Defence Life Science Journal
Not a member yet
454 research outputs found
Sort by
Acute Immunomodulatory Effects of Fentanyl and its Three New Analogues in Swiss Albino Mice
Get PDFFentanyl is a potent synthetic opioid analgesic. However, due to its several limitations, new analogues are being synthesised for better pain management. We have earlier reported the synthesis and bio-efficacy of fentanyl and its eight new analogues (1-8) in mice. Among eight analogues tested, N-(1-(2-phenoxyethyl)-4-piperidinyl)propionanilide (2), N-isopropyl-3-(4-(N-phenylpropionamido)piperidin-1-yl)propanamide (5), and N-t-butyl-3-(4-(N-phenylpropionamido)piperidin-1-yl)propanamide (6) were found to be more effective and less toxic compared to fentanyl. Therapeutic efficacy of fentanyl and its analogues are known to be compromised due to many adverse effects, including alterations in the immune system. Therefore, the present study was undertaken to assess the acute effect of fentanyl and its three analogues (2, 5, and 6) on plasma levels of different pro-inflammatory cytokines such as interleukin-1β (IL-1β), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), and anti-inflammatory cytokines such as interleukin-10 (IL-10) at different time points. Mice were intraperitoneally treated with 0.50 LD50 of the compounds and cytokines were measured 1 h, 2 h, 4 h, and 24 h post-exposure. Compared to control, none of the treatments produced any change in TNF-α and IL-1β levels. However, IL-6 levels were significantly elevated between 1 h to 2 h post-exposure in fentanyl and analogue 2 treated groups. Further, IL-10 levels were found to be significantly increased in fentanyl, analogue 2, and 6 treated groups at 1 h and 2 h post-exposure. Pre-treatment of naltrexone (opioid receptor antagonist) blocked the effects of fentanyl, confirming that its effects were opioid receptor- dependent. However, effect of naltrexone on analogue 2 and 6 was not conclusively evidenced, indicating that immunomodulatory changes caused by the analogues could have some additional implications as well. The present study reveals undesirable effects of fentanyl and its new analogues on cytokines homeostasis, thereby limiting their use in pain management
Catalytic Reduction of Hazardous Compound (Triethylphosphate) Using Ni Doped CuO Nanoparticles
Get PDF Nickel doped Copper oxide nanoparticles were prepared by hydrothermal method for catalytic reduction of Triethylphosphate (TEP). It is a well known toxicant from organophosphorous compounds. The nanoparticles were characterized by DLS, UV, FTIR, XRD, SEM and EDAX. FTIR and UV results reveals that the functional properties and the absorbance of NPs. DLS and SEM results reveals that the size and surface morphology of NPs. XRD and EDAX results confirms the structural purity of Ni dopants were substituted into the cubic CuO NPs and the elemental composition. Ni doped CuO is an efficient catalyst for catalytic reduction of TEP using sunlight irradiation and it was monitored by UV VIS spectrophotometer
Physical Fitness of Soldiers in the Armed Forces of Slovakia
Get PDFoai:ojs3.localhost:article/9795The paper deals with physical preparation of professional soldiers. It is focused on the development of aerobic endurance within practical physical preparation lessons at military units. In order to fulfil the goals of the research, the authors organised a natural pedagogical experiment to find out which of the 7 typical aerobic activities implemented in the experimental and reference couples (n=28) during the 6-week-long experimental period have the most effective impact on the development of aerobic endurance in professional soldiers in the Slovak Armed Forces. The results showed that the most effective means for the development of endurance were found obstacle track, terrain running in combination with fast road marches, various types of shuttle runs and jumping and acrobatic exercises. Swimming, cycling, ski running and sport games can be recommended as suitable complementary activities. From the point of view of methodology, the most effective organisation pattern represented the one in which exercises were organised in 4 training sessions during 20 minutes each, performed for 6 weeks in a row. Statistically significant changes in the level of aerobic endurance proved the hypothesis that physical fitness and psychic resistibility of professional soldiers can be improved by the selected most effective means also in shorter time period of physical preparation
Emerging Technologies in the Area of Food Sciences
Get PDFIn the modern era, world has experienced tremendous boost in the field of food science and technology, realising its impact on the economic growth and people’s standard of living. India is using its newer technology for food processing in the field of science and technology. We are among the world’s top nations in the number of scientific publications and patents in food technology. The government has made considerable investment and is encouraging public-private partnership to achieve self-reliance in different agricultural sectors. It has a strong presence in the field of biotechnology, particularly related to agriculture technology, including pre- and post-harvest management, processing technology etc.
