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Arsenic (As) is one of the ten major poisonous metals occurring on earth crust or environment originated from rocks, minerals, and anthropogenic sources. This toxic metalloid occurs as insoluble trivalent arsenite (As III) and pentavalent arsenate (As V) which are fatal to human health as recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO). The insoluble form of arsenic occurs in trivalent arsenite (As III) and pentavalent arsenate (As V) forms. As V is a structural equivalent of phosphate and breaks oxidative phosphorylation, which is a vital reaction of energy uptake in many beings including humans. Processing a phosphate structure analogue which could enter any bacterial cell through phosphate transport system and phosphorylates replacing phosphate thereby inhibits the metabolism. Arsenic is uptaken by aquaglyceroporins at neutral pH in bacteria, yeasts, and mammals by binding to sulfhydryl groups of cysteine residues in proteins leading to an increased cytotoxicity. The soil microbes play a substantial role in its biogeochemical processing, by directly taking part in As speciation or doing so circuitously through redox interactions with other metals and nutrients, e.g., iron and nitrogen. The development of descriptive and comparative approaches with the cumulative number of genomes available was conceived not only to identify several genetic elements of the arsenic metabolism but also to explicate their phylogenetic circulation and its regulation. Numerous mechanisms are used by these microbes such as avoiding/reducing the toxicity due to arsenic by a phosphate uptake, by lipid peroxidation in the cell membranes, and by modifying the ars gene which controls the arsenic detoxification pathway. In this context, we will discuss in detail on the importance of arsenic-transforming bacteria and its potential application in bioremediation of contaminated soil.

Macro-algae are a good source of agar oligosaccharides, which can be obtained through bacterial enzymatic hydrolysis. The agarase enzyme secreted by the micro-organisms cleaves the cell wall of the algae and releases agar oligosaccharides as degradation products with various applications. Agarolytic bacteria were isolated from the marine algae Kappaphycus sp., and Sargassum sp., and studied for their agar-degrading properties. Among the 70 isolates, 2 isolates (A13 and Sg8) showed agarase activity in in vitro assays. The maximum agarolytic index was recorded in the isolate Sg8 (3.75 mm and 4.29 µg ml−1 agarase activity), followed by the isolate A13 (2.53 mm and 2.6 µg ml−1 agarase activity). Optimum agarase production of isolate Sg8 was observed at pH7 and at a temperature of 25 °C in 24–48 h, whereas for isolate A13 the optimum production was at pH7 and at a temperature of 37 °C in 48 h. The identities of the agarolytic isolates (Sg8 and A13) were confirmed based on microscopy, morphological, biochemical and molecular analysis as Shewanella algae [National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) GenBank accession number MK121204.1] and Microbulbifer elongatus [NCBI GenBank accession number MK825484.1], respectively.

Introduction: Transgenders are a group whose sexual identity, orientation, and practices differ from majority of the society. Aim: The aim of the study is to highlight the presence of infectious and noninfectious dermatological and venereal diseases among transgender population. Materials and Methods: A retrospective study was conducted on 120 transgender patients who attended DVL OPD from January 2011 to April 2015. The demographic profile, behavioral patterns, and prevalence of infectious and noninfectious dermatological and venereal diseases were studied. Results: All transgenders were male to females. Almost 46.6% (56) of transgenders belonged to age group 21-30, 25% (30) to 11-20 and 30-40, and 3.4% to >40 years. Nearly 61.3% (74) completed high school, 14.7% (18) graduation, 12% (14) primary school, 9% (10) higher secondary, and 1.3% (2) were illiterate and postgraduates each. All had multiple sex partners at certain point of time, of which 25% (31) are now committed to a single partner and 15% (19) involved in commercial sex. The safe sexual practice was followed by 68% (84). Among sexual practices, oral contributed 97.3% (117), anal 92% (110.4), finger 9% (11), thigh 6% (7), and vaginal 24% (28.8). Of 120 patients, 63.3% (76) had infectious diseases, 42.5% (51) had noninfectious diseases, and 5.9% (7) had both. Nearly 76.3% (58) had infectious dermatological diseases 76.3 (58) and 23.7% (18) had venereal infections. Noninfectious dermatological diseases accounted for 96.1% (49) and venereal diseases for 4% (2). Conclusion: There was relatively lower prevalence of infectious venereal diseases among transgender population, attributable to the good level of awareness among them.

