MEDICINAL PLANTS OF NORTH-EAST REGION OF INDIA: A SMALL REVIEW

Assam is a state of the North Eastern part of India. There are varieties of plants distributed in various parts of the state. 50% of India's entire plant biodiversity is contributed by the North Eastern States i.e., Manipur, Mizoram, Sikkim, Tripura including Assam. The Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), Government of India in 1980s recorded two hundred and eighty-six (286) species of plants from Assam, used by the tribes of Assam.The traditional system of medicine plays an important role in the healthcare of rural people for all types of ailments. The healing power of traditional herbal medicines has been realized and documented since Rigveda and Atharvaveda. Nearly 80% of the world populations rely on traditional medicines for primary health care, most of which involve the use of plant extracts

Development and Validation By RP-HPLC Method For the Estimation of Piperine Coenzyme Q10 In Bulk and Pharmaceutical Dosage Form

Safety is the fundamental principle in the provision of pharmaceutical products for health care of human being. Nutritional supplements used in medical practice are gaining considerable momentum in the world during the past decades. But this supplement is needed to be analysed before releasing in market to avoid any complications. A combination of piperine and coenzyme Q10 is used as nutritional supplement. As no analytical method has been developed for their simultaneous estimation a simple, specific, sensitive, precise and accurate RP-HPLC method was developed for the determination of CoQ10 and piperine in bulk or pharmaceutical dosage form. Coenzyme is very popular for its antioxidant property for protecting LDL from oxidation and piperine maintains cardiovascular system and increases bioavailability of coenzyme Q10. In this developed method, Waters X Bridge C8 column (250mm x 4.6mm,5μm) was used as a stationary phase and acetonitrile, tetrahydrofuran(THF), and water used in 65:32:3 (v/v) ratio as mobile phase with 1 ml/min flowrate with PDA detector detection at 275nm. The RP-HPLC was developed according to ICH guideline parameters. The retention times of Coenzyme Q10 and Piperine were 4.56 and 8.19 min respectively. The linearity ranges have lied between 4-6μg/ml, 240-360μg/ml. Correlation coefficient for both is 0.997. The present successfully validated method was applicable for the assay of piperine and coenzyme Q10 in bulk and pharmaceutical dosage forms

Trends of ectopic pregnancies in Andaman and Nicobar Islands

Background: Ectopic Pregnancy is a common life threatening emergency in the first trimester of pregnancy. Increase in incidence and impairment in fertility are the major concerns. The present study was undertaken to determine the incidence, clinical presentation, risk factors, diagnosis, management, maternal morbidity and mortality due to ectopic pregnancy in a tertiary care hospital.Methods: This cross-sectional, descriptive study was done over a period from January 2014 to October 2016. A total of 73 cases were admitted with the diagnosis of ectopic pregnancy. The following parameters: age, parity, risk factors, gestational age, clinical presentation, investigations, findings at surgery, morbidity and mortality associated with ectopic pregnancy was noted.Results: The incidence of ectopic pregnancy was 0.89%. The peak age of incidence was 25 to 34 years. Multiparous women were the most sufferers. Amenorrhea (93.15%), abdominal pain (87.67%) and vaginal bleeding (64.38%) were the frequent presenting complaints. Pelvic inflammatory disease (32.87%), history of previous caesarean section (26.02%) and history of abortion (13.69%) were the important risk factors. There were 90.41% patients with hemoglobin level less than 10 gm/dl, 8.21% of patients admitted with feature of shock. Majority (90.41%) of the cases were diagnosed through history and clinical examination. The commonest site of ectopic pregnancy was the ampulla (52.94%). Surgery by open method in the form of salpingectomy (72.05%) was the mainstay of treatment. Medical management was possible only in five cases. Morbidity included anemia (97.05%), urinary tract infections (11.76%) and wound infection (4.41%). No maternal mortality noted.Conclusions: Early presentation, high index of suspicion, early referral and timely intervention in the form of conservative or surgical treatment is the key to successful management of ectopic pregnancy

An Analysis of Physiological and Psychological Responses in Virtual Reality and Flat Screen Gaming

Recent research has focused on the effectiveness of Virtual Reality (VR) in games as a more immersive method of interaction. However, there is a lack of robust analysis of the physiological effects between VR and flatscreen (FS) gaming. This paper introduces the first systematic comparison and analysis of emotional and physiological responses to commercially available games in VR and FS environments. To elicit these responses, we first selected four games through a pilot study of 6 participants to cover all four quadrants of the valence-arousal space. Using these games, we recorded the physiological activity, including Blood Volume Pulse and Electrodermal Activity, and self-reported emotions of 33 participants in a user study. Our data analysis revealed that VR gaming elicited more pronounced emotions, higher arousal, increased cognitive load and stress, and lower dominance than FS gaming. The Virtual Reality and Flat Screen (VRFS) dataset, containing over 15 hours of multimodal data comparing FS and VR gaming across different games, is also made publicly available for research purposes. Our analysis provides valuable insights for further investigations into the physiological and emotional effects of VR and FS gaming.Comment: This work has been submitted to the IEEE Transactions on Affective Computing for possible publication. Copyright may be transferred without notice, after which this version may no longer be accessibl

Profile of abortion seekers and decision makers of post abortion contraceptive acceptability in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India

