ENLIGHTENING THE ROLE OF SAMANYA AND VISESA SIDDHANTA IN CHIKITSA ASPECT

Ayurveda is a science of life. It says, one has to strictly follow the regimens and dietary habits advocated in Samhitas, the classical Ayurvedic texts, to achieve long and healthy life. Any sort of deviation from these principles will lead to the manifestation of disease. According to Ayurveda, the basis for disease manifestation is either Vriddhi or Kshaya of Doshas, and bringing back to normalcy of these Doshas leads to the restoration of health. This process of bringing normalcy is known as Chikitsa and the basic principle of the Chikitsa is Samanya and Visesa siddhanta. According to this Siddhanta, intake of medicine or food having similar properties to that of our body tissues, will results in the increase and those with opposite properties will results in the decrease of our body tissues. Thus, if a disease is manifested due to the Vriddhi of a Dosha, then to pacify that Vriddha dosha, Dravyas having opposite Guna or Karma should be administered. If a disease is manifested due to the Kshaya of a Dosha, then to nourish that Ksheena dosha, Dravyas having similar Guna or Karma should be administered. This Samanya and Visesa Siddhanta should be followed in a rational way while describing the medicine or diet based on the quantitative and qualitative knowledge of Vriddhi or Kshaya of Doshas. Thus, the Samanya and Visesa Siddhanta plays a crucial role in treating diseases and has become the fundamental principle for Ayurvedic management. He details of this Siddhanta are explained elaborately in full paper

Contrasting seed biology of two ornamental palms: Pygmy Date Palm (Phoenix roebelenii O’Brien) and Fishtail Palm (Caryota urens L.) and implications for their long-term conservation

477-484The Arecaceae family includes palm trees of economic importance both as a source of agricultural produce and as ornamental components in landscaping projects. Pygmy date palm (Phoenix roebelenii) and solitary fishtail palm (Caryota urens) are well known landscaping plants today. Both species have their origin in Southeast Asia and, especially C. urens is widespread in peninsular India and Sri Lanka. They are multipurpose species with a variety of applications and thus very heavily utilized. Knowledge of palm seed storage biology will improve their conservation prospects. In present studies, fresh seed moisture content in P. roebelenii was recorded to be 30% with germinability of 98%. After desiccation to 8% moisture germinability was reduced to 90% and the seeds survived cryo-exposure. Fresh seeds of C. urens, with initial moisture content of 34% and 95% germinability could be desiccated to lowest level of only 29% moisture content, with complete loss of germinability. Fresh as well as desiccated seeds of this species did not survive cryo-exposure. While the seeds of C. urens stored at room temperature lost their germinability by 110 days, seeds of P. roebelenii could germinate even after 9 months of storage. P. roebelenii is proven to exhibit orthodox seed storage behaviour while C. urens is found to exhibit recalcitrant seed storage behaviour. Long-term ex situ cryo-conservation in the form of seed gene banks would be suitable for seed propagated orthodox palm species and a few germplasm centres may be established for recalcitrant Indian palms in suitable bio-geographic regions as a complimentary ex situ conservation

Contrasting seed biology of two ornamental palms: Pygmy Date Palm (Phoenix roebelenii O’Brien) and Fishtail Palm (Caryota urens L.)

The Arecaceae family includes palm trees of economic importance both as a source of agricultural produce and asornamental components in landscaping projects. Pygmy date palm (Phoenix roebelenii) and solitary fishtail palm (Caryotaurens) are well known landscaping plants today. Both species have their origin in Southeast Asia and, especially C. urens iswidespread in peninsular India and Sri Lanka. They are multipurpose species with a variety of applications and thus veryheavily utilized. Knowledge of palm seed storage biology will improve their conservation prospects. In present studies, freshseed moisture content in P. roebelenii was recorded to be 30% with germinability of 98%. After desiccation to 8% moisturegerminability was reduced to 90% and the seeds survived cryo-exposure. Fresh seeds of C. urens, with initial moisturecontent of 34% and 95% germinability could be desiccated to lowest level of only 29% moisture content, with complete lossof germinability. Fresh as well as desiccated seeds of this species did not survive cryo-exposure. While the seeds of C. urensstored at room temperature lost their germinability by 110 days, seeds of P. roebelenii could germinate even after 9 monthsof storage. P. roebelenii is proven to exhibit orthodox seed storage behaviour while C. urens is found to exhibit recalcitrantseed storage behaviour. Long-term ex situ cryo-conservation in the form of seed gene banks would be suitable for seedpropagated orthodox palm species and a few germplasm centres may be established for recalcitrant Indian palms in suitablebio-geographic regions as a complimentary ex situ conservation

Prevalence of HER-2/ neu receptor amplification and its effects over prognosis of the patients with breast cancer

