Effect of Chromium Picolinate Supplementation on

Abstract The health impacts of Chromium Picolinate (CrP) have been searched by various researchers particularly focused on management of Type-2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) with the conflicting results. The objective of the present study was to investigate the role of CrP on management of T2DM. It was a randomized controlled trial (RCT). Two groups of newly diagnosed Type -2 diabetics between the age brackets of 40-65 years were randomly selected from diabetes clinic. One group was exposed to 200 μg of CrP per day and the other was given a capsule of inert material as placebo having no impact on diabetic profile. The intervention duration was 03 months followed by one month as washout period. The outcome variables were biochemistry related to diabetic profile, clinical signs symptoms and toxicity if any. Dietary profile and anthropometrics were used for nutritional assessment. The study revealed that 82.7% of the subjects had family history of diabetes among which 59.6% were close relative. 98.1% were suffering from some kind of stress. Diabetic profile such as FPG, HbA1c and insulin levels improved in terms of normality after three months in treatment group, but did not come to the normal acceptable range e.g. The FPG dropped from142.85±17.71 to 130.42±32.68 mg/dl with a significant P value of 0.003 within the phases. Other health indicators such as lipid profile, blood pressure and clinical signs symptoms also improved and more in treatment group. Dietary counseling showed positive effects on food intake. Renal and hepatic profile showed no signs of toxicity in treatment group. The study concluded that CrP combined with dietary counseling had positive effect on diabetic profile of the newly diagnosed T2DM patients. The clinical signs and symptoms were improved. No hepatic and renal toxicity was observed

In-Hospital Outcome In Patients With Acyanotic Congenital Heart Disease Undergoing Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement.

The purpose of the study was to determine the in-hospital outcome and resource utilization in patients with acyanotic congenital heart disease (ACHD) undergoing transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). Current guidelines from professional societies do not support TAVR in patients with ACHD, likely from a lack of supportive evidence. Temporal trends in patients with ACHD undergoing TAVR were determined using the 2016-2018 National Inpatient Sample database appropriate ICS-10-PCS code. Stata 16.0 was used for statistical analysis. 0.87% of patients undergoing TAVR had concomitant ACHD, with ASD being the most common (78%). After matching, there was no increased risk of mortality in ACHD patients undergoing TAVR compared to patients without ACHD (OR 1.43, P = 0.59). Additionally, no difference was found in the incidence of overall cardiac complications between patients with ACHD and patients without ACHD, except STEMI (OR 4.16, 95% CI, 1.08-16.00, P = 0.038), which is likely due to more comorbidity burden in the later cohort. Complications such as acute kidney injury, ischemic stroke, and bleeding were similar. Hospital resource utilization was higher in the ACHD group in the form of increased length of stay and higher mean total cost. The comparable in-hospital all-cause mortality and complication rate in ACHD patients undergoing TAVR compared to patients without ACHD is encouraging and will be helpful to design future randomized controlled trials

Aplikasi Antrian Pasien Pada Dokter Praktek Umum Menggunakan Metode FIFO (First In First Out) Berbasis Android

Currently, there are so many services in Indonesia. One of the services in the health sector is the practice of general practitioners. Services that occur at the practice of general practitioners, namely dr. Zaki Mubarak and dr. Subhan Habibi, located in Palu, often has complaints because it is still ineffective where getting these services is still done manually by means of patients coming in person and taking a queue based on the order of seats then one by one they will be served. This causes patient discomfort in waiting. To make it easier for patients who want to seek treatment, a system is needed, with this; an Android-based patient queuing application for general practice doctors was made. The application of the method used in building the system is the FIFO queuing method where patients who register earlier get medical services first. Then the average waiting time is calculated where the results obtained will be used as an estimate of the waiting time for the next patient. The application development method in this research used the prototype method and application testing uses the black box testing method. The results of this research are the application of patient queues for general practice doctors based on Android which is built to be able to take queues anywhere and anytime and obtain some information including doctor’s practice schedules, queue numbers, running queues, and estimated waiting times so that patients can estimate arrival time without having to wait long. Based on system testing with black box, the results show that the functional system is running well. Based on the average waiting time calculation, from the 60 queue data tested, the result is that the distance between queue 1 and the order is around 5 minutes

Cadmium toxicity alleviation through exogenous application of gibberellic acid (GA3) in mustard (Brassica juncea (L.) czern.) and rapeseed (Brassica rapa L.)

