Effects of thrombocytopenia in pregnancy

Background: Thrombocytopenia defined as platelet count of less than 1,50,000/cu.mm. Thrombocytopenia is divided according to severity into mild moderate and severe types. Multiple factors are responsible.Methods: This is a retrospective study of one-year period including 120 pregnant patients irrespective of their gestational age at civil hospital Ahmedabad. Etiology of this condition are identified and analyzed.Results: Gestational Thrombocytopenia is the most common etiology. This condition is self-limiting usually.Conclusions: Platelet count estimation should be a routine at first antenatal visit for timely diagnosis and to achieve favorable fetomaternal outcome.

Clinical profile of different type of tuberculosis in hospitalized children in tertiary care center

Background: Since the implementation of directly observed treatment short (DOTS) program, the prevalence, clinical profile, and risk factors of pulmonary and non-pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) necessitating hospitalization in pediatric patients are not evaluated extensively. Materials and Methods: We designed a prospective observational study to evaluate the clinical profile of different types of TB in hospitalized children <12 years old. Different types of TB in children hospitalized from 1st January 2013 to 30th June 2014 were recorded. Detailed clinical history, clinical examination findings, diagnostic methods, and treatment of these cases were analyzed by age groups and types of TB. Results: During the study period, 150 (2.8% of total admission) patientswith TB were admitted in our institute. 87 (58%) patients were <5 years old, and 92 (61.33%) children were male. 140 (93.33%) children were malnourished. The clinical profile of TB included neuro TB in 78 (37.32%), pulmonary in 67 (32.05), abdominal in 27 (12.91%), and disseminated in 27 (12.91%) patients. Less than half of children with neuro TB and disseminated TB were immunized with Bacillus calmette-guerin (BCG). Conclusion: Despite aggressive DOTS implementation, the prevalence of TB, particularly, non-pulmonary TB in children is quite alarming. All the variants of TB are prevalent in the children. The neuro TB and the pulmonary TB dominate in the hospitalized cases. Younger age, lack of protection of BCG vaccination, and malnutrition are the main risk factors in childhood TB

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

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

Effects of thrombocytopenia in pregnancy

Background: Thrombocytopenia defined as platelet count of less than 1,50,000/cu.mm. Thrombocytopenia is divided according to severity into mild moderate and severe types. Multiple factors are responsible.Methods: This is a retrospective study of one-year period including 120 pregnant patients irrespective of their gestational age at civil hospital Ahmedabad. Etiology of this condition are identified and analyzed.Results: Gestational Thrombocytopenia is the most common etiology. This condition is self-limiting usually.Conclusions: Platelet count estimation should be a routine at first antenatal visit for timely diagnosis and to achieve favorable fetomaternal outcome.

Neuroprotective effects of potassium channel openers on cerebral ischemia–reperfusion injury in diabetic rats

Objectives: This study was done to estimate the potential neuroprotective role of potassium channel openers in cerebral ischemia–reperfusion (IR) injury in streptozotocin (STZ) induced type-I diabetic rats (T1DR). Methods: Potassium channel openers – cromakalim, cinnarizine and nicorandil; potassium channel blocker –glibenclamide, insulin (as an antidiabetic standard), telmisartan (as an anti-hypertensive standard agent) and vitamin E (as an antioxidant and antiapoptotic standard agent) were given for 3 days in streptozotocin (45 mg/kg i.v.) induced type I diabetic rats along with middle cerebral artery occlusion. After 24 h of surgery, plasma glucose, neurobehavioral score, cerebral infarct volume, blood pressure and caspase-3 levels were measured to evaluate the mechanism of potassium channel openers (KCOs) for neuroprotection. Results: Following STZ administration and ischemia–reperfusion, blood sugar, neurobehavioral score, cerebral infarct volume and caspase-3 levels were significantly high in diabetic-IR groups. Treatment with cromakalim, cinnarizine, nicorandil, insulin and vitamin E significantly reduce neurobehavioral score while nicorandil and vitamin E significantly reduced cerebral infarct volume. Caspase-3 levels were significantly reduced by cromakalim and nicorandil treated animals. Except insulin and glibenclamide, none of the agents significantly reduce plasma glucose levels. Conclusion: Treatment of ischemic stroke with potassium channel openers in T1DR is neuroprotective. Inhibition of apoptosis may contribute to their neuroprotective effects after stroke in T1DR

