Antioxidant and cardio protective effect of palm oil leaves extract (standardized ethanolic fraction) in rats' model of saturated fats induced metabolic disorders

Recently, it is suggested to use POLE (palm oil leaf extract) as a nutraceutical health product in food industry due to its newly discovered content of polyphenols and antioxidant vitamins. In the experiment, the antioxidant and anti-lipid-peroxidation activities of the extract were confirmed using; DPPH (1-diphenyl-2-picryl-hydrazil) radical scavenging activity, ferric ion induced lipid peroxidation inhibition, reducing power and hydrogen peroxide scavenging activity assays. The cardio-protective activity was studied in vivo using a model of metabolic syndrome induced by high fat diet. Lipid profile, obesity indices, renal tubular handling of water and electrolytes, blood pressure and arterial stiffness were measured at the end of the treatment period. Sprague Dawley rats weighing 150-200 g were divided into six groups, viz; group C; was treated as a negative control and fed with standard rodents chow, group H; was treated as a positive control and fed with an experimental diet enriched with saturated free fatty acids for 8 weeks, groups HP0.5, HP1 and HP2 which were fed with 0.5,1 and 2 g/kg (body weight) /day of POLE orally during the last 24 days of the high fat diet feeding period and group P; fed with highest dose of POLE. Results revealed that POLE possesses a cardio-protective effect which is ascribed to its content of polyphenols

A QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS OF PRODUCT INNOVATION IN JORDAN’S PHARMACEUTICAL SECTOR

Product Innovation, especially New Product Development (NPD) is critical for the continued success, development, and long-term growth of a company. Despite extensive research on how to achieve NPD success, NPD process remains a difficult and a highly risky venture. The research was conducted to investigate factors that affect NPD in the Jordanian pharmaceutical sector. Five factors were conceptually identified from past literature as initial factors. They include senior management support (SMS), cross-functional teams (CFT), customer involvement (CI), supplier integration (SI), and time to market (TTM). These five factors were used to build the basic research model as independent variables; whereas NPD was the dependent variable for the research model. A qualitative research methodology was designed and used to achieve the research objectives. The needed data for this study was captured through personal interviews, and a survey that targeted all Jordanian pharmaceutical companies. The population from which respondents was chosen included research and development managers, marketing managers, and other personnel involved in NPD process in Jordanian pharmaceutical producing companies. Through conducting a number of personal interviews and using Content Analytical Technique (CAT) for data analysis, the results of the research show the existence of a number of factors that affect NPD process in Jordanian pharmaceutical sector such as: SMS, TTM, CFT, R&R, Knowledge, and Technology. In addition, a number of factors were identified as NPD challenges and constraints. These factors include the toughness and lack of clarity in R&R related to NPD process, the lack of financial and human resources, as well as addition to increasing DC. This paper suggests several recommendations. Firstly, senior managements need to provide enough support to NPD process whether as financial, moral or any other kind of support. Secondly, companies have to take the necessary actions to speed up NPD process in order to get the benefits of introducing products earlier into the market. Thirdly, companies have to work hard to ensure higher levels of knowledge among their staff, especially those who are involved in NPD process by providing continued periodic training to them

A QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS OF PRODUCT INNOVATION IN JORDAN’S PHARMACEUTICAL SECTOR

Product Innovation, especially New Product Development (NPD) is critical for the continued success, development, and long-term growth of a company. Despite extensive research on how to achieve NPD success, NPD process remains a difficult and a highly risky venture. The research was conducted to investigate factors that affect NPD in the Jordanian pharmaceutical sector. Five factors were conceptually identified from past literature as initial factors. They include senior management support (SMS), cross-functional teams (CFT), customer involvement (CI), supplier integration (SI), and time to market (TTM). These five factors were used to build the basic research model as independent variables; whereas NPD was the dependent variable for the research model. A qualitative research methodology was designed and used to achieve the research objectives. The needed data for this study was captured through personal interviews, and a survey that targeted all Jordanian pharmaceutical companies. The population from which respondents was chosen included research and development managers, marketing managers, and other personnel involved in NPD process in Jordanian pharmaceutical producing companies. Through conducting a number of personal interviews and using Content Analytical Technique (CAT) for data analysis, the results of the research show the existence of a number of factors that affect NPD process in Jordanian pharmaceutical sector such as: SMS, TTM, CFT, R&R, Knowledge, and Technology. In addition, a number of factors were identified as NPD challenges and constraints. These factors include the toughness and lack of clarity in R&R related to NPD process, the lack of financial and human resources, as well as addition to increasing DC. This paper suggests several recommendations. Firstly, senior managements need to provide enough support to NPD process whether as financial, moral or any other kind of support. Secondly, companies have to take the necessary actions to speed up NPD process in order to get the benefits of introducing products earlier into the market. Thirdly, companies have to work hard to ensure higher levels of knowledge among their staff, especially those who are involved in NPD process by providing continued periodic training to them

