Dwindling status of Epimedium elatum (Morren & Decne) and its geographical distribution in Kashmir Himalaya, India

Epimedium elatum (Morren & Decne) of family Berberidaceace is a rare perennial medicinal plant, endemic to high altitude forests of Northwestern Himalayas in India. Ethnobotanically, it has been used as an ingredient for treatment of bone-joint disorders, impotence and kidney disorders in Kashmir Himalayas. Phytochemically, it is rich in Epimedin ABC and Icariin; all of these have been demonstrated to possess remarkable biological activities like PDE-5 inhibition (treatment of erectile dysfunction), anticancer, antiosteoporosis antioxidant and antiviral properties. The present investigation reports its traditional usage, comprehensive distribution and conservation status from twenty ecogeographical regions in Kashmir Himalayas, India. The species was reported from Gurez valley for the first time. Numerous threats like excessive grazing, deforestration, habitat fragmentation, tourism encroachment, landslides and excessive exploitation have decreased its natural populations in most of the surveyed habitats. Consequently, its existence may become threatened in near future if timely conservation steps are not taken immediately by concerned stakeholders involved in medicinal plant research. Moreover, use of plant tissue culture techniques is recommended for development of its in vitro propagation protocols. Therefore, introduction of this medicinal plant in botanical gardens, protected sites and development of monitoring programmes are needed for its immediate conservation in Northwestern Himalayas, India

In vivo Effect of Spinosad on Proteases of Insecticide-Resistant and Susceptible Strains of Musca domestica

Abstract.-To further elucidate the possible involvement of intracellular protein catabolism in the development of resistance to insecticides, we determined in vivo effect of one of the environment friendly naturalite insecticide available and marketed in Pakistan, spinosad, on the activities of cytoplasmic and lysosomal proteases in insecticideresistant and -susceptible strains of adult houseflies, Musca domestica (Muscidae: Diptera) under laboratory conditions. Spinosad at LD 50 dose level after 48 hour treatment decreased all cytoplasmic proteases in living (ranging from 21 to 93%) and dead flies (ranging from 20 to 97%) in susceptible strain except proline endopeptidase which was increased considerably. Likewise spinosad also depleted all proteases in live (in the range of 28-74%) and the dead flies (in the range of 41-82%) except proline endopeptidase which was elevated. The results also showed considerably higher levels of all cytoplasmic (54 to 95%) and lysosomal proteases (142 to 158%) in control groups of resistant compared with susceptible strains. This probably reveals the efficacy of spinosad to control the resistant strain of M. domestica effectively and suggests involvement of proteases in the development of insect resistance to this insecticide

Association patterns of volatile metabolites in urinary excretions among Type-2 Non-Insulin dependent diabetes patients

Background: Patterns of volatile metabolites in urine are important to detect abnormalities associated with diabetes. Present study was conducted to find out the excretion patterns of endogenously produced alcohols in urine for type 2 (Non-Insulin Dependent) diabetes mellitus. A cross sectional analytical study was conducted with duration extended from Jan to Mar 2015.Methods: The current study included 40 patients with chronic type 2 diabetes mellitus. In total, 10 sex and age matched subjects with no history of any disease were considered as controls. Blood sugar was estimated by autoanalyzer using standard kit of Merck following manufacturer`s instructions. Urine sugar was quantitatively detected by biuret reagent using titration technique. Urinary alcohol was identified and estimated by gas chromatography.  Urinary ketone bodies were estimated by urinary strip.Results: It was observed that level of fasting blood sugar was significantly increased (P<0.001) in patients as compared to their controls. The blood sugar and urinary alcohol in patients were 3.0% and 6.0% respectively. Urinary ketone bodies were found to be 2+. On the other hand urine sugar, alcohol and ketone bodies were not detected in the negative control subjects.Conclusions: It is concluded that urinary alcohol is endogenously produced in patients with type 2 diabetes due to uncontrolled hyperglycemia. However further work is needed to find out the ratio of urinary and blood alcohol which may confirm the present findings

Customized vacuum assisted closure therapy of wounds as a simple and cost-effective technique of wound closure-a prospective observational study from underdeveloped world

