Search results for “LPS”

Evaluation of Inflammatory Serum Cytokines after Treatment with the Consciousness Energy Healing Based Proprietary Test Formulation on Combination of Cecal Slurry, LPS and E. Coli Induced Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (SIRS) in Sprague Dawley Rats

Sepsis is a systemic inflammatory response to a confirmed or suspected infection. The transition from sepsis to septic shock causes high rate of mortality. The aim of this experiment was to evaluate the anti-inflammatory potential of the Biofield Energy Treated (Blessed) Proprietary Test Formulation and Biofield Energy Healing (Blessing) Treatment per se to Sprague Dawley rats on Cecal Slurry, LPS, and E. coli-induced systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) model. In this experiment, various proinflammatory cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-1β (IL-1β), IL-6, IL-10, IL-12, 1L-17, and interferon-γ (IFN-γ) were analysed using ELISA. A test formulation was formulated including minerals (magnesium, zinc, calcium, selenium, and iron), vitamins (ascorbic acid, pyridoxine HCl, vitamin E, cyanocobalamin, and cholecalciferol), Panax ginseng extract, β-carotene, and cannabidiol isolate. The constituents of the test formulation were divided into two parts; one section was defined as the untreated test formulation, while the other portion of the test formulation and three group of animals received Biofield Energy Healing Treatment remotely for about 3 minutes by a renowned Biofield Energy Healer Mr. Mahendra Kumar Trivedi. The level of TNF-α was significantly reduced by 40.50%, 85.36% (p≤0.01), 50.66% (p≤0.01), 87.38% (p≤0.01), and 58.63% (p≤0.01) in G5 (Cecal Slurry, LPS, and E. coli + Biofield Energy Treated test formulation), G6 (Cecal Slurry, LPS, and E. coli + Biofield Energy Treatment per se to animals from day -15), G7 (Cecal Slurry, LPS, and E. coli + Biofield Energy Treated test formulation from day -15), G8 (Cecal Slurry, LPS, and E. coli + Biofield Energy Treatment per se + Biofield Energy Treated test formulation from day -15), and G9 (Cecal Slurry, LPS, and E. coli + Biofield Energy Treatment per se animals + untreated test formulation) groups, respectively as compared to the disease control (G2) group. Additionally, the level of IL-1β was decreased by 17.04%, 15.56%, and 12.59% in G6, G8, and G9 groups, respectively as compared to the untreated test formulation (G4) group. The level of IL-6 was significantly (p≤0.001) reduced by 36.18%, 50.24%, 43.25%, 52.69%, and 38.23% in the G5, G6, G7, G8, and G9 groups, respectively as compared to the G2 group. The level of IL-10 was altered by 70.53%, 49.25%, 60.18%, 41.54%, and 58.89% in G5, G6, G7, G8, and G9 groups, respectively as compared to the G2 group. Moreover, the level of IL-12 was decreased by 30.24%, 31.67%, 29.82%, 45.77%, and 50.54% in the G5, G6, G7, G8, and G9 groups, respectively as compared to the G2. The level of IL-17 was reduced by 48.75%, 59.61%, 59.28%, 62.49%, and 58.65% in the G5, G6, G7, G8, and G9 groups, respectively as compared to the G2. IFN-γ expression was reduced by 49.56%, 24.09%, 23.7%, 56.98%, and 44.94% in G5, G6, G7, G8, and G9 groups, respectively than G2. Overall, the data suggested anti-inflammatory potentials of the Biofield Energy Treated test formulation and Biofield Energy Treatment per se along with preventive measure on the animal with respect to various inflammatory conditions that might be beneficial various types of systemic inflammatory disorders specially sepsis, trauma, septic shock or any types of injuries. Therefore, the results showed the significant slowdown the inflammation-related disease progression and its complications in preventive treatment groups viz. G6, G7, G8, and G9.

