The common Giant Pigweed or Black Pigweed Trianthema portulacastrum L.is a well-known hepatoprotactant against chemical-induced toxicity. In this study, we evaluated the radioprotective activity of T. portulacastrum stem extract in Swiss albino mice through survival assay and confirmed by histopathology of the liver and jejunum. We observed that at higher concentrations (200 mg/kg body wt.) of extract, the survival of mice was 20% higher. The mechanism of protection was evaluated by endogenous colony-forming assay, bone marrow cell count, membrane integrity, and antioxidant enzymes of the liver. Histopathology of the liver and jejunum revealed that irradiated animals to have suffered loss of normal architecture of the liver in the form of hepatic sinusoid dilation and neutrophil infiltration, and distorted structure of villi in the jejunum of mice was observed. Pre-treatment of mice with extracts of Trianthema portulacastrum (50, 100 and 200 mg/kg body wt.) attenuated the effects of radiation in a dose-dependent manner. Further, the increased spleen colony numbers and augmented number of bone marrow cells in extract pre-treated mice, in comparison with untreated irradiated mice suggest the protective activity of T. portulacastrum. The treated group of mice also showed increased activities of antioxidant enzymes measured in tissue homogenates of the liver as compared to the untreated irradiated controls. Our present study demonstrated dose-dependent radioprotective property of T. portulacastrum against membrane damage.

Background: Ionizing radiation (IR) generates reactive oxygen species (ROS), which leads to oxidative stress that often leads to inflammatory responses in organisms. Objective: Trianthema portulacastrum L., a plant commonly growing in India, is rich in antioxidant phytochemicals. This is responsible for scavenging free radicals and may provide radioprotective and anti-inflammatory effects in response to ionizing radiation. Methods: The effect of T. portulacastrum extracts was studied in hepatic cells, which are susceptible to radiation-induced damage and in macrophages, which are the primary inflammatory cells of the body. Results: T. portulacastrum stem extracts showed efficient free radical scavenging activity in hepatocytes and decreased radiation-induced lipid peroxidation in cell and mitochondrial membranes. Treatment of irradiated cells with T. portulacastrum stem extracts enhanced cell viability at lower concentration and reduced cell viability at higher concentration. Treatment with low concentration of T. portulacastrum stem extract also reduced cellular ROS generation and increased the concentration of cellular anti-oxidant, glutathione. T. portulacastrum extracts also showed remarkable anti-inflammatory properties in macrophages activated by the inflammatory agonist bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS). The extract reduced nitric oxide (NO) production and suppressed the expression of inflammatory genes. Conclusion: Together, these observations demonstrated a potential radioprotective role of T. portulacastrum extract mediated by both its antioxidant activity on hepatic epithelial cells and its anti-inflammatory activity on immune cells.

D-Galactosamine (D-GalN) is a well-established hepatotoxic agent, whereas lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is a bacterial endotoxin; and both in a combination induces the liver damage, which is similar to a human hepatic diseases. In this study, we have evaluated the hepatoprotective activity of the Giant or Black Pigweed, Trianthema portulacastrum L. against D-galactosamine in the presence of lipopolysaccharide (LPS/D-GalN) induced hepatotoxicity using Swiss albino mice. LPS/D-GalN treatment elevated the liver marker enzymes. The combined action of LPS/D-GalN decreased the production of antioxidants such as reduced glutathione (GSH), catalase, superoxide dismutase glutathione S-transferase (GST) and increase in the malondialdehyde (MDA) and nitric oxide (NO) formation. Predependently attenuated liver marker enzymes, increased GSH content, upregulated enzymatic activities of antioxidants in liver, decreased MDA and NO formation. The results also revealed that infiltration and sinusoids formation dose dependently.

