EVALUATION OF BIOACTIVITY OF JAGGERY PREPARED USING PLANT MUCILAGE AS CLARIFICANT

Objective: The aim of the study was to prepare the jaggery using plant mucilage as clarificants and to evaluate the bioactivity of jaggery by determining total phenols, total flavonoids, reducing power, antibacterial activity, and antihelmintic activity.Methods: Jaggery was prepared from sugarcane variety Co-80632 using five plant mucilage as clarificants, namely Aloe vera, flax seeds, fenugreek, purslane, and malabar spinach at three different concentrations, i.e., 0.1%, 0.2%, and 0.4% of raw sugarcane juice. The characteristic bioactivities such as total phenol content by Folin–Ciocalteu method, flavonoids content by spectrophotometer method, reducing power assay by measuring the absorbance at 700 nm, antibacterial activity by well-diffusion method, and antihelmintic activity by in vitro were determined.Results: The highest total phenolic content was observed in jaggery prepared using plant mucilage clarificant of A. vera (JAV4 [3.68±0.02]) and Fenugreek seeds (JFG4 [3.61±0.02]) at 0.4% followed by them at 0.2% and 0.1% concentration, respectively. Similarly, a significant amount of total flavonoids content was elevated only in 0.4% plant mucilage clarificants of Aloe vera-treated experimental group jaggery (0.73±0.01) compared to control (0.61±0.02). Further, the antioxidant activity of jaggery was evaluated by reducing power. The increased absorbance at 700 nm indicated the presence of reducing power. At 10 mg/ml concentration, an absorbance unit of 1.93 and 1.80 was observed for jaggery prepared using 0.4% concentration of A. vera and fenugreek seed mucilage clarificants. Antihelmintic activity of jaggery showed dosage depended on the pattern where with the increase in the concentration of mucilage, the antihelmintic activity enhanced. A. vera mucilage showed maximum antihelmintic activity at 0.4% concentration with paralytic time (28.6 min) and death time (39.6 min).Conclusion: Jaggery prepared using plants mucilaginous clarificants is the richest source of polyphenols such as phenolic acids and flavonoids, thereby contributed to the enhancement of bioactivity such as antioxidant, antibacterial, and antihelmintic activity. Thus, jaggery prepared using plant mucilage as clarificants is a novel nutraceutical product which can supplement the nutrients along with various medicinal properties through antioxidant, antibacterial, and antihelmintic activity

PABPN1 gene therapy for oculopharyngeal muscular dystrophy

International audienceOculopharyngeal muscular dystrophy (OPMD) is an autosomal dominant, late-onset muscle disorder characterized by ptosis, swallowing difficulties, proximal limb weakness and nuclear aggregates in skeletal muscles. OPMD is caused by a trinucleotide repeat expansion in the PABPN1 gene that results in an N-terminal expanded polyalanine tract in polyA-binding protein nuclear 1 (PABPN1). Here we show that the treatment of a mouse model of OPMD with an adeno-associated virus-based gene therapy combining complete knockdown of endogenous PABPN1 and its replacement by a wild-type PABPN1 substantially reduces the amount of insoluble aggregates, decreases muscle fibrosis, reverts muscle strength to the level of healthy muscles and normalizes the muscle transcriptome. The efficacy of the combined treatment is further confirmed in cells derived from OPMD patients. These results pave the way towards a gene replacement approach for OPMD treatment

Immediate Weight Bearing after Modified-Brostrom Reconstruction: A Retrospective Review of an Accelerated Rehab Protocol

