INFLUENCING FACTORS OF WORK-LIFE BALANCE TRENDS IN WOMEN EMPLOYEE LIFE

In organizations and on the home front, the challenge of work-life balance is rising to the top of many employers' and employees' consciousness. the challenge of work-life balance is rising to the highest of the many women employers' and employees' consciousness. In today's fast-paced society, human resource professionals seek options to positively impact rock bottom line of their companies, improve employee morale, retain women employees with valuable company knowledge, and keep step with workplace trends. this text provides human resource professionals with a historical perspective, data, and possible solutions for organizations and women employees alike to work/life balance. Three factors global competition, personal lives/family values, and an aging workforce present challenges that exacerbate work/life balance. this text offers the attitude that human resource professionals can assist their companies to maximize these factors by using work-life initiatives to realize a competitive advantage within the marketplace.

Extraction of mitochondrial DNA from tooth dentin: application of two techniques

Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is a hereditary material located in mitochondria and is normally maternally inherited. Mutational analysis performed on mtDNA proved that the mutations are closely related with a number of genetic illnesses, besides being exploitable for forensic identification. Those findings imply the importance of mtDNA in the scientific field. MtDNA can be found in abundance in tooth dentin where it is kept protected by the enamel, the hardest outer part of the tooth. In this study, two techniques of mtDNA extraction were compared to determine the efficacy between the two techniques. Teeth used for the study was collected from Dental Clinic, Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia. After the removal of tooth from the tooth socket of the patient, the tooth was kept at -20C until use. Later, pulp tissue and enamel was excised using dental bur and only the root dentin was utilized for the isolation of mtDNA by crushing it mechanically into powdered form. MtDNA was extracted using the two published methods, Pfeifer and Budowle and then subjected to spectrophotometry DNA quantification and purity, Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification of hypervariable-two region of mtDNA, followed by DNA sequencing to analyze the reliability of the extraction techniques. In conclusion, both techniques proved to be efficient and capable for the extraction of mtDNA from tooth dentin.

Dengue fever outbreaks in two villages of Dharmapuri district in Tamil Nadu.

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES: Dengue fever is an important public health problem in India. In recent years this disease has extended to rural areas also due to rapid urbanization. In Tamil Nadu, fever outbreaks were reported in two villages of Dharmapuri district during May and September 2001 with clinical symptoms suggestive of dengue fever. Epidemiological, virological and entomological investigations were carried out in these two villages to ascertain the etiology of the outbreaks. METHODS: Paired serum samples were collected from febrile patients clinically suspected to have dengue and were tested for the presence of IgM antibodies to dengue virus by MAC ELISA. Samples were also tested by Dengue Duo IgM/IgG rapid strip. Surveys of larval and adult Aedes mosquitoes were carried out before and after anti-larval and anti-adult measures were implemented. Female Ae. aegypti mosquitoes collected in Mampatti village were tested individually for the presence of dengue-2 viral antigen by indirect immunofluorescence assay (IIFA). In addition, two pools of female Ae. aegypti mosquitoes were tested for the presence of dengue viral antigen by ELISA and then subjected to Toxo-IFA system for demonstration of dengue virus. RESULTS: A total of 124 and 267 fever cases with clinical symptoms and signs suggestive of dengue were reported in Kadumuchandiram and Mampatti villages of Dharmapuri district, respectively. Serodiagnosis revealed that 13 of 31 and 14 of 52 patients tested were positive for dengue-2 virus by MAC ELISA in Kadumuchandiram and Mampatti villages respectively. Dengue Duo rapid strip test also detected 14 (of 31 tested) patients positive for dengue virus specific IgM antibodies in Kadumuchandiram village and 8 (of 12 tested) in Mampatti village. Application of temephos and fogging with pyrethrum 2 per cent extract were found to be effective against immatures and adults respectively. Both the pools of Ae. aegypti tested for the presence of dengue viral antigen were positive by ELISA and one mosquito (tested individually) was positive by IIFA. Supernatants of two pools were found to be positive for dengue-2 virus by Toxo-IFA. INTERPRETATION & CONCLUSION: Virological and serological investigations confirmed that the outbreaks of fever were due to dengue virus infection. High breeding of Ae. aegypti in the study villages, detection of dengue-2 viral antigen and isolation of dengue-2 virus in Ae. aegypti mosquitoes confirmed the etiology.

Lipoprotein(a) and coronary heart disease in Indian population.

OBJECTIVE: Present study was undertaken to evaluate the role of lipoprotein(a) in coronary heart disease (CHD) patients and its relationship with other established risk factors. METHODS: Blood samples of 67 control patients (non-cardiovascular problems) and 222 CHD patients (> or = 4 weeks post myocardial infarction) were analyzed. Lipoprotein(a) was measured in serum samples by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay utilizing rabbit polyclonal antibodies against purified human Lp(a). Step-wise linear discriminant analysis was used to find the important parameters to discriminate CHD and non-CHD subjects. RESULTS: The LDL to HDL cholesterol ratio (p < 0.01) and serum level of lipoprotein(a) (p < 0.01) were significantly higher in CHD patients. Levels of lipoprotein(a) were found to be higher in females compared to males (p < 0.01). Positive family history of CHD did not show significant difference in Lp(a) levels. Lp(a) level in CHD patients with positive family history of NIDDM and hypertension was higher than in with negative family history. CONCLUSION: Clinical significance of serum level of Lp(a) and albumin in determining the risk of CHD has been observed. Lp(a) alone could correctly discriminate a CHD individual from a control subjects by 95%. Estimating of Lp(a) together with albumin provided 99% correct discrimination between control and CHD patients. These results also suggest that Lp(a) together with malnutrition could be responsible for the increased incidence of CHD in Indians. It is also indicated that in females atherothrombogenic potential of lipoprotein(a) remains suppressed before menopause but after this stage women lose this advantage.

Oxidative stress and metabolic control in non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus.

The aim of this study was to evaluate conjugated dienes in subjects with non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) and its metabolic control. To achieve good metabolic control in addition to dietary management oral hypoglycemic agents such as glibenclamide, gliclazide and metformin were given to patients. Human plasma low-density lipoproteins (LDL) were delipidised and triglycerides (LDL-TG) and cholesterol esters (LDL-CE) were separated. Conjugated dienes in LDL-TG and LDL-CE of subjects with NIDDM (n = 90) and normal glucose tolerance (NGT) (n = 30) were measured using second derivative of uv absorption spectrum. Hypoglycemic agents lowered substantially concentration of cis, trans (c, t) and trans, trans (t, t) conjugated dienes in LDL-CE and LDL-TG. The duration of NIDDM has shown significant correlation (p < 0.001) with conjugated dienes in LDL-TG. Concentration of c, t and t, t-conjugated dienes in LDL-CE and LDL-TG were found significantly higher in subjects with NIDDM than NGT (p < 0.001). In conclusion, NIDDM, status of metabolic control and duration of diabetes have strong positive relation with oxidative stress.