Unexplored deep sea habitats in active volcanic Barren Island, Andaman and Nicobar Islands are sources of novel halophilic eubacteria

Deep Sea sediment cores were collected from the surrounding of active volcanic Barren Island, Andaman & Nicobar Islands. A total of 24 halophilic eubacteria were isolated and identified based on their biochemical and 16S rDNA sequences. Three major classes (Gamma-Proteobacteria, Alpha-Proteobacteria and Bacilli) of bacteria were detected in the deep sea sediments of active volcanic Barren Island. Among those, 37% of isolates exhibited antimicrobial activity against all tested Gram positive and Gram negative clinical pathogens. 60% of isolates revealed the presence of either PKS or NRPS genes and 65% isolates disclosed medium to higher level of cytotoxicity in MB-231 breast cancer cell line. Majority of the isolates revealed excellent potential for bioprospecting of novel byproducts with industrial and pharmaceutical importance.

Comparative profiling of microbial community of three economically important fishes reared in sea cages under tropical offshore environment

The present study was undertaken to evaluate the microbial composition of farmed cobia pompano and milkfish, reared in sea-cages by culture-independent methods. This study would serve as a basis for assessing the general health of fish, identifying the dominant bacterial species present in the gut for future probiotic work and in early detection of potential pathogens. High-throughput sequencing of V3-V4 hyper variable regions of 16S rDNA on Illumina MiSeq platform facilitated unravelling of composite bacterial population. Analysis of 1.3 million quality-filtered sequences revealed high microbial diversity. Characteristic marine fish gut microbes: Vibrio and Photobacterium spp. showed prevalence in cobia and pompano whereas Pelomonas and Fusobacterium spp. dominated the gut of milkfish. Pompano hindgut with 10,537 operational taxonomy units (OTUs) exhibited the highest alpha-diversity index followed by cobia (10,435) and milkfish (2799). Additionally unique and shared OTUs in each gut type were identified. Gammaproteobacteria dominated in cobia and pompano while Betaproteobacteria showed prevalence in milkfish. We obtained 96 shared OTUs among the three species though the numbers of reads were highly variable. These differences in microbiota of farmed fish reared in same environment were presumably due to differences in the gut morphology, physiological behavior and host specificity.

Use of a hypogastric flap and split-thickness skin grafting for a degloving injury of the penis and scrotum: A different approach

Penile and scrotal skin avulsions are not common events and are caused usually by accidents with industrial machines or agricultural machines. We report a case of a 27-year-old newly married thin-built patient with avulsion and traumatic degloving of the penile and scrotal skin, with exposure of the corpora cavernosa and copus spongiosum of penis and testes as his loose clothes got entangled in a paddy harvesting machine accidently. Reconstruction was performed using a hypogastric flap and split skin graft, achieving a satisfactory aesthetic result and sexual functions.

Use of a hypogastric flap and split-thickness skin grafting for a degloving injury of the penis and scrotum: A different approach

Penile and scrotal skin avulsions are not common events and are caused usually by accidents with industrial machines or agricultural machines. We report a case of a 27-year-old newly married thin-built patient with avulsion and traumatic degloving of the penile and scrotal skin, with exposure of the corpora cavernosa and copus spongiosum of penis and testes as his loose clothes got entangled in a paddy harvesting machine accidently. Reconstruction was performed using a hypogastric flap and split skin graft, achieving a satisfactory aesthetic result and sexual functions.

Exposure to cerebrospinal fluid of sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients alters Nav1.6 and Kv1.6 channel expression in rat spinal motor neurons

Cerebro Spinal Fluid (CSF) from patients with ALS has been documented to have a toxic effect on motor neurons both in vivo and in vitro. Here we show that the CSF from Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) patients (ALS-CSF) has the potential to perturb ion channel expression, specifically the Na(v)1.6, and K(v)1.6 channels in newborn rat spinal motor neurons both in vivo and in vitro. ALS-CSF and CSF from nonALS patients (nonALS-CSF) were intrathecally injected into 3-day-old rat pups at the rate of 1 microl/2.5 min using a microinjector. In addition, embryonic rat spinal cord cultures were also exposed to 10% ALS or nonALS-CSF on the 9th day in vitro (9DIV) in serum free DMEM medium. After 48 h of CSF exposure, the cultures and the spinal cord sections were processed for immunostaining of the above mentioned ion channels. We observed a decrease in the expression of Na(v)1.6 and K(v)1.6 channels in motor neurons in ALS-CSF treated group, and the presence of trophic factors like Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) and Ciliary Neurotrophic Factor CNTF partially reversed the effects produced by ALS-CSF. Altered expression of these voltage-gated channels may interfere with the electrical activity of motor neurons, and thereby lead to the degeneration of neurons.

Effect of chronic vibration on the immune state of albino rats

A study was undertaken to investigate the effects of whole body chronic vibration on the immune system. Albino rats were exposed to whole body horizontal vibration acceleration 5.0 g, frequency 20 Hz for 3 hours per day for 3 months and changes were observed in plasma corticosterone level, total leucocyte count and differential leucocyte count. Neutrophil functions were accessed by candida phagocytosis and Nitroblue tetrazolium reduction test. The total leucocyte count was significantly decreased. A marked lymphopenia was observed in the differential count of the leucocytes. A significant increase in the plasma corticosterone level, candida phagocytosis and Nitroblue tetrazolium reduction was observed, indicating chronic whole body vibration to be a potent stressor in albino rats.