Use of Strychnos nux-vomica (Azraqi) seeds in Unani system of medicine: role of detoxification

Some plants used in Unani system of medicine are toxic, even deadly poison. The drugs having such plants as their components are detoxified before they are dispensed to the patients. One such drug, capsule Hudar, has Strychnos nux-vomica L. (Azraqi) seeds as one of its components and is very effectively used to elevate blood pressure. Ancient manuscripts describe many methods of its detoxification. It has been found that the detoxification processes studied reduce the strychnine amount, as determined either by using uv-vis spectrophotometer or HPLC, present in Strychnos nux vomica seeds which is responsible for Strychnos nux vomica toxicity. The decrease in strychnine amount was maximum when the seeds were immersed for detoxification in excess of water for 5 days, in milk for 2 days followed by their boiling in milk. Strychnine in small amounts has been reported to give subjective feeling of stimulatio

FEA based Transformer Loss Analysis for Dual Active Bridge DC-DC Converter using Triple Phase Shift Modulation

High frequency transformers are a key component of dual active bridge (DAB) dc-dc converters, providing isolation and voltage scaling. The losses in the transformer should be minimized to improve efficiency and extend lifetime. The existing research focuses on the optimization of design parameters, such as core material, cross sectional area and winding configuration to minimize losses. However, the transformer losses also depend on the harmonic content of the current as well as the design parameters and thus the efficiency can be further improved by selecting a modulation scheme which results in minimum current harmonics. This paper evaluates the effect of modulation schemes on the transformer losses of a DAB converter operating under triple phase shift (TPS) modulation by using finite element analysis. A comparison of losses under different modes of TPS modulation has been provided and it is proved that losses can be significantly reduced by selecting optimal modulation schemes. The experimental results performed on a 1kW DAB converter laboratory prototype are provided to validate the proposed work. Moreover, a generalized framework has been proposed to analyze and optimize transformer losses for isolated converters

Microbial colonization of pneumatic tourniquets in the orthopedic operating room

Background: The rate of surgical site infections following orthopedic procedures is approximately 2% globally. Potential sources of contamination in the operating room include pneumatic tourniquets, blood pressure cuffs, and stethoscopes, among others. Our study aims to investigate microbial colonization on reusable pneumatic tourniquets stored and used in the orthopedic department of our institution and evaluate the efficacy of the cleaning protocols employed. Methods: Over a course of two weeks, 26 samples were obtained. A total of 14 pneumatic tourniquets were sampled preoperatively on Monday morning following the weekly cleaning protocol of soaking the tourniquets in sodium hypochlorite for 30 minutes while 12 tourniquets were cultured immediately following the postoperative cleaning protocol of wiping the tourniquet clean with a cloth soaked in sodium hypochlorite. Samples were cultured on MacConkey and sheep blood agar and incubated at 37-degrees centigrade for a total of 48 hours. Organisms were identified and colony count was documented. The analysis was performed using the Fisher Exact test on SPSS v23 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, US). Results: All 14 samples obtained after being soaked in sodium hypochlorite for 30 minutes cultured negative. However, four out of 12 (33%) samples obtained after simply wiping the pneumatic tourniquet with a cloth soaked in sodium hypochlorite cultured coagulase-negative Staphylococci. The difference between the two was significant (p=0.002). Conclusion: Postoperative tourniquets, wiped with a cloth soaked in sodium hypochlorite and ready to be used on the next patient, were found to be contaminated with coagulase-negative Staphylococcus. This species is notorious for causing surgical site infections following implant-related surgeries potentially through direct inoculation and cross-infections intraoperatively and in storage. Efforts to identify the relationship with postoperative surgical site infections need to be made to suggest more aggressive cleaning protocols

Soil Quality Variation under Different Land Use Types in Haramosh Valley, Gilgit, Pakistan

