24 research outputs found
DANES: Diet and Nutrition Expert System for Meal Management and Nutrition Counseling
“Your body is your temple” As people across the globe are becoming more health conscious, eating more healthy food and avoiding junk food, a system that can measure calories and nutrition in every day meals can be very useful for maintaining one’s health. Food calorie and nutrition measurement system is very beneficial for dieticians and patients to measure and manage their daily food intake. We also know that it’s difficult to find an affordable nutritionist or a dietician across the street; therefore, we have proposed a system – DIET AND NUTRITION EXPERT SYSTEM. The proposed system is a responsive android application which contains the knowledge and data regarding the fitness of a person and nutrition content values. This application consists of the user interface which will be publicly displayed on the application i.e. the basic information regarding the fitness and nutrition values such as how to maintain good health by adapting healthy eating habits which includes the intake of calories, proteins and carbohydrates etc. in proper proportion. A dietician consults a person based on his schedule, body type, height and weight. The system too asks all this data from the user and processes it. It asks about how many hours the user works, his height, weight, age etc. The system stores and processes this data and then calculates the nutrient value needed to fill up users’ needs
Safety and radiosensitizing efficacy of sanazole (AK 2123) in oropharyngeal cancers: Randomized controlled double blind clinical trial
Oropharynx is an important site of cancer in India. Global comparison
indicates higher incidences in India. Radiotherapy remains an important
treatment modality. Efforts to improve loco-regional treatment and
prolong survival are areas of focus. Radiosensitizers in hypoxic tumors
have shown promise. Aim: To study the safety and radiosensitizing
efficacy of sanazole in oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (stage
T2-4, N0-3, M0) as phase-II double blind controlled trial in patients
treated with conventional radiotherapy. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: Single
institutional, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: Group 1 (control; n =23) received normal saline
infusion, group 2 (test; n =23) received sanazole biweekly 1.25 g
intravenous infusion 15 minutes before radiotherapy. Surrogate end
points of efficacy were tumor and nodal size; safety parameters were
mucositis, salivary and skin reactions, dysphagia, vomiting, dysgeusia
and neurological deficit. Investigators blinded to the trial evaluated
patients, weekly during treatment for six weeks and thereafter monthly
for three months. STATISTICAL METHODS: Non-parametric, Friedman's, Chi
square, Mann-Whitney U tests. RESULTS: In the test, 15 (65%) patients
had complete response, five (22%) partial/no response, two (9%) died,
one (4%) lost to follow up. In the control, five (22%) patients had
complete response, 16 (70%) partial/no response, one (4%) died, one
(4%) lost to follow up. Short-term loco-regional response was better in
the test ( DF = 3 , 95% Confidence Interval 0.418, 0.452, P=0.0048 ).
In the test group significant vomiting and one case of grade 3
neurological deficit was observed. CONCLUSION: The study validates the
usefulness of sanazole for initial loco-regional control in
oropharyngeal cancers
Dietary phytochemicals, HDAC inhibition, and DNA damage/repair defects in cancer cells
Genomic instability is a common feature of cancer etiology. This provides an avenue for therapeutic intervention, since cancer cells are more susceptible than normal cells to DNA damaging agents. However, there is growing evidence that the epigenetic mechanisms that impact DNA methylation and histone status also contribute to genomic instability. The DNA damage response, for example, is modulated by the acetylation status of histone and non-histone proteins, and by the opposing activities of histone acetyltransferase and histone deacetylase (HDAC) enzymes. Many HDACs overexpressed in cancer cells have been implicated in protecting such cells from genotoxic insults. Thus, HDAC inhibitors, in addition to unsilencing tumor suppressor genes, also can silence DNA repair pathways, inactivate non-histone proteins that are required for DNA stability, and induce reactive oxygen species and DNA double-strand breaks. This review summarizes how dietary phytochemicals that affect the epigenome also can trigger DNA damage and repair mechanisms. Where such data is available, examples are cited from studies in vitro and in vivo of polyphenols, organosulfur/organoselenium compounds, indoles, sesquiterpene lactones, and miscellaneous agents such as anacardic acid. Finally, by virtue of their genetic and epigenetic mechanisms, cancer chemopreventive agents are being redefined as chemo- or radio-sensitizers. A sustained DNA damage response coupled with insufficient repair may be a pivotal mechanism for apoptosis induction in cancer cells exposed to dietary phytochemicals. Future research, including appropriate clinical investigation, should clarify these emerging concepts in the context of both genetic and epigenetic mechanisms dysregulated in cancer, and the pros and cons of specific dietary intervention strategies
An evaluation of outdoor school environments to promote physical activity in Delhi, India
Alcohol expectancy responses from first year medical students: Are they prone to alcoholism?
Study of biofilm production in <i><i>Escherichia</i> coli</i> causing urinary tract infection
Alcohol expectancy responses from first year medical students: Are they prone to alcoholism?
Context : Modern life style and affluence lead to changes in
people′s outlook on various habits, including alcohol intake.
Some of them will fall prey to the addictive nature of the drink. Aims:
Present study was done to evaluate the responses to comprehensive
alcohol expectancy questionnaire (comprehensive effects of alcohol -
CEOA) in order to test the tendency towards alcohol intake among the
First Year Medical (MBBS) students of our college - that is, to assess
the positive or negative reinforcement they would expect if they
consumed alcohol. Settings and Design : The study was done by giving a
set of questionnaires to be answered by the students. Materials and
Methods : Questionnaires of CEOA had 38 responses, in which both
negative and positive feelings were represented. All questions were
again grouped into four groups of positive and three groups of negative
responses. Each question was rated to what degree they agreed, by
4-point Likert-type scale (1 = disagree, 2 = slightly disagree, 3 =
slightly agree, 4 = agree). The positive and negative responses were
analyzed to group them into agreeing or disagreeing type. Statistical
Analysis Used : Analysis of responses by Student ′t′ test
and 2-way ANOVA was done to analyze the results. ′P′<
0.05 was accepted as significant. Results : Results showed that
negative expectancies outweighed positives significantly (2.8017 ±
0.58554 vs. 2.3055 ± 0.67604, t = 7.526; P< 0.001.). Females
rated the negatives more firmly (P< 0.001). However, there was no
statistically significant difference with respect to different
religious beliefs, places of origin or incomes of the respondents. An
experience of alcohol had a significant effect on the responses where
they had stronger positive expectancy, which is an important point
revealed in this study. Conclusions : In this study, we have observed a
general acceptance that alcohol could provide positive reinforcement,
especially among those who have had a prior experience of intake of
alcohol. Thus, this study throws light on whether there is likelihood
of youngsters falling into addiction in the later part of their life;
hence it can act as a useful predictor for parents, health
professionals, social counselors and the society as a whole so that
they can take preventive measures against alcohol addiction