Inventory and ethnomedicinal plants used by rural people of Eastern Ghats of Tamil Nadu, India

The present study is aimed at documenting the phytodiversity and indigenous knowledge of the tribal people in the regions of Eastern Ghats. Sivanmalai, the pride of Eastern Ghats, the gem of Tamil Nadu, otherwise known as Sivachalam, Sivathri is a diversity rich region. Documentation of the richness and distribution of species diversity are helpful in developing a better plans for management and conservation of tropical forest. A total of 107 plant species were collected, which includes 46 medicinal species belonging to 41 genus of 24 families. Some of the plants are used to cure various ailments viz, Cancer, Leprosy, etc., and the frequently used medicinal plants includes Acacia leucopholea (Roxb.) Willd., Andrographis echioides Nees, etc., the predominant mode of medicinal preparation used in the study area is grinding the plant part into paste. The global clamour for highly potential medicinal plants creates opportunities for the local and rural people to export medicinal species of the Eastern Ghats. The conclusion  of the study invocate the importance of trans- disciplinary researches which helps in the conservation of phytodiversity and the invaluable traditional knowledge.Â

Experimental Investigation of Date seed and Neem Powder Reinforced Natural Fiber Composites

Natural fillers have received great attention among researchers due their its light weight, high strength, degradability, and eco-friendly behavior. This work is focused on developing a laminate of date palm seed powder and neem gum powder reinforced epoxy resin. Epoxy resin is an excellent thermoset polymer with anoutstanding cost to performance ratio. Date palm seeds have highly competitive properties in improving the mechanical and thermal properties of composites by their good adherence to polymer matrix. Neem gum powder is used as a binder in increasing ratios of 0 %, 10 %, 15 %, 20 %, 25 %, and 30 % to test their strength in different compositions. Date seed powder has been reinforced in decreasing weight percent as 30 %, 25 %, 20 %, 15 %, 10 %, 5 %, and 0 %. The specimens prepared through the compression moulding technique were subjected to various mechanical tests like a tensile test, flexural test, and impact test as per the ASTM standards. Fractography analysis using FESEM (Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy) and FT-IR(Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy) test have determined the surface characteristics and chemical composition of the samples. The result shows that, by adding neem gum powder in increasing quantities the mechanical properties like tensile and flexural decreases. However, it does not affect the impact strength of the material. A detailed study of their behavior is discussed in this work

A comparative study on chitosan nanoparticle synthesis methodologies for application in aquaculture through toxicity studies

Abstract Chitosan nanoparticles (CSNPs) have been recently used for various applications in aquaculture, especially as drug carriers. The aim of this study was to synthesise and investigate a superlative method of CSNP synthesis for application in aquaculture through aquaculture‐based toxicology screening methods. Two different methods were analysed: the first a direct ionic gelation method (A) and the other involving a low‐molecular‐weight chitosan microparticle intermediate method (B). Dynamic light scattering characterisation revealed that the CSNP particle sizes were 192.7 ± 11.8 and 22.9 nm from methods A and B, respectively. The LC50 values for brine shrimp toxicity were found to be 1.51 and 0.02 ppt in 24 h for methods A and B, respectively. Acute toxicity studies in Litopenaeus vannamei rendered LC50 values of 3235.94 and 2884.03 ppt in 24 h for methods A and B, respectively. Zebrafish toxicity studies revealed mortality rates of 21.67% and 55% at 20 mg/L concentration for methods A and B, respectively, with an increased expression of intracellular reactive oxygen species in method B. From these findings, it can be concluded that a comparatively reduced toxicity of CSNPs derived from ionic gelation method makes it more appropriate for application in aquaculture

Newborn dried blood spots for serologic surveys of COVID-19

There is an urgent need for inexpensive, population-wide surveillance testing for COVID-19. We tested newborn dried blood spot (DBS) anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies for all infants born at Yale from March to May 2020, and found that newborn DBS serologies reflect maternal and population-wide infection rates during the study period. This suggests a role for DBS in COVID-19 surveillance in areas where viral testing is limited

A unique maternal and placental galectin signature upon SARS-CoV-2 infection suggests galectin-1 as a key alarmin at the maternal–fetal interface

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic imposed a risk of infection and disease in pregnant women and neonates. Successful pregnancy requires a fine-tuned regulation of the maternal immune system to accommodate the growing fetus and to protect the mother from infection. Galectins, a family of β-galactoside–binding proteins, modulate immune and inflammatory processes and have been recognized as critical factors in reproductive orchestration, including maternal immune adaptation in pregnancy. Pregnancy-specific glycoprotein 1 (PSG1) is a recently identified gal-1 ligand at the maternal–fetal interface, which may facilitate a successful pregnancy. Several studies suggest that galectins are involved in the immune response in SARS-CoV-2–infected patients. However, the galectins and PSG1 signature upon SARS-CoV-2 infection and vaccination during pregnancy remain unclear. In the present study, we examined the maternal circulating levels of galectins (gal-1, gal-3, gal-7, and gal-9) and PSG1 in pregnant women infected with SARS-CoV-2 before vaccination or uninfected women who were vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2 and correlated their expression with different pregnancy parameters. SARS-CoV-2 infection or vaccination during pregnancy provoked an increase in maternal gal-1 circulating levels. On the other hand, levels of PSG1 were only augmented upon SARS-CoV-2 infection. A healthy pregnancy is associated with a positive correlation between gal-1 concentrations and gal-3 or gal-9; however, no correlation was observed between these lectins during SARS-CoV-2 infection. Transcriptome analysis of the placenta showed that gal-1, gal-3, and several PSG and glycoenzymes responsible for the synthesis of gal-1-binding glycotopes (such as linkage-specific N-acetyl-glucosaminyltransferases (MGATs)) are upregulated in pregnant women infected with SARS-CoV-2. Collectively, our findings identify a dynamically regulated “galectin-specific signature” that accompanies the SARS-CoV-2 infection and vaccination in pregnancy, and they highlight a potentially significant role for gal-1 as a key pregnancy protective alarmin during virus infection

