Leflunomide has been reported as an alternative therapy in sarcoidosis. However, the published data are limited. We performed a retrospective chart review of the tolerance and effects of leflunomide ...therapy in patients with sarcoidosis. 76 patients were included. The most common reasons for initiation were progression of disease or failure of other immunomodulator therapy. Side-effects attributable to leflunomide were noted in 34% of subjects, prompting discontinuation in 17%. The lungs were a target of therapy in 33 (44%) and extrapulmonary organs were a target in 45 (59%). The mean ± sd change in forced vital capacity in the 6 months prior to leflunomide was -0.1 ± 0.3 L, and it was +0.09 ± 0.3 L in the following 6 months (p=0.01). For extrapulmonary target organ response, 51% had a good response and 32% a partial response. The median corticosteroid dose at initiation was 10 mg (interquartile range 5-20) mg at baseline, and 0 (0-10) mg at the 6-month follow-up (p<0.001). Leflunomide is a viable alternative agent for pulmonary and extrapulmonary sarcoidosis. Leflunomide appears to facilitate reduction of steroid dose and can be considered as monotherapy or as add-on therapy in cases of progressive disease.
We present here the results of a paleoseismic investigation carried across a ~10 m high fault scarp at Panijhora village, West Bengal in northeastern India. Accelerator Mass Spectrometer analyzed 14C ...radiocarbon age constraints from six detrital charcoal samples ranging between 1688 B.C. and A.D. 1152 are consistent with the great medieval earthquake of A.D. 1255 that is interpreted to have produced a minimum observed fault slip of ~5 m in the trench exposure. Recalibration of radiocarbon ages from previous studies at Harmutty, Nameri, and Marha in the eastern Himalaya using Bayesian statistical analyses further substantiates the possibility that the A.D. 1255 earthquake might have ruptured the Himalayan front over a length of ~800 km from ~85.87° to 93.76°E longitudes.
Key Points
We conclude that the 1255 medieval earthquake was a giant event with a 800 km rupture length
We validate that the Himalayan continental subduction zone is capable of producing giant earthquakes approaching Mw 9.0
Speculation of a major event in the eastern Himalaya
An anthracene thiazole based Schiff base
L
was synthesized and employed for fluorescence switch-on detection of maleic acid in aqueous DMSO. The non-fluorescent
L
(10
–5
M) showed an instantaneous ...and selective fluorescence enhancement at 506 nm upon interaction with maleic acid (10
–5
M). Other potential carboxylic acids (10
–5
M), such as malic acid, citric acid, acetic acid, cinnamic acid, tartaric acid, succinic acid, fumaric acid, oxalic acid and malonic acid failed to alter the chromo-fluorogenic properties of
L
. Probe
L
can be employed to detect maleic acid down to 2.74 × 10
–6
M. The probe
L
showed good linearity from 2.97 to 6.87 µM. Analytical utility of
L
was examined by detecting maleic acid in various food additives and drosophila larvae.
Resistance to antibiotics/antibacterials/antifungals in pathogenic microbes has been developing over the past few decades and has recently become a commonplace public-health peril. Thus, alternative ...nontoxic potent antibiotic agents are covertly needed to control antibiotic-resistant outbreaks. In an effort to combat the challenges posed by the co-occurrence of multidrug resistance, two terpyridine ligands 4′-(4-N,N′-dimethylaminophenyl)-2,2′:6′,2″-terpyridine (L1) and 4′-(4-tolyl)-2,2′:6′,2″-terpyridine (L2) have been designed, prepared and confirmed their structure by spectral studies. Thereafter, antimicrobial assay was performed against gram positive and negative bacterial strains along with fungal strains. Both compounds L1 and L2 exhibited remarkable inhibitory activities against bacteria, Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus at MIC values 6.25 and 3.125 µg/ml, respectively. In addition, in silico molecular docking studies were ascertained with bacterial DNA gyrase and fungal demethylase. Furthermore, both L1 and L2 could bind Bovine Serum Albumin (BSA) protein and binding interaction has been studied with the help of UV-Visible and fluorescence spectroscopy. While fluorescence of BSA unperturbed in the presence of L2, an addition of L1 to the solution of BSA resulted significant quenching. The binding constant calculations at different temperature confirmed that the fluorescence quenching between BSA and L1 is predominantly static in nature. The toxicity of L1 and L2 was checked using Drosophila melanogaster. The toxicity analysis suggest both the dyes are non-cytotoxic in nature.
Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma
The aim of study was to evaluate the scientific basis for the traditional use of Elephantopus scaber leaves.
In the present study, ethanol extract of Elephantopus scaber leaves was evaluated for ...preliminary phytochemical screening and antiasthmatic activity using histamine and acetylcholine-induced bronchospasm, mast cell degranulation and histamine induced constriction on isolated guinea pig tracheal chain at different dose levels. Student's t-Test and Dunett's test were used for statistical analysis.
The result of present investigation showed that the ethanolic extract of E. scaber significantly (P<0.001) decreased the bronchospasm induced by histamine, acetylcholine and protected mast cell degranulation as compared to control groups. It also decreased the histamine induce constriction on isolated guinea pig trachea in dose-dependent manner. Phytochemical studies revealed the presence of steroids, saponin, flavonoids, and phenolic compounds in the extract.
The present study concludes that the antiasthmatic activity of ethanolic extract of E. scaber leaves may be due to the presence of flavonoids or steroids. Antiasthmatic action of the E. scaber could be due to its antihistaminic, anticholinergic and mast-cell-stabilizing property.
The present study aims to approach the analysis of groundwater samples of the western part of Odisha, i.e. Maneswar Block of Sambalpur District to assess the quality of groundwater in terms of ...drinking and irrigation purposes. Altogether, 34 groundwater samples were collected from the Maneswar Block during the pre-monsoon period in 2017. The collected samples were analysed for different physicochemical parameters. The result of the chemical analysis revealed that the dominant hydrochemical facies for cation is Ca
2+
> Na
+
> Mg
2+
> K
+
and the dominant hydrochemical facies for anion is HCO
3
−
> Cl
−
> SO
4
2−
> CO
3
2−
. The groundwater of the area is suitable for irrigation purposes except the areas having high %Na. Similarly, the water is suitable for drinking purposes in most of the cases except few where the TDS value is high. The multivariate hydrogeochemical data were plotted in various graphs and diagrams to depict the quality of groundwater of the study area. In both Piper’s trilinear and Chadha’s diagram, the groundwater samples indicate “alkaline earths exceed alkalies”. Gibbs diagram demonstrates that most of the samples fall on the “Rock dominance” and few samples fall on “Evaporation crystallization dominance” field.
