Liposomal-polyene preliposomal powder and method for its preparation

A method is disclosed for preparing a stable preliposomal powder which, when reconstituted with water or saline solution, forms a suspension of liposomes containing a polyene drug, such as nystatin. The method involves the steps of combining at least one phospholipid with a first organic solvent to form a first solution, adding a clarifying amount of water to the first solution, combining a polyene with a second organic solvent to form a second solution, combining the first and second solutions to produce a substantially clear combined solution, and then removing the organic solvents, leaving a powder.Board of Regents, University of Texas Syste

Comparison of centchroman and PPIUCD in terms of efficacy, safety and continuation rate in immediate postpartum period

Background: Study was done to assess the efficacy, safety and continuation rate of Centchroman and IUCD administered in immediate postpartum period (within 48 hours).Methods: An interventional study was conducted in Obstetrics and Gynecology department of Safdarjung Hospital, New Delhi, at a tertiary care hospital after approval from ethical committee. 280 women were enrolled in the study and divided into 2 groups centchroman group and PPIUCD group, 140 in each group after excluding the exclusion criteria and satisfying inclusion criteria. These women were followed up at 6 week, 3 month and 6 months to study efficacy, safety and continuation rate.Results: Centchroman as contraception is safe with fewer side effects, better satisfaction rate and better continuation rate in comparison to PPIUCD.Conclusions: Centchroman is a newer contraceptive which is recently added in basket of family planning in our country to give wider choices to women. It is an indigenous product developed by central drug research institute (CDRI), Lucknow available free of cost in government hospitals. Centchroman needs more popularity and education for its widespread use

Seaweeds

Seaweeds are macroscopic marine algae attached to solid substratum, growing in the shallow waters of sea. They belong to the primitive group of Thallophyta and are classified into three major Classes viz. Chlorophyceae (green algae), Phaeophyceae (brown algae) and Rhodophyceae (red algae). Seaweeds are important marine resources exploited for their commercial value as the source of phycocolloids such as agar, agarose, algin and carrageenan (Table 1), besides their use as food, source of enzymes, dyes, drugs, growth promoters, etc. In India, seaweeds are harvested from the natural beds along the Tamil Nadu and Gujarat coasts since 1966. Seaweed resources in our coastal waters are inadequate to meet the growing demand for the supply of raw materials to the seaweed industries. There is thus the need to cultivate commercially important seaweeds to augment the supply of raw materials to the existing industries and for their sustenance. This article reviews the current status of seaweed resources in India, their farming and industrial utilization

Ascorbic Acid is an Abettor in Calcium Urolithiasis: An Experimental Study

Two sets of animal experiments using guinea pigs were planned to evaluate the effect of ascorbic acid supplementation on the lithogenic process. In the first set of experiments, 10, 40, and 60 mg doses of ascorbic acid/100g body weight/day were given for 105 days. Neither of the ascorbic acid doses given induced crystalluria, calcification or stone formation, thereby confirming our previous findings that ascorbic acid in the doses used by clinicians does not cause urolith formation. In the second set of experiments, ascorbic acid was supplemented in hypercalciuric (induced by calcium carbonate feeding) and hyperoxaluric (induced by sodium oxalate feeding) animals for 45 days. The results indicated that it exacerbated the calcification process in renal and bladder tissue

Traditional Medicinal Knowledge System and Intellectual Property Rights: Scientific Validation of Tri-doshas in Ayurveda

