Evaluation of anti-depressant activity of zinc and vitamin B6 as adjuvants to fluoxetine in an animal model of depression

Background: Depression is a significant public health problem. It is estimated by the World Health Organization that more than 300 million people suffer from depression globally. Micronutrient deficiencies have been constantly linked to depression. The currently used drugs in treatment of depression modulate the excitatory and/or the inhibitory neurotransmission pathways through different mechanisms. The aim of the present study was to compare the antidepressant effect of the micronutrients, zinc and vitamin B6, as adjuvants to Fluoxetine in Albino Wistar rats.Methods: Eighteen albino wistar rats of 180-280grams of either sex were used in the study to evaluate the anti-depressant activity after approval from the Institutional Animal Ethics Committee. They were divided into three groups of six rats each (3 groups). Group 1 was control group which received only distilled water, group 2 was standard group which received fluoxetine and group 3 was test group which received zinc, vitamin B6 and fluoxetine. The anti-depressant activity was measured using the forced swimming test (FST) which works on the principles of behavioral despair. Data analysis was done using IBM SPSS software, version 25.0 and p value <0.05 was considered statistically significant.Results: The rats of the standard and test groups had latency periods’ means of 268.83±30.16, 126.17±22.33 and 125.33±11.86 on 254.83±13.00, 118.67±8.16 and 127.17±6.68 seconds on days 1, 7 and 14 respectively (p <0.001) and the rats of the standard and test groups had despair periods’ means of 177.00±7.46, 95.17±10.65, 93.17±7.47and 167.17±14.82, 97.33±7.63 and 87.50±4.1 seconds on days 1, 7 and 14 respectively (p <0.001).Conclusions: Supplementation of zinc and vitamin B6 to the standard treatment fluoxetine yielded better anti-depressant activity than fluoxetine alone in rats subjected to stress

Applicability of genetic algorithms to reconstruction of projected data from ultrasonic tomography

In this paper simulation studies of the ultrasound computerized tomography (CT) technique employing time of flight data is presented. An enhanced genetic algorithm based reconstruction technique is proposed that is capable of detecting multiple types of inclusions in the test specimen to be reconstructed. It is assumed that the physical properties of the inclusions are known a priori. The preliminary results of our algorithm for a simple configuration are found to be better than those reported with MART1. In addition to being able to identify inclusions of different materials, both the shape and location of the inclusions could be reconstructed using the proposed algorithm. The results are found to be consistent and satisfactory for a wide range of grid sizes and geometries of inclusion(s). Based on the regression analysis an empirical relation between the number of unknowns and the reconstruction time is found which enables one to predict the reconstruction time for higher resolutions

RATIONALE OF ANTIBIOTIC PRESCRIPTION IN PATIENTS VISITING A TERTIARY CARE SOUTH INDIAN HOSPITAL

Objective: Antimicrobials are the class of drugs that are used irrationally in most cases leading to rise in instances of antimicrobial resistance altering the effect of such agents. Antimicrobial resistance has become a critical issue universally nerving the need to monitor the utilization pattern and rationality in prescribing of antibiotics. This helps in selection of most appropriate antibiotic for the specific patient and achieving the goals of the therapy. Methods: A prospective cross-sectional study with a sample size of 600 participants was conducted in department of general medicine of a tertiary care hospital. Inpatients prescribed with antibiotics were included in the study and their case sheets were reviewed to analyzing the prescribing pattern. The medication usage pattern was then assessed for rationality in prescribing was evaluated. The results obtained were statistically analyzed using SPSS Software. Results: It is noted that a more number of males participated and the greatest number of the patients were from the age group of 31-45. The diagnosis found in the majority of the patients was respiratory tract infection followed by others. On scrutinizing the prescriptions, it was noted that cephalosporins and penicillins were most often prescribed, and on an average single, antibiotic was frequently used with the preferred route of administration in most of the prescriptions being injection route. Though many of the antibiotics were prescribed empirically, it was observed that 59% of them were most appropriately dosed and maximum patients that are around 57% were cured from their illnesses. Conclusion: This study provided important baseline information on antimicrobial use within a large tertiary care teaching hospital and identified potential targets for future antimicrobial stewardship programs. The culture and sensitivity testing suggested that the drug resistance was more for most commonly prescribed antibiotics in the hospital. Increased targeted prescribing based on sensitivity tests will bring down the high use of empiric broad-spectrum antibiotic use

