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Covishield (ChAdOx) and Covaxin (BBV-152) are the mainstream vaccines against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) used in India and a few other countries.To assess the clinical outcomes of patients hospitalized with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) who had been vaccinated with either Covishield or Covaxin.This prospective, single-centre, observational cohort study of 1160 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 was conducted between April and June 2021. Severity of disease at admission and during hospitalization, requirement for intensive care unit (ICU) admission and ventilatory support, inflammatory markers (C-reactive protein, ferritin, lactate dehydrogenase, D-dimer), neutralizing antibody levels and mortality were assessed in vaccinated and unvaccinated patients.More than 90% of patients in this study harboured the Delta variant (Pango lineage B.1.617.2) of SARS-CoV-2. Severity of disease at admission and during hospitalization (3.44% vs 7.51%;These results demonstrate the effectiveness of Covishield and Covaxin against severe disease in patients hospitalized with COVID-19 with breakthrough infections caused by the Delta variant. Strategies targeting non-responders are desirable to minimize morbidity and mortality.

Background: Eurycoma longifolia Jack (Simaroubaceae) root extracts and Persicaria minor Huds. (Polygonaceae) leaf extracts are known to exhibit antioxidant activity, while their antihyperuricemic effects remain unclear. Objective: The objective of this study is to investigate the anti-hyperuricemic activity of Biokesum® (extract of P. minor) and Physta® (extract of E. longifolia). Methods: In vitro anti-hyperuricemic activity for Biokesum® and Physta® was measured by xanthine oxidase inhibition based on a biochemical enzymatic assay at concentrations of 1, 10, and 100 μg/mL. In vivo anti-hyperuricemic activity was assessed in potassium oxonate-induced hyperuricemia Sprague-Dawley rat model. Biokesum® at doses of 100, 300, and 500 mg/kg and Physta® at doses of 300 and 500 mg/kg were administered for 7 days to the hyperuricemic rats. Serum uric acid was measured on days 0, 1, 3, and 7, and liver xanthine oxidase activity was measured on day 8. Allopurinol was used as positive control in both in vitro and in vivo investigations. Results: Based on xanthine oxidase biochemical enzymatic assay, IC50 of Biokesum® and Physta® were 88.6 μg/mL and > 100 μg/mL respectively. In hyperuricemic rats, Biokesum® and Physta® significantly reduced the serum uric acid by 5.6% and 5.5% respectively at 300 mg/kg (p < 0.05) and 9.8% and 9.0% respectively at 500mg/kg (p < 0.001) compared to untreated rats. Significant liver xanthine oxidase inhibition at 37.5% and 34.1% were observed in rats treated with Biokesum® and Physta® respectively. Conclusion: The study has demonstrated hyperuricemic activity of Biokesum® and Physta®, clinical studies in hyperuricemia-related diseases population are required to further confirm the activity.

Introduction: Beyond the preceding twenty years progresses in investigative systems and an upsurge in effect usage routes have remarkably enhanced breast cancer endurance proportions, regardless of a cumulative number of identified cases amongst women. Certain plant extracts have been acquired to produce anti-cancer powers and to fit into chemotherapy treatments. Aim and Objective: To accomplish the anticancer activities of phytoconstituents of Ipomoea aquatica Forsskal beside DMBA induced breast cancer in Sprague dawley rats with the addition of assessment of histopathological and biochemical parameters. Methods: There were six groups of animals such G1 (Normal), G2 (tumor), G3 (standard Vinblastine), G4 (hydroalcoholic extract), G5 (Isolated compound I) and G6 (Isolated compound II) correspondingly. Results and discussion: The body weight, defense percentage and tumor volume were determined. A substantial behaviors were detected in G3 (37.85%), G4 (24%), G5 31.70% and G6 (32.65%) after 45 days therapy. The special effects of antioxidant enzymes similar to SOD, CAT, GPX and LPx were examined and had revealed statistically significant findings. Conclusion: Bearing in mind regarding the prolonged medication of patients, natural resolves (plant of interest with its isolated compounds) will control superior deprived of any side effects to cure the ailment in effectual approach.

