Biofeedback: Can it be used as an Assessment Tool?

Biofeedback forms an integral part of Complementary and Alternate Medicine (CAM). It acts as a self-regulation technique through which individuals voluntarily learn to control what they believe are involuntary body processes. It records physiological signals using sensors and converts them into meaningful visual and auditory cues that provide feedback about physiological responses through a computer screen. It has been widely used as an intervention tool since the time of its development. The utility and effectiveness of biofeedback are not only restricted to illness but also to enhancing health and well-being. The biofeedback mechanism relies on two primary principles: Psychophysiological Mechanism and Operant Conditioning Mechanism. Applying the same mechanisms, biofeedback can also be used as an assessment tool. It may be used in research studies to assess the efficacy of a particular intervention at various data points and also be used in clinical practice to assess the improvement in the patient, which in turn will be a self-reinforcement for the patient. Thus, research in biofeedback as an assessment tool besides an effective intervention measure is warranted in both clinical studies and pure theoretical research

ESTIMATION OF FLAVONOID CONTENT, POLYPHENOLIC CONTENT AND ANTIOXIDANT POTENTIAL OF DIFFERENT PARTS OF ABRUS PRECATORIUS (L.)

Objective: Abrus precatorius (L.) is a tropical plant and is used in traditional medicine for treatment of a wide range of ailments. Lately, plants with medicinal properties have gained importance for their potential therapeutic use in diseases caused due free radicals. Hence, the present investigation was carried out to estimate the total phenolic and flavonoid content and free radical scavenging activity of fresh and dry parts of Abrus precatorius.Methods: Plant material was collected from Karnala forest of Maharashtra. Extracts of leaves, stem, root and seed (fresh and dry) were prepared using four different solvents i.e. Distilled water, Ethanol, Methanol and Acetone. Each extract was tested for total phenolic content, flavonoid content, and antioxidant activity (by FRAP, DPPHË™ and ABTSË™+assays), while phenolic compounds like Gallic acid, Catechol, Vanillin, Caffeic acid, p-Coumaric acid and Ferulic acid were detected and quantified using RP-HPLC.Results: Seeds showed highest phenolic content (8.99±0.27 mg GAE/g) and DPPHË™ radical scavenging activity (88.34±0.08 %) in methanolic extracts. The leaves had the highest flavonoid content (145.68±0.99 mg RE/g). The antioxidant potential was found to be the highest in seeds followed by root, leaves and stem. Methanol proved to be the best solvent for extraction of phenolics, flavonoid and antioxidants.Conclusion: This study substantiates the high antioxidant activity of different plant parts of A. precatorius. Therefore, it can be used as a source of natural antioxidants and used in drug formulations for treatment of diseases resulting from oxidative stress.Â

Anxiety in school students: Role of parenting and gender

Background: The prevalence of anxiety is high in school going children; however pattern of parenting and gender of the child are important factors for the development of anxiety. Gender role and parenting patterns are important construct that vary across different sociocultural setting hence are important to be studied in Indian context. Materials and Methods: In a cross sectional study all students of both sexes studying in class VIII, were assessed using the Spence anxiety scale (children version). Results: The sample consisted of 146 (55% male and 45% female) with a mean age of 12.71 years. A total of 16 (11%) students scored above cutoff for high anxiety, the mean scores across gender shows that female students scored significantly higher in total and all sub types of anxiety. Most of the students perceived their parents ′Democratic′ and other two authoritarian and permissive type of parenting were almost equal. There was significantly higher anxiety among the students who perceived their parents as authoritarian. Conclusions: The prevalence of high anxiety was 11% in class VIII students. High anxiety in students was significantly associated with female gender and authoritarian parenting pattern as perceived by the children

Reconditioned monocytes are immunomodulatory and regulate inflammatory environment in sepsis

Abstract Sepsis is caused by dysregulated immune response to severe infection and hyper inflammation plays a central role in worsening the disease. The immunomodulatory properties of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have been evaluated as a therapeutic candidate for sepsis. Reconditioned monocytes (RM), generated from healthy human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) exhibit both macrophage and MSCs-like properties. RM were administered at different stages of sepsis in a mouse model. It reduced serum levels of IL6, MCP-1, IL-10, improved hypothermia, increased survival, and recovery from 0 to 66% when combined with antibiotics in the mouse model. The reduced human leucocyte antigen DR molecules expression on RM enables their co-culture with PBMCs of sepsis patients which resulted in reduced ROS production, and up-regulated TGF-β while down-regulating IL6, IL8, and IL-10 in-vitro. RM are potentially immunomodulatory, enhance survival in sepsis mouse model and modulate inflammatory behaviour of sepsis patient’s PBMCs

Self-Poled Transparent and Flexible UV Light-Emitting Cerium Complex–PVDF Composite: A High-Performance Nanogenerator

Cerium­(III)-<i>N</i>,<i>N</i>-dimethylformamide-bisulfate [Ce­(DMF)­(HSO₄)₃] complex is doped into poly­(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) to induce a higher yield (99%) of the electroactive phases (β- and γ-phases) of PVDF. A remarkable enhancement of the output voltage (∼32 V) of a nanogenerator (NG) based on a nonelectrically poled cerium­(III) complex containing PVDF composite film is achieved by simple repeated human finger imparting, whereas neat PVDF does not show this kind of behavior. This high electrical output resembles the generation of self-poled electroactive β-phase in PVDF due to the electrostatic interactions between the fluoride of PVDF and the surface-active positive charge cloud of the cerium complex via H-bonding and/or bipolar interaction among the opposite poles of cerium complex and PVDF, respectively. The capacitor charging capability of the flexible NG promises its applicability as piezoelectric-based energy harvester. The cerium­(III) complex doped PVDF composite film exhibit an intense photoluminescence in the UV region, which might be due to a participation of electron cloud from negative pole of bipolarized PVDF. This fact may open a new area for prospective development of high-performance energy-saving flexible solid-state UV light emitters

A novel immunodeficient NOD.SCID-rd1 mouse model of retinitis pigmentosa to investigate potential therapeutics and pathogenesis of retinal degeneration

Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is a common retinal degeneration disease caused by mutation in any gene of the photo transduction cascade and results in photoreceptor dystrophy. Over decades, several animal models have been used to address the need for the elucidation of effective therapeutics and factors regulating retinal degeneration to prohibit or renew the damaged retina. However, controversies over the immune privilege of retina during cell transplantation and the role of immune modulation during RP still remain largely uninvestigated because of the lack of suitable animal models. Here, we have developed an immunocompromised mouse model, NOD.SCID-rd1, for retinitis pigmentosa (RP) by crossing CBA/J and NOD SCID mice and selecting homozygous double mutant animals for further breeding. Characterization of the newly developed RP model indicates a similar retinal degeneration pattern as CBA/J, with a decreased apoptosis rate and rhodopsin loss. It also exhibits loss of T cells, B cells and NK cells. The NOD.SCID-rd1 model is extremely useful for allogenic and xenogenic cell-based therapeutics, as indicated by the higher cell integration capacity post transplantation. We dissect the underlying role of the immune system in the progression of RP and the effect of immune deficiency on immune privilege of the eye using comparative qPCR studies of this model and the immune-competent RP model