Safety and effectiveness of BCG vaccination in preterm babies

Aim: To assess the cell mediated immune response to BCG vaccine in preterm babies. Methods:Sixty two consecutive preterm babies born at < 35 weeks of gestation were randomly allocated into two groups. Babies in group A were vaccinated early at 34-35 weeks and group B were vaccinated late at 38-40 weeks of postconceptional age. The two groups were similar in terms of: gestational age (mean (SD) 33.1 (1. 1) and 33 (1.2) weeks, respectively); birthweight 1583 (204) and 1546 (218) g; neonatal problems; socioeconomic status; and postnatal weight gain. The cell mediated immune response to BCG was assessed using the Mantoux test and the lymphocyte migration inhibition test (LMIT) 6-8 weeks after BCG vaccination. Induration of >5 mm after the Mantoux test was taken as a positive response. Results: There was no significant difference in the tuberculin conversion rates (80% and 80.7%, respectively), positive LMIT (86.6% and 90.3%, respectively), or BCG scar (90.0% and 87.1%, respectively) among the two groups. Conclusions: Prematurity seems to be an unlikely cause for poor vaccine uptake. Preterm babies can be effectively vaccinated with BCG at 34-35 weeks of postconceptional age, the normal time of discharge in a developing country

Obstruction characterization of co-TT graphs

Threshold tolerance graphs and their complement graphs ( known as co-TT graphs) were introduced by Monma, Reed and Trotter[24]. Introducing the concept of negative interval Hell et al.[19] defined signed-interval bigraphs/digraphs and have shown that they are equivalent to several seemingly different classes of bigraphs/digraphs. They have also shown that co-TT graphs are equivalent to symmetric signed-interval digraphs. In this paper we characterize signed-interval bigraphs and signed-interval graphs respectively in terms of their biadjacency matrices and adjacency matrices. Finally, based on the geometric representation of signed-interval graphs we have setteled the open problem of forbidden induced subgraph characterization of co-TT graphs posed by Monma, Reed and Trotter in the same paper.Comment: arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:2206.0591

Limb splinting for intravenous cannulae in neonates: A randomised controlled trial

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of peripheral intravenous (IV) cannula site joint immobilisation by splint application on functional duration of peripheral IV cannula in neonates. Design: Randomised controlled trial. Setting: Neonatal intensive care unit of a tertiary care hospital. Participants: Neonates requiring continuous IV infusion for an expected duration of more than or equal to 72 hours. Intervention: Eligible cannulations were randomised to either “splint” or “no-splint” group. In the splint group, a cardboard splint was used to immobilise the joint at peripheral IV cannula site. No attempt was made to immobilise the limb in the no-splint group. Outcome measure: Functional duration of a peripheral IV cannula measured as interval from time of insertion to the development of predefined sign of removal (extravasation, blockage, inflammation). Results: A total of 69 peripheral IV cannulations in 54 neonates were randomised to either the splint (n = 33) or no-splint group (n = 36). Both groups were comparable in birth weight, gestation, site of cannulation and nature of fluids administered. Mean functional duration of cannula was lesser in the splint group compared to the no-splint group (h; 23.5 (SD15.9) vs 26.9 (SD15.5), mean difference: −3.3 h, 95% CI −11.02 to 4.3 h) although the difference was not statistically significant (p = 0.38). Extravasation at cannula site was found be the commonest indication for cannula removal in both the groups (84% vs 76.5%). Conclusion: Joint immobilisation with splint at cannula site did not improve the functional duration of peripheral IV cannula

