Search results for: starvation death

Authors: Louise Elizabeth Bolton

Abstract:

Statement of the problem: There are an estimated 328 million cases of COPD worldwide. It is likely to become the third biggest cause of death by 2030. The impact of living with palliative care needs arising from COPD disrupts an individual’s existential situation. Understandings of individuals' existential situations within COPD are limited within the research literature and are rarely addressed within clinical practice, yet existential suffering has been linked to poor health-related quality of life for those living with other chronic conditions. The purpose of this integrative review is to provide a synthesis of existing evidence on existential suffering for those living with palliative care needs arising from COPD. Methods: This is an integrative review undertaken in accordance with PRISMA guidelines. Nine electronic databases were searched from April 2019 to January 2021. Thirty-five empirical research papers of both qualitative and quantitative methodologies, alongside systematic literature reviews, were included. Data analysis was undertaken using an integrative thematic analysis approach. Findings: Identified themes of existential suffering when living with palliative care needs arising from COPD are as follows: Liminality, Lamented Life, Loss of Personal Liberty, Life Meaning and Existential isolation. The absence of life meaning and purpose was of most importance to patients. Conclusion and Significance: This integrative review provides a synthesis of international evidence upon the presence of existential suffering. It is present and of significant impact within the daily lives of those living with palliative care needs arising from COPD. The absence of life meaning has the most significant impact, requiring further exploration of both its physical and psychological impact. Rediscovery of life meaning diminishes feelings of worthlessness and hopelessness in daily life and facilitates feelings of inner peace. For those with COPD living with such a relentless symptom burden, a positive existential situation is desirable.

Keywords: palliative care, COPD, existential suffering, end of life care

Procedia PDF Downloads 115

Authors: Alakija Temitope Olufunmilayo, Akinyemi, Yagba Joy

Abstract:

Hepatitis is the inflammation of the liver tissue that can cause whiteness of the eyes (Jaundice), lack of appetite, vomiting, tiredness, abdominal pain, diarrhea. Hepatitis is acute if it resolves within 6 months and chronic if it last longer than 6 months. Acute hepatitis can resolve on its own, lead to chronic hepatitis or rarely result in acute liver failure. Chronic hepatitis may lead to scarring of the liver (Cirrhosis), liver failure and liver cancer. Modelling Hepatitis B may become necessary in order to reduce its spread. So, dynamic SIR model can be used. This model consists of a system of three coupled non-linear ordinary differential equation which does not have an explicit formula solution. It is an epidemiological model used to predict the dynamics of infectious disease by categorizing the population into three possible compartments. In this study, a five-compartment dynamic model of Hepatitis B disease was proposed and developed by adding control measure of sensitizing the public called awareness. All the mathematical and statistical formulation of the model, especially the general equilibrium of the model, was derived, including the nonlinear least square estimators. The initial parameters of the model were derived using nonlinear least square embedded in R code. The result study shows that the proportion of Hepatitis B patient in the study population is 1.4 per 1,000,000 populations. The estimated Hepatitis B induced death rate is 0.0108, meaning that 1.08% of the infected individuals die of the disease. The reproduction number of Hepatitis B diseases in Nigeria is 6.0, meaning that one individual can infect more than 6.0 people. The effect of sensitizing the public on the basic reproduction number is significant as the reproduction number is reduced. The study therefore recommends that programme should be designed by government and non-governmental organization to sensitize the entire Nigeria population in order to reduce cases of Hepatitis B disease among the citizens.

Keywords: hepatitis B, modelling, non-linear ordinary differential equation, sihar model, sensitization

Procedia PDF Downloads 62

Authors: Azar Sharafianpor, Hossein Rassi, Fahimeh Nemati Mansur

Abstract:

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are the most important cause of death in industrialized and developing countries such as Iran. The most important risk factors for the CVD, genetic factors and chronic infectious agents, such as Helicobacter pylori, can be mentioned. The TNFα gene is one of the most important anti-inflammatory cytokines that can affect the sensitivity, efficacy, and ability of the immune response to chronic infections. Some TNF-α gene polymorphisms, including the replacement of the G nucleotide G with A at position 308 in the promoter region of TNF-α, increase the transcription of cytokines in the target cells and thus predispose a person to chronic infections. This study examines the TNF-α 308 polymorphism and its association with Helicobacter pylori infection in this disease. This study was a case-control study in which 154 patients were examined as cases or patients with symptoms of myocardial infarction or angina and 160 as controls or healthy subjects. All of the subjects at different ages were given venous blood and age, BMI, cholesterol, LDL, and HDL were determined. DNA was extracted from the specimens, and the cagA gene from H. pylori and the TNF-α-308 polymorphism were determined by PCR in patients and healthy subjects. Statistical analysis was performed with Epi Info software. The results showed that the frequency of H. pylori infection in the patients and healthy group were 53.23% (82 out of 154) and 47.5% (76 out of 160). There was no significant difference in H. pylori outbreak between the two groups. The frequencies of TNF-α-308 genotype for GG, GA, and AA in patients were 0.17, 0.49, and 0.34, respectively, whereas for controls 0.47, 0.35, and 0.18 for GG, GA, and AA, respectively. The frequency of genotype analysis of TNF-α-308 polymorphisms in both patients and healthy groups showed that there was a significant difference in the frequency of genotypes and the AA genotype was higher in the affected individuals. Also, there was a significant relationship between the genotype and the contamination with H. pylori and changes in cholesterol, LDL, and HDL levels were observed. The results of the study indicate that H. pylori detection in individuals with AA genotype in people under 50 years of age can play an important role in early diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular disease.

Keywords: Helicobacter pylori, TNFα gene, cardiovascular diseases, TNFα-308 polymorphism

Procedia PDF Downloads 125

Authors: Rafik Balti, Mohamed Ben Mansour, Abdellah Arhaliass, Anthony Masse

Abstract:

Unfortunately, shrimps are highly perishable and they start deteriorating immediately after death owing to their high water content and nutritional components. Currently, there has been an increasing interest in bioactive edible films and coatings to preserve the freshness and quality of foods. In this study, active edible coatings from microalgal exopolysaccharides (EPS) enriched with different concentrations of Red Seaweed Extract (RSE) (0.5, 1 and 1.5 % (w/v)) were developed and their effects on the quality changes of white shrimp during refrigerated storage (4 ± 1 °C) were examined over a period of 8 days. The control and the coated shrimp samples were analyzed periodically for microbiological (total viable bacteria, psychrotrophic bacteria, and enterobacteriaceae counts), chemical (pH, TVB-N, TMA-N, PV, TBARS), textural and sensory characteristics. The results indicated that the coating with a mixture of EPS and RSE could significantly decrease the total volatile basic nitrogen (TVB-N), trimethylamine (TMA) and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) (p < 0.05). With storage, EPS coatings containing RSE at both levels (1 and 1.5 %) were more effective in inhibiting the microbial species studied, specially psychrotrophic bacteria. Also, EPS + RSE coated samples had lower polyphenol oxidase (PPO) activity and lipid oxidation (p < 0.05) toward the end of storage. Textural and color properties of coated shrimp were generally more acceptable. Sensory scores indicated no significant changes in all samples during storage. The obtained results indicate that the edible EPS coating solutions enriched with RSE have noticeable effects on the quality and shelf life of shrimps when compared to control group. Finally, the present work demonstrates the effectiveness of EPS enriched coatings, offering a promising alternative to preserve more better the quality characteristics and to extend the shelf life of shrimp during the refrigerated storage

