ABSTRACT
Malaria is one of the major causes of health and disability globally, even after tremendous efforts to eradicate it. Till date no highly effective vaccine is available for its control. The primary reason for the low efficacy of vaccines is extensive polymorphism in potential vaccine candidate antigen genes and HLA polymorphisms in the human population. This problem can be resolved by developing a vaccine using promiscuous peptides to combine the number of HLA alleles. This study predicted T and B cell epitopes (promiscuous peptides) by targeting PPPK-DHPS and DHFR-TS proteins of Plasmodium vivax, using different in silico tools. Selected peptides were characterized as promiscuous peptides on the basis of their immunogenicity, antigenicity and hydrophobicity. Furthermore, to confirm their immunogenicity, these peptides were utilized for molecular modelling and docking analysis. For determining the requisite affinity with distinct HLA Class-I, and HLA Class-II alleles, only five peptides for DHFR-TS and 3 peptides for PPPK-DHPS were chosen as promiscuous peptides. The D1 peptide has the maximum binding energy with HLA alleles, according to HLA-peptide complex modelling and binding interaction analyses. These findings could lead to the development of epitope-based vaccinations with improved safety and efficacy. These epitopes could be major vaccine targets in P. vivax as they possess a higher number of promiscuous peptides. Also, the B cell epitopes possess maximum affinity towards different alleles as analyzed by docking scores. However, further investigation is warranted in vitro and in vivo.
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Introduction: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a group of chronic and slowly progressive respiratory disordercharacterized by reduced maximum expiratory flow during forced exhalation. Tiotropium, a long-acting antimuscarinic agent,has well-known documented effect on improving lung function and quality of life (QOL). There are many studies globally ontiotropium and its effect on lung function, but limited studies available in our Indian set up. Hence, we planned this study.Materials and Methods: Patients were recruited from chest clinic and outpatient department from the Department of Medicineof University College of Medical Sciences and GTB Hospital. It was a prospective observational cohort study conducted fromNovember 2017 to April 2019. Tiotropium was given as meter dose inhaler in dose of 18 µg per dose, in schedule as prescribedby the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease-2017 guidelines. Patients were followed up for 3 months withperiodic assessment of lung functions, Saint George’s Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ) score, and symptoms assessment.Results: A total of 65 patients were recruited for study which included 57 (87.7%) males and 8 (12.3%) females. Among thepulmonary function tests measured, there is a significant change in mean forced expiratory volume (FEV1) at the end of followup period compared to FEV1 at baseline. There is a significant change in mean forced vital capacity at the end of follow-upstudy compared to start of the study. There was no significant change in mean SGRQ score after 1 month of start of drug,but significant statistical change observed at end of the 3rd month of the study compared to the 1st month that implies SGRQscore decreased and patients health status and QOL improved. There is a significant change in mean SGRQ score at the endof follow-up study compared to baseline. In our study, 16 patients (24.6%) complained of dry mouth, 7 (10.7%) complained ofpharyngitis or throat irritation, and 3 (4.6%) patients complained of constipation.Conclusion: There was a statistically significant change in lung functions and improvement in QOL scores as assessed bySGRQ at the end of the study compared to baseline by use of inhaled tiotropium in COPD patients
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Conventional algorithms for selecting study designs are difficult to use for a novice researcher, especially the postgraduate students. Aninherent limitation of using the existing algorithms is the requirement of a priori knowledge of the characteristics of various study designs.We propose a simple and novel 3-question approach to select study designs. The questions are asked in a stepwise manner with answersin ‘yes’ or ‘no’. The responses to each of these questions lead the researcher towards choosing the appropriate study design. We believethat this 3-question approach would be useful for unexperienced researchers in selecting study designs, besides serving as a tool toteach-learn selection of study designs
ABSTRACT
Abstract Medicinal plants play a vital role in the human health care system of tribal communities and in the treatment of various gynecological problems. This study is an effort to document important medicinal flora used for the treatment of gynecological problems by indigenous people living in a tribal region near the Pak-Afghan border. The main objective of the study was to establish a clear profile of indigenous knowledge and practices from the unexplored tribal territory. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and group discussions. The data were analyzed through Use Value and Factor of Informant Consensus. A total of 52 medicinal plants were recorded from the area; the most widely accepted were Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal (94 Use Value), Foeniculum vulgare Mill. (93 Use Value), Prunus domestica L. (91 Use Value), Myrtus communis L. (91 Use Value), Cannabis sativa L. (91 Use Value) and Nigella sativa L. (90 Use Value). A high consensus factor was recorded for menses-related problems (0.95). The root was the main part used (23% plants), followed by the leaves (20% plants), whole plant (18% plants), fruit (18% plants), and seed (13% plants). A total of 21 plants were used to treat menses-related problems, followed by sexual problems (ten plants), leucorrhea (nine plants), gastric problems (seven plants) and amenorrhea (seven plants). Knowledge related to ethnogynecological treatments is restricted to midwives and traditional healers. In conclusion, the documented flora that is particularly important to medicinal plants may be researched in the future to discover new pharmaceutical, neutraceutical and other pharmacological agents against gynecological complaints.
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Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY) was launched in April 2005, to promote institutional deliveries through provision of cash assistance, transport, escort, and referral services. An observational cross-sectional study was conducted to assess the antenatal registrations, postnatal checkups, and institutional deliveries, and to compare the various social groups. Married women of the reproductive age group, having at least two children, were interviewed regarding antenatal care, delivery, and postnatal care in both pregnancies, latest as well as previous. Post JSY implementation, antenatal registrations increased from 61.79 to 96.34%, Deliveries at the Government Health Facility increased from 25.20 to 53.25% and postnatal check-ups increased from 45.93 to 69.51%. In the post-JSY-implementation phase, the Government Health Facility was preferred more by Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), Other Backward Classes (OBC) (SC/ST = 56.87%, OBC = 60.2%, and general = 43.68%), educated (Illiterate = 17.39%, Primary = 88.14, and Middle or above = 81.94%) and the lower socioeconomic classes (Lower SEC 71.83% and Upper lower and above = 45.71%) for their deliveries. It appears that the socially backward groups have benefi ted more from JSY.
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A cross sectional study was conducted to study the diet pattern of children less than 2 years with regard to certain infant and young child feeding (IYCF) indicators. A total of 374 children less than 24 months of age coming to the immunization clinic were studied using a standard pretested and prevalidated questionnaire. Exclusive breastfeeding was followed by 57.1% of children under 6 months of age. Minimum dietary diversity, minimum meal frequency, and minimum acceptable diet were seen adequate in 32.6%, 48.6%, and 19.7% of children between 6 months and 2 years of age, respectively.
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India has witnessed a decline in sex ratio in the past few decades. A hospital-based cross-sectional study was carried out to find out the attitude toward gender preference and knowledge as well as practice toward prenatal sex determination and female feticide among pregnant women. A majority (66.0%) of the pregnant women did not show any gender preference, followed by male preference (22.2%) and female preference (11.8%). A high proportion, i.e. 84.7% and 89.7%, of the total subjects were aware that prenatal sex determination and female feticide is illegal, respectively.