Review on Shatkriyakala – A way to know and treat diseases

Ayurveda is a science of life. It is a system of traditional medicine native to Indian subcontinent but now days its knowledge is accepted worldwide. In Ayurveda prevention of all types of diseases is known as a prominent part of treatment which includes restructuring human lifestyle aligns with the course of nature. Kriyakala means the time of treatment or interception in the process of disease manifestation. These six stages mentioned by Acharya Sushruta gives an idea regarding the state of the disease in the body and it guides us when to intervene or where to inter intervene. Early diagnosis of diseases helps to cure the diseases successfully without much discomfort in planning treatment. The concept is traced in ancient Ayurvedic books. This is an objective approach of ancient scientists helping for the clinical practice. Apart from that the Kriyakala give us the knowledge of diagnosis, prognosis and the level of intervention and so that to prevent the establishment of a disease

ANTIBACTERIAL ACTIVITY IN DIFFERENT EXTRACTS OF LANTANA CAMARA AGAINST ENTEROPATHOGENS

Medicinal use of plants is the oldest form of healthcare known to mankind. India has a rich profusion of medicinal plants and 75% of its folk population is still using herbal preparations. Present study reports about antimicrobial potentiality of Lantana camara as its leaf extracts exhibit good antimicrobial, fungicidal, insecticidal and nematicidal properties and the plant might be a novel source of antimicrobial drug. Two enteropathogens as (A) - B. subtilis (positive, obligate aerobic) and (B) - E. coli (Gram-negative, facultative anaerobic) were used for the present study. Four solvent phases viz, methanol, ethanol, acetone and aqueous were used for extraction of antimicrobial agent. The screening of antimicrobial property was done by well diffusion method. Leaves of Lantana camara showed excellent antibacterial activity in all the solvent phases used against both E. coli as well as B. subtilis. Lantana is effective against both the bacteria.The aqueous extract showed minimum ineffective antimicrobial activity against E. coli and B. subtilis, where as acetone phase showed maximum activity against B. subtilis and ethanol against E. coli as shown in the terms of maximum zone of inhibition

An unusual presentation of vulvar cavernous hemangioma in a 10-year-old premenarchal girl: a rare entity

Vascular tumors of the female genitalia are unusual. Hemangiomas are benign tumors of the blood vessels. Usually they are asymptomatic but may present as discomfort, pain and other symptoms. However, vulvar cavernous hemangioma can be seen in newborns and infants, but rarely occur in children and adult women. A 10-year old premenarchal girl presented with a painless swelling on her right labia majora since birth which was increasing gradually. On examination, a well-defined, soft, mobile and non-tender multicystic swelling was observed involving right labia majora and minora of approximately 5×6 cm in size. An ultrasound of the lesion showed a well-circumscribed, hypo echoic mass with multicystic lesion of size 40×14×44 mm arising from right labia majora with vascularity on color Doppler and venous flow on spectral pattern, suggestive of vascular malformation. Surgical excision of lesion was performed with the utmost care to preserve the surrounding healthy tissue and vulvar anatomy. Histopathological examination (HPE) report confirmed the diagnosis of a cavernous hemangioma with no evidence of malignancy. Vulvar cavernous hemangioma is an uncommon vascular tumor that can be rarely seen in pediatric patients. Imaging studies, such as ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), play a crucial role in confirming the diagnosis and guiding the management. Surgical excision with preservation of healthy tissue is the treatment of choice. Long-term follow-up is essential to monitor recurrence and patient's well-being

α-Amylase immobilization onto functionalized graphene nanosheets as scaffolds: Its characterization, kinetics and potential applications in starch based industries

Abstractα-Amylase is imperative for starch and its deriviatized industries. Functionalized graphene sheets were tailored and optimized as scaffold for α-amylase immobilization using Response Surface Methodology based on Box–Behnken design, with an overall immobilization efficiency of 85.16%. Analysis of variance provided adequacy to the mathematical model for further studies. Native and immobilized functionalized graphene were characterized using transmission and scanning electron microscopy, followed by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Wheat α-amylase conjugated with functionalized graphene sheets were visually evident on transmission and scanning micrographs while the FTIR spectra showed interplay of various chemical interactions and bonding, during and after immobilization. Optimum pH and optimum temperature for immobilized enzyme though remained unchanged but showed broader range whereas Km showed a slight decrease (1.32mg/mL). It also showed enhanced thermal and storage stability and retained 73% residual activity after 10 uses. These ensemble of properties and non-toxic nature of functionalized graphene, makes it viable to be absorbed commercially in starch processing industries

Space-Time Code Design Using Quaternions, Octonions and Other Non-Associative Structures

There are several non-associative finite dimensional division algebras over different number fields. Their representations in the corresponding matrix algebras preserve additive structure. However, the embedding does not preserve multiplication as matrix multiplication is associative. As such, it gives a generalized matrix representation. Indeed, a non-associative structure provides different platforms for more effective and useful space-time coding satisfying rank criteria, and coding gain criteria for multiple antenna wireless communication. Associative division algebras have dimension restrictions, whereas non-associative division algebras over suitable fields exist in infinitely many dimensions. We illustrate the above program by using octonion algebras