Antioxidant and Anti-Inflammatory Activities of Biofield Energy Treated Proprietary Test Formulation in Brain Tissues in Cecal Slurry, LPS and E. Coli-Induced Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (SIRS) in Sprague Dawley Rats

Activation of Transcription Factor EB Protects Against Proinflammatory Insults Through NF-κB Inhibition in Keratinocytes

Keratinocytes are pivotal in mediating cutaneous inflammation. Identifying anti-inflammatory factors within these cells holds promise for developing novel therapeutic strategies to manage skin inflammation. Transcription factor EB (TFEB) has recently emerged as a key regulator linking cellular energy metabolism to inflammatory processes, primarily through its influence on autophagy and NF-κB signaling. However, whether TFEB activation exerts anti-inflammatory effects in keratinocytes remains unclear. In vitro inflammation model was established in HaCat cells by incubation with proinflammatory mediators LPS and IL-1β. Cell viability and TFEB expression and phosphorylation were measured. The effect of TFEB activation by C1 and adenoviral TFEB overexpression on the expression of proinflammatory genes including COX-2, MCP-1 and IL-6 were detected. Also, IκBα protein level were determined. TFEB phosphorylation is increased while TFEB total protein expression is inhibited by treatment with LPS and IL-1β. Pharmacological activation of TFEB by compound C1 and TFEB overexpression suppressed the expression of COX-2, MCP-1 and TNF-α induced by LPS and IL-1β. TFEB overexpression increased basal IκBα expression and restored IκBα level under LPS treatment. TFEB knockdown reduced TFEB expression and lowered basal expression level of COX-2, MCP-1 and TNF-α. Our findings indicate that TFEB activation can mitigate inflammatory gene expression in keratinocytes triggered by LPS and IL-1β. This implicates TFEB as a significant novel modulator of cutaneous inflammation, highlighting its potential as a therapeutic target. Targeting TFEB could thus be a viable strategy for developing new treatments for chronic inflammatory skin conditions.

Psychosocial Interventions in Bipolar Disorder

Bipolar disorder is a chronic condition marked by episodes of mania and depression, significant functional impairment, and challenges with treatment adherence. Current guidelines highlight the importance of both medication and psychosocial approaches in treatment. This review explores the primary psychosocial interventions for bipolar disorder. Psychoeducation helps recognize early symptoms, improves medication compliance, and prevents relapses. It is simple to implement and cost-effective. Family-Focused Therapy (FFT) enhances family communication, reduces emotional expression, and lowers the frequency of depressive episodes. Interpersonal and Social Rhythm Therapy (IPSRT) supports maintaining social stability by addressing disturbances in biological rhythms. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) decreases depressive symptoms and boosts treatment adherence by restructuring automatic thoughts. Additionally, cognitive and functional rehabilitation programs improve attention, memory, and executive functioning. Peer support groups and digital e-health tools, though supportive, have limited evidence of effectiveness. In summary, multicomponent psychosocial interventions serve as a valuable addition to medication, helping to prevent relapses, improve functioning, and enhance quality of life in individuals with bipolar disorder.

RETRACTED: A Microglia Initiated Target Therapy in Neuroinflammation for Alzheimer’s Patients

This article has been retracted on 20 March 2025. VIEW THE RETRACTION NOTICE (https://doi.org/10.14302/issn.2998-4211.jalr-25-5855) The research is focused on neuroinflammation a normal physiological process which is known to be associated with neurodegenerative diseases could be the potential targeted therapy via the microglia cells, it starts with defining Alzheimer’s; a neurodegenerative disease which causes deposition of Aβ (amyloid beta) protein in the cerebral cortex as well as NFT (neurofibrillary tangles) in the hippocampus and basal ganglia. The paper then describes process of neuroinflammation, microglia’s role, apolipoprotein E4 gene in relation to Alzheimer’s, which leads to different stem cell research and how pruning microglia as well as targeting microglia receptors in the brain is being used in current research trials, we included multiple meta-analysis showing microglia receptors being targeted currently by emerging drugs like propofol, antibodies CSF1R inhibitor etc, which are currently under trial phase, the research ends with concluding potential diagnostic markers like sirt1 considered to be an anti-aging protein which can be used as therapeutic interventions and Lps effect on Sirt 1. A Microglia initiated target therapy in Neuroinflammation for Alzheimer’s Patients.

