Toxicity study on Veera Chenduram

INTRODUCTION : The efficacy of many siddha preparations have been established but their safety are not the siddha physicians should embrace ourselves the siddha drugs are indeed safe and we should do this by using well established, modern and scientific methods. Veera chenduram a widely used siddha medicine, contains perchloride of mercury found in mountains naturally. This is used for the treatment of several ailments. This toxicity study of veera chenduram just a small step in the right direction of establishing the safety of siddha drugs. AIM & OBJECTIVES : Veeram is one of the pancha soodham in Siddha system. It is used for many diseases in Siddha system of medicine. AIM The aim of the dissertation is toxicity studies of Veera Chenduram. OBJECTIVES The toxicity of Veera chenduram has been evaluated in the following aspects: 1. Collection and Identification of the test material, 2. Purification of the raw drug Veeram, 3. Preparation of the Veera chenduram, 4. XRD study of the Veeram (impure), purified Veeram and Veera chenduram, 5.Toxicological studies of the veera chenduram. MATERIALS AND METHODS : Procurement of the Veeram: The drug was collected from the local market in Chennai. Identification of Veeram: The Veeram was identified as mercuric Chloride by the base of its physical properties in chemical laboratory. Purification of the Veeram: The purification method of Veeram was selected in accordance with the reference made in the Gunapadam Thathu Jeeva Vaguppu. 1 palam of camper was dissolved in tender coconut and kept in a mud pot. 1 palam was suspended over the contents of pot and heated for ½ hour. Preparation of Veera Chenduram: 1 palam of veeram and venkaram was taken in a mud pot. Fried it up to chenduram consistency. RESULTS : The sample of Veeram is matched with standard graph mercuric chloride. The sample of venkaram is matched with standard graph of sodium biborate. The sample of purified venkaram is matched with standard graph of Tincalconite. CONCLUSION : In conclusion, these findings suggest that the Veera Chenduram is practically toxic or lethal after an acute exposure at the dose level of 1g/kg. The Veera Chenduram affects almost all the vital organs at the maximum dose range of 200mg/kg. The normal human dose is very minimal to compare the study group doses. If given the test drug as per literature do not produce toxicity. Hence, to avoid the major adverse reactions the duration of treatment is minimized. Because of an ideal man of 70 k.g. body weight requires 4mg of the drug two times daily. But rats body weight are approximately 100 – 120gms. We have given 50mg /kg, 100mg/kg, 200mg/kg daily. These doses are more than human dose. So we can come to conclusion that the drug was in normal dose it might not produce any pathological changes. The aim of giving such a high dose was to find out the type of toxicity if the drug was given in abnormal high dose. This toxicity due to overdose could occur in a patient, if proper dose is not prescribed by the physician or followed by the patient

Functional Outcome of Diaphyseal Fractures of Shaft of Humerus Treated Surgically with Locking Compression Plates in Osteoporotic Bones: A Prospective study

