Acclimatization and Field Evaluation of Micropropagated Plants of Chrysanthemum Cv.'Arka Swarna'

Chrysanthemum cv.'Arka Swarna' was micropropagated using shoot-tip and nodal microcuttings on MS medium containing 3% sucrose and 0.25% Phytagel® in the absence of externally supplied plant growth regulators, yielding 90-100% rooted plantlets, or in medium containing 1 μM benzyladenine or kinetin yielding 20-32% plantlets within 2-4 weeks of subculture. The stocks were acclimatized employing sachet technique wherein the rooted plantlets (2.5-4 cm) were planted in polythene bags of 5"×9" filled to one-third height with planting mixture. The closed bags with 1-5 plants were incubated under conditions similar to the in vitro stocks. The plantlets recorded 90-100% establishment within 4 weeks. The ex vitro established plants were evaluated in the field a month later by direct planting , or after one month in a field nursery-bed, along with conventional suckers. While field establishment (80-95%) was not significantly influenced by the treatments, micropropagated plants put through the nursery appeared to be the best among the three treatments in vegetative growth, floral characteristics and flower yield, demonstrating advantage of micropropagation over conventional propagation for shy-suckering chrysanthemums

Study of trend of intraocular pressure variation in suppurative corneal ulcers in a South Indian Tertiary Care Centre: An observational study

OBJECTIVES: Primary Objective: To compare the Intraocular Pressure prospectively in the affected eye of patients with infective corneal ulcers with the opposite unaffected eye of the same patient. Secondary Objectives: 1. To determine if rise in IOP leads to prolongation of Time to Heal. 2. To determine the IOP trend with respect to microbiological profile of patients with corneal ulcers. 3. To determine if initial presenting size of the ulcer has any influence on IOP. METHODS: This was a hospital based, observational study. Patients who presented to the department of ophthalmology with active corneal ulcers ,who met the eligibility criteria ,were enrolled after obtaining informed consent. All patients underwent complete ophthalmologic examination according to protocol and underwent microbiological investigation . Intraocular pressure was checked in every third day from the day of admission, from the normal and the ulcer eye and the trend of the difference in IOP, between the two eyes was observed. The trend of intraocular pressure variation in ulcer eye in relation to microbiological profile and the size of the ulcer was studied .The relationship of the above mentioned variables to the time of healing was observed. RESULTS: The average “Time to Healing” of all the ulcers included in this study was found to be 24 days. The analysis of the results of the IOP monitoring did not show show a clear trend of IOP in the ulcer eye of the population studied, except for a suggestion that bacterial ulcers may tend to have a higher IOP in the ulcer eye than the unaffected eye, and that perhaps Streptococcus pneumoniae ulcers have an IOP spike that should be monitored for and treated appropriately. this study does not show a significant difference in the “Time to Healing” based on raised intraocular pressure in the ulcer eye, size of the ulcer(P value = 0.23) and microbiological isolate(P value = 0.27) profile. CONCLUSION: This study does not show a clear trent of IOP in the ulcer eye of the population studied, except for a suggestion that bacterial ulcers may tend to have a higher IOP in the ulcer eye than the unaffected eye, and that perhaps Streptococcus pneumoniae ulcers have an IOP spike that should be monitored for and treated appropriately. Additionally, this study does not show a significant difference in the time to healing based on raised intraocular pressure in the ulcer eye, size of the ulcer and microbiological isolate profile. However, there is a suggestion that increasing ulcer size leads to increasing time for healing to occur

Observational study of trend of intraocular pressure variation in suppurative corneal ulcers in a South Indian tertiary care centre

OBJECTIVES: Primary Objective: To compare the Intraocular Pressure prospectively in the affected eye of patients with infective corneal ulcers with the opposite unaffected eye of the same patient. Secondary Objectives: 1. To determine if rise in IOP leads to prolongation of Time to Heal. 2. To determine the IOP trend with respect to microbiological profile of patients with corneal ulcers. 3. To determine if initial presenting size of the ulcer has any influence on IOP. METHODS: This was a hospital based, observational study. Patients who presented to the department of ophthalmology with active corneal ulcers, who met the eligibility criteria, were enrolled after obtaining informed consent. All patients underwent complete ophthalmologic examination according to protocol and underwent microbiological investigation. Intraocular pressure was checked in every third day from the day of admission, from the normal and the ulcer eye and the trend of the difference in IOP, between the two eyes was observed. The trend of intraocular pressure variation in ulcer eye in relation to microbiological profile and the size of the ulcer was studied .The relationship of the above mentioned variables to the time of healing was observed. RESULTS: The average “Time to Healing” of all the ulcers included in this study was found to be 24 days. The analysis of the results of the IOP monitoring did not show show a clear trend of IOP in the ulcer eye of the population studied, except for a suggestion that bacterial ulcers may tend to have a higher IOP in the ulcer eye than the unaffected eye, and that perhaps Streptococcus pneumoniae ulcers have an IOP spike that should be monitored for and treated appropriately. This study does not show a significant difference in the “Time to Healing” based on raised intraocular pressure in the ulcer eye, size of the ulcer (P value=0.23) and microbiological isolate (P value=0.27) profile. CONCLUSION: This study does not show a clear trent of IOP in the ulcer eye of the population studied, except for a suggestion that bacterial ulcers may tend to have a higher IOP in the ulcer eye than the unaffected eye, and that perhaps Streptococcus pneumoniae ulcers have an IOP spike that should be monitored for and treated appropriately. Additionally, this study does not show a significant difference in the time to healing based on raised intraocular pressure in the ulcer eye, size of the ulcer and microbiological isolate profile. However, there is a sugestion that increasing ulcer size leads to increasing time for healing to occur

