Relationship between primary liver hepatocellular carcinoma volumes on portal-venous phase CT imaging

The liver is an important organ in the body. It is located under the rib cage on the right side. The liver performs many important functions, it processes food for nutrients that the body requires and also helps in the detoxification of harmful materials. Like any organ in the body, the liver is susceptible to diseases such as liver cancer. Liver cancer is the growth and spread of unhealthy cells of the liver. There are several risk factor for liver cancer, these are: Cirrhosis (scarring of the liver), long term hepatitis B and hepatitis C infection and diabetes patients with long term drinking problem. Hepatocellular Carcinoma is the most common form of liver cancer in adult population which begins in the main type of liver cell (hepatocyte). Because Hepatocellular carcinoma starts from the primary liver cell itself (hepatocytes), as such it is a primary liver cancer. About 30,000 Americans are diagnosed with primary liver cancer yearly, making it an important disease that plaques our society and therefore needs proper diagnosis. In clinical evaluation of primary liver cancer such as HCC, the use of medical imaging technology has been commonplace. Most medical facilities across the country and globally typically use Computed Tomography (CT) and/or Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) in the diagnosis and treatment follow up of Hepatocellular carcinoma. The medical imaging devices are used to determine the extent and volume of the tumor of the cancerous liver cells. In clinical trials involving the imaging of HCC tumors, the typical protocol used in the CT imaging of HCC involves the use of contrast enhanced dual phase acquisition. This approach is based on the physiology of the blood flow through the liver. Since HCC tumors are hypervascular in nature, it would thus be more apparent in the arterial phase of an acquired CT image. The aforementioned characteristic was tested with a volume paradigm which measure and compare the volume of both the arterial phase and portal venous phase acquired images in the experiment. Overall this study helps in furthering goals to reduce the patient dose from the x-ray tubes during clinical trials. The results of the experiments (n = 19, t = 0.67, p = 0.26), indicates no significant difference between the volume of the HCC tumor images acquired both in the AP and PVP

Low zinc levels is associated with increased inflammatory activity but not with atherosclerosis, arteriosclerosis or endothelial dysfunction among the very elderly

BACKGROUND: Reduced zinc intake has been related to atherogenesis and arteriosclerosis. We verified this assumption in very old individuals, which are particularly prone to both zinc deficiency and structural and functional changes in the arterial wall. METHODS: Subjects (n = 201, 80-102 years) with uneventful cardiovascular history and who were not in use of anti-inflammatory treatments in the last 30-days were enrolled. Daily intake of zinc, lipid profile, plasma C-reactive protein (CRP), plasma zinc, flow-mediated dilation (FMD), carotid ultrasonography and cardiac computed tomography were obtained. Young\u27s Elastic Modulus, Stiffness Index and Artery Compliance were calculated. RESULTS: There was no significant difference in clinical or laboratorial data between subjects grouped according to plasma zinc tertile, except for CRP (p = 0.01) and blood leukocytes (p = 0.002), of which levels were higher in the upper tertiles. The average daily intake of zinc was not significantly correlated with zinc or CRP plasma levels. The plasma zinc/zinc intake ratio was inversely correlated with plasma CRP levels (- 0.18; p = 0.01). There was no significant difference between the plasma zinc tertiles and FMD, carotid intima-media thickness, coronary calcium score, carotid plaque presence, remodeled noncalcified coronary plaques, or low-attenuation noncalcified coronary plaques. CONCLUSION: Although plasma zinc level is inversely related to systemic inflammatory activity, its plasma levels of daily intake are not associated to alterations in structure or function of the arterial wall. GENERAL SIGNIFICANCE: In the very elderly plasma concentrations or daily intake of zinc is not related to endothelial dysfunction, arteriosclerosis or atherosclerotic burden at coronary or carotid arteries

Age-specific serum prostate-specific antigen references range among healthy men in Port Harcourt, Nigeria: a retrospective hospital-based study

Background: Total prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels increase with advancing age. Its age-specific ranges are being advocated to increase its sensitivity and specificity. This study was aimed to examine the relationship between total PSA levels and age, and to determine the age-specific ranges among healthy men without prostatic diseases in our environment.Methods: In this retrospective hospital-based study, records of men without prostatic diseases who had visited University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital for routine screening for prostate cancer using serum total PSA between 1st January 2012 and 31st December 2016 were retrieved and analyzed using descriptive statistics and Spearman’s correlation test. A p-value 80years respectively. There was a positive correlation between serum PSA concentration and age (rs = 0.395; p<0.001).Conclusions: Total PSA increases with advancing age and its age-specific reference range in this study are similar to findings in our environment but higher than the values found in other parts of the world. We suggest serum PSA normal reference values should be characterized by age and race in our environment

