Evaluation of safety and efficacy of intravenous iron sucrose therapy for moderate anaemia in antenatal women

Background: Prevalence of iron deficiency anaemia is high in developing countries like India. Treatment of iron deficiency anaemia in pregnancy is very important to bring down maternal mortality rate as blood loss during delivery can lead to death of the patient. The aim and objective of our study is to evaluate the efficacy and safety of intravenous iron sucrose infusions in antenatal women admitted in hospital suffering from moderate iron deficiency anaemia. Special emphasis was given to observe adverse drug effects.Methods: This was a prospective observational study conducted in Obstetrics and Gynaecology department, Government General Hospital, Rangaraya Medical College, Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh. Study period was two months and study population included antenatal women with gestational age less than 37 weeks with moderate iron deficiency anaemia. Peripheral smear was examined for microcytic hypochromic anaemia and they were treated with intravenous infusion of iron sucrose. Haemoglobin levels were checked before and 5 weeks after iron infusions. Monitoring was done for adverse reactions.Results: Out of 322 admissions, 95% were found to be anaemic. 72 patients were suffering from moderate anaemia from which 25 have been included and treated with intravenous iron sucrose infusions. They were observed for efficacy and safety parameters. Two minor adverse events were reported (fever with chills and angioedema of lips) and they were excluded from study. Mean haemoglobin concentration was found to be raised from 7.08±0.73 (SD) to 11.33±0.48 (SD) within 5 weeks for 23 patients.Conclusions: Iron sucrose infusion is safe and effective for anaemia in pregnancy

ANTI-INFLAMMATORY ACTIVITY OF METHANOLIC EXTRACT OF HIBISCUS PLANTIFOLIUS

Objective: The objective of the present study was to carry out anti-inflammatory activity of methanolic extract of Hibiscus plantifolius (MEHP) belonging to the family Malvaceae.Methods: The shade dried stem part of H. plantifolius (1 kg) was powdered and extracted with methanol using soxhletion. The extract was concentrated using rotary evaporator under reduced pressure at 40°C, till free from the solvents and thereby providing crude methanol extract which was subsequently employed for further studies. Anti-inflammatory effect was studied by carrageenan-induced paw edema model in rats at dose level of 50, 150, and 300 mg/kg. Acute oral toxicity study was also studied.Results: The results indicate that MEHP, 300 mg/kg, exhibited significant inhibition (p<0.001) of increase in paw edema at 4th h.Conclusion: The results of the experimental study confirmed that MEHP possesses significant anti-inflammatory activity

NEW FTIR METHOD DEVELOPMENT AND VALIDATION FOR QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS OF FAVIPIRAVIR IN BULK AND PHARMACEUTICAL DOSAGE FORMS

Objective: A simple spectrophotometric method has been proposed for quantitative analysis of favipiravir in bulk and pharmaceutical dosage form. Methods: New Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopic method has been developed for the estimation of favipiravir by using solid pellet technique. Results: Results were linear over the 20–100µg/mg concentration range, with correlation values exceeding 0.999. The approach was thoroughly validated in accordance with the recommendations of the International Conference on Harmonization, demonstrating acceptable levels of accuracy, precision, selectivity, robustness, and linearity. Conclusion: The statistical comparison between this method and HPLC revealed that the newly developed method was significantly distinct. Thus, it proves to be applicable. It met all validation standards over a variety of concentrations and can be used as a substitute for the official procedures

Prevalence and determinants of caesarean section in a rural tertiary teaching hospital: a 6-year retrospective study

Background: Caesarean section is the most commonly performed surgery in obstetrics and there is a rise in caesarean section rates in recent times. This study was undertaken to know the changing trends in caesarean section rate in a rural hospital and to examine the indications contributing to it. The objective of the present study was to know the prevalence and changing trends in caesarean section over the last 6 years (April 2012-March 2018).Methods: Demographic data for all the deliveries, mode of delivery and indications of caesarean sections performed from April 2012 to March 2018 that occurred at MIMS were collected in a retrospective manner.Results: Among a total of 12,522 women delivered during the study period of 6 years, 44.93%, 48.49%, 48.41%, 50.9%, 45.48% and 49.62% were delivered by caesarean section during 2012-2013, 2013-2014, 2014-2015, 2015-2016, 2016-2017 and 2017-2018 respectively. Increase in repeat caesarean section is the primary reason for these increased rates followed by fetal distress. There is a rise in the repeat caesarean section from 44.36% in 2012-2013 to 55.67% in 2016-2017 and 47% in 2017-2018. Whereas primary caesarean section rate reduced from 55.63% in 2012-2013 to 44.32% in 2016-2017 and 53% in 2017-2018.Conclusions: As repeat caesarean section and fetal distress are the most common causes of caesarean section we need to address these to bring down the caesarean section rate

