Search

Saswati Banerjee,1,* Niladri Mukherjee,1,* Rahul L Gajbhiye,2 Snehasis Mishra,1 Parasuraman Jaisankar,2 Sriparna Datta,3 Krishna Das Saha1 1Cancer Biology and Inflammatory Disorder Division, CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Biology, Kolkata 700032, India; 2Organic and Medicinal Chemistry Division, CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Biology, Kolkata 700032, India; 3Department of Chemical Technology, University of Calcutta, Kolkata 700009, India*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Krishna Das SahaCancer Biology and Inflammatory Disorder Division, CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Biology, 4 Raja S. C. Mullick Road, Kolkata 700032, IndiaTel +91 0 332 499 5810Email krishna@iicb.res.inBackground: Many of present chemotherapeutics are inadequate and also resistant against visceral leishmaniasis (VL), an immunosuppressive ailment caused by Leishmania donovani. Despite the interest in plant-based drug development, no antileishmanial drugs from plant source are currently available. Glinus oppositifolius had been reported in favor of being immune modulators along with other traditional uses. Novel anti-VL therapies can rely on host immune-modulation with associated leishmanicidal action.Objective: Discovery of novel plant-based antileishmanial compound from G. oppositifolius having permissible side effects.Methods: With this rationale, an n-BuOH fraction of the methanolic extract of the plant and obtained triterpenoid saponin Spergulin-A were evaluated against acellular and intracellular L. donovani. Immunostimulatory activity of them was confirmed by elevated TNF-α and extracellular NO production from treated MФs and was found nontoxic to the host cells. Identification and structure confirmation for isolated Spergulin-A was performed by ESI-MS,13C, and 1H NMR.Results: Spergulin-A was found ineffective against the acellular forms while, against the intracellular parasites at 30 μg/mL, the reduction was 92.6% after 72 hrs. Spergulin-A enhanced ROS and nitric oxide (NO) release and changes in Gp91-phox, i-NOS, and pro and anti-inflammatory cytokines elaborated its intracellular anti-leishmanial activity.Conclusion: The results supported that G. oppositifolius and Spergulin-A can potentiate new lead molecules for the development of alternative drugs against VL.Keywords: visceral leishmaniasis, Glinus oppositifolius, spergulin-A, macrophage, immunostimulation, anti-amastigote

Abstract The concept of a crisp graph is essential in the study of outerplanar graphs because outerplanar graphs are a unique type of planar graphs containing special characteristics. One of the core concepts of crisp graphs, the notion of a subgraph, is utilized primarily to solve difficult data problems. In this paper, researching outerplanar graphs in fuzzy graphs is the main aim of the work. By allowing edges connecting vertices to have varying levels of membership or fuzziness, a fuzzy graph is a mathematical framework that develops on the concept of crisp graphs. Because of their capacity to describe unclear or imprecise relationships between items, fuzzy outerplanar graphs might have potential applications. The subgraphs of fuzzy outerplanar graphs are revealed by eliminating specific vertices or edges from the fuzzy graphs. Furthermore, maximum, and maximal fuzzy outerplanar subgraphs defined for both vertex and edge deletion are examined using examples. Some of the connections between the concepts discussed are represented as theorems and conclusions. An application for the layout of a bypass road is discussed using the proposed concepts.

