In Silico Vaccine Design for Multidrug-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus Clumping Factor A (ClfA)

Staphylococcus aureus a facultative anaerobic multidrug-resistant bacterium can cause a range of illnesses, from minor skin infections, such as pimples, boils, impetigo, folliculitis, cellulitis, carbuncles, scalded skin syndrome, and abscesses and life-threatening diseases such as meningitis, pneumonia, bacteremia, sepsis, osteomyelitis, endocarditis and toxic shock syndrome. Pathogenic strains often promote infections by producing virulence factors and the expression of cell-surface proteins that bind and inactivate antibodies. The emergence of antibiotic-resistant strains of S. aureus such as methicillin resistant S. aureus (MRSA) is a worldwide problem in clinical medicine. In spite of immense research and development, not much progress has been made with regard to an epitope based vaccine and till date there is no approved vaccine for S. aureus. This study aims to analyze and predict the possibility of designing a vaccine that could make humans immune to S. aureus. The surface protein ClfA is highly antigenic among the virulence factors of S. aureus which act as an adhesin often essential for infection was collected from a protein database and in silico tools were used to predict the T-cell epitopes by NetCTL 1.2 and B-cell epitopes by Bepipred from IEDB (Immune Epitope Database). Further, MHC Class I and Class II binding peptides were predicted using TepiTool from IEDB analysis resource. The peptide KPNTDSNAL was found as the most potential B-cell and T-cell epitope. The epitope was further tested for binding against the HLA molecule by computational docking techniques to verify the HLA and epitope interaction. However, the in silico designed epitope-based peptide vaccine against S. aureus need to be validated by in vitro and in vivo experiments

Acute metheamoglobinemia due to nitrobenzene poisoning: Case series

Nitrobenzene is a nitrite compound; its toxic effects are due to its ability to convert hemoglobin to\ud methaemoglobin by oxidizing iron. The clinical features of nitrobenzene poisoning vary based on the\ud concentration of methaemoglobin in blood. Immediate identification based on clinical features, odour of the\ud compound with supporting evidence of increased methaemoglobin levels will help in a timely intervention thus\ud preventing fatal outcome. Early haemodynamic and ventilator support along with administration of methylene\ud blue as an antidote has been proved crucial in saving some lives. An acute nitrobenzene poisoning presenting with\ud methaemoglobinemia is becoming quite common in this part of the country. Here authorsreport a series of cases\ud of nitrobenzene poisoning where immediate clinical evaluation, with repeated intravenous methylene blue saved\ud three patients, but two patients presenting late and with heavy exposure could not be save

Safety and efficacy of intravenous pulse cyclophosphamide therapy in children with steroid-dependent nephrotic syndrome

Background: Cyclophosphamide (Cyp) is a well-known alternative agent to spare the use of steroids and avoid the side effects that result from long-term steroid therapy in children with idiopathic nephrotic syndrome (NS). Use of Cyp typically reduces the risk of relapse in comparison with prednisolone by about 50%. Objective: To study the safety and efficacy of intravenous pulse Cyp (IV Cyp) therapy in children with steroid-dependent NS (SDNS). Materials and Methods: This was a retrospective single-center analysis from a large government hospital in South India. The data were retrieved from the records of children attending the pediatric nephrology clinic between 2005 and 2016. Children with SDNS who received the complete schedule of IV Cyp were included in the study. Children who received other alternate drugs were excluded. Results: Fifty patients with SDNS were treated with IV Cyp, seven patients did not complete the treatment and were excluded from the analysis. 24 (56%) of the 43 patients stayed in remission throughout the course of Cyp treatment and prednisolone could be stopped and were considered as Cyp responsive. The remaining 19 (44%) children had relapsed while on Cyp therapy (Cyp resistant) and required treatment with alternate immunosuppressant drugs. 19 of the 24 Cyp responsive patients were in remission 6 months after stopping Cyp treatment (Cyp sensitive) while the remaining five patients relapsed within 6 months of stopping Cyp treatment (Cyp dependent). 9 children (20.9%) were relapse-free till the time of last follow-up with a median follow-up of 2.1 years. Among 24 children, 13 (30.23%) who responded were infrequently relapsing NS and 2 (4.5%) children were frequently relapsing NS

Synthesis, spectral characterization and some biological studies of transition metal complexes with Schiff base ligand containing N,O and S as donor atoms

Transition metal complexes of Cu(II), Co(II), Ni(II), Zn(II), Cd(II) and Mn(II) have been synthesized with the Schiff base ligand 5-Sub-N-(2-mercaptophenyl)salicylideneimine. Elemental analysis of these complexes suggest that these metal ions forms complexes of type ML(H2O)stoichiometry for Cu(II), Co(II), Ni(II), Zn(II), Cd(II) and Mn(II). The ligand behaves as tridentate and forms coordinate bonds through O, S and N atoms. Magnetic susceptibility, IR, UV – Visible, Mass and ESR spectral studies suggest that Cu(II), Ni(II) complexes posses square planar geometry, whereas Co(II), Zn(II), Cd(II) and Mn(II) complexes posses tetrahedral geometry. The complexes were tested for their antimicrobial activity against the bacterial strains Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus subtilis.The Schiff base metal complexes evaluated for their antifungal activity against the fungi A. niger and C. oxysporum. The DNA cleavage studies of Schiff base complexes werestudied using Calf – Thymus DNA by agarose gel electrophoresis method

