Acute Immunomodulatory Effects of Fentanyl and its Three New Analogues in Swiss Albino Mice

Fentanyl is a potent synthetic opioid analgesic. However, due to its several limitations, new analogues are being synthesised for better pain management. We have earlier reported the synthesis and bio-efficacy of fentanyl and its eight new analogues (1-8) in mice. Among eight analogues tested, N-(1-(2-phenoxyethyl)-4-piperidinyl)propionanilide (2), N-isopropyl-3-(4-(N-phenylpropionamido)piperidin-1-yl)propanamide (5), and N-t-butyl-3-(4-(N-phenylpropionamido)piperidin-1-yl)propanamide (6) were found to be more effective and less toxic compared to fentanyl. Therapeutic efficacy of fentanyl and its analogues are known to be compromised due to many adverse effects, including alterations in the immune system. Therefore, the present study was undertaken to assess the acute effect of fentanyl and its three analogues (2, 5, and 6) on plasma levels of different pro-inflammatory cytokines such as interleukin-1β (IL-1β), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), and anti-inflammatory cytokines such as interleukin-10 (IL-10) at different time points. Mice were intraperitoneally treated with 0.50 LD50 of the compounds and cytokines were measured 1 h, 2 h, 4 h, and 24 h post-exposure. Compared to control, none of the treatments produced any change in TNF-α and IL-1β levels. However, IL-6 levels were significantly elevated between 1 h to 2 h post-exposure in fentanyl and analogue 2 treated groups. Further, IL-10 levels were found to be significantly increased in fentanyl, analogue 2, and 6 treated groups at 1 h and 2 h post-exposure. Pre-treatment of naltrexone (opioid receptor antagonist) blocked the effects of fentanyl, confirming that its effects were opioid receptor- dependent. However, effect of naltrexone on analogue 2 and 6 was not conclusively evidenced, indicating that immunomodulatory changes caused by the analogues could have some additional implications as well. The present study reveals undesirable effects of fentanyl and its new analogues on cytokines homeostasis, thereby limiting their use in pain management

Processing Natural Language and grading it using Artificial Intelligence

Online Test are conducted now a days to evaluate a person's knowledge regarding a subject. The best way to evaluate a person's understanding regarding a subject is to let him answer the question in his natural language. But the situation is this that we don't have such systems which can examine a users natural language answers. Hence, I propose a unified neural network architecture approach that can be applied to various natural language processing tasks including part-of-speech tagging, chunking, named entity recognition, and other tasks. Natural language processing is an area of artificial intelligence that defines a set of methods and techniques used to automate the translation process between computers and humans or mediate the human-machine communication. Also we will be grading the answer given by the user, so the refined output of NLP will be given for further processing. Once the overall processing of the answer is done we will get the grades out of 10 by applying some formulas to the passage, sentences and there words

Effect of seed enhancement treatment on field performance of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.)

Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is an important winter season pulse crop in India grown in drought prone semi-arid and tropical regions. The aim of present investigation was to find out the effect of seed enhancement treatment on field performance of chickpea. Seeds of Chickpea Desi cultivar Pusa 256, Pusa 2028, and Kabuli cultivar Pusa1053, Pusa1108, each of fresh and 4 yrs old lots were taken for seed enhancement treatments like osmo-priming, halo-priming, fungicidal, botanical and polymer coating alone and in combination with thiram and neem oil. It was observed that seed treatment with thiram alone or in combination with polymer (PVP or PEM) significantly enhances germination and field emergence. Old seed lots of particularly Pusa 256 gives better result. The speed of emergence was invariably high in fresh seed lot (9.43) than old seed lots (4.84). However, in old seed lots, only halo-priming and polymer (PVP) in combination with thiram improved the speed of emergence significantly. Thus seeds treatment with thiram or in combination with hydrophilic polymers could be used for enhancing theperformance of chickpea

