Study on Air Bacteria at Different Altitudinal Locations in Tezpur to Tawang Axis

Microflora plays an important role in modulating environmental quality. Among microflora, bacteria are omnipresent in the environment. Pathogenic bacteria, present in air, are known to affect significantly the health and well-being of human, animal or plant populations. Air bacteria monitoring is thus essential for surveillance of pathogenic microorganisms from public health perspective besides its significant implications in detection and mitigation of biothreat related issues. Despite the geo-politically strategic importance of northeast India, there is scarcity of data on human health and disease surveillance. Considering these facts, we, for the first time studied the bacterial diversity of air at six important sites adjacent to the international border in the northeast region of India, having an altitude range of 73 m (Tezpur) to 4170 m (Sela Pass) above sea level. Standard microbiological techniques, such as Tryptone Soya Agar, Mannitol salt and McConkey agar strips and plates were used for air bacterial load assessment and culture for subsequent analysis using biochemical and molecular techniques. Following RFLP study, twenty six different bacterial colonies were isolated. Subsequently, bacteria identification was carried out by examining the substrate utilisation patterns, sequencing 16S rRNA gene and phylogenetic analysis. Results of the study reveal that the isolates mostly belong to two genera Bacillus and Staphylococcus (eleven in each genus), along with Micrococcus, Pseduomonas and Acinetobacter. Based on significant match of our sequences with that of medically important bacterial 16S rRNA sequences available at 16SpathDB 2.0 and review of available literature, we found that a number of these bacterial species have the pathogenic potential. In this manuscript we report our results and discuss the importance of air bacterial surveillance from the perspective of human health, hygiene and biothreat mitigation

Potential Application of Bacteriophage in Decontaminating Biothreat Agents

Multidrug resistant bacterial infections have become a potent risk, globally and there is an urgent need to phage and phage-derived enzymes as a therapeutic agent. The risk is more prominent in underdeveloped nations, where high population density, poor drinking water, inadequate sanitary and health care facilities ease the spread of infection. Bacteriophages (or ‘phages’) are abundant in nature and highly specific in their infection and pathogenicity, allowing their isolation, enrichment and use against specific bacteria. Employing bacteriophages as a tool for neutralizing potential biological threat agents can thus be an effective approach towards preparedness for biothreat mitigation. Unlike chemical antibiotics, phages are self-propagating, i.e., starting with a small number they can sustain their population, do not affect non-target/ beneficial bacterial populations. The tremendous potential of bacteriophages has recently been shown in treating multidrug resistant bacterial infections in terminally ill human subjects with unprecedented success. The natural anti-bacterial properties can be harnessed for decontamination of food, water, crops and for many other purposes including pathogen reduction in wastewater etc. Additionally, with the advancement in genetic engineering, deliberate use of such engineered multidrug resistant bacteria by state/non-state players has also become a reality. Owing to their resistance to several of the available antibiotics, control and mitigation of emerging pathogens is going to be great challenge. In this context, bacteriophages could be of potential use, since these viruses specifically infect bacterial hosts, often leading to their destruction

Assessment of knowledge, attitude and practices of universal precautions among medical and nursing students

Background: Universal precautions is an approach to infection control to treat all human blood and certain human body fluids as if they were known to be infectious for HIV, HBV and other bloodborne pathogens. The CDC recommends Standard Precautions for the care of all patients, regardless of their diagnosis or presumed infection status. Health care personals are at risk of being exposed to blood-borne pathogens. The aim of the study to determine the knowledge, attitude and practice of medical and nursing students towards universal precautions.Methods: A cross-sectional survey was carried out at S. S. Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Centre, Davangere, Karnataka. The participants were medical and Nursing undergraduate students. A questionnaire was prepared based on the WHO and CDC guidelines on Universal Precautions and was validated and pre-tested before finalization. Degree of knowledge was ascertained by means of yes-no questions on each item being evaluated.Results: All students were aware of Universal precautions, but soundness of their knowledge is very poor. Compliance in Universal precautions is good to average in nursing students but poor to average in medical students.Conclusions: It can be concluded that interventions to improve Universal precautions among medical students, nursing students urgently needed. So, there is a need for developing strategies to promote the use of Universal precautions which take into account behaviour change and accuracy of knowledge including its integration into practice. Teaching universal precautions early in their curriculum is necessary for better learning and practices during their posting

