ORIGINAL ARTICLE: Status of Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Infections and Evaluation of PVL Producing Strains in Belgaum, South India

Background: Panton Valentine Leukocidin (PVL) toxin, responsible for increased virulence and more severe infections can be found in both Methicillin-sensitive and Methicillin-resistant strains of Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA and MRSA). Aims & Objectives: To generate baseline data on the extent of MRSA infections and to estimate the frequency of PVL-positive S.aureus in Belgaum, South India. Material & Methods: 70 clinical isolates of S.aureus were obtained from various laboratories in Belgaum city. Theseisolates were identified, phenotypically characterized as MRSA/MSSA by disc diffusion method using oxacillin discs (1 µg) and genetically by multiplex PCR for mecA and fem B genes. PCR was subsequently carried out on all isolates to detect LukS-PV and LukF-PV genes, the markers for potential producers of PVL toxin. Results: 27 out of 70 isolates (38.6%) were confirmed as MRSA by PCR formecA. The prevalence of PVL gene was 85.1% and 48.8% in MRSA and MSSA respectively. The overall prevalence of PVL positive S.aureuswas 62.85%. Conclusion: Our study showed high percentage of PVL positive MRSA and MSSA, higher than the most reports worldwide. In the backdrop of bacterial strains gaining multiple drug resistance, our study warrants further epidemiological studies in hospitals and community levels in the region

An Ensemble-based approach for assigning text to correct Harmonized system code

Industries must follow government rules and regulations around the world to classify products when assessing duties and taxes for international shipment. Harmonized System (HS) is the most standardized numerical method of classifying traded products among industry classification systems. A hierarchical ensemble model comprising of Bert-transformer, NER, distance-based approaches, and knowledge-graphs have been developed to address scalability, coverage, ability to capture nuances, automation and auditing requirements when classifying unknown text-descriptions as per HS method

Learning Long-Term Spatial-Temporal Graphs for Active Speaker Detection

Active speaker detection (ASD) in videos with multiple speakers is a challenging task as it requires learning effective audiovisual features and spatial-temporal correlations over long temporal windows. In this paper, we present SPELL, a novel spatial-temporal graph learning framework that can solve complex tasks such as ASD. To this end, each person in a video frame is first encoded in a unique node for that frame. Nodes corresponding to a single person across frames are connected to encode their temporal dynamics. Nodes within a frame are also connected to encode inter-person relationships. Thus, SPELL reduces ASD to a node classification task. Importantly, SPELL is able to reason over long temporal contexts for all nodes without relying on computationally expensive fully connected graph neural networks. Through extensive experiments on the AVA-ActiveSpeaker dataset, we demonstrate that learning graph-based representations can significantly improve the active speaker detection performance owing to its explicit spatial and temporal structure. SPELL outperforms all previous state-of-the-art approaches while requiring significantly lower memory and computational resources. Our code is publicly available at https://github.com/SRA2/SPELLComment: ECCV 2022 camera ready (Supplementary videos: on ECVA soon). This paper supersedes arXiv:2112.0147

DOXORUBICIN INDUCED COGNITION IMPAIRMENT IN RAT MODEL

 Objective: Doxorubicin (DOX) is a chemotherapeutic agent commonly used to treat a variety of cancers despite having well documented adverse sideeffects in organs like heart, liver, and kidney. The damage caused to brain, if any, and to what extent is, however, still not clear and the present studywas undertaken to estimate the possible role of DOX inducing cognitive impairment in Wistar rats.Methods: The study carried out in two groups of Wistar rats (n=6) with one group receiving DOX, and the other only normal saline used as control.During and after the experimentation period cognitive level of each rat was measured using Barnes maze (BM) till 8 weeks. At the end of theobservation period (after 8th week), a series of biochemical and histopathological studies were carried out after sacrificing the animals.Results: Errors to reach target and time taken to reach the target was found in BM experiment, elevated levels of antioxidants and hemoglobin wasfound reduced significantly in the DOX treated group when compared to the controls while histopathology of brain cells of DOX treated group alsoshowed reduction in hippocampal cellularity and cell death in hippocampal area suggesting evidence of oxidative damage caused by DOX treatment.Conclusion: Parameters in this study which not only conclusively show the damage caused to brain by DOX, but also estimates the changes caused toeach indicator by this drug.Keywords: Chemotherapy, Brain, Hippocampus, Oxidative stress

