An international prospective study of INICC analyzing the incidence and risk factors for catheter-associated urinary tract infections in 235 ICUs across 8 Asian Countries.

Background: Identify urinary catheter (UC)-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI) incidence and risk factors (RF) in 235 ICUs in 8 Asian countries: India, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Methods: From January 1, 2014, to February 12, 2022, we conducted a prospective cohort study. To estimate CAUTI incidence, the number of UC days was the denominator, and CAUTI was the numerator.

Room-Temperature, Copper-Free, and Amine-Free Sonogashira Reaction in a Green Solvent: Synthesis of Tetraalkynylated Anthracenes and Assessment of Their Cytotoxic Potentials.

The multifold Sonogashira coupling of a class of aryl halides with arylacetylene in the presence of an equivalent of CsCO has been accomplished using a combination of Pd(CHCN)Cl (0.5 mol %) and cataCXium A (1 mol %) under copper-free and amine-free conditions in a readily available green solvent at room temperature. The protocol was used to transform several aryl halides and alkynes to the corresponding coupled products in good to excellent yields.

Two class Bayes point machines in repayment prediction of low credit borrowers.

Decision-making in the peer-to-peer loan market has not been studied as extensively as traditional lending mostly because of the perceived risk in dealing with low credit borrowers seeking funding alternatives. We develop a machine learning-based approach to test the viability and usefulness in peer-to-peer loan repayment predictions among low credit borrowers. This analysis provides potential benefits that could strengthen the lending market with a more reliable method of identifying applications from promising candidates with low credit.

Multinational prospective cohort study over 18 years of the risk factors for ventilator-associated pneumonia in 9 Asian countries: INICC findings.

Background: Ventilator associated pneumonia (VAP) rates in Asia are several times above those of US. The objective of this study is to identify VAP risk factors.

Methods: We conducted a prospective cohort study, between March 27, 2004 and November 2, 2022, in 279 ICUs of 95 hospitals in 44 cities in 9 Asian countries (China, India, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam).

Risk factors for mortality over 18 years in 317 ICUs in 9 Asian countries: The impact of healthcare-associated infections.

Objective: To identify risk factors for mortality in intensive care units (ICUs) in Asia.

Design: Prospective cohort study.

Setting: The study included 317 ICUs of 96 hospitals in 44 cities in 9 countries of Asia: China, India, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Investigating the role of capital formation to achieve carbon neutrality in India.

India's sustainable development goals consist of higher economic growth through large investments on the one hand and ambitious carbon emission reduction plans through increased renewables on the other. It needs to be seen if the two policies related to capital formation and energy transitioning to renewables complement each other or if they have been divergent in the case of India. This paper studies the dynamic association between carbon dioxide emissions, economic growth, renewable energy (RE) consumption, and gross capital formation and tests for the existence of Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis for India over the time period 1970-2018.

How much do persons with diabetes in a rural area of South India know about diabetes management? A step toward person-centered care.

Introduction: The burden of diabetes mellitus is increasing worldwide, more so in developing countries. Optimal diabetes care depends on adherence to management protocol, which can be brought about by shared decision-making. Patient's knowledge on life-threatening complications and preventive strategies for the same is a prerequisite for shared decision-making.

Effect of gallium-arsenic laser on photosensitized periodontopathic anaerobic organisms: An study.

Background: The mainstay of periodontal therapy is mechanical removal of subgingival plaque. There is considerable interest in supplementing it with the use of antibiotics and antiseptics. Many drawbacks are associated with these adjunctive pharmacological regimens such as development of resistance to antibiotics and disruption of microflora of the gastrointestinal tract.

Drug induced gingival overgrowth: a rare case report.

Gingival overgrowth is well documented side effect associated with three major classes of drugs viz, anticonvulsants, calcium channel blockers, and immunosuppressants. Despite our greater understanding of pathogenesis of Drug induced Gingival Overgrowth (DIGO), its treatment still remains a challenge for the periodontists and treatment is still largely limited to maintenance of improved level of oral hygiene and surgical removal of overgrown tissue. Dental Surgeons need to discuss this issue with their medical colleagues and to practice care while prescribing the drugs associated with gingival overgrowth.

Oesophageal web--a case report.

A case of posterior oesophageal web in an 18-year-old girl is being presented, in view of its rarity. The diagnosis could be established only after thoracotomy and exploration of the oesophagus. The clinical profile along with possible theories of aetiology are discussed and a brief review of literature is made.

Synthesis and structure-activity relationship studies of cinnamic acid-based novel thiazolidinedione antihyperglycemic agents.

A number of 2,4-thiazolidinedione derivatives of -phenyl substituted cinnamic acid were synthesized and studied for their PPAR agonist activity. The E-isomer of cinnamic acid, 11, showed moderate PPAR transactivation. The corresponding Z-isomer, 23, and double bond reduced derivative, 15, were found to be much less potent.

A novel peroxisome proliferator-activated gamma (PPAR gamma) agonist, CLX-0921, has potent antihyperglycemic activity with low adipogenic potential.

Agonists of the nuclear receptor peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPAR gamma) are pharmacologically active antihyperglycemic agents that act by increasing peripheral tissue sensitivity to insulin. Many of these agonists have antihyperglycemic activity that is directly proportional to their ability to bind and activate PPAR gamma; however, recent data bring this relationship into question. In this report we describe a new PPAR gamma agonist, CLX-0921, that is derived from a natural product.

Localization of soluble major histocompatibility class II-peptide complexes on T cell surface.

