IN VITRO ANTI BACTERIAL ACTIVITY OF CLOVE AND PEPPER ON STREPTOCOCCUS MUTANS

Dental caries is an oral disease of bacterial origin that causes demineralization and destruction of tooth structure. Streptococcus mutans is Grampositivebacteriathat playa vitalrolein the formationof toothdecay.Insteadof opting forsyntheticantibacterialsubstances, naturaltherapycanbefollowed.Variousspices havebactericidalpropertiesthatcanbeusedtopreventtoothdecay.Cloveis an herb,usedas a spicethat haseffectivebactericidalaction.Black pepperhasbeennamedthe black goldâ€foritswide therapeuticuses. Theeffectof thesespicesonStreptococcusmutantsisstudiedusingdisc diffusiontechnique.The resultsobtained fromour studyshowsthat thetwoextractshavegot a verygoodantibacterialactivityagainstS.mutans.Keywords: Bactericidal, Cariogenic, Dental caries, Disc diffusion

Structure and Rheology of the Defect-gel States of Pure and Particle-dispersed Lyotropic Lamellar Phases

We present important new results from light-microscopy and rheometry on a moderately concentrated lyotropic smectic, with and without particulate additives. Shear-treatment aligns the phase rapidly, except for a striking network of oily-streak defects, which anneals out much more slowly. If spherical particles several microns in diameter are dispersed in the lamellar medium, part of the defect network persists under shear-treatment, its nodes anchored on the particles. The sample as prepared has substantial storage and loss moduli, both of which decrease steadily under shear-treatment. Adding particles enhances the moduli and retards their decay under shear. The data for the frequency-dependent storage modulus after various durations of shear-treatment can be scaled to collapse onto a single curve. The elasticity and dissipation in these samples thus arises mainly from the defect network, not directly from the smectic elasticity and hydrodynamics.Comment: 19 pages inclusive of 12 PostScript figures, uses revtex, psfrag and epsfig. Revised version, accepted for publication in Euro. Phys. J. B, with improved images of defect structure and theoretical estimates of network elasticity and scalin

A serological study of leptospirosis in Chennai

Background: Leptospirosis is a zoonotic disease of mammals caused by serovars belonging to the spirocheate Leptospira interrogans. Commonly occurs in tropical and sub tropical regions.Methods: A total number of 2180 suspected cases were included in the study during the period April 2014 to June 2014. All the samples were subjected to macroscopic slide agglutination test (MSAT). Suspected leptospirosis cases (n=2180) in the Chennai city and its suburbs were clinically evaluated.Results: The most common presentation involved was specific signs and symptoms including fever, myalgia and headache (99%). Fever followed by jaundice and renal failure were observed in 3.74% cases. Fever followed by chills, skin rashes, cough, vomiting were observed in 2.43% cases. About 30% of the infected people were found in the age group of above 60 years. Female (57 %) were found predominantly infected when compared to male (43 %). Out of 2180 suspected cases 534 (32%) were found infected due to leptospirosis during the summer by MSAT method. (April ’14-June’14).Conclusions: This study shows leptospirosis found more common among female than male, probably due to occupational status of leptospirosis. Based on our study we suggest that senior age group people (age more than 60 years) are highly proven to this disease probably due to the less immunity factor

A CONCEPT ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF BUPRENORPHINE AUTOINJECTOR FOR SELF AND EMERGENCY ADMINISTRATION

Objective: In natural and man-made disasters, pain and infection would increase morbidity and mortality. In these situations immediate treatment is mandatory and the drug has to be absorbed faster. An auto injector would be useful. The objective of this study was to develop an analgesic auto injector with buprenorphine.Methods: The auto injector is a reusable device with a disposable drug cartridge, capable of injecting 1 or 2 ml of drug solution. Sterile water filled cartridges were made from a pharmaceutical company. Water was withdrawn from the cartridge under a laminar flow and buprenorphine hydrochloride was injected to make 0.05 mg/ml concentration. Sterility test was carried out before and after injecting buprenorphine in the cartridge by nutrient agar method and aerobic and anaerobic sterility test mediums. Buprenorphine was injected, intraperitoneally in rats through autoinjector and compared with manual injection for its efficacy as an analgesic using Eddy's hot plate.Results: The water filled cartridge as well as the buprenorphine drug filled cartridge was found to be sterile as no growth was observed in the nutrient agar and no turbidity was observed in the sterility test mediums. The analgesic effect of buprenorphine by autoinjector was found to be significantly (Kruskal Wallis ANOVA) more than manual injection and control group (median analgesic time in seconds, Control-4.0; manual injection–7.0; autoinjector–12.0).Conclusion: Water filled cartridge could be converted to drug filled cartridge aseptically. Buprenorphine administered through autoinjector was better as an analgesic than manual injection.Â

Marine fisheries resources: exploitation, management and regulations in India

The peninsular India extending between latitudes 80 4' and 370 6' north and longitudes 680 7' and 97025' East has a coastline of about 8,219 km.The Indian Ocean covering the area between 30 and 1500 and from the Main land mass in the north to 500 south has a total area of 51 million sq km. After the declaration of the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in 1977, the area available to India is 2.02 million sq. km. comprising 0.86 million sq. km. on the East coast, 0.56 million sq. km. on the West coast and 0.60 million sq. km. around the Andaman and Nicobar islands. With the absolute right on the EEZ, India has also acquired the responsibility to conserve, protect, develop and optimally exploit the marine living resources up to 200 nautical miles of the coastline

