Liver-based infant complementary food

Abstract- Weaning of infants involves the gradual introduction of solid foods and fluids along with the usual milk fed in their diet. After around six month of age, it becomes difficult to meet the nutritional requirements from the breast milk alone. This study developed beef liver based infant food as a complementary food for infants and determined its nutrient composition and sensory quality. Addition of liver to the vegetable base-formulation significantly improved the nutrient composition (P < 0.05) and consumer acceptance (P < 0.05) ofthe infant food compared to the treatments formulated with vegetables alone. The results of this study supports the importance of incorporating beef liver in to infant complementary food

Factors Associated with Contraceptive Use among Jordanian Muslim Women: Implications for Health and Social Policy

The objectives of this quantitative study were to identify factors associated with contraceptive use by Jordanian Muslim women; to estimate factors that predict the variance in contraceptive use; and recommend appropriate health and social policies to enhance quality of life of Jordanian women. A cross -sectional design was used to collect data from 487 married non-pregnant women aged 18 to 49 years who resided in three southern governorates in Jordan using a structured interview guide. Results showed that 63.2% of women used some form of contraceptive method; IUD was the most frequently used method (44.2%). The percentage of women exposed to violence was 5% and 9.2% for physical and verbal abuse respectively. Findings also showed that there was a significant relationship between psychological wellbeing of women and contraceptive use. Furthermore, no relationship between women’s perceived religious stance towards contraceptives and their use. Predictors of contraceptive use were: women aged 40-45 years explained 23.3% of the variance in contraceptive use; and the woman’s approval of contraceptive use for birth spacing explained 21.4% of the variance in contraceptive use. The Islamic stance towards contraceptive use was not significant in these women; however further studies are needed to confirm these findings as well as the generalizability to Muslim women in other countries. The study findings have implications for health and social policies relevant to family planning services in order to enhance and increase the use of contraceptives to reduce the TFR in Jordan. Furthermore, health care providers, social and economical policy makers need to integrate women’s cultural views and contraceptive use in strategies and policies beyond health to improve women’s quality of life and build on the global consensus for women and children to achieve the Millennium Development goals

Categorization of slope failure in southern Malaysia using total estimated hazard (TEHD) method

Slope is a measure of steepness or the degree of inclination of a feature relative to the horizontal plane. One of the phenomenon or incidents of a slope was called as slope failure or landslide. Slope failure was a major natural disaster that had affected the country in terms of injuries, deaths, property damage, destruction of services, public inconvenience and economic as well as financial losses. Slope failure cases were very serious geologic hazard disaster that happened in many countries around the world. The aim of this paper is to determine the category of slope failure in the state of Johor based on Landslide Hazard Zonation (LHZ). Data were calculated by using Total Estimated Hazard (TEHD) value method which considered six factors effecting the slope failure, including lithology; slope steepness, topography, land use class, annual rainfall and type of soil. Data on the factors were collected from Malaysia Public Works Department (JKR) inspection form, website, and secondary data resource. After that weight for each factor were identified by referring to Landslide Hazard Evaluation Factor (LHEF) rating scheme. Then determination of LHZ was done according to TEHD values which have five hazard zones; (1) very low; (2) low; (3) medium; (4) high; and (5) very high. The results of this study found that out of total fifty two cases there were three medium hazard (MH), twenty seven high hazard (HH) and twenty two very high hazard (VHH). Comparison between actual data from JKR and total 52 locations of slope failure in Johor showed that 94% accuracy, TEHD equation could calculate potential slope failure hazards in Johor very well

Preliminary investigation of myo-inositol phosphates produced by ASUIA279 phytase on MCF-7 cancer cells.

