In India, tuberculosis is an enormous public health problem. This study provides the first description of molecular diversity of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) from Sikkim, India. A ...total of 399 Acid Fast Bacilli sputum positive samples were cultured on Lőwenstein-Jensen media and genetic characterisation was done by spoligotyping and 24-loci MIRU-VNTR typing. Spoligotyping revealed the occurrence of 58 different spoligotypes. Beijing spoligotype was the most dominant type constituting 62.41% of the total isolates and was associated with Multiple Drug Resistance. Minimum Spanning tree analysis of 249 Beijing strains based on 24-loci MIRU-VNTR analysis identified 12 clonal complexes (Single Locus Variants). The principal component analysis was used to visualise possible grouping of MTBC isolates from Sikkim belonging to major spoligotypes using 24-MIRU VNTR profiles. Artificial intelligence-based machine learning (ML) methods such as Random Forests (RF), Support Vector Machines (SVM) and Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) were used to predict dominant spoligotypes of MTBC using MIRU-VNTR data. K-fold cross-validation and validation using unseen testing data set revealed high accuracy of ANN, RF, and SVM for predicting Beijing, CAS1_Delhi, and T1 Spoligotypes (93-99%). However, prediction using the external new validation data set revealed that the RF model was more accurate than SVM and ANN.
A case series and review of sporotrichosis in Sikkim Bhutia, Pema Yoden; Gurung, Shrijana; Yegneswaran, Prakash Peralam ...
Journal of infection in developing countries,
2011-Aug-12, Letnik:
5, Številka:
8
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Sporotrichosis caused by the fungus Sporothrix schenckii has been widely reported from the northern Himalayan belt and the north eastern region of India. Three autochthonous cases of lymphocutaneous ...sporotrichosis from east and south districts of Sikkim are reported. Fluid aspirate from the nodulo-ulcerative lesions were sent for cytology and fungal culture. S. schenckii was isolated on culture and cytological examination in all three cases showed granulomatous reaction. Thermal dimorphism was demonstrated and animal pathogenicity testing was performed. Saturated solution of potassium iodide was used for treatment and the last case was treated with itraconazole and potassium iodide. Awareness of this disease and an extensive environmental study is required to understand the actual burden of this disease.
Cryptococcus neoformans and Cryptococcus gatti both cause infection in immunocompromised patients. We report a case of meningitis with C. gatti in an AIDS patient. This case to our knowledge is the ...first case of C. gatti being reported from Sikkim (North East India).
A total of 75 clinically diagnosed and radiologically evident cases suggestive of pulmonary tuberculosis were selected for study. Sputum sample of each patient was screened for AFB by Ziehl Neelsen ...staining and culture. On examination 20 smears were found positive for AFB and 55 smears were negative by concentration method. A total of 23 samples were found to be culture positive and 52 were culture negative. Of these, 22 stains were identified as Mycobacterium tuberculosis, one was identified as M. Scrofulaceum. Of the 75 patients 3 were seropositive for HIV-I antibodies. Out of these 3, one was found to be smear and culture positive and was identified as M. scrofulaceum. Other two seropositive patients were smear and culture negative for AFB.
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is an incessant, reverting, inflammatory disorder of the gastrointestinal tract encompassing two entities, namely, Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC). ...Numerous protocols have been explored to treat these dreadful diseases, including the use of different IBD drugs with different modes of action and routes of administration. Constant progression in the development of newer formulations, chemical modifications, stimuli-responsive systems, and novel approaches using colloidal and cellular carriers have led to effective treatments of gastric inflammation. Colloidal carriers including vesicular and particulate systems such as liposomes, transferosomes, solid lipid nanoparticles, microspheres; cellular carriers including erythrocytes, macrophages, and recombinant bacteria; and other systems such as osmotic pressure and plug control release have gained unique positions as drug carriers. Here, we investigate IBD in terms of its pathogenesis, role of genetic factors, currently available treatment options and their modes of action, pharmacokinetics, marketed products, side effects of individual IBD drugs, recent developments, modifications in the delivery of various drugs through novel colloidal drug carriers, and future prospects.
Masonry buildings comprise a major fraction of the total buildings globally. Analysis of masonry buildings is challenging due to underlying uncertainties in material properties, variation in ...construction system, workmanship discrepancies, and analysis schemes. At present, several finite element approaches are available for masonry modeling; however, most of such methods are sophisticated as they require huge computational efforts, time, and realistic allocation of material properties. Thus, there is a need for a simple yet representative method to capture the complex behavior of masonry buildings. To this end, we propose a displacement-based Simplified Frame Model (SFM) to analyze masonry structures. Details of the methodology including the analysis results are presented in this paper. Nonlinear static pushover analysis is adopted for finite element modeling of the prototype building. A comparison between the analytical and experimental results highlights that the SFM can be effectively used for masonry analysis assuring less computational efforts.
