Acute Illness Observation Scale (AIOS): Effectiveness in diagnosing and managing children 2 to 60 months presenting with Acute Respiratory Illness

Background: Paediatric respiratory diseases remain an important cause of morbidity in both the developing and the developed world. The aim of the present study was to validate the effectiveness of Acute illness observation scale (AIOS) in predicting the severity of the illness and to describe the efficacy of AIOS in determining the initial therapeutic modalities and clinical outcome of the children. Methods: The present study was a hospital based descriptive observational study conducted between January 2018 and August 2019 in tertiary care hospital in Central India. The study included children between 2 months and 60 months presenting to the outpatient department (OPD) with fever, cough, and difficult breathing for less than two weeks. Results: Majority of the children were between 13 and 36 months of age (48.0%); and more half the children included were males (62.0%). Oral antibiotics were given to 18.0% children; intravenous antibiotics to 82.0% children; nasal oxygen to 66.0% children; intravenous fluids to 64.0% children; nebulisation to 24.0% children; and mechanical ventilation to 2.0% children. Lethargy, grunt, decreased breath sounds and crepitations were significantly associated with the severity of pneumonia. Among investigations, leucocytosis and chest X ray were significantly associated with increased severity of pneumonia (AIOS scores of three or five). We also found that the presence or absence of complications were not associated with severity of pneumonia (p>0.05). Conclusion: AIOS can be used as a tool to decide on therapeutic modalities and prognosticating a child with pneumonia admitted to the hospital by a physician

Direct correlation between the circadian sleep-wakefulness rhythm and time estimation in humans under social and temporal isolation

Several bodily functions in humans vary on a 24 h pattern and most of these variations persist with a circadian period of ca 25 h when subjects are studied under conditions of social and temporal isolation. We report in this paper that the estimates of short time intervals (TE) of 2 h are strongly coupled to the circadian rhythm in sleepwakefulness. There is a linear correlation between the number of hours humans stay awake (α) and their estimation of 2 h intervals. The coupling of TE to α appears to obtain only under conditions of physical well-being

c.620C>T mutation in GATA4 is associated with congenital heart disease in South India

Background: Congenital Heart Diseases (CHDs) usually refer to abnormalities in the structure and/or function of the heart that arise before birth. GATA4 plays an important role in embryonic heart development, hence the aim of this study was to find the association of GATA4 mutations with CHD among the south Indian CHD patients. Method: GATA4 gene was sequenced in 100 CHD patients (ASD, VSD, TOF and SV) and 200 controls. Functional significance of the observed GATA4 mutations was analyzed using PolyPhen, SIFT, PMut, Plink, Haploview, ESE finder 3.0 and CONSITE. Results: We observed a total of 19 mutations, of which, one was in 5′ UTR, 10 in intronic regions, 3 in coding regions and 5 in 3′ UTR. Of the above mutations, one was associated with Atrial Septal Defect (ASD), two were found to be associated with Tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) and three (rs804280, rs4841587 and rs4841588) were strongly associated with Ventricular Septal Defect (VSD). Interestingly, one promoter mutation (−490 to 100 bp) i.e., 620 C>T (rs61277615, p-value = 0.008514), one splice junction mutation (G>A rs73203482; p-value = 9.6e-3, OR = 6.508) and one intronic mutation rs4841587 (p-value = 4.6e-3, OR = 4.758) were the most significant findings of this study. In silico analysis also proves that some of the mutations reported above are pathogenic. Conclusion: The present study found that GATA4 genetic variations are associated with ASD, TOF and VSD in South Indian patients. In silico analysis provides further evidence that some of the observed mutations are pathogenic

Thrombocytosis as a predictor of severity of LRTI in children aged 2 months to 5 years

