The effect of 12 weeks regular physical activity and vitamin E in the treatment of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis: A pilot study

Background: Despite the prevalence of Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) and Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH), there was no treatment has been proven to be effective in these common diseases. Although many studies have shown that lifestyle modifications such as increasing physical activities and exercise could be effective in the treatment of these common diseases, the optimal strategy was still not determined. According to the beneficial effects of antioxidant agents in the treatment of NASH, vitamin E has been used for this purpose by some clinicians. We designed this study for assessing beneficial effects of regular physical activity on the biochemical and imaging responses in patients with NASH and comparing this with vitamin E as an accepted treatment for NASH. Materials and Methods: This study was Randomized and single-blind clinical trials were carried out in Gonbad-e Kavus through which a total of 30 consecutive patients with the ultra sonographic diagnosis of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH)were enrolled and randomized to one of the three groups: Vitamin E 800 mg/day, regular physical activity, or both. Results: In all treatment groups improvement in liver transaminases level, serum lipids and ultrasonographic grading of fatty liver occurred after three months of treatment. When these decrement was compared between the treatment groups, there was no statistically significant difference in the value of improvement between the three groups (ANOVA: p>0.5). I.e. all three interventions improved the biochemical and ultrasonographic finding of fatty liver in the same way. Both groups with regular exercise had significant mean weight loss in comparison with the vitamin E group (a mean decrease of 3.0 kg in exercise group, 5.8 kg in subjects on regular exercise plus vitamin E and 0.2 kg in vitamin E group, ANOVA: p=0.04). Conclusion: There were no significant differences between exercise and vitamin E alone or in combination regarding the reduction in the level of liver enzymes and sonographic evidences of fatty liver although both resulted in significant improvements in biochemical endpoints. This implies that physical activity could be considered as effective as vitamin E in the improvement of biochemical and ultrasonographic presentations of NASH and the addition of Vitamin E does not offer any benefits. According to the findings of this pilot study a full-powered study with a control group should be designed. © 2015, Iranian Association of Gastroenterology and Hepatology. All rights reserved

The effect of 12 weeks regular physical activity and vitamin E in the treatment of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis: A pilot study

Background: Despite the prevalence of Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) and Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH), there was no treatment has been proven to be effective in these common diseases. Although many studies have shown that lifestyle modifications such as increasing physical activities and exercise could be effective in the treatment of these common diseases, the optimal strategy was still not determined. According to the beneficial effects of antioxidant agents in the treatment of NASH, vitamin E has been used for this purpose by some clinicians. We designed this study for assessing beneficial effects of regular physical activity on the biochemical and imaging responses in patients with NASH and comparing this with vitamin E as an accepted treatment for NASH. Materials and Methods: This study was Randomized and single-blind clinical trials were carried out in Gonbad-e Kavus through which a total of 30 consecutive patients with the ultra sonographic diagnosis of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH)were enrolled and randomized to one of the three groups: Vitamin E 800 mg/day, regular physical activity, or both. Results: In all treatment groups improvement in liver transaminases level, serum lipids and ultrasonographic grading of fatty liver occurred after three months of treatment. When these decrement was compared between the treatment groups, there was no statistically significant difference in the value of improvement between the three groups (ANOVA: p>0.5). I.e. all three interventions improved the biochemical and ultrasonographic finding of fatty liver in the same way. Both groups with regular exercise had significant mean weight loss in comparison with the vitamin E group (a mean decrease of 3.0 kg in exercise group, 5.8 kg in subjects on regular exercise plus vitamin E and 0.2 kg in vitamin E group, ANOVA: p=0.04). Conclusion: There were no significant differences between exercise and vitamin E alone or in combination regarding the reduction in the level of liver enzymes and sonographic evidences of fatty liver although both resulted in significant improvements in biochemical endpoints. This implies that physical activity could be considered as effective as vitamin E in the improvement of biochemical and ultrasonographic presentations of NASH and the addition of Vitamin E does not offer any benefits. According to the findings of this pilot study a full-powered study with a control group should be designed. © 2015, Iranian Association of Gastroenterology and Hepatology. All rights reserved

Dynamics of single polymers under extreme confinement

We study the dynamics of a single chain polymer confined to a two dimensional cell. We introduce a kinetically constrained lattice gas model that preserves the connectivity of the chain, and we use this kinetically constrained model to study the dynamics of the polymer at varying densities through Monte Carlo simulations. Even at densities close to the fully-packed configuration, we find that the monomers comprising the chain manage to diffuse around the box with a root mean square displacement of the order of the box dimensions over time scales for which the overall geometry of the polymer is, nevertheless, largely preserved. To capture this shape persistence, we define the local tangent field and study the two-time tangent-tangent correlation function, which exhibits a glass-like behavior. In both closed and open chains, we observe reptational motion and reshaping through local fingering events which entail global monomer displacement.Comment: 22 pages, 18 figures, slightly extended version to appear in JSTA

