Role of Non-Governmental Organizations in Tuberculosis control

Our experience over the last 18 months has given us hope that NGOs have great potential as an effective task force in augmenting the efforts of the government in tuberculosis control activities. They have been successful in identifying and referring chest symptomatics to us. In the near future,we hope to test out strategies for utilising their services in case-holding and supervised administration of chemotherapy

Liver function tests during treatment of tuberculosis with short-course regimens containing isoniazid, rifampicin & pyrazinamide

Serial liver function tests (aspartate amino transferase–AST, alanine amino transferase– ALT and total bilirubin) were undertaken in patients admitted to controlled clinical trials for the treatment of tuberculous meningitis and pulmonary tuberculosis. In patients with tuberculous meningitis, daily treatment with isoniazid 20 mg/kg in addition to rifampicin 12 mg/kg resulted in a significant increase in the activities of both AST and ALT; there was no appreciable change with regimens containing isoniazid 12 mg/kg. In two studies on pulmonary tuberculosis, there was a significant increase in the activities of both enzymes following 2 or 3 months of treatment with daily streptomycin, isoniazid and pyrazinamide with or without rifampicin. No appreciable differences were observed between patients who received rifampicin and those who did not and also between slow and rapid acetylators of isoniazid. Serum total bilirubin showed a significant decrease following treatment for 2 months with a daily regimen containing rifampicin in patients with tuberculous meningitis and also in those with pulmonary tuberculosis. A comparison of patients who developed jaundice during treatment with anti-tuberculosis drugs and others who had jaundice presumably due to infective hepatitis revealed lower mean values for total bilirubin, AST and ALT in the former group (by 48–64%) than in the latter (P < 0.02). There was, however, considerable overlap between the two groups in the distributions of all parameters

A REVIEW ON GREEN-SYNTHESIS OF CERIUM OXIDE NANOPARTICLES: FOCUS ON CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM DISORDERS

Green Synthesized Cerium oxide nanoparticles (CeO2NPs) have sparked a lot of interest in numerous disciplines of science and Technology during the past decade. A wide range of biological resources has been employed in synthesizing CeO2NPs, including plants, microorganisms, and other biological products. Biosynthesis procedures, current knowledge, and prospects in the synthesis of Green synthesis of CeO2NPs are also discussed. Neurodegenerative diseases, such as aging, trauma, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, and other neurological problems, are linked to higher oxidative stress and superoxide radicals generation. Cerium oxide nanoparticles' antioxidant properties suggest that they may be useful in the treatment of CNS diseases. The biological antioxidant benefits of cerium oxide nanoparticles on extending cell and organism lifespan, preventing a free radical attack, and preventing trauma-induced neurological damage are discussed in this section. CeO2NPs, an aspect of nanotechnology, would emerge as a novel drug delivery carrier through therapeutic strategies. In several diseases oxidative stress and inflammation. CeO2NPs exhibited a remarkable ability to switch between+3 and+4 oxidation states making this an efficient therapeutic option and an effective drug delivery agent. Further Reactive oxygen and nitrogen species. The overall goal of this study is to provide reasonable insight into CeO2NPs as new therapeutic agents and to solve the challenges, of safely and effectively employing these CeO2NPs for efficient management of Central Nervous System diseases

भारत में शूलचर्मी पालन में संभावनाएं

Prospects of Echiniculture in Indi

An improved design for cellular manufacturing system associating scheduling decisions

This paper presents a model for the design of Cellular Manufacturing System (CMS) to evolve simultaneously structural design decisions of Cell Formation (CF) and operational issue decisions of optimal schedule. This integrated decision approach is important for designing a better performing cell. The model allows machine duplication and incorporates cross-flow for scheduling flexibility. The cross-flow is the term introduced to mean the inter-cell movement of parts from parent cell to identical machines in other cells though machines are available in the parent cell. This cross-flow facilitates routing flexibility and paves way for reduced schedule length thereby optimizing resources leading to minimized operational cost. A non-linear integer mathematical programming model is formulated with the objective function of minimizing operating cost which is the sum of Machine Utility Cost (MUC) and inter-cell costs. The MUC is a new cost parameter based on machine utility and it integrates CF, scheduling, and machine duplication decisions. The proposed model belongs to the class of NP-hard problems. A hybrid heuristic (HH) that has “Simulated Annealing Algorithm (SAA) embedded with Genetic Algorithm (GA)” is proposed. A comparison with the mathematical solution reveals that the proposed HH is capable of providing solutions closer to optimal in a computationally efficient manner. The model is validated by studying the effect of integrated decisions, machine duplications, and association of scheduling and cross-flow. The model validation reveals that the proposed CMS model evolves CF, scheduling, and machine duplication decisions with minimum operating cost. Thus, it can be inferred that the proposed model gives optimal integrated decisions for designing an effectively and efficiently performing cells and thus evolves improved CMS design decisions

Promoter polymorphism of IL-8 gene and IL-8 production in pulmonary tuberculosis

Interleukin-8 (IL-8) is a chemokine which functions as a potent chemo attractant for the recruitment of leucocytes to the inflammatory sites. A polymorphism in position –251 in the promoter region of the IL-8 gene has been shown to be associated with altered IL-8 production. IL-8-251A promoter polymorphism was studied in 127 pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) patients and 124 normal healthy subjects (NHS). IL-8 gene variants were correlated with IL-8 levels from peripheral blood mononuclear cells stimulated with phytohaemagglutinin, culture filtrate antigen (CFA) of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and live M. tuberculosis. No difference was observed in the variant genotype frequencies of IL-8 gene and IL-8 levels between NHS and PTB patients. NHS positive for TT genotype showed a higher spontaneous IL-8 production than AA genotype (P = 0.05). Similarly, PTB patients with TT genotype showed significantly higher IL-8 production to CFA (P = 0.009) and live M. tuberculosis (P = 0.022), compared to patients with AA genotype. The study suggests that the variant genotypes of –251 promoter polymorphism of the IL-8 gene are not associated with susceptibility to PTB. Probably, TT genotype may be associated with higher IL-8 production and increased leucocyte accumulation and inflammation at the site of M. tuberculosis infection

Composite Performance Index for Sustainability

Abstract

Sea turtle nesting grounds identification and its conservation status of Southern Tamil Nadu

581-589Five non reported new nesting grounds of Olive ridley turtles were recognized by beach surveying along the coast of southern Tamil Nadu covering 201.75 km. The survey indicates that the study areas have apposite beaches for turtle nesting however; the nesting incidences were declined due to predation and habitat alterations. The observed nest site temperature; perpendicular distance from high tide line; egg diameter and weight at Kanyakumari was well suited than the other study sites. The conservation awareness among stakeholders was found to be 41.7 % and mass awareness program has been created through 16 field visits to various fish landing centers and folders and booklets were distributed to 150 stakeholders. Similarly, 650 students belonging to eight schools were enlightened about the importance of sea turtles and their conservation awareness through audio visual aids. From the study it could be concluded that the turtle nesting grounds are found along the southern coast of Tamil Nadu and conservation initiatives need to be strengthened to protect them