Standard Amount Research Articles

Effects of initial disturbances and grazing regime on native grassland invasion by Eragrostis plana in southern Brazil

Extensive invasion of the Campos grasslands of southern Brazil by the South African grass, Eragrostis plana, is a serious conservation problem due to its low palatability and ability to quickly spread. Here, we experimentally evaluated the effects of grazing management and initial disturbance on invasibility of native grassland community by E. plana. The experiment, a split-plot complete block design with three replications, was established in 2004 in non-invaded native grassland. Grazing management treatments were assessed in main plots (continuous grazing, rotational grazing, and grazing exclusion). The initial disturbance treatments (light grazing, heavy grazing, and heavy grazing plus soil scarification) were applied in subplots before the sowing of standard amounts of E. plana seeds. The initial disturbances heavy grazing and heavy grazing plus soil scarification simulated the introduction of exotic forage species. We monitor plant species composition and diversity along six years after the experiment starting. The effects of grazing management and initial disturbance on community invasibility were significant and showed interaction. Heavy grazing plus soil scarification increased the rate of E. plana invasion and produced more pronounced changes in species composition than the other treatments. Plots under grazing exclusion, rotational or continuous grazing without soil scarification had low levels of invasion (<10% cover). But exclusion also changed community composition and decreased diversity, while rotational and continuous grazing maintained community structure. The invasion can be largely prevented on undisturbed grassland by employing either rotational or continuous grazing management. If the livestock producers want to introduce another forage species in their natural grasslands and, at the same time, do not run the risk of opening space for E. plana should avoid the use of soil scarification.

The Compliance of Selected Toothpastes Beam, Sensodyne, Crest, Unique, Colgate to the Global Standard of Fluoride Content

Objectives One of the economical ways of dental caries prevention is using fluoride containing toothpastes. For fluoride to be effective in toothpastes, significant amount of fluoride need to be in solution form. Global standard of fluoride content of toothpastes is 1500 ppm (part per million).This study aimed to determine fluoride content of some special toothpastes.Methods This research was cross-sectional and laboratory study. In this study five brands of different toothpastes including: Crest, Sensodyne, Colgate, Unique, Beam were provided and total fluoride of each was determined using ion-selection method and then the fluoride content of each brand compared to the global standard amount. The data was analyzed byone sample t-test at 0.05 level of significance.Results Sensodyne had 735 ppm, Beam got 76.12, Colgate got 1195 ppm, Unique got 426 ppm and lastly Crest had 1605.70 amount of fluoride in their composition. Quantitative analysis indicated total fluoride content of Sensodyne, Beam, Unique were significantly below global standard at 0.05 level (p<0.05) in terms of fluoride content whereas total fluoride content of Crest and Colgate had no significant difference with global standard (p<0.05).Conclusion The results showed that Crest and Colgate met the standard of global fluoride content

Chiral Recognition of Pharmaceuticals Having a Xanthine Skeleton by (-)-Epigallocatechin-3-O-gallate in Water.

A mixture of pharmaceuticals having a xanthine skeleton, theophylline, proxyphylline, diprophylline and (-)-epigallocatechin-3-O-gallate (EGCg) in water created a sticky precipitates, which were thought to be 2 : 2 complexes of the pharmaceuticals and EGCg. The molecular capture ability of the pharmaceuticals having a xanthine skeleton by EGCg was estimated by the amount of the pharmaceuticals included in the precipitates of the complexes, and measured by the integrated value of proton signals in the quantitative 1H-NMR spectra. Based on changes in chemical shifts of proton signals of the pharmaceuticals with a xanthine skeleton in 1H-NMR spectra by adding standard amounts of EGCg, the xanthine skeleton of the pharmaceuticals was considered to exist in the hydrophobic space formed by the three aromatic A, B, B' rings of EGCg, and a part of the proxyphylline and diprophylline side chains existed out of the hydrophobic space. In the 1H-NMR spectra of the mixture of (R)- and (S)-proxyphylline, (R)- and (S)-diprophylline and an equimolecular amount of EGCg, the N3-CH3 signal of (R)- and (S)-proxyphylline, and (R)- and (S)-diprophylline was clearly observed as two singlets. This suggested that EGCg recognized the chirality of proxyphylline and diprophylline in water.

