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The purpose of this work was to study the effect of Fenugreek seeds powder (Trigonella foenum-gracum L.) and Camphor leaves powder (Cinnamomum camphora) on productive performance and immune response of Ross broiler chicken. A total of 100 day-old unsexed broiler chicks (Ross 308) were randomly allocated to five treatment groups with two replicates of 10 each reared for 42 days. The experimental diets were: Control diet (C), fenugreek seeds powder 1g/1kg (F1), fenugreek seeds powder 1.5g/1kg (F2), camphor leaves powder 1g/1kg (Cph1), camphor leaves powder 1.5g/1kg (Cph2). The F2 trait recorded the best results during most of ages for body weight and body weight gain. Dressing percentage of broilers at five week was significantly higher value for Cph1 group. The percentage of minor and major breast muscles showed a slightly nonsignificant increase to Cph2 trait. The drum muscle weight percentage showed a higher significant value for (Cph1) trait. The F2 group recorded the lower significant value for Giblets percentage compared to another groups and control group. The highest value for spleen percentage was recorded in F1 group and the lowest value showed in control and Cph2. Bursa gland recorded the highest value for F2 group and the lowest value recorded by Control and Cph2 group. The F1 group recorded the highest value for thymus gland percentage and the lowest value showed in Cph2 group. The Cph2 and F2 treatments had the maximum cutaneous basophilic hypersensitivity swelling response with insignificantly difference at 24 hr after injection, while at 48 hr, the Cph2 trait had significantly higher dermal swelling response compared to other traits and control group. The F1 and F2 groups had significantly hyper responder to sheep red blood cells at seven days post-secondary injection, while at fourteen days post-secondary injection, Cph2 and F2 groups had significantly hyper responses to sheep red blood cells. Therefore, fenugreek seeds and camphor leaves supplementation as a growth promoter at 1.5g / 1kg might be acceptable for achieving better performance under environmental conditions of Egypt. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

Adverse events during dental care for children inevitably happen, despite precautionary procedures. Remedial measures have primarily focused upon affected children and their parents/caregivers. The purpose of this paper was to summarize the effects of adverse events upon practitioners involved in the incident who have been termed second victims. Affected practitioners may suffer negative emotions impinging upon their professional performance as well as deleterious personal health consequences, including substance abuse and depression/suicidal ideation. Peer support has been identified as an important mechanism to foster recovery in second victims. Practitioners need supportive efforts following their inadvertent involvement in adverse events to facilitate their recovery and maintenance of personal health and wellness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

The performance investigation of two novel resonant elements is presented in this work for 5G reflectarray antenna design. Two dual resonance elements with wide reflection phase range have been developed from a square patch element by a novel corner bending tactic. The reflection loss and reflection phase range performance of the proposed elements have been compared with conventional square patch element at 26 GHz. The results have shown a reflection phase swing of 629° and 632° for Bent Width and Bent Length elements respectively. The broadband features of proposed elements can radically improve the bandwidth performance of a reflectarray antenna. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

Purpose: To survey pediatric dentists in the United States regarding adverse events during dental care for children. Methods: A selfadministered, anonymous online survey was sent to American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry members (n equals 6,327) using REDCap® software (between October and December 2019). The questionnaire (all items with radio-button numerical categories) included five items surveying pediatric adverse event occurrence and seven demographic items. Annualized occurrences of adverse events in US pediatric dental practices were extrapolated from the data collected. Results: The survey response was 11 percent (n equals 704), with 91 percent of respondents reporting that at least one child experienced an adverse event during dental treatment. The two most prevalent adverse events, each reported by 82 percent of respondents, were self-inflicted trauma to soft tissues after local anesthesia and nausea and vomiting, with annualized estimates of 7,816 and 7,003, respectively. Major adverse events (respiratory depression, cardiovascular depression, neurological damage, death) during pediatric dental treatment were reported by 14 percent of respondents (annualized estimate equals 443). "Wrong" errors (wrong tooth/wrong procedure/wrong patient) were reported by 24 percent of respondents (annualized estimate equals 600). Conclusions: Adverse events during pediatric dental care are of noticeable concern with some (wrong tooth/wrong procedure/wrong patient errors) that can be procedurally mitigated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

