HEDYCHIUM SPICATUM BUCH-HAM. (KUCHRI), A TREASURE HOUSE OF ESSENTIAL OILS

Medicinal plants have a very significant role in the health care system. They are served as the primary source of modern drugs. One of such important medicinal plant is Hedychium spicatum Buch-ham. which belongs to the Zingiberaceae family (ginger family). The plant is commonly known as the spiked ginger lily in English and Kuchri in Hindi and Shati in Sanskrit. It is a commercially valuable plant due to its rhizomes. This rhizomatous plant holds a significant place in Ayurveda due to its extraordinary disease-curing properties. It is mentioned as Shwasahara mahakashaya dravya in Ayurveda. It is used in many folk cultures around the world as a remedy against many diseases like diarrhoea, liver-related problems, pain, vomiting, stomachache, inflammation, nausea, headache, fever etc. It is a therapeutically important plant due to the presence of numerous important essential oils as major phytochemical constituents like 1,8-Cineole, camphene, sabinene, β-pinene, myrcene, α-phellandrene, etc. The main therapeutic properties of the plant are anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial, hepatoprotective, tranquilizer, antipyretic, anti-diabetic, pediculicidal, anti-helminthic etc. The aim of the present review is to provide information related to phytochemistry, therapeutic properties, traditional uses of Hedychium spicatum in Ayurveda and folk medicinal system

ECLIPTA ALBA (BHRINGRAJ): A PROMISING HEPATOPROTECTIVE AND HAIR GROWTH STIMULATING HERB.

Plants are the primary source of food, shelter, and various remedial approaches. They are being in use for treating various kinds of human ailments across the world since the ancient times. One of such important plants is Eclipta alba hassk (Asteraceae) which is commonly known as Bhringraj and false daisy. This plant is known for its extra-ordinary therapeutic properties. It is one of most widely used plant in traditional systems of medicines such as Ayurvedic, Unani, Sidha, homeopathy, Chinese, and folk. Each part of this medicinal plant contains many important phytochemical constituents such as coumestans, triterpenes, flavonoids, steroids, polypeptides, and saponins. It is majorly used for enhancing the growth, strength, and blackening of hair. It is used as the main ingredient in many hair oils. It significantly treats problems related to hair such as hair fall, dandruff, premature greying, and baldness. E. alba exhibits many other important biological properties such as anticancer, anti-bacterial, anti-viral, anti-stress, and immunomodulatory. Thus, this medicinal plant is playing a vital role in the medical field and cosmetic industry. The present review is a summary of phytomedicinal importance of E. alba in Ayurveda as well as folk medicine system

CoMEt: x86 Cost Model Explanation Framework

ML-based program cost models have been shown to yield highly accurate predictions. They have the capability to replace heavily-engineered analytical program cost models in mainstream compilers, but their black-box nature discourages their adoption. In this work, we propose the first method for obtaining faithful and intuitive explanations for the throughput predictions made by ML-based cost models. We demonstrate our explanations for the state-of-the-art ML-based cost model, Ithemal. We compare the explanations for Ithemal with the explanations for a hand-crafted, accurate analytical model, uiCA. Our empirical findings show that high similarity between explanations for Ithemal and uiCA usually corresponds to high similarity between their predictions

Chromosome 22q11.2 microdeletion in monozygotic twins with discordant phenotype and deletion size

We report on a pair of male monozygotic twins with 22q11.2 microdeletion, discordant phenotype and discordant deletion size. The second twin had findings suggestive of DiGeorge syndrome, while the first twin had milder anomalies without any cardiac malformation. The second twin had presented with intractable convulsion, cyanosis and cardiovascular failure in the fourth week of life and expired on the sixth week of life, whereas the first twin had some characteristic facial appearance with developmental delay but no other signs of the 22q11.2 microdeletion syndrome including cardiovascular malformation. The fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) analysis had shown a microdeletion on the chromosome 22q11.2 in both twins. The interphase FISH did not find any evidence for the mosaicism. The genomic DNA microarray analysis, using HumanCytoSNP-12 BeadChip (Illumina), was identical between the twins except different size of deletion of 22q11.2. The zygosity using HumanCytoSNP-12 BeadChip (Illumina) microarray analysis suggested monozygosity. This observation indicates that altered size of the deletion may be the underlying etiology for the discordance in phenotype in monozygotic twins. We think early post zygotic events (mitotic non-allelic homologous recombination) could have been played a role in the alteration of 22q11.2 deletion size and, thus phenotypic variability in the monozygotic twins

Correlation between male and female genital tuberculosis: a prospective analytical study

Background: Genital tuberculosis is an unusual extrapulmonary manifestation of tuberculosis, often seen in middle-aged men with renal or pulmonary disease. The most common male genital sites of tuberculous infection are the epididymis and prostate. It is also an important cause of female infertility in the world, especially in developing countries. Majority of infertility cases are due to involvement of the fallopian tubes. Hardly any study has been done to establish correlation between male and female genital TB. We have evaluated the same in severe oligospermic/ azoospermic males and established a definite correlation. Objective was to establish a definite correlation between female and male genital tuberculosis in patients with male factor infertility.Methods: 100 severe oligozoospermic/azoospermic males presenting with infertility between April 2011 and January 2016 were enrolled and worked up for genital tuberculosis. Their female partners were worked up for female genital TB and correlation established.Results: Out of 100 patients with severe oligospermia or azoospermia who tested positive for TB quantiferon gold test. 18% female partners tested positive for TB quantiferon gold test.Conclusions: Tubercular work up of both partners is desired in couples with male factor infertility especially in long standing infertility to achieve optimum pregnancy outcome with ART

