Pathophysiology of COVID-19 and its potential therapeutics

A series of acute and atypical serious respiratory illnesses were reported in December 2019 from Wuhan, a city of China. It spread to other places and became a global pandemic involving more than 200 countries of the world. Soon, it was discovered that this atypical respiratory illness was caused by a novel corona virus. It was named as the severe acute respiratory syndrome corona virus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) and the disease caused by it as corona virus disease-19 (COVID-19). Since COVID-19 is a new viral disease, world is still struggling to find out a permanent remedy to control this serious health problem. It seems prudent to study or have a look on the pathophysiology of SARS CoV-2 in the light of available research. Further, a review on pathophysiology may give an insight on the potential therapeutic options. Being a new virus and having potential to cause significant morbidity and mortality in short span of time various approved drugs are being repurposed for the treatment of COVID-19

A basic insight into COVID-19 vaccines: an overview

Atypical serious respiratory illnesses were reported in December 2019 from Wuhan, a city of China, which later spread to other places rapidly and became a global pandemic. Soon it was discovered to be caused by a novel corona virus, named as the severe acute respiratory syndrome corona virus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) and the disease caused by it as corona virus disease-19 (COVID-19). Since COVID-19 is a new viral disease, world is still struggling to find out a permanent remedy to overcome this serious health problem. Developing safe and effective vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 has become the only way forward to tackle it. Various vaccines have been developed and are approved for mass vaccination on emergency basis. Both classical and next generation vaccine platforms are being used to develop COVID-19 vaccine. It seems interesting to have a look on the various types of vaccines and get an insight into them so that we can get familiarize with the COVID-19 vaccination

Advanced Fibre Reinforced Methyl Nadicimide Resins .

Glass/carbon/kevlar-reinforced composites were fabricated using two structurally different methl nadicimide resins. The resin content of the laminates was in the range of 32-39 per cent. Interlaminar shear strength (ILSS)and flexual strength (FS) depended on the structure of the methyl nadicimide resins. A significant decrease in the ILSS was observed on treatment with boiling water for 500 h and on isothermal ageing at 300 degree celsius for 100,250 and 500 h. The limiting oxygen index (LOI) was the lowest for laminates based on Kevlar fabrics (i.e.54) whereas the laminates based on glass/carbon showed very high LOI(>90)

Development of low Cost Portable Platform for Bioimpedance Based Diagnostics

Analyzing the impedance of biological samples has gained importance in the last decade. Presently all the bioimpedance analyzer available in the market are heavy and costly. In this context, an attempt has been made to develop a portable, low cost bioimpedance analyzer. For this purpose, the portable cartridges for sample analysis were prepared on cupper print circuit board by chemical etching. The developed device was successfully operated in a frequency range of 50 Hz to 20 KHz to measure impedance of various samples such as glucose, NaCl solution, bacterial cell culture and xanthan gum. All the measured samples were shown capacitive dominance. Optimization of electrode spacing and area was done to improve its efficacy in measuring the bioimpedance. Furthermore, the device was also employed for screening of anticancer drugs like cis-platin using HT-29 colon cancer cell line. The device was found operational for analyzing small sample volume (50-200ìl) , moreover portability of this developed device makes it a special among commercially available instruments used for measuring bioimpedance

Appraisal of Thermal Comfort in Non-Air-conditioned and Air-conditioned Railway Pantry Car Kitchens

