Resveratrol and Alzheimer's Disease: Mechanistic Insights.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the leading cause of dementia in the elderly and is characterized by progressive cognitive and memory deficits. The pathological hallmarks of AD include extracellular senile plaques and intracellular neurofibrillary tangles. Although several mechanisms have been used to explain the underlying pathogenesis of AD, current treatment regimens remain inadequate.

In-silico analysis of Pasteurella multocida to identify common epitopes between fowl, goat and buffalo.

Pasteurella multocida represents a highly diverse group of bacteria infecting various hosts like the fowl, goat and buffalo leading to huge economic loss to the poultry and cattle industry. Previous reports indicated that the outer membrane proteins contribute significantly to the pathogenesis of Pasteurella multocida. The comparative in-silico genome wide analysis of four pathogenic Pasteurella multocida strains (Anand1-poultry, Anand1-goat, PMTB and VTCCBAA264) with their respective hosts was performed.

Effect of roasting on physicochemical, functional and antioxidant properties of arrowhead (Sagittaria sagittifolia L.) flour.

Arrowhead tubers with protein, lipid and ash content of 4.60%, 2.27% and 6.

Knowledge, attitudes and perceptions among non blood donor female health care professionals.

Introduction: Blood donation is necessary in order to maintain an adequate supply of blood to patients who are suffering from any kind of disease or trauma, which requires them to have blood transfusion. Female non-blood donors are generally low in number. Therefore, this research was carried out to assess the main reasons behind the lack of blood donations made by females, and their knowledge, attitude and perceptions towards voluntary blood donation.

Glycosylated Alpha-1-acid glycoprotein 1 as a potential lung cancer serum biomarker.

Presently existing screening approaches for lung cancer are not being proving sufficient and sensitive, so a study was conducted to identify disease related biomarker proteins for diagnostic applications. A total of 100 lung cancer patients (88 non-small cell lung cancer and 12 small cell lung cancer) and 50 healthy controls were included in this study. Serum samples of patients and healthy controls were subjected to a series of proteomic approaches and as a result of two dimensional gel electrophoresis, a ∼ 43 kDa protein was found to be differentially expressed compared to healthy controls.

Underlying risk factors for prescribing errors in long-term aged care: a qualitative study.

Objectives: To identify system-related risk factors perceived to contribute to prescribing errors in Australian long-term care settings, that is, residential aged care facilities (RACFs).

Design And Setting: The study used qualitative methods to explore factors that contribute to unsafe prescribing in RACFs. Data were collected at three RACFs in metropolitan Sydney, Australia between May and November 2011.

Disparate Mutations Confer Therapeutic Gain of Hsp104 Function.

Hsp104, a protein disaggregase from yeast, can be engineered and potentiated to counter TDP-43, FUS, or α-synuclein misfolding and toxicity implicated in neurodegenerative disease. Here, we reveal that extraordinarily disparate mutations potentiate Hsp104. Remarkably, diverse single missense mutations at 20 different positions interspersed throughout the middle domain (MD) and small domain of nucleotide-binding domain 1 (NBD1) confer a therapeutic gain of Hsp104 function.

Glaucoma detection using novel optic disc localization, hybrid feature set and classification techniques.

Glaucoma is a chronic and irreversible neuro-degenerative disease in which the neuro-retinal nerve that connects the eye to the brain (optic nerve) is progressively damaged and patients suffer from vision loss and blindness. The timely detection and treatment of glaucoma is very crucial to save patient's vision. Computer aided diagnostic systems are used for automated detection of glaucoma that calculate cup to disc ratio from colored retinal images.

Ethnomedicinal Evaluation of Medicinal Plants Used against Gastrointestinal Complaints.

Aim of the present study was to document ethnomedicinal plants used against gastrointestinal complaints in five selected remote regions of Pakistan and to select potential medicinal plants for further in vitro and in vivo investigation. Data on ethnomedicinal plants and ethnographic profile of respondents was documented using semistructured questionnaires. The present study revealed utilization of 52 medicinal plants for the treatment of different gastrointestinal infections in studied regions.

Parents' perspectives on care of children with autistic spectrum disorder in South Asia - Views from Pakistan and India.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) affects about 1.4% of the population in South Asia but very few have access to any form of health care service. The objective of this study was to explore the beliefs and practices related to the care of children with ASD to inform strategies for intervention.

External-beam radiation therapy for malignant paraganglioma of the head and neck.

Background: Malignant paragangliomas of the head and neck are very rare tumors of the neuroendocrine cells associated with the peripheral nervous system. There are limited data available to help guide treatment of these tumors and the role of radiation therapy (RT) is not well-defined. This article briefly reviews the pathology, clinical presentation, and treatment modalities of these tumors and reviews our institutional experience in treating this malignancy.

Mass spectrometric identification, characterization and validation of the haptoglobin β-chain protein as a lung cancer serum biomarker.