Objective: To explore physiochemical and phytochemical standardization of leaves of Amaranthus viridis and Amaranthus spinosus. Method: As per WHO guidelines, physical standardization parameters with various solvents system were evaluated. The preliminary phytochemical screenings were adopted for disclosing the existence of phytochemicals in the discrete extracts. Thin layer chromatography and HPTLC were employed for methanolic extract of leaves of Amaranthus viridis and Amaranthus spinosus. Result: Preliminary phytochemical screening with various extracts reveals phytoconstituents. HPTLC fingerprint were executed for leaves of Amaranthus viridis and Amaranthus spinosus using selected solvent system. HPTLC analysis implies the presence of phenolic compounds and flavonoids in both the plant Amaranthus viridis and Amaranthus spinosus. Conclusion: Quercetin and Gallic acid was raise to be more in Amaranthus viridis compared to Amaranthus spinosus, however rutin was reported only in Amaranthus spinosus. The outcome of the research leads for isolation, purification and utilization in herbal industries.

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues to be a major health concern leading to substantial mortality and morbidity across the world. Vaccination is effective in reducing the severity and associated mortality. Data pertaining to the duration of immunity, antibody waning and the optimal timing of booster dose administration is limited. In this cross-sectional study, we assessed the antibody levels in healthcare workers who were fully vaccinated after obtaining Institutional ethics committee approval and informed consent. Whole blood was collected and enumeration of S1/S2 neutralizing antibody levels was carried out using LIAISON SARS-COV-2 S1/S2 IgG assay. A total of 1636 individuals who were vaccinated with Covaxin or Covishield were included. Of these, 52% were males with a median age of 29 years. Diabetes and Hypertension was noted in 2.32% (38/1636) and 2.87% (47/1636) of the individuals. Spike neutralizing antibodies were below the detectable range (

A Schiff base E-4-{[(5-bromothiophen-2-yl)methylidene]amino}-1,5-dimethyl-2-phenyl-1,2-dihydro-3H-pyrazol-3-one (4ATP) has been synthesized by condensation 5-bromothiophene-2-carboxaldehyde with 4-amino antipyrine by condensation. The compound crystallized in the monoclinic system (P21/n) with E-configuration at azomethine C = N bond. The Hirshfeld surface analysis and crystal structure data confirm the intramolecular hydrogen bonding interaction (C-H…O: 2.963 Å) in a conjugated six-membered cyclic structure. The IR, Raman, 1H NMR, 13C NMR and mass spectral studies have been interpreted based on the crystal structure data. The compound is more effective in its cytotoxic activity for the A549 cell line than that of Vero cells.

The medicinal plant Ipomoea aquatica belonging to convulvulaceae family is an effective natural herb for treatment of various ailments and possesses effective anticancer activity. The aim of the work is to characterize a secondary metabolite merromoside (a resin glycoside) for anti-breast cancer activity through down regulation of ROS species.The Extract of the whole plant has been prepared by maceration method using 50%v/v ethanol in distilled water to get a hydroalcoholic extract. The phytochemical evaluation reveals that the active secondary metabolite was isolated by using column chromatographic technique. The isolated compound was evaluated for its anticancer properties through invitro method such as 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide assay on Michigan Cancer Foundation-7 Cell lines. The purity and structural characterization were done by high-performance thin layer chromatography, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy, Proton and13C Nuclear Magnetic Resonance spectroscopy and Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry.The isolated compound (W04) from the derived extract showed Rf value of 0.79 that showed IC50 of 182.8μg/ml. The chemical structure of W04 has been confirmed as [4,5-dihydroxy-6-[5-hydroxy-2-methyl-4-(2-methylpropanoyloxy)-6-[(24,25,26-trihydroxy-5,23-dimethyl-9-oxo-19-pentyl-2,4,8,20,22-pentaoxatricyclo[19.2.2.13,7]hexacosan-6-yl)oxy]oxan-3-yl]oxy-2-methyloxan-3-yl] 2-methyl propanoate with the molecular weight of 979.15268. The isolated compound merromoside from hydroalcoholic extract of Ipomoea aquatica has been evaluated for anti-breast cancer properties. The down regulation of ROS species will prevent reverse signalling and angiogenesis. This indicates that merromoside will overcome MDR in breast cancer especially DOX-resistant.

