bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Authorship in Scientific Medical Journals
Authors: Uddin Khwaia Nazim
Published: June 2016

Abstract not availableBirdem Med J 2016; 6(1): 1-6
Effectiveness, Safety and Tolerability of Vildagliptin with or without Metformin in Bangladeshi Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: Results from Real-Life Observational Study
Authors: Latif Zafar Ahmed , Pathan Md Faruque , Uddin Md Farid , Hasanat MA , Ashrafuzzaman SM , Ali Tanvir Mobarak , Rahman Md Mahfuzur
Published: June 2016

Background: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a progressive disease which needs prolonged management with anti-diabetic drugs. The purpose of the present study was to assess effectiveness, safety and tolerability of treatment by vildagliptin alone or with the combination of vildagliptin and metformin in T2DM patients in a real-world setting.Methods: This non-interventional, prospective, multi-center study was conducted in several hospitals in Bangladesh from 15th September 2010 to 12th June 2012. Both male and female patients, aged ?18 years with an established diagnosis of T2DM, who had been prescribed vildagliptin or vildagliptin added to metformin free-dose or single-pill combination according to local prescribing information and who consented to data collection, were eligible for inclusion in the study. During the observational period of 24±6 weeks, data from three routine clinic visits were recorded; i.e. the baseline visit (Day 1), visit 2 (week 12±4 weeks) and a final visit (visit 3) at the end of the study (week 24±6 weeks).Result: A total number of 510 patients were enrolled in this study of which 468 patients were analyzed for the study and the remaining 42 patients were lost to follow up. Patients in vildagliptin group were treated with vildagliptin as monotherapy which was received by 101 patients; however, patients in vildagliptin/metformin group received the combination of vildagliptin and metformin which was in 367 cases. In vildagliptin group, the mean HbA1c was reduced from baseline (8.50±1.02 %) to 24 week (7.19±0.74%) (p<0.0001). Similarly, in vildagliptin group the mean HbA1c at week 12 (7.76±0.96 %) was lower vs. baseline (8.50±1.02 %) (p<0.0001). In vildagliptin and metformin combination group, the mean HbA1c at week 24 (7.02±0.66%) was lower vs. baseline (8.55±0.75%) (p<0.0001). There were no deaths and no serious adverse effects. None of the patients reported any hypoglycemic event.Conclusion: In conclusion vildagliptin treating T2DM patients with or without metformin is associated with a significant and clinically relevant improvement in glycaemic control. Furthermore, vildagliptin treatment is generally well toleratedBirdem Med J 2016; 6(1): 12-17
Hepatic Abscess as Presenting Feature of Melioidosis: A Case Report
Authors: Saha Debasish Kumar , Ahsan ASM Areef , Faruq Mohammad Omar , Fatema Kaniz , Ahmed Fatema , Saha Madhurima
Published: June 2016

Melioidosis has recently gained importance as an emerging disease in Bangladesh. It is endemic in South-East Asia and Northern Australia. In Bangladesh few cases have been reported mainly from North-Eastern part of the country (greater Mymensingh area). It can present with varied forms. Here, we are reporting a case of melioidosis, who initially presented with prolonged pyrexia and later hepatic abscess was detected on imaging. Culture of aspirated pus from hepatic lesion revealed growth of Burkholderia pseudomallei. The patient resided in Chittagong hill tracts of Bangladesh.Birdem Med J 2016; 6(1): 43-45
Achalasia Cardia in a 6-Month-Old Boy: Case Report and Review of Literature
Authors: Choudhury Kamal M , Begum Tahmina
Published: June 2016

Achalasia cardia is commonly seen in adult population. It is extremely rare in infants and seldom found in children. Diagnosis of the disease is difficult in children particularly in small infants because the typical symptoms are missing and hardly there are any sign.High index of suspicion should be exercised to bring it among the differentials. We have described a 6-month-old boy with achalasia cardia and reviewed recent literatures to elucidate current scenario.Birdem Med J 2016; 6(1): 46-49
Swyer syndrome: Reports of 2 cases
Authors: Chowdhury Tanzeem S , Ruman Umme , Chowdhury TA
Published: June 2016

Swyer syndrome is a form of pure 46 XY gonodal dysgenesis in which individuals have male chromosomal pattern (46XY) but a female phenotype. One out of five women with the Swyer syndrome have a deletion in the DNA-binding region of the SRY gene, while in the remaining 8090% of cases, the SRY gene is normal and mutations in other testis determining factors are probably implicated. Early diagnosis is crucial for a number of reasons: first, the risk of gonadal malignancy, second, the early institution of estrogen therapy for induction of puberty and third, to allow for adequate hormone replacement to improve bone mineral density. We present two cases of Swyer syndrome with different presentationBirdem Med J 2016; 6(1): 50-53
From the Desk of the Executive Editor Vol.6(1)
Authors: Uddin Khwaja Nazim
Published: June 2016

Abstract not availableBirdem Med J 2016; 6(1): 57
BIRDEM News Vol.6(1)
Authors: Uddin Khwaja Nazim
Published: June 2016

Abstract not availableBirdem Med J 2016; 6(1): 56
Prevalence of Vibrio alginolyticus in Sediment Samples of River and Coastal Areas of Bangladesh
Authors: Siddiqui R , Alam MM , Naser MN , Otomo Y , Yasmin M , Nessa J , Ahsan CR
Published: June 2016

