Probiotics for cure of Helicobacter pylori infection: A review

Human physiology normally contains pathogenic and non-pathogenic microorganisms in the gastrointestinal flora. Disturbance of these microorganism balance results in the formation of infection. Extensive use of antibiotics for cure of these disturbances like Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection leads to patient discomfort and associated side-effects. There is a need to adopt adjunct or alternative approach in order to minimize such conditions. Probiotics is one of the potential therapies to cure gastrointestinal discomforts especially associated with H. pylori. It competes through non-immune and immune systems. This review article concludes that probiotics are used to eradicate the infection at increased rate, and decreased associated side-effects are caused by triple therapy. A proper evaluation of these probiotics is demanded before their use in future as a commercial product. Furthermore, their effect on immune system requires more research work so that their usage for other chronic disorders can also be considered.     

Differences in cause-specific patterns of unintentional injury mortality among 15-44-year-olds in income-based country groups

OBJECTIVES: The aim of the present study was to investigate the cause-specific patterns of unintentional injury mortality among 15-44-year-olds in various income-based country groups, and to analyze which specific causes contribute the most to the unintentional injury mortality in each country group. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Cross-sectional data on the five most common causes of unintentional injury mortality by age-sex specific subgroups were compiled for 57 countries from the World Health Statistics Annuals for the year 1993 (1991-1994 if information for 1993 was unavailable). Data were categorized into four income-based country groups according to their gross national product (GNP) per capita for the year 1993. The differences between means and rate ratios of low, lower-middle, and upper-middle income countries were calculated by comparing them with those of the high-income countries. Regression analysis was performed to determine the trends in the direction of income for each specific cause of unintentional injury mortality by age-sex. RESULTS: For any of the specific causes of unintentional injury mortality there was an inverse relationship between mortality rates and GNP per capita except for motor vehicle traffic (MVT) among the 15-24-year-old age group. MVT accidents were the most common cause and contributed 26-77% of all unintentional injury mortality. The second most common cause was poisoning in all country groups except low-income countries where drowning dominated for males and mixed causes for females. Upper-middle income countries represented the highest MVT mortality in all age-sex subgroups except among 15-24-year-old females for which high-income countries displayed the highest rate. For other causes, lower-middle income represented the highest rates with a few exceptions. In the 15-24-year age group, the rate ratio of motor vehicle traffic mortality was higher in high-income countries compared to low-income countries, while in the 35-44-year age group, all other country groups showed a higher rate ratio than high-income countries. Drowning for males and burns for females in the low and middle-income countries were significantly higher than in high-income countries.     

Power Law Velocity Profile in Fully Developed Turbulent Pipe and Channel Flows

The power law velocity profile has been analyzed in terms of the envelope of the friction factor which gives the friction factor log law. The power law index α and prefactor C are shown as the function of the friction Reynolds number, as well as the function of the alternate variable the nondimensional friction velocity. The fully developed turbulent superpipe flow data of McKeon et al. and fully developed channel flow data of Zanoun et al. have been analyzed and the power law index α and prefactor C data have been estimated, first as a function of the friction Reynolds number and second as function of the nondimensional friction velocity. Based on analysis, several correlations have been proposed that have been supported by the data.     

Impacts of frequency and posture on body mass index in manual handling tasks

Workspace design plays an important role in ensuring workers' safety and welfare. The issue is more pressing in the manufacturing industry, where many workers must remain in a standing position, assume awkward postures, and perform repetitive tasks for extended periods of time. In this research, an electromyographic measurement technique was used to measure activity of four back muscles: the trapezius p. descendens, the deltoideus p. scapularis, the infraspinatus, and the latissimus dorsi. The results showed a statistically significant (p < 0.05) impact of left versus right side of the body, the degree of rotation to the right side of the body (0, 30, and 60 degrees rotation to the mid‐sagittal plane), body mass index level (normal weight [<25 kg/m²] vs. overweight [?25 kg/m²]), and tasks (high vs. low frequency). In this study, the role that workers and workspace variation play is clearly associated with an increase in the amplitude of electromyography at the targeted back muscles. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Genetic effects on dairy calf growth

Objectives were to establish growth patterns for weight and height in dairy calves from birth to 90 d and to estimate appropriate genetic parameters. Measurements were 7943 body weights and 7005 wither heights of 752 calves. Represented over 12 yr were three breeds, 348 dams, and 115 sires; data resulted from designed calf nutrition experiments. Sources of variation considered in various least squares analyses of variance were breed, sire in breed, calf in sire in breed, sex of calf, treatment-year category, and several interactions. Repeatabilities of weights and heights between birth and 90 d were .64 and .88; heritabilities were .22 and .30; genetic and phenotypic correlations were .53 and .73. A regression equation was estimated for each calf. From these 752 equations, heritabilities of initial weight, initial height, and rates of growth in weight and height were .53, .50, .44, and .19. Genetic correlations were .81; -.07; -.05; .26; .14; .84. Selection schemes for these traits in dairy cattle should consider that although weights and heights at birth and thereafter are highly and positively correlated genetically, as are gains, birth measurements and gains to 90 d may be uncorrelated.     

