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Sharma KK, Panwar H, Gupta KK. Isolation and characterization of bio-prospecting gut strains Bacillus safensis CGK192 and Bacillus australimaris CGK221 for plastic (HDPE) degradation. Biotechnol Lett 2024:10.1007/s10529-024-03486-z. [PMID: 38705964 DOI: 10.1007/s10529-024-03486-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2023] [Revised: 12/20/2023] [Accepted: 03/10/2024] [Indexed: 05/07/2024]
Abstract
The present work reports the application of novel gut strains Bacillus safensis CGK192 (Accession No. OM658336) and Bacillus australimaris CGK221 (Accession No. OM658338) in the biological degradation of synthetic polymer i.e., high-density polyethylene (HDPE). The biodegradation assay based on polymer weight loss was conducted under laboratory conditions for a period of 90 days along with regular evaluation of bacterial biomass in terms of total protein content and viable cells (CFU/cm2). Notably, both strains achieved significant weight reduction for HDPE films without any physical or chemical pretreatment in comparison to control. Hydrophobicity and biosurfactant characterization were also done in order to assess strains ability to form bacterial biofilm over the polymer surface. The post-degradation characterization of HDPE was also performed to confirm degradation using analytical techniques such as Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Field emission scanning electronic microscopy (FE-SEM) coupled with energy dispersive X-ray (EDX), and Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Interestingly strain CGK221 was found to be more efficient in forming biofilm over polymer surface as indicated by lower half-life (i.e., 0.00032 day-1) and higher carbonyl index in comparison to strain CGK192. The findings reflect the ability of our strains to develop biofilm and introduce an oxygenic functional group into the polymer surface, thereby making it more susceptible to degradation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kamal Kant Sharma
- Department of Botany and Microbiology, Gurukula Kangri (Deemed to be University), Haridwar, Uttarakhand, India
| | - Himalaya Panwar
- Department of Botany and Microbiology, Gurukula Kangri (Deemed to be University), Haridwar, Uttarakhand, India
| | - Kartikey Kumar Gupta
- Department of Botany and Microbiology, Gurukula Kangri (Deemed to be University), Haridwar, Uttarakhand, India.
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Sharma KK, Somasundaram J, Sachdeva A. Self-Selected Versus Assigned Target to Reduce Smartphone Use and Improve Mental Health: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial. JMIR Res Protoc 2024; 13:e53756. [PMID: 38709546 DOI: 10.2196/53756] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/23/2023] [Revised: 02/13/2024] [Accepted: 03/23/2024] [Indexed: 05/07/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Smartphones have become integral to people's lives, with a noticeable increase in the average screen time, both on a global scale and, notably, in India. Existing research links mobile consumption to sleep problems, poor physical and mental health, and lower subjective well-being. The comparative effectiveness of monetary incentives given for self-selected versus assigned targets on reducing screen time and thereby improving mental health remains unanswered. OBJECTIVE This study aims to assess the impact of monetary incentives and target selection on mobile screen time reduction and mental health. METHODS We designed a 3-armed randomized controlled trial conducted with employees and students at an educational institution in India. The study is conducted digitally over 12 weeks, including baseline (2 weeks), randomization (1 week), intervention (5 weeks), and postintervention (4 week) periods. We emailed the employees and students to inquire about their interest in participation. Those who expressed interest received detailed study information and consent forms. After securing consent, participants were asked to complete the initial survey and provide their mobile screen time during the baseline period. At the beginning of the intervention period, the participants were randomly allocated into 1 of 3 study groups in a 2:2:1 ratio (self-selected vs assigned vs control). Participants in the self-selected group were presented with 3 target options: 10%, 20%, and 30%, and they were asked to self-select a target to reduce their mobile screen time from their baseline average mobile screen time. Participants in the assigned group were given a target to reduce their mobile screen time from their baseline average mobile screen time. The assigned target was set as the average of the targets selected by participants in the self-selected group. During the intervention period, participants in the self-selected and assigned group were eligible to receive a monetary incentive of INR (Indian Rupee) 50 (US $0.61) per day for successfully attaining their target. Participants in the control group neither received nor selected a target for reducing their mobile screen time and did not receive any monetary incentives during the intervention period. All participants received information regarding the advantages of reducing mobile screen time. As an incentive, all participants would receive INR 500 (US $6.06) upon completion of the study and a chance to win 1 of 2 lotteries valued at INR 5000 (US $60.55) for consistently sharing their mobile screen time data. RESULTS Currently, the study intervention is being rolled out. Enrollment occurred between August 21, 2023, and September 2, 2023; data collection concluded in November 2023. We expect that results will be available by early 2024. CONCLUSIONS The monetary incentives and self-selected versus assigned targets might be effective interventions in reducing mobile screen time among working professionals and students. TRIAL REGISTRATION AsPredicted 142497; https://aspredicted.org/hr3nn.pdf. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID) DERR1-10.2196/53756.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kamal Kant Sharma
- Max Institute of Healthcare Management, Indian School of Business, Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar, Punjab, India
| | | | - Ashish Sachdeva
- Max Institute of Healthcare Management, Indian School of Business, Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar, Punjab, India
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Sharma KK, Diltz MA, Lincoln T, Albuquerque ER, Romanski LM. Neuronal Population Encoding of Identity in Primate Prefrontal Cortex. J Neurosci 2024; 44:e0703232023. [PMID: 37963766 PMCID: PMC10860606 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.0703-23.2023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/19/2023] [Revised: 08/22/2023] [Accepted: 10/10/2023] [Indexed: 11/16/2023] Open
Abstract
The ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC) shows robust activation during the perception of faces and voices. However, little is known about what categorical features of social stimuli drive neural activity in this region. Since perception of identity and expression are critical social functions, we examined whether neural responses to naturalistic stimuli were driven by these two categorical features in the prefrontal cortex. We recorded single neurons in the VLPFC, while two male rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) viewed short audiovisual videos of unfamiliar conspecifics making expressions of aggressive, affiliative, and neutral valence. Of the 285 neurons responsive to the audiovisual stimuli, 111 neurons had a main effect (two-way ANOVA) of identity, expression, or their interaction in their stimulus-related firing rates; however, decoding of expression and identity using single-unit firing rates rendered poor accuracy. Interestingly, when decoding from pseudo-populations of recorded neurons, the accuracy for both expression and identity increased with population size, suggesting that the population transmitted information relevant to both variables. Principal components analysis of mean population activity across time revealed that population responses to the same identity followed similar trajectories in the response space, facilitating segregation from other identities. Our results suggest that identity is a critical feature of social stimuli that dictates the structure of population activity in the VLPFC, during the perception of vocalizations and their corresponding facial expressions. These findings enhance our understanding of the role of the VLPFC in social behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- K K Sharma
- Department of Neuroscience, School of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14620
| | - M A Diltz
- Department of Neuroscience, School of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14620
| | - T Lincoln
- Department of Neuroscience, School of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14620
| | - E R Albuquerque
- Department of Neuroscience, School of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14620
| | - L M Romanski
- Department of Neuroscience, School of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14620
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Devi D, Gupta KK, Chandra H, Sharma KK, Sagar K, Mori E, de Farias PAM, Coutinho HDM, Mishra AP. Biodegradation of low-density polyethylene (LDPE) through application of indigenous strain Alcaligenes faecalis ISJ128. Environ Geochem Health 2023; 45:9391-9409. [PMID: 37184721 DOI: 10.1007/s10653-023-01590-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/04/2022] [Accepted: 04/18/2023] [Indexed: 05/16/2023]
Abstract
The resiliency of plastic products against microbial degradation in natural environment often creates devastating changes for humans, plants, and animals on the earth's surface. Biodegradation of plastics using indigenous bacteria may serve as a critical approach to overcome this resulting environmental stress. In the present work, a polyethylene degrading bacterium Alcaligenes faecalis strain ISJ128 (Accession No. MK968769) was isolated from partially degraded polyethylene film buried in the soil at plastic waste disposal site. The biodegradation studies were conducted by employing various methods such as hydrophobicity assessment of the strain ISJ128, measurement of viability and total protein content of bacterial biofilm attached to the polyethylene surface. The proliferation of bacterial cells on polyethylene film, as indicated by high growth response in terms of protein content (85.50 µg mL-1) and viability (1010 CFU mL-1), proposed reasonable suitability of our strain A. faecalis ISJ128 toward polyethylene degradation. The results of biodegradation assay revealed significant degradation (10.40%) of polyethylene film within a short period of time (i.e., 60 days), whereas no signs of degradation were seen in control PE film. A. faecalis strain ISJ128 also demonstrated a removal rate of 0.0018 day-1 along with half-life of 462 days. The scanning electron microscope (SEM) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy studies not only displayed changes on polyethylene surface but also altered level of intensity of functional groups and an increase in the carbonyl indexes justifying the degradation of polyethylene film due to bacterial activity. In addition, the secondary structure prediction (M fold software) of 16SrDNA proved the stable nature of the bacterial strain, thereby reflecting the profound scope of A. faecalis strain ISJ128 as a potential degrader for the eco-friendly disposal of polyethylene waste. Schematic representation of methodology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Deepa Devi
- Department of Botany and Microbiology, Gurukula Kangri (Deemed to be University), Haridwar, Uttarakhand, 249404, India
| | - Kartikey Kumar Gupta
- Department of Botany and Microbiology, Gurukula Kangri (Deemed to be University), Haridwar, Uttarakhand, 249404, India.
| | - Harish Chandra
- Department of Botany and Microbiology, Gurukula Kangri (Deemed to be University), Haridwar, Uttarakhand, 249404, India
| | - Kamal Kant Sharma
- Department of Botany and Microbiology, Gurukula Kangri (Deemed to be University), Haridwar, Uttarakhand, 249404, India
| | - Kalpana Sagar
- Department of Botany and Microbiology, Gurukula Kangri (Deemed to be University), Haridwar, Uttarakhand, 249404, India
| | - Edna Mori
- CECAPE College, Av. Padre Cícero, 3917 - São José, Juazeiro do Norte, CE, 63024-015, Brazil
| | | | - Henrique Douglas Melo Coutinho
- Department of Chemical Biology, Regional University of Cariri - URCA, Av. Cel Antonio Luiz, 1161, Pimenta, Crato, CE, 63105-000, Brazil.
| | - Abhay Prakash Mishra
- Department of Pharmacology, University of Free State, Bloemfontein, 9300, Free State, South Africa.
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Partap U, Sharma KK, Marathe Y, Wang M, Shaikh S, D’Costa P, Gupta G, Bromage S, Hemler EC, Mistry N, Kain KC, Dholakia Y, Fawzi WW. Vitamin D and Zinc Supplementation to Improve Treatment Outcomes among COVID-19 Patients in India: Results from a Double-Blind Randomized Placebo-Controlled Trial. Curr Dev Nutr 2023; 7:101971. [PMID: 37560461 PMCID: PMC10407567 DOI: 10.1016/j.cdnut.2023.101971] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2023] [Revised: 07/05/2023] [Accepted: 07/07/2023] [Indexed: 08/11/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND There remains a need to identify low-cost interventions to improve coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outcomes. Vitamin D and zinc play a role in respiratory infections and could hold value as part of therapeutic regimens. OBJECTIVES To determine the effect of vitamin D or zinc supplementation on recovery from COVID-19. METHODS We conducted a double-blind, randomly assigned 2 x 2 factorial placebo-controlled trial with 1:1:1:1 allocation ratio, enrolling nonpregnant adults with COVID-19 from hospitals in Mumbai and Pune, India (NCT04641195). Participants (N = 181) were randomly assigned to vitamin D3 (180,000 IU bolus, then 2000 IU daily), zinc (40 mg daily), vitamin D3 and zinc, or placebo, for 8 wk. Participants were followed until 8 wk. The primary outcome was time to resolution of fever, cough, and shortness of breath. Secondary outcomes were duration of individual symptoms; need for assisted ventilation; duration of hospital stay; all-cause mortality; and blood biomarkers, including nutritional, inflammatory, and immunological markers. RESULTS We observed no effect of vitamin D or zinc supplementation on time to resolution of all 3 symptoms [vitamin D hazard ratio (HR): 0.92; 95% confidence interval (95% CI): 0.66, 1.30; P = 0.650; zinc HR: 0.94; 95% CI: 0.67, 1.33; P = 0.745)]. Neither vitamin D nor zinc supplementation was associated with secondary outcomes, except for increased endline serum vitamin D with vitamin D supplementation [median (interquartile range) difference between endline and baseline for vitamin D: 5.3 ng/mL (-2.3 to 13.7); for no vitamin D: -1.4 ng/mL (-5.6 to 3.9); P = 0.003]. We observed nonsignificant increases in serum zinc at endline following zinc supplementation. There was no evidence of interaction between vitamin D and zinc supplementation, no effect of either on hypercalcemia, and no adverse events. CONCLUSIONS Results suggest that neither vitamin D nor zinc supplementation improves COVID-19 treatment outcomes in this population. However, much larger-scale evidence, particularly from populations with vitamin D or zinc deficiency and severe infection, is required to corroborate our findings. This trial was registered at ClinicalTrials.gov and the Clinical Trials Registry of India as NCT04641195 and CTRI/2021/04/032593 respectively.
