Mechanism of spinal cord injury regeneration and the effect of human neural stem cells-secretome treatment in rat model

BACKGROUND Globally, complete neurological recovery of spinal cord injury(SCI) is still less than 1%, and 90% experience permanent disability. The key issue is that a pharmacological neuroprotective-neuroregenerative agent and SCI regeneration mechanism have not been found. The secretomes of stem cell are an emerging neurotrophic agent, but the effect of human neural stem cells(HNSCs) secretome on SCI is still unclear.AIM To investigate the regeneration mechanism of SCI and neuroprotective-neuro...     

Evaluation of self-care practices and emotional distress among people with Type 2 diabetes mellitus in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

This study was conducted to determine self-care practices and diabetes related emotional distress among people with Type 2 diabetes mellitus in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. A cross sectional survey-involving 121 Types 2 diabetics was conducted in 4 diabetic clinics located in Dar es Salaam. Anthropometric and biomedical measurements namely weight, height, waist, hip, mid-upper arm circumference, blood pressure and fasting blood glucose were measured. Self-care practices and diabetic related emotion distress were evaluated by using validated instruments. Results revealed that, the average fasting plasma glucose was 11.2 ± 5.5 mmol/l, blood pressure was 134.7/86.1 mm/Hg and the mean BMI for males and females were 25.0 ± 4.3 and 27.0 ± 5.1 kg/m(2), respectively. Subject's self-care score for general diet, specific diet, physical exercise, foot-care and medication were 4.6 ± 2.4, 3.7 ± 1.5, 3.4 ± 1.8, 3.6 ± 2.8 and 5.5 ± 2.8 days per week, respectively. Self-monitoring of blood glucose was irregular and only 46.3% of the subjects tested their levels of blood glucose at least once in between the appointments (90 days). Low income was the major limitation for complying with the self-care practices related to diet, blood glucose testing and medication. It is recommended that, the Government of Tanzania should in the short run subsidize the prices of diabetes drugs, remove all taxes on the glucose test kits and establish a national diabetes program that would coordinate and oversee provision of the basic services such as screening, glucose testing, medication, counseling and management of the condition. In the long run, the government should establish a preventive public health program in order to curtail the escalation of diabetes. Further research should be conducted to determine how factors such as socio-cultural and demographic, self-care, and psychosocial distress interact to determine biomedical outcomes such as blood pressure, blood glucose and body mass index.     

Evaluation of serum arginase I as an oxidative stress biomarker in a healthy Japanese population using a newly established ELISA

ObjectiveWe reported previously that serum arginase I increased in asthmatic patients and was associated with oxidative stress in a small healthy population. However, the exact association of arginase I with oxidative stress is not known. The present study aimed to analyze the association of arginase I with oxidative stress in a larger healthy population by a newly established ELISA.Design and methodsThe new ELISA for the measurement of human arginase I was established by generating recombinant arginase I protein in human arginase I gene-transfected Escherichia coli via an ARG1 cDNA fragment-inserted vector and -specific antibody in rabbits. Serum arginase I was evaluated in a cross-sectional study on a healthy population (n = 721) by comparing a commercial ELISA kit with the new ELISA.ResultsThe mean levels of serum arginase I were 20.3 ± 0.7 ng/mL and 4.7 ± 0.2 ng/mL using the commercial ELISA kit and the new ELISA, respectively. Arginase I was correlated with WBC, RBC, hs-CRP, 8-OHdG, HDL-c, ALT, and BMI. Logistic regression analysis showed independent positive associations of arginase I with WBC, RBC, and urinary 8-OHdG and inverse independent associations with serum insulin and age. The association of arginase I with hs-CRP was not independent.ConclusionThe independent associations of arginase I with urinary 8-OHdG and serum insulin may reflect its involvement in oxidative stress and diabetes mellitus.     

Effects of wearing shoes on the feet: Radiographic comparison of middle-aged partially shod Maasai women’s feet and regularly shod Maasai and Korean women’s feet

Background

Maasai tribe members walk long distances daily either barefoot or wearing traditional shoes made from recycled car tires, without any foot ailments. To figure out the characteristic of their feet, we designed a radiographic comparative study of middle-aged partially shod Maasai women’s feet and regularly shod Maasai and Korean women’s feet.

Lengthening of Massive Intercalary Cortical Allograft After Successful Graft Incorporation in Skeletally Immature Bone with Critical-Sized Defect: A Case Report with 6-year Follow-up

Bone allograft serves as an alternative to overcome the limitation of autograft. Some concerns, such as graft rejection, infection, and low union rate, arise from the use of bone allograft since the graft is a non-living and foreign material. We reported a case of critical-sized bone defect in a skeletally immature patient treated with massive intercalary allograft that not only did it show union but also graft incorporation that allowed for subsequent bone lengthening at the site of the incorporated massive allograft. To our knowledge, there has been a report of lengthening of free-vascularized fibular autograft but not the nonvascularized one. Massive intercalary allograft that incorporates well to the host could be an option to treat critical-sized bone defect.     