Vibrio alginolyticus has been thought to be a halophilic marine bacterium that causes diarrhea, otitis media and wound infection through the consumption of raw or inappropriately cooked sea food. It is one of the main Vibrio pathogens affecting marine animals, such as marine fish, shrimp and shellfish which lead to large economic damage. Although there are reports on the presence of this organism in the coastal area of other countries, not so much work has been done on the isolation and characterization of this species in Bangladesh. The present study was, therefore, undertaken to isolate and characterize V. alginolyticus organisms isolated from the rivers (fresh water) and estuaries (brackish water) of Bangladesh. A total of 9 isolates of Vibrio species were obtained from different water bodies (three from Meghna river, two from Shangu river and four from estuary) and provisionally identified as Vibrio alginolyticus following standard biochemical tests. All these 9 strains showed same pattern of antibiotic resistance to ampicillin, streotomycin, penicillin, but sensitive to nalidixic acid. In the virulence properties test, two isolates showed positive results for toxR gene and none of the isolates showed positive results for tdh gene. Challenge experiments in Singhi fish (Heteropneustes fossi) with the live cells and the culture filtrate prepared from the V. alginolyticus showed high mortality of the fish population. All these studies suggest the presence of pathogenic V. alginolyticus strains in the river water and estuarine bodies of Bangladesh and the extracellular toxin(s) of the V. alginolyticus might be one of the causes for fish mortality.Bangladesh J Microbiol, Volume 29, Number 1, June 2012, pp 1-6
Antagonistic Bacillus cereus TC-1 Isolated from Solar Salt Work in Southern India
Authors: Donio MBS , Viji V Thanga , Jenifer J Adlin , Velmurugan S , Raman K , Babu M Michael , Citarasu T
Published: June 2016

Bacillus cereus TC-1 was isolated from condenser pond of manmade solar salt pan Thamaraikulam, Tamilnadu, India effectively suppressed the shrimp bacterial pathogens Vibrio harveyi, V. parahaemolyticus, V. anguillarum, V. alginolyticus and V. vulnificus by in vitro antagonistic assay of 9 to 15 mm of zone of inhibition. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that, B. cereus TC-1 was highly similar that the B. thuringiensis strain (100%) and other Bacillus sp. Their optimum growth between at the range of 4 to 6% of NaCl in the growth media and significantly (P<0.05) high alkaline protease production (170.85 U/ml) was observed in the NaCl of 6 %. Based on the antagonistic activity of the B. cereus TC-1 against the shrimp pathogens and its antimicrobial factors, it may be used as probiotics and developing novel antimicrobial bioactive substances against aquatic pathogens.Bangladesh J Microbiol, Volume 29, Number 1, June 2012, pp 27-31
Isolation, Characterization and Antimicrobial Activity of Lactic Acid Bacteria from Local Milk and Milk Products
Authors: Chowdhury Tasneem , Ferdouse Jannatul
Published: June 2016

In the present study fifteen Lactic Acid Bacteria (LAB) from milk and milk products were isolated, identified and tested for their antagonistic activity. All the samples were found to be acidic with a pH range of 6.0 to 6.8.The collected samples showed higher number of total bacterial load ranging from 3.24´10 5 to 1.04´10 8 cfu/ml. Out of fifteen isolates, nine isolates were found to belong to the genus Lactobacillus and identified as L. casei subsp. pseudoplantarum, L. homohiochii, L. salivarius, L. xylosus, L.fermentum, L.leichmannii , L.heterohiochii, L.casei, and L.plantarum,.The others were found to belong to the genus Streptococcus and identified as S. thermophilus , S. lactis, S. uberis, S.suis, S. faecalis, and S. equnius.The isolates showed antibacterial activity against four gram positive bacteria (Bacillus cereus, B. subtilis, B.megaterium, Staphylococcus aureus) and six gram negative bacteria (Escherichia coli, Shigella dysenteriae, Salmonella typhi, Salmonella paratyphi, Vibrio cholerae and Pseudomonas aeruginosa) by using the disc diffusion method. They also showed their antifungal activity against two fungi (Penicillium sp. and Aspergillus flavus) by modifying poisoned food technique. All of the fifteen isolates were active against one or more test pathogenic bacterial strains. Among them L. homohiochii (TM3/a) showed the highest zone of inhibition (30.3mm) against Salmonella typhi. Lactobacillus spp. showed more antifungal activity than Streptococcus spp. and Streptococcus uberis (TY4 /a) showed the highest antifungal activity (50%) against Penicillium sp.This preliminary work shows the potential application of LAB to improve safety of traditional fermented food and milk products.Bangladesh J Microbiol, Volume 29, Number 2, Dec 2012, pp 76-82
Antibacterial and Antifungal Activity Analysis of Essential Oil of Pogostemon cablin (Blanco) Benth
Authors: Das Puspa , Dutta Shoma , Begum Jaripa , Anwar Md Nural
Published: June 2016

The essential oil of Pogostemon cablin (Blanco) Benth, also known as Patchouli oil was subjected for its antimicrobial investigation against a panel of ten human pathogenic bacteria and six human pathogenic fungi by Agar well diffusion method and Macrobroth dilution technique using Ampicillin (20ìg/well) and Nystatin (20ìg/well) as control. Antibacterial activity revealed that, the essential oil was more active against Gram positive bacteria than Gram negative bacteria. The largest zone of inhibition was 35 mm (against Bacillus cereus) with 20 ìl of oil. Ditermination of Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) and Minimum Bactericidal Concentration (MBC) showed that, Bacillus cereus exhibited the lowest MIC (250 ìg/ml) and MBC (750 ìg/ml). The oil showed moderate antifungal activity against all tested organisms. Candida albicans showed greater zone of inhibition (16 mm) than Saccharomyces cerevisiae (14 mm) with 20 ìl and Candida albicans showed lowest MIC and MFC (both were 750 ìg/ml). The zone of inhibition was 25 mm for each filamentous fungal strain with 20 ìl, except for Rhizopus oligosporus (15 mm) and the lowest MIC (250 ìg/ml) and MFC (500 ìg/ml) were reported for Aspergillus fumigatus.Bangladesh J Microbiol, Volume 30, Number 1-2,June-Dec 2013, pp 7-10
Heavy Metal Tolerance and Antibiotic Resistance of Bacillus spp. Isolated from Two Major Rivers in Bangladesh
Authors: Shammi Tahmina , Ahmed Sangita
Published: June 2016

