Correlation of Adiponectin and Leptin with Insulin Resistance: A Pilot Study in Healthy North Indian Population

The increasing incidence of obesity, leading to metabolic complications is now recognized as a major public-health problem. Insulin resistance is a central abnormality of the metabolic syndrome, or syndrome X, originally hypothesized by Reaven Insulin resistance is more strongly linked to intra abdominal fat than to fat in other depots. Adipose tissue secretes numerous factors (adipokines) known to markedly influence lipid and glucose/insulin metabolism, oxidative stress, and cardiovascular integrity. Some of these adipokines have been shown to directly or indirectly affect insulin sensitivity through modulation of insulin signaling and the molecules involved in glucose and lipid metabolism. A pilot study was conducted with 80 healthy subjects who were non diabetic, non hypertensive and having no family history of hypertension, the aim was to evaluate the correlation of adiponectin and leptin levels with obesity and insulin resistance markers in healthy north Indian adult population. Serum leptin, adiponectin and insulin was estimated by sandwich ELISA method. In our study, Leptin correlated significantly with BMI (P value of 0.0000), WC (P value = 0.007), and HC (P value = 0.000). leptin showed significant positive correlation with fasting insulin (P value 0.002), post prandial insulin (P value = 0.000) and HOMA-IR (P value = 0.002). Adiponectin showed significant positive correlation with triglycerides (P value = 0.038), strong negative correlation with HDL-cholesterol (P value = 0.017). Serum concentrations of leptin are associated with central body fat distribution. Insulin resistance and adiponectin is associated with dyslipidemia and these all disorders may ultimately lead to metabolic syndrome.     

Serum adenosine deaminase in carcinoma breast

Serum Adenosine Deaminase (ADA) activity was studied in 20 control cases and 32 patients with carcinoma breast. In control group the ADA activity ranged from 13–94 IU/L with a mean of 43.75±21.55 IU/L while in patients of carcinoma breast it was 16–95 IU/L with a mean of 47.46±22.54 IU/L, but these values were not statistically different. The ADA activity was also compared with other parameters in patients of carcinoma breast but the difference was not statistically significant in the various parameters like duration of disease, menopausal status, tumor size, hemoglobin level, total leucocyte count, absolute lymphocyte count, total serum proteins, serum albumin, histological grade of tumor and lymphocytic infiltration. The only significant difference in ADA activity was when N1 status of lymph node was compared with N2 status of lymph node.     

Establishment of Reference Interval for Liver Specific Biochemical Parameters in Apparently Healthy North Indian Population

Reference intervals (RI) are the most common decision support tool used for interpretation of numerical laboratory reports. The quality of the RI can play as large a role in result interpretation as the quality of the result itself. As such there is hardly any study examining RI for liver specific biochemical parameters in Indian population especially north Indians having drastically different food habits as compared to rest of the India. So there is a need to establish the RI for north Indian population. Present study was conducted on 2,021 apparently healthy individuals of north Indian origin ranging in age from 15–60 years, were selected randomly using defined criteria. Lipemic, hemolysed, icteric and stored samples were also excluded adopting preanalytical criteria for rejection of sample. Non parametric methodology for determination of RI was adopted as most of the biochemical parameters included revealed non Gaussian distribution. Data were analyzed for middle 95 percentile (2.5th–97.5th percentile), median and 95 % confidence interval using SPSS software package version 10.0. The upper and the lower limit of RI (reported Vs observed) for bilirubin (0–1.2 Vs 0.30–1.30 mg/dL), serum glutamate oxaloacetate transferase (SGOT) (0–41 Vs 13–52.80 IU/L), serum glutamate pyruvate transferase (SGPT) (0–50 Vs 10–68 IU/L) showed wide variation as compared to reported standard RI however Gamma glutamyl transferase (GGT) (0–50 Vs 5.00–50.60 IU/L) remained within the reported standard RI. Further gender wise evaluation revealed higher cutoff in males (AST 14–55, ALT 11–70.35, GGT 6.76–51.09 in IU/L, bilirubin (0.40–1.34 mg/dL) as compared to females (SGOT 13–50.43, SGPT 9–63.43, GGT 3.92–48.70 in IU/L, Bilirubin 0.30–1.20 mg/dL) for both enzymatic and non enzymatic biochemical parameters. The variations may be attributed to dietary pattern smoking and alcoholism.     

