MEDICINES FROM INDIAN CHILLIES: A MINI REVIEW

ABSTRACTIndia is a country with vast biodiversity. The country is rich in its natural resources. Varieties of spices, herbs, plants, and trees are grown in variousparts of the country, which have more than one use. Most of them are rich source of nutrition, some are popular spices, and some have exclusivemedicinal uses also. The objective of this article is to give a brief and compact review of the various types of chillies available in India, to discuss theirversatile potential medicinal values, and to consider those for developing some potent and effective drugs with minimum or no side effects for widerange of pathological conditions. Indian traditional medicine is famous all around the world and for ages and now a days, Indian biodiversity hasimmense contribution in the development and advancement of alternative and complementary medicine. Chillies are one of the popular spices inIndia. They add the burning hot taste and wonderful color to Indian dishes. Not only in India, chillies are used all over the world in various dishes. Wehave primarily studies various investigatory reports available from all around the world to develop our insight into the medicinal potency of varietiesof chillies grown in various parts of India. Several investigations have revealed the presence of various compounds in the chillies. Those compoundshave been found to be of medicinal importance. Some of them have multiple medicinal applications. More of those are yet to be characterized. Moreand more structured and collaborative detailed investigations are required to recognize, characterize, and modify the various potent medicinalcompounds from different types of chillies. In silico, experimental, and clinical studies are also essential. We may get some revolutionary compoundswith potent medicinal properties for enriching our pharmaceutical ammunitions against fatal and deadly diseases from those hot green and redchillies. It can really be a beneficial milestone on the pharmaceutical world and a boon for mankind.Keywords: Biodiversity, Chillies, Nutrition, Alternative medicine, Complementary medicine

Signature of nodal topology in nonlinear quantum transport across junctions in Weyl and multi-Weyl semimetals

We investigate quantum transport through a rectangular potential barrier in Weyl semimetals (WSMs) and multi-Weyl semimetals (MSMs), within the framework of Landauer-B\"uttiker formalism. Our study uncovers the role of nodal topology imprinted in the electric current and the shot noise. We find that, in contrast to the finite odd-order conductance and noise power, the even-order contributions vanish at the nodes. Additionally, depending on the topological charge ($J$), the linear conductance ($G_1$) scales with the Fermi energy ($E_F$) as $G_1^{E_F>U}\propto E_F^{2/J}$. We demonstrate that the $E_F$-dependence of the second-order conductance and shot noise power could quite remarkably distinguish an MSM from a WSM depending on the band topology, and may induce several smoking gun experiments in nanostructures made out of WSMs and MSMs. Analyzing shot noise and Fano factor, we show that the transport across the rectangular barrier follows the sub-Poissonian statistics. Interestingly, we obtain universal values of Fano factor at the nodes unique to their topological charges. The universality for a fixed $J$, however, indicates that only a fixed number of open channels participate in the transport through evanescent waves at the nodes. The proposed results can serve as a potential diagnostic tool to identify different topological systems in experiments.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figure

Recurrent Neuroglycopenia: Do Not Forget Non-islet Cell Induced Tumor Hypoglycemia

Non-islet cell tumor hypoglycemia (NICTH) is an exceedingly rare paraneoplastic condition and often its commonest presenting symptom is hypoglycaemia. Most cases of NICTH are associated with underlying mesenchymal or epithelial neoplasm. However our case is unique as NICTH was associated with well differentiated liposarcoma, which has never been described before. Most of the reported cases of NICTH were diagnosed on the basis of biochemical tests. However NICTH can also be a diagnosis of exclusion as highlighted by our case report. This case also highlights both the diagnostic dilemma and the surgical challenges in the management of such cases. The elderly lady presented with repeated episodes of loss of unconsciousness for which she was hospitalised twice. Her symptoms closely resembled that of a cerebrovascular accident patient. However CT brain did not reveal any brain lesion. However she also had spontaneous episodes of hypoglycaemia which led to further investigations. Ultrasonography abdomen revealed presence of huge retroperitoneal mass on FNAB which was malignant. Subsequently, she was put on dextrose drip and thorough investigations ruled out metastatic disease. She underwent laparotomy and the mass was excised enbloc. Postoperative recovery was smooth and the hypoglycaemia resoled spontaneously. Final histopathologic examination was suggestive of well differentiated liposarcoma. At the 6-month follow-up, she was free from hypoglycemic episodes. This case highlights that NICTH can be a difficult diagnosis given its propensity to mimic several other benign conditions. NICTH can also be caused by liposarcomas. Diagnosis by excluding all other causes of hypoglycaemia is also an option where costly biochemical tests are unavailable. Surgical excision is the main stay of treatment

Neuroprotective compounds from three common medicinal plants of West Bengal, India: a mini review

Neural disorders refer to conditions of the nervous system due to infection or degeneration of the neurons leading to either neurodegenerative disorder or neuropsychiatric disorder. Some such disorders of the nervous system include Parkinsons’s disease, depression, amnesia, dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, schizophrenia, cerebrovascular impairment, epilepsy, seizure disorders, etc. In conventional medical system, some medicines belonging to the class of psychodelic drugs, sedatives, neurotransmitters, neuro-stimulants, etc. are in extensive use. Unfortunately, most of these drugs either delay the progression of the neural disorder or leave the patient with prominent adverse side effects. Several potent bioactive compounds with neuroprotective potential have been reported from medicinal plants and some of them have been found to be highly effective. Belonging from natural sources, mostly, the plant derived compounds exhibit minimum or no cytotoxicity at a prescribed standardised dose against a particular health ailment. Many such phytocompounds from plant sources with potent neuroprotective activities have been in use in Ayurvedacharya, Unani, and Chinese medicine for ages. The compounds if isolated chemically, modified to make more potent neuroprotective derivatives and utilised to make highly effective neuroprotective pharmaceutical formulations with minimum side effects, may open new revolutionary doorways in neuropharmacology. In this review, it has been briefly discussed about the neuroprotective compounds isolated from certain indigenous plants of West Bengal, India, and their mechanism of action

