Comparison of serum pepsinogen i and ii and gastrin 17 level in patients more than 50 years with dyspepsia who have precancerous gastric lesions

Introduction: Serum screening systems are useful in monitoring gastric cancer. The present research studied and compared serum levels of pepsinogens, gastrin-17, and Helicobacter pylori antibodies in patients with dyspepsia and precancerous lesions by focusing on gastric pathology.Materials and methods: In this cross-sectional study, patients with dyspepsia symptoms from whom gastric biopsy samples were taken during endoscopy entered the present study. The biopsy samples were examined using a rapid urease test (RUT) and histopathology study. Patients with precancerous lesions were considered the case group (40 individuals) and patients with chronic gastritis the control group (88 individuals). Serum pepsinogen I, pepsinogen II, gastrin-17, anti-Helicobacter pylori antibodies, and the gene related to vacuolatingcytotoxinA(vacA) were measured at a private laboratory in Rasht. The information was analyzed by using SPSS 16 and through employing the t-test and the chisquare test.Results: This study included 120 patients with chronic non-atrophic gastritis, 39 with metaplasia, 5 with dysplasia, and 6 with neoplasia. No cases of atrophic gastritis were observed. The percentages of patients with pepsinogen I levels lower than normal and without metaplasia (75.9%) or neoplasia (96.6%) were significantly higher than those with metaplasia (24.1%) or neoplasia (3.4%). When the three groups of patients with metaplasia, dysplasia, and atrophic gastritis were combined to form a new group (the precancerous group), there were significant differences between the case and control groups with respect to levels of pepsinogen I and pepsinogen I/ pepsinogen II ratios (p<0.05). The frequencies of patients with lower than normal pepsinogen I levels and pepsinogen I/ pepsinogen II ratios in the precancerous group (15 and 20 percent, respectively) were higher than those in the chronic gastritis group (1.1 and 5.7 percent, respectively) (p<0.05). The mean pepsinogen I levels and pepsinogen I/ pepsinogen II ratio in the precancerous group (99.57 and 5.89μg/l, respectively) were smaller compared to those in the chronic gastritis group (100.24 and 8.77 μg/l) (p<0.05). No significant differences were observed between the groups with respect to pepsinogen II, gastrin-17, or levels of anti- Helicobacter pylori antibodies.Conclusions: Results showed that low pepsinogen I levels and small pepsinogen I to pepsinogen II ratios were useful markers for identifying precancerous lesions. It is recommended that more research with larger sample volumes be carried out to determine the sensitivity and specificity of this test and the possible cutoff values of the mentioned markers.Keywords: Pepsinogen, precancerous lesions, gastrin-1

Ion-beam-assisted fabrication and manipulation of metallic nanowires

Metallic nanowires (NWs) are the key performers for future micro/nanodevices. The controlled manoeuvring and integration of such nanoscale entities are essential requirements. Presented is a discussion of a fabrication approach that combines chemical etching and ion beam milling to fabricate metallic NWs. The shape modification of the metallic NWs using ion beam irradiation (bending towards the ion beam side) is investigated. The bending effect of the NWs is observed to be instantaneous and permanent. The ion beam-assisted shape manoeuvre of the metallic structures is studied in the light of ion-induced vacancy formation and reconfiguration of the damaged layers. The manipulation method can be used for fabricating structures of desired shapes and aligning structures at a large scale. The controlled bending method of the metallic NWs also provides an understanding of the strain formation process in nanoscale metals

A review of the impact of commercial drug advertising on the emergence of self-medication phenomenon

Introduction: Today, the phenomenon of commercial advertising is not a simple information tool to link consumer to producers. The pharmaceutical industry is increasingly influenced by commercial advertising. Self-medication may be one of the major consequences of drug advertising.Methodology: This review article was conducted through reviewing 100 articles and 12 books, derived from valid libraries and electronic sources.Findings: Besides the drugs prescribed by physicians, patients also go to pharmacies directly and provide and take different drugs based on their own [often false] diagnosis to prevent their diseases or to treat or strengthen themselves and this is due to the inappropriate culture induced by drug advertising. On the other hand, commercial advertising has changed the culture of over-the-counter (OTC) medications and has increased their use. One of the major strategies used in satellite TV advertising is promotion of the culture of disease among public and in some cases, the information and statistics given by these channels have no scientific and official base. Discussion and conclusion: Numerous studies indicate that due to the drug advertising, some common and non-medical symptoms are considered as disease. Considering the lack of awareness of people about the nature of their diseases, further expansion of these ads will certainly result in medication misuse, induction of false need and the prevalence of smuggled, unhealthy and fake drugs among public. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate this phenomenon in Iranian society to identify its unknown dimensions in accordance with today’s Iranian culture and to make effective efforts to promote educations and to build a proper culture.Keywords: commercial advertising, drug advertising, self-medicatio

Prioritizing Metro Service Quality Attributes to Enhance Commuter Experience: TOPSIS Ranking and Importance Satisfaction Analysis methods

