A RANDOMIZED CONTROL STUDY TO EVALUATE THE ROLE OF HERBAL IMMUNOMODULATORS IN BOOSTING THE IMMUNITY AND OVERALL HEALTH OF HEALTHCARE WORKERS IN COVID-19 WARDS: AN EXPLORATORY, FEEDBACK CLINICAL STUDY

Objective: The objective of the study was to evaluate the role of the herbal immunomodulators Immusante and Guduchi in boosting the immunity and overall health of healthcare workers assigned to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) wards. Methods: An open-label, randomized, prospective, and single center clinical study was conducted among 100 healthcare workers assigned to COVID-19 wards. Eligible subjects (50 in each arm) were randomly assigned to either arm I (Immusante+Guduchi tablets) or arm II (treatment as per the institutional policy). Assessments after 30 days of treatment included respiratory symptoms, Adapted Immune Status Questionnaire (ISQ), improvement in quality of life (Short form 12 [SF-12] Health Survey), and safety and tolerability. Results: All 100 subjects completed the study as per the protocol. There were no respiratory symptoms in the subjects in arm 1. However, four subjects (8%) in arm II reported cough during the study period. A better Immune status improvement was seen through the adapted ISQ in arm I as compared to arm II. In each of the 8 SF-12 Health Survey domains, a statistically significant difference was observed in arm I compared to arm II. A retrospective assessment of COVID-19 infection showed only 8% of subjects as COVID-19 positive in arm I compared with 26% of subjects in arm II. Conclusion: Considering the positive trend observed in this study in terms of ISQ, SF-12, and COVID-19 infection rates, the combination of Immusante and Guduchi in healthcare workers at a high risk of contracting COVID-19 infection had a beneficial effect in boosting immunity and overall health

Lysosome Biogenesis and Autophagy

Lysosomes degrade biological components acquired by endocytosis, the major cellular pathway for internalization of extracellular material, and macroautophagy. This chapter presents an overview of these two major degradative intracellular pathways, and highlights the emerging cross talks between them, in healthy and diseased conditions. The pathways to lysosomes include the biosynthetic transport routes, endocytic pathways, and the autophagy pathways. The central actors of the autophagy process are the ATG genes. Based on their organization in complexes and interactions, the ATG genes have been divided into many functional clusters that compose the core autophagy machinery. Cross talk between the endocytic and autophagic pathways occurs at many levels: transcriptional regulation, protein sharing, and compartmental connections. The chapter focuses on the fusion and fission events between compartments of the endolysosomal system and autophagic membranes, respectively. Lysosome-related disorders are caused by mutations in genes encoding for proteins that directly affect lysosomal functioning, including lysosomal hydrolases and lysosomal membrane proteins

Rydberg atoms: Correlations and quantum gates

In this project, we investigate into the correlations between Rydberg atoms, atoms that are excited to a state of a high principal quantum number and have at least one valence electron, and the interactions that occur between them that can be used for the formation of quantum gates. We first review the fundamentals of quantum gates, followed by the nature of the interactions between Rydberg atoms and the Rydberg blockade. We study the entanglement between Rydberg atoms and the effect of the strength of dipolar interactions on the amount of generated entanglement. The crux of this study is the examination of the strong interactions between Rydberg atoms and their use in the construction of quantum gates. The final section of this report provides suggestions on future research along this direction.Bachelor of Science in Physic

URINALYSIS AS A PREDICTOR FOR URINARY TRACT INFECTION:AN OBSERVATIONAL STUDY

Aims &Objectives: To find the usefulness of urine dipstick and urinalysis in children with an intention to identify the parameters which most likely point towards the presence of Urinary Tract Infection (UTI).Whether a combination of the parameters analyzed rather than single parameter is useful in suggesting the presence or absence of UTI. Methods: The study was a prospective observational study done in 401 children below 16 years of age with clinically suspected urinary tract infection. Results: The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV) of dipstick Leucocyte esterase (LE) and nitrite were 85%, 93.1%, 75.6%, 96.1% and 51.2%, 99.1%, 93.2%, 89.1% respectively.In urine microscopic analysis the sensitivity, specificity, PPV, NPV of bacteria were 68.5%, 96.9%, 84.6%, 92.6% and those of pus cells were 80%, 93.1%, 74.4%, 94.9%. Conclusion: Combination of parameters i.e., LE, nitrite and bacteria or LE, nitrite and pus cells are good screening tool to predict and rule out UTI. Of the individual parameters analyzed, negative nitrites in dipstick and absence of bacteria in urine microscopy almost rule out UTI caused by most uropathogen

Assessing the Accuracy, Quality, and Readability of Patient Accessible Online Resources Regarding Ocular Gene Therapy and Voretigene Neparvovec.

