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Drug resistance is a threat to civilization, which results from over-prescription and irrational use of antibiotics. This has led to an increased demand for novel leads of herbal origin to overcome drug resistance. The present work involves the screening of various antibiotics against isolated Staphylococcus sp. from Hospital Effluent and the Minimum Inhibitory concentration for antibiotics namely Vancomycin, Erythromycin and Oxacillin were found to be 7.33+0.6 µg/ml 25.33+0.6 µg/ml and 27.33+0.6 µg/ml respectively whereas Minimum bactericidal concentration of Vancomycin, Erythromycin and oxacillin was found to be 180µg/ml; 146.67 + 0.3 µg/ml and 96.66 + 0.6 µg/ml respectively. Thus, the isolated bacteria were proved to be Multi-Drug Resistant. Haritaki (Terminalia chebula Retz) is given potential importance in Ayurveda for its properties to cure and prevent diseases. Terminalia chebula Retz is often known as “King of Medicines” and enlisted in Ayurveda for its extraordinary therapeutic contribution. The proved Multi-Drug Resistant bacteria was further subjected to a crude extract of Haritaki. Minimum Inhibitory Concentration for Terminalia chebula was found to be 1.33 +0.3 mg/ml and thus proved to be exhibiting potential anti-bacterial activity against isolated Multi-Drug Resistant Staphylococcus sp.

The presence of Hard Exudates in retinal images is one of the significant indications of Diabetic Retinopathy disease. Early detection of Hard Exudates obviously prevents the vision loss very effec...

Background Mucoadhesive polymers are applicable for improving the delivery of drug by prolonging the residence time and time of contact of the dosage form with the mucous membrane. Mucoadhesion may be defined as a process where the polymer substance gets adhered either to the biological substrate or synthetic or to a natural macromolecule, or to the mucus membrane. The natural polymers can be studied to determine whether they possess some mucoadhesive properties as several excipients derived from plants have proved their potential in the field of conventional or novel dosage form. The present work aims at determination of physical properties of polysaccharides from fruit pulp of Ziziphus mauritiana L. (ZM gum) and Artocarpus heterophyllus L. (AH gum), such as mucoadhesive strength (shear stress determination), swelling index, pH, viscosity, angle of repose, Carr’s index, density, and its comparative study with synthetic polymers Carbopol 934 and HPMC and also to study its FTIR and 1H-NMR spectra analysis. Result The most important properties such as mucoadhesive strength of ZM gum (3% w/v) and AH gum (3%) was found to be comparable with HPMC (3% w/v) and Carbopol 934 (3% w/v); also, the swelling index of the isolated gums were also found comparable with both HPMC and Carbopol 934. Falling sphere method is conducted in which the time taken by the sphere to move 50 divisions to the bottom for 3% w/v ZM gum solution was 10.14 s and for AH gum was 10.13 s which is comparable to HPMC and Carbopol 934. The FTIR & 1H NMR spectra showed typical characteristic signals of polysaccharides and presence of typical sugar residues. Conclusion From the study, it can be concluded that ZM and AH gum has potential to be better than Carbopol 934 and HPMC in respect of mucoadhesive strength and also it has the potential to replace some synthetic mucoadhesive polymers and polysaccharides.

Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is a microvascular symptom where retina is affected by fluid leaks of the fragile blood vessels. Clinically, retinal Hemorrhages are one of the earliest indications of diabetic retinopathy disease. In this contrast, the Hemorrhage count is used to indicate the severity of this disease. The early detection of retinal Hemorrhages obviously prevents the incurable blindness of the DR patients. But, retinal Hemorrhage detection is still a challenging task. Highly reliable, accurate, platform independent retinal Hemorrhage detection method is still an open field. In this research article, we have reviewed the principal methodologies which are used to diagnose the retinal Hemorrhages under the diabetic retinopathy screening operations. This review article helps the researchers to develop a high quality retinal Hemorrhage screening method in future.

