A study of effectiveness and safety of topical combination therapy for acne vulgaris patients in dermatology department of a tertiary care teaching hospital

Background: Acne vulgaris is a dermatological disorder characterised by formation of comedones and inflammatory lesions. Acne is one of the most common reason for visiting a dermatologist in early adulthood. The current line of management for mild to moderate acne is topical medications with antimicrobials and retinoids. The present study assessed the effectiveness and safety of topical combination therapy for mild to moderate acne vulgaris.Methods: An observational, prospective and comparative study conducted on newly diagnosed acne vulgaris patients who were treated with topical combination therapy. Changes in the total, inflammatory and non-inflammatory lesion counts, investigator global assessment (IGA) and dermatology life quality index (DLQI) scales were recorded to check effectiveness. Treatment emergent adverse events were recorded in suspected ADR reporting form for safety assessment.Results: Participants (n=97) were treated with three topical combination treatments either clindamycin-benzoyl peroxide (group-A), clindamycin-adapalene (group-B) or benzoyl peroxide-adapalene (group C). Majority of participants (42.3%) were treated with clindamycin-benzoyl peroxide group. Reduction from baseline of total, inflammatory and non-inflammatory lesion counts were highly significant within group comparison (p<0.001), but between group differences were not significant. Significant improvement in DLQI and IGA scores were noted in all three groups, but between group comparison showed no significant differences. All three groups were safe and well tolerated and equally improve participant’s quality of life.Conclusions: all three topical combination drugs for mild acne vulgaris had similar effectiveness in terms of reduction in acne lesions with similar safety profile

District-level rice-yield estimation for Orissa using satellite data

Remotely-sensed data transformed into a vegetation index (radiance ratio of near infrared to red) has been related to district rice yields for Orissa using IRS-1A LISS-I data of kharif seasons 1988-89 and 1989-90. Using the empirical relation of the first year, estimation of rice yield has been done for the 1989-90 kharif season. Deviations in the districts of coastal tract and central tableland ranged from 1.9 to 11.1 percent whereas deviations were larger in Eastern Ghat and Northern plateau of Orissa

Automatic Content Generation for Video Self Modeling

Video self modeling (VSM) is a behavioral intervention technique in which a learner models a target behavior by watching a video of him or herself. Its effectiveness in rehabilitation and education has been repeatedly demonstrated but technical challenges remain in creating video contents that depict previously unseen behaviors. In this paper, we propose a novel system that re-renders new talking-head sequences suitable to be used for VSM treatment of patients with voice disorder. After the raw footage is captured, a new speech track is either synthesized using text-to-speech or selected based on voice similarity from a database of clean speeches. Voice conversion is then applied to match the new speech to the original voice. Time markers extracted from the original and new speech track are used to re-sample the video track for lip synchronization. We use an adaptive re-sampling strategy to minimize motion jitter, and apply bilinear and optical-flow based interpolation to ensure the image quality. Both objective measurements and subjective evaluations demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed techniques

Effect of music on post-exercise recovery rate in young healthy individuals

Background: Music has been used in exercise classes for many decades. The role of music in increasing the exercise performance is well recognized but there is very little information about effect of music on post-exercise recovery time.Methods: The present study was conducted to see the effect of musical sounds on post-exercise recovery time following moderate exercise with Harvard step test in young healthy volunteers. 30 young healthy volunteers (17 males, 13 females) aged between 17 to 20 years were recruited for the study. Pulse rate, systolic BP, diastolic BP were recorded prior to exercise in lying down position. The participants were subjected to moderate exercise by Harvard step test for 3 minutes on 3 consecutive days. They were allowed to rest in silence on 1st day, rest with hearing slow music on 2nd day and rest with hearing fast music on 3rd day. During the post-exercise relaxation time PR, SBP and DBP were measured immediately and after every 1 min. until the parameters returned to resting values. Data was statistically analysed using ANOVA test and 0.05 level of significance was set prior to the study.Results: The result showed that with slow music, recovery time of pulse rate (5.2 ± 2.1), systolic blood pressure (3.9 ± 1.1) and diastolic blood pressure (3.2 ± 1.7) were significantly faster as compared to both no music and fast music.Conclusion: The study concluded that music hastens post-exercise recovery and slow music has greater relaxation effect than fast or no music.

