Gall bladder ejection fraction as a marker of autonomic neuropathy in type 2 diabetes mellitus

Background: Diabetic neuropathy is one of the commonest complications of diabetes mellitus and associated with considerable morbidity and mortality. The influence of diabetes on gall bladder function was not demonstrated in many studies. In this study, the association of fasting gall bladder volume and gall bladder ejection fraction with degree of cardiac autonomic neuropathy was assessed and correlated with duration of diabetes and severity of diabetes..Methods: The study was conducted in Government Sivagangai Medical College Hospital, Sivagangai, Madurai during a period of January 2018 to September 2018 as a Prospective observational study conducted among 100 patients in study group and 50 healthy subjects in control group. The aim of the study was to find out the incidence of autonomic neuropathy in study group by simple bed side tests, to determine the fasting gall bladder ejection fraction in diabetics, comparison of gall bladder volume in both study and control group, correlation of gall bladder ejection fraction with autonomic neuropathy.Results: The incidence of CAN is found to be high with longer duration of the disease and the degree is also correlated with duration of the disease. The correlation coefficient of this association is 0.792 which indicates high correlation. The correlation of severity of DM   with incidence and degree of CAN was 0.81 which indicates high correlation and also the study showed an increase in the FGBV and a decrease in the GBEF with increase in the severity of cardiac autonomic neuropathy.Conclusions: In patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus, the gall bladder ejection fraction is  significantly  related  to  the  duration  of diabetes mellitus and degree of hyperglycemia in addition to cardiac autonomic neuropathy(CAN). Similarly,  fasting  gall  bladder  volume (FGBV)  is  significantly increased  in  type 2  diabetes  mellitus  patients  with  cardiac autonomic neuropathy

Seroprevalence of COVID antibodies in health-care population of tertiary care government hospital in South India

Background: The pandemic coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by the new severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has resulted in a worldwide abrupt and significant rise in admissions for pneumonia with multiorgan diseases. Aims and Objective: To determine the positive prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in health-care professionals over 6 months. In addition, to make a subgroup analysis and estimate the age, gender, and workforce-based prevalence of SARS-CoV-2. Materials and Methods: An observational cross-sectional study was conducted on 200 healthcare professionals during 6 months. After taking proper informed consent, the study was started. We included subjects aged ≥18 years in this study. Not receiving any other vaccine during the study, suspected or confirmed immunosuppressive condition, imaging confirmed COVID-19 or recent blood transfusions were excluded from the study. Results: Most patients were 26–30 years old. Out of 200 patients, 116 (58%) were males, and 84 (42%) were females. The total positivity of the titers amounts was 57%. In addition, the males had higher mean titers than the females, with 24.186 versus 13.304. Of the 116 males, 68 were positive (58.6%), and of the 84 females, 46 were positive (54.7%). The age-wise positivity of the titers was high among the 26–30 years of age group, of which, in the 53 people, 33 were seropositive, which is 62.2% of this age group and lowest in the 51–55 years age group, of which in the 23 participants 9 were positive (39.31%), and 14 were negative (60.85%). Conclusion: We concluded that male doctors and adults had a greater seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection, suggesting that they are more susceptible to contracting COVID-19 through patient contact or surgical procedures

