Influence of thyroid hormones on biochemical parameters of liver function: a case-control study in North Indian population

Normal level of thyroid hormones is important for normal hepatic function and thyroid dysfunction may modulate metabolic function of liver. The purpose of this study is to determine whether liver function is associated with subclinical and overt hypothyroidism. Thyroid and liver function tests were evaluated in 47 patients with overt (TSH ≥10.0 mIU/L) and 77 patients with subclinical hypothyroidism (TSH 6.0-9.9mIU/L) and compared with 120 age-matched euthyroid controls. Subjects with overt hypothyroidism had significantly raised serum ALT, AST, ALP and total protein levels as compared to controls whereas subclinical hypothyroid patients had significantly increased levels of serum ALT, ALP and total protein. Further, TSH showed significant positive correlation with AST and ALP values whereas fT3 and fT4 had a negative correlation with AST in overt hypothyroidism. Thus, overt hypothyroid state is associated with significant derangement in biochemical parameters of liver function. Hence, liver function should be regularly monitored in hypothyroid patients

Anisotropic short-range attractions precisely model branched erythrocyte aggregates

Homogeneous suspensions of red blood cells (RBCs or erythrocytes) in blood plasma are unstable in the absence of driving forces and form elongated stacks, called rouleau. These erythrocyte aggregates are often branched porous networks -- a feature that existing red blood cell aggregation models and simulations fail to predict exactly. Here we establish that alignment-dependent attractive forces in a system of dimers can precisely generate branched structures similar to RBC aggregates observed under a microscope. Our simulations consistently predict that the growth rate of typical mean rouleau size remains sub-linear -- a hallmark from past studies -- which we also confirm by deriving a reaction kernel taking into account appropriate collision cross-section, approach velocities, and an area-dependent sticking probability. The system exhibits unique features such as the existence of percolated and/or single giant cluster states, multiple coexisting mass-size scalings, and transition to a branched phase upon fine-tuning of model parameters. Upon decreasing the depletion thickness we find that the percolation threshold increases and the morphology of the structures opens up towards an increased degree of branching. Remarkably the system self-organizes to produce a universal power-law size distribution scaling irrespective of the model parameters

A study on the effect of Yoga Nidra on Anxiety in Pregnant Women of different Trimester

Aim: Women who are pregnant frequently experience stress, anxiety, and anger. All women must go through this era of their lives, and pregnancy requires physical, psychological, and social modifications to adjust to a new role. This study assessed the impact of Yoga Nidra on anxiety in women who were pregnant across various trimesters. Methods: Twenty women in varying trimesters were chosen and participated in a 21-day Yog Nidra session. The Sinha Comprehensive Anxiety Test (SCAT) anxiety scale was used to gather the data, and the T-test was used to analyse it. Results: The findings demonstrated a significant change in the pregnant women's anxiety levels before and after the intervention (t=4.440, p= 0.00). Conclusion: Yog Nidra influenced reducing anxiety levels among pregnant women irrespective of the trimester. It is expected that pregnant women use Yoga relaxation to decrease anxiety

Effect of Virechana Karma and Basti in the management of Sthaulya - A Case Study

Sthaulya (obesity) is a predominant metabolic disorder, which is described by Charaka in Ashtaunindita Purusha. Sedentary life, lack of exercise, faulty food habits, urbanization, psychological factors along with genetic predisposition play a major role in the aetiopathogenesis of Sthaulya. Females are more prone to obesity due to feminine factors like menopause and aggravating factors like delivery, I.U.C.D., O.C.P, and miscarriage. Being overweight and Obesity contributes to Diseases like Heart attacks, stroke, arteriosclerosis, Diabetes, Mental Retardation/affection like Mood swings, and even depression. According to the Ayurvedic text, Sthaulya is caused due to Medovriddhi which includes an abnormal and excessive accumulation of Medodhatu in the body. In the Sthaulya etiological factors mainly vitiate the Meda-Kapha. This vitiated Meda obstructs the path of Vata, which results in the provocation of Vata. In the Samprapti of Sthaulya, two factors are of prime importance, Tikshna Jatharagni, and Medodhatvagnimandya. Irrationality between two levels of Agni makes the disease Krichha Shadhya, but Panchkarma therapy can give a better solution for this problem. So, treatment modality should be planned considering vitiated Meda, Kapha, and Vata. Lekhana Basti and Virechana Karma are selected for the management of Sthaulya. &nbsp