Probiotic Bacteria Induce Maturation of Intestinal Claudin 3 Expression and Barrier Function

An immature intestinal epithelial barrier may predispose infants and children to many intestinal inflammatory diseases, such as infectious enteritis, inflammatory bowel disease, and necrotizing enterocolitis. Understanding the factors that regulate gut barrier maturation may yield insight into strategies to prevent these intestinal diseases. The claudin family of tight junction proteins plays an important role in regulating epithelial paracellular permeability. Previous reports demonstrate that rodent intestinal barrier function matures during the first 3 weeks of life. We show that murine paracellular permeability markedly decreases during postnatal maturation, with the most significant change occurring between 2 and 3 weeks. Here we report for the first time that commensal bacterial colonization induces intestinal barrier function maturation by promoting claudin 3 expression. Neonatal mice raised on antibiotics or lacking the toll-like receptor adaptor protein MyD88 exhibit impaired barrier function and decreased claudin 3 expression. Furthermore, enteral administration of either live or heat-killed preparations of the probiotic Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG accelerates intestinal barrier maturation and induces claudin 3 expression. However, live Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG increases mortality. Taken together, these results support a vital role for intestinal flora in the maturation of intestinal barrier function. Probiotics may prevent intestinal inflammatory diseases by regulating intestinal tight junction protein expression and barrier function. The use of heat-killed probiotics may provide therapeutic benefit while minimizing adverse effects

ESSENS dyslipidemia: A placebo-controlled, randomized study of a nutritional supplement containing red yeast rice in subjects with newly diagnosed dyslipidemia

AbstractObjectiveEvidence suggests prolonged exposure to lower levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), starting at a younger age, substantially lowers cardiovascular (CV) risk. Accordingly, the CV pandemic affecting younger population in low- to low-middle-income countries, where statin usage is poor even in secondary prevention, may benefit from lipid-lowering nutritional products, as nutritional intervention is generally preferred in these cultures. However, the safety and efficacy of such preparations have not been systematically tested.MethodsIn this multicenter, double-blind study, 191 statin-free subjects with newly-diagnosed hyperlipidemia (LDL-C >120 mg/dL, 3.11 mmol/L) and no evidence of CV disease were randomized to one capsule of a proprietary bioactive phytonutrient formulation containing red yeast rice, grape-seed, niacinamide, and folic acid (RYR-NS) or matched placebo twice daily, along with lifestyle modification, for 12 wk.ResultsMean baseline LDL-C levels were 148.5 ± 24.0 mg/dL (3.85 ± 0.62 mmol/L) and 148.6 ± 21.9 mg/dL (3.85 ± 0.57 mmol/L) in the RYR-NS and placebo groups respectively. Compared with placebo, RYR-NS resulted in a significant reduction in LDL-C (−29.4% versus −3.5%, P < 0.0001) and non–high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (non-HDL-C; −29.8% versus −10.3%, P < 0.0001) at 12 wk. With RYR-NS, 43.4% individuals attained desirable LDL-C levels and 55.4% desirable non-HDL-C levels by week 12, compared to only 0% and 1.1%, respectively, at baseline. No safety issues were observed.ConclusionThis study demonstrates the efficacy and safety of RYR-NS in lowering LDL-C and non-HDL-C after 12 wk, with magnitude of LDL-C reduction being comparable to that seen with moderate-intensity statin therapy. Further long-term studies are required to determine the impact of RYR-NS on treatment adherence and clinical outcomes

NGS QC Toolkit: A Toolkit for Quality Control of Next Generation Sequencing Data

Next generation sequencing (NGS) technologies provide a high-throughput means to generate large amount of sequence data. However, quality control (QC) of sequence data generated from these technologies is extremely important for meaningful downstream analysis. Further, highly efficient and fast processing tools are required to handle the large volume of datasets. Here, we have developed an application, NGS QC Toolkit, for quality check and filtering of high-quality data. This toolkit is a standalone and open source application freely available at http://www.nipgr.res.in/ngsqctoolkit.html. All the tools in the application have been implemented in Perl programming language. The toolkit is comprised of user-friendly tools for QC of sequencing data generated using Roche 454 and Illumina platforms, and additional tools to aid QC (sequence format converter and trimming tools) and analysis (statistics tools). A variety of options have been provided to facilitate the QC at user-defined parameters. The toolkit is expected to be very useful for the QC of NGS data to facilitate better downstream analysis

Trends in Caffeine Use and Association between Clinical Outcomes and Timing of Therapy in Very Low Birth Weight Infants

