ANTI-HISTAMINIC ACTIVITY OF UTHAMANI CHOORANAM (PERGULARIA DAEMIA) AGAINST HISTAMINE INDUCED PAW OEDEMA IN RATS

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic relapsing, pruritic, inflammatory skin disease in children associated with personal or family history of other atopic disease like asthma, allergic rhinitis. Clinically characterized by itching, dryness, erythema, vesiculation, exudation and lichenification etc. The present treatment for AD in modern science is steroids or calcinueurin inhibitors. But repeated course of steroids can cause immuno suppression and growth retardation. The drugs in Siddha system of medicine is well known for their effectiveness and less toxicity. One such medicine is Uthamani Chooranam (UC) indicated for AD. The activity of UC was studied by using histamine induced paw oedema in rats by phenylbutazone. Exposure of rats hind paw to histamine resulted in marked increase of paw tissue weight and skin thickness. After oral administration of UC at various dose levels of 200mg/kg and 400mg/ kg reduce the paw volume when compared to control group. The present studies shown the Siddha drug UC is significantly reduce the paw oedema and this study supports the anti-histamine effect of UC

Shielding Effectiveness of Laminated Shields

Shielding prevents coupling of undesired radiated electromagnetic energy into equipment otherwise susceptible to it. In view of this, some studies on shielding effectiveness of laminated shields with conductors and conductive polymers using plane-wave theory are carried out in this paper. The plane wave shielding effectiveness of new combination of these materials is evaluated as a function of frequency and thickness of material. Conductivity of the polymers, measured in previous investigations by the cavity perturbation technique, is used to compute the overall reflection and transmission coefficients of single and multiple layers of the polymers. With recent advances in synthesizing stable highly conductive polymers these lightweight mechanically strong materials appear to be viable alternatives to metals for EM1 shielding

Investigation of the Effect of Normal Incidence of RF Wave on Human Head Tissues Employing Cu and Ni Grid PET Films

The rising number of frequency bands and the demand for wireless communication devices has become a growing concern regarding health and safety. The human head is a vulnerable body part when exposed to mobile phones. To ensure a high level of protection of the head from undesirable Electromagnetic Field (EMF) emissions, a shield is incorporated in this paper between the head and the mobile smartphone. The shielding material used to protect the head from the RF emissions is Copper (Cu) grid transparent Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) film and Copper (Cu) grid transparent PET film with Nickel (Ni) coating forming a laminated mesh. The RF emission metric from the smartphone is determined to evaluate the Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) numerically with a variation in frequencies ranging from 850MHz to 5.47GHz at normal wave incidence by the Transmission Line Method. The variation in frequency is observed in two head models, one of an adult and one of a child. Compared with the no shield condition, a significant SAR reduction is observed when PET-Cu or PET-Cu-Ni conductive coating transparent shielded mesh is embodied on the front part of the mobile phone between the phone and the head. In the child 7-layered head model at 5.47GHz, a significant reduction in SAR is observed from 10.5W/kg to 0.00001W/kg using the Cu grid PET film and to 0.0000032W/kg using Cu and Ni grid PET film

Isolation and characterization of a novel agarolytic bacterium vibrio SP.B4-6A from coral reef ecosystem off Tutiocorin

Isolation and characterization of a novel agarolytic bacterium vibrio SP.B4-6A from coral reef ecosystem off Tutiocori

Biodegradation of the pyrethroid pesticide Cyflutrin by the halophilic Bacterium Photobacterium Ganghwense isolated from Coral Reef Ecosystem

Biodegradation of the pyrethroid pesticide Cyflutrin by the halophilic Bacterium Photobacterium Ganghwense isolated from Coral Reef Ecosyste

Biodegradation of the pyrethroid pesticide cyfluthrin by the halophilic bacterium Photobacterium ganghwense isolated from coral reef ecosystem

A halophilic bacterial strain T14 isolated from the mucus of coral Acropora formosa was found to be highly effective in degrading the pyrethroid pesticide, cyfluthrin. T14 was identified as Photobacterium ganghwense (GenBank Accession No. MT360254) based on phenotypic and biochemical characteristics as well as by 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis. The pyrethroid degrading efficiency of P. ganghwense T14 strain was examined under different culture conditions. It was observed that P. ganghwense T14 was able to utilise cyfluthrin as a sole carbon source and was found to grow on mineral medium with pesticide concentrations ranging from 10 to 100 mg l-1

Characterization and antibacterial activity of violacein producing deep purple pigmented bacterium Pseudoalteromonas luteoviolacea (Gauthier, 1982) isolated from coral reef ecosystems

The present study describes the isolation, characterization and antibacterial activity of two strains of the deep purple pigmented bacterium Pseudoalteromonas luteoviolacea designated P42 (Accession no. MN647538) and M64 (Accession no. MN647537), isolated from two coral reef regions viz. Minicoy Lagoon in the Lakshadweep Sea and Palk Bay, off Olaikuda village in Tamil Nadu, India. Ultrastructural examinations were done using scanning and transmission electron microscopy. Presence of violacein pigment was qualitatively analysed by chemical methods; UV-VIS spectrophotometry and FTIR spectroscopy. The strains, P42 and M64 were found to have antibacterial activity against 13 out of the 36 marine bacterial species tested. Antibiogram analysis revealed the sensitivity of both the strains to all the antibiotics tested, except for the resistance of P42 to Penicillin G and Trimethoprim. This study reports the isolation and characterization of P. luteoviolacea for the first time from India. Since both the isolated strains have shown clear evidence for the presence of violacein as well as antibacterial activity against selected marine bacteria, both P42 and M64 can be suggested as potent antibacterial agents