Pollution of the environment with toxic heavy metals is spreading throughout the world along with industrial progress. Removal of these toxic heavy metals by using bacteria has achieved growing attention in recent years. The present study focuses on isolation of lead and chromium tolerant Bacillus spp., from the Buriganga and the Shitalkhya, the two major rivers surrounding Dhaka. A total of 25 Bacillus spp. isolates tolerant to 50 ppm lead and chromium were preliminarily identified based on morphological and biochemical analysis. Further investigation revealed that all isolates were also able to grow at 1000 ppm lead and 400 ppm chromium, while tolerance to 1500 ppm lead and 500 ppm chromium was observed among 48% and 76% isolates, respectively. All isolates were also able to grow at 50 ppm copper and 50 ppm zinc, while 72% grew at 100 ppm copper. The heavy metal tolerant Bacillus spp were also multi drug resistant and showed resistance to Tetracycline (100%), Ceftazidime (100%), Ceftriaxone (100%), Ampicillin (28%) and Nalidixic acid (24%).Bangladesh J Microbiol, Volume 30, Number 1-2,June-Dec 2013, pp 17-22
The effect of Verotoxin Producing Escherichia coli in Development of Experimental Gastroenteritis among Streptomycin Treated Murine Model: A Longitudinal Study
Authors: Mosharraf Fahareen Binta , Ahsan Chowdhury Rafiqul , Nessa Jamalun , Yasmin Mahmuda
Published: June 2016

Escherichia coli O157:H7 is a newly emerged pathogen, which has been recognized as a major cause of large scale epidemics and thousands of sporadic cases of gastrointestinal illness. This observation particularly calls for the in vivo examination of E. coli O157 candidates in an attempt to mimic various aspects of E. coli O157:H7 disease symptoms in humans. Healthy conventional Swiss albino mice were used for investigating the clinical manifestation exerted by stx1A and stx2A positive E. coli O157:H7 in various doses applied through three alternative routes (oral, intramuscular and intraperitoneal). The highest titer of orally added E. coli 0157:H7 (109 CFU ml-1) among the five test doses had started symptoms at the earliest time and manifested most of the classical symptoms. The symptoms started to become visible at 14th hour, increased with time and had reached moribund condition near 48th hour just before death of the host. The oral way of E. coli O157:H7 addition at the dose of 100 ?l suspension containing 1 X 109CFU ml-1 was taken as the most potent concentration in producing bacterial fatality and hence was selected as the Minimum Lethal Dose (MLD).Bangladesh J Microbiol, Volume 30, Number 1-2,June-Dec 2013, pp 31-38
Effect of Various Parameters on the Growth and Ethanol Production by Yeasts Isolated from Natural Sources
Authors: Rahman Shafkat Shamim , Hossain Md Mahboob , Choudhury Naiyyum
Published: June 2016

Two ethanol fermenting Saccharomyces cerevisiae were isolated from date juice and grapes and grown in YEPD medium. They were characterized for alcoholic fermentation using sugarcane molasses and their growth conditions were optimized with respect to pH and sugar concentration. Results revealed a temperature of 30ºC, pH 6.0 and 6.5% sugar concentration as optimum for fermentation. Stress tolerance tests showed that date juice isolate was highly tolerant to temperature, pH and high ethanol concentration in the medium. Under optimized conditions, S. cerevisiae isolated from date-juice produced 7.75% of ethanol in molasses as estimated by Conway method.Bangladesh J Microbiol, Volume 30, Number 1-2,June-Dec 2013, pp 49-54
Widespread Occurrence of Possible Antibiotic Efflux Mechanism in Multidrug Resistant Intestinal E. coli Strains Isolated from Healthy Human Subjects in Bangladesh
Authors: Rahman M Hasibur , Mahmud Jamil , Haque Md Mahamudul , Tuli Farzana Tarannum , Jahan Nazneen , Hasan Trisheeta Nazmeen , Ahmed Zia Uddin
Published: June 2016

A total of 50 isolates of Escherichia coli obtained from healthy adult human subjects were studied and tested for possible presence of efflux mechanism in resistance determination and possible correlation of plasmids with resistance.Minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) of the antibiotics amoxicillin, azithromycin, ciprofloxacin, chloramphenicol and tetracycline were determined by agar dilution method with or without the H+/K+ proton pump inhibitor omeprazole. Plasmids were extracted by rapid alkaline plasmid extraction method and analyzed by agarose gel electrophoresis. Many strains showed 5  10 fold reduction of MIC values in the presence of omeprazole; a few strains showed up to 100-fold MIC reduction. Plasmid analysis of these 50 isolates revealed the presence of both plasmidless and plasmid containing strains, the latter with plasmid number varying from one to seven. However, the plasmids apparently had no relationship with high level antibiotic tolerance as indicated by the observation that some plasmidless strains had very high MIC values, while other strains containing several plasmids had very low MIC. Decrease in MIC in the presence of omeprazole apparently indicates existence of an efflux mechanism. Evidence of the efflux of ethidium bromide was noted in some strains that had been grown in ethidium bromide containing agar plate with and without omeprazole. These results suggest that reduction of MIC caused by omeprazole may be related to possible inhibition of efflux pump activity by omeprazole in the isolates studied.Bangladesh J Microbiol, Volume 30, Number 1-2,June-Dec 2013, pp 55-59
Calcium Homeostasis in Escherichia coli: Characterization of Mutants and Genome Expression of MG1655
Authors: Arif Muhammad , Howard Josh , Tisa Louis S
Published: June 2016