Keywords: active coating, exopolysaccharides, red seaweed, refrigerated storage, white shrimp

Procedia PDF Downloads 189

Authors: Marinete Araujo da Silva Fobister

Abstract:

This presentation aims to discuss how the feeling of ‘nostalgia’ both present on Westerns and migrants could shed light to a mutual recognition and an exchange of ways of life that could enhance mutual possibilities of self-realization. It seems that this feeling of nostalgia is related to another unfolding of the nihilism of the death of God diagnosed by Nietzsche. Westerns are feeling on the margins of the values of their own culture as they feel such values as external to them. At the same time, some groups are claiming the return of the old devalued values. In this scenario, the West is receiving many migrants from different parts of the world since the second half of the last century. Migrants might be suffering from nostalgia or homesickness for having left their home. It might be that sharing a sense of nostalgia, although with different meanings, can bring together Westerns and migrants. Migrants bring ways of life that might be unknown and inexperienced in the West, and these can shed light to new forms of interpretation and cultivation of ones’ drives, and forces and this could become a source of mutual strength cultivation. Therefore, this mutual feeling of nostalgia could lead to ways of exploring the idea of self- realization in Nietzsche detaching it from the idea of being mainly individual to a more trans-individual-cultural claim. Nietzsche argues that nihilism is a European event here translated as a Western event, which would take 200 years until it could be overcome. To overcome nihilism a new kind of human would be needed, a creative and strong kind. For Nietzsche, there is not a fixed or true self, hence one possibility for one to achieve self-realization would reside on cultivating their multiple creative forces. The argument here is that in this recent unfolding of nihilism, translated in the sense of nostalgia, the encounter between the mainstream western immersed on nihilism with migrants could create a sense of a shared temporary home, where these different ways of life could inspire each other to create new meanings. Indeed, contributing to the expansion of one’s world view, drives and forces. Therefore, fertilizing the soil for the cultivation of self-realization and consequently the creation of new values.

Keywords: migration, nihilism, nostalgia, self-realization

Procedia PDF Downloads 177

Authors: Jacinta Musyoka, Wesley Too

Abstract:

Cervical cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in Kenya and the second most common cancer among women, yet preventable following prevention strategies put in place, which includes vaccination with Human Papilloma Virus Vaccine (HPPV) among the young adolescent girls. Kenya has the highest burden of cervical cancer and the leading cause of death among women of reproductive age and is a known frequent type of cancer amongst women. This is expected to double by 2025 if the necessary steps are not taken, which include vaccinating girls between the ages of 9 and 14 and screening women. Parental decision is critical in ensuring that their daughters receive this vaccine. Hence this study sought to establish parental willingness and factors associate with the acceptability to vaccine adolescent daughters against the human papilloma virus for cervical cancer prevention in Machakos County, Eastern Region of Kenya. Method: Cross-sectional study design utilizing a mixed methods approach was used to collect data from Nguluni Health Centre in Machakos County; Matungulu sub-county, Kenya. This study targeted all parents of adolescent girls seeking health care services in the Matungulu sub-county area who were aged 18 years and above. A total of 220 parents with adolescent girls aged 10-14 years were enrolled into the study after informed consent were sought. All ethical considerations were observed. Quantitative data were analyzed using Multivariate regression analysis, and thematic analysis was used for qualitative data related to perceptions of parents on HPVV. Results, conclusions, and recommendations- ongoing. We expect to report findings and articulate contributions based on the study findings in due course before October 2022

Keywords: adolescents, human papilloma virus, kenya, parents

Procedia PDF Downloads 97

Authors: Pampita Chakraborty, Sukumar Mukherjee

Abstract:

This study was done to determine the prevalence of nosocomial infections in the ICU and to identify the common microorganisms causing these infections and their antimicrobial sensitivity pattern. Nosocomial infection or hospital-acquired infection is a localized or a systemic condition resulting from an adverse reaction to the presence of infectious agents. Nosocomial infections are not present or incubating when the patient is admitted to hospital or other health care facility. They are caused by pathogens that easily spread through the body. Many hospitalized patients have compromised immune systems, so they are less able to fight off infections. These infections occur worldwide, both in the developed and developing the world. They are a significant burden to patients and public health. They are a major cause of death and increased morbidity in hospitalized patients, which is a matter of serious concern today. This study was done during the period of one year (2012-2013) in the ICU of the tertiary care hospital in eastern India. Prevalence of nosocomial infection was determined; site of infection and the pattern of microorganisms were identified along with the assessment of antibiotic susceptibility profile. Patients who developed an infection after 48 hours of admission to the ICU were included in the study. A total of 324 ICU patients were analyzed, of these 79 patients were found to have developed a nosocomial infection (24.3% prevalence). Urinary tract infection was found to be more predominant followed by respiratory tract infection and soft tissue infection. The most frequently isolated microorganism was E. coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumoniae followed by other organisms respectively. Antibiotic susceptibility test of these isolates was done against commonly used antibiotics. Patients admitted to the ICU are especially susceptible to nosocomial infections. Despite adequate antimicrobial treatment, nosocomial ICU infections can significantly affect ICU stay and can cause an increase in patient’s morbidity and mortality. Adherence to infection protocol, proper monitoring and the judicious use of antibiotics are important in preventing such infections on a regular basis.

Keywords: antibiotic susceptibility, intensive care unit, nosocomial infection, nosocomial pathogen

Procedia PDF Downloads 300

Authors: Hamed Karimian, Noraziah Nordin, Mohamad Ibrahim Noordin, Syam Mohan, Mahboubeh Razavi, Najihah Mohd Hashim, Happipah Mohd Ali

Abstract:

Satureja bachtiarica Bunge is a perennial medicinal plant belonging to the Lamiaceae family and endemic species in Iran. Satureja bachtiarica Bunge with the local name of Marzeh koohi is edible vegetable use as flavoring agent, anti-bacterial and to relieve cough and indigestion. In this study, the anti-cancer effect of Satureja bachtiarica Bunge on the MDA-MB-231 cell line as an Breast cancer cell model has been analyzed for the first time. Satureja bachtiarica Bunge was extracted using different solvents in the order of increasing polarity. Cytotoxicity activity of hexane extract of Satureja bachtiarica Bunge (SBHE) was observed using MTT assay. Acridine orange/Propidium iodide staining was used to detect early apoptosis; Annexin-V-FITC assay was carried out to observe the detection of cell-surface Phosphatidylserine (PS), with Annexin-Vserving as a marker for apoptotic cells. Caspase 3/7, 8 and-9 assays showed significantly activation of caspase-9 where lead intrinsic mitochondrial pathway. Bcl-2/Bax expressions and cell cycle arrest were also investigated. SBHE had exhibited significantly higher cytotoxicity against MDA-MB-231 Cell line compare to other cell lines. A significant increase in chromatin condensation in the cell nucleus was observed by fluorescence analysis. Treatment of MDA-MB-231 cells with SBHE encouraged apoptosis, by down-regulating Bcl-2 and up-regulating Bax, which lead the activation of caspase 9. Moreover, SBHE treatment significantly arrested MDA-MB-231 cells in the G1 phase. Together, the results presented in this study demonstrated that SBHE inhibited the proliferation of MDA-MB-231 cells, leading cell cycle arrest and programmed cell death, which was confirmed to be through the mitochondrial pathway.

