Evaluation of efficacy and safety of Bacillus coagulans SNZ 1969 supplementation for irritable bowel syndrome: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study

Background: Probiotic potential (efficacy and safety) of Bacillus coagulans SNZ 1969 has been studied in patients with constipation-predominant irritable bowel syndrome (IBS-C) and-diarrhea predominant IBS (IBS-D).Methods: This randomized, double-blind, two-arm, placebo-controlled parallel study randomized 92 patients (1:1) to receive either 500 million CFU of Bacillus coagulans SNZ 1969 (treatment group) or placebo (placebo group) twice daily for 60 days under two subtypes of IBS, IBS-D (n=46) and IBS-C (n=46). Primary outcomes were changes in IBS symptom severity noted using the gastrointestinal symptom rating scale-IBS version (GSRS-IBS) on days 30, 60, and 75, and the number of treatment responders defined by subject’s global assessment (SGA) of relief ≤3 and ≤2 at days 30 and 60, respectively. We also assessed patient’s quality of life.Results: The GSRS-IBS scores reduced from day 30 through 75 in both IBS groups treated with Bacillus coagulans SNZ1969 compared to placebo (p<0.05). Higher GSRS-IBS score was noted in patients with IBS-C in the treatment group (22.45±2.7) than the placebo group (3.55±3.02; p<0.0001), and this trend was similar in IBS-D patients (p<0.0001). Most patients (90%) with IBS-C and all with IBS-D responded to Bacillus coagulans SNZ 1969 compared to no responders with placebo (p<0.0001). The SF-8 scores significantly reduced in patients receiving Bacillus coagulans SNZ 1969 than placebo for both IBS subtypes. One adverse event unrelated to the study treatments was reported in IBS-D group.Conclusions: Bacillus coagulans SNZ 1969 is safe, effective in alleviating IBS-associated clinical symptoms, and improves quality of life

Effect of Thermal Annealing on Boron Diffusion, Micro-structural, Electrical and Magnetic properties of Laser Ablated CoFeB Thin Films

We report on Boron diffusion and subsequent crystallization of Co$_{40}$Fe$_{40}$B$_{20}$ (CoFeB) thin films on SiO$_2$/Si(001) substrate using pulsed laser deposition. Secondary ion mass spectroscopy reveals Boron diffusion at the interface in both amorphous and crystalline phase of CoFeB. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy reveals a small fraction of nano-crystallites embedded in the amorphous matrix of CoFeB. However, annealing at 400$^\circ$C results in crystallization of CoFe with \textit{bcc} structure along (110) orientation. As-deposited films are non-metallic in nature with the coercivity (H$_c$) of 5Oe while the films annealed at 400$^\circ$C are metallic with a H$_c$ of 135Oe.Comment: 16 pages, 6 figure

Exploring the Anti-inflammatory and Anti-cancer compounds from the leaves of Acalypha indica

Abstract: Acalypha indica (Euphorbiaceae) is commonly known as Indian Copperleaf and India

Stability Constants of Ternary Complexes of Rare Earth Metal Ions with Phthalic Acid & O-, O-, O-, N & N,N Donor Ligands & Thermodynamic Parameters of Their Formation

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MICROWAVE-ASSISTED SYNTHESIS, CHARACTERIZATION, AND BIOLOGICAL EVALUATION OF PHENYLACRYLAMIDE DERIVATIVES OF TRIAZOLES DERIVED FROM OXAZOLONES

Objective: The aim of the present study is to synthesize novel phenylacrylamide derivatives as potent bioactive agents.Methods: Novel N-(3-(4H-1,2,4-triazol-4-ylamino)-3-oxo-1-arylidene prop-2-yl) benzimidic acids (7a-c) have been synthesized by the reaction of 4-(arylidene)-2-phenyloxazol-5(4H)-ones (5a-c) with 4-amino-1, 2, 4-triazole (6) in the presence of anhydrous sodium acetate in glacial acetic acid. Titled compounds (7a-c) were obtained in good yields using microwave technology which resulted in dramatic reductions in reaction times leading to the formation of phenylacrylamide derivatives (7a-c) at a faster rate.Results: The structures of the newly synthesized compounds were characterized by Fourier-transform infrared, 1H NMR, 13C NMR, and mass spectral studies. This method can be an efficient method for the synthesis of phenylacrylamide derivatives (7a-c).Conclusion: All the final compounds were screened for their antimicrobial and antioxidant activities and found to be biologically active. Among all the compounds, 7b was found to be potent antimicrobial and antioxidant

Resistance minimum and electrical conduction mechanism in polycrystalline CoFeB thin films

The temperature dependent resistance R(T) of polycrystalline ferromagnetic CoFeB thin films of varying thicknesses are analyzed considering various electrical scattering processes. We observe a resistance minimum in R(T) curves below similar or equal to 29 K, which can be explained as an effect of the intergranular Coulomb interaction in a granular system. The structural and Coulomb interaction related scattering processes contribute more as the film thickness decreases implying the role of disorder and granularity. Although the magnetic contribution to the resistance is the weakest compared to these two, it is the only thickness independent process. On the contrary, the negative coefficient of resistance can be explained by the electron interaction effect in disordered amorphous films

Drug utilization pattern in South Indian pediatric population: A prospective study

