Exploration of Tribal Knowledge of \u3cem\u3eEntada pursaetha\u3c/em\u3e DC: An Endangered Gigantic Medicinal Legume in Eastern Ghats

The third largest family of flowering plants is the legume family, with more than 18, 000 species. Legumes play an important role in daily human diet, and an array of compounds which can be useful in curing diseases. Tribals utilize many species in their daily lives; most of the uses are still unknown to researchers. Entada pursaetha is a gigantic creeper with giant pods among legumes, and is an endangered species. Many uses for this legume were discovered as a result of the surveys conducted by the authors at five localities in Eastern Ghats. These surveys helped to considerably sharpen our knowledge about this species. The seeds act as a good income source for tribals who sell them to the soap industry. They’re also used as a tribal pulse

WALNUT PEDUNCULAGIN A PROBABLE SERM FOR BREAST CANCER TREATMENT

Walnuts constituents have been actively used in nutrition in slowing cancer growth by its anti-proliferative and anti-angiogenic mechanisms. Pedunculagin, a natural chemical constituent of walnut were performed to check for its binding with Estrogen Receptor (ER) receptor using Insilco approach. Most of current approach towards breast cancer therapies is aimed at blocking ER signaling pathway using various estrogen antagonists like synthetic estrogen receptor modulators (SERMs) which down regulates the signaling cascade leading to tumor activity. This study is aimed to find the binding interactions between Pedunculagin and ER. Pedunculagin structure was extracted from CHEMSPIDER database and Estrogen Receptor (ER) 1QKN was selected, further ligand and receptor structures were minimized with steepest descent and conjugate gradient with minimized energy levels were found to be -14211.04235 Kcal/mol for ligand molecule and -12518.66882 Kcal/mol for ER. Six interacting binding sites were identified between ligand and ER and docking studies showed second active binding site of receptor showed strong affinity and interacting groups. Pedunculagin may act as SERM in modulating the ER signaling activity and may be a probable therapeutic molecule for treating breast cancer

A comparative study of laser posterior cordotomy and vocal cord lateralization

AbstractIntroductionThe treatment of bilateral vocal cord paralysis continues to be a challenge to the otolaryngologist, head and neck surgeon even today. Numerous surgical procedures have been proposed to improve the patient’s airway insufficiency without leaving the patient with a breathy, weak voice or an incompetent larynx. In this study we compared the outcome of laser posterior cordotomy and vocal cord lateralization in a group of bilateral abductor palsy patients.MethodRetrospective as well as a prospective study of 25 patients was carried out. The total of 25 patients was divided into 2 groups, group 1 consisted of 15 patients who underwent vocal cord lateralization with SUTUPAK suture and group 2 consisted of 10 patients who underwent laser assisted posterior partial cordotomy.ResultsThyroidectomy was the commonest cause for bilateral vocal fold paralysis i.e. 80% (20) of cases. Patients who underwent laser posterior cordotomy had 100% successful decannulation rate as compared to 92.8% for vocal cord lateralization patients. Comparison between pre and post operative voice assessment data by WILCOXON SIGNED RANKS test revealed that excepting the parameter of fluctuations/s in F0, all other parameters were statistically not significant.ConclusionLaser cordotomy is a superior, reliable and viable alternative to the other lateralization procedures for bilateral vocal fold paralysis

Is emergency cesarean section more risky than elective cesarean section in women with previous cesarean section?

Background: Cesarean section is one of the most performed surgical procedures all over the world, but unfortunately cesarean sections are associated with a great deal of maternal morbidity and mortality. In the past the rate of cesarean section has increased for many avoidable and unavoidable indications both in developed and developing countries. The objective of this study was to compare maternal morbidity and mortality in elective repeat cesarean section (El-RCS) and emergency repeat cesarean section Em-RCS.Methods: Prospective data was recorded on management practices, associated complications and morbidity and mortality on 15664 consecutive cases of previous cesarean section reporting at 30 medical colleges/teaching hospitals for delivery.Results: Of the 15664 women with a previous cesarean section, 5399 (34.5%) women underwent elective repeat cesarean section, 7752 (49.5%) women who underwent emergency repeat cesarean section and 2513 (16.0%) had successful trial of labor (S-TOL). There was    failed trial of labor (F-TOL) in 1522 cases and requiring an emergency cesarean section for delivery of baby. Therefore, total no. of 7752 women had an emergency cesarean section. The overall maternal morbidity was 22.5%, 20.7% in Em-RCS and El-RCS respectively. Blood loss was more than 1000ml in 7.2% of Em-RCS where as in El-RCS it was 8.8%, blood transfusion was 7.5% in Em-RCS where as it was 6.5% in El-RCS, dehiscence of scar in Em-RCS was 4.7% as compared to 2.2% in El-RCS, uterine rupture was 1.2% in Em-RCS as compared to 0.7 % in El-RCS found statistically significant. Post-operative complication was 5.9% cases in Em-RCS where as in El-RCS was 5.8% (p=0.79 non-significant). Maternal mortality was reported in 12 (0.2%) cases of Em-RCS as compared to 5 (0.1%) cases in El-RCS (p=0.37) which was not statistically significant.  Conclusions: Maternal morbidity was found more in emergency repeat cesarean section than in elective repeat cesarean section. Complications and referral of women who are likely to undergo cesarean section should be diagnosed at an early stage so that the maternal   morbidity and mortality can be prevented.

