Search results for: Pb resistant bacteria

Authors: Umer Malik, David Armstrong, Mark Ashworth, Alex Dregan, Veline L'Esperance, Lucy McDonnell, Mariam Molokhia, Patrick White

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Introduction: The microbiota lining epithelial surfaces is thought to play an important role in many human physiological functions including defense against pathogens and modulation of immune response. The microbiota is susceptible to disruption from external influences such as exposure to antibiotic medication. It is thought that antibiotic-induced disruption of the microbiota could predispose to pathogen overgrowth and invasion. We hypothesized that antibiotic use would be associated with increased risk of future infections. We carried out a systematic review of evidence of associations between antibiotic use and subsequent risk of community-acquired infections. Methods: We conducted a review of the literature for observational studies assessing the association between antibiotic use and subsequent community-acquired infection. Eligible studies were published before April 29th, 2016. We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Web of Science and screened titles and abstracts using a predefined search strategy. Infections caused by Clostridium difficile, drug-resistant organisms and fungal organisms were excluded as their association with prior antibiotic use has been examined in previous systematic reviews. Results: Eighteen out of 21,518 retrieved studies met the inclusion criteria. The association between past antibiotic exposure and subsequent increased risk of infection was reported in 16 studies, including one study on Campylobacter jejuni infection (Odds Ratio [OR] 3.3), two on typhoid fever (ORs 5.7 and 12.2), one on Staphylococcus aureus skin infection (OR 2.9), one on invasive pneumococcal disease (OR 1.57), one on recurrent furunculosis (OR 16.6), one on recurrent boils and abscesses (Risk ratio 1.4), one on upper respiratory tract infection (OR 2.3) and urinary tract infection (OR 1.1), one on invasive Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) infection (OR 1.51), one on infectious mastitis (OR 5.38), one on meningitis (OR 2.04) and five on Salmonella enteric infection (ORs 1.4, 1.59, 1.9, 2.3 and 3.8). The effect size in three studies on Salmonella enteric infection was of marginal statistical significance. A further two studies on Salmonella infection did not demonstrate a statistically significant association between prior antibiotic exposure and subsequent infection. Conclusion: We have found an association between past antibiotic exposure and subsequent risk of a diverse range of infections in the community setting. Our findings provide evidence to support the hypothesis that prior antibiotic usage may predispose to future infection risk, possibly through antibiotic-induced alteration of the microbiota. The findings add further weight to calls to minimize inappropriate antibiotic prescriptions.

Keywords: antibiotic, infection, risk factor, side effect

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Authors: Mohamad Chour

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Nowadays, a record number of households are headed by single fathers in most of the European societies. Our research aims to explore how French single fathers experience the domestic sphere, a traditionally feminized field while accomplishing their role of fathers. We adopt a gender role and a parenting role construction theoretical perspectives. Indeed, the interior domestic sphere has been traditionally considered as related to the role of the mother. Moreover, according to the masculine domination theory of Bourdieu, men avoid caregiving and domestic practices that are economically and culturally undervalued. Hence, mothers are considered as more likely to handle the expressive dimension of duties whereas fathers’ role is represented as instrumental, functional and independent. Long interviews have been conducted with twenty French single fathers in order to investigate how the absence of the mother affects the practices of fatherhood. We combined the long interviews with projective techniques method in order to better understand their conception of the family and their family values. Seeking a qualitative diversity, our respondents are from various ages (between 30 and 60); they are coming from different regions in France; living in rural, semi-rural and urban areas. Based on the analysis of 427 pages of data, we identify three main categories of single fathers depending on their strategies to copy and/or delegate the role of the mother. 1) Nurturing fathers completely assume the role of the absent mother as well as her functions. Their discourse is characterized by abnegation and sacrifices reflecting a nurturing role. 2) Juggling fathers are those who take charge of a part of the household duties and delegate the other part to the market or to 'feminine resources' for lacking skills or time. 3) Resistant fathers are the very few respondents who refuse to assume any activities related to the domestic sphere that they perceive as feminine. For lacking competences and even for ideological reasons, they have tendency to delegate all the tasks that were assumed by their ex-spouses. Generally, the majority of fathers seem to experience the domestic sphere differently, and their domestic involvement has been underestimated and even misunderstood. Household duties such as cooking and housekeeping in addition to the nurturing role are experienced by many of the respondents as constructing elements of their fatherhood. Our respondents do not seem to accomplish house holding duties in a functional way. The domestic sphere is managed by those fathers with a strong dimension of abnegation. Thus, our research contributes to illustrating the evolution of gender roles and shows how being simultaneously 'a father and a mother' seems to be an emerging social norm in a French and European cultural context.

Keywords: fathering, gender roles, gender studies, identity construction, single fathers

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Authors: Nazish Badar

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In early 2009, Pandemic type A (H1N1) Influenza virus emerged globally. Since then, it has continued circulation causing considerable morbidity and mortality. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the evolutionary changes in Influenza A (H1N1) pdm09 viruses from 2009-15 and their relevance with the current vaccine viruses. Methods: Respiratory specimens were collected with influenza-like illness and Severe Acute Respiratory Illness. Samples were processed according to CDC protocol. Sequencing and phylogenetic analysis of Haemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA) genes was carried out comparing representative isolates from Pakistan viruses. Results: Between Jan2009 - Feb 2016, 1870 (13.2%) samples were positive for influenza A out of 14086. During the pandemic period (2009–10), Influenza A/ H1N1pdm 09 was the dominant strain with 366 (45%) of total influenza positives. In the post-pandemic period (2011–2016), a total of 1066 (59.6%) cases were positive Influenza A/ H1N1pdm 09 with co-circulation of different Influenza A subtypes. Overall, the Pakistan A(H1N1) pdm09 viruses grouped in two genetic clades. Influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 viruses only ascribed to Clade 7 during the pandemic period whereas viruses belong to clade 7 (2011) and clade 6B (2015) during the post-pandemic years. Amino acid analysis of the HA gene revealed mutations at positions S220T, I338V and P100S specially associated with outbreaks in all the analyzed strains. Sequence analyses of post-pandemic A(H1N1)pdm09 viruses showed additional substitutions at antigenic sites; S179N,K180Q (SA), D185N, D239G (CA), S202A (SB) and at receptor binding sites; A13T, S200P when compared with pandemic period. Substitution at Genetic markers; A273T (69%), S200P/T (15%) and D239G (7.6%) associated with severity and E391K (69%) associated with virulence was identified in viruses isolated during 2015. Analysis of NA gene revealed outbreak markers; V106I (23%) among pandemic and N248D (100%) during post-pandemic Pakistan viruses. Additional N-Glycosylation site; HA S179N (23%), NA I23T(7.6%) and N44S (77%) in place of N386K(77%) were only found in post-pandemic viruses. All isolates showed histidine (H) at position 275 in NA indicating sensitivity to neuraminidase inhibitors. Conclusion: This study shows that the Influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 viruses from Pakistan clustered into two genetic clades, with co-circulation of some variants. Certain key substitutions in the receptor binding site and few changes indicative of virulence were also detected in post-pandemic strains. Therefore, it is imperative to continue monitoring of the viruses for early identification of potential variants of high virulence or emergence of drug-resistant variants.

Keywords: Influenza A (H1N1) pdm09, evolutionary analysis, post pandemic period, Pakistan

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Authors: Simona Dostalova, Dita Munzova, Ana Maria Jimenez Jimenez, Marketa Vaculovicova, Vojtech Adam, Rene Kizek

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The boom of nanomedicine in recent years has led to the development of numerous new nanomaterials that can be used as nanocarriers in the drug delivery. These nanocarriers can either be synthetic or natural-based. The disadvantage of many synthetic nanocarriers is their toxicity in patient’s body. Protein cages that can naturally be found in human body do not exhibit such disadvantage. However, the release of cargo from some protein cages in target cells can be problematic. As a special type of protein cages can serve the capsid of many viruses, including phage. Phages infect bacterial cells; therefore they are not harmful to human cells. The targeting of phage particles to cancer cells can be solved by producing of empty phage capsids during which the targeting moieties (e.g. peptides) can be cloned into genes of phage capsid to decorate its surface. Moreover, the produced capsids do not contain viral nucleic acid and are therefore not infectious to beneficial bacteria in the patient’s body. The protein cage composed of viral capsid is larger than other frequently used apoferritin cage but its size is still small enough to benefit from passive targeting by Enhanced Permeability and Retention effect. In this work, bacteriophage λ was used, both whole and its empty capsid for delivery of different cytotoxic drugs (cisplatin, carboplatin, oxaliplatin, etoposide and doxorubicin). Large quantities of phage λ were obtained from phage λ-producing strain of E. coli cultivated in medium with 0.2 % maltose. After killing of E. coli with chloroform and its removal by centrifugation, the phage was concentrated by ultracentrifugation at 130 000 g and 4 °C for 3 h. The encapsulation of the drugs was performed by infusion method and four different concentrations of the drugs were encapsulated (200; 100; 50; 25 µg/ml). Free molecules of drugs were removed by dialysis. The encapsulation was verified using spectrophotometric and electrochemical methods. The amount of encapsulated drug linearly increased with the amount of applied drug (determination coefficient R2=0.8013). 76% of applied drug was encapsulated in phage λ particles (concentration of 10 µg/ml), even with the highest applied concentration of drugs, 200 µg/ml. Only 1% of encapsulated drug was detected in phage DNA. Similar results were obtained with encapsulation in phage empty capsid. Therefore, it can be concluded that the encapsulation of drugs into phage particles is efficient and mostly occurs by interaction of drugs with protein capsid.

