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Background Osteoarthritis is the prevailing form of inflammatory condition in joints of adults and the aging population, leading to long-term disability and chronic pain. Current therapeutic options have variable therapeutic efficacy and/or several side effects. Methods A randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind clinical trial was conducted in 62 participants using a nutraceutical [standardized Boswellia serrata Roxb. gum resin (300 mg) and Apium graveolens L. seed extract (250 mg)], to determine its safety and efficacy for supporting cartilage health and reduction in knee osteoarthritis symptoms. All participants were assessed for physical function and pain with the help of WOMAC, VAS, Physicians' Global Assessment for the six-minute walk test/pain. Knee X-ray, KOOS questionnaire score, and FACIT-F score were assessed. Additionally, inflammatory, cartilage degeneration and regeneration biomarkers in serum and urine were evaluated at baseline and after 90 days of treatment. Results Oral administration of the nutraceutical resulted in prolonged symptomatic relief with reduced pain, stiffness, and swelling. Inflammatory (serum IL-7, IL-1, IL-6, hs-CRP, TNF-α, ESR) and cartilage degeneration biomarkers (serum CTX-II, COMP, MMP-3 and urinary CTX-II) were decreased in the nutraceutical group compared to baseline and placebo. Furthermore, serum N-propeptide of collagen IIA (PIIANP) and procollagen-type-C propeptide (PIICP) levels were increased in the nutraceutical group, suggesting collagen synthesis contributing to cartilage regeneration. At given doses for 90 days, there were no adverse effects based on the clinical examination, biochemical, hematological, and ECG analysis. Conclusions Taken together, the combination of Boswellia and celery could be a safe and promising herbal nutraceutical option for managing osteoarthritis and cartilage health effectively.

Acne is a chronic and recurring inflammatory skin disease. It remains one of the most disturbing skin conditions that adversely affect an individual’s daily life. The therapeutic targets for acne include excessive sebum production, follicular hyper-keratinization, bacterial colonization by P. acnes, and inflammation. Currently, retinoic acid is the only agent effective against all four targets of acne therapy. However, its several side effects limit its wide application. Bakutrol™ is a topical formulation containing 0.5% bakuchiol from Cullen corylifolium. (Psolarea corylifolia). Bakuchiol is a popular skin care cosmetic ingredient due to its retinol-like functionality. A prospective, open-label, single-arm study was conducted to evaluate the safety and efficacy of Bakutrol™ in patients (n=50) with facial acne. The participants were instructed to apply BakutrolTM cream as a thin layer over the acne lesions twice daily for 60 days. Key outcomes evaluated were safety and efficacy in controlling P. acnes infection. Application of BakutrolTM resulted in 36.14% reduction in P. acne bacterial load. Video-dermoscopy and photographic images showed the reduction of inflammatory lesions. BakutrolTM demonstrated an excellent safety profile as there were no adverse events seen during the study period. In summary, Bakutrol™ face- cream is a natural, safe, and effective treatment of facial acne. Its effect on both inflammatory and non-inflammatory lesions of acne makes it a promising agent for the treatment of acne and even for the post-inflammatory hyper-pigmentation in acne.

Acne occurs when hair follicles are clogged with dead skin cells and oil from the skin that forms a bump on the skin, called comedones.1,2 Acne can occur at all ages; however, it is the most common skin disease in the age group of 12 to 24 years, affecting about 80% of teenagers and young adults.2 According to the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019, acne is the eighth most common skin disease, with an estimated global prevalence of 9.4% for all ages.3 Over the last decade and a half, the prevalence has increased by around 5%.4 Multiple etiological factors are involved in the development of acne. Four key pathological processes include i) androgen-induced increased sebum hyperproduction, ii) altered follicular keratinization that leads to comedones, iii) colonization and proliferation of duct by Propionibacterium acnes, and iv) complex inflammatory process involving both innate and acquired immunity.4, 5 Genetics, diet, environmental pollution, social environment, and lifestyle are the etiological factors that contribute to the pathogenesis of acne.4,5 Several studies have found that acne adversely affects the social life, self-esteem, appearance, and quality of life of individuals. [...]acne is often co-morbid with mental disorders, including depression and anxiety. The study was conducted as per the clinical research guidelines established by the Supplements and Cosmetics Act, 1940 of India, Supplements and Cosmetics Rules, 1945 of India, Ethical Guidelines for Biomedical Research on Human Participants, 2006 of Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) in India, the principles enunciated in the Declaration of Helsinki and the ICH-harmonized tripartite guideline regarding Good Clinical Practice (GCP). Other key exclusion criteria were the use of systemic corticosteroids, antibacterial, immunosuppressant drugs, or abradant facial procedures in the past 30 days, the presence of other concurrent facial skin diseases, and patients who are photosensitive or who are likely to engage in activities that involve excessive or prolonged exposure to sunlight, patients with drug-induced acne, with menopausal disorders, had a history of significant reactions to topical acne treatments, or a known allergy or hypersensitivity to any listed ingredients and use of oral retinoid within six months of baseline visit. 2.3 Interventional agent and treatment:

