Methods: Twenty-three participants were recruited for this study. The participants were comprised of 11 Huffaz who memorized 30 chapters of the Islamic Scripture (from the Quran) and 12 non-Huffaz as the control group. All participants had normal hearing perception and underwent an ABR test with and without psychological tasks. The ABR was elicited at 70 dB nHL using a 3000 Hz tone burst stimulus with a 2-0-2 cycle at a stimulus repetition rate of 40 Hz. The ABR wave V amplitude and latencies were measured and statistically compared. A forward digit span test was also conducted to determine participants' working memory capacity.
Results: There were no significant differences in the ABR wave V amplitudes and latencies between Huffaz and non-Huffaz in ABR with and without psychological tasks. There were also no significant differences in the ABR wave V amplitudes and latencies in both groups of ABR with and without psychological tasks. In addition, no significant differences were identified in the digit span working memory score between both groups.
Conclusions: In this study, based on the ABR findings, Huffaz showed the same auditory sensory gating capacity as the non-Huffaz group. The ABR result was consistent with the digit span working memory test score. This finding implies that both groups have similar working memory performance. However, the conclusion is limited to the specific assessment method that we used in this study.
METHODS: Twelve gestating Wistar rats were divided equally into groups 1 and 2. On pregnancy day seven (PD7), group 2 animals were administered 200 mg/kg body weight of calabash chalk suspension, while group 1 animals served as the control and received 1 ml of distilled water, by oral gavages and for 14 days (PD7-PD20). On PD21, the dams were sacrificed, and the foetuses removed, examined for gross malformations, weighed and culled to two foetuses per mother. Their whole brains were excised, weighed and preserved using 10% buffered formalin, and routinely processed by haematoxylin and eosin, and Luxol fast blue methods.
RESULTS: The foetuses showed no morphological change, but their mean body weights was higher (p=0.0001). Histomorphological sections of the cerebral cortex showed hypertrophy and hyperplasia of cells in all the cortical layers, with less demonstrated Nissl and higher (p=0.001) cellular population compared with the control group.
CONCLUSION: Calabash chalk cause body weight increase and histomorphological changes in the cerebral cortex of foetuses.
Methods: A pretest-posttest experimental design was employed. Fifty subjects, diagnosed with T2DM, attending the Diabetes Clinic of the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu, were conveniently recruited, gender and age-matched, and randomised into exercise and control groups. The intervention included an eight-week aerobic exercise at 60%-79% HRmax for 45 min-60 min, 3-days per week. The FBS, SpO2, BMI, resting heart rate (RHR), and systolic (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) of the subjects were measured before and after the intervention. The paired and independent t-test(s) were used for the analyses within and between the groups, respectively (P ≤ 0.05).
Results: The exercise group had a significantly lower SBP (15.0 mmHg, P = 0.001), DBP (7.9 mmHg, P = 0.001), RHR (4.8 bpm, P = 0.001), FBS (34.9 mg/dl, P = 0.001), and BMI (2.3, P = 0.001), while the SpO2 improved by 3.9% with P = 0.001, relative to the control group.
Conclusion: Aerobics is an efficacious adjunct therapy in controlling the FBS level, blood pressure, BMI, and improving SpO2 among T2DM subjects.
Methods: A quasi-experimental study was conducted in year 2017 in Selangor, Malaysia among 719 parents/guardians of primary school children. The parent/guardians were randomly assigned as the intervention groups and were given a health educational Be-SAFE booklet on drowning prevention and water safety. The pretest was conducted before the intervention and posttest was done one month of intervention. The data collection tool was using a validated questionnaire on knowledge, attitude and practice for drowning prevention and water safety.
Results: There were 719 respondents (response rate of 89.9%) participated at baseline and 53.7% at end line (after the intervention). Significant differences found in knowledge, attitudes and practice on drowning prevention and water safety for the intervention and control groups after the intervention (P<0.001). There was a significant difference in mean scores for knowledge and attitude before and after the intervention, whereas no significant findings noted for practices (P<0.001).
Conclusion: Be SAFE booklet contributed to the increase in parents/guardian's knowledge and attitudes towards drowning prevention and water safety to prevent the risk of child drowning.
METHOD: The meta-analysis included all studies that examined the effect of prebiotic, probiotic, and synbiotic supplements on one or more renal function parameters and had a control group. We searched July 1967 through to March 2016 MEDLINE, Scopus, and Google Scholar databases.
RESULTS: Of 437 studies, 13 were eligible for inclusion in the meta-analysis. GFR levels tended to be reduced; whereas creatinine levels increased in the intervention group compared with the placebo group, both in a non-significant manner. The pooled effect on BUN demonstrated a significant decline compared with the placebo group (MD, -1.72 mmol/L; 95% confidence interval [CI], -2.93 to -0.51; P = 0.005). Urea significantly decreased after intervention (-0.46 mmol/L; 95% CI, -0.60 to -0.32; P <0.0001). The UA levels significantly increased in the intervention group compared with the placebo group (12.28 µmol/L; 95% CI, 0.85-23.71; P = 0.035).
CONCLUSION: This study showed a significant increase in UA and a decrease in urea and BUN. The use of prebiotic, probiotic, and synbiotic supplements among those with compromised renal function or those at risk for renal failure should be limited until large-scale, well-designed randomized controlled trials prove the safety and efficacy of these supplements in improving renal function.
Material and Methods: We enrolled 26 patients scheduled for hallux valgus surgery and treated with the same surgical technique (SCARF osteotomy). After subgluteal sciatic nerve block with a short acting local anaesthetic (Mepivacaine 1.5%, 15ml), each patient received an ultrasound-guided Posterior Tibialis Nerve Block (PTNB) with Levobupivacaine 0.5% (7-8ml). We measured the postoperative intensity of pain using a Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), the consumption of oxycodone after operative treatment and the motor recovery. VAS was detected at baseline (time 0, before the surgery) and at 3, 6, 12 and 24 hours after the operative procedure (T1, T2, T3, T4 respectively). Control group of 26 patients were treated with another post-operative analgesia technique: local infiltration (Local Infiltration Anaesthesia, LIA) with Levobupivacaine 0.5% (15ml) performed by the surgeon.
Results: PTNB group showed a significant reduction of VAS score from the sixth hour after surgery compared to LIA group (p<0.028 at T2, p<0.05 at T3 and p<0.002 at T4, respectively). Instead, no significant differences were found in terms of post-operative oxycodone consumption and motor recovery after surgery.Conclusions: PTNB resulted in a valid alternative to LIA approach for post-operative pain control due to its better control of post-operative pain along the first 24 hours. In a multimodal pain management according to ERAS protocol, both PTNB and LIA should be considered as clinically effective analgesic techniques.