Isolation of Chemical Constituents and Invitro Antidiabetic Activity of Mirabilis Jalapa Flower Extracts

Objectives: The present work was designed to investigate the phytochemical and in vitro screening of the flower extracts of Mirabilis jalapa. Materials and Methods: Phytochemical constituents were isolated using column chromatography and characterized of the compounds were carried out using IR, 1H NMR, 13C NMR and mass spectroscopy data. In vitro anti-diabetic activity was evaluated by alpha-amylase inhibition assay and Alpha-glucosidase inhibition assay. Results: Phytochemical investigation of the ethanol extract revealed the presence of a flavonoid Kaempferol and a triterpenoid Lupeol. In vitro investigation indicated that the Mirabilis jalapa flowers extracts has considerable anti-diabetic activity Conclusion: The anti-diabetic activity may due to the presence of phytoconstituents like flavonoids, triterpenoids, steroids.

A deep learning ensemble approach to prioritize antiviral drugs against novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 for COVID-19 drug repurposing

The alarming pandemic situation of Coronavirus infectious disease COVID-19, caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), has become a critical threat to public health. The unexpected outbreak and unrealistic progression of COVID-19 have generated an utmost need to realize promising therapeutic strategies to fight the pandemic. Drug repurposing-an efficient drug discovery technique from approved drugs is an emerging tactic to face the immediate global challenge. It​ offers a time-efficient and cost-effective way to find potential therapeutic agents for the disease. Artificial Intelligence-empowered deep learning models enable the rapid identification of potentially repurposable drug candidates against diseases. This study presents a deep learning ensemble model to prioritize clinically validated anti-viral drugs for their potential efficacy against SARS-CoV-2. The method integrates the similarities of drug chemical structures and virus genome sequences to generate feature vectors. The best combination of features is retrieved by the convolutional neural network in a deep learning manner. The extracted deep features are classified by the extreme gradient boosting classifier to infer potential virus–drug associations. The method could achieve an AUC of 0.8897 with 0.8571 prediction accuracy and 0.8394 sensitivity under the fivefold cross-validation. The experimental results and case studies demonstrate the suggested deep learning ensemble system yields competitive results compared with the state-of-the-art approaches. The top-ranked drugs are released for further wet-lab researches.

Neuropsychological performance in youth with obsessive-compulsive disorder

There is a paucity of literature on neuropsychological functions in youth with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Most studies have small sample sizes and have yielded inconsistent results. A recent meta-analysis failed to identify any significant impairments. We studied neuropsychological functions (attention, verbal fluency, working memory, set-shifting, response inhibition, planning and visuospatial abilities) in a large sample of youth with OCD (n = 97) in comparison with controls who did not have OCD (n = 50). After controlling for the confounding effects (age, sex, severity of depression and anxiety, presence of comorbid attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, any tic disorder, number of comorbidities, and non-verbal intelligence measured by the standard progressive matrices), the youth with OCD significantly underperformed with large effect sizes compared to controls, only on the test of 'behavioral reversal', measured by the Object Alternation Test (trials to reach criterion p < 0.001, Cohen's d = 1.49; perseverative errors p < 0.001, Cohen's d = 1.31). Patients also underperformed on a task of planning, but it was statistically insignificant. Certain comorbid disorders, antipsychotic use and age of onset did not influence neuropsychological performance significantly. Our study demonstrates that youth with OCD may have impaired 'set-shifting' in the form of 'behavioral reversal' and possibly planning, findings broadly consistent with the literature in adults and with the fronto-striatal model of OCD. It is possible that youth may accumulate more neuropsychological impairments over a period, as the illness continues into adulthood.