Clinacanthus nutans (Burm. f.) Lindau (C. nutans) has been reported to lower blood glucose level; however, evidence on its efficacy in lowering diabetic complications is limited. The antidiabetic properties of C. nutans aqueous leaf extract on serum metabolic indices, sorbitol production, and aldose reductase enzyme activities in the kidneys, lens, and sciatic nerve of type II diabetic (T2D) rats were evaluated. All rats except normal control rats were fed with a high‐fat diet for 8 weeks to induce obesity and subsequently injected with 35 mg/kg streptozotocin to induce type II diabetes. Aqueous leaf extract of C. nutans (100 and 200 mg kg−1 day−1) and quercetin (10 mg kg−1 day−1) were fed orally for 4 weeks. Diabetic rats administered with C. nutans at 100, 200 mg kg−1 day−1 and quercetin had significantly (p

Spectroscopic techniques are broadly employed to study the chemical structure of an analyte accurately. The electromagnetic radiation used in each method is allowed to interact with the molecule. The electric and magnetic property of the radiation is interacted with the similar properties of the chemical substance. Hence, the analyte is identified and characterized for the presence of atoms, bonds, functional groups, basic nucleus, molecular formula and molecular weight. The study is highly relevant to have a reference covering most of the important analytical techniques. The investigation implies content of basics for the interpretation of a spectrum, rules/laws followed, sampling techniques, sample cells, mechanism involved in analysis, units of measurements, spectral ranges, light sources, nature of samples to be analyzed, kind of solvents utilized, appearance of spectra and major uses of individual spectroscopic analysis. This also includes every significant aspect of various spectroscopic methods and represents qualitative & quantitative parameters which insists for the research and experiments carried by the specific spectral process. Thereby, review regarding combination of entire spectroscopic principle, instrumentation and applications will be giving fruitful information to all analytical persons Pharma students.

Background: Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) is a non-invasive medical imaging technique that provides high-resolution cross-sectional images of the retina. There is a need to develop algorithms for obtaining quantitative and qualitative information about the retina which are essential for assessing and managing eye conditions. Methods: This work emphasizes on an automated image processing algorithm for segmenting retinal layers. It involves preprocessing of the acquired retinal SD-OCT image (B-scan) using the proposed automatic Anisotropic diffusion filter, followed with contrast stretching to suppress intrinsic speckle noise without blurring structural edges. Graph search segmentation using Dijkstra algorithm with a combination of threshold and axial gradient as the cost function is used to segment the retinal layer boundaries. Results: The algorithm was performed and the average thickness of the segmented retina was computed for the 3D retinal scan (128 B-scans) of 8 subjects (4 normal and 4 abnormal) using Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Screening (ETDRS) chart. Conclusion: Segmentation was evaluated using manually segmented B-scan by an Ophthalmologist as ground truth and accuracy was found to be 99.14 ± 0.27%.

