DETECTION AND PREVALENCE OF EFFLUX PUMP-MEDIATED DRUG RESISTANCE IN CLINICAL ISOLATES OF MULTIDRUG-RESISTANT GRAM-NEGATIVE BACTERIA FROM NORTH KERALA, INDIA

Objectives: The present study was carried out to detect the prevalence of efflux pump-mediated drug resistance in clinical isolates of multidrugresistant(MDR) Gram-negativebacteriaisolatedfromNorth Kerala.Methods: Clinical isolates (n = 123) of MDR Gram-negative bacteria were collected from various clinical laboratories in North Kerala, and their effluxmediateddrug resistancewasdetectedbytwosimple phenotypic assays-ethidiumbromide(EB)-agarcartwheelmethod andefflux pump inhibitor(EPI)-basedmicroplateassay,employingphenylalanine-arginineβ-naphthylamideas inhibitor.Results: The 123 Gram-negative MDR strains tested comprised Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Acinetobacter spp., and Klebsiella spp. TheEB-agar cartwheel method of screening revealed efflux activity in 20% (n=25) of the strains with representatives from all 4 genera. The efflux activitywas revealed at a minimum concentration of EB at 1 mg/l. P. aeruginosa strains showed the highest activity, many folds higher up to a concentrationof 2.5 mg/l. The confirmatory EPI-based microplate assay showed efflux activity only in 15% (n=18) strains with 6% (n=7) active against more thanone antibiotic. Efflux pump-mediated drug resistance was found to be most prevalent in P. aeruginosa (34.8%, n=8 out of 23), followed by that in E. coli(18.6%, n=8 out of 43), Acinetobacter spp. (9%, n=1out of 11), and Klebsiella spp. (2%, n=1 out of 46).Conclusion: This study reports on the emergence of efflux pump-based multidrug-resistance in North Kerala. Our results showed that 15% of drugresistance in Gram-negative MDR strains is attributable to efflux-related mechanisms, thereby emphasizing the need for inclusion of efflux-relatedtests in the diagnostic regimen for MDR clinical bacteria.Keywords: Gram-negative bacteria, Multidrug-resistance, Efflux pumps, Ethidium bromide, Efflux pump-inhibitor

Quantum tunneling dynamics of an interacting Bose-Einstein condensate through a Gaussian barrier

The transmission of an interacting Bose-Einstein condensate incident on a repulsive Gaussian barrier is investigated through numerical simulation. The dynamics associated with interatomic interactions are studied across a broad parameter range not previously explored. Effective 1D Gross-Pitaevskii equation (GPE) simulations are compared to classical Boltzmann-Vlasov equation (BVE) simulations in order to isolate purely coherent matterwave effects. Quantum tunneling is then defined as the portion of the GPE transmission not described by the classical BVE. An exponential dependence of transmission on barrier height is observed in the purely classical simulation, suggesting that observing such exponential dependence is not a sufficient condition for quantum tunneling. Furthermore, the transmission is found to be predominately described by classical effects, although interatomic interactions are shown to modify the magnitude of the quantum tunneling. Interactions are also seen to affect the amount of classical transmission, producing transmission in regions where the non-interacting equivalent has none. This theoretical investigation clarifies the contribution quantum tunneling makes to overall transmission in many-particle interacting systems, potentially informing future tunneling experiments with ultracold atoms.Comment: Close to the published versio

Association of umbilical cord blood lead with neonatal behavior at varying levels of exposure

