Urbanisation threats to dairy cattle health: Insights from Greater Bengaluru, India.

Complex urbanisation dynamics, on the one hand, create a high demand for animal products, and on the other hand put enormous pressure on arable land with negative consequences for animal feed production. To explore the impact of accelerated urbanisation on dairy cattle health in urban farming systems, 151 farmers from different parts of the Greater Bengaluru metropolitan area in India were individually interviewed on aspects addressing cattle management and cattle health. In addition, 97 samples of forages from the shores of 10 different lakes, and vegetable leftovers used in cattle feeding were collected for nutritional analysis. Along with the use of cultivated forages, crop residues, and concentrate feed, 47% and 77% of the farmers occasionally or frequently used lake fodder and food leftovers, respectively. Nutritionally, lake fodder corresponded to high-quality pasture vegetation, but 43% of the samples contained toxic heavy metals such as arsenic, cadmium, chromium, and lead above official critical threshold levels. Therefore, lake fodder may affect cows' health if consumed regularly; however, heavy metal concentrations varied between lakes (P < 0.05), but not between fodder types (P > 0.05). Although 60% of the interviewed farmers believed that their cows were in good health, logit model applications revealed that insufficient drinking water supply and the use of lake fodder negatively impacted cattle health (P < 0.05). While it remains unknown if regular feeding of lake fodder results in heavy metal accumulation in animal products, farmers and farm advisors must address this and other urbanization-related challenges to protect cattle health.

Robust Identification of Differential Gene Expression Patterns from Multiple Transcriptomics Datasets for Early Diagnosis, Prognosis, and Therapies for Breast Cancer.

Background and Objectives: Breast cancer (BC) is one of the major causes of cancer-related death in women globally. Proper identification of BC-causing hub genes (HubGs) for prognosis, diagnosis, and therapies at an earlier stage may reduce such death rates. However, most of the previous studies detected HubGs through non-robust statistical approaches that are sensitive to outlying observations. Therefore, the main objectives of this study were to explore BC-causing potential HubGs from robustness viewpoints, highlighting their early prognostic, diagnostic, and therapeutic performance. Materials and Methods: Integrated robust statistics and bioinformatics methods and databases were used to obtain the required results. Results: We robustly identified 46 common differentially expressed genes (cDEGs) between BC and control samples from three microarrays (GSE26910, GSE42568, and GSE65194) and one scRNA-seq (GSE235168) dataset. Then, we identified eight cDEGs (COL11A1, COL10A1, CD36, ACACB, CD24, PLK1, UBE2C, and PDK4) as the BC-causing HubGs by the protein-protein interaction (PPI) network analysis of cDEGs. The performance of BC and survival probability prediction models with the expressions of HubGs from two independent datasets (GSE45827 and GSE54002) and the TCGA (The Cancer Genome Atlas) database showed that our proposed HubGs might be considered as diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers, where two genes, COL11A1 and CD24, exhibit better performance. The expression analysis of HubGs by Box plots with the TCGA database in different stages of BC progression indicated their early diagnosis and prognosis ability. The HubGs set enrichment analysis with GO (Gene ontology) terms and KEGG (Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes) pathways disclosed some BC-causing biological processes, molecular functions, and pathways. Finally, we suggested the top-ranked six drug molecules (Suramin, Rifaximin, Telmisartan, Tukysa Tucatinib, Lynparza Olaparib, and TG.02) for the treatment of BC by molecular docking analysis with the proposed HubGs-mediated receptors. Molecular docking analysis results also showed that these drug molecules may inhibit cancer-related post-translational modification (PTM) sites (Succinylation, phosphorylation, and ubiquitination) of hub proteins. Conclusions: This study's findings might be valuable resources for diagnosis, prognosis, and therapies at an earlier stage of BC.

Irrigation suitability of White River in Indiana, Midwestern USA.

