Helminth infection in coldwater fishes of Suru river Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir, India

A helminthological survey of coldwater fishes of Ladakh was carried out from November 2007 to April 2009 (18 months). A total of 93 fishes belonging to two species viz., Schizothorax plagiostomus and Diptychus maculatus were collected and examined from different collection sites of Suru river, Kargil. A total of 2 helminth species viz., Neoechinorhynchus yalei Datta, 1936 and Rhabdochona himalayai Fotedar & Dhar, 1977 belonging to two helminth groups, i-e. Acanthocephala and Nematode were reported. It was found that out of 93 hosts examined, 31 were found infected with 43 parasites recovered in total, with an overall prevalence, mean intensity and abundance of 33.33%, 1.38 and 0.46 respectively. Distribution of helminth infection and its relation with sex and size of host was analysed. The helminth infection showed no significant relationship with sex of hosts however it showed mostly significant relation to size of host

Air Quality at Sonamarg - A Tourist Hill Station in Kashmir Valley, India

The present study was undertaken to determine the ambient air quality with respect to suspended particulate matter (TSPM), respirable suspended particulate matter (PM10), nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and sulphur dioxide (SO2) at Sonamarg- a tourist hill station in Kashmir valley. The ambient air quality at three different station namely Sonamarg town, Thajwas and Baltal was monitored from July to December in 2009. All the pollutants were measured with a sampling duration of 1 hour. The results showed high concentration of pollutants in summer months which correspond with peak tourist activity. The highest concentration of pollutants was recorded at Baltal site, while least values were observed at Thajwas site. TSPM and PM10 are chief air pollutants in the area, however, the values of NO2 and SO2 were well within the limits as set by EPA at all the sites. It can be concluded that tourist inflow, vehicular density, roadside dust, and burning of coal and fuelwood on a large scale are the main sources of air pollutants in this area

Nutritional composition and antioxidant capacity of Urtica hyperborea: A phytofood of Trans-Himalayan region of Ladakh, India

Urtica hyperborea Jacquem. ex Wedd., a perennial plant of Urticaceae family is considered as a wild vegetable in the mountainous region of Ladakh. Due to its application in many forms of traditional culinary in every household during the harsh winter season, the plant ensures the food security. However, the nutritional composition and phytochemical analysis of U. hyperborea responsible for these beneficial features have not been explored widely. The present study aims to determine the nutritional composition (e.g., macromolecules, pigments, minerals, phenolics and flavonoid contents), antioxidant activity and the phytochemical analysis of this plant species present in Ladakh, India. The radical scavenging and antioxidant potential of the plant were evaluated by assays like 2,2‒diphenyl‒1‒picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), hydroxyl (ºOH), and ferric ion reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) for different extracts prepared in water, methanol, ethyl acetate, and petroleum ether. Macromolecules such as protein, carbohydrate, total phenolic and flavonoid contents in U. hyperborea were found to be 62.28±6.67, 170.80±3.98, 24.47±0.39 and 5.43±0.97 mg g-1, respectively. Similarly, dried powder of U. hyperborea was found to be rich in different mineral contents such as potassium, magnesium, sodium, manganese, zinc and iron. Among the various solvents used for exploring scavenging and antioxidant potential, aqueous extracts showed highest activity with 79.2% in DPPH assay as compared to other extracts. Similar trend was observed for other assays where aqueous extracts exhibited higher activity followed by methanolic, ethyl acetate and petroleum ether extracts. Significant positive linear correlations were observed between the radical scavenging/antioxidant activity of aqueous extracts and their content of phenolic/flavonoid compounds. The identification of phenolic compounds such as coumarin, quercetin, and ferulic acid confirm the antioxidative nature of the plant. Overall, rich macromolecule and mineral contents, as well as higher radical scavenging/antioxidant activities in aqueous extracts of U. hyperborea revealed that the plant has significant potential to be utilized as a phytofood source in harsh environmental conditions

Prevalence of HIV Drug Resistance Mutations in HIV Type 1 Isolates in Antiretroviral Therapy Naïve Population from Northern India

