Plant Products as Biopesticides: Building On Traditional Knowledge of Vrkshayurveda: Traditional Indian Plant Science

Today there is a global search for alternatives to chemical pesticides and as part of this process there are various efforts to test the use and efficacy of natural products for pest control and crop protection. Our Centre has been involved in exploring the traditional knowledge regarding the use of natural products for pest control and crop protection. As part of this effort, we have looked at the traditional folk practices prevalent among farmers as well as information from classical literature on the subject drawn from Vrkshayurveda (traditional Indian plant science). Following this, we have carried out experiments for standardizing and field testing promising natural products by determining the precise range and kind of pests controlled by them, determining the optimum concentration where they can be effective against pests without being harmful to useful organisms and predators as well as studying their mode of action. Subsequently, we have also developed storage forms of various of these products by using methods based on Ayurveda. Studies on the stability and shelf life of these products are also being carried out through an insect rearing laboratory. Finally, we have also set up village based biopesticides units where a range of these products are being prepared thus providing valuable inputs to sustainable agriculture and a means of livelihood to rural women and farmers

Customs House Agents Perspective on Effectiveness of Container Freight Stations, Chennai

A key factor in determining the trade volume is the efficiency of the cargo handling capacity of the ports. Container Freight Stations forms a major infrastructural component which primarily contributes to the decongestion of ports at the terminals. It is considered as an extension of department of customs. As India has improved its trade environment, development of ports, the volume of trade has increased over the years. The containerization of cargo has increased the role of CFS in India. CFS are the integral part of the EXIM supply chain. Custom House Agents and importers have some grievances such as the delay in the movement of cargo which would in turn increase the demurrage incurred on the importers, lack of infrastructure facilities, modern container handling equipment. Indias EXIM trade is fast growing and for managing and sustaining the growth, it is very essential to enhance the infrastructure facilities, modern cargo handling equipment. The purpose of the study is to analyse the important criteria in the selection of a CFS, the association of problems and satisfaction of the Customs house agents. SPSS 21 is used to perform the MANOVA, ANOVA and Correlation analysis. The results revealed that there is a significant effect of number of shipping bills on location, safety and quick clearance, difference of opinion on satisfaction between importers and exporters and a negative association between the problems in the CFS and satisfaction. The study also identified that quick clearance, modern cargo handling equipments and location are the major criteria in the selection of the CFS. Keywords: Container Freight Stations, Customs House Agent, EXIM, CHA, LOGISTICS FIRMS

THERAPEUTIC PROTEINS AND PEPTIDES FROM EDIBLE AND MEDICINAL MUSHROOMS-REVIEW

Bioactive proteins and peptides were reported from many sources ranging from bacteria to humans. Many of them are having various bioactive characteristics like antibacterial, antifungal, antiparasitic, antihypertensive, antisporadical, anticancer etc., Moreover; many antimicrobial peptides employ sophisticated and dynamic mechanisms of action to effect rapid and potent activities consistent with their likely roles in antimicrobial host defense. The molecules exhibit an antimicrobial activity against bacteria, viruses, and eukaryotic pathogens with different specificities and potencies depending on the structure and amino-acid composition of the proteins and peptides. Here we summarize investigations on bioactive proteins and peptides from edible and medicinal mushroom and discuss prospects for therapeutic applications

IN VITRO STUDIES ON ADHESION AND THE EFFECT OF CYTOTOXICITY OF BIFIDOBACTERIUM SPP. USING CELL LINES

The objective of this study was to elucidate adhesion property and the effect of cytotoxicity studies of Bifibobacterium in vitro. Bifidobacterium strains were isolated from milk and milk products, around twelve strains were isolated in which four strains were identified they are- Bifidobacterium lactis, Bifidobacterium longum, Bifidobacterium bifidum and Bifidobacterium infantis. The identification was done by morphological features and biochemical tests. The isolated strains were then assayed for the adherence and antitumor activities. The Bacteria showed good adherence pattern on the HT-29 cell lines and exhibited profound inhibitory activity on cancer cell lines (Human adeno -carcinoma cell lines)

Optimized Parameter of Wavelet Neural Network (WNN) using INGA

Genetic algorithm has been one of the most popular methods for many challenging optimization problems. It is a critical problem in which the evacuation time is an important issues. The continuous air traffic growth and limits of resources, there is a need for reducing the congestion of the airspace system. The main objective of this work is to automatically adapt the airspace configurations, according to the evolution of traffic Niche genetic algorithm(INGA) was used in reliability optimization of software system. And also the searching performance of the genetic algorithm was improved by the stochastic tournament model. The multi-module complex software system reliability allocation effectively. Genetic algorithm (GA) and FGA are compared though seven benchmark function. It can be applied to a wider range of problem including multi-level problem. The uniform schema crossover operator and the non-uniform mutation in the genetic algorithm