Climate change models consistently project future precipitation reduction and temperature increase during the crop growing season in the US Midwest, which may exacerbate surface water scarcity issues confronting regional agriculture. To maintain consistent crop yields under the risk of increased droughts, farmers may shift from rain-fed agriculture to irrigation agriculture, particularly during drought periods. There is an urgent need to understand whether surface water in the Midwest is suitable for irrigation. In this study, irrigation water quality was comprehensively analyzed for commonly used parameters regarding salt content including sodium adsorption ratio (SAR), adjusted sodium adsorption ratio (SARadj), soluble sodium percentage (SSP), electrical conductivity (EC), total dissolved solids (TDS), residual sodium bicarbonate (RSBC), magnesium adsorption ratio (MAR), permeability index (PI), Kelley's ratio (KR), synthetic harmful coefficient (SHC), and salinity. Results indicate that water in the White River at Muncie was rated mostly in excellent to good condition with regard to irrigation quality. However, the irrigation suitability level exhibited two distinct patterns between May-July and August-October. Specifically, an average of 7.8% of the samples from May to July were unsuitable for irrigation, and an average of 24.5% of samples from August to October were unsuitable for irrigation considering all parameters. Flow rate change over time and the release of pollutants from wastewater treatment plants and combine sewage outflows to the White River impacted on the irrigation water quality variations of the river. This study showed that there are higher risks during the fall season for farmers to use surface water as an irrigation source, and this risk might be greater if extended or more frequent drought events occur in the future. To our best knowledge, this is the first peer-reviewed study on irrigation water quality assessment in the Midwest and provides useful information for farmers and decision makers to consider while formulating applications for irrigation.

Assessment of soil and groundwater contamination at a former Tannery district in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

The uncontrolled and unplanned development of leather processing industries in Bangladesh has contaminated land and water, prompting concerns for public health. Hazaribagh, located in the southwestern part of Dhaka, has been the city's principal leather processing zone since the 1960s. In order to alleviate the environmental contamination and public health risks to citizens of Hazaribagh and downstream, a relocation project was launched to remove the tanning industry. However, soil and groundwater quality conditions of the former industrial sites must be assessed and/or remediated for commercial and residential use. Soil was collected from ten sites and tested for concentrations of potentially toxic metals (Pb, Cr, Zn, Cu, Ni and Cd), and groundwater was collected from six sites and analyzed for physiochemical parameters and potentially toxic metals. Concentrations of soil Cr, Zn and Cu exceeded the European Union maximum permissible concentrations. Deep groundwater Cr concentration in one location exceeded the Bangladesh DoE maximum limits; however, deep groundwater is overall of good-to-excellent quality. Spatial variations of soil and groundwater contamination in Hazaribagh indicate that contaminants have not spread laterally. Based on local conditions, current technologies, contamination level, time and cost, and ease of operation, it is suggested that soil flushing, electrokinetics and/or phytoremediation could be options for remediation of affected soil and groundwater in the Hazaribagh district.

Single-cell RNA-seq analysis to identify potential biomarkers for diagnosis, and prognosis of non-small cell lung cancer by using comprehensive bioinformatics approaches.

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the most common type of lung cancer and the leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Identification of gene biomarkers and their regulatory factors and signaling pathways is very essential to reveal the molecular mechanisms of NSCLC initiation and progression. Thus, the goal of this study is to identify gene biomarkers for NSCLC diagnosis and prognosis by using scRNA-seq data through bioinformatics techniques. scRNA-seq data were obtained from the GEO database to identify DEGs. A total of 158 DEGs (including 48 upregulated and 110 downregulated) were detected after gene integration. Gene Ontology enrichment and KEGG pathway analysis of DEGs were performed by FunRich software. A PPI network of DEGs was then constructed using the STRING database and visualized by Cytoscape software. We identified 12 key genes (KGs) including MS4A1, CCL5, and GZMB, by using two topological methods based on the PPI networking results. The diagnostic, expression, and prognostic potentials of the identified 12 key genes were assessed using the receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve and a web-based tool, SurvExpress. From the regulatory network analysis, we extracted the 7 key transcription factors (TFs) (FOXC1, YY1, CEBPB, TFAP2A, SREBF2, RELA, and GATA2), and 8 key miRNAs (hsa-miR-124-3p, hsa-miR-34a-5p, hsa-miR-21-5p, hsa-miR-155-5p, hsa-miR-449a, hsa-miR-24-3p, hsa-let-7b-5p, and hsa-miR-7-5p) associated with the KGs were evaluated. Functional enrichment and pathway analysis, survival analysis, ROC analysis, and regulatory network analysis highlighted crucial roles of the key genes. Our findings might play a significant role as candidate biomarkers in NSCLC diagnosis and prognosis.