Keywords: Satureja bachtiarica Bunge, MDA-MB-231, apoptosis, annexin-V, cell cycle

Procedia PDF Downloads 324

Authors: Francesca Radice

Abstract:

Domestic and sexual violence provokes, on average in Australia, one female death per week due to intimate violence behaviours. 83% of couples meet online, and intercepting domestic and sexual violence at this level would be beneficial. It has been observed that violent or coercive behaviour has been apparent from initial conversations on dating apps like Tinder. Child pornography, stalking, and coercive control are some criminal offences from dating apps, including women murdered after finding partners through Tinder. Police databases and predictive policing are novel approaches taken to prevent crime before harm is done. This research will investigate how police databases can be used in a privacy-preserving way to characterise users in terms of their potential for violent crime. Using the COPS database of NSW Police, we will explore how the past criminal record can be interpreted to yield a category of potential danger for each dating app user. It is up to the judgement of each subscriber on what degree of the potential danger they are prepared to enter into. Sentiment analysis is an area where research into natural language processing has made great progress over the last decade. This research will investigate how sentiment analysis can be used to interpret interchanges between dating app users to detect manipulative or coercive sentiments. These can be used to alert law enforcement if continued for a defined number of communications. One of the potential problems of this approach is the potential prejudice a categorisation can cause. Another drawback is the possibility of misinterpreting communications and involving law enforcement without reason. The approach will be thoroughly tested with cross-checks by human readers who verify both the level of danger predicted by the interpretation of the criminal record and the sentiment detected from personal messages. Even if only a few violent crimes can be prevented, the approach will have a tangible value for real people.

Keywords: sentiment analysis, data mining, predictive policing, virtual manipulation

Procedia PDF Downloads 61

Authors: Kuo-Chun Chien, Chia-Hui Chang, Ren-Der Sun

Abstract:

Legal Judgment Prediction (LJP) is a subtask for legal AI. Its main purpose is to use the facts of a case to predict the judgment result. In Taiwan's criminal procedure, when prosecutors complete the investigation of the case, they will decide whether to prosecute the suspect and which article of criminal law should be used based on the facts and evidence of the case. In this study, we collected 305,240 indictments from the public inquiry system of the procuratorate of the Ministry of Justice, which included 169 charges and 317 articles from 21 laws. We take the crime facts in the indictments as the main input to jointly learn the prediction model for law source, article, and charge simultaneously based on the pre-trained Bert model. For single article cases where the frequency of the charge and article are greater than 50, the prediction performance of law sources, articles, and charges reach 97.66, 92.22, and 60.52 macro-f1, respectively. To understand the big performance gap between articles and charges, we used a bipartite graph to visualize the relationship between the articles and charges, and found that the reason for the poor prediction performance was actually due to the wording precision. Some charges use the simplest words, while others may include the perpetrator or the result to make the charges more specific. For example, Article 284 of the Criminal Law may be indicted as “negligent injury”, "negligent death”, "business injury", "driving business injury", or "non-driving business injury". As another example, Article 10 of the Drug Hazard Control Regulations can be charged as “Drug Control Regulations” or “Drug Hazard Control Regulations”. In order to solve the above problems and more accurately predict the article and charge, we plan to include the article content or charge names in the input, and use the sentence-pair classification method for question-answer problems in the BERT model to improve the performance. We will also consider a sequence-to-sequence approach to charge prediction.

Keywords: legal judgment prediction, deep learning, natural language processing, BERT, data visualization

Procedia PDF Downloads 102

Authors: Gabriela Macera DiFilippo

Abstract:

The world watched in disbelief as George Floyd was killed by a policeman. The images from the scene were made more memorable by Mr. Floyd’s pleas and cries for his mother. In the aftermath of this tragedy, the Black Lives Matter movement gained momentum. Weeks and months after the protests, global interest in learning about tackling systemic racism erupted. One must wonder how school children of color viewed and processed this trauma. This study will examine the kinds of trauma experienced by children of color and the opportunity for school mental health providers to support these children. This study used literature searches that were previously conducted for proven and practical assessment methods that can help deal with racial trauma for children. As part of the assessment, trauma symptoms experienced by children of color were summarized and characterized in a non-imperial manner. The research was also will be done in practical ways to make adequate and effective mental health services available in schools and lessen the stigma. This research study found that there is a need to provide an analysis of the ongoing racial trauma of children of color after the death of George Floyd. Impactful and appropriate assessment methods, such as surveys, were presented to all school professionals. Lastly, this paper attempted to provide mental health professionals with the tools to screen and provide guidance based on unequivocal, unbiased methods for helping these children. There is a need for both schools and community leaders to ensure that every child has access to mental health care and is being assessed for their overall well-being. There is a need to educate the communities about racial trauma and its impact on individuals, especially children. School mental health professionals are encouraged to offer and educate schools and communities about racial trauma awareness, its importance, and ways to cope with it in different settings. The delivery of these informed services should focus on behavioral health and must be sensitive to children of color and different ways of self-care.

Keywords: trauma, children, black psychology, students

Procedia PDF Downloads 30

Authors: Ramin Ghasemi Shayan, Morteza Janebifam

Abstract:

Tumors are regularly inhomogeneous. Provincial varieties in death, metabolic action, multiplication and body part are watched. There’s expanding proof that strong tumors may contain subpopulations of cells with various genotypes and phenotypes. These unmistakable populaces of malignancy cells can connect during a serious way and may contrast in affectability to medications. Most tumors show organic heterogeneity1–3 remembering heterogeneity for genomic subtypes, varieties inside the statement of development variables and genius, and hostile to angiogenic factors4–9 and varieties inside the tumoural microenvironment. These can present as contrasts between tumors in a few people. for instance, O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase, a DNA fix compound, is hushed by methylation of the quality advertiser in half of glioblastoma (GBM), adding to chemosensitivity, and improved endurance. From the outset, there includes been specific enthusiasm inside the usage of dissemination weighted imaging (DWI) and dynamic complexity upgraded MRI (DCE-MRI). DWI sharpens MRI to water dispersion inside the extravascular extracellular space (EES) and is wiped out with the size and setup of the cell populace. Additionally, DCE-MRI utilizes dynamic obtaining of pictures during and after the infusion of intravenous complexity operator. Signal changes are additionally changed to outright grouping of differentiation permitting examination utilizing pharmacokinetic models. PET scan modality gives one of a kind natural particularity, permitting dynamic or static imaging of organic atoms marked with positron emanating isotopes (for example, 15O, 18F, 11C). The strategy is explained to a colossal radiation portion, which points of confinement rehashed estimations, particularly when utilized together with PC tomography (CT). At long last, it's of incredible enthusiasm to quantify territorial hemoglobin state, which could be joined with DCE-CT vascular physiology estimation to create significant experiences for understanding tumor hypoxia.