Frequency of thyroid dysfunctions among Nigerian patients with vitiligo

Background: Vitiligo is associated with varying degrees of thyroid dysfunctions. This study was aimed to evaluate the thyroid dysfunctions in patients with vitiligo in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, West Africa.Methods: A retrospective, descriptive, cross-sectional analysis of thyroid function tests variables of 105 vitiligo patients who visited the Department of Chemical Pathology and Metabolic Medicine of the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital between 1st January 2012 and 31st December 2016 was conducted. Records of age, sex, thyroid stimulating hormone, total thyroxine, total triiodothyronine was collected and analyzed using Shapiro-Wilk, descriptive, chi-square, Fisher’s exact, and Pearson’s tests. A statistical significance of p <0.05 was applied.Results: Females predominated among study cohort (61.9% female versus 38.1% male; p = 0.015). Most patients were less than 30 years old in both sexes. 26.7% (37 out of 105) had various degrees of thyroid dysfunctions. Among this 26.7% (37) with various thyroid dysfunctions, are 28 (75%) females and 9 (25%) males. These dysfunctions include primary hypothyroidism (6.7%), primary hyperthyroidism (1%), subclinical hypothyroidism (17.1%) and subclinical hyperthyroidism (1.9%), while the majority were euthyroid (73.3%). Subclinical hypothyroidism was the most common disorder (n = 18; 17.2%) with female preponderance (females n = 11; 61% versus males n = 7; 39%).Conclusions: This study confirms high frequency of thyroid dysfunctions among vitiligo patients. The culture of regular assessment of thyroid function should be mandatory among patients with vitiligo

Vocational and Technology Education: A Tool to Industrialization in Bayelsa State, Nigeria

The study examined Vocational and Technology Education a tool to industrialization in Bayelsa state Nigeria The design for the study was comparative survey research design The population of the study was 98 university graduates of vocational and technology education working in Yenagoa Metropolis Bayelsa State The population consists 50 males and 48 females respectively The instrument for data collection was a questionnaire The instrument was titled Vocational and Technology Education Industrialization Questionnaire VTEIQ The instrument have three 3 research questions with twelve 12 statement items instrument was validated by three experts on face content and construct respectively The reliability coefficient was carried out using test-retest method which yielded 0 83 Mean with standard deviation were used to answer the research questions The hypotheses was tested using Z-test analysis at 0 05 level of significance From the findings it was revealed that male and female ratings of university graduates of vocational and technology education with respect to job creation poverty alleviation and self reliance for industrialization in Bayelsa State Nigeria have a high extent as a tool for industrialization and it also revealed that there is no significant difference between male and female university graduates of vocational and technology education with respect to job creation poverty alleviation and self relianc

Employee commitment and organizational performance in selected fast food outlets in Osun State

Purpose: This study examined the effect of employee commitment on organization performance of selected fast food outlets in Osun State. It determined how employee commitment affects staff turnover and also examined factors that affect employee commitment Research Methodology: Primary data was used for this study; respondents were selected using convenient sampling method from the study area. Questionnaire was used to gather information. One hundred copies of questionnaire were administered to the selected respondents and ninety-six were retrieved and found useful for analysis. The data gathered were analysed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. Results: Findings revealed that employee commitment is significant to organization performance. Profitability, increased in sales, and increased in customers’ patronage were used to measure organizational performance, and it was observed that employee commitment influence profitability; increased in sales, customers’ patronage. It was observed that employee commitment affects staff turnover as revealed by the chi-square statistic (χ2 =). Likewise, findings showed that employee commitment could be affected by some factors such as gender, nature of work, length of service, and management style, Although, length of service and management style were not significant at 5% significance level. The study concluded that an employee commitment can influence the organization performance. Keywords: Employee commitment, Organization performance, Staff turnove

Financial Incentives and Rewards on Employee Motivation in the Nigerian Electricity Distribution Company

The study, financial incentives and rewards on employee motivation in the Nigerian electricity distribution company, used likert scale form questionnaire to gather data from purposive selected employees of the company. On one hand, respondents were asked to rank six financial and non-financial incentives and rewards in order of importance. The result revealed that financial incentives and rewards were more important and motivating to the respondents. On the other hand, Chi-Square crossstabulation on the hypotheses revealed that financial incentives and rewards influence employee attitude, job satisfaction and productivity irrespective of gender and cadre in the organisation.  The study concludes that financial incentives and rewards motivate employee to have positive attitude at work, lead to job satisfaction, improve productivity, and recommends that employers should concentrate more on it to ensure employee positive attitude, job satisfaction, improved productivity and performance. Keywords: Financial Incentives and Rewards, Employee Attitude, Job Satisfaction, Motivation, Productivit