PGPR: the treasure of multifarious beneficial microorganisms for nutrient mobilization, pest biocontrol and plant growth promotion in field crops.

Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) have multifarious beneficial activities for plant growth promotion; act as source of metabolites, enzymes, nutrient mobilization, biological control of pests, induction of disease resistance vis-a-vis bioremediation potentials by phytoextraction and detoxification of heavy metals, pollutants and pesticides. Agrochemicals and synthetic pesticides are currently being utilized widely in all major field crops, thereby adversely affecting human and animal health, and posing serious threats to the environments. Beneficial microorganisms like PGPR could potentially substitute and supplement the toxic chemicals and pesticides with promising application in organic farming leading to sustainable agriculture practices and bioremediation of heavy metal contaminated sites. Among field crops limited bio-formulations have been prepared till now by utilization of PGPR strains having plant growth promotion, metabolites, enzymes, nutrient mobilization and biocontrol activities. The present review contributes comprehensive description of PGPR applications in field crops including commercial, oilseeds, leguminous and cereal crops to further extend the utilization of these potent groups of beneficial microorganisms so that even higher level of crop productivity and quality produce of field crops could be achieved. PGPR and bacteria based commercialized bio-formulations available worldwide for its application in the field crops have been compiled in this review which can be a substitute for the harmful synthetic chemicals. The current knowledge gap and potential target areas for future research have also been projected.

Modulation of plant growth and antioxidative defense system through endophyte biopriming in cotton (Gossypium spp.) and non-host crops.

Seed biopriming is very promising in improving seed health by mitigating various biotic and abiotic stresses. In this study, the effect of biopriming with cotton endophytes on seed germination and other growth parameters in host and non-host crops like wheat, sorghum, cowpea and chick pea was examined. The endophytes were antagonistic to cotton pathogens Corynespora cassiicola and Fusarium solani under in vitro. Among the eight endophytes, CFR-1 and CEL-48 were highly efficient with inhibition rates of 66.16% and 64.24% respectively against C. cassiicola, whereas CFL-34 was efficient against F. solani with more than 50% inhibition. Seed biopriming enhanced seed germination in cotton and non-host crops whereas seed vigor index was highest in bio-primed cotton. Moreover, growth promotion parameters were also enhanced upon endophyte biopriming. Total sugar content ranged from 5.46 to 7.54 mg/g F.W in cotton and highest was found in CFL-34 treated wheat (8.64 mg/g FW). There was an increase of 10-30% soluble protein in bioprimed cotton over control. Interestingly, the antioxidant potential in all the bio-primed crops was improved with increased catalase and peroxidase activity. Specific activity of catalase ranged from 0.42 to 1.90 µmol/min/mg protein in cotton, while highest activity was reported in CEL-48 primed wheat. The findings of this investigation emphasizes seed biopriming with endophytes for sustainable plant health management.

Development of robust, ultra-smooth, flexible and transparent regenerated silk composite films for bio-integrated electronic device applications.

Regenerated Silk Fibroin (RSF) films are considered promising substrate candidates primarily in the field of bio-integrated electronic device applications. The key issues that ought to be addressed to exploit the inherent advantages of silk thin films include enhancing their flexibility and chemical durability. Such films find a plethora of applications, the significant one being conformal, transparent microelectrode arrays. Elevated temperatures that are regularly used in lithographic processes tend to dehydrate RSF films, making them brittle. Furthermore, the solvents/etchants used in typical device fabrication results in the formation of micro-cracks. This paper addressed both these issues by developing composite films and studying the effect of biodegradable additives in enhancing flexibility and chemical durability without compromising on optical transparency and surface smoothness. Through our rigorous experimentation, regenerated silk blended with Polyvinyl Alcohol (Silk/PVA) is identified as the composite for achieving the objectives. Furthermore, the Cyto-compatibility studies suggest that Silk/PVA, along with all other silk composites, have shown above 80% cell viability, as verified using L929 fibroblast cell lines. Going a step further, we demonstrated the successful patterning of 32 channel optically transparent microelectrode array (MEA) pattern, with a minimum feature size of 5 µm above the free-standing and optically transparent Silk/PVA composite film.

