Urinary enzymes in nephrotic syndrome

Tubular damage is a complication associated with nephrotic syndrome and increased levels of urinary enzymes are of significant value in detection of the same. The aim of our study was to evaluate the use of urinary lysozyme and trehalase as markers of tubular dysfunction in nephrotic syndrome. This study assessed 35 nephrotic syndrome patients and 30 healthy controls matched for age and sex. Urine samples were examined at pretreatment and post treatment (8 weeks) stages for proteinuria, lysozyme and trehalase. At pretreatmant stage there was significant increase in urinary lysozyme and trehalase as compared to controls (p<0.001). A good correlation was observed between degree of proteinuria and urinary lysozyme (p<0.001;r=0.80) and trehalase (p<0.001; r=0.74). At the end of 8 weeks of treatment, the patients showed significant decrease in their urinary lysozyme and trehalase activity (p<0.001) but no correlation with degree of proteinuria was observed. Our results indicate that enzymes like lysozyme and trehalase can be used as markers of tubular dysfunction.     

Iron sulfur proteins and their synthetic analogues: Structure, reactivity and redox properties

A number of non-heme proteins contain iron-sulfur clusters as their core. The various structural types that have been characterised so far are discussed. Attempts to understand their properties and functions at a molecular level through model systems are described.     

Comparison of Urinary Total Proteins by Four Different Methods

The total proteins in human urine have been compared by sulfosalicylic acid, sulfosalicylic acid with sodium sulphate and trichloroacetic acid methods with pyrogallol red molybdate method as there are no studies found quantifying imprecision and bias components. Fresh urine of 36 patients was analyzed by four methods. Imprecision and inaccuracy were determined by repeated analysis and method comparison studies using correlation plots, Bland and Altman, and Passing and Bablok regression analyses respectively. The coefficient of variation was 5.07 % for pyrogallol red molybdate; 6.84 % for sulfosalicylic acid; 3.97 % for sulfosalicylic acid with sodium sulphate and 5.93 % for trichloroacetic acid methods. Bland and Altman analysis showed a bias of 5.8, 1.7 and ?5.4 for pyrogallol red molybdate versus sulfosalicylic acid, sulfosalicylic acid with sodium sulphate and trichloroacetic acid methods respectively. Passing and Bablok regression revealed a constant bias for pyrogallol red molybdate versus all turbidimetric methods but a proportional bias only with trichloroacetic acid method. Sulfosalicylic acid with sodium sulphate method is preferred to sulfosalicylic acid and trichloroacetic acid methods.     

Urban Pre-service K-6 Teachers’ Conceptions of Citizenship and Civic Education: Weighing the Risks and Rewards

To effectively help urban pre-service teachers to provide civic education opportunities in their future classrooms, teacher educators should know how urban pre-service teachers themselves conceptualize citizenship and civic engagement. Through the research question—how do urban K-6 pre-service teachers currently enrolled in an urban education teacher certification program at a 4-year university construct key concepts and ideologies about citizenship and civic education?—we examined how 15 pre-service teachers understood these concepts. Using three conceptions of citizenship—personally responsible citizen, participatory citizen, and justice-oriented citizen (Westheimer and Kahne in Am Educ Res J 41(2):237–269, 2004)—our analysis demonstrated that urban pre-service teachers’ conceptions of their students’ lives significantly influenced their ideas about civic education in elementary schools. Although the participating pre-service teachers overwhelmingly promoted personally responsible citizenship, we found the participants to heavily weigh developmentally appropriate practice and classroom context when considering the risks and rewards of promoting justice-oriented citizenship in elementary classrooms.     

Impacts of Climate Change on Leisure Sports Golf Tourism For the World Leisure Sports Foundation Congress

According to the International Association of Golfing Tour Operators,the global golf tourism market is worth over $20 billion per year,countries are promoting golf as an important tourism activity, and golf tourism expanding rapidly. This study investigated the consumer trends and current situation ofgolf real estate in Caribbean area,revealed the impacts of climate change on golf course construction and on leisure sports golf tourism