bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Prevalence of Diabetes Among Hispanics/Latinos From Diverse Backgrounds: The Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos (HCHS/SOL)
Authors: Schneiderman Neil , Llabre Maria , Cowie Catherine C. , Barnhart Janice , Carnethon Mercedes , Gallo Linda C. , Giachello Aida L. , Heiss Gerardo , Kaplan Robert C. , LaVange Lisa M. , Teng Yanping , Villa-Caballero Leonel , Avilés-Santa M. Larissa
Published: July 2014

OBJECTIVE

We examine differences in prevalence of diabetes and rates of awareness and control among adults from diverse Hispanic/Latino backgrounds in the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos (HCHS/SOL).

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS

The HCHS/SOL, a prospective, multicenter, population-based study, enrolled from four U.S. metropolitan areas from 2008 to 2011 16,415 18–74-year-old people of Hispanic/Latino descent. Diabetes was defined by either fasting plasma glucose, impaired glucose tolerance 2 h after a glucose load, glycosylated hemoglobin (A1C), or documented use of hypoglycemic agents (scanned medications).

RESULTS

Diabetes prevalence varied from 10.2% in South Americans and 13.4% in Cubans to 17.7% in Central Americans, 18.0% in Dominicans and Puerto Ricans, and 18.3% in Mexicans (P < 0.0001). Prevalence related positively to age (P < 0.0001), BMI (P < 0.0001), and years living in the U.S. (P = 0.0010) but was negatively related to education (P = 0.0005) and household income (P = 0.0043). Rate of diabetes awareness was 58.7%, adequate glycemic control (A1C <7%, 53 mmol/mol) was 48.0%, and having health insurance among those with diabetes was 52.4%.

CONCLUSIONS

Present findings indicate a high prevalence of diabetes but considerable diversity as a function of Hispanic background. The low rates of diabetes awareness, diabetes control, and health insurance in conjunction with the negative associations between diabetes prevalence and both household income and education among Hispanics/Latinos in the U.S. have important implications for public health policies.
Effect of MHD and Injection through one side of a long vertical channel embedded in porous medium with transpiration cooling
Authors: Govardhan K. , Kaladhar K. , Nagaraju G. , Balaswamy B.
Published: July 2014

This paper examines the effect of MHD, and injection through one side of a long vertical channel embedded in porous medium with transpiration cooling. The governing nonlinear partial differential equations have been transformed by similarity transformation into a set of ordinary differential equations, which are solved numerically by Adam-moultan Predictor-Corrector method with Newton-Raphson Method for missing initial conditions. Proflles of dimensionless velocity, temperature and concentration are shown graphically for different parameters entering into the analysis. Also the effects of the pertinent parameters on the heat transfer rates are tabulated. An analysis of the results obtained shows that the flow field is influenced appreciably by emerging parameters of the present study.
Praxis in Practice: Digital Media and Social Design in Performance
Authors: Broverman Alison
Published: July 2014

Abstract:

With savvy use of social media, the Toronto-based independent production company Praxis Theatre has become a cultural and political voice across Canada. This article offers a look at the history of the company and a case study of what they’ve done right with social media in developing new and challenging projects.
Patch Notes: Playing the Selves in Gamespace
Authors: Filewod Alan
Published: July 2014

Abstract:

Digital gaming is a theatricalized activity in the wider spheres of performance studies research. When we play games we trace out our personal experiences through digital participation, narrative simulation, enactment, and spectatorship. Traditionally thought of as dimensionally collapsed puppet play that assumes a direct relationship between player and avatar, player experiences in gaming have been transformed by social networks featuring online play. In MMORPGs (massively multiplayer online role-playing games), gaming becomes an embodied practice that projects corporeality into digital space. This is the expanding “atopian” realm of what Mackenzie Wark calls “gamespace,” which supersedes Guy Debord’s “spectacle” as the cultural logic of our time. Written from a gamer perspective, this article explores how the recent dominance of MMORPGS has shifted understandings of role-play in gaming. It critiques the models of player types proposed by John Bartle and Nick Yee for their inability to consider the multi-dimensionality of distributed selves in gamespace.
Voice of the Patriots: An Interview with Canadian Video Game Performer David Hayter
Authors: Love Jamie
Published: July 2014

Abstract:

This article presents an interview with David Hayter, a Canadian-American screen and voice actor best known for playing the voices of Solid Snake and Big Boss in the Metal Gear Solid video game franchise created by Hideo Kojima and published by Konami. Hayter is also a director and screenwriter responsible for scripts based on popular comic properties such as X-Men and Watchmen.
La maison de retraite comme espace hétérotopique dans les romans canadiens : Exit Lines de Joan Barfoot, Et dansent les hirondelles de Marguerite-A. Primeau et Les vieux ne courent pas les rues de Jean-Pierre Boucher
Authors: Dansereau Estelle
Published: July 2014

Abstract:

