Hyperhomocysteinemia in pre-eclampsia: is routine screening rational?

Background: Hypertensive disorders complicate upto 5 to 10% of all pregnancies. Though the exact cause of pre-eclampsia is still undecided, maternal hyperhomocysteinemia has been implicated as a risk factor for pre eclampsia, placental abruption and other vascular diseases. The objectives of present study were to estimate the levels of serum homocysteine in antenatal patients and to study the above parameters in patients of pre-eclampsia.Methods: A prospective observational study was performed with 30 pre eclamptic patients and an equal number taken as control having comparable demographic characteristics. Level of homocysteine was measured by an enzymatic method, using Diazyme homocysteine 2 reagent enzymatic assay kit on Beckman coulter analyzer in all the patients. Obstetrics and neonatal outcomes were observed in all the patients. The statistical analysis was done using unpaired T test for determining level of significance.Results: Mean Serum homocysteine in the study group was 13.99±5.46 µmol/l and was 6.03±2.58 µmol/l in control group. This was statistically significant (p value 0.002). However the mean values of serum homocysteine did not correlate with severity of pre-eclampsia 14.32±6.72 µmol/l in mild pre-eclampsia and 13.60±3.77μmol/l in severe pre-eclampsia respectively (p value - 0.727).Conclusions: It appears that maternal serum homocysteine has a causal role in pathogenesis of pre eclampsia, however to recommend it as a routine test, larger studies are required

Antimicrobial Activity of the Extracts of Salacia oblonga Wall.

Salacia oblonga Wall. belonging to the family celastraceae is used in the treatment of diabetes, rheumatism, gonorrhoea, itches, asthma, wound healing, amenorrhea and ear diseases. It is a woody climber distributed in Sri Lanka and Southern regions of India. In the present study antimicrobial activity of Salacia oblonga was evaluated against pathogenic strains, gram +ve Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Enterococcus faecalis, Bacillus subtilis, Listeria monocytogenes and gram -ve Klebsiella pneumoniae, Enterobacter aerogenes, Enterobacter cloacae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhimurium. Ethyl acetate (EtOAc) aerial and root part extracts of Salacia oblonga have shown good activity towards all the pathogenic species. The zones of inhibition in the acidic EtOAc aerial and root extracts were measured to assess the antimicrobial activity

Negotiating modernity: education and translation in nineteenth century Egypt

Between the French and British occupations, Muhammad Ali Pasha (r. 1805-48) and his successors ruled Egypt as an autonomous Ottoman province. In order to establish and maintain that autonomy from both Ottoman and European imperial interests, Muhammad Ali sought European technical expertise to aid in the rapid modernization of the country – reorganizing the military, building new infrastructure, and reforming the civil service. Establishing a state-of-the- art education system was fundamental to this process, and yet it remains a neglected subject in contemporary historical scholarship on the modernization project initiated under Pasha’s rule. The dissertation focuses on two institutions that served as the original sites where European knowledge was transmitted and translated: the first student missions to France (1826-49) and the School of Languages in Cairo (1836-51). Using archival documents, correspondence, and published records in both French and Arabic, it uncovers the complicated mediations integral to the acquisition of this expertise through the missions, in the context of defensive modernization against European encroachment. The dissertation further explores how those educated in the student missions used their experiences to choose and localize useful knowledge. It also traces the ways in which Egyptians envisioned a hybridized government and religious education system by advocating for this new knowledge in educational practice and intellectual life through an examination of debates published in the first Egyptian educational journal Rawdat al-Madaris al-Misriyya (The Garden of the Egyptian Schools). By investigating the role played by those in favor of the inclusion of indigenized European knowledge, it highlights the implications of early nineteenth century Egyptian experiments with education on larger literary, religious, philosophical, and political trends in the Middle East in the latter half of the nineteenth century

Genetic diversity and population structure among isolates of the brown spot fungus, Bipolaris oryzae, as revealed by inter-simple sequence repeats (ISSR)

Bipolaris oryzae, the rice brown spot fungus is one of the pathological threats to rice crop worldwide. The genetic diversity among the Indian isolates of brown spot pathogen was studied using inter-simple sequence repeats (ISSR). Considerable intraspecific variability among the isolates of B. oryzae was revealed. Eighty-seven (87) highly reproducible fragments were amplified in all 69 isolates with an average of 13.8 markers per primer. Polymorphism range shown by ISSR primers was 83.33 to 95.45%, while the range of total loci scored was from 6 to 22. The molecular weight of scorable loci ranged from 150 to 2600 bp. The results obtained confirmed the genetic diversity of rice brown spot fungus among samples under study. The present study suggests that ISSR markers can be used as robust molecular markers for the population genetics, epidemiological and ecological studies of B. oryzae that will aid in designing improved methods for management of the rice brown spot disease.Keywords: Bipolaris oryzae, rice brown spot, inter-simple sequence repeats (ISSR), dendrogram, polymorphismAfrican Journal of Biotechnology, Vol. 13(2), pp. 238-244, 8 January, 201

