Application of microscopy and spectroscopy in investigating anti-cancer potential of Achyranthes aspera L. leaves.

The genus Achyranthes belong to the family Amaranthaceae which constitutes an important group of herbs and shrubs with immense medicinal value. The present research work was conducted to investigate the anticancer potential of Achyranthes aspera L. leaves by focusing on the antioxidant, aniproliferative and antimitotic activities of leaf extracts. Plant extraction was carried out by soxhelt method with different solvents. Phytochemical characterization of the plants extracts using chemical methods identified the presence of cardiac glycosides, saponins, coumarins, proteins, tannins, flavonoids and triterpenes. Alkaloid was present in methanolic and ethanolic extract. High performance liquid chromatography showed presence of different concentration of myricetin, quercetin and kaempferol in different extracts with the highest concentration of myricetin (84.53 µg/mL) in n-butanolic extract. The extracts were then tested for antioxidant activity using 2,2-diphenylpicrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging assay by spectrophotometric method. In DPPH radical scavenging assay, antioxidant activity of A. aspera ranged between 79.78 ± 0.034% and 58.63 ± 0.069%. Highest antioxidant activity was observed for methanolic extract and lowest for acetone. Antimitotic activity was determined by using Allium cepa assay in which microscopic investigation was carried out to observe normal and abnormal phases of mitosis. In this assay, n-butanolic extract had highest antimitotic activity with minimum mitotic index at 2 mg/mL (57 ± 0.0351%). The plant extracts also caused chromosomal and mitotic aberrations which were clearly observed under 40× and 100× magnification of compound microscope. Antiproliferative activity was determined by using yeast cell model in which light microscope with hemocytometer was used for cell counting. In case of Antiproliferative activity, the ethyl acetate extract of A. aspera had highest antiproliferative activity with lowest cell viability (22.14 ± 0.076%) at highest extract concentration (2 mg/mL) while methanol extract of A. aspera had highest antiproliferative activity with lower cell viability (24.24 ± 0.057%) at lowest extract concentration (0.25 mg/mL). The results of the study indicated that the leaves extract of A. aspera have strong potential to be used as a source of anti-cancer agent. RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS: Achyranthes aspera L. leaves have various phytochemicals which contribute to its medicinal properties Various extracts of the leaves of A. aspera L. possess antioxidant, antimitotic and antiproliferative potential The results of the study indicated that the leaves extract of A. aspera have strong potential to be used as a source of anti-cancer agent.

Analysis of the Major Investment Object by Using a Novel Approach Based on Neutrosophic Information.

Neutrosophic set (NS) is an extensively used framework whenever the imprecision and uncertainty of an event is described based on three possible aspects. The association, neutral, and nonassociation degrees are the three unique aspects of an NS. More importantly, these degrees are independent which is a great plus point. On the contrary, neutrosophic graphs (NGs) and single-valued NGs (SVNGs) are applicable to deal with events that contain bulks of information. However, the concept of degrees in NGs is a handful tool for solving the problems of decision-making (DM), pattern recognition, social network, and communication network. This manuscript develops various forms of edge irregular SVNG (EISVNG), highly edge irregular SVNG (HEISVNG), strongly (EISVNG), strongly (ETISVNG), and edge irregularity on a cycle and a path in SVNGs. All these novel notions are supported by definitions, theorems, mathematical proofs, and illustrative examples. Moreover, two types of DM problems are modelled using the proposed framework. Furthermore, the computational processes are used to confirm the validity of the proposed graphs. Furthermore, the results approve that the decision-making problems can be addressed by the edge irregular neutrosophic graphical structures. In addition, the comparison between proposed and the existing methodologies is carried out.

Successful Outpatient Management of Children at a Secondary Care Hospital in Pakistan in a Dengue Fever Epidemic and Their Clinical Outcomes.

BACKGROUND: There is limited published literature on the feasibility of WHO 2009 guidelines for the management of dengue fever (DF) in Pakistani children. This study aimed to assess the outcome of children with DF who received outpatient treatment according to these guidelines during a DF epidemic. METHOD: This was a prospective cohort study conducted at Federal General Hospital, a secondary care hospital, Islamabad, Pakistan, from 1st August to 31st October 2019. Using WHO DF 2009 guidelines, children ≤13 years, diagnosed as confirmed DF (NS1 Ag +), were classified into the outpatient (DF) or the inpatient group (DF with warning signs or severe dengue (SD)). The inpatient group was admitted to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, a tertiary care hospital, and discharged on recovery. These children were followed for the primary outcome, i.e., recovery or hospitalization by day 14 of enrollment. Additionally, clinical and laboratory features (Hb, HCT, TLC, PLT, and ALT) of the patients in the outpatient who remained stable with those who progressed to inpatient care during follow-up were compared; also, time of recovery of blood counts was assessed. RESULTS: Of 93 children with DF, 87 (93.5%) received outpatient care at enrollment. Of these, 6 (7.8%) deteriorated by day 7 and were admitted to inpatient care. SD was present in 6/93 (6.4%) patients at presentation and were admitted. All children showed signs of recovery until day 14. Male gender (p=0.049), lower normal mean platelet (p=0.02), and high mean hematocrit (p=0.001) were associated with disease progression. CONCLUSION: The majority of children with confirmed DF who received outpatient treatment according to WHO 2009 guidelines were successfully managed. Additionally, confirmed DF with warning signs or SD were admitted and recovered. Regular follow-ups according to the guidelines are pertinent. Thrombocytopenia and high HCT were associated with disease progression.

McKusik Kaufman syndrome.

A 12-years-old male child presented with polydactyly and syndactyly of hands, hypospadias, AND undescended testes. He was a known case of Tetrology of Fallot. One important differential in our case was Bardet-Biedl syndrome, but it was ruled out due to lack of evidence of central obesity, mental retardation and retinitis pigmentosa. At this time, there is no molecular testing available to distinguish these two syndromes.