Caprine arthritis and encephalitis virus infection in goats of Bangladesh: Serological detection and its associated risk factors.

Background and Aim: Caprine arthritis and encephalitis (CAE) is a multisystemic persistent viral disease of goat that causes significant economic losses to the farmers and livestock sector. However, no information in this country is available regarding CAE virus (CAEV) infection. Therefore, this study aimed to estimate the seroprevalence of CAEV infection among the goat population in the selected goat-prone districts in Bangladesh and to identify the associated risk factors of the disease. Materials and Methods: From July 2021 to June 2022, 446 goat serum samples were randomly collected from the study area. Goat owners were interviewed using a pretested questionnaire to determine the risk factors. A commercial indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kit was used to screen blood serum for CAEV antibodies. Logistic regression models were used to analyze risk factors and serological data to identify the potential risk factors. Results: Out of 446 serum samples, 19 samples were seropositive against CAEV. The overall seroprevalence was 4.26% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.58-6.57). The multivariable logistic regression model identified sex (Female; odds ratio [OR]: 3.98; 95% CI: 1.13-13.95), animal age (12-48 months; OR: 4.93, 95% CI: 0.63-38.13), and biosecurity status (Poor biosecurity; OR: 1.66, 95% CI: 0.46-5.92) as potential risk factors for CAEV seropositivity. Conclusion: This study revealed the serological detection of CAEV in Bangladeshi goats where seroprevalence is found to be relatively low. To eradicate the disease, screening and culling of infected goats from the herd might be implemented.

Prevalence and identification of caprine pasteurellosis in pneumonic goats in Bangladesh.

Objective: This research aimed to assess the prevalence of caprine pasteurellosis, isolate and identify pasteurellosis (Mannheimia haemolytica and Pasteurella multocida) in pneumonic goats, and discover the main bacterial cause of pneumonia. Materials and Methods: One hundred and five samples (94 nasal swabs and 11 lung tissues) from goats suspected of having pneumonia were taken and transferred aseptically to the laboratory. Following the processing of the collected samples, Pasteurella spp. was isolated with the aid of plate culture methods. Biochemical characteristics were used to identify all bacterial isolates, which were then verified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was also carried out to evaluate the sensitivity profiles of various antibiotics. The Pasteurella haemolytica serotype-specific antigen (PHSSA) gene was used to identify isolates of M. haemolytica, and the KMT1 gene was used to identify isolates of P. multocida. Results: From the 105 clinically suspicious samples, 51 (48.57%) were identified to be Pasteurella spp. through bacteriological testing and also by PCR targeting the 16S rRNA gene. Of these, 47.87% (45/94) were nasal swabs, and 54.55% (6/11) were lung tissues. Among confirmed samples, 70.59% (36/51) were identified as M. haemolytica, and 29.41% (15/51) were identified as P. multocida. Resistance to tetracycline, streptomycin, oxytetracycline, gentamicin, and ceftriaxone was found in 50%-83% of the isolates. In addition, PCR identified the PHSSA and KMT1 genes from isolates of P. multocida and M. haemolytica, respectively. Conclusion: The present study revealed that M. haemolytica and P. multocida primarily caused pasteurellosis in pneumonic goats in Bangladesh. However, when treating these animals, the proper choice of antimicrobials should be made to control this disease.

CYFIP2 serves as a prognostic biomarker and correlates with tumor immune microenvironment in human cancers.

