Antihypertensive agents in systemic hypertension associated with Type 2 diabetes in a tertiary care hospital

Background: Hypertension and diabetes mellitus are both chronic disorders and when they occur as co-morbidities create havoc by presenting with a plethora of morbidity and mortality. Both require drug treatment over a long period of time, which calls for stringent analysis of prescribing trends of the same.Objectives: The present study was intended to analyze prescribing pattern and establish prescribing trends of anti-hypertensive drugs (AHD) in hypertensive diabetic patients.Methods: The present study was a record based, randomized, non-interventional study of 2 years duration conducted at a tertiary care hospital of central India. Prescriptions from 400 case records of hypertensive diabetics were obtained from the medical record section. Demographic details, blood pressure, and AHDs prescribed were systematically entered in pre-validated case record form. All data were thoroughly analyzed for fallacies and appropriateness.Results: Among 400 patients, 221 were males, and 179 were females. Monotherapy was used in 366 (91.5%) patients while combination therapy was used in 34 (8.5%) patients. Most commonly used combination was angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor (ACEI)+calcium channel blocker (CCB), while in monotherapy CCB≥ACEI>beta blocker>diuretic>angiotensin II receptor blocker were most commonly prescribed.Conclusion: The present study represents trend and attitude of physicians in prescribing AHDs. On comparing with Joint National Committee 7 guidelines, the majority of the cases deviated from the guidelines, mostly in a choice of AHDs and Fixed dose combination

Effects of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) and some plant pathogens on the growth and nodulation of lentil (Lens culinaris Medik.)

Effects of ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) were studied on lentil plants inoculated with Alternaria alternata, Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lentis, Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. phaseoli, Pseudomonas syringae pv. syringae and Meloidogyne incognita. Plant growth, chlorophyll, carotenoid contents, nitrate reductase (NR) activity and nodulation of lentil both in the presence and absence of Rhizobium sp. were examined in a pot test. Inoculation of plants with A. alternata / F. oxysporum f. sp. lentis / X. axonopodis pv. phaseoli / P. syringae pv. syringae or M. incognita caused a significant reduction in plant growth, number of pods per plant, chlorophyll, carotenoids and NR activity over uninoculated control. Inoculation of plants with Rhizobium sp. with or without pathogen increased plant growth and number of pods per plant, chlorophyll, carotenoids and NR activity. When plants were grown without Rhizobium, a foliar spray of plants with 10 ml solution of 0.1 mg ml–1of ZnO NPs per plant caused a significant increase in plant growth and number of pods, chlorophyll, carotenoid contents and NR activity in both inoculated and uninoculated plants. Spray of ZnO NPs to plants inoculated with Rhizobium sp. caused non significant increase in plant growth, number of pods per plant, chlorophyll, carotenoid contents and NR activity when plants were either uninoculated or inoculated with pathogens. Numbers of nodules per root system were high in plants treated with Rhizobium sp. but foliar spray of ZnO NPs had adverse effect on nodulation. Inoculation of plants with test pathogens also reduced nodulation. Spray of ZnO NPs to plants reduced galling, nematode multiplication, wilt, blight and leaf spot disease severity indices

Extended Huckel theory for bandstructure, chemistry, and transport. II. Silicon

In this second paper, we develop transferable semi-empirical parameters for the technologically important material, silicon, using Extended Huckel Theory (EHT) to calculate its electronic structure. The EHT-parameters areoptimized to experimental target values of the band dispersion of bulk-silicon. We obtain a very good quantitative match to the bandstructure characteristics such as bandedges and effective masses, which are competitive with the values obtained within an $sp^3 d^5 s^*$ orthogonal-tight binding model for silicon. The transferability of the parameters is investigated applying them to different physical and chemical environments by calculating the bandstructure of two reconstructed surfaces with different orientations: Si(100) (2x1) and Si(111) (2x1). The reproduced $\pi$- and $\pi^*$-surface bands agree in part quantitatively with DFT-GW calculations and PES/IPES experiments demonstrating their robustness to environmental changes. We further apply the silicon parameters to describe the 1D band dispersion of a unrelaxed rectangular silicon nanowire (SiNW) and demonstrate the EHT-approach of surface passivation using hydrogen. Our EHT-parameters thus provide a quantitative model of bulk-silicon and silicon-based materials such as contacts and surfaces, which are essential ingredients towards a quantitative quantum transport simulation through silicon-based heterostructures.Comment: 9 pages, 9 figure

Examining folic acid intake: a cross-sectional study of pregnancy-related practices

Background: Folic acid supplementation during the periconceptional period is critical in preventing neural tube defects (NTDs) in the developing fetus. In Pakistan, a profound lack of awareness is seen regarding preventable pregnancy-related illnesses and the consequential high maternal and fetal mortality and morbidity rates. However, data from the surveys in the region of Sindh lacks inquiries regarding the baseline characteristics of the surveyed participants. Therefore, this study endeavoured to address this gap. Methods: Between October 2022 and April 2023, a cross-sectional study was conducted at two major tertiary care hospitals in Hyderabad and Jamshoro, Pakistan. A total of 374 participants, chosen by non-probability consecutive sampling, comprised the sample size. The association of demographic variables and knowledge, attitude, and practice of consumption of folic acid during pregnancy was determined using the χ2 test. A p value of less than 0.5 was considered statistically significant. Results: The mean age of the participants was 26.4±5.7 years. A total of 199 (53.20%) participants were literate, compared to 175 (46.79%) participants who were illiterate. Literate women fared better than illiterate women in all the metrics with a p-value of <0.001 and a Pearson correlation coefficient (r) of >0.7. Moreover, folic acid was consumed by only 38% of pregnant women during the periconceptional period. Conclusions: A substantial lack of knowledge regarding folic acid was found in the surveyed sample, significantly more marked in the illiterate faction. Additionally, the practice was rather unsatisfactory. However, the attitude remained encouraging