Soil quality is a fundamental component of environmental quality and impact of land use is also a keydetrimental factor in today’s rapid urbanization era. The study aims to evaluate the effects of different land-use type on selected soil quality indicators. Sixty soil samples were collected from various land use types, i.e, pasture, forest and agriculture from a depth of 0-15cm. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed that the land use type significantly affected the soil’s physical and chemical properties. The moisture content was significantly higher (p<0.001) in the pasture (41.7%) than the forest (26.2%) and lowest in agricultural land (14.4%). The soil pH was significantly higher or slightly alkaline for agriculture (7.8), while for pasture (6.5) and forest (6.1), it was found to be slightly acidic. Electric conductivity (EC) and bulk density (BD) did not vary significantly with land use type, but the EC followed the decreasing order: forest (203.7μS/cm) < pasture (235μS/cm) < agriculture (328.7μS/cm). The soil organic matter (SOM) and soil organic carbon (SOC) significantly (p<0.05) differed with land use type and found in the order: forest (3.0%, 1.3 %) > pasture land (2.9%, 1.2%) > arable land (2.5%, 1.1%). NO3-N, available P and exchangeable K did not vary significantly across land use types. However, mean values were higher for agriculture (10.2mg/kg, 4.5mg/kg, 66mg/kg) than forest (10mg/kg,3.5mg/kg, 60mg/kg) and pasture (9.8mg/kg, 4.3, 60.2mg/kg). Alpine soils are good ecological indicators because of vulnerability to environmental change, therefore, regular monitoring of soil properties along with carbon stocks is essential to maintain soil health, enhance agricultural productivity and sustain agroecosystems

Model Predictive Control with Triple Phase Shift Modulation for a Dual Active Bridge DC-DC Converter

A fast dynamic response is one of the key demands for the dual active bridge (DAB) dc-dc converter to achieve a well-regulated output voltage over a wide range of operating conditions. Recently, model predictive control (MPC) has become a promising alternative to achieve fast dynamic response when compared to other classical converter control techniques. This paper presents an MPC based control approach augmented with a current stress optimized scheme based on triple phase shift (TPS) modulation to improve the dynamic performance and maintain a desired output voltage level without violating a minimum current stress constraint. A prediction model has been developed to accurately predict the dynamic behavior of the output voltage in the next horizon under the input voltage variations and load disturbances. As the model is developed using the TPS modulation thus inner phase shifts of the H-bridges as well as system's states are required to solve the formulated control problem. The inner phase shifts of the H-bridges are calculated using current stress optimized TPS scheme. Simulation and experimental results are provided to demonstrate the merits of the proposed control algorithm which includes a fast dynamic response without no overshoots in the output voltage, fixed switching frequency, low computational complexity and high degree of robustness

In vivo study of anti-diabetic activity of Eremurus himalaicus

Diabetes mellitus is a most common endocrine disorder, affecting more than 300 million people worldwide. For this, therapies developed along the principles of western medicine (allopathic) are often limited in efficacy, carry the risk of adverse effects, and are often too costly, especially for the developing world. In order to identify complementary or alternative approaches to existing medications, we studied the antidiabetic potential of Eremurus himalaicus-An endemic plant of North-Western Himalayas. The acute oral toxicity studies of the extracts revealed no toxic effects up to the levels of 2000 mg/kg b. wt. The Ethyl Acetate, Methanol and Aqueous extracts of Eremurus himalaicus were screened for the presence of hypoglycaemic and antidiabetic activity. In this study diabetes was induced by a single IP dose Alloxan monohydrate. The study was carried out on a 14 day protocol and the blood glucose, SGOT, SGPT and ALP levels were measured on Day 0, Day 7 and Day 14 of the treatment, along with histopathological examination of pancreas on day 14. Maximum activity was shown by the ethyl acetate extract with a percent variation in blood glucose level of 30.78% and 48.78% followed by aqueous extract with a percent variation in blood glucose level of 25.43% and 38.77% at a dose level of 250 mg/kg b. wt. and 500 mg/kg b. wt. respectively. Glibenclamide was taken as the standard and the results were quite comparable with it. The histopathological studies also indicated that Eremurus himalaicus is effective in regeneration of insulin secreting β-cells and thus possesses antihyperglycaemic activity. The results also showed that Eremurus himalaicus protects significantly from other physiological aberrations i.e., polydypsia, polyphagia, weight loss and metabolic aberrations i.e., increase in SGOT, SGPT, ALP, cholesterol and triglyceride levels caused by diabetes, in a dose dependent manner. The aqueous extract also showed significant effect in increasing the oral glucose tolerance of rats and it also showed good hypoglycaemic activity in normoglycaemic rats. The preliminary phytochemical analysis of the extracts of Eremurus himalaicus revealed the presence of alkaloids, tannins, saponins, terpenoids, flavonoids, phenolics and glycosides as the possible biologically active principles

