IN VITRO ANTIBACTERIAL PROFILE OF ALSTONIA VENENATA R. BR-A COMPARATIVE STUDY

Objective: To investigate the antibacterial efficacy of leaves, stem-bark, root-bark, flowers and fruits of Alstonia venenata R. Br. Methods: The antimicrobial efficacy of butanol and methanol solvent extracts was evaluated by agar well diffusion against selected pathogenic bacterial strains. Gram negative strains like Pseudomonas aerugenosa, Proteus vulgaris, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Slamonella enteric typhimurium, Salmonella typhi, Salmonella paratyphi A, Shigella spp. were tested. Gram positive strains tested were Micrococcus luteus and Staphylococcus aureus. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) were determined using macro broth dilution method against clinical isolate of Staphylococcus aureus. Streptomycin 0.125 mg/ml was used as positive control and Dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) as the solvent control. Results: Butanol and methanol extracts of all the plant parts are highly effective against Gram positive strains and show moderate inhibition against Gram negative strains. Stem-bark and root-bark butanol were the most effective fractions followed by fruit, flower and leaf extracts. The inhibition zones of Micrococcus luteus and Staphylococcus aureus were 24-26 mm and 18-20 mm respectively. The observed zone size was equal to or greater than the positive control used. The MIC value for stem-bark butanol and root-bark butanol were 0.98 mg/ml and the MBC values were 7.8 mg/ml and 3.9 mg/ml respectively. For fruit, flower and leaf butanol the MIC values were 15.6, 31.25 and 125 mg. Conclusion: The extracts were highly active against Gram positive strains than Gram negative strains. The butanol extracts were the most active fraction followed by the methanol extracts. Highest activity was observed for root-bark and stem-bark followed by fruit, flower and leaf extracts

IN VITRO ANTIBACTERIAL PROFILE OF ALSTONIA VENENATA R. BR- A COMPARATIVE STUDY

Objective: To investigate the antibacterial efficacy of leaves, stem-bark, root- bark, flowers and fruits of Alstonia venenata R. Br. Methods: The antimicrobial efficacy of butanol and methanol solvent extracts was evaluated by agar well diffusion against selected pathogenic bacterial strains. Gram negative strains like Pseudomonas aerugenosa, Proteus vulgaris, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Slamonella enteric typhimurium, Salmonella typhi, Salmonella paratyphi A, Shigella spp. were tested. Gram positive strains tested were Micrococcus luteus and Staphylococcus aureus. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) were determined using macro broth dilution method against clinical isolate of Staphylococcus aureus. Streptomycin 0.125mg/ml was used as positive control and Dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) as solvent control. Results: Butanol and methanol extracts of all the plant parts are highly effective against Gram positive strains and show moderate inhibition against Gram negative strains. Stem-bark and root-bark butanol were the most effective fractions followed by fruit, flower and leaf extracts. The inhibition zones of Micrococcus luteus and Staphylococcus aureus were 24-26 mm and 18-20 mm respectively. The observed zone size was equal to or greater than the positive control used. The MIC value for stem-bark butanol and root-bark butanol were 0.98 mg/ml and the MBC values were 7.8 mg/ml and 3.9 mg/ml respectively. For fruit, flower and leaf butanol the MIC values were 15.6, 31.25 and 125mg. Conclusion: The extracts were highly active against Gram positive strains than Gram negative strains. The butanol extracts were the most active fraction followed by the methanol extracts. Highest activity was observed for root-bark and stem-bark followed by fruit, flower and leaf extracts

Modern and Ancestral Genotypes of Mycobacterium tuberculosis from Andhra Pradesh, India

Traditionally, the distribution of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis genotypes in India has been characterized by widespread prevalence of ancestral lineages (TbD1+ strains and variants) in the south and the modern forms (TbD1− CAS and variants) predominating in the north of India. The pattern was, however, not clearly known in the south-central region such as Hyderabad and the rest of the state of Andhra Pradesh where the prevalence of both tuberculosis (TB) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection is one of the highest in the country; this area has been the hotspot of TB vaccine trials. Spoligotyping of 101 clinical isolates obtained from Hyderabad and rural Andhra Pradesh confirmed the occurrence of major genogroups such as the ancestral (or the TbD1+ type or the East African Indian (EAI) type), the Central Asian (CAS) or Delhi type and the Beijing lineage in Andhra Pradesh. Sixty five different spoligotype patterns were observed for the isolates included in this study; these were further analyzed based on specific genetic signatures/mutations. It was found that the major genogroups, CAS and “ancestral,” were almost equally prevalent in our collection but followed a north-south compartmentalization as was also reported previously. However, we observed a significant presence of MANU lineage in south Andhra Pradesh, which was earlier reported to be overwhelmingly present in Mumbai. This study portrays genotypic diversity of M. tuberculosis from the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh and provides a much needed snapshot of the strain diversity that will be helpful in devising effective TB control programs in this part of the world

