Assessment of oxidative stress in serum of pulmonary tuberculosis patients

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) remains a human health issue and often deadly infectious disease in low-middle income nations. In TB, oxidative stress is a result of tissue inflammation, poor dietary intake of micronutrients due to illness, free radical burst from activated macrophages. This study was conducted prospectively to evaluate the oxidative stress in TB.Methods: The study included 30 newly diagnosed TB positive patients and 30 healthy individuals. Pro-oxidant markers like the thiobarbituric acid reactive species (TBARS) and nitric oxide were studied from serum. Antioxidant parameter like serum total-SH was also assessed.Results: Levels of pro-oxidants were significantly increased whereas antioxidant defense markers were significantly impaired in the TB group. Nitric oxide and TBARS were increased (p<0.0001) where glutathione was decreased (p<0.0001) in TB population compared to healthy controls.Conclusions: Marked oxidative stress were seen in the TB population as compared to the healthy cohort. The role of antioxidant therapy may therefore be evaluated in the management of TB.  

Assessment of oxidative stress in serum of pulmonary tuberculosis patients

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) remains a human health issue and often deadly infectious disease in low-middle income nations. In TB, oxidative stress is a result of tissue inflammation, poor dietary intake of micronutrients due to illness, free radical burst from activated macrophages. This study was conducted prospectively to evaluate the oxidative stress in TB.Methods: The study included 30 newly diagnosed TB positive patients and 30 healthy individuals. Pro-oxidant markers like the thiobarbituric acid reactive species (TBARS) and nitric oxide were studied from serum. Antioxidant parameter like serum total-SH was also assessed.Results: Levels of pro-oxidants were significantly increased whereas antioxidant defense markers were significantly impaired in the TB group. Nitric oxide and TBARS were increased (p&lt;0.0001) where glutathione was decreased (p&lt;0.0001) in TB population compared to healthy controls.Conclusions: Marked oxidative stress were seen in the TB population as compared to the healthy cohort. The role of antioxidant therapy may therefore be evaluated in the management of TB.  

HIV gp120 Binds to Mannose Receptor on Vaginal Epithelial Cells and Induces Production of Matrix Metalloproteinases

BACKGROUND: During sexual transmission of HIV in women, the virus breaches the multi-layered CD4 negative stratified squamous epithelial barrier of the vagina, to infect the sub-epithelial CD4 positive immune cells. However the mechanisms by which HIV gains entry into the sub-epithelial zone is hitherto unknown. We have previously reported human mannose receptor (hMR) as a CD4 independent receptor playing a role in HIV transmission on human spermatozoa. The current study was undertaken to investigate the expression of hMR in vaginal epithelial cells, its HIV gp120 binding potential, affinity constants and the induction of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) downstream of HIV gp120 binding to hMR. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Human vaginal epithelial cells and the immortalized vaginal epithelial cell line Vk2/E6E7 were used in this study. hMR mRNA and protein were expressed in vaginal epithelial cells and cell line, with a molecular weight of 155 kDa. HIV gp120 bound to vaginal proteins with high affinity, (Kd = 1.2±0.2 nM for vaginal cells, 1.4±0.2 nM for cell line) and the hMR antagonist mannan dose dependently inhibited this binding. Both HIV gp120 binding and hMR exhibited identical patterns of localization in the epithelial cells by immunofluorescence. HIV gp120 bound to immunopurified hMR and affinity constants were 2.9±0.4 nM and 3.2±0.6 nM for vaginal cells and Vk2/E6E7 cell line respectively. HIV gp120 induced an increase in MMP-9 mRNA expression and activity by zymography, which could be inhibited by an anti-hMR antibody. CONCLUSION: hMR expressed by vaginal epithelial cells has high affinity for HIV gp120 and this binding induces production of MMPs. We propose that the induction of MMPs in response to HIV gp120 may lead to degradation of tight junction proteins and the extracellular matrix proteins in the vaginal epithelium and basement membrane, leading to weakening of the epithelial barrier; thereby facilitating transport of HIV across the vaginal epithelium

Lifestyle, dietary and treatment adherence pattern of uncontrolled diabetics in coastal Karnataka, India

Background: Diabetes Mellitus shows a rising trend in India, driven by a combination of factors like sedentary lifestyle, unhealthy diet and tobacco use. The cornerstone for interventions to reduce this is lifestyle modification. Aim &amp; Objective: This study aims to determine lifestyle behaviours among uncontrolled diabetics in rural South India. Settings and Design: This is a pilot study conducted as part of a community trial which enrolled uncontrolled diabetics (Glycosylated haemoglobin, HbA1C of 7% or more) selected from baseline survey of 2 RBS readings. Methods and Material: The sociodemographic details, lifestyle habits and treatment adherence of eligible participants were recorded with a validated questionnaire. Statistical analysis used: Data was compared among 2 groups of poor glycaemic control using Chi square test. Results: There was no significant association of age or gender with HbA1C levels. Majority were non-smokers, non-alcoholics and did not exercise. Higher proportions of those with hospital admissions, longer duration of disease and less frequent check-ups had poor control; but these were not statistically significant. Dietary control was inadequate. However, there were no significant association of dietary habits with poor control. Conclusions: Although overall adherence to medication and follow up was satisfactory, lifestyle modification is not being sufficiently followed