Bioimpedance-Guided Hydration for the Prevention of Contrast-Induced Kidney Injury: The HYDRA Study

BackgroundIntravascular volume expansion plays a major role in the prevention of contrast-induced acute kidney injury (CI-AKI). Recommended standard amounts of fluid infusion before procedures do not produce homogeneous responses in subjects with different initial hydration status. ObjectivesThe goal of this study was to compare the effect of standard and double intravenous (IV) infusion volumes in patients with low body fluid level, assessed by using bioimpedance vector analysis (BIVA), on the incidence of CI-AKI after elective coronary angiographic procedures. MethodsA total of 303 patients with low BIVA level on admission were randomized to receive standard volume saline (1 ml/kg/h for 12 h before and after the procedure) or double volume saline (2 ml/kg/h). Patients (n = 715) with an optimal BIVA level received standard volume saline and were included in a prospective registry. The saline infusion was halved in all patients with an ejection fraction <40%. BIVA was repeated immediately before the angiographic procedure in all patients. CI-AKI was defined as an increase in levels of cystatin C ≥10% above baseline at 24 h after contrast administration. ResultsThe incidence of CI-AKI was significantly lower (11.5% vs. 22.3%; p = 0.015) in patients receiving double volume saline than in those receiving standard volume saline, respectively. Before the angiographic procedure, 50% of the double volume patients achieved the optimal BIVA level compared with only 27.7% in the standard group (p = 0.0001). The findings were consistent in all the pre-specified subgroups excluding patients with a left ventricular ejection fraction <40% (p for interaction = 0.01). ConclusionsEvaluation of BIVA levels on admission in patients with stable coronary artery disease allows adjustment of intravascular volume expansion, resulting in lower CI-AKI occurrence after angiographic procedures. (Personalized Versus Standard Hydration for Prevention of CI-AKI: A Randomized Trial With Bioimpedance Analysis; NCT02225431)

Standardizing Pathogenicity Assays for Fusarium Wilt Pathogens of Ornamental Palms

Standardized protocols for determining pathogenicity of Fusarium oxysporum ff. spp. canariensis and palmarum, the cause of Fusarium wilt of ornamental palms, were developed using small palm plants with a minimum of three to four seedling leaves. For both protocols, a standard amount of inoculum (25 ml of 106 spores/ml) was pipetted onto and between the leaf bases of each plant, with excess material running down onto the roots and collecting in the container. After 3 days, the palm plants were transplanted into 450-ml containers filled with pine bark/sedge peat/sand potting mix. The protocol for F. oxysporum f. sp. canariensis differed from the protocol of F. oxysporum f. sp. palmarum by requiring that the lower 20% of roots be cut prior to inoculation and having the assay run for 6 months versus 3 months. These two assays were used to evaluate pathogenicity of multiple isolates of each pathogen. All 15 isolates of F. oxysporum f. sp. palmarum were pathogenic, whereas only 7 of 13 F. oxysporum f. sp. canariensis isolates were pathogenic. These assays were also used to determine susceptibility of other palm species to these pathogens. Washingtonia filifera, Butia odorata, Phoenix dactylifera, and P. reclinata appeared susceptible to F. oxysporum f. sp. palmarum, at least in the seedling stage. Other inoculation techniques are described that may be useful for evaluating Fusarium wilt disease management methods.

USE OF SPACE SYNTAX TECHNIQUE TO IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF LIGHTING AND MODIFY ENERGY CONSUMPTION PATTERNS IN URBAN SPACES

Urban lighting is one of the significant issues that urban designers and architects are facing, and it has received a special attention in recent years. Urban lighting pursues critical goals such as preserving the livability of the city during nighttime, providing a sense of security, maintaining the city‟s readability, etc. Use of incompatible patterns for lighting design wastes significant amount of energy annually. A master lighting plan for urban areas should be recommended to achieve these goals and prevent wasteful energy use in lighting. One of the solutions for designing an appropriate plan is to notice the pedestrian traffic pattern in the city by considering space syntax model and integration maps analysis. In this research, one of Tehran‟s regions has been chosen and its integration map has been generated using appropriate software. Tehran is selected as case study of this research while the results might be applied in other similar cities especially in developing countries. First, based on the integration degree of the passages which reveals pedestrian traffic pattern and considering recommended illuminance standards, the average required lighting has been determined. Second, comparing the measured lighting intensity and the standard amounts reveals the correlation between the presented urban lighting and energy consumption model. Eventually, different solutions for appropriate urban lighting design based on acceptable energy consumption patterns have been suggested. Keywords: lighting design, space syntax, integration analysis, energy consumption, Sustainable Development