A Case of Neonatal Diabetes Mellitus Due to INS Gene Mutation with Maternal Mosaicism and Atypical Presentation

Neonatal diabetes mellitus is a single gene defect that results in diabetes mellitus in the first 6 months of life. We report a child who was diagnosed to be hyperglycemic at 13 months of life and assumed to have type 1 diabetes mellitus and started on insulin. The child came to us at 2 and 1/2 years of age. He had exceptionally good blood glucose control. His history revealed that he was symptomatic with a voracious appetite and poor weight gain since the second half of infancy. Genetic testing revealed a heterozygous mutation of the INS gene (the gene that codes for insulin). The condition has autosomal dominant inheritance. Testing the parents revealed that the mother had 7.8% mosaicism for this variant in her lymphocyte DNA. Though this did not alter the management of the patient, it did help in counseling the parents regarding risk of recurrence in future pregnancies.

Assessment of the viability of human periodontal ligament cells in black tea, lime juice, and passion fruit concentrate - A comparative in vitro study

Background

Tooth avulsion is considered as a severe form of dental trauma, causing damage to the periodontium. Hence, the preservation of healthy periodontal ligament (PDL) cells in the storage medium are pivotal for the success of replantation.

Aim and Objective

The aim of this study is to assess the viability of human PDL cells in black tea, lime juice, and passion fruit concentrate.

Methods

Human periodontal cells were cultured and stored in three experimental media - black tea, lime juice, and passion fruit concentrate and subjected to 3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2, 5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay for 1 h and the cell viability was determined. Mean and standard deviation were statistically analyzed using one-way analysis of variance to identify the significant groups.

Results

The human PDL cells showed 100% viability in lime juice and passion fruit concentrate, followed by 98% viability in black tea.

Conclusion

Black tea, lime juice, and passion fruit concentrate can be used effectively as storage media for maintaining PDL cells viability in avulsed teeth, with 100% viability exhibited by lime juice and passion fruit concentrate.

Clinical profile and outcome in a large sample of children and adolescents with obsessive-compulsive disorder: A chart review from a tertiary care center in India

BACKGROUND

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a common psychiatric illness in children and adolescents. Till date, the sample sizes in the Indian studies have been relatively small.

METHODOLOGY

The present study is a retrospective chart review of a large sample of children and adolescents diagnosed with OCD in a tertiary care center.

OBJECTIVES

The objectives of this study were to characterize the clinical profile and to evaluate outcome of OCD in children and adolescents.

RESULTS

Fear of contamination and washing/cleaning compulsions were the most common presenting symptoms. Most of the patients were male with two-thirds having a comorbid disorder. Major depressive disorder was the most common comorbid disorder. The rates of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, disruptive behavioral disorders, and tic disorders were low when compared to Western studies. One-third of the patients received adequate trial of serotonin reuptake inhibitors and 36% received cognitive behavior therapy. Fifty-four percent of patients had a poor outcome with hospitalization, longer duration of illness, earlier onset of OC symptoms, and family history of OCD being the predictors of poor outcome.

CONCLUSION

The present study of a large sample of patients with juvenile OCD highlights the low rate of comorbid disruptive behavior disorders as reported in the earlier Indian studies and a favorable short-term outcome in approximately 56% of the patients.

Lip repositioning, an alternative treatment of gummy smile - A case report

The aim of present case report is to discuss surgical lip repositioning technique for the management of excessive gingival display related with vertical maxillary excess and increase mobility of the upper lip. By restricting the muscle pull by elevator lip muscles, this procedure reduces excessive gingival display during smiling. For patient, this procedure is safe, less invasive with minimal side effects and an alternative to orthognathic surgery in the correction of gummy smile.

Use of Online Social Networking Services in University Libraries: A Study of University Libraries of Karnataka, India

Social networking services have become a very powerful tool to provide library services. Over a period of time libraries are using online social networking services to make their services popular and user friendly. Social networking services like facebook, youtube, twitter, linkedin, google+, instagram have many applications that could be utilised by the libraries to provide number of services in libraries. The paper reports the use of social networking services in University libraries, based on a study of 54 university websites in Karnataka state. Method of content analysis has been adopted to study the websites. The results indicate that 53 of 54 universities (98.14%) do have their own websites in different domains. 29.62% State/Central universities are connected to Facebook. 18.51% are connected to Youtube. Very few are connected to Twitter and Linkedin. 18.51% of  Universities are connected to different networking sites. It is observed that the universities libraries in the state are catching up with these technologies but many of these services are used for mere elementary purposes. The study concludes that it is time for the university libraries to exploit the services and use the optimum potentialities of these Social networking services.

