Safety evaluation of standardized Ayurvedic formulation-Panchvalkala, by subacute toxicity study.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Panchvalkala is a conventional Ayurvedic medicine used as a douche in gynecological disorders such as leucorrhea, infertility, and endometriosis. Recently, we have reported the anticancer activity of Panchvalkala aqueous extract (PVaq) in cervical cancer cell lines, SiHa (HPV16+), HeLa (HPV18+), and mouse papilloma models. AIM OF THE STUDY: Here, we have evaluated the safety of the aqueous extract of Ayurvedic formulation, Panchvalkala (PVaq), in Swiss albino mice by performing subacute toxicity study. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Male and female Swiss albino mice (n = 5/sex/group) were gavaged orally with different doses of PVaq for 28 consecutive days. The mice were distributed into six groups: I (vehicle control), II (vehicle control reversal), III (PVaq 250 mg/kg), IV (PVaq 500 mg/kg), V (1000 mg/kg) and VI (1000 mg/kg high dose reversal). Animals were observed periodically to record any clinical signs of toxicity or mortality. After completion of treatment and recovery periods, animals were evaluated for the effect of PVaq on urine parameters, followed by hematological and biochemical parameters. Animals were sacrificed on day 29 for gross observation of vital organs and to study their histopathology. Reversal groups were maintained for further 14 days to observe any delayed onset of toxic side effects or reversal of toxicity, followed by sacrificing the mice on day 43. RESULTS: In the subacute toxicity study, PVaq did not show any significant change in food, water consumption, and body weights. There were no significant alterations in hematology, biochemistry, urine parameters, and histopathology of the analyzed tissues (brain, heart, liver, lung, spleen, thymus, kidney, epididymis/ovaries, and testis/uterus). The parameters were comparable to their respective controls in both the female as well as the male mice groups. Upon macroscopic and microscopic observation of vital organs, no abnormality was detected compared to the respective control groups. CONCLUSION: The subacute toxicity study demonstrated that oral administration of PVaq was safe in female and male Swiss albino mice.

Tillage and crop establishment effects on weeds and productivity of a rice-wheat-mungbean rotation.

Weeds are one of the key threats in sustaining the productivity of the rice-wheat cropping system in the Indo-Gangetic Plains. The development of sound integrated weed management technologies requires knowledge of mechanisms that influence weed flora composition and weed seedbank dynamics. A long-term study was initiated in 2015 at Patna, Bihar, India to evaluate the effect of seven tillage and crop establishment methods on weed density, weed seedbank composition, and crop productivity in rice-wheat-mungbean rotation. All the treatments included zero-till mungbean after wheat. Tillage and crop establishment methods had differential effects on weed and weed seedbank composition. In rice, zero-till direct-seeded rice recorded 62% lower emergence of Cyperus iria, 82-90% of Echinochloa colona, and 81-83% of total weeds compared to tilled systems, but the system of rice and wheat intensification favoured E. colona. In wheat, the system of wheat intensification favoured the Phalaris minor and Solanum nigrum. Zero-till rice and wheat reduced the seedbank of Trianthema portulacastrum by 95%, and total weed seedbank by 62% compared to the system of rice and wheat intensification. Nearly, 72% of C. iria seeds, 62% of grasses, and 64% of broad-leaved weeds were in 0-15 cm soil layer. Zero-till direct-seeded rice produced a 13% lower rice grain yield than conventional puddled transplanted rice. Compared to the system of wheat intensification, zero-till wheat under triple zero-till systems produced an 11.5% higher grain yield. Managing weed seedbank is a long-term endeavour. The present study revealed that tillage and crop establishment methods influence weed density and diversity. Under zero-till rice-wheat system, rice yield decreases marginally, but the system productivity maintains due to improvement in succeeding wheat yield. This system is also helpful in reducing the weed flora density and soil weed seedbank. Regular monitoring and management of emerging pests such as armyworm (Mythimna separata) are, however, required. The study suggests that the adoption of triple zero-tillage can be a viable option for reducing the weed density and weed seedbank concurrently increasing the system productivity of the rice-wheat-mungbean cropping system in eastern Indo-Gangetic Plains.

Mapping and size estimation of men who have sex with men in virtual platforms in Delhi, India.

