Efficacy of colistin in multidrug-resistant neonatal sepsis: experience from a tertiary care center in Karachi, Pakistan.

Objective: Infections with multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs) such as Gram-negative bacteria have high morbidity and mortality with limited treatment options. Colistin, an antibiotic active against MDRO, was rarely used due to frequent adverse effects, but its use has now been recommended among adults. In this study, we determined the efficacy of colistin for the treatment of sepsis in neonates.

An approach to design a wristwatch for the protection of the human skin damage induced by ultraviolet and infrared radiations.

Background: Ultraviolet radiations (UV) absorbed by the skin can drive photochemical reactions which range from sunburn to skin cancer. The repeated exposure to Infrared radiations (IR) induces the heat into the skin, which causes dehydration and erythema as an immediate effect. This heat activates the metalloproteinase enzyme that reduces the number of procollagen and collagen fibers in the dermal skin, which results premature skin aging.

Deep Sternal Wound Infections After Cardiac Surgery: A New Australian Tertiary Centre Experience.

Background: Deep sternal wound infections (DSWI) after cardiac surgery impose a significant burden to patient outcomes and health care costs. The objective of this study is to identify risk factors, microbiological characteristics and protective factors for deep sternal wound infections following cardiac surgery in an Australian hospital.

Methods: We performed a retrospective study on 1,902 patients who underwent cardiac surgery at Fiona Stanley Hospital, a tertiary hospital in Western Australia from February 2015 to April 2019.

Evidence of the COVID-19 Virus Targeting the CNS: Tissue Distribution, Host-Virus Interaction, and Proposed Neurotropic Mechanisms.

The recent outbreak of coronavirus infectious disease 2019 (COVID-19) has gripped the world with apprehension and has evoked a scare of epic proportion regarding its potential to spread and infect humans worldwide. As we are in the midst of an ongoing pandemic of COVID-19, scientists are struggling to understand how it resembles and differs from the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) at the genomic and transcriptomic level. In a short time following the outbreak, it has been shown that, similar to SARS-CoV, COVID-19 virus exploits the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor to gain entry inside the cells.

Foliar micromorphology and its role in identification of the Apocynaceae taxa.

In the present study, we evaluate the importance of foliar epidermal micromorphological characteristics of Apocyanaceae for accurate identification and classification. The species were collected from the University of Peshawar's main campus in the spring season to observe its qualitative and quantitative features. The length and width of guard cells, stomatal pore and subsidiary cells, trichomes, and crypts on both sides of the leaf were examined.

The spinal microglial IL-10/β-endorphin pathway accounts for cinobufagin-induced mechanical antiallodynia in bone cancer pain following activation of α7-nicotinic acetylcholine receptors.

Background: Cinobufagin is the major bufadienolide of Bufonis venenum (Chansu), which has been traditionally used for the treatment of chronic pain especially cancer pain. The current study aimed to evaluate its antinociceptive effects in bone cancer pain and explore the underlying mechanisms.

Methods: Rat bone cancer model was used in this study.

Effect of rice straw, biochar and calcite on maize plant and Ni bio-availability in acidic Ni contaminated soil.

Metals that contaminate soil is one of the major problems seriously affecting sustainable agriculture worldwide. Nickel (Ni) toxicity to agricultural crops is a global problem. Mobility of heavy metals present in contaminated soil can be reduced by the amendment of soil passivators, which will ultimately reduce the risk of them entering the food chain.

Pediatric Continuous Renal Replacement Therapy (PCRRT) expert committee recommendation on prescribing prolonged intermittent renal replacement therapy (PIRRT) in critically ill children.

Introduction: Recently, prolonged intermittent renal replacement therapies (PIRRT) have emerged as cost-effective alternatives to conventional CRRT and their use in the pediatric population has started to become more prominent. However, there is a lack of consensus guidelines on the use of PIRRT in pediatric patients in an intensive care setting.

Methods: A literature search was performed on PubMed/Medline, Embase, and Google Scholar in conjunction with medical librarians from both India and the Cleveland Clinic hospital system to find relevant articles.

Improved postharvest quality of apple (Rich Red) by composite coating based on arabinoxylan and β-glucan stearic acid ester.

