Emerging trends of scrub typhus disease in southern Rajasthan, India: A neglected public health problem

Scrub typhus is the oldest known vector-borne zoonotic infectious disease in the world which is life-threatening for all age groups as it presents acute febrile illness along with multi-organ involvements and spread with the biting of infectious ‘Trombiculid mite’ (chigger mite). The pathogen of this disease is an obligatory coccobacillus gram-negative rickettsial bacteria Orientia tsutsugamushi. Scrub typhus disease was previously confined geographically only to the Asia Pacific region (tsutsugamushi triangle), but in recent years it has crossed its limit and has spread in other countries beyond the tsutsugamushi triangle and has become more hazardous for the community. The objective of this study is to explore the scrub typhus disease outbreak trends with existing information in southern Rajasthan state, India. This study concluded that scrub typhus disease is being re-emerged again and again in various Indian geographical regions with new species of vectors. The disease has been raised in tremendous amounts in Rajasthan within the last five years especially in the hilly zone and has led to major public health problems with other zoonotic diseases

Identification of potential AChE inhibitors through combined machine-learning and structure-based design approaches-Supplementary data

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is an irreversible, progressive neurodegenerative disease characterised by dementia.The depletion of acetylcholine (ACh) is involved the synaptic cleft is responsible for dementia due to neuronal loss. The acetylcholinesterase (AChE) enzyme isinvolved in the hydrolytic degradation of ACh and its inhibition is therapeutically beneficial for the treatment in memory loss.The use of machine learning (ML) for the identification of enzyme inhibitors has recently become popular. It identifies important patterns in the reported inhibitors to predict the new molecules. Hence, in this study, a set of support vector classifier-based ML models were developed,validated and employed to predict AChE inhibitors. Further, 247 predicted compounds obtained through PAINS and molecular property filters were docked on the AChE enzyme. The docking study identified compounds AAM132011183, ART21232619 and LMG16204648 as AChE inhibitors with suitable ADME properties. The selected compounds produced stable interactions with enzymes in molecular dynamics studies. The novel inhibitors obtained from the study may be proposed as active leads for AChE inhibition.

Identification of potential AChE inhibitors through combined machine-learning and structure-based design approaches-Supplementary data

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is an irreversible, progressive neurodegenerative disease characterised by dementia.The depletion of acetylcholine (ACh) is involved the synaptic cleft is responsible for dementia due to neuronal loss. The acetylcholinesterase (AChE) enzyme isinvolved in the hydrolytic degradation of ACh and its inhibition is therapeutically beneficial for the treatment in memory loss.The use of machine learning (ML) for the identification of enzyme inhibitors has recently become popular. It identifies important patterns in the reported inhibitors to predict the new molecules. Hence, in this study, a set of support vector classifier-based ML models were developed,validated and employed to predict AChE inhibitors. Further, 247 predicted compounds obtained through PAINS and molecular property filters were docked on the AChE enzyme. The docking study identified compounds AAM132011183, ART21232619 and LMG16204648 as AChE inhibitors with suitable ADME properties. The selected compounds produced stable interactions with enzymes in molecular dynamics studies. The novel inhibitors obtained from the study may be proposed as active leads for AChE inhibition.

Identification of potential AChE inhibitors through combined machine-learning and structure-based design approaches

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is an irreversible, progressive neurodegenerative disease characterised by dementia.The depletion of acetylcholine (ACh) is involved the synaptic cleft is responsible for dementia due to neuronal loss. The acetylcholinesterase (AChE) enzyme isinvolved in the hydrolytic degradation of ACh and its inhibition is therapeutically beneficial for the treatment in memory loss.The use of machine learning (ML) for the identification of enzyme inhibitors has recently become popular. It identifies important patterns in the reported inhibitors to predict the new molecules. Hence, in this study, a set of support vector classifier-based ML models were developed,validated and employed to predict AChE inhibitors. Further, 247 predicted compounds obtained through PAINS and molecular property filters were docked on the AChE enzyme. The docking study identified compounds AAM132011183, ART21232619 and LMG16204648 as AChE inhibitors with suitable ADME properties. The selected compounds produced stable interactions with enzymes in molecular dynamics studies. The novel inhibitors obtained from the study may be proposed as active leads for AChE inhibition.

