Outer Retinopathies Associated with COVID-19 Infection:Case Reports and Review of Literature

Background. The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is a highly contagious disease with profound health implications. It can affect any part of the body with variable severity. Various ophthalmic manifestations of coronavirus disease have been documented. Case Presentations. We reported three cases of outer retinopathies associated with COVID-19 infection. All three patients were young females. The first two patients presented within days of COVID-19 infection with complaints of black spots in the eyes. Multimodal retinal imaging showed lesions consistent with acute macular neuroretinopathy. Lesions were bilateral in the first patient and unilateral in the second one. Our third patient presented with blurred vision in one eye, 3 months after a suspected COVID-19 infection. Retinal imaging showed outer retinopathy. Our patients’ vision was good and maintained during the follow-up. All three were monitored on observation only, and symptoms and lesions improved with time. Conclusion. In conclusion, COVID-19-related thromboinflammatory response can result in localized vascular inflammation and hypoperfusion in any of the retinal capillary plexuses or choriocapillaris resulting in ischemia of the corresponding retinal or choroidal layers

Estimation of Genetic Divergence in 40 Elite Cotton Germplasm

Background: Identification and development of superior cotton genotypes and their further improvement has been one of the primitive aims of plant breeding programmers. Therefore, necessity of analyzing the agro-morphological and yield attributes of advanced lines of cotton is doubtless.Methods: Mean performance and correlation between ten different morphological, yield and fiber related attributes of forty cotton genotypes from all over the Pakistan under National Coordinated Varietal Trial were studied at Central Cotton Research Institute of Multan. Selected traits included several sympodial and monopodial branches, plant height, number of bolls per plant, staple length, seed cotton yield, boll weight, fiber strength, percentage ginning out turn and micronaire value.Results: Statistical analysis of variance disclosed highly significant (p<0.01) differences among all cotton genotypes for majority of the characteristics. Basic descriptive statistical analysis of selected agronomic traits revealed the presence of substantial genetic variation among 40 genotypes of cotton for 10 selected traits. The correlation coefficient was determined both at p<0.05 and p<0.01 levels and the observations demonstrated that some of the characteristics exhibited positive correlation, while others displayed negative correlation with each other. Micronaire showed highly significant positive association with percentage ginning out turn (0.3412) and boll weight (0.2421 g) as well as highly significant negative association with fiber strength (-0.5973).Conclusion: Convincingly, mean performances and correlation of different traits with one another can be utilized in cotton breeding programs in future to improve the yield of cotton seed and to select fiber related attributes with desired characteristics.Keywords: Gossypium hirsutum; Morphological agronomic traits; Statistical analysi

The addition of artificial root exudates causes microbial awakening

Chemical compounds that are secreted from plant roots are called plant root exudates. These secretions affect the rhizosphere region by suppressing parasitic microorganisms and initializing a symbiotic environment that supports the growth of plants that are related to one another. Importantly, root exudates bound nutrients to the soil microbes. Previous research on Liberty State Park revealed microbes were dormant. The goal of this experiment is to study how various groups of artificial root exudates (Sugars, Amino acids etc) affect the pH, soil respiration and phosphatase enzyme activity. Soil was collected from Liberty State Park (LSP) and treated with 7 different exudate solutions. After sieving soil, artificial root exudates were added into pots in the greenhouse followed by taking pH readings, carbon dioxide emissions and sample collection. Exudate solution was applied once and later on. Pots were watered three times a week, carbon dioxide emission will be measured every third day along with phosphatase assay. Our results will reveal which root exudate is most beneficial for the soil microbes. Furthermore, The different artificial root exudate solutions have different compositions in terms of sugars, amino acids, and organic acids that are present. It will be interesting to see how few compounds can result in the desired increases in soil microbial functioning

Prediction of Interactions between Mycobacterium tuberculosis Indole Glycerol Phosphate Synthase (IGPS) and Substrate Analogs

Tuberculosis (TB), which is the second most common cause of mortality worldwide, is caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mt). MtIGPS catalyzes the fourth step (transformation of 1-(o-carboxyphenylamino)-1-deoxyribulose 5’-phosphate (CdRP) into IGP) in the tryptophan biosynthetic pathway which is essential for M. tuberculosis growth. It over expresses the tryptophan pathway genes during an immune response and inhibition of MtIGPS allows CD4 T-cells to fight against M. tuberculosis more effectively therefore, MtIGPS could be a new potential drug target. Our goal is to computationally predict the binding of different compounds resembling CdRP to MtIGPS using molecular docking tools. Molecular docking is the prediction of interaction between protein and ligand using software. Consider a lock and key model in which the protein active site is the lock and various inhibitors are the keys to open this lock. For this purpose, the Maestro 13.4 version was used. It predicts types of interactions and binding energy (kcal/mol) for a ligand-MtIGPS pair. Using this program, protein (PDB ID: 3T44) and ligands were optimized using option “Protein preparation” and “Ligprep” respectively. A grid box was made around the active site to ensure docking will happen in that region only and Maestro displayed results in the form of binding energy and the poses of how ligands bind to MtIGPS. Our results show that Gly242 is an important interaction and removal of it can destabilize the protein-ligand complex and encourage further confirmation in the laboratory

Anatomical success of tectonic keratoplasty in children at a tertiary care eye hospital

Objective: To evaluate the anatomical outcome of tectonic grafts performed in children with perforated or melted corneas. Method: The prospective study was conducted at the Department of Paediatric Ophthalmology, Al-Shifa Trust Eye Hospital, Rawalpindi, Pakistan, from January to December 2017, and comprised children of either gender aged 3mm.  The causes of corneal perforation, size of perforation, post-operative graft outcome and globe integrity were noted. Periodic follow-ups were done till December 2019. Data was analysed using SPSS 22. Results: Of the 27 patients, 9(33.3%) were girls and 18(66.7%) were boys. The overall mean age was 47.7±43.5 months. The most common indication was corneal perforation 19(70.4%), followed by descemetocele 8(29.6%). The most frequent cause was infectious keratitis 13(48.2%), followed by trauma 8(29.6%) and vitamin A deficiency 5(18.5%). The mean size of perforation/descemetocele was 5.5±1.5mm. Post-operatively, graft failure occurred in 5(18.5%) eyes and required repeat grafts. Globe integrity was restored in all 27(100%) cases, and 24(88.8%) eyes maintained their size and intraocular pressure, while 3(11.1%) became phthisical. Post-operative visual acuity was better than 6/36 in 3(11.1%) eyes, between 6/36 and 6/60 in 10(37%) and counting finger in 14(51.8%). Conclusion: Tectonic graft was found to be a valuable therapeutic option in emergency globe-threatening corneal thinning and perforation and in maintaining the anatomical integrity of eyes. Key Words: Keratoplasty, Corneal perforation, Corneal grafting