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Petrochemical based plastics have been widely used as packaging materials, as they have good barrier properties, stiffness, tensile strength & tear strength. Although in great demand plastics have many disadvantages like very low water vapour transmission rate, non- biodegradability etc. which further causes environmental pollution. Keeping in mind about the pollution and harm caused to the nature, newer concepts about the use of bio-plastics came into force. Bio-plastics are produced from the biological sources such as potato, potato peels, corn, sugarcane, wheat, rice, banana peels etc. These plastics are environment friendly & biodegradable, and are safer option than the petroleum-based plastics. These biodegradable plastics break down into carbon dioxide, water & inorganic compounds and degrade completely. The time-line, sources and other important details about the bio-plastics have been presented in this review paper.

Pelvic floor disorders, including pelvic organ prolapse and urinary and fecal incontinence, affect millions of women globally and represent a major public health concern. Pelvic floor muscle (PFM) dysfunction has been identified as one of the leading risk factors for the development of these morbid conditions. Childbirth, specifically vaginal delivery, has been recognized as the most important potentially modifiable risk factor for PFM injury; however, the precise mechanisms of PFM dysfunction after parturition remain elusive. In this study, we demonstrated that PFMs exhibit atrophy and fibrosis in parous women with symptomatic pelvic organ prolapse. These pathological alterations were recapitulated in a preclinical rat model of simulated birth injury (SBI). The transcriptional signature of PFMs after injury demonstrated an impairment in muscle anabolism, persistent expression of genes that promote extracellular matrix (ECM) deposition, and a sustained inflammatory response. We also evaluated the administration of acellular injectable skeletal muscle ECM hydrogel for the prevention of these pathological alterations. Treatment of PFMs with the ECM hydrogel either at the time of birth injury or 4 weeks after injury mitigated PFM atrophy and fibrosis. By evaluating gene expression, we demonstrated that these changes are mainly driven by the hydrogel-induced enhancement of endogenous myogenesis, ECM remodeling, and modulation of the immune response. This work furthers our understanding of PFM birth injury and demonstrates proof of concept for future investigations of proregenerative biomaterial approaches for the treatment of injured pelvic soft tissues.

Primary congenital glaucoma (PCG) is a rare type of glaucoma that is inherited in an autosomal recessive manner. PCG can lead to blindness if not detected early in children aged 3 or younger. PCG varies in presentation among various populations, where disease presentation and disease severity vary by mutation. The most common gene implicated in PCG is cytochrome p450 1B1 (CYP1B1). Here, we sought to review the literature for mutations in CYP1B1 and their presentation among different populations. Areas of interest include recent findings on disease presentation and potential implications on our understanding of PCG pathophysiology.

158 Background: There is an unmet medical need for effective treatments for patients with advanced pNET. Systemic therapies for advanced pNET are limited both by toxicity and efficacy. Everolimus, an oral mTOR inhibitor, has shown promising antitumor activity in 2 phase II studies, leading to further investigation in the largest phase III randomized controlled trial completed in pNET patients. Methods: Patients with advanced low- or intermediate-grade pNET were randomly assigned to everolimus 10 mg/d orally + best supportive care (BSC; n = 207) or placebo + BSC (n = 203). Long-acting somatostatin analogs (SSAs) were permitted as BSC during the study. The primary endpoint was progression free survival (PFS). At progression (RECIST), patients could be unblinded and those randomly assigned to placebo were offered open-label everolimus. Results: Compared with placebo, everolimus reduced the risk of progression by 65% and increased median PFS by more than 6 months, from 4.6 to 11.0 months (HR = 0.35; 95% CI: 0.27-0.45; p < 0.0001), by investigator review (primary endpoint). Median PFS by central review was consistent (HR = 0.34; 95% CI: 0.26 to 0.44; p < 0.001] in favor of everolimus. Eighteen-month PFS estimates were 34% for everolimus (95% CI: 26-43) vs 9% (95% CI: 4-16) for placebo. Everolimus demonstrated a significant PFS benefit across all patient subgroups according to baseline characteristics and prior SSA use. Prior SSA use was 49% in the everolimus arm and 50% in the placebo arm. Updated analyses of the impact of concomitant SSA will be reported. The most common drug-related adverse events were stomatitis, rash, diarrhea, fatigue, and infections (primarily upper respiratory); most were grade 1 or 2. Stomatitis (6.9% vs 0%), anemia (6% vs 0%), and hyperglycemia (5% vs 2%) were the most common grade 3-4 events. Conclusions: Everolimus significantly prolonged PFS compared with placebo in patients with advanced pNET in this large phase III clinical trial. This benefit was seen across all patient subgroups. Treatment resulted in a significant 6.4-month prolongation in median PFS. Everolimus had an acceptable and predictable safety profile. [Table: see text]

