IT may occasion some surprise to those men of science who are ill-acquainted with India, and who so frequently express the view that Governments are unappreciative of the importance of science to learn that as far back as 1886 the Government of India arranged for Dr. George (later Sir George) Watt, professor of botany in the Presidency College, Calcutta, to prepare a "Dictionary of the Economic Products of India". The six volumes of this standard work were published during the years 1889-99. In 1908 Sir George Watt published a condensed version, "The Commercial Products of India". Whatever the defects of these 'dictionaries', they have been of inestimable value to all interested in Indian natural products. The Wealth of India A Dictionary of Indian Raw Materials and Industrial Products. Raw Materials, Vol. 1. Pp. xxvii+254+39 plates. 15 rupees ; 24s. Industrial Products, Part 1. Pp. xii+182+8 plates. 8 rupees ; 12s. (New Delhi : Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, 1948.)

The Wealth of India

Metal nanoparticles synthesis: An overview on methods of preparation, advantages and disadvantages, and applications

A wide range of medicinal and aromatic plants (MAPs) have been explored for their essential oils in the past few decades. Essential oils are complex volatile compounds, synthesized naturally in different plant parts during the process of secondary metabolism. Essential oils have great potential in the field of biomedicine as they effectively destroy several bacterial, fungal, and viral pathogens. The presence of different types of aldehydes, phenolics, terpenes, and other antimicrobial compounds means that the essential oils are effective against a diverse range of pathogens. The reactivity of essential oil depends upon the nature, composition, and orientation of its functional groups. The aim of this article is to review the antimicrobial potential of essential oils secreted from MAPs and their possible mechanisms of action against human pathogens. This comprehensive review will benefit researchers who wish to explore the potential of essential oils in the development of novel broad-spectrum key molecules against a broad range of drug-resistant pathogenic microbes.

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Antimicrobial Properties of Plant Essential Oils against Human Pathogens and Their Mode of Action: An Updated Review.

Introduction Japanese encephalitis (JE) is among the most important viral encephalitides in Asia, especially in rural and suburban areas where rice culture and pig farming coexist. (1-3) It has also occurred rarely and sporadically in northern Australia and parts of the Western Pacific. (4-6) JE is due to infection with the JE virus (JEV), a mosquito-borne flavivirus. The main JEV transmission cycle involves Culex tritaeniorhynchus mosquitoes and similar species that lay eggs in rice paddies and other open water sources, with pigs and aquatic birds as principal vertebrate amplifying hosts. (1,2,7) Humans are generally thought to be dead-end JEV hosts, i.e. they seldom develop enough viremia to infect feeding mosquitoes. Fewer than 1% of human JEV infections result in JE. Approximately 20-30% of JE cases are fatal and 30-50% of survivors have significant neurologic sequelae. (8) JE is primarily a disease of children and most adults in endemic countries have natural immunity after childhood infection, but all age groups are affected. In most temperate areas of Asia, JEV is transmitted mainly during the warm season, when large epidemics can occur. In the tropics and subtropics, transmission can occur year-round but often intensifes during the rainy season. (1-3) The global incidence of JE is unknown because the intensity and quality of JE surveillance and the availability of diagnostic laboratory testing vary throughout the world. Countries that have implemented high-quality childhood JE vaccination programmes have seen a dramatic decline in JE incidence. Although JE is reportable to the World Health Organization (WHO) by its Member States, reporting is highly variable and incomplete. In the late 1980s, Burke and Leake estimated that 50 000 new cases of JE occurred annually among the 2.4 billion people living in the 16 Asian countries considered endemic at the time (approximate overall annual incidence: 2 per 100 000). (2) In the intervening two decades, despite major population growth, urbanization, changes in agricultural practices and increased use of the JE vaccine in many countries, this figure has been widely quoted, including very recently. (9-13) In 2000, assuming an annual, age-group-specific incidence of 25 cases per 100 000, Tsai estimated that in the absence of vaccination 175 000 cases of JE would occur annually among Asian children aged 0-14 years living in rural areas. (14) The current study used more recent, published, local or national incidence estimates and current population data to produce an updated estimate of the annual global incidence of JE. Methods We approximated the JE-affected territory of each of the 24 countries endemic for JE using a recent update (15) of an earlier approximation by Tsai (16) with some modifications (Table 1, available at: http://www.who.int/bulletin/ volumes/89/10/10-085233). Based on these same approximations, (15,16) we then stratified the JE-affected territory of some countries (e.g. China excluding Taiwan, India and Nepal) into two or more incidence strata. Because suitable studies of JE incidence were not available for every endemic country or incidence stratum, we sorted JE-endemic countries and incidence strata into 10 incidence groups (A, B, C1, C2 and D through I) based primarily on geographic proximity, ecologic similarity, vaccine programme similarity. Table 1 briefly describes the status of each endemic country's JE vaccination programme as of 2009, according to recent publications and unpublished sources. (8,17-20) Incidence data We identified studies that contained potentially useful data on the incidence of JE in Asia in a manner similar to the one used in a recent study of global typhoid fever incidence. (21) Whenever possible, this review followed the relevant guidelines for Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA). (22) The review process is described as follows and no protocol is available. …