Comparative Evaluation of Marginal Adaptation of Biodentine(TM) and Other Commonly Used Root End Filling Materials-An Invitro Study

AIM

The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate the marginal adaptation of three root-end filling materials Glass ionomer cement, Mineral trioxide aggregate and Biodentine(TM).

METHODOLOGY

Thirty human single-rooted teeth were resected 3 mm from the apex. Root-end cavities were then prepared using an ultrasonic tip and filled with one of the following materials Glass ionomer cement (GIC), Mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA) and a bioactive cement Biodentine(TM). The apical portions of the roots were then sectioned to obtain three 1 mm thick transversal sections. Confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) was used to determine area of gaps and adaptation of the root-end filling materials with the dentin. The Post hoc test, a multiple comparison test was used for statistical data analysis.

RESULTS

Statistical analysis showed lowest marginal gaps (11143.42±967.753m2) and good marginal adaptation with Biodentine(TM) followed by MTA (22300.97±3068.883m(2)) and highest marginal gaps with GIC (33388.17±12155.903m(2)) which were statistically significant (p<0.0001).

CONCLUSION

A new root end filling material Biodentine(TM) showed better marginal adaptation than commonly used root end filling materials.

A novel technique to monitor thermal discharges using thermal infrared imaging

Coastal temperature is an important indicator of water quality, particularly in regions where delicate ecosystems sensitive to water temperature are present. Remote sensing methods are highly reliable for assessing the thermal dispersion. The plume dispersion from the thermal outfall of the nuclear power plant at Kalpakkam, on the southeast coast of India, was investigated from March to December 2011 using thermal infrared images along with field measurements. The absolute temperature as provided by the thermal infrared (TIR) images is used in the Arc GIS environment for generating a spatial pattern of the plume movement. Good correlation of the temperature measured by the TIR camera with the field data (r(2) = 0.89) make it a reliable method for the thermal monitoring of the power plant effluents. The study portrays that the remote sensing technique provides an effective means of monitoring the thermal distribution pattern in coastal waters.

Shoreline change analysis of Vedaranyam coast, Tamil Nadu, India

The coastal zone is one of the nation's greatest environmental and economic assets. The present research aims at studying the shoreline changes along Vedaranyam coast using conventional and modern techniques including field sampling, remote sensing, and geographical information system (GIS). The study area was divided into three zones. Dynamic Land/Sea polygon analysis was performed to obtain the shore line changes at different time periods between 1930 and 2005. From the multidate shoreline maps, the rate of shoreline change was computed using linear regression rate and end point rate. Further, the shoreline was classified into eroding, accreting, and stable regions through GIS analysis. The eroding, accreting, and stable coastal stretch along Vedaranyam is observed as 18 %, 80.5 %, and 1.5 %, respectively. Net shoreline movement is seaward, i.e., the coast is progressive with an average rate of 5 m/year. A maximum shoreline displacement of 1.3 km towards the sea is observed near Point Calimere. During the Asian Tsunami 2004, the eastern part of the study area showed high erosion. Sediment transport paths derived from the grain size analysis of beach sediments collected during different seasons help to identify the major sediment source and sinks. Point Calimere acts as the major sink for sediments whereas Agastiyampalli and Kodiakkarai are found to be the major sources for the sediment supply along the Vedaranyam coast. Shoreline change study from field and satellite data using GIS analysis confirms that Vedaranyam coast is accreting in nature.

