N-acyl homoserine lactone-degrading microbial enrichment cultures isolated from <i>Penaeus vannamei</i> shrimp gut and their probiotic properties in <i>Brachionus plicatilis</i> cultures

Three bacterial enrichment cultures (ECs) were isolated from the digestive tract of Pacific white shrimp Penaeus vannamei, by growing the shrimp microbial communities in a mixture of N-acyl homoserine lactone (AHL) molecules. The ECs, characterized by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis analysis and subsequent rRNA sequencing, degraded AHL molecules in the degradation assays. Apparently, the resting cells of the ECs also degraded one of the three types of quorum-sensing signal molecules produced by Vibrio harveyi in vitro [i.e. harveyi autoinducer 1 (HAI-1)]. The most efficient AHL-degrading ECs, EC5, was tested in Brachionus experiments. EC5 degraded the V. harveyi HAI-1 autoinducer in vivo, neutralizing the negative effect of V. harveyi autoinducer 2 (AI-2) mutant, in which only the HAI-1- and CAI-1-mediated components of the quorum-sensing system are functional on the growth of Brachionus. This suggests that EC5 interferes with HAI-1-regulated metabolism in V. harveyi. These AHL-degrading ECs need to be tested in other aquatic systems for their probiotic properties, preferably in combination with specific AI-2-degrading bacteria

Rehabilitation of Elderly People with History of Falls: A Study on Balancing Exercises

INTROCUCTION: Everybody falls Regardless of age, falling is a ubiquitous event experienced by all throughout life. Most falls, especially in children and young adult, are of minor consequences, are readily forgotten, and have no impact on subsequent function. Falls in the elderly, by contrast, are a major cause of morbidity and mortlity- the consequences often exterding far beyond minor injury to significant loss of functional independence and even death. The reason that falling becomes a major health hazard in person older than 65 is a result of the complex and poorly understood interaction of biomedical, physiological, psychosocial and environmental factor. Falls, the leading cause of accidental death among older adults, are a serious clinical problem among adult over 65years of age. Falls are costly and have potentially devastating physical, psychological, and social consequences. Nonfatal falls often lead to physical injury (eg, fractures), reduced levels of activity, loss of confidence, and altered lifestyle in elderly people. Over the past 20 years, a considerable amount of research has been conducted to determine the motor or sensory system function in order to understand the causes of falling and to create effective strategies to prevent falls in elderly people. Tang and woollacott investigated agerelated changes in postural response to a forward slip. It was shown that balance control was reduced in elderly people compared with young people. They exhibited longer onset latencies to distal muscle response, disruptions in the temporal organization of postural muscle response, and longer agonist/antagonist coactivation duration when they were given external threats to balance. Moreover, it has been shown that balance deteriorates in elderly people when sensory inputs contributing to balance control are reduced. This suppots the idea that balance depends on both motor and sensory system function. In recent years, however, it has become increasingly apparent that other neutral systems, including cognitive resources, may contribute to balance control. Amongst elderly people bone fractures in relation to falls are a frequent phenomenon. These accidents are often associated with physical decline, negative impact on quality of life and reduce survival. Fall risk has been related to a number of factor such as history of falls, muscle weakness, gait deficit, use of assistive device, visual impairment, mobility impairment, fear of falling, cognitive impairment, depression, sedentary behavior, age, number of medications, psychotropic/cardiovascular medications, nutritional deficits, urinary incontinence, artritis, home hazards and footwear. The natural ageing process combined with inactivity can gradually lead to decreased physical performance with the result that many elderly are at increased risk of falling. Several studies have found that interventions can reduce the fall rate in an elderly population. Different Interventions have been suggested ranging from initiatives to ensure a safer environment to specific methods of training of the individual.9 Part of the deterioration in physiological capacity seems to be due to a lack of stimulation and training and strength training have proven the most effective in relation to reduction in fall incidence. Falls are responsible for two- thirds of all unintentional injury deaths in older adults. Fear of falling affects confidence in performing daily activities, causing self limitation and a less actives lifestyle. This results in muscle atrophy and los of strength, especially in the lower extremities, which exacerbates the risk for falls. Although most falls involve multiple factors, causes of falling are often categorized into intrinsic (person) and extrinsic (environment) factors. Some example of intrinsic factors include balance impairment, neurological disorders, sensory deterioration, musculoskeletal disorders, postural hypotension, and medication use. Examples of extrinsic factors include ill-fitting footwear, poor lighting, slippery surfaces, and inappropriate furniture. Research shows that balance impairment is a major contributor to falling in elderly people. Elderly means those who are above 65yrs eld are 65-74yrs. Elder old are75-84 elder old are 85 and above. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: AIMS: 1. The aim of this study is to improve balance and reduce Subsequent falls in geriatric patients with history of injurious falls. 2. To investigate the circumstances and consequences of falls in the elderly and to correlate them for the treatment. 3. The treatment technique mainly focuses to reduce the consequences of balance impairment in elderly by training them with balance exercises. OBJECTIVES: Falls are a frequent reason for hospitalization in short-stay geriatric units. Paradoxically, the factors determining such hospitalization are intrinsic factors. The syndrome of falls and fractures in later life reflects the Combined age- associated influences of cumulative susceptibility to health Problems and reduced adaptive reserve. A fall in an older adult, especially if recurrent, may be a key signal of unmet medical need and should accordingly trigger an in-depth diagnostic process and clinical intervention by an appropriately skilled physical therapist. The objective of this study was to determine the efficacy of balance training exercises to improve balance in the elderly with history of falls. RESULTS: Total number of sample, N=20 were taken for the study and grouped into 2 groups having 10 in each. (n=10). The mean value of control group pre-test is 22.40 and that of post-test is 23.40. (Refer table 1) The mean value of experimental group pre-test is 22.30 and that of posttest is 34.10. (Refer table 1) There is a mean difference in both the control and the experimental group. However there is a significant improvement of mean value in experimental group. ‘T’ test have been done between the groups and the pre-test showed a ’T’ value of 0.020 and the post-test showed a ‘t’ value of 2.509. Paired Samples Test have been done to find out the group significance which showed a ‘T’ value of 3.354 in the control group with a significance of 0.008 and the experimental group showed a ‘T’ value of 7.754 with a significance of 0.000. From the analysis it is show that the control group is statistically significant at ‘P’ value (p<0.05). However, experimental group showed much significance with ‘P’ value (p<0.001). CONCLUSION: The intervention for falls prevention may vary depending on the frequency and causes of falls and may also vary with various physiatrists. My study revealed that the experimental group, which received balance exercise training along with home safety measurements showed better improvement in beg balance test. A significant reduction in falls was among this group. So the alternate hypothesis (H1) is accepted. The control group, which received only, counselling regarding home safety measure, did not show any significant improvent while comparing with the experimental group. So the null hypothesis (HO) is rejected. The control group when compared with pre tesst and posttest measurements shows a slight improvement, which might be due the counseling that is provided. Thus, the balance exercise training is effective in improving the balance in elderly with history of falls and showed significant reduction in the occurrence of falls among them

