Phytochemical Screening and Antimicrobial Activity of the Plant Extracts of Mimosa pudica L. Against Selected Microbes

Mimosa pudica L. is a creeping annual or perennial herb. It has been identified as Lajjalu in Ayurveda and has been found to have antiasthmatic, aphrodisiac, analgesic and antidepressant. In the present study the active phytocomponents of Mimosa pudica were revealed using phytochemical analysis. The antimicrobial activity of Mimosa was studied using well diffusion method. The activity was tested against Aspergillus fumigatus, Citrobacter divergens and Klebsiella pneumonia at different concentrations of 50, 100 and 200μg/disc and the results have been illustrated

Influence of drug susceptibility on treatment outcome and susceptibility profile of 'failures' to category II regimen

Objective: To assess the influence of drug resistance on treatment outcome among patients treated with Category-II regimen and document drug susceptibility pattern of “Failures” to this regimen. Design: A retrospective analysis of patients registered from May 1999 through December 2004. Results: Treatment success was 42% among 572 patients and was similar among patients with fully susceptible or resistant but non-MDR organisms (41% of 254 and 40% of 128 patients, respectively). Among 49 MDR-TB patients, 27% had successful treatment outcome. The failure rates among patients with fully susceptible, resistant but non-MDR and MDR bacilli, were 6%, 12% and 27% respectively. Default was significantly higher among males (53% vs. 34%: p<0.01) smokers (57% vs. 36%: p <0.001), alcoholics (58% vs. 39%: p <0.001) and patients with higher initial smear grading (2+ or 3+, 56% vs. scanty or 1+, 44%: p <0.01). DST results were available for 60% (31 of 52) of failures and 10 had MDR-TB. Conclusion: The low success rate to the re-treatment regimen was mainly due to non-compliance. Failure was observed among 9% of patients and MDR-TB was 32% among Category II failures. The currently recommended Category II regimen appears to be adequate for majority of re-treatment cases

Is it worth treating category I failure patients with category II regimen?

Background: Very little information is available on the drug susceptibility profile among patients who are treated with standardized short-course chemotherapy regimens under programme conditions. Methods: Sputum samples were collected from new sputum smear-positive patients declared ‘failure’ after treatment with Category I regimen under tuberculosis control programme using DOTS strategy from a rural area of Tamil Nadu. Results: Of 1463 patients started on Category I regimen between May1999 and December 2002, 74 cases were declared as ‘failures’ (smear positive at 5/6 months of treatment). We collected sputum samples from 60 (81%) of 74 ‘failures’ and 27% (16 of 60) of them were culture-negative for M tuberculosis and 17% (10 of 60) had organisms resistant to Isoniazid and Rifampicin (MDR TB). Conclusion: Based on the drug susceptibility profile at the time of ‘failure’, treating Category I ‘failures’ with Category II regimen with close monitoring appears to be justified

Management of Multi Drug Resistance Tuberculosis in the Field: Tuberculosis Research Centre Experience

Setting: Multi-drug TB resistant (resistant to isoniazid and rifampicin) patients identified from a rural and urban area. Objective: To study the feasibility of managing MDR TB patients under field conditions where DOTS programme has been implemented Methods: MDR TB Patients identified among patients treated under DOTS in the rural area and from cases referred by the NGO when MDR TB was suspected form the study population. Culture and drug susceptibility testing were done at Tuberculosis Research Centre (TRC). Treatment regimen was decided on individual basis. After a period of initial hospitalization, treatment was continued in the respective peripheral health facility or with the NGO after identifying a DOT provider in the field. Patients attended TRC at monthly intervals for clinical, sociological and bacteriological evaluations. Drugs for the month were pre-packed and handed over to the respective center. Results: A total of 66 MDR TB patients (46 from the rural and 20 from the NGO) started on treatment form the study population and among them 20 (30%) were resistant to one or more second line drugs (Eto, Ofx, Km) including a case of “XDR TB”. Less than half the patients stayed in the hospital for more than 10 days. The treatment was provided partially under supervision. Providing injection was identified to be a major problem. Response to treatment could be correctly predicted based on the 6-month smear results in 40 of 42 regular patients. Successful treatment outcome was observed only in 37% of cases with a high default of 24%. Adverse reactions necessitating modification of treatment was required only for three patients. Implications Despite having reliable DST and drug logistics, the main challenge was to maintain patients on such prolonged treatment by identifying a provider closer to the patient who can also give injection, have social skills and manage of minor adverse reactions

