The dam failure of the Córrego do Feijão Mine (CFM) located in Minas Gerais State, Brazil, killed at least 278 people. In addition, large extensions of aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems were ...destroyed, directly compromising the environmental and socioeconomic quality of the region. This study assessed the pollution and human health risks of soils impacted by the tailing spill of the CFM dam, along a sample perimeter of approximately 200 km. Based on potential ecological risk and pollution load indices, the enrichments of Cd, As, Hg, Cu, Pb and Ni in soils indicated that the Brumadinho, Mário Campos, Betim and São Joaquim de Bicas municipalities were the most affected areas by the broken dam. Restorative and reparative actions must be urgently carried out in these areas. For all contaminated areas, the children’s group indicated an exacerbated propensity to the development of carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic diseases, mainly through the ingestion pathway. Toxicological risk assessments, including acute, chronic and genotoxic effects, on people living and working in mining areas should be a priority for public management and mining companies to ensure effective environmental measures that do not harm human health and well-being over time.
Careful monitoring for recrudescence of Wuchereria bancrofti infection is necessary in communities where mass drug administration (MDA) for the elimination of lymphatic filariasis (LF) as a public ...health problem has been stopped. During the post-MDA period, transmission assessment surveys (TAS) are recommended by the World Health Organization to monitor the presence of the parasite in humans. Molecular xenomonitoring (MX), a method by which parasite infection in the mosquito population is monitored, has also been proposed as a sensitive method to determine whether the parasite is still present in the human population. The aim of this study was to conduct an MX evaluation in two areas of Bangladesh, one previously endemic district that had stopped MDA (Panchagarh), and part of a non-endemic district (Gaibandha) that borders the district where transmission was most recently recorded.
Mosquitoes were systematically collected from 180 trap sites per district and mosquito pools were tested for W. bancrofti using real-time PCR. A total of 23,436 intact mosquitoes, representing 31 species, were collected from the two districts, of which 10,344 (41%) were Culex quinquefasciatus, the vector of W. bancrofti in Bangladesh. All of the 594 pools of Cx. quinquefasciatus tested by real-time PCR were negative for the presence of W. bancrofti DNA.
This study suggested the absence of W. bancrofti in these districts. MX could be a sensitive tool to confirm interruption of LF transmission in areas considered at higher risk of recrudescence, particularly in countries like Bangladesh where entomological and laboratory capacity to perform MX is available.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Splenic volvulus of a wandering spleen Schaeffer, William J.; Mahmood, S.M. Jafar; Vermillion, Sarah A. ...
The American journal of emergency medicine,
March 2021, 2021-03-00, 20210301, Letnik:
41
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Wandering spleen is a rare condition in which the spleen is not anchored properly, due to congenital or acquired weakness of the splenic ligaments. This allows the spleen to migrate to any portion of ...the abdomen or pelvis, and can cause complications, including a splenic volvulus. The presentation of splenic volvulus of a wandering spleen ranges from mild pain to a surgical emergency. Splenic volvulus of a wandering spleen can cause significant morbidity and mortality, and often warrants surgical intervention. Cases of splenic volvulus of a wandering spleen have been reported in radiology and surgery literature, however there are no reports in emergency medicine literature in North America.
A 37-year-old female presented to the ED with seven days of mild left upper quadrant abdominal pain that acutely worsened. She underwent laboratory studies which were near her baseline values. A CT abdomen pelvis demonstrated findings consistent with splenic volvulus of a wandering spleen. She was taken emergently to the operating room for exploratory laparotomy, detorsion of spleen, and splenectomy. Her postoperative course was uneventful and she was discharged on hospital day six.
Splenic volvulus of a wandering spleen is rare, though carries significant morbidity and mortality, especially if unrecognized. The presentation of splenic volvulus is variable, ranging from minor symptoms to an acute abdomen. Early diagnosis can prevent downstream complications, including development of vascular congestion, ischemia or infarcted intra-abdominal organs. Emergency Physicians should consider splenic volvulus in the differential diagnosis as an etiology of left-sided abdominal pain.
