Niosomas encapsulados en praziquantel contra Schistosoma mansoni con sensibilidad reducida al praziquantel

Introduction: Praziquantel (PZQ) is the only commercially available drug for schistosomiasis. The current shortage of alternative effective drugs and the lack of successful preventive measures enhance its value. The increase in the prevalence of PZQ resistance under sustained drug pressure is, therefore, an upcoming issue. Objectives: To overcome the tolerance to PZQ using nanotechnology after laboratory induction of a Schistosoma mansoni (S. mansoni) isolate with reduced sensitivity to the drug during the intramolluscan phase. Materials and methods: Shedding snails were treated with PZQ doses of 200 mg/kg twice/week, followed by an interval of one week, and then repeated twice in the same manner. The success of inducing reduced sensitivity was confirmed in vitro via the reduction of cercarial response to PZQ regarding their swimming activity and death percentage at different examination times. Results: Oral treatment with a single PZQ dose of 500 mg/kg in mice infected with cercariae with reduced sensitivity to PZQ revealed a non-significant reduction (35.1%) of total worm burden compared to non-treated control mice. Orally inoculated PZQ-encapsulated niosomes against S. mansoni with reduced sensitivity to PZQ successfully regained the pathogen’s sensitivity to PZQ, as evidenced by measuring different parameters in comparison to the non-treated infected animals with parasites with reduced sensitivity to PZQ. The mean total worm load was 1.33 ± 0.52 with a statistically significant reduction of 94.09% and complete eradication of male worms. A remarkable increase in the percentage reduction of tissue egg counts in the liver and intestine (97.68% and 98.56% respectively) was obtained associated with a massive increase in dead eggs and complete absence of immature stages. Conclusion: PZQ-encapsulated niosomes restored the drug sensitivity against laboratory-induced S. mansoni adult worms with reduced sensitivity to PZQ.Introducción. El praziquantel (PZQ) es el único fármaco disponible comercialmente para la esquistosomiasis. La escasez actual de medicamentos alternativos eficaces y la falta de medidas preventivas eficaces aumentan su valor. El aumento de la prevalencia de la resistencia al PZQ bajo una presión prolongada del fármaco es, por tanto, un tema emergente. Objetivos. Superar la tolerancia a PZQ mediante nanotecnología después de la inducción en laboratorio de un aislamiento de Schistosoma mansoni (S. mansoni) con sensibilidad reducida al fármaco durante la fase intramolusca. Material y métodos. Los caracoles que liberaban cercarias se trataron con dosis de PZQ de 200 mg / kg dos veces por semana, seguido de un intervalo de una semana, y luego se repitieron dos veces de la misma manera. El éxito de inducir una sensibilidad reducida se confirmó in vitro mediante la reducción de la respuesta de las cercarias al PZQ con respecto a su actividad de natación y el porcentaje de muerte en diferentes momentos de examen. Resultados. El tratamiento oral con una dosis única de PZQ de 500 mg / kg en ratones infectados con cercarias con sensibilidad reducida a PZQ reveló una reducción no significativa (35,1%) de la carga total de gusanos en comparación con los ratones de control no tratados. Los niosomas encapsulados en PZQ inoculados por vía oral contra S. mansoni con sensibilidad reducida a PZQ permitieron reestablecer con éxito la sensibilidad del patógeno a PZQ, como lo demuestra la medición de diferentes parámetros en comparación con los animales infectados no tratados con parásitos con sensibilidad reducida a PZQ. La carga media total de gusanos fue de 1,33 ± 0,52 con una reducción estadísticamente significativa del 94,09% y la erradicación completa de los gusanos machos adultos. Se obtuvo un aumento notable en el porcentaje de reducción del recuento de huevos en tejido en el hígado y el intestino (97,68% y 98,56% respectivamente) asociado con un aumento masivo de huevos muertos y ausencia total de estadios inmaduros. Conclusión. Los niosomas encapsulados en PZQ restauraron la sensibilidad al fármaco contra gusanos adultos de S. mansoni inducidos en laboratorio con sensibilidad reducida a PZQ

Parton Equilibration in Relativistic Heavy Ion Collisions

We investigate the processes leading to phase-space equilibration of parton distributions in nuclear interactions at collider energies. We derive a set of rate equations describing the chemical equilibration of gluons and quarks including medium effects on the relevant QCD transport coefficients, and discuss their consequences for parton equilibration in heavy ion collisions.Comment: 18 pages, 6 Figures appended as uuencoded PostScript files, (no changes in the previously submitted manuscript), DUKE-TH-93-4

Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries

Background Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres. Methods This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low–middle-income countries. Results In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of ‘single-use’ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low–middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia. Conclusion This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high– and low–middle–income countries

Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries

Abstract Background Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres. Methods This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low–middle-income countries. Results In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of ‘single-use’ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low–middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia. Conclusion This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high– and low–middle–income countries

Removal of cadmium from aqueous solution using marine green algae, Ulva lactuca

The present study aimed to evaluate the efficiency of marine algae for removal of metals from the aqueous solution. The green alga, Ulva lactuca, collected from the intertidal zone of the Suez Bay, northern part of the Red Sea was used to reduce cadmium levels from the aqueous solutions. The biosorption mechanisms of Cd2+ ions onto the algal tissues were examined using various analytical techniques: Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and Scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Results indicated that at the optimum pH value of 5.5; about 0.1 g of U. lactuca was enough to remove 99.2% of 10 mg L−1 Cd2+ at 30 °C in the aqueous solutions. The equilibrium data were well fitted with the Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms. The monolayer adsorption capacity was 29.1 mg g−1. The calculated RL and ‘n’ values have proved the favorability of cadmium adsorption onto U. lactuca. The desorption test revealed that HCl was the best for the elution of metals from the tested alga. In conclusion, the seaweed U. lactuca was the favorable alternative of cadmium removal from water