There is growing interest in the use of plant bioresources for managing Type 2 diabetes. In this study, Rhodamnia cinerea, which is used traditionally to manage diseases in Malaysia, was explored for its antidiabetic effects. Type 2 diabetic rats were managed for 4 weeks using aqueous extract of R. cinerea or quercetin. Weights and fasting glucose were measured weekly, while serum lipid profiles, insulin, antioxidant status, urea, creatinine and liver enzymes were assayed at the end. Sorbitol contents, antioxidant capacities and aldose reductase activities of the kidney, lens and sciatic nerve were also assessed. The results showed that the aqueous extract of R. Cinerea mainly contained Myricitrin and it reduced glycemia (p>0.05), lipid profiles (p

Background Each year 1.5 million women experience menopause when menstrual cycles cease resulting from the loss of ovarian function and oestrogen deprivation, a hormone that helps prevent bone loss. This study investigated the effects of Physta®, a standardized herbal extract of Eurycoma longifolia Jack (PEL), on hormonal balance and parameters associated with hormonal imbalance, namely body and uterus weight and bone biochemical markers relevant in menopausal symptoms. Methods Forty-eight Sprague Dawley rats were randomly divided into six groups of eight rats each: (A) Sham operated; control (B) Untreated (ovariectomised (OVX) with vehicle), (C) PEL 100 (OVX + 100 mg/kg body weight (bw)), (D) PEL 300 (OVX + 300 mg/kg bw), (E) PEL 500 (OVX + 500 mg/kg bw) and (F) Positive control, testosterone undecanoate (TU) (OVX+ 10 mg/kg bw). Group A and B received daily oral administrations of the vehicle, Group C-E received daily oral administration of PEL and Group F received testosterone undecanoate intramuscularly weekly. At the end of 8 weeks, serum calcium, phosphate, bone alkaline phosphatase (BALP), osteocalcin, follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinising hormone (LH), oestrogen, progesterone and testosterone were measured, then the animals were sacrificed and uterus was isolated, while weight was recorded in all experimental groups. Results Treatment of OVX rats with PEL at a dose of 500 mg/kg showed decreased serum FSH (P

Fulfillment of the family needs for the critically ill patient in Critical Care Unit should be met by healthcare providers to improve patient’s quality of life. The purpose of this study was to identify the needs of family members of critically ill patients in a Critical Care Unit. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 109 family members of patient hospitalized at the Intensive Care Unit and Coronary Care Units of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre (UKMMC). The modified Critical Care Family Needs Inventory (CCFNI) comprised of 5 domains of family member’s needs: Information, Proximity, Assurance, Comfort and Support. The findings showed that assurance and information needs were the highest with (3.77 ± 0.306); (3.62 ± 0.379), proximity need (3.60 ± 0.415), support need (3.57 ± 0.477) and comfort need (3.55 ± 0.586), respectively. There was significant relationship between respondent’s relationship with family needs of proximity (p = 0.013). This study indicated that there were significant association between respondent’s monthly income and family needs of comfort and support, (p = 0.033) and (p = 0.004). There was also significant association between the gender with comfort need (p = 0.013). In this study, it was observed that information, proximity, assurance, comfort and support were opinioned as their requirements during hospitalization. Hence, it assists in coping while being admitted to Intensive Care Unit and Coronary Care Unit of UKMMC. An educational package and updating patient’s information should be emphasized to enhance the family needs of critically ill patient in the critical care settings.

Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) is a promising technology that enables people affected by neuromuscular disorders to control external devices like a wheelchair or prosthesis with the help of their brain signals. Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) is a non-invasive optical neuroimaging technique that describes the brain hemodynamics. Recently, it has been investigated for the development of BCI application. In the current study, fNIRS signals that report changes in hemoglobin concentrations acquired during imagination of executing four motor tasks namely, right-fist clenching, left-fist clenching, right- and left-foot tapping and rest have been explored. Besides employing conventional machine learning algorithms used in BCI field such as Support Vector Machine (SVM), Multilayer Perceptron (MLP) neural network, and Projection-based learning in a Meta-cognitive Radial Basis Function Network (PBL-McRBFN), a deep learning approach namely, Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) has been explored to classify the motor imagery fNIRS signals. Also, the selection of the best input image representation of the one-dimensional fNIRS signal to be used for CNN architecture is investigated. In comparison to conventional machine learning algorithms, the performance of CNN was superior with respect to the classification of four-class motor imagery fNIRS signals, with an average classification accuracy value of 72.35 ± 4.4%. The results show that the classification of fNIRS signals is possible using deep learning approach for the development of BCI application specifically using spectrogram representation of the fNIRS signal.

