Studies on structural elucidation of delphinium alkaloids by using LC-ESI-MS technique.

A rapid,sensitive and specific liquid chromatography-electron spray-mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS) method to identify the different diester-diterpenoid and monoester type alkaloids from delphinium cashmerianum Collected from Sopi Kargil. Chromatographic separation were achieved on c-18 coloumn and peaks determined by mass spectrometry in positive and negative modes.The validated method led to tentative identification of eight alkaloids on the basis of their retention times and fragmentation patterns. Results showed that the positive mode response was much higher than the negative ion mode .chromatographic conditions were optimized to obtain high resolution and short run time

Clinico-epidemiological profile and treatment outcome of lip cancer: a retrospective study from north India

Background: Aim of present study to evaluate the Clinico-epidemiological profile and treatment outcome of Lip Cancer. Methods: This was a retrospective study performed in our hospital. All necessary clinical and epidemiological details of the 11 cases diagnosed with lip cancer from January 2016 to December 2021 were analysed. Results: The total number of new malignant cases diagnosed as lip cancer between January 2016 and December 2021 were 11, which comprised 6 male (55%) and 5 (45%) female. The male-to-female ratio was (1.2:1). The most common histological type was SCC, i.e., in 9 (81.8%) of the total number of cases and BCC was in 2 patients (18.2%). Overall survival at 5 years was 89% in our study. Conclusions: In conclusion, we have reported higher levels of lip cancer among men and those above 45 years of age. The important prognostic factors for overall survival in these patients were cancer stages. Better survival is achieved with surgery alone in the early stages and with adjuvant radiotherapy in the later stages

Clinico-epidemiological profile and treatment outcome of pituitary adenomas: a retrospective study

Background: Aim of this study was to evaluate the clinico-epidemiological profile and treatment outcome of pituitary adenomas. Methods: This was a retrospective study performed in the department of Radiation Oncology, Sher-I-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences, Soura, Srinagar, India, in which 30 cases diagnosed with pituitary adenoma from January 2016 to December 2021 were studied.  There clinical and epidemiological features, treatment, overall survival and follow-up data was analyzed. Results: Most patients were female in gender 17 (57%), and the incidence rate was higher in female patients than male. Microadenoma was seen in just 4 (13%) patients. Macroadenoma in 12 (40%) and giant tumours in 14 (47%). At three and five years, the overall survival rate was 92% and 83%, respectively. Additionally, patients who got adjuvant radiation had a higher overall survival rate (84% versus 76%, p=.833) than those who did not. Conclusions: Radiotherapy is an effective treatment for pituitary adenomas, able to achieve excellent disease control. Patients with pituitary adenomas should be identified at an early stage so that effective treatment can be implemented. Initial therapy is generally transsphenoidal surgery with irradiation reserved for patients who do not achieve adequate reduction in tumor size after surgery

Determinants of Food Security in Turkmenistan

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Psychosocial and medical factors affecting treatment compliance in patients attending psychiatric hospital: a study from Kashmir

Background: Compliance with medication is decisive for treatment of the psychiatric disorders and is necessary for determining the outcome and prognoses of psychiatric patients. While the causes of poor compliance are multifactorial, the psychiatrist should be aware of such factors and may be able to implement interventions to address those factors. The objective of study was to find out the various medical and social reasons affecting treatment Compliance among patients suffering from psychiatric disorders.Methods: A Cross-Sectional study from 2011 to 2012 was conducted in IMHANS (Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences) Srinagar (J&K), a questionnaire was designed, and the questionnaire included questions on socio-demographic variables, psychiatric illnesses, and Medical and psycho-social affecting treatment compliance. A systematic selection method for choosing the respondents was opted, questionnaire was administered on 200 (n=200) patients who attended the Outpatient department during the period. Simple random sampling method was applied for selection of respondents, the first time visitors to OPD were exclude along with repetition of respondents.Results: Out of 200 respondents studied in the study 41.5 % were males and 58.5% were females. Maximum number of patients (31.5%) studied were in the age group below the 30 years. 3.5% of respondents were in the age group above 70 years. Out of total 200 respondents in the study 74 % of the respondents are in compliance with recommended medicine whereas non-compliance was found in the 26% of studied population. Complications (13.46%) ascending out by usage of psychiatric medicine can be attributed as one of the major case of treatment non-compliance in psychiatric patients, among the psychiatric patients. Accessibility of psychiatric medicine and Financial constrain was also one of the reasons behind the medicine non-compliance (7.69%). Patients with no insight to psychiatric disease also include a good percentage of (5.76 %) of medicine non- compliance.  Conclusions: Non-compliance is a dominant factor which causes possibly causes readmission in psychiatric wards. Compliance in psychiatric patients in general could be enhanced and improved by adequate intervention via patient counselling and patient medicinal care and education

