Vegetarianism and cultism

It can be seen that religious worship of lord Shiva and his way of life prevailed in many parts of the Indian subcontinent before 400 BC. In order to know the rituals performed in Shaivism one must do a research beyond its origin and antiquity. The glories of God reveals that only through love one can approach the God and receive God's grace. In this case, the devotional norms of religious leaders like Thayumanavar, Vallalar are taken in detail and explained and develops sovereign thoughts in human society. The Tamil people lived in harmony with nature and admired, protected and praised the beauty of nature. They found God in the beauty of nature. It was called 'Murugu', and this Tamil word means beauty, youth, fragrance and immortality. It is nature that combines all these four thinga and found God in it. Anciet Tamil people felt that worship is the source of all virtue and morality. "Shaivites believe that it is impossible to get divine experience through knowledge and research and it can only be achieved through devotional worship." Such Saivite worship can be divided into two types: temple worship and thoughtful worship. Temple worship has existed in Tamil Nadu since ancient times. It became the lifeblood of social and religious life. Thoughtful worship is called yogic worship. Worshiping the Lord with the inner being as a temple is the thoughtful worship. Love should rule in all spheres of life. It is only then that the sovereign will grow in virtue. This is what that is conveyed to the world by the concept of Saivism and worshi

Virtues in Pathinenkeelkanaku text

Tamil is a language of great antiquity, rich in literature, moral ideas and sweetness. Nannul says virtue, material, pleasure and home are important for a man to lead his life happily. Eleven books out of eighteen books (Pathinenkeelkanaku text) in Tamil literature are books of virtue. Virtue is a knowledge-based philosophy of living by thinking of good deeds that bring as much benefit as possible to all human beings during their lifetime. Morality removes the selfish thoughts of a man and leads him to live a happiest life. All these eleven books of virtue consist of many moral ideas that are helpful for human beings. This article examines the overall virtues in the text and has presented the special features in them

An Approach of Initiating Geriatric Screening OPD at the Rural Health Training Centre of SMVMCH, Pondicherry

Objectives: To study the common chronic health problems among the elderly patients attending in recently initiated geriatric screening OPD at the RHTC. Material and Methods: Since one year, screening OPD has been started at RHTC of SMVMCH, for old patients (>60 years), twice a week. A team of trained medical interns, a post-graduate, a faculty in Community Medicine and a counselor screen and counsel the elderly patients for common medical and mental health problems. The screening tool is structured and has been adopted for patients of geriatric OPD at RHTC. The screening tool consist of General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-5), Psychosis screening, Alzheimer’s disease (AD8) questionnaire and checklist of common medical conditions. Patients were screened for early detection of health problems followed by counseling them/their caregivers and referral to specialty OPD for further care. Results: Total 512 elderly patients were screened over 4 months period from the start of geriatric OPD. Out of them, 276 (54%) and 117 (23%) were between the age group of 60-65 years and 66-70 years respectively. Among them 387 (75%) were below poverty line and 68 (13.3%) were having some kind of health insurance. GHQ score indicates that 255 (50%) patients had a score more than one and it was significantly higher among females compared to males. About 76 (16.8%) elderly had a score of > 1 for psychosis, out of which only 12 (14%) were referred to the higher centre. AD8 score shows 204 (40%) patients attended the clinic having a score more than 1 and it is significantly higher among females compared to males. Counseling for caregivers was given only in 13 (6%) of the patients with high AD8 score. Common chronic conditions present among them were joint pains (310, 60%), visual disturbances (247, 48%), hearing difficulty (120, 23.4%) and hypertension (107, 21%). Conclusion: The proportion of people with AD8 score more than 1 is high and most common chronic condition seen is joint pain. The action component of the clinic such as referral of dementia patients, psychosis patients and counseling of their care-givers need to be strengthened

Image-Based Treatment Planning of the Post-Lumpectomy Breast Utilizing CT and 3TMRI

Accurate lumpectomy cavity definition is critical in breast treatment planning. We compared contouring lumpectomy cavity volume and cavity visualization score (CVS) with CT versus 3T MRI. 29 patients were imaged with CT and 3T MRI. Seven additional boost planning sets were obtained for 36 image sets total. Three observers contoured the lumpectomy cavity on all images, assigning a cavity visualization score (CVS ) of 1 to 5. Measures of consistency and agreement for CT volumes were 98.84% and 98.62%, for T1 MRI were 95.65% and 95.55%, and for T2 MRI were 97.63% and 97.71%. The mean CT, T1 MRI, and T2 MRI CVS scores were 3.28, 3.38, and 4.32, respectively. There was a highly significant difference between CT and T2 scores (P < .00001) and between T1 and T2 scores (P < .00001). Interobserver consistency and agreement regarding volumes were high for all three modalities with T2 MRI CVS the highest. MRI may contribute to target definition in selected patients

