Green zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) synthesized using Stevia rebaudiana as a reducing agent were investigated as ecofriendly adsorbents for the removal of the antibiotics ciprofloxacin (CIP) and ...tetracycline (TET) from water. Green ZnO NPs were synthesized using a rapid novel approach that did not require annealing or calcination at high temperatures to produce mesoporous NPs with a size range of 37.36–71.33 nm, a specific surface area of 15.28 m2/g, and a negative surface charge of −15 mV at pH 5. The green ZnO NPs exhibited an antioxidant activity of 85.57% at 250 μg/mL and an antibacterial activity with MIC and MBC of 50 and 100 mg/mL, respectively, against both Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. The best adsorption performance was achieved using a 4 g/L dose and pH 5, yielding, respectively, 86.77 ± 0.82% removal and 27.07 ± 0.26 mg/g adsorption capacity for CIP at 10 mg/L and 67.86 ± 3.41% and 15.88 ± 0.37 mg/g for TET at 25 mg/L. The green ZnO NPs achieved 79.71% ± 0.28 and 61.55% ± 0.53 removal of 10 mg/L CIP and 25 mg/L TET, respectively, in a spiked tap water binary system of the two contaminants. Adsorption of CIP and TET occurred mainly via electrostatic interactions, whereby CIP was bound more strongly than TET by virtue of its charge and size. The synthesis and adsorption processes were evaluated by a stepwise regression statistical model to optimize their parameters. Lastly, the green ZnO NPs were regenerated and reused for 5 cycles, indicating their functionality as simple, reusable, and low-cost adsorbents for the removal of CIP and TET from wastewater, in accordance with SDGs #6 and 12 for the sustainable management of water.
Although Damsissa (Ambrosia maritima) is traditionally used as anti-inflammatory and diuretic, the biological activity and mechanism of action of its major constituents are to be elucidated.
to ...decipher the anti-arthritic potential of damsin (DMS) and neoambrosin (NMS) and to unfold their molecular signaling in complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA)-induced arthritis model.
the right hind paw was inoculated with CFA (0.1 ml) at day 0 and 7 while treatments were started from the 14th day and continued for 2 weeks. Rats were randomly assigned into 4 groups; normal group (NRML), CFA-induced arthritis group, CFA-induced arthritis treated with DMS and NMS (10 mg/kg/day) as 3rd and 4th group; respectively.
Throughout experimental period, treatments ameliorated the increase of paw volume, knee joint diameter and nociception tests as reflected in open field arena. Also, DSM and NMS suppressed phosphorylation of Akt, STAT-3, ERK1/2 which was further mirrored by inactivation of GSK3β and downregulation of MCP-1 together with CCN1 and NF-kβ in hind paw tissue. Concomitantly, inflammation markers; TNF-α, IL-6, -12 were lowered as confirmed microscopically during examination of hind paw tissue.
DSM and NMS-induced suppression of NF-kβ subdues clinical features of RA most probably through repression of Akt/ERK1/2/STAT3 pathway. Therefore, DMS and NMS can serve as safe and effective treatment for rheumatoid arthritis, one of the most disabling chronic, inflammatory and painful autoimmune disease.
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•Damsin and neoambrosin are the major sesquiterpene lactones of the traditional herb, Damsissa.•Damsin and neoambrosin alleviate rheumatoid arthritis by repressing NF-kβ.•Damsin and neoambrosin repress NF-kβ by repressing Akt/ERK1/2/STAT3 pathway.•Damsin and neoambrosin could be a new antirheumatic drug lead.