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Affiliation(s)
- Uttara Partap
- Department of Global Health and Population, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, United States
| | | | | | - Molin Wang
- Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, United States
- Department of Biostatistics, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Sanaa Shaikh
- The Foundation for Medical Research, Mumbai, India
| | - Pradeep D’Costa
- King Edward Memorial Hospital and Research Centre, Pune, India
| | | | - Sabri Bromage
- Institute of Nutrition, Mahidol University, Salaya, Thailand
- Department of Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Elena C. Hemler
- Department of Global Health and Population, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, United States
| | | | - Kevin C. Kain
- Department of Medicine, University of Toronto and University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | | | - Wafaie W. Fawzi
- Department of Global Health and Population, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, United States
- Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, United States
- Department of Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, United States
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Kirkwood BR, Sikander S, Roy R, Soremekun S, Bhopal SS, Avan B, Lingam R, Gram L, Amenga-Etego S, Khan B, Aziz S, Kumar D, Verma D, Sharma KK, Panchal SN, Zafar S, Skordis J, Batura N, Hafeez A, Hill Z, Divan G, Rahman A. Effect of the SPRING home visits intervention on early child development and growth in rural India and Pakistan: parallel cluster randomised controlled trials. Front Nutr 2023; 10:1155763. [PMID: 37404861 PMCID: PMC10315474 DOI: 10.3389/fnut.2023.1155763] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2023] [Accepted: 04/05/2023] [Indexed: 07/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Introduction Almost 250 million children fail to achieve their full growth or developmental potential, trapping them in a cycle of continuing disadvantage. Strong evidence exists that parent-focussed face to face interventions can improve developmental outcomes; the challenge is delivering these on a wide scale. SPRING (Sustainable Programme Incorporating Nutrition and Games) aimed to address this by developing a feasible affordable programme of monthly home visits by community-based workers (CWs) and testing two different delivery models at scale in a programmatic setting. In Pakistan, SPRING was embedded into existing monthly home visits of Lady Health Workers (LHWs). In India, it was delivered by a civil society/non-governmental organisation (CSO/NGO) that trained a new cadre of CWs. Methods The SPRING interventions were evaluated through parallel cluster randomised trials. In Pakistan, clusters were 20 Union Councils (UCs), and in India, the catchment areas of 24 health sub-centres. Trial participants were mother-baby dyads of live born babies recruited through surveillance systems of 2 monthly home visits. Primary outcomes were BSID-III composite scores for psychomotor, cognitive and language development plus height for age z-score (HAZ), assessed at 18 months of age. Analyses were by intention to treat. Results 1,443 children in India were assessed at age 18 months and 1,016 in Pakistan. There was no impact in either setting on ECD outcomes or growth. The percentage of children in the SPRING intervention group who were receiving diets at 12 months of age that met the WHO minimum acceptable criteria was 35% higher in India (95% CI: 4-75%, p = 0.023) and 45% higher in Pakistan (95% CI: 15-83%, p = 0.002) compared to children in the control groups. Discussion The lack of impact is explained by shortcomings in implementation factors. Important lessons were learnt. Integrating additional tasks into the already overloaded workload of CWs is unlikely to be successful without additional resources and re-organisation of their goals to include the new tasks. The NGO model is the most likely for scale-up as few countries have established infrastructures like the LHW programme. It will require careful attention to the establishment of strong administrative and management systems to support its implementation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Betty R. Kirkwood
- Department of Population Health, Faculty of Epidemiology & Population Health, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom
| | - Siham Sikander
- Department of Primary Care and Mental Health, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom
- Global Institute of Human Development, Shifa Tameer-e-Millat University, Islamabad, Pakistan
| | - Reetabrata Roy
- Department of Population Health, Faculty of Epidemiology & Population Health, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom
- Child Development Group, Sangath, New Delhi, India
| | - Seyi Soremekun
- Department of Infection Biology, Faculty of Clinical Research, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom
| | - Sunil S. Bhopal
- Department of Population Health, Faculty of Epidemiology & Population Health, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom
- Population Health Sciences Institute, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom
| | - Bilal Avan
- Department of Infection Biology, Faculty of Clinical Research, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom
| | - Raghu Lingam
- Population Child Health Research Group, School of Clinical Medicine, University of New South Wales, Randwick, NSW, Australia
| | - Lu Gram
- Institute for Global Health, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | | | - Bushra Khan
- Department of Psychology, University of Karachi, Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan
| | - Sarmad Aziz
- Department of Anthropology, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Divya Kumar
- Child Development Group, Sangath, New Delhi, India
| | | | | | | | - Shamsa Zafar
- Fazaia Medical College, Air University, Islamabad, Pakistan
| | - Jolene Skordis
- Institute for Global Health, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Neha Batura
- Institute for Global Health, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | | | - Zelee Hill
- Institute for Global Health, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Gauri Divan
- Child Development Group, Sangath, New Delhi, India
| | - Atif Rahman
- Department of Primary Care and Mental Health, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom
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Hill Z, Zafar S, Soremekun S, Sikander S, Avan BI, Roy R, Aziz S, Kumar D, Parveen N, Saleem S, Verma D, Sharma KK, Skordis J, Hafeez A, Rahman A, Kirkwood B, Divan G. Can home visits for early child development be implemented with sufficient coverage and quality at scale? Evidence from the SPRING program in India and Pakistan. Front Nutr 2023; 10:1152548. [PMID: 37404854 PMCID: PMC10315833 DOI: 10.3389/fnut.2023.1152548] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2023] [Accepted: 03/27/2023] [Indexed: 07/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Introduction There is limited evidence from low and middle-income settings on the effectiveness of early child development interventions at scale. To bridge this knowledge-gap we implemented the SPRING home visiting program where we tested integrating home visits into an existing government program (Pakistan) and employing a new cadre of intervention workers (India). We report the findings of the process evaluation which aimed to understand implementation. Methods and materials We collected qualitative data on acceptability and barriers and facilitators for change through 24 in-depth interviews with mothers; eight focus group discussions with mothers, 12 with grandmothers, and 12 with fathers; and 12 focus group discussions and five in-depth interviews with the community-based agents and their supervisors. Results Implementation was sub-optimal in both settings. In Pakistan issues were low field-supervision coverage and poor visit quality related to issues scheduling supervision, a lack of skill development, high workloads and competing priorities. In India, issues were low visit coverage - in part due to employing new workers and an empowerment approach to visit scheduling. Coaching caregivers to improve their skills was sub-optimal in both sites, and is likely to have contributed to caregiver perceptions that the intervention content was not new and was focused on play activities rather than interaction and responsivity - which was a focus of the coaching. In both sites caregiver time pressures was a key reason for low uptake among families who received visits. Discussion Programs need feasible strategies to maximize quality, coverage and supervision including identifying and managing problems through monitoring and feedback loops. Where existing community-based agents are overstretched and system strengthening is unlikely, alternative implementation strategies should be considered such as group delivery. Core intervention ingredients such as coaching should be prioritized and supported during training and implementation. Given that time and resource constraints were a key barrier for families a greater focus on communication, responsivity and interaction during daily activities could have improved feasibility.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zelee Hill
- Institute for Global Health, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Shamsa Zafar
- Fazaia Medical College, Air University, Islamabad, Pakistan
| | - Seyi Soremekun
- London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom
| | - Siham Sikander
- Global Institute of Human Development, Shifa Tameer-e-Millat University, Islamabad, Pakistan
- Institute of Population Health, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom
| | - Bilal Iqbal Avan
- London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom
| | - Reetabrata Roy
- London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom
- Sangath, Goa, India
| | - Sarmad Aziz
- Institute for Global Health, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | | | - Nazia Parveen
- Global Institute of Human Development, Shifa Tameer-e-Millat University, Islamabad, Pakistan
| | - Shumaila Saleem
- Global Institute of Human Development, Shifa Tameer-e-Millat University, Islamabad, Pakistan
| | | | | | - Jolene Skordis
- Institute for Global Health, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | | | - Atif Rahman
- Institute of Population Health, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom
| | - Betty Kirkwood
- London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom
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Gupta KK, Sharma KK, Chandra H. Utilization of Bacillus cereus strain CGK5 associated with cow feces in the degradation of commercially available high-density polyethylene (HDPE). Arch Microbiol 2023; 205:101. [PMID: 36862211 DOI: 10.1007/s00203-023-03448-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/03/2022] [Revised: 12/13/2022] [Accepted: 02/21/2023] [Indexed: 03/03/2023]
Abstract
The accumulation and mismanagement of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) waste in the environment is a complex problem in the present scenario. Biodegradation of this thermoplastic polymer is a promising environmentally sustainable method that offers a significant opportunity to address plastic waste management with minimal negative repercussion on the environment. In this framework, HDPE-degrading bacterium strain CGK5 was isolated from the fecal matter of cow. The biodegradation efficiency of strain was assessed, including percentage reduction in HDPE weight, cell surface hydrophobicity, extracellular biosurfactant production, viability of surface adhered cells, as well as biomass in terms of protein content. Through molecular techniques, strain CGK5 was identified as Bacillus cereus. Significant weight loss of 1.83% was observed in the HDPE film treated with strain CGK5 for 90 days. The FE-SEM analysis revealed the profused bacterial growth which ultimately caused the distortions in HDPE films. Furthermore, EDX study indicated a significant decrease in percentage carbon content at atomic level, whereas FTIR analysis confirmed chemical groups' transformation as well as an increment in the carbonyl index supposedly caused by bacterial biofilm biodegradation. Our findings shed light on the ability of our strain B. cereus CGK5 to colonize and use HDPE as a sole carbon source, demonstrating its applicability for future eco-friendly biodegradation processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kartikey Kumar Gupta
- Department of Botany and Microbiology, Gurukula Kangri (Deemed to be University), Uttarakhand, Haridwar, India
| | - Kamal Kant Sharma
- Department of Botany and Microbiology, Gurukula Kangri (Deemed to be University), Uttarakhand, Haridwar, India.
| | - Harish Chandra
- Department of Botany and Microbiology, Gurukula Kangri (Deemed to be University), Uttarakhand, Haridwar, India
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Gupta KK, Chandra H, Sagar K, Sharma KK, Devi D. Degradation of high density polyethylene (HDPE) through bacterial strain from Cow faeces. Biocatalysis and Agricultural Biotechnology 2023. [DOI: 10.1016/j.bcab.2023.102646] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/17/2023]
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Gupta KK, Sharma KK, Chandra H, Panwar H, Bhardwaj N, Altwaijry NA, Alsfouk AA, Dlamini Z, Afzal O, Altamimi ASA, Khan S, Mishra AP. The integrative bioinformatics approaches to predict the xanthohumol as anti-breast cancer molecule: Targeting cancer cells signaling PI3K and AKT kinase pathway. Front Oncol 2022; 12:950835. [PMID: 36591523 PMCID: PMC9798915 DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2022.950835] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/23/2022] [Accepted: 11/10/2022] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer in women, and vast research is being conducted throughout the world for the treatment of this malignancy by natural products using various computational approaches. Xanthohumol, a prenylated flavonoid, is known for its anticancer activity; however, the mechanism behind its action is still in the preliminary stage. Methods The current study aimed to analyze the efficacy of xanthohumol compared to the currently available anticancer drugs targeting phosphoinositide-3-kinase (PI3K), serine/threonine kinase (AKT) receptors, and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) for breast cancer treatment through in silico analysis. Results The result revealed that the target compound showed significant binding affinity to targets within the PI3K, AKT, and HER2 signaling pathways with a binding energy of -7.5, -7.9, and -7.9 kcal/mol, respectively. Further prediction studies were then made concerning this compound's absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion (ADME) as well as drug-likeness properties, resulting in its oral bioavailability with only a single violation of Lipinski's rule of five. Conclusions The finding revealed the ability of xanthohumol to bind with multiple cancer cell signaling molecules including PI3K, AKT kinase, and HER2. The current novel study opened the door to advancing research into the management and treatment of breast cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kartikey Kumar Gupta
- Department of Botany and Microbiology, Gurukula Kangri (Deemed to be University), Haridwar, Uttarakhand, India
| | - Kamal Kant Sharma
- Department of Botany and Microbiology, Gurukula Kangri (Deemed to be University), Haridwar, Uttarakhand, India,*Correspondence: Kamal Kant Sharma, ; Abhay Prakash Mishra, ; Shahanavaj Khan,
| | - Harish Chandra
- Department of Botany and Microbiology, Gurukula Kangri (Deemed to be University), Haridwar, Uttarakhand, India
| | - Himalaya Panwar
- Department of Botany and Microbiology, Gurukula Kangri (Deemed to be University), Haridwar, Uttarakhand, India
| | - Nitin Bhardwaj
- Department of Zoology and Environmental Science, Gurukula Kangri (Deemed to be University), Haridwar, Uttarakhand, India
| | - Najla A. Altwaijry
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
| | - Aisha A. Alsfouk
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
| | - Zodwa Dlamini
- SAMRC Precision Oncology Research Unit (PORU), DSI/NRF SARChI Chair in Precision Oncology and Cancer Prevention (POCP), Pan African Cancer Research Institute (PACRI), University of Pretoria, Hatfield, South Africa
| | - Obaid Afzal
- 4SAMRC Precision Oncology Research Unit (PORU), Pan African Cancer Research Institute (PACRI), University of Pretoria, Hatfield, South Africa