Keywords: cytostatics, drug delivery, nanocarriers, phage capsid

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Authors: Aisha Maroof

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Introduction: Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is spreading rapidly around the world with devastating consequences on patients, health care workers and health systems. Severe 2019 novel coronavirus infectious disease (COVID-19) with pneumonia is associated with high rates of admission to the intensive care unit (ICU) and they are at high risk to obtain the hospital acquire bloodstream infection (HAIs) such as central line associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI), catheter associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI) and laboratory confirm bloodstream infection (LCBSI). The chances of infection transmission increase when healthcare worker’s (HCWs) practice is inappropriate. Risk related to hand hygiene (HH) and personal protective equipment (PPE) as regards multidrug-resistant organism transmission: use of multiple gloving instead of HH and incorrect use of PPE can lead to a significant increase of device-related infections. As it reaches low- and middle-income countries, its effects could be even more, because it will be difficult for them to react aggressively to the pandemic. HAIs are one of the biggest medical concerns, resulting in increased mortality rates. Objective: To assess the effect of intervention on compliance of hand hygiene and PPE among HCWs reduce the rate of HAI in COVID-19 patients. Method: An interventional study was done between July to December, 2020. CLABSI, CAUTI and LCBSI data were collected from the medical record and direct observation. There were total of 50 Nurses, 18 doctors and all patients with laboratory-confirmed severe COVID-19 admitted to the hospital were included in this research study. Respiratory tract specimens were obtained after the first 48 h of ICU admission. Practices were observed after and before intervention. Education was provided based on WHO guidelines. Results: During the six months of study July to December, the rate of CLABSI, CAUTI and LCBSI pre and post intervention was reported. CLABSI rate decreasedd from 22.7 to 0, CAUTI rate was decreased from 1.6 to 0, LCBSI declined from 3.3 to 0 after implementation of intervention. Conclusion: HAIs are an important cause of morbidity and mortality. Most of the device related infections occurs due to lack of correct use of PPE and hand hygiene compliance. Hand hygiene and PPE is the most important measure to protect patients, through education it can be improved the correct use of PPE and hand hygiene compliance and can reduce the bacterial infection in COVID-19 patients.

Keywords: hospital acquire infection, healthcare workers, hand hygiene, personal protective equipment

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Authors: Rhommel Grutas, Ishmael Narag, Harley Lacbawan

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Construction of high-rise buildings is a means to address the increasing population in Metro Manila, Philippines. The existence of the Valley Fault System within the metropolis and other nearby active faults poses threats to a densely populated city. The distant, shallow and large magnitude earthquakes have the potential to generate slow and long-period vibrations that would affect medium-to-high rise buildings. Heavy damage and building collapse are consequences of prolonged shaking of the structure. If the ground and the building have almost the same period, there would be a resonance effect which would cause the prolonged shaking of the building. Microzoning the long-period ground response would aid in the seismic design of medium to high-rise structures. The shear-wave velocity structure of the subsurface is an important parameter in order to evaluate ground response. Borehole drilling is one of the conventional methods of determining shear-wave velocity structure however, it is an expensive approach. As an alternative geophysical exploration, microtremor array measurements can be used to infer the structure of the subsurface. Microtremor array measurement system was used to survey fifty sites around Metro Manila including some municipalities of Rizal and Cavite. Measurements were carried out during the day under good weather conditions. The team was composed of six persons for the deployment and simultaneous recording of the microtremor array sensors. The instruments were laid down on the ground away from sewage systems and leveled using the adjustment legs and bubble level. A total of four sensors were deployed for each site, three at the vertices of an equilateral triangle with one sensor at the centre. The circular arrays were set up with a maximum side length of approximately four kilometers and the shortest side length for the smallest array is approximately at 700 meters. Each recording lasted twenty to sixty minutes. From the recorded data, f-k analysis was applied to obtain phase velocity curves. Inversion technique is applied to construct the shear-wave velocity structure. This project provided a microzonation map of the metropolis and a profile showing the long-period response of the deep sedimentary basin underlying Metro Manila which would be suitable for local administrators in their land use planning and earthquake resistant design of medium to high-rise buildings.

Keywords: earthquake, ground motion, microtremor, seismic microzonation

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Authors: Tommaso Adamo, Gianpaolo Ghiani, Antonio Domenico Grieco, Emanuela Guerriero

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Batch production plants provide a wide range of scheduling problems. In pharmaceutical industries a batch process is usually described by a recipe, consisting of an ordering of tasks to produce the desired product. In this research work we focused on pharmaceutical production processes requiring the culture of a microorganism population (i.e. bacteria, yeasts or antibiotics). Several sources of uncertainty may influence the yield of the culture processes, including (i) low performance and quality of the cultured microorganism population or (ii) microbial contamination. For these reasons, robustness is a valuable property for the considered application context. In particular, a robust schedule will not collapse immediately when a cell of microorganisms has to be thrown away due to a microbial contamination. Indeed, a robust schedule should change locally in small proportions and the overall performance measure (i.e. makespan, lateness) should change a little if at all. In this research work we formulated a constraint programming optimization (COP) model for the robust planning of antibiotics production. We developed a discrete-time model with a multi-criteria objective, ordering the different criteria and performing a lexicographic optimization. A feasible solution of the proposed COP model is a schedule of a given set of tasks onto available resources. The schedule has to satisfy tasks precedence constraints, resource capacity constraints and time constraints. In particular time constraints model tasks duedates and resource availability time windows constraints. To improve the schedule robustness, we modeled the concept of (a, b) super-solutions, where (a, b) are input parameters of the COP model. An (a, b) super-solution is one in which if a variables (i.e. the completion times of a culture tasks) lose their values (i.e. cultures are contaminated), the solution can be repaired by assigning these variables values with a new values (i.e. the completion times of a backup culture tasks) and at most b other variables (i.e. delaying the completion of at most b other tasks). The efficiency and applicability of the proposed model is demonstrated by solving instances taken from Sanofi Aventis, a French pharmaceutical company. Computational results showed that the determined super-solutions are near-optimal.

Keywords: constraint programming, super-solutions, robust scheduling, batch process, pharmaceutical industries

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Authors: Anila Hayat

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Pakistan is one of those developing countries that are least involved in emissions but has the most vulnerable environmental conditions. Pakistan is ranked 8th in most affected countries by climate change on the climate risk index 1992-2011. Pakistan is facing severe water shortages and flooding as a result of changes in rainfall patterns, specifically in the least developed areas such as Tharparkar. Nagarparkar, once an attractive tourist spot located in Tharparkar because of its tropical desert climate, is now facing severe drought conditions for the last few decades. This study investigates the present socio-economic situation of local communities, major impacts of droughts and their underlying causes and current mitigation strategies adopted by local communities. The study uses both secondary (quantitative in nature) and primary (qualitative in nature) methods to understand the impacts and explore causes on the socio-economic life of local communities of the study area. The relevant data has been collected through household surveys using structured questionnaires, focus groups and in-depth interviews of key personnel from local and international NGOs to explore the sensitivity of impacts and adaptation to droughts in the study area. This investigation is limited to four rural communities of union council Pilu of Nagarparkar district, including Bheel, BhojaBhoon, Mohd Rahan Ji Dhani and Yaqub Ji Dhani villages. The results indicate that drought has caused significant economic and social hardships for the local communities as more than 60% of the overall population is dependent on rainfall which has been disturbed by irregular rainfall patterns. The decline in Crop yields has forced the local community to migrate to nearby areas in search of livelihood opportunities. Communities have not undertaken any appropriate adaptive actions to counteract the adverse effect of drought; they are completely dependent on support from the government and external aid for survival. Respondents also reported that poverty is a major cause of their vulnerability to drought. An increase in population, limited livelihood opportunities, caste system, lack of interest from the government sector, unawareness shaped their vulnerability to drought and other social issues. Based on the findings of this study, it is recommended that the local authorities shall create awareness about drought hazards and improve the resilience of communities against drought. It is further suggested to develop, introduce and implement water harvesting practices at the community level to promote drought-resistant crops.

