Amelioration of Sugar Mill Effluent Polluted Soil Using Microbial Isolates and its Response on Paddy

Sugar mills play a major role in polluting the water bodies and land by discharging a large amount of wastewater as effluent. The continuous use of these effluents harmfully affects the crops when used for irrigation. As a result, a higher amount of various elements get deposited in the soil and make them polluted. Since this polluted soil reduces both the crop production as well as the soil properties, it was decided to give some bioremediation measures by treating the soil with microbial isolates. The physico- chemical analysis of the sugar mill polluted soils revealed that they are toxic in nature because they contain higher amount of micronutrients and macronutrients, organic and inorganic chemicals and heavy metals. In order to bioremediate the soil quality, PGPR and fungal isolates (Bacillus spp + Pseudomonas spp and Aspergillus niger + Penicillium spp) were cultured in the soil for 60 days. After that, the various soil properties were analysed and good percentage of pollutant reduction was observed. Germination studies were conducted in bioremediated soil and best germination was noticed under bioremediated soil when compared with polluted soil

Characterization of plant growth promoting rhizobacteria and fungi associated with rice, mangrove and effluent contaminated soil

Plant growth promoting rhizobacteria have been identified in influencing the growth and yield of many plants. The effects of PGPR on plant growth can be mediated by direct or indirect mechanisms. In search of efficient PGPR strains with multiple activities, microbial isolates belonging to Bacillus spp, Pseudomonas spp, Azotobacter spp, Azospirillium spp, Phosphobacteria spp, Glucanacetobacter spp Aspergillus niger and Penicillium spp were isolated from different sources (Rice field, Mangroves and Effluent soil) of Cuddalore district. These test isolates were biochemically characterized and screened in vitro for their plant growth promoting traits like production of Indole acetic acid (IAA), ammonia, HCN and catalase production. All the isolates were able to produce IAA. Production of ammonia was commonly detected in all the isolates. All the test isolates were positive for catalase but none of the isolates produced HCN. On the basis of multiple plant growth promoting activities, the isolates were evaluated for their heavy metal tolerance. Among the isolates used on the heavy metals (Iron, Zinc, Lead, Magnesium and Copper), the effluent isolates were more tolerant to heavy metal and more tolerance were seen on iron metal. Tolerance to heavy metals was observed less frequently in Azospirillium spp, Phosphobacteria spp and Glucanacetobacter spp. The isolates could exhibit more than two or three PGP traits, which may promote plant growth directly or indirectly or synergistically. Further rhizobacteria tolerant to multiple heavy metals exhibited a couple of PGP activities

Role of the thymus in the immune response to sheep erythrocytes in the lizard Calotes versicolor

The role of the thymus in antibody response to sheep erythrocytes (SRBC) was investigated in the lizard,Calotes versicolor, by utilizing the experimental models of adult thymectomy and anti-thymocyte serum (ATS) treatment. When thymectomized lizards were treated with high dose regimen of ATS, plaque-forming cell (PFC) response to SRBC was abrogated; however, this response was not altered by the low dose. A definite recovery of anti-SRBC response after ATS treatment occurred in the presence of the thymus. On the other hand the PFC response to SRBC was enhanced one month after adult thymectomy and after low dose ATS treatment. Both low and high doses of normal rabbit serum suppressed the immune response to SRBC and it is suggested that this suppression might be due to antigenic competition. These results indicate that (i) anti-SRBC response is thymus dependent and (ii) there are two kinds of thymus derived cells: one 'helper' collaborating in anti-SRBC response and another 'regulator' governing the magnitude of the response which is involved in antigenic competition. The phylogenetic status on the dual role of the thymus in immune functions has been discussed

