Limosilactobacillus fermentum IKP 111 reduces pathogen load and improves immunity of broilers when challenged with Salmonella enteritidis.

In this study, we checked the effectiveness of L. fermentum IKP 111 in treating S. enteritidis infection in an in vivo study. Its oral administration to broiler chicks significantly reduced the colonization of S. enteritidis in the gut and there was a lower bacterial count of S. enteritidis in the droppings after infection. The administration of the probiotic L. fermentum IKP 111 also led to increase in weight gain in the broiler chicks as well as their immunomodulation against avian influenza virus (AIV) and Newcastle disease virus (NDV) as compared to the chicks challenged only with S. enteritidis. Our study provides evidence that the probiotic strain L. fermentum IKP 111 could be an alternate for controlling S. enteritidis infection while enhancing the gut health as well as the immune response of broiler chickens against viral infections.

Temporal study of wastewater surveillance from September 2020 to March 2021: an estimation of COVID-19 patients in Lahore, Pakistan.

The first aim of study was to quantify the viral load in the wastewater samples by RT-qPCR testing in Lahore population to estimate the number of patients affected and predict the next resurgence of COVID-19 wave in the city. The second aim of the study was to determine the hotspot areas of Lahore which remained positive more often for virus with high viral load. In this study, n = 420 sewage samples were collected on an average of two weeks intervals from 30 different sewage water disposal stations (14 sampling events) from Sept 2020 to March 2021. RNA was extracted and quantified by RT-qPCR without concentrating the virus in samples. Number of positive disposal sites (7-93%), viral load from sewage samples (100.296 to 103.034), and estimated patients (660-17,030) ranged from low to high according to the surge and restrain of 2nd and 3rd COVID-19 waves in the country. The viral load and estimated patients were reported high in January 2021 and March 2021 which were similar to the peak of 2nd and 3rd waves in Pakistan. Site 18 (Niaz Baig village DS) showed the highest viral load among all sites. Findings of the present study helped to estimate the number of patients and track the resurgence in COVID-19 waves in Lahore particularly, and in Punjab generally. Furthermore, it emphasizes the role of wastewater-based epidemiology to help policymakers strengthen the quarantine measures along with immunization to overcome enteric viral diseases. Local and national stake holders should work in collaboration to improve the environmental hygiene to control the disease.

In Vitro Characterization of Probiotic Potential of Limosilactobacillus fermentum against Salmonella Gallinarum Causing Fowl Typhoid.

Fowl typhoid, a septicaemic disease of poultry, is caused by Salmonella Gallinarum and leads to severe economic losses. The aim of the present study was to isolate, select and characterize indigenous probiotic lactobacilli with anti-Salmonella Gallinarum activity. A total 55 lactobacilli were isolated from the caeca and ileum parts of healthy chickens and identified to species level by 16S rDNA sequencing. All the isolates were initially screened for antimicrobial activity and selected isolates were further subjected to in vitro evaluation of probiotic properties. Lactobacilli isolates (n = 21) showed varying levels of activity (08-18 mm) against Salmonella Gallinarum. These selected isolates also showed tolerance to acidic conditions (pH 3 and 4). Out of these 21 isolates, 13 showed growth (>0.5 OD at 600 nm) 0.3% bile salts. Moreover, these isolates also had the ability of auto-aggregation (20.05 ± 0.62%-50.70 ± 1.40%), and co-aggregation with Salmonella Gallinarum (5.22 ± 0.21%-42.07 ± 0.70%). Results revealed that lactobacilli had a higher level of resistance to vancomycin (100%), streptomycin (100%), ciprofloxacin (95%), gentamicin (90%), doxycycline (90%), oxytetracycline (85%), and bacitracin (80%), and a lower level of resistance to penicillin (33%), erythromycin (28%), chloramphenicol (23%), fusidic acid (23%) and amoxicillin (4%). The Limosilactobacillus fermentum PC-10 and PC-76 were sensitive to most of the antibiotics. The overall results revealed that two Limosilactobacillus fermentum strains (PC-10 and PC-76) fulfill the in vitro selection criteria of probiotics, i.e, tolerance to low pH, resistance to bile salts, auto-aggregation, co-aggregation with Salmonella Gallinarum, and absence of acquired antibiotic resistance. The Limosilactobacillus fermentum PC-10 and PC-76 also inhibited the (>5 log10) growth of Salmonella Gallinarum in co-culture assay. It is concluded that Limosilactobacillus fermentum PC-10 and PC-76 may be further investigated and developed as anti-Salmonella Gallinarum probiotics for poultry.

