Molecular Docking Study of Several Antiviral Drugs to Defeat Covid-19

Corona virus is one of the significant pathogens that destructs the human respiratory functioning. Deaths and casualties caused by coronaviruses (CoVs) include the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)-CoV and the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS)-CoV. The aim of the work was to compare several antiviral drugs and find out which is the most active drug that might be used in treatment for COVID -19. In this study Molecular Docking approach was used to determine the binding affinities of 62 antiviral molecules. The study was carried out using Molegro Virtual Docker 6.0 with PDB 2GTB procured from RCSB Protein Data Bank. Simeprevir and Telaprevir were discovered to be most potent having high MolDock and Rerank scores of -225.158, -78.4383 and -209.467, -136.155 respectively. Further studies may be conducted to design more potent analogue and defeat COVID-19

Prevalence and risk factors for respiratory morbidity, among high school students of South India

Background: The prevalence of asthma and other respiratory diseases among children and adolescents has been on the rise in recent years and this can affect the quality of life and scholastic performance of school students. Therefore, it is essential to find out the actual prevalence of respiratory morbidity among high school students so that we can plan early interventions against this problem.Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted among the students from classes 8 to 10, from a public school in Pathanamthitta district of Kerala state, using a modified American Thoracic Society Questionnaire (ATS-DLD-78-A) to assess respiratory symptoms among general population.  Results: The prevalence of cough was 40.8% (95% CI 34.8% to 46.9%) and that of wheeze was found to be 19.6% (95% CI 15.1% to 24.9%). Among the possible risk factors for developing respiratory diseases, it was found that only family history of respiratory problems had a significant association with symptoms of respiratory disease (P = 0.002).Conclusion: The very high prevalence of respiratory symptoms in the study may be due to the fact that the study was conducted during the rainy season in which there is a higher incidence of respiratory infections.  But these findings point towards the need to conduct more comprehensive and objective studies on the subject.

Alterations in hippocampal serotonergic and INSR function in streptozotocin induced diabetic rats exposed to stress: neuroprotective role of pyridoxine and Aegle marmelose

Diabetes and stress stimulate hippocampal 5-HT synthesis, metabolism and release. The present study was carried out to find the effects of insulin, Aegle marmelose alone and in combination with pyridoxine on the hippocampal 5-HT, 5-HT2A receptor subtype, gene expression studies on 5-HT2A, 5-HTT, INSR, immunohistochemical studies and elevated plus maze in streptozotocin induced diabetic rats. 5-HT content showed a significant decrease (p < 0.001) and a significant increase (p < 0.001) in 5-HIAA in hippocampus of diabetic rats compared to control. 5-HT receptor binding parameters Bmax and Kd showed a significant decrease (p < 0.001) whereas 5-HT2A receptor binding parameters Bmax showed a significant decrease (p < 0.001) with a significant increase (p < 0.05) in Kd in hippocampus of diabetic rats compared to control. Gene expression studies of 5-HT2A, 5-HTT and INSR in hippocampus showed a significant down regulation (p < 0.001) in diabetic rats compared to control. Pyridoxine treated in combination with insulin and A. marmelose to diabetic rats reversed the 5-HT content, Bmax , Kd of 5-HT, 5-HT2A and gene expression of 5-HT2A, 5-HTT and INSR in hippocampus to near control. The gene expression of 5-HT2A and 5-HTT were confirmed by immunohistochemical studies. Behavioural studies using elevated plus maze showed that serotonin through its transporter significantly increased (p < 0.001) anxiety-related traits in diabetic rats which were corrected by combination therapy. Our results suggest that pyridoxine treated in combination with insulin and A. marmelose has a role in the regulation of insulin synthesis and release, normalising diabetic related stress and anxiety through hippocampal serotonergic function. This has clinical significance in the management of diabetes

Effect of a tart cherry juice supplement on arterial stiffness and inflammation in healthy adults: a randomised controlled trial.

