Hyperinsulinemia predisposes to NAFLD

Metabolic syndrome contributes to pathogenesis of Type-2 diabetes and CAD. Insulin Resistance is the key factor of metabolic syndrome implicated in development of Non Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD). In present study we have investigated the prevalence of NAFLD in metabolic syndrome and contribution of metabolic risk factors in causation of NAFLD in non-diabetic North Indian male population. The study was conducted on 495 non-diabetic, nonalcoholic subjects (age 30–65 years). Metabolic Syndrome was assessed by using ATP III and ADA (2005) criteria. Anthropometric factors-Waist circumference and blood pressure were measured. Fasting serum samples were analyzed for Glucose, Triglycerides, Cholesterol and its fractions, Insulin, Alanine transaminase, Aspartate transaminase, Gamma glutamyl transferase and free fatty acids. Insulin resistance was estimated by Homeostasis Model and Insulin sensitivity by QUICKI Index. Liver ultrasonographic scanning was used for assessing fatty liver. The prevalence of metabolic syndrome and NAFLD was 24% and 14.8% respectively in non-alcoholic population and 27% of metabolic syndrome had NAFLD which was associated with hyperinsulinemia, insulin resistance, insulin insensitivity along with elevated levels of waist circumference, blood pressure, triglyceride, FFA and decreased HDL-Cholesterol. The prevalence of NAFLD increased with insulin resistance and clustering of metabolic risk factors.     

An Analysis of the Presentation of Art in the British Primary School Curriculum and its Implications for Teaching

This article presents an analysis of the way art is conceptualised in the British primary school curriculum and provides an historical framework that maps an evolution of ideas that have shaped the way art is presented in the modern day primary curriculum. In order to achieve this a Foucauldian style genealogical analysis is utilised to trace the discourses (systems of meaning) surrounding the nature of children's artistic development and how these discourses are used in the present day British primary curriculum to construe art in different ways. The analysis in this article is threefold. It explores the presentation of art in the curriculum as (1) an expressive subject, (2) a skills based subject, (3) a subject which focuses on art history and art appreciation. Second, the teaching positions associated with each approach are identified as follows (a) the facilitator, (b) the expert and (c) the philosopher; as well as the issues teachers face when adopting these positions. Third, attention is given to how these theoretical principles might be linked to practice. In so doing this article contributes to the debate surrounding the value of art in the primary curriculum and the way in which the curriculum serves to shape teaching practice.     

Eigentaste: A Constant Time Collaborative Filtering Algorithm

Eigentaste is a collaborative filtering algorithm that uses universal queries to elicit real-valued user ratings on a common set of items and applies principal component analysis (PCA) to the resulting dense subset of the ratings matrix. PCA facilitates dimensionality reduction for offline clustering of users and rapid computation of recommendations. For a database of n users, standard nearest-neighbor techniques require O(n) processing time to compute recommendations, whereas Eigentaste requires O(1) (constant) time. We compare Eigentaste to alternative algorithms using data from Jester, an online joke recommending system.Jester has collected approximately 2,500,000 ratings from 57,000 users. We use the Normalized Mean Absolute Error (NMAE) measure to compare performance of different algorithms. In the Appendix we use Uniform and Normal distribution models to derive analytic estimates of NMAE when predictions are random. On the Jester dataset, Eigentaste computes recommendations two orders of magnitude faster with no loss of accuracy. Jester is online at: http://eigentaste.berkeley.edu     

Sociocultural frameworks of conceptual change: implications for teaching and learning in museums

This article presents a metalogue discussion about the two focus articles and the six associated review essays on the topic of conceptual change as it applies to research, and science teaching and learning in museum settings. Through the lenses of a sociocultural perspectives of learning we examine the applicability of the ideas presented in the forum for museums and museum educators. First we reflect on the role that emotions can play in concept development; second, we reflect on the role of language, talk, and gestures to concept development and conceptual change in the short-lived nature of experiences and conversations in museums; and third, we consider the nature of objects as representations of science content in museum settings.

