Flash Flood Screening Tool

Flash floods have been a very unpredictive natural disaster. Previous attempts at zonation of flash floods based on predictive severity have been very data-intensive and exhaustive on focusing on a certain area. There are, however, simple models that utilize publicly available data to determine flash flood risks at specific locations. The Geographic Information System (GIS) –based tool, presented here, takes a Digital Elevation Model (DEM) and a Land-Use/Land-Cover map to compute basin characteristics. Flow velocity is modeled according to TR-55, which classifies it as sheet, shallow-concentrated and open-channel flow. With the help of various GIS tools, the drainage area of a user-given outlet point, as well as the flow lengths upstream to the headwaters and downstream to the outlet, can be calculated. These flow lengths are then used to classify the areas of sheet flow, while the areas of open-channel flow are user-defined. Velocities for sheet and shallow-concentrated flow are determined according to TR-55, while the velocities for open-channel flow are user-defined. Once the velocities are known, isochrones are determined and area vs. flow-time plots are developed. Intensity-duration-frequency (IDF) curves are used to define the precipitation for different concentration times and return periods. The rational method is then used to determine the expected peak flows. A sub-watershed of Little Walnut Creek, in Austin, will be valuated and shown as an example. This screening tool will help policymakers identify locations of potential high flash flood risk in which more-detailed hydrologic analysis would be needed

A prospective comparative study of the intraoperative difficulties during laparoscopic cholecystectomy in patients taking homeopathic medications for cholelithiasis versus cholelithiasis patients with no history of homeopathic medication

Background: Gallstone disease is one of the most prevalent gastrointestinal diseases with a substantial burden to health-care systems. Patients present with right upper quadrant pain, dyspepsia, nausea or vomiting. Owing to the side effects of allopathic drugs, many patients resort to homeopathic treatment for relief of pain. There are several homeopathic drugs that decrease the pain of cholecystitis as well as high cholesterol in these patients but cannot cure them off the disease. Finally, they come to general surgeon for cholecystectomy. We have noticed that performing laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) in these patients is difficult and time consuming. Aims and Objectives: To determine whether or not homeopathic medicine intake for treatment of cholelithiasis act as an independent factor that leads to intraoperative difficulties during LC. Materials and Methods: Study design: A prospective randomized comparative study. Study period: July 2022–December 2023 (18 months). Study groups: Group H = Patients with history of (H/O) intake of homeopathic medicines for treatment of cholelithiasis = 60 patients, Group N = Patients with no H/O homeopathic medicine intake = 60 patients. Results: Twenty-six (43.33%) patients in Group H and 11 (18.33%) patients in Group N had a difficult LC. 7 (11.67%) patients in Group H and 1 (1.67%) patient in Group N had dense adhesions around the gallbladder (GB). 13 (21.67%) patients of Group H and 3 (5%) patients of Group N had a Frozen Calot’s Triangle (fibrosis and difficult Calot’s triangle dissection). This was statistically significant. Conclusion: Our study proved that intake of homeopathic medications for the treatment of cholelithiasis leads to dense adhesions around GB as well as fibrotic adhesions leading to difficult Calot’s triangle dissection leading to a difficult LC

A PROSPECTIVE OBSERVATIONAL STUDY OF INTRAVENOUS ONDANSETRON AND PALONOSETRON IN ATTENUATING HYPOTENSIVE RESPONSE FOLLOWING SPINAL ANESTHESIA IN PATIENTS UNDERGOING ELECTIVE CESAREAN SECTION