A Review on Response of Root System Architecture and Root Phenotypic for Biotic And Abiotic Stress

Root is has great role for plant adaptation and productivity of the agricultural crops as well as other plants by exploiting the soil resource thus, important for plant growth and development or main growth factors. Root system architecture is made up of structural features which exhibits great role in response to environmental stress, and critical to plant growth and development with sufficient root growth. Root system architecture has a central role in crop plants’ response to abiotic (soil microorganisms) and abiotic stresses like water stress, mechanical impedance. Root morphology can be affected by nutrient availability, osmotic stress, salinity, and light. Phenotyping root is one of the drought management tools as roots are more prone to drought conditions and play a significant role in the plant’s life by extracting soil resources from deeper soil layers to carry on several metabolic functions in the plant’s body and its phenotyping helps to understand different root traits. Understanding interactions between roots and their surrounding soil environment is important to increase root growth, which can be improved through root phenotyping. In addition, knowing of the development and architecture of roots, as well its plasticity, holds thus great role for stabilizing the productivity under suboptimal conditions in the root environment

Evaluation Of Physicochemical Separation Characteristics of Pig Manure According to the Type of Solid-Liquid Separator Processes

Objectives The solid-liquid separation (SLS) process generally separates solid and liquid fractions in wastewater and livestock manure. The solid-liquid separation process is an essential pretreatment step for the recycling and purification of pig manure. This study has assessed the separation and/or reduction efficiency by various SLS processes used in pig farms. Methods Seven types of SLS processes (centrifuge, centrifuge (+coagulation agent), belt press (+ coagulation agent), drum screen, inclined screen, vibration screen, and screw press) were used on 11 pig farms and conducted a comparative analysis. As for the sample in this study, the pig raw manure before treatment, the separated liquid and solid manure after treatment of the SLS process collected, respectively. These samples were provided for pH, EC(electrical conductivity) moisture content, CODMn, BOD5, TN, TP, K, TS, SS, NaCl, and heavy metals analysis. Results and Discussion The belt press (+coagulation agent) process had the highest TS and SS reduction rate of 78.8% and 96.9%, respectively. The highest removal efficiency of TN and TP was41.0% and 94.2% by belt press (+coagulation agent) and centrifuge (+coagulation agent),respectively. The belt press (+coagulation agent) removed 59.4% and 66.0% of BOD5 and CODMn,respectively. The Zn and Cu were removed 100% and 98.6% by centrifuge (+coagulation agent).However, the drum screen, inclined screen, vibration screen, screw press, and centrifuge showed lower removal efficiency of nutrient contents, solids, Zn, and Cu than centrifugal and belt press processes with chemical coagulation. Conclusions The centrifugal and belt press separation processes that used chemical coagulation showed much more removal efficiency of nutrient contents, solids, and metals like Zn and Cu. Although SLS with chemical coagulants is an effective pre-treatment process for liquid manure treatment and helps removal effect for suspended solids, nutrients, and heavy metals, further studies are needed on how it affects biological or chemical processing processes that are linked.

Success Driven: Student Motivation Actions in Teaching and Learning

The purpose of this topic is to add to the body of good teaching and learning that helps create the conditions for more critical thinking and practice skills that enable, keep students interested, and consistently motivate them. Teachers now have a greater focus on implementing motivational learning and studying strategies that are more relevant to the processes of teaching and learning thanks to new methodologies, which have further enhanced instructional strategies for teaching and learning. Positive school cultures that are long-lasting will result from these new methods and strategies. According to the authors, educators have been impacted by evidence-based practice and data-based decision making within the educational system. As a result, there is a growing need for educators to learn more about these resources that are relevant to students and can lead to greater success. These applicable interventions have a positive effect on students, and the information that helps them make decisions increases their response.

