Hypoglycemic, anti-inflammatory, and neuroprotective potentials of crude methanolic extract from Acacia nilotica L. - results of an in vitro study.

Acacia nilotica L., also known as babul, belonging to the Fabaceae family and the Acacia genus, is typically used for ornamental purposes and also as a medicinal plant found in tropical and subtropical areas. This plant is a rich source of bioactive compounds. The current study aimed to elucidate the hypoglycemic, anti-inflammatory, and neuroprotective potential of A. nilotica's crude methanolic extract. The results of the in vitro antidiabetic assay revealed that methanolic extract of A. nilotica inhibited the enzyme α-glucosidase (IC50: 33 µg mL-1) and α-amylase (IC50: 17 µg mL-1) in a dose-dependent manner. While in the anticholinesterase enzyme inhibitory assay, maximum inhibition was shown by the extract against acetylcholinesterase (AChE) (637.01 µg mL-1) and butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) (491.98 µg mL-1), with the highest percent inhibition of 67.54% and 71.50% at 1000 µg mL-1, respectively. This inhibitory potential was lower as compared to the standard drug Galantamine that exhibited 82.43 and 89.50% inhibition at the same concentration, respectively. Moreover, the methanolic extract of A. nilotica also significantly inhibited the activities of cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2) and 5-lipoxygenase (5-LOX) in a concentration-dependent manner. The percent inhibitory activity of 5-LOX and COX-2 ranged from 42.47% to 71.53% and 43.48% to 75.22%, respectively. Furthermore, in silico, in vivo, and clinical investigations must be planned to validate the above-stated bioactivities of A. nilotica.

Making cataract surgery possible in patients with ankylosing spondylitis: A new positioning technique.

IMPORTANCE: Patients with Ankylosing Spondylitis frequently have fixed kyphosis of their spine together with pain. This makes achieving acceptable head position for ocular surgery difficult. The proposal of new methods that result in successful intraocular surgery will reduce morbidity and sight loss in this group of patients. OBJECTIVE: To describe a novel technique using a vacuum bean bag positioner which enabled cataract surgery to be performed successfully under local anaesthesia. To allow prospects of technique development to standardise cataract surgery positioning in this cohort. RESULTS: A 42 year-old male patient underwent phacoemulsification under Sub-Tenon's local anaesthetic with intra-ocular lens implant in the inverted position with no immediate post-operative complications. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Standard operating theatre equipment combined with a vacuum bean bag positioner, soft supports and securing straps can attain a position that is feasible for awake ocular surgery in patients with gross anatomical changes affecting the neck.

Can be marine bioactive peptides (MBAs) lead the future of foodomics for human health?

Marine organisms are considered a cache of biologically active metabolites with pharmaceutical, functional, and nutraceutical properties. Among these, marine bioactive peptides (MBAs) present in diverse marine species (fish, sponges, cyanobacteria, fungi, ascidians, seaweeds, & mollusks) have acquired attention owing to their broad-spectrum health-promoting benefits. Nowadays, scientists are keener exploring marine bioactive peptides precisely due to their unique structural and biological properties. These MBAs have reported ameliorating potential against different diseases like hypertension, diabetes, obesity, HIV, cancer, oxidation, and inflammation. Furthermore, MBAs isolated from various marine organisms may also have a beneficial role in the cosmetic, nutraceutical, and food industries. Few marine peptides and their derivative are approved for commercial use, while many MBAs are in various pre-clinical and clinical trials. This review mainly focuses on the diversity of marine bioactive peptides in marine organisms and their production procedures, such as chemical and enzymatic hydrolysis. Moreover, MBAs' therapeutic and biological potential has also been critically discussed herein, along with their status in drug discovery, pre-clinical and clinical trials.

Health promoting benefits of pongamol: An overview.

