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Throughout spring and summer 2020, ozone stations in the northern extratropics recorded unusually low ozone in the free troposphere. From April to August, and from 1 to 8 kilometers altitude, ozone was on average 7% (≈4 nmol/mol) below the 2000-2020 climatological mean. Such low ozone, over several months, and at so many stations, has not been observed in any previous year since at least 2000. Atmospheric composition analyses from the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service and simulations from the NASA GMI model indicate that the large 2020 springtime ozone depletion in the Arctic stratosphere contributed less than one-quarter of the observed tropospheric anomaly. The observed anomaly is consistent with recent chemistry-climate model simulations, which assume emissions reductions similar to those caused by the COVID-19 crisis. COVID-19 related emissions reductions appear to be the major cause for the observed reduced free tropospheric ozone in 2020., (© 2021. The Authors.)

Avoidance of innate immune defense is an important mechanism contributing to the pathogenicity of microorganisms. The fungal pathogen Candida albicans undergoes morphogenetic switching from the yeast to the filamentous hyphal form following phagocytosis by macrophages, facilitating its escape from the phagosome, which can result in host cell lysis. We show that the intracellular host trafficking GTPase Rab14 plays an important role in protecting macrophages from lysis mediated by C. albicans hyphae. Live-cell imaging of macrophages expressing green fluorescent protein (GFP)-tagged Rab14 or dominant negative Rab14, or with small interfering RNA (siRNA)-mediated knockdown of Rab14, revealed the temporal dynamics of this protein and its influence on the maturation of macrophage phagosomes following the engulfment of C. albicans cells. Phagosomes containing live C. albicans cells became transiently Rab14 positive within 2 min following engulfment. The duration of Rab14 retention on phagosomes was prolonged for hyphal cargo and was directly proportional to hyphal length. Interference with endogenous Rab14 did not affect the migration of macrophages toward C. albicans cells, the rate of engulfment, the overall uptake of fungal cells, or early phagosome processing. However, Rab14 depletion delayed the acquisition of the late phagosome maturation markers LAMP1 and lysosomal cathepsin, indicating delayed formation of a fully bioactive lysosome. This was associated with a significant increase in the level of macrophage killing by C. albicans. Therefore, Rab14 activity promotes phagosome maturation during C. albicans infection but is dysregulated on the phagosome in the presence of the invasive hyphal form, which favors fungal survival and escape., (Copyright © 2015 Okai et al.)

Context: Although Indian law permits abortion for a broad range of social and medical indications, millions of unsafe and illegal abortions and countless subsequent complications occur annually. Nonetheless, in the central Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, few women with abortion complications are reported to seek care at registered private and public health facilities. Information is needed about where rural women seek care for abortion complications and about the quality of care they receive., Methods: Qualitative data were collected in 1999 in four villages in rural Uttar Pradesh. The study team conducted community mapping exercises, focus group discussions with female and male community members, and in-depth interviews with women of reproductive age and with postabortion care providers., Results: Postabortion care is widely available in the villages studied, largely from untrained or inappropriately trained providers. Because village-level providers are the front line of care for many women, abortion complications may be exacerbated rather than alleviated, appropriate care delayed and the cost of treatment increased. Village-level postabortion care does not include family planning and contraceptive counseling services or links to reproductive and other health services., Conclusions: : Existing village-level postabortion care services are inadequate. There is an urgent need to increase women's access to higher-quality postabortion care. This can be done by simultaneously engaging village-level providers in the formal system of postabortion care service delivery, as appropriate, and addressing the prevailing social and cultural mores that discourage women with abortion complications from seeking higher-level care.

The incidence of urinary tract infection in our community is studied taking into consideration the indiscriminate and inappropriate use of antimicrobial agents and describing a simple method which could be adopted to evaluate samples of urine for the presence of antimicrobial agents. It reveals that 42.9% individuals were actually on antimicrobial agents and had sufficient levels in their urine to inhibit growth of the most common causative agent of urinary tract infection.

The significance Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) of determination for Meningococci is described and according to the present study a shift in the sensitivity of Meningococcus is occurring, local isolates show higher Minimum Inhibitory Concentration for Chloramphenicol and Azactam. Strains of Meningococcus can successfully be stored in a domestic freezer.

Antibiotic testing by Disc was compared with Break-Point method using 535 clinical isolates; Disc sensitivity method was carried out in the routine way using the disc provided by pharmaceutical company. Break-point sensitivity was done by incorporating the substrate into solid medium, the results obtained showed greater resistance by Break-point which appears to be more realistic in the light of indiscriminate usage of antibiotic. The method is simple, cost effective, reliable and realistic (JPMA 39 : 94, 1989).

Three hundred random sputum samples were collected for analysis from cases of mild to severe respiratory infections and screened for Legionella pneumophila by both the culture method and also the direct fluorescent antigen test. In one third of the cases, blood specimen was also collected and screened for Legionella serum antibodies. With the direct fluorescent test it was possible to identify Legionella in 9% of the samples while the culture gave positive results in 4.3% of cases. Diagnostic antibody titers (1:256) were obtained in 12% of the samples while another 12% cases showed serum antibody titers of 1:64 to 1:128. In Pakistan where antibiotics are used extensively, the direct fluorescent examination of sputum samples gives more accurate diagnosis of Legionella cases than the culture method.