Objective Antimicrobial resistance among the bacteria present in ready-to-eat foods like vegetable salads is an emerging concern today. The current study was undertaken to investigate the presence of multi-drug resistant extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL) producing E. coli and Salmonella spp. in raw vegetable salads served at hotels and restaurants in Bharatpur. A total of 216 salad samples were collected from three different grades of hotels and restaurants and examined for the presence of E. coli and Salmonella spp. in Microbiology laboratory of Birendra Multiple Campus by conventional microbiological techniques. Results Out of 216 samples, 66 samples (35.2%) showed the presence of Salmonella spp. whereas E. coli was recovered from 29 (13.4%) samples of which 3 samples harbored E. coli O157: H7. Antibiotic susceptibility testing revealed that 9 (13.6%) Salmonella and 4 (13.8%) E. coli isolates were detected as multi-drug resistant. Total ESBL producers reported were 5 (7.57%) Salmonella and 4 (13.8%) E. coli . The study also assessed a significant association between occurrence of E. coli and Salmonella with different grades of hotels and restaurants, personal hygiene and literacy rate of chefs and with the type of cleaning materials used to wash knives and chopping boards (p < 0.05). The findings suggest an immediate need of attention by the concerned authorities to prevent the emergence and transmission of food-borne pathogens and infections antimicrobial resistance among them.

The fat obtained from the ripened seeds of Diploknema butyracea is widely used as a vegetable oil in rural areas of Nepal. This study was aimed for the physicochemical evaluation (acid value, iodine value, saponification value, peroxide value, ester value, pH, and liquefaction point) of the Diploknema butyracea seed extract (chyuri fat) and the formulation of 2% w/w ketoconazole ointment by using it as a base. All the physicochemical parameters were determined quantitatively by using the method of Indian Pharmacopoeia (IP), volume-I. By fusion method, 3 different formulations F-A, F-B, and F-C were prepared, in which different proportions of chyuri fat, polyethylene glycol 6000 (PEG 600), Tween 80, and propylene glycol were used as an ointment base. Various quality parameters such as spreadability, extrudability, viscosity, smoothness, pH, average fill weight, assay, content uniformity, accelerated stability, and drug release profiles were determined. HPLC was used for the determination of ketoconazole content in the ointment formulations. Physicochemical evaluation of the chyuri fat ensured its suitability for industrial purpose. The active ingredient release profile of formulations F-A (87.71%), F-B (88.89%), and F-C (91.09%) after 5 hours were within acceptable range along with other parameters. Assay of the formulations F-A, F-B, and F-C were reported to be 103.01, 107.9, and 102.45%, respectively. Overall, evaluation of the formulation F-A, prepared by using chyrui fat only, gave satisfactory results and most of the parameters were statistically similar ( p > 0.05 ) to the F-B and F-C formulated by incorporating a certain proportion of synthetic base. Thus it can be concluded that chyuri fat can be the best alternative to replace the expensive synthetic base.

A major obstacle to immunotherapy is insufficient infiltration of effector immune cells into the tumor microenvironment. Radiotherapy greatly reduces tumor burden but relapses often occur. Here we show that the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment was gradually established by recruiting Tregs after radiation. Despite tumors being controlled after depletion of Tregs in the irradiated area, improvement of mice survival remained poor. A much better antitumor effect was achieved with vaccination followed by radiation than other treatments. Vaccination followed by radiation recruited more effector T cells in tumor regions, which responded to high levels of chemokines. Sequential combination of vaccination and radiotherapy could elicit distinct host immune responses. Our study demonstrated that optimal combination of irradiation and vaccination is required to achieve effective antitumor immune responses. We propose a combination regimen that could be easily translated into the clinic and offer an opportunity for rational combination therapies design in cancer treatment.

Antimicrobial resistance among bacteria present in ready-to-eat foods like vegetable salads is an emerging concern today. The current study was undertaken to investigate the presence of multi-drug resistant extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL) producing E. coli and Salmonella spp. in raw vegetable salads served at hotels and restaurants in Bharatpur. A total of 216 salad samples were collected from three different grades of hotels/restaurants and examined for the presence of E. coli and Salmonella spp. in Microbiology laboratory of Birendra Multiple Campus by conventional microbiological techniques. Out of 216 samples, 66 samples (35.2%) showed presence of Salmonella spp. whereas E. coli was recovered from 29(13.4%) samples of which 3 samples harbored E. coli O157: H7. Antibiotic susceptibility testing revealed that 9(13.6%) Salmonella and 4(13.8%) E. coli isolates were multi-drug resistant. Total ESBL producers reported were 5(7.57%) Salmonella and 4(13.8%) E. coli . The study also assessed a significant association between occurrence of E. coli and Salmonella with grades of hotels/restaurants, personal hygiene and literacy rate of chefs and with type of cleaning materials used to wash knives and chopping boards (p<0.05). The findings suggest immediate need of attention by concerned authorities to prevent emergence and transmission of food-borne pathogens and antimicrobial resistance.