Lung cancer is the major contributor to overall cancer-related mortality. Biomarkers are important in early detection and prognosis, in addition to developing treatment regimes, which may improve the patient survival rates. Biomarkers may also assist in investigating the in depth metabolic pathways and in establishing a set of therapeutic agents leading to early detection of the disease.

Types of Cancers Prevailing in Pakistan and their Management Evaluation.

Cancer is basically a class of disorder marked by uncontrolled proliferation of cells which have the potential to interfere with different systems of body like digestive, central nervous and circulatory systems by releasing hormones. Tumors that reside only in a specified location and show restricted growth are commonly characterized as benign tumors. When tumor cells grow and effectively spread to other body parts and potentially invade and damage healthy tissues they show various degrees of malignancy.

Drug repurposing: a systematic approach to evaluate candidate oral neuroprotective interventions for secondary progressive multiple sclerosis.

Objective: To develop and implement an evidence based framework to select, from drugs already licenced, candidate oral neuroprotective drugs to be tested in secondary progressive multiple sclerosis.

Design: Systematic review of clinical studies of oral putative neuroprotective therapies in MS and four other neurodegenerative diseases with shared pathological features, followed by systematic review and meta-analyses of the in vivo experimental data for those interventions. We presented summary data to an international multi-disciplinary committee, which assessed each drug in turn using pre-specified criteria including consideration of mechanism of action.

Synthesis, spectral characterization and crystals structure of some arsane derivatives of gold (I) complexes: a comparative density functional theory study.

A series of complexes of the type LAuCl where L = tris(p-tolylarsane), tris(m-tolylarsane), bis(diphenylarsano)ethane, and tris(naphthyl)arsane have been synthesized. All of the new complexes, 1-4, have been fully characterized by means of ¹H NMR and ¹³C NMR spectroscopy and single crystal X-ray crystallography. The structures of complexes 1-4 have been determined from X-ray diffraction data.

Ethnogynaecological assessment of medicinal plants in Pashtun's tribal society.

The present study was designed to document detailed ethnogynaecological knowledge of selected remote regions of Pashtun's tribe in northwest Pakistan. Semistructured questionnaires were designed to collect ethnogynaecological and ethnographic data. Total of 51 medicinal plants belonging to 36 families were documented that were used by the women of studied regions for the treatment of 9 types of gynaecological complaints.

Review on ethnomedicinal, phytochemical and pharmacological evidence of Himalayan anticancer plants.

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Himalayan plants have 6500 years old history of being using as traditional medicines. Inhabitants of the region use indigenous knowledge for the preparation of various herbal recipes in order to treat different kinds of cancer. The aim of this review is to provide ethnopharmacological, phytochemical and toxicological overview of Himalayan medicinal plants having anticancer potential.

Disrupted-in-Schizophrenia-1 SNPs and Susceptibility to Schizophrenia: Evidence from Malaysia.

Objective: Even though the role of the DICS1 gene as a risk factor for schizophrenia is still unclear, there is substantial evidence from functional and cell biology studies that supports the connection of the gene with schizophrenia. The studies associating the DISC1 gene with schizophrenia in Asian populations are limited to East-Asian populations. Our study examined several DISC1 markers of schizophrenia that were identified in the Caucasian and East-Asian populations in Malaysia and assessed the role of rs2509382, which is located at 11q14.

Comparison of perinatal outcome in growth restricted fetuses retaining normal umbilical artery Doppler flow to those with diminished end-diastolic flow.

Background: Intrauterine growth restriction /retardation (IUGR) is defined as birth weight below the 10th percentile for a given gestational age. Placental insufficiency is the primary cause of intrauterine growth retardation in normally formed fetuses and can be identified using umbilical artery Doppler velocimetry which is a non-invasive technique. The objective of this study was to compare perinatal outcome in growth restricted fetuses retaining normal umbilical artery Doppler flow to those with diminished or severely reduced/absent end-diastolic flow.

Design challenges for electronic medication administration record systems in residential aged care facilities: a formative evaluation.

Introduction: Electronic medication administration record (eMAR) systems are promoted as a potential intervention to enhance medication safety in residential aged care facilities (RACFs). The purpose of this study was to conduct an in-practice evaluation of an eMAR being piloted in one Australian RACF before its roll out, and to provide recommendations for system improvements.

Methods: A multidisciplinary team conducted direct observations of workflow (n=34 hours) in the RACF site and the community pharmacy.

Ethnopharmacological assessment of medicinal plants used against livestock infections by the people living around Indus River.

The present study was aimed to document detailed ethnopharmacological knowledge of medicinal plants against livestock infections of an unexplored remote region of Pakistan. Semistructured questionnaires were used for data collection. Total 43 plants belonging to 26 families were found to be used in ethnoveterinary practices.

A Descriptive Analysis of Incidents Reported by Community Aged Care Workers.

Little is known about the types of incidents that occur to aged care clients in the community. This limits the development of effective strategies to improve client safety. The objective of the study was to present a profile of incidents reported in Australian community aged care settings.