Affinity purified major histocompatibility (MHC)-peptide complexes are heterodimeric cell surface glycoproteins and are known to recognize antigen-specific CD4(+) T cell receptors (TCRs). In general, the affinity of MHC-peptide complexes to TCRs are considered very low with a K(D) of 5 x 10(-5) M and, therefore, stabilization of these complexes on T cell surface was not reported earlier. This could be due to (1) incomplete occupancy of MHC molecules with antigenic peptides, (2) variability of the binding constant of peptides to MHC molecules, (3) presence of endogenously bound peptides in MHC preparations, or (4) a combination of these.

Peptide binding inhibits aggregation of soluble MHC class II in solution.

Affinity-purified major histocompatability complex (MHC) class II molecules are known to bind antigenic peptide in vitro. This peptide-bound MHC class II is known to undergo a change in structure upon stable binding of antigenic peptide. Previous results from our, and other laboratories, have suggested a relationship between MHC class II structure and peptide association that enables class II to enter into a stable conformation upon peptide binding.

Identification of core structure and critical T cell receptor contact residues in an antigenic peptide by measuring acidification rates.

A silicon-based biosensor microphysiometer measures real time cell response by monitoring an increase in extracellular acidification rate in response to ligands for specific membrane receptors. We used the microphysiometer to identify the minimal structure and critical residues of an antigenic peptide for its interaction with T cell receptor (TCR) using a synthetic peptide analog of human myelin basic protein (MBP) corresponding to residues 84-102 [MBP(83-102)Y83]. MBP(83-102)Y83 peptide analogs were allowed to interact with TCRs on a DRB5*0101-restricted Herpes virus saimiri (HVS) transformed human T cell clone (SS8T) which also contains major histocompatibility complexes (MHC) class II (DR2) molecules.

Differential expression of protein tyrosine kinases and their phosphorylation in murine Th1 cells anergized with class II MHC-peptide complexes.

In resting T cell clones, antigen presentation with immobilized anti-CD3 or anti-T cell receptor (TCR) is known to result in a state of anergy as characterized by unresponsiveness to normal antigenic restimulation. Similarly, T cell unresponsiveness could be induced by immobilized (plate-coated) complexes of purified class II MHC and antigenic peptide. It is not clearly defined whether the engagement of TCR by immobilized anti-TCR or immobilized class II MHC-peptide complexes generates similar or differential signals during the induction of T cell unresponsiveness.

T-cell receptor-mediated signal transduction in transformed human T-cells.

Recently it has been shown that purified complexes of major histocompatibility (MHC) class II and antigenic peptide can recognize T-cell receptors (TCRs) on virally transformed CD4+ T-cells in vitro. It is not clearly understood whether peptide bound to purified MHC II molecules (MHC-P), or to MHC II molecules on the surface of antigen-presenting cells (APC-peptide), initiate similar or different signals in transformed human T-cells. To address this question, the expression of protein tyrosine kinases (PTKs), their phosphorylation, and the effect of various kinase inhibitors were investigated using transformed T- and B-cells.

Application of murine T-T hybridoma cells to in vitro potency assay of human synthetic peptide vaccines.

Recently, it has been shown that the immunization of mice with an 18 amino acid synthetic peptide corresponding to the third hypervariable region of MHC class II beta chain can induce a specific antibody response against MHC class II molecules, and can be utilized in the prevention and treatment of experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE) [Proc. Natl. Acad.

Vaccination with peptides from MHC class II beta chain hypervariable region causes allele-specific suppression of EAE.

In our earlier studies we showed that successful immunotherapy of EAE in SJL/J mice can be achieved either by the use of antibodies to MHC class II antigens or by vaccination with synthetic peptide analogs of the beta chain of MHC class II molecules. We proposed that inhibition of EAE following vaccination with synthetic peptides derived from the beta chain of mouse I-A, was in part due to the generation of auto-anti-MHC class II antibodies that interfered with T cell sensitization. In our present study we show that suppression of EAE following vaccination results in poor sensitization of MBP reactive T cells, and that the lack of immune response is allele-specific.

Blood conservation in small adults undergoing valve surgery.

Objectives: A substantial reduction in transfusion requirements for cardiac surgical procedures has been reported. Many of these reports have been described in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting. Patients suffering from rheumatic heart disease in India are usually small and also anemic.

Soluble MHC II-peptide complexes induce antigen-specific apoptosis in T cells.

Soluble major histocompatibility (MHC) class II molecules in association with antigenic peptide recognize T cell receptors (TCRs) on CD4+ T cells. Such recognition of MHC II-peptide complexes by T cells in the absence of costimulatory signals is known to induce T cell nonresponsiveness. The present study describes that recognition of TCRs by MHC class II-peptide complexes induces antigen-specific apoptosis in a T cell clone independently of nonresponsiveness.

Functionally active recombinant alpha and beta chain-peptide complexes of human major histocompatibility class II molecules.

Major histocompatibility (MHC) class II molecules are cell surface heterodimeric (alphabeta) glycoproteins that display processed antigens to T cell receptors (TCRs) of CD4-positive T cells. The present study describes that individual recombinant alpha and beta chains of human MHC class II molecules lacking the transmembrane region (alpha-Tm and beta-Tm) are capable of binding antigenic peptide and that these complexes of chain-peptide are recognized by TCRs to induce antigen-specific apoptosis in restricted T cells. The alpha-Tm and the beta-Tm of human HLA-DR2 (DRB5*0101) were cloned, expressed in Escherichia coli, and purified in large scale by conventional chromatographic methods.