Molecular Medicines for Parasitic Diseases

Being the cause for significant amount of morbidities and mortalities, parasitic diseases remain the major challenge for the healthcare community due to the limitations associated with the current chemotherapeutics. Drug discovery/invention can be achieved by collaborative efforts of biotechnologists and pharmacists for identifying potential candidates and successfully turn them into medicine for improving the healthcare system. Although molecular medicine for disease intervention is still in its infancy, however, significant research works and successful trials in short span of time have made it broadly accepted among the scientific community. This chapter identifies different molecular medicine approaches for dealing with parasites that have been coming up on the horizon with the new technological advances in bioinformatics and in the field of omics. With the better understanding of the genomics, molecular medicine field has not only raised hopes to deal with parasitic infections but also accelerated the development of personalized medicine. This will provide a targeted approach for identifying the druggable targets and their pathophysiological importance for disease intervention

KSHARASUTRA (MEDICATED SETON) TREATMENT IN PILONIDAL SINUS

Pilonidal sinus is a disease which causes great suffering and pain to the patient. Persistence of Pilonidal sinus has given a challenge to most indigenous surgeons. This disease manifest itself as a blind track leading down to the tissues ending blind internally and discharging sero-purulent material associated with severe pain. In modern medicines, the treatment of pilonidal sinus includes excision and primary closure of excision with reconstructed flap. The risk of recurrence or of developing an infection of the wound after the operation is high. Kshara sutra is an age old treatment modality practiced since times of Sushruta. A total of 10 patients were selected with complaints of Pain, Discharge, tenderness and induration. The patients with multiple sinuses, previous treatment and co-morbid conditions were excluded. The study factor was of Kshar sutra threading of Pilonidal Sinus done under local infiltration of anaesthesia around the tract and changed every week during entire treatment period. In this study all patients were males within age of 21-30 years and median presentation duration of 10 months were recruited. The median of initial length of track was 2.4cm and median average unit cutting time revealed 6.3days / cm. There was no post-operative complication and recurrence after three months of follow up. The study revealed highly significant results in terms of Pain, Discharge, tenderness and induration. Apamarga Ksharasutra as a modality could be a minimal invasive procedure done under local anaesthesia as outpatient or day care procedure, cost effectiveness, patient can carry out his day today works, without any side effects and complications with good wound healing potential in selected group of patients. Ksharasutra being laced with antibiotics and anti-inflammatory properties also minimizes the uses of antibiotics and analgesics

INDICATING THE FINEST TREATMENT FOR CHRONIC FISSURE IN ANO

An anal fissure is a common, mostly benign, condition that can be acute or chronic. The diagnosis is usually made on history and physical examination, but further investigations are sometimes necessary. Primary fissures are usually benign and located in the posterior or anterior position. Secondary fissures are lateral or multiple and often indicate a more serious underlying pathology. Anal fissure is largely associated with high anal sphincter pressures and most treatment options are based on reducing anal pressures. Conservative management, using increased fiber and warm baths, results in healing of approximately half of all anal fissures. New therapies include perineal support devices, Gonyautoxin injection, fissurectomy, fissurotomy, sphincterolysis, and flap procedures. Further research is required comparing these new therapies with existing established therapies. New therapies are not suitable as first line treatments, though they can be considered if conventional treatment fails. In fissures if conservative care fails, various pharmacologic and surgical options offer satisfactory cure rates. Lateral internal sphincterotomy remains the gold standard for definitive management of anal fissure. This review outlines the key points in the presentation, pathophysiology, and management of anal fissure