ELISA Based Detection of Botulinum Neurotoxin Type F in Red Meat and Canned Fish

Botulinum neurotoxin (BoNT) is the most toxic protein molecule so far known to animals and humans, due to its extreme toxicity, CDC has been listed as category ‘A' Biological warfare agents. In India, there is no commercial detection system available for the detection of botulism. The present study was aimed to develop an ELISA based detection system for botulinum neurotoxin serotype F in red meat and canned fish. Polyclonal antibodies were generated against the recombinant BoNT/F LC protein and IgG was purified. Sandwich ELISA system was successfully optimized with LOD of ~ 7.8 ng/ml in PBS. Similarly, different concentrations of BoNT/F were spiked in red meat and canned fish and extracted the toxin and the detection LOD was achieved for red meat ~ 62 ng/ml and for canned fish ~ 31 ng/ml. The developed detection system is highly specific. The developed assay will be useful for the screening of botulinum toxins in a large number of food samples

ASSESSMENT OF LAPAROSCOPIC APPENDECTOMY IN PATIENTS OF COMPLICATED APPENDICITIS IN TERTIARY CARE TEACHING HOSPITAL OF CENTRAL INDIA

Background: Appendicitis is the commonest abdominal surgical emergency in the world which may lead to complications like appendicular abscess or mass, gangrene, perforation and peritonitis. Present research aimed to evaluate the wellbeing and the effectiveness of laparoscopy for managing complicated appendicitis. Material and methods: Present study was carried out on 50 patients at tertiary care institution of Chhattisgarh in Central India for the period of 2 year. This study is including patients of complicated appendicitis undergoing laparoscopic management. Parameters studied included Age, Gender, WBC count, wound infection and hospital stay. Results: There was increase of total leucocytic count in most of the patients; Mean WBCs was 12.71±5.37. 33 patients had pus free IPF collection and perforated appendicitis (PA), 11 patients had turbid free IPF collection with AA (highly inflamed appendix), 2 case was mucocele of the appendix, 2 cases of appendicular abscess (3.3%) and 2 cases of gangrenous appendix. Conclusion: Management of complicated appendicitis laparoscopically is practicable, secure and can present a small occurrence of infectious impediments, fewer post-operative pain, fast revival and improved cosmesis on the cost of extended operating time than Open Appendectom

Anatomical Surface Guided Techniques for Botulinum Toxin Injection in Spastic Cerebral Palsy Children

Spasticity, a classical clinical manifestation of an upper motor neuron lesion, has been traditionally and physiologically defined as a velocity-dependent increase in muscle tone caused by the increased excitability of the muscle stretch reflex. Clinically, spasticity manifests as an increased resistance offered by muscles to passive stretching (lengthening) and is often associated with other commonly observed phenomena, such as clasp-knife phenomenon, increased tendon reflexes, clonus, and flexor and extensor spasms. If spasticity is not treated leads to abnormal posture, contracture, and painful deformities. This chapter will cover the botulinum toxin used in the management of spasticity while using the surface anatomy of upper and lower limb muscles. This will help enhance the use of this technique even in remotest setups where USG and EMG facilities are unavailable

Biologically synthesized silver nanoparticles eclipse fungal and bacterial contamination in micropropagation of Capparis decidua (FORSK.) Edgew: A substitute to toxic substances