While the role of calcium ions as secondary messengers has been well described in eukaryotic cells, little is known about calcium homeostasis in bacteria at the physiological and molecular levels. Genetic and genomic approaches were used to address calcium regulation and to identify genes (cal) involved in calcium homeostasis. Transposon mutagenesis of Escherichia coli generated several calcium-sensitive mutants that fell into three categories: (i) Ca2+-sensitive chemotaxis mutants, (ii) Ca2+-sensitive cell division mutants, and (iii) Ca2+-sensitive mutants that showed no defects in cell division or chemotaxis. The physiological properties of these Ca2+-sensitive mutants were determined. Besides calcium-sensitivity to 75 mM calcium, all of the mutants exhibited increased sensitivities to several divalent cations including Ni2+, Mg2+, Mn2+, Co2+, Zn2+, Cu2+, and Cd2+. To identify the cal gene sequence in the Ca2+-sensitive mutants, the region of the genes fused to the reporter gene (phoA) on the transposon TnphoA was amplified by PCR and sequenced. The sites of the gene fusion for three cal mutants were at the fdoG, gpt and pqi5 genes. The pleiotropic nature for the cal mutations suggested that many genes may be globally regulated by calcium. We then investigated global gene expression patterns of wild-type E. coli under calcium-depleted (addition of 10 mM EGTA) and calcium-elevated (addition of 75 mM Ca2+) conditions as compared to cultures grown under unstressed conditions. A comprehensive transcriptome analysis using macroarrys exhibited a global regulation of diverse genes within the E. coli genome during calcium homeostasis.Bangladesh J Microbiol, Volume 31, Number 1-2,June-Dec 2014, pp 1-8
Immunogenicity of Streptococcus pneumoniae 74 kDa Surface Protein in Rabbit Model
Authors: Jahan Zeenat , Deeba Iztiba Mallik , Akter Shahina , Rahman Tasmina , Nabi Ashikun , Yasmin Mahmuda , Nessa Jamalun , Ahsan Chowdhury Rafiqul
Published: June 2016

Immunogenicity of a pneumococcal 74 kDa surface protein in the rabbit model was investigated in this study. For this, Streptococcus pneumoniae serotype 7F was collected and water extraction procedure was applied for the preparation of surface materials, which was used for further isolation of the 74 kDa surface protein. Rabbits were immunized with the sonicated nitrocellulose membrane containing the 74 kDa surface protein and the control group of rabbits was injected with same concentration of sonicated nitrocellulose membrane only. The antibody response against the 74 kDa surface protein was evaluated by both ELISA and immunoblot assay. Sera collected from the 74 kDa surface protein immunized rabbits were examined and the high titre (1:1600) ELISA values (OD490) indicated the production of adequate amounts of anti-74 kDa antibodies in the rabbits. In the immunoblot analysis, a single antigenic band was obtained on the nitrocellulose membrane treated with sera obtained from rabbits immunized with the 74 kDa surface protein. The high titre antibody production in the rabbits indicates the immunogenicity of the 74 kDa surface protein in rabbit model.Bangladesh J Microbiol, Volume 31, Number 1-2,June-Dec 2014, pp 25-28
Molecular Characterization of Foot-and-Mouth Disease Virus Type O from Wild Pig in Bangladesh
Authors: Siddique Mohammad Anwar , Ullah Huzzat , Nandi Shuvro Prokash , Chakma Debaraj , Sultana Munawar , Hossain M Anwar
Published: June 2016

Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is a disease of all non-avian livestock animals which costs direct and indirect economic burden of 6.5-21 billion USD per year worldwide in endemic countries. In Bangladesh, FMD is endemic and mainly caused by foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) serotypes O, A and Asia1. Among FMD susceptible animals cattle, sheep and goat were reported to be more susceptible to this virus, whereas, pig was reported as amplifier of the virus. To date there is no epidemiological data in Bangladesh defining the circulation of FMDV in pig population. This investigation first reports the circulation of FMDV in wild pigs of Bangladesh, its molecular characterization and genotyping. To pursue this, tissue sample from ruptured vesicles of mammary gland was collected from wild pig suspected to be infected with FMD followed by RT-PCR amplification, sequencing and phylogenetic study of the VP1 gene, which is the most variable region of FMDV genome. The virus was identified as FMDV serotype O and phylogenetically clustered together with India 2001 (Ind2001) lineage under middle-east, south Asia (ME-SA) topotype. Within the clade of Ind2001 lineage, FMDV from pig formed a sub-clade with 2013 sequences of cattle which indicates the phylogenetic relatedness of the virus from pig with circulatory virus in cattle population of Bangladesh in 2013. Pair-wise local alignment of the FMDV type O VP1 sequence of pig with other local cattle FMDV type O VP1 sequences of 2012 and 2013 supported the phylogenetic affiliation of the pig FMDV with the circulatory virus in cattle population of Bangladesh in 2013, whereas nucleotide sequences of cattle FMDV VP1 of 2012 were found to be 7-8% divergent compared to pig FMDV VP1. Phylogenetic and pair-wise alignment data conclusively revealed that (i) homologous circulation of the FMDV type O (Ind2001 lineage) occurs in both animal traits; and (ii) FMDV type O VP1 sequence of pig origin is distantly related to 2012 local FMDV type O VP1 sequences of cattle origin, but closely related to 2013 local cattle FMDV type O VP1.Bangladesh J Microbiol, Volume 31, Number 1-2,June-Dec 2014, pp 41-45
Comparison of Microbiological and Physicochemical Quality of Tap and Dispenser Water from Different Mid-Range Restaurants of Dhaka City, Bangladesh
Authors: Alam Nur , Jamal Rubayat , Alam SM Sabbir , Moniruzzaman Mohammad
Published: June 2016