Computational Systemic Biology for Toxicity Studies: A Mini Review of Previously Published Articles

The strategy for safe drug discovery and development has limited clinical success as compared to wasted time and resources annually. This is due to the fact that the results of multiphase preclinical trials are less likely to make an accurate early prediction on the safety of test compounds to progress into the clinic as a valuable therapeutic agent. A lot of time and resources has been wasted in the multistage processes of drug discovery and development that does not work at the end of the procedure every year. During pre-marketing stage, for instance, the number of unsuccessful clinical trials are greater than the successful one because of safety issues. A toxicity study at different stages of preclinical and clinical trials is a routine procedure to investigate the undesirable side effects of test compounds being manifested on the natural processes of living things. It deals with the effect and mechanism of toxicity of test compounds that triggers different biological responses on different organ systems. The biological responses that would be manifested as a result of interaction between the receptors and active molecules of a test compound could be desirable pharmacological effect or undesirable side effect or both responses are manifested simultaneously depending on the selectivity or specificity of the molecule of a test compound for its receptor subtype which makes safe drug discovery and development very challenging. The response efficiency of the body (the net outcome of the body’s biological reaction against the side effect) would determine the potency of a test compound to manifest undesirable pharmacologic effect. In other words, the amount of a drug required to cause a biological harm or injury depends on the magnitude of the body’s biological reaction in which the immune response plays a great pharmacological role by neutralizing and harmonizing xenobiotics with the biological molecules. The dose of a test compound at 100 mg/kg body weight, for instance, could be lethal to some of the study animals while it is still non-lethal to some other study animals depending on the response efficiency of the body. The immune system is well connected to each and every biological systems of the body which allows it to detect undesirable side effects being manifested through immunoglobulins signalling and activation mechanisms. This complex communication network helps to localize the diverse side effects of a test compound being manifested on different organ systems into the immune system which makes a toxicity study relatively simple to monitor. The cellular immune system becomes active following the molecule-receptor interaction and start producing antibodies which is also known as immunoglobulins to protect bodily harm and destruction. Under normal biological circumstances, the amount of immunoglobulins produced by the cellular immune system following exposure to a test compound is proportional to the number of harmful molecules interacted with its receptor subtype. Thus, with the reference to the changes in the immune response against the administered dose, it would be able to deal with the diverse undesirable side effects of a test compound being manifested on treated study animals using computational systemic biology.

Ecological Significance of Residues Retention for Sustainability of Agriculture in the Semi-arid Tropics

In South Asia, land degradation is primarily a monsoon mediated phenomenon restricted to 2-3 rainy months. The overall strategy for land degradation neutrality should (i) favour actions that keep soils covered with residues and (ii) plant kharif (rainy season) crop before the onset of monsoons to provide soil cover. Retention of anchored residues provides surface cover, increases microbial activity, carbon sequestration, and availability of nutrients. Surface retained residues reduce root zone salinization, detoxify phytotoxic monomeric Al in acidic soils and enhance the potential for use of brackish ground water in crop production. Residues covers save irrigation water and overcome the ill effects of poor agronomic and water management practices. Early direct dry seeding in surface retained residues has the potential of making kharif season planting independent of the onset of monsoon rains in South Asia and helps reduce acreages of Kharif and Rabi fallow lands. For improving carbon content in Indian soils, perhaps the most important priority is to devise tillage and crop residue management approaches that promote in situ rain water storage and its use for growing more crops. The paper summarises how crop residues fuel and drive soil functions and related ecosystem services and plant growth.

