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The saivism is the most famous philosophy in the world philosophy. The sastra were the forerunner and the basis. Saivite thirumurai hence, the two eyes of Saivism are referred to as the thothras and the shastras. The saivism are the three tools of the pati, pasu, pasam. They are arrogant, contempt, maya and the three tools of love, the life pathi gnana, which is sick of the three tools, is special. The Lord has given life to other coughs called maya ganmam to remove the tools that are painful. The two types of yoga, the pure state of the original yoga, and the sukhumustate, are the means of forgetting oneself. It is summarized in the study that those who reach the lord and constantly worship him will attain one or the other stage of liberation.

Context: Zinc is a micronutrient which is required as a coenzyme for the metabolism of carbohydrates, lipids and proteins. Zinc deficiency is more common in pregnancy especially in developing countries like India. Prevalence studies on zinc levels in pregnant women in south Indian population are scanty and needs to be evaluated. Aims: The aim of this study is to assess the serum zinc levels during pregnancy and its association with their dietary intake and demographic characteristics. Settings and Design: This cross sectional study was conducted in a tertiary care hospital in rural area of Chengalpettu District, Tamil Nadu. Materials and Methods: A total of 54 healthy pregnant women were included in the study population. Detailed obstetric history was obtained by using a proforma. Serum zinc levels was estimated by colorimetric method and their average daily dietary intake in terms of zinc was assessed by using a weekly standardized food frequency questionnaire. Statistical Analysis used: Statistical analysis was performed by using SPSS software. Results: Mean serum zinc levels were 112.35±121.21 mg/dL. Almost 37% of the study participants had zinc deficiency ( range of 0-2mg/day against the recommended dietary allowance (RDA) of 20mg/day which was 12.5% of the RDA. Conclusions: High prevalence of zinc deficiency is due to deficient dietary intake of zinc. Persons on vegetarian diet are more prone for zinc deficiency. Larger studies are required to understand the magnitude of zinc deficiency during pregnancy in India. Keywords: Zinc deficiency, Pregnancy, Dietary intake.

We estimated excess mortality in Medicare recipients with probable and confirmed Covid-19 infections in the general community and amongst residents of long-term care (LTC) facilities. We considered 28,389,098 Medicare and dual-eligible recipients from one year before February 29, 2020 through September 30, 2020, with mortality followed through November 30th, 2020. Probable and confirmed Covid-19 diagnoses, presumably mostly symptomatic, were determined from ICD-10 codes. We developed a Risk Stratification Index (RSI) mortality model which was applied prospectively to establish baseline mortality risk. Excess deaths attributable to Covid-19 were estimated by comparing actual-to-expected deaths based on historical comparisons and in closely matched cohorts with and without Covid-19. 677,100 (2.4%) beneficiaries had confirmed Covid-19 and 2,917,604 (10.3%) had probable Covid-19. 472,329 confirmed cases were community living and 204,771 were in LTC. Mortality following a probable or confirmed diagnosis in the community increased from an expected incidence of about 4% to actual incidence of 7.5%. In long-term care facilities, the corresponding increase was from 20.3% to 24.6%. The absolute increase was therefore similar at 3-4% in the community and in LTC residents. The percentage increase was far greater in the community (89%) than among patients in chronic care facilities (21%) who had higher baseline risk. The LTC population without probable or confirmed Covid-19 diagnoses experienced 38,932 excess deaths (35%) compared to historical estimates. Limitations in access to Covid-19 testing and disease under-reporting in LTC patients probably were important factors, although social isolation and disruption in usual care presumably also contributed. Remarkably, there were 31,360 fewer deaths than expected in community dwellers without probable or confirmed Covid-19 diagnoses, representing a 6% reduction. Disruptions to the healthcare system and avoided medical care were thus apparently offset by other factors, representing overall benefit. The Covid-19 pandemic had marked effects on mortality, but the effects were highly context-dependent.