BACKGROUND: In the light of the ongoing debate about lowering the cut-off for acceptable blood lead level to <5 μg/dL from the currently recommended level of <10 μg/dL, we considered whether prenatal exposure to varying levels of lead is associated with similar or disparate effects on neonatal behavior. METHODS: Using Brazelton's Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale (NBAS), an epidemiological approach and robust statistical techniques like multivariate linear regression, logistic regression, Poisson regression and structural equations modeling analyses we estimated the simultaneous indirect effects of umbilical cord blood lead (CBL) levels and other neonatal covariates on the NBAS clusters. RESULTS: We observed that when analyzed in all study subjects, the CBL levels independently and strongly influenced autonomic stability and abnormal reflexes clusters. However, when the analysis was restricted to neonates with CBL <10 μg/dL, CBL levels strongly influenced the range of state, motor and autonomic stability clusters. Abnormal walking reflex was consistently associated with an increased CBL level irrespective of the cut-off for CBL, however, only at the lower cut-offs were the predominantly behavioral effects of CBL discernible. CONCLUSION: Our results further endorse the need to be cognizant of the detrimental effects of blood lead on neonates even at a low-dose prenatal exposure

Synthesis of Mn0.2Zn0.8Fe2O4 particles by high energy ball milling and their applications

Ultra fine Mn0.2Zn0.8Fe2O4 magnetic particles are developed by high energy ball milling technique and investigated for physical properties. The crystalline phase, crystallite size, surface morphology, metal oxide bonding and porosity of these magnetic particles are analyzed. The porosity increases on increasing the grinding period due to decrease in the particle size and crystallinity reduces. The IR spectra measured in the range of 4000-400 cm-1 exhibit symmetric stretching mode of (FeO4) and (ZnO4) tetrahedral at 669.7 cm-1 and 545.6 cm-1. The lattice strain induced by ball milling process has been determined. The porosity plays an important role in chemisorption and physisorption of species on the sites of the particles. This property of these particles has been exploited for the applications of humidity sensor

Assessment of optical, mechanical and nonlinear properties of potassium acid phthalate single crystal: a potential candidate for optoelectronic applications

A good optical quality semi-organic single crystal of Potassium Acid Phthalate (KAP) was harvested from aqueous solution by using slow evaporation solution growth technique (SEST) at ambient condition. The defect free single crystal of KAP was analyzed by different instrumentation techniques, for checking its compatibility for different applications. Its unit cell dimensions and phase purity was examined by powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) and found that it crystallizes in orthorhombic with non-centrosymmetric in nature. The quality of the grown ingot was assessed by high resolution X-ray diffraction (HRXRD) technique and found that, the crystalline quality is better with less grain boundaries. Its optical properties were scrutinized by UV-vis., photoluminescence (PL) and time resolved photoluminescence (TRPL) measurements respectively. The mechanical stability of the grown crystal was tested by Vickers microhardness method and found that the grown crystal shows indentation size effect (ISE) which was explained using different theoretical models. Its third order nonlinear optical properties were studied by Z-scan measurement by using Ti:Sapphire laser as a source and determined its nonlinear absorption coefficient (beta) and it was found that the KAP crystal is one of the preferable choices for optical limiting applications

Solving Hard AI Problem using CaRP as Online Network Security

Today, there is cut throat competition in Network Security and is major issue in Computer world also several security parameters are based on hard mathematical problems are available to tackle this problem. So many researchers trying to solve this problem from last decades. Using hard AI problems for security is up-and-coming as an exciting new concept so we have to show keen interest in this domain. Hence, in this paper, we are introducing better security parameters based on hard AI problems, explicitly, a novel family of graphical password systems built on top of Captcha technology, which we are proposing Captcha and Graphical Passwords (CaRP). CaRP is both a Captcha and a graphical password system. CaRP sort some security problems, such as online guessing attacks, relay attacks and shoulder-surfing attacks. Especially, a CaRP password can be establish only probabilistically by automatic online guessing attacks even if the password is in the search position. CaRP also offers a novel approach to address the well-known image hotspot problem in popular graphical password systems, such as PassPoints that often leads to less password choices. CaRP is not a universal solution but it offers reasonable security and usability and it may use few practical applications for getting better online security such as banking, railway reservation etc. DOI: 10.17762/ijritcc2321-8169.15033

