Detection of some virulence genes (esp, agg, gelE, CylA) in Enterococcus faecalis isolated from different clinical cases at Baghdad

The virulent genes are the key players in the ability of the bacterium to cause disease. The products of such genes that facilitate the successful colonization and survival of the bacterium in or cause damage to the host are pathogenicity determinants. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of virulence factors (esp, agg, gelE, CylA) in E. faecalis isolated from diverse human clinical collected in Iraqi patient , as well as to assess their ability to form biofilm and to determine their haemolytic and gelatinase activities. Thirty-two isolates of bacteria Enterococcus faecalis were obtained, including 15 isolates (46.87%) of the urine, 6 isolates (18.75%) for each of the stool and uterine secretions, and 5 isolates (15.62%) of the wounds from various hospitals in Baghdad, including (Central Children's Hospital, Educational Laboratories, Ibn Al-Baladi Hospital).The isolates were confirmed to belong to the genus E.faecalis after performing morphological and biochemical microscopic examinations and for final diagnosis using the VITEC 2 system. The virulence genes viz. cylA, esp, gelE and agg were recognized in the E. faecalis, and the consequences appeared that the bacteria had eps gene in 32 isolates (100%). As for the agg gene, 32 isolates (100%) were carriers of this gene, which was responsible for these isolates' aptitude to form the biofilm. While for the gelE gene, 27 isolates (84.37%) of the isolates carried this gene, responsible for gelatinase activity whereas, the gene responsible for hemolysis cyl, there were 29 isolates (90.62%) of the total isolates.   The presemce of genes in the isolates would be helpful to determine the colonization and survival of the bacterium in or causing damage to the host

