Techno-environmental analysis to valorize the secondary energy resources from refuse-derived fuel-based waste to energy plant.

The present study quantifies the environmental and sustainability impacts associated with municipal solid waste management (MSWM) in India which plays a vital environmental issue in recent times. The upsurge in population has resulted in massive waste generation, leading to a concerning rise in the level of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Therefore, the sustainable management of MSW has been discussed and highlights the conversion of MSW into refuse-derived fuel (RDF) to identify its potential for generating electricity in waste-to-energy (WtE) plants. The life cycle assessment (LCA) study has been done to identify and compare the environmental impacts associated with different scenarios (SC) as SC1: landfilling without energy recovery, SC2: open burning and SC3: processing of RDF in WtE plant by considering the nine impact categories from the inventory data obtained over a period of 12 consecutive months (Jan 2021-Jan 2022). The results exhibited that the global warming potential caused by emissions of GHG are in the order of SC1 (1188 kg CO2 eq) > SC2 (752 kg CO2 eq) > SC3 (332 kg CO2 eq), respectively from 1 t of MSW. It is concluded that the WtE plant can help in the reduction of environmental issues, strengthening the capacity of electricity generation and improving the aesthetic view of the city which is socially acceptable as well. Thus, WtE technology can help in achieving sustainable development goal 12 to regenerate the sustainable secondary resources for the twenty-first century and minimize global climate change.

A nanobody based ultrasensitive electrochemical biosensor for the detection of soluble CTLA-4 -A candidate biomarker for cancer development and progression.

A soluble isoform of cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated antigen 4 (CTLA-4) has been found in the serum of healthy individuals and alterations in its expression level have been linked with the development and progression of various cancers. Conventionally, soluble CTLA-4 (sCTLA-4) has been quantified by techniques such as ELISA, western blot, and flow cytometry, which however are time-consuming, highly expensive and require large sample volumes. Therefore, rapid, cost-effective and real-time monitoring of soluble CTLA-4 levels is much needed to facilitate timely diagnosis of a worsening disease and help patient selection for immunotherapeutic interventions in cancer. Here, for the first time, we report an ultrasensitive, highly selective electrochemical nanobody (NAb) based biosensor for the quantitative detection of soluble CTLA-4 employing poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS) and gold nanoparticles modified electrode with attomole sensitivity. Incorporating nanomaterials with conductive polymers enhances the sensitivity of the electrochemical biosensor, while the nanobody's stability, specificity and ease of production make it a suitable choice as a bioreceptor. The proposed NAb-based sensor can detect sCTLA-4 from pure recombinant protein in a wide concentration range of 100 ag mL-1- 500 µg mL-1, with a limit of detection of 1.19 ag mL-1 (+3σ of the blank signal). The sensor's relative standard deviation for reproducibility is less than 0.4% and has effective real sample analytics for cell culture supernatant with no significant difference with pure recombinant protein (p < 0.05). Our proposed nanobody based sensor exhibits stability for up to 2 weeks (<3% variation). Moreover, this nanobody-based sensor presents a future opportunity for quantitative, ultrasensitive, and economical biosensor development that can be adapted to monitor the immune landscape of cancer patients to provide a larger therapeutic window.

Magnetic Stress-Driven Metal-Insulator Transition in Strongly Correlated Antiferromagnetic CrN.

Traditionally, the Coulomb repulsion or Peierls instability causes the metal-insulator phase transitions in strongly correlated quantum materials. In comparison, magnetic stress is predicted to drive the metal-insulator transition in materials exhibiting strong spin-lattice coupling. However, this mechanism lacks experimental validation and an in-depth understanding. Here we demonstrate the existence of the magnetic stress-driven metal-insulator transition in an archetypal material, chromium nitride. Structural, magnetic, electronic transport characterization, and first-principles modeling analysis show that the phase transition temperature in CrN is directly proportional to the strain-controlled anisotropic magnetic stress. The compressive strain increases the magnetic stress, leading to the much-coveted room-temperature transition. In contrast, tensile strain and the inclusion of nonmagnetic cations weaken the magnetic stress and reduce the transition temperature. This discovery of a new physical origin of metal-insulator phase transition that unifies spin, charge, and lattice degrees of freedom in correlated materials marks a new paradigm and could lead to novel device functionalities.