Background: The diagnosis and prognosis of patients with breast cancer is routinely carried out with biopsy of growth by H&E staining but it is not commonly practice with various immunomarkers including HER2/neu. However HER2/neu association in breast tumour patients with prognosis has not been studied much, so this study is aim to evaluate the frequency of HER2 (human epidermal growth factor receptor) amplification and its effects over prognosis among the patients with breast cancer.Methods: After ethical approval, retrospective observational study was conducted from October 2014 to September 2017. All operated patients with biopsy proven breast cancer, the patients having any stage of disease, with sufficient data present in hospital record and patients who received neo-adjuvant chemo-therapy/radio-therapy were included. Patients unfit for surgery due to co-morbidities like cardio renal diseases and patients having insufficient hospital record or who missed follow-ups were excluded. SPSS version 20.0 was used for data analysis for data analysis with qualitative data presented as frequency and percentages.Results: A Total 120 patients, 48(40%) had HER-2/ neu positive. Among the HER2 +ve patients, 17(35.4%) had local recurrence within 03 years while 21(43.7%) cases had distant recurrence. The disease free survival rate in 03 years was observed in 22(45.83%) out of 48 HER2 +ve cases.Conclusions: Study reveals 40% patients had HER-2/neu positive expression and was associated with poor outcomes and disease free survival time period in comparison to patient with HER-2/ neu negative

Characterization of stem rust resistance gene Sr2 in Indian wheat varieties using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) based molecular markers

Stem rust or black rust is one of the most important diseases of wheat worldwide. In India, central, peninsular and southern hill zones are particularly prone to stem rust where favourable environmental conditions exist. The recent emergence of wheat stem rust race Ug99 (TTKSK) and related strains threatens global wheat production as Ug99 overcome resistance gene Sr31 effective for many years. Resistance gene Sr2, derived from cultivar ‘Hope’ is responsible for slow rusting and providing partial but durable resistance against stem rust of wheat. In addition to other unknown minor genes (Sr2 complex), this gene tends to be non-specific and is currently effective against all isolates of Puccinia graminis tritici throughout wheat-growing regions of the world. A set of 135 bread wheat varieties developed in the last forty years for prominent northern, central, peninsular and southern hill regions of India was screened with molecular markers, CsSr2 and GWM533, developed and identified for Sr2 gene. Out of 135 varieties screened, 92 confirmed the presence of Sr2 gene at molecular level. The molecular information of Sr2 gene was corroborated with the available morphological marker data for selected varieties to evaluate the efficacy of these molecular markers in Indian wheat germplasm. It was observed that these two molecular markers in combination provide accuracy in 92% lines for this gene at molecular level with presumed Sr2 status in Indian wheat varieties. It is proposed that the use of CsSr2 and GWM533 will help in gene pyramiding of Sr2 along with other stem rust resistance genes in future wheat varieties to accelerate Indian breeding program for rust resistance.Keywords: Wheat, stem rust, Puccinia graminis f.sp. tritici (Pgt), Sr2 gene, molecular markerAfrican Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 12(18), pp. 2353-235

Frequency of early post operative complications of modified radical mastectomy within period of four weeks

Background: Most of the complications are developed after modified radical mastectomy in breast cancer patients, hence to avoid and reduces the postoperative complications, this study is performed to identify the frequency of early post-operative complications of modified Radical Mastectomy within the period of four weeks.Methods: Cross-sectional case series using non-probability convenient sampling technique was conducted in surgical unit I of Tertiary care hospital, for 1 year from 15 January 2018 to 14 January 2019. 89 patients FNAC proved breast cancer were included, patients that received neoadjuvant chemo or radiotherapy or with inflammatory breast cancer, metastasis and with co-morbid were excluded. After taking consent patients were operated by senior consultant. Follow up was taken daily 7th post-operative day and then followed in OPD on weekly basis fourth week and final outcome was noted. SPSS version 23 was used for data analysis. Quantitative data was reported as frequency in percentages.Results: Total 31 patients developed complications during the study, accounts 34% of total patients. The most common complication was breast seroma in 12(13.48%) of cases with an increased risk in cases of age >50 yr, size of tumor >8 cm, weight >70 kg and increased number of lymph nodes [3 or above] palpable after wards hematoma in 6(6.74%), lymphedema in 5(5.62%), wound infection 4(4.49%) and shoulder dysfunction in 4(4.49%) patients, no patient was found scar hypertrophy.Conclusions: Seroma formation, hematoma were found most common early complications after modified radical mastectomy, lymphedema, wound infection and shoulder dysfunction were observed in small number of patients

IMPROVED GROWTH AND COLCHICINE CONCENTRATION IN GLORIOSA SUPERBA ON MYCORRHIZAL INOCULATION SUPPLEMENTED WITH PHOSPHORUS-FERTILIZER