Improving the Reliability of Medical Software by Predicting the Dangerous Software Modules

Software reliability analysis is inevitable for modern medical systems, since a large amount of medical system functionality is now dependent on software, and software does contribute to system failures. Most software reliability models are based on software failure data collected from the project. This creates a problem for the designers since, during the early stage, software failure data are not available. However, a valuable knowledge can be learned from the analysis of previous projects and applied to the new ones. This paper presents the approach that predicts the potentially dangerous software modules under development based on the analysis of the already finished modules using the machine-learning techniques. On the basis of the prediction given by our method software designers are able to devote more testing effort to the dangerous parts of the system, which results in a more reliable medical software system.     

Prioritising recommendations to advance community pharmacy practice

Introduction

The nature of community pharmacy in many countries has changed. Despite the significant efforts made to change practice, there is a paucity of literature that highlights consensus on the approaches that should be prioritised for advancing practice particularly in the context of developing countries.

Evaluation of Self-Care Practices and Emotional Distress Among People with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus in Dar Es Salaam,Tanzania

This study was conducted to determine self-care practices and diabetes related emotional distress among people with Type 2 diabetes mellitus in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. A cross sectional survey-involving 121 Types 2 diabetics was conducted in 4 diabetic clinics located in Dar es Salaam. Anthropometric and biomedical measurements namely weight, height, waist, hip, mid-upper arm circumference, blood pressure and fasting blood glucose were measured. Self-care practices and diabetic related emotion distress were evaluated by using validated instruments. Results revealed that, the average fasting plasma glucose was 11.2 ± 5.5 mmol/l, blood pressure was 134.7/86.1 mm/Hg and the mean BMI for males and females were 25.0 ± 4.3 and 27.0 ± 5.1 kg/m², respectively. Subject's self-care score for general diet, specific diet, physical exercise, foot-care and medication were 4.6 ± 2.4, 3.7 ± 1.5, 3.4 ± 1.8, 3.6 ± 2.8 and 5.5 ± 2.8 days per week, respectively. Self-monitoring of blood glucose was irregular and only 46.3% of the subjects tested their levels of blood glucose at least once in between the appointments (90 days). Low income was the major limitation for complying with the self-care practices related to diet, blood glucose testing and medication. It is recommended that, the Government of Tanzania should in the short run subsidize the prices of diabetes drugs, remove all taxes on the glucose test kits and establish a national diabetes program that would coordinate and oversee provision of the basic services such as screening, glucose testing, medication, counseling and management of the condition. In the long run, the government should establish a preventive public health program in order to curtail the escalation of diabetes. Further research should be conducted to determine how factors such as socio-cultural and demographic, self-care, and psychosocial distress interact to determine biomedical outcomes such as blood pressure, blood glucose and body mass index.     

Community pharmacy and emerging public health initiatives in developing Southeast Asian countries: a systematic review

The development of health and healthcare systems in South‐East Asia has influenced the practice of community pharmacy. Over the years, community pharmacy in the region has striven to expand services beyond dispensing to encompass more involvement in public health issues. Searches were conducted in Scopus, EMBASE, MEDLINE and PubMed for articles published between January 2000 and December 2014, with 21 studies in five countries meeting the inclusion criteria. The findings showed increasing interest in research into the delivery of pharmacy services and public health initiatives. Overall, the review found that provision of some health services in pharmacies was common; however, most public health initiatives appeared to be poorly implemented, had limited evidence and were not demonstrated to be sustainable across the sector. This indicates that the practice of community pharmacy in the region has not significantly changed over the past 14 years with respect to the scope and quality of pharmacy services provided, and fundamental policy changes are necessary to improve this situation.     

Regulation of nitric oxide generation by up-regulated arginase I in rat spinal cord injury

Recently, arginase is suggested to regulate nitric oxide production by competing with nitric oxide synthase for the same substrate, L-arginine, in experimental asthma. We investigated the role of arginase and its relationship to nitric oxide production after spinal cord injury. Rats were subjected to laminectomy and complete transection of their spinal cords (injury group) or laminectomy only (sham group). In the injury group, arginase I was increased in the macrophages at the transection edge, and the peak was observed 48 h after spinal cord injury. However, nitric oxide production decreased significantly in the injury group despite increased nitric oxide synthase2 mRNA expression compared with the sham group. We also demonstrated the reduction in L-arginine concentrations, which was inversely associated with changes in arginase activity. Therefore, arginase appeared to regulate nitric oxide production by consuming L-arginine. The regulation of arginase activity and L-arginine levels may improve nitroxidative stress and reduce tissue damage in spinal cord injury.