Background: Gene–environment interaction is an important aspect in the development of coronary artery disease (CAD). The mutation (677C-T) of methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) gene results in a decrease of the enzyme activity that leads to mild hyperhomocysteinemia. Elevated plasma level of homocysteine has been recognized as an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease. A case–control study was designed to assess whether the prevalence of some MTHFR gene polymorphisms have any role in the development of CAD. Materials and Methods: The study included unrelated 217 cases with CAD and 255 healthy controls. DNA was extracted from peripheral blood. MTHFR genotypes were identifi ed by seeing the presence or absence of 677C->T mutation obtained by PCR followed by Hinf1 restriction digestion. Multiple logistic regression analysis was carried out to fi nd association between studied genotypes and lifestyle as well as biochemical risk factors. Results: The T allele was found to be associated with the disease. Signifi cant associations were found with smoking, hypertension, diabetes, and family history of CAD. Conclusion: The results indicate that MTHFR 677C-T polymorphism has signifi cant association with CADs in the population of eastern India. Key words: Allele, case–control, methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase, multiple logistic regression, polymorphism.

In the present investigation the solubility of hemoglobin in aqueous buffer solution in presence of ammonium sulfate at different system pH has been studied. The conjugate effects of ultrafiltration and ionic strength in both salting-in and -out regions at pH 6.8 on separation characteristics of hemoglobin present in aqueous buffer medium have also been investigated. The ultrafiltration experiments have been carried out using a 100 000 molecular weight cut-off regenerated cellulose membrane. A second-order polynomial equation has been proposed to predict the change of solubility of hemoglobin in the salting-in region at different system pH. A deterministic model has also been presented to predict permeate and gel concentration with time during ultrafiltration. The simulated results have been compared with the experimental observation. A good agreement indicates the validity of the proposed equation.

The adsorption behaviour of immobilised tannin towards 14 different proteins including albumins, globulins, schleroproteins, phosphoproteins, chromoproteins, glycoproteins and some enzymes has been studied. pH and protein concentration have been varied in the range of 4–7 and 0.05–1.0 mg/ml respectively. For most of the proteins under present investigation bell-shaped curves are obtained when the adsorption selectivity of immobilised tannin at a protein concentration of 0.25 mg/ml is plotted against pH. A paraboloc equation is proposed to explain this behaviour. For two proteins, namely, concanavalin A (a globulin) and gelatin (a schleroprotein) the combined effect of bulk phase protein concentration and pH on adsorption selectivity have been mathematically described by coupling a parabolic function with the conventional Langmuir isotherm. The simulated results have been compared with the experimental observations.

Gal repressor inhibits transcription from the gal promoter ( P 1) when it binds to the cognate operator ( O E ). The repression is relieved by the presence of the inducer d -galactose. Compared with its interaction with free repressor, d -galactose binds to the repressor–operator complex with 10-fold reduced affinity as determined by fluorescence enhancement measurements. Thermodynamic analysis and fluorescence anisotropy showed that the stability of the repressor–operator complex is reduced by only 7-fold by the presence of the inducer in the complex. The formation of the inducer–repressor–operator ternary complex has been confirmed by CD spectral analysis. Fluorescence spectroscopy and energy transfer experiments suggest that individual allosteric effects of the two ligands, inducer and operator, on Gal repressor are responsible for the slightly weakened stability of the ternary complex compared with the stability of the inducer–repressor and repressor–operator complexes. In vitro transcription results demonstrated full derepression of transcription of the P 1 promoter under conditions in which the concentrations of the inducer–repressor binary complex are severalfold higher than the dissociation constant of the inducer–repressor–operator ternary complex into inducer–repressor and free DNA. These results strongly suggest that the inducer binding to the repressor–operator complex does not lead to dissociation of the repressor from the operator during transcription induction. Because Gal repressor inhibits transcription by modulating the α subunit of the P 1-bound RNA polymerase, we conclude that the inducer binding to the operator-bound repressor only allosterically relieves the inhibitory effect of repressor on RNA polymerase without dissociating the repressor from DNA.

Gal repressor (GalR) binds D-galactose, which is responsible for lifting of repression of the gal operon. Proton T1 measurements of alpha- and beta-anomers of galactose as a function of gal repressor show preferential binding of the beta-anomer. The beta-anomer was isolated by high-performance liquid chromatography and was shown to bind tightly to GalR. Calorimetry was used to determine enthalpy changes at several temperatures. Heat capacity change was found to be positive, indicating that a significant amount of hydrophobic surface area was exposed upon galactose binding. Bis-ANS binding to GalR is significantly enhanced in the presence of a saturating amount of galactose, indicating additional exposure of hydrophobic surfaces. We propose that the galactose-induced conformational change involves the opening of the two subdomains, which may disrupt protein-protein interactions responsible for repression.