Dhaka is the most populous city in Bangladesh and the tenth-largest metropolitan in the world with about twelve million inhabitants. Most people of Dhaka have low or middle ranged incomes and frequently use roadside mid range restaurants to take their meals and drinking water. Water quality is a significant health concern in Bangladesh and is a probable source of many water borne diseases and outbreaks. Tap water and dispenser water samples were collected from ten roadside restaurants. These samples were analyzed for pH, salinity, conductivity, TDS (total dissolved solid) for physicochemical quality analysis while total coliform, faecal coliform and total heterotrophic bacterial counts were determined for microbiological quality analysis. All the samples conformed to the WHO standards of TDS, salinity and conductivity. Except for 20% of the tap water samples, pH of all the samples was found to be satisfactory. The heterotrophic plate count was in a range of 8.0 x 101 cfu/ml to 9.3 x 105 cfu/ml from tap water sample and 6.5 x 101 cfu/ml to TNTC from dispenser water samples. Only 10% of the tap water samples and 30% of the dispenser water samples complied with the WHO stipulated limit of total heterotrophic count (100 cfu/ml). In terms of total coliforms, all the tap water samples and 20% of the dispenser water samples were found to be contaminated, whereas 50% of both the tap water and dispenser water samples were contaminated with faecal coliforms, indicating possible faecal contamination and presence of pathogenic bacteria. By comparing coliform/faecal coliform count on tap and dispenser water it was found that dispenser water is safer than tap water.Bangladesh J Microbiol, Volume 31, Number 1-2,June-Dec 2014, pp 69-72
Untreated Liquid Hospital Waste: Potential Source of Multidrug Resistant Bacteria
Authors: Siddiqui Md Kamruzzaman , Khatoon Nazma , Roy Pravas Chandra
Published: June 2016

Antimicrobial resistance in both pathogenic and commensal bacteria is increasing steadily. Failure of antibiotic resistant bacteria containment is responsible for this expansion. Healthcare effluent acts as the store house of harmful infectious pathogens. Potential health risk includes spreading of diseases by these pathogens and wide dissemination of antimicrobial resistance genes. The present study was carried out to investigate the multiple-drug resistance among the bacterial strains that were isolated and identified from the effluents of Jessore Medical College Hospital & Jessore Queens hospital private limited. Identified bacteria were E. coli , Klebsiella spp., Enterobacter spp., Proteus vulgaris and Salmonella spp.. Occurrence of E. coli and Enterobacter spp. were found to have the highest percentages and present in majority of the samples. The identified organisms antibiotic resistant pattern were analyzed by agar disc diffusion method against 6 antibiotics. Results of antibiotic susceptibility test showed that all of the isolates were multi-drug resistant (e4). From the study, we observed that 75% of the isolates were resistant to amoxicillin, followed by Ampicillin (64%), Chloramphenicol (31%), Gentamycin (29%), Nitrofurantoin (27%) and least resistant being Ciprofloxacin 23%. Among the isolates Salmonella spp. were showed highest rate of resistance against all the used antibiotics. The result denotes that, the identified bacteria have been well exposed to the tested antimicrobials and they have established mechanisms to avoid them. Therefore, proper waste water treatment plant should be established to diminish the risk of disseminating multiple drug resistant microorganisms for the safeguard of public health.Bangladesh J Microbiol, Volume 32, Number 1-2,June-Dec 2015, pp 21-24
‘A Country Beyond the Pleasure Principle’: Alexander Luria, Death Drive and Dialectic in Soviet Russia, 1917–1930
Authors: Proctor Hannah
Published: June 2016

Alexander Luria played a prominent role in the psychoanalytic community that flourished briefly in Soviet Russia in the decade following the 1917 October Revolution. In 1925 he co-wrote an introduction to Sigmund Freud's Beyond the Pleasure Principle with Lev Vygotsky, which argued that the conservatism of the instincts that Freud described might be overcome through the kind of radical social transformation then taking place in Russia. In attempting to bypass the backward looking aspects of Freud's theory, however, Luria and Vygotsky also did away with the tension between Eros and the death drive; precisely the element of Freud's essay they praised for being ‘dialectical’. This article theoretically unpicks Luria and Vygotsky's critique of psychoanalysis. It concludes by considering their optimistic ideological argument against the death drive with Luria's contemporaneous psychological research findings, proposing that Freud's ostensibly conservative theory may not have been as antithetical to revolutionary goals as Luria and Vygotsky assumed.
Of Symbolic Mortification and ‘Undead Life’: Slavoj Žižek on the Death Drive
Authors: Hook Derek
Published: June 2016