An association of hyperglycemia with plasma malondialdehyde and atherogenic lipid risk factors in newly diagnosed Type 2 diabetic patients

BACKGROUND

Oxidative stress (OS) generated by hyperglycemia, is one of the major focuses of recent research related to diabetes mellitus. Studying associations between hyperglycemia, OS and atherogenic dyslipidemia (AD) is therefore important.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Plasma was obtained form a total of 52 subjects with newly diagnosed Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and 52 healthy controls to study associations between hyperglycemia, lipid risk factors for atherogenicity and malondialdehyde (MDA), a lipid peroxidation product. Ferric reducing ability of plasma (FRAP) was evaluated as a measure of total antioxidant capacity (TAC).

RESULTS

Diabetic patients had significantly higher (P < 0.05) plasma triglycerides (TG)), very-low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (VLDL-C), TG to high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio (TG/HDL-C), atherogenic index (AI), and MDA. Whereas FRAP levels were depleted significantly in the patients compared to that of controls (P = 0.000). Pearson correlation analyses showed MDA correlates significantly with Fasting blood sugar (r = 0.39, P = 0.004), TG/HDL-C (r = 0.45, P = 0.001), and AI (r = 0.40, P = 0.003), and a significant negative correlation with LDL-C (r = -0.33, P = 0.019) which was lost upon nullifying the effect of FBS by partial correlation analysis (r = -0.28, P = 0.050). Receiver operating curve (ROC) analysis showed high Area under curve for TG/HDL-C and AI (0.62; P = 0.03).

CONCLUSION

Hyperglycemia of diabetes is associated with elevated levels of plasma MDA. This study suggests that TG/HDL-C and AI may be particularly useful as atherogenic risk predictors in newly diagnosed patients with T2DM.

α4β1 integrin-dependent cell sorting dictates T-cell recruitment in oral submucous fibrosis

Aim:

The biological mechanism(s) that guide the immunological effectors of lymphocytes to sites of inflammatory response, a feature consistently seen in oral submucous fibrosis (OSF) was evaluated. It is envisaged that endothelial/lymphocyte adhesion cascades involving VCAM-1/α4β1 integrins control the migration of lymphocytes across the vascular endothelium resulting in their homing in these locales.

Materials and Methods:

The study group comprised 28 OSF cases (M:F = 12:16, age range 18-65 years; mean 55.4 ± 8.5 SD) divided into early (n=17) and advanced (n=11) disease groups. Biopsy specimens of normal buccal mucosa (site compatible) were obtained from 10 healthy volunteers (age and sex matched) who served as control. All the samples were fixed in 10% neutral-buffered formalin and embedded in paraffin. Immunolocalization of β1 subunit associated with α4 integrin was performed by a mouse heterodimer (clone 4B7R, Ig G, R & D Systems Inc., dilution 1:100) using a peroxidase labeled streptavidin–biotin technique. The immunocompetent cell density was expressed as the number of positive cells per mm². The Mann–Whitney U-test and Fischer exact test were used to evaluate differences. P<0.05 was considered to be significant.

Results:

The median percentage of “T” lymphocytes with positive integrin α4β1 expression was 77.7 (an interquartile range of 73.3–83.4) for the test cases and for the controls, it was 28.2 (IQR 24.0–38.3). This difference was significant at 0.001 level. For the endothelial cells the positive expression was 82.8 (IQR 77–90.6) and 22.3 (IQR 18.3–29.2) respectively (P<0.001). When the intensity of integrin expression was considered 26/28 cases (96%) and 2/10 (20%) of controls showed intense expression of integrins α4β1 on T lymphocytes (P<0.001). Similarly, 27/28 cases (92.9%) and 2/10 (20%) of controls showed intense expression on endothelial cells (P<0.001). T lymphocyte–endothelial cell interactions were assessed by evaluating the overexpression of integrins on both the endothelial cells and lymphocytes together. The interaction was positive in 15/17 and 11/11 early and advanced OSF cases respectively (P=0.51).

Conclusion:

Following leukocyte activation, the interaction between leukocyte integrin heterodimers and endothelial superfamily adhesion ligands results in a firm adherence of leukocytes to endothelium, leading to leukocyte migration and homing to sites of mucosal inflammation consistently seen in OSF.