Band Crossing studied by GCM with 3D-CHFB

We solved the constrained Hill-Wheeler Equation, and found several signatures of multi-band crossing in 182 Os.Comment: LaTeX 3 pages, 3 eps figures; Contribution to International Conference, Nuclear Structure at the extreme,Lewes, UK, (1998) Jun.17-1

Cancer: Global Health Perspectives

Chemotherapy to patients with cancer remains an effective mode of treatment of the disease, but it is associated with many side effects including mild or dose-­‐limiting toxicities such as alopecia, myelosuppression, gastrointestinal dysfunctions, neurologic toxicities, and immune suppression which results in infections and cancer cell proliferation. Although economic analysis of treatment in health care systems may be applied to the full range of interventions that make up a cancer service, the economic impact of cancer in health care systems remains one where much attention, in the context of complementary medicine, needs to be directed. Predicting the cost-­‐ effectiveness of developing prevention, screening and treatment strategies continue to be the focus strategies to optimize cancer care. KEY WORDS: Cancer; Global health perspectives; Palliative care; Stem cell cancer; Dietary components and chemopreventio

Phytochemical constituents of Cassia fistula

Since the advent of modern drug treatments, traditional medicine has greatly receded in occidental societies. Moreover, only a limited number of medicinal plants have received detailed scientific scrutiny thereby prompting the World Health Organisation to recommend that this area be comprehensively investigated. Cassia fistula Linn is used extensively in various parts of the world against a wide range of ailments, the synergistic action of its metabolite production being most probably responsible for theplant’s beneficial effects. This paper reviews the primary and secondary metabolite composition of vegetative and reproductive plant parts and cell cultures thereby derived, with emphasis on potent phenolic antioxidants such as anthraquinones, flavonoids and flavan-3-ol derivatives. This paper also appraises the antioxidant and free radical propensities of plant parts and cell culture extracts. The data so far generated clearly sets the basis for a clearer understanding of the phytochemistry of the plant and derived cultures and opens the possibility of the potential utilization of the phenolic rich extracts from medicinal plants in food system or as prophylactics in nutritional/food supplement programs. Thus traditional medicinal plant- derived antioxidants may protect against a number of diseases and reduceoxidation processes in food systems. In order to establish this, it is imperative to measure the markers of baseline oxidative stress particularly in human health and disease and examine how they are affectedby supplementation with pure compounds or complex plant extracts from the traditional medicinal plants

Energy Calculator for Solar Processing of Biomass with Application to Uganda

Rural areas of developing countries often have poor energy infrastructure and so rely on a very local supply. A local energy supply in rural Uganda frequently has problems such as limited accessibility, unreliability, a high expense, harmful to health and deforestation. By carbonizing waste biomass streams, available to those in rural areas of developing countries through a solar resource, it would be possible to create stable, reliable fuels with more consistent calorific values. An energy demand calculator is reported to assess the different energy demands of various thermochemical processes that can be used to create biofuel. The energy demand calculator then relates the energy required to the area of solar collector required for an integrated system. Pyrolysis was shown to require the least amount of energy to process 1 kg of biomass when compared to steam treatment and hydrothermal carbonization (HTC). This was due to the large amount of water required for steam treatment and HTC. A resource assessment of Uganda is reported, to which the energy demand calculator has been applied. Quantitative data are presented for agricultural residues, forestry residues, animal manure and aquatic weeds found within Uganda. In application to rural areas of Uganda, a linear Fresnel HTC integration shows to be the most practical fit. Integration with a low temperature steam treatment would require more solar input for less carbonization due to the energy required to vaporize liquid water

Comparison of clinical profiles and treatment outcomes between vagrant and non-vagrant mentally ill patients in a specialist neuropsychiatric hospital in Nigeria