Radiation therapy uses ionizing radiation (IR) to kill cancer cells. However, during radiotherapy normal cells are also damaged and killed by the generation of reactive oxygen species. Polyphenolic compounds are known to mitigate the damaging effects of radiation. Grape ( Vitis vinifera ) contains a variety of bioactive phytochemicals. We investigated the Ferric reducing antioxidant power assay for commonly available four grape ( Vitis vinifera L.) cultivars, including ‘Flame seedless’, ‘Kishmish chorni’, ‘Red globe’ and ‘Thompson seedless’. Grape seed showed the maximum reducing power and antioxidant capacity, followed by its skin, and then pulp of the same cultivars. Kishmish chorni seed showed maximum reducing and antioxidant power. Therefore, we had selected the Kishmish chorni cultivars to determine the protective efficacy against γ-ray irradiated DNA damage and apoptotic gene expression in human peripheral lymphocytes, and their efficacy was compared with widely cultivated Thompson seedless Cultivars. Annexin V-FITC and propidium iodide double staining suggested that apoptosis is a major mode of induction of cell death after irradiation in human lymphocytes. Comet assay revealed that DNA damage in human lymphocytes due to gamma irradiation at a dose of 4-Gy is significantly ( P < 0.05) mitigated by pretreatment with grape extracts. Bax and p53 mRNA levels that were up-regulated in gamma irradiated lymphocytes, were significantly down-regulated when irradiated lymphocytes were pretreated with grape extracts. In conclusion, the grape extracts of different cultivars act as an essential source of natural antioxidants at varying degree, which are able to attenuate DNA damage by scavenging free radicals, and regulate apoptosis by modulating apoptotic genes such as p53 and Bax in human lymphocytes induced by IR.

Communication is a crucial capability for people with national security and emergency preparedness (NSEP)11For example, NSEP Services are available in the United States as Government Emergency Telecommunications Service and Wireless Priority Service (https://www.cisa.gov/priority-telecommunications-services). responsibilities. There are several scenarios where Wi-Fi22Wi-Fi is a brand name and a trademark of Wi-Fi Alliance (https://www.wi-fi.org/). access networks may provide the best or only means for NSEP users to access the global communication infrastructure. However, unless communications traffic associated with NSEP users receives priority access to the wireless medium, it could experience significant performance degradation if the access network, which might be shared with a large number of non-NSEP users, is congested. Realizing this need for priority treatment of NSEP users' traffic, efforts are underway to define a Multimedia Priority Service33To support MPS, priority access capabilities are also defined in 3GPP (see TS 22.153: Multimedia Priority Service). (NSEP priority access) within IEEE 802.11be: Enhancement for extremely high throughput (EHT) [1], a next generation amendment of the IEEE 802.11 standard [2]. The NSEP priority access features encompass medium access control layer capabilities for discovery, verification of NSEP authorization, and invocation/revocation of priority access, and a mechanism to provide priority channel access to NSEP users' traffic. They are specified in IEEE 802.11be generically as Emergency Preparedness Communication Service priority access features. The performance study described in this article demonstrates that even in heavily congested Wi-Fi networks it is possible, using a scheme within the quality of service framework specified in IEEE 802.11be, to provide priority to NSEP traffic with limited negative impact on non-priority real-time traffic.

Background: Pre-analytical phase is the major source of errors in a clinical biochemistry laboratory. Aims and Objectives: The study aims to determine the quality of laboratory performance in the pre-analytical phase using quality indicators (QI) specified by the International Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (IFCC) Working Group on Laboratory Errors and Patient Safety and sigma metric scale for both the inpatient and outpatient samples received in the clinical biochemistry laboratory. Materials and Methods: All samples and requisition forms received in the laboratory were examined before analysis. The percentages of the seven QI were calculated. The frequency, percentage, and defects per million rates of each pre-analytical error were calculated. Sigma value was obtained using an online sigma calculator. The laboratory performance was then categorized by the IFCC-based performance levels and sigma-based values. Results: Out of 30,546 samples received during a period of 6 months, pre-analytical errors occurred in 2.8% of them. The highest number of pre-analytical errors was due to hemolysis (29.9%). The outpatient samples showed a desirable to optimum performance with a good sigma value. There were more errors and lower quality-based performance, in the case of inpatient samples. Errors were highest in September at the start of the study followed by a gradual decrease over the next 5 months. Conclusion: The laboratory performance in the pre-analytical phase was found to be favorable and consistent with the international specifications.