This paper presents results on the characterization and hydrometallurgical studies for the recovery of Rare Earth Elements (REE) from micro-granite type hard rock REE deposit of Bhatikheda, Siwana ...Ring Complex, Rajasthan, India. The total REE (TREE) content of the ore is 0.36%. Heavy REE (HREE) constitutes about 40% of the TREE by weight. Allanite, zircon and gittinsite were identified as the major REE bearing phases. The nature of occurrence of REE phases in the ore is widely varying with the presence of fully liberated grains to those which occur very finely disseminated in lighter gangue minerals. Physical beneficiation using gravity-based separation techniques gave suboptimal performance. Agitation leaching of ground ore with different mineral acids gave good solubilisation of light REE (LREE), about 75%, but the leach recovery of HREE was only 40%. However, sulfation roasting followed by aqueous leaching (SRAL) yielded leach recovery of 85% of total REE under optimised conditions. The lean tenor of TREE in the leachate coupled with its complex solution chemistry necessitated use of ion exchange (IX) process with strong cationic resin in lieu of conventional solvent extraction based separation and purification. The dissolved REE values from the purified liquor were quantitatively precipitated in the form of TREE fluoride using HF as the precipitant. The final product was about 90% pure on dry weight basis. An integrated process scheme for the recovery of TREE values from the Bhatikhera hard rock deposit is designed-
The subterranean parts of many wild plants form an important constituent of traditional diet of the tribal inhabitants of Similipal Biosphere Reserve, Odisha especially in times of food scarcity ...during critical periods. However, no specific study has been made so far on this aspect. The present study was conducted during 2008–2012 as a search for sources of food and to assess the dietary diversity, consumption pattern, culinary uses and prioritized species of wild tuberous plants sustained by local tribes. The exploration and germplasm collection missions along with intensive botanical survey, focus group discussions, structured household interview and market survey were conducted in 30 villages interacting with 102 key informants of core and buffer zones. A total of 55 wild edible tuberous species representing 37 genera and 24 families were inventoried including 17 species used during food deficiency to meet seasonal shortages. The analyzed data contributed 5 use categories, 4 preparation methods, 7 kinds of food items, 10 species as children snacks, 35 species of pharma-foods and 20 prioritized species. Ten species were domesticated by tribes thus reducing threats on wild tubers and 20 species were traded in local markets to generate additional income exemplifying economic benefits from wild tubers. Seventeen species were identified as novel uses of food items from India. The findings suggested that the nutritional profile along with pharmaceutical attributes of preferred wild food plants be analyzed for recommending suitable species for better nutrition and development of nutraceuticals. Further, many genetic resources of these wild tuberous species of agri-horticultural importance constitute the wild genepool hence their economic and breeding potential along with desirable attributes need to be investigated for utilization in crop improvement programmes.
The hydrodynamics of a coastal aquifer system was investigated in the Kendrapara district, Odisha, India. The analysis of 248 groundwater samples collected across one monsoonal season indicates that ...the anisotropic coastal aquifer is affected by salinity. Taking into account the hydrodynamic variables of hydraulic head, transmissivity, saturated thickness and the effective porosity of the aquifer, a Darcy flow analysis of groundwater was carried out to determine the flow volume residual, flow direction and flow rate of the aquifer system in the region. These modelled outputs display significant disturbed nature of groundwater ‘flow–regimes’ which, in turn, is suggestive of major structural changes to the depositional basin. Geospatial and geostatistical cluster analysis carried out for the modelled parameters in relation to the tectonic elements of the region indicated that faults have a significant influence on aquifer hydrodynamics and, in turn, on the hydrogeochemistry of the system. This inference is further justified from the spatial analysis of earthquake epicentres for the last 50 years which shows a close interrelationship with the ‘North Odisha Boundary Fault’. The investigation also draws inference from the sudden directional change of river Brahmani which seems to be affected by the ‘Mahakalapara–Rajnagar’ strike-slip fault. On the basis of these findings, it is suggested that the subsurface non-granular (clayey) horizons have been extensively deformed by the tectonic disturbances. This has led to the juxtaposition or detachment of aquifer domains which, in turn, has led to the intermixing of varied groundwater types giving rise to the observed salinity of the study region.
In this paper we have theoretically investigated the quantum and relativistic effects on ion plasma wave in an unmagnetised dust-ion plasma. By using the method of normal mode analysis, we have ...obtained a linear dispersion relation. It has been analysed numerically for quantum and relativistic effects on the propagation of ion plasma wave. By using the standard reductive perturbation technique, we have derived a Korteweg–de Vries (KdV) equation which describes the nonlinear propagation of the wave. Numerically, it is shown that only compressive type of soliton can exist in the plasma under consideration. It is found that the solitary wave profile depends significantly on the quantum and relativistic parameters. The dust size, dust charge and the dust number density are also shown to have significant influences on these solitary waves. The results of this present investigation have some relevance to the nonlinear propagation of ion plasma wave in some astrophysical, space and laboratory plasma environments.
PDF
