Physicochemical Characterization of Novel Biomaterial Consisting of Biphasic Calcium Phosphate, Chitosan, Casein and Ethanolic Leaves Extract of Ormocarpum Cochinchinense.

Background: Bioceramics are widely used as a biomaterial to promote bone regeneration. Bone defect management requires the placement of bone grafts. Though there are many bone grafts available, these have certain limitations like limited supply and second surgical site morbidity. Phytochemicals in plants are known to have bone regeneration capacity and are used in traditional medicine for bone fracture healing. Objective: The purpose of the study was to create a novel biomaterial consisting of a composite of biphasic calcium phosphate (BCP), chitosan (CH), casein (CA), and ethanolic leaves extract of Ormocarpum Cochinchinense (OC) fabricated and characterized for physicochemical properties. Materials and Methods: BCP-CH-CA-OC material was prepared and immersed in Simulated body fluid (SBF) for 21 days. Physical properties were analysed through X-Ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transform Spectroscopy (FTIR), and Scanning Electron Microscopy with Energy dispersion spectroscopy (SEM/EDS). Mechanical properties were analysed by compressive strength and diametral tensile strength tests. Using BET (Brunauer-Emmett-Teller) analysis and Nano computed tomography (CT) scan, porosity measurements were made. Results: XRD did not show any significant change after immersion in SBF, indicating that the material was not under change and is stable. FTIR showed an increase in chitosan content, due to the loss of casein. SEM analysis showed the deposition of crystals and porous structure. EDS showed the deposition of minerals. Nano CT and BET analysis showed clinically significant porosity of 30%. Conclusion: The mechanical and physical properties of this novel biomaterial could be used in tissue engineering for the repair of bone defects in non-load-bearing areas. The physicochemical properties are at par with other materials used for the purpose of bone grafting. The novel biomaterial has the potential to be used in bone regenerative medicine in non-load-bearing applications.

Disseminated Mycobacterium abscessus infection in a patient on haemodialysis.

We report a 46-year-old woman with disseminated Mycobacterium abscessus infection who was on maintenance haemodialysis for chronic glomerulonephritis. Prolonged blood cultures yielded growth of a rapid-growing nontubercular Mycobacterium. Diagnosis to a species level guided empirical therapy while we awaited antimicrobial susceptibility results. The patient was treated successfully with a multidrug regimen.

Analysis and prediction of water quality using deep learning and auto deep learning techniques.

Natural water sources like ponds, lakes and rivers are facing a great threat because of activities like discharge of untreated industrial effluents, sewage water, wastes, etc. It is mandatory to examine the water quality to ensure that only safe water is available for consumption. Traditional methods of water quality inspection are a cumbersome process and hence, Artificial Intelligence (AI) can be used as a catalyst for this process. AutoDL is an upcoming field to automate deep learning pipelines and enables model creation and interpretation with minimal code. However, it is still in the nascent stage. This work explores the suitability of adopting AutoDL for Water Quality Assessment by drawing a comparison between AutoDL and a conventional models and analysis to foresee the quality of the water, an appropriate class based on Water Quality Index segregating water bodies into different classes. The accuracy of conventional DL is 1.8% higher than that of AutoDL for binary class water data. The accuracy of conventional DL is 1% higher than that of AutoDL for multiclass water data. The accuracy of conventional model was ~98% to ~99% whereas AutoDL method yielded ~96% to ~98%. However, the AutoDL model ease the task of finding the appropriate DL model and proved better efficiency without manual intervention.

Automating water quality analysis using ML and auto ML techniques.

Generation of unprocessed effluents, municipal refuse, factory wastes, junking of compostable and non-compostable effluents has hugely contaminated nature-provided water bodies like rivers, lakes and ponds. Therefore, there is a necessity to look into the water standards before the usage. This is a problem that can greatly benefit from Artificial Intelligence (AI). Traditional methods require human inspection and is time consuming. Automatic Machine Learning (AutoML) facilities supply machine learning with push of a button, or, on a minimum level, ensure to retain algorithm execution, data pipelines, and code, generally, are kept from sight and are anticipated to be the stepping stone for normalising AI. However, it is still a field under research. This work aims to recognize the areas where an AutoML system falls short or outperforms a traditional expert system built by data scientists. Keeping this as the motive, this work dives into the Machine Learning (ML) algorithms for comparing AutoML and an expert architecture built by the authors for Water Quality Assessment to evaluate the Water Quality Index, which gives the general water quality, and the Water Quality Class, a term classified on the basis of the Water Quality Index. The results prove that the accuracy of AutoML and TPOT was 1.4 % higher than conventional ML techniques for binary class water data. For Multi class water data, AutoML was 0.5 % higher and TPOT was 0.6% higher than conventional ML techniques.

Crystal structure of N-[(4-eth-oxy-phen-yl)carbamo-thio-yl]cyclo-hexa-ne-carboxamide.