This study details the consequences of a thermal comfort survey conducted in N-AC “Non-Airconditioned†and AC “Airconditioned†pantry car kitchens in Indian Railways. The research was carried out on 6 railway pantry car kitchens in which 29 chefs participated. Field measurement and subjective evaluation techniques performed in this study during the working period of chefs. The aim of the present research to compare N-AC and AC railway pantry car kitchen. While the objective of the study to determine the thermal comfort parameters “air temperature, mean radiant temperature, relative humidity and air velocity†of both pantry car kitchens and examine the subjective responses; and to evaluate the thermal comfort of both pantry car kitchens using the PMV “Predicted Mean Vote†and PPD “Predicted Percent Dissatisfied†indices and compare them with actual sensation votes. A result of this study revealed that all thermal comfort parameters do not comply with the recommended ASHRAE 55 Standard in both pantry car kitchens. There is no considerable difference between both pantry car kitchen based on the subjective assessment during the working period and all the chefs' votes were found to be outside the range of the ASHRAE 55 central three categories (-1, 0, +1) votes. Which indicates that the chefs are not satisfied with the current environment. While for N-AC pantry car, PMV and PPD value estimated were 3.10 and 99% respectively, with "hot" thermal sensation. Similarly, for AC pantry car, PMV and PPD value estimated were 2.21 and 85% respectively, with "warm" thermal sensation. The estimated values of PMV and PPD do not follow the ASHRAE-55 2017 and ISO 7730 standard. Therefore, PMV indices are not directly applicable for thermal comfort application in a pantry car kitchen environment due to high temperature. In both the pantry car kitchen, there is no difference between predicted and actual sensation votes. In further establish the other method and technique to identify the comfort temperature for better workmanship of chefs in a pantry car kitchen.   &nbsp

DRUG UTILIZATION BASED ADRs DETECTION OF ANTIBIOTICS PRESCRIBED FOR LRTI IN TERTIARY CARE TEACHING HOSPITAL, NEW DELHI

Objective: Aim of to present study was to assess drug utilization pattern of antibiotics use in Lower respiratory tract infection and their adverse drug reaction assessment.Methods: The present study was an observational and prospective study. 110 patients fulfill the inclusion criteria were included in study. Physician prescription records, patient's medication profile types of antibiotics prescribed were recorded and analyzed.Results: Out of 110 LRTI patients, 74 (67.27%) patients were male and 36(32.72%) patients were female. 72 patients were suffered from bronchitis while 38 patients were suffering from pneumonia. 30 patients were in the age range of 56-65 y, followed by 21 patients who were in the age range of 66-75 y. It has been observed that among all the prescribed antibiotic agent's frequency of β-lactam 199(45.53%), quinolones115 (26.27%), macrolides 53(12.12%) chloramphenicol44 (10.06%) sulphonamide 17 (3.89%) and aminoglycosides 9(2.05%) were prescribed to all the patients. Average 3.97 antibiotic agents were prescribed to all the patients. Majority of drugs were given by oral route (68.19%) and Prescriptions are mainly ordered in brand names. The most frequent co-morbid condition was found to be diabetes mellitus (25.45%) followed by hypertension (16.36%) and coronary artery disease (11.81%).45.45%. Only 23 ADRs were detected in 110 patients. The most common culprit was an amoxicillin with clavulanic acid.Conclusion: The present study provides an overall pattern of antibiotic usage in different patients. The area of concern in the present study is polypharmacy and use of antibiotics in LRTI without following any guideline. ADRs monitoring is also required to prevent noxious effects of drugs by the use of antibiotics

DRUG UTILIZATION EVALUATION OF ANGIOTENSIN RECEPTOR BLOCKER (ARB) ALONG WITH THEIR ADRS IN A TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL

Objective: To evaluate the drug utilization of Angiotensin Receptor Blocker (ARB) along with their ADRs in a tertiary care hospital. And to monitor, report of adverse drug reaction and drug interactions, if any. Methods: The patients who meet the inclusion and exclusion criteria were enrolled into the study. The pertinent data such as demographic details, drug name, dose, frequency, and laboratory data were gathered from medical records of the patient and results were analyzed. Results: Total of 100 patients were included in this study, the maximum utilization of antihypertensive drug (ARB) was telmisartan (90%) and widely use of ARBs in the age group of 41-50 y. Total 32 ADRs were observed and most probable ADRs included headache (42.8%), Nausea (14.28%) and dizziness (12.5%). Conclusion: Telmisartan was the most prescribed and utilized drug than the other drugs of ARBs. Maximum ADRs were noted in females, the most frequent ADRs headache, nausea and dizziness were reported. The majority of reactions were probable on causality assessment done by WHO-UMC and Naranjo’s scale having mild severity. So it can be concluded that considering risk factors, prevention and management of ADRs can drastically improve the therapeutic outcomes of the patients

Preventive role of Withania somnifera on hyperlipidemia and cardiac oxidative stress in streptozotocin induced type 2 diabetic rats

