Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is an expanding problem as longevity increases worldwide. While inflammation clearly contributes to vision loss in AMD, the mechanism remains controversial. Here we show that neutrophils are important in this inflammatory process. In the retinas of both early AMD patients and in a mouse model with an early AMD-like phenotype, we show neutrophil infiltration. Such infiltration was confirmed experimentally using ribbon-scanning confocal microscopy (RSCM) and IFNλ− activated dye labeled normal neutrophils. With neutrophils lacking lipocalin-2 (LCN-2), infiltration was greatly reduced. Further, increased levels of IFNλ in early AMD trigger neutrophil activation and LCN-2 upregulation. LCN-2 promotes inflammation by modulating integrin β1 levels to stimulate adhesion and transmigration of activated neutrophils into the retina. We show that in the mouse model, inhibiting AKT2 neutralizes IFNλ inflammatory signals, reduces LCN-2-mediated neutrophil infiltration, and reverses early AMD-like phenotype changes. Thus, AKT2 inhibitors may have therapeutic potential in early, dry AMD.

The research paper proposes a methodology to predict the extension of lockdown in order to eradicate COVID-19 from India. All the concepts related to Coronavirus, its history, prevention and cure is explained in the research paper. Concept used to predict the number of active cases, deaths and recovery is Linear Regression which is an application of machine learning. Extension of lockdown is predicted on the basis of predicted number of active cases, deaths and recovery all over India. To predict the number of active cases, deaths and recovery, date wise analysis of current data was done and necessary parameters like daily recovery, daily deaths, increase rate of covid-19 cases were included. Graphical representation of each analysis and prediction was done in order to make predicted results more understandable. The combined analysis was performed at the end which included the final result of total cases of coronavirus in India. Combined analysis included the no. of cases from start of COVID-19 to the predicted end of cases all over India.

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Objective: To determine the antimicrobial resistance of bacteriocin producing marine Lactic acid bacteria and to study the efficacy of bacteriocin against L. monocytogenes during fish preservation.Methods: Lactic acid bacteria from scales and mucus of marine fish viz., Perca sp., Platax sp. and Tuna sp. which showed activity against different spoilage causing bacteria were subjected to antibiotic sensitivity testing. The LAB isolates were also screened for their antagonistic activity against L. monocytogenes and other pathogenic and spoilage causing bacteria by the well-diffusion method. The potent bacteriocin from L. lactis PSY2 was tested for its efficacy in combating L. monocytogenes challenged fresh fish fillets stored at different temperatures viz., 4, 0 and -18°C for 28 days and compared to that of the chemical preservative sodium benzoate. Results:The LAB isolates showed sensitivity to antibiotics of clinical use, but resistance was detected more frequently towards ampicillin A, furazolidone, gentamycin, kanamycin norfloxacine and vancomycin. Five of the isolates viz., PSY2, MC2, MC6, TS1 and PSY1 inhibited both Gram positive and Gram-negative fish pathogenic and spoilage causing bacteria and possessed broad inhibitory spectrum. The potent isolate Lactococcus lactis PSY2 inhibited Listeria monocytogenes in vitro. The bacteriocin PSY2 effectively reduced the viable count of L. monocytogenes in the fillets stored at 4 and 0°C; however, the freezed (-18°C) sample harbored less count of the pathogen even in the control after 28 days of storage. The sensory and other physicochemical analyses also revealed the efficacy of bacteriocin PSY2 in combating L. monocytogenes under storage conditions. Conclusion:The study concluded the inhibitory potential of bacteriocin PSY2 against L. monocytogenes during cold storage of raw fish; hence provide prospects for its' possible application as fish biopreservative.

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BackgroundPsycho-immunology is an emerging branch of science which studies the interaction between the brain and the immune system. The purpose of this study is to identify the types of personality factors in patients with non-infectious uveitis and to find its association with a particular uveitic entity if any.This is a prospective, observational, case-control study of 186 patients with non-infectious uveitis (group A) and controls from general ophthalmology outpatient department (group B). “Global 5/SLOAN” personality questionnaire was used which is based on the five-factor theory of personality which describes personality factors based on the presence or absence of five primary dimensions, viz extroversion, orderliness, emotional stability, accommodation, and intellectual curiosity. Personality factors of patients from groups A and B were compared. History of present illness, clinical diagnosis, details of systemic ailment, and demographic information were collected.ResultsGroup A comprised HLA-B27-related uveitis (n = 30), uveitis due to sarcoidosis (n = 10), Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada syndrome (n = 5), sclero-kerato-uveitis due to rheumatoid arthritis (n = 5), and idiopathic uveitis in rest. Forty-five patients with uveitis had associated systemic ailment. Uveitis patients (n = 56) showed positive personality trait: S (social), C (calm), O (organized), A (accommodative), and I (inquisitive). In contrast, the control group (group B) which mainly comprised patients with non-pathological refractive error and visually insignificant cataract showed more number of negative personality traits (n = 62): R (reserved), L (limbic), U (unstructured), E (egocentric), and N (non-curious). This difference between the uveitis and control group was found to be statistically significant (p ≤ 0.001). The difference was also statistically significant for O (p = 0.008), U (p = 0.004), and C (p = 0.022) with chi-square test. Calm personality was found to be significantly associated with HLA-B27-related uveitis (p = 0.002). N, S, and A traits were seen almost equal in numbers in both the groups. U trait was absent in group A, whereas I trait had negligible presence in group B.ConclusionsOur finding of an association between organized personality type and uveitis and calm personality and HLA-B27-related uveitis warrants further studies to understand the complex mechanism of psycho-immunology in uveitis.

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