MARMA CHIKITSA A NON- INVASIVE APPROACH TO DEAL WITH DIABETIC RETINOPATHY

Ayurveda represents a very effective alternative system of medicine with its effective therapies like Yoga, Mud Therapy, Ahara Chikitsa and many others. Among which Marma Chikitsa is developing and gaining importance. It is a precise art of touching an individual in exactly the right place at a critical moment in time, for the purpose of healing and bringing flawless results in a lot of disorders that are creating hindrances in healthy life of an individual. One of such lifestyle relayed disorders is diabetes mellitus which if not controlled later on leads to neuropathy, nephropathy and retinopathy. Today diabetic retinopathy has become one of the leading causes of blindness worldwide. So, attracting researchers to find out ways to control its progression and treating it well. Treatment involves laser, photocoagulation, viterectomy etc. They are effective for short time, but on the other side, having high reoccurrence rates and discomfort to an individual. Here hidden treasures of Ayurveda can be explored to help mankind. One of such hidden asset is Marma Chikitsa. Marma Chikitsa involves pressing Marma points which causes release of blockage of energy, removes excess Ama, facilitates easy flow of energy, nourishes the tissues, produces endorphins and cortisol like hormones in-turn induces calm shut off FFF response and improves blood circulation. All these activities cause better functioning of that particular area. Some of the Marma points stimulation that are related to eyes and some that helps in better metabolism like Apanga, Avarta, Sthapni, Vidhura, Kurcha, Kurchshira, Indravasti and Nabhi can play a good role in checking progression of retinopathy with pathya Ahara, healthy lifestyle, exercises and proper medication. Marma Chikitsa can be a safe, convenient, cost-effective adjuvant remedy in dealing diabetic retinopathy

VARIABILITY AND HERITABILITY ESTIMATE OF 30 RICE LANDRACES OF LAMJUNG AND TANAHUN DISTRICTS, NEPAL

The variability in the rice landraces is the source of variation and offers substantial opportunity for the development of new varieties through the selection. Exploring diversity and variability of landraces is utmost for rice improvement. The objective of the study was to assess diversity indices, magnitude of genetic variability, heritability, genetic advance for the yield, and yield contributing traits. An experiment was carried out in alpha-lattice with 30 landraces, two replications in the Agronomy farm of IAAS, Lamjung Campus, during June-November, 2018. Shannon and Simpson's indices were calculated for 18 qualitative traits. The value of the Shannon and Simpson index ranged 0.15-1.41 and 0.07- 0.75, respectively. Landraces showed significant variations (

Association of the degree of adiposity and duration of obesity with measures of cardiac structure and function: The CARDIA study

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/109634/1/oby20865.pd

Impact of COVID-19 on 1-Year Survival Outcomes in Hepatocellular Carcinoma:A Multicenter Cohort Study

IntroductionThe COVID-19 pandemic has caused severe disruption of healthcare services worldwide and interrupted patients' access to essential services. During the first lockdown, many healthcare services were shut to all but emergencies. In this study, we aimed to determine the immediate and long-term indirect impact of COVID-19 health services utilisation on hepatocellular cancer (HCC) outcomes.MethodsA prospective cohort study was conducted from 1 March 2020 until 30 June 2020, correlating to the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Patients were enrolled from tertiary hospitals in the UK and Germany with dedicated HCC management services. All patients with current or past HCC who were discussed at a multidisciplinary meeting (MDM) were identified. Any delay to treatment (DTT) and the effect on survival at one year were reported.ResultsThe median time to receipt of therapy following MDM discussion was 49 days. Patients with Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) stages-A/B disease were more likely to experience DTT. Significant delays across all treatments for HCC were observed, but delay was most marked for those undergoing curative therapies. Even though severe delays were observed in curative HCC treatments, this did not translate into reduced survival in patients.ConclusionInterruption of routine healthcare services because of the COVID-19 pandemic caused severe delays in HCC treatment. However, DTT did not translate to reduced survival. Longer follow is important given the delay in therapy in those receiving curative therapy

Spatial Organization and Molecular Correlation of Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocytes Using Deep Learning on Pathology Images

