COMPARATIVE EVALUATION OF PRELIMINARY PHARMACOGNOSY AND PHYTOCHEMISTRY OF TWO SOURCE PLANTS OF BALA (SIDA CORDIFOLIA, LINN. AND SIDA RETUSA LINN.)

"Balaâ€- a predominant herbal drug, has wide selection of uses as a single drug and also is an ingredient in most of the popular and extensively used Ayurveda formulations. Ayurvedic Formulary of India accepts Sida cordifolia Linn. as Bala. Sida cordifolia being not so common in Southern parts of India has paved way for use of Sida retusa Linn., presently known as Sida alnifolia a common plant to be used as source plant of Bala in Kerala. In the present study, preliminary pharmacognostical, physical and phytochemical evaluation including chromatography of Sida cordifolia, Linn. and Sida retusa Linn. was done to evaluate their use as source plants of Bala. The pharmacognostical study by virtue of organoleptic evaluation and microscopy of Transverse section of the two species were performed and documented based on the standard procedure. The findings are valuable source of information as it may assist identification of the 2 drugs. Preliminary physical and phytochemical analysis of genuine sample of the study drug Sida cordifolia, Linn. and Sida retusa Linn. were conducted as a part of the study. These tests are simple and easy to carry out and give valuable information about the identity, genuineness and purity of the drug. The preliminary pharmacognostical and phytochemical screening of Sida cordifolia and Sida retusa suggests that either of the plants could be the source plants of Bala due to their immense similarity. It makes it highly probable that the pharmacological activities and therapeutic efficacy could possibly be same

ADVERSE DRUG REACTIONS AMONG DRUG-RESISTANT TUBERCULOSIS TREATMENT: AN OBSERVATIONAL COHORT STUDY

Objective: Adverse drug reaction (ADR) is regarded as one of the major challenges in the treatment of drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB). It can lead to non-compliance or interrupting treatment completion, which can contribute to avoidable morbidity, drug resistance, treatment failure, reduced quality of life, or mortality. Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted in the Ernakulam district of Kerala from 2016 to 2019. All DR-TB patients registered under the DR-TB center were enrolled in the study. Due to privacy and confidentiality HIV infected patients and patients below 12 y of age were excluded in this study and only the data with ADR reported by patients is collected from medical records. Results: Out of the total 146 patients, about 75 % of patients experienced at least one ADR during treatment, and a total of 208 ADRs were reported. Among all the ADRs, the most common ADR was gastritis (12.98%) followed by ototoxicity (10%) and vomiting (5.76%), etc. It was found that males (78.76%) within the age group 46-65 y exhibited more ADR than females. Some of the ADR requires drug withdrawal and replacement with other drugs and most of the patients also needed symptomatic treatment without modifying the treatment regimen. All ADR reported were collected and causality assessment was done via WHO and Naranjo scale. The majority of ADR belongs to the “probable” category in the WHO scale and Naranjo scale. The evaluation of the severity of ADR by using the Modified Hartwig and Siegel scale indicated that most of the ADR was of moderate level showing a 4b reaction. The study also assessed the preventability of ADR using the Schumock and Thornton preventability scale. Conclusion: Many of the ADRs were unidentified or not reported due to several reasons like milder ADR, patient lack of knowledge, Negligence of symptoms, unawareness of health providers, etc. Whereas the long-term treatment and diversities in age, gender, etc. were found as major contributors to ADR along with comorbidities. New drugs in combination with existing drugs created the potential for previously unnotified reactions. Pharmacovigilance should address the safety of therapy and identify ADRs, especially the serious ones with routine monitoring to prevent mortality, morbidity, and other negative outcomes

ASSESSING THE COMPETING ABILITY OF WEEDY RICE (Oryza sativa f. spontanea) WITH CULTIVATED RICE UNDER ELEVATED CO2 CONDITIONS

