Neonates are easily prone to bacterial infection. Diagnosis of neonatal septicemia may be difficult as the early signs of sepsis may be subtle and different at different gestational ages so difficult to diagnose. The present study was undertaken to assess the significance of the hematological scoring system (HSS) for early detection of neonatal sepsis. The HSS is a simple, quick, cost effective tool which can be used as a screening test for early diagnosis of neonatal sepsis through the blood culture is considered gold standard for diagnosis, result comes after 48-72hrs so a practical septic screen is done. Elevated CRP levels, hematological profile and blood culture all together are required in the combination for the diagnosis of sepsis. Background: Neonatal septicemia is characterized by clinical signs and symptoms accompanied by bacteremia in the 1st month of life. This is because the new-born especially the premature are prone to serious infections by organisms and partly because the signs of these infections may be absent or minimal and hard to detect. Thus, fatal septicemia may occur with little warning. Hence the timely diagnosis of sepsis in neonates is critical as the illness can be rapidly progressive and, in some instances, fatal. There is no specific laboratory test with 100% sensitivity and specificity. Aim: The present study emphasis the role of more than one factor in combination for the diagnosis of the neonatal septicemia. Material and Methods: The 100 clinically suspected cases of Neonatal septicemia had undergone microbiological investigation at Microbiology Department, PDU Gov. Medical College which were attended at Ktch-Nicu, P.D.U Gov. Medical College, Rajkot, Gujarat from August 2012 to November 2012.It is a referral centre receiving samples from primary health centre, community health centre & urban health centre under Rajkot district and postgraduate training institute that provides neonatal care for patients from all Saurashtra & Kutch regions. Patients were seen after the initial clinical diagnosis of sepsis was made with signs of Tachypnea, lethargy, poor cry were the main presenting features followed by refusal to feed, jaundice, abdominal distension, fever, diarrhoea, seizure, hypothermia, conjunctivitis. From the birth upto the age of 5days are included Performed by semi quantitative latex agglutination method. Result: Out of 100(58 male, 42 female) neonates with suspicion of septicemia, 50 weighed between 1500 and 2000 g,40 weighed between 2001-2499 g and 10 neonates weighed >2500 g. 69% (n = 69) presented within 72 hours of life (early onset septicemia) and 31% (n = 31) after 72 hours (late onset septicemia).According to the HSS sepsis confirmed cases are 65(score> 5), probability of sepsis is seen in 18 cases(score 3-5), Sepsis negative cases are 17(score<2). Blood culture positive in 64 cases amongst them in 54 cases had septic score >5, CRP is elevated in 70 cases amongst them 57 cases had septic score >5, I:T ratio >.2 is seen in 62 cases amongst them 48 cases had septic score >5.Sensitivity and specificity of all the parameters were calculated but none of the laboratory test is 100% sensitive and 100% specific. Though the blood culture is gold standard but didn’t prove effective solely. So, all the factors are used in the correlation for the accurate diagnosis of the neonatal septicemia. Even the cost effective hematological septic score is better alternative. Conclusion: For the accurate, rapid and cost-effective diagnosis of the neonatal septicemia, hematological septic score is better alternative. Though the blood culture is the gold standard but none of the laboratory test is 100% sensitive and specific so the combination of HSS, Elevated CRP, blood culture are read together for the diagnosis of the neonatal septicemia.