| | - Abdulmalik S. A. Altamimi
- 4SAMRC Precision Oncology Research Unit (PORU), Pan African Cancer Research Institute (PACRI), University of Pretoria, Hatfield, South Africa
| | - Shahanavaj Khan
- Department of Medical Lab Technology, Indian Institute of Health and Technology (IIHT), Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India,Department of Health Sciences, Novel Global Community Educational Foundation, Hebersham, NSW, Australia,Department of Pharmaceutics, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia,*Correspondence: Kamal Kant Sharma, ; Abhay Prakash Mishra, ; Shahanavaj Khan,
| | - Abhay Prakash Mishra
- Department of Pharmacology, University of Free State, Bloemfontein, Free State, South Africa,*Correspondence: Kamal Kant Sharma, ; Abhay Prakash Mishra, ; Shahanavaj Khan,
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11
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Sharma KK, Partap U, Mistry N, Marathe Y, Wang M, Shaikh S, D'Costa P, Gupta G, Bromage S, Hemler EC, Kain KC, Dholakia Y, Fawzi WW. Randomised trial to determine the effect of vitamin D and zinc supplementation for improving treatment outcomes among patients with COVID-19 in India: trial protocol. BMJ Open 2022; 12:e061301. [PMID: 36038172 PMCID: PMC9437735 DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2022-061301] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/21/2022] [Accepted: 08/08/2022] [Indexed: 12/01/2022] Open
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Presently, there are few population-level strategies to address SARS-CoV-2 infection except preventive measures such as vaccination. Micronutrient deficiency, particularly vitamin D and zinc deficiency, has been associated with dysregulated host responses, and may play an important role in COVID-19. METHODS AND ANALYSIS We have designed a 2×2 factorial, randomised, double-blind, multi-centre placebo-controlled trial to evaluate the effect of vitamin D and zinc on COVID-19 outcomes in Maharashtra, India. COVID-19 positive individuals are recruited from hospitals in Mumbai and Pune. Participants are provided (1) vitamin D3 bolus (180 000 IU) maintained by daily dose of 2000 IU and/or (2) zinc gluconate (40 mg daily), versus placebo for 8 weeks. Participants undergo a detailed assessment at baseline and at 8 weeks, and are monitored daily in hospital or every 3 days after leaving the hospital to assess symptoms and other clinical measures. A final follow-up telephone call occurs 12 weeks post-enrolment to assess long-term outcomes. The primary outcome of the study is to time to recovery, defined as time to resolution of all of fever, cough and shortness of breath. Secondary outcomes include: duration of hospital stay, all-cause mortality, necessity of assisted ventilation, change in blood biomarker levels and individual symptoms duration. Participant recruitment commenced on April 2021. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION Ethical approval was obtained from institutional ethical committees of all participating institutions. The study findings will be presented in peer-reviewed medical journals. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBERS NCT04641195, CTRI/2021/04/032593, HMSC (GOI)-2021-0060.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Uttara Partap
- Department of Global Health and Population, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Nerges Mistry
- The Foundation for Medical Research, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
| | - Yogesh Marathe
- The Foundation for Medical Research, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
| | - Molin Wang
- Departments of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Sanaa Shaikh
- The Foundation for Medical Research, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
| | - Pradeep D'Costa
- King Edward Memorial Hospital and Research Centre, Pune, Maharashtra, India
| | | | - Sabri Bromage
- Department of Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Elena C Hemler
- Department of Global Health and Population, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Kevin C Kain
- Department of Medicine, University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Yatin Dholakia
- The Foundation for Medical Research, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
| | - Wafaie W Fawzi
- Department of Global Health and Population, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Department of Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
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12
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Mukherjee D, Bhopal S, Bhavnani S, Sharma KK, Roy R, Divan G, Mandal S, Soremekun S, Kirkwood B, Patel V. The effect of cumulative early life adversities, and their differential mediation through hair cortisol levels, on childhood growth and cognition: Three-year follow-up of a birth cohort in rural India. Wellcome Open Res 2022; 7:74. [PMID: 35592545 PMCID: PMC9096148 DOI: 10.12688/wellcomeopenres.17712.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 08/18/2022] [Indexed: 11/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Background: Early adversities negatively impact children's growth and development, putatively mediated by chronic physiological stress resulting from these adverse experiences. We aimed to estimate the associations between prospectively measured cumulative early adversities with growth and cognition outcomes in rural Indian preschool children and to explore if hair cortisol concentration (HCC), a measure of chronic physiological stress, mediated the above association. Methods: Participants were recruited from the SPRING cRCT in rural Haryana, India. Adversities experienced through pregnancy and the first year of life were measured in 1304 children at 12-months. HCC was measured at 12-months in 845 of them. Outcome measures were height-for-age-z-score (HAZ), weight-for-age-z-score (WAZ) and cognition, measured in 1124 children followed up at 3-years. Cognition was measured using a validated tablet-based gamified tool named DEEP. Results: Cumulative adversities at 12-months were inversely associated with all outcomes measures at 3-years. Each unit increase in adversity score led to a decrease of 0·08 units [95% confidence interval (CI):-0·11,-0·06] in DEEP-z-score; 0·12 units [-0·14,-0·09] in HAZ and 0·11 units [-0·13,-0·09] in WAZ. 12-month HCC was inversely associated with DEEP-z-score (-0·09 [-0·16,-0·01]) and HAZ (-0·12 [-0·20,-0·04]), but the association with WAZ was not significant (p = 0·142). HCC marginally mediated the association between cumulative adversities and HAZ (proportion mediated = 0·06, p = 0·014). No evidence of mediation was found for the cognition outcome. Conclusions: Cumulative early adversities and HCC measured at 12-months have persistent negative effects on child growth and cognition at 3-years. The association between adversities and these two child outcomes were differentially mediated by HCC, with no evidence of mediation observed for the cognitive outcome. Future studies should focus on other stress biomarkers, and alternate pathways such as the immune, inflammation and cellular ageing pathways, to unpack key mechanisms underlying the established relationship between early adversities and poor child outcomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Debarati Mukherjee
- Life course Epidemiology, Indian Institute of Public Health-Bengaluru, Public Health Foundation of India, Bengaluru, Karnataka, 560023, India
| | - Sunil Bhopal
- Population Health Sciences Institute, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE2 4AX, UK
- Maternal & Child Health Intervention Research Group, Department of Population Health, Faculty of Epidemiology & Population Health, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, WC1E 7HT, UK
| | - Supriya Bhavnani
- Child Development Group, Sangath, 451 Bhatkar Waddo, Succor, Bardez, Goa, 403501, India
| | - Kamal Kant Sharma
- Child Development Group, Sangath, 451 Bhatkar Waddo, Succor, Bardez, Goa, 403501, India
| | - Reetabrata Roy
- Maternal & Child Health Intervention Research Group, Department of Population Health, Faculty of Epidemiology & Population Health, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, WC1E 7HT, UK
- Child Development Group, Sangath, 451 Bhatkar Waddo, Succor, Bardez, Goa, 403501, India
| | - Gauri Divan
- Child Development Group, Sangath, 451 Bhatkar Waddo, Succor, Bardez, Goa, 403501, India
| | - Siddhartha Mandal
- Center for Chronic Disease Control, C-1/52, 2ND FL, Safdarjung Development Area, New Delhi, 110016, India
| | - Seyi Soremekun
- Department of Infection Biology, Faculty of Infectious and Tropical Disease, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, WC1E 7HT, UK
| | - Betty Kirkwood
- Maternal & Child Health Intervention Research Group, Department of Population Health, Faculty of Epidemiology & Population Health, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, WC1E 7HT, UK
| | - Vikram Patel
- Child Development Group, Sangath, 451 Bhatkar Waddo, Succor, Bardez, Goa, 403501, India
- Department of Global Health & Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School, 41 Huntington Ave, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
- Department of Global Health and Population, Harvard T H Chan School of Public Health, 655 Huntington Ave, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
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13
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Mukherjee D, Bhopal S, Bhavnani S, Sharma KK, Roy R, Divan G, Mandal S, Soremekun S, Kirkwood B, Patel V. The effect of cumulative early life adversities, and their differential mediation through hair cortisol levels, on childhood growth and cognition: Three-year follow-up of a birth cohort in rural India. Wellcome Open Res 2022; 7:74. [PMID: 35592545 PMCID: PMC9096148 DOI: 10.12688/wellcomeopenres.17712.2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 08/18/2022] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Background: Early adversities negatively impact children’s growth and development, putatively mediated by chronic physiological stress resulting from these adverse experiences. We aimed to estimate the associations between prospectively measured cumulative early adversities with growth and cognition outcomes in rural Indian preschool children and to explore if hair cortisol concentration (HCC), a measure of chronic physiological stress, mediated the above association. Methods: Participants were recruited from the SPRING cRCT in rural Haryana, India. Adversities experienced through pregnancy and the first year of life were measured in 1304 children at 12-months. HCC was measured at 12-months in 845 of them. Outcome measures were height-for-age-z-score (HAZ), weight-for-age-z-score (WAZ) and cognition, measured in 1124 children followed up at 3-years. Cognition was measured using a validated tablet-based gamified tool named DEEP. Results: Cumulative adversities at 12-months were inversely associated with all outcomes measures at 3-years. Each unit increase in adversity score led to a decrease of 0·08 units [95% confidence interval (CI):-0·11,-0·06] in DEEP-z-score; 0·12 units [-0·14,-0·09] in HAZ and 0·11 units [-0·13,-0·09] in WAZ. 12-month HCC was inversely associated with DEEP-z-score (-0·09 [-0·16,-0·01]) and HAZ (-0·12 [-0·20,-0·04]), but the association with WAZ was not significant (p = 0·142). HCC marginally mediated the association between cumulative adversities and HAZ (proportion mediated = 0·06, p = 0·014). No evidence of mediation was found for the cognition outcome. Conclusions: Cumulative early adversities and HCC measured at 12-months have persistent negative effects on child growth and cognition at 3-years. The association between adversities and these two child outcomes were differentially mediated by HCC, with no evidence of mediation observed for the cognitive outcome. Future studies should focus on other stress biomarkers, and alternate pathways such as the immune, inflammation and cellular ageing pathways, to unpack key mechanisms underlying the established relationship between early adversities and poor child outcomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Debarati Mukherjee
- Life course Epidemiology, Indian Institute of Public Health-Bengaluru, Public Health Foundation of India, Bengaluru, Karnataka, 560023, India
| | - Sunil Bhopal
- Population Health Sciences Institute, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE2 4AX, UK
- Maternal & Child Health Intervention Research Group, Department of Population Health, Faculty of Epidemiology & Population Health, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, WC1E 7HT, UK
| | - Supriya Bhavnani
- Child Development Group, Sangath, 451 Bhatkar Waddo, Succor, Bardez, Goa, 403501, India
| | - Kamal Kant Sharma
- Child Development Group, Sangath, 451 Bhatkar Waddo, Succor, Bardez, Goa, 403501, India
| | - Reetabrata Roy
- Maternal & Child Health Intervention Research Group, Department of Population Health, Faculty of Epidemiology & Population Health, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, WC1E 7HT, UK
- Child Development Group, Sangath, 451 Bhatkar Waddo, Succor, Bardez, Goa, 403501, India
| | - Gauri Divan
- Child Development Group, Sangath, 451 Bhatkar Waddo, Succor, Bardez, Goa, 403501, India
| | - Siddhartha Mandal
- Center for Chronic Disease Control, C-1/52, 2ND FL, Safdarjung Development Area, New Delhi, 110016, India
| | - Seyi Soremekun
- Department of Infection Biology, Faculty of Infectious and Tropical Disease, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, WC1E 7HT, UK
| | - Betty Kirkwood
- Maternal & Child Health Intervention Research Group, Department of Population Health, Faculty of Epidemiology & Population Health, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, WC1E 7HT, UK
| | - Vikram Patel
- Child Development Group, Sangath, 451 Bhatkar Waddo, Succor, Bardez, Goa, 403501, India
- Department of Global Health & Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School, 41 Huntington Ave, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
- Department of Global Health and Population, Harvard T H Chan School of Public Health, 655 Huntington Ave, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
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14
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Joshi A, Sharma KK. Graph deep network for optic disc and optic cup segmentation for glaucoma disease using retinal imaging. Phys Eng Sci Med 2022; 45:847-858. [PMID: 35737221 DOI: 10.1007/s13246-022-01154-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/25/2022] [Accepted: 06/07/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
The fundus imaging method of eye screening detects eye diseases by segmenting the optic disc (OD) and optic cup (OC). OD and OC are still challenging to segment accurately. This work proposes three-layer graph-based deep architecture with an enhanced fusion method for OD and OC segmentation. CNN encoder-decoder architecture, extended graph network, and approximation via fusion-based rule are explored for connecting local and global information. A graph-based model is developed for combining local and overall knowledge. By extending feature masking, regularization of repetitive features with fusion for combining channels has been done. The performance of the proposed network is evaluated through the analysis of different metric parameters such as dice similarity coefficient (DSC), intersection of union (IOU), accuracy, specificity, sensitivity. Experimental verification of this methodology has been done using the four benchmarks publicly available datasets DRISHTI-GS, RIM-ONE for OD, and OC segmentation. In addition, DRIONS-DB and HRF fundus imaging datasets were analyzed for optimizing the model's performance based on OD segmentation. DSC metric of methodology achieved 0.97 and 0.96 for DRISHTI-GS and RIM-ONE, respectively. Similarly, IOU measures for DRISHTI-GS and RIM-ONE datasets were 0.96 and 0.93, respectively, for OD measurement. For OC segmentation, DSC and IOU were measured as 0.93 and 0.90 respectively for DRISHTI-GS and 0.83 and 0.82 for RIM-ONE data. The proposed technique improved value of metrics with most of the existing methods in terms of DSC and IOU of the results metric of the experiments for OD and OC segmentation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Abhilasha Joshi
- Electronics and Communication Engineering, Malaviya National Institute of Technology, Jaipur, Rajasthan, 302017, India.
