Correlation between chemical components of billary calculi and bile & sera and bile of gallstone patients

Total cholesterol, total bilirubin, calcium, oxalate, inorganic phosphate, magnesium, iron, copper, sodium and potassium were analyzed quantitatively in gallstones, bile of gall bladder and sera of 200 patients of cholelithiasis (52 cholesterol, 76 mixed and 72 pigment stone patients) and their contents were correlated between calculi and bile and sera and bile in these three type of stone patients. A significant positive correlation was observed between total cholesterol, total bilirubin of calculi and bile, copper of bile and sera of cholesterol stone patients, copper of calculi and bile, total bilirubin, oxalate, magnesium, potassium of sera and bile of pigment stone patients and oxalate and iron of stone and bile, total bilirubin, oxalate, sodium of sera and bile of mixed stone patients. A significant negative correlation was found between magnesium of serum and bile of cholesterol stone patients, oxalate of calculi and bile of pigment stone patients and magnesium of serum and bile of mixed stone patients.     

Effect of vitamin E on platelet enzymatic anti-oxidants in the patients of myocardial infarction

Effect of administration of 600 mg. vitamin E each day, for six days, was observed on activity of some of the anti-oxidant enzymes and levels of malondialdehyde (as an index of free radical mediated damage) in the platelets of patients reperfused after myocardial infarction. It has been found that vitamin E administration significantly lowers the level of malondialdehyde in the patients. Vitamin E administration increases the activities of anti oxidant enzymes (viz. superoxide dismutase, glutathione reductase and catalase) tested both in the patients and healthy controls. Vitamin E administration causes general stimulation of anti-oxidant enzyme activities both in healthy persons and the patients, however, lowering of lipid per-oxidation upon administration of vitamin E is specific for patients. These findings exhibit beneficial role of vitamin E administration in the management of the patients reperfused after myocardial infarction.     

An opium alkaloid-papaverine ameliorates ethanol-induced hepatotoxicity: Diminution of oxidative stress

In this communication, we show the modulatory potential of papaverine, an opium alkaloid and a well known vasodilator agent on the ethanol-induced hepatic oxidative stress in male Wistar rats. Ethanol treatment (50% v/v) enhanced lipid peroxidation significantly accompanied by a decline in the activities of glutathione peroxidase (G-Px), glutathione reductase (GR) and depletion in levels of hepatic glutathione (GSH). Ethanol administration increased hepatic glutathione-s-transferases (GST). Enhanced lipid peroxidation induced by ethanol was significantly reduced when papverine was coadministered (P<0.05). In addition, the depleted levels of glutathione and inhibited activities of G-Px and GR recovered significantly (P<0.05) levelling off to control values on co-exposure. Papaverine (200 mg/kg bw) effectively antagonised the ethanol-induced lipid peroxidation and impaired glutathione levels and glutathione dependent enzyme systems. Our results suggest that papaverine is an effective chemopreventive agent in the liver and may suppress the ethanol-induced hepatotoxicity.     

Fabricating scaffolds by microfluidics

In this paper, we demonstrate for the first time the technique to using microfluidics to fabricate tissue engineering scaffolds with uniform pore sizes. We investigate both the bubble generation of the microfluidic device and the application of foam as a tissue engineering scaffold. Our microfluidic device consists of two concentric tapered channels, which are made by micropipettes. Nitrogen gas and aqueous alginate solution with Pluronic^® F127 surfactant are pumped through the inner and the outer channels, respectively. We observe rich dynamic patterns of bubbles encapsulated in the liquid droplets. The size of the bubble depends linearly on the gas pressure and inversely on the liquid flow rate. In addition, monodisperse bubbles self-assemble into crystalline structures. The liquid crystalline foams are further processed into open-cell solid foams. The novel foam gel was used as a scaffold to culture chondrocytes.     

Serum and platelet sialic acid in acute myocardial infarction

Blood samples from 39 patients with acute myocardial infarction and 15 healthy controls were analysed for serum and platelet sialic acid. Serum sialic acid levels in patients with acute myocardial infarction were significantly higher than controls (mean 2.7±0.46 μmol/ml Vs. 1.91±0.17 μmol/ml respectively). Levels of serum orosomucoid, an acute phase reactant, containing sialic acid, were also higher in these patients, suggesting a possible non-specific mechanism of increase in serum sialic acid concentration. In contrast, platelets contained significantly less sialic acid in patients with acute myocardial infarction than control (26.73±1.57 nmol/mg protein and 31.97±2.68 nmol/mg protein respectively).     

Remedial education for high-risk university freshmen – the case of a university of technology in Taiwan

Potential high-risk freshmen for three core courses (BasicMath, Calculus, and Computing) in the university were identified based on the “College Students’ Adjustment Check List (CSACL)” data available with the Student Development Centre in the Office of Students’ Affairs of the university. The study demonstrates that to ameliorate the problem of unpreparedness of freshmen, to check failure rates, and efficient use of limited resources, an effective remedial system could be developed by the combined inputs from the Office of Students’ Affairs, Computer Centre, Academic Affairs, and the Institutional Research. Our study corroborates the findings of other researchers that gender, teacher, department, high school performance, enrolment channel, and loads during remedial course influence the learning outcome. Also, it was found that the use of multi-evaluation approaches in different enrolment channels can attain higher retention rates.     

Effect of Metformin on Hormonal and Biochemical Profile in PCOS Before and After Therapy

Insulin resistance and the resultant hyperinsulinemia exacerbate the reproductive abnormalities of Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome by increasing ovarian androgen productions and decreasing serum sex hormone binding globulin. The present study was conducted to estimate serum insulin and testosterone level in 44 PCOS cases and 32 control patients. Simultaneously the role of metformin (an insulin sensitizing agent) in modulating insulin resistance and serum androgen level was also analyzed. A significant rise in serum insulin and testosterone (P < 0.001) was observed in cases in comparison to control. Fasting Plasma Glucose to insulin ratio, a marker of insulin resistance revealed a significant fall in PCOS group. Follow up of cases with metformin for 3 months revealed a significant fall in serum insulin (P < 0.05) with improvement in insulin resistance along with a nonsignificant fall in testosterone level. Serum insulin registered a significant positive correlation (P < 0.05) with serum testosterone revealing its etiological association. Thus administration of drugs ameliorating insulin levels is expected to provide new therapeutic modality for PCOS.     

High school mathematics teachers’ discernment of invariant properties in a dynamic geometry environment

Educational Studies in Mathematics - Variance and invariance are two powerful mathematical ideas to support geometrical and spatial thinking, yet there is limited research about teachers’...