Mapping local patterns of childhood overweight and wasting in low- and middle-income countries between 2000 and 2017

A double burden of malnutrition occurs when individuals, household members or communities experience both undernutrition and overweight. Here, we show geospatial estimates of overweight and wasting prevalence among children under 5 years of age in 105 low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) from 2000 to 2017 and aggregate these to policy-relevant administrative units. Wasting decreased overall across LMICs between 2000 and 2017, from 8.4% (62.3 (55.1–70.8) million) to 6.4% (58.3 (47.6–70.7) million), but is predicted to remain above the World Health Organization’s Global Nutrition Target of <5% in over half of LMICs by 2025. Prevalence of overweight increased from 5.2% (30 (22.8–38.5) million) in 2000 to 6.0% (55.5 (44.8–67.9) million) children aged under 5 years in 2017. Areas most affected by double burden of malnutrition were located in Indonesia, Thailand, southeastern China, Botswana, Cameroon and central Nigeria. Our estimates provide a new perspective to researchers, policy makers and public health agencies in their efforts to address this global childhood syndemic

Irrigation in India: Status, challenges and options

The paper was initially prepared and presented as a country paper in APO workshopIn India, spatial and temporal variation of precipitation has been boundless varying from 11000 mm to 90 mm. The average annual per capita water availability has declined from 5000 cubic meter in year 1950 to 1545 cubic meter in year 2011 and estimated to reduce further to 1341 and 1140 cubic meter in year 2025 and 2050, respectively. Agriculture sector, which provide 54.6% of total employment to growing population, alone consumes more than 90% of total groundwater draft in irrigation. Over the years, groundwater has become dominant source of irrigation due to its independent access and timely availability of water. This outrageous dependency on groundwater has led to depletion of water table in 64% district of the country between TE2002 and TE2016. With collective efforts of government at various levels, utilized irrigated potential including both surface and ground water has increased to 87 Mha while ultimate irrigation potential touched 140 Mha. In context of rapid depletion of water resources, there is need to increase water use efficiency. Efficient method, like microirrigation, can play pivotal role in management of irrigation water demand. Properly designed and managed drip and sprinkler irrigation system have irrigation efficiency about 90% and 70%, respectively contrast to surface irrigation method which have just about 40%. Recognizing the gravity of water scarcity in many part of the country, government has started formulating its water policy pivotal to micro irrigation. In year 2015, government has bundled all ongoing irrigation schemes into Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojna (PMKSY) in which micro irrigation as an integral component. The successful adoption of water efficient technologies has two preconditions namely technical know-how and its accessibility through institutional support systems. Government has taken many initiatives to intensify outreach of efficient irrigation technology to farm.ICAR-NIA

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Not AvailableThe evidences point out that farmers are keen to adopt drip irrigation, primarily to cope with the scarcity in at least one of three factors of production, namely water, power, and labour. The results indicate that micro irrigation has a positive impact on improving crop productivity and addressed the scarcity of water, power, and labour. The study clearly establishes micro irrigation is a worthy technology for improving water use efficiency and realizing other associated benefitsNot Availabl

The Status, Performance and Impact of sweet potato cultivation on farming communities of Odisha, India

This paper has examined the spatio-temporal changes in area, production and yield of sweet potato in India and its impact on economics of sweet potato cultivation in selected districts of Odisha. Compound annual growth rate, farm business analyses and Garrett’s ranking technique were used to assess the growth rate, cost and returns and constraints faced by the farmers. The cost and returns analysis indicated that the labour cost accounted for 42 per cent of the total cost of production and the sweet potato production is profitable. Yield had a greater impact on improving profitability. The constraints in the sweet potato cultivation were non-availability of quality planting materials, lack of storage, lack of appropriate price and high marketing cost among producers. These constraints may be addressed by the timely and adequate supply of vines, creating awareness about improving cultivation practices and reforming the market system of farm produce in Odisha which provides better avenues for increasing farmers’ income. Acknowledgement : The authors acknowledge the Director, CGIAR-IFPRI, South Asia Office, New Delhi. The research of primary survey undertaken for this project was made possible by generous support from Bill Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) under the TARINA project