Objective. The increased use of antiretroviral therapy (ART) has reduced the morbidity and mortality associated with HIV, adversely leading to the emergence of HIV drug resistance (HIVDR). In this study we aim to evaluate the prevalence of HIVDR mutations in ART-naive HIV-1 infected patients from northern India. Design. Analysis was performed using Viroseq genotyping system based on sequencing of entire protease and two-thirds of the Reverse Transcriptase (RT) region of pol gene. Results. Seventy three chronic HIV-1 infected ART naïve patients eligible for first line ART were enrolled from April 2006 to August 2008. In 68 patients DNA was successfully amplified and sequencing was done. 97% of HIV-1 strains belonged to subtype C, and one each to subtype A1 and subtype B. The overall prevalence of primary DRMs was 2.9% [2/68, 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.3%–10.2%]. One patient had a major RT mutation M184V, known to confer resistance to lamivudine, and another had a major protease inhibitor (PI) mutation D30N that imparts resistance to nelfinavir. Conclusion. Our study shows that primary HIVDR mutations have a prevalence of 2.9% among ART-naive chronic HIV-1 infected individuals

Promising bioactive properties of quercetin for potential food applications and health benefits: A review

Naturally occurring phytochemicals with promising biological properties are quercetin and its derivatives. Quercetin has been thoroughly studied for its antidiabetic, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, anti-Alzheimer's, anti-arthritic, antioxidant, cardiovascular, and wound-healing properties. Anticancer activity of quercetin against cancer cell lines has also recently been revealed. The majority of the Western diet contains quercetin and its derivatives, therefore consuming them as part of a meal or as a food supplement may be sufficient for people to take advantage of their preventive effects. Bioavailability-based drug-delivery systems of quercetin have been heavily studied. Fruits, seeds, vegetables, bracken fern, coffee, tea, and other plants all contain quercetin, as do natural colors. One naturally occurring antioxidant is quercetin, whose anticancer effects have been discussed in detail. It has several properties that could make it an effective anti-cancer agent. Numerous researches have shown that quercetin plays a substantial part in the suppression of cancer cells in the breast, colon, prostate, ovary, endometrial, and lung tumors. The current study includes a concise explanation of quercetin's action mechanism and potential health applications

The luminosity constraint on solar neutrino fluxes

A specific linear combination of the total solar neutrino fluxes must equal the measured solar photon luminosity if nuclear fusion reactions among light elements are responsible for solar energy generation. This luminosity constraint, previously used in a limited form in testing the no neutrino oscillation hypothesis, is derived in a generality that includes all of the relevant solar neutrino fluxes and which is suitable for analyzing the results of many different solar neutrino experiments. With or without allowing for neutrino oscillations, the generalized luminosity constraint can be used in future analyses of solar neutrino data. Accurate numerical values for the linear coefficients are provided.Comment: related material at http://www.sns.ias.edu/~jn

How many sigmas is the solar neutrino effect?

The minimal standard electroweak model can be tested by allowing all the solar neutrino fluxes, with undistorted energy spectra, to be free parameters in fitting the measured solar neutrino event rates, subject only to the condition that the total observed luminosity of the sun is produced by nuclear fusion. The rates of the five experiments prior to SNO (chlorine, Kamiokande, SAGE, GALLEX, Super-Kamiokande) cannot be fit by an arbitrary choice of undistorted neutrino fluxes at the level of 2.5 sigma (formally 99% C.L.). Considering just SNO and Super-Kamiokande, the discrepancy is at the 3.3 sigma level(10^{-3} C.L.). If all six experiments are fit simultaneously, the formal discrepancy increases to 4 sigma (7*10^{-5} C.L.). If the relative scaling in temperature of the nuclear reactions that produce 7Be and 8B neutrinos is taken into account, the formal discrepancy is at the 7.4 sigma level.Comment: 1 figure; related information at http://www.sns.ias.edu/~jn

Utilisation of an operative difficulty grading scale for laparoscopic cholecystectomy

