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Psychiatric Morbidity in Parkinson’s Disease: A Case Report
Issue:
Volume 1, Issue 2, April 2013
Pages:
27-30
Abstract: Psychiatric disorders like anxiety and depression are common in patients with Parkinson’s disease. Patients are needed to be managed on a comprehensive basis, in which he can receive psychiatric management along with his medical advice and prescription. Parkinson’s disease is an illness affecting the geriatric age group resulting in debilitating and disfiguring disease associated with the presence of resting tremor, bradykinesia, and postural instability. The prevalence of social anxiety disorder in these patients is important, because further determines the improvement of the patient and his response to drugs.
Abstract: Psychiatric disorders like anxiety and depression are common in patients with Parkinson’s disease. Patients are needed to be managed on a comprehensive basis, in which he can receive psychiatric management along with his medical advice and prescription. Parkinson’s disease is an illness affecting the geriatric age group resulting in debilitating an...
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Correlations of the Earth's Magnetic Field Intensity with Global Prevalence of Multiple Sclerosis
Brett Wade,
Shashi Mehta,
Vladimir Papitashvili
Issue:
Volume 1, Issue 2, April 2013
Pages:
31-36
Abstract: The Earth's magnetic (geomagnetic) field protects all living things on the planet from harmful effects of ioniz-ing and electromagnetic radiation and is suggested, in this research, to be related to global multiple sclerosis (MS) preva-lence. MS is a demyelinating disease of the central nervous system with an unknown aetiology. MS has a global, geograph-ic pattern of prevalence that shows high prevalence rates of the disease between 40 and 60 degrees north. Numerous ex-ogenous variables have been suggested to be factors in the expression of the disease but to date there is no single variable which best explains the pathological process. Excessive free radical formation appears to be a common factor in many of the previously correlated variables with MS. This study hypothesized that the vertical or horizontal geomagnetic field strength (or intensity) are more strongly correlated with global MS prevalence rates. Using data from available MS preva-lence studies (N=131) and online geomagnetic data for the field intensities, Pearson correlation and multiple regression analyses were performed. The results support the hypotheses with the strongest correlation being an inverse relationship between the horizontal field and global MS prevalence (r = -.607). The explanation for the inverse relationship with global MS prevalence and the horizontal component of the geomagnetic field is explained by protective effect from incoming cosmic radiation. This research suggests that living in areas of a weak horizontal field increases exposure to ionizing radia-tion and therefore increases the risk for developing MS. We propose a new scale of MS prevalence which captures the very high prevalence rates in some areas of the world.
Abstract: The Earth's magnetic (geomagnetic) field protects all living things on the planet from harmful effects of ioniz-ing and electromagnetic radiation and is suggested, in this research, to be related to global multiple sclerosis (MS) preva-lence. MS is a demyelinating disease of the central nervous system with an unknown aetiology. MS has a global, geo...
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Hepatoprotective Activity of Ocimum americanum L Leaves against Paracetamol – Induced Liver Damage in Rats
B. T. Aluko,
O. I. Oloyede,
A. J. Afolayan
Issue:
Volume 1, Issue 2, April 2013
Pages:
37-42
Abstract: This study was designed to investigate the hepatoprotective activity of aqueous extract of Ocimum ameri-canum leaves against paracetamol – induced liver damage in rats. Hepatic damage was induced by paracetamol. Thereafter, the levels of some serum biochemical parameters such as alanine trasaminase (ALT), aspartate transaminase (AST), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), albumin, total bilirubin (TBIL) and total protein (TP) were investigated. The activities of ALP, AST, ALT and histological changes in the liver of rats were also determined. Silymarin was used as the standard hepatoprotective drug. The pre – treatment of rats with aqueous extract of O. americanum leaves caused a significant increase in the serum levels of TP and albumin. There was a significant decrease in the serum levels of ALP, AST, ALT and TBIL with a corresponding increase in the activities of ALP, AST and ALT in the liver of extract treated rats. The hepatoprotection was confirmed by histological examinations of liver sections of normal and treated rats. Furthermore, rats intoxicated with paracetamol alone had their serum ALP, AST, ALT and TBIL levels significantly increased, while TP and albumin concentrations decreased when compared with the normal rats. The aqueous extract of Ocimum americanum leaves at doses of 200 and 400 mg /kg p.o. have significant hepatoprotective ability against paracetamol – induced hepatic damage in rats.
Abstract: This study was designed to investigate the hepatoprotective activity of aqueous extract of Ocimum ameri-canum leaves against paracetamol – induced liver damage in rats. Hepatic damage was induced by paracetamol. Thereafter, the levels of some serum biochemical parameters such as alanine trasaminase (ALT), aspartate transaminase (AST), alkaline phos...