Phytate or myo-inositol hexakisphosphates (IP6) is widely distributed in plants like rice brans. The production of myo-inositol phosphate intermediates has received much attention due to the remarkable potential health benefits offered by the compounds. In this study, the cytotoxicity of the partially purified myo-inositol phosphate fractions and commercial IP1 and IP6 were investigated against MCF-7 breast cancer cell lines. The study showed that the commercial standard IP1 and IP6 showed good inhibition towards the MCF-7 cell line. The MCF-7 cells growth was inhibited in minimum concentration of myo-inositol phosphates (<1000 µg/ml). However, no inhibition observed on the MCF-7 cell line by the myo-inositol phosphates fractions partially purified from rice bran at concentration <1000 ?g/ml. The inhibition of MCF-7 was only observed at concentration more than 30 mg/ml with more than 40% cells were inhibited. This indicates that the partially purified rice bran myo-inositol phosphates degraded by ASUIA279 phytase on MCF-7 breast cancer cells exhibit positive results towards the inhibition of cancer cells growth at relatively high concentration

Utilization of and Satisfaction With Antenatal Care in Jordan

Aims and objectives: The aims of the study were a) to explore the determinants of both the utilization of antenatal care and the general satisfaction of women with the MCH care system in Jordan; b) to identify the weaknesses of the present MCH care system; and c) to formulate intervention strategies, to improve the utilization of antenatal care and the general health of the mothers and their children

Laser-Assisted In Vitro Fertilization Facilitates Fertilization of Vitrified-Warmed C57BL/6 Mouse Oocytes with Fresh and Frozen-Thawed Spermatozoa, Producing Live Pups

The utility of cryopreserved mouse gametes for reproduction of transgenic mice depends on development of assisted reproductive technologies, including vitrification of unfertilized mouse oocytes. Due to hardening of the zona pellucida, spermatozoa are often unable to penetrate vitrified-warmed (V-W) oocytes. Laser-assisted in vitro fertilization (LAIVF) facilitates fertilization by allowing easier penetration of spermatozoa through a perforation in the zona. We investigated the efficiency of V-W C57BL/6NTac oocytes drilled by the XYClone laser, compared to fresh oocytes. By using DAP213 for cryoprotection, 83% (1,470/1,762) of vitrified oocytes were recovered after warming and 78% were viable. Four groups were evaluated for two-cell embryo and live offspring efficiency: 1) LAIVF using V-W oocytes, 2) LAIVF using fresh oocytes, 3) conventional IVF using V-W oocytes and 4) conventional IVF using fresh oocytes. First, the groups were tested using fresh C57BL/6NTac spermatozoa (74% motile, 15 million/ml). LAIVF markedly improved the two-cell embryo efficiency using both V-W (76%, 229/298) and fresh oocytes (69%, 135/197), compared to conventional IVF (7%, 12/182; 6%, 14/235, respectively). Then, frozen-thawed C57BL/6NTac spermatozoa (35% motile, 15 million/ml) were used and LAIVF was again found to enhance fertilization efficiency, with two-cell embryo rates of 87% (298/343) using V-W oocytes (P<0.05, compared to fresh spermatozoa), and 73% (195/266) using fresh oocytes. Conventional IVF with frozen-thawed spermatozoa using V-W (6%, 10/168) and fresh (5%, 15/323) oocytes produced few two-cell embryos. Although live offspring efficiency following embryo transfer was greater with conventional IVF (35%, 18/51; LAIVF: 6%, 50/784), advantage was seen with LAIVF in live offspring obtained from total oocytes (5%, 50/1,010; conventional IVF: 2%, 18/908). Our results demonstrated that zona-drilled V-W mouse oocytes can be used for IVF procedures using both fresh and frozen-thawed spermatozoa, producing live pups. The ability to cryopreserve mouse gametes for LAIVF may facilitate management of large-scale transgenic mouse production facilities.National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (NIH National Research Service Award (T32-RR070036))National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (NIH National Cancer Institute Program Project (P01CA10451)