Electromagnetic and Thermal Simulations of Human Neurons for SAR Applications

The impact of the electromagnetic waves (EM) on human neurons (HN) has been under investigation for decades, in efforts to understand the impact of cell phones (radiation) on human health, or radiation absorption by HN for medical diagnosis and treatment. Research issues including the wave frequency, power intensity, reflections and scattering, and penetration depths are of important considerations to be incorporated into the research study. In this study, computer simulation for the EM exposure to HN was studied for the purpose of determining the upper limits of the electric and magnetic field intensities, power consumption, reflections and transmissions, and the change in temperature resulting from the power absorption by human neurons. Both high frequency structural simulators (HFSS) from ANSYS software, and COMSOL multi-physics were used for the simulation of the EM transmissions and reflections, and the temperature profile within the cells, respectively. For the temperature profile estimation, the study considers an electrical source of 0.5 watt input power, 64 MHz. The EM simulation was looking into the uniformity of the fields within the sample cells. The size of the waveguide was set to be appropriate for a small animal model to be conducted in the future. The incident power was fully transmitted throughout the waveguide, and less than 1% reflections were observed from the simulation. The minimum reflected power near the sample under investigation was found to be with negligible reflected field strengths. The temperature profile resulting from the COMSOL simulation was found to be near 0.25 m°K, indicating no change in temperature on the neuro cells under the EM exposure. The paper details the simulation results for the EM response determined by HFSS, and temperature profile simulated by COMSOL

Recent advances in microbial biosynthesis of C3 – C5 diols: Genetics and process engineering approaches

Diols derived from renewable feedstocks have significant commercial interest in polymer, pharmaceutical, cosmetics, flavors and fragrances, food and feed industries. In C3-C5 diols biological processes of 1,3-propanediol, 1,2-propanediol and 2,3-butanediol have been commercialized as other isomers are non-natural metabolites and lack natural biosynthetic pathways. However, the developments in the field of systems and synthetic biology paved a new path to learn, build, construct, and test for efficient chassis strains. The current review addresses the recent advancements in metabolic engineering, construction of novel pathways, process developments aimed at enhancing in production of C3-C5 diols. The requisites on developing an efficient and sustainable commercial bioprocess for C3-C5 diols were also discusse

Complementary feeding at 4 versus 6 months of age for preterm infants born at less than 34 weeks of gestation: a randomised, open-label, multicentre trial

Background Evidence on the optimal time to initiation of complementary feeding in preterm infants is scarce. We examined the effect of initiation of complementary feeding at 4 months versus 6 months of corrected age on weight for age at 12 months corrected age in preterm infants less than 34 weeks of gestation. Methods In this open-label, randomised trial, we enrolled infants born at less than 34 weeks of gestation with no major malformation from three public health facilities in India. Eligible infants were tracked from birth and randomly assigned (1:1) at 4 months corrected age to receive complementary feeding at 4 months corrected age (4 month group), or continuation of milk feeding and initiation of complementary feeding at 6 months corrected age (6 month group), using computer generated randomisation schedule of variable block size, stratified by gestation (30 weeks or less, and 31–33 weeks). Iron supplementation was provided as standard. Participants and the implementation team could not be masked to group assignment, but outcome assessors were masked. Primary outcome was weight for age Z-score at 12 months corrected age (WAZ12) based on WHO Multicentre Growth Reference Study growth standards. Analyses were by intention to treat. The trial is registered with Clinical Trials Registry of India, number CTRI/2012/11/003149. Findings Between March 20, 2013, and April 24, 2015, 403 infants were randomly assigned: 206 to receive complementary feeding from 4 months and 197 to receive complementary feeding from 6 months. 22 infants in the 4 month group (four deaths, two withdrawals, 16 lost to follow-up) and eight infants in the 6 month group (two deaths, six lost to follow-up) were excluded from analysis of primary outcome. There was no difference in WAZ12 between two groups: –1·6 (SD 1·2) in the 4 month group versus –1·6 (SD 1·3) in the 6 month group (mean difference 0·005, 95% CI –0·24 to 0·25; p=0·965). There were more hospital admissions in the 4 month group compared with the 6 month group: 2·5 episodes per 100 infant-months in the 4 month group versus 1·4 episodes per 100 infant-months in the 6 month group (incidence rate ratio 1·8, 95% CI 1·0–3·1, p=0·03). 34 (18%) of 188 infants in the 4 month group required hospital admission, compared with 18 (9%) of 192 infants in the 6 month group. Interpretation Although there was no evidence of effect for the primary endpoint of WAZ12, the higher rate of hospital admission in the 4 month group suggests a recommendation to initiate complementary feeding at 6 months over 4 months of corrected age in infants less than 34 weeks of gestation

