Phylogeny and evolution of SARS-CoV-2 during Delta and Omicron variant waves in India.

SARS-CoV-2 evolution has continued to generate variants, responsible for new pandemic waves locally and globally. Varying disease presentation and severity has been ascribed to inherent variant characteristics and vaccine immunity. This study analyzed genomic data from 305 whole genome sequences from SARS-CoV-2 patients before and through the third wave in India.

Rice protein concentrate is a well-accepted, highly digestible protein source for adult cats.

Introduction: The use of rice protein concentrate (RPC) as a protein source in cat food is uncommon. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the acceptability and digestibility of foods formulated to contain increasing levels of RPC to support its inclusion in foods for adult (non-gravid, non-lactating) cats.

Methods: Increasing levels of RPC (0, 7, 14, and 28%) were formulated into test foods fed to 24 cats in a Latin square design with 15-day periods and no washout between periods.

Purpura Fulminans and Spotted Fever: A Case Series from South India.

Purpura fulminans (PF) is associated with acute infections such as meningococcal, staphylococcal, streptococcal, and rickettsial infections. However, there are only a few reports of association of PF with rickettsial fever from India. In this case series of seven adults with PF, four were definitive cases of spotted fever as the ompA real-time polymerase chain reaction was positive.

Geography and prevalence of rickettsial infections in Northern Tamil Nadu, India: a cross-sectional study.

Rickettsial infections and Q fever are a common cause of acute febrile illness globally. Data on the role of climate and altitude on the prevalence of these infections in lacking from Southern India. In this study, we determined the sero-prevalence of scrub typhus (ST), spotted fever (SF), murine typhus (MT) and Q Fever (QF) in 8 eight geographical regions of North Tamil Nadu by detecting IgG antibodies using ELISA.

EAST in Children with Allergic rhinitis: Experience from Indian Tertiary Centre.

Allergic rhinitis (AR) is recognized as a growing global health disease with considerable importance among children and adolescents. This study aims to study the clinical and sensitization profile of children with allergic rhinitis using EAST. All children presenting to pediatric ENT outpatient with a clinical diagnosis of AR were prospectively recruited.

Performance of EAST in diagnosing inhalant allergens in children with allergic rhinitis.

The performance of enzyme linked immunosorbent assays (EAST) for identifying six indoor allergens was evaluated using skin prick test (SPT) as reference tests in 154 children with allergic rhinitis. Sensitivity of EAST ranged from 9% (cat) to 54% (HDM) with specificity of 74%(cockroach) to 100% (cat) with an agreement ranged from 58 to 86%. Cut off values ​> ​0.

Promoter and enhancer RNAs regulate chromatin reorganization and activation of miR-10b/HOXD locus, and neoplastic transformation in glioma.

miR-10b is silenced in normal neuroglial cells of the brain but commonly activated in glioma, where it assumes an essential tumor-promoting role. We demonstrate that the entire miR-10b-hosting HOXD locus is activated in glioma via the cis-acting mechanism involving 3D chromatin reorganization and CTCF-cohesin-mediated looping. This mechanism requires two interacting lncRNAs, HOXD-AS2 and LINC01116, one associated with HOXD3/HOXD4/miR-10b promoter and another with the remote enhancer.

Spotted fever diagnosis: Experience from a South Indian center.

Spotted fever (SF) is an important treatable cause of acute febrile illness (AFI) with rash and has reemerged in India. A prospective AFI with rash study was undertaken at a South Indian hospital to correlate specific clinical findings with laboratory confirmation of spotted fever. During the study period (December 2017 to May 2019), 175 patients with fever and rash were suspected to have spotted fever.

Clinical profile of hereditary angioedema from a tertiary care centre in India.

Introduction: Hereditary angioedema (HAE) is a clinical condition which could be fatal if not identified and managed appropriately. Knowledge of this condition is mostly confined to individual case reports and literature reviews in India. In this retrospective study we describe HAE cases which presented to a tertiary care centre in India over a period of three and half years.

Detecting breast cancer using artificial intelligence: Convolutional neural network.

Background: One of the most broadly founded approaches to envisage cancer treatment relies upon a pathologist's efficiency to visually inspect the appearances of bio-markers on the invasive tumor tissue section. Lately, deep learning techniques have radically enriched the ability of computers to identify objects in images fostering the prospect for fully automated computer-aided diagnosis. Given the noticeable role of nuclear structure in cancer detection, AI's pattern recognizing ability can expedite the diagnostic process.