Generation of a Single-Domain Antibody against Isolated Escherichia Coli that Causes Camel-Calf Death

Antibodies and antibody fragments, especially single-domain antibodies known as nanobodies, are important tools in diagnostics, research, and therapeutics. In a conventional antibody, light and heavy chains contribute to the formation of the antigen binding site. In addition to conventional antibodies, old and new world camels also have heavy-chain antibodies (hcAbs), which lack the light-chain antibodies that usually bind to the antigen, as well as single domain antibodies, the VHH domain, which are the smallest antigen-binding fragments and have high solubility, stability, and specificity. A VHH library against E. coli lipopolysaccharide (LPS) was produced using the camel immune system. E. coli strains from dead camel calves were isolated to extract the LPS and used to immunize a 2-year-old female camel. After isolating mononuclear lymphocytes for RNA extraction and amplification of the VHH gene, the PCR product was cloned into the pF1AT7 Flexi vector and transformed into JM109 E. coli competent cells by heat shock, resulting in a comprehensive VHHs library with 6.9 × 104 cfu/µg. The VHHs were expressed and screened with ELISA and PCR. Eleven colonies were positive by PCR, six of which were sequenced and submitted to Genbank compared with GenBank data to confirm the production of nanobodies with a similarity >90%.

The Influence of Siblings on Young Children’s Understanding of Fluid Intake

Background Children need to drink enough water (1.1-1.3 litres) throughout the day to stay hydrated and for health benefits1. Wellbeing and cognitive function benefits have been identified for children who are hydrated2. Yet there is a dearth of research focusing specifically on children’s perceptions of their own fluid intake levels and who helps support them in ensuring they are drinking enough water, this is a novel area to investigate. Previous research3 identified that 44.2% of young children’s fluid intake were influenced the strongest by a family member. This paper will explore in further detail the influence of siblings on children’s fluid intake, in particular older versus younger siblings. Methods 130 children (67 girls and 63 boys, of which 45 had a younger sibling (s) and 85 having an elder sibling(s), from 4 primary schools in the South East of England, were questioned between January and April 2019 using an adapted version of Coppinger and Howells’ (2019)4 questionnaire, on their understanding of fluid intake, how much they perceived they drank and who supported them in prompting them to drink. Physical visual representations were used to aid question comprehension and to ensure the questions were appropriate for young children. The data was analysed using SPSS 24.0 using MANOVAs (P < 0.05) to consider statistical variance in gender and older sibling status. Results The most significant results were linked to elder siblings influence younger siblings in drinking too little fluids within a school day (F=0.530, p<0.05), whilst those without an elder sibling, thought they drank beyond the daily recommended guidelines and reported they drank over 2 litres. This illustrates that children misunderstand fluid intake recommendations regardless of whether they have an elder sibling or not. Children named adults, both parents and teachers as well as elder siblings as the key influencers of them drinking (F=3.67, p<0.05) and the data indicated that girls were more influenced by siblings than boys, whilst twins were not influenced by each other. Conclusion It is concluded that siblings do have an influence on the consumption of water, as siblings act as role models and other siblings follow their habits, therefore the whole family unit is important to ensure that the right fluid intake is consumed. It is recommended that further education, curriculum and community development is needed to continue to support young children’s knowledge and understanding of fluid intake.

Adopting High Fat Diets for Fat Loss and Improving Brain Health.

With an increased intake of processed carbohydrates and refined sugars, the obesity rate has shot up in the past decade giving rise to mental and physical health problems. These individuals are also the most vulnerable to a number of other diseases including the current pandemic of Covid-19. This paper aims to address the knowledge gap that is required to promote a healthy lifestyle for mental and physical wellbeing. The paper also analyses a number of different studies conducted and helps in understanding obesity as a strong risk factor to various disorders. Despite constant recommendations from healthcare organisations to address the importance of weight regulation, the process to do so often remains uncertain to the general population. The paper analyses the effects of the ketogenic diet for fat loss as well as treating mental illnesses and aims to address the influence of high carbohydrate diets on mental illnesses.

