Inspire. Empower. Live.: A design solution for the deaf and hearing-impaired

Being deaf is defined as the inability to hear, but it can also be defined as a culture centered around sensibilities and shared life experiences. This endeavor seeks to integrate the hearing-impaired and hearing communities through the application of Deaf Space and other design theories. The result is an inspiring, empowering, and lively solution

Genetic association of solute carrier transporter gene variants with metformin response

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a metabolic disorder characterized by elevated blood glucose levels and is influenced by both genetic and environmental factors. It is treated with various classes of oral antidiabetic drugs, however, response to treatment is highly variable with patients failing to achieve adequate glycemic control. Treatment response variability has been associated with single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) which influence the pharma-cokinetics and pharmacodynamics of drug(s). The aim of this study was to evaluate the genetic association of 17 SNPs and the response to metformin therapy in patients diagnosed with diabetes from the indigenous Nguni population of South Africa. One hundred and forty indigenous African patients diagnosed with T2DM were recruited and genotyped using the MassARRAY® system. Therapeutic response of patients was ascertained by a change in Hb A1c. Two SNPs (rs1801282 and rs6265) were monomorphic. All other variants were within the Hardy- Weinberg equilibrium (HWE). The T allele of the SLC variant rs316009 [odds ratio (OR) = 0.25, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) = 0.01-0.09, p value = 0.044] and the CT genotype of the PCK1 variant rs4810083 (OR = 2.80, 95% CI = 1.01-7.79, p value = 0.049) were associated with an improved response to treatment after adjustment. No association was observed with post Bonferroni correction. Moreover, this study provides important additional data regarding possible associations between genetic variants and metformin therapy outcomes. In addition, this is one of the first studies providing genetic data from the understudied indigenous sub-Saharan African populations

Determinación de la digestibilidad proteica in vitro de harina de grillo “Gryllus assimilis”

El aumento de la población mundial y las proyecciones al 2100, han generado la investigación de nuevas fuentes proteicas no convencionales para cubrir esta futura demanda. Entre estas fuentes emergentes destacan: hongos, microalgas, levaduras y carne in vitro, a pesar de ello la valoración de su aporte proteico se ve afectada por factores como la digestibilidad y la correcta cuantificación de la proteína. Adicionalmente, deben cumplir las características inherentes de la seguridad alimentaria y ser ecoamigables. En este contexto, el consumo de algunos insectos se presenta como una opción viable. Esta investigación descriptiva, transversal tuvo como objetivo determinar la digestibilidad proteica in vitro de un insecto nativo peruano (Gryllus assimilis), para lo cual se procesaron 4000 grillos adultos y se obtuvieron 410 g de harina. La muestra fue enviada a los laboratorios de Inspection & Testing Service del Perú S.A.C, obteniendo los siguientes resultados: digestibilidad 85.7% y proteína cruda 56.7%, no obstante el aporte proteico fue corregido por el factor Kp (5.76), para insectos en etapa de maduración.TesisLIMAEscuela Profesional de Nutrición HumanaCiencias de los alimento

Patterns Of Drug Prescribing In A Hospital In Dubai, United Arab Emirates

To determine the pattern of drug prescription by consultants in a private hospital in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 1190 prescriptions were collected from the hospital's pharmacy over 30 days. In total, 2659 drugs were prescribed. The mean number of drugs per encounter was 2.2. Only 4.4% of all drugs prescribed were generic. Polypharmacy was observed in only 7.5% of all encounters. Information about the prescribing physician and the patient was invariably deficient. Name of patient, age, and gender were absent in 2.9%, 9.7%, and 12% of prescriptions, respectively. In addition, none of the prescriptions mentioned address, diagnosis, or allergy of the patient. Name of physician, signature, speciality and license or registration number were omitted in 12.2%, 10.3%, 20.3%, and 54.9% of prescriptions. The most commonly prescribed therapeutic classes of drugs (and principal drug in each class) were as follows: 23.4% non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs, Diclofenac sodium being 51.6%), 21.4% antibiotics (amoxicillin-clavulanate 13.5%), and 11.5% gastrointestinal drugs (GI, Hyoscine-N-butylbromide 28.1%). Other therapeutic classes included endocrine drugs (6.1%), vitamin supplements (5.9%), nasal decongestants (4%), antihistaminics (3.8%) and cardiovascular drugs (2.6%). Antibiotic injections accounted for 7.4% of all antibiotics prescribed, which was equivalent to 1.6% of all prescriptions. Other agents prescribed in small proportions of encounters collectively amounted to 21.3%. This study reveals the prescription trends, and indicates possible areas of improvement in prescription practice