INTRODUCTION: In India, the HIV epidemic is concentrated among Key Populations (KPs), such as men who have sex with men (MSM), who bear a disproportionate burden of HIV disease. Conventional targeted interventions (TI) mitigate HIV transmission among MSM by focusing on physical hotspots. As increasingly, there is a shift within India's MSM community to connect with sex partners online, novel approaches are needed to map virtual platforms where sexual networks are formed. The objective of this study was to estimate the number of MSM in Delhi using virtual platforms to connect for sex and to describe patterns of their use. METHODS: The study was conducted in the state of Delhi among MSM over 18 years of age who used virtual platforms to look for sexual partners. Virtual platforms were identified through community consultations. Size estimation was carried out by enumerating the number of online users, accounting for duplication across sites and time and based on interviews with 565 MSM. RESULTS: 28,058 MSM (95% CI: range 26,455-29,817) use virtual sites to find sexual partners. We listed 14 MSM specific virtual sites, 14 general virtual sites, 19 social networking pages and 112 messenger groups, all used by MSM. Five virtual sites met feasibility criteria to be included in the virtual mapping. Of the MSM on these sites, 81% used them at night and 94% used them on Sundays, making these the peak time and day of use. Only 16% of users were aware of organizations providing HIV services and 7% were contacted by peer educators in the preceding three months. Two-fifths (42%) also visited a physical location to connect with sexual partners in the month prior to the study. DISCUSSION: TI programs that focus on physical hotspots do not reach the majority of MSM who use virtual sites. MSM active on virtual sites have a low awareness of HIV services. Virtual mapping and programmatic interventions to include them must be incorporated into current public health interventions to reach MSM at risk of HIV.

Drudgery assessment and ergonomic evaluation of pedal operated Ragi (Eleusine Coracana) thresher.

BACKGROUND: Ragi (Eleusine Coracana) is a major food crop for the tribal population of India. OBJECTIVE: This study emphasizes the need to consider ergonomics aspects in the design and development of a pedal operated ragi thresher (PORT) for tribal people, and assesses the drudgery as well as ergonomic evaluation of a developed thresher against the conventional practice. METHODS: Thirty subjects (male = 15 and female = 15) from the tribal region were evaluated ergonomically. The physiological responses of the subjects were studied and their performance was compared. RESULTS: The results revealed that the working heart rate, oxygen consumption rate and overall discomfort rating were significantly higher in case of traditional threshing as compared to those in case of PORT. Postural analysis identified the traditional method as the most fatigue one as the person has to lift the hand above shoulder level repeatedly and has to sit in a squatting posture for long period. CONCLUSION: The drudgery and occupational hazards to public health involved in the traditional method of threshing was reduced by using the PORT. Furthermore, the traditional method involved continuous stressed actions across the entire body, whereas the PORT involved only the lower limbs.

Panchvalkala, a traditional Ayurvedic formulation, exhibits antineoplastic and immunomodulatory activity in cervical cancer cells and C57BL/6 mouse papilloma model.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Panchvalkala, an Ayurvedic traditional formulation has references in Charak Samhita and Bhavaprakasha Nighantu for the treatment of women with endometriosis-related problems, leucorrhea and vaginal ailments. The formulation comprises of equal ratios of the barks from Ficus glomerata, Ficus virens, Ficus religiosa, Ficus benghalensis, and Thespesia populnea. AIM OF THE STUDY: The present study aimed to evaluate the anticancer and immunomodulatory activity of aqueous extract of Panchvalkala (PVaq) against cervical cancer in vitro and in vivo. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The effect of PVaq on disruption of mitochondrial membrane potential in cervical cancer cell lines, SiHa and HeLa, was studied by using JC1 dye. The expression of generic caspases in the cells after treatment with PVaq was evaluated by ELISA kit. The expression of pRb, p53, E6 and E7 proteins were evaluated by western blotting. Acute oral toxicity and DRF studies were performed in Swiss albino mice by following OECD guidelines 423 and 407, respectively. Tumor retardation study was done in C57BL/6 mouse papilloma model. The mice were divided into six groups: No tumor control (NTC), Tumor control (TC), Cisplatin (Cis) (4 mg/kg b.w.), PVaq 100, 200 mg/kg b.w and combination of PVaq (200 mg/kg b.w.) and Cisplatin (4 mg/kg b.w.). The mice were orally gavaged with PVaq daily for 14 days and cisplatin was given intravenously on every 1st, 5th and 9th day. Hematological and biochemical parameters were studied by using hematology analyzer and kits, respectively. E6 and E7 gene expression in the tumor samples was determined by qPCR. Th1 and Th2 cytokine levels were determined by ELISA. RESULTS: PVaq induced mitochondrial depolarization in SiHa and HeLa, and increased the expression of generic caspases, resulting into apoptosis. PVaq upregulated the expression of tumor suppressor proteins (p53 and pRb) and reduced the expression of viral oncoproteins (E6 and E7). Acute toxicity study displayed non-toxicity of PVaq while DRF study ensured its safe dose for further efficacy studies. PVaq reduced tumor volume and weight in mouse papilloma model and induced immunomodulation in the animals. It increased serum levels of IL-2 (Th1) with a concomitant decrease in IL-10 (Th2) cytokines. The drug did not affect body weight, food consumption and organ histopathology of the animals. CONCLUSIONS: PVaq exhibited anticancer and immunomodulatory activities against cervical cancer cells and female mouse papilloma model.