Isolation and characterization of extreme halophilic bacterium Salinicoccus sp. JAS4 producing extracellular hydrolytic enzymes

A extreme halophilic bacterium, strain JAS4 was isolated from the Arabal soil of west coast of Karnataka, India. The isolate is Gram positive, strictly aerobic, ferments several carbohydrates and has motile, coccoid shaped cells and non sporing, catalase- and oxidase- positive, that grew in presence of 2-25% (w/v) NaCl and at pH 6.5-11, with optimum growth at 10%(w/v) NaCl, with an optimum growth temperature of 340C, has potential to produce the extracellular enzymes such as Amylase, Protease, Inulinase and Gelatinase, but production of lipase was found to be negative. The phenotypic studies and genotypic analysis by 16S rRNA analysis showed that the bacterium belonged to the genera Salinicoccus of 98% BLAST sequence similarity and it is named as Salinicoccus sp. JAS4 and phylogenetic study was carried out using Mega5 software.  &nbsp

Low temperature, in-nin drying : shelled corn in southwest, central and northern Missouri (1993)

This guide explains how to manage low-temperature, in-bin drying of shelled corn. Low-temperature drying is natural air drying (using only a fan) or natural air drying plus supplemental heat to raise the air temperature an additional 2 to 4 degrees Fahrenheit. Natural air drying uses the heat in the outside air plus the heat released from the fan motor, which raises the air temperature about 2 degrees Fahrenheit. The supplemental heat may be provided by gas heaters, electric heaters, solar collectors, etc

Regional characterization of pigeonpea sterility mosaic disease and exploring broad-based resistance

Pigeonpea sterility mosaic disease (SMD) caused by Pigeonpea sterility mosaic virus (PPSMV) is a serious threat to pigeonpea production in the Indian-subcontinent. Recent reports on the possible existence of two different viruses associated with the SMD further complicate the etiology of this difficult to manage viral disease. In this regard, a comprehensive and systematic survey was taken up across several pigeonpea growing areas in southern India to know the disease prevalence and variability in virus isolates. Further, selected pigeonpea elite genotypes were screened in different locations for their broad-based resistance. Results indicate huge variation in SMD incidence among the surveyed states. The highest disease incidence (9.38 percent) was observed in Karnataka, followed by Tamil Nadu state with 8.44 per cent incidence. Andhra Pradesh and Telangana states recorded disease incidences of 4.51 and 2.08 per cent respectively. Samples collected from Patancheru location and tested using viral-specific RNA-3 segment primers were all positive for both the viruses. However, one of the samples collected from Bengaluru location and four samples from Coimbatore location had a positive reaction for PPSMV-2 only. In order to identify broad-based resistance to SMD, 20 pigeonpea genotypes were screened in three different locations (Patancheru, Bengaluru and Coimbatore) in southern-India during rainy seasons of 2017 and 2018. Among them, ICPL- 16078, ICPL-16086 and ICPL-16087 showed resistance reaction ((≤10 % incidence) in all the three locations, whereas, ICPL-16072, ICPL-16077 and ICPL-16083 showed resistance to Patancheru and Coimbatore isolates but highly susceptible (≥40 % incidence) to Bengaluru isolate

STRESS INDUCED CHRONIC INSOMNIA (ANIDRA) AND IT’S MANAGEMENT WITH DASHAMULA KWATHA SHIRODHARA

Sleep is one of the most important physiological processes responsible for the maintenance of health. It is one of the states of brain activity generally resultant effect of exhaustion and fatigue. ‘Sleep’ is defined as unconsciousness from which the person can be aroused by external stimulus or other. It is different from coma. In coma state person can not be aroused. The incidence of sleep disturbance is very common in all age groups irrespective of caste, community, race, socio-economic status and sex etc. which might be related to the life style, environmental influence, mental tension, changed food habits and day to day stress. These ultimately disturb the psychoneuro-biological rhythm of sleep broadly discussed under sleep disorders. Nidra is one among the primary tripod of life1. Ten patients of stress induced chronic Insomnia (Anidra) have been studied to evaluate the role of psychic traits (Manasabhava) in etiopathogenesis and management of disease.. Dashamula kwatha Shirodhara half an hour daily in morning for 21 days showed highly significant relief on Sleeplessness (61.29%), Distress (63.64%) , Sleep Time, Sleep Quality and Freshness after Awakening (100% each).Relief in mental health has been observed based on Hamilton’s Anxiety Rating Scale, Hamilton’s Depression Raring Scale, Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale and Manasabhav pariksha on Ayurvedic parameters .Key words: Anidra, Psychic traits, Manasabhava, Sleep, Stress, Chronic Insomnia,  Dashamula kwatha Shirodhara