Plant-derived chemicals are a source of novel chemotherapeutic agents. Throughout the human civilization, these novel chemicals have led to the discovery of new pharmacological active agents. Research on herbal medicine is of great importance, as most of the active agents used for treating numerous diseases are from natural sources, while other agents are either semisynthetic or synthetic. Pongamol, a flavonoid, which is the main constituent of Pongamia pinnata, is one such active agents, which exhibits diverse pharmacological activities. Various in vivo and in vitro studies revealed that pongamol is a potentially active agent, as it exerts anticancer, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antimicrobial, and anti-diabetic activities. Accordingly, the aim of the present review was to give an up-to-date overview on the chemistry, isolation, bioavailability, pharmacological activity, and health benefits of pongamol. This review focuses on the medicinal and health promoting activities of pongamol, along with possible mechanisms of action. For this purpose, this review summarizes the most recent literature pertaining to pongamol as a therapeutic agent against several diseases. In addition, the review covers information related to the toxicological assessment and safety of this phytochemical, and highlights the medicinal and folk values of this compound against various diseases and ailments.

Latest Research Trends in Fall Detection and Prevention Using Machine Learning: A Systematic Review.

Falls are unusual actions that cause a significant health risk among older people. The growing percentage of people of old age requires urgent development of fall detection and prevention systems. The emerging technology focuses on developing such systems to improve quality of life, especially for the elderly. A fall prevention system tries to predict and reduce the risk of falls. In contrast, a fall detection system observes the fall and generates a help notification to minimize the consequences of falls. A plethora of technical and review papers exist in the literature with a primary focus on fall detection. Similarly, several studies are relatively old, with a focus on wearables only, and use statistical and threshold-based approaches with a high false alarm rate. Therefore, this paper presents the latest research trends in fall detection and prevention systems using Machine Learning (ML) algorithms. It uses recent studies and analyzes datasets, age groups, ML algorithms, sensors, and location. Additionally, it provides a detailed discussion of the current trends of fall detection and prevention systems with possible future directions. This overview can help researchers understand the current systems and propose new methodologies by improving the highlighted issues.

A Systematic Review of Location Aware Schemes in the Internet of Things.

The rapid development in wireless technologies is positioning the Internet of Things (IoT) as an essential part of our daily lives. Localization is one of the most attractive applications related to IoT. In the past few years, localization has been gaining attention because of its applicability in safety, health monitoring, environment monitoring, and security. As a result, various localization-based wireless frameworks are being presented to improve such applications' performances based on specific key performance indicators (KPIs). Therefore, this paper explores the recently proposed localization schemes in IoT. Initially, this paper explains the major KPIs of localization. After that, a thorough comparison of recently proposed localization schemes based on the KPIs is presented. The comparison includes an overview, architecture, network structure, performance parameters, and target KPIs. At the end, possible future directions are presented for the researchers working in this domain.

Diversity, molecular mechanisms and structure-activity relationships of marine protease inhibitors-A review.

Marine habitats are well-known for their diverse life forms that are potential sources of novel bioactive compounds. Evidence from existing studies suggests that these compounds contribute significantly to the field of pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, and cosmeceuticals. The isolation of natural compounds from a marine environment with protease inhibitory activity has gained importance due to drug discovery potential. Despite the increasing research endeavours focusing on protease inhibitors' design and characterization, many of these compounds have failed to reach final phases of clinical trials. As a result, the search for new sources for the development of protease inhibitors remains pertinent. This review focuses on the diverse marine protease inhibitors and their structure-activity relationships. Furthermore, the potential of marine protease inhibitors in drug discovery and molecular mechanism inhibitor binding are critically discussed.

Spectrum of Fungal Pathogens in Burn Wound Specimens: Data From a Tertiary Care Hospital Laboratory in Pakistan.

Burn patients are at great risk of developing fungal wound infections. Fungi are frequently cultured from burn tissue specimens alone or in combination with bacteria. However, the spectrum of fungi in burn patients from Pakistan has not been reported previously. A retrospective laboratory-based study was conducted and data on all positive cultures from burn wounds were included. During the study period, specimens were cultured on appropriate media and incubated for anaerobic and aerobic growth. Clinical and demographic information recorded during clinical reporting was also collected. Seventy tissue cultures were positive for microorganisms. Of these, 27 (39%) had growth of either filamentous mold (17 cases) or Candida species (14 cases). Two cases had growth of both mold and yeast. Aspergillus flavus was the most common mold (9) followed by Fusarium species (3). Candida tropicalis was the most common yeast (7) followed by Candida parapsilosis (4). There was concomitant bacterial growth in 19 cases, predominantly of Staphylococcus aureus (13), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (8), and other Gram-negative rods (6). Of the 35 patients in which treatment history was available, 33 were receiving broad-spectrum antibiotics. A high incidence of fungal isolation was seen in this study. Their findings are consistent with the global increase in fungal infections in burn wounds. High index of suspicion by clinicians and revision of culture protocols in burn patients may be warranted for optimal patient management.