A CLINICAL STUDY TO EVALUATE THE EFFICACY OF MANJISTHADI TAILA IN VRANA ROPANA

Wound healing is a complex and dynamic process, with the wound environment changing with the improving health status of the individual. The knowledge of the physiology of the normal wound healing trajectory through the phases of haemostasis, inflammation, granulation and maturation and provides a framework for the understanding of basic principles of wound healing. Studies reveal that it is difficult to achieve the complete aim of wound management with a single drug. In the present study Manjisthadi taila is selected from Sushruta Samhita. It consists of Tila Taila, Manjistha, Haridra, Bharangi, Tutha, Hulhula, Lodhra, Haritaki, Madhuyasthi, Vidanga, Priyal, Talispatram, Kash, Chandan, Padamkesar, Tinduk, Padamakam, Renukabeej & Ksheeripatra. These drugs possess Vrana shodhana & Ropana properties. It was used topically in patients of Shudha vrana formed after cut through of ligated Ksharasutra in different cases like piles, fissure, excised cyst, excised pilonidal sinus & excised corn for three months or till complete healing whichever is earlier. It is a single blind clinical study where forty patients were selected & divided randomly into two groups of twenty patients each. Trial group patients wound were treated with dressing of Manjishtadi taila and control group patients wound were treated with Povidone-Iodine dressing. Manjisthadi taila reduces pain, burning sensation, swelling, tenderness, discharge, color & odour, it helps in gradual improvement of granulation tissue as compared to control group. Hence it can be speculated that Manjishtadi taila possess sufficient efficacy in Vrana shodhana & Vrana ropana without producing any deleterious effects

Effect of micelles on hydrolysis of di-2,3-dichloroaniline phosphate

551-562The effect of anionic surfactant, di-octylsodium sulphosuccinate (AOT) and nonionic surfactant, polyoxyethylene sorbitanmonooleate (Tween-80) on the hydrolysis of di-2,3-dichloroaniline phosphate was studied spectrophotometrically at 303 K. The influence of inorganic salts on the reaction rate was studied. The added salts viz. KCl, KNO3, and K2SO4 accelerated the rate of the reaction in the presence of anionic and nonionic micelles. The role of anionic and non-ionic micelle has been explained by the Menger-Portnoy, and Piszkiewicz models. The binding constant (Ks), rate constant (kψ) in the micellar phase, co-operativity index (n) and various thermodynamic activation parameters viz. ∆Ea, ∆S≠, ∆H≠, ∆G≠ etc. have been evaluated. Possible reaction mechanism has been proposed on the basis of the observed kinetic data

SUSHRUTA’S GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF FRACTURE CARE TREATMENT & MANAGEMENT

Orthopedic conditions are well explained and documented in the literature of Ayurveda in the name of “Bhagna Chikitsa”. Many of the new techniques are developed for the management as per the condition. Acharya Sushruta described exclusively about fracture, its etiology, classification and various modalities of the management. Bhagna in ancient period were commonly encountered problem occurs in wars and attacks by animals etc but in the present time these are commonly as a result of RTA. Bhagna was explained by Acharaya Sushruta depending upon nature of trauma, shape of fracture, displacement of fracture fragments and fracture with or without wound. If it occurs in the bone it is called as Kand bhagna (bone fracture) and in the joint it is called as Sandhimoksha (dislocation). The principle of fracture management defined by Acharya Sushruta centuries ago are as per condition suggests conservative or surgical treatment. Conservative modalities includes Kushabandha, Alepa, Chakrayoga, Taila Droni, etc are still relevant. The western medicines takes over in the management of complicated fractures with the introduction of many surgical instruments like the intramedullary nails, etc & delays fracture union and healing potential. This paper expounds the wisdom of orthopedic branch in ancient times especially fracture & its management with possible modern correlation and how much knowledge existed and how well organized was it so many centuries ago. It would be worthwhile to explore these unique features for use in present times. The concepts, theories and techniques practiced several thousand years ago hold true even in today’s modern era

Group Lending Model - A Panacea to Reduce Transaction Cost?

