Non-Conventional Silage for Arid Region

Thar is one of the most heavily populated desert areas in the world and the main occupations of the people living here are agriculture and livestock production. Agriculture is not a dependable proposition in this area due to erratic rains and occurrence of frequent droughts. A large number of farmers in Thar Desert depend on animal husbandry for their livelihood. Animal husbandry, trees and grasses, intercropped with vegetables or fruit trees, is the most viable farming system for arid, drought-prone regions (Anonymous, 2012a,b). Further, livestock sector is expected to emerge as an engine of agricultural growth in the 12th plan and beyond, in view of rapid growth for the demand of animal food products. Achieving growth rate of 5-6 %, however, would require addressing challenges of shortage of feed and fodder (Anonymous, 2012a,b). According to the ministry of agriculture assessment, there is a large gap between demand and supply of feed and fodder for the livestock in the country. The shortage of dry fodder, green fodder and concentrate is as high as 40% (Pawar, 2012). The problem is compounded by the lack of reliable data regarding fodder availability. The scenario appears alarming in case of availability of quality fodder. With the existing shortages of fodder, it would be difficult for India to achieve the target of 160 MT of milk production by 2020. For increasing milk production from the current level of 40 MT to 160 MT by 2020, 494 MT of dry fodder, 825 MT of green fodder and 54 MT concentrates will be required (Das, 2012). There are several crop products potentially used after enriching their quality for animal feeding, but are being wasted. All such bye-products needs to be ensiled and suitable mechanism for their enrichment and ensiling need to be developed. Keeping this in view efforts were made to ensile the dry fodder after enriching their quality by modified process

Iontophoresis: A Potential Emergence of a Transdermal Drug Delivery System

The delivery of drugs into systemic circulation via skin has generated much attention during the last decade. Transdermal therapeutic systems propound controlled release of active ingredients through the skin and into the systemic circulation in a predictive manner. Drugs administered through these systems escape first-pass metabolism and maintain a steady state scenario similar to a continuous intravenous infusion for up to several days. However, the excellent impervious nature of the skin offers the greatest challenge for successful delivery of drug molecules by utilizing the concepts of iontophoresis. The present review deals with the principles and the recent innovations in the field of iontophoretic drug delivery system together with factors affecting the system. This delivery system utilizes electric current as a driving force for permeation of ionic and non-ionic medications. The rationale behind using this technique is to reversibly alter the barrier properties of skin, which could possibly improve the penetration of drugs such as proteins, peptides and other macromolecules to increase the systemic delivery of high molecular weight compounds with controlled input kinetics and minimum inter-subject variability. Although iontophoresis seems to be an ideal candidate to overcome the limitations associated with the delivery of ionic drugs, further extrapolation of this technique is imperative for translational utility and mass human application

Adult diagnosis of hyperlucent unilateral lung: Swyer-James Macleod syndrome

Swyer- James- MacLeod Syndrome (SJMS) is a constrictive bronchiolitis with airflow obstruction, decreased number and diameter of ipsilateral peripheral pulmonary vessels and air trapping with characteristic radiological feature of unilateral hyperlucency on chest radiography. Computerized tomography (CT) provides useful additional information. The diagnosis is usually made in childhood, but sometimes it in adult. Here, we report a case in a 36 year old adult female who presented with complaints of breathlessness on exertion, cough and recurrent rhinitis with past history of TB and child hood chest infection. Imaging findings are characteristic of Swyer- James- Macleod syndrome

Science Attitudes and Knowledge among Preclinical Medical Students in Pokhara, Nepal

Knowledge of science and the scientific method are important in learning about and using evidence-based medicine in practice. Courses in research methodology have been introduced for both medical students and practicing doctors. In Pokhara, the basic science subjects are taught in an integrated manner during the first four semesters of the undergraduate medical course. Studies on students’ attitudes towards and knowledge of science are lacking in medical colleges in Nepal. Hence the study was carried out to obtain information on students’ attitude towards and knowledge of science and scientific methodology among preclinical medical students and note the association, if any, of students’ attitudes and their demographic characteristics. The study was carried out in March 2005 among the students of the first four semesters at the Manipal College of Medical Sciences, Pokhara, Nepal using a questionnaire developed by Hren and coworkers. Two hundred and twenty students (overall response rate 73.3%) successfully completed the questionnaire. Seventy- five respondents were Nepalese, 115 were Indians, 27 were Sri Lankans and 3 belonged to other nationalities. The X±SD total attitude score was 147.4±10.8 (neutral score 135). The X±SD scores on the subscales, value of science to humanity, value of scientific methodology and value of science to medicine were 51.3±5.4, 39.6±3.7 and 58.5±5.9 (neutral scores were 36, 51 and 48 respectively). The knowledge score measured using a set of 8 multiple choice questions was 3.3±1.4. The attitude scores were lower and the knowledge score was comparable to that reported previously in a study in Croatia but higher than that reported from Southeast Europe

Opportunities and challenges in pharmacy profession in developing countries like India: An overview