Abstract Introduction Low back and neck pain are common musculoskeletal disorders with multiple treatment options. India’s traditional medical systems, known as Ayush (Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, Sowa-Rigpa and Homoeopathy) offer range of interventions and are widely used. In view of limited documentation of adverse events following Ayush interventions for lumbar and cervical spondylosis, we synthesized evidence and estimated proportion of studies reporting adverse events. Methods We systematically searched all published documents from biomedical and multidisciplinary abstract and citation databases and Ayush-specific repositories from their inception to April 2021. We selected studies as per inclusion criteria and extracted information, adhering to PRISMA guidelines. We systematically reviewed the qualitative evidence form the selected studies. Results Majority (94%) of the selected 113 studies were interventional studies and included 77 (68.1%) journal articles and 35 (31%) academic dissertations. Among the Ayush systems, considerable proportion was from Ayurveda (32.7%), followed by Siddha (24.8%), Yoga (22.1%), Unani (15.9%) and Homoeopathy (4.4%). Almost three-fourths of the studies were on lumbar spondylosis (65%; n = 74), followed by cervical spondylosis (31%; n = 35), and the remaining four included both. Thirteen percent of the 113 studies described adverse events [Yoga = 9.7%; Unani = 1.8% and Homoeopathy = 1.8%]. More adverse events were reported among the studies on lumbar (9.7%) than cervical spondylosis (2.7%). The nature of interventions were non-pharmacological (10.6%; n = 12), pharmacological (n = 2; 1.8%) or combined (n = 1; 0.9%). Conclusions Only one in eight studies reported any adverse event following Ayush interventions for cervical and lumbar spondylosis. There could be certain degree of underreporting of adverse events and requires further exploration. PROSPERO Registration ID CRD42020167433.

Background: Oral submucous fibrosis (OSMF) is an insidious chronic inflammatory progressive disease and one of the potentially malignant disorders, predominantly affecting the oral cavity. Objective: The current study aimed to compare the efficacy of curcumin and aloe vera along with ultrasound in the management of OSMF. Materials and Methods: In this intervention study, 40 participants with OSMF were allocated into two groups. Group A included 20 patients who received curcumin (curenext) oral gel for 3 months along with ultrasound therapy. Group B included 20 patients who received aloe vera gel (forever living gel) along with ultrasound therapy. Results: Following therapies, patients in the group A showed clinically significant improvements when compared to group B. Conclusion: The combined therapy of curcumin and ultrasound shows potential in managing OSMF by effectively alleviating clinical symptoms without any reported side effects. It is advised that future studies employ larger samples and longer treatment follow-up.

ABSTRACTClimate change and its impacts on agriculture are relatively well documented at the global and regional levels, while adaptation measures to sustain food production are mostly location specific. Such measures integrated into a production system as a farming practice will become robust based on its performance at smallholder farms. Therefore, a long-term (2011-2018) study was undertaken to evaluate these practices in a crop-livestock integrated farming system (IFS) approach as a climate-smart agricultural (CSA) strategy for enhancing agricultural production on a humid tropical island. The results showed a significant increase in on-farm productivity from 2.8 t ha−1 in 2011–35.6 t ha−1 in 2018 and net returns from USD 359 to more than 3500 ha−1 due to the adoption of CSA practices. Most importantly the study found increase in the sustainability index (0.89) by the adoption of CSA practices such as crop and enterprise diversification and land manipulation. The climate smartness of these practices was witnessed in reduced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and expanded carbon sink that resulted in a mitigation benefit of 5.40 Mg CO2eq ha−1yr−1. CSA practices such as crop diversification through raised beds, enterprise diversification, crop rotation, green manuring, in-situ rainwater harvesting, and contingency cropping significantly contributed to enhancing the production of crop-livestock IFS. Crop residue mulching, agro-forestry and organic waste recycling contributed for enlarging the C sink and minimizing net GHG emissions. Based on these findings, we demonstrated that a crop-livestock IFS was the best climate-smart strategy to enhance the productivity and food security of smallholder farmers in a sustainable way against the consequences of climate change and to increase the mitigating potential through carbon stocking.

