A Case Study on Ayurvedic Management in PCOS

Female reproductive system consists of hypothalamo-pituitary-ovarian axis and intact uterine-adnexa which maintains a complex mechanism. In human body all the systems are interrelated to function properly; any imbalance in one system may cause multisystem pathogenesis. Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) is a common endocrinopathy, which is multifactorial and polygenic condition, manifested as oligoovulation or anovulation, signs of hyperandrogenism and multiple small ovarian cysts. Signs and symptoms vary within individual’s overtime. This adversely affect the reproductive system by menstrual disorders, infertility, obesity, depression, sleep apnea, insulin resistance and in due course may result in diabetes mellitus, endometrial cancer, cardiovascular disease etc. According to Ayurveda PCOS is a disorder which involves the three Doshas, Dhathus like Rasa, Raktha and Medas. The Srothas involved in this condition are Rasa, Rakta and Arthava vaha which eventually manifests features such as Anarthava (amenorrhea), Vandhyathwa, Pushpagni, Abeeja rtuchakra (anovular bleeding). Here is a case report of 19 year old girl who presented with irregular menstruation, rapid weight gain and hair loss. On USG she was detected to have bilateral PCO pattern. Based on the clinical features, treatment principles adopted were Aamapachana, Vata anulomana, Kaphapittahara and Arthava janana. After 2 months of internal medications, symptoms reduced markedly and menstruation was normal. Adherence to Ayurvedic principles is found to be helpful in PCOS for a healthy and fruitful life.

Mw 6.4 Petrinja earthquake in Croatia: Main earthquake parameters, impact on buildings and recommendation for their structural strengthening

Strong Mw 6.4 Petrinja earthquake from 29.12.2020. took 7 lives and caused catastrophic damage in the Banovina area. The paper presents and analyses the most important earthquake parameters and highlights their importance in understanding the damage and demolition of buildings, as well as creating an optimal structure for their reconstruction. A contribution is made to the understanding of the complex mechanism of earthquake formation through the analysis of the stress-strain state in a rock mass during tectonic plate conflict. The causes of demolition and damage to buildings are explained by the combination of the properties of their structure, soil and the earthquake itself. Solutions for optimal structure of new buildings, as well as solutions for structural renovation of damaged buildings are proposed and described.

Persister cells: formation, resuscitation and combative therapies

Persister cells, or superfits, have been strongly implicated in the recalcitrance and recurrence of chronic bacterial infection through the dormant (metabolically reduced) phenotype they display and the tolerance to antimicrobial agents this dormancy grants them. The complex biochemical events that lead to the formation of persister cells are not completely understood, though much research has linked the degradation of type II toxin/antitoxin systems and reduced cellular ATP levels to the rise in stress response molecules (where (p)ppGpp is of particular interest), which induce this dormant state. The equally complex mechanism of resuscitation is initiated by the cells’ ability to sense nutrient availability via chemotaxis systems. Levels of secondary messenger proteins (i.e., cAMP) within the cell are reduced to allow the resuscitation of ribosomes, by ribosomal resuscitation factor HflX, to reinstate protein synthesis and, therefore, growth to re-populate. Techniques of superfit eradication utilise one, or more, of three approaches (i) direct killing, (ii) re-sensitising persister cells to conventional antimicrobials, or (iii) prevention of persister formation though few laboratory findings have been translated to clinical practice. This work will outline current findings in the field with a critical approach, where possible.

Enviromental behavoir – a complex mechanism in primary pupil education

The article is addressing to the concepts of culture, ecological behavior and the complex mechanism of its formation to pupil through integrating the curricular contents. They were been studied and analyzed the papers of researchers who identified the key elements which are shaping up the ecological behavior in primary school.