Application of Enriched Fraction of Seabuckthorn Leaf Extract as Antimicrobial Finish on Technical Textile
Get PDFFlavonoid-rich fraction (FRF) from Seabuckthorn leaves extract was prepared by acid hydrolysis process. Total flavonoid content of Seabuckthorn leaves extract and FRF estimated as rutin equivalent was found to be 116.98±3.06 and 277.14 ± 6.78 mg/g of extract/FRF respectively. Its major constituents myrcetin, quercetin, kaempferol and isorhamnetin, were determined by reverse phase high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC). Aramid (NomexIIIA) fabric was treated with triethylene tetramine to increase the wicking height of the fabric for better uptake of FRF. Then, FRF was coated using citric acid as cross linking agent on to aramid fabric by pad-dry-cure method for improved wash durability. FRF coated fabric was characterised using Universal attenuated total internal reflection Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy. Effect of FRF coating on flammability property of coated fabric was estimated using flammability tester. There was no significant difference in the char length of the FRF coated fabric and control samples. Antimicrobial activity of the FRF coated fabric was assessed by both qualitative (agar diffusion method; AATCC 147-2001) and quantitative (percentage reduction test; (AATCC 100-2001) methods using test organisms. The zone of inhibition by agar diffusion method for E. coli and S. aureus was found to be 12.4 mm and 16.7 mm respectively. Quantitative assessment by percentage reduction test showed a reduction percentage of 96.00% and 93.00% for S. aureus and E. coli, respectively. The results of the above study indicate FRF as a valuable ingredient for the development of antimicrobial textiles
Consciousness Levels Detection Using Discrete Wavelet Transforms on Single Channel EEG Under Simulated Workload Conditions
Get PDFEEG signal is one of the most complex signals having the lowest amplitude which makes it challenging for analysis in real-time. The different waveforms like alpha, beta, theta and delta were studied and selected features were related with the consciousness levels. The consciousness levels detection is useful for estimating the subjects’ performance in certain selected tasks which requires high alertness. This estimation was performed by analyzing signal properties of the EEG using features extracted through discrete wavelet transform with a moving window of 10 seconds with 90% overlap. The EEG signal is decomposed in to wavelets and the average energy and power of the coefficients related to the EEG bands is taken as the features. The data is collected from standard EEG machine from the volunteers as per the protocol. C3 and C4 locations (unipolar) of the standard 10-20 electrode system were selected. The central region of the brain is most optimal location for the consciousness levels detection. The estimation of the data using Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT) energy, power features provided better accuracy when the central regions were chosen. An accuracy of 99% was achieved when the algorithm was implemented using a classifier based on linear kernel support vector machines (SVM)
Multiscale Modelling of Blast-Induced TBI Mechanobiology - From Body to Neuron to Molecule
Get PDFBlast induced Traumatic Brain Injury (bTBI) has become a signature wound of the recent military operations and is becoming a significant factor of recent civilian blast explosion events. In spite of significant clinical and preclinical research on TBI, current understanding of injury mechanisms is limited and little is known about the short and long-term outcomes. Mathematical models of bTBI may provide capabilities to study brain injury mechanisms, perhaps accelerating the development of neuroprotective strategies and aiding in the development of improved personal protective equipment. The paper presents a novel multiscale simulation framework that couples the body/brain scale biomechanics with micro-scale mechanobiology to study the effects of “primary” micro-damage to neuro-axonal structures with the “secondary” injury and repair mechanisms. Our results show that oligodendrocyte myelinating processes distribute strains among neighbor axons and cause their off-axis deformations. Similar effects have been observed at the finer scale for the Tau-Microtubule interaction. The paper also discusses the need for coupled modeling of primary injury biomechanics, secondary injury mechanobiology and model based assessment of injury severity scores. A new integrated computational and experimental approach is described coupling micro-scale injury criteria for the primary micro-mechanical damage to brain tissue/cells as well as to investigate various secondary injury mechanisms.
