Initiation and Adequacy of Complementary Feeding

BackgroundInfants and young children are at an increased risk of malnutrition from six months of age onwards, when breast milk alone is no longer sufficient to meet all their nutritional requirements and complementary feeding should be started. Hence this study was undertaken to assess the practices of complementary feeding.Method  This hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted at two private hospitals – Dr TMA Pai Hospital Udupi and Dr TMA Pai Hospital Karkala and a public hospital, Regional Advanced Paediatric Care Centre, Mangalore, of coastal south India for a two-month period from August 2010 to October 2010. Two-hundred mothers of children between six months and two years attending the paediatric outpatient departments of the above-mentioned hospitals for growth monitoring, immunisation and minor illnesses such as upper respiratory tract infections were selected for the study. The subjects were selected for the study by the order of their arrival to the outpatient department during the study period. ResultsIn the present study 77.5% mothers had started complementary feeding at the recommended time of six months. Only 32% of mothers were giving an adequate quantity of complementary feeds. The association of initiation of complementary feeding with socio-economic status, birth order, place of delivery and maternal education was found to be statistically significant. However the practice of giving an adequate quantity of complementary feeds was significantly associated only with the place of delivery.ConclusionIn the present study, initiation of complementary feeding at the recommended time of six months was seen in the majority of children. However the quantity of complementary feeding was insufficient. Advice about breast feeding and complementary feeding during antenatal check-ups and postnatal visits might improve feeding practices

SURVEY ON BRIDGE AND FLYOVER CONDITION MONITORING SYSTEM

Health monitoring of bridges is one of the important challenges in cities. Monitoring the damages in the bridge is an increasing concern for the benefit of public as there is a threat to people’s life and property. Instalment of wireless sensor network is one of the possible solutions to structural health monitoring. The ZigBee convention is utilized for observing the scaffolds harms and can screen different parameters, for example, temperature, weight, vibrations, stress and dampness. Stack cell, flex sensors and vibration sensors can be utilized to screen the condition. The heap cell is utilized to discover the limit of scaffold. The flex and vibration sensor is utilized to recognize the inward and outer harms .If harm is distinguished by means of ZigBee correspondence the harm location is educated to the Base Station. They locate an extensive variety of uses in natural checking, modern observing, and auxiliary checkin

Utility of Neutrophil–lymphocyte Ratio and Platelet–lymphocyte Ratio in Predicting Malignancy in Patients with Small Renal Mass

Background: Abdominal imaging has become increasingly prevalent, resulting in the incidental detection of renal tumors. The majority of small renal masses (SRMs), which are surgically removed, prove to be malignant. However, some cases turn out to be benign, which can lead to unnecessary surgeries with associated significant morbidity. Recently, many inflammatory biomarkers have shown to be promising prognostic factors in RCC. We aimed to assess the importance of inflammatory biomarkers, which are simple and economical, in SRMs. Objective: We investigated whether preoperative neutrophil–lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and platelet–lymphocyte ratio (PLR) can predict malignancy in patients with SRMs. Material and Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed on 108 patients who underwent partial or radical nephrectomy for SRMs (tumors smaller than 4 cm) from January 2016 to December 2022. The patients were classified into two groups based on their histopathological diagnosis: benign group (n = 28) and malignant group (n = 80). NLR and PLR values were assessed for sensitivity using the ROC curve. Independent t-test, Mann–Whitney test, and Chi-square test were utilized. P <0.05 indicated statistical significance. Results: The mean age of patients was 58.9 ± 12.3 years in the benign group and 53.3 ± 11.9 years in the malignant group (P = 0.03). The mean tumor size was 3.26 ± 0.52 cm in the benign group and 3.04 ± 0.90 cm in the malignant group (P = 0.60). NLR (P = 0.008) and PLR (P ≤ 0.001) values were significantly higher in the malignant group (median: 3.65 and 201) compared to the benign group (median: 2.82 and 125), respectively. The area under a ROC curve was 0.669 (P = 0.002) and 0.758 (P < 0.001), with sensitivity values of 62.5% and 87.5%, specificity of 64.29% and 57.14%, and cutoff points of 3.45 and 130.21, for NLR and PLR, respectively. Conclusion: NLR and PLR can be considered biomarkers for predicting malignancy in SRMs. NLR and PLR should be included in a patient’s clinical evaluation along with imaging studies and overall health status