Background & Objectives: Psoriatic arthritis (PsA) and Psoriasis (Ps) is a chronic inflammatory disorder affecting mainly the skin and synovial membrane. While the etiology remains underexplored, multiple factors seem to play a role in pathogenesis. Reports show that the gut microbiome contributes to arthritis and related inflammation of the joints. Methods This study was initiated to understand the variation in the microbiome in PsA patients visiting the Mahatma Gandhi Medical College and Research Institute(MGMCRI) hospital, Puducherry. Fecal samples were collected from 15clinically and diagnostically confirmed as PsA and Ps patients. They were subjected to standard microbiological analysis. Results: Gram positive Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococci constituted 30% of the isolates. Remaining 70% included Gram negative bacteria with a predominant presence of Escherichia coli, Enterococcus, Klebsiella, Pseudomonas, and Proteus. Conclusion: A total of 30 aerobic bacterial isolates were identified from the fecal samples of PsA and Ps Patients visiting MGMCRI hospital. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first South Indian study characterizing the fecal microbial compositions in PsA patients

Summary Background Closure of an abdominal stoma, a common elective operation, is associated with frequent complications; one of the commonest and impactful is incisional hernia formation. We aimed to investigate whether biological mesh (collagen tissue matrix) can safely reduce the incidence of incisional hernias at the stoma closure site. Methods In this randomised controlled trial (ROCSS) done in 37 hospitals across three European countries (35 UK, one Denmark, one Netherlands), patients aged 18 years or older undergoing elective ileostomy or colostomy closure were randomly assigned using a computer-based algorithm in a 1:1 ratio to either biological mesh reinforcement or closure with sutures alone (control). Training in the novel technique was standardised across hospitals. Patients and outcome assessors were masked to treatment allocation. The primary outcome measure was occurrence of clinically detectable hernia 2 years after randomisation (intention to treat). A sample size of 790 patients was required to identify a 40% reduction (25% to 15%), with 90% power (15% drop-out rate). This study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02238964. Findings Between Nov 28, 2012, and Nov 11, 2015, of 1286 screened patients, 790 were randomly assigned. 394 (50%) patients were randomly assigned to mesh closure and 396 (50%) to standard closure. In the mesh group, 373 (95%) of 394 patients successfully received mesh and in the control group, three patients received mesh. The clinically detectable hernia rate, the primary outcome, at 2 years was 12% (39 of 323) in the mesh group and 20% (64 of 327) in the control group (adjusted relative risk [RR] 0·62, 95% CI 0·43–0·90; p=0·012). In 455 patients for whom 1 year postoperative CT scans were available, there was a lower radiologically defined hernia rate in mesh versus control groups (20 [9%] of 229 vs 47 [21%] of 226, adjusted RR 0·42, 95% CI 0·26–0·69; p

Welding residual stress is one of the main concerns in the process of fabrication and operation because of failures in welded steel joints due to its potential effect on structural integrity. This work focuses on the effect of welding residual stress on the ductile crack growth behavior in AISI 316LN welded CT specimens. Two-dimensional plane strain model has been used to simulate the CT specimen. X-ray diffraction technique is used to obtain residual stress value at the SS 316LN weld joint. The GTN model has been employed to estimate the ductile crack growth behavior in the CT-specimen. Results show that residual stresses influence the ductile crack growth behavior. The effect of residual stress has also been investigated for cases with different initial void volume fraction, crack lengths.

This study aims to identify risk factors associated with complications in retinoblastoma patients following primary and secondary enucleations with porous implant placement. A retrospective case-control study was performed between 2010 and 2015. Data pertaining to subjects’ demographics, medical history, clinical, and pathological findings, implant characteristics and complications were collected. The analysis included 103 eyes of 101 patients age 27.8 ± 21.9 months undergoing enucleation for retinoblastoma. Postoperatively, 19/103 (18%) eyes developed exposure, extrusion, or hematoma requiring subsequent surgery. Exposure was the most common postoperative complication (12/19, 63%). Age at enucleation 24 months or younger, Hispanic ethnicity, female gender, and intravenous chemotherapy prior to enucleation were associated with increased odds of implant complications. In contrast, patients who were given intravitreal melphalan (IM), subtenons carboplatin (SC), or external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) did not demonstrate an increased risk of complications. In this cohort of retinoblastoma patients undergoing primary or secondary enucleation with porous implants, implant exposure was the most common postoperative complication. Our findings suggest that female gender, Hispanic ethnicity, age at enucleation 24 months or younger, and intravenous chemotherapy prior to enucleation may increase the risk of complications.

