Experimental evaluation of prophylactic and curative effect of a herbal drug Hemidesmus indicus R.Br. in drug induced ulcers in wistar albino rats

Peptic Ulcers are the most common condition experienced by most of the people due to urbanized lifestyle. Hemidesmus indicus R.Br. is a herbal drug mentioned for its treatment in the ancient Indian traditional medicine. To compare the Prophylactic and Curative effects of aqueous and Alcoholic extracts of Hemidesmus indicus in Drug induced ulcers. Aqueous and Alcoholic extracts of the drug were studied for their ulcer healing activity in Wistar Albino rats. Ninety Wistar albino rats were divided into nine groups with one control, four prophylactic and four curative groups. Ulcers were induced with Indomethacin in a dose of 20 mg/kg body weight twice in a gap of 15 hours. Aqueous extract was given in a dose of 500 mg/kg body weight and alcohol in a dose of 100 mg/kg body weight. It was found that both have potential ulcer healing activity with alcoholic extract marginally better than aqueous extract. It can thus be concluded that Hemidesmus indicus R. Br is a effective drug in peptic ulcers

Safety of Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) in Pregnancy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background/Aims: Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) is a technically challenging procedure rarely associated with severe postprocedure complications. Hormonal changes during pregnancy promote cholelithiasis, but there are limited clinical data available on the outcomes of ERCP in pregnant women. ERCP techniques without irradiation were recently introduced as potential alternative. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to assess the safety of ERCP in pregnancy and to compare outcomes of radiation versus nonradiation ERCP. Materials and Methods: A systematic search of PubMed, Medline/Ovid, Web of Science, and Google Scholar through April 18th, 2018 using PRISMA and MOOSE guidelines identified 27 studies reporting the outcomes of ERCP in pregnancy. Random effects pooled event rate and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated. Heterogeneity was measured by I2, and meta-regression analysis was conducted. Adverse outcomes were divided into fetal, maternal pregnancy-related, and maternal nonpregnancy-related. Results: In all, 27 studies reporting on 1,307 pregnant patients who underwent ERCP were identified. Median age was 27.1 years. All results were statistically significant (P...) (See full abstract in article)

Intralesional vitamin D in multiple recurrent plantar warts - A single, blind, prospective, placebo-controlled study

Introduction: Warts or verrucae, caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV), are a benign epidermal proliferation of the skin. Most patients seek medical advice as warts are cosmetically unacceptable and can be painful. Plantar warts, in particular, are typically refractory to treatment requiring multiple treatment sessions. High recurrence rates, pain, and scarring limit the available therapeutic modalities. In contrast, immunotherapeutic approaches stimulate the host immune system by enhancing cellular immunity to eliminate the virus. Objective: To assess the safety and efficacy of intralesional vitamin D3 injection to treat multiple recurrent plantar warts. Methods: 60 patients with multiple recurrent warts were divided into two groups of 30 each. Group 1 received 0.5 ml intralesional vitamin D in the base of the largest wart, and Group 2 received 0.5 ml of normal saline. The sessions were repeated every two weeks for a maximum of four sessions, and patients were followed up for 12 months to detect any recurrences. Results: The study group showed complete clearance in 73.3% (22) individuals, while most controls (70%) showed no response. Conclusion: Intralesional vitamin D3 is a safe and effective treatment option for multiple recurrent plantar warts

Out-of-Pocket Costs and Other Determinants of Access to Healthcare for Children with Febrile Illnesses: A Case-Control Study in Rural Tanzania.

To study private costs and other determinants of access to healthcare for childhood fevers in rural Tanzania. A case-control study was conducted in Tanzania to establish factors that determine access to a health facility in acute febrile illnesses in children less than 5 years of age. Carers of eligible children were interviewed in the community; cases were represented by patients who went to a facility and controls by those who did not. A Household Wealth Index was estimated using principal components analysis. A multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed to understand the factors which influenced attendance of healthcare facility including severity of the illness and household wealth/socio-demographic indicators. To complement the data on costs from community interviews, a hospital-based study obtained details of private expenditures for hospitalised children under the age of 5. Severe febrile illness is strongly associated with health facility attendance (OR: 35.76, 95%CI: 3.68-347.43, p = 0.002 compared with less severe febrile illness). Overall, the private costs of an illness for patients who went to a hospital were six times larger than private costs of controls ($5.68 vs.$0.90, p<0.0001). Household wealth was not significantly correlated with total costs incurred. The separate hospital based cost study indicated that private costs were three times greater for admissions at the mission versus public hospital: $13.68 mission vs.$4.47 public hospital (difference $ 9.21 (95% CI: 7.89 -10.52), p<0.0001). In both locations, approximately 50% of the cost was determined by the duration of admission, with each day in hospital increasing private costs by about 12% (95% CI: 5% - 21%). The more severely ill a child, the higher the probability of attending hospital. We did not find association between household wealth and attending a health facility; nor was there an association between household wealth and private cost

