The immunological and virological response in human immunodeficiency virus type-1 (HIV-1) infected Indian individuals on HAART therapy: a one-year follow up study

Currently, antiretroviral therapy has become more affordable even in developing countries and it is being used in India. Fifteen HIV-1 infected individuals, who were on highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), were followed up for an average period of one year. The plasma viral load and CD4+ T cell estimation done at mean intervals of 5 months and 11 months after initiation of therapy showed a good response to therapy in 14 (93%) individuals.     

Trichoderma harzianum ThU and Its Metabolites Underscore Alteration in Essential Oils of Ocimum basilicum and Ocimum sanctum

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, India Section B: Biological Sciences - Ocimum, an important commercial aromatic crop, is well known for the industrially acclaimed essential oil. In...     

A prolonged observational study of tracheal tube displacements: Benchmarking an incidence <0.5-1% in a medical-surgical adult intensive care unit

Background and Aims:

Tracheal tubes are commonly used in intensive care unit (ICU) and lead to complications like displacements. The primary aim of the study was to evaluate if the rate of tracheal tube displacement benchmarked at <1% per patient and <0.5% per tracheal tube day, could be sustained over a prolonged period. The secondary aim was to document the patterns of all forms airway accident and to evaluate their consequences.

Subjects and Methods:

This was a prospective observational study of Intubated and ventilated patients in a General Medical-Surgical Adult ICU. The incidence of accidental extubation, self extubation, partial displacement and blockages of tracheal tubes were recorded.

Results:

The overall tracheal tube displacement rate was 61/10,112 (0.6%) per patient and 61/28,464 (0.22%) per tracheal tube day. There were 30 additional incidents of blockage, kinking or biting of the tracheal tube. Physiological consequences-69 were mild, 10 moderate, 12 major and one death. Of the 91 accidents, 30 were partly and 30 were completely preventable. 76 incidents involved an endotracheal tube (54 displaced, 12 blocked and 10 bitten-kinked) and 15 a tracheostomy tube (seven displaced and eight blocked). Accidents were more common in medical than surgical patients (medical = 48, cardiac surgical = 17 and other surgical/trauma = 26).

Conclusion:

Tracheal tube displacement rate in a mixed medical-surgical adult ICU was maintained below the pre-set benchmark of <1% per patient and <0.5% per intubated day over nearly a decade.     

The effect of exercise on neuropathic symptoms, nerve function, and cutaneous innervation in people with diabetic peripheral neuropathy

Although exercise can significantly reduce the prevalence and severity of diabetic complications, no studies have evaluated the impact of exercise on nerve function in people with diagnosed diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN). The purpose of this pilot study was to examine feasibility and effectiveness of a supervised, moderately intense aerobic and resistance exercise program in people with DPN. We hypothesized that the exercise intervention can improve neuropathic symptoms, nerve function, and cutaneous innervation.MethodsA pre-test post-test design was used to assess change in outcome measures following participation in a 10-week aerobic and strengthening exercise program. Seventeen subjects with diagnosed DPN (8 males/9 females; age 58.4 ± 5.98; duration of diabetes 12.4 ± 12.2 years) completed the study. Outcome measures included pain measures (visual analog scale), Michigan Neuropathy Screening Instrument (MNSI) questionnaire of neuropathic symptoms, nerve function measures, and intraepidermal nerve fiber (IENF) density and branching in distal and proximal lower extremity skin biopsies.ResultsSignificant reductions in pain (? 18.1 ± 35.5 mm on a 100 mm scale, P = .05), neuropathic symptoms (? 1.24 ± 1.8 on MNSI, P = .01), and increased intraepidermal nerve fiber branching (+ 0.11 ± 0.15 branch nodes/fiber, P = .008) from a proximal skin biopsy were noted following the intervention.ConclusionsThis is the first study to describe improvements in neuropathic and cutaneous nerve fiber branching following supervised exercise in people with diabetic peripheral neuropathy. These findings are particularly promising given the short duration of the intervention, but need to be validated by comparison with a control group in future studies.     

