Systemic inflammatory markers and their association with Alzheimer's disease: A cross-sectional analysis.

Aim: To investigate the possible role of systemic inflammatory markers (interleukin; IL-6, C-reactive protein; CRP, and albumin levels) in the development of Alzheimer's dementia (AD) and also find their association with the severity of disease. Material and Methods: It was a cross-sectional study. Patients with Alzheimer's dementia (AD) and vascular dementia (VaD) from outpatient settings in tertiary care hospitals and non-demented controls (NDC) were recruited from the community. Individuals aged 50 years and older (n = 110) were included. Serum levels of IL-6, CRP, and albumin levels in patients with AD, VaD, and NDC were measured. The clinical Dementia Rating Scale was used for staging the severity of dementia. Serum levels of IL-6, CRP, and serum albumin were compared in study subjects and also analyzed with the severity of dementia in dementia subgroups. Results: Our main finding was that serum levels of IL-6 were significantly elevated in patients with AD and VaD (7.79 and 6.60) as compared to NDC (2.98) (P < 0.001). No significant difference in CRP or albumin levels was observed between the three groups. Serum IL-6 and CRP showed a positive correlation with the severity of AD, though the correlation was significant only for IL-6 (r = 0.777). The serum albumin levels showed a statistically significant negative correlation with the severity of AD (r > 0.3 but <0.5). Conclusion: The study demonstrates a notable association between systemic inflammatory markers, particularly IL-6, and the severity of AD, indicating their potential role in its pathogenesis. These findings suggest that targeting these markers could offer new insights into therapeutic strategies for AD.

Systematic analyses with genomic and metabolomic insights reveal a new species, Ophiocordyceps indica sp. nov. from treeline area of Indian Western Himalayan region.

Ophiocordyceps is a species-rich genus in the order Hypocreales (Sordariomycetes, Ascomycota) depicting a fascinating relationship between microbes and insects. In the present study, a new species, Ophiocordyceps indica sp. nov., is discovered infecting lepidopteran larvae from tree line locations (2,202-2,653 m AMSL) of the Kullu District, Himachal Pradesh, Indian Western Himalayan region, using combinations of morphological and molecular phylogenetic analyses. A phylogeny for Ophiocordyceps based on a combined multigene (nrSSU, nrLSU, tef-1α, and RPB1) dataset is provided, and its taxonomic status within Ophiocordycipitaceae is briefly discussed. Its genome size (~59 Mb) revealed 94% genetic similarity with O. sinensis; however, it differs from other extant Ophiocordyceps species based on morphological characteristics, molecular phylogenetic relationships, and genetic distance. O. indica is identified as the second homothallic species in the family Ophiocordycipitaceae, after O. sinensis. The presence of targeted marker components, viz. nucleosides (2,303.25 µg/g), amino acids (6.15%), mannitol (10.13%), and biological activity data, suggests it to be a new potential source of nutraceutical importance. Data generated around this economically important species will expand our understanding regarding the diversity of Ophiocordyceps-like taxa from new locations, thus providing new research avenues.

IHM-DB: a curated collection of metagenomics data from the Indian Himalayan Region, and automated pipeline for 16S rRNA amplicon-based analysis (AutoQii2).

Indian Himalayan metagenome database (IHM-DB) is a web-based database consisting of information on metagenomic datasets from various databases and publications that are specifically reported from the Indian Himalayan Region (IHR). The online interface allows users to view or download the dataset-specific information for the respective states, category-wise, or according to the hypervariable region. The IHM-DB also provides an opportunity for the users to access the metagenomic publications from the IHR as well as upload their microbiome information to the website. Additionally, an open-source 16S rRNA amplicon-based automated bioinformatics pipeline, AutoQii2, allows users to analyze the single-end and paired-end raw reads. AutoQii2 provides an automated approach for performing analysis such as quality check, adapter and chimera removal and exploits the latest ribosomal database project classifier for taxonomic assignments. The source code of the AutoQii2 pipeline is available at https://gitlab.com/khatriabhi2319/autoqii2. Database URL https://ham.ihbt.res.in/ihmdb and https://fgcsl.ihbt.res.in/ihmdb.

