Multidimensional Poverty Analysis: assessing poverty patterns among different demographic groups of India

The concept of Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI), which is relied upon the idea that many intertwined aspects of poverty might not be always possible to be measured in terms of fixed prices, has gained considerable familiarity over the last decades and there have been various experimentations to determine the aspects which should be most imperative to review in order to determine who are poor and who are not. In almost all studies, education, health and standard of living have been singled out as the three obligatory aspects that cannot be avoided if we are rightly trying to estimate poverty and the Alkire-Foster counting approach is the most widely acknowledged and implemented method for constructing Multidimensional Poverty Index. In this paper we have extended the idea, by using the latest 2021 Alkire and Kanagaratnam proposition, for 2015 Indian National Family Health Survey Data and we have observed significant changes (compared to the previous case studies for 2015 NFHS survey data where any older MPI computing methods were used) in the counts and ratios across India’s different states, caste groups, religious groups. The paper also looks for a method to extend the MPI counting from household level to individual level. The exploratory analysis wrt almost all possible diverse indicators of deprivation across different religions, caste groups, states and other demographic groups, is another key research aspect of this paper with the motivation to make the results easily interpretable and reusable even outside the scope of MPI construction.  It’s certain that the poverty level in India is not same for different demographic groups. This paper implements statistical tools such as Multiple Regression and Principal Component Analysis to assess the significance of the findings from the exploratory studies. &nbsp

DESIGN AND IN VITRO RELEASE KINETICS OF LIPOSOMAL FORMULATION OF ACYCLOVIR

Objective: The objective of this study was to formulate and evaluate liposomes loaded with acyclovir. Methods: Liposomal formulation of acyclovir was prepared by “thin lipid film method”. Mixture of phosphotidyl choline (soya lecithin), acyclovir and cholesterol of varying weight ratio was used for the preparation of liposomes. Total nine batches were prepared and each batch was prepared in triplicate. All batches were evaluated by drug entrapment and release kinetic studies. Stability study was carried out with F4 batch. Results: F2 and F9formulations showed better drug entrapment efficiency compared to the other batches. The drug entrapment efficiency of all batches was found within the range of 51.42 % to 79.0 %. F4 shows highest release of about 79.0% in 4 h. F4 formulation was found to follow significantly zero-order release kinetics. Short term stability study of formulation F4 showed no significant change in release kinetics. Conclusion: The F4 batches showed promising results compared to other formulations. No changes were founded during the short-term stability study of F4

DESIGN, FORMULATION AND EVALUATION OF LIPOSOME CONTAINING ISONIAZID

Objective: The objective of the present study was to formulate and evaluate liposomes loaded with isoniazid.Methods: Liposome of isoniazid was made by thin layer film hydration method. L-α-phosphatidylcholine and cholesterol were used to make multiamellar vesicles. Six batches of liposomes were prepared based on the different weight ratio of L-α-phosphatidylcholine and cholesterol. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) study conducted to study in any incompatibility.Results: The prepared liposomes were evaluated by particle size analysis, entrapment efficiency, release study and stability study. Particle sizes were determined from the scanning electron microscopy (SEM) photographs. When particle frequencies were plotted against particle diameter in the histogram, it showed that F1 batch had a skewed distribution towards smaller liposomes while F6 shows a proper bell-shaped curve with a mean at 225 mm. The percentage entrapment efficiency was found to be 8.99 ± 0.15 to 4.19 ± 0.12 % respectively. From the release profile, it was seen that F1 batch was fastest and F6 was slowest to release the drug. The satisfactory batch F1 was packed in Eppendorf tube and stored at 4 °C temperature for one month. At the end of one month, the samples were analyzed for their physical properties, drug entrapment and in vitro release profile. The percentage release was found to be 96.5 ± 3.2 after 4 h.Conclusion: The F1 batch showed most promising results compared to other. No significant change was found during one month's stability study of final batch (F1)

PREVENTIVE EFFECT OF CYCAS REVOLUTA IN 1,2-DIMETHYLHYDRAZINE-INDUCED COLON CANCER IN WISTAR RAT MODEL

 Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the colon cancer protective activity of Cycas revoluta (Cycadaceae).Methods: Methanolic extracts of C. revoluta (MECR) were assessed for total polyphenols and total flavonoids content. For the in vivo study, animals were divided into five groups (n=6). Group I serves as control which received 0.25% carboxymethyl cellulose solution. Groups II-V were treated with 1,2-dimethylhydrazine (DMH) which was given at the dose of 20 mg/kg b.w., s.c. once a week for 4 consecutive weeks. Aqueous suspension of MECR at a dose of 200 mg/kg/day and 400 mg/kg was administered orally to the animals in Groups III-IV every day for 16 weeks. Group V received 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) as a standard drug at a dose of 10 mg/kg b.w., per day s.c. for 16 weeks. After that, animals are sacrificed and colons are taken separately to evaluate biochemical parameters and morphological and histopathological changes.Results: MECR contains total polyphenols (6.3±0.09 mg of gallic acid equivalent /g) and total flavonoids (4.6±0.06 mg of rutin equivalent/g). The in vivo study revealed that superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase, and reduced glutathione (GSH) activity were decreased in DMH Group. All these parameters were restored significantly (p<0.05) toward the near normal value on supplementation with MECR (200 and 400 mg/kg b.w.) to DMH-treated rats (Groups III and IV). In Group V, the synthetic standard drug 5-FU (10 mg/kg b.w.) also increases the activities of SOD, CAT, and GSH significantly (p<0.05) more in DMH-treated rats.Conclusions: It can be concluded that MECR protects rat from DMH-induced colon cancer

