Lehya formulations for mother and child care in Havyak community of Uttara Kannada district, Karnataka, India

The period between pregnancy and the child birth is a critical phase in the lives of mothers and newborn babies. In most of the Asian countries including India, the use of medicinal plants, cultural traditions and the diets practiced by the ethnic groups have their age old histories. Present study was carried out to compile the traditional knowledge of the age old practitioners on pre and postnatal remedies. The survey was carried out in the areas of Sirsi, Siddapur and Mundgod taluks of Uttara Kannada district, Karnataka state, India. Medicinal plants were collected and quantitative data analyses like Use Value (UV), Relative frequency citation (Rfc) and Family Importance Value (FIV) have been provided to analyze the importance of reported plants. The study revealed the use of 28 plant species belonging to 19 families. The home remedies for pregnant women are in the form of paste, called ‘Lehya’ in local language. Habit-wise analysis of the plants indicate that herbs are highly used (35.71%) and in most of the case fruits (32.14%) and seeds (25%) are frequently used plant parts in ‘Lehya’ preparation. The most important plant species according to the quantitative data analysis are Cassia sophera, Centella asiatica, Cocos nucifera, Cucumis melo var. acidulus, Curcuma longa, Phoenix dactylifera and Syzygium aromaticum

An Experimental Study on the Socketed Pile in Soft Rock

Pile foundation systems are used in India in many projects such as metro and railways, flyovers, and multi-story buildings. The pile transfers superstructure load to the substructure, i.e. to rock layers by means of skin resistance and end-bearing resistance. In this study, an attempt is made to observe the performance of socketed piles in soft rock. A series of socketed small-scale model pile load laboratory studies have been conducted using the loading frame. Load tests were performed on a model steel pile to calculate its axial load-bearing capability at various socket depths. An unconfined compression test was performed on pseudo-rock variations to find out the properties of the soft rock used. The results showed the ability of the drilled pile to enhance the strength of the pseudo rock. An attempt was also made to calculate the optimum depth for the socketed pile in soft rock

Pharmacognostic evaluation of Achyranthes coynei: Leaf

AbstractAchyranthes coynei Sant., (Amaranthaceae) is a rare, medicinal shrub, endemic to India. The plant especially, leaves are used in treatment of various disorders by folk healers. It has been scientifically evaluated for its antimicrobial and antioxidant properties. Pharmacognostic studies have not been carried out so far in this plant. So, the present study was undertaken to evaluate pharmacognostic characters of leaf of A. coynei. The studies were carried out in terms of morphological, microscopic characters and physicochemical parameters using standard methods. Leaf size (15–23 × 7–10 cm) and petiole nature (pink above and green beneath) were the distinguishing morphological character observed in the present study. Transverse section of leaf and petiole showed presence of long, multi-cellular, warty trichomes with pointed apex and short, glandular trichomes with blunt apex on thick walled epidermis; conjoint, collateral closed, endarch vascular bundles; rosette crystals of calcium oxalate in ground tissue. Ash and extractive values, micro and macro elements and nutritive factors were estimated. Leaf powder showed fluorescence under the influence of different solvents. Preliminary phytochemical screening showed the presence of alkaloids, saponins and triterpenoids. High Performance Thin Layer Chromatorgraphic (HPTLC) analysis yielded eight bands in leaf extract. The study forms the first report on pharamcognostic characters for A. coynei, which could be useful for identification and authentication of the plant

Characterization and classification of major coconut growing soils in South Eastern Ghats of Tamil Nadu, India