Withania somnifera (WS), also known as Ashwagandha in Ayurveda, is valued for its anti‐inflammatory, antioxidant, adaptogenic, and memory‐enhancing properties. This study assessed the safety of standardized Ashwagandha root extract in healthy adult participants over 180 days. A randomized, placebo‐controlled, double‐blind trial was conducted on 40 healthy adult participants (50–70 years), randomized 1:1 to receive 200 mg WS extract or placebo capsules twice daily for 180 days. Each WS capsule contained ≥ 5.00 mg of withanolides, standardized by HPLC‐PDA per USP‐NF monograph. Safety outcomes were assessed at screening and day 180. Hematological, hepatic, renal, and lipid profiles remained within normal ranges with no clinically significant changes compared to screening. Testosterone levels significantly increased (15.7%) in male participants in the WS group. Thyroid hormone levels, inflammatory marker (CRP), and NT‐pro BNP levels showed no adverse changes. CRP decreased by 51.1%, and NT‐pro BNP by 28.70% in the WS. Slight improvement in immunological markers (CD3, CD4, CD8) was also noted. The vital signs remained stable, with no clinical abnormalities detected on chest X‐ray or ECG. Anthropometric parameters were not clinically changed after treatment. Taken together, the study concluded that WS root extract capsules (200 mg twice daily for 6 months) were well‐tolerated and safe, with no adverse effects reported. This double‐blind, placebo‐controlled study with extended follow‐up provides a comprehensive evaluation of the long‐term safety profile of WS supplementation. Trial Registration: Clinical Trial Registry‐India (CTRI) approval number: CTRI/2023/11/059395 Withania somnifera (WS) or Ashwagandha is valued for its anti‐inflammatory, antioxidant, adaptogenic, and memory‐enhancing properties. This randomized, placebo‐controlled and double‐blind study assessed the safety of standardized WS root extract in healthy adult participants over 180 days. The study concluded that WS root extract (200 mg capsules twice daily for 6 months) was well‐tolerated and safe, with no adverse effects reported.

This study aimed to compare three different loops (T loop, Cherry loop, and Open helical loop) and optimal tip back angle (10°, 15°, 20°) for protraction of mandibular second molar using Finite Element Model (FEM). A CBCT scan of a 20-year-old patient was recorded. It was converted into a CAD file and then into a FEM. A FEM model developed was used to find out the efficacy of the loops and optimal tip-back angles. Displacement of the molar was measured at four reference points: the mesio-buccal cusp, distobuccal cusp, mesial root, and the distal root of the first molar. No significant difference was seen in the displacement for all three loops. At a 10° angle, there was more mesial tipping (5.9°) and molar extrusion. At a 15° angle, there was less mesial tipping (2.9-3°) and no changes in the vertical plane. At a 20° angle, there was bodily movement and intrusion of molars. All three loops are equally effective in the protraction of mandibular molar. A 15° tip back angle was most effective in protracting the mandibular molar as only a negligible amount of mesial tipping of the molar was seen, and there was no extrusion or intrusion of the molar, thus maintaining the occlusal plane. Loop mechanics are preferred over the use of power chains as this helps maintain better control over the molar position during protraction. Loops are very effective at avoiding mesial tipping and extrusion of molars during mesialization to close spaces.

Lithium is an effective, well-established treatment for bipolar disorder (BD). However, the mechanisms of its action, and reasons for variations in clinical response, are unclear. We used neural precursor cells (NPCs) and lymphoblastoid cell lines (LCLs), from BD patients characterized for clinical response to lithium (using the “Alda scale” and “NIMH Retrospective Life chart method”), to interrogate cellular phenotypes related to both disease and clinical lithium response. NPCs from two biologically related BD patients who differed in their clinical response to lithium were compared with healthy controls. RNA-Seq and analysis, mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), cell viability, and cell proliferation parameters were assessed, with and without in vitro lithium. These parameters were also examined in LCLs from 25 BD patients (16 lithium responders and 9 non-responders), and 12 controls. MMP was lower in both NPCs and LCLs from BD; but it was reversed with in vitro lithium only in LCLs, and this was unrelated to clinical lithium response. The higher cell proliferation observed in BD was unaffected by in vitro lithium. Cell death was greater in BD. However, LCLs from clinical lithium responders could be rescued by addition of in vitro lithium. In vitro lithium also enhanced BCL2 and GSK3B expression in these cells. Our findings indicate cellular phenotypes related to the disease (MMP, cell proliferation) in both NPCs and LCLs; and those related to clinical lithium response (cell viability, BCL2/GSK3B expression) in LCLs.

