A Vickers microhardness study has been carried out on (100) and (010) faces of solution-grown single crystals of magnesium sulphate hepta-hydrate (MgSO4·7H2O) over a load range of 10–80g. The Vickers ...hardness numbers (Hv) are found to decrease initially with increase in load and then appear to level-off. The (100) face is the softest one. The Meyer index ‘n’ of the two faces is less than 2 as expected theoretically if the particular crystal system belongs to the soft material category. Neither Kick's law nor Hays and Kendall's law can fully explain the nonlinear variation of microhardness with load. Instead, preference is given to Li and Bradt's proportional specimen resistance (PSR) model. The elastic stiffness coefficient, c11, has also been calculated using Wooster's empirical relation from the hardness data and it shows reasonable agreement with a reported value. A hardness anisotropy for both planes has been observed in accordance with the orientation of the crystallographic planes.
Polypeptide polymer-grafted silica nanoparticles are of considerable interest because the ordered secondary structure of the polypeptide grafts imparts novel functional properties onto the ...nanoparticle composite. The synthesis of poly-l-lysine-grafted silica nanoparticles would be of particular interest because the high density of cationic charges on the surface could lead to many applications such as gene delivery and antimicrobial agents. In this work, we have developed a “grafting-to” approach using a combination of NCA polymerization and “click chemistry” to synthesize poly-l-lysine-grafted silica nanoparticles with a high graft density of 1 chain/nm2. The covalent attachment of poly-l-lysine to silica nanoparticles (PLL−silica) was confirmed using a variety of techniques such as 13C CP MAS NMR, TGA, and IR. This methodology was then extended to graft poly-l-lysine-b-poly-l-leucine copolymer (PLL-b-PLLeu−silica) and poly-l-benzylglutamate (PLBG−silica) onto silica nanoparticles. All of these polypeptide-grafted nanoparticles show interesting aggregation properties in solution. The efficacy of PLL−silica and PLL-b-PLLeu−silica as antimicrobial agents was tested on both gram-negative E. coli and gram-positive Bacillus subtilis.
Synovium has been documented as a primary site of inflammation and a major effector organ in a variety of joint diseases. Study of simple technique like synovial biopsy can help in early diagnosis ...and treatment of diseases significantly improving outcome of patient in cases of rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, etc., Only limited data exist on utility of synovial biopsies.
To analyze the pattern of synovial lesions to differentiate between different kinds of arthritis. Also, to identify early stages of arthritis so as to prevent unnecessary invasive surgical procedure.
It's a retrospective study to analyze 103 cases of synovial lesions diagnosed in last five years at a tertiary care orthopedic center. All synovial biopsies obtained mainly by open method and few by arthroscopic method, that came to the Dept of Pathology were included. Lesions were classified into four categories that is, inflammatory joint diseases, degenerative joint diseases, tumor-like conditions and tumors.
Age group most affected was between 61 and 70 years, with male predominance. Osteoarthritis (OA) was the most common histopathological diagnosis. Early OA tissues showed greater lining layer thickness, vessel proliferation, and inflammation, while surface fibrin deposition along with fibrosis was noted in later stages.
The histo-morphological observations made in this study may have important therapeutic implications for some patients during the early evolution of arthritis and could prevent unnecessary operative intervention of later stages.
