Interventional radiology and COVID-19: evidence-based measures to limit transmission

As we face an explosion of COVID-19 cases and deal with an unprecedented set of circumstances all over the world, healthcare personnel are at the forefront, dealing with this emerging scenario. Certain subspecialties like interventional radiology entails a greater risk of acquiring and transmitting infection due to the close patient contact and invasive patient care the service provides. This makes it imperative to develop and set guidelines in place to limit transmission and utilize resources in an optimal fashion. A multi-tiered approach needs to be devised and monitored at the administrative level, taking into account the various staff and patient contact points. Based on these factors, work site and health force rearrangements need to be in place while enforcing segregation and disinfection parameters. We are putting forth an all-encompassing review of infection control measures that cover the dynamics of patient care and staff protocols that such a situation demands of an interventional department

INFLUENCE OF DRYING TEMPERATURE ON QUALITY PARAMETERS OF ADHATODA VASICA LEAVES

Adhatoda vasica (AV), an official drug in the Indian Pharmacopoeia has been used for the treatment of cold, cough, bronchitis and asthma. However, no conclusive formulation study of its leaves has been performed yet. In present investigation, optimization of drying conditions of AV leaves based on qualitative analysis and the retention of phenols, antioxidants and alkaloids was carried out to lay down the standards which could be useful in future experimental studies. The ethanol and water shows the highest extractive values. The presences of alkaloids, steroids, flavonoids and saponins were confirmed during preliminary phytochemical screening. A significant difference was observed in phenolic content and antioxidant activity of 40 ºC dried leaves than the others. The alkaloid content retention is more in all the three different temperature. The suitable drying condition and extraction solvent for a therapeutic formulation preparation based on the retention of active compounds is 40 ºC and ethanol. In conclusion, this study would serve as a useful gauge in standardization and development of functional food, isolation of medicinally important phytoconstituents, performing biotechnological developments and ensuring quality formulations. Keywords:Adhatoda vasica, Polyphenols, Antioxidants, Alkaloids, Asthm

The polytope of degree partitions

The degree partition of a simple graph is its degree sequence rearranged in weakly decreasing order. The polytope of degree partitions (respectively, degree sequences) is the convex hull of degree partitions (respectively, degree sequences) of all simple graphs on the vertex set [n]. The polytope of degree sequences has been very well studied. In this paper we study the polytope of degree partitions. We show that adding the inequalities x(1) >= x(2) >= ... >= x(n) to a linear inequality description of the degree sequence polytope yields a linear inequality description of the degree partition polytope and we show that the extreme points of the degree partition polytope are the 2(n-1) threshold partitions (these are precisely those extreme points of the degree sequence polytope that have weakly decreasing coordinates). We also show that the degree partition polytope has 2(n-2) (2n - 3) edges and (n(2)-3n + 12)/2 facets, for n >= 4. Our main tool is an averaging transformation on real sequences defined by repeatedly averaging over the ascending runs