Survey of the Beneficial Flowers Available in Coimbatore District, Tamil Nadu, India

The flora of an area is considered a vital part of the environment, regulating the prosperity of the biosphere and people's health. It is highly suggested that the proper utilization of plant resources in each part of a country has been useful in conserving the availability and productivity of the flora. The present investigation aimed to evaluate the survey of the beneficial flowers available in Coimbatore District, Tamil Nadu, India, from December 2019 to February 2020. The survey studies were divided into four different zones in Coimbatore District: Perur, Ganapathy, Thudiyalur, and Periyanaickenpalayam, respectively. The survey resulted in the collection of 40 plant species belonging to 38 genera, dispersed over 25 families of flowering plants / angiosperms. The dominant families were Apocynaceae and Oleaceae when compared to other families. This study reveals that species such as Calotropis gigantean, Chrysanthemum morifolium, Couroupita guianensis, Nerium oleander, Nyctanthes arbortristis, Nelumbo nucifera, and Tabernaemontana divaricata were used as ritual flowers. The beneficial flowers showed a maximum for ornamental flowers (43 percent), followed by ritual flowers (35 percent), medicinal flowers (15 percent), and cooking flowers (7 percent), respectively. The highest blooming of the flowers (14.89 percent) occurred in March, and the lowest in November and December. Flowers were documented as having economic value, with the highest rate in Rosa sp., and Jasminum sp., which were used as ornamental, medicinal, and cosmetic preparations as valuable resources. Scientific key information on taxonomy and technical approaches to beneficial flowers was analyzed. Flowers play a vital role in human life from birth to death and are used in all auspicious events in India, especially in daily prayers in temples and Indian households

Effect of deliberate ingestion of Organophosphate pesticides and snake bites on Distortion product otoacoustic emission (DPOAE)

Otoacoustic emission testing is a simple non-invasive test that can be performed to analyse the preclinical changes in the outer hair cells of patients. The ototoxic potentials of snake venom and organophosphate compounds have been well documented in studies. The main mechanism for this is found to be generation of reactive oxygen species and by depletion of NADPH which is necessary for normal functioning of the cell. Repeated follow up of patient with similar testing helps us to pick up further detoriation in the outer hair cell function. Moreover, as the distortion product Otoacoustic emission starts decreasing even before the decrease in hearing threshold becomes clinically apparent. It can also help us to predict the future hearing loss and initiate the preventive lifestyle changes that may be adopted to limit the outer hair cell damage. The aim of this study is to identify the cochlear changes by measuring distortion product Otoacoustic emission in the patients who have deliberately ingested organophosphate poisoning and accidental neurotoxic snake bite. This would help to predict the hearing loss in future in such patients and institute early rehabilitative measures. In our study we have selected 25 persons who had ingested organophosphate poison and 25 patients who were victims of neurotoxic snake bites as cases. We also took 50 normal persons, matched for the inclusion and exclusion criteria, as control. Otoacoustic emission testing was done for all the hundred persons, which consists of both these groups. The observations and results were analysed and Otoacoustic emission was found to be absent in 90% of cases and present in 10% of cases whereas it was found to be present in 86% of controls and absent in only 14% of controls. The results of the above observations were analysed were compared and chi square analysis was done and it was found to be a statistically significant one. Thus the above study clearly reflects the ototoxic effects of neurotoxic snake venom and organophosphate pesticides over outer hair cells. Hence the clinician should be alert to effects of these compounds over cochlea and needs to conduct a comprehensive assessment of the auditory system periodically on these patients in order to predict the hearing loss in future and institute early and appropriate rehabilitative measures

The socio‑demographic profile of family physician graduates of blended‑learning courses in India

CONTEXT: India’s lean cadre of 250,000 general practitioners and 30,000 government doctors has limited options to update themselves. Since 2006, Christian Medical College (CMC) Vellore has run blended‑learning programs in family medicine, namely, postgraduate diploma in family medicine (PGDFM) and master in medicine in family medicine (M.MED FM) training more than 3000 doctors. A graduate follow‑up study was undertaken in 2022. AIM: The aim of the study was to describe the socio‑demographic characteristics of family physicians (FPs) in India who graduated between 2008 and 2018 from the FM blended‑learning programs run by the CMC, Vellore. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: Informed by an empirical‑analytic paradigm, this descriptive study used a cross‑sectional survey design to uncover graduate FPs’ profiles, practices and experiences. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Using a purposively designed, piloted and validated electronic questionnaire, data were collected between March and July 2022, deidentified and analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) TM and Epi InfoTM. RESULTS: Among the 438 FP respondents (36%), there was an almost even split in gender (49.3% male, 50.7% female). Moreover, 25.8% were below the age of 40 years, 37.4% were in the 40–49 age group, and 33.8% were 50 years of age or older; 86% lived and worked in urban areas. The PGDFM or M.MED FM was the highest educational qualification of 64.4% of the doctors. Male FPs pursued postgraduate studies at a significantly younger age and earned significantly more than their female counterparts. CONCLUSIONS: The blended learning model creates an important pathway for doctors, especially women, to pursue higher education with flexibility. Preferential selection criteria can target rural‑based physicians. Strong policy‑level advocacy is needed to establish FM as a specialty with equitable pay scales. Socio‑demographic profiling can be used as an effective advocacy tool.http://www.jfmpc.com/Family MedicineSDG-03:Good heatlh and well-beingSDG-04:Quality Educatio