Tuberculosis is a widespread, infectious disease caused by various strains of Mycobacteria usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis typically attacks the lungs and can also affect other parts of the body. An active TB infected patient’s cough, sneeze, or otherwise transmit through respiratory fluids are the common cause for the TB through the air. This study, which was conducted in tertiary care hospital, Jamnagar. There were 2 sputum samples, one spot supervised and one early morning collected and transported from various centres to TB culture-DST laboratory, Total 448 Smear Negative Sputum (Suspected case of Mycobacterium tuberculosis) samples were received during the study period and proceeded by GeneXpert MTB/RIF Assay. Out of total 448 smear negative sputum samples, in 142 sputum samples Mycobacterium tuberculosis Bacilli (MTB) were detected, Out MTB positive cases 12(8.45%) sputum samples resistant to Rifampicin and 103(72.53%) and 39(27.47%) cases from male and female gender respectively. highest number of MTB positive cases were found in age group of 21-30 years which were 38(26.8%) followed by 31-40 years which were 37(26%). Out total 448 Smear Negative Sputum 74 HIV positive sputum samples, in 18 samples Mycobacterium tuberculosis Bacilli (MTB) were detected. The study revealed the GeneXpert MTB/RIF Assay test offers a potential solution for improving early MTB diagnosis.

Introduction: Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) has been on continuous rise and drug resistant bacteria are the commonest etiology in hospitalized and community acquired infections. The objective of this study was to detect multidrug resistant organisms isolated from various clinical specimen, and their antibiotic profile. Materials and Methods: 750 Clinical samples were cultured; organisms were isolated and identified. Antibiotic susceptibility test was done based on Kirby Bauer disc diffusion method. ESBL production was tested by phenotypic double disc potentiation test. AmpC ß-lactamse production was tested by disc antagonism method. Detection of serine carbapenamases and MBLs was performed by Modified Carbapenem Inactivation method and EDTA Modified Carbapenem Inactivation method respectively as described by new CLSI guidelines. Among the Gram positive cocci, Methicillin and Inducible Clindamycin resistance was detected by cefoxitin disc diffusion and D-test respectively. Results: Among the resistant gram-negative bacteria, 33(10.9%) were ESBLs, 11(3.65%) Amp C, 3(1%) each were ESBL+Amp C, inducible AmpC and MBLs. Out of 150 resistant staphylococcal isolates, 103(68.6%) showed methicillin resistance and 26 (17.3%) showed inducible clindamycin resistance. Multidrug resistance (MDR) was observed in 4.8% of Gram negative and 2% of Gram positive bacteria. Extremely drug resistant bacteria (XDR) were found in 2% and 1% of Gram negative and Gram positive bacteria. Conclusion: Rising levels of AMR mandates routine detection of various types of resistance patterns. Routine detection of ESBLs, screening for Amp C beta lactamases, inducible Amp C, and confirmation of MBLs will help in providing authentic antibiotic susceptibility testing reports.

Halophiles are salt loving organisms, which can grow in extreme environments of differential salt concentrations. They extend from prokaryote, archae to eukaryotic microorganisms including algae. Halophiles are classified based on their halotolerance abilities into slight, moderate and extreme halophiles. In this present study, the isolation of halophiles was carried out by enrichment culture method using halophilic medium Tryptic Soya Agar (TSA) as a selective media. Screening of extreme halophiles was done by increasing the NaCl concentration up to 4.31 M. Morphological observations and biochemical tests were performed. Out of 90 isolates, 13 isolates were extreme halophiles and survived up to 4.31 M NaCl and remaining 77 isolates were moderate halophiles.

Urinary tract infection (UTI) is defined as a disease caused by microbial invasion of the urinary tract that extends from the renal cortex of kidney to the urethral meatus. Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are among most common bacterial infections that need medical care; accounting for second most common infection after respiratory tract infections in community. Whereas in hospitals, they are the most common hospital acquired infections (HAIs) accounting for 35% of total HAIs. Approximately half population of women will have a UTI during their lifetime. Escherichia coli are the most common cause of UTIs. Clean-Catch midstream urine was collected of the patients with history of fever, abdominal pain, dysuria, urgency and frequency. During study 343 urine samples received in microbiology laboratory for culture were processed according to standard protocol. Isolates were identified by conventional phenotypic methods and antibiotic sensitivity determined by standard Kirby Bauer disc diffusion method and follow Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) guidelines. In this study 86 (25.07%) patients out of 343 were shown to be urine culture positive out of them 54 (62.79%) females and 32 (37.21%) males. The most isolated bacterium was E. coli with frequency rate of 54 (62.79%). The other bacteria were Klebsiella spp. 20(23.26%), Pseudomonas spp. 07 (8.14%), and other gram negative bacteria 05 (5.81%). The study suggests that Gram-negative bacilli were responsible for UTI infections. The most common isolated organism from urinary tract infections were E. coli followed by Klebsiella pneumoniae. The most effective antimicrobial agents were Imipenem and Piperacillin-tazobactam and the least effective one was cephalexin.