Undernutrition among rural school-age children: a major public health challenge for an aspirational district in Karnataka, India

BackgroundFor school-age children, a healthy transition from childhood to adolescence and adulthood depends on proper nutrition. Globally, most nutritional surveys focus on preschool and adolescents, neglecting school-age children. Recent studies have shown the prevalence of thinness among adolescents to be 26.5% in Karnataka. Similarly, among children aged < 5 years in the Raichur district, the prevalence of stunting, wasting, and being underweight was 39.8, 23.2, and 40.7%, respectively. The present study aimed to bridge the data gap between < 5 years of children and adolescents through a nutritional survey of school-going children in Raichur, one of the aspirational districts of India.Materials and methodsA cross-sectional survey was conducted from January to March 2020 among rural school-age children (n = 2700) in 30 villages of the Raichur district of Karnataka, India. The school children were selected through a multi-stage cluster sampling technique. The WHO Anthro-plus software was used for calculating the age and sex-specific Z-scores for weight-for-age (WAZ), height-for-age (HAZ), and BMI-for-age (BAZ).ResultsOf the 2,700 school-age children surveyed, the mean weight and height were 22.2 kg (+5.8) and 124.9 cm (+11.6), respectively. The prevalence of children having weight-for-age Z-scores < −2 SD (Underweight) was 45.3% (95% CI: 42.7%−47.8%). The magnitude of stunting and severe stunting was 19.5% (95% CI: 18.0%−21.0%) and 7.6% (95% CI: 6.6%−8.6%), respectively. The proportion of children with BMI for age Z-scores < −2SD (thinness) was 43% (95% CI: 41.1%−44.9%), with sub-district Sindhanur having a dual burden of malnutrition.ConclusionDespite many flagship programs, the prevalence of undernutrition in school-age children remains a considerable public health problem in the aspirational district of Raichur, India. Furthermore, exploratory studies are recommended to identify the factors associated with undernutrition among school-age children and strategize evidence-based intervention

Identifying the sources of intestinal colonization with extended-spectrum β-lactamase-producing Escherichia coli in healthy infants in the community

The prevalence of fecal colonization with extended-spectrum β-lactamase-producing Escherichia coli (ESBL-Ec) among children in low- and middle-income countries is alarmingly high. This study aimed to identify the sources of ESBL-Ec colonization in children < 1 year old through comparative analysis of E. coli isolates from child stool, child’s mother stool, and point-of-use drinking water from 46 rural households in Bangladesh. The pairwise similarity in antibiotic susceptibility of E. coli from all three sources was evaluated, followed by phylogenetic clustering using enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus polymerase chain reaction and whole-genome sequence analysis of the isolates. Matching antibiotic susceptibility and enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus polymerase chain reaction patterns were found among ESBL-Ec isolates from child–mother dyads of 24 and 11 households, respectively, from child–water dyads of 5 and 4 households, respectively, and from child–mother–water triads of 3 and 4 households, respectively. Whole-genome sequence analysis of 30 isolates from 10 households revealed that ESBL-Ec from children in five households (50%) was clonally related to ESBL-Ec either from their mothers (2 households), drinking water sources (2 households), or both mother and drinking-water sources (1 household) based on serotype, phylogroup, sequence type, antibiotic resistance genes, mobile genetic elements, core single-nucleotide polymorphisms, and whole-genome multilocus sequence typing. Overall, this study provides empirical evidence that ESBL-Ec colonization in children is linked to the colonization status of mothers and exposure to the household environments contaminated with ESBL-Ec. Interventions such as improved hygiene practices and a safe drinking water supply may help reduce the transmission of ESBL-Ec at the household level

High genomic diversity and heterogenous origins of pathogenic and antibiotic-resistant Escherichia coli in household settings represent a challenge to reducing transmission in low-income settings