Estimated Global Incidence of Japanese Encephalitis: A Systematic review/Estimation De L'incidence Mondiale De L'encephalite Japonaise: Une Evaluation Systematique/ Incidencia Global Estimada De la Encefalitis Japonesa: Una Revision Sistematica

https://researchportal.port.ac.uk/portal/files/20192880/STOTEN_D_20_04893R2_COVID_19_accepted_article.pdf

COVID-19: A promising cure for the global panic.

Background: With cases of emergence of drug resistance to the current competitive inhibitorsof neuraminidase (NA) such as oseltamivir and zanamavir, there is a present need for an alternativeapproach in the treatment of avian influenza. With this in view, some flavones and chalcones were designedbased on quercetin, the most active naturally occurring noncompetitive inhibitor.Objective: We attempt to understand the binding of quercetin to H5N1-NA, and synthetic analogs ofquercetin namely flavones and its precursors the chalcones using computational tools.Methods: Molecular docking was done using Libdock. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations wereperformed using Amber14. We synthesized the two compounds; their structures were confirmed by infraredspectroscopy, 1H-NMR, and mass spectrometry. These molecules were then tested for H5N1-NAinhibition and kinetics of inhibition.Results: Molecular docking studies yielded two compounds i.e., 4’-methoxyflavone and 2’-hydroxy-4-methoxychalcone, as promising leads which identified them as binders of the 150-cavity of NA. Furthermore,MD simulation studies revealed that quercetin and the two compounds bind and hold the 150loop in its open conformation, which ultimately perturbs the binding of sialic acid in the catalytic site.Estimation of the free energy of binding by MM-PBSA portrays quercetin as more potent than chalconeand flavone. These molecules were then determined as non-competitive inhibitors from the Lineweaver-Burk plots rendered from the enzyme kinetic studies.Conclusion: We conclude that non-competitive type of inhibition, as shown in this study, can serve asan effective method to block NA and evade the currently seen drug resistance.

A Computational Model for Docking of Noncompetitive Neuraminidase Inhibitors and Probing their Binding Interactions with Neuraminidase of Influenza Virus H5N1.

Comparison of Different Methods of Detection of Enteric Pathogenic Protozoa

Human Asian Trypanosomiasis due to Trypanosoma evansi: A Rare Case

Prevalence of influenza virus among the paediatric population in Mumbai during 2007-2009.

Thiazolidinone was synthesized by using Thiourea and chloroethylacetate. Chromene derivative were synthesized by Vilsmeier-Hack reaction using substituted Hydroxy Benzoic Acid. Initially synthesized Thiazolidinone and Chromene derivative were condensed using alcohol as a solvent. Further synthesized compounds were characterized by elemental & spectroscopic analysis. Compounds were further evaluated for in-vitro Anti- Inflammatory activity.

Abhay Chowdhary

Papers

A Computational Model for Docking of Noncompetitive Neuraminidase Inhibitors and Probing their Binding Interactions with Neuraminidase of Influenza Virus H5N1.

Comparison of Different Methods of Detection of Enteric Pathogenic Protozoa

Human Asian Trypanosomiasis due to Trypanosoma evansi: A Rare Case

Prevalence of influenza virus among the paediatric population in Mumbai during 2007-2009.

Synthesis and study of (5Z)-5-[(4-oxo-4H-chromen-3-yl) methylidene]-1, 3- thiazolidine-2, 4-dione derivative