Optimization of enzymatic saccharification of microwave pretreated sugarcane tops through response surface methodology for biofuel

992-996The optimization of biomass loading enzyme loading, surfactant concentration and incubation time, using response surface methodology (RSM) and Box Behnken design for enzymatic saccharification of sugarcane tops (SCT) for maximum recovery of fermentable sugars using crude cellulases, resulted in 90.24% saccharification efficiency. Maximum saccharification yield of 0.376 g/g glucose as substrate for ethanol production was observed at optimal conditions of 10% biomass loading (pretreated), 100FPU/g of cellulase loading, 0.04% (w/w) surfactant concentration and 72 h of incubation time

Computational Mining and Genome Wide Distribution of Microsatellite in Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici

Simple sequence repeat (SSR) is currently the most preferred molecular marker system owing to their highly desirable properties viz., abundance, hyper-variability, and suitability for high-throughput analysis. Hence, in present study an attempt was made to mine and analyze microsatellite dynamics in whole genome of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici. The distribution pattern of different SSR motifs provides the evidence of greater accumulation of tetra-nucleotide (3837) repeats followed by tri-nucleotide (3367) repeats. Maximum frequency distribution in coding region was shown by mono-nucleotide SSR motifs (34.8%), where as minimum frequency is observed for penta-nucleotide SSR (0.87%). Highest relative abundance (1023 SSR/Mb) and density of SSRs (114.46 bp/Mb) were observed on chromosome 1, while least density of SSR motifs was recorded on chromosome 11 (7.40 bp/Mb) and 12 (7.41 bp/Mb), respectively. Maximum trinucleotide (34.24%) motifs code for glutamic acid (GAA) while GT/CT were the most frequent repeat of dinucleotide SSRs. Most common and highly repeated SSR motifs were identified as (A)64, (T)48, (GT)24, (GAA)31, (TTTC)24, (TTTCT)28 and (AACCAG)27. Overall, the generated information may serve as baseline information for developing SSR markers that could find applications in genomic analysis of F. oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici for better understanding of evolution, diversity analysis, population genetics, race identification and acquisition of new virulence

Genetic diversity, mating types and phylogenetic analysis of Indian races of <i>Fusarium oxysporum</i> f. sp. <i>ciceris</i> from chickpea

<p>The present study describes the comparative analysis of five genetic markers viz., random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD), enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus (ERIC), BOX-elements, mating type (MAT) locus and microsatellites for genetic analysis of virulent isolates of <i>Fusarium oxysporum</i> f. sp. <i>ciceri</i> (FOC) representing seven races from chickpea. Phylogenetic analysis of translation elongation factor 1-α and internal transcribed spacer region separated all the FOC isolates into two major clades. Majority of the isolates (FOC 63, FOC 33, FOC 40, FOC 100, FOC 6, FOC 22, FOC 31, FOC 79 and NDFOC 98) representing race 1, 2, 5 and 6 grouped in clade I, while isolates (FOC 90, FOC 108 and FOC 88) belonging to race 3, 4 and 7 were clustered in clade II. Isolates (FOC 33, FOC 40, FOC 17 and FOC 100) representing race 2 had MAT-2 loci, while race 1 isolates (FOC 63, FOC 72 and FOC 76) contained MAT-1 loci only. The principal component analysis (PCA) of RAPD, ERIC, BOX and microsatellite marker data explained 39.94, 39.98, 42.04 and 62.59% of the total variation among test isolates, respectively. Furthermore, there was no correlation existed between genetic diversity, virulence, race compositions or geographic origin of the isolates. Overall, these findings will assist in better understanding of the genetic variability and ideally, will improve disease management practices.</p

Impact and cost-effectiveness evaluation of nutritional supplementation and complementary interventions for tuberculosis treatment outcomes under mukti pay-for-performance model in Madhya Pradesh, India: A study protocol

Background: A “pay-for-performance” (P4P) intervention model for improved tuberculosis (TB) outcomes, called “Mukti,” has been implemented in an underdeveloped tribal area of central India. The target of this project is to improve nutritional status, quality of life (QoL), and treatment outcomes of 1000 TB patients through four interventions: food baskets, personal counseling, peer-to-peer learning and facilitation for linkage to government schemes. The current study aims to assess the success of this model by evaluating its impact and cost-effectiveness using a quasi-experimental approach. Methods: Data for impact assessment have been collected from 1000 intervention and control patients. Study outcomes such as treatment completion, sputum negativity, weight gain, and health-related QoL will be compared between matched samples. Micro costing approach will be used for assessing the cost of routine TB services provision under the national program and the incremental cost of implementing our interventions. A decision and Markov hybrid model will estimate long-term costs and health outcomes associated with the use of study interventions. Measures of health outcomes will be mortality, morbidity, and disability. Cost-effectiveness will be assessed in terms of incremental cost per quality-adjusted life-years gained and cost per unit increase in patient weight in intervention versus control groups. Results: The evidence generated from the present study in terms of impact and cost-effectiveness estimates will thus help to identify not only the effectiveness of these interventions but also the optimal mode of financing such measures. Our estimates on scale-up costs for these interventions will also help the state and the national government to consider scale-up of such interventions in the entire state or country. Discussion: The study will generate important evidence on the impact of nutritional supplementation and other complementary interventions for TB treatment outcomes delivered through P4P financing models and on the cost of scaling up these to the state and national level in India