Keywords: heterogeneity, computerized tomography scan, magnetic resonance imaging, PET

Procedia PDF Downloads 127

Authors: Michel Foucault, Friedrich Nietzsche, Max More, Natasha Vita-More, Francesca Ferrando

Abstract:

During the early part of his intellectual and academic career (1950s and 1960s), Michel Foucault developed an interest for what we can call the ‘anthropological question’, or how our modernity deals with human nature from an epistemological standpoint. The great originality of Foucault’s thought here lies in the fact that he approaches this question not from the perspective of this ‘sovereign subject’ (that has characterized the History of Western thought) he wishes to disclose and ‘denounce’, but rather at the level of discourses and the way they constitute who we are, so to speak. This led him, in turn, to formulate a series of though-provoking statements during his so-called ‘archaeological period’ of the 1960s concerning what we call ‘man’ in the West, such as that he is an ‘invention of recent date’ (as a proper object of concern and reflection), and, perhaps more importantly, that he might disappear in the near future, ‘like a face drawn in sand at the edge of the sea’. Foucault is following on the footsteps of Nietzsche in that regard, who had famously announced in the 19th ce. the ‘death of God’ and the need for the future generations to surpass (so to speak) the traditional ‘Christian-centred’ Western conception of the human. While Foucault exposed such insights more than half a century ago, they appear to be more actual than ever today with the development and rise in popularity of intellectual movements such as Transhumanism and Posthumanism, which seek to question and propose an alternative to the concepts of ‘man’ or ‘human nature’ in our culture. They rely for that on the same assumption as Foucault and Nietzsche that those concepts (and the meaning we attribute to them) have become ‘obsolete’ as it is and thus must be overcome (at a conceptual, but also a more practical level). Hence, those movements not only echo the important Foucauldian reflection of the 1950s and 1960s on the ‘anthropological question’ but seem to have been literally announced by it, so to speak. The aim of this paper will therefore be to show the relevance of Foucault (and in particular his archaeological method) in understanding the nature of Transhumanism (and Posthumanism), for instance, by analysing and assessing it as a form of discourse that is literally reshaping the way we understand ourselves as human beings in our (post)modern age, drawing for that on a number of key texts including from the early productions of Foucault.

Keywords: foucault, nietzsche, archaeology, transhumanism, posthumanism

Procedia PDF Downloads 55

Authors: Kiran Bala

Abstract:

Health, education and employment opportunities available for a common citizen reflect the development status of a country. Health of an individual affects the growth of a country in every aspect. According to a study by WHO, India is estimated to lose more than $237 billion of its GDP over the period 2006-15 on account of premature death and morbidity from Non-communicable diseases alone. Each year 37 million people fall below poverty line due to high expenditure on health services they have to incur. Falling sick puts a double burden on them in terms of loss of income and expenditure on health care which pushes them further into debt and poverty. Adding to the gravity of situation, public spending on health in India has itself declined after liberalization from 1.3% of GDP in 1990 to 0.9% in 1999. The Approach Paper of the Government of India to the Twelfth Five Year Plan indicated that health expenditure alone as a per cent of GDP was about 1.4 per cent (B.E.) in 2011-12. It also mentioned that if one included expenditure on rural water supply and sanitation, the figure would be about 1.8 per cent. Given the abysmally low level of priority accorded to health in Indian economic policy, it becomes rather important to study the representation of health in the Indian public sphere. To this end, this study examines the prioritization of health in the public policy agenda of the national/regional political parties as evidenced in their election manifestos at a time when the nation is poised to go for the General Elections. The paper also focuses attention on the prioritization of health in the public perception as evidenced in their reasons for their preferences for a particular party or individual contestant. To arrive at the reasons for the priority level accorded by the political actors and the citizens, the study uses Focus groups of health policy makers, media persons, medical practitioners and voters. Collected data will be analysed in the theoretical framework of spiral of silence and agenda setting theory.

Keywords: health, election manifestos, public perception, policies

Procedia PDF Downloads 333

Authors: M. Borgie, Z. Dagher, F. Ledoux, A. Verdin, F. Cazier, H. Greige, P. Shirali, D. Courcot

Abstract:

In October 2013, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified outdoor air pollution and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) as carcinogenic to humans. Despite the clearly relationship established by epidemiological studies between PM exposure and the onset of respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, uncertainties remain about the physiopathological mechanisms responsible for these diseases. The aim of this work was to evaluate the toxicological effects of two samples of atmospheric PM2.5 collected at urban and rural sites on human bronchial epithelial cells, BEAS-2B, especially to investigate the metabolic activation of organic compounds, the alteration of epigenetic mechanisms (i.e. microRNAs genes expression), the phosphorylation of H2AX and the telomerase activity. Our results showed a significant increase in CYP1A1, CYP1B1, and AhRR genes expression, miR-21 gene expression, H2AX phosphorylation and telomerase activity in BEAS-2B cells after their exposure to PM2.5, both in a dose and site-dependent manner. These results showed that PM2.5, especially urban PM, are able to induce the expression of metabolizing enzymes which can provide metabolic biotransformation of organic compounds into more toxic and carcinogenic metabolites, and to induce the expression of the oncomiR miR-21 which promotes cell growth and enhances tumor invasion and metastasis in lung cancer. In addition, our results have highlighted the role of PM2.5 in the activation of telomerase, which can maintain the telomeres length and subsequently preventing cell death, and have also demonstrated the ability of PM2.5 to induce DNA breaks and thus to increase the risk of mutations or chromosomal translocations that lead to genomic instability. All these factors may contribute to cell abnormalities, and thus the development of cancer.

Keywords: BEAS-2B cells, carcinogenesis, epigenetic alterations and genotoxicity, PM2.5

Procedia PDF Downloads 362

Authors: Windy Rakhmawati, Suryani Suryani, Sri Hendrawati, Nenden Nur Asriyani Maryam

Abstract:

Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the leading causes of death in the world. Fear of COVID-19 has made people reluctant to visit health facilities, leading to disruptions to childhood TB control programs, which may increase household transmission and delay diagnosis and treatment. This study aimed to describe parents' knowledge, attitudes, and health-seeking behaviour towards childhood TB during the COVID-19 pandemic. This cross-sectional study was performed on 392 parents with TB children in three provinces with the highest proportion of TB cases in Indonesia. This study was conducted from February to December 2022. The inclusion criteria of respondents were parents with a child aged 0-14 years old with TB diagnosis who live with their parents. Data were collected using the Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice (KAP) survey guidelines from the World Health Organization and analyzed descriptively, as well as Spearman’s correlation. Overall, 392 parents of children with TB had poor knowledge (51.8%) including about causes, risk factors, transmission, symptoms, treatment, and prevention, which about 52.3%, 55.1%, 61.2%, 69.6%, 100%, 59.2%, respectively. Parents' health service-seeking behaviour towards Child TB was not normally distributed (P < 0.05) with knowledge test results (.000) and Seeking Health Services (.000). Health-seeking behaviour of parents in pediatric TB care was self-medication or self-treatment (86.2%), Traditional health seeking behaviour (4.8%), and modern health seeking behaviour (8.9%). The correlation between knowledge and seeking health services (Sig= .609) means there is no correlation between knowledge about TB and parents' health-seeking behaviour. Furthermore, 60.2% of the respondents would be shocked if their child had TB. More than half of the families in this study have poor knowledge and did self-medication or self-treatment regarding health-seeking behaviour for TB disease. Therefore, health workers, especially nurses, must provide TB-related education and health promotion and emphasize the importance of early detection. Health workers can also optimize their role in caring for and providing care to patients by increasing their trust in health workers, which will impact health-seeking behaviour in the future.