The retirement home, a heterotopic space removed from the centre of fast-paced twenty-first century urban life, is increasingly becoming a site of revolt and transformation in Canadian fiction. Constructed principally as feminine spaces, these sites nevertheless offer the possibility of featuring a kaleidoscope of ways to age and create a microcosm where small acts of delirious rebellions may occur. These acts become fodder for writers who nevertheless acknowledge the undeniable challenges linked to aging in our era of agism. Three Canadian novelists have set their novels in just such a space: Joan Barfoot in Exit Lines (2008) offers an irreverent portrait of uprooted seniors intent on defining their “last identity,” Marguerite-A. Primeau in her still unpublished Et dansent les hirondelles renders an equally caustic, soberly ironic look at the secret, segregated world of the retirement homes, and Jean-Pierre Boucher in Les vieux ne courent pas les rues (2001) satirizes the “compassionate care” provided in nursing homes where seniors are segregated and managed but seldom loved. In this paper, I consider, through the lens of Michel Foucault’s concept of “heterotopic spaces” and empirical research on seniors’ habitats, the magical way novelists are able to transform what is often seen as a desperate situation for seniors into readable, engaging, and sometimes subversive narratives.
The Ebbs and Flows of Canada’s Public Diplomacy with a Domestic Foundation
Authors: Huijgh Ellen
Published: July 2014

Canada jumped ahead in its development of public diplomacy, that is the involvement of public opinion in foreign policy-making and conduct. Canadian studies centres around the globe have been hallmarks of Canada’s public diplomacy. The Canadian federal government also engaged domestic civil society as publics and as partners, yet this inclusive approach to public involvement at home and abroad has been scuttled. Efforts by the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (now the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development) to consult with civil society on foreign policy may have been trendsetting, but times have changed. This article explores the fluctuations of Canada’s public diplomacy with a domestic foundation, and thus the involvement of Canadians in reaching out to foreign peers on shared international policy concerns. After briefly discussing the concept of public diplomacy and its domestic dimension, the article analyzes how evolutions in public diplomacy reflect the Canadian government’s approach to involving Canadians in it from its beginnings, through the Liberal decade, and into the Conservative period. Finally, the Canadian government’s approach is assessed. The article finds that its high-water mark of innovation in involving publics at home and abroad occurred some time ago. Its ebbs and flows, not affected only the children of the political environment, also derive from wider developments in diplomacy.
Être bilingue à Sudbury (Ontario)Étude sur le contact des langues et lareprésentation des identités
Authors: Cañete María Teresa Pisa
Published: July 2014

Abstract:

In this article, we follow the theoretical sociolinguistics procedures used by Milroy, Heller and Mougeon on the choice of language in situations of bilingualism. Fieldwork among five bilingual francophone families in Greater Sudbury / Grand Sudbury (Ontario) enabled us to know the social factors that influence their choice of language in different situations of everyday life. In addition, these families represent two subgroups of the Franco-Ontarian minority population described by Duquette: on the one hand, an elite that promotes a normative French language and the traditional values of both the French culture and, on the other hand, the bilingual speakers for whom the English language offers attractive economic and cultural resources. Differences among Francophones weaken the vitality of their community, while English is required as a lingua franca, despite the historical struggles to achieve a certain level of education, to get jobs or to access a French sociocultural development in Ontario.
Aging, Access, and the Costs of Health Care: Should Canada Query the QALY?
Authors: Syrett Keith
Published: July 2014

Abstract:

This article explores the legality of age-related allocative decision making in health care in relation to international and domestic standards of human rights law. Drawing on source materials, scenarios, and case law from the UK and New Zealand in addition to Canada, it focuses in particular on the use of the Quality Adjusted Life Year (QALY) metric—the gold standard for evaluation of the cost effectiveness of health technologies—by institutions and processes such as the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (UK) and the Common Drug Review (Canada), which play key roles in establishing the scope of health system coverage. The article argues that the QALY offends principles of ethics and human rights because of its tendency toward ageism. Decision making that rests on the application of such a measure can accordingly be regarded as lacking in legitimacy, both morally and legally.
Long-Term Care Service Policies in Three Canadian Provinces: Alberta, Quebec, and Ontario—Examining the National and Subnational Contexts
Authors: Palley Howard A.
Published: July 2014

Abstract:

This article describes how health and related long-term care policies are often “embedded” in situations that are unique to specific countries. The specific contexts of such policies include demographic trends, socio-cultural factors, government organization, and political circumstances. In this article, the author uses a comparative framework examining international trends in long-term care policy with emphasis on how these trends are reflected in Canada’s federal/provincial policies.
Income Inequality and Health Trajectories from Mid-Life to Later Life: Are Canadian and American Differences Widening?
Authors: McDaniel Susan A. , Gazso Amber
Published: July 2014

Abstract:

It is well known that policies and welfare regimes differentially affect the aging process, health trajectories over the life course, and indeed life expectancy. Growing income inequalities are also understood to have health and well-being implications. The focus in this paper is on the effects of growing income inequalities on the health and well-being of those in mid-life as they age in two neighbouring countries, Canada and the United States. The authors rely on a comparative multi-method approach informed by a life course perspective. Placing the trajectories of synthetic cohorts in the two countries in the contexts of contrasting welfare policy regimes, the authors examine the relative effects of growing income inequalities on well-being as people move into their later years. By juxtaposing the effects of long-term policies and growing income inequalities with the life course process of aging, the authors can hypothesize what the health and well-being prospects may be for those who will soon be in their older years in the two countries.
“A City of Sin No More”: Sanitizing Montreal in Print Culture, 1964–71
Authors: Straw Will
Published: July 2014