Ethnomedical survey of plants used by the Orang Asli in Kampung Bawong, Perak, West Malaysia

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>A qualitative ethnomedical survey was carried out among a local Orang Asli tribe to gather information on the use of medicinal plants in the region of Kampung Bawong, Perak of West Malaysia in order to evaluate the potential medicinal uses of local plants used in curing different diseases and illnesses.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Sixteen informants ranging in age from 35 to 65 years were interviewed. A total of 62 species of plants used by Orang Asli are described in this study based on field surveys and direct face to face communication. These plants belonged to 36 families and are used to treat a wide range of discomforts and diseases.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The results of this study showed that majority of the Orang Asli, of Kampung Bawong are still dependent on local plants as their primary source of medication. As the first ethnomedical study in this area, publishing this work is expected to open up more studies to identify and assess the pharmacological and toxicological action of the plants from this region.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Preservation and recording of ethnobotanical and ethnomedical uses of traditional medicinal plants is an indispensable obligation for sustaining the medicinal and cultural resource of mankind. Extensive research on such traditional plants is of prime importance to scientifically validate their ethnomedical claims.</p

Nanostructured AgBr loaded TiO2: An efficient sunlight active photocatalyst for degradation of Reactive Red 120

The AgBr loaded TiO2 catalyst was prepared by a feasible approach with AgBr and tetraisopropyl orthotitanate and characterized by BET surface area measurement, diffuse reflectance spectra (DRS), scanning electron microscope (SEM), energy dispersive spectra (EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscope (TEM) and atomic force microscope (AFM) analysis. The results of characterization reveal that AgBr loaded TiO2 has a nanostructure. Formation of the nanostructure in AgBr loaded TiO2 results in substantial shifting of the absorption edge of TiO2 to red and enhancement of visible light absorption. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy measurements reveal that AgBr loaded TiO2 has a higher photoconductivity than prepared TiO2 due to higher separation efficiency of electron-hole pairs. Cyclic voltammetric studies reveal enhanced conductivity in AgBr loaded TiO2, which causes an increase in its photocatalytic activity. AgBr loaded TiO2 exhibited a higher photocatalytic activity than TiO2-P25 and prepared TiO2 in the photodegradation of Reactive Red 120 (RR 120)

Composite carbon materials from winery composted waste for the treatment of effluents contaminated with ketoprofen and 2-nitrophenol

The present work consisted of preparing and characterizing composite carbon materials (WRCC) from raw winery residues (WR) activated with zinc chloride to produce a carbon adsorbent. The WRCC was used for the adsorption of emerging contaminants in aqueous media. The WRCC presented a morphology with favorable characteristics for the adsorption process, giving an abundant porous structure with pores of different sizes. The results show the WRCC's effectiveness, presenting surface area values (227 m2 g-1) and total pore volume (0.175 cm3 g-1). The general order kinetic model predicted the experimental curves sufficiently. The Sips model better described the two adsorbates' equilibrium data, with maximum adsorption capacities of 376.0 and 119.6 mg g-1 for 2-nitrophenol and ketoprofen, respectively. The WRCC carbon material was also highly efficient, with maximum removal of 81.4% and 94% in 1000 mg L-1 of the compounds 2-nitrophenol and ketoprofen. Finally, the prepared material has essential characteristics that make it an efficient adsorbent in treating effluents with emerging contaminants

Pharmacological Inhibition of Nicotinamide Phosphoribosyltransferase/Visfatin Enzymatic Activity Identifies a New Inflammatory Pathway Linked to NAD

Nicotinamide phosphoribosyltransferase (NAMPT), also known as visfatin, is the rate-limiting enzyme in the salvage pathway of NAD biosynthesis from nicotinamide. Since its expression is upregulated during inflammation, NAMPT represents a novel clinical biomarker in acute lung injury, rheumatoid arthritis, and Crohn's disease. However, its role in disease progression remains unknown. We report here that NAMPT is a key player in inflammatory arthritis. Increased expression of NAMPT was confirmed in mice with collagen-induced arthritis, both in serum and in the arthritic paw. Importantly, a specific competitive inhibitor of NAMPT effectively reduced arthritis severity with comparable activity to etanercept, and decreased pro-inflammatory cytokine secretion in affected joints. Moreover, NAMPT inhibition reduced intracellular NAD concentration in inflammatory cells and circulating TNFα levels during endotoxemia in mice. In vitro pharmacological inhibition of NAMPT reduced the intracellular concentration of NAD and pro-inflammatory cytokine secretion by inflammatory cells. Thus, NAMPT links NAD metabolism to inflammatory cytokine secretion by leukocytes, and its inhibition might therefore have therapeutic efficacy in immune-mediated inflammatory disorders