Introduction: Ultrasound has become a valuable bedside diagnostic tool, however its utility in evaluation of dyspnea in general ward is not known. The aim of present study is to evaluate the same. Methodology: Prospective,observational study with purposive sampling of consecutive patients admitted in the Pulmonology ward within 8 hours of admission. Focused sonography according to predefined protocol was done and findings recorded. Sonography was performed in patient’s bedside by Pulmonology resident trained in routine use of sonography for 2yrs. Any change in management following ultrasound which may include further investigation or consultation from other department or change in treatment is considered positive result. Results: Total of 60 consecutive patients were screened and enrolled in the study, 37 males and 23 females. Average age of patients was 50yrs. Lung ultrasound detected new findings in 14 (23%) patients and resulted in change in management of 3(5%) patients. Diaphragm USG detected abnormality in 23(38%) patients and resulted in change in management in 5(8%) patients. ECHO found abnormality in 11(18%) patients and resulted in change in management in 7(11) patients. DVT screen was positive in 1 patient and did result in change in management in the same patient. Conclusion: Bedside ultrasonography performed by a non-radiology resident can pick up new findings missed by clinical examinations. This may result in better patient care and outcomes. Hence wherever feasible focused ultrasound should be used in routine patient management even in general medical ward settings.

Pulmonary function tests (PFTs) are noninvasive diagnostic tests that evaluate the functionality of the lungs. Spirometry is an established diagnostic tool for the evaluation and management of lung disorders. Pulmonary function testing carried out using a spirometer provides vital information about the functional status of the respiratory system. In this study, a spirometer based on a fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensor for PFT has been proposed. The proposed fiber Bragg grating spirometer (FBGS) is a novel, noninvasive device that has the ability to convert the rate of air flow into strain variations using an FBG sensor bonded on a cantilever. The FBGS dynamically acquires in real time, the complete breath sequence comprising of inhalation phase, pause phase, and exhalation phase, in terms of the air flow rate along with the time duration of each phase. Fundamental pulmonary parameters such as forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV1), the FEV1/FVC ratio, and peak expiratory flow are evaluated from the data obtained from the FBGS, which will aid greatly during clinical tests. The results from the FBGS developed are compared with a standard hospital grade pneumotachograph-based spirometer for a sample size of 16 subjects to prove the efficacy of the proposed device.

Background: Medical education is a full-time commitment and responsibility of students that include academic assignments, activities, social behavior, support, and patient care. The health of students around the world is becoming a major concern as they are more prone to depression, stress. Aim and Objective: This study aims to assess the severity of depression, anxiety, and stress in the Ist year medical students. Materials and Methods: The DASS 42 questionnaire was used to study stress, depression, and anxiety. The DASS is a 42-point questionnaire containing three self-report scales designed to measure the negative emotional states of depression, anxiety, and stress. Results: It was found that 16%, 25%, and 27% of medical students were affected by mild symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress. About 11%, 12%, and 4% of medical students with moderate depression, anxiety, and stress; 12%, 4%, and 3% of medical students with severe depression, anxiety, and stress; and 3%, 4%, and 1% of medical students suffered from extremely severe depression, anxiety, and stress. Conclusion: In our study, emotional distress is common medical students and attention, support, and personalized counseling are compulsory for the students.

Granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) has commonly been used to help the patients to recover from neutropenia inflicted due to radiotherapy, organ transplants and chemotherapy. As the number of people undergoing these therapies and procedures are increasing world-wide, the need for more economical ways of G-CSF production and improvement in its efficacy has become increasingly crucial. In the present study, recombinant human G-CSF (rhG-CSF) was expressed in E. coli and its purification process was optimized by demonstrating better efficiency and higher recoveries (upto 54%) in a multi-step chromatographic purification process, which is greater than the existing reports. Additionally, the efficacy of rhG-CSF was increased by derivatizing with polyethylene glycol (PEG; upto 85% PEGylation), which increases the plasma clearance time, reduces the immunogenicity and requires less frequent administration to the patient. Overall, the present study suggests a cost-effective purification process of rhG-CSF and also proposes its efficient conjugation with PEG for enhanced efficacy as compared to the existing commercially available forms.