OPTIMIZATION OF TACTICS OF MANAGEMENT OF MULTIPLE PREGNANCY AND LABOR

A thorough analysis of the course of labor and perinatal outcomes was conducted in pregnant twins. It is proved that multiple pregnancy is a factor of high risk of perinatal complications. The features of the process of neonatal adaptation in twins are studied depending on the tactics of delivery. Goal: to improve perinatal outcomes in women with multiple pregnancies by optimizing the management of pregnancy.Material and methods. Examined 68 pregnant women with twins after IVF, who made up the I group of subjects, 62 pregnant women with spontaneous twins - group II, and 38 women with self-singleton pregnancy who entered the control group. Pregnant Groups I and II, depending on the treatment prescribed, were divided into two subgroups: IА (36 pregnant women) and IIA (32 pregnant women) received a standard amount of treatment and prophylactic measures. Subgroups IB (32 pregnant women) and IIB (30 pregnant women) received natural micronized progesterone (200 mg 3 times a day) in addition to standard treatment and prophylactic measures. All pregnant women underwent a complete clinical and laboratory examination using ultrasound, Doppler, and cardiotocography (CTG), and a biophysical profile of the fetus. The analysis of the course of pregnancy, childbirth, the postpartum period and the state of neonatal adaptation in the surveyed groups were carried out. In the neonatal period, neurosonography was performed, a part of the newborns were followed by psychomotor development in the first six months of life. The obtained results were statistically processed using standard packages of applied statistical analysis (Statistic 6.0 for Windows, Statgraphics v. 7.0).Results. The results of pregnancy analysis in patients with IVF revealed a number of serious complications during pregnancy and childbirth: the threat of premature birth (66.2%), placental dysfunction (48.5%), iron deficiency anemia (51.5%), preeclampsia (52, 9%), premature rupture of amniotic membranes (17.6%), weakness of labor (27.9%), and a high incidence of operative delivery (30.9%). Against the backdrop of hormonal support, a decrease in the frequency of very early premature births in the first group was 1.6 times, early premature births by 1.5 times and an increase in the frequency of late premature births by 1.4 times, which is a favorable prognostic factor for reducing perinatal losses. Among the main methods of delivery, mention should be made of the high rate of cesarean section in the I A subgroup (55.6%) and the IIA subgroup (46.9%), each of which was significantly higher than the control group (10.5%) ( p &lt;0.05). Almost with the same frequency cesarean section was observed in women with independent multiplicity. Premature and deep morphofunctional immaturity were inherent in children from premature births, which significantly influenced the Apgar score, which was lower in the first group than in group II and control group (p &lt;0.05).Conclusions. A differentiated approach to the preparation and management of labor, careful observation of patients and dynamic monitoring of the fetus state allows to reduce the frequency of postnatal complications, contributing to the reduction of perinatal morbidity and mortality.

Decoupling story-cost dependencies based on a proposed modal approach

Dependency between component damage costs have been rarely taken in to account in some conducted researches only considering two partial distinct states of independent or perfectly dependent for component damage states; however, there is no available procedure to take account of loss dependencies in story level. This paper attempts to present a novel method called ‘modal cost superposition method’ for decoupling story damage costs subjected to earthquake ground motions dealt with closed form differential equations between damage cost and engineering demand parameters which should be solved by the means of new introduced matrixes. Costs are treated as probabilistic variables with definite statistic factors of median and standard deviation amounts and a presumed probability distribution. To display straightforwardness of application of the proposed method, one benchmark study has been conducted. Acceptable compatibility has been proven for the estimated damage costs evaluated by the new proposed modal and also frequently used stochastic approaches for entire building. Also, more dependency contribution in occurrence probability of loss could be concluded regarding to more compatibility of loss results in higher stories than the lower ones and gets away from time consuming calculations including some limited number of cost modes in high mode situation.