The asymmetric unit of the title compound, C16H22N2O2S, contains two crystallographically independent mol-ecules (A and B). In mol-ecule A, the cyclo-hexane ring is disordered over two orientations [occupancy ratio 0.841 (10):0.159 (10)]. In each mol-ecule, the central carbonyl thio-urea unit is nearly planar (r.m.s. deviations for all non-H atoms of 0.034 Šin mol-ecule A and 0.094 Šin mol-ecule B). In both mol-ecules, the cyclo-hexane ring adopts a chair conformation. The mean plane of the cyclo-hexane ring makes dihedral angles of 35.8 (4) (mol-ecule A) and 20.7 (3)° (mol-ecule B) with that of the benzene ring. Each mol-ecule features an intra-molecular N-H⋯O hydrogen bond, which closes an S(6) ring motif. In the crystal, mol-ecules are linked via pairs of weak N-H⋯S inter-actions, forming inversion dimers with an R 2 (2)(8) ring motif for both mol-ecules. The crystal structure also features weak C-H⋯π ring inter-actions.

Potentiality of Bacillus subtilis as biocontrol agent for management of anthracnose disease of chilli caused by Colletotrichum gloeosporioides OGC1.

A soil bacterium, Bacillus subtilis, isolated from the rhizosphere of Chilli, showed high antagonistic activity against Colletotrichum gloeosporioides OGC1. A clear inhibition zone of 0.5-1 cm was observed in dual plate assay. Microscopic observations showed a clear hyphal lysis and degradation of fungal cell wall. In dual liquid cultures, the B. subtilis strain inhibited the C. gloeosporioides up to 100 % in terms of dry weight. This strain also produced a clear halo region on chitin agar medium plates containing 0.5 % colloidal chitin, indicating that it excretes chitinase. The strain also produced other mycolytic enzymes-glucanase and cellulase, demonstrated by a clear zone of hydrolysis of yeast cell wall glucan (YCW 0.1 % v/v) and carboxymethylcellulose (CMC 0.1 % v/v). In liquid cultures, the strain showed appreciable levels of chitinase, glucanase and cellulase activities and hydrolytic activity with C. gloeosporioides OGC1 mycelia as the substrate. The role of the B. subtilis strain in suppressing the fungal growth in vitro was studied in comparison with a UV mutant of that strain, which lacked both antagonistic and hydrolytic activity. The mycolytic enzyme mediated antagonism of B. subtilis was further demonstrated by heat inactivation (70-100 °C), treatment with trypsin and TCA of the crude enzyme extract which lacked antifungal property also. Treatment of the chilli seeds with Bacillus sp. culture showed 100 % germination index similar to the untreated seeds. The treatment of the seed with co-inoculation of the pathogen with Bacillus sp. culture showed 65 % reduction in disease incidence by the treatment as compared to the seed treated with pathogen alone (77.5 %).

A study on self centering of face bows.

Hanau spring bow has been in use since 1986. Hanau spring bow is claimed to maintain self centering property when it is positioned in the patient as well as in the articulator. However there is no documented evidence to prove that feature. Mainly it was due to the absence of a testing device. Exclusively for the present study, the testing device consisting of a platform, stops and distance measuring system was designed by the third author. This study proved that Hanau has the capability of self centering.

Partial purification and properties of a laundry detergent compatible alkaline protease from a newly isolated Bacillus species Y.

Alkaline protease production by a newly isolated Bacillus species from laundry soil was studied for detergent biocompatibility. From its morphological and nucleotide sequence (about 1.5 kb) of its 16S rDNA it was identified as Bacillus species with similarity to Bacillus species Y (Gen Bank entry: ABO 55095), and close homology with Bacillus cohnii YN-2000 (Gen Bank entry: ABO23412). Partial purification of the enzyme by ammonium sulfate (50-70% saturation) yielded 8-fold purity. Casein zymography and Sodium dodecylsulphate-Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) of the partially purified enzyme revealed two isozymes of molecular sizes approximately 66 kDa and 18 kDa, respectively. The enzyme was most active at pH 12 and 50°C. At pH 12 the enzyme was stable for 5 h and retained 60% activity. The enzyme retained 44% activity at 50°C up to 2 h. The protease showed good hydrolysis specificity with different substrates tested. The presence of Mn(2+), Co(2+) and ethylenediaminetetracetic acid (EDTA) showed profound increase in protease activity. The protease of Bacillus species Y showed excellent stability and compatibility with three locally available detergents (Kite, Tide and Aerial) up to 3 h retaining almost 70-80% activity and 10-20% activity at room temperature (30°C) and 50°C, respectively, indicating the potential role of this enzyme for detergent application.

Chronic Pituitary Failure Resembling Sheehan's Syndrome Following a Bite of Russell's Viper. A Case Report.

Hypopituitarism can be the sequela of a variety of causes like postpartum pituitary necrosis or Sheehan's syndrome, lymphocytic hypophysitis, trauma and encephalitis. A very rare cause is envenomation by a bite of a Russell's viper. Very few cases with documented imaging findings of chronic pituitary failure resulting from snake bite have been reported. We describe a case of hypopituitarism with clinical, endocrine and magnetic resonance (MR) imaging studies occurring as a delayed complication of snake bite.

