A Mini-Review: Comparison between curcumin and tetrahydrocurcumin based on their activities

Curcumin, a natural ingredient present in turmeric rhizome is known for its various therapeutic activities such as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anticancer, antidiabetic, NF-kB activation suppresser. The hydrogenated derivative of curcumin, i.e., tetrahydrocurcumin, is also found to reveal the same activities. Moreover, the pro-oxidant effect of curcumin is reported, whereas tetrahydrocurcumin does not show any pro-oxidant effects. This contrasting behaviour of the two is attributed to their structures, because conjugation is involved only in curcumin, not in the tetrahydrocurcumin. It can be evidently concluded that double bonds affect the keto-enol ratio of the molecules and are therefore responsible for the degradation of curcumin, whereas tetrahydrocurcumin remains stable. Nevertheless, these double bonds are liable to affect the kinetics of beneficial activities of curcumin and tetrahydrocurcumin

Professor DS Kotharis Reflections on the Parallelism between Epistemological Foundations of Modern Physics and Indian Philosophical Thought Part II: The Principle of complementarity and Syadvada

A favourite theme in Prof Kothari's talks and writings during his later years was the close parallelism between Bohr's principle of complementarity and Indian philosophical thought, in particular, the  Syadvada of J ain philosophy 1-6. In this part of the article , we have tried to summarize Prof Kothari's views on the subject

Emerging Therapies for Stage III Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy and Immunotherapy

The current standard of care for locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) includes radiation, chemotherapy, and surgery in certain individualized cases. In unresectable NSCLC, chemoradiation has been the standard of care for the past three decades. Local and distant failure remains high in this group of patients, so dose escalation has been studied in both single institution and national clinical trials. Though initial studies showed a benefit to dose escalation, phase III studies examining dose escalation using standard fractionation or hyperfractionation have failed to show a benefit. Over the last 17 years, stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) has shown a high degree of safety and local control for stage I lung cancers and other localized malignancies. More recently, phase I/II studies using SBRT for dose escalation after conventional chemoradiation in locally advanced NSCLC have been promising with good apparent safety. Immunotherapy also offers opportunities to address distant disease and preclinical data suggest immunotherapy in tandem with SBRT may be a rational way to induce an abscopal effect although there are little clinical data as yet. By building on the proven concept of conventional chemoradiation for patients with locally advanced NSCLC with a subsequent radiation dose intensification to residual disease with SBRT concurrent with immunotherapy, we hope address the issues of metastatic and local failures. This quadmodality approach is still in its infancy but appears to be a safe and rational approach to the improving the outcome of NSCLC therapy

Study of Properties for Ca (a, n)Ti Reactions and n-Yield for Ca Isotopes (A=41-50)

In this study, (44Ti – 53Ti) isotopes for one of intermediate elements (A>40) from Ca (?, n)Ti reactions with alpha energy from (10 to 50) MeV are used according to the available data of reaction cross sections obtained from Lab (TENDL-2012). The more recent cross sections data of Ca (?, n)Ti reaction is reproduced in fine steps of (0.5MeV), by using (MATLAB R2008b) program. These cross sections together with the stopping powers which calculated from the Zeigler formula by using SRIM-2013 have been used to calculate the n-yield for reaction by depend on Ca isotopes (41Ca – 50Ca) as targets, and then clarify the behavior between the energies which corresponding to these cross sections and neutron yield for isotopes, and then we drowned the relationship between the n-yield for these reactions and symmetry at these energies. Was obtained on mathematical formulas and find constants those equations and these equations were calculated yield neutron and comparing with theoretical values ??also studying the properties of these isotopes, calculated binding energy and reduced mass and also were calculated Q- value and threshold energy for each reaction and the relative abundance of the isotopes of entering and leaving for alpha reactions. And then drawing scheduled and discusses the results. Keyword: Binding energy, Cross-Section, Neutron Yield, stopping power, Asymmetry and empirical formula.