The work of Slavoj Žižek contains arguably the most conceptually ambitious re-articulation of the Lacanian notion of the death drive. This paper offers an expository thread joining many of the fragmentary depictions of the death drive in Žižek's work. I begin by tracing the most counter-intuitive aspects of Žižek's re-articulations of the concept. Opposing the notions of death drive as biological instinct, cosmic principle, Nirvana-like release, and self-annihilating impulse, Žižek highlights instead the Lacanian notions of repetition automatism, excess negativity, ‘undead’ eternal life, and symbolic mortification. Žižek provides useful applications of a series of related Lacanian ideas – the lamella, the zone between two deaths, and the ethical dimension of the death drive – and extends these via a set of philosophical conceptualizations (self-relating negativity, negative inherence, death drive as non-historicizable). The last section of the paper explores how the notion of self-relating negativity allows Žižek to consolidate the foregoing Lacanian concepts and to understand the death drive as simultaneously reflexive, a-subjective and ‘meta-causative’.
Role of Transcription Factors in Steatohepatitis and Hypertension after Ethanol: The Epicenter of Metabolism
Authors: Ansari Rais , Husain Kazim , Rizvi Syed
Published: June 2016

Chronic alcohol consumption induces multi-organ damage, including alcoholic liver disease (ALD), pancreatitis and hypertension. Ethanol and ethanol metabolic products play a significant role in the manifestation of its toxicity. Ethanol metabolizes to acetaldehyde and produces reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) by cytosolic alcohol dehydrogenase. Ethanol metabolism mediated by cytochrome-P450 2E1 causes oxidative stress due to increased production of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Acetaldehyde, increased redox cellular state and ROS activate transcription factors, which in turn activate genes for lipid biosynthesis and offer protection of hepatocytes from alcohol toxicity. Sterol regulatory element binding proteins (SREBPs) and peroxisome proliferator activated-receptors (PPARs) are two key lipogenic transcription factors implicated in the development of fatty liver in alcoholic and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis. SREBP-1 is activated in the livers of chronic ethanol abusers. An increase in ROS activates nuclear factor erythroid-2-related factor-2 (Nrf2) and hypoxia inducible factor (HIF) to provide protection to hepatocytes from ethanol toxicity. Under ethanol exposure, due to increased gut permeability, there is release of gram-negative bacteria-derived lipopolysaccharide (LPS) from intestine causing activation of immune response. In addition, the metabolic product, acetaldehyde, modifies the proteins in hepatocyte, which become antigens inviting auto-immune response. LPS activates macrophages, especially the liver resident macrophages, Kupffer cells. These Kupffer cells and circulating macrophages secrete various cytokines. The level of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNFα), interleukin-1beta (IL-1β), IL-6, IL-8 and IL-12 have been found elevated among chronic alcoholics. In addition to elevation of these cytokines, the peripheral iron (Fe2+) is also mobilized. An increased level of hepatic iron has been observed among alcoholics. Increased ROS, IL-1β, acetaldehyde, and increased hepatic iron, all activate nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) transcription factor. Resolution of increased reactive oxygen species requires increased expression of genes responsible for dismutation of increased ROS which is partially achieved by IL-6 mediated activation of signal transducers and activators of transcription 3 (STAT3). In addition to these transcription factors, activator protein-1 may also be activated in hepatocytes due to its association with resolution of increased ROS. These transcription factors are central to alcohol-mediated hepatotoxicity.
Prediction of Dermoscopy Patterns for Recognition of both Melanocytic and Non-Melanocytic Skin Lesions
Authors: Abbas Qaisar , Sadaf Misbah , Akram Anum
Published: June 2016

A differentiation between all types of melanocytic and non-melanocytic skin lesions (MnM–SK) is a challenging task for both computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) and dermatologists due to the complex structure of patterns. The dermatologists are widely using pattern analysis as a first step with clinical attributes to recognize all categories of pigmented skin lesions (PSLs). To increase the diagnostic accuracy of CAD systems, a new pattern classification algorithm is proposed to predict skin lesions patterns by integrating the majority voting (MV–SVM) scheme with multi-class support vector machine (SVM). The optimal color and texture features are also extracted from each region-of-interest (ROI) dermoscopy image and then these normalized features are fed into an MV–SVM classifier to recognize seven classes. The overall system is evaluated using a dataset of 350 dermoscopy images (50 ROIs per class). On average, the sensitivity of 94%, specificity of 84%, 93% of accuracy and area under the receiver operating curve (AUC) of 0.94 are achieved by the proposed MnM–SK system compared to state-of-the-art methods. The obtained result indicates that the MnM–SK system is successful for obtaining the high level of diagnostic accuracy. Thus, it can be used as an alternative pattern classification system to differentiate among all types of pigmented skin lesions (PSLs).
Optical and X-Ray Topographic Studies of Dislocations, Growth-Sector Boundaries, and Stacking Faults in Synthetic Diamonds
Authors: Moore Moreton , Nailer Stuart , Wierzchowski Wojciech
Published: June 2016

The characterization of growth features and defects in various high-pressure high-temperature (HPHT) synthetic diamonds has been achieved with optical and X-ray topographic techniques. For the X-ray studies, both characteristic and synchrotron radiation were used. The defects include dislocations, stacking faults, growth banding, growth sector boundaries, and metal inclusions. The directions of the Burgers vectors of many dislocations (edge, screw, and mixed 30°, 60°, and 73.2°), and the fault vectors of stacking faults, were determined as <110> and 1/3 <111> respectively. Some dislocations were generated at metallic inclusions; and some dislocations split with the formation of stacking faults.
Strong Secrecy Capacity of a Class of Wiretap Networks
Authors: He Dan , Guo Wangmei
Published: June 2016