Evaluation of in vitro and invivo anti-inflammatory activities of Parthenium camphora

The present investigation was carried out to evaluate the anti-inflammatory potential of solvent extracts of Parthenium camphora (Family: Compositae), a non-useful and waste weed growing through waste sides. The anti-inflammatory activities were assessed through in vitro and in vivo procedures, the results were found to be very surprising and promising. Aqueous and Ethanolic solvent extracts of Parthenium camphora were found to have significant anti-inflammatory activity at doses 100 and 120 mg/Kg during in vitro anti-inflammatory assay. The ethanolic fractions of the plant causes significant reduction in inflammation i.e. 92 % (120 mg/kg) followed by aqueous extract i.e. 85 % (120 mg/kg) compared to standard anti-inflammatory drug, Diclofenac Sodium i.e. 87 % (10 mg/kg). The values of reduction in paw volume, 0.10 ± 0.05, 0.14 ± 0.05 and 0.16 ± 0.05 were found significantly of ethanol extract, aqueous extract and Diclofenac sodium, respectively at 4 h after carrageenan administration. Ethanolic extracts showed potent anti-inflammatory activity in comparison to aqueous extracts. The extracts showed higher anti-inflammatory potential as the dose varies. Thus results showed that extracts showed significant anti-inflammatory activity in dose-dependent manner. The extracts exhibited membrane stabilization effect by inhibiting hypotonicity induced lysis of erythrocyte membrane. The erythrocyte membrane is analogous to the lysosomal membrane, and its stabilization implies that the extract may as well stabilize lysosomal membrane. Stabilization of lysosomal membrane is important in limiting the inflammatory response by preventing the release of lysosomal constituents of activated neutrophils such as bacterial enzymes and proteases which cause further tissue inflammation and damage. From the above study it was concluded that the ethanolic extract of Parthenium camphora has significant membrane stabilization property compared to the aqueous extract of the same plant and it was comparable to the standard drug Diclofenac Sodium

STUDIES ON THE PHYTOCHEMICAL SCREENING AND FREE RADICAL SCAVENGING POTENTIALS OF SOLANUM NIGRUM LEAVES EXTRACT

ABSTRACTSolanum nigrum is a paramount in medicinal perspective and belongs to family Solanacea. From different parts of the plant significant pharmacological and biological activities have been reported previously.  In the present study, the ethanolic extract of leaves was investigated for phytochemical analysis, vitamin and mineral content. Phytochemical analysis of the leaves revealed the presence of phenols, alkaloids, flavonoids, glycosides, saponins, tannins, phytosterols and triterpenoides. The leaves extract was found to contain appreciable amounts of flavonoids and phenols. The extract showed the presence of vitamins such as ascorbic acid, folic acid, and niacinamide. It has been found that the leaves of Solanum nigrum is rich in minerals like copper, magnesium, manganese, vanadium, chromium, calcium, zinc, sodium, and potassium. The antioxidant (free radical scavenging) activity of the extract was determined against 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical, 2,2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid) ABTS, Nitric oxide(NO) and Superoxide Scavenging assays. Solanum nigrum leaves extract was found to be antioxidant in nature which is evident from DPPH, ABTS, NO, Superoxide radical scavenging assays. These findings suggest that Solanum nigrum possess biologically important phytoconstituents, significant amounts of vitamins and minerals. IN addition, S. nigrum leaves extract exert free radical scavenging potential in vitro.Key words: Medicinal plants; Solanum nigrum leaves; phytoconstiuents;Antioxidant. Â

