Antioxidant Activity of Indian Medicinal Rice (Oryza Sativa L.) cv. Njavara

A study was conducted to find out the antioxidant activity of medicinal rice (Oryza sativa L.) cv. Njavara. Two eco types of Njavara rice Njavara black (NB) and Njavara yellow (NY) were procured from RRS, Moncompu and one eco type of Hraswa was obtained from ARS, Mannuthy. Hraswa was treated as the control. Diphenyl picryl hydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity, hydroxyl radical scavenging activity, superoxide anion radical scavenging activity, reducing power assay, total antioxidant activity, total phenols, zinc and selenium (Se) were estimated. The results of the antioxidant properties revealed that for DPPH scavenging activity and hydroxyl radical activity NY had highest antioxidant activity. For superoxide radical scavenging activity, NB had the highest activity. Present investigation showed that as the concentration increased, the reducing power of all the rice varieties increased and the highest reducing power was shown by NB. NY had shown the highest total antioxidant activity. Present study revealed that among the three rice varieties NB had the highest total phenol content. Zn content was slightly higher in NY than NB. The present study revealed that control variety Hraswa had the highest Se content

Medicinal Properties of Njavara Rice (Oryza Sativa L.) cv.

A study was conducted to find out the therapeutic value of medicinal rice (Oryza sativa L.) cv. Njavara. Njavara rice for the study was procured from Rice Research Station, Moncompu. For assessing the efficacy of Njavara on the blood sugar levels, a feeding trial for 3 months was conducted among five subjects who were diabetic and willing to participate but not on medication. Blood sugar levels were monitored during 0, 45 and 90th day of supplementation. The results revealed that for all subjects\u27 blood sugar levels decreased after supplementation study. Diphenyl picryl hydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity, hydroxyl radical scavenging activity, superoxide anion radical scavenging activity and Vitamin E level were also ascertained. The findings revealed that after the supplementation of Njavara, the DPPH scavenging activity, hydroxyl radical activity, superoxide anion-radical scavenging activity and vitamin E level of the blood samples of all the five subjects under study have increased

COVID-19 symptoms-does pregnancy alter the course of the disease

Background: COVID-19 or corona virus 2 is a widespread pandemic taking a huge toll on the world population.it has a varied presentation in different age groups. Similarly, it has a poorer outcome in the elderly with various comorbidities and those who are immunocompromised. Though pregnancy is a relatively immunocompromised state studies have found that pregnant women have a less severe presentation. We have tried to assess this aspect of COVID-19 in pregnant women.Methods: We evaluated the records of 158 pregnant women who presented to our hospital from April 2020 till September 2020.Their symptoms at presentation were evaluated. we also noted the outcome of these pregnancies.Results: 16% of these were more than 34 weeks of period of gestation. 65.19% presented without any symptoms. 15.19% presented with fever. 10.75% presented with cough. 8.22% presented with headache. 5.69% presented with sore throat alone. 3.16% presented with breathlessness. 0.63% presented with anosmia alone, loss of taste, severe acute respiratory infection, vomiting, sore throat and breathlessness respectively. 54 patients delivered of which 7 delivered vaginally and there were 47 caesareans. Remaining patients after cure were discharged. There were 3 miscarriages. Two babies were found to be COVID-19 positive from nasopharyngeal swab taken on day 1, however this was a small number to indicate vertical transmission.Conclusion: Our study showed that a large proportion of pregnant patients presented without symptoms.it remains to be evaluated why this is so.it may provide us with clues on how to deal with disease in the general population

Covid 19, the Kerala experience: an observational, single centre retrospective study of outcome in covid positive pregnancies

Background: Covid 19 has spread across the world at an alarming rate. Approximately 4.05 million people have got infected worldwide resulting in around 279,000 deaths. Over 1 million people have recovered worldwide. Aim of this study was to determine whether course and severity of covid 19 is altered in pregnant women and whether covid 19 seemed to worsen the prognosis in pregnant women.Methods: Around 50 covid positive patients were admitted to this study hospital, a tertiary care referral hospital and medical college, between march and May 2020, 11 were pregnant. Authors collected their data retrospectively to understand the course of their disease till the period of recovery.Results: There were 6 patients above 31 weeks of whom one had elective repeat caesarean section, one had full term vaginal delivery, one is under follow up. Three patients had foetal distress necessitating emergency caesarean section. Of the remaining 5 patients with periods of gestation between 9-13 weeks, 1 of 24 weeks, 6 patients above 31 weeks, one had a miscarriage. Rest pregnancies are continuing and under follow up. 6 women had been symptomatic at admission, with mild symptoms of low-grade fever, sore throat and rhinitis. All were treated with hydroxychloroquine (HCQs). Those with respiratory symptoms like cough were also treated with oseltamivir. In view of high prevalence of H1N1 in the region. None of the women developed severe disease. The disease did not appear to worsen prognosis in pregnant women. The rate of recovery in pregnant women was similar to that seen in non-pregnant women and also men under the age of 40 years admitted in this study hospital.Conclusions: Covid 19 did not seem to worsen the prognosis in pregnant individuals when compared to rest of the population. The foetal outcomes also seemed favorable. However larger studies are required before concrete guidelines could be formulated for management of the disease in pregnancy

Multi-wavelength observations of 2HWC J1928+177: dark accelerator or new TeV gamma-ray binary?