Microfinance institutions (MFIs) have stepped up towards commercialization and sustainability yet they face challenges in terms of transaction cost that limit their growth prospects. Transaction cost is incurred in forming the group of members, searching for the potential clients, monitoring, and administration, in providing training to the clients etc. Group lending has emerged as an effective tool in reducing this cost by transferring its burden on the group. Though the concept of group lending is not new in micro finance but in India it was introduced by NABARD in 2004-05 owing to its key advantage of income generation. This paper aims to analyze whether group lending programme has some role to play in reducing transaction cost of MFIs. It also discusses the concept of transaction cost, characteristics of group lending as well as process of forming a group. The results reveal that internal management of small and medium MFIs is not working efficiently which results in increased costs. Large MFIs do not face such problems

BEST-Blockchain-Enabled Secure and Trusted Public Emergency Services for Smart Cities Environment

[EN] In the last few years, the Internet of things (IoT) has recently gained attention in developing various smart city applications such as smart healthcare, smart supply chain, smart home, smart grid, etc. The existing literature focuses on the smart healthcare system as a public emergency service (PES) to provide timely treatment to the patient. However, little attention is given to a distributed smart fire brigade system as a PES to protect human life and properties from severe fire damage. The traditional PES are developed on a centralised system, which requires high computation and does not ensure timely service fulfilment. Furthermore, these traditional PESs suffer from a lack of trust, transparency, data integrity, and a single point of failure issue. In this context, this paper proposes a Blockchain-Enabled Secure and Trusted (BEST) framework for PES in the smart city environment. The BEST framework focuses on providing a fire brigade service as a PES to the smart home based on IoT device information to protect it from serious fire damage. Further, we used two edge computing servers, an IoT controller and a service controller. The IoT and service controller are used for local storage and to enhance the data processing speed of PES requests and PES fulfilments, respectively. The IoT controller manages an access control list to keep track of registered IoT gateways and their IoT devices, avoiding misguiding the PES department. The service controller utilised the queue model to handle the PES requests based on the minimum service queue length. Further, various smart contracts are designed on the Hyperledger Fabric platform to automatically call a PES either in the presence or absence of the smart-home owner under uncertain environmental conditions. The performance evaluation of the proposed BEST framework indicates the benefits of utilising the distributed environment and the smart contract logic. The various simulation results are evaluated in terms of service queue length, utilisation, actual arrival time, expected arrival time, number of PES departments, number of PES providers, and end-to-end delay. These simulation results show the effectiveness and feasibility of the BEST framework.This research is Funded by the B11 unit of assessment, Centre for Computing and Informatics Research Centre, Department of Computer Science, Nottingham Trent University, UK. This work is supported by the SC&SS, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India.Bhawana; Kumar, S.; Rathore, RS.; Mahmud, M.; Kaiwartya, O.; Lloret, J. (2022). BEST-Blockchain-Enabled Secure and Trusted Public Emergency Services for Smart Cities Environment. Sensors. 22(15). https://doi.org/10.3390/s22155733221

Dyslipidaemia & Framingham risk score: Tools for prediction of cardiovascular diseases as public health problem

Background: According to WHO, CVD is the number one cause of death globally and an estimated 17.5 million people died from CVDs in 2012, representing 31% of all global deaths. Dyslipidaemia with other cardio-metabolic risk factors are one of the major risk factors for cardiovascular diseases. This study was under taken to assess the prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors among the urban population aged 18 to 40 years. Methodology: This cross-sectional study was done at UHTC (Multan Nagar) in Meerut district from May 2014 to June 2015. 150 study participants aged 18 to 40 years of both sexes were recruited using simple random sampling. Data was collected using WHO’s STEPS criteria and modified close ended questionnaire. Data was analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS v19).  Results: Overall prevalence of dyslipidaemia was, low HDL-c 58.7%, hypertriglyceridemia 36%, high TC:HDL-c ratio 24%, hypercholesterolemia 14.7% and high LDL cholesterol 8.0% & Framingham risk score of developing Coronary artery disease was 8.6% risk of 6% & above and 91.4% risk of 5% or less. Conclusion: The prevalence of two cardio-metabolic risk factors was quite high in both males and females and the association between Framingham risk score & dyslipidaemias were also statistically significant. Clearly indicating that those who were having dyslipidaemia in any form were at a higher risk of having coronary artery disease in the future