Management of lower respiratory tract infections (LRTI’s): clinical microbiologists’ perspective

In the era of emergence and re-emergence of newer and existing microorganisms, clinical and laboratory diagnosis of LRTI’s requires regular evaluation. Elaborating on possible predisposing factors will be critical to health care workers in the better management of patients suffering with Lower Respiratory Tract Infections (LRTI’s). Microbiologist’s role becomes crucial in deciding the culture methods to be employed to isolate the suspected causative microorganism and identification of the probable pathogen among mixed growth of the isolated bacteria/fungi. Antimicrobial therapy should necessarily be guided by the susceptibility patterns of various antibiotics against different microorganisms from a given geographical region, which should be regularly updated

PROCESS AND PARAMETERS AFFECTING DRUG RELEASE PERFORMANCE OF PREPARED CROSS-LINKED ALGINATE HYDROGEL BEADS FOR EZETIMIBE

Objective: The objective of this study was to formulate an oral sustained release delivery system of ezetimibe mucoadhesive beads by ionic gelation technique based on sodium alginate used as a hydrophilic carrier in combination with carbopol 934P which acts as a rate modifier.Methods: Microbeads of ezetimibe were prepared using an easy method of ionotropic gelation by little modification while in addition of drug. The prepared beads were characterised for mean particle size, entrapment efficiency, swelling capacity, and in vitro release. They were also subjected to various studies such as Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrophotometer (FTIR) Spectroscopy for drug polymer reaction, Scanning Electron Microscopy for surface morphology, and Differential Scanning Calorimetric Analysis to determine the physical state of the drug in the beads.Results: The microspheres of ezetimibe were formulated successfully. The addition of drug concentration gives higher drug loading and higher conc. of Alcl+3 yields small diameter beads and lower drug entrapment. Analysis of the release profiles showed that the data corresponds to zero order release and the diffusion-controlled mechanism as suggested by Higuchi concept.Conclusion: It can be concluded that beads produced by the sequential method had higher drug entrapment. Beads produced by simultaneous yields larger beads in diameter. The concept was cleared that drug release was dependent upon the quantity of polymer and increase in conc. of. aluminium chloride retarded the drug release in the sequential method. Prepared beads enhance the dissolution of ezetimibe and the oral bioavailability and also reduce the fluctuations in the oral bioavailability

A Novel Data Engineering Process Which Integrates Alert Information, Security Logs, And SOC Analysts

We build up a user centric ML system for the cyber security operation center in endeavor environment. We examine the regular data sources in SOC, their work process, and how to leverage and procedure these data sets to construct an effective ML system. The work is besieged towards two groups of readers. The primary group is data scientists or ML researchers who do not have cyber security domain awareness but want to build ML systems for safety operations center. The second group of people is those cyber security practitioners who have deep information and expertise in cyber security, but do not have ML knowledge and wish to construct one by them. All through the work, we use the system we built in the Symantec SOC construction setting as an example to display the full steps from data collection, label creation, feature engineering, ML algorithm selection, and model show evaluations, to risk score making

Dry and wet spells at Itabaina (NE Brazil)

Results of a study of dry and wet spells at Itabaina, a semi-arid station in northeast Brazil, are presented in this paper. Frequency distributions of dry spells of different durations at the station are compared with those derived from three statistical models. It is found that the Eggenberger-Polya and the geometric model provide better results than the logarithmic model. Frequency distribution of wet spells during the three rainiest months of the year shows that rainfall persistency reaches a maximum value on the fifth day of a rainy spell

Production of Inulinase by Fusarium sp. and its Application for Fructo-oligosaccharide Production for use as Prebiotics

Fructooligosaccharides (FOS) are useful due to their applications in food and pharmaceutical industry. Fusarium spp., isolated from dahlia rhizosphere, produced endoinulinases in a medium containing inulin or sucrose as carbon substrate. In this study, characterization of exo-inulinase and production of FOS were investigated. Temperature and pH optimum of the enzyme was found to be 60°C and pH 6.0, respectively. The optimization of fermentation conditions for inulinase production was carried out using one at a time approach. The optimized medium with sucrose as a carbon source and yeast extract as a nitrogen source were found to be optimal for inulinase production at an initial pH 5.0 and incubation temperature 30 °C for 120 h. Under these conditions, the maximum inulinase concentration of 131.6 U/ml was achieved. SDS PAGE revealed that the molecular weight of the enzyme was around 90 kDa. Further study revealed that Fusarium sp. could produce inulinase as well as invertase. Thin layer chromatography was carried out to analyze the FOS production and their oligomeric properties. Inulin as well FOS can be used as prebiotics as they are selectively fermented by Bifidobacteria and Lactic acid bacteria and thus imparting health benefits