Phytochemical Screening of Major Constituents of Various Folklore Medicinal Plants of Kashmir Valley

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Molecular Basis for Drug Resistance in HIV-1 Protease

HIV-1 protease is one of the major antiviral targets in the treatment of patients infected with HIV-1. The nine FDA approved HIV-1 protease inhibitors were developed with extensive use of structure-based drug design, thus the atomic details of how the inhibitors bind are well characterized. From this structural understanding the molecular basis for drug resistance in HIV-1 protease can be elucidated. Selected mutations in response to therapy and diversity between clades in HIV-1 protease have altered the shape of the active site, potentially altered the dynamics and even altered the sequence of the cleavage sites in the Gag polyprotein. All of these interdependent changes act in synergy to confer drug resistance while simultaneously maintaining the fitness of the virus. New strategies, such as incorporation of the substrate envelope constraint to design robust inhibitors that incorporate details of HIV-1 protease’s function and decrease the probability of drug resistance, are necessary to continue to effectively target this key protein in HIV-1 life cycle

Antidiabetic Activity of<i>Artemisia amygdalina</i>Decne in Streptozotocin Induced Diabetic Rats

Artemisiaspecies have been extensively used for the management of diabetes in folklore medicine. The current study was designed to investigate the antidiabetic and antihyperlipidemic effects ofArtemisia amygdalina. Petroleum ether, ethyl acetate, methanol, and hydroethanolic extracts ofArtemisia amygdalinawere tested for their antidiabetic potentials in diabetic rats. The effect of extracts was observed by checking the biochemical, physiological, and histopathological parameters in diabetic rats. The hydroethanolic and methanolic extracts each at doses of 250 and 500 mg/kg b. w significantly reduced glucose levels in diabetic rats. The other biochemical parameters like cholesterol, triglycerides, low density lipoproteins (LDL), serum creatinine, serum glutamate pyruvate transaminase (SGPT), serum glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase (SGOT), and alkaline phosphatise (ALP), were found to be reduced by the hydroethanolic and methanolic extracts. The extracts also showed reduction in the feed and water consumption of diabetic rats when compared with the diabetic control. The histopathological results of treated groups showed the regenerative/protective effect onβ-cells of pancreas in diabetic rats. The current study revealed the antidiabetic potential ofArtemisia amygdalinabeing effective in hyperglycemia and that it can effectively protect against other metabolic aberrations caused by diabetes in rats, which seems to validate its therapeutic traditional use.</jats:p

Drug standardization through pharmacognostic approaches and estimation of anticancer potential of chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla L.) using prostate-cancer cell lines : an in-vitro study

Cancer is the major challenge across world and the adenocarcinoma of prostate malignancy is the second most prevalent male cancer. Various medicinal plants are used for the treatment and management of various cancers. Matricaria chamomilla L., is one of the extensively used Unani medicament for the treatment of various type of diseases. In the current study we evaluated most of the parameters prescribed for drug standardization using pharmacognostic approaches. The 2,2 Diphenyl-1-picryl hydrazyl (DPPH) method was utilized for the analysis of antioxidant activity in the flower extracts of M. chamomilla. Moreover, we analyzed the antioxidant and cytotoxic activity of M. chamomilla (Gul-e Babuna) through in-vitro method. DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picryl-hydrazl-hydrate) method was utilized for the analysis of antioxidant activity in the flower extracts of M. chamomilla. CFU and wound healing assay were performed to determine the anti-cancer activity. The results demonstrated that various extracts of M. chamomilla fulfilled most of the parameters of drug standardization and contained good antioxidant and anticancer activities. The ethyl acetate showed higher anticancer activity followed by aqueous, hydroalcoholic, petroleum benzene and methanol by CFU method. Also, the wound healing assay demonstrated that ethyl acetate extract has more significant effect followed by methanol and petroleum benzene extract on prostate cancer cell line (C4-2). The current study concluded that the extract of M. chamomilla flowers could act as good source of natural anti-cancer compounds.CCRUM, New Delhi; Science and Engineering Research Board, Department of Science and Technology, Government of India; SERB research grant; Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) and the National Research Foundation (NRF).https://www.jcancer.orgam2024Medical OncologySDG-03:Good heatlh and well-bein