IMPACT OF PHARMACIST LED ANTICOAGULATION MONITORING AND PATIENT EDUCATION ON ORAL ANTICOAGULATION THERAPY WITH ACENOCOUMAROL

  Objective: Acenocoumarol is anoral anticoagulant with narrow therapeutic index, and the ideal dose of anticoagulation lies between International normalized ratio (INR) values of 2.0 and 3.5. Lack of monitoring and knowledge on acenocoumarol therapy may compromise patient's safety resulting in under- or over-anticoagulation. A study was conducted to monitor for the safety of anticoagulation therapy, achievement of goal INR levels and to assess the impact of pharmacist led anticoagulation monitoring and patient education on the rational use of acenocoumarol in patients admitted in cardiology wards with thromboembolic disorders.Methods: The study was conducted in 70 patients; data collection was done, prescriptions were analyzed for drug-drug interactions and adverse drug reactions (ADRs). Patients' knowledge on acenocoumarol therapy was assessed using a self-developed questionnaire at the baseline, then were subjected to a detailed patient education and on an average each patient received three sessions of education. They were again made to answer the same questionnaire on the day of discharge. The mean score of the responses before and after education was compared statistically using Wilcoxon signed rank test and McNemar test.Results: There were 60% patients under anticoagulated with the INR range of >2.0. 123 drug interactions were observed in 58 patients, on an average of 2 interactions per prescription, but no ADRs were observed. 59 patients (84.3%) showed significant overall improvement in knowledge on anticoagulation therapy following education.Conclusion: This study implies the role of clinical pharmacists in achieving better clinical outcomes in patients receiving oral anticoagulation therapy with acenocoumarol

An atlas of spider development at single-cell resolution provides new insights into arthropod embryogenesis

Spiders are a diverse order of chelicerates that diverged from other arthropods over 500 million years ago. Research on spider embryogenesis, particularly studies using the common house spider Parasteatoda tepidariorum, has made important contributions to understanding the evolution of animal development, including axis formation, segmentation, and patterning. However, we lack knowledge about the cells that build spider embryos, their gene expression profiles and fate. Single-cell transcriptomic analyses have been revolutionary in describing these complex landscapes of cellular genetics in a range of animals. Therefore, we carried out single-cell RNA sequencing of P. tepidariorum embryos at stages 7, 8 and 9, which encompass the establishment and patterning of the body plan, and initial differentiation of many tissues and organs. We identified 20 cell clusters, from 18.5 k cells, which were marked by many developmental toolkit genes, as well as a plethora of genes not previously investigated. We found differences in the cell cycle transcriptional signatures, suggestive of different proliferation dynamics, which related to distinctions between endodermal and some mesodermal clusters, compared with ectodermal clusters. We identified many Hox genes as markers of cell clusters, and Hox gene ohnologs were often present in different clusters. This provided additional evidence of sub- and/or neo-functionalisation of these important developmental genes after the whole genome duplication in an arachnopulmonate ancestor (spiders, scorpions, and related orders). We also examined the spatial expression of marker genes for each cluster to generate a comprehensive cell atlas of these embryonic stages. This revealed new insights into the cellular basis and genetic regulation of head patterning, hematopoiesis, limb development, gut development, and posterior segmentation. This atlas will serve as a platform for future analysis of spider cell specification and fate, and studying the evolution of these processes among animals at cellular resolution