Crop yield varies considerably within agroecology depending on the genetic potential of crop cultivars and various edaphic and climatic variables. Understanding site-specific changes in crop yield ...and genotype × environment interaction are crucial and needs exceptional consideration in strategic breeding programs. Further, genotypic response to diverse agro-ecologies offers identification of strategic locations for evaluating traits of interest to strengthen and accelerate the national variety release program. In this study, multi-location field trial data have been used to investigate the impact of environmental conditions on crop phenological dynamics and their influence on the yield of mungbean in different agroecological regions of the Indian subcontinent. The present attempt is also intended to identify the strategic location(s) favoring higher yield and distinctiveness within mungbean genotypes. In the field trial, a total of 34 different mungbean genotypes were grown in 39 locations covering the north hill zone (
n
= 4), northeastern plain zone (
n
= 6), northwestern plain zone (
n
= 7), central zone (
n
= 11) and south zone (
n
= 11). The results revealed that the effect of the environment was prominent on both the phenological dynamics and productivity of the mungbean. Noticeable variations (expressed as coefficient of variation) were observed for the parameters of days to 50% flowering (13%), days to maturity (12%), reproductive period (21%), grain yield (33%), and 1000-grain weight (14%) across the environments. The genotype, environment, and genotype × environment accounted for 3.0, 54.2, and 29.7% of the total variation in mungbean yield, respectively (
p
< 0.001), suggesting an oversized significance of site-specific responses of the genotypes. Results demonstrated that a lower ambient temperature extended both flowering time and the crop period. Linear mixed model results revealed that the changes in phenological events (days to 50 % flowering, days to maturity, and reproductive period) with response to contrasting environments had no direct influence on crop yields (
p
> 0.05) for all the genotypes except PM 14-11. Results revealed that the south zone environment initiated early flowering and an extended reproductive period, thus sustaining yield with good seed size. While in low rainfall areas
viz
., Sriganganagar, New Delhi, Durgapura, and Sagar, the yield was comparatively low irrespective of genotypes. Correlation results and PCA indicated that rainfall during the crop season and relative humidity significantly and positively influenced grain yield. Hence, the present study suggests that the yield potential of mungbean is independent of crop phenological dynamics; rather, climatic variables like rainfall and relative humidity have considerable influence on yield. Further, HA-GGE biplot analysis identified Sagar, New Delhi, Sriganganagar, Durgapura, Warangal, Srinagar, Kanpur, and Mohanpur as the ideal testing environments, which demonstrated high efficiency in the selection of new genotypes with wider adaptability.
With virtually dried out new antibiotic discovery pipeline, emergence and spread of antimicrobial resistance is a cause for global concern. Colistin, a cyclic polypeptide antibiotic, often regarded ...as last resort for multi drug resistance gram-negative bacteria, is also rendered ineffective by horizontal transfer of resistance genes. Surveillance of colistin resistance in GNB is essential to ascertain molecular epidemiology.
Whole genome sequencing (WGS) of an unusual colistin resistant urinary isolate of Escherichia coli was performed using Illumina MiSeq platform using 2x250bp V2 chemistry by following the manufactures protocol (Illumina Inc. USA). Multiple web-based bio-informatic tools were utilized to ascertain antibiotic resistant genes.
An approximate 5.4 Mb of genome of the urinary isolate AFMC_UC19 was sequenced successfully. Mobile colistin resistance gene (mcr) on the plasmid responsible for horizontal spread was absent in the isolate.
Colistin resistance has been reported previously in Klebsiella pneumoniae and it is a rare occurrence in Escherichia coli in Indian setting. Although the isolate lack mcr mediated colistin resistance, emergence and spread of colistin resistant in gram-negative bacteria pose a threat.
Background: The Covid 19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread rapidly resulting in major socioeconomic impact globally. The infectivity, lack of effctive drugs and vaccines, and ...potentially large asymptomatic transmission have made the management and control of the disease extremely challenging. Although the primary control strategy is to isolate infected patients, the duration of the isolation period is poorly understood as viral RNA has been found to be persisting for prolonged durations. Recently many authors have studied the role of presence of subgenomic mRNA patient specimens to determine the infectivity of the patient. In our study we detected the presence of SARS-CoV-2 Envelope subgenomic mRNA in patients RT-PCR positive for SARS-CoV-2. These included symptomatic and asymptomatic patients. Aim: To detect the presence of E sg mRNA in SARS-CoV-2 RT PCR positive nasopharyngeal specimens. Materials and Methods: 58 consecutive RT-PCR positive samples were collected over a period of 10 days. These were further subjected to conventional RT-PCR testing for E subgenomic mRNA. Results: 22/58 tested positive for presence of sg mRNA. Out of these 22 positive for sg mRNA, 19 were symptomatic patients. We further compared the presence of sg mRNA in symptomatic cases at ≤ 5 days of symptom onset to testing time (STT) and in asymptomatic cases at ≤ 5 days from first Covid RT PCR positive test. There were total 44 samples including both groups, out of which 19/22 symptomatic patients showed presence of sg mRNA and 3/22 of asymptomatic showed presence of sg mRNA. Conclusion: In our study we observed that sg mRNA is detected mostly in symptomatic patients. However the limitation of our study is that a small sample size has been tested and cases have not been followed up. Large observational studies to detect sg mRNA in Covid 19 patients will help in validating its role in the disease process. Moreover the asymptomatic cases that show presence of subgenomic mRNA should be followed up longitudinally to observe whether they remain asymptomatic or develop symptoms subsequently.