Historical and current perspectives on therapeutic potential of higher basidiomycetes: an overview.

Mushrooms are macroscopic fungi which can be either epigeous or hypogeous and is estimated to be 140,000 on earth, yet only 10% are known. Since ancient time, it played a diverse role in human history for mycolatry, mycophagy and as medicine in folklore and religion. Many Asian and western countries consider mushrooms as panacea for a large number of diseases and utilized for consumption as a gourmet food for its taste as well as flavor. In recent years, scientific research fraternities have confirmed that various extracts and metabolites of mushrooms used traditionally are able to treat a wide range of diseases due to their balanced modulation of multiple targets thereby providing a greater therapeutic effect or equivalent curative effect to that of modern medicine. Medicinal mushrooms especially those belonging to higher basidiomycete groups are reservoir of bioactive compounds with multiple therapeutic properties. The present review provides historical importance as well as an updated information on pharmacologically relevant higher basidiomycetes belong to the genus Agaricus, Auricularia, Phellinus, Ganoderma, Pleurotus, Trametes and Lentinus and their biologically active secondary metabolites. This will help the researchers to understand various type of secondary metabolites, their therapeutic role and related in vivo or in vitro work at a glance. The mounting evidences from several scientific community across the globe, regarding various therapeutic applications of mushroom extracts, unarguably make it an advance research area worth mass attention.

Long Term Follow-up of an Open Bicondylar Hoffa Fracture with a Disrupted Extensor Mechanism: A Case Report.

This is the first report of a long-term follow-up of an open bicondylar Hoffa with patella fracture. It is interesting to note the radiological changes of osteoarthritis 15 years after global intra-articular injury of the distal femur. The good clinical outcome is possibly due to the integrity of the knee ligaments and reconstruction of the extensor mechanism in addition to stable anatomical reduction and fixation.

Mitigating Acetaminophen-Induced Hepatotoxicity by Using a Water-Alcohol Extract of Phellinus caryophylli (Agaricomycetes) in a Murine Model.

This study investigates the hepatoprotective effect of a water-alcohol extract of the medicinal mushroom Phellinus caryophylli (Racib.) G. Cunn. (PCE) against acetaminophen (APAP)-induced hepatotoxicity in Swiss albino mice. The mice orally received APAP (150 mg/kg body weight), followed by PCE extract (250 or 500 mg/kg body weight). The liver damage induced by APAP was analyzed on the basis of blood serum parameters (glutamate pyruvate transaminase, glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase, and alkaline phosphatase), antioxidant assays (reduced glutathione and glutathione peroxidase), and tissue peroxidation based on malondialdehyde level. The molecular mechanism underlying the prevention of APAP-induced damage by PCE was also analyzed. Liver damage was confirmed on the basis of increased serum parameter values, decreased antioxidant levels, and cellular and molecular alterations, which PCE restored in a dose-dependent manner. At a transcriptional level, PCE downregulated expression of the preapoptototic gene Bax and the inflammatory gene Cox2 but upregulated the antiapoptotic gene Bcl2 in the mice that received APAP. PCE exerted a hepatoprotective effect by preventing apoptotic and inflammatory events caused by APAP. Thus, this study demonstrates a hepatoprotective effect of PCE, which could be explored further for managing hepatopathy.

Synthesis, Biological Evaluation and Molecular Docking Studies of New Pyrazolines as an Antitubercular and Cytotoxic Agents.

