In vitro antifilarial activity, antioxidant potential and phenolic constituents of Quisqualis indica L.

648-654Quisqualis indica L., commonly known as ‘Rangoon-ki-bel’ or ‘Madhumalti’, has been used by the traditional healers as it is active against some of the commonly occurring diseases like boils, fevers diarrhea and helminthiasis. However, no systematic and scientifically validated studies on antifilarial activity of Q. indica are available. In the present study, we report in vitro antifilarial activity of ethanolic and hydroethanolic extracts of the leaves (QILE and QILEW) and flowers (QIFE and QIFEW) of this plant on microfilariae (mf) and female adult worms of human lymphatic filariid Brugia malayi using motility and or 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5 diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT)-reduction assays. The hydroalcoholic extract of flowers (QIFEW) was found effective as it killed adult female worms (LC100: 62.5 µg/mL) and mf (LC100: 125 µg/mL); IC50 values for the respective parasite stages were 34.50 and 31.88 µg/mL. SI values recorded with respect to motility of female parasite and mf was more than 20. The active principle(s) responsible for antifilarial activity may thus be present in QIFEW. The antioxidant activity results also indicated QIFEW to possess better antioxidant potential than the other extracts studied. HPLC analysis showed that the 02 keyphenolics present in hydroalcoholic extract of the flowers (QIFEW) were gallic acid and ellagic acid. In the different extracts, the concentration of gallic acid was found to vary from 26.9 mg/g to 2.50 mg/g while ellagic acid ranged between 11.5 mg/g to 6.77 mg/g. It was also observed that the leaves were rich in flavonoids whereas the flowers were rich in phenolics. The findings indicate that active molecule (s) of hydroalcoholic extractfrom Q. indica flowers may help in providing new leads for developing antifilarial agents. We believe that this is the first systematically studied report on the in vitro antifilarial activity of the hydroalcoholic extract of Q. indica flowers

In vitro antifilarial activity, antioxidant potential and phenolic constituents of Quisqualis indica L.

Quisqualis indica L., commonly known as ‘Rangoon-ki-bel’ or ‘Madhumalti’, has been used by the traditional healers as it is active against some of the commonly occurring diseases like boils, fevers diarrhea and helminthiasis. However, no systematic and scientifically validated studies on antifilarial activity of Q. indica are available. In the present study, we report in vitro antifilarial activity of ethanolic and hydroethanolic extracts of the leaves (QILE and QILEW) and flowers (QIFE and QIFEW) of this plant on microfilariae (mf) and female adult worms of human lymphatic filariid Brugia malayi using motility and or 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5 diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT)-reduction assays. The hydroalcoholic extract of flowers (QIFEW) was found effective as it killed adult female worms (LC100: 62.5 μg/mL) and mf (LC100: 125 μg/mL); IC50 values for the respective parasite stages were 34.50 and 31.88 μg/mL. SI values recorded with respect to motility of female parasite and mf was more than 20. The active principle(s) responsible for antifilarial activity may thus be present in QIFEW. The antioxidant activity results also indicated QIFEW to possess better antioxidant potential than the other extracts studied. HPLC analysis showed that the 02 keyphenolics present in hydroalcoholic extract of the flowers (QIFEW) were gallic acid and ellagic acid. In the different extracts, the concentration of gallic acid was found to vary from 26.9 mg/g to 2.50 mg/g while ellagic acid ranged between 11.5 mg/g to 6.77 mg/g. It was also observedthat the leaves were rich in flavonoids whereas the flowers were rich in phenolics. The findings indicate that active molecule (s) of hydroalcoholic extractfrom Q. indica flowers may help in providing new leads for developing antifilarial agents. We believe that this is the first systematically studied report on the in vitro antifilarial activity of the hydroalcoholicextract of Q. indica flowers

Creating Scientific Temperament through Children’s Science Congress in Uttarakhand, India

