Broad Band Optical Polarimetric Study of IC 1805

We present the BVR broad band polarimetric observations of 51 stars belonging to the young open cluster IC 1805. Along with the photometric data from the literature we have modeled and subtracted the foreground dust contribution from the maximum polarization (P_{max}) and colour excess (E_{B-V}). The mean value of the P_max for intracluster medium and the foreground are found to be 5.008 +/-0.005 % and 4.865 +/-0.022 % respectively. Moreover, the mean value of the wavelength of maximum polarization (lambda_{max}) for intracluster medium is 0.541 +/- 0.003 micro m, which is quite similar as the general interstellar medium (ISM). The resulting intracluster dust component is found to have negligible polarization efficiency as compared to interstellar dust. Some of the observed stars in IC 1805 have shown the indication of intrinsic polarization in their measurements.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figures, Accepted for publication in MNRA

RESEARCH ON AYURVEDA DRUGS TOWARDS THE DRUG DEVELOPMENT FOR PLASMODIUM VIVAX MALARIA

Developing countries are more vulnerable to the Vector borne diseases, than developed countries. Incidence of Malaria is steadily increasing and number of deaths as well; is a serious problem in Africa; every five (20%) childhood deaths are due to the effects of the disease and every 30 seconds a child dies from malaria. The problem of Malaria acquired new dimensions such as resistance of vectors to chemical insecticides and drug resistance in strains of Plasmodium Vivax and Plasmodium Falciparum. These are the serious obstacles in the control of Malaria and hence there is a serious need to develop alternate strategies to control Malaria.Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences is carrying out clinical trial on different Vector Borne Diseases like Malaria, Filariasis etc since seventies. Trial carried out with herbal and herbo-mineral drugs like AYUSH-64, Saptaparnatwak ghanavati, Guduci satva, Spatika Bhasma, Kiratatiktadi compound, Parijatapatra ghanavati etc. on Plasmodium Vivax Malaria. The present paper deals with the details of those drugs and concludes the best drug for control of Malaria

Prakara Yogas as an Immunomodulator during Infancy - A Critical Evaluation

Infancy is a crucial phase where the child comes across many mild to life threatening infections. The immunodeficiency of this period is compensated to some extend by the vertically transmitted antibodies from mother, exclusive breast feeding and through proper vaccination. But the protection offered by the maternal antibodies is transient and wanes off within 1 year. Concept of exclusive breastfeeding cannot be met in all circumstances especially in working mothers. Vaccinations provide protection against specific infections. In the present setting of pandemic, where the difficulties faced in tackling the spread of infections are witnessed, vaccinations become chaotic due to the unpredictable mutations of microbes. At this juncture arises the need for a well-built generalized immunity that will protect against a number of infections irrespective of the causative organism. Prakara Yogas are various immunomodulatory formulations elaborated in the textbook Arogyaraksha Kalpadruma that are scheduled to be administered during childhood in order to prevent diseases. The drug combinations in Prakara Yogas counteract the expected Dosha Vaishamya at specific ages, stabilize Agni and enhances immunity thereby preventing the onset of diseases. For protecting our future generations, usage of these formulations should be promoted for boosting their innate immunity, rather than attaining disease specific immunity against diseases through vaccination. This paper elaborates Prakara Yogas advised during infancy and also an attempt is made to critically analyse the formulations in aiding immunomodulation

CLINICAL EVALUATION OF SHOBHANJANA (SHIGRU) ROOT BARK IN THE MANAGEMENT OF MUTRASHMARI (UROLITHIASIS)

A clinical study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of Shobhanjana (Moringa Olifera) root bark in the management of Mutrashmari (Urolithiasis) at OPD/IPD of S.V.Ayurvedic Hospital, Tirupati. Total number of 30 cases enrolled for the study. The drug Shobhanjana root bark Kwatha (decoction) was given in the dose of 24 ml twice daily before food for one month period. Follow up was carried out at weekly intervals. The effect of treatment was observed highly significant in relieving pain, dysuria, haematuria and also found statistically significant improvement in removing the renal calculus. The study was also planned to find out the effect of the drug on different types of Ashmari (Vata, Pitta, Kapha and Sukraja) and results of the study have shown that the drug is more effective in the management of Kapha & Vataja types of Ashmari. Maximum result was observed in renal calculi in comparison to the calculi present in Ureter and Urinary bladder. On the basis of overall assessment the drug Shobhanjana root bark on Mutrashmari has shown complete relief in 16 (53.3%) cases, Marked improvement in 12 (40%) cases and No improvement in 2 (6.6%) cases.

REVIEW OF RESEARCH ON GYNECOLOGICAL CANCERS IN AYURVEDA – AN UPDATE

In spite of advanced chemotherapy and radiotherapy the term Cancer still induces fear of death in common man. Cancers figure among the leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide, with approximately 14 million new cases and 8.2 million cancer related deaths (2012). Generally in the women, the five most common sites of cancer are breast, colorectum, lung, cervix, and stomach. But, the most common types of gynaecologic malignancies are cervical cancer, ovarian cancer, and endometrial (uterus) cancer etc. On par with other cancers, Gynecological cancers also contribute to significant number of deaths. In India alone, among the gynaecological cancers, breast cancer accounts for 21.5% deaths; cervical cancer for 20.7% deaths, ovarian cancer for 6.0% of deaths (World Health Organization - Cancer Country Profiles, 2014).The main goals of a cancer diagnosis and treatment programme are to cure or considerably prolong the life of patients and to ensure the best possible quality of life to cancer survivors. Ayurveda plays a key role in prevention; prolong the life span and improvement of quality of life in cancer. In the direction of prevention of cervical carcinoma, poly-herbal compounds ‘Praneem’ and ‘Basant’ are studied extensively. To improve the quality of life, CCRAS have been initiated trials with coded drug AYUSH-QOL-2C, in non-metastatic breast cancer patients those who are receiving chemotherapy/radio-therapy, at St. Johns medical college, Bangalore, Karnataka. Some other clinical studies are also carried out to see the effect of turmeric as an adjuvant in abroad. Apart from the clinical trials number of single herbal drugs like Haridra, Bhallataka, Ashvagandha etc., and compound herbo-mineral preparations are studied to see their efficacy on different types of gynaecological cancers. In united states of America, clinical trials on arsenic preparations are also carried out. Present article aims to review the usefulness of these drugs in Gynecological cancers and their safety too