ANTIMICROBIAL INVESTIGATION AND BINDING MODE ANALYSIS OF SOME NEWLY SYNTHESIZED 4-AMINO-5-((ARYL SUBSTITUTED)-4H-1, 2, 4-TRIAZOLE-3-YL)-THIO LINKED HYDROXAMIC ACID DERIVATIVES

Objective: A series of 5-substituted-4-amino-1, 2, 4-triazole-linked hydroxamic acid derivatives have been synthesized and explored in vitro to evaluate antibacterial and antifungal activities. Methods: Different 5-phenyl group substituted-4-amino-1,2,4-triazole-3-thiol reacted with chlorine substituted hydroxamic acid to produce the desired compounds and characterized spectroscopically. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), zone of inhibition (ZOI), growth kinetic studies, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were employed to elicit the antimicrobial efficacy of synthesized compounds against a wide range of bacterial and fungal strains. Results: Compounds 6a, 6b, 6d, and 6k (MIC of 25 μg/ml) have been found to be more potent against Klebsiella pneumoniae, Bacillus cereus, Bacillus pumilus, Micrococcus luteus, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, compounds 6a-6d, 6k, and 6l (MIC of 25–50 μg/ml) have shown potent antibacterial efficacy against Klebsiella pneumonia, P. aeruginosa, and Vibrio cholera compare to the standard drug amoxicillin (MIC of 60 μg/ml, 65 μg/ml, and 25 μg/ml, respectively). Screening for the antifungal activity revealed that the compounds were found to be most active against Candida albicans (6a, 6b, and 6l), Candida tropicalis (6b and 6d), and Aspergillus niger (6a, 6b, 6d, and 6j) with MIC of 15–25 μg/ml. Bacteriostatic and fungistatic effect of titled compounds was revealed from growth kinetics study. Conclusion: Electron donating group at the 5-position of the 5-substituted-1,2,4-triazole-linked hydroxamic acid derivatives conferred the biological effectiveness of the synthesized compounds and also offer a therapeutically effective prototypical structure for further development of new chemical entities with superior antimicrobial activity

Fabrication and Release Kinetics of Liposomes Containing Leuprolide Acetate

The present work is focused on the preparation and in vitro release kinetics of liposomal formulation of Leuprolide Acetate. In this work, “Thin Lipid Film Hydration Method” was used for preparation of Leuprolide Acetate loaded liposomes. Prepared liposomal formulations of Leuprolide acetate was evaluated by drug entrapment study, in-vitro drug release kinetics and stability studies. The percentage drug entrapment of Leuprolide acetate for F1 and F2 formulations were found to be 78.14 ± 0.67 and 66.70 ± 0.81% respectively. In-vitro drug release study of liposomal formulations had shown zero order release pattern. Regression co-efficient (R2) value of Zero order kinetics for F1 and F2 formulations were 0.9912 and 0.9676 respectively. After storing formulations for 1 month, stability testing was done at 40C.It was found that all batches were stable. These liposomal formulations of Leuprolide acetate can be formulated for parenteral application to treat prostate cancer and in women, to treat symptoms of endometriosis (overgrowth of uterine lining outside of the uterus) or uterine fibroids

PHARMACOGNOSTIC STUDIES ON FLOWERS OF DREGEA VOLUBILIS: EVALUATION FOR AUTHENTICATION AND STANDARDIZATION

Objective: The various parts of Dregea volubilis (Family: Apocynaceae), locally known as Jukti (Bengali), are commonly used in Indian system of medicine to treat various ailments such as inflammation, piles, leukoderma, asthma, and tumors. Literature review suggested that there has been no detailed work on systemic pharmacognostic and phytochemical studies done on the flowers of the plant. The present study is aimed to lay down quality control parameters for D. volubilis flowers to confirm its identity, quality, and purity. Methods: The present work was designed to study detailed organoleptic, histological, quantitative standards, physicochemical, spectroscopic, and chromatographic characteristics of the flowers of D. volubilis. Results: The total ash, acid insoluble ash, water soluble ash, loss on drying, water, and alcohol soluble extractive values were found to be 11.767±0.130% (w/w), 1.287±0.106% (w/w), 9.140±0.344% (w/w), 14.110±0.061% (w/w), 21.600±0.133% (w/v), and 9.603±0.104% (w/v), respectively. Phytochemical screening of different extracts showed the presence of carbohydrates, proteins, amino acids, steroids, glycosides, alkaloids, flavonoids, tannins, and phenolics. The chromatographic study revealed the presence of rhamnose (103.229±4.994 μg/g), fructose (738.670±25.714 μg/g), glucose (285.532±24.465 μg/g), and maltose (49.082±5.206 μg/g). Conclusion: The characterization parameters of the present study may serve as a reference standard for proper authentication, identification and for distinguishing the plant from its adulterants

Computational Modeling and Experiments of Natural Convection for a Titan Montgolfiere

Computational models are developed to predict the natural convection heat transfer and buoyancy for a Montgolfiere under conditions relevant to the Titan atmosphere. Idealized single- and double-walled balloon geometries are simulated using algorithms suitable for both laminar and (averaged) turbulent convection. Steady-state performance results are compared with existing heat transfer coefficient correlations. The laminar results, in particular, are used to test the validity of the correlations in the absence of uncertainties associated with turbulence modeling. Some discrepancies are observed, which appear to be primarily associated with temperature nonuniformity on the balloon surface. The predicted buoyancy for both the single- and double-walled balloons in the turbulent convection regime, predicted with standard two-equation turbulence models, showed trends similar to those with the empirical correlations. There was also good agreement with recently conducted experiments in a cryogenic facility designed to simulate the Titan atmosphere

Reply by the Authors to G. E. Dorrington

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