Stuttering is a common, highly heritable neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by deficits in the volitional control of speech. Whole-exome sequencing identified two heterozygous AP4E1 coding variants, c.1549G>A (p.Val517Ile) and c.2401G>A (p.Glu801Lys), that co-segregate with persistent developmental stuttering in a large Cameroonian family, and we observed the same two variants in unrelated Cameroonians with persistent stuttering. We found 23 other rare variants, including predicted loss-of-function variants, in AP4E1 in unrelated stuttering individuals in Cameroon, Pakistan, and North America. The rate of rare variants in AP4E1 was significantly higher in unrelated Pakistani and Cameroonian stuttering individuals than in population-matched control individuals, and coding variants in this gene are exceptionally rare in the general sub-Saharan West African, South Asian, and North American populations. Clinical examination of the Cameroonian family members failed to identify any symptoms previously reported in rare individuals carrying homozygous loss-of-function mutations in this gene. AP4E1 encodes the ε subunit of the heterotetrameric (ε-β4-μ4-σ4) AP-4 complex, involved in protein sorting at the trans -Golgi network. We found that the μ4 subunit of AP-4 interacts with NAGPA, an enzyme involved in the synthesis of the mannose 6-phosphate signal that targets acid hydrolases to the lysosome and the product of a gene previously associated with stuttering. These findings implicate deficits in intracellular trafficking in persistent stuttering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

Purpose: To determine state-based and regional ratios of U.S. pediatric dentists to children in 2010 and determine changes since 2000.Methods: State-based enumeration of pediatric dentists in private practice (PDP) was determined from the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry's 2010 Membership Directory. Number of children in each state was obtained from U.S. Census 2010 data. PDP ratio for each state was computed per 100,000 children. Changes in state-based PDP number and ratio to children were compared with 2000 data.Results: There were 4,453 pediatric dentists in private practice across the United States, with a ratio of 6.00 per 100,000 children. California (583), Texas (378), New York (310), and Florida (231) had the largest PDP numbers. The Southern region (1,609) had the largest PDP number, while the Midwest (706) had the lowest number. PDP ratio to children was highest in the Northeast (7.61) and lowest in the Midwest (4.38). With the exceptions of Alaska, Vermont, and Wyoming, the PDP number and its ratio to children increased in all states between 2000 and 2010.Conclusions: Despite a generalized increase in practitioner number since 2000, noticeable differences persisted in 2010 among states in their pediatric dentist to children ratios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

Purpose: The objective of this study was to detail a state-based comparison of the pediatric dental practitioner workforce in the midwestern United States between 1990 and 2000. Methods: Enumeration of pediatric dental practitioners was derived from the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry's 1990-1991 and 2000-2001 membership directories. Included in the study were all active and fellow members in private practice in the 8 midwestern states of: (1) Illinois; (2) Indiana; (3) Iowa; (4) Michigan; (5) Minnesota; (6) Missouri; (7) Ohio; and (8) Wisconsin. Analysis of state-based practitioner cohorts included determination of: (1) individual practitioners who did not practice in 1990 but were practicing in 2000 (addition); and (2) those who practiced in 1990 but who did not practice in 2000 (attrition). Results: The number of pediatric dental practitioners in the 8 midwestern states showed a net increase (24%) from 406 to 504 between 1990 and 2000, with Illinois showing the highest increase (45%) and Iowa the lowest (4%). There were 218 individuals (34%) added to the pediatric dental practitioner workforce in the midwestern states from 1990 to 2000, with an attrition of 120 individuals (30%). Conclusions: The pediatric dental practitioner workforce in the midwestern United States showed a net increase and sizeable turnover between 1990 and 2000. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

