Probiotic Characterization and Population Diversity Analysis of Gut-Associated Pediococcus acidilactici for Its Potential Use in the Dairy Industry

In recent years, gut-tailored probiotics have been proven to be beneficial for host health. Probiotic strains such as lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are known to exhibit antimicrobial activity, acting as natural substitutes for the regulation of foodborne pathogens. In the present study, a complete analysis, isolation, biochemical characterization, and molecular identification of Pediococcus acidilactici (NMCC-11) from Nili Ravi water buffalo (Bubalis bubalis) gut was carried out. NMCC-11 showed the best enzymatic potential, antimicrobial activity against known pathogenic strains, and survivability at a wide pH range (pH 4–pH 6) out of all isolates. The isolates were screened for their antimicrobial activity against the five most infectious microbes such as Escherichia coli (ATCC 8739), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC9027), Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC6538), Listeria monocytogenes (ATCC13932), and Bacillus cereus (ATCC 11778) using the agar-well diffusion method. Moreover, after NMCC-11 isolation, a comparative diversity analysis against a variety of other randomly selected strains from around the world was carried out using R software. This study showed relatively low genetic diversity, which also contributed to the claim of the stability of this probiotic strain and its potential use as a starter culture and feed probiotic in the dairy industry. However, further studies are certainly warranted to determine its optimal dosage, time frame, and intake frequenc

An Effective Color Image Encryption Based on Henon Map, Tent Chaotic Map, and Orthogonal Matrices

In the last decade, the communication of images through the internet has increased. Due to the growing demands for data transfer through images, protection of data and safe communication is very important. For this purpose, many encryption techniques have been designed and developed. New and secured encryption schemes based on chaos theory have introduced methods for secure as well as fast communication. A modified image encryption process is proposed in this work with chaotic maps and orthogonal matrix in Hill cipher. Image encryption involves three phases. In the first phase, a chaotic Henon map is used for permuting the digital image. In the second phase, a Hill cipher is used whose encryption key is generated by an orthogonal matrix which further is produced from the equation of the plane. In the third phase, a sequence is generated by a chaotic tent map which is later XORed. Chaotic maps play an important role in the encryption process. To deal with the issues of fast and highly secured image processing, the prominent properties of non-periodical movement and non-convergence of chaotic theory play an important role. The proposed scheme is resistant to different attacks on the cipher image. Different tests have been applied to evaluate the proposed technique. The results of the tests such as key space analysis, key sensitivity analysis, and information entropy, histogram correlation of the adjacent pixels, number of pixel change rate (NPCR), peak signal to noise ratio (PSNR), and unified average changing intensity (UCAI) showed that our proposed scheme is an efficient encryption technique. The proposed approach is also compared with some state-of-the-art image encryption techniques. In the view of statistical analysis, we claim that our proposed encryption algorithm is secured

Probiotic Characterization and Population Diversity Analysis of Gut-Associated Pediococcus acidilactici for Its Potential Use in the Dairy Industry

In recent years, gut-tailored probiotics have been proven to be beneficial for host health. Probiotic strains such as lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are known to exhibit antimicrobial activity, acting as natural substitutes for the regulation of foodborne pathogens. In the present study, a complete analysis, isolation, biochemical characterization, and molecular identification of Pediococcus acidilactici (NMCC-11) from Nili Ravi water buffalo (Bubalis bubalis) gut was carried out. NMCC-11 showed the best enzymatic potential, antimicrobial activity against known pathogenic strains, and survivability at a wide pH range (pH 4–pH 6) out of all isolates. The isolates were screened for their antimicrobial activity against the five most infectious microbes such as Escherichia coli (ATCC 8739), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC9027), Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC6538), Listeria monocytogenes (ATCC13932), and Bacillus cereus (ATCC 11778) using the agar-well diffusion method. Moreover, after NMCC-11 isolation, a comparative diversity analysis against a variety of other randomly selected strains from around the world was carried out using R software. This study showed relatively low genetic diversity, which also contributed to the claim of the stability of this probiotic strain and its potential use as a starter culture and feed probiotic in the dairy industry. However, further studies are certainly warranted to determine its optimal dosage, time frame, and intake frequency