BACKGROUND: Many synthetic procedures were reported till date to prepare pyrazoline derivatives. Some have published pyrazolines from different chalcone derivatives in the literature. OBJECTIVE: A series of new pyrazolines containing novel 2,5-dichloro-3-acetylthiophene chalcone moiety (PZT1-PZT20) have been synthesized, characterized by 1HNMR and 13CNMR and evaluated for them in vitro antitubercular activity against M. tuberculosis H37Rv strain and in vitro anticancer activity against DU-145 prostate cancer cell lines and all compounds were also screened for molecular docking studies against specific targeted protein domains. METHODS: All compounds were screened for potential activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv (MTB) strain and anticancer activity against DU-149 prostate cancer cell lines using MTT cytotoxicity assay. RESULTS: Among the series, compound PZT5 with 2", 4"-dichlorophenyl group at 5-position on the pyrazoline ring exhibited the most potent antitubercular activity (MIC=1.60 µg/mL) and compounds PZT2, PZT9, PZT11, PZT15, and PZT20 showed similar antitubercular activity against standard pyrazinamide (MIC=3.12 µg/mL) by broth dilution assay. PZT15 and PZT17 with 4"- pyridinyl and 2"-pyrrolyl groups on pyrazoline ring were found to exhibit better anticancer activity against DU-149 prostate cancer cell lines with IC50 values of 2.0±0.2 µg/mL and 6.0±0.3 µg/mL respectively by MTT assay. The preliminary structure-activity relationship has been summarized. The molecular docking studies with crystalline structures of enoyl acyl carrier protein reductase InhA interaction with target protein (2NSD; PDB and 3FNG; PDB) of Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv (MTB) strain have also exhibited good ligand interaction and binding affinity. Ligand interaction and binding affinity were estimated using crystal structures of both types of enoyl acyl carrier protein reductase InhA (3FNG.pdb) and found to be much higher (-16.70 to - 19.20 kcal/mol) compared with pyrazinamide (-10.70 kcal/mol) as a standard target molecule. Whereas the binding affinities of six active compounds with crystal structure of other type of enoyl acyl carrier protein reductase InhA (2NSD.pdb) were much similar and higher (-9.30 to - 11.20 kcal/mole) than pyrazinamide (-11.10 kcal/mole). CONCLUSION: These new pyrazolines would be promising potent inhibitors of drug sensitive and drug resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis strain and potential anticancer agents against prostate cancer and other prototypes of cancers.

HEK-293 secretome attenuates kainic acid neurotoxicity through insulin like growth factor-phosphatidylinositol-3-kinases pathway and by temporal regulation of antioxidant defense machineries.

A major impediment in the success of cell therapy for neurodegenerative diseases is the poor survival of grafted cells in the in vivo milieu, predominantly due to accumulated reactive oxygen species, thus prompting the search for suitable alternatives. Accumulating evidence suggests that the therapeutic potential of transplanted cells is partially attributed to the secretome released by them into the extracellular milieu. Studies that investigated the neuroprotective potential of the secretome attributes to the mere presence of growth factors without addressing other underlying cellular/molecular changes that occur upon post-secretome intervention like re-establishing the host cell's free radical scavenging machineries. In the present study, we investigated the neuroprotective effects of human embryonic kidney (HEK-293) cell line derived secretome (HEK-S) in an in vitro model of kainic acid (KA) induced neurodegeneration and explored the possible neuroprotective mechanism(s) of HEK-S. Murine hippocampal cells were exposed to toxic doses of KA (200µM) for 6hours (H) or 24H to induce excitotoxicity. Kainic acid exposed hippocampal cells were then treated with HEK-S either simultaneously or 6h post-KA exposure. Our results revealed that HEK-S confers significant neuroprotection in early/later stages of neurodegeneration through insulin like growth factor (IGF) - phosphatidylinositol-3-kinases (PI3K) pathway, efficiently restoring the host's free radical scavenging mechanisms at molecular-cellular-biochemical levels and also by modulating kainate receptor subunit expressions in host neurons.

Chronic pancreatitis with acute obstructive suppurative pancreatic ductitis: a rare case report.