Self-medication (SM) is a common practice worldwide, and the irrational use of drugs is a cause of concern. Self-medication has various forms, including taking medications without a physician's prescription, using a previous prescription for a similar condition, or using drugs obtainable at home without getting a physician's advice. The youth are highly influenced by the media and the internet, which promote SM behavior. To determine the knowledge and perceptions of SM in Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) students in all professional years, including interns in Acharya Shri Chander College of Medical Sciences (ASCOMS) and Hospital, Jammu. The present study was conducted at ASCOMS Hospital, Jammu. A total of 200 students of MBBS were included in the study. A self-structured questionnaire was used to assess the knowledge and awareness level. The collected data were recorded in a Microsoft Excel sheet (Microsoft Corp., Redmond, WA) and analyzed with the help of IBM SPSS Statistics software for Windows, version 21.0 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY). The present study reveals that 60% of the subjects were males and 65% of the students practiced SM, which indicates that SM is highly prevalent amongst MBBS students. It was observed that minor illness and quick relief were the major reasons for SM. Further, headache, cold/cough, and fever were the major indications for SM, whereas antipyretics and analgesics were the most commonly used drugs for SM.  Conclusion: The present study concluded that there was a high prevalence of SM practice among medical students, especially among females. However, the knowledge and perceptions of SM were not insufficient.

Food security is a major problem faced today. With primitive storage facilities, especially in developing countries, it often leads to extensive losses. This work aims to develop algorithms based on vision data to assess the food quality and deploy them in food storage facilities to detect early signs of spoilage. This paper presents various segmentation techniques for finding spoilt food. Novel optimization techniques have been developed and implemented to improve K-means clustering and multilevel thresholding. A hybrid of moth flame optimization (MFO) and gravitational search algorithm (GSA) has been developed. Also, in another hybrid, particle swarm optimization (PSO) was also incorporated along with MFO and GSA. Both the hybrids performed better than the individual algorithms and the MFO–GSA–PSO hybrid performed better than the MFO–GSA hybrid on the benchmark functions. Segmented images using optimized K-means were used for feature extraction using local binary patterns (LBP). Multiclass support vector machine was used for classification which gave an accuracy of 81% for features from segmented images obtained using MFO–GSA hybrid and 83.33% for that using MFO–GSA–PSO hybrid. Results of simple linear iterative clustering superpixels for segmentation have also been discussed. The segmented clusters are then used to judge the rottenness of the food. Classification using LBP and Haralick features of the segmented image obtained using graphs over superpixels gave an accuracy of 81.7% and 78% respectively.

A critical challenge in developing scalable quantum systems is correcting the accumulation of errors while performing operations and measurements. It is known that systems where dominant errors can be detected and converted into erasures have relaxed requirements for quantum error correction. Recently, it has been proposed that this can be achieved using a dual-rail encoding of quantum information in the microwave photon states of two superconducting cavities. One necessary step to realize this erasure qubit is to demonstrate a measurement and to flag errors as erasures. In this work, we demonstrate a projective logical measurement of a dual-rail cavity qubit with integrated erasure detection and measure the qubit idling errors. We measure the logical state preparation and measurement errors at the 0.01% level and detect over 99% of the cavity decay events as erasures. We use the precision of this measurement protocol to distinguish different types of error in this system, finding that although decay errors occur with a probability of approximately 0.2% per microsecond, phase errors occur 6 times less frequently and bit flips occur at least 150 times less frequently. These findings represent a confirmation of the expected error hierarchy necessary to concatenate dual-rail cavity qubits into a highly efficient erasure code. Dual-rail encodings of quantum information can be used to detect loss errors, allowing these errors to be treated as erasures. The measurement of dual-rail states with error detection has now been demonstrated in superconducting cavities.

Mumps is an acute viral illness, which presents with glandular and/or nervous system involvement. The most common central nervous system manifestations of mumps include aseptic meningitis and meningoencephalitis. Mumps meningoencephalitis, which is characterized by fever, vomiting, nuchal rigidity, and altered sensorium, usually develops at least 3-10 days after mumps parotitis. Acute hydrocephalus secondary to mumps meningoencephalitis is rare. Here we report a child who developed acute hydrocephalus following mumps meningoencephalitis and who was treated with external ventricular drainage following which he showed exceptional recovery.