Dianionic and Neutral Diboron-Centered Classical Diradicaloids.

Herein, we report the syntheses and electronic structures of crystalline dianionic as well as neutral diboron-centered classical diradicaloids as boron analogues of classical Thiele, Chichibabin, and Müller (this only for dianionic diradicaloids!) hydrocarbons. These are based on borane radical anion and NHC-stabilized boryl radical spin carriers, respectively. All these dianionic diboron-centered diradicaloids exhibit triplet population at room temperature regardless of the π-conjugated spacer: p-phenylene, p,p'-biphenylene, or p,p″-terphenylene. In the case of neutral diboron-centered diradicaloids, the employed π-conjugated spacer plays a crucial role for the triplet population at room temperature: EPR inactive for p-phenylene vs EPR active for p,p'-biphenylene. The findings emphasize the importance of the spin carriers for the resulting ground-state: borane radical anion vs NHC-stabilized boryl radical along with the pivotal role of the π-conjugated spacer as spin-coupler between two spins. Notably, 100 years (a century) after the first report by Krause of the triphenyl borane radical-anion, being isoelectronic to the triphenylmethyl radical, we convey borane radical anion-based diradicaloids. Furthermore, while donor-stabilized boryl radicals were introduced in the 1980s by Giles and Roberts, said concept is herewith being extended to NHC-stabilized boryl radical-based diradicaloids.

Cytokines and their role as immunotherapeutics and vaccine Adjuvants: The emerging concepts.

Cytokines are a protein family comprising interleukins, lymphokines, chemokines, monokines and interferons. They are significant constituents of the immune system, and they act in accordance with specific cytokine inhibiting compounds and receptors for the regulation of immune responses. Cytokine studies have resulted in the establishment of newer therapies which are being utilized for the treatment of several malignant diseases. The advancement of these therapies has occurred from two distinct strategies. The first strategy involves administrating the recombinant and purified cytokines, and the second strategy involves administrating the therapeutics which inhibits harmful effects of endogenous and overexpressed cytokines. Colony stimulating factors and interferons are two exemplary therapeutics of cytokines. An important effect of cytokine receptor antagonist is that they can serve as anti-inflammatory agents by altering the treatments of inflammation disorder, therefore inhibiting the effects of tumour necrosis factor. In this article, we have highlighted the research behind the establishment of cytokines as therapeutics and vaccine adjuvants, their role of immunotolerance, and their limitations.

Genotypic characterization of vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus causing urinary tract infection in northern India.

Background & objectives: Infections caused by vancomycin-resistant Enterococci are difficult to treat given the limited therapeutic alternatives. Different gene clusters are known to confer vancomycin resistance. vanA and vanB genes are transferable and are clinically relevant. This cross-sectional study aimed to identify the vancomycin-resistant genotypes in the strains causing urinary tract infection and also to test the in vitro efficacy of linezolid and pristinamycin against the vancomycin-resistant isolates. Methods: Antimicrobial resistance profile of 118 enterococcal isolates was evaluated. Minimum inhibitory concentration of vancomycin, teicoplanin and high-level gentamicin (HLG) was determined by micro broth dilution. The vancomycin-resistant isolates were tested against linezolid and pristinamycin by micro-broth dilution and E strip method. The presence of vancomycin-resistant genes was detected by multiplex polymerase chain reaction and was sequenced and analyzed. Results: Most commonly isolated species were Enterococcus faecalis (76.9%) and Enterococcus faecium (16.9%). It was found that 43 per cent of the isolates were resistant to HLG and 16.9 per cent to vancomycin. Higher resistance was seen against fluoroquinolones, erythromycin, tetracycline and ß-lactam drugs. However, 5.08 per cent strains were resistant to tigecycline. All vancomycin-resistant strains were sensitive to pristinamycin and one was resistant to linezolid. vanA and vanB gene were found in 15 and five isolates, respectively. The gene sequences were submitted to NCBI gene bank and accession numbers were obtained. Interpretation & conclusions: The present study showed prevalence of vanA and vanB genes carrying Enterococcus in a tertiary care centre in north India. The emergence of resistance against drugs such as tigecycline and linezolid is a topic of concern as it will be a therapeutic challenge for physicians.

