Modulation of cerebral malaria by curcumin as an adjunctive therapy

AbstractCerebral malaria is the most severe and rapidly fatal neurological complication of Plasmodium falciparum infection and responsible for more than two million deaths annually. The current therapy is inadequate in terms of reducing mortality or post-treatment symptoms such as neurological and cognitive deficits. The pathophysiology of cerebral malaria is quite complex and offers a variety of targets which remain to be exploited for better therapeutic outcome. The present review discusses on the pathophysiology of cerebral malaria with particular emphasis on scope and promises of curcumin as an adjunctive therapy to improve survival and overcome neurological deficits

A multicentric cross-sectional study measuring the equity of cataract surgical services in three high-volume eyecare organizations in North India: Equitable cataract surgical rate as a new indicator.

PURPOSE: Cataract remains the leading cause of blindness and visual impairment in most low-and middle-income countries, with the greatest burden borne by women. To achieve Global Action Plan targets, cataract programs must target people, especially women, with maximum need. This study examines whether cataract surgical programs in three major north Indian eyecare institutions are equitable and describes a refined indicator for reporting equity. METHODS: Retrospective one-year cross-sectional study of cataract surgery utilization using routine administrative data from three north Indian eyecare institutions. Patient data were categorized by paying category, sex, and preoperative visual acuity. Comparisons were made between payment categories and sexes. RESULTS: Out of the total number of patients operated, 86,230 were in the non-paying category and 56,738 in the paying category. Overall, 8.2% were blind, 21.1% were severely visual impaired (SVI) or worse, and 86.1% were moderate visual impaired (MVI) or worse. Non-paying patients had a significantly higher proportion of poorer visual categories compared to paying patients [(blind, 9.7% vs. 5.8%; SVI or worse, 24.6% vs. 15.8%; and MVI or worse, 89.1% vs. 81.6%, respectively, (P < 0.001)]. Women had significantly higher proportion of poorer visual categories than men [(blind, 8.9% vs. 7.4%, SVI or worse, 21.9% vs. 20.3% and MVI or worse 87.6 vs. 84.7%) (P < 0.001)]. CONCLUSION: The institutions primarily provided surgery to patients with maximum need: too poor to pay, low visual acuity, and women. Similar data from all service providers of a region can help estimate the proposed "equitable cataract surgical rate": the proportion of patients operated with maximum need among those operated in a year. This can be used for targeting people in need

The psychological toll of slum living in Mumbai, India: A mixed methods study

In India, “non-notified” slums are not officially recognized by city governments; they suffer from insecure tenure and poorer access to basic services than “notified” (government-recognized) slums. We conducted a study in a non-notified slum of about 12,000 people in Mumbai to determine the prevalence of individuals at high risk for having a common mental disorder (i.e., depression and anxiety), to ascertain the impact of mental health on the burden of functional impairment, and to assess the influence of the slum environment on mental health. We gathered qualitative data (six focus group discussions and 40 individual interviews in July-November 2011), with purposively sampled participants, and quantitative data (521 structured surveys in February 2012), with respondents selected using community-level random sampling. For the surveys, we administered the General Health Questionnaire-12 (GHQ) to screen for common mental disorders (CMDs), the WHO Disability Assessment Schedule 2.0 (WHO DAS) to screen for functional impairment, and a slum adversity questionnaire, which we used to create a composite Slum Adversity Index (SAI) score. Twenty-three percent of individuals have a GHQ score ≥5, suggesting they are at high risk for having a CMD. Psychological distress is a major contributor to the slum’s overall burden of functional impairment. In a multivariable logistic regression model, household income, poverty-related factors, and the SAI score all have strong independent associations with CMD risk. The qualitative findings suggest that non-notified status plays a central role in creating psychological distress—by creating and exacerbating deprivations that serve as sources of stress, by placing slum residents in an inherently antagonistic relationship with the government through the criminalization of basic needs, and by shaping a community identity built on a feeling of social exclusion from the rest of the city

Modulation of cerebral malaria by curcumin as an adjunctive therapy

Cerebral malaria is the most severe and rapidly fatal neurological complication of Plasmodium falciparum infection and responsible for more than two million deaths annually. The current therapy is inadequate in terms of reducing mortality or post-treatment symptoms such as neurological and cognitive deficits. The pathophysiology of cerebral malaria is quite complex and offers a variety of targets which remain to be exploited for better therapeutic outcome. The present review discusses on the pathophysiology of cerebral malaria with particular emphasis on scope and promises of curcumin as an adjunctive therapy to improve survival and overcome neurological deficits

Artificial bee colony feature selection algorithm combined with machine learning algorithms to predict vertical and lateral distribution of soil organic matter in South Dakota, USA

The main purpose of this study, is to evaluate an advanced feature selection technique, artificial bee colony (ABC) algorithm; to reduce the number of auxiliary variables derived from a digital elevation model (DEM) and remotely sensed data (e.g. Landsat images). A combination of depth functions (e.g. power, logarithmic and spline) and data miner methods (artificial neural network: ANN and support vector regression: SVR) were applied for three-dimensional mapping of soil organic matter (SOM) in Big Sioux River watershed, South Dakota, USA. Unsurprisingly, the ABC feature selection algorithm indicated that remote sensing data (e.g. NDVI) are powerful predictors at soil surface, however, with the increasing soil depth, the terrain parameters (e.g. wetness index) became more relevant. Our findings from this study demonstrated that both the spatial models generally performed well. The mean R2 values calculated by 10-fold cross validation suggested that SVR and ANN models could explain approximately 50 and 57% of total SOM variability, respectively. However, predictive power of both models increased when ABC feature selection algorithm applied, particularly when it combined with the ANN model. Results showed that DSM approaches are very important and powerful tool to explain the 3D spatial distribution of SOM across the study watershed

Longitudinal cephalometric study of Naso- and Oropharynx growth from 3 to 18 years

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the growth of the soft tissue of naso- and oropharynx airway

Longitudinal cephalometric study of Naso- and Oropharynx growth from 3 to 18 years

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the growth of the soft tissue of naso- and oropharynx airway