Biosciences

Urinary tract infection (UTI) is a term applied to a variety of clinical conditions ranging from asymptomatic presence of bacteria in the urine to severe infection of the kidney with resultant sepsis. UTI is defined also as the growth of a known bacterial pathogen more than 10000 cfu/ml in association with a positive dipstick or urinalysis. Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are a serious health problem affecting millions of people each year. Infections of the urinary tract are the second most common type of infection in the body. These are one of the most common bacterial infections affecting humans throughout their life span. Most of urinary tract infections are caused by gram-negative bacteria like Escherichia coli, Klebsiella sp., Proteus mirabilis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Acinetobacter and Serratia. 90% of UTI cases are caused by gram-negative bacteria while only 10% of the cases are caused by gram-positive bacteria. Bacterial pathogens have evolved numerous defense mechanisms against antimicrobial agents; hence resistance to old and newly produced drugs is on the rise. The phenomenon of antibiotic resistance exhibited by the pathogenic microorganisms has led to the need for screening of several medicinal plants for their potential antimicrobial activity. The present study was conducted to identify the uropathogens based on morphological and biochemical characteristics and to study the antimicrobial effect of drugs, medicinal plant extracts and essential oils against uropathogens.

Gas Discharge Visualization (GDV) is a promising real-time non-invasive technique for diagnosing the health of an individual and identifying any potential disorders in their early stages. In this paper, we give a detailed description of the theory behind the GDV technique and the GDV-grams (images of fingertips) that could present unique signature patterns characteristic of specific health disorders. We then present two computational models, developed in our earlier work, to analyze the GDV-grams and illustrate the results from pilot studies obtained using these models. The two models studied are: (i) A quadrant-based visualization and computational model to assess the functional state of human organs and organ systems and its application to Autistic children and (ii) A clustering model to analyze English language anxiety in non-native speakers. The results from the pilot studies have been very encouraging. We conjecture that GDV will be a valuable tool for Medical Biometrics to identify as well as confirm the presence of health disorders at an early stage.

Biological responses of cells to visible and near IR laser radiation occur due to physical and / or chemical changes in photo acceptor molecules, component of respiratory chains in mitochondria. As result of the photo excitation of electronic states, the follows of physical and /or chemical changes can occurs alteration of redox properties and acceleration of electron transfer, changes in biochemical activity due to local transient heating of chromospheres. Different reaction channels can be activated to achieve the photo biological macro effects. The aim of the study was: 1- to evaluate the effect of low level laser therapy (LLLT) on increasing the response of immune system by stimulating the lymph nodules action in order to inhabit cancer cells activity which leads to decrease the tumor size in diseased mice without using drugs. 2-to verify the effect of Low Level Laser (LLL) on the lymph nodules bio stimulation in case of disease by using different duration times with at the same area in each irradiation with the same power densities.

ABSTRACT Teratogenicity is the ability to cause developmental anomalies in fetus. Substances with teratogenicity effects can damage the DNA of a developing foetus. They may cause abnormal development of a limb malformation of an organ and the effects for the developing fetus can vary depending on the teratogen. Chicken eggs are used as a model system to test Bhavana panjankula thailam for its Teratogenic effect. Bhavana panjankula thailam is one of the Siddha drugs indicated for karuppachudu (a type of pitha disorder affecting uterus), urinary tract infections, dry skin and constipation. In this study five concentrations of drug Bhavana panjankula thailam were injected into the chicken embryos. Cadmium is used as a positive control in the same concentrations which affects limb deformities of the organ. 1:1 ratio of cadmium and drug were injected into the embryo for scrutinize the effect of drug. At the 12th day of incubation the eggs were dissected out and detect the malformation in the embryo. The results suggested that the lowest concentrations cof drug treated embryo has no malformation and highest concentrations of drug treated embryo has malformed like heart and other organs are distorted. The DNA was isolated from embryos of chick and run in agarose gel electrophoresis to confirm the DNA damage. cOCT4 and cGATA4 genes which is responsible for chick embryogenesis. GATA and OCT family of transcriptional regulatory proteins, GATA-4 and OCT-4 thought to be involved in the regulation of cardio genesis and gut development. Functions for these factors are known in the heart, but relatively little is implicit concerning their possible roles in the regulation of gut-specific gene expression. In this study, we analyzed the expression of cGATA-4, and cOCT4. Further gene expression studies will be carried out for further authentication of teratogenic effect at gene level. Though the Bhavana panjankula thailam was shown teratogenic effect at the higher dose. So detailed animal studies and clinical trials should be carried out for apposite remedy. KEYWORDS: Teratogenicity, bhavana panjankula thailam, chick embryo, DNA damage.