Quality Initiative to Reduce Cardiac CT Angiography Radiation Exposure in Patients with Congenital Heart Disease.

BACKGROUND: The use of cardiac computed tomography angiography (CCTA) as a complementary diagnostic modality to echocardiography in patients with congenital heart diseases (CHDs) is expanding in low- and middle-income countries. The adoption of As Low As Reasonably Achievable techniques is not widespread, resulting in significant unintended radiation exposure, especially in children. Simple quality improvement measures geared toward reducing radiation dose can have a impact on patient safety in resource-limited centers in low- and middle-income countries. OBJECTIVES: To determine how a quality improvement initiative can reduce radiation exposure during CCTA in patients with CHD. METHODS: We designed a key driver -based quality initiative to reduce radiation dose during CCTA for CHD using protocol optimization, communication, and training and implementation as the drivers for intervention. Preintervention variables (radiation exposure, scanning protocols, and image quality) were collected from September 2012 to July 2016 and compared with variables in the postimplementation phase (February 2017 to July 2017). We compared quantitative and categorical variables using the chi-square test. Linear regression analysis was used to evaluate the effect of various factors on radiation dose. RESULTS: We documented a reduction in the effective dose in the postintervention versus preintervention phase (mean, 2.0 versus 21 mSv, P < 0.0001, respectively). Linear regression showed that the optimal organizational levels are associated with the same reduction in radiation. This finding shows that the time factor translates a combination of organizational and technical factors that contributed to the reduction in radiations. CONCLUSIONS: Our project showed a reduction in CCTA-associated radiation exposure.

Control of bleeding by silk ligation and diathermy coagulation during tonsillectomy: A comparison of efficacy of the two techniques in the first 24 hours after surgery.

OBJECTIVE: To assess and compare the relative efficacy of silk ligation and diathermy coagulation techniques in controlling bleeding during tonsillectomy in the first 24 hours. METHODS: This prospective study was conducted at the Department of ENT, Khalifa Gul Nawaz Teaching Hospital, Bannu and this department related consultants' private clinics from January 1, 2012 to December 31, 2014. The study included 180 cases. All patients included were having history of recurrent, acute tonsillitis, with more than 6-7 episodes in one year, five episodes per year for two years, or three episodes per year for three years. All the surgeries were performed by dissection method. Haemostasis during the procedure was secured by either ligation with silk 1 or using diathermy. The results were analyzed using SPSS 16.0 for windows. RESULTS: A total of180 cases were included in the study. The ages of the patients ranged from 5 to 40 years with the mean age of 15.56 years and a std.deviation of +/- 8.24. The male to female ratio was 1.25:1. The number of hemorrhages occurring was greater in the 'diathermy coagulation' group as compared to the 'silk ligation' group. However, the observed difference was statistically insignificant (p >.05). CONCLUSION: Primary haemorrhage occurring during tonsillectomy is a serious threat and control of bleeding during the procedure should therefore be meticulous. Both suture ligation and coagulation diathermy for control of bleeders during the procedure by dissection method are equally effective.

N-(2,3-Dimethyl-phen-yl)-4-fluoro-N-[(4-fluoro-phen-yl)sulfon-yl]benzene-sulfonamide.

In the title compound, C(20)H(17)F(2)NO(4)S(2), the dihedral angles between the o-xylene ring and the fluoro-benzene rings are 31.7 (1) and 32.8 (1)°, and the dihedral angle between the fluoro-benzene rings is 50.9 (1)°. The C-N-S-C torsion angles are 76.7 (2) and 101.8 (2)°. In the crystal, mol-ecules are connected by C-H⋯O inter-actions into sheets in the ab plane.

N-(2,3-Dimethyl-phen-yl)-4-methyl-N-(4-methyl-phenyl-sulfon-yl)benzene-sulfonamide.

