Shake flask optimization of β-carotene production in Rhodotorula graminis RC04

The present investigation was focused on the effects and interactions of media components on the production of β-carotene by Rhodotorula graminis. Mannitol, potassium nitrate, yeast extract, monopotassium hydrogen phosphate and magnesium sulfate medium components were screened using Plackett Burman Design to identify critical factors. Initial pH of 5.5 of the medium was found to be optimum for β-carotene production. Results suggest that higher amounts of mannitol, yeast extract, potassium nitrate and magnesium sulfate would positively affect both biomass and β-carotene accumulation. Yeast extract was critical for both β-carotene and biomass accumulation. Central composite design was used to study the impact of interaction of mannitol and yeast extract on biomass accumulation and β-carotene production. Concentration of yeast extract was found more significant than mannitol for β-carotene production. From predicted values obtained using fitted binomial equations, it was seen that mannitol should be used in the range of 10 to 20 g/L and yeast extract in the range of 9.5 to 10 g/L to achieve a biomass of 3.8 to 4.3 g/L and a β-carotene content of 190 to 220 µg/L.Key words: Mannitol, yeast extract, Plackett Burman Design (PBD), central composite design, response surface methodology, yeast, β-carotene

Deep Stacked CNN-LSTM (DS-CNN-LSTM) based Spectrum Sensing in Cognitive Radio

The multidimensionality of spectrum sensing, the intrinsic complexity of its dependence, and the unpredictability associated with spectrum data all contribute to the difficulty of the task. The network of cognitive radio (CR) is comprised of both primary and secondary users inside its network. The SUs that are part of the CR network are able to identify the spectrum band and access white space in an opportunistic manner. Enhancing spectrum efficiency may be accomplished by using white spaces. This study presents a Deep Stacked CNN-LSTM (DS-CNN-LSTM)-based spectrum sensing strategy that learns implicit features from spectrum data, such as temporal correlation. This approach is based on the research that we have conducted. The effectiveness of the recommended method is shown by a sufficient number of simulations, and the results of the simulations demonstrate that it outperforms the current state of the art in terms of detection probability and classification accuracy. A comparison is made between the most cutting-edge spectrum sensing approaches and the DS-CNN-LSTM method that has been recommended. The results of the experiments indicate that the proposed methods improve detection performance and classification accuracy even when the signal-to-noise ratio is low. As we can see, the improvement that was achieved comes at the price of a longer amount of time spent on training and a little increase in the amount of time spent on execution

Standard Infection Control Practices among Peripheral Health Care Workers: A Knowledge, Attitude and Practice Study from a Rural Haryana

Background: Globally, around 2.5% of HIV and 40% of HBV among Health Care Workers (HCWs) are attributed to occupational exposure with an overall incidence of occupational exposure to blood/body fluids among HCW as 32.3%. There exists a gap between the knowledge and practice of standard infection control practices among HCW. Failure to follow these standard protocols leads to loss of precious work hours of this skilled work force.Methods: To know the knowledge, attitude and practice regarding standard infection control protocols, a community based, cross- sectional, analytical, non –interventional study was planned among health care workers at a Rural Community Health Centre (CHC) , Dighal of district Jhajjar (Haryana). A total of 50 HCWs were included in the study. The study was conducted during the months of July –August, 2016.Results: About 56% of HCWs were having the knowledge about the correct steps of hand washing but only 20% were actually practicing hand washing before administrating injections. Only 28% of participants were correctly using hub-cutter and needle destroyers after the injection practices. It was observed that 42% of subjects were still trying to re-cap needles after the injections. 60% of subjects felt that using standard precautions was cumbersome. 74% of the subjects felt that using standard precautions was expensive. 54% of study subjects felt that it was difficult to follow stand precautions in government institutions due to logistics issues. Only 28% of the participants had received complete vaccination against Hepatitis B.Conclusion: There exists a huge gap between the knowledge and practice of standard infection control protocols. Among most of the HCWs, the attitude was not positive towards using standard precautions despite having knowledge. Lack of initiative from the higher up officials, poor training, poor monitoring further complex the issue. Regular monitoring and supervision, capacity building of HCWs along with regular logistic supply are recommended

Levetiracetam monotherapy effect on serum calcium and serum vitamin D in patient of epilepsy

