Herbal or modern methods of contraception! choice is yours

Contraception generally means prevention of pregnancy. There are a variety of methods ranging from natural to scientific available in accordance to its nature of use. Some methods provide short term birth control facility whereas some other provides permanent or long term birth control facility. But all the methods have some advantages and disadvantages associated with them. For example, male condoms which is made of latex, is 97% effective if used properly though some people may have allergic reaction to latex. Oral contraceptives are also widely used but it causes heart attacks, cancer, and depression among pills user women. Herbal contraception offer alternate ways for women to avoid pregnancy and it is also free from any side effects but the reliability of herbal contraceptive remains uncertain

Home financing loans and their relationship to real estate bubble: An analysis of the U.S. mortgage market

It is well reported that the much fluctuations in Real Estate (RE) markets globally are a result of unequal risk burden caused by deficiencies of financial system and speculative nature of those markets. However, the evidence is mixed in terms of whether high house prices lead to over financing of mortgages or vice versa. This work attempted to resolve this issue by using ARDL approach handy to use for time series data for the United States. The empirical results of the work have some noteworthy theoretical and policy implications. In the short run, house prices seem to be causing an increase in money supply and influencing house financing decisions. However in the long run, availability of new mortgage loans and interest impact seem to dominate. Thus, the implication from the study suggests that we have to consider both the short and the long run aspects of policy and its influence on all sectors of the economy while making such policy decisions

Monitoring antimicrobial susceptibility of Neisseria gonorrhoeae isolated from Bangladesh during 1997- 2006: Emergence and pattern of drug-resistant isolates

Gonorrhoea is one of the most common sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in developing countries, and the emergence of resistance to antimicrobial agents in Neisseria gonorrhoeae is a major obstacle in the control of gonorrhoea. Periodical monitoring of antimicrobial susceptibility of N. gonorrhoeae is essential for the early detection of emergence of drug resistance. In total, 1, 767 gonococcal strains isolated from males and females (general population and those with high-risk behaviour) from different parts of Bangla-desh were studied during 1997- 2006 . Minimum inhibitory concentrations of penicillin, tetracycline, cipro-floxacin, ceftriaxone, spectinomycin, and azithromycin for the isolates were determined by the agar dilu-tion method. Isolates resistant to three or more antimicrobial agents are considered multidrug-resistant. The prevalence of plasmid-mediated penicillinase-producing N. gonorrhoeae (PPNG) and plasmid-mediated tetracycline-resistant N. gonorrhoeae (TRNG) was determined. Nine percent of the isolates were resistant to ciprofloxacin in 1997 compared to 87% in 2006. Multidrug-resistant N. gonorrhoeae have emerged in 1997 , and 44% of the strains (n= 66) isolated during 2006 were multidrug-resistant. Forty-two percent of the isolates in 2006 were both PPNG- and TRNG-positive compared to none in 1997 . The rapidly-changing pattern of gonococcal antimicrobial susceptibility warrants the need for an antimicrobial susceptibility-monitoring programme, and periodical analysis and dissemination of susceptibility data are essential to guide clinicians and for successful STI/HIV intervention programmes

Pharmacological insights and prediction of lead bioactive isolates of Dita bark through experimental and computer-aided mechanism.

Dita bark (Alstonia scholaris (L.) R. Br.) is an ethnomedicine used for the management of various ailments. This study aimed to investigate the biological properties of methanol extract of A. scholaris bark (MEAS), through in vivo, in vitro and in silico approaches alongside its phytochemical profiling. Identification and nature of the bioactive secondary metabolites were studied by the established qualitative tests and GC-MS analysis. The antidepressant activity was determined by forced swimming test (FST) and tail suspension test (TST) in mice. The anti-inflammatory and thrombolytic effect was evaluated using inhibition of protein denaturation technique and clot lysis technique, respectively. Besides, computational studies of the isolated compounds and ADME/T analysis were performed by Schrodinger-Maestro (v11.1) software, and PASS prediction was conducted through PASS online tools. The GC-MS analysis revealed the presence of several secondary metabolites in MEAS. Treatment with MEAS revealed a significant reduction of immobility time in a dose-dependent manner in FST and TST. Besides, MEAS showed substantial anti-inflammatory effects at the higher dose (400 μg/mL) as well as revealed notable clot lysis effect as compared to control. In the case of computer-aided investigation, all compounds meet the condition of Lipinski's rule of five. PASS study also predicted for all compounds, and among these safe compound furazan-3-amine showed the most spontaneous binding energy for both antidepressant and thrombolytic activities, as well as 5-dimethylamino-6 azauracil, found promising for anti-inflammatory activity. Taken together, the investigation concludes that MEAS can be a potent source of antidepressant, anti-inflammatory, and thrombolytic agents