Comparative analysis of the responses to water stress in eggplant (Solanum melongena) cultivars

[EN] Little information is available on the physiological and biochemical responses to water stress in eggplant (Solanum melongena). We valuated four genetically diverse eggplant varieties (MEL3-MEL6) under control and water stress conditions. Measurements were taken for plant growth, tissue water content, levels of chlorophylls a and b, carotenoids, roline, malondialdehyde, total phenolics, total flavonoids, superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), ascorbate peroxidase APX), and glutathione reductase (GR) activities. For most traits, the water stress treatment had a greater contribution than the variety effect to the total sums of squares in an ANOVA analysis, except for total flavonoids, SOD, APX, and GR. The water stress treatment had a strong effect on plant growth and tissue water content. In general, water tress reduced the three photosynthetic pigments, increased proline, malondialdehyde, total phenolics, and total flavonoids, although some varietal differences were ob- served. Different patterns were also detected in the activities of the four enzymes evaluated, but few differences were observed for individual varieties between the control and water stress treatments. Many significant phe- notypic orrelations were observed among the traits studied, but only eight environmental correlations were detected. A PCA analysis distinctly separated individuals according to the treatment, and revealed a clearer separation of varieties under water stress than under control conditions, pointing to varietal differences in the responses to stress. Our results suggest that proline could be used as a marker for drought stress tolerance in this species. The information obtained provides new insight on the physiological and biochemical responses of eggplant to drought stressAuthors are grateful to the European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under grant agreement No 677379 (G2P-SOL project: Linking genetic resources, genomes and phenotypes of Solanaceous crops), to Ministerio de Economfa, Industria y Competitividad and Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (grant AGL2015-64755-R from MINECO/FEDER), to Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovation y Universidades, Agencia Estatal de Investigation and Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (grant RTI-2018-094592-B-100 from MCIU/AEI/FEDER, UE), to the Generalitat Valenciana and Fondo Social Europeo (Ayuda a Grupos Emergentes; GV/2019/033), to the Vicerrectorado de Investigacien, Innovation y Transferencia de la Universitat Politecnica de Valencia (Ayuda a Primeros Proyectos de Investigation; PAID-06-18), and to the initiative "Adapting Agriculture to Climate Change: Collecting, Protecting and Preparing Crop Wild Relatives", which is supported by the Government of Norway. This latter project is managed by the Global Crop Diversity Trust with the Millennium Seed Bank of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and implemented in partnership with national and international gene banks and plant breeding institutes around the world. For further information see the project website: http://www.cwrdiversity.org/. Mariola Plazas is grateful to Generalitat Valenciana and Fondo Social Europeo for a post-doctoral contract (APOSTD/2018/014). The contribution of Huu Trong Nguyen to this paper has been developed as a result of a mobility stay funded by Erasmus + KA1 Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degrees Programme of the European Commission under the PLANT HEALTH project.Plazas, M.; Nguyen, HT.; González-Orenga, S.; Fita, A.; Vicente, O.; Prohens Tomás, J.; Boscaiu, M. (2019). Comparative analysis of the responses to water stress in eggplant (Solanum melongena) cultivars. Plant Physiology and Biochemistry. 143:72-82. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.plaphy.2019.08.031S728214

Autism Educators in Morgantown, W.Va. A Multimedia Story on Their Trials and Triumphs

This professional project consists of an external website with four audiovisual multimedia projects. The projects are photos and audio sound bites of four educators who possess different areas of specialty in teaching and assisting children with autism. Each of the educators showcased in this project address the realities of teaching children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and reveal particular issues that affect autistic children seeking special education in Morgantown, West Virginia. Additionally, the project discusses social responsibility, previous media coverage on autism, and also examines where West Virginia stands social-economically compared to some its neighboring states