Computed tomography diagnosis of truncus arteriosus type IV: a case report

Truncus arteriosus (TA) is an uncommon congenital cardiac anomaly of which type IV is considered a rare variant. Recognition is crucial for proper treatment planning. The prognosis without treatment is poor. Echocardiography alone may not be useful in evaluation. Computed tomography (CT) finding is complicated. We report an 18 months child with ventricular septal defect (VSD), diagnosed on echocardiography, and further review by CT showed VSD with descending thoracic aorta giving rise to the pulmonary arteries suggestive of pseudo truncus (Collet and Edwards Truncus arteriosus Type IV) and right sided aortic arch with mirror image branching. Keywords: echocardiography, Collet and Edwards, computed tomography (CT), truncus arteriosus, ventricular septal defect (VSD

Prevalence of 22q11.2 microdeletion in 146 patients with cardiac malformation in a referral hospital of North India

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The 22q11.2 microdeletion syndrome is a common condition that is associated with cardiac as well as extra-cardiac manifestations. Its prevalence and manifestations from north India has not been reported. This study was designed to determine the prevalence and ability of clinical criteria to predict 22q11.2 microdeletion.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A total of 146 cases of cardiac malformation requiring tertiary care at a teaching hospital were prospectively screened for 22q11.2 microdeletion using fluorescence in situ hybridization test. Detailed clinical information was obtained as per guidelines of Tobias, <it>et al </it>(1999).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Nine out of 146 patients (6.16%) was found to have 22q11.2 microdeletion. All the positive patients showed the presence of extra-cardiac features of 22q11.2 microdeletion syndrome. None of the cases with isolated cardiac defect were positive for microdeletion.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>It seems that 22q11.2 microdeletion syndrome is over-suspected in children with isolated congenital heart defects. Screening for 22q11.2 microdeletion should be considered in those cardiac malformation cases which have extra-cardiac manifestations in the form of facial dysmorphism and hypocalcaemia.</p

A retrospective analysis of normal saline and lactated ringers as resuscitation fluid in sepsis

BackgroundThe Surviving Sepsis Campaign suggested preferential resuscitation with balanced crystalloids, such as Lactated Ringer’s (LR), although the level of recommendation was weak, and the quality of evidence was low. Past studies reported an association of unbalanced solutions, such as normal saline (NS), with increased AKI risks, metabolic acidosis, and prolonged ICU stay, although some of the findings are conflicting. We have compared the outcomes with the preferential use of normal saline vs. ringer’s lactate in a cohort of sepsis patients.MethodWe performed a retrospective cohort analysis of patients visiting the ED of 19 different Mayo Clinic sites between August 2018 to November 2020 with sepsis and receiving at least 30 mL/kg fluid in the first 6 h. Patients were divided into two cohorts based on the type of resuscitation fluid (LR vs. NS) and propensity-matching was done based on clinical characteristics as well as fluid amount (with 5 ml/kg). Single variable logistic regression (categorical outcomes) and Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to compare the primary and secondary outcomes between the 2 groups.ResultsOut of 2022 patients meeting our inclusion criteria; 1,428 (70.6%) received NS, and 594 (29.4%) received LR as the predominant fluid (&gt;30 mL/kg). Patients receiving predominantly NS were more likely to be male and older in age. The LR cohort had a higher BMI, lactate level and incidence of septic shock. Propensity-matched analysis did not show a difference in 30-day and in-hospital mortality rate, mechanical ventilation, oxygen therapy, or CRRT requirement. We did observe longer hospital LOS in the LR group (median 5 vs. 4 days, p = 0.047 and higher requirement for ICU post-admission (OR: 0.70; 95% CI: 0.51–0.96; p = 0.026) in the NS group. However, these did not remain statistically significant after adjustment for multiple testing.ConclusionIn our matched cohort, we did not show any statistically significant difference in mortality rates, hospital LOS, ICU admission after diagnosis, mechanical ventilation, oxygen therapy and RRT between sepsis patients receiving lactated ringers and normal saline as predominant resuscitation fluid. Further large-scale prospective studies are needed to solidify the current guidelines on the use of balanced crystalloids

Eosinophilic pneumonia: a case of daptomycin induced lung injury

Eosinophilic pneumonia is a category of lung diseases characterized by an increased number of eosinophils in alveolar spaces and interstitium. Acute cases are often caused by fungal infections, parasites, drugs or toxins and can present with respiratory failure. Daptomycin has been identified as one of the rare causes of acute eosinophilic pneumonia. We describe a case of an elderly man on daptomycin for MRSA endocarditis treatment who presented to the hospital with fevers and dyspnea within two weeks of daptomycin initiation. As an inpatient, he developed an increasing oxygen requirement necessitating intensive care unit management. Daptomycin cessation improved his symptoms and he was placed on a steroid taper. These findings suggested a diagnosis of daptomycin-induced eosinophilic pneumonia. However, the patient deteriorated and eventually passed away despite resuscitative efforts. This case highlights the importance of prompt identification of eosinophilic pneumonia, its potential severity and the need for more exploration regarding the timing of corticosteroid taper. This in turn will inform more effective approaches to this condition in the future