Mechanism of ciprofloxacin resistance in Shigella dysenteriae

Bacterial resistance to quinolones has emerged rapidly and such resistance has traditionally been attributed to the chromosomally mediated mechanisms that alter the quinolone targets and/or overproduce multidrug resistance efflux pumps. In the present investigation possible mechanism of ciprofloxacin (Cp) resistance in Shigella dysenteriae was studied. While the growth of sensitive S. dysenteriae was completely inhibited at 1 μg /ml concentration of ciprofloxacin, the resistant strain tolerated even 10 μg /ml concentration of ciprofloxacin. Mechanism of resistance was found to be the presence of plasmid.Keywords: Ciprofloxacin, Shigella dysenteriae, quinolone, plasmid, Resistance, SDS.African Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 12(41), pp. 6025-603

Random amplified polymorphic DNA based genetic characterization of four important species of Bamboo, found in Raigad district, Maharashtra State, India

Bamboos are arborescent grasses belonging to the family Poaceae and are grouped under the subfamily Bambusoideae. Bambusoideae are differentiated from other members of the family by the presence of petiolate blades with parallel venation and stamens are three, four, six or more, gynoecium is with single style with one to three stigmas and caryopsis. Bamboo is regarded as the major resource that meets the need of common man and also a poverty alleviator due to its multipurpose uses. The Raigad district, Maharashtra, India, is a good pocket of wild as well as cultivated bamboo. This district is rich in Bamboo flora specially four species viz. Bambusa bambos; Pseudoxytenanthera ritcheyi; Pseudoxytenanthera stocksii and Dendrocalamus strictus. To study the genetics of bamboo, one has to face enormous difficulties simply because of rare flowering and we cannot make hybridizations as easily as like other angiosperms. The randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) method is used for genetic characterization of bamboo. This method of DNA profiling is proven excellent for identification, phylogenetic analysis, population studies and genetic linkage mapping of many plant species. Establishing multilocus markers RAPD analysis of genomes provides a versatile and rapid technology requiring low infrastructural input and use of arbitrary primers for developing plant DNA fingerprinting. In the present study, a comparative genetic analysis of four species of bamboo B. bambus, P. ritcheyi, P. stocksii and D. strictus collected from different locations of Raigad district of Maharashtra, India had been carried out using PCR-RAPD analysis. The present results warrant an extensive survey of genetic variation between the given four species of bamboo. The results would be helpful in designing sequence characterized amplified regions (SCAR) marker for each species. These SCAR markers can be used as diagnostic marker to authenticate samples of given four species.Keywords: Randomly amplified polymorphic DNA ( RAPD), DNA-fingerprinting, sequence characterized amplified regions (SCAR), Genetic characterization, ritcheyi, stocksii, Raigad.African Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 12(28), pp. 4446-445

Psychometric analysis of stress, anxiety and depression in patients with recurrent aphthous Stomatitis-A cross-sectional survey based study

Recurrent Aphthous Stomatitis is a chronic inflammatory immune mediated condition associated with single or multiple, painful recurring ulcers of the oral mucosa. Psychological stress is a common trigger factor identified for the onset and progression of this condition. The study aimed to evaluate stress, anxiety and depression using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale and stress by the General Health Questionnaire in subjects with Recurrent Aphthous Stomatitis (RAS). The study evaluated subjects with a history of Recurrent Aphthous Stomatitis and compared their psychological stress, anxiety and depression alteration to normal subjects. Seventy-five study subjects were divided into three groups; test group 1 (25 subjects) presenting with RAS, test group 2 (25 subjects) with a history of RAS but without oral ulcers, and 25 normal subjects with no history of RAS formed the control group. Chi square and student t test was used to determine the relationship between psychological variables and recurrent aphthous ulcers. Comparison of stress, Anxiety and Depression between test group 1 and control group, test group 2 and control group was not found to be statistically significant (p< 0.05). Hence, differences were evident when individual questions were analyzed for stress anxiety and depression. Stress and depression were more prevalent in females, students and patients with a history of RAS. Higher depression and stress levels were evident in subjects with a history of RAS. Psychological stress is a utmost trigger factor for the initiation of recurrent ulcers. Overall, test group patients had a more psychological impact on the quality of life than the control group

Status of Maternal Serum Vitamin D Levels in Rural India

Background: The role of Vitamin D during pregnancy and its effect on maternal and fetal health is just beginning to be understood. What is clear, however, is that Vitamin D deficiency during pregnancy is rampant throughout the world. Vitamin D deficiency is prevalent in India, a finding that is unexpected in a tropical country with abundant sunshine. Various studies have shown an intrinsic relation between various parameters of maternal and fetal wellbeing with maternal Vitamin D status during pregnancy.Aim: To determine the status of Vitamin D levels in pregnancy among rural mothers.Methods: A total of 60 pregnant females, aged 20-35 years were studied during the third trimester of pregnancy. Serum Vitamin D was measured by chemiluminescent immunoassay.Results: 65% subjects were found to have Vitamin D deficiency and 26.67% were found to have Vitamin D insufficiency whereas 8.33% had normal Vitamin D levels. Mean maternal serum Vitamin D level was 15.97±9.216 ng/mL.Conclusions: We observed a high prevalence of physiologically significant hypovitaminosis D among pregnant women attending rural hospital. As mentioned in literature, Vitamin D deficiency is associated with adverse fetomaternal outcome, the magnitude of hypovitaminosis D in antenatal period warrants public health intervention

Preparation and characterization of lanthanum sulphide thin films deposited by Spray Pyrolysis Technique

390-394<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:9.0pt;font-family:" times="" new="" roman","serif""="">Formation of lanthanum sulphide (LaS) thin films is important in the view of its photosensitive and thermoelectric properties. LaS thin films have been deposited onto preheated glass substrates by spray pyrolysis method using equimolar <span style="font-size:15.5pt;mso-bidi-font-size:8.5pt; font-family:" times="" new="" roman","serif""="">(0.05 <span style="font-size: 16.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:9.0pt;font-family:" times="" new="" roman","serif""="">M) aqueous sol ution or lanthanum chloride (LaCl3.7H2O) and thioacetamide (CH3<span style="font-size:15.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size: 8.0pt;font-family:" arial","sans-serif""=""> <span style="font-size:16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:9.0pt;font-family:" times="" new="" roman","serif""="">CS-NH2). The thickness or LaS film was round to increase with deposition time. The thin films were characterized by X-ray dirrraction, optical absorption, optical micrograph, electrical resistivity and thermo-emF measurements. The XRD studies reveal that the deposited LaS material is polycrystalline. The optical absorption studies reveal that the material formed has direct band gap of 2.5 eV. The electrical resistivity is of the order or <span style="font-size: 15.5pt;mso-bidi-font-size:8.5pt;font-family:" times="" new="" roman","serif""="">104 Ω cm. The activation energy is round to be <span style="font-size:15.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size:8.5pt;font-family:" times="" new="" roman","serif""="">0.86 eV. From thermo-emf study, it is concluded that LaS is a p-type semiconductor. </span