Nano-purification of raw semen minimises oxidative stress with improvement in post-thaw quality of buffalo spermatozoa

The study consisted of application of anti-ubiquitin antibodies (Abs)-coated iron oxide-nanoparticles (IONPs) for minimisation of oxidative stress to contemporary live spermatozoa from the raw semen. Round-shaped IONPs (12.09 ± 0.91 nm) after two-stage functionalisation (silanisation and pegylation) were conjugated with Abs. Four aliquots from each of the 24 ejaculates (4 buffalo bulls) formed Control (Group I) and treatment (II, III and IV) groups; each containing 150 ± 25 million dead/damaged spermatozoa. IONPs-Abs complex were added at ratio of 1:1 (0.5 µg/ml), 1:2 (1.0 µg/ml) and 1:4 (2.0 µg/ml), respectively, in Groups II, III and IV. The semen quality parameters showed improvement at lag-stage (post-nano-purification before processing for cryopreservation). The mean post-thaw motility (%) in Group IV was found to be greater (p < .05) than Group I. Moreover, the overall DNA integrity (%) at post-thaw stage was improved in the nano-purified semen samples. The value of malondialdehyde was greater (p < .001) in Group I than Groups II, III and IV. The mean total antioxidant capacity and superoxide dismutase (U/mg protein) activity values in Group IV was greater (p < .05) than Group I. The study results show that IONPs conjugated with anti-ubiquitin Abs at 2.0 µg/ml can be an effective dose for depletion of dead/damaged spermatozoa from buffalo ejaculates to minimise oxidative stress.     

Development of a tetra-primer ARMS PCR-based assay for detection of a novel single-nucleotide polymorphism in the 5′ untranslated region of the bovine ITGB6 receptor gene associated with foot-and-mouth disease susceptibility in cattle

ITGB6 is known to be one of the major receptor components involved in host tropism of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) virus in cattle. A competitive PCR technique called ARMS PCR was adapted to identify a single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), G29A, db SNP Id: rs109075046, in the 5′ untranslated region (5′UTR) of the bovine ITGB6 gene. Genotype profiling identified three kinds of genetic variation within the targeted SNP among Frieswal crossbred cattle. The occurrence of FMD in the three genotypes was further evaluated, revealing a clear role in the incidence of FMD in the studied population.     

Health Care Surrogacy Laws Do Not Adequately Address the Needs of Minors

A couple and their five-year-old daughter are in a car accident. The parents are not expected to survive. The child is transported to a children's hospital, and urgent treatment decisions must be made. Whom should the attending physician approach to make decisions for the child? When such cases arise in, for example, the hospitals where we work, the social worker or chaplain is instructed to use the Illinois Health Care Surrogacy Act as a guidepost to identify a decision-maker. But in our state and the country overall, the limitations of such statutes leave hospital workers to make a judgment call among friends, family, and clergy who may come forward. While surrogate decision-making statutes comprehensively address surrogate decision-makers for adults, a patchwork of laws—permanency statutes, kinship provider statutes, standby guardianship statutes, and, in some cases, surrogate decision-making statutes—provide variable decision-making pathways for children.     

Glucose activates a protein phosphatase-1-mediated signaling pathway to enhance overall translation in pancreatic beta-cells

Both the rate of overall translation and the specific acceleration of proinsulin synthesis are known to be glucose-regulated processes in the beta-cell. In this study, we propose that glucose-induced stimulation of overall translation in beta-cells depends on a protein phosphatase-1-mediated decrease in serine-51 phosphorylation of eukaryotic translation initiation factor 2alpha (eIF2alpha), a pivotal translation initiation factor. The decrease was rapid and detectable within 15 min and proportional to the range of glucose concentrations that also stimulate translation. Lowered net eIF2alpha phosphorylation was not associated with a detectable decrease in activity of any eIF2alpha kinase. Moreover, okadaic acid blocked glucose-induced eIF2alpha dephosphorylation, suggesting that the net effect was mediated by a protein phosphatase. Experiments with salubrinal on intact cells and nuclear inhibitor of protein phosphatase-1 (PP1) on cell extracts suggested that this phosphatase was PP1. The net effect contained, however, a component of glucose-induced folding load in the endoplasmic reticulum because coincubation with cycloheximide further amplified the effect of glucose on eIF2alpha dephosphorylation. Thus, the steady-state level of eIF2alpha phosphorylation in beta-cells is the result of a balance between folding-load-induced phosphorylation and PP1-dependent dephosphorylation. Because defects in the pancreatic endoplasmic reticulum kinase-eIF2alpha signaling system lead to beta-cell failure and diabetes, deregulation of the PP1 system could likewise lead to cellular dysfunction and disease.