Tart cherries are a particularly rich source of anthocyanins. Evidence indicates that dietary intake of anthocyanins is inversely associated with arterial stiffness. We conducted an open-label randomised placebo controlled study to determine whether a tart cherry juice concentrate (Cherry Active®) reduced arterial stiffness, inflammation and risk markers for cardiovascular disease in 47 healthy adults (30 – 50 y). Participants consumed 30 ml of cherry concentrate diluted to a volume of 250 ml with water or the same volume of an energy matched control drink daily for 6 weeks. Measurements were taken at baseline and at the end of the intervention. There was no effect of the intervention on arterial stiffness (P=0.218), c-reactive protein (P=0.220), systolic blood pressure (P=0.163), diastolic blood pressure (P=0.121), total cholesterol (P=0.342) and high density lipoprotein cholesterol (P=0.127). At the end of the intervention, plasma antioxidant capacity (measured as the ferric reducing ability of plasma (FRAP) was significantly higher in the intervention group than the control group (P=0.012). We conclude that a tart cherry juice concentrate rich in anthocyanins has no effect on arterial stiffness, c-reactive protein and risk markers for cardiovascular disease, but evokes a minor increase in antioxidant status in healthy adults

Person-centered language and Major Depressive Disorder with Peripartum Onset: a cross-sectional study

Introduction: The American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology recommends screening women for Major Depressive Disorder with Perinatal Onset (MDD-PPO) at least once during the perinatal period. However, under-diagnosis, inadequate referral mechanisms, and lack of treatment capacity can result in untreated Major Depressive Disorder with Peripartum Onset (MDD-PPO). A potential strategy for overcoming systemic barriers preventing the screening and treatment for MDD-PPO includes implementing person-centered language (PCL). Therefore, our primary objective is to quantify adherence to PCL guidelines among the peer-reviewed articles pertaining to MDD-PPO.Methods: This cross-sectional analysis included a systematic search of PubMed for MDD-PPO-related articles from January 1, 2014, to March 7, 2021. Journals with at least 20 MMD-PPO-related articles with human subjects were included. Search returns were then randomized, and 500 articles were examined for inclusion of pre-specified, non-PCL terminology.Results: From the screening, 178 articles were included and searched for non-PCL terminology. We found that 50.56% (90/178) publications were PCL adherent. The most commonly used non-PCL labels were “depressed,” found in 30.3% (54/178) of articles, followed by “suffer” found in 19.10% (34/178), “psycho/psychotic” found in 10.11% (18/178), and “blue” found in 8.99% (16/178) of the included articles.Conclusions: Our study found that nearly half of the scientific literature on MDD-PPO was not adherent to PCL guidelines. PCL is viewed positively by patients, may lead to better patient-provider relationships, and is recommended by the AMA and APA. Thus, PCL should be adhered to by authors of MDD-PPO research. By implementing PCL requirements, journals will aid in reducing stigma; therefore, assisting to overcome barriers in screening and treatment for women with MDD-PP

Dementia and Diabetes Mellitus: Association with Apolipoprotein E4 Polymorphism from a Hospital in Southern India

Objective. To evaluate the association of Apolipoprotein E4 (ApoE4) in Alzheimer's dementia (AD) with comorbid diabetes mellitus (DM). Methods. The study included subjects with Alzheimer's dementia (AD) (n = 209), individuals with non-Alzheimer's dementia (nAD) (n = 122), individuals with parental history of AD (f/hAD) (n = 70), and control individuals who had normal cognitive functions and no parental history of dementia (NC) (n = 193). Dementia was diagnosed using International Classification of Diseases-10 revision (ICD-10) criteria. DM was assessed on the basis of self-report and/or use of antidiabetic medications. ApoE genotyping was done using sequence-specific primer polymerase chain reaction. Results. ApoE4 allele frequencies were highest among AD with comorbid DM (0.35) followed by AD without DM (0.25), nAD with DM (0.13), nAD without comorbid DM (0.12), and NC (0.08). Frequency of ApoE4 in persons with f/hAD was 0.13. The association of AD with co-morbid DM in ApoE4 carriers was more in comparison to NC with DM (OR = 5.68, P = 0.04). Conclusion. There is a significant association between AD with co-morbid DM and ApoE4 genotype

Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density

Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals &lt;1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data

Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries

Abstract Background Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres. Methods This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low–middle-income countries. Results In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of ‘single-use’ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low–middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia. Conclusion This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high– and low–middle–income countries