Exposure to Repeated Mini-objective Structured Practical Examinations as A Formative Assessment Tool to the Students and Faculty in Physiology Practicals.

The study aimed to look at the influence of mini-Objective Structured Practical Examinations (OSPEs) as a formative assessment tool for students and teachers. All first year MBBS students of 2013-14 batch of St. John's Medical College (n=60) went through four mini-OSPE sessions consisting of 5 sets of 6 stations each during 3 months of hematology practicals and final OSPE after 2 months. Feedback of the students and faculty was obtained. The students were categorized into tertiles based on the cumulative scores obtained in the first three-OSPEs and final-OSPE session and were significantly associated from Chi square test. [c2(4, N=54) =15.2, p=0.004]. Low performers with high probability of performing poorly were recognized early in the term. High performers largely remained so and mid performers showed highly variable performance. The feedback obtained supported the role of OSPE as a formative assessment tool. Thus, OSPE could be used as a formative tool for students and teachers.

Effects of yoga training and detraining on physical performance measures in prepubertal children--a randomized trial.

Purpose of the study was to evaluate the effect of yoga training and detraining on physical performance measures in pre-pubertal (7-9 year old) school going children. Subjects were randomized to two groups - yoga group and Physical exercise (PE) group after the baseline assessment. All the subjects were assessed for strength, endurance, whole body endurance through 20 meter shuttle and physical fitness, at 3 time points - Baseline, 3 months Post intervention and 3 months after detraining. The results suggest that the improvement in the physical performance is largely by the increase in the respiratory muscle strength in the yoga group. In conclusion, the study presents the efficacy of yoga to improve strength, endurance, whole body endurance and aerobic capacity with 3 months of training in the pediatric group. However, the effect of the training does not last after 3 months detraining.

Effects of physical activity on pupil cycle time (PCT) in healthy Indian male.

Globally, physical inactivity is an important risk factor for the development of non-communicable disease consisting of coronary artery disease, as well as, other diseases including hypertension, diabetes, obesity, osteoporosis, and certain types of cancers. Parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) activity in the eye is determined by the pupil cycle time (PCT) can be comparable with cardiac parasympathetic response and thereby determine the morbidity and mortality among individuals. The PCT is measured by throwing white light on the edge of the pupil. Pupil cycling is a feature of pupillary reflex arc. The aim of this study is to establish the effect of physical activity on the PCT. The counting of PCT was done for 90 cycles and average one count is considered a single PCT. The physical activity level (PAL) was determined by administering a physical activity level questionnaire developed in the Division of Nutrition, St. John's Medical College, Bangalore. The PAL is classified as < 1.4 as sedentary, 1.55 to 1.75 moderately active, and > 1.75 heavily active. Thirty healthy male volunteers in the age group of 18-50 years and with BMI of 18.5 kg/m2-30 kg/m2 were studied. We obtained PCT of 962.00 ± 105.72 msec in sedentary, 896.77 ± 85.88 msec in moderately active and 889.45 ± 68.71 msec in heavily active individuals. Linear regression analysis shows there is statistically significant difference between the three different groups of physical activity level with a b value of 0 and R2 being 0.19. Increase in physical activity led to decrease in the PCT i.e. increase in the parasympathetic tone in the eye. Pupil cycle time (PCT) is a simple noninvasive tool to assess and differentiate the PNS function in different activity level of individual.

Micronutrient supplementation improves physical performance measures in Asian Indian school-age children.

Micronutrients are important in physical work capacity and therefore performance. The impact of a multi-micronutrient-fortified nutritional beverage on physical performance measures among clinically healthy school-age children was assessed in a double-blind (for test and placebo groups), placebo-controlled, randomized trial in children aged between 7 and 10.5 y (n = 300). The participants with height- and weight-for-age Z-scores between 0 and ≥ -3 were randomized to 1 of 3 study arms: fortified choco-malt beverage powder (F), matched energy equivalent unfortified placebo (U), and untreated control (C). Participants in the F and C groups were given 40 g fortified (19 key vitamins and minerals) and unfortified choco-malt beverage, respectively, daily for 120 d. Primary efficacy outcomes included endurance and aerobic capacity using a 20-m shuttle test and step test. Other physical performance measures included speed (40-m sprint), visual reaction time, maximal hand grip, and forearm static endurance. Micronutrient status included thiamin, riboflavin, folate, niacin, iron, pyridoxal phosphate, and vitamins B-12 and C. All measurements were made at baseline and the end of the intervention. There was a within-subject increase in aerobic capacity and whole body endurance (P < 0.05) accompanied by a significant improvement in the status of iron thiamin, riboflavin, pyridoxal phosphate, folate, and vitamins C and B-12 in the F group compared to the within-subject changes in the other 2 groups (P < 0.05). The study suggests that multiple micronutrient supplementation in similar populations may be beneficial in improving micronutrient status and enhancing aerobic capacity and endurance in children.