Efficacy of polyherbal formulations for prevention of COVID-19 infection in high-risk subjects: A randomized open-label controlled clinical trial.

COVID-19 is arguably the biggest health crisis the world has faced in the 21st century. Therefore, two of the polyherbal formulations, Infuza and Kulzam were assessed for the prevention of COVID-19 infection as a repurposed medication. Four hundred seven high-risk subjects were recruited in the present open-label randomized controlled clinical trial for eligibility. After assessment for eligibility, remaining 251 subjects were randomized to the test and control groups. Further, 52 high-risk subjects in Infuza, 51 in Kulzam, 51 in Infuza & Kulzam and 53 in control group completed the 14 days of intervention/assessment. The phenotyping of lymphocytes at baseline (0 day) and after 14 days of treatment was carried out by flow cytometry assays. A total of 15.09% high-risk subjects in control group turned positive as compared to only 7.69% in Infuza, 3.92% in Kulzam and 1.96% in Infuza & Kulzam groups. The rate of conversion to COVID-19 infection in Infuza & Kulzam group was minimal and statistically significant as compared to control group (p0.017). No significant changes in phenotype of lymphocytes (T, B, NK cells), absolute lymphocyte count and cytokine levels were found in study groups. However, there was a decreasing trend of hs-CRP level in high-risk subjects after intervention of polyherbal formulations for 14 days. The combination of Infuza and Kulzam may synergistically prevent COVID-19 infection in high-risk subjects of COVID-19.

Realizing 1,1-Dehydration of Secondary Alcohols to Carbenes: Pyrrolidin-2-ols as a Source of Cyclic (Alkyl)(Amino)Carbenes.

Herein we report secondary pyrrolidin-2-ols as a source of cyclic (alkyl)(amino)carbenes (CAAC) for the synthesis of CAAC-CuI -complexes and cyclic thiones when reacted with CuI -salts and elemental sulfur, respectively, under reductive elimination of water from the carbon(IV)-center. This result demonstrates a convenient and facile access to CAAC-based CuI -salts, which are well known catalysts for different organic transformations. It further establishes secondary alcohols to be a viable source of carbenes-realizing after 185 years Dumas' dream who tried to prepare the parent carbene (CH2 ) by 1,1-dehydration of methanol. Addressed is also the reactivity of water towards CAACs, which proceeds through an oxidative addition of the O-H bond to the carbon(II)-center. This emphasizes the ability of carbon-compounds to mimic the reactivity of transition-metal complexes: reversible oxidative addition and reductive elimination of the O-H bond to/from the C(II)/C(IV)-centre.

Thiolate Coordination vs C-S Bond Cleavage of Thiolates in Dinickel(II) Complexes.

A detailed study for the synthesis of dinickel(II)-thiolate and dinickel(II)-hydrosulfide complexes and the complete characterization of the relevant intermediates involved in the C-S bond cleavage of thiolates are presented. Hydrated Ni(II) salts mediate the hydrolytic C-S bond cleavage of thiolates (NaSR/RSH; R = Me, Et, nBu, tBu), albeit inefficiently, to yield a mixture of a dinickel(II)-hydrosulfide complex, [Ni2(BPMP)(µ-SH)(DMF)2]2+ (1), and the corresponding dinickel(II)-thiolate complexes, such as [Ni2(BPMP)(µ-SEt)(ClO4)]1+ (2) (HBPMP is 2,6-bis[[bis(2-pyridylmethyl)amino]methyl]-4-methylphenol). A systematic study for the reactivity of thiolates with Ni(II) was therefore pursued which finally yielded 1 as a pure product which has been characterized in comparison with the dinickel(II)-dichloride complex, [Ni2(BPMP)(Cl)2(MeOH)2]1+ (3). While the reaction of thiolates with anhydrous Ni(OTf)2 in dry conditions could only yield [Ni2(BPMP)(OTf)2]1+ (5) instead of the expected dinickel(II)-thiolate compound, the C-S bond cleavage could be suppressed by the use of a chelating thiol, such as PhCOSH, to yield [Ni2(BPMP)(SCOPh)2]1+ (6). Finally, with the suitable choice of a monodentate thiol, a dinickel(II)-monothiolate complex, [Ni2(BPMP)(SPh)(DMF)(MeOH)(H2O)]2+ (7), was isolated as a pure product within 1 h of reaction, which after a longer time of reaction yielded 1 and PhOH. Complex 7 may thus be regarded as the intermediate that precedes the C-S bond cleavage and is generated by the reaction of a thiolate with an initially formed dinickel(II)-solvento complex, [Ni2(BPMP)(MeOH)2(H2O)2]3+(4). Selected dinickel(II) complexes were explored further for the scope of substitution reactions, and the results include the isolation of a dinickel(II)-bis(thiolate) complex, [Ni2(BPMP)(µ-SPh)2]1+ (8).