Primary cesearean section in multigravidas

Background: Cesarean section is one of the widely performed surgical procedures across the world. Cesarean section is associated with increased risk of maternal morbidity and mortality, despite remarkable improvements in the safety. The objective of the present study is to study the cesearean section in the context of various indications, parity, intraoperative complications, post-operative morbidity, and perinatal morbidity among multigravidae undergoing cesarean section for first time.Methods: The present study was carried out at Yenepoya medical college hospital. All multigravidas who had delivered vaginally once or more and who underwent primary caesarean sections for the first time during time period of August 2015-May 2016 were included in study and various factors are analyzed.Results: In our study most of primary cesearean sections were in second paras who constituted 50%, followed by 4/> paras constituting 29.54%, and it was observed that incidence in third paras was 20.45%. 75% of the patients underwent emergency cesearean section and 25% had elective ceserean section. The most common indication for cesearean in our study was observed to be fetal distress accounting for 25% of the cases, 2nd most common being malpresentations (19.31%), non-progress of labor constituting 11.36% of cases. Intra operative complications were noted in 6.81% of cases, most common complication being extension of uterine incision extension of uterine incision.Conclusions: Complications may occur in women who previously had a normal vaginal delivery requiring interventions in the form of caesarean section and is not uncommon. Though to a small extent, they are contributing to rise is total caesarean section rates seen. There are many cases where a caesarean becomes mandatory for her. The fact that a multipara who has had one or more vaginal deliveries should be regarded as an optimistic historical fact, not as diagnostic-criteria for spontaneous delivery of the pregnancy at hand. A parous woman needs good obstetric care to improve maternal and neonatal outcome and still keeping caesarean section to a lower rate

Detection and Risk Stratification of Women at High Risk of Preterm Birth in Rural Communities near Nagpur, India

Background: Presently, preterm birth is globally the leading cause of neonatal mortality. Prompt community based identification of women at high risk for preterm births (HRPB) can either help to avert preterm births or avail effective interventions to reduce neonatal mortality due to preterm births. We evaluated the performance of a package to train community workers to detect the presence of signs or symptoms of HRPB. Methods: Pregnant women enrolled in the intervention arm of a cluster randomized trial of Antenatal Corticosteroids (ACT Trial) conducted at Nagpur, India were informed about 4 directly observable signs and symptoms of preterm labor. Community health workers actively monitored these women from 24 to 36 weeks of gestation for these signs or symptoms. If they were present (HRPB positive) the identified women were brought to government health facilities for assessment and management. HRPB positive could also be determined by the provider if the woman presented directly to the facility. Risk stratification was based on the number of signs or symptoms present. The outcome of preterm birth was based on the clinical assessment of gestational age \u3c 37 weeks at delivery or a birth weight of \u3c2000 g. Results: Between July 1, 2012 and 30 November, 2013, 686 of 7050 (9.7%) pregnant women studied, delivered preterm. 732 (10.4%) women were HRPB positive, of whom 333 (45.5%) delivered preterm. Of the remaining 6318(89.6%) HRPB negative women 353 (5.6%) delivered preterm. The likelihood ratio (LR) of a preterm birth in the HRPB positives was 8.14 (95% confidence interval 7.16-9.26). The LR of a preterm birth increased in women who had more signs or symptoms of HRBP (p \u3c 0.00001). More signs or symptoms of HRPB were also associated with a shorter time to delivery, lower birth weight and higher rates of stillbirths, neonatal deaths and postnatal complications. Addition of risk stratification improved the prediction of preterm delivery (Integrated Discrimination Improvement 17% (95% CI 15-19%)). Conclusions: The package for detection of signs and symptoms of HRPB is feasible, promising and likely to improve management of preterm labor. Trial registration: NCT01073475 on February 21, 2010 and NCT01084096 on March 9, 2010

Phytochemical investigations and antibacterial activity of Salacia oblonga Wall ethanolic extract

Abstract Salacia oblonga Wall, a medicinally important plant, belonging to the family Celastraceae, is a large woody climber distributed in southern India and Sri Lanka. In the present investigation, ethanol extracts of S. oblonga were prepared from aerial and root parts of the plant in the presence and absence of HCl and antibacterial activity was tested. Both aerial and root extracts exhibited pronounced activity against human pathogens. The MIC and MBC values ranged from 0.078-1.25 mg/ml and 0.156 -2.50 mg/ml, respectively. GC-MS profile of aerial and root extracts displayed the presence of 11 and 6 compounds. The present investigation demonstrated that ethanolic extracts of S. oblonga have potential antibacterial activity against human pathogens and could serve as a source for the development of new age antimicrobials

Oral Health Literacy among Caregivers in Bangalore City, India

Purpose: To assess caregiver’s oral health literacy of children aged 3-6 years in Bangalore city. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 635 child/caregiver dyads from a sample of children aged 3-6 years who were selected from anganwadis and preschools in Bangalore city. Demographic details were collected using structured questionnaire. Caregiver literacy was measured using the Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Dentistry (REALD-30). Results: Among 635 child/caregiver dyads, caregiver’s and children’s mean ages were 33.45 years(SD = 3.36) and 5.28 years (SD =0.67), respectively. The mean literacy score was 14.25 (SD= 7.67). The results also indicated that there was an association between socio-demographic variables such as age, education, income, occupation, socioeconomic status and caregivers’ oral health literacy. Conclusion: Caregiver’s oral health literacy is influenced by sociodemographic factors. Oral health literacy is potential determinant and as impact on oral health outcomes in young children