Oscillations in a maturation model of blood cell production.

We present a mathematical model of blood cell production which describes both the development of cells through the cell cycle, and the maturation of these cells as they differentiate to form the various mature blood cell types. The model differs from earlier similar ones by considering primitive stem cells as a separate population from the differentiating cells, and this formulation removes an apparent inconsistency in these earlier models. Three different controls are included in the model: proliferative control of stem cells, proliferative control of differentiating cells, and peripheral control of stem cell committal rate. It is shown that an increase in sensitivity of these controls can cause oscillations to occur through their interaction with time delays associated with proliferation and differentiation, respectively. We show that the characters of these oscillations are quite distinct and suggest that the model may explain an apparent superposition of fast and slow oscillations which can occur in cyclical neutropenia. © 2006 Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics

Culture of normal human blood cells in a diffusion chamber system II. Lymphocyte and plasma cell kinetics

Normal human blood leukocytes were cultured in Millipore diffusion chambers implanted into the peritoneal cavities of irradiated mice. The evaluation of survival and proliferation kinetics of cells in lymphyocytic series suggested that the lymphoid cells are formed from transition of small and/or large lymphocytes, and the lymphoblasts from the lymphoid cells. There was also evidence indicating that some of the cells in these two compartments are formed by proliferation. The evaluation of plasmacytic series suggested that the plasma cells are formed from plasmacytoid-lymphocytes by transition, and the latter from the transition of lymphocytes. In addition, relatively a small fraction of cells in these two compartments are formed by proliferation. mature plasma cells do not and immature plasma cells do proliferate. Estimation of magnitude of plasma cells formed in the cultures at day 18 indicated that at least one plasma cell is formed for every 6 normal human blood lymphocytes introduced into the culture

Point Prevalence Surveys of Antimicrobial Use among Hospitalized Children in Six Hospitals in India in 2016.

The prevalence of antimicrobial resistance in India is among the highest in the world. Antimicrobial use in inpatient settings is an important driver of resistance, but is poorly characterized, particularly in hospitalized children. In this study, conducted as part of the Global Antimicrobial Resistance, Prescribing, and Efficacy in Neonates and Children (GARPEC) project, we examined the prevalence of and indications of antimicrobial use, as well as antimicrobial agents used among hospitalized children by conducting four point prevalence surveys in six hospitals between February 2016 and February 2017. A total of 681 children were hospitalized in six hospitals across all survey days, and 419 (61.5%) were prescribed one or more antimicrobials (antibacterials, antivirals, antifungals). Antibacterial agents accounted for 90.8% (547/602) of the total antimicrobial prescriptions, of which third-generation cephalosporins (3GCs) accounted for 38.9% (213/547) and penicillin plus enzyme inhibitor combinations accounted for 14.4% (79/547). Lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI) was the most common indication for prescribing antimicrobials (149 prescriptions; 24.8%). Although national guidelines recommend the use of penicillin and combinations as first-line agents for LRTI, 3GCs were the most commonly prescribed antibacterial agents (55/149 LRTI prescriptions; 36.9%). In conclusion, 61.5% of hospitalized children were on at least one antimicrobial agent, with excessive use of 3GCs. Hence there is an opportunity to limit their inappropriate use

A novel technique for the treatment of post operative retro-rectal haematoma: two case reports

Rectal bleeding following any form of rectal surgery is a well recognised complication 1, 2, 3 & 4. However retro-rectal bleeding and tracking which then presents as rectal bleeding has not been reported in the literature. We describe a novel way of dealing with this technically difficult post-operative complication

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Not AvailableGlobally, maize is an important cereal food crop with the highest production and productivity. Among the biotic constraints that limit the productivity of maize, the recent invasion of fall armyworm (FAW) in India is a concern. The first line of strategy available for FAW management is to evaluate and exploit resistant genotypes for inclusion in an IPM schedule. Screening for resistant maize genotypes against FAW is in its infancy in India, considering its recent occurrence in the country. The present work attempts to optimize screening techniques suited to Indian conditions, which involve the description of leaf damage rating (LDR) by comparing injury levels among maize genotypes and to validate the result obtained from the optimized screening technique by identification of lines potentially resistant to FAW under artificial infestation. Exposure to 20 neonate FAW larvae at the V 5 phenological stage coupled with the adoption of LDR on a 1–9 scale aided in preliminary characterize maize rize maize genotypes as potentially resistant, moderately resistant, and susceptible. The LDR varies with genotype, neonate counts, and days after infestation. The genotypes, viz., DMRE 63, DML-163-1, CML 71, CML 141, CML 337, CML 346, and wild ancestor Zea mays ssp. parviglumis recorded lower LDR ratings against FAW and can be exploited for resistance breeding in maize.ICAR-NAS