Computer Vision Tools for Rodent Monitoring

RÉSUMÉ Les rongeurs sont régulièrement utilisés dans les expériences et la recherche biomédicale. Ceci est dû entre autres aux caractéristiques qu’ils partagent avec les humains, au faible coût et la facilité de leur entretien, et à la brièveté de leur cycle de vie. La recherche sur les rongeurs implique généralement de longues périodes de surveillance et de suivi. Quand cela est fait manuellement, ces tâches sont très fastidieuses et possiblement erronées. Ces tâches impliquent un technicien pour noter la position ou le comportement du rongeur en chaque instant. Des solutions de surveillance et de suivi automatique ont été mises au point pour diminuer la quantité de travail manuel et permettre de plus longues périodes de surveillance. Plusieurs des solutions proposées pour la surveillance automatique des animaux utilisent des capteurs mécaniques. Même si ces solutions ont été couronnées de succès dans leurs tâches prévues, les caméras vidéo sont toujours indispensables pour la validation ultérieure. Pour cette raison, il est logique d'utiliser la vision artificielle comme un moyen de surveiller et de suivre les rongeurs. Dans cette thèse, nous présentons des solutions de vision artificielle à trois problèmes connexes concernant le suivi et l’observation de rongeurs. La première solution consiste en un procédé pour suivre les rongeurs dans un environnement biomédical typique avec des contraintes minimales. La méthode est faite de deux phases. Dans la première phase, une technique de fenêtre glissante fondée sur trois caractéristiques est utilisée pour suivre le rongeur et déterminer sa position approximative dans le cadre. La seconde phase utilise la carte d’arrêts et un système d'impulsions pour ajuster les limites de la fenêtre de suivi aux contours du rongeur. Cette solution présente deux contributions. La première contribution consiste en une nouvelle caractéristique, les histogrammes d’intensité qui se chevauchent. La seconde contribution consiste en un nouveau procédé de segmentation qui utilise une soustraction d’arrière-plan en ligne basée sur les arrêts pour segmenter les bords du rongeur. La précision de suivi de la solution proposée est stable lorsqu’elle est appliquée à des rongeurs de tailles différentes. Il est également montré que la solution permet d'obtenir de meilleurs résultats qu’une méthode de l'état d’art. La deuxième solution consiste en un procédé pour détecter et identifier trois comportements chez les rongeurs dans des conditions biomédicales typiques. La solution utilise une méthode basée sur des règles combinée avec un système de classificateur multiple pour détecter et classifier le redressement, l’exploration et l’état statique chez un rongeur. La solution offre deux contributions. La première contribution consiste en une nouvelle méthode pour détecter le comportement des rongeurs en utilisant l'image historique du mouvement. La seconde contribution est une nouvelle règle de fusion pour combiner les estimations de plusieurs classificateurs de machine à vecteur du support. La solution permet d'obtenir un taux de précision de reconnaissance de 87%. Ceci est conforme aux exigences typiques dans la recherche biomédicale. La solution se compare favorablement à d'autres solutions de l’état de l’art. La troisième solution comprend un algorithme de suivi qui a le même comportement apparent et qui maintient la robustesse de l’algorithme de CONDENSATION. L'algorithme de suivi simplifie les opérations et réduit la charge de calcul de l'algorithme de CONDENSATION tandis qu’il maintient une précision de localisation semblable. La solution contribue à un nouveau dispositif pour attribuer les particules, à un certain intervalle de temps, aux particules du pas de temps précédent. Ce système réduit le nombre d'opérations complexes requis par l'algorithme de CONDENSATION classique. La solution contribue également à un procédé pour réduire le nombre moyen de particules générées au niveau de chaque pas de temps, tout en maintenant le même nombre maximal des particules comme dans l'algorithme de CONDENSATION classique. Finalement, la solution atteint une accélération 4,4 × à 12 × par rapport à l'algorithme de CONDENSATION classique, tout en conservant à peu près la même précision de suivi.----------ABSTRACT Rodents are widely used in biomedical experiments and research. This is due to the similar characteristics that they share with humans, to the low cost and ease of their maintenance and to the shortness of their life cycle, among other reasons. Research on rodents usually involves long periods of monitoring and tracking. When done manually, these tasks are very tedious and prone to error. They involve a technician annotating the location or the behavior of the rodent at each time step. Automatic tracking and monitoring solutions decrease the amount of manual labor and allow for longer monitoring periods. Several solutions have been provided for automatic animal monitoring that use mechanical sensors. Even though these solutions have been successful in their intended tasks, video cameras are still indispensable for later validation. For this reason, it is logical to use computer vision as a means to monitor and track rodents. In this thesis, we present computer vision solutions to three related problems concerned with rodent tracking and observation. The first solution consists of a method to track rodents in a typical biomedical environment with minimal constraints. The method consists of two phases. In the first phase, a sliding window technique based on three features is used to track the rodent and determine its coarse position in the frame. The second phase uses the edge map and a system of pulses to fit the boundaries of the tracking window to the contour of the rodent. This solution presents two contributions. The first contribution consists of a new feature, the Overlapped Histograms of Intensity (OHI). The second contribution consists of a new segmentation method that uses an online edge-based background subtraction to segment the edges of the rodent. The proposed solution tracking accuracy is stable when applied to rodents with different sizes. It is also shown that the solution achieves better results than a state of the art tracking algorithm. The second solution consists of a method to detect and identify three behaviors in rodents under typical biomedical conditions. The solution uses a rule-based method combined with a Multiple Classifier System (MCS) to detect and classify rearing, exploring and being static. The solution offers two contributions. The first contribution is a new method to detect rodent behavior using the Motion History Image (MHI). The second contribution is a new fusion rule to combine the estimations of several Support Vector Machine (SVM) Classifiers. The solution achieves an 87% recognition accuracy rate. This is compliant with typical requirements in biomedical research. The solution also compares favorably to other state of the art solutions. The third solution comprises a tracking algorithm that has the same apparent behavior and that maintains the robustness of the CONDENSATION algorithm. The tracking algorithm simplifies the operations and reduces the computational load of the CONDENSATION algorithm while conserving similar tracking accuracy. The solution contributes to a new scheme to assign the particles at a certain time step to the particles of the previous time step. This scheme reduces the number of complex operations required by the classic CONDENSATION algorithm. The solution also contributes a method to reduce the average number of particles generated at each time step, while maintaining the same maximum number of particles as in the classic CONDENSATION algorithm. Finally, the solution achieves 4.4× to 12× acceleration when compared to the classical CONDENSATION algorithm, while maintaining roughly the same tracking accuracy