A metro infrastructure, facility and service quality investigation based on commuter perception was conducted in this study to explore and prioritize the key attributes influencing overall metro service quality in typical Indian context. Based on the critical state of the art review, 12 key attributes were identified and they were accommodated in a paper based questionnaire to elicit commuter perception of importance and satisfaction by using a five point Likert scale. Subsequently, TOPSIS, an extensively adopted Multi attribute decision making technique, was carried out to rank the attributes with respect to perceived importance and satisfaction. Then an importance satisfaction analysis (ISA) was conducted to further classify the attributes in four quadrants based on their perceived degree of importance and satisfaction using an ISA matrix. Finally, the derived results from the TOPSIS and ISA analysis were combined and compared to obtain a prioritized set of attributes requiring intervention for better metro service quality in Indian context. Results of this study clearly indicated the relative strengths and weaknesses of each metro service/infrastructure specific attribute and presented the probable role of metro authorities for each of them. Attributes such as, Metro fare, Connection to metro and Metro frequency were observed to be the most important but were not performing satisfactorily, indicating that more emphasis is required on these attributes for improving the overall quality of travel by metro rail in Indian context. Hence, this methodology would be instrumental to detect a set of priority areas of improvement in metro rail service, which could contribute to retain the existing commuters and attract new metro users

Functional foods with added plant sterols for treatment of hypercholesterolaemia and prevention of ischaemic heart disease

Background. A spread with added plant sterols, Pro-activ, is marketed in South Africa as an adjunct to low-fat diets for lowering of total and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol concentrations and to decrease risk of ischaemic heart disease (IHD). Objectives. The need for this functional food in South Africa, its efficacy, safety and target market, are evaluated in this review. Results. The high, and probably increasing incidence of hypercholesterolaemia and cardiovascular disease in South Africa motivates the need for appropriate functional foods. There is convincing evidence in the literature that an average daily intake of about 2 g plant sterols in about 20 g of spread significantly lowers total and LDL cholesterol concentrations by approximately 10 - 15%, without influencing high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations. There is some concern about the effects on absorption of lipid-soluble vitamins and pro-vitamins, but safety tests lasting for up to 3 years found no serious adverse effects. Conclusions. The target market for this spread should be nonpregnant, non-lactating adults with hypercholesterolaemia and/or increased risk of IHD. If it is considered for use in hypercholesterolaemic children, fat-soluble vitamin status should be monitored. It is recommended that post-marketing surveillance should be established to determine long-term effects and safety

Full potential LAPW calculation of electron momentum density and related properties of Li

Electron momentum density and Compton profiles in Lithium along $$,$$, and $$ directions are calculated using Full-Potential Linear Augmented Plane Wave basis within generalized gradient approximation. The profiles have been corrected for correlations with Lam-Platzman formulation using self-consistent charge density. The first and second derivatives of Compton profiles are studied to investigate the Fermi surface breaks. Decent agreement is observed between recent experimental and our calculated values. Our values for the derivatives are found to be in better agreement with experiments than earlier theoretical results. Two-photon momentum density and one- and two-dimensional angular correlation of positron annihilation radiation are also calculated within the same formalism and including the electron-positron enhancement factor.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures TO appear in Physical Review

Multifractal stationary random measures and multifractal random walks with log-infinitely divisible scaling laws

We define a large class of continuous time multifractal random measures and processes with arbitrary log-infinitely divisible exact or asymptotic scaling law. These processes generalize within a unified framework both the recently defined log-normal Multifractal Random Walk (MRW) [Bacry-Delour-Muzy] and the log-Poisson "product of cynlindrical pulses" [Barral-Mandelbrot]. Our construction is based on some ``continuous stochastic multiplication'' from coarse to fine scales that can be seen as a continuous interpolation of discrete multiplicative cascades. We prove the stochastic convergence of the defined processes and study their main statistical properties. The question of genericity (universality) of limit multifractal processes is addressed within this new framework. We finally provide some methods for numerical simulations and discuss some specific examples.Comment: 24 pages, 4 figure

A Framework for Enhancing Contractor-Subcontractor Relationships in Construction Projects in Nigeria

The delivery capability of main contractors depends largely on the quality of their subcontractors and the harmonious relationships that exist between them. Research work was therefore conducted to identify the mechanisms to facilitate the understanding between these pairs and also develop a model that puts emphasis on the factors. To achieve this aim, one hundred questionnaires each were administered randomly to main contractors and labor-only subcontractors in the study area. Seventy-five and eighty-eight questionnaires were respectively filled and returned in this regard. The application of total weight value and rating index techniques shows that type of contract, scope of contract, payment terms, cooperative attitudes, third-party involvement are the main factors that influence this relationship and this was further validated by a model. The paper concludes that this methodology could culminate into a useful decision making tool for both main contractors and subcontractors during the development and execution stages of construction projects in the study area

Amyloid β induces early changes in the ribosomal machinery, cytoskeletal organization and oxidative phosphorylation in retinal photoreceptor cells

Amyloid β (Aβ) accumulation and its aggregation is characteristic molecular feature of the development of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). More recently, Aβ has been suggested to be associated with retinal pathology associated with AD, glaucoma and drusen deposits in age related macular degeneration (AMD). In this study, we investigated the proteins and biochemical networks that are affected by Aβ in the 661 W photoreceptor cells in culture. Time and dose dependent effects of Aβ on the photoreceptor cells were determined utilizing tandem mass tag (TMT) labeling-based quantitative mass-spectrometric approach. Bioinformatic analysis of the data revealed concentration and time dependent effects of the Aβ peptide stimulation on various key biochemical pathways that might be involved in mediating the toxicity effects of the peptide. We identified increased Tau phosphorylation, GSK3β dysregulation and reduced cell viability in cells treated with Aβ in a dose and time dependent manner. This study has delineated for the first-time molecular networks in photoreceptor cells that are impacted early upon Aβ treatment and contrasted the findings with a longer-term treatment effect. Proteins associated with ribosomal machinery homeostasis, mitochondrial function and cytoskeletal organization were affected in the initial stages of Aβ exposure, which may provide key insights into AD effects on the photoreceptors and specific molecular changes induced by Aβ peptide