Science and Technology provide hands-on guidance in every field such as agriculture, medical sciences, health care, innovations, public utility services, internal and external security, education, entertainment; information and technology, etc. The awareness related to science through informing, educating, and sharing knowledge for promoting sustainable development is known as science communication. The basic aim of science popularization is to expose the society and upcoming generations to the virtues of scientific development and to help them understand the science in their daily life and surroundings as well. Motivating school children towards science is an important aim of science communication at the school level. The National Council for Science and Technology Communication (NCSTC), Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India, New Delhi has been organizing the “Children’s Science Congress (CSC)” as one of the mega flagship programmes at the block, district, state, and the national level throughout the country since the last 27 years. In the present paper, an attempt has been made to compile the experiences of three consecutive years (2017, 2018, and 2019) of Children’s Science Congress organized by the State Council for Science and Technology. It was categorized under seven themes in 2017, while two themes were merged in 2018 and 2019. A total of 11 districts of Uttarakhand participated in the 25th Children’s Science Congress during 2017, while in 2018 and 2019, all (thirteen) districts participated in the Children’s Science Congress. The total number of child scientists from different districts were found to be diverse – 107, 142, and 138 during the 25th, 26th and 27th Children’s Science Congress of Uttarakhand held in 2017, 2018 and 2019, respectively. In the present paper an attempt has been made to understand the impact of Children’s Science Congress (CSC) for creating scientific temper among child scientists and mentors

Creating Scientific Temperament through Children’s Science Congress in Uttarakhand, India

146-160Science and Technology provide hands-on guidance in every field such as agriculture, medical sciences, health care, innovations, public utility services, internal and external security, education, entertainment; information and technology, etc. The awareness related to science through informing, educating, and sharing knowledge for promoting sustainable development is known as science communication. The basic aim of science popularization is to expose the society and upcoming generations to the virtues of scientific development and to help them understand the science in their daily life and surroundings as well. Motivating school children towards science is an important aim of science communication at the school level.   The National Council for Science and Technology Communication (NCSTC), Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India, New Delhi has been organizing the “Children’s Science Congress (CSC)” as one of the mega flagship programmes at the block, district, state, and the national level throughout the country since the last 27 years. In the present paper, an attempt has been made to compile the experiences of three consecutive years (2017, 2018, and 2019) of Children’s Science Congress organized by the State Council for Science and Technology. It was categorized under seven themes in 2017, while two themes were merged in 2018 and 2019. A total of 11 districts of Uttarakhand participated in the 25th Children’s Science Congress during 2017, while in 2018 and 2019, all (thirteen) districts participated in the Children’s Science Congress. The total number of child scientists from different districts were found to be diverse – 107, 142, and 138 during the 25th, 26th and 27th Children’s Science Congress of Uttarakhand held in 2017, 2018 and 2019, respectively.   In the present paper an attempt has been made to understand the impact of Children’s Science Congress (CSC) for creating scientific temper among child scientists and mentors

The development and validation of a scoring tool to predict the operative duration of elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy

Background: The ability to accurately predict operative duration has the potential to optimise theatre efficiency and utilisation, thus reducing costs and increasing staff and patient satisfaction. With laparoscopic cholecystectomy being one of the most commonly performed procedures worldwide, a tool to predict operative duration could be extremely beneficial to healthcare organisations. Methods: Data collected from the CholeS study on patients undergoing cholecystectomy in UK and Irish hospitals between 04/2014 and 05/2014 were used to study operative duration. A multivariable binary logistic regression model was produced in order to identify significant independent predictors of long (> 90 min) operations. The resulting model was converted to a risk score, which was subsequently validated on second cohort of patients using ROC curves. Results: After exclusions, data were available for 7227 patients in the derivation (CholeS) cohort. The median operative duration was 60 min (interquartile range 45–85), with 17.7% of operations lasting longer than 90 min. Ten factors were found to be significant independent predictors of operative durations > 90 min, including ASA, age, previous surgical admissions, BMI, gallbladder wall thickness and CBD diameter. A risk score was then produced from these factors, and applied to a cohort of 2405 patients from a tertiary centre for external validation. This returned an area under the ROC curve of 0.708 (SE = 0.013, p  90 min increasing more than eightfold from 5.1 to 41.8% in the extremes of the score. Conclusion: The scoring tool produced in this study was found to be significantly predictive of long operative durations on validation in an external cohort. As such, the tool may have the potential to enable organisations to better organise theatre lists and deliver greater efficiencies in care

Impact of COVID-19 on cardiovascular testing in the United States versus the rest of the world