The pandemic of COVID-19 initially appeared to cause only a mild illness in children. However, it is now apparent that a small percentage of children can develop a hyperinflammatory syndrome labeled as Pediatric inflammatory multisystem syndrome-temporally associated with SARS-CoV-2 (PIMS-TS) with a phenotype resembling Kawasaki disease (KD) ('Kawa-COVID-19'). Features of this newly recognized condition may include fever, hypotension, severe abdominal pain and cardiac dysfunction, evidence of inflammation, and single or multi organ dysfunction in the absence of other known infections. Children emerge to have mild symptoms compared to adults, perhaps due to reduced expression of the angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE)-2 receptor (the target of SARS-CoV-2) gene, trained innate immunity, and a young and fit immune system. Some of these children may share features of Kawasaki disease, toxic shock syndrome or cytokine storm syndrome. They can deteriorate rapidly and may need intensive care support as well. The PCR test is more often negative although most of the children have antibodies to SARS-CoV-2. Although the pathogenesis is not clearly known, immune-mediated injury has been implicated.

Antioxidants in fruits and vegetables protect cells against radiation induced damage. Trianthema portulacastrum is used as vegetables from ancient time. The effects of T. Portulacastrum ethanolic extracts against γ-radiation induced liver tissue damage ex vivo were evaluated in this study. Antioxidant phytochemicals present in T. Portulacastrum includes flavonoids [3.3 ± 0.15 to 10 ± 0.16 mg catethin equivalent (CE)/g fresh weight (fw)], ascorbic acid (0.15 ± 0.03 to 0.21 ± 0.03 mg/g fw), glutathione s-transferase (GST) (1.57 ± 0.06 to 3.59 ± 0.05 nmole/mg fw/min), superoxide dismutase (SOD) (1.6 ± 0.03 to 1.79 ± 0.04 U/min), peroxidase (3.26 ± 0.18 to 6.38 ± 0.03 U/g fw) and catalase (0.51 ± 0.03 to 2.84 ± 0.15 mg H2O2 decomposed/g fw/min). Total phenolic content varied from 122.9 ± 8.7 to 302.8 ± 15.7 mg gallic acid equivalent/g extract, and flavonoid content varied from 316.7 ± 33.3 to 800.7 ± 28.9 CE mg/g extract. The IC50 value of Nitric oxide (NO•) scavenging activity of extracts varies from 208.7 to 387.4 µg/ ml. Pre-treatment with the T. portulacastrum extracts mitigated the 4-Gy gamma(γ) radiation-induced oxidative stress related parameters in hepatic tissue such as TBARS, catalase, nitrite, Glutathione reductase (GR), SOD and GST in dose dependent manner. The ethanolic extract of the stem from T. Portulacastrum demonstrated highest protection in comparison to leaf and whole plant extracts. This study demonstrated the hepatoprotective efficacy of T. portulacastrum extracts against γ-radiation in ex-vivo condition was possibly due to its potential antioxidant properties of phenolic and flavonoids present in extracts.

Background: Social distancing is important preventive strategy to prevent spreading of SARSCOV-2. The medical faculties are continuing the teaching-learning session using different online platform. Aims and Objective: This online survey aims at exploring the different aspect of online teaching effects among medical students. Materials and Methods: Forty-four validated questions in the Google survey form were distributed among the MBBS students of different medical colleges of West Bengal in this cross-sectional study, and analysed. Results: The responses from 416 participants show that internet-based teaching has been adopted by 96.4% of colleges. Practical class and classes regarding clinical exposure are the two most neglected section of the MBBS curriculum during this pandemic. Total teaching hours per day also drastically reduced from mean of 5.56 h/ day in pre-pandemic time to 1.95 h/ day during this pandemic. Out of 69.7% of the participants who faced difficulty in following online classes, majority (56.25%) was due to technical problems including issues related to internet connectivity and software. Participants were of opinion that current session should be extended on an average of 3 months as the practical and clinical classes are way behind in syllabus completion. According to 72.35% of participants, online classes are less effective than the offline classes. Conclusions: In nutshell, online teaching activities cannot replace the classical classroom teaching, though it is a cost-effective and viable method during this pandemic period.

