THE PHYSIO ANATOMICAL VIEW OF KLEDAKA KAPHA

Dosha, Dathu and Mala form the elemental cause of human body. Our body fails to exist without these three chief constituents. The concept of Tridosha is unique contribution of Ayurveda. They are Vata, Pitta and Kapha. These constitute the anatomical and physiological aspect of human body in general. Kapha is the element which gives stability and endurance to the body. There are 5 types of Kapha according to the location and function. Kledaka is one among them. It is located in Amashaya where the major part of digestion occurs. It is anatomically the stomach. Its function is to moisten and disintegrate the ingested food particles. It also protects the stomach from self digestion. It supports other Kapha sthanas of the body. According to its location and function given in Ayurvedic classics, its role in digestion can be assessed. When we consider the functions; Kledaka Kapha can be correlated with the gastric mucus which is secreted by surface epithelial cells of gastric mucosal layer and cells of gastric glands. The functions of gastric mucus are to lubricate the food particle for the formation of chime and to protect the gastric wall.The paper is intended to explore the physio anatomical aspect of Kledaka Kapha and its action as gastric mucus and its importance in digestion and metabolism of food

Diagnosis and Genetic Analysis of Glutaric Acidaemia Type I : Very rarely seen inborn error of metabolism

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Taste masked thin films printed by jet dispensing

Taste masking of bitter active substances is an emerging area in the pharmaceutical industry especially for paediatric/geriatric medications. In this study we introduce the use of jet – dispensing as a taste masking technology by printing mucosal thin films of three model bitter substances, Cetirizine HCl, Diphenylhydramine HCl and Ibuprofen. The process was used to dispense aqueous drugs/polymer solutions at very high speed where eventually the drugs were embedded in the polymer matrix. The in vivo evaluation of jet – dispensed mucosal films showed excellent taste masking for drug loadings from 20 - 40%. Jet dispensing was proved to make uniform, accurate and reproducible thin films with excellent content uniformity

Effect of Ferroelectric Nanopowder on Electrical and Acoustical Properties of Cholesteric Liquid Crystal

Ferroelectric nano-materials are very sensitive to several external stimuli and have attracted great deal of attention due to their property of improving various properties such as photoluminescence, higher polarization, fast response time, low operating voltage and improved conductivity. For enhancing the physical properties, a proper selection of nano-materials for liquid crystals depends upon various factors such as size, shape, preparation methods, surfactant concentration and amount of doping materials. In the present study an attempt is made to study  electrical and acoustical properties of cholesteric liquid crystal after dispersing ferroelectric nano-powder of Barium Titanate (BaTiO3). In addition with this particle size and surface area of pure and nono-particle dispersed liquid crystal were also measured. Our investigation shows increase in Rao’s constant or molar sound velocity, which indicates increase in molecular density indicating a close packing of the material. The measurement of dielectric relaxation at different frequencies gives information about the dynamics of polar groups and molecular motion

Antimicrobial activity of Mycobacteriophage D29 Lysin B during Mycobacterium ulcerans infection

Buruli Ulcer (BU) is a necrotizing skin disease caused by Mycobacterium ulcerans. Although the current antibiotic treatment for BU is effective, daily administrations for a prolonged period of time, combined with potential risk of severe side effects, negatively impact on patient adherence. In that sense, we tested the efficacy of an alternative strategy based on Lysin B (LysB), a phage encoded lipolytic enzyme that degrades the mycolylarabinogalactan-peptidoglycan complex present in the mycobacterial cell wall. In this study, we show that LysB not only displays lytic activity against M. ulcerans isolates in vitro, but also leads to a decrease of M. ulcerans proliferation in infected mouse footpads. These findings highlight the potential use of lysins as a novel therapeutic approach against this neglected tropical disease.The projectwas developed withinthescopeof the projectsNORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000013and NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000023,supported by the Northern Portugal Regional Operational Programme (NORTE2020),under the Portugal2020 Partnership Agreement through FEDER.This work was also supported by BioTecNorte operation (NORTE-01-0145-FEDER -000004) funded by the European Regional Development Fund under the scope of NORTE2020.This study was supportedby the Portuguese Foundation for Scienceand Technology (FCT) under the scope of the strategic funding of UID/BIO/04469/2013 unit; the Competitiveness Factors Operational Programme (COMPETE 2020) projectsPOCI-01-0145-FEDER-006684 and POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007038; and the project PTDC/BBB-BSS/6471/2014 (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-016678). This study was also supported by Infect-ERA grant Infect-ERA/0002/2015 :BU_SPONT_HEAL. AGF,GT, and HO wouldlike to acknowledge FCT for the individual fellowships SFRH/BPD/112903/2015, SFRH/BPD/64032/2009,and SFRH/BPD/111653/2015,respectively. CMG received an individual QRENfellowship (UMINHO/BPD/15/2014). GangaGen acknowledges CSIR/ OSDD,Govt of India,for funding this project.The funders had no role in study design,data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscriptinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Generation and characterisation of Friedreich ataxia YG8R mouse fibroblast and neural stem cell models