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Not AvailablePhytic acid (PA) is an important antinutritional component in maize that affects the availability of major micro-nutrients like di- and multivalent mineral cations like iron (Fe) and zinc (Zn). The long-term consumption of maize as a staple food crop leads to micronutrient malnutrition especially iron and zinc deficiency in the human population. In addition, it also acts as a storehouse of a major part of mineral phosphorous (P), approximately 80% of the total P stored as phytate P is not available to monogastric animals like humans and poultry birds, and it gets excreted as such, leading to one of the major environmental pollution called eutrophication. Of the various low phytic acid (lpa) mutants, lpa2-2 generated through mutagenesis reduces PA by 30%. BML 6 and BML 45, the parents of the popular maize hybrid DHM 121 with high PA were selected to introgress lpa2-2 through marker-assisted backcross breeding (MABB). The percent recurrent parental genome (RPG) in the selected BC2F2 plants ranged from 88.68 to 91.04% and 90.09–91.51% in the genetic background of BML 6 and BML 45, respectively. Based on the highest percentage of RPG, best five BC2F2 plants, viz., #3190, #3283, #3230, #3263 and #3292 with RPG 88.68–91.04% in the genetic background of BML 6 and #3720, #3776, #3717, #3828 and #3832 with RPG 90.09–91.51% in the genetic background of BML 45 were advanced to BC2F3. The newly developed near-isogenic lines (NILs) possessed low phytate content (2.37 mg/g in BML 6 and 2.40 mg/g in BML 45) compared to 3.59 mg/g and 3.16 mg/g in recurrent parents BML 6 and BML 45, respectively thereby reducing the phytate by an average of 34 and 24 per cent, respectively. These newly developed progenies were similar to their recurrent parents for various morphological traits. These inbreds assume great significance in alleviating Fe and Zn deficiencies in worldwide.Not Availabl

Use of the WHO Access, Watch, and Reserve classification to define patterns of hospital antibiotic use (AWaRe): an analysis of paediatric survey data from 56 countries

BACKGROUND: Improving the quality of hospital antibiotic use is a major goal of WHO's global action plan to combat antimicrobial resistance. The WHO Essential Medicines List Access, Watch, and Reserve (AWaRe) classification could facilitate simple stewardship interventions that are widely applicable globally. We aimed to present data on patterns of paediatric AWaRe antibiotic use that could be used for local and national stewardship interventions. METHODS: 1-day point prevalence survey antibiotic prescription data were combined from two independent global networks: the Global Antimicrobial Resistance, Prescribing, and Efficacy in Neonates and Children and the Global Point Prevalence Survey on Antimicrobial Consumption and Resistance networks. We included hospital inpatients aged younger than 19 years receiving at least one antibiotic on the day of the survey. The WHO AWaRe classification was used to describe overall antibiotic use as assessed by the variation between use of Access, Watch, and Reserve antibiotics, for neonates and children and for the commonest clinical indications. FINDINGS: Of the 23 572 patients included from 56 countries, 18 305 were children (77·7%) and 5267 were neonates (22·3%). Access antibiotic use in children ranged from 7·8% (China) to 61·2% (Slovenia) of all antibiotic prescriptions. The use of Watch antibiotics in children was highest in Iran (77·3%) and lowest in Finland (23·0%). In neonates, Access antibiotic use was highest in Singapore (100·0%) and lowest in China (24·2%). Reserve antibiotic use was low in all countries. Major differences in clinical syndrome-specific patterns of AWaRe antibiotic use in lower respiratory tract infection and neonatal sepsis were observed between WHO regions and countries. INTERPRETATION: There is substantial global variation in the proportion of AWaRe antibiotics used in hospitalised neonates and children. The AWaRe classification could potentially be used as a simple traffic light metric of appropriate antibiotic use. Future efforts should focus on developing and evaluating paediatric antibiotic stewardship programmes on the basis of the AWaRe index. FUNDING: GARPEC was funded by the PENTA Foundation. GARPEC-China data collection was funded by the Sanming Project of Medicine in Shenzhen (SZSM2015120330). bioMérieux provided unrestricted funding support for the Global-PPS