Activation and differentiation of cognate T cells by a dextran-based antigen-presenting system for cancer immunotherapy.

Immunotherapeutic modulation of antigen-specific T-cell responses instead of the whole repertoire helps avoid immune-related adverse events. We have developed an artificial antigen-presenting system (aAPS) where multiple copies of a multimeric peptide-MHC class I complex presenting a murine class I MHC restricted ovalbumin-derived peptide (signal 1), along with a costimulatory ligand (signal 2) are chemically conjugated to a dextran backbone. Cognate naive CD8+ T cells, when treated with this aAPS underwent significant expansion and showed an activated phenotype. Furthermore, elevated expression of effector cytokines led to the differentiation of these cells to cytotoxic T lymphocytes which resulted in target cell lysis, indicative of the functional efficacy of the aAPS. CD8+ T cells with decreased proliferative potential due to repeated antigenic stimulation could also be re-expanded by the developed aAPS. Thus, the developed aAPS warrants further engineering for future application as a rapidly customizable personalized immunotherapeutic agent, incorporating patient-specific MHC-restricted tumor antigens and different costimulatory signals to modulate both naive and antigen-experienced but exhausted tumor-specific T cells in cancer.

In situ N K-edge XANES study of iron, cobalt and nickel nitride thin films.

A prototype in situ X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) system was developed to explore its sensitivity for ultra-thin films of iron-nitride (Fe-N), cobalt-nitride (Co-N) and nickel-nitride (Ni-N). They were grown using DC-magnetron sputtering in the presence of an N2 plasma atmosphere at the experimental station of the soft XAS beamline BL01 (Indus-2, RRCAT, India). XANES measurements were performed at the N K-edge in all three cases. It was found that the N K-edge spectral shape and intensity are greatly affected by increasing thickness and appear to be highly sensitive, especially in low-thickness regions. From a certain thickness of ∼1000 Å, however, samples exhibit a bulk-like behavior. On the basis of the obtained results, different growth stages were identified. Furthermore, the presence of a molecular N2 component in the ultra-thin regime (<100 Å) was also obtained in all three cases studied in this work. In essence, this prototype in situ system reveals that N K-edge XANES is a powerful technique for studying ultra-thin films, and the development of a dedicated in situ system can be effective in probing several phenomena that remain hitherto unexplored in such types of transition metal nitride thin films.

Vibration-based biomimetic odor classification.

Olfaction is not as well-understood as vision or audition, nor technologically addressed. Here, Chemical Graph Theory is shown to connect the vibrational spectrum of an odorant molecule, invoked in the Vibration Theory of Olfaction, to its structure, which is germane to the orthodox Shape Theory. Atomistic simulations yield the Eigen-VAlue (EVA) vibrational pseudo-spectra for 20 odorant molecules grouped into 6 different 'perceptual' classes by odour. The EVA is decomposed into peaks corresponding to different types of vibrational modes. A novel secondary pseudo-spectrum, informed by this physical insight-the Peak-Decomposed EVA (PD-EVA)-has been proposed here. Unsupervised Machine Learning (spectral clustering), applied to the PD-EVA, clusters the odours into different 'physical' (vibrational) classes that match the 'perceptual', and also reveal inherent perceptual subclasses. This establishes a physical basis for vibration-based odour classification, harmonizes the Shape and Vibration theories, and points to vibration-based sensing as a promising path towards a biomimetic electronic nose.

LungINFseg: Segmenting COVID-19 Infected Regions in Lung CT Images Based on a Receptive-Field-Aware Deep Learning Framework.

