Detection of bacterial load in drinking water samples by 16s rRNA ribotyping and RAPD analysis

Background: Safe and healthy drinking water is inaccessible to more than 20% of the world population. Among some major risks to safety of potable water, contamination with pathogenic microorganisms is the most alarming and harmful Therefore, it is needed to develop and implement fast and accurate methods for the detection of bacterial contamination in water. Methods: Biological analysis of drinking water samples obtained from nine different collection points of Lahore city was carried out and total of six different bacterial strains were isolated. Biochemical characterization was done under standard laboratory conditions. Molecular identification of these isolates was done by using random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis. Results: The drinking water sample collected from Punjab University showed highest bacterial count 1066/0.5 ml of drinking water while residential area of University of the Punjab contained least number of bacterial counts i.e., 38/0.5 ml of drinking water. Amplification patterns of isolates SZ1, SZ3, SZ4 and SZ6 obtained by RAPD were found similar to genus Bacillus. While, SZ2 and SZ5 had unique amplification patterns identical to Bacillus megaterium. All the six bacterial strains were tested for the presence of protease, lipase, cellulase, and amylase. Strain SZ2 gave positive result for all of them except amylase.Conclusion: Tube well water of Punjab University area of Lahore is safe for drinking purpose except admin block tube. It is recommended to monitor the bacteriological load of drinking water at regular intervals in order to control water borne bacterial diseases

Predictors of obesity among post graduate trainee doctors working in a tertiary care hospital of public sector in Karachi, Pakistan

Objectives: To identify the predictors of obesity among post graduate trainee doctors working in a tertiary care hospital of public sector at Karachi, Pakistan.Methods: A cross sectional analytical study was conducted at one of the tertiary care hospitals of public sector in Karachi. Information was collected from 117 post graduate trainee doctors via pre-tested self administered questionnaire and standard tools were used for height and weight measurement. Obesity was defined as body mass index (BMI) \u3e or =23 by using South Asian cut-off points. SPSS version 16 was used for data analysis, and logistic regression technique was applied to come up with predictors of obesity.Results: Frequency of overweight and obesity among doctors was 31.6% and 28.2% respectively. Nearly, 18% were using tobacco and family history of obesity was present in 44%. Approximately 64% doctors were taking lunch outside home, 76% were taking tea at least once a day, 59% were taking snacks between meals and 50% were physically inactive. Predictors of obesity among doctors include; taking lunch outside home OR = 7.11 (2.28-22.09), snacks between meals OR = 5.36 (1.51-19.03), tea OR = 7.85 (1.63-37.63), physical activity OR = 0.18 (0.05-0.57), increase duration of training OR = 1.7 (1.15-2.49), family history of obesity OR = 3.35 (1.11-10.08) and male gender OR = 3.83 (1.07-13.72).Conclusion: Frequency of overweight and obesity was high among post graduate trainee doctors. Taking lunch outside home, snacks and tea intake between meals, increase duration of training, family history of obesity, male gender and lack of physical activity were found to be predictors of obesity among doctors

Prediction of malignant transformation and recurrence of oral epithelial dysplasia using architectural and cytological feature specific prognostic models

Oral epithelial dysplasia (OED) is a precursor state usually preceding oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). Histological grading is the current gold standard for OED prognostication but is subjective and variable with unreliable outcome prediction. We explore if individual OED histological features can be used to develop and evaluate prognostic models for malignant transformation and recurrence prediction. Digitised tissue slides for a cohort of 109 OED cases were reviewed by three expert pathologists, where the prevalence and agreement of architectural and cytological histological features was assessed and association with clinical outcomes analysed using Cox proportional hazards regression and Kaplan-Meier curves. Within the cohort, the most prevalent features were basal cell hyperplasia (72%) and irregular surface keratin (60%), and least common were verrucous surface (26%), loss of epithelial cohesion (30%), lymphocytic band and dyskeratosis (34%). Several features were significant for transformation (p < 0.036) and recurrence (p < 0.015) including bulbous rete pegs, hyperchromatism, loss of epithelial cohesion, loss of stratification, suprabasal mitoses and nuclear pleomorphism. This led us to propose two prognostic scoring systems including a '6-point model' using the six features showing a greater statistical association with transformation and recurrence (bulbous rete pegs, hyperchromatism, loss of epithelial cohesion, loss of stratification, suprabasal mitoses, nuclear pleomorphism) and a 'two-point model' using the two features with highest inter-pathologist agreement (loss of epithelial cohesion and bulbous rete pegs). Both the 'six point' and 'two point' models showed good predictive ability (AUROC ≥ 0.774 for transformation and 0.726 for recurrence) with further improvement when age, gender and histological grade were added. These results demonstrate a correlation between individual OED histological features and prognosis for the first time. The proposed models have the potential to simplify OED grading and aid patient management. Validation on larger multicentre cohorts with prospective analysis is needed to establish their usefulness in clinical practice. [Abstract copyright: © 2022. Crown.

