Aahara as Aushadha - Reviving the concept of Aushadha Siddha Yavagu

The current trend in Ayurveda practice is more medicinal approach than wholesome one. The importance of Aahara (dietary aspect) has been compromised to a great extent owing to the convenience of patient as well as the ignorance of the physician. To bring back the wholesome practice into vogue, there is a need for developing techniques to keep-up with the fast paced modern life yet conserve the classical foundations. Through this study we try to introduce the concept of ‘Instant Aushadha Siddha Yavagu‘, and how it can be made. The sample was prepared by adopting classical methods of Yavagu preparation, along with simultaneous use of certain modern techniques of drying in hot air oven. The prepared product served the main intention of reducing the efforts at the receiving end; without compromising on the quality of product. Thus it can be concluded that further researches can be carried out in this direction to bring out such products for benefits of the society. As this field is relatively unexplored there is a wide scope for exploration

Crop Protection to Outsmart Climate Change for Food Security & Environmental Conservation

Pearl millet is an important source of energy and nutrition for millions of people in the drylands of sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Recently, blast, also known as leaf spot, caused by Magnaporthe grisea (Anamorph: Pyricularia grisea) has emerged as a serious threat to pearl millet cultivation causing substantial yield loss. Seeds tend to contain several storage proteins, some have an inhibitory action against plant pathogens. The present study aimed to identify the defense proteins in seed extrudes of ten pearl millet blast differential lines and investigate their protective effect against growth of Pyricularia grisea (Pg 45, Patancheru isolate). The biochemical observations of seed extrudes revealed the presence of plant defense linked hydrolytic enzymes chitinases (12-18 units/ml), β-1,3 glucanases (16-48 units/mg protein) as well as cysteine protease inhibitors (57-123 PI units/mg protein) among the tested lines. The pre-treatment of P. grisea media with respective line seed extrudes resulted in significant reduction (22-40%; p<0.001) of fungal radial growth and fungal dry weight (20-77%; p<0.001). The effective concentration for the 50% fungal growth inhibition (EC50) was identified as 400 and 600 μg/ml for resistant lines IP 21187 and ICMR 06444, respectively. Further, the seed extrudes were able to significantly retard the spore germination (by 18 h) and initial growth (by 48 h) of Pg 45 by 24-83%. These findings suggest that the identified proteins are playing synergistic role in pearl millet defense against blast pathogen, Pg 45 and provide the basis to explore the novel biological control strategies in plant defense

Comparison of Dynamic Stability Response of A SMIB with PI and Fuzzy Controlled DPFC

Consumer utilities are non –linear in nature. This injects increased flow of current and reduced voltage with distortions which cause adverse effect on the stability of consumer utilities. To overcome this problem we are using a modern Flexible Alternating Current Transmission System controller i.e. distributed power flow controller (DPFC). This controller is similar to UPFC, which can be installed in a transmission line between the two electrical areas. In DPFC, instead of the common Dc link capacitor three single phase converters are used. In this paper we are concentrating on system stability (oscillation damping). For analyzing the stability of a single machine infinite bus system (SMIB) we have used PI controlled Distributed Power Flow Controller (DPFC) and Fuzzy controlled DPFC. All these models are simulated using MATLAB/SIMULINK. Simulation results shows Fuzzy controlled DPFC are better than PI controlled DPFC. The significance of the results are better stability and constant power supply

Shimbi Dhanya (pulses) as Ayurvedic food supplement for calcium deficiency

Ahara (food) is an important tool in Ayurveda. Ahara itself acts as an Aushadha (medicine). Shimbidhanya Varga (pulses) in daily diet has an important role in maintaining strength of Asthi Dhatu. Asthi Dhatu can be anatomically correlated to bones and teeth of body, 98% of bones composed of calcium. So calcium deficiency may directly proportional to Asthi Dhatu Kshaya. Shimbi Dhanya Varga (pulses) is rich in Proteins, Calcium, Phospherus and Magnesium. Mudga (green gram), Masha (black gram), Soya Bean etc. are coming under Shimbi Dhanya Varga has 124mg, 154mg, 240mg of calcium content respectively per 100gm. It will satisfy RDA of calcium in diet. Among Indian population aged 30 to 60 years had low calcium with high prevalence of osteopenia (52%) and osteoporosis (29%). This made the community to use of calcium tablets with or without physicians advice. So incomplete absorption, high cost and later side effects affects community health. So promote and educate useful ways of intake of calcium to human body just through daily diet and made it part of community health care programmes

Study of clinicopathological factors, surgical approaches and their outcome in 20 cases of pilonidal sinus

Background: Aim of the study was to study the age, incidence, occupational factor, history of presenting illness, hospital stay before and after surgery, various types of surgical approaches and their outcome in the form of cosmetic outcome and recurrence rate in 20 cases of pilonidal sinus done in 2012-13 in SIMS - Shivamogga Institute of Medical Sciences.Methods:Primary closure, healing by secondary contracture.Results:Out of the 20 cases operated for pilonidal sinus, 12 were male and 8 were female out of which 5 belonged to 10-20 year age group; 12 belonged to the 20-30 year age group; while 3 belonged to 30-40 year age group.Conclusion: Most common age group involved is 20-30 years, suggesting it is more common in physically active age group and since most of them are manual laborers it doesn’t show any preference to sedentary workers  or those who sit for long hours. Also it is more common in males than in females