Pathogenic Bacteria in Foods of Animal Origin Source and their Resistance to Many Drugs: Risk Factors and Attempt to Avoid them

عادة ما تكون المسببات المرضية المنقولة بالغذاء ذي الأصل الحيواني مثل الحليب واللحوم والدواجن ذات طابع معد او سمي, وتتسبب فيها بكتريا او فيروسات او فطريات او طفيليات او مواد كيمياوية تدخل جسم الانسان عن طريق الغذاء او الماء الملوثين. وفي الوقت الحاضر ترتبط معظم الأمراض الميكروبية المنقولة بالغذاء بواسطه هذه الاغذية. أصبح وجود مسببات الأمراض المقاومة للعديد من الأدوية (MDR) في الأطعمة مصدر قلق متزايد للصحة العامة في جميع أنحاء العالم بسبب الإفراط في استخدام الأدوية المضادة للميكروبات في علف الحيوانات. ويمكن لمسببات الأمراض المعدية والمقاومة للعديد من الادوية أن تدخل السلسلة الغذائية وتؤد لفرض خطر كبير على كل من الحيوانات والمستهلكين. إن مسببات الأمراض المعدية المقاومة للعديد من الأدوية المتعددة التي تسبب العدوى غير قابلة للعلاج بسبب مقاومتها للمضادات الحيوية المختلفة، وبشكل رئيسي السيفالوسبورين والكاربابينيم وقدرتها على إنتاج طيف بيتا لاكتاميز (ESBL). بالإضافة إلى ذلك، يمكن للأغذية ذات الأصل الحيواني والبيئات ذات الصلة بالأغذية أن تكون على الأرجح وسائل لنشر الجينات المقاومة للعديد من الأدوية، مما يسرع من ازدهار المقاومة العالمية للمضادات الحيوية. نستعرض في هذا المقال دور الأطعمة ذات الأصل الحيواني كوسيلة لمسببات الأمراض المقاومة للعديد من الأدوية MDR ، وتؤكد على مساهمة العمليات الغذائية, البيئات و ظروف التخزين في نشر وتقليل المقاومة للمضادة الميكروبيةAMRs . يمكن أن يكون التحكم في نمو الكائنات الحية الدقيقة المقاومة للعديد من الأدويةMDR  والحد من انتقال / التعبير عن AMRوهي جينات مقاومة لمضادات الميكروبات في النظم البيئية للأغذية, مع التركيز على العمليات الغذائية بوصفها جزءا من حل المقاومة المتعددة للمضادات الميكروبيةAMR  في الأطعمة. تعد المزارع الحيوية أيضًا تقنية واعدة وصديقة للبيئة لتقليل حدوث مسببات الأمراض المعدية ذات المقاومة للعديد من الأدوية MDR، على الرغم من توخي الحذر حيث يمكن أن تبدأ العوامل الميكروبية والبروبيوتيك  من حمل  AMRأيضًا.        وأخيرًا، يعد تطبيق تسلسل الجينوم الكامل (WGS) وعلم الأحياء الدقيقة التنبئي، في إطار تقييم المخاطر، أمرًا أساسيًا للحصول على نظرة ثاقبة إلى تلك الآليات والظروف على طول السلسلة الغذائية والتي تقلل من وجود AMR  أو الحد منه.Most of the foodborne microbial diseases are linked to foods of animal origin such as milk, meat, and poultry usually have toxic and infectious nature, caused by bacteria, viruses, fungi, parasites and chemical materials that inter to the human body by contaminated food and water. Nowadays, the presence of (MDR) multi-drug resistant  pathogens in foods is becoming an increasingly concern about public health in all worldwide due to the excess of antimicrobial drugs in the feed of animal. The MDR pathogens can enter in to the food chain and formation a big danger to both animals and consumers. MDR pathogens causing infections are no care due to their resistance to various type of antibiotics, primarily cephalosporin and carbapenems and to their (ESBL)- extended-spectrum beta-lactamase producing capability. In addition, foods of animal origin and environments related to the food can be likely vehicles and spreading of gene of multi-drug resistance, which accelerates the expansion of global antibiotic resistance. This paper reviews the role of animal origin food as a vehicle for MDR pathogens, stressing the contribution processes of food, environments, and storage conditions in spread and reduction of (AMRs) antimicrobial resistances. Controlling on growth of MDR microorganisms and limiting the transmission/expression of AMR genes in the ecosystems of food could be an effective reducing pathway, putting the focusing efforts on food processes as a part of the AMR in foods. Biological protective cultures are also used as a promising and environmentally friendly technic to reduce the incidence of MDR pathogens, though caution is taken as microbial starters and probiotics can also carry AMR. Finally, applying Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) and predictive microbiology, within a Risk Assessment framework, is key to get insight into those mechanisms and conditions along the food chain favoring or reducing AMR