It is well known that periodicals of low esteem, both Canadian and non-Canadian, regularly covered Montreal during the immediate post–Second World War period in ways that emphasized the city’s allegedly corrupt and vice-ridden character. In the 1960s, this discourse shifted, as periodicals of all levels of prestige came to offer more appealing images of Montreal’s cosmopolitanism and quality attractions. Magazines aimed at tourists emphasized Montreal’s cosmopolitanism and modernity, highlighting the availability of up-to-date consumer goods influenced by European style and the technological marvels being constructed for the 1967 World’s Fair, Expo ’67. Guides to entertainment in Montreal offered inventories of sophisticated, “European” dining experiences and chic nightlife venues. Through an examination of a variety of periodicals aimed at visitors to Montreal or inhabitants of the city anxious to discover its new attractions, this article traces Montreal’s reinvention of itself as a cosmopolitan, forward-looking metropolis.
Canadian Magazines and Their Spatial Contexts: Digital Possibilities and Practical Realities
Authors: Lang Anouk
Published: July 2014

The digitization of literary texts and periodicals brings with it exciting possibilities, including the ability to create visualizations of places and trajectories using mapping technologies. However, such mapping also has the potential to be somewhat perilous, as researchers need to invest significant amounts of time without always being certain in advance about the intellectual benefits that will result. In this article, I ask what it means to map place in relation to little magazines—places of publication, places mentioned, places whose broader imaginative pull is attested to by depictions of travel and tourism—and consider not only how but also why and when it is worth going to the trouble of geocoding texts from literature, literary history, and book history. I take several case studies of digital projects which use mapping of various sorts to explore what can be discovered from geographical and other forms of visualization, and I suggest particular kinds of data, and text, that are especially beneficial to bring within the ambit of this kind of methodological approach.
Martha Ostenso, Periodical Culture, and the Middlebrow
Authors: McGregor Hannah , Smith Michelle
Published: July 2014

Between 1938 and 1942, border-crossing Norwegian-Canadian author Martha Ostenso published three short stories in Chatelaine magazine, stories that engage in complex ways with themes of femininity, nationalism, and consumerism. In this article, we consider how the context of Chatelaine shapes and complicates readings of these stories by placing the stories in conversation with surrounding material, including advertisements and editorial content. The fiction, we argue, unsettles romantic tropes and nationalist rhetoric, and contests the correlation between the attainment of happiness and the acceptance of class and gender norms. In examining authorial identity, textual complexity, and print cultural contexts, we show how middlebrow magazines are a vibrant means of understanding middle-class culture’s anxieties and aspirations.
Home as Middle Ground in Adaptations ofAnne of Green GablesandJalna
Authors: Roy Wendy
Published: July 2014

Homi Bhabha begins “The World and the Home,” his essay about nationalism, postcolonialism, and the unhomely, with a discussion of a book with a house in its title. Houses are equally prominent in the titles of two early twentieth-century Canadian middlebrow novels: L. M. Montgomery’s 1908 Anne of Green Gables and Mazo de la Roche’s 1927 Jalna. Both books, indeed, centre their characters in a specific and particular house as well as a specific and particular country, and in so doing present the home as microcosm of the nation. As suggested by the continued reinvention of Montgomery’s and de la Roche’s books through repeated international translations and popular culture adaptations, however, these fictional Canadian homes provide a middle ground that allows for complex and sometimes unsettling movements among the local, national, and transnational. These works and their international adoptions and film and television adaptations transform the complexities of Canada’s internal and external social and political relations into an imagined middle ground, located somewhere between Canada and the rest of the world. Home becomes something unhomely: still blurrily recognizable, but distorted and defamiliarized because home ground has shifted to the global.
The Limits of Local Redistribution: Neighbourhood Regeneration Initiatives in Toronto and Phoenix
Authors: Horak Martin , Dantico Marilyn
Published: July 2014

Deteriorating urban neighbourhoods often seem to defy government intervention efforts. Neighbourhood distress rarely tops local political agendas, and local governments find it difficult to muster the resources required to significantly improve distressed neighbourhoods. The few resources that exist are often spread thinly across large areas, making impacts difficult to see. This research looks at two initiatives that aimed to overcome these challenges. Both Toronto, Ontario, and Phoenix, Arizona, targeted regeneration efforts to a few neighbourhoods. Both initiatives have had some success, but have also faced implementation and sustainability challenges. We find that strong local administrative sectors, coupled with political change, present opportunities to redistribute resources to neighbourhoods in need, but that the broader structure and financing of local government significantly limits the scope of redistributive efforts that can be realized.
Studying Mayoral Leadership in Canada and the United States
Authors: Urbaniak Tom
Published: July 2014

