Some cooking properties of germinated brown rice

Effects of germination process on selected cooking properties of germinated brown rice made from Swarna and Lalat Indian varieties were studied. The germination process was comprised of draining the excess water after soaking the rice for 12 hours and then covering the rice with a clean dishtowel. After 16 to 18 hours, small sprouts were appeared. Dried germinated brown rice (DGBR) was obtained by drying wet germinated brown rice (WGBR) in a tray dryer at 50-60°C for 9 hours to reach from 32 % to 12 % moisture content (wet basis). Solid loss in gruel and cooking time were observed to be less in WGBR and DGBR than brown rice (BR) for both Swarna and Lalat varieties. Whiteness of BR was found not significantly different from that of DGBR; however, WGBR were whiter than BR for both the varieties

Assessment of Knowledge and Prevalence of Risk Factors of Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome among Undergraduate Women: A Cross-Sectional Study

Purpose: The study aims to assess the knowledge & prevalence of risk factors of polycystic ovarian syndrome among undergraduate women. Methods: This is a 6-month community program-based cross-sectional prospective study carried out in 4 selected degree colleges of Kalaburagi. The students were enrolled in the study considering the study criteria and required data were collected. The knowledge of the participant was assessed by using PCOS knowledge assessment questionnaires. Results: A total of 275 female participants of age 18-25 from 4 selected degree colleges of different quadrants of Kalaburagi were enrolled. The percentage of knowledge score in the pre-test was 42.16% and in the post-test was 80.76%. Self-assessment for risk factors of PCOS reveals that the highest 171 subjects (62.2%) were unpredictable to PCOS whereas 11 (4.0%) were at high risk of getting PCOS. The study reveals that there was a statistically very highly significant difference in mean knowledge score in faculty of study and diet (P<0.001). Conclusions: The study concluded that participants had poor knowledge regarding polycystic ovarian syndrome. It is important to educate adolescent girls and young adults regarding PCOS and to be encouraged to follow a healthy lifestyle

MACRA and Rural Hospitals

Introduction: Every year, the cost of healthcare within the United States has continued to increase while the quality of patient care has decreased. To reconstruct the delivery of care, Congress has introduced the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 which has reinvented Medicare physician reimbursement systems. The purpose of this research was to study the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act and its implementation to determine how it would financially impact rural hospitals. Methodology: The methodology for this study consisted of a qualitative literature review. Twenty-seven research publications were utilized throughout the study. Data limited to the English language from the years 2015 through 2017 were included in the review. Results: Two reimbursement pathways termed Merit-Based Incentive Payment Systems and Alternative Payment Models have been created for physicians under the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act. Each reimbursement pathway has rewards and penalties that affect physicians and healthcare organizations financially. In addition to the pathways, financing and competition among facilities created by the act have been expected to impact physicians and healthcare organizations. Discussion/Conclusion: Although the long-term effects of the Medicare Access and Reauthorization Act of 2015 have not been able to be studied, physicians and healthcare organizations such as rural hospitals have been expected to be impacted significantly. Rural hospitals have been set to receive reduced government reimbursements and have been predicted to compete poorly with larger hospitals and corporations. The payment tracks available through the act have been projected to impact solo and small practice physicians negatively; therefore, hospitals have been expected to have to provide support and assistance to local clinicians

A retrospective study on the prevalence of urinary tract infections in a tertiary care hospital in Sangareddy district of South India

Background: Urinary tract infections (UTI) affect the portion of the urinary tract including kidneys, ureters, bladder, and urethra, and are among the commonly acquired nosocomial infections. Diagnosis based on the culture and sensitivity profile of the organism is highly beneficial for appropriate antimicrobial therapy of the individual.Methods: A retrospective study of culture isolates obtained from urine samples from different departments of a tertiary care hospital was performed in the period January 2018 to March 2020 in the district of Sangareddy, Telangana, India.Results: A total 204 samples of 1886 exhibited significant growth of organisms i.e., ≥105 colony-forming units of bacteria per millilitre (CFU mL-1). The most common pathogen isolated was Escherichia coli (47.05%), followed by Klebsiella pneumoniae (15.68%), Staphylococcus aureus (10.78%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (10.78%), Enterobacter spp. (7.84%) and, Candida albicans (7.84%). The presence of Gram-negative organisms was found to be more than Gram-positive organisms among the samples cultured. Resistance was found to be more towards Amoxicillin (57.14%), followed by oxacillin (34%), cefotaxime (23.62%), clarithromycin (12.08%), erythromycin (12.08%), azithromycin (9.34%), linezolid (3.84%) and vancomycin (2.19%).Conclusions: Increasing levels of antimicrobial resistance by uropathogens emphasize the importance of therapy based on the culture and sensitivity of the organisms. Many uropathogens exhibit multi-drugs resistance. Regular surveillance and monitoring are useful in controlling the increasing resistance