Purpose: To evaluate the accuracy, quality, and readability of online information regarding the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved ocular gene therapy voretigene neparvovec (Luxturna, Spark Therapeutics, Philadelphia, PA, USA). Methods: Ten online resources about voretigene neparvovec were assessed in this cross-sectional study. A novel 25-question assessment was created to evaluate the information most relevant to patients. Each article was assessed by independent graders using the assessment and the DISCERN instrument. An online readability tool, Readable, was used to assess readability. Accountability was evaluated using the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) benchmarks. Results: The average questionnaire score for all the articles was 33.93 (SD 11.21, CI 95% ±6.95) out of 100 possible points with significant variation in the content accuracy and quality between the articles (P=0.017). EyeWiki achieved the highest score and MedicineNet the lowest. The mean reading grade for all articles was 12.88 (SD 1.93, CI 95% ±1.19) with significant variation between articles (P=0.001). Wikipedia was the most readable, and the FDA website was the least. None of the articles achieved all four JAMA benchmarks, and only one of the ten articles, EyeWiki, achieved three of the four JAMA benchmarks. Conclusion: The information available online regarding this FDA-approved ocular gene therapy is generally of low quality, above the average reading level of the general population, and varies significantly between sources. The articles provide incomplete information that is not entirely accurate or easy to read, and as a result, the material would not support patients adequately in their medical decisions and questions about this new therapeutic option

THE ROLE OF HERBAL IMMUNOMODULATORS AS ADJUVANT THERAPY FOR ASYMPTOMATIC AND MILDLY SYMPTOMATIC COVID-19: AN EXPLORATORY CLINICAL STUDY

Objectives: The objective of the study is to evaluate herbal immunomodulators (Septilin and Bresol) as a possible adjuvant therapy for the treatment of asymptomatic and mildly symptomatic COVID-19. Methods: Randomized, open-label, comparative clinical study. Subjects were randomized to either arm I [Septilin and Bresol+standard of care (SOC)] or arm II (SOC). This study was registered on CTRI (CTRI/2020/06/025801). Results: Subjects in arm I showed a greater reduction in levels of interleukin-6 tumor necrosis factor-α following treatment than in arm II. Subjects in arm I showed a greater increase in levels of interferon (IFN)-β and IFN-λ than those in arm II. There was a greater reduction in D-dimer in arm I than in arm II subjects (64.28% vs. 35.59%) and all arm I subjects had D-dimer values in the normal range compared to 70% of arm II subjects. There were statistically significant reduction in lactate dehydrogenase and neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio in arm I (p<0.016 and p<0.013, respectively). Clinical assessments during the post-illness convalescence period showed significant improvements in fatigue assessment scores and quality of life. Conclusion: This herbal combination as an adjuvant to SOC may provide additional long-term benefits in COVID-19 infection by reducing inflammation. This treatment may offer a good addendum for the management of post-COVID-19 illness

Molecular biology of head and neck cancer

The term molecular biology of head and neck cancer includes two terms “molecules” and” biology.” Molecules are made of atoms and biology includes study of life. Hence, the study of molecular biology of cancer is very essential in understanding the atoms involved, their effect on life in cancer, and the factors controlling its growth, extension, and the process of metastasis. Even though it is an old concept, new molecules were being discovered which have been involved actively in the carcinogenesis. It is a complex process to understand because it involves numerous factors, few involved in halting the process of cancer and few involved in progression of cancer. In normal cells, these both are in a balanced state, and any imbalance in these two results in abnormal growth which becomes persistent. Hence, new treatment modalities by targeting atoms, molecules, receptors, and signal transduction pathways, abnormal, or mutated genes can be invented to decrease the mortality rate and increase the prognosis of patients suffering from head and neck cancer. This review mainly focuses on the molecules involved in head and cancer, their clinical implications, and their role in inventing new therapies