This chapter argues that building a theory of strong or weak mayoral leadership in the United States and Canada poses many challenges. But there is no reason why a theory of mayoral leadership has to be specific to the national context. Institutional structures may be different in the two countries, attitudes about government may vary, but mayoral leadership in both countries is about establishing a general policy or problem narrative, influencing senior levels of government and crisis management, and usually about proposing projects rather than unilaterally promulgating. For students of mayoral leadership, national affiliation is not the main dividing line, but rather how we think about leadership as a concept, regardless of country. There are marked differences concerning how such terms as “strong mayor,” “power,” and “leadership” should be understood. Determining the relative weight of such variables as personality, political culture, interests, and institutions is also a complicated matter, and there remains considerable confusion over research methods and appropriate questions, not to mention the difficulty of sorting out facts from groundless popular assumptions. The literature on mayoral leadership is much more extensive in the United States than it is in Canada. But the task of building a Canadian literature, almost literally from scratch in many instances, also affords an opportunity: to study mayoral leadership as a pre-emptive exercise—that is, narrowing or defining an agenda, instead of actually wielding formal authority or necessarily creating big projects.
Comparing the Politics of Urban Development in American and Canadian Cities: The Myth of the North-South Divide
Authors: Moore Aaron A.
Published: July 2014

The politics of urban development has been a major area of study in the United States for some time, and while the field is smaller in Canada, the study of urban development has always been an important aspect of the study of urban politics in this country. However, a fruitful discussion comparing Canadian and American cities has only emerged recently and is still largely in its infancy. Supposed institutional, legal, and cultural differences between the two countries continue to be cited as barriers to such research. This paper questions such assumptions. Drawing on existing empirical literature, and the author’s current and past research on the politics of urban development in Canadian cities, this paper argues that what cultural distinctions exist are minor and often peculiarities of specific cities, states, and/or provinces and that differences in planning law and institutions, though substantial, are not defined by a north–south divide. Rather, planning law and planning institutions vary significantly in both countries. Many Canadian jurisdictions have more in common with American jurisdictions than with fellow Canadian ones. These institutional differences do not act as a barrier to comparison, however, but are a useful means for gaining insight into the politics of urban development in both countries.
Governance Regimes for Cross-Border Infrastructure: A Comparative Study of Facilities on the Canada–United States Border
Authors: McLean Dylan S. , Eagles Munroe
Published: July 2014

This article examines the governance regimes that have developed around a neglected but significant type of cross-border institution: the organizations that manage and operate the physical infrastructure that links Canada with the United States across a water border. On land border crossings, no shared infrastructure that must be jointly managed and maintained is required. However, along the 3538 km of the southern Canada–northern United States border (55 per cent of the entire border) that is formed by a waterway (lake or river), some jointly managed physical infrastructure is necessary to link the countries. There are a total of 25 vehicular bridges or tunnels that provide a physical connection across this water border, and these include the busiest crossing points along the entire border in terms of both freight (where Detroit/Windsor leads the way) and passenger traffic (which is heaviest at the Niagara crossings). The successful management of these physical infrastructure resources is of great importance to both countries, and many of these cross-border facilities have become potent symbols of cross-national comity. Though arguably the challenges facing border facility operators are generally similar along the Canada–United States water border, a wide variety of models for the management and governance of shared bridges and tunnels have emerged. This article relies on semi-structured interviews with facility managers and executives within seven border crossing governance regimes (accounting for a total of 18 separate border crossing facilities) and focuses primarily on those spanning the Maine–New Brunswick , New York–Ontario, and Michigan-Ontario borders. Through published descriptions of the formal structures and the interviews, we examine the ways in which interests and perspectives from the two sides of the border are accommodated in the diverse governance regimes of these facilities. We also explore the various responses of facility operators to the challenges posed by the binational context; the impact of securitization and new border crossing requirements; and the facility’s role in fostering cross-border relationships at the community level. From this, it is clear that border facilities are generally well operated and responsive to their mission. However, we are able to document some enduring challenges faced by the operators of border infrastructure. These constrain the performance of these facilities in significant ways.
“HoneyedEpoché”: Thinking and Singing in Ken Babstock’sAirstream Land Yacht
Authors: MacRae Ian J.
Published: July 2014

Ken Babstock was awarded the 2012 Griffin Canadian Poetry Prize and is one of Canada’s finest early career poets. And yet his work has not received the critical attention it deserves. This article argues that Babstock intends poetry in his third collection, Airstream Land Yacht (2006), as a method of thinking, a way of doing philosophy. Simply enough, but in considerable complexity, he is thinking through the problems of consciousness in this book. These are often playful, apparently lighthearted, but also deceptively serious poems. As discussed herein, Babstock is a poet in dialogue with a range of traditions who pays careful attention to music and craft in order to articulate moments in which a “honeyed epoché”—a calm lucidity, a penetrating stillness—might be grasped.
Tobacco: The Silent Killer
Authors: Yeasmeen Tahmina , Parvin Rukhsana , Khan Md Aminul Haque
Published: July 2014

No AbstractDOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/jemc.v4i2.19456
Upper Gastrointestinal Symptoms in General Population of a District in Bangladesh
Authors: Perveen Irin , Rahman Mufti Munsurar , Saha Madhusudan
Published: July 2014

Background: Upper gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms are common complaints affecting 25--40% of the general population and are common causes of health care utilisation and substantially affect the quality of life. In day-to-day practice our clinicians have to face good number of patients with various upper GI symptoms. But we have limited data on the prevalence of different upper GI symptoms in our community. Objective: The present study aimed to find out the prevalence of different upper GI symptoms in the general population of a district in Bangladesh. Materials and Methods: This population-based observational study was conducted in a selected district of Bangladesh. Three thousand subjects selected by cluster sampling method were interviewed by a valid bowel disease questionnaire. Students t test and chi-square tests were used for comparison of different variables with significance level set at 0.05. Results: Among the study population 1523 were men and 1477 were women with a mean age of 33.91 ± 16.43 years. A total of 2273 (75.8%) persons had at least one upper GI symptom, 2072 (69.1%) had 2 or more symptoms and 1705 (56.8%) had 3 or more symptoms in the prior 3 months. Nine hundred sixty three subjects (32.1%) had upper abdominal pain, 1265 (42.16%) had bloating, 1354 (45.13%) had heart-burn, 1166 (38.87%) had chest pain, 1347 (44.9%) had early satiation and 258 (8.6%) had vomiting. Around 249 (8.3%, male 123, female 126, P=0.691) was diagnosed as functional dyspepsia, 187 (6.2%, male 82, female 105, P=0.059) as gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and 55 (1.83%, male 27, female 28, P=0.892) as upper abdominal bloating. Only one woman fulfilled the criteria for functional gallbladder or sphincter of Oddi dysfunction. Approximately 40.56% dyspeptic patients had overlapping GERD symptoms. Symptom prevalence was found to decrease with increased number, frequency and duration of symptoms. Conclusion: Upper GI symptoms are prevalent in our community. Multiple upper GI symptoms do exist simultaneously. Symptom prevalence varies with number, frequency and duration of symptoms. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/jemc.v4i2.19458 J Enam Med Col 2014; 4(2): 79--88
Efficacy of Topical 1% Oxiconazole Cream in the Treatment of Dermatophytosis
Authors: Islam Md Tawhidul , Akhter Shamima , Khondker Lubna , Khan Md Shirajul Islam , Siddiqua Ayesha
Published: July 2014

Background: Dermatophytosis is a geographically widespread group of fungal infections. Tinea corporis and tinea cruris are the most common dermatophytoses in Bangladesh. Oxiconazole has recently been introduced in Bangladesh in the treatment of dermatophytoses. Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of topical 1% oxiconazole cream once daily in the treatment of tinea corporis and tinea cruris. Materials and Methods: A clinical trial was carried out in the department of Dermatology and Venereology, Jalalabad Ragib-Rabeya Medical College Hospital, Sylhet on 81 patients with tinea corporis and/or tinea cruris. The patients were instructed to apply 1% oxiconazole cream once daily for 2 weeks with clinical assessment made at weekly intervals during treatment period. Results: The mean age of the patients was 32.5 ± 10.5 years, with tinea corporis in 47 (58.0%) patients and tinea cruris in 34 (42.0%). The mean clinical assessment score declined from 6.6 ± 1.3 at baseline to 3.9 ± 1.2 at week 1, 0.9 ± 1.3 at week 2 and 0.7 ± 1.1 at week 4. Reduction of clinical assessment score from baseline to end of the treatment period was statistically significant (p<0.001). The improvement of clinical score was from baseline to 41.6% at week 1, 89.3% at week 2 and 91.5% at week 4. Improvement of clinical score from baseline to end of the treatment period was statistically significant (p<0.001). Global response was clear in 55 (67.9%) patients, good in 25 (30.9%) patients and fair in 1(1.2%) patient. Clinical efficacy was cure in 55 (67.9%) patients, improvement in 25 (30.9%) and failure in 1(1.2%) patient. Conclusion: Once daily topical administration of oxiconazole cream is highly effective in the treatment of superficial fungal infections of the skin. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/jemc.v4i2.19479 J Enam Med Col 2014; 4(2): 89-93
Diabetic Ketoacidosis: Pattern of Precipitating Causes
Authors: Ahmed Ashraf Uddin , Rahim Muhammad Abdur , Rahman Md Raziur , Nazim Reshad Falah , Uddin Khwaja Nazim
Published: July 2014