Abstract Background/Aims Good knowledge, Attitude, and Practice (KAP) of diabetes influence its control and complications. We examined the KAP of diabetes in patients with sight-threatening diabetic retinopathy (STDR) and non-sight-threatening diabetic retinopathy (NSTDR) attending two different referral hospitals in India. Methods 400 consecutive patients (mean age = 58.5 years ± 10.3) with diabetic retinopathy attending retina referral clinics in Chennai (private) and Darjeeling (public) were recruited. A validated questionnaire on diabetic KAP was administered in English or the local language. Data were analysed using an established scalar-scoring method in which a score of 1 was assigned to the correct answer/healthy lifestyle and 0 to an incorrect answer/unhealthy lifestyle/practice. Clinical data included fasting blood sugar, blood pressure, retinopathy, and visual acuity. Retinopathy was graded as STDR/NSTDR from retinal images using Early Treatment of Diabetic Retinopathy Study criteria. Results Usable data from 383 participants (95.8%) were analysed. Of these, 83 (21.7%) had STDR, and 300 (78.3%) had NSTDR. The NSTDR group reported a significantly lower total KAP score (mean rank = 183.4) compared to the STDR group (mean rank = 233.1), z = -3.0, p

Myocardial infarction is a serious medical condition that requires prompt and accurate diagnosis for effective treatment. In this paper, we present a novel approach for detecting and classifying MI in echocardiogram frames using an enhanced CNN algorithm and an ECV-3D network. The proposed method aims to improve the accuracy and efficiency of MI diagnosis by leveraging advanced deep learning techniques. Through extensive experimentation, we demonstrated the effectiveness of our approach in achieving high accuracy and robustness in MI detection and classification. These results indicate the potential of our method to aid in the early and precise diagnosis of MI, thereby contributing to improved patient outcomes and clinical decision-making. After conducting thorough experimentation, our proposed approach achieved an impressive accuracy of 97.05% in the detection and classification of myocardial infarction in echocardiogram frames. This shows the robustness and reliability of our method, indicating its potential to significantly impact the accurate diagnosis of MI and subsequently improve patient outcomes. Furthermore, the area under the curve attained by our model is 0.82, reaffirming the efficacy of the enhanced CNN algorithm and ECV-3D network in accurately detecting and classifying MI. It is noteworthy that all the parameters utilized in our approach have demonstrated a high level of accuracy, emphasizing the effectiveness of our deep learning techniques in enhancing the diagnostic process for MI. Moreover, the proposed method efficiently process large volumes of echocardiogram frames, making it suitable for real-time clinical applications.

The ancient Tamil transformed the barren, overgrown land into arable land with their tireless efforts and labour. The Tamil grow crops only during the rainy season, stored the water over time, and used it when needed. Thus, they fulfilled their food needs and lived themselves and other lives as well. It can be known through the ancient Sangam literature that the environment is protected and biodiversity is special due to their thinking. Sangam people not only led a life in harmony with nature but also enriched themselves according to natural resources. They have done well in agriculture according to the soil and season. It can be known from Tolkappiya Noorpa that the Tamils had this sort of nature-oriented idea. It can be understood that Tolkappiyar has given priority to land and says 'the first thing is land and time' in the three categories Mutharporul (primary), Karuporul (subject) and Uriporul (theme). Over time, the natural way of life has become commercialized due to the greed of mankind. Due to this, everything like land, water, air is out of balance and the environment has been greatly affected and the climate has changed. Humanity is facing many hardships due to this. Now, the life and the thoughts of Classical Tamil on the environment are much needed for certain reformation to keep our culture from demolishment. This article examines the pros and cons and the possibilities of modern environmental development with the classical Tamil life. It will help the future generations to live better with a good environment.

Thematology is one of the most important theories in Literary criticism. Comparative scholars on this theory such as Prawer, Harilewin and Ulrich Weinstein have formed fundamental principles of thematology that are common to World Literature. Based on the principles of thematology, the poems of “Kurincippattu” written by Kapilar have been examined in this article. Many concepts of thematological principles closely coincide with the poems of “Kurincippattu”. By doing an analysis, one can find out whether the thematological principles coincide or not in the poems. Also, it is explained how Kapilar explained the natural life of the Kurinci people. These people got many crises in food production and other matters of life. Kapilar also explained the land of the Kurinci people, festivals, habits, rituals, marriage life and other social problems. It would be productive to conduct research in such areas to understand Tamil culture from a Western perspective. It would also be fruitful in the field of research in world literature by examining the poems of “Pattuppattu” concerning the principles of thematology. Hence, this article plans to do a critical study in connection with the thematological approach to the Kurinci songs.