BACKGROUND: The mechanisms whereby CYFIP2 acts in tumor development and drives immune infiltration have been poorly explored. Thus, this study aimed to identifying the role of CYFIP2 in tumors and immune response. METHODS: In this study, we first explored expression patterns, diagnostic role and prognostic value of CYFIP2 in cancers, particularly in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD). Then, we performed functional enrichment, genetic alterations, DNA methylation analysis, and immune cell infiltration analysis of CYFIP2 to uncover its potential mechanisms involved in immune microenvironment. RESULTS: We found that CYFIP2 significantly differentially expressed in different tumors including LUAD compared with normal tissues. Furthermore, CYFIP2 was found to be significantly correlated with clinical parameters in LUAD. According to the diagnostic and survival analysis, CYFIP2 may be employed as a potential diagnostic and prognostic biomarker. Moreover, genetic alterations revealed that mutation of CYFIP2 was the main types of alterations in different cancers. DNA methylation analysis indicated that CYFIP2 mRNA expression correlated with hypomethylation. Afterwards, functional enrichment analysis uncovered that CYFIP2 was involved in tumor-associated and immune-related pathways. Immune infiltration analysis indicated that CYFIP2 was significantly correlated with immune cells infiltration. In particular, CYFIP2 was strongly linked with immune microenvironment scores. Additionally, CYFIP2 exhibited a significant relationship with immune regulators and immune-related genes including chemokines, chemokines receptors, and MHC genes. CONCLUSION: Our results suggested that CYFIP2 may serve as a prognostic cancer biomarker for determining prognosis and might be a promising therapeutic strategy for tumor immunotherapy.

Gene expression profile analysis to discover molecular signatures for early diagnosis and therapies of triple-negative breast cancer.

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is one of the most lethal subtypes of breast cancer (BC), and it accounts for approximately 10%-20% of all invasive BCs diagnosed worldwide. The survival rate of TNBC in stages III and IV is very low, and a large number of patients are diagnosed in these stages. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to identify TNBC-causing molecular signatures and anti-TNBC drug agents for early diagnosis and therapies. Five microarray datasets that contained 304 TNBC and 109 control samples were collected from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database, and RNA-Seq data with 116 tumor and 124 normal samples were collected from TCGA database to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between TNBC and control samples. A total of 64 DEGs were identified, of which 29 were upregulated and 35 were downregulated, by using the statistical limma R-package. Among them, seven key genes (KGs) were commonly selected from microarray and RNA-Seq data based on the high degree of connectivity through PPI (protein-protein interaction) and module analysis. Out of these seven KGs, six KGs (TOP2A, BIRC5, AURKB, ACTB, ASPM, and BUB1B) were upregulated and one (EGFR) was downregulated. We also investigated their differential expression patterns with different subtypes and progression stages of BC by the independent datasets of RNA-seq profiles from UALCAN database, which indicated that they may be potential biomarkers for early diagnosis. Gene Ontology (GO) and the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analyses with the proposed DEGs were performed using the online Enrichr database to investigate the pathogenetic processes of TNBC highlighting KGs. Then, we performed gene regulatory network analysis and identified three transcriptional (SOX2, E2F4, and KDM5B) and three post-transcriptional (hsa-mir-1-3p, hsa-mir-124-3p, and hsa-mir-34a-5p) regulators of KGs. Finally, we proposed five KG-guided repurposable drug molecules (imatinib, regorafenib, pazopanib, teniposide, and dexrazoxane) for TNBC through network pharmacology and molecular docking analyses. These drug molecules also showed significant binding performance with some cancer-related PTM-sites (phosphorylation, succinylation, and ubiquitination) of top-ranked four key proteins (EGFR, AURKB, BIRC5, and TOP2A). Therefore, the findings of this computational study may play a vital role in early diagnosis and therapies against TNBC by wet-lab validation.

Statistics and network-based approaches to identify molecular mechanisms that drive the progression of breast cancer.