Physics Potential of the ICAL detector at the India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO)

The upcoming 50 kt magnetized iron calorimeter (ICAL) detector at the India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO) is designed to study the atmospheric neutrinos and antineutrinos separately over a wide range of energies and path lengths. The primary focus of this experiment is to explore the Earth matter effects by observing the energy and zenith angle dependence of the atmospheric neutrinos in the multi-GeV range. This study will be crucial to address some of the outstanding issues in neutrino oscillation physics, including the fundamental issue of neutrino mass hierarchy. In this document, we present the physics potential of the detector as obtained from realistic detector simulations. We describe the simulation framework, the neutrino interactions in the detector, and the expected response of the detector to particles traversing it. The ICAL detector can determine the energy and direction of the muons to a high precision, and in addition, its sensitivity to multi-GeV hadrons increases its physics reach substantially. Its charge identification capability, and hence its ability to distinguish neutrinos from antineutrinos, makes it an efficient detector for determining the neutrino mass hierarchy. In this report, we outline the analyses carried out for the determination of neutrino mass hierarchy and precision measurements of atmospheric neutrino mixing parameters at ICAL, and give the expected physics reach of the detector with 10 years of runtime. We also explore the potential of ICAL for probing new physics scenarios like CPT violation and the presence of magnetic monopoles.Comment: 139 pages, Physics White Paper of the ICAL (INO) Collaboration, Contents identical with the version published in Pramana - J. Physic

A Reemerging Bright Soft X-Ray State of the Changing-look Active Galactic Nucleus 1ES 1927+654:A Multiwavelength View

1ES1927+654 is a nearby active galactic nucleus (AGN) that has shown an enigmatic outburst in optical/UV followed by X-rays, exhibiting strange variability patterns at timescales of months to years. Here we report the unusual X-ray, UV, and radio variability of the source in its postflare state (2022 January–2023 May). First, we detect an increase in the soft X-ray (0.3–2 keV) flux from 2022 May to 2023 May by almost a factor of 5, which we call the bright soft state. The hard X-ray 2–10 keV flux increased by a factor of 2, while the UV flux density did not show any significant changes (≤30%) in the same period. The integrated energy pumped into the soft and hard X-rays during this period of 11 months is ∼3.57 × 10 ^50 erg and 5.9 × 10 ^49 erg, respectively. From the energetics, it is evident that whatever is producing the soft excess (SE) is pumping out more energy than either the UV or hard X-ray source. Since the energy source presumably is ultimately the accretion of matter onto the supermassive black hole, the SE-emitting region must be receiving the majority of this energy. In addition, the source does not follow the typical disk–corona relation found in AGNs, neither in the initial flare (from 2017 to 2019) nor in the current bright soft state (2022–2023). We found that the core (<1 pc) radio emission at 5 GHz gradually increased until 2022 March, but showed a dip in 2022 August. The Güdel–Benz relation ( L _radio / L _X-ray ∼ 10 ^−5 ), however, is still within the expected range for radio-quiet AGNs, and further follow-up radio observations are currently being undertaken

Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) among young adult women: an anthropological insight

Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) is one of the most common endocrine disorders which affect women in a significant manner worldwide. India has witnessed an about 30% rise in PCOS cases in the last couple of years. PCOS has a strong association with many comorbidities with its long-term metabolic as well as other consequences. Thus, it has recently been recognized as a significant public health issue. This review paper is an attempt to reveal the prevalence, pathophysiology, knowledge and awareness of PCOS among the adolescents and young adult women of India. An extensive search was performed using electronic search engines such as PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar (from 2004 to 2023) to find the relevant research papers on the prevalence, pathophysiology, knowledge, and awareness of PCOS among the adolescents and young adult women of India. The current review summarises and highlights the prevalence, pathophysiology, knowledge, and awareness of PCOS for early identification and prevention and consequent minimation of the steady upward trend of PCOS. The results of this review could identify high-risk populations and foster the implementation of preventive lifestyle measures. It also investigates the need for intervention programmes for PCOS and its associated comorbidities in different settings at an earlier stage and to improve the quality of health

Photocatalytic degradation of tetracycline antibiotics by RGO-CdTe composite with enhanced apparent quantum efficiency

Abstract RGO-CdTe composite was synthesized using a straightforward, easy-to-realize, one-pot solvothermal technique. The synthesized composite was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller method (BET), Raman spectra, UV-Vis absorption, and photoluminescence measurement. The RGO-CdTe composite exhibited 83.6% photocatalytic degradation efficiency for the aqueous tetracycline (TC) antibiotic solution and the apparent quantum yield (AQY) for the same was as high as 22.29% which is 2.63 times higher than that of CdTe. The scavenger investigation demonstrated that although hole acts as the leading active species, despite that, superoxide and hydroxyl radicals have also played crucial roles. The initial pH-dependent photocatalytic performance was measured. The zeta potential of the composite at different pH values was evaluated to establish the photocatalytic performance of the RGO-CdTe towards TC degradation at different pH. The recycling experiment depicts that only a 10% degradation performance declines after 5 times recycle use of the RGO-CdTe photocatalyst. An efficient photocurrent generation in RGO-CdTe thin film device has also been observed. Our study establishes as-synthesized composite of RGO-CdTe as a highly potential, and stable photocatalyst for the degradation of antibiotics from the polluted aqueous environment with a very good photoinduced charge generation efficiency in its solid phase