A case study on efficacy of Virechana Karma by Phalatrikadi Kwatha in management of Dyslipidemia

Dyslipidaemia itself harbour many future deadly diseases. Every 1% increase in cholesterol level is responsible for 1-2% increase in the incidence of Coronary Heart Disease. It is a lifestyle metabolic disorder because of faulty food habits, minimum physical exercise , stress etc. As there is no direct reference of Dyslipidaemia in Ayurveda . But due to resemblance of its etiopathogenesis and clinical features, it may come under broad umbrella of Santarpanjanyavyadhi,  Medopradoshaja Vikara and Medosroto Dusti. Virechana Karma is line of treatment for Santarpanajanya Vyadhi and Bahudoshawastha. The aim of this study was to treat Dyslipidemia with Virechana Karma. Lipid profile was opted for the assessment of Dyslipidaemia before and after the treatment. Phalatrikadi Kwatha was chosen as Virechana Karma drug as its contents has hypolipidemic properties. The present case had 24 years old female with complaints of weight gain, fatigue, drowsiness, heaviness in the body, hyperacidity since 4 years. Before Virechana Karma, total cholesterol, VLDL & triglyceride levels were high. After Virechana Karma, significant result was found on the level of total cholesterol, VLDL & triglyceride. There was complete remission of symptoms. Patient lost 7 kg of weight. This improvement may be due to the correction of Agni by Virechana Karma and removal of abnormal lipids from body and Ruksha, Tikshna, Srotoshodhaka, Lekhana, Kaphamedahar, Agnivardhaka properties of Phalatrikadi Kwatha. Hence from this study it can be concluded that, Virechana Karma is effective and can be safely used in the management of Dyslipidaemia

Acute pancreatitis in pregnancy: a case report

Acute pancreatitis is a rare event, can be associated with a high maternal mortality and fetal loss with an incidence of 3 in 10,000 pregnancies. A 24 years old primigravida with 28 weeks of gestation, presented with pain in upper abdomen since 4 days and nausea, vomiting and fever sine two days, abdomen distended and tenderness present in epigastric region. Serum amylase and lipase were raised. Sonography abdomen showed pancreas bulky with peripancreatic free fluid and inflammatory changes suggestive of pancreatitis. Patient was managed condervatively and was discharged to home after 7 days. Regular follow up was done till 36 weeks and emergency cesarean delivery was done in view of non-reassuring fetal heart rate at 36 weeks 3 days of gestation. Early diagnosis of acute pancreatitis in pregnancy and supportive treatment with maternal and fetal monitoring results in good perinatal outcome. The treatment of pancreatitis in pregnancy should be conservative as far as possible with delaying the definitive treatment until delivery of the baby

Comparison of spontaneous labour with induced labour in nulliparous women using modified WHO partograph

Background: Childbirth is the period from the onset of regular uterine contraction until expulsion of placenta. The process by which this normally occurs is called labour. Induction of labour is the artificial initiation of uterine contraction prior to their spontaneous onset, leading to progressive dilatation and effacement of the cervix and delivery of the baby. Labour induction is indicated where the benefits to either the mother or the fetus outweighs the benefit of continuing pregnancy. The aim and objectives of the study was to study the progress of labour in nulliparous women who are having spontaneous labour and in those with induced labour in terms of augmentation of labour, mode of delivery, neonatal outcome and maternal complication.Methods: This was a randomized comparative study. The study was conducted in department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at a tertiary care private centre during time period of May 2014 to May 2015 on 120 pregnant women divided into two groups i.e. A and B consisting of 60 women each. All women were nulliparous and ≥ 37 weeks of gestation age. Those women who had spontaneous onset of labour and reached ≥ 4cm cervical dilatation were included in group A and those who were induced with 25 mcg misoprostol vaginally and reached ≥ 4cm of cervical dilatation were included in group B. Progress of labour was monitored by Modified WHO partograph.Results: The mean duration of labour after 4cm of cervical dilation in spontaneous labour onset group was 5.43 hours and in the induced group was 5.41 hours with p value0.865, which was statistically not significant. In spontaneous labour onset group, 39.3% of patients required augmentation of labour with oxytocin compared to 69% of induced group (p value-0.001). More women had vaginal delivery in spontaneous onset labour group (73.3%) comparative to induced group (53.3%) with pvalue-0.023. There was less caesarean section among those in spontaneous labour than induced labour (20% versus 41.7%) (p=0.010).While most women of induced labour cases reached or crossed action line compared to spontaneous labour (35% versus 16.7%) p=0.022 ,there were more cases in spontaneous labour moving between alert and action line (23.3% versus 10%) p=0.049 .Neonatal outcome and maternal complications were similar in both the group .Conclusions: We conclude from this study that requirement of augmentation for progress of labour was more in induced group, rate of caesarean section was also high but it does not adversely affect the neonatal outcome and maternal complication if labour is monitored with Modified WHO partograph

