Corrosion Resistance of AA6063-Type Al-Mg-Si Alloy by Silicon Carbide in Sodium Chloride Solution for Marine Application

The present work focused on corrosion inhibition of AA6063 type Al-Mg-Si alloy in sodium chloride (NaCl) solution with a silicon carbide inhibitor, using the potentiodynamic electrochemical method. The aluminium alloy surface morphology was examined, in the as-received and as-corroded in the un-inhibited state, with scanning electron microscopy equipped with energy dispersive spectroscopy (SEM-EDS). The results obtained via linear polarization indicated a high corrosion potential for the unprotected as-received alloy. Equally, inhibition efficiency as high as 98.82% at 10.0 g/v silicon carbide addition was obtained with increased polarization resistance (Rp), while the current density reduced significantly for inhibited samples compared to the un-inhibited aluminium alloy. The adsorption mechanism of the inhibitor aluminium alloy follows the Langmuir adsorption isotherm. This shows that the corrosion rate of aluminium alloy with silicon carbide in NaCl environment decreased significantly with addition of the inhibito

Development and validation of stability indicating method for determination of sertraline following ICH guidlines and its determination in pharmaceuticals and biological fluids

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Sertraline is a well known antidepressant drug which belongs to a class called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor. Most published methods do not enable studying the stability of this drug in different stress conditions.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Two new methods were developed for the determination of sertraline (SER). Both methods are based on coupling with 4-chloro-7-nitrobenzo-2-oxa-1,3-diazole (NBD-Cl) in borate buffer of pH 7.8 and measuring the reaction product spectrophotometrically at 395 nm (Method I) or spectrofluorimetrically at 530 nm upon excitation at 480 nm (Method II). The response-concentration plots were rectilinear over the range 2-24 μg/mL and 0.25-5 μg/mL for methods I and II respectively with LOD of 0.18 μg/mL and 0.07 μg/mL, and LOQ of 0.56 μg/mL and 0.21 μg/mL for methods I and II, respectively.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Both methods were applied to the analysis of commercial tablets and the results were in good agreement with those obtained using a reference method. The fluorimetric method was further applied to the in vivo determination of SER in human plasma. A proposal of the reaction pathway was presented. The spectrophotometric method was extended to stability study of SER. The drug was exposed to alkaline, acidic, oxidative and photolytic degradation according to ICH guidelines. Moreover, the method was utilized to investigate the kinetics of oxidative degradation of the drug. The apparent first order rate constant and t_1/2of the degradation reaction were determined.</p

A Combined CXCL10, CXCL8 and H-FABP Panel for the Staging of Human African Trypanosomiasis Patients

The actual serological and parasitological tests used for the diagnosis of human African trypanosomiasis (HAT), also known as sleeping sickness, are not sensitive and specific enough. The card agglutination test for trypanosomiasis (CATT) assay, widely used for the diagnosis, is restricted to the gambiense form of the disease, and parasitological detection in the blood and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is often very difficult. Another very important problem is the difficulty of staging the disease, a crucial step in the decision of the treatment to be given. While eflornithine is difficult to administer, melarsoprol is highly toxic with incidences of reactive encephalopathy as high as 20%. Staging, which could be diagnosed as early (stage 1) or late (stage 2), relies on the examination of CSF for the presence of parasite and/or white blood cell (WBC) counting. However, the parasite is rarely found in CSF and WBC count is not standardised (cutoff set between 5 and 20 WBC per µL). In the present study, we hypothesized that an early detection of stage 2 patients with one or several proteins in association with clinical evaluation and WBC count would improve staging accuracy and allow more appropriate therapeutic interventions

Mortality from gastrointestinal congenital anomalies at 264 hospitals in 74 low-income, middle-income, and high-income countries: a multicentre, international, prospective cohort study

Background: Congenital anomalies are the fifth leading cause of mortality in children younger than 5 years globally. Many gastrointestinal congenital anomalies are fatal without timely access to neonatal surgical care, but few studies have been done on these conditions in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). We compared outcomes of the seven most common gastrointestinal congenital anomalies in low-income, middle-income, and high-income countries globally, and identified factors associated with mortality. // Methods: We did a multicentre, international prospective cohort study of patients younger than 16 years, presenting to hospital for the first time with oesophageal atresia, congenital diaphragmatic hernia, intestinal atresia, gastroschisis, exomphalos, anorectal malformation, and Hirschsprung's disease. Recruitment was of consecutive patients for a minimum of 1 month between October, 2018, and April, 2019. We collected data on patient demographics, clinical status, interventions, and outcomes using the REDCap platform. Patients were followed up for 30 days after primary intervention, or 30 days after admission if they did not receive an intervention. The primary outcome was all-cause, in-hospital mortality for all conditions combined and each condition individually, stratified by country income status. We did a complete case analysis. // Findings: We included 3849 patients with 3975 study conditions (560 with oesophageal atresia, 448 with congenital diaphragmatic hernia, 681 with intestinal atresia, 453 with gastroschisis, 325 with exomphalos, 991 with anorectal malformation, and 517 with Hirschsprung's disease) from 264 hospitals (89 in high-income countries, 166 in middle-income countries, and nine in low-income countries) in 74 countries. Of the 3849 patients, 2231 (58·0%) were male. Median gestational age at birth was 38 weeks (IQR 36–39) and median bodyweight at presentation was 2·8 kg (2·3–3·3). Mortality among all patients was 37 (39·8%) of 93 in low-income countries, 583 (20·4%) of 2860 in middle-income countries, and 50 (5·6%) of 896 in high-income countries (p<0·0001 between all country income groups). Gastroschisis had the greatest difference in mortality between country income strata (nine [90·0%] of ten in low-income countries, 97 [31·9%] of 304 in middle-income countries, and two [1·4%] of 139 in high-income countries; p≤0·0001 between all country income groups). Factors significantly associated with higher mortality for all patients combined included country income status (low-income vs high-income countries, risk ratio 2·78 [95% CI 1·88–4·11], p<0·0001; middle-income vs high-income countries, 2·11 [1·59–2·79], p<0·0001), sepsis at presentation (1·20 [1·04–1·40], p=0·016), higher American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) score at primary intervention (ASA 4–5 vs ASA 1–2, 1·82 [1·40–2·35], p<0·0001; ASA 3 vs ASA 1–2, 1·58, [1·30–1·92], p<0·0001]), surgical safety checklist not used (1·39 [1·02–1·90], p=0·035), and ventilation or parenteral nutrition unavailable when needed (ventilation 1·96, [1·41–2·71], p=0·0001; parenteral nutrition 1·35, [1·05–1·74], p=0·018). Administration of parenteral nutrition (0·61, [0·47–0·79], p=0·0002) and use of a peripherally inserted central catheter (0·65 [0·50–0·86], p=0·0024) or percutaneous central line (0·69 [0·48–1·00], p=0·049) were associated with lower mortality. // Interpretation: Unacceptable differences in mortality exist for gastrointestinal congenital anomalies between low-income, middle-income, and high-income countries. Improving access to quality neonatal surgical care in LMICs will be vital to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 3.2 of ending preventable deaths in neonates and children younger than 5 years by 2030

Chemical Additives for Corrosion Control in Desalination Plants

The addition of chemical additives has been considered as a standard operation in water treatment systems. This chapter discusses the chemical additives used for the control of corrosion in desalination systems. Specifically, corrosion inhibitors for various metallurgies, biocides, and oxygen scavengers are covered. The pros and cons of the additive chemicals have been highlighted. The need to utilize green corrosion inhibitors based on plants and ionic liquids materials have been emphasized. This class of materials are environmentally friendly, cheap, and readily available