Multivariate Signal Denoising Based on Generic Multivariate Detrended Fluctuation Analysis

We propose a generic multivariate extension of detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA) that incorporates interchannel dependencies within input multichannel data to perform its long-range correlation analysis. We next demonstrate the utility of the proposed method within multivariate signal denoising problem. Particularly, our denosing approach first obtains data driven multiscale signal representation via multivariate variational mode decomposition (MVMD) method. Then, proposed multivariate extension of DFA (MDFA) is used to reject the predominantly noisy modes based on their randomness scores. The denoised signal is reconstructed using the remaining multichannel modes albeit after removal of the noise traces using the principal component analysis (PCA). The utility of our denoising method is demonstrated on a wide range of synthetic and real life signals

Characterization of cypermethrin degrading bacteria: A hidden micro flora for biogeochemical cycling of xenobiotics

 Background: Cypermethrin is a Synthetic Pyrethroid (SP) having widespread applications in agriculture and industrial sector especially in sheep dip formulations and tanneries. Rhizoremediation offers a sustainable, environment-friendly and cost-effective means to carry out remediation of contaminated soils.Methods: Six bacterial strains were screened out and characterized at various doses of cypermethrin, heavy metal salts and antibiotics. The optimum growth conditions were determined for these bacterial isolates. The degradation of cypermethrin was confirmed through the growth of bacteria on minimal media (BHB) with cypermethrin and thin layer chromatographic analysis; retention factor values (Rf) were calculated and compared with standard Rf values.Results: Growth curve experiments revealed that three bacterial isolates were able to grow in the presence of cypermethrin. Tolerance to the high concentration of heavy metal salts (300µgmL-1) and resistance towards different antibiotics was observed in all three bacterial isolates indicating a positive correlation between pesticide degradation and tolerance to metals and antibiotics. Bacterial strains A-C1 and B-B2 were identified as Xanthomonas maltophilia and B-C2 as Acinetobacter sp. Cypermethrin degradation occurred concomitant with bacterial growth reaching an optical density (OD600) up to 0.869.Conclusion: Microbes present in rhizosphere have potential to mineralize the pesticides. A significant biodegradation of the cypermethrin was observed based on above mentioned lab parameters. These results paved the way for designing a multi-resistant bacterium that can be used to reverse the altered environment

Antimicrobial Susceptibility Pattern among Patients Presenting with Acute Exacerbation of COPD

Background: The irrational use of antibiotics in outpatient as well as indoor patients without studying the culture and sensitivity patterns may have led to resistance in common organisms causing acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The objective of this study was to determine the culture and sensitivity patterns of bacteria in the sputum of patients presenting with acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in our population.Material and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in the Medicine Department, Jinnah Hospital Lahore from 1st January 2018 to 25th June 2018. A total of 215 patients with acute exacerbation of COPD were collected through non-probability consecutive sampling technique. COPD was diagnosed on the basis of history, examination, chest X-ray and spirometry. Acute exacerbation was taken as an acute rise in one or more of the following; sputum volume and/or purulence, frequency and severity of cough and dyspnea. Two sputum samples were collected from each patient. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was done as per CLSI guidelines. Data was analyzed by SPSS version 21.0. with p-value ≤ 0.05 considered as statistically significant.Results: Among 215 selected cases, 118 (54.88%) were males and 97 (45.12%) were females. A total of 110 (51.16%) cultures were positive and 105 (48.84%) were negative for bacterial growth. Klebsiella pneumoniae (n=69; 62.72%) was the most frequent microorganism in patient’s sputum followed by Pseudomonas aeruginosa (n=21; 19.1%) and Staphylococcus aureus (n=20; 18.2%). Regarding sensitivity pattern, amikacin was found to be the most sensitive antibiotic against these organisms followed by gentamicin and ciprofloxacin.Conclusions: Klebsiella pneumoniae was the most common microorganism in the sputum of patients presenting with acute exacerbation of COPD, while amikacin was reported to be most sensitive antibiotic against the microorganism.Key words: Acute exacerbation, Antimicrobial susceptibility pattern, COP

Genomics of Salinity Tolerance in Plants

Plants are frequently exposed to wide range of harsh environmental factors, such as drought, salinity, cold, heat, and insect attack. Being sessile in nature, plants have developed different strategies to adapt and grow under rapidly changing environments. These strategies involve rearrangements at the molecular level starting from transcription, regulation of mRNA processing, translation, and protein modification or its turnover. Plants show stress-specific regulation of transcription that affects their transcriptome under stress conditions. The transcriptionally regulated genes have different roles under stress response. Generally, seedling and reproductive stages are more susceptible to stress. Thus, stress response studies during these growth stages reveal novel differentially regulated genes or proteins with important functions in plant stress adaptation. Exploiting the functional genomics and bioinformatics studies paved the way in understanding the relationship between genotype and phenotype of an organism suffering from environmental stress. Future research programs can be focused on the development of transgenic plants with enhanced stress tolerance in field conditions based upon the outcome of genomic approaches and knowing the mystery of nucleotides sequences hidden in cells