Acute obstructive suppurative pancreatic ductitis (AOSPD) is a rare complication of chronic pancreatitis that has been described in only seven previous case reports since 1995. We report a case of a 33-year-old female a known case of chronic pancreatitis with computed tomography suggestive of dilated main pancreatic duct with multiple calcifications. On exploration, pancreatic duct aspiration revealed frank pus. Pus was drained after opening the pancreatic duct and longitudinal pancreaticojejunostomy was done. Patient was relieved of her symptoms after surgery. In conclusion, AOSPD should be considered in long standing cases of chronic pancreatitis. AOSPD appears to respond quickly after drainage procedure like longitudinal pancreaticojejunostomy and should be considered the treatment of choice.

A comparative study of Desarda's technique with Lichtenstein mesh repair in treatment of inguinal hernia: A prospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND: The Desarda repair technique of inguinal hernia repair introduced in 2001 is still not considered standard tissue based hernia repair technique. We compared the tissue based Desarda technique with standard Lichtenstein repair in treatment of primary inguinal hernia. METHODS: 187 cases were allocated into 2 groups. Desarda (D Group) had 92 and Lichtenstein (L Group) had 95 patients. Primary outcome factor was early (<1 year) recurrence of inguinal hernia. Secondary outcome factors included operative time measured from skin incision to skin closure. Postoperative pain scores was assessed on day 1, 3, 7, 30 and 90 using Visual analogue scale. Time taken to return to basic and home activities was calculated. Cord oedema, groin discomfort, seroma, fever, surgical site infections, chronic pain, etc. were evaluated as postoperative complications. RESULTS: After a 15-month mean follow up period 1 recurrence is noted in each arm (P = 1). Operative time was 73.89 ± 12.63 min in Lichtenstein and 72.60 ± 13.89 min in desarda repair (P = 0.508). Postoperative pain was significantly less in the first 7 post-operative days in Desarda group (P = 0.09) compared to Lichtenstein group. Time taken to return to basic and home activities was significantly less in Desarda group (P = 0.001). There was no statistical difference in rates of post-operative complications among the two arms of the study. CONCLUSION: The results of inguinal hernia treatment with the Desarda technique are similar to the results after standard Lichtenstein operations. Desarda technique does not use a mesh. Patients after Desarda's operative procedure get ambulatory sooner as compared to the standard Lichtenstein mesh repair. Less Postoperative pain, complications similar to standardised technique. Desarda technique has the potential to enlarge the number of tissue based methods available to treat groin hernias.

Part-1: Design, synthesis and biological evaluation of novel bromo-pyrimidine analogs as tyrosine kinase inhibitors.

A novel series of 5-bromo-pyrimidine derivatives (5a-l, 6a-h, 9a-m and 10a-d) were synthesized through multi step reactions starting from 5-bromo-2,4-dichloro pyrimidine. The newly synthesized compounds were characterized using elemental analysis and spectral data (IR, (1)H NMR, (13)C NMR and LC-MS) analysis. The titled compounds were evaluated for their in vitro cytotoxic activity against tumor cell lines panel consisted of HCT116 (human colon cancer cell line), A549 (human lung cancer cell line), K562 (human chronic myeloid leukemia cell line), U937 (human acute monocytic myeloid leukemia cell line), and L02 (human normal cell line) by using MTT assay Mosmann's method. As most of the compounds are highly potent against K562 cells, all the synthesized compounds were evaluated for Bcr/Abl tyrosine kinase inhibitory activity by using well-established ADP-Glo assay method. Dasatinib was utilized as positive control to validate in both biological evaluations. The biological activity revealed that the compounds 5c, 5e, 6g, 9e, 9f and 10c were potent Bcr/Abl kinase inhibitors among the titled compounds. Thus these compounds may be promising lead compounds to be developed as an alternative for current Dasatinib therapy.

Formulation development and systematic optimization of stabilized ziprasidone hydrochloride capsules devoid of any food effect.