Status of thiocyanate levels in the serum and saliva of non-smokers, ex-smokers and smokers

Background: Use of tobacco is often implicated in the development of oral diseases. Questionable accuracy of the traditional questionnaires to assess cigarette exposure necessitates the use of biomarkers like thiocyanate which provide a definitive quantitative measure.Objective: To assess the rise in the level of thiocyanate for measurement of smoking behaviour in adults.Materials and methods: Serum and salivary thiocyanate levels were estimated in 20 non-smokers, 20 ex-smokers and 40 smokers. Smokers were divided into two groups based on the presence or absence of oral mucosal lesions.Results: The mean serum and salivary thiocyanate levels were increased significantly in smokers when compared to non-smokers and ex-smokers. The levels were not significantly different between ex-smokers and non-smokers and between smokers with tobacco related oral mucosal lesions and those without. Statistically significant correlation was seen between the serum and salivary levels of thiocyanate.Conclusion: This study highlights the high level of thiocyanate in the serum and saliva of smokers when compared to non-smokers and ex-smokers. Significant increase in thiocyanate level was also seen in saliva. Hence it can be stated that saliva can be used as a reliable, non-invasive tool to assess smoking behaviour in the population and its changes over time.Keywords: Thiocyanate, tobacco, smoking, cancer, pre-cancer

Public transport: a large scale fomite of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus

Background: The role of public transport as reservoirs of antibiotic-resistant staphylococci was determined.Methods: 200 swabs were collected from 50 public buses (urban and rural) circulating in Davangere, Karnataka. Swabs collected were inoculated on Blood agar, Mannitol salt agar and MacConkey agar plates. After incubation for 24-48 hours, plates were examined for the growth of Staphylococcus aureus. Anti-microbial susceptibility test was performed using oxacillin 1ug disc to detect methicillin resistance as per CSLI guidelines.Results: Out of 40 Staphylococcus aureus isolated 35 isolates were resistant to more than two classes of antibiotics, hence multidrug resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Out of 35 MDR isolates, 18 were resistant to oxacillin and cefoxitin. Minimum inhibitory concentration test revealed that out of 35 MDR isolates, 18 isolates had MIC value of ≥ 4µg/ml.Conclusions: The recovery methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus from public transport system implies a potential risk for transmission of these bacteria in community

Palatal piyojenik granülom: sıradışı bir bölgede sık rastlanan bir lezyon

Piyojenik granülom, ağız boşluğunda yaygın görülen bir tümördür. Başlarda, piyojenik organizmalardan kaynaklandığı düşünülsede, şimdilerde enfeksiyon ile ilgili olmadığına inanılmaktadır. İsim olarak lokal iritasyon ve travmaya dokunun verdiği aşırı reaksiyon anlamına gelir. Adına rağmen, tam bir granülom değildir. Sıklıkla diş eti, dudaklar, dil ve yanak mukozasında ortaya çıkar.  Piyojenik granülom damakta nadiren görülür. Bu çalışmada, sert damakta alışılmadık bir şekilde görülen  piyojenik granülomdan bahsedilecektir tanısı (MS) sebebiyle iki kere megadoz steroid tedavisi gördüğünü öğrendik. Röntgen ve MRI bulguları FBAN’u destekler nitelikteydi. Hastaya kordekompresyon operasyonu uyguladık ve eklem sıvısından örnek aldık.  Operasyondan sonra alının örnekte Salmonella bakterisi üremesi üzerine FBAN’nun septik artrit ile birlikte olduğunu anladık. Hastayı ilk operasyonunundan 2 gün sonra tekrar opere ederek sinoviyal dokulara yönelik debridman ve yıkama işlemi uyguladık. Salmonella septik artriti ile FBAN birlikteliği orak hücreli anemisi olan hastalarda bildirilmesine rağmen nadirdir. Erken evre FBAN sebebiyle kordekompresyon uygulanan ve beklenen klinik iyileşme görülmeyen hastalarda septik artrit ekarte edilmelidi

Genetically engineered minipigs model the major clinical features of human neurofibromatosis type 1.