| | - K K Sharma
- Electronics and Communication Engineering, Malaviya National Institute of Technology, Jaipur, Rajasthan, 302017, India
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15
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Bhavnani S, Parameshwaran D, Sharma KK, Mukherjee D, Divan G, Patel V, Thiagarajan TC. The Acceptability, Feasibility, and Utility of Portable Electroencephalography to Study Resting-State Neurophysiology in Rural Communities. Front Hum Neurosci 2022; 16:802764. [PMID: 35386581 PMCID: PMC8978891 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2022.802764] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/27/2021] [Accepted: 02/17/2022] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Electroencephalography (EEG) provides a non-invasive means to advancing our understanding of the development and function of the brain. However, the majority of the world’s population residing in low and middle income countries has historically been limited from contributing to, and thereby benefiting from, such neurophysiological research, due to lack of scalable validated methods of EEG data collection. In this study, we establish a standard operating protocol to collect approximately 3 min each of eyes-open and eyes-closed resting-state EEG data using a low-cost portable EEG device in rural households through formative work in the community. We then evaluate the acceptability of these EEG assessments to young children and feasibility of administering them through non-specialist workers. Finally, we describe properties of the EEG recordings obtained using this novel approach to EEG data collection. The formative phase was conducted with 9 families which informed protocols for consenting, child engagement strategies and data collection. The protocol was then implemented on 1265 families. 977 children (Mean age = 38.8 months, SD = 0.9) and 1199 adults (Mean age = 27.0 years, SD = 4) provided resting-state data for this study. 259 children refused to wear the EEG cap or removed it, and 58 children refused the eyes-closed recording session. Hardware or software issues were experienced during 30 and 25 recordings in eyes-open and eyes-closed conditions respectively. Disturbances during the recording sessions were rare and included participants moving their heads, touching the EEG headset with their hands, opening their eyes within the eyes-closed recording session, and presence of loud sounds in the testing environment. Similar to findings in laboratory-based studies from high-income settings, the percentage of recordings which showed an alpha peak was higher in eyes-closed than eyes-open condition, with the peak occurring most frequently in electrodes at O1 and O2 positions, and the mean frequency of the alpha peak was found to be lower in children (8.43 Hz, SD = 1.73) as compared to adults (10.71 Hz, SD = 3.96). We observed a deterioration in the EEG signal with prolonged device usage. This study demonstrates the acceptability, feasibility and utility of conducting EEG research at scale in a rural low-resource community, while highlighting its potential limitations, and offers the impetus needed to further refine the methods and devices and validate such scalable methods to overcome existing research inequity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Supriya Bhavnani
- Child Development Group, Sangath, Goa, India.,Public Health Foundation of India, New Delhi, India
| | | | | | - Debarati Mukherjee
- Indian Institute of Public Health-Bengaluru, Public Health Foundation of India, Bengaluru, India
| | - Gauri Divan
- Child Development Group, Sangath, Goa, India
| | - Vikram Patel
- Child Development Group, Sangath, Goa, India.,Department of Global Health and Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States.,Department of Global Health and Population, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, United States
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16
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Kumar P, Reshma, Sharma KK, Gandhar A. A block-chain excellency in the mining of crypto currency. Journal of Information and Optimization Sciences 2022. [DOI: 10.1080/02522667.2022.2037281] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Pawan Kumar
- University School of Business, Chandigarh University, Chandigarh, India
| | - Reshma
- Department of Computer Science Engineering, Chandigarh University, Chandigarh, India
| | - Kamal Kant Sharma
- Department of Electrical Engineering, Chandigarh University, Chandigarh India
| | - Abhishek Gandhar
- Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Bharati Vidyapeeth’s College of Engineering, New Delhi India
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17
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Dadarwal A, Roy S, Sharma AK, Sharma KK. Optical coherence tomography versus angiography to guide percutaneous intervention: a real-world single center propensity-matched analysis. Eur Heart J 2022. [DOI: 10.1093/eurheartj/ehab849.129] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Abstract
Funding Acknowledgements
Type of funding sources: None.
Background
Optical coherence tomography (OCT) with its superior resolution has several benefits over coronary angiography (CA) to guide percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Despite the benefits of OCT in comparison with angiography, it is not widely used in developing countries like India data is limited in India specifically in all comer population to meet unmet need.
Objective
Here we aim to determine the clinical efficacy and safety outcomes of OCT versus CA alone in guiding PCI in all-comer patients.
Methods
This was a retrospective study which included 434 all comer patients which were propensity matched. These patients underwent PCI at our center between December 2018 and June 2020. The primary endpoint was MACE, a composite of cardiovascular death, repeat revascularization, stent thrombosis, recurrent ischemia and target vessel myocardial infarction (TV-MI) at 6 months. Secondary endpoint was target lesion failure (TLF), composite of stent thrombosis and in-stent restenosis. Safety endpoints were post-PCI s. creatinine and hospital stay and other outcome includes post PCI rise in CK-MB.
Results
A total of 217 patients were included in each group: the OCT group and conventional angiography guided PCI (angio group) after propensity matching. Compared to angio group, patients presenting with unstable angina, NSTEMI were significantly higher in the OCT group (55.7% vs 43.3%, p = 0.0095; 17.5% vs 10%, p = 0.02, respectively) while patients with STEMI were significantly low in the OCT (23.5% vs 41.5%, p = 0.00005). Number of balloons, maximum balloon size and left main interventions and contrast volume were more in OCT group than angio group (4.21 ± 1.67 vs 3.86 ± 1.76, P= 0.0034; 3.77 ± 0.63 mm vs 3.51 ± 0.52 mm,P < 0.0001; 24.52% vs 13.36 %,P = 0.003 and 202.53 ± 73.15 ml vs 161.91 ± 69.23 ml, P< 0.0001 respectively). The incidence of MACE at 6 months was numerically lower in the OCT group vs angio group but the difference was not statistically significant (15 [6.9%] vs 21 [9.7%]; p = 0.2964). No cases of TV-MI, TLF (stent thrombosis or in-stent restenosis) is observed in both the groups. Post procedure rise in CKMB was more in Angio group in comparison to OCT group (6.16 ± 31.28 ng/ml vs 39.5 ± 108.71 ng/ml, p < 0.001). Optimal stent expansion (>80%) was seen in 71.5% patients in post OCT-guided PCI. In OCT guided PCI group, OCT identified stent underexpansion in 28.5%, stent malapposition in 3.7%, stent edge dissection in 4.1%, and tissue prolapse in 10% of the patients.
Conclusion
In this large retrospective study, OCT guided PCI is feasible and OCT-guided PCI has tendency to improve clinical outcomes at six months follow up compared to conventional angiography guided PCI in all comer patients. Abstract Figure. central illustration Abstract Figure. Identification of PCI complications
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Affiliation(s)
| | - S Roy
- Fortis Escorts Hospital, Jaipur, India
| | | | - K K Sharma
- Lal Bahadur Shastri College Of Pharmacy, Pharmacology, Jaipur, India
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Pandey M, Bhati A, Priya K, Sharma KK, Singhal B. Precision Postbiotics and Mental Health: the Management of Post-COVID-19 Complications. Probiotics Antimicrob Proteins 2021; 14:426-448. [PMID: 34806151 PMCID: PMC8606251 DOI: 10.1007/s12602-021-09875-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 11/11/2021] [Indexed: 01/14/2023]
Abstract
The health catastrophe originated by COVID-19 pandemic construed profound impact on a global scale. However, a plethora of research studies corroborated convincing evidence conferring severity of infection of SARS-CoV-2 with the aberrant gut microbiome that strongly speculated its importance for development of novel therapeutic modalities. The intense exploration of probiotics has been envisaged to promote the healthy growth of the host, and restore intestinal microecological balance through various metabolic and physiological processes. The demystifying effect of probiotics cannot be defied, but there exists a strong skepticism related to their safety and efficacy. Therefore, molecular signature of probiotics termed as "postbiotics" are of paramount importance and there is continuous surge of utilizing postbiotics for enhancing health benefits, but little is explicit about their antiviral effects. Therefore, it is worth considering their prospective role in post-COVID regime that pave the way for exploring the pastoral vistas of postbiotics. Based on previous research investigations, the present article advocates prospective role of postbiotics in alleviating the health burden of viral infections, especially SARS-CoV-2. The article also posits current challenges and proposes a futuristic model describing the concept of "precision postbiotics" for effective therapeutic and preventive interventions that can be used for management of this deadly disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Muskan Pandey
- School of Biotechnology, Gautam Buddha University, Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh, 201312, India
| | - Archana Bhati
- School of Biotechnology, Gautam Buddha University, Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh, 201312, India
| | - Kumari Priya
- School of Biotechnology, Gautam Buddha University, Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh, 201312, India
| | - K K Sharma
- Department of Microbiology, Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak, Haryana, 124001, India
| | - Barkha Singhal
- School of Biotechnology, Gautam Buddha University, Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh, 201312, India.
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Bhavnani S, Mukherjee D, Bhopal S, Sharma KK, Dasgupta J, Divan G, Soremekun S, Roy R, Kirkwood B, Patel V. The association of a novel digital tool for assessment of early childhood cognitive development, 'DEvelopmental assessment on an E-Platform (DEEP)', with growth in rural India: A proof of concept study. EClinicalMedicine 2021; 37:100964. [PMID: 34195580 PMCID: PMC8225699 DOI: 10.1016/j.eclinm.2021.100964] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/08/2021] [Revised: 05/21/2021] [Accepted: 05/28/2021] [Indexed: 10/28/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND There is an urgent need to fill the gap of scalable cognitive assessment tools for preschool children to enable identification of children at-risk of sub-optimal development and to support their timely referral into interventions. We present the associations between growth in early childhood, a well-established marker of cognitive development, and scores on a novel digital cognitive assessment tool called DEvelopmental Assessment on an E-Platform (DEEP) on a sample of 3-year old pre-schoolers from a rural region in north India. METHODS Between February 2018 and March 2019, 1359 children from the Sustainable Programme Incorporating Nutrition and Games (SPRING) programme were followed up at 3-years age and data on DEEP, anthropometry and a clinical developmental assessment, the Bayley's Scale of Infant and Toddler Development, 3rd edition (BSID-III) was collected. DEEP data from 200 children was used to train a machine learning algorithm to predict their score on the cognitive domain of BSID-III. The DEEP score of the remaining 1159 children was then predicted using this algorithm to examine the cross-sectional and prospective association of growth with the DEEP score. FINDINGS The magnitude of the concurrent positive association between height-for-age and cognitive z-scores in 3-year olds was similar when cognition was measured by BSID-III (0.20 standard deviations increase for every unit change in specifically age-adjusted height (HAZ), 95% CI = 0.06-0.35) and DEEP (0.26 CI, 0.11-0.41). A similar positive prospective relationship was found between growth at 18 (0.21 CI, 0.17-0.26) and 12-months (0.18 CI, 0.13-0.23) and DEEP score measured at 3-years. Additionally, the relationship between growth and cognitive development was found to be dependant on socioeconomic status (SES). INTERPRETATION In this study, we suggest the utility of DEEP, a scalable, digital cognitive assessment tool, to measure cognition in preschool children. Further validation in different and larger datasets is necessary to confirm our findings. FUNDING The SPRING Programme was funded through a Wellcome Trust programme grant and the follow-up study by the Corporate Social Responsibility initiative grant from Madura Microfinance Ltd.
