Prevalence of pulmonary tuberculosis in retroviral positive chest symptomatics in a tertiary care hospital, South India

Background: Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) associated tuberculosis (TB) remains a major global public health challenge. As this co-infection results in high mortality among retroviral positive patients, we undertook this study to find its prevalence in our region.Methods: Sputum smears from all retroviral positive patients who attended the ART clinic from April 2015 to February 2016 were examined for the presence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacilli by fluorescent staining technique. CD4 lymphocyte counting was also done by using BD FACS count instrument.Results: 65 patients were retroviral positive among the 180 patients who came to ART clinic. Of them 43 (66%) were males and 22 (34%) were females. 30 (46%) of retroviral positive patients were sputum positive indicating HIV-TB co-infection. 60% of co-infected patients belong to productive age group of 16-45 years. 93.4% of the co-infected patients had CD4 counts below 350 cells/µl. sputum negative retroviral positive patients had more than 250 CD4 cells/ µl.Conclusions: Our study highlights the fact that HIV-TB co-infection is more prevalent in productive age group and has a positive correlation with lower CD4 counts

Negative Ion Positive Ion Coincidence Yields of Core Excited Water

We report yields of mass-resolved negative ions and positive ions measured in coincidence after core-excitation of water molecules. The analysis of negative-ion/positive-ion and negative-ion/positive-ion/positive-ion coincidence events provides new information on pathways leading to negative ion production, enhancing the present understanding of the dissociation processes of the water molecule. Dissociation following (resonant) Auger decay dominates negative ion production, but radiative decay is shown to contribute above the O 1s ionization threshold. A peak in the H-/O+ yield above the O 1s threshold is attributed to decay from doubly excited states

Evaluation of Gladiolus Cultivars in Eastern Ghats of Tamil Nadu

Gladiolus grandiflorus L. genotypes were evaluated for growth and floral parameters in Eastern Ghats of Tamil Nadu, under Yercaud conditions. Significant differences were recorded for all traits studied. Among 42 genotypes evaluated, 'Pusa Shagun' and 'Pusa Swarnima' recorded quality spikes with higher vase life indicating their suitability for use in floral arrangement, while, genotypes like 'Thumbolina', 'Priscilla' and 'Candyman' were found superior in characters like corm number, corm weight and corm diameter. Taking into account various growth and floral characters of the genotypes studied, Pusa Swarnima, Pusa Shagun, Thumbolina, Priscilla and Candyman can be recommended for cut-flower production in the Eastern Ghats of Tamil Nadu

Evaluation of Commercial Cultivars of Cut Gerbera (Gerbera jamesonii Bolus Ex Hooker F.) under Polyhouse in Shevaroy Condition of Eastern Ghats

An investigation was carried out to evaluate performance of 36 cultivars of cut gerbera (Gerbera jamesoniiBolus ex Hooker F.) in a polyhouse at Horticultural Research Station, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Yercaud, during 2008-2010. Significant differences were observed for all the characters studied. Maximum plant-spread (78.02cm) was observed in cv. Robusta. Higher number of leaves was recorded in cv. White Tibet (41.54). Maximum Leaf length and leaf width was recorded in cvs. Golden Gate and Yanara. Maximum number of suckers produced was recorded in cv. Junkfru (7.60). Maximum stalk length was observed in cv. White Tibet (62.62cm), while flower diameter, cut flower production and vase-life were higher in cv. Rosalin. Correlation and path coefficient analysis showed that plant height, number of leaves per plant and number of suckers per plant were the important components of cut-flower yield in gerbera. It may be concluded that cultivars Rosalin, White Tibet, Junkfru and Golden Gate were found to be the best for floral quality and yield, and are recommended for cut-flower production under Shevaroy condition of Eastern Ghats