Category: Ankle; Sports Introduction/Purpose: Majority of injuries to the anterior talofibular ligament (ATFL) will go on to heal with non-operative management. Nearly a third of these injuries, however, will go on to develop chronic pain and instability; in these cases, operative reconstruction is indicated. An anatomic modified Broström reconstruction has replaced a traditional tenodesis as the standard of care. This reconstruction is often limited by damage to the native tissue and the time required for ligamentous healing, restricting the benefits of early weight bearing. In order to maximize the benefits of early range-of-motion exercises and weight bearing while protecting the repair, a suture-tape augmented Broström procedure has been suggested. We hypothesized that a suture-tape augmented Broström procedure would allow early weightbearing while preventing early failure. Methods: A retrospective chart review of patients who underwent a suture-tape augmented Broström procedure from August, 2020 to January, 2023 was conducted. Our inclusion criteria consisted of MRI confirmation of ATFL injury, a positive anterior drawer, failure of non-operative management, and post-operative physical exam consisting of a single leg hop and single leg heel raise at six weeks. Patients who had concomitant cartilage injuries with allograft repair, posterior arthroscopic debridement, peroneal tendon repair, syndesmosis repair, or calcaneal osteotomies were excluded. All patients participated in our accelerated rehab protocol which included immediate post-operative weightbearing as tolerated (WBAT) in a boot for two weeks followed by WBAT in an ankle brace for four weeks. Physical therapy was initiated two weeks post-op. Our primary outcome was the ability of patients to perform a single leg hop and single leg heel rise at six weeks. Secondary outcomes included visual analog scores (VAS) and post-operative complications. Results: 128 patients met our inclusion criteria. Our mean follow up was 11 (range, 6-52) weeks. At 6 weeks postoperatively, 88 (90%) of the patients asked could perform a single-leg heel raise and 73 (80%) of the patients asked could perform a single-leg hop. The average VAS at the final follow up visit was 1.03+1.9 (range, 0-8). No patients required a revision surgery. Post-operative complications were peroneal or sural neuritis (6 patients) and persistent pain (4 patients). There was no difference in primary and secondary outcomes in patients who had concomitant cartilage injuries not treated with grafting. Male patients were more likely to be able to complete a single leg hop at 6 weeks postoperatively (p = .04). No difference was found amongst other demographic factors. Conclusion: This study demonstrated that a modified-Broström procedure with suture-tape augmentation allowed for immediate weight bearing without reconstruction failure. The vast majority of patients had an excellent functional outcome at six weeks post- operative with minimal complications being recorded. There were no cases of revision surgery, DVTs, post-operative infections, and no patients reported residual instability

SSERBC 2017: Sclera segmentation and eye recognition benchmarking competition

© 2017 IEEE. This paper summarises the results of the Sclera Segmentation and Eye Recognition Benchmarking Competition (SSERBC 2017). It was organised in the context of the International Joint Conference on Biometrics (IJCB 2017). The aim of this competition was to record the recent developments in sclera segmentation and eye recognition in the visible spectrum (using iris, sclera and peri-ocular, and their fusion), and also to gain the attention of researchers on this subject. In this regard, we have used the Multi-Angle Sclera Dataset (MASD version 1). It is comprised of2624 images taken from both the eyes of 82 identities. Therefore, it consists of images of 164 (82×2) eyes. A manual segmentation mask of these images was created to baseline both tasks. Precision and recall based statistical measures were employed to evaluate the effectiveness of the segmentation and the ranks of the segmentation task. Recognition accuracy measure has been employed to measure the recognition task. Manually segmented sclera, iris and peri-ocular regions were used in the recognition task. Sixteen teams registered for the competition, and among them, six teams submitted their algorithms or systems for the segmentation task and two of them submitted their recognition algorithm or systems. The results produced by these algorithms or systems reflect current developments in the literature of sclera segmentation and eye recognition, employing cutting edge techniques. The MASD version 1 dataset with some of the ground truth will be freely available for research purposes. The success of the competition also demonstrates the recent interests of researchers from academia as well as industry on this subject

Dry Nonproductive Cough as the Presenting Symptom of Giant Cell Arteritis

Giant cell arteritis (GCA) is a systemic vasculitis affecting medium-sized and large-sized vessels. The disease most commonly affects the cranial branches of arteries originating from the aortic arch

Embolic Stroke Diagnosed by Elevated D-Dimer in a Patient With Negative TEE for Cardioembolic Source

We report a case of cerebrovascular accident with thromboembolic stroke etiology in a patient who had atrial flutter and negative transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) results. The increased D-dimer levels (1877 ng/mL) initiated referral for magnetic resonance imaging and magnetic resonance angiography of the brain that showed classic recanalization of an embolic thrombus in the angular branch of the left middle cerebral distribution. The D-dimer level of this patient was normalized after 3 months of anticoagulation therapy. Although TEE is considered the gold standard for evaluation of cardiac source of embolism, exclusion of intracardiac thrombus with TEE alone does not eliminate the risk of thromboembolic events. This case highlights the utility of D-dimer as a potential adjunct in the decision-making process to guide investigation of thromboembolism, determine subsequent therapy, and hence reduce the risk of embolic stroke recurrence