Purpose: The objectives of this study were to: (1) determine the geographic distribution of pediatric dentists in private practice across the United States; and (2) compare state-based pediatric dental practitioner-to-children ratios. Methods: Enumeration of pediatric dental practitioners was derived from the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry's 2000-01 Membership Directory by including all active and fellow members who were in private practice in the United States. Population information for the 50 states and District of Columbia was obtained from Census 2000 data available on the US Census Bureau's Web site. Results: A total of 2,913 pediatric dentists were in private practice in the United States, with the largest number located in California (333), Texas (238), and New York (202), and the smallest number located in Maine (3) and North Dakota (4). There were 4.03 pediatric dental practitioners for every 100,000 US children younger than 18 years of age. Connecticut and Massachusetts had almost twice (7.7) as many pediatric dental practitioners per 100,000 children as the national average. On the other hand, Maine had only one fourth (1) the number of pediatric dental practitioners per 100,000 children as the national average. Conclusions: Marked differences exist between the various states in their pediatric dental practitioner-to-children ratio. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

The mental health policy and practice has come across the issue of deterioration of work performance at site. There are three dimensions of health (social, mental and physical) each of which has a unique link with the job performance and the stress as well. This study focuses on assessing the mediating role of psychological well-being between mental and physical health and the task performance in the context of people working at construction sites in Karachi region. The survey method was adopted which comprised of collecting the primary data from 357 respondents regarding their mental and physical health, psychological well-being and task performance. The data was analyzed by using Smart Partial Least Squares (PLS). Results indicated that psychological well-being was significantly mediating the relationship between both health dimensions and the task performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

Nanomaterials have played a unique role for effective filtration. Due to the effectiveness of large surface area to volume ratio, nanofibers have ability to absorb contaminants from air easily. Due to the fabrication of cellulose acetate on face mask some harmful bacteria and air particulates are not able to enter nose and mouth. However, without fabrication of cellulose acetate nanofibers the bacteria and air particulates may easily pass through the face mask due to their larger pores diameter. The advantage of fabrication is that the pore size of middle layer of face mask which is used for filtration has been reduced that increases the filtration efficiency. In this article middle layer of commercial disposable face mask having larger pores diameter used for filtration purpose has been replaced by development of cellulose acetate nanofibers having thickness of 60 µm, 35µm and 15µm.Morphology of membrane was characterized by SEM, chemical structure through FTIR, mechanical strength through tensile tester, air permeability through air permeability tester M021Sand smoke test was performed through self-designed smoke tester. It was found that membrane with thickness of 60 µm have highest filtration efficiency but air permeability was compromised but nanofiber membrane with thickness between 15-35 µm have better air permeability and filtration resistance than commercial face mask. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

• A fully-automatic neural spike sorting system for future hardware implementation. • An automatic detection threshold technique that improves detection significantly (> 15%). • Higher-order energy operators are better for multi-unit activity detection. • A newly introduced feature that is able to distinguish multi-unit activity from single-unit. • The system is computationally very efficient. Spike sorting is a basic step for implantable neural interfaces. With the growing number of channels, the process should be computationally efficient, automatic,robust and applicable on implantable circuits. The proposed method is a combination of fully-automatic offline and online processes. It introduces a novel method for automatically determining a data-aware spike detection threshold, computationally efficient spike feature extraction, automatic optimal cluster number evaluation and verification coupled with Self-Organizing Maps to accurately determine cluster centroids. The system has the ability of unsupervised online operation after initial fully-automatic offline training. The prime focus of this paper is to fully-automate the complete spike detection and sorting pipeline, while keeping the accuracy high. The proposed system is simulated on two well-known datasets. The automatic threshold improves detection accuracies significantly(> 15%) as compared to the most common detector. The system is able to effectively handle background multi-unit activity with improved performance. Most of the existing methods are not fully-automatic; they require supervision and expert intervention at various stages of the pipeline. Secondly, existing works focus on foreground neural activity. Recent research has highlighted importance of background multi-unit activity, and this work is amongst the first efforts that proposes and verifies an automatic methodology to effectively handle them as well. This paper proposes a fully-automatic, computationally efficient system for spike sorting for both single-unit and multi-unit spikes. Although the scope of this work is design and verification through computer simulations, the system has been designed to be easily transferable into an integrated hardware form. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

In this article, the author focuses on withdrawal of trainees of Saudi Arabia that exposes vulnerability of Canadian health care. It mentions that Canadian medical institutions have welcomed internationally funded residents and fellows, predominantly from Saudi Arabia and Canada's health care and education systems need not to be vulnerable to the spontaneous decisions of a foreign government. It also mentions that academic health centres have been scrambling to adjust service. more...

