The result of various process strategies on the nutrient and phytochemical composition of corn samples were studied. Fresh and cooked baby corn, sweet corn, dent corn and industrially processed and cooked popcorn, corn grits, corn flour and corn flakes were analysed for the determination of proximate, minerals, xanthophylls and phenolic acids content. This study revealed that the proximate composition of popcorn is high compared to the other corn products analyzed while the mineral composition of these maize products showed higher concentration of magnesium, phosphorus, potassium and low concentration of calcium, manganese, zinc, iron, copper, and sodium. Popcorn was high in iron, zinc, copper, manganese, sodium, magnesium and phosphorus. The xanthophylls lutein and zeaxanthin were predominant in the dent corn and the total polyphenolic content was highest in dent corn while the phenolic acids distribution was variable in different corn products. This study showed preparation and processing brought significant reduction of xanthophylls and polyphenols.

The prevalence of VDD was high among the urban elderly population in the south Indian city of Hyderabad. High BMI, MS, HT and education are significant associated factors of VDD.

Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is one of the leading causes of blindness. Carotenoids are plant-derived pigments required for the general health and particularly for vision. In this study, we evaluated the...

Background Unintentional injuries due to fall are a leading cause of emergency department visits in children under 14 years. Aim The aim of this study is to report the existing baseline facts on fall related injuries. Methods This was a secondary analysis of a childhood unintentional injury surveillance database setup in the emergency department of the Aga Khan Hospital, Karachi, Pakistan for 3 months. The data was collected by interviewing caretakers of children under 12 years of age presenting with an unintentional injury to the emergency departments of the four major tertiary care hospitals of Karachi, Pakistan. Results There were 281 cases of falls injuries. Of these 186 (66.2%) occurred in males giving a male female ratio of 1.95. Majority of fall were seen in the 5–11 years age group (n=170, 60.5%).Most of these injuries took place at home (n=238, 84.7%). Main reasons for these injuries were fall from height (n=147, 52.3%), from stairs/steps (n=70, 24.9%), playground equipment (n=28, 10%), from bed (n=25, 8.9) and attendants' arms (n=9, 3.2%)..The fall injuries were mostly minor (n=177, 63%) in severity. Around 84% (n=236) cases were directly discharged from the ED and 20 (7.1%) were admitted to the ward. There were two expires (case fatality 0.7). Short-term disability was found 104 cases (37%) and long-term in 47 (16.7%) cases. Conclusion Fall is common unintentional injuries occurring mostly at home. Strategies at home like installing stair gate or other barriers to heights can reduce the burden of fall related injuries.