Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of an herbal blend. Design and Methods: A randomized, double-blind, clinical trial in 60 subjects with body mass index (BMI) between 30 and 40 kg/m 2 . Participants were randomized into two groups receiving either 400 mg herbal capsules or 400 mg placebo capsules twice daily. The herbal blend comprises of extracts from Sphaeranthus indicus and Garcinia mangostana. Participants received a standard diet (2,000 kcal per day) and walked 30 min 5 days per week. Results: After 8 weeks, significant net reductions in body weight (3.74 kg; P < 0.0001), BMI (1.61 kg/m 2 ; P < 0.0001), and waist circumference (5.44 cm; P < 0.05) were observed in the herbal group compared with placebo. Additionally, a significant increase in serum adiponectin concentration was found in the herbal group versus placebo (P ¼ 0.001). Adverse events were mild and were equally distributed between the two groups. In vitro studies in the 3T3-L1 adipocyte cell line showed that the herbal extract markedly downregulated the expression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma, adipocytedifferentiation related protein, and cluster of differentiation 36 but increased adiponectin expression. The herbal extract also reduced the expression and the recruitment of perilipin onto the membrane of lipid droplets. Conclusion: Supplementation with the herbal blend resulted in a greater degree of weight loss than placebo over 8 weeks.Obesity (2013) 21, 921-927.

Objective: To evaluate the common causes of preanalytical errors in a fully automated hematology laboratory. Methods: Laboratory staff was instructed to record the rejected samples and the causes of such rejections of ward and outpatient samples collected in both wards and laboratory. Results: Of the 53344 samples received for hematological tests during the one year period from 1.1.2016 to 31.12.2016, 181 samples were rejected for analysis. This accounted for 0.3% of samples collected for hematological tests. The reasons for rejections with their incidences are as follows: Insufficient samples-35.3 %, Clotted sample-25.7 %, Wrong registration-15.0 %, Double registration-11.6 %, Inappropriate container-5.5 %, Sample spillage-3.9 %. Conclusion: The overall percentage of rejection in our hematology laboratory is 0.3 % and insufficient sample is the most common cause for rejection. Adequate training, regular maintenance of a record of errors and periodic auditing will result in effective reduction of such errors and hence improvement in the overall performance of laboratory works.

Background: The liver is the largest gland in the body and has a wide variety of functions . It receives a double blood supply via the hepatic artery and the portal vein. The portal vein provides about 50% to 70% of the liver's oxygenation and the hepatic artery gives about 30% to 50% oxygenation to the liver. Unlike portal vein anatomy, the hepatic arterial anatomy is extraordinarily variable . The incidence of aberrant hepatic artery is quite high . So the knowledge about hepatic vascular distribution and its variations is important to plan and to make trans arterial embolization therapy successful in the patients with metastatic liver tumors.

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