The patellofemoral joint alignment in patients with symptomatic accessory navicular bone

Quadriceps angle (Q angle) provides useful information about the alignment of the patellofemoral joint. The aim of the present study was to assess a possible link between malalignment of the patellofemoral joint and symptomatic accessory navicular (AN) bone as an underlying cause in early adolescence using Q angle measurements. This study was performed on patients presenting to the Foot and Ankle Clinic at the Jordanian Royal Medical Services because of pain on the medial side of the foot that worsened with activities or shoe wearing, with no history of knee pain, between September 2013 and April 2015. The Q angle was measured using a goniometer in 27 early adolescents aged 10-18 years diagnosed clinically and radiologically with symptomatic AN bone, only seven patients had associated pes planus deformity; the data were compared with age appropriate normal arched feet without AN. Navicular drop test (NDT) was used to assess the amount of foot pronation. The mean Q angle value among male and female patients with symptomatic AN with/without pes planus was significantly higher than in controls with normal arched feet without AN (p<0.05). Symptomatic AN feet were also associated with higher NDT values (p<0.001). The present findings suggest an early change in patellofemoral joint alignment in patients with symptomatic AN bone with/without arch collapse. Therefore, it is recommended that Q angle assessment should be an essential component of the examination in patients with symptomatic AN bone

Aneurysmal Subarachnoid Hemorrhage

Aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) is a devastating neurological syndrome, which occurs at a rate of 3–25 per 100,000 population. Smoking and hypertension are the most important risk factors of subarachnoid hemorrhage. Rupture of cerebral aneurysm leads to rapid spread of blood into cerebrospinal fluid and subsequently leads to sudden increase of intracranial pressure and severe headache. Subarachnoid hemorrhage is associated with neurological (such as re‐bleeding and vasospasm) and systemic (such as myocardial injury and hyponatremia) complications that are causes of high mortality and morbidity. Although patients with poor‐grade subarachnoid hemorrhage are at higher risk of neurological and systemic complications, the early and aggressive management of this group of patient has decreased overall mortality by 17% in last 40 years. Early aneurysm repair, close monitoring in dedicated neurological intensive care unit, prevention, and aggressive management of medical and neurological complications are the most important strategies to improve outcome

A Systemic Review of Iron Deficiency Anemia in Adults and the Clinical Management of Diagnosis and Treatment

Iron deficiency is the most frequent cause of anaemia worldwide. It impairs quality of life, increases asthenia and can lead to clinical worsening of patients. In addition, iron deficiency has a complex mechanism whose pathologic pathway is recently becoming better understood. The discovery of hepcidin has allowed a better clarification of iron metabolism regulation. Furthermore, the ratio of concentration of soluble transferrin receptor to the log of the ferritin level, has been developed as a tool to detect iron deficiency in most situations. Therefore, the problem of this research lies in exploring the cause of iron deficiency that always be sought because the underlying condition can be serious. This review will summarize the current knowledge regarding diagnostic algorithms for iron deficiency anemia. The majority of aetiologies occur in the digestive tract, and justify morphological examination of the gut. First line investigations are upper gastrointestinal endoscopy and colonoscopy, and when negative, the small bowel should be explored; newer tools such as video capsule endoscopy have also been developed. The treatment of iron deficiency is aetiological if possible and iron supplementation whether in oral or in parenteral form

Influence of monsoon regime and microclimate on soil respiration in the tropical forests