MUTAGENIC ACTIVITY OF TILORONE – ACTIVE PHARMACEUTICAL SUBSTANCE OF AMIXIN IN MICROTITER PLATE VARIANT OF AMES TEST

Aim – to discover potential mutagenic activity of tilorone – active pharmaceutical substance of amixin. Methods. Mutagenic activity of tilorone was studied in the Ames test on Salmonella typhimurium ТА 98 (frame-shift mutations) and ТА 100 (Dot mutations – base pars change). Tilorone was examined in concentrations 5, 10, 50, 100 and 250 µg/ml. As standard mutagens, 2-nitrofluorene was used for Salmonella typhimurium TA 98 and sodium azide for Salmonella typhimurium TA 100 in tests without metabolic activation. In tests with metabolic activation, mutagen for both strains served as 2-aminoanthracene. The experiment was carried out with and without metabolic activation. In this work Muta-ChromoPlate kit (Biotoxicity, Canada) was used. Tilorone toxicity against salmonella strains was calculated at the same concentrations. Results. The obtained data show that in presence of standard mutagenic compounds amount of wells with mutated cells were 82–91%. At the same time in negative control this amount was not higher than 4.2%. In presence of tilorone amount of wells where mutated cells were detected, it was 4–16% – 3.3–13.0 times lower then the minimum value – 52%, which, according to protocol of micro titer plate test, is the evidence of mutagenic activity. In presence of all tilorone concentrations there is not any inhibition of bath growth of used Salmonella typhimurium strains. Conclusions. Tilorone in the range of used concentration did not posses any mutagenic activity or toxicity on S. typhimurium ТА 98 та ТА 100.

Levels and effectiveness of oral retinol supplementation in VLBW preterm infants.

Retinol palmitate oral administration is convenient, but it is difficult to assess/monitor its nutritional status in preterm infants and literature is controversial about the administration route and the effectiveness of vitamin A supplementation. We primarily evaluated retinol plasma levels to assess the vitamin A nutritional status in preterm infants (<1500 g; 32 weeks) after 28 days of oral supplementation (3000 IU/kg/day, retinol palmitate drops), in addition to vitamin A standard amount as suggested by European Society of Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (ESPGHAN) guidelines. We then observed the rate of typical preterm pathologies in the supplemented group (31 newborns) and in 10 matching preterm infants, hospitalized in neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) in the same period, who received neither vitamin A supplementation nor parents allowed plasma sampling. Oral integration resulted in constant retinol plasma concentration around the desired level of 200 ng/mL, but without statistical increase during the study period. Due to the complexity of vitamin A metabolism and the immaturity of preterm infant’s organs, retinol supplementation may had first saturated other needy tissues; therefore, plasmatic measures may not be consistent with improved global vitamin A body distribution. Therefore, achieving a constant retinol concentration is a valuable result and supportive for oral administration: decreasing levels, even after parenteral/enteral supplementation, were reported in the literature. In spite of favourable trend and no adverse events, we did not report statistical difference in co-morbidities. This investigation confirms the necessity to perform further trials in preterm newborns, to find an index reflecting the complex nutritional retinol status after oral administration of vitamin A, highlighting its effectiveness/tolerability in correlated preterm infant’s pathologies.

Bayesian Modelling of Kenya Extreme Debt with Correction for Budgetary Leakage

Total public debt levels in Kenya are exponentially increasing due to rising budget deficit, poor public fund management as well as movement of various macro-economic indicators such as balance of payments, inflation, Gross Domestic Product, exchange rates, and grants leading to worries on whether or not the high debt levels would be sustainable in future. The major concern is that a huge portion of the country’s revenue is committed to debt repayment and budgetary leakage strains the repayment efforts, thereby accelerating the country's debt unsustainability. This study sought to model extreme debt in Kenya with correction for budgetary leakage using a Bayesian approach to Extreme Value Theory (EVT) the main aim being to estimate the maximum debt tolerable for the country. A non-stationary Generalized Pareto Distribution (GPD) model is used for modeling the public debt extremes which depend on some covariates (macro-economic indicators) and Bayesian methods used to directly estimate the threshold and the GPD parameters. A major contribution of this study is the introduction of a compensator to allow for possible leakage due budgetary leakage through corruption, tax evasion, money laundering, and other forms of financial fraud, modelling it as a function of budget deficit. The established debt threshold is approximately KShs. 2 trillion which is the standard amount that should be borrowed, beyond which values are considered extremes. The results indicate that the movements in the macro-economic debt indicators significantly affect total public debt levels, and that budgetary leakage reduces Kenya's debt tolerance. The research concluded that the current debt level of around KShs. 5 trillion is still sustainable but high budgetary leakage may accelerate the country's long-run debt unsustainability. For further work, it is recommended to use a time-varying threshold to capture seasonality of the public debt series.