CONTEXT AND OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study was to develop a stable capsule formulation of ziprasidone hydrochloride which can be administered without regards to food intake. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The unstable anhydrous form of ziprasidone hydrochloride was stabilized employing hot-melt extrusion and further optimized by 32 central composite design. The formulation was optimized after establishing acceptable ranges for response variables like disintegration time, dissolution and impurity profile. A crossover fasted and fed in vivo study was conducted in human volunteers to assess the food-effect of optimized formulation vis-à-vis the marketed brand. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: The optimized formulation met in-house specifications for various response variables. Further, high values of correlation coefficient vouch the adequate selection of experimental design and its high prognostic ability. In our study, no significant difference was observed between the Cmax and AUC values after administration of the optimized formulation in fasted and fed states. On the contrary, there was a statistically significant increase in the Cmax and AUC values after oral administration of Zeldox in fed state in comparison to fasted state. CONCLUSIONS: The present study describes the successful development of a stable formulation of 20 mg of ziprasidone devoid of any food-effects.

Mucinous cystadenoma of the dome of urinary bladder: A rare case report.

Mucinous cystadenoma of the urinary bladder is a very rare tumor and only a handful of cases have been described in the literature. It can easily be missed on cystoscopic examination as the lesion is not intramucosal. In addition, extensive workup is required to rule out borderline or frank malignant neoplasm elsewhere in the body. Due to its scarcity and diagnostic challenges, we report a mucinous benign cystic lesion arising in the dome of the urinary bladder.

Skeletal remains of mummified foetus for 36 years in mother's abdomen.

Lithopedion is a rare event that occurs in 0.0054% of all gestations.(1) According to one report there are only about 330 known cases of stone baby in the world (Gang sung, Min Lee et al., 2010). About 1.5-1.8% of the abdominal babies develop into lithopedion. We report a 60-year-old female with pain and lump in lower abdomen since 2 months. Possibility of tumour was on evaluation. Eventually a mass containing foetal skeleton was found in her abdomen which was traced to her pregnancy 36 years back.

Osteochondroma at its rarest site.

INTRODUCTION: Osteochondromas usually arise from the metaphyseal region of the growing skeleton but extraskeletal cartilaginous tumors are rarest. CASE REPORT: A 65 year old woman presented with anterior knee pain and inability to flex her knee more than 90° since 1 year. Clinical examination and imaging studies revealed a nodular calcific mass in the anterior portion of the knee i.e. patella. Following excision, histopathology confirmed the diagnosis of extra-osseous osteochondroma-like soft tissue mass, with no recurrence in 36 weeks. CONCLUSION: An integrated clinical-pathologic diagnosis helps to clarify the nature of extraskeletal cartilaginous tumors that can arise at unusual anatomic site viz. patella. Complete local surgical excision is the management of choice.

Stimuli responsive hydrogels derived from a renewable resource: synthesis, self-assembly in water and application in drug delivery.

We designed and synthesised coumarin-tris derivatives from a renewable resource and well characterized them using different spectral techniques. The self-assembly of coumarin-tris amphiphiles into hydrogels was examined relative to the molecular structure of the amphiphiles. The reversible morphological transition from nanofibers to vesicles and nanotubes has been observed, upon pH variation. Reversible processes and self-assembled structures such as gel, vesicle and nanotube formation have been investigated using optical microscopy and high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). 1H NMR and XRD studies clearly suggest that the π-π stacking interactions and hydrogen bonding were the driving force for the process of gelation. The flow behaviour of the hydrogel has been identified using rheological measurements. More importantly, the chemopreventive drug curcumin has been encapsulated into the gel and subsequent release has been achieved by a gel-to-sol transition induced by pH and Fe3+ metal ion stimuli. The reported hydrogel could play a substantial role in the development of new generation stimuli responsive drug delivery systems for in vivo formulations.

Recent developments in ß-C-glycosides: synthesis and applications.