Objectives: This study sought to quantify and compare the decline in volumes of cardiovascular procedures between the United States and non-US institutions during the early phase of the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the care of many non-COVID-19 illnesses. Reductions in diagnostic cardiovascular testing around the world have led to concerns over the implications of reduced testing for cardiovascular disease (CVD) morbidity and mortality. Methods: Data were submitted to the INCAPS-COVID (International Atomic Energy Agency Non-Invasive Cardiology Protocols Study of COVID-19), a multinational registry comprising 909 institutions in 108 countries (including 155 facilities in 40 U.S. states), assessing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on volumes of diagnostic cardiovascular procedures. Data were obtained for April 2020 and compared with volumes of baseline procedures from March 2019. We compared laboratory characteristics, practices, and procedure volumes between U.S. and non-U.S. facilities and between U.S. geographic regions and identified factors associated with volume reduction in the United States. Results: Reductions in the volumes of procedures in the United States were similar to those in non-U.S. facilities (68% vs. 63%, respectively; p = 0.237), although U.S. facilities reported greater reductions in invasive coronary angiography (69% vs. 53%, respectively; p < 0.001). Significantly more U.S. facilities reported increased use of telehealth and patient screening measures than non-U.S. facilities, such as temperature checks, symptom screenings, and COVID-19 testing. Reductions in volumes of procedures differed between U.S. regions, with larger declines observed in the Northeast (76%) and Midwest (74%) than in the South (62%) and West (44%). Prevalence of COVID-19, staff redeployments, outpatient centers, and urban centers were associated with greater reductions in volume in U.S. facilities in a multivariable analysis. Conclusions: We observed marked reductions in U.S. cardiovascular testing in the early phase of the pandemic and significant variability between U.S. regions. The association between reductions of volumes and COVID-19 prevalence in the United States highlighted the need for proactive efforts to maintain access to cardiovascular testing in areas most affected by outbreaks of COVID-19 infection

31st Annual Meeting and Associated Programs of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC 2016) : part two

Background The immunological escape of tumors represents one of the main ob- stacles to the treatment of malignancies. The blockade of PD-1 or CTLA-4 receptors represented a milestone in the history of immunotherapy. However, immune checkpoint inhibitors seem to be effective in specific cohorts of patients. It has been proposed that their efficacy relies on the presence of an immunological response. Thus, we hypothesized that disruption of the PD-L1/PD-1 axis would synergize with our oncolytic vaccine platform PeptiCRAd. Methods We used murine B16OVA in vivo tumor models and flow cytometry analysis to investigate the immunological background. Results First, we found that high-burden B16OVA tumors were refractory to combination immunotherapy. However, with a more aggressive schedule, tumors with a lower burden were more susceptible to the combination of PeptiCRAd and PD-L1 blockade. The therapy signifi- cantly increased the median survival of mice (Fig. 7). Interestingly, the reduced growth of contralaterally injected B16F10 cells sug- gested the presence of a long lasting immunological memory also against non-targeted antigens. Concerning the functional state of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), we found that all the immune therapies would enhance the percentage of activated (PD-1pos TIM- 3neg) T lymphocytes and reduce the amount of exhausted (PD-1pos TIM-3pos) cells compared to placebo. As expected, we found that PeptiCRAd monotherapy could increase the number of antigen spe- cific CD8+ T cells compared to other treatments. However, only the combination with PD-L1 blockade could significantly increase the ra- tio between activated and exhausted pentamer positive cells (p= 0.0058), suggesting that by disrupting the PD-1/PD-L1 axis we could decrease the amount of dysfunctional antigen specific T cells. We ob- served that the anatomical location deeply influenced the state of CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes. In fact, TIM-3 expression was in- creased by 2 fold on TILs compared to splenic and lymphoid T cells. In the CD8+ compartment, the expression of PD-1 on the surface seemed to be restricted to the tumor micro-environment, while CD4 + T cells had a high expression of PD-1 also in lymphoid organs. Interestingly, we found that the levels of PD-1 were significantly higher on CD8+ T cells than on CD4+ T cells into the tumor micro- environment (p < 0.0001). Conclusions In conclusion, we demonstrated that the efficacy of immune check- point inhibitors might be strongly enhanced by their combination with cancer vaccines. PeptiCRAd was able to increase the number of antigen-specific T cells and PD-L1 blockade prevented their exhaus- tion, resulting in long-lasting immunological memory and increased median survival