The purpose of this atlas is to present a review of the literature showing the advantages of SPECT brain perfusion imaging (BPI) in mild or moderate traumatic brain injury (TBI) over other ...morphologic imaging modalities such as x-ray CT or MRI. The authors also present the technical recommendations for SPECT brain perfusion currently practiced at their center. For the radiopharmaceutical of choice, a comparison between early and delayed images using Tc-99m HMPAO and Tc-99m ECD showed that Tc-99m HMPAO is more stable in the brain with no washout over time. Therefore, the authors feel that Tc-99m HMPAO is preferable to Tc-99m ECD. Recommendations regarding standardizing intravenous injection, the acquisition, processing parameters, and interpretation of scans using a ten grade color scale, and use of the cerebellum as the reference organ are presented.SPECT images of 228 patients (age range, 11 to 88; mean, 40.8 years) with mild or moderate TBI and no significant medical history that interfered with the results of the SPECT BP were reviewed. The etiology of the trauma was in the following order of frequencymotor vehicle accidents (45%) followed by blow to the head (36%) and a fall (19%). Frequency of the symptoms was headache (60.9%), memory problems (27.6%), dizziness (26.7%), and sleep disorders (8.7%). Comparison between patients imaged early (<3 months) versus those imaged delayed (>3 months) from the time of the accident, showed that early imaging detected more lesions (4.2 abnormal lesions per study compared to 2.7 in those imaged more than 3 months after the accident). Of 41 patients who had mild traumatic injury without loss of consciousness and had normal CT, 28 studies were abnormal. Focal areas of hypoperfusion were seen in 77% (176 patients, 612 lesions) of the group of 228 patients. The sites of abnormalities were in the following orderbasal ganglia and thalami, 55.2%, frontal lobes, 23.8%, temporal lobes, 13%, parietal, 3.7%, insular and occipital lobes together, 4.6%.
Multicentric or multifocal breast cancer is considered as one of the limitations for sentinel lymph node (SLN) localization. We did a retrospective analysis to evaluate the success rate, sensitivity, ...accuracy, and negative predictive values of SLN localization in multicentric or multifocal breast lesions.
Fifty-nine patients with multifocal or multicentric breast lesions proven by either fine-needle aspiration (19/59), core biopsy (39/59), or lumpectomy (8/59) underwent SLN localization. Of these patients, 46 had SLN localization by both radiocolloid and blue dye, and 13 had SLN localization by radiocolloid alone. Approximately 10 MBq (99m)Tc-labeled unfiltered sulfur colloid in 0.3-0.4 mL were injected intradermally over the 1 or 2 breast tumor locations 2-4 h before surgery. During surgery, vital blue dye was injected intraparenchymally in 4-6 places around the tumor. All lymph nodes with counts of >10 times that of the background counts, whether or not blue dye positive, and all blue dye-positive lymph nodes, whether or not radiocolloid positive, were excised and labeled accordingly. All lymph nodes underwent frozen sectioning and were examined by hematoxylin and eosin and immunohistologic (cytokeratin) staining.
Of the 59 patients, 48 had axillary lymph node dissection irrespective of the results of pathologic examination of the SLN. The success rate, sensitivity, negative predictive value, and accuracy were 93%, 100%, 100%, and 100% using the radiocolloid probe, 87%, 100%, 100%, and 100% using blue dye, and 93.5%, 100%, 100%, and 100% using combined methods, respectively. Concordance between blue dye and radiocolloid was 91% (the incidence of the number of sentinel nodes detected was 37.5%, 30.3%, 10.7%, and 21.4% for 1, 2, 3, and 4 or more lymph nodes, respectively). Metastatic lymph node involvement was found in 39.5% of patients.
The sentinel node localization approach showed a high negative predictive value in breast cancer patients with multifocal or multicentric lesions, contrary to the common belief of significant false-negative results in these patients.
The present work is undertaken mainly for genotyping of kappa-casein gene in buffalo bulls. DNA was extracted from the frozen semen of nine buffalo bulls used in artificial insemination in addition ...to 40 blood samples of male buffalo calves for identification and genotyping of kappa-casein gene by PCR-RFLP assay. Different restriction endonucleases, including HindIII, HinfI and Taq1 were used. The PCR product of the primer specific for K2 and KY gives the specific band at size 379 and 280 bp respectively. Digestion of 379 bp fragment K2 by restriction endonuclease HindIII generated two fragments of 156 and 223 bp. For fragment 280 bp kappa-casein KY, the above mentioned endonuclease generated two fragments of 180 and 100 bp. Digestion of the 379 bp PCR product with HinfI resulted two restriction fragments of 288 and 91 bp. On the other hand, the amplified DNA (379 bp) from buffalo remained undigested by Taq1 restriction enzyme.
In conclusion, the PCR-RFLP technique demonstrated that bulls were monomorphic for the kappa-casein gene; they possess only allele B in homozygosis form.
