107 research outputs found
Observational assessment and correlates to blood pressure of future physicians of Bengal
Intoduction: Hypertension is a modern day epidemic and growing public health problem. A sizable proportion of world populations suffer from prehypertension or hypertension. Objectives: The present study was carried out to detect the prevalence of undiagnosed hypertension among undergraduate medical students and to identify the associated risk factors.Materials and Methods: The study was observational in nature and was done in medical colleges of Bengal. Study tool was a predesigned, pretested, validated, and semi-structured questionnaire containing both open-ended and closeended questions. Data were collected through self-administration, clinical, and anthropometric examination. The data were then tabulated, analyzed and interpretation was done by using percentage and Chi-square test.Results: Most of the students (63%) were young adults, predominantly males (67%) and day scholars (71%). Almost one-third of them either suffered from hypertension or at risk of hypertension. Hypertension was found higher among male students. Family history of hypertension or diabetes mellitus was not associated with hypertension. Vegetarian or nonvegetarian diet or extra-salt consumption was also not associated with hypertension. Smoking was shown positively associated with hypertension but alcohol consumption was not. Higher per capita monthly income and overweight or obesity were shown positively associated with hypertension.Conclusion: The overall prevalence of hypertension in this study was 13% and there were positive association of hypertension with multiple socio-demographic factors like age, sex, type of family, per capita monthly income, residence, BMI, smoking, etc.Keywords: Associated factors, hypertension, undergraduate medical studentsNigerian Journal of Clinical Practice • Oct-Dec 2013 • Vol 16 • Issue
Immunolocalization of KATP channel subunits in mouse and rat cardiac myocytes and the coronary vasculature.
BACKGROUND: Electrophysiological data suggest that cardiac KATP channels consist of Kir6.2 and SUR2A subunits, but the distribution of these (and other KATP channel subunits) is poorly defined. We examined the localization of each of the KATP channel subunits in the mouse and rat heart. RESULTS: Immunohistochemistry of cardiac cryosections demonstrate Kir6.1 protein to be expressed in ventricular myocytes, as well as in the smooth muscle and endothelial cells of coronary resistance vessels. Endothelial capillaries also stained positive for Kir6.1 protein. Kir6.2 protein expression was found predominantly in ventricular myocytes and also in endothelial cells, but not in smooth muscle cells. SUR1 subunits are strongly expressed at the sarcolemmal surface of ventricular myocytes (but not in the coronary vasculature), whereas SUR2 protein was found to be localized predominantly in cardiac myocytes and coronary vessels (mostly in smaller vessels). Immunocytochemistry of isolated ventricular myocytes shows co-localization of Kir6.2 and SUR2 proteins in a striated sarcomeric pattern, suggesting t-tubular expression of these proteins. Both Kir6.1 and SUR1 subunits were found to express strongly at the sarcolemma. The role(s) of these subunits in cardiomyocytes remain to be defined and may require a reassessment of the molecular nature of ventricular KATP channels. CONCLUSIONS: Collectively, our data demonstrate unique cellular and subcellular KATP channel subunit expression patterns in the heart. These results suggest distinct roles for KATP channel subunits in diverse cardiac structures
Intertwining Relations for the Deformed D1D5 CFT
The Higgs branch of the D1D5 system flows in the infrared to a
two-dimensional N=(4,4) SCFT. This system is believed to have an "orbifold
point" in its moduli space where the SCFT is a free sigma model with target
space the symmetric product of copies of four-tori; however, at the orbifold
point gravity is strongly coupled and to reach the supergravity point one needs
to turn on the four exactly marginal deformations corresponding to the blow-up
modes of the orbifold SCFT. Recently, technology has been developed for
studying these deformations and perturbing the D1D5 CFT off its orbifold point.
