A bibliometric analysis of global research performance on tuberculosis (2011-2020): Time for a global approach to support high-burden countries.

BACKGROUND: Tuberculosis (TB) is a persistent public health issue requiring consistent global effort for its eradication and control. Research on the subject plays a vital role in combatting the disease, giving future directions, and meeting the sustainable development goals (SDGs). This study aimed to evaluate the global TB research trends and performance from 2011 to 2020. MATERIALS AND METHODS: All the data for TB-related research publications from 2011 to 2020 were extracted from the Web of Science database and a comprehensive analysis was performed on the R-bibliometrix package. RESULTS: An increasing number of publications with an annual growth rate of 6.32% and a plateau in production from 2015 to 2018 was observed. Of 145 countries, the United States of America (USA), China, India, the United Kingdom, and South Africa led and made up half of the global contribution. Out of 91,862 authors, Zhang Y was the most productive with 205 articles and Barry CE had the highest H-index of 45. Only seven of the top 20 authors were from high-burden countries. The University of Cape Town was the leading institutional affiliation, followed by Stellenbosch University and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. The most frequent international collaboration was between the USA and South Africa, occurring on 1203 instances. Only five of the top 30 high-burden countries were present in the top 30 collaborations. PLOS ONE, disseminating 2271 articles, was the most productive out of 3500 sources. CONCLUSION: The past decade has seen a steady increase in global TB research. Prominent authors, affiliations, and countries showed collaborative trends, but publications were found to be mostly from developed, low-burden countries except China, India, and South Africa. To meet the goals set by the SDGs and the WHO End TB Strategy, high-burden countries need to explore feasible opportunities and global support to enhance their expected TB-related research contributions.

Prevalence Rate and Molecular Characteristics of Oestrus ovis L. (Diptera, Oestridae) in Sheep and Goats from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Heads of sheep (n = 600) and goats (n = 800) slaughtered at Al-Aziziah Abattoir in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, were inspected for the presence of O. ovis larvae (L). Heads were split along the longitudinal axes, and larvae (L1, L2, and L3) were gathered. The infestation rate was significantly higher in goats (44.5%; 356/800) than that in sheep (22.3%; 134/600). Out of the 151 collected larvae from sheep, 0% were L1, 1.3% were L2, and 98.7% were L3. Out of the total of 468 larvae from goats, 0% were L1, 1.2% were L2, and 98.8% were L3. The infestation rate was significantly higher in males than that in females. Myiasis-causing larvae collected from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, were authenticated as O. ovis, according to morphological characteristics. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification of a partial fragment (600 bp) of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (mtCOI) gene further confirmed the species. Phylogenetic analysis based on the partial mtCOI gene sequence demonstrated that 23 unique sequences showed high similarity based on nucleotide pairs of O. ovis accessions retrieved from GenBank.

Performance of Zea mays L. cultivars in tannery polluted soils: Management of chromium phytotoxicity through the application of biochar and compost.

Soil contamination with heavy metals caused by various industrial activities is a threatening global environmental issue of the current era. Chromium (Cr) is the most toxic heavy metal used in leather industry and disposal of untreated wastewater into natural water bodies leads to contamination of natural soil and water resources. We studied the combined effect of biochar and compost on improving the tolerance to Cr toxicity by enhancing the morpho-physiological and biochemical attributes of two maize cultivars (P-1543 and NK-8441) grown in tannery waste polluted soils. The results of this study reveal that Cr toxicity reduced the plant growth by affecting physiological and biochemical attributes. Here, compost and biochar application significantly increased the plant biomass (fresh and dry), height, photosynthesis, chlorophyll content, water relation, starch, and protein content over treatment set as control. However, significant decline in electrolyte leakage (EL), proline, lipid peroxidation, soluble sugars, and antioxidant enzymes (APX, GPX, GR, GST, GSH, SOD, and CAT) was observed by combined application of compost and biochar. Hexavalent chromium concentration was maximum decreased to 4.1 µg g-1 in soil after post-harvesting of maize cultivar NK-8441, while in roots and shoots to 22.6 and 19.2 µg g-1 of maize cultivar P-1543, respectively, by combined application of compost and biochar. Moreover, these both amendments in combination showed considerably better results than their sole application and cultivar P-1543 comparatively performed better than NK 8441, in both K and S soils. Correlation and principal component analysis (PCA) revealed mostly highly positive associations among all the studied morpho, physio, and biochemical attributes of maize plant with the few exceptions, particularly concentration of Cr(III) and Cr(VI) in soil. The present work concluded that combined use of biochar and compost has great potential to decrease Cr toxicity and improve plant growth in tannery polluted soils.