Impairment of alternate pathway (CD2) of T cell activation in leprosy

Recent studies in basic immunology have been directed towards the understanding of the mechanism of T cell activation. T cells can be activated to proliferate via the classical pathway through the antigen receptor (CD3-Ti) or via the alternate pathway through the CD2 receptor. Since immunologic unresponsiveness in lepromatous leprosy is considered to be due to the inability of T cells to proliferate upon stimulation, we have been interested in the nature of these receptors and the activation pathways in lymphocytes of leprosy patients. In the present investigation we demonstrate: (i) CD2 receptor (Ereceptor) is downregulated in bacterial index positive lepromatous leprosy patients. (ii) The alternate pathway of T cell activation is impaired in lepromatous patients as revealed by the inability of their lymphocytes to proliferate in response to a pair of mitogenic anti-CD2 monoclonals. (iii) The addition of recombinant interleukin 2 in vitro restores the ability of lymphocytes from lepromatous patients to proliferate in response to anti-CD2 antibodies. (iv) Interestingly, CD2 modulation and the associated functional impairment could be brought about in peripheral blood lymphocytes from normal subjects by prior treatment with Mycobacterium leprae in vitro. This approach would be useful in understanding the molecular events leading to the defective T cell functions in leprosy

Knowledge management mechanisms for attrition control in private higher learning institutions

Private Higher Learning Institutions (PHLI) are concerned about student attrition because the cost related to the delivery of education is sensitive to the student enrolment. While mentoring is a useful approach for attrition control, such systems are often not well established in PHLI due to high turnover of lecturers who play the role of mentors and are also attributed to weak institutional follow-through. Apropos Knowledge Management(KM) mechanisms can help to equip the mentors with the requisite capabilities, as well as, facilitate the reinforcement of the institutional network and commitment to effectively deal with attrition.Consequently, the paper outlines a systematic approach for implementing an organised array of KM mechanisms for attrition control in PHLI. Our proposal is based on case studies involving two PHLI in Malaysia, analysed according to exemplar student integration and attrition models, and espouses intervention strategies through a mentoring program

Evidence for endotoxin as a causative factor for leptospiral uveitis in humans

Purpose: To understand the pathogenic mechanism of leptospiral uveitis by determining the profile of infiltrating cells, the levels of cytokines, and the causative factor in aqueous humor (AH). Methods: AH and blood samples were collected from 22 patients with leptospiral uveitis that was confirmed by microscopic agglutination test (MAT). Nine patients with Behçet's uveitis, 10 with phacolytic uveitis, and 13 with age-related cataract were included as control subjects. A cytometric bead array was used to estimate human inflammatory and Th1/Th2 cytokines. The level of endotoxin in AH was estimated by limulus amebocyte lysate (LAL) test and by dot blot analysis using a leptospiral serovar lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-specific monoclonal antibody. Results: Except for one patient with leptospiral uveitis, AH from all other patients and control subjects was negative for Gram-negative bacterial endotoxin by LAL test. However, a significant level of serovar Copenhageni LPS was observed in AH of patients with leptospiral uveitis seropositive for the same serovar by MAT, in contrast to its absence in all control subjects. A selective infiltration of neutrophils as well as a significant increase in the levels of protein and cytokines IL-12p70, TNF, IL-6, IL-8, and IL-10 was observed in AH of patients with leptospiral uveitis. Phacolytic uveitis was associated with a high proportion of activated macrophages and increased levels of IL-6 and IL-8, whereas Behçet's uveitis was associated with a predominant infiltration of neutrophils and increased levels of IFN-γ. Conclusions: The results demonstrate the presence of serovar-specific LPS in AH, and thus it is likely that endotoxin is a causative factor in leptospiral uveitis

A subset of human limbal epithelial cells with greater nucleus-to-cytoplasm ratio expressing high levels of p63 possesses slow-cycling property

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the subset of limbal epithelial cells with greater nucleus-to-cytoplasm (N/C) ratio expressing high levels of p63 for their slow-cycling property, a characteristic feature of stem cells (SCs). Methods: Limbal and peripheral corneal explant cultures were pulse labeled with 5-5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine (BrdU) for 5 days, followed by a period of 3-week chase. Cultured explants were cryosectioned and stained for BrdU. The epithelial cells in the outgrowth and those remaining on the explant were isolated and subjected to cytospin and double immunostaining for BrdU and p63, followed by identification of label-retaining cells (LRCs) and quantification of p63 expression using confocal microscopy. Results: A distinct population of small cells with large N/C ratio expressing high levels of p63 retained the BrdU label after 21-day chase. Further, this population of LRCs, negative for the differentiation marker K3, was observed in the epithelial outgrowth of limbal but not in that of peripheral cornea. LRCs were seen to migrate along the cut edge of limbal explants in culture and were also observed as clusters of small cells in the outgrowth, which contained cells with the ability to form holoclone colonies. Conclusions: These results demonstrate that the small cells with large N/C ratio and high levels of p63 have BrdU label retaining slo-cycling property, thus confirming that these 2 parameters in combination may serve as a precise marker for identification and quantification of ex vivo-expanded limbal SCs. This method would be useful to standardize the optimal culture conditions that can maintain and expand SCs for therapeutic applications