COVID-19 is a fast-growing disease all over the world, but facilities in the hospitals are restricted. Due to unavailability of an appropriate vaccine or medicine, early identification of patients suspected to have COVID-19 plays an important role in limiting the extent of disease. Lung computed tomography (CT) imaging is an alternative to the RT-PCR test for diagnosing COVID-19. Manual segmentation of lung CT images is time consuming and has several challenges, such as the high disparities in texture, size, and location of infections. Patchy ground-glass and consolidations, along with pathological changes, limit the accuracy of the existing deep learning-based CT slices segmentation methods. To cope with these issues, in this paper we propose a fully automated and efficient deep learning-based method, called LungINFseg, to segment the COVID-19 infections in lung CT images. Specifically, we propose the receptive-field-aware (RFA) module that can enlarge the receptive field of the segmentation models and increase the learning ability of the model without information loss. RFA includes convolution layers to extract COVID-19 features, dilated convolution consolidated with learnable parallel-group convolution to enlarge the receptive field, frequency domain features obtained by discrete wavelet transform, which also enlarges the receptive field, and an attention mechanism to promote COVID-19-related features. Large receptive fields could help deep learning models to learn contextual information and COVID-19 infection-related features that yield accurate segmentation results. In our experiments, we used a total of 1800+ annotated CT slices to build and test LungINFseg. We also compared LungINFseg with 13 state-of-the-art deep learning-based segmentation methods to demonstrate its effectiveness. LungINFseg achieved a dice score of 80.34% and an intersection-over-union (IoU) score of 68.77%-higher than the ones of the other 13 segmentation methods. Specifically, the dice and IoU scores of LungINFseg were 10% better than those of the popular biomedical segmentation method U-Net.

Anacardic acid encapsulated solid lipid nanoparticles for Staphylococcus aureus biofilm therapy: chitosan and DNase coating improves antimicrobial activity.

Biofilm mediated bacterial infections are the key factors in the progression of infectious diseases due to the evolution of antimicrobial resistance. Traditional therapy involving antibiotics is not adequate enough for treatment of such infections due to the increased resistance triggered by biofilm. To overcome this challenge, we developed anacardic acid (Ana) loaded solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs), further coated with chitosan and DNase (Ana-SLNs-CH-DNase). The DNase coating was hypothesized to degrade the e-DNA, while chitosan was coated to yield positively charged SLNs with additional adhesion to biofilms. The SLNs were developed using homogenization method and further evaluated for particle size, polydispersity index, zeta potential, and entrapment efficiency. Drug excipient compatibility was confirmed by using FT-IR study, while encapsulation of Ana in SLNs was confirmed by X-ray diffraction study. The SLNs demonstrated sustained release for up to 24 h and excellent stability at room temperature for up to 3 months. The developed SLNs were found non-toxic against human immortalized keratinocyte (HaCaT) cells while demonstrated remarkably higher antimicrobial efficacy against Staphylococcus aureus. Excellent effect of the developed SLNs on minimum biofilm inhibition concentration and minimum biofilm eradication concentration further confirmed the superiority of the developed formulation strategy. A significant (p < 0.05) reduction in biofilm thickness and biomass, as confirmed by confocal laser scanning microscopy, was observed in the case of developed SLNs in comparison with control. Cumulatively, the results suggest the enhanced efficacy of the developed formulation strategy to overcome the biofilm-mediated antimicrobial resistance. Graphical abstract.

Outcomes of Posterior Approach Surgery in Various Types and Grades of Upper Eyelid Blepharoptosis in Indian Eyes.

PURPOSE: To present the outcomes of levator plication (levatorpexy) surgery by posterior approach for correction of ptosis of different aetiologies in Indian eyes. METHODS: Retrospective review of clinical notes and clinical photos of consecutive ptosis patients who underwent levatorpexy from January 2017 to September 2018. Surgery was considered successful if the following four criteria were simultaneously met: a postoperative MRD1 of ≥2 mm and ≤4.5 mm, inter eyelid height asymmetry of ≤1 mm, no overcorrection compared to the opposite eye, and a satisfactory eyelid contour determined by patient. RESULTS: Thirty six eyelids of 36 patients (mean age, 23.6 years; 25 females) underwent unilateral levatorpexy with the left eyelid affected in 66.6 %. Twenty one congenital (58.3%) (C), 12 (33.3%) aponeurotic (A) and 3 (8.3%) complex ptosis (CX) had a mean levator function of 9.8 mm (range, 6 to 15). Mean pre and post operative margin reflex distance (MRD 1) was 0.611mm (range, -1 to 3 mm) and 3 .00 mm (range, 2 to 4 mm) respectively. At the final follow up of 12 months, four patients remained under corrected (11.1%). At the final follow up of twelve months, the success rate was 78 percent. CONCLUSION: Posterior approach for ptosis repair offers a scar less, minimally invasive, easy to revise, and successful lid height correction in congenital and acquired ptosis.