INTRODUCTION: Fractures of humeral diaphysis constitute 3% of all the bony injuries. The uniqueness in anatomy, the fracture configuration and the significance of the region influences the treatment option. The sleeve of muscles surrounding the bone and the rich vascularity provided by them helps in fracture healing. The mobility of the shoulder and the elbow joint accommodates for a minimal degree of angulation and shortening. Moreover the limb does not take part in weight bearing or ambulation; Hence some amount of shortening is functionally acceptable. But a rotational deformity is not acceptable. There are several practical advantages to the use of locking compression plates over standard compression plates. Loss of screw purchase is an important factor related to the failure of fixation in osteo porotic bone. Fracture plating technology recently has evolved to include locked plating. The main goal is to obtain the most rigid fixation possible. Locking compression plates fixation is being evaluated for its effectiveness in the treatment of humeral diaphyseal fractures in osteoporotic bones. AIM: Prospective study on functional outcome of diaphyseal fractures of shaft of humerus treated surgically with locking compression plate in mostly osteoporotic bones at Government Royapettah Hospital, Chennai between May 2006 and September 2007. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This prospective study is an analysis of functional outcome of 20 cases of surgically managed diaphyseal fractures of shaft of humerus in mostly osteoporotic bones and in fracture non-unions undertaken at Department of orthopedics and traumatology, Government Royapettah hospital, Chennai. From May 2006 to September 2007. Among the 20 patients 12 were females and 8 patients were males. The age of the patients ranged from 53 years to 83 years. The mean age of the patients was 67.15 years. The mode of injury was fall at ground level in 12 (60%) of patients, road traffic accidents in 6 (30%) patients, fall from height in2 (10%) patients. Sixteen patients presented to us within a week after injury and 8 patients had previous treatment either in the form of native splinting, massage or POP cast. A meticulous clinical examination was made in all patients with care to look for any associated injuries. 8 patients had associated injuries ipsilateral skeletal injuries which were concomitantly treated. RESULTS: The patients were followed up at regular intervals i.e., every month during the first 3 months and every 3 months thereafter. The minimum follow up period was 6months and the maximum follow up period was 15 months. The mean follow up period in this study was 9 months. The results were evaluated during follow up by taking into consideration the following factors: 1. Pain, 2. Range of motion, 3. Strength, 4. Stability, 5. Function, 6. Reontgenographic documentation of fracture healing, 7. Anatomic restoration. Constant score: Constant and Murley’s score was used to assess the functional outcome of these patients. The results were graded by using Neer 100 units rating system. The rating system consists of 35 units for PAIN, 30 units for FUNCTION, 25 units for RANGE OF MOTION, 10 units form ANATOMY. CONCLUSION: In Osteoporosis where early rehabilitation is the key Locking Compression Plate is ideal. In large bone Locking Compression Plate offers higher weight bearing capacity than the conventional plates. An exact assessment of the severity of osteoporosis is important in allowing adequate treatment for associated pain and for decreasing the risk of future osteoporosis related fractures. In osteoporosis or poor quality bone bicortical engagement is recommended. Diaphyseal fractures of shaft of humerus in osteoporotic bone when treated surgically produce less pain, less stiffness and greater range of movement. Earlier the surgery better will be the results. In severely communited fractures where the anatomy cannot be restored without extensive soft tissue dissection, fixation with LCP gave better union and functional results. Results are best when operative method results in stable fixation that allows early passive mobilization

Anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects of coral reef associated gastropod, Trochus tentorium from Tuticorin coastal waters, Southeastern India

The aim of this work was to investigate extensively, the biomedical potential of the mollusc Trochus tentorium which are abundantly associated with coral reef of the Tuticorin coastal water. The 100% acetone fraction of the gastropod tested for its analgesic effect on Swiss mice model and anti-inflammatory activity on albino rat showed promising results. T. tentorium at the concentration of 25 and 50 mg/kg (p.o) showed significant decrease in the paw thickness (41.15 and 73.6%, respectively) at the 5th hour of the experiment. The 100% column-purified fraction of the T. tentorium (200 mg/kg p.o) exhibited significant (p < 0.001) inhibition of 79.22% against acetic acid induced abdominal constrictions. The dose of 25 mg/kg showed the inhibitions in the writhings of 67.86% (p<0.001) of animals when compared to the standard (diclofenac sodium), and 56.83% (50 mg/kg) inhibition was observed. These facts suggest that T. tentorium is a potential source for anti-inflammatory and analgesic compounds.Key words: Analgesic activity, anti-inflammatory activity, mollusc, southeastern India

