A Comparative Analysis of Bacterial Growth with Earphone Use

Background: Recently the worldwide usage of earphones has increased especially among the school and college students who have a high rate of sharing among them. Alike airline headsets, headphones and stethoscope ear-pieces, ear phones can easily be a vector of potential pathogens, which can give rise to otitis externa. Purpose: To compare the bacterial growth of the external ear in association with earphone and assess the role of earphones as vector or microorganisms. Material and Methods: 50 voluntary male subjects (age 18-25 years) were chosen and divided into two groups, A and B, according to the use of earphones. Swabs were taken from their left ear and the left earpiece of the earphone. Samples were processed as recommended. Results: In group A, bacteria were found in 20 (80%) ear and 14 (56%) earphone swabs. In group B, bacteria were found in 23 (92%) ear and 17 (68%) earphone swabs. Group B showed heavy growth and a significant increase in the number of bacterial growths after frequent and constant use. Conclusion: Frequent and constant use of earphones increases the bacterial growth in the ear and sharing of earphones might be a potential vector of commensals. It is therefore, always better not to share or else to clean the earphones before sharin

Use of Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis for Energy Planning

This paper uses a Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) to examine tradeoffs in electricity generation technologies on the basis of cost, greenhouse gas emissions, water consumption, and land use. Using a life cycle basis, the analysis compares electricity produced from coal, natural gas, nuclear energy, hydropower, solar energy via photovoltaics, solar energy via concentrating solar technology, onshore wind, offshore wind, geothermal energy and biomass. Attributional life-cycle analysis values for overall water consumption and greenhouse gas emissions associated with each generation technology are used, along with the levelized cost of electricity and levelized avoided cost of electricity’ as metrics for cost, and generation weighted land-use efficiency values for evaluation of land-footprint. Two objective scoring methods are used to determine whether scoring methodology influences the results of the MCDA. The results are consistent under the two scoring schemes, indicating that the results are robust to different objective methods of evaluation under an MCDA framework. Different weighting alternatives for determining the relative importance of the four objective functions are also considered to determine the sensitivity of the results to stakeholder preferences. If a heavy emphasis was given to costs, geothermal energy tends to dominate because of its lowest levelized cost of electricity. On the other hand, when a low weights is given to costs, wind power and nuclear energy emerge superior under a number of weighting schemes. Lastly, the results from the MCDA methods are compared to a Benefit Cost Analysis (BCA) to test for consistency, and it is found that the optimal solutions are different under the latter due to the high weights that are implicitly given to costs under a BCA. Even after a price on greenhouse gas emissions is factored into the BCA, it favors the technologies with a low levelized cost over ones that have lower greenhouse gas emissions, demonstrating that an MCDA is better at explicitly recognizing tradeoffs and incorporating stakeholder preferences into decision making. Thus, the suitability of MCDA for making more informed, context specific decisions is discussed, and the merits offered by an MCDA in contrast to a BCA are presented.Master of ScienceNatural Resources and EnvironmentUniversity of Michiganhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/110992/1/KiranChawla_Thesis_MCDAinEnergyPlanning_2015.pd

Pulmonary nocardiosis due to Nocardia otitidiscaviarum in an immunocompetent host- A rare case report

AbstractNocardiosis is a localized or disseminated infection caused by soil-borne aerobic actinomycetes. Pulmonary nocardiosis is a rare infection mostly occurring in immunocompromised patients. We reported a case of 36 year old immunocompetent non-smoker female patient with no premorbid illness who presented with fever, cough with scanty sputum, hemoptysis, left sided chest pain and exertional dyspnea for two weeks. There was no past history of tuberculosis, diabetes mellitus or steroid therapy. Chest X-ray showed homogenous peripherally based opacity in the left upper zone. Bronchoscopy was done and brushing sent for culture, which showed colonies with features of Nocardia species after 48 hours. Further phenotypic characterization revealed it to be Nocardia otitidiscaviarum. Patient was treated with cotrimaxazole for six months after which complete recovery was evidenced symptomatically and radiologically. We report this case to emphasize the fact that among the Nocardia species, Nocardia otitidiscaviarum as causative agent of pulmonary disease is rarely reported even in immunocompromised individuals

An atypical adenomatoid odontogenic tumour in the mandible: a report of a paediatric case

An adenomatoid odontogenic tumour (AOT) is a rare odontogenic tumour that is often misdiagnosed as an odontogenic cyst. To acquire additional information about AOT, all reports regarding AOT that had been cited in ‘Pub Med’ since 1990 onwards were reviewed. AOT accounts for about 1–9% of all odontogenic tumours. It is predominantly found in young and female patients, is located more often in the maxilla, and in most cases is associated with an unerupted permanent tooth. The differential diagnosis between AOT and other odontogenic tumours such as ameloblastoma should be well made to avoid extensive ablative surgery. However, AOT frequently resembles other odontogenic lesions such as dentigerous cysts or ameloblastoma. Immunohistochemically, AOT is characterized by positive reactions with certain cytokeratins. For illustration a rare case of an AOT in the mandible is presented that had atypical findings such as buccolingual cortical perforation and resorption with displacement of adjoining teeth.Keywords: adenomatoid odontogenic tumor, dentigerous cyst, odontogenic tumor, paediatric cas