An impact of agronomic practices of sustainable rice-wheat crop intensification on food security, economic adaptability, and environmental mitigation across eastern Indo-Gangetic Plains.

In the eastern Indo-Gangetic Plains (EIGP), conventional rice-wheat system has led to a decline in productivity, input-use efficiency, and profitability. To address these, a four-year field study was conducted to evaluate the performance of tillage and crop establishment (TCE) methods in rice-wheat-greengram rotation. The treatments included: 1) random puddled transplanted rice (RPTR) - conventional-till broadcast wheat (BCW) - zero-till greengram (ZTG); 2) line PTR (LPTR) - conventional-till drill sown wheat (CTW) - ZTG; 3) machine transplanted rice in puddled soil (CTMTR) - zero tillage wheat (ZTW) - ZTG; 4) machine transplanted rice in zero-till wet soil (ZTMTR) - ZTW - ZTG; 5) system of rice intensification (SRI) - system of wheat intensification (SWI) - ZTG; 6) direct-seeded rice (DSR) - ZTW - ZTG; and 7) zero-till DSR - ZTW - ZTG. During the initial two years, conventional rice system (PTR) recorded a 16.2 % higher rice grain yield than DSR system. Whereas in the fourth year, the rice yields under DSR and PTR were comparable. As compared to SRI/SWI, the average wheat yield in ZT system was significantly high, whereas in rice, SRI/SWI system was comparable with CT system. ZTW after non-puddled rice was at par to CTW after PTR. The ZT wheat produced 4.6 % more yield than CT system. DSR production system consumed 6.8 % less water compared to transplanted system. On the system basis, 10.8 % higher net returns were recorded with CA-based system compared to conventional system. The system energy productivity under CA-based production system was 14-36 % higher than PTR-based systems. CA-based system also led to 8-10 % lower global warming potential (GWP) than conventional methods. The current study indicated that as compared to conventional system, a significant gain in productivity, profitability and energy-use efficiency, and reduction in the environmental mitigation are possible with emerging alternative TCE methods. Long-term expansion and further refinement of these technologies in local areas need to be explored for the second green revolution.

Influence of tillage based crop establishment and residue management practices on soil quality indices and yield sustainability in rice-wheat cropping system of Eastern Indo-Gangetic Plains.

