Traditional Ethno-Medicinal Plants Used for Treatment of Diabetes by Bhuyan Tribes in Sundargarh District of Odisha, India-An Ethnobotanical Survey

Diabetes mellitus is the most common disease which has conveyed significant well-being intimidation around the world. The accessible synthetic drugs for the fix of Diabetes mellitus are related to significant expense, different incidental effects and a few constraints. Medicinal plants are the storehouse of the phytochemicals which can be helpful for the therapy of various ailments. Medicinal and aromatic plants are the better option in contrast to compound medications with little or no side effects. Ethnomedicinal studies carried out among the Bhuyan tribal groups in the Sundargarh region, Odisha for the investigation of antidiabetic treatments. The Bhuyan tribal group has a rich knowledge of plants which are used in the treatment of different disease causes. The ethnomedicinal data was gathered from interviews and field studies with nearby healers and townspeople. Restorative plants were gathered and related to help from native healers. These kind medicines have been displayed to have huge mending power, either in their normal state or as the wellspring of new items handled by them. Our study is mainly concentrated on plants used by Bhuyan tribal groups in relation to the cure of diabetes. An extensive field survey of different parts of the district was made with the local tribal villagers and ethnomedicinal or ayurvedic drug practitioner’s perusal of published literature and herbarium specimen of different herbaria of the district was done. A sum of 25 plants having a place with 18 unique families used to treat diabetes utilized by Bhuyans of Sundargarh district has been reported. In this report we have prepared detailed notes on the method of preparation of precise doses, the part/parts of plants used and the method of application of doses with scientific names, vernacular names and family names of collected plants are also given. Further, it emphasizes strongly in this regard the optional and rational uses of traditional and natural indigenous medicine. The results of this study showed that these tribal people still depend on medicinal plants in Sundargarh district forest areas. The study thus underlines the potential of ethnobotanical research and the need for the documentation of traditional ecological knowledge pertaining to medicinal plant utilization for the greater benefit of mankind

Exploring the Association between Individual-Level Attributes and Fidelity to a Vocational Rehabilitation Intervention within a Randomised Controlled Trial

Understanding what attributes or characteristics of those delivering interventions affect intervention fidelity and patient outcomes is important for contextualising intervention effectiveness. It may also inform implementation of interventions in future research and clinical practice. This study aimed to explore the relationships between attributes of Occupational Therapists (OTs), their faithful delivery of an early stroke specialist vocational rehabilitation intervention (ESSVR), and stroke survivor return-to-work (RTW) outcomes. Thirty-nine OTs were surveyed about their experience and knowledge of stroke and vocational rehabilitation and were trained to deliver ESSVR. ESSVR was delivered across 16 sites in England and Wales between February 2018 and November 2021. OTs received monthly mentoring to support ESSVR delivery. The amount of mentoring each OT received was recorded in OT mentoring records. Fidelity was assessed using an intervention component checklist completed using retrospective case review of one randomly selected participant per OT. Linear and logistic regression analyses explored relationships between OT attributes, fidelity, and stroke survivor RTW outcome. Fidelity scores ranged from 30.8 to 100% (Mean: 78.8%, SD: 19.2%). Only OT engagement in mentoring was significantly associated with fidelity (b = 0.29, 95% CI = 0.05–0.53, p < 0.05). Increased fidelity (OR = 1.06, 95% CI = 1.01–1.1, p = 0.01) and increasing years of stroke rehabilitation experience (OR = 1.17, 95% CI = 1.02–1.35) was significantly associated with positive stroke survivor RTW outcomes. Findings of this study suggest that mentoring OTs may increase fidelity of delivery of ESSVR, which may also be associated with positive stroke survivor return-to-work outcomes. The results also suggest that OTs with more experience of stroke rehabilitation may be able to support stroke survivors to RTW more effectively. Upskilling OTs to deliver complex interventions, such as ESSVR, in clinical trials may require mentoring support in addition to training to ensure fidelity.publishedVersio

Psychosocial Effects and Public Health Challenges of COVID-19 Pandemic in India

The COVID-19 pandemic is an ongoing global crisis that poses enormous and multifarious challenges to humanity since the end of 2019. The pandemic has severely devastated public health systems and universally affected socio-economic development. India is among the worst-hit nations owing to its massive population of 1.35 billion, and more significant socio-economic challenges than most other countries. Despite the current issues and challenges surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, India has been making targeted efforts towards the fight against the spread of coronavirus, including medical, treatment, vaccination, community prevention and control strategies. The chapter examines the implications of the pandemic on Indian population which have certain unique challenges than other parts of the world. It delves on the gradual progression of the challenges among people especially the vulnerable and the disadvantaged in the existing public health systems. This chapter encompasses a wide array of human suffering and efforts for its mitigation. It highlights and brings to forefront the unique experiences of diverse populations who have faced a crisis within a crisis and its psychosocial ramifications, as well as the psychosocial adversities and public health challenges

