Comparative study of labetalol and nifedipine in management of hypertensive disorders in pregnancy

Background: Hypertensive disorders complicate 5 to 10 percent of all pregnancies, and together they are one member of the deadly triad, of haemorrhage and infection.Methods: The Present study was conducted at Navodaya Medical College, Hospital and Research Centre, Raichur from January 2014 to December 2015. The efficacy of labetalol verses nifedipine in management of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy was studied. The study consisted of 100 antenatal patients irrespective of parity and gestational age from 20-40weeks patients, with severe PIH with imminent eclampsia. Heart diseases, Hematological disorders, Liver diseases renal diseases and Bronchial asthma were excluded from the study.Results: In the study, fall in mean arterial pressure of >20mm Hg was noted 6hrs after initiation of treatment in nifedipine group which is statistically significant; no statistical significance was observed in both groups at 12hrs. A fall of mean arterial pressure to normal was noted at 48hrs and 72 hrs in labetalol, which is statistically highly significant.Conclusions: The present study indicates labetalol to be a better anti-hypertensive in terms of control of hypertension, mode of vaginal delivery and fetal outcome

Association of plasma fibrinogen and development of complications in type 2 diabetes mellitus

Background: Fibrinogen is a glycoprotein produced by the liver that plays a crucial role in blood clotting. Elevated levels of fibrinogen have been associated with an increased risk of cardio vascular disease, stroke and other chronic conditions. Several studies have investigated the relationship between fibrinogen and diabetes mellitus. Furthermore, fibrinogen has been suggested to play a role in pathogenesis of diabetes and its complications by promoting inflammation and endothelial dysfunction. The aim of the study was done to study association of fibrinogen levels and development of complications of diabetes mellitus. Methods: A cross sectional observational study was conducted at medicine department of Dhiraj Hospital, Vadodara. Total of 114 diabetes mellitus patients were studied. The level of fibrinogen as well as presence of various risk factors like smoking, hypertension, obesity, dyslipidemia and different microvascular and macro-vascular complications were assessed. There were no conflict of interest. Results: Of 114 patients smoking, overweight, hypertension, uncontrolled diabetes and dyslipidemia was reported in 54.4%, 30.7%, 41.2%, 28.1% and 60.5% respectively. Microvascular complication like retinopathy, nephropathy and neuropathy was reported in 34.2%, 40.4% and 21.1% patients respectively. Macrovascular complications like coronary artery disease and stroke was reported in 20.2% and 16.7% patients respectively. Average level of fibrinogen was found higher amongst diabetic patients with microvascular as well as macrovascular complications. Conclusions: Serum fibrinogen level was found to be higher among patients with poor glycemic control, dyslipidemia, hypertension and higher BMI. A positive correlation was found between the level of fibrinogen and various complications of diabetes mellitus.

Phyto-Pharmacological Effects of Medicinal Plants for the Treatment of Depression

Background: Depression is a serious mental illness that has a significant impact on suicidal thoughts. It is ranked as the fourth most significant mental disability globally. Current research is concentrating on increasing the effectiveness of conventional treatments due to highly undesirable effects. Natural goods, herbal plants, and phytochemicals offer a wide range of study opportunities for antidepressant treatments. Objective: The present study aim at the review of various photo-Pharmacological effects of medicinal plants for the treatment of depression in a traditional approach Methods: The methodology includes a thorough search of every electronic source to gather all information on herbal plants, pharmacological effects, and antidepressant mechanisms of phytochemicals from the year 2000 to 2023. Results: Different plant metabolites were shown to have powerful antidepressant effects, including polyphenols (phenolic acids, flavonoids, lignans, and coumarins), alkaloids, terpenes and terpenoids, saponins and sapogenins. Major group of  phytochemicals crucial in evaluating antidepressant effectiveness includes piperine, diterpene alkaloids, berberine, hyperforin, riparin derivatives, ginsenosides, and -carboline alkaloids. A great inhibitor of monoamine oxidase enzymes, an elevation in brain 5-HT and BDNF (Brain-Derived Nicotinic Factor) levels and modulatory effects on the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis were all demonstrated by piperine. Numerous studies have demonstrated berberine's serotonergic, noradrenergic, and dopaminergic effects, demonstrating the importance of phytochemicals from various sources in the treatment of depression. Conclusion: All of the medicinal plants listed in this study's thorough review indicated the ability to cure depression using various traditional methods and a variety of processes. In order to discover potential natural, semi-synthetic, or synthetic antidepressants with fewer side effects, the structure-activity relationship of extremely effective antidepressant phytochemicals was evaluated. For verification of natural antidepressant effectiveness and fulfilment of their safety profile, more clinical investigations are also required

Securing Privacy in BSN with Chaos Based Image Encryption Scheme

BSN play the vital role in the field of telemedicine. In BSN sensor nodes transmit different physiological information, thus privacy and security of these information become very important in these networks. In this paper we have presented a simple and secure scheme for image encryption using one-dimensional chaotic maps. This image encryption scheme first shuffles the position of pixel values using bit-level permutation method and then changes the gray values to make the complex relationship between original plain image and encrypted image. Image scrambling and diffusing, both operations are performed by logistic map and tent map. Various experiments have been conducted to test the robustness and security of proposed image cipher algorithm and the experimental results shows that the proposed scheme is resistant to different cryptanalytic attacks and provides adequate security

