Ayurvedic understanding of Central Pontine Myelinolysis - A Case Report

A 56 year old male patient was admitted to S.D.M Ayurveda Hospital, Hassan, Karnataka with the confirmed diagnosis of Central Pontine Myelinolysis (CPM) on 11/12/17. The chief complaints were weakness of both hands and legs, stiffness in both hands and legs, pain in both shoulder joints, slurred speech, difficulty in walking with gait changes. H/O chronic alcoholism. MRI brain showed pontine and basal ganglia diffusion restriction - Acute Pontine Myelinolysis. The serum electrolyte showed serum sodium level as 128 mmol/litre. This disease can be understood as Samana Avruta Vyana in hyponatremic encephalopathy stage and the stage of myelinolysis can be understood as Sarvanga Vata with Kapha Avruta Udana and Vyana. After clinical evaluation, Avarana Chikitsa was started followed by Kevala Vatika Chikitsa and significant improvement was seen. Significant result was observed in subjective and objective parameters after the treatment. The patient was discharged with oral medications for 1 month

Pournami - A high yielding black pepper selection tolerant to root-knot nematode (Meloidogyne incognita)

A high yielding selection (CoIl. 812) from the germplasm, named Pournami, was tolerant to root-knot nematode (Meloidogyne incognita), damaging roots of black pepper and causing yellowing of leaves and significant yield decline. This selection when tested for its comparative yield performance, was on par with Karimunda and Panniyur-I and was recommended for release. &nbsp

Pournami - A high yielding black pepper selection tolerant to root-knot nematode (Meloidogyne incognita)

A high yielding selection (CoIl. 812) from the germplasm, named Pournami, was tolerant to root-knot nematode (Meloidogyne incognita), damaging roots of black pepper and causing yellowing of leaves and significant yield decline. This selection when tested for its comparative yield performance, was on par with Karimunda and Panniyur-I and was recommended for release. &nbsp

Impact of primary kidney disease on the effects of empagliflozin in patients with chronic kidney disease: secondary analyses of the EMPA-KIDNEY trial

Background: The EMPA KIDNEY trial showed that empagliflozin reduced the risk of the primary composite outcome of kidney disease progression or cardiovascular death in patients with chronic kidney disease mainly through slowing progression. We aimed to assess how effects of empagliflozin might differ by primary kidney disease across its broad population. Methods: EMPA-KIDNEY, a randomised, controlled, phase 3 trial, was conducted at 241 centres in eight countries (Canada, China, Germany, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, the UK, and the USA). Patients were eligible if their estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) was 20 to less than 45 mL/min per 1·73 m2, or 45 to less than 90 mL/min per 1·73 m2 with a urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio (uACR) of 200 mg/g or higher at screening. They were randomly assigned (1:1) to 10 mg oral empagliflozin once daily or matching placebo. Effects on kidney disease progression (defined as a sustained ≥40% eGFR decline from randomisation, end-stage kidney disease, a sustained eGFR below 10 mL/min per 1·73 m2, or death from kidney failure) were assessed using prespecified Cox models, and eGFR slope analyses used shared parameter models. Subgroup comparisons were performed by including relevant interaction terms in models. EMPA-KIDNEY is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03594110. Findings: Between May 15, 2019, and April 16, 2021, 6609 participants were randomly assigned and followed up for a median of 2·0 years (IQR 1·5–2·4). Prespecified subgroupings by primary kidney disease included 2057 (31·1%) participants with diabetic kidney disease, 1669 (25·3%) with glomerular disease, 1445 (21·9%) with hypertensive or renovascular disease, and 1438 (21·8%) with other or unknown causes. Kidney disease progression occurred in 384 (11·6%) of 3304 patients in the empagliflozin group and 504 (15·2%) of 3305 patients in the placebo group (hazard ratio 0·71 [95% CI 0·62–0·81]), with no evidence that the relative effect size varied significantly by primary kidney disease (pheterogeneity=0·62). The between-group difference in chronic eGFR slopes (ie, from 2 months to final follow-up) was 1·37 mL/min per 1·73 m2 per year (95% CI 1·16–1·59), representing a 50% (42–58) reduction in the rate of chronic eGFR decline. This relative effect of empagliflozin on chronic eGFR slope was similar in analyses by different primary kidney diseases, including in explorations by type of glomerular disease and diabetes (p values for heterogeneity all >0·1). Interpretation: In a broad range of patients with chronic kidney disease at risk of progression, including a wide range of non-diabetic causes of chronic kidney disease, empagliflozin reduced risk of kidney disease progression. Relative effect sizes were broadly similar irrespective of the cause of primary kidney disease, suggesting that SGLT2 inhibitors should be part of a standard of care to minimise risk of kidney failure in chronic kidney disease. Funding: Boehringer Ingelheim, Eli Lilly, and UK Medical Research Council

