The antimicrobial activity of oil-in-water microemulsions is predicted by their position within the microemulsion stability zone

It has been shown previously that thermodynamically stable oil-in-water microemulsions have significant antimicrobial activity against planktonic cells and biofilm cells over short periods of exposure. It was the aim of this study to identify whether the position of the microemulsion within the microemulsion stability zone of the pseudo-ternary phase structure predicts the efficiency of the antimicrobial action of the microemulsion. Microemulsions were formulated at different points within the microemulsion stability zone. Experiments were performed to observe the kinetics of killing of these microemulsions against selected test microorganisms (Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 9027, Candida albicans ATCC 10231, Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 6538 and Aspergillus niger ATCC 16404). The results indicated that the antimicrobial activity of the microemulsion is dependant upon its position within the zone of stability and is greater nearer the centre of that zone. The results indicate that significant antimicrobial activity can be observed at all points within the zone of microemulsion stability, but that maximal activity is to be found at the centre of that area

T Cells as Vehicles for Cancer Vaccination

The success of cancer vaccines is dependent on the delivery of tumor-associated antigens (TAAs) within lymphoid tissue in the context of costimulatory molecules and immune stimulatory cytokines. Dendritic cells (DCs) are commonly utilized to elicit antitumor immune responses due to their attractive costimulatory molecule and cytokine expression profile. However, the efficacy of DC-based vaccines is limited by the poor viability and lymph-node migration of exogenously generated DCs in vivo. Alternatively, adoptively transferred T cells persist for long periods of time in vivo and readily migrate between the lymphoid and vascular compartments. In addition, T cells may be genetically modified to express both TAA and DC-activating molecules, suggesting that T cells may be ideal candidates to serve as cellular vehicles for antigen delivery to lymph node-resident DCs in vivo. This paper discusses the concept of using T cells to induce tumor-specific immunity for vaccination against cancer

Magnetically-driven electronic phase separation in the semimetallic ferromagnet EuB6_6

From measurements of fluctuation spectroscopy and weak nonlinear transport on the semimetallic ferromagnet EuB$_6$ we find direct evidence for magnetically-driven electronic phase separation consistent with the picture of percolation of magnetic polarons (MP), which form highly conducting magnetically-ordered clusters in a paramagnetic and 'poorly conducting' background. These different parts of the conducting network are probed separately by the noise spectroscopy/nonlinear transport and the conventional linear resistivity. We suggest a comprehensive and 'universal' scenario for the MP percolation, which occurs at a critical magnetization either induced by ferromagnetic order at zero field or externally applied magnetic fields in the paramagentic region

Designing carbon nanotube-based oil absorbing membranes from gamma irradiated and electrospun polystyrene nanocomposites

Carbon-based materials are outstanding candidates for oil spill clean-ups due to their superhydrophobicity, high surface area, chemical inertness, low density, recyclability, and selectivity. The current work deals with the fabrication of membrane oil absorbents based on carbon nanotube (CNT) reinforced polystyrene (PS) nanocomposites by electrospinning technique. The spun membranes are also irradiated with the gamma radiation to induce enough crosslinks and thus good polymer-filler interactions. The structural, morphological, and surface properties in addition to the oil/water separation efficiency were investigated by varying the concentration of CNT and the dose of γ-irradiation. Fabricated nanofiber membranes show superior hydrophobicity and selective oil absorption at 0.5 wt.% of CNT concentration. The best mechanical properties are also obtained at this particular concentration and at 15 KGy optimum γ-irradiation dosage. The gamma irradiated PS/0.5 wt.% CNT membrane also exhibits good antibacterial effects against the bacteria, Escherichia coli, in the form of bacterial inhibition rings around the membranes. The present study thus shows the environmental applicability of the fabricated PS/CNT membranes in treating oil-contaminated water

Searching for configurations in clone evaluation - A replication study

Clone detection is the process of finding duplicated code within a software code base in an automated manner. It is useful in several areas of software development such as code quality analysis, bug detection, and program understanding.We replicate a study of a geneticalgorithm based framework that optimises parameters for clone agreement (EvaClone). We apply the framework to 14 releases of Mockito, a Java mocking framework. We observe that the optimised parameters outperform the tools’ default parameters in term of clone agreement by 19.91% to 66.43 %. However, the framework gives undesirable results in term of clone quality. EvaClone either maximises or minimises a number of clones in order to achieve the highest agreement resulting in more false positives or false negatives introduced consequently

SYNTHESIS, STRUCTURAL ELUCIDATION AND ANTIMICROBIAL EVALUATION OF 2-{4-(T-AMINO)-2-(BUT-2-YN-1-YL)}-1, 3 BENZOTHIAZOLE DERIVATIVES