Optimizing photovoltaic arrays : A tested dataset of newly manufactured PV modules for data-driven analysis and algorithm development

This data article presents a comprehensive dataset comprising experimentally tested characteristics of newly manufactured photovoltaic (PV) modules, which have been collected by using a commercial PV testing system from a solar panel manufacturer company. The PV testing system includes an artificial sunlight simulator to generate input light for the PV and the outputs of the PV are tested by a professional IV tracer in a darkroom environment maintaining IEC60904–9 standard. The dataset encompasses modules with power ratings of 10 W, 85 W, and 247 W, each represented by 40 individual module records. The tested and collected characteristics of each module include open circuit voltage, short circuit current, maximum power point voltage, maximum power point current, maximum power point power, and fill factor. The motivation for this dataset lies in addressing the challenges posed by manufacturing defects and a ± 5 % manufacturing tolerance, which can lead to mismatch power losses in newly installed PV arrays. These losses result in lower current in series strings and lower voltage in parallel branches, ultimately decreasing the array's output power. The dataset serves as a valuable resource for academic research, particularly in the domain of PV array optimization. To facilitate optimization efforts, different algorithms have been explored in the literature. This dataset supports the exploration of these optimization algorithms to find solutions that enhance the position of each module within the array, consequently increasing the overall output power and efficiency of the PV system. The objective is to mitigate mismatch power losses, which, if unaddressed, can contribute to increased degradation rates and early aging of PV modules. This dataset lays the groundwork for addressing critical PV array performance and efficiency issues. In future research, this dataset can be reused to explore and implement optimization algorithms, to improve the overall output power and lifespan of newly installed PV arrays. The smart solution proposed in [1], utilizing a genetic algorithm-based module arrangement, demonstrates promising results for maximizing PV array output power using this dataset

Energy maximization of Old PV array under discoloration conditions using different interconnection schemes

Discoloration of solar panels is a phenomenon where the color of the panels changes over time due to numerous environmental variables such as temperature, irradiance, and humidity. Discoloration causes a significant impact on the PV performance reduction considering output power. The power degradation increases gradually due to the increment of discoloration of aged PV array modules. In this work, the effect of discoloration has been investigated practically by considering a five-year aged 200 W PV array. The array modules are connected in 4×5 array configurations and the power rating of each module is 10W. The PV modules are tested individually using a professional PV tester and visual imaged-based investigations have been made to identify the discoloration effects on each module output power. Based on these results the array modules are rearranged to increase the output power using a module rearranged technique. Moreover, five different interconnection schemes are applied to make a comparative investigation considering the PV array output power and percentage of recoverable energy. The experimental results show that the BL interconnection scheme can generate 4.93% more energy than the typical SP interconnection

Identification and characterization of antibacterial compound(s) of cockroaches (Periplaneta americana)

Infectious diseases remain a significant threat to human health, contributing to more than 17 million deaths, annually. With the worsening trends of drug resistance, there is a need for newer and more powerful antimicrobial agents. We hypothesized that animals living in polluted environments are potential source of antimicrobials. Under polluted milieus, organisms such as cockroaches encounter different types of microbes, including superbugs. Such creatures survive the onslaught of superbugs and are able to ward off disease by producing antimicrobial substances. Here, we characterized antibacterial properties in extracts of various body organs of cockroaches (Periplaneta americana) and showed potent antibacterial activity in crude brain extract against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and neuropathogenic E. coli K1. The size-exclusion spin columns revealed that the active compound(s) are less than 10 kDa in molecular mass. Using cytotoxicity assays, it was observed that pre-treatment of bacteria with lysates inhibited bacteria-mediated host cell cytotoxicity. Using spectra obtained with LC-MS on Agilent 1290 infinity liquid chromatograph, coupled with an Agilent 6460 triple quadruple mass spectrometer, tissues lysates were analyzed. Among hundreds of compounds, only a few homologous compounds were identified that contained isoquinoline group, chromene derivatives, thiazine groups, imidazoles, pyrrole containing analogs, sulfonamides, furanones, flavanones, and known to possess broad-spectrum antimicrobial properties, and possess anti-inflammatory, anti-tumour, and analgesic properties. Further identification, characterization and functional studies using individual compounds can act as a breakthrough in developing novel therapeutics against various pathogens including superbugs

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Abstract The present investigation is confined to Hazaribagh and Ramgarh districts of Jharkhand state of India. The study is an attempt to examine the extent of environmental degradation that has taken place in the form of water contamination and degradation of forest due to rampant mining in the different areas of Hazaribagh and Ramgarh districts i.e. Sonda (