GENERIC DRUG: PRESCRIBER’S PERSPECTIVE

Objective: Knowledge of doctors and their understanding of generic drugs could facilitate in recognizing potential barriers to larger generic medicine prescriptions. Hence, the primary objective of this study was focused to explore knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) of doctors toward generic medicines. Methods: It is a cross-sectional questionnaire-based study. The study participants are the doctors working in the hospital during the study period (2016–2017). The questionnaire designed for this study comprised of thirty-five questions related to the knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) of generic medicine and about demographic details of the participants. Results: A total of 86 questionnaires were distributed among the health care professionals and the response rate is 37%. The majority of doctors who participated in this survey perceived that generic medicine is effective, safe and need to have the same active component, dose and bioequivalent as the brand name medicines. Most of the doctors (72%) were of the view that generic drugs were manufactured in poor quality than branded medicines. More than three-quarters of doctors (78%) prescribed generic drugs. Conclusion: Majority of the participants had an honest angle about the efficaciousness and safety of generic and though they sometimes prescribe generic medicine, however a high range of doctors (72%) were of the opinion that generic was of poorer quality than brand medicine. To have a better understanding of the generic drug, the doctor must be well informed about the generics during their academic career resulting in savings to healthcare budgets

Configurational Entropy of Folded Proteins and its Importance for Intrinsically Disordered Proteins

Many pairwise additive force fields are in active use for intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) and regions (IDRs), some of which modify energetic terms to improve description of IDPs/IDRs, but are largely in disagreement with solution experiments for the disordered states. We have evaluated representative pairwise and many-body protein and water force fields against experimental data on representative IDPs and IDRs, a peptide that undergoes a disorder-to-order transition, and for seven globular proteins ranging in size from 130-266 amino acids. We find that force fields with the largest statistical fluctuations consistent with the radius of gyration and universal Lindemann values for folded states simultaneously better describe IDPs and IDRs and disorder to order transitions. Hence the crux of what a force field should exhibit to well describe IDRs/IDPs is not just the balance between protein and water energetics, but the balance between energetic effects and configurational entropy of folded states of globular proteins

Decidual Cell Polyploidization Necessitates Mitochondrial Activity

Cellular polyploidy has been widely reported in nature, yet its developmental mechanism and function remain poorly understood. In the present study, to better define the aspects of decidual cell polyploidy, we isolated pure polyploid and non-polyploid decidual cell populations from the in vivo decidual bed. Three independent RNA pools prepared for each population were then subjected to the Affymetrix gene chip analysis for the whole mouse genome transcripts. Our data revealed up-regulation of 1015 genes and down-regulation of 1207 genes in the polyploid populations, as compared to the non-polyploid group. Comparative RT-PCR and in situ hybridization results indeed confirmed differential expressional regulation of several genes between the two populations. Based on functional enrichment analyses, up-regulated polyploidy genes appeared to implicate several functions, which primarily include cell/nuclear division, ATP binding, metabolic process, and mitochondrial activity, whereas that of down-regulated genes primarily included apoptosis and immune processes. Further analyses of genes that are related to mitochondria and bi-nucleation showed differential and regional expression within the decidual bed, consistent with the pattern of polyploidy. Consistently, studies revealed a marked induction of mitochondrial mass and ATP production in polyploid cells. The inhibition of mitochondrial activity by various pharmacological inhibitors, as well as by gene-specific targeting using siRNA-mediated technology showed a dramatic attenuation of polyploidy and bi-nucleation development during in vitro stromal cell decidualization, suggesting mitochondria play a major role in positive regulation of decidual cell polyploidization. Collectively, analyses of unique polyploidy markers and molecular signaling networks may be useful to further characterize functional aspects of decidual cell polyploidy at the site of implantation

Promoting gender equity as a strategy to reduce HIV risk and gender-based violence among young men in India

The Horizons Program, CORO for Literacy, MAMTA, and Instituto Promundo developed, piloted, and scaled-up a behavior-change intervention in India to examine the effectiveness of interventions to improve young men’s attitudes toward gender roles and sexual relationships, and to reduce HIV risk behaviors and partner violence. The results of this study suggest that young men became less supportive of inequitable gender norms after participating in the interventions. Similarly, there were significant improvements among intervention participants in key outcome indicators, including condom use, partner communication, partner violence, and attitudes toward PLHIV. To maximize the chances of long-term sustainability of these positive changes, there is a need to regularly reinforce the messages related to alternative forms of masculinity and to further facilitate a supportive environment for these changes. While findings suggest that the interventions were successful in a variety of ways, the study showed that change in attitudes and behaviors is a complex process. Promoting gender equity takes ongoing effort, but led to some important changes that resulted in reduced HIV risk for the young men and their partners