Probing the degradation of pharmaceuticals in urine using MFC and studying their removal efficiency by UPLC-MS/MS / 药物分析学报

Nutrient recovery from source-separated human urine has attracted interest as it is rich in nitrogen and phosphorus that can be utilized as fertilizer.However,urine also contains pharmaceuticals,steroid hormones,etc.and their removal is crucial as they have detrimental effects on the environment and human health.The current study focuses on investigating the degradation of pharmaceuticals using a double-chamber microbial fuel cell (MFC).Urine was spiked with four pharmaceuticals (trimethoprim,lamivudine,levofloxacin,and estrone) at a concentration of 2 μg/mL.The MFC was operated for 7 months in batch mode with this spiked urine as feed.The degradation efficiency of the MFC was studied,for which a selective liquid chromatography-tandem mass-spectrometric method was developed for the quantitation of compounds used in the spiking experiments and was validated with a lower limit of quantification of 0.39 ng/mL.The maximum removal rate achieved was 96％± 2％.The degradation mechanism involved processes like sorption and anoxic biodegradation.The voltage curve obtained showed that the presence of pharmaceuticals had an initial negative impact on power generation along with increased organic content;however,after the reactor acclimatization,increased power output was achieved with maximum organics removal at 30 h of retention time.This work opens a new perspective for the anoxic biodegradation of pharmaceuticals and can be useful in future bioremediation studies.

Role of mean fetal kidney length as an additional parameter in late trimester for accurate estimation of gestational age relative to other biometrics indices

Background: As biometric indices are difficult to obtain or show gross discrepancies with each other or with gestational age in the late trimester, so for accurate dating additional parameter is required. Fetal kidney length is easy to measure and appear reliable in previous studies.Methods: Well dated 121 antenatal women from 28 to 40 weeks of gestation with no obstetric or medical risk factors were recruited and kidney length is assessed in longitudinal scan and maximum length is taken. fetal kidney length derived gestational age compared with other biometrics indices gestational age.Results: Mean kidney length showed significant correlation (r=0.899, p<0.001 value) with increasing gestational age. Mean kidney length dated pregnancy within ±8.5 days.Conclusions: Fetal kidney length measurement correlated well with other routinely used parameters for the estimation of gestational age and can be used as an accurate parameter to date pregnancy in the late trimester.

A study on disability in terms of activities of daily living among elderly in Palam village of west Delhi

Background: Aging, an integral part of living, typically is accompanied by gradual but progressive physiological changes and an increased prevalence of acute and chronic illness. Although neither a disease nor disability per se, aging nonetheless is associated with a high incidence of physical impairment as well.The objective of the present study was to assess the prevalence of activities of daily living (ADL) disability in elderly living in Palam village of Delhi.Methods: A community based cross-sectional study was carried out to assess the prevalence of ADL disability in elderly living in Palam village of Delhi using Barthel ADL index. It uses ten variables describing ADL and mobility. The sample size was estimated to be 350 and systematic random sampling was used to choose the study subjects.Results: The prevalence of ADL disability was found to be 20.3% in the study population. This was found to be 16.3% in males and 23.9% in females.Conclusions: After obtaining adequate data on elderly having difficulty in performing their routine activities of daily living, appropriate steps needs to be taken to mitigate its ill effects which should also address their health care needs and help them to live a healthy and good quality life.

Health care needs assessment of elderly with functional disability in Palam village of Delhi

Background: Exploring the health care needs of the aged is important in any society. Certain assessments of the elderly are comprehensive in that they are able to measure the met and unmet physical, mental and social needs in this population group and thus lead to overall improvement in their care as well as assistance for their health care providers. The objective of the present study was to assess the health care needs in elderly having functional disability in Palam village of Delhi.Methods: Health care needs assessment was done using CANE questionnaire in 81 elderly who were found to be functionally disabled out of the total 350 study subjects. It comprised of 24 items and two items related to caregivers need. Kappa test was applied to check for the inter rater agreement between the study subject and their caregivers.Results: Varied range of agreement was observed on most of the items, highest agreement noted for accommodation (98.7%) and lowest for intimate relationships (50.6%).Conclusions: Appropriate social and economic policies need to be made to mitigate the ill effects of ageing which should also address their health care needs.

Quantification and purification of C-phycocyanin from cyanobacterial strains Anabaena and Phormidium

The cyanobacteria Anabaena and Phormidium are potential source of phycobiliproteins and C phycocyanin (C-pc). Here, we carried out extraction and purification of phycocyanin (PC) from the above selected cyanobacterial isolates using one-step anion exchange chromatography. Crude C-phycocyanins were extracted and concentrated by ammonium sulfate fractionation at saturation of 35%, then purified on a DEAE-sepharose with Fast Flow chromatography column having continuous pH gradient elution from pH 5.1 to 3.76. The process resulted in recovery of high purity C-pc from above cyanobacteria. The purity ratios (A620/A280) of phycocyanin reached 3.34 for Phormidium and 3.1 for Anabaena, respectively. The purity was further demonstrated and confirmed through fluorescence emission spectroscopy. The total recovery yield of pure C-pc was 14% after completion of the process, and the recovered pigment remained stable over a pH range of 4-9. This purification method for recovery of high purity pigment was fairly efficient compared to the existing methods. . As phycocyanin has higher antioxidant activity and hence, the above cyanobacterial strains Anabaena and Phormidium with considerable amount of C-pc, may serve to be a potential source as food supplement as well as for pharmaceuticals industries.