Bioavailability of rifampicin following concomitant administration of ethambutol or isoniazid or pyrazinamide or a combination of the three drugs

Background & Objectives: Poor bioavailability of rifampicin (R) in combination with other anti-tuberculosis drugs such as isoniazid (H), pyrazinamide (Z), and ethambutol (E) is a subject of much concern for the last few decades. This could be due to an interaction between R and other drugs. An investigation was therefore undertaken to examine the bioavailability of R in the presence of H, Z and E or a combination of the three drugs. Methods: The study included eight healthy volunteers, each being investigated on four occasions at weekly intervals once with R alone and with three of the four combinations on the three remaining occasions. A partially balanced incomplete block design was employed and the allocation of R or the drug combinations was random. Plasma concentrations of R at intervals upto 12 h were determined by microbiological assay using Staphylococcus aureus as the test organism. The proportion (%) dose of R as R plus desacetyl R (DR) in urine excreted over the periods 0-8 and 8-12 h was also determined. Bioavailability was expressed as an index (BI) of area under time concentration curve (AUC) calculated from the plasma concentrations or proportion of dose of R excreted as R plus DR in urine with the combinations to that with R alone. Results: The bioavailability indices based on AUC were 0.96 with RE, 0.76 with RH, 1.08 with RZ and 0.65 with REHZ. The indices based on urine estimations (0-8 h) were similar, the values being 0.94, 0.84, 0.94 and 0.75, respectively. A second investigation revealed that the decrease of bioavailability of R with H was not due to the excipients present in H tablets. Interpretation & conclusion: Isoniazid alone or in combination with E and Z reduces the bioavailability of R. Urinary excretion data offer a simple and non invasive method for the assessment of bioavailability of R

मलबार में शंबु पालन के स्वयं सहायक संघों की गतिशीलता और लिंग परिप्रेक्ष्य

Gender perspective and dynamics of womens’ self help groups in Mussel farming in Malaba

Economic efficiency of mechanised fishing in Tamil Nadu – a case study in Chennai

A study was conducted to analyse the economic efficiency of mechanised fishing in Chennai in Tamil Nadu along the east coast of India. The craft and gear combinations over the years witnessed dramatic changes on account of the huge cost of fishing, duration and depth of operations and maintenance. The mechanised gillnetters showed tremendous increase among the fishing fleet in Chennai mainly due to their assured returns and consistent marketing margin. The present study specifically compares the economic efficiency of mechanised gillnet units and trawlers operating from Chennai. Average operating cost and net income per day for the multiday (MD) gillnetters were `17,757 and 6,613 whereas in the case of multiday trawlers, the operating cost and net income per day were `18,095 and `3,219, respectively. Targeted tuna fishing and better price realisation in the value chain have contributed to better performance of gillnet units. The higher fuel requirement observed for MD trawlers as compared to MD gillnetters is attributed to long distance travelling and the use of mechanical power for propulsion as well as for fishing. The study found that efficiency measures in terms of labour, capital and fuel have established the supremacy of mechanised gillnetters

COMPARATIVE EVALUATION OF ORAL MICROBIOTA OF CHILDREN WITH AND WITHOUT EARLY CHILDHOOD CARIES BORN TO CARIES FREE MOTHERS

Objectives: To compare the level of mutans streptococci in children with and without Early childhood caries (ECC) born to caries free mothers.Methods: Twenty children aged between 3 and 6 years were selected depending on their caries experience, and the mother should be caries free inboth the groups. The children were divided into two groups. Group I had an active carious lesion and Group II were caries free. Saliva samples werecollected from the child and the mother in a sterile tube and bacterial culture was carried out to estimate the colony count.Results: There was a highly significant difference in the colony forming unit (CFU) between the 2 groups, indicating higher CFU in children with ECC.Conclusions: Even though there are higher chances of vertical transmission of MS from mother to their child, this study provides a new view thatmother alone is not a potential factor for mutans streptococci transmission to their child.Keywords: Mutans streptocci, Early childhood caries, Colony forming unit

Effect of administration of rifampicin on the adrenocortical function in patients with pulmonary tuberculosis

Adrenocortical function was studied on admission and during treatment in 57 newlydiagnosed patients with pulmonary tuberculosis, 16 of whom were treated with a daily regimen containing Rifampicin (R-7), 22 with a twiceweekly regimen containing the same drug (R-Z) and 19 with a daily regimen that did not contain Rifampicin (NR-7). In patients on daily treatment (R-7 and NR-7), there was a slight increase in plasma cortisol at 1 week followed by a decline; while the mean level at 4 weeks was similar to that on admission in the R-7 patients, that in the NR-7 patients was significantly lower (P < 0.01). No change was observed in the R-2 patients. A positive response to tetracosactrin was observed in the 7 R-7, 14 R-Z and 7 NR-7 patients on admission and in 6, 14 and 14, respectively at 4 weeks. The increase in the proportion of positive responders in the NH-7 patients was significant (P = 0.05). On admission, the diurnal rhythm of the release of cortisol, as assessed by changes in salivary cortisol, was disturbed in the patients with an evening rise in the cortisol levels; it had, however, reverted to a near-normal pattern after 2 months of treatment in all 3 groups of patients