IF NOT THE NATION- A NATIONAL MINIMUM WAGE OBJECTIVE

India is a vast secular nation with many cultures, religions, practices as well as differences, deficiencies. It is a developing nation with its socio-economic status in paradigm. The minimum wage purposes to achieve a floor on this, It worked well until the employers found the loophole of fixing the minimum wage to be the maximum, where the workers suffered with India’s developing economic standards and global market, where value of rupees fell.   Struggles and toil of workers wasn’t compensated on equal grounds throughout the nation. It differed from state to state based on their economic socio standards, a worker in Karnataka would get a different minimum wage from that of Tamil Nadu. Which is why a proposal of National Minimum wage becomes the need of the hour, everywhere the worker moves, settles or works, there is a bare necessity on the employer to follow that floor. If the nation doesn’t improve to the dynamic change of the world and its trade for protection of labour, then who would? This paper focuses on why national minimum wage is the need of the hour in comparison with a sovereign which has already a National Minimum wage and how it is effectively functioning regardless of division of power between the states and centre

PHYTOCHEMICAL ANALYSIS AND ANTIBACTERIAL ACTIVITY OF SWIETENIA MAHAGONI – A HIGHLY MEDICINAL PLANT IN INDIA

The present study was designed to evaluate the phytochemical analysis and antibacterial activity of Swietenia mahagoni leaf extract. The leaf extract was subjected to a variety of phytochemical analysis. The qualitative phytochemical tests exhibited the presence of common phytocompounds like alkaloids, tannins, saponins, phlobatannins, flavanoids, terpenoids and volatile oils as major active constituents. The plant (Swietenia mahagoni) leaf has valuable medicinal uses, hence petroleum ether (18.2g) was found to be a good solvent for the phytochemical and antibacterial study. Similarly, the Methanolic leaf extract of Swietenia mahagoni has highest zone of inhibition on Bacillus subtilis

Study of etiological factors and analysis of various surgical repair techniques for paraumblical hernia

AIM OF THE STUDY: 1. To analyze the etiological factors of paraumblical hernias in adults. 2. To find the possibility of hypothyroidism, being a risk factor for paraumbilical hernias. 3. To compare the outcomes of primary suture repair with mesh repair of paraumbilical hernias. 4. To analyze the post-operative course of paraumblical hernia repair. MATERIALS AND METHODOLOGY 1. Study Centre- Madras Medical College and Rajiv Gandhi Government General hospital. 2. Duration: February 2017 - September 2017. 3. Study Design: Observational study (Prospective). 4. Sample Size: 50 patients. Inclusion Criteria: 1. All patients diagnosed with paraumbilical hernia and its related complications for surgical management were included in the study. 2. Age >18 years. 3. All patients who gave consent for the study. Exclusion Criteria: 1. All incisional hernias occurring around the umbilicus. 2. Umbilical hernioplasty performed incidentally during other laparotomy procedures. 3. Recurrent paraumbilical hernias. RECOMMENDATIONS: 1. A large multicenter trial is essential to have a larger sample to make the data more informative. 2. A long term standardised follow up study for at least 5 years could be more authentic to find out late recurrences. 3. Randomisation of recruits into mesh and anatomical group will definitely improve the outcome of the study. CONCLUSION: As the age advances medical co-morbidities may be associated more, including diabetes mellitus. \ud Swelling and pain were the common presenting complaints. Half of the cases were obese with equal prevalence both in men and women. More than half of the hernias were larger than 3 cm and omentum being the most common content of the sac. Presence of obstructive symptoms in hernia larger than 3cm may be an indication of irreducibility. Mesh repair and drain has been the preferred method in elective cases. This resulted in the lower incidence of seroma, hematoma and wound infection. Immediate postoperative complications were strongly associated with 1. Emergency surgery, 2. Hernia size >3cm and 3. Irreducibility. Use of mesh will definitely reduce the recurrence rate in adult umbilical hernia

Profile and outcome of pregnancy with congenital heart diseases: a retrospective study from a South Indian tertiary care hospital