IMAGES OF EARTH: CONCEPTION OF GEOGRAPHICAL IMAGINATION IN DENIS COSGROVE’S CULTURAL GEOGRAPHY

«Географическое воображение» – это странное терминологическое сочетание. Оно может вызвать подозрение у академически респектабельной географии вследствие тех эпистемологических опасностей, которые оно, предположительно, несет. В статье анализируется понятие географического воображения в работах выдающегося британского культурного географа и историка картографии Дениса Косгроува (1948–2008). У Косгроува нет развернутой и систематической теории географического воображения, но оно является основной темой его многочисленных исследований. Вопрос о географическом воображении для Косгроува фундаментальный, так как воображение становится у него едва ли не «трансцендентальным условием» любого возможного географического акта как акта представимости Земли или отдельных ее частей в географических образах (картах, живописных полотнах, ландшафтах, фотографиях, городских планировках и парках, цифровых репрезентациях). В статье рассмотрено несколько основных характеристик географического воображения и обширного поля географической образности у Косгроува. Географические образы – это не некие сущности, спонтанно производимые «продуктивной способностью воображения» во внутреннем интерьере «картезианского театра» и остающиеся замкнутыми в границах его сцены. Географическое воображение – имя какого-то сложного механизма, работу которого нам трудно (если вообще возможно) понять и описать, в котором оказываются задействованы глаза, руки, мышление, технологии, и этот механизм порождает экстерналии (образы Земли). Географические образы формируют новые (эмпирически нереализуемые) горизонты наглядности, видимости и интеллигибельности. Например, карта, по словам Кристиана Жакоба, «представляет схему, визуальную и одновременно интеллектуальную, которая занимает место невозможного сенсорного видения». Географические образы – это одно из «привилегированных мест» (но и выражений) графических экспериментов, экспериментов воображения, в ходе которых отрабатывались и продолжают отрабатываться все новые условия видимости, представимости и мыслимости Земли. Географическое воображение – работа по визуальному представлению не только эмпирического порядка, но и концептуальных структур. Географический образ не может быть сведен к чистому и нейтральному представлению пространственных (географических) фактов. По отношению к уровню «фактов» он всегда демонстрирует смысловую и визуальную избыточность. Для Косгроува история географического воображения – это еще и история «инвестиций», которые сделали и продолжают делать в географическую образность людские желания, страхи, надежды, метафизические спекуляции, религиозные искания и моральная чувствительность. Рассмотренная в целом исследовательская работа Косгроува, центрированная на теме географического воображения, является одним большим актом онтологической, эпистемологической, культурной и даже этической реабилитации образов. “Geographical imagination” is a very strange terminological combination. It might arouse suspicion in academically respectable geography as a consequence of epistemological dangers it presumably posed. The article examines the concept of geographical imagination in the research works of the distinguished British cultural geographer and historian of cartography Denis Cosgrove (1948–2008). Cosgrove has no advanced and systematic theory of geographical imagination, but it is the main focus of his studies. For Cosgrove, the question about geographical imagination is fundamental since, in his cultural geography, imagination becomes virtually a “transcendental condition” of every geographical act as an act of representing Earth and its parts in various geographical images (maps, paintings, landscapes, photographs, urban plans and city parks, digital representations). The article considers some basic characteristics of geographical imagination and the rich field of geographical image in Cosgrove’s cultural geography. 1. Geographical images are not some entities, spontaneously generated by the “productive capacity of imagination” in the interior of the “Cartesian Theater” and remaining closed within the borders of its scene. Geographical imagination is a name of a complex mechanism, whose work we find so hard to understand and describe (if this is even possible). In this work, hands, eyes, minds, and technologies are involved. The mechanism of imagination generates externalia (images of Earth). 2. Geographical images create new (empirically unimplementable) horizons of visibility, conspicuity, and intelligibility. For example, according to Christian Jacob, “the map presents a schema, visual as well as intellectual, that takes the place of an impossible sensorial vision”. 3. Geographical images are one of the “privileged places”, and also expressions, of graphic experiments, experiments of imagination, during which new ways of seeing and thinking Earth have been tested and are being investigated further. Geographical imagination is work on visual representations of not only the empirical order, but also conceptual structures. 4. Geographical images cannot be reduced to pure and neutral representations of geographic facts. In relation to the “factual” level, it demonstrates visual and semantic redundancy. For Cosgrove, the history of geographical imagination is also the history of “investment” in geographical images that human fears, hopes, desires, metaphysical speculations, religious pursuits, and moral sensitivity make. Considered as a whole, Cosgrove’s research in the field of cultural geography is one big act of an ontological, epistemological, cultural, and even moral rehabilitation of images.