Influence of basin-wide geomorphology on arsenic distribution in Nadia district.

The present study depicts the geospatial relation between basinal geomorphology and heterogeneous arsenic (As) distribution in the Bengal Delta Plain (BDP). The distribution pattern largely varies throughout the study area (higher: Karimpur-II AsT average 214.73 µgL-1; lower: Tehatta AsT average 27.84 µgL-1). Both safe (low As) and unsafe (high As) areas are identified within the single shallow aquifer (<50 m), where they are in close vicinity. Statistical analysis shows that Padma river basin is the most contaminated (AsT avg. 214.7 ± 160 µgL-1) and Churni-Ichhamati river basin (AsT avg. 108.54 ± 89.43 µgL-1) is the least contaminated with groundwater As. Moreover, the role of geomorphological features influencing the geospatial distribution of As has been studied and meandering features are found to correlate with high As wells (r2 = 0.52), whereas, natural levees are correlated with safer wells (r2 = 0.57). In the meandering features, the deposition of sedimentary organic matter (SOM) facilitates the reduction of As bearing Fe(III) oxy-hydroxides and subsequent higher As mobilization. In natural levees, surface derived labile organic matter (DOC and FOM, Fresh Organic Matter) from different land-use patterns (Habitation, degraded waterbodies, cattle dwelling, sanitation, etc.) is transported to shallow aquifers (notably protein rich leakage sewage). The fresh organic carbon transported to the shallow aquifers, thereby triggering As release by microbe-mediated reductive dissolution of hydrated Fe(III)-oxides (HFO). Iron reduction (mostly amorphous) is playing an important role in the release of As depending on basin-wise sedimentation pattern, local recharge, accumulation of silt/clay/micas at the top with corresponding reactive oxidation of organic carbon. These are important components and often helping the cyclic water-rock interaction of As causing such heterogeneous geospatial distribution. The delineation of aquifer with regard to safer and unsafe areas would immensely help to supply safe drinking water to the rural community.

TLCoV- An automated Covid-19 screening model using Transfer Learning from chest X-ray images.

The Coronavirus disease (Covid-19) has been declared a pandemic by World Health Organisation (WHO) and till date caused 585,727 numbers of deaths all over the world. The only way to minimize the number of death is to quarantine the patients tested Corona positive. The quick spread of this disease can be reduced by automatic screening to cover the lack of radiologists. Though the researchers already have done extremely well to design pioneering deep learning models for the screening of Covid-19, most of them results in low accuracy rate. In addition, over-fitting problem increases difficulties for those models to learn on existing Covid-19 datasets. In this paper, an automated Covid-19 screening model is designed to identify the patients suffering from this disease by using their chest X-ray images. The model classifies the images in three categories - Covid-19 positive, other pneumonia infection and no infection. Three learning schemes such as CNN, VGG-16 and ResNet-50 are separately used to learn the model. A standard Covid-19 radiography dataset from the repository of Kaggle is used to get the chest X-ray images. The performance of the model with all the three learning schemes has been evaluated and it shows VGG-16 performed better as compared to CNN and ResNet-50. The model with VGG-16 gives the accuracy of 97.67%, precision of 96.65%, recall of 96.54% and F1 score of 96.59%. The performance evaluation also shows that our model outperforms two existing models to screen the Covid-19.

Iron(II) Mediated Desulfurization of Organosulfur Substrates Produces Nonheme Diiron(II)-hydrosulfides.