An experiment was carried out by considering adverse impact of heavy metals on human health through consumption of crops. To alleviate the adverse effects of cadmium (Cd) toxicity through foliar application of gibberellic acid (GA3), two varieties of Brassica including Indian mustard (Brassica juncea (L.) Czern.) commonly known as ‘Raya’ and rapeseed (Brassica rapa L.) as ‘Toria’ were studied. The Completely Randomized Design (CRD) was used with eight treatments including control in four replicates. Treatments were as following, T0 (control), T1 (150 μM CdCl2), T2 (50 mg/L GA3), T3 (75 mg/L GA3), T4 (100 mg/L GA3), T5 (150 μM CdCl2 + 50 mg/L GA3), T6 (150 μM CdCl2 + 75 mg/L GA3), and T7 (150 μM CdCl2 + 100 mg/L GA3). Gibberellic acid (GA3), a plant growth regulator applied exogenously. The concentration of cadmium (150 μM CdCl2) resulted in Cd toxicity affected adversely the morphological and biochemical parameters. Foliar application of GA3 (50 mg, 75 mg and 100 mg) positively influenced the various growth parameters as root length (30 cm), shoot length (129.75 cm), number of leaves (14.5), pods per plant (88) and biochemical parameters like total chlorophyll (0.19 mg/g), protein content (0.70 mg/mL), carbohydrates (0.37 mg/mL) and CAT (0.56 units/mg). Outcome indicated that GA3 reduces the harmful effects of Cd stress in both varieties. It was concluded that all growth and yield parameters of variety ‘Raya’ were better as compared to variety ‘Toria’, hence Raya recommended for large scale cultivation with GA3 under Cd stress

Lipid Lowering Therapy: An Era Beyond Statins.

Dyslipidemia, specifically elevated LDL cholesterol levels, causes atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) and increases the risk of myocardial infarction and stroke. Statins, a class of drugs that exert their effects by inhibiting HMG-CoA reductase, a key enzyme in the synthesis of cholesterol, have been the mainstay of therapy for the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease and lipids reduction. Statins are associated with side effects, most commonly myopathy and myalgias, despite their proven efficacy. This review explores non-statin lipid-lowering therapies and examines recent advances and emerging research. Over the previous decades, several lipid-lowering therapies, both as monotherapy and adjuncts to statin therapy and lipid-targeting gene therapy, have emerged, thus redefining how we treat dyslipidemia. These drugs include Bile acids sequestrants, Fibrates, Nicotinic acid, Ezetimibe, Bempedoic acid, Volanesoren, Evinacumab, and the PCSK 9 Inhibitors Evolocumab and Alirocumab. Emerging gene-based therapy includes Small interfering RNAs, Antisense oligonucleotides, Adeno-associated virus vectors, CRISPR/Cas9 based therapeutics, and Non-coding RNA therapy. Of all these therapies, Bempedoic acid works most like statins by working through a similar pathway to decrease cholesterol levels. However, it is not associated with myopathy. Overall, although statins continue to be the gold standard, non-statin therapies are set to play an increasingly important role in managing dyslipidemia

Mitochondria and Energetic Depression in Cell Pathophysiology

Mitochondrial dysfunction is a hallmark of almost all diseases. Acquired or inherited mutations of the mitochondrial genome DNA may give rise to mitochondrial diseases. Another class of disorders, in which mitochondrial impairments are initiated by extramitochondrial factors, includes neurodegenerative diseases and syndromes resulting from typical pathological processes, such as hypoxia/ischemia, inflammation, intoxications, and carcinogenesis. Both classes of diseases lead to cellular energetic depression (CED), which is characterized by decreased cytosolic phosphorylation potential that suppresses the cell’s ability to do work and control the intracellular Ca2+ homeostasis and its redox state. If progressing, CED leads to cell death, whose type is linked to the functional status of the mitochondria. In the case of limited deterioration, when some amounts of ATP can still be generated due to oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS), mitochondria launch the apoptotic cell death program by release of cytochrome c. Following pronounced CED, cytoplasmic ATP levels fall below the thresholds required for processing the ATP-dependent apoptotic cascade and the cell dies from necrosis. Both types of death can be grouped together as a mitochondrial cell death (MCD). However, there exist multiple adaptive reactions aimed at protecting cells against CED. In this context, a metabolic shift characterized by suppression of OXPHOS combined with activation of aerobic glycolysis as the main pathway for ATP synthesis (Warburg effect) is of central importance. Whereas this type of adaptation is sufficiently effective to avoid CED and to control the cellular redox state, thereby ensuring the cell survival, it also favors the avoidance of apoptotic cell death. This scenario may underlie uncontrolled cellular proliferation and growth, eventually resulting in carcinogenesis