Methionine Adenosyltransferase 1a (MAT1A) Enhances Cell Survival During Chemotherapy Treatment and is Associated with Drug Resistance in Bladder Cancer PDX Mice.

Bladder cancer is among the top ten most common cancers, with about ~380,000 new cases and ~150,000 deaths per year worldwide. Tumor relapse following chemotherapy treatment has long been a significant challenge towards completely curing cancer. We have utilized a patient-derived bladder cancer xenograft (PDX) platform to characterize molecular mechanisms that contribute to relapse following drug treatment in advanced bladder cancer. Transcriptomic profiling of bladder cancer xenograft tumors by RNA-sequencing analysis, before and after relapse, following a 21-day cisplatin/gemcitabine drug treatment regimen identified methionine adenosyltransferase 1a (MAT1A) as one of the significantly upregulated genes following drug treatment. Survey of patient tumor sections confirmed elevated levels of MAT1A in individuals who received chemotherapy. Overexpression of MAT1A in 5637 bladder cancer cells increased tolerance to gemcitabine and stalled cell proliferation rates, suggesting MAT1A upregulation as a potential mechanism by which bladder cancer cells persist in a quiescent state to evade chemotherapy

Health and Safety of Hyderabad Industries' Labor. Causes and Awareness

Labor’s health and safety (H&S) is a matter of concern for all industries. Occurrence of accidents in industries is becoming a common issue. Both white collar and blue-collar workers are not shielded from materials that damage their health. This study identifies the critical factors affecting labor’s H&S in Hyderabad, Pakistan industries. The awareness of labor regarding prevention and consequences that affect workers’ H&S is also a matter of interest of this research. The severity of factors was determined through questionnaire survey from experts, H&S supervisors and managerial staff of industries. For the descriptive analysis the software SPPS 24.0 was used. This research also includes interviews form industry laborers about awareness regarding H&S critical factors. The results show that, Improper PPE use, operating machines that are poorly maintained, long term exposure to high intensity noise, working extended and irregular hours and lack of knowledge of working instruments are the critical causes of accidents. Also 60.9%, 73.9%, 69.6%, 78.3% and 89% of workers are not aware about these causes and their consequences. Thus, this research is a road map for industrial employers, law makers, local, provisional and federal Government of Pakistan in order to help minimizing the workplace accidents and the providing of safe and secure working environment for laborers

Placental transfer of pesticides in humans

Transfer of organochlorine pesticides from mother to fetus has been studied in 100 women. The concentrations of organochlorine pesticides were examined in maternal blood, placenta, and umbilical cord blood of the same mother/child pair. Residue levels of dichlorodiphenyl trichloro ethane (DDT) and its metabolites, isomers of benzene hexachloride (BHC) and aldrin were detected in all the samples analyzed, indicating their transfer from mother to the fetus. A correlation was found to exist between the pesticide concentration and age, dietetic habits and area of residence of pregnant women

Hormone replacement therapy menopause with a better future--a survey of views on hormone replacement therapy (HRT)

Objective: To assess the views and prescribing practices of doctors regarding hormone replacement therapy (HRT).Methods: In April 1999, 103 doctors from a teaching hospital participated in a survey. Using a self-administered questionnaire, subjects were contacted at the departments of Internal Medicine, Family Medicine, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, and Orthopaedics.Results: Seventy-two percent were below 40 years of age and 67% of the respondents were male. Most doctors believed that HRT decreases the risk of subsequent osteoporosis (97%), ischaemic heart disease (77%) and depression associated with menopause (64%). Doctors generally considered menopausal symptoms (90%), premature menopause (87%), surgical menopause (85%) and osteoporotic fracture (77%) as clear indications for hormone replacement therapy. Absolute contraindications to the therapy were stated as recent breast cancer (82%) and recent endometrial cancer (84%). Among the specialities covered, there were differing views on proposed duration of HRT. It was generally believed that a pelvic examination, cervical smear and mammography were pre-requisites when initiating and monitoring HRT. Majority (69%) felt that HRT should be offered to all menopausal women, assuming no contraindications and most (73%) did discuss HRT with their patients. However, less than 10% of the menopausal patients under their care were using HRT. Those doctors not in favor of universal offering of HRT (31%) considered unreliable patient follow up to be the main reason. Females were two times more likely to discuss HRT with their patients (p = .08). Doctors who discussed HRT with their patients were four times more likely to consider HRT for themselves or their spouses (p = .13). Gynecologists were eight times more likely to prescribe HRT than non-gynecologists (p = .001).CONCLUSION: Doctors are positively disposed to the universal offering, and use of HRT. Further studies are needed to understand a possible gap between perceived and actual prescribing practice