Human Milk Microbiome of Healthy Indian Mothers is Dominated by Genus Pseudomonas.

BACKGROUND: The composition of the human milk microbiome is highly variable and multifactorial. Milk microbiota from various countries show striking differences. There is a paucity of data from healthy lactating Indian mothers. RESEARCH AIM: To describe the milk microbiota of healthy North Indian women, using a culture-independent, targeted metagenomic approach. METHODS: We recruited exclusively breastfeeding mothers (N = 22) who had vaginally delivered full-term singleton infants in a tertiary care hospital less than 1 week previously and had not recently consumed systemic antibiotics. Milk samples (5 ml) were collected aseptically, and microbial deoxyribonucleic acid was extracted. Microbial composition and diversity were determined using a 454-pyrosequencing platform. Core genera were identified, and their relative abundances ranked. Heatmaps showing the variation of the ranked abundances and Shannon index were obtained using R. RESULTS: Participants (all exclusively vegetarian) had a mean (SD) age of 27.2 (3.4) years, postnatal age of 3.9 (1.6) days and gestation 38 (1.2) weeks. The dominant phylum was Proteobacterium (relative abundance 84%) and dominant genus Pseudomonas (relative abundance 61.78%). Eleven species of Pseudomonas were identified, all generally considered nonpathogenic. Based on abundance patterns of the core genera, the milk samples could be grouped: (a) dominated by Pseudomonas with low diversity; (b) less Pseudomonas and high diversity; and (c) dominated by Pseudomonas but high diversity. All neonates were healthy and gaining weight well at 1 month of age. CONCLUSIONS: Healthy, lactating, vegetarian, North Indian women who deliver at term gestation and have no recent exposure to antibiotics, have a unique milk microbiome dominated by Pseudomonas.

Surface functionalization of bamboo leave mediated synthesized SiO2 nanoparticles: Study of adsorption mechanism, isotherms and enhanced adsorption capacity for removal of Cr (VI) from aqueous solution.

Green synthesis of nanoparticles (NPs) provides economic and environmental benefits as an alternative to chemical or physical methods. Furthermore, the surface properties of such NPs can be modulated by means of the functionalization with different groups making them suitable for various advanced functional applications including water pollutants removal using adsorption technique. In the present work, an eco-friendly synthesis route for nano-adsorbent SiO2 NPs and subsequent surface modifications for enhanced adsorption capacity in removal of Cr(VI) ions from aqueous solution are reported. The green synthesis of SiO2 NPs was carried out using simple bamboo leaves followed by surface modification with amine (A-SiO2) and carboxylic (C-SiO2) functional groups with aim to study the effect of functionalization on adsorption capacity. These nano-adsorbents were characterized by FTIR, SEM, XPS, BET, and zeta potential. and adsorption of Cr(VI) was studied at varying parameters i.e. NPs mass, contact time, and solution pH. The investigation shows interesting results revealing the importance of interactions between the surface functional groups on SiO2 NPs and Cr(VI) species as well as experimental conditions for the choice of surface modifier to achieve a maximum adsorption capacity. The adsorption mechanism has been studied using Langmuir, Freundlich and Temkin adsorption isotherms. The maximum adsorption capacity has been achieved in the case of A-SiO2 NPs which was found to 174 mg/g and much higher than that of SiO2 and C-SiO2 NPs attributed to the selective adsorption and pH conditions. Additionally, A-SiO2 NPs exhibit excellent recyclability indicating their suitability for promising and long term potential applications. This study provides a novel, simple and cost-effective synthesis/surface engineering technology for producing high performance recyclable nano-adsorbents for adsorptive removal of Cr(VI).

An insight into the green synthesis of SiO2 nanostructures as a novel adsorbent for removal of toxic water pollutants.