Rice-wheat cropping system (RWCS) is the most important system occupying around 26 M ha spread over the Indo Gangetic Plains in South Asia and China. Many long-term trials were led to assess the agronomic productivity and economic profitability of various combinations of conservation agricultural (CA) practices (zero tillage, residue management and crop establishment) in RWCS of Eastern Indo-Gangetic Plains (EIGP) of India. The purpose of this study was to investigate the best management practices involving different tillage-based crop establishment and residue retention techniques and their contribution to agricultural system sustainability through improvement in soil health by developing soil quality index (SQI). We have used SQI as an instrument based on physical [macro aggregate stability (MAS), available water capacity (AWC) and soil penetration resistance (SPR)], chemical [soil organic carbon (OC), available N, available P and available K] and biological [microbial biomass carbon (MBC), fluorescein diacetate (FDA) and dehydrogenase activity (DHA)] properties of soil, because these are very useful indicators of soil's functions for agronomic productivity and soil fertility. Soil properties like MAS, OC, MBC, FDA and DHA were higher by 47, 18, 56, 48 and 53%, respectively, under ZTDSR-ZTW (T7: Zero-till direct seeded rice - Zero-till wheat) than RPTR-CTW (T1: Random puddled transplanted rice - Conventional till broadcasted wheat), at 0-10 cm. CA based treatment T7 also recorded lower SPR (126 N cm-1). SQI for different treatments were calculated by performing principal component analysis based on the total data set method. The higher system rice equivalent yield of 12.41 t ha-1 was observed at SQI value of 0.90 at 0-10 cm and 0.86 at 10-20 cm in T7. It can be concluded that crop residue retention on the surface with zero tillage is beneficial for the sustainability and productivity of the RWCS in EIGP of India.

Mapping Large-Scale Networks Associated with Action, Behavioral Inhibition and Impulsivity.

A key aspect of behavioral inhibition is the ability to wait before acting. Failures in this form of inhibition result in impulsivity and are commonly observed in various neuropsychiatric disorders. Prior evidence has implicated medial frontal cortex, motor cortex, orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), and ventral striatum in various aspects of inhibition. Here, using distributed recordings of brain activity [with local-field potentials (LFPs)] in rodents, we identified oscillatory patterns of activity linked with action and inhibition. Low-frequency (δ) activity within motor and premotor circuits was observed in two distinct networks, the first involved in cued, sensory-based responses and the second more generally in both cued and delayed actions. By contrast, θ activity within prefrontal and premotor regions (medial frontal cortex, OFC, ventral striatum, and premotor cortex) was linked with inhibition. Connectivity at θ frequencies was observed within this network of brain regions. Interestingly, greater connectivity between primary motor cortex (M1) and other motor regions was linked with greater impulsivity, whereas greater connectivity between M1 and inhibitory brain regions (OFC, ventral striatum) was linked with improved inhibition and diminished impulsivity. We observed similar patterns of activity on a parallel task in humans: low-frequency activity in sensorimotor cortex linked with action, θ activity in OFC/ventral prefrontal cortex (PFC) linked with inhibition. Thus, we show that δ and θ oscillations form distinct large-scale networks associated with action and inhibition, respectively.

A Rare Case of Giant Cell Tumour of Bilateral Achilles Tendon Sheath - Reconstruction with Dual Tendon Transfer: A Case Report.

Giant cell tumour of tendon sheath is a benign soft tissue lesion most commonly found in the flexor aspect of hand and wrist. However, it is uncommon in foot and ankle and rare in bilateral achilles tendon. We report a case of 17-year-old female who presented with progressive enlargement of bilateral achilles tendon for six months. MRI findings showed that most of the tumour had intermediate to low signal intensity. Histopathology confirmed the diagnosis of giant cell tumour of tendon sheath. To help the patient regain the strength of the achilles tendon and walking abilities, a large area of tendon tumour was excised, followed by reconstruction with transfer of the peroneus brevis (PB) and posterior tibial (PT) tendon autograft. At two years follow-up, functional result was satisfactory.

A Comparative Study between Indigenous Low Cost Negative Pressure Wound Therapy with Added Local Oxygen versus Conventional Negative Pressure Wound Therapy.

INTRODUCTION: The incidence of compound fractures and severe soft tissue loss has increased manifolds due to high speed traffics. Negative Pressure Wound Therapy (NPWT) is a treatment modality for managing soft tissue aspect of such injuries. It reduces the need of flap coverage. However, many patients from developing countries cannot afford a conventional NPWT. We developed an indigenous low cost NPWT for our patients and supplemented it with Topical Pressurised Oxygen Therapy (TPOT). We conducted this study to compare its treatment outcome with the use of conventional NPWT. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was conducted from 2018 to 2020 at a tertiary care teaching hospital. A total of 86 patients were treated with NPWT and their results were assessed for various parameters like reduction in wound size, discharge, infection, etc. We included patients with acute traumatic wounds as well as chronic infected wounds, and placed them in three treatment groups to receive either conventional NPWT, Indigenous NPWT and lastly NPWT with supplement TPOT. RESULTS: We observed a significant reduction of wound size, discharge and infection control in all three groups. The efficacy of indigenous NPWT is at par with conventional NPWT. Only six patients who had several comorbidities required flap coverage while in another four patients we could not achieve desired result due to technical limitations. CONCLUSION: Indigenous NPWT with added TPOT is a very potent and cost effective method to control infection and rapid management of severe trauma seen in orthopaedic practice. It also decreases the dependency on plastic surgeons for management of such wounds.