DNA Rearrangements Associated with Reversion of Bacteriophage Mu-Induced Mutations

Excision of transposable genetic elements from host DNA is different from the classical prophage lambda type of excision in that it occurs at low frequency and is mostly imprecise; only a minority of excision events restores the wild-type host sequences. In bacteriophage Mu, a highly efficient transposon, imprecise excision is 10–100 times more frequent than precise excision. We have examined a large number of these excision events by starting with Mucts X mutants located in the Z gene of the lac operon of Escherichia coli. Mucts X mutants are defective prophages whose excision occurs at a measurable frequency. Imprecise excision was monitored by selecting for melibiose(+) (Mel(+)) phenotype, which requires only a functioning lacY gene. Mel(+) revertants exhibit an array of DNA rearrangements and fall in four main classes, the predominant one being comprised of revertants that have no detectable Mu DNA. Most of these revertants can further revert to Lac(+). Perhaps 5 base-pair duplications, originally present at prophage-host junctions, are left in these lacZ(-)Y(+) revertants, and they can be further repaired to lacZ(+). Another class has, in addition to the loss of Mu DNA, deletions that extend generally, but not always, to only one side of the prophage. The other two classes of revertants, surprisingly, still have Mu DNA in the lacZ gene. One class has deletions in the Z gene, whereas, no deletions can be detected in the other. Many of the revertants in the last class can further revert to lacZ(+), indicating that the lacY gene must have been turned on by a rearrangement within Mu DNA. Apparently, all of the detectable precise and most of the imprecise excision events require functioning of the Mu A gene. We suggest that a block in large-scale Mu replication allows the excision process to proceed

Regional trade agreements between regional comprehensive economic partnership and one belt one road nations: A critical analysis

This study estimates the influence of three significant concepts on the international trade flows between countries participating in the One Belt One Road (OBOR) initiative and Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). These concepts, which have been previously examined individually in literature, include the effects of intranational trade, international borders and more importantly, regional trade agreements, on international trade flows. This study employs the structural gravity model with data for various variables such as international trade, intranational trade and regional trade agreements (RTAs) ranging between 1999 and 2019. The approach used in this study produces econometrically robust estimates of the impact of RTAs on trade among OBOR member countries, while various sensitivity analyses including phasing-in effect of the RTAs, endogeneity, reverse causality, and multilateral trade resistances. The findings of this study indicate that the impact of RTAs on trade between OBOR and RCEP countries becomes insignificant when the effects of globalization are isolated. Additionally, the declining influence of international borders on trade flows between OBOR and RCEP countries suggests that trade is facilitated to a greater extent between open economies

Relationship between physical activity level and BMI among Pakistani laborers in Saudi Arabia: a cross-sectional study

Abstract Objectives: To study the level of physical activity of Pakistani labourers in Saudi Arabia, and to find its relationship with body mass index. Method: The observational study was conducted inside the Pakistan Embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from October 2017 to March 2018, and comprised Pakistani males aged 22-60 years doing unskilled and semi-skilled jobs. Body mass index was calculated, and the level of physical activity was assessed using the short form International Physical Activity Questionnaire. Data was analysed using SPSS 20. Results: There were 130 subjects with mean age of 33.53±7.9 years. There were 109(83.8%) subjects aged <40 years, and 21(16.2%) were aged 40 years. Mean body mass index of the sample was 26.13±5.29kg/m². Overall, 71(54.6%) participants were insufficiently active having energy expenditure <600 metabolic equivalent of task in minutes per week. No statistically significant result was found when total energy expenditure was considered (p0.05), but significant result was found for energy expenditure due to ‘walk alone’ (p0.05). Significant correlation was found between profession and overall energy expenditure and job-related energy expenditure. Significant but weak positive correlation was found between body mass index and walk-related energy expenditure (r=0.279, p0.001). Conclusion: Mean body mass index of the sample was high compared to South Asian cut-off values, and the level physical activity was very low, but the findings failed to show an inverse relationship between physical activity level and body mass index. Key Words: Relationship, Physical activity level, BMI, Pakistani labourers, Saudi Arabia, Cross-sectional