Oral Delivery of Psoralidin by Mucoadhesive Surface-Modified Bilosomes Showed Boosted Apoptotic and Necrotic Effects against Breast and Lung Cancer Cells

© 2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).This study aims to design and optimize chitosan-coated bilosomal formulations loaded with psoralidin (Ps-CS/BLs) with improved physicochemical properties, oral bioavailability, and boosted apoptotic and necrotic effects. In this regard, uncoated bilosomes loaded with Ps (Ps/BLs) were nanoformulated using the thin-film hydration technique using different molar ratios of phosphatidylcholine (PC), cholesterol (Ch), Span 60 (S60), and sodium deoxycholate (SDC) (1:0.4:0.2:0.125, 1:0.4:0.2:0.25, and 1:0.4:0.2:0.5, respectively). The best-optimized formulation with respect to size, PDI, zeta potential, and EE% was selected and then coated with chitosan at two different concentrations (0.125 and 0.25 w/v%), forming Ps-CS/BLs. The optimized Ps/BLs and Ps-CS/BLs showed a spherical shape and relatively homogenous size with negligible apparent agglomerations. Additionally, it was demonstrated that coating Ps/BLs with chitosan has significantly increased the particle size from 123.16 ± 6.90 in the case of Ps/BLs to 183.90 ± 15.93 nm in the case of Ps-CS/BLs. In addition, Ps-CS/BLs exhibited higher zeta potential (+30.78 ± 1.44 mV) as compared to Ps/BLs (−18.59 ± 2.13 mV). Furthermore, Ps-CS/BL showed enhanced entrapment efficiency (EE%) of 92.15 ± 7.20% as compared to Ps/BLs (68.90 ± 5.95%). Moreover, Ps-CS/BLs exhibited a more sustained release behavior of Ps compared to Ps/BLs over 48 h, and both formulations were best obeying the Higuchi diffusion model. More importantly, Ps-CS/BLs displayed the highest mucoadhesive efficiency% (74.89 ± 3.5%) as compared to Ps/BLs (26.78 ± 2.9%), indicating the ability of the designed nanoformulation to improve oral bioavailability and extend the residence time inside the gastrointestinal tract upon oral administration. Moreover, upon evaluating the apoptotic and necrotic effects of free Ps and Ps-CS/BLs on human breast cancer cell lines (MCF-7) and human lung adenocarcinoma cell lines (A549), there was a dramatic increase in the percentages of the apoptotic and necrotic cell compared to the control and free Ps. Our findings suggest the possible oral use of Ps-CS/BLs in hampering breast and lung cancers.Peer reviewe

Association of tumor necrosis factor alpha gene polymorphism G-308A with pseudoexfoliative glaucoma in the Pakistani population