Comparison of Intra Muscular Dexmedetomidine and Intramuscular Midazolam Premedication for Laproscopic Abdominal Surgeries

INTRODUCTION: Surgery and anaesthesia cause significant fear and anxiety in patients. It causes sympathetic nervous system stimulation that leads to adverse cardiovascular effects like tachycardia and hypertension. Preoperative anxiety is a challenging concept in the preoperative care of patients and almost all patients undergoing surgery experience varying level of anxiety. The incidence of preoperative anxiety is 60–80% of surgical patients. Drugs like phenothiazine, barbiturates, opioids and benzodiazepines are used to relieve anxiety preoperatively. Premedication is administration of anaesthetic adjuvant drugs to allay anxiety, decrease post-operative pain, nausea and vomiting and the risk of pulmonary aspiration.Clinically used routes of administration of premedication are oral, rectal, intramuscular, intravenous and intranasal. Midazolam, a benzodiazepine is the drug of choice as premedicant to decrease anxiety. Other classes of drugs used for anxiolysis and sedation are barbiturates and α-2-agonists. After the discovery of alpha agonists, its usefulness in anaesthesia like anaesthetic adjuvant for general anaesthesia and regional anaesthesia, intravenous sedation for short procedures, intravenous sedation in ICU and as an additive to neuraxial and peripheral nerve blocks are investigated. There are number of reasons for therenewed interest in the use of dexmedektomidine, a newer alpha2 agonist, as sedative premedication. Dexmedetomidine, when compared to clonidine is a more selective alpha2- adrenoceptor agonist, which allows its use in relatively high doses for sedation and analgesia without the unwanted vascular effect from activation of alpha1-receptors. Dexmedetomidine is shorter acting than clonidine. These properties make dexmedetomidine suitable for premedication and as an anaesthetic adjunct for general and regional anaesthesia. There has been a constant search for an agent that effectively suppresses all hazardous response to obnoxious stimuli with good safety margin. Dexmedetomidine has most of the characteristics of premedication (like sedation, anxiolysis, analgesic sparing effect, sympathetic blockade, dryness of mouth). Hence we decided to study the effectiveness of dexmedetomidine as a pre medication agent. AIM OF THE STUDY: The aim of our study is to compare sedation and anxiolysis in two groups receiving intramuscular dexmedetomidine 1.0mic/kg and intramuscular midazolam 0.05mg/kg for laparoscopic abdominal surgeries given 60 minutes before surgery. METHODS: This is a double blinded randomized clinical trial done in general surgery theatre in Stanley medical hospital after getting approval from ethical committee.The study was conducted from March 2012 to November 2012. 60 patients of ASA PS 1 & 2 were randomly assigned into two equal groups namely Group M & Group D. Patients undergoing elective laparoscopic abdominal surgeries were enrolled in the study. The randomization was done using sealedenvelope lots containing numbers from 1 to 60. Odd numbers were assigned to Group D and even numbers were assigned to group M. Randomization and blinding were done by an assistant not involved in the study. The assistant diluted the drug into 1 ml solution and administered to patients in the pre-anesthetic room. He maintained a list containing name of patients, serial number and the group to which they belong to. INCLUSION CRITERIA: 1. Age: between 18 years and 60 years, 2. Sex: both sexes, 3. ASA physical status: I & II, 4. Operation: elective laparoscopic abdominal procedures. EXCLUSION CRITERIA: 1. Hypertension, 2. Pre-existing conduction block, 3. Medications (beta blockers, clonidine, MAO inhibitors), 4. Cardiovascular disease, 5. Epilepsy, 6. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, 7. Child bearing age, 8. Intubation attempts lasted more than 25 seconds, 9. Diabetes, 10. Difficult airway (modified mallampatti III and IV). MATERIALS: 1. 24 G intramuscular needle and syringe, 2. Injection Dexmedetomidine /midazolam, 3. Appropriate size intravenous cannula and I.V. fluids, 4. Drugs for General Anesthesia, 5. Appropriate size Endotracheal tubes, Other Airway equipments, 6. Monitors (pulseoximeter, NIBP, ECG, ETCO2), 7. All Emergency drugs. A complete pre anaesthetic evaluation was carried out in the premedication room. The patients were explained in detail, about the effects, possible risks and complications of premedication agents. The concept of Visual Analog Scale (VAS) for anxiety was explained to all the patients under study before surgery. Only those who understood the scale and were capable of expressing their anxiety, in terms of the scale were included in the study. SUMMARY: Dexmedetomidine, a selective alpha 2 agonist has multitude of roles in anaesthesia. Its sedative, anxiolytic and anesthetic sparing action favour its use as a premedicant. Our prospective randomized double blinded study was designed to assess whether dexmedetomidine is as efficient as midazolam in controlling anxiety and inducing sedation in patients undergoing laparoscopic abdominal surgeries. Our observations were: • Dexmedetomidine is equally effective in inducing preoperative sedation and allaying anxiety, when compared to midazolam when given at a dose of 1 mic/kg 60 minutes before surgery. • Oxygen saturation in the pre anesthetic room, after dexmedetomidine intramuscular premedication was well preserved above 95%, while it decreased to 93% in midazolam group. • Intubation response in terms of heart rate is better blunted by dexmedetomidine (1 mic/kg) IM than midazolam (0.005 mg/kg). The difference between the two groups being statistically significant. 88 • Intubation response in terms of MAP was better blunted in dexmedetomidine group than midazolam group. Also the maximal increase in BP after intubation was less in patient who received dexmedetomidine premedication. • Intraoperative analgesia requirement was less in dexmedetomidine group, when compared to midazolam. Only 3.33% of patients in group D required fentanyl intraoperatively. In group M, 20% of patients needed analgesia. The difference between them was statistically significant. • The incidence of bradycardia (HR<50/min) was 17% in group D, whereas no such incidence occurred in group M. • Hypotension was 7% with group D, whereas it occurred in none patient in group M. • Incidence of postoperative shivering was significantly higher with group M (7%) when compared to group D where none had shivering. • Incidence of nausea was similar in both groups. Incidence of vomiting was significantly higher with dexmedetomidine (7%) premedication, when compared with midazolam (0%). CONCLUSION: It is concluded that premedication with a single intramuscular injection of 1micrograms/kg dexmedetomidine is as efficacious as midazolam 0.05 mg/kg given intramuscularly inproducing sedation and anxiolysis in patients undergoing laparoscopic abdominal surgeries. It is also efficacious in blunting the hemodynamic response to intubation, reducing the intraoperative analgesic requirement. Dexmedetomidine causes significant increase in the incidence of intraoperative bradycardia and hypotension at 90 minutes after intramuscular injection in ASA physical status 1 or 2 patients undergoing laparoscopic abdominal surgeries

