Potential diagnostic application of the baculovirus-expressed recombinant truncated nucleocapsid protein of peste des petits ruminants virus in ELISA.

The study describes the expression of recombinant truncated nucleocapsid protein (NP) of peste des petits ruminants (PPR) virus in the baculovirus system (PPRV-rBNP) and its potential application as a diagnostic antigen in ELISA for diagnosis of PPR in sheep and goats. The PPRV N-terminal immunogenic region (1-266 aa) of the NP coding sequence was amplified and cloned into the pFastBac HT A vector. The PPRV-rBNP with a molecular weight of ∼30 kDa was expressed in an insect cell system using generated recombinant baculovirus through Bac-to-Bac® Baculovirus Expression System. The crude PPRV-rBNP or Ni-NTA affinity-purified NP was characterized by SDS-PAGE and immunoblot using standard PPRV-specific sera. The PPRV-rBNP reacted well with PPRV anti-N specific monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies and PPRV-specific antiserum, suggesting that the expressed PPRV-rBNP is in its native form. The crude PPRV-rBNP as a diagnostic antigen was evaluated either as a coating antigen or standard positive control antigen in the Avidin-Biotin ELISA using the known standard panel reagents. The results showed that the expressed PPRV-rBNP can be an alternative diagnostic antigen to E. coli expressed recombinant PPRV-NPN and the utility of PPRV-rBNP avoids the need to use live PPRV antigen in the diagnostic ELISA. Hence, this allows scope in the future for large-scale field application of the recombinant antigen-based assays for diagnosis/surveillance and monitoring of PPR at the eradication as well as post-eradication phases in endemic countries or PPR non-endemic countries.

Microstructural Evolution, Tensile Failure, Fatigue Behavior and Wear Properties of Al2O3 Reinforced Al2014 Alloy T6 Heat Treated Metal Composites.

The paper focused on an experimental study on the microstructural, mechanical, and wear characteristics of 15 wt.% alumina (Al2O3) particulates with an average particle size of 20 µm, reinforced in Al2014 alloy matrix composite as-cast and heat-treated samples. The metal matrix composite (MMC)samples were produced via a novel two-stage stir-casting technique. The fabricated composite samples were subjected to evaluate hardness, tensile strength, fatigue behavior and wear properties for both as cast and T6 heat-treated test samples. The Al2014 alloy and Al2014-15 wt.% Al2O3 MMCs were in solution for 1 h at a temperature of 525 °C, quenched instantly in cold water, and then artificially aged for 10 h at a temperature of 175 °C. SEM and X-ray diffraction analyses were used to investigate the microstructure and dispersion of the reinforced Al2O3 particles in the composite and the base alloy Al2014. The obtained results indicated that the hardness, tensile and fatigue strength and wear resistance increased when an amount of Al2O3 particles was added, compared to the as-cast Al2014 alloy and it was observed that after subjecting the same composite samples to heat treatment, there was further enhancement in the mechanical and wear properties in the Al2014 matrix alloy and Al2014-15 wt.% Al2O3 composite samples.

Comparative Evaluation of the Effect of Alum and Herbal Mouthrinses on Plaque Inhibition in Children: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

BACKGROUND: Gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria that compose oral biofilms produce many metabolites that induce the formation of dental plaque. Dental plaque is the main factor for the initiation and progression of oral diseases. Plaque preventive measures like mechanical or chemical approaches can be used in combination with this. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: A study was done to compare and evaluate the effects of 0.02 M alum mouthrinse, herbal mouthrinse, and saline on plaque inhibition in children. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Sixty healthy children of age-group 9-12 years were included in the study and divided into 3 groups of 20 each: group I: alum containing mouthwash (0.02 M), group II: saline, and group III: herbal mouthwash, rinsing two times daily for 30 days. Plaque index scores were recorded from each individual on the 1st, 15th, and 30th day. RESULTS: Alum group (group I) showed a highly significant reduction of plaque at 1st, 15th, and 30th day when comparison to herbal group (group III) and saline group (group II). CONCLUSION: Ingredients in the alum group (group I) were effective in plaque inhibition, it may serve as an alternative antimicrobial mouthwash. Further long-term study with a large population group is recommended to determine the efficacy of alum-containing mouthwash and herbal (Hi-ora) mouthwash in improving oral health status. HOW TO CITE THIS ARTICLE: Vanishree BK, Gangadharaiah C, Kajjari S, et al. Comparative Evaluation of the Effect of Alum and Herbal Mouthrinses on Plaque Inhibition in Children: A Randomized Clinical Trial. Int J Clin Pediatr Dent 2021;14(5):610-615.