Screening and statistical optimization of media ingredients for production of microbial transglutaminase

Transglutaminase is a calcium dependent enzyme that catalyses acyl transfer reactions between primary amino groups and protein bound glutamine residues. Eighteen bacterial and twenty eight actinomycetes were screened for the presence of transglutaminase. Among the microbial cultures screened Streptomyces sp. D1, showed maximum transglutaminase activity. In this study characterization of transglutaminase and its application to modifying the properties of panner (Indian cottage cheese) in the form of cross linking was investigated. Optimum temperature and pH for enzyme was found to be at 50°C and 6.0, respectively. Optimization of media ingredients for maximizing the transglutaminase activity using Streptomyces sp. D1 was carried out using central composite design. Response surface methodology was employed to standardize the optimum media composition for maximum enzyme activity. Three factors such as carbon source, nitrogen source and pH were tested for the maximum enzyme activity as response. The optimized medium with sugarcane molasses as carbon source 6.0% (w/v), peptone as nitrogen source 1.75% (w/v) were found to be optimal at initial pH 6.5 and incubation temperature 30.0°C with agitation at 100 rpm for 96h. The enzyme activity of transglutaminase obtained from the optimized medium was found to be 4.1 (AU/ml). Low cost substrate such as sugarcane molasses in the form of a renewable substrate is proposed to be suitable even for scale-up production of enzyme and for industrial applications. The ethanol fractionated transglutaminse treated milk was found to produce more paneer with increased moisture content while reduction in cooking loss of the paneer prepared using enzyme treated milk is also reported

Efficacy of Paecilomyces lilacinus (Thorn.) Samson in suppressing nematode infestations in black pepper (Piper nigrum L.)

The efficacy of Paecilamyces lilacinus in snppressing root-knot nematode (Melaidogyne incognita) and bnrrowing nematode (Radapholus similis) infestations in black pepper (Piper nigrum) was studied. Though the fungus could not effect absolute control of nematodes, it signficantly suppressed nematode infestation and increased total root mass production. The fungus was more effective in suppressing M. incognita than R. similis. &nbsp

Efficacy of Paecilomyces lilacinus (Thorn.) Samson in suppressing nematode infestations in black pepper (Piper nigrum L.)

The efficacy of Paecilamyces lilacinus in snppressing root-knot nematode (Melaidogyne incognita) and bnrrowing nematode (Radapholus similis) infestations in black pepper (Piper nigrum) was studied. Though the fungus could not effect absolute control of nematodes, it signficantly suppressed nematode infestation and increased total root mass production. The fungus was more effective in suppressing M. incognita than R. similis. &nbsp

The Makers And The Takers- An Empirical Study on Management Education at Business Schools in Hyderabad

 Indian Economy is progressing at a considerable pace. There are enough number of opportunities in Information Technology, Pharma, BPOs, KPOs, manufacturing and other sectors. It is a fact that the growth of these sectors is dependent on the supply of amply qualified and skilled managers. Many Business Schools and Management Educational Institutions are working in this direction The present study aims to know the initiatives of business schools at Hyderabad in general and ICBM-SBE in specific. The objectives of the study are: to identify some of the dimensions of management education, to know the reasons for low outcomes in some of the conventional MBA colleges and to know the perceptions of the students about the quality of management education programmes at ICBM- SBE. Both primary and secondary data have been used for analysis. The sample size is 525. Purposive sampling is used. Statistical tools such as chi-square test, geometric mean, factor analysis and means scores on three point and five point rating are used for analysis. Two brand equity models, Viz., Brandz Model and Keller’s Model have been adapted. The concluding part of the study states that the quality of management education revolves around three Is viz., Initiatives, Internal Processes and Insights. ICBM – School of Business Excellence which is at the top of the pyramid in both the brand equity models, is well appreciated for the commitment, intertwining information technology with transformation technology and above all for its insight. The makers (The management and staff of ICBM) are quite successful in convincing and drawing the attention of the takers (About 150 recruiters)

Effect of Fluctuating Temperature Regime on Psychrophilic Anaerobic Digestion of Nightsoil

The effect of temperature fluctuation on anaerobic digestion of nightsoil using 10 °C adapted inoculum was studied. The digester was subjected to repeated temperature cycling of 10 °C and 30 °C. The total biogas, CH/sub 4/ and H/sub 2/S content, volatile fatty acids and microbial counts were compared with control digesters. No significant deleterious effect was noticed during initial temperature shock of one week. However, repeated exposures reduced the counts of hydrogenotrophic methanogens. There was no effect on the content of CH/sub 4/ and H/sub 2/S in the biogas