Manoeuvring simulations of Autonomous Underwater Vehicle using quaternion

The dynamics of an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV), which can perform manoeuvres with pitch angles in the range of 90° is investigated in this paper. The purpose of the AUV is to perform station keeping manoeuvre at about 90° pitch angle by varying propeller revolution. The AUV is launched / retrieved in horizontal orientation.  Quaternion mathematics, 4 quadrant propeller open water characteristics and PID controller for propeller revolution are incorporated in manoeuvring mathematical model for this purpose.  A procedure for optimizing the gain coefficients for the PID controller is developed using the manoeuvring mathematical model. Two design configuration of the AUV are investigated, positively buoyant and negatively buoyant. It is shown that both the optimal gain coefficients for the PID controller for propeller revolution and dynamic response of the AUV are different for each design configuration.&nbsp

The Role of Antimicrobial Peptides as Antimicrobial and Antibiofilm Agents in Tackling the Silent Pandemic of Antimicrobial Resistance

Just over a million people died globally in 2019 due to antibiotic resistance caused by ESKAPE pathogens (Enterococcus faecium, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Enterobacter species). The World Health Organization (WHO) also lists antibiotic-resistant Campylobacter and Helicobacter as bacteria that pose the greatest threat to human health. As it is becoming increasingly difficult to discover new antibiotics, new alternatives are needed to solve the crisis of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Bacteria commonly found in complex communities enclosed within self-produced matrices called biofilms are difficult to eradicate and develop increased stress and antimicrobial tolerance. This review summarises the role of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) in combating the silent pandemic of AMR and their application in clinical medicine, focusing on both the advantages and disadvantages of AMPs as antibiofilm agents. It is known that many AMPs display broad-spectrum antimicrobial activities, but in a variety of organisms AMPs are not stable (short half-life) or have some toxic side effects. Hence, it is also important to develop new AMP analogues for their potential use as drug candidates. The use of one health approach along with developing novel therapies using phages and breakthroughs in novel antimicrobial peptide synthesis can help us in tackling the problem of AMR

Nanosuspensions as a promising approach to enhance bioavailability of poorly soluble drugs : An update

Solubility is a vital factor for devloping drug delivery systems for poorly water soluble drugs. Several conventional approaches for enhancement of solubility have limited applicability, especially when the drugs are poorly water soluble. Nanosuspension technology can be used to enhance the solubilty, stability as well as the bioavailability of poorly water soluble drugs. Nanosuspensions are biphasic systems comperising of pure drug particles dispersed in an aqueous vehicle, stabilized by surfac active agents. Fabrication of nanosuspension is simple and more advantageous than other approaches. Techniques like high-pressure homogenization, wet milling, emulsification, solvent evaporation, bottom up technology and top down technology have been applicable in the fabrication of nanosuspensions. Nanosuspension delivery is possible by several routes, such as oral, pulmonary, parenteral and ocular routes. Nanosuspension not only solves solubility and bioavailability issue, but improve drug safety and efficacy. In this context, we reviewed the current techniques used to develop nanosuspensions and their recents studies application in drug delivery system. Keywords : Solubility, fabrication, Characterization, Applications, Nanosuspension

A REVIEW ON FUNCTIONAL COMPARISON OF 5-HT1A AND 5-HT2C RECEPTORS

5-HT neurotransmission system is targeted by drugs useful in behavioural disorders, including anxiety, depression, psychosis and eating disorders. 5-HT1A autoreceptors, located on 5-HT neurones of the midbrain raphe nuclei, are coupled to K channels through a pertusis toxin-sensitive G-protein. 5-HT1A receptor agonists inhibit adenylyl cyclase, while 5-HT2C receptor agonists activate two signal transduction pathways coupled with these receptors. 5-HT1A and 5-HT2C receptors have lots potential in treating the disorders with less or no side effects. Keywords: 5-HT1A, 5-HT2C, Receptor

De novo design based identification of potential HIV-1 integrase inhibitors: A pharmacoinformatics study

In the present study, pharmacoinformatics paradigms include receptor-based de novo design, virtual screening through molecular docking and molecular dynamics (MD) simulation are implemented to identify novel and promising HIV-1 integrase inhibitors. The de novodrug/ligand/molecule design is a powerful and effective approach to design a large number of novel and structurally diverse compounds with the required pharmacological profiles. A crystal structure of HIV-1 integrase bound with standard inhibitor BI-224436 is used and a set of 80000 compounds through the de novo approach in LigBuilder is designed. Initially, a number of criteria including molecular docking, in-silico toxicity and pharmacokinetics profile assessments are implied to reduce the chemical space. Finally, four de novo designed molecules are proposed as potential HIV-1 integrase inhibitors based on comparative analyses. Notably, strong binding interactions have been identified between a few newly identified catalytic amino acid residues and proposed HIV-1 integrase inhibitors. For evaluation of the dynamic stability of the protein-ligand complexes, a number of parameters are explored from the 100 ns MD simulation study. The MD simulation study suggested that proposed molecules efficiently retained their molecular interaction and structural integrity inside the HIV-1 integrase. The binding free energy is calculated through the Molecular Mechanics Poisson-Boltzmann Surface Area (MM-PBSA) approach for all complexes and it also explains their thermodynamic stability. Hence, proposed molecules through de novo design might be critical to inhibiting the HIV-1 integrase