Melimine-coated antimicrobial contact lenses reduce microbial keratitis in an animal model

PURPOSE. To determine the ability of antimicrobial peptide melimine-coated contact lenses to reduce the incidence of microbial keratitis (MK) in a rabbit model of contact lens wear. METHODS. In vitro antimicrobial activity of melimine-coated contact lenses was determined against Pseudomonas aeruginosa by viable count and a radiolabeled assay. The amount of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) associated with bacteria bound to melimine-coated and control lenses was determined. Ocular swabs from rabbit eyes were collected for assessment of ocular microflora. A rabbit model for MK was developed that used overnight wear of contact lenses colonized by P. aeruginosa in the absence of a corneal scratch. During lens wear, detailed ocular examinations were performed, and the incidence of MK was investigated. Bacteria associated with worn lenses and infected corneas were determined by viable plate count. RESULTS. Inhibition in viable and total P. aeruginosa adhesion by melimine-coated contact lenses was 3.1 log10 and 0.4 log10, respectively. After colonization, the amount of LPS on lenses was approximately the same with or without melimine. Gram-positive bacteria were found in all the ocular swabs followed by fungus (42%). Melimine-coated lens wear was protective and significantly (odds ratio 10.12; P = 0.012) reduced the incidence of P. aeruginosa-driven MK in the rabbit model. The antimicrobial lenses were associated with significantly (P < 0.001) lower ocular scores, indicating improved ocular signs compared with controls. CONCLUSIONS. This study showed that contaminated contact lenses can produce MK without corneal epithelial defect in an animal model. Melimine-coated contact lenses reduced the incidence of MK associated with P. aeruginosa in vivo. Development of MK requires viable bacteria adherent to contact lenses, and bacterial debris adherent at the lens surface did not cause keratitis

Circular Patch Antenna with Defected Ground for UWB Communication with WLAN Band Rejection

The design and performance of coplanar waveguide fed modified circular patch antenna for possible application in ultra wideband communication systems with band rejection for upper wireless local area network band (5.15 GHz - 5.85 GHz) is reported. This antenna is designed on glass epoxy FR4 substrate having size 30 mm × 20 mm × 1.59 mm. The coplanar waveguide fed circular patch antenna is modified by introducing L shaped slits in ground plane and U shaped slot in patch and performance analysis of antenna is simulated by applying CST microwave studio simulation software. Different designed antennas were tested with available experimental facilities. The developed end product shows a nice matching with feed network at frequencies 2.62 GHz, 3.94 GHz and 8.50 GHz and provides 10.38 GHz (3.33 GHz - 13.71 GHz) impedance bandwidth with wireless local area network 5.5 GHz (4.74 GHz - 6.15 GHz) band rejection. The co and cross polar patterns in elevation and azimuth planes at two frequencies namely 2.62 GHz and 3.94 GHz are obtained which dictate that co-polar patterns are significantly better than cross polar patterns. The simulated peak gain of antenna is close to 3.86 dBi and gain variation with frequency shows a sharp gain decrease in the frequency range 4.74 GHz to 6.15 GHz.

Soil Physico Chemical Properties and Macronutrients Evaluation during Sowing and after Harvesting of Crop at High Altitude Leh Ladakh India

The present study was aimed to investigate the effect of physico-chemical parameters and soil macro-nutrients to know the nutrient uptake status during sowing time (ST) and after the harvesting (AH) of crops of Leh-Ladakh. In this context, total 55 no. of soil samples were collected from the eleven villages. Thereafter, soil texture, pH, electrical conductivity (EC), total dissolved solids (TDS), organic carbon (OC), nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) were analyzed as per the standard methods. The results exhibited variation in different studied parameters at ST and AH, are OC (ST- 1.70 ± 0.11; AH-2.31±0.08), N (ST- 171.54±11.40; AH- 212.03±13.18), P (ST- 75.62±8.16; AH- 96.32±11.56), pH (ST- 8.12±0.05; AH- 8.16±0.06), EC (ST- 0.48±0.04; AH- 0.58±17), TDS (ST-309±22.41; AH-189±16.42) and soil texture gradient (Sand: ST-75.16±1.27 &amp; AH-71.75±1.26, Silt: ST- 18.55±1.09 &amp; AH- 20.66±1.02 and clay: ST- 6.33±0.53 &amp; AH- 7.76±0.63). The comparison of physico-chemical parameters, macronutrients, soil texture, and organic carbon at sowing time (ST) and after harvesting (AH) revealed significant difference in some macronutrients, EC, and organic carbon, whereas no changes were observed in soil texture, pH and phosphorus. Hence, this study highlights the need of physico-chemical parameters management during crops sowing for enhancing macronutrients availability to crops in trans-Himalayan high altitude region

Rationale and protocol for estimating the economic value of a multicomponent quality improvement strategy for diabetes care in South Asia