Keywords: migration, vulnerability, awareness, Drought

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Authors: Khin Thandar Soe, Mark Stephen Pulham

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Ballistic building materials play a crucial role in ensuring the safety of the occupants within protective structures. Traditional options like Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC)-based walls, including reinforced concrete walls, precast concrete walls, masonry walls, and concrete blocks, are frequently employed for ballistic protection, but they have several drawbacks such as being thick, heavy, costly, and challenging to construct. On the other hand, glass and composite materials offer lightweight and easier construction alternatives, but they come with a high price tag. There has been no reported test data on magnesium-based ballistic wall panels or modular wall systems so far. This paper presents groundbreaking small arms test data related to the development of the world’s first magnesia cement ballistic wall panels and modular wall system. Non-hydraulic magnesia cement exhibits several superior properties, such as lighter weight, flexibility, acoustics, and fire performance, compared to the traditional Portland Cement. However, magnesia cement is hydrophilic and may degrade in prolonged contact with water. In this research, modified magnesia cement for water resistant and durability from UBIQ Technology is applied. The specimens are made of a modified magnesia cement formula and prepared in the Laboratory of UBIQ Technology Pty Ltd. The specimens vary in thickness, and the tests cover various small arms threats in compliance with standards AS/NZS2343 and UL752 and are performed up to the maximum threat level of Classification R2 (NATO) and UL-Level 8(NATO) by the Accredited Test Centre, BMT (Ballistic and Mechanical Testing, VIC, Australia). In addition, the results of the test conducted on the specimens subjected to the small 12mm diameter steel ball projectile impact generated by a gas gun are also presented and discussed in this paper. Gas gun tests were performed in UNSW@ADFA, Canberra, Australia. The tested results of the magnesia panels and wall systems are compared with one of concrete and other wall panels documented in the literature. The conclusion drawn is that magnesia panels and wall systems exhibit several advantages over traditional OPC-based wall systems, and they include being lighter, thinner, and easier to construct, all while providing equivalent protection against threats. This makes magnesia cement-based materials a compelling choice of application where efficiency and performance are critical to create a protective environment.

Keywords: ballistics, small arms, gas gun, projectile, impact, wall panels, modular, magnesia cement

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Authors: Mazoun Nasser Rashid Al Kharusi, Nada Al Siyabi

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Objectives: The main aim of this study is to Find the rate of susceptibility of ESBL E. coli causing UTI to oral antibiotics. Secondary objectives: Prevalence of ESBL E. coli from community urine samples, identify the best empirical oral antibiotics with the least resistance rate for UTI and identify alternative oral antibiotics for testing and utilization. Methods: This study is a retrospective descriptive study of the last three years in five major hospitals in Oman (Khowla Hospital, AN’Nahdha Hospital, Rustaq Hospital, Nizwa Hospital, and Ibri Hospital) equipped with a microbiologist. Inclusion criteria include all eligible outpatient urine culture isolates, excluding isolates from admitted patients with hospital-acquired urinary tract infections. Data was collected through the MOH database. The MOH hospitals are using different types of testing, automated methods like Vitek2 and manual methods. Vitek2 machine uses the principle of the fluorogenic method for organism identification and a turbidimetric method for susceptibility testing. The manual method is done by double disc diffusion for identifying ESBL and the disc diffusion method is for antibiotic susceptibility. All laboratories follow the clinical laboratory science institute (CLSI) guidelines. Analysis was done by SPSS statistical package. Results: Total urine cultures were (23048). E. coli grew in (11637) 49.6% of the urine, whereas (2199) 18.8% of those were confirmed as ESBL. As expected, the resistance rate to amoxicillin and cefuroxime is 100%. Moreover, the susceptibility of those ESBL-producing E. coli to nitrofurantoin, trimethoprim+sulfamethoxazole, ciprofloxacin and amoxicillin-clavulanate is progressing over the years; however, still low. ESBL E. coli was predominating in the female gender and those aged 66-74 years old throughout all the years. Other oral antibiotic options need to be explored and tested so that we add to the pool of oral antibiotics for ESBL E. coli causing UTI in the community. Conclusion: High rate of ESBL E. coli in urine from the community. The high resistance rates to oral antibiotics highlight the need for alternative treatment options for UTIs caused by these bacteria. Further research is needed to identify new and effective treatments for UTIs caused by ESBL-E. Coli.

Keywords: UTI, ESBL, oral antibiotics, E. coli, susceptibility

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Authors: Sanjay Shukla, A. Nayak, R. K. Sharma, A. P. Singh, S. P. Tiwari

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Excessive use of antibiotics is a major problem in the treatment of wounds and other chronic infections, and antibiotic treatment is frequently non-curative, thus alternative treatment is necessary. Phage therapy is considered one of the most promising approaches to treat multi-drug resistant bacterial pathogens. Infections caused by Staphylococcus aureus are very efficiently controlled with phage cocktails, containing a different individual phages lysate infecting a majority of known pathogenic S. aureus strains. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the efficacy of a purified phage cocktail for prophylactic as well as therapeutic application in mouse model and in large animals with chronic septic infection of wounds. A total of 150 sewage samples were collected from various livestock farms. These samples were subjected for the isolation of bacteriophage by the double agar layer method. A total of 27 sewage samples showed plaque formation by producing lytic activity against S. aureus in the double agar overlay method out of 150 sewage samples. In TEM, recovered isolates of bacteriophages showed hexagonal structure with tail fiber. In the bacteriophage (ØVS) had an icosahedral symmetry with the head size 52.20 nm in diameter and long tail of 109 nm. Head and tail were held together by connector and can be classified as a member of the Myoviridae family under the order of Caudovirale. Recovered bacteriophage had shown the antibacterial activity against the S. aureus in vitro. Cocktail (ØVS1, ØVS5, ØVS9, and ØVS 27) of phage lysate were tested to know in vivo antibacterial activity as well as the safety profile. Result of mice experiment indicated that the bacteriophage lysate were very safe, did not show any appearance of abscess formation, which indicates its safety in living system. The mice were also prophylactically protected against S. aureus when administered with cocktail of bacteriophage lysate just before the administration of S. aureuswhich indicates that they are good prophylactic agent. The S. aureusinoculated mice were completely recovered by bacteriophage administration with 100% recovery, which was very good as compere to conventional therapy. In the present study, ten chronic cases of the wound were treated with phage lysate, and follow up of these cases was done regularly up to ten days (at 0, 5, and 10 d). The result indicated that the six cases out of ten showed complete recovery of wounds within 10 d. The efficacy of bacteriophage therapy was found to be 60% which was very good as compared to the conventional antibiotic therapy in chronic septic wounds infections. Thus, the application of lytic phage in single dose proved to be innovative and effective therapy for the treatment of septic chronic wounds.

Keywords: phage therapy, S aureus, antimicrobial resistance, lytic phage, and bacteriophage

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Authors: Kichan Lee, Kwang-Ho Choi, Mi-Hye Hwang, Young Min Son, Bang-Hun Hyun, Byeong Yeal Jung

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Recently, worldwide food safety authorities have been strengthening food hygiene in order to curb foodborne illness outbreaks. The hygiene status of Korean slaughterhouses has been monitored annually by Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency and provincial governments through foodborne pathogens investigation using slaughtered pig and cattle meats. This study presented the prevalence of food-borne pathogens from 2014 to 2016 in Korean slaughterhouses. Sampling, microbiological examinations, and analysis of results were performed in accordance with ‘Processing Standards and Ingredient Specifications for Livestock Products’. In total, swab samples from 337 pig carcasses (100 samples in 2014, 135 samples in 2015, 102 samples in 2016) and 319 cattle carcasses (100 samples in 2014, 119 samples in 2015, 100 samples in 2016) from twenty slaughterhouses were examined for Listeria monocytogenes, Campylobacter jejuni, Campylobacter coli, Salmonella spp., Staphylococcus aureus, Clostridium perfringens, Yersinia enterocolitica, Escherichia coli O157:H7 and non-O157 enterohemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC, serotypes O26, O45, O103, O104, O111, O121, O128 and O145) as foodborne pathogens. The samples were analyzed using cultural and PCR-based methods. Foodborne pathogens were isolated in 78 (23.1%) out of 337 pig samples. In 2014, S. aureus (n=17) was predominant, followed by Y. enterocolitica (n=7), C. perfringens (n=2) and L. monocytogenes (n=2). In 2015, C. coli (n=14) was the most prevalent, followed by L. monocytogenes (n=4), S. aureus (n=3), and C. perfringens (n=2). In 2016, S. aureus (n=16) was the most prevalent, followed by C. coli (n=13), L. monocytogenes (n=2) and C. perfringens (n=1). In case of cattle carcasses, foodborne bacteria were detected in 41 (12.9%) out of 319 samples. In 2014, S. aureus (n=16) was the most prevalent, followed by Y. enterocolitica (n=3), C. perfringens (n=3) and L. monocytogenes (n=2). In 2015, L. monocytogenes was isolated from 4 samples, S. aureus from three, C. perfringens, Y. enterocolitica and Salmonella spp. from one, respectively. In 2016, L. monocytogenes (n=6) was the most prevalent, followed by C. perfringens (n=3) C. jejuni (n=1), respectively. It was found that 10 carcass samples (4 cattle and 6 pigs) were contaminated with two bacterial pathogen tested. Interestingly, foodborne pathogens were more detected from pig carcasses than cattle carcasses. Although S. aureus was predominantly detected in this study, other foodborne pathogens were also isolated in slaughtered meats. Results of this study alerted the risk of foodborne pathogen infection for humans from slaughtered meats. Therefore, the authors insisted that it was important to enhance hygiene level of slaughterhouses according to Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point.