"They don't like us .": Barriers to antiretroviral and opioid substitution therapy among homeless HIV positive people who inject drugs in Delhi: A mixed method study.

BACKGROUND: Provision of Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART) and Opioid Substitution Therapy (OST) are important components of the targeted intervention (TI) programme for people who inject drugs (PWID). Homeless HIV positive PWIDs in Delhi is a key population experiencing gaps in uptake of these services, especially the ART uptake which is reportedly far from 90%, UNAIDS' 90-90-90 target to end the AIDS epidemic. OBJECTIVE: To assess the gaps and barriers in accessing the ART and OST services uptake among HIV positive homeless PWID in Delhi and to explore experiences and perspectives of the PWIDs and service providers. METHODOLOGY: We used a convergent parallel mixed methods design which included a cross-sectional quantitative survey and a qualitative study. Two hundred thirty five homeless HIV positive PWID were interviewed and in-depth interviews were conducted with five PWIDs and nine health providers. RESULTS: While only 12% of PWIDs were on ART, 80% were availing OST services. The top individual, health system related and structural barriers for ART service access were insufficient and incorrect knowledge (63%), long waiting time (86%) and lack of family support (44%) respectively. Inconvenient timings, stringent registration requirements and negative attitude of health providers were expressed as major barriers of accessing ART services during the interviews while these were not a concern in OST services. Homelessness, poverty, stigma were common barriers for both services. Integrated, 'single window' service and provision of additional support like nutrition and shelter were suggested as measures to improve access by both health providers and the PWIDs themselves. CONCLUSION: There is an urgent need for structural and health systems changes to improve access to ART and OST services. These include integrated service delivery, flexibility in timing of the centers, accelerated ART initiation, simplification of bureaucratic procedures, nutritional and social support to all homeless HIV positive PWIDs.

Evaluation of long-term conservation agriculture and crop intensification in rice-wheat rotation of Indo-Gangetic Plains of South Asia: Carbon dynamics and productivity.

In the context of deteriorating soil health, stagnation of yield in rice-wheat cropping system (RWCS) across Indo- Gangetic plains (IGP) and environmental pollution, a long term field experiment was conducted during 2009-2016 taking four crop scenarios with conservation agriculture (CA), crop intensification and diversified cropping as intervening technology aiming to evaluate the sustainability of the systems. Scenario 1 (S1) represented conventional farmers' practice of growing rice and wheat with summer fallow. In scenario 2 (S2) and scenario 3 (S3), legume crop was taken along with rice and wheat with partial CA and full CA, respectively. Conventional RWCS was replaced with rice-potato + maize- cowpea cropping system with partial CA in scenario 4 (S4). The S3 scenario registered highest total organic carbon (TOC) stock of 47.71 Mg C ha-1 and resulted in significant increase of 14.57% over S1 (Farmer's practice) in 0-30 cm soil depth after 7 years of field trial. The S4 scenario having intensified cropping systems recorded lowest TOC of 39.33 Mg C ha-1 and resulted in significant depletion of 17.56% in C stock with respect to S3 in 0-30 cm soil depth. The TOC enrichment was higher in S2, S3 and S4 scenario in the surface soil (0-10 cm) compared to S1. At lower depth (20-30 cm), the TOC enrichment was significantly higher in S2 (12.82 Mg C ha-1) and S3 (13.10 Mg C ha-1 soil) over S1 scenario. The S2 and S3 scenario recorded highest increased allocation of TOC (3.55 and 6.13 Mg C ha-1) to passive pool over S1. The S2 (15.72 t ha-1), S3 (16.08 t ha-1) and S4 (16.39 t ha-1) scenarios recorded significantly higher system rice equivalent yield over S1 (10.30 t ha-1). Among the scenarios, S3 scenario had greater amount of total soil organic carbon, passive pool of carbon and higher system rice equivalent yield, thus, is considered the best cropping management practice to maintain soil health and food security in the middle IGP.

