Habitat Characterization and Fish Community Structure in the River Ghaghara, India

Habitat characterization, water quality assessment and freshwater fish diversity investigation of Ghaghara River flowing in Uttar Pradesh, India was carried out. River water was clear except at site S5 with pebbly and sandy substrate. The mean water quality of study sites was found to have pH 7.8, water temperature 25.8°C, dissolved oxygen 5.4 mg/l, total hardness 212 mg/l, alkalinity 179 mg/l (as CaCO3), Turbidity 16.9 NTU, NO3 1.7 mg/l, NO2 0.04 mg/l, ammonia 0.3 mg/l and conductivity 390.2 μS/cm. Altogether 62 fish species were recorded during the study. We used principal component analyses (PCA) to determine the influence of environmental conditions on species occurrences and assemblage characteristics. The MANOVA on habitat parameters showed a difference in habitat structure among the sampling sites. Our results suggest the significance of local environment influences on the fishes of conservation importance and their assemblage distinctiveness in an unimpacted river and provide a framework and reference conditions to maintain restoration efforts of relatively altered fish habitats in tropical rivers of India

Optimization of a divided wall column for the separation of C4-C6 normal paraffin mixture using Box-Behnken design

In the present study, simulation of a divided wall column (DWC) was carried out to study the product quality and energy efficiency as a function of reflux rate, liquid spilt and vapour split for the separation of C4-C6 normal paraffin ternary mixture. Rigorous simulation of the DWC was carried out using Multifrac model of ASPEN Plus software. Box-Behnken design (BBD) was used for the optimization of parameters and to evaluate the effects and interaction of the process parameters such as reflux rate (r), liquid split (l) and vapour split (v). It was found that the number of simulation runs reduced significantly for the optimization of DWC by BBD. Optimization by BBD under response surface methodology (RSM) vividly underscores interactions between variables and their effects. The predictions agree well with the results of the rigorous simulation

Time Tested Remedies for Wound Care from Ayurveda Sciences

Management of wound is a challenge before clinician as well as pharmaceutical industries. It accounts a huge amount of economic loss every year. A good therapeutic agent for wound care should preferably give better result on one or more phases of healing devoid of harmful effects. A good step in this regard is use of traditional medicinal remedies and plants. WHO also support, promote and encourage use of various traditional medicines in primary health care due to easy accessibility, cost efficiency, safety and trust of public in them. Since many centuries Ayurvedic medicines have been used by people due to its ability to enhance immunity and prevent diseases. A number of plant, animal and mineral product are mentioned in Ayurvedic classics for treatment of different stages of wound. At the moment, scientific research on medicinal plants is being carried out most intensely in research institutes, universities and pharmaceutical laboratories as well as in the clinics of many developed countries. In the present article an attempt was made to collect such useful remedies from Ayurvedic classics for wound care which are effective, easily available, easy to prepare and use them without any side effects.Â

Suitability Assessment of an Indigenous Heterogeneous Thoracic Phantom for Patient-Specific Quality Assurance in Radiotherapy

Introduction: Patient-specific quality assurance (PSQA) assumes a vital role in precise and accurate radiation delivery to cancer patients. Since the patient body comprises heterogeneous media, the present study aimed to fabricate a heterogeneous thoracic phantom for PSQA.Material and Methods: Heterogeneous thoracic (HT) phantom was fabricated using rib cage madeup of bone equivalent material, kailwood to mimic lungs and wax to mimic various body parts. Physical density of all these materials used in phantom fabrication was measured and compared with that of the corresponding part of actual human thorax. One beam was planned on the computed tomography (CT) images of phantom and actual patient thorax region. Dose distribution in both the plans was measured and analyzed.Results:The estimated densities of heart, lung, ribs, scapula, spine, and chest wall tissues were 0.804±0.007, 0.186±0.010, 1.796±0.061, 2.017±0.026, 2.106±0.029 and 0.739±0.028 respectively in case of HT phantom while 1.038±0.010, 0.199±0.031, 1.715±0.040, 2.006±0.019, 1.929±0.065 and 0.816±0.028 g/cc, respectively in case of actual human thorax region.The depths of isodose curves in HT phantom were also comparable to the isodose curve’s depths inreal patient. PSQA results were within ±3% for flat beam (FB) and flattening filtered free beam (FFFB) of 6 megavolts (MV) energy.Conclusion: Density and dose distribution pattern in HT phantom were similar to that in actual human thorax region. Thus, fabricated HT phantom can be utilized for radiation dosimetry in thoracic cancer patients. The materials used to develop HT phantom are easily available in market at an affordable price and easy to craft

Prescription practices and availability of artemisinin monotherapy in India: where do we stand?

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The World Health Organization has urged all member states to deploy artemisinin-based combination therapy and progressively withdraw oral artemisinin monotherapies from the market due to their high recrudescence rates and to reduce the risk of drug resistance. Prescription practices by physicians and the availability of oral artemisinin monotherapies with pharmacists directly affect the pattern of their use. Thus, treatment practices for malaria, with special reference to artemisinin monotherapy prescription, in selected states of India were evaluated.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Structured, tested questionnaires were used to conduct convenience surveys of physicians and pharmacists in eleven purposively selected districts across six states in 2008. In addition, exit interviews of patients with a diagnosis of uncomplicated malaria or a prescription for an anti-malarial drug were also performed. Logistic regression was used to determine patient clinical care, and institutional factors associated with artemisinin monotherapy prescription.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Five hundred and eleven physicians from 196 health facilities, 530 pharmacists, and 1, 832 patients were interviewed. Artemisinin monotherapy was available in 72.6% of pharmacies and was prescribed by physicians for uncomplicated malaria in all study states. Exit interviews among patients confirmed the high rate of use of artemisinin monotherapy with 14.8% receiving such a prescription. Case management, i.e. method of diagnosis and overall treatment, varied by state and public or private sector. Treatment in the private sector (OR 8.0, 95%CI: 3.8, 17) was the strongest predictor of artemisinin monotherapy prescription when accounting for other factors. Use of the combination therapy recommended by the national drug policy, artesunate + sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine, was minimal (4.9%), with the exception of one state.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Artemisinin monotherapy use was widespread across India in 2008. The accessible sale of oral artemisinin monotherapy in retail market and an inadequate supply of recommended drugs in the public sector health facilities promoted its prescription. This study resulted in notifications to all state drug controllers in India to withdraw the oral artemisinin formulations from the market. In 2010, artesunate + sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine became the universal first-line treatment for confirmed <it>Plasmodium falciparum </it>malaria and was deployed at full scale.</p

