The cost of lipases and the relatively slower reaction rate remain as the major obstacles for enzymatic production of biodiesel as opposed to the conventional chemical processes. This paper reviews ...the starting oils usually employed in biodiesel production, the processes for transforming them to biodiesel placing particular emphasis on enzymatic transesterification. The pros and cons of the lipase-based process, the key operational variables and the technological alternatives for attenuating lipase deactivation are also discussed. Finally, suggestions are made for future studies, paying particular attention to the use of whole cell immobilization in the production process, as this methodology may reduce both the cost of the biocatalyst and dependence on lipase manufacturers.
Abstract Several studies have shown the potential of biocompatible lipid nanocapsules as hydrophobic drug delivery systems. Understanding the factors that determine the interactions of these ...oil-in-water nanoemulsions with cells is a necessary step to guide the design of the most effective formulations. The aim of this study was to probe the ability of two surfactants with a markedly different nature, a non-ionic poloxamer, and a charged phospholipid, to prepare formulations with shells of different composition and different surface properties. Thus we determined their effects on the interaction with biological environments. In particular, we investigated how the shell formulation affected the adsorption of biomolecules from the surrounding biological fluids on the nanocapsule surface (corona formation). A complete physicochemical characterization including an isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) study revealed that the use of poloxamer led to nanocapsules with a marked reduction in the number of protein-binding sites. Surface hydrophilicity and changes in corona formation strongly correlated to changes in uptake by cancer cells and by macrophages. Our results indicate that the nature and concentration of surfactants in the nanocapsules can be easily manipulated to effectively modulate their surface architecture with the aim of controlling the environmental interactions, thus optimizing functionality for in vivo applications. In particular, addition of surfactants that reduce protein binding can modulate nanoparticle clearance by the immune system, but also screens the desired interactions with cells, leading to lower uptake, thus lower therapeutic efficacy. The two effects need to be balanced in order to obtain successful formulations.
Objectives
To define a set of indicators that could be used to improve quality in intensive care medicine.
Methodology
An European Society of Intensive Care Medicine Task Force on Quality and Safety ...identified all commonly used key quality indicators. This international Task Force consisted of 18 experts, all with a self-proclaimed interest in the area. Through a modified Delphi process seeking greater than 90% consensual agreement from this nominal group, the indicators were then refined through a series of iterative processes.
Results
A total of 111 indicators of quality were initially found, and these were consolidated into 102 separate items. After five discrete rounds of debate, these indicators were reduced to a subset of nine that all had greater than 90% agreement from the nominal group. These indicators can be used to describe the structures (3), processes (2) and outcomes (4) of intensive care. Across this international group, it was much more difficult to obtain consensual agreement on the indicators describing processes of care than on the structures and outcomes.
Conclusion
This document contains nine indicators, all of which have a high level of consensual agreement from an international Task Force, which could be used to improve quality in routine intensive care practice.
Aromatherapy uses essential oils (EOs) for several medical purposes, including relaxation. The association between the use of aromas and a decrease in anxiety could be a valuable instrument in ...managing anxiety in an ever increasing anxiogenic daily life style. Linalool is a monoterpene commonly found as the major volatile component of EOs in several aromatic plant species. Adding to previously reported sedative effects of inhaled linalool, the aim of this study was to investigate the effects of inhaled linalool on anxiety, aggressiveness and social interaction in mice. Additionally, we investigated the effects of inhaled linalool on the acquisition phase of a step-down memory task in mice. Inhaled linalool showed anxiolytic properties in the light/dark test, increased social interaction and decreased aggressive behavior; impaired memory was only seen the higher dose of linalool. These results strengthen the suggestion that inhaling linalool rich essential oils can be useful as a mean to attain relaxation and counteract anxiety.
Objectives
To assess differences in marginal bone loss around implants placed in maxillary pristine bone and implants placed following maxillary sinus augmentation over a period of 3 years after ...functional loading.
Material and methods
Two cohorts of subjects (Group 1: Subjects who received sinus augmentation with simultaneous implant placement; Group 2: Subjects who underwent conventional implant placement in posterior maxillary pristine bone) were included in this retrospective study. Radiographic marginal bone loss was measured around one implant per patient on digitized panoramic radiographs that were obtained at the time of prosthesis delivery (baseline) and 12, 24, and 36 months later. The influence of age, gender, smoking habits, history of periodontal disease, and type of prosthetic connection (internal or external) on marginal bone loss was analyzed in function of the type of osseous support (previously grafted or pristine).