SPINS-IND: Pellet injector for fuelling of magnetically confined fusion systems.

Using a Gifford-McMahon cycle cryocooler based refrigeration system, a single barrel hydrogen pellet injection (SPINS-IND) system is indigenously developed at Institute for Plasma Research, India. The injector is based on a pipe gun concept, where a pellet formed in situ in the gun barrel is accelerated to high speed using high pressure light propellant gas. The pellet size is decided by considering the Greenwald density limit and its speed is decided by considering a neutral gas shielding model based scaling law. The pellet shape is cylindrical of dimension (1.6 mm ℓ × 1.8 mm φ). For pellet ejection and acceleration, a fast opening valve of short opening duration is installed at the breech of the barrel. A three-stage differential pumping system is used to restrict the flow of the propellant gas into the plasma vacuum vessel. Diagnostic systems such as light gate and fast imaging camera (240 000 frames/s) are employed to measure the pellet speed and size, respectively. A trigger circuit and a programmable logic controller based integrated control system developed on LabVIEW enables to control the pellet injector remotely. Using helium as a propellant gas, the pellet speed is varied in the range 650 m/s-800 m/s. The reliability of pellet formation and ejection is found to be more than 95%. This paper describes the details of SPINS-IND and its test results.

Zerumbone modulates CD1d expression and lipid antigen presentation pathway in breast cancer cells.

Natural Killer T (NKT) cells based cancer immunotherapy is an evolving area of cancer therapy, but tumors escape from this treatment modality by altering CD1d expression and its antigen presentation pathway. Here, we have studied the relation of CD1d expression in various breast cancer cell lines to their viability and progression. We observed a novel phenomenon that CD1d expression level increases with the progressive stage of the cancer. A small molecule, zerumbone (ZER) caused down-regulation of CD1d that was accompanied by breast cancer cell growth in vitro. The growth inhibitory effect of ZER against breast cancer cells was augmented by treatment with anti-CD1d mAb. This effect was mediated by G1-phase cell cycle arrest and apoptosis induction coupled with an increase in mitochondrial membrane depolarization. CD1d expression and cell proliferation were inhibited by both CD1d siRNA and ZER. The α-galactosylceramide, a ligand for CD1d, showed increased CD1d expression as well as cell proliferation which was opposite to the effects of ZER. This study shows that, CD1d overexpression is associated with the progressive stages of breast cancer and ZER could be an adjuvant to potentiate cancer immunotherapy.

Effect of dietary supplementation of prebiotic, probiotic, and synbiotic on growth performance and carcass characteristics of broiler chickens.

AIM: The aim was to investigate the effects of dietary supplementations of prebiotic, probiotic, and synbiotic on growth performance and carcass characteristics of broiler chickens. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 360 1-day-old Vencobb broiler chickens of either sex were randomly assigned to four dietary treatments each consisting of three replicates and each replicate having 30 birds for 6 weeks. The dietary treatments were (1) control group with basal diet, (2) basal diet supplemented with prebiotic (at 400 g/tonne of starter as well as finisher ration), (3) basal diet supplemented with probiotic (at 100 g/tonne of starter ration and 50 g/tonne of finisher ration), and (4) basal diet supplemented with synbiotic(at 500 g/tonne of starter as well as finisher ration). The birds were provided with ad-libitum feed and drinking water during the entire experimental period. RESULTS: The highest body weight observed in asynbiotic group, which was non-significantly (p>0.05) higher than thecontrol group. Prebiotic and probiotic groups showed lower body weight than synbiotic and control groups. A total feed intake did not show any significant (p>0.05) difference between experimental groups. There were no significant (p>0.05) differences in feed conversion ratio of broiler chickens in prebiotic, probiotic, and synbiotic groups as compared with control group. There was no significant (p>0.05) difference in the carcass traits with respect to dressing percentage, carcass percentage, heart weight, liver weight and gizzard weight, wing percentage, breast percentage, back percentage, thigh percentage, and drumstick percentage in Cobb broilers under study. CONCLUSION: The growth performance and percentage of carcass yield did not show any significant increase by the dietary inclusion of prebiotic, probiotic, and synbiotic compared with unsupplemented control in a commercial broiler chicken.