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The Effects of Population Density and Individual Diversity on Time and Energy Budgets of Animals
Feodor V. Kryazhimskiy,
Kirill V. Maklakov
Issue:
Volume 1, Issue 2, April 2013
Pages:
43-48
Abstract: The effects of animal density, spatial heterogeneity, and diversity in individual responses to population density on daily time and energy budgets were studied by means of a simple time-energy model. The cost of interactions between individuals was expressed as a reduction of the time that an animal may spend for feeding and other activities. The value of daily production rate would decrease with the increase in density and/or in food availability. In this case, production rate would be a convex function of population density as well as of individual tolerance to the presence of other animals and the size of individual range. Therefore, under unfavourable conditions (high mean density and/or low mean food availability) both spatial heterogeneity and diversity in individual responses to the presence of neighbouring animals would lead to an increase in the mean production rate.
Abstract: The effects of animal density, spatial heterogeneity, and diversity in individual responses to population density on daily time and energy budgets were studied by means of a simple time-energy model. The cost of interactions between individuals was expressed as a reduction of the time that an animal may spend for feeding and other activities. The v...
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Anti-Inflammatory Role of Omega-3 to Retinal Injury induced by Infrared Radiation
Issue:
Volume 1, Issue 2, April 2013
Pages:
49-54
Abstract: Each ocular tissue is vulnerable to infrared (IR) since at every stage through the eye's transmission IR is absorbed. Thermal effect of IR to eyes is far more permanent although the absorption often causes cumulative damage over a long period. Nevertheless, those exposed to very significant level of IR at any one time would be aware of its heating effect and tend to protect themselves. The present work investigated the effect of IR on retina and the anti-inflammatory role of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (ω -3 PUSFA). The rabbits were divided into four groups; one of them served as control, the other three groups was exposed to IR for 5, 10 and 20 minutes. Animals from these three groups were subdivided into two subgroups, one of them was sacrificed directly after IR exposure, while the other received omega-3 for 14 days before exposed to IR .The animals were subjected to examination by electroretinogram (ERG) as well as analysis of Sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) for retinal protein was carried out. The results indicated decrease of b-wave amplitude and increase in the latency, in the electrophoresis pattern pronounced changes were observed. These changes were more extensive in rabbits exposed to IR than those supplemented with omega-3. These finding suggest that omega-3 can protect the retina from infrared injury for up to 10 minutes of exposure.
Abstract: Each ocular tissue is vulnerable to infrared (IR) since at every stage through the eye's transmission IR is absorbed. Thermal effect of IR to eyes is far more permanent although the absorption often causes cumulative damage over a long period. Nevertheless, those exposed to very significant level of IR at any one time would be aware of its heating ...
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The Influence of Preventive Multiple Micronutrients Supplementation on Liver Steatosis in High-cholesterol Fed C57BL6/N Mice
Torricelli P.,
Ferorelli P.,
De Martino A.,
Antonelli F.,
Beninati S.
Issue:
Volume 1, Issue 2, April 2013
Pages:
55-60
Received:
12 May 2013
Published:
30 May 2013
Abstract: Liver steatosis development was obtained after high cholesterol diet (HCD) in C57BL6/N mice. Mice were preliminarily treated for 10 days with multiple micronutrients contained in a commercial food supplement called Citozym (CIZ), and successively for 40 days with CIZ and HCD, to compare the protection effect of used compounds on liver metabolism and metabolic steatosis. At the end of the experiments, livers were dissected for histological examinations. Plasma total cholesterol (TCH), triacylglycerol (TAG) aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) concentrations were significantly higher in all HCD-fed mice. These data support a lipotoxic model of cholesterol-mediated hepatic steatosis. We found that the administration of CIZ to HCD-mouse model of steatosis significantly decreased plasma TCH, TAG, ALT and AST levels along with a reduction of the accumulated fat and inflammation in the liver. These findings suggest that a preventive and continuative treatment of CIZ exerts a protective effect against metabolic hepatosteatosis.
Abstract: Liver steatosis development was obtained after high cholesterol diet (HCD) in C57BL6/N mice. Mice were preliminarily treated for 10 days with multiple micronutrients contained in a commercial food supplement called Citozym (CIZ), and successively for 40 days with CIZ and HCD, to compare the protection effect of used compounds on liver metabolism an...