The role played by Traditional Medicinal Knowledge (TMK) such as, Ayurveda in personalized and preventive healthcare has its foundations in the Humoral Doctrine of Tri-dosha: Vata, Pitha and Kapha. This encompasses the manifestation of Panchamahabhutas within the human body thereby exhibiting unique bodily characteristics. Advanced pharmacogenomics has scientifically been correlated to the traditionally known genetic attributes of Tri-dosha and human body – Prakriti. Simultaneously the advancement of ethnopharmacology has enabled the extraction of plant-derived chemical compounds and bioactive constituents in drug discovery leading to commercial manufacturing of modern medicine that are a part of global market economy and founded on the western ideals of IPR and monopolistic trade tendencies. This has led to the bypassing of Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) resulting in rampant misappropriation and bioprospecting of TMK through obtaining of IP rights without prior approval. This has challenged the very subsistence and survival of indigenous and local communities thereby raising a strong necessity for a cooperative model of TMK sharing over the prevailing knowledge commercialization, private rights and monopolistic-capitalistic approaches. The objectives of the research paper is to discuss and understand the scientific validation of Tri-doshas, to critically analyze the protection of TMK through IPR, local customary laws & traditions and current national and international policy perspectives. Further, the research explores historical roots of modern western medicine to TMK and also analyses several cases where objections have successfully been raised by TKDL at the global patent offices against the grant of patent to prior art dealing with TMK of India. A detailed case study of the success story of the ‗Kani Model‘ of Access and Benefit Sharing has been made to emphasis on cooperative knowledge sharing

Gender Mainstreaming and Impact of Self Help Groups in Marine Fisheries Sector

Fisheries sector provides employment to over 12 million people and plays a paramount role in Indian economy. Women constitute nearly half of the population and one third of the labour force. Though women’s role in Indian marine fisheries sector with a coast line of 8129 km is very prominent, there is generally a gender bias in respect of their works and the inequalities between men and women are observed in the social, cultural and economic lives. The development and empowerment of weaker sections and gender mainstreaming in the Indian fisheries sector in a broader visualization will be materialized to a substantial extent with poverty eradication programmers through the transparent media namely Self Help Groups (SHGs). However an indepth analysis of the impact of SHGs in bringing out gender mainstreaming was lacking in the present scenario of Indian marine fisheries sector. Integrating gender perspective in SHG ventures in marine fisheries sector is inevitable because the gender mainstreaming approach advances gender equity and equality in the fisheries fabric of the society

Phytoremediation potential of selected plants in Netravati and Gurupura estuary of Karnataka

Unsustainable land use due to increasing human population, economic development and emerging global markets have resulted in contamination of soil, soil erosion and eutrophication in coastal regions. Freshwater needs of people are met almost entirely by precipitation on land, with a small though increasing amount by desalination. Hence, appropriate technologies need to be adopted to conserve and protect both soil and water. Use of plants to reduce environmental pollutants is considered as a non invasive technology. Mangrove ecosystem in the estuarine waters of Netravati and Gurupura rivers acts as a shield to absorb the heavy metals before it reaches the Arabian sea. The heavy metal Cu absorbed by Acanthus ilicifolius (AI) was 9.24±2.87 ppm, while Cd, Cr and Hg absorbed in the sedge plantCyperus malaccensis (CM) was 0.40±0.47 ppm, 1.09±0.32 ppm, and 0.21±0.05 ppm, respectively. Out of the 7 different plants selected from the estuarine area near the bar mouth of Mangaluru, Acanthus ilicifolius and Cyperus malaccensis was observed to have greater potential to adsorb heavy metals. Treated, semi treated and untreated wastewater discharged from urban area into the Arabian sea through the estuary is rich in nutrients leading to eutrophication. Preliminary treatment studies were carried out to assess the removal of nutrient load from this effluent water in laboratory conditions using aquatic weeds. This revealed that Hydrilla verticillata reduced 42.8% ammonia in the effluent water while Eicchornia crassipes and Pistia stratiotes reduced 61.7% phosphate and 68.2% nitrite, respectively. The study reveals that aquatic weeds could be used to remove nutrients from wastewater before it enters the marine ecosystem and locally available mangrove and sedge plants aid in reduction of contaminants in the coastal ecosyste

Live feed research for larviculture of marine finfish and shellfish

The major expansion of marine finfish and crustacean aquaculture since 1980s around the world can be attributed to the development of standard techniques for mass production of live feed. Even though most farmed marine animals are either carnivorous or omnivorous from their post-larval stage, microalgae are required for larval nutrition during a brief period either for direct consumption or indirectly as food for live prey fed to small larvae