Determinants of infant and young complementary feeding practices among children 6-23 months of age in urban Pakistan: A multicenter longitudinal study

Background: Suboptimal feeding practices have a negative impact on children\u27s health and growth in the first 2 years of life and increase their risk of undernutrition, morbidity, and mortality. The aim of the study was to assess the factors that influence infant and young child feeding practices among urban mothers in a hospital setting at Karachi, Pakistan.Methods: A longitudinal multi-center cohort study was conducted in four countries, MULTICENTER BODY COMPOSITION REFERENCE STUDY (MBCRS) to produce normal body composition reference data in healthy infants from 3 months to 24 months of age. Repeated anthropometric (weight, length and head circumference) and body composition measurements using deuterium dilution method along with 24-h dietary recall questionnaires were performed on 250 healthy term infants at 3, 6, 9, 12, 18, and 24 months of age. The 24-h dietary recall data from this study was used to assess the breastfeeding and complementary feeding practices in children aged 6-24 months.Results: A total of 250 healthy infants were enrolled in the study. A majority of newborns (75.4%) were exclusively breastfed till 3 months of age; however, by 6 months of age, only 30.2% of infants were exclusively breastfed. Only 44.1% of children aged 6-24 months achieved minimum dietary diversity (MDD), 84.7% achieved minimum meal frequency (MMF), and 44.1% achieved a minimum acceptable diet (MAD). 71.4% achieved MDD and MAD and 100% achieved MMF at 24 months. The bivariate analysis found that breastfed children (OR 3.93, 95% CI 2.72-5.68), with employed mothers (OR 1.55, 95% CI 1.06-2.27) who had graduated from secondary school (OR 1.45, 95% CI 1.08-1.94) were more likely to meet minimum dietary diversity. The multivariable analysis showed that only the child\u27s age was significantly associated with MDD (p value\u3c 0.0001), with the likelihood of meeting MDD increasing as the children aged; 9 months (OR 18.96, 95% CI 6.63-54.19), 12 months (OR 40.25, 95% CI 14.14-114.58), 18 months (OR 90.02, 95% CI 30.84-262.77) and 24 months (OR 82.14, 95% CI 27.23-247.83).Conclusion: Our study revealed that Infant and young child feeding practices are significantly associated with maternal education, employment, and the child\u27s age. Therefore, it is essential that investments be made towards protective breastfeeding and complementary feeding policies and legislations, emphasis on female education and ensuring the availability of affordable nutritious and diverse foods

Differential associations between body composition indices and neurodevelopment during early life in term-born infants: Findings from the Pakistan cohort: Multi-center body composition reference study

Objective: We examined associations between fat free mass (FFM) and fat mass (FM) accretion during the first 1000 days of life and neurodevelopment in term-born, low-risk infants from Karachi, Pakistan.Design: Prospective, observational study nested within the larger Multi-Center Body Composition Reference Study. FFM, FM, and fat% were estimated using measured deuterium dilution method. Neurodevelopmental outcomes were assessed at 24 months on the INTER-NDA (INTERGROWTH-21st Project Neurodevelopment Assessment) (n = 132).Results: Children with gross motor delays had significantly lower FFM at 18 months (8.01 ± 0.97 kg vs. 7.55 ± 0.20 kg). Children with positive and negative behavior problems had significantly higher fat% at 24 months (20.62 ± 4.30% vs. 18.23 ± 5.46%) and 20.89 ± 4.24% vs. 18.54 ± 5.38%). No associations remained significant after adjusting for covariates. Trajectory modeling showed that between 12 and 18 months, negative behavior scores changed by 13.8 points for every standard deviation change in fat accretion.Conclusions: Our findings highlight the importance of balancing neurodevelopment and metabolic risk when designing nutritional interventions for young children

Differential associations between body composition indices and neurodevelopment during early life in term-born infants: findings from the Pakistan cohort: Multi-Center Body Composition Reference Study