Cost-Benefit Performance Simulation of Robot-Assisted Thoracic Surgery As Required for Financial Viability under the 2016 Revised Reimbursement Paradigm of the Japanese National Health Insurance System.

To discuss the cost-benefit performance (CBP) and establish a medical fee system for robotic-assisted thoracic surgery (RATS) under the Japanese National Health Insurance System (JNHIS), which is a system not yet firmly established. All management steps for RATS are identical, such as preoperative and postoperative management. This study examines the CBP based on medical fees of RATS under the JNHIS introduced in 2016. Robotic-assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy (RALP) and robotic-assisted partial nephrectomy (RAPN) now receive insurance reimbursement under the category of use of support devices for endoscopic surgery ($5420 and $3485, respectively). If the same standard amount were to be applied to RATS, institutions would need to perform at least 150 or 300 procedures thoracic operation per year to show a positive CBP ($317 per procedure as same of RALP and $130 per procedure as same of RAPN, respectively). Robotic surgery in some areas receives insurance reimbursement for its "supportive" use for endoscopic surgery as for RALP and RAPN. However, at present, it is necessary to perform da Vinci Surgical System Si (dVSi) surgery at least 150-300 times in a year in a given institution to prevent a deficit in income.

Spatially balanced provision of health equipment: a cross-sectional study oriented to the identification of challenges to access promotion

BackgroundAccess to health services is in part defined by the spatial distribution of healthcare equipment. To ensure equity in the provision of health services, it is important to examine availability across different health care providers taking into account population demand. Given the importance of the equitable provision of health equipment, we evaluate its spatial distribution in Brazil.MethodsThis study is classified as cross-sectional with an ecological design. We evaluate Brazilian data on distance to available health equipment considering: dialysis machines (385), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) (257), hospital beds (3675) and bone densitometers (429). We define two distance thresholds (50 km and 200 km) from a municipality to the center of services provision. The balance between infrastructure capacity and potential demand was evaluated to identify a lack or surplus of health services.ResultsThe distribution of dialysis equipment and bone densitometers is not balanced across Brazilian states, and unmet demand is high. With respect to MRIs, the large capacity of this equipment results in a large excess of supply. However, this characteristic alone cannot account for excesses of supply of over 700%, as is the case of the Federal District when the range is limited to 50 km. At the same time, four states in the Northeastern region of Brazil show a net excess of demand. Some regions do not meet the standard amount of supply defined by Brazilian Ministry of Health. The quantity and distribution of hospital beds are not sufficient to provide full coverage to the population.ConclusionOur main focus was to evaluate the network of the provision of health equipment in Brazil, considering both private and public sectors conjointly. We take into account two main aspects of a spatially balanced health system: the regional availability of health equipment and the geographic distance between its demand and supply at the municipality level. Some regions do not meet the minimum requirement defined by the Brazilian Ministry of Health regarding the supply of health services.

Estimate Different Bioagent as A Biofertilizer with Two Level From Chemical Fertilizer on Wheat Crop Improvement

Different formula of bioagents (Rhizobium cicceri cp-93, Azospirillum sp.,Pseudomonas fluorescence, Trichoderma harzianum ) used in this study as abiofertilizer on wheat crop with two level of chemical fertilizer (0 and 12.5kg/donm Dap) compared to 50kg/donm Dap (standard amount).the study carried outin Iraq/Diyala –Alkhales during November 2014,results showed significant increasein no. of spikes, no. of spikelet’s, length of spike ,Weight of 1000 seed and yield ofone m2 when adding (Rhizobium cicceri cp-93,Azospirillumsp+ Trichodermaharzianum +12.5 kg/donm Dap) in comparison with the 50kg/donm Dap. Otherformulas recorded same results with the treatment 50kg/Donm Dap with notsignificant differences except Wight of 1000 seed which recorded significantincreased in all formula, while (Rhizobium ciccericp-93,Azospirillumsp+ zeroDap)treatment recorded significant decrease from 50 kg Dap in the most parametersin study.

