Implementing standardised rhodes index to measure the efficacy of ginger extract (Zingiber officinale) in pregnancy induced nausea and vomiting

Background: Although nausea and vomiting are natural signs of pregnancy affecting about half the pregnant women during their first trimester of pregnancy, it is unpleasant and difficult symptom to deal with. Considering the fact that medication during pregnancy is not advised, we decided to study the efficacy of a natural product to control nausea and vomiting during early pregnancy. Our study was directed to estimate the efficacy of ginger extract (Zingiber officinale) in pregnancy induced nausea and vomiting.Methods: A total of 30 women with pregnancy of 4-16 weeks, suffering from nausea and vomiting were included in this study (n=30). Subjects were given ginger extract 250mg, to be taken 3 times a day half an hour before food for 1 week. Severity of vomiting was assessed by Rhodes Index of Nausea and Vomiting by the patients. Baseline scores were compared with the score at the end of 7 day. The findings were analysed statistically.Results: Effect with the ginger extract in pregnancy induced nausea and vomiting was assessed at the end of treatment (day 7) and compared with the baseline values. Four patients reported symptoms of heartburn. Otherwise, there were no other reports of any adverse effects. The results showed significance (p <0.005).Conclusions: Ginger extract (Zingiber officinale) helps in reducing severity and frequency of pregnancy induced nausea and vomiting. Therefore, we conclude that ginger extract can be used for mild to moderate nausea and vomiting induced by pregnancy during first trimester

Six-fold-symmetry internal rotation in toluenes: the low barrier challenge of 2,6-and 3,5-difluorotoluene

Pure six-fold symmetry (V6) internal rotation poses significant challenges to experimental and theoretical determination, as the very low torsional barriers result in huge tunneling splittings difficult to identify and to model. Here we resolved the methyl group internal rotation dynamics of 2,6- and 3,5-difluorotoluene using a newly developed computer code especially adapted to V6 problems. The jet-cooled rotational spectra of the title molecules in the 5–25 GHz region revealed internal rotation tunneling doublings of up to 3.6 GHz, which translated in methyl group potential barriers of V6 = 0.14872(24) and 0.0856(10) kJ mol−1, respectively, in the vibrational ground-state. Additional information on Stark effects and carbon isotopic species in natural abundance provided structural data and the electric dipole moments for both molecules. Ab initio calculations at the MP2 level do not reproduce the tiny torsional barriers, calling for experiments on other systems and additional theoretical models.DFGMINECO/CTQ2012-39132-C02-0

Joint geomorphological and geophysical (electrical resistivity) investigation for the configuration of soil pipe

Soil piping is a complex mechanism of subsurface soil erosion, which results underground conduits (cave/tunnel) of varying dimensions. Soil piping associates with severe consequences, such as land subsidence and land slide. Therefore, the investigation of soil pipe is crucial. However, the study of soil pipe is challenging unless characteristic surficial evidences of the pipe are available. Based on the surficial evidences, soil pipe can be configured with geophysical techniques which in-turn aid in designing precursory measures. Therefore, in the present study, we carried out a combined geomorphological and geophysical investigation to configure the soil pipe at Kinanoor village, Kasaragod, Kerala, India. Based on the vital geomorphological information, we carried out resistivity survey and configured an underground soil pipe of diameter ∼6.5 to 7 m that is seated ∼3 m beneath the surface. This hollow pipe is underlain by the only accessible road of that locality which makes the road vulnerable for transportation. Therefore, a bridge like structure is recommended to construct at the pipe location to stabilize the risk factor. Since the study area is situated on a fringe-slope, the geomorphological investigation points out that the disturbance in natural course of the drainage system and the accumulation of water in the up-slope area due to the man-made activities might act as potential causes for the piping in the area. Therefore, it is suggested not to disturb the natural course of the drainage which may lead to subsidence of the area in future

Conformational steering in dicarboxy acids: the native structure of succinic acid

Succinic acid, a dicarboxylic acid molecule, has been investigated spectroscopically with computational support to elucidate the complex aspects of its conformational composition. Due to the torsional freedom of the carbon backbone and hydroxy groups, a large number of potentially plausible conformers can be generated with an indication that the gauche conformer is favored over the trans form. The microwave and millimeter wave spectra have been analyzed and accurate spectroscopic constants have been derived that correlate best with those of the lowest energy gauche conformer. For an unambiguous conformational identification measurements were extended to the monosubstituted isotopologues, precisely determining the structural properties. Besides bond distances and angles, particularly the dihedral angle has been determined to be 67.76(11)°, confirming the anomalous tendency of the methylene units to favor gauche conformers when a short aliphatic segment is placed between two carbonyl groups.Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation/CTQ2011-22923Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation/CGL2011-2244

Cryoballoon pulmonary vein isolation as first-line treatment of typical atrial flutter: long-term outcomes of the CRAFT trial