Background A reliable system for grading operative difficulty of laparoscopic cholecystectomy would standardise description of findings and reporting of outcomes. The aim of this study was to validate a difficulty grading system (Nassar scale), testing its applicability and consistency in two large prospective datasets. Methods Patient and disease-related variables and 30-day outcomes were identified in two prospective cholecystectomy databases: the multi-centre prospective cohort of 8820 patients from the recent CholeS Study and the single-surgeon series containing 4089 patients. Operative data and patient outcomes were correlated with Nassar operative difficultly scale, using Kendall’s tau for dichotomous variables, or Jonckheere–Terpstra tests for continuous variables. A ROC curve analysis was performed, to quantify the predictive accuracy of the scale for each outcome, with continuous outcomes dichotomised, prior to analysis. Results A higher operative difficulty grade was consistently associated with worse outcomes for the patients in both the reference and CholeS cohorts. The median length of stay increased from 0 to 4 days, and the 30-day complication rate from 7.6 to 24.4% as the difficulty grade increased from 1 to 4/5 (both p < 0.001). In the CholeS cohort, a higher difficulty grade was found to be most strongly associated with conversion to open and 30-day mortality (AUROC = 0.903, 0.822, respectively). On multivariable analysis, the Nassar operative difficultly scale was found to be a significant independent predictor of operative duration, conversion to open surgery, 30-day complications and 30-day reintervention (all p < 0.001). Conclusion We have shown that an operative difficulty scale can standardise the description of operative findings by multiple grades of surgeons to facilitate audit, training assessment and research. It provides a tool for reporting operative findings, disease severity and technical difficulty and can be utilised in future research to reliably compare outcomes according to case mix and intra-operative difficulty

Antimicrobial resistance among migrants in Europe: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Rates of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) are rising globally and there is concern that increased migration is contributing to the burden of antibiotic resistance in Europe. However, the effect of migration on the burden of AMR in Europe has not yet been comprehensively examined. Therefore, we did a systematic review and meta-analysis to identify and synthesise data for AMR carriage or infection in migrants to Europe to examine differences in patterns of AMR across migrant groups and in different settings. METHODS: For this systematic review and meta-analysis, we searched MEDLINE, Embase, PubMed, and Scopus with no language restrictions from Jan 1, 2000, to Jan 18, 2017, for primary data from observational studies reporting antibacterial resistance in common bacterial pathogens among migrants to 21 European Union-15 and European Economic Area countries. To be eligible for inclusion, studies had to report data on carriage or infection with laboratory-confirmed antibiotic-resistant organisms in migrant populations. We extracted data from eligible studies and assessed quality using piloted, standardised forms. We did not examine drug resistance in tuberculosis and excluded articles solely reporting on this parameter. We also excluded articles in which migrant status was determined by ethnicity, country of birth of participants' parents, or was not defined, and articles in which data were not disaggregated by migrant status. Outcomes were carriage of or infection with antibiotic-resistant organisms. We used random-effects models to calculate the pooled prevalence of each outcome. The study protocol is registered with PROSPERO, number CRD42016043681. FINDINGS: We identified 2274 articles, of which 23 observational studies reporting on antibiotic resistance in 2319 migrants were included. The pooled prevalence of any AMR carriage or AMR infection in migrants was 25·4% (95% CI 19·1-31·8; I2 =98%), including meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (7·8%, 4·8-10·7; I2 =92%) and antibiotic-resistant Gram-negative bacteria (27·2%, 17·6-36·8; I2 =94%). The pooled prevalence of any AMR carriage or infection was higher in refugees and asylum seekers (33·0%, 18·3-47·6; I2 =98%) than in other migrant groups (6·6%, 1·8-11·3; I2 =92%). The pooled prevalence of antibiotic-resistant organisms was slightly higher in high-migrant community settings (33·1%, 11·1-55·1; I2 =96%) than in migrants in hospitals (24·3%, 16·1-32·6; I2 =98%). We did not find evidence of high rates of transmission of AMR from migrant to host populations. INTERPRETATION: Migrants are exposed to conditions favouring the emergence of drug resistance during transit and in host countries in Europe. Increased antibiotic resistance among refugees and asylum seekers and in high-migrant community settings (such as refugee camps and detention facilities) highlights the need for improved living conditions, access to health care, and initiatives to facilitate detection of and appropriate high-quality treatment for antibiotic-resistant infections during transit and in host countries. Protocols for the prevention and control of infection and for antibiotic surveillance need to be integrated in all aspects of health care, which should be accessible for all migrant groups, and should target determinants of AMR before, during, and after migration. FUNDING: UK National Institute for Health Research Imperial Biomedical Research Centre, Imperial College Healthcare Charity, the Wellcome Trust, and UK National Institute for Health Research Health Protection Research Unit in Healthcare-associated Infections and Antimictobial Resistance at Imperial College London