Addressing challenges of transition from children's home to independence : Udayan Care's Udayan Ghars (Sunshine Children's Homes) & aftercare programme

The L.I.F.E. Model (Living In Family Environment), is a model that attempts to create familial relationships, consistent living circumstances, and social/educational support systems necessary to move towards independent adulthood for orphaned and vulnerable children (OVC). In addition, the model addresses multiple losses, grief and related issues by employing attachment and trauma-based understandings to child rearing, while using positive psychology tools to encourage resilience and developmental growth. In the last 19 years, Udayan Care (located in New Delhi, India) through the Udayan Ghars Programme and Aftercare Services, has employed an evolved L.I.F.E. model for the children it cares for (Modi, Nayar-Akhtar, Gupta, & Karmakar, 2014). The model includes a family-like regulated support system, with long-term mentors who are set in place to help the children transition from institutional care to independent living. Typically, this takes place with the children moving out of the Sunshine Children's Homes into semi-regulated Aftercare services and then from Aftercare into the larger world. Given the normative transitions for all young persons, finding ways to effectively support institutionalised children as they transition to independent living is critical. In addition to the normative challenges, undoubtedly, institutionalised children come with a history of trauma and abandonment and often have long-term psychological difficulties that are unique to their population. Many such children end up in childcare institutions as there may be no extended family available, and the options for alternative care settings are severely limited. To understand the developmental trajectories of these children, Udayan Care has been participating in longitudinal research to describe the current and on-going changes in children's trauma, attachment, self-concept and ego-resiliency. This work has provided baseline information on the level and effectiveness of the programmes implemented at Udayan Care, and recommends future directions for addressing the children's needs. This paper explores the needs of institutionalised children as addressed by the Udayan Care Model. Such children have histories of severe neglect and need intensive efforts directed towards addressing attachment issues, affect dysregulation, behavioural difficulties, social skills, education and life skills training

Estimation of sea water salinity from dielectric measurements: Effect of temperature

Dielectric measurements have been carried out for distilled water and saline water solutions of salinities 10000, 20000, 30000, 40000 ppm, as well as sea water of Diu beach area, using Anritsu Shockline Vector Network Analyzer (VNA, model no: MS46322A) in the frequency range from 1 GHz to 20 GHz, over the temperatures of 20°, 30° and 40 °C. From the measured values of dielectric constant and dielectric loss, the values of tanδ, conductivity and emissivity of water solutions have been calculated. The variation in dielectric properties of water with salinity and temperature of measurement is compared with values calculated using Stogryn equations as well as Klein and Swift model and results are found to be in good agreement with corresponding values. From the dielectric loss values and the emissivity values of distilled water and saline water solutions at certain fixed frequencies, the salinity of sea water collected from Diu beach has been estimated to be 36,327 ppm which agrees very well with the physicochemical analysis report of laboratory

Blending Data-Driven Priors in Dynamic Games

As intelligent robots like autonomous vehicles become increasingly deployed in the presence of people, the extent to which these systems should leverage model-based game-theoretic planners versus data-driven policies for safe, interaction-aware motion planning remains an open question. Existing dynamic game formulations assume all agents are task-driven and behave optimally. However, in reality, humans tend to deviate from the decisions prescribed by these models, and their behavior is better approximated under a noisy-rational paradigm. In this work, we investigate a principled methodology to blend a data-driven reference policy with an optimization-based game-theoretic policy. We formulate KLGame, an algorithm for solving non-cooperative dynamic game with Kullback-Leibler (KL) regularization with respect to a general, stochastic, and possibly multi-modal reference policy. Our method incorporates, for each decision maker, a tunable parameter that permits modulation between task-driven and data-driven behaviors. We propose an efficient algorithm for computing multi-modal approximate feedback Nash equilibrium strategies of KLGame in real time. Through a series of simulated and real-world autonomous driving scenarios, we demonstrate that KLGame policies can more effectively incorporate guidance from the reference policy and account for noisily-rational human behaviors versus non-regularized baselines. Website with additional information, videos, and code: https://kl-games.github.io/.20 pages, 12 figure

The cancer genome atlas - TCGA molecular classification: A changing paradigm in the management of endometrial cancers

Conventionally, endometrial cancers have been risk-stratified as per the clinco-pathological factors. The Cancer Genome Atlas project identified four distinct molecular subtypes within endometrial cancers which further lead to the clinical validation of molecular classification by various research groups. The molecular classification has influenced the risk stratification, thereby impacting adjuvant treatment decisions and prognostication. Molecular classification has paved the precision oncology in gynaecological cancers further strengthening the ongoing advances in targeted therapies and immunotherapy. This review elaborately presents the development of a new molecular classification of endometrial cancers; its evidence-based clinical utility with a brief overview of future perspectives