Proteolysis of MDA5 and IPS-1 is not required for inhibition of the type I IFN response by poliovirus

BACKGROUND: The type I interferon (IFN) response is a critical component of the innate immune response to infection by RNA viruses and is initiated via recognition of viral nucleic acids by RIG-like receptors (RLR). Engagement of these receptors in the cytoplasm initiates a signal transduction pathway leading to activation of the transcription factors NF-κB, ATF-2 and IRF-3 that coordinately upregulate transcription of type I IFN genes, such as that encoding IFN-β. In this study the impact of poliovirus infection on the type I interferon response has been examined. METHODS: The type I IFN response was assessed by measuring IFN-β mRNA levels using qRT-PCR and normalizing to levels of β-actin mRNA. The status of host factors involved in activation of the type I IFN response was examined by immunoblot, immunofluorescence microcopy and qRT-PCR. RESULTS: The results show that poliovirus infection results in induction of very low levels of IFN-β mRNA despite clear activation of NF-κB and ATF-2. In contrast, analysis of IRF-3 revealed no transcriptional induction of an IRF-3-responsive promoter or homodimerization of IRF-3 indicating it is not activated in poliovirus-infected cells. Exposure of poliovirus-infected cells to poly(I:C) results in lower levels of IFN-β mRNA synthesis and IRF-3 activation compared to mock-infected cells. Analysis of MDA-5 and IPS-1 revealed that these components of the RLR pathway were largely intact at times when the type I IFN response was suppressed. CONCLUSIONS: Collectively, these results demonstrate that poliovirus infection actively suppresses the host type I interferon response by blocking activation of IRF-3 and suggests that this is not mediated by cleavage of MDA-5 or IPS-1.This item is part of the UA Faculty Publications collection. For more information this item or other items in the UA Campus Repository, contact the University of Arizona Libraries at [email protected]

Acute- and late-phase matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-9 activity is comparable in female and male rats after peripheral nerve injury

Abstract Background In the peripheral nerve, pro-inflammatory matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-9 performs essential functions in the acute response to injury. Whether MMP-9 activity contributes to late-phase injury or whether MMP-9 expression or activity after nerve injury is sexually dimorphic remains unknown. Methods Patterns of MMP-9 expression, activity and excretion were assessed in a model of painful peripheral neuropathy, sciatic nerve chronic constriction injury (CCI), in female and male rats. Real-time Taqman RT-PCR for MMP-9 and its endogenous inhibitor, tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-1 (TIMP-1) of nerve samples over a 2-month time course of CCI was followed by gelatin zymography of crude nerve extracts and purified MMP-9 from the extracts using gelatin Sepharose-beads. MMP excretion was determined using protease activity assay of urine in female and male rats with CCI. Results The initial upsurge in nerve MMP-9 expression at day 1 post-CCI was superseded more than 100-fold at day 28 post-CCI. The high level of MMP-9 expression in late-phase nerve injury was accompanied by the reduction in TIMP-1 level. The absence of MMP-9 in the normal nerve and the presence of multiple MMP-9 species (the proenzyme, mature enzyme, homodimers, and heterodimers) was observed at day 1 and day 28 post-CCI. The MMP-9 proenzyme and mature enzyme species dominated in the early- and late-phase nerve injury, consistent with the high and low level of TIMP-1 expression, respectively. The elevated nerve MMP-9 levels corresponded to the elevated urinary MMP excretion post-CCI. All of these findings were comparable in female and male rodents. Conclusion The present study offers the first evidence for the excessive, uninhibited proteolytic MMP-9 activity during late-phase painful peripheral neuropathy and suggests that the pattern of MMP-9 expression, activity, and excretion after peripheral nerve injury is universal in both sexes