Breast cancer (BC) is one of the most malignant tumors and the leading cause of cancer-related death in women worldwide. So, an in-depth investigation on the molecular mechanisms of BC progression is required for diagnosis, prognosis and therapies. In this study, we identified 127 common differentially expressed genes (cDEGs) between BC and control samples by analyzing five gene expression profiles with NCBI accession numbers GSE139038, GSE62931, GSE45827, GSE42568 and GSE54002, based-on two statistical methods LIMMA and SAM. Then we constructed protein-protein interaction (PPI) network of cDEGs through the STRING database and selected top-ranked 7 cDEGs (BUB1, ASPM, TTK, CCNA2, CENPF, RFC4, and CCNB1) as a set of key genes (KGs) by cytoHubba plugin in Cytoscape. Several BC-causing crucial biological processes, molecular functions, cellular components, and pathways were significantly enriched by the estimated cDEGs including at-least one KGs. The multivariate survival analysis showed that the proposed KGs have a strong prognosis power of BC. Moreover, we detected some transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulators of KGs by their regulatory network analysis. Finally, we suggested KGs-guided three repurposable candidate-drugs (Trametinib, selumetinib, and RDEA119) for BC treatment by using the GSCALite online web tool and validated them through molecular docking analysis, and found their strong binding affinities. Therefore, the findings of this study might be useful resources for BC diagnosis, prognosis and therapies.

Integrated bioinformatics and statistical approaches to explore molecular biomarkers for breast cancer diagnosis, prognosis and therapies.

Integrated bioinformatics and statistical approaches are now playing the vital role in identifying potential molecular biomarkers more accurately in presence of huge number of alternatives for disease diagnosis, prognosis and therapies by reducing time and cost compared to the wet-lab based experimental procedures. Breast cancer (BC) is one of the leading causes of cancer related deaths for women worldwide. Several dry-lab and wet-lab based studies have identified different sets of molecular biomarkers for BC. But they did not compare their results to each other so much either computationally or experimentally. In this study, an attempt was made to propose a set of molecular biomarkers that might be more effective for BC diagnosis, prognosis and therapies, by using the integrated bioinformatics and statistical approaches. At first, we identified 190 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between BC and control samples by using the statistical LIMMA approach. Then we identified 13 DEGs (AKR1C1, IRF9, OAS1, OAS3, SLCO2A1, NT5E, NQO1, ANGPT1, FN1, ATF6B, HPGD, BCL11A, and TP53INP1) as the key genes (KGs) by protein-protein interaction (PPI) network analysis. Then we investigated the pathogenetic processes of DEGs highlighting KGs by GO terms and KEGG pathway enrichment analysis. Moreover, we disclosed the transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulatory factors of KGs by their interaction network analysis with the transcription factors (TFs) and micro-RNAs. Both supervised and unsupervised learning's including multivariate survival analysis results confirmed the strong prognostic power of the proposed KGs. Finally, we suggested KGs-guided computationally more effective seven candidate drugs (NVP-BHG712, Nilotinib, GSK2126458, YM201636, TG-02, CX-5461, AP-24534) compared to other published drugs by cross-validation with the state-of-the-art alternatives top-ranked independent receptor proteins. Thus, our findings might be played a vital role in breast cancer diagnosis, prognosis and therapies.

Bioinformatics and network-based screening and discovery of potential molecular targets and small molecular drugs for breast cancer.

Accurate identification of molecular targets of disease plays an important role in diagnosis, prognosis, and therapies. Breast cancer (BC) is one of the most common malignant cancers in women worldwide. Thus, the objective of this study was to accurately identify a set of molecular targets and small molecular drugs that might be effective for BC diagnosis, prognosis, and therapies, by using existing bioinformatics and network-based approaches. Nine gene expression profiles (GSE54002, GSE29431, GSE124646, GSE42568, GSE45827, GSE10810, GSE65216, GSE36295, and GSE109169) collected from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database were used for bioinformatics analysis in this study. Two packages, LIMMA and clusterProfiler, in R were used to identify overlapping differential expressed genes (oDEGs) and significant GO and KEGG enrichment terms. We constructed a PPI (protein-protein interaction) network through the STRING database and identified eight key genes (KGs) EGFR, FN1, EZH2, MET, CDK1, AURKA, TOP2A, and BIRC5 by using six topological measures, betweenness, closeness, eccentricity, degree, MCC, and MNC, in the Analyze Network tool in Cytoscape. Three online databases GSCALite, Network Analyst, and GEPIA were used to analyze drug enrichment, regulatory interaction networks, and gene expression levels of KGs. We checked the prognostic power of KGs through the prediction model using the popular machine learning algorithm support vector machine (SVM). We suggested four TFs (TP63, MYC, SOX2, and KDM5B) and four miRNAs (hsa-mir-16-5p, hsa-mir-34a-5p, hsa-mir-1-3p, and hsa-mir-23b-3p) as key transcriptional and posttranscriptional regulators of KGs. Finally, we proposed 16 candidate repurposing drugs YM201636, masitinib, SB590885, GSK1070916, GSK2126458, ZSTK474, dasatinib, fedratinib, dabrafenib, methotrexate, trametinib, tubastatin A, BIX02189, CP466722, afatinib, and belinostat for BC through molecular docking analysis. Using BC cell lines, we validated that masitinib inhibits the mTOR signaling pathway and induces apoptotic cell death. Therefore, the proposed results might play an effective role in the treatment of BC patients.