Introduction: Periodontitis is a pandemic, with about 14% of people worldwide already suffering from severe periodontitis. Early intervention in the disease could probably reduce its progression and eliminate the need for the extraction of affected teeth. Quercetin is a probable candidate as it has exemplary anti-inflammatory properties. The presence of phenolic hydroxyl groups in them greatly contributes to their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. Objectives: The study introduces the formulation of Quercetin mouthwash and assesses its anti-inflammatory properties in comparison to Diclofenac sodium. Methods: Quercetin mouthwash was prepared using a commercially procured bioactive agent. One standard nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug, Diclofenac was used as a reference drug. The percentage inhibition of protein denaturation was calculated and its anti-inflammatory properties were evaluated through Bovine Serum Albumin Assay and Egg Albumin Assay. Results: Quercetin mouthwash showed parallel anti-inflammatory properties and showed a proportionate increase in anti-inflammatory properties with the increase in the concentration of the mouthwash. Comparable inhibition of protein denaturation at 10µl and 50µl concentrations with a proportionate variation of 1% (p>0.05) to the control in Egg Albumin Assay and 47% and 83% denaturation at 10µl and 50µl of Bovine Serum Albumin Assay were observed. Conclusion: Quercetin mouthwash has shown significant anti-inflammatory activity and hence is considered a potent anti-inflammatory agent comparable to Diclofenac sodium. It is found to be a suitable agent as an oral formulation for reducing the progression of inflammatory conditions.

Background: Menopause is a physiologic process that occurs in every woman. While the ovaries' cessation of endocrinological activity causes a drop in estrogenic hormone concentration, a number of systemic processes occur in the women's body, resulting in the undesired symptoms observed by women during this period. In addition to the natural aging process of the oral tissues, the changes seen in the oral cavity are caused by post-menopausal women's hormone fluctuations. Objectives: To ascertain the oral symptoms in post-menopausal women by clinical examination, to determine their emotional well-being status by using a questionnaire, and to determine their common age range of occurrence of manifestations. Methods: One hundred and twenty patients who attained menopause were included in this study and categorized into group 1 (n = 30 attained menopause in the past 1 to 5 years), group 2 (n = 30 attained menopause in the past 6 to 10 years), group 3 (n = 30 attained menopause in the past 11 to 15 years), and group 4 (n = 30 attained menopause >15 years). Results: Emotional well-being status alterations are greater in group 4 and group 3, followed by group 2 comparatively, and groups 3 and 4 had more oral manifestations. Conclusion: Women who have experienced menopause for longer than 5 years were more likely to experience oral manifestations and emotional disturbances. This study was an attempt to improve the health of post-menopausal women by improving inter-speciality understanding and collaboration.

Objectives: A. baumannii is considered as a “red alert” nosocomial human pathogen and exhibits an extensive antibiotic resistance spectrum. The biofilm formation mediated by the csgA is a potent virulence factor in A. baumannii and targeting the same would be of a novel strategy to control A. baumannii infections. The aim of the present study is thus to evaluate the anti-biofilm activity of essential bio-compounds from Azadirachta indica against the ESBL producing strains of A. baumannii by in-vitro and in-silico studies. Methods: Biofilm formation by Semi-quantitative adherence assay was performed for the 73 strains of ESBL producing A. baumannii. Genomic DNA was extracted and molecular characterization of csgA gene was done by PCR amplification with further sequencing. In-vitro anti biofilm assay from crude extract of A.indica was performed which was then followed by the in-silico docking involving retrieval of csgA protein and ligand optimisation, molinspiration assessment on drug likeliness, docking simulations and visualisations. Results: Biofilm assay showed 58.9%, 31.5% and 0.09% as high grade, low grade and non-biofilm formers respectively. 20.54% (15/73) of the screened genomes showed positive amplicons for the csgA gene associated with biofilm formation among the ESBL producing strains of A. baumannii. All the ceftazidime, cefipime and cefotaxime resistant strains showed the presence of csgA gene (100%; 15/15), followed by 46.6% (7/15) resistant isolates for ceftriaxone. In-vitro crystal violet viability assay showed MBEC50 and MBEC90 at a concentration of 20 µl and 40 µl respectively. In-silico assessments on the essential oil compounds from neem showed imidazole to exhibit the highest interaction with least docking energy and high number of hydrogen bonds. Conclusion: The current study emphasises that imidazole from A.indica to be a promising candidate for targeting the csgA mediated biofilm formation in ESBL strains of A. baumannii. However, further in-vivo studies have to be implemented for the experimental validation of the same.