Low Neonatal Plasma n-6/n-3 PUFA Ratios Regulate Offspring Adipogenic Potential and Condition Adult Obesity Resistance.

Adipose tissue expansion progresses rapidly during postnatal life, influenced by both prenatal maternal factors and postnatal developmental cues. The ratio of omega-6 (n-6) relative to n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) is believed to regulate perinatal adipogenesis, but the cellular mechanisms and long-term effects are not well understood. We lowered the fetal and postnatal n-6/n-3 PUFA ratio exposure in wild-type offspring under standard maternal dietary fat amounts to test the effects of low n-6/n-3 ratios on offspring adipogenesis and adipogenic potential. Relative to wild-type pups receiving high perinatal n-6/n-3 ratios, subcutaneous adipose tissue in 14-day-old wild-type pups receiving low n-6/n-3 ratios had more adipocytes that were smaller in size; decreased Pparγ2, Fabp4, and Plin1; several lipid metabolism mRNAs; coincident hypermethylation of the PPARγ2 proximal promoter; and elevated circulating adiponectin. As adults, offspring that received low perinatal n-6/n-3 ratios were diet-induced obesity (DIO) resistant and had a lower positive energy balance and energy intake, greater lipid fuel preference and non-resting energy expenditure, one-half the body fat, and better glucose clearance. Together, the findings support a model in which low early-life n-6/n-3 ratios remodel adipose morphology to increase circulating adiponectin, resulting in a persistent adult phenotype with improved metabolic flexibility that prevents DIO.

Qualitative and Quantitative Evaluation of Airborne Microorganisms and the Concentrations of Particulate and Respirable Matter Causing from Dust Storm in the Air of Ilam City: Six-month Cross Sectional Study

Introduction: In recent years, dust storms frequently have occurred in large areas of the western half of Iran. Dust particles have negative effects on the environment and living animals, especially men's lives; hence, the current study was conducted with the aim of evaluation of airborne microorganisms and the concentrations of particulate and respirable matter causing from dust storm. Materials & methods: This cross - sectional study was done in Ilam city (2012). For sampling and reading of TSP amounts used from direct reading devices in concentration range of 1µg/m3-2500 mg/m3. Cyclone was used for determination of respirable dusts with diameter less than ten microns. Also to determine microbial state of dusts used from the cellulose membrane filters (37 mm diameter). Finally, data were analyzed with spss software. Findings: Results showed that the highest concentration of total suspended particles (TSP) and respirable particles (PM10) have been recorded in June with the amount of 22.5 and 1.3 mg per cubic meter. Comparison of Ilam air quality with standard values ​​( less-than 150 μ g/m3) for respirable particles and total suspended particles showed that except in August that TSP concentration was below the standard value. In other months, the concentration of PM10 and total suspended particles were above the standard amount. Discussion & conclusions: The results of this study showed that particulate concentration levels were higher than those of standard values and also contained microorganisms which can threaten human health; therefore, it seems necessary to control them.

The impact of vitamin K standardization in hospital diets

A prospective controlled study evaluating the impact of standardized dietary modifications on vitamin K levels in hospital diets of chronic oral, anticoagulated patients, using warfarin. The intervention group received a diet with a standardized content of vitamin K and the control group received a diet without this standardization. In both, the International Normalized Ratio (INR) was performed according to the medical staff’s protocol, without interference from the research group members. Data on dietary intake of vitamin K, INR, warfarin dosage, and the time taken for normalization of INR were collected. Food intake was evaluated by a 24-hour food recall, starting from the beginning of warfarin use until the normalization of INR. The sample consisted of 55 patients, 29 patients in the control group and 26 patients in the intervention group. The average age was 55.47 ± 17.52 years old, 56.3% were female, and 49.1% were elderly. The coefficient of variation in the consumption of vitamin K was significantly higher in the control group (0.45 ± 0.22) compared to the intervention group (0.31 ± 0.19); p = 0.018. The average dosage of warfarin use was significantly lower in the intervention group (5.30 ± 1.42 mg / day) compared to the control group (6.21 ± 1,84mg / day); p = 0.044. The data showed that a hospital diet with standard amounts of vitamin K reduces the warfarin dosage to normalization of INR in oral anticoagulated patients. This result can reduce the risk of bleeding events, especially in the elderly.