Food Security in Urban Households: The Role of Women in an Asian Context

Assuring food security is one of the challenges in low and middle-income countries with their rapid urbanization. The role of women has been identified as a key to food security in rural societies, however, yet to make conclusions in an urban setting. Hence this study tries to analyse the role of women in urban households while addressing the context-specific social and cultural differences of women’s role in Asia. The study uses data from Sri Lanka Household Income and Expenditure Survey-2016 and estimates the impact of women's role using the Ordinary Least Square (OLS) method. The relative status of food security of each household is measured using the Household Dietary Diversity Score (HDDS). The study finds a higher level of food security is associated with a higher level of female education. Similarly, households are more food secure when women are more responsible for household income. Further, it reveals that the economic burden on women being the single income earner has not affected on changing the level of food security in their households

Aerial Vehicles to Detect Maximum Volume of Plume Material Associated with Habitable Areas in Extreme Environments

Current technologies of exploring habitable areas of icy moons are limited to flybys of space probes. This research project addresses long-term navigation of icy moons by developing a MATLAB adjustable trajectory based on the volume of plume material observed. Plumes expose materials from the sub-surface without accessing the subsurface. Aerial vehicles capable of scouting vapor plumes and detecting maximum plume material volumes, which are considered potentially habitable in inhospitable environments, would enable future deep-space missions to search for extraterrestrial organisms on the surface of icy moons. Although this platform is still a prototype, it demonstrates the potential aerial vehicles can have in improving the capabilities of long-term space navigation and enabling technology for detecting life in extreme environments. Additionally, this work is developing the capabilities that could be utilized as a platform for space biology research. For example, aerial vehicles that are sent to map extreme environments of icy moons or the planet Mars, could also carry small payloads with automated cell-biology experiments, designed to probe the biological response of low-gravity and high-radiation planetary environments, serving as a pathfinder for future human missions