Objective: To examine the effect of early initiation of caffeine therapy on neonatal outcomes and characterize the use of caffeine therapy in very low birth weight (VLBW) infants. Study design: We analyzed a cohort of 62 056 VLBW infants discharged between 1997 and 2010 who received caffeine therapy. We compared outcomes in infants receiving early caffeine therapy (initial dose before 3 days of life) and those receiving late caffeine therapy (initial dose at or after 3 days of life) through propensity scoring using baseline and early clinical variables. The primary outcome was the association between the timing of caffeine initiation and the incidence of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) or death. Results: We propensity score–matched 29 070 VLBW infants at a 1:1. Of infants receiving early caffeine therapy, 3681 (27.6%) died or developed BPD, compared with 4591 infants (34.0%) receiving late caffeine therapy (OR, 0.74; 99% CI, 0.69-0.80). Infants receiving early caffeine had a lower incidence of BPD (23.1% vs 30.7%; OR, 0.68; 95% CI, 0.63-0.73) and a higher incidence of death (4.5% vs 3.7%; OR, 1.23; 95% CI, 1.05-1.43). Infants receiving early caffeine therapy had less treatment of patent ductus arteriosus (OR, 0.60; 95% CI, 0.55-0.65) and a shorter duration of mechanical ventilation (mean difference, 6 days; P \u3c .001). Conclusion: Early caffeine initiation is associated with a decreased incidence of BPD. Randomized trials are needed to determine the efficacy and safety of early caffeine prophylaxis in VLBW infants. (J Pediatr 2014; 164:992-8)

Trends in Caffeine Use and Association between Clinical Outcomes and Timing of Therapy in Very Low Birth Weight Infants

Objective: To examine the effect of early initiation of caffeine therapy on neonatal outcomes and characterize the use of caffeine therapy in very low birth weight (VLBW) infants. Study design: We analyzed a cohort of 62 056 VLBW infants discharged between 1997 and 2010 who received caffeine therapy. We compared outcomes in infants receiving early caffeine therapy (initial dose before 3 days of life) and those receiving late caffeine therapy (initial dose at or after 3 days of life) through propensity scoring using baseline and early clinical variables. The primary outcome was the association between the timing of caffeine initiation and the incidence of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) or death. Results: We propensity score–matched 29 070 VLBW infants at a 1:1. Of infants receiving early caffeine therapy, 3681 (27.6%) died or developed BPD, compared with 4591 infants (34.0%) receiving late caffeine therapy (OR, 0.74; 99% CI, 0.69-0.80). Infants receiving early caffeine had a lower incidence of BPD (23.1% vs 30.7%; OR, 0.68; 95% CI, 0.63-0.73) and a higher incidence of death (4.5% vs 3.7%; OR, 1.23; 95% CI, 1.05-1.43). Infants receiving early caffeine therapy had less treatment of patent ductus arteriosus (OR, 0.60; 95% CI, 0.55-0.65) and a shorter duration of mechanical ventilation (mean difference, 6 days; P \u3c .001). Conclusion: Early caffeine initiation is associated with a decreased incidence of BPD. Randomized trials are needed to determine the efficacy and safety of early caffeine prophylaxis in VLBW infants. (J Pediatr 2014; 164:992-8)

Effect of Formulation Variables on the Stability of a Live, Rotavirus (RV3-BB) Vaccine Candidate using in vitro Gastric Digestion Models to Mimic Oral Delivery

In this work, two different in vitro gastric digestion models were used to evaluate the stability of a live attenuated rotavirus vaccine candidate (RV3-BB) under conditions designed to mimic oral delivery in infants. First, a forced-degradation model was established at low pH to assess the buffering capacity of formulation excipients and to screen for RV3-BB stabilizers. Second, a sequential-addition model was implemented to examine RV3-BB stability under conditions more representative of oral administration to infants. RV3-BB rapidly inactivated at < pH 5.0 (37 °C, 1 h) as measured by an infectivity RT-qPCR assay. Pre-neutralization with varying volumes of infant formula (Enfamil®) or antacid (Mylanta®) conferred partial to full protection of RV3-BB. Excipients with sufficient buffering capacity to minimize acidic pH inactivation of RV3-BB were identified (e.g., succinate, acetate, adipate), however, they concomitantly destabilized RV3-BB in accelerated storage stability studies. Both effects were concentration dependent, thus excipient optimization was required to design candidate RV3-BB formulations which minimize acid-induced viral inactivation during oral delivery while not destabilizing the vaccine during long-term 2–8 °C storage. Finally, a statistical Design -of-Experiments (DOE) study examining RV3-BB stability in the in vitro sequential-addition model identified key formulation parameters likely affecting RV3-BB stability during in vivo oral delivery