Use of Various Bio-Fencing Plants in the Control of Human Diseases by the Lambada Tribe Inhabiting Nalgonda District, Andhra Pradesh, India

The present paper deals with 16 bio-fencing plants, which are being used for control of various diseases in human beings by Lambada tribes of Nalgonda District, Andhra Pradesh. The biomedicines are collected from the plants, which are used as fencing plants to their agricultural fields. This work is being carried out in collaboration with local Lambada tribes of Manchya Naik Thanda of Nalgonda district. The documented ethno medicine information was indexed by plant name, family, local name and uses

A Pilot Study Using the H&S Electronic Systems Platform for Educational Robotics and STEM Education in Primary Schools

Teaching the basics of A.C.S. (Automated Control Systems) and programming through educational robotics applications is the focus of this study. The H&S Electronic Systems robotics package was employed in the STEM teaching method for this objective. Last, but not least, the interconnectedness of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) is a priority (STEM). As a means of accomplishing these objectives while also encouraging students to take an active role in their education, educational robots may be a valuable resource. Students must work in groups to create, develop, and implement programmes to govern the behaviour of their robotic constructs, using worksheets that have been specifically prepared for the purpose of this assignment.. A final goal of this research is to examine and emphasise the positive effects of data analysis on students' education. The following terms and concepts are often used in conjunction with educational robotics: STEM education, programming basics, and H&S electronic systems

Characterization of cold shock domain proteins and SUMOylation system from Oryza sativa

In the first part of this study, two novel c&barbelow;old s&barbelow;hock domain p&barbelow;roteins from rice (OsCSP) were cloned and subsequently characterized their roles during stress conditions and development. OsCSP1 and OsCSP2 ( Oryza sativa CSD protein) encode putative proteins consisting of an N-terminal CSD and glycine-rich regions that are interspersed by 4 and 2 CX2CX4HX4C (CCHC) retroviral-like zinc fingers, respectively. Using an in vitro DNA binding assay, I demonstrate that OsCSPs exhibit conserved ssDNA binding activity. In vivo functional complementation in a cold-sensitive bacterial strain, that lacks four cold inducible cold shock domain proteins revealed that OsCSPs function as RNA chaperones, similar to their bacterial and winter wheat counterparts. To understand the functions of these genes in rice, I studied the transcriptional regulation in response to abiotic stress conditions. Under cold stress, OsCSP transcript levels are only transiently and marginally increased and the encoded proteins did not accumulate. These transcript and protein data are in sharp contrast with the observed data for winter wheat and Arabidopsis cold shock domain proteins under cold stress. In these species, both transcripts and protein levels of CSPs are increased upon cold stress. Based on these data, it can be hypothesized that the accumulation of cold shock domain proteins may play an important role in determining the cold acclimation capability of the plants. Expression analysis at the protein and RNA levels during development revealed that OsCSPs are highly expressed in the reproductive and meristematic tissues. These results indicate a potential role for rice cold shock domain proteins in plant growth and reproductive development.;In this study, I also characterized the post-translational modification of plant cold shock domain proteins by SUMOylation. Post-translational modifications can impart rapid changes in protein function. SUMOylation involves the reversible attachment of a small protein called SUMO (small ubiquitin-like modifier) to target proteins. The SUMO protein has a similar three dimensional structure as that of ubiquitin and the process of SUMOylation is very similar to that of ubiquitination. However, unlike ubiquitination, SUMOylation is not implicated in protein degradation. SUMO modification can affect the target protein stability, sub-cellular localization protein-protein interactions. Using a computational approach on rice and Arabidopsis cold shock domain proteins, I identified canonical SUMOylation motifs in both rice CSPs and one of the Arabidopsis CSPs. Using in vitro assays, I demonstrated that both OsCSPs can undergo SUMOylation. Using mutational approaches, I identified an important lysine residue for SUMOylation in Arabidopsis AtCSP1. By employing GFP-tagged wild-type and variant AtCSP1 proteins, I demonstrate that SUMOylation appears to affect AtCSP1 protein localization.;In another study, I characterized the entire SUMO conjugation system in rice. The process of SUMOylation involves a cascade of enzymatic reactions involving activation (E1) enzymes, conjugation (E2) enzymes and ligation (E3) enzymes. I compared the protein sequences of all these genes from rice with those from Arabidopsis, yeast and human. This revealed a high amino acid sequence conservation of individual SUMOylation components from yeast to plants and animals. In Arabidopsis, the SUMOylation system has been implicated in plant development and in mediating abiotic stress responses. To understand the role of the rice SUMOylation system during development, I studied the SUMO conjugate profiles and the expression of individual SUMO component genes in various tissues at different stages of plant development. The highest levels of SUMOylated proteins were observed in panicles and meristematic tissues. Expression studies revealed that SUMO component genes are highly expressed in reproductive tissues like developing seeds and panicles. Together, these data implicate an important role for the rice SUMOylation system in plant growth and reproductive development. To understand the role of SUMOylation system in rice, I studied SUMO conjugate profiles and the transcriptional regulation of individual SUMO components during cold, salt and ABA stress conditions. Rice responds to these stresses by accumulating SUMO conjugated proteins, suggesting that protein SUMOylation helps to mediate plant stress responses. Studies on the transcriptional regulation of individual SUMO pathway genes during these stress conditions revealed that most are transcriptionally down-regulated. However, a particular SUMO E3 ligase gene (OsSIZ2) is transiently up-regulated upon exposure to all three stress conditions. Considering the importance of E3 ligases in improving the efficiency and specificity of the SUMO conjugation reactions, OsSIZ2 may mediate accumulation of SUMO conjugates during these stress conditions. Taken together, these data suggest a role for SUMOylation in rice development and stress responses. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