Effect of the nursing process using via "accessible care cards" on the patients' satisfaction of nursing care in intensive care units of Golestan Hospital, Ahvaz

Background and aims: Nursing process is performance Standard for nursing cares. According to their conditions and facilities, various centers can choose and implement a nursing process that is more efficient for them. This study was aimed to determine the effect of nursing process the way "accessible care cards" on patients' satisfaction from care in intensive care units. Methods: This is a cross-sectional interventional study with plan case-control study that was conducted in Golestan hospital in Ahwaz in 2014. Considering the inclusion criteria and available sampling method, a total of 38 controls and 38 cases were selected for the intervention group were evaluated. Data were collected questionnaire made by researcher, which was assess the scientific validity, the content validity method were used validated. As well as its reliability using Cronbach's alpha test (α= 0.9) was determined. Intervention was conducted by accessible care cards in nursing process for two weeks and its impact on patient satisfaction was measured. The control group was routine care. The collected data was analyzed by SPSS 19 and statistical tests. Descriptive statistics such as mean, and standard deviation was used. Chi-square test, Mann-whitney and t-test were used to compare groups. Results: Results showed that 28.90% of patients in the control group had great satisfaction of care, while the 97.36% of patients in the intervention group reported nearly excellent satisfaction. The observed difference in patients' satisfaction with nursing care in both the experimental and control group was statistically significant (P<0.001). Conclusion: Implementation of nursing process, in a manner of available cards led to an increase in patient satisfaction compared with the routine manner and the use of these cards makes the nursing process of a greater degree of mental state, to objectively state, that can help in saving a lot of time for nurses

Kadar Timbel dalam Darah Siswa Sekolah Dasar di Sekitar Peleburan Aki Bekas di Kabupaten Tangerang dan Lamongan

Logam Timbel (Pb) merupakan salah satu logam berat yang dimanfaatkan secara luas dalam industri aki. Aki timbel yang sudah tidak terpakai masih memiliki nilai ekonomis lewat proses peleburan (smelting), namun logam timbel memiliki efek negatif terhadap kesehatan. Paparan timbel dalam darah (BLL/ Blood Lead Level) khususnya pada anak-anak dapat mengakibatkan penurunan tingkat kecerdasan, masalah kesehatan, bahkan berdampak sosial. Untuk mengetahui tingkat pajanan timbel yang dihasilkan pabrik peleburan aki bekas di Kabupaten Tangerang dan Kabupaten Lamongan, dilakukan pengukuran kadar timbel dalam darah siswa Madrasah Ibtidaiyah (MI) Baitussa'adah dan SDN Bulu Tengger yang terletak di sekitar pabrik tersebut. Pengukuran konsentrasi timbel dalam darah dilakukan dengan menggunakan Lead Care Portable Analyzer. Telah diperoleh rata-rata konsentrasi timbel dalam darah anak-anak MI Baitussa'adah mencapai 32,0 µg/dL, dengan konsentrasi minimum 15,5 µg/dL, konsentrasi maksimum tidak dapat dipastikan karena melampaui batas maksimum deteksi alat (65 µg/dL). Dari 69 sampel darah anak-anak SDN Bulu Tengger, diketahui rata-rata konsentrasi timbel dalam darah mencapai 11,8 µg/dL, dengan konsentrasi minimum 5 µg/dL, dan konsentrasi maksimum 30,8 µg/dL. Nilai tersebut jauh di atas nilai rujukan WHO tahun 1991 dan The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) tahun 2012. Hal ini menunjukkan pajanan timbel dari pabrik peleburan aki bekas sudah sangat membahayakan dan mengancam kesehatan masyarakat sekitar khususnya anak-anak usia sekolah

Model Kendali Multi Kontroler untuk Robot Humanoid dengan 19 Derajat Kebebasan

Pada paper ini akan disajikan hasil penelitian, berupa purwarupa robot humanoid pemain bola dengan 19 DOF. Robot yang dibangun dilengkapi dengan sistem kontrol CM-530, Arduino Nano dengan ATMega328, dan juga kamera CMUcam5. Fokus penelitian yang disajikan pada paper ini adalah bagaimana Arduino Nano difungsikan untuk membaca data dari CMUcam 5, dan kemudian memberikan perintah kepada kontroler CM-530, baik untuk bergerak maju, berbelok ke kanan, dan berbelok ke kiri. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa model yang dibangun telah dapat mengomunikasikan antara kamera CMUcam5, dengan Arduino Nano, dan juga CM-530 controler