A Comparison of Supervised Learning Techniques for Predicting the Mortality of Patients with Altered State of Consciousness

The study attempts to identify a potentially reliable supervised learning technique for predicting the outcomes of mortality in an altered state of consciousness (ASC) patients. ASC is a state distinguished from ordinary waking consciousness, which is a common phenomenon in the Emergency Department (ED). Thirty (30) distinctive attributes or features are commonly used to recognize ASC. The study accordingly applied these features to model the prediction of mortality in ASC patients. Supervised learning techniques are found to be suitable for such classification problems. Consequently, the study compared five supervised learning techniques that are commonly applied to evaluate the risk of mortality using health-related datasets, namely Decision Tree, Neural Network, Random Forest, Naïve Bayes, and Logistic Regression. The labeled dataset comprised patient records captured by the Universiti Sains Malaysia hospital’s Emergency Medicine department from June to November 2008. The cleaned dataset was divided into two parts. The larger part was used for training and the smaller part, for evaluation. Since the ratio between training and testing samples varies between individual supervised learning techniques, we studied the performance of the modeled techniques by also varying the proportion of the training data to the dataset. We applied four percentage splits; 66%, 75%, 80%, and 90% to allow for 3-, 4-, 5- and 10-fold cross-validation experiments to evaluate the accuracy of the analyzed techniques. The variation helped to lessen the chance of over fitting, and averaged the effects of various conditions on accuracy. The experiments were conducted in the WEKA environment. The results indicated that Random Forest is the most reliable technique to model for predicting the mortality in ASC patients with acceptable accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity of 70.9%, 76.3%, and 65.5%, respectively. The results are further confirmed by SROC analysis. The findings of the study serve as a fundamental step towards a comprehensive study in the future

High expression of p63 combined with a large N/C ratio defines a subset of human limbal epithelial cells: implications on epithelial stem cells

Purpose: To characterize human limbal epithelial cells based on the expression levels of nuclear protein p63 and the nucleus-to-cytoplasm (N/C) ratio. Methods: Limbal, peripheral, and central corneal epithelia were separated from the stroma by Dispase II and subsequently were treated with trypsin to obtain single-cell suspensions. Cytospin smears of the cell suspensions were double immunostained for p63 and then stained for any one of the markers (acidic cytokeratins [AE1], K5, K3, or connexin 43 [C×43]). They were counterstained with propidium iodide. More than 100 cells from each zone were analyzed for p63 expression levels and nuclear/cellular area using quantitative confocal microscopy. Results: A gradient of p63-positive cells was observed in corneal and limbal epithelial cells. The percentage of p63-positive cells and the level of p63 expression were significantly higher in the limbal than in the peripheral or central corneal epithelium. Two-parameter (p63 levels and N/C ratio) analysis revealed the presence of a distinct population of small cells with higher levels of p63 and a large N/C ratio in the limbal epithelium. Such limbal epithelial cells were positive for AE1 and K5 but negative for K3 and C×43. Conclusions: These results suggest that this distinct group of small cells in the limbal epithelium with greater N/C ratio, expressing high levels of nuclear protein p63, probably represent corneal epithelial stem cells

Strain dependent & selective modulation of murine humoral immune response by carrageenan

Carrageenan (CGN), a polygalactan extracted from red algae, induced 90 per cent suppression of antibody response to sheep red blood cells in Balb/C strain as compared to the untreated controls. Whereas the treatment failed to induce suppression in C57BL/6 strain. The observed suppression of antibody response was significant on all days tested (up to 40 days) and the suppression induced by CGN was real and not due to any direct effect on antigen or on the assay system followed. On the other hand, as evident from foot-pad thickness, the delayed type hypersensitivity (DTH) was unaltered in Balb/C strain after CGN treatment