Background: Economic dimensions of implementing quality improvement for diabetes care are understudied worldwide. We describe the economic evaluation protocol within a randomised controlled trial that tested a multi-component quality improvement (QI) strategy for individuals with poorly-controlled type 2 diabetes in South Asia. Methods/Design: This economic evaluation of the Centre for Cardiometabolic Risk Reduction in South Asia (CARRS) randomised trial involved 1146 people with poorly-controlled type 2 diabetes receiving care at 10 diverse diabetes clinics across India and Pakistan. The economic evaluation comprises both a within-trial cost-effectiveness analysis (mean 2.5 years follow up) and a microsimulation model-based cost-utility analysis (life-time horizon). Effectiveness measures include multiple risk factor control (achieving HbA1c \u3c 7% and blood pressure \u3c 130/80 mmHg and/or LDL-cholesterol\u3c 100 mg/dl), and patient reported outcomes including quality adjusted life years (QALYs) measured by EQ-5D-3 L, hospitalizations, and diabetes related complications at the trial end. Cost measures include direct medical and non-medical costs relevant to outpatient care (consultation fee, medicines, laboratory tests, supplies, food, and escort/accompanying person costs, transport) and inpatient care (hospitalization, transport, and accompanying person costs) of the intervention compared to usual diabetes care. Patient, healthcare system, and societal perspectives will be applied for costing. Both cost and health effects will be discounted at 3% per year for within trial cost-effectiveness analysis over 2.5 years and decision modelling analysis over a lifetime horizon. Outcomes will be reported as the incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICER) to achieve multiple risk factor control, avoid diabetes-related complications, or QALYs gained against varying levels of willingness to pay threshold values. Sensitivity analyses will be performed to assess uncertainties around ICER estimates by varying costs (95% CIs) across public vs. private settings and using conservative estimates of effect size (95% CIs) for multiple risk factor control. Costs will be reported in US$ 2018. Discussion: We hypothesize that the additional upfront costs of delivering the intervention will be counterbalanced by improvements in clinical outcomes and patient-reported outcomes, thereby rendering this multi-component QI intervention cost-effective in resource constrained South Asian settings

In vitro stability of various enzymes by proline from H2O2 mediated oxidative damage

111-125Plants under stress need to favour certain pathways so as to survive the stress period. Protection of specific enzymes by proline and other osmolytes could be one such mechanism to favour some pathways/processes. Therefore, the influence of osmolyte proline on conformational changes of various proteins caused by hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) was studied by intrinsic and extrinsic fluorescence emissions. H2O2 caused conformational change in proteins. Results indicated that for Alcohol dehydrogenase (AD) and Glutamate dehydrogenase (GD) enzymes, H2O2 induced conformational change was high and that for Glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PDH) and Glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) was low. Fluorescence and far-UV, CD measurements of catalase demonstrated that the H2O2 stabilized the protein secondary structure at low concentrations but destabilized it at higher concentrations. Intrinsic and ANS fluorescence results showed that proline at a concentration of 1.0 M prompted a reduction in the H2O2-induced exposed hydrophobic surfaces of studied enzymes, to different degrees which suggests its differential protective effect. Furthermore, SDS-PAGE studies revealed that proline was not able to reduce or inhibit the H2O2 mediated aggregation of GAPDH

Evaluation of Physiological Parameters in Response to Endurance Exercise of Zanskar Ponies Adapted to High Altitude of Ladakh Region

Zanskar pony, a native horse breed of Ladakh mainly used for transportation in Trans-Himalayan region of India, is well adapted to high altitude hypobaric hypoxia environment. Due to extreme conditions of the Ladakh region, better endurance of these ponies under hypoxic and extreme cold conditions is of utmost concern for their recruitment in Indian Army. In the present study, 12 young trained Zanskar ponies were evaluated during endurance exercise at an altitude of 3292 meter above mean sea level. The animals were subjected to carriage transport with 65-70Kg load or riding on a track of 5-6 Km. Physiological parameters viz., pulse rate (PR), heart rate (HR), rectal temperature (RT), respiratory rate (RR) and oxygen saturation (SaO2) were recorded in Zanskar ponies during pre-exercise (T0), post- exercise (T1) and post recovery (T2, 2 hours post resting) stages. Results showed marked increase in PR, HR, RR and RT post exercise time points. The mean values of PR increased from 49.83±4.62 to 73.67±21.54 per minute, HR from 48±13.60 to 75±15.82 beats/min, RR from 37.83±9.70 to 57.67±13.48 per min and RT from 99.62±0.34 101.04±0.53 °F from pre stress to post endurance stress. The mean SaO2 level reduced significantly (88.58±6.75 at T0 versus 64.00±18.70 at T1 and 54.42±14.79 at T2) post exercise. This indicated limited availability of arterial oxygen for tissues which could be vital factor for adverse change in some of physio-biochemical parameters. Though the trend of physiological response was similar for all the 12 animals, still variation at individual animal level was observed during endurance stress. In future, some of these physiological parameters along with biochemical and molecular parameters could be evaluated as potential biomarkers in selecting ponies with superior endurance trait specifically under hypoxic conditions

Chemical Protection Studies of Activated Carbon Spheres based Permeable Protective Clothing Against Sulfur Mustard, a Chemical Warfare Agent