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Affiliation(s)
- Supriya Bhavnani
- Child Development Group, Sangath, Goa, India
- Centre for Chronic Conditions and Injuries, Public Health Foundation of India, Gurgaon, India
| | - Debarati Mukherjee
- Indian Institute of Public Health-Hyderabad, Bengaluru Campus, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
| | - Sunil Bhopal
- Maternal & Child Health Intervention Research Group, Department of Population Health, Faculty of Epidemiology & Population Health, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom
- Population Health Sciences Institute, Newcastle University, United Kingdom
| | | | | | - Gauri Divan
- Child Development Group, Sangath, Goa, India
| | - Seyi Soremekun
- Department of Clinical Research, Faculty of Infectious and Tropical Disease, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London United Kingdom
- Observational and Pragmatic Research Institute, Singapore
| | - Reetabrata Roy
- Child Development Group, Sangath, Goa, India
- Maternal & Child Health Intervention Research Group, Department of Population Health, Faculty of Epidemiology & Population Health, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom
| | - Betty Kirkwood
- Maternal & Child Health Intervention Research Group, Department of Population Health, Faculty of Epidemiology & Population Health, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom
| | - Vikram Patel
- Child Development Group, Sangath, Goa, India
- Department of Global Health & Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School, United States
- Department of Global Health and Population, Harvard T H Chan School of Public Health, United States
- Corresponding author at: Harvard Medical School, 641 Huntington Ave, Boston, MA 02115, USA
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Sharma KK, Kelly EA, Pfeifer CW, Fudge JL. Translating Fear Circuitry: Amygdala Projections to Subgenual and Perigenual Anterior Cingulate in the Macaque. Cereb Cortex 2021; 30:550-562. [PMID: 31219571 PMCID: PMC7306168 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhz106] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/06/2018] [Revised: 04/30/2019] [Accepted: 05/01/2019] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Rodent
fear-learning models posit that amygdala–infralimbic connections facilitate extinction while amygdala–prelimbic prefrontal connections mediate fear expression. Analogous amygdala–prefrontal circuitry between rodents and primates is not established. Using paired small volumes of neural tracers injected into the perigenual anterior cingulate cortex (pgACC; areas 24b and 32; a potential homologue to rodent prelimbic cortex) and subgenual anterior cingulate cortex (sgACC, areas 25 and 14c; a potential homologue to rodent infralimbic cortex) in a single hemisphere, we mapped amygdala projections to the pgACC and sgACC within single subjects. All injections resulted in dense retrograde labeling specifically within the intermediate division of the basal nucleus (Bi) and the magnocellular division of the accessory basal nucleus (ABmc). Areal analysis revealed a bias for connectivity with the sgACC, with the ABmc showing a greater bias than the Bi. Double fluorescence analysis revealed that sgACC and pgACC projections were intermingled within the Bi and ABmc, where a proportion were double labeled. We conclude that amygdala inputs to the ACC largely originate from the Bi and ABmc, preferentially connect to the sgACC, and that a subset collaterally project to both sgACC and pgACC. These findings advance our understanding of fear extinction and fear expression circuitry across species.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - J L Fudge
- Department of Neuroscience.,Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY 14642, USA
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Singh S, Nagalakshmi D, Sharma KK, Ravichandiran V. Natural antioxidants for neuroinflammatory disorders and possible involvement of Nrf2 pathway: A review. Heliyon 2021; 7:e06216. [PMID: 33659743 PMCID: PMC7890213 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2021.e06216] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/20/2020] [Revised: 05/21/2020] [Accepted: 02/04/2021] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The transcription factor Nrf2 (nuclear factor-erythroid 2 p45-related factor 2) play a crucial role in cellular redox and metabolic system. Activation of Nrf2 may be an effective therapeutic approach for neuroinflammatory disorders, through activation of antioxidant defences system, lower the inflammation, line up the mitochondrial function, and balancing of protein homeostasis. Various recent studies revealed that many of active substance obtained from plants have been found to activate the Nrf2 and to exert neuroprotective effects in various experimental models, raising the possibility that activation of Nrf2 may be an effective therapeutic approaches for neuroinflammatory disorders. The objective of this review was to evaluate the neuroprotective property of natural substance against neuroinflammatory disorders by reviewing the studies done till today. The outcomes of various in vitro and in vivo examinations have shown that natural compounds producing neuroprotective effects in neuronal system via activation of Nrf2. Herein, we also reviewed the studies to understand the role of Nrf2 for curing CNS disorders. Here we can conclude, herbal/natural moieties having potency to fight and prevent from neuroinflammatory disorders due to their abilities to activate Nrf2 pathway.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sanjiv Singh
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research, Export Promotion Industrial Park (EPIP), Zandaha Road, Hajipur, Bihar, India
| | - Devarapati Nagalakshmi
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research, Export Promotion Industrial Park (EPIP), Zandaha Road, Hajipur, Bihar, India
| | - K K Sharma
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research, Export Promotion Industrial Park (EPIP), Zandaha Road, Hajipur, Bihar, India
| | - V Ravichandiran
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research, Export Promotion Industrial Park (EPIP), Zandaha Road, Hajipur, Bihar, India
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Ahlawat S, Asha, Sharma KK. Gut-organ axis: a microbial outreach and networking. Lett Appl Microbiol 2020; 72:636-668. [PMID: 32472555 DOI: 10.1111/lam.13333] [Citation(s) in RCA: 101] [Impact Index Per Article: 25.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/22/2020] [Revised: 05/05/2020] [Accepted: 05/20/2020] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Human gut microbiota (GM) includes a complex and dynamic population of microorganisms that are crucial for well-being and survival of the organism. It has been reported as diverse and relatively stable with shared core microbiota, including Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes as the major dominants. They are the key regulators of body homeostasis, involving both intestinal and extra-intestinal effects by influencing many physiological functions such as metabolism, maintenance of barrier homeostasis, inflammation and hematopoiesis. Any alteration in GM community structures not only trigger gut disorders but also influence other organs and cause associated diseases. In recent past, the GM has been defined as a 'vital organ' with its involvement with other organs; thus, establishing a link or a bi- or multidirectional communication axis between the organs via neural, endocrine, immune, humoral and metabolic pathways. Alterations in GM have been linked to several diseases known to humans; although the exact interaction mechanism between the gut and the organs is yet to be defined. In this review, the bidirectional relationship between the gut and the vital human organs was envisaged and discussed under several headings. Furthermore, several disease symptoms were also revisited to redefine the communication network between the gut microbes and the associated organs.
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Affiliation(s)
- S Ahlawat
- Laboratory of Enzymology and Recombinant DNA Technology, Department of Microbiology, Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak, Haryana, India
| | - Asha
- Laboratory of Enzymology and Recombinant DNA Technology, Department of Microbiology, Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak, Haryana, India
| | - K K Sharma
- Laboratory of Enzymology and Recombinant DNA Technology, Department of Microbiology, Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak, Haryana, India
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Biswas A, Kodan P, Gupta N, Soneja M, Baruah K, Sharma KK, Meena S. Zika outbreak in India in 2018. J Travel Med 2020; 27:5733644. [PMID: 32044958 DOI: 10.1093/jtm/taaa001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/08/2019] [Revised: 12/26/2019] [Accepted: 01/15/2019] [Indexed: 11/13/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Ashutosh Biswas
- Department of Medicine, AIIMS, Sri Aurobindo Marg, Ansari Nagar, Ansari Nagar East, New Delhi 110029, India
| | - Parul Kodan
- Infectious diseases, AIIMS, Sri Aurobindo Marg, Ansari Nagar, Ansari Nagar East, New Delhi 110029, India
| | - Nitin Gupta
- Infectious diseases, AIIMS, Sri Aurobindo Marg, Ansari Nagar, Ansari Nagar East, New Delhi 110029, India
| | - Manish Soneja
- Department of Medicine, AIIMS, Sri Aurobindo Marg, Ansari Nagar, Ansari Nagar East, New Delhi 110029, India
| | - Kalpana Baruah
- National Vector-borne Diseases Control Programme, Directorate General Health Services, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, Maulana Azad Rd, New Delhi, 110011, India
| | - K K Sharma
- Department of Medical, Health and Family Welfare, Jaipur, 302001, Rajasthan, India
| | - Sheela Meena
- IDSP, Directorate of Health Services, 6th Floor, Satpura Bahawan, Bhopal - 462004
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Abstract
Sleep apnea is a pervasive breathing problem during night sleep, and its repetitive occurrence causes various health problems. Polysomnography is commonly used for apnea screening which is an expensive, time-consuming, and complex process. In this paper, a simple but efficient technique based on the variational mode decomposition (VMD) for automated detection of sleep apnea from single-lead ECG is proposed. The heart rate variability and ECG-derived respiration signals obtained from ECG are decomposed into different modes using the VMD, and these modes are used for extracting different features including spectral entropies, interquartile range, and energy. The principal component analysis is employed to reduce the dimension of the feature vector. The experiments are conducted using the Apnea-ECG dataset, and the classification performance of various classifiers is investigated. In per-segment classification, an accuracy of about 87.5% (Sens: 84.9%, Spec: 88.2%) is achieved using the K-nearest neighbor classifier. In per-recording classification, the proposed technique using the linear discriminant analysis model outperformed the existing apnea detection approaches by achieving the accuracy of 100%. The algorithm also provided the best agreement between the estimated and reference apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) values. These results show that the algorithm has the potential to be used for home-based apnea screening systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hemant Sharma
- Dept. of Electronics & Communication Engineering, National Institute of Technology Rourkela, Rourkela-769008, India
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Bhavnani S, Mukherjee D, Dasgupta J, Verma D, Parameshwaran D, Divan G, Sharma KK, Thiagarajan T, Patel V. Development, feasibility and acceptability of a gamified cognitive DEvelopmental assessment on an E-Platform (DEEP) in rural Indian pre-schoolers - a pilot study. Glob Health Action 2019; 12:1548005. [PMID: 31154989 PMCID: PMC6338262 DOI: 10.1080/16549716.2018.1548005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Background: Assessment of cognitive development is essential to identify children with faltering developmental attainment and monitor the impact of interventions. A key barrier to achieving these goals is the lack of standardized, scalable tools to assess cognitive abilities. Objective: This study aimed to develop a tablet-based gamified assessment of cognitive abilities of 3-year-old children which can be administered by non-specialist field workers. Methods: Workshops among domain experts, literature search for established and gamified paradigms of cognitive assessments and rapid review of mobile games for 3-year-old children was done to conceptualize games for this study. Formative household visits (N = 20) informed the design and content of the games. A cross-sectional pilot study (N = 100) was done to assess feasibility of the tool and check if increasing levels of difficulty and the expected variability between children were evident in game metrics. In-depth interviews (N = 9) were conducted with mothers of participating children to assess its acceptability. Results: Six cognitive domains were identified as being integral to learning – divided attention, response inhibition, reasoning, visual form perception and integration and memory. A narrative, musical soundtrack and positive reinforcement were incorporated into the tool to enhance participant engagement. Child performance determined level timers and difficulty levels in each game. Pilot data indicate that children differ in their performance profile on the tool as measured by the number of game levels played and their accuracy and completion time indicating that it might be possible to differentiate children based on these metrics. Qualitative data suggest high levels of acceptability of the tool amongst participants. Conclusions: A DEvelopmental assessment on an E-Platform (DEEP) has been created comprising distinct games woven into a narrative, which assess six cognitive domains, and shows high levels of acceptability and generates metrics which may be used for validation against gold standard cognitive assessments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Supriya Bhavnani
- a Centre for Chronic Conditions and Injuries , Public Health Foundation of India , Gurugram , India
| | - Debarati Mukherjee
- a Centre for Chronic Conditions and Injuries , Public Health Foundation of India , Gurugram , India
| | - Jayashree Dasgupta
- a Centre for Chronic Conditions and Injuries , Public Health Foundation of India , Gurugram , India.,b Sangath , New Delhi , India
| | | | | | | | | | | | - Vikram Patel
- d Department of Global Health and Social Medicine , Harvard Medical School and the Harvard Chan School of Public Health , Boston , MA , USA
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Ramrakhiani N, Sharma DK, Dubey R, Gupta P, Sharma A, Sharma KK. Clinical Profile, Risk Factors and Outcomes in Patients with Cerebral Venous Sinus Thrombosis: A Study from Western India. J Assoc Physicians India 2019; 67:49-53. [PMID: 31561690] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
AIM Study of cause and clinical profile of venous sinus thrombosis in Western India. SETTINGS AND DESIGN A retrospective study was conducted to ascertain the clinical profile, etiology, and follow up of patients with venous sinus thrombosis. METHODS AND MATERIAL Hospital database of patients suffering from venous sinus thrombosis from two tertiary care hospitals in West India were studied. A telephonic follow up was taken for assessment of outcome. Inclusion criteria were a) Age more than 15 years of age b) clinically symptomatic patients c) Diagnosis confirmed by Magnetic resonance Venography (MRV) or CT Venography (CT Venography) Exclusion criteria: Patients with infarct in arterial territory, hypertensive hemorrhage, metabolic encephalopathy and eclampsia were excluded from the study. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED Descriptive statistic was performed as frequency, mean and standard deviation or percentages. Difference in continuous variables was evaluated by using independent t-test while chi-square test was performed in categorical variables. Statistical P<0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS We conducted a retrospective study of patients with venous sinus thrombosis in Rajasthan in western India. Out of 71 patients in our study group the mean age of presentation was 36.64 years. 42 patients were male (59.2%) and 29 were female (40.8%). Only 9 patients (12.6%) had pregnancy or puerperium related venous sinus thrombosis. The most common presenting feature was headache 47/71(66.2), followed by seizures 33 (46.5%), paresis 20/71 (28.16%) and coma 15/71(21.1%). MRI Brain recorded infarcts in 32/71 patients and predominant hemorrhage was recorded in 34/71. 4 cases were associated with malignancy (one CNS, one outside CNS and 2 hematological). Raised homocysteine level was found in 26/35 (74.3%) patients in whom they were measured. 9 patients had moderately elevated homocysteine levels (15-30), another 9 had intermediate values (31-64) and 5 patients had elevated homocysteine level >65. Hyperhomocysteinemia was the commonest causative factor and was far more common in men (21/25) than in women (5/10). (p value 0.019). 24 out of 71 patients were found to be anemic (33.8%). Anemia was far more common in women than in men. (p value .002). Protein C level was found abnormal in 5/27 patients, Protein S in 6/27 patients and Anti thrombin III in 1/23 patient studied respectively. History of oral contraceptive intake was recorded in only a minority of women with venous sinus thrombosis 7(24.1%) compared to the western data where most of the venous sinus thrombosis are related to the contraceptive pills. CONCLUSION The clinical presentation of venous sinus thrombosis in tertiary care centers is changing outside the traditional peurperium / pregnancy related venous sinus thrombosis. Common risk factors include hyperhomocysteinemia, anemia, coagulopathy, pregnancy related, vasculitis, malignancy and oral contraceptive usage. Male involvement was far more common than females and was usually associated with a higher level of homocysteine.
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Affiliation(s)
- Neetu Ramrakhiani
- Additional Director, Department of Neurology, Fortis Escorts Hospital, Jaipur, Rajasthan; Corresponding Author
| | | | | | - Pushkar Gupta
- Additional Director, Fortis Escorts Hospita, Jaipur, Rajasthan
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Affiliation(s)
- Mukesh Kumar
- Department of Pediatrics, Shriram Hospital, Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India.
| | - Kamal Kant Sharma
- Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Shriram Hospital, Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India
| | | | - Pooja Mehta
- Department of Radiology, SRL Diagnostics, 2S Wellness & Research Centre, Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India
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Kaushik S, Sharma KK, Ramani R, Lakhanpaul S. Detection of Wolbachia Phage (WO) in Indian Lac Insect [ Kerria lacca (Kerr.)] and Its Implications. Indian J Microbiol 2018; 59:237-240. [PMID: 31031440 DOI: 10.1007/s12088-018-0763-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2018] [Accepted: 10/01/2018] [Indexed: 01/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Wolbachia, a maternally inherited bacterium induces reproductive alterations in its hosts such as feminization of males, male killing and parthenogenesis. It is the most diverse endosymbiont infecting more than 70% of the insects ranging from pests to pollinators. Kerria lacca-a hemipteran is a sedentary, oriental insect known to produce lac-the only resin of animal origin. The present study was conducted to screen the presence of Wolbachia and its associated phages in the two infrasubspecific forms (four insect lines) of K. lacca viz. kusmi and rengeeni differing from each other on the basis of host preference. Wolbachia and its associated phage were found to be prevalent in all the insect lines analyzed. We, hereby, report the presence of WO-phage (Wolbachia phage) for the first time in K. lacca. Further, phylogenetic data differentiated the kusmi and rengeeni infrasubspecific forms into two different groups on the basis of WO-phage sequences.
