Knowledge and attitude among students towards HIV/AIDS patients at a dental college, Suraram, India

Background: Clinical training is a part of curriculum for the dental students. They are trained in dental procedures, where there is a chance of exposure to HIV infection. Hence this study was conducted with an objective to assess their knowledge, attitude to treat these patients.Methods: An institutional based study was carried out among 145 dental students at Malla Reddy Dental College for Women. A questionnaire with 29 questions on knowledge, attitude and willing to treat the HIV/AIDS patients which was already used in other study was adapted. Primary outcome- knowledge and attitude was measured in percentages, proportions using SPSS version 20 and Chi-square.Results: Total subjects who had good knowledge were 71 (48.9%) and 137(94.5%) viewed needle stick injury can transmit HIV virus. 138 (98.1%) agreed that it is their moral responsibility to treat HIV/AIDS patients and risk of HIV transmission is high, hence special precautions have to be followed to treat them. Positive attitude towards HIV/AIDS patients was reported among 129(89%) of students. Chi square test showed an association between knowledge and attitude among study subjects which was statistically significant at p <0.05 level.Conclusions: Active student’s collaboration for treatment compliance of HIV/AIDS patients should be directed towards comprehensive training in the dental colleges which forms a basis for provision of appropriate, optimal dental care improving oral health related quality of life in people living with HIV

Proteomic analysis of the fish pathogen Flavobacterium columnare

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p><it>Flavobacterium columnare </it>causes columnaris disease in cultured and wild fish populations worldwide. Columnaris is the second most prevalent bacterial disease of commercial channel catfish industry in the United States. Despite its economic importance, little is known about the expressed proteins and virulence mechanisms of <it>F. columnare</it>. Here, we report the first high throughput proteomic analysis of <it>F. columnare </it>using 2-D LC ESI MS/MS and 2-DE MALDI TOF/TOF MS.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Proteins identified in this study and predicted from the draft <it>F. columnare </it>genome were clustered into functional groups using clusters of orthologous groups (COGs), and their subcellular locations were predicted. Possible functional relations among the identified proteins were determined using pathway analysis. The total number of unique <it>F. columnare </it>proteins identified using both 2-D LC and 2-DE approaches was 621, of which 10.95% (68) were identified by both methods, while 77.29% (480) and 11.76% (73) were unique in 2-D LC and 2-DE, respectively. COG groupings and subcellular localizations were similar between our data set and proteins predicted from the whole genome. Twenty eight pathways were significantly represented in our dataset (<it>P </it>< 0.05).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Results from this study provide experimental evidence for many proteins that were predicted from the <it>F. columnare </it>genome annotation, and they should accelerate functional and comparative studies aimed at understanding virulence mechanisms of this important pathogen.</p

Evaluating The Suitability of Cirrhinus Mrigala in a Sintex Tank Culture System: A Promising Experimental Study

This pioneering study conducted by the Department of Aquaculture aimed to assess the suitability of Cirrhinus Mrigala, a freshwater species, for cultivation in a Sintex tank. The objective was to determine the growth potential and productivity of Cirrhinus Mrigala in this specific tank culture system. Over a period of 60 days, the final weights of the fish specimens were recorded as follows: 2.0g, 4.30g, 6.96g, 9.98g, 11.21g, and 14.17g, respectively. The total fish yield achieved during this period was 437.58 grams, utilizing a natural feeding regime. This study provides valuable insights as the first investigation in this domain, revealing promising indications for the implementation of Sintex tank culture for Cirrhinus Mrigala cultivation

Developing composites of zinc and hydroxyapatite for degradable orthopedic implant applications

In the present work, Zn-HA composites were developed by powder metallurgy route targeted for bone implant applicaitons. Zn-HA powders with varying HA content (1, 2, and 4 wt.%) were ball milled for 1 hr and sintered to produce composite compacts. X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies were done for all the ball milled powders and sintered compacts. No impurities were observed in the ball milled powders. Microstructural observations revealed the formation of lamellar structure in the composites due to the plastic deformation of the Zn powders during ball milling. Grain size measurements revealed the decreased grain size with increase of addition of HA. Furthermore, aspect ratio (length to thickness ratio) of the grains was measured and found that the aspect ratio was also decreased with the increased HA content. Higher microhardness was measured for all the composites compared with pure Zn. However, composite with 1% has shown higher hardness compared with the remaining composites. Form the preliminary observations, it can be concluded that Zn-HA composites can be successfully produced with lamellar morphology by ball milling followed by sintering for biomedical applications with increased hardness

Sex-specific local life-history adaptation in surface- and cave-dwelling Atlantic mollies (Poecilia mexicana)