Background: Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) is one of the most common acute complications of diabetes mellitus (DM). DKA is a recognised presenting feature of type 1 DM, but it commonly complicates previously diagnosed diabetic patients of all types, specially if they get infection or discontinue treatment. Objective: To describe the precipitating causes of DKA. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was done from September to November, 2010 in Bangladesh Institute of Research & Rehabilitation in Diabetes, Endocrine and Metabolic Disorders (BIRDEM). Diagnosed DKA cases were evaluated clinically and by laboratory investigations for identification of precipitating causes. Results: Out of 50 patients, 28 were female. Mean age was 38.3 years. Forty patients (80%) were known diabetics and 10 (20%) were detected diabetic first time during this admission. Severe DKA cases were less common. Infection (20, 40%) was the commonest precipitating cause followed by noncompliance (14, 28%). In 7 (14%) cases no cause could be identified. Other less common causes included acute myocardial infarction, acute pancreatitis, stroke and surgery. Conclusion: Infection and noncompliance were the major precipitants of DKA. So, it is assumed that many DKA cases might be prevented by proper counselling regarding adherence to medication and sick days management. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/jemc.v4i2.19676 J Enam Med Col 2014; 4(2): 94-97
Effect of Oxytocin Injection into Umbilical Vein for Management of Retained Placenta
Authors: Shompa Lima , Akhter Sayeba , Nazneen Khadija , Begum Monnujan
Published: July 2014

Background: Retained placenta is one of the causes of post-partum hemorrhage in Bangladesh as it is worldwide. If a retained placenta is left untreated, there is a high risk of maternal morbidity and mortality and it has inherent risks of infection and hemorrhage. Manual removal of placenta which is the recommended treatment of retained placenta usually requires regional or general anesthesia. Intraumbilical injection of saline solution with oxytocin might represent an important option for management of retained placenta. Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess the effect of intraumbilical vein oxytocin in the management of retained placenta and to compare it to the risk of manual removal of placenta. Materials and Methods: This experimental study was conducted in the department of Obstetrics and Gynecology in Dhaka Medical College & Hospital during July to December 2004. Total 50 patients with retained placenta were included in this study. The patients were divided purposively randomly into two groups - Groups A and B. Twenty patients in Group A were managed by intraumbilical vein injection of 10 units of oxytocin in 20 mL of normal saline slowly and 30 patients in Group B were managed by manual removal of placenta. Results: Among the patients of Group A, 16 (80%) delivered placenta spontaneously with expulsion time of 7-12 minutes. Remaining 4 patients (20%) required manual removal of placenta even after intraumbilical vein injection of oxytocin. Group A patients had less complications, required less blood transfusion, less antibiotics and less hospital stay compared to Group B patients. Conclusion: Intraumbilical vein administration of oxytocin is superior to manual removal in the management of retained placenta. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/jemc.v4i2.19678 J Enam Med Col 2014; 4(2): 102-105
Fasciolopsis buski Infection in a 50-Year-Old Female
Authors: Ahmed Mejbah Uddin , Paul Deb Prosad , Hossain Md Alamgir , Hasan Mohammad Quamrul , Rahman Md Khalilur
Published: July 2014

Fasciolopsiasis is a disease caused by the largest food-borne intestinal trematode known as Fasciolopsis buski. Here we report a case of a 50-year-old female who presented with upper abdominal pain and vomiting for one month. She was previously diagnosed as a case of choledocholithiasis. Endoscopic retrograde cholangio-pancreatography (ERCP) revealed stones along with two leaf-shaped worms which were removed from the duodenum of the patient. The worms were identified as F. buski by its unique morphology. Awareness regarding this parasitic infestation, especially in the rural area, should gain attention while formulating strategies to prevent and manage such infestation. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/jemc.v4i2.19681 J Enam Med Col 2014; 4(2): 123-125
Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva in a 23-Year-Old Male
Authors: Al-Mustaque Ahmed , Al Montasir Ahmed , Amin Mashah Binte
Published: July 2014

Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva (FOP) is an inherited disease in which progressive ossification of striated muscles, tendons, ligaments and other connective tissues forming bridges of extra bones across the joints leads to severe disability and there are associated characteristic congenital skeletal malformations. FOP is also known as Stoneman's syndrome. The case we report here is a 23-year-old male with the clinical and radiologic characteristics of FOP. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/jemc.v4i2.19682 J Enam Med Col 2014; 4(2): 126-129
Hyperpigmentaion in a 50-Year-Old Male
Authors: Ahmed Mohiuddin
Published: July 2014

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/jemc.v4i2.19683 J Enam Med Col 2014; 4(2): 130-131
College News Vol.4(2)
Authors: Editor The
Published: July 2014

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/jemc.v4i2.19684 J Enam Med Col 2014; 4(2): 132-133
Reviewers in this Issue Vol.4(2)
Authors: Editor The
Published: July 2014

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/jemc.v4i2.19685 J Enam Med Col 2014; 4(2): 134
An RNA Aptamer Targets the PDZ-Binding Motif of the HPV16 E6 Oncoprotein
Authors: Belyaeva Tamara , Nicol Clare , Cesur Özlem , Travé Gilles , Blair George , Stonehouse Nicola
Published: July 2014