Keywords: carcass, cattle, foodborne, Korea, pathogen, pig

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Authors: Y. Roumila, D. Meziani, R. Bagtache, K. Abdmeziem, M. Trari

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Heterogeneous photocatalysis over semiconductors has proved its effectiveness in the treatment of wastewaters since it works under soft conditions. It has emerged as a promising technique, giving rise to less toxic effluents and offering the opportunity of using sunlight as a sustainable and renewable source of energy. Many compounds have been used as photocatalysts. Though synthesized ones are intensively used, they remain expensive, and their synthesis involves special conditions. We thus thought of implementing a natural material, a phosphate ore, due to its low cost and great availability. Our work is devoted to the removal of hazardous organic pollutants, which cause several environmental problems and health risks. Among them, dye pollutants occupy a large place. This work relates to the study of the photodegradation of methyl violet (MV) and rhodamine B (RhB), in single and binary systems, under UV light and sunlight irradiation. Methyl violet is a triarylmethane dye, while RhB is a heteropolyaromatic dye belonging to the Xanthene family. In the first part of this work, the natural compound was characterized using several physicochemical and photo-electrochemical (PEC) techniques: X-Ray diffraction, chemical, and thermal analyses scanning electron microscopy, UV-Vis diffuse reflectance measurements, and FTIR spectroscopy. The electrochemical and photoelectrochemical studies were performed with a Voltalab PGZ 301 potentiostat/galvanostat at room temperature. The structure of the phosphate material was well characterized. The photo-electrochemical (PEC) properties are crucial for drawing the energy band diagram, in order to suggest the formation of radicals and the reactions involved in the dyes photo-oxidation mechanism. The PEC characterization of the natural phosphate was investigated in neutral solution (Na₂SO₄, 0.5 M). The study revealed the semiconducting behavior of the phosphate rock. Indeed, the thermal evolution of the electrical conductivity was well fitted by an exponential type law, and the electrical conductivity increases with raising the temperature. The Mott–Schottky plot and current-potential J(V) curves recorded in the dark and under illumination clearly indicate n-type behavior. From the results of photocatalysis, in single solutions, the changes in MV and RhB absorbance in the function of time show that practically all of the MV was removed after 240 mn irradiation. For RhB, the complete degradation was achieved after 330 mn. This is due to its complex and resistant structure. In binary systems, it is only after 120 mn that RhB begins to be slowly removed, while about 60% of MV is already degraded. Once nearly all of the content of MV in the solution has disappeared (after about 250 mn), the remaining RhB is degraded rapidly. This behaviour is different from that observed in single solutions where both dyes are degraded since the first minutes of irradiation.

Keywords: environment, organic pollutant, phosphate ore, photodegradation

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Authors: Boce Zhang

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Strategic innovation of nanotechnology to promote food safety has drawn tremendous attentions among research groups, which includes the need for research support during the implementation of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) in the United States. There are urgent demands and knowledge gaps to the understanding of a) food-water-bacteria interface as for how pathogens persist and transmit during food processing and storage; b) minimum processing requirement needed to prevent pathogen cross-contamination in the food system. These knowledge gaps are of critical importance to the food industry. However, the lack of knowledge is largely hindered by the limitations of research tools. Our groups recently endeavored two novel engineering systems with biomimetics and microfluidics as a holistic approach to hazard analysis and risk mitigation, which provided unprecedented research opportunities to study pathogen behavior, in particular, contamination, and cross-contamination, at the critical food-water-pathogen interface. First, biomimetically-patterned surfaces (BPS) were developed to replicate the identical surface topography and chemistry of a natural food surface. We demonstrated that BPS is a superior research tool that empowers the study of a) how pathogens persist through sanitizer treatment, b) how to apply fluidic shear-force and surface tension to increase the vulnerability of the bacterial cells, by detaching them from a protected area, etc. Secondly, microfluidic devices were designed and fabricated to study the bactericidal kinetics in the sub-second time frame (0.1~1 second). The sub-second kinetics is critical because the cross-contamination process, which includes detachment, migration, and reattachment, can occur in a very short timeframe. With this microfluidic device, we were able to simulate and study these sub-second cross-contamination scenarios, and to further investigate the minimum sanitizer concentration needed to sufficiently prevent pathogen cross-contamination during the food processing. We anticipate that the findings from these studies will provide critical insight on bacterial behavior at the food-water-cell interface, and the kinetics of bacterial inactivation from a broad range of sanitizers and processing conditions, thus facilitating the development and implementation of science-based food safety regulations and practices to mitigate the food safety risks.

Keywords: biomimetic materials, microbial food safety, microfluidic device, nanotechnology

Procedia PDF Downloads 355

Authors: Gilda Santos, Rita Marques, Francisca Marques, João Ribeiro, André Fonseca, João M. Miranda, João B. L. M. Campos, Soraia F. Neves

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Every year, an unacceptable number of firefighters are seriously burned during firefighting operations, with some of them eventually losing their life. Although thermal protective clothing research and development has been searching solutions to minimize firefighters heat load and skin burns, currently commercially available solutions focus in solving isolated problems, for example, radiant heat or water-vapor resistance. Therefore, episodes of severe burns and heat strokes are still frequent. Taking this into account, a consortium composed by Portuguese entities has joined synergies to develop an innovative protective clothing system by following a procedure based on the application of numerical models to optimize the design and using a combinationof protective clothing components disposed in different layers. Recently, it has been shown that Phase Change Materials (PCMs) can contribute to the reduction of potential heat hazards in fire extinguish operations, and consequently, their incorporation into firefighting protective clothing has advantages. The greatest challenge is to integrate these materials without compromising garments ergonomics and, at the same time, accomplishing the International Standard of protective clothing for firefighters – laboratory test methods and performance requirements for wildland firefighting clothing. The incorporation of PCMs into the firefighter's protective jacket will result in the absorption of heat from the fire and consequently increase the time that the firefighter can be exposed to it. According to the project studies and developments, to favor a higher use of the PCM storage capacityand to take advantage of its high thermal inertia more efficiently, the PCM layer should be closer to the external heat source. Therefore, in this stage, to integrate PCMs in firefighting clothing, a mock-up of a vest specially designed to protect the torso (back, chest and abdomen) and to be worn over a fire-resistant jacketwas envisaged. Different configurations of PCMs, as well as multilayer approaches, were studied using suitable joining technologies such as bonding, ultrasound, and radiofrequency. Concerning firefighter’s protective clothing, it is important to balance heat protection and flame resistance with comfort parameters, namely, thermaland water-vapor resistances. The impact of the most promising solutions regarding thermal comfort was evaluated to refine the performance of the global solutions. Results obtained with experimental bench scale model and numerical simulation regarding the integration of PCMs in a vest designed as protective clothing for firefighters will be presented.

Keywords: firefighters, multilayer system, phase change material, thermal protective clothing

Procedia PDF Downloads 156

Authors: Xinghui Wu, Chun Yang

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Inertial microfluidics is a competitive fluidic method with applications in separation of particles, cells and bacteria. In contrast to traditional microfluidic devices with low Reynolds number, inertial microfluidics works in the intermediate Re number range which brings about several intriguing inertial effects on particle separation/focusing to meet the throughput requirement in the real-world. Geometric modifications to make channels become irregular shapes can leverage fluid inertia to create complex secondary flow for adjusting the particle equilibrium positions and thus enhance the separation resolution and throughput. Although inertial microfluidics has been extensively studied by experiments, our current understanding of its mechanisms is poor, making it extremely difficult to build rational-design guidelines for the particle focusing locations, especially for irregularly shaped microfluidic channels. Inertial particle microfluidics in irregularly shaped channels were investigated in our group. There are several fundamental issues that require us to address. One of them is about the balance between the inertial lift forces and the secondary drag forces. Also, it is critical to quantitatively describe the dependence of the life forces on particle-particle interactions in irregularly shaped channels, such as a rectangular one. To provide physical insights into the inertial microfluidics in channels of irregular shapes, in this work the immersed boundary-lattice Boltzmann method (IB-LBM) was introduced and validated to explore the transport characteristics and the underlying mechanisms of an inertial focusing single particle in a rectangular microchannel. The transport dynamics of a finitesized particle were investigated over wide ranges of Reynolds number (20 < Re < 500) and particle size. The results show that the inner equilibrium positions are more difficult to occur in the rectangular channel, which can be explained by the secondary flow caused by the presence of a finite-sized particle. Furthermore, force decoupling analysis was utilized to study the effect of each type of lift force on the inertia migration, and a theoretical model for the lateral lift force of a finite-sized particle in the rectangular channel was established. Such theoretical model can be used to provide theoretical guidance for the design and operation of inertial microfluidics.