Low energy excitations in crystalline perovskite oxides: Evidence from noise experiments

In this paper we report measurements of 1/f noise in a crystalline metallic oxide with perovskite structure down to 4.2K. The results show existence of localized excitations with average activation energy $\approx$ 70-80 meV which produce peak in the noise at T $\approx$ 35-40K. In addition, it shows clear evidence of tunnelling type two-level-systems (as in glasses) which show up in noise measurements below 30K.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figures, to appear in Phys Rev B, vol 58, 1st Dec issu

Sputum conversion at the end of intensive phase of Category-1 regimen in the treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis patients with diabetes mellitus or HIV infection: An analysis of risk factors

Background & objectives: New smear-positive pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) patients in the Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme (RNTCP) are treated with a 6-month short-course chemotherapy (SCC) regimen irrespective of co-morbid conditions. We undertook this retrospective analysis to compare sputum conversion rates (smear, culture) at the end of intensive phase (IP) of Category-1 regimen among patients admitted to concurrent controlled clinical trials: pulmonary tuberculosis alone (PTB) or with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM-TB) or HIV infection (HIV-TB), and to identify the risk factors influencing sputum conversion. Methods: In this retrospective analysis sputum conversion rates at the end of intensive phase (IP) in three concurrent studies undertaken among PTB, DM-TB and HIV-TB patients, during 1998 – 2002 at the Tuberculosis Research Centre (TRC), Chennai, were compared. Sputum smears were examined by fluorescent microscopy. HIV infected patients did not receive anti-retroviral treatment (ART). Patients with DM were treated with oral hypoglycaemic drugs or insulin (sc). Results: The study population included 98, 92 and 88 patients in the PTB, DM-TB and HIV-TB studies. At the end of IP the smear conversion (58, 61, and 62%) and culture conversion (86, 88 and 92%) rates were similar in the three groups respectively. The variables associated with lack of sputum smear or culture conversion were age >45 yr, higher pre-treatment smear and culture grading, and extent of the radiographic involvement. Interpretation & conclusions: Our findings confirm that the current policy of the control programme to treat all pulmonary TB patients with or with out co-morbid conditions with Category-I regimen appears to be appropriate

Snake bite mimicking brain death

A 6 year old girl woke up with pain and increasing swelling over the left hand and difficulty in breathing. On examination, she had swelling of the left forearm and hand, flaccid quadriparesis and was in respiratory failure requiring mechanical ventilation. Two clean puncture wounds were identified on the left thumb. A provisional diagnosis of snake bite with severe envenomation was made and she was given anti snake venom therapy. Over a period of about 4 hours her weakness progressed. She became areflexic, developed internal and external ophthalmoplegia and loss of other brain stem reflexes mimicking brain death. Mechanical ventilation was continued despite features suggestive of brain stem dysfunction. About 36 hours after ventilation she showed a flicker of movement of her fingers and gradually the power improved. She was weaned off the ventilator and extubated after 5 days. External ophthalmoplegia is an established association with cobra envenomation, but, this combination of internal and external ophthalmoplegia can mimic brain death and pose a dilemma to the caregivers regarding continuation of therapy

Low frequency 1/f noise in doped manganite grain-boundary junctions

We have performed a systematic analysis of the low frequency 1/f-noise in single grain boundary junctions in the colossal magnetoresistance material La_{2/3}Ca_{1/3}MnO_{3-delta}. The grain boundary junctions were formed in epitaxial La_{2/3}Ca_{1/3}MnO_{3-delta} films deposited on SrTiO_3 bicrystal substrates and show a large tunneling magnetoresistance of up to 300% at 4.2 K as well as ideal, rectangular shaped resistance versus applied magnetic field curves. Below the Curie temperature T_C the measured 1/f noise is dominated by the grain boundary. The dependence of the noise on bias current, temperature and applied magnetic field gives clear evidence that the large amount of low frequency noise is caused by localized sites with fluctuating magnetic moments in a heavily disordered grain boundary region. At 4.2 K additional temporally unstable Lorentzian components show up in the noise spectra that are most likely caused by fluctuating clusters of interacting magnetic moments. Noise due to fluctuating domains in the junction electrodes is found to play no significant role.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figure