Results
A total of 105 subjects were included in this study. Cumulative radiographic marginal bone loss ranged from 0 mm to 3.9 mm after 36 months of functional loading. There were statistically significant differences in marginal bone loss between implants placed in grafted and pristine bone at the 12‐month assessment, but not in the subsequent progression rate. External prosthetic connection, smoking, and history of periodontitis negatively influenced peri‐implant bone maintenance, regardless of the type of osseous substrate.
Conclusions
Implants placed in sites that received maxillary sinus augmentation exhibited more marginal bone loss than implants placed in pristine bone, although marginal bone loss mainly occurred during the first 12 months after functional loading. Implants with external implant connection were strongly associated with increased marginal bone loss overtime.
In this study, we assessed the association between single‐nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in seven candidate genes involved in orchestrating the immune response against cytomegalovirus (CMV) and the ...12‐month incidence of CMV infection in 315 CMV‐seropositive kidney transplant (KT) recipients. Patients were managed either by antiviral prophylaxis or preemptive therapy. CMV infection occurred in 140 patients (44.4%), including 13 episodes of disease. After adjusting for various clinical covariates, patients harboring T‐allele genotypes of interleukin‐28B (IL28B) (rs12979860) SNP had lower incidence of CMV infection (adjusted hazard ratio aHR: 0.66; 95% confidence interval CI: 0.46–0.96; p‐value = 0.029). In the analysis restricted to patients not receiving prophylaxis, carriers of the TT genotype of toll‐like receptor 9 (TLR9) (rs5743836) SNP had lower incidence of infection (aHR: 0.61; 95% CI: 0.38–0.96; p‐value = 0.035), whereas the GG genotype of dendritic cell‐specific ICAM 3‐grabbing nonintegrin (DC‐SIGN) (rs735240) SNP exerted the opposite effect (aHR: 1.86; 95% CI: 1.18–2.94; p‐value = 0.008). An independent association was found between the number of unfavorable SNP genotypes carried by the patient and the incidence of CMV infection. In conclusion, specific SNPs in IL28B, TLR9 and DC‐SIGN genes may play a role in modulating the susceptibility to CMV infection in CMV‐seropositive KT recipients.
Using a large multicenter cohort of seropositive kidney transplant recipients, this study demonstrates the independent effect on the incidence of cytomegalovirus infection of single‐nucleotide polymorphisms in various genes involved in orchestrating innate and adaptive immune responses.
Staphylococcus aureus is a leading cause of broad-spectrum infections both in the community and within healthcare settings. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has become a global ...public health issue. The aim of this study was to examine the clinical and molecular characteristics of Staphylococcus aureus isolates and to define the population structure and distribution of major MRSA clones isolated in a tertiary-care hospital in Mexico.
From April 2017 to April 2018, 191 Staphylococcus aureus isolates were collected. The frequency of MRSA was 26.7%; these strains exhibited resistance to clindamycin (84.3%), erythromycin (86.2%), levofloxacin (80.3%), and ciprofloxacin (86.3%). The majority of MRSA strains harbored the SCCmec type II (76.4%) and t895 (56.8%) and t9364 (11.7%) were the most common spa types in both hospital-associated MRSA and community-associated MRSA isolates. ST5-MRSA-II-t895 (New York /Japan clone) and ST1011-MRSA-II-t9364 (New York /Japan-Mexican Variant clone) were the most frequently identified clones. Furthermore, different lineages of Clonal Complexes 5 (85.4%) and 8 (8.3%) were predominantly identified in this study.