Evaluation of Vitamin D Status among Known Paediatric Population at a Tertiary Care Hospital: A Clinical Study

Background: Deficiency of vitamin D causes osteomalacia,leading to growth retardation and skeletal deformities inchildren and osteoporosis in adults. There is growingrecognition of the role vitamin D plays in health impacting theinnate immune system to prevent infections and the adaptiveimmune system to modulate autoimmunity. Hence; we plannedthe present study to assess the vitamin D status in a knownpaediatric population.Materials & Methods: We planned the present study toassess status of vitamin D among known paediatric population.A total of 150 paediatric subjects were included in the presentstudy. We recorded complete demographic and clinical detailsof all the subjects. A certified paediatrician was employed forcollecting the capillary blood from all the subjects after prickingthem on their fingertip. From all the subjects, approximatelyfour to five drops of blood was collected, stored and was sentto laboratory for assessment of means serum Vitamin D andwas expressed in terms of 25(OH)D levels. All the results werecompiled and were evaluated by SPSS software.Results: Among 150 subjects, 100 were males whilethe remaining were females. Mild deficiency of vitamin D wasfound to be present in percent of the subjects. Moderate andsever deficiency of Vitamin D was found to be present in 20and 16.7 percent of the subjects respectively.Conclusion: Vitamin D deficiency is prevalent in significantproportion of paediatric population.

A clinico-social study of functional disabilities among elderly in Palam Village of Delhi

Aging, an integral part of living, typically is accompanied by gradual but progressive physiological changes and an increased prevalence of acute and chronic illness and is further compounded by impairment of special sensory functions like vision and hearing and difficulties in performing their routine daily activities seriously affecting the economic, social and psychological aspect of life of older people with disabilities. Objective: To estimate the magnitude of functional disability and its association with various socio-demographic variables among the elderly persons in Palam village of Delhi. Material and Methods: People aged more than 60 years of both sexes and willing to participate were included in this community based cross-sectional study. Barthel ADL index was used for assessment of activities of daily living disability, Snellen's distance vision chart for visual acuity assessment and whisper test was used for hearing assessment. The participants were categorized as functionally disabled if either ADL disability or better eye presenting vision <6/60 or bilateral hearing impairment or a combination of either these were present. Results: The prevalence of functional disability was found to be 23.1% in the study population and was more unmarried/widow/widower group, among illiterates, lower socio-economic class and financially dependent group. Conclusion: Research and studies on elderly in India especially in field of functional disability are less and community dwelling elderly has been neglected at large. Hence it would be useful to estimate the burden of functional disabilities among elderly so that adequate and timely preventive and rehabilitative measures can be taken.

Kinetics of fungal extracellular a-amylase from Fusarium solani immobilized in calcium alginate beads.

Extracellular a-amylase mass produced by Fusarium solani using mango kernel as substrate was immobilized in calcium alginate beads through entrapment technique. Maximum enzyme immobilization efficiency was achieved in 2 mm size beads formed by 6.5 % (w/v) of sodium alginate in 2% (w/v) calcium chloride. The catalytic properties of the immobilized a-amylase were compared with that of free enzyme (soluble). The activity yield of the immobilized enzyme was 81% of the free enzyme. The immobilized enzyme showed optimum activity at pH 4.5-6.0 and temperature 40 ºC, in contrast to the free enzyme at 5.5 and 30ºC, respectively. Thermal stability of the immobilized enzyme was found to be more than the free enzyme over a longer time interval. The immobilized enzyme retained activity upto 20% of optimum even after 180 min. While the free enzyme lost its 80% activity after 60 min and lost total activity down to zero by 120 min. The kinetic constants, viz., KM (Michaelis constant), Vmax and activation energy were affected by immobilization. However, the immobilized a-amylase in calcium alginate beads supports its long term storage which has immense industrial applications.

Production and characterization of carboxymethyl cellulase from Paenibacillus polymyxa using mango peel as substrate.

Mango peel, a solid mango processing waste, comprises 15-20% of total fruit weight. This, being a rich source of lignocelluloses, was used as substrate for carboxymethyl cellulase (CMCase) production using Paenibacillus polymyxa. Maximum CMCase production (7.814 U mg-1) was observed in a medium containing 7% mango peel (w/v) with 1.5% ammonium sulphate (w/v) at 37oC and pH 5.5. Purification to an extent of 28.24 fold was achieved by affinity column chromatography. Bands corresponding to 26.5 and 34.0 kDa molecular sizes were observed on 12% denaturing Sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) while of 72 kDa on 10% non- denaturing Native-PAGE, proving its heteromeric multienzyme nature. The enzyme was stable over a range of 20-60oC and pH of 4.0-7.5. Michaelis-Menten equation constant (Km and Vmax) values of purified CMCase were 8.73 mg ml-1 and 17.805 mM ml-1 min-1, respectively.