Background: Studies on the process of drug utilization focus on factors related to prescribing, dispensing, administering and taking of medication and its associated events. Aims: The aim of this study is to assess the prescribing patterns of medicines, apply the World Health Organization (WHO) core indicators and to assess the appropriateness of prescribed medicines in a pediatric unit. Materials and Methods: A prospective observational drug utilization study was carried out in a pediatric unit of a super specialty hospital in South India for a period of 9 months. Patients who attended the pediatric unit with the age newborn to 18 years were included in the study and patients who were not willing to participate in the study were excluded and the data collected from the pediatric unit were analyzed. Results: Out of 209 patients, the average number of drugs per patient was 4.56. The percentage of drugs prescribed with the generic name was found to be 19.16%. Among 209 prescriptions 49.78% of the drugs were essential drugs. Among the antibiotics 33.33% prescribed, cephalosporin group were the most commonly prescribed followed by amino glycoside and penicillin. Nearly, 21.80% of the medicines were given as intravenous and the prescriptions without drugs were 1.43%. Only 75.6% of patients have knowledge about their dosage schedule and almost all the prescriptions were appropriate. Conclusion: The assessment of WHO core indicators helped to improvise the prescribing pattern, identify significant problems involved in the knowledge gap of patients or caretakers understanding of instructions provided by consultants and even to minimize the cost burden on patient

Origin of 'in-plane' and 'out-of-plane' magnetic anisotropies in as-deposited and annealed CoFeB ferromagnetic thin films

A detailed comparative Ferromagnetic resonance study of pulsed laser deposited Co40Fe40B20 thin films, before and after annealing, was under taken. The dependence of resonance field (H-res) and peak-to-peak linewidth (Delta H-pp) on film thickness, annealing temperature, and magnetic field orientation is examined. 'In-plane' (IP) and 'out-of-plane' (OP) angular dependence of the resonance fields, (IP:H-res(psi); OP:H-res(alpha)), were measured at T = 150 and 295K for the as deposited (as-) to annealed (an-) thin film samples to determine IP (H-K(parallel to)) and OP (H-K(perpendicular to)) uniaxial anisotropy fields. Variation of H-res(psi) and H-res(alpha) on sample geometry demonstrate that the uniaxial magnetic anisotropy is present in as-and an-thin films of Co40Fe40B20. The effective magnetic anisotropy (K-u(eff)) increases after nanocrystallization in CoFeB films indicates that the exchange interactions are unable to average out the local-magnetocrystalline anisotropy of the nanocrystalline grains and thereby lead to magnetic hardening in the early stages of crystallization

Assessment of drug-drug interactions in hypertensive patients at a superspeciality hospital

Objective: The objective of the study was to assess the incidence and pattern of drug-drug interactions (DDIs) in hypertensive patients by using Micromedex and Medscape databases. Materials and Methods: A prospective observational study was carried out in a superspeciality hospital setting in South India for period of 9 months. Hypertensive patients who admitted into the hospital with the age more than 18 years, received more than 3 drugs per prescription and length of hospital stay for more than 24 hours were included in the study. An appropriate data was collected and assessed for DDIs with the help of Micromedex and Medscape databases. Results: A total of 227 patients were enrolled during the study period. Among the 227 patients, 48 of them developed 53 clinically significant DDIs. Out of 48 patients, most of them were in the age-group of 50-60 years [18 (37.49%)]. The percentage of DDIs were higher in males [30 (62.5%)] compared to females [18 (37.5%)]. The most common drugs responsible for DDIs in the present study were Insulin [18 (33.96%)] followed by Metoprolol [10 (18.86%)], Torsemide [8 (15.09%)], and Hydrochlorothiazide [8 (15.09%)]. The most commonly interacting pairs were Ciprofloxacin-Insulin [6 (11.32%)], followed by Metoprolol-Insulin [4 (7.54%)] and Atenolol-Insulin [4 (7.54%)]. The most common consequences of interacting pairs were reduced serum potassium levels and hyperglycemia. Conclusion: The overall incidence rate of DDIs was found to be 21.14% and the increasing number of co-morbidities ( P ≤ 0.003) and polypharmacy ( P ≤ 0.002) were the risk factor for the development of significant number of DDIs

HIGHLY EFFICIENT SYNTHESIS OF 2,4-DISUBSTITUTED OXAZOLES THROUGH PALLADIUM/COPPER COMEDIATED DIRECT ARYLATION REACTION

Objective: The aim of the present study is to synthesize 2,4-disubstituted oxazoles through palladium/copper comediated direct arylation reaction.Methods: 2,4-disubstituted oxazoles (3a-i) have been synthesized by the reaction of 4-substituted oxazole with aryl bromide in the presence of KOH , CuI and Pd(PPh3)4 in dimethoxyethane. Titled compounds (3a-i) were obtained in good yields using an expedient two-step synthesis of 2,4-disubstituted oxazoles from commercially available starting materialsResults: The structures of the newly synthesized compounds were characterized by Fourier-transform infrared, 1H NMR, 13C NMR, and mass spectral studies. This method can be an efficient method for the synthesis of 2,4-disubstituted oxazoles (3a-i).Conclusion: Pd(PPh3)4 and CuI cocatalytic system direct arylation of 4-aryl/alkyl oxazoles with various aryl bromides has been developed to generate 2,4-disubstituted oxazoles. The high functional group tolerance and the speed of the reaction afford this method appropriate for the combinatorial synthesis of a variety of 2,4-disubstituted oxazoles