Upcycling of Sneha Kalka - A Novel Design

Sneha Kalka is the by-product formed due to addition of Kalka and Drava Dravya to Sneha (oil or ghee) during Snehapaka which is considered as waste and discarded. Sneha Kalpana is a type of dosage form which is extensively used in clinical practice and prepared on large scale production leading to formation of huge quantity of Sneha Kalka. This study is an attempt to convert this Sneha Kalka into a new dosage form i.e., Granules. In this study, the Sneha Kalka of Ashwagandha Ghrita was converted into Ashwagandha Granules. The resultant product was highly palatable and can act as a substitute to expensive malt based health drink powders

Id4 Deficiency Attenuates Prostate Development and Promotes PIN-like Lesions by Regulating Androgen Receptor Activity and Expression of NKX3.1 and PTEN

Background: Inhibitor of differentiation 4 (Id4), a member of the helix-loop-helix family of transcriptional regulators has emerged as a tumor suppressor in prostate cancer. Id4 is expressed in the normal prostate where its expression is also regulated by androgens. In this study we investigated the effect of loss of Id4 (Id4-/-) on adult prostate morphology. Methods: Histological analysis was performed on prostates from 6-8 weeks old Id4-/-, Id4+/- and Id4+/+ mice. Expression of Id1, Sox9, Myc, androgen receptor, Akt, p-Akt, Pten and Nkx3.1 was investigated by immunohistochemistry. Androgen receptor binding on NKX3.1 promoter was studied by chromatin immuno-precipitation. Id4 was either over-expressed or silenced in prostate cancer cell lines DU145 and LNCaP respectively followed by analysis of PTEN, NKX3.1 and Sox9 expression

Efficacy of seed defense proteins in biofortified pearl millet lines against blast and downy mildew

Pearl millet is a nutritious and climate-resilient dryland cereal crop. The present study was conducted to identify the defense proteins in seed extrudes of 25 biofortified (Fe and Zn) inbred lines, and investigate their efficacy against blast (isolates Pg 45, Pg 138, and Pg 186) and downy mildew (isolates Sg 409, Sg 445, and Sg 576) diseases. The study revealed the presence of cysteine protease inhibitors (4.3–58.5 units/mg) as well as pathogenesis-related (PR) hydrolases including chitinases (5.3–16.3 units/ml), β-1,3-glucanases (7.3–32.9 units/mg), and cellulases (0.19–4.11 units/mg) in the test lines. The activity levels of cystatins and PR hydrolases in the pearl millet lines were in relative consistency with the resistance levels observed in the greenhouse screenings against blast and downy mildew diseases. Furthermore, antifungal screenings of seed proteins against blast pathogen exhibited a significant reduction in radial growth of Pg 138 (57%) followed by Pg 186 (13%) and Pg 45 (10%). Spectrophotometric assays ( A595) exhibited significant retardation in spore germination and initial growth (48 h) of Pg 45 (53.8–87.3%) followed by Pg 186 (19.2–61.3%) and Pg 138 (1.5–36.7%). Furthermore, seed proteins of biofortified lines efficiently reduced the downy mildew disease incidence in greenhouse screenings by seed treatments of susceptible pearl millet lines ICMP 451 (0.6–36% against Sg 409; 32–61% against Sg 576) and 7042R (14–80% against Sg 445). The results of this study will provide insight into the biochemical basis of resistance in pearl millet against foliar blast and downy mildew diseases, and to exploit novel strategies for breeding for disease resistance

Intracoronary brachytherapy for in-stent restenosis of drug-eluting stents

AbstractPurposeGiven the limited salvage options for in-stent restenosis (ISR) of drug-eluting stents (DES), our high-volume cardiac catheterization laboratory has been performing intracoronary brachytherapy (ICBT) in patients with recurrent ISR of DES. This study analyzes their baseline characteristics and assesses the safety/toxicity of ICBT in this high-risk population.Methods and materialsA retrospective analysis of patients treated with ICBT between September 2012 and December 2014 was performed. Patients with ISR twice in a single location were eligible. Procedural complications included vessel dissection, perforation, tamponade, slow/absent blood flow, and vessel closure. Postprocedural events included myocardial infarction, coronary artery bypass graft, congestive heart failure, stroke, bleeding, thrombosis, embolism, dissection, dialysis, or death occurring within 72 hours. A control group of patients with 2 episodes of ISR at 1 location who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention without ICBT was identified. Unpaired t tests and χ2 tests were used to compare the groups.ResultsThere were 134 (78%) patients in the ICBT group with 141 treated lesions and 37 (22%) patients in the control group. There was a high prevalence of hyperlipidemia (>95%), hypertension (>95%), and diabetes (>50%) in both groups. The groups were well-balanced with respect to age, sex, and pre-existing medical conditions, with the exception of previous coronary artery bypass graft being more common the ICBT group. Procedural complication rates were low in the control and ICBT groups (0% vs 4.5%, P = .190). Postprocedural event rates were low (<5%) in both groups. Readmission rate at 30 days was 3.7% in the ICBT group and 5.4% in the control group (P = .649).ConclusionsThis is the largest recent known series looking at ICBT for recurrent ISR of DES. ICBT is a safe treatment option with similarly low rates (<5%) of procedural and postprocedural complications compared with percutaneous coronary intervention alone. This study establishes the safety of ICBT in a high-risk patient cohort