A disappointing Budget -2022 so far as Health Insurance Protection is concerned especially during the critical period of covid influence

The expectations were soaring amongst the general public just before the 2022 budget with hopes in respect of reduced Income Tax rates or increased exemption limits etc. One of the biggest expectations was in respect of upward revision in Section 80 D limits which refers to health insurance premium paid and the same has not been revised for long time. Over the years, the health insurance premium has increased substantially and more so due to huge claims from Covid in last two years. But, much to shock of all Income Tax Payers, the, Section 80 D limits remains untouched. There are also other policies which comes under the broad category of Health Insurance that does not qualify for Income Tax exemption but merits serious consideration. Health Insurance policies are subject to GST of 18% which  is certainly too high especially when the Government should have looked at initiating major step to boost the health insurance penetration and make feel people more secured.  For an individual to manage one’s health risk properly, he/she need to have more than one type of health insurance policies for adequate amount with all applicable riders or add-on covers which matters and all dependents like spouse, children and parents being completely covered

Honey health benefits and uses in medicine

The generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and other free radicals during metabolism is an essential and normal process that ideally is compensated through the antioxidant system. However, due to many environmental, lifestyle, and pathological situations, free radicals and oxidants can be produced in excess, resulting in oxidative damage of biomolecules (e.g., lipids, proteins, and DNA). This plays a major role in the development of chronic and degenerative illness such as cancer, autoimmune disorders, aging, cataract, rheumatoid arthritis, cardiovascular, and neurodegenerative diseases (Pham-Huy et al. 2008; Willcox et al. 2004). The human body has several mechanisms to counteract oxidative stress by producing antioxidants, which are either naturally synthetized in situ, or externally supplied through foods, and/or supplements (Pham-Huy et al. 2008).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

An investigation into the age and origin of Suranga in the foothills of the Western Ghats of India

This document is the Accepted Manuscript version. The final publication is available at Springer via: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12685-015-0125-yThis paper presents the evidence for determining the age and origin of suranga irrigation found mainly in southern Karnataka and northern Kerala in the foothills of the Western Ghats of south India. It draws on on-going research that has attempted to use an interdisciplinary approach to date the system using Indian Archives, British and Portuguese colonial archives, etymology, oral testimony archaeology, phenology and palaeo dating techniques. The results from this study put the origins of the system at around 1900–1940 CE. These results are compared with the current academic discourse that supports the view that the system originates from ancient Persia and qanat technology, because of the long established trade links with Persia and the Arabian Peninsula in the Malabar region. We argue that a new ‘origin discourse’ should be framed around these much more recent dates. The methodological constraints behind both theories are discussed throughout to enable the reader to appreciate the limitations of both arguments.Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio

Duffy antigen receptor for chemokines mediates chemokine endocytosis through a macropinocytosis-like process in endothelial cells

Background: The Duffy antigen receptor for chemokines (DARC) shows high affinity binding to multiple inflammatory CC and CXC chemokines and is expressed by erythrocytes and endothelial cells. Recent evidence suggests that endothelial DARC facilitates chemokine transcytosis to promote neutrophil recruitment. However, the mechanism of chemokine endocytosis by DARC remains unclear. Methodology/Principal Findings: We investigated the role of several endocytic pathways in DARC-mediated ligand internalization. Here we report that, although DARC co-localizes with caveolin-1 in endothelial cells, caveolin-1 is dispensable for DARC-mediated 125I-CXCL1 endocytosis as knockdown of caveolin-1 failed to inhibit ligand internalization. 125I-CXCL1 endocytosis by DARC was also independent of clathrin and flotillin-1 but required cholesterol and was, in part, inhibited by silencing Dynamin II expression. 125I-CXCL1 endocytosis was inhibited by amiloride, cytochalasin D, and the PKC inhibitor Gö6976 whereas Platelet Derived Growth Factor (PDGF) enhanced ligand internalization through DARC. The majority of DARC-ligand interactions occurred on the endothelial surface, with DARC identified along plasma membrane extensions with the appearance of ruffles, supporting the concept that DARC provides a high affinity scaffolding function for surface retention of chemokines on endothelial cells. Conclusions/Significance: These results show DARC-mediated chemokine endocytosis occurs through a macropinocytosis-like process in endothelial cells and caveolin-1 is dispensable for CXCL1 internalization. © 2011 Zhao et al

