The role of phospholipid as a solubility- and permeability-enhancing excipient for the improved delivery of the bioactive phytoconstituents of Bacopa monnieri

In an attempt to improve the solubility and permeability of Standardized Bacopa Extract (SBE), a complexation approach based on phospholipid was employed. A solvent evaporation method was used to prepare the SBE-phospholipid complex (Bacopa Naturosome, BN). The formulation and process variables were optimized using a central-composite design. The formation of BN was confirmed by photomicroscopy, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), and Powder X-ray Diffraction (PXRD). The saturation solubility, the in-vitro dissolution, and the ex-vivo permeability studies were used for the functional evaluation of the prepared complex. BN exhibited a significantly higher aqueous solubility compared to the pure SBE (20-fold), or the physical mixture of SBE and the phospholipid (13-fold). Similarly, the in-vitro dissolution revealed a significantly higher efficiency of the prepared complex (BN) in releasing the SBE (\u3e 97%) in comparison to the pure SCE (~ 42%), or the physical mixture (~ 47%). The ex-vivo permeation studies showed that the prepared BN significantly improved the permeation of SBE (\u3e 90%), compared to the pure SBE (~ 21%), or the physical mixture (~ 24%). Drug-phospholipid complexation may thus be a promising strategy for solubility enhancement of bioactive phytoconstituents

A Prospective, Randomized Comparative Study Evaluating the Analgesic Efficacy and Safety Profile of Thoracic Epidural Block Versus Thoracic Paravertebral Block using a Continuous Infusion of Bupivacaine in Patients Undergoing Elective Major Breast Surgery

INTRODUCTION: Breast cancer frequently requires surgical intervention and hence causes pain both physically and psychologically. Inadequate pain management leads to several complications including acute pain, reduction in respiratory effort, impaired lung function and delay in hospital discharge. Hence multiple modalities have been tried for post operative pain relief in breast surgeries. AIM OF THE STUDY: To compare the analgesic efficacy and safety profile of thoracic epidural and thoracic paravertebral block using a continuous infusion of bupivacaine in patients undergoing elective major breast surgery. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 60 patients were randomly allocated into either of the two groups. GROUP P: Thirty patients in this group received 8ml of 0.25% bupivacaine as bolus through thoracic paravertebral block, after the completion of the surgical procedure followed by a continuous infusion of 0.1ml/kg/hr of 0.125 % bupivacaine for 48 hours. GROUP E: Thirty patients in this group received 8ml of 0.25% bupivacaine as bolus through thoracic epidural block, after the completion of the surgical procedure followed by a continuous infusion of 0.1ml/kg/hr of 0.125% bupivacaine for 48 hours. OBSERVED PARAMETERS: The following parameters were compared between the two groups: 1. Post operative visual analogue score, 2. Post operative hemodynamics, 3. Incidence of complications, 4. The need for rescue analgesics. RESULTS: On the course of study, the onset of analgesia, degree of analgesia measured by Visual Analogue Score provided by both the epidural and paravertebral groups was comparable. The failure rates in technique in both the groups were also comparable. The need for rescue analgesics were also comparable in both the groups. It was also found that the incidence of hypotension was more in patients belonging to the thoracic epidural group. CONCLUSION: This study concludes that both thoracic epidural block and thoracic paravertebral block provide comparable post operative analgesia in patients undergoing elective major breast surgery but the haemodynamic stability was better maintained with thoracic paravertebral group compared to thoracic epidural group

BHUx: A Patent Polyherbal Formulation to Prevent Atherosclerosis

Ayurvedic medicine is a time-tested system of medicine which has been in clinical use for centuries in India. Being a time-tested system, it has an edge over other existing systems of health management, especially for dealing with chronic disorders such as coronary artery disease, which is of a complex multi-etiological nature. Recently, we have shown that BHUx, a patented polyherbal formulation consisting of the aqueous fraction of five medicinal plants of the ayurvedic system, has significant anti-inflammatory properties through inhibition of cyclooxygenase-2 and lipoxygenase-15. Here we have investigated its effect on diet-induced atherosclerosis in albino rabbits. BHUx was given orally for 3 months to rabbits pre-treated with an atherogenic diet for 3 months. After 6 months, the dorsal aorta was processed for histological studies for calcium and collagen content. The results demonstrated a remarkable reduction in intimal thickening in the treated animals. In addition, there was less calcification at the intima–medial interface and increased intensity of collagen cap on the surface along with an increase in survival, compared with the sham control. We suggest that BHUx is a potent, multi-factorial formulation against atherosclerosis

