ROLE OF VYOSHADI GUGGULU IN MEDOROG (OBESITY) ASSOCIATED WITH DYSLIPIDEMIA: A CASE STUDY

Medorog (obesity) has been described extensively in various Ayurvedic texts. Acharya Charak has described Medorog among the eight most unwanted diseases (Ninditpurush) Samtarpanajanita Roga. Medorog can be compared with obesity in modern terminology. Obesity is the condition in which excess body fat has accumulated to the extent that it may have an adverse effect on health, leading to reduced life expectancy and increased health problems. The most important cause of obesity is an energy imbalance between the calories consumed and calories expended which leads to the accumulation of fat. In 21st century, obesity is not less than any epidemic targeting more and more people every day. Over one out of every five persons in the world is obese. Obesity is such a disease which provides the platform for many life threatening hazards like dyslipidaemia etc. A case of Medorog associated with dyslipidaemia managed successfully by Ayurvedic treatment is reported here. A 49 year old female having sign and symptoms of Medorog was treated with Vyoshadiguggulu, a formulation of Ashtang Hridya in the dosage of 1gm. three times a day with 1 table Spoon of honey and lukewarm water for 90 days. Patient showed remarkable improvement in Obesity and dyslipidaemia after the treatment

Geothermal probabilistic cost study

A tool is presented to quantify the risks of geothermal projects, the Geothermal Probabilistic Cost Model (GPCM). The GPCM model was used to evaluate a geothermal reservoir for a binary-cycle electric plant at Heber, California. Three institutional aspects of the geothermal risk which can shift the risk among different agents was analyzed. The leasing of geothermal land, contracting between the producer and the user of the geothermal heat, and insurance against faulty performance were examined

Filament activated chemical vapor deposition of boron carbide coatings

In this study, we have demonstrated that boron carbide, an extremely hard and wear‐resistant material, can be deposited with hot filament‐activated chemical vapor deposition (HFCVD). There are several benefits to using a hot filament system, including a high deposition rate and a relatively low substrate temperature with a process that is not line‐of‐sight. High purity, apparently amorphous boron carbide films were obtained by the use of a chlorine based precursor (which is less toxic than diborane). This indicates that either the hot filament helps in complete decomposition of BCl3 or the presence of high concentration of atomic hydrogen in a HFCVD environment helps in scavenging the chlorine. © 1994 American Institue of Physics.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/70919/2/APPLAB-65-14-1757-1.pd

Ultraviolet light induced changes in polyimide liquid‐crystal alignment films

Ultraviolet light induced changes in polyimide liquid‐crystal alignment films were investigated. Infrared, UV‐visible, x‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and electron‐spin‐resonance measure‐ ments indicated that bond breaking and subsequent oxidation reactions occur in polyimide films (SE7210, OCG284, DuPont 2555 and 2540) during the broadband UV illumination in air. Mechanical rubbing has no effect on the optical and magnetic properties but it causes the removal of the UV‐exposed film. Capacitance–voltage measurements indicate that there is a slight decrease in dielectric constant and creation of net negative charges in the film after UV exposure. Sur‐ face tension of polyimide films before and after UV illumination and changes in the pretilt angle of the polyimide surface following UV exposure have also been studied. The decrease in pretilt angle following UV illumination is attributed to an increase in surface tension. Our results indicate that a simple UV technique can be used to achieve domain divided liquid‐crystal pixel electrode design with improved viewing characteristics. © 1996 American Institute of Physics.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/70453/2/JAPIAU-80-9-5028-1.pd

The Façade Wall: a Focus on the Green Architecture of Laurie Baker’s Houses

I would like to thank architect Sajan for his support and putting me in touch with the three houseowners and for his suggestion to study on Baker’s use of pattern in his building vocabulary. Architect Sajan was trained under Laurie Baker and continues his work under the aegis of Costford. I would like to thank the three houseowners – Mrs Narayanan, Mr George and Mrs Subrahmaniam – for their support and giving me their valuable time. I would like to thank Mr Anil Kumar of Laurie Baker Centre for giving me permission to use images from the book Untold Stories published by Laurie Baker Centre.This paper is an attempt to illustrate ‘green’ strategies Laurie Baker uses, in particular with respect to passive design principles as applied to houses. Green architecture is holistic and socially sensitive as it, in addition to being environmentally conscious, addresses the well-being of its users. This paper will focus on the method of harvesting ‘green’ ideals with respect to the architecture of the façade wall in Laurie Baker’s houses. Three houses designed by Baker in the 1990s in Trivandrum, Kerala will be studied. The discussion will show that Baker’s façade design strategies represent innovative solutions for facade designs built on low technology with derivations from the local vernacular in a contemporary architectural language. In the larger context of architecture of sustainability and green architecture, Baker’s approach, it will be shown, is essentially humanist and presents a way forward to establishing identity through place and an understanding of culture. In a digital era, which challenges identity and encourages notions of connectivity in a global sense, Baker’s architecture, it will be proposed, promotes green principles in making significant the value of the local and in the credence it gives to the end user and the craftsman in a singularly unique architectural language