Discovery of novel 1,3,5-triazine as adenosine A2A receptor antagonist for benefit in Parkinson's disease.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a chronic neuro-degenerative ailment characterized by impairment in various motor and nonmotor functions of the body. In the past few years, adenosine A2 A receptor (A2 AR) antagonists have attracted much attention due to significant relief in PD. Therefore, in the current study, we intend to disclose the development of novel 1,3,5-triazines as A2 AR antagonist. The radioligand binding and selectivity of analogs were tested in HEK293 (human embryonic kidney) and the cells were transfected with pcDNA 3.1(+) containing full-length human A2 AR cDNA and pcDNA 3.1(+) containing full-length human A1 R cDNA, where they exhibit selective affinity for A2 AR. Molecular docking analysis was also conducted to rationalize the probable mode of action, binding affinity, and orientation of the most potent molecule (7c) at the active site of A2 AR. It has been shown that compound 7c form numerous nonbonded interactions in the active site of A2 AR by interacting with Ala59, Ala63, Ile80, Val84 Glu169, Phe168, Met270, and Ile274. The study revealed 1,3,5-triazines as a novel class of A2 AR antagonists.

Discovery of novel pyrazole derivatives as a potent anti-inflammatory agent in RAW264.7 cells via inhibition of NF-ĸB for possible benefit against SARS-CoV-2.

Due to unavailability of a specific drug/vaccine to attenuate severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, the current strategy to combat the infection has been largely dependent upon the use of anti-inflammatory drugs to control cytokines storm responsible for respiratory depression. Thus, in this study, we discovered novel pyrazole analogs as a potent nuclear factor kappa B (NF-ĸB) inhibitor. The compounds were assessed for NF-ĸB transcriptional inhibitory activity in RAW264.7 cells after stimulation with lipopolysaccharides (LPS), revealing Compound 6c as the most potent analog among the tested series. The effect of Compound 6c was further investigated on the levels of interleukin-1ß, tumor necrosis factor-α, and interleukin-6 in LPS-stimulated RAW267.4 cells by enzyme immunoassay, where it causes a significant reduction in the level of these cytokines. In Western blot analysis, Compound 6c also causes the inhibition of inhibitor kappa B-α and NF-κB. It was found to be snugly fitted into the inner grove of the active site of NF-ĸB by forming H-bonds and a nonbonded interaction with Asn28 in a docking analysis.

The utility of banana peel extract agar in the presumptive identification of Cryptococcus neoformans.

We prepared a newer growth medium, banana peel extract agar (BPEA) containing the extracts of chopped banana peels for the selective cultivation of Cryptococcus neoformans. Over the medium, the growth resulted in the development of light to the dark brown coloured colonies indicating the chromogenic potential of the BPEA. The organism grown over BPEA was subsequently confirmed as C. neoformans by phenotypic as well as by molecular method. This medium, being cost-effective, may be used in resource-poor settings of the developing or underdeveloped countries for selective isolation of C. neoformans.

Processable dispersions of photocatalytically active nanosheets derived from titanium diboride: self assembly into hydrogels and paper-like macrostructures.

Titanium diboride (TiB2), a layered ceramic material, is well-known for its ultrahigh strength, wear resistance, and chemical inertness. In this work, we present a simple one-pot chemical approach that yields sheet-like nanostructures from TiB2. We serendipitously found that TiB2 crystals can undergo complete dissolution in a mild aqueous solution of H2O2 under ambient conditions. This unexpected dissolution of TiB2 is followed by non-classical recrystallization that results in nanostructures with sheet-like morphology exhibiting Ti-O and B-O functional groups. We show that this pathway can be used to obtain an aqueous dispersion of nanosheets with concentrations ≥3 mg mL-1. Interestingly, these nanosheets tend to transform into a hydrogel without the need of any additives. We found that the degree of gelation depends on the ratio of TiB2 to H2O2, which can be tuned to achieve gels with a shear modulus of 0.35 kPa. We also show this aqueous dispersion of nanosheets is processable and forms hierarchical paper-like macrostructures upon vacuum filtration. Such an ability to assemble into free-standing 3D structures would enable a leap to practical applications. We also show that the high surface area and presence of oxy-functional groups on these nanosheets endow them a superior photocatalytic activity to degrade organic pollutants. This exemplifies the rich potential that TiB2 offers upon nanoscaling. The results presented here not only add a novel material to the 2D flatland but also urge the scientific community to revisit the chemistry of metal borides, that have been traditionally considered as relatively inert ceramics.