CRITICAL REVIEW OF MEDHYA RASAYANA DRUGS MENTIONED IN AYURVEDA - TRADITIONAL INDIAN MEDICINE

Ayurvedic system of medicine has mentioned several medicinal preparations under the category 'Medhya'. By virtue of inducing mental upliftment as major influence several medicinal plants mentioned as 'Rasayana drugs' in Ayurveda are primarily claimed as 'Medhya'. Further there is a special class of Rasayana drugs called 'Medhya Rasayana' which is supposed to be having specific influence on brain functions. Cognitive deficits like memory disorders are found in high prevalence among the aged. In Ayurvedic literature, impairment of memory is mentioned as Smriti bhramsha which occurs due to vitiation of Rajo and Tamo doshas. It has been noted that cognitive functions are thoroughly affected due to stress and other related psychological disorders. It is clearly emphasized that Medha (intellect) and Buddhi (wisdom) deteriorate in these conditions. People's lifestyle also has an additional influence on the intellectual capacity. Several Medhya Rasayana drugs mentioned in Ayurveda have multi-dimensional actions having influence on memory. They not only enhance the intellectual capacity but also rejuvenate the whole system and their pathways.&nbsp

Bose Hubbard Model in a Strong Effective Magnetic Field: Emergence of a Chiral Mott Insulator Ground State

Motivated by experiments on Josephson junction arrays, and cold atoms in an optical lattice in a synthetic magnetic field, we study the "fully frustrated" Bose-Hubbard (FFBH) model with half a magnetic flux quantum per plaquette. We obtain the phase diagram of this model on a two-leg ladder at integer filling via the density matrix renormalization group approach, complemented by Monte Carlo simulations on an effective classical XY model. The ground state at intermediate correlations is consistently shown to be a chiral Mott insulator (CMI) with a gap to all excitations and staggered loop currents which spontaneously break time reversal symmetry. We characterize the CMI state as a vortex supersolid or an indirect exciton condensate, and discuss various experimental implications.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figs, Significantly revised version, to appear in PRA-Rapi

Evolution of emission line activity in intermediate mass young stars

We present optical spectra of 45 intermediate mass Herbig Ae/Be stars. Together with the multi-epoch spectroscopic and photometric data compiled for a large sample of these stars and ages estimated for individual stars by using pre-main sequence evolutionary tracks, we have studied the evolution of emission line activity in them. We find that, on average, the H_alpha emission line strength decreases with increasing stellar age in HAeBe stars, indicating that the accretion activity gradually declines during the PMS phase. This would hint at a relatively long-lived (a few Myr) process being responsible for the cessation of accretion in Herbig Ae/Be stars. We also find that the accretion activity in these stars drops substantially by ~ 3 Myr. This is comparable to the timescale in which most intermediate mass stars are thought to lose their inner disks, suggesting that inner disks in intermediate mass stars are dissipated rapidly after the accretion activity has fallen below a certain level. We, further find a relatively tight correlation between strength of the emission line and near-infrared excess due to inner disks in HAeBe stars, indicating that the disks around Herbig Ae/Be stars cannot be entirely passive. We suggest that this correlation can be understood within the frame work of the puffed-up inner rim disk models if the radiation from the accretion shock is also responsible for the disk heating.Comment: 39 pages, accepted for publication in Ap

Post-Outburst Phase of McNeil's Nebula (V1647 Orionis)

We present a detailed study of the post-outburst phase of McNeil's nebula (V1647 Ori) using optical B,V,R,I and NIR J,H,K photometric and low resolution optical spectroscopic observations. The observations were carried out with the HFOSC, NIRCAM, TIRCAM and NICMOS cameras on the 2m HCT and 1.2m PRL telescopes during the period 2004 Feb-2005 Dec. The optical/NIR observations show a general decline in brightness of the exciting source of McNeil's nebula (V1647 Ori). Our recent optical images show that V1647 Ori has faded by more than 3 mags since Feb 2004. The optical/NIR photometric data also show a significant variation in the mags (Delta V = 0.78 mag, Delta R = 0.44 mag, Delta I = 0.21 mag, Delta J = 0.24 mag and Delta H = 0.20 mag) of V1647 Ori within a period of one month, which is possibly undergoing a phase similar to eruptive variables, like EXors or FUors. The optical spectra show a few features such as strong Halpha emission with blue-shifted absorption and the CaII IR triplet (8498A, 8542A and 8662A) in emission. As compared to the period just after outburst, there is a decrease in the depth and extent of the blue-shifted absorption component, indicating a weakening in the powerful stellar wind. The presence of the CaII IR triplet in emission confirms that V1647 Ori is a PMS star. The long-term, post-outburst photometric observations of V1647 Ori suggest an EXor, rather than an FUor event. An optical/IR comparison of the region surrounding McNeil's nebula shows that the optical nebula is more widely and predominantly extended to the north, whereas the IR nebula is relatively confined (dia ~ 60 arcsec), but definitely extended, to the south, too.Comment: 25 pages (4 figures in JPEG format), Accepted for the publication in MNRAS. Preprint is also available at: http://www.tifr.res.in/~ojha/McNeil.htm