Brahmi herbal drink mitigates aluminium chloride induced cognitive impairments
Get PDFAluminium chloride (AlCl3) is neurotoxic and has been proposed to be one of the environmental factors responsible for neurodegenerative disease like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disorders. It also causes learning and memory deficit. Bacopa monniera is well known for its memory enhancing property in traditional Indian system of medicine. In the present investigation we aim to evaluate cognitive-enhancing and neuromodulatory property of brahmi herbal drink (BHD), a nutraceutical product from Bacopa monniera extract. BHD was evaluated for physicochemical, sensory attributes and stability studies. Overall acceptability of BHD was good according to hedonic scale/ratings. Stability of the drink is for 6 months without losing its activity. Further, cognitive enhancing and neuromodulatory propensity of BHD was evaluated against AlCl3 treatment in rats. Administration of AlCl3 (100 mg/kg) daily for 23 days significantly increased cognitive impairment as evaluated in elevated plus maze (EPM) and Morris water maze (MWM) tests. BHD supplementation improved cognitive ability by decreasing the transfer and escape latency of EPM and MWM tests respectively. Our results further elucidate that BHD supplementation decreased acetylcholine esterase activity and nitric oxide levels by down-regulating AChE and iNOS expression respectively. BHD supplementation showed it neuroprotective efficacy by up-regulating BDNF expression. AlCl3 induced lipid peroxidation and reactive oxygen species generation was significantly alleviated by BHD and restored antioxidant status levels. All these results demonstrated the cognitive-enhancing and neuromodulatory potential of BHD in counteracting the damage inflicted by AlCl3 on rat brain
Microfluidic Integrated Technology: A Potential Tool for Portable Radiation Biodosimetry
Get PDFIn the event of a mass radiological or nuclear incident, a large number of individuals would require rapid biodosimetric screening for proper medical care, mitigation and follow-up procedures. Mass radiological triage is critical after any such large-scale event because of the need for Dose assessment of suffered individuals at an early stage. With the increasing probability of such unprecedented incidents around the world, the need for modelling and development of new medical countermeasures for potential future chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear has been well established. Unfortunately, the capacity of most of these methods are still restricted to laboratory establishments due to resource limitations, need of high end expertise or general immobility of bulky instruments required for the same. So far there exists no rapid diagnostic technique that may reliably discriminate levels of ionising radiation exposure based on samples collected at a single time point. In classical clinical settings, complete blood count, particularly the lymphocyte count is based on temporal assessment. The diagnostic ‘gold standard’ in the field of radiation biodosimetry is the dicentric chromosome assay which happens to be highly labour-intensive and extensively time consuming, rendering it inefficient in case of mass casualty situations. Advanced technologies such as microfluidic platform, BioMEMS, μTAS carry the potential to make system highly portable, cost efficient and independent of high skilled expertise. In this review of the latest advances in portable biodosimetry we evaluate our progress and identify areas that still need to be addressed to achieve true field-deployment readiness
Electron Paramagnetic Resonance Spectrometry-based Assessment of Free Radicals Scavenging Potential of N-acetyl Tryptophan Glucoside
Get PDFGamma radiation generates free radicals in biological system by inducing cellular water radiolysis. If not neutralised, free radicals oxidise vital bio-macromolecules causing structural and functional impairment and contribute to cell death. In present study, free radical scavenging activities of a novel bacterial secondary metabolite, N-acetyl tryptophan glucoside (NATG) was assessed against gamma-radiation induced damage in vitro and in vivo models. Effect of irradiated NATG (UV and gamma radiation 8 Gy and 20 Gy) on its free radical (DPPH radicals) and SOD-like activity was evaluated using EPR spectrometry. To assess the effect of NATG irradiation on its antioxidant potential, EPR based ascorbate, PBN and NO radicals scavenging activities were evaluated in blood and spleen tissue of strain A male mice. Results of the study indicated significant (p < 0.05) increase in DPPH radicals scavenging ability of irradiated NATG as compared to un-irradiated NATG. Similarly, irradiated NATG exhibited significant (p < 0.05) elevation in SOD-like activity as compared to control. Subsequently, NATG treatment displayed enhanced antioxidant activity as evident by significant (p < 0.05) decline in ascorbate, PBN and NO radicals at 1 h and 2h in blood and spleen tissues homogenate of treated mice as compared to control group. In conclusion, NATG possesses significant free radicals scavenging and radio protective capabilities against gamma radiation induced oxidative stress