HPLC-CUPRAC Post-Column Derivatization Method for the Determination of Antioxidants: A Performance Comparison Between Porous Silica and Core-Shell Column Packing

Background: An HPLC method employing a post-column derivatization strategy using the cupric reducing antioxidant capacity reagent (CUPRAC reagent) for the determining antioxidants in plant-based materials leverages the separation capability of regular HPLC approaches while allowing for detection specificity for antioxidants. Methods: Three different column types, namely core-shell and porous silica including two chemically different core-shell materials (namely phenyl-hexyl and C18), were evaluated to assess potential improvements that could be attained by changing from a porous silica matrix to a core-shell matrix. Tea extracts were used as sample matrices for the evaluation specifically looking at catechin and epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG). Results: Both the C18 and phenyl-hexyl core-shell columns showed better performance compared to the C18 porous silica one in terms of separation, peak shape, and retention time. Among the two core-shell materials, the phenyl-hexyl column showed better resolving power compared to the C18 column. Conclusions: The CUPRAC post-column derivatization method can be improved using core-shell columns and suitable for quantifying antioxidants, exemplified by catechin and EGCG, in tea samples

Is depression a concern among medical students: a cross sectional study in different academic years of a private medical college in Bangladesh

Background: Depression is not uncommon among medical students all over the world. Few studies have been conducted so far in Bangladesh to depict its actual prevalence and severity. So, the aim of this study was to assess the severity of depression and the level of difficulty faced by medical students in different academic years.Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in North East medical college of Bangladesh from January 2018 to June 2018 involving 443 students from 1st year to 5th year. Students were instructed to fill up the patient health questionnaire (PHQ-9) which incorporates diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (DSM-IV) depression diagnostic criteria categorized as no, mild, moderate, moderately severe, and severe depression and also evaluates their level of function.Results: The prevalence of depression was quite high (79.68%). 196 (44.24%) and 157 (35.44%) students had mild and major depression respectively, while 90 (20.32%) showed no depression. Students with major depression were scored as moderate depression 24.38%, moderately severe depression 8.35%, and severe depression 2.71%. Moderate depression was significantly higher in year 1 and year 2 students in comparison to year 3, 4 and 5. Students from year 1 to year 5 with mild, moderate, moderately severe and severe depression experienced varying degree of difficulty in their daily activities. Almost all the students in all years with severe depression found themselves very difficult or extremely difficult to cope.Conclusions: High prevalence of depression among medical students is really alarming and underlying factors need to be addressed

Racial Differences in the Use of Most Commonly Performed Medical Procedures in the United States

Objective: This study investigates racial disparities in the use of commonly performed medical procedures in U.S. hospitals. Methods: To examine racial disparities, we calculated age-adjusted rate of procedures used by all Whites, Blacks, Hispanics, Asians or Pacific Islanders and Native Americans and calculated corresponding Relative Risks(RRs) of White vs. all other races based on procedure utilizations and insurance types using 20% random sample of Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS) data between 2001 and2003. Results: Whites were significantly more likely to receive 3 of the study procedures than Blacks, 3 of the procedures than Hispanics, 2 of the procedures than Asians or Pacific Islanders and 4 of the procedures than Native Americans (p\u3c0.05). We also found racial disparities to receive medical procedures based on patients’ insurance status.However, only in a few cases were these differences substantial. Conclusion: Race plays a significantly important role in the use of commonly performed medical procedures in U.S. hospitals

Clinical evaluation of diaphyseal femoral fractures operated in lateral decubitus position with interlocking nail

Background: The diaphyseal fractures of femur in adults are conventionally treated in supine position on traction table, which carries risk of compartment syndrome, pudendal nerve palsy, whereas in lateral decubitus position these complications can be avoided with additional advantage of easy access to greater trochanter particularly in obese patients. The aim of this study is to evaluate outcomes of femur diaphyseal fractures treated with intramedullary interlocking nail in lateral decubitus position.Methods: In this study 40 patients with femur diaphysea fractures were treated with intramedullary interlocking nail in lateral decubitus position, were studied for a period of 9 months from September 2019 to May 2020.Results: At the end of our study of 40 patients, outcome is graded according Thoresen’s criteria where 22 (55%) patients had excellent results with full, pain-free, function of the extremity and 11 (27.5%) patients had good result; 10 patients had range of motion 1200 and shortening of femur by 1.5 was observed in 1 patient. There were 6 (15%) patients with fair result; with range of motion 900 and 1 poor result (2.5%) had non-union with range of motion <900.Conclusions: Fixation of femur diaphyseal fracture in lateral decubitus position leads to easy access to the proximal femur making it easy to establish an entry point for an intramedullary device and it significantly eliminates the complications caused by other conventionally used methods