Gut Microbiome Dysbiosis in Antibiotic-Treated COVID-19 Patients is Associated with Microbial Translocation and Bacteremia

Although microbial populations in the gut microbiome are associated with COVID-19 severity, a causal impact on patient health has not been established. Here we provide evidence that gut microbiome dysbiosis is associated with translocation of bacteria into the blood during COVID-19, causing life-threatening secondary infections. We first demonstrate SARS-CoV-2 infection induces gut microbiome dysbiosis in mice, which correlated with alterations to Paneth cells and goblet cells, and markers of barrier permeability. Samples collected from 96 COVID-19 patients at two different clinical sites also revealed substantial gut microbiome dysbiosis, including blooms of opportunistic pathogenic bacterial genera known to include antimicrobial-resistant species. Analysis of blood culture results testing for secondary microbial bloodstream infections with paired microbiome data indicates that bacteria may translocate from the gut into the systemic circulation of COVID-19 patients. These results are consistent with a direct role for gut microbiome dysbiosis in enabling dangerous secondary infections during COVID-19

An Ex Vivo Model Of Glycogen Synthesis In Placental Explant Tissue

AN EX VIVO MODEL OF GLYCOGEN SYNTHESIS IN PLACENTAL EXPLANT TISSUE Pavithra Vijayakumar, Patricia Xu, Katie Cooke, Anika Anam, Jane O’Bryan, Zhonghua Tang, and Clare Flannery. Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences, Yale University, School of Medicine, New Haven, CT. As rates of maternal obesity rise, a better understanding of how the maternal metabolic environment influences fetal outcomes is required to inform further clinical and therapeutic investigations. In particular, the role that glycogen storage plays in mediating nutrient delivery to the fetus is still unclear; understand this process could help explain disparate outcomes in pregnant women with obesity. We aim to develop an ex vivo model of placental metabolism that is able to capture aerobic respiration at physiologic levels and characterize the metabolic pathways at use by placental tissue in this model. We collected thirteen placentas from women undergoing cesarean delivery without trial of labor, who were known to not have gestational or pre-existing diabetes, and cultured explants from these placentas under varying media, time, and oxygen conditions. We found that lactate levels were very high in explants cultured at 20% oxygen, and that the presence of gluconeogenic substrates in addition to glucose increased the production and accumulation of glycogen. We then found that glycogen levels were increased in placenta cultured at 50% oxygen, and that glycogen levels decline over the first few hours of culture before rising and peaking at around 8 hours of treatment. We were able to minimize the initial loss of glycogen by optimizing the protocols used for processing tissue both before and after explant culture. Using this model of metabolism, we hope to continue to work with the IOMIC core at Yale to further characterize the metabolic fate of glucose under these conditions

Adapting to the ACA: Risk-Assumption Across the Spectrum of Integrated Delivery Systems

This thesis examines the growing trend of risk-assumption in health care delivery and financing models and their place in the post-Affordable Care Act (ACA) landscape. Riskassumption is theorized to be a powerful incentive for providers to manage care efficiently. Recent risk-assuming models are also careful to include ties to the value and quality of care, safeguarding against the possibility of the underservice of care. However, little empirical work has yet examined the effect of risk-assumption on quality metrics. This thesis will add to the growing body of work concerning risk-assuming delivery models, referred to here as Integrated Delivery and Financing Systems (IDFSs). First, a quantitative analysis on a national dataset of provider quality examines the relationship between provider ownership of an insurance plan (the most extreme form of risk assumption) and provider quality. Then, a descriptive case study analysis looks in-depth at a range of IDFSs, varying in terms of the level of risk assumption and the extent of integration between the provider and payer functions. Through case studies, this thesis addresses the question of how risk-assumption shaped the way providers were able to respond to and take advantage of the new delivery models and incentive programs offered by the ACA Together, these two components contribute to a decades-long debate of whether risk-assumption, particularly via payer-provider integration, is a useful and feasible model that promotes high-quality, low-cost care. By examining risk-assuming providers in the context of the Affordable Care Act, this thesis investigates the potential for IDFSs to spread in the new environment, as well shedding some light on the question of whether IDFSs should become more prolific. Ultimately, level of risk assumption and extent of integration play a defining role in shaping providers¿ ability to respond to the ACA. Highly integrated providers that already had experience with risk assumption had little to gain from the ACA, indicating that the ACA has the potential to shape all other providers to the model of IDFSs. But, IDFSs have currently reached a level of quality care beyond which new innovations are needed to continue improving