Traditional Medicolore in Badwani District (M.P.) India

The study concerns significant ethnobotanical information of 25 plant species belonging to 25 genera and 19 families traditionally used by the aborigines and rural folks of Badwani district, Of these 21 species are being noted for the first time from Indian region.  Madhya Pradesh (India) to treat various human diseases such as, impotency, intestinal worms, fever, constipation, ring worms, eczema, hepatitis, menstrual complaints, urinary complaints, migraine stomach-ache, bone fracture, lactation, piles, night blindness, pregnancy and abortion, etc.,This paper highlights traditional uses of plants used by the rural and tribal people. The district is inhabited with tribes viz., Gond, Baiga, Koraku, Bhariaya, Halba, Bhil, Kaul and Pawara. The population of the region is predominantly rural and tribal having considerable knowledge about ambient plant wealth and their traditional utility. The present work is an attempt to collect document and evaluate the ethnomedicinal claims in the areas under study. Key words: Ethnomedicine, Badwani District, Madhya Pradesh P. S. Patil. Traditional Medicolore in Badwani District (M.P.) India. J Phytol 2/12 (2010) 49-53

The Cosmology of Massless String Modes

We consider the spacetime dynamics of a gas of closed strings in the context of General Relativity in a background of arbitrary spatial dimensions. Our motivation is primarily late time String Gas Cosmology, where such a spacetime picture has to emerge after the dilaton has stabilized. We find that after accounting for the thermodynamics of a gas of strings, only string modes which are massless at the self-dual radius are relevant, and that they lead to a dynamics which is qualitatively different from that induced by the modes usually considered in the literature. In the context of an ansatz with three large spatial dimensions and an arbitrary number of small extra dimensions, we obtain isotropic stabilization of these extra dimensions at the self-dual radius. This stabilization occurs for fixed dilaton, and is induced by the special string states we focus on. The three large dimensions undergo a regular Friedmann-Robertson-Walker expansion. We also show that this framework for late-time cosmology is consistent with observational bounds.Comment: 15 pages, no figures, references added (again

Investigation on folkloric medicines in Badwani district (M.P.) India

The paper communicates first-hand information on 25 plant species belonging to 25 genera and 21 families traditionally used by the aborigines and rural populace of Badwani district (Madhya Pradesh, India) to treat various human diseases.Of these, 16 species are being reported for the first time from India. These are administered to various diseases such as dysentery, whitlow, throat infection, mouth ulcers, earache, impotency, fever, bone-fever, cough, migraine, stomach-ache, bone fracture, rheumatism, post-pregnancy complaints, etc., They are employed in the form of extract, infusion, paste, powder, juice, decoction, etc. The district is inhabited by tribes viz., Gond, Baiga, Koraku, Bhariaya, Halba, Bhil, Kaul and Pawara. The population of the region is predominantly rural and tribal having considerable knowledge about ambient plant wealth and their traditional utilities. The correct scientific name of plant, family and local names, preparations of medicinal recipes, dosage, mode of administration and diseases treated are given. These have been gathered from medicine-men, elders and experienced informants. This is attempt to evaluate the ethnomedicinal claims, which in turn on further scientific scrutiny, may emerge as new drugs. ÂÂ

Target space duality and moduli stabilization in String Gas Cosmology

Motivated by string gas cosmology, we investigate the stability of moduli fields coming from compactifications of string gas on torus with background flux. It was previously claimed that moduli are stabilized only at a single fixed point in moduli space, a self-dual point of T-duality with vanishing flux. Here, we show that there exist other stable fixed points on moduli space with non-vanishing flux. We also discuss the more general target space dualities associated with these fixed points.Comment: 12 pages, 1 figur

Diaphragmatic hernia following oesophagectomy for oesophageal cancer – Are we too radical?

Background: Diaphragmatic herniation (DH) of abdominal contents into the thorax after oesophageal resection is a recognised and serious complication of surgery. While differences in pressure between the abdominal and thoracic cavities are important, the size of the hiatal defect is something that can be influenced surgically. As with all oncological surgery, safe resection margins are essential without adversely affecting necessary anatomical structure and function. However very little has been published looking at the extent of the hiatal resection. We aim to present a case series of patients who developed DH herniation post operatively in order to raise discussion about the ideal extent of surgical resection required. Methods: We present a series of cases of two male and one female who had oesophagectomies for moderately and poorly differentiated adenocarcinomas of the lower oesophagus who developed post-operative DH. We then conducted a detailed literature review using Medline, Pubmed and Google Scholar to identify existing guidance to avoid this complication with particular emphasis on the extent of hiatal resection. Discussion: Extended incision and partial resection of the diaphragm are associated with an increased risk of postoperative DH formation. However, these more extensive excisions can ensure clear surgical margins. Post-operative herniation can be an early or late complication of surgery and despite the clear importance of hiatal resection only one paper has been published on this subject which recommends a more limited resection than was carried out in our cases. Conclusion: This case series investigated the recommended extent of hiatal dissection in oesophageal surgery. Currently there is no clear guidance available on this subject and further studies are needed to ascertain the optimum resection margin that results in the best balance of oncological parameters vs. post operative morbidity

Current trends in highly active anti-retroviral therapy in an anti-retroviral therapy centre attached to a remote government medical college of Maharashtra, India: a retrospective study

Background: Highly active anti-retroviral therapy (HAART) became the keystone of national AIDS program. There is lack of awareness and inadequate training about drug safety monitoring among health care professionals in India. Hence, the present study was carried out to study current trends in HAART and pattern of associated adverse drug reactions.Methods: A retrospective observational study was conducted at an anti-retroviral therapy (ART) Centre. A total of 151 HIV/AIDS Patients (old and new cases) receiving HAART during July 2015 to December 2015 were randomly included in the study. Causality and severity assessment of adverse drug reactions (ADRs) was done by using Naranjo’s ADR causality scale and modified Hartwig and Siegel scale respectively. The data was computed using MS Excel and descriptive results were expressed as counts and percentages. The study was approved by institutional ethics committee.Results: The prevalence of HIV/AIDS infection was higher in adult males (51.66%). Zidovudine+lamivudine+nevirapine (ZLN) was the most commonly prescribed HAART combination. Out of 132 ADRs reported, 76.52% of the ADRs were related to haematological system and ZLN was the commonest combination causing ADRs. 90.91% ADRs belong to possible category on causality assessment and 68.94% of the ADRs were of moderate severity. Tuberculosis (28.47%) was the commonest diagnosed opportunistic infection among the HIV/AIDS patients.Conclusions: The prescribing pattern of HAART regimens was in accordance with national guidelines for antiretroviral therapy. We recommend a pharmacovigilance system for sustainable management of ADRs in HIV/AIDS patients as we found under reporting of ADRs