Contains fulltext : 80274.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access)PURPOSE: The purpose of the present study was to determine the role of the tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) gene polymorphism G-308A and total serum immunoglobulin E (TsIgE) levels in the onset of pseudoexfoliation glaucoma (PEXG) in Pakistani patients. METHODS: The TNF-alpha polymorphism G-308A was analyzed in 122 patients with PEXG and 126 healthy unrelated controls by using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP). TsIgE levels were determined by solid-phase enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). RESULTS: The AA and GA genotypes were strongly associated with PEXG (p<0.001), with an odds ratio (OR) of 0.07 (95% confidence interval [CI]=0.02-0.27) and 0.24 (95% CI=0.12-0.51), respectively, while the GG genotype was found at a higher frequency in controls as compared to patients (p<0.001) OR=8.95 (95% CI=4.55-17.81). No significant difference was found in TsIgE levels of both patients and controls (p=0.86). CONCLUSION: The present study concludes that the TNF-alpha polymorphism G-308A is strongly associated with PEXG. To our knowledge this is the first study in southeast Asia which demonstrates a strong association of a TNF-alpha polymorphism with PEXG

Development and Characterization of Gallium-Doped Bioactive Glasses for Potential Bone Cancer Applications

In this study, we have developed a series of novel gallium oxide doped bioactive glasses to specifically target osteosarcoma cells while aiding new bone formation. The results show that osteosarcoma (Saos-2) cell death is induced through the addition of gallium oxide. Relative to the gallium-free control glass (0% Ga) glasses containing 1, 2, and 3% Ga decreased Saos-2 cell viability in a dose dependent manner. After 72 h in media preconditioned with 3% Ga Saos-2 cell viability was reduced by over 50%. Corresponding studies undertaken on primary normal human osteoblast cells (NHOst) demonstrated no adverse effects to the gallium containing glasses. Hydroxyapatite formation was observed for all glasses when exposed to simulated body fluid

Patient satisfaction for telemedicine health services in the era of COVID-19 pandemic: A systematic review

IntroductionIn the year 2019, the whole world witnessed the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic has negatively impacted the health care delivery system. This has risen the necessity among health systems across the world to deliver health care services through telemedicine. This systematic review would assess the level of patient satisfaction with telemedicine health services during the time of the COVID-19 pandemic.MethodologyThe literature search was conducted in June 2022 using “PubMed” “Google Scholar” and “Embase” databases. A total of eight articles were included. ROBVIS Analysis was performed for the assessment of bias. Descriptive statistics were performed using Microsoft Excel.ResultsAll included studies were conducted in seven countries/states/cities: India (n = 2), Philippines (n = 1), Saudi Arabia (n = 1), UAE (n = 1), Los Angeles (n = 1), Iran (n = 1), and New York City (n = 1). Most used telemedicine tools were voice calls, video calls and messaging/email. Maximum patients used video for consultation (5 out of 9 studies) followed by voice call (4 out of 8 studies), messaging/emails (2 out of 8 studies) and other telemedicine Apps (2 out of 8 studies). Overall, the level of satisfaction was found highest amongst studies conducted in developed countries/states/cities such as New York City (94.9%), Los Angeles (82.7%), UAE (81%) and Saudi Arabia (77.9%) in contrast to studies conducted in developing countries which includes Philippines (82%), India (73.9; 51.3%) and Iran (43.4%).ConclusionMost of the participants were found to be satisfied with the quality of telemedicine they were offered. This systematic review will help to improve telemedicine services which will eventually improve the health care delivery system.Systematic review registrationhttps://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/#myprospero

Health care workers in conflict and post-conflict settings: Systematic mapping of the evidence