Effectiveness of Yoga-Based Interventions on Vascular Health: A Comprehensive Review

Background: Yoga is increasingly recognized as a complementary approach to manage cardiovascular health, particularly in reducing risk factors associated with cardiovascular diseases. While numerous studies suggest that yoga may positively influence vascular health, further synthesis is necessary to understand its efficacy fully. Objectives: This systematic review aims to evaluate the effectiveness of yoga interventions in managing cardiovascular risk factors, with a focus on hypertension, heart rate variability, lipid profiles, and other related cardiovascular outcomes. Methods: Various electronic databases were searched for studies assessing the impact of yoga on cardiovascular health. Inclusion criteria encompassed randomized controlled trials and observational studies that analyzed changes in cardiovascular risk factors following yoga interventions. Data were extracted and analyzed for key outcomes related to holistic health changes caused by yoga practice. Results: Preliminary findings indicate statistically significant improvements in blood pressure, heart rate, and lipid profiles among participants engaged in structured yoga programs compared to control groups. Specific outcomes include a substantial reduction in systolic and diastolic blood pressure, as well as favorable changes in total cholesterol and triglyceride levels. Conclusion: Yoga interventions demonstrate promise as beneficial adjunct therapies for managing cardiovascular health.​ Although current evidence supports the positive impact of yoga on key cardiovascular risk factors, further high-quality, large-scale clinical trials are necessary to confirm these outcomes and ascertain the mechanisms underlying yoga's effects on vascular health. Integrating yoga into conventional cardiac rehabilitation programs could enhance overall patient outcomes

Substituted benzocoumarin derivatives: synthesis, characterization, biological activities and molecular docking with ADME studies

Herein, an efficient and convenient method for the synthesis of 4-(substitutedphenyl)-1,2-dihydro-2-oxo-6-(2-oxo-2H-benzo[g]chromen-3-yl)pyridine-3-carbonitrile derivatives have been reported using ammonium acetate as catalyst. The structures of synthesized compounds were confirmed using FT-IR, 1H, 13C-NMR and LC-MS spectroscopic techniques. The synthesized compounds have been evaluated for antibacterial activity against bacterial strains by agar diffusion method at different concentrations. Further, all the targeted compounds were screened for anti-oxidant and anti-cancer studies by DPPH and MTT assay methods at different concentrations. Compound 4b displayed good antioxidant and anticancer (against MCF-7 cell line) activity. Further, the binding capability for the synthesized compounds (4a–j) was analyzed by molecular docking studies using human peroxiredoxin 5 (PDB ID: 1HD2) and P38 MAP kinase (PDB ID: 1OUK) protein. Further, the physicochemical properties were analysed from ADME studies respectively

Secret Key Generation Schemes for Physical Layer Security

Physical layer security (PLS) has evolved to be a pivotal technique in ensuring secure wireless communication. This paper presents a comprehensive analysis of the recent developments in physical layer secret key generation (PLSKG). The principle, procedure, techniques and performance metricesare investigated for PLSKG between a pair of users (PSKG) and for a group of users (GSKG). In this paper, a detailed comparison of the various parameters and techniques employed in different stages of key generation such as, channel probing, quantisation, encoding, information reconciliation (IR) and privacy amplification (PA) are provided. Apart from this, a comparison of bit disagreement rate, bit generation rate and approximate entropy is also presented. The work identifies PSKG and GSKG schemes which are practically realizable and also provides a discussion on the test bed employed for realising various PLSKG schemes. Moreover, a discussion on the research challenges in the area of PLSKG is also provided for future research