Vitamin D Levels in Asymptomatic Adults-A Population Survey in Karachi, Pakistan

Background: It is well established that low levels of 25(OH) Vitamin D (/dL) are a common finding world over, affecting over a billion of the global population. Our primary objective was to determine the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency in the asymptomatic adult population of Karachi, Pakistan and the demographic, nutritional and co-morbidity characteristics associated with serum vitamin D levels. Methods: A cross-sectional population survey was conducted at two spaced out densely populated areas of the city. Serum levels of 25OH vitamin D were measured and GFR as renal function was assessed by using 4 variable MDRD formula. Results: Our sample of 300 had a median age of 48(interquartile range 38-55) years. The median level of serum vitamin D was 18.8 (IQ range 12.65-24.62) ng/dL. A total of 253 (84.3%) respondents had low levels (/dL) of 25OH vitamin D. Serum PTH and vitamin D were negatively correlated (r = -0.176, p = 0.001). The median PTH in the vitamin D sufficiency group was 38.4 (IQ range28.0-48.8)pg/mL compared with 44.4 (IQ range 34.3-56.8) pg/mL in the deficiency group (p = 0.011).The median serum calcium level in the sample was 9.46(IQ range 9.18-9.68) ng/dL. Low serum levels of vitamin D were not associated with hypertension (p = 0.771) or with an elevated spot blood pressure (p = 0.164).In our sample 75(26%) respondents had an eGFR corresponding to stage 2 and stage 3 CKD. There was no significant correlation between levels of vitamin D and eGFR (r = -0.127, p-value = 0.277). Respondents using daily vitamin D supplements had higher 25 OH vitamin D levels (p-value = 0.021). Conclusion: We observed a high proportion of the asymptomatic adult population having low levels of vitamin D and subclinical deterioration of eGFR. The specific cause(s) for this observed high prevalence of low 25OH vitamin D levels are not clear and need to be investigated further upon

Optimum Proportion of Masonry Chip Aggregate for Internally Cured Concrete

Abstract Proper curing of concrete is essential for achieving desirable mechanical properties. However, in a developing country like Bangladesh, curing is often neglected due to lack of proper knowledge and skill of local contractors. Consequently, general concreting work of the country has been found to have both strength and durability issues. Under such scenario, internal curing could be adopted using masonry chip aggregate (MCA) which is quite common in this region. It is observed that saturated MCA desorbs water under favorable relative humidity and temperature. This paper presents the effectiveness of MCA as internal curing medium and recommends a tentative optimum mix proportion to produce such concrete. The experimental study was conducted in two phases. It was found that 20% replacement of stone chips with MCA produced better performing internally cured concrete both in terms of strength and durability. Performance of internally cured concrete with recommended proportion of MCA is comparable to that of normally cured control concrete samples with conventional stone chips. In addition, internally cured concrete performed significantly better than control samples when kept under similar adverse curing conditions. In the absence of supply of external water for curing, compressive strength of internally cured concrete for 20% replacement can be as high as 1.5 times the strength of the control concrete samples. Significant better performance in permeability than that of control samples was also observed for this percent replacement under such adverse curing conditions

Sample characteristics with respect to Vitamin D groups.

<p>Median values and inter quartile ranges are reported.</p

Distribution of 25(OH) vitamin D.

<p>Distribution of 25(OH) vitamin D.</p

Scatter plot between vitamin D and Egfr.

<p>Scatter plot between vitamin D and Egfr.</p

Scatter plot showing negative correlation between vitamin D and PTH.

<p>Scatter plot showing negative correlation between vitamin D and PTH.</p