Characteristic MR Imaging Findings of Neurocutaneous Melanosis. A Case Report.

Neurocutaneous melanosis is a type of phakomatosis characterised by dermal, leptomeningeal and parenchymal melanocytic naevi. Here we describe a case of a 13-year-old boy with dermal and brain parenchymal melanosis without any leptomeningeal melanosis.

Radiation-induced mineralizing microangiopathy in a case of recurrent craniopharyngioma. A case report.

Mineralizing microangiopathy is a late complication of radiation-induced brain injury that occurs during the treatment of CNS malignancies in children and adults. Early diagnosis of the radiation-induced brain injury helps to tailor the radiation dose and prevent further complications. Here we describe an operated oatient with craniopharyngioma who underwent external beam radiotherapy. The patient developed gradual loss of vision after two years and a review CT scan revealed the local recurrence of tumour with dystrophic calcification of the basal ganglia, frontal and temporal subcortical regions representing recurrent craniopharyngioma with radiation-induced mineralizing microangiopathy.

Typical neuroradiological features of sjogren-larsson syndrome. A case report.

Sjogren-Larsson syndrome is a rare inherited autosomal recessive neurocutaneous disorder with typical findings on MRI. We describe the typical MRI and MR Spectroscopy findings in a clinically diagnosed case of Sjogren-Larsson syndrome.

Typical radiological findings of lipoid proteinosis of urbach and wiethe. A case report.

Lipoid proteinosis is a rare autosomal recessive dermatosis, which can be congenital or have onset in infancy. It is characterized by the progressive deposition of an amorphous hyaline substance with a glycoprotein constitution in the skin and mucous membranes and presents as papular lesions that can aggregate forming plaques with a yellowish discoloration. We present a case of lipoid proteinosis in a seven-year-old boy where characteristic calcifications in the medial temporal lobe helped in early initiation of treatment.

Typical neuroradiological diagnosis of maple syrup urine disease as a precursor to clinical diagnosis. A case report.

Maple syrup urine disease (MSUD) is a rare inherited metabolic disorder. It is due to decreased de-carboxylation of branched-chain amino acids (leucine, valine, and isoleucine) so their accumulation gives a characteristic maple syrup odour in urine and leads to severe neurological deterioration. Early diagnosis and dietary intervention prevent complications and may allow for normal intellectual development. Various types of MSUD exist, classical MSUD being the most common and severe form of this disease. We describe a case of classical MSUD in a four- month-old infant where the MR imaging suggested the diagnosis of MSUD prior to the clinical diagnosis which was further confirmed by laboratory techniques.

Scavenger receptor-mediated delivery of muramyl dipeptide activates antitumor efficacy of macrophages by enhanced secretion of tumor-suppressive cytokines.

We showed that muramyl dipeptide (MDP) conjugated to maleylated bovine serum albumin (MBSA) was internalized by macrophages (Mphi) through scavenger receptor (SCR)-mediated endocytosis, which leads to 50-fold higher cytotoxic activity against non-Mphi tumor cells compared with that elicited by free MDP-treated Mphi. The enhanced cytotoxic effect of MBSA-MDP was found to be a result of higher secretion of interleukin (IL)-1, IL-6, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha), and nitric oxide (NO) because the addition of antibodies directed against IL-1, IL-6, or TNF-alpha in combination with Mphi cultures totally abrogated the tumoricidal activity of MBSA-MDP. It is interesting to note that MBSA-MDP triggers the secretion of IL-12, whereas IL-10, a Mphi suppressor cytokine, could be detected only on free MDP treatment. The cytotoxic activity of MBSA-MDP was inhibited by indomethacin, indicating a regulatory role for prostaglandin E2 (PGE2). Efficient SCR-mediated intracellular delivery of MDP leading to elimination of cancer cells suggests the immunotherapeutic potential of this approach for treatment of neoplasia.

Selective activation of antitumor activity of macrophages by the delivery of muramyl dipeptide using a novel polynucleotide-based carrier recognized by scavenger receptors.

We have shown that muramyl dipeptide (MDP) conjugated to a 10-mer polyguanylic acid (PolyG) is specifically internalized by macrophages through scavenger receptor (SCR)-mediated endocytosis. Macrophages activated by PolyG-MDP displayed about 20-fold higher cytotoxic activity against nonmacrophage tumor cells compared to that elicited by free MDP. The PolyG-MDP was found to trigger the secretion of higher levels of interleukin-6, interleukin-1alpha, TNF-alpha, and nitric oxide in comparison to free MDP. Addition of antibodies directed against IL-6 and TNF-alpha to macrophage culture completely abrogated the tumoricidal response of PolyG-MDP, indicating that these two cytokines are primarily responsible for bioefficacy. This general approach of PolyG as a vehicle may find wide application in the delivery of genes and antisense oligonucleotides to macrophages.