Elevated antibiotic resistance of Sudanese urinary tract infection bacteria

This study determined the prevalence of urinary tract infections in the Sudanese state of Khartoum and antimicrobial susceptibility pattern of isolated bacterial species. 200 adult patient urine specimens were collected and cultivated to identify the growing bacteria and their susceptibility to antibiotics. 35 % of specimens had significant bacterial growth. The most frequent isolates in this study were E. coli, E. faecalis and S. aureus. Most of the isolates were resistant to many antibiotics; Gram-negative and Gram-positive isolates were resistant to 67 % and 44 % of the examined antibiotics, respectively. E. coli was the most frequent bacterium in the studied samples and it was highly resistant to first-line antibiotics. The most resistant bacteria isolated were Pseudomonas species and the lowest was for S. saprophyticus. The results highlighted the need for knowledge about antibiotic susceptibility profile of the bacteria causing UTI prior to antibiotic prescription in order to ensure optimal treatment

Cytoplasmic amino acid profiles of clinical and ATCC 29213 strains of Staphylococcus aureus harvested at different growth phases

Staphylococcus aureus strains are a great contributor to both hospital acquired infections as well as community acquired infections. The objective of the present investigation was to compare potential differences in cytoplasmic amino acid levels between clinical and ATCC 29213 strains of S. aureus. The two strains were grown under ideal conditions to mid-exponential and stationary growth phases, after which they were harvested to analyze their amino acid profiles. Initially, the amino acid patterns of both strains were compared at the mid-exponential phase when grown in controlled conditions. At the mid-exponential phase, both strains shared common features in cytoplasmic amino acid levels, with glutamic acid, aspartic acid, proline, and alanine identified as key amino acids. However, the concentration profiles of seven amino acids exhibited major variances between the strains, even though the total cytoplasmic levels of amino acids did not alter significantly. At the stationary phase, the magnitudes of the amino acids abundant in the mid-exponential phase were altered. Aspartic acid became the most abundant amino acid in both strains accounting for 44% and 59% of the total amino acids in the clinical and ATCC 29213 strains, respectively. Lysine was the second most abundant amino acid in both strains, accounting for 16% of the total cytoplasmic amino acids, followed by glutamic acid, the concentration of which was significantly higher in the clinical strain than in the ATCC 29213 strain. Interestingly, histidine was clearly present in the clinical strain but was virtually lacking in the ATCC 29213 strain. This study reveals the dynamic diversity of amino acid levels among strains, which is an essential step toward illustrating the variability in S. aureus cytoplasmic amino acid profiles and could be significant in explaining variances among strains of S. aureus

Investigation into the effects of end stage renal failure and renal replacement therapy on adipose tissue metabolism

Background and aims: End stage renal disease (ESRD), an increasing global major public health problem, has greatly increased cardiovascular disease risk (CVD) than the general population for unknown reasons. Preliminary data suggest that adipose tissue, shown to contribute to CVD risk in non-ESRD populations, may also play a part in ESRD. Adipose tissue is a complex organ which not only functions as a fat storing depot, but also plays an essential role in lipid metabolism. Recently, researchers have recognized that adipose tissue is also an endocrine organ since it secretes several cytokines and adipokines including leptin, adiponectin and interlukin-6 (IL-6). Alteration in circulating adipokines has been shown in ESRD patients. The objective of the study was to clarify the role that adipose tissue and lipoproteins may have in ESRD. The work presented in this thesis has focused on the role of adipose tissue in ESRD patients undergoing haemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis. Both the nutrient and endocrine functions of adipose tissue were addressed in this thesis. Materials and methods: Most studies were carried out on novel in vitro adipocyte assay system developed for these experiments. Novel approaches to investigate ESRD included isolating lipoprotein fractions (VLDL, LDL and HDL) by ultracentrifugation from ESRD and matched human controls followed by incubation with the normal adipocytes in the novel assay system developed for these experiments. One experiment involved collection of human adipose tissue samples. Given the scope of the thesis mainly gene expression data was collected on candidate genes analysed by quantitative real-time PCR in these novel pilot studies. Results: An atherogenic lipoprotein profile was seen in ESRD patients. Haemodialysis patients had increased serum triglycerides and decreased HDL- cholesterol compared to the control subjects. Both haemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis groups had increased VLDL. The lipoprotein pattern in the present study also indicated the peritoneal dialysis group had more atherogenic lipoproteins, IDL and small dense LDL. Expression of lipoprotein lipase, hormone-sensitive lipase and regulatory proteins of lipid metabolism complement protein 3 and low density lipoprotein receptor were downregulated when treated with uraemic lipoproteins in vitro. Serum concentrations of total adiponectin, high molecular weight adiponectin and leptin were significantly higher in the ESRD. Gene expression of adiponectin, IL-6 and leptin was lower in ESRD patients. The results showed a tendency towards an increased accumulation of macro phages in adipose tissue in ESRD patients. Discussion: These findings are strongly suggestive of a defective storage function as well as impaired ability to release fatty acids consistent with dysfunctional adipose tissue in ESRD. These data strongly suggest that normal adipocyte function is altered when exposed to a uraemic environment in vitro. Macrophage infiltration into adipose tissue has been suggested to play role in insulin resistance and systemic inflammation. The results from the modulation of this in vitro adipocyte assay system not only serves as a convenient and unique model to study mechanisms of disease such as ESRD and its treatments but has so far also provided an initial insight that strongly suggests several mechanisms that could contribute to the CVD risk associated with ESRD. Conclusion: An in vitro system to study the effect of uraemic lipoproteins and serum on adipose tissue nutrient and endocrine function through adipocyte gene expression was conducted and compared where available with the corresponding circulating protein measurements. Further studies in ESRD, both by broadening the number of adipocyte genes (and proteins) and undertaking a mechanistic approach to clarifying the reasons for the changes observed would be necessary and informative.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Oxidative Modification of LDL by Various Physicochemical Techniques: Its Probable Role in Diabetes Coupled with CVDs