The Gross Total Resection and Molecular Markers in Grade II Glioma

Objective:  The study determined the importance of gross total resection in grade II Glioma and evaluated the importance of tumor markers as prognostic factors. Material and Methods:  We included the 240 patients aged 13 – 65 years with supratentorialsuspected low-grade Glioma. Craniotomy was done in all my patients under general anesthesia and excised the tumor safely with the help of a microscope and CUSA without causing any focal deficit or hemodynamic instability. The 3D conformal radiotherapy and or Temozolomide chemotherapy was started as advised by the oncologist, postoperatively. The 5 and 10 years’ overall survival and progression-free survival were evaluated in my study. Results:  Median age of the patients was 45 years. The 46.66% patients were IDH mutant Astrocytoma, 39.1 6% patients were IDH mutant Oligodendroglioma with loss of heterozygosity at I p/l9q levels, and 14.16% patients had IDH wild type Astrocytoma. The gross total resection was done in 113 patients, subtotal in 53 patients, partial resection in 45 patients, and biopsy in 29 patients. Postoperative radiotherapy was done in 170 patients and Temozolomide chemotherapy in 67 patients. The 5 and 10 years’ progression-free survival was 80% and 49% and overall survival was 86.3% and 67%. The 10 – year overall survival for Oligodendroglioma, the IDH mutant Astrocytoma, and IDH wild Astrocytoma were 93%, 61.6%, and 34.7% (respectively), and progression-free survival were 89.2%, 48%, and 34% (respectively).  Conclusion:  The gross total resection of IDH mutant Astrocytoma had a good outcome

A Review of the Progress of COVID-19 Vaccine Development

A coronavirus disease pandemic (COVID-19) is still a global problem with not sufficientevidence of a declining pattern caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2(SARS-CoV-2). It is generally accepted that normal life is impeded by securing a reliablevaccine strategy. Many countries have accelerated the process of clinical trials to createeffective treatment with COVID-19. More than 200 candidate vaccines have been started forSARS-CoV-2 testing. This review attempts to provide an overview of the currently emergingCOVID-19 vaccine types, address the theoretical and practical challenges of vaccines forCOVID-19 and discuss possible strategies to help vaccine design succeed. The first move wasto take out papers using the initial keyword “pandemics, vaccines and vaccine types”. A totalof 63,538 results (including 1,200 journals; 16,875 books; and 12,871 web pages), with theinitial keyword, searched for in the Scopus database. Further improvements were searched onkeywords such as "pandemic and vaccine types" (711 newspapers and 5,053 webpages). Thisreview attempts to overview the historical and important basic information about thepandemics viz. history, virological characteristics, structure, origin and physio-chemicalproperties. The second phase includes the vaccination types and strategies in depth. It includesthe diagnosis, virology and pathogenesis of SARS-CoV-2 and SARS-COV-2/COVID-19vaccines. The development, planning strategies, types, cost and current scenarios of COVID19 vaccines are depicted in detail. The pandemic COVID-19 as it continues, is a globalproblem. Vaccination seems to be an efficient and economical way to mitigate and control theepidemic. This requires a mass production of successful COVID-19 vaccines

Separation of CO2 from Small Gas Molecules Using Deca-Dodecasil 3 Rhombohedral (DDR3) Membrane Synthesized via Ultrasonically Assisted Hydrothermal Growth Method

Deca-dodecasil 3 rhombohedral (DDR3) membrane has received much attention in CO2 separation from small gas molecules because of its molecular sieving property and stable characteristics. Therefore, the present work is focusing on the utilization of previously fabricated membrane (synthesized in 3 days as reported in our previous work) to study the effect of hydrocarbons and its durability at the previously optimized conditions. Subsequently, gas permeation study was conducted on the DDR3 membrane in CO2 separation from small gas molecules and it was found that the permeance of H2, CO2, N2, and CH4 decreased in the order of H2 > CO2 > N2 > CH4, according to the increase in kinetic diameter of these gas molecules. Besides, it was observed that the ideal selectivities of the gas pairs decreased in the sequence of CO2/CH4 > CO2/N2 > H2/CO2. On the other hand, it was found that the presence of hydrocarbon impurities in the gas mixture containing CO2 and CH4 has directly affected the performance of DDR3 membrane and contributed to the losses of CO2 permeability, CH4 permeability, and CO2/CH4 selectivity of 39.1%, 14.8%, and 4.2%, respectively. Consequently, from the stability test, the performance of DDR3 membrane remained stable for 96 h, even after the separation testing using CO2 and CH4 gas mixture containing hydrocarbon impurities