A synopsis of the family Pottiaceae (Bryophyta) of Kerala, India

The Potttiaceae are one of the dominant acrocarpic moss family of India with 26 genera and 130 species. The present paper is a synopsis of the family Pottiaceae in Kerala State. Here we report 18 species distributed among 13 genera such as Anoectangium aestivum, A. bicolor, Barbula tenuirostris, B. indica, Hyophila involuta, H. nymaniana, Hymenostylium recurvirostrum, Hy-menostomum edentulum, Indopottia zanderii, Oxystegus cylindricus, Pottia bry-oides, Scopelophila cataractae, S. ligulata, Syntrichia fragilis, T. muralis, Tor-tella tortuosa, Trichostomum wayanadense and T. crispulum. Among these one species viz., Pottia bryoides is a new record for India. Scopelophila ligulata is widely known as “copper moss” but this species was not recorded yet from Pen-insular India. This report is then new to Peninsular India. Two species viz; Bar-bula tenuirostris Brid. and Syntrichia fragilis (Tayl.) Ochyra. are new records for Kerala and Indopottia zanderii is endemic to Western Ghats

Non-destructive shadowgraph imaging of ultracold atoms

An imaging system is presented that is capable of far-detuned non-destructive imaging of a Bose-Einstein condensate with the signal proportional to the second spatial derivative of the density. Whilst demonstrated with application to $^{85}\text{Rb}$, the technique generalizes to other atomic species and is shown to be capable of a signal to noise of ${\sim}25$ at $1$GHz detuning with $100$ in-trap images showing no observable heating or atom loss. The technique is also applied to the observation of individual trajectories of stochastic dynamics inaccessible to single shot imaging. Coupled with a fast optical phase lock loop, the system is capable of dynamically switching to resonant absorption imaging during the experiment.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure

Band Structure of Topological Insulator BiSbTe1.25Se1.75

We present our angle resolved photoelectron spectroscopy (ARPES) and density functional theory results on quaternary topological insulator (TI) BiSbTe1.25Se1.75 (BSTS) confirming the non-trivial topology of the surface state bands (SSBs) in this compound. We find that the SSBs, which are are sensitive to the atomic composition of the terminating surface have a partial 3D character. Our detailed study of the band bending (BB) effects shows that in BSTS the Dirac point (DP) shifts by more than two times compared to that in Bi2Se3 to reach the saturation. The stronger BB in BSTS could be due to the difference in screening of the surface charges. From momentum density curves (MDCs) of the ARPES data we obtained an energy dispersion relation showing the warping strength of the Fermi surface in BSTS to be intermediate between those found in Bi2Se3 and Bi2Te3 and also to be tunable by controlling the ratio of chalcogen/pnictogen atoms. Our experiments also reveal that the nature of the BB effects are highly sensitive to the exposure of the fresh surface to various gas species. These findings have important implications in the tuning of DP in TIs for technological applications

Contribution to the bryophyte flora of India

The bryophyte flora of the Silent Valley National Park is catalogued. The catalogue consists of 148 taxa (109 mosses, 36 liverworts, 3 hornworts), of which nine species viz., Chrysocladium flammeum (Mitt.) M.Fleisch., Gymnostomum calcareum Nees & Hornsch., Glossadelphus bilobatus (Dix.) Broth., Hypnum flaccens Besch., Notoscyphus paroicus Schiffn., Macromitrium turgidum Dix., Calyptothecium pinnatum Nog., Brotherella amblystegia (Mitt.) Broth. and Wijkia deflexifolia (Ren. & Card.) Crum. are newly reported for Peninsular India. Another four species viz., Lejeunea cavifolia (Ehrh.) Lindb., Radula obscura Mitt., Radula meyeri Steph. and Barbella turgida Nog. are new record of occurrence for Kerala State. Trichostelium stigmosum (Manju et al., 2012) and Aerobryopsis wallichii (Brid.) Fleisch. (Prajitha et al., in press), has been reported as new records for India from Silent Valley