1.Identification and prevention of microbial contaminants of potato culture in temporary immersion bioreactor (TIB) system
Md. Zamilur Rahman ; S. M. Shahinul Islam ; A. N. Chowdhury ; Sreeramanan Subramaniam
Malaysian Journal of Microbiology 2017;13(4):289-297
Aims: Temporary Immersion Bioreactor (TIB) system is an advanced technology for commercial mass production of
potato microtubers. Despite of several advantages, this system possess a great risk of culture loss at any stage of
micropropagation due to microbial contamination. The aims of this study were to identify microbial contaminants isolated
during potato shoot growth in the TIB system, evaluate the efficacy of antimicrobial agents to prevent them, to
investigate the effect of those agents in vitro on growth and morphology of potato plantlets.
Methodology and results: Six bacteria namely Pseudomonas, Staphylococcus, Klebsiella, Corynebacterium, Proteus,
Bacillus and five fungi Aspergillus, Penicillium, Mucor, Fusarium and Rhizopus were isolated from the TIB system. We
examined the effect of three antibacterial (Gentamycin, Vancomycin and Tetracycline) and four antifungal agents
(Mencozeb, Propiconazole, Bavistin and Copper oxychloride) on the contaminants and on potato shoot growth. Results
show that Gentamycin (50 mg/L) and Propiconazole (0.15%) were most effective against the isolated bacteria (35 mm
inhibition zone) and fungi (100%) respectively, whereas Gentamycin in combination with Bavistin showed better
performance on potato shoot and root development.
Conclusion, significance and impact of study: Present study will provide useful guidelines to reduce or eliminate the
risk of contamination during micropropagation.
2.Developing the criteria for evaluating quality of individualization in homeopathic clinical trial reporting: a preliminary study.
Subhranil SAHA ; E-mail: DRSUBHRANILSAHA@HOTMAIL.COM. ; Munmun KOLEY ; Subhasish GANGULY ; Prasanta RATH ; Pulak Roy CHOWDHURY ; Seikh Intaj HOSSAIN
Journal of Integrative Medicine 2014;12(1):13-19
OBJECTIVEThis study describes the development of a preliminary version of an instrument that attempts to assess the quality of reports of individualized homeopathic prescriptions in clinical trials and observational studies.
METHODSA multidisciplinary panel of 15 judges produced an initial version of the instrument through iterative Delphi rounds and pilot-tested the instrument on five clinical trials. Later they assessed, under blind conditions, the individualization quality of 40 randomly-selected research reports. The final version of the instrument included six criteria. These items were scored consistently by all the raters regardless of background.
RESULTSThe instrument appeared to have adequate face and content validity, acceptable internal consistency or reliability (Cronbach's α 0.606 - 0.725), significant discriminant validity (F = 398.7; P < 0.000 1), moderate interrater reliability (Fleiss κ 0.533), agreeable test-retest reliability (Cohen's κ 0.765 - 0.934), moderate sensitivity (0.4; 95% confidence interval 0.253-0.566), and high specificity (1.0; 95% confidence interval 0.891-1.000).
CONCLUSIONThe initial data suggest that this instrument may be a promising systematic tool amendable for further development.
Adult ; Evaluation Studies as Topic ; Female ; Homeopathy ; standards ; Humans ; Male ; Precision Medicine ; standards ; Quality Control ; Surveys and Questionnaires
3.Apalutamide for metastatic castration-sensitive prostate cancer: final analysis of the Asian subpopulation in the TITAN trial.
Byung Ha CHUNG ; Jian HUANG ; Hiroji UEMURA ; Young Deuk CHOI ; Zhang-Qun YE ; Hiroyoshi SUZUKI ; Taek Won KANG ; Da-Lin HE ; Jae Young JOUNG ; Sabine D BROOKMAN-MAY ; Sharon MCCARTHY ; Amitabha BHAUMIK ; Anildeep SINGH ; Suneel MUNDLE ; Simon CHOWDHURY ; Neeraj AGARWAL ; Ding-Wei YE ; Kim N CHI ; Hirotsugu UEMURA
Asian Journal of Andrology 2023;25(6):653-661
The final analysis of the phase 3 Targeted Investigational Treatment Analysis of Novel Anti-androgen (TITAN) trial showed improvement in overall survival (OS) and other efficacy endpoints with apalutamide plus androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) versus ADT alone in patients with metastatic castration-sensitive prostate cancer (mCSPC). As ethnicity and regional differences may affect treatment outcomes in advanced prostate cancer, a post hoc final analysis was conducted to assess the efficacy and safety of apalutamide in the Asian subpopulation. Event-driven endpoints were OS, and time from randomization to initiation of castration resistance, prostate-specific antigen (PSA) progression, and second progression-free survival (PFS2) on first subsequent therapy or death. Efficacy endpoints were assessed using the Kaplan-Meier method and Cox proportional-hazards models without formal statistical testing and adjustment for multiplicity. Participating Asian patients received once-daily apalutamide 240 mg ( n = 111) or placebo ( n = 110) plus ADT. After a median follow-up of 42.5 months and despite crossover of 47 placebo recipients to open-label apalutamide, apalutamide reduced the risk of death by 32% (hazard ratio [HR]: 0.68; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.42-1.13), risk of castration resistance by 69% (HR: 0.31; 95% CI: 0.21-0.46), PSA progression by 79% (HR: 0.21; 95% CI: 0.13-0.35) and PFS2 by 24% (HR: 0.76; 95% CI: 0.44-1.29) relative to placebo. The outcomes were comparable between subgroups with low- and high-volume disease at baseline. No new safety issues were identified. Apalutamide provides valuable clinical benefits to Asian patients with mCSPC, with an efficacy and safety profile consistent with that in the overall patient population.
Male
;
Humans
;
Prostatic Neoplasms/pathology*
;
Androgen Antagonists/therapeutic use*
;
Prostate-Specific Antigen
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Castration
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Prostatic Neoplasms, Castration-Resistant/drug therapy*