The fungal infestation in construction industries is a major problem with a very high removal cost that needs to be controlled not only to prevent the fouling of surfaces but also to prevent allergic ...reactions or respiratory problems especially in immunocompromised individuals. To combat fungal invasion, several experimental approaches to produce antifungal surfaces have been developed. Here, we reviewed the current strategies in designing antifungal surfaces and classified those approaches into two major categories: the chemical and/or physical modification of the actual material surface and nanoparticle-based coating formulations created using the functionalised nanoparticles.
Key points
•
Antifungal effect of micro- and nano-structured superhydrophobic surfaces.
•
Long-term antifungal effect conferred through biocides.
•
Advanced coatings based on functionalised silica, TiO
2
and ZnO nanoparticles.
Graphical abstract
Zeolitic aluminophosphate, a three‐dimensional microporous material, with an average pore size of 0.38 nm is good candidate for molecular sieve application in CO2 gas separation. The separation of ...CO2/CH4 gas mixtures for precombustion processes is desirable from the standpoint of both environmental concerns and energy efficiency. This study concerns an environmentally friendly method to synthesize zeolitic aluminophosphate thin films on various configurations and low‐cost kaolin porous substrates with high performance in the separation of CO2/CH4 mixtures. The membranes are prepared by a gelless seed growth method that uses lower amounts of chemicals, forms no liquid gel, chemical waste, or byproducts and generates no washing water. The obtained membranes show very high selectivity for CO2 with a CO2/CH4 separation factor above 1000 in the separation of CO2/CH4 gas mixtures.
Gelless, don't you know: Zeolitic aluminophosphate thin films are synthesized on various substrates, and show high performance in the separation of CO2/CH4 mixtures. The membranes are prepared by a gelless seed growth method that uses lower amounts of chemicals and generates no waste. The obtained membranes show very high selectivity for CO2 in the separation of CO2/CH4 gas mixtures.
Nontyphoidal
(NTS) are among the most common etiological agents of diarrheal diseases worldwide and have become the most commonly detected bacterial pathogen in children hospitalized with diarrhea in ...Vietnam. Aiming to better understand the epidemiology, serovar distribution, antimicrobial resistance (AMR), and clinical manifestation of NTS gastroenteritis in Vietnam, we conducted a clinical genomics investigation of NTS isolated from diarrheal children admitted to one of three tertiary hospitals in Ho Chi Minh City. Between May 2014 and April 2016, 3,166 children hospitalized with dysentery were recruited into the study; 478 (∼15%) children were found to be infected with NTS by stool culture. Molecular serotyping of the 450 generated genomes identified a diverse collection of serogroups (B, C1, C2 to C3, D1, E1, G, I, K, N, O, and Q); however,
serovar Typhimurium was the most predominant serovar, accounting for 41.8% (188/450) of NTS isolates. We observed a high prevalence of AMR to first-line treatments recommended by WHO, and more than half (53.8%; 242/450) of NTS isolates were multidrug resistant (MDR; resistant to ≥3 antimicrobial classes). AMR gene detection positively correlated with phenotypic AMR testing, and resistance to empirical antimicrobials was associated with a significantly longer hospitalization (0.91 days;
0.04). Our work shows that genome sequencing is a powerful epidemiological tool to characterize the serovar diversity and AMR profiles in NTS. We propose a revaluation of empirical antimicrobials for dysenteric diarrhea and endorse the use of whole-genome sequencing for sustained surveillance of NTS internationally.
Microporous membrane has shown great potential for the separation of carbon dioxide from the gas mixture. Beside the membrane performance, the membrane preparation method is a factor to be concerned ...in this technique. In this work, pure silica DDR zeolite membranes on silica porous substrate were synthesized from an economical and environmentally efficient process. Porous silica substrate was fabricated using a low cost material. The membrane growth reaction used a minimum amount of chemical, produced no waste generation. Part of the reactant is supplied from porous substrate. The membrane quality is strongly dependent on the exposed faces of seed crystals and the pH value of the template solution. The obtained membranes show very high permeance and selectivity for CO2 from a CO2/CH4 gas mixture in both dry and humid conditions and hot gas flow. The membrane maintains stability in high performance with the separation factor of 440–500 for a test period of one week.