A reaction system involving Fe(BF4)2·6H2O and two dinucleating ligands, HBPMP and HPhBIMP, mediates the desulfurization of aliphatic and aromatic thiols at room temperature. This rare C-S bond cleavage reaction produces two nonheme diiron(II) complexes, [Fe2(BPMP)(SH)2(MeOH)2]1+ (1a) and [Fe2(PhBIMP)(µ-SH)(DMF)]2+ (2a), possibly via an active species similar to [Fe2(PhBIMP)(H2O)2(DMF)2]3+ (2c), while the thiols are converted to the corresponding alcohols/phenols. In the case of thioacetic acid, a bidentate chelating organosulfur substrate, the use of HBPMP produces the corresponding bis-thiocarboxylato bridged complex, [Fe2(BPMP)(CH3COS)2]1+ (1b), instead of 1a. However, the use of HPhBIMP allows the Fe(II) mediated desulfurization of thioacetic acid as well to yield 2a, along with the formation of [Fe2(PhBIMP)(CH3COS)(MeCN)]2+ (2b). This convenient desulfurization reaction has been demonstrated for different substrates in different solvents along with the structural and spectroscopic characterizations of the diiron(II)-hydrosulfide complexes in comparison with two isostructural chloride complexes, [Fe2(BPMP)(Cl)2(MeOH)2]1+ (1c) and [Fe2(PhBIMP)(µ-Cl)(DMF)]2+ (2d). The role of the individual reactants in the desulfurization process has been thoroughly investigated using control reactions, and on the basis of these results and the identification of intermediate species, such as [Fe2(PhBIMP)(StBu)(DMF)3]2+ and [Fe2(PhBIMP)(StBu)(H2O)(DMF)2]2+, in solution by mass spectrometry, a possible mechanism has been proposed.

Cobalt(II)-Mediated Desulfurization of Thiophenes, Sulfides, and Thiols.

Desulfurization of organosulfur compounds is a highly important reaction because of its relevance to the hydrodesulfurization (HDS) process of fossil fuels. A reaction system involving Co(BF4)2·6H2O and the dinucleating ligands HBPMP or HPhBIMP has been developed that could desulfurize a large number of thiophenes, sulfides, and thiols to generate the complexes [Co2(BPMP)(µ2-SH)(MeCN)](BF4)2 (1a), [Co2(BPMP)(SH)2](BF4) (1b), and [Co2(PhBIMP)(µ2-SH)(X)](BF4)2 [X = DMF (2a), MeCN (2c)], while the substrates are mostly converted to the corresponding alcohols/phenols. This convenient desulfurization process has been demonstrated for 25 substrates in 6 different solvents at room temperature.

Expression of Colocasia esculenta tuber agglutinin in Indian mustard provides resistance against Lipaphis erysimi and the expressed protein is non-allergenic.

KEY MESSAGE: Transgenic Brassica juncea plants expressing Colocasia esculenta tuber agglutinin (CEA) shows the non-allergenic nature of the expressed protein leading to enhanced mortality and reduced fecundity of mustard aphid-Lipaphis erysimi. Lipaphis erysimi (common name: mustard aphid) is the most devastating sucking insect pest of Indian mustard (Brassica juncea L.). Colocasia esculenta tuber agglutinin (CEA), a GNA (Galanthus nivalis agglutinin)-related lectin has previously been reported by the present group to be effective against a wide array of hemipteran insects in artificial diet-based bioassays. In the present study, efficacy of CEA in controlling L. erysimi has been established through the development of transgenic B. juncea expressing this novel lectin. Southern hybridization of the transgenic plants confirmed stable integration of cea gene. Expression of CEA in T0, T1 and T2 transgenic plants was confirmed through western blot analysis. Level of expression of CEA in the T2 transgenic B. juncea ranged from 0.2 to 0.47% of the total soluble protein. In the in planta insect bioassays, the CEA expressing B. juncea lines exhibited enhanced insect mortality of 70-81.67%, whereas fecundity of L. erysimi was reduced by 49.35-62.11% compared to the control plants. Biosafety assessment of the transgenic B. juncea protein containing CEA was carried out by weight of evidence approach following the recommendations by FAO/WHO (Evaluation of the allergenicity of genetically modified foods: report of a joint FAO/WHO expert consultation, 22-25 Jan, Rome, http://www.fao.org/docrep/007/y0820e/y0820e00.HTM , 2001), Codex (Codex principles and guidelines on foods derived from biotechnology, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome; Codex, Codex principles and guidelines on foods derived from biotechnology, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome, 2003) and ICMR (Indian Council of Medical Research, guidelines for safety assessment of food derived from genetically engineered plants, http://www.icmr.nic.in/guide/Guidelines%20for%20Genetically%20Engineered%20Plants.pdf , 2008). Bioinformatics analysis, pepsin digestibility, thermal stability assay, immuno-screening and allergenicity assessment in BALB/c mice model demonstrated that the expressed CEA protein from transgenic B. juncea does not incite any allergenic response. The present study establishes CEA as an efficient insecticidal and non-allergenic protein to be utilized for controlling mustard aphid and similar hemipteran insects through the development of genetically modified plants.