Beyond sample curation and basic pathologic characterization, the digitized H&E-stained images of TCGA samples remain underutilized. To highlight this resource, we present mappings of tumorinfiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) based on H&E images from 13 TCGA tumor types. These TIL maps are derived through computational staining using a convolutional neural network trained to classify patches of images. Affinity propagation revealed local spatial structure in TIL patterns and correlation with overall survival. TIL map structural patterns were grouped using standard histopathological parameters. These patterns are enriched in particular T cell subpopulations derived from molecular measures. TIL densities and spatial structure were differentially enriched among tumor types, immune subtypes, and tumor molecular subtypes, implying that spatial infiltrate state could reflect particular tumor cell aberration states. Obtaining spatial lymphocytic patterns linked to the rich genomic characterization of TCGA samples demonstrates one use for the TCGA image archives with insights into the tumor-immune microenvironment

The role of plant growth promoting bacteria on arsenic removal: a review of existing perspectives

Phytobial remediation is an innovative tool that uses plants and microbes to mitigate Arsenic (As) contamination of the environment. Recently, plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB) that assists phytoremediation has been highly touted for both improving plant metal tolerance and promoting plant growth while achieving the goal of large-scale removal of As. This review focuses on the PGPB characteristics influencing plants and the mechanisms in which they function to overcome/lessen As-induced adversities. Several recent examples of mechanisms responsible for increasing the availability of As to plants and coping with As stresses facilitated by PGPB will be reviewed. Although drawbacks to phytoremediation have been reported, encouraging results have been developed with regular monitoring. Introducing PGPB-assisted phytoremediation of As in a field requires an assessment of the environmental effects of PGPB, especially with respect to the impacts on indigenous bacteria

Acquired resistance to oxaliplatin is not directly associated with increased resistance to DNA damage in SK-N-ASrOXALI4000, a newly established oxaliplatin-resistant sub-line of the neuroblastoma cell line SK-N-AS

The formation of acquired drug resistance is a major reason for the failure of anti-cancer therapies after initial response. Here, we introduce a novel model of acquired oxaliplatin resistance, a sub-line of the non-MYCN-amplified neuroblastoma cell line SK-N-AS that was adapted to growth in the presence of 4000 ng/mL oxaliplatin (SK-N-ASrOXALI4000). SK-N-ASrOXALI4000 cells displayed enhanced chromosomal aberrations compared to SK-N-AS, as indicated by 24-chromosome fluorescence in situ hybridisation. Moreover, SK-N-ASrOXALI4000 cells were resistant not only to oxaliplatin but also to the two other commonly used anti-cancer platinum agents cisplatin and carboplatin. SK-N-ASrOXALI4000 cells exhibited a stable resistance phenotype that was not affected by culturing the cells for 10 weeks in the absence of oxaliplatin. Interestingly, SK-N-ASrOXALI4000 cells showed no cross resistance to gemcitabine and increased sensitivity to doxorubicin and UVC radiation, alternative treatments that like platinum drugs target DNA integrity. Notably, UVC-induced DNA damage is thought to be predominantly repaired by nucleotide excision repair and nucleotide excision repair has been described as the main oxaliplatin-induced DNA damage repair system. SK-N-ASrOXALI4000 cells were also more sensitive to lysis by influenza A virus, a candidate for oncolytic therapy, than SK-N-AS cells. In conclusion, we introduce a novel oxaliplatin resistance model. The oxaliplatin resistance mechanisms in SK-N-ASrOXALI4000 cells appear to be complex and not to directly depend on enhanced DNA repair capacity. Models of oxaliplatin resistance are of particular relevance since research on platinum drugs has so far predominantly focused on cisplatin and carboplatin

'IHPBA-APHPBA clinical practice guidelines': international Delphi consensus recommendations for gallbladder cancer

BACKGROUND: The Delphi consensus study was carried out under the auspices of the International and Asia-Pacific Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Associations (IHPBA-APHPBA) to develop practice guidelines for management of gallbladder cancer (GBC) globally. METHOD: GBC experts from 17 countries, spanning 6 continents, participated in a hybrid four-round Delphi consensus development process. The methodology involved email, online consultations, and in-person discussions. Sixty eight clinical questions (CQs) covering various domains related to GBC, were administered to the experts. A consensus recommendation was accepted only when endorsed by more than 75% of the participating experts. RESULTS: Out of the sixty experts invited initially to participate in the consensus process 45 (75%) responded to the invitation. The consensus was achieved in 92.6% (63/68) of the CQs. Consensus covers epidemiological aspects of GBC, early, incidental and advanced GBC management, definitions for radical GBC resections, the extent of liver resection, lymph node dissection, and definitions of borderline resectable and locally advanced GBC. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first international Delphi consensus on GBC. These recommendations provide uniform terminology and practical clinical guidelines on the current management of GBC. Unresolved contentious issues like borderline resectable/locally advanced GBC need to be addressed by future clinical studies