Targeted Deletion of Neuropeptide Y (NPY) Modulates Experimental Colitis

Neurogenic inflammation plays a major role in the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). We examined the role of neuropeptide Y (NPY) and neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) in modulating colitis.Colitis was induced by administration of dextran sodium sulphate (3% DSS) or streptomycin pre-treated Salmonella typhimurium (S.T.) in wild type (WT) and NPY (NPY(-/-)) knockout mice. Colitis was assessed by clinical score, histological score and myeloperoxidase activity. NPY and nNOS expression was assessed by immunostaining. Oxidative stress was assessed by measuring catalase activity, glutathione and nitrite levels. Colonic motility was assessed by isometric muscle recording in WT and DSS-treated mice.DSS/S.T. induced an increase in enteric neuronal NPY and nNOS expression in WT mice. WT mice were more susceptible to inflammation compared to NPY(-/-) as indicated by higher clinical & histological scores, and myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity (p<0.01). DSS-WT mice had increased nitrite, decreased glutathione (GSH) levels and increased catalase activity indicating more oxidative stress. The lower histological scores, MPO and chemokine KC in S.T.-treated nNOS(-/-) and NPY(-/-)/nNOS(-/-) mice supported the finding that loss of NPY-induced nNOS attenuated inflammation. The inflammation resulted in chronic impairment of colonic motility in DSS-WT mice. NPY -treated rat enteric neurons in vitro exhibited increased nitrite and TNF-alpha production.NPY mediated increase in nNOS is a determinant of oxidative stress and subsequent inflammation. Our study highlights the role of neuronal NPY and nNOS as mediators of inflammatory processes in IBD

Chikungunya as a cause of acute febrile illness in southern Sri Lanka

10.1371/journal.pone.0082259PLoS ONE812-POLN

Does the gender of the subject affect perceived smile aesthetics when varying the dimensions of maxillary lateral incisors?

Objective To assess whether subject gender influences aesthetic opinion when altering the width of maxillary lateral incisors. Method Photographs of a male and a female smile, displaying only the lips and teeth, were digitally altered to produce images where the maxillary lateral incisor was proportioned 52%, 57%, 62%, 67%, 72% and 77% in relation to the width of the maxillary central incisor. The image was then made symmetrical. One hundred participants (50 male and 50 female) were asked to rank each set of photographs from 'most' to 'least attractive'. Result The 57% lateral incisor was considered the 'most attractive' with the 77% lateral incisor the 'least attractive' however no statistically significant difference existed with relation to subject or rater gender. Conclusion Neither the 'golden proportion' nor the 'Recurrent Aesthetic Dental' ('RED') proportion was deemed the most attractive. As subject gender did not have a significant effect, dentists should work to create aesthetic results on an individual basis, operating within a so-called 'golden range'

Tunnel-accessed NATs for always-best-connected and application mobility

We describe the design, implementation and performance of a Remote NAT that can be used to provide an 'always-best-connected' service. In this service a mobile host will connect through the best possible network. Switching between the networks (even with IP address changes) will be transparent to the application. The solution that we propose is different from traditional mobility solutions like MSOCKS and Mobile IP and requires no support from the networks to which the mobile host connects. The solution involves an 'ABC daemon' on the mobile host and a 'remote NAT' that is used to provide a consistent interface to the remote host during a connection oriented application. We also describe the prototype implementation and preliminary experimental results.© IEE

Benzimidazolyl based Schiff base palladium complex in an ionic liquid: an effective combination for Suzuki coupling

AbstractA new benzimidazole based Pd(II) Schiff base complex was prepared and its catalytic activity was evaluated for Suzuki cross-coupling reactions in ethyl-methyl imidazolium hexafluorophosphate EMIM PF6 ionic liquid at ambient temperature. The system provides a stable and reusable method for coupling reactions. Optimization for suitable reaction conditions were studied with respect to the effect of catalyst concentration, effects of additives, solvent and substituents on boronic acid. Good to excellent yields were achieved using a modest amount of the catalyst. The reaction time was less and the yield was more compared to previously reported results. In addition, the catalyst can be easily reused and recycled for six times without much loss in activity; this is an example of sustainable and green methodology

Ethyl 1-benzyl-2-(3-chlorophenyl)-1H-benzimidazole-5-carboxylate

In the title compound, C23H19ClN2O2, the dihedral angles between the imidazole ring system and the chlorobenzene and phenyl rings are 48.05 (14) and 82.53 (15)°, respectively. In the crystal, inversion dimers linked by pairs of C—H...O hydrogen bonds generate R22(22) loops. Weak C—H...π and π–π stacking interactions are also observed