This article has been made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund.Background: Friedreich ataxia (FRDA) is an autosomal recessive neurodegenerative disease caused by GAA repeat expansion in the first intron of the FXN gene, which encodes frataxin, an essential mitochondrial protein. To further characterise the molecular abnormalities associated with FRDA pathogenesis and to hasten drug screening, the development and use of animal and cellular models is considered essential. Studies of lower organisms have already contributed to understanding FRDA disease pathology, but mammalian cells are more related to FRDA patient cells in physiological terms. Methodology/Principal Findings: We have generated fibroblast cells and neural stem cells (NSCs) from control Y47R mice (9 GAA repeats) and GAA repeat expansion YG8R mice (190+120 GAA repeats). We then differentiated the NSCs in to neurons, oligodendrocytes and astrocytes as confirmed by immunocytochemical analysis of cell specific markers. The three YG8R mouse cell types (fibroblasts, NSCs and differentiated NSCs) exhibit GAA repeat stability, together with reduced expression of frataxin and reduced aconitase activity compared to control Y47R cells. Furthermore, YG8R cells also show increased sensitivity to oxidative stress and downregulation of Pgc-1α and antioxidant gene expression levels, especially Sod2. We also analysed various DNA mismatch repair (MMR) gene expression levels and found that YG8R cells displayed significant reduction in expression of several MMR genes, which may contribute to the GAA repeat stability. Conclusions/Significance: We describe the first fibroblast and NSC models from YG8R FRDA mice and we confirm that the NSCs can be differentiated into neurons and glia. These novel FRDA mouse cell models, which exhibit a FRDA-like cellular and molecular phenotype, will be valuable resources to further study FRDA molecular pathogenesis. They will also provide very useful tools for preclinical testing of frataxin-increasing compounds for FRDA drug therapy, for gene therapy, and as a source of cells for cell therapy testing in FRDA mice. © 2014 Sandi et al

Consortium on Vulnerability to Externalizing Disorders and Addictions (cVEDA):A developmental cohort study protocol

Background: Low and middle-income countries like India with a large youth population experience a different environment from that of high-income countries. The Consortium on Vulnerability to Externalizing Disorders and Addictions (cVEDA), based in India, aims to examine environmental influences on genomic variations, neurodevelopmental trajectories and vulnerability to psychopathology, with a focus on externalizing disorders. Methods: cVEDA is a longitudinal cohort study, with planned missingness design for yearly follow-up. Participants have been recruited from multi-site tertiary care mental health settings, local communities, schools and colleges. 10,000 individuals between 6 and 23 years of age, of all genders, representing five geographically, ethnically, and socio-culturally distinct regions in India, and exposures to variations in early life adversity (psychosocial, nutritional, toxic exposures, slum-habitats, socio-political conflicts, urban/rural living, mental illness in the family) have been assessed using age-appropriate instruments to capture socio-demographic information, temperament, environmental exposures, parenting, psychiatric morbidity, and neuropsychological functioning. Blood/saliva and urine samples have been collected for genetic, epigenetic and toxicological (heavy metals, volatile organic compounds) studies. Structural (T1, T2, DTI) and functional (resting state fMRI) MRI brain scans have been performed on approximately 15% of the individuals. All data and biological samples are maintained in a databank and biobank, respectively. Discussion: The cVEDA has established the largest neurodevelopmental database in India, comparable to global datasets, with detailed environmental characterization. This should permit identification of environmental and genetic vulnerabilities to psychopathology within a developmental framework. Neuroimaging and neuropsychological data from this study are already yielding insights on brain growth and maturation patterns.</p

CHSI costing study-Challenges and solutions for cost data collection in private hospitals in India

INTRODUCTION: Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Aarogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY) has enabled the Government of India to become a strategic purchaser of health care services from private providers. To generate base cost evidence for evidence-based policymaking the Costing of Health Services in India (CHSI) study was commissioned in 2018 for the price setting of health benefit packages. This paper reports the findings of a process evaluation of the cost data collection in the private hospitals. METHODS: The process evaluation of health system costing in private hospitals was an exploratory survey with mixed methods (quantitative and qualitative). We used three approaches-an online survey using a semi-structured questionnaire, in-depth interviews, and a review of monitoring data. The process of data collection was assessed in terms of time taken for different aspects, resources used, level and nature of difficulty encountered, challenges and solutions. RESULTS: The mean time taken for data collection in a private hospital was 9.31 (± 1.0) person months including time for obtaining permissions, actual data collection and entry, and addressing queries for data completeness and quality. The longest time was taken to collect data on human resources (30%), while it took the least time for collecting information on building and space (5%). On a scale of 1 (lowest) to 10 (highest) difficulty levels, the data on human resources was the most difficult to collect. This included data on salaries (8), time allocation (5.5) and leaves (5). DISCUSSION: Cost data from private hospitals is crucial for mixed health systems. Developing formal mechanisms of cost accounting data and data sharing as pre-requisites for empanelment under a national insurance scheme can significantly ease the process of cost data collection