Background: Gloriosa superba produces an array of alkaloids including colchicine, a compound of interest in the treatment of various diseases. The tuber of Gloriosa superba is a rich source of colchicine which has shown anti-gout, anti-inflammatory, and anti-tumor activity. However, this promising compound remains expensive and Gloriosa superba is such a good source in global scale. Increase in yield of naturally occurring colchicine is an important area of investigation. Materials and Methods: The effects of inoculation by four arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM), fungi, Glomus mossae, Glomus fasciculatum, Gigaspora margarita and Gigaspora gilmorei either alone or supplemented with P-fertilizer, on colchicine concentration in Gloriosa superba were studied. The concentration of colchicine was determined by high-performance thin layer chromatography. Results: The four fungi significantly increased concentration of colchicine in the herb. Although there was significant increase in concentration of colchicine in non-mycorrhizal P-fertilized plants as compared to control, the extent of the increase was less compared to mycorrhizal plants grown with or without P-fertilization. This suggests that the increase in colchicine concentration may not be entirely attributed to enhanced P-nutrition and improved growth. Among the four AM fungi Glomus mossae was found to be best. The total colchicine content of plant (mg / plant) was significantly high in plants inoculated with Glomus mossae and 25 mg kg-1phosphorus fertilizer (348.9 mg /plant) while the control contain least colchicine (177.87 mg / plant)

Ebola virus - Epidemiology, Diagnosis, and Control: Threat to Humans, Lessons Learnt, and Preparedness Plans - an Update on Its 40 Year\u27s Journey

Ebola virus (EBOV) is an extremely contagious pathogen and causes lethal hemorrhagic fever disease in man and animals. The recently occurred Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreaks in the West African countries have categorized it as an international health concern. For the virus maintenance and transmission, the non-human primates and reservoir hosts like fruit bats have played a vital role. For curbing the disease timely, we need effective therapeutics/prophylactics, however, in the absence of any approved vaccine, timely diagnosis and monitoring of EBOV remains of utmost importance. The technologically advanced vaccines like a viral-vectored vaccine, DNA vaccine and virus-like particles are underway for testing against EBOV. In the absence of any effective control measure, the adaptation of high standards of biosecurity measures, strict sanitary and hygienic practices, strengthening of surveillance and monitoring systems, imposing appropriate quarantine checks and vigilance on trade, transport, and movement of visitors from EVD endemic countries remains the answer of choice for tackling the EBOV spread. Herein, we converse with the current scenario of EBOV giving due emphasis on animal and veterinary perspectives along with advances in diagnosis and control strategies to be adopted, lessons learned from the recent outbreaks and the global preparedness plans. To retrieve the evolutionary information, we have analyzed a total of 56 genome sequences of various EBOV species submitted between 1976 and 2016 in public databases

Advances in Developing Therapies to Combat Zika Virus: Current Knowledge and Future Perspectives

Zika virus (ZIKV) remained largely quiescent for nearly six decades after its first appearance in 1947. ZIKV reappeared after 2007, resulting in a declaration of an international “public health emergency” in 2016 by the World Health Organization (WHO). Until this time, ZIKV was considered to induce only mild illness, but it has now been established as the cause of severe clinical manifestations, including fetal anomalies, neurological problems, and autoimmune disorders. Infection during pregnancy can cause congenital brain abnormalities, including microcephaly and neurological degeneration, and in other cases, Guillain-Barré syndrome, making infections with ZIKV a substantial public health concern. Genomic and molecular investigations are underway to investigate ZIKV pathology and its recent enhanced pathogenicity, as well as to design safe and potent vaccines, drugs, and therapeutics. This review describes progress in the design and development of various anti-ZIKV therapeutics, including drugs targeting virus entry into cells and the helicase protein, nucleosides, inhibitors of NS3 protein, small molecules, methyltransferase inhibitors, interferons, repurposed drugs, drugs designed with the aid of computers, neutralizing antibodies, convalescent serum, antibodies that limit antibody-dependent enhancement, and herbal medicines. Additionally, covalent inhibitors of viral protein expression and anti-Toll-like receptor molecules are discussed. To counter ZIKV-associated disease, we need to make rapid progress in developing novel therapies that work effectually to inhibit ZIKV

Thyroid Abscess After Fine Needle Aspiration with Spontaneous Rupture into the Trachea : A Case Report

Fine needle aspiration (FNA) of the thyroid is a well-tolerated minimally invasive procedure. Thyroid abscess, as a complication of FNA in an immune-competent adult, is extremely rare. Diagnosis requires a high index of suspicion, for which treatment is intravenous antibiotics, drainage, and sometimes surgery. Here we present a case of thyroid abscess in an otherwise healthy man who presented with neck pain, rapidly increasing neck swelling, difficulty in swallowing, and hoarseness of the voice that developed two weeks after diagnostic FNA of a thyroid nodule which had been present for ten months. Despite antibiotic treatment, the abscess ruptured into the trachea, requiring surgical intervention. This highlights the importance of maintaining asepsis during FNA of the thyroid. Timely diagnosis of a thyroid abscess is essential to avoid life-threatening airway complications