Indigenous knowledge of coastline sacred groves in Central Kerala, India

Sacred groves are a patch of forest protected by religious belief in South India, especially in Kerala. It preserves a vast array of plants including critically endangered, endangered and vulnerable medicinal plants and a way to conserve biodiversity. The present study was aimed to document plant diversity and related ethno medicinal significance along the coastline sacred groves of central Kerala. Field visits were conducted for sample collection and semi structured open-ended questionnaire tools have been used to conduct interviews with local peoples herbal healers and herbal dealers. A total of 121 plant species belonging 108 genera under 60 families were recorded from the sacred groves under this study. Indigenous people commonly use around 100 species as herbal medicines and for other uses. Among this, the traditional medicinal usages of critically endangered, endangered, vulnerable plants are described in this paper. The study envisage that indigenous people still relay various plants as herbal remedies to treat various diseases, as source of income, as fuel and during rituals in temple etc

Indigenous knowledge of coastline sacred groves in Central Kerala, India

541-546Sacred groves are a patch of forest protected by religious belief in South India, especially in Kerala. It preserves a vast array of plants including critically endangered, endangered and vulnerable medicinal plants and a way to conserve biodiversity. The present study was aimed to document plant diversity and related ethno medicinal significance along the coastline sacred groves of central Kerala. Field visits were conducted for sample collection and semi structured open-ended questionnaire tools have been used to conduct interviews with local peoples herbal healers and herbal dealers. A total of 121 plant species belonging 108 genera under 60 families were recorded from the sacred groves under this study. Indigenous people commonly use around 100 species as herbal medicines and for other uses. Among this, the traditional medicinal usages of critically endangered, endangered, vulnerable plants are described in this paper. The study envisage that indigenous people still relay various plants as herbal remedies to treat various diseases, as source of income, as fuel and during rituals in temple etc

Cytomorphological changes in breast carcinomas, after neoadjuvant chemotherapy: a study of twenty cases

Background: Neoadjuvant chemotherapy administered pre-operatively is the standard of care therapy for locally advanced breast cancers, mainly for clinical down staging. The histopathological evaluation of tumor response is the gold standard. Aims: To study the morphological changes induced with neoadjuvant chemotherapy in breast carcinoma and assess the response or non-response of cancers to systemic therapy, based on a web based calculation script at www.mdanderson.org/breastcancer_RCB and also evaluated basing on NSABP-B18 system.Methods: 20 cases of radical mastectomies in locally advanced breast carcinomas with neoadjuvant chemotherapy are studied.Results: All the cases are female breast cancers. Macroscopically, the size of the tumor bed ranges from 10 mm to 90 mm in maximum dimension. The morphological changes: Tumor cellularity, cytomorphological changes. In the present study 20% of cases are pCR/RCB 0, 40% are pNR/RCB III cases and 40% are pPR/RCB I & II (i.e. pCR- pathological complete response, pNR-pathological no response, pPR-pathological partial response, RCB-Residual Cancer Burden).   Conclusions: The spectrum of changes observed in the tumor bed is coagulative necrosis, hyalinisation, dystrophic calcification and intense mononuclear inflammatory cell collections, cytoplasmic vacuolization and bizarre nuclei.  Quantification of the residual disease by RCB system and to categorize the residual disease is important, to predict the disease-free relapse rate.

Sub-threshold depression and antidepressants use in a community sample: searching anxiety and finding bipolar disorder

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>To determine the use of antidepressants (ADs) in people with sub-threshold depression (SD); the lifetime prevalence of mania and hypomania in SD and the link between ADs use, bipolarity and anxiety disorders in SD.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Study design: community survey. Study population: samples randomly drawn, after stratification from the adult population of municipal records. Sample size: 4999 people from seven areas within six Italian regions. Tools: Questionnaire on psychotropic drug consumption, prescription; Structured Clinical Interview NP for DSM-IV modified (ANTAS); Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D); Mood Disorder Questionnaire (MDQ); Short Form Health Survey (SF-12). SD definition: HAM-D > 10 without lifetime diagnosis of Depressive Episode (DE).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>SD point prevalence is 5.0%. The lifetime prevalence of mania and hypomania episodes in SD is 7.3%. Benzodiazepines (BDZ) consumption in SD is 24.1%, followed by ADs (19.7%). In SD, positive for MDQ and comorbidity with Panic Disorder (PD) or Generalized Anxiety Disorders (GAD) are associated with ADs use, whereas the association between a positive MDQ and ADs use, without a diagnosis of PD or GAD, is not significant. Only in people with DE the well-being (SF-12) is higher among those using first-line antidepressants compared to those not using any medication. In people with SD no significant differences were found in terms of SF-12 score according to drug use.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This study suggests caution in prescribing ADs to people with SD. In people with concomitant anxiety disorders and SD, it should be mandatory to perform a well-designed assessment and evaluate the presence of previous manic or hypomanic symptoms prior to prescribing ADs.</p

Characterization of Annona cherimola mill. Seed oil from Madeira Island: a possible biodiesel feedstock