This study aimed to develop a system of in vitro assays based on zona pellucida binding and in vitro fertilization for predicting male fertility in buffalo bulls. Frozen–thawed semen from nine bulls ...was tested for motility, viability index, acrosomal integrity, zona pellucida binding and in vitro fertilizing ability. Differences in post-thaw sperm motility between bulls were not significant. Differences in viability indices and percentage of spermatozoa with detached acrosome between bulls was highly significant (
P
<
0.001). Sperm attached per ovum, fertilization rates and polyspermy percentages varied significantly (
P
<
0.01) among buffalo bulls. A significant (
P
<
0.01) positive correlation coefficient of 0.69 was evident between normal acrosome and sperm attached per ovum, while between normal acrosome and fertilization efficiency it was 0.72. Sperm from different buffalo bulls differs in their ability to bind and fertilize oocytes. This study provides a basis to predict and maximize the in vitro fertilization performance of individual bulls.
The increased cases of cutaneous leishmaniasis vectored by Phlebotomus papatasi (Scopoli) in Libya have driven considerable effort to develop a predictive model for the potential geographical ...distribution of this disease. We collected adult P. papatasi from 17 sites in Musrata and Yefern regions of Libya using four different attraction traps. Our trap results and literature records describing the distribution of P. papatasi were incorporated into a MaxEnt algorithm prediction model that used 22 environmental variables. The model showed a high performance (AUC = 0.992 and 0.990 for training and test data, respectively). High suitability for P. papatasi was predicted to be largely confined to the coast at altitudes <600 m. Regions south of 30° N latitude were calculated as unsuitable for this species. Jackknife analysis identified precipitation as having the most significant predictive power, while temperature and elevation variables were less influential. The National Leishmaniasis Control Program in Libya may find this information useful in their efforts to control zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis. Existing records are strongly biased toward a few geographical regions, and therefore, further sand fly collections are warranted that should include documentation of such factors as soil texture and humidity, land cover, and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) data to increase the model's predictive power.
The need to get uranium out of leaching liquid is pushing scientists to come up with new sorbents. This study uses the wet technique to improve the U(VI) sorption properties of ZrO2/chitosan ...composite sorbent. To validate the synthesis of ZrO2/CS composite with Zirconyl-OH, -NH, and -NH2 for U(VI) binding, XRD, FTIR, SEM, EDX, and BET are used to describe the ZrO2/chitosan wholly formed. To get El Sela leaching liquid, it used 150 g/L H2SO4, 1:4 S:L ratio, 200 rpm agitation speed, four hours of leaching period, and particle size 149–100 µm. In a batch study, the sorption parameters are evaluated at pH 3.5, 50 min of sorbing time, 50 mL of leaching liquid (200 mg/L U(VI)), and 25 °C. The sorption capability is 175 mg/g. Reusing ZrO2/CS for seven cycles with a slight drop in performance is highly efficient, with U(VI) desorption using 0.8 M acid and 75 min of desorption time. The selective U(VI) recovery from El Sela leachate was made possible using ZrO2/CS. Sodium diuranate was precipitated and yielded a yellow cake with a purity level of 94.88%.
Although there is a limited role initially for staging the disease of primary bone and soft tissue tumors and for differentiation of benign from malignant lesions, nuclear medicine studies are ...recommended before starting treatment. A total body bone scand that includes a three phase study for the involved region helps to outline the vascularity of the lesion and both soft tissue and bony involvement, as well as involvement of other bones. A thallium 201 chloride or technitium 99m methoxy isobutyl isonitrile (SestaMIBI) tumor imaging study is recommended for baseline study and for future reference to evaluate the response to preoperative chemotherapy. This is of special importance to determine whether the patient needs an amputation or a limb-salvaging procedure. A follow-up thallium or
99mTc sesta MIBI study is not recommended early after surgery. A waiting period of at least 2 months is essential to avoid false-positive uptake caused by postoperative changes although this could be differentiated by comparing the ratios of lesion uptake in both early and delayed thallium imaging and with the ratios from the blood pool phase of the bone scan. Persistent thallium uptake in delayed images accompanied by ratios that are higher than the blood pool ratios is highly indicative of early recurrence. In the future, F-18 FDG tumor imaging acquired either on dedicated positron-emission tomography (PET) systems or by using a dual head gamma camera for coincidence detection will replace thallium and
99mTc sesta MIBI in those centers that have access to this technology. This is especially important at sites where thallium and MIBI have limitations because of normal uptake in adjacent organs.
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