Human rights of people with mental illness: Provisions made in mental healthcare act 2017

Human rights of people with mental illness are very frequently undermined or even violated by individuals, groups and agencies. Human rights are understood as those rights which are applicable to all human beings, regardless of race, sex, nationality, ethnicity, language, religion, or any other parameters. Human rights entail the right to life and liberty, freedom from slavery, discrimination and torture, freedom of speech and expression, the right to work and education, and many more. The Mental Health Care Act, 2017 (MHCA 2017) has replaced the Mental Health Act, 1987 for strengthening the rights and wellbeing of mentally ill people and making mental healthcare services more humane and complying to human rights of those people. This article aims to discuss how the Mental Healthcare Act 2017 is beneficial in protecting the human rights of mentally ill people in India. Keywords: Mental health, mental healthcare act 2017, human rights, mental illnes

ORPHAN DRUGS: THE CURRENT GLOBAL AND INDIAN SCENARIO

ABSTRACTIt was not until a few decades ago that orphan drugs, still enjoyed†the status of pharmaceutical touch-me-not entities. However, the past two decadeshave witnessed a radical shift in the approach of global pharmaceutical industry toward orphan drugs. This has stemmed from an apparent innovationcrisis in the domain of common diseases, progressively increasing stringency in the regulations, and the decline of the blockbuster business model.Further, the success stories of a few orphan drugs, for instance, eculizumab has gone a long way in breaking the myth of non-profitability associatedwith orphan drug development endeavor. This combined with the high degree of incentivization attached with orphan drug development makes it avery lucrative avenue for further investment by the pharmaceutical industry. Sadly, the Indian scenario with respect to orphan drugs is a throwbackto the dark ages.†The progress seen across the developed nations, for instance, the United States of America has not permeated into the Indianmarket. India, with its huge population base, stands to provide a hugely lucrative market for orphan drug development. However, this point seemsto have escaped the notice of the Indian authorities and the pharmaceutical sector in India. Thus, with the various patient advocacy groups and nongovernmentorganizationschampioning the cause of orphan diseased patientsin India, the time is ripe forthe concerned authoritiesand the pharmasectorin India totakecognizance of this gapinglacuna in the health-careservices and undertakemeasurestoaddressthis situation.Keywords: Pharmaceutical touch-me-not, Orphan, Indian scenario.Â

Parental bonding among individuals with recurrent depressive disorder, anxiety disorder and healthy controls

  Background: The relationship between parents and children in early life has a significant determining role in the development of various aspects of mental health in human beings. This study aimed to have a comparative assessment of the quality of parental bonding among individuals with Recurrent Depressive Disorder (RDD), anxiety disorder and healthy controls while controlling the factors such as age, sex, and education. Materials and Method: This study was conducted at the Out-patient Department of a referral mental health care facility in India. The samples consisted of 30 individuals with the diagnosis of RDD, 30 individuals with Anxiety Disorder as per ICD-10-DCR and 30 matched healthy controls. Age ranged between 18-50 years. Parental bonding instrument was used to assess the parental bonding in all three groups. Results: The two groups RDD and anxiety disorder differed significantly from the healthy control group on maternal protection (χ2=42.643, p<0.001), paternal care (χ2=8.063, p=0.018) and protection (χ2=43.468, p<0.001) but did not differ significantly in terms of maternal care (χ2=0.449, p=0.799). Conclusion: Findings highlight the role of parental bonding in the etiology of RDD and anxiety disorders, which reflects the need for strengthening the healthy bonding between parents and children in order to prevent such psychiatric conditions. Keywords:  Parental bonding, recurrent depressive disorder, anxiety disorde

Salivary Metabolomics for Oral Precancerous Lesions: A Comprehensive Narrative Review

Oral submucous fibrosis (OSMF) is a chronic, potentially malignant disorder of the oral cavity, primarily associated with the consumption of areca nut products and other risk factors. Early and accurate diagnosis of OSMF is crucial to prevent its progression to oral cancer. In recent years, the field of metabolomics has gained momentum as a promising approach for disease detection and monitoring. Salivary metabolomics, a non-invasive and easily accessible diagnostic tool, has shown potential in identifying biomarkers associated with various oral diseases, including OSMF. This review synthesizes current literature on the application of salivary metabolomics in the context of OSMF detection. The review encompasses a comprehensive analysis of studies conducted over the past decade, highlighting advancements in analytical techniques, metabolomic profiling, and identified biomarkers linked to OSMF progression. The primary objective of this review is to provide a critical assessment of the feasibility and reliability of salivary metabolomics as a diagnostic tool for OSMF, along with its potential to differentiate OSMF from other oral disorders. In conclusion, salivary metabolomics holds great promise in revolutionizing OSMF detection through the identification of reliable biomarkers and the development of robust diagnostic models. However, challenges such as sample variability, validation of biomarkers, and standardization need to be addressed before its widespread clinical implementation. This review contributes to a comprehensive understanding of the current status, challenges, and future directions of salivary metabolomics in the realm of OSMF detection, emphasizing its potential impact on early intervention and improved patient outcomes