Probing interlayer interactions and commensurate-incommensurate transition in twisted bilayer graphene through Raman spectroscopy

Twisted 2D layered materials have garnered a lot of attention recently as a class of 2D materials whose interlayer interactions and electronic properties are dictated by the relative rotation / twist angle between the adjacent layers. In this work, we explore a prototype of such a twisted 2D system, artificially stacked twisted bilayer graphene (TBLG), where we probe the changes in the interlayer interactions and electron-phonon scattering pathways as the twist angle is varied from 0{\deg} to 30{\deg}, using Raman spectroscopy. The long range Moir\'e potential of the superlattice gives rise to additional intravalley and intervalley scattering of the electrons in TBLG which have been investigated through their Raman signatures. The density functional theory (DFT) calculations of the electronic band structure of the TBLG superlattices was found to be in agreement with the resonant Raman excitations across the van Hove singularities in the valence and conduction bands predicted for TBLG due to hybridization of bands from the two layers. We also observe that the relative rotation between the graphene layers has a marked influence on the second order overtone and combination Raman modes signalling a commensurate-incommensurate transition in TBLG as the twist angle increases. This serves as a convenient and rapid characterization tool to determine the degree of commensurability in TBLG systems

Production of Potent Antimicrobial Compounds from Streptomyces cyaneofuscatus Associated with Fresh Water Sediment

The genus Streptomyces under phylum actinobacteria has been recognized as a prolific source for the production of bioactive secondary metabolites. An actinobacterial strain designated as DST103 isolated from a wetland fresh water sediment of Tamdil Lake, Mizoram, Northeast, India was identified as Streptomyces cyaneofuscatus (KY287599) using 16SrRNA gene sequencing which shares 99.87% sequence similarity with Streptomyces cyaneofuscatus NRRL B-2570T. The strain showed broad spectrum antimicrobial activities against Gram negative bacteria (Escherichia coli MTCC 739 and Pseudomonas aeruginosa MTCC 2453), Gram positive bacteria (Micrococcus luteus NCIM 2170 and Staphylococcus aureus MTCC 96) and yeast pathogen Candida albicans MTCC 3017). The methanolic extract of the strain DST103 exhibited highest antimicrobial activity against E. coli (IC50 = 2.10 μg/mL) and minimum activity against S. aureus (IC50 = 43.63 μg/mL). Five antibiotics [trimethoprim (18 μg/g), fluconazole (6 μg/g), ketoconazole (18 μg/g), nalidixic acid (135 μg/g), and rifampicin (56 μg/g)] were detected and quantified using ultra-performance liquid chromatography (UPLC-ESI-MS/MS). Further, biosynthetic potential genes [polyketide synthases type II, non-ribosomal peptide synthetases, and aminodeoxyisochorismate synthase (phzE)] were also detected in strain DST103 which may possibly be responsible for the production of antimicrobial compounds. Additionally, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis showed the presence of four volatile compounds which might be responsible for their diverse biological activity. The present study revealed the presence of bioactive compounds in strain DST103, which may be a promising resource for the discovery of novel bioactive metabolites against wide range of pathogens

Isolation of endophytic fungi from South African plants, and screening for their antimicrobial and extracellular enzymatic activities and presence of type I polyketide synthases

Endophytes are bacteria or fungi which live inside the host plant and participate in many biological processes without causing disease or other adverse effects. Endophytes are recognised as a rich source of secondary metabolites with potentially useful pharmacological properties. Many South African medicinal plants are highly under-investigated sources of potentially useful endophytic microbes. In this report six endophytic fungi were obtained from the leaves, stems and roots of South African medicinal plants which are known for their traditional uses and pharmacological properties. The endophytic fungi were isolated from Cotyledon orbiculata L., Psychotria zombamontana (Kuntze) Petit, Tecomaria capensis (Thunb.) Lindl., Catha edulis (Vahl) Endl. and Melianthus comosus Vahl. The crude extracts of the isolated endophytic fungi were investigated for their antimicrobial potential, extracellular enzymatic activity and phosphate solubilization. Additionally, the present study used genetic screening to assess the ability of the endophytic fungi to synthesize bioactive compounds, indicated by the presence of the polyketide synthase type 1 (PKS 1) gene. In preliminary microbial inhibition screening the fungal extracts had promising antifungal activity against Cryptococcus neoformans and Candida albicans. Furthermore, the endophytic fungus Talaromyces funiculosus displayed extracellular enzymatic activity, namely xylanase and cellulase. Five fungal strains demonstrated ability to solubilize phosphate and three strains demonstrated the presence of polyketide synthase type 1 (PKS 1) gene. It is worth considering further investigation of their bioactive secondary metabolites.The University of Pretoria, South Africahttp://www.elsevier.com/locate/sajb2022-04-16hj2021Paraclinical Science