Prediction of malignant transformation and recurrence of oral epithelial dysplasia using architectural and cytological feature specific prognostic models

Oral epithelial dysplasia (OED) is a precursor state usually preceding oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). Histological grading is the current gold standard for OED prognostication but is subjective and variable with unreliable outcome prediction. We explore if individual OED histological features can be used to develop and evaluate prognostic models for malignant transformation and recurrence prediction. Digitised tissue slides for a cohort of 109 OED cases were reviewed by three expert pathologists, where the prevalence and agreement of architectural and cytological histological features was assessed and association with clinical outcomes analysed using Cox proportional hazards regression and Kaplan-Meier curves. Within the cohort, the most prevalent features were basal cell hyperplasia (72%) and irregular surface keratin (60%), and least common were verrucous surface (26%), loss of epithelial cohesion (30%), lymphocytic band and dyskeratosis (34%). Several features were significant for transformation (p < 0.036) and recurrence (p < 0.015) including bulbous rete pegs, hyperchromatism, loss of epithelial cohesion, loss of stratification, suprabasal mitoses and nuclear pleomorphism. This led us to propose two prognostic scoring systems including a '6-point model' using the six features showing a greater statistical association with transformation and recurrence (bulbous rete pegs, hyperchromatism, loss of epithelial cohesion, loss of stratification, suprabasal mitoses, nuclear pleomorphism) and a 'two-point model' using the two features with highest inter-pathologist agreement (loss of epithelial cohesion and bulbous rete pegs). Both the 'six point' and 'two point' models showed good predictive ability (AUROC ≥ 0.774 for transformation and 0.726 for recurrence) with further improvement when age, gender and histological grade were added. These results demonstrate a correlation between individual OED histological features and prognosis for the first time. The proposed models have the potential to simplify OED grading and aid patient management. Validation on larger multicentre cohorts with prospective analysis is needed to establish their usefulness in clinical practice. [Abstract copyright: © 2022. Crown.

A Generalized Class of Circular Designs Strongly Balanced for Neighbor Effects

Minimal strongly balanced neighbor designs are useful (i) to minimize the bias due to neighbor effects economically, and (ii) to estimate the direct effect and neighbor effects independently. Such designs can easily be obtained for v odd and are available in literature. In this article, A generalized class of minimal circular designs strongly balanced for neighbor effects in blocks of equal and two different sizes have been constructed in which only v/2 unordered pairs of treatments do not appear as neighbors, where v is the number of treatments

Conceptual data sampling for breast cancer histology image classification

Data analytics have become increasingly complicated as the amount of data has increased. One technique that is used to enable data analytics in large datasets is data sampling, in which a portion of the data is selected to preserve the data characteristics for use in data analytics. In this paper, we introduce a novel data sampling technique that is rooted in formal concept analysis theory. This technique is used to create samples reliant on the data distribution across a set of binary patterns. The proposed sampling technique is applied in classifying the regions of breast cancer histology images as malignant or benign. The performance of our method is compared to other classical sampling methods. The results indicate that our method is efficient and generates an illustrative sample of small size. It is also competing with other sampling methods in terms of sample size and sample quality represented in classification accuracy and F1 measure

Large scale production of novel g-C3N4 micro strings with high surface area and versatile photodegradation ability

An easy, scalable and environmentally benign chemical method has been developed to synthesize micro strings of graphitic-C3N4 (msg-C3N4) through pre-treatment of melamine with HNO 3 in alkaline solvent at low temperature. This methodology results in a unique string type morphology of msg-C3N4 with higher surface area. These msg-C3N4 micro strings were used as a photocatalyst under visible light for photodegradation of rhodamine B, methyl blue and methyl orange. The msg-C3N4 shows enhanced photodegradation efficiency due to its high surface area and favourable bandgap. The first order rate constant for msg-C3N4 was measured which confirms the higher performance of msg-C3N4 in comparison to other reported materials such as g-C3N4, Fe2O3/g-C3N4 and TiO2 nanotubes. Thus, the method developed here is favourable for the synthesis of materials with higher surface area and unique morphology, which are favourable for high photodegradation activity. The Royal Society of Chemistry

Microwave-assisted solvent free efficient synthesis of 1,3,4-oxadiazole-2(3H)-thiones and their potent in vitro urease inhibition activity

An efficient solvent free microwave assisted synthesis of 5-substituted-1,3,4-oxadiazole-2(3H)-thiones (2a-2r) from hydrazides and carbon disulfide has been accomplished in good to excellent yield. The urease inhibition activity of the resulting compounds was investigated. Preliminary bioassay indicated that the compound 2j bearing 2-bromo substituent is the most active inhibitor exhibiting IC50 12.60 ± 0.92 μM

Comparison of Surgical versus Conservative Management of Borderline Traumatic Extradural Hematomas Without Neurological Deficit

Objective:&nbsp;&nbsp;To compare the outcome of surgical versus conservative treatment of traumatic extradural hematoma in the supratentorial regin. Material and Methods:&nbsp;&nbsp;It was a prospective randomized controlled trial conducted in Departments of Neurosurgery, Allied Hospitals, Faisalabad between December 2019 to November, 2020. A total of 100 patients Supratentorial EDH; fulfilling the selection criteria were enrolled. All patients underwent clinical and radiological assessment of EDH volume by the same neurosurgical team. The patients were then divided randomly into two groups by using the lottery methods. Group A patients were conservatively managed. Group B underwent surgery. All surgeries were done by the same surgical team. Glasgow outcome scale was noted in 5 days after admission or surgery in both groups. Results:&nbsp;&nbsp;The patients average age was 29.96 years, male to female ratio was 1.7:1. The mean volume of hematoma was 24.68 and 27.56 in group A (conservative group) and Group B (operated group) respectively. The favorable outcome was noted in all the patients and no mortality occurred in any patients. Conclusion:&nbsp;&nbsp;Both surgical and conservative treatments are equally effective in terms of a favorable outcome and mortality occurrence in management of traumatic EDH &lt;30ml without neurological deficit. The conservative treatment is safe and cost-effective in borderline patients