6,842 research outputs found

    Ayurveda and Siddha systems polyherbal formulations to treat COVID-19 caused by SARS-CoV-2 and brief insight on application of Molecular Docking and SWISS Target prediction tools to study efficacy of active molecules

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    Ayurveda and  Siddha systems are the two ancient medical systems originated in India more than 4000 years ago had given many formulary and treatment methods against influenza like infections. Kabasura churan from Siddha system and Maha sudharshan churan from the Ayurvedic system are the two major formulations along with many other individual herbs mentioned in the texts to treat Influenza like infections. Kabasura churan and Maha Sudarshan churan both have antipyretic, analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects. Both formulations were prepared according to Siddha and Ayurvedic texts. Herbs mentioned in both formulations like Turmeric, Tulsi (Basil), Kalmegh (Andrographis), Black Pepper, Liquorice (Mulethi), and Dronapushpi (Leucas) etc., had direct antiviral effect. Herbs like Aswagandha, Ginger, Guduchi (Tinospora), Kulanjan (Galangal) etc., had immunomodulatory and anti-inflammatory effect. Active compounds from different herbs were selected to study their antiviral activity through molecular docking algorithm. Application of modern of tools like Bioinformatics and Highthroughput screening methods can predict the efficacy of the ancient documented formulations and can be compared as per their literature. Compounds like curcumin, Glycyrrhizin, Ursolic acid, Quercetin, Andrographolide, Coumarins etc. were showed polyspecific activity like inhibition of Spike protein, Furin, Main Protease (Mpro) and Papain like Proteases (PLpro). Thus we propose use of Kabasura churan and Maha Sudharshan churan as alternative complementary medicine as a palliative treatment against COVID-19 caused by SARS-CoV-2 by conducting proper Randomized Clinical Trial

    Safe Experimentation Dynamics Algorithm for Identification of Cupping Suction Based on the Nonlinear Hammerstein Model

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    The use of cupping therapy for various health benefits has increased in popularity recently. Potential advantages of cupping therapy include pain reduction, increased circulation, relaxation, and skin health. The increased blood flow makes it easier to supply nutrients and oxygen to the tissues, promoting healing. Nevertheless, the effectiveness of this technique greatly depends on the negative pressure's ability to create the desired suction effect on the skin. This research paper suggests a method to detect the cupping suction model by employing the Hammerstein model and utilizing the Safe Experimentation Dynamics (SED) algorithm. The problem is that the cupping suction system experiences pressure leaks and is difficult to control. Although, stabilizing the suction pressure and developing an effective controller requires an accurate model. The research contribution lies in utilizing the SED algorithm to tune the parameters of the Hammerstein model specifically for the cupping suction system and figure out the real system with a continuous-time transfer function. The experimental data collected for cupping therapy exhibited nonlinearity attributed to the complex dynamics of the system, presenting challenges in developing a Hammerstein model. This work used a nonlinear model to study the cupping suction system. Input and output data were collected from the differential pressure sensor for 20 minutes, sampling every 0.1 seconds. The single-agent method SED has limited exploration capabilities for finding optimum value but excels in exploitation. To address this limitation, incorporating initial values leads to improved performance and a better match with the real experimental observations. Experimentation was conducted to find the best model parameters for the desired suction pressure. The therapy can be administered with greater precision and efficacy by accurately identifying the suction pressure. Overall, this research represents a promising development in cupping therapy. In particular, it has been demonstrated that the proposed nonlinear Hammerstein models improve accuracy by 84.34% through the tuning SED algorithm

    How to correctly identify herbal materials in market: A case study based on DNA barcodes

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    Background: Traditional methods for identifying herbal medicines have many shortcomings. In this study, we aim to test discriminating ability of DNA barcodes and explore feasible method on evaluating identification results.Materials and Methods: Materials of whole-plant medicines were sampled from herbal market. 111 samples were used for DNA sequencing of ITS2 and trnH-psbA regions. Assembled sequences were searched against reference database using the BLAST method. Comprehensive evaluation based on pharmacognostic investigation, macroscopic identification and identification of DNA barcodes were performed for authentication of the herbal materials.Results: As a result, ITS2 had better identifying power than trnH-psbA in species-specific level (55.86% & 45.95%), as well as worse success rate of DNA sequencing (74.58% & 94.59%). In total, 89.19% individuals could be identified in genus level at least.Conclusion: It was revealed that DNA barcoding was useful tool in identifying herbal materials. Both ITS2 and trnH-psbA should be incorporated into the standard regions of DNA barcodes for identifying herbal materials.Keywords: DNA barcodes, herbal materials, ITS2, trnH-psbA, identificatio