•New method for capacity assessment of masonry structures is presented.•Simplified Frame Model (SFM) is formulated for nonlinear pushover analysis.•Results from SFM and experiment are compared, and method is validated.
Abstract only Introduction: Inflammation is causally related to atherothrombosis. Interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and interleukin-18 (IL-18) require NLRP3 inflammasome for activation and have downstream ...effects on interleukin-6 (IL-6), a marker previously associated with high risk of coronary artery and cerebrovascular disease (CCVD). However, data pertaining to peripheral artery disease (PAD) are sparse and could offer druggable targets in this disease. Methods: We conducted a prospective cohort study of 4248 patients with type 2 diabetes or metabolic syndrome and prior coronary artery disease who participated in the NIH-funded Cardiovascular Inflammation Reduction Trial (CIRT). Participants were followed for up to 5 years for incident CCVD and symptomatic PAD events. Randomized treatment with low-dose methotrexate (vs. placebo) had no effect on event rates or plasma levels of inflammatory biomarkers. Baseline levels of IL-1β, IL-18, and IL-6 were tested for association with incident vascular events. Kaplan-Meier curves and Cox proportional hazards models (adjusted for traditional risk factors) were estimated. Results: In multivariable adjusted analyses, hazard ratios for the lowest (referent) to highest baseline quartiles of IL-6 were 1.0, 1.5, 1.8, and 2.0 (p-trend <0.001) and 1.0, 1.2, 2.5, and 2.0 (p-trend = 0.04) for incident CCVD (N=349) and PAD (N=87), respectively. Baseline IL-6 levels above vs. below the median (2.50 pg/ml) were associated with a 56% increased risk of CCVD (HR 1.56, 95% CI 1.26-1.93) and a 113% increased risk PAD (HR 2.13, 95% CI 1.36-3.32) (Figure 1). Baseline levels of IL-1β and IL-18 did not associate with incident CCVD or PAD. Conclusion: In this contemporary cohort of secondary prevention patients, elevated IL-6 was associated with both incident CCVD and PAD. These data support exploration of direct IL-6 inhibition for PAD prevention, a strategy currently being pursued to reduce risk of coronary artery and cerebrovascular disease.
Parthenium hysterophorus Linn. is one of the most aggressive, invasive weeds threatening natural and agricultural ecosystems in the world including Nepal. Augmentative release of host-specific, leaf ...feeding beetle, Zygogramma bicolorata Pallister (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) is one of the sustainable management approaches of parthenium weed. Successful mass rearing program requires knowledge on biology of Z. bicolorata for augmentative release. Thus, life cycle and biology of Z. bicolorata were studied in lab at 26±2 °C temperature and 70±10% relative humidity at NARC, Lalitpur, Nepal during March to September, 2016. The average incubation, larval and pupal periods of the insect were 4.33, 12.20, and 11.00 days, respectively. A single female could lay 1,837 eggs in 58.80 days oviposition period with 73.01% egg hatchability. The insect completed its life cycle in 108.40 and 105.50 days with adult longevity of 91.90 and 75.00 days for females and males, respectively. The average length of egg, pupa, adult female and male was 1.19 mm, 5.90 mm, 6.58 mm and 5.32 mm and breadth 0.51 mm, 3.74 mm, 3.94 mm and 3.20 mm, respectively. The average lengths of the first, second, third and fourth instar larvae were found 1.30 mm, 3.02 mm, 4.96 mm and 8.08 mm and breadth of 0.44 mm, 1.13 mm, 2.02 mm and 3.16 mm, respectively. These findings will help in mass multiplication of Z. bicolorata for biological control of parthenium weed.
Host-specificity test of Zygogramma bicolorata Pallister (Coleoptra: Chrysomelidae) was conducted in the field and laboratory of National Entomology Research Center, Khumaltar, Lalitpur, Nepal during ...April to September, 2017. Multiple-choice and no-choice tests were conducted on Agerataum houstoniamum Mill., Bidens pilosa L., Chrysanthemum indicum L., Dahlia pinnata Cav, Guizotia abyssinica L., Helianthus annuus L., Lactuca sativa L., Parthenium hysterophorus L., Perilla frutescence L., Xanthium strumarium L., Zinnia elegans Jacq. and Jasminum officinale L. Among tested plant species, P. hysterophorus was only a preferred host of Z. bicolorata on which both larvae and adults fed. Ovipostion, larval development, pupation and adult emergence of Z. bicolorata occurred successfully on P. hysterophorus completing its life cycle. Larvae consumed H. anuus but could not pupate, and adults fed on it when starved for 5 days in no-choice test. Both adults and larvae of Z. bicolorata consumed X. strumarium and completed larval and pupal developments, but adults did not oviposit. Adult longevity was significantly reduced after feeding on H. annus (19.00 days) and X. strumarium (29.33 days) compared to P. hysterophorus (83.33 days).
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