The consequence of precipitation and how environmental factors influence soil respiration remain poorly understood in the tropical forest ecosystems under a monsoon climate in Malaysia. This study was conducted in a recovering tropical lowland Dipterocarpus forest in Peninsular Malaysia, and its monthly variations were examined in association with changing precipitation. Soil respiration was measured using a continuous open flow chamber system connected to a multi gas-handling unit and an infrared gas analyser. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of the monsoon period and microclimate of the tropical region on soil respiration. The average monthly soil respiration rates were 152.79 to 528.67, 120.97 to 500.73, 106.77 to 472.89, 122.89 to 453.89 and 120.33 to 434.89 mg m⁻² h⁻¹ in the respective months from September to January. The emission rate varied across the days and months, with the highest value recorded between September and October, and then gradually decreasing from November to January. Soil temperature explained more than 90% of the soil respiration rate whereas precipitation had a major effect during the monsoon regime. Soil organic carbon (SOC), total organic carbon (TOC), soil organic carbon stock (SOCstock), forest biomass, carbon to nitrogen ratio (C/N) and soil pH were found to vary in considerable amounts, provide nutrients and the environment favourable for microorganism activities, leading to emission of soil CO₂. The low values of soil respiration rate between November and January were due not only on the amount of soil moisture and water potential but also on the intensity and frequency of precipitation. Therefore, these results indicate that the monsoon regime can significantly alter the emission of soil CO₂ and influence the microclimatic conditions and other environmental factors

Measurement of the cross-section ratio sigma_{psi(2S)}/sigma_{J/psi(1S)} in deep inelastic exclusive ep scattering at HERA

The exclusive deep inelastic electroproduction of $\psi(2S)$ and $J/\psi(1S)$ at an $ep$ centre-of-mass energy of 317 GeV has been studied with the ZEUS detector at HERA in the kinematic range $2 < Q^2 < 80$ GeV$^2$, $30 < W < 210$ GeV and $|t| < 1$ GeV$^2$, where $Q^2$ is the photon virtuality, $W$ is the photon-proton centre-of-mass energy and $t$ is the squared four-momentum transfer at the proton vertex. The data for $2 < Q^2 < 5$ GeV$^2$ were taken in the HERA I running period and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 114 pb$^{-1}$. The data for $5 < Q^2 < 80$ GeV$^2$ are from both HERA I and HERA II periods and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 468 pb$^{-1}$. The decay modes analysed were $\mu^+\mu^-$ and $J/\psi(1S) \,\pi^+\pi^-$ for the $\psi(2S)$ and $\mu^+\mu^-$ for the $J/\psi(1S)$. The cross-section ratio $\sigma_{\psi(2S)}/\sigma_{J/\psi(1S)}$ has been measured as a function of $Q^2, W$ and $t$. The results are compared to predictions of QCD-inspired models of exclusive vector-meson production.Comment: 24 pages, 8 figure

Combined QCD and electroweak analysis of HERA data

A simultaneous fit of parton distribution functions (PDFs) and electroweak parameters to HERA data on deep inelastic scattering is presented. The input data are the neutral current and charged current inclusive cross sections which were previously used in the QCD analysis leading to the HERAPDF2.0 PDFs. In addition, the polarisation of the electron beam was taken into account for the ZEUS data recorded between 2004 and 2007. Results on the vector and axial-vector couplings of the Z boson to u- and d-type quarks, on the value of the electroweak mixing angle and the mass of the W boson are presented. The values obtained for the electroweak parameters are in agreement with Standard Model predictions.Comment: 32 pages, 10 figures, accepted by Phys. Rev. D. Small corrections from proofing process and small change to Fig. 12 and Table

Limits on the effective quark radius from inclusive epep scattering at HERA

The high-precision HERA data allows searches up to TeV scales for Beyond the Standard Model contributions to electron-quark scattering. Combined measurements of the inclusive deep inelastic cross sections in neutral and charged current $ep$ scattering corresponding to a luminosity of around 1 fb$^{-1}$ have been used in this analysis. A new approach to the beyond the Standard Model analysis of the inclusive $ep$ data is presented; simultaneous fits of parton distribution functions together with contributions of "new physics" processes were performed. Results are presented considering a finite radius of quarks within the quark form-factor model. The resulting 95% C.L. upper limit on the effective quark radius is $0.43\cdot 10^{-16}$ cm.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures, accepted by Phys. Lett.