Display omitted
•Pure silica DDR zeolite membrane on low cost porous silica support.•Gelless secondary growth of pure silica DDR zeolite membrane.•Membrane quality dependent on the pH of template solution and exposed faces of seed crystals.•High performance on CO2/CH4 gas mixture separation in both dry and humid conditions.•Environmental friendly in both membrane preparation and membrane performance.
NOTCH2 mutations in Alagille syndrome Kamath, Binita Maya; Bauer, Robert C; Loomes, Kathleen M ...
Journal of medical genetics,
02/2012, Letnik:
49, Številka:
2
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Alagille syndrome (ALGS) is a dominant, multisystem disorder caused by mutations in the Jagged1 (JAG1) ligand in 94% of patients, and in the NOTCH2 receptor in <1%. There are only two NOTCH2 families ...reported to date. This study hypothesised that additional NOTCH2 mutations would be present in patients with clinical features of ALGS without a JAG1 mutation.
The study screened a cohort of JAG1-negative individuals with clinical features suggestive or diagnostic of ALGS for NOTCH2 mutations.
Eight individuals with novel NOTCH2 mutations (six missense, one splicing, and one non-sense mutation) were identified. Three of these patients met classic criteria for ALGS and five patients only had a subset of features. The mutations were distributed across the extracellular (N=5) and intracellular domains (N=3) of the protein. Functional analysis of four missense, one nonsense, and one splicing mutation demonstrated decreased Notch signalling of these proteins. Subjects with NOTCH2 mutations demonstrated highly variable expressivity of the affected systems, as with JAG1 individuals. Liver involvement was universal in NOTCH2 probands and they had a similar prevalence of ophthalmologic and renal anomalies to JAG1 patients. There was a trend towards less cardiac involvement in the NOTCH2 group (60% vs 100% in JAG1). NOTCH2 (+) probands exhibited a significantly decreased penetrance of vertebral abnormalities (10%) and facial features (20%) when compared to the JAG1 (+) cohort.
This work confirms the importance of NOTCH2 as a second disease gene in ALGS and expands the repertoire of the NOTCH2 related disease phenotype.
This paper aims to validate five determinants of service quality and to examine the service quality-customer satisfaction link in the port logistics service industry of a developing and transitional ...economy. First, the research reviews literature pertinent to service quality and customer satisfaction. Second, it uses both qualitative and quantitative methods through focus group discussion and direct interviews with 212 respondents who are the employees of firms that have been using port logistics service provided by Cat Lai Port, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Finally, the multivariate analysis is subsequently employed to analyze data obtained from surveys by structural equation modeling (SEM) technique. Findings indicate that port logistics service quality is positively determined by five factors including responsiveness, assurance, reliability, tangibles and empathy. In addition, port logistics service quality exerts positive influence on customer satisfaction. Most noticeably, as embedded in the tangibles component, technological advancements appear to enhance service quality which ultimately satisfies customers in the port logistics service industry.
The aim of the study was to prepare magnetic photo-Fenton catalysts based on CoFe
2
O
4
by polyethylene glycol-assisted sol-gel method for the degradation of methylene blue under UVA and visible ...light irradiation with H
2
C
2
O
4
as a radical producing source. The catalysts were synthesized at different annealing temperatures in order to investigate the influence of annealing temperature on their crystal structure, morphology, surface functional groups, magnetic properties, and their photo-Fenton catalytic activity. According to the results, when the annealing temperature increased from 600 to 800 °C, the content of CoFe
2
O
4
cubic spinel phase was significantly enhanced, the amount of Fe
3+
ions in the tetrahedral sites also increased on the surface of samples, which improved the magnetic properties as well as the photo-Fenton catalytic performance under both UVA and visible light. However, at the annealing temperature of 900 °C, the photo-Fenton activity was declined, which can be attributed to the growth of catalytic particles and the decrease of Fe
3+
ions on their surface.
Highlights
Preparation of CoFe
2
O
4
catalysts by polyethylene glycol-assisted sol-gel method.
Increasing of annealing temperature improves the CoFe
2
O
4
phase content.
The Fe
3+
ions in surface tetrahedral sites increases with annealing temperature.