A quick Look at the Registered Cases of Covid-19 Throughout the World

The present work analyzes the registered cases of Covid-19 throughout the world according the data registered at Johns Hopkins University. We selected 15 countries to analyze their data. In alphabetical order the countries are: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Chile, China, Colombia, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Peru, Portugal, Spain, United States and Venezuela. With this information, three different studies were carried out. First, the data was validated using Benford's Law which is based on forensic techniques that allow us to guarantee the integrity of the information. Later, we calculated the value of the basic reproduction number (R0), ie., the number of secondary host infections caused by one primary host infection that helps us to determine if a country has an outbreak of Covid-19. Finally, we show that the best representation for the change in the number of cases in the time is to calculate the mantissa value, ie., the floating number obtained from the logarithm of the data.

Investigation of Edge-Selectively Nitrogen-Doped Metal Free Graphene for Oxygen Reduction Reaction

In order to distinguish the roles of four types of nitrogen species in oxygen reduction reaction, the ketoamine condensation reactions between the ketone group of graphene oxide and amidogen of aniline and o-phenylenediamine were employed to generate –C=N- bond at the edge of graphene nanoplatelets, and then nitrogen-doped graphene nanoplatelets with pyrrolic N, pyridinic N and pyridinic N+-O- rather than graphitic nitrogen were obtained by post thermal treatments. The resulting catalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction analysis, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and electrochemical measurements. It is found that edge-selectively nitrogen-doped graphene nanopaltelets with nitrogen content of up to 4.28 atom% have been prepared. Nitrogen doping helps to improve activity of oxygen reduction reaction slightly, suggesting nitrogen doping at the edge of graphene does not contribute a lot to the enhancement of activity.

Possibility to Influence Treatment of Open Tibial Fracture by Negative Pressure Wound Therapy

Modern medicine gives treatment options even in cases, where this has not been possible in the past. We want to present how negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) helps in limb salvage. The case report brings our insight and experience on how to be successful with NPWT. We present a high-energy injury with an open tibial fracture IIIB according to Gustillo-Anderson classification 11. NPWT is an excellent option to treat extensive soft tissue injury. NPWT is also beneficial in the application of the dermoepidermal graft as we have found. We can confirm that this therapy contributed to a faster healing of soft tissues compared to classical wound healing.

Design Support to steer Creative Wicked Problem Solving Processes with Knowledge Management and Artificial Intelligence

As the complexity of building tasks and requirements increases, designers often find themselves confronted with interdisciplinary problems that go beyond the specific challenges and methods of architecture. The iterative nature of the design process results in a continuous exchange between creative, analytical and evaluative activities, through which the designer explores and identifies promising design variants. The ability to compare and evaluate relevant reference examples of already built or designed buildings helps designers to assess their own design and informs the design process.

Effect of Oral Honey Consumption on Immune Function Following Ex-Vivo Lipopolysaccharide Stimulation in Healthy Humans

Nine healthy individuals with a mean ± SD BMI of 22.0 ± 0.7 kg/m² and age of 20 ± 0.2 years, participated in this single-blind randomised, crossover trial investigating the impact of ingesting two different honeys (1) Tropical Forest Honey (TFH) and (2) Manuka Honey; strength 12+ (MAN) on circulating levels of plasma interferon gamma following ex-vivo lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulation. Blood samples were prepared into duplicate aliquots of whole blood (800 μl) and 100 μg/l of LPS was added to samples to give a final volume of 1 ml. Levels of IFN-γ in plasma fractions were measured via commercially available sandwich ELISA and all comparisons were made with paired data using the Wilcoxon Signed Rank test taking a significance level of 5%. Whilst significant intra-and-interpersonal variation was observed, IFN-γ concentrations remained statistically unchanged 48 hours after the ingestion of either honey (p=0.15). Thus, in this instance the type of honey did not influence the IFN-γ response to plasma samples spiked with LPS.  