    Ten Minutes Vestibular Examinations but Persistent Rehabilitative Exercises

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    Symposium on Neurology Highlight - S16Vertigo is a common illness that patients seek consultation in ENT clinics. Patients often have a hallucination of environmental rotation while patients with dizziness often have a sense of lightheadedness. This presentation will introduce some useful but succinct clinical examinations that medical practitioners can do in about 10 minutes to make initial diagnosis whether the vertigo has a peripheral or central cause before referring the patient for more sophisticated vertigo and vestibular assessments. Some latest technologies in assessing vestibular functions are also introduced. Vestibular or dizzy rehabilitative exercise should follow if permanent vestibular paresis is found. With unilateral vestibular lesions, asymmetry of tonic vestibulospinal activity may lead to postural and gait imbalance. With symmetrical vestibular loss, the imbalance will be more pronounced and persistent. This presentation introduces some vestibular or dizziness exercises that can be practised by the patients at home. These exercises try to provoke imbalance and dizziness but at the same time try to improve the brain to compensate for any abnormalities in the vestibular system and to retrain the brain to adapt and tolerate the information from the deficit vestibular apparatus. The exercises also train the visual and somatosensory systems to compensate and assist in balancing and reduce the sense of dizziness.published_or_final_versio

    Novel Yinger Learning Variable Universe Fuzzy Controller

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    IN-VITRO AND MOLECULAR STUDIES ON THE RESISTANCE P. falciparum TO ANTI-MALARIAL DRUGS IN OGUN STATE, SOUTHWESTERN NIGERIA