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Isolation and Phylogenetic Analysis of Polyphosphate Accumulating Organisms in Water and Sludge of Intensive Catfish Ponds in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam
Le Quang Khoi,
Cao Ngoc Diep
Issue:
Volume 1, Issue 2, April 2013
Pages:
61-71
Received:
30 March 2013
Published:
30 May 2013
Abstract: Polyphosphate accumulating organisms were isolated from water and sludge samples of intensive catfish ponds in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam. The Results of estimation of intracellular polyphosphate concentration conducted on each of monocultures indicated that the content of intracellular polyphosphate varied from 2 mg/l to 148.1 mg/l after 6 days of incubation in the medium. Of 191 isolates, twenty-one have uptake and store intracellular phosphate from 19.6 to 148.1 mg/l. They have shaped like a rods and short rods or cocci, a few of them were slightly curved or straight or curved rods. The majority of them are gram-positive (76.2%) and the remains are gram-negative. The partial 16S rRNA genes of these isolates were sequenced and compared with bacterial 16S rRNA genes in Genbank using BlastN Program. Phylogenetic tree was constructed on the basic 16S rRNA gene sequences demonstrating the population of high phosphate accumulating bacteria obtained from samples of catfish ponds were affiliated with four major bacterial lineages. Twenty-one bacteria isolates from samples of catfish ponds included in four classes: Bacilli, Actinobacteria, Beta-proteobacteria, Gamma-proteobacteria. The majority of the strains showed excess phosphate accumulation. Strains related to Bacillus sp. were dominant bacteria group constituted up to 52.4% of all identified isolates, but high phosphate accumulating bacteria are Burkholderia vietnamiensis TVT003L within class Beta-proteobacteria, Acinetobacter radioresistens TGT013L within Gamma-proteobacteria and Arthrobacter protophomiae VLT002L within class Actinobacteria. Methyl blue Loeffler’s staning and electron microscopy examination confirmed that the bacteria had stored polyphosphate granules intracellularly.
Abstract: Polyphosphate accumulating organisms were isolated from water and sludge samples of intensive catfish ponds in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam. The Results of estimation of intracellular polyphosphate concentration conducted on each of monocultures indicated that the content of intracellular polyphosphate varied from 2 mg/l to 148.1 mg/l after 6 days of ...
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Prevalence of Oral Candida Albicans Infection in HIV Sero-Positive Patients in Abakaliki
Okonkwo E. C.,
Alo M. N.,
Nworie O.,
Orji J. O.,
Agah M. V.
Issue:
Volume 1, Issue 2, April 2013
Pages:
72-76
Received:
3 April 2013
Published:
10 June 2013
Abstract: Oral thrush is commonly associated with HIV infection. The causative agent is a yeast strain that is originally a commensal of the oral cavity. Most species of the genus Candida that causes oral candidasis in HIV patients if not properly identified and treated with the drug of choice could result in resistant to the drugs and make treatment very difficult. This study was carried out to establsish the species spectrum of the common yeast(Candida albicans) associated with oral candidiasis in HIV patients on antiretroviral treatment in Abakaliki. A total of 240 samples were collected from HIV sero-positive males(64) and females(176) at the two hospitals. 40 control samples from HIV sero-negative persons were also collected. The samples were cultured on Sabouraud dextrose agar and Candida species were isolated and characterized using germ tube test and sugar fermentation tests. Out of the 240 subjects(HIV sero-positive patients) examined for oral candidiasis, the carriage rate of oral candidiasis were 12.5%(30/240). Candida albicans accounted for 80.00% in HIV sero-postive patients, followed by Candida pseudotropicalis(10.0%). More women, 21(8.75) had oral candidiasis than men 9(3.75%). HIV patients whether or not on drugs were predisposed to oral candidiasis. C. albicans(76.19%) is the commonest species associated with HIV infected patients on ART(Active Retroviral Therapy) followed by Candida pseudotropicalis(14.29%), Candida tropicalis(4.76%) and Candida parapsilosis(4.76%). Among the patients not on ART Candida albicans(88.89%) was most prevalent, followed by Candida guilliermondii(11.11%). C. albicans still remains the leading cause of oropharyngeal candidiasis in HIV infected persons within the study population. Constant identification of isolates of yeasts infecting HIV infected persons and the immune compromised will further enhance the appropriate treatment and minimize the spread emergence of antifungal resistance.
Abstract: Oral thrush is commonly associated with HIV infection. The causative agent is a yeast strain that is originally a commensal of the oral cavity. Most species of the genus Candida that causes oral candidasis in HIV patients if not properly identified and treated with the drug of choice could result in resistant to the drugs and make treatment very di...
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Ethno-Medicinal Investigation on Ethnic Community in the Northern Region of Bangladesh
Issue:
Volume 1, Issue 2, April 2013
Pages:
77-81
Received:
11 May 2013
Published:
10 June 2013
Abstract: The present ethno-medicinal investigation has been carried out into ethnic communities of 12 Upazillas under six districts in the northern region of Bangladesh. A total of 24 species under 13 genera of the family Cucurbitaceae collected and recorded for their use in various ailments. For each species botanical name, local name, parts used, name of the diseases and mode of uses have been mentioned.
Abstract: The present ethno-medicinal investigation has been carried out into ethnic communities of 12 Upazillas under six districts in the northern region of Bangladesh. A total of 24 species under 13 genera of the family Cucurbitaceae collected and recorded for their use in various ailments. For each species botanical name, local name, parts used, name of ...
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