Metabolic syndrome in schizophrenia: how much is attributable to drug treatment?

Background: This study was planned to investigate new onset metabolic syndrome (MS) and its various components associated with two widely used second generation antipsychotics i.e. olanzapine and quetiapine in the management of schizophrenia using International Diabetic Federation (IDF) criteria.Methods: A total of 60 drug naïve patients with ICD-10 diagnosis of first episode schizophrenia, divided in two groups of 30 patients each, were randomly allocated to receive two different treatments i.e. olanzapine and quetiapine. Metabolic parameters were measured at day 0, then at 6 and 12 weeks. For categorical variables, ‘Chi-square test’ was used for comparison between the two groups.For continuous variables student’s t-test was used.Results: At 6 weeks none of the patient, treated with olanzapine, developed Metabolic Syndrome (MS), but among quetiapine group 3.33% (1 out of 30) developed MS. At the end of 12 weeks, 20% patients (i.e. 6 out of 30) had MS in olanzapine treatment group and 10% (3 out of 30) in quetiapine treatment group.Conclusion: Both olanzapine and quetiapine were found to cause comparable metabolic derangement and metabolic syndrome.

PHYSIO-ANATOMICAL EXPLORATION OF ROLE OF MENTAL HEALTH IN ANNAVAHA SROTAS DISORDERS

The good health is defined not only on basis of physical well being but rather also on mental well being. As told in Ayurveda texts- “Prasanna Atmendriya Manah Swasth Ityabhidheeyate”. In era of globalization, the fast & modernized lifestyle has taken toll on one’s health. Now a day, majority of population is suffering from digestive problems such as acidity, reflux, bloating, stomach pain, constipation, and anorexia. These digestive problems are mainly due to bad dietary habits like junk foods, lack of balanced diet etc and also due lack of proper sleep, stress etc. Stress shows both long term and short term effect on gut functions like gastric secretions, gut motility, mucosal permeability etc. Our Acharas were well aware about this factor for digestive disorders, as they included Shoka, Bhaya, Krodha etc. as Nidana (cause) of digestive disorders. These various Nidana of digestive disorders causes Agnidushti which is cause of Annvaha srotodushti and Mandagni. It is very important to understand the relationship between gut and mental health to know aetio-pathogenesis of disorders, which will help to develop holistic approach for better treatment of Annavaha Srotas Disorders

Models for the Prediction of Receptor Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitory Activity of Substituted 3-Aminoindazole Analogues

The inhibition of tumor angiogenesis has become a compelling approach in the development of anticancer drugs. In the present study, topological models were developed through decision tree and moving average analysis using a data set comprising 42 analogues of 3-aminoindazoles. A total of 22 descriptors (distance based, adjacency based, pendenticity and distance-cum-adjacency based) were used. The values of all 22 topological indices for each analogue in the dataset were computed using an in-house computer program. A decision tree was constructed for the receptor tyrosine kinase KDR (kinase insert domain receptor) inhibitory activity to determine the importance of topological indices. The decision tree learned the information from the input data with an accuracy of 88%. Three independent topological models were also developed for prediction of receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitory (KDR) activity using moving average analysis. The models developed were also found to be sensitive towards the prediction of other receptor tyrosine kinases i.e. FLT3 (fms-like tyrosine kinase-3) and cKIT inhibitory activity. The accuracy of classification of single index based models using moving average analysis was found to be 88%. The performance of models was assessed by calculating precision, sensitivity, overall accuracy and Mathew’s correlation coefficient (MCC). The significance of the models was also assessed by intercorrelation analysis

Docosahexaenoic acid supplementation: a need or a commercial hype?

Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) is an important component of the brain and is essential critical for optimal brain health and function. With revealing of its beneficial effects on cognitive function, neurological, cardiovascular system and anti-inflammatory benefits, DHA has recently gained huge attention. As a result, the market is stocked with products supplemented with DHA claiming various health benefits. This review attempts to elucidate the current findings of DHA supplementation as a pharmacological agent with both preventive and therapeutic value

Health seeking behaviour of women with unwanted pregnancies: a tertiary care centre based study of eastern Uttar Pradesh, India

Background: Termination of an unwanted pregnancy is legal in India. Many women in this region are still not aware about safe abortion services and its consequences. Especially young, economically deprived and those without a supportive male partner are at higher risk of unsafe abortion. There is no clear and established evidence on this issue in our region. In the study, the aim was to explore the health seeking behaviour of women with unwanted pregnancies.Methods: Present cross-sectional study was conducted among 303 patients visiting to obstetrics and gynecology ward of BRD Medical College, Gorakhpur from April 2018 to September 2018. Their socio demographic profile, reasons for current termination of pregnancy and health seeking behaviour was explored.Results: Most common reason given for terminating the current pregnancy was completed family size 65.3%. Unmarried girls with pregnancy were 5.6 % who wanted termination of pregnancy. Majority (67.0%) took medication for termination of pregnancy from nearby medical store without an expert consultation 15.8% of women consulted to a local quack or local dai for termination of pregnancy. 12.9% of women tried a method as advised by family/friends for termination of pregnancy. About 4% of women 1st tried traditional and herbal medicines, drinking tea or juice for termination of pregnancy. Majority of women (84.5%) visited to medical college for management of complications of earlier tried method of termination of pregnancy.Conclusions: Completed family size was found most common reason for termination of pregnancy. Self medication without consultation of authorised doctor was found most common practice of abortion leading to complications.

Investigating the Hubble Tension: Effect of Cepheid Calibration

Recent observations of Type Ia supernovae (SNe) by SH0ES collaboration (R11 and R16) diverge from the value reported by recent CMBR observations utilising the Planck satellite and application of the $\Lambda CDM$ cosmological model by at least $3 \sigma$. It is among the most challenging problems in contemporary cosmology and is known as the Hubble tension. The SNe Ia in R11 and R16 were calibrated through cepheid variables in three distinct galaxies: Milky Way, LMC, and NGC4258. Carnegie Hubble Program (CHP) observations of type Ia SNe calibrated using the tip of the red giant approach yielded a somewhat different estimate for the Hubble constant. This decreased the Hubble tension from over 3$\sigma$ to below 2$\sigma$. It is a legitimate question to answer whether there are any issues with SNe Ia calibration and to investigate whether the Hubble tension is real or not. We use statistical techniques namely, ANOVA, K-S test, and t-test to examine whether the cepheid calibration is host-dependent. Our analysis shows that (i) both R11 and R16 data suffer from non-Gaussian systematic effects, (ii) $H_0$ values in the sub-samples (different anchor-based) in both R11 and R16 groups are significantly different at a 99\% confidence level, and (iii) neglecting the metal-rich MW sample does not reduce the $H_0$ value significantly, and thus Hubble tension persists. A small reduction in the Hubble constant could be linked to the differences in the host environment. Hence instead of using a single universal relation environment based slope and zero point should be preferred.Comment: 15 pages (single column), 7 figure

SYNTHESIS AND INVESTIGATION OF ANTHELMINTIC, ANTIBACTERIAL AND ANTIFUNGAL ACTIVITY OF 3,3-DIPHENYL PROPANAMIDE DERIVATIVES

Objective: A novel series of substituted 3,3-diphenyl propanamide derivatives (I-VIII) were synthesized by reacting 3,3-diphenyl propanoyl chloride with different amines/amino acids, and all the derivatives were investigated for anthelmintic, antibacterial, and antifungal activity.Methods: All the compounds were characterized by infrared (IR) and1H- nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometry data. The synthesized derivatives were investigated for their anthelmintic activity employing housefly worms method and earthworm species model. The antibacterial and antifungal activity was performed employing cup plate method.Results: The synthesized compounds (VII and VIII) exhibited maximum anthelmintic activity as compared with standard drug albendazole at doses of 50 and 100 mg/mL, due to minimal paralyzing and death time in both housefly and earthworm models. The compounds (IV, VII, and VIII) at 50 μg/mL exhibited maximum activity against Gram-negative bacterial strains, namely, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa as compared with ciprofloxacin and same compounds exhibited maximum antifungal activity against Candida albicans and Aspergillus niger in comparison with standard drug griseofulvin at 50 μg/mL.Conclusion: The synthesized compounds bearing amino acid moiety in their structure (VII-VIII) exhibited impressive anthelmintic activity in comparison with albendazole. This suggests that amino acid/peptide derivative of diphenyl propanamides can act as great anthelmintic agents. Further, the research can be performed to design potent antimicrobial diphenyl propanamide derivatives.Â