Epidemiological study of hypertension and its determinants in an urban population of North India

OBJECTIVES: To determine age-specific prevalence of hypertension and blood pressure (BP) levels in relation to diet and lifestyle factors in North Indians. DESIGN AND SETTING: Cross-sectional survey in 20 randomly selected streets in Moradabad, North India. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A total of 1806 subjects from North India (904 males and 902 females) age range 25-64 years. The survey methods were as follows: dietary diaries for 7 days food intake record; BP measurements; physician administered questionnaire and anthropometric measurements. Diagnosis of hypertension was based on new World Health Organization/International Society of Hypertension (WHO/ISH) criteria. Risk factors were assessed based on WHO guidelines. RESULTS: The prevalence of hypertension according to WHO/ISH criteria was 23.7% and by old WHO criteria 13.3%. In the WHO/ISH hypertensive group, isolated diastolic hypertension was present in 47.3% males and 40.6% females. Males have a slightly higher prevalence than females in the young age group, however, the prevalence rates are comparable in the older age groups. In both sexes, the prevalence rates and BP level increased with older age. Multivariate analysis revealed that age, higher body mass index, central obesity and higher socioeconomic status were independently and strongly associated with hypertension in both sexes. Higher dietary fat and salt intake and lower physical activity were weakly but significantly associated with hypertension. CONCLUSION: Association of higher socioeconmic status, higher body mass index and central obesity in North Indian adults with higher fat intake, lower physical activity and higher prevalence and level of hypertension indicate that these populations may benefit by decreasing the dietary fat intake and increasing physical activity, with an aim to decrease central obesity for decreasing hypertension in North Indians.     

Lipid Class and Fatty Acid Composition of Psoralia corylifolia Seed

The purified crude lipid of Psoralia corylifolia seeds was subjected to lipid class and fatty acid analysis by thin layer and gas chromatography. The lipid classes identified were triacyl glycerol, free fatty acid, diacyl glycerol, mono acyl glycerol, hydrocarbon-waxester and polar lipid fractions. Most of the fractions were found to contain high level of C_18:1 while C_18:0, C_18:3 and C_20:0 were also found to be present in all the lipid fractions. It has been observed that the diacyl and monoacyl glycerol fractions contain significant amounts of C_14:0 and C_18:0 while the hydrocarbon-waxester fraction was rich in C_22:0. The polar lipids contain high level of C_18:3 and low level of C_18:1 as compared to other lipid fractions. The fatty acid composition of the whole oil was also determined and found to be similar to other fractions. Unidentified long chain fatty acids were also present in significant amounts in all the lipid fractions.     

Fusion of remotely sensed data for soil moisture estimation using relevance vector and support vector machines

A data assimilation (DA) methodology that uses two state-of-the-art techniques, relevance vector machines (RVMs) and support vector machines (SVMs), is applied to retrieve surface (0–6 cm) soil moisture content (SMC) and SMC at a depth of 30 cm. RVMs and SVMs are known for their robustness, efficiency and sparseness and provide a statistically sound approach to solve inverse problems and thus to build statistical models. Here, we build a statistical model that produces acceptable estimations of SMC by using inexpensive and readily available data. The study area for this research is the Walnut Creek watershed in Ames, south-central Iowa, USA. The data were obtained from Soil Moisture Experiments 2002 (SMEX02) conducted at Ames, Iowa. The DA methodology combines remotely sensed inputs with field measurements, crop physiological characteristics, soil temperature, soil water-holding capacity and meteorological data to build a two-step model to estimate SMC using both techniques, i.e. RVMs and SVMs. First, the RVM is used to build a model that retrieves surface (0–6 cm) SMC. This information serves as a boundary condition for the second step of this model, which estimates SMC at a depth of 30 cm. An exactly similar routine is followed with an SVM for estimation of surface (0–6 cm) SMC and SMC at a depth of 30 cm. The results from the RVM and SVM models are compared and statistics show that RVMs perform better (root mean square error (RMSE)?= 0.014 m³ m^?3) when compared with SVMs (RMSE?= 0.017 m³ m^?3) with a reduced computational complexity and more suitable real-time implementation. Cross-validation techniques are used to optimize the model. Bootstrapping is used to check over/under-fitting and uncertainty in model estimates. Computations show good agreement with the actual SMC measurements with coefficients of determination (R ²) for RVM equal to 0.92 and for SVM equal to 0.88. Statistics indicate a good model generalization capability with indexes of agreement (IoAs) for RVM equal to 0.97 and for SVM equal to 0.96.