Keywords: attitude, child, health seeking behaviour, knowledge, tuberculosis

Procedia PDF Downloads 35

Authors: Ammara Khan

Abstract:

Sepsis is characterized by an overwhelming surge of cytokines and oxidative stress to one of many factors, gram-negative bacteria commonly implicated. Despite major expansion and elaboration of sepsis pathophysiology and therapeutic approach; death rate remains very high in septic patients due to multiple organ damages including hepatotoxicity.The present study was aimed to ascertain the adequacy of three different drugs delivered separately and collectively- low dose steroid-dexamethasone (3mg/kg i.p) ,antioxidant-melatonin(10 mg/kg i.p) ,and phosphodiesterases inhibitor - pentoxifylline (75 mg/kg i.p)in endotoxin-induced hepatotoxicity in mice. Endotoxin/lipopolysaccharides induced hepatotoxicity was reproduced in mice by giving lipopolysaccharide of serotype E.Coli intraperitoneally. The preventive role was questioned by giving the experimental agent half an hour prior to LPS injection whereas the therapeutic potential of the experimental agent was searched out via post-LPS delivering. The extent of liver damage was adjudged via serum alanine aminotransferases (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) estimation along with a histopathological examination of liver tissue. Dexamethasone is given before (Group 3) and after LPS (group 4) significantly attenuated LPS generated liver injury.Pentoxifylline generated similar results and serum ALT; AST histological alteration abated considerably (p≤ 0.05) both in animals subjected to pentoxifylline pre (Group 5) and post-treatment(Group 6). Melatonin was also prosperous in aversion (Group 7) and curation (Group 8) of LPS invoked hepatotoxicity as evident by lessening of augmented ALT (≤0.01) and AST (≤0.01) along with restoration of pathological changes in liver sections (p≤0.05). Combination therapies with dexamethasone in conjunction with melatonin (Group 9), dexamethasone together with pentoxifylline (Group 10), and pentoxifylline along with melatonin (Group 11) after LPS administration tapered LPS evoked hepatic dysfunction statistically considerably. In conclusion, both melatonin and pentoxifylline set up promising results in endotoxin-induced hepatotoxicity and can be used therapeutic adjuncts to conventional treatment strategies in sepsis-induced liver failure.

Keywords: endotoxin/lipopolysacchride, dexamethasone, hepatotoxicity, melatonin, pentoxifylline

Procedia PDF Downloads 255

Authors: Jean Paul Hategekimana, Josiane Irakoze, Eugene Niyonzima, Annick Ndekezi

Abstract:

Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) is a root crop comprising an anti-nutritive factor known as cyanide. The compound can be removed by numerous processing methods such as boiling, fermentation, blanching, and sun drying to avoid the possibility of cyanide poisoning. Inappropriate processing mean can lead to disease and death. Cassava-based dishes are consumed in different ways, where cassava is cultivated according to their culture and preference. However, they have been shown to be unsafe based on high cyanide levels. The current study targeted to resolve the problem of high cyanide in cassava consumed in Rwanda. This study was conducted to determine the effect of slicing, blanching, and soaking time to reduce the fermentation duration of cassava for hydrogen cyanide (HCN) in mg/g removal. Cassava was sliced into three different portions (1cm, 2cm, and 5cm). The first portions were naturally fermented for seven days, where each portion was removed every 24 hours from soaking tanks and then oven dried at a temperature of 60°C and then milled to obtain naturally fermented cassava flours. Other portions of 1cm, 2cm, and 5cm were blanched for 2, 5, 10 min, respectively, and each similarly dried at 60°C and milled to produce blanched cassava flour. Other blanched portions were used to follow the previous fermentation steps. The last portions, which formed the control, were simply chopped. Cyanide content and starch content in mg/100g were investigated. According to the conducted analysis on different cassava treatments for detoxification, found that usual fermentation can be used, but for sliced portions aimed to size reduction for the easy hydrogen cyanide diffuse out and it takes four days to complete fermentation, which has reduced at 94.44% with significantly different (p<0.05)of total hydrogen cyanide contained in cassava to safe level of consumption, and what is recommended as more effective is to apply blanching combined with fermentation due to the fact that, it takes three days to complete hydrogen cyanide removal at 95.56% on significantly different (p<0.05) of reduction to the safe level of consumption.

Keywords: cassava, cyanide, blanching, drying, fermentation

Procedia PDF Downloads 37

Authors: Ahmed A. Sedik, Doaa Mahmoud Shuaib

Abstract:

Brain injury is a cause of disability and death worldwide. Potassium dichromate (PD) is an environmental contaminant widely recognized as teratogenic, carcinogenic, and mutagenic towards animals and humans. The aim of the present study was to investigate the possible neuroprotective effects of tangeretin (TNG) on PD-induced brain injury in rats. Forty male adult Wistar rats were randomly and blindly allocated into four groups (8 rats /group). The first group received saline intranasally (i.n.). The second group received a single dose of PD (2 mg/kg, i.n.). The third group received TNG (50 mg/kg; orally) for 14 days, followed by i.n. of PD on the last day of the experiment. Four groups received TNG (100 mg/kg; orally) for 14 days, followed by i.n. of PD on the last day of the experiment. 18- hours after the final treatment, behavioral parameters, neuro-biochemical indices, FTIR analysis, and histopathological studies were evaluated. Results of the present study revealed that rats intoxicated with PD promoted oxidative stress and inflammation via an increase in MDA and a decrease in Nrf2 signaling pathway and GSH levels with an increase in brain contents of TNF-α, IL-10, and NF-kβ and reduced AKT levels in brain homogenates. Treatment with TNG (100 mg/kg; orally) ameliorated behavioral, cholinergic activities and oxidative stress, decreased the elevated levels of pro-inflammatory mediators; TNF-α, IL-10, and NF-κβ elevated AKT pathway with corrected FTIR spectra with a decrease in brain content of chromium residues detected by atomic absorption spectrometry. Also, TNG administration restored the morphological changes as degenerated neurons and necrosis associated with PD intoxication. Additionally, TNG decreased Caspase-3 expression in the brain of PD rats. TNG plays a crucial role in AKT/Nrf2 pathway that is responsible for their antioxidant, anti-inflammatory effects, and apoptotic pathway against PD-induced brain injury in rats.