Green synthesis of nanomaterials is a sustainable, biologically safe, reliable, and eco-friendly approach. Green synthesis is beneficial to reduce the devastating effects of the traditional chemical synthesis methods and particularly aims at decreasing the usage of toxic chemicals. This review deals with the green synthesis of silica nanoparticles (SiO2 NPs) with emphasis on the engineering surface properties for enhanced adsorption capability and their applications as novel nano-adsorbents for water pollutants removal. Green synthesized SiO2 NPs have shown excellent adsorption properties with higher adsorption capacity of 150-200 mg/g and more than 95% removal for various toxic water pollutants along with reusability for more than 5 cycles. These SiO2 NPs show fascinating physical and chemical properties i.e. tunable size (5 nm to more than 100 nm), low toxicity, biocompatibility, high porosity, higher specific surface area (500--700 m2/g) making them attractive/suitable for several applications in biomedical, agriculture, catalysis, construction, water treatment, etc. Commonly, highly pure SiO2 NPs are synthesized from organic chemicals (very expensive and highly toxic in nature) as a precursor that led to high production costs, high energy consumption, and environmental hazards. On the other hand, green synthesis of SiO2 NPs from natural resources like biomass that includes rice husk, bamboo leaves/stem, sugarcane bagasse, corn cobs, wheat straw, etc. is cost-effective, less toxic, and eco-friendly which has been discussed in detail. Furthermore, the effect of key synthesis parameters (i.e., temperature, time, concentration, pH, etc.) on the morphology, size, purity, and specific surface area of SiO2 NPs have been summarized. Finally, the applications of SiO2 NPs as nano-adsorbents for the removal of toxic water pollutants (i.e., heavy metal cations, anions, dyes, etc.) including the adsorption mechanisms along with the future scope, challenges, and suggestions have been discussed.

Synthesis, Spectral Characterization, Antibacterial and Anticancer Activity of some Titanium Complexes.

BACKGROUND: After the discovery of cisplatin, first non platinum anticancer drugs having excellent efficacy were budotitane and TiCl2(cp)2 but action mechanism is not clear. Therefore, we hereby reporting synthesis and biological activities novel titanium complexes to explore their mode of action. OBJECTIVES: Synthesis, spectral characterization, antibacterial and anticancer activity of some titanium complexes. Antibacterial studies on various bacterial strains and anticancer studies on HeLa, C6, CHO cancerous cell lines have been performed. Further, the cell death mechanistic study was done on CHO cell lines. METHOD: Titanium complexes with and without labile groups have been synthesized by reacting of TiCl4 with nitrogen containing ligands viz. 1,2-diaminocyclohexane, 1,10-Phenanthroline, adamantylamine, 2,2'-bipyridine, 4,4'-dimethyl-2,2'-bipyridine in predetermined molar ratios. Antibacterial and anticancer studies were performed by agar well diffusion method and MTT assay respectively. Cell cycle analysis is done by using flow cytometry. RESULTS: Complex 2 i.e TiCl2(Phen)2 showed better activity than other complexes as an antibacterial as well as anticancer agent. Phase contrast imaging indicates that observed morphological changes of cells was dose dependent. Cell death mechanistic study have shown the increase in sub G0 phase population as well as formation of blebbing and fragmentation of chromatin material which is an indicative measure of apoptosis. CONCLUSION: Complex 2 proved to be more effective bactericide and cytotoxic agent. Cell cycle analysis showed cell arrest in G0 phase. Apoptosis percentage was found to increase in a dose dependent manner. So, prepared titanium complexes can be put to use as an important chemotherapeutic agents.

Identifying and understanding Indigenous ways of evaluating physical activity programs.

Indigenous evaluation frameworks have not been investigated in the context of American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) physical activity programs, an important area given the relationship between effective physical activity programs and quality of life among these populations. To address this gap, staff members of AI/AN physical activity programs were interviewed to explore their understanding of and experiences with evaluation. Findings suggest that Indigenous evaluation is perceived as narrative and holistic, Indigenous knowledge is used in program decision making, though it is not always acknowledged as evaluation, and there is not a universally desired way to evaluate AI/AN physical activity programs.

Epidemiology of substance-exposed pregnancies at one Great Lakes hospital that serves a large number of American Indians.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this research was to determine the prevalence of substance-exposed pregnancies at a hospital in the Great Lakes region of the U.S. METHOD: Data were collected via retrospective chart abstractions of patients who were seen for delivery at one Great Lakes region hospital during a 1-year period who were given at least one of the International Classification of Diseases codes related to substance use. RESULTS: A total of 342 medical records were included in the analysis, and, while much race/ethnicity data were missing, a large percentage of those in our analysis identified as American Indian. The prevalence of substance-exposed pregnancies at this hospital during a 1-year period was 34.5%. The majority (84.8%) were tobacco users, and many were found to have multiple substance exposures. Also, 48.5% were found to have a mental health diagnosis in addition to substance use. CONCLUSIONS: Data from this project can be used in prevention efforts, including preconception care for women at risk for substance use and mental health issues.

ct-DNA Binding and Antibacterial Activity of Octahedral Titanium (IV) Heteroleptic (Benzoylacetone and Hydroxamic Acids) Complexes.

