Pattern recognition of brain fMRI images for various physiological states

The development of fMRI (functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging) has led many researchers to localize brain functions using different stimuli. The use of pattern recognition techniques have made it possible to predict the stimuli being presented from the corresponding brain images and activation patterns. The primary objective of the present study was to use pattern recognition methods to develop a model using available fMRJ images and then to use the model to identify the stimulus presented from a large number of unknown images. Two different experimental conditions were used involving both binary and multi-class classification. Bilateral finger tapping data which had two distinct states Active and Rest were used for binary classification. Binary classification was done using Learning Vector Quantization (LVQ) and Least Square Support Vector Machine (LS-SVM). Gas mixture data, which were obtained from rats while ventilated with different gas mixtures for rest and breath hold task, gave various physiological conditions. These multi-class data were also classified using LS-SVM technique. Feature selection was performed on every data to select out patterns made up of significant voxels using statistical techniques like correlation, paired t-test and ANOVA. The accuracies for binary classification were between 90% and 100% while the average accuracy for multi-categorical data was 70%

Insect growth regulatory activities from oils of camphor and clove against Spilosoma obliqua

The present study was conducted to evaluate the insecticidal and growth regulatory activities of clove oil, Syzygium aromaticum and camphor oil, Cinammomum camphora against Bihar hairy caterpillar, Spilosoma obliqua. The fourth instar larvae were subjected to topical application by microapplicator syringe with doses of 2.5, 2.0, 1.5, 1.0 and 0.5 μl/larva. Camphor oil was most effective at 2.5, 2.0 and 1.5μl dose causing death of larvae ranging from 76-90%. It showed a strong growth regulatory activity with no adult emergence at the highest concentration. Clove oil was effective in reducing adult moth population to 27% at highest dose of 2.5 μl. Only this dose could cause larval mortality of about 60%. The study shows potential of these oils to be utilized as insecticides or antibiosis mechanism to suppress the population of S. obliqua

The Impact of Rising Prescription Drug Costs on the Elderly in the United States

The pharmaceutical industry is a significant stakeholder in the United States healthcare system. Pharmaceutical companies have a strong impact on the population health in the United States. The high cost of prescription drug costs can have a negative impact on the elderly population in this country. These high costs can lead to non-compliance and non-adherence. This rapid systematic review investigated the impact of increasing prescription drug prices on the elderly population residing in the United States. This rapid review aimed to examine the effects these increasing drug prices had on the elderly. A rapid systematic review of the available literature published in the United States from January 2011 to 2021 was conducted to examine this issue. Literature was procured through advanced searched on various reputable databases. PubMed, Google Scholar, and Scopus were all used to determine which literature sources were acceptable for this rapid systematic review. Data analysis and results along with an examination of the implications of these findings were all discussed within this review. Current legislation that is in place was examined along with possibilities of future policy recommendations. The lasting implications of these possible solutions was also examined. The limitations of this rapid systematic review were reviewed as well as any conflicts of interest. Through this rapid systematic review, the goal was to create a valued paper that accurately examines the causes and impacts of increasing prescription drug costs on the elderly population in the United States

Toxicity of some bioactive medicinal plant extracts to Asian army worm, Spodoptera litura

Comparative toxicity of Andrographis paniculata (leaves), Anethum graveolens (leaves), Azadirachta indica (fruits), Cassia fistula (seeds), Cuscuta reflexa (stem), Dendropthoe falcata (leaves), Lantana camara (leaves and fruits), Melia azedarach (leaves) and Vitex negundo ( stem) plant extracts against 2nd days (first instar) and 6th days(third instar) old larvae of Spodoptera litura was studied at 5 and 10mg/ml concentration. D. falcata leaves (98.58%) and A. indica fruits= C. reflexa (85.72%) were most effective in reducing weight gain in 2nd days old larvae at 5mg/ml and at 10mg/ml, C. reflexa (98.58) followed by C. fistula seeds and L.camara fruits(both 92.86%) were effective in retarding growth. L.camara fruit extract (99.43 and 99.93%) showed greater toxicity and reduced growth as compared to A. graveolens leaves (76.16% ) at 5mg/ml. At 10mg/ml L.camara (99.94%) and A. paniculata (89.54%) leaves exhibited reduction in weight gain over control against 6d old larvae. All the medicinal plants showed varying degree of toxicity. D.falcata, A.indica and L.camara exhibited high larval mortality as compared to the other plant extracts

DESIGN, SYNTHESIS AND ANTIMICROBIAL EVALUATION OF SOME MANNICH BASE DERIVATIVE OF 2-(SUBTITUTED)-5-AMINO-THIADIAZOLES

Objective: The major objective of the present study was to design, synthesize some Mannich base derivative of 2-substituted-5-amino thiadiazoles with primary amines/phthalimide and formaldehyde anticipating effective as antimicrobial agents.Methods: The efficient syntheses of substituted thiadiazole were done simply by reaction of substituted benzoic acid with thiosemicarbazide in presence of only conc. sulphuric acid. The isolated products were further subjected for Mannich reaction and evaluated for antibacterial activity.Results: Three substituted thiadiazoles (BA-1 to BA-3) were synthesized by solvent less efficient synthesis and their Mannich base derivates were also prepared with phthalimide, p-nitro/methyl/chloro-aniline. All characterized products were screened for antibacterial and antifungal activities. Among these compounds having nitro group (3,7,13) showed maximum activity followed by phthalimide, chloro and methyl groups.Conclusion: Thiadiazole-Mannich bases derivatives exhibited better antimicrobial activities then their starting components (BA-1 to BA-3) indicated joining different pharmacophore in the same molecule have increased activity.Â

