Levels of plasma soluble complement receptor 1 (sCR1) in normal Indian adult population

A decrease in the membrane anchored erythrocyte complement receptor 1 (CR1) is reported as an acquired phenomenon in a number of inflammatory and autoimmune diseases with concomitant rise in soluble CR1 (sCR1) levels in plasma. There is a need to establish the normal range of sCR1 in Indian adults to assess the function and disease association of this protein. The plasma sCR1 levels of 50 healthy individuals have been estimated by an indigenously developed sandwich ELISA. sCR1 levels from 26 patients suffering from nephropathies had also been assayed which was much higher than the normal controls. This observation suggests sCR1 as a potential market for the assessment of disease activity in nephropathies.     

Utility of serum LDH isoforms in the assessment of mycobacterium tuberculosis induced pathology in TB patients of Sahariya tribe

The present study was carried out in the Sahariya tribe of Central India, which reportedly have high prevalence of pulmonary tuberculosis. Total serum LDH and its tissue specific isoforms were estimated in TB patients and matched healthy controls to test the utility of LDH as diagnostic marker for tuberculosis. About 210 sputum positive cases and 328 age and sex matched sputum negative controls were recruited. The spectrophotometeric and densitometric analysis of each LDH isoform was carried out in both cases and controls. The mean values of serum LDH were estimated and compared for each class by t-test. The statistical comparisons were made between sputum negative controls and sputum positive cases by Mann-Whitney’s U test. The spectrophotometric estimation of serum LDH revealed significant (P=0.0016) increase in its level in cases (290 IU/L) as compared to controls (248 IU/L). The densitometric analysis of individual LDH isoforms in cases and controls demonstrated significant elevation in LDH1 (P>0.05), LDH2 (P>0.05) and LDH3 (P<0.005) in sputum positive cases in comparison to sputum negative controls. Our study revealed a positive correlation between serum LDH level and the presence of mycobacteria and their load, suggesting utility of LDH as an important diagnostic marker of tuberculosis induced stress, at least in tribal areas lacking access to modern clinical tests.     

Quantitative Assessment of Expression of Lactate Dehydrogenase and its Isoforms 3 and 4 may Serve as Useful Indicators of Progression of Gallbladder Cancer: A Pilot Study

We have studied the expression of lactate dehydrogenase and its isoforms in gall bladder cancer, cholelithiasis and chronic cholecystitis. Quantitative and qualitative assays of lactate dehydrogenase and its various isoforms were carried out in the blood sera of patients and healthy controls along with parallel estimation of various liver function test enzymes. Statistical analysis was done using the software Graph Pad Prism. Significantly high expression of lactate dehydrogenase along with alkaline phosphatase and total bilirubin (P ≤ 0.05) was observed in all the three clinical conditions as compared to controls. LDH showed an increasing trend from stage I to stage IV of GBC indicating a significant positive association with the disease progression. The levels of LDH 3 and 4 isoforms appeared significantly more elevated in GBC than cholelithiasis or chronic cholecystitis. We suggest that a careful estimation of total LDH and its isoforms 3 and 4 alone or along with alkaline phosphatase and total bilirubin during different clinical stages, like chronic cholecystitis, cholelithiasis and GBC, may prove to be a potentially useful biomarker in the prognostic management of gall bladder diseases, specifically GBC.     

Association of Resistin with Insulin Resistance and Factors of Metabolic Syndrome in North Indians

Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a cluster of interrelated common clinical disorders. The role of resistin in insulin sensitivity and MetS is controversial till date. So, the aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship of plasma resistin levels with markers of the MetS in Indian subjects. In a case control study, total 528 subjects were selected for the study. 265 (194 male and 71 female) were cases (with MetS) and 263 (164 male and 99 female) were controls (without MetS). Required anthropometric measurements and calculations were carried out accordingly. All the Biochemical estimations were carried out according to standard protocol. Resistin level was measured by the standard protocol (By ELISA i.e. enzyme linked immunosorbent assay) as illustrated in the kit. Insulin level was also measured by the standard protocol as illustrated in the kit and insulin resistance was calculated by the standard procedures. Plasma resistin levels were significantly higher in cases compared with controls (male = 13.05 ± 4.31 vs. 7.04 ± 2.09 ng/ml; p ≤ 0.001 and female = 13.53 ± 4.14 vs. 7.42 ± 2.30 ng/ml; p ≤ 0.001). Plasma resistin levels were well correlated with waist circumference, glucose, triglycerides, waist/hip ratio, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, high density lipoprotein, total cholesterol, serum low density lipoprotein, serum very low density lipoprotein, insulin and insulin resistance. Plasma resistin levels were elevated in presence of the MetS and were associated with increased metabolic risk factors.     

