Fortification with vitamin D: comparative study in the Saudi Arabian and US markets

Vitamin D deficiency is common among Saudi Arabian population. To evaluate the current status of vitamin D fortification and calcium content of commonly consumed food items by the Saudi population and to compare it to US data. Cross-sectional market survey at markets of Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia and State of Illinois, USA. A dietary survey was carried out for the content of calcium and vitamin D on the most commonly consumed food products by the Saudi population which are suppose to be fortified by vitamin D. The survey included different brands of fresh milk, yoghurt, powdered milk, cheese, ready-to-eat breakfast cereals and orange juice. Vitamin D content in the products studied from the Saudi marketplace was compared with the suggested vitamin D content in the same products according to US Code of Federal Regulations recommendations. The overall calcium content in the processed dairy products is generally higher than the content in fresh dairy products. Vitamin D content in the fresh dairy products varied from 40 IU/L to 400 IU/L. None of the cereals or orange juice in Saudi Arabia contain vitamin D supplement. The vitamin D content in the food items from the Saudi marketplace is mostly lower than recommended by the US Code of Federal Regulations. Most commonly consumed food products by Saudi population which are suppose to be fortified by vitamin D either not fortified or contain an amount less than recommended by guidelines set for US marketplace

[ effect of employing synectic model in teaching palliative care in children on nursing students' writing creativity and academic performance]

Palliative care in patients with incurable diseases requires creativity in providing services in the best possible way. Therefore, the effect of Synectic model on students' writing creativity and academic performance was investigated in this study. It was a quasi-experimental study performed on 2 groups of nursing students of Tehran University of Medical Sciences in the first semester of 2007-2008 academic year. The control group consisted of 28 and the experiment group included 32 students. After the written pre-test about the concept of children's palliative care, the synectic model was employed for the experiment group and the usual method for the control group. Then, the post-test was held for both groups and they also wrote an essay on palliative care. Data was analyzed by SPSS software using descriptive statistics and inferential tests including Mann Whitney, chi[2], and Fisher exact test. The mean for pre-test scores was 2.8 for the control group and 2.5 for the experiment group which showed no significant difference before the intervention. But after the intervention in post-test, the mean for the control group was 3.8, while it was 4.8 for the experiment group which showed a statistically significant difference. Moreover, investigating students' essay texts showed a significant difference between the two groups concerning creativity in writing. With regard to the results of this study, employing synectic method enhances academic performance and writing creativity of nursing students regarding children's palliative care

Correlation between chronological, skeletal and dental age on panoramic radiography in patients referred to Yazd dental clinics on 2004-05

One of the important factors in orthodontic treatment planning is prediction of growth potential which is applied by stages of skeletal age and or another criteria such as the chronological age, sexual maturity, dental development stages, and height and weight. Another importance in determining the patient's age is in legal medicine to determine the guiltiness' age, more or less than 18 years. The aim of this study is to assess the correlation between skeletal, dental and chronological age. This diagnostic study was performed as a cross sectional method in dental faculty of Yazd Shaheed Sadoughi University from 2004 to 2005. 58 Patients of 15-25 years old who referred to private dental office were selected. The samples were chosen with continues method until it reached to the desired total numbers. Each patient completed 4 questionnaires consisting of chronological age, determined age from panoramic radiography, measured age from surgical teeth and determined age according to h and wrist radiography. Panoramic radiographs were read by two oral and maxillofacial radiologists and h and wrist radiographs were read by two radiologists. Statistical analysis was performed by Paired T, Correlation coefficient, Wilcoxon, Smirnov - Kolmogorov. The least fault obtained from determined age and real patient age was related to the right m and ibular surgical wisdom teeth [1.6 months difference]. H and wrist radiographs had the most fault in age determination and both of the two radiologists determined the ages less than real ages [P=0.000]. In the statistical analysis, it seemed that the age determination from wisdom teeth by panoramic radiographs is just a suitable method. When age determination is considered to special case, the maxillary right wisdom teeth showed more proximity to real age [39.4%] and m and ibular left third molars [24.5%] and m and ibular right third molars [23.9%] were in the next steps. Age prediction by wisdom teeth on panoramic views is a proper way to report for legal medicine. Since the h and wrist radiographs had the most faults in age prediction, its advantage is not proposed, in individuals more than 18 years old

[Effect of Cervical Spinal Manipulation on Lateral epicondylalgia]

Background: lateral epicondylalgia is relatively a common musculoskeletal problem. Some recent studies have shown the possible relationship between segmental cervical spine dysfunction and lateral epicondylalgia in noticeable portion of patients. The aim of this study was to assess the effects of cervical manipulation on lateral epicondylalgia in the presence of painful minor intervertebral dysfunction [PMID]

Methods and materials: in this randomized double blind clinical trial study, 30 patients with lateral epicondylalgia referred to Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Clinic of 501 Amy Hospital were studied. 15 patients received rotatory high velocity, low amplitude manipulative therapy in pain free direction. The others received mobilization without thrust [no manipulation]

Results: immediately after manipulation, there was 2.8 cm decrement in VAS and 51.9, and 20.4 increment in PPT and PFG, respectively. After a week, improvement was 2.1 cm in VAS, 30.7% in PPT and 8.5% in PFG

Conclusion: manipulated group produced significant improvement in visual analogue scale and pressure pain threshold not only immediately after treatment but also a week later. Pain free grip strength had no significant increment one week after manipulation in comparison with non-manipulated group. Improvement of all variables decreased with time, justifying the need for repetition of manipulation. Duration of efficacy and correlation between PMID and pain of lateral epicondyl requires longtime evaluation of patients and more studies