Keywords: inertial microfluidics, particle focuse, life force, IB-LBM

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Authors: G. A. Gevorgyan, A. S. Mamyan, L. G. Stepanyan, L. R. Hambaryan

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Bacterio- and phytoplankton growth rates in 'Yerevanyan lich' reservoir and the Hrazdan river in Yerevan city, Armenia were investigated in April and June-August, 2015. Phytoplankton sampling and analysis were performed by the standard methods accepted in hydrobiological studies. The quantitative analysis of aerobic, coliform and E. coli bacteria is done by the 'RIDA COUNT' medium sheets (coated with ready-to-use culture medium). The investigations showed that the insufficient management of household discharges in Yerevan city caused the organic and fecal pollution of the Hrazdan river in this area which in turn resulted in an increase in bacterial count and increased sanitary and pathogenic risks to the environment and human health. During the investigation in April, the representatives of diatom algae prevailed quantitatively in the coastal area of 'Yerevanyan lich' reservoir, nevertheless, a significant change in the phytoplankton community in June occurred: due to green algae bloom in the reservoir, the quantitative parameters of phytoplankton increased significantly. This was probably conditioned by a seasonal increase in the water temperature in the conditions of the sufficient concentration of nutrients. However, a succession in phytoplankton groups during July-August occurred, and a dominant group (according to quantitative parameters) in the phytoplankton community was changed as follows: green algae-diatom algae-blue-green algae. Rapid increase in the quantitative parameters of diatom and blue-green algae in the reservoir may have been conditioned by increased organic matter level resulted from green algae bloom. Algal bloom in 'Yerevanyan lich' reservoir caused changes in phytoplankton community and an increase in bacterioplankton count not only in the reservoir but also in the Hrazdan river sites located in the downstream from the reservoir. Thus, the insufficient management of urban discharges and aquatic ecosystems in Yerevan city led to unfavorable changes in water quality and microbial and phytoplankton communities in “Yerevanyan lich” reservoir and the Hrazdan river which in turn caused increased sanitary and pathogenic risks to the environment and human health.

Keywords: algal bloom, bacterioplankton, phytoplankton, Hrazdan river, Yerevanyan lich reservoir

Procedia PDF Downloads 271

Authors: Markus Bredel, Sindhu Nair, Hoa Q. Trummell, Rajani Rajbhandari, Christopher D. Willey, Lewis Z. Shi, Zhuo Zhang, William J. Placzek, James A. Bonner

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Purpose: EGFR-targeted monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) provide clinical benefit in some patients with H&N squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), but others progress with minimal response. Missense mutations in the EGFR ectodomain (ECD) can be acquired under mAb therapy by mimicking the effect of large deletions on receptor untethering and activation. Little is known about the contribution of EGFR ECD mutations to EGFR activation and anti-EGFR response in HNSCC. Methods: We selected patient-derived HNSCC cells (UM-SCC-1) for resistance to mAb Cetuximab (CTX) by repeated, stepwise exposure to mimic what may occur clinically and identified two concurrent EGFR ECD mutations (UM-SCC-1R). We examined the competence of the mutants to bind EGF ligand or CTX. We assessed the potential impact of the mutations through visual analysis of space-filling models of the native sidechains in the original structures vs. their respective side-chain mutations. We performed CRISPR in combination with site-directed mutagenesis to test for the effect of the mutants on ligand-independent EGFR activation and sorting. We determined the effects on receptor internalization, endocytosis, downstream signaling, and radiation sensitivity. Results: UM-SCC-1R cells carried two non-synonymous missense mutations (G33S and N56K) mapping to domain I in or near the EGF binding pocket of the EGFR ECD. Structural modeling predicted that these mutants restrict the adoption of a tethered, inactive EGFR conformation while not permitting association of EGFR with the EGF ligand or CTX. Binding studies confirmed that the mutant, untethered receptor displayed a reduced affinity for both EGF and CTX but demonstrated sustained activation and presence at the cell surface with diminished internalization and sorting for endosomal degradation. Single and double-mutant models demonstrated that the G33S mutant is dominant over the N56K mutant in its effect on EGFR activation and EGF binding. CTX-resistant UM-SCC-1R cells demonstrated cross-resistance to mAb Panitumuab but, paradoxically, remained sensitive to the reversible receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor Erlotinib. Conclusions: HNSCC cells can select for EGFR ECD mutations under EGFR mAb exposure that converge to trap the receptor in an open, constitutively activated state. These mutants impede the receptor’s competence to bind mAbs and EGF ligand and alter its endosomal trafficking, possibly explaining certain cases of clinical mAb and radiation resistance.

Keywords: head and neck cancer, EGFR mutation, resistance, cetuximab

Procedia PDF Downloads 87

Authors: Sheng-Yu Lee

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Aim: Opioid use disorder is often characterized by repetitive drug-seeking and drug-taking behaviors with severe public health consequences. Animal model showed that opioid-induced perturbations in the gut microbiota causally relate to neuroinflammation, deficits in reward responding, and opioid tolerance, possibly due to changes in gut microbiota. Therefore, we propose that the dysbiosis of gut microbiota can be associated with pathogenesis of opioid dependence. In this current study, we explored the differences in gut microbiota between patients and normal controls and in patients before and after initiation of methadone treatment program for 12 weeks. Methods: Patients with opioid use disorder between 20 and 65 years were recruited from the methadone maintenance outpatient clinic in 2 medical centers in the Southern Taiwan. Healthy controls without any family history of major psychiatric disorders (schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and major depressive disorder) were recruited from the community. After initial screening, 15 patients with opioid use disorder joined the study for initial evaluation (Week 0), 12 of them completed the 12-week follow-up while receiving methadone treatment and ceased heroin use (Week 12). Fecal samples were collected from the patients at baseline and the end of 12th week. A one-time fecal sample was collected from the healthy controls. The microbiota of fecal samples were investigated using 16S rRNA V3V4 amplicon sequencing, followed by bioinformatics and statistical analyses. Results: We found no significant differences in species diversity in opioid dependent patients between Week 0 and Week 12, nor compared between patients at both points and controls. For beta diversity, using principal component analysis, we found no significant differences between patients at Week 0 and Week 12, however, both patient groups showed significant differences compared to control (P=0.011). Furthermore, the linear discriminant analysis effect size (LEfSe) analysis was used to identify differentially enriched bacteria between opioid use patients and healthy controls. Compared to controls, the relative abundance of Lactobacillaceae Lactobacillus (L. Lactobacillus), Megasphaera Megasphaerahexanoica (M. Megasphaerahexanoica) and Caecibacter Caecibactermassiliensis (C Caecibactermassiliensis) were increased in patients at Week 0, while Coriobacteriales Atopobiaceae (C. Atopobiaceae), Acidaminococcus Acidaminococcusintestini (A. Acidaminococcusintestini) and Tractidigestivibacter Tractidigestivibacterscatoligenes (T. Tractidigestivibacterscatoligenes) were increased in patients at Week 12. Conclusion: In conclusion, we suggest that the gut microbiome community maybe linked to opioid use disorder, such differences may not be altered even after 12-week of cessation of opioid use.