Wildlife Collisions to Aircraft in India

Wildlife strikes (mainly birds, but also includes bats and other mammals on the ground) with aircraft isa serious economic and safety concern in the aviation industry. The solution to the problem can be evolved byidentifying the species involved in the incidents/ accidents. In the Indian context, such an attempt was started in1980. In the recent past, the Indian Air Force adopted the DNA Bar-coding technology to identify the species involved. The extent of the problems faced by the country and involvement of different species in various time blocks has been compared with the objective of analyzing changes over different periods to gauge the changes and assess the future requirements. The data indicates that over the years, the number of strikes has increased manifold in the civil aviation sector. The number of species involved in strikes has almost doubled. The serious strikes due to Vultures have nearly disappeared and their place has been mainly taken over by Black Kites. In the recent past, Black Kites are the cause of the highest damages and also have the highest probability of causing damages (61.17%) when struck. Adoption of DNA Barcoding technology has helped to identify the species in incidents where minimal bird remnants were found. Although the number of accidents has decreased, the economical losses continue to rise due to the high cost of modern aircraft

Mycobacterium tuberculosis MycP1 Protease Plays a Dual Role in Regulation of ESX-1 Secretion and Virulence

SummaryMycobacterium tuberculosis uses the ESX-1 secretion system to deliver virulence proteins during infection of host cells. Here we report a mechanism of posttranscriptional control of ESX-1 mediated by MycP1, a M. tuberculosis serine protease. We show that MycP1 is required for ESX-1 secretion but that, unexpectedly, genetic inactivation of MycP1 protease activity increases secretion of ESX-1 substrates. We demonstrate that EspB, an ESX-1 substrate required for secretion, is a target of MycP1 in vitro and in vivo. During macrophage infection, an inactive MycP1 protease mutant causes hyperactivation of ESX-1-stimulated innate signaling pathways. MycP1 is required for growth in mice during acute infection, while loss of its protease activity leads to attenuated virulence during chronic infection. As the key ESX-1 substrates ESAT-6 and CFP-10 are highly immunogenic, fine-tuning of their secretion by MycP1 may balance virulence and immune detection and be essential for successful maintenance of long-term M. tuberculosis infection

A MANUAL INSERTION FACET FOR UNCERTANITY FROM THEIR FETCH RESULTS

The aggregating frequent lists inside the top internet search engine results in mine query facets and implement a method known as QDMiner. More particularly, QDMiner extracts lists totally free text, HTML tags, and repeat regions within the top internet search engine results, groups them into clusters when using the products they contain, then ranks the clusters and products for a way the lists and products can be found in the very best results. Our suggested approach is generic and doesn't depend on any type of domain understanding. The primary reason behind mining facets differs from query recommendation. We advise an organized solution, which we call QDMiner, to right away mine query facets by removing and grouping frequent lists totally free text, HTML tags, and repeat regions within top internetsearch engine results. We further look at the issue of list duplication, and uncover better query facets may be discovered by modeling fine-grained similarities between lists and penalizing the duplicated lists. Experimental results show many lists are available and helpful query facets may be discovered by QDMiner. Our recommended approach is generic and doesn't depend on any kind of domain understanding. In order that it can cope with open-domain queries. Query dependent. rather in the fixed schema for the concerns, we extract facets inside the top retrieved documents for every query

Self-medication amongst pregnant women in a tertiary care teaching hospital in India

Background: Self-medication is a popular practice in developing countries where there is no strict regulation of drugs sold in local pharmacies. General public is usually unaware of the adverse effects of drugs used for common illness and continue using them without prescription during pregnancy. This study was carried out to know the extent of self-medication practised by pregnant women and various factors associated with it.Methods: A questionnaire based, cross-sectional study of pregnant women visiting the OB GYN-OPD of a tertiary care teaching hospital was conducted. 303 eligible subjects were questioned and statistical analysis was carried out.Results: Total 16.5% women were found to be self-medicating during pregnancy for common conditions like headache (26%), fever (23%) and common cold (19%). Odds Ratio between the self-medicating and non-self-medicating groups for variables like age (<25 years; ≥25 years), education (illiterate; literate) and gestational age (<20 weeks; ≥20 weeks) are 1.6, 2 and 1.73 respectively. Women with a history of self-medicating before pregnancy were significantly more likely to continue doing so during pregnancy (p value <0.00001).Conclusions: A significant proportion of pregnant women have been found to self-medicate without knowing the adverse effects of the drug used. Thus, spreading awareness against this health-predicament is necessary