Study of physicochemical and antioxidant synergy efficacy of betel leaf dried paste powder

The present study analyses the drying kinetics and changes in qualities during hot air drying of betel leaf paste for the manufacturing of betel leaf paste powder. A comparative study was conducted to evaluate the changes in different properties, including physico-chemical properties, proximate composition and other functional properties. The betel leaf paste dried powders have longer shelf life than raw leaves. Drying of betel leaf paste was conducted in three different levels, i.e., 50, 70 and 80 °C, till the samples reached a constant weight. The samples dried at 80 °C and 70 °C, showed the lowest water activity 0.1, whereas the sample dried at 50 °C, showed the highest water activity of 0.15. The values of protein, fat, crude fibre and ash were observed a little higher in betel leaf powder dried at 70 °C, than in other drying temperatures. This increase in the composition may be the result of higher dry matter in dried powder and less drying time of paste and minimum degradation in nutritional value at 70°C. However, the highest carbohydrate content was observed in betel leaf powder dried at 50 °C. The alcoholic extract of the oven-dried powder exhibited the DPPH radical scavenging activity (at 50 µg/mL) of 41.45, 46.32, and 44.35 at temperatures of 50, 70 and 80 °C respectively. The amount of phenolic content in the ethanolic extract was found to be 307, 322, and 316 mg/g in oven-dried betel leaf paste powder at 50, 70 and 80 °C respectively

Seasonal variation of serum potassium and related prescription pattern:An ecological time series

Aims: To assess if ambient temperature-related effects on serum potassium levels impact clinical decision-making.Methods: This study is an ecological time series consisiting of 1 218 453 adult patients with at least one ACE inhibitor (ACEI) prescription who participate in a large UK primary care dataset.Descriptive statistics and a quasi-Poisson regression model using time series data at regular time intervals (monthly) were undertaken to examine the association between potassium measurements and ACEI/potassium supplement prescriptions.Results: It is noted that correlating with lower ambient temperature, serum potassium values follow a seasonal pattern; peaks in winter months and troughs in summer. During summer months, there are clear annual spikes in the number of potassium prescriptions suggesting a change in prescribing practice during periods of potentially spurious hyperkalaemia. The converse pattern is seen in the ACEI prescription proportion which spikes annually during the winter period with lower average ambient temperatures. Our time series modelling demonstrated that each one unit increase in potassium is associated with a 33% increased rate of ACEI prescriptions (risk ratio, RR 1.33; 95% CI 1.12 to 1.59) and 63% decreased rate of potassium supplements (RR 0.37; 95% CI 0.32 to 0.43).Conclusions: Our findings highlight the seasonal pattern in serum potassium and we observe a corresponding alteration in prescribing practice for potassium sensitive medications. These findings demonstrate the importance of educating clinicians on the presence of seasonal potassium variability in addition to standard measurement error, and its potential impact on their prescribing activity

Discrete Electronic Warfare Signal Processing using Compressed Sensing Based on Random Modulator Pre-Integrator

Electronic warfare receiver works in the wide electromagnetic spectrum in dense radar signal environment. Current trends in radar systems are ultra wideband and low probability of intercept radar technology. Detection of signals from various radar stations is a concern. Performance and probability of intercept are mainly dependent on high speed ADC technology. The sampling and reconstruction functions have to be optimized to capture incoming signals at the receiver to extract characteristics of the radar signal. The compressive sampling of the input signal with orthonormal base vectors, projecting the basis in the union of subspaces and recovery through convex optimisation techniques is the current traditional approach. Modern trends in signal processing suggest the random modulator pre-integrator (RMPI), which sample the input signal at information rate non-adaptively and recovery by the processing of discrete and finite vectors. Analysis of RMPI theory, application to EW receiver, simulation and recovery of EW receiver signals are discussed

Dicer Represses the Interferon Response and the Double-Stranded RNA-Activated Protein Kinase Pathway In Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells