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Affiliation(s)
- S Kaushik
- 1Indira Gandhi National Tribal University, Amarkantak, Madhya Pradesh 484887 India
| | - K K Sharma
- Indian Institute of Natural Resins and Gums (IINRG), Namkum, Ranchi, 834010 India
| | - R Ramani
- Indian Institute of Natural Resins and Gums (IINRG), Namkum, Ranchi, 834010 India
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Sharma KK, Marzinek JK, Tantirimudalige SN, Bond PJ, Wohland T. Single-molecule studies of flavivirus envelope dynamics: Experiment and computation. Prog Biophys Mol Biol 2018; 143:38-51. [PMID: 30223001 DOI: 10.1016/j.pbiomolbio.2018.09.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/03/2018] [Revised: 09/06/2018] [Accepted: 09/11/2018] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Flaviviruses are simple enveloped viruses exhibiting complex structural and functional heterogeneities. Decades of research have provided crucial basic insights, antiviral medication and moderately successful gene therapy trials. The most infectious particle is, however, not always the most abundant one in a population, questioning the utility of classic ensemble-averaging virology approaches. Indeed, viral replication is often not particularly efficient, prone to errors or containing parallel routes. Here, we review different single-molecule sensitive fluorescence methods that are employed to investigate flaviviruses. In particular, we review how (i) time-resolved Förster resonance energy transfer (trFRET) was applied to probe dengue envelope conformations; (ii) FRET-fluorescence correlation spectroscopy to investigate dengue envelope intrinsic dynamics and (iii) single particle tracking to follow the path of dengue viruses in cells. We also discuss how such methods may be supported by molecular dynamics (MD) simulations over a range of spatio-temporal scales, to provide complementary data on the structure and dynamics of flaviviral systems. We describe recent improvements in multiscale MD approaches that allowed the simulation of dengue particle envelopes in near-atomic resolution. We hope this review is an incentive for setting up and applying similar single-molecule studies and combine them with MD simulations to investigate structural dynamics of entire flavivirus particles over the nanosecond-to-millisecond time-scale and follow viruses during infection in cells over milliseconds to minutes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kamal Kant Sharma
- Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, 14 Science Drive 4, Singapore 117543, Singapore
| | - Jan K Marzinek
- Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, 14 Science Drive 4, Singapore 117543, Singapore; Bioinformatics Institute (A*STAR), 30 Biopolis Street, #07-01 Matrix, Singapore 138671, Singapore
| | - Sarala Neomi Tantirimudalige
- Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, 14 Science Drive 4, Singapore 117543, Singapore
| | - Peter J Bond
- Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, 14 Science Drive 4, Singapore 117543, Singapore; Bioinformatics Institute (A*STAR), 30 Biopolis Street, #07-01 Matrix, Singapore 138671, Singapore.
| | - Thorsten Wohland
- Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, 14 Science Drive 4, Singapore 117543, Singapore; Department of Chemistry, National University of Singapore, 14 Science Drive 4, Singapore 117543, Singapore; Centre for Bioimaging Sciences, National University of Singapore, 14 Science Drive 4, Singapore 117557, Singapore.
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Sharma H, Sharma KK. ECG-derived respiration based on iterated Hilbert transform and Hilbert vibration decomposition. Australas Phys Eng Sci Med 2018; 41:429-443. [PMID: 29667117 DOI: 10.1007/s13246-018-0640-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/16/2017] [Accepted: 04/11/2018] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Monitoring of the respiration using the electrocardiogram (ECG) is desirable for the simultaneous study of cardiac activities and the respiration in the aspects of comfort, mobility, and cost of the healthcare system. This paper proposes a new approach for deriving the respiration from single-lead ECG based on the iterated Hilbert transform (IHT) and the Hilbert vibration decomposition (HVD). The ECG signal is first decomposed into the multicomponent sinusoidal signals using the IHT technique. Afterward, the lower order amplitude components obtained from the IHT are filtered using the HVD to extract the respiration information. Experiments are performed on the Fantasia and Apnea-ECG datasets. The performance of the proposed ECG-derived respiration (EDR) approach is compared with the existing techniques including the principal component analysis (PCA), R-peak amplitudes (RPA), respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), slopes of the QRS complex, and R-wave angle. The proposed technique showed the higher median values of correlation (first and third quartile) for both the Fantasia and Apnea-ECG datasets as 0.699 (0.55, 0.82) and 0.57 (0.40, 0.73), respectively. Also, the proposed algorithm provided the lowest values of the mean absolute error and the average percentage error computed from the EDR and reference (recorded) respiration signals for both the Fantasia and Apnea-ECG datasets as 1.27 and 9.3%, and 1.35 and 10.2%, respectively. In the experiments performed over different age group subjects of the Fantasia dataset, the proposed algorithm provided effective results in the younger population but outperformed the existing techniques in the case of elderly subjects. The proposed EDR technique has the advantages over existing techniques in terms of the better agreement in the respiratory rates and specifically, it reduces the need for an extra step required for the detection of fiducial points in the ECG for the estimation of respiration which makes the process effective and less-complex. The above performance results obtained from two different datasets validate that the proposed approach can be used for monitoring of the respiration using single-lead ECG.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hemant Sharma
- Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, National Institute of Technology Rourkela, Rourkela, India.
| | - K K Sharma
- Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, Malaviya National Institute of Technology Jaipur, Jaipur, India
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Kalawat U, Nibandhana G, Sharma KK, Patnayak R, Katyarmal DT, Chaudhury A. A prospective study on the common infectious causes of thrombocytopenia (dengue fever, leptospirosis, scrub typhus and malaria) in a tertiary care teaching hospital. J Clin Sci Res 2018; 7:2. [DOI: 10.4103/jcsr.jcsr_7_18] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/19/2023]
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Kumar P, Yadav P, Deshmukh DG, Bulle PA, Singh D, Singh N, Sharma KK, Jain M, Ingole KV, Goel AK, Yadava PK. Vibrio cholerae O1 with ctxB7 variant genotype acquired qnrVC mediated ciprofloxacin resistance in Yavatmal, India. Clin Microbiol Infect 2017. [PMID: 28648857 DOI: 10.1016/j.cmi.2017.06.019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- P Kumar
- Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India; National Centre for Disease Control, Delhi, India.
| | - P Yadav
- Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India
| | | | - P A Bulle
- SVN Govt. Medical College, Yavatmal, India
| | - D Singh
- Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak, India
| | - N Singh
- Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India
| | - K K Sharma
- Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak, India
| | - M Jain
- Jiwaji University, Gwalior, India
| | - K V Ingole
- SVN Govt. Medical College, Yavatmal, India
| | - A K Goel
- Defence Research and Development Establishment, Gwalior, India
| | - P K Yadava
- Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India.
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Sharma KK, Shukla VR, Patel AR, Vaghela KM, Patel HK, Shah PG, Banerjee H, Banerjee T, Hudait RK, Sharma D, Sahoo SK, Singh B, Tripathy V. Multilocation field trials for risk assessment of a combination fungicide Fluopicolide + Propamocarb in tomato. Environ Monit Assess 2016; 188:604. [PMID: 27709463 DOI: 10.1007/s10661-016-5610-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/19/2016] [Accepted: 09/21/2016] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
Dissipation kinetics of two systemic fungicides, namely fluopicolide and propamocarb used as a combination formulation (Infinito 68.75 SC), were studied on tomato at four different locations by the All India Network Project on Pesticide Residues to recommend their pre-harvest interval (PHI) and to propose the maximum residue limits (MRL) for the two fungicides based on chronic hazard exposure assessment. The combination fungicide was sprayed thrice at the recommended dosage of 93.75 g a.i./ha fluopicolide and 937.50 g a.i./ha propamocarb as well as at double the recommended dosage of 187.50 g a.i./ha fluopicolide and 1875.0 g a.i./ha propamocarb on tomato crops and the residues were monitored periodically by GC-MS. The fungicides dissipated to below the limit of quantification (LOQ) within 10 to 15 days, with a half-life of 2-4 days for fluopicolide and 1-2 days for propamocarb. Taking into consideration the MRLs of codex and calculations made using the method of MRL fixation of the Food Safety and Standard Authority of India (FSSAI) as well as the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) calculator, MRL of 5 mg/kg is proposed for fluopicolide and 15 mg/kg for propamocarb, following critical exposure of the commodity considering PHI of 1 day.
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Affiliation(s)
- K K Sharma
- All India Network Project on Pesticide Residues, ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, 110012, India.
| | - V R Shukla
- Anand Agricultural University, Anand, Gujarat, India
| | - A R Patel
- Anand Agricultural University, Anand, Gujarat, India
| | - K M Vaghela
- Anand Agricultural University, Anand, Gujarat, India
| | - H K Patel
- Anand Agricultural University, Anand, Gujarat, India
| | - Paresh G Shah
- Anand Agricultural University, Anand, Gujarat, India
| | - Hemanta Banerjee
- Bidhan Chandra Krishi Vishwavidyalaya, Kalyani, West Bengal, India
| | | | - Ram K Hudait
- Bidhan Chandra Krishi Vishwavidyalaya, Kalyani, West Bengal, India
| | - Debi Sharma
- ICAR-Indian Horticultural Research Institute, Bangalore, Karnataka, India
| | - S K Sahoo
- Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, Punjab, India
| | | | - Vandana Tripathy
- All India Network Project on Pesticide Residues, ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, 110012, India
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Sharma H, Sharma KK. An algorithm for sleep apnea detection from single-lead ECG using Hermite basis functions. Comput Biol Med 2016; 77:116-24. [PMID: 27543782 DOI: 10.1016/j.compbiomed.2016.08.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 66] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/12/2016] [Revised: 08/12/2016] [Accepted: 08/12/2016] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Hemant Sharma
- Department of Electronics & Communication Engineering, Malaviya National Institute of Technology, Jaipur 302017, India.
| | - K K Sharma
- Department of Electronics & Communication Engineering, Malaviya National Institute of Technology, Jaipur 302017, India
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Mekdad HE, Boutant E, Karnib H, Biedma ME, Sharma KK, Malytska I, Laumond G, Roy M, Réal E, Paillart JC, Moog C, Darlix JL, Mély Y, de Rocquigny H. Characterization of the interaction between the HIV-1 Gag structural polyprotein and the cellular ribosomal protein L7 and its implication in viral nucleic acid remodeling. Retrovirology 2016; 13:54. [PMID: 27515235 PMCID: PMC4982112 DOI: 10.1186/s12977-016-0287-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2016] [Accepted: 07/27/2016] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Background In HIV-1 infected cells, the integrated viral DNA is transcribed by the host cell machinery to generate the full length HIV-1 RNA (FL RNA) that serves as mRNA encoding for the Gag and GagPol precursors. Virion formation is orchestrated by Gag, and the current view is that a specific interaction between newly made Gag molecules and FL RNA initiates the process. This in turn would cause FL RNA dimerization by the NC domain of Gag (GagNC). However the RNA chaperoning activity of unprocessed Gag is low as compared to the mature NC protein. This prompted us to search for GagNC co-factors. Results Here we report that RPL7, a major ribosomal protein involved in translation regulation, is a partner of Gag via its interaction with the NC domain. This interaction is mediated by the NC zinc fingers and the N- and C-termini of RPL7, respectively, but seems independent of RNA binding, Gag oligomerization and its interaction with the plasma membrane. Interestingly, RPL7 is shown for the first time to exhibit a potent DNA/RNA chaperone activity higher than that of Gag. In addition, Gag and RPL7 can function in concert to drive rapid nucleic acid hybridization. Conclusions Our results show that GagNC interacts with the ribosomal protein RPL7 endowed with nucleic acid chaperone activity, favoring the notion that RPL7 could be a Gag helper chaperoning factor possibly contributing to the start of Gag assembly. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12977-016-0287-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hala El Mekdad
- Laboratoire de Biophotonique et Pharmacologie, UMR 7213 CNRS, Faculté de Pharmacie, Université de Strasbourg, 74, Route du Rhin, 67401, Illkirch Cedex, France
| | - Emmanuel Boutant
- Laboratoire de Biophotonique et Pharmacologie, UMR 7213 CNRS, Faculté de Pharmacie, Université de Strasbourg, 74, Route du Rhin, 67401, Illkirch Cedex, France
| | - Hassan Karnib
- Laboratoire de Biophotonique et Pharmacologie, UMR 7213 CNRS, Faculté de Pharmacie, Université de Strasbourg, 74, Route du Rhin, 67401, Illkirch Cedex, France
| | - Marina E Biedma
- Fédération de Médecine Translationnelle de Strasbourg (FMTS), INSERM U1109, Université de Strasbourg, 3 rue Koeberlé, 67000, Strasbourg Cedex, France
| | - Kamal Kant Sharma
- Laboratoire de Biophotonique et Pharmacologie, UMR 7213 CNRS, Faculté de Pharmacie, Université de Strasbourg, 74, Route du Rhin, 67401, Illkirch Cedex, France
| | - Iuliia Malytska
- Laboratoire de Biophotonique et Pharmacologie, UMR 7213 CNRS, Faculté de Pharmacie, Université de Strasbourg, 74, Route du Rhin, 67401, Illkirch Cedex, France
| | - Géraldine Laumond
- Fédération de Médecine Translationnelle de Strasbourg (FMTS), INSERM U1109, Université de Strasbourg, 3 rue Koeberlé, 67000, Strasbourg Cedex, France
| | - Marion Roy
- Architecture et Réactivité de l'ARN, CNRS, Institut de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire, Université de Strasbourg, 15 rue René Descartes, 67084, Strasbourg Cedex, France
| | - Eléonore Réal
- Laboratoire de Biophotonique et Pharmacologie, UMR 7213 CNRS, Faculté de Pharmacie, Université de Strasbourg, 74, Route du Rhin, 67401, Illkirch Cedex, France
| | - Jean-Christophe Paillart
- Architecture et Réactivité de l'ARN, CNRS, Institut de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire, Université de Strasbourg, 15 rue René Descartes, 67084, Strasbourg Cedex, France
| | - Christiane Moog
- Fédération de Médecine Translationnelle de Strasbourg (FMTS), INSERM U1109, Université de Strasbourg, 3 rue Koeberlé, 67000, Strasbourg Cedex, France
| | - Jean Luc Darlix
- Laboratoire de Biophotonique et Pharmacologie, UMR 7213 CNRS, Faculté de Pharmacie, Université de Strasbourg, 74, Route du Rhin, 67401, Illkirch Cedex, France
| | - Yves Mély
- Laboratoire de Biophotonique et Pharmacologie, UMR 7213 CNRS, Faculté de Pharmacie, Université de Strasbourg, 74, Route du Rhin, 67401, Illkirch Cedex, France
| | - Hugues de Rocquigny
- Laboratoire de Biophotonique et Pharmacologie, UMR 7213 CNRS, Faculté de Pharmacie, Université de Strasbourg, 74, Route du Rhin, 67401, Illkirch Cedex, France.