Background. Pro- and antiatherogenic properties of oxidised low density lipoprotein (Ox-LDL) are responsible for different chronic diseases including diabetes and cardiovascular diseases (CVD). The constant attack on the body from oxidative stress makes the quantification of various oxidation products necessary. In this study, the oxidative stress causing the structural and chemical changes occurring in the LDL molecule is comprehensively done. Moreover, the prevalence of the autoantibodies against the oxidised LDL is also determined. Methods. Our study made an attempt to see the effect of Ox-LDL as an enhancer of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) coupled with CVD. Primarily, we detected the oxidation of LDL with different concentration of Fenton reaction. The biochemical parameters were assessed for the changes occurring in the LDL molecule. In a clinical set up, 20 sera samples were taken from patients who are healthy, 30 from those with diabetes, 20 from those with CVD, and 30 from diabetes with CVD patients. Results. In biochemical assays there were markedly increased TBARS, carbonyl, and HMF content in Ox-LDL as compared to native LDL. The prevalence of autoantibodies against the T2DM was recorded to be 36%, while for CVD it was recorded to be 29%. However, it was found that 50% of the sera samples showed autoantibodies against oxidized LDL in the sera of T2DM with CVD complications as compared to the native analogue. Conclusion. There is significant change in the LDL molecule as revealed by various physicochemical analysis. The change in the LDL macromolecule as a result of oxidation triggered the development of the autoantibodies against it

Therapeutic Efficacy of Natural Product ‘C-Phycocyanin’ in Alleviating Streptozotocin-Induced Diabetes via the Inhibition of Glycation Reaction in Rats

Diabetes is a long-term metabolic disorder characterized by persistently elevated blood sugar levels. Chronic hyperglycemia enhances glucose–protein interactions, leading to the formation of advanced glycation end products (AGEs), which form irreversible cross-links with a wide variety of macromolecules, and accumulate rapidly in the body tissues. Thus, the objective of this study was to assess the therapeutic properties of C-phycocyanin (C-PC) obtained from Plectonema species against oxidative stress, glycation, and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in a streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic Wistar rat. Forty-five days of C-PC administration decreased levels of triglycerides (TGs), blood glucose, glycosylated hemoglobin, (HbA1c), total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), liver and kidney function indices, and raised body weight in diabetic rats. C-PC suppressed biochemical glycation markers, as well as serum carboxymethyllysine (CML) and fluorescent AGEs. Additionally, C-PC maintained the redox state by lowering lipid peroxidation and protein-bound carbonyl content (CC), enhancing the activity of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and renal antioxidant enzymes, and preserving retinal and renal histopathological characteristics. Thus, we infer that C-PC possesses antidiabetic and antiglycation effects in diabetic rats. C-PC may also act as an antidiabetic and antiglycation agent in vivo that may reduce the risk of secondary diabetic complications

