Pyrazole-based analogs as potential antibacterial agents against methicillin-resistance staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and its SAR elucidation

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is becoming lethal to humanity due to easy transmission and difficult-to-treat skin and flimsy diseases. The most threatening aspect is the rapid resistance development of MRSA to any approved antibiotics, including vancomycin. The development of new, efficient, and nontoxic drug candidate to fight against MRSA isolates is the need of the hour. The intriguing molecular structure and versatile bioactive pyrazole core attracting to development required novel antibiotics. This review presents the decade developments of pyrazole-containing derivatives with a broad antibacterial movement against diverged bacterial strains. In specific, we correlated the efficacy of structurally diversified pyrazole analogs against MRSA and discussed different angles of structure-activity relationship (SAR). The current survey highlights pyrazole hybrids' present scenario on MRSA studies, covering articles published from 2011 to 2020. This collective information may become an excellent platform to plan and develop new pyrazole-based small MRSA growth inhibitors with minimal side effects. (C) 2020 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved

An unusual case of anti-neutrophilic cytoplasmic autoantibodies associated vasculitis with pauci-immune crescentic glomerulonephritis in young? Wegener’s? Churg Strauss

Anti-neutrophilic cytoplasmic autoantibodies-associated vasculitis (AAV) is very rare in India. It normally affects older population around 6th and 7th decade of life. The management of cases is also complicated. We present a case of 18 year old male patient who came with complaints of epistaxis and had hematuria and pain in the joints. He had sub conjunctival haemorrhage on presentation. On and off he had respiratory symptoms and epistaxis in the past for which he was treated as allergy and bronchial asthma. At admission he had high absolute eosinophil count and had blood 3+ positive in urine. Initially he was treated as post viral vasculitis. But patient had involvement of kidney, lung, skin, joints, eyes and on further evaluation he was found to have AAV. The case was unique due to the age of presentation and patient also had overlapping symptoms of both Wegner’s granulomatosis and Churg-Strauss syndrome

Influence of Pongamia, Mahua and Neem cakes on finger millet productivity and soil fertility

A field experiment conducted at Bio-fuel park, Agricultural Research Station, Madenur, Hassan in Kharif season of 2009 to asses the performance of finger millet (Eleusine coracana L.) under different organic manure treatment consisting of four treatments viz., recommended FYM and NPK through inorganic fertilizers as control, Pongamia, Mahua and Neem cake with 5 replications laid in randomized complete block design. The results revealed that application of recommended FYM along with neem cake equivalent to 100% recommended N performedbetter in respect of finger millet productivity and maintenance of soil fertility followed by recommended FYM with 100% NPK through fertilizers. Nutrient supplementation with different oilcakes proved superior in respect of soil sustainability

AN IMPROVED TRACKING USING IMU AND VISION FUSION FOR MOBILE AUGMENTED REALITY APPLICATIONS

ABSTRACT Mobile Augmented Reality (MAR) is becoming an important cyber-physica

In-orbit Performance of UVIT on ASTROSAT

We present the in-orbit performance and the first results from the ultra-violet Imaging telescope (UVIT) on ASTROSAT. UVIT consists of two identical 38cm coaligned telescopes, one for the FUV channel (130-180nm) and the other for the NUV (200-300nm) and VIS (320-550nm) channels, with a field of view of 28 $arcmin$. The FUV and the NUV detectors are operated in the high gain photon counting mode whereas the VIS detector is operated in the low gain integration mode. The FUV and NUV channels have filters and gratings, whereas the VIS channel has filters. The ASTROSAT was launched on 28th September 2015. The performance verification of UVIT was carried out after the opening of the UVIT doors on 30th November 2015, till the end of March 2016 within the allotted time of 50 days for calibration. All the on-board systems were found to be working satisfactorily. During the PV phase, the UVIT observed several calibration sources to characterise the instrument and a few objects to demonstrate the capability of the UVIT. The resolution of the UVIT was found to be about 1.4 - 1.7 $arcsec$ in the FUV and NUV. The sensitivity in various filters were calibrated using standard stars (white dwarfs), to estimate the zero-point magnitudes as well as the flux conversion factor. The gratings were also calibrated to estimate their resolution as well as effective area. The sensitivity of the filters were found to be reduced up to 15\% with respect to the ground calibrations. The sensitivity variation is monitored on a monthly basis. UVIT is all set to roll out science results with its imaging capability with good resolution and large field of view, capability to sample the UV spectral region using different filters and capability to perform variability studies in the UV.Comment: 10 pages, To appear in SPIE conference proceedings, SPIE conference paper, 201

Discovery of unusual pulsations in the cool, evolved Am stars HD 98851 and HD 102480