We present a new method for computing the general effect of a single
application of the deformation operators. The method takes the form of
intertwining relations that map operators in the untwisted sector before
application of the deformation operator to operators in the 2-twisted sector
after the application of the deformation operator. This method is
computationally more direct, and may be of theoretical interest. This line of
inquiry should ultimately have relevance for black hole physics.Comment: latex, 23 pages, 3 figure
Characterising variation in wheat traits under hostile soil conditions in India
Intensive crop breeding has increased wheat yields and production in India. Wheat improvement in India typically involves selecting yield and component traits under non-hostile soil conditions at regional scales. The aim of this study is to quantify G*E interactions on yield and component traits to further explore site-specific trait selection for hostile soils. Field experiments were conducted at six sites (pH range 4.5-9.5) in 2013-14 and 2014-15, in three agro-climatic regions of India. At each site, yield and component traits were measured on 36 genotypes, representing elite varieties from a wide genetic background developed for different regions. Mean grain yields ranged from 1.0 to 5.5 t ha⁻¹ at hostile and non-hostile sites, respectively. Site (E) had the largest effect on yield and component traits, however, interactions between genotype and site (G*E) affected most traits to a greater extent than genotype alone. Within each agro-climatic region, yield and component traits correlated positively between hostile and non-hostile sites. However, some genotypes performed better under hostile soils, with site-specific relationships between yield and component traits, which supports the value of ongoing site-specific selection activities
Emission from the D1D5 CFT: Higher Twists
We study a certain class of nonextremal D1D5 geometries and their ergoregion
emission. Using a detailed CFT computation and the formalism developed in
arXiv:0906.2015 [hep-th], we compute the full spectrum and rate of emission
from the geometries and find exact agreement with the gravity answer.
Previously, only part of the spectrum had been reproduced using a CFT
description. We close with a discussion of the context and significance of the
calculation.Comment: 39 pages, 6 figures, late
Excitations in the deformed D1D5 CFT
We perform some simple computations for the first order deformation of the
D1D5 CFT off its orbifold point. It had been shown earlier that under this
deformation the vacuum state changes to a squeezed state (with the further
action of a supercharge). We now start with states containing one or two
initial quanta and write down the corresponding states obtained under the
action of deformation operator. The result is relevant to the evolution of an
initial excitation in the CFT dual to the near extremal D1D5 black hole: when a
left and a right moving excitation collide in the CFT, the deformation operator
spreads their energy over a larger number of quanta, thus evolving the state
towards the infrared.Comment: 26 pages, Latex, 4 figure
Deforming the D1D5 CFT away from the orbifold point
The D1D5 brane bound state is believed to have an `orbifold point' in its
moduli space which is the analogue of the free Yang Mills theory for the D3
brane bound state. The supergravity geometry generated by D1 and D5 branes is
described by a different point in moduli space, and in moving towards this
point we have to deform the CFT by a marginal operator: the `twist' which links
together two copies of the CFT. In this paper we find the effect of this
deformation operator on the simplest physical state of the CFT -- the Ramond
vacuum. The twist deformation leads to a final state that is populated by pairs
of excitations like those in a squeezed state. We find the coefficients
characterizing the distribution of these particle pairs (for both bosons and
fermions) and thus write this final state in closed form.Comment: 30 pages, 4 figures, Late
Comments on black holes I: The possibility of complementarity
We comment on a recent paper of Almheiri, Marolf, Polchinski and Sully who
argue against black hole complementarity based on the claim that an infalling
observer 'burns' as he approaches the horizon. We show that in fact
measurements made by an infalling observer outside the horizon are
statistically identical for the cases of vacuum at the horizon and radiation
emerging from a stretched horizon. This forces us to follow the dynamics all
the way to the horizon, where we need to know the details of Planck scale
physics. We note that in string theory the fuzzball structure of microstates
does not give any place to 'continue through' this Planck regime. AMPS argue
that interactions near the horizon preclude traditional complementarity. But
the conjecture of 'fuzzball complementarity' works in the opposite way: the
infalling quantum is absorbed by the fuzzball surface, and it is the resulting
dynamics that is conjectured to admit a complementary description.Comment: 34 pages, 6 figures, v3: clarifications & references adde
A guideline for the outpatient management of glycaemic control in people with cancer
Individuals with cancer are at increased risk of developing new onset diabetes mellitus and hyperglycaemia, and an estimated 20% of people with cancer already have an underlying diagnosis of diabetes mellitus.
People with both cancer and diabetes may have an increased risk of toxicities, hospital admissions and morbidity, with hyperglycaemia potentially attenuating the efficacy of chemotherapy often secondary to dose reductions and early cessation. Numerous studies have demonstrated that hyperglycaemia is prognostic of worse overall survival and risk of cancer recurrence.
These guidelines aim to provide the oncology/haemato-oncology and diabetes multidisciplinary teams with the tools to manage people with diabetes commencing anti-cancer/ glucocorticoid therapy, as well as identifying individuals without a known diagnosis of diabetes who are at risk of developing hyperglycaemia and new onset diabetes
Comparison of the Electronic Structures and Energetics of Ferroelectric LiNbO3 and LiTaO3
This paper explains the origin of the ferroelectric instability in LiNbO3 and
LiTaO3 and compares the electronic structures and energetics of the two
materials.Comment: 31 pages, 11 Postscript figure
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