Neurofibromatosis Type 1 (NF1) is a genetic disease caused by mutations in Neurofibromin 1 (NF1). NF1 patients present with a variety of clinical manifestations and are predisposed to cancer development. Many NF1 animal models have been developed, yet none display the spectrum of disease seen in patients and the translational impact of these models has been limited. We describe a minipig model that exhibits clinical hallmarks of NF1, including café au lait macules, neurofibromas, and optic pathway glioma. Spontaneous loss of heterozygosity is observed in this model, a phenomenon also described in NF1 patients. Oral administration of a mitogen-activated protein kinase/extracellular signal-regulated kinase inhibitor suppresses Ras signaling. To our knowledge, this model provides an unprecedented opportunity to study the complex biology and natural history of NF1 and could prove indispensable for development of imaging methods, biomarkers, and evaluation of safety and efficacy of NF1-targeted therapies

Recurrent Urinary Tract Infections in Children With Bladder and Bowel Dysfunction

Little generalizable information is available on the outcomes of children diagnosed with bladder and bowel dysfunction (BBD) after a urinary tract infection (UTI). Our objectives were to describe the clinical characteristics of children with BBD and to examine the effects of BBD on patient outcomes in children with and without vesicoureteral reflux (VUR)

Histopathologic findings in malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor predict response to radiotherapy and overall survival

BACKGROUND: Malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor (MPNST) is an aggressive and poorly understood malignant neoplasm. Even in the setting of multimodal therapy, the clinical course of MPNST is frequently marked by metastatic conversion and poor overall prognosis, with optimal treatment paradigms for this rare tumor unknown. METHODS: We reviewed the medical records and histopathology of 54 consecutive patients who were treated at University of California San Francisco between 1990 and 2018. RESULTS: Our cohort consisted of 24 male and 30 female patients (median age 38 years). Fédération Nationale des Centres de Lutte Contre Le Cancer (FNCLCC) sarcoma grading criteria segregated patients into groups with differences in overall survival (OS) ( CONCLUSIONS: Our results lend support to the FNCLCC sarcoma grading criteria as a prognostic scheme for MPNST, although few cases of grade 1 were included. Further, we identify increased Ki-67 labeling as a strong predictor of poor OS from MPNST. Finally, we identify a subset of MPNSTs with a predictive immunohistochemical profile that has improved local control with adjuvant radiotherapy. These data provide insights into the grading and therapy for patients with MPNST, although further studies are needed for independent validation

Status of thiocyanate levels in the serum and saliva of non-smokers, ex-smokers and smokers

Background: Use of tobacco is often implicated in the development of oral diseases. Questionable accuracy of the traditional questionnaires to assess cigarette exposure necessitates the use of biomarkers like thiocyanate which provide a definitive quantitative measure. Objective: To assess the rise in the level of thiocyanate for measurement of smoking behaviour in adults. Materials and methods: Serum and salivary thiocyanate levels were estimated in 20 non-smokers, 20 ex-smokers and 40 smokers. Smokers were divided into two groups based on the presence or absence of oral mucosal lesions. Results: The mean serum and salivary thiocyanate levels were increased significantly in smokers when compared to non-smokers and ex-smokers. The levels were not significantly different between ex-smokers and non-smokers and between smokers with tobacco related oral mucosal lesions and those without. Statistically significant correlation was seen between the serum and salivary levels of thiocyanate. Conclusion: This study highlights the high level of thiocyanate in the serum and saliva of smokers when compared to non-smokers and ex-smokers. Significant increase in thiocyanate level was also seen in saliva. Hence it can be stated that saliva can be used as a reliable, non-invasive tool to assess smoking behaviour in the population and its changes over time