Recent studies have demonstrated that embryonic stem cells (ESCs) are deficient in expressing type I interferons (IFN), the cytokines that play key roles in antiviral responses. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms and biological implications of this finding are poorly understood. In this study, we developed a synthetic RNA-based assay that can simultaneously assess multiple forms of antiviral responses. Dicer is an enzyme essential for RNA interference (RNAi), which is used as a major antiviral mechanism in invertebrates. RNAi activity is detected in wild-type ESCs but is abolished in Dicer knockout ESCs (D-/-ESCs) as expected. Surprisingly, D-/-ESCs have gained the ability to express IFN, which is otherwise deficient in wild-type ESCs. Furthermore, D-/-ESCs have constitutively active double-stranded RNA (dsRNA)-activated protein kinase (PKR), an enzyme that is also involved in antiviral response. D-/-ESCs show increased sensitivity to the cytotoxicity resulting from RNA transfection. The effects of dsRNA can be partly replicated with a synthetic B2RNA corresponding to the retrotransposon B2 short interspersed nuclear element. B2RNA has secondary structure features of dsRNA and accumulates in D-/-ESCs, suggesting that B2RNA could be a cellular RNA that activates PKR and contributes to the decreased cell proliferation and viability of D-/-ESCs. Treatment of D-/-ESCs with a PKR inhibitor and IFNβ-neutralizing antibodies increased cell proliferation rate and cell viability. Based on these findings, we propose that, in ESCs, Dicer acts as a repressor of antiviral responses and plays a key role in the maintenance of proliferation, viability, and pluripotency of ESCs

Longitudinal trial of smart-phone based social media applications for remote monitoring of cancer patients in the context of a LMIC: compliance, satisfaction, and cost-benefit analysis

The cancer burden is expected to reach 20 million new cases annually in low and middle-income countries (LMICs) by 2025. Few estimates suggest that thyroid cancer could become the third most common cancer diagnosed in women by 2019. Health care services need to gear up to provide close clinical follow-up care for patients especially in LMICs where there is already a shortage of healthcare personnel. We conducted this study to assess the effect of remote monitoring using tele-follow up on compliance, satisfaction and economic benefit. Participants were recruited to traditional hospital follow-up (consultation, clinical examination, and investigations as per hospital policy) or tele-follow up based on social media. Outcomes included information needs, participants’ compliance, and satisfaction, post-op complications, clinical investigations ordered. A total of 64 patients with thyroid cancer were recruited- 24 in hospital follow up group and 40 in the remote monitoring group. There were no significant differences between groups regarding satisfaction with information received. Responses were significantly more positive in the social media group, with a higher percentage reporting “very satisfied”. Wound evaluation through tele-follow up was on par with OPD follow up. If all of these 40 patients would have come to our OPD follow-up, they would have travelled on an average of 930 kms per patient. This study shows that social media is a practical tool in follow-up of cancer patients in LMICs where traditional telemedicine tools are restricted and conventional follow-up is economically challenging to patients. It also ensures compliance which is a major issue with conventional follow-up due to poor infrastructure

Wheat Blast: A Disease Spreading by Intercontinental Jumps and Its Management Strategies

Wheat blast (WB) caused by Magnaporthe oryzae pathotype Triticum (MoT) is an important fungal disease in tropical and subtropical wheat production regions. The disease was initially identified in Brazil in 1985, and it subsequently spread to some major wheat-producing areas of the country as well as several South American countries such as Bolivia, Paraguay, and Argentina. In recent years, WB has been introduced to Bangladesh and Zambia via international wheat trade, threatening wheat production in South Asia and Southern Africa with the possible further spreading in these two continents. Resistance source is mostly limited to 2NS carriers, which are being eroded by newly emerged MoT isolates, demonstrating an urgent need for identification and utilization of non-2NS resistance sources. Fungicides are also being heavily relied on to manage WB that resulted in increasing fungal resistance, which should be addressed by utilization of new fungicides or rotating different fungicides. Additionally, quarantine measures, cultural practices, non-fungicidal chemical treatment, disease forecasting, biocontrol etc., are also effective components of integrated WB management, which could be used in combination with varietal resistance and fungicides to obtain reasonable management of this disease