A NEW NAPHTHOQUINONE ISOLATED FROM POLYGONUM MULTIFLORUM (POLYGONACEAE)

Objective: This research is mainly focused towards isolation and structural elucidation of pure compounds from the extract and fractions of Polygonum multiflorum through silica gel column chromatography.Methods: The air dried rhizomes were extracted with Me2CO (acetone), MeOH (methanol) and H2O (water). The Me2CO extract was fractionated into CHCl3 (chloroform) and residue. The chloroform-soluble portion and MeOH extract were subjected to silica gel column chromatography for the isolation of pure compounds. The isolated compounds were then determined by the use of spectroscopic analysis of HRFABMS, 1H, 13C NMR, UV and IR spectra.Results: CHCl3 soluble portion of Me2CO and MeOH extract of P. multiflorum led to the isolation of one new naphthoquinone and eight known compounds including four anthraquinones, one naphthoquinone and two stilbenes.Conclusion: The obtained results will be very useful for the further evaluation various biological studies

"Retail Teleclinics"-A Low Cost Scalable Healthcare Delivery Model for Rural India

Rural India has an acute shortage of doctors whereas urban India is over supplied. Many medical graduates are reluctant to serve in rural areas due to poor civic structures. By adopting technology we planned to strike a balance in this disparity. Our project AWISH is a social enterprise. AWISH in Sanskrit means “to reach” which denotes the mission motto-providing medical consultations in rural areas by utilising telemedicine. We have evolved an efficient, cost-effective, sustainable, scalable healthcare delivery model after pilot project, “AWISH retail teleclinics”. We have identified, recruited and trained the pharmacy owners in rural areas who provide a 4ftx4ft space in their pharmacy for a teleclinic facility. The Teleclinic is equipped with a computer, LED TV, printer, broadband Internet, pulseoxymeter, glucometer, digital thermometer and BP apparatus. Special videoconferencing software which works on 256KBPS bandwidth is provided. The pharmacist is trained to use the equipment and the approximate cost to the pharmacist for the equipment is around US$1,000. Free consultations are provided for three months and the telemedicine GP runs free medical camps weekly for three months. This familiarises the doctor with the patients, and also increased pharmacy revenue. Medical consultations were provided by our parent institute-Nightingale Multi-specialty Hospital where a dedicated telemedicine wing has been setup. For all patients general consultations are provided. Specialist consultations are provided when required. Currently we are operating 10 Teleclinics and planning to scale up to 100 in a year. All the pharmacy owners have recovered their investment. Present average footfalls are 20 per day in each centre. Our audit results on the project’s social and financial impact are promising. For a developing country with poor primary healthcare in rural areas the only resort is dependency on quacks which many a times proves to be problematic to the uneducated population. Our model has proved to be an economical and effective solution