Towards understanding the clinical significance of QT peak prolongation: a novel marker of myocardial ischemia independently demonstrated in two prospective studies

Background: QT peak prolongation identified patients at risk of death or non-fatal MI. We tested the hypothesis that QT peak prolongation might be associated with significant myocardial ischaemia in two separate cohorts to see how widely applicable the concept was. Methods and Results: In the first study, 134 stroke survivors were prospectively recruited and had 12-lead ECGs and Nuclear myocardial perfusion scanning. QT peak was measured in lead I of a 12-lead ECG and heart rate corrected by Bazett’s formula (QTpc). QTpc prolongation to 360ms or more was 92% specific at diagnosing severe myocardial ischaemia. This hypothesis-generating study led us to perform a second prospective study in a different cohort of patients who were referred for dobutamine stress echocardiography. 13 of 102 patients had significant myocardial ischaemia. Significant myocardial ischaemia was associated with QT peak prolongation at rest (mean 354ms, 95% CI 341-367ms, compared with mean 332ms, 95% CI 327-337ms in those without significant ischaemia; p=0.002). QT peak prolongation to 360ms or more was 88% specific at diagnosing significant myocardial ischaemia in the stress echocardiography study. QT peak prolongation to 360ms or more was associated with over 4-fold increase odds ratio of significant myocardial ischaemia. The Mantel- Haenszel Common Odds Ratio Estimate=4.4, 95% CI=1.2-16.0, p=0.023. Conclusion: QT peak (QTpc) prolongation to 360ms or more should make us suspect the presence of significant myocardial ischaemia. Such patients merit further investigations for potentially treatable ischaemic heart disease to reduce their risk of subsequent death or non-fatal MI

Impact of Electron-Electron Spin Interaction on Electron Spin Relaxation of Nitroxide Diradicals and Tetraradical in Glassy Solvents Between 10 and 300 K

To determine the impact of electron-electron spin-spin interactions on electron spin relaxation rates, 1/T1 and 1/Tm were measured for nitroxide monoradical, diradical, and tetraradical derivatives of 1,3-alternate calix[4]arenes, for two pegylated high-spin nitroxide diradicals, and for an azine-linked nitroxide diradical. The synthesis and characterization by SQUID (superconducting quantum interference device) magnetometry of one of the high-spin diradicals, in which nitroxides are conformationally constrained to be coplanar with the m-phenylene unit, is reported. The interspin distances ranged from about 5-9 Å, and the magnitude of the exchange interaction ranged from \u3e150 to \u3e0.1 K. 1/T1 and 1/Tm were measured by long-pulse saturation recovery, three-pulse inversion recovery, and two-pulse echo decay at X-band (9.5 GHz) and Q-band (35 GHz). For a diradical with interspin distance about 9 Å, relaxation rates were only slightly faster than for a monoradical with analogous structure. For interspin distances of about 5-6 Å, relaxation rates in glassy solvents up to 300 K increased in the order monoradical \u3c diradical \u3c tetraradical. Modulation of electron-electron interaction enhanced relaxation via the direct, Raman, and local mode processes. The largest differences in 1/T1 were observed below 10 K, where the direct process dominates. For the three diradicals with comparable magnitude of dipolar interaction, 1/Tm and 1/T1 were faster for the molecules with more flexible structures. Relaxation rates were faster in the less rigid low-polarity sucrose octaacetate glass than in the more rigid 4:1 toluene/chloroform or in hydrogen-bonded glycerol glasses, which highlights the impact of motion on relaxation

in vitro

In this study, Antioxidant activity of Cyperus rotundus rhizomes extract (CRRE) was evaluveted in a series of in vitro assay involving free radicals and reactive oxygen species and IC50 values were determined. CRRE exhibited its scavenging effect in concentration dependent manner on superoxide anion radicals, hydroxyl radicals, nitric oxide radical, hydrogen peroxide, and property of metal chelating and reducing power. The extract was also studied for lipid peroxidation assay by thiobarbituric acid–reactive substances (TBARS) using young and aged rat brain mitochondria. The extract was also effective in preventing mitochondrial lipid peroxidation induced by FeSO4/ ascorbate in concentration dependent manner. The results obtained in the present study indicate that C. rotundus rhizomes extract can be a potential source of natural antioxidant