To understand the effect of cholic acid (CA)-based charge variable polymeric architectures on modulating the insulin aggregation process, herein, we have designed side-chain cholate-containing charge variable polymers. Three different types of copolymers from 2-(methacryloyloxy)ethyl cholate with anionic or cationic or neutral units have been synthesized by reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer polymerization. The effects of these copolymers on the insulin fibrillation process was studied by multiple biophysical approaches including different types of spectroscopic and microscopic analyses. Interestingly, the CA-based cationic polymer (CP-10) was observed to inhibit the insulin fibrillation process in a dose-dependent manner and to act as an effective anti-amyloidogenic agent. Corresponding anionic (AP-10) and neutral (NP-10) copolymers with cholate pendants remained insignificant in controlling the aggregation process. Tyrosine fluorescence assays and Nile red fluorescence measurements demonstrate the role of hydrophobic interaction to explain the inhibitory potencies of CP-10. Furthermore, circular dichroism spectroscopic measurements were carried out to explore the secondary structural changes of insulin fibrils in the presence of cationic polymers with and without cholate moieties. Isothermal titration calorimetry measurements revealed the involvement of electrostatic polar interaction between the CA-based cationic polymer and insulin at different stages of fibrillation. Overall, this work demonstrates the efficacy of the CA-based cationic polymer in controlling the insulin aggregation process and provides a novel dimension to the studies on protein aggregation.

Hypothyroidism a quite common thyroid disorder is often associated with anemia. Osmotic fragility is altered with an alteration of the thyroid profile. Hypothyroidism induced reduction of membrane cholesterol and compromised the activity of Na+K+ ATPase and increased peroxidation of membrane lipids appear to be responsible for damaging the red blood corpuscle (RBC) membranes which alter the permeability of themembrane and thus ionic environment within the cell. The objective of this study was to evaluate the relation between the association of hypothyroidism and RBC membrane lipid peroxidation in the development of increased RBC osmotic fragility. A complete clinical history and biochemical investigations, including thyroid function tests namely, thyroid -stimulating hormone (TSH) and free T4 (fT4), RBC membrane osmotic fragility test by gradient concentration of NaCl, and RBC membrane peroxidation using thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) tests were performed among thirty two hypothyroidism patients and healthy controls. Serum TSH & TBARS in the RBC membrane were significantly higher (P <0.001) than healthy controls which also showed a significant positive correlation (r =0.8, P =0.01) when compared without grouping. Osmotic fragility of RBC was found significantly increased among hypothyroid patients (P <0.001) at NaCl conc. of 0.3%, 0.4%, 0.5% & (P <0.05) at NaCl conc. of 0.6%. In conclusion, the results indicated that RBC osmotic fragility increases significantly in hypothyroidism possibility due to increased membrane lipid peroxidation as observed in the study.

SARS-CoV-2 infection in pregnancy and its adverse outcome on the mother as well on the fetus is emerging as an important concern, but knowledge about the prognosis is limited. In our prospective observational study total of 56 pregnant women admitted in the isolation ward of our institution were included. All women were presented with common symptoms like fever, tiredness, headache, sore throat, and cough. Three women diagnosed SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 positive by Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RTPCR) examination of the nasopharyngeal swab. All three neonates were tested negative for SARS-CoV-2 infection. The three mothers also recovered with routine care and returned home after 7 days with advice for a safe home for further 7 days. SARS-CoV-2 infection in pregnancy mostly appears in the later part of pregnancy and management is almost like the general population. There is no increased risk of severe disease during pregnancy. Neonates are mostly protected from disease transmission due to immune modulation during pregnancy.