Science with the Daksha High Energy Transients Mission

We present the science case for the proposed Daksha high energy transients mission. Daksha will comprise of two satellites covering the entire sky from 1~keV to $>1$~MeV. The primary objectives of the mission are to discover and characterize electromagnetic counterparts to gravitational wave source; and to study Gamma Ray Bursts (GRBs). Daksha is a versatile all-sky monitor that can address a wide variety of science cases. With its broadband spectral response, high sensitivity, and continuous all-sky coverage, it will discover fainter and rarer sources than any other existing or proposed mission. Daksha can make key strides in GRB research with polarization studies, prompt soft spectroscopy, and fine time-resolved spectral studies. Daksha will provide continuous monitoring of X-ray pulsars. It will detect magnetar outbursts and high energy counterparts to Fast Radio Bursts. Using Earth occultation to measure source fluxes, the two satellites together will obtain daily flux measurements of bright hard X-ray sources including active galactic nuclei, X-ray binaries, and slow transients like Novae. Correlation studies between the two satellites can be used to probe primordial black holes through lensing. Daksha will have a set of detectors continuously pointing towards the Sun, providing excellent hard X-ray monitoring data. Closer to home, the high sensitivity and time resolution of Daksha can be leveraged for the characterization of Terrestrial Gamma-ray Flashes.Comment: 19 pages, 7 figures. Submitted to ApJ. More details about the mission at https://www.dakshasat.in

Production of He-4 and (4) in Pb-Pb collisions at root(NN)-N-S=2.76 TeV at the LHC

Results on the production of He-4 and (4) nuclei in Pb-Pb collisions at root(NN)-N-S = 2.76 TeV in the rapidity range vertical bar y vertical bar <1, using the ALICE detector, are presented in this paper. The rapidity densities corresponding to 0-10% central events are found to be dN/dy4(He) = (0.8 +/- 0.4 (stat) +/- 0.3 (syst)) x 10(-6) and dN/dy4 = (1.1 +/- 0.4 (stat) +/- 0.2 (syst)) x 10(-6), respectively. This is in agreement with the statistical thermal model expectation assuming the same chemical freeze-out temperature (T-chem = 156 MeV) as for light hadrons. The measured ratio of (4)/He-4 is 1.4 +/- 0.8 (stat) +/- 0.5 (syst). (C) 2018 Published by Elsevier B.V.Peer reviewe

The population of merging compact binaries inferred using gravitational waves through GWTC-3

We report on the population properties of 76 compact binary mergers detected with gravitational waves below a false alarm rate of 1 per year through GWTC-3. The catalog contains three classes of binary mergers: BBH, BNS, and NSBH mergers. We infer the BNS merger rate to be between 10 $\rm{Gpc^{-3} yr^{-1}}$ and 1700 $\rm{Gpc^{-3} yr^{-1}}$ and the NSBH merger rate to be between 7.8 $\rm{Gpc^{-3}\, yr^{-1}}$ and 140 $\rm{Gpc^{-3} yr^{-1}}$ , assuming a constant rate density versus comoving volume and taking the union of 90% credible intervals for methods used in this work. Accounting for the BBH merger rate to evolve with redshift, we find the BBH merger rate to be between 17.9 $\rm{Gpc^{-3}\, yr^{-1}}$ and 44 $\rm{Gpc^{-3}\, yr^{-1}}$ at a fiducial redshift (z=0.2). We obtain a broad neutron star mass distribution extending from $1.2^{+0.1}_{-0.2} M_\odot$ to $2.0^{+0.3}_{-0.3} M_\odot$. We can confidently identify a rapid decrease in merger rate versus component mass between neutron star-like masses and black-hole-like masses, but there is no evidence that the merger rate increases again before 10 $M_\odot$. We also find the BBH mass distribution has localized over- and under-densities relative to a power law distribution. While we continue to find the mass distribution of a binary's more massive component strongly decreases as a function of primary mass, we observe no evidence of a strongly suppressed merger rate above $\sim 60 M_\odot$. The rate of BBH mergers is observed to increase with redshift at a rate proportional to $(1+z)^{\kappa}$ with $\kappa = 2.9^{+1.7}_{-1.8}$ for $z\lesssim 1$. Observed black hole spins are small, with half of spin magnitudes below $\chi_i \simeq 0.25$. We observe evidence of negative aligned spins in the population, and an increase in spin magnitude for systems with more unequal mass ratio