To study surgical site infection and effect of antibiotic pro phylaxis in mesh repair of inguinal hernia. Comparative study. Department of Surgery, Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences Hospital, Jamshoro/Hyderabad from March 2011 to July 2013. One hundred diagnosed cases of inguinal hernia were studied selected through non-probability purposive sampling according to inclusion and exclusion criteria. Patients were divided into two groups; Group I. mesh repair with antibiotic prophylaxis (n=50) and Group II. Mesh repair without antibiotic prophylaxis (n=50). Antibiotic prophylaxis was given 60 minutes before surgical procedure. Surgical procedure was conducted by a consultant general surgeon or senior registrar. The surgical site infection (SSI) was defined as wound infection that developed within thirty days of surgery. Data was analyzed on SPSS version 21.0. The continuous and categorical variables were analyzed by student`s t-test and chi-square test respectively. The significant p-value was taken at ? 0.05. The mean +/- S.D of study population of both groups was noted as 39+/- 10.4 and 41.5+/- 11.0 years (p=0.09). All the subjects were male with age range of 20-60 years. The frequency of surgical site infection (SSI) in group I (antibiotic prophylaxis) was 6% (n=3) compared to group II (without antibiotic prophylaxis) was 22% (n=11) with highly significant p-value (p=0.001). Statistically significant differences were noted for the complications like; serous discharge, seroma, erythema and stitch abscess. The surgical site infection in mesh repair open inguinal hernia was higher in present study than internationally reported incidence. The antibiotic prophylaxis reduces morbidity in mesh repair open inguinal hernia.

Anthropogenic activities such as pesticide use, coal-burning, and manufacturing introduce harmful substances that have high resistance to degradation by abiotic and biotic factors, and as such persist in the environment. They build up in the environment when decomposers are unable to break them down. Plants and fish take up these substances which are then transferred along the food chain until they reach the highest tropic level. These substances are collectively known as Persistent bioaccumulative toxic substances (PBTs). They typically accumulate in fatty tissues of humans and other species and are slowly metabolized, often increasing in concentration within the food chain. PBTs have been linked to a range of adverse effects in humans, including nervous system disorders, reproductive and developmental problems, cancer, gene mutation, alteration of sexual characteristics and other hormonal functions.

This study was aimed to evaluate the synergistic antibacterial activity of the mangrove species Avicina marina and Rhyzophora apiculata leaf extracts tested with the non mangrove South Indian medicinal plants, Terminalia chebula, Punica granatum, and Vitis vinifera seed extracts against the multi drug resistant (MDR) bacterial isolates of clinical origine. The antibacerial synergistic activity of the chosen plant extracts were studied by agar well diffustion method. Compared to the single plant extracts, the antibacterial activity expressed by the combination of the Mangrove leaf extracts with the non mangrove medicinal plants seed extracts found to be greater due to the synergism . We recomond the T.chebula seed extract , which can be given / taken along with the mangrove plant leaf material to treat the ailments / drug resistant bacterial infections. We also suggest that the traditional medicine system can adapt the practice of giving the combination of the discrete plant materials / extracts to treat the bacterial infections especially to treat the drug resistant infections to achieve the success in their system of medical practice.