Microstructural parameters of plastically deformed (hand filed) Cu–1Sn–Zn ternary alloys with zinc concentration 10–24 wt.% are studied with X-ray diffraction line profile analysis. It is observed ...that unlike the binary alloy system, the stacking fault probability calculated from peak shift analysis is almost constant with increase in zinc concentration from 10 to 20 wt.% and thereafter increases with the increase of zinc concentration. Stacking fault energy is calculated by modifying the expression given by Reed and Schramm J Appl Phys 1974;45:4705 and shows a significant difference with that from earlier work by Ghosh and Sen Gupta J Appl Phys 1983;54:6652. Present results are closer to electron microscope studies. It is found that dislocation density is much higher (∼1015 m−2) and shows compositional dependence. Dislocation type is found to be a combination of equal populations of screw and edge dislocations. It is noticed from dislocation arrangement parameters that the dislocations are greatly correlated in nature for lower Zn concentration and less correlated at higher Zn concentration.
The majority of the HIV drug resistance (HIVDR) testing studies have focused on subtype B virus. The predominance of subtype C in the Indian subcontinent along with greater access to antiretroviral ...therapy (ART) necessitates studies on HIVDR genotyping. We determined the prevalence of mutations associated with protease inhibitors (PI), nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTI), and nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTI) from plasma of 40 antiretroviral drug-naive study participants in Indian HIV-1 pol gene sequences. Of these, 36 sequences belonged to subtype C, two to subtype A1, and two were subtype A1C recombinants. The heterosexual route was the most common route of transmission. Drug resistance-associated mutations were observed in 10% (4/40) of the study participants. The resistance mutation observed in the protease gene was V82A, whereas in the RT gene, M41L, D67N, M184V, and A98G were documented. This is the first study reporting major protease mutations by genotyping in ART-naive individuals from western India.
Introduction: First spotted in Wuhan, China, World Health Organisation declared the deadly outbreak caused by novel Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS CoV-2) as global pandemic on ...March 11, 2020. With over 72 million cases globally till December 2020, countries need to gear up to detect, isolate and treat Corona Virus Disease-2019 (COVID-19) cases. Laboratories play a crucial role in diagnosis thereby instituting early contact tracing and quarantine measures. The laboratory based COVID-19 diagnostic testing data may help in formulating strategies to contain the spread of infection. Aim: To describe key patient variables of the respiratory samples processed for SARS-CoV-2 by Real Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) at a diagnostic laboratory. Materials and Methods: In this descriptive, single centre study carried out at ICMR approved COVID-19 diagnostic laboratory, nasopharyngeal swabs received in Viral Transport Medium (VTM) were tested for SARS-CoV-2 infection by RT-PCR. Key patient variables, like age, gender, symptoms and sample positivity rate were tabulated. The demographic and clinical data of samples tested were summarised by medians and Interquartile Range (IQR) for continuous variables and by proportions for categorical variables. Results: A total of 12,187 samples were received between 21st March to 8th July 2020. The data from 11,196 individuals were complete and were included in the analysis. Overall, 2,053 samples were tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 indicating positivity rate of 18.33%. Sample positivity was highest (63.91%) among high-risk contacts of a laboratory confirmed case. The maximum number of samples tested belonged to age group of 21-40 years and male predominance was observed. Conclusion: Although social distancing, mask usage, hand hygiene and respiratory etiquettes are important measures for containment of COVID-19, strengthening and capacity building of laboratory network is crucial for mitigating the pandemic.
Benign vocal lesions are non-malignant growths of abnormal tissue on the vocal cords. The common benign lesions of vocal cord are singer’s nodule, polyps, papilloma, polypoidal degeneration and ...cysts. The aim of this study was to analyze the demographics such as age, sex, occupation, symptomatology, site of involvement. An objective evaluation of voice handicap was done pre and postoperatively using VHI-10 scale to see improvement in patient’s symptoms. In this prospective study, a total of 50 cases were selected with benign lesions in regional hospital of India. The pre and post operative assessment for voice handicap was assessed by VHI-10. Chi square test (SPSS 20.0 version) used to analyze result; value of
p
< 0.05 was taken significant. In this study of 50 patients, the benign lesions were most common in 20–29 age group. Male (70%) outnumbered females (30%). Most common was Vocal polyp (56%), followed by nodule (32%), cyst (10%) and papilloma (2%) respectively. All patients showed improvement after phonosurgery and postoperative speech therapy, being assessed by VHI-10 scale. The benign lesions of vocal cords produces symptoms which can vary from hoarseness to stridor, affect social functioning, work performance. Speech therapy following microlaryngeal surgery forms an essential part of treatment, to avoid recurrence. VHI-10 scale as found to be a useful and convenient tool in measuring patient voice handicap and to see improvement after surgery.
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