Learning,Training, and Performance Timeline: A Walk Through History

Does your professional tool bag include the well‐known ideas, models, and practices that training and performance improvement professionals use? This article organizes the advent of essential tools using the Learning, Training, and Performance Timeline, describes the major patterns that developed during historical periods, and explores relevant practical and scholarly uses for the Timeline. Resources are provided for those who have further inquiries about the historical background of training and performance improvement.     

Interpreting HbA1c in Presence of Deficiency Anemias

HbA1c is used extensively for the diagnosis and management of diabetes mellitus. It constitutes 80% of glycated HbA1(Glycated haemoglobin(GHb)A), and depends upon blood glucose and RBC life span. RBC life span varies with anemia, leading to a consequent alteration in the HbA1c value irrespective of the circulating blood glucose concentration. But to the best of our knowledge no Hb cut offs have been derived for appropriate interpretation of HbA1c. The prevalence of anemia in Indian population is nearly 40% as per its definition by WHO—Hb < 12 g/dL in females and < 13 g/dL in males—with most cases attributable to nutritional deficiencies. Hence, we aimed to identify Hb cut-off for accurate interpretation of HbA_1c in presence of deficiency anemias. Partial correlation between random blood glucose (RBG) and HbA_1c was studied in 1312 subjects, 470 of whom had deficiency-related anemia]. The data was adjusted for age, sex and Hb. Partial correlation between RBG and HbA1c was highly significant (p < 0.0001) till Hb of 8.1 gm/dL. Significance reduced to p = 0.003 and p = 0.006 as the cut off of Hb reduced to 7.1 gm/dL and 5.0 gm/dL, respectively, but was not lost. Hence, caution in interpretation of HbA_1c is not required till an Hb of 5 g/dL.     

How Much Do the Effects of Education and Training Programs Vary Across Sites? Evidence From Past Multisite Randomized Trials

Multisite trials, in which individuals are randomly assigned to alternative treatment arms within sites, offer an excellent opportunity to estimate the cross-site average effect of treatment assignment (intent to treat or ITT) and the amount by which this impact varies across sites. Although both of these statistics are substantively and methodologically important, only the first has been well studied. To help fill this information gap, we estimate the cross-site standard deviation of ITT effects for a broad range of education and workforce development interventions using data from 16 large multisite randomized controlled trials. We use these findings to explore hypotheses about factors that predict the magnitude of cross-site impact variation, and we consider the implications of this variation for the statistical precision of multisite trials.     

Session - 2 December 19, 2007 Lipid disorders and management of obesity

Serum ferroxidase and albumin levels were determined in 98 patients of tubercuiosis, of whom 49 were freshly diagnosed, sputum positive (group-I) & 49 were completely treated patients (group-II). Forty nine age and sex matched healthy individuals were taken as controls. Mean±SD of serum ferroxidase and albumin levels in controls, group-I and group-II was found to be 864.35±106.35 IU/L & 3.91±0.234 g/dL, 1603.76±222.65 IU/L & 3.24±0.518 g/dL and 1001.78±201.63 IU/L & 3.82±0.43 g/dL, respectively. Serum ferroxidase in group I was significantly higher as compared to controls and group-II (p<0.01). The decreased levels of serum albumin in group I, as compared to control and group-II was statistically significant (p<0.01). Serum ferroxidase: albumin ratio (Ferroxidase in International Unit per gram of albumin) in group I (50.47±10.36 IU/g) was significantly higher than controls (22.22±3.3 IU/g), (p<0.001) while in group II it was significantly lower (26.72±7.18 IU/g, p<0.001) than group-I and close to control values. Serum ferroxidase: albumin ratio (IU/g) can therefore be incorporated as a surrogate marker to assist in diagnosis and prognosis of pulmonary tuberculosis.