Trail of labor versus elective repeat cesarean section: a comparison of morbidity and mortality at tertiary care teaching hospitals in India

Background: As cesarean birth rates continue to rise, more women are faced with the choice of planning a vaginal delivery or a repeat cesarean section after a previous cesarean section. The objective of this prospective study was to study the morbidities and mortality of women attempting a trial of labor after cesarean (TOLAC) versus elective repeat cesarean section (El-RCS).Methods: Prospective data was recorded on management practices, associated complications and morbidity & mortality for a period of 8 months on 15664 consecutive cases of previous cesarean section reporting at 30 medical colleges/ teaching hospitals for delivery.Results: A trial of labor was planned in 25.8% (4035) women and 34.5% (5399) women underwent elective repeat cesarean section and rest had emergency repeat cesarean section. Overall maternal morbidity due to any cause was 20.7% among El-RCS as compared to 14.2% in TOLAC which was statistically significant (OR: 1.57, CI: 1.41-1.76, P=0.00). Blood loss of more than 1000ml was around 8.0% among TOLAC where as in El-RCS it was 8.8% (OR: 0.89, CI: 0.77-1.94, p=0.14 not statistically significant). Blood transfusion was given in 3.7% in TOLAC where as in El-RCS it was given in 6.5% (OR: 0.56, CI: 0.45-0.68, p=0.00 highly significant).  Complication like dehiscence of scar was similar in both groups. Post-operative complication were seen in 2.8% cases in TOLAC where as in El-RCS it was 5.8% (OR: 0.47, CI: 0.38-0.59, p=0.00 highly significant). Uterine rupture was 0.3% in TOLAC where as in El-RCS it was 0.7% (OR: 0.43, CI: 0.21-0.87, p=0.009 statistically significant). Maternal mortality was reported in 0.2% cases of TOLAC as compared to 0.1% cases in El-RCS (p=0.17) which was not statistically significant.Conclusions: Maternal morbidity was found to be more in elective repeat cesarean section than trial of labor after cesarean section

Heat Treatment of Metastable Beta Titanium Alloys

Heat treatment of metastable beta titanium alloys involves essentially two steps—solution treatment in beta or alpha+beta phase field and aging at appropriate lower temperatures. High strength in beta titanium alloys can be developed via solution treatment followed by aging by precipitating fine alpha (α) particles in a beta (β) matrix. Volume fraction and morphology of α determine the strength whereas ductility is dependent on the β grain size. Solution treatment in (α + β) range can give rise to a better combination of mechanical properties, compared to solution treatment in the β range. However, aging at some temperatures may lead to a low/nil-ductility situation and this has to be taken into account while designing the aging step. Heating rate to aging temperature also has a significant effect on the microstructure and mechanical properties obtained after aging. In addition to α, formation of intermediate phases such as omega, beta prime during decomposition of beta phase has been a subject of detailed studies. In addition to covering these issues, the review pays special attention to heat treatment of beta titanium alloys for biomedical applications, in view of the growing interest this class of alloys have been receiving

Lidar observations of sporadic Na layers over Gadanki (13.5° N, 79.2° E)

International audienceWe studied the characteristics of sporadic sodium layers (SSLs) observed with the sodium (Na) resonance scattering lidar at Gadanki (13.5° N, 79.2° E). The SSLs were observed on a total of 63 occasions during 464 h of Na lidar observations from January 2005 to February 2006. The observations showed that one SSL event occurred, on average, every 7 h. The most prominent sporadic layer, which formed on 12 February 2005, exhibited a peak density of 60 722 Na atoms/cm³ around 92 km and it was nearly twice the peak density reported from elsewhere using ground-based observations. In general, the SSLs exhibited the following characteristics: (1) they developed at heights between 88 and 98 km with an average height around 94 km; (2) maximum density occurred during the early morning hours between 02:00 and 05:00 IST; (3) the ratio of the maximum peak Na density to the average density was normally around 3 to 5 and it exceeded even 10 in some cases; (4) the events lasted from a few minutes to several hours. The formation period of the SSLs was longer compared to the decay period of the SSLs. Most of the SSL events showed downward motions

Processing of Beta Titanium Alloys for Aerospace and Biomedical Applications

The unique combination of attributes—high strength to weight ratio, excellent heat treatability, a high degree of hardenability, and a remarkable hot and cold workability—has made beta titanium alloys an attractive group of materials for several aerospace applications. Titanium alloys, in general, possess a high degree of resistance to biofluid environments; beta titanium alloys with high molybdenum equivalent have low elastic modulus coming close to that of human bone, making them particularly attractive for biomedical applications. Bulk processing of the alloys for aerospace applications is carried out by double vacuum melting followed by hot working. There have been many studies with reference to super-solvus and sub-solvus forging of beta titanium alloys. For alloys with low to medium level of molybdenum equivalent, sub-solvus forging was demonstrated to result in a superior combination of mechanical properties. A number of studies have been carried out in the area of heat treatment of beta titanium alloys. Studies have also been devoted to surface modification of beta titanium alloys. The chapter attempts to review these studies, with emphasis on aerospace and biomedical applications