Background: Women with congenital heart disease who become pregnant form an important subgroup of pregnancy cardiac disorders. The additional stress of pregnancy represents a further challenge.Methods: This was a retrospective study. Patient records between 2011and 2015 pertaining to 77 pregnant women with congenital heart diseases were analysed.Results: There was only one patient aged more than 35 years. The age of the others ranged from 18 to 35 years. The mean age was 24 years. There was a slight rural preponderance with 43 (55.8%) from rural areas. Majority 49 (63.5%) belonged to lower middle socioeconomic status. 71 (92.2%) had NYHA functional Class I. Two patients of Class II had worsening of their status. There were no cases of Atrial Fibrillation and only 2(2.6%) had CCF.ASD closure was the commonest procedure done24 (31.2%). There were 6 (7.8%)cases of device closure of PDA and no cases of VSD. Anemia and GDM were seen in 4 (5.2%). The commonest period of gestation at delivery was 37-40 in 64 (83.1%). ASD was the commonest type of lesion 42 (54.5%). 36 (46.8%) had spontaneous labour and there were 18 23.4%)caesarians. Previous LSCS was the commonest indication for LSCS. Full term normal vaginal delivery was seen in 45 (88.2%). Majority of the newborns 30 (39%) had a birth weight in the range 2.6-3.0 kgs.Conclusions: There is a significant burden of Heart disease with pregnancy afflicting young rural women and those from lower socioeconomic levels. Higher level of specialised care minimizes poor maternal and fetal outcomes

Recent advances in starch–clay nanocomposites

Biological nanocomposites are a valuable addition to the existing nanocomposite materials and eventually can substitute petroleum-based composite materials in numerous applications due to their inherent advantages such as biodegradability, eco-friendliness, low cost, and easy availability to name a few. Recently, polymer–clay nanocomposites have achieved much more attention due to their enhanced properties such as size dispersion and significant enhancement in physicochemical and mechanical properties in comparison to the pure polymer systems. Among various biopolymers, starch is one of the most abundant natural polymers on the earth and is highly valuable due to its chemical and physical properties. Starch polymer has highly increased potential as an alternative to petroleum-based materials. However, starch cannot be used alone and starch–clay nanocomposite has emerged as a new potential green sustainable material. This article focuses on recent progress in starch-based nanocomposites with particular emphasis on starch–clay nanocomposite preparation, properties, and applications

The effects of changes in glutathione levels through exogenous agents on intracellular cysteine content and protein adduct formation in chronic alcohol-treated VL17A cells

Alcohol-mediated liver injury is associated with changes in the level of the major cellular antioxidant glutathione (GSH). It is interesting to investigate if the changes in intracellular GSH level through exogenous agents affect the intracellular cysteine content and the protein adduct formation indicative of oxidative insult in chronic alcohol treated liver cells. In VL-17A cells treated with 2mM N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) or 0.1mM ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) plus 100mM ethanol, an increase in cysteine concentration which was accompanied by decreases in hydroxynonenal (HNE) and glutathionylated protein adducts were observed. Pretreatment of 100mM ethanol treated VL-17A cells with 0.4mM buthionine sulfoximine (BSO) or 1mM diethyl maleate (DEM) had opposite effects. Thus, altered GSH level through exogenous agents may either potentiate or ameliorate chronic alcohol-mediated protein adduct formation and change the cysteine level in chronic alcohol treated VL-17A cells. The gene expression of non-treated and ethanol-treated hepatocytes in 2 microarray datasets was also compared to locate differentially expressed genes involved in cysteine metabolism. The study demonstrates that increased protein adducts formation and changes in cysteine concentration occur under chronic alcohol condition in liver cells which may increase alcohol-mediated oxidative injury

Attentional Modulation of Eye Torsion Responses

Eye movements generally have both reflexive and voluntary aspects, but torsional eye movements are usually thought of as a reflexive response to image rotation around the line of sight (torsional OKN) or to head roll (torsional VOR). In this study we asked whether torsional responses could be modulated by attention in a case where two stimuli rotated independently, and whether attention would influence the latency of responses. The display consisted of rear-projected radial pinwheel gratings, with an inner annulus segment extending from the center to 22 degrees eccentricity, and an outer annulus segment extending from 22 degrees out to 45 degrees eccentricity. The two segments rotated around the center in independent random walks, stepping randomly 4 degrees clockwise or counterclockwise at 60 Hz. Subjects were asked to attend to one or the other while keeping fixation steady at the center of the display. To encourage attention on one or the other segment of the display, subjects were asked to move a joystick in synchrony with the back and forth rotations of one part of the image while ignoring the other. Eye torsion was recorded with the scleral search coil technique, sampled at 500 Hz. All four subjects showed roughly 50 stronger torsion responses to the attended compared to unattended segments. Latency varied from 100 to 150 msec across subjects and was unchanged by attention. These findings suggest that attention can influence eye movement responses that are not typically under voluntary control

