A clinical study of tramadol as an analgesic in labour

Background: Labour is a painful event, may be the most painful event that women has even experienced. It is unpleasant disturbing and extremely unbearable for many.Methods: The clinical trial was conducted from July 2016 to June 2017 at Karnataka Institute of Medical Sciences, Hubballi. 200 parturients which included both primigravidae and multigravidae in labour at term were alternatively divided into two groups. The study group (n = 100) received 50mg-100mg of Tramadol and control group (n = 100) received no analgesic at the onset of active labour. Degree of pain relief, type of delivery, duration of labour, maternal and foetal morbidity were noted.Results: Pain relief in stage I was grade I (no pain) in 24% V/s 2%, grade II (mild pain) in 62% V/s 40%, grade III (moderate pain) in 13% V/s 56% and grade IV (severe pain) in 1% V/s 2% in study and control groups respectively (p < 0.001). Pain relief in stage II was grade I (no pain) in 8% V/s 0%, grade II (mild pain) in 47% V/s 7%, grade III (moderate pain) in 33% V/s 49% and grade IV (severe pain) in 12% V/s 43% in study and control groups respectively (p < 0.001). Duration of labour was significantly shorter in study group as compared to control group. There was minimal maternal morbidity in study group and no significant difference in the incidence of foetal morbidity in both the groups.Conclusions: Tramadol is an effective and safe labour analgesic. Besides it also shortens the duration of labour

Mo (VI)/ZrO2 coated on honeycomb monolith as solid acid green catalyst for the acetylation of substituted alcohols and amines under solvent free conditions

553-561Honeycomb (HC) monolith coated with solid acids such as Mo (VI)/ZrO2 (MZ) with different Mo loadings (2, 6 and 10%) have been prepared by wet impregnation method and characterized by NH3 –TPD, BET surface area, PXRD, ICP-OES, SEM, TEM and EDAX techniques. These catalysts have been used as for the synthesis of O and N-acetylation reactions by the condensation of various alcohols with acetic anhydride under solvent free conditions in shorter times (20 min) at moderate temperature (70°C). Especially, 6% Mo (VI)/ZrO2 catalysts are found to be highly acidic and also resulted in high yields of O and N acetylated products up to ~99%. This methodology offers several advantages such as excellent yields, easy procedure, mild and environmentally benign conditions. MZ catalysts are found to be economical, efficient and highly active, recyclable and reusable up to 6 reaction cycles without much loss of their activity

Scaling smallholder tree cover restoration across the tropics

Restoring tree cover in tropical countries has the potential to benefit millions of smallholders through improvements in income and environmental services. However, despite their dominant landholding shares in many countries, smallholders' role in restoration has not been addressed in prior global or pan-tropical restoration studies. We fill this lacuna by using global spatial data on trees and people, national indicators of enabling conditions, and micro-level expert information. We find that by 2050, low-cost restoration is feasible within 280, 200, and 60 million hectares of tropical croplands, pasturelands, and degraded forestlands, respectively. Such restoration could affect 210 million people in croplands, 59 million people in pasturelands and 22 million people in degraded forestlands. This predominance of low-cost restoration opportunity in populated agricultural lands has not been revealed by prior analyses of tree cover restoration potential. In countries with low-cost tropical restoration potential, smallholdings comprise a significant proportion of agricultural lands in Asia (∼76 %) and Africa (∼60 %) but not the Americas (∼3%). Thus, while the Americas account for approximately half of 21st century tropical deforestation, smallholder-based reforestation may play a larger role in efforts to reverse recent forest loss in Asia and Africa than in the Americas. Furthermore, our analyses show that countries with low-cost restoration potential largely lack policy commitments or smallholder supportive institutional and market conditions. Discussions among practitioners and researchers suggest that four principles - partnering with farmers and prioritizing their preferences, reducing uncertainty, strengthening markets, and mobilizing innovative financing - can help scale smallholder-driven restoration in the face of these challenges

