Prevalence of aerobic and anaerobic uterine bacteria during peripartum period in normal and dystocia-affected buffaloes

Parturition complications predispose establishment of uterine infections, which in turn affect subsequent fertility. The aim of present study was to characterize and compare the type of bacterial flora prevalent within the uterine lumen of dystocia-affected buffaloes and compare them with the normally calving buffaloes. The study was conducted on 40 buffaloes; of which 10 calved normally (Group I) and 30 were treated for dystocia (Group II). Bacteriological examination was performed using uterine swabs, which were collected before delivery, immediately after delivery and day's 24-60 postpartum. A total of 30 uterine swabs from Group I and 79 swabs from Group II were collected, of which 19 (63.3%) and 71 (89.9%) yielded significant bacterial growth, respectively. A total of 205 isolates belonging to 10 different genera of bacteria were identified, 8 facultative anaerobes and 2 obligate anaerobes. In Group II, 91.6% of the bacteria positive swabs (n = 71) yielded mixed cultures, whereas the remainder being pure cultures. In contrast, 89.5% of the bacteria positive swabs of Group I (n = 19) yielded pure cultures. Mixed infections comprised mostly Arcanobacter (Actinomyces) pyogenes together with obligate anaerobes, Fusobacterium spp. and Bacteroides spp. In Group II, the frequency of incidental and coliform group bacteria was highest at the time of parturition, i.e., before and immediately after delivery, and decreased to nil during the 24-60-day postpartum period. However, in Group I, the incidental and coliform group of bacteria present at the time of parturition apparently persisted beyond the period when uterine involution is complete. The frequency of obligate anaerobes and A. pyogenes at the time of parturition was nil in the Group I while they predominated in dystocia-affected buffaloes (Group II). During the postpartum period of 24-60 days, the frequency of both obligate anaerobes and A. pyogenes increased significantly in Group II, whereas in Group I, only occasional isolates were obtained. To conclude, at the time of calving the prevalence of obligate anaerobes and A. pyogenes occurring in combination was highest in dystocia-affected buffaloes, and further increased in the postpartum period suggesting that these infections act synergistically.     

Effect of propriety herbal formulation against chronic carbon tetrachloride induced hepatotoxicity

Efficacy of propriety herbal formulation (PHF) against carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) induced liver damage was investigated in adult rats. Administration of CCl4 (0.2 ml/kg; i.p.) twice a week for 12 weeks resulted in significant elevation in serum transaminases activity. Level of reduced glutathione was significantly decreased. On the contrary, significant elevation was found in the hepatic lipid peroxidation level. Proliferation of fibroblast replaced the hepatic parenchyma cells in focal areas. Cell organelles like mitochondria, endoplasmic reticulum and nucleus showed severe degeneration after CCl4 exposure. PHF was effective in restoring the CCl4 induced biochemical and histological ultrastructural changes.     

Grey Matter Atrophy in Multiple Sclerosis: Clinical Interpretation Depends on Choice of Analysis Method

Background

Studies disagree on the location of grey matter (GM) atrophy in the multiple sclerosis (MS) brain.

Aim

To examine the consistency between FSL, FreeSurfer, SPM for GM atrophy measurement (for volumes, patient/control discrimination, and correlations with cognition).

Materials and Methods

127 MS patients and 50 controls were included and cortical and deep grey matter (DGM) volumetrics were performed. Consistency of volumes was assessed with Intraclass Correlation Coefficient/ICC. Consistency of patients/controls discrimination was assessed with Cohen’s d, t-tests, MANOVA and a penalized double-loop logistic classifier. Consistency of association with cognition was assessed with Pearson correlation coefficient and ANOVA. Voxel-based morphometry (SPM-VBM and FSL-VBM) and vertex-wise FreeSurfer were used for group-level comparisons.

Results

The highest volumetry ICC were between SPM and FreeSurfer for cortical regions, and the lowest between SPM and FreeSurfer for DGM. The caudate nucleus and temporal lobes had high consistency between all software, while amygdala had lowest volumetric consistency. Consistency of patients/controls discrimination was largest in the DGM for all software, especially for thalamus and pallidum. The penalized double-loop logistic classifier most often selected the thalamus, pallidum and amygdala for all software. FSL yielded the largest number of significant correlations. DGM yielded stronger correlations with cognition than cortical volumes. Bilateral putamen and left insula volumes correlated with cognition using all methods.

Conclusion

GM volumes from FreeSurfer, FSL and SPM are different, especially for cortical regions. While group-level separation between MS and controls is comparable, correlations between regional GM volumes and clinical/cognitive variables in MS should be cautiously interpreted.     