Female Participation in Household Decision Making and the Justification of Wife Beating in Bangladesh.

We examined female participation in household decision making and its association with the justification of wife beating in Bangladesh. We used nationally representative data from the 2014 Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey. Our sample consisted of currently married women of age 15 to 49 years (n = 16,463). Chi-square tests and multilevel logistic regression models were performed. Approximately 84% of women in the survey were participants in at least one household decision, and 72% reported that wife beating is not justified in any circumstance. Women who reported their participation in at least one type of household decision less frequently reported that wife beating could be justified than those who did not participate in any household decisions (adjusted odds ratio = 1.49; 95% confidence interval = [1.25, 1.78]). In addition to participation in household decision making, other factors including age at first marriage, females' and their husbands' education, religion, parity, contraceptive use, and socioeconomic status were associated with the justification of wife beating. The results indicate that female participation in household decision making is significantly associated with the justification of wife beating in Bangladesh. Further study is needed, but the results suggest that policy makers should consider interventions proven to empower women and lead to increased participation in decision making as methods that may reduce domestic violence against women.

Topical Capsaicin for the Treatment of Neuropathic Pain.

BACKGROUND: Neuropathic pain (NP) is an egregious problem worldwide. Due to the side-effects of oral drugs, drugs delivered directly to the affected area of pain are preferred. OBJECTIVE: Capsaicin, a chemical compound isolated from chili peppers, is used as an analgesic in topical ointments and dermal patches to alleviate pain. Objective of the study is to review the application and functionality of topical capsaicin in treatment of neuropathic pain. DATA SOURCES: To systematically review capsaicin's functions on NP, we retrieved articles from the PubMed database published in the last ten years. STUDY ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA: The inclusion criteria were capsaicin and the use of capsaicin for the treatment of NP; on the other hand, articles were excluded according to the mentioned criteria such as abstracts, articles written in any language other than English, incomplete articles, and conference papers. PARTICIPANTS AND INTERVENTIONS: Out of 265 articles, 108 articles were selected after filtering through the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The data and knowledge currently existing for capsaicin treatment in NP are summarized. RESULTS: This review indicates that capsaicin effectively improves NP treatment without affecting the motor and large nerve fibres involved in sensory function. Transient receptor potential channel vanilloid type 1 (TRPV1) is the capsaicin receptor expressed in central and peripheral terminals of a sensitive primary nerve cell. Conclusions and implications of key findings: Topical capsaicin has a sensible safety profile and is effective in reducing NP. Therefore, studies over the last decade suggest that capsaicin might be a potential drug for NP treatment.

Justification of Wife Beating and Utilization of Antenatal and Delivery Care in Bangladesh.