{Cn, C4}-Decomposition of the line graph of the complete graph

For given positive integer n ≥ 4, let Cn, Kn and L(Kn) respectively denote a cycle with n edges, a complete graph on n vertices and the line graph of the complete graph Kn. For a given graph G, if H1, H2, ..., Hl are the edge disjoint subgraphs such that E(G) = E(H1) ∪ E(H2) ∪ ... ∪ E(Hl), then we say that H1, H2, ..., Hl decompose G. If G has a decomposition into copies of H1 and H2 using atleast one of each, then we say that G has a {H1, H2}-decomposition (or) G is {H1, H2}-decomposable. In this paper, it is proved that L(Kn) is {Cn, C4}-decomposable

Performance of Orchid Species in Shevaroy Hills of Eastern Ghats

Performance of 24 orchid species was assessed in the net-house of Horticultural Research Station, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Yercaud. Among the species studied, plant height was significantly high (105cm) in Spathoglotts plicata. At the end of the vegetative stage, number of leaves was maximum (30) in Aerides. Leaf was longest (49.8cm) and widest (17.6cm) in Rhyncostylis retusa. Paphiopedilum insigne produced largest flower size (14.4cm across). Pedicel length was highest in Phaius tankervillae (10.3cm) and Renanthera inshootiana (7.1cm). Aerides multiflorum recorded lowest pedicel length (1.24cm). Epidendrum radicans and Spathoglottis plicata produced flowers round the year. Lucia virides recorded maximum life (29 days) on plant, followed by Arachnanthe clarkei (18 days), Dendrobium densiflorum (18 days) and Oncidium flexosum (16 days), while, minimum (6 days) was observed in two orchid species, Aerides crispum and Cattleya sp. Maximum (23 days) vase life was recorded in Lucia virides. Results of the investigation thus reveal that among the 24 orchid species studied, Epidendrum radicans, Lucia virides and Paphiopediluminsigne performed better in terms of vegetative and floral characters under Shevaroy hill condition

Evaluation of Cut-Foliage Plants for Eastern Ghats

A maiden attempt was made at Horticultural Research Station (HRS), a constituent research unit of Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, located at Yercaud, Salem District, Tamil Nadu, India during 2012-2013 to assess the suitability of various ornamental foliage plant species under Shevroys /Eastern Ghats conditions. Considerable variation was found in quantitative and qualitative parameters among the foliage species. The study recommends Nephrolepis cordifolia and Asparagus sprengeri as suitable liners, while, large-leaved species like Cordyline fruticosa and Philodendron xanadu as background materials in larger arrangements, and the smaller-leaved Dracaena reflexa var. angustifolia for smaller arrangements

Influence of Potting Media on Growth of Asparagus densiflorus 'Meyersii'

A study was conducted on the influence of growth media on development of Asparagus densiflorus 'Meyersii' at Horticultural Research Station, Yercaud during the years 2011-12. The pot experiment was laid out under open condition, with nine set of treatments comprising various combinations of soil, sand, FYM, vermicompost and microbial consortia (Azospirillum, phosphobacteria and Pseudomonas fluorescens). From among the media combinations used, the treatment involving Soil + Sand + FYM + Vermicompost (T3) @ 2:1:1:0.5 (670g+375g+375g+165g) was found to be the best substrate for vegetative and root characters like plant height, shoot number, leaflet number, leaflet length, leaflet width, root number, root length, bulb number, bulb length, bulb width and vase-life in Asparagus densiflorus 'Meyersii'

CHARACTERIZATION OF URATE OXIDASE EXPRESSED IN ESCHERICHIA COLI

The biological market is increasing day by day, so the regulatory bodies are becoming more stringent to maintain the quality of the product. To meet the highest quality standards, it is necessary to assess the quality of the product, in each and every step of the bio-therapeutic drug manufacturing. Originator molecule manufactures usually define their own standards, but where as a biosimilar producer should do head to head comparison with the standard molecule, in order to prove it as closely similar to the standard with respect to structure and function. In this paper, we compared urate oxidase produced in E. coli with the marketing Elitek which is expressed in yeast. We used various methods to determine its molecular weight, structural integrity, In-vitro bioassay and other methods to compare with the standard. Integrity by DSS cross linking is first of its kind for urate oxidase, expressed in E.coli