Occurrence of genital ulcer due to herpes simplex virus type-1 (HSV-1) in attendees of a regional centre for sexually transmitted infections, central India: how disturbing is it?

Background: Genital herpes is caused predominantly by Herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) and less commonly by HSV-1. Genital HSV-1 infection results from oral sex, with fewer recurrences, mild symptoms, less asymptomatic shedding and poor genital transmission. The present study was undertaken to identify frequency of occurrence of HSV-1 and HSV-2 in genital herpes by microscopy, serology and Real Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR). Methods: Genital ulcer swabs and serum were collected at regional STI centre, Govt Medical College and Hospital, Nagpur.  A total of 53 patients of Genital Ulcer Disease from December 2020 -22 were examined for etiology by microscopy, serum IgM and IgG against HSV-1 and 2 by ELISA and HSV-1 and 2 DNA by RT- PCR. Results: Out of 53 genital swabs processed, 6 (11.3%) and 28 (52.8%) samples were positive for HSV-1 and 2 DNA respectively. Of the 6 HSV-1 DNA positive samples, seropositivity for HSV-1 IgM was in 2 (33.3%) samples and for HSV-1 IgG in 4 (66.7%) samples. Of the 28 HSV-2 DNA samples, HSV-2 IgM was positive in 4 (14.3%) samples and HSV-2 IgG was positive in 7 (25%) samples, multi nucleated giant cells were seen in 2 (7.14%) samples. The remaining 15 (53.6%) HSV-2 DNA positive samples were seronegative. Conclusions: HSV-1 was detected in 6 (11.3%) samples. Though these genital ulcers may be mild, it is important to counsel the patients for abstinence or safe sex practices to prevent their partners from acquiring painful non-genital ulcers due to HSV-1

Identification and Clonal Characterisation of a Progenitor Cell Sub-Population in Normal Human Articular Cartilage

Background: Articular cartilage displays a poor repair capacity. The aim of cell-based therapies for cartilage defects is to repair damaged joint surfaces with a functional replacement tissue. Currently, chondrocytes removed from a healthy region of the cartilage are used but they are unable to retain their phenotype in expanded culture. The resulting repair tissue is fibrocartilaginous rather than hyaline, potentially compromising long-term repair. Mesenchymal stem cells, particularly bone marrow stromal cells (BMSC), are of interest for cartilage repair due to their inherent replicative potential. However, chondrocyte differentiated BMSCs display an endochondral phenotype, that is, can terminally differentiate and form a calcified matrix, leading to failure in long-term defect repair. Here, we investigate the isolation and characterisation of a human cartilage progenitor population that is resident within permanent adult articular cartilage. Methods and Findings: Human articular cartilage samples were digested and clonal populations isolated using a differential adhesion assay to fibronectin. Clonal cell lines were expanded in growth media to high population doublings and karyotype analysis performed. We present data to show that this cell population demonstrates a restricted differential potential during chondrogenic induction in a 3D pellet culture system. Furthermore, evidence of high telomerase activity and maintenance of telomere length, characteristic of a mesenchymal stem cell population, were observed in this clonal cell population. Lastly, as proof of principle, we carried out a pilot repair study in a goat in vivo model demonstrating the ability of goat cartilage progenitors to form a cartilage-like repair tissue in a chondral defect. Conclusions: In conclusion, we propose that we have identified and characterised a novel cartilage progenitor population resident in human articular cartilage which will greatly benefit future cell-based cartilage repair therapies due to its ability to maintain chondrogenicity upon extensive expansion unlike full-depth chondrocytes that lose this ability at only seven population doublings

Bayesian Inference of Linear Temporal Logic Specifications for Contrastive Explanations

© 2019 International Joint Conferences on Artificial Intelligence. All rights reserved. Temporal logics are useful for providing concise descriptions of system behavior, and have been successfully used as a language for goal definitions in task planning. Prior works on inferring temporal logic specifications have focused on “summarizing” the input dataset - i.e., finding specifications that are satisfied by all plan traces belonging to the given set. In this paper, we examine the problem of inferring specifications that describe temporal differences between two sets of plan traces. We formalize the concept of providing such contrastive explanations, then present BayesLTL - a Bayesian probabilistic model for inferring contrastive explanations as linear temporal logic (LTL) specifications. We demonstrate the robustness and scalability of our model for inferring accurate specifications from noisy data and across various benchmark planning domains

Can a Rapid Test Justify as a Screening Test for Syphilis in Hard-To-Reach Population? Its Evaluation