Escherichia coli; is present in multiple hosts and environmental compartments as a normal inhabitant, temporary or persistent colonizer, and as a pathogen. Transmission of; E. coli; between hosts and with the environment is considered to occur more often in areas with poor sanitation. We performed whole-genome comparative analyses on 60; E. coli; isolates from soils and fecal sources (cattle, chickens, and humans) in households in rural Bangladesh. Isolates from household soils were in multiple branches of the reconstructed phylogeny, intermixed with isolates from fecal sources. Pairwise differences between all strain pairs were large (minimum, 189 single nucleotide polymorphisms [SNPs]), suggesting high diversity and heterogeneous origins of the isolates. The presence of multiple virulence and antibiotic resistance genes is indicative of the risk that; E. coli; from soil and feces represent for the transmission of variants that pose potential harm to people. Analysis of the accessory genomes of the Bangladeshi; E. coli; relative to; E. coli; genomes available in NCBI identified a common pool of accessory genes shared among; E. coli; isolates in this geographic area. Together, these findings indicate that in rural Bangladesh, a high level of; E. coli; in soil is likely driven by contributions from multiple and diverse; E. coli; sources (human and animal) that share an accessory gene pool relatively unique to previously published; E. coli; genomes. Thus, interventions to reduce environmental pathogen or antimicrobial resistance transmission should adopt integrated One Health approaches that consider heterogeneous origins and high diversity to improve effectiveness and reduce prevalence and transmission.; IMPORTANCE; Escherichia coli; is reported in high levels in household soil in low-income settings. When; E. coli; reaches a soil environment, different mechanisms, including survival, clonal expansion, and genetic exchange, have the potential to either maintain or generate; E. coli; variants with capabilities of causing harm to people. In this study, we used whole-genome sequencing to identify that; E. coli; isolates collected from rural Bangladeshi household soils, including pathogenic and antibiotic-resistant variants, are diverse and likely originated from multiple diverse sources. In addition, we observed specialization of the accessory genome of this Bangladeshi; E. coli; compared to; E. coli; genomes available in current sequence databases. Thus, to address the high level of pathogenic and antibiotic-resistant; E. coli; transmission in low-income settings, interventions should focus on addressing the heterogeneous origins and high diversity

Antimicrobial activity of leaf and root methanolic extracts from Vinca pusilla Murr.

Vinca pusilla Murr. is a traditional medicinal plant used to treat several diseases. To substantiate the traditional medicinal utility of the plant, the present study aims at screening the antimicrobial activity of methanolic extracts of leaves and roots against five Gram positive, five Gram negative bacterial and four fungal strains. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) were determined by two fold dilution assay. The results indicated that, leaf and root extracts were more effective on Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus aureus strains (MIC &lt; 1 mg/mL). The tested organisms were sensitive to root extract compared to leaf extract. Fungal strains were resistant than the bacterial strains to both the extracts. Thus the present study illustrates the antimicrobial potential of the plant.

Genotypic and Phenotypic Characterization of Escherichia coli Isolates from Feces, Hands, and Soils in Rural Bangladesh via the Colilert Quanti-Tray System

The increased awareness of the role of environmental matrices in enteric disease transmission has resulted in the need for rapid, field-based methods for fecal indicator bacteria and pathogen detection. Evidence of the specificity of β-glucuronidase-based assays for detection of Escherichia coli from environmental matrices relevant to enteric pathogen transmission in developing countries, such as hands, soils, and surfaces, is limited. In this study, we quantify the false-positive rate of a β-glucuronidase-based E. coli detection assay (Colilert) for two environmental reservoirs in Bangladeshi households (hands and soils) and three fecal composite sources (cattle, chicken, and humans). We investigate whether or not the isolation source of E. coli influences phenotypic and genotypic characteristics. Phenotypic characteristics include results of biochemical assays provided by the API-20E test; genotypic characteristics include the Clermont phylogroup and the presence of enteric and/or environmental indicator genes sfmH, rfaI, and fucK. Our findings demonstrate no statistically significant difference in the false-positive rate of Colilert for environmental compared to enteric samples. E. coli isolates from all source types are genetically diverse, representing six of the seven phylogroups, and there is no difference in relative frequency of phylogroups between enteric and environmental samples. We conclude that Colilert, and likely other β-glucuronidase-based assays, is appropriate for detection of E. coli on hands and in soils with low false-positive rates. Furthermore, E. coli isolated from hands and soils in Bangladeshi households are diverse and indistinguishable from cattle, chicken, and human fecal isolates, using traditional biochemical assays and phylogrouping