PBITV3 : A robust and comprehensive tool for screening pathogenic proteomes for drug targets and prioritizing vaccine candidates.

Rise of life-threatening superbugs, pandemics and epidemics warrants the need for cost-effective and novel pharmacological interventions. Availability of publicly available proteomes of pathogens supports development of high-throughput discovery platforms to prioritize potential drug-targets and develop testable hypothesis for pharmacological screening. The pipeline builder for identification of target (PBIT) was developed in 2016 and updated in 2021, with the purpose of accelerating the search for drug-targets by integration of methods like comparative and subtractive genomics, essentiality/virulence and druggability analysis. Since then, it has been used for identification of drugs and vaccine targets, safety profiling of multiepitope vaccines and mRNA vaccine construction against a broad-spectrum of pathogens. This tool has now been updated with functionalities related to systems biology and immuno-informatics and validated by analyzing 48 putative antigens of Mycobacterium tuberculosis documented in literature. PBITv3 available as both online and offline tools will enhance drug discovery against emerging drug-resistant infectious agents. PBITv3 can be freely accessed at http://pbit.bicnirrh.res.in/.

Introducing a Novel Combination Therapy with Macrolides for the Treatment of Chronic Rhinosinusitis: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Macrolides have shown beneficial effects in the treatment of chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS). This study aimed to compare the effect of azithromycin and clarithromycin in combination with conventional therapies for the treatment of CRS. Methods: This single-blind randomized controlled trial was conducted during 2018-2019 at the Otorhinolaryngology Clinic of Shahid Mohammadi Hospital, Bandar Abbas, Iran. Out of 102 selected patients, 90 were included in the analysis. Patients were selected through convenience sampling and randomly assigned to two equal groups. In addition to conventional therapies (nasal irrigation, betamethasone injection, oxymetazoline and fluticasone spray, guaifenesin syrup, and steam inhalation), the patients in the clarithromycin group received clarithromycin 500 mg tablets twice daily for four weeks. The other group received azithromycin 500 mg tablets daily for four weeks. Patients' symptoms were evaluated pre- and post-intervention, and the Lund-Mackay (LM) scoring system was used for the staging of CRS based on computed tomography scan findings. Data were analyzed using SPSS software, and P<0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Patients in both groups were comparable in terms of age and sex. Complete resolution of symptoms was significantly higher in the azithromycin group than the clarithromycin group (71.1% vs. 24.4%, P<0.001). Baseline LM scores did not differ significantly between the groups (P=0.120). However, post-intervention, LM scores reduced considerably in both groups, but the change was significantly higher in the azithromycin group (P<0.001). Conclusion: In combination with conventional therapies for CRS in adults, a four-week course of treatment with azithromycin is more effective than clarithromycin.Trial Registration Number: IRCT20201209049661N1.

Non-Hermitian indirect exchange interaction in a topological insulator coupled to a ferromagnetic metal.

We theoretically demonstrate non-Hermitian indirect interaction between two magnetic impurities placed at the interface between a 3D topological insulator and a ferromagnetic metal. The coupling of topological insulator and the ferromagnet introduces not only Zeeman exchange field on the surface states but also broadening to transfer the charge and spin between the surface states of the topological insulator and the metallic states of the ferromagnet. While the former provides bandgap at the charge neutrality point, the latter causes non-Hermiticity. Using the Green's function method, we calculate the range functions of magnetic impurity interactions. We show that the charge decay rate provides a coupling between evanescent modes near the bandgap and traveling modes near the band edge. However, the spin decay rate induces a stronger coupling than the charge decay rate so that higher energy traveling modes can be coupled to lower energy evanescent ones. This results in a non-monotonic behavior of the range functions in terms of distance and decay rates in the subgap regime. In the over gap regime, depending on the type of decay rate and on the distance, the amplitude of spatial oscillations would be damped or promoted.

Exploring the druggable proteome of Candida species through comprehensive computational analysis.

Candida albicans and non-albicans Candida spp. are major cause of systemic mycoses. Antifungal drugs such as azoles and polyenes are not efficient to successfully eradicate Candida infection owing to their fungistatic nature or low bioavailability. Here, we have adopted a comprehensive computational workflow for identification, prioritization and validation of targets from proteomes of Candida albicans and Candida tropicalis. The protocol involves identification of essential drug-target candidates using subtractive genomics, protein-protein interaction network properties and systems biology based methods. The essentiality of the novel metabolic and non-metabolic targets was established by performing in silico gene knockouts, under aerobic as well as anaerobic conditions, and in vitro drug inhibition assays respectively. Deletion of twelve genes that are involved in amino acid, secondary metabolite, and carbon metabolism showed zero growth in metabolic model under simulated conditions. The algorithm, used in this study, can be downloaded from http://pbit.bicnirrh.res.in/offline.php and executed locally.

Impact of Covid Pandemic and Working Strategies on Private Practitioners.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic is badly affecting more than 2 million population of 213 countries and has caused 1,952,976 deaths till January 12, 2020. India has also suffered a great loss in terms of economy and people. Furthermore, owing to the complete lockdown enforced in India, restricting humanitarian movement also affected day-to-day life of Indians with a huge impact. OBJECTIVES: The present clinical trial was carried out to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on private practitioners. Furthermore, changes in their practice pattern were evaluated along with the perspective of their health, role, and response to the pandemic. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study includes a total of 120 health-care professionals of either gender. The stress and mental health of the participants was assessed using Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21 in English format, also included the questions related to the demographic characteristics, use of technologies for providing virtual health care, changes in the working during the pandemic, and an opinion of their experiences during that period. The data collected were subjected to the analysis and were kept confidential and anonymous. RESULTS: 16.6% of participants preferred virtual consultation before the pandemic in contrast to 83.3% during the pandemic. The most preferred method remained the phone call by 15.8% (n = 19) patients. Depression was seen severely in 35% of study participants (n = 42) and 13.3% of participants extremely severe depression was seen (n = 16). Severe and extremely severe anxiety was noticed in 31.66% (=38) and 15% (18) study participants respectively, whereas severe and extremely severe stress was found in 30% (n = 36), and 12.5% (n = 15) private practitioners. The most common factor that can be considered responsible for compromised mental health in private practitioners was the possibility of infecting the society seen in 59.1% (n = 71) participants. CONCLUSION: During the pandemic breakout, private practitioners suffered a great challenge both financially and mentally, especially during the lockdown. Furthermore, a significant increase was seen in the virtual consultation methods during the pandemic breakout.