A letter to the editor is presented in response to the article "Is It Ethical to Withhold Restorative Dental Care From a Child With Occlusoproximal Caries Lesions Into Dentin of Primary Molars?" by Dr. S.M. Hashim Nainar in the July/August 2015 issue along with a response from the author. more...

Objective: An important factor in the assessment of caries risk is the presence of specific oral microflora, especially Streptococcus mutans. Some S. mutans strains possess proteins capable of binding collagen, such as the Cnm and Cbm proteins. The aim is to determine the presence of S. mutans strains carrying collagen binding proteins in a group of subjects with severe early childhood caries (S-ECC). Materials and methods: S. mutans strains isolated from 15 S-ECC children were analyzed for collagen binding domains (cbd) of the cnm (cbd/cnm) and cbm (cbd/cbm) genes and their ability to bind to collagen. Results: S. mutans strains positive for cbd/cnm or cbd/cbm were only found in 3 subjects with the most severe caries profile, with one subject having both cbd/cnm and cbd/cbm, and the other two with one of each. cnm/cbm-positive S. mutans strains bound to collagen substrate more avidly compared with negative S. mutans strains from each of the three groups. Conclusions: Our findings of an association between the presence of the collagen binding domains of the cnm/cbm genes in plaque S. mutans and the most aggressive form of caries profile in children offer a potential strategy to identify an individual's risk for caries progression. Our study should be replicated in other settings and communities in longitudinal and longer-term studies. Clinical relevance: Our data offer a potential tool in the caries risk management and assessment in children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

An experiment was conducted for the two successive seasons of 2017 and 2018 to investigate the deleterious effect of irrigating tomato plants with untreated industrial waste water and the possible ameliorating effects of compost and potassium silicate applications on the growth and production of the grown plants. Tomato seedlings of hybrid K186 were transplanted at the four-true leaf stage and irrigated with untreated waste effluent. Compost was applied during the soil preparation at rates of 0 (control), 10, 20, and 30 m3 /feddan. Potassium silicate was sprayed on the plants three times; at 20, 40 and 60 days after transplanting in the concentrations of 0 (control), 3, 4 and 5 cm3 /l. Results revealed that vegetative growth and fruit yield of treated plants were increased by increasing compost and potassium silicate rates compared by the control (without compost and potassium silicate).The interaction effect of the treatment showed an added effect of both treatments on all measured parameters. Plant length, number of leaves and number of branches increased as the application rate of compost and potassium silicate increased. Similarly, SPAD readings showed similar positive and significant trend. In the contrary, contents of Zn, Pb, Ni, Cd and Mnresponded negatively and significantly to the interaction effect of the treatments showing the highest effect with the treatment 5 cm3 potassium silicate associated with 30 m3 compost application compared to the control. Similar to the positive effect on vegetative growth, the positive additive effect of both treatments was clear on total fruit yield where the highest effect was recorded with the treatment combining the highest rate of application of both potassium silicate and compost. It could be concluded that potassium silicate and compost applications can ameliorate the harmful effects of heavy metals in the soil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

Nonlethal wildlife tourism has potential to support the sustainable use of protected rainforests; however, activities associated with tourism may negatively affect ecology and wildlife behaviour. Abundance and diel activity pattern of wildlife is crucial to understand how they respond to environmental factors. In the present study, we examined whether human activities impact the spatiotemporal patterns of wild mammal communities in a tourist area of Endau-Rompin (Peta) National Park, Malaysia. Using video camera traps, we assessed the detection rates and diel activity patterns of wild mammals along roads in an area near tourist lodgings and a remote area. During a 250-day camera trapping survey, we identified at least 21 species of medium and large mammal. Although the volume of car and motorcycle traffic was significantly higher in the visitor area than the remote area, there were no significant differences in the detection rates of most mammals between the two areas. The diel activity patterns of four species did not differ between the two areas. However, Tragulus species showed different diel activity patterns in the visitor and remote areas, possibly a response to predators, as large carnivores were not observed in the visitor area. These findings emphasise the importance of considering not only direct human impacts but also indirect impacts through interspecific interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