Nutritional composition and antioxidant capacity of Urtica hyperborea: A phytofood of Trans-Himalayan region of Ladakh, India

Urtica hyperborea Jacquem. ex Wedd., a perennial plant of Urticaceae family is considered as a wild vegetable in the mountainous region of Ladakh. Due to its application in many forms of traditional culinary in every household during the harsh winter season, the plant ensures the food security. However, the nutritional composition and phytochemical analysis of U. hyperborea responsible for these beneficial features have not been explored widely. The present study aims to determine the nutritional composition (e.g., macromolecules, pigments, minerals, phenolics and flavonoid contents), antioxidant activity and the phytochemical analysis of this plant species present in Ladakh, India. The radical scavenging and antioxidant potential of the plant were evaluated by assays like 2,2‒diphenyl‒1‒picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), hydroxyl (ºOH), and ferric ion reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) for different extracts prepared in water, methanol, ethyl acetate, and petroleum ether. Macromolecules such as protein, carbohydrate, total phenolic and flavonoid contents in U. hyperborea were found to be 62.28±6.67, 170.80±3.98, 24.47±0.39 and 5.43±0.97 mg g-1, respectively. Similarly, dried powder of U. hyperborea was found to be rich in different mineral contents such as potassium, magnesium, sodium, manganese, zinc and iron. Among the various solvents used for exploring scavenging and antioxidant potential, aqueous extracts showed highest activity with 79.2% in DPPH assay as compared to other extracts. Similar trend was observed for other assays where aqueous extracts exhibited higher activity followed by methanolic, ethyl acetate and petroleum ether extracts. Significant positive linear correlations were observed between the radical scavenging/antioxidant activity of aqueous extracts and their content of phenolic/flavonoid compounds. The identification of phenolic compounds such as coumarin, quercetin, and ferulic acid confirm the antioxidative nature of the plant. Overall, rich macromolecule and mineral contents, as well as higher radical scavenging/antioxidant activities in aqueous extracts of U. hyperborea revealed that the plant has significant potential to be utilized as a phytofood source in harsh environmental conditions

Cultural, morphological, pathogenic and molecular characterization of Alternaria mali associated with Alternaria leaf blotch of apple

Alternaria blotch (Alternaria mali) causes severe foliar damage to apple trees in Kashmir. Twenty one (21) isolates of A. mali were collected from different locations and characterized for cultural, morphological, pathogenic and molecular variations. A. mali colonies varied in their cultural behaviour ranging from velvety to cottony, mostly appressed, with regular to irregular margins. Colour of colonies ranged between light to dark olivacious. Isolates impregnated media with colour ranging between grey to brown. Growth rate of isolates was between 5.86 to 8.21 mm/day with fast growth in isolate Am-13 and least in Am-5. Morphological variations in size, shape and septation of hyphae, conidiophore and conidia were observed in the isolates with significant variations in conidiophore and conidial septation. Average conidial size ranged from 21.36 to 31.74 x 8.34 to 14.48 μm. Isolates exhibited variations in incubation period, number and size of the lesions were produced. The dendrogram analysis, based on cultural, morphological and pathogenic studies, revealed variation within A. mali population. At 67% similarity matrix, all the isolates formed 2 clusters with 12 and nine isolates in cluster I and II, respectively. However, dendrogram on molecular (random amplification of polymorphic DNA, RAPD) basis revealed five clusters at 68% Dice similarity coefficient. There was no congruence between RAPD pattern and cultural, morphological and pathogenic characters. Isolates identical for one spectrum were often dissimilar for other spectrum. The results demonstrate existence of considerable variation in cultural, morphological, pathogenic and molecular characters of A. mali isolates prevalent in Kashmir valley.Keywords: Apple, Alternaria mali, variability, cultural, morphological, pathogenic, RAPDAfrican Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 12(4), pp. 370-38