Purpose: The present study was intended to investigate the preventive role of Withania somnifera (WS) on hyperlipidemia and oxidative stress in the heart of streptozotocin (STZ)-induced type 2 diabetic rats.Methods: Single intraperitoneal injection of STZ (100 mg/kg) was given to 2 days rat pups to induce type 2 diabetes mellitus. Diabetes was confirmed 90 days after the administration of STZ by measuring blood glucose level. WS (200 and 400 mg/kg) was administered orally once a day for 5 weeks after the confirmation of diabetes. Glucose, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), creatinine kinase (CK), total cholesterol (TCh), triglycerides (TG), high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), verylow density lipoprotein cholesterol (VLDL-C) and markers of oxidative stress parameters like lipid peroxidation (LPO), reduced glutathione (GSH), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), glutathione reductase (GR), glutathione-S-transferase (GST), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) were evaluated in the heart of type 2 diabetic rats.Results: Oral administration of WS for 5 weeks resulted in a significant (P<0.001) reduction in glucose, LDH, CK, TC, TG, LDL-C, VLDL-C levels with significant elevation of HDL-C levels. On the other hand, WS treated diabetic rats significantly (P<0.01-P<0.001) reduced the elevated levels of LPO, increased levels of antioxidant enzymes (i.e, GSH, GPx, GR, GST, SOD and CAT).Conclusion: These findings propose the role of hyperlipidemia and cardiac oxidative stress in type 2 diabetic rats and suggested protective effect of WS in this animal model.Keywords: Withania somnifera; Hyperlipidemia; Oxidative stress; Streptozotocin; Type 2 diabete

Assessing the utility of remote sensing data to accurately estimate changes in groundwater storage

Accurate and timely estimates of groundwater storage changes are critical to the sustainable management of aquifers worldwide, but are hindered by the lack of in-situ groundwater measurements in most regions. Hydrologic remote sensing measurements provide a potential pathway to quantify groundwater storage changes by closing the water balance, but the degree to which remote sensing data can accurately estimate groundwater storage changes is unclear. In this study, we quantified groundwater storage changes in California\u27s Central Valley at two spatial scales for the period 2002 through 2020 using remote sensing data and an ensemble water balance method. To evaluate performance, we compared estimates of groundwater storage changes to three independent estimates: GRACE satellite data, groundwater wells and a groundwater flow model. Results suggest evapotranspiration has the highest uncertainty among water balance components, while precipitation has the lowest. We found that remote sensing-based groundwater storage estimates correlated well with independent estimates; annual trends during droughts fall within 15% of trends calculated using wells and groundwater models within the Central Valley. Remote sensing-based estimates also reliably estimated the long-term trend, seasonality, and rate of groundwater depletion during major drought events. Additionally, our study suggests that the proposed method estimate changes in groundwater at sub-annual latencies, which is not currently possible using other methods. The findings have implications for improving the understanding of aquifer dynamics and can inform regional water managers about the status of groundwater systems during droughts

Topical nanoemulsion of turmeric oil for psoriasis: characterization, ex vivo and in vivo assessment

Psoriasis is a chronic; T lymphocyte mediated autoimmune inflammatory disorder characterized by well-defined erythematous (reddish) plaques with large adherent silvery scales that affects the skin and other parts of the body. The essential oil in turmeric is anti-inflammatory and effective in treating chronic disorders like psoriasis that have inflammation as a root symptom. Nanoemulsions are isotropic, thermodynamically stable transparent (or translucent) systems of oil, water, surfactant and co-surfactant with a droplet size usually in the range of 20–200 nm. Their long-term stability and ease of preparation (spontaneous emulsification) make it promising tool for drug delivery. The aim of this study was to obtain nanoemulsions of turmeric oil for psoriasis and to evaluate their physical stability, irritation potential and in vivo inflammatory activity. For the preparation of nanoemulsion titration method was used which was composed of 15% turmeric oil, 42 % Smix (1:1) and 43 % distilled water. The nanoemulsion was stable during the period of study and was found to be practically non-irritating in the organotypic HET-CAM model. The anti inflammatory activity of optimized nonoemulsion was carried out by carragennen induced paw edema and found to be 70.35 % inhibition