Discrete dipole approximation in time domain through the Laplace transform

We present a form of the discrete dipole approximation for electromagnetic scattering computations in time domain. We show that the introduction of complex frequencies, through the Laplace transform, significantly improves the computation time. We also show that the Laplace transform and its inverse can be combined to extract the field inside a scatterer at a real resonance frequenc

Distribution, diversity and abundance of fish species in the Madarsoo River, Golestan National Park, Iran

To assess the effects of two flooding events occurred in the years 2001 and 2002, fish distribution, diversity and abundance in Madarsoo River of the Golestan National Park were studied and compared to that of the years before the events. A total of five fish species from four sites were collected. Assemblage of fish population showed changes in their overall relative abundance and distribution across sampling sites and times. We estimated the abundance of Capoeta capoeta gracilis at 2.331:2.6, Alburnoides bipunctatus at 0.17±0.15, Paracobitis malapterura at 0.0474±0.031 and Leuciscus cephalus at 0.005±0.01 fish per square meter of the stream. The abundance of Cc.gracilis showed significant increase while that of the A. bipunctatus did not undergo such significant change in comparison with the data from the years before flooding events (P<0.01). The Shannon diversity index was significantly different between sites and with the increase in the number of riffles and pools in the river, the index and population size of the fish species showed an upward trend. Three fish species Oncorhynchus mykiss, Neogobius melanostomus affinis and Neogobius fluviafilis which were abundant before the floods did not show up in the samples at all. Also, of the Barbus mursa, only one specimen was caught. Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) results suggest that two species C. c. gracilis and P. malapterura are more resistant against changes in environmental conditions

The ESO UVES Advanced Data Products Quasar Sample - VI. Sub-Damped Lyman-α\alpha Metallicity Measurements and the Circum-Galactic Medium

The Circum-Galactic Medium (CGM) can be probed through the analysis of absorbing systems in the line-of-sight to bright background quasars. We present measurements of the metallicity of a new sample of 15 sub-damped Lyman-$\alpha$ absorbers (sub-DLAs, defined as absorbers with 19.0 < log N(H I) < 20.3) with redshift 0.584 < $\rm z_{abs}$ < 3.104 from the ESO Ultra-Violet Echelle Spectrograph (UVES) Advanced Data Products Quasar Sample (EUADP). We combine these results with other measurements from the literature to produce a compilation of metallicity measurements for 92 sub-DLAs as well as a sample of 362 DLAs. We apply a multi-element analysis to quantify the amount of dust in these two classes of systems. We find that either the element depletion patterns in these systems differ from the Galactic depletion patterns or they have a different nucleosynthetic history than our own Galaxy. We propose a new method to derive the velocity width of absorption profiles, using the modeled Voigt profile features. The correlation between the velocity width delta_V90 of the absorption profile and the metallicity is found to be tighter for DLAs than for sub-DLAs. We report hints of a bimodal distribution in the [Fe/H] metallicity of low redshift (z < 1.25) sub-DLAs, which is unseen at higher redshifts. This feature can be interpreted as a signature from the metal-poor, accreting gas and the metal-rich, outflowing gas, both being traced by sub-DLAs at low redshifts.Comment: 64 pages, 31 figures, 27 tables. Submitted to MNRA

Human action recognition via skeletal and depth based feature fusion

This paper addresses the problem of recognizing human actions captured with depth cameras. Human action recognition is a challenging task as the articulated action data is high dimensional in both spatial and temporal domains. An effective approach to handle this complexity is to divide human body into different body parts according to human skeletal joint positions, and performs recognition based on these part-based feature descriptors. Since different types of features could share some similar hidden structures, and different actions may be well characterized by properties common to all features (sharable structure) and those specific to a feature (specific structure), we propose a joint group sparse regression-based learning method to model each action. Our method can mine the sharable and specific structures among its part-based multiple features meanwhile imposing the importance of these part-based feature structures by joint group sparse regularization, in favor of discriminative part-based feature structure selection. To represent the dynamics and appearance of the human body parts, we employ part-based multiple features extracted from skeleton and depth data respectively. Then, using the group sparse regularization techniques, we have derived an algorithm for mining the key part-based features in the proposed learning framework. The resulting features derived from the learnt weight matrices are more discriminative for multi-task classification. Through extensive experiments on three public datasets, we demonstrate that our approach outperforms existing methods