A comparative clinical study on the efficacy of Siravyadha and Agnikarma in the management of Snayugata Vata affecting Kurpara Sandhi vis-à-vis Tennis Elbow

Background: Snayugatavata (fibromyalgia) affecting Koorpara Sandhi (elbow joint) is one among pain predominant Vata Vyadhi. Tennis elbow is a musculoskeletal, degenerative disorder affecting elbow joint. Acharya Sushruta has mentioned Siravyadha (blood letting) for Snayurogas and Agnikarma (thermal cautery) as specific Chikitsa for Snayuroga.[1] As similar features are shared, the study has been taken up to see the efficacy of Siravyadha and Agnikarma affecting Koorparasandhi in comparison to tennis elbow. Objective: To study the clinical effect of Agnikarma (thermal cautery) in Snayugatavata affecting Kurparasandhi (elbow joint) vis-à-vis Tennis elbow. Method: The method used in the study is single blind clinical study with pre-test and post-test design. 40 patients suffering from Snayugatavata of either sex were selected and divided into two groups. Group A patients were subjected to Agnikarma at maximum point of tenderness and Group B patients were subjected to Siravyadha. Both modalities were done for only once and studied for 28 days. The data during the study was recorded and analysed statistically. Result: The study confirms Agnikarma and Siravyadha are effective in the treatment of Snayugatavata and later being the more effective in comparison statistically

Evaluation of organisms present in the gut of Hirudinaria granulosa or Indian cattle leech used for the purpose of Hirudotherapy (Jalukavacharana) in Ayurveda - A Metagenomic study

In Ayurveda, Shalyatantra envisages surgical (Shastra Karma) and minimally invasive surgical methods (Anushastra Karma) for the management of various diseases. Among minimally invasive surgery, blood letting (Raktamokshana) plays an important role. Hirudotherapy or therapeutic use of leeches (Jalukavacharana) has been lauded for its role in the management of abscess, inflammation, cellulitis, non-healing ulcers, skin diseases etc. Leeches are applied to the venous-congested sites to withdraw obstructive blood and also the presence of anticoagulating and vasodilating agents further reduce circulatory obstruction and facilitate blood flow through the area. However, the advantages of leech therapy are confounded by more recent and widely reported occurrences of leech-borne infections at the bite wound, which may cause septicaemia in the patient when left untreated. It has been observed that the infection of the surgical site with bacterial species, necessitates prophylactic antibiotic cover. The study was undertaken to check for the presence and dominance of the various classes of bacteria in the gut of Indian Cattle leech which is used for the purpose of Jalukavacharana by Ayurvedic surgeons. Microbes belonging to the Phylum Proteobacteria were the most dominant followed by Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes. In the phylum Proteobacteria, the abundance of bacteria belonging to the family Enterobacteriacea was observed. Presence of genera classified under Alcaligenaceae, Aeromonadaceae and Rhodospirillaceae were recorded to a significant extent. This study on the presence of microbes can probably shed light on the scientific value of Poorvakarma told by Sushrutha, where he advises to keep leeches in Haridra before being used for therapy to avoid transmission of infections

Parental combining ability as a good predictor of productive crosses in sweet sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench]

The exploitation of heterosis through the development and deployment of hybrids for commercial cultivation is one of the effective approaches for genetic enhancement of crop plants for traits of economic importance. Developing an objective criterion of choosing the parents for developing and testing hybrids is essential for maximizing the success of heterosis breeding. A set of 18 crosses produced from parents differing in their gca effects for bio-energy traits such as millable cane yield, juice volume and juice sugar content (as indicated by Brix %) were evaluated in replicated trial in the experimental plots of the Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore during 2006-07. The utility of parental general combining ability for producing high frequency of superior crosses for a set of bio-energy traits in sweet sorghum was investigated. The study suggested that parents with contrasting gca effects produce crosses with higher sca and heterotic potential for the bio-energy traits. The use of female parents with higher gca effects is important for realizing greater probability of crosses with sca effects and heterosis in desirable direction for bio-energy traits

Pulsations on mercury surface caused by polarisation

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Microhyla laterite sp. nov., A New Species of Microhyla Tschudi, 1838 (Amphibia: Anura: Microhylidae) from a Laterite Rock Formation in South West India

In recent times, several new species of amphibians have been described from India. Many of these discoveries are from biodiversity hotspots or from within protected areas. We undertook amphibian surveys in human dominated landscapes outside of protected areas in south western region of India between years 2013–2015. We encountered a new species of Microhyla which is described here as Microhyla laterite sp. nov. It was delimited using molecular, morphometric and bioacoustics comparisons. Microhyla laterite sp. nov. appears to be restricted to areas of the West coast of India dominated by laterite rock formations. The laterite rock formations date as far back as the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary and are considered to be wastelands in-spite of their intriguing geological history. We identify knowledge gaps in our understanding of the genus Microhyla from the Indian subcontinent and suggest ways to bridge them

Effect of electric field on Tyndall scattering

The study of the action of an electric field on the scattering intensity of sols has thus led to interesting results. The study is useful in determining the shape of the particles. The present technique would be supplementary to the studies of double refraction, in that the latter cannot be conveniently investigated in a highly scattering system. With slightly conducting sols, large fields can be used so as to produce saturation effects. Under such conditions, the use of rotating fields would bring about a unique orientation of the discs. A superposition of two A.C. fields of different cycles at right angles to each other would have the same effect as the circular field. The use of elliptical fields would reveal any want of equality of the two axes in the plane of discs of flat particles. The technique itself is simpler than the flow technique. Since there is often a large difference in the dielectric constant between the particles and the medium, the orientation is marked even with small fields, and the electric field is thus more powerful than the magnetic field in bringing about orientation

Efficiency of wetting agents

The relative efficiencies of some of the common wetting agents have been determined by measuring the surface tension of five-minute-old surfaces of the solutions using the ring method in a modified form. Aqueous solutions giving a surface tension of 37 dynes per cm. may be considered to have good wetting properties. It is found that wetting power is not necessarily associated with detergent and emulsifying properties. Salts greatly increase wetting power. Bivalent cations are more effective than univalent cations in increasing wetting power. A moderate degree of hardness in water employed in preparing solutions of wetting agents may be of advantage in the textile industry. The maximum bubble pressure method is shown to be unsuitable for the measurement of surface tension of solutions which show a variation with time. A rough idea of the order of wetting efficiencies of wetting agents can however be obtained by measuring the surface tension of a five-second-old surface by this method

Spreading of casein and derivatives

1. Casein has been spread from its aqueous solutions by different methods and it has been found that the modified band method is the most suitable for the study of protein films. 2. Effect of salts on the spreading of casein has been studied. The results obtained can be explained on the basis that two different factors, solubility and the electric charge of the protein molecule influence spreading. 3. Treatment of the protein with formaldehyde causes a decrease in spreading. Change in pH affects spreading of formolised casein to a smaller degree. 4. Sodium metaphosphate diminishes markedly the spreading of casein. Trichloracetic acid, however, has no effect. 5. Deaminisation of casein alters the spreading properties and gives unstable films on acidulated water. No films can be got on distilled water. 6. The spreading properties of an isodisperse fraction of casein have been studied. The limiting area of this fraction has been found to be of the same order as that of the original material