Revisiting Politicide: State Annihilation in Israel/Palestine

State annihilation is a persistent concern in Israel/Palestine. While the specter of Israel’s destruction increasingly haunts Israeli public political debates, the actual materialization of Palestinian statehood seems to be permanently suspended, caught in an ever-protracted process of state-building. The current paper claims that to understand the unfolding of the discursive formations, as well as the spatial dimensions of conflict and control in Israel/Palestine, we should explicate the workings of the processes of politicide. Politicide, in this regard, denotes the eradication of the political existence of a group and sabotaging the turning of a community of people into a polity. This analysis suggests that the insistence that the State of Israel is under threat of extinction should be understood as a speech act, a performative reiteration, which allows for the securitization of Israeli rule in the occupied Palestinian territory, a securitization which then serves to rationalize the ongoing concrete politicide of the Palestinians. Elaborating on the concept of politicide, and diverging from defining it solely through the use of brute violence, this examination suggests that what is often overlooked in discussions of politicide are the seemingly more benign means of its implementation, the micro-power mechanisms of spatial control, prohibitions and regulations

Study the Role Of Mirna -126 Gene Expression In A Sample Of Breast Cancer Iraqi Women

Background: MicroRNAs play a major function in gene expression and are associated with numerous cancer types. Breast cancer (BC) is aberrant breast cell proliferation induced by environmental and genetic factors with gene expression alterations. Objective: Study of clinical characteristics of women with breast cancer and estimation of circulating miR-126 expression in serum. Methods: This research involved the recruitment of a cohort consisting of seventy female BC patients from Oncology Unit of Al-Yarmouk Teaching Hospital located in Baghdad city, Iraq. Furthermore, thirty samples of healthy female volunteers were included as control subjects. The miR-126 expression levels were measured by means of a technique called real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. Results: The age range between 45 to 54 included the higher number of patients with breast cancer comprised treated and untreated groups than other. Roughly 75% of the patients were discovered at an early stage (II), and all patients were in stages II and III. The majority of patients were found to be overweight or obese. This assignment also demonstrated that treated (60.0%) and untreated (68.6%) left breasts had more malignancies than right breasts. Active smokers were rare, whereas non-smokers and passive smokers dominated the group. This study found a substantial drop in miR-126-5p gene expression in BC patients\u27 serum (treated and untreated) compared to healthy controls. Conclusion: The study found a decrease in circulating miR-126-5p gene expression in BC patients\u27 serum

Active Tuberculous Infection among Adult Sudanese Patients on Long Term Peritoneal Dialysis

Introduction: The prevalence of tuberculosis in Sudan is 209 cases per 100,000 populations. There are no reports available regarding the prevalence of tuberculosis among the end-stage kidney disease and dialysis populations.Methods: We reviewed the medical records of all adults who were on peritoneal dialysis (PD) in the Sudan Peritoneal Dialysis Program, during the period from June 2005 to December 2011. Those diagnosed ashaving active tuberculous infections were retrospectively studied regarding their demography, clinical presentation and outcomes.Results: Out of 350 patients in our program, 19 were diagnosed as having active tuberculosis (5.4%). All patients were diagnosed during their first year on peritoneal dialysis, 74% were males; the mean age was37 &#177; 11 years, extrapulmonary tuberculosis was seen in 16/19 (84%) patients and it was abdominal in nine of the 16 (47%) patients. In addition to high clinical suspicion, the diagnosis of active tuberculosis was supported by tissue biopsy findings in 16%, positive polymerase chain reaction in 26%, exudative ascites with suggestive radiological features in 21%, strongly positive tuberculin test in 21% and a favourable response to empirical antituberculous therapy in 26% of patients. HIV test wasnegative in all 19 patients and only one patient tested positive for hepatitis B viral infection. Antituberculous drugs side effects were seen in 68% of patients. Forty seven percent of patients showed complete recovery and continued on peritoneal dialysis. Our case fatality was 32%.Conclusion: Abdominal tuberculosis is common among PD patients and its diagnosis should always be considered in suspected patients