STUDY ON AGE RELATED MACULAR DEGENERATION (DRY TYPE) IN CONTEXT TO PITTA VIDAGDHA DRISHTI AND ITS AYURVEDIC MANAGEMENT

Age Related Macular Degeneration (ARMD) is the leading cause of the vision loss and blindness in people above 50 years of age. ARMD is characterised by central vision loss, distorted or blurred vision, decreased visual acuity, Central or para-central blind spot (scotoma). An almost similar clinical condition to ARMD is seen in Pitta Vidagdha Dristi. Dry ARMD is more prevalent (90%) and slower in progress than Wet ARMD. The Ayurvedic management of Pitta Vidagdha Drishti is similar to Pittaja Abhishyanda. With this background a specific line of treatment for the Pitta Vidagdha Drisht in Sushruta Samhita is adopted. In this study, total 22 patients, 12 in group A (Triphala Ghrita, Saptamrita Lauha, Rasayana Churna and Shatavari etc.) & 10 in Group B (Control) were registered. The duration of therapy was of 3 months in both the groups. Group A showed better results on ARMD when compared with that of Group B especially on perception of flashes of light (72.23%) & dim light adaptation problem (45.23%). So ARMD (Dry type) can be better managed by Ayurvedic treatment group than the Modern multivitamin group

Markedly disturbed sleep in medically refractory compared to controlled epilepsy – A clinical and polysomnography study

AbstractPurposeTo evaluate sleep disturbances or sleep related events and their characteristics among patients with medically refractory epilepsy, compared to those with controlled epilepsy.MethodsIn a prospective case-controlled study, patients of medically refractory and controlled epilepsy were recruited and history pertaining to epilepsy and sleep related events and Epworth sleepiness scores were recorded and all patients underwent over night polysomnography.ResultsAmong 40 patients, 20 with medically refractory (Group 1) and 20 with controlled epilepsy (Group 2) (median age 18, range 10–35 years), the self reported sleep parameters in Group 1 patients were found to be significantly different as compared to Group 2, in terms of the duration of night time sleep, day time sleep, day time nap frequency, total sleep hours per day, excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS)(45% vs. 15%) and average sleep hours over the week prior to polysomnography. On PSG, Group 1 patients showed significantly less total sleep time [340.4min (147–673) vs. 450.3min (330–570)] with delayed sleep latency and REM latency, poor sleep efficiency [80.45 (40.5–98.0) vs. 95.45 (88.4–99.7)] and frequent arousals and wake after sleep onset (WASO) compared to Group 2 patients. Four patients (20%) in Group 1 compared to none in Group 2 were found to have mild obstructive sleep apnea.ConclusionsOur results indicate that medically refractory epilepsy patients believe that they spend more time sleeping, in contrast to the documented shorter sleep duration on polysomnography. This difference between perceived and actual sleep seems, by their data, to arise mainly from sleep fragmentation, disturbed architecture and the interesting finding of associated sleep apnea among the medically refractory epilepsy patients

Intermittent Food Absence Motivates Reallocation of Locomotion and Feeding in Spotted Munia (Lonchura punctulata)

Background: Daily feeding and locomotion are interrelated behaviours. The time spent in feeding and rate of food intake depends on food availability. In low food condition, the birds would show intense movement (locomotion) for a longer time throughout the day however during abundant food supply they may chose higher activity and food intake in the morning and evening only. In the present study we hypothesized that in Spotted Munia (Lonchura punctulata), intermittent food availability during day would reallocate their interrelated behaviors, the feeding (food intake) and locomotor activity patterns.  Methods: Two groups of birds (N = 6 each) were kept individually in activity cages under 12L:12D. Group 1 (Control; C) had ad libitum food but group 2 (Treatment; T) had food for 6 hours only (2 h presence followed by 2 h absence; 2P:2A) during 12 hour light period. In the first week, group 2 received food with ‘lights on’ (TI; ZT 0–2, 4–6 and 8–10; where ZT 0= zeitgeber time 0, time of lights ON). In the following week, the food was given 2 hours after ‘lights on’ (TII; ZT 2–4, 6–8, 10–12). The food intake and locomotor activity under each condition were observed.  Results: The results showed that locomotor activity was induced during food deprivation and suppressed during food availability. Also the food deprivation led to increased food intake. Conclusion: Our results suggest that intermittent food availability/ deprivation reallocates the locomotor activity and food intake in Spotted Munia

Minocycline, levodopa and MnTMPyP induced changes in the mitochondrial proteome profile of MPTP and maneb and paraquat mice models of Parkinson's disease

AbstractMitochondrial dysfunction is the foremost perpetrator of the nigrostriatal dopaminergic neurodegeneration leading to Parkinson's disease (PD). However, the roles played by majority of the mitochondrial proteins in PD pathogenesis have not yet been deciphered. The present study investigated the effects of 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) and combined maneb and paraquat on the mitochondrial proteome of the nigrostriatal tissues in the presence or absence of minocycline, levodopa and manganese (III) tetrakis (1-methyl-4-pyridyl) porphyrin (MnTMPyP). The differentially expressed proteins were identified and proteome profiles were correlated with the pathological and biochemical anomalies induced by MPTP and maneb and paraquat. MPTP altered the expression of twelve while combined maneb and paraquat altered the expression of fourteen proteins. Minocycline, levodopa and MnTMPyP, respectively, restored the expression of three, seven and eight proteins in MPTP and seven, eight and eight proteins in maneb- and paraquat-treated groups. Although levodopa and MnTMPyP rescued from MPTP- and maneb- and paraquat-mediated increase in the microglial activation and decrease in manganese-superoxide dismutase expression and complex I activity, dopamine content and number of dopaminergic neurons, minocycline defended mainly against maneb- and paraquat-mediated alterations. The results demonstrate that MPTP and combined maneb and paraquat induce mitochondrial dysfunction and microglial activation and alter the expression of a bunch of mitochondrial proteins leading to the nigrostriatal dopaminergic neurodegeneration and minocycline, levodopa or MnTMPyP variably offset scores of such changes