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Not AvailableMaize (Zea mays L) is one of the most versatile emerging crops having wider adaptability and grown in diverse seasons and ecologies for various purposes. The introduction of single cross hybrid technology in Indian maize programme since 2006 resulted into productivity enhancement of 134 kg/ha/annum in the last five years although the coverage is still less than 25 per cent. It is known as queen of cereals because of its highest genetic yield potential and productivity among the cereal food crops. It is the only grain crop with many types like normal yellow/white grain, sweet corn, baby corn, popcorn, quality protein maize (QPM), waxy corn, high amylase corn, high oil corn, fodder maize etc. It is an important industrial raw material and more than 3000 products have been made using maize directly/indirectly and provide large opportunity for value addition. It is a solution for emerging problems of depleting water table and terminal heat stress in winter crops. It is a potential crop for crop diversification due to its many types and intensification because of its wider row spacing and erect plant type having non-tillering growth habit, which can accommodate short duration pulses, flowers, vegetables, etc as intercrops. It also provides opportunity for farm mechanization and conservation agriculture, which results into timely farm operations, reduced soil erosion, improved soil health, reduced cost of cultivation and increased farm profitability. It is a solution to water scarcity and lowering water table in the Rabi rice growing areas of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu and also for the low rainfall areas of upland rice in the states of West Bengal, Odisha …Not Availabl

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Not AvailableMaize (Zea mays L.), the queen of cereals, holds unmatched fitness across diverse environments due to the high level of plasticity in its genome. Maize is gaining exponential rise in global demand even over the wheat and rice reflecting the substantial growth of maize in developing as well as industrial countries. The exploitation of hybrid vigor in maize has gained much significance in view of the tremendous increase in its yield but still it demands the continuous development of better than the best hybrids to fulfill these rising demands in terms of yield as well as quality. Looking into the above facts, genetic diversity study at the morphological as well as molecular level with the help of forty polymorphic markers was made using 140 newly developed and 13 parental inbreds of released maize hybrids at Regional maize Research & Seed Production Center (ICAR-IIMR), Begusarai, Bihar during Rabi, 2018-19. This study was conducted to understand the diverse nature among these lines and subsequently to use the desirable diverse parents in maize breeding program to produce superior hybrids, segregating populations with high variability and introgression of desirable traits/genes. D square study revealed the twenty clusters among which three clusters comprised 92, 21 and 23 genotypes while 17 genotypes falls in 17 different clusters individually. The highest inter-cluster distance was found between the cluster 17 & 19 (IMLSB-955-1 & IMLSB-2094) followed by cluster 13 & 17 (IMLSB-423-1 & IMLSB-955-1) and 14 & 17 (IMLSB-81-1 & IMLSB-955-1). Among the first three clusters highest inter-cluster distance was found between cluster 2 & cluster 3 and highest intra-cluster distance was observed within cluster 2. This reveals that the crosses among these distant genotypes may harness greater level of heterosis. Molecular diversity study with the help of 40 polymorphic markers which displayed clear size differences and total of 873 alleles were generated through these primers with an average polymorphism information content value of 0.8367. The primer bnlg 1614 and bnlg1642 was found as the best marker for identification of genotypes as revealed by PIC values (0.9838 & 0.9737 respectively). The Jaccard’s dissimilarity index showed the highest value of 1.00 among the genotypes IMLSB-274-1 & LM-16 followed by IMLSB-123-1 & LM-16 (0.981), IMLSB-119-2 & LM-14 (0.978), IMLSB-114-1 & HKI-1128 (0.978) and IMLSB-106-2 & HKI-1128 (0.978). The Jaccard’s dissimilarity index classified the total genotypes in two major clusters and eight sub clusters. The high D square distance found among the genotypes IMLSB-955-1 & IMLSB-2094, IMLSB-423-1 & IMLSB-955-1 and IMLSB-81-1 & IMLSB-955-1 also recorded high Jaccard’s dissimilarity coefficient value of 0.906, 0.798 & 0.840 respectively. These diverse genotypes can be used in further breeding program in the development of high yielding single cross maize hybrids as well as segregating population with high variability and introgression of desirable traits/genes.ICAR-IIM