Transactivation of EGFR by LPS induces COX-2 expression in enterocytes

Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is the leading cause of gastrointestinal morbidity and mortality in preterm infants. NEC is characterized by an exaggerated inflammatory response to bacterial flora leading to bowel necrosis. Bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) mediates inflammation through TLR4 activation and is a key molecule in the pathogenesis of NEC. However, LPS also induces cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), which promotes intestinal barrier restitution through stimulation of intestinal cell survival, proliferation, and migration. Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) activation prevents experimental NEC and may play a critical role in LPS-stimulated COX-2 production. We hypothesized that EGFR is required for LPS induction of COX-2 expression. Our data show that inhibiting EGFR kinase activity blocks LPS-induced COX-2 expression in small intestinal epithelial cells. LPS induction of COX-2 requires Src-family kinase signaling while LPS transactivation of EGFR requires matrix metalloprotease (MMP) activity. EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors block LPS stimulation of mitogen-activated protein kinase ERK, suggesting an important role of the MAPK/ERK pathway in EGFR-mediated COX-2 expression. LPS stimulates proliferation of IEC-6 cells, but this stimulation is inhibited with either the EGFR kinase inhibitor AG1478, or the selective COX-2 inhibitor Celecoxib. Taken together, these data show that EGFR plays an important role in LPS-induction of COX-2 expression in enterocytes, which may be one mechanism for EGF in inhibition of NEC

Nepalese indoor cookstove smoke extracts alter human airway epithelial gene expression, DNA methylation and hydroxymethylation

Household air pollution caused by inefficient cooking practices causes 4 million deaths a year worldwide. In Nepal, 86% of the rural population use solid fuels for cooking. Over 25% of premature deaths associated with air pollution are respiratory in nature. Here we aimed to identify molecular signatures of different cookstove and fuel type exposures in human airway epithelial cells, to understand the mechanisms mediating cook stove smoke induced lung disease. Primary human airway epithelial cells in submerged culture were exposed to traditional cook stove (TCS), improved cook stove (ICS) and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) stove smoke extracts. Changes to gene expression, DNA methylation and hydroxymethylation were measured by bulk RNA sequencing and HumanMethylationEPIC BeadChip following oxidative bisulphite conversion, respectively. TCS smoke extract alone reproducibly caused changes in the expression of 52 genes enriched for oxidative stress pathways. TCS, ICS and LPG smoke extract exposures were associated with distinct changes to DNA methylation and hydroxymethylation. A subset of TCS induced genes were associated with differentially methylated and/or hydroxymethylated CpGs sites, and enriched for the ferroptosis pathway and the upstream regulator NFE2L2. DNA methylation and hydroxymethylation changes not associated with a concurrent change in gene expression, were linked to biological processes and molecular pathways important to airway health, including neutrophil function, transforming growth factor beta signalling, GTPase activity, and cell junction organisation. Our data identified differential impacts of TCS, ICS and LPG cook stove smoke on the human airway epithelium transcriptome, DNA methylome and hydroxymethylome and provide further insight into the association between indoor air pollution exposure and chronic lung disease mechanisms

Ultrasound-assisted extraction for enhanced retention of physicochemical properties of garlic powder obtained by spray-drying

This work aims to produce garlic powder with the retention of physicochemical properties by using different methods. Garlic is extracted by an ultrasonic-assisted extraction technique to remove the undesired compounds. In this study, garlic powder is incurred through freeze-drying and spray-drying with maltodextrin as a carrier agent. To compare the efficiency of two drying techniques, garlic is dried without maltodextrin. This study is intended to find a technique to get garlic powder with the best quality. The physicochemical and microstructural properties of the garlic powder obtained were analyzed and compared. It was found that garlic powder spray-dried with maltodextrin has the highest retention of physicochemical properties compared to those treated with other techniques. Although freeze-dried and spray-dried powder developed without carrier agent could maintain the flavor and color, they failed to hold the structure and formed into clusters soon after they are exposed to air. Thus, the obtained results showed spray-drying with maltodextrin as the best drying technology for the maintenance of its physical and chemical properties

IoT botnet detection using machine learning

Internet of things (IoT) is a boundless network that connects billions of physical objects implanted with sensors through internet and other various forms of connections. Since there is involvement of many devices, it requires security. To keep the IoT devices safe or making it learn to protect itself with the help of IoT security from the attackers. Common and dangerous malwares detected in IoT devices are botnets, specifically known as IoT botnets that makes one's device fall under malevolent attackers. There are many ways to deal with these attacks and one of the most efficient methodologies used is the multilayer framework, where in the first layer, k-means is used to clear the network traffic and in the second layer, the k-nearest neighbour is applied to block the IP address from entering the network by detecting the C&C server of the botnet. The main drawback is in the second layer, that is, it’s time-consuming and the accuracy is comparatively lower. In this paper, we will use fuzzy c-means for the first layer which will clear the network traffic more efficiently without losing important data. And logistic regression for the second layer, for faster and more accurate detection of botnets.&nbsp