Keywords: tangeretin, potassium dichromate, brain injury, AKT/Nrf2 signaling pathway, FTIR, atomic absorption spectrometry

Procedia PDF Downloads 76

Authors: Akanksha Lohmore, Devanshu Arya, Preeti Kapur

Abstract:

Rarely does the human mind look at the positive fallout of highly negative events. Positive psychology attempts to emphasize on the strengths and positives for human well-being. The present study examines the underpinning socio-cognitive factors of the protest movements regarding the gang rape case of December 16th, 2012 through the lens of positive psychology. A gamut of negative emotions came to the forum globally: of anger, shame, hatred, violence, death penalty for the perpetrators, amongst other equally strong. In relation to this incident, a number of questions can be raised. Can such a heinous crime have some positive inputs for contemporary society? What is it that has held people to protests for long even when they see faded lines of success in view? This paper explains the constant feeding of protests and continuation of movements by the robust model of Collective Hope by Snyder, a phenomenon unexplored by social psychologists. In this paper, mixed method approach was undertaken. Results confirmed the interaction of various socio-psychological factors that imitated the Snyders model of collective hope. Emergence of major themes was: Sense of Agency, Sense of Worthiness, Social Sharing and Common Grievances and Hope of Collective Efficacy. Statistical analysis (correlation and regression) showed significant relationship between media usage and occurrence of these themes among participants. Media-communication processes and educational theories for development of citizenship behavior can find implications from these results. Theory development as indicated by theorists working in the area of Social Psychology of Protests can be furthered by the direction of research.

Keywords: agency, collective, hope, positive psychology, protest, social media

Procedia PDF Downloads 333

Authors: Nkwenti Mbelli Njah

Abstract:

This research was motivated by a project requested by AXA on the topic of pensions payable under the workers compensation (WC) line of business. There are two types of pensions: the compulsorily recoverable and the not compulsorily recoverable. A pension is compulsorily recoverable for a victim when there is less than 30% of disability and the pension amount per year is less than six times the minimal national salary. The law defines that the mathematical provisions for compulsory recoverable pensions must be calculated by applying the following bases: mortality table TD88/90 and rate of interest 5.25% (maybe with rate of management). To manage pensions which are not compulsorily recoverable is a more complex task because technical bases are not defined by law and much more complex computations are required. In particular, companies have to predict the amount of payments discounted reflecting the mortality effect for all pensioners (this task is monitored monthly in AXA). The purpose of this research was thus to develop a stochastic model for the future mortality of the worker’s compensation pensioners of both the Portuguese market workers and AXA portfolio. Not only is past mortality modeled, also projections about future mortality are made for the general population of Portugal as well as for the two portfolios mentioned earlier. The global model was split in two parts: a stochastic model for population mortality which allows for forecasts, combined with a point estimate from a portfolio mortality model obtained through three different relational models (Cox Proportional, Brass Linear and Workgroup PLT). The one-year death probabilities for ages 0-110 for the period 2013-2113 are obtained for the general population and the portfolios. These probabilities are used to compute different life table functions as well as the not compulsorily recoverable reserves for each of the models required for the pensioners, their spouses and children under 21. The results obtained are compared with the not compulsory recoverable reserves computed using the static mortality table (TD 73/77) that is currently being used by AXA, to see the impact on this reserve if AXA adopted the dynamic tables.

Keywords: compulsorily recoverable, life table functions, relational models, worker’s compensation pensioners

Procedia PDF Downloads 144

Authors: Wen-Ting Wang, Wei-An Tsai, Rong-Hong Hsieh

Abstract:

Long term taking high fat diet can lead to over production of energy, result in accumulation of body fat, dyslipidemia and increased lipid metabolism in the body. Over metabolism of lipid results in excessive reactive oxygen species and oxidative stress, may also cause mitochondrial dysfunction and cell death. Krill oil, fish oil and linseed oil are good sources of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA). The present study investigated the effect of high fat diet and various oil rich of n-3 fatty acids on mitochondrial function and cell membrane composition. Six-weeks old male Spraque-Dawley rats were randomly divided into 8 groups including: control group, high fat diet group, low dosage and high dosage krill oil group, low dosage and high dosage fish oil group, and low dosage and high dosage linseed oil group. After 12 weeks of experimental period, the low dosage krill oil, fish oil group and linseed oil group with different dosage prevented mitochondrial dysfunction caused by high fat diet. The supplementation of different oils increased plasma, erythrocyte and mitochondrial n-3/n-6 ratio and further increased the proportion of PUFA in erythrocyte and mitochondrial membrane. It also decreased serum triglyceride (TG) and low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) concentration. However, there was no significant change in serum total cholesterol (TC), high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), biomarker of liver function, glucose, insulin, homeostasis model assessment-insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) and plasma malonadialdehyde (MDA) concentration when compared with high fat diet group. The supplementation of different sources of n-3 PUFA can maintain mitochondrial function and modulate cell membrane fatty acid composition in high fat diet conditions, and there is a positive relationship between mitochondrial function and mitochondrial membrane composition.

Keywords: fish oil, linseed oil, mitochondria, n-3 PUFA

Procedia PDF Downloads 392

Authors: Alexey Yu. Martynov, Sulejman Bayramov

Abstract:

Introduction: The myocardial bridging is the most common anomaly of the coronary arteries (CA). Depending on the examination method, the frequency of detected myocardial bridges (MB) varies in a rather wide range. The typical clinical manifestations of MB are angina pectoris, arrhythmias, sudden cardiac death. Objective: To study the incidence of MB in patients hospitalized with coronary artery disease (CAD). To assess clinical manifestations of MB in patients admitted with CAD. Materials and methods: A retrospective analysis of 19159 case histories of patients admitted at clinical city hospital in Moscow from 01.01.2018 to 31.12 2019 with CAD was performed. 9384 patients’ coronary angiographies (CAG) were examined for MB. The localization of MB, the degree of coronary contraction by MB, the number of MB, isolated MB and combined with CAD were assessed. The clinical manifestations of MB were determined. Results: MB was detected in 52 patients all with one myocardial bridge. 20 patients with MB have intact CA, and 32 patients have MB combined with CAD. Among 20 patients with intact CA: I degree of MB contraction (up to 50%) was detected in 9 patients. Clinical manifestations in five cases were angina pectoris, in 3 myocardial infarction (MI) - 1 patients with ST segment elevation MI (STEMI), 2 without ST segment elevation MI (NSTEMI), 1 post-infarction cardiosclerosis (PICS). Stable angina II FC in 3, III FC in 1, vasospastic angina (VSA) in 1 patient. II degree of MB contraction (up to 50-70%) was determined in 9 patients: in seven cases angina pectoris was detected, 1 NSTEMI, 1 PICS. Stable angina II FC in 3, III FC in 1, VSA in 3 patients. III degree of MB contraction (> 70%) detected in 2 patients. II FC stable angina in one case, PICS in another. Among 32 patients having MB combined with CAD I degree of MB contraction was observed in 20 patients. Clinical manifestations in 12 cases were angina pectoris in 8 II FC and in 4 III FC, 7 MI 6 with STEMI and 1 NSTEMI, 1 PICS. II degree of MB contraction was detected in 7 patients, 4 of them had angina pectoris, 3 MI 2 with STEMI and 1 NSTEMI. Stable angina II FC in 3, VSA in 1 patients. III degree of MB contraction was diagnosed in five patients. In two cases, II FC and III FC stable angina were observed, 2 MI with STEMI and NSTEMI, 1 PICS. Conclusions: MB incidence is one in 368 patients with CAD. The most common involvement (68%) is MB combined with CA atherosclerotic lesions. MB with intact CA are detected in one-third (32%) of patients. The first-degree MB contraction is most frequent condition. MI is more often detected in intact CA with first degree MB than in the second degree. The degree of MB contraction was not correlated with the severity of the clinical manifestations.