4-Hy­droxy-3-meth­oxy­benzaldehyde–nicotinamide (1/1)

In the title compound, C6H6N2O·C8H8O3, an equimolar co-crystal of nicotinamide and vanillin, the aromatic ring and the amide fragment of the nicotinamide mol­ecule make a dihedral angle of 32.6 (2)°. The vanillin mol­ecule is almost planar, with an r.m.s. deviation for all non-H atoms of 0.0094 Å. The vaniline and nicotinamide aromatic rings are nearly coplanar, the dihedral angle between them being 3.20 (9)°. In the crystal, the two components are linked through N—H⋯O and O—H⋯N hydrogen bonds into chains along the a axis. The chains are connected via C—H⋯O inter­actions, forming a three-dimensional polymeric structure

A Spirocyclohexyl Nitroxide Amino Acid Spin Label for Pulsed EPR Distance Measurements

Site-directed spin labeling (SDSL) and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy offer accurate, sensitive tools for the characterization of structure and function of macromolecules and their assemblies. A new rigid spin label, spirocyclohexyl nitroxide α-amino acid and its N-(9- fluorenylmethoxycarbonyl) (Fmoc) derivative, has been synthesized that exhibit slow enough spin echo dephasing to permit accurate distance measurements by pulse EPR at temperatures up to 125 K in 1:1 water:glycerol and at higher temperatures in matrices with higher glass transition temperatures. Distance measurements in the liquid nitrogen temperature range are less expensive than those that require liquid helium, which will greatly facilitate applications of pulsed EPR to the study of structure and conformation for peptides and proteins

A Spirocyclohexyl Nitroxide Amino Acid Spin Label for Pulsed EPR Distance Measurements

Site-directed spin labeling (SDSL) and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy offer accurate, sensitive tools for the characterization of structure and function of macromolecules and their assemblies. A new rigid spin label, spirocyclohexyl nitroxide α-amino acid and its N-(9- fluorenylmethoxycarbonyl) (Fmoc) derivative, has been synthesized that exhibit slow enough spin echo dephasing to permit accurate distance measurements by pulse EPR at temperatures up to 125 K in 1:1 water:glycerol and at higher temperatures in matrices with higher glass transition temperatures. Distance measurements in the liquid nitrogen temperature range are less expensive than those that require liquid helium, which will greatly facilitate applications of pulsed EPR to the study of structure and conformation for peptides and proteins

Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) – a ten-year (2012-2022) global analysis of human and camel infections, genomic sequences, lineages, and geographical origins

OBJECTIVES:The World Health Organization priority zoonotic pathogen Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) coronavirus (CoV) has a high case fatality rate in humans and circulates in camels worldwide. METHODS: We performed a global analysis of human and camel MERS-CoV infections, epidemiology, genomic sequences, clades, lineages, and geographical origins for the period January 1, 2012 to August 3, 2022. MERS-CoV Surface gene sequences (4061 bp) were extracted from GenBank, and a phylogenetic maximum likelihood tree was constructed. RESULTS: As of August 2022, 2591 human MERS cases from 26 countries were reported to the World Health Organization (Saudi Arabia, 2184 cases, including 813 deaths [case fatality rate: 37.2%]) Although declining in numbers, MERS cases continue to be reported from the Middle East. A total of 728 MERS-CoV genomes were identified (the largest numbers were from Saudi Arabia [222: human = 146, camels = 76] and the United Arab Emirates [176: human = 21, camels = 155]). A total of 501 ‘S’-gene sequences were used for phylogenetic tree construction (camels [n = 264], humans [n = 226], bats [n = 8], other [n=3]). Three MERS-CoV clades were identified: clade B, which is the largest, followed by clade A and clade C. Of the 462 clade B lineages, lineage 5 was predominant (n = 177). CONCLUSION: MERS-CoV remains a threat to global health security. MERS-CoV variants continue circulating in humans and camels. The recombination rates indicate co-infections with different MERS-CoV lineages. Proactive surveillance of MERS-CoV infections and variants of concern in camels and humans worldwide, and development of a MERS vaccine, are essential for epidemic preparedness