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Mukherjee I, Das TK, Kumar A, Sarkar B, Sharma KK. Behavior and bioefficacy of tribenuron-methyl in wheat (Triticum astevum L.) under irrigated agro-ecosystem in India. Environ Monit Assess 2015; 187:610. [PMID: 26341501 DOI: 10.1007/s10661-015-4826-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/23/2015] [Accepted: 08/24/2015] [Indexed: 06/05/2023]
Abstract
Possible bioaccumulation of pesticides in crop produce may cause ill effects on animals and humans. Tribenuron-methyl is a new post-emergence herbicide and is highly efficient to control the broad-leaf weeds in cereals, pasture, and plantation crops. There are scarce studies on its bioefficacy, sensitivity to weeds, tolerance to wheat, and persistence in crop produce, which are important information required before recommending an herbicide for use by the farmers. Weed control efficiency of an herbicide is dose-sensitive and site/soil-specific. Tribenuron-methyl (75% DF) was applied at 22.5 and 45.0 g a.i./ha along with the surfactant 300.12 mL/ha as a tank mixes after 30 days of sowing in wheat as post-emergence herbicide. The samples of wheat foliage, soil, and grains at harvest were processed and analyzed for residues by high-performance liquid chromatography using a UV detector at 240 nm. The study revealed that there was a significant reduction in weed population and dry matter accumulation due to tribenuron-methyl application at a higher dose (45.0 g/ha) compared to a lower dose (of 22.5 g/ha). The weed density was found to be from 16.1 to 44.3 no/m(2) for application rate of 22.5 g/ha while at the 45.0 g/ha application, the weed density was 5.3-5.9 as compared to untreated control, where 184.3-120.5 no/m(2) was observed. The yield varied from 4.30 to 4.80 t/ha as compared to 2.25-3.55 t/ha in unweeded control with the LSD value being 21.5-16.3 to 0.27-0.19. Residues were below detectable level (BDL, <0.005 mg/kg) of tribenuron-methyl since they were detected in wheat grains at 22.5 g a.i./ha rates. However, 0.012 μg/g residues were detected in wheat foliage at an application rate of 45.0 g a.i./ha. It can be concluded that it is safe to use tribenuron-methyl at 22.5 g a.i./ha on wheat crop as post-emergence herbicide.
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Affiliation(s)
- Irani Mukherjee
- Division of Agricultural Chemicals, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, 110012, India,
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Sharma KK, Przybilla F, Restle T, Boudier C, Godet J, Mély Y. Reverse Transcriptase in Action: FRET-Based Assay for Monitoring Flipping and Polymerase Activity in Real Time. Anal Chem 2015; 87:7690-7. [PMID: 26125954 DOI: 10.1021/acs.analchem.5b01126] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Abstract
Reverse transcriptase (RT) of human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1) is a multifunctional enzyme that catalyzes the conversion of the single stranded viral RNA genome into double-stranded DNA, competent for host-cell integration. RT is endowed with RNA- and DNA-dependent DNA polymerase activity and DNA-directed RNA hydrolysis (RNase H activity). As a key enzyme of reverse transcription, RT is a key target of currently used highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), though RT inhibitors offer generally a poor resistance profile, urging new RT inhibitors to be developed. Using single molecule fluorescence approaches, it has been recently shown that RT binding orientation and dynamics on its substrate play a critical role in its activity. Currently, most in vitro RT activity assays, inherently end-point measurements, are based on the detection of reaction products by using radio-labeled or chemically modified nucleotides. Here, we propose a simple and continuous real-time Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) based-assay for the direct measurement of RT's binding orientation and polymerase activity, with the use of conventional steady-state fluorescence spectroscopy. Under our working conditions, the change in binding orientation and the primer elongation step can be visualized separately on the basis of their opposite fluorescence changes and their different kinetics. The assay presented can easily discriminate non-nucleoside RT inhibitors from nucleoside RT inhibitors and determine reliably their potency. This one-step and one-pot assay constitutes an improved alternative to the currently used screening assays to disclose new anti-RT drugs and identify at the same time the class to which they belong.
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Affiliation(s)
- K K Sharma
- †Laboratoire de Biophotonique et Pharmacologie, UMR 7213 CNRS, Université de Strasbourg, Faculté de pharmacie, 74 route du Rhin, 67401 Illkirch, France
| | - F Przybilla
- †Laboratoire de Biophotonique et Pharmacologie, UMR 7213 CNRS, Université de Strasbourg, Faculté de pharmacie, 74 route du Rhin, 67401 Illkirch, France
| | - T Restle
- ‡Institute für Molekulare Medizin, Universitätsklinikum Schleswig-Holstein, Universität zu Lübeck, Ratzeburger Allee 160, 23538 Lübeck, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany
| | - C Boudier
- †Laboratoire de Biophotonique et Pharmacologie, UMR 7213 CNRS, Université de Strasbourg, Faculté de pharmacie, 74 route du Rhin, 67401 Illkirch, France
| | - J Godet
- †Laboratoire de Biophotonique et Pharmacologie, UMR 7213 CNRS, Université de Strasbourg, Faculté de pharmacie, 74 route du Rhin, 67401 Illkirch, France.,§Département d'Information Médicale et de Biostatistiques, Hôpitaux Universitaires de Strasbourg, 1, pl de l'Hôpital, 67400 Strasbourg, France
| | - Y Mély
- †Laboratoire de Biophotonique et Pharmacologie, UMR 7213 CNRS, Université de Strasbourg, Faculté de pharmacie, 74 route du Rhin, 67401 Illkirch, France
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Sharma KK, Mukherjee I, Singh B, Sahoo SK, Mandal K, Mohapatra S, Ahuja AK, Sharma D, Parihar NS, Sharma BN, Kale VD, Walunj AR. Dissipation pattern and risk assessment of flubendiamide on chili at different agro-climatic conditions in India. Environ Monit Assess 2015; 187:245. [PMID: 25864080 DOI: 10.1007/s10661-015-4476-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/01/2014] [Accepted: 03/26/2015] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
Dissipation pattern and risk assessment of flubendiamide and its metabolite (desiodo flubendiamide) on chili were studied at four different agro-climatic locations of India at the standard and double dose at 60 and 120 g a.i. ha(-1) at 10 days interval. Quantification of residues was done on a high-performance liquid chromatograph (HPLC) with a photo diode array detector. The limit of quantification (LOQ) of this method was found to be 0.01 mg kg(-1) while limit of detection (LOD) being 0.003 mg kg(-1). Residues of flubendiamide were found to be below the determination limit in 15 days at both the dosages in all locations. Half-life of flubendiamide when applied at 60 and 120 g a.i. ha(-1) ranged from 0.85 to 1.80 and from 0.95 to 2.79 days, respectively. On the basis of data generated under the All India Network Project on Pesticide Residues, a preharvest interval (PHI) of 1 day has been recommended and the flubendiamide 480 SC has been registered for use on chili in India by the Central Insecticide Board and Registration Committee, Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India. The maximum residue limit (MRL) of flubendiamide on chili has been fixed by the Food Safety Standard Authority of India, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, as 0.02 μg g(-1) after its risk assessment.
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Affiliation(s)
- K K Sharma
- Division of Agricultural Chemicals, All India Network Project on Pesticide Residues, IARI, LBS Building, New Delhi, India,
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Sharma KK, Mukherjee I, Singh B, Mandal K, Sahoo SK, Banerjee H, Banerjee T, Roy S, Shah PG, Patel HK, Patel AR, Beevi SN, George T, Mathew TB, Singh G, Noniwal R, Devi S. Persistence and risk assessment of spiromesifen on tomato in India: a multilocational study. Environ Monit Assess 2014; 186:8453-8461. [PMID: 25218317 DOI: 10.1007/s10661-014-4016-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/20/2013] [Accepted: 08/15/2014] [Indexed: 06/03/2023]
Abstract
Supervised field trials were conducted at four different agro-climatic locations of India to evaluate the dissipation pattern and risk assessment of spiromesifen on tomato. Spiromesifen 240 SC was sprayed on tomato at 150 and 300 g a.i. ha(-1). Samples of tomato fruits were drawn at 0, 1, 3, 5, 7, 10 and 15 days after treatment and soil at 15 days after treatment. Quantification of residues was done on gas chromatograph-mass spectrophotometer in selective ion monitoring mode in the mass range of 271-274 (m/z). The limit of quantification of the method was found to be 0.05 mg kg(-1), while the limit of determination was 0.015 mg kg(-1). Residues were found below the LOQ of 0.05 mg kg(-1) in 10 days at both the doses of application at all the locations. Spiromesifen dissipated with a half-life of 0.93-1.38 days at the recommended rate of application and 1.04-1.34 days at the double the rate of application. Residues of spiromesifen in soil were detectable level (<0.05 mg kg(-1)) after 15 days of treatment. A preharvest interval (PHI) of 1 day has been recommended on tomato on the basis of data generated under All India Network Project on Pesticide Residues. Spiromesifen 240 SC has been registered for its use on tomato by Central Insecticide Board and Registration Committee, Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India. The maximum residue limit (MRL) of spiromesifen on tomato has been fixed by Food Safety Standard Authority of India, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India as 0.3 μg/g after its risk assessment.
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Affiliation(s)
- K K Sharma
- All India Network Project on Pesticide Residues, Division of Agricultural Chemicals, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, 110012, India,
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Sharma KK, Mukherjee I, Singh B, Sahoo SK, Parihar NS, Sharma BN, Kale VD, Nakat RV, Walunj AR, Mohapatra S, Ahuja AK, Sharma D, Singh G, Noniwal R, Devi S. Residual behavior and risk assessment of flubendiamide on tomato at different agro-climatic conditions in India. Environ Monit Assess 2014; 186:7673-7682. [PMID: 25108662 DOI: 10.1007/s10661-014-3958-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/10/2013] [Accepted: 07/22/2014] [Indexed: 06/03/2023]
Abstract
Supervised field trials were conducted at four different agro-climatic zones in India to evaluate the dissipation pattern and risk assessment of flubendiamide on tomato. Flubendiamide 480 SC was sprayed on tomato at 48 and 96 g active ingredient (a.i.) ha(-1). Samples of tomato fruits were drawn at 0, 1, 3, 5, 7, 10, 15, and 20 days after treatment. Quantification of residues was done on a high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) device with a photo diode array detector. The limit of quantification (LOQ) of this method was found to be 0.01 mg kg(-1) while limit of detection (LOD) being 0.003 mg kg(-1). Residues of flubendiamide were found below the determination limit of 0.01 mg kg(-1) in 20 days at both the dosages in all the locations. The half-life of flubendiamide at an application rate of 48 g a.i. ha(-1) varied from 0.33 to 3.28 days and at 48-g a.i. ranged from 1.21 to 3.00 days. On the basis of data generated under the All India Network Project on Pesticide Residues, a preharvest interval (PHI) of 1 day has been recommended, and the flubendiamide 480 SC has been registered for its use on tomato by the Central Insecticide Board and Registration Committee, Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India. The maximum residue limit (MRL) of flubendiamide on tomato has been fixed by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India under Food Safety Standard Authority of India, as 0.07 μg g(-1) after its risk assessment.
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Affiliation(s)
- K K Sharma
- All India Network Project on Pesticide Residues, Division of Agricultural Chemicals, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, 110012, India,
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Sharma KK, Mohapatra S, Ahuja AK, Deepa M, Sharma D, Jagdish GK, Rashmi N, Battu RS, Sharma SK, Singh B, Parihar NS, Sharma BN, Kale VD, Nakat RV, Walnuj AR, Singh G, Ravivanshi KK, Devi S, Noniwal R. Safety evaluation of flubendiamide and its metabolites on cabbage and persistence in soil in different agroclimatic zones of India. Environ Monit Assess 2014; 186:3633-3639. [PMID: 24497081 DOI: 10.1007/s10661-014-3645-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/02/2013] [Accepted: 01/20/2014] [Indexed: 06/03/2023]
Abstract
Supervised field trials following good agricultural practices were conducted at the research farms of four agricultural universities located at four different agroclimatic zones of India to evaluate the persistence and dissipation of flubendiamide and its metabolite, des-iodo flubendiamide, on cabbage. Two spray applications of flubendiamide 480 SC of standard and double dose at the rate of 24 and 48 g a.i. ha(-1) were given to the crop at a 15-day interval, and the residues of flubendiamide 2 h after spray were found in the range of 0.107-0.33 and 0.20-0.49 mg kg(-1) at respective doses. Residue of des-iodo flubendiamide was not detected in any cabbage sample during study period. No residues were found in the soil samples collected from all treated fields after 15 days of application. On the basis of data generated under All India Network Project on Pesticide Residues, a preharvest interval (PHI) of 10 days has been recommended, and the flubendiamide 480 SC has been registered for its use on cabbage by Central Insecticide Board and Registration Committee, Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India. The maximum residue limit (MRL) of flubendiamide on cabbage has been fixed by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, under Food Safety Standard Authority of India as 0.05 μg/g after its risk assessment.
