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For an arborescence Ar, a directed pathos line digraph Q = DPL(Ar) has vertex set V (Q) = A(Ar) ∪ P(Ar), where A(Ar) is the Arc set and P(Ar) is a directed pathos set of Ar. The arc set A(Q) consists of the following arcs: ab such that a, b ∈ A(Ar) and the head of a coincides with the tail of b; Pa such that a ∈ A(Ar) and P ∈ P(Ar) and the arc a lies on the directed path P; PiPj such that Pi, Pj ∈ P(Ar) and it is possible to reach the head of Pj from the tail of Pi through a common vertex, but it is possible to reach the head of Pi from the tail of Pj. The purpose of this note is to characterize DPL(Ar), i.e., when is a digraph a directed pathos line digraph of an arborescence Ar and is Ar reconstructible from DPL(Ar)?. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction : The present century had noticed a rapid transition from undernourished to overweight and obesity. This transition was initially reported in developed countries but now this phenomenon has been noticed in developing countries. Objective: The study was conducted to assess the knowledge about the obesity among school going adolescents and to find out the sex wise and area wise relationship about the knowledge of obesity among the studied adolescents. Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 640 school going adolescents in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, India from January 2019 to February 2019. Multistage sampling technique was used for enrolment of the study subjects. A pre-designed and pre-tested questionnaire was used. Body weight and height were recorded for calculating Body Mass Index (BMI). The WHO BMI-for-age cut off classification of adolescents was used for the assessment of overweight and obesity. Results: A total of 640 adolescents participated in the study. Overweight and obese were more prevalent among male adolescents from urban area schools. In the present study, the overall prevalence of obese in rural area is 3.9% and overall prevalence of obese in urban area is 11.8%. The knowledge about hazards of obesity is statistically significant (p