Objective: A new series of 2-{4-(t-amino)-2-(but-2-yn-1-yl)}-1,3-benzothiazole derivatives, 2-[4-(pyrrolidin-1-yl)but-2-yn-1-yl]-1,3-benzothiazole (BZ2), 2-[4-(2-methylpiperidin-1-yl)but-2-yn-1-yl]-1,3-benzothiazole (BZ3), 2-[4-(piperidin-1-yl) but-2-yn-1-yl]-1,3-benzothiazole (BZ4), 2-[4-(azepan-1-yl)but-2-yn-1-yl]-1,3-benzothiazole (BZ5), 2-[4-(4-methylpiperazin-1-yl) but-2-yn-1-yl]-1,3-benzothiazole (BZ6), 2-[4-(2, 6-dimethylpiperidin-1-yl) but-2-yn-1-yl]-1, 3-benzothiazole (BZ7) were synthesized and screened in vitro as potential antimicrobial agents.Methods: In-vitro antimicrobial activity evaluation was done, by agar diffusion method and broth dilution test against Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 6538p, Candida albicans ATCC 10231, Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 9027, Escherichia coli ATCC 8739, and Bacillus subtilis ATCC 6633. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and Minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) were determined. The results of antimicrobial testing were compared to two positive control drugs ciprofloxacin (5 µg/ml) and fluconazole (500µg/ml).Results: Compound 2-[4-(azepan-1-yl) but-2-yn-1-yl]-1,3-benzothiazole (BZ5) showed the highest antibacterial activity against S. aureus with MIC value of 15.62 µg/ml while; Compound 2-[4-(2,6-dimethylpiperidin-1-yl)but-2-yn-1-yl]-1,3-benzothiazole (BZ7) exhibited the highest antibacterial activity against P. aeruginosa with MIC value of 31.25 µg/ml. Compounds 2-[4-(pyrrolidin-1-yl)but-2-yn-1-yl]-1,3-benzothiazole (BZ2) and 2-[4-(azepan-1-yl)but-2-yn-1-yl]-1,3-benzothiazole (BZ5) showed the highest antifungal activity against C. albicans with MIC value of 15.62 µg/ml (for both).Conclusion: The results obtained showed variation in the antibacterial and antifungal activity based on the structure of the cyclic amines in these amino acetylenic benzothiazole derivatives. Keywords: Benzothiazole, Aminoacetylenic, Antibacterial, Antifungal, Mannich reactio

Effects of cariprazine on extracellular levels of glutamate, GABA, dopamine, noradrenaline and serotonin in the medial prefrontal cortex in the rat phencyclidine model of schizophrenia studied by microdialysis and simultaneous recordings of locomotor activity

Aberrant glutamatergic, dopaminergic, and GABAergic neurotransmission has been implicated in schizophrenia. Cariprazine reverses the behavioral effects observed in the rat phencyclidine (PCP)-induced model of schizophrenia; however, little is known about its in vivo neurochemistry. The study aims to compare the effects of cariprazine and aripiprazole on PCP-induced changes in the extracellular levels of glutamate, dopamine, serotonin, noradrenaline, and GABA in the rat medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), and on locomotor activation. Microdialysis was performed in awake rats with probes placed into the mPFC. Rats (n = 7/group) received vehicle (saline), cariprazine (0.05, 0.2, or 0.8 mg/kg), or aripiprazole (3 or 20 mg/kg) via gavage. After 60 min, 5 mg/kg PCP was administered intraperitoneally (i.p.). Samples were taken before drug administration, during pretreatment, and after PCP injection. Locomotor activity recording and microdialysis sampling occurred simultaneously. PCP treatment increased extracellular levels of all the neurotransmitters tested except GABA, for which there were no significant changes. Cariprazine and aripiprazole dose-dependently inhibited the PCP-induced increases of tested neurotransmitters. Overall effects were significant for higher cariprazine doses and both aripiprazole doses for glutamate and noradrenaline, for higher cariprazine doses and 20 mg/kg aripiprazole for dopamine, and for 0.8 mg/kg cariprazine and 20 mg/kg aripiprazole for serotonin and locomotor activity. Both cariprazine and aripiprazole dose-dependently attenuated PCP-induced hyperlocomotion and acute increases in glutamate, dopamine, noradrenaline, and serotonin levels in the mPFC; cariprazine was approximately 5-fold more potent than aripiprazole

Fahmy's four quadrant sutures: a new technique for control of blood loss during cesarean delivery for placenta previa

Background: The objective of this study is to assess the efficacy and safety of Fahmy's four quadrant suture technique (FFQS) in controlling blood loss during cesarean delivery for placenta previa (PP).Methods: The study was carried out in a tertiary University Hospital between January 2017 to December 2017 involved 12 women with heavy bleeding occurred after removal of the placenta from the lower section during cesarean delivery for PP. The FFQS technique consisted of two sutures to ligate the uterine branches on both sides and two sutures on the anterior and posterior wall of the lower uterine segment. Details regarding the management and maternal outcomes were recorded.Results: The mean age of the study participants was 29.58±5.29 years and the mean parity was 2.25±1.14. The mean gestational age at termination of pregnancy was 36.91±1.38 weeks.  The mean duration of the whole surgery was 78.75±43.28 minutes, while the mean duration of FFQS technique was only 10±2.09 minutes. The technique was exclusively effective in 8 out of 12 cases (66.67%) while 2 cases needed bilateral internal iliac artery ligation and 2 cases needed hysterectomy. The mean amount of blood loss in all cases was 2433.33±833.76 ml. the mean amount of transfused packed RBCs was 3.92±1.68 units and fresh frozen plasma (FFP) was 3.42±1.44 units. All cases had uneventful postoperative course and no mortality cases in present series.Conclusions: The new technique; FFQS represents a rapid, effective, and inexpensive opportunity for women with bleeding from the lower segment of uterus due to PP. This simple procedure should be attempted before other complex measures to achieve good hemostasis

Humidification-Dehumidification (HDH) Desalination and Other Volume Reduction Techniques for Produced Water Treatment

Volume reduction has been suggested as a novel method to tackle the various challenges associated with produced water. The present solution offers an economical and environmentally friendly solution to treat a large bulk of produced water that may overwhelm conventional water treatment methods. The current study provides a review of the various volume reduction technologies including freeze concentration, reverse osmosis, and humidification and dehumidification desalination systems. Focus is concentrated on the general HDH technologies in addition to its integration with refrigeration cycles for conditioned air production, and the power cycles for power generation. The GOR, freshwater yield, and efficiencies of the integrated HDH systems were re-viewed. Lastly, innovation in the HDH desalination technology is discussed with emphasis on its incorporation with the MVC process.Scopu