Polariton Bose-Einstein condensate at room temperature in an Al(Ga)N nanowire-dielectric microcavity with a spatial potential trap.

A spatial potential trap is formed in a 6.0-µm Al(Ga)N nanowire by varying the Al composition along its length during epitaxial growth. The polariton emission characteristics of a dielectric microcavity with the single nanowire embedded in-plane have been studied at room temperature. Excitation is provided at the Al(Ga)N end of the nanowire, and polariton emission is observed from the lowest bandgap GaN region within the potential trap. Comparison of the results with those measured in an identical microcavity with a uniform GaN nanowire and having an identical exciton-photon detuning suggests evaporative cooling of the polaritons as they are transported into the trap in the Al(Ga)N nanowire. Measurement of the spectral characteristics of the polariton emission, their momentum distribution, first-order spatial coherence, and time-resolved measurements of polariton cooling provides strong evidence of the formation of a near-equilibrium Bose-Einstein condensate in the GaN region of the nanowire at room temperature. In contrast, the condensate formed in the uniform GaN nanowire-dielectric microcavity without the spatial potential trap is only in self-equilibrium.

Room temperature electrically injected polariton laser.

Room temperature electrically pumped inversionless polariton lasing is observed from a bulk GaN-based microcavity diode. The low nonlinear threshold for polariton lasing occurs at 169 A/cm(2) in the light-current characteristics, accompanied by a collapse of the emission linewidth and small blueshift of the emission peak. Measurement of angle-resolved luminescence, polariton condensation and occupation in momentum space, and output spatial coherence and polarization have also been made. A second threshold, due to conventional photon lasing, is observed at an injection of 44 kA/cm(2).

CreativeSeg: Semantic Segmentation of Creative Sketches.

The problem of sketch semantic segmentation is far from being solved. Despite existing methods exhibiting near-saturating performances on simple sketches with high recognisability, they suffer serious setbacks when the target sketches are products of an imaginative process with high degree of creativity. We hypothesise that human creativity, being highly individualistic, induces a significant shift in distribution of sketches, leading to poor model generalisation. Such hypothesis, backed by empirical evidences, opens the door for a solution that explicitly disentangles creativity while learning sketch representations. We materialise this by crafting a learnable creativity estimator that assigns a scalar score of creativity to each sketch. It follows that we introduce CreativeSeg, a learning-to-learn framework that leverages the estimator in order to learn creativity-agnostic representation, and eventually the downstream semantic segmentation task. We empirically verify the superiority of CreativeSeg on the recent "Creative Birds" and "Creative Creatures" creative sketch datasets. Through a human study, we further strengthen the case that the learned creativity score does indeed have a positive correlation with the subjective creativity of human. Codes are available at https://github.com/PRIS-CV/Sketch-CS.

SARS-CoV-2 infection and seropositivity among household contacts of laboratory confirmed cases of COVID-19 in residents of Delhi, India.

The transmission of respiratory pathogens, including SARS-CoV-2, is often facilitated through household contact. To better understand the transmission rate of COVID-19 among households and factors that affect viral clearance and seroconversion, a case-ascertained community-based prospective study was conducted between December 2020 and June 2021 on the urban population of the national capital region of India. The study collected nasopharyngeal swabs for SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR on the 1st, 7th, 14th, and 28th day, and blood samples for antibody detection on the 1st, 14th, and 28th day from household contacts (HCs) of laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 cases. The study monitored the demographic data, symptoms, and outcomes of 417 participants, including 99 index cases and 318 contacts, for a period of 28 days. The results of the study showed that SARS-CoV-2 was easily spread within households, with a secondary infection rate of 44.3 %. In fact, almost 70 % of the contacts got infected within 1-2 days of identification of the index case, while 34 % remained asymptomatic. Sero-conversion was found in 35.6 % of the participants while 22.9 % did not produce antibodies after 28 days of infection. The study also revealed that females, spouses, older members, and primary care providers were at higher risk of getting infected in a home setting. However, approximately one-third of individuals in the younger age group managed to avoid infection. The study demonstrated that most infected individuals became RT-PCR negative within two weeks, although viral clearance was delayed in older patients and those with lower cycle threshold values in RT-PCR.