The chemically peculiar (CP) stars HD 98851 and HD 102480 have been discovered to be unusual pulsators during the ``Naini Tal Cape Survey'' programme to search for pulsational variability in CP stars. Time series photometric and spectroscopic observations of these newly discovered stars are reported here. Fourier analyses of the time series photometry reveal that HD 98851 is pulsating mainly with frequencies 0.208 mHz and 0.103 mHz, and HD 102480 is pulsating with frequencies 0.107 mHz, 0.156 mHz and 0.198 mHz. The frequency identifications are all subject to 1 d$^{-1}$ cycle count ambiguities. We have matched the observed low resolution spectra of HD 98851 and HD 102480 in the range 3500-7400 \AA with theoretical synthetic spectra using Kurucz models with solar metallicity and a micro-turbulent velocity 2 km s$^{-1}$. These yield $T_{eff}=7000\pm250$ K, log $g=3.5 \pm 0.5$ for HD 98851 and $T_{eff} = 6750 \pm 250$ K, log $g = 3.0 \pm 0.5$ for HD 102480. We determined the equivalent H-line spectral class of these stars to be F1 IV and F3 III/IV, respectively. A comparison of the location of HD 98851 and HD 102480 in the HR diagram with theoretical stellar evolutionary tracks indicates that both stars are about 1-Gyr-old, 2-$M_{\odot}$ stars that lie towards the red edge of the $\delta$ Sct instability strip. We conclude that HD 98851 and HD 102480 are cool, evolved Am pulsators. The light curves of these pulsating stars have alternating high and low amplitudes, nearly harmonic (or sub-harmonic) period ratios, high pulsational overtones and Am spectral types. This is unusual for both Am and $\delta$ Sct pulsators, making these stars interesting objects.Comment: 9 pages, 6 Figures, Accepted for publication in MNRA

Diagnosis and Treatment of Neurological and Ischemic Disorders Employing Carbon Nanotube Technology

Extensive research on carbon nanotubes has been conducted due to their excellent physicochemical properties. Based on their outstanding physicochemical properties, carbon nanotubes have the potential to be employed as theranostic tools for neurological pathologies such as Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease including ischemic stroke diagnosis and treatment. Stroke is currently regarded as the third root cause of death and the leading source of immobility around the globe. The development and improvement of efficient and effective procedures for central nervous system disease diagnosis and treatment is necessitated. The main aim of this review is to discuss the application of nanotechnology, specifically carbon nanotubes, to the diagnosis and treatment of neurological disorders with an emphasis on ischemic stroke. Areas covered include the conventional current diagnosis and treatment of neurological disorders, as well as a critical review of the application of carbon nanotubes in the diagnosis and treatment of ischemic stroke, covering areas such as functionalization of carbon nanotubes and carbon nanotube-based biosensors. A broad perspective on carbon nanotube stimuli-responsiveness, carbon nanotube toxicity, and commercially available carbon nanotubes is provided. Potential future studies employing carbon nanotubes have been discussed, evaluating their extent of advancement in the diagnosis and treatment of neurological and ischemic disorders

Influence of Malnutrition on Adverse Outcome in Children with Confirmed or Probable Viral Encephalitis: A Prospective Observational Study

to explore the independent predictors of adverse outcome in the patients with confirmed/probable viral encephalitis. The primary outcome variable was the incidence of adverse outcomes defined as death or severe neurological deficit such as loss of speech, motor deficits, behavioural problems, blindness, and cognitive impairment. Patients with confirmed or probable viral encephalitis were classified into two groups based on their -score of weight-for-age as per WHO growth charts. Group I. Patients with confirmed or probable viral encephalitis with weight-for-age (W/A) -scores below −2SD were classified as undernourished. Group II. Patients with confirmed or probable viral encephalitis were classified as having normal nutritional status (weight-for-age -score >−2SD). A total of 114 patients were classified as confirmed or probable viral encephalitis based on detailed investigations. On multivariate logistic regression, undernutrition (adjusted OR: 5.05; 95% CI: 1.92 to 13.44) and requirement of ventilation (adjusted OR: 6.75; 95% CI: 3.63 to 77.34) were independent predictors of adverse outcomes in these patients. Thus, the results from our study highlight that the association between undernutrition and adverse outcome could be extended to the patients with confirmed/probable viral encephalitis

Prevalence of asymptomatic valvular heart disease in the elderly population: A community-based echocardiographic study

Aims: With an ageing population, the presence of asymptomatic valvular heart disease (VHD) in the community remains unknown. The aim of this study is to determine the prevalence and associated factors of asymptomatic VHD in individuals ≥60 years old and to evaluate the feasibility of echocardiographic screening for VHD in this population.   Methods and results: This was a prospective cohort study conducted between 2007 and 2016 in the UK. Asymptomatic patients with no prior indication for echocardiography were invited to participate and evaluated with a health questionnaire, clinical examination, and transthoracic echocardiography. A total of 10,000 individuals were invited through their general practices. A total of 5429 volunteered to participate, of whom 4237 were eligible for inclusion. VHD was diagnosed in more than a quarter of patients (28.2%). The most common types of VHD were regurgitation of the tricuspid (13.8%), mitral (12.8%), and aortic (8.3%) valves (trivial regurgitation was not included). The rate of prevalence of clinically significant VHD was 2.4% (2.2% moderate and 0.2% severe), with mitral and aortic regurgitation being the most common. The only parameter associated with significant VHD was age (odds ratio 1.07 per 1 year increment, 95% confidence interval 1.05-1.09, P < 0.001). The number needed to scan to diagnose one clinically significant case of VHD is 42 for individuals ≥60 and 15 for those ≥75 years old.     Conclusion: Asymptomatic VHD is present in a significant proportion of otherwise healthy individuals without known VHD over 60 years old. Age is strongly associated with an increased incidence of significant VHD