Polyphase neotectonic movements in the Gavilgarh Fault Zone, central Indian craton: evidences from geomorpho-tectonic analysis

The central part of Indian craton is believed to be a stable continental region with low strain build-up and long earthquake recurrence periods. It comprises two major Archean cratonic fragments (i.e. the Bundelkhand and the Bastar Cratons) and a Proterozoic mobile belt called Central Indian Tectonic Zone (CITZ), along which the cratonic fragments were amalgamated in the Proterozoic. Gavilgarh Fault Zone (GFZ) is an important component of CITZ and is represented by a >250 km long, ENE-WSW trending fault line which demarcates the southern boundary of the Satpura mountains. Although the eastern part of the lineament shows evidences of polyphase tectonic movements in the Meso-Neoproterozic (Chattopadhyay and Khasdeo, 2011), there is no focussed analysis of neotectonic activity in this fault zone although a number of earthquakes have been recorded within the CITZ in last 100 years or so. The present study comprises structural mapping and geomorphological analysis of a 200 km long stretch of the GFZ lineament. GFZ shows evidences of reverse fault-slip movements that possibly resulted in an uplift of the northern side, as deeper level rocks (e.g. Paleozoic Gondwana sandstones) are juxtaposed against the overlying Deccan Trap basalts of Mesozoic age along the fault line. Crushing of basalts along the lineament, asymmetric folds within Gondwana sandstone, inclination of Anisotropic Magnetic Susceptibility (AMS) axes etc. provide evidences for fault-drag folding related to the post-Deccan reverse faulting. Drainages crosscutting the lineament adjusted with the tectonic uplift either by incising their own sediments and bed rock or by increasing their sinuosity, only in the northern side, as seen in the satellite images. Hypsometric Integral values suggest that the immature/in-equilibrated drainage basins were restricted in the north while mature/equilibrated basins developed in the south of the lineament. Longitudinal profiles and S-L Index of the river profiles, prepared from DEM, clearly mark the knick ponits related to the faulting. Ages of terrace sediment samples obtained by luminescence dating method (OSL/IRSL) and ages calculated from knick point migration rate (following Loget and Van den Driessche, 2009) suggest that reverse slip movement along GFZ started possibly at c. 93ka and the fault reactivated again at c. 41 ka and further after c. 12 ka. This neotectonic movement may be a result of the reported regional shortening of 2±1 mm/yr across the CITZ obtained from geodetic GPS measurement (Banerjee et al., 2008). References: Banerjee, P., Bürgmann, R., Nagarajan, B., and Apel, E., 2008, Intraplate deformation of the Indian subcontinent: Geophysical Research Letters, v. 35, no. 18. Chattopadhyay, A., and Khasdeo, L., 2011, Structural evolution of Gavilgarh-Tan Shear Zone, central India: A possible case of partitioned transpression during Mesoproterozoic oblique collision within Central Indian Tectonic Zone: Precambrian Research, v. 186, no. 1-4, p. 70-88. Loget, N., and Van Den Driessche, J., 2009, Wave train model for knickpoint migration: Geomorphology, v. 106, no. 3, p. 376-382.by Dipanjan Bhattacharjee, Anupam Chattopadhyay and Vikrant Jai

Epigenetics: The New Frontier in the Landscape of Asthma

Over the years, on a global scale, asthma has continued to remain one of the leading causes of morbidity, irrespective of age, sex, or social bearings. This is despite the prevalence of varied therapeutic options to counter the pathogenesis of asthma. Asthma, as a disease per se, is a very complex one. Scientists all over the world have been trying to obtain a lucid understanding of the machinations behind asthma. This has led to many theories and conjectures. However, none of the scientific disciplines have been able to provide the missing links in the chain of asthma pathogenesis. This was until epigenetics stepped into the picture. Though epigenetic research in asthma is in its nascent stages, it has led to very exciting results, especially with regard to explaining the massive influence of environment on development of asthma and its varied phenotypes. However, there remains a lot of work to be done, especially with regard to understanding how the interactions between immune system, epigenome, and environment lead to asthma. But introduction of epigenetics has infused a fresh lease of life in research into asthma and the mood among the scientific community is that of cautious optimism