Development of selectable marker free, insect resistant, transgenic mustard (Brassica juncea) plants using Cre/lox mediated recombination.

BACKGROUND: Antibiotic/ herbicide resistant marker genes have been proven to be very useful in plant transformation for the initial selection of desired transgenic events. However, presence of these genes in the genetically modified crops may render the crop less acceptable to the consumers. Among several different approaches, the effectiveness of Cre/lox mediated recombination strategy for selectable marker gene (SMG) elimination has previously been demonstrated by different groups in several plants including Brassica. In the present study exploiting Cre/lox mediated recombination strategy, attempt has been made for selectable marker gene elimination from Allium sativum leaf agglutinin (ASAL) expressing Brassica plants with hemipteran insect resistant phenotype. RESULTS: Allium sativum leaf agglutinin (ASAL) linked with lox flanked hygromycin resistant (hpt) gene was introduced in mustard. Cre recombinase gene cassette was also integrated in separate event. A Cre/lox mediated recombination using crossing strategy was adopted to remove the hpt gene from the subsequent generation of selected hybrid events. Reciprocal crosses were made between T1ASAL-lox-hpt-lox and cre-bar plants. Marker gene elimination was confirmed in the resulting F1 hybrid progenies by PCR analysis, using hpt, cre and ASAL specific primers followed by Southern hybridization. In marker free plants, expression of ASAL was also confirmed by western blotting and ELISA analysis. Retention of functionality of expressed ASAL was investigated by agglutination assay using rabbit erythrocytes. Expressed ASAL was also found to be thermo-sensitive. In planta insect bioassay on F1 hybrid progenies exhibited detrimental effect on the performance of devastating target pest, Lipaphis erysimi. The F1 hybrid hpt negative, ASAL positive plants were allowed to self- fertilize to obtain F2 progeny plants. In some of these plants cre gene was found to be segregated out of the ASAL gene by genetic segregation yielding completely marker free plants. CONCLUSIONS: The present study establishes the efficient expression of the newly introduced insect resistant ASAL gene even after Cre/lox mediated recombination resulting in elimination of selectable marker gene.

Solid state electrically injected exciton-polariton laser.

Inversionless ultralow threshold coherent emission, or polariton lasing, can be obtained by spontaneous radiative recombination from a degenerate polariton condensate with nonresonant excitation. Such excitation has, hitherto, been provided by an optical source. Coherent emission from a GaAs-based quantum well microcavity diode with electrical injection is observed here. This is achieved by a combination of modulation doping of the wells, to invoke polariton-electron scattering, and an applied magnetic field in the Faraday geometry to enhance the exciton-polariton saturation density. These measures help to overcome the relaxation bottleneck and to form a macroscopic and degenerate condensate as evidenced by angle-resolved luminescence, light-current characteristics, spatial coherence, and output polarization. The experiments were performed at 30 K with an applied field of 7 T.

Single-molecule tracking dataset of histone H3 (Hht1) in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Single-Molecule Tracking (SMT) is a powerful method to quantify protein dynamics in live cells. Recently, we have established a data analysis pipeline for estimating various biophysical parameters (mean squared displacement, diffusion coefficient, bound fraction, residence time, jump distances, jump angles, and track statistics) from the single-molecule time-lapse movies acquired from yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. We acquired the time-lapse movies using different time intervals (i.e. 15 ms, 200 ms, and 1000 ms) to extract the diffusion parameters (from 15 ms time interval movies) and residence time (from 200 ms and 1000 ms time interval movies). We tracked the single molecules from these movies using three MATLAB-based software packages (MatlabTrack, TrackIT, DiaTrack (Sojourner, and Spot-On)) to quantify various biophysical parameters. In this article, we have quantified the biophysical parameters of chromatin-bound histone H3 (Hht1), labeled using JF646 HaloTag Ligand (HTL), and shared a few raw time-lapse SMT movies for the same. Histone H3 is a chromatin-bound protein and it serves as a benchmark for the stably bound molecules for the SMT experiments. Hence, this dataset can be used by various researchers to quantify the biophysical parameters of chromatin-bound molecules (Histone H3). Any newly developed tracking software can use this dataset to validate the accuracy of its tracking algorithms.