A Novel Approach in Prediction of Crop Production Using Recurrent Cuckoo Search Optimization Neural Networks

Data mining is an information exploration methodology with fascinating and understandable patterns and informative models for vast volumes of data. Agricultural productivity growth is the key to poverty alleviation. However, due to a lack of proper technical guidance in the agriculture field, crop yield differs over different years. Mining techniques were implemented in different applications, such as soil classification, rainfall prediction, and weather forecast, separately. It is proposed that an Artificial Intelligence system can combine the mined extracts of various factors such as soil, rainfall, and crop production to predict the market value to be developed. Smart analysis and a comprehensive prediction model in agriculture helps the farmer to yield the right crops at the right time. The main benefits of the proposed system are as follows: Yielding the right crop at the right time, balancing crop production, economy growth, and planning to reduce crop scarcity. Initially, the database is collected, and the input dataset is preprocessed. Feature selection is carried out followed by feature extraction techniques. The best features were then optimized using the recurrent cuckoo search optimization algorithm, then the optimized output can be given as an input for the process of classification. The classification process is conducted using the Discrete DBN-VGGNet classifier. The performance estimation is made to prove the effectiveness of the proposed scheme

Integrated IoT-Based Secure and Efficient Key Management Framework Using Hashgraphs for Autonomous Vehicles to Ensure Road Safety

Autonomous vehicles offer various advantages to both vehicle owners and automobile companies. However, despite the advantages, there are various risks associated with these vehicles. These vehicles interact with each other by forming a vehicular network, also known as VANET, in a centralized manner. This centralized network is vulnerable to cyber-attacks which can cause data loss, resulting in road accidents. Thus, to prevent the vehicular network from being attacked and to prevent the privacy of the data, key management is used. However, key management alone over a centralized network is not effective in ensuring data integrity in a vehicular network. To resolve this issue, various studies have introduced a blockchain-based approach and enabled key management over a decentralized network. This technique is also found effective in ensuring the privacy of all the stakeholders involved in a vehicular network. Furthermore, a blockchain-based key management system can also help in storing a large amount of data over a distributed network, which can encourage a faster exchange of information between vehicles in a network. However, there are certain limitations of blockchain technology that may affect the efficient working of autonomous vehicles. Most of the existing blockchain-based systems are implemented over Ethereum or Bitcoin. The transaction-processing capability of these blockchains is in the range of 5 to 20 transactions per second, whereas hashgraphs are capable of processing thousands of transactions per second as the data are processed exponentially. Furthermore, a hashgraph prevents the user from altering the order of the transactions being processed, and they do not need high computational powers to operate, which may help in reducing the overall cost of the system. Due to the advantages offered by a hashgraph, an advanced key management framework based on a hashgraph for secure communication between the vehicles is suggested in this paper. The framework is developed using the concept of Leaving of Vehicles based on a Logical Key Hierarchy (LKH) and Batch Rekeying. The system is tested and compared with other closely related systems on the basis of the transaction compilation time and change in traffic rates

Gold Nanoparticle-Bioconjugated Aminoguanidine Inhibits Glycation Reaction: An In Vivo Study in a Diabetic Animal Model

Proteins undergo glycation resulting in the generation of advanced glycation end products (AGEs) that play a central role in the onset and advancement of diabetes-associated secondary complications. Aminoguanidine (AG) acts as an antiglycating agent by inhibiting AGE generation by blocking reactive carbonyl species (RCS) like, methylglyoxal (MGO). Previous studies on antiglycating behavior of AG gave promising results in the treatment of diabetes-associated microvascular complications, but it was discontinued as it was found to be toxic at high concentrations (>10 mmol/L). The current article aims at glycation inhibition by conjugating gold nanoparticles (Gnp) with less concentration of AG (0.5-1.0 mmol/L). The HPLC results showed that AG-Gnp fairly hampers the formation of glycation adducts. Moreover, the in vivo studies revealed AG-Gnp mediated inhibition in the production of total-AGEs and -Nε-(carboxymethyl)lysine (CML) in the diabetic rat model. This inhibition was found to be directly correlated with the antioxidant parameters, blood glucose, insulin, and glycosylated hemoglobin levels. Furthermore, the histopathology of AG-Gnp-treated rats showed good recovery in the damaged pancreatic tissue as compared to diabetic rats. We propose that this approach might increase the efficacy of AG at relatively low concentrations to avoid toxicity and might facilitate to overcome the hazardous actions of antiglycating drugs