Analysis of Antioxidant, Antidiabetic Potential, and Corosolic Acid Content in Prunus Padus Leaves

This research was conducted to detect corosolic acid, in vitro antioxidant and antidiabetic effect of Prunus padus leaf, also called Bird cherry and is a member of Rosaceae. It is a medium-sized tree with obovate, fine serrated leaves and white flowers. According to the HPLC Chromatogram of standard corosolic acid, leaf samples of Prunus padus displayed a peak with a retention time of 9.855 min. Quantitative analysis revealed a good concentration of corosolic acid i.e 8.032 μg/20 mg d w. In vitro studies showed potent antidiabetic and antioxidant activities DPPH radical scavenging test of Prunus padus showed 91.90 per cent inhibition and standard ascorbic acid showed 82.39 per cent inhibition at 250 μg/ml concentration. Acarbose and Prunus padus both have IC50 values of 193.62 ± 0.634 μg/ ml and 114.72 ± 1.038 μg/ ml, accordingly, as determined by an alpha amylase inhibition experiment. The results demonstrate that Prunus padus possesses a good amount of corosolic acid and can be considered a natural source, which is very influential in neutralizing the reactive oxygen species and damage caused by diabetes and has strong antioxidant and antidiabetic effects

GLIDE-RL: Grounded Language Instruction through DEmonstration in RL

One of the final frontiers in the development of complex human - AI collaborative systems is the ability of AI agents to comprehend the natural language and perform tasks accordingly. However, training efficient Reinforcement Learning (RL) agents grounded in natural language has been a long-standing challenge due to the complexity and ambiguity of the language and sparsity of the rewards, among other factors. Several advances in reinforcement learning, curriculum learning, continual learning, language models have independently contributed to effective training of grounded agents in various environments. Leveraging these developments, we present a novel algorithm, Grounded Language Instruction through DEmonstration in RL (GLIDE-RL) that introduces a teacher-instructor-student curriculum learning framework for training an RL agent capable of following natural language instructions that can generalize to previously unseen language instructions. In this multi-agent framework, the teacher and the student agents learn simultaneously based on the student's current skill level. We further demonstrate the necessity for training the student agent with not just one, but multiple teacher agents. Experiments on a complex sparse reward environment validates the effectiveness of our proposed approach.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figures, to be presented at AAMAS 202

Mortality due to snakebite and other venomous animals in the Indian state of Bihar: Findings from a representative mortality study.

BACKGROUND:Animal bites and stings contribute significantly to mortality in certain parts of the world. India accounts for the highest number of snakebites and related mortality globally. We report on mortality due to bite or sting of a venomous animal from a population-based study in the Indian state of Bihar which estimated the causes of death using verbal autopsy. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS:Interviews were conducted for all deaths that occurred from January 2012 to March 2014 in 109,689 households (87.1% participation) covering 627,658 population in 1,017 clusters representative of the state using the Population Health Metrics Research Consortium shortened verbal autopsy questionnaire. Cause of death was assigned using the SmartVA automated algorithm. The annualized mortality rate per 100,000 population due to snakebite, scorpion sting and other animals adjusted for age, sex and urban-rural population distribution of the state; and detailed contextual information on snakebites are reported. Deaths due to bite/sting of a venomous animal accounted for 10.7% of all deaths due to unintentional injuries, with an adjusted mortality rate of 6.2 (95% CI 6.0-6.3) per 100,000 population. The adjusted snakebite mortality rate was 4.4 (95% CI 4.3-4.6) which was significantly higher in the rural areas (4.8, 95% CI 4.7-5.0) and in females (5.5, 95% CI 5.3-5.7). Snakebites accounted for 7.6% of all unintentional injury deaths across all ages but for 33.3% of the deaths in 10-14 years age group. A similar proportion of snakebite deaths occurred while sleeping (30.2%), playing (30.2%) and during field/outdoor activities (27.9%). In these cases, 8.2% people were already dead when found, 34.7% had died before treatment could be provided, and 28 (57.1%) had died post treatment among whom 46.4% had sought treatment at a health facility, 25% with a traditional healer, and the rest from both. Death before reaching a health provider, non-availability of medicines or doctor, referral patterns, and sex-differentials in the context of snakebite deaths are reported. None of the verbatim specifically mentioned anti-venom being used for treatment. The adjusted mortality rate for scorpion sting was 0.9 (95% CI 0.8-0.9). CONCLUSIONS:The findings from this large representative sample documents the magnitude of snakebite mortality in Bihar and highlight the circumstances surrounding the snakebite events that could facilitate prevention and intervention opportunities

