Association of Vitamin D Deficiency with Hypertension in Uninsured Women

Vitamin D deficiency is an epidemic in the United States. Uninsured women are at high risk due to a lower intake of vitamin D and limited sun exposure. We examined the association between vitamin D deficiency and hypertension in 96 uninsured women at a County Free Medical Clinic in urban Michigan. Questionnaires were used to obtain information about demographics, medical history including hypertension, and dietary habits. Measurements including blood pressure and serum 25(OH)D level were also collected. Prevalence of hypertension was higher in subjects with 25(OH)D less than 50nmol/l compared with others (85% vs. 27.3%, p = 0.014). For every 1 nmol/L decrease in serum 25(OH)D, there was an increase in the systolic and diastolic blood pressure by 0.20 (p =0.006) and 0.13 (p =0.003) mm of Hg respectively. These results demonstrate a high prevalence of hypertension in the vitamin D deficient, uninsured female population

Do dot coms add value : a preliminary study of the market capitalisation of Australian and Indian telecoms and banking sectors

E-Business is increasingly reshaping the way businesses operate across the globe. Globally, businesses in the banking and telecoms sectors have been re-engineering their value chains by adopting e-Business presence by means of dot com launches. The second half of the 1990s, however, saw both the rise and subsequent collapse of dot com entities as a major focus of investment interest, with consequent speculation over the viability of this corporate vehicle. The perceived increase in market capitalisation by means of these ventures during the boom period is now not so certain. In this paper, we report the results of a preliminary study which investigated the impact of dot com launches on market capitalisation within the banking and telecoms sectors of Australia and India.<br /

Clustering Algorithm Combined with Hill Climbing for Classification of Remote Sensing Image

Clustering is an unsupervised classification method widely used for classification of remote sensing images.  As the spatial resolution of remote sensing images getting higher and higher, the complex structure is the simple objects becomes obvious, which makes the classification algorithm based on pixels being losing their advantages. In this paper, four different clustering algorithms such as K-means, Moving K-means, Fuzzy K-means and Fuzzy Moving K-means are used for classification of remote sensing images. In all the traditional clustering algorithms, number of clusters and initial centroids are randomly selected and often specified by the user. In this paper, a hill climbing algorithm for the histogram of the input image will generate the number of clusters and initial centroids required for clustering.   It overcomes the shortage of random initialization in traditional clustering and achieves high computational speed by reducing the number of iterations. The experimental results show that Fuzzy Moving K-means has classified the remote sensing image more accurately than other three algorithms.DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.11591/ijece.v4i6.660

Knowledge of obesity and its effects on cardiometabolic and reproductive health in women

Background: Obesity is following a raising trend in India. Being a major risk factor for various diseases, awareness should be raised among people regarding this issue. The objective of the study was to assess knowledge of obesity and its ill effects on cardio metabolic and reproductive health in women.Methods: This was a prospective survey study done on women visiting gynecology OPD at Rajarajeswari Medical College and Hospital. 300 Subjects were randomly picked and were administered a questionnaire on the health risks of obesity, that is,  its effect on cardio metabolic status, reproductive outcome in terms of infertility and spontaneous abortions and obesity related cancers such as endometrial and breast cancers.  Height and weight measurements of the study subjects were measured.Results: Subjects' age ranged from 19 to 47 years (mean SD: 28.72 ± 6.52). subjects who were aware that obesity increases the risk of various diseases were: diabetes  (85.3% ) ,  blood pressure (88.7%), raised cholesterol levels in the blood(90.7%), infertility (84%), irregular periods (62%), abortions (44%),arthritis (86.7% ),  breast cancer (36%) , endometrial cancer (36.7% ).Conclusions: Women in our study have good knowledge about obesity and its effect on general health and cardio metabolic diseases, fair knowledge about reproductive outcomes. They are less aware of the association of obesity and sex hormone sensitive cancers like endometrial and breast cancers.  Public education is needed to increase awareness of obesity and malignancy

GENDER AND SYLLABUS BASED STUDY APPROACHES AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCES

The objective of the study was to examine the impact of gender-wise and syllabus-wise study approaches in academic performances of high school students. Study involved ninety high school students (45 girls, and 45 boys) randomly selected from two high schools in Galle, and Gampaha, Sri Lanka. Study process of respondents was measured by employing the ‘revised two-factor Study Process Questionnaire’ of Biggs et.al (2001). Descriptive and inferential analyses of data were conducted by using the SPSS software. The Study Approaches (including study motives, and study strategies) employed by respondents during the study process were examined. Relationships were tested among study process variables pertaining to the gender, and syllabus of respondents and their academic performances. High School girls have indicated deeper study methodologies in comparison to the boys. Science stream students recorded deeper study methodologies, and Arts stream students recorded surface study methodologies. Girls recorded superior examination results over boys. A positive relationship was found between the surface study approach and Academic performances of girls. Study highlights the necessity of defining, and applying integrated study process approaches, and evaluation techniques for the vitality of education

A Comparative Evaluation of the Release of Metal Ions from Round and Rectangular Superelastic Niti Wires of Three Different Manufacturers: An In Vitro study

