating hydrogen through the reformation of liquid methanol. The reforming process may be greatly improved by the use of some proper catalysts. The key points for the reformation are, therefore, the type and amount of the catalyst, the design of the reacting channel, and the control of the processing system.o generate hydrogen from methanol, the latter must be mixed with water and the solution of the reactants must be heated into gaseous state before entering the reactor. The temperature of the reactants and the ratio between methanol and water are thus also important. Furthermore, the area and time of contact between the reactants and the catalyst may affect the reaction rate significantly. The research project is, therefore, the dimensions of the reforming sub-system set up for the investigation will be 100mm x 120mm x 15mm, while those of the flow channels will be 750μm x 150μm x 60 mm. The catalyst CuO-ZnO-Al2O3 of about 10mg will be directly coated on the flow channel to save space and cost.he experimental results show that the methanol conversion and hydrogen yield increase with reacting temperature. When reacting temperature is set at 260℃, the maximum of methanol conversion rate obtained 72％ and the maximum of hydrogen yield obtained 7.50E-04（mole/min）. The methanol conversion increase with methanol feeding rate, decrease with hydrogen yield. The experimental results also show that the methanol conversion increase obviously with reacting area. It has been discovered that the optimal conversion rate which occurs when the reacting area is set at 5.70E+03mm2、the feeding rate is set at 0.01 ml/min、the reacting temperature is set at 260℃ is 85％ and the hydrogen yield is 2.90E-03 mole/min when the feeding rate is set at 0.5 ml/min.he effect of the above-mentioned factors, which may affect the performance of the complete reforming system, will be experimentally investigated within proper ranges, while the performance indicators of the system will be the conversion rate of methanol, the yielding rate of hydrogen, and the concentration of CO in the final products. Finally, the complete reforming system will be incorporated into a micro-PEMFC and tests will be conducted to show the appropriateness of the design.目錄容 頁次文摘要.....................................................................................................I文摘要....................................................................................................II錄..........................................................................................................IV目錄.....................................................................................................VII目錄....................................................................................................VIII號說明................................................................................................XIII一章 緒論............................................................................................1.1 燃料電池...................................................................................1.2 微型重組器...............................................................................3 1.3 重組器反應機制與原理...........................................................5.3.1蒸汽重組法............................................................................6.3.2部分氧化重組法.....................................................................7.3.3自發熱重組法.........................................................................7.3.4 甲醇重組方法比較.................................................................8 1.4 研究動機...................................................................................9二章 文獻回顧..................................................................................10.1 重組器的設計及實驗研究.......................................................10.1.1 蒸汽重組法.........................................................................10.1.2 自發熱重組法…..................................................................12.2 微型重組器的設計及實驗研究.............................................13.3 重組器的應用.........................................................................14.4 微型重組器的設計目標……………….................................15 2.5 反應速率與溫度……………….............................................16三章 實驗設備與過程......................................................................19.1 甲醇溶液供應系統.................................................................19.1.1 微甲醇水泵.........................................................................19.1.2 管柱加熱器.........................................................................20.1.3 甲醇水槽............................................................................20.2 重組反應系統……..................................................................20.2.1 反應器…….........................................................................20 3.2.1.1 反應器本體…...........................................................21 3.2.1.2 防洩環…..................................................................21 3.2.1.3 ㄇ型加熱器..............................................................21 3.2.1.4 隔熱裝置….............................................................22 3.2.1.5 溫度控制器..............................................................22 3.2.1.6 熱電偶…..................................................................22.2.2 物理乾燥器….....................................................................22.2.3 觸媒種類………..................................................................23.3 氣體收集系統.........................................................................23.3.1 真空壓力幫浦......................................................................24.3.2 氣體收集瓶.........................................................................24.4 量測設備.................................................................................24.5 實驗流程.................................................................................25四章 結果與討論..............................................................................27.1 甲醇轉化率的計算……………….........................................27.2 蒸汽重組反應………………………………………….........29.2.1甲醇蒸汽重組設定測試與分析..…………………................29.2.2 系統反應溫度…………………........................................30.2.3 甲醇水溶液進料率的影響…………………………..................32.2.4 微流道反應面積與空間速度………………………..................34.2.5 甲醇蒸汽重組氣體成分………………………………...............36.3 觸媒種類與穩定性.................................................................36.4 甲醇水溶液濃度( 比)的影響..............................................37.5 甲醇反應器之熱效率.............................................................38五章 結論與建議..............................................................................40.1 結論.........................................................................................40.2 建議.........................................................................................41考文獻..................................................................................................43表..........................................................................................................48圖..........................................................................................................57錄A 誤差分析...................................................................................93錄B 微甲醇水泵...............................................................................9