In-orbit Performance of UVIT on ASTROSAT

We present the in-orbit performance and the first results from the ultra-violet Imaging telescope (UVIT) on ASTROSAT. UVIT consists of two identical 38cm coaligned telescopes, one for the FUV channel (130-180nm) and the other for the NUV (200-300nm) and VIS (320-550nm) channels, with a field of view of 28 $arcmin$. The FUV and the NUV detectors are operated in the high gain photon counting mode whereas the VIS detector is operated in the low gain integration mode. The FUV and NUV channels have filters and gratings, whereas the VIS channel has filters. The ASTROSAT was launched on 28th September 2015. The performance verification of UVIT was carried out after the opening of the UVIT doors on 30th November 2015, till the end of March 2016 within the allotted time of 50 days for calibration. All the on-board systems were found to be working satisfactorily. During the PV phase, the UVIT observed several calibration sources to characterise the instrument and a few objects to demonstrate the capability of the UVIT. The resolution of the UVIT was found to be about 1.4 - 1.7 $arcsec$ in the FUV and NUV. The sensitivity in various filters were calibrated using standard stars (white dwarfs), to estimate the zero-point magnitudes as well as the flux conversion factor. The gratings were also calibrated to estimate their resolution as well as effective area. The sensitivity of the filters were found to be reduced up to 15\% with respect to the ground calibrations. The sensitivity variation is monitored on a monthly basis. UVIT is all set to roll out science results with its imaging capability with good resolution and large field of view, capability to sample the UV spectral region using different filters and capability to perform variability studies in the UV.Comment: 10 pages, To appear in SPIE conference proceedings, SPIE conference paper, 201

The Politics of Social Inclusion: Bridging Knowledge and Policies Towards Social Change

This volume looks at concepts and processes of social exclusion and social inclusion. It traces a number of discourses, all of them routed in a relational power analysis, examining them in the context of the UN Agenda for Sustainable Development 2030 with its commitment to "leave no one behind." The book combines analysis that is fundamentally critical of the rhetoric of social inclusion in academic and UN discourse with narratives of social exclusion processes and social inclusion contestation, based on ethnographic field research findings in La Paz, Kingston, Port-au-Prince, Kampala, Beijing, Chongqing, Mumbai, Delhi, and villages in Northern India. As a result, it contributes to revealing the politics of social inclusion, offering policy proposals towards overcoming exclusions.Comparative Research Programme on Poverty (CROP) at the University of Bergen.publishedVersio

Machine Learning Identifies Clinical and Genetic Factors Associated With Anthracycline Cardiotoxicity in Pediatric Cancer Survivors

BACKGROUND Despite known clinical risk factors, predicting anthracycline cardiotoxicity remains challenging. OBJECTIVES This study sought to develop a clinical and genetic risk prediction model for anthracycline cardiotoxicity in childhood cancer survivors. METHODS We performed exome sequencing in 289 childhood cancer survivors at least 3 years from anthracycline exposure. In a nested case-control design, 183 case patients with reduced left ventricular ejection fraction despite low-dose doxorubicin (\u3c= 250 mg/m(2)), and 106 control patients with preserved left ventricular ejection fraction despite doxorubicin \u3e250 mg/m(2) were selected as extreme phenotypes. Rare/low-frequency variants were collapsed to identify genes differentially enriched for variants between case patients and control patients. The expression levels of 5 top-ranked genes were evaluated in human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes, and variant enrichment was confirmed in a replication cohort. Using random forest, a risk prediction model that included genetic and clinical predictors was developed. RESULTS Thirty-one genes were differentially enriched for variants between case patients and control patients (p \u3c 0.001). Only 42.6% case patients harbored a variant in these genes compared to 89.6% control patients (odds ratio: 0.09; 95% confidence interval: 0.04 to 0.17; p = 3.98 x 10(-15)). A risk prediction model for cardiotoxicity that included clinical and genetic factors had a higher prediction accuracy and lower misclassification rate compared to the clinical-only model. In vitro inhibition of gene-associated pathways (PI3KR2, ZNF827) provided protection from cardiotoxicity in cardiomyocytes. CONCLUSIONS Our study identified variants in cardiac injury pathway genes that protect against cardiotoxicity and informed the development of a prediction model for delayed anthracycline cardiotoxicity, and it also provided new targets in autophagy genes for the development of cardio-protective drugs