Evaluation of the diagnostic potential of recombinant leptospiral OMP A-like protein (Loa22) and transmembrane (OmpL37) protein in latex agglutination test for serodiagnosis of leptospirosis in animals.

Leptospirosis is a re-emerging zoonotic disease of animals and humans caused by pathogenic Leptospira, which has major public health concerns. The study is aimed to express the recombinant outer membrane protein (OMP) A-like protein (rLoa22) and transmembrane (rOmpL37) protein of Leptospira interrogans serovar Hardjo in the Escherichia coli and their evaluation as a diagnostic antigen in the latex agglutination test (LAT) to detect anti-leptospiral antibodies in the sera of animals. The Loa22 and OmpL37 genes lacking signal peptide coding sequences were individually amplified (522 and 963 bp), by polymerase chain reaction, and directionally cloned into a pETite N-His Kan vector for expression. The expressed purified proteins were characterized by sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and immunoblot, which confirmed leptospiral specific reactive protein with a molecular weight of ~19 and 36 kDa, respectively. The sensitized latex beads coated with these OM proteins separately were evaluated in LAT using cattle sera of microscopic agglutination test (MAT) confirmed positive (n = 53) and negative (n = 52) cases of leptospirosis. The rLoa22 LAT and rOmpL37 LAT revealed the relative diagnostic sensitivity of 94·34 and 96·23%, diagnostic specificity of 92·31 and 96·15% and accuracy of 93·33 and 96·19%, with the excellent agreement of Cohen's kappa value of 0·87 and 0·92, respectively. After extensive evaluation, this rapid recombinant protein-based field diagnostic test can be applied as a screening test for the detection of anti-leptospiral antibodies in the sera of animals in the field conditions.

Artificial Intelligence based facial recognition for Mood Charting among men on life style modification and it's correlation with cortisol.

Today, clinicians and researchers believe that mood disorders in children and adolescents remain one of the most under diagnosed mental health problems. Mood disorders in adolescents also put them at risk for other conditions that may persist long after the initial episodes of depression are resolved. In our study we have assessed the mood state spectrum of a person over the time and validated the same by correlating with salivary cortisol, psychologist assessment results. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Images from the training dataset are classified according to one among the nine emotions. The Images that are classified accordingly are taken as training set and a suitable convolutional neural network is trained/retrained for this data. The mean values predicted moods are considered as input for another model that predicts higher the stress level. RESULTS: With the inception v3 trained for 1,00,000 times with the data set that's close to 12,000 images classified accordingly to the nine emotion classes as specified by psychologist the model was able to obtain 78.4% of testing accuracy while with the near perfect training accuracy. CONCLUSION: The mood analysis was conclusively helpful in the estimation of the negative emotion parameter as close to the values that are obtained by with Depression, Anxiety and stress scale (DASS21) the mood analysis. The salivary cortisol as unbiased variable correlating with DASS 21 score could have a potential uses in early detection of mood disorder and correction. This platform will be helping the subject as a early mood screening tool.

Diagnosis and Treatment of Isolated Cerebral Mucormycosis: Patient-Level Data Meta-Analysis and Mayo Clinic Experience.

BACKGROUND: Isolated cerebral mucormycosis is a rare and serious infection associated with intravenous drug abuse. METHODS: We performed a comprehensive meta-analysis of cases reported in studies and have included an unreported case from our institution. We searched PubMed/Medline, EMBASE, Scopus, Cochrane Databases, and our institution's electronic medical health records from inception through March 31, 2018. The cases were considered isolated (only affecting the cerebrum, cerebellum, or brainstem) if the absence of other primary sources of infection had been documented. Continuous variables were summarized using the median and interquartile range and categorical variables using frequencies and proportions. The relationships between variables were tested using the Wilcoxon rank sum and Pearson χ2 tests. RESULTS: A total of 130 studies (141 patients) met the eligibility requirements and were screened; 68 patients were included. The median age was 28 years (interquartile range, 24-38); 57% were men. Most patients had a history of intravenous drug abuse (82%), and 20% had positive human immunodeficiency virus findings. The lesion location was mostly supratentorial (91%), especially in the basal ganglia (71.2%). The cultures were positive in 38%, with Rhizopus the most common organism (59%). The mortality rate was 65%. The survivors were significantly more likely to have received amphotericin B (92% vs. 43%; P < 0.001) or to have undergone stereotactic aspiration (58% vs. 25%; P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Isolated cerebral mucormycosis has a pooled mortality rate of 65%. The presence of lesions in the basal ganglia, rapidly progressive symptoms, and a history of intravenous drug abuse should raise suspicion for the early initiation of amphotericin B and stereotactic aspiration.