Nickel titanium wires are the routinely using archwires in orthodontics. The two wires which are used in the initial and final stages are round and rectangular wires respectively. Biocompatibility of any dental material is now a fundamental requirement of successfill clinical behavior in oral cavity. NiTi is a universal wire, Nickel in NiTi is capable of eliciting toxic and allergic responses and can produce more allergic reactions than any other metal elements. So, nickel titanium orthodontic arch wire with a good properties including corrosion resistance is essential to its biocompatibility. The metal ions leaching from orthodontic wires cannot be fully evaded; but it is possible to use materials with lower amounts of ions leaching in the mouth. It was proven that the amount of ions, leached from orthodontic wires in saliva was less than the toxic concentrations, which is below the critical value necessary to induce allergy and less than the daily dietary intake levels. The purpose of this study is to determine the amount of Ni and Ti ion release from NiTi wires of three different manufactures and to check whether the leached metal ions is lower than the daily dietary intake. METHODS: The study was performed by immersion of the samples in artificial saliva at various time intervals and Ni and Ti release was quantified with the use of an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. In this study superelastic NiTi Archwires of three different manufactures which is in two shapes Round and Rectangular of commonly using dimensions 0.016 and 19x25 respectively of 7 inches long are used in this study. The testing solution used in the study is artificial saliva buffer solutions. PROCEDURE: Each wires separately dipped into 126 polypropylene beakers containing 50 n11 of buffer solution. Then incubate and quantify the ions leached at T1=1 hour, T2=24 hour, T3=1 week, T4=3 week using the software Thermoscientific QtegraTM Intelligent Scientific Data Solution Software (ISDS) which is attached to the ICP MS instrument. This shared software approach provides control and data processing for a range of elemental and isotopic analysis technologies The output is numerical, and provided in counts per second i.e., how much Nickel and Titanium (mass—ion ratio) is released per second. RESULTS: From the findings of present study, revealed that Round wire shows least metal ion leaching than rectangular wire. This may differ according to the manufacturers choice. Least immersion time shows greatest release of metal ions and Group Ia is better than all other groups. CONCLUSION: When comparing three manufactures, Group I shows least Ni and Ti ion leaching among other two groups. When comparing round and rectangular wires; round wires shows less ion release than rectangular wires. The least Ni and Ti ion release is shown by Group Ia at all time periods. The highest Ni and Ti ion release is shown by Group IIIb at a11tirne periods .At each immersion time, T1 shows 1east Ni and Ti ion release than other time periods, which gradually increases with immersion period. The average amount of ions leached per day from round and rectangular of three manufactures was well below the tolerable daily dietary intake level

Comparison between two layer and three layer repair of episiotomy

Background: The study was done to compare the two layer episiotomy suturing and three layer episiotomy suturing with regard to time taken to suture, number of suture material required and complications at suturing site postnatally.Methods: This study was conducted in the Gynaecology and Obstetrics department of Karnataka Institute of Medical Science, Hubli, Karnataka, India from 1st March 2015 to 30th April 2015.Results: The two layered technique required lesser suture material and lesser time compared to the three layer techhnique.Conclusions: In our study two layer techniques took lesser time and lesser suture material than three layer technique

METHOD DEVELOPMENT AND VALIDATION OF EPROSARTAN MESYLATE AND ITS IMPURITIES USING REVERSE PHASE HIGH-PERFORMANCE LIQUID CHROMATOGRAPHY

Objective: Our main objective is to develop an accurate and precise RP-HPLC method for the determination of Eprosartan Mesylate and its impurities. Methods: A Develosil ODS UG-5; (150 × 4.6) mm; 5 µm column was used for the Separation of drugs by a mobile phase consisting of Buffer and Acetonitrile mixture in the gradient proportion. The flow rate maintained was 0.8 ml/min and the wavelength used for detection was 235 nm.Results: The linearity was observed in the range of 0.025-50µg/ml of spiked impurities in Eprosartan Mesylate, impurity 1 and impurity 2 with a correlation coefficient of 0.99927, 0.99910 and 0.99934 respectively. The mean percentage recoveries for LOQ, 50%, 80%, 100%, 150% and 200% accuracy were found to be 101.5±1.51, 107.0±1.7, 104.6±0.4, 102.8±0.36, 101.7±0.26 and 101.3±0.15 respectively for impurities in Eprosartan Mesylate, impurity 1 and impurity 2. Linearity, accuracy, precision and robustness parameters for the suggested method were estimated for validation.Conclusion: The developed method is uncomplicated, accurate, sensitive and precise for the determination of related substances in the Eprosartan Mesylate. The satisfying % recoveries and low % RSD Values confirmed the suitability of the developed method for the usual analysis of Eprosartan mesylate in pharmaceuticals

Comparative Study on Nutrition Knowledge and Consumption of Dietary Supplements among Athletes and Fitness Practitioners

Background: The use of dietary supplements, in the form of protein powders, branched chain amino-aids, multi-vitamins and minerals is widespread in the field of nutrition, fitness and aesthetics to boost nutrition levels, enhance athletic performance or assist in weight loss. The present survey was carried out to study the nutritional knowledge and consumption of dietary supplements among athletes and gym-goers. Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted among athletes and gym-goers (n=100) selected from various gym and stadium in the city of Mysore using semi-structured pre-tested questionnaire. Results: The knowledge and consumption of dietary supplements was higher among gym-goers when compared to that of athletes. Majority (52%) of the gym-goers consumed supplements which included Whey protein in powder form (80%) from past one year. The side effects of supplement consumption was observed among 9.5% athletes. Conclusion: The use of supplements among gym goers was very high which can further lead to health illness eventually. Therefore, this study recommends that users should be sensitized on the importance, protective measures and side effects of using excess nutritional supplements without the consultations of nutritionists/dietetians