This paper considers a special class of wiretap networks with a single source node and K sink nodes. The source message is encoded into a binary digital sequence of length N, divided into K subsequences, and sent to the K sink nodes respectively through noiseless channels. The legitimate receivers are able to obtain subsequences from arbitrary μ 1 = K α 1 sink nodes. Meanwhile, there exist eavesdroppers who are able to observe subsequences from arbitrary μ 2 = K α 2 sink nodes, where 0 ≤ α 2 < α 1 ≤ 1 . The goal is to let the receivers be able to recover the source message with a vanishing decoding error probability, and keep the eavesdroppers ignorant about the source message. It is clear that the communication model is an extension of wiretap channel II. Secrecy capacity with respect to the strong secrecy criterion is established. In the proof of the direct part, a codebook is generated by a randomized scheme and partitioned by Csiszár’s almost independent coloring scheme. Unlike the linear network coding schemes, our coding scheme is working on the binary field and hence independent of the scale of the network.
Normalized Minimum Error Entropy Algorithm with Recursive Power Estimation
Authors: Kim Namyong , Kwon Kihyeon
Published: June 2016

The minimum error entropy (MEE) algorithm is known to be superior in signal processing applications under impulsive noise. In this paper, based on the analysis of behavior of the optimum weight and the properties of robustness against impulsive noise, a normalized version of the MEE algorithm is proposed. The step size of the MEE algorithm is normalized with the power of input entropy that is estimated recursively for reducing its computational complexity. The proposed algorithm yields lower minimum MSE (mean squared error) and faster convergence speed simultaneously than the original MEE algorithm does in the equalization simulation. On the condition of the same convergence speed, its performance enhancement in steady state MSE is above 3 dB.
Insights on Energy Transitions in Mexico from the Analysis of Useful Exergy 1971–2009
Authors: Guevara Zeus , Sousa Tânia , Domingos Tiago
Published: June 2016

The analysis of useful exergy (UE), which is the minimum amount of work required to produce a given end-use, provides insights on the relationships between structural changes and energy transitions because it focuses on what energy is used for, i.e., energy services, rather than where it comes from, i.e., energy carriers. In this paper, UE was accounted for Mexico in 1971–2009. It was found that UE experienced a six-fold growth, led by the increasing share of mechanical drive and electric energy uses. Structural changes such as industrialization and complete electrification mainly drove UE transitions. Technological progress, mainly driven by the industrial sector, and electricity availability caused an improvement in the aggregate final-to-useful efficiency of the economy. In addition, the trend of increasing UE economic intensity shows that Mexico became more dependent on UE per unit of economic output during industrialization. The results suggest that UE trends were more influenced by structural transitions while final exergy trends were more influenced by economic fluctuations. It is concluded that energy policy design in developing countries undergoing or starting the process of industrialization should focus on: (1) improvements in final-to-useful efficiency, especially of the transportation sector and (2) growth of the productivity of UE.
State Estimation of Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor Using Improved Square Root UKF
Authors: Xu Bo , Mu Fangqiang , Shi Guoding , Ji Wei , Zhu Huangqiu
Published: June 2016

This paper focuses on an improved square root unscented Kalman filter (SRUKF) and its application for rotor speed and position estimation of permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM). The approach, which combines the SRUKF and strong tracking filter, uses the minimal skew simplex transformation to reduce the number of the sigma points, and utilizes the square root filtering to reduce computational errors. The time-varying fading factor and softening factor are introduced to self-adjust the gain matrices and the state forecast covariance square root matrix, which can realize the residuals orthogonality and force the SRUKF to track the real state rapidly. The theoretical analysis of the improved SRUKF and implementation details for PMSM state estimation are examined. The simulation results show that the improved SRUKF has higher nonlinear approximation accuracy, stronger numerical stability and computational efficiency, and it is an effective and powerful tool for PMSM state estimation under the conditions of step response or load disturbance.
Optimal Decision Model for Sustainable Hospital Building Renovation—A Case Study of a Vacant School Building Converting into a Community Public Hospital
Authors: Juan Yi-Kai , Cheng Yu-Ching , Perng Yeng-Horng , Castro-Lacouture Daniel
Published: June 2016

Much attention has been paid to hospitals environments since modern pandemics have emerged. The building sector is considered to be the largest world energy consumer, so many global organizations are attempting to create a sustainable environment in building construction by reducing energy consumption. Therefore, maintaining high standards of hygiene while reducing energy consumption has become a major task for hospitals. This study develops a decision model based on genetic algorithms and A* graph search algorithms to evaluate existing hospital environmental conditions and to recommend an optimal scheme of sustainable renovation strategies, considering trade-offs among minimal renovation cost, maximum quality improvement, and low environmental impact. Reusing vacant buildings is a global and sustainable trend. In Taiwan, for example, more and more school space will be unoccupied due to a rapidly declining birth rate. Integrating medical care with local community elder-care efforts becomes important because of the aging population. This research introduces a model that converts a simulated vacant school building into a community public hospital renovation project in order to validate the solutions made by hospital managers and suggested by the system. The result reveals that the system performs well and its solutions are more successful than the actions undertaken by decision-makers. This system can improve traditional hospital building condition assessment while making it more effective and efficient.
Potential of Endophytic Bacterium Paenibacillus sp. PHE-3 Isolated from Plantago asiatica L. for Reduction of PAH Contamination in Plant Tissues
Authors: Zhu Xuezhu , Jin Li , Sun Kai , Li Shuang , Ling Wanting , Li Xuelin
Published: June 2016