Comparison of cardiac autonomic activity between pre and post menopausal women using heart rate variability.

Ageing is associated with a decline in short-term indexes of heart rate variability (HRV). But there is little evidence regarding the extent to which age-related changes in HRV depend on simultaneous changes in levels of estrogen and body composition as it occurs from pre menopausal state to postmenopausal state. The purpose of this study was (i) to compare HRV between pre and postmenopausal women, (ii) to determine whether difference in age, estrogen level and body composition could account for the difference in HRV between these two groups. HRV was assessed using spectral analysis and estrogen level was estimated using radioimmunoassay technique. The body composition, in terms of percent fat, was assessed using measurement of skin fold thickness. Data was analyzed both before and after adjusting for age, estrogen level and body composition. It was found that the total power, high frequency (HF) and the low frequency (LF) power spectrum of HRV in absolute units were significantly lower (P < 0.001) in postmenopausal women compared to that of premenopausal women. Postmenopausal women had significantly lower HF (P < 0.01) and higher LF (P < 0.01) when expressed in normalized units. The ratio of LF/HF, the index of sympathovagal balance was significantly higher (P < 0.01) among postmenopausal women. Analysis after adjusting for age, revealed that age was one of the important confounder, responsible for the differences in all the components of power spectrum between the two study groups. Difference in estrogen level contributed for the difference in relative values of HF and LF components of HRV. Difference in body composition did not explain the difference in HRV between the groups. The study concludes that both ageing and declined estrogen levels are associated with the autonomic alterations seen among postmenopausal women.

Effect of Curcumin in Experimental Peritonitis.

Despite medical advancements, the inflammatory cascade and oxidative stress worsen the prognosis in most cases of peritonitis. Curcumin has emerged as a potential antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agent in few of the acute inflammatory and infective conditions. We examined the effect of intraperitoneal injection of curcumin in endotoxin-induced peritonitis in rats. The blood and peritoneal fluid samples were collected at 3 and 24 h following the induction of peritonitis. Animals were sacrificed at 24 h and the organs preserved. The histopathological report of lung, liver, and intestines in the curcumin-treated rats showed maintenance of tissue architecture to a large extent compared to the control group which showed massive congestion, hemorrhage, and necrosis. The blood and peritoneal fluid total count and differential neutrophil counts were significantly higher at 24 h of induction of peritonitis. Serum amyloid assay and lipid peroxidation were significantly lower, and myeloperoxidase assay was higher in the curcumin-treated group at the end of 24 h; thus, curcumin probably demonstrated a neutrophil-mediated immunopotentiation and anti-inflammatory action thereby protecting the animal from endotoxemia-induced multi-organ damage.

Effect of yoga training and detraining on respiratory muscle strength in pre-pubertal children: A randomized trial.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of yoga on forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in I(st) second (FEV1), peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR), FEVI/FVC ratio, and pulmonary pressures [maximum inspiratory pressure (MIP), maximum expiratory pressure (MEP) at the end of 3 months yoga training and the detraining effect on the above parameters in 7-9-years-old school going children. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 100 participants were recruited from a school in Bangalore. After baseline assessments, the participants were randomly allocated to either yoga or physical activity group. Intervention was given for 3 months, and measures of pulmonary function and pulmonary pressures were determined immediately post-intervention and at 3-months follow-up. RESULTS: Although significant increase was observed in FVC, FEV1, PEFR, FEV1/FVC, MIP, and MEP at post-intervention, there were no significant differences between the two study groups after adjusting for height and age post training . However, MIP increased significantly in both the groups post-intervention, but the yoga group performed significantly higher than the PE group. The effects of training did not fade off even after 3 months of detraining. In fact, the FVC and FEV1 continued to increase significantly. A trend of decrease was observed in PEFR, MIP, and MEP. However, the values did not regress to the baseline value. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that practice of yoga for a short duration (3 months) of time can significantly improve respiratory muscle strength in pediatric population.

Gender differences in age-related changes in cardiac autonomic nervous function.

Ageing is associated with changes in cardiac autonomic control as measured by Heart Rate Variability (HRV). Not many studies have explored the influence of gender on age-related changes in cardiac autonomic regulation. This study evaluated the gender differences in age-associated changes in cardiac autonomic nervous activity by assessing HRV using frequency domain analysis of short-term stationary R-R intervals. HRV was studied in healthy males and females ranging in age from 6 to 55 years. Total power and absolute power in High-Frequency (HF) and Low-Frequency (LF) components as well as HF in normalized unit declined significantly with ageing. The HF/LF ratio was significantly higher in the adolescent and adult females compared to male of these age groups. This study suggests that gender differences exist in age-related changes in HRV. The finding that gender differences are limited to adolescent and adult age groups may indicate a role for female sex hormones in cardiac autonomic modulation.