Climate change can adversely affect rice production, especially for weed management in the context of emergence and proliferation of newer weed species like weedy rice (Oryza sativa f. spontanea) in the rice growing tracts of Kerala. In the past decade, atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) has risen from 371.82 to 407.05 ppm from 2000 to 2018 which might have an impact on the competitive ability of a C3 plant like weedy rice. The competitiveness of weedy rice was studied in an open top chamber (OTC) under a CO2 concentration of 500 ppm (Chamber A), OTC without external CO2 supply (Chamber B), and open condition along with two popular cultivated rice varieties Uma and Jyothi with both air and soil temperature inside the chamber to the tune of 40-430C and 35-400C respectively. The study revealed a higher competitive potential of weedy rice in terms of tillering ability under elevated carbon dioxide as it responded well compared to cultivated rice varieties. There was a differential response of rice varieties to elevated CO2 conditions with medium duration variety responding well compared to short duration one. Compared to ambient conditions (chamber B and open condition), higher tillering was observed under elevated CO2 (chamber A) in which weedy rice tillered profusely (17.33) than cultivated rice species (9 and 11.33). There was a linear increase in plant height of weedy rice in chamber A (108.97 cm) during the initial stages and in chamber B (112.77 cm) during reproductive stages. The study evidenced that in the coming future, higher CO2 levels can stimulate biomass production of C3 weed like weedy rice with a greater increase in tillering which could be an important trait affecting inter specific competition

Assessment of fishers perception in developing climate change adaptation and mitigation plans

Climate change is a global challenge today, with its impacts felt worldwide. The coastal regions around globe are more prone to the impacts of climate change than the inlands, fishing being one of the primary occupations of the coast, the fishermen community is the most vulnerable group to be affected by the Climate change. Even with extensive scientific research in this arena there is a lacuna in finding a panacea to this existing problem. The objective of this study is to determine the scope of developing village level adaptation and mitigation plan for the community through a comprehensive analysis of the community perception on climate change impacts, vulnerability and existing adaptation mitigation strategies. In the chosen study villages of Ochanthuruth and Njarackal of Ernakulam district, the impact of climate change was felt on both resource and resource users based on a perception analysis made using comprehensive interview schedule administered across 300 households. The study revealed that the actual science and consequences of climate change impacts in a long run are not perceived well. The work suggests that concerted efforts in bringing about resilient community can be achieved through global understanding of the issue and coming up with area specific solutions with the inclusion of the much forgotten social factor- the stakeholders

Genome-wide transcriptome analysis and physiological variation modulates gene regulatory networks acclimating salinity tolerance in chickpea

Salinity is a major abiotic stress that is a global threat to crop production, including chickpea. This study focused on understanding the complex molecular mechanisms underlying salinity tolerance using comparative transcriptome analysis of tolerant (ICCV 10, JG 11) and sensitive (DCP 92-3, Pusa 256) chickpea genotypes in control and salt-stressed environments. A total of 530 million reads were generated from root samples of four genotypes using Illumina HiSeq-2500. A total of 21,698 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified, of which 11,456 and 10,242 were up- and down-regulated, respectively, in comparative analysis. These DEGs were associated with crucial metabolic pathways, including hormone signaling, photosynthesis, lipid and carbohydrate metabolism, and cell wall biogenesis. Gene ontology (GO) examination revealed an enrichment of transcripts involved in salinity response. A total of 4257 differentially expressed GO terms were categorized into 64 functional groups; of which, GO terms like, integral component of membrane, organelle, and cellular anatomical entity were highly represented in tolerant genotypes under salt stress. Significant up-regulation of transcripts encoding potassium transporter family HAK/KUP proteins, MIP/aquaporin protein family, NADH dehydrogenase, pectinesterase, and PP2C family proteins occurred under salt stress. The tolerant lines (ICCV 10 and JG 11) engaged highly efficient machinery in response to elevated salt stress, especially for signal transduction, transport and influx of K+ ions, and osmotic homeostasis. The overall study highlights the role of potential candidate genes and their regulatory networks which can be utilized in breeding salt tolerant chickpea cultivars

