Whole shoot mineral partitioning and accumulation in pea (Pisum sativum)

Several grain legumes are staple food crops that are important sources of minerals for humans; unfortunately, our knowledge is incomplete with respect to the mechanisms of translocation of these minerals to the vegetative tissues and loading into seeds. Understanding the mechanism and partitioning of minerals in pea could help in developing cultivars with high mineral density. A mineral partitioning study was conducted in pea to assess whole-plant growth and mineral content and the potential source-sink remobilization of different minerals, especially during seed development. Shoot and root mineral content increased for all the minerals, although tissue-specific partitioning differed between the minerals. Net remobilization was observed for P, S, Cu, and Fe from both the vegetative tissues and pod wall, but the amounts remobilized were much below the total accumulation in the seeds. Within the mature pod, more minerals were partitioned to the seed fraction (\u3e75%) at maturity than to the pod wall for all the minerals except Ca, where only 21% was partitioned to the seed fraction. Although there was evidence for net remobilization of some minerals from different tissues into seeds, continued uptake and translocation of minerals to source tissues during seed fill is as important, if not more important, than remobilization of previously stored minerals

Blood transfusion needs among obstetric patients in a tertiary care hospital: a prospective observational study

Background: Pregnancy possess a special challenge as immune responses in pregnant and non-pregnant states are different. The objectives of this study were to analyze the various indications for blood and blood component transfusion in obstetric patients. To study the prevalence and indications for blood transfusion among obstetric patients. To evaluate the various risk factors among these women. To study the role of antenatal visits in patients requiring blood transfusionMethods: A prospective observational study will be undertaken over a period of one year from July 2018 to June 2019 in Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at SSIMS and RC, Davangere. This study was conducted on pregnant women and immediate postpartum patients (up to 7 days after delivery) admitted in Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and requiring blood and blood component therapy. Statistical analysis will be performed using Chi square test and Student’s t test.Results: During study period out of 5486 patients 543 patients required blood transfusion. The incidence of blood transfusion is 9.89%. The indications for blood and blood product transfusion observed in our study were anemia, obstetric hemorrhage, thrombocytopenia, disseminated intravascular coagulopathy, ruptured ectopic, incomplete abortion, complete abortion and hydatidiform mole. Anemia in pregnancy was the most common indication and was observed in 217 cases (39.96%) followed by postpartum hemorrhage, which was seen in 117 cases (21.54%). The incidence of transfusion reactions was 5.34% in our study.Conclusions: A proper knowledge of blood and blood product transfusion is needed to make it available for people who are actually in need and also to decrease the economic burden. Regular Antenatal checkups should be given more importance in order to maximize the hemoglobin level at the time of delivery and to screen out the high-risk patients. Active management of the third stage of labor is required to minimize the blood loss. Anemia followed by obstetric hemorrhage still persists to be a major cause for blood and blood product transfusion

Antimicrobial Peptides from Insects: An Overview

Bacteria are exceptionally adept at acquiring resistance to antibiotics and antiseptic agents, hence new antibiotics and strategies are therefore needed to deal with this threat. Several authors have reported the inhibitory effect of anti microbial peptides of animal origin on bacteria and research is on the rise about insect antimicrobial peptides. An attempt has been made to have a comprehensive review of the research work carried out on antimicrobial peptides from insects

Beneficiation of High Ash Non-Coking Coal from Vasundhra Mines, Odisha

Coal is the vital energy fuel world-over, statistically contributing to 55% of installed energy generation capacity during the calendar year 2011 and it plays a pivotal role in the macro- economic development of the country. India has definitive coal reserves estimated by the Ministry of Coal at 93 billion tonnes, which is estimated to suffice and cater to energy generation requirement of the country, spanning over 30 to 60 years with proper scientific exploitation. However, Indian coal has been observed to be of low quality on account of its high ash content attribute and the high ash non-coking category coal constitutes sizeable quantity of near-gravity materials (NGM), which entails beneficiation to suit end-user or application specific qualitative level. The present manuscript demonstrates the beneficiation of high ash non-coking coal from Vasundhara mines, with 57% ash content intended for scaling down the ash content to 25% in obtaining clean coal at a reasonable yield, deploying physical beneficiation techniques. The coal was characterised thoroughly in terms of petrographic characteristics, size analysis, washability and chemical composition and the gross calorific value of the coal was observed to be 3221 Kcal/kg. The processing was initiated at a top size of 6.3 mm after initial deshaling of the ROM coal on account of its high ash content. Tactical combination of gravity separation and flotation techniques yielded clean coal with 25% ash at 40% yield and an intermediate clean product with 49% ash at 12% yield. The low ash content in the final clean coal is possibly achievable from the combined clean coal with 25% ash content adopting chemical beneficiation route