Six soil series representing major coconut growing soils of the Eastern Ghats in Krishnagiri district of Tamil Nadu State, India, were evolved from granite gneiss and alluvium parent materials. Characterization of different soil properties was done using a detailed soil survey at 1:10000 scale. The soils were neutral to moderately alkaline in reaction (7.31 to 9.19), non-saline, poor to moderately well-drained and moderately shallow (<75 cm) to very deep (>150 cm) in depth. The soils were sandy to clay in texture, sub-angular blocky to crumb in structure, dark reddish-brown to brown, very low to high in OC content (0.06 to 2.70%), low to medium in AWC (3.44 to 22.39%), low to high in CEC (4.70 to 54.0 cmol (p+) kg-1) and having high base saturation (77 to 100%). The soils also had sizable amounts of exchangeable sodium (4.29 to 33.46%), which was maximum in P5, P6 and P1, and high clay content in P5 and P2. The distribution of CaCO3 in different depths was found to be maximum in P4 and P1. The soil orders identified in the coconut area were Inceptisols, Entisols, Alfisols and Vertisols. Assessment of soil resources and identification of yield-limiting soils factors on coconut could be by way of better management and improved productivity

Negative diffraction pattern dynamics in nonlinear cavities with left-handed materials

We study a ring cavity filled with a slab of a right-handed material and a slab of a left-handed material. Both layers are assumed to be nonlinear Kerr media. First, we derive a model for the propagation of light in a left-handed material. By constructing a mean-field model, we show that the sign of diffraction can be made either positive or negative in this resonator, depending on the thicknesses of the layers. Subsequently, we demonstrate that the dynamical behavior of the modulation instability is strongly affected by the sign of the diffraction coefficient. Finally, we study the dissipative structures in this resonator and reveal the predominance of a two-dimensional up-switching process over the formation of spatially periodic structures, leading to the truncation of the homogeneous hysteresis cycle.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figure

HIV and cancer registry linkage identifies a substantial burden of cancers in persons with HIV in India.

We utilized computerized record-linkage methods to link HIV and cancer databases with limited unique identifiers in Pune, India, to determine feasibility of linkage and obtain preliminary estimates of cancer risk in persons living with HIV (PLHIV) as compared with the general population.Records of 32,575 PLHIV were linked to 31,754 Pune Cancer Registry records (1996-2008) using a probabilistic-matching algorithm. Cancer risk was estimated by calculating standardized incidence ratios (SIRs) in the early (4-27 months after HIV registration), late (28-60 months), and overall (4-60 months) incidence periods. Cancers diagnosed prior to or within 3 months of HIV registration were considered prevalent.Of 613 linked cancers to PLHIV, 188 were prevalent, 106 early incident, and 319 late incident. Incident cancers comprised 11.5% AIDS-defining cancers (ADCs), including cervical cancer and non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), but not Kaposi sarcoma (KS), and 88.5% non-AIDS-defining cancers (NADCs). Risk for any incident cancer diagnosis in early, late, and combined periods was significantly elevated among PLHIV (SIRs: 5.6 [95% CI 4.6-6.8], 17.7 [95% CI 15.8-19.8], and 11.5 [95% CI 10-12.6], respectively). Cervical cancer risk was elevated in both incidence periods (SIRs: 9.6 [95% CI 4.8-17.2] and 22.6 [95% CI 14.3-33.9], respectively), while NHL risk was elevated only in the late incidence period (SIR: 18.0 [95% CI 9.8-30.20]). Risks for NADCs were dramatically elevated (SIR > 100) for eye-orbit, substantially (SIR > 20) for all-mouth, esophagus, breast, unspecified-leukemia, colon-rectum-anus, and other/unspecified cancers; moderately elevated (SIR > 10) for salivary gland, penis, nasopharynx, and brain-nervous system, and mildly elevated (SIR > 5) for stomach. Risks for 6 NADCs (small intestine, testis, lymphocytic leukemia, prostate, ovary, and melanoma) were not elevated and 5 cancers, including multiple myeloma not seen.Our study demonstrates the feasibility of using probabilistic record-linkage to study cancer/other comorbidities among PLHIV in India and provides preliminary population-based estimates of cancer risks in PLHIV in India. Our results, suggesting a potentially substantial burden and slightly different spectrum of cancers among PLHIV in India, support efforts to conduct multicenter linkage studies to obtain precise estimates and to monitor cancer risk in PLHIV in India