Quality assessment, safety evaluation, and microbiome analysis of night-soil compost from Lahaul valley of northwestern Himalaya.

The Himalayan dry toilet system prevalent in the northwestern Himalaya is a traditional practice of converting human faeces into a compost-like soil amendment. The current study evaluated night-soil compost (NSC) for agricultural use by assessing the compost quality, safety, and microbiome properties. Based on the fertility and clean indices determined by the fertility and heavy metal parameters, NSC was categorized as good quality compost with high fertilizing potential and moderate concentration of heavy metals. With respect to pathogens, the faecal coliform levels in the NSC were categorized as safe according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency standards. The bacterial community structure based on 16S rRNA gene amplicons revealed a diverse taxonomy with 14 phyla and 54 genera in NSC. Compared to publicly available 16S rRNA gene amplicon data, NSC exhibited predominant phyla (Proteobacteria, Bacteriodetes, Actinobacteria, and Firmicutes) similar to human faeces, cattle manure, food waste compost, vermicompost, and activated sludge. However, statistically, NSC was distinct at the genus level from all other groups. Additionally, pathogenic bacteria with antimicrobial resistance (AMR) genes in the NSC metagenome were determined by performing a standalone BLASTN against the PATRIC database. The analysis revealed 139 pathogenic strains with most pathogens susceptible to antibiotics, indicating lower AMR in the predicted strains. The phytotoxicity of NSC with Pisum sativum var. AS-10 seeds showed a germination index of > 85%, indicating NSC's non-harmful effects on seed germination and root growth. Overall, NSC from Himalayan dry toilets can be used as a soil amendment for food and non-food plants.

Deep learning uncovers distinct behavior of rice network to pathogens response.

Rice, apart from abiotic stress, is prone to attack from multiple pathogens. Predominantly, the two rice pathogens, bacterial Xanthomonas oryzae (Xoo) and hemibiotrophic fungus, Magnaporthe oryzae, are extensively well explored for more than the last decade. However, because of lack of holistic studies, we design a deep learning-based rice network model (DLNet) that has explored the quantitative differences resulting in the distinct rice network architecture. Validation studies on rice in response to biotic stresses show that DLNet outperforms other machine learning methods. The current finding indicates the compactness of the rice PTI network and the rise of independent modules in the rice ETI network, resulting in similar patterns of the plant immune response. The results also show more independent network modules and minimum structural disorderness in rice-M. oryzae as compared to the rice-Xoo model revealing the different adaptation strategies of the rice plant to evade pathogen effectors.

Knuckle cracking at night associated with sodium oxybate treatment.

NONE: During upward titration of a dose of sodium oxybate therapy for narcolepsy with cataplexy, a 25-year-old woman was observed by her husband to have new onset of knuckle-cracking and moaning behaviors during sleep ≥1 nights each week. The patient did previously occasionally crack her knuckles during the day (but never at night). These behaviors had not been evaluated by polysomnography. After transition of care, polysomnography with video monitoring was ordered and revealed 2 knuckle-cracking episodes that developed out of stage N2 sleep and were likely a non-rapid eye movement sleep parasomnia associated with sodium oxybate treatment.

Comparative genomics and molecular adaptational analysis of Arthrobacter from Sikkim Himalaya provided insights into its survivability under multiple high-altitude stress.

Arthrobacter is a dominant aerobic bacterium under the class Actinobacteria, known for its nutritionally versatile nature and wide prevalence in stressful environments. In the current study representative two strains of Arthrobacter, ERGS1:01 and ERGS4:06, with efficient survivability under high altitude stress conditions were selected for comparative genomic studies with their mesophilic counterparts. Physiological analysis and genome insights supported the survival of these strains under multiple high-altitude stress conditions. Molecular cold-adaptation and substitution analysis of the studied strains supported the incidence of more cold-adapted proteins for functionality at low temperatures. Studied strains preferred amino acids like serine, asparagine, lysine, tryptophan for favoring increased flexibility supporting their broad temperature survivability. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first molecular cold adaptation analysis performed for the genus Arthrobacter and has revealed that 'aromaticity', one of the cold-adaptor indicators, should be carefully considered while evaluating cold adaptation strategies in psychrotrophic/psychrophilic bacteria.

