ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY OF METHANOLIC EXTRACT OF LUDWIGIA PARVIFLORA L. AGAINST STANDARD BACTERIAL STRAINS AND COMPARISON OF ITS ACTIVITY WITH THAT OF STANDARD ANTIBIOTICS

Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the antimicrobial activity of methanolic extract of Ludwigia parviflora L. using standard bacterial strains and compare its activity with that of standard antibiotics. Methods: The antibacterial activity and antibiotic susceptibility tests were done by disk diffusion method using MTCC bacterial strains. Results: The study revealed that the methanolic extract of the whole plant of L. parviflora L. was effective to inhibit the growth of Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Escherichia coli. Among the tested strains, S. aureus, P. aeruginosa, K. pneumoniae, and E. coli were more susceptible to the methanolic extract of L. parviflora than the commonly using antibiotic tetracycline 30 mcg. The activity of methanolic extract was also higher than the activity of gentamicin 10 mcg against the P. aeruginosa. Conclusion: The study concluded that the crude methanolic extract of the whole plant of L. parviflora L. is a good source for antibacterial agent against S. aureus, P. aeruginosa, K. pneumoniae, and E. coli. Hence, this plant can be used as a natural alternative to the common antibiotics such as gentamicin and tetracycline against common bacterial infections after validating its pharmacological and toxicological activities

A Study on the Cavity Problems in Patients Who Have Undergone Functional Endoscopic Sinus Surgery

Background and Objectives: Studies on the postoperative problems of endoscopic sinus surgery are rare in literature. The objective is to study the postoperative symptoms of patients and findings on nasal endoscopy after functional endoscopic sinus surgery (FESS). Adequate postoperative care necessary after FESS and ways to reduce the cavity problems to be studied. Methods:113 patients who underwent FESS for various pathologies were followed up at regular intervals with nasal endoscopy. Postoperative  symptoms of patients were documented, nasal endoscopy done and findings noted. Necessary interventions performed according to the problems visualized. Results were analysed at 1 month and 3 monthspost surgery and as required thereafter.Results: Postoperative review at 1 month showed symptoms of smell disturbances(24 cases), nasal obstruction(16 cases), headache(4) and nasal discharge(2). Nasal endoscopy revealed synechiae in 16 patients, significant crusting and fungal debris in 11 patients each. AFRS (17 out of 25 cases) and ethmoidal polyps (19 out of 52 cases) had maximum problem rate. Procedure wise, revision FESS and cases with septal correction showed maximum problems. Necessary intervention performed. Review at 3 months showed persistent smell disturbances in 6 ethmoidal polyp cases and persistent fungal debris in 5 of the AFRS cases. Rest of the cases improved. Outside this review, 1 case of antrochoanal polyp and 9 cases of ethmoidal polyps showed recurrence later on which was treated endoscopically.Interpretation and Conclusion: AFRS and ethmoidal polyps require rigorous postoperative care with nasal endoscopy and appropriate intervention as they are prone for recurrence and postoperative problems. Revision FESS need extensive preoperative assessment to reduce problem rate. Duration of follow up necessary for each case need more extensive long term studies. Keywords: Functional Endoscopic Sinus Surgery, Post operative, Cavity Problem

The Current State of Cartilage Transplantation in the Knee

Articular hyaline cartilage damage is difficult to repair since the chondrocytes often fail to multiply in vivo.  Despite many centuries of advances in medical science the repair of damaged articular cartilage tissue remains controversial. This article presents a comprehensive review of the current state of articular cartilage implantation in the knee.Articular hyaline cartilage damage is difficult to repair since the chondrocytes often fail to multiply in vivo.  Despite many centuries of advances in medical science the repair of damaged articular cartilage tissue remains controversial. This article presents a comprehensive review of the current state of articular cartilage implantation in the knee. DOI: 10.17489/biohun/2009/1/0

Combined thickness of uterus and placenta, foetal heart rate oscillations and progesterone concentration in last week of canine gestation

This study aimed to evaluate the combined thickness of uterus and placenta, foetal heart rate and serum progesterone concentration in prepartum bitches. Eighteen pregnant female dogs in the last week of gestation were subjected to ultrasonographic examination and progesterone assay to evaluate changes prior to impending whelping. No significant difference was found in the combined thickness of uterus and placenta measurements in the last week of gestation. However, foetal heart rate showed oscillations and progesterone declined 12h prior to whelping

Epidemiology, baseline characteristics and risk of progression in the first South-Asian prospective longitudinal observational IgA nephropathy cohort