Five structurally related titanium (IV) heteroleptic complexes, [TiCl2(bzac)(L(1-4))] and [TiCl3(bzac)(HL(5))]; bzac = benzoylacetonate; L(1-5) = benzohydroximate (L(1)), salicylhydroximate (L(2)), acetohydroximate (L(3)), hydroxyurea (L(4)), and N-benzoyl-N-phenyl hydroxylamine (L(5)), were used for the assessment of their antibacterial activities against ten pathogenic bacterial strains. The titanium (IV) complexes (1-5) demonstrated significant level of antibacterial properties as measured using agar well diffusion method. UV-Vis absorption spectroscopic technique was applied, to get a better insight into the nature of binding between titanium (IV) complexes with calf thymus DNA (ct-DNA). On the basis of the results of UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy, the interaction between ct-DNA and the titanium (IV) complexes is likely to occur through the same mode. Results indicated that titanium (IV) complex can bind to calf thymus DNA (ct-DNA) via an intercalative mode. The intrinsic binding constant (K b ) was calculated by absorption spectra by using Benesi-Hildebrand equation. Further, Gibbs free energy was also calculated for all the complexes.

Comparative In Vitro Binding Studies of TiCl2(dpme)2, Ti(ada)2(bzac)2, and TiCl2(bzac)(bpme) Titanium Complexes with Calf-Thymus DNA.

The binding of TiCl2(dpme)2 (1), (dpme = 6,6'-dimethyl-2,2'-bipyridine), Ti(ada)2(bzac)2 (2), (ada = adamantylamine; bzac = benzoylacetone), and TiCl2(bzac)(bpme) (3), (bpme = 4,4'-dimethyl-2,2'-bipyrdine) with calf thymus (ct) DNA has been studied by UV-visible spectroscopy, thermal denaturation, and circular dichroism spectroscopy. In UV-visible study complexes 1, 2, and 3 showed red, blue, and red shifts, respectively, upon the addition of ct-DNA along with a significant hyperchromism. The intrinsic binding constants (K b ) calculated from UV-visible absorption studies were 2.3 × 10(3) M(-1), 3.3 × 10(3) M(-1) and, 7.1 × 10(3) M(-1) for complexes 1, 2, and 3, respectively. The change in melting temperature (ΔT m ) was calculated to be 2-3°C for each complex. Circular dichroism (CD) study showed blue shift for complex 2 and red shift for complexes 1 and 3 along with rise in molecular ellipticity upon the addition of complexes. Results suggest a binding mode of complex 2 different than 1 and 3.

Synthesis, spectral characterization, and antiproliferative studies of mixed ligand titanium complexes of adamantylamine.

Titanium complexes have been synthesized by the reaction between titanium tetrachloride (TiCl4), respective bidentate ligand [4,4' -dimethoxy-2,2' -bipyridine (bpome), 6,6'-dimethyl-2,2'-bipyridine (dpme), 1,2-diaminocyclohexane (dach), 1,10-phenanthroline (phen), and benzoylacetone (bzac)], and adamantylamine (ada) in 1 : 2 : 2 molar ratios, respectively. The structure of synthesized complexes was confirmed using elemental analysis, FTIR, UV-visible, (1)H NMR, and mass spectrometry techniques. The nanocrystalline nature of complexes was confirmed by powder XRD study. The complexes were evaluated for cytotoxic potential in HeLa (cervical), C6 (glioma), and CHO (Chinese hamster ovarian) cell lines. The complex E was found to be more effective cytotoxic agent against HeLa cell line with an IC50 value of 4.06 µM. Furthermore, the effect of synthesized complexes was studied on different stages of the cell cycle in CHO cells. All complexes exhibited the dose dependent increase in cytotoxicity. The results have shown an increase in sub-G0 population with increase in concentration which is an indicative measure of apoptosis.