Protective role of epiphytic fluorescent <i>Pseudomonas</i> on natural postharvest decay of tomato at room temperature

 Following harvest, tomato fruits are susceptible to attack by many fungal pathogens, but  healthy fruits may also  harbor beneficial microflora, which can delayed the spoilage  of fruit. In this study, 30 isolates of epiphytic fluorescent Pseudomonas  were isolated from healthy fruits of lemon, melon, grapefruit, tomato and orange. Twelve isolates were identified on molecular basis by amplifying 16S rDNA using a genus-specific primer set PA-GS-F 5’-GACGGGTGAGTAATGCCTA-3’ and PA-GS-R F 5’-CACTGGTGTTCCTTCCTATA-3’ on a conserved sequence of the genus Pseudomonas with a product size ~618 bp. Three potential isolates were examined for their ability to  delayed the  postharvest natural  spoilage and maintained the physiochemical properties during storage for fifteen days in season 2013 and 2014. All three isolates showed promising control of postharvest diseases of tomato in comparison with control in both seasons up to fifteen days of storage at room temperature (23±4 ºC, Rh 25-70%). The epiphytic bacterial isolates has delayed the fruit weight loss and maintained  fruit firmness, total solids, pH and titratable acidity. Isolates also slowed the accumulation of lycopene indicating their potential in controlling the major changes in physiochemical properties. In both season Pseudomonas treated tomatoes showed no or negligible infestation of common postharvest fungi and bacteria as compared to control and positive control (1% K-sorbate)

Spatial malaria epidemiology in Bangladeshi highlands

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licens

Malaria Prevalence in Endemic Districts of Bangladesh

BACKGROUND: Following the 1971 ban of DDT in Bangladesh, malaria cases have increased steadily. Malaria persists as a major health problem in the thirteen south-eastern and north-eastern districts of Bangladesh. At present the national malaria control program, largely supported by the Global Fund for AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM), provides interventions including advocacy at community level, Insecticide Treated Net (ITN) distribution, introduction of Rapid Diagnostic Tests (RDT) and combination therapy with Coartem. It is imperative, therefore, that baseline data on malaria prevalence and other malaria indicators are collected to assess the effectiveness of the interventions and rationalize the prevention and control efforts. The objective of this study was to obtain this baseline on the prevalence of malaria and bed net use in the thirteen malaria endemic districts of Bangladesh. METHODS AND PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: In 2007, BRAC and ICDDR,B carried out a malaria prevalence survey in thirteen malaria endemic districts of Bangladesh. A multi-stage cluster sampling technique was used and 9750 blood samples were collected. Rapid Diagnostic Tests (RDT) were used for the diagnosis of malaria. The weighted average malaria prevalence in the thirteen endemic districts was 3.97%. In five south-eastern districts weighted average malaria prevalence rate was 6.00% and in the eight north-eastern districts weighted average malaria prevalence rate was (0.40%). The highest malaria prevalence was observed in Khagrachari district. The majority of the cases (90.18%) were P. falciparum infections. Malaria morbidity rates in five south-eastern districts was 2.94%. In eight north-eastern districts, morbidity was 0.07%. CONCLUSION AND SIGNIFICANCE: Bangladesh has hypoendemic malaria with P. falciparum the dominant parasite species. The malaria situation in the five north-eastern districts of Bangladesh in particular warrants urgent attention. Detailed maps of the baseline malaria prevalence and summaries of the data collected are provided along with the survey results in full, in a supplemental information

Inferring high-resolution human mixing patterns for disease modeling

Mathematical and computational modeling approaches are increasingly used as quantitative tools in the analysis and forecasting of infectious disease epidemics. The growing need for realism in addressing complex public health questions is however calling for accurate models of the human contact patterns that govern the disease transmission processes. Here we present a data-driven approach to generate effective descriptions of population-level contact patterns by using highly detailed macro (census) and micro (survey) data on key socio-demographic features. We produce age-stratified contact matrices for 277 sub-national administrative regions of countries covering approximately 3.5 billion people and reflecting the high degree of cultural and societal diversity of the focus countries. We use the derived contact matrices to model the spread of airborne infectious diseases and show that sub-national heterogeneities in human mixing patterns have a marked impact on epidemic indicators such as the reproduction number and overall attack rate of epidemics of the same etiology. The contact patterns derived here are made publicly available as a modeling tool to study the impact of socio-economic differences and demographic heterogeneities across populations on the epidemiology of infectious diseases.Comment: 18 pages, 7 figure