Modelling information flow for organisations: A review of approaches and future challenges

Modelling is a classic approach to understanding complex problems that can be achieved diagrammatically to visualise concepts, and mathematically to analyse attributes of concepts. An organisation as a communicating entity is a made up of constructs in which people can have access to information and speak to each other. Modelling information flow for organisations is a challenging task that enables analysts and managers to better understand how to: organise and coordinate processes, eliminate redundant information flows and processes, minimise the duplication of information and manage the sharing of intra- and inter-organisational information.     

A biologically active constituent of withania somnifera (ashwagandha) with antistress activity

In Ayurvedic medicine,Withania somnifera (Ashwagandha) is well known for its anti-stress activity. A passive rat experimental model, where the animals are subjected to multiple stress of cold, hypoxia, restraint (C-H-R) has been developed to evaluate adaptogenic properties of various fractions of W. somnifera root extracts. We have carried out extraction of roots of W. somnifera with water and further isolated one of the active constituents called compound X and also tested its anti-stress activity in C-H-R model. The effect of administration of W. somnifera water suspension (360 mg/Kg bw) and compound X (20mg/Kg bw) on the fall and recovery of colonic temperature was noted. There was an increase of ≈38% and ≈54% in the time taken to attain T_rec 23°C by rats given a single dose of fresh aqueous suspension and biologically active constituent (Compound X) respectively, where as decrease in the recovery time to attain T_rec 37°C is ≈13% and ≈33% respectively, as compared to control group. It is clear that rats treated with the fresh aqueous suspension and compound X ofWithania somnifera, could withstand the multiple stress of C-H-R better than control group.     

Synchronized strategy to minimize vehicle dispatching time： a real example of steel industry

Time compression in supply chains is a crucial aspect involved in the integration of warehousing and transport operations in the manufacturing industries. Sup- ply chain flows could be interrupted due to many sources of delays that lead to additional time in dispatching process and reduction in customer service level. The problem considered in this paper consists of long waiting times of loading vehicles inside the plant. This work presents a simulation-based study to minimize vehicle dispatching time in a steel wire plant. Value stream map is developed to present a system perspective of processes involved in the overall supply chain. Process activity mapping is com- pleted to provide a step by step analysis of activities involved in the vehicle dispatch process. A simulation model is developed for the system and a new model is proposed to improve the delivery performance by mini- mizing vehicles＇ waiting time.     

Study on Impact of Iron and Folic Acid on the Plasma Trace Minerals in Pregnant Anemic Women

Iron deficiency anemia is one of the causes that lead to significant mortality and morbidity among pregnant women and fetus. The present study was undertaken to explore oral iron supplementation can modify the metal contents in pregnant anemic women. Iron and folic acid supplementations was given to 500 anemic women (mild = 200, moderate = 200, and severe = 100) and 100 age matched non-anemic controls daily for 100 days. Blood index values and plasma trace minerals were estimated as per standard protocols. Haemoglobin and ferritin levels were found significantly increased (p < 0.001) in anemic and control subjects after treatment. Moreover, the serum transferring receptor levels and total iron binding capacity were found significantly decreased in all treated groups. Iron (Fe), zinc (Zn) and copper (Cu) levels were found increased (p < 0.01) after oral iron supplementation groups. Moreover, selenium (Se) manganese (Mn) and were found to be decreased in all treated groups. Data provides the conclusion that iron and folic acid supplementation recovered the essential trace minerals, except manganese, which may lead to various complications including peroxidation of vital body molecules resulting in increased risk for pregnant women as well as fetus.