2HWC J1928+177 is a Galactic TeV gamma-ray source detected by the High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) Observatory up to ~ 56 TeV. The HAWC source, later confirmed by H.E.S.S., still remains unidentified as a dark accelerator since there is no apparent supernova remnant or pulsar wind nebula detected in the lower energy bands. The radio pulsar PSR J1928+1746, coinciding with the HAWC source position, has no X-ray counterpart. Our SED modeling shows that inverse Compton scattering in the putative pulsar wind nebula can account for the TeV emission only if the unseen nebula is extended beyond r ~ 4 [arcmin]. Alternatively, TeV gamma rays may be produced by hadronic interactions between relativistic protons from an undetected supernova remnant associated with the radio pulsar and a nearby molecular cloud G52.9+0.1. NuSTAR and Chandra observations detected a variable X-ray point source within the HAWC error circle, potentially associated with a bright IR source. The X-ray spectra can be fitted with an absorbed power-law model with $N_{\rm H} = (9\pm3)\times10^{22}$ cm$^{-2}$ and $\Gamma_X = 1.6\pm0.3$ and exhibit long-term X-ray flux variability over the last decade. If the X-ray source, possibly associated with the IR source (likely an O star), is the counterpart of the HAWC source, it may be a new TeV gamma-ray binary powered by collisions between the pulsar wind and stellar wind. Follow-up X-ray observations are warranted to search for diffuse X-ray emission and determine the nature of the HAWC source.Comment: accepted to ApJ, 8 pages, 7 figure

Chemiluminescence from reactions with bis-cyclometalated iridium complexes in acidic aqueous solution

Chemical reactions between certain bis-cyclometalated iridium complexes, cerium(IV) and organic reducing agents in aqueous solution produce an emission of light which in some cases is more intense than that from analogous reactions with conventional ruthenium-based reagents, thus providing a new avenue for chemically-initiated luminescence detection.<br /

Copepod (Crustacea) infection on Oil sardine, Sardinella longiceps Valenciennes, 1847 (Actinopterygii; Clupeidae) - First report

911-914Among the Clupeidae, the oil sardine, Sardinella longiceps, Valenciennes, 1847 dominates the catches of commercial boats in India. Despite two reports on isopod infection, no further information on parasitic crustacean infection on this fish species was available to date. Between June 2014 and April 2018, we examined 1513 specimens of S. longiceps, obtained from Cochin and Malabar Coast (Kerala, India) where we report for the first time the exclusive infection of this fish by the Lernaeopodid copepod, Clavellisa ilishae. This parasitic copepod was observed on the gill arches of the host collected from Malabar Coast; the specimens were all sexually mature females bearing egg sacs. Curiously, this copepod parasite was recovered only in a period of three months from October to December in the year 2017 even though the observation was continued for a total of 4 years from 2014-2018. This observation must be addressed further in terms of ecological impacts

Effect of silver incorporation on the structural and morphological characteristics of RF sputtered indium oxide films.

Radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtered silver incorporated indium oxide thin films were prepared and their structural and morphological properties were studied using micro- Raman spectroscopy, Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM) and Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS). Raman modes corresponding to the cubic bixbyite phase of indium oxide were obtained through micro-Raman spectroscopy. AFM images exhibited dense distribution of grains. Elemental analysis using EDS spectra confirmed the presence of indium, silver and oxygen in the prepared films

Detection of autoantibodies against reactive oxygen species modified glutamic acid decarboxylase-65 in type 1 diabetes associated complications

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Autoantibodies against glutamate decarboxylase-65 (GAD₆₅Abs) are thought to be a major immunological tool involved in pathogenic autoimmunity development in various diseases. GAD₆₅Abs are a sensitive and specific marker for type 1 diabetes (T1D). These autoantibodies can also be found in 6-10% of patients classified with type 2 diabetes (T2D), as well as in 1-2% of the healthy population. The latter individuals are at low risk of developing T1D because the prevalence rate of GAD₆₅Abs is only about 0.3%. It has, therefore, been suggested that the antibody binding to GAD₆₅in these three different GAD₆₅Ab-positive phenotypes differ with respect to epitope specificity. The specificity of reactive oxygen species modified GAD₆₅(ROS-GAD₆₅) is already well established in the T1D. However, its association in secondary complications of T1D has not yet been ascertained. Hence this study focuses on identification of autoantibodies against ROS-GAD₆₅(ROS-GAD₆₅Abs) and quantitative assays in T1D associated complications.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>From the cohort of samples, serum autoantibodies from T1D retinopathic and nephropathic patients showed high recognition of ROS-GAD₆₅as compared to native GAD₆₅(N-GAD₆₅). Uncomplicated T1D subjects also exhibited reactivity towards ROS-GAD₆₅. However, this was found to be less as compared to the binding recorded from complicated subjects. These results were further proven by competitive ELISA estimations. The apparent association constants (AAC) indicate greater affinity of IgG from retinopathic T1D patients (1.90 × 10^-6M) followed by nephropathic (1.81 × 10^-6M) and uncomplicated (3.11 × 10^-7M) T1D patients for ROS-GAD₆₅compared to N-GAD₆₅.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Increased oxidative stress and blood glucose levels with extended duration of disease in complicated T1D could be responsible for the gradual formation and/or exposing cryptic epitopes on GAD₆₅that induce increased production of ROS-GAD₆₅Abs. Hence regulation of ROS-GAD₆₅Abs could offer novel tools for analysing and possibly treating T1D complications.</p