Objective: we examined associations between fat free mass (FFM) and fat mass (FM) accretion during the first 1000 days of life and neurodevelopment in term-born, low-risk infants from Karachi, Pakistan.Design: prospective, observational study nested within the larger Multi-Center Body Composition Reference Study. FFM, FM, and fat% were estimated using measured deuterium dilution method. Neurodevelopmental outcomes were assessed at 24 months on the INTER-NDA (INTERGROWTH-21st Project Neurodevelopment Assessment) (n = 132).Results: children with gross motor delays had significantly lower FFM at 18 months (8.01 ± 0.97 kg vs. 7.55 ± 0.20 kg). Children with positive and negative behavior problems had significantly higher fat% at 24 months (20.62 ± 4.30% vs. 18.23 ± 5.46%) and 20.89 ± 4.24% vs. 18.54 ± 5.38%). No associations remained significant after adjusting for covariates. Trajectory modeling showed that between 12 and 18 months, negative behavior scores changed by 13.8 points for every standard deviation change in fat accretion.Conclusions: our findings highlight the importance of balancing neurodevelopment and metabolic risk when designing nutritional interventions for young children.</p

Degradation of poly(ɛ-caprolactone) (PCL) by a newly isolated <i>Brevundimonas</i> sp. strain MRL-AN1 from soil

A poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL)-degrading bacterium designated as strain MRL-AN1 was isolated from soil. The bacterium was identified as Brevundimonas sp. strain MRL-AN1 through biochemical tests and 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Scanning electron microscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy results confirmed the degradation of PCL by strain MRL-AN1. An extracellular PCL depolymerase was purified to homogeneity by column chromatography and molecular weight was estimated to be approximately 63.49 kDa by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. PCL depolymerase could degrade not only PCL but also other aliphatic polyesters. The enzyme was stable at wide range of temperature (20–45°C) and pH (5–9) as well as stable in the presence of various metal ions, surfactants and organic solvents. Phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride inhibited enzyme activity that indicates this enzyme belongs to the serine hydrolase family. It is concluded from the results that the enzymes from strain MRL-AN1 might be applied in the process of biochemical monomer recycling in the polyester-contaminated environments

Prevalence and associated factors of malnutrition among children under-five years in Sindh, Pakistan: a cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND: Globally, malnutrition accounts for at least half of all childhood deaths. Managing malnutrition in the community settings involves identifying malnutrition using a universally validated screening tool and implementing appropriate interventions according to the degree of malnutrition. The aim of this study was to estimate prevalence and associated factors that result in malnutrition among children under-five years of age in Thatta and Sujawal districts in Sindh province, Pakistan. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was conducted between May and August 2014. A total of 3964 children under-five years were enrolled in the study. The WHO growth standards height-for-age Z-scores (HAZ), weight-for-height Z-scores (WHZ) and weight-for-age Z-scores (WAZ) were used to measure stunting, wasting and underweight. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data on socioeconomic conditions, family size, maternal education, parity and child morbidity. Multivariable logistic regression was used to determine the risk factors for malnutrition. RESULTS: The prevalence of stunting, wasting and underweight were 48.2% (95% CI: 47.1–50.3), 16.2% (95% CI: 15.5–17.9), and 39.5% (95% CI: 38.4–41.5), respectively. Stunting was slightly higher (51%) in boys than in girls (45%) (p &lt; 0.001). The proportion of wasting (p = 0.039) and underweight (p = 0.206) was not significantly different between boys and girls. Fifty percent children in the poorest households were stunted as compared to 42% in the wealthiest households. Children in the poorest households were two times more likely to be wasted (20.6%) than children in the wealthiest households (10.3%) (OR 2.33, CI 1.69–3.21, p &lt; 0.001). A similar relationship was observed between household wealth and underweight in children (43.8% in poorest and 28.8% in wealthiest households (OR 2.18, CI 1.72–2.77, p &lt; 0.001). Household wealth was significantly associated with stunting, wasting and underweight. Diarrhea was associated with underweight. Factors such as mother’s education, parity and family size were not associated with malnutrition in our study area. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of our study revealed that malnutrition was widespread among the children under-five years of age. The food/nutrient based interventions together with improved hygiene practices and household wealth should be targeted to improve malnutrition situation in the study area and in the country