Introduction: Stresses generated during root canal instrumentation have been reported to cause apical cracks. The smaller, less pronounced defects like cracks can later propagate into vertical root fracture, when the tooth is subjected to repeated stresses from endodontic or restorative procedures. Aim: This study evaluated occurrence of apical cracks with stainless steel hand files, rotary NiTi RaCe and K3 files at two different instrumentation lengths. Materials and Methods: In the present in vitro study, 60 mandibular premolars were mounted in resin blocks with simulated periodontal ligament. Apical 3 mm of the root surfaces were exposed and stained using India ink. Preoperative images of root apices were obtained at 100x using stereomicroscope. The teeth were divided into six groups of 10 each. First two groups were instrumented with stainless steel files, next two groups with rotary NiTi RaCe files and the last two groups with rotary NiTi K3 files. The instrumentation was carried out till the apical foramen (Working Length-WL) and 1 mm short of the apical foramen (WL-1) with each file system. After root canal instrumentation, postoperative images of root apices were obtained. Preoperative and postoperative images were compared and the occurrence of cracks was recorded. Descriptive statistical analysis and Chi-square tests were used to analyze the results. Results: Apical root cracks were seen in 30%, 35% and 20% of teeth instrumented with K-files, RaCe files and K3 files. There was no statistical significance among three instrumentation systems in the formation of apical cracks (p=0.563). Apical cracks were seen in 40% and 20% of teeth instrumented with K-files; 60% and 10% of teeth with RaCe files and 40% and 0% of teeth with K3 files at WL and WL-1 respectively. For groups instrumented with hand files there was no statistical significance in number of cracks at WL and WL-1 (p=0.628). But for teeth instrumented with RaCe files and K3 files significantly more number of cracks were seen at WL than WL-1 (p=0.057 for RaCe files and p=0.087 for K3 files). Conclusion: There was no statistical significance between stainless steel hand files and rotary files in terms of crack formation. Instrumentation length had a significant effect on the formation of cracks when rotary files were used. Using rotary instruments 1 mm short of apical foramen caused lesser crack formation. But, there was no statistically significant difference in number of cracks formed with hand files at two instrumentation levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this study was to develop matrix tablets of levofloxacin for sustained release. Xanthan gum, guar gum, karaya gum used as natural polymers and study the effect of various formulation factors such as polymer proportion and effect of filler type on the in vitro release of the drug. Levofloxacin Matrix tablets were prepared by direct compression technique with average weight of drug of 250 mg. The prepared tablets were evaluated for weight variation, friability, hardness, thickness and in vitro dissolution studies. All the granules of formulations showed compliance with pharmacopoeial standards. From the In vitro dissolution studies it is clear that by increasing the amount of drug release is decreased as the concentration of polymer increased, drug release was found to be retarded. The formulation F7 is selected as the optimized formulation by in vitro drug release for 12 hrs with the release of 99.26%. The kinetic treatment showed that mechanism of drug tablets of levofloxacin follows non fickian transport mechanism which having n < 1 and by the stability studies there is no significant difference in the drug content. By the stability studies there is no significant difference in the drug content. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A six-day-old newborn was admitted with exfoliating erythematous lesions over the face, of two days duration. The lesions spread to the rest of the body during the next two days. A diagnosis of Staphylococcal Scalded Skin Syndrome (SSSS) was made clinically and confirmed by isolation of Staphylococcus aureus from a blood sample. The child responded to Injection vancomycin and no fresh lesions were seen after the next 48 hours. However the child developed severe pneumonia and left against medical advice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For an arborescence T, a directed pathos block line cut-vertex digraph Q = DPBLc(T) has vertex set V (Q) = A(T) ∪C(T) ∪B(T) ∪P(T), where C(T) is the cutvertex set, B(T) is the block set, and P(T) is a directed pathos set of T. The arc set A(Q) consists of the following arcs: ab such that a, b ∪A(T) and the head of a coincides with the tail of b; Cd such that C ∪C(T) and d ∪A(T) and the tail of d is C; dC such that C ∪C(T) and d ∪A(T) and the head of d is C; Bc such that B ∪B(T) and c ∪A(T) and the arc c lies on the block B; Pa such that a ∪A(T) and P ∪P(T) and the arc a lies on the directed path P; PjPj such that Pj, Pj ∪P(T) and it is possible to reach the head of Pj from the tail of Pj through a common vertex, but it is possible to reach the head of Pj from the tail of Pj . The problem of reconstructing an arborescence from its DPBLc(T) is discussed. We present the characterization of digraphs whose DPBLc(T) are planar and outer planar. In addition, a necessary and sufficient condition for DPBLc(T) to have crossing number one is presented. Further we show that for any arborescence T, DPBLc(T) never be maximal outer planar and minimally nonouterplanar. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has led to dramatic economic and health burdens. Although the worldwide SARS-CoV-2 vaccination campaign has begun, exploration of other vaccine candidates is needed due to uncertainties with the current approved vaccines, such as durability of protection, cross-protection against variant strains, and costs of long-term production and storage. In this study, we developed a methyltransferase-defective recombinant vesicular stomatitis virus (mtdVSV)- based SARS-CoV-2 vaccine candidate. We generated mtdVSVs expressing SARS-CoV-2 full-length spike (S) protein, S1, or its receptor-binding domain (RBD). All of these recombinant viruses grew to high titers in mammalian cells despite high attenuation in cell culture. The SARS-CoV-2 S protein and its truncations were highly expressed by the mtdVSV vector. These mtdVSV-based vaccine candidates were completely attenuated in both immunocompetent and immunocompromised mice. Among these constructs, mtdVSV-S induced high levels of SARS-CoV-2-specific neutralizing antibodies (NAbs) and Th1-biased T-cell immune responses in mice. In Syrian golden hamsters, the serum levels of SARS-CoV-2-specific NAbs triggered by mtdVSV-S were higher than the levels of NAbs in convalescent plasma from recovered COVID-19 patients. In addition, hamsters immunized with mtdVSV-S were completely protected against SARS-CoV-2 replication in lung and nasal turbinate tissues, cytokine storm, and lung pathology. Collectively, our data demonstrate that mtdVSV expressing SARS-CoV-2 S protein is a safe and highly efficacious vaccine candidate against SARS-CoV-2 infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of extracorporeal therapies for poisoning is expanding in the present days with technological advances and increased awareness among physicians attending critically ill patients both intensivists and nephrologists. In this regard we present our experience on hemoperfusion in poisonings over a period of 5 years. A total of 6 patients were treated with hemoperfusion during this period with majority of them were due to antiepileptic drugs (phenytoin, phenobarbitone, carbamazepine) followed by paraquat (a weedicide).The age range is from 19-59 years with a mean age of 31.3 years and male: female ratio of 1:1. Coming to the clinical presentation, 3 of them presented with unconsciousness, one with altered sensorium and two of them with vomiting associated with oliguria and breathlessness. Five of the six (83.3%) required ventilatory support during the hospital stay. The total number of hemoperfusion sessions required was 10, with an average of 1.6 sessions per patient. The average number of hemodialysis sessions required was 2.3 sessions per patient. Only one patient developed procedure related complication of thrombocytopenia related oral bleeding which subsided with supportive therapy and no further hemoperfusion. Four out of six patients (66.6 %) recovered while 33.4 % expired and both the patients who expired consumed paraquat poisoning. In conclusion hemoperfusion has a significant role in the management of certain poisonings which would reduce the morbidity and mortality associated with these poisonings.