In Silico Guided Nanoformulation Strategy for Circumvention of Candida albicans Biofilm for Effective Therapy of Candidal Vulvovaginitis.

Candidal vulvovaginitis involving multispecies of Candida and epithelium-bound biofilm poses a drug-resistant pharmacotherapeutic challenge. The present study aims for a disease-specific predominant causative organism resolution for the development of a tailored vaginal drug delivery system. The proposed work fabricates a luliconazole-loaded nanostructured lipid carrier-based transvaginal gel for combating Candida albicans biofilm and disease amelioration. The interaction and binding affinity of luliconazole against the proteins of C. albicans and biofilm were assessed using in silico tools. A systematic QbD analysis was followed to prepare the proposed nanogel using a modified melt emulsification-ultrasonication-gelling method. The DoE optimization was logically implemented to ascertain the effect of independent process variables (excipients concentration; sonication time) on dependent formulation responses (particle size; polydispersity index; entrapment efficiency). The optimized formulation was characterized for final product suitability. The surface morphology and dimensions were spherical and ≤300 nm, respectively. The flow behavior of an optimized nanogel (semisolid) was non-Newtonian similar to marketed preparation. The texture pattern of a nanogel was firm, consistent, and cohesive. The release kinetic model followed was Higuchi (nanogel) with a % cumulative drug release of 83.97 ± 0.69% in 48 h. The % cumulative drug permeated across a goat vaginal membrane was found to be 53.148 ± 0.62% in 8 h. The skin-safety profile was examined using a vaginal irritation model (in vivo) and histological assessments. The drug and proposed formulation(s) were checked against the pathogenic strains of C. albicans (vaginal clinical isolates) and in vitro established biofilms. The visualization of biofilms was done under a fluorescence microscope revealing mature, inhibited, and eradicated biofilm structures.

Rising Resistance In Uropathogens With An Indication Of Nitrofurantoin Mic Creep.

BACKGROUND: The irrational use of antibiotics has led to the emergence of multi drug resistant pathogens. The phenomenon of MIC creeps occurs when organisms start showing raised MIC but within susceptible range giving an indication of the prevalence of rise in resistant pathogens in an area. METHODS: A cross sectional study in a large tertiary care hospital in North India to observe the susceptibility pattern among uropathogens and the possibility of MIC creeps. The Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing (AST) and Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) were conducted by Vitek Compact 2. The identification of Extended Spectrum Beta Lactamase (ESBL) producers and Carbapenem Resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) among Escherichia coli were noted. The MIC 50 and MIC 90 for Nitrofurantoin, the most widely used antibiotic for lower UTI, was calculated to investigate the phenomenon of MIC creep. RESULTS: In our study, a total of 2522 urine samples were analyzed: 1538 (61%) were positive with the commonest isolate being E. coli (n=736, 47.8%) followed by Klebsiella spp. (n=178, 11%). Less than 10% of resistance was observed for Fosfomycin, Amikacin, Nitrofurantoin, Imipenem, Meropenem and Colistin. ESBL producers and CRE E. coli were 528 (72% of 736) and 79 (11% of 736) respectively. Overall, 119/736 samples had an MIC ≥128. Amongst the ESBL producers, 96/528 had MIC ≥128 and amongst the CRE, 13/79 had MIC ≥128. DISCUSSION: E. coli can be used to reflect the trends in development of resistance. In the current study, it was observed that E. coli showed a reduced susceptibility for Nitrofurantoin indicated by a creeping increase in MIC albeit within normal range. CONCLUSIONS: Trends in rising MIC should alert prescribers to use drugs such as Nitrofurantoin judiciously. Antimicrobial stewardship practices should be strongly implemented in hospitals to curb rising resistance and obtain better treatment outcomes for patients with infectious diseases.