The presence of phosphorus in plant material is abundant while the soil phosphorus availability is limited for plants due to their quick transformation to the insoluble form. There are many soil micro-organisms which could enhance the solubility of insoluble phosphate in soils and make it available for plant growth. This study investigates the coexistence of phosphate solubilizing bacteria in the rhizosphere soil of sorghum bicolor pre-inoculated with mycorrhizal fungi (AMF)Glomus sp. The rhizosphere soil sample was collected and the phosphate solubilizing bacteria was enumerated followed by screening for their efficiency to solubilize the insoluble phosphate using pikovskaya’s medium. Based on the solubilization index five bacterial isolates were chosen for further study. All the five phosphate solubilizing bacteria were subjected to morphological and various biochemical tests and were identified as Acinetobacter sp, Bacillus sp, Pseudomonas fluorescence, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Micrococcus sp. The maximum solubilization index was shown by Bacillus sp (1.75cm) followed by Micrococcus sp (1.75cm) on 6th day of incubation and the total soluble inorganic phosphorus production was estimated caloriemetrically which showed the maximum production by Bacillus sp (186 µg/ml) followed by Micrococcus sp (184µg/ml) on 6th day of incubation. The five PSB isolates were associated with the drop in pH with the production of soluble inorganic phosphorus.

This work studied the pharmaceutical constituents of seed and seedcoat of Mucuna pruriens. Qualitative and quantitative phytochemical Screening of seed and seedcoat of Mucuna pruriens showed the presence of these phytocompounds: alkaloid = 39.21+ 0.014% tannins = 19.07+ 0.001%, Saponic glycosides = 46.03+ 0.014%, Flavonoid = 17.04+ 0.01%, , Phenolic glycoside = 17.04+ 0.01% , terpenoids =2.43+ 0.00%, antrachionomic glycoside = 4.09+ 0.0141%, cardiac glycoside = 7.70+ 0.014%. The ethanolic , n – hexane and aqueous extracts of the seeds and coat of Mucuna pruriens were found to inhibit two test gram positive bacteria, two test gram negative bacteria and two test fungi. The two gram positive bacteria are; S. aureus and B. subtilis. The two gram negative bacteria are: E. coli and S. pyogene. The two fungi are: C. albican and A. flavus. The minimum inhibitory concentration for the three solvent extracts were found for each bacteria and fungi. Elemental analysis showed that the seeds of Mucuna pruriens contain the following microconstituent elements: Ca, Mg, P, Na, and K. KEY WORDS: Seeds and seedcoat of Mucuna pruriens, crud extracts, phytochemical analysis, elemental analysis, anti-microbial activity and minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC).

Prophylactic activities of methanol, ethanol and aqueous extracts of neem and lemon grass against plasmodium development in mice were investigated. Various extracts of the plants were prepared with soxhlet apparatus. Growth and reproduction of malarial parasite in the treated animals was delayed 3 days after treatment. The mean % parasitaemia obtained in mice administered with methanolic, ethanolic and aqueous extracts of lemon grasss were 43.01%, 50.21% and 48.08% while those treated with methanol, ethanol and aqueous extracts of neem displayed 59.54%, 61.50% and 13.4% respectively indicating the anti – plasmodial activity of both plants. . It is therefore, concluded that the activities of these plants depend neither on weight of the mice nor dosage but on the solvent used. The parasitaemia development in the group treated with standard drug (Malariech) was significantly minimal having 2.47% and 88.23% % parasitamia and average % suppression recorded. Aqueous Neem extract exhibited highest suppressive effect 76.21% followed by Lemon grass in respect of the methanolic(43.67%) and aqueous(38.07%) extracts as compared with methanolic(25.47%) and ethanolic(23.32%) extracts of Neem.. The suppressive value of aqueous neem extract 76.21%, was considered significant and could serve as sufficient replacement for conventional antimalarial drugs that easily loose their potency with the impending development of resistance.