Incidence of Post-Harvest Fungal Pathogens in Guava and Banana in Allahabad

A survey was conducted to study incidence of pathogens associated with post-harvest losses in fruits in produce from fruit markets of Allahabad. Rhizopus stolonifer (20.76%) was a major post-harvest pathogen isolated from the samples, followed by Pestalotia psidii (18.46%), Alternaria sp. (17.69%), Penicillium expansum (11.53%), Colletotrichum gloesporioides (10.76%), Aspergillus niger (9.23%), Tricothecium sp (8.46%), and Cladosporium sp. (4%) in Guava, and, Fusarium sp. (28.3%) Curvularia (23.39%), Colletotrichum musae (16.6%), Trichothecium sp (11.6), Penicillium (10.8%), Alternaria (5%) and Rhizopus (4%) in banana fruit samples

Assessment of maternal lipid profile in early pregnancy and its correlation with pregnancy outcome

Background: Lipoprotein lipid physiology in pregnancy has important implications for the developing fetus as well as the mother. Elevated maternal triglycerides levels measured during early pregnancy have been associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes affecting both maternal and fetal health. Methods: This was a prospective observational study conducted in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, GSVM Medical College Kanpur between January 2020 to October 2021. A total of 146 antenatal women were enrolled in this study, out of which 26 women were lost to follow-up. Lipid profile was done for each subject and was later accessed. Results: Total cholesterol were deranged in patients 30%, serum TG in 40.83%, LDL in 28.33%, HDL in 35.83%. Out of total of 120 patients, 18 (15%) patients had HDP, 6 (5%) had GDM, 13 (10.83%) had a preterm delivery, 14 (11.66%) had FGR 9 (15.83%) had SGA babies, 7 (5.83%) had LGA babies and 38 (31.66%) patients delivered by cesarean section. In this study, only 15% of the study population shows hypertensive disorder of pregnancy and had a statistically significant correlation with triglyceride level.10.83% of the study population had preterm delivery. It showed a statistically significant correlation with serum TG level. Conclusions: Estimation of serum lipid profile during pregnancy can be considered as an early and economical investigation to prevent the deleterious effects of hyperlipidaemia associated with pregnancy.

Association of increased platelet distribution width and red cell distribution width with recurrent pregnancy loss

Background: Recurrent pregnancy loss is defined as three or more consecutive pregnancy losses at or less than 20 weeks of gestation or with a fetal weight less than 500 grams. The aim was to compare platelet distribution width and red cell distribution width between pregnant women with a history of recurrent pregnancy loss and pregnant women without a history of pregnancy loss.Methods: This was a prospective study to the evaluation of 70 pregnant women with a history of recurrent pregnancy loss and 70 pregnant women without a history of pregnancy loss in the first trimester.Results: When compared pregnant women with a history of recurrent pregnancy loss and 70 pregnant women without a history of pregnancy loss, the pregnant women with a history of recurrent pregnancy loss had significantly higher platelet distribution width and red cell distribution width (p≤0.001 for both). There was no statistically significant difference between the two groups in terms of age, BMI, Hemoglobin, TLC, hematocrit, platelecrit, mean corpuscular volume, mean corpuscular haemoglobin, mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration (p>0.05).Conclusions: An increased platelet distribution width and red cell distribution width with recurrent pregnancy loss

Rupture of non-communicating rudimentary uterine horn at 16 weeks of gestation

Pregnancy in non-communicating rudimentary horn is extremely rare and the usual presentation is rupture of rudimentary horn in second trimester of pregnancy resulting in severe haemoperitoneum which can be life threatening. We report a case of ruptured rudimentary horn pregnancy in 23 years old G2P0A1Lo whose diagnosis was initially missed by ultrasonography and presented to us in hemorrhagic shock. Exploratory laparotomy revealed ruptured rudimentary horn pregnancy at 16 weeks with haemoperitoneum and excision of ruptured left rudimentary horn with ipsilateral salpingectomy was done

General Common Fixed Point Theorems and Applications

The main result is a common fixed point theorem for a pair of multivalued maps on a complete metric space extending a recent result of Đorić and Lazović (2011) for a multivalued map on a metric space satisfying Ćirić-Suzuki-type-generalized contraction. Further, as a special case, we obtain a generalization of an important common fixed point theorem of Ćirić (1974). Existence of a common solution for a class of functional equations arising in dynamic programming is also discussed

Salivary uric acid as a non-invasive marker of early onset preeclampsia

Background: Preeclampsia is one of the most common complications in pregnancy and is a major cause of maternal and perinatal morbidity and mortality. Early prediction of preeclampsia is crucial in proactive management of the patient. Uric acid is a biomarker of hypertension. Methods: A prospective study was done on 200 pregnant females in their first or early second trimester of pregnancy and were followed till one week of delivery or termination of pregnancy. After taking socio-demographic details, detailed medical and obstetric history was taken. Blood pressure of the patients was routinely measured and mean arterial pressure was calculated. Blood and saliva samples were taken and were analysed following standard protocol for serum and salivary uric acid levels respectively. Participants were classified into normotensive and preeclampsia groups depending on the criteria met. Results: Preeclampsia group participants had significantly more adverse and feto-maternal outcomes. Salivary uric acid is a promising diagnostic predictor of preeclampsia in pregnant women by the virtue of being a non-invasive investigation with cut off value 4.86 mg/dl having a sensitivity of 70.8%, specificity of 45.7% and a PPV of 81.3%. Salivary uric acid level and mean arterial pressure were found to be better predictors of preeclampsia as compared to salivary uric acid level. Conclusions: Salivary uric acid is a reliable predictor of preeclampsia in pregnant females in first and early second trimester of pregnancy. Further largescale studies are warranted to establish an accurate cut off value with good diagnostic properties for Indian population