Knowledge explorer:exploring the 12-billion-statement KnowWhereGraph using faceted search (demo paper)

Knowledge graphs are a rapidly growing paradigm and technology stack for integrating large-scale, heterogeneous data in an AI-ready form, i.e., combining data with the formal semantics required to understand it. However, toolchains that support data synthesis and knowledge discovery through information organization, search, filtering, and visualization have been developed at a pace lagging knowledge graph technology. In this paper, we present Knowledge Explorer, an open-source faceted search interface that provides environmentally intelligent services for interactively browsing and navigating KnowWhereGraph. Currently one of the largest open knowledge graphs, KnowWhereGraph contains over 12 billion statements with rich spatial and temporal information from more than 30 data layers. With an extensive collection of facets, Knowledge Explorer enables spatial, temporal, full-text, and expert search with dereferencing functionality to support "follow-your-nose"exploration, and it allows users to narrow their search by selecting facets. Given the size of the underlying graph and dependency on GeoSPARQL, we have improved query performance by implementing Elasticsearch indexing, spatial query generation, and caching. Knowledge Explorer is capable of retrieving information within seconds, answering a wide variety of competency questions posed by researchers, humanitarian relief organizations, and the broader public, thus helping better perform tasks such as cross-gazetteer place retrieval and disaster assessment from global to local geographic scales.</p

Genetic affinities within the <i>M. tuberculosis</i> isolates based on spoligotyping.

<p>Different clades corresponding to prevalent genotypes are prominently highlighted. In the inset is the distance coding convention relevant to the genetic relatedness of different isolates within a clade.</p

Details of the <i>M. tuberculosis</i> isolates studied herein.

<p>Details of the <i>M. tuberculosis</i> isolates studied herein.</p

Attitudes towards vaccines and intention to vaccinate against COVID-19: a cross-sectional analysis - implications for public health communications in Australia

Objective To examine SARS-CoV-2 vaccine confidence, attitudes and intentions in Australian adults as part of the iCARE Study. Design and setting Cross-sectional online survey conducted when free COVID-19 vaccinations first became available in Australia in February 2021. Participants Total of 1166 Australians from general population aged 18-90 years (mean 52, SD of 19). Main outcome measures Primary outcome: responses to question € If a vaccine for COVID-19 were available today, what is the likelihood that you would get vaccinated?'. Secondary outcome: analyses of putative drivers of uptake, including vaccine confidence, socioeconomic status and sources of trust, derived from multiple survey questions. Results Seventy-eight per cent reported being likely to receive a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine. Higher SARS-CoV-2 vaccine intentions were associated with: increasing age (OR: 2.01 (95% CI 1.77 to 2.77)), being male (1.37 (95% CI 1.08 to 1.72)), residing in least disadvantaged area quintile (2.27 (95% CI 1.53 to 3.37)) and a self-perceived high risk of getting COVID-19 (1.52 (95% CI 1.08 to 2.14)). However, 72% did not believe they were at a high risk of getting COVID-19. Findings regarding vaccines in general were similar except there were no sex differences. For both the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine and vaccines in general, there were no differences in intentions to vaccinate as a function of education level, perceived income level and rurality. Knowing that the vaccine is safe and effective and that getting vaccinated will protect others, trusting the company that made it and vaccination recommended by a doctor were reported to influence a large proportion of the study cohort to uptake the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine. Seventy-eight per cent reported the intent to continue engaging in virus-protecting behaviours (mask wearing, social distancing, etc) postvaccine. Conclusions Most Australians are likely to receive a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine. Key influencing factors identified (eg, knowing vaccine is safe and effective, and doctor's recommendation to get vaccinated) can inform public health messaging to enhance vaccination rates