In the title compound, C(22)H(23)NO(4)S(2), the dihedral angles between the dimethyl-phenyl ring and the two methyl-phenyl rings are 41.19 (15) and 20.50 (17)°; the dihedral angle between the methyl-phenyl rings is 48.11 (14)°. The C-N-S-C torsion angles are -87.6 (2) and 77.43 (18)°. The only possible directional inter-actions in the crystal are very weak C-H⋯π inter-actions and very weak π-π stacking between parallel methyl-phenyl rings [centroid-to-centroid separation = 4.010 (2) Šand slippage = 1.987 Å].

2,5-Dichloro-N-(2,3-dimethyl-phen-yl)benzene-sulfonamide.

In the title compound, C(14)H(13)Cl(2)NO(2)S, the dihedral angle between the aromatic rings is 62.21 (7)° and the C-S-N-C group adopts a gauche conformation [torsion angle = 60.22 (17)°]. In the crystal, N-H⋯O hydrogen bonds link the mol-ecules into C(4) chains propagating in [010]. A short inter-molecular Cl⋯O contact of 3.1115 (17) Šis seen.

N-(2,3-Dihydro-1,4-benzodioxin-6-yl)-4-fluoro-benzene-sulfonamide.

In the title compound, C(14)H(12)FNO(4)S, the dihedral angle between the aromatic rings is 50.26 (9)° and the C-S-N-C bond adopts a gauche conformation [torsion angle = -68.12 (15)°]. The dihydro-dioxine ring is disordered over two orientations, which both approximate to half-chairs, in a 0.880 (7):0.120 (7) ratio. In the crystal, N-H⋯O hydrogen bonds link the mol-ecules into C(4) chains propagating in [100]. Weak C-H⋯O and C-H⋯F inter-actions consolidate the packing.

2,5-Dichloro-N-(3-methyl-phen-yl)benzenesulfonamide.

In the title compound, C(13)H(11)Cl(2)NO(2)S, the dihedral angle between the aromatic rings is 76.62 (10)° and the C-S-N-C linkage between the rings adopts a gauche conformation [torsion angle = -51.4 (2)°]. A weak intra-molecular C-H⋯O inter-action closes an S(6) ring. In the crystal, inversion dimers linked by pairs of N-H⋯O hydrogen bonds generate R(2) (2)(8) loops.

4-Chloro-N-cyclo-hexyl-benzene-sulfonamide.

The title compound, C(12)H(16)ClNO(2)S, adopts an L-shaped conformation, with the central C-S-N-C torsion angle being -78.0 (2)°. The cyclo-hexyl ring adopts a chair conformation. In the crystal, adjacent mol-ecules are connected by pairs of N-H⋯O hydrogen bonds around an inversion centre, forming cyclic dimers [graph set R(2) (2)(8)].

3-(Propan-2-yl-oxy)-1,2-benzothia-zole 1,1-dioxide.

In the title compound, C(10)H(11)NO(3)S, the benzisothia-zole ring system is almost planar [maximum deviation = 0.030 (1) Šfor the S atom]. The isoprop-oxy group is almost in the plane of the benzisothia-zole ring system [N-C-O-C = 4.5 (2)°] with one of its methyl groups in an anti-periplanar orientation relative to the benzisothia-zole ring system [C-C-O-C = -162.0 (2)°].

4-Amino-2-chloro-benzoic acid.

The title compound, C(7)H(6)ClNO(2), crystallizes with two roughly planar mol-ecules in the asymmetric unit (r.m.s. deviations = 0.073 and 0.074 Å). The amine H atoms of the two mol-ecules have opposite orientations. In the crystal, mol-ecules are linked into dimers by pairs of O-H⋯O hydrogen bonds, generating R(2) (2)(8) loops. N-H⋯N and N-H⋯Cl hydrogen bonds link the dimers into a three-dimensional network. The crystal studied was found to be a racemic twin.

Methyl 2-amino-5-bromo-benzoate.

In the title compound, C(8)H(8)BrNO(2), the dihedral angle between the aromatic ring and the methyl acetate side chain is 5.73 (12)°. The mol-ecular conformation is stabilized by an intra-molecular N-H⋯O hydrogen bond, generating an S(6) ring. In the crystal, mol-ecules are connected by N-H⋯O inter-actions, generating zigzag chains running along the b-axis direction.