Occurrence of Medicinal Plant Pollen in \u3cem\u3eApis cerana\u3c/em\u3e Honeys of Khammam District, Andhra

A pollen analysis of 11 honey samples from Khammam district has been carried out. According to the pollen spectra found, most of them are unifloral (10); 1 sample multifloral. Thirty-two different pollen types were recorded, belonging to 20 families. Twenty-one plants recorded from the honey samples are used as medicinal plants in folklore and tribal medicine

Significance of abdominal manifestations in dengue fever

Background: Dengue Fever is an Infectious condition caused by flavo virus. It is an epidemic since 4 years and its prevalence is increased in the recent years in India. The increase in India is due to rapid urbanization, population growth, increased international travel and global warming. But dengue fever is now being reported from rural backgrounds due to poor sanitation and stagnant water sources.Methods: This is an institutional cross sectional study in which we took patients presenting with fever and various other complaints related to viral fevers for 9months from 2016 June to March 2017 at Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences, Ongole. In this study we included patients who are NS1 Ag positive and dengue ELISA positive only. We excluded whose NS1 Ag test positive but their dengue IgM ELISA report is negative.Results: In this study we have included 94 patients of all age groups who are diagnosed with dengue fever. Next in the list are nausea/vomiting (43.6%) and diarrhea (40.4%) respectively. We highlighted this in conclusion to consider abdominal manifestations association while evaluating pyrexia patients.Conclusions: As usually fluid management and regular monitoring is the main role in the management of dengue cases than platelet or blood transfusions and antibiotics. We concluded that there is significant association between abdominal manifestations and dengue fever. So abdominal manifestations should be considered while evaluating pyrexia patients to rule out dengue association in those patients and prognosis of dengue fever

Structural and Magnetic Hysteresis Properties of Co-Zr Substituted Hexagonal Barium Ferrites

Co-Zr substituted M-type hexagonal barium ferrites, with chemical formula BaCoxZrxFe12-2xO19 (where x = 0.0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8 and 1.0), have been synthesized by double sintering ceramic method. The crystallographic properties, grain morphology and magnetic properties of these ferrites have been investigated by X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Vibrating Sample Magnetometer (VSM). The XRD patterns confirm the single phase with hexagonal structure of prepared ferrites. The magnetic properties have been investigated as a function of Co and Zr ion composition at an applied field in the range of 20 KOe. These studies indicate that the saturation magnetization (Ms) in the samples increases initially up to the Co-Zr composition of x=0.6 and decreases thereafter. On the other hand, the coercivity (Hc) and Remanent magnetization (Mr) are found to decrease continuously with increasing Co-Zr content. This property is most useful in permanent magnetic recording. The observed results are explained on the basis of site occupation of Co and Zr ions in the samples

Assessment of risk factors in cardiac failure after myocardial infarction

Background: Cardiac failure is a clinical syndrome that may result from any structural or functional cardiac disorders that impairs the pumping ability of the heart. Post infarction cardiac failure is one of the common complications of Acute Myocardial Infarction which is influenced by factors like extent of MI, Life style, associated co-morbid conditions.Methods: The present study comprises of 50 cardiac failure patients with history of MI in the past and who presented with myocardial infarction with cardiac failure were included in this study. This study was conducted at Rajivgandhi Institute of Medical Sciences, Kadapa, YSR District, Andhra Pradesh. The study was carried out for a period of 2 years. Informed consent was taken from each and every patient included in the study.Results: In our study 42 (84%) are males and 8 (16%) are females. Out of 50 patients 37 (74%) are smokers and 32 (64%) are alcoholics. In our study maximum number of patients i.e. 60% of the patients are sedentary in nature. Among 42 male patients 28 are having WHR >0.9 and 8 female patients WHR >0.8 is quite significant.Conclusions: Post MI cardiac failure is more common in males and sedentary lifestyles. Smoking, alcohol consumption and associated co morbid conditions have linear relationship with incidence of post infarction Cardiac failure. Abdominal obesity has positive effect on incidence of post MI cardiac failure