The vascular access is considered as Achilles heel of a successful maintenance hemodialysis (MHD) program. Although it is ideal to initiate the dialysis through arteriovenous fistula (AVF), many of the patients start initiation through central venous catheters which predispose them later to multiple access complications. Also, as the elderly population has poor vasculature to support AVF, many of them end up exhausting all upper limb vascular accesses. As a result, there are a group of MHD patients with difficulty in using upper limb vascular access secondary to multiple access failure who are otherwise unable to switch to another modality of renal replacement therapy completely and have to rely on lower limb vascular access as a last resort to sustain life. We would like to share our experience on lower limb vascular access in our institute. The three types of lower limb vascular accesses include lower limb AVF, lower limb AV graft, and tunneled femoral vein catheter as illustrated in three patients with a successful utilization in sustaining life.

The digestive and respiratory tracts of chickens are colonized by bacteria that are believed to play important roles in the overall health and performance of the birds. Most of the current research on the commensal bacteria (microbiota) of chickens has focused on broilers and gut microbiota, and less attention has been given to layers and respiratory microbiota. This research bias has left significant gaps in our knowledge of the layer microbiome. This study was conducted to define the core microbiota colonizing the upper respiratory tract (URT) and lower intestinal tract (LIT) in commercial layers under field conditions. One hundred eighty-one chickens were sampled from a flock of >80,000 birds at nine times to collect samples for 16S rRNA gene-based bacterial metabarcoding. Generally, the body site and age/farm stage had very dominant effects on the quantity, taxonomic composition, and dynamics of core bacteria. Remarkably, ileal and URT microbiota were compositionally more related to each other than to that from the cecum. Unique taxa dominated in each body site yet some taxa overlapped between URT and LIT sites, demonstrating a common core. The overlapping bacteria also contained various levels of several genera with well-recognized avian pathogens. Our findings suggest that significant interaction exists between gut and respiratory microbiota, including potential pathogens, in all stages of the farm sequence. The baseline data generated in this study can be useful for the development of effective microbiome-based interventions to enhance production performance and to prevent and control disease in commercial chicken layers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: We present our study, done to identify the diagnostic yield of cognitive targeted biopsy using mpMRI data, to diagnose clinically significant prostate cancers, in a cohort of biopsy and treatment naive men., Materials and Methods: This is a prospective, single institutional study, done from September 2018 to March 2020 in 75 biopsy naive men. The patients with 3, 4 and 5 PIRADS scores underwent mpMRI cognitive target biopsy (mpMRI CTB) followed by standard biopsy (SB) in the same setting by two different urologists. Diagnostic yield of biopsy cores, complications, and stage migration of Gleason's grades was analyzed., Results: Out of 75 patients, 34.6% had abnormal digital rectal examination (DRE), and the median serum PSA was 10.6 (4.5-20) ng/mL. Total MRI suspicious lesions were 163. Out of 1263 SB cores, 371 cores were positive for cancer (29.35%), and out of 326 mpMRI CTB cores, 120 were positive for cancer (36.8%) (P<0.0001). Histopathological examination (HPE) revealed 88%, 92%, and 100% clinically significant cancers in PIRADS 3, 4 and 5 lesions. SB and mpMRI CTB in combination have better cancer detection yield than either of the modality when used alone (P-<0.0001). Clavien-Dindo grade 1 and grade 4a complication were seen in 47 (62.6%) and three (4%) patients., Conclusion: In biopsy-naive men with suspected prostate cancer and equivocal DRE, the addition of pre-biopsy mpMRI detects greater numbers of people with clinically significant prostate cancer when compared with SB alone. Combining SB with mpMRI CTB has a superior diagnosing ability when compared with either of the biopsy modalities when used alone., Competing Interests: The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work., (© 2021 Thangarasu et al.)