The mediobasal hypothalamus (MBH) shapes the neural regulation of glucostasis by 5'-AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK)-dependent mechanisms. Yet, the neurochemical identity and neuroanatomical ...distribution of MBH neurons that express glucoprivic-sensitive AMPK remain unclear. The neurotransmitters γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and nitric oxide (NO) act within the MBH to correspondingly inhibit or stimulate glucose counter-regulation. The current review highlights recent findings that GABA and NO, neurons located in the ventromedial hypothalamic nucleus (VMN), a distinct important element of the MBH, are direct targets of noradrenergic regulatory signaling, and thereby, likely operate under the control of hindbrain metabolic-sensory neurons. The ovarian hormone estradiol acts within the VMN to govern energy homeostasis. Discussed here is current evidence that estradiol regulates GABA and NO nerve cell receptivity to norepinephrine and moreover, controls the noradrenergic regulation of AMPK activity in each cell type. Future gains in insight on mechanisms underpinning estradiol's impact on neurotransmitter communication between the hindbrain and hypothalamic AMPKergic neurons are expected to disclose viable new molecular targets for the therapeutic simulation of hormonal enhancement of neuro-metabolic stability during circumstances of diminished endogenous estrogen secretion or glucose dysregulation.
This work aimed to use abietic acid (AA), as a widely available natural product, as a precursor for the synthesis of two new amphiphilic ionic liquids (AILs) and apply them as effective demulsifiers ...for water-in-crude oil (W/O) emulsions. AA was esterified using tetraethylene glycol (TEG) in the presence of
-toluene sulfonic acid (PTSA) as a catalyst obtaining the corresponding ester (AATG). AATG was reacted with 1-vinylimidazole (VIM) throughout the Diels-Alder reaction, forming the corresponding adduct (ATI). Following this, ATI was quaternized using alkyl iodides, ethyl iodide (EI), and hexyl iodide (HI) to obtain the corresponding AILs, ATEI-IL, and ATHI-IL, respectively. The chemical structure, surface activity, thermal stability, and relative solubility number (RSN) were investigated using different techniques. The efficiency of ATEI-IL and ATHI-IL to demulsify W/O emulsions in different crude oil: brine volumetric ratios were evaluated. ATEI-IL and ATHI-IL achieved promising results as demulsifiers. Their demulsification efficiency increased as the brine ratios decreased where their efficiency reached 100% at the crude oil: brine ratio (90:10), even at low concentrations.
Glucose accesses the brain primarily via the astrocyte cell compartment, where it passes through the glycogen shunt before catabolism to the oxidizable fuel L-lactate. Glycogen phosphorylase (GP) ...isoenzymes GPbb and GPmm impose distinctive control of ventromedial hypothalamic nucleus (VMN) glucose-regulatory neurotransmission during hypoglycemia, but lactate and/or gliotransmitter involvement in those actions is unknown. Lactate or the octadecaneuropeptide receptor antagonist cyclo(1–8)DLeu5 OP (LV-1075) did not affect gene product down-regulation caused by GPbb or GPmm siRNA, but suppressed non-targeted GP variant expression in a VMN region-specific manner. Hypoglycemic up-regulation of neuronal nitric oxide synthase was enhanced in rostral and caudal VMN by GPbb knockdown, yet attenuated by GPMM siRNA in the middle VMN; lactate or LV-1075 reversed these silencing effects. Hypoglycemic inhibition of glutamate decarboxylase65/67 was magnified by GPbb (middle and caudal VMN) or GPmm (middle VMN) knockdown, responses that were negated by lactate or LV-1075. GPbb or GPmm siRNA enlarged hypoglycemic VMN glycogen profiles in rostral and middle VMN. Lactate and LV-1075 elicited progressive rostral VMN glycogen augmentation in GPbb knockdown rats, but stepwise-diminution of rostral and middle VMN glycogen after GPmm silencing. GPbb, not GPmm, knockdown caused lactate or LV-1075 – reversible amplification of hypoglycemic hyperglucagonemia and hypercorticosteronemia. Results show that lactate and octadecaneuropeptide exert opposing control of GPbb protein in distinct VMN regions, while the latter stimulates GPmm. During hypoglycemia, GPbb and GPmm may respectively diminish (rostral, caudal VMN) or enhance (middle VMN) nitrergic transmission and each oppose GABAergic signaling (middle VMN) by lactate- and octadecaneuropeptide-dependent mechanisms.