A MBD-seq protocol for large-scale methylome-wide studies with (very) low amounts of DNA

ABSTRACTWe recently showed that, after optimization, our methyl-CpG binding domain sequencing (MBD-seq) application approximates the methylome-wide coverage obtained with whole-genome bisulfite sequencing (WGB-seq), but at a cost that enables adequately powered large-scale association studies. A prior drawback of MBD-seq is the relatively large amount of genomic DNA (ideally >1 µg) required to obtain high-quality data. Biomaterials are typically expensive to collect, provide a finite amount of DNA, and may simply not yield sufficient starting material. The ability to use low amounts of DNA will increase the breadth and number of studies that can be conducted. Therefore, we further optimized the enrichment step. With this low starting material protocol, MBD-seq performed equally well, or better, than the protocol requiring ample starting material (>1 µg). Using only 15 ng of DNA as input, there is minimal loss in data quality, achieving 93% of the coverage of WGB-seq (with standard amounts of input DNA) at similar false/positive rates. Furthermore, across a large number of genomic features, the MBD-seq methylation profiles closely tracked those observed for WGB-seq with even slightly larger effect sizes. This suggests that MBD-seq provides similar information about the methylome and classifies methylation status somewhat more accurately. Performance decreases with <15 ng DNA as starting material but, even with as little as 5 ng, MBD-seq still achieves 90% of the coverage of WGB-seq with comparable genome-wide methylation profiles. Thus, the proposed protocol is an attractive option for adequately powered and cost-effective methylome-wide investigations using (very) low amounts of DNA.

Chemomechanical Removal of Caries – An Invasive Method as Extension for Prevention: A Review

The traditional treatment of caries was merely surgical. Conventionally, the only effective method of eliminating the disease was to completely remove all of the demineralized area of the tooth structure. Even the smallest area of demineralization required the excavation of a standard amount of sound tooth structure to prevent the progression of disease. Chemomechanical caries removal (CMCR) is a non-invasive technique in which chemical agents are used to eliminate the infected dentin. This dissolution-based caries removal method uses a chemical agent assisted by atraumatic mechanical vigor for the excavation of soft carious dentine. This technique was developed by Dr. G. V. Black as “extension for prevention” which led to specific of sound tooth structure. In later years, the profession moved toward practicing preventive dentistry and following more conservative and tooth-preserving procedures. This paper discusses newer invasive techniques for caries excavation.

Perceptions of problem-drinker patients\u2019 family members about their own hazardous-drinking behaviours in Chinese general hospitals: a qualitative study

BackgroundExcessive alcohol use has been associated with health, social and legal problems. Alcohol-related problems have been studied primarily in problem-drinker patients, with few studies on their family members, particularly about their own hazardous or harmful alcohol-drinking behaviours.MethodIn this qualitative descriptive study, participants were recruited from three hospitals randomly selected from northern and central Taiwan (2:1). Hazardous-drinker patients and their family members were screened using the Chinese version Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (scores ≥8 indicate harmful or hazardous drinkers). Data were collected in individual, audiotaped, in-depth interviews using an interview guide. Verbatim interview transcripts were analysed using ATLAS.ti, version WIN 7.0.ResultsThe sample of 35 family members with hazardous or harmful drinking behaviours perceived that their own alcohol-drinking behaviours were related to six major patterns: family habits, leisure activities with friends, work pressures, personal taste, a way to forget one’s problems and to express happiness.ConclusionWe recommend that programmes targeting harmful or hazardous drinking among problem-drinker patients’ family members should educate participants about the standard amounts of alcohol in alcoholic beverages, recommended amounts of alcohol consumption for males and females, the long-term effects of excessive alcohol consumption; address sources of risk factors at work; offer strategies to resist social pressures to drink; and build positive strategies for coping with stress.