Assessment of two immunoassays for detection of IgM antibodies to scrub typhus using a serum panel.

Laboratory tests are necessary for diagnosis of scrub typhus (ST) especially in the absence of the distinctive eschar. Performance of an ELISA and ICT (immunochromatography) to detect IgM antibodies to scrub typhus was assessed using a panel of 346 sera chosen from healthy individuals, those with scrub typhus and scrub-typhus like illness. A sensitivity of 98.

Drug-resistant organisms are common in fecal surveillance cultures, predict bacteremia and correlate with poorer outcomes in patients undergoing allogeneic stem cell transplants.

Background: With the increasing incidence of multidrug-resistant (MDR) organisms and high mortality rates associated with these infections, we describe the spectrum of the major drug-resistant pathogens identified in fecal surveillance, and re-visit the use of fecal surveillance in predicting infection with these organisms post-allogeneic stem cell transplant.

Methods: Data from allogeneic stem cell transplant recipients with common drug-resistant strains of bacteria in fecal surveillance (Escherichia coli, Klebsiella spp., and Enterococcus spp.

Eschar and IgM ELISA in the diagnosis of scrub typhus.

Scrub typhus is one of the leading causes of acute febrile illness in India. This study aimed to determine the best diagnostic tool for the identification of scrub typhus and study the possible association between diagnostics and clinical characteristics. Patients with fever of ≤15 days admitted to the hospital satisfying the case definition of 47 kDa quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) positivity OR scrub typhus IgM ELISA positivity along with the presence of eschar OR Scrub typhus IgM ELISA positivity along with defervescence of fever within 72 h of initiation of specific therapy were recruited.

Septicemic listeriosis: An emerging food-borne illness in India?

Listeriosis is a food borne illness of significant public health concern, caused by consumption of food contaminated by gram negative bacilli, Listeria monocytogenes. Clinical listeriosis is relatively rare and it has varying spectrum of presentation, ranging from severe sepsis in immune-compromised individuals, febrile gastroenteritis and meningo-encephalitis in infants and adults. This disease is under reported in developing nations due to the lack of awareness and inadequate laboratory facilities to promptly isolate and identify the organism.

Decreasing trend of seroprevalence of hepatic amoebiasis in tertiary care hospital of North India: 2010-2015.

Background: Globally, amoebic liver abscess, a common extraintestinal complication of intestinal amoebiasis. Diagnosis of hepatic amoebiasis is based on the detection of anti- immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibody using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), because of its technique's relatively higher sensitivity and specificity (90%).

Aim: The aim of the present study was to determine the seroprevalence of hepatic amoebiasis in a referral tertiary care hospital in North India.

endarteritis with infective spondylodiscitis in an adult patient with patent ductus arteriosus.

Endarteritis is a major complication in patients with patent ductus arteriosus, causing significant morbidity and mortality. We report an adult patient with asymptomatic patent ductus arteriosus and endarteritis involving the main pulmonary artery and secondary infective spondylodiscitis at the L5-S1 intervertebral disc caused by , commonly referred to as nutritionally variant streptococci, cannot be identified easily by conventional blood culture techniques from clinical specimens. Its isolation was confirmed by 16S ribosomal RNA sequencing.

Coexistence of Fosfomycin and Colistin Resistance in Klebsiella pneumoniae: Whole-Genome Shotgun Sequencing.

Resistance to colistin is a major threat that limits therapeutic choices for treating carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae infections. Herein, we report the draft genome sequences of two colistin-resistant K. pneumoniae isolates (BA41763 and B6753).

Enabling the Tablet Product Development of 5-Fluorocytosine by Conjugate Acid Base Cocrystals.

5-Fluorocytosine (FC) is a high-dose antifungal drug that challenges the development of a tablet product due to poor solid-state stability and tabletability. Using 2 pharmaceutically acceptable conjugate acid base (CAB) cocrystals of FC with HCl and acesulfame, we have developed commercially viable high loading FC tablets. The tablets were prepared by direct compression using nano-coated microcrystalline cellulose Avicel PH105 as a tablet binder, which provided both excellent tabletability and good flowability.

Dependence of tablet brittleness on tensile strength and porosity.

An analysis of data collected from 25 sets of diverse pharmaceutical powders has identified that an exponential growth function satisfactorily describes the relationship between tablet brittleness and tablet porosity while a power law function well describes the relationship between tablet brittleness and tensile strength. These equations have the potential to facilitate better characterization of tablet mechanical properties and to guide the design and optimization of pharmaceutical tablet products.