Human papillomavirus 16 (HPV16) is a high-risk DNA tumour virus which is the primary causative agent of cervical cancer. Cell transformation arises from deregulated expression of the E6 and E7 oncogenes. E6 has been shown to bind a number of cellular proteins, including p53 and proteins containing a PDZ domain. This study reports the first RNA aptamers to E6. These have been employed as molecular tools to further investigate E6-p53 and E6-PDZ interactions. This study is focussed on two aptamers (termed F2 and F4) which induced apoptosis in cells derived from an HPV16-transformed cervical carcinoma. The molecules were able to inhibit the interaction between E6 and PDZ1 from Magi1, with F2 being the most effective inhibitor. Neither of the aptamers inhibited E6-p53 interaction or p53 degradation. This study shows the specificity of this approach and highlights the potential benefits of the E6 aptamers as potential therapeutic or diagnostic agents in the future.
Block Access Token Renewal Scheme Based on Secret Sharing in Apache Hadoop
Authors: Kim Su-Hyun , Lee Im-Yeong
Published: July 2014

In a cloud computing environment, user data is encrypted and stored using a large number of distributed servers. Global Internet service companies such as Google and Yahoo have recognized the importance of Internet service platforms and conducted their own research and development to utilize large cluster-based cloud computing platform technologies based on low-cost commercial off-the-shelf nodes. Accordingly, as various data services are now allowed over a distributed computing environment, distributed management of big data has become a major issue. On the other hand, security vulnerability and privacy infringement due to malicious attackers or internal users can occur by means of various usage types of big data. In particular, various security vulnerabilities can occur in the block access token, which is used for the permission control of data blocks in Hadoop. To solve this problem, we have proposed a weight-applied XOR-based efficient distribution storage and recovery scheme in this paper. In particular, various security vulnerabilities can occur in the block access token, which is used for the permission control of data blocks in Hadoop. In this paper, a secret sharing-based block access token management scheme is proposed to overcome such security vulnerabilities.
Holistics 3.0 for Health
Authors: Lary David , Woolf Steven , Faruque Fazlay , LePage James
Published: July 2014

Human health is part of an interdependent multifaceted system. More than ever, we have increasingly large amounts of data on the body, both spatial and non-spatial, its systems, disease and our social and physical environment. These data have a geospatial component. An exciting new era is dawning where we are simultaneously collecting multiple datasets to describe many aspects of health, wellness, human activity, environment and disease. Valuable insights from these datasets can be extracted using massively multivariate computational techniques, such as machine learning, coupled with geospatial techniques. These computational tools help us to understand the topology of the data and provide insights for scientific discovery, decision support and policy formulation. This paper outlines a holistic paradigm called Holistics 3.0 for analyzing health data with a set of examples. Holistics 3.0 combines multiple big datasets set in their geospatial context describing as many areas of a problem as possible with machine learning and causality, to both learn from the data and to construct tools for data-driven decisions.
Overexpression of Shox2 Leads to Congenital Dysplasia of the Temporomandibular Joint in Mice
Authors: Li Xihai , Liang Wenna , Ye Hongzhi , Weng Xiaping , Liu Fayuan , Liu Xianxiang
Published: July 2014

Our previous study reported that inactivation of Shox2 led to dysplasia and ankylosis of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ), and that replacing Shox2 with human Shox partially rescued the phenotype with a prematurely worn out articular disc. However, the mechanisms of Shox2 activity in TMJ development remain to be elucidated. In this study, we investigated the molecular and cellular basis for the congenital dysplasia of TMJ in Wnt1-Cre; pMes-stop Shox2 mice. We found that condyle and glenoid fossa dysplasia occurs primarily in the second week after the birth. The dysplastic TMJ of Wnt1-Cre; pMes-stop Shox2 mice exhibits a loss of Collagen type I, Collagen type II, Ihh and Gli2. In situ zymography and immunohistochemistry further demonstrate an up-regulation of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), MMP9 and MMP13, accompanied by a significantly increased cell apoptosis. In addition, the cell proliferation and expressions of Sox9, Runx2 and Ihh are no different in the embryonic TMJ between the wild type and mutant mice. Our results show that overexpression of Shox2 leads to the loss of extracellular matrix and the increase of cell apoptosis in TMJ dysplasia by up-regulating MMPs and down-regulating the Ihh signaling pathway.
Potential Spermatogenesis Recovery with Bone Marrow Mesenchymal Stem Cells in an Azoospermic Rat Model
Authors: Zhang Deying , Liu Xing , Peng Jinpu , He Dawei , Lin Tao , Zhu Jing , Li Xuliang , Zhang Yuanyuan , Wei Guanghui
Published: July 2014

