•Colloids of HEA nanoparticles in IL were prepared by the DC magnetron sputtering.•HEA nanoparticles colloids were studied by HRTEM microscopy and SQUID magnetometry.•For pure IL at the high applied ...H the long-range magnetic moment ordering occurs.•Under 70 K, some strong changes, jumps, are present in the ZFC characteristics.•Magnetic measurements imply interactions between the IL and the HEA nanoparticles.
Colloids consisting of the CoCrCuFeNi high-entropy alloy nanoparticles in ionic liquid with the 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium (BMIM+) cation and the tetrafluorborate (BF4-) anion were obtained by the DC magnetron sputtering of high-entropy alloy target in vacuum, onto the surface of BMIM.BF4 ionic liquid. The method of the nanoparticle colloid preparation is based on negligibly small vapour pressure of the ionic liquid, which allows its application in vacuum. The high-entropy alloy nanoparticle colloids were studied by HRTEM microscopy and SQUID magnetometry. Results of the structural and magnetic analyses show that the colloids contain ultra-small single-crystalline nanoparticles of an uneven shape and typical size of (2−3) nm. The nanoparticles have relatively narrow size distribution which is typical for this preparation method. The high-entropy alloy nanocolloids show complex magnetic properties that are a function of temperature, applied magnetic field and mass content of the nanoparticles in the colloids. The obtained results imply significant magnetic interactions between the ionic liquid and the high-entropy alloy nanoparticles.
Abstract Excessive accumulation of histamine in the body leads to miscellaneous symptoms mediated by its bond to corresponding receptors (H1 –H4 ). Increased concentration of histamine in blood can ...occur in healthy individuals after ingestion of foods with high contents of histamine, leading to histamine intoxication. In individuals with histamine intolerance (HIT) ingestion of food with normal contents of histamine causes histamine-mediated symptoms. HIT is a pathological process, in which the enzymatic activity of histamine-degrading enzymes is decreased or inhibited and they are insufficient to inactivate histamine from food and to prevent its passage to blood-stream. Diagnosis of HIT is difficult. Multi-faced, non-specific clinical symptoms provoked by certain kinds of foods, beverages and drugs are often attributed to different diseases, such as allergy and food intolerance, mastocytosis, psychosomatic diseases, anorexia nervosa or adverse drug reactions. Correct diagnosis of HIT followed by therapy based on histamine-free diet and supplementation of diamine oxidase can improve patient's quality of life.
A fatal case of psittacosis in Slovakia, January 2006 Kovácová, E; Majtán, J; Botek, R ...
Euro surveillance : bulletin européen sur les maladies transmissibles,
2007-Aug-02, Letnik:
12, Številka:
8
Journal Article
Q fever in Bulgaria and Slovakia Serbezov, V S; Kazár, J; Novkirishki, V ...
Emerging infectious diseases,
05/1999, Letnik:
5, Številka:
3
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
As a result of dramatic political and economic changes in the beginning of the 1990s, Q-fever epidemiology in Bulgaria has changed. The number of goats almost tripled; contact between goat owners ...(and their families) and goats, as well as goats and other animals, increased; consumption of raw goat milk and its products increased; and goats replaced cattle and sheep as the main source of human Coxiella burnetii infections. Hundreds of overt, serologically confirmed human cases of acute Q fever have occurred. Chronic forms of Q fever manifesting as endocarditis were also observed. In contrast, in Slovakia, Q fever does not pose a serious public health problem, and the chronic form of infection has not been found either in follow-ups of a Q-fever epidemic connected with goats imported from Bulgaria and other previous Q-fever outbreaks or in a serologic survey. Serologic diagnosis as well as control and prevention of Q fever are discussed.