Background: Aim of the study was to study the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of indigenously designed customized vacuum assisted closure (VAC) of wounds in our patients. The management of difficult to heal wounds has been the main force that led to the development of advanced gadgets for their management. The technique of vacuum assisted closure has revolutionized the management of difficult to heal wounds and delivers better results as compared to conventional technique. Our aim was to assess the efficacy and cost effectiveness of customized VAC therapy.Methods: This prospective study was conducted in the department of surgery and allied specialties, GMC Srinagar, from June 2018 and September 2020. During this period, 80 patients were subjected to VAC therapy and were included in this study.Results: VAC dressing was used in 80 patients. 55 were males and 25 were females. Most of the wounds in our study were located over lower limbs (70%). RTA was the most common mode of injury followed by fall from height. After the VAC therapy, 78.8% patients were managed by STSG, 11.3% by flap cover, 6.3% by secondary suturing and 3.8% healed by secondary intention. Pain was experienced by 30% of the patients, 7.5% had hypoalbuminemia, 3.8% had surrounding skin maceration. The average total cost of the VAC therapy was 863.13 (±399.82) Indian rupees (11.76 USD). The mean duration of hospital stay for our patients was 22 days.Conclusions: Customized VAC Therapy has revolutionary potential in the management of the difficult to treat wounds as far as its safety, speed and cost effectiveness is considered especially in a setup of poor income nations like ours

Molecular Characterization of Mercury Resistant Bacteria Isolated from Tannery Wastewater

Mercury resistant (HgR) bacteria were isolated from heavy metal polluted wastewater and soil, collected from the proximity of some tanneries from Kasur, Pakistan. Three out of 30 bacterial strains were screened out on the basis of resistance level against various concentrations of HgCl2. Bacterial isolates AZ-1, AZ-2 and AZ-3 showed resistance up to 40 μg/mL of HgCl2 and mercury sensitive (HgS) isolate ZA-15 was taken as a negative control. 16S rDNA ribotyping and phylogenetic analysis were performed for the characterization of isolates as Bacillus sp. AZ-1 (KT270477), B. cereus AZ-2 (KT270478), B. cereus AZ-3 (KT270479) and Enterobacter cloacae ZA-15 (KJ728671). Phylogenetic relationship on the basis of merA nucleotide sequence confirmed 51-100% homology with the corresponding region of the merA gene of already reported mercury resistant Gram-positive bacteria. Restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis was applied to the amplification products of 16S rRNA and merA genes and a specific restriction patterns was successfully obtained after treatment with different endonucleases. A small-scale reservoir of Luria Bertani (LB) medium supplemented with 30 μg/mL of HgCl2 was designed to check the detoxification ability of the selected strains. The results demonstrated 83% detoxification of mercury by both B. cereus AZ-2 and B. cereus AZ-3, and 76% detoxification by Bacillus sp. AZ-1 (p<0.05)

Cloning and expression of truncated Spike (S-f200) Glycoprotein of Infectious Bronchitis Virus (IBV) in Escherichia coli, and its immunogenicity to mice

Complete S1 gene of the Infectious Bronchitis Virus (IBV) was amplified and cloned into transfer vector. Truncated S1 gene designated as Sf200 (containing five antigenic sites located at 24–61, 291–398 and 497–543 amino acid residues of S1 glycoprotein) were amplified by overlap PCR, cloned into prokaryotic expression vector resulting pET-Sf200 and confirmed the construct by sequencing. The recombinant plasmid was identified by restriction enzyme and sequencing analysis. The in vitro expression of the truncated protein was analyzed in E. coli with a molecular weight of 38kDa determined through SDSPAGE and confirmed by Western blotting. The recombinant truncated protein was then purified from the culture media. The immunogenicity of the protein was studied in an animal experiment on mice, in which mice were injected subcutaneously. These findings suggest that the truncated Sf200 expressed in the pET- 32a (+) prokaryotic vector can be used as antigen to detect antibodies against IBV

Effects of hospital facilities on patient outcomes after cancer surgery: an international, prospective, observational study

