Comparison of Clinician Versus Parental Perspectives of Outcomes in Cochlear Implantees: A South Indian Experience.

Outcomes of cochlear implantation (CI) are generically assessed using standard validated measures like CAP, SIR, MAIS and MUSS scales. Although this reflects the improvement in auditory verbal skills among the implantees with habilitation over one year, the overall perception of their skill development may vary between the parents of these children and the clinicians who provide the habilitation. This study aimed to compare the CAP and SIR scores sequentially over habilitation and further analyzes the correlation between clinician assessment (with CAP/SIR scores) and parental perspective (with MAIS/MUSS scores), at the end of one year of habilitation.

Cytotoxic Nitrobenzoyloxy-substituted Sesquiterpenes from Spongederived Endozoic Fungus Aspergillus insulicola MD10-2.

The emergence of drug resistance and spread of new infectious diseases necessitated the development of novel antibiotics. Marine sponge-associated fungi represent a reservoir of novel molecules with diverse biological potentials. In this study, we isolated five nitrobenzoyloxy-substituted sesquiterpenes 1-5 from the culture mycelia of an endozoic fungus Aspergillus insulicola MD10-2, obtained from the South China Sea sponge Cinachyrella australiensis.

Phylogenetic diversity of sulphate-reducing Desulfovibrio associated with three South China Sea sponges.

Unlabelled: Marine sponges harbour dense and diverse micro-organisms which includes sulphate-reducing bacteria (SRB). SRB are known to play a key role in the cycling of marine elements. However, in contrast to carbon and nitrogen cycling bacteria, SRB associated with marine sponges are largely unexplored.

Assessment of soft bottom polychaete diversity in Thondi, Palk Bay, India.

Polychaete assemblages are relatively poorly known in comparison to other components from Indian waters. In the present study, the spatial and seasonal distributions of polychaetes were investigated in the Thondi coastal area. Polychaete assemblage structure seems to be influenced by environmental parameters, such as temperature, salinity, pH, dissolved oxygen and total organic carbon.

Antimicrobial activity of marine sponge Clathria indica (Dendy, 1889).

Sponges are sessile filter feeders that have developed efficient defense mechanisms against foreign invaders such as viruses, bacteria or eukaryotic organisms. Antimicrobial peptides are known as major components of the innate immune defense system in marine invertebrates. The aim of the present work was to study the antimicrobial properties of the Indian sponge Clathria indica with special reference to the identification of antimicrobial peptides.