Hospital Wastewater Sludge: An Unaddressed Environmental Reservoir for Emerging and Rare Nosocomial Pathogens

Nosocomial infections cause significant mortality and financial losses each year. Most of these infections are caused by multidrug resistant (MDR) opportunistic pathogens and therefore are difficult to treat by standard therapies. Though hospitals are considered as ecological niches for nosocomial pathogens, environmental reservoirs for the same are still underexplored. The present study addressed this issue by systematically profiling the pathogenic diversity of hospital wastewater sludge hypothesized as an important reservoir for nosocomial pathogens within a hospital setting using Illumina Miseq Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) approach. The NGS data showed that i) nosocomial pathogens dominated the hospital sludge bacterial profile and majority of them fell in the category of either emerging or rare pathogens ii) Majority of the pathogens formed part of the low abundant microbiota represented by 3.56% of the reads iii) Nearly 14% of the reads were represented by the unculturable bacteria iv) Of the 580 species-level operational taxonomic units (OTUs) identified in this study, 166 matched with potential human pathogens v) Enterobacter cloacae (56.45%) was the most dominant species followed by  Pseudomonas putida (6.07%), Fusobacterium ulcerans (3.08%) Acidaminococcus fermentans (2.03%) respectively. Aeromonas hydrophila, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Pantoea agglomerans formed the less dominant species. This study points towards the catastrophic effect on public health and environment that may result from the co-treatment of hospital wastewater with domestic wastewater in municipal wastewater treatment plants and the use of resultant sludge in agriculture which is a common method of sludge disposal practiced in developing countries. Keywords: Hospital sludge, Next Generation Sequencing, Nosocomial Pathogens, Emerging Pathogens, Rare Pathogens &nbsp

Violence and Violation: Medical Abuse of Immigrants Detained at the Irwin County Detention Center

Immigrants detained at the Irwin County Detention Center (ICDC) in Georgia have, for years, suffered egregious medical abuse, including invasive and medically unnecessary gynecological procedures without consent. Since Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) contracted with ICDC in 2011, advocates have consistently raised concerns about the treatment of immigrants at the facility, including the lack of adequate medical and mental health care. Yet, months after that announcement, immigrants were still being detained in inhumane conditions at ICDC, until the last ones were transferred to other facilities in early September 2021. This report highlights the stories of women who suffered lasting trauma and debilitating physical and psychological effects of the medical abuse they endured while detained at ICDC

FACILE SYNTHESIS, SPECTRAL STUDIES, DFT CALCULATIONS AND BIOLOGICAL ACTIVITIES OF NOVEL NI (II), CU (II), AND PD (II) COMPLEXES OF THIADIAZOLE ANALOGS

Objective: A facile synthesis of some novel Schiff base derivatives of 2-substituted-5-amino-thiadiazoles along with their Ni (II), Cu (II), and Pd (II) complexes were achieved by sonication and the conventional method. In addition to establish the structure by DFT studies and to explore antimicrobial and anticancer activities of these novel compounds.Methods: The precursor 2-substituted-5-amino-thiadiazoles (T1-T3), target ligands and their metal complexes were synthesized by ultra-sonication and conventional means. The isolated products were thoroughly characterized by physical and spectroscopic techniques including 1H-NMR, [13]C-NMR and IR spectroscopy. All characterized compounds were screened for antimicrobial activities using well diffusion method, and MTT assay was performed for cytotoxicity.Results: All novel compounds were synthesized by a green route i.e. ultra sonication and a noticeable improvement in yield with shorter reaction time than the conventional method were observed. The octahedral geometry was proposed for Ni (II)/Cu (II) complexes whereas square planar for Pd (II) complexes on the basis of the spectral techniques which were supported by DFT analysis by Gaussian03. On the analysis of antimicrobial activities, the compound T7 and T10 showed maximum antibacterial and antifungal activities respectively. However, compounds T25, T37, T31 found to be a potential cytotoxic compound with IC50 value 0.469, 0.865 and 1.131 μM respectively.Conclusion: Analysis of synthetic protocol, it could be concluded that ultra-sonication is the better method to synthesize these potential biological active moiety. On the whole Cu (II) and Ni (II) complexes showed promising activity towards all microorganisms while Pd (II) complex emerged an excellent moiety in carcinoma cell line

Optical and electrochemical dual channel sensing of Cu2 + using functionalized furo[2,3-d]pyrimidines-2,4[1H,3H]-diones

Owing to their easy accessibility and high degree of structural and functional diversity, many multicomponent reactions (MCRs) have been a rich source of conjugate π-systems, functionalised chromophores (or fluorophore) and redox active molecules. Despite their high explorative potential and practical benefits, only a few MCR products have been so far investigated for their metal sensing abilities. In the present report, two furopyrimidinones (FPys) based molecular systems have been synthesized by [4 + 1] cycloaddition based MCR sequence. Designed chemosensors displayed optic (absorption spectra) as well as electroanalytical (ion selective electrode) response toward Cu2 + ion in solution and membrane phase respectively (dual channel sensing). Different aspects of both the sensing phenomena such as selectivity, association constants, detection limit, membrane composition etc. were studied in detail using UV–Vis spectroscopy, NMR titration and cell assembly. Both the compounds showed excellent performance characteristics such as high selectivity, acceptable affinity and low detection limits (10− 7 M) in both sensing assays with potential utility in the area of sample monitoring