In the last few years, considerable progress has been made in the synthesis of C-glycosides. Despite its challenging chemistry, due to its versatility, C-glycosides play a pivotal role in developing novel materials, surfactants and bioactive molecules. In this review, we present snapshots of various synthetic methodologies developed for C-glycosides in the recent years and the potential application of C-glycosides derived from ß-C-glycosidic ketones.

Closed reduction and K-wiring with the Kapandji technique for completely displaced pediatric distal radial fractures.

In completely displaced pediatric distal radial fractures, achieving satisfactory reduction with closed manipulation and maintenance of reduction with casting is difficult. Although the Kapandji technique of K-wiring is widely practiced for distal radial fracture fixation in adults, it is rarely used in pediatric acute fractures. Forty-six completely displaced distal radial fractures in children 7 to 14 years old were treated with closed reduction and K-wire fixation. One or 2 intrafocal K-wires were used to lever out and reduce the distal fragment's posterior and radial translation. One or 2 extrafocal K-wires were used to augment intrafocal fixation. Postoperative immobilization was enforced for 3 to 6 weeks (with a short arm plaster of Paris cast for the first half of the time and a removable wrist splint for the second half), after which time the K-wires were removed. Patients were followed for a minimum of 4 months. Mean patient age was 9.5 years. Near-anatomical reduction was achieved easily with the intrafocal leverage technique in all fractures. Mean procedure time for K-wiring was 7 minutes. On follow-up, there was no loss of reduction; remanipulation was not performed in any case. There were no pin-related complications. All fractures healed, and full function of the wrist and forearm was achieved in every case. The Kapandji K-wire technique consistently achieves easy and near-anatomical closed reduction by a leverage reduction method in completely displaced pediatric distal radial fractures. Reduction is maintained throughout the fracture-healing period. The casting duration can be reduced without loss of reduction, and good functional results can be obtained.

Mustard aphid infestation in India: development of forewarning models.

Aphid Lipaphis erysimi (Kaltenbach) infestation on mustard (Brassica juncea L.) account for considerable yield losses in India. Experimental data from six north Indian locations were used to study the role of weather on the incidence and development of mustard aphid. Temperature was found to regulate the aphid appearance and population build-up. In warm humid climate, time to attain peak population was relatively shorter than in cool climates. Aphids appeared mostly when the accumulated thermal time ranged between 810-847 degrees cd. Functional relations proposed in the present investigation between aphid incidence and peak population, using previous weeks weather and pest data for majority of the locations, could be used for taking any prophylactic/control measures.

Association of neck circumference and obesity status with elevated blood pressure in children.

High blood pressure (BP) and overweight/obesity are increasingly prevalent in children. We examined the associations of excess weight indicators including neck circumference (NC) and body mass index (BMI) with high BP in children. We hypothesized that high NC is associated with elevated BP. We utilized cross-sectional anthropometric and BP data on 1058 children aged 6-18 years. Patients were classified into weight and NC categories according to published guidelines. Prehypertension was defined as systolic or diastolic BP levels between 90th and 95th percentile for gender, age and height. Hypertension signifies systolic and/or diastolic BP levels ≥ 95th percentile for age, gender and height. The prevalence of elevated BP was 29.2% (prehypertension=10.1%, hypertension=19.1%). The prevalence of overweight and obesity was 19.0 and 18.7%, respectively. Rates of wide NC increased progressively with BMI categories by 8.8, 29.4 and 68.7% among normal weight, overweight and obese children, respectively. Within each BMI category, the unadjusted odds ratio for elevated BP was significantly higher in children with wide NC than those with normal NC (normal weight OR=1.78 (1.0-3.1), P=0.04); overweight OR=2.74 (1.5-5.2), P=0.001); obese OR=2.44 (1.3-4.6), P=0.006)). Increasing NC and BMI are associated with elevated BP in children. Joint presence of wide NC and high BMI is associated with significantly high rates of elevated BP. NC measurement may be a helpful tool to detect the presence of elevated BP in children.