Endophytes are ubiquitous in plants, and they may have a natural capacity to biodegrade polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). In our study, a phenanthrene-degrading endophytic Paenibacillus sp. PHE-3 was isolated from P. asiatica L. grown in a PAH-contaminated site. The effects of environmental variables on phenanthrene biodegradation by strain PHE-3 were studied, and the ability of strain PHE-3 to use high molecular weight PAH (HMW-PAH) as a sole carbon source was also evaluated. Our results indicated that pH value of 4.0–8.0, temperature of 30 °C–42 °C, initial phenanthrene concentration less than 100 mg·L−1, and some additional nutrients are favorable for the biodegradation of phenanthrene by strain PHE-3. The maximum biodegradation efficiency of phenanthrene was achieved at 99.9% after 84 h cultivation with additional glutamate. Moreover, the phenanthrene biodegradation by strain PHE-3 was positively correlated with the catechol 2,3-dioxygenase activity (ρ = 0.981, p < 0.05), suggesting that strain PHE-3 had the capability of degrading HMW-PAHs. In the presence of other 2-, 3-ringed PAHs, strain PHE-3 effectively degraded HMW-PAHs through co-metabolism. The results of this study are beneficial in that the re-colonization potential and PAH degradation performance of endophytic Paenibacillus sp. PHE-3 may be applied towards reducing PAH contamination in plants.
MicroRNA-21a-5p Functions on the Regulation of Melanogenesis by Targeting Sox5 in Mouse Skin Melanocytes
Authors: Wang Pengchao , Zhao Yuanyuan , Fan Ruiwen , Chen Tianzhi , Dong Changsheng
Published: June 2016

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play an important role in regulating almost all biological processes. miRNAs bind to the 3′ untranslated region (UTR) of mRNAs by sequence matching. In a previous study, we demonstrated that miR-21 was differently expressed in alpaca skin with different hair color. However, the molecular and cellular mechanisms for miR-21 to regulate the coat color are not yet completely understood. In this study, we transfected miR-21a-5p into mouse melanocytes and demonstrated its function on melanogenesis of miR-21a-5p by targeting Sox5, which inhibits melanogenesis in mouse melanocytes. The results suggested that miR-21a-5p targeted Sox5 gene based on the binding site in 3′ UTR of Sox5 and overexpression of miR-21a-5p significantly down-regulated Sox5 mRNA and protein expression. Meanwhile, mRNA and protein expression of microphthalmia transcription factor (MITF) and Tyrosinase (TYR) were up-regulated, which subsequently make the melanin production in melanocytes increased. The results suggest that miR-21a-5p regulates melanogenesis via MITF by targeting Sox5.
Site-Specific Genome Engineering in Human Pluripotent Stem Cells
Authors: Merkert Sylvia , Martin Ulrich
Published: June 2016

The possibility to generate patient-specific induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) offers an unprecedented potential of applications in clinical therapy and medical research. Human iPSCs and their differentiated derivatives are tools for diseases modelling, drug discovery, safety pharmacology, and toxicology. Moreover, they allow for the engineering of bioartificial tissue and are promising candidates for cellular therapies. For many of these applications, the ability to genetically modify pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) is indispensable, but efficient site-specific and safe technologies for genetic engineering of PSCs were developed only recently. By now, customized engineered nucleases provide excellent tools for targeted genome editing, opening new perspectives for biomedical research and cellular therapies.
Stem Cell Activation in Adult Organisms
Authors: Bloch Wilhelm
Published: June 2016

Stem cells are responsible for the organ and tissue development, growth and maintenance from embryonic stage up to late adult life.[...]
Tagging Users’ Social Circles via Multiple Linear Regression
Authors: Qin Hailong , Liu Jing , Lin Chin-Yew , Liu Ting
Published: June 2016

A social circle is a category of strong social relationships, such as families, classmates and good friends and so on. The information diffusion among members of online social circles is frequent and credible. The research of users’ online social circles has become popular in recent years. Many scholars propose methods for detecting users’ online social circles. On the other hand, the social meanings and the tags of a social circle are also important for the analysis of a social circle. However, little work involves the tags discovery of social circles. This paper proposes an algorithm for social circle tag detection by multiple linear regression. The model solves the data sparse problem of tags in social circles and successfully combines different categories of features in social circles. We also redmap the concept of the social circle into "reference circles" of an academic paper. We evaluate our method in datasets of both Facebook and Microsoft Academic Search, and prove that it is more effective than other relevant methods.
Elucidating the Common Generalist Predators of Conotrachelus nenuphar (Herbst) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) in an Organic Apple Orchard Using Molecular Gut-Content Analysis
Authors: Schmidt Jason , Szendrei Zsofia , Grieshop Matthew
Published: June 2016

Conotrachelus nenuphar (Herbst) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), plum curculio, is a serious direct pest of North American tree fruit including, apples, cherries, peaches and plums. Historically, organophosphate insecticides were used for control, but this tool is no longer registered for use in tree fruit. In addition, few organically approved insecticides are available for organic pest control and none have proven efficacy as this time. Therefore, promoting biological control in these systems is the next step, however, little is known about the biological control pathways in this system and how these are influenced by current mechanical and cultural practices required in organic systems. We used molecular gut-content analysis for testing field caught predators for feeding on plum curculio. During the study we monitored populations of plum curculio and the predator community in a production organic apple orchard. Predator populations varied over the season and contained a diverse assemblage of spiders and beetles. A total of 8% of all predators (eight Araneae, two Hemiptera, and six Coleoptera species) assayed for plum curculio predation were observed positive for the presence of plum curculio DNA in their guts, indicating that these species fed on plum curculio prior to collection Results indicate a number of biological control agents exist for this pest and this requires further study in relation to cultural practices.