Effect of CaO and SiO2 additions on the grain growth and magnetic and electrical properties of a Ni–Zn ferrite was studied. The common oxides (x = 0.4CaO + 0.8SiO2) were added in different moles (x = 0, 0.02, 0.06, 0.012, 0.24 and 0.48) to Fe2O3, Zn, and NiO. The mixed powders were mechanically alloyed for 12 h using a high energy ball mill before heating at 1200 °C for 240 min. The products were characterized by x-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy, vibrating sample magnetometer and static hysteresisgraph, and later by an impedance analyzer with a frequency range from 1 MHz to 1.8 GHz. The XRD results indicate a formation of single phase spinel structure in all the samples. The average grain size was affected by the additive contents so that their sizes grew, up to x = 0.06, and after that their sizes reduced from 0.631 to 0.371 μ at x = 0.48. The experimental density of the samples displayed an upward trend for x < 0.06, increasing from 5.39 g cm−3 (x = 0) to 5.51 g cm−3 (x = 0.06): afterwards, their values presented a downward trend, reducing to 4.01 g cm−3 at x = 0.48. Magnetic behaviors such as saturation magnetization () and induction magnetization () degraded as well as the real permeability of the samples by increasing the x content. The loss factor i.e. hysteresis loss also remarkably decreased by accumulation of SiO2 and CaO in the grain boundaries. The electrical resistivity was determined in the order of 6.9  ×  1010 Ω cm for x = 0 and 6.4  ×  1011 Ω cm for x = 0.48. Therefore, low relative loss factor and high resistivity make these ferrites particularly useful as inductor and transformer materials for high frequency applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

Carbon dioxide is present in the Earth's atmosphere and it acts as a major contributor in greenhouse gases. Exposure to carbon dioxide can have devastating effects on a person's health. Green Biotechnology may contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, in which plants play an important role as carbon sinks by sequestrating carbon through photosynthesis. Carbon sequestration refers to the long-term storage of carbon in plants, soils, geologic formations, and the ocean. Current work is focused on exploring carbon dioxide uptake by different methods of green biotechnology and how environmental pollution affects that uptake. The study examined how the relationship between environmental pollution and carbon sequestration can be optimized by the technique of green biotechnology which affects the overall plant health. For this purpose, leaves from twenty-six plant species including Michelia, Anona Squamosa, Catharantha roseus, Elaeis Guineenis, Hibiscus rosa sinensis, and Epipremnun pinnatum were taken and divided into two sets. One set was washed with water and the other one was left with dirt on it to demonstrate the effect of pollution on carbon sequestration. Leaves were placed in a transparent photosynthetic chamber equipped with CO2 and O2, and light biosensors. Chlorophyll concentration was determined using a spectrophotometer. Out of twenty-six different species of plants, Hibiscus rosa sinensis sequestered the least amount of CO2 among all the plants with 42 ppm while Anona Squamosa exhibited highest levels of CO2 sequestration with 1025 ppm. There is a correlation between carbon sequestration and chlorophyll content. Plants that show a substantial amount of carbon sequestrated also have a greater amount of chlorophyll that help in photosynthesis. Furthermore, it was found that the unpolluted leaves of Michelia removed 388 ppm CO2 from the environment while the polluted leaves removed only 145 ppm CO2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

A letter to the editor is presented in response to the article “U.S. Pediatric Dentists' Counseling Practices in Addressing Childhood Obesity” by J. Y. Lee, D. J. Caplan, Z. Gizlice, A. Ammerman, R. Agans, and A. E. Curran in a previous 2012 issue. more...

