INVESTIGATION OF PHYTOCHEMICAL, MINERAL CONTENT AND PHYSIOCHEMICAL PROPERTY OF A POLYHERBAL EXTRACT

Objective: The objective of the present study was to investigate the phytochemical, mineral content, and physiochemical properties of a polyherbalextract (PE).Methods: Fresh plants Punica granatum (rind), Catharanthus roseus, Gymnema sylvestre, Cissus quadrangularis, Garcinia cambogia, Tinosporacordifolia, Terminalia Arjuna, Urginea indica, Ficus racemosa were selected for the PE. The plants were collected from various areas in and aroundCoimbatore district. The plants were washed, air dried, and coarsely powdered. 10 g of each plant powder has undergone various extract analysis forits phytochemical screening. The coarse extract called PE is been tested for physiochemical properties and its mineral content.Results: The presence of secondary metabolites such as flavonoids, glycosides, phenolic compounds, and tannins in all the extract but highest in thehydroethanolic extract. The physiochemical properties showed the appropriate pH and solubility of PE.Conclusion: Our findings provide that PE contain medicinally important secondary metabolites for the treatment of various diseases like cancer,cardiovascular diseases, and diabetes mellitus in the traditional folk medicine.Keywords: Punica granatum (rind), Catharanthus roseus, Gymnema sylvestre, Cissus quadrangularis, Garcinia cambogia, Tinospora cordifolia,Terminalia Arjuna, Urginea indica, Ficus racemosa, Cardiovascular diseases, Polyherbal extract

Establishing Contingency Analysis with FACTS Devices Using Power World Simulator

Contingency analysis is the protection of power system operation under the loss of one or more of the major power system components. It is widely used to predict the effect of outages of transmission lines and generators. To calculate the number of violation, contingency analysis is the most preferable choice. Power systems use contingency analysis to foretell the result of any component failure. Contingency analysis is an application that uses a simulated model of power system to judge the result and calculate any overload. The proposed method approaches the flexible AC transmission system (FACTS) device to reduce the power flow in heavily loaded line and also increase the system performance. In this work, FACTS devices were implemented in IEEE 6-bus and IEEE 14-bus system and it is simulated by using Power World Simulator Software.Citation: MONISHA, B., and Balamurugan, K. (2018). Establishing Contingency Analysis with FACTS Devices Using Power World Simulator. Trends in Renewable Energy, 4, 114-131. DOI: 10.17737/tre.2018.4.3.005

Raising against the trauma of parenting: A trans woman's existent experience in stuck in the middle with you

Abstract The term ‘Transgender’ is used to describe people who hold a different gender identity than their birth sex. Many transgenders are prescribed hormones and Sex Reassignment Surgeries by their doctors to change their bodies as part of the process of transition. Sometimes, not everyone in the transgender community will take these steps to live to their inner identity. A transsexual is one who wishes to transition to the sex he/she identifies. Jennifer Finney Boylan is a highly praised trans woman author and professor. She is an activist, and her involvement in social activities for LGBT people, especially transgenders, are highly notable. The work Stuck in the Middle with You: A Memoir of Parenting in Three Genders is a memoir about Boylan, and her transition from a man to a woman while being married and raising a family. It explores how changes in gender roles affect one’s viewpoint of our family as parents. This paper deals with how Boylan’s memoir reflects her role as a trans parent, and it also explores her journey from being a dad to both mom and dad

Accessory left testicular artery in association with double renal vessels: a rare anomaly

A rare association of accessory testicular artery along with double renal arteries and accessory renal vein was observed unilaterally on the left side. In addition, the left inferior phrenic artery was arising from the left gastric branch of the coeliac trunk. This was observed in the dissection of an adult male cadaver during a routine undergraduate teaching programme. In this case, the accessory left testicular artery originated superior to the normal testicular artery from the descending abdominal aorta immediately below the origin of the normal left renal artery. In addition to this artery, a variant renal artery was noted with three segmental branches before entering the hilum. The accessory renal vein emerged from the lower pole after the receiving testicular vein joined the main renal vein. The left inferior phrenic artery arose from the left gastric branch of the coeliac trunk. An anatomical description of this uncommon variation is presented in this case report, highlighting its clinical implications. (Folia Morphol 2011; 70, 4: 309–311

A study of serum electrolytes in severe acute malnourished children with and without complications