Abstract Pharmacy, a profession that is responsible for the interpretation of prescription orders compounding, labelling, dispensing of drugs for appropriate use of medication, devices and services to achieve optimal therapeutic outcomes. Patient monitoring and intervention and provision of cognitive services related to use of medications and devices are the other responsibilities. Pharmaceutical science is an inter-disciplinary science which is the base of the molecular biology, drug discovery and development science to healthcare delivery. While pharmacists are those who are educated and licensed to dispense drugs ad to provide drug information and are experts in handling of medications. The pharmacist is no longer just a supplier of medicines and a concocter of medicinal products, but also a team member involved in the provision of health care whether in the hospital, the community pharmacy, the laboratory, the industry or in academic institutions. The pharmacy profession has exciting opportunities, as well as challenges, they have the potential to help our country in facing these challenges. The changing role of pharmacy in monitoring medication usage is subsumed under the term "pharmaceutical care." Pharmaceutical care is the responsible provision of drug therapy for the purpose of achieving definite outcomes that improve a patient's quality of life i.e. pharmacist are also the primary health professionals. The gender shift that has occurred with the profession of pharmacy has sparked debate regarding the potential impact that this might have on the workforce shortage, pharmacist salaries, the impact of professional organizations, and the future of independent pharmacy ownership and proves specific position for females. This review deals with responsibility and services of pharmacists together with global opportunities to serve the society. Thus, there should be a close relationship among pharmacists, doctors and patients that may help improve patient's use of medicines and simplifying various complexities

Xylan-Based Hydrogels: A Polymeric Carrier for Sustained and Targeted Delivery of Drugs

In spite of good advancement for diagnosis and treatment, cancer is the second most common disease after cardiovascular disorders, may be responsible for maximum deaths in the world. Cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide, accounting for nearly 10 million deaths in 2020. Among cancers, colon or colorectal cancer is the second most common form of cancer globally with 916,000 deaths reported annually. Colon is the largest part of large intestine extending from ileocecal junction to anus. The delivery of drugs to the targeted site such as colon requires protection to the drug. As the most of the drugs are unstable in the gastric environment of the stomach and are susceptible to absorb in the upper gastrointestinal tract (GIT). This causes poor drug bioavailability and diminishes their efficacy against inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). Thus, to deliver a drug to the targeted site such as colon via GIT requires protection from an undesirable release in the upper GIT to achieve maximal pharmacological effect, while administered orally. As a consequence, protection of drugs can be achieved by xylan-based hydrogel polymeric carriers, which are of non-toxic and biocompatible nature, and which can also undergo in-vivo biodegradation easily

Identification of mirtrons in rice using MirtronPred: a tool for predicting plant mirtrons.

article i nfo Studies from flies and insects have reported the existence of a special class of miRNA, called mirtrons that are produced from spliced-out introns in a DROSHA-independent manner. The spliced-out lariat is debranched and refolded into a stem-loop structure resembling the pre-miRNA, which can then be processed by DICER into mature ~21 nt species. The mirtrons have not been reported from plants. In this study, we present Mir- tronPred, a web based server to predict mirtrons from intronic sequences. We have used the server to predict 70 mirtrons in rice introns that were put through a stringent selection filter to shortlist 16 best sequences. The prediction accuracy was subsequently validated by northern analysis and RT-PCR of a predicted Os- mirtron-109. The target sequences for this mirtron were also found in the rice degradome database. The pos- sible role of the mirtron in rice regulon is discussed. The MirtronPred web server is available at http://bioinfo. icgeb.res.in/mirtronPred

Androgen receptor status predicts response to chemotherapy, not risk of breast cancer in Indian women

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Considerably little is known about the biological role and clinical significance of androgen receptor expression in breast cancer. The objectives of this study were to characterize <it>AR</it>-CAG repeat genotypes in a cohort of women with breast cancer and to determine the influence of AR on response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy and clinical outcome.</p> <p>Materials and methods</p> <p>Genotyping of the <it>AR </it>CAG repeat region was done on 70 patients and 80 healthy aged- matched female controls. To assess response to NACT, tissue samples from 30 LABC cases were evaluated quantitatively by real time for AR mRNA expression. The clinical response was correlated with both the pre and post chemotherapy AR expression. The CAG alleles did not show differences between cases and controls when the mean of short, long and average length of both CAG alleles was considered. However, analysis when done defining short allele as CAGn < 20 (AR1) and the long as CAGn ≥ 20 (AR2), risk was found associated with AR2 allele with marginal significance (P = 0.09). Stratification by age of onset, FH, stage, grade ER and AR status failed to reveal any association with breast cancer risk. Genotype carriers with ≥20 CAGn showed decrease of AR mRNA expression although significance could not be established (P = 0.47). Tumours in responders had the higher AR mRNA expression levels in pre neo-adjuvant chemotherapy condition (p < 0.02) which got reduced after neoadjuvant chemotherapy and the difference was found to be significant (P = 0.014).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Although, expansion of the CAGn in the <it>AR </it>gene doesn't show any major effect on breast cancer risk, patients with positive AR expression, pre neoadjuvant chemotherapy, were found to be good responders and a decrease in mRNA level of <it>AR </it>gene related to the chemotherapy-induced apoptosis could serve as an important independent predictor of response to NACT.</p

Current biological and pharmacological updates on wogonin

Wogonin (5, 7-Dihydroxy-8-methoxyflavone) is a traditional naturally occurring flavonoid derived from the root extract of Chinese medicine, named Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi. Wogonin contains various biological properties which include allergic diseases, anti-cancertherapy and anti-inflammatory activities. Wogonin also shows the effects of removing toxins and cleansing heat. Wogonin glycosides are known as wogonosides. Oroxindin, a wogonin glucuronide isolated from Oroxylum indicum, is one of the example of wogonoside. It is also used in Japanese herbal supplement named Sho-Saiko-To, as an important active ingredient. One of the major active constituents of wogonin, Scutellaria baicalensis, shows potent anticancer activities both in vivo and in vitro studies. The anticancer therapeutic activity of wogonin has been shown by regulation of different cell signaling pathways , which includes protein kinase B pathway (serine-threonine kinase) and AMP-activated protein kinase pathways. Wogonin also shows positive therapeutic anticancer effects in breast cancer by inhibiting the 5‑LO/BLT2/ERK/IL‑8/MMP‑9 signaling cascade and established a major pharmacological anticancer activity