Heat generation analysis and anode temperature measurement during the formation of nanoporous aluminium oxide

The fabrication of ordered nano-structured materials through anodic alumina oxide (AAO) template has become an intense research area for understanding the unusual phenomena observed in these materials. The periodicity of the nanostructure relies on the pore morphology of the template, which depends on various factors. Among them, localized Joule heating due to high anodizing current at the pore base was found to alter growth morphology. The influence of temperature on the electrochemical process of anodization is generally evaluated by considering the set electrolyte temperature, while little importance is given to the localized evolved electrode temperature. In the present work, porous alumina thin films were fabricated using a two-step anodization process. Oxalic acid, 0.3 M, was used as electrolyte and the bath temperature was maintained at 10˚C. FESEM images of the fabricated AAO template are shown in Fig.1. Anodizing voltage was varied from 30-60 V, in the form of ON and OFF cycles as well as in a continuous step of 5 V. A novel approach was made for the measurement of insitu anode temperature during anodization, where a patterned Pt thin film RTD sensor was sputtered directly on the surface of alumina. The use of this thin film sensor has the advantage of faster response over the conventional RTD due to lower mass. The Pt thin film RTD sensor was calibrated with respect to a Pt 100 sensor for accurate measurements. Anode temperature variations are shown in Fig. 2 when the voltage is applied in ON and OFF cycles of 150 s. The effect of various parameters which contribute to the rise in anode temperature has also been presented. Experiments and theoretical calculations suggest that Joule heating is the major cause of heat generation during the process of anodization

Cancer Rate in India in 2015 & 2020- Analysis and Prediction

<p><strong><em>Abstract:</em></strong><strong> Cancer rate in India is increasing day by day. This could be due to changing life styles which includes food habits, uncontrolled changes in climatic conditions, etc. One of the main fact is the increase in number of alcohol consumption in both males and females. An analysis on cancer rate enables to predict the current situation of people in India , which enables to resolve the current situation. Here we use machine learning algorithm to analyze the cancer rate in India. The steps included in analyzing the dataset are :1)dataset collection 2) dataset preprocessing 3) dataset Classification. Data set analysis is carried out using Weka Tool where the dataset are collected from online repositories of actual cancer patients.</strong></p> <p> </p> <p> </p&gt

Azgar Vajahat ki rachanaom mein samajik chetana: Ek vishleshanatmak Adhyayan

HindiCUSATDepartment of Hindi, Cochin University of Science and Technolog

Azgar Vajahat ki rachanaom mein samajik chetana : Ek vishleshanatmak Adhyayan

Department of Hindi, Cochin University of Science and Technolog

Facile approach for in situ measurement of anode temperature during the growth of self-ordered nanoporous anodic alumina thin films: Influence of Joule heating on pore microstructure

Anodic aluminium oxide (AAO) thin films, containing hexagonally ordered nanopores, are widely used as templates for fabricating a large number of zero and one- dimensional functional nanostructures such as nanodots, nanowires and nanotubes. The localized pore temperature developed due to the heat generation phenomenon during anodization plays a key role in the growth morphology of the nanoporous structure. The influence of temperature on the electrochemical process of anodization is generally evaluated by considering the electrolyte temperature, while little importance is given to the localized electrode temperature. In the present work, nanoporous alumina templates were prepared using a two step anodization process with oxalic acid as electrolyte under different bath temperatures and voltages. We report a novel approach to measure the in situ anode temperature during the anodization process that uses a Pt thin film RTD sensor which is deposited on partially fabricated alumina through anodization. The in-situ anode temperature has been recorded at different anodization conditions and their contribution to the rise in the anode temperature is presented. Our results indicate that Joule heating is the major source of heat developed during the anodization