Objective: To compare the efficacy of prophylactic administration of intravenous ondansetron and palonosetron in attenuating hypotensive response following spinal anesthesia in patients undergoing elective cesarean section. Methods: This was a comparative study in which 84 patients aged 18–35 years of American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status II, scheduled for elective cesarean section under spinal anesthesia (SA) were included based on predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria. 84 patients undergoing elective cesarean sections were divided into two groups to receive either ondansetron or palonosetron before SA. Vital signs were monitored, with interventions for hypotension or bradycardia. Data on vital signs, vasopressor use, neonatal Apgar scores, and post-operative symptoms were collected and analyzed. For statistical purposes, a P value less than 0.05 was taken as statistically significant. Results: The mean ages and body mass indexes (BMIs) of the groups were similar, with no significant statistical difference (p=0.674 and p=0.3583, respectively). Heart rates, systolic and diastolic blood pressures showed minor differences, but only a few instances were statistically significant. Mean arterial pressures differed significantly at multiple intervals, but no clinical hypotension was observed. SPO2 levels remained stable and comparable in both groups. Average phenylephrine usage was also similar, with no significant difference. The incidence of hypotension, sedation scores, and incidence of bradycardia were comparable. Neonatal outcomes, measured by APGAR scores, showed no significant difference, indicating similar newborn health status in both groups. Conclusion: Prophylactic ondansetron, as well as palonosetron, were equally effective in reducing the incidence and severity of hypotension in healthy parturients following spinal anesthesia with hyperbaric bupivacaine for elective LSCS

A Triterpenoid Saponin Possessing Antileishmanial Activity from the Leaves of Careya Arborea

Bioguided-fractionation of the methanol extract of the leaves of Careya arborea led to isolation of a triterpenoid saponin, designated arborenin, and characterized as 3-O-b-D-glucopyranosyl(1!2)-b-D-glucopyranosyl-2a,3b-dihydroxy-taraxast-20-en-28-oic acid (1), together with desacylescin III (2). The structures were determined on the basis of extensive 2D NMR spectroscopic analysis. The saponin showed in vitro antileishmanial activity against Leishmania donovani (strain AG 83)

Revealing the linguistic and geographical disparities of public awareness to Covid-19 outbreak through social media

The Covid-19 has presented an unprecedented challenge to public health worldwide. However, residents in different countries showed diverse levels of Covid-19 awareness during the outbreak and suffered from uneven health impacts. This study analyzed the global Twitter data from January 1st to June 30th, 2020, to answer two research questions. What are the linguistic and geographical disparities of public awareness in the Covid-19 outbreak period reflected on social media? Does significant association exist between the changing Covid-19 awareness and the pandemic outbreak? We established a Twitter data mining framework calculating the Ratio index to quantify and track awareness. The lag correlations between awareness and health impacts were examined at global and country levels. Results show that users presenting the highest Covid-19 awareness were mainly those tweeting in the official languages of India and Bangladesh. Asian countries showed more disparities in awareness than European countries, and awareness in Eastern Europe was higher than in central Europe. Finally, the Ratio index had high correlations with global mortality rate, global case fatality ratio, and country-level mortality rate, with 21-31, 35-42, and 13–18 leading days, respectively. This study yields timely insights into social media use in understanding human behaviors for public health research

Critical evaluation of the therapeutic potential of bassic acid incorporated in oil-in-water microemulsions and poly-D,L-lactide nanoparticles against experimental leishmaniasis

Bassic acid, an unsaturated triterpene acid isolated from Mimusops elangii, was tested for its antileishmanial properties both in vitro and in vivo. The in vitro antileishmanial activity of bassic acid being encouraging, its activity in vivo was evaluated in hamster models of visceral leishmaniasis, both in free form, as well as incorporated in two different delivery systems, viz microemulsions and polylactide nanoparticles. The delivery systems were prepared by published protocols. The percentage intercalation of bassic acid in nanoparticles and microemulsion was found to be about 50 and 100, respectively, when determined at its absorption maxima (&#955;<SUB>max</SUB>) 285nm (&#949;<SUB>m</SUB> = 2.3 &#215; 10<SUP>2</SUP> M<SUP>-1</SUP> cm<SUP>-1</SUP>). At an equivalent dose of 2 mg kg<SUP>-1</SUP> body weight, when injected subcutaneously for a total of six doses in 15 days, bassic acid was found to reduce spleen parasite loads by 45, 62 and 78% in free, microemulsion-incorporated and nanoparticle-incorporated forms, respectively. A comparison of specific biochemical tests related to normal liver and kidney functions revealed that the nanoparticulate form was successful in significantly reducing the hepatotoxicity and nephrotoxicity of the free drug, but the microemulsion delivery system was less effective and toxic to liver and kidney to some extent. Confocal microscopic images of Leishmania donovani promastigotes treated with bassic acid revealed that the drug induced necrotic cell death due to non-specific membrane damage. Because of its high efficacy as well as non-hepatotoxicity and non-nephrotoxicity, the nanoparticulate form of bassic acid may be considered for clinical application in humans rather than the microemulsion incorporated form