Infection in neuro-muscular scoliosis deformity correction.

Assess the outcome of a standardised protocol for the treatment of post-operative wound infection in patients undergoing deformity correction for neuro-muscular scoliosis (NMS). Retrospective review of 443 consecutive patients with a minimum 18 months' follow-up, following a primary posterior deformity correction for NMS. In patients who developed a wound complication, the patient demographic and comorbidities, causative pathogen, number of re-operations, length of stay (LOS), rate of cure, and complications were analysed. Forty-four patients (9.9%) developed a wound infection. Marginally more infections were mono-microbial (23) than poly-microbial (21). Coagulase negative staphylococcus and Staphylococcus aureus were the most commonly cultured pathogens. Seventeen patients were treated with antibiotics alone, while 27 patients also required surgical debridement. The average LOS for those treated with antibiotics alone was 12 days (range: 9-15 days), in contrast to those requiring debridement, which was 35 days (range: 35-70 days). All patients were cured from their infection and ultimately achieved fusion. Infection is common in NMS deformity correction. This is marginally more common as a mono-microbial than poly-microbial infection with most pathogens being staphylococcal in origin. Our defined treatment strategy resulted in a cure for all patients and capacity for all patients to achieve fusion.

Tyramine Derivatives as Potent Therapeutics for Type 2 Diabetes: Synthesis and In Vitro Inhibition of α-Glucosidase Enzyme.

BACKGROUND: Tyramine derivatives 3-16 were prepared and tested first time for their α- glucosidase (Sources: Saccharomyces cerevisiae) inhibitory activity by using an in vitro mechanismbased biochemical assay. All the compounds were found to be new, except compounds 3, 10-12 and 16. OBJECTIVE: In continuation of our research to synthesize and identify potent inhibitors of α-glucosidase enzyme, we intended to synthesize new inhibitors of α-glucosidase enzyme with enhanced efficacy in order to provide the basis for the better treatment of the type-II diabetic. METHODS: Tyramine (1) was allowed to react with a variety of aryl chlorides (2) to yield the corresponding amides. Synthesized compounds were then purified through normal phase column chromatography. Compounds 3-16 were then assessed for their α-glucosidase inhibitory activity in an in vitro biochemical assay. The cytotoxicity of compounds 3-16 was determined by using 3T3 mouse fibroblast cell lines. RESULTS: Compounds 3-5, 8, 13, and 15-16 were found to be more active (IC50 = 103.1±0.46, 37.3±4.51, 56.7±4.2, 23.9±2.31, 43.6±2.88, 55.8±1.73, and 38.2±0.86 µM, respectively) than the acarbose, the standard inhibitor of α-glucosidase enzyme, (IC50= 840.0±1.73 µM). To determine the dissociation constants and mode of inhibition, the kinetic studies were also performed for compounds 4 and 8 (the most potent inhibitors). It was observed that compounds 4 and 8 possess noncompetitive properties as the inhibitors of α-glucosidase. All the compounds were found to be noncytotoxic, except 5 and 12 (IC50= 14.7± 0.24 and 6.6± 0.38 µM, respectively). CONCLUSION: The current study gives the facile synthesis and identification of potent inhibitors of α- glucosidase. The new inhibitors reported here may be investigated further for the designing and development of novel anti-diabetic agents.

Obesity paradox, obesity orthodox, and the metabolic syndrome: An approach to unity.

Obesity and the accompanying metabolic syndrome are strongly associated with heightened morbidity and mortality in older adults. In our review of more than 20 epidemiologic studies of major infectious diseases, including leaders such as tuberculosis, community-acquired pneumonia, and sepsis, obesity was associated with better outcomes. A cause-and-effect relationship between over-nutrition and survival with infection is suggested by results of two preliminary studies of infections in mice, where high fat feeding for 8-10 weeks provided much better outcomes. The better outcomes of infections with obesity are reminiscent of many recent studies of "sterile" non-infectious medical and surgical conditions where outcomes for obese patients are better than for their thinner counterparts --- and given the tag "obesity paradox". Turning to the history of medicine and biological evolution, we hypothesize that the metabolic syndrome has very ancient origins and is part of a lifelong metabolic program. While part of that program (the metabolic syndrome) promotes morbidity and mortality with aging, it helps infants and children as well as adults in their fight against infections and recovery from injuries, key roles in the hundreds of centuries before the public health advances of the 20th century. We conclude with speculation on how understanding the biological elements that protect obese patients with infections or injuries might be applied advantageously to thin patients with the same medical challenges.