Introduction: Glomerular Research And Clinical Experiments-IgA Nephropathy in Indians (GRACE-IgANI) is the first prospective South Asian IgAN cohort with protocolized follow-up and extensive biosample collection. Here we report the baseline clinical, biochemical, and histopathologic characteristics of GRACE IgANI and calculate baseline risk of progression for the cohort. Methods: 201 incident adults with kidney biopsy-proven primary IgAN were recruited into GRACE-IgANI between March 2015 and September 2017. As of April 30, 2020, the cohort had completed a median followup of 30 months (interquartile range [IQR] 16-39). Results: The commonest clinical presentation in GRACE IgANI was hypertension, with or without proteinuria, and nephrotic-range proteinuria was present in 34%, despite Conclusions: The predicted risk of progression in this cohort was considerable. Over the next 5 years, we will dissect the pathogenic pathways that underlie this severe South Asian IgAN phenotype

Going Deeper: Metagenome of a Hadopelagic Microbial Community

The paucity of sequence data from pelagic deep-ocean microbial assemblages has severely restricted molecular exploration of the largest biome on Earth. In this study, an analysis is presented of a large-scale 454-pyrosequencing metagenomic dataset from a hadopelagic environment from 6,000 m depth within the Puerto Rico Trench (PRT). A total of 145 Mbp of assembled sequence data was generated and compared to two pelagic deep ocean metagenomes and two representative surface seawater datasets from the Sargasso Sea. In a number of instances, all three deep metagenomes displayed similar trends, but were most magnified in the PRT, including enrichment in functions for two-component signal transduction mechanisms and transcriptional regulation. Overrepresented transporters in the PRT metagenome included outer membrane porins, diverse cation transporters, and di- and tri-carboxylate transporters that matched well with the prevailing catabolic processes such as butanoate, glyoxylate and dicarboxylate metabolism. A surprisingly high abundance of sulfatases for the degradation of sulfated polysaccharides were also present in the PRT. The most dramatic adaptational feature of the PRT microbes appears to be heavy metal resistance, as reflected in the large numbers of transporters present for their removal. As a complement to the metagenome approach, single-cell genomic techniques were utilized to generate partial whole-genome sequence data from four uncultivated cells from members of the dominant phyla within the PRT, Alphaproteobacteria, Gammaproteobacteria, Bacteroidetes and Planctomycetes. The single-cell sequence data provided genomic context for many of the highly abundant functional attributes identified from the PRT metagenome, as well as recruiting heavily the PRT metagenomic sequence data compared to 172 available reference marine genomes. Through these multifaceted sequence approaches, new insights have been provided into the unique functional attributes present in microbes residing in a deeper layer of the ocean far removed from the more productive sun-drenched zones above

A framework for human microbiome research

A variety of microbial communities and their genes (the microbiome) exist throughout the human body, with fundamental roles in human health and disease. The National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded Human Microbiome Project Consortium has established a population-scale framework to develop metagenomic protocols, resulting in a broad range of quality-controlled resources and data including standardized methods for creating, processing and interpreting distinct types of high-throughput metagenomic data available to the scientific community. Here we present resources from a population of 242 healthy adults sampled at 15 or 18 body sites up to three times, which have generated 5,177 microbial taxonomic profiles from 16S ribosomal RNA genes and over 3.5 terabases of metagenomic sequence so far. In parallel, approximately 800 reference strains isolated from the human body have been sequenced. Collectively, these data represent the largest resource describing the abundance and variety of the human microbiome, while providing a framework for current and future studies