Non-obstructive azoospermia is the most challenging type of male infertility. Stem cell based therapy provides the potential to enhance the recovery of spermatogenesis following cancer therapy. Bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) possess the potential to differentiate or trans-differentiate into multi-lineage cells, secrete paracrine factors to recruit the resident stem cells to participate in tissue regeneration, or fuse with the local cells in the affected region. In this study, we tested whether spermatogenically-induced BMSCs can restore spermatogenesis after administration of an anticancer drug. Allogeneic BMSCs were co-cultured in conditioned media derived from cultured testicular Sertoli cells in vitro, and then induced stem cells were transplanted into the seminiferous tubules of a busulfan-induced azoospermatic rat model for 8 weeks. The in vitro induced BMSCs exhibited specific spermatogonic gene and protein markers, and after implantation the donor cells survived and located at the basement membranes of the recipient seminiferous tubules, in accordance with what are considered the unique biological characteristics of spermatogenic stem cells. Molecular markers of spermatogonial stem cells and spermatogonia (Vasa, Stella, SMAD1, Dazl, GCNF, HSP90α, integrinβ1, and c-kit) were expressed in the recipient testis tissue. No tumor mass, immune response, or inflammatory reaction developed. In conclusion, BMSCs might provide the potential to trans-differentiate into spermatogenic-like-cells, enhancing endogenous fertility recovery. The present study indicates that BMSCs might offer alternative treatment for the patients with azoospermatic infertility after cancer chemotherapy.
Impact of Cell-Free Fetal DNA Screening on Patients’ Choice of Invasive Procedures after a Positive California Prenatal Screen Result
Authors: Shah Forum , French Kathryn , Osann Kathryn , Bocian Maureen , Jones Marilyn , Korty Lauren
Published: July 2014

Until recently, maternal serum analyte levels paired with sonographic fetal nuchal translucency measurement was the most accurate prenatal screen available for Trisomies 18 and 21, (91% and 94% detection and false positive rates of 0.31% and 4.5% respectively). Women with positive California Prenatal Screening Program (CPSP) results have the option of diagnostic testing to determine definitively if the fetus has a chromosomal abnormality. Cell-free fetal (cff-) DNA screening for Trisomies 13, 18, and 21 was first offered in 2012, allowing women with positive screens to choose additional screening before diagnostic testing. Cff-DNA sensitivity rates are as high as 99.9% and 99.1%, with false positive rates of 0.4% and 0.1%, for Trisomies 18 and 21, respectively. A retrospective chart review was performed in 2012 on 500 CPSP referrals at the University of California, San Diego Thornton Hospital. Data were collected prior to and after the introduction of cff-DNA. There was a significant increase in the number of participants who chose to pursue additional testing and a decrease in the number of invasive procedures performed after cff-DNA screening was available. We conclude that as fetal aneuploidy screening improves, the number of invasive procedures will continue to decrease.
A QSAR, Pharmacokinetic and Toxicological Study of New Artemisinin Compounds with Anticancer Activity
Authors: Vieira Josinete , Braga Francinaldo , Lobato Cleison , Santos César , Costa Josivan , Bittencourt José , Brasil Davi , Silva Jocivânia , Hage-Melim Lorane , Macêdo Williams , Carvalho José , Santos Cleydson
Published: July 2014

The Density Functional Theory (DFT) method and the 6-31G** basis set were employed to calculate the molecular properties of artemisinin and 20 derivatives with different degrees of cytotoxicity against the human hepatocellular carcinoma HepG2 line. Principal component analysis (PCA) and hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) were employed to select the most important descriptors related to anticancer activity. The significant molecular descriptors related to the compounds with anticancer activity were the ALOGPS_log, Mor29m, IC5 and GAP energy. The Pearson correlation between activity and most important descriptors were used for the regression partial least squares (PLS) and principal component regression (PCR) models built. The regression PLS and PCR were very close, with variation between PLS and PCR of R2 = ±0.0106, R2ajust = ±0.0125, s = ±0.0234, F(4,11) = ±12.7802, Q2 = ±0.0088, SEV = ±0.0132, PRESS = ±0.4808 and SPRESS = ±0.0057. These models were used to predict the anticancer activity of eight new artemisinin compounds (test set) with unknown activity, and for these new compounds were predicted pharmacokinetic properties: human intestinal absorption (HIA), cellular permeability (PCaCO2), cell permeability Maden Darby Canine Kidney (PMDCK), skin permeability (PSkin), plasma protein binding (PPB) and penetration of the blood-brain barrier (CBrain/Blood), and toxicological: mutagenicity and carcinogenicity. The test set showed for two new artemisinin compounds satisfactory results for anticancer activity and pharmacokinetic and toxicological properties. Consequently, further studies need be done to evaluate the different proposals as well as their actions, toxicity, and potential use for treatment of cancers.
Hypericum japonicum Thunb. ex Murray: Phytochemistry, Pharmacology, Quality Control and Pharmacokinetics of an Important Herbal Medicine
Authors: Liu Lin-Sheng , Liu Meng-Hua , He Jing-Yu
Published: July 2014

Hypericum japonicum Thunb. ex Murray is mainly distributed throughout Asia, Oceania and North America and is used as an important herbal medicine. H. japonicum contains many valuable secondary metabolites, such as flavonoids, phloroglucinols and xanthones and has hepatoprotective, anti-tumor, antibacterial, antiviral, and antioxidant activities and effects on the cardiovascular system and immunity. Coupled with phytochemical and pharmacological research, a series of analytical methods have been developed to evaluate the quality of H. japonicum based on its bioactive components. A pharmacokinetics study involved the absorption of two main flavonoids of H. japonicum in rats. This review aims to present an up-to-date and comprehensive overview of the phytochemistry, pharmacology, quality control and pharmacokinetics of H. japonicum, which should be useful for the greater development of H. japonicum, especially in the development of new drugs and therapeutics for various diseases.