Keywords: clinical manifestations, coronary angiography, coronary artery disease, myocardial bridging, myocardial infarction, stable angina

Procedia PDF Downloads 105

Authors: Shanakr Bhattarai, V. S. Tiwari, Barak Akabayov

Abstract:

The plummeting number of infections and death is due to the development of drug-resistant bacteria. In addition, the number of approved antibiotic drugs by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is insufficient. Therefore, developing new drugs and finding novel targets for central metabolic pathways in bacteria is urgently needed. One of the promising targets is DNA replication machinery which consists of many essential proteins and enzymes. DnaG primase is an essential enzyme and a central part of the DNA replication machinery. DnaG primase synthesizes short RNA primers that initiate the Okazaki fragments by the lagging strand DNA polymerase. Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that inhibition of primase activity will stall DNA replication and prevent bacterial proliferation. We did the expression and purification of eight different bacterial DnaGs (Mycobacterium tuberculosis(Mtb), Bacillus anthracis (Ba), Mycobacterium smegmatis (Msmeg), Francisella tularencis (Ft), Vibrio cholerae (Vc) and Yersinia pestis (Yp), Staphylococcus aureus(Saureus), Escherichia coli(Ecoli)) followed by the radioactive activity assay. After obtaining the pure and active protein DnaG, we synthesized the inhibitors for them. The inhibitors were divided into five different groups, each containing five molecules, and the cocktail inhibition assay was performed against each DnaGs. The groups of molecules inhibiting the DnaGs were further tested with individual molecules belonging to inhibiting groups. Each molecule showing inhibition was titrated against the corresponding DnaGs to find IC50. We got a molecule(VS167) that acted as broad inhibitors, inhibiting all eight DnaGs. Molecules VS180 and VS186 inhibited seven DnaGs (except Saureus). Similarly, two molecules(VS 173, VS176) inhibited five DnaGs (Mtb, Ba, Ft, Yp, Ecoli). VS261 inhibited four DnaGs (Mtb, Ba, Ft, Vc). MS50 inhibited Ba and Vc DnaGs. And some of the inhibitors inhibited only one DnaGs. Thus we found the broad and specific inhibitors for different bacterial DnaGs, and their Structure-activity analysis(SAR) was done. Further, We tried to explain the similarities among the enzyme DnaGs from different bacteria based on their inhibition pattern.

Keywords: DNA replication, DnaG, okazaki fragments, antibiotic drugs

Procedia PDF Downloads 74

Authors: Donna Erika E. De Jesus

Abstract:

Introduction: Cardiac arrest occurs when abrupt cessation of cardiac function results in loss of effective circulation and complete cardiovascular collapse. For every minute of cardiac arrest without early intervention (cardiopulmonary resuscitation [CPR], defibrillation), chances of survival drop by 7-10%. It is crucial that CPR be initiated within 4-6 minutes to avoid brain death. Most out-of-hospital cardiac arrests (OHCA) occur in a residential setting where access to trained personnel and equipment is not readily available, resulting in poor victim outcomes. Methods: This is a descriptive study done from August to November 2021 using a prospective cohort design. Participants of the study include adult patients aged 18 years and above brought to the emergency room who suffered from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. Out of the total 102 cases of OHCA, 63 participants were included in the study. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the demographic and clinical characteristics of the patients. Results: 43 were male patients, comprising the majority at 73.02%. Hypertension was identified as the top co-morbidity, followed by diabetes mellitus, heart failure, and chronic kidney disease (CKD). Medical causes of arrest were identified in 96.83% of the cases. 90.48% of cardiac arrests occurred at home. Only 26 patients (41.27%) received pre-hospital intervention prior to ER arrival, which comprised only hands-only CPR. Twenty-three of which were performed by individuals with background knowledge of CPR. 60.32% were brought via self-conduction, the remainder by ambulances, which were noted to have no available equipment necessary to provide proper resuscitation. The average travel time from dispatch to ER arrival is 20 minutes. Conclusion: Overall survival of OHCA in our local setting remains dismal, as a return of spontaneous circulation was not achieved in any of the patients. The small number of patients having pre-hospital CPR indicates the need for emphasis on training and community education.

Keywords: out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, basic life support, emergency medical services

Procedia PDF Downloads 92

Authors: Jayita Mukhopadhyay

Abstract:

Even though more than six decades has passed since the death of India’s iconic thinker and mass leader Mahatma Gandhi, the world besieged by terrorism may still take a leaf out of his philosophical discourse on non-violence and attempt to turn his theory into praxis to save mankind. The greatest soul world has ever produced, a man of divine fire, an apostle of peace and non-violence, a revolutionary, a visionary, a social reformer and deliverer of the downtrodden, Father of the nation, these and numerous other epithets have been used by eminent personalities and scholars while describing Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhi was a relentless fighter and mass mobiliser who awakened a sleeping giant, the common men and women of India, shook them out of their docile, fatalistic mould, invigorated them with his doctrine of ahimsa and satyagraha (non violence and strict adherence to truth), instilled in them nationalist zeal and patriotic fervour and turned them into determined, steadfast freedom fighters. Under his leadership, the national liberation movement got a new life and ultimately succeeded in ending the era of foreign domination. And he did all these while resisting a natural tendency of his people to respond violently to unspeakable violence and atrocities unleashed by the colonial British administration desperate to keep India in its empire. In this paper, an attempt will be made to unravel Gandhi’s elucidation of the concept of non-violent resistance, along with non-cooperation and civil disobedience and their actual application through political practices which succeeded in capturing the imagination of not only India’s teeming millions but the entire world. The methodology of analytical study will be used as Gandhi’s own writings and those by noted scholars on Gandhi will be examined extensively to establish contemporary relevance of his thought, his invaluable guidelines about how to cope with poverty, inequality, exploitation, repression and marginalization of some sections of society and resultant radicalization of some disturbed members of human race, the very conditions which spawn terrorism in today’s world.