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    The widespread of drug resistant Plasmodium falciparum has led to a rise in malaria associated mortality most especially in sub-Saharan Africa. In-vitro and molecular studies were carried out in order to determine the resistant pattern of P. falciparum to antimalarial drugs and some local antimalarial herbs in Ogun State, Southwestern Nigeria. Prevalence of falciparum malaria was determined by microscopic examination of Giemsa-stained blood samples of patients who presented with fever in selected State Hospitals in Ogun State. Antimalarial drug sensitivity of one hundred (100) P. falciparum isolates to chloroquine, amodiaquine, mefloquine, quinine, sulphadoxine/pyrimethamine, artesunate and three local antimalarial herbs: Momordica charantia (Ejirin,) Diospyros monbuttensis (Eegun eja) and Morinda lucida (Oruwo) was determined using the in-vitro microtest (Mark III) technique. For molecular studies and genotyping, DNA was extracted from patient blood using the QiaAmp DNA Blood Minikit extraction method. Nested Polymerase Chain Reaction followed by Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphisms (PCR/RFLP) were used for the detection of P. falciparum chloroquine resistance transporter (Pfcrt), P. falciparum multidrug resistance 1 (pfmdr1), P. falciparum dihydrofolate reductase (Pfdhfr), P. falciparum dihydropteroate synthase (Pfdhps) and P. falciparum sarco/endoplasmic reticulum calcium-dependent ATPase (SERCA) PfATPase6 genes. Genetic diversity of the isolates was determined using merozoite surface proteins 1 and 2 (msp1 and msp2) and Glutamate rich Protein (Glurp). Structured Questionnaires were administered to patients or/and parents of infants to determine the factors that could lead to the development of drug resistance by the parasite in the study population. Out of 4066 subjects screened during the period of study, 2550 (61.1%) were positive. Highest prevalence (72%) was recorded in children 1-5 years while the same group also had the highest parasitaemia of 1080. All the isolates tested were sensitive to Quinine, Mefloquine and Artesunate. Only 51% of the isolates were resistant to chloroquine, 13% to amodiaquine and 5% to sulphadoxine pyrimethamine respectively. Highest resistance to chloroquine (68.9%) was recorded among isolates from Yewa zone while highest resistance to amodiaquine (30%) was observed in Ijebu zone. Highest resistance to sulphadoxine and pyrimethamine was recorded in Yewa and Egba zones respectively. A significant positive correlation was observed between the responses to artemisinin and mefloquine (P=0.001), artemisinin and quinine (P=0.05), Quinine and mefloquine (P= 0.01). A significant negative correlation was observed between the responses to chloroquine and mefloquine (P=0.05). For the local herbs highest antiplasmodial activity was obtained with the ethanolic extract of Diospyros monbuttensis (IC50 = 32 μg/ml). P. falciparum isolates analyzed during this study have demonstrated highly diverse nature of field isolates in respect of msp-1 (block 2) and msp-2 (central repeat region, block3). All the three reported families of msp-1(K1, MAD20 and RO33) and two of msp-2 (FC27 and 3D7) were observed among the isolates. Proportion of isolates with K1 family was 68% with 4 alleles in the range of 100 to 300 basepairs (bp). Proportion of isolates with MAD20 family was 40% and a total of 3 alleles were observed within 100 to 300 bp. RO33 proportion was 20% and the family was observed to be monomorphic with an allele size of 200 bp. In msp-2 the proportion of FC27 family was 76% and that of 3D7 was 56%. Proportional Prevalence of FC27 and 3D7 families was significantly different (χ2 = 16.5, P = 0.002). Eighty percent of the isolates harbor the genes that code for Glutamate rich protein with size ranging between 700 and 900bp. Pfcrt (K76T ) Pfmdr1 (mdr 1 ) Pfdhfr (S108N), and Pfdhps (K540E ) resistant genes were detected among the isolates while resistant SERCAPfATPase6 gene which codes for artemisinin resistance was not detected in the population. The questionnaire study showed that 24.6% of the patient visit hospitals for treatment, 12.0% use local healers while 25.0% buy antimalarial drugs without prescription. It was also observed that some use more than one method in their management of malaria. Those who combined antimalarial drugs with traditional medicine from local healers were found to be 17.4%. Only 18% of the sample population used Insecticide treated mosquito nets, 42.3% use window and door nets while 13% do not employ any mosquito preventive method. Continuous use of the current antimalarial drugs increases the chance of resistance developing to those drugs. Control of drug use and reducing exposure of parasites to the drugs are most effective where the parasite is still sensitive to the drug. Molecular methods are most effective for monitoring the spread of resistant strains of P. falciparum

    All around suboptimal health — a joint position paper of the suboptimal health study consortium and European association for predictive, preventive and personalised medicine

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    First two decades of the twenty-first century are characterised by epidemics of non-communicable diseases such as many hundreds of millions of patients diagnosed with cardiovascular diseases and the type 2 diabetes mellitus, breast, lung, liver and prostate malignancies, neurological, sleep, mood and eye disorders, amongst others. Consequent socio-economic burden is tremendous. Unprecedented decrease in age of maladaptive individuals has been reported. The absolute majority of expanding non-communicable disorders carry a chronic character, over a couple of years progressing from reversible suboptimal health conditions to irreversible severe pathologies and cascading collateral complications. The time-frame between onset of SHS and clinical manifestation of associated disorders is the operational area for an application of reliable risk assessment tools and predictive diagnostics followed by the cost-effective targeted prevention and treatments tailored to the person. This article demonstrates advanced strategies in bio/medical sciences and healthcare focused on suboptimal health conditions in the frame-work of Predictive, Preventive and Personalised Medicine (3PM/PPPM). Potential benefits in healthcare systems and for society at large include but are not restricted to an improved life-quality of major populations and socio-economical groups, advanced professionalism of healthcare-givers and sustainable healthcare economy. Amongst others, following medical areas are proposed to strongly benefit from PPPM strategies applied to the identification and treatment of suboptimal health conditions:Stress overload associated pathologiesMale and female healthPlanned pregnanciesPeriodontal healthEye disordersInflammatory disorders, wound healing and pain management with associated complicationsMetabolic disorders and suboptimal body weightCardiovascular pathologiesCancersStroke, particularly of unknown aetiology and in young individualsSleep medicineSports medicineImproved individual outcomes under pandemic conditions such as COVID-19
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