Unilateral snow banking in tuberculosis-related intermediate uveitis

Snow banking is usually a term coined to describe the accumulation of vitreous exudates over the pars plana and the peripheral retina in pars planitis. Snow banking is very rare in tubercular intermediate uveitis. A 32-year-old male was diagnosed to have intermediate uveitis due to tubercular etiology in the right eye. Laboratory investigations include an increased erythrocyte sedimentation rate, positive Mantoux test, and computed tomography thorax showing mediastinal lymphadenopathy. Transbronchial needle aspiration of the lymph nodes showed chronic granulomatous inflammation with caseation. There were no recurrences following antitubercular therapy (ATT). This case report highlights the unique finding of snow banking in tubercular uveitis and course following treatment with ATT

Applications of Box-Behnken experimental design coupled with artificial neural networks for biosorption of low concentrations of cadmium using Spirulina (Arthrospira) spp.

The present study deals with the application of artificial intelligence techniques coupled with Box-Behnken (BB) design to model the process parameters for biosorption of cadmium using live Spirulina (Arthrospira) spp. as adsorbent in open race way pond with Zarrouk medium. The biomass concentration of Spirulina spp. decreased to half at 4 ppm Cd (II) after 8 days. Based on the LCt50 values, 3.69 ppm (8th day), Spirulina (Arthospira) maxima showed maximum tolerance. Considerable growth and bioaccumulation of Spirulina spp. is observed below 1 ppm and tolerant up to 3 ppm. The cadmium adsorption on Spirulina spp. showed good correlation (R2 = 0.99) when applied to Freundlich equation and data fit into pseudo second order kinetics. A four factorial, three blocks and three level Box-Behnken design with initial concentration (1 ppb to 5 ppb), biosorbant dosage (0.1 gdw to 0.2 gdw), agitation speed (12 rpm to 16 rpm) and pH (6 to 8) as independent variables and percentage adsorption as dependent variable were selected for study. The data were further processed using artificial neural network model and DIRECT algorithm for better optimization. The final Cd (II) concentration of 0.5 ppb was achieved with 1 ppb initialconcentration under optimal conditions. A continuous desorption process was also developed for removal of cadmium from Spirulina (Arthrospira) sp

Uptake of home-based voluntary HIV testing in sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Improving access to HIV testing is a key priority in scaling up HIV treatment and prevention services. Home-based voluntary counselling and testing (HBT) as an approach to delivering wide-scale HIV testing is explored here

Review on Socio-Cultural Dialectical Records of Malasar

In the state of Tamil Nadu, there are many tribes. In particular, Malasar tribal people are located in and around area's of Pollachi, Anaimalai, and Kinathukkadavu taluks of Coimbatore district.  Malasar people are categorized as Schedule Tribes. In recent studies, the Scholars and Researchers have examined the living conditions of the Malasar Tribes through Folklore, Anthropology, Sociology and Botany. At present, the Language of Malasars are undefined which may result in the destruction of their cultural aspects. Even after 75 years of India's independence, the Malasar tribes continue to struggle for livelihood in the absence of basic rights. Rights-based comprehensive studies and democratic debates with scientific data to ensure socio-economic development and cultural recovery of Malasar tribes should be enhanced at its level

Effect of Gadolinium on the properties and photo-catalytic applications of ZnO nanocrystals

Various weight % of Gadolinium doped ZnO nanocrystals were prepared by using simple co-precipitation method. All the prepared Gd doped ZnO nanocrystals are annealed at 450°C. The synthesized nanocrystals are characterized by using various techniques like X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscope and UV-Vis spectroscopy. The influence of various weight % of Gadolinium doping on structural, optical and photo-catalytic performance of the ZnO nanocrystals has been investigated. Photo-catalytic decolourization was analysed for Gadolinium doped ZnO nanocrystals by using Methylene blue as model dye. It has been found that 0.075% Gd doped ZnO nanocrystals shows enhanced catalytic performance

EVALUATION OF IN VITRO ANTIOXIDANT AND α-AMYLASE INHIBITORY ACTIVITY OF PHYLLANTHUS INDOFISCHERI BENNET

Objective: The present study evaluates the antioxidant and α-amylase inhibitory activity of leaf and bark extracts of Phyllanthus indofischeri with methanol and water as solvents. In addition to this, the total phenolic content and total flavonoid content was determined.Methods: The total phenolic and total flavonoid content of the extracts was determined by folin ciocaletus reagent method and aluminium chloride colorimetric method respectively. The antioxidant and α-amylase inhibitory activity were measured by various assays, including α, α-diphenyl-ẞ-dipicryl-hydrazyl (DPPH) free radical scavenging, 2,2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonicacid) (ABTS) radical scavenging, superoxide radical scavenging, total antioxidant capacity by phosphomolybdate method and porcine pancreatic α-amylase inhibitory assay. The IC50 values were calculated and compared with standards such as gallic acid, ascorbic acid and α-acarbose.Results: The results illustrated that all the extracts of Phyllanthus indofischeri exhibit significant antioxidant and α-amylase inhibitory activity. Among the extracts, methanolic leaf extract showed high levels of activity followed by bark water extract.Conclusion: Phyllanthus indofischeri extracts had shown antioxidant and α-amylase inhibitory activity. On the basis of these results, Phyllanthus indofischeri can be used as a natural antioxidant and hypoglycemic agent against various disorders related to oxidative stress; and the isolation of bioactive compounds was warranted.Â

The short and long-term impact of educational intervention on pharmacovigilance awareness in second year MBBS students: a questionnaire-based survey

Background: Under-reporting of adverse drug reactions (ADRs) is a burning issue globally. Sensitizing medical students to the concepts of pharmacovigilance in their early years through regular training holds the key for successfully perpetuating ADR reporting culture. This study attempted to assess the short and long-term impact of interventional training programs on the knowledge and perception of Pharmacovigilance amongst II MBBS students.Methods: It was a Cross-sectional, interventional, questionnaire‑based study. Second MBBS, new entrants (n=127) were tested for their awareness regarding pharmacovigilance knowledge using pre-validated questionnaires at entry point and following regular training sessions, at 1 week (short-term) and at 1 year (long-term). Students’ perceptions towards ADR monitoring were also recorded. Descriptive statistics, Chi-square test, Independent t-test/Mann-Whitney-U test for identifying mean difference and paired-t-test/Wilcoxon signed rank test for paired data was used for quantitative and qualitative data analysis accordingly.Results: Significant improvement in scores following training was seen at both short (10.8±1.914) and long term (11.63±1.516) compared to base-line scores (6.07±2.036). There was significant increase in long-term scores compared to short-term scores (<0.001). Female students performed better than their male counterparts. Majority of students positively perceived the need for ADR monitoring and reporting.Conclusions: Pharmacovigilance training increases students’ knowledge significantly. Strengthening the existing pharmacovigilance activities through regular refresher training programs and adequate sequencing in curriculum not only maintains but improves students’ knowledge significantly