Preeclampsia (PE) is a major reason for maternal morbidity and mortality globally. Studies showed that body mass index (BMI) is one of the risk factors of PE. In this study, the BMI and physiological and hematological profile were associated with predicting the severity of preeclampsia, so that proper counseling and antenatal care could be given for good pregnancy outcome. The study was carried out on 100 healthy normotensive pregnant and 100 diagnosed preeclamptic women. Healthy pregnant and PE were categorized into three groups based on BMI, on WHO criteria. BMI group 1 (<25 Kg/m2) considered as normal, group 2 (25 – 30 Kg/m2) as over-weight and group 3 (>30 Kg/m2) obese. Systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), hemoglobin (Hb), white blood corpuscles (WBC), red blood corpuscles (RBC) and platelets were compared in control and PE groups. Then the respective control groups were compared with PE groups. The prevalence of overweight was more in PE groups when compared to normotensive pregnancy (P=0.004). Statistically, a significant difference was not observed in BMI group1, group 2 and group 3 of control and PE in relation to SBP, DBP, Hb, WBC, RBC and platelets. But a statistically significant difference was made when respective control groups were compared with PE (P<0.005). BMI does not have any statistically significant association with SBP, DBP, Hb, WBC, RBC and platelets. BMI could not be considered as a predictor or severity of preeclampsia.

Medicinal plants are the major folk and traditional medicine for the prevention of diseases worldwide. Trianthema portulacastrum L. (family: Aizoaceae), a small perennial weed, found in the America, Africa, India, and other regions of the world, and are extensively used not only as medicine but also as vegetable for its various health benefits. Phytochemical analysis of T. portulacastrum reveals the presence of alkaloids, phytosterols, terpenoids, saponins, flavonoids and phenolic compounds. In vitro and in vivo studies have demonstrated its pharmacological and biological activities. Different parts of T. portulacastrum L. are conventionally being used as analgesic, anti-pyretic, lipid lowering and microbicide agent; and protect liver and kidney from carcinogen, inflammation and oxidant chemicals.

Since the beginning of this century, beta coronaviruses (CoV) have caused three zoonotic outbreaks. However, little is currently known about the biology of the newly emerged SARS-CoV-2 in late 2019. There is a spectrum of clinical features from mild to severe life threatening disease with major complications like severe pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome, acute cardiac injury and septic shock. The genome of SARS-CoV-2 encodes polyproteins, four structural proteins and six accessory proteins. SARS-CoV-2 tends to utilize Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) of various mammals. The imbalance between ACE/Ang II/AT1R pathway and ACE2/Ang(1–7)/Mas receptor pathway in the renin-angiotensin system leads to multi-system inflammation. The early symptoms of COVID-19 pneumonia are low to midgrade fever, dry cough and fatigue. Vigilant screening is important. The diagnosis of COVID-19 should be based on imaging findings along with epidemiological history and nucleic acid detection. Isolation and quarantine of suspected cases is recommended. Management is primarily supportive, with newer antiviral drugs/vaccines under investigation.

Objective of the study was to compare serum level of nitric oxide (NO), endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS), asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA), arginine, placental growth factor (PIGF), soluble Fms like tyrosine kinase-1 (sFlt-1), soluble endoglin (sEng), malondialdehyde (MDA), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase, in normotensive and preeclamptic pregnancies in relation to body mass index (BMI). The study was done on 100 healthy normotensive and 100 preeclamptic pregnant women. Based on BMI, they were categorized into three groups. Group 1 (<25 kg/m2), group 2 (25 – 30 kg/m2) and group 3 (>30 kg/m2). ADMA, eNOS, arginine, PlGF, sFlt-1, sEng were estimated by ELISA method, and MDA, NO, GPx, SOD, and catalase by spectrophotometric method. Statistically, a significant difference was not observed within normotensive and preeclampsia in relation to BMI. But when respective normotensive was compared with preeclampsia, there was a high increase of ADMA, sFlt-1, sEng, and MDA. A significant decrease was observed in arginine, eNOS, NO, GPx, SOD, and catalase in preeclampsia. This study shows that though preeclampsia is associated with overweight and obesity, but during pregnancy, higher BMI has no additional deleterious effect in preeclampsia.