Racemoside A, An Anti-leishmanial, Water-Soluble, Natural Steroidal Saponin, Induces Programmed Cell Death in Leishmania donovani

Leishmaniasis remains a major health problem of the tropical and subtropical world. The visceral form causes the most fatalities if left untreated. Dramatic increases in the rates of infection and drug resistance and the non-availability of safe vaccines have highlighted the need for identification of novel and inexpensive anti-leishmanial agents. This study reports that racemoside A, a water-soluble steroidal saponin purified from the fruits of Asparagus racemosus, is a potent anti-leishmanial molecule effective against antimonial-sensitive (strain AG83) and -unresponsive (strain GE1F8R) Leishmania donovani promastigotes, with IC50 values of 1.15 and 1.31 mg ml”1, respectively. Incubation of promastigotes with racemoside A caused morphological alterations including cell shrinkage, an aflagellated ovoid shape and chromatin condensation. This compound exerts its leishmanicidal effect through the induction of programmed cell death mediated by the loss of plasma membrane integrity as detected by binding of annexin V and propidium iodide, loss of mitochondrial membrane potential culminating in cell-cycle arrest at the sub-G0/G1 phase, and DNA nicking shown by deoxynucleotidyltransferase-mediated dUTP end labelling (TUNEL). Racemoside A also showed significant activity against intracellular amastigotes of AG83 and GE1F8R at a 7–8-fold lower dose, with IC50 values of 0.17 and 0.16 mgml”1, respectively, and was non-toxic to murine peritoneal macrophages up to a concentration of 10 mg ml”1. Hence, racemoside A is a potent anti-leishmanial agent that merits further pharmacological investigation

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Not AvailableIndigenous folk rice cultivars often possess remarkable but unrevealed potential in terms of nutritional attributes and biotic stress tolerance. The unique cooking qualities and blissful aroma of many of these landraces make it an attractive low-cost alternative to high priced Basmati rice. Sub-Himalayan Terai region is bestowed with great agrobiodiversity in traditional heirloom rice cultivars. In the present study, ninety-nine folk rice cultivars from these regions were collected, purified and characterized for morphological and yield traits. Based on traditional importance and presence of aroma, thirty-five genotypes were selected and analyzed for genetic diversity using micro-satellite marker system. The genotypes were found to be genetically distinct and of high nutritive value. The resistant starch content, amylose content, glycemic index and antioxidant potential of these genotypes represented wide variability and ‘Kataribhog’, ‘Sadanunia’, ‘Chakhao’ etc. were identified as promising genotypes in terms of different nutritional attributes. These cultivars were screened further for resistance against blast disease in field trials and cultivars like ‘Sadanunia’, ‘T4M-3-5’, ‘Chakhao Sampark’ were found to be highly resistant to the blast disease whereas ‘Kalonunia’, ‘Gobindabhog’, ‘Konkanijoha’ were found to be highly susceptible. Principal Component analysis divided the genotypes in distinct groups for nutritional potential and blast tolerance. The resistant and susceptible genotypes were screened for the presence of the blast resistant pi genes and association analysis was performed with disease tolerance. Finally, a logistic model based on phenotypic traits for prediction of the blast susceptibility of the genotypes is proposed with more than 80% accuracy.ICAR, Govt. of India under Niche area of Excellence (NAE) scheme with project reference number Edn.5(12)/2017-EP&H