Para-infectious brain injury in COVID-19 persists at follow-up despite attenuated cytokine and autoantibody responses

To understand neurological complications of COVID-19 better both acutely and for recovery, we measured markers of brain injury, inflammatory mediators, and autoantibodies in 203 hospitalised participants; 111 with acute sera (1–11 days post-admission) and 92 convalescent sera (56 with COVID-19-associated neurological diagnoses). Here we show that compared to 60 uninfected controls, tTau, GFAP, NfL, and UCH-L1 are increased with COVID-19 infection at acute timepoints and NfL and GFAP are significantly higher in participants with neurological complications. Inflammatory mediators (IL-6, IL-12p40, HGF, M-CSF, CCL2, and IL-1RA) are associated with both altered consciousness and markers of brain injury. Autoantibodies are more common in COVID-19 than controls and some (including against MYL7, UCH-L1, and GRIN3B) are more frequent with altered consciousness. Additionally, convalescent participants with neurological complications show elevated GFAP and NfL, unrelated to attenuated systemic inflammatory mediators and to autoantibody responses. Overall, neurological complications of COVID-19 are associated with evidence of neuroglial injury in both acute and late disease and these correlate with dysregulated innate and adaptive immune responses acutely

Para-infectious brain injury in COVID-19 persists at follow-up despite attenuated cytokine and autoantibody responses

To understand neurological complications of COVID-19 better both acutely and for recovery, we measured markers of brain injury, inflammatory mediators, and autoantibodies in 203 hospitalised participants; 111 with acute sera (1–11 days post-admission) and 92 convalescent sera (56 with COVID-19-associated neurological diagnoses). Here we show that compared to 60 uninfected controls, tTau, GFAP, NfL, and UCH-L1 are increased with COVID-19 infection at acute timepoints and NfL and GFAP are significantly higher in participants with neurological complications. Inflammatory mediators (IL-6, IL-12p40, HGF, M-CSF, CCL2, and IL-1RA) are associated with both altered consciousness and markers of brain injury. Autoantibodies are more common in COVID-19 than controls and some (including against MYL7, UCH-L1, and GRIN3B) are more frequent with altered consciousness. Additionally, convalescent participants with neurological complications show elevated GFAP and NfL, unrelated to attenuated systemic inflammatory mediators and to autoantibody responses. Overall, neurological complications of COVID-19 are associated with evidence of neuroglial injury in both acute and late disease and these correlate with dysregulated innate and adaptive immune responses acutely

Design and development of Image processing algorithms for quantitative road traffic data analysis

The project aims to design and develop efficient algorithms using image processing techniques for the quantitative analysis of road traffic data in addition to enabling a better learning experience of a more commonly used software MATLAB. Road traffic data has been a major concern for traffic engineers in optimizing the efficiency and capacity of any modern transport system. The project aspires to develop a real time traffic analysis system for monitoring traffic flow, collect statistical data of traffic analysis and enhance the alogrithms in place to attain higher efficiency. Several existing traffic monitoring techniques such as edge detection, background difference, and inter-frame difference among others were researched and implemented in this project. Traffic video samples from express highways as well as city roads were collected for different lighting conditions, extracted into frames and subjected to different image processing techniques in MATLAB. Existing algorithms and Fuzzy Logic algorithms were implemented to obtain quantitative data such as vehicle speed and vehicle count and a comparative analysis was performed to obtain the better algorithm and better technique. Vehicle classification as per the size was incorporated in addition to measuring the percentage of road usage. The implementation and processing was done by designing a MATLAB Graphical User Interface by keeping in mind a myriad of possible user defined settings. Results comparison between the segmentation techniques showed that edge detection was the better method. In addition, a comparative study was done to observe which angle of video footage gave better results – the front angle or back angle. Also, comparison of the different lighting conditions was performed. A study of the results obtained when using different frame extraction rate, various window detection lengths was also done. In addition, a comparison of the results of the traffic in express highways and city roads was performed to observe if the results were aligned.Bachelor of Engineerin

Biocultural Diversity of the Endemic ‘Wild Jack Tree’ on the Malabar Coast of South India

Artocarpus hirsutus Lam. is an endemic tree species of the southern Western Ghats of Peninsular India. It is popularly known as the "wild jack tree”. Several attributes in art, culture and socio-economic civilization among the folk communities in Kerala state (Malabar coast) distinguish the tree in the history of Indian civilization. Most of the traditional uses and indigenous know-how earlier referred to this species are vanishing. This article discusses various aspects of the popular wild jack tree of the Malabar coast and its vanishing indigenous biocultural diversity among the folk communities of the region