Background Health care workers (HCWs) are essential for the delivery of health care services in conflict areas and in rebuilding health systems post-conflict. Objective The aim of this study was to systematically identify and map the published evidence on HCWs in conflict and post-conflict settings. Our ultimate aim is to inform researchers and funders on research gap on this subject and support relevant stakeholders by providing them with a comprehensive resource of evidence about HCWs in conflict and post-conflict settings on a global scale. Methods We conducted a systematic mapping of the literature. We included a wide range of study designs, addressing any type of personnel providing health services in either conflict or post-conflict settings. We conducted a descriptive analysis of the general characteristics of the included papers and built two interactive systematic maps organized by country, study design and theme. Results Out of 13,863 identified citations, we included a total of 474 studies: 304 on conflict settings, 149 on post-conflict settings, and 21 on both conflict and post-conflict settings. For conflict settings, the most studied counties were Iraq (15%), Syria (15%), Israel (10%), and the State of Palestine (9%). The most common types of publication were opinion pieces in conflict settings (39%), and primary studies (33%) in post-conflict settings. In addition, most of the first and corresponding authors were affiliated with countries different from the country focus of the paper. Violence against health workers was the most tackled theme of papers reporting on conflict settings, while workforce performance was the most addressed theme by papers reporting on post-conflict settings. The majority of papers in both conflict and post-conflict settings did not report funding sources (81% and 53%) or conflicts of interest of authors (73% and 62%), and around half of primary studies did not report on ethical approvals (45% and 41%). Conclusions This systematic mapping provides a comprehensive database of evidence about HCWs in conflict and post-conflict settings on a global scale that is often needed to inform policies and strategies on effective workforce planning and management and in reducing emigration. It can also be used to identify evidence for policy-relevant questions, knowledge gaps to direct future primary research, and knowledge clusters

Physiological Changes and Interactions Between Microbiome and the Host During Pregnancy

In recent years, it has become clear that microbiome play a variety of essential roles in human metabolism, immunity, and overall health and that the composition of these microbiome is influenced by our environment, diet, weight, hormones, and other factors. Indeed, numerous physiological and pathological conditions, including obesity and metabolic syndrome, are associated with changes in our microbiome, referred to as dysbiosis. As a result, it is not surprising that such changes occur during pregnancy, which includes substantial weight gain and significant changes in metabolism and immune defenses. The present review relates physiological changes during pregnancy to alterations in the microbial composition at various sites, including the gut, oral cavity, and vagina. Pregnancy has been linked to such microbial changes, and we believe that, in contrast to certain disease states, these microbial changes are vital for a healthy pregnancy, probably through their influence on the mother’s immunological, endocrinological, and metabolic status.This research was funded by Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF), grant number UREP26-104-3-044

Metagenomic Analysis of Oral Microbiome during pregnancy

Pregnancy is a dynamic physiological process associated with significant hormonal, immune and metabolic changes to support the growth and development of the fetus. Several studies have highlighted the role of gut microbiota during pregnancy1. The composition of gut microbiota changes dramatically during the course of pregnancy with an increase in Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria, a decline in butyrate-producing bacteria and a reduction in bacterial richness at the end of pregnancy2. These modifications were anticipated to favour the increased metabolic demand during pregnancy, which will, in turn, support healthy fetal growth3. Gut microbiota has also been suggested to contribute to weight gain during pregnancy via increased absorption of glucose and fatty acids, induction of catabolic pathways, increased fasting-induced adipocyte factor secretion, and stimulation of the immune system2, 4. The oral cavity houses the second most diverse microbiota after the gut harbouring over 700 species of bacteria. Oral microbiota plays a crucial role in maintaining oral homeostasis, protecting the oral cavity and preventing disease development5. Little is known about the role of the oral microbiome during pregnancy. One study examined changes in oral microbiota during pregnancy on Japanese women and found that the total viable microbial counts were higher during pregnancy, as were levels of the pathogenic bacteria Porphyromonas gingivalis, Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans, and Candida6. Several studies have also found correlations between oral infections and pregnancy complications, further suggesting mechanisms connecting the oral microbiome with the state of pregnancy7. The Qatari Birth Cohort (QbiC) was successfully developed in July 2018 by Qatar Biobank. It is an epidemiological study that aims to assess the synergetic role of environmental exposure and genetic factors in the development of chronic disease. It monitors the health of women throughout their pregnancy and after birth. The present study is designed to explore changes in the salivary microbiome, using high throughput sequencing during pregnancy and to explore key microbial clades involved in pregnancy