BackgroundIn the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, an increased incidence of ROCM was noted in India among those infected with COVID. We determined risk factors for rhino-orbito-cerebral mucormycosis (ROCM) post Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) among those never and ever hospitalized for COVID-19 separately through a multicentric, hospital-based, unmatched case-control study across India.MethodsWe defined cases and controls as those with and without post-COVID ROCM, respectively. We compared their socio-demographics, co-morbidities, steroid use, glycaemic status, and practices. We calculated crude and adjusted odds ratio (AOR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) through logistic regression. The covariates with a p-value for crude OR of less than 0·20 were considered for the regression model.ResultsAmong hospitalised, we recruited 267 cases and 256 controls and 116 cases and 231 controls among never hospitalised. Risk factors (AOR; 95% CI) for post-COVID ROCM among the hospitalised were age 45-59 years (2·1; 1·4 to 3·1), having diabetes mellitus (4·9; 3·4 to 7·1), elevated plasma glucose (6·4; 2·4 to 17·2), steroid use (3·2; 2 to 5·2) and frequent nasal washing (4·8; 1·4 to 17). Among those never hospitalised, age ≥ 60 years (6·6; 3·3 to 13·3), having diabetes mellitus (6·7; 3·8 to 11·6), elevated plasma glucose (13·7; 2·2 to 84), steroid use (9·8; 5·8 to 16·6), and cloth facemask use (2·6; 1·5 to 4·5) were associated with increased risk of post-COVID ROCM.ConclusionsHyperglycemia, irrespective of having diabetes mellitus and steroid use, was associated with an increased risk of ROCM independent of COVID-19 hospitalisation. Rational steroid usage and glucose monitoring may reduce the risk of post-COVID.

A field survey across various parts of India coupled with an analysis of the literature and an examination of herbarium specimens revealed the presence of four species of crop wild relatives that have not been reported from India, viz., Dioscorea piscatorum Prain & Burkill (from Little & Great Nicobar), Fagopyrum gracilipes (Hemsl.) Dammer ex Diels (from Arunachal Pradesh), Rubus praecox Bertol. (from Jammu & Kashmir), and Ziziphus subquinquenervia Miq. (from Great Nicobar). While Rubus praecox is naturalised in the Kashmir Valley, Dioscorea piscatorum and Ziziphus subquinquenervia were found truly wild, and Fagopyrum gracilipes occurs as a weed in buckwheat fields and orchards. Ziziphus subquinquenervia has been resurrected from the allied Z. elegans Wall. of peninsular Malaysia and Singapore owing to the distinct diagnostic characters. Their description, phenology, habitat, and other field observations have been highlighted here.