336-343Microbial contamination is a serious challenge in plant tissue culture, particularly in micropropagation of threatened and rare medicinally important plants for conservation purpose. Use of antibiotics exhibit harmful effects on plants, and continuous use makes bacteria more resistant. Also, chemicals used to control such contaminations are either toxic to the explant or have limited efficiency. Though nanobiotechnology offers an effective alternate to deal with the bacterial and fungal contamination, chemical synthesis of metal nanoparticles has limitations and found to be toxic, flammable and hard to get disposed. Green synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) employing plant extracts, being environment friendly, cost-effective, and single step, is gaining attention as better alternative method. In this study, the green synthesised silver nanoparticles were confirmed by UV-Vis spectroscopy (462.73 nm, 0.473 Abs) and Transmission Electron microscopy (TEM). The fruit extract of Capparis decidua served as an environmentally benign reducing agent and the phytochemicals of the extract as non-toxic agent to stabilize the AgNP (FTIR) upholding its significance as an eco-friendly approach compared to hazardous chemicals. The nano size (1.5-15 nm) makes the green synthesized AgNPs a better antimicrobial agent allowing easy diffusion into the cells. Evaluation of decontamination as well as the survival rate of the explants was monitored using the explants (shoot tip and nodal segment) immersion in three different concentrations of AgNP solution (100, 300, and 500 mg/L) and controlled by 0.1% mercuric chloride treatment demonstrating promising decrease in decontamination. However, the survival was expedient excluding immersion in 100 mg/L for 20 or 30 min. The MS media supplementation by AgNP solution (50, 100, 300 and 500 mg/L), controlled by 70% ethanol treatment divulged the superior decontamination rate at 150 mg/L of AgNPs (90.2% for bacteria and 94.4% for fungal contamination) with 80.5% survival. The increased concentration gave 100% bacterial and 98.6% fungal decontamination but a reduced survival percent (68.5%). This work potentially showed that nanosized AgNPs could serve as an appropriate antimicrobial substitute to chemicals being innocuous to the explant regeneration

A study to evaluate pattern and purpose of smartphone usage and its dependence among medical students of government medical college in northern India

Background: Smartphone usage has become increasingly popular in recent decade. Though it’s of great utility in many aspects, excessive usage among youth has shown increased restlessness, careless lifestyles and greater susceptibility to stress. Aim & Objective: To assess the pattern and purpose of smartphone usage and its dependence among medical students. Methods & Material: A cross-sectional, descriptive study was conducted among 363 MBBS students of 1st, IInd and IIIrd professional year between October 2018 to December 2018 at a government medical college. A 20-item self-administrated questionnaire, focusing on purpose and pattern of use of smart phone and its dependence was filled by all the students. Data was collected, entered and analysed using SPSS Software. Result: Among 363 students, 53% participants were males and rest were females. 80% students were using smartphone for more than 2 years, while 60% were having daily usage of more than 3 hours. Significant association between severity of smartphone dependence and variables like MBBS professional year, daily phone call made and received, daily SMS received, daily WhatsApp message sent and received were observed. Dependence was mild in 8.8% of the students; Moderate in 72.2% while 19% were suffering from severe smartphone dependence. Conclusion: Smart phone dependence is an established and emerging psychological issue which needs attention and intervention. It is of serious concern that all medical students were suffering from smartphone dependence with varying grades of severity. Increased awareness regarding the harmful effects of smartphone addiction is the need of hour

Overexpression of Chickpea Defensin Gene Confers Tolerance to Water-Deficit Stress in Arabidopsis thaliana

Plant defensins are mainly known for their antifungal activity. However, limited information is available regarding their function in abiotic stresses. In this study, a defensin gene, Ca-AFP, from Cicer arietinum, commonly known as chickpea, was cloned and transformed in Arabidopsis thaliana for its functional characterization under simulated water-deficit conditions. Under simulated water-deficit conditions (mannitol and polyethylene glycol-6000 induced), the transgenic A. thaliana plants had higher accumulation of the Ca-AFP transcript compared to that under non-stress condition and showed higher germination rate, root length, and biomass than the wild-type (WT) plants. To get further insights into the role of Ca-AFP in conferring tolerance to water-deficit stress, we determined various physiological parameters and found significant reduction in the transpiration rate and stomatal conductance whereas the net photosynthesis and water use efficiency was increased in the transgenic plants compared to that in the WT plants under water deficit conditions. The transgenic plants showed enhanced superoxide dismutase, ascorbate peroxidase, and catalase activities, had higher proline, chlorophyll, and relative water content, and exhibited reduced ion leakage and malondialdehyde content under water-deficit conditions. Overall, our results indicate that overexpression of Ca-AFP could be an efficient approach for conferring tolerance to water-deficit stress in plants