Composition of sorgo juice as related to sirup composition and quality

There are many problems involved in making high quality sorgo sirup. The first step toward industrial development, as well as toward a better homemade sirup, is a more complete knowledge of the chemical composition of the juice and sirup. On the whole, the literature indicates that earlier investigators made little attempt to correlate juice composition and sirup quality. Sorgo production in the United States is distributed more widely than the production of sugar cane or sugar beets. Sorgo is easy to cultivate. The adaptability of the sorgo crop to many soils and climatic conditions is noteworthy (9). Some sorgo is grown for sirup in thirty-five states, but it is grown most extensively in the southeastern states. Six states, Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, Tennessee, North Carolina, and Georgia, sometimes called the sorgo sirup belt, produce about 50 percent of the total amount of sorgo sirup. Mississippi and Alabama have been the largest producers for many years (24). The production of sweet sorgo for sirup in Tennessee is not very extensive as compared to that of some of the more common crops, but it is an important source of income on some farms and in some areas of the State. Six counties, Benton, Warren, Fayette, Tipton, Shelby, and DeKalb, produced approximately 44 percent of the State production in 1959 (16). Benton County reported 14 percent of the total acres of sorgo grown in the State in 1959 and 23 percent of the total production. Warren County is the second largest producer in Tennessee. No information is available pertaining to the amount of consumer demand for sorgo sirup. However, consumers prefer high quality sirup, and in order to fulfill this requirement, it is necessary to eliminate the practices contributing to the production of inferior sirup. Early research workers reported that many factors could influence sirup quality. The chemical composition of the juice is considered to be the most influential factor affecting quality of sirup. The relationship between various constituents in the juice and the finished sirup has been most neglected and is still little understood. With this factor in mind, the objectives of this study were: (1) to determine the presence of certain chemical constituents of the juice; (2) to determine the concentration of these constituents in different internodes and sections; (3) to determine chemical composition of sorgo sirups and (4) to relate the chemical composition of the juice to the composition and quality of the sirup

Profile of elderly inmates of old age homes of Patan district, Gujarat, India: a cross sectional study

Background: Population aging is both a medical as well as a social problem. The situation of the elderly still worsens when there is presence of chronic diseases, physical incapacity and financial stringency. An exceptional increase in the number and proportion of older adults in the country, rapid increase in nuclear families, and contemporary changes in psychosocial matrix and values often compel this segment of society to live alone or in old age homes. The objective of study was to know the medico-social profile of the inmates of an old age homes.Methods: A descriptive cross sectional study was conducted from January to December 2014 to assess the socio-demographic profile, pattern of morbidities and quality of life of elderly residing in old age homes. Total 4 old age homes and 203 elderly people were included in the study after taking verbal and written consent of the elderly people and permission from the managers of all the old age homes. A semi structured and pretested questionnaire was prepared to collect information on socio-demographic characteristics and morbidity pattern. Data was collected and analyzed by appropriate statistical software.Results: Around 65% of elderly people were in the age group of 65 to 79 years. 58% of the males and 39.1 % of the females were suffered from cataract, whereas 39.8 of the males and 39.1 % females were suffered from hypertension. Next common morbidity was diabetes present in 28.4 of the males and 18.3 % of the females followed by joint pain present in 20.5% of the males and 23.5% of the females. No significant difference was found among morbidities of the males and females (x2=2.85, p=0.35). 30.8% of the males and 28.75% of the females were hypertensive. Around 27% of the males and 36% of the females were obese and 18% of males and females were pre-obese according to BMI value. There was no significant difference in the BMI among males and females.Conclusions: The study highlighted a high prevalence of morbidity and health related problems in old age group.

Sociodemographic Correlates of Tobacco Consumption in Rural Gujarat, India

Background. The purpose of this study was to examine occupation-, education-, and gender-specific patterns of tobacco use and knowledge of its health effects among 23,953 rural Asian Indians ≥18 years in Gujarat. Methodology. A statewide, community-based, cross-sectional survey was conducted in 26 districts of Gujarat (December 2010–May 2015), using face-to-face interviews by trained community health workers called SEVAKS. Results. Mean age was 39.8 ± 15.2 years. Eighteen percent of respondents used tobacco in various forms. Tobacco consumption was significantly higher among males (32%), 18–34 years’ age group (35%), those who were self-employed (72%), and those with elementary education (40%). The prevalence was 11 times higher among males than females (95% CI = 9.78, 13.13). Adjusted ORs for tobacco use showed strong gradient by age and educational level; consumption was lower among the illiterates and higher for older participants (≥55 years). Tobacco consumption also varied by occupation; that is, those who were self-employed and employed for wages were more likely to use tobacco than those who were unemployed. Knowledge of health effects of tobacco lowered the odds of consumption by 30–40%. Conclusions. Effective educational programs should be tailored by gender, to improve knowledge of health risks and dispel myths on perceived benefits of tobacco

Vegetarian Diet and Cardiometabolic Risk among Asian Indians in the United States

Research studies have shown that plant-based diets confer cardiovascular and metabolic health benefits. Asian Indians (AIs) in the US (who have often followed plant-based diets) have elevated risk for chronic diseases such as diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and obesity suggesting ethnic vulnerability that imply genetic and/or lifestyle causative links. This study explored the association between this ethnic group and diabetes, obesity, and metabolic syndrome after controlling for demographics, acculturation, family history of diabetes, and lifestyle and clinical risk factors. The sample comprised of 1038 randomly selected adult AIs in seven US sites. Prevalence and metabolic syndrome was estimated, and obesity was calculated using the WHO Asian criteria. Multivariate analysis included multinomial logistic regression. The mean age and length of residency in the US were 47 and 18.5 years, respectively. The majority of respondents were vegetarians (62%) and educated. A vegetarian lifestyle was associated with females, food label users, respondents with poor/fair current health status, less acculturated, and those who reported their diet had not changed after coming to the US. Vegetarian status was a protective factor and lowered the risk for diabetes but not for metabolic syndrome and obesity in the regression model. Results provide a firm basis for educational programs