Increasing adiposity is associated with QTc interval prolongation and increased ventricular arrhythmic risk in the context of metabolic dysfunction: results from the UK Biobank

Background: Small-scale studies have linked obesity (Ob) and metabolic ill-health with proarrhythmic repolarisation abnormalities. Whether these are observed at a population-scale, modulated by individuals’ genetics and confer higher risks of ventricular arrhythmias (VA) are not known. Methods and Results: Firstly, using the UK Biobank, the association between adiposity and QTc interval was assessed in participants with resting 12-lead ECG (n=23,683), and a polygenic risk score was developed to investigate any modulatory effect of genetics. Participants were also categorised into four phenotypes according to presence (+) or absence (-) of Ob, and if they were metabolically unhealthy (MU+) or not (MU-). QTc was positively associated with body mass index, body fat, waist:hip ratio, and hip and waist girths. Individuals’ genetics had no significant modulatory effect on QTc-prolonging effects of increasing adiposity. QTc was comparably longer in those with metabolic perturbation without obesity (Ob-MU+) and obesity alone (Ob+MU-) compared to individuals with neither (Ob-MU-), and their co-existence (Ob+MU+) had an additive effect on QTc interval. Secondly, for 502,536 participants in the UK Biobank, odds ratios (OR) for ventricular arrhythmias (VA) were computed for the four clinical phenotypes above using their past medical records. Referenced to Ob-MU-, ORs for VA in Ob-MU+ males and females were 5.96 (95%CI: 4.70-7.55) and 5.10 (95%CI: 3.34-7.80), respectively. OR for Ob+MU+ were 6.99 (95%CI: 5.72-8.54) and 3.56 (95%CI: 2.66-4.77) in males and females, respectively. Conclusion: Adiposity and metabolic perturbation increase QTc to a similar degree, and their co-existence exerts an additive effect. These effects are not modulated by individuals’ genetics. Metabolic ill-health is associated with higher OR for VA than obesity

Mutations at the Subunit Interface of Yeast Proliferating Cell Nuclear Antigen Reveal a Versatile Regulatory Domain

Acknowledgments We thank Szilvia Minorits for technical assistance. I.U. conceived and designed the project and wrote the manuscript. All authors participated in designing and performing the experiments, and analyzing the results. The authors declare no competing financial interests. This work was also supported by a grant from the National Research, Development and Innovation Office GINOP-2.3.2-15-2016-00001. Funding: This work was supported by Hungarian Science Foundation Grant OTKA 109521 and National Research Development and Innovation Office GINOP-2.3.2-15-2016-00001. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Ovarian cancer

Ovarian cancer is not a single disease and can be subdivided into at least five different histological subtypes that have different identifiable risk factors, cells of origin, molecular compositions, clinical features and treatments. Ovarian cancer is a global problem, is typically diagnosed at a late stage and has no effective screening strategy. Standard treatments for newly diagnosed cancer consist of cytoreductive surgery and platinum-based chemotherapy. In recurrent cancer, chemotherapy, anti-angiogenic agents and poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase inhibitors are used, and immunological therapies are currently being tested. High-grade serous carcinoma (HGSC) is the most commonly diagnosed form of ovarian cancer and at diagnosis is typically very responsive to platinum-based chemotherapy. However, in addition to the other histologies, HGSCs frequently relapse and become increasingly resistant to chemotherapy. Consequently, understanding the mechanisms underlying platinum resistance and finding ways to overcome them are active areas of study in ovarian cancer. Substantial progress has been made in identifying genes that are associated with a high risk of ovarian cancer (such as BRCA1 and BRCA2), as well as a precursor lesion of HGSC called serous tubal intraepithelial carcinoma, which holds promise for identifying individuals at high risk of developing the disease and for developing prevention strategies

The Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of common wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and triticale (x Triticosecale Wittmack): role of the binary vector system and selection cassettes