PARVIMONAS MICRA AND FUSOBACTERIUM NUCLEATUM SEPTIC ARTHRITIS: A RARE ANAEROBIC DOUBLE TROUBLE

Septic arthritis is a condition initiated by pathogenic inoculation of joints either by direct or hematogenous route, necessitating immediate medical attention. Among aerobic bacteria, Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus spp. are commonly found in association with septic joints. Anaerobes are very rarely involved in the causation of septic arthritis with an estimated rate of <1%. We are presenting a case of septic arthritis of knee joint by Parvimonas micra and Fusobacterium nucleatum, both being constituents of microbial flora in the oral cavity and gastrointestinal tract. Gram stain and anaerobic culture incorporated along with the aerobic culture of synovial fluid have played an important role in the preliminary diagnosis of anaerobic septic arthritis in this case

The altered sputum microbiome profile in patients with moderate and severe COPD exacerbations, compared to the healthy group in the Indian population [version 4; peer review: 2 approved]

Background: Microbial culture-independent sequencing techniques have advanced our understanding of host-microbiome interactions in health and disease. The purpose of this study was to explore the dysbiosis of airway microbiota in patients with moderate or severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and compare them with healthy controls. Methods: The COPD patients were investigated for disease severity based on airflow limitations and divided into moderate (50%≤FEV12) revealed that marker genera like Streptococcus and Rothia were abundant in moderate COPD. For severe COPD, the genera Pseudomonasand Leptotrichia were most prevalent, whereas Fusobacterium and Prevotella were dominant in the healthy group. Conclusions: Our findings suggest a significant dysbiosis of the respiratory microbiome in COPD patients. The decreased microbial diversity may influence the host immune response and provide microbiological biomarkers for the diagnosis and monitoring of COPD

A 6 year Geohelminth infection profile of children at high altitude in Western Nepal

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Geohelminth infections are a major problem of children from the developing countries. Children with these infections suffer from developmental impairments and other serious illnesses. This study aimed to measure the prevalence of geohelminth infection, infection intensity as well as the change in the intensity in children from Western Nepal over years.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This 6-year hospital based prospective study at the Manipal Teaching Hospital, Pokhara included children (< 15 years) visiting the hospital from Kaski and 7 surrounding districts. Samples were also collected from children in the community from different medical camps. Three stool samples from every child were processed using direct and concentration methods. The Kato-Katz technique was used for measuring the intensity of infection.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The overall prevalence in hospital - attending children was 9.2% with 7.6% in preschool (0 – 5 y) and 11.0% in school-age (6 – 15 y) children, and in community 17.7% with 14.8% in pre-school and 20.5% in school-age children. <it>Ascaris lumbricoides</it>, <it>Trichuris trichiura</it>, <it>Ancylostoma deodenale </it>and <it>Strongyloides stercoralis </it>were the common geohelminths with a gradual decrease in worm load over the years. School-age children were found to be significantly more prone to geohelminth infection as compared to preschool children, but no statistical difference was detected by gender, district as well as season.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This heavy infection of geohelminths in children should be corrected by appropriate medication and maintaining strict personal hygiene. Health education, clean water, good sewage management and a congenial environment should be ensured to minimise infection.</p

Cord Blood Stem Cell-Mediated Induction of Apoptosis in Glioma Downregulates X-Linked Inhibitor of Apoptosis Protein (XIAP)

XIAP (X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis protein) is one of the most important members of the apoptosis inhibitor family. XIAP is upregulated in various malignancies, including human glioblastoma. It promotes invasion, metastasis, growth and survival of malignant cells. We hypothesized that downregulation of XIAP by human umbilical cord blood mesenchymal stem cells (hUCBSC) in glioma cells would cause them to undergo apoptotic death.We observed the effect of hUCBSC on two malignant glioma cell lines (SNB19 and U251) and two glioma xenograft cell lines (4910 and 5310). In co-cultures of glioma cells with hUCBSC, proliferation of glioma cells was significantly inhibited. This is associated with increased cytotoxicity of glioma cells, which led to glioma cell death. Stem cells induced apoptosis in glioma cells, which was evaluated by TUNEL assay, FACS analyses and immunoblotting. The induction of apoptosis is associated with inhibition of XIAP in co-cultures of hUCBSC. Similar results were obtained by the treatment of glioma cells with shRNA to downregulate XIAP (siXIAP). Downregulation of XIAP resulted in activation of caspase-3 and caspase-9 to trigger apoptosis in glioma cells. Apoptosis is characterized by the loss of mitochondrial membrane potential and upregulation of mitochondrial apoptotic proteins Bax and Bad. Cell death of glioma cells was marked by downregulation of Akt and phospho-Akt molecules. We observed similar results under in vivo conditions in U251- and 5310-injected nude mice brains, which were treated with hUCBSC. Under in vivo conditions, Smac/DIABLO was found to be colocalized in the nucleus, showing that hUCBSC induced apoptosis is mediated by inhibition of XIAP and activation of Smac/DIABLO.Our results indicate that downregulation of XIAP by hUCBSC treatment induces apoptosis, which led to the death of the glioma cells and xenograft cells. This study demonstrates the therapeutic potential of XIAP and hUCBSC to treat malignant gliomas