THERAPIES IN CANCER TREATMENT: AN OVERVIEW

Cancer is one of the most frequent and distressing diseases. The mortality caused by cancer and its prevalence has increased during the last 50 years. Cancer is still one of the most destructive disease of human beings due to its complexity and progressive nature and the clinical management of this deadly disease continue to be a challenge for the 21stcentury. Various types of cancer are reported in literature such as Carcinoma, Sarcoma, Lymphoma, leukemia, Blastoma and Germ cell tumor. There is a continuous need for new and better cancer therapies. A few years ago, surgery and radiotherapy were the only effective way to fight tumor growth. Now various therapies for the treatment of cancer have been developed including chemotherapy, radiation therapy, proton therapy, thermotherapy, Photodynamic therapy, laser therapy, sentinel lymph node biopsy, cryotherapy and differentiation therapy. These therapies have dramatically changed the scenario of cancer treatment. Further research is also needed to discriminate the various genes and signaling pathways in the process of the carcinogenesis of cancer stem cells for the development of novel therapies, with the ultimate goal of eliminating the residual disease and recurrence. This review aims to present the various types, stages of cancer and also focus on various therapies used for the treatment of cancer.Â

Role of galectin 3 and thyroid peroxidase as diagnostic tool in thyroid carcinoma with clinicopathological correlation: a cohort study of 94 cases

Background: Thyroid neoplasms constitute the most commonly occurring endocrine tumors worldwide. With ultrasonography, detection has been increased up to 30%. Thyroid neoplasms have a wide spectrum of clinical behaviour and varied therapeutic responsiveness. Thus, early diagnosis of thyroid tumors and appropriate management will prolong the survival rate of patients. So, this study focuses on thyroid tumors which have overlapping morphological features and exact diagnosis is essential for surgical and post- operative management of patients. The aim and objective of the study was to determine the role of Galectin 3 and Thyroid Peroxidase in malignant tumors of thyroid as diagnostic marker.Methods: We evaluated the patients for detailed history, physical examination, fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) and biopsy or excision of thyroid gland and subsequently histological examination and Immunohistochemistry for galectin 3 and thyroid peroxidase antibody (TPO).Results: A total of 94 cases were enrolled in the study. Out of these 94 cases, 70 cases (74%) were followed by histopathology and immunohistochemistry (IHC). Out of 70 cases, benign were 44 (63%) and malignant were 26 (37%). Among benign cases, most common were colloid goitre, 22 cases (31%). Among malignant cases, most common were papillary carcinoma, 15 cases (21%). For all thyroid carcinoma, both Galectin 3 and TPO showed sensitivity of 81% when used alone. However combination of galectin 3 and TPO increased the sensitivity up to 92%.Conclusions: Galectin 3 and TPO alone has high sensitivity for all thyroid carcinoma but sensitivity was markedly increased when combination of the two markers were used

Compact Planar One-Shot Circular Spark Gap Switch

The fabrication and characterisation of micro spark gap switch for single shot firing applications are given in detailed . A circular switch with triggering electrode is realised on alumina substrate and can be integratable easily with the electronics for ignition applications. Circular switch is realised on 25 mil alumina substrate within substrate diameter of 10 mm. The switch measurement shows having repeatable performance of pulse peak current of around 2000 A and less than 100 ns rise time. This article details the design, development including fabrication aspects of spark switch with trigger capabilities along with characterisation of switch on alumina substrates.