Hall technique is a method of providing stainless steel crowns for primary molars without tooth preparation and requires no local anesthesia. Literature review showed inconclusive evidence and therefore this technique should not be used in clinical practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

A wearable C-shaped antenna based on a fabric material operating at 2.4 GHz frequency is proposed for use in flexible/wearable IoT medical systems. The wearable IoT device plays a key role in medical applications, and the antenna is a key part of it. Loading the presented antenna on the body models showed a frequency detuned with the gain and efficiency reduced from 1. 28 to −9 dB and 90% to 10%. In addition, the SAR did not meet the safety health requirement defined by the FCC or ICNIRP standards. Therefore, an "Artificial Magnetic Conductor" structure (AMC) is added to the C-shaped antenna to overcome these problems. The AMC acts as shielding material between the human skin and the presented antenna because of its 0° reflection phase, which mimics the action of the Perfect Magnetic Conductor (PMC). The overall size of the proposed design was 54 × 54 × 3.9 mm3. Numerical and experimental findings indicated that integrating the AMC structures with a C-shaped antenna was robust for body deformation and load. The C-shaped antenna worked equally well with the AMC, whether positioned in free space or on the chest or the arm of the human body. The integrated antenna with AMC structures has excellent performances. The gain and efficiency without loading on the chest were 6.49 dB and 84%, respectively. While for loaded on the chest were 6.21 dB and 81%, respectively. It also decreased the back radiation and raised the Front to Back Ration (FBR) by 13.8 dB. SAR levels have been reduced by more than 90% between the FCC and ICNIRP standards compared to the C-shaped antenna alone, which does not comply with the standards. As a result, the C-shaped integration with AMC structures is highly suitable for assembly in any wearable system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

Nearly 40% of US physicians experience occupational burnout. The actual prevalence rate of burnout among US dentists remains unknown. The authors examined a simplified 2-item burnout screening tool based on the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) to identify possible occupational burnout among dentists. Data were obtained from a survey of pediatric dentists (n = 540) in the United States. The full MBI items from the data set were used to determine and categorize emotional exhaustion and depersonalization. Responses to 2 MBI items, 1 for emotional exhaustion and 1 for depersonalization, were analyzed separately and risk of experiencing high MBI emotional exhaustion and depersonalization was calculated using all subscale items for these 2 burnout dimensions. Spearman correlations were used to compare responses to the 2 MBI items and MBI emotional exhaustion and depersonalization. Based on frequency of at least once per week, 18% of respondents had positive response to MBI item "I feel burned out from my work" and had high MBI emotional exhaustion, and 9% had positive response to MBI item "I have become more callous toward people since I took this job" along with high MBI depersonalization. The risk of experiencing the burnout dimensions of high emotional exhaustion and depersonalization increased with positive frequency score for the respective MBI items. There were strong positive correlations between responses to the 2 MBI items and emotional exhaustion and depersonalization scores, respectively. A simple 2-item burnout screening tool can be used to identify potential occupational burnout among dentists. Improving awareness about occupational burnout can help mitigate its detrimental consequences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

Introduction: Various factors influence men's perceptions regarding gender equity in family planning (FP). Identifying these factors can contribute to a deeper understanding of the roles that men play in family planning and ultimately leads to women's reproductive health outcomes. Objectives: This paper aims to investigate factors influencing Malaysian men's perceptions of gender equity in family planning. To achieve this, the effects of sociodemographic characteristics (age, education, and marital status), masculine traits, and attitudes towards domestic violence are investigated. Methodology: This is a cross-sectional study undertaken by administrating questionnaires to a sample of 168 men in Malaysia. The data are analyzed by applying partial least squares-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) and by using WarpPLS 6.0. Results: The results confirmed the significant effects of masculine traits and attitudes supporting domestic violence on perceived gender equity in family planning. In other words, the results showed that men's masculine traits and attitudes supporting domestic violence negatively influenced gender equity in family planning. The hypothesized effects of sociodemographic characteristics on perceived gender equity in family planning could not be verified. Conclusions: This study suggests some practical implications for local authorities to implement interventions that take a gender transformative approach to reduce men's masculine traits and improve their attitudes towards domestic violence to enhance gender equity in family planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

