Body fat indices for identifying risk of hypertension in Indian children

The aim is to study BODY FAT INDICES FOR IDENTIFYING RISK OF HYPERTENSION IN INDIAN CHILDREN. The study was conducted during July 2015 to October 2015 in urban schools, chennai. 2000 children participated in the study,following 5 basic indices were measured,height using portable stadiometer, weight using electronic scale, waist circumference using resistant tape, TRICEPS SKIN FOLD THICKNESS using harpenden caliper, blood pressure using sphygmomanometer, and set of questions asked to them, with the results BODY MASS INDEX and WAIST TO HEIGHT RATIO calculated. The reading and answers were analyzed together to obtain the results. The body fat indices like TSFT WAIST TO HEIGHT RATIO, WAIST CIRCUMFERENCE strongly correlated with systolic and diastolic hypertension. Through questionnaire the physical activity food habits and exercise correlates with systolic and diastolic hypertension. To conclude, the measures of adiposity are significantly associated with risk of hypertension in a multicentric sample of Indian children and adolescents. age–gender specific values for, BODY MASS INDEX TRICEPS SKINFOLD THICKNESS, WAIST TO HEIGHT RATIO, WRIST CIRCUMFERENCE collected in this study may be useful in the screening for risk of hypertension

Incidence of resistant mastitis in dairy cows in Tamil Nadu, India

The incidence of resistant mastitis in dairy cows in Tamil Nadu, India was 56.l %. The predominant resistant causative pathogen was Escherichia coli (50.64 %) followed by Staphylococcus aureus (44.25 %) and Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (5.11 %). Incidence of resistant mastitis was high in Holstein Friesian cross breed followed by Jersey cross breed and non descript. Highest incidence was observed in early stage of third lactation. In vitro antibiotic sensitivity test revealed the E. coli, S. aureus and MRSA organisms showed more sensitivity to enrofloxacin, amoxicillin+sulbactam, gentamicin and ceftriaxone and had highest resistant to penicillin followed by amoxicillin, oxytetracycline and methicillin. The study highlights the need for preventing the indiscriminate use of antibiotics

A study on Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus mastitis in dairy cows

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) poses a serious problem in dairy animals suffering from mastitis. The study was carried out to evaluate the incidence of Methicillin resistant S. aureus from clinical mastitis milk samples and their antibiotic resistance profile and characterised with respect to the molecular features that contributed to the resistance in these pathogens. Isolation and identification of Methicillin resistant S. aureus were performed from acute clinical mastitis samples. The isolates were tested using agar disc diffusion method for their antimicrobial susceptibility and modified resazurin assay micro dilution technique for MIC to 8 different antimicrobial drugs. A total of 235 clinical mastitis milk samples from dairy cows were cultured for incidence of S. aureus. Methicillin resistant S. aureus was isolated from a total of 12 (44.25%) of the 116 S. aureus samples. Based on the antimicrobial sensitivity and MIC results, MRSA isolates were found sensitive to gentamicin, enrofloxcain, amoxicillin+sulbactam, ceftriaxone and resistant to amoxicillin, oxytetracycline, penicillin G and oxacillin. Most of MRSA isolates were found to be multi-drug resistant. MRSA alert kit test and mecA and blaZ target gene PCR were found to be useful in the confirmation of MRSA

An automated software development for analysis of the morphological-tensile property relationship in egg shell bio-based particulate composites using machine learning algorithms

© 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC-BY license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This work explored the importance of quantitative observation through imaging methods of optical and electron microscopies on the mechanical properties of particulate polymeric composites. Egg shell powder (ESP) reinforced polypropylene carbonate (PPC) polymeric composites with different filler weight percentage (wt.%) from 1 to 5 wt.% were considered. A cost-effective Image Analysis Software (IAS) was developed to extract black particles from the original optical images. During this process, the optimal image can be reproduced based on its originality by controlling the threshold values from 0.1 to 0.6 in real time situation. Using one-dimensional (1D) Gaussian distribution analysis, the authentication of the particle distribution data was studied and linked to the tensile strength of the composites. The mean value of the particle area collected from the left and right side of the scattered curves has a significant effect on the tensile strength of the composites. The proposed model was validated by comparing the predicted statistical results with the measured tensile strength for different wt.% of ESP composites. From the results obtained, a close agreement of 99% accuracy was observed between the experimental results and the proposed model for the tensile strength of the composites. The innovative study provides more practical and quantitative knowledge on improved particulate polymeric composites, in addition to the detection of failure processes through optical/electron microscopic examination of images. Evidently, the proposed cost effective, accurate and less stressful model can be employed by several composite-based industries to correlate the tensile strengths of particulate polymeric composites with their morphological properties.Peer reviewe

Pattern of antibiotic resistant mastitis in dairy cows

Aim: To study the prevalence of drug resistant mastitis and their pattern of antibiotic resistance in dairy cows from Tamil Nadu. Materials and Methods: Isolation and identification of resistant pathogens were performed from acute clinical mastitis samples. Based on culture, isolation and sensitivity tests, cows with resistant mastitis were grouped as; Group I: Escherichia coli (n=119), Group II: Staphylococcus aureus (n=104) and Group III: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcal aureus (MRSA) (n=12). The isolates were tested using agar disc diffusion method for their antimicrobial susceptibility and modified resazurin assay microdilution technique for minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) to 8 antimicrobial drugs. The organisms were also confirmed for their identity by performing PCR on the bacterial pellet targeting the specific genes such as 16s-23s rRNA, mecA and blaZ respectively for the resistant pathogens and also confirmed by sequencing. Results: Antibiotic resistant mastitis was detected in 235 out of 401 cows accounting to 56.1%. The predominant resistant causative pathogen was E. coli (50.64%) followed by S. aureus (44.25%) and MRSA (5.11%). In vitro antibiotic sensitivity test and MIC breakpoints, E. coli, S. aureus and MRSA organisms showed more sensitivity to enrofloxacin, amoxicillin + sulbactam, gentamicin and ceftriaxone and had highest resistant to penicillin followed by amoxicillin, oxytetracycline and methicillin. E. coli and S. aureus isolates were found to be resistant to 1 or 2 antimicrobials, whereas most of the MRSA isolates were found to be multi-drug resistant i.e resistance to 3 or more of antimicrobials. Out of 235 milk samples, the specific target gene 16s-23s rRNA (E. coli ), 16s-23s rRNA (S. aureus) and MRSA (mecA and blaZ) could be amplified from 119, 104 and 12 isolates with a percentage positivity of 50.64 (119/235), 89.64 (104/116) and 10.34 (12/116) respectively. Conclusion: Prevalence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in bovine mastitis pathogens was high. Most MRSA pathogens were multidrug resistant. E. coli and S. aureus isolates were resistant to few antimicrobials