Background: One of the major health problems in our country is unsanitary conditions especially poor hand hygiene leads to a rigorous public health hazard to children in the school. Children are not aware of important of hand hygiene at school level. Health education is considered necessary for better knowledge. Materials and Methods: Quantitative quasi experimental randomized one group pretest and posttest design study was carried out to find out the effectiveness of hand hygiene teaching on knowledge, compliance and to correlate the level of hand hygiene knowledge with compliance of hand washing among the students. The knowledge was assessed by questionnaire and compliance was assessed by sterile hand swab collection to do bacteriological culture test in the microbiology laboratory. Among six primary schools in the Mugallivakkam village at Kancheepuram District one primary school was selected using simple lottery method. Five students from 2 nd , 3rd, 4th and 5 th standard were selected using simple random sampling. The total sample size was 20. The period of data collection was from 16-6-2012 to 13-7-2012. The 20 primary school students were split into four subgroups of each consisting of five school children. Then teaching programme on hand hygiene was given using laptop. Posttest was conducted on knowledge and compliance after three weeks. Results: The mean value of knowledge between the pretest and posttest showed a vast statistically significant difference at p

Introduction: Since to meet the worlds challenging diseases, there is a huge requirement for finding remedies. The remedy might be derived from any source like synthetic, mineral, biological, microbiological, marine and herbal. Among which, herbal, the natural remedy stands first to treat an illness without side effects. The active secondary metabolites have been spread widely across the world. The herb that acts both as nutraceutical and as pharmaceutical majorly is various species of spinach. Hence, the water spinach is selected for getting an excellent moiety by means of different analytical procedures. Aim and Objectives: The aim is to characterize isolated herbal compound from Ipomoea aquatica Forsskal with the use of spectroscopic and chromatographic techniques. Method: The authenticated herb was extracted for its active metabolites. The screened phytochemicals by preliminary identification tests and TLC were applied for isolation. The high yield isolate from water fraction was evaluated for characterizing its chemical and biological properties. The structural elucidation was done with FTIR, 1 H NMR and LCMS. The biological property was analyzed by colorimetric method using MCF-7 cell lines. Results and Discussion: The yield of isolate was 13.9 %w/w. The compound was characterized as halo aromatic alcoholamide with molecular weight of 1677.60 g/mol. IC50 value of active molecule by MTT assay was detected as 173.1 μg/ml. Conclusion: The invented anticancer natural drug might be isolated in bulk to prepare herbal formulations. The medicine could be utilized for treating various life threatening diseases because of its functional groups and pharmacological actions.

Objective: To explore the immunomodulatory properties of aqueous extract of Polygonum minus Huds (P. minus), on swiss albino mice using carbon clearance assay. Methods: The study was performed using in-vivo carbon clearance assay or phagocytosis. Aqueous extract of P. minus was administered by oral route to Swiss albino mice for seven days. Levamisole, 2.5 mg/kg was used as standard drug. Results: The phagocytic function of reticuloendothelial system was significantly (P

Background The study was aimed to evaluate the anti-inflammatory activity of ethanolic and aqueous extracts of Polygonum minus (Huds) using in vitro and in vivo approaches. Methods The in vitro tests used to evaluate ethanolic extract are cyclooxygenase-1 (COX-1), cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), lipooxygenase (5-LOX), secretory phospholipase-A2 (sPLA2) inhibition assay whilst the in-vivo effect was measured by the ability of aqueous extracts to reduce paw edema induced by λ-carrageenan, in rats. Results The ethanolic extract inhibited the activities of 5-LOX and COX-1(p