Objective Antimicrobial resistance among the bacteria present in ready-to-eat foods like vegetable salads is an emerging concern today. The current study was undertaken to investigate the presence of multi-drug resistant extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL) producing E. coli and Salmonella spp. in raw vegetable salads served at hotels and restaurants in Bharatpur. A total of 216 salad samples were collected from three different grades of hotels and restaurants and examined for the presence of E. coli and Salmonella spp. in Microbiology laboratory of Birendra Multiple Campus by conventional microbiological techniques. Results Out of 216 samples, 66 samples (35.2%) showed the presence of Salmonella spp. whereas E. coli was recovered from 29(13.4%) samples of which 3 samples harbored E. coli O157: H7. Antibiotic susceptibility testing revealed that 9(13.6%) Salmonella and 4(13.8%) E. coli isolates were detected as multi-drug resistant. Total ESBL producers reported were 5(7.57%) Salmonella and 4(13.8%) E. coli. The study also assessed a significant association between occurrence of E. coli and Salmonella with different grades of hotels and restaurants, personal hygiene as well as with the literacy rate of chefs (p<0.05). The findings suggest an immediate need of attention by the concerned authorities to prevent food-borne infections and emerging antimicrobial resistance

Aims We have previously demonstrated that vitamin D deficiency might be associated with worse outcomes in hospitalized Covid‐19 patients. The aim of our study was to explore this relationship with dexamethasone therapy. Methods We prospectively studied two cohorts of hospitalized Covid‐19 patients between March and April and between September and December 2020 ( n = 192). Patients were tested for serum 25‐hydroxyvitamin D (25‐OH‐D) levels during admission. The first cohort not treated with dexamethasone ( n = 107) was divided into vitamin D deficient (25‐OH‐D ≤ 30 nmol/L) ( n = 47) and replete subgroups (25‐OH‐D > 30 nmol/L) ( n = 60). The second cohort treated with dexamethasone ( n = 85) was similarly divided into deficient (25‐OH‐D ≤ 30 nmol/L) ( n = 27) and replete subgroups (25‐OH‐D > 30 nmol/L) ( n = 58). Primary outcome was in‐hospital mortality and secondary outcomes were elevation in markers of cytokine storm and ventilatory requirement. Results No mortality difference was identified between cohorts and subgroups. The “no dexamethasone” cohort 25‐OH‐D deplete subgroup recorded significantly higher peak d ‐Dimer levels (1874 vs. 1233 µgFEU/L) ( p = 0.0309), CRP (177 vs. 107.5) ( p = 0.0055), and ventilatory support requirement (25.5% vs. 6.67%) ( p = 0.007) compared to the replete subgroup. Among the 25‐OH‐D deplete subgroup higher peak neutrophil counts, peak CRP, peak LDH, peak ferritin, and lower trough lymphocyte counts were observed, without statistical significance. In the “dexamethasone” cohort, there was no apparent association between 25‐OH‐D deficiency and markers of cytokine storm or ventilatory requirement. Conclusion: Vitamin D deficiency is associated with elevated markers of cytokine storm and higher ventilatory requirements in hospitalized Covid‐19 patients. Dexamethasone treatment appears to mitigate adverse effects of vitamin D deficiency.

Antimicrobial resistance among bacteria present in ready-to-eat foods like vegetable salads is an emerging concern today. The current study was undertaken to investigate the presence of multi-drug resistant extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL) producing E. coli and Salmonella spp. in raw vegetable salads served at hotels and restaurants in Bharatpur. A total of 216 salad samples were collected from three different grades of hotels/restaurants and examined for the presence of E. coli and Salmonella spp. in Microbiology laboratory of Birendra Multiple Campus by conventional microbiological techniques. Out of 216 samples, 66 samples (35.2%) showed presence of Salmonella spp. whereas E. coli was recovered from 29(13.4%) samples of which 3 samples harbored E. coli O157: H7. Antibiotic susceptibility testing revealed that 9(13.6%) Salmonella and 4(13.8%) E. coli isolates were multi-drug resistant. Total ESBL producers reported were 5(7.57%) Salmonella and 4(13.8%) E. coli . The study also assessed a significant association between occurrence of E. coli and Salmonella with grades of hotels/restaurants, personal hygiene and literacy rate of chefs and with type of cleaning materials used to wash knives and chopping boards (p<0.05). The findings suggest immediate need of attention by concerned authorities to prevent emergence and transmission of food-borne pathogens and antimicrobial resistance.

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