Intrusion detection plays an important role in today's computer and communication technology. It is of a paramount importance to design a time efficient and accurate Intrusion Detection System (IDS). In this paper, an Intelligent Intrusion Detection System (IIDS) is developed using the combination of several neural experts forming a Committee of Experts, used to detect and prevent various anomalies. The input to the system is given by the feature extraction of various historic data present in the central database and making a suitable training data classifier. Furthermore, each expert within the committee is assigned a different granularity of data, because the training set is based on its fundamental properties. The experts are designed in such a way that they make accurate predictions using the data. The system takes the necessary steps in identification of the anomaly and was found to have a high attack success detection rate.

Aims: To establish the role of maltoporin (LamB) in adherence of enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) to epithelial cells in vitro. Methods and Results: Three strains, wild type (WT) EPEC, a maltoporin (LamB) mutant ΔlamB, and DH5α were used to study adherence to cultured HEp-2 cells. Mutant ΔlamB was found to be deficient in adherence compared to WT EPEC. Adherence of ΔlamB was restored to wild type levels when complemented with the cloned lamB gene. The non–adherent strain DH5α also adhered to HEp-2 cells when it harboured the cloned lamB gene. The LamB protein was isolated from WT EPEC by electroelution and antibodies were raised in rabbits. The specificity of the antibodies was analysed by Western blotting. Anti-LamB antiserum reduced adherence of WT EPEC to HEp-2 cells. The LamB protein was coated on latex beads and the beads adhered to HEp-2 cells. Anti-LamB antiserum prevented bead adherence to HEp-2 cells. Multiple sequence alignment showed that the L9 loop of EPEC LamB had four amino acids different from the L9 loop of LamB from several other related pathogens. Conclusions: LamB serves as an alternative or additional adherence factor for EPEC. Significance and Impact of the Study: Adherence is an important component of the pathogenesis of noninvasive pathogens like EPEC. A putative adhesin such as LamB, which has already been found to be co-expressed with virulence factor EspB may be a potential vaccine candidate for control of EPEC and related pathogens.

Molecules with bi-functional activities are preferred targets in drug discovery research today. In this study, a possible dual role (anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial activity) of a plant extract has been discussed. As an initiative, the extract is found to suppress inflammation caused by endotoxin release from an enteric pathogen. Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (E. coli) (EPEC O127:H6) causes persistent diarrhea and continues to be a major health problem among infants in developing countries. Host inflammatory response during EPEC infection is weak when compared to infections caused by other enteric pathogens. This is due to the suppression of intestinal inflammatory response by type III secreted proteins of EPEC during infection process. The weak inflammatory response is thus possibly due to disruption of tight junctions, which in turn facilitate recruitment of macrophages from the underlying lamina propria or shedding of bacterial products like lipopolysaccharide (LPS) during antibiotic mediated bacterial lysis. Since intestinal cells are non-responsive to LPS, the inflammatory response would be elicited by the intestinal macrophages present at the site of infection. Apart from commercial LPS from E. coli O111:B4, LPS was isolated from EPEC and used for inducing inflammatory markers like TNFα, IL-1β, IL-8 and TLR4 in J774 A.1 murine macrophage like cells to make this study clinically relevant. Alpinia officinarum is a traditional, perennial herb used widely in China and India for treating arthritis and gastrointestinal disorders. The ethyl acetate extract of Alpinia officinarum effectively suppressed EPEC LPS induced inflammatory response thereby exhibiting potential in a clinical scenario, wherein diarrhea induced by EPEC or products of its lysis is either a consequence of macrophage induced inflammation or antibiotic treatment or due to a potential, yet to be analyzed, anti-bacterial activity of Alpinia officinarum extract against EPEC.