The pathogenesis of psoriasis: insight into a complex “Mobius Loop” regulation process

Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory skin disease with a complex mechanism, which is believed to be mainly based on immune disorders and activation of inflammatory pathways. However, we have combed through the literature and found that the pathogenesis of psoriasis might involve a “mobius loop” of “immunity-inflammation-oxidative stress-proliferation” process. The disordered immune environment of the skin might act as the basis, the outbreak of inflammatory factors as the mediator, and the imbalance of oxidative stress homeostasis as the activator. These factors work together, leading to abnormal proliferation of keratinocytes and further immune abnormalities, finally aggravating psoriasis. Therefore, here we review the latest evidence and advance in the pathogenesis of psoriasis, trying to contribute to further understanding and treatment of psoriasis.

Representativeness of monitoring station readings in the context of urban environment

In this paper, a comprehensive analysis of the interaction of the urban environment elements with the natural environment components is carried out. The assessment of the complex impact of meteorological parameters on the human body is analyzed based on data obtained from monitoring stations. The readings of monitoring stations concerning both wind speed and directions are found to significantly deviate in different parts of the city due to urban development. A numerical study of the neighborhood with the monitoring station also shows a very complex mechanism for determining the pollution intensity of the area and the relevance of the data obtained, especially concerning pollutants.

Different plasticity of bud outgrowth at cauline and rosette nodes in Arabidopsis thaliana

Shoot branching is a complex mechanism in which secondary shoots grow from buds that are initiated from meristems established in leaf axils. The model plant Arabidopsis thaliana has a rosette leaf growth pattern in the vegetative stage. After flowering initiation, the main stem starts to elongate with the top leaf primordia developing into cauline leaves. Meristems in arabidopsis are initiated in the axils of rosette or cauline leaves, giving rise to rosette or cauline buds, respectively. Plasticity in the process of shoot branching is regulated by resource and nutrient availability as well as by plant hormones. However, few studies have attempted to test whether cauline and rosette branching are subject to the same plasticity. Here, we addressed this question by phenotyping cauline and rosette branching in three arabidopsis ecotypes and several arabidopsis mutants with varied shoot architectures. Our results show that there is no negative correlation between cauline and rosette branch numbers in arabidopsis, demonstrating that there is no trade-off between cauline and rosette bud outgrowth. Through investigation of the altered branching pattern of flowering pathway mutants and arabidopsis ecotypes grown in various photoperiods and light regimes, we further elucidated that the number of cauline branches is closely related to flowering time. The number or rosette branches has an enormous plasticity compared with cauline branches and is influenced by genetic background, flowering time, light intensity and temperature. Our data reveal different plasticity in the regulation of branching at rosette and cauline nodes and promote a framework for future branching analyses.

Complex mechanism of sulphane odour production in water heating and suitable remedial measures

Drinking or heated water can have a wide range of disturbing odours which have many various causes. A well known example is sulphane (hydrogen sulfide) odour, reminiscent of rotten eggs, which naturally occurs in some underground waters. Less known and hitherto unexplained is this odour arising from hot water in water heaters. As a response to complaints by consumers we investigated 14 sites and thanks to experimental work in one of these recognised a complex mechanism at work. For production of sulphane to occur in a water heater the following conditions must be met: presence of sulphate-reducing bacteria, presence of sulphates, reduction properties of water indicated by a very low nitrate content (highest value was 10 mg/L, mostly <2 mg/L), and presence of sacrificial magnesium anode. We identified four possible remedial measures, some of which are less effective or only short-term, or have an undesirable side-effect (corrosion). The most effective measure was replacement of the magnesium anode for an aluminium or zinc anode, which retains the anticorrosion protection of the heater.