Filament-activated chemical vapour deposition of nitride thin films

We have applied the novel method of hot filament-activated chemical vapour deposition (HFCVD) for low-temperature deposition of a variety of nitride thin films. In this paper the results from our recent work on aluminium, silicon and titanium nitride have been reviewed. In the HFCVD method a hot tungsten filament (1500–1850°C) was utilised to decompose ammonia in order to deposit nitride films at low substrate temperatures and high rates. The substrate temperatures ranged from 245 to 600°C. The film properties were characterised by a number of analytical and optical methods. The effect of various deposition conditions on film properties was studied. All the films obtained were of high chemical purity and had very low or no detectable tungsten contamination from the filament metal.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/38579/1/221_ftp.pd

A Novel Class of Pyrazoline Analogue of Combretastatin-A4 (CA-4): Synthesis Characterization and in-vitro Biological Testing

A series of pyrazoline bridged combretastatin analogues were designed and synthesised from their precursor chalcone analogues, and all these compounds were ascertained by IR, 1H NMR, and mass spectral analysis. Subsequently, all these compounds were evaluated for anticancer activities against breast cancer (MCF-7) and normal Vero (Monkey Kidney) cell lines, and five selected compounds from the series were evaluated against Hela (Human Cervical), MDA-MB-231 (Breast), and A-549 (Lung cancer) cell lines using the Sulforhodamine B (SRB) assay method. Compounds 3a, 6a, 6e, 5b, 7a, 5a, and 7d were found to be the most potent in the series, with a GI50 value of 10 to 30 M in the MCF-7 cell line. Moreover, the same compounds 6a and 7a showed remarkable cytotoxicity against the A-549 (Lung) cell line with a GI50 value ranging from 10 to 30 M, while compound 3a displayed moderate cytotoxicity against the Hela (Human Cervical) cell line. All these compounds were found nontoxic to the Vero (Monkey Kidney) normal cell line

Synthesis and Pharmacological Evaluation of Pyrazoline and Pyrimidine Analogs of Combretastatin-A4 as Anticancer, Anti-inflammatory and Antioxidant Agents

A library of 3,5-diaryl-1-carbothioamide-pyrazoline (5a–j), N1-phenyl sulfonyl pyrazoline (6a–e) and pyrimidine (7a) analogs of combretastatin-A4 were synthesized and evaluated for their in vitro anticancer, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activity. Results of in vitro assay against human breast cancer cell line (MCF-7) showed several compounds endowed with significant cytotoxicity compared to the adriamycin, a standard anticancer drug. Among the compounds synthesized, 7a was found to possess significant antiproliferative activity (GI50 < 0.1 µM) against the MCF-7 cell line as good as adriamycin (GI50 < 0.1 µM) whereas, compounds 6c, 5j and 5g also displayed good cytotoxicity (GI50 = 25.3–42.6 µM). Besides this, most active compound 7a was also evaluated against human myeloid leukemia cell line K562 and the remarkable result was obtained with GI50 < 0.1 µM, comparable to that of adriamycin (GI50 < 0.1 µM). In addition, all the synthesized compounds were evaluated for their anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activity. The percent inhibition studies revealed that most of the compounds were found to possess substantial anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

Design, Synthesis, and Spectroscopic Study of 7-Azaindolyl Hydrazones with Anti-Breast Cancer Activity

A series of 7-azaindolyl hydrazones were prepared by reacting of hydrazides of 7-azaindole-3-acetic acids with aromatic aldehydes and N-substituted indolyl-3-carboxyaldehydes. Structure of all the synthesized compounds were satisfactorily correlated by IR, 1H NMR, 13C NMR and mass spectroscopic evidences. The synthesized compounds were evaluated for their possible anticancer potential against MCF-7 induced breast carcinoma. It is worth mentioning that most of the compounds were considerably active against MCF-7 cell line with GI50 values ranging from 22.3–81.0 μM. The hydrazones of N-1-substituted indole-3-carboxyaldehydes 9f, 9g, 9h, 9c, and 9j were active against MCF-7 cell line with GI50 values less than 40 μM (GI50 = 22.3 and 24.9, 29.6, 30.2 and 37.8 μM respectively) with moderate TGI values (TGI = 56.6, 59.5, 65.5, 70.7 and 94.6 μM respectively). The active compounds were also screened against the normal Vero monkey cell line, which showed moderate selectivity against inhibition of cancer cells. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License