Mid-Infrared studies of dusty sources in the Galactic Center

Mid-Infrared (MIR) images of the Galactic center show extended gas and dust features along with bright IRS sources. Some of these dust features are a part of ionized clumpy streamers orbiting Sgr~A*, known as the mini-spiral. We present their proper motions over 12 year time period and report their flux densities in $N$-band filters {and derive their spectral indices}. The observations were carried out by VISIR at ESO VLT. High-pass filtering led to the detection of several resolved filaments and clumps along the mini-spiral. Each source was fit by a 2-D Gaussian profile to determine the offsets and aperture sizes. We perform aperture photometry to extract fluxes in two different bands. We present the proper motions of the largest consistent set of resolved and reliably determined sources. In addition to stellar orbital motions, we identify a stream-like motion of extended clumps along the mini-spiral. We also detect MIR counterparts of the radio tail components of the IRS7 source. They show a clear kinematical deviation with respect to the star. They likely represent Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities formed downstream in the shocked stellar wind. We also analyze the shape and the orientation of the extended late-type IRS3 star that is consistent with the ALMA sub-mm detection of the source. Its puffed-up envelope with the radius of $\sim 2\times 10^6\,R_{\odot}$ could be the result of the red-giant collision with a nuclear jet, which was followed by the tidal prolongation along the orbit.Comment: 25 pages, 13 figures, 6 tables, accepted for publication in Ap

Evaluation of clinical outcomes in neuropathic pain with combinations of anti-neuropathic drugs

Background: Much of the pharmacological treatment modalities especially individual drugs for treating neuropathic pain have unwanted side effects, multiple day to day dosing, modest efficacy of topical treatments, and their local side effects. Combination drug regimen has the advantage of offering relatively better pain relief at lower drug doses and lesser side effects.Methods: The study was conducted in the Department of Neurology at NRI General Hospital, Guntur. The patients who met the inclusion and exclusion criteria were enrolled and assigned into 3 groups of the study drug combinations. The baseline characteristics and post interventional scores of Toronto Clinical Scoring System (TCSS), visual analogue scale (VAS), Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAM-A), Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D) and Medical outcome of sleep scale (MOS) and were analyzed using t test and mean difference.Results: A statistically significant reduction in neuropathic pain in all the three groups was found. The mean difference between the baseline and post interventional scores of TCSS and VAS of group I, II and III were 2.97, 2.75, and 1.97; 2.32, 1.12, and 0.95 respectively. There was a statistically significant improvement of HAM-A in all the three groups, HAM-D and MOS sleep scale were found significant only in group II.Conclusions: The study findings revealed that all the three drug combinations were effective in the management of neuropathic pain with pregabalin and oxcarbazepine combination being better with respect to efficacy and tolerability. Regarding the treatment of depression and sleep disturbances associated with NP pregabalin and duloxetine was more effective

Analysis of two-color photoelectron spectroscopy for attosecond metrology at seeded free-electron lasers

The generation of attosecond pulse trains at free-electron lasers opens new opportunities in ultrafast science, as it gives access, for the first time, to reproducible, programmable, extreme ultraviolet (XUV) waveforms with high intensity. In this work, we present a detailed analysis of the theoretical model underlying the temporal characterization of the attosecond pulse trains recently generated at the free-electron laser FERMI. In particular, the validity of the approximations used for the correlated analysis of the photoelectron spectra generated in the two-color photoionization experiments are thoroughly discussed. The ranges of validity of the assumptions, in connection with the main experimental parameters, are derived

Impact of opioid-free analgesia on pain severity and patient satisfaction after discharge from surgery: multispecialty, prospective cohort study in 25 countries

Background: Balancing opioid stewardship and the need for adequate analgesia following discharge after surgery is challenging. This study aimed to compare the outcomes for patients discharged with opioid versus opioid-free analgesia after common surgical procedures.Methods: This international, multicentre, prospective cohort study collected data from patients undergoing common acute and elective general surgical, urological, gynaecological, and orthopaedic procedures. The primary outcomes were patient-reported time in severe pain measured on a numerical analogue scale from 0 to 100% and patient-reported satisfaction with pain relief during the first week following discharge. Data were collected by in-hospital chart review and patient telephone interview 1 week after discharge.Results: The study recruited 4273 patients from 144 centres in 25 countries; 1311 patients (30.7%) were prescribed opioid analgesia at discharge. Patients reported being in severe pain for 10 (i.q.r. 1-30)% of the first week after discharge and rated satisfaction with analgesia as 90 (i.q.r. 80-100) of 100. After adjustment for confounders, opioid analgesia on discharge was independently associated with increased pain severity (risk ratio 1.52, 95% c.i. 1.31 to 1.76; P < 0.001) and re-presentation to healthcare providers owing to side-effects of medication (OR 2.38, 95% c.i. 1.36 to 4.17; P = 0.004), but not with satisfaction with analgesia (beta coefficient 0.92, 95% c.i. -1.52 to 3.36; P = 0.468) compared with opioid-free analgesia. Although opioid prescribing varied greatly between high-income and low- and middle-income countries, patient-reported outcomes did not.Conclusion: Opioid analgesia prescription on surgical discharge is associated with a higher risk of re-presentation owing to side-effects of medication and increased patient-reported pain, but not with changes in patient-reported satisfaction. Opioid-free discharge analgesia should be adopted routinely