Apples (Rich Red) were coated with wheat straw arabinoxylan (AX) and β-glucan stearic acid ester (SABG) composite coating material in the concentration range of 1-2%. The postharvest storage life of coated apples was studied at 22 °C (±2) with 65% and 85% relative humidity for 45 days. Application of both AX-SABG (1-2%) and shellac (1-2%) coatings material significantly reduced the weight loss, respiration process, color degradation, process of fruit softening and ripening index as compared to the uncoated apples up to 30 days storage.

Low frequency electroacupuncture alleviates neuropathic pain by activation of spinal microglial IL-10/β-endorphin pathway.

Electroacupuncture produces analgesia in chronic pain patients and animal models of pain hypersensitivity. The current study aims to illustrate the mechanisms underlying electroacupuncture-attenuated neuropathic pain. Neuropathic rats, induced by tight ligation of L5/L6 spinal nerves, markedly reduced mechanical thresholds in the ipsilateral hindpaws relative to the contralateral hindpaws.

Role of sepiolite for cadmium (Cd) polluted soil restoration and spinach growth in wastewater irrigated agricultural soil.

Metals that contaminate soil are one of the major problems seriously affecting sustainable agriculture worldwide. Cadmium (Cd) toxicity to agricultural crops is a global problem. Mobility of Cd in contaminated soil can be minimized by the amendment of soil passivators which will ultimately reduce its movement from soil to plants.

Reducing postoperative pain in children undergoing strabismus surgery: From bundle implementation to clinical decision support tools.

Background: Postoperative pain is a significant cause of morbidity in pediatric anesthesia, which can result in delayed discharge and unplanned hospital admission. Children undergoing strabismus surgery are known to be a particularly high-risk group for postoperative pain.

Aim: The aim of this project was to reduce the incidence of moderate to severe postoperative pain by 25% over a period of 12 months in children undergoing strabismus surgery.

International consensus guidelines for surgery and the timing of intervention in chronic pancreatitis.

Background/objectives: Chronic pancreatitis (CP) is a complex inflammatory disease with pain as the predominant symptom. Pain relief can be achieved using invasive interventions such as endoscopy and surgery. This paper is part of the international consensus guidelines on CP and presents the consensus guideline for surgery and timing of intervention in CP.

Genome wide characterization of phospholipase A & C families and pattern of lysolipids and diacylglycerol changes under abiotic stresses in Brassica napus L.

Plant phospholipase A (PLA) and C (PLC) families are least explored in terms of structure, diversity and their roles in membrane lipid remodeling under stress conditions. In this study, we performed gene family analysis, determined gene expression in different tissues and monitored transcriptional regulation of patatin-related PLA family and PLC family in oil crop Brassica napus under dehydration, salt, abscisic acid and cold stress. The identified 29 BnapPLA genes and 40 BnaPLC genes shared high similarities with Arabidopsis pPLAs and PLCs, respectively.

Multidimensional Test Assembly Using Mixed-Integer Linear Programming: An Application of Kullback-Leibler Information.

Many educational testing programs require different test forms with minimal or no item overlap. At the same time, the test forms should be parallel in terms of their statistical and content-related properties. A well-established method to assemble parallel test forms is to apply combinatorial optimization using mixed-integer linear programming (MILP).

Resection of a large mycotic aneurysm of the left anterior descending coronary artery.

A 50-year-old Indigenous woman, on home haemodialysis, was found to have a large mycotic aneurysm of the proximal left anterior descending coronary artery at the site of a previous drug-eluting stent. Blood cultures grew methicillin-sensitive bacteraemia. She underwent a complex operation involving resection of the mycotic aneurysm, removal of the stent and a coronary artery bypass graft to the distal left anterior descending (LAD) coronary artery using the left internal mammary artery.

Rice straw, biochar and calcite incorporation enhance nickel (Ni) immobilization in contaminated soil and Ni removal capacity.

Although rice straw (RS), biochar (BI) and calcite (CC) have proved to be effective immobilizing agents in acidic contaminated soil, we lack up-to-date scientific data regarding nickel (Ni) fractionation in soil and removal capacity in water. Therefore, an incubation study was undertaken to investigate the efficacy of RS, BI and CC with three application rates (0, 1 and 2%) of RS, BI and CC on the immobilization of Ni in polluted soil. Various extraction techniques were carried out: sequential extraction procedure, the European Community Bureau of Reference (BCR), extraction with CaCl and the toxicity characteristics leaching procedure (TCLP) techniques.