<p>Introduction: Syphilis has re-emerged as a global public health threat with an estimated 6 million new cases every year. Asymptomatic nature of infection for a considerable time is a major reason for spread and challenge for prevention. Early diagnosis and treatment especially in hard-to-reach populations is essential for its control. Aim of this study was to evaluate the performance of rapid test for syphilis among the attendees in a sexually transmitted infection clinic. Material & Methods: The study was conducted from September 2022 to August 2023 at Government Medical  College and Hospital Nagpur. It was a prospective cross- sectional study wherein 118 patients of clinically  suspected syphilis attending the regional center for STI were tested by rapid test for qualitative detection of IgM, IgA, IgG antibodies to Treponema pallidum (Syphicheck: Oscar, Delhi India). Evaluation of the rapid test was done using Treponemal Pallidum Hemagglutination Assay (TPHA) as gold standard. Non treponemal test namely Venereal Disease Research Laboratory (VDRL) was also performed. Results: Out of 118 serum samples TPHA was positive in 52 samples, negative in 63 samples and indeterminate in 3 samples. The 3 indeterminate samples were excluded from evaluation of the other two tests. Out of 115 serum samples, in 52 samples a positive rapid test was in agreement with TPHA giving a sensitivity of 100%. In 3 samples rapid test was positive but TPHA was negative giving a specificity of 92.64%. The positive and negative predictive value of rapid test were 89.65% and 100% respectively. A reactive VDRL test correlated with TPHA in 46 samples giving a sensitivity of 88.46%. It was reactive in 11 samples which were negative by TPHA giving a specificity of 82.53%. All these 11 samples were positive in a low titre of ≤ 1:4. Conclusion: Sensitivity and specificity of rapid test was 100% and 92.64% whereas positive and negative predictive values were 89.65% and 100% respectively. The rapid test was easy to perform, required no technical expertise and is suitable for hard-to-reach population.</p><p>Keywords:- Syphilis, Treponema Pallidum, VDRL, TPHA.</p&gt

Can a Rapid Test Justify as a Screening Test for Syphilis in Hard-To-Reach Population? Its Evaluation

<p>Introduction: Syphilis has re-emerged as a global public health threat with an estimated 6 million new cases every year. Asymptomatic nature of infection for a considerable time is a major reason for spread and challenge for prevention. Early diagnosis and treatment especially in hard-to-reach populations is essential for its control. Aim of this study was to evaluate the performance of rapid test for syphilis among the attendees in a sexually transmitted infection clinic. Material & Methods: The study was conducted from September 2022 to August 2023 at Government Medical  College and Hospital Nagpur. It was a prospective cross- sectional study wherein 118 patients of clinically  suspected syphilis attending the regional center for STI were tested by rapid test for qualitative detection of IgM, IgA, IgG antibodies to Treponema pallidum (Syphicheck: Oscar, Delhi India). Evaluation of the rapid test was done using Treponemal Pallidum Hemagglutination Assay (TPHA) as gold standard. Non treponemal test namely Venereal Disease Research Laboratory (VDRL) was also performed. Results: Out of 118 serum samples TPHA was positive in 52 samples, negative in 63 samples and indeterminate in 3 samples. The 3 indeterminate samples were excluded from evaluation of the other two tests. Out of 115 serum samples, in 52 samples a positive rapid test was in agreement with TPHA giving a sensitivity of 100%. In 3 samples rapid test was positive but TPHA was negative giving a specificity of 92.64%. The positive and negative predictive value of rapid test were 89.65% and 100% respectively. A reactive VDRL test correlated with TPHA in 46 samples giving a sensitivity of 88.46%. It was reactive in 11 samples which were negative by TPHA giving a specificity of 82.53%. All these 11 samples were positive in a low titre of ≤ 1:4. Conclusion: Sensitivity and specificity of rapid test was 100% and 92.64% whereas positive and negative predictive values were 89.65% and 100% respectively. The rapid test was easy to perform, required no technical expertise and is suitable for hard-to-reach population.</p><p>Keywords:- Syphilis, Treponema Pallidum, VDRL, TPHA.</p&gt

Use of Recycled Plastic as Replacement of Fine Aggregate in Structural Concrete

 Now a days disposal of dissipate plastic is one of the major green problem all above the world. The objective of this review paper is to examine the usefulness of using waste plastic as fine aggregate substitute in concrete mixtures. The compressive and tensile strength of a variety of concrete specimens were tested to establish how the amalgamation of recycled plastic as a replacement of fine aggregate would affect the expansion of strength in the mixes. In this reading plastic waste was mixed with cement concrete in a variety of scope such as 0%-15% and the M20 grade test specimen were casted to learning the behavior of plastic mixed concrete. All stages of plastic replacement show a perceptible diminish in compressive strength and tensile strength