Keywords: India, non cooperation, non violence, terrorism

Procedia PDF Downloads 303

Authors: Piotr Muzyk, Beata Morawiec, Mariusz Opara, Andrzej Tomasik, Brygida Przywara-Chowaniec, Wojciech Jachec, Ewa Nowalany-Kozielska, Damian Kawecki

Abstract:

Background: Coronary bifurcation is one of the most complex lesion in patients with coronary ar-tery disease. Provisional T-stenting is currently one of the recommended techniques. The aim was to assess optimal methods of treatment in the era of drug-eluting stents (DES). Methods: The regis-try consisted of data from 1916 patients treated with coronary percutaneous interventions (PCI) using either first- or second-generation DES. Patients with bifurcation lesion entered the analysis. Major adverse cardiac and cardiovascular events (MACCE) were assessed at one year of follow-up and comprised of death, acute myocardial infarction (AMI), repeated PCI (re-PCI) of target ves-sel and stroke. Results: Of 1916 registry patients, 204 patients (11%) were diagnosed with bifurcation lesion >50% and entered the analysis. The most commonly used technique was provi-sional T-stenting (141 patients, 69%). Optimization with kissing-balloons technique was performed in 45 patients (22%). In 59 patients (29%) second-generation DES was implanted, while in 112 pa-tients (55%), first-generation DES was used. In 33 patients (16%) both types of DES were used. The procedure success rate (TIMI 3 flow) was achieved in 98% of patients. In one-year follow-up, there were 39 MACCE (19%) (9 deaths, 17 AMI, 16 re-PCI and 5 strokes). Provisional T-stenting resulted in similar rate of MACCE to other techniques (16% vs. 5%, p=0.27) and similar occurrence of re-PCI (6% vs. 2%, p=0.78). The results of post-PCI kissing-balloon technique gave equal out-comes with 3% vs. 16% of MACCE in patients in whom no optimization technique was used (p=0.39). The type of implanted DES (second- vs. first-generation) had no influence on MACCE (4% vs 14%, respectively, p=0.12) and re-PCI (1.7% vs. 51% patients, respectively, p=0.28). Con-clusions: The treatment of bifurcation lesions with PCI represent high-risk procedures with high rate of MACCE. Stenting technique, optimization of PCI and the generation of implanted stent should be personalized for each case to balance risk of the procedure. In this setting, the operator experience might be the factor of better outcome, which should be further investigated.

Keywords: coronary bifurcation, drug eluting stents, long-term follow-up, percutaneous coronary interventions

Procedia PDF Downloads 184

Authors: Yen-Hao Su, Wan-Chun Tang, Ya-Wen Cheng, Peik Sia, Chi-Chen Huang, Yi-Chao Lee, Hsin-Yi Jiang, Ming-Heng Wu, I-Lu Lai, Jun-Wei Lee, Kuen-Haur Lee

Abstract:

There is a wide range of drugs and combinations under investigation and/or approved over the last decade to treat colorectal cancer (CRC), but the 5-year survival rate remains poor at stages II–IV. Therefore, new, more efficient drugs still need to be developed that will hopefully be included in first-line therapy or overcome resistance when it appears, as part of second- or third-line treatments in the near future. In this study, we revealed that heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90) inhibitors have high therapeutic potential in CRC according to combinative analysis of NCBI's Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) repository and chemical genomic database of Connectivity Map (CMap). We found that second generation Hsp90 inhibitor, NVP-AUY922, significantly down regulated the activities of a broad spectrum of kinases involved in regulating cell growth arrest and death of NVPAUY922-sensitive CRC cells. To overcome NVP-AUY922-induced upregulation of survivin expression which causes drug insensitivity, we found that combining berberine (BBR), a herbal medicine with potency in inhibiting survivin expression, with NVP-AUY922 resulted in synergistic antiproliferative effects for NVP-AUY922-sensitive and -insensitive CRC cells. Furthermore, we demonstrated that treatment of NVP-AUY922-insensitive CRC cells with the combination of NVP-AUY922 and BBR caused cell growth arrest through inhibiting CDK4 expression and induction of microRNA-296-5p (miR-296-5p)-mediated suppression of Pin1–β-catenin–cyclin D1 signaling pathway. Finally, we found that the expression level of Hsp90 in tumor tissues of CRC was positively correlated with CDK4 and Pin1 expression levels. Taken together, these results indicate that combination of NVP-AUY922 and BBR therapy can inhibit multiple oncogenic signaling pathways of CRC.

Keywords: berberine, colorectal cancer, connectivity map, heat shock protein 90 inhibitor

Procedia PDF Downloads 290

Authors: Ryan Adams

Abstract:

Introduction: Major trauma is the leading cause of death in 15-45 year olds and a significant human, social and economic costs. Resuscitation is a stalwart of trauma management, especially in the pre-hospital environment and packed red blood cells (pRBC) are being increasingly used with the advent of permissive hypotension. The evidence in this area is lacking and further research is required to determine its efficacy. Aim: The aim of this retrospective, matched cohort study was to determine if major trauma patients, who received pre-hospital pRBC, have a difference in their initial emergency department cardiovascular status; when compared with injury-profile matched controls. Methods: The trauma databases of the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital, Royal Children's Hospital (Herston) and Queensland Ambulance Service were accessed and major trauma patient (ISS>12) data, who received pre-hospital pRBC, from January 2011 to August 2014 was collected. Patients were then matched against control patients that had not received pRBC, by their injury profile. The primary outcomes was cardiovascular status; defined as shock index and Revised Trauma Score. Results: Data for 25 patients who received pre-hospital pRBC was accessed and the injury profiles matched against suitable controls. On admittance to the emergency department, a statistically significant difference was seen in the blood group (Blood = 1.42 and Control = 0.97, p-value = 0.0449). However, the same was not seen with the RTS (Blood = 4.15 and Control 5.56, p-value = 0.291). Discussion: A worsening shock index and revised trauma score was associated with pre-hospital administration of pRBC. However, due to the small sample size, limited matching protocol and associated confounding factors it is difficult to draw any solid conclusions. Further studies, with larger patient numbers, are required to enable adequate conclusions to be drawn on the efficacy of pre-hospital packed red blood cell transfusion.

Keywords: pre-hospital, packed red blood cells, severe trauma, emergency medicine

Procedia PDF Downloads 374

Authors: M. Shivakumar, S. R. Somashekhar, C. V. Raju

Abstract:

Secondary salinization of agricultural lands in any command areas of the world is the major issue in the recent past. Currently, it is estimated that the 954 mh of saline and alkaline soil is present in the world. Thousands of hectares of land, getting added every year. Argentina, Bangladesh and Australia are most affected countries. In India, out of 142.80 million hectare (mh) cropped area, 56 mh is irrigated area. Of which, more than 9 mh (about 16.%) of land is found to be alkaline/saline. Due to continuous utilization of same land for same agricultural activities, excessive usage of fertilizers and water, most of the soils have become alkaline, saline or water logged. These lands are low productive and at times totally unfit for agricultural activities. These soils may or may not posses good physical condition, but plants may suffer from its inability to absorb water from salty solution. Plants suffer from dehydration and loose water to the soil, shrink, resulting death of plant. This process is called plasmolysis. It is the fact that soil is an independent, organic body of nature that acquires properties in accordance with forces which act upon it. Aquaculture is one of the solutions to utilize such problematic soils for food production. When the impoundments are constructed in an area 10-15% of the affected areas, the excess water along with the salts gets into impoundments and management of salt is easier in water than in the soil. Due to high organic input in aquaculture such as feed, manure and continuous deposition of fecal matter, pH of the soil gets reduced and over the period of time such soils can be put back into the original activity. Under National Agricultural Development Program (NADP), the project was implemented in 258 villages of Mandya District, Karnataka State, India and found that these lands can be effectively utilized for fish culture and increase the proteinacious food production by many folds while conserving the soils. The findings of the research can be adopted and up scaled in any country.

Keywords: saline and alkaline soils, Aquaculture, Problematic soils, Reclamation

Procedia PDF Downloads 117