Biosciences

Fungal sinusitis (FS) is an important health care problem both in immunocompetent and immunocompromised individuals; but which is less understood. Clinically FS patient presents with Chronic Rhino Sinusitis (CRS) refractory to medical and surgical treatment and they should be properly evaluated with history, CT scan, histopathology, fungal culture and allergic markers. Total of 300 patients with documented CRS based on clinical and radiological findings in the ENT clinic were enrolled as study group. Sinus washings, biopsy samples from sinusoidal mucosa and polyposis were collected in 2 sterile containers, for microbiology and histopathology and blood for various allergic parameters (total IgE concentration, absolute eosinophil count and precipitation test using fungal antigens). Total prevalence of fungal sinusitis was 13% in CRS patients. Commonly affected age group was between 21-40 years (69.3%) and male preponderance was noted in our study (1.6:1). Aspergillus species (87.1%) were the predominant isolate in our study. Allergic fungal sinusitis was commonest clinical presentation (61.5%). This study revealed that the prevalence of fungal sinusitis in CRS patients was significantly high. To estimate the real magnitude of the problem, multicentric study as well as compulsory fungal screening for the all the CRS patients should be undertaken.

Ticks constitute major pests of domestic animals through sucking of blood and transmission of many parasitic diseases. The search for alternative acaricides as ticks develop resistance to the ones in use is an ongoing process. This study was carried out to test potential acaricidal properties of the wormwood (Artemisia alfa) in Olive oil/Trilene formulation against larvae three tick species Boophilus decoralatus, Ripicephalus appendiculatus and Rhipicephalus evertsi. The study was carried at the Central Veterinary laboratory, Harare, Zimbabwe, from November to December 2011. The tick larvae were exposed to four concentrations (25, 50, 75, and 100%) of the wormwood leaf extract using the Larval Packet Test (LPT). All leaf extract concentrations induced mortality and mortality increased with concentration. Larvae of Boophilus decolaratus were the most sensitive to the leaf extract with mortalities of 51.7% in 100% leaf extract and larvae of Rhipicephalus evertsi were the least sensitive (40% mortality) at the same concentration. Tick species and leaf extract concentration had significant effect on tick mortality (P<0.05). The study opens a potential weapon to deal with ticks especially for the poor upcoming farmer with limited resources

Schistosomiasis is endemic in many countries affecting more than 200 million people worldwide mostly those living in rural and agricultural areas. A survey of the prevalence of schistosomiasis, its predisposing factors and snail host species was carried out in Zvishavane district, Zimbabwe, from March to November 2010. Prevalence of urinary and intestinal schistosomiasis was determined from volunteers’ stools and urine using the Kato Katz technique. Predisposing factors to schistosomiasis were investigated through the use of questionnaires and field observations. Snail species responsible for the spread of the different schistosoma species in the district were determined by collecting snails from three major rivers; namely Runde, Ngezi and Manjere. A total of 250 patients (130 males and 120 females) participated in the study and a total of 168 were infected (67.2% schistosomiasis prevalence). This was despite the widespread knowledge (95% of the respondents knew about schistosomiasis) of the disease. S. haematobium prevalence was higher (60.4%) than S. mansoni prevalence (6.8%). Unsafe sources of drinking, washing and irrigation water like dams and rivers were to blame for the high incidence of schistosomiasis. Three snail species were collected; Bulinus globosus (12 individuals), Melanoides turberculata (9) and Bulinus tropicus (9) but only B.globosus shed cercariae.

Toxoplasma gondii is an obligate intracellular apicomplexan parasite that can infect a wide range of warm-blooded animals including humans. In humans and other intermediate hosts, toxoplasma develops into chronic infection that cannot be eliminated by host’s immune response or by currently used drugs. In most cases, chronic infections are largely asymptomatic unless the host becomes immune compromised. Thus, toxoplasma is a global health problem and the situation has become more precarious due to the advent of HIV infections and poor toleration of drugs used to treat toxoplasma infection, having severe side effects and also resistance have been developed to the current generation of drugs. The emergence of these drug resistant varieties of T. gondii has led to a search for novel drug target. Threonine synthase is one such protein. It is a member of Serine / Threonine protein family which is a very important metabolic enzyme especially in signal transduction mechanisms of a cell. It is an active part of Glycine, Serine, Threonine Metabolism, Vitamin B6 Metabolism pathways. The PDB and Modebase 3D structure of Threonine synthase was not available; therefore homology model of Threonine synthase was constructed using MODELLER and model was validated using PROCHECK and Verify3D programs and SAVS and PROSA server to obtain a stable structure. The model was further explored for the molecular dynamics simulation study with GROMACS. Binding site was characterized by CASTp and PASS. Virtual screening of Threonine synthase was performed, against the NCI diversity subset II molecules (retrieved from ZINC database), through molecular docking studies using Autodock- vina. The Python scripts in MGL tools package were used to analyze the docking results. The top ten ligands were selected based on AutoDock energy score. Further the Complexes were analyzed for their interaction through LIGPLOT. On the basis of Complex scoring and binding ability it is deciphered that these top ten NCI diversity set II compounds could be promising inhibitors for T. gondii using, Threonine synthase as drug target, yet pharmacological studies have to confirm it.