The influence of two binary vector systems, pGreen and pCAMBIA, on the Agrobacterium-mediated transformation ability of wheat and triticale was studied. Both vectors carried selection cassettes with bar or nptII driven by different promoters. Two cultivars of wheat, Kontesa and Torka, and one cultivar of triticale, Wanad, were tested. The transformation rates for the wheat cultivars ranged from 0.00 to 3.58% and from 0.00 to 6.79% for triticale. The best values for wheat were 3.58% for Kontesa and 3.14% for Torka, and these were obtained after transformation with the pGreen vector carrying the nptII selection gene under the control of 35S promoter. In the case of the bar selection system, the best transformation rates were, respectively, 1.46 and 1.79%. Such rates were obtained when the 35S::bar cassette was carried by the pCAMBIA vector; they were significantly lower with the pGreen vector. The triticale cultivar Wanad had its highest transformation rate after transformation with nptII driven by 35S in pCAMBIA. The bar selection system for the same triticale cultivar was better when the gene was driven by nos and the selection cassette was carried by pGreen. The integration of the transgenes was confirmed with at least three pairs of specific starters amplifying the fragments of nptII, bar, or gus. The expression of selection genes, measured by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) in relation to the actin gene, was low, ranging from 0.00 to 0.63 for nptII and from 0.00 to 0.33 for bar. The highest relative transcript accumulation was observed for nptII driven by 35S and expressed in Kontesa that had been transformed with pGreen

Visceral Leishmaniasis in Muzaffarpur District, Bihar, India from 1990 to 2008

BACKGROUND: Visceral Leishmaniasis (VL) is a vector-borne disease transmitted by Phlebotomus argentipes. To understand the VL seasonality, annual and monthly variations of VL incidence and its relationship to meteorological variables, the numbers of VL cases reported in Muzaffarpur district, Bihar, India from 1990 to 2008 were studied. METHODS: Annual VL incidence per 10,000 and the total number of annual VL cases reported at block Community Health Centres (CHC), Public Hospitals or Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO) and the number of VL cases per month from 2000 to 2008 as well as the monthly average of cases for 2000-08, 2000-04 and 2005-08 periods along with the monthly averages of temperature, rainfall and relative humidity were plotted. VL Standardised Incidence Ratios per block were computed for the periods of 1990-1993, 1994-1998, 1999-2004 and 2005-2008 and month wise from 2002 to 2008. A negative binomial regression model was used to evaluate the association between meteorological variables and the number of VL cases per month from 2000 to 2008. RESULTS: A total of 68,358 VL cases were reported in Muzaffarpur district from 1990 to 2008, ranging from 1,2481 in 1992 to 1,161 in 2001. The blocks with the highest number of cases shifted from East (1990-98) to West (1999-2008). Monthly averages of cases ranged from 149 to 309, highest peak in March-April and another one in July. Monthly VL incidence was associated positively to rainfall and negatively to relative humidity and the numbers of VL cases in the previous month. INTERPRETATION: The number of cases reported to the public health sector allowed the describing of the spatial distribution and temporal variations in the Muzaffarpur from 1990 to 2008. However, to assess the actual VL burden, as well as the efficacy of the control measures applied in the district, reporting from private practices and NGOs should be encouraged

The prognostic value of dobutamine stress echocardiography amongst British Indian Asian and Afro-Caribbean patients: a comparison with European white patients

Background The incidence of cardiovascular disease is considerably disparate among different racial and ethnic populations. While dobutamine stress echocardiography (DSE) has been shown to be useful in Caucasian patients, its role among ethnic minority groups remains unclear. This study aimed to investigate the prognostic importance of DSE in three ethnic groups in the UK. Methods DSE was performed on 6231 consecutive patients. After exclusions, 5329 patients formed the study (2676 [50.2 %] Indian Asian, 2219 [41.6 %] European white and 434 [8.1 %] Afro-Caribbean). Study outcome measures were non-fatal cardiac events (NFCE) and all-cause mortality. Results There were 849 (15.9 %) NFCE and 1365 (25.6 %) deaths over a median follow-up period of 4.6 years. In total 1174 (22 %) patients had inducible myocardial ischaemia during DSE, 859 (16.1 %) had fixed wall motion abnormalities and 3645 (68.4 %) patients had a normal study. Ethnicity did not predict events. Among the three ethnic groups, ischaemia on DSE was associated with 2 to 2.5 times the risk of non-fatal cardiac events and 1.2 to 1.4 times the risk of all-cause mortality. Peak wall motion score index was the strongest independent predictor of non-fatal cardiac events and all-cause mortality in all groups. The C statistic for the prediction of NFCE and all-cause mortality were significantly higher when DSE parameters were added to the standard risk factors for all ethnic groups. Conclusions DSE is a strong predictor of NFCE and all-cause mortality and provides predictive information beyond that provided by standard risk factors in three major racial and ethnic groups. No major differences among racial and ethnic groups in the predictive value of DSE was detected