Training sensory signal-to-noise resolution in children with ADHD in a global mental health setting.

Children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have impaired focus on goal-relevant signals and fail to suppress goal-irrelevant distractions. To address both these issues, we developed a novel neuroplasticity-based training program that adaptively trains the resolution of challenging sensory signals and the suppression of progressively more challenging distractions. We evaluated this sensory signal-to-noise resolution training in a small sample, global mental health study in Indian children with ADHD. The children trained for 30 h over 6 months in a double-blind, randomized controlled trial. Training completers showed steady and significant improvements in ADHD-associated behaviors from baseline to post training relative to controls, and benefits sustained in a 6-month follow-up. Post-training cognitive assessments showed significant positive results for response inhibition and Stroop interference tests in training completers vs controls, while measures of sustained attention and short-term memory showed nonsignificant improvement trends. Further, training-driven improvements in distractor suppression correlated with the improved ADHD symptoms. This initial study suggests utility of signal-to-noise resolution training for children with ADHD; it emphasizes the need for further research on this intervention and substantially informs the design of a larger trial.

Cross-species approaches to cognitive neuroplasticity research.

Neuroplasticity studies investigate the neural mechanisms that support learning-induced changes in cognition and behavior. These studies are performed in both experimental animals and humans across development from childhood to aging. Here, we review select recent studies that have sought to combine both animal and human neuroplasticity research within the same study. In investigating the same cognitive/behavioral functions in parallel in animals and humans, these studies take advantage of complementary neuroscience research methods that have been established for each species. In animals, these methods include investigations of genetic and molecular biomarker expression and micro-scale electrophysiology in single neurons in vivo or in brain slices. In humans, these studies assess macro-scale neural network dynamics using neuroimaging methods including EEG (electroencephalography) and functional and structural MRI (magnetic resonance imaging). Thus, by combining these diverse and complementary methodologies cross-species studies have the unique ability to bridge molecular, systems and cognitive neuroscience research. Additionally, they serve a vital role in translational neuroscience, providing a direct bridge between animal models and human neuropsychiatric disorders. Comprehensive cross-species understanding of neural mechanisms at multiple scales of resolution and how these neural dynamics relate to behavioral outcomes, then serve to inform development and optimization of treatment strategies.

Assessing nutrition in the critically ill elderly patient: A comparison of two screening tools.

CONTEXT: Few malnutrition screening tests are validated in the elderly Intensive Care Unit (ICU) patient. AIM: Having previously established malnutrition as a cause of higher mortality in this population, we compared two screening tools in elderly patients. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: For this prospective study, 111 consecutive patients admitted to the ICU and > 65 years underwent the Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool (MUST), and the Geriatric Nutrition Risk Index (GNRI) screening tests. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: Standard definition of malnutrition risk was taken as the gold standard to evaluate the sensitivity, specificity and predictive values of the tools. The k statistic was calculated to measure the agreement between the tools. The Shrout classification was used to interpret its values. RESULTS: The mean age of the patients screened was 74.7 ± 8.4 (65-97 years). The standard definition, MUST and GNRI identified 52.2%, 65.4%, and 64.9% to be malnourished, respectively. The sensitivity and specificity of the tests were 96.5% computed tomography (CI) (87.9-99.5%) and 72.3% CI (57.5-84.5%) for MUST and 89.5% CI (75.2-96.7%) and 55.0% CI (75.2-96.9%) for GNRI, respectively. Screening was not possible by GNRI and MUST tool in 31% versus 4% of patients, respectively. The agreement between the tools was moderate for Standard-MUST k = 0.65 and MUST-GNRI k = 0.60 and fair for Standard-GNRI k = 0.43. CONCLUSIONS: The risk of malnutrition is high among our patients as identified by all the tools. Both GNRI and MUST showed a high sensitivity with MUST showing a higher specificity and greater applicability.