Keywords: opioid use disorder, gut microbiota, methadone treatment, follow up study

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Authors: F. Ainlhout, S. Boutaleb, M. C. Diaz-Barradas, M. Zunzunegui

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Argania spinosa is an endemic tree of the southwest of Morocco, occupying 828,000 Ha, distributed mainly between Mediterranean vegetation and the desert. This tree can grow in extremely arid regions in Morocco, where annual rainfall ranges between 100-300 mm where no other tree species can live. It has been designated as a UNESCO Biosphere reserve since 1998. Argania tree is of great importance in human and animal feeding of rural population as well as for oil production, it is considered as a multi-usage tree. Admine forest located in the suburbs of Agadir city, 5 km inland, was selected to conduct this work. The aim of the study was to investigate the temporal variation in root-zone moisture dynamic in response to variation in climatic conditions and vegetation water uptake, using a geophysical technique called Electrical resistivity imaging (ERI). This technique discriminates resistive woody roots, dry and moisture soil. Time-dependent measurements (from April till July) of resistivity sections were performed along the surface transect (94 m Length) at 2 m fixed electrode spacing. Transect included eight Argan trees. The interactions between the tree and soil moisture were estimated by following the tree water status variations accompanying the soil moisture deficit. For that purpose we measured midday leaf water potential and relative water content during each sampling day, and for the eight trees. The first results showed that ERI can be used to accurately quantify the spatiotemporal distribution of root-zone moisture content and woody root. The section obtained shows three different layers: middle conductive one (moistured); a moderately resistive layer corresponding to relatively dry soil (calcareous formation with intercalation of marly strata) on top, this layer is interspersed by very resistant layer corresponding to woody roots. Below the conductive layer, we find the moderately resistive layer. We note that throughout the experiment, there was a continuous decrease in soil moisture at the different layers. With the ERI, we can clearly estimate the depth of the woody roots, which does not exceed 4 meters. In previous work on the same species, analyzing the δ18O in water of xylem and in the range of possible water sources, we argued that rain is the main water source in winter and spring, but not in summer, trees are not exploiting deep water from the aquifer as the popular assessment, instead of this they are using soil water at few meter depth. The results of the present work confirm the idea that the roots of Argania spinosa are not growing very deep.

Keywords: Argania spinosa, electrical resistivity imaging, root system, soil moisture

Procedia PDF Downloads 324

Authors: Joulié Aurélien, Jourdain Elsa, Bailly Xavier, Gasqui Patrick, Yang Elise, Leblond Agnès, Rousset Elodie, Sidi-Boumedine Karim

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Q fever is a worldwide zoonosis caused by the gram-negative obligate intracellular bacterium Coxiella burnetii. Following the recent outbreaks in the Netherlands, a hyper virulent clone was found to be the cause of severe human cases of Q fever. In livestock, Q fever clinical manifestations are mainly abortions. Although the abortion rates differ between ruminant species, C. burnetii’s virulence remains understudied, especially in enzootic areas. In this study, the infectious potential of three C. burnetii isolates collected from French farms of small ruminants were compared to the reference strain Nine Mile (in phase II and in an intermediate phase) using an in vivo (CD1 mice) model. Mice were challenged with 105 live bacteria discriminated by propidium monoazide-qPCR targeting the icd-gene. After footpad inoculation, spleen and popliteal lymph node were harvested at 10 days post-inoculation (p.i). The strain invasiveness in spleen and popliteal nodes was assessed by qPCR assays targeting the icd-gene. Preliminary results showed that the avirulent strains (in phase 2) failed to pass the popliteal barrier and then to colonize the spleen. This model allowed a significant differentiation between strain’s invasiveness on biological host and therefore identifying distinct virulence profiles. In view of these results, we plan to go further by testing fifteen additional C. burnetii isolates from French farms of sheep, goat and cattle by using the above-mentioned in vivo model. All 15 strains display distant MLVA (multiple-locus variable-number of tandem repeat analysis) genotypic profiles. Five of the fifteen isolates will bee also tested in vitro on ovine and bovine macrophage cells. Cells and supernatants will be harvested at day1, day2, day3 and day6 p.i to assess in vitro multiplication kinetics of strains. In conclusion, our findings might help the implementation of surveillance of virulent strains and ultimately allow adapting prophylaxis measures in livestock farms.

Keywords: Q fever, invasiveness, ruminant, virulence

Procedia PDF Downloads 357

Authors: Roya Vakili, Lekaa Elhajjmoussa, Barzin Omidi-Shal, Kim Blake

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Objective: The purpose of this case report is to highlight the successful treatment of a patient with Coloboma, Heart defect, Atresia choanae, Retarded growth and development, Genital hypoplasia, Ear anomalies/deafness, (CHARGE syndrome) using a vagal nerve stimulator (VNS). Background: This is the first documented case report, to the authors' best knowledge, for a patient with CHARGE syndrome, epilepsy, autism, and postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) that was successfully treated with an implanted VNS therapeutic device. Methodology: The study is a case report. Results: This is the case of a 24-year-old female patient with CHARGE syndrome (non-random association of anomalies Coloboma, Heart defect, Atresia choanae, Retarded growth and development, Genital hypoplasia, Ear anomalies/deafness) and several other comorbidities including refractory epilepsy, Patent Ductus Arteriosus (PDA) and POTS who had significant improvement of her symptoms after VNS implantation. She was a VNS candidate given her longstanding history of drug-resistant epilepsy and current disposition secondary to CHARGE syndrome. Prior to VNS implantation, she experienced three generalized seizures a year and daily POTS-related symptoms. She was having frequent lightheadedness and syncope spells due to a rapid heart rate and low blood pressure. The VNS device was set to detect a rapid heart rate and send appropriate stimulation anytime the heart rate exceeded 20% of the patient’s normal baseline. The VNS device demonstrated frequent elevated heart rates and concurrent VNS release every 8 minutes in addition to the programmed events. Following VNS installation, the patient became more active, alert, and communicative and was able to verbally communicate with words she was unable to say prior. Her GI symptoms also improved, as she was able to tolerate food better orally in addition to her G and J tube, likely another result of the vagal nerve stimulation. Additionally, the patient’s seizures and POTS-related cardiac events appeared to be well controlled. She had prolonged electroencephalogram (EEG) testing, showing no significant change in epileptiform activity. Improvements in the patient’s disposition are believed to be secondary to parasympathetic stimulation, adequate heart rate control, and GI stimulation, in addition to behavioral changes and other benefits via her implanted VNS. Conclusion: VNS showed promising results in improving the patient's quality of life and managing her diverse symptoms, including dysautonomia, POTs, gastrointestinal mobility, cognitive functioning as well seizure control.

Keywords: autism, POTs, CHARGE, VNS

Procedia PDF Downloads 81

Authors: Regiane A. Oliveira, Carlos E. Vaz Rossell, Rubens Maciel Filho

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Lactic acid, besides a valuable chemical may be considered a platform for other chemicals. In fact, the feasibility of hemicellulosic sugars as feedstock for lactic acid production process, may represent the drop of some of the barriers for the second generation bioproducts, especially bearing in mind the 5-carbon sugars from the pre-treatment of sugarcane bagasse. Bearing this in mind, the purpose of this study was to use the hemicellulosic liquor from sugarcane bagasse as a substrate to produce lactic acid by fermentation. To release of sugars from hemicellulose it was made a pre-treatment with a diluted sulfuric acid in order to obtain a xylose's rich liquor with low concentration of inhibiting compounds for fermentation (≈ 67% of xylose, ≈ 21% of glucose, ≈ 10% of cellobiose and arabinose, and around 1% of inhibiting compounds as furfural, hydroxymethilfurfural and acetic acid). The hemicellulosic sugars associated with 20 g/L of yeast extract were used in a fermentation process with Lactobacillus plantarum to produce lactic acid. The fermentation process pH was controlled with automatic injection of Ca(OH)2 to keep pH at 6.00. The lactic acid concentration remained stable from the time when the glucose was depleted (48 hours of fermentation), with no further production. While lactic acid is produced occurs the concomitant consumption of xylose and glucose. The yield of fermentation was 0.933 g lactic acid /g sugars. Besides, it was not detected the presence of by-products, what allows considering that the microorganism uses a homolactic fermentation to produce its own energy using pentose-phosphate pathway. Through facultative heterofermentative metabolism the bacteria consume pentose, as is the case of L. plantarum, but the energy efficiency for the cell is lower than during the hexose consumption. This implies both in a slower cell growth, as in a reduction in lactic acid productivity compared with the use of hexose. Also, L. plantarum had shown to have a capacity for lactic acid production from hemicellulosic hydrolysate without detoxification, which is very attractive in terms of robustness for an industrial process. Xylose from hydrolyzed bagasse and without detoxification is consumed, although the hydrolyzed bagasse inhibitors (especially aromatic inhibitors) affect productivity and yield of lactic acid. The use of sugars and the lack of need for detoxification of the C5 liquor from sugarcane bagasse hydrolyzed is a crucial factor for the economic viability of second generation processes. Taking this information into account, the production of second generation lactic acid using sugars from hemicellulose appears to be a good alternative to the complete utilization of sugarcane plant, directing molasses and cellulosic carbohydrates to produce 2G-ethanol, and hemicellulosic carbohydrates to produce 2G-lactic acid.