Background: Platelets play a major role in antimicrobial host defences, the induction of inflammation and tissue repair. The present study aimed at determining the prevalence of thrombocytosis and its significance in predicting the severity of clinical manifestations in children with LRTI aged between 2 months to 5 years. Methods: This was an observational cross-sectional study with purposive sampling technique conducted in the Department of Paediatrics and Department of Emergency Medicine in a tertiary care hospital from Western India between 2018 and 2019. The study included children aged two months to 60 months admitted with lower respiratory tract infection. The sample size was estimated to be 358 with 95% confidence. Results: Majority (62.0%) were between 2 months and 12 months. Nearly two thirds (62.6%) were males. We found that 16.2% children aged two months to 60 months had pneumonia; 55.3% had severe pneumonia; and 28.5% had very severe pneumonia. While 72.6% children between two months and 60 months had no malnutrition, we noted that 15.6% children had Grade 1, 8.4% had Grade II, 2.8% had Grade III, and 0.5% had Grade IV malnutrition. Chest indrawing, grunting, severity of pneumonia, total leucocyte count, and duration of stay were significantly (p<0.05) associated with thrombocytosis. Conclusion: The findings suggest that thrombocytosis may be a useful marker of disease severity in this population and highlight the importance of monitoring platelet count in the management of LRTI in children

Phylogeography and origin of Indian domestic goats

The Indian subcontinent contains 20 well-characterized goat breeds, which vary in their genetic potential for the production of milk, meat, and fibre; disease resistance; heat tolerance; and fecundity. Indian goats make up 20% of the world's goat population, but there has been no extensive study of these economically important animals. Therefore, we have undertaken the present investigation of 363 goats belonging to 10 different breeds from different geographic regions of India using mtDNA sequence data from the HVRI region. We find evidence for population structure and novel lineages in Indian goats and cannot reconcile the genetic diversity found within the major lineage with domestication starting 10,000 years ago from a single mtDNA ancestor. Thus, we propose a more complex origin for domestic goats

Microsatellite-based phylogeny of Indian domestic goats

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The domestic goat is one of the important livestock species of India. In the present study we assess genetic diversity of Indian goats using 17 microsatellite markers. Breeds were sampled from their natural habitat, covering different agroclimatic zones.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The mean number of alleles per locus (NA) ranged from 8.1 in Barbari to 9.7 in Jakhrana goats. The mean expected heterozygosity (He) ranged from 0.739 in Barbari to 0.783 in Jakhrana goats. Deviations from Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium (HWE) were statistically significant (P < 0.05) for 5 loci breed combinations. The D_Ameasure of genetic distance between pairs of breeds indicated that the lowest distance was between Marwari and Sirohi (0.135). The highest distance was between Pashmina and Black Bengal. An analysis of molecular variance indicated that 6.59% of variance exists among the Indian goat breeds. Both a phylogenetic tree and Principal Component Analysis showed the distribution of breeds in two major clusters with respect to their geographic distribution.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our study concludes that Indian goat populations can be classified into distinct genetic groups or breeds based on the microsatellites as well as mtDNA information.</p

Propagation of pure fetal and maternal mesenchymal stromal cells from terminal chorionic villi of human term placenta

Long term propagation of human fetal Mesenchymal Stromal Cells (MSC) in vitro has proven elusive due to limited availability of fetal tissue sources and lack of appropriate methodologies. Here, we have demonstrated the presence of fetal and maternal cells within the tips of Terminal Chorionic Villi (TCV) of normal human term placenta and we have exploited inherent differences in the adhesive and migratory properties of maternal vs. fetal cells, to establish pure MSC cultures of both cell types. The origin and purity of each culture was confirmed by X-Y chromosome-specific Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization (FISH) and Short Tandem Repeat (STR) genotyping. This is the first demonstration of fetal and maternal cells in the TCV of human term placenta and also of deriving pure fetal MSC cultures from them. The concomitant availability of pure cultures of adult and fetal MSC from one tissue provides a good system to compare genetic and epigenetic differences between adult and fetal MSCs and also to generate new models of cell based therapies in regenerative medicine