Structure, function and diversity of the healthy human microbiome

Author Posting. © The Authors, 2012. This article is posted here by permission of Nature Publishing Group. The definitive version was published in Nature 486 (2012): 207-214, doi:10.1038/nature11234.Studies of the human microbiome have revealed that even healthy individuals differ remarkably in the microbes that occupy habitats such as the gut, skin and vagina. Much of this diversity remains unexplained, although diet, environment, host genetics and early microbial exposure have all been implicated. Accordingly, to characterize the ecology of human-associated microbial communities, the Human Microbiome Project has analysed the largest cohort and set of distinct, clinically relevant body habitats so far. We found the diversity and abundance of each habitat’s signature microbes to vary widely even among healthy subjects, with strong niche specialization both within and among individuals. The project encountered an estimated 81–99% of the genera, enzyme families and community configurations occupied by the healthy Western microbiome. Metagenomic carriage of metabolic pathways was stable among individuals despite variation in community structure, and ethnic/racial background proved to be one of the strongest associations of both pathways and microbes with clinical metadata. These results thus delineate the range of structural and functional configurations normal in the microbial communities of a healthy population, enabling future characterization of the epidemiology, ecology and translational applications of the human microbiome.This research was supported in part by National Institutes of Health grants U54HG004969 to B.W.B.; U54HG003273 to R.A.G.; U54HG004973 to R.A.G., S.K.H. and J.F.P.; U54HG003067 to E.S.Lander; U54AI084844 to K.E.N.; N01AI30071 to R.L.Strausberg; U54HG004968 to G.M.W.; U01HG004866 to O.R.W.; U54HG003079 to R.K.W.; R01HG005969 to C.H.; R01HG004872 to R.K.; R01HG004885 to M.P.; R01HG005975 to P.D.S.; R01HG004908 to Y.Y.; R01HG004900 to M.K.Cho and P. Sankar; R01HG005171 to D.E.H.; R01HG004853 to A.L.M.; R01HG004856 to R.R.; R01HG004877 to R.R.S. and R.F.; R01HG005172 to P. Spicer.; R01HG004857 to M.P.; R01HG004906 to T.M.S.; R21HG005811 to E.A.V.; M.J.B. was supported by UH2AR057506; G.A.B. was supported by UH2AI083263 and UH3AI083263 (G.A.B., C. N. Cornelissen, L. K. Eaves and J. F. Strauss); S.M.H. was supported by UH3DK083993 (V. B. Young, E. B. Chang, F. Meyer, T. M. S., M. L. Sogin, J. M. Tiedje); K.P.R. was supported by UH2DK083990 (J. V.); J.A.S. and H.H.K. were supported by UH2AR057504 and UH3AR057504 (J.A.S.); DP2OD001500 to K.M.A.; N01HG62088 to the Coriell Institute for Medical Research; U01DE016937 to F.E.D.; S.K.H. was supported by RC1DE0202098 and R01DE021574 (S.K.H. and H. Li); J.I. was supported by R21CA139193 (J.I. and D. S. Michaud); K.P.L. was supported by P30DE020751 (D. J. Smith); Army Research Office grant W911NF-11-1-0473 to C.H.; National Science Foundation grants NSF DBI-1053486 to C.H. and NSF IIS-0812111 to M.P.; The Office of Science of the US Department of Energy under Contract No. DE-AC02-05CH11231 for P.S. C.; LANL Laboratory-Directed Research and Development grant 20100034DR and the US Defense Threat Reduction Agency grants B104153I and B084531I to P.S.C.; Research Foundation - Flanders (FWO) grant to K.F. and J.Raes; R.K. is an HHMI Early Career Scientist; Gordon&BettyMoore Foundation funding and institutional funding fromthe J. David Gladstone Institutes to K.S.P.; A.M.S. was supported by fellowships provided by the Rackham Graduate School and the NIH Molecular Mechanisms in Microbial Pathogenesis Training Grant T32AI007528; a Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of Canada Grant in Aid of Research to E.A.V.; 2010 IBM Faculty Award to K.C.W.; analysis of the HMPdata was performed using National Energy Research Scientific Computing resources, the BluBioU Computational Resource at Rice University

Inner canthal distance and golden proportion as predictors of maxillary central incisor width in south Indian population

Objectives: Even though the constant relation of golden proportion and inner canthal distance (ICD) with the width of the maxillary central incisor (CIW) has been found in European population, it may not be applied to Indian population as we differ from Europeans racially and genetically. Hence, this study was carried out with the objectives of determining if these parameters are applicable to our population also. Materials and Methods: Three hundred south Indian subjects between 18 and 26 years of age, free from facial and dental deformities were examined. Inner canthus of each eye was used as soft tissue landmark. The maxillary central incisors were measured at the contact point area with the help of digital vernier caliper. The CIW was also calculated using golden proportion ratio to obtain the calculated central incisor width. A comparison was made with measured width. Statistical analyses were done to identify any significant difference using "Z" tests. Pearson′s Correlation Coefficient test was used to evaluate the measured and the calculated width of the central incisor. Results: ICD and the width of two maxillary incisors were in golden proportion in south Indian population. Also, ICD when multiplied by a decreasing function value of the golden proportion and divided by 2 is a reliable predictor of determining CIW. Conclusion: As in the European population, the ICD and the golden proportion are reliable predictors for determining the width of the maxillary central incisors in the south Indian population also