Keywords: fermentation, lactic acid, hemicellulosic sugars, sugarcane

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Authors: Saddam Husain Dhobi, Bikrant Karki

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The main objective of this paper is save money, balance ecosystem of the terrestrial organism, control global warming, and enhancing the storage capacity of the battery with requiring weight and thinness by using Cyanobacteria in the battery. To fulfill this purpose of paper we can use different methods: Analysis, Biological, Chemistry, theoretical and Physics with some engineering design. Using this different method, we can produce the special type of battery that has the long life, high storage capacity, and clean environment, save money so on and by using the byproduct of Cyanobacteria i.e. glucose. Cyanobacteria are a special type of bacteria that produces different types of extracellular glucoses and oxygen with the help of little sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide and can survive in freshwater, marine and in the land as well. In this process, O₂ is more in the comparison to plant due to rapid growth rate of Cyanobacteria. The required materials are easily available in this process to produce glucose with the help of Cyanobacteria. Since CO₂, is greenhouse gas that causes the global warming? We can utilize this gas and save our ecological balance and the byproduct (glucose) C₆H₁₂O₆ can be utilized for raw material for the battery where as O₂ escape is utilized by living organism. The glucose produce by Cyanobateria goes on Krebs's Cycle or Citric Acid Cycle, in which glucose is complete, oxidizes and all the available energy from glucose molecule has been release in the form of electron and proton as energy. If we use a suitable anodes and cathodes, we can capture these electrons and protons to produce require electricity current with the help of byproduct of Cyanobacteria. According to "Virginia Tech Bio-battery" and "Sony" 13 enzymes and the air is used to produce nearly 24 electrons from a single glucose unit. In this output power of 0.8 mW/cm, current density of 6 mA/cm, and energy storage density of 596 Ah/kg. This last figure is impressive, at roughly 10 times the energy density of the lithium-ion batteries in your mobile devices. When we use Cyanobacteria in battery, we are able to reduce Carbon dioxide, Stop global warming, and enhancing the storage capacity of battery more than 10 times that of lithium battery, saving money, balancing ecology. In this way, we can produce energy from the Cyanobacteria and use it in battery for different benefits. In addition, due to the mass, size and easy cultivation, they are better to maintain the size of battery. Hence, we can use Cyanobacteria for the battery having suitable size, enhancing the storing capacity of battery, helping the environment, portability and so on.

Keywords: anode, byproduct, cathode, cyanobacteri, glucose, storage capacity

Procedia PDF Downloads 337

Authors: Aldila Dyas Nurfitri

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Nowadays, leadership has became the one of main issues in forming organization groups even countries. The concept of a social contract between the leaders and subordinates become one of the explanations for the leadership process. The interests of the two parties are not always the same, but they must work together to achieve both goals. Based on the concept at the previous it comes “The Leader Member Exchange Theory”—well known as LMX Theory, which assumes that leadership is a process of social interaction interplay between the leaders and their subordinates. High-quality LMX relationships characterized by a high carrying capacity, informal supervision, confidence, and power negotiation enabled, whereas low-quality LMX relationships are described by low support, large formal supervision, less or no participation of subordinates in decision-making, and less confidence as well as the attention of the leader Application of formal supervision system in a low LMX behavior was in line with strict controls on toxic leadership model. Leaders must be able to feel toxic control all aspects of the organization every time. Leaders with this leadership model does not give autonomy to the staff. This behavior causes stagnation and make a resistant organizational culture in an organization. In Indonesia, the pattern of toxic leadership later evolved into a dysfunctional system that is growing rapidly. One consequence is the emergence of corrupt behavior. According to Kellerman, corruption is defined as a pattern and some subordinates behave lie, cheat or steal to a degree that goes beyond the norm, they put self-interest than the common good.According to the corruption data in Indonesia based on the results of ICW research on 2012 showed that the local government sector ranked first with 177 cases. Followed by state or local enterprises as much as 41 cases. LMX is defined as the quality of the relationship between superiors and subordinates are implications for the effectiveness and progress of the organization. The assumption of this theory that leadership as a process of social interaction interplay between the leaders and his followers are characterized by a number of dimensions, such as affection, loyalty, contribution, and professional respect. Meanwhile, the toxic leadership is dysfunctional leadership in organization that is led by someone with the traits are not able to adjust, do not have integrity, malevolent, evil, and full of discontent marked by a number of characteristics, such as self-centeredness, exploiting others, controlling behavior, disrespecting others, suppress innovation and creativity of employees, and inadequate emotional intelligence. The leaders with some characteristics, such as high self-centeredness, exploiting others, controlling behavior, and disrespecting others, tends to describe a low LMX relationships directly with subordinates compared with low self-centeredness, exploiting others, controlling behavior, and disrespecting others. While suppress innovation and creativity of employees aspect and inadequate emotional intelligence, tend not to give direct effect to the low quality of LMX.

Keywords: leader-member exchange, toxic leadership, leadership

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Authors: Aasaithambi Kalaiselvi, Michael Gabriel Paulraj, Ekambaram Nakkeeran

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Emergences of mosquito vector-borne diseases are considered as a perpetual problem globally in tropical countries. The outbreak of several diseases such as chikungunya, zika virus infection and dengue fever has created a massive threat towards the living population. Frequent usage of synthetic insecticides like Dichloro Diphenyl Trichloroethane (DDT) eventually had its adverse harmful effects on humans as well as the environment. Since there are no perennial vaccines, prevention, treatment or drugs available for these pathogenic vectors, WHO is more concerned in eradicating their breeding sites effectively without any side effects on humans and environment by approaching plant-derived natural eco-friendly bio-insecticides. The aim of this study is to investigate the larvicidal potency of Cinnamomum verum essential oil (CEO) loaded niosomes. Cholesterol and surfactant variants of Span 20, 60 and 80 were used in synthesizing CEO loaded niosomes using Transmembrane pH gradient method. The synthesized CEO loaded niosomes were characterized by Zeta potential, particle size, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR), GC-MS and SEM analysis to evaluate charge, size, functional properties, the composition of secondary metabolites and morphology. The Z-average size of the formed niosomes was 1870.84 nm and had good stability with zeta potential -85.3 meV. The entrapment efficiency of the CEO loaded niosomes was determined by UV-Visible Spectrophotometry. The bio-potency of CEO loaded niosomes was treated and assessed against gram-positive (Bacillus subtilis) and gram-negative (Escherichia coli) bacteria and fungi (Aspergillus fumigatus and Candida albicans) at various concentrations. The larvicidal activity was evaluated against II to IV instar larvae of Aedes aegypti, Anopheles stephensi and Culex quinquefasciatus at various concentrations for 24 h. The mortality rate of LC₅₀ and LC₉₀ values were calculated. The results exhibited that CEO loaded niosomes have greater efficiency against mosquito larvicidal activity. The results suggest that niosomes could be used in various applications of biotechnology and drug delivery systems with greater stability by altering the drug of interest.

Keywords: Cinnamomum verum, niosomes, entrapment efficiency, bactericidal and fungicidal, mosquito larvicidal activity

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Authors: Muhammad Younas, Zimal Naveed

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Introduction : TB is caused by the bacillus Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which is spread when people who are sick with TB expel bacteria into the air (e.g. by coughing). The 30 high TB burden countries accounted for 87% of all estimated incident cases worldwide, and eight of these countries accounted for more than two thirds of the global total: India (27%), Indonesia (10%), China (7.1%), the Philippines (7.0%), Pakistan (5.7%), Nigeria (4.5%), Bangladesh (3.6%) and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (3.0%). Objective : To analyze prevalence of tuberculosis among the people who presented at THQ hospital Bhalwal between April 2024 to June 2024. Method : Total of 9200 patients presented in the OPD of THQ hospital Bhalwal were included in the study. These presumed cases underwent diagnostic testing by sputum for AFB, Gene expert and chest x rays. The data was then classified based Pulmonary and Extra-pulmonary TB disease and further classified on the basis of bacteriology positive and clinically diagnosed TB. The registered TB cases were then classified in 8 age groups in years and according to the gender. All the registered TB cases were then tested for HIV to observe the relation between Tuberculosis and HIV. Results : The total of 9200 patients presented to OPD during the period of 3 months between April 2024 to June 2024. Total registered cases of Tuberculosis were 161 (comprising 153 new cases and 8 cases after treatment failure). Out of the new cases 83 were males and 70 female cases were identified. The majority of males that were identified lies between age 55-64 and 65 and above while the majority of females that were diagnosed lies in the age group of 5-14 and 15-24. All the registered cases were then tested for HIV but none of them were found to be positive. Conclusion : According to World Health Organisation Global Tuberculosis Report, the incidence of Tubeculosis per 100000 people was 258, equivalent to 0.258 %. However, the study reveals an exceptionally high frequency of TB cases. The prevalence of Tuberculosis per 100000 people was found to be 1750 which is equivalent to 1.75 %. The study revealed that larger proportion of the population is currently affected by TB compared to the global average incidence reported by the WHO. The findings of the study indicates that the prevalence of tuberculosis (TB) among females is most common in the younger population, specifically between the ages of 5 to 24, and particularly within the peak fertility age group of 15 to 24 years. The health of women in their peak fertility years is crucial for maternal and child health outcomes. This highlights the need for targeted public health interventions in this area to manage and reduce the burden of TB.