We examined the association between women's justification of wife beating and their utilization of professional antenatal and delivery care in Bangladesh. We used data which describes a nationally representative sample of currently married women aged 15 to 49 years (n = 3,449). Services from medically trained providers were considered professional antenatal care (ANC) and delivery services. Women's attitudes toward wife beating in five circumstances (if a woman goes out without telling her husband, neglects children, argues with her husband, refuses to have sexual intercourse with her husband, and burns food) were used to describe the justification of wife beating. Chi-square tests and multilevel logistic regression analyses were performed; 74% of the women would not justify wife beating, 65% attended ≥1 ANC visits, 25% attended ≥4 ANC visits, and 44% utilized professional delivery care. Women who would not justify wife beating were more likely to utilize ≥1 ANC visits (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]: 1.89; 95% confidence interval [CI]: [1.26, 2.81]), ≥4 ANC visits (AOR: 1.14; 95% CI: [0.76, 1.71]), and professional delivery care (AOR: 1.93; 95% CI: [1.31, 2.85]). Older age, women's and husband's higher education, lower parity, urban residence (except for ≥1 ANC visits), and higher socioeconomic statuses including divisional differences were significant confounders for increased utilization of both professional ANC and delivery care. In addition, older age at marriage and current unemployment were also associated with increased utilization of delivery care services. This association between women's justification of wife beating and their utilization of professional antenatal and delivery care services has potential implications for maternal and child health policy in Bangladesh where intimate partner violence is commonplace, and societal norms teach women to obey their husbands and accept submissive roles. Public policy should aim to create awareness among women about the negative impact of justifying wife beating, and accepting intimate partner violence on their own and children's health.

Regulation of Pain Genes-Capsaicin vs Resiniferatoxin: Reassessment of Transcriptomic Data.

Emerging evidence has shown a strong association between neuropathic pain and chronic diseases. In recent years, the treatment of neuropathic pain has attracted more attention. Natural products, such as capsaicin and resiniferatoxin, have been well utilized to treat this disease. In this study, we aim to compare the regulatory effects of capsaicin and resiniferatoxin on pain-related genes as well as on genes with no direct association with pain. Public transcriptomic and microarray data on gene expression in the dorsal root ganglia and genes associated with TRPV1 (+) neurons were obtained from the GEO database and then analyzed. Differentially expressed genes were selected for further functional analysis, including pathway enrichment, protein-protein interaction, and regulatory network analysis. Pain-associated genes were extracted with the reference of two pain gene databases and the effects of these two natural drugs on the pain-associated genes were measured. The results of our research indicate that as compared to capsaicin, resiniferatoxin (RTX) regulates more non pain-associated genes and has a negative impact on beneficial genes (off-targets) which are supposed to alleviate nociception and hypersensitivity by themselves. So, based on this study, we may conclude that capsaicin may be less potent when compared to RTX, but it will elicit considerably less adverse effects too. Thereby confirming that capsaicin could be used for the efficient alleviation of neuropathic pain with possibly fewer side effects.

Longitudinal and cross-sectional detection of four bovine enteric viruses by multiplex- reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction: Identification of possible indicator viruses to assess biosecurity level at bovine farms.

It can be judged that if the detection frequency of prevalent pathogenic viruses decreases, biosecurity has been enhanced. To monitor bovine farm biosecurity levels, one-step multiplex reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) for the simultaneous detection of group A rotavirus (RVA), bovine torovirus (BToV), bovine enterovirus (BEV), and bovine coronavirus (BCV) was designed, with the aim of configuring candidates for "viral pathogen indicators". A total of 322 bovine fecal samples were collected from calves aged less than three months at 48 bovine farms in Ibaraki and Chiba prefectures. At farm A, 20 calves were selected and sampled weekly for 12 weeks (184 samples); at farm B, 10 calves were selected and sampled for five weeks (50 samples); and at the rest of the 46 farms, 88 calves were sampled once. The screening on the 358 field samples proved positive for 27 RVA, 4 BToV, 55 BEV, and 52 BCV. In the successive sampling, RVA was detected once but not continuously, whereas BEV and BCV were detected in succession for up to five weeks. The results revealed that RVA was the primary agent among the positive samples obtained from calves aged three weeks or less, while BEV was the primary among those from the older than three weeks old. They can be employed as useful viral pathogen indicators for soundly evaluating biosecurity at bovine farms.

Regression of viral pathogen indicators due to improvement of hygiene protocols on boots in a bovine farm.