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Affiliation(s)
- K K Sharma
- All India Network Project on Pesticide Residues, Division of Agricultural Chemicals IARI, New Delhi, 110 012, India,
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Sharma S, Sharma KK, Kuhad RC. An efficient and economical method for extraction of DNA amenable to biotechnological manipulations, from diverse soils and sediments. J Appl Microbiol 2014; 116:923-33. [PMID: 24329912 DOI: 10.1111/jam.12420] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/07/2013] [Revised: 12/05/2013] [Accepted: 12/09/2013] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
AIMS An attempt was made to optimize a new protocol for isolation of pure metagenomic DNA from soil samples. METHODS AND RESULTS Various chemicals (FeCl3 , MgCl2 , CaCl2 and activated charcoal) were tested for their efficacy in isolation of metagenomic DNA from different soil and compost samples. Among these trials, charcoal and MgCl2 when used in combination yielded highly pure DNA free from humic acids and other contaminants. The DNA extracted with the optimized protocol was readily digested, amplified and cloned. Moreover, compared with a well-established commercial DNA isolation kit (UltraClean™ Soil DNA Isolation Kit), our method for DNA isolation was found to be economical. This demonstrated that the method developed can be applied to a wide variety of soil samples and allows handling of multiple samples at a given time. CONCLUSIONS The optimized protocol developed has successfully yielded pure metagenomic DNA amenable to biotechnological manipulations. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY A user-friendly and economical protocol for isolation of DNA from soil and compost samples has been developed.
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Affiliation(s)
- S Sharma
- Lignocellulose Biotechnology Laboratory, Department of Microbiology, University of Delhi South Campus, New Delhi, India
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Ahmad A, Ramamurthy VV, Sharma KK, Mohanasundaram A, Vidyarthi AS, Ramani R. Three new species of Kerria (Hemiptera: Coccoidea: Tachardiidae) from India. Zootaxa 2013; 3734:442-52. [PMID: 25277926 DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3734.4.2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/06/2013] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
Three new species of Kerria Targioni-Tozzetti from India, namely Kerria pennyae Ahmad & Ramamurthy sp. nov. on Schleichera oleosa from Orissa, Kerria dubeyi Ahmad & Ramamurthy sp. nov. on Ficus bengalensis from Bangalore and Kerria varshneyi Ahmad & Ramamurthy sp. nov. on Ziziphus mauritiana from Punjab are described and illustrated, and a key is provided to species of Kerria known from India.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ayashaa Ahmad
- Division of Entomology, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi 110012, India;
| | - V V Ramamurthy
- Division of Entomology, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi 110012, India;
| | - K K Sharma
- Indian Institute of Natural Resins and Gums, Namkum, Ranchi 834010, India; unknown
| | - A Mohanasundaram
- Indian Institute of Natural Resins and Gums, Namkum, Ranchi 834010, India; unknown
| | - A S Vidyarthi
- Department of Biotechnology, Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra, Ranchi 835215, India; unknown
| | - R Ramani
- Indian Institute of Natural Resins and Gums, Namkum, Ranchi 834010, India; unknown
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Baltzinger M, Sharma KK, Mély Y, Altschuh D. Dissecting the oligonucleotide binding properties of a disordered chaperone protein using surface plasmon resonance. Nucleic Acids Res 2013; 41:10414-25. [PMID: 24030713 PMCID: PMC3905882 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkt792] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/25/2023] Open
Abstract
We have used surface plasmon resonance to investigate the nucleic acid binding properties of the core protein of hepatitis C virus, a disordered protein believed to chaperone the genomic RNA. It was previously shown that a peptide (peptide E) corresponding to the association of two basic clusters of core enhances the annealing and the dimerization of nucleic acid fragments derived from a stem loop (SL2) in the 3′ untranslated region of the hepatitis C virus genome. However, strong aggregation of nucleic acids by core or peptide E in the excess of the latter precluded the characterization of their binding parameters up to now. By careful design of surface plasmon resonance experiments, we obtained accurate binding parameters for the interaction of peptide E with SL2-derived oligonucleotides of different lengths and sequences, in form of stem-loop, duplex or strand. Peptide E was found to bind in a salt dependent manner to all oligonucleotides assayed. Affinity data identify at least two binding modes, of which one is independent of sequence/structure, and the other is specific to the SL2 stem-loop fold. Stoichiometry data support a multi-motif binding model allowing formation of higher-order complexes. We propose that the modular binding mode demonstrated for structured RNA-binding proteins also applies to this disordered chaperone and is relevant to its activity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mireille Baltzinger
- Biotechnologie et signalisation cellulaire, Université de Strasbourg, CNRS, BP10413, 67412 Illkirch, France and Laboratoire de Biophotonique et Pharmacologie, UMR 7213 CNRS, Faculté de Pharmacie, Université de Strasbourg, 67401, Illkirch, France
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Ahmad A, Sharma KK, Ramamurthy VV, Vidyarthi AS, Ramani R. Three new species of Kerria (Hemiptera: Sternorrhyncha: Coccoidea: Tachardiidae), a redesciption of K. yunnanensis Ou & Hong, and a revised key to species of Kerria. Zootaxa 2013; 3620:518-32. [PMID: 26120722 DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3620.4.2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
Three new species of lac insect, Kerria Targioni-Tozzetti viz., Kerria manipurensis Ahmad & Ramamurthy sp. nov., Kerria maduraiensis Ahmad & Ramamurthy sp. nov., and Kerria thrissurensis Ahmad & Ramamurthy sp. nov. are described and illustrated. Kerria yunnanensis Ou & Hong is illustrated and redescribed, and a key to the known species of Kerria is provided. The usefulness of star pores as a diagnostic character in the subgeneric divisions of Kerria is also discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ayashaa Ahmad
- Division of Entomology Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi 110012, India.
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Vadez V, Rao JS, Bhatnagar-Mathur P, Sharma KK. DREB1A promotes root development in deep soil layers and increases water extraction under water stress in groundnut. Plant Biol (Stuttg) 2013; 15:45-52. [PMID: 22672619 DOI: 10.1111/j.1438-8677.2012.00588.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/08/2023]
Abstract
Water deficit is a major yield-limiting factor for many crops, and improving the root system has been proposed as a promising breeding strategy, although not in groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.). The present work was carried out mainly to assess how root traits are influenced under water stress in groundnut, whether transgenics can alter root traits, and whether putative changes lead to water extraction differences. Several transgenic events, transformed with DREB1A driven by the rd29 promoter, along with wild-type JL24, were tested in a lysimeter system that mimics field conditions under both water stress (WS) and well-watered (WW) conditions. The WS treatment increased the maximum rooting depth, although the increase was limited to about 20% in JL24, compared to 50% in RD11. The root dry weight followed a similar trend. Consequently, the root dry weight and length density of transgenics was higher in layers below 100-cm depth (Exp. 1) and below 30 cm (Exp. 2). The root diameter was unchanged under WS treatment, except a slight increase in the 60-90-cm layer. The root diameter increased below 60 cm in both treatments. In the WW treatment, total water extraction of RD33 was higher than in JL24 and other transgenic events, and somewhat lower in RD11 than in JL24. In the WS treatment, water extraction of RD2, RD11 and RD33 was higher than in JL24. These water extraction differences were mostly apparent in the initial 21 days after treatment imposition and were well related to root length density in the 30-60-cm layer (R(2) = 0.68), but not to average root length density. In conclusion, water stress promotes rooting growth more strongly in transgenic events than in the wild type, especially in deep soil layers, and this leads to increased water extraction. This opens an avenue for tapping these characteristics toward the improvement of drought adaptation in deep soil conditions, and toward a better understanding of genes involved in rooting in groundnut.
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Affiliation(s)
- V Vadez
- International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, Andhra Pradesh, India.
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Abstract
In the present study which was aimed to see the effect of zinc on pentylenetetrazole induced convulsive threshold in rats we found that zinc sulfate 100 μg intracerebroventricularly) and pentylenetetrazole (50 mg/kg intraperitoneally) produced dose related seizure activity; however, pretreatment with zinc decreased the threshold, increased the severity, incidence of multiple seizures and total duration of pentylenetetrazole induced seizures. Diazepam (5 mg/kg intraperitoneally) pretreatment increased the threshold and lowered the incidence of convulsions in zinc induced seizures which further confirms that the convulsive effect of zinc is through inhibition of gamma aimino butyric acid.
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Affiliation(s)
- N Khanna
- Department of Pharmacology, University College of Medical Sciences & G.T.B. Hospital, 110 095 Delhi
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Gupta S, Handa SK, Sharma KK. A new spray reagent for the detection of synthetic pyrethroids containing a nitrile group on thin-layer plates. Talanta 2012; 45:1111-4. [PMID: 18967102 DOI: 10.1016/s0039-9140(97)00211-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/09/1997] [Revised: 07/08/1997] [Accepted: 07/09/1997] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
This paper describes a new spray reagent for selective detection of synthetic pyrethroids containing alpha-cyano group i.e. lambda-cyhalothrin, deltamethrin, cyfluthrin and fluvalinate by thin layer chromatography. These synthetic pyrethroids on alkaline hydrolysis, yield a cynohydrin derivative which degrades to give HCN and a corresponding aldehyde. This liberated HCN reduces 2-(4-iodophenyl)-3-(4-nitrophenyl)-5-phenyl tetrazolium chloride (INT) to formazan, a pink product in the presence of phenazonium methosulfate (PMS). The pink colour formed remain stable for more than 24 h. Other group of insecticides like organophosphorus, organochlorine and carbamate do not interfere in the determination. Pyrethroid insecticides not containing hydrolysable nitrile group also do not interfere. The limit of detection is from 0.5 to 1 mug.
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Affiliation(s)
- S Gupta
- Division of Agricultural Chemicals, Indian Agricultural, Research Institute, New Delhi, 110 012, India
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Arora T, Mehta AK, Joshi V, Mehta KD, Rathor N, Mediratta PK, Sharma KK. Substitute of Animals in Drug Research: An Approach Towards Fulfillment of 4R's. Indian J Pharm Sci 2012; 73:1-6. [PMID: 22131615 PMCID: PMC3224398 DOI: 10.4103/0250-474x.89750] [Citation(s) in RCA: 60] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/10/2010] [Revised: 12/16/2010] [Accepted: 01/02/2011] [Indexed: 11/04/2022] Open
Abstract
The preclinical studies for drug screening involve the use of animals which is very time consuming and expensive and at times leads to suffering of the used organism. Animal right activists around the world are increasingly opposing the use of animals. This has forced the researchers to find ways to not only decrease the time involved in drug screening procedures but also decrease the number of animals used and also increase the humane care of animals. To fulfill this goal a number of new in vitro techniques have been devised which are called 'Alternatives' or 'Substitutes' for use of animals in research involving drugs. These 'Alternatives' are defined as the adjuncts which help to decrease the use as well as the number of animals in biomedical research. Russell and Burch have defined these alternatives by three R's - Reduction, Refinement and Replacement. These alternative strategies include physico-chemical methods and techniques utilizing tissue culture, microbiological system, stem cells, DNA chips, micro fluidics, computer analysis models, epidemiological surveys and plant-tissue based materials. The advantages of these alternatives include the decrease in the number of animals used, ability to obtain the results quickly, reduction in the costs and flexibility to control the variables of the experiment. However these techniques are not glittering gold and have their own shortcomings. The disadvantages include the lack of an appropriate alternative to study the whole animal's metabolic response, inability to study transplant models and idiosyncratic responses and inability to study the body's handling of drugs and its subsequent metabolites. None-the-less these aalternative methods to certain extent help to reduce the number of animals required for research. But such alternatives cannot eliminate the need for animals in research completely. Even though no animal model is a complete set of replica for a process within a human body, the intact animal does provide a better model of the complex interaction of the physiological processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- T Arora
- Department of Pharmacology, University College of Medical Sciences, Delhi - 110 095, India
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Ahmad A, Kaushik S, Ramamurthy VV, Lakhanpaul S, Ramani R, Sharma KK, Vidyarthi AS. Mouthparts and stylet penetration of the lac insect Kerria lacca (Kerr) (Hemiptera:Tachardiidae). Arthropod Struct Dev 2012; 41:435-441. [PMID: 22531548 DOI: 10.1016/j.asd.2012.04.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/21/2011] [Revised: 04/12/2012] [Accepted: 04/12/2012] [Indexed: 05/31/2023]
Abstract
Hitherto less known aspects on mouthpart morphology and penetration mechanism of the lac insect Kerria lacca have been explored. Unique details of the mouthparts, i.e. morphology of labium and stylets and salivary sheath have been brought out. The gross morphology of the mouthparts though resembled other plant sucking homopterans; a two-segmented labium with symmetrically distributed six pairs of contact-chemoreceptors on its surface was distinct; the mandibular stylets had serrations on its extreme apical region, while the maxillary stylets had their external surface smooth with parallel longitudinal grooves on their inner surface. Formation of flanges, salivary sheath and penetration pathway observed along with probing and penetration of the stylets intracellularly up to the phloem cells, as illustrated herein, are the addition to the existing knowledge on the structural details of the mouthparts and the feeding behavior thereupon.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ayashaa Ahmad
- NAIP Project (70-17), Division of Entomology, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, India.
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