Background: Objective of the study was to determine the Levetiracetam monotherapy effect on serum calcium and serum vitamin D levels in tertiary care hospital in Haryana, India.Methods: A total of 110 patients with epilepsy, were enrolled to the study for one year between April 2013 to August 2014. All male patients aged 15-60 years and premenopausal females with epilepsy were included in the study. The study was a interventional prospective study design. The antiepileptic drug levetiracetam was administered starting from a dose of 20 mg/kg and dose was titrated according to the clinical response. During the follow up period, the subjects were asked about the seizure frequency and other side effects. The patients were be subjected to questionnaires based proforma. Baseline investigations, Hemogram, renal and liver function tests, calcium, phosphate, vitamin D and bone mineral density and T scores were noted. All investigations were repeated after one year of levetiracetam monotherapy.Results: The mean age of onset of seizures in the study group was 23.22±6.62 years. 58% (n=29) were seizure free after 1 year of levetiracetam monotherapy, 28% patients had adequate control and 14% patients had poor control of their seizure episodes. There was an insignificant change in Hemoglobin, total leukocyte count, platelet count, renal parameters and Liver enzymes from baseline over a year of levetiracetam therapy. Serum calcium levels increased insignificantly from baseline levels of 9.68±0.59 mg/dl to 9.72±0.56mg/dl. Vitamin D levels increased from baseline of 39.35±14.91ng/ml to 39.84±14.07 ng/ml. Bone mineral density increased insignificantly from baseline of 0.92±0.13 g/cm2 to 0.93±0.13 g/cm2.Conclusions: Present study has shown an overall beneficial effect on serum calcium, Vitamin D level, bone mineral density and T scores on DEXA scan

Pulmonary Lymphangiomyomatosis: A Rare Disease responsive to Progesterone

Lymphangiomyomatosis (LAM) is a rare multisystem disorder in women of child-bearing age. We present a case of a 28 year old lady who presented with cough and breathlessness. She had been diagnosed as a case of lymphangiomyomatosis by computer tomography of chest. She showed dramatic clinical improvement with hormonal therapy

Effect of denture wearing on occurrence of fungal isolates in the oral cavity: a pilot study

Objectives: An attempt was made to evaluate effect of denture wearing on occurrence of fungal isolates in the oral cavity before and after complete denture insertion. Method: Twenty five completely edentulous patients were selected; swab samples were collected intraorally before fabrication of complete dentures from labial vestibular area and after complete denture fabrication (one and four days after denture insertion). Further these samples were inoculated and incubated. Results: In nineteen patients no isolate of fungus before denture insertion as well as 4 days after denture insertion was found. In two subject results were false positive (contamination from environment), and in four patients there was increase in growth but not much significant increase of growth of fungal isolates was seen (mild growth of fungus only after denture insertion). One of the major finding of this study was overall occurrence of fungal isolates (before and after denture insertion) in the oral cavity were not significant

Complete Remission in Newly Diagnosed Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus Patient

Type 1 diabetes mellitus is a chronic disease affects pancreatic beta cells. Usually it has a life long duration, however, in few cases, it can be transient. We reported a 20 year old male patient who visited the diabetic clinic of Lok Nayak Hospital with classical symptoms of type 1 diabetes mellitus. He was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes on the basis of lab parameters. He was found to be positive for ICA512 and GAD antibodies. Measurement of C-peptide was also done by mixed meal tolerance test. Initially, Insulin was advised to control hyperglycemia. After 2 weeks, he was given 14 infusions of Teplizumab injection, one infusion per day and the same has been repeated after six months. As per clinical judgment, it was assumed that he was not on placebo arm and probably received Teplizumab as investigational product. Teplizumab injection drastically reduces the insulin doses and after some time, his insulin was completely waived off. Complete remission was seen in this patient after treatment with Teplizumab injection. During the 4 years follow-up, this remission is still ongoing in this patient. He had normal fasting and home blood glucose concentration with normal HbA1c without insulin therapy from last 4 years. To keep his blood sugar values under control, patient was also advised regular exercise and a diabetic diet

Anomalous behavior in temporal evolution of ripple wavelength under medium energy Ar+-ion bombardment on Si: A case of initial wavelength selection

We have studied the early stage dynamics of ripple patterns on Si surfaces, in the fluence range of 1-3 x 10(18) ions cm(-2), as induced by medium energy Ar+-ion irradiation at room temperature. Under our experimental conditions, the ripple evolution is found to be in the linear regime, while a clear decreasing trend in the ripple wavelength is observed up to a certain time (fluence). Numerical simulations of a continuum model of ion-sputtered surfaces suggest that this anomalous behavior is due to the relaxation of the surface features of the experimental pristine surface during the initial stage of pattern formation. The observation of this hitherto unobserved behavior of the ripple wavelength seems to have been enabled by the use of medium energy ions, where the ripple wavelengths are found to be order(s) of magnitude larger than those at lower ion energies.The authors are thankful to D. P. Datta from National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER), Bhubaneswar, for his support and discussion at various stages of this work. R.C. acknowledges funding by MINECO (Spain) through Grant Nos. FIS2012-38866-C05-01 and FIS2015-66020-C2-1-P. S.K.G. acknowledges local support by Universidad Carlos III de Madrid during a short-term visit