Rotavirus A (RVA), bovine torovirus (BToV), bovine enterovirus (BEV) and bovine coronavirus (BCV) at a bovine farm in Ibaraki prefecture were monitored by one-step multiplex reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), with the aim of confirming the reduction of "viral pathogen indicators". A total of 960 bovine fecal samples were collected from calves less than 2 month-old within the period from October 2016 to October 2018 every 2 months at the bovine farm. In each sampling, 40 samples were taken from calves 3 week-old or less, and 40 samples from calves over 3 week-old, in principle. At the end of September 2017, the farm introduced improvement of hygiene protocols on boots by exchanging boots and appropriate usage of a footbath at the entrance of calf sheds. In the comparison of the virus detection by RT-PCR, prevalence of all 4 viruses was significantly reduced (P<0.01) in calves 3 week-old or less after the improvement. The mortality of calves less than 2 month-old was also significantly reduced after the improvement of hygiene protocols. These data suggest that the proper control of boots at calf sheds is important, perhaps even vital, for rearing hygiene measures at bovine farms so as to attain substantial decrease in the prevalence of pathogens.

Bactericidal efficacies of food additive grade calcium hydroxide toward Legionella pneumophila.

Food additive grade calcium hydroxide (FdCa(OH)2) in the solution of 0.17% was evaluated for its bactericidal efficacies toward Legionella pneumophila with or without sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) at a concentration of 200 ppm total residual chlorine, at room temperature (RT) (25°C ± 2°C) and 42°C, either with or without 5% fetal bovine serum (FBS). Besides, FdCa(OH)2 in different concentration solutions were prepared in field water samples (hot spring and bath tab water) and evaluated for their bactericidal efficacies at 42°C. FdCa(OH)2 (0.17%) inactivated the L. pneumophila to the undetectable level (<2.6 log CFU/ml) within 5 min and 3 min, respectively, at RT and 42°C, with 5% FBS. At RT and 42°C, NaOCl inactivated L. pneumophila to the undetectable level within 5 min, without 5% FBS, but with 5% FBS, it could only inactivate this bacterium effectively (≥3 log reductions). Conversely, at RT and 42°C, the mixture of 0.17% FdCa(OH)2 and 200 ppm NaOCl could inactivate L. pneumophila to the undetectable level, respectively, within 3 min and 1 min, even with 5% FBS, and it was elucidated that FdCa(OH)2 has a synergistic bactericidal effect together with NaOCl. FdCa(OH)2 0.05% solution prepared in hot spring water could inactivate L. pneumophila to the undetectable within 3 min at 42°C. So, FdCa(OH)2 alone could show nice bactericidal efficacy at 42°C, even with 5% FBS, as well as in field water samples.

Inhibitory effect of grapefruit seed extract (GSE) on avian pathogens.

The inhibitory activities of grapefruit seed extract (GSE) on avian influenza virus (AIV), Newcastle disease virus (NDV), infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV), Salmonella Infantis (SI) and Escherichia coli (EC) were evaluated. Original GSE contained 0.24% benzalkonium chloride (BZC), however, 0.0025% BZC solution could not inactivate bacteria. The activity of diluted GSE (×100, ×500 and ×1,000 with redistilled water) against selected viruses and bacteria was evaluated in this study. The GSE solutions were incubated with the pathogens over a period of time after which the remaining viruses were titrated and the bacterial colonies were counted. In the presence of organic material-5% fetal bovine serum (FBS), the test solutions were sprayed at 1 cm and 30 cm distances to test the efficacy of GSE in a spray form. Furthermore, the efficacy of GSE against bacteria on clothes was tested using non-woven cloth. GSE×100 reduced the viral titer of both AIV and NDV even in 5% FBS condition. IBDV showed high resistance to GSE. GSE×1,000 inactivated both SI and EC within 5 sec, even in the presence of 5% FBS. The disinfectant was able to maintain its efficacy in the spray form at 30 cm distance. GSE was also effective against SI and EC inoculated on fabric. GSE is a potential novel disinfectant against viruses and bacteria, effective even within a short contact time.