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.

Ethanol extracts of Ocimum sanctum Linn. and Tinospora cordifolia (Willd.) Miers ex Hook. f. & Thoms. were included for the present in vitro study. Pepsin was used as a substitute for HIV-protease to evaluate inhibitory activity of these extracts, as pepsin has close resemblance with HIV-protease in proteolytic activity. Extracts of O. sanctum and T. cordifolia showed potent inhibitory activity with IC50 values of 123.73 and 11.20 µg/ml respectively. In our earlier study, these extracts exerted their anti-HIV activity via multiple mechanisms of action; viz., interference with the gp120 / CD4 interaction and inhibition of HIV-reverse transcriptase. In the present study, they also showed potent inhibitory activity against pepsin enzyme, suggesting that they may be useful as HIV protease inhibitors. The inhibitory activity could be attributed to flavonoids and phenolic content respectively.

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Evaluation of Ocimum sanctum and Tinospora cordifolia as Probable HIV-Protease Inhibitors

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) ranks as the second leading cause of death from an infectious disease worldwide. Early diagnosis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in clinical samples becomes important in the control of TB both for the treatment of patients and for curbing of disease transmission to the others in the community. The study objective was to perform Ziehl–Neelsen (ZN) staining, fluorochrome staining, line probe assay (LPA), and loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay for rapid detection of pulmonary TB (PTB) and to compare the results of LPA and LAMP in terms of sensitivity, specificity, and turnaround time. Methods: A total of 891 sputum samples from clinically diagnosed/suspected cases of TB were subjected to ZN and fluorochrome staining. Smear positive samples were subjected to LPA, and smear negative were cultured on Lowenstein–Jensen media. A total of 177 samples were subjected to liquid culture and LAMP. Conventional culture was considered as “gold standard” for calculation of parameters. Results: Light-emitting diode fluorescence microscopy had the same sensitivity as ZN with similar high specificity. LPA was performed on 548 sputum samples which includes 520 smear positive and 28 smear negative culture positive samples and multidrug-resistant TB was detected in 32.64%. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV) of TB-LAMP on direct sputum samples was found to be 98.96%, 95%, 96%, and 98.70%, respectively, when compared with ZN smear microscopy. By considering culture as “gold standard,” LAMP showed a sensitivity, specificity, PPV, and NPV of 98.94%, 96.34%, 96.90%, and 98.75%, respectively. The sensitivity and PPV of TB-LAMP were 98.97% and 96%, respectively, when compared with LPA. Conclusions: A successful rapid laboratory diagnosis of PTB is possible when one combines the available methodology of microscopy, culture as well as molecular techniques. The LAMP assay was found to be simple, self-contained, and efficacious for early diagnosis of suspected cases of PTB with advantages of having a high throughput, no requirements of sophisticated equipment, and complex biosafety facilities.

Rapid laboratory diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis.

Design, synthesis and biological evaluation of substituted flavones and aurones as potential anti-influenza agents.

Measles, Mumps, and Rubella (MMR) are vaccine preventable viral infections, which cause significant mortality and morbidity globally. Increased incidence rates of these infectious diseases are observed in young adults. Information on seroprevalence data on MMR in India is limited. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of IgG antibodies against MMR among young adults. This was a descriptive cross-sectional study involving 192 healthy college students from Maharshi Dayanand College, Mumbai. The project was approved by the Institutional Ethics Committee of Haffkine Institute. Between December 2012 and September 2013, blood samples were collected from individuals of age 18-23 years after obtaining written informed consent from them. The quantitative determination of IgG antibodies in serum specimens against MMR was determined using enzyme linked immunosorbent assay. Data on history of vaccination were also collected from participants. Among 192 healthy college students (age 18-23 years), MMR seroprevalence was 91%, 97%, and 88%, respectively. The overall seropositivity of MMR was 79%. The highest level of seronegativity was seen with regards to rubella-specific antibodies in 12% of cases. About 96% of the participants did not know about their vaccination history while none of the participants knew about their history of MMR infections. Despite unknown vaccination status, a majority of college students in our study were found seropositive for all three infections, which indicate natural boosting. However, the proportion of seronegativity for measles and rubella was relatively higher. Especially since the study population belonged to reproductive age group, there is a concern of congenital rubella syndrome in the offspring. Although a larger multicentric study is required to confirm the findings, the results indicate that a dose of measles-rubella (MR) vaccine should be offered to these college students.

Seroprevalence of Measles, Mumps, and Rubella Antibodies in College Students in Mumbai, India

Methods In vitro micro-co-culture was employed for virus isolation followed by drug susceptibility assays to determine resistance to Azidothymidine (AZT) and Lamivudine (3TC). Jatropha curcasleaves were extracted using Soxhlet apparatus. Methanolic (ME) and aqueous (AE) extracts were chosen for further study. Secondary metabolites were detected by High-Performance Thin Laye rChromatography and in vitro cytotoxicity established by MTT assay. Anti-viral activity was evaluated by p24 inhibitionin postand pre-infection interaction studies.

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Abhay Chowdhary

Papers

Evaluation of Ocimum sanctum and Tinospora cordifolia as Probable HIV-Protease Inhibitors

Rapid laboratory diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis.

Design, synthesis and biological evaluation of substituted flavones and aurones as potential anti-influenza agents.

Seroprevalence of Measles, Mumps, and Rubella Antibodies in College Students in Mumbai, India

Evaluation of anti-viral activity of Jatropha curcas leaf extracts against potentially drug-resistant HIV isolates