Granulocyte colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) has been commonly used to treat neutropenia caused by chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and organ transplants. Improved in vitro efficacy of G-CSF has already been observed by conjugating it to polyethylene glycol (PEG).The in vivo bioassay using tetrazolium dye with the NFS-60 cell line has been recommended for G-CSF but no such monographs are available for PEGylated G-CSF in pharmacopeias. In the present study, the assay recommended for G-CSF was evaluated for its suitability to PEGylated G-CSF.The generally used MTS [3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-5-(3-carboxymethoxyphenyl)-2-(4-sulfophenyl)-2H-tetrazolium]-based assay was compared with a bioassay employing a water-soluble tetrazolium dye, WST-8 [2-(2-methoxy-4-nitrophenyl)-3-(4-nitrophenyl)-5-(2,4-disulfophenyl)-2H-tetrazolium], using NFS-60 cells at a concentration of 7 × 10(5) cells/ml against 800 IU/ml of PEGylated G-CSF at 24, 48, 72, and 72 h time points to determine the efficacy of PEGylated G-CSF. Further, the optimized WST-8 dye-based assay was used to test the potency of various commercially available PEGylated G-CSF preparations.The results demonstrated enhanced sensitivity of the WST-8-based assay over the conventional MTS-based assay for determining the potency of PEGylated G-CSF using the NFS-60 cell line.Our study demonstrates the potential application of WST-8-based bioassays for other biotherapeutic proteins of human and veterinary interest.

Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) is a multifunctional cytokine which is widely used for treating neutropenia in humans. Evaluation of alternative to expensive components of redox buffer (reduced and oxidized glutathione) is an important step in reducing the cost of production of human biotherapeutic proteins. In the present study, refolding of recombinant human G-CSF expressed as inclusion bodies (IBs) in E. coli was optimized using cysteine and cystine redox agents. The refolding to correct native form of G-CSF was assessed by reverse phase high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC). The optimized concentrations of cysteine and cystine for correct refolding of G-CSF were found to be 2 mM and 1 mM, respectively. The correctly refolded G-CSF was detected as early as 4 h of incubation in renaturation buffer containing optimized concentrations of cysteine (2 mM) and cystine (1 mM) redox agents. Refolding of G-CSF in optimized redox system increased with increase in shuffling time. Overall, the results suggested the use of cysteine/cystine redox pair could be an alternative to the costlier redox pairs for successful refolding of G-CSF and possibly other human biotherapeutic proteins of importance.

Dementia is one of the age related mental problems and characteristic symptom of various neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer’s disease. This impairment probably is due to the vulnerability of the brain cells to increased oxidative stress during aging process. Many studies have shown that certain phenolic antioxidants attenuate neuronal cell death induced by oxidative stress. The present work was undertaken to assess the effect of ethanolic extract of Punica granatum seeds on cognitive performance of aged and scopolamine treated young mice using one trial step-down type passive avoidance and elevated plus maze task. Aged or scopolamine treated mice showed poor retention of memory in step-down type passive avoidance and in elevated plus maze task. Chronic administration (21 days) of Punica granatum extract and vitamin C significantly (p < 0.05) reversed the age induced or scopolamine induced retention deficits in both the paradigms. Punica granatum extract also significantly lowered lipid peroxidation level and increased antioxidant glutathione level in brain tissues. Punica granatum preparations could be protective in the treatment of cognitive disorders such as dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.Key words: Punica granatum, Cognitive deficits, Vitamin C, Scopolamine, Antioxidants

Both one-dimensional and two-dimensional trigger-wave propagation in the systems (A) IO–3+ Ce4+/Mn2++ mandelic acid + acetone + H2SO4+ ferroin/starch, (B) IO–3+ Ce4+/Mn2++ acetylacetone + H2SO4+ ferroin/starch and (C) IO–3+ Ce4+/Mn2++ mandelic acid + arsenite + H2SO4+ ferroin/starch has been investigated. Single red bands (with ferroin) and blue bands (with starch) propagate with velocity v given by the relation v=A exp (–Ea/RT)[H+.]–10[IO–3]1/20 where A and Ea are constants. A is different for each of the three systems but Ea has the same value, 12.2+0.2 cal mol–1, for both one-dimensional and two-dimensional waves.