Background Early death after cancer surgery is higher in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) compared with in high-income countries, yet the impact of facility characteristics on early postoperative outcomes is unknown. The aim of this study was to examine the association between hospital infrastructure, resource availability, and processes on early outcomes after cancer surgery worldwide.Methods A multimethods analysis was performed as part of the GlobalSurg 3 study-a multicentre, international, prospective cohort study of patients who had surgery for breast, colorectal, or gastric cancer. The primary outcomes were 30-day mortality and 30-day major complication rates. Potentially beneficial hospital facilities were identified by variable selection to select those associated with 30-day mortality. Adjusted outcomes were determined using generalised estimating equations to account for patient characteristics and country-income group, with population stratification by hospital.Findings Between April 1, 2018, and April 23, 2019, facility-level data were collected for 9685 patients across 238 hospitals in 66 countries (91 hospitals in 20 high-income countries; 57 hospitals in 19 upper-middle-income countries; and 90 hospitals in 27 low-income to lower-middle-income countries). The availability of five hospital facilities was inversely associated with mortality: ultrasound, CT scanner, critical care unit, opioid analgesia, and oncologist. After adjustment for case-mix and country income group, hospitals with three or fewer of these facilities (62 hospitals, 1294 patients) had higher mortality compared with those with four or five (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 3.85 [95% CI 2.58-5.75]; p&lt;0.0001), with excess mortality predominantly explained by a limited capacity to rescue following the development of major complications (63.0% vs 82.7%; OR 0.35 [0.23-0.53]; p&lt;0.0001). Across LMICs, improvements in hospital facilities would prevent one to three deaths for every 100 patients undergoing surgery for cancer.Interpretation Hospitals with higher levels of infrastructure and resources have better outcomes after cancer surgery, independent of country income. Without urgent strengthening of hospital infrastructure and resources, the reductions in cancer-associated mortality associated with improved access will not be realised

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

Baseline Susceptibility and Stability of Insecticide Resistance of Spodoptera litura (F.) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) in the Absence of Selection Pressure

Abstract.-A population of Spodoptera litura collected from Dunyapur was reared for eleven generations under laboratory conditions without any insecticide exposure. The LC 50 data was recorded through diet incorporation method against four insecticides such as emamectin benzoate, spinosad, imidacloprid and profenofos. For new chemistry insecticides the larval mortality data was taken after 72 hrs while in case of conventional insecticides the mortality data was taken after 48 hrs. Emamectin benzoate (1.59 ppm) was found to be most toxic on the basis of LC 50 values followed by spinosad (7.77 ppm), profenofos (686.5 ppm) and imidacloprid (258.75 ppm) at generation 1. The decrease in the LC 50 values after 11 generations as compared to the field population of S. litura was 4.81, 9.83, 9.3 and 13.82 folds against emamectin benzoate, spinosad, imidacloprid and profenofos, respectively. The estimated decrease in resistance was 11.36, 11.11, 16.67 and 9.61 for imidacloprid, spinosad, emamectin benzoate and profenofos, respectively. The results suggest that spinosad can be included in the control program of S. litura, due to its lower stability and higher reversion rate with insecticides bearing novel modes of action and this baseline susceptibility data could be very helpful in future monitoring of insecticide resistance in S. litura

EFFECTS OF IMMUNOSTIMULANTS ON BROILERS SUFFERING FROM INFECTIOU: BURSAL DISEASE

This project was aimed to evaluate immunostimulatory effects of three therapeutic substances in broilers suffering from infectious bursal disease (IBD). For this purpose, 150 chicks were divided into five equal groups i.e. A, B, C, D and E having 30 birds each. Group A, B, C and D were challenged with infectious bursal disease virus. There were three immunostimulatory treatments i.e. levamisole (group A), vitamin E (group B), and bursinex (group C). Groups D and E were untreated control. Bursa body weight index, histopathology of bursa of Fabricius, plasma cell counting in Harderian gland and estimation of antibody response against infectious bursal disease virus was recorded. Vitamin E played a major role in improving the condition of birds suffering from infectious bursal disease, as it showed increased bursa body weight index (BBIx), less histopathological lesions in bursa of Fabricius, increased number of plasma cells in Harderian gland and high antibody response in infectious bursal disease infected broilers as compared to levamisole and bursinex. Levamisole played a minor role in improving condition of birds, while bursinex did not seem to be much effective against infectious bursal disease virus in this study