Objective: Children with severe acute malnutrition (SAM) are categorized into “complicated and uncomplicated cases” based on clinical criteria alone. Electrolyte imbalance is one of the prognostic factors in severe malnutrition. We aimed to study serum electrolytes in complicated and uncomplicated SAM children. Methods: This was a cross-sectional observational study conducted at the nutritional rehabilitation center of a tertiary care hospital attached to a medical college from May 2016 to April 2017. Children between the ages of 1 month and 5 years who met the World Health Organization criteria for SAM were included in the study. Serum electrolytes were estimated with an automated analyzer by ion selective electrode method. Results: Among 113 SAM children included, 71 had complications and 42 were without complications. The mean value of serum sodium was 134.58±5.45 meq/L, potassium was 4.29±0.75 meq/L, and chloride was 103.31±7.16 meq/L. Hyponatremia was seen in 43.4% and hypokalemia in 7.1% of children. There was no statistically significant difference in the mean values of serum electrolytes and frequency of hyponatremia and hypokalemia between groups. Conclusion: Dyselectrolytemia occurs in SAM children with and without complications. Serum electrolyte levels may need to be measured in all SAM cases to detect asymptomatic hyponatremia and hypokalemia. This will help in triaging those with asymptomatic hyponatremia and hypokalemia to inpatient care

Outpatient prescription audit in a tertiary care hospital at Puducherry

Background: Rational use of medicines promotes good health practices and prevents inappropriate use of medicines, polypharmacy, unnecessary use of antimicrobials, injections, and also encourages use of medicines from essential medicine list and dispensing by generic names. The aim of the study was to analyze the outpatient prescriptions of a tertiary care centre by utilizing World Health Organization (WHO) core drug use prescribing indicators.Methods: A retrospective observational study was conducted in a tertiary care health setup at Puducherry, South India. Outpatient prescriptions from all the major clinical departments were analyzed using WHO prescribing indicators and they were compared with some similar studies.Results: The average number of drugs per prescription was 2.74. The percentage of prescriptions with antibiotics was 20.33% and the percentage of prescriptions with injections was 0.16%. The percentage of drugs prescribed by generic names and from essential medicine list was 83.13% and 87.9 respectively. Further antibiotic utilization was found to be higher in the department of ENT (56.67%), respiratory medicine (45%) and surgery (40%). Percentage of drugs prescribed by generic names in pediatrics and respiratory medicine were found to be 67.88% and 65.27% and percentage of drugs prescribed from essential medicine list in dermatology was 69.62%.Conclusions: Prescription pattern followed in our Institute almost adheres to the guidelines laid down by the WHO. Moreover, it is also implied that a routine audit of this type should be done in health care setups to ensure that they adhere to the WHO guidelines for better health care

TIPE family of proteins and its implications in different chronic diseases

© 2018 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. The tumor necrosis factor-a-induced protein 8-like (TIPE/TNFAIP8) family is a recently identified family of proteins that is strongly associated with the regulation of immunity and tumorigenesis. This family is comprised of four members, namely, tumor necrosis factor-a-induced protein 8 (TIPE/TNFAIP8), tumor necrosis factor-a-induced protein 8-like 1 (TIPE1/TNFAIP8L1), tumor necrosis factor-a-induced protein 8-like 2 (TIPE2/TNFAIP8L2), and tumor necrosis factor-a-induced protein 8-like 3 (TIPE3/TNFAIP8L3). Although the proteins of this family were initially described as regulators of tumorigenesis, inflammation, and cell death, they are also found to be involved in the regulation of autophagy and the transfer of lipid secondary messengers, besides contributing to immune function and homeostasis. Interestingly, despite the existence of a significant sequence homology among the four members of this family, they are involved in different biological activities and also exhibit remarkable variability of expression. Furthermore, this family of proteins is highly deregulated in different human cancers and various chronic diseases. This review summarizes the vivid role of the TIPE family of proteins and its association with various signaling cascades in diverse chronic diseases

Myocardial fibrosis in asymptomatic and symptomatic chronic severe primary mitral regurgitation and relationship to tissue characterisation and left ventricular function on cardiovascular magnetic resonance