The distribution of deaths due to venomous animal bite/sting by seasonality in the Indian state of Bihar using verbal autopsy interviews.

<p>The distribution of deaths due to venomous animal bite/sting by seasonality in the Indian state of Bihar using verbal autopsy interviews.</p

Distribution of select characteristics for snakebite deaths based on verbal autopsy interviews in the Indian state of Bihar.

<p>Distribution of select characteristics for snakebite deaths based on verbal autopsy interviews in the Indian state of Bihar.</p

Adjusted mortality rate due to venomous animal bite/sting by the type of animal based on verbal autopsy interviews in the Indian state of Bihar.

<p>CI denotes confidence interval.</p

Mortality due to snakebite and other venomous animals in the Indian state of Bihar: Findings from a representative mortality study

<div><p>Background</p><p>Animal bites and stings contribute significantly to mortality in certain parts of the world. India accounts for the highest number of snakebites and related mortality globally. We report on mortality due to bite or sting of a venomous animal from a population-based study in the Indian state of Bihar which estimated the causes of death using verbal autopsy.</p><p>Methodology/principal findings</p><p>Interviews were conducted for all deaths that occurred from January 2012 to March 2014 in 109,689 households (87.1% participation) covering 627,658 population in 1,017 clusters representative of the state using the Population Health Metrics Research Consortium shortened verbal autopsy questionnaire. Cause of death was assigned using the SmartVA automated algorithm. The annualized mortality rate per 100,000 population due to snakebite, scorpion sting and other animals adjusted for age, sex and urban-rural population distribution of the state; and detailed contextual information on snakebites are reported. Deaths due to bite/sting of a venomous animal accounted for 10.7% of all deaths due to unintentional injuries, with an adjusted mortality rate of 6.2 (95% CI 6.0–6.3) per 100,000 population. The adjusted snakebite mortality rate was 4.4 (95% CI 4.3–4.6) which was significantly higher in the rural areas (4.8, 95% CI 4.7–5.0) and in females (5.5, 95% CI 5.3–5.7). Snakebites accounted for 7.6% of all unintentional injury deaths across all ages but for 33.3% of the deaths in 10–14 years age group. A similar proportion of snakebite deaths occurred while sleeping (30.2%), playing (30.2%) and during field/outdoor activities (27.9%). In these cases, 8.2% people were already dead when found, 34.7% had died before treatment could be provided, and 28 (57.1%) had died post treatment among whom 46.4% had sought treatment at a health facility, 25% with a traditional healer, and the rest from both. Death before reaching a health provider, non-availability of medicines or doctor, referral patterns, and sex-differentials in the context of snakebite deaths are reported. None of the verbatim specifically mentioned anti-venom being used for treatment. The adjusted mortality rate for scorpion sting was 0.9 (95% CI 0.8–0.9).</p><p>Conclusions</p><p>The findings from this large representative sample documents the magnitude of snakebite mortality in Bihar and highlight the circumstances surrounding the snakebite events that could facilitate prevention and intervention opportunities.</p></div

Annualised adjusted mortality rate due to venomous animal bite/sting based on verbal autopsy interviews for all ages in the Indian state of Bihar.

<p>CI denotes confidence interval. Data on type of animal not available for 4 cases.</p