Klebsiella pneumoniae (Kp) has gained prominence in the last two decades due to its global spread as a multidrug-resistant (MDR) pathogen. Further, carbapenem-resistant Kp are emerging at an alarming rate. The objective of this study was (1) to evaluate the prevalence of β-lactamases, especially carbapenemases, in Kp isolates from India, and (2) determine the most prevalent sequence type (ST) and plasmids, and their association with β-lactamases. Clinical samples of K. pneumoniae (n = 65) were collected from various pathology labs, and drug susceptibility and minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) were detected. Whole genome sequencing (WGS) was performed for n = 22 resistant isolates, including multidrug-resistant (MDR) (n = 4), extensively drug-resistant (XDR) (n = 15), and pandrug-resistant (PDR) (n = 3) categories, and genomic analysis was performed using various bioinformatics tools. Additional Indian MDRKp genomes (n = 187) were retrieved using the Pathosystems Resource Integration Center (PATRIC) database. Detection of β-lactamase genes, location (on chromosome or plasmid), plasmid replicons, and ST of genomes was carried out using CARD, mlplasmids, PlasmidFinder, and PubMLST, respectively. All data were analyzed and summarized using the iTOL tool. ST231 was highest, followed by ST147, ST2096, and ST14, among Indian isolates. blaampH was detected as the most prevalent gene, followed by blaCTX-M-15 and blaTEM-1. Among carbapenemase genes, blaOXA-232 was prevalent and associated with ST231, ST2096, and ST14, which was followed by blaNDM-5, which was observed to be prevalent in ST147, ST395, and ST437. ST231 genomes were most commonly found to carry Col440I and ColKP3 plasmids. ST16 carried mainly ColKP3, and Col(BS512) was abundantly present in ST147 genomes. One Kp isolate with a novel MLST profile was identified, which carried blaCTX-M-15, blaOXA-1, and blaTEM-1. ST16 and ST14 are mostly dual-producers of carbapenem and ESBL genes and could be emerging high-risk clones in India.

Background: Hospital acquired infection an infection occurring in a patient in a hospital or other health care facility in whom the infection was not present or incubating at the time of admission. Every person associated with health care work should have proper training, knowledge and practice for the same. Undergraduates do not have proper knowledge towards the health care management. As they are in the learning phase, need to train enough. Methods: It was an observational analytical study. 2nd year MBBS students were included in the study. A semi-structured preformed questionnaire of total 21 questions having multiple choice questions with the use of Google doc application. Data were analyzed by using Microsoft Excel program. Result: Total 143 2nd year MBBS students responded. Knowledge regarding needle stick injuries was 40-60 % while about MDR and XDR TB was up to 70-80 %. Around 60 % knew the correct dosage schedule of Hepatitis B vaccine whereas 70 % emphasized the importance of hand hygiene in hospital acquired infections. Conclusion: The study shows lack of knowledge and awareness amongst medical students about hospital acquired infections. There is to educate them enough by means of various curriculum activities. More such studies should be done in future to assess their KAP score and guide them well.