Background: Myocardial fbrosis occurs in end-stage heart failure secondary to mitral regurgitation (MR), but it is not known whether this is present before onset of symptoms or myocardial dysfunction. This study aimed to characterise myocardial fbrosis in chronic severe primary MR on histology, compare this to tissue characterisation on cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging, and investigate associations with symptoms, left ventricular (LV) function, and exercise capacity. Methods: Patients with class I or IIa indications for surgery underwent CMR and cardiopulmonary exercise testing. LV biopsies were taken at surgery and the extent of fbrosis was quantifed on histology using collagen volume fraction (CVFmean) compared to autopsy controls without cardiac pathology. Results: 120 consecutive patients (64±13 years; 71% male) were recruited; 105 patients underwent MV repair while 15 chose conservative management. LV biopsies were obtained in 86 patients (234 biopsy samples in total). MR patients had more fbrosis compared to 8 autopsy controls (median: 14.6% [interquartile range 7.4–20.3] vs. 3.3% [2.6–6.1], P<0.001); this diference persisted in the asymptomatic patients (CVFmean 13.6% [6.3–18.8], P<0.001), but severity of fbrosis was not signifcantly higher in NYHA II-III symptomatic MR (CVFmean 15.7% [9.9–23.1] (P=0.083). Fibrosis was patchy across biopsy sites (intraclass correlation 0.23, 95% CI 0.08–0.39, P=0.001). No signifcant relationships were identifed between CVFmean and CMR tissue characterisation [native T1, extracellular volume (ECV) or late gadolinium enhancement] or measures of LV function [LV ejection fraction (LVEF), global longitudinal strain (GLS)]. Although the range of ECV was small (27.3±3.2%), ECV correlated with multiple measures of LV function (LVEF: Rho=−0.22, P=0.029, GLS: Rho=0.29, P=0.003), as well as NTproBNP (Rho=0.54, P<0.001) and exercise capacity (%PredVO2max: R=−0.22, P=0.030). Conclusions: Patients with chronic primary MR have increased fbrosis before the onset of symptoms. Due to the patchy nature of fbrosis, CMR derived ECV may be a better marker of global myocardial status. Clinical trial registration Mitral FINDER study; Clinical Trials NCT02355418, Registered 4 February 2015, https://clinicaltr ials.gov/ct2/show/NCT0235541

Early diagnosis is associated with improved clinical outcomes in benign esophageal perforation: an individual patient data meta‑analysis

Background Time of diagnosis (TOD) of benign esophageal perforation is regarded as an important risk factor for clinical outcome, although convincing evidence is lacking. The aim of this study is to assess whether time between onset of perforation and diagnosis is associated with clinical outcome in patients with iatrogenic esophageal perforation (IEP) and Boerhaave’s syndrome (BS). Methods We searched MEDLINE, Embase and Cochrane library through June 2018 to identify studies. Authors were invited to share individual patient data and a meta-analysis was performed (PROSPERO: CRD42018093473). Patients were subdivided in early (≤ 24 h) and late (> 24 h) TOD and compared with mixed effects multivariable analysis while adjusting age, gender, location of perforation, initial treatment and center. Primary outcome was overall mortality. Secondary outcomes were length of hospital stay, re-interventions and ICU admission. Results Our meta-analysis included IPD of 25 studies including 576 patients with IEP and 384 with BS. In IEP, early TOD was not associated with overall mortality (8% vs. 13%, OR 2.1, 95% CI 0.8–5.1), but was associated with a 23% decrease in ICU admissions (46% vs. 69%, OR 3.0, 95% CI 1.2–7.2), a 22% decrease in re-interventions (23% vs. 45%, OR 2.8, 95% CI 1.2–6.7) and a 36% decrease in length of hospital stay (14 vs. 22 days, p < 0.001), compared with late TOD. In BS, no associations between TOD and outcomes were found. When combining IEP and BS, early TOD was associated with a 6% decrease in overall mortality (10% vs. 16%, OR 2.1, 95% CI 1.1–3.9), a 19% decrease in re-interventions (26% vs. 45%, OR 1.9, 95% CI 1.1–3.2) and a 35% decrease in mean length of hospital stay (16 vs. 22 days, p = 0.001), compared with late TOD. Conclusions This individual patient data meta-analysis confirms the general opinion that an early (≤ 24 h) compared to a late diagnosis (> 24 h) in benign esophageal perforations, particularly in IEP, is associated with improved clinical outcome.publishedVersio