Comparison of diagnostic accuracy of APRI and Transient Elastography for prediction of esophageal variceal bleed in liver cirrhosis

Background: Liver Cirrhosis is the end-stage for chronic liver disease. Repeated course of endoscopy is recommended, as this intervention is expensive and often poorly accepted by patients, there is a need for non-invasive methods to predicts the progression of portal hypertension as well as the presence and size of esophageal varices. This study was aimed to assess the APRI and Transient Elastography for predicting esophageal variceal bleed in cirrhotic patients. Objectives of the study were to study Diagnostic accuracy of APRI for Prediction of esophageal variceal bleed in liver cirrhosis, diagnostic accuracy of Transient Elastography for Prediction of esophageal variceal bleed in liver cirrhosis, comparison of diagnostic accuracy of APRI and Transient Elastography for Prediction of esophageal variceal bleed in liver cirrhosis. Methods: It was a Single centre, observational study in 35 patients of chronic liver disease. Patients were included in the study after fulfilling inclusion and exclusion criteria. CBC, LFT, KFT, SE, viral marker, USG whole abdomen, UGIE, Transient Elastography was done. APRI was calculated for every patient. Results: The APRI and Transient Elastography showed moderate diagnostic accuracy in predicting the presence of esophageal variceal bleed. Transient Elastography performed better for prediction of esophageal variceal bleed. Conclusions: The APRI and Transient Elastography showed moderate diagnostic accuracy in predicting the presence of esophageal variceal bleed. They help in starting prophylactic therapy earlier to prevent the bleeding and other complications of varices. These non-invasive parameters can also play an effective role in conjunction with endoscopy in predicting the presence of esophageal varices

Solvent extraction and separation of zinc and cobalt from ammoniacal solution

A process was developed to recover Zn and Co by solvent extraction from the raffinate generated during processing of sea nodules. From a model ammoniacal solution containing 0.2 g/L Zn or 0.2 g/L Co, extraction of Zn and Co by Versatic acid was studied. A maximum of 87% Zn was extracted with 1M Versatic acid in single stage, whereas extraction of Co was negligible due to its higher oxidation state. When Co(III) was reduced to Co(II) by the addition of cobalt powder, 1M Versatic acid extracted 76% Co in a single stage. From the McCabe Thiele diagram number of counter current extraction stages required for complete recovery of Zn and Co from ammoniacal solution was determined. Simulation of counter current extraction of Zn and Co was also carried out. Thus, this process can be used to recover Zn, leaving Co in the raffinate. Then Co can be recovered by solvent extraction with Versatic acid after reducing Co(III) to Co(II) state

Isolation and molecular characterization of symbiotic bacterial isolates associated with entomopathogenic nematodes in agro climatic zone 5 of Karnataka

The investigation was carried out to study the biochemical characterization of symbiotic bacteria associated with entomopathogenic nematodes isolated from agro climatic zone 5 of Karnataka. Twenty two entomopathogenic nematodes were isolated by insect bait method using fifth instar larvae of Galleria mellonella. Twenty symbiotic bacteria were isolated from these entomopathogenic nematodes and named based on the source place. These isolates were identified based on microscopic observation, biochemical and physiological characters like Gelatin liquefaction test, Catalase test, Lactose fermentation test, Urease test, Motility test and Colony morphology studies on Nutrient agar, NBTA and Mac Conkey agar media. The diversity of these isolates was characterized by using RAPD markers. Primer screening was carried out using 13 decamer random primers, out of which 7 primers were detected for RAPD analysis. A total of 44 bands were scored out of which 42 bands were found to be polymorphic. Statistical analysis of RAPD data clearly depicted that all the 20 symbiotic bacterial isolates formed four major clusters. The percent polymorphism observed in the isolates was 95.45% which is quiet high and suggests that the symbiotic bacterial population exhibit high genetic diversity

Recovery of Cu and Ni from a Secondary Resource by Hydrometallurgical Route

A high iron containing copper and nickel based secondary resource analysing 22.43% Cu, 7.94% Ni and 36.28% iron has been treated to recover valuable metals by leaching with sulphuric acid. It was found that recovery of copper and nickel increased with increase in temperature and sulphuric acid concentration and in a two-stage leaching with 20% (v/v) sulphuric acid at 368 K above 99.9% copper and 82.35% nickel were recovered. The leaching data best fitted into chemical controlled kinetic model showing chemical reaction at the surface of the solid matrix. Activation energy of 20 kJ/mol and 44 kJ/mol were acquired for dissolution of copper and nickel, respectively. Attempts were also made to separate iron from the leach liquor by using Versatic 10 and recovery of copper and nickel in the form of their sulphate by solvent extraction; the copper and nickel could then be recovered as salts, metal cathodes or metal powder

Pathogenicity of symbiotic bacteria associated with entomopathogenic nematodes on larvae of Galleria mellonella