Evaluation of reference intervals of serum lipid profile from healthy population in Western Maharashtra

Fasting samples of 914 subjects from healthy population were analyzed for total cholesterol, triglyceride and three major fractions of lipoproteins i.e. high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, low lipoprotein cholesterol and very low-density lipoprotein cholesterol. The values obtained were (in mg/dl) 165.7±30.2,88.36±31.2, 44.86±10.68, 101.66±29.8 and 18.11±7.35 respectively. When these subjects were grouped according to the age and sex, no appropriate differences were observed between most of the groups. Triglycerides were found to be low and HDL cholesterol was high in female when compared with male of similar age. Beyond age 40 years cholesterol level and low density lipoprotein cholesterol was found to be gradually increased in case of women. Minor difference was observed with dietary pattern. Present study suggests that clinical evaluation of patient should be made on the basis of these reference values for Western Maharashtra population.     

Emerging Trend of Mutation Profile of rpoB Gene in MDR Tuberculosis, North India

The present study was conducted on North Indian population to observe rpoB gene mutation profile in multidrug resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis. This was an observational study. 30 cases of MDR-TB proven by culture and drug sensitivity were selected. DNA sequencing of 81 bp (codon 507–533) long RRDR of Mycobacterium tuberculosis was done to detect the sites of mutation. Out of 30 cases, 24 showed a single mutation in the RRDR region of rpoB gene in which 16 (53.33 %) showed mutation in codon 531(TCG→TTG), 5 cases (16.66 %) showed mutation in codon 526(CAC→TAC), mutation in codon 516(GAC→GTC, AAC) was present in 3 cases (10 %). It was also observed that mutation in more than one codon was present in 4 cases (13.33 %), which included deletion at codon 509(AGC→–GC), mutation at 513(CAA→CTA), 516, 526, 529(CGA→CTA) and 531. No mutation was detected in RRDR in 2 cases (6.66 %). Our finding of 13.33 % cases with multiple sites of mutation in RRDR region is in contrast to earlier studies done in North India which showed single mutation detected in RRDR of rpoB gene that highlights the emerging change in the trend of mutation profile of rpoB gene in rifampicin resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis.     

Expanding computer science education in schools: understanding teacher experiences and challenges

The increased push for teaching computer science (CS) in schools in the United States requires training a large number of new K-12 teachers. The current efforts to increase the number of CS teachers have predominantly focused on training teachers from other content areas. In order to support these beginning CS teachers, we need to better understand their experiences and challenges encountered in the classroom. This study investigated U.S. CS teachers’ perspectives on the demands of teaching computer science and support needed to ensure quality teaching. Results suggested that teachers face a number of challenges, including isolation, lack of adequate computer science background, and limited professional development resources.     

Effects of multimedia story reading and questioning on preschoolers’ vocabulary learning,story comprehension and reading engagement

The use of multimedia story applications on touch-interactive mobile devices has become prevalent in early education settings. However, despite the promise of multimedia story applications for early learning outcomes, there has been a dearth of research on the educational benefits of such tools, and whether their effects can be strengthened with the integration of questioning strategies. This study investigated the effects of multimedia story reading and questioning on children’s literacy skills, including vocabulary learning, story comprehension and reading engagement. Using a 2 (multimedia vs. paper) × 2 (question vs. no question) design, a total of 72 participants were randomly assigned to one of four conditions: multimedia story reading, multimedia story reading with questioning, paper story reading, and paper story with questioning. To identify the effects of Media and Questioning on children’s vocabulary learning, story comprehension, and reading engagement, we conducted a series of two-way ANCOVAs, controlling for different covariates as appropriate. The results showed significant interaction of media and questioning on target vocabulary and significant main effect of media for engagement, but the results showed no significant main effects of either media or questioning for comprehension. This study demonstrated research tools to examine children’s learning and engagement with interactive mobile devices, and suggested potential benefits of multimedia story reading and questioning for learning. We discuss implications of these findings for the design and use of multimedia storybooks.