Dano: A herbal solution for dandruff

Dano, a poly-herbal hair oil was studied for anti-dandruff activity using microbiological and clinical tests. There was a clear symptomatic relief from dandruff in all the volunteers after 10 days of use. Further, the isolation of Pityrosporum ovale, the causative organism of the dandruff in culture was not possible after use of the Dano oil. The plant extracts is from Wrightia tinctoria (Indrajev), Cassia alata (Dadmari) and bitter fraction of Azadirachta indica (Neem or Nimba). Methylene blue reductase test wasemployed to study the anti-dandruff efficacy of the oi

Object Tracking Using Ambient Backscatter Technology

Ambient backscatter is a new technology that uses ambient signals to enable communication. The system utilizes existing ambient RF radiations as the source of power and also utilizes the same as wireless medium for communication between devices. It leverages the ambient RF signals that are already around us, it does not require a dedicated power infrastructure as in RFID. The basic thought here is that there is a ton of energy in our environment specifically in the form of high-amplitude RF waves from broadcasts, and we should be able to use that energy to do work. With the help of this ambient backscatter technology, we keep in track of the objects/things which we wish to safe guard by keeping them as a transmitter. There is exchange of pulses (RF signals) that takes place between the transmitter and the receiver. When the receiver to which the object is connected is taken away (to some particular distance), the backscattering stops and hence we may use the micro-controller to intimate the user with the help of a message using GSM and track the location of the object using GPRS

Enhanced Phagocytosis and Antibody Production by Tinospora cordifolia - A new dimension in Immunomodulation

Tinospora cordifolia (guduchi) is a widely used shrub in ayurvedic systems of medicine known to possess immunomodulatory properties. In the present study the aqueous extract of T. cordifolia was found to enhance phagocytosis in vitro. The aqueous and ethanolic extracts also induced an increase in antibody production in vivo

IS BACTERIOLOGY A CONTRIBUTING FACTOR IN UNSALVAGEABLE NATURE OF DIABETIC FOOT INFECTIONS?–A STUDY IN A DISTRICT HOSPITAL IN MALAYSIA

Objective: The objective is to study bacterial pathogens isolated in diabetic foot infection (DFI) and their sensitivity pattern to antibiotics commonly used in the management of DFI in the salvageable and unsalvageable groups of patients in a district hospital.Methods: 122 patients with diabetic limb infections treated at the Orthopedic Department of Hospital Sultan Abdul Halim, Sungai Petani, Kedah State in Malaysia. Clinically, limb infections were classified as salvageable and unsalvageable infections. Salvageable-mild, superficial/deep, localized ulcer with no systemic derangements necessitating conservative treatment or surgical procedures with minor amputations of limb (toe/ray amputation). Unsalvageable-deep seated extensive or spreading ulcers threatening the integrity of limb with or without toxic symptoms or metabolic derangement and could result in major limb amputation. A standard questionnaire was used to collect demographic, clinical and microbiological details of patients in both groups. Co-morbid illnesses, type/severity of limb infection during presentation and results of routine blood investigations were recorded. Details of nature of each specimen, species of isolate pathogen and sensitivity pattern to antibiotic of each clinical isolates were recorded.Results: 62 and 60 patients respectively belonged to the salvageable and unsalvageable groups. Only 11.66% presented with evidence of toxemia in the unsalvageable group. ESBL was the commonest nosocomial organisms. Percentage of organism sensitivity was most to vancomycin, ceftazidime, and gentamicin.Conclusion: All severe infections do not present with toxemia in diabetic patients. Gram-negative organisms were predominant in both groups although Staphylococcal organisms were the single largest group in the unsalvageable group. 3rd generation antibiotics are more useful in its control.Â

Human Tracking and Profiling for Risk Management

Infectious viruses are conveyed via respiratory droplets produced by an infected person when they speak, sneeze, or cough. So, to combat virus transmission, the World Health Organization (WHO) has imposed severe regulations such as mandatory face mask use and social segregation in public spaces. The Human Tracking and Profiling for Risk Management System (HTPRM) is an online application that identifies the risk associated with failing to follow proper health practices. This proposed approach, which is divided into four components, utilizes You Only Live Once YOLO (V3) to detect facemask danger, which would be determined based on two factors: wearing the face mask properly and the type of mask (Surgical, k95, homemade, and bare). The second phase is to use Open CV and SSDMobilenet to evaluate the value of a one-meter space (Social Distance) between people. The system recognizes the maximum number of individuals that can be in the vicinity of the specific hall that uses YOLO( V3) and image processing as the third procedure. In the last processing, the system identifies each persons behavior, classifies it as uncommon or not, and calculates the risk associated with each category. Finally, the system computes the overall risk and generates a warning alarm to notify the user that they are in a dangerous scenario