•Brain glycogen disassembly is controlled by glycogen phosphorylase variants GPbb and GPmm.•GP isoforms individually govern VMN nitric oxide (NO) and γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) release.•GPbb or GPm knockdown up- or down-regulated the VMN NO marker neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS).•Lactate reversible GPbb siRNA-induced nNOS up-regulation shows control by GPbb-derived energy fuel volume.•Octadecaneuropeptide antagonism blunts GPbb knockdown inhibition of nNOS, inferring diminished GPbb-controlled glycogen turnover.
Anti-amyloidogenic activity of safranal towards induced HSA amyloids has been observed using a variety of techniques including fluorescence, UV–visible, CD, DLS and microscopies. The HSA solution was ...pre-incubated at 65 °C for 120 h and, in between, the growth of amyloid fibrils, using ThT aggregation kinetics, was monitored at different time intervals. It was found that the amyloid fibril formation of HSA diminishes in presence of safranal and the inhibition was concentration dependent. The surface hydrophobicity of HSA amyloid fibrils also decreased in presence of safranal. The increased CR binding of HSA fibrils also decreased and high concentration of safranal causes the CR binding to resemble like that of native HSA. Both RLS and turbidity intensities were also in inverse relation to the safranal concentration. Safranal also has a good impact to protect the secondary structure of incubated HSA. From the electron microscopy it was seen that the fibrillar network of HSA amyloids gradually vanishes as the concentration of safranal increased. The largely decreased population of HSA aggregates in safranal containing solution as compared to the one without it also suggests the inhibition of formation of large fibrillar aggregates.
•Safranal significantly inhibited the formation of amyloid fibrils of HSA.•The inhibition was dependent on the concentration of safranal.•Safranal stabilizes the HSA against thermal denaturation and also protects the secondary structure of incubated HSA.
Two new poly(ionic liquid)s (PILs) were synthesized, characterized, and applied in breaking water-in-oil (W/O) emulsions. For that, tetraethylene glycol (TG) was treated with thionyl chloride, ...obtaining dialkyl chloride (TC). TC was reacted with diamines 1,5-diaminopentane (AP) and 1,11-diaminoundecane (AU), forming the corresponding polyamines, TC-AP and TC-AU. Following this, TC-AP and TC-AU were quaternized with acetic acid (AA), producing poly(ionic liquid)s (PILs), TCAP-PIL, and TCAU-PIL, respectively. Chemical structures, thermal stability, surface activity, aggregation size, and zeta potential measurements were investigated using several techniques. In addition, their performance in breaking (PB) W/O emulsions in different ratios was investigated. TCAP-PIL and TCAU-PIL exhibited high PB at all ratios, while their performance improved as the crude oil ratio decreased. Moreover, TCAU-PIL showed higher PB than TCAP-PIL, which may be linked to the increased hydrophobicity of TCAU-PIL due to increased methylene units in the diamine chain compared to TCAP-PIL.