A series of new spirooxindolocarbamates 4a-l and 6a-d were synthesized by using the Betti reaction. All the target compounds were well characterized by IR, NMR and mass spectrometry. The structures of the compounds 4a and 4e were confirmed by the single crystal X-ray diffraction. The in vitro antibacterial activity results revealed that the compounds 4f exhibited excellent antibacterial activity against E. coli with MIC value 7.5 µg/mL when compared with the standard drug ciprofloxacin with MIC value 9.25 µg/mL. The compounds 4l and 6c exhibit significant inhibiting activity against E. Coli with MIC values 10.5 µg/mL and 9.5 µg/mL, respectively. The compounds 4c and 4e showed significant activity against S. aureus with MIC value 10.5 µg/mL. The compounds 4a and 4f were exhibited moderate antifungal activity against A. niger with MIC values 17.5 µg/mL and 18.0 µg/mL, respectively. The compounds 4f and 4l exhibited the potent antioxidant activity with IC 50 values 9.12 ± 0.01 µM and 7.06 ± 0.78 µM, respectively.

Clinicians may come across strange situations when they accidentally notice foreign bodies in the root canals of the teeth. This foreign body entrapment is more common in children because of the habit of placing various objects into the tooth, particularly in the cases of open carious lesions. Sometimes, these foreign objects may act as an impending source for pain and infection. Even though accidental insertion is the main etiological factor, there are other possibilities such as self-injurious habits and dental neglect which should be ruled out by thorough history. The present article describes two cases of typical etiology for foreign body lodgment and its management in the primary teeth., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts of interest.

Effect of spinach powder on the physico-chemical, rheological, nutritional and sensory characteristics on chapati premixes was studied by incorporating spinach powder at different concentrations from 1 % to 10 % based on wheat flour. Addition of 5 % of spinach powder to wheat flour was found to be optimum for chapati preparation. Effect of incorporation of spinach powder on the alveo-consistographic, mixographic and pasting characteristics were studied. It was observed that peak viscosity, breakdown viscosity significantly decreases whereas, peak time, tenacity increases with the increase in the concentration of spinach powder from 1 % to 10 % in chapati premixes. Addition of spinach powder also significantly affects the textural qualities of the chapaties. Premixes and prepared chapaties were also studied for chlorophyll content, total carotenoids,vitamins and minerals.

Men and women of African and South Asian ancestry in the United States are increasingly recognized as being at greater risk for coronary heart disease (CHD) than Caucasians of European ancestry. Relatively little data on the genetic and lifestyle risk factors that predispose women to CHD in these ethnic minorities are available. We compared coronary risk factors in a volunteer sample of African-American, Asian Indian American, and Caucasian American women of college age. Life style, dietary, hemodynamic and anthropometric parameters, and laboratory data were sought from 70 subjects in each ethnic group. African-American women were found to have lower triglyceride levels and higher apolipoproten A-1, high-density lipoprotein (HDL), lipoprotein (a) (Lp(a)), fibrinogen, and fasting insulin levels. They also consumed more fat and cholesterol than their peers, had a higher percentage of body fat, body weight, and body mass indexes, and reported less physical activity than Caucasians. Asian Indian American women had higher Lp(a), HDL, and fibrinogen levels than Caucasian American women, and also reported less physical activity. Thus, young African- American and Asian Indian American women have several modifiable risk factors as well as some nontraditional lipid risk factors that warrant consideration for explaining the increased prevalence of CHD in these ethnic groups. The tendency toward peripheral insulin insensitivity and increased body fat in this age group of African-American women suggests diet and exercise may reduce the risk of subsequent CHD.

With the availability of an organized nutrition support team (NST), the use of enteral nutrition (EN) can be extended to patients who would have otherwise received parenteral nutrition (PN). Although the formulation and accuracy of nutrient intake seems easier with PN, it is accepted that EN is cost effective and advantageous and should be used whenever possible. We discuss three cases in which the NST was initially consulted to provide PN. After evaluation by the dietitian, gastrointestinal access was obtained by the NST physician and EN could be initiated. The case studies show that an organized NST consisting of knowledgeable members can extend the use of EN to patients who would have otherwise received PN. The cost saving of such an approach and its efficacy in clinical practice are obvious.