Can Metastatic Lymph node ratio be used as an independent prognostic factor in Carcinoma tongue?

BACKGROUND: Lymph node metastasis is an established prognostic factor in carcinoma of tongue. The association between lymph node ratio (LNR, the ratio of positive lymph nodes to the total number of dissected lymph nodes) and survival has been recently studied. But the available literature is mostly retrospective in nature and they take the broad group of oral squamous cell carcinoma as a whole and not as a single sub-site; also it does not take in to consideration the importance of standardising the minimum number of lymph nodes to be dissected or a single head and neck pathologist examining the specimen to avoid wide variations in the ratio and to reduce the bias. Hence we sought to determine using a prospective study whether the lymph node ratio, as an independent factor impacts survival in node-positive squamous cell carcinoma of tongue and whether a cut-off can be arrived at to risk stratify the patients. METHODS: We prospectively studied 51 consecutive pathologically node positive patients with squamous cell carcinoma tongue who satisfied our selection criteria. A standard surgery for the primary was done under frozen control and a comprehensive neck dissection, with the minimum number of lymph node harvest kept at 15. All the specimens were examined by a single head and neck pathologist. Further adjuvant treatment was given according to our institution protocol. They were followed up with a regular clinical examination for an average period of 24 months. The 2 Yr OS and DFS were calculated using the Kaplan Meier method. LNR was subjected to univariate and multivariate analyses. RESULTS: The 2 yr OS was 37.8% for patients with LNR>0.10 compared with 88.2% for patients with LNR <0.10 (p value=0.0187).Similarly, the DFS was 46.3% for patients with LNR >0.10compared with 83.6% for those with LND<0.10 (p value=0.0859).LNR was a significant prognostic factor in both univariate and multi variate analyses. CONCLUSION: In squamous cell carcinoma of tongue, an increased Lymph node ratio (LNR) is a strong predictor of decreased survival. A lymph node ratio (LNR)>0.10 is associated with a worse outcome.

Prevalence of osteoarthritis of knee joint among adult population in a rural area of Kanchipuram District, Tamil Nadu.

BACKGROUND: Osteoarthritis (OA) is one of the most common degenerative disorders among the elderly population; although aging is the most important cause, research has shown that it is a complex disease with many etiologies. It is not an inevitable part of aging but rather the result of a combination of factors, many of which can be modified or prevented. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to assess the burden and determinants of OA knee among the adult population. METHODS: A community-based, cross-sectional study among 1986 adult persons living in a rural area in Kanchipuram district, Tamil Nadu, South India, was interviewed and examined from January 2014 to December 2014. Data collection was done by the postgraduates, trained health workers under the supervision of principal investigator. Written and informed consent was obtained before data collection. OA was diagnosed using the criteria laid down by the American College of Rheumatology, and it was validated and tested in the study area. RESULTS:: A total of 1986 adult respondents were interviewed out of which 27.1% had OA of knee. Age more than 50 years, female gender, tobacco usage, illiteracy, lower socioeconomic class, positive family history of OA, diabetes, and hypertension were found to be associated with OA knee (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: The burden of osteoarthritis knee was high in this region. Hence, effective preventive strategy has to be taken to minimize this burden.

Erector spinae plane block may aid weaning from mechanical ventilation in patients with multiple rib fractures: Case report of two cases.

Uncontrolled pain in patients with rib fracture leads to atelectasis and impaired cough which can progress to pneumonia and respiratory failure necessitating mechanical ventilation. Of the various pain modalities, regional anaesthesia (epidural and paravertebral) is better than systemic and oral analgesics. The erector spinae plane block (ESPB) is a new modality in the armamentarium for the management of pain in multiple rib fractures, which is simple to perform and without major complications. We report a case series where ESPB helped in weaning the patients from mechanical ventilation. Further randomised controlled studies are warranted in comparing their efficacy in relation to other regional anaesthetic techniques.