While the presence of long-chain paraffinic compounds in crude oil seriously impacts oil production, they tend to form emulsions during flow through restricted pores. In turn, these emulsions help ...mobilize additional oil due to pore throat plugging, reducing interfacial tension, altering the wettability, and facilitating flow redistribution. The inclusion of a surfactant, especially of a natural biodegradable origin, can not only help promote emulsion formation to boost oil recovery but also lower the chemical footprint of the oil recovery process, making the entire process more sustainable. Therefore, in this study, a natural surfactant obtained from Fenugreek seeds has been explored to produce oil-in-water emulsions in conjunction with oil phases: n-pentane (EP1), n-hexane (EP2), n-heptane (EP3), and n-dodecane (EP4). Using visual observation and interfacial tension measurements over a range of 0.05–0.3 wt %, the optimum emulsifying surfactant concentration was identified to be 0.2 wt %. The emulsions were observed to be creamed by separating the aqueous phase over a span of 10 days, which was observed under a microscope. All emulsions tend to exhibit a shear thinning profile at ambient conditions, and the best fit was observed with Power Law with R 2 values of 0.93, 0.91, 0.94, and 0.97 for solutions EP1, EP2, EP3, and EP4, respectively. Furthermore, the effect of monovalent (NaCl) and divalent (CaCl2) salts was explored, with EP4 found to be comparatively more stable than other emulsions. To understand the effect of heterogeneity of reservoirs, contact angle measurements were performed on sand base prepared with different sizes and pore size was found to be a critical factor influencing wettability alteration. Finally, the potential of natural surfactant in displacing the oil was visualized using a microfluidic setup wherein the injected surfactant solution was able to mobilize oil, paving a potential pathway for future field implementation for enhanced oil recovery operations.
The aim of the work was to establish the effect of anthropogenic activities and seasonality on physico-chemical parameters and heavy metal levels of River Yala (RY) within RY Basin of Lake Victoria ...(LV), as well as the associated ecological risks. Analyses were done on the collected samples in order to establish the levels of EC, pH, DO, temperature, conductivity, turbidity, acidity, alkalinity, BOD, COD, DOC, TOC and heavy metals (Cu, Fe, Pb, Mn, Zn, Cr and Cd) in RY water and sediments adjacent to Agricultural Farms during dry and wet seasons. The levels in terms of μg/mL, μS/cm (EC), NTU (turbidity) of analyzed parameters in the Agricultural Farms in water ranged from 0.01±0.00 to 121.75±15.23 (Upstream pristine sources of RY - S), 0.02±0.01 to 184.83±23.43 (Nandi Tea Estate and Kaimosi Agricultural Farms - N), 0.02±0.01 to 149.67±22.77 (Subsistence Farms - Sub), 0.02±0.01 to 209.33±18.09 (Lake Agro Limited Agricutural Farms and Yala Swamp – D) and 0.01±0.00 to 164.25±30.33 (Terminal of RY - T). The levels in μg/g of analyzed parameters in sediments ranged from 7.2±1.46 to 3342.8±538.7 (S), 9.12±0.2 to 4063.2±90.4 (N), 3.15±1.14 to 5998.5±588.4 (Sub), 2.03±0.76 to 4519.8±194.9 (D) and 2.13±0.75 to 5514.4±201.4 (T). The significant differences in the levels of analyzed parameters in water between dry and wet seasons were computed as; EC (+20.54 μS/cm), alkalinity (-2.85 μg/mL), DOC (+0.24 μg/mL), Fe (+0.58 μg/mL), Pb (+0.11 μg/mL), Zn (+0.07 μg/mL) and Cd (+0.01 μg/mL) while that for Mn in sediment samples was +163.8937 μg/g. The significantly (p ≤ 0.05) positive values indicated that wet season had more impact on the levels than dry season. There was positive correlation of zinc in water and sediments during dry and wet season. Chromium correlated positively in water and sediments during wet season. Copper and cadmium correlated negatively during dry and wet season while Mn only wet season. Results of geostatistical indices (CF, C
d
, mC
d
, PLI, Er and RI) indicated that sediments located at regions N, D and T were highly contaminated with the heavy metals. However, a wetland at the mouth of Lake Victoria cleaned the water before it drained into the lake. Therefore, despite contamination of RY through anthropogenic activities, wetland mitigation protects LV from pollution by the river, indicating the important ecological and restorative functions played by wetlands.
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