Keywords: AGE, AFB, female, male

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Authors: Recep Kesli, Huseyin Bilgin, Yasar Unlu, Gokhan Gungor

Abstract:

Aim: The aim of this study was to compare diagnostic values of two different molecular-based tests (GenoType® HelicoDR ve Seeplex® H. pylori-ClaR- ACE Detection) in detection presence of the H. pylori from gastric biopsy specimens. In addition to this also was aimed to determine resistance ratios of H. pylori strains against to clarytromycine and quinolone isolated from gastric biopsy material cultures by using both the genotypic (GenoType® HelicoDR, Seeplex ® H. pylori -ClaR- ACE Detection) and phenotypic (gradient strip, E-test) methods. Material and methods: A total of 266 patients who admitted to Konya Education and Research Hospital Department of Gastroenterology with dyspeptic complaints, between January 2011-June 2013, were included in the study. Microbiological and histopathological examinations of biopsy specimens taken from antrum and corpus regions were performed. The presence of H. pylori in all the biopsy samples was investigated by five differnt dignostic methods together: culture (C) (Portagerm pylori-PORT PYL, Pylori agar-PYL, GENbox microaer, bioMerieux, France), histology (H) (Giemsa, Hematoxylin and Eosin staining), rapid urease test (RUT) (CLOtest, Cimberly-Clark, USA), and two different molecular tests; GenoType® HelicoDR, Hain, Germany, based on DNA strip assay, and Seeplex ® H. pylori -ClaR- ACE Detection, Seegene, South Korea, based on multiplex PCR. Antimicrobial resistance of H. pylori isolates against clarithromycin and levofloxacin was determined by GenoType® HelicoDR, Seeplex ® H. pylori -ClaR- ACE Detection, and gradient strip (E-test, bioMerieux, France) methods. Culture positivity alone or positivities of both histology and RUT together was accepted as the gold standard for H. pylori positivity. Sensitivity and specificity rates of two molecular methods used in the study were calculated by taking the two gold standards previously mentioned. Results: A total of 266 patients between 16-83 years old who 144 (54.1 %) were female, 122 (45.9 %) were male were included in the study. 144 patients were found as culture positive, and 157 were H and RUT were positive together. 179 patients were found as positive with GenoType® HelicoDR and Seeplex ® H. pylori -ClaR- ACE Detection together. Sensitivity and specificity rates of studied five different methods were found as follows: C were 80.9 % and 84.4 %, H + RUT were 88.2 % and 75.4 %, GenoType® HelicoDR were 100 % and 71.3 %, and Seeplex ® H. pylori -ClaR- ACE Detection were, 100 % and 71.3 %. A strong correlation was found between C and H+RUT, C and GenoType® HelicoDR, and C and Seeplex ® H. pylori -ClaR- ACE Detection (r:0.644 and p:0.000, r:0.757 and p:0.000, r:0.757 and p:0.000, respectively). Of all the isolated 144 H. pylori strains 24 (16.6 %) were detected as resistant to claritromycine, and 18 (12.5 %) were levofloxacin. Genotypic claritromycine resistance was detected only in 15 cases with GenoType® HelicoDR, and 6 cases with Seeplex ® H. pylori -ClaR- ACE Detection. Conclusion: In our study, it was concluded that; GenoType® HelicoDR and Seeplex ® H. pylori -ClaR- ACE Detection was found as the most sensitive diagnostic methods when comparing all the investigated other ones (C, H, and RUT).

Keywords: Helicobacter pylori, GenoType® HelicoDR, Seeplex ® H. pylori -ClaR- ACE Detection, antimicrobial resistance

Procedia PDF Downloads 156

Authors: Iva Blazkova, Amitava Moulick, Vedran Milosavljevic, Pavel Kopel, Marketa Vaculovicova, Vojtech Adam, Rene Kizek

Abstract:

Doxorubicin is one of the most commonly used and the most effective chemotherapeutic drugs. This antracycline drug isolated from the bacteria Streptomyces peuceticus var. caesius is sold under the trade name Adriamycin (hydroxydaunomycin, hydroxydaunorubicin). Doxorubicin is used in single therapy to treat hematological malignancies (blood cancers, leukaemia, lymphoma), many types of carcinoma (solid tumors) and soft tissue sarcomas. It has many serious side effects like nausea and vomiting, hair lost, myelosupression, oral mucositis, skin reactions and redness, but the most serious one is the cardiotoxicity. Because of the risk of heart attack and congestive heart failure, the total dose administered to patients has to be accurately monitored. With the aim to lower the side effects and to targeted delivery of doxorubicin into the tumor tissue, the different nanoparticles are studied. The drug can be bound on a surface of nanoparticle, encapsulated in the inner cavity, or incorporated into the structure of nanoparticle. Among others, carbon nanoparticles (graphene, carbon nanotubes, fullerenes) are highly studied. Besides the number of inorganic nanoparticles, a great potential exhibit also organic ones mainly lipid-based and polymeric nanoparticle. The aim of this work was to perform a toxicity study of free doxorubicin compared to doxorubicin conjugated with various nanotransporters. The effect of liposomes, fullerenes, graphene, and carbon nanotubes on the toxicity was analyzed. As a first step, the binding efficacy of between doxorubicin and the nanotransporter was determined. The highest efficacy was detected in case of liposomes (85% of applied drug was encapsulated) followed by graphene, carbon nanotubes and fullerenes. For the toxicological studies, the chicken embryos incubated under controlled conditions (37.5 °C, 45% rH, rotation every 2 hours) were used. In 7th developmental day of chicken embryos doxorubicin or doxorubicin-nanotransporter complex was applied on the chorioallantoic membrane of the eggs and the viability was analyzed every day till the 17th developmental day. Then the embryos were extracted from the shell and the distribution of doxorubicin in the body was analyzed by measurement of organs extracts using laser induce fluorescence detection. The chicken embryo mortality caused by free doxorubicin (30%) was significantly lowered by using the conjugation with nanomaterials. The highest accumulation of doxorubicin and doxorubicin nanotransporter complexes was observed in the liver tissue

Keywords: doxorubicin, chicken embryos, nanotransporters, toxicity

Procedia PDF Downloads 445

Authors: Rachael Bentley, Callahan Gergen, Brodie Thiede

Abstract:

Roadways have a significant impact on the environment in so far as they function as barriers to wildlife movement, both through road mortality and through resultant road avoidance. Roads have an im-mense presence worldwide, and it is predicted to increase substantially in the next thirty years. As roadways become even more common, it is important to consider their environmental impact, and to mitigate the negative effects which they have on wildlife and wildlife mobility. In a thorough analysis of several related studies, a common conclusion was that roads cause habitat fragmentation, which can lead split populations to evolve differently, for better or for worse. Though some populations adapted positively to roadways, becoming more resistant to road mortality, and more tolerant to noise and chemical contamination, many others experienced maladaptation, either due to chemical contamination in and around their environment, or because of genetic mutations from inbreeding when their population was fragmented too substantially to support a large enough group for healthy genetic exchange. Large mammals were especially susceptible to maladaptation from inbreed-ing, as they require larger areas to roam and therefore require even more space to sustain a healthy population. Regardless of whether a species evolved positively or negatively as a result of their proximity to a road, animals tended to avoid roads, making the genetic diversity from habitat fragmentation an exceedingly prevalent issue in the larger discussion of road ecology. Additionally, the consideration of solu-tions, such as overpasses and underpasses, is crucial to ensuring the long term survival of many wildlife populations. In studies addressing the effectiveness of overpasses and underpasses, it seemed as though animals adjusted well to these sorts of solutions, but strategic place-ment, as well as proper sizing, proper height, shelter from road noise, and other considerations were important in construction. When an underpass or overpass was well-built and well-shielded from human activity, animals’ usage of the structure increased significantly throughout its first five years, thus reconnecting previously divided populations. Still, these structures are costly and they are often unable to fully address certain issues such as light, noise, and contaminants from vehicles. Therefore, the need for further discussion of new, crea-tive solutions remains paramount. Roads are one of the most consistent and prominent features of today’s landscape, but their environmental impacts are largely overlooked. While roads are useful for connecting people, they divide landscapes and animal habitats. Therefore, further research and investment in possible solutions is necessary to mitigate the negative effects which roads have on wildlife mobility and to pre-vent issues from resultant habitat fragmentation.

Keywords: fences, habitat fragmentation, roadways, wildlife mobility

Procedia PDF Downloads 167