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) produced by plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) has emerged as a mode of communication between bacteria and plants. In current study in vitro experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) produced by the plant growth promoting rhizobacterium Pseudomonas fluorescens KRB7(was originally isolated from paddy rhizosphere soil) on Nicotiana tabacum. Volatile organic compound (VOCs) emitted from the Pseudomonas fluorescens KRB7was evaluated under in vitro were resulted in significant growth promotion on tobacco plants and also has potential to inhibit the mycelium growth of pathogen Fusarium oxysporum. VOCs emitted by Pseudomonas fluorescens KRB7 was identified through gas chromatography/mass spectrometry- thermal desorption (GC-MS-TD) analysis. These results suggest that a volatile compound released from Pseudomonas fluorescens KRB7significantly enhances the plant growth promotion and immunity.

The endophytic bacterial communities have intense importance in agriculture due to their widespread benefits to plants and the ability to ameliorate biotic and abiotic stresses. In this present study, two of the endophytic bacterial strains Klebseilla oxytoca and Acinetobacter sp. isolated from the guard cell protoplast of rice genotype in the previous study were tested for the ability to grow under moisture stress of about -10 bars (-1.0 Mpa) induced with 30% polyethylene glycol 6000. Similarly, these strains were tested for the intrinsic antibiotic resistance with the antibiotics viz., streptomycin, ampicillin, kanamycin, tetracycline and chloramphenicol at varied concentrations. Also, these strains were analyzed for growth under different cultural parameters such as pH (4.5-8.5), temperature (20º, 30º and 40ºC) and NaCl (2%, 5% and 10%) concentrations and the strains Klebseilla oxytoca and Acinetobacter sp. showed maximum cell density in the pH regime of 5..5 to 8.5, temperature of 30ºand 40ºC and the NaCl concentrations of 2% and 5% respectively. Correspondingly, these strains were able to solubilize the plant required minerals such as phosphate and zinc. The bacterial strain Acinetobacter sp. showed the maximum solubilization index. Approaching to the plant growth promoting activities, these strains produced maximum amount of Indole Acetic Acid (IAA), ACC deaminase activity and Gibberllic acid(GA3) production under induced moisture stress condition. Hence, this study confirms the plant growth and stress ameliorating activities of the selected endophytic bacterial strains and further gene regulations and stress alleviating metabolomic must be analyzed to understand the complete mechanism of these strains under stress environments. percent.

A field experiment was carried out to study on Evaluation of vegetative growth and yields performance of Ridge Gourd hybrids entries - All India Co- ordinated Vegetable Improvement Project (AICVIP) hybrid trials (IET) from 2013 to 2014 at the Department of Vegetable Crops, Horticultural College and Research Institute, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore. The experiment was laid out in Randomized Block Design (RBD) with three replications, which included the seeds of the Ridge gourd hybrid entries viz. 2013/RIGHYB-1, 2013/RIGHYB-2, 2013/RIGHYB-5, 2013/RIGHYB-6, PUSA NASDAR (C) were sown with care in the field during the year 2013to 2014 at the spacing of 150 X 75 cm with the plot size of 4.2 x 3.5 m. Significant differences were observed among the genotypes for growth and yield parameters. Among the different ridge gourd genotypes tested, the highest fruit yield (245.1 q/ha) was recorded in 2013/RIGHYB-1 followed by 2013/RIGHYB-5(220.0 q/ha).Whereas the check, PUSA NASDAR (C) recorded the yield of 217.8 q/ha respectively