Reliability of C-reactive Protein as a Biomarker for Cardiovascular and Oral Diseases in Young and Old Subjects.

BACKGROUND: Increased C-reactive protein (CRP) levels are associated with various diseases such as cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), periodontal diseases, and other inflammatory diseases and can be an effective biomarker for predicting future risks of periodontal diseases. AIMS: The present trial was carried out to evaluate if CRP levels are lower in healthy and young individuals as compared to individuals with high body mass index (BMI), gingival index, and CVDs by assessing CRP levels in young and old individuals (more than 45 years). MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 174 participants were recruited for the study and were divided into three following groups: Less than 45 years healthy participants (n = 124), more than 45 years healthy participants, and more 45-year-old participants with CVDs (n = 25). The collected data were subjected to the statistical analysis. RESULTS: In Group I, females had a CRP level of 8476 ± 6.86 pg, females of Group II had a CRP value of 13,262 ± 3.76, and in females of Group III CRP value was 22,761 ± 6.24 pg. These values, respectively, for males were 8494 ± 7.68, 13,840 ± 4.82, and 13,839 ± 3.8. In smokers, the CRP values for Group I, II, and III were 29,012 ± 14.66, 12,568 ± 4.16, and 16,826 ± 3.42, respectively. CONCLUSION: CRP levels were higher in males as compared to females. Higher BMI was associated with higher values of CRP. The participants with higher BMI presented higher CRP values irrespective of age.

Skills, Knowledge, and Implementation of Techniques for Behavioral Guidance in Adults with a Fear of Dentistry.

BACKGROUND: Dental fear and anxiety (DFA) is considered the main reason of dental negligence which can lead to detrimental oral health as well as overall health including psychological well-being and quality of life in an individual. AIMS: The present trial was aimed to assess the skill and knowledge of dentists in managing DFA in adult subjects, to evaluate the available strategies used in treating such subjects, and to find the need for further education. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The present study was an original survey and questionnaire trial, which was distributed to the 82 dentists. The collected data were subjected to statistical evaluation and the results were formulated. RESULTS: Educating and motivating subjects was found to be effective by 62.19% (n = 51) of dentists followed by successive approximation, and muscle relaxation was considered highly ineffective by one responder (1.21%). Music and reduced waiting time in the clinic appeared to be the most effective strategy as responded by 56.09% (n = 46) of dentists. Attempting treatment in various visits than a single seems to be a highly ineffective technique by 4 dentists (4.87%). CONCLUSION: Within its limitation, the study showed that the application of various behavior modification techniques can be effective in alleviating DFA in adult patients.

Pre-compensation of an image blur in holographic projection display using light emitting diode light source.

Holographic projection displays suffer from image blur when reconstructed from an incoherent light source like a light emitting diode. In this paper, we propose a method that enhances the reconstruction sharpness by pre-compensating the target image. The image blur caused by the incoherent nature of the light emitting diode is analyzed and the corresponding spatially varying point spread function is obtained. The pre-compensation is then performed using an iterative optimization algorithm. Finally, the hologram of the pre-compensated target image is loaded onto a spatial light modulator to obtain optically reconstructed image with reduced blur. The numerically simulated results and optically reconstructed results are in good agreement, showing feasibility of the proposed method.

Non-hogel-based computer generated hologram from light field using complex field recovery technique from Wigner distribution function.

We propose a novel method that synthesizes computer-generated holograms from light field data. Light field, or ray space, is the spatio-angular distribution of light rays coming from three-dimensional scene, and it can also be represented using a large number of views from different observation directions. The proposed method synthesizes a hologram by applying the complex field recovery technique from its Wigner distribution function to the light field data. Unlike conventional approaches, the proposed method synthesizes holograms without hogel configuration, generating a converging parabolic wave for each object point with continuous wavefront. The proposed method does not trade the spatial resolution with angular resolution like conventional hogel-based approaches. Moreover, the proposed method works not only for random phase light field like conventional approaches, but also for arbitrary phase distribution with corresponding carrier waves. Therefore, the proposed method is useful in synthesizing holographic contents for a wide range of applications. The proposed method is verified by simulations and optical experiments, showing successful reconstruction of three-dimensional objects.

Occlusion handling using angular spectrum convolution in fully analytical mesh based computer generated hologram.

Occlusion handling in computer-generated holography is of vast importance as it enhances depth information by presenting correct motion parallax of the 3D scene within the viewing angle. In this paper, we propose a computationally efficient occlusion handling technique based on a fully analytic mesh based computer generated holography. The proposed technique uses angular spectrum convolution that renders exact occlusion while preserving all other aspects of the fully analytic mesh based computer generated holography. The proposed method is computationally efficient as only a single convolution operation is required for each mesh without numerical propagation between the meshes. The proposed method is also exact as it performs the occlusion processing in the tilted mesh plane, being free from artifacts coming from orthographic spatial masking. The proposed method can be applied to the self and the mutual occlusions between the objects in the 3D scene. The computer simulated results show the feasibility of the proposed method.