Technological advancements in the field of chemical threat have made it possible to create extremely dangerous chemical warfare agents (CWA). Hence, the effective protection of personnel is very important in a chemical warfare&nbsp;scenario amidst the current climate of terrorism awareness. In particular, body protection plays a substantial role in the chemical defence considering the urgency of situation in the nuclear, biological and chemical environment. Activated carbon spheres (ACS) based permeable chemical protective clothing (coverall) was developed for protection against CWA. The adsorbent material i.e, ACS used in this protective clothing provided higher adsorption capacity (1029 mg/g in terms of iodine) and low thermal burden (34 °C WBGT index) compared to earlier indigenously developed NBC suit. This article focuses on the extensive evaluation of chemical protective clothing against&nbsp;sulfur mustard (HD), a CWA. The results revealed that the developed protective clothing provided more than 24 h protection against HD. This chemical protective suit is light weight (&lt; 2.75 kg for XL size). It also has higher air permeability (&gt; 30 cm3/s/cm2) as well as less water vapour resistance (&lt; 9.6 m2Pa/W). With continued innovations in materials and attention to key challenges it is expected that advanced, multifunction chemical protective suit will play a pivotal role in the CWA protection scenario

Epidemiology and risk factors of chronic kidney disease in India – results from the SEEK (Screening and Early Evaluation of Kidney Disease) study

Background: There is a rising incidence of chronic kidney disease that is likely to pose major problems for both healthcare and the economy in future years. In India, it has been recently estimated that the age-adjusted incidence rate of ESRD to be 229 per million population (pmp), and >100,000 new patients enter renal replacement programs annually. Methods: We cross-sectionally screened 6120 Indian subjects from 13 academic and private medical centers all over India. We obtained personal and medical history data through a specifically designed questionnaire. Blood and urine samples were collected. Results: The total cohort included in this analysis is 5588 subjects. The mean ± SD age of all participants was 45.22 ± 15.2 years (range 18–98 years) and 55.1% of them were males and 44.9% were females. The overall prevalence of CKD in the SEEK-India cohort was 17.2% with a mean eGFR of 84.27 ± 76.46 versus 116.94 ± 44.65 mL/min/1.73 m2 in non-CKD group while 79.5% in the CKD group had proteinuria. Prevalence of CKD stages 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 was 7%, 4.3%, 4.3%, 0.8% and 0.8%, respectively. Conclusion: The prevalence of CKD was observed to be 17.2% with ~6% have CKD stage 3 or worse. CKD risk factors were similar to those reported in earlier studies. It should be stressed to all primary care physicians taking care of hypertensive and diabetic patients to screen for early kidney damage. Early intervention may retard the progression of kidney disease. Planning for the preventive health policies and allocation of more resources for the treatment of CKD/ESRD patients are imperative in India

Development of a D genome specific marker resource for diploid and hexaploid wheat

Background: Mapping and map-based cloning of genes that control agriculturally and economically important traits remain great challenges for plants with complex highly repetitive genomes such as those within the grass tribe, Triticeae. Mapping limitations in the Triticeae are primarily due to low frequencies of polymorphic gene markers and poor genetic recombination in certain genetic regions. Although the abundance of repetitive sequence may pose common problems in genome analysis and sequence assembly of large and complex genomes, they provide repeat junction markers with random and unbiased distribution throughout chromosomes. Hence, development of a high-throughput mapping technology that combine both gene-based and repeat junction-based markers is needed to generate maps that have better coverage of the entire genome. Results: In this study, the available genomics resource of the diploid Aegilop tauschii, the D genome donor of bread wheat, were used to develop genome specific markers that can be applied for mapping in modern hexaploid wheat. A NimbleGen array containing both gene-based and repeat junction probe sequences derived from Ae. tauschii was developed and used to map the Chinese Spring nullisomic-tetrasomic lines and deletion bin lines of the D genome chromosomes. Based on these mapping data, we have now anchored 5,171 repeat junction probes and 10,892 gene probes, corresponding to 5,070 gene markers, to the delineated deletion bins of the D genome. The order of the gene-based markers within the deletion bins of the Chinese Spring can be inferred based on their positions on the Ae. tauschii genetic map. Analysis of the probe sequences against the Chinese Spring chromosome sequence assembly database facilitated mapping of the NimbleGen probes to the sequence contigs and allowed assignment or ordering of these sequence contigs within the deletion bins. The accumulated length of anchored sequence contigs is about 155 Mb, representing ~ 3.2 % of the D genome. A specific database was developed to allow user to search or BLAST against the probe sequence information and to directly download PCR primers for mapping specific genetic loci. Conclusions: In bread wheat, aneuploid stocks have been extensively used to assign markers linked with genes/traits to chromosomes, chromosome arms, and their specific bins. Through this study, we added thousands of markers to the existing wheat chromosome bin map, representing a significant step forward in providing a resource to navigate the wheat genome. The database website (http://probes.pw.usda.gov/ATRJM/) provides easy access and efficient utilization of the data. The resources developed herein can aid map-based cloning of traits of interest and the sequencing of the D genome of hexaploid wheat.Keywords: Recombination, Repeat junction markers, Genetic map, NimbleGen array, Molecular markers, Wheat deletion bin