Toxoplasma gondii is an obligate intracellular apicomplexan parasite that can infect a wide range of warm-blooded animals including humans. In humans and other intermediate hosts, toxoplasma develops into chronic infection that cannot be eliminated by host’s immune response or by currently used drugs. The ability of the parasite to convert to the bradyzoite stage and live inside slow-growing cysts that can go unnoticed by the host immune system allows for parasite persistence for the life of the infected host. Little is known, however, about how bradyzoites manipulate their host cell. Large scale microarray experiments are becoming increasingly routine, particularly those which track a number of different cell lines through time. This time course information provides valuable insight into dynamics of various biological processes. The proper statistical analysis, however, requires the use of more sophisticated tools and complex statistical models. In the current study, the open-source R programming environment in conjunction with the open-source Bioconductor software were used to analyze microarray data of T. gondii. Several statistical analysis procedures like (log) fold changes in conjunction with ordinary and moderated t-statistics have been used for determining differentially expressed genes. The differentially expressed genes were subjected to cluster analysis followed by the annotation of the up and down regulated genes based on the gene ontology. The findings in this study suggests the overall effect of the gene expression changes is to modulate the key metabolic pathways leading to compromised host immune response, enhancement in programmed cell death, depression in cell proliferation process and induction of various diseases

Recent developments in the quantitative analysis of brain functional complex networks, based largely on graph theory, have been rapidly translated to studies of modeling. The brain functional complex network models have features of small-world topology --- such as short average path length, high clustering coefficient and modularity. In this article, we discuss the investigate methods about the modeling to brain functional network in diverse process and provide an accessible introduction to the basic principles of modeling. We also highlight some of the technical challenges and key questions to be addressed by future developments in this rapidly moving field.

Traditionally the name Rhizobia portrays root and stem nodulating bacteria that live in N2 fixing symbiosis mainly with leguminous plants. Understanding rhizobial diversity at classical and molecular level could have a profound implication in agriculture. Hence, the present study is aimed at isolation, identification, biochemical and molecular characterization of rhizobia from the fourteen different soil series of Thanjavur district. All the test isolates showed uniform morphological and biochemical characteristics except colony size and isolates growth on YEMA containing bromothymol blue medium, revealed that Vlm6 and Mud8 isolates were fast growers while others were slow growers. Based on morphological, cultural and biochemical characterization, all the isolates were preliminarily identified as species of Rhizobium. The soil samples from the 14 different sites showed variation not only in the number of colonies per gram of soil, but also in their physico-chemical properties. Positive correlation was noted between physicochemical parameters such as bulk density, EC, organic carbon, nutrients such as N, K, Cu and number of rhizobial colonies. Negative correlation was observed with soil pH, nutrients such as P, Fe, Zn, Mn and number of colonies. However, the relationship is not statistically significant in the present study. The isolates showed variation in their carbon utilization, fatty acid and amino acid profiles confirming the existence of diversity.

The vertical distribution of phytoplankton in stratified water columns (upper 150 m), was studied at five stations around the cap Juby area, Moroccan Atlantic sea, during four periods in 2009. Five depth levels were sampled: 5, 25, 50m for coastal stations and up to 90, 150m for offshore stations. The vertical variability of the physical parameters was analyzed to assess the impact of hydrological fluctuations on phytoplankton vertical distribution. The maximal densities are noted at the surface in April and June, where the upwelling activity reaches its maximum, manifested by cold-water temperature, low salinities and an intense intake of nutrients. These observations are confirmed by the vertical distribution of dominant species, such as Thalassiosira spp, Leptocylindrus danicus, Leptocylindrus minimus, Nitzschia spp and Alexandrium spp. Indeed, these five common and frequently occurring phytoplankton species showed maximal proliferation, on the upper layers, in upwelling periods. In February and October, a considerable stratification of all parameters is noticed, leading to an unremarkable vertical variability in phytoplankton distribution.

In the present study chemolithotrophs producing glycolic acid were isolated from unexplored low grade iron ore (magnetite quartzite) and Lignite mining sites mines of Kanjamalai hill and Neyveli respectively in India. A total of twenty nine soil and three rock samples were taken from different location and screened for sulfur and iron oxidizing chemolithotrophs. The soil samples were inoculated into medium containing ferrous sulphate at pH 2.0 and incubated for 3 days at 30?C. Thirty three isolates were screened to utilize ferrous sulphate. Among the thirty three isolates, thirteen isolates were Gram positive short rods and twenty were of pleomorphic forms. All the thirty three isolates were found to be spore-formers and non-motile. A rapid and simple spectrophotometric assay was done to screen the production of glycolic acid by these isolates. It was observed that all the thirty three isolates produced glycolic acid and a maximum of 0.11mg/mL was produced by KM13 isolate.

This study was carried out to determine the serum concentration of Creatine Kinase MB in obese subjects attending University of Port Harcourt teaching Hospital. One hundred and eighty five (185) obese subjects of BMI > 30 had their Creatine Kinase MB determined by enzyme linked with immunosorbent assay and compared with 160 age and sex matched controls. There was significant difference in the Creatine Kinase MB concentration of 2.76 ± 0.30 obtained in obese subjects compared with 2.91 ± 0.29 in control (P > 0.005). The result of this study suggests that serum levels of Creatine Kinase MB are lower in obese subjects.