Health Benefits of Islamic Intermittent Fasting

Background & Objective:  Islamic fasting is observed by millions of Muslims across the world during the holy month of Ramadan and other specific  days of the lunar year. Fasting  Muslims  abstain from eating and drinking from dawn until sunset. Depending on season and geographical location, Muslims  maintain fasting for approximately 13-18 hours per day. The present study aimed to review the benefits of Islamic fasting.Materials and Methods:  This literature review was conducted via searching in  databases like Medline, PubMed, PMC, Google Scholar, ScienceDirect, and reference lists of relevant articles using keywords like health benefits, Islamic fasting, intermittent fasting, alternate-day fasting, time-restricted feeding, and Ramadan intermittent fasting.Results: Islamic fasting could be considered as intermittent fasting as it is similar to alternate-day fasting and time-restricted feeding. Intermittent fasting is associated with numerous health benefits.Conclusion:  According to this review, some of the main health benefits of Islamic fasting include weight loss, attenuation of metabolic markers (e.g., insulin resistance, blood glucose, and blood pressure), improved lipid profile, prevention of chronic problems (e.g., obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and cancer), protection against neurodegeneration, and diminished inflammation.Keywords: Health Benefits, Ramadan Fasting, Islamic Fasting, Intermittent Fasting, Alternate-day Fasting, Time-restricted Feedin

A randomized interventional clinical trial assessing the safety and effectiveness of PeaNoc XL tablets in managing joint pain and inflammation in arthritis patients [version 1; peer review: 2 approved]

Background: Globally, alternative medicine is used widely by most patients for several health challenges. To evaluate the effectiveness and safety of PeaNoc XL Tablet in managing pain and inflammation, a randomized clinical trial and systematic study was designed. PeaNoc XL Tablet has been widely utilized for pain and inflammation management, but no previous studies have examined its efficacy and safety. The aim of this study was to determine the clinical effectiveness and safety profile of PeaNoc XL in patients with arthritis experiencing joint pain and inflammation. Methods: A randomized, controlled, and an open-label trial was conducted. A total of 155 patients (18 to 60 years) with arthritis were enrolled for participation. Using computer-generated random sequences, the study population was divided into two groups in a randomized manner. Group A received Standard therapy and Group B received Standard therapy with PeaNoc XL Tablet 400mg (two tablets OD after food). Results: Out of 155 patients, a total of 83 individuals were excluded from the study, leaving 72 patients who were randomly assigned to either Group A (n=36) or Group B (n=36). The administration of PeaNoc XL as an adjunct to standard therapy resulted in a significant reduction in levels of TNF-α (P<0.01), IL-1β (P<0.001), IL-6 (P<0.01), and CRP (P<0.01) in arthritis patients experiencing joint pain and inflammation. Conversely, no notable differences were observed from the baseline in the standard therapy group. Conclusions: After 12 weeks of supplementation of PeaNoc XL tablets, as an add-on therapy helps in the reduction of pain score, joint stiffness, and physical stiffness. Trial registration:  CTRI/2022/10/046693

A Critical Review of Kala in Ayurveda

Kala is one of the nine Karana dravya. It possesses Kriya and Guna and is Nitya and Vibhu. It is understood by the occurrence of seasons, day, night, month, year etc. It gives the knowledge of past, present and future events. Kala plays its role from the birth to the death throughout the lifetime of an individual. The flowering, ripening, shedding of leaves in plants and other natural events are influenced by Kala. The Bhishak is referred as Kalavith. Methods: Kala or Time factor is explained in detail in Ayurveda literature from which important portions has been taken related with the study. Results: Available references on the study of Kala have been collected from the literature and information has been laid down to substantiate its importance in healthy and ill persons. Discussion and Conclusion: Kala is considered as a significant factor in the maintenance of healthy life in individuals and for an ill person the same Kala is understood as one of three causes for the disease condition. Time is continuously undergoing changes and a non-controlling entity because of which it is related to God

Converting daily rainfall into hourly scale using statistical tools

Rainfall is one of the most critical inputs for hydrological modeling and indicators for climate change impact studies. The rainfall data at finer timescales are generally more useful for hydrological process research, especially in extreme rainfall-event evaluation and flood risk management. However, rainfall data is usually only available at timescales of daily or monthly. Hence, disaggregation methods are widely used to provide possible realization of hourly data which is aggregated up to the given daily data. This study focuses on the disaggregation reliability of HyetosMinute, which relies on the Bartlett-Lewis Rectangular Pulse Model. This study further determines if the model is suitable for future disaggregation predictions based on present parameters. It was found that the reliability of the tool is dependent on the input parameters estimated. If appropriately estimated, the model can be confidently used for future disaggregation predictions. The study outputs will be useful for helping generate high-resolution rainfall data for hydrologic studies, such as determining return periods which HyetosMinute was able to model accurately.Bachelor of Engineering (Civil

Experimental investigations and finite element analysis of composite sandwich structures with honeycomb core – Evaluation for strength and quality

Honeycomb cores in composite sandwich structures are economical and appropriate scheme to absorb impact in engineering applications. Hexagonal honeycomb that are conventionally being used displays greater Poisson’s ratio and are typically used for their light weight and higher axial stiffness. Auxetic honeycombs exhibit contradictory properties such as high in plane shear stiffness and shows negative Poisson’s ratio with lateral extension instead of contraction when axially stretched. The research reports suggests the need for greater research evolutions in the field of honeycomb composites structures still considered to be in its naïve state. This study involves analysis of the dynamic response of an aluminum composite panel with a honeycomb core constrained within two thin face subjected to impact with a rigid ball. Parametric analysis and finite element analysis are performed to investigate the governing factors, their interdependencies and the deformations occurring for various loads