Design and development of 1,3,5-triazine-thiadiazole hybrids as potent adenosine A2A receptor (A2AR) antagonist for benefit in Parkinson's disease.

Various studies showed adenosine A2A receptors (A2ARs) antagonists have profound therapeutic efficacy in Parkinsons Disease (PD) by improving dopamine transmission, thus being active in reversing motor deficits and extrapyramidal symptoms related to the disease. Therefore, in the presents study, we have showed the development of novel 1,3,5-triazine-thiadiazole derivative as potent A2ARs antagonist. In the radioligand binding assay, these molecules showed excellent binding affinity with A2AR compared to A1R, with significant selectivity. Results suggest, compound 7e as most potent antagonist of A2AR among the tested series. In docking analysis with A2AR protein model, compound 7e found to be deeply buried into the cavity of receptor lined via making numerous interatomic contacts with His264, Tyr271, His278, Glu169, Ala63, Val84, Ile274, Met270, Phe169. Collectively, our study demonstrated 1,3,5-triazine-thiadiazole hybrid as a highly effective scaffold for the design of new A2A antagonists.

Overexpression of efflux pump transporter genes and mutations in ERG11 pave the way to fluconazole resistance in Candida tropicalis: A study from a North India region.

INTRODUCTION: Fluconazole resistance in Candida tropicalis health care-associated infections is increasing. We investigated the role of efflux pump and mutations in ERG11p conferring fluconazole resistance in C. tropicalis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 17 C. tropicalis clinical isolates, including fluconazole-resistant and fluconazole-susceptible/fluconazole-susceptible dose-dependent isolates, were collected from a tertiary care centre in a North India region between 2015 and 2018. Antifungal susceptibility, reversal of fluconazole resistance by tacrolimus, ERG11 amplification and its sequencing and a quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay for expression analysis of ERG11, MDR1 and CDR1 genes were performed. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: Synergism between fluconazole and tacrolimus was observed in all resistant C. tropicalis isolates. Overexpression of all the three genes, MDR1, ERG11 and CDR1, was observed in resistant isolates (P = 0.05). Among resistant isolates, mutations leading to amino acid substitution were seen in two, Ct10 (glysine464serine) and Ct16 (tyrosine132phenylalanine; serine154phenylalanine). CONCLUSION: Overexpression in efflux pump transporter genes, together with mutations in ERG11, lead to fluconazole resistance among C. tropicalis. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study on the C. tropicalis fluconazole resistance mechanism from the North India region.

Necessity to identify candida species accurately with minimum inhibitory concentration determination in each case of bloodstream infections.

BACKGROUND: Bloodstream Candida infection is a life-threatening event among ICU admitted patients. This infection is caused by a diverse range of Candida species having varied minimum inhibitory concentrations. OBJECTIVES: To identify Candida species causing bloodstream infections with their antifungal susceptibility determination. METHODS: Candida species isolated from the blood of ICU admitted patients were identified by phenotypic as well as by molecular methods including PCR-RFLP using MspI restriction enzyme and MALDI TOF MS. The minimum inhibitory concentration of fluconazole, voriconazole, amphotericin B and caspofungin was determined against isolated Candida species by CLSI M27A3 guidelines. RESULTS: A total of 119 Candida species were isolated. Among them, C. tropicalis(n=29) was the predominant isolate followed by C. parapsilosis(n=18), C. glabrata (n=12), C. krusei (n=11) and C. albicans(n=11). Uncommon Candida species isolated were; Wickerhamomyces anomalus(n=15), Kodaemia ohmeri(n=8), C. lusitaniae (n=5) and C. auris (n=2). A varied antifungal MIC values were observed. Caspofungin had the lowest MIC among the tested antifungals. Increased fluconazole MIC was observed against the isolated Candida species including C. tropicalis. All the isolated C. lusitaniae and C. auris strains have ≥1mcg/ml amphotericin B MIC. In comparison to fluconazole, voriconazole was more effective when tested in vitro. CONCLUSION: Emergence of uncommon Candida species having varied antifungal MIC warns the physicians to have a prompt, accurate identification with antifungal MIC determination in each case of bloodstream Candida infections.

