Identification of Hot and Cold spots in genome of Mycobacterium tuberculosis using Shewhart Control Charts

The organization of genomic sequences is dynamic and undergoes change during the process of evolution. Many of the variations arise spontaneously and the observed genomic changes can either be distributed uniformly throughout the genome or be preferentially localized to some regions (hot spots) compared to others. Conversely cold spots may tend to accumulate very few variations or none at all. In order to identify such regions statistically, we have developed a method based on Shewhart Control Chart. The method was used for identification of hot and cold spots of single-nucleotide variations (SNVs) in Mycobacterium tuberculosis genomes. The predictions have been validated by sequencing some of these regions derived from clinical isolates. This method can be used for analysis of other genome sequences particularly infectious microbes

Production of He-4 and (4) in Pb-Pb collisions at root(NN)-N-S=2.76 TeV at the LHC

Results on the production of He-4 and (4) nuclei in Pb-Pb collisions at root(NN)-N-S = 2.76 TeV in the rapidity range vertical bar y vertical bar <1, using the ALICE detector, are presented in this paper. The rapidity densities corresponding to 0-10% central events are found to be dN/dy4(He) = (0.8 +/- 0.4 (stat) +/- 0.3 (syst)) x 10(-6) and dN/dy4 = (1.1 +/- 0.4 (stat) +/- 0.2 (syst)) x 10(-6), respectively. This is in agreement with the statistical thermal model expectation assuming the same chemical freeze-out temperature (T-chem = 156 MeV) as for light hadrons. The measured ratio of (4)/He-4 is 1.4 +/- 0.8 (stat) +/- 0.5 (syst). (C) 2018 Published by Elsevier B.V.Peer reviewe

Scholars Journal of Medical Case Reports ISSN 2347-9507 (Print) Puerperal Breast Abscess due to Salmonella Typhi from a Tertiary Care Hospital

Abstract: Breast abscess in full term pregnancy is challenging due to the changed anatomy and physiology of the breast. Management of these abscesses would require critical clinical evaluation especially if the infecting organism is Salmonella typhi. Since there is a potential risk of Salmonella Typhi being excreted in milk, the babies may require weaning because Salmonella Typhi can behave dangerously in new borns. In geographical locations of endemic Typhi infections, establishing causal relationship would be absolutely essential and Salmonella Typhi included in the list of differential causes. Breast abscess investigation protocol would require re-look to incorporate culture of expressed milk sample along with conventional samples

Perioperative Practices and Outcome of Neurosurgery during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Institutional Experience and Retrospective Observational Analysis

Introduction Surgery during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is a major concern due to possibility of infection transmission among health care workers (HCWs) and patients, and a worsened surgical outcome; most surgeries are thus being deferred. However, we continued with emergency neurosurgeries using our own Neurosurgical Standard Operating Procedures (NS-SOPs). We describe here our institutional neurosurgical experience and observations of a retrospective analysis done to determine the incidence of workplace-acquired COVID infection among the HCWs, and the outcome of neurosurgery performed during the early phase of the on-going pandemic. Methods Our NS-SOPs included a Screening Proforma, and protocols for the conduct of neurosurgery, starting from the preoperative period till death or postdischarge follow-up of the patients. Protocols to ensure safety and mental well-being of the HCWs were also implemented. Patient and HCW data from April 1 to August 31, 2020 was collected and analyzed for the postsurgical patient outcome and for determining the level of workplace-transmitted COVID infection. Results Neurosurgeries were performed on 169 patients during this 5-month period. We observed a cumulative mortality of 17/169 (10.1%), with 5 patients having unexplained postoperative respiratory manifestations and rapid deterioration suggestive of COVID illness. Nineteen HCWs (8.83%), mostly nurses, were infected, but only 3 (16.7%) had workplace-acquired infection. The infections were sporadic with no cluster of infections observed. Conclusion Implementation of standard perioperative protocols and their continuous scrutiny, evaluation, and modification is important to contain infection in HCWs and to improve the neurosurgical outcome during this pandemic

Multifaceted remodeling by vitamin C boosts sensitivity of Mycobacterium tuberculosis subpopulations to combination treatment by anti-tubercular drugs