Violence against female sex workers in Karnataka state, south India: impact on health, and reductions in violence following an intervention program

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Violence against female sex workers (FSWs) can impede HIV prevention efforts and contravenes their human rights. We developed a multi-layered violence intervention targeting policy makers, secondary stakeholders (police, lawyers, media), and primary stakeholders (FSWs), as part of wider HIV prevention programming involving >60,000 FSWs in Karnataka state. This study examined if violence against FSWs is associated with reduced condom use and increased STI/HIV risk, and if addressing violence against FSWs within a large-scale HIV prevention program can reduce levels of violence against them.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>FSWs were randomly selected to participate in polling booth surveys (PBS 2006-2008; short behavioural questionnaires administered anonymously) and integrated behavioural-biological assessments (IBBAs 2005-2009; administered face-to-face).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>3,852 FSWs participated in the IBBAs and 7,638 FSWs participated in the PBS. Overall, 11.0% of FSWs in the IBBAs and 26.4% of FSWs in the PBS reported being beaten or raped in the past year. FSWs who reported violence in the past year were significantly less likely to report condom use with clients (zero unprotected sex acts in previous month, 55.4% vs. 75.5%, adjusted odds ratio (AOR) 0.4, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.3 to 0.5, p < 0.001); to have accessed the HIV intervention program (ever contacted by peer educator, 84.9% vs. 89.6%, AOR 0.7, 95% CI 0.4 to 1.0, p = 0.04); or to have ever visited the project sexual health clinic (59.0% vs. 68.1%, AOR 0.7, 95% CI 0.6 to 1.0, p = 0.02); and were significantly more likely to be infected with gonorrhea (5.0% vs. 2.6%, AOR 1.9, 95% CI 1.1 to 3.3, p = 0.02). By the follow-up surveys, significant reductions were seen in the proportions of FSWs reporting violence compared with baseline (IBBA 13.0% vs. 9.0%, AOR 0.7, 95% CI 0.5 to 0.9 p = 0.01; PBS 27.3% vs. 18.9%, crude OR 0.5, 95% CI 0.4 to 0.5, p < 0.001).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This program demonstrates that a structural approach to addressing violence can be effectively delivered at scale. Addressing violence against FSWs is important for the success of HIV prevention programs, and for protecting their basic human rights.</p

Preliminary estimates of potential areas for seaweed farming along the Indian coast

India has enormous potential for seaweed mariculture; however, mass scale commercial farming of seaweeds is yet to take off successfully in the country. R&D efforts over the years have resulted in techno-scientific improvements in farming technologies such as floating rafts, net-tubes, long-lines, and cage based IMTA systems for seaweed culture. However, a few challenges remain, particular in identifying potential sites, its demarcation and developing suitable and sustainable spatial plans for seaweed farming on a country-wide, commercial perspective. In view of the emerging importance of seaweed mariculture and policy thrust by the Government of India, an all India preliminary site selection survey suitable for seaweed farming was conducted by ICAR-CMFRI along all maritime states of India. From this survey a total of 23,970 ha area were identified as potential seaweed farming along the Indian coast. In the present article, we present details of the suitable sites and its demarcation on a preliminary spatial map for facilitating the imminent expansion and effective adoption of seaweed farming in the country

Multiscale multifactorial approaches for engineering tendon substitutes

The physiology of tendons and the continuous strains experienced daily make tendons very prone to injury. Excessive and prolonged loading forces and aging also contribute to the onset and progression of tendon injuries, and conventional treatments have limited efficacy in restoring tendon biomechanics. Tissue engineering and regenerative medicine (TERM) approaches hold the promise to provide therapeutic solutions for injured or damaged tendons despite the challenging cues of tendon niche and the lack of tendon-specific factors to guide cellular responses and tackle regeneration. The roots of engineering tendon substitutes lay in multifactorial approaches from adequate stem cells sources and environmental stimuli to the construction of multiscale 3D scaffolding systems. To achieve such advanced tendon substitutes, incremental strategies have been pursued to more closely recreate the native tendon requirements providing structural as well as physical and chemical cues combined with biochemical and mechanical stimuli to instruct cell behavior in 3D architectures, pursuing mechanically competent constructs with adequate maturation before implantation.Authors acknowledge the project “Accelerating tissue engineering and personalized medicine discoveries by the integration of key enabling nanotechnologies, marinederived biomaterials and stem cells,” supported by Norte Portugal Regional Operational Programme (NORTE 2020), under the Portugal 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). Authors acknowledge the H2020 Achilles Twinning Project No. 810850, and also the European Research Council CoG MagTendon No. 772817, and the FCT Project MagTT PTDC/CTM-CTM/ 29930/2017 (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-29930