Quantitative response of wheat to sowing dates and irrigation regimes using ceres-wheat model

An experiment was conducted at Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana during 2014–15 and 2015–16, keeping four sowing dates {25th Oct (D1), 10th Nov (D2), 25th Nov (D3) and 10th Dec (D4)} in main plots and five irrigation schedules {irrigation at 15 (FC15), 25 (FC25), 35 (FC35) and 45 (FC45) % depletion of soil moisture from field capacity (FC) and a conventional practice} in sub plots. The objective of the study was to evaluate the performance of CERES-Wheat model for simulating yield and water use under varying planting and soil moisture regimes. The simulated and observed grain yield was higher in D1, with irrigation applied at FC15 as compared to all other sowing date and irrigation regime combinations. Simulated grain yield decreased by 19% with delay in sowing from 25th October to 10th December because of 8% reduction in simulated crop evapotranspiration. Simulated evapotranspiration decreased by 16%, wheat grain yield by 23% and water productivity by 15% in drip irrigation at 45% depletion from field capacity as compared to drip irrigation at 15% of field capacity. It was further revealed that the model performed well in simulating the phenology, water use and yield of wheat

Graphene and molybdenum disulfide hybrids: Synthesis and applications

Graphene and related inorganic two-dimensional (2D) nanomaterials are an exceptional class of compounds with exotic properties that are technologically intriguing. While graphene itself is chemically inert and a gapless semimetal, its isostructural analog, molybdenum disulfide (MOS2) is chemically versatile with band gaps, thereby finding significant use in a myriad of applications. Although these 2D nanomaterials individually possess tremendous authority for various applications, the combination of these materials in the recent past has created a new paradigm in emerging applications. Here, we summarize the current state-of-the-art and progress over the past three years on the development of hybrids of these layered materials. We highlight their pivotal role in electrochemical energy storage, sensing, hydrogen generation by photochemical water splitting and electronic device applications such as field-effect transistors. Perspectives on the challenges and opportunities for the exploration of these 2D layered hybrid materials are put forwardopen1

Clinical Profile and Treatment Outcome of Chordoma: A Tertiary Care Experience in North India

Chordoma is a slow growing cancer of tissue found inside the spine. Chordoma can happen anywhere along the spine. It is most often found near the tailbone (called a sacral tumor) or where the spine meets the skull (called a clival tumor). Chordoma is also called notochordal sarcoma. The main objective of this study was to determine the clinical profile and treatment outcome of chordoma patients. All the patients were diagnosed using radiological imaging and biopsy. The site of origin of chordoma was the sacrum in seventeen (71%) patients, the spine in six (25%) patients, and the skull base in one (4%) patient. 21 (88%) of the twenty-four patients received primary surgery. These 21 patients then received adjuvant radiation therapy using the intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) strategy, with radiation dose ranging from 70Gy to 74Gy. Three patients (12%) did not undergo surgery; two had low performance status and received only radiotherapy; the third with the disease at the base of the skull was unresectable; this patient received radiotherapy first, then imatinib. Compared to individuals who get radiation alone, the addition of adjuvant radiation therapy to surgery in chordoma patients enhances overall survival.Keywords: chordoma, radiotherapy, targeted therapy