Bacterial dormancy is a major impediment to the eradication of tuberculosis (TB), because currently used drugs primarily target actively replicating bacteria. Therefore, decoding of the critical survival pathways in dormant tubercle bacilli is a research priority to formulate new approaches for killing these bacteria. Employing a network-based gene expression analysis approach, we demonstrate that redox active vitamin C (vit C) triggers a multifaceted and robust adaptation response in Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) involving similar to 67% of the genome. Vit C-adapted bacteria display well-described features of dormancy, including growth stasis and progression to a viable but non-culturable (VBNC) state, loss of acid-fastness and reduction in length, dissipation of reductive stress through triglyceride (TAG) accumulation, protective response to oxidative stress, and tolerance to first line TB drugs. VBNC bacteria are reactivatable upon removal of vit C and they recover drug susceptibility properties. Vit C synergizes with pyrazinamide, a unique TB drug with sterilizing activity, to kill dormant and replicating bacteria, negating any tolerance to rifampicin and isoniazid in combination treatment in both in-vitro and intracellular infection models. Finally, the vit C multi-stress redox models described here also offer a unique opportunity for concurrent screening of compounds/combinations active against heterogeneous subpopulations of Mtb. These findings suggest a novel strategy of vit C adjunctive therapy by modulating bacterial physiology for enhanced efficacy of combination chemotherapy with existing drugs, and also possible synergies to guide new therapeutic combinations towards accelerating TB treatment

Attenuated neuroprotective effect of riboflavin under UV-B irradiation via miR-203/c-Jun signaling pathway in vivo and in vitro

Background Riboflavin (RF) or vitamin B2 is known to have neuroprotective effects. In the present study, we report the attenuation of the neuroprotective effects of RF under UV-B irradiation. Preconditioning of UV-B irradiated riboflavin (UV-B-RF) showed attenuated neuroprotective effects compared to that of RF in SH-SY5Y neuroblostoma cell line and primary cortical neurons in vitro and a rat model of cerebral ischemia in vivo. Results Results indicated that RF pretreatment significantly inhibited cell death and reduced LDH secretion compared to that of the UV-B-RF pretreatment in primary cortical neuron cultures subjected to oxygen glucose deprivation in vitro and cortical brain tissue subjected to ischemic injury in vivo. Further mechanistic studies using cortical neuron cultures revealed that RF treatment induced increased miR-203 expression which in turn inhibited c-Jun expression and increased neuronal cell survival. Functional assays clearly demonstrated that the UV-B-RF preconditioning failed to sustain the increased expression of miR-203 and the decreased levels of c-Jun, mediating the neuroprotective effects of RF. UV-B irradiation attenuated the neuroprotective effects of RF through modulation of the miR-203/c-Jun signaling pathway. Conclusion Thus, the ability of UV-B to serve as a modulator of this neuroprotective signaling pathway warrants further studies into its role as a regulator of other cytoprotective/neuroprotective signaling pathways

Relative particle yield fluctuations in Pb-Pb collisions at sNN=2.76\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 2.76 TeV

First results on K/$\pi$, p/$\pi$ and K/p fluctuations are obtained with the ALICE detector at the CERN LHC as a function of centrality in Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}=2.76$ TeV. The observable $\nu_{\rm dyn}$, which is defined in terms of the moments of particle multiplicity distributions, is used to quantify the magnitude of dynamical fluctuations of relative particle yields and also provides insight into the correlation between particle pairs. This study is based on a novel experimental technique, called the Identity Method, which allows one to measure the moments of multiplicity distributions in case of incomplete particle identification. The results for p/$\pi$ show a change of sign in $\nu_{\rm dyn}$ from positive to negative towards more peripheral collisions. For central collisions, the results follow the smooth trend of the data at lower energies and $\nu_{\rm dyn}$ exhibits a change in sign for p/$\pi$ and K/p.First results on $\hbox {K}/\pi$ , $\hbox {p}/\pi$ and K/p fluctuations are obtained with the ALICE detector at the CERN LHC as a function of centrality in $\text{ Pb--Pb }$ collisions at $\sqrt{s_\mathrm{{NN}}} =2.76\hbox { TeV}$ . The observable $\nu _{\mathrm{dyn}}$ , which is defined in terms of the moments of particle multiplicity distributions, is used to quantify the magnitude of dynamical fluctuations of relative particle yields and also provides insight into the correlation between particle pairs. This study is based on a novel experimental technique, called the Identity Method, which allows one to measure the moments of multiplicity distributions in case of incomplete particle identification. The results for $\hbox {p}/\pi$ show a change of sign in $\nu _{\mathrm{dyn}}$ from positive to negative towards more peripheral collisions. For central collisions, the results follow the smooth trend of the data at lower energies and $\nu _{\mathrm{dyn}}$ exhibits a change in sign for $\hbox {p}/\pi$ and K/p

W and Z boson production in p-Pb collisions at sNN\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 5.02 TeV

The W and Z boson production was measured via the muonic decay channel in proton-lead collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\mathrm{NN}}}=5.02$ TeV at the Large Hadron Collider with the ALICE detector. The measurement covers backward (−4.46 10 GeV/c are determined. The results are compared to theoretical calculations both with and without including the nuclear modification of the parton distribution functions. The W-boson production is also studied as a function of the collision centrality: the cross section of muons from W-boson decays is found to scale with the average number of binary nucleon-nucleon collisions within uncertainties