Patterns of emergency department utilization for LVAD patients compared with non-LVAD patients.

BACKGROUND: Left ventricular assist device (LVAD) patients are vulnerable to over-utilization of resources. METHODS AND RESULTS: We explored the pattern of emergency department (ED) presentations of LVAD patients and their costs compared with non-LVAD heart failure patients. ED visits between 7/2008 and 7/2017 were reviewed to identify 145 LVAD patients, and 435 patients with known heart failure were selected using propensity score matching for age and sex. ED evaluation metrics, hospitalization cost, and length of stay (LOS) were analyzed. Although the most common ED presentations and their frequency differed between groups, few were LVAD specific. LVAD patients were more likely to have taken personal vehicles or be flown to the ED. They had similar times to triage, rooming, and physician evaluation compared with non-LVAD patients. However, LVAD patients were noted to have a shorter time from physician assessment to disposition (109.8 min vs. 177.0 min, p < 0.001) and, overall, LVAD patients had shorter ED LOS (6.33 vs. 9.82 hrs, p = 0.0001). For patients admitted, no significant difference was found between groups in hospital LOS (6.67 vs 6.58 days, p = 0.928) or total cost ($28,766 vs $21,524, p = 0.087). CONCLUSION: Shorter disposition times without increases in LOS or costs may identify a created healthcare disparity among LVAD patients.

Evaluation and comparison of postoperative levels of serum bilirubin, serum transaminases and alkaline phosphatase in laparoscopic cholecystectomy versus open cholecystectomy.

BACKGROUND: Laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) requires the creation of a pneumoperitoneum via insufflations of carbon dioxide; resulting in increased partial pressure of carbon dioxide (CO2) and intraperitoneal pressure which leads to the changes in pulmonary function and hemodynamic measurements. Hypercarbia leads to visceral organ ischemia including liver and venous stasis/thromboembolism or both due to impaired flow. The present study has been undertaken to see the changes in liver function tests (LFTs) after laparoscopic/open cholecystectomy (OC), the incidences of such change, their relation to age, sex, duration of surgery and to know the clinical significances of such disturbances. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To compare and correlate the serum level of bilirubin, alanine transaminase (ALT), aspartate transaminase (AST), alkaline phosphatase (ALP) in patients who underwent LC to those who underwent OC. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The present study was conducted in the Department of Surgery at MMIMSR, MM University, Mullana, Ambala. A total number of 200 patients diagnosed as cholelithiasis were included in the study from May 2012 to May 2014. These cases were randomly divided into two groups (A and B) consisting of 100 cases each. LC was performed in group A patients and OC was done in group B patients. Three blood samples were taken: (I) pre-operatively; (II) after 24 hours of surgery; and (III) after 72 hours of surgery for comparison of the enzyme level alterations. RESULTS: In LC patients, there were rise in the levels of serum bilirubin, AST and ALT after 24 hrs of surgery from the preoperative value and then again fall was noted (near to normal value) after 72 hrs of surgery except in that of ALP. ALP levels showed slight fall after 24 hrs of surgery and then slight rise after 72 hrs which was within the normal limit. Whereas in OC patients, there were slight variations in the liver enzymes (which were within the normal range). CONCLUSIONS: Transient elevation of serum bilirubin, AST and ALT occurs after LC or after OC. The alteration in the liver enzymes can be attributed to CO2 pneumoperitoneum, surgical manipulations, diathermy, patient position, and arterial injury may also other factors. These changes return to normal in 3-4 days after procedure and they have no clinical consequences in patients with normal hepatic function but they may still cause worry to the surgeon regarding the integrity of biliary tree.