The investigation was carried out to study the effect of different population of symbiotic bacteria associated with entomopathogenic nematodes isolated from agroclimatic zone 5 of Karnataka on second instar larvae of greater wax moth, Galleria mellonella by artificial diet method. Entomopathogenic nematodes were isolated by insect bait method and symbiotic bacteria were isolated and identified by morphological and biochemical tests. Second instar larvae of G. mellonella were fed with artificial diet containing different populations of bacterial cells and mortality data of larvae was recorded after 48hrs. The cumulative mortality of larvae has increased with increase in the concentration of bacterial cells. The median lethal concentration varied among the bacterial isolates against G.mellonella larvae. Among the twenty isolates used in the study, isolate KPR1 was found to be highly pathogenic with a lower median lethal concentration of  0.018x105 cells/ml followed by HEB2 (0.084x105 cells/ml), KPR4 (0.12x105 cells/ml), CHK1(0.13x105 cells/ml), KPR3(0.16x105 cells/ml), EXP2 (0.19x105 cells/ml) CHK2 (0.19x105 cells/ml), RMG2(0.20x105 cells/ml). The remaining twelve bacterial isolates showed higher median lethal concentration with isolate BGR showing the highest LD50 of 26x105 cells/ml. These results suggest that the toxic activity to G. mellonella varied among the Symbiotic bacteria isolated from different locations.ÂÂ

Solvent extraction and separation of copper and zinc from a pickling solution

Solvent extraction studies of copper and zinc have been carried out using Versatic 10 acid and Cyanex 272 separately from a model brass pickle liquor. Various parameters for the extraction and separation of copper and zinc such as effect of pH, extractant concentration, phase ratio etc. have been optimized. It was observed that copper was almost completely extracted into the organic phase comprising of 30% Versatic 10 acid at the equilibrium pH of 5.0 using the phase ratio of 1:1 whereas, zinc extraction was noticed at above pH 5.0. On the other hand the pH0.5 values were 3.5 and 4.6 for zinc and copper respectively with 20% Cyanex 272. The difference in pH0.5 value of 1.10 indicated the possible separation of Zn and Cu. By McCabe Thiele diagram number of stages required for the counter current extraction of copper and zinc has been determined for both the solvents. The stripping study showed that 1 mol/L H2SO4 was sufficient to strip metal ions in a single contact from each of the extractant

Processing of a Waste Stream for Separation and Recovery of Copper and Zinc

Solvent extraction studies of copper and zinc have been carried out using Cyanex 272 and LIX 984N separately from a model waste stream of brass pickling. Various parameters for the extraction and separation of copper and zinc such as effect of pH, extractant concentration, phase ratio etc. have been optimized. The results show that extraction of copper and zinc from solution after acid extraction increased with increase in pH and their pH0.5 values were found to be 3.5 and 4.6, and 2.5 and 5.5 with Cyanex 272 and LIX 984N, respectively; LIX 984N showed greater selectivity for copper compared to zinc. By McCabe Thiele diagram number of stages required for the counter current extraction of copper and zinc has been determined for each of the solvents. The stripping study showed that 1 mol/L H2SO4 was sufficient to strip metal ions from both the extractants. An attempt was made to prepare high value products such as copper powder and zinc oxide from the loaded or stripped solution which could be imminently suitable for various P/M and other application

Analysis of genetic diversity among tropical and subtropical maize inbred lines using SSR markers

Genetic diversity of 24 tropical and subtropical elite maize lines was assessed at molecular level employ-ing 42 Simple Sequence Repeats. A total of 107 alleles with an average of 2.55 alleles per locus were detected. The Polymorphism Information Content (PIC) values of 42 SSR loci ranged from 0.08 (UMC1428) to 0.68 (UMC2189 and UMC2332) with the overall calculated PIC mean value of 0.44, whereas the Discrimination Rate (DR) value for SSR markers ranged from 0.09 (UMC2089) to 0.42 (UMC1311) with the average DR value of 0.26. Pair-wise genet-ic similarity (GS) values, calculated by Jaccard’s coefficients, ranged between 0.25 and 0.78 with a mean genetic similarity of 0.63, indicating the existence of adequate amount of genetic divergence among the genotypes selected for the study. The cluster dendrogram separated all the inbred lines into six main clusters with sub clusters based on genetic similarity. Factorial analysis also confirmed a nearly similar pattern for grouping these inbred lines as pre-sented by cluster dendrogram. In this study, SSR markers were found to be powerful tool for detection of genetic diversity in maize inbred lines. These findings could provide information for effective utilization of these materials for development of maize hybrids as well as for genetic improvement of inbred lines

Study of acute phase reactants in children with sepsis, with special reference to C-reactive protein and procalcitonin

Background: Several inflammatory markers have failed to meet the requirements for an early diagnosis of sepsis in children. Studyresults and trends show that measurement of the combination of biochemical markers offers the best prospects for research on earlydiagnosis of sepsis. Objectives: To evaluate the serum levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) and procalcitonin (PCT) as markers of earlysepsis in pediatric patients. Methods: All the hospitalized children aged more than 28 days with clinically suspected sepsis, as per thedefinition given by International Pediatric Sepsis Consensus Conference, were selected. The patients were divided into two groups; onewith culture proven sepsis and the other with culture negative sepsis. CRP and PCT levels were measured at the time of admission and48 h after admission. Results: A 40 patients were studied, out of that 15 had culture positive and 25 had culture negative sepsis. Themean PCT level was significantly higher at admission than at 48 h after admission, and the mean CRP level was significantly lower atadmission than at 48 h after admission indicating PCT as early marker of sepsis. Conclusion: CRP and PCT levels have favorable testperformance in differentiating between culture positive and culture negative sepsis. PCT is earlier to rise compared to CRP and PCT isbest in predicting the severity followed by CRP