The Ubiquitin-Like Protein PLIC-1 or Ubiquilin 1 Inhibits TLR3-Trif Signaling

Background: The innate immune responses to virus infection are initiated by either Toll-like receptors (TLR3/7/8/9) or cytoplasmic double-stranded RNA (dsRNA)-recognizing RNA helicases RIG-I and MDA5. To avoid causing injury to the host, these signaling pathways must be switched off in time by negative regulators. Methodology/Principal Findings: Through yeast-two hybrid screening, we found that an ubiquitin-like protein named protein linking integrin-associated protein to cytoskeleton 1(PLIC-1 or Ubiquilin 1) interacted with the Toll/interleukin-1 receptor (TIR) domain of TLR4. Interestingly, PLIC-1 had modest effect on TLR4-mediated signaling, but strongly suppressed the transcriptional activation of IFN-β promoter through the TLR3-Trif-dependent pathway. Concomitantly, reduction of endogenous PLIC-1 by short-hairpin interfering RNA (shRNA) enhanced TLR3 activation both in luciferase reporter assays as well as in new castle disease virus (NDV) infected cells. An interaction between PLIC-1 and Trif was confirmed in co-immunoprecipitation (Co-IP) and GST-pull-down assays. Subsequent confocal microscopic analysis revealed that PLIC-1 and Trif colocalized with the autophagosome marker LC3 in punctate subcellular structures. Finally, overexpression of PLIC-1 decreased Trif protein abundance in a Nocodazole-sensitive manner. Conclusions: Our results suggest that PLIC-1 is a novel inhibitor of the TLR3-Trif antiviral pathway by reducing the abundance of Trif. © 2011 Biswas et al

Fatigue in neuromuscular disorders: focus on Guillain–Barré syndrome and Pompe disease

Fatigue accounts for an important part of the burden experienced by patients with neuromuscular disorders. Substantial high prevalence rates of fatigue are reported in a wide range of neuromuscular disorders, such as Guillain–Barré syndrome and Pompe disease. Fatigue can be subdivided into experienced fatigue and physiological fatigue. Physiological fatigue in turn can be of central or peripheral origin. Peripheral fatigue is an important contributor to fatigue in neuromuscular disorders, but in reaction to neuromuscular disease fatigue of central origin can be an important protective mechanism to restrict further damage. In most cases, severity of fatigue seems to be related with disease severity, possibly with the exception of fatigue occurring in a monophasic disorder like Guillain–Barré syndrome. Treatment of fatigue in neuromuscular disease starts with symptomatic treatment of the underlying disease. When symptoms of fatigue persist, non-pharmacological interventions, such as exercise and cognitive behavioral therapy, can be initiated

Effects of alirocumab on types of myocardial infarction: insights from the ODYSSEY OUTCOMES trial

Aims  The third Universal Definition of Myocardial Infarction (MI) Task Force classified MIs into five types: Type 1, spontaneous; Type 2, related to oxygen supply/demand imbalance; Type 3, fatal without ascertainment of cardiac biomarkers; Type 4, related to percutaneous coronary intervention; and Type 5, related to coronary artery bypass surgery. Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) reduction with statins and proprotein convertase subtilisin–kexin Type 9 (PCSK9) inhibitors reduces risk of MI, but less is known about effects on types of MI. ODYSSEY OUTCOMES compared the PCSK9 inhibitor alirocumab with placebo in 18 924 patients with recent acute coronary syndrome (ACS) and elevated LDL-C (≥1.8 mmol/L) despite intensive statin therapy. In a pre-specified analysis, we assessed the effects of alirocumab on types of MI. Methods and results  Median follow-up was 2.8 years. Myocardial infarction types were prospectively adjudicated and classified. Of 1860 total MIs, 1223 (65.8%) were adjudicated as Type 1, 386 (20.8%) as Type 2, and 244 (13.1%) as Type 4. Few events were Type 3 (n = 2) or Type 5 (n = 5). Alirocumab reduced first MIs [hazard ratio (HR) 0.85, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.77–0.95; P = 0.003], with reductions in both Type 1 (HR 0.87, 95% CI 0.77–0.99; P = 0.032) and Type 2 (0.77, 0.61–0.97; P = 0.025), but not Type 4 MI. Conclusion  After ACS, alirocumab added to intensive statin therapy favourably impacted on Type 1 and 2 MIs. The data indicate for the first time that a lipid-lowering therapy can attenuate the risk of Type 2 MI. Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol reduction below levels achievable with statins is an effective preventive strategy for both MI types.For complete list of authors see http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/eurheartj/ehz299</p