Safeguarding community-centred global health research during crises

Global health researchers encounter challenges in conducting research during crises, including pandemics, natural disasters and humanitarian conflicts.1 2 External crises often arise without prior notice and disrupt well-planned research. It is difficult to continue research activities under these circumstances, particularly when researchers and communities are at risk.3 Furthermore, community engagement and involvement (CEI), a crucial element in decolonised global health research,4 can become particularly difficult, as the community members’ primary focus may be on survival and acquiring basic needs, which must be a priority above commitment and participation in research. Conducting research in a context of crisis imposes concerns about ethical, credible and equitable research.5 6 The COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on global health research, particularly in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). Both funding acquisition and scholarly output in LMICs were affected.2 Collaborative research relied on virtual communication platforms, and alternative data collection mechanisms, such as online questionnaires and telephone interviews. However, the validity, reliability and generalisability of such datasets are still subject to extensive discussion.7 Populations without reliable internet access and electronic devices were often excluded from participation, which further exacerbated social inequity, particularly in disadvantaged rural communities.8 9 Here, we share the experience of the Sri Lankan team of the multicountry global health research programme ECLIPSE. We highlight three aspects that will inform the global scientific community in safeguarding research during crises: (1) positioning the research within the crisis context; (2) using CEI for ongoing research and (3) innovating methods and moving beyond the virtual mode

Modeling and simulation of temperature variation in bearings In a hydro electric power generating unit

Hydroelectric power contributes around 20% to the world electricity supply and is considered as the most important, clean, emission free and an economical renewable energy source. Hydro electric power plants operating all over the world has been built in the 20th century in many countries and running at a higher plant-factor. This is achieved by minimizing the failures and operating the plants continuously for a longer period at a higher load. However, continuous operation of old plants have constrained with the failures due to bearing overheating. The aim of this research is to model and simulate the dynamic variation of temperatures of bearing temperature of a hydro electric generating unit. Multi-input, multi-output (MIMO) system with complex nonlinear characteristics of this nature is difficult to model using conventional modeling methods. Hence, in this research neural network (NN) technique has been used for modeling the system

Synthesis, Characterization and Antimicrobial Activity of Garcinol Coated Titanium Dioxide Nanoparticles

Background: Garcinol is a secondary metabolite derived from the plants of Clusiaceae Family. It has shown a broad range of bioactivities such as antimicrobial, antioxidant, anticancer and anti-inflammatory. Titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO2NPs) are known to have a significant photocatalytic activity and are widely used in medicine. In this study, garcinol was used to modify the surface of TiO2NPs to enhance the antibacterial activity.Objectives: To synthesize, characterize and determine antimicrobial activity of garcinol coated titanium dioxide nanoparticles G-TiO2NPs.Methods: Garcinol was isolated from the dried fruit rinds of Garcinia quaesita. TiO2NPs were coated by garcinol and characterized by using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Powder X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), and Diffused Reflectance Spectroscopy. Minimum Inhibition Concentration (MIC) was tested against five microbial species including Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 25623), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC 27853),Escherichia coli (ATCC 25922), Candida albicans (ATCC 10231) and clinical isolates of Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), using broth micro-dilution assay. Time-kill kinetic study was performed to determine the inhibition percentage of Staphylococcus aureus over time.Results: SEM images confirmed the spherical shape of G-TiO2NPs, diameter ranging from 20 - 200 nm. XRD data revealed the anatase phase and rutile phase of TiO2NPs. Formation of G-TiO2NPs caused a red shift of the absorption wavelength. G-TiO2NPs and TiO2NPs showed a MIC range of 250-500 μg/ml and 500-1000 μg/ml against the tested microbial species, respectively. In the time-kill kinetic studies, inhibition percentage (IP) of microbial growth was determined at 60 minute time intervals. TiO2NPs and G-TiO2NPs demonstrated inhibition over 50% at 3 hours.Conclusions: G-TiO2NPs presented a significant enhancement in antimicrobial activity against S. aureus compared to TiO2NPs. Surface modification of TiO2NPs with garcinol has created a synergistic antimicrobial effect against S. aureus.Acknowledgement: University Grant ASP/01/RE/SCI/2017/1

Is the Market Efficiency Static or Dynamic – Evidence from Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE)

The study tests the weak form efficiency of the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) and the consistency of the concept. In this study, daily market closing index values of (All Share Price Index) ASPI of CSE for five years, from June 2010 to June 2015, without adjustments, have been selected as the sample. Both parametric tests and non-parametric tests have been used in this study. The evidence presented in this study confirms that CSE is not weak form efficient within the sample period and is consistent with the findings of previous studies. Therefore, the fact that Efficient Market Hypothesis as a dynamic concept is debatable as studies over the past have consistently confirmed that CSE is not in weak form efficient, although the efficiency of most markets is dynamic.  </p