Hydroxychloroquine, an antimalarial, is being used worldwide for prophylaxis and treatment of Corona virus disease-19 (COVID-19). Though the drug is commonly used in many chronic inflammatory diseases for protracted periods, its safety in the new indication is still under scrutiny. Therefore, this institute based study sought to assess the acute adverse effects of hydroxychloroquine among in-house health care professionals who were taking the drug for COVID-19 prophylaxis. A questionnaire seeking information on the use of the drug was prepared and disseminated electronically to the target population. The responses were also received electronically and analysed. The participants (n=54) had taken prophylaxis for 1-7 weeks. The most common adverse effects in the cohort were nausea (02) and skin rash (02). The total number of adverse effects reported by the participants was 08. One incidence each of gastric upset (01), dizziness (01), pain abdomen (01), and chest tightness (01) was reported. None of the adverse effects were serious. Our study indicates that the prophylactic weekly single dose of hydroxychloroquine is not associated with any serious adverse effects within 1-7 weeks of initiation. Elucidation of the long term and chronic adverse effects, if any, requires further studies.

This gender-independent detection of cell-free fetal DNA in maternal plasma using RASSF1A/beta-actin has curtained off a new dimension regarding its utility to predict the adverse pregnancy outcomes. Recent efforts have been directed at developing sequences from cell-free fetal DNA (cffDNA) as markers for pregnancy outcomes. The utility of cffDNA using the methylation-dependent DSCR3 and RASSF1A markers along with total cell-free DNA (cf-DNA) in maternal serum by HYP2 marker are useful in predicting adverse pregnancy outcomes. Increased amount (>95th percentile) of cffDNA fraction in the second trimester is associated with preterm birth. Indigenously developed low-cost method of the gender-independent sequence markers from cffDNA was investigated and evaluated with the standardized commercial kits as predictive markers for adverse pregnancy outcomes. Our results indicated that indigenously developed method for detection of geneder-independent cffDNA can be applicable for screening test of adverse pregnancy outcome.

Grape extracts of different cultivars (Flame seedless, Kishmish chorni, Red globe and Thompson seedless) were investigated for in vitro antioxidant activity by ABTS assay, and compared protective efficacy against radiation-induced DNA damage. Seed extract showed the highest scavenging activity, followed by skin extract. Among different cultivars, 'flame seedless' skin extract showed higher scavenging activity followed by 'Kishmish chorni' skin extract. Grape extracts significantly prevented radiation-induced plasmid DNA damage. Super-coiled pBR 322 plasmid DNA (similar to 93%) is completely converted to open circular (similar to 97%) and linear (similar to 2%) form at a dose of 150 Gy gamma-radiation. Pretreatment with different grape extracts showed various degree of protection against radiation-induced DNA damage. Pretreatment with 1.6 mu g grape skin extract of 'Thompson seedless' cultivar or grape flesh extract of any tested cultivar diminished the DNA strand breaks, and there was an increase in the super coiled form of DNA against 150 Gy of gamma-radiation. However, pretreated pBR 322 DNA with the skin of 'Kishmish chorni' cultivars or seed of 'red globe' grape cultivars remained static during electrophoresis and confined in the groove on exposure to 150 Gy gamma-radiation treatment. Co-treatment with the skin of red globe cultivar also partially confined plasmid DNA in the groove. The same trend was observed when plasmid DNA was exposed to 1.2 kGy gamma-radiation. Our investigation revealed that anthocyanin present in grape skin was probably involved in radio protective activities through the formation of co-pigmentation with DNA.