ENLIGHTENING THE CONCEPT OF UPASAYA AND ITS ROLE IN DIAGNOSIS AND CHIKITSA ASPECT

Diagnosis in Ayurveda is usually based on five techniques called as Pancha lakshananidanas, which are used to identify and diagnose any kind of disease along with the root cause of occurrence of disease. The word Pancha lakshana Nidanas constitutes combination of two words Pancha means five and Nidana means methods of diagnosis.The five types of Nidanas include Nidana (cause), Purvarupa (prodromal symptoms), Rupa (symptoms), Upashaya (exploratory methods) and Samprapti (manifestation of disease).In Ayurveda Pancha nidana deploys a proper diagnostic method where one factor can result in numerous diseases. For e.g., aggravation of Vata dosha in the body can lead to around eighty diseases. Hence, it is important for Ayurvedic practitioners to have proper knowledge of all types of Dosas i.e., Vata, Pitta and Kapha, Srotas, Dhatus, Trigunas and other systems of the body in order to diagnose the exact cause of the disease and to plan best remedial measures.There are many ailments likely to have similar cause and symptoms. Upashaya is an ancient Ayurvedic technique to differentiate and diagnose such disorders and to plan accurate remedial measures Upashaya also includes various diet regulations depending on the individuals suitability and the stage of the disease.Based upon the ancient treatises like Charaka samhitha, Susruta samhitha, Vagbhata samhitha, Madhava nidana In the present study an attempt has been made to understand the applicability of Upasaya in the diagnosis aspect especially for knowing the Doshic involvement as well as in treatment aspect for selecting the appropriate line of treatment for the ailments

Changes in chemical constituents and overall acceptability of bael-guava nectar and crush during storage

The bael-guava nectar and crush were analyzed for changes in chemical composition at monthly interval for three months storage period. There was a slight increase in total soluble solids of both the beverage blends. Total and reducing sugars, acidity and browning increased significantly, while ascorbic acid and total phenols decreased significantly during three months storage in both the blended beverages. Though, the overall acceptability of bael-guava beverages decreased significantly with the advancement in storage period, their overall rating remained above the acceptable level even after three months storage

An unusual case of postpartum convulsions

Convulsions in postpartum period are not very rare. Though the most common etiology is postpartum eclampsia, not all cases present with hypertension and proteinuria. These cases need to be reassessed with a CT or MRI to find out the other causes of convulsions like cerebral venous thrombosis, subarachnoid bleed, neurocysticercosis, tuberculomas etc. In our case, the patient presented with convulsions on the tenth postpartum day and her CT revealed hypo dense foci with perilesional edema in right high parietal region & multiple hyper dense foci in bilateral cerebral hemispheres with no perilesional edema- old healed calcified granulomas. The patient was treated with phenytoin and albendazole

Biosinteza, fermentacija, purifikacija i primjena surfaktina

Surfactin, a bacterial cyclic lipopeptide, is produced by various strains of Bacillus subtilis and is primarily recognized as one of the most effective biosurfactants. It has the ability to reduce surface tension of water from 72 to 27 mN/m at a concentration as low as 0.005 %. The structure of surfactin consists of seven amino acids bonded to the carboxyl and hydroxyl groups of a 14-carbon fatty acid. Surfactin possesses a number of biological activities such as the ability to lyse erythrocytes, inhibit clot formation, lyse bacterial spheroplasts and protoplasts, and inhibit cyclic 3\u27,5-monophosphate diesterase. The high cost of production and low yields have limited its use in various commercial applications. Both submerged and solid-state fermentation have been investigated with the mutational approach to improve the productivity. In this review, current state of knowledge on biosynthesis of surfactin, its fermentative production, purification, analytical methods and biomedical applications is presented.Surfaktin, ciklički lipopeptid izoliran iz različitih sojeva bakterije Bacillus subtilis, jedan je od najučinkovitijih biosurfaktanata, koji čak i u koncentraciji od 0,005 % smanjuje površinsku napetost vode sa 72 na 27 mN/m. Sastoji se od 7 aminokiselina vezanih karboksilnim i hidroksilnim skupinama na masnu kiselinu sa 14 ugljikovih atoma. Biološka je aktivnost surfaktina raznovrsna: razgrađuje eritrocite, sprečava zgrušavanje, razgrađuje bakterijske sferoplaste i protoplaste te inhibira 3\u27,5-fosfodiesterazu. Veliki troškovi proizvodnje i mali prinosi ograničavaju njegovu komercijalnu uporabu, pa je ispitana mogućnost povećanja proizvodnje surfaktina uzgojem mutanata Bacillus subtilis u tekućoj i na čvrstoj podlozi. U ovom su revijalnom prikazu opisana najnovija dostignuća u biosintezi, fermentaciji, purifikaciji, analizi i biomedicinskoj primjeni surfaktina