Cost-effectiveness of janus kinase inhibitors for rheumatoid arthritis: A systematic review and meta-analysis of cost-utility studies

Introduction: Janus kinase inhibitors (JAK-i), a class of targeted synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (tDMARDs), are suggested as second or third-line therapies in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Synthesized cost-effective evidence would aid in informed decision-making given the similar clinical effectiveness of JAKi, but incongruent cost-effectiveness reports.Methods: Literature search was conducted in PubMed, Embase, Scopus, and Tufts Medical Centers’ cost-effective analysis registry. We pooled the incremental net benefit (INB) with 95% confidence interval (CI) using random-effects model and the heterogeneity was assessed using Cochrane-Q test and I2 statistic. Modified economic evaluation bias checklist was used to assess the quality of selected studies. Publication bias was assessed using a funnel plot and Egger’s test. The Grading of Recommendation, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) assessment was performed to assess the certainty of outcomes presented.Results: We included seventeen relevant studies for systematic review, of which fifteen were eligible for meta-analysis. The meta-analysis results showed that JAK-i is cost-effective compared to csDMARDS/bDMARDs with a pooled INB (INBp) of $19,886 (95$23,144 (74.1–46,214) and high heterogeneity (I2 = 99.67). But on a separate analysis JAK-i as second-line treatment is not cost-effective than TNF-a-i (INBp = $25,813, -5,714 to 57,340). However, leave-one-out analysis found that omitting a single outlier makes JAK-i cost-effective. Further, JAK-i is not cost-effective as a third-line treatment for csDMARD-TNF-a-I failed RA, compared to csDMARDs/bDMARDs with INBp$26,157 (-7,284 to 59,598).Conclusion: Meta-analysis suggests that JAK-i is cost-effective when used after csDMARD failure but not cost-effective when used after csDMARD-TNF-a-i failure with low certainty of evidence.Clinical Trial Registration:https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?ID=CRD42021222541, identifier CRD4202122254

Evaluation of Groundwater Quality for Drinking and Agricultural Purpose

This study examines a variety of chosen groundwater samples from Mohanur, which has issues with its quality for drinking and agricultural use. Reading the study's findings will give you crucial information status of the ground water in Mohanur and can assist in locating the domestic and industrial sources of contamination. This is very helpful in guiding future research to pinpoint and reduce the issue of ground water pollution and helps to take action to address the problem. When a body of water is harmed by anthropogenic toxins, it is often considered to as polluted when it either cannot be used for human purposes, such as drinking water, or when its ability to support its biotic populations significantly changes. Despite their interdependence, surface water and groundwater have frequently been researched and managed as separate resources. In this study, 14 significant parameters were picked to calculate the water quality index. The World Health Organization (WHO) and Indian Council for Medical Research's criteria (ICMR) for the quality of drinking water were used to create the Water Quality Index (WQI). In this study, the weighted arithmetic index approach was employed to calculate WQI

Targeting Mycobacterium tuberculosis Biotin Protein Ligase (MtBPL) with Nucleoside-Based Bisubstrate Adenylation Inhibitors

Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), responsible for both latent and symptomatic tuberculosis (TB), remains the second leading cause of mortality among infectious diseases worldwide. Mycobacterial biotin protein ligase (MtBPL) is an essential enzyme in Mtb and regulates lipid metabolism through the post-translational biotinylation of acyl coenzyme A carboxylases. We report the synthesis and evaluation of a systematic series of potent nucleoside-based inhibitors of MtBPL that contain modifications to the ribofuranosyl ring of the nucleoside. All compounds were characterized by isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) and shown to bind potently with KDs ≤ 2 nM. Additionally, we obtained high-resolution cocrystal structures for a majority of the compounds. Despite fairly uniform biochemical potency, the whole-cell Mtb activity varied greatly with minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) ranging from 0.78 to >100 μM. Cellular accumulation studies showed a nearly 10-fold enhancement in accumulation of a C-2'-α analogue over the corresponding C-2'-β analogue, consistent with their differential whole-cell activity