Wireless body area networks (WBANs) are a research area that supports patients with healthcare monitoring. In WBAN, the Internet of Things (IoT) is connected with WBAN for a smart/remote healthcare monitoring system in which various medical diseases are diagnosed. Quality of service (QoS), security and energy efficiency achievements are the major issues in the WBAN-IoT environment. Existing schemes for these three issues fail to achieve them since nodes are resource constrained and hence delay and the energy consumption is minimized. In this paper, a blockchain-assisted delay and energy aware healthcare monitoring (B-DEAH) system is presented in the WBAN-IoT environment. Both body sensors and environment sensors are deployed with dual sinks for emergency and periodical packet transmission. Various processes are involved in this paper, and each process is described as follows: Key registration for patients using an extended version of the PRESENT algorithm is proposed. Cluster formation and cluster head selection are implemented using spotted hyena optimizer. Then, cluster-based routing is established using the MOORA algorithm. For data transmission, the patient block agent (PBA) is deployed and authenticated using the four Q curve asymmetric algorithm. In PBA, three entities are used: classifier and queue manager, channel selector and security manager. Each entity is run by a special function, as packets are classified using two stream deep reinforcement learning (TS-DRL) into three classes: emergency, non-emergency and faulty data. Individual packets are put into a separate queue, which is called emergency, periodical and faulty. Each queue is handled using Reyni entropy. Periodical packets are forwarded by a separate channel without any interference using a multi objective based channel selection algorithm. Then, all packets are encrypted and forwarded to the sink nodes. Simulation is conducted using the OMNeT++ network simulator, in which diverse parameters are evaluated and compared with several existing works in terms of network throughput for periodic (41.75 Kbps) and emergency packets (42.5 Kbps); end-to-end delay for periodic (0.036 s) and emergency packets (0.028 s); packet loss rate (1.1%); residual energy in terms of simulation rounds based on periodic (0.039 J) and emergency packets (0.044 J) and in terms of simulation time based on periodic (8.35 J) and emergency packets (8.53 J); success rate for periodic (87.83%) and emergency packets (87.5%); authentication time (3.25 s); and reliability (87.83%).

A cognitive radio network (CRN) is integrated with the Internet of Connected Vehicles (IoCV) in order to address spectrum scarcity and communication reliability issues. However, it is limited, possessing less throughput, a low packet delivery ratio, high latency, and high mobility in the spectrum. In this research study, the existing issues are addressed by proposing a 6G cognitive radio network–Internet of connected vehicles (6GCRN–IoCV) approach. Initially, all the entities such as secondary users (SUs), primary users (PUs), and pedestrians are authenticated in blockchain to ensure security. The edge-assisted roadside units (ERSU) initiate clustering only for authenticated SUs using the improved DBSCAN algorithm in consideration of several metrics. The ERSU then generates an intersection-aware map using the spatial and temporal-based logistic regression algorithm (STLR) to reduce collisions in the intersection. The spectrum utilization is improved by performing spectrum sensing in which all the SUs involved in spectrum sensing use lightweight convolutional neural networks (Lite-CNN) in consideration of several metrics and provide the sensing report to the fusion center (FC) in an encrypted manner to reduce the spectrum scarcity and security issues. The communications between the SUs are necessary to avoid risks in the IoCV environment. Hence, optimal routing is performed using the Dingo Optimization Algorithm (DOA), which increases throughput and packet delivery ratio. Finally, communication reliability is enhanced by performing hybrid beamforming, and this exploits the multi-agent-based categorical Deep-Q Network (categorical DQN), which increases spectral efficiency based on its adaptive intelligent behavior. The proposed study is simulated using the SUMO and OMNeT++ simulation tools and the performances are validated with existing works using several performance metrics. The result of the simulation shows that the proposed work performs better than the existing approaches.