ANTI-DIABETIC ACTIVITY OF TRADITIONAL POLYHERBAL FORMULATION: DEVELOPMENT AND EVALUATION

Herbal therapy has emerged as a prominent therapeutic approach for a wide range of ailments. In tandem with a nutritious diet and lifestyle, these interventions aim to address certain health objectives by supplying each cell with the most suitable and advantageous nourishment. There exists a botanical alternative for each synthetic medicine now available. Material and Methods: The herbs utilized in the formulation were obtained from reputable vendors and subsequently verified by Department of Life Sciences, Garden City University, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India. For the purpose of standardizing raw materials, shade-dried powdered plant parts from the plants Berberis aristata (dried stem), Terminalia chebula (pericarp of matured fruit), Emblica officinalis (pericarp of dried mature fruit), Terminalalia belerica (pericarp of dried ripe fruit), and Cyperus rotundus (dried rhizome) are used. Results: Blood glucose and lipid profiles were taken first thing in the morning. The formulation had a significant impact when compared to the typical range before diabetes was introduced. Total cholesterol, bad LDL cholesterol, and bad triglyceride levels were all reduced while HDL levels were increased. The phytochemical investigation backed up the claim that flavonoids were present. This may explain why it has such a dramatic impact on treating diabetes. It is recommended that future clinical trials be conducted in Human Volunteers, and that stability studies be conducted on the manufactured polyherbal capsules. Conclusion: The oldest type of therapy, herbal remedies are used to identify and treat illnesses. An animal model was used to assess the antidiabetic potency of five raw materials that were chosen for formulation into polyherbal capsules. The capsules significantly improved the lipid profile and fasting blood glucose indices, as well as their anti-diabetic efficacy. Future use is advised to pursue additional stability research and clinical trials

Control Barrier Functions in UGVs for Kinematic Obstacle Avoidance: A Collision Cone Approach

In this paper, we propose a new class of Control Barrier Functions (CBFs) for Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGVs) that help avoid collisions with kinematic (non-zero velocity) obstacles. While the current forms of CBFs have been successful in guaranteeing safety/collision avoidance with static obstacles, extensions for the dynamic case with torque/acceleration-controlled unicycle and bicycle models have seen limited success. Moreover, with these nonholonomic UGV models, applications of existing CBFs have been conservative in terms of control, i.e., steering/thrust control has not been possible under certain common scenarios. Drawing inspiration from the classical use of collision cones for obstacle avoidance in path planning, we introduce its novel CBF formulation with theoretical guarantees on safety for both the unicycle and bicycle models. The main idea is to ensure that the velocity of the obstacle w.r.t. the vehicle is always pointing away from the vehicle. Accordingly, we construct a constraint that ensures that the velocity vector always avoids a cone of vectors pointing at the vehicle. The efficacy of this new control methodology is experimentally verified on the Copernicus mobile robot. We further extend it to the bicycle model and demonstrate collision avoidance under various scenarios in the CARLA simulator.Comment: Submitted to 2023 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS). 8 pages, 8 figures, For supplement video follow https://youtu.be/4qWYaWEPduM. The first and second authors have contributed equall

Aspirin reduces lipopolysaccharide induced pulmonary inflammation in human models of ARDS

International audienc

Simvastatin decreases the level of heparin-binding protein in patients with acute lung injury

Background: Heparin-binding protein is released by neutrophils during inflammation and disrupts the integrity of the alveolar and capillary endothelial barrier implicated in the development of acute lung injury and systemic organ failure. We sought to investigate whether oral administration of simvastatin to patients with acute lung injury reduces plasma heparin-binding protein levels and improves intensive care unit outcome. Methods: Blood samples were collected from patients with acute lung injury with 48 h of onset of acute lung injury (day 0), day 3, and day 7. Patients were given placebo or 80 mg simvastatin for up to 14 days. Plasma heparin-binding protein levels from patients with acute lung injury and healthy volunteers were measured by ELISA. Results: Levels of plasma heparin-binding protein were significantly higher in patients with acute lung injury than healthy volunteers on day 0 (p = 0.011). Simvastatin 80 mg administered enterally for 14 days reduced plasma level of heparin-binding protein in patients. Reduced heparin-binding protein was associated with improved intensive care unit survival. Conclusions: A reduction in heparin-binding protein with simvastatin is a potential mechanism by which the statin may modify outcome from acute lung injury

Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA reductase inhibition with simvastatin in acute lung injury to reduce pulmonary dysfunction (HARP-2) trial : study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

Acute lung injury (ALI) is a common devastating clinical syndrome characterized by life-threatening respiratory failure requiring mechanical ventilation and multiple organ failure. There are in vitro, animal studies and pre-clinical data suggesting that statins may be beneficial in ALI. The Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA reductase inhibition with simvastatin in Acute lung injury to Reduce Pulmonary dysfunction (HARP-2) trial is a multicenter, prospective, randomized, allocation concealed, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial which aims to test the hypothesis that treatment with simvastatin will improve clinical outcomes in patients with ALI

O-acetylation of salicylic acid with acetic anhydride over honeycomb coated with zirconia and its modified forms

Abstract: Zirconia and its modified forms such as Mo(VI)/ZrO 2 and Pt-SO 4 2-/ZrO 2 were coated on honeycomb monoliths. These materials were characterized for their, total surface acidity by NH 3 -TPD, crystallinity by PXRD and morphology by SEM techniques. They were then evaluated for their catalytic activity in o-acetylation of salicylic acid with acetic anhydride to synthesize acetyl salicylic acid. Honeycomb coated with zirconia and their modified forms were found to be eco-friendly, economical & efficient catalysts for o-acetylation. These catalysts were found to be reusable