Pharmacological Effects of Asiatic acid in Glioblastoma Cells under Hypoxia

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most common and malignant primary brain tumor in adults. Despite current treatment options including surgery followed by radiation and chemotherapy with temozolomide (TMZ) and cisplatin, the median survival rate remains low (<16 months). Combined with increasing drug resistance and the inability of some compounds to cross the blood brain barrier (BBB), novel compounds are being sought for the treatment of this disease. Here, we aimed to examine the pharmacological effect of Asiatic acid (AA) in glioblastoma under hypoxia. To investigate the effects of AA on cell viability, proliferation, apoptosis and wound healing, SVG p12 fetal glia and U87-MG grade IV glioblastoma cells were cultured under normoxic (21% O2) and hypoxic (1% O2) conditions. In normoxia, AA reduced cell viability in U87-MG cells in a time and concentration-dependent manner. A significant decrease in viability, compared to cisplatin, was observed following 2hrs of AA treatment with no significant changes in cell proliferation or cell cycle progression observed. Under hypoxia, a significantly greater number of cells underwent apoptosis in comparison to cisplatin. While cisplatin showed a reduction in wound healing in normoxia, a significantly greater reduction was observed following AA treatment. An overall reduction in wound healing was observed under hypoxia. The results of this study show that AA has cytotoxic effects on glioma cell lines and has the potential to become an alternative treatment for glioblastoma

Photochromic azomethine disperse dyes with mercury(II) dithizonate moiety for dyeing hydrophobic fibres

84-88<span style="font-size:11.0pt;line-height:115%; font-family:" calibri","sans-serif";mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-fareast-font-family:="" "times="" new="" roman";mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;mso-hansi-theme-font:="" minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:calibri;mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-latin;="" color:black;mso-ansi-language:en-us;mso-fareast-language:en-us;mso-bidi-language:="" ar-sa"="">Salicylidene-p-aminophenylmercuric acetate(II) was coupled with the diazotized<span style="font-size:11.0pt;line-height:115%; font-family:" calibri","sans-serif";mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-fareast-font-family:="" "times="" new="" roman";mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;mso-hansi-theme-font:="" minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:calibri;mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-latin;="" color:#242424;mso-ansi-language:en-us;mso-fareast-language:en-us;mso-bidi-language:="" ar-sa"="">/tetrazotized forms of arnines/diamines IIIa-u to give 5-arylazosalicylidene-p-aminophenylmercuric acetates (IVa-u) which on treatment with dithizone (V) gave 5-arylazosalicylidene-p-aminophenylmereury(II) dithizonates (VIa-u). When applied on nylon and polyester fibres, the compounds VIa-u showed poor to moderate fastness to light, very good to excellent fastness to rubbing and sublimation, and poor to excellent fastness to washing. The dyed fibres on exposure to bright sunlight showed very good photochromic effect. When the fibres were removed from sunlight the colour returned to the original shade, but the duration for this return depended on the intensity of incident light and ambient temperature.</span

Synthesis and characterisation of photo chromic polycyanurates

7-12<span style="font-size:11.0pt;line-height:115%; font-family:" calibri","sans-serif";mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-fareast-font-family:="" "times="" new="" roman";mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;mso-hansi-theme-font:="" minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:"times="" roman";mso-ansi-language:en-us;="" mso-fareast-language:en-us;mso-bidi-language:ar-sa"="">Photochromic polycyanurates containing mercury dithizonate moiety have been prepared by interfacial poly condensation technique. All the polycyanurates have been characterized by their IR spectra, viscosity, molecular weight by VPO and thermogravimetry. The film of PMMA blended with photochromic polycyanurate shows a very good photo chromic effect on exposure to sunlight and regains its original colour on removal of sunlight. The changes of return to the original colour have been measured using Beckman DK-2A Ratio Recording spectrophotometer.</span

Vegetarian Diet and Cardiometabolic Risk among Asian Indians in the United States

Research studies have shown that plant-based diets confer cardiovascular and metabolic health benefits. Asian Indians (AIs) in the US (who have often followed plant-based diets) have elevated risk for chronic diseases such as diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and obesity suggesting ethnic vulnerability that imply genetic and/or lifestyle causative links. This study explored the association between this ethnic group and diabetes, obesity, and metabolic syndrome after controlling for demographics, acculturation, family history of diabetes, and lifestyle and clinical risk factors. The sample comprised of 1038 randomly selected adult AIs in seven US sites. Prevalence and metabolic syndrome was estimated, and obesity was calculated using the WHO Asian criteria. Multivariate analysis included multinomial logistic regression. The mean age and length of residency in the US were 47 and 18.5 years, respectively. The majority of respondents were vegetarians (62%) and educated. A vegetarian lifestyle was associated with females, food label users, respondents with poor/fair current health status, less acculturated, and those who reported their diet had not changed after coming to the US. Vegetarian status was a protective factor and lowered the risk for diabetes but not for metabolic syndrome and obesity in the regression model. Results provide a firm basis for educational programs