Internet is the most prevailing word being used nowadays. Over the years, people are becoming more dependent on the internet as it makes their job easier. This became a part of everyone’s life as a means of communication in almost every area like financial transactions, education, and personal-health operations. A lot of data is being converted to digital and made online. Many researchers have proposed different authentication factors-biometric and/or non-biometric authentication factors-as the first line of defense to secure online data. Among all those factors, passwords and passphrases are being used by many users around the world. However, the usability of these factors is low. Also, the passwords are easily susceptible to brute force and dictionary attacks. This paper proposes the generation of a novel passcode from the hybrid authentication factor-sound. The proposed passcode is evaluated for its strength to resist brute-force and dictionary attacks using the Shannon entropy and Passcode (or password) entropy formulae. Also, the passcode is evaluated for its usability. The entropy value of the proposed is 658.2. This is higher than that of other authentication factors. Like, for a 6-digit pin-the entropy value was 13.2, 101.4 for Password with Passphrase combined with Keystroke dynamics and 193 for fingerprint, and 30 for voice biometrics. The proposed novel passcode is far much better than other authentication factors when compared with their corresponding strength and usability values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Let $G$ be an $(n,m)$-graph. We say that $G$ has property $(ast)$ if for every pair of its adjacent vertices $x$ and $y$, there exists a vertex $z$, such that $z$ is not adjacent to either $x$ or $y$. If the graph $G$ has property $(ast)$, then its complement $overline G$ is connected, has diameter 2, and its Wiener index is equal to $binom{n}{2}+m$, i.e., the Wiener index is insensitive of any other structural details of the graph $G$. We characterize numerous classes of graphs possessing property $(ast)$, among which are trees, regular, and unicyclic graphs.

Abstract Niranthin, a lignan isolated from the aerial parts of the plant Phyllanthus amarus, exhibits a wide spectrum of pharmacological activities. In the present study, we have shown for the first time that niranthin is a potent anti‐leishmanial agent. The compound induces topoisomerase I‐mediated DNA–protein adduct formation inside Leishmania cells and triggers apoptosis by activation of cellular nucleases. We also show that niranthin inhibits the relaxation activity of heterodimeric type IB topoisomerase of L. donovani and acts as a non‐competitive inhibitor interacting with both subunits of the enzyme. Niranthin interacts with DNA–protein binary complexes and thus stabilizes the ‘cleavable complex’ formation and subsequently inhibits the religation of cleaved strand. The compound inhibits the proliferation of Leishmania amastigotes in infected cultured murine macrophages with limited cytotoxicity to the host cells and is effective against antimony‐resistant Leishmania parasites by modulating upregulated P‐glycoprotein on host macrophages. Importantly, besides its in vitro efficacy, niranthin treatment leads to a switch from a Th2‐ to a Th1‐type immune response in infected BALB/c mice. The immune response causes production of nitric oxide, which results in almost complete clearance of the liver and splenic parasite burden after intraperitoneal or intramuscular administration of the drug. These findings can be exploited to develop niranthin as a new drug candidate against drug‐resistant leishmaniasis.

A 34 year old male having a noduloulcerative lesion on the left cheek, presented as a clinical problem, was diagnosed as nodular hidradenoma on histropathlogical examination. The case is reported for its unusual presentation.

An increased colonization of Malassezia furfur organism has been reported in patients with HIV infection. Pityriasis versicolour and pityrosporum folliculitis arise from overgrowth of M. furfur. It is also thought to have a significant role in the pathogenesis of seborrhoeic dermatitis and is one of the earliest clinical markers of HIV infection. The present study was to note the occurrence and significance of these infections in HIV infected patients. The present study was to note the occurrence and significance of these infections in HIV infected patients. The occurrence of pityrosporum infection was 13.5% (25 cases amongst 185 HIV serpositive patients) in HIV infected cases in our study. Mean age of the affected patients was 31.7 years and male to female ratio was 1.5:1. The main mode of acquisition of HIV infection was heterosexual (19 cases). Tinea versicolour was seen in 10 (40%) cases, seborrhoeic was found to be more explosive in onset and involving extensive areas with severe inflammation. Extensive tinea versicolour and seborrhoeic dermatitis were seen in three cases with pityrosporum infections. Nine of the pityrosporum infections were observed in HIV group IV, which is equivalent of AIDS. To conclude, seborrhoeic dermatitis in patients with HIV/AIDS may have some unique features and may be used as a clinical marker of AIDS.