Screening of different East Himalayan species and populations of Swertia L. based on exomorphology and mangiferin content

Objective: The present report embodies detailed diagnostic features of five important Red listed Swertia species for easy and authentic identification along with HPTLC fingerprinting using the c-glucoxanthone mangiferin as a biomarker. The key objectives of this study were to reduce indiscriminate harvesting of different Swertia species from its natural habitat and the development of a reliable kit based on HPTLC fingerprinting to reduce adulteration in commercial trade. Methods:Chromatography was performed on Silica gel 60 F254 TLC plates with ethyl acetate-glacial acetic acid-formic acid- water- 100:11.0:11.0:26 as mobile phase. Densitometric measurement was performed at λ=254 nm. The method was found to be simple, reliable, precise and convenient for routine analysis. Results: Although mangiferin was detected in substantial amount from all populations of Swertia chirata irrespective of their geographical locations and to a lesser degree in Swertia nervosa, the biomarker was totally absent in Swertia bimaculata, Swertia dilatata and Swertiapaniculata. Conclusions:Floral morphology can be effectively used for the construction of an easy identification tool that can be utilized at the field level to screen out Swertia chirata from other closely related species that flower at the same time along with Swertia chirata. High Performance TLC using mangiferin as a biomarker can be utilized for quality screening and checking adulteration among different species and populations of Swertia.

Immunization Status of Children Admitted to a Tertiary-care Hospital of North India: Reasons for Partial Immunization or Non-immunization.

Reasons for the low coverage of immunization vary from logistic ones to those dependent on human behaviour. The study was planned to find out: (a) the immunization status of children admitted to a paediatric ward of tertiary-care hospital in Delhi, India and (b) reasons for partial immunization and nonimmunization. Parents of 325 consecutively-admitted children aged 12-60 months were interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire. A child who had missed any of the vaccines given under the national immunization programme till one year of age was classified as partially-immunized while those who had not received any vaccine up to 12 months of age or received only pulse polio vaccine were classified as non-immunized. Reasons for partial/non-immunization were recorded using open-ended questions. Of the 325 children (148 males, 177 females), 58 (17.84%) were completely immunized, 156 (48%) were partially immunized, and 111 (34.15%) were non-immunized. Mothers were the primary respondents in 84% of the cases. The immunization card was available with 31.3% of the patients. All 214 partially- or completely-immunized children received BCG, 207 received OPV/DPT1, 182 received OPV/DPT2, 180 received OPV/DPT3, and 115 received measles vaccines. Most (96%) received pulse polio immunization, including 98 of the 111 non-immunized children. The immunization status varied significantly (p<0.05) with sex, education of parents, urban/rural background, route and place of delivery. On logistic regression, place of delivery [odds ratio (OR): 2.3, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.3-4.1], maternal education (OR=6.94, 95% CI 3.1-15.1), and religion (OR=1.75, 95% CI 1.2-3.1) were significant (p<0.05). The most common reasons for partial or non-immunization were: inadequate knowledge about immunization or subsequent dose (n=140, 52.4%); belief that vaccine has side-effects (n=77, 28.8%); lack of faith in immunization (n=58, 21.7%); or oral polio vaccine is the only vaccine required (n=56, 20.9%. Most (82.5%) children admitted to a tertiary-care hospital were partially immunized or non-immunized. The immunization status needs to be improved by education, increasing awareness, and counselling of parents and caregivers regarding immunizations and associated misconceptions as observed in the study.

Paraesophageal hernia in the neonatal period: suspicion on chest X-ray.

The paraesophageal hernia is rarely seen in the neonatal period. Presentation in neonatal period can be confused with the possibility of esophageal atresia or esophageal web. The upper gastrointestinal tract contrast study is diagnostic in this disease, but careful viewing of the plain X-ray of the chest can also lead to suspicion of the diagnosis. Two neonates with para-esophageal hernia are reported, one with the mesenterico-axial volvulus and the second neonate without volvulus.

Infected esophageal duplication cyst simulating empyema.

Duplications of the esophagus are the second most common duplication of the gastrointestinal tract. The children with esophageal duplication cyst usually present with respiratory distress or as asymptomatic thoracic mass found on incidental chest x-ray. We report a case of infected esophageal duplication cyst initially confused with empyema in a two years old boy.