Cavefishes have long been used as model organisms showcasing adaptive diversification, but does adaptation to caves also facilitate the evolution of reproductive isolation from surface ancestors? We raised offspring of wild-caught surface- and cave-dwelling ecotypes of the neotropical fish Poecilia mexicana to sexual maturity in a 12-month common garden experiment. Fish were raised under one of two food regimes (high vs. low), and this was crossed with differences in lighting conditions (permanent darkness vs. 12:12 h light:dark cycle) in a 2 × 2 factorial design, allowing us to elucidate potential patterns of local adaptation in life histories. Our results reveal a pattern of sex-specific local life-history adaptation: Surface molly females had the highest fitness in the treatment best resembling their habitat of origin (high food and a light:dark cycle), and suffered from almost complete reproductive failure in darkness, while cave molly females were not similarly affected in any treatment. Males of both ecotypes, on the other hand, showed only weak evidence for local adaptation. Nonetheless, local life-history adaptation in females likely contributes to ecological diversification in this system and other cave animals, further supporting the role of local adaptation due to strong divergent selection as a major force in ecological speciation

Edwardsiella Comparative Phylogenomics Reveal the New Intra/Inter-Species Taxonomic Relationships, Virulence Evolution and Niche Adaptation Mechanisms

Edwardsiella bacteria are leading fish pathogens causing huge losses to aquaculture industries worldwide. E. tarda is a broad-host range pathogen that infects more than 20 species of fish and other animals including humans while E. ictaluri is host-adapted to channel catfish causing enteric septicemia of catfish (ESC). Thus, these two species consist of a useful comparative system for studying the intricacies of pathogen evolution. Here we present for the first time the phylogenomic comparisons of 8 genomes of E. tarda and E. ictaluri isolates. Genome-based phylogenetic analysis revealed that E. tarda could be separate into two kinds of genotypes (genotype I, EdwGI and genotype II, EdwGII) based on the sequence similarity. E. tarda strains of EdwGI were clustered together with the E. ictaluri lineage and showed low sequence conservation to E. tarda strains of EdwGII. Multilocus sequence analysis (MLSA) of 48 distinct Edwardsiella strains also supports the new taxonomic relationship of the lineages. We identified the type III and VI secretion systems (T3SS and T6SS) as well as iron scavenging related genes that fulfilled the criteria of a key evolutionary factor likely facilitating the virulence evolution and adaptation to a broad range of hosts in EdwGI E. tarda. The surface structure-related genes may underlie the adaptive evolution of E. ictaluri in the host specification processes. Virulence and competition assays of the null mutants of the representative genes experimentally confirmed their contributive roles in the evolution/niche adaptive processes. We also reconstructed the hypothetical evolutionary pathway to highlight the virulence evolution and niche adaptation mechanisms of Edwardsiella. This study may facilitate the development of diagnostics, vaccines, and therapeutics for this under-studied pathogen

Identification of Differentially Abundant Proteins of Edwardsiella ictaluri during Iron Restriction.

Edwardsiella ictaluri is a Gram-negative facultative anaerobe intracellular bacterium that causes enteric septicemia in channel catfish. Iron is an essential inorganic nutrient of bacteria and is crucial for bacterial invasion. Reduced availability of iron by the host may cause significant stress for bacterial pathogens and is considered a signal that leads to significant alteration in virulence gene expression. However, the precise effect of iron-restriction on E. ictaluri protein abundance is unknown. The purpose of this study was to identify differentially abundant proteins of E. ictaluri during in vitro iron-restricted conditions. We applied two-dimensional difference in gel electrophoresis (2D-DIGE) for determining differentially abundant proteins and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI TOF/TOF MS) for protein identification. Gene ontology and pathway-based functional modeling of differentially abundant proteins was also conducted. A total of 50 unique differentially abundant proteins at a minimum of 2-fold (p ≤ 0.05) difference in abundance due to iron-restriction were detected. The numbers of up- and down-regulated proteins were 37 and 13, respectively. We noted several proteins, including EsrB, LamB, MalM, MalE, FdaA, and TonB-dependent heme/hemoglobin receptor family proteins responded to iron restriction in E. ictaluri

Complexation thermodynamics of UO22+/diglycolamide complex in a room temperature ionic liquid: A study by optical spectroscopy and microcalorimetry

Complexation thermodynamics of UO22+ and a series of N,N,N’,N’-tetraalkyl diglycolamide (TRDGA) ligands having alkyl chains –CH3 to –C6H13 were investigated in an ionic liquid (IL). The complexation constant for UO22+/DGA complex increased linearly with increasing alkyl chain length of DGA from tetramethyl (logβ1 = 4.52, logβ2 = 8.01) to tetrahexyl (logβ1 = 5.62, logβ2 = 10.3). There were two types of species recorded in the calorimetric titration for all the four ligands, one having endothermic complexation, and other exothermic. This observation was in contrast with those observed for aqueous medium, where both the stepwise complexation enthalpies were endothermic. The structural feature indicated the formation of [UO2L2]2+ type of complex without water or Tf2N− anion in the primary coordination sphere of the uranyl cation