Role of the Medical Examiner in Zika Virus and Other Emerging Infections.

CONTEXT: -Medical examiners and coroners have long been an integral component of public health, often being the first to recognize and describe emerging infectious diseases. Given their experience and access, medical examiners and coroners will provide valuable contributions to better understanding Zika virus infection and its sequelae. OBJECTIVE: -To review past examples of medical examiner/coroner involvement in recognition of emerging infectious diseases and describe how medical examiners and coroners will be critical in understanding the pathophysiology of Zika infections. DESIGN: -Review of the existing literature on the role of medical examiners and coroners in the identification of emergent infections and the available literature on Zika virus. RESULTS: -Medical examiners and coroners have played a crucial role in identifying numerous emerging infectious diseases such as hantavirus pulmonary syndrome and West Nile virus, and have the expertise and experience to aid in elucidating the pathophysiologic effects of Zika virus and tracking its distribution and risk factors. CONCLUSIONS: -Medical examiners and coroners will be a significant factor in the unified public health approach needed to mitigate the effects of Zika virus and other, heretofore unrecognized, infectious diseases.

Development and validation of multivariate calibration methods for simultaneous estimation of Paracetamol, Enalapril maleate and hydrochlorothiazide in pharmaceutical dosage form.

Three multivariate calibration spectrophotometric methods were developed for simultaneous estimation of Paracetamol (PARA), Enalapril maleate (ENM) and Hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ) in tablet dosage form; namely multi-linear regression calibration (MLRC), trilinear regression calibration method (TLRC) and classical least square (CLS) method. The selectivity of the proposed methods were studied by analyzing the laboratory prepared ternary mixture and successfully applied in their combined dosage form. The proposed methods were validated as per ICH guidelines and good accuracy; precision and specificity were confirmed within the concentration range of 5-35µgmL-1, 5-40µgmL-1 and 5-40µgmL-1of PARA, HCTZ and ENM, respectively. The results were statistically compared with reported HPLC method. Thus, the proposed methods can be effectively useful for the routine quality control analysis of these drugs in commercial tablet dosage form.

In-vitro and in-vivo antiadipogenic, hypolipidemic and antidiabetic activity of Diospyros melanoxylon (Roxb).

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: The plant Diospyros melanoxylon (Roxb) belongs to the family Ebenaceae that is native to India and Sri-lanka. This is a medium-sized tree, reaching a height of 15 m and is well known for its beedi making leaves throughout the world. The purpose of the present study is to assess the effect of Diospyros melanoxylon leaves petroleum ether extract on blood glucose level, lipid level, insulin level, body weight, water and food intake in Streptozotocin (STZ) induced diabetic rats. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two different doses of extract AK001 (250 mg/kg) and AK002 (500 mg/kg) of Diospyros melanoxylon leaves were taken to evaluate different activities. The animals were divided into five groups namely normal control, diabetic control, reference group, AK001 and AK002 each containing six animals for in-vivo study. In-vitro study for antiadipogen activity was performed on 3T3-L1 cell line. RESULTS: The extract showed dose dependent fall in Fasting Glucose Level (FSG) in experimental diabetic animals with significant reduction in food and water intake and increase in body weight. The extract exhibited hypocholesterolemic and hypotriglyceridemic effects while increased level of HDL in diabetes induced rats. In-vitro activity showed more than 75% viability of cells and significant inhibition in differentiated cells as compared to non-differentiate cells in 3T3-L1 cell line. The extract exhibited the concentration-dependent inhibitory effect with an IC50 value of 689.22 µg/ml. CONCLUSIONS: The extract exhibited significant results for antiadipogenic, antidiabetic and hypolipidemic activity both in-vivo and in-vitro and it may prove to be effective for the treatment of both types of diabetes, i.e. Insulin Dependent Diabetes Mellitus (IDDM) and Noninsulin Dependent Diabetes Mellitus (NIDDM).

Youth suicide in New Mexico: a 26-year retrospective review.

Although suicidal behavior in children and adolescents is a major public health problem, large-scale research on suicide in this population is uncommon. In this study, we reviewed autopsy and field reports for all pediatric suicide cases referred to the New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator from 1979 to 2005. The age-adjusted suicide rate was 4.8 per 100,000. Psychologic stressors and parasuicidal behavior were identified in some cases. Seventy-six percent of suicides occurred in the victim's home or yard, and 25% left a suicide note. In 26% of cases, alcohol or other drugs were detected in postmortem. Gunshot wound was the most common method overall (58%), followed by hanging (30%). Although the age-adjusted suicide rate is higher in New Mexico than nationally, the trends in the population are similar. With a solid understanding of the circumstances, it may be possible to predict, and hopefully prevent, future cases of child and adolescent death.