A double blind, randomized, placebo controlled, phase IV, proof-of-concept, comparative study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of Swasawin asthaloc tablets when given as add-on therapy in patients suffering from mild to moderate persistent bronchial asthma

Background: Asthma, known as “Tamaka Shwasa” in Ayurveda, as a chronic inflammatory disorder of the airways associated with increased airway hyper-responsiveness, recurrent episodes of wheezing, breathlessness, chest tightness and coughing, particularly at night/early morning. The key component to improving control and preventing attacks is the avoidance of triggers. Swasawin Asthaloc tablet, a polyherbal proprietary medication, is claimed to be effective in asthma. The Objective of the study was to evaluate the safety and efficacy of Swasawin Asthaloc tablets when given as add-on therapy to patients suffering from mild to moderate persistent bronchial asthma.Methods: The study was initiated after receiving Institutional Ethics Committee approval. Patients suffering from mild-to-moderate persistent bronchial asthma were randomized to 2 study groups after written informed consent process for 6 months. Group I received the study medication Swasawin Asthaloc tablet (1 tablet twice daily) in addition to regular anti-asthmatic medications (inhaler ± oral medications). Group II received Placebo tablets in a similar dose as add-on therapy. The study efficacy parameters included spirometry, breath holding time (BHT), Asthma symptom score and Ayurvedic Asthma symptom score.Results: 60 patients were enrolled in the study, of which 50 patients completed the study. In case of spirometry, both FEV1 and PEFR values showed statistically significant improvement at the end of 6 months therapy. Significant improvement in the Breath Holding Time (BHT), Ayurvedic Asthma symptom score and Asthma symptom score was observed in the active group as compared to the baseline (p <0.001).Conclusions: Add-on therapy with Swasawin Asthaloc tablets helped in reducing bronchial inflammation and improving asthmatic symptoms by virtue of its anti-inflammatory, bronchodilatory and antihistaminic properties. Hence it can be used as add-on therapy in patients with mild-to-moderate persistent bronchial asthma and may decrease the need for rescue medications especially steroids

A QUESTIONNAIRE BASED SURVEY TO ASSESS THE KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE AND PRACTICES OF AYURVEDIC PRACTITIONERS TOWARDS MASANUMASIK KASHAYAS

For a healthy pregnancy and delivery of a normal child, different group of medicines taken for each month of pregnancy is described in Ayurveda as Masanumasik Kashayas (monthly antenatal decoctions). Objectives: To assess the knowledge, attitude and practice of Ayurvedic practitioners regarding Masanumasik Kashayas. Methodology: Following ethical approval, a cross-sectional descriptive survey was conducted among Ayurvedic physicians from Mumbai region. Results: Of 130 questionnaires distributed, 120 physicians responded (92%). Although all the physicians were aware that Masanumasik Kashayasare described in the Samhitas, only 60% knew the number of Kashayas (decoctions). 85% knew the rationale for prescribing these Kashaya s(decoctions) and 93% agreed that these Kashayas (decoctions) improved pregnancy outcome. However, in clinical practice, 45% participants said that they prescribed Kashayas (decoctions) only in patients with bad obstetric history while 52.5% prescribed in regular ante-natal care. 83% preferred Vati (tablet) form rather than Kashaya (decoction) as patient compliance was better. All physicians who prescribed said that there were no adverse complaints and the pregnancy outcome was good. Conclusion: The study thus showed that all Ayurvedic practitioners were still well versed with Masanumasik Kashayas and prescribed these kashayas (decoctions) for a good pregnancy outcome in clinical practice with some modifications like usage of only 9 Kashayas (decoctions) and Vati form (tablet)