Quantum-noise--randomized data-encryption for WDM fiber-optic networks

We demonstrate high-rate randomized data-encryption through optical fibers using the inherent quantum-measurement noise of coherent states of light. Specifically, we demonstrate 650Mbps data encryption through a 10Gbps data-bearing, in-line amplified 200km-long line. In our protocol, legitimate users (who share a short secret-key) communicate using an M-ry signal set while an attacker (who does not share the secret key) is forced to contend with the fundamental and irreducible quantum-measurement noise of coherent states. Implementations of our protocol using both polarization-encoded signal sets as well as polarization-insensitive phase-keyed signal sets are experimentally and theoretically evaluated. Different from the performance criteria for the cryptographic objective of key generation (quantum key-generation), one possible set of performance criteria for the cryptographic objective of data encryption is established and carefully considered.Comment: Version 2: Some errors have been corrected and arguments refined. To appear in Physical Review A. Version 3: Minor corrections to version

Quantum Noise Randomized Ciphers

We review the notion of a classical random cipher and its advantages. We sharpen the usual description of random ciphers to a particular mathematical characterization suggested by the salient feature responsible for their increased security. We describe a concrete system known as AlphaEta and show that it is equivalent to a random cipher in which the required randomization is effected by coherent-state quantum noise. We describe the currently known security features of AlphaEta and similar systems, including lower bounds on the unicity distances against ciphertext-only and known-plaintext attacks. We show how AlphaEta used in conjunction with any standard stream cipher such as AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) provides an additional, qualitatively different layer of security from physical encryption against known-plaintext attacks on the key. We refute some claims in the literature that AlphaEta is equivalent to a non-random stream cipher.Comment: Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. A; Discussion augmented and re-organized; Section 5 contains a detailed response to 'T. Nishioka, T. Hasegawa, H. Ishizuka, K. Imafuku, H. Imai: Phys. Lett. A 327 (2004) 28-32 /quant-ph/0310168' & 'T. Nishioka, T. Hasegawa, H. Ishizuka, K. Imafuku, H. Imai: Phys. Lett. A 346 (2005) 7

The O(N) model on a squashed S^3 and the Klebanov-Polyakov correspondence

We solve the O(N) vector model at large N on a squashed three-sphere with a conformal mass term. Using the Klebanov-Polyakov version of the AdS_4/CFT_3 correspondence we match various aspects of the strongly coupled theory with the physics of the bulk AdS Taub-NUT and AdS Taub-Bolt geometries. Remarkably, we find that the field theory reproduces the behaviour of the bulk free energy as a function of the squashing parameter. The O(N) model is realised in a symmetric phase for all finite values of the coupling and squashing parameter, including when the boundary scalar curvature is negative.Comment: 1+27 pages. 6 figures. LaTeX. References adde

Gelsolin induces colorectal tumor cell invasion via modulation of the urokinase-type plasminogen activator cascade

Gelsolin is a cytoskeletal protein which participates in actin filament dynamics and promotes cell motility and plasticity. Although initially regarded as a tumor suppressor, gelsolin expression in certain tumors correlates with poor prognosis and therapy-resistance. In vitro, gelsolin has anti-apoptotic and pro-migratory functions and is critical for invasion of some types of tumor cells. We found that gelsolin was highly expressed at tumor borders infiltrating into adjacent liver tissues, as examined by immunohistochemistry. Although gelsolin contributes to lamellipodia formation in migrating cells, the mechanisms by which it induces tumor invasion are unclear. Gelsolin’s influence on the invasive activity of colorectal cancer cells was investigated using overexpression and small interfering RNA knockdown. We show that gelsolin is required for invasion of colorectal cancer cells through matrigel. Microarray analysis and quantitative PCR indicate that gelsolin overexpression induces the upregulation of invasion-promoting genes in colorectal cancer cells, including the matrix-degrading urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA). Conversely, gelsolin knockdown reduces uPA levels, as well as uPA secretion. The enhanced invasiveness of gelsolin-overexpressing cells was attenuated by treatment with function-blocking antibodies to either uPA or its receptor uPAR, indicating that uPA/uPAR activity is crucial for gelsolin-dependent invasion. In summary, our data reveals novel functions of gelsolin in colorectal tumor cell invasion through its modulation of the uPA/uPAR cascade, with potentially important roles in colorectal tumor dissemination to metastatic sites