Association of serum iron studies in COVID associated mucormycosis with stage of the disease

Background: Mucormycosis is a rare and lethal invasive fungal infection caused by opportunist and ubiquitous fungi. India has reported surge in cases of post COVID 19 mucormycosis due to the increasing frequency of risk factors like corticosteroid therapy, uncontrolled diabetes, DKA, neutropenia and iron overload and hence warrants a detailed study to identify potential contributing factors. Aim of this study was to study the clinical profile of patients with CAM and to correlate serum iron studies with severity and extent of disease in CAM patients. Methods: This prospective crosssectional study was conducted on 75 patients with CAM admitted to Bowring Hospital, Bangalore. Detailed history with clinical evaluation and appropriate investigations done and data was analysed. Results: The mean age of the subjects was 48.19 with 52 males and 23 females. Among 75 patients 90.7% were unvaccinated against COVID, 62.7% had oxygen and steroid use, with diabetes mellitus as most common comorbidity. Rhino orbital-cerebral mucormycosis was the most common clinical presentation. Patients with stage 4 CAM had elevated levels of inflammatory markers LDH (292), D-dimer (457), CRP (74.64), mean serum iron (50.37) and TIBC (255.37). Case fatality rate was 12%. Conclusions: The results of this study revealed significant correlation between the clinical severity of CAM and higher mortality, with increased serum iron levels and inflammatory markers. Therefore patients with elevated levels of available serum iron are uniquely susceptible to mucormycosis infection, suggesting dysregulated iron metabolism in its pathogenesis

Global burden of disease due to smokeless tobacco consumption in adults : analysis of data from 113 countries

BACKGROUND: Smokeless tobacco is consumed in most countries in the world. In view of its widespread use and increasing awareness of the associated risks, there is a need for a detailed assessment of its impact on health. We present the first global estimates of the burden of disease due to consumption of smokeless tobacco by adults. METHODS: The burden attributable to smokeless tobacco use in adults was estimated as a proportion of the disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) lost and deaths reported in the 2010 Global Burden of Disease study. We used the comparative risk assessment method, which evaluates changes in population health that result from modifying a population's exposure to a risk factor. Population exposure was extrapolated from country-specific prevalence of smokeless tobacco consumption, and changes in population health were estimated using disease-specific risk estimates (relative risks/odds ratios) associated with it. Country-specific prevalence estimates were obtained through systematically searching for all relevant studies. Disease-specific risks were estimated by conducting systematic reviews and meta-analyses based on epidemiological studies. RESULTS: We found adult smokeless tobacco consumption figures for 115 countries and estimated burden of disease figures for 113 of these countries. Our estimates indicate that in 2010, smokeless tobacco use led to 1.7 million DALYs lost and 62,283 deaths due to cancers of mouth, pharynx and oesophagus and, based on data from the benchmark 52 country INTERHEART study, 4.7 million DALYs lost and 204,309 deaths from ischaemic heart disease. Over 85 % of this burden was in South-East Asia. CONCLUSIONS: Smokeless tobacco results in considerable, potentially preventable, global morbidity and mortality from cancer; estimates in relation to ischaemic heart disease need to be interpreted with more caution, but nonetheless suggest that the likely burden of disease is also substantial. The World Health Organization needs to consider incorporating regulation of smokeless tobacco into its Framework Convention for Tobacco Control

Prognostic model to predict postoperative acute kidney injury in patients undergoing major gastrointestinal surgery based on a national prospective observational cohort study.

Background: Acute illness, existing co-morbidities and surgical stress response can all contribute to postoperative acute kidney injury (AKI) in patients undergoing major gastrointestinal surgery. The aim of this study was prospectively to develop a pragmatic prognostic model to stratify patients according to risk of developing AKI after major gastrointestinal surgery. Methods: This prospective multicentre cohort study included consecutive adults undergoing elective or emergency gastrointestinal resection, liver resection or stoma reversal in 2-week blocks over a continuous 3-month period. The primary outcome was the rate of AKI within 7 days of surgery. Bootstrap stability was used to select clinically plausible risk factors into the model. Internal model validation was carried out by bootstrap validation. Results: A total of 4544 patients were included across 173 centres in the UK and Ireland. The overall rate of AKI was 14·2 per cent (646 of 4544) and the 30-day mortality rate was 1·8 per cent (84 of 4544). Stage 1 AKI was significantly associated with 30-day mortality (unadjusted odds ratio 7·61, 95 per cent c.i. 4·49 to 12·90; P < 0·001), with increasing odds of death with each AKI stage. Six variables were selected for inclusion in the prognostic model: age, sex, ASA grade, preoperative estimated glomerular filtration rate, planned open surgery and preoperative use of either an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor or an angiotensin receptor blocker. Internal validation demonstrated good model discrimination (c-statistic 0·65). Discussion: Following major gastrointestinal surgery, AKI occurred in one in seven patients. This preoperative prognostic model identified patients at high risk of postoperative AKI. Validation in an independent data set is required to ensure generalizability

Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density

Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals &lt;1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data

Survey on Obstacle Detection and its Notification through an Android App for Visually Impaired People

Assistive technology is an emerging research area, where adaptable devices can be developed to help older people to achieve independence in their daily activities. Ultrasonic sensors attached on the device used will generate the data about the obstacle it detects and will notify the user through an android application. The visually impaired as well as a person having impaired hearing can use the proposed wearable device which will help to improve his mobility and make it hassle free

Biogenesis of silver nanoparticles using endophytic fungus Pestalotiopsis microspora and evaluation of their antioxidant and anticancer activities

Vasudeva Reddy Netala,1 Murali Satyanarayana Bethu,2,3 Bobbu Pushpalatha,1 Vijaya Bhaskar Baki,4 Sani Aishwarya,1 J Venkateswara Rao,2 Vijaya Tartte5 1Department of Biotechnology, Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati, 2Biology Division, Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, Hyderabad, 3Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research, New Delhi, 4Department of Bioinformatics, 5Department of Botany, Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati, India Abstract: An endophytic fungal strain isolated from the leaves of Gymnema sylvestre was identified as Pestalotiopsis microspora VJ1/VS1 based on nucleotide sequencing of internal transcribed spacer region (ITS 1-5.8S-ITS 2) of 18S rRNA gene (NCBI accession number KX213894). In this study, an efficient and ecofriendly approach has been reported for the synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) using aqueous culture filtrate of P. microspora. Ultraviolet-visible analysis confirmed the synthesis of AgNPs by showing characteristic absorption peak at 435 nm. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analysis revealed the presence of phenolic compounds and proteins in the fungal filtrate, which are plausibly involved in the biosynthesis and capping of AgNPs. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) showed that the AgNPs were spherical in shape of 2&ndash;10 nm in size. Selected area electron diffraction and X-ray diffraction studies determined the crystalline nature of AgNPs with face-centered cubic (FCC) lattice phase. Dynamic light scattering analysis showed that the biosynthesized AgNPs possess high negative zeta potential value of -35.7 mV. Biosynthesized AgNPs were proved to be potential antioxidants by showing effective radical scavenging activity against 2,2&#39;-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl and H2O2 radicals with IC50 values of 76.95&plusmn;2.96 and 94.95&plusmn;2.18 &micro;g/mL, respectively. The biosynthesized AgNPs exhibited significant cytotoxic effects against B16F10 (mouse melanoma, IC50 =26.43&plusmn;3.41 &micro;g/mL), SKOV3 (human ovarian carcinoma, IC50 =16.24&plusmn;2.48 &micro;g/mL), A549 (human lung adenocarcinoma, IC50 =39.83&plusmn;3.74 &micro;g/mL), and PC3 (human prostate carcinoma, IC50 =27.71&plusmn;2.89 &micro;g/mL) cells. The biosynthesized AgNPs were found to be biocompatible toward normal cells (Chinese hamster ovary cell line, IC50 =438.53&plusmn;4.2 &micro;g/mL). Cytological observations on most susceptible SKOV3 cells revealed concentration-dependent apoptotic changes that include cell membrane blebbing, cell shrinkage, pyknotic nuclei, karyorrhexis followed by destructive fragmentation of nuclei. The results together in this study strongly provided a base for the development of potential and versatile biomedical applications of biosynthesized AgNPs in the near future. Keywords: AgNPs, Pestalotiopsis microspora, 18S rRNA, SKOV3, B16F10, AO-EB stainin

Analysis on superhydrophobic silver decorated copper Oxide nanostructured thin films for SERS studies

