Histological Evidence Of The Effect Of Oil Palm Phenolics In Atherogenic Diet Induced Rat Model Of Alzheimer’s Disease

BACKGROUND: Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease with the clinical presentation of memory loss and cognitive impairment. Alzheimer\u27s disease pathology is the accumulation of beta amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles. METHOD: In this study atherogenic diet was used to induce AD in aged Brown Norway rats. The rats were assigned to the following four groups fed isocaloric diets; control group (C ),high cholesterol diet (H), high cholesterol + oil palm phenolics group (HP), high cholesterol + curcumin group (HC). The impact of oil palm phenolics (OPP) on neuronal health and its effect on amyloid deposition was evaluated using histology and ELISA. The cognitive ability of the rats were tested using Morris water maze. RESULTS: Our model was successful in facilitating the formation of extracellular beta amyloid plaques and causing neuronal loss. Histological findings revealed better neuronal health in the group of rats offered OPP in their diets compared to the high cholesterol only fed rats. The Morris water maze test showed better learning and cognition in rats fed the OPP diet. CONCLUSION: OPP provided neuronal protection and decreased the deposition of beta amyloid plaques in the hippocampus of the rats

Pain control after major surgery

Objective: To assess the adequacy and efficacy of postoperative pain management. Design: A prospective clinical study. Sening: The Georgetown and New Amsterdam Public Hospitals, Guyana. Subjects: Two hundred consecutive patients undergoing major abdominal surgery. Main outcome measures: Presence or absence of significant postoperative pain during the first 24 hours. Results: AU the patients experienced pain postoperatively. Sixty one per cent of patients considered their pain severe, 30% rated it moderate and only 9% mild. Reasons for this deficiency of care are partly attributable to the patients themselves and also the health dare staff. Conclusions: Postoperative pain is poorly managed in our general hospitals.East African Medical Journal, May 1999, 269-27

Ki moun mwen ye? : Who am I? : factors associated with cultural identity formation in first generation Haitian Americans

This qualitative study explores the factors associated with cultural identity formation among first generation Haitian Americans (FGHA) born in the United States between 1975 and 1990. The purpose of this study is to inform clinical social work practice with immigrants and their families in a range of areas including the experience of cultural identity development and the process and effects of acculturation in the U.S. Audiotaped in-person and telephone semi-structured interviews elicited participant perceptions of, and connection to, a range of aspects of Haitian culture. Participants\u27 experience of dominant U.S. cultural views of Haiti and the Haitian people, understanding of factors associated with their parents\u27 immigration, and early familial, neighborhood and school experiences were also explored. Study findings add to the current literature on factors associated with ethnic identity formation for Haitian Americans in the areas of family structure, proximity to familial immigrants, Haitian community immersion, and the experience of oppression in a historical context of U.S. policy development regarding Haiti and Haitian immigration. A snowball sampling method was employed to recruit a sample of 12 FGHA (male = 4; female = 8; mean age = 26). Participants gave voice to an experience that has rarely had an opportunity to be heard. Qualitative analysis of transcribed interviews revealed the emergence of two overarching themes characterizing participants\u27 cultural identity formation as FGHA: not Haitian enough/not American enough and resilience, coping, and strengthening cultural identity. Implications of these findings for practice, policy, and research are discussed

Prediction of Length of Stay in the Emergency Department for COVID-19 Patients: A Machine Learning Approach

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak has become a global public health threat. The influx of COVID-19 patients has prolonged the length of stay (LOS) in the emergency department (ED) in the United States. Our objective is to develop a reliable prediction model for COVID-19 patient ED LOS and identify clinical factors, such as age and comorbidities, associated with LOS within a \u274-hour target.\u27 Data were collected from an urban, demographically diverse hospital in Detroit for all COVID-19 patients\u27 ED presentations from March 16 to December 29, 2020. We trained four machine learning models, namely logistic regression (LR), gradient boosting (GB), decision tree (DT), and random forest (RF), across different data processing stages to predict COVID-19 patients with an ED LOS of less than or greater than 4 hours. The analysis is inclusive of 3,301 COVID-19 patients with known ED LOS, and 16 significant clinical factors were incorporated. The GB model outperformed the baseline classifier (LR) and tree-based classifiers (DT and RF) with an accuracy of 85% and F1-score of 0.88 for predicting ED LOS in the testing data. No significant accuracy gains were achieved through further splitting. This study identified key independent factors from a combination of patient demographics, comorbidities, and ED operational data that predicted ED stay in patients with prolonged COVID-19. The prediction framework can serve as a decision-support tool to improve ED and hospital resource planning and inform patients about better ED LOS estimations

A new silent hemoglobin variant in a black family from French West Indies Hemoglobin Le Lamentin α20 His → Gln

AbstractA new abnormal hemoglobin Hb Le Lamentin α20 (B1) His→Gln was discovered during a survey of cord blood from the French West Indies (Martinique). This variant displays an electrophoretic pattern similar to that of Hb A but can be isolated by isoelectric focusing (IEF) and Biorex 70 chromatography. Family studies showed the presence of this hemoglobin variant in the father and in two of his three children. Hematological data from the carriers were normal

A Comparison of Univariate and Multivariate Forecasting Models Predicting Emergency Department Patient Arrivals during the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has heightened the existing concern about the uncertainty surrounding patient arrival and the overutilization of resources in emergency departments (EDs). The prediction of variations in patient arrivals is vital for managing limited healthcare resources and facilitating data-driven resource planning. The objective of this study was to forecast ED patient arrivals during a pandemic over different time horizons. A secondary objective was to compare the performance of different forecasting models in predicting ED patient arrivals. We included all ED patient encounters at an urban teaching hospital between January 2019 and December 2020. We divided the data into training and testing datasets and applied univariate and multivariable forecasting models to predict daily ED visits. The influence of COVID-19 lockdown and climatic factors were included in the multivariable models. The model evaluation consisted of the root mean square error (RMSE) and mean absolute error (MAE) over different forecasting horizons. Our exploratory analysis illustrated that monthly and weekly patterns impact daily demand for care. The Holt–Winters approach outperformed all other univariate and multivariable forecasting models for short-term predictions, while the Long Short-Term Memory approach performed best in extended predictions. The developed forecasting models are able to accurately predict ED patient arrivals and peaks during a surge when tested on two years of data from a high-volume urban ED. These short-and long-term prediction models can potentially enhance ED and hospital resource planning

Résultats du concours : Regards d\u27enfants sur la préservation de la biodiversité en Martinique

Ce concours est l\u27occasion d\u27une remise des premiers prix, d\u27une présentation des jeunes lauréats et de leurs productions