Objective: Vagrant mentally ill patients are a highly marginalized group that receive limited care and attention from society. There is a dearth of information on the clinical status of this group in low-income countries. The aim of this study was to compare the clinical profiles and treatment outcomes between vagrant and non-vagrant mentally ill patients admitted to Aro Psychiatric Hospital, Abeokuta, Nigeria. Method: We conducted a retrospective review of clinical records charting vagrant and non-vagrant mentally ill patients treated over a five year period from January 2004 to December 2008. Results: The medical records of 61 vagrant and 122 non-vagrant mentally ill patients were reviewed and compared. The vagrant patients were more likely to be older, unmarried and alone, poorly educated, unemployed or performing unskilled labour, and diagnosed with schizophrenia. This cohort was also more likely to have physical co-morbidities compared with the non-vagrant mentally ill patients. The median time to improvement among the vagrants (211.0 days) was significantly longer than for the non-vagrant patients (34.0 days) suggesting more intractable illnesses. Other factors found to prolong the time to improvement among all patients were old age, education, being single, unemployment, the diagnoses of schizophrenia, and substance abuse. Conclusion: The clinical profiles and treatment outcomes were poorer among the vagrant mentally ill patients, underscoring a need for more comprehensive healthcare resources directed to this patient group in Nigeria.Key words: Vagrant; mental illness; clinical profile; outcome; Nigeri

Metabolic Homeostasis, Biomarkers and Medical Education Assessment

No Abstract

Rethinking conventional approaches to the detection, management and amelioration of disease

The linear-leafed water primrose (Ludwigia hyssopifolia), with its distinctive yellow flowers and matted undergrowth, is easily recognized along paddy fields and tropical wetlands especially in South and South-East Asia. Also known as the seedbox because of its distinctive dimorphic seeds, it has the potential of being an invasive pest and is classed a ‘serious’ or ‘principal’ weed in many countries. It is used locally for composting and in the concoction of traditional remedies in an unscientific and informal manner. In common with other plants of the willow herb or evening primrose family, this weed could turn out to have immense and economically viable pharmaceutical potential. Das et al have reported moderate anti-tumor and antibacterial activities in extracts and in an alkaloid piperine from L. hyssopifolia and Mohammad et al demonstrated anti-­‐diarrheal properties in a methanol extract. It is noteworthy along the same line that the work by Luximon‐Ramma, et al on Mauritian Exotic fruits strongly advocated the use of the red and yellow Psidium cattleianum Sabine ‘Chinese guava’, in nutritional programs due to their exceptionally high antioxidant potencies attributed to their rich vitamin C and phytophenolic profiles. These plants are also generally considered as invasive causing havoc amidst the protected endemics of the island and sing an ecological conservation approach, indeed legitimate, to safeguard threatened plants from extinction, the systematic removal of Chinese Guava trees may deprive us of important sources of active nutritional biofactors. In a study that features in this issue of the Archives Of Medical And Biomedical Research, Scientists at the University Of Dhaka have further formalized the pharmacotherapeutic potential that this much-­‐derided weed may hold. They studied the effects of hexane, ethyl acetate and methanol extracts of whole plant parts of Ludwigia hyssopifolia on carrageenan-induced paw edema, acetic acid‐induced writhing, and diuresis in mice. The Hexane extract and ethyl acetate extract showed significant inhibition of experimental paw edema. All three fractions significantly inhibited writhing and, in comparison to furosemide, exhibited good diuretic activity

Reference frames for Bell inequality violation in the presence of superselection rules

Superselection rules (SSRs) constrain the allowed states and operations in quantum theory. They limit preparations and measurements and hence impact our ability to observe non-locality, in particular the violation of Bell inequalities. We show that a reference frame compatible with a particle number SSR does not allow observers to violate a Bell inequality if and only if it is prepared using only local operations and classical communication. In particular, jointly prepared separable reference frames are sufficient for obtaining violations of a Bell inequality. We study the size and non-local properties of such reference frames using superselection-induced variance. These results suggest the need for experimental Bell tests in the presence of superselection