Lipopolysaccharide Prompts Oxidative Stress and Apoptosis in Rats’ Testicular Tissue

Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is a component of the outer membrane of gram negative bacteria. LPS challenging allows switching transcription of proinflammatory cytokines on via over stimulation of Toll-like receptors (TLRs) signaling pathway with subsequent pathogenic inflammatory response. We investigated the possible reproductive toxicity of LPS in male Wister albino rats. Oxidative stress markers, antioxidant status and caspase-3 activity were analyzed in testicular tissues of rats exposed to either saline or LPS (4 mg/kg BW, ip; 0.18 of the LD50). The samples were collected at 6 h and 72 h after injection of LPS. A significant reduction in testicular reduced glutathione (GSH), glutathione-S-transferase (GST) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) was observed at 72 h compared to control group. Total antioxidant capacity was decreased at 6 h with additional significant reduction at 72 h. Catalase activity was reduced significantly at both 6 and 72 h. Malondialdehyde (MDA) was increased (P ≤ 0.05) in LPS injected rats without variation between 6 and 72 h. A significant increase in nitric oxide (NO) was observed at 72 h after injection. A time-dependent increase in LPS-treated groups was observed in the concentration of caspase-3.Histopathological analysis revealed degenerative changes and necrosis of seminiferous tubules after 6 h with further accumulation of eosinophilic edematous transudate in its lumen after 72 h. In conclusion, by increasing time of exposure, LPS induced lipid peroxidation, oxidative stress, reduced testicular antioxidant capacity and encouraged testicular apoptosis which could be possible mechanisms for impairment of testicular function.

Outcome in Patients with Spontaneous Primary Intracranial Hemorrhage who underwent Craniotomy Affiliation

Background: Spontaneous primary intracranial hemorrhage or known as intracerebral hypertensive hemorrhage consist of 15 to 20% of all stroke, is one of the major health problems among healthy and productive workforce in any countries. Methods: A retrospective study was conducted in a dedicated Neurosurgical Centre at the Hospital Sungai Buloh, Malaysia. The study was conducted for admission within a year period, in the year 2013 with 6 months follow-up. A total of 35 patients were studied. Results: The mean age was 52.8 years old (31-77 years old). A total of 29 patients (82.9%) were presented with basal ganglia hemorrhage, 4 with cerebral lobar hemorrhage (11.4%) and 2 with cerebellar hemorrhage (5.7%). The surgical mortality rate was 40%. For the 6 months follow-up, 31.4% patients improved to Glasgow Outcome score (GOS) of 4, while 22.9% and 5.7% patients improved to only GOS of 3 and 2 respectively. There were several factors identified in the study to be important predictors of survival. There were statistically significance of higher mortality rate among patients with pre-operative GCS of 5 and below (p=0.015), pre-operative CT scan brain showing acute hydrocephalus (p=0.046) and residual post-operative hematoma above 5% of pre-operative clots volume (p=0.006). Other factors such as age, sex, size of pre-operative hematomas, presence of intraventricular hemorrhage, underlying medical illness were not statistically significant in predicting the surgical outcome of those patients. Conclusions: Outcome predictors such as pre-operative GCS and CT scan brain findings helps treating neurosurgeons to determine the prognosis of patients presented with spontaneous intracranial hemorrhage.

A Comparative Evaluation of the Role of Cone Beam Computed Tomography (CBCT) Imaging and Orthopantomography (OPG) in Sinus Augmentation Procedures: An Original Study