\ua9 The Author(s) 2024.Background: CRAFT was an international, multicentre, randomised controlled trial across 11 sites in the United UK and Switzerland. Given the evidence that pulmonary vein triggers may be responsible for atrial flutter (AFL) as well as atrial fibrillation (AF), we hypothesised that cryoballoon pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) would provide greater symptomatic arrhythmia reduction than cavotricuspid isthmus (CTI) ablation, whilst also reducing the subsequent burden of AF. Twelve-month outcomes were previously reported. In this study, we report the extended outcomes of the CRAFT study to 36 months. Methods: Patients with typical AFL and no evidence of AF were randomised 1:1 to cryoballoon PVI or radiofrequency CTI. All patients received an implantable loop recorder (ILR) for continuous cardiac rhythm monitoring. The primary outcome was time-to-symptomatic arrhythmia recurrence &gt; 30 s. Secondary outcomes included time-to-first-AF episode ≥ 2 min. The composite safety outcome included death, stroke and procedural complications. Results: A total of 113 patients were randomised to cryoballoon PVI (n = 54) or radiofrequency CTI ablation (n = 59). Ninety-one patients reconsented for extended follow-up beyond 12 months. There was no difference in the primary outcome between arms, with the primary outcome occurring in 12 PVI vs 11 CTI patients (HR 0.97; 95% CI 0.43–2.20; p = 0.994). AF ≥ 2 min was significantly less frequent in the PVI arm, affecting 26 PVI vs 36 CTI patients (HR 0.48; 95% CI 0.29–0.79; p = 0.004). The composite safety outcome occurred in 5 PVI and 6 CTI patients (p = 0.755). Conclusion: Cryoballoon PVI shows similar efficacy to radiofrequency CTI ablation in reducing symptomatic arrhythmia recurrence in patients presenting with isolated typical AFL but significantly reduces the occurrence of subsequent AF. Graphical Abstract: (Figure presented.)

Inhibition of measles virus replication by 5\u27-Norcarbocyclic nucleoside analogs

Despite intense efforts to increase vaccine coverage, measles virus (MV) still causes significant morbidity and mortality in the world, sometimes as the result of severe, chronic, lethal disease. In an effort to develop therapies to supplement immunization strategies, a number of 5′-nor carbocyclic adenosine analogues were evaluated for anti-MV activity in CV-1 monkey kidney cells. Of those compounds tested, those either unsubstituted at C4 or possessing a hydroxyl, azido or amino substituent at that position were the most active, with particularly significant inhibition of MV, strain Chicago-1. The EC50 values against this strain ranged from100 mg/ml in actively growing and stationary-phase cells. Results suggest that these compounds may be clinically useful anti-MV virus agents

Shrimp Farming Practices in the Puttallam District of Sri Lanka: Implications for Disease Control, Industry Sustainability, and Rural Development

Shrimp farming has great potential to diversify and secure income in rural Sri Lanka, but production has significantly declined in recent years due to civil conflicts, some unsustainable practices and devastating outbreaks of disease. We examined management practices affecting disease prevention and control in the Puttalam district to identify extension services outputs that could support sustainable development of Sri Lankan shrimp farming. A survey on 621 shrimp farms (603 operational and 18 nonoperational) was conducted within the Puttalam district over 42 weeks comprising a series of three-day field visits from August 2008 to October 2009, covering two consecutive shrimp crops. Fundamental deficits in disease control, management, and biosecurity practices were found. Farmers had knowledge of biosecurity but the lack of financial resources was a major impediment to improved disease control. Smallholder farmers were disproportionately constrained in their ability to enact basic biosecurity practices due to their economic status. Basic breaches in biosecurity will keep disease as the rate limiting step in this industry. Plans to support this industry must recognize the socioeconomic reality of rural Sri Lankan aquaculture

Predictive models for anti-tubercular molecules using machine learning on high-throughput biological screening datasets

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Tuberculosis is a contagious disease caused by <it>Mycobacterium tuberculosis </it>(Mtb), affecting more than two billion people around the globe and is one of the major causes of morbidity and mortality in the developing world. Recent reports suggest that Mtb has been developing resistance to the widely used anti-tubercular drugs resulting in the emergence and spread of multi drug-resistant (MDR) and extensively drug-resistant (XDR) strains throughout the world. In view of this global epidemic, there is an urgent need to facilitate fast and efficient lead identification methodologies. Target based screening of large compound libraries has been widely used as a fast and efficient approach for lead identification, but is restricted by the knowledge about the target structure. Whole organism screens on the other hand are target-agnostic and have been now widely employed as an alternative for lead identification but they are limited by the time and cost involved in running the screens for large compound libraries. This could be possibly be circumvented by using computational approaches to prioritize molecules for screening programmes.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We utilized physicochemical properties of compounds to train four supervised classifiers (Naïve Bayes, Random Forest, J48 and SMO) on three publicly available bioassay screens of Mtb inhibitors and validated the robustness of the predictive models using various statistical measures.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This study is a comprehensive analysis of high-throughput bioassay data for anti-tubercular activity and the application of machine learning approaches to create target-agnostic predictive models for anti-tubercular agents.</p