The present work demonstrates the superhydrophobic and Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS) active substrate performance of silver coated copper oxide (Ag@CuO) nanostructured thin films prepared by the SILAR process. Super hydrophobic substrates that combine super hydrophobic condensation effect and high enhancement ability of Ag@CuO nanoflowers are investigated for SERS studies. The possible growth mechanism for the formation of nanoflower arrays from nanospindles has been discussed. Morphology and crystallinity of the Ag@CuO thin films are confirmed using FESEM and XRD. The results obtained in the present study indicate that the as-deposited hydrophobic nanospindles structure converts to super hydrophobic nanoflower arrays on annealing at 200 degrees C. The Ag@CuO super hydrophobic nanoflowers thin film based SERS substrates show highly enhanced Raman spectra with an EF value of 2.0 x 10(7) for (Rhodamine 6G) R6G, allowing a detection limit from a 10(-10) mol L-1 solution. The present study may provide a new perception in fabricating efficient super hydrophobic substrates for SERS, suggesting that the fabricated substrates are promising candidates for trace analysis of R6G dye and are expected to be widely used as highly sensitive SERS active substrates for various toxic dyes in the future. (C) 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

Magnesium alloys as extremely promising alternatives for temporary orthopedic implants – A review

Mg alloys are emerging as potential and very promising alternatives for replacing permanent metallic implant materials such as steels and titanium in applications where the implants need to be removed following healing through revision surgery. Use of Mg alloys for implant application is seen as a game changer and Mg alloys are almost perfect materials for the future in both engineering and biomedical applications. Present review therefore focuses on highlighting significance of Mg alloys in biomedical field and risks of using permanent metallic implants particularly when the implants are no longer required after the injury is healed. In this review, importance of orthopedic implants in present scenario, serious concern related to accidents that are causing permanent disabilities, demand in orthopedic implant market worldwide, potential applications of Mg based materials and their compatibility in biological environment is presented and discussed. In addition, degradation rate, major reactions associated with Mg based materials and effect of alloying elements on implant performance are also discussed based on in-vivo results. Recent advances in development of Mg alloys through various techniques and their performance in in-vitro conditions are also outlined. Possible ways to eliminate the limitations of Mg alloys include alloying, melt purification, surface alterations, surface modifications, chemical treatment, secondary processing etc. are discussed. Challenges and opportunities for Mg alloys to become ideal implant material is also addressed

Need for operational simplicity and timely disbursal of benefits—a qualitative exploration of the implementation of a direct benefit transfer scheme for persons with tuberculosis in India

Abstract Background Ni-kshay Poshan Yojana (NPY) is a direct benefit transfer scheme of the Government of India introduced in 2018 to support the additional nutritional requirements of persons with TB (PwTB). Our recent nationwide evaluation of implementation and utilization of NPY using programmatic data of PwTB from nine randomly selected Indian states, reported a 70% coverage and high median delay in benefit credit. We undertook a qualitative study between January and July 2023, to understand the detailed implementation process of NPY and explore the enablers and barriers to effective implementation and utilization of the NPY scheme. Methods We followed a grounded theory approach to inductively develop theoretical explanations for social phenomena through data generated from multiple sources. We conducted 36 in-depth interviews of national, district and field-level staff of the National Tuberculosis Elimination Programme (NTEP) and NPY beneficiaries from 30 districts across nine states of India, selected using theoretical sampling. An analytical framework developed through inductive coding of a set of six interviews, guided the coding of the subsequent interviews. Categories and themes emerged through constant comparison and the data collection continued until theoretical saturation. Results Stakeholders perceived NPY as a beneficial initiative. Strong political commitment from the state administration, mainstreaming of NTEP work with the district public healthcare delivery system, availability of good geographic and internet connectivity and state-specific grievance redressal mechanisms and innovations were identified as enablers of implementation. However, the complex, multi-level benefit approval process, difficulties in accessing banking services, perceived inadequacy of benefits and overworked human resources in the NTEP were identified as barriers to implementation and utilization. Conclusion The optimal utilization of NPY is enabled by strong political commitment and challenged by its lengthy implementation process and delayed disbursal of benefits. We recommend greater operational simplicity in NPY implementation, integrating NTEP activities with the public health system to reduce the burden on the program staff, and revising the benefit amount more equitably