Seroprevalence of brucellosis among animal handlers in West Bengal, India: an occupational health study.

Brucellosis is a highly contagious zoonotic disease and a major human health problem worldwide. Due to its ways of transmission, direct or indirect contact with infected animals or their contaminated biological products, the disease exhibits strong occupational association with animal handlers comprising a significant population at risk. This study was undertaken to estimate the seroprevalence of brucellosis in animal handlers and to understand the epidemiological and serological aspects of the same.

Current Trends in Antimicrobial Resistance Patterns in Bacterial Pathogens among Adult and Pediatric Patients in the Intensive Care Unit in a Tertiary Care Hospital in Kolkata, India.

Nosocomial infections by multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria are among the main causes of morbidity and death in patients hospitalized in intensive care units (ICUs) worldwide. Antibiotic resistance has become a major concern for treating the patients with nosocomial infections. The aim of this study was to describe the antibiotic resistance patterns of pathogens causing infections in adult and pediatric patients in the ICUs of a tertiary care hospital in Kolkata, India.

Biochemical and biophysical analysis of the interaction of a recombinant form of enolase with plasminogen.

Pathogenic invasion of is critically dependent on host plasminogen activation. The pathophysiological implications of the interactions between recombinant enolase and host plasminogen were investigated. The effects of mutation and small synthetic peptide inhibitors on interactions were assessed.

Identification and Preliminary Characterization of a Novel Single-Stranded DNA Binding Protein of Staphylococcus aureus Phage Phi11 Expressed in Escherichia coli.

Bacteriophage Phi11 harbors a gene, gp13, encoding the putative SSB protein (GenBank accession no. NC_004615.1).

Changing Paradigms in Antibiotic Resistance in Species with Focus on Fluoroquinolone Resistance: A 5-Year Retrospective Study of Enteric Fever in a Tertiary Care Hospital in Kolkata, India.

Enteric fever, a potentially fatal multisystem disease that is caused by serovar Typhi and Paratyphi, poses a significant risk in low- and middle-income countries. A retrospective study to understand the prevalence and evolving patterns of antibiotic resistance in Typhi and Paratyphi was undertaken from June 2017 to June 2022. A total of 4051 blood samples were collected from patients attending inpatient and outpatient departments of the School of Tropical Medicine (Kolkata, India) hospital.

A coumarin coupled tetraphenylethylene based multi-targeted AIEgen for cyanide ion and nitro explosive detection, and cellular imaging.

A coumarin coupled tetraphenylethylene based AIEgen (TPE-Lac) with an intense greenish-yellow emission has been synthesized and utilized for multipurpose sensing and imaging applications. TPE-Lac acts as a sensitive sensor for the detection of cyanide ions (CN) with an immediate turn-off response in the presence of many other interfering cations and anions. The limit of detection (LOD) was as low as 33 nM, which is well below the permissible limit set by the World Health Organization (WHO).

A report on incidence of COVID-19 among febrile patients attending a malaria clinic.

Context: Screening for malaria and coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in all patients with acute febrile illness is necessary in malaria-endemic areas to reduce malaria-related mortality and to prevent the transmission of COVID-19 by isolation.

Aims: A pilot study was undertaken to determine the incidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection among febrile patients attending a malaria clinic.

Subjects And Methods: All patients were tested for malaria parasite by examining thick and thin blood smears as well as by rapid malaria antigen tests.

Dramatic Changes in Oligomerization Property Caused by Single Residue Deletion in Staphylococcus aureus Enolase.

Studies were conducted to understand the role of C-terminal lysine residues in the catalytic activity, structural stability and oligomeric properties of Staphylococcus aureus enolase. Interestingly, the S. aureus enolase, in solution, shows its presence as a stable dimer as well as the catalytically active fragile octamer.

An overview of moonlighting proteins in Staphylococcus aureus infection.

Staphylococcus aureus is responsible for numerous instances of superficial, toxin-mediated, and invasive infections. The emergence of methicillin-resistant (MRSA), as well as vancomycin-resistant (VRSA) strains of S. aureus, poses a massive threat to human health.

Studies on the gene regulation involved in the lytic-lysogenic switch in Staphylococcus aureus temperate bacteriophage Phi11.

Antirepressor proteins of bacteriophages are chiefly involved in interfering with the function of the repressor protein and forcing the bacteriophage to adopt the lytic cycle. The genome of Staphylococcus aureus phage, Phi11 has already been sequenced; from the genome sequence, we amplified gp07 gene and analysed its involvement in the developmental pathway of Phi11. Our results indicate that Gp07 functions as a novel antirepressor and regulates the developmental pathway of Phi11 by enhancing the binding of the Cro repressor protein to its cognate operator.

An Overview of Coronavirus COVID-19 with their Pathogenesis and Risk Assessment of the Disease Utilizing Positive Predictive Value of the Clinical and Laboratory Data.

COVID-19 has created a devastating pandemic, infecting more than 200 countries in its wake, only sparing Antarctica. The virus dissociates ferrous ion from the porphyrin ring of heme of haemoglobin-thus hampering the oxygen and carbon dioxide exchange in the lung and tissue. The toxic effect of ferrous (Fe) ions and carbon dioxide causes lung damage giving rise to severe respiratory distress and an often observed clotting disorder.

Effect of ions and inhibitors on the catalytic activity and structural stability of .

The glycolytic enzyme enolase of Staphylococcus aureus is a highly conserved enzyme which binds to human plasminogen thereby aiding the infection process. The cloning, over expression and purification of S. aureus enolase as well as the effect of various metals upon the catalytic activity and structural stability of the enzyme have been reported.

Cloning, overexpression and purification of a novel two-domain protein of Staphylococcus aureus phage Phi11.

The genome of aureophage Phi11 reveals the presence of the gene gp07 which codes for the putative antirepressor protein (GenBank accession no. NC_004615.1).

Expression of Phi11 Gp07 Causes Filamentation in .

Background: The Gp07 protein of aureophage Phi11 exhibits growth inhibitory effects when overexpressed in .The protein harbors two domains- an amino terminal Bro-like domain and a carboxy terminal Ant superfamily like KilA domain, of which the KilA domain retains the growth inhibitory effect of Gp07.

Methods: We studied the effects exerted by the overexpression of Gp07 and its separate domains upon the growth rate as well as the morphology of the cells.

Changes in the Functional Activity of Phi11 Cro Protein is Mediated by Various Ions.

Phi11, a temperate bacteriophage of Staphylococcus aureus, has been found to harbor a cro repressor gene which facilitates Phi11 to adopt the lytic mode of development. The Cro protein has been found to bind very specifically to a 15-bp operator DNA, located in the Phi11 cI-cro intergenic region [1]. To investigate the effects exerted by different ions upon the interaction between Cro and its cognate operator DNA, we have employed gel shift assays as well as circular dichroism spectral analysis.