We have studied the gas sensing properties of five polyaniline-based materials—thick and thin PANI films, nanocomposite PANI/MWNT and PANI/SWNT films, and PANI nanogranules embedded in a ...polyvinylpyrrolidone matrix. The films (except for the latter) were deposited within the induction period of the polymerization process on gold interdigitated micro electrodes. Their sensitivity to NH
3, H
2, ethanol, methanol, and acetone was measured. The thin PANI film (~
100
nm thick) prepared by a lift-off process had the sensitivity to ammonia below 0.5
ppm, which was higher than that of nanocomposite films. Two materials—thick PANI film and nanocomposite PANI/MWNT film—exhibited a shallow minimum in the temperature dependence of resistance (at 313
K and 319
K), which is a feature exploitable in practical applications, since the gas sensors should be insensitive to small temperature fluctuations at these temperatures.
: We evaluated 6 monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) for their usefulness in identifying and characterizing recognized laboratory strains as well as field isolates of Coxiella burnetii. Five had been ...generated in response to strain Nine Mile (3 IgM class, 1 IgG class, 1 light chain producers only) and were polypeptide‐specific, and 1 was anti‐Priscilla (IgG class) and was lipopolysaccharide (LPS)‐specific. Initially, the MAbs were used in conjunction with a dot blot assay with which we could differentiate C. burnetii from rickettsiae or chlamydiae. Confirmation of the specificity of these MAbs was provided by demonstrating that only C. burnetii antigens were recognized by certain combinations of antibodies used for immunoblotting proteins of various C. burnetii strains. Subsequently, we characterized antigens of 11 C. burnetii field isolates and 3 reference strains by Western blotting with individual MAbs. MAb 921 and 922 (IgG class), MAb 241, 242, 384, 386, 614 (IgM class), and 7A5, 7A1 (light chain) consistently recognized a protein. Staining intensity differed, depending on the strain tested, and there was variability in the size of the antigen immunoreactive with MAb 14H (IgG class, LPS‐specific). The most reactive region was at about 249 kD. Variability of reactivities with field isolates was seen in both the distribution of individual bands and their intensities. We conclude that an extensive immunoblotting technique may be useful for C. burnetii strain differentiation and routine identification of C. burnetii can be accomplished using this MAb‐based dot blot assay.
The ability of various strains of Coxiella burnetii (C.b.) and their phase I and II lipopolysaccharides (LPSs) to induce tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) in peritoneal Balb/c mouse macrophages ...in vitro was investigated. Considerable differences in the induction ability were observed in dependence on the strain applied. In a TNF-alpha bioassay, the most effective inducers were both corpuscles and LPSs of the strains Priscilla and Scurry, followed by Nine Mile, Luga, and Henzerling I. In contrast, in ELISA, the most effective inducers were LPSs of the strains Luga and Henzerling, followed by Nine Mile, Priscilla, and Scurry. The role of toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) in the induction was confirmed by the use of C3H/HeJ mouse macrophages. Thus, the induction of TNF-alpha was much higher in Balb/c mouse macrophages than that in TLR4-deficient C3H/HeJ mouse macrophages. Differences in the results of the bioassay and those of ELISA suggest a role of another secreted factor(s) induced with C.b. in murine macrophages that could act synergically with TNF-alpha in L929 cells in the bioassay. The observed differences in TNF-alpha induction might play a role in the pathobiology of Q fever.
No relation between the occurrence of antibodies to chlamydial agents and asthma in children was found. In asthmatic children, the antibodies to
Chlamydia trachomatis
occurred in 3.1% and to
...Chlamydophila pneumoniae
in 22.7%, whereas in a control group of children without asthma or other allergic disease in 2.3% and 24.0%, respectively. The occurrence of antibodies of IgA and IgG classes to
C. pneumoniae
was also very similar; its rise was age-dependent. On the other hand, in the group of children in a pre-school age with respiratory tract infection, anti-chlamydial antibodies were demonstrated significantly more often (18.5% of IgG antibodies to
C. trachomatis
, 20.0% of IgM antibodies to both
C. trachomatis
and
C. pneumoniae
) than in those suffering from other, non-respiratory illness (3.9% of the former and 5.9% of the latter antibodies). However, in these children, we did not succeed in detection of
C. trachomatis
in conjunctival and nasopharyngeal smears by PCR. Nevertheless, chlamydial agents (
C. trachomatis
in infants,
C. pneumoniae
in pre-school children) should be taken into consideration in a differential diagnosis of respiratory tract inflammation.
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