Psychotherapeutic practice in paediatric oncology: four examples

Psychotherapy, often used with children treated for a solid tumour, is seldom described. We present four examples of such therapies: a mother who refused enucleation for her 7-month-old boy; a boy's jealousy towards his sister who was being treated for a brain tumour; a teenager troubled by his scar; a 7-year-old boy embarrassed by the unconscious memory of his treatment when he was 5 months old. All names have been changed, for reasons of privacy. Psychotherapies aim to help children and parents to cope with the violent experience of having cancer, to recover their freedom of thought and decision-making concerning their life, their place in the family, their body image, their self-esteem, their identity. These descriptions of brief psychotherapy could help paediatricians to gain a more thorough understanding of the child's experience, to improve collaboration with psychotherapists and to confront clinical skills of psychotherapists. © 2000 Cancer Research Campaig

Simplifying the use of prognostic information in traumatic brain injury. Part 2: Graphical Presentation of Probabilities

Objective: Clinical features such as those included in the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score, pupil reactivity, and patient age, as well as CT findings, have clear established relationships with patient outcomes due to neurotrauma. Nevertheless, predictions made from combining these features in probabilistic models have not found a role in clinical practice. In this study, the authors aimed to develop a method of displaying probabilities graphically that would be simple and easy to use, thus improving the usefulness of prognostic information in neurotrauma. This work builds on a companion paper describing the GCS-Pupils score (GCS-P) as a tool for assessing the clinical severity of neurotrauma. Methods: Information about early GCS score, pupil response, patient age, CT findings, late outcome according to the Glasgow Outcome Scale, and mortality were obtained at the individual adult patient level from the CRASH (Corticosteroid Randomisation After Significant Head Injury; n = 9045) and IMPACT (International Mission for Prognosis and Clinical Trials in TBI; n = 6855) databases. These data were combined into a pooled data set for the main analysis. Logistic regression was first used to model the combined association between the GCS-P and patient age and outcome, following which CT findings were added to the models. The proportion of variability in outcomes “explained” by each model was assessed using Nagelkerke’s R2. Results: The authors observed that patient age and GCS-P have an additive effect on outcome. The probability of mortality 6 months after neurotrauma is greater with increasing age, and for all age groups the probability of death is greater with decreasing GCS-P. Conversely, the probability of favorable recovery becomes lower with increasing age and lessens with decreasing GCS-P. The effect of combining the GCS-P with patient age was substantially more informative than the GCS-P, age, GCS score, or pupil reactivity alone. Two-dimensional charts were produced displaying outcome probabilities, as percentages, for 5-year increments in age between 15 and 85 years, and for GCS-Ps ranging from 1 to 15; it is readily seen that the movement toward combinations at the top right of the charts reflects a decreasing likelihood of mortality and an increasing likelihood of favorable outcome. Analysis of CT findings showed that differences in outcome are very similar between patients with or without a hematoma, absent cisterns, or subarachnoid hemorrhage. Taken in combination, there is a gradation in risk that aligns with increasing numbers of any of these abnormalities. This information provides added value over age and GCS-P alone, supporting a simple extension of the earlier prognostic charts by stratifying the original charts in the following 3 CT groupings: none, only 1, and 2 or more CT abnormalities. Conclusions: The important prognostic features in neurotrauma can be brought together to display graphically their combined effects on risks of death or on prospects for independent recovery. This approach can support decision making and improve communication of risk among health care professionals, patients, and their relatives. These charts will not replace clinical judgment, but they will reduce the risk of influences from biases

An appraisal: How notifiable infectious diseases are reported by Hungarian family physicians

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Minimum energy conformations of DNA dimeric subunits: Potential energy calculations for dGpdC, dApdA, dCpdC, dGpdG, and dTpdT

Minimum energy conformations have been calculated for the deoxydinucleoside phosphates dGpdC, dApdA, dCpdC, dGpdG, and dTpdT. In these potential energy calculations the eight diheldral angles and the sugar pucker were flexible parameters. A substantial survey of conformation space was made in which all staggred combination of the dihedral angles ω′,ω, and ψ, in conjunction with C(2′)-endo pucker, were used as starting conformers for the energy minimization. The most important conformations in the C(3′)-endo-puckering domain have ψ = g+; ω′,ω = g−,g−(A-form),g+, g+, and g−,t. With C(2′)-endo-type pucker the most important conformations have ψ = g+; ω′,ω =g-,g-(B-form) and g+,t; and ψ =t; ω′,ω =g-,t(Watson-Crick from) and t,g+ (skewed). Stacked bases are a persistent feature of the low-energy conformations, the g+ conformer being an exception. Freeing the suger pucker allowed this conformation to become low energy, with C(3′)-exo pucker. It also caused other low-energy forms, such and the Waston-Crick conformation, to become more favourable. Conformation flexibility in the sugar pucker and in ψ, as well as the ω′,ω angle pair, is indicated for the dimeric subunits of DNA