The effects of treatment in patients with childhood asthma on the elastic properties of the aorta

Introduction: The study aimed to investigate the effects of treatment in patients with childhood asthma on the elastic properties of the aorta and cardiovascular risk.Methods: The study was performed in 66 paediatric patients diagnosed with bronchial asthma (BA). All patients were administered the ß2 agonist, salbutamol, for seven days, followed by one month of montelukast and six months of inhaled steroid treatment. All patients underwent conventional transthoracic echocardiographic imaging before and after treatment. Aortic elasticity parameters were considered to be the markers of aortic function.Results: Aortic elasticity parameters, including aortic strain (15.2 ± 4.8 and 18.8 ± 9.5%, p = 0.043), aortic distensibility (7.26 ± 4.71 and 9.53±3.50 cm2/dyn, p = 0.010) and aortic stiffness index (3.2 ± 0.6 and 2.8 ± 0.5, p = 0.045 showed significant post-treatment improvement when compared to pre-treatment values. Tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (TAPSE) was also observed to improve after treatment (1.81 ± 0.38 and 1.98 ± 0.43, p = 0.049). Conclusion: The study demonstrated that when provided at appropriate doses, medications used in BA may result in an improvement in aortic stiffness

Short Paper - Effect of Acid Treatment on the Consolidation and Plasto-Elasticity of Tapioca Powder

PURPOSE: The effects of treating the tapioca (the fibrous residue obtained after up to 90 percent of the proportion of starch has been removed from the peeled and rasped roots of cassava tubers powder with dilute solutions of hydrochloric acid) in order to find an approach for rendering an otherwise poorly compressible material to a directly compressible powder. METHOD: The parameters measured were the degree of consolidation of the powder after compression (i.e. the packing fraction of resulting tablets); the plasto-elasticity of the powders as reflected by the brittle fracture index (BFI) of the tablets made from the powders and the viscosities of mucilages derived from the powders. The influence of time of exposure and the concentration of acid used in the treatment were studied. RESULTS: The degree of consolidation of the powder increased slightly with increase in duration of exposure to acid (24 - 72 h) but drastically with increase in the acid concentration from 0.1 to 0.4 mol. L**-1. On the other hand; the plasto-elasticity of the powders as measured by the BFI values and the viscosities of mucilages derived from the powders decreased slightly with duration of exposure but drastically with increase in acid concentration. A change in acid concentration was therefore the more determinant factor with regards to the consolidation and plasto-elasticity properties of the powders. The decrease in the viscosities of the mucilages following acid treatment of the powders was indicative of a breakdown of polymeric structure in the powder CONCLUSION: Acid treatment of tapioca powder imparted plasticity in tapioca powder which became compressible