Alginate lyase immobilized chitosan nanoparticles of ciprofloxacin for the improved antimicrobial activity against the biofilm associated mucoid P. aeruginosa infection in cystic fibrosis.

Dense colonization of mucoid Pseudomonas aeruginosa within the self-secreted extracellular matrix (mainly alginate), called biofilm, is a principal reason for the failure of antimicrobial therapy in cystic fibrotic patients. Alginate is a key component in the biofilm of mucoid P. aeruginosa and responsible for surface adhesion and stabilization of biofilm. To overcome this problem, alginate lyase functionalized chitosan nanoparticles of ciprofloxacin were developed for the effective treatment of P. aeruginosa infection in cystic fibrosis patients. The developed nanoparticles were found to have desired quality attributes and demonstrated sustained release following the Higuchi release kinetics. Drug compatibility with the chitosan was confirmed by FTIR while powder X-ray diffraction analysis confirmed the entrapment of drug within the nanoparticle matrix. Lactose adsorbed NPs showed promising aerodynamic property. Nanoparticles showed prolonged MIC and significant reduction in biofilm aggregation and formation in planktonic bacterial suspension. Nanoparticles exhibited significantly higher inhibitory effect against biofilm of P. aeruginosa and reduced the biomass, thickness and density confirmed by confocal microscopy. Furthermore, developed nanoparticles were haemocompatible and did not exhibit any toxicity in vitro MTT assay and in vivo on lungs male Wistar rats. The data in hand collectively suggest the proposed strategy a better alternative for the effective treatment of cystic fibrosis infections.

Evaluation of antioxidant and antimicrobial potential of a novel Himalayan plant Reinwardtia indica dumort: Scientifically unexplored.

Reinwardtia indica (Lineceae) is a medicinal plant cultivated in the Himalayan region. It is effectively used in folk medicines for the treatment of various health complications. In the present study, the shade dried leaves and stem were extracted in three different solvents such as ethyl acetate, ethanol, and hydro-alcoholic. The antioxidant efficacy of these extracts was confirmed by using different in vitro assays: DPPH free radical scavenging, superoxide radical scavenging, lipid peroxidation, metal ion chelating capability and reducing power determination. Total phenol content was maximum in hydro alcoholic extract of leaf (540.37 mg per g of gallic acid equivalents) and stem (330.51 mg per g of gallic acid equivalents) while flavonoid content was maximum in ethanolic extract of leaf (305 mg per gram of rutin equivalents) and ethyl acetate extract of stem (170.6 mg per gram of rutin equivalents). The antioxidant activity of these extracts was positively correlated with their total phenol and flavonoid content. Among all tested extracts, ethanolic extract of leaf exhibit maximum zone of inhibition against all tested clinical isolates of bacterial (E. coli 11.00 ±â€¯1.73 mm, P. aeurogenosa 11.67 ±â€¯0.58 mm and S. aureus 10.33 ±â€¯1.53 mm) and fungal (C. albicans 11.33 ±â€¯1.10 mm) pathogens, while ethyl acetate extracts of the leaf and stem showed minimum inhibitory concentration against all tested microorganisms. Thus, R. indica extracts can be used as potent natural antioxidant having antifungal and antibacterial action.

Extracellular hydrolytic enzyme activities of the different Candida spp. isolated from the blood of the Intensive Care Unit-admitted patients.

BACKGROUND: Candida spp. secretes various extracellular hydrolytic enzymes. These enzymes are the important virulence factor for the pathogenesis of Candida. We assessed four different enzymatic activities of Candida isolates obtained from bloodstream infections. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We isolated 79 strains of different Candida species from the blood of the Intensive Care Unit-admitted patients. Species were identified by conventional methods including culture characteristic, germ tube, sugar assimilation, and Dalmau's culture technique. Phospholipase, proteinase, hemolysin, and esterase enzymatic activities were determined by the Plate method. RESULTS: Non albicans candida were the most common isolates from the blood of the ICU admitted patient with a predominance of Candida tropicalis. Hemolytic activity was the most prominent enzyme activity followed by the proteinase activity. Candida albicans (89.86%) was the major proteinase producer, while 95.8% of C. tropicalis produced hemolysin. No esterase activity was shown by the Candida glabrata and Candida krusei. CONCLUSION: No significant difference was observed between the two most common causative agents of candidemia: C. albicans and C. tropicalis.