Barriers to rehabilitation after critical illness: a survey of multidisciplinary healthcare professionals caring for ICU survivors in an acute care hospital

Background: There is scant literature on the barriers to rehabilitation for patients discharged from the intensive care unit (ICU) to acute care wards. Objectives: The objective of this study was to assess ward-based rehabilitation practices and barriers and assess knowledge and perceptions of ward clinicians regarding health concerns of ICU survivors. Methods, design, setting, and participants: This was a single-centre survey of multidisciplinary healthcare professionals caring for ICU survivors in an Australian tertiary teaching hospital. Main outcome measures: The main outcome measures were knowledge of post-intensive care syndrome (PICS) amongst ward clinicians, perceptions of ongoing health concerns with current rehabilitation practices, and barriers to inpatient rehabilitation for ICU survivors. Results: The overall survey response rate was 35% (198/573 potential staff). Most respondents (66%, 126/ 190) were unfamiliar with the term PICS. A majority of the respondents perceived new-onset physical weakness, sleep disturbances, and delirium as common health concerns amongst ICU survivors on acute care wards. There were multifaceted barriers to patient mobilisation, with inadequate multidisciplinary staffing, lack of medical order for mobilisation, and inadequate physical space near the bed as common institutional barriers and patient frailty and cardiovascular instability as the commonly perceived patient-related barriers. A majority of the surveyed ward clinicians (66%, 115/173) would value education on health concerns of ICU survivors to provide better patient care. Conclusion: There are multiple potentially modifiable barriers to the ongoing rehabilitation of ICU survivors in an acute care hospital. Addressing these barriers may have benefits for the ongoing care of ICU survivors

Barriers to rehabilitation after critical illness:A survey of multidisciplinary healthcare professionals caring for ICU survivors in an acute care hospital

Background There is scant literature on the barriers to rehabilitation for patients discharged from the intensive care unit (ICU) to acute care wards. Objectives The objective of this study was to assess ward-based rehabilitation practices and barriers and assess knowledge and perceptions of ward clinicians regarding health concerns of ICU survivors. Methods, design, setting, and participants This was a single-centre survey of multidisciplinary healthcare professionals caring for ICU survivors in an Australian tertiary teaching hospital. Main outcome measures The main outcome measures were knowledge of post–intensive care syndrome (PICS) amongst ward clinicians, perceptions of ongoing health concerns with current rehabilitation practices, and barriers to inpatient rehabilitation for ICU survivors. Results The overall survey response rate was 35% (198/573 potential staff). Most respondents (66%, 126/190) were unfamiliar with the term PICS. A majority of the respondents perceived new-onset physical weakness, sleep disturbances, and delirium as common health concerns amongst ICU survivors on acute care wards. There were multifaceted barriers to patient mobilisation, with inadequate multidisciplinary staffing, lack of medical order for mobilisation, and inadequate physical space near the bed as common institutional barriers and patient frailty and cardiovascular instability as the commonly perceived patient-related barriers. A majority of the surveyed ward clinicians (66%, 115/173) would value education on health concerns of ICU survivors to provide better patient care. Conclusion There are multiple potentially modifiable barriers to the ongoing rehabilitation of ICU survivors in an acute care hospital. Addressing these barriers may have benefits for the ongoing care of ICU survivors

Implication of Dynamic Recrystallization Mechanism for the Exhumation of Lower Crustal Rocks:A Case Study in the Shear Zones of the Ambaji Granulite, NW India

Shear zones are important channels for the exhumation of lower crustal rocks. The Ambaji granulite of the Aravalli-Delhi mobile belt (ADMB) has been exhumed along several shear zones, and earlier studies have shown a two-stage exhumation process during a continuous compressional tectonic event, consisting of an initial phase of vertical flow that brought the granulites to the brittleductile transition zone and a successive phase during which the granulite underwent a lateral flow. In this contribution, we studied the microtectonics of granulites by analyzing the dynamic recrystallization behaviour of quartz, while the granulite was passing through the vertical flow regime to the horizontal flow regime. We show that the dynamic recrystallization process assists the flow pattern at different levels of exhumation. The vertical flow is dominated by grain boundary migration (GBM), registering high temperatures for recrystallization between 490 and 600°C and low flow stresses of 12-15 MPa. The horizontal flow at the brittle-ductile transition (BDT) is characterized by bulging (BLG) and subgrain rotation (SGR), which occurred at low temperatures of 390-490°C and high flow stresses of 18-26 MPa. Strain rates are between 1:20 × 10−12 and 7:26 × 10−14/s. For the ductile exhumation of the granulite, we suggest that at depths of ~22 km, the granulite exhumed in a vertical direction facilitated by GBM. Once the granulite reached the BDT, at ~16 km depth, the material flowed laterally assisted by BLG and SGR. Once an exhuming body reaches the BDT, the deformation mechanism changes to BLG-SGR, and the only direction in which the material can move further is in the horizontal plan