Abstract: Simple, rapid and sensitive spectrophotometric procedures are developed for the analysis of gabapentin in pure form as well as in their pharmaceutical formulations. The methods are based on the reaction of gabapentin as n-electron donor with ninhydrin and pi-acceptors namely, 2,3,5,6-tetrachloro-1,4-benzoquinone, chloranilic acid, 2,3-dichloro-5,6-dicyano-1,4-benzoquinone, tetracyanoethylene and 7,7,8,8-tetracyanoquinodimethane. The obtained complexes were measured at 568, 230, 314, 304, 335 and 439 nm for ninhydrin, chloranil, Chloranilic acid, DDQ, TCNE and TCNQ respectively. The proposed procedures could be successfully applied to the determination of gabepentin with good recovery; percent ranged from 99.3 to 100.7 The association constants and free energy changes using Benesi–Hildebrand plots are also studied. [Copyright &y& Elsevier] more...

Abstract: Two simple and sensitive spectrophotometric methods in ultraviolet and visible region are described for the determination of tranexamic acid in pure form and pharmaceutical preparations. The first method is based on the reaction of the drug with ninhydrin at boiling temperature and by measuring the increase in absorbance at 575nm as a function of time. The initial rate, rate constant and fixed time (120min) procedures were used for constructing the calibration graphs to determine the concentration of the drug, which showed a linear response over the concentration range 16–37μgmL−1 with correlation coefficient “r” 0.9997, 0.996, 0.9999, LOQ 6.968, 7.138, 2.462μgmL−1 and LOD 2.090, 2.141 and 0.739μgmL−1, respectively. In second method tranexamic acid was reacted with ferric chloride solution, yellowish orange colored chromogen showed λmax at 375nm showing linearity in the concentration range of 50–800μgmL−1 with correlation coefficient “r” 0.9997, LOQ 6.227μgmL−1 and LOD 1.868μgmL−1. The variables affecting the development of the color were optimized and the developed methods were validated statistically and through recovery studies. These results were also verified by IR and NMR spectroscopy. The proposed methods have been successfully applied to the determination of tranexamic acid in commercial pharmaceutical formulation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier] more...

Introduction: Carcinoma of bladder is among the most common cancers with male to female ratio of 3:1. Most cases present over the age of 50 years. Almost all bladder cancers are epithelial in origin 90% are transitional cell, 5% are squamous cell and 2% are adenocarcinoma. Up to 80% bladder cancers are associated with environmental exposure. They are mainly grouped into three categories; superficial cancers, muscularis properia-invasive cancers and metastatic cancers, each differ in clinical behaviour, primary management and outcome. The most significant prognostic factors are depth of invasion of bladder wall and degree of differentiation. The usual sites of metastasis are pelvic lymph nodes, liver, lung and bone. Objective: To determine the profile, management and outcome of the patient with bladder carcinoma. Patients and Method: From December 2000 till December 2007 our clinic registered 71 histologically proven cancers of bladder cases, however only 62 cases were evaluated. Patients age, sex, race, mode of presentation, type of surgery, histology type, staging, management and outcome were analyzed. Results: 62 patients with median age 60 years (range 33-90 years). Male to female ratio is 51:11. There are 60 Malays, 1 Chinese and 1 Siamese. 85% of patients presented with painless gross hematuria. 45% of pts underwent transurethral resection. Histologically, 55 patients had transitional cell, 2 patients had poorly differentiated, 2 patients had leiomyosarcoma, 1 patient had squamous, 1 patient had adenocarcinoma and 1 patient had metastatic carcinoma. 12 patients presented with stage II, 34 patiens stage III & 11 patients at stage IV. 12 patients received both chemotherapy & radiotherapy, 27 patients received radiotherapy alone and 1 patient received chemotherapy alone, 3 patients were put on palliative care and the rest of patients either refused or defaulted treatment. 5 patients developed recurrence, 2 patients developed metastasis. Median follow up was 6 months (range 2-36 months). Discussion and Conclusion: Most of our patients presented in advanced and late stage. Although more than 70% of our patients received adjuvant radiotherapy and chemotherapy but most of them were lost during follow up soon after the treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...