Differential Association of Gene Content Polymorphisms of Killer Cell Immunoglobulin-Like Receptors with Placental Malaria in HIV− and HIV+ Mothers

Pregnant women have abundant natural killer (NK) cells in their placenta, and NK cell function is regulated by polymorphisms of killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptors (KIRs). Previous studies report different roles of NK cells in the immune responses to placental malaria (PM) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1) infections. Given these references, the aim of this study was to determine the association between KIR gene content polymorphism and PM infection in pregnant women of known HIV-1 status. Sixteen genes in the KIR family were analyzed in 688 pregnant Kenyan women. Gene content polymorphisms were assessed in relation to PM in HIV-1 negative and HIV-1 positive women, respectively. Results showed that in HIV-1 negative women, the presence of the individual genes KIR2DL1 and KIR2DL3 increased the odds of having PM, and the KIR2DL2/KIR2DL2 homozygotes were associated with protection from PM. However, the reverse relationship was observed in HIV-1 positive women, where the presence of individual KIR2DL3 was associated with protection from PM, and KIR2DL2/KIR2DL2 homozygotes increased the odds for susceptibility to PM. Further analysis of the HIV-1 positive women stratified by CD4 counts showed that this reverse association between KIR genes and PM remained only in the individuals with high CD4 cell counts but not in those with low CD4 cell counts. Collectively, these results suggest that inhibitory KIR2DL2 and KIR2DL3, which are alleles of the same locus, play a role in the inverse effects on PM and PM/HIV co-infection and the effect of KIR genes on PM in HIV positive women is dependent on high CD4 cell counts. In addition, analysis of linkage disequilibrium (LD) of the PM relevant KIR genes showed strong LD in women without PM regardless of their HIV status while LD was broken in those with PM, indicating possible selection pressure by malaria infection on the KIR genes

A rare case of primary mesenteric gastrointestinal stromal tumor with metastasis to the cervix uteri

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Gastrointestinal stromal tumors are CD117 (C Kit) positive mesenchymal neoplasms, that may arise anywhere in the gastrointestinal tract. Their current therapy is imatinib mesylate before or after surgery.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>We describe a case of 17-year-old female with metastasis to the cervix uteri of a primary mesenteric gastrointestinal tumor.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Surgery remains the mainstay of known curative treatment. The manifestations of GIST are not restricted to the typical locations within the bowel; may have very unusual metastatic sites or infiltrations per continuitatem.</p

Maternal Malaria and Perinatal HIV Transmission, Western Kenya1,2

To determine whether maternal placental malaria is associated with an increased risk for perinatal mother-to-child HIV transmission (MTCT), we studied HIV-positive women in western Kenya. We enrolled 512 mother-infant pairs; 128 (25.0%) women had malaria, and 102 (19.9%) infants acquired HIV perinatally. Log10 HIV viral load and episiotomy or perineal tear were associated with increased perinatal HIV transmission, whereas low-density malaria (<10,000 parasites/μL) was associated with reduced risk (adjusted relative risk [ARR] 0.4). Among women dually infected with malaria and HIV, high-density malaria (>10,000 parasites/μL) was associated with increased risk for perinatal MTCT (ARR 2.0), compared to low-density malaria. The interaction between placental malaria and MTCT appears to be variable and complex: placental malaria that is controlled at low density may cause an increase in broad-based immune responses that protect against MTCT; uncontrolled, high-density malaria may simultaneously disrupt placental architecture and generate substantial antigen stimulus to HIV replication and increase risk for MTCT

Influenza A Virus Nucleoprotein Exploits Hsp40 to Inhibit PKR Activation

BACKGROUND: Double-stranded RNA dependent protein kinase (PKR) is a key regulator of the anti-viral innate immune response in mammalian cells. PKR activity is regulated by a 58 kilo Dalton cellular inhibitor (P58(IPK)), which is present in inactive state as a complex with Hsp40 under normal conditions. In case of influenza A virus (IAV) infection, P58(IPK) is known to dissociate from Hsp40 and inhibit PKR activation. However the influenza virus component responsible for PKR inhibition through P58(IPK) activation was hitherto unknown. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Human heat shock 40 protein (Hsp40) was identified as an interacting partner of Influenza A virus nucleoprotein (IAV NP) using a yeast two-hybrid screen. This interaction was confirmed by co-immunoprecipitation studies from mammalian cells transfected with IAV NP expressing plasmid. Further, the IAV NP-Hsp40 interaction was validated in mammalian cells infected with various seasonal and pandemic strains of influenza viruses. Cellular localization studies showed that NP and Hsp40 co-localize primarily in the nucleus. During IAV infection in mammalian cells, expression of NP coincided with the dissociation of P58(IPK) from Hsp40 and decrease PKR phosphorylation. We observed that, plasmid based expression of NP in mammalian cells leads to decrease in PKR phosphorylation. Furthermore, inhibition of NP expression during influenza virus replication led to PKR activation and concomitant increase in eIF2α phosphorylation. Inhibition of NP expression also led to reduced IRF3 phosphorylation, enhanced IFN β production and concomitant reduction of virus replication. Taken together our data suggest that NP is the viral factor responsible for P58(IPK) activation and subsequent inhibition of PKR-mediated host response during IAV infection. SIGNIFICANCE: Our findings demonstrate a novel role of IAV NP in inhibiting PKR-mediated anti-viral host response and help us understand P58(IPK) mediated inhibition of PKR activity during IAV infection