Renessans Helps in Early Clearance of SARS-CoV-2: In-Vivo Activity of the Iodine Complex in Rhesus macaque.

Iodine complexes have known antimicrobial properties along with reported in-vitro antiviral activity for several viruses. Renessans is one such product with iodine complexes and ascorbic acid. The present study was designed to determine its efficacy for SARS-CoV-2 in Rhesus macaque. Rhesus macaque were assigned to: A) prophylactic group (n = 3), (B) treatment group (n = 3), (C) infection control group (n = 4), and (D) negative control group (n = 4). Groups A, B, and C were challenged with 2 × 106 TCID of SARS-CoV-2. The prophylactic group (A) was administered Renessans from 5 days before infection till 8 days postinfection (DPI). The treatment group (B) was administered Renessans from 3 till 8 DPI. Group C was administered water-insoluble fractions only. Nasal swabs from all monkeys of groups A, B, and C remained positive for SARS-CoV-2 till 2 and 7 DPI, while the swabs became negative for groups A and B at 14 DPI. Likewise, fecal matter of monkeys in group A returned negative results during the experiment, while that of group B had significantly decreased viral load (101.5 genome copies/mL) compared to group C (103 genome copies/mL). Hence, it is concluded that Renessans has in-vivo SARS-CoV-2 activity and may result in early clearance of SARS-CoV-2.

An in vitro antiviral activity of iodine complexes against SARS-CoV-2.

Since the emergence of COVID-19 pandemic in China in late 2019, scientists are striving hard to explore non-toxic, viable anti-SARS-CoV-2 compounds or medicines. We determined In vitro anti-SARS-CoV-2 activity of oral formulations (syrup and capsule)of an Iodine-complex (Renessans). First, cell cytotoxicity of Renessans on the Vero cells was determined using MTT assay. Afterwards, the antiviral activity of Renessans was determined using viral inhibition assays and TCID50. For this, nontoxic concentrations of the Renessans were used. The results showed that Renessans is nontoxic to the cells up to 50 µg/mL. At 1.5 µg/mL concentration, SARS-CoV-2 production was significantly reduced to 101.43 TCID50 and 101.58 TCID50 for the syrup and capsule, respectively, as compare to virus infected control cells 106.08 TCID50 and we found the dose dependent inhibition of virus replication in the presence of Renessans. Renessans inhibited SARS-CoV-2 with an EC50 value of 0.425 µg/mL and 0.505 µg/mL for syrup and capsule, respectively. Furthermore, there was no virus detected at concentration of 50 µg/mL of Renessans. This study indicates that Renessans, containing iodine, have potential activity against SARS-CoV-2 which needs to be further investigated in human clinical trials.

ClothFace: A Batteryless RFID-Based Textile Platform for Handwriting Recognition.

This paper introduces a prototype of ClothFace technology, a battery-free textile-based handwriting recognition platform that includes an e-textile antenna and a 10 × 10 array of radio frequency identification (RFID) integrated circuits (ICs), each with a unique ID. Touching the textile platform surface creates an electrical connection from specific ICs to the antenna, which enables the connected ICs to be read with an external UHF (ultra-haigh frequency) RFID reader. In this paper, the platform is demonstrated to recognize handwritten numbers 0-9. The raw data collected by the platform are a sequence of IDs from the touched ICs. The system converts the data into bitmaps and their details are increased by interpolating between neighboring samples using the sequential information of IDs. These images of digits written on the platform can be classified, with enough accuracy for practical use, by deep learning. The recognition system was trained and tested with samples from six volunteers using the platform. The real-time number recognition ability of the ClothFace technology is demonstrated to work successfully with a very low error rate. The overall recognition accuracy of the platform is 94.6% and the accuracy for each digit is between 91.1% and 98.3%. As the solution is fully passive and gets all the needed energy from the external RFID reader, it enables a maintenance-free and cost-effective user interface that can be integrated into clothing and into textiles around us.