Our study provides valuable information about the epidemiology of MRSA in a city of the central region of Mexico, and this is the first report on the association between t895 and t9364 spa types and ST5 and ST1011 lineages, respectively. These findings support the importance of permanent surveillance of MRSA aimed to detect the evolutionary changes of the endemic clones and the emergence of new strains.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Atmospheric pollution in Mexico City Metropolitan Area (MCMA) represents a serious social and economic concern due to the very high population density. The most important industrial activities are ...the main responsible of the production of particulate matter PM10 that can damage seriously the human respiratory system. In the present study we investigate the dynamical properties of the time series of PM10 emissions recorded from 2005 to 2016 by the Automatic Atmospheric Monitoring Network (RAMA) in five zones of MCMA (NW, NE, CE, SW and SE). Several methods (periodogram, multifractal detrended fluctuation analysis and the Fisher–Shannon method) were applied to get the most exhaustive description of the dynamical characteristics of the series. Our findings point out to: (1) the existence of a twofold power law behavior in the power spectrum of all the series, indicating the co-existence of two different mechanisms underlying the time dynamics of PM10; (2) the emergence of the 7-day periodicity of anthropogenic nature; (3) the multifractal behavior of all the series, dominated by small fluctuations; (4) the identification of NE zone, which is also the most polluted one as characterized by the larger disorder.
•PM10 time series in five zones of Mexico City Metropolitan Area were investigated.•A twofold power law behavior in the power spectrum was detected.•The 7-day periodicity in PM10 series suggest the anthropogenic nature of the pollution source.•The PM10 of the more polluted zone is less multifractal.•The PM10 of the more polluted zone shows higher level of disorder.
•Rietveld refinement results show a decreased in volume due to the decrease in c lattice parameter as iron is introduced.•The deconvolution process of the high resolution XPS spectra of Fe 3d shows ...that the Fe3+ ion is present in the samples.•Theoretical calculations by DFT reveal that the Bi2Te3 compound is a semiconductor with a narrow energy band gap in agreement with experimental results.•Magnetic susceptibility measurements on Bi2Te3 do not show a magnetic behavior; however, for the doped sample with x = 0.2, a weak ferromagnetic behavior (WFM) below 14 K is observed.
The crystal structure and magnetic properties of Fe doped Bi2Te3 are presented. The samples were studied by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and magnetization measurements. Rietveld refinement results show a decrease in volume due to the decrease in c lattice parameter as iron is introduced. By XPS measurements, the Te 3d, Bi 4f, Bi 5d, Te 4d, and Fe 3d core levels were identified, and the XPS valence band (VB) was measured. The deconvolution process of high resolution XPS spectra in Fe 3d orbital shows that the Fe3+ ion is present in the samples. Theoretical calculations by DFT reveal that the Bi2Te3 compound is a semiconductor with a narrow energy band gap in agreement with experimental results. DOS analysis shows that the main contributions to the valence band are the Te 5p, Bi 6p, and Fe 3d states. XPS VB shows a decrease in the intensity at zero eV due to increased Fe 3d states and good correspondence with DOS calculated for Bi2Te3. Finally, magnetic susceptibility measurements on Bi2Te3 do not show a magnetic behavior; however, for the doped sample with x = 0.2, a weak ferromagnetic behavior (WFM) below 14 K is observed.
To develop a model to assess severity of illness and predict vital status at hospital discharge based on ICU admission data.
Prospective multicentre, multinational cohort study.
A total of 16,784 ...patients consecutively admitted to 303 intensive care units from 14 October to 15 December 2002.
ICU admission data (recorded within +/-1 h) were used, describing: prior chronic conditions and diseases; circumstances related to and physiologic derangement at ICU admission. Selection of variables for inclusion into the model used different complementary strategies. For cross-validation, the model-building procedure was run five times, using randomly selected four fifths of the sample as a development- and the remaining fifth as validation-set. Logistic regression methods were then used to reduce complexity of the model. Final estimates of regression coefficients were determined by use of multilevel logistic regression. Variables selection and weighting were further checked by bootstraping (at patient level and at ICU level). Twenty variables were selected for the final model, which exhibited good discrimination (aROC curve 0.848), without major differences across patient typologies. Calibration was also satisfactory (Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness-of-fit test H=10.56, p=0.39, C=14.29, p=0.16). Customized equations for major areas of the world were computed and demonstrate a good overall goodness-of-fit.
The SAPS 3 admission score is able to predict vital status at hospital discharge with use of data recorded at ICU admission. Furthermore, SAPS 3 conceptually dissociates evaluation of the individual patient from evaluation of the ICU and thus allows them to be assessed at their respective reference levels.
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