Enhanced CoFe
2
O
4
phase and surface Fe
3+
contents improve the photo-Fenton activity.
H
2
C
2
O
4
plays as an efficient radical source for the photo-Fenton catalysis.
A simple approach was developed for the rapid and accurate estimation of 5-day biochemical oxygen demand (BOD
5
) in food processing wastewater. Immobilization of the natural microbial consortium ...that was collected from an aerobic compartment of a food processing wastewater treatment plant was simply performed by adhesion using a low-cost porous carrier.
Pseudomonas aeruginosa
,
Bacillus cereus
, and
Streptomyces
, whose salt-tolerance and ability to break down organic compounds have been widely reported, were found to be predominant. These microorganisms may cause an enhancement of the bioreactor response in the presence of sodium chloride. Consequently, a modified glucose-glutamic acid (GGA) calibration standard was proposed in which an appropriate amount of NaCl was added; this solution was found to be more effective in terms of accuracy and practicality than both conventional GGA and the synthetic wastewater recipe from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The calibrated self-built packed-bed bioreactor exhibited good precision of 3% or less in predicting BOD
5
in influent, which is similar to the performance of the most common commercial biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) bioreactors. There was a statistical agreement between the results obtained from this rapid BOD biosensor and the conventional methods, even when testing treated wastewater samples.
Smart homes are an element of developing smart cities. In recent years, countries around the world have spared no effort in promoting smart cities. Smart homes are an interesting technological ...advancement that can make people’s lives much more convenient. The development of smart homes involves multiple technological aspects, which include big data, mobile networks, cloud computing, Internet of Things, and even artificial intelligence. Digital information is the main component of signal control and flow in a smart home, while information security is another important aspect. In the event of equipment failure, the task of safeguarding the system’s information is of the utmost importance. Since smart homes are automatically controlled, the problem of mobile network security must be taken seriously. To address these issues, this paper focuses on information security, big data, mobile networks, cloud computing, and the Internet of Things. Security efficiency can be enhanced by using a Secure Hash Algorithm 256 (SHA-256), which is an authentication mechanism that, with the help of the user, can authenticate each interaction of a given device with a WebServer by using an encrypted username, password, and token. This framework could be used for an automated burglar alarm system, guest attendance monitoring, and light switches, all of which are easily integrated with any smart city base. In this way, IoT solutions can allow real-time monitoring and connection with central systems for automated burglar alarms. The monitoring framework is developed on the strength of the web application to obtain real-time display, storage, and warning functions for local or remote monitoring control. The monitoring system is stable and reliable when applying SHA-256.
Pediatric diarrheal disease presents a major public health burden in low- to middle-income countries. The clinical benefits of empirical antimicrobial treatment for diarrhea are unclear in settings ...that lack reliable diagnostics and have high antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
We conducted a prospective multicenter cross-sectional study of pediatric patients hospitalized with diarrhea containing blood and/or mucus in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Clinical parameters, including disease outcome and treatment, were measured. Shigella, nontyphoidal Salmonella (NTS), and Campylobacter were isolated from fecal samples, and their antimicrobial susceptibility profiles were determined. Statistical analyses, comprising log-rank tests and accelerated failure time models, were performed to assess the effect of antimicrobials on disease outcome.
Among 3166 recruited participants (median age 10 months; interquartile range, 6.5-16.7 months), one-third (1096 of 3166) had bloody diarrhea, and 25% (793 of 3166) were culture positive for Shigella, NTS, or Campylobacter. More than 85% of patients (2697 of 3166) were treated with antimicrobials; fluoroquinolones were the most commonly administered antimicrobials. AMR was highly prevalent among the isolated bacteria, including resistance against fluoroquinolones and third-generation cephalosporins. Antimicrobial treatment and multidrug resistance status of the infecting pathogens were found to have no significant effect on outcome. Antimicrobial treatment was significantly associated with an increase in the duration of hospitalization with particular groups of diarrheal diseases.
In a setting with high antimicrobial usage and high AMR, our results imply a lack of clinical benefit for treating diarrhea with antimicrobials; adequately powered randomized controlled trials are required to assess the role of antimicrobials for diarrhea.
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