A study on service quality in higher education institutions with special reference to western Tamilnadu

Service quality is regarded as the managerial efforts in facilitating activities of acquiring, creating, storing, sharing, diffusing, developing, and deploying service by individuals and groups. The Learned people and Higher Educational Institutions are considered as the service society, service hub respectively. Academic sector has significant opportunities to apply Service quality practices to support its education, research and also facilitate the nation in achieving the set of objectives. Service quality in higher educational institutions provides a set of practices for linking people such as students, teachers, researchers, business, and external entities also link with technology. It also focuses on how institutions can promote strategies and practices that help different actors and practitioners to share, manage and apply new service in Service quality encompasses much more, going beyond the intrinsic service industry of colleges and universities. At present educational are striving very hard to improve their standard, quality and adding more and more value to the services in order to attract quality of students and faculty members. This situation has raised the need to implement the service quality practices in the educational institutions in order to achieve their mission, be competitive, remain innovative, and ensuring the satisfaction of stakeholder’s expectation

Clinico Epidemiological study of Contact Dermatitis to kumkum

INTRODUCTION: Kumkum is customarily used by Hindus all over the world for religious belief. It is traditionally prepared by combining turmeric with an alkali. Due to recent entry of commercial kumkum in the market, the chemicals used, sensitize the individuals on chronic exposure and produce contact dermatitis. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: The aim is to study the age and sex incidence of kumkum dermatitis among patients attending our OPD, types of clinical presentation, clinical pattern of distribution, association with atopy, association between the duration of exposure to kumkum and the onset of clinical manifestation and to confirm allergic contact dermatitis by doing patch test. MATERIALS AND METHODS: About 50 cases of contact dermatitis with history of exposure to kumkum attending the Occupational contact dermatitis outpatient department were included in the study. A written consent, detailed clinical history, routiee investigations were done. Patch test was performed using allergens in kumkum and the patient used kumkum. RESULTS: The incidence of kumkum dermatitis was 4.48% among 33.87% of our OPD. Female to male ratio was 2.8:1 The mean age of distribution was 44.32 years.The mean duration of exposure is 17.64 years. Pigmented contact dermatitis seen in 80% (40 patients), allergic contact dermatitis in 5 patients (10%) and no visible skin changes in 5 patients (10%). Forehead is the common site involved in 19 patients (38%). Forehead & hairparting in 7 patients (14%), glabella in 6 patients (12%), hairparting & glabella in 6 patients (12 %), in 5 patients (10%) had no visible clinical changes. hair parting area only in 2 patients (10%). CONCLUSION: Our patients were treated symptomatically and showed good clinical improvement. Adviced to avoid using kumkum and suggested other alternatives. This study is done to emphasizes the need for standardization in commercial kumkum manufacturing and to stress the importance of adding these allergens in India standard series