Influence of nitrogen forms and application rates on the phytoextraction of copper by castor bean (Ricinus communis L.).

Fertilization is an important agricultural strategy for enhancing the efficiency of phytoremediation in copper (Cu)-contaminated soils. In this study, the effects of nitrogen (N) forms, including ammonium (NH-N) and nitrate (NO-N), on the growth, translocation, and accumulation of Cu in the tissues of Ricinus communis L. were investigated in pot and hydroponic experiments.

Molecular designing of naphthalene diimide based fullerene-free small organic solar cell - Acceptors with high photovoltaic performance by density functional theory.

With the help of computational chemistry tools, three non-fullerene acceptors, which are 2-methylene-malononitrile (M-1), 2-(3-methyl-5-methylene-2-thioxothiazolidin-4-ylidene) malononitrile (M-2) and 1-methyl-5-methylene-2,6-dioxo-1,2,5,6-tetrahydropyridine-3-carbonitrile (M-3), are designed with naphthalene diimide (NDI) central unit. Their different photovoltaic and optoelectronic properties like absorption spectrum, electrons density, solubility strength, reorganization energies, % ETC from donor to acceptor part, excitation energies, oscillating strength, morphology and crystallinity of device for constructing the thin film bulk hetro junction devices were computed at the WB97XD/6-31 G (d, p) level of density functional theory (DFT). Expected open circuit voltages of designed molecules are high as 4.

Acupuncture/Electroacupuncture as an Alternative in Current Opioid Crisis.

Opioid drugs are the first line of defense in severe pain but the adverse effects associated with opioids are considered as a serious issue worldwide. Acupuncture/electroacupuncture is a type of Chinese medicine therapy which is an effective analgesic therapy, well documented in animals and human studies. Electroacupuncture stimulation could release endogenous opioid peptides causing analgesia in a variety of pain models.

Efficacy and safety of prolonged daily hemodialysis in critically ill children weighing less than 10 kg.

Introduction: Extracorporeal renal replacement therapy may be needed in those infants in whom peritoneal dialysis is not feasible or is ineffective. Prolonged daily hemodialysis (PDHD) remains the only available extracorporeal dialytic modality in children weighing less than 10 kg, in setups where continuous renal replacement therapy is unavailable and sustained low-efficiency dialysis is not feasible due to lack of dedicated HD machines capable of delivering very low dialysate flows. The use of PDHD in critically ill children weighing less than 10 kg has not received much attention.

Designing indaceno thiophene-based three new molecules containing non-fullerene acceptors as strong electron withdrawing groups with DFT approaches.

Nowadays, scientists are trying to develop low-cost fullerene free acceptors for small organic photovoltaic cells in order to overcome the limitations of fullerene derivatives. Current research work deals with theoretical study on three non-fullerene acceptors based on indaceno, dithiophene core, and thiophene bridge units linked with dissimilar end non-fullerene groups which act as strong acceptor moieties. Different optoelectronic characteristics of the designed molecules were calculated and compared with the reference compound R (indaceno dithiophene-based fused ring acceptor) which is recently reported.

The Burden of Acute Kidney Injury in Indian Pediatric Intensive Care Units.

Ali U. The Burden of Acute Kidney Injury in Indian Pediatric Intensive Care Units. Indian J Crit Care Med 2019;23(8):349.

Standard factors predicting success of Non-invasive ventilation are useful in treating Patients with POST Tuberculosis sequel.

Objective: The aim was to access the effectiveness of Bilevel Positive Airway Pressure (BiPAP) in patients with type II respiratory failure secondary to Post Tuberculosis (TB) sequelae and determine the factors that can predict its success. PostTB pulmonary sequelae are complications after healing of TB and type II respiratory failure is frequently encountered in this group. .

Molecular detection of Enterobacteriaceae isolates producing bla and bla genes: A single centre study.

Introduction: OXA-48, a carbapenem-hydrolysing class D β-lactamase, and its variant, OXA-181, are increasingly reported worldwide. This study aimed to describe the prevalence and distribution of OXA-48 and OXA-181 carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) in a tertiary medical centre in Malaysia.

Materials & Methods: A total of 13,098 Enterobacteriaceae isolates from various clinical samples were sent to our laboratory between January 2011 and December 2012.