Background: Medical termination of pregnancy (MTP) represents an important aspect of women’s reproductive health and right. Complications of unsafe abortion account for an estimated 9% of all maternal deaths. The present study was undertaken to study the factors influencing MTPs, the subsequent adoption of contraceptive methods following MTP and decision makers for contraceptive choice.Methods: This cross- sectional, descriptive study was performed over a period of eight months from October 2015 to May 2016.The study subjects included 108 women who underwent MTP at the hospital. The details regarding their socio-demographic profile, previous obstetric history, reason for seeking abortion and acceptance of post abortal contraception were taken and analyzed by SPSS software.Results: The mean age and parity of women was 28.94±4.796 years and 2.205±0.978 respectively. All were married with 84.25% having two or more living children. Majority of the women (97.22%) reported in the first trimester of pregnancy for MTP. Nearly 40% were not using any contraception at the time of conception and only 3.7% used oral contraceptive pills (OCP) and 2.8% used intrauterine contraceptive device (IUCD). The reason for seeking abortion was completed family (62.9%), previous baby too young (19.44%) and contraceptive failure (5.55%). Of the 94.4% women who opted for concurrent contraception, 58.3% opted female sterilization. Decision about contraception was taken by both in 57.4% cases, husband alone in 40.7% and wife alone in only 1.9% cases.Conclusions: All MTP seekers should be provided information and counseling for post abortal contraceptive use and enable these women and their spouse to make an informed and voluntary choice and thus avoid the need of a repeat abortion. Contraceptive services should also include emergency contraception to prevent unwanted pregnancy due to unprotected sex

Satb2 acts as a gatekeeper for major developmental transitions during early vertebrate embryogenesis

Zygotic genome activation (ZGA) initiates regionalized transcription underlying distinct cellular identities. ZGA is dependent upon dynamic chromatin architecture sculpted by conserved DNA-binding proteins. However, the direct mechanistic link between the onset of ZGA and the tissue-specific transcription remains unclear. Here, we have addressed the involvement of chromatin organizer Satb2 in orchestrating both processes during zebrafish embryogenesis. Integrative analysis of transcriptome, genome-wide occupancy and chromatin accessibility reveals contrasting molecular activities of maternally deposited and zygotically synthesized Satb2. Maternal Satb2 prevents premature transcription of zygotic genes by influencing the interplay between the pluripotency factors. By contrast, zygotic Satb2 activates transcription of the same group of genes during neural crest development and organogenesis. Thus, our comparative analysis of maternal versus zygotic function of Satb2 underscores how these antithetical activities are temporally coordinated and functionally implemented highlighting the evolutionary implications of the biphasic and bimodal regulation of landmark developmental transitions by a single determinant

Establishment of a pheasant ( Phasianus colchicus ) spermatogonial stem cell line for the production of interspecies germ line chimeras

Background: Spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) are important for the production of interspecies germ line chimeras. The interspecies germ cell transfer technique has been suggested as a way to conserve endangered birds. Our objective was to develop a technique for restoring endangered birds by developing interspecies germ line chimeras between pheasant ( Phasianus colchicus ) and chicken ( Gallus gallus ) with SSCs. Results: SSCs were isolated fromthe surgically removed testis of a pheasant. Growth conditions for pheasant SSCs were established by co-culturing STO (SIM mouse embryo-derived thioguanine and ouabain resistant) cells and pheasant SSCs. The colony-forming cells divided and proliferated stably to yield an established SSC line. Pheasant SSCs showed strong reactivity for GDNF family receptor alpha1 (GFR\u3b11) marker. Finally, production of germline chimeras was attempted by transferring pheasant SSCs into recipient embryos. Although final embryo survival was 5.6% (20/354), the initial survival rate was 88% (312/354). To measure the percent transfer of donor SSC to gonads, the pheasant SSCs were labeled with PKH 26 fluorescent dye. We observed 30% donor cells and 9.48% c-kit/CD117-positive cells in the gonads of recipient chickens. Donor SSCs were thus stably engrafted in the recipient gonads. Conclusions: This study showed that SSCs can be used as a tool for the conservation of endangered birds and the production of germline chimeras. Our findings yield insights into howwe may use the pheasant spermatogonial stem cell line for efficient production of interspecies germ line chimeras and ultimately, to the restoration of endangered birds

Computational interpretation and comparative annotation of lipocalin-2 protein having the candidate for antibacterial agent

313-324Recent studies have demonstrated that lipocalin-2 (LCN2) binds specifically with enterobactin to resist the bacterial infection in mammalian cells. The present study focuses on three key aspects, viz., diversity of bovine LCN2 in content with other mammalian groups, its structural variation and docking of bovine LCN2 with the scaffold proteins. Twenty nine sequences of LCN2 were selected for comparative annotation study using computational server and bioinformatic tools. Significant variations were found in physico-chemical properties and diversity in antigen binding sites between organisms. The homology model of the LCN2 from human and bovine illustrated the conformation of the best homology model. An attempt was made to determine binding affinities of bovine LCN2 with 1ZOK and 1PN5 through molecular modeling and docking. The aim of the study was not only to do comparative analysis, but also to find out how far LCN2 in bovine could be used as model for LCN2 proteins from other mammals. This may provide framework to develop the promising novel class of biopharmaceutical agents