Accessment of the Kidney in Ginger Treated Wistar Rats

Ginger, botanically known as Zingerber offinale is an underground stem or rhizome which is known to have originated from Asia and have been reported to have a number of medicinal properties which is used in the treatment of many ailments such as arthritis, painful menstrual periods, nausea etc. It is also used as a common specie in food and bakery industries. The effect of ethanolic extract of ginger on the kidney of male wistar rats was studied due to the availability and medicinal uses of ginger. Twenty five (25) adult Wistar rats weighing 125-200g were divided into five groups. Group A animals served as the control and were served with distilled water , B served as vehicle control groups and received olive oil.  The animals in groups C, D and E served as experimental groups, and received 100mg/kg, 250mg/kg and 500mg/kg body weight of the ethanolic extract of Zingiber officinale respectively. The animals received the extract for 14 days and were sacrificed 24 hours after the last administration and the kidney was routinely processed histologically. The study shows enlargement of Bowman’s space, disintegration of glomerular cells and dilation of the tubular lumen with shrinkage of tubular luminal cells when compared to the control group, which progressively increased as the duration of intake of Zinger officinlae increased. Therefore, Zingerber officinale should be used with caution because it may have deleterious effects on the liver cells at high doses. Keywords: Assessment, Ginger, Treatment, Kidney, Wistar ra

International genome-wide meta-analysis identifies new primary biliary cirrhosis risk loci and targetable pathogenic pathways.

Primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) is a classical autoimmune liver disease for which effective immunomodulatory therapy is lacking. Here we perform meta-analyses of discovery data sets from genome-wide association studies of European subjects (n=2,764 cases and 10,475 controls) followed by validation genotyping in an independent cohort (n=3,716 cases and 4,261 controls). We discover and validate six previously unknown risk loci for PBC (Pcombined<5 × 10(-8)) and used pathway analysis to identify JAK-STAT/IL12/IL27 signalling and cytokine-cytokine pathways, for which relevant therapies exist

Tests of the standard model and constraints on new physics from measurements of fermion-pair production at 130-172GeV at LEP

Production of events with hadronic and leptonic final states has been measured in e(+)e(-) collisions at centre-of-mass energies of 130-172 GeV, using the OPAL detector at LEP. Cross-sections and leptonic forward-backward asymmetries are presented, both including and excluding the dominant production of radiative Z gamma events, and compared to Standard Model expectations. The ratio R-b of the cross-section for production to the hadronic cross-section has been measured. In a model-independent fit to the Z lineshape, the data have been used to obtain an improved precision on the measurement of gamma-Z interference. The energy dependence of alpha(em) has been investigated. The measurements have also been used to obtain limits on extensions of the Standard Model described by effective four-fermion contact interactions, to search for t-channel contributions from new massive particles and to place limits on gaugino pair production with subsequent decay of the gaugino into a light gluino and a quark pair

Search for anomalous production of di-lepton events with missing transverse momentum in e(+)e(-) collisions at root s = 161 and 172 GeV

Events containing a pair of charged leptons and significant missing transverse momentum are selected from a data sample corresponding to a total integrated luminosity of 20.6 pb^-1 at centre-of-mass energies of 161 GeV and 172 GeV. The observed number of events, four at 161 GeV and nine at 172 GeV, is consistent with the number expected from Standard Model processes, predominantly arising from W+W- production with each W decaying leptonically. This topology is also an experimental signature for the pair production of new particles that decay to a charged lepton accompanied by one or more invisible particles. Further event selection criteria are described that optimise the sensitivity to particular new physics channels. No evidence for new phenomena is observed and limits on the production of scalar charged lepton pairs and other new particles are presented

Effect of Ethanolic Extract of Ginger on the Micro Anatomy of the Testis of Adult Wistar Rats

Ginger rhizome (Zingiber Officinale Rosco, family: Zingiberaceae) is used medicinally, it is known to have both nutritional and medicinal value. This study is to determine the effect of ethanolic extra of the rhizome of ginger on the microanatomy of the testis. Twenty five male Wistar rats were selected and randomly divided into control group and experimental group. The control group was further divided into two groups (A &amp; B) with group A as normal control and group B as vehicle control. Group A took distilled water and feed and group B took distilled water, feed and 2mls of olive oil (as vehicle). The experimental group was divided into three groups (C, D &amp; E) and received 100mg/kg, 250mg/kg and 500mg/kg daily according to their body weight for 14days in the 15th day the animals of all groups were sacrificed and the testes harvested and processed for histological observations. Histological sections of the experimental groups showed distortion of germinal and supporting cells, disintegration of matured sperm cells in the lumen, distortion of seminiferious tubules, widened interstitial spaces indicating shrinkage of tubules and destruction of leydig cells while sections of control groups showed normal histological architecture of the testes with all cells arranged orderly. There was significant damage to the testis in general.  Hence, the usage of ginger by the males should be moderate, as high consumption may have some side effects on male fertility. Keywords: Wistar rat, Ginger, Microanatomy, Testi

Adaptation of the Wound Healing Questionnaire universal-reporter outcome measure for use in global surgery trials (TALON-1 study): mixed-methods study and Rasch analysis

BackgroundThe Bluebelle Wound Healing Questionnaire (WHQ) is a universal-reporter outcome measure developed in the UK for remote detection of surgical-site infection after abdominal surgery. This study aimed to explore cross-cultural equivalence, acceptability, and content validity of the WHQ for use across low- and middle-income countries, and to make recommendations for its adaptation.MethodsThis was a mixed-methods study within a trial (SWAT) embedded in an international randomized trial, conducted according to best practice guidelines, and co-produced with community and patient partners (TALON-1). Structured interviews and focus groups were used to gather data regarding cross-cultural, cross-contextual equivalence of the individual items and scale, and conduct a translatability assessment. Translation was completed into five languages in accordance with Mapi recommendations. Next, data from a prospective cohort (SWAT) were interpreted using Rasch analysis to explore scaling and measurement properties of the WHQ. Finally, qualitative and quantitative data were triangulated using a modified, exploratory, instrumental design model.ResultsIn the qualitative phase, 10 structured interviews and six focus groups took place with a total of 47 investigators across six countries. Themes related to comprehension, response mapping, retrieval, and judgement were identified with rich cross-cultural insights. In the quantitative phase, an exploratory Rasch model was fitted to data from 537 patients (369 excluding extremes). Owing to the number of extreme (floor) values, the overall level of power was low. The single WHQ scale satisfied tests of unidimensionality, indicating validity of the ordinal total WHQ score. There was significant overall model misfit of five items (5, 9, 14, 15, 16) and local dependency in 11 item pairs. The person separation index was estimated as 0.48 suggesting weak discrimination between classes, whereas Cronbach's α was high at 0.86. Triangulation of qualitative data with the Rasch analysis supported recommendations for cross-cultural adaptation of the WHQ items 1 (redness), 3 (clear fluid), 7 (deep wound opening), 10 (pain), 11 (fever), 15 (antibiotics), 16 (debridement), 18 (drainage), and 19 (reoperation). Changes to three item response categories (1, not at all; 2, a little; 3, a lot) were adopted for symptom items 1 to 10, and two categories (0, no; 1, yes) for item 11 (fever).ConclusionThis study made recommendations for cross-cultural adaptation of the WHQ for use in global surgical research and practice, using co-produced mixed-methods data from three continents. Translations are now available for implementation into remote wound assessment pathways