Protocol for a population-based study of rheumatic heart disease prevalence and cardiovascular outcomes among schoolchildren in Nepal

Rheumatic heart disease (RHD) remains a major contributor to morbidity and mortality in developing countries. The reported prevalence rates of RHD are highly variable and mainly attributable to differences in the sensitivity of either clinical screening to detect advanced heart disease or echocardiographic evaluation where disease is diagnosed earlier across a continuous spectrum. The clinical significance of diagnosis of subclinical RHD by echocardiographic screening and early implementation of secondary prevention has not been clearly established. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: The authors designed a cross-sectional survey to determine the prevalence of RHD in children from private and public schools between the age of 5 and 15 years in urban and rural areas of Eastern Nepal using both cardiac auscultation and echocardiographic evaluation. Children with RHD will be treated with secondary prevention and enrolled in a prospective cohort study. The authors will compare the prevalence rates by cardiac auscultation and echocardiography, determine risk factors associated with diagnosis and progression of RHD, investigate social and economic barriers for receiving adequate cardiac care and assess clinical outcomes with regular medical surveillance as a function of stage of disease at the time of diagnosis. Prospective clinical studies investigating the impact of secondary prevention for subclinical RHD on long-term clinical outcome will be of central relevance for future health resource utilisation in developing countries. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: The study was considered ethically uncritical and was given an exempt status by the ethics committee at University of Bern, Switzerland. The study has been submitted to the National Nepal Health Research Council and was registered with http://www.ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT01550068). The study findings will be reported in peer-reviewed publications. CLINICALTRIALS.GOV IDENTIFIER: NCT01550068

A Crucial Role for Antimicrobial Stewardship in the Midst of COVID-19

As the world deals with a pandemic, there remains another global challenge that cannot be ignored. Use of broad-spectrum antibiotics may be justified, as we are trying to treat a novel disease condition, which, in turn, could lead to an increase in antimicrobial resistance. We can decrease morbidity, mortality, and health care costs by controlling antimicrobial resistance, but it requires antimicrobial stewardship. Major components of effective and timely antimicrobial stewardship are diagnostic stewardship, infection prevention and control, and integration of COVID-19-specific flags into electronic health records, all of which may be integrated into current strategies of COVID-19 mitigation and management. Going through the influenza season of 2020, implementation of antimicrobial stewardship education efforts in the United States can help us contend with influenza in addition to COVID-19 and any bacterial coinfections or secondary infections. Additional solutions include the development of vaccines, alternative therapies, such as antibodies, and advanced diagnostics using advances in genomics and computer science

Comparative analysis of conventional and real time PCR for detection of haemoparasites in dogs

9-15Ehrlichiosis and babesiosis are the most pathogenic tick-borne diseases of dogs worldwide. The present study reports that the development of SYBR green based real time PCR (RT-PCR) protocols with novel primers targeting small subunit ribosomal RNA genes to detect natural infections of Ehrlichia canis, Babesia vogeli and B. gibsoni in dogs and its comparison with conventional PCR. Statistical analysis revealed that RT- PCR is more superior to conventional PCR assay to detect low level rickettsaemia (p < 0.05). The high prevalence of these pathogens in the study population also warrants immediate attention to the adoption of efficient and sustainable control strategies

gems: An R Package for Simulating from Disease Progression Models

Mathematical models of disease progression predict disease outcomes and are useful epidemiological tools for planners and evaluators of health interventions. The R package gems is a tool that simulates disease progression in patients and predicts the effect of different interventions on patient outcome. Disease progression is represented by a series of events (e.g., diagnosis, treatment and death), displayed in a directed acyclic graph. The vertices correspond to disease states and the directed edges represent events. The package gems allows simulations based on a generalized multistate model that can be described by a directed acyclic graph with continuous transition-specific hazard functions. The user can specify an arbitrary hazard function and its parameters. The model includes parameter uncertainty, does not need to be a Markov model, and may take the history of previous events into account. Applications are not limited to the medical field and extend to other areas where multistate simulation is of interest. We provide a technical explanation of the multistate models used by gems, explain the functions of gems and their arguments, and show a sample application

Wealth from waste-utilisation of fish waste for production of biogas

A biogas unit was installed in the premises of Mangalore Research Centre of CMFRI during November, 2016 in order to utilize the fish waste generated from the biological analysis done in the lab. This biogas unit installed is first of its kind in the state to utilize fish waste. A unit was installed gainfully utilizing the fish waste generated after the biological analysis of fish. Disposal of the fish waste generated periodically at the Research Centre during sampling made for biological studies was becoming difficult. However, with the installation of the biogas unit- designed and supplied by private manufacturer in Kerala, solved the disposal problem of fish waste