Herpetic zoster folliculitis in the immunocompromised host

Introduction Exclusive involvement of herpes zoster (HZ) in the follicular epithelium occurs rarely and lacks the typical cutaneous and histopathologic findings associated with herpesvirus. We describe a patient who underwent adjuvant chemotherapy for pancreatic cancer and subsequently had a nonvesicular rash for several weeks, ultimately proving to be herpetic zoster folliculitis. Case report A 78-year-old man with adenocarcinoma of the tail of the pancreas treated with surgical resection and 1 round of adjuvant chemotherapy with gemcitabine, docetaxel, and capecitabine presented with a 3-week history of a right leg rash. He first noticed the rash 5 days after the initiation of his chemotherapy. It initially appeared on his middorsal foot, and over the next couple weeks progressed proximally along the anteromedial leg to the distal knee and medial thigh. It was not painful and was minimally pruritic. Two and a half weeks after the onset of his rash, a fever to 38.5°C developed along with back pain. At this time, he had a nondiagnostic skin biopsy by an outside dermatologist and was given diphenhydramine and topical hydrocortisone with no improvement in his rash. He also had an abdominal computed tomography (CT) performed at an outside hospital, which found a left upper quadrant fluid collection. He was subsequently admitted to Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center for evaluation. On our examination, he had purpuric patches and edematous, purpuric papules along the right dorsal foot, extending proximally up the right anteromedial leg (Fig 1). He also had a few faint pink papules along the right hip and superior buttock (Fig 2). There were no vesicles. A comprehensive metabolic panel and liver function test results were normal. Noted were a leukocytosis level of 14,400/μL with 76% neutrophils and 1% bands, an elevated lipase level of 194 U/L (3-43 U/L), and an amylase level of 95 U/L (20-96 U/L). A CT scan of the abdomen confirmed an 8.0- × 7.0-cm fluid collection of the left upper quadrant of the abdomen. A skin biopsy of the right anteromedial leg found only alteration of the basal layer epidermis with a perivascular mononuclear cell infiltrate and extravasated erythrocytes. However, deeper sections had necrotic keratinocytes and multinucleated epithelial-type giant cells with ground-glass nuclei restricted to the follicular epithelium, confirming a diagnosis of follicular herpetic infection (Fig 3, A and B). A diagnosis of HZ in the L4 and L5 dermatomes was made, and the eruption promptly resolved with a 7-day course of valganciclovir (1-g tablet 3 times a day)

Dietary intakes of women during pregnancy in low- and middle-income countries

Abstract Objective To provide a better understanding of dietary intakes of pregnant women in low- and middle-income countries. Design Systematic review was performed to identify relevant studies which reported nutrient intakes or food consumption of pregnant women in developing countries. Macronutrient and micronutrient intakes were compared by region and the FAO/WHO Estimated Average Requirements. Food consumption was summarized by region. Setting Developing countries in Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean and Central/South America. Subjects Pregnant women in the second or third trimester of their pregnancies. Results From a total of 1499 retrieved articles, sixty-two relevant studies were analysed. The ranges of mean/median intakes of energy, fat, protein and carbohydrate were relatively higher in women residing in the Caribbean and Central/South America than in Africa and Asia. Percentages of energy from carbohydrate and fat varied inversely across studies in all regions, whereas percentage of energy from protein was relatively stable. Among selected micronutrients, folate and Fe intakes were most frequently below the Estimated Average Requirements, followed by Ca and Zn. Usual dietary patterns were heavily cereal based across regions. Conclusions Imbalanced macronutrients, inadequate micronutrient intakes and predominantly plant-based diets were common features of the diet of pregnant women in developing countries. Cohesive public health efforts involving improving access to nutrient-rich local foods, micronutrient supplementation and fortification are needed to improve the nutrition of pregnant women in developing countrie

Synergistic Antioxidant Activity of Capsicum Oleoresin, Lecithin and Curcuminoids in Sunflower Oil

Essential fatty acids (EFAs) have the tendency to undergo autoxidation. Hence, the addition of antioxidants becomes a key step during their storage. Synthetic antioxidants are found to be toxic in nature. Recently, many investigations were carried out where EFAs were stabilized by natural antioxidants those can even replace synthetic antioxidant totally. In the present study, capsicum oleoresin, soy lecithin and curcuminoids were used to stabilize EFAs in refined sunflower oil. The study showed that the synergism of these natural antioxidants in proper proportion increased the shelf life of sunflower oil. Consequently, the nutritive value of EFAs was restored because of their effective stabilization and the natural antioxidants added for their stabilization provided the medicinal benefits