The possibility of using Annona seed oil as an added value product, namely as a source of biodiesel, is explored. Milled Annona seeds were extracted with hexane at room temperature (72 h) and at solvent boiling point (6 h). Oil content was found to be 25 and 22.4% respec tively. The oil was characterized in terms of lipid compo sition (HPLC–APCI–MS and 13C NMR), resistance to oxidation and acidity index. FAME composition was determined by GC–MS and five major peaks were identi fied. Production of biodiesel from Annona’s seed oil was achieved by base-catalyzed transesterification. Density, viscosity, refraction coefficient, acid value, cold filter plugging point, cloud point and oxidation stability were measured. The iodine value and the ‘‘apparent cetane number’’ were calculated. Density, viscosity, acid value, iodine value, cold filter plugging point and cloud point were within EN14214 specifications and the calculated ‘‘apparent cetane number’’ was also indicative of a suitable product.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Noninvasive Diagnosis of Visceral Leishmaniasis:Development and Evaluation of Two Urine-Based Immunoassays for Detection of Leishmania donovani Infection in India

Visceral leishmaniasis (VL), one of the most prevalent parasitic diseasesin the developing world causes serious health concerns. Post kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis (PKDL) is a skin disease which occurs after treatment as a sequel to VL. Parasitological diagnosis involves invasive tissue aspiration which is tedious and painful. Commercially available immunochromatographic rapid diagnostic test such as rK39-RDT is used for field diagnosis of VL, detects antibodiesin serum samples. Urine sample is however, much easier in collection,storage and handling than serum and would be a better alternative where collection of tissue aspirate or blood is impractical. In this study, we have developed and evaluated the performance of two urine-based diagnostic assays, ELISA and dipstick test, and compared the results with serologicalrK39-RDT. Our study shows the capability of urinebased tests in detecting anti-Leishmania antibodies effectively for both VL and PKDL diagnosis. The ability of dipstick test to demonstrate negative results after six months in 90% of the VL cases after treatment could be useful as a test of clinical cure. Urine-based tests can therefore replace the need for invasive practices and ensure better diagnosi

Decolonisation of MRSA, S. aureus and E. coli by Cold-Atmospheric Plasma Using a Porcine Skin Model In Vitro

In the last twenty years new antibacterial agents approved by the U.S. FDA decreased whereas in parallel the resistance situation of multi-resistant bacteria increased. Thus, community and nosocomial acquired infections of resistant bacteria led to a decrease in the efficacy of standard therapy, prolonging treatment time and increasing healthcare costs. Therefore, the aim of this work was to demonstrate the applicability of cold atmospheric plasma for decolonisation of Gram-positive (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), Methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus) and Gram-negative bacteria (E. coli) using an ex vivo pig skin model. Freshly excised skin samples were taken from six month old female pigs (breed: Pietrain). After application of pure bacteria on the surface of the explants these were treated with cold atmospheric plasma for up to 15 min. Two different plasma devices were evaluated. A decolonisation efficacy of 3 log10 steps was achieved already after 6 min of plasma treatment. Longer plasma treatment times achieved a killing rate of 5 log10 steps independently from the applied bacteria strains. Histological evaluations of untreated and treated skin areas upon cold atmospheric plasma treatment within 24 h showed no morphological changes as well as no significant degree of necrosis or apoptosis determined by the TUNEL-assay indicating that the porcine skin is still vital. This study demonstrates for the first time that cold atmospheric plasma is able to very efficiently kill bacteria applied to an intact skin surface using an ex vivo porcine skin model. The results emphasize the potential of cold atmospheric plasma as a new possible treatment option for decolonisation of human skin from bacteria in patients in the future without harming the surrounding tissue

The Terminal Oxidase Cytochrome bd Promotes Sulfide-resistant Bacterial Respiration and Growth

Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) impairs mitochondrial respiration by potently inhibiting the heme-copper cytochrome c oxidase. Since many prokaryotes, including Escherichia (E.) coli, generate H2S and encounter high H2S levels particularly in the human gut, herein we tested whether bacteria can sustain sulfide-resistant O2-dependent respiration. E. coli has three respiratory oxidases, the cyanide-sensitive heme-copper bo3 enzyme and two bd oxidases much less sensitive to cyanide. Working on the isolated enzymes, we found that, whereas the bo3 oxidase is inhibited by sulfide with half-maximal inhibitory concentration IC50=1.1±0.1μM, under identical experimental conditions both bd oxidases are insensitive to sulfide up to 58μM. In E. coli respiratory mutants, both O2-consumption and aerobic growth proved to be severely impaired by sulfide when respiration was sustained by the bo3 oxidase alone, but unaffected by ≤200μM sulfide when either bd enzyme acted as the only terminal oxidase. Accordingly, wild-type E. coli showed sulfide-insensitive respiration and growth under conditions favouring the expression of bd oxidases. In all tested conditions, cyanide mimicked the functional effect of sulfide on bacterial respiration. We conclude that bd oxidases promote sulfide-resistant O2- consumption and growth in E. coli and possibly other bacteria. The impact of this discovery is discussed