Microwave sterilization of bovine pericardium for heart valve applications

It is widely recognised that the bioprosthetic valves widely used for heart valve replacements have some drawbacks, for example tearing and occurrence of infections, which can be attributed to the fixation and sterilization techniques currently available. These techniques adversely affect the physical properties, functionality, and lifespan of the leaflets. In the work discussed in this paper we examined a novel procedure of using high-frequency microwaves to fix and disinfect the pericardium, without causing any harmful affects. The test bacteria used were Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. The pericardium was exposed to microwaves at a frequency of 18 GHz for three consecutive replicates. The findings indicated that there was almost complete inactivation of the bacteria on the biomaterial without compromising the biocompatibility, which was studied using ovine fibroblasts. An effective fixation and sterilization procedure, that is quick and has no adverse effects is presented and discussed

Endothelialisation and cell retention on gelatin chitosan-coated electrospun polyurethane, poly (lactide-co-glycolide) and collagen-coated pericardium

Arterial bypass and heart valve replacements are two of the most common surgical treatments in cardiovascular surgery today. Currently, artificial materials are used as substitute for these cardiac tissues. However, these foreign materials do not have the ability to grow, repair or remodel and are thrombogenic, leading to stenosis. With the aid of tissue engineering, it is possible to develop functional identical copies of healthy heart valves and arteries, which are biocompatible. Although much effort has been made into this area, there are still inconsistencies with respect to endothelialisation and cell retention on synthetic biological grafts. These variations may be attributed to differences in factors such as cell seeding density, incubation periods and effects of shear stress. In this study, we have compared the endothelialisation and cell retention between gelain chitosan-coated electrospun polyurethane (PU), poly (lactide-co-glycolide) (PGA/PLA) and collagen-coated pericardium. Endothelial cells adhered to all of the materials as early as 1-day post seeding. After 7-day of seeding, the coverage on PU was almost 45% and that on PGA/PLA was about 25% and the least was on collagen-coated pericardium of approximately 15%. It was observed that the PU showed superior cell coverage and cell retention in comparison to the PGA/PLA and collagen-coated pericardium

Model-based methodology for validation of traffic flow detectors by minimizing human bias in video data processing

This paper provides a model-based method for analysis and hypothesis testing for paired data where one source of data has to be validated against another source of data that contains subjective and dynamic errors. This study deals with human-observed flow counts collected from traffic videos of freeway cameras. The available videos are mainly used for the purpose of manual observation by transportation personnel in case of emergency. This amounts to a varying inconsistency of the quality of the videos, which presents an additional challenge when analyzing the data. Video processing cannot be performed due to the mentioned issues with regard to the video quality. The processing has to be manually performed by humans who unfortunately have an inherent bias. If the video data have to be used for validating flow detector sensors, then a technique that performs validation with subjective and dynamic erroneous data as a result of the human bias is needed. This paper presents a methodology to deal with this issue. It is based on statistical testing with heteroscedasticity, which is demonstrated through a case study using data from traffic flow detectors and traffic cameras installed on highways in the Southern Nevada Region. A model for the relationship between the video ratings and the distribution of the human errors is developed taking into consideration the human bias. A method for identification of faulty detectors is also demonstrated based on the developed technique

Not Available

Not AvailableThe goal of this study was to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs) responsible for peanut plant (Arachis hypogaea) defence against Puccinia arachidis (causative agent of rust disease). Genes were identified using a high-throughput RNA-sequencing strategy. In total, 86,380,930 reads were generated from RNA-Seq data of two peanut genotypes, JL-24 (susceptible), and GPBD-4 (resistant). Gene Ontology (GO) and KEGG analysis of DEGs revealed essential genes and their pathways responsible for defence response to P. arachidis. DEGs uniquely upregulated in resistant genotype included pathogenesis-related (PR) proteins, MLO such as protein, ethylene-responsive factor, thaumatin, and F-box, whereas, other genes down-regulated in susceptible genotype were Caffeate O-methyltransferase, beta-glucosidase, and transcription factors (WRKY, bZIP, MYB). Moreover, various genes, such as Chitinase, Cytochrome P450, Glutathione S-transferase, and R genes such as NBS-LRR were highly up-regulated in the resistant genotype, indicating their involvement in the plant defence mechanism. RNA-Seq analysis data were validated by RT-qPCR using 15 primer sets derived from DEGs producing high correlation value (R2 = 0.82). A total of 4511 EST-SSRs were identified from the unigenes, which can be useful in evaluating genetic diversity among genotypes, QTL mapping, and plant variety improvement through marker-assisted breeding. These findings will help to understand the molecular defence mechanisms of the peanut plant in response to P. arachidis infection.Not Availabl