TOXICITY OF PREDNISOLONE, DEXAMETHASONE AND THEIR PHOTOCHEMICAL DERIVATIVES ON AQUATIC ORGANISMS

Light exposure of aqueous suspensions of prednisolone and dexamethasone causes their partial phototransformation. The photoproducts, isolated by chromatographic techniques, have been identified by spectroscopic means. Prednisolone, dexamethasone and their photoproducts have been tested to evaluate their acute and chronic toxic effects on some freshwater chain organisms. The rotifer Brachionus calyciflorus and the crustaceans Thamnocephalus platyurus and Daphnia magna were chosen to perform acute toxicity tests, while the alga Pseudokircheneriella subcapitata (formerly known as Selenastrum capricornutum) and the crustacean Ceriodaphnia dubia to perform chronic tests. The photochemical derivatives are more toxic than the parent compounds. Generally low acute toxicity was found. Chronic exposure to this class of pharmaceuticals caused inhibition of growth population on the freshwater crustacean C. dubia while the alga P. subcapitata seems to be less affected by the presence of these drugs

Criminogenic and harm-enabling features of social media platforms: the case of sharenting practices

Sharenting – that is, the sharing of identifying and sensitive information of minors, who are often overexposed online by parents or guardians – has, at times, criminogenic potential, as the information shared can enable both heinous crimes and other types of harmful conducts. While most research on sharenting has focused on the sharenters and their agency, there is a gap in addressing whether and to what extent social media platforms display criminogenic or other harm-enabling features that can render sharenting risky for affected minors. By relying on a adapted crime proofing of legislation approach, our contribution analyses the self-regulations (in the form of corporate documents and forms of self-organisation) of five major social media platforms, and identifies several risks and vulnerabilities to harmful sharenting practices embedded in the platforms’ policies. In doing so, the study demonstrates how criminological imagination can effectively contribute to the multidisciplinary debates on digital ecosystems and their regulation, paving the way for a reduction of criminogenic and harming opportunities online

Search for heavy mass diboson resonances in the ATLAS experiment

Searches for high mass resonances decaying in a couple of vectorial bosons (Z or W) are presented. The results refer to an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb−1 recorded with the ATLAS detector in 2015–2016 at √s = 13 TeV at the Large Hadron Collider. Final states in which one boson decays in leptons and the other one decays in hadrons are considered. Also fully hadronic final states are considered. These results are interpreted within the context of Standard Model extensions with additional Higgs bosons, a heavy vector triplet or warped extra dimensions

Natural methoxyphenol compounds: Antimicrobial activity against foodborne pathogens and food spoilage bacteria, and role in antioxidant processes

The antibacterial and antioxidant activities of three methoxyphenol phytometabolites, eugenol, capsaicin, and vanillin, were determined. The in vitro antimicrobial potential was tested on three common foodborne pathogens (Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus) and three food spoilage bacteria (Shewanella putrefaciens, Brochothrix thermosphacta, and Lactobacillus plantarum). The antioxidant assays were carried out for studying the free radical scavenging capacity and the anti-lipoperoxidant activity. The results showed that eugenol and capsaicin were the most active against both pathogens and spoilage bacteria. S. aureus was one of the most affected strains (median concentration of growth inhibition: IC50 eugenol = 0.75 mM; IC50 capsaicin = 0.68 mM; IC50 vanillin = 1.38 mM). All phytochemicals slightly inhibited the growth of L. plantarum. Eugenol was the most active molecule in the antioxidant assays. Only in the oxygen radical absorbing capacity (ORAC) test did vanillin show an antioxidant activity comparable to eugenol (eugenol ORAC value = 2.12 ± 0.08; vanillin ORAC value = 1.81 ± 0.19). This study, comparing the antimicrobial and antioxidant activities of three guaiacol derivatives, enhances their use in future applications as food additives for contrasting both common pathogens and spoilage bacteria and for improving the shelf life of preserved food

Chemical fate and genotoxic risk associated with hypochlorite treatment of nicotine

Nicotine, the main alkaloid of tobacco, is a non-prescription drug to which all members of a tobacco-smoking society are exposed either through direct smoke inhalation or through second-hand passive 'smoking'. Nicotine is also commercially available in some pharmaceutical products and is used worldwide as a botanical insecticide in agriculture. Nicotine dynamics in indoor and outdoor environments as well as the human excretions and the manufacturing process are responsible for its entry in the environment through municipal and industrial wastewater discharges. The presence of nicotine in surface and ground waters points out that it survives a conventional treatment process and persists in potable-water supplies. Complete removal of nicotine is instead reported when additional chlorination steps are used. In this paper a simulation of STP chlorination of nicotine and a genotoxic evaluation of its main degradation products are reported. Under laboratory conditions removal of nicotine seems not to be due to mineralization but to transformation in oxidized and chlorinated products. The by-products have been isolated after fractionation by diverse chromatographic procedures and their structures determined using mass spectrometry and H-1 and C-13 NMR spectroscopy. Preliminary genotoxic SOS Chromotests with Escherichia coil PQ37 evidence no toxicity of the products. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Acyclovir eco-geno-toxicity in freshwater organisms

: This study explores the eco-geno-toxic impact of Acyclovir (ACV), a widely used antiviral drug, on various freshwater organisms, given its increasing detection in surface waters. The research focused on non-target organisms, including the green alga Raphidocelis subcapitata, the rotifer Brachionus calyciflorus, the cladoceran crustacean Ceriodaphnia dubia, and the benthic ostracod Heterocypris incongruens, exposed to ACV to assess both acute and chronic toxicity. The results indicate that while acute toxicity occurs at environmentally not-relevant concentrations, a significant chronic toxicity for C. dubia (EC50 = 0.03 μg/L, NOEC = 0.02·10-2 μg/L), highlighted substantial environmental concern. Furthermore, DNA strand breaks and reactive oxygen species detected in C. dubia indicate significant increase at concentrations exceeding 200 μg/L. Regarding environmental risk, the authors identified chronic exposures to acyclovir causing inhibitory effects on reproduction in B. calyciflorus at hundreds of μg/L and hundredths of μg/L for C. dubia as environmentally relevant environmental concentrations. The study concludes by quantifying the toxic and genotoxic risks of ACV showing a chronic risk quotient higher than the critical value of 1and a genotoxic risk quotient reaching this threshold, highlighting the urgent need for a broader risk assessment of ACV for its significant implications for aquatic ecosystems

Right phrenic nerve palsy following transcatheter radiofrequency current atrial fibrillation ablation: Case report

Phrenic nerve palsy (PNP) is a well-known complication of cardiac surgery or jugular/subclavian vein catheterization, presenting with cough, hiccups, dyspnoea/shortness of breath and, in some cases, ventilatory failure. Rarely, PNP is a complication of transcatheter radiofrequency ablation for atrial fibrillation. This report describes the case of a 72-year-old woman with a 2-year history of recurrent paroxysmal atrial fibrillation associated with occasional palpitations and shortness of breath who underwent routine transcatheter radiofrequency ablation. Three days after the procedure, the patient developed shortness of breath and progressive dyspnoea. Motor nerve conduction showed the absence of the right phrenic nerve compound motor action potential compared with the normal left side confirming the diagnosis of a right phrenic nerve palsy. This current case demonstrated the importance of undertaking an electrophysiological evaluation of phrenic nerve conduction after transcatheter radiofrequency ablation in patients presenting with palpitations and shortness of breath even if present a few days after the procedure