Augmentation of a Microbial Consortium for Enhanced Polylactide (PLA) Degradation

Bioplastics are eco-friendly and derived from renewable biomass sources. Innovation in recycling methods will tackle some of the critical issues facing the acceptance of bioplastics. Polylactic acid (PLA) is the commonly used and well-studied bioplastic that is presumed to be biodegradable. Considering their demand and use in near future, exploration for microbes capable of bioplastic degradation has high potential. Four PLA degrading strains were isolated and identified as Penicillium chrysogenum, Cladosporium sphaerospermum, Serratia marcescens and Rhodotorula mucilaginosa. A consortium of above strains degraded 44 % (w/w) PLA in 30 days time in laboratory conditions. Subsequently, the microbial consortium employed effectively for PLA composting.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s12088-015-0559-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Diastereoselective synthesis of glycosylated prolines as alpha-glucosidase inhibitors and organocatalyst in asymmetric aldol reaction

1,3-Dipolar cycloaddition of azomethine ylides and glycosyl E-olefins in presence of LDA led to diastereoselective formation of C-glycosylated proline esters. The selected esters on regioselective hydrolysis with LiOH gave C-glycosyl prolines. Few of the proline esters exhibited very good alpha-glucosidase inhibitory activity. The organocatalytic activity of the proline derivatives in a prototype Aldol reaction has also been investigated.     

Human papillomavirus elevated genetic biomarker signature by statistical algorithm

Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is the one of the most frequently found cancers in the world. The aim of the study was to find the genes responsible and enriched pathways associated with HNSCC using bioinformatics and survival analysis methods. A total of 646 patients with HNSCC based on clinical information were considered for the study. HNSCC samples were grouped according to the parameters (RFS, DFS, PFS, or OS). The probe ID of these 11 genes was retrieved by Affymetrix using the NetAffx Query algorithm. The protein–protein interaction (PPI) network and Kaplan–Meier curve were used to find associations among the genes' expression data. We found that among these 11 genes, nine genes, CCNA1, MMP3, FLRT3, GJB6, ZFR2, PITX2, SYCP2, MEI1, and UGT8 were significant (p < .05). A survival plot was drawn between the p value and gene expression. This study helped us find the nine significant genes which play vital roles in HNSCC along with their key pathways and their interaction with other genes in the PPI network. Finally, we found the biomarker index for relapse time and risk factors for HNSCC in cancer patients.     

The Characteristics of Heterozygous Protein Truncating Variants in the Human Genome

Sequencing projects have identified large numbers of rare stop-gain and frameshift variants in the human genome. As most of these are observed in the heterozygous state, they test a gene’s tolerance to haploinsufficiency and dominant loss of function. We analyzed the distribution of truncating variants across 16,260 autosomal protein coding genes in 11,546 individuals. We observed 39,893 truncating variants affecting 12,062 genes, which significantly differed from an expectation of 12,916 genes under a model of neutral de novo mutation (p<10⁻⁴). Extrapolating this to increasing numbers of sequenced individuals, we estimate that 10.8% of human genes do not tolerate heterozygous truncating variants. An additional 10 to 15% of truncated genes may be rescued by incomplete penetrance or compensatory mutations, or because the truncating variants are of limited functional impact. The study of protein truncating variants delineates the essential genome and, more generally, identifies rare heterozygous variants as an unexplored source of diversity of phenotypic traits and diseases.     

Rab5-mediated endosome-endosome fusion regulates hemoglobin endocytosis in Leishmania donovani

To understand the trafficking of endocytosed hemoglobin (Hb) in Leishmania, we investigated the characteristics of in vitro fusion between endosomes containing biotinylated Hb (BHb) and avidin-horseradish peroxidase (AHRP). We showed that early endosome fusion in Leishmania is temperature and cytosol dependent and is inhibited by ATP depletion, ATPgammaS, GTPgammaS and N-ethylmaleimide treatment. The Rab5 homolog from Leishmania donovani, LdRab5, was cloned and expressed. Our results showed that homotypic fusion between the early endosomes in Leishmania is Rab5 dependent. Early endosomes containing BHb fused efficiently with late endosomes in a process regulated by Rab7, whereas no fusion between early and late endosomes was detected using fluid phase markers. Pre-treatment of early endosomes containing BHb with monoclonal antibody specific for the C-terminus of the Hb receptor (HbR) or the addition of the C-terminal cytoplasmic fragment of the HbR specifically inhibited the fusion with late endosomes, suggesting that signal(s) mediated through the HbR cytoplasmic tail promotes the fusion of early endosomes containing Hb with late endosomes.