A. baumannii is considered as a "red alert" nosocomial human pathogen and exhibits an extensive antibiotic resistance spectrum. The biofilm formation mediated by the csgA is a potent virulence factor in A. baumannii and targeting the same would be of a novel strategy to control A. baumannii infections. The aim of the present study is thus to evaluate the anti-biofilm activity of essential bio-compounds from Azadirachta indica against the ESBL producing strains of A. baumannii by in-vitro and in-silico studies. Biofilm formation by Semi-quantitative adherence assay was performed for the 73 strains of ESBL producing A. baumannii. Genomic DNA was extracted and molecular characterization of csgA gene was done by PCR amplification with further sequencing. In-vitro anti biofilm assay from crude extract of A.indica was performed which was then followed by the in-silico docking involving retrieval of csgA protein and ligand optimisation, molinspiration assessment on drug likeliness, docking simulations and visualisations. Biofilm assay showed 58.9%, 31.5% and 0.09% as high grade, low grade and non-biofilm formers respectively. 20.54% (15/73) of the screened genomes showed positive amplicons for the csgA gene associated with biofilm formation among the ESBL producing strains of A. baumannii. All the ceftazidime, cefipime and cefotaxime resistant strains showed the presence of csgA gene (100%; 15/15), followed by 46.6% (7/15) resistant isolates for ceftriaxone. In-vitro crystal violet viability assay showed MBEC 50 and MBEC 90 at a concentration of 20 µl and 40 µl respectively. In-silico assessments on the essential oil compounds from neem showed imidazole to exhibit the highest interaction with least docking energy and high number of hydrogen bonds. The current study emphasises that imidazole from A.indica to be a promising candidate for targeting the csgA mediated biofilm formation in ESBL strains of A. baumannii. However, further in-vivo studies have to be implemented for the experimental validation of the same. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In wake of covid19, many countries are shifting their paper-based health record management from manual processes to digital ones. The major benefit of digital health record is that data can be easily shared. As health data is sensitive, more security is to be provided to gain the trust of stakeholders. In this paper, a novel secure authentication protocol is planned for digitalizing personal health record that will be used by the user. While transacting data, a key is used to secure it. Many protocols used elliptic curve cryptography. In this proposed protocol, at an initial stage, an asymmetric and quantum-resistant crypto-algorithm, Kyber is used. In further stages, symmetric crypto-algorithm, Advanced Encryption Standard in Galois/Counter mode (AES-GCM) is used to secure transferred data. For every session, a new key is generated for secure transactions. The more interesting fact in this protocol is that transactions are secured without exchanging actual key and also minimized the key exchange. This protocol not only verified the authenticity of user but also checked rightful citizenship of user. This protocol is analyzed for various security traits using ProVerif tool and provided better results relating to security provisioning, cost of storage, and computation as opposed to related protocols. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biodegradable polymeric hydrogels are a unique class of macromolecular networks that can hold a large fraction of an aqueous solvent within their structures. They are particularly suitable for biomedical applications including controlled drug delivery, because of their ability to stimulate biological tissues. Many hydrogel-based networks have been designed and fabricated to meet the needs of pharmaceutical and medical fields. The investigation deals with the environment friendly synthesis of biodegradable semi interpenetrating hydrogel networks based on cross-linked poly(acrylamide) through an optimized rapid redox solution polymerization with N, N′Methylenebisacrylamide (MBA) in presence of Carboxymethylcellulose (CMC).The silver nanoparticles within hydrogel networks as nano reactors have been prepared by green synthesis via insitu reduction of silver nitrate (AgNO 3 ) using Azadirachta Indica (Neem) plant extract under atmospheric conditions. The synthesized nanocomposites were characterised by FTIR spectroscopy, UV–Visible Spectroscopy, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and Dynamic light scattering (DLS) technique. The thermal properties of the nanocomposite was analyzed by Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA). The pH response and drug release profile of the synthesised biodegradable Silver-Hydrogel nanocomposite was investigated. Further, it was observed that physicochemical interaction between the polymeric nanocomposites and drug influences the degree of matrix swelling and therefore, its porosity and diffusion release process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]