Identifying Gene Mutations For E. coli Antibiotic Resistance

One of mankind’s greatest challenges is fighting a never ending war against pathogens. Antibiotics, a relatively new advancement, have proven successful for decades. My project aims to be able to predict a bacterial strains’ resistance/susceptibility to antibiotics through analyzing the presence/absence of genes. The algorithm I am developing will be tested against E. coli strains for which we have data about resistance. This model will then be applied to other strains and will pinpoint the gene(s) that are liable for resistance. The outcome of this project will be identifying genes that are responsible for antibiotic resistance/susceptibility

Tobacco addiction and infertility in India: an overview

Tobacco addiction is one of the oldest known addictions with annual death toll of three million. And India is the second largest consumer of tobacco in the world because of easy availability of variety of smoking and smokeless tobacco products in the market.  This has made the situating very complex in India, as the same tobacco generating billions of revenues for India is also a financial burden over the health care sector. Tobacco is a risk factor for approximately 50 serious health care diseases including infertility. But it is surprising that only 22% of the general population are familiar with the reproductive risks associated with smoking. This shear ignorance has led to increase in smoking among women too. Tobacco use not only decrease fecundity and reproductive potential of the individual, but also causes relationship disharmony among the already emotional wrecked infertile couple. Though this stress might be the contributory factor towards tobacco abuse but ironically this tobacco use further escalates the financial ‘stress’ in these couples. Multiple attempts may be required during the process of quitting and the likelihood of success increases with each attempt. The ultimate key is counselling, education, and encouragement at each clinical visit

Crisplant defects quantification and reduction

Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering; in conjunction with the Leaders for Global Operations Program at MIT, 2010.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (p. 59-60).Crisplant is a tilt-tray sortation system used in Reno (RNO 1) fulfillment center (FC) to group items by customer orders. On average., crisplant processes about 80% of the total outbound volume through its multipart operation flow. Because of high volume and complex process flow, the majority of defects, in RNO 1 FC. are seen in crisplant costing distribution center (RNO 1) significantly in labor hours. This research paper identifies and quantifies the major defects in crisplant, and outlines the solutions to reduce the cost of handling these defects in RNO 1. The project work thoroughly assesses the entire RNO 1 crisplant operations (induct, sort, pack, SLAM, and problem solve) through four-phase approach: Understand the crisplant Process Flow, Develop a Data Collection Framework, Collect and Analyze Data, and Identify/Implement Data Driven Solutions. Lean principles and methodologies were used throughout the project work especially when identifying solutions. For example, opportunities that improved the packing process were identified based on a deep-dive analysis as a part of the Kaizen study. The project results demonstrated 50% reduction in cost of handling crisplant defects in RNO l. Furthermore, it highlighted opportunities for additional savings by identifying solutions that can also be implemented in other FCs (i.e. SDF 1, TUL 1) with similar operation as RNO 1.by Kashyap Patel.S.M.M.B.A

UNUSUAL PRESENTATION OF A PATIENT WITH GBL WITHDRAWL: A CASE REPORT

GBL (gamma-butyro-lactone) is converted to Gamma hydroxyl butyrate (GHB) in the body. GBL and GHB are available in liquid form and powder form. Once categorised under “legal highs”, these two are not associated with any dependence or withdrawal in animal studies. But there are case reports indicating their high dependence potential in humans. We here present a case of a 29 year old who came to the attention of psychiatric services with very bizarre presentation and needed a host of investigations and expert views from various medical disciplines. He was treated mainly symptomatically followed by a sudden dramatic recovery on the 11th day after presentation. GBL is getting popular as a recreational drug and its withdrawal should be seriously considered in the list of medical causes leading to Delirium

NEUROLEPTIC MALIGNANT SYNDROME (NMS): A RARE PRESENTATION INDUCED BY AN ANTIEMETIC - CASE REPORT

Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome is one of the life threatening complications of antipsychotic psychotropic medication. We here report a case of a 39 years old male who has had a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia since the age of 18 .He had been on antipsychotic therapy since then. He was stable on a combination of antipsychotics. He had mild hyper-salivation for a long time but was not very concerned about it. He requested and was prescribed Hyoscine Hydrobromide 300 mcg BD for hyper-salivation. There was no other medication change. After 5 days of starting Kwells, the patient presented with Neuroleptic Malignant syndrome. One has to watch for NMS while starting Hyoscine Hydrbromide for someone on antispychotics

Chimeric chromosome landscapes of human somatic cell cultures show dependence on stress and regulation of genomic repeats by CGGBP1

Peer reviewe

Comparative study of the binding characteristics to and inhibitory potencies towards PARP and in vivo antidiabetogenic potencies of taurine, 3-aminobenzamide and nicotinamide

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Poly(ADP-ribose) is a NAD⁺-requiring, DNA-repairing, enzyme playing a central role in pancreatic β-cell death and in the development of endothelial dysfunction in humans and experimental animals. PARP activation is also relevant to the development of complications of diabetes. Hence, agents capable of inhibiting PARP may be useful in preventing the development of diabetes and in slowing down complications of diabetes.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>PARP inhibition was assessed with a colorimetric assay kit. Molecular docking studies on the active site of PARP were conducted using the crystalline structure of the enzyme available as Protein Data Bank Identification No. 1UK1. Type 2 diabetes was induced in male Sprague-Dawley rats with streptozotocin (STZ, 60 mg/kg, i.p.). The test compounds (3-aminobenzamide = 3-AB, nicotinamide = NIC, taurine = TAU) were given by the i.p. route 45 min before STZ at 2.4 mM/kg (all three compounds) or 1.2 and 3.6 mM/kg (only NIC and TAU). Blood samples were collected at 24 hr after STZ and processed for their plasma. The plasma samples were used to measure glucose, insulin, cholesterol, triglycerides, malondialdehyde, nitric oxide, and glutathione levels using reported methods.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>3-AB, NIC and TAU were able to inhibit PARP, with the inhibitory potency order being 3-AB>NIC>>TAU. Molecular docking studies at the active site of PARP showed 3-AB and NIC to interact with the binding site for the nicotinamide moiety of NAD⁺ and TAU to interact with the binding site for the adenine moiety of NAD⁺. While STZ-induced diabetes elevated all the experimental parameters examined and lowered the insulin output, a pretreatment with 3-AB, NIC or TAU reversed these trends to a significant extent. At a dose of 2.4 mm/kg, the protective effect decreased in the approximate order 3-AB>NIC≥TAU. The attenuating actions of both NIC and TAU were dose-related except for the plasma lipids since NIC was without a significant effect at all doses tested.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>At equal molar doses, 3-AB was generally more potent than either TAU or NIC as an antidiabetogenic agent, but the differences were not as dramatic as would have been predicted from their differences in PARP inhibitory potencies. NIC and TAU demonstrated dose-related effects, which in the case of TAU were only evident at doses ≥2.4 mM/kg. The present results also suggest that in the case of NIC and TAU an increase in dose will enhance the magnitude of their attenuating actions on diabetes-related biochemical alterations to that achieved with a stronger PARP inhibitor such as 3-AB. Hence, dosing will play a critical role in clinical studies assessing the merits of NIC and TAU as diabetes-preventing agents.</p