Context: The present study was undertaken to do a comparative evaluation of the role of Cone Beam Computed Tomography (CBCT) imaging and Orthopantomography (OPG) for pre-operative implant planning in combination with sinus grafting procedures in order to assess sinus anatomy and morphology and the existing bone height in three dimensions. Aims: To assess sinus anatomy and morphology and the existing bone height in three dimensions. Materials and Methods: Pre-operative assessment of maxillary sinuses for implant planning using CBCT imaging was performed on 20 sinuses (17 patients). These patients were subjected to orthopantomographs and CBCT imaging both pre-operatively and post-operatively. CBCT imaging helped to decide the type of sinus augmentation procedure best suited for the patients as per the individual needs and depending on the residual alveolar bone height, timing of implant placement, sinus morphology, anticipation of complication and comparative analysis between pre-and post-procedural gain in vertical alveolar bone height and increase in bone density. Statistical Analysis: The results were tabulated and statistically analyzed using Paired and Unpaired t-tests. Results: In the majority of cases, there was a concordance between the treatment type based on pre-operative and post-operative CBCT scans. The assessment of sinus morphology revealed a significantly higher detection rate of abberations in the form of sinus mucosal hypertrophy and septae on CBCT which were imperceptible on routine radiographs. The most appealing result was that vertical alveolar bone height could be measured precisely and there was a significant increase in surgical confidence and a significantly better prediction of complications when using CBCT imaging. Conclusions: A pre-operative planning based on CBCT imaging seems to improve sinus diagnostics and helps to execute a better treatment plan. Also, it is a good tool for the comparison of vertical alveolar bone height pre-and post-operatively following sinus augmentation procedures using various graft materials.

Comparison of Two Analytical Methods used for the Measurement of Total Antioxidant Status

Background: Antioxidants play an important role in maintenance of human health and prevention of disease. Effective supplementation of antioxidants requires laboratory monitoring of antioxidant status. An understanding of the methods used to determine the TAS helps in better interpretation of values obtained using a particular method and also to select a suitable method. Material and Methods: Forty subjects including 25 healthy volunteers and 15 patients diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis were studied. All samples were analysed for TAS using Ferric reducing ability of plasma (FRAP) method and Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC) assay. Results: Mean TAS values obtained by TEAC method were higher than those obtained by FRAP method (p<0.0001); no difference was observed when TEAC values were corrected for proteins and FRAP values were corrected for uric acid (p=0.420). No correlation was found between TEAC and FRAP methods (p=0.102). However, when TEAC was corrected for proteins, positive correlation was observed with FRAP (p=0.044). There was agreement between the two methods when TEAC values were corrected for proteins. Conclusion: Although the reaction conditions differ, similar compounds react in both the assays and thus TEAC and FRAP assays are comparable. However, the two methods differ with respect to –SH groups and uric acid contributions. This contributes to the higher TAS values obtained by TEAC assay. Thus, in conditions with altered protein or uric acid levels, the two methods may not be used interchangeably. The TEAC assay is to be corrected for protein for comparison of reports of the two assays.

Superior Sclera Versus Temporal Corneal on Steep Axis Incision to Correct Pre-Existing Corneal Astigmatism Less Than 1.5 D

Purpose: Cataract is the leading cause of blindness worldwide. Even in an uneventful cataract surgery, surgically induced astigmatism remains the major hurdle in attaining good unaided visual acuity post surgery. If pre-existing corneal astigmatism is not corrected at the time of surgery, it will result in more postoperative astigmatism; therefore, it is important to correct pre-existing corneal astigmatism. Material & Methods In this prospective study, 100 eyes of 100 age and sex matched patient’s with comparable preoperative astigmatism and visual acuity were divided in two groups according to pre operative corneal astigmatism. SIG (superior scleral incision group) included 50 eyes with steeper vertical axis and TIG (temporal corneal incision group) included 50 eyes with steeper horizontal axis. SIG and TIG were subjected to superior scleral tunnel and temporal corneal tunnel incisions respectively. Corneal astigmatism was measured preoperatively and at 1, 2 and 6 weeks postoperatively. Results: The mean postoperative astigmatism in SIG and TIG after 6 weeks was 0.545 ± 0.51D and 0.59 ± 0.48 D in comparison to preoperative astigmatism of 1.105 ± 0.54 D and 1.120 ± 0.49 D respectively. The difference was statistically significant in both the groups with P< 0.001 for both groups. The difference in surgically induced astigmatism between the two groups was not significant at any point of time after surgery (p>0.05). Conclusion: Incision site on steeper axis helps in reduction of pre-existing corneal astigmatism in cataract surgery. Both superior scleral and temporal corneal incisions help in neutralization of approx. 0.4-0.7 D of astigmatism.