Structural, optical, and antibacterial efficacy of pure and zinc-doped copper oxide against Pathogenic bacteria

Copper oxide and Zinc (Zn)-doped Copper oxide nanostructures (CuO-NSs) are successfully synthesized by using a hydrothermal technique. The as-obtained pure and Zn-doped CuONSs were tested to study the effect of doping in CuO on structural, optical, and antibacterial properties. The band gap of the nanostructures is calculated by using the Tauc plot. Our results have shown that the band gap of CuO reduces with the addition of Zinc. Optimization of processing conditions and concentration of precursors leads to the formation of pine needles and sea urchinlike nanostructures. The antibacterial properties of obtained Zn-doped CuO-NSs are observed against Gram-negative (Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumonia, Escherichia coli) and Gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus) bacteria via the agar well diffusion method. Zn doped s are found to have more effective bacterial resistance than pure CuO. The improved antibacterial activity is attributed to the reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation

High-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) in uterine fibroid treatment : review study

Background: High-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) is a highly precise medical procedure used locally to heat and destroy diseased tissue through ablation. This study intended to review HIFU in uterine fibroid therapy, to evaluate the role of HIFU in the therapy of leiomyomas as well as to review the actual clinical activities in this field including efficacy and safety measures beside the published clinical literature. Material/Methods: An inclusive literature review was carried out in order to review the scientific foundation, and how it resulted in the development of extracorporeal distinct devices. Studies addressing HIFU in leiomyomas were identified from a search of the Internet scientific databases. The analysis of literature was limited to journal articles written in English and published between 2000 and 2013. Results: In current gynecologic oncology, HIFU is used clinically in the treatment of leiomyomas. Clinical research on HIFU therapy for leiomyomas began in the 1990s, and the majority of patients with leiomyomas were treated predominantly with HIFUNIT 9000 and prototype single focus ultrasound devices. HIFU is a non-invasive and highly effective standard treatment with a large indication range for all sizes of leiomyomas, associated with high efficacy, low operative morbidity and no systemic side effects. Conclusions: Uterine fibroid treatment using HIFU was effective and safe in treating symptomatic uterine fibroids. Few studies are available in the literature regarding uterine artery embolization (UAE). HIFU provides an excellent option to treat uterine fibroids

Investigation of the possibility of improving spatial resolution in SPECT with the combination of LaBr3:Ce-based detector and 3D-OSEM reconstruction algorithms

This study investigates the potential of improving spatial resolution in SPECT imaging using a combination of LaBr(3):Ce detectors and 3D-OSEM image reconstruction algorithms. Potential spatial resolution improvement was assessed intrinsically and extrinsically using GATE Monte Carlo simulation. Significantly improved MTF of LaBr(3):Ce detectors suggests better resolution performance at all spatial frequencies. In comparison to conventional Nal(Tl) scintillators, a combination of the LaBr(3):Ce crystal and 3D-OSEM incorporating resolution recovery could significantly improve the extrinsic spatial resolution of SPECT images. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Committed effective dose to the Kuwaiti population via the dietary intake of red meat

Meat is a major component of the daily diet of the Kuwait population. Realizing the negative consequences of the presence of radioactive materials in foodstuffs, various types of meat (fresh and processed lamb and beef) on sale in Kuwaiti markets have been assessed. The interest is in seeking to obtain a measure of the potential radiological impact to human health that results from their consumption. High purity germanium γ-ray spectrometry of the meat has revealed low activities of 226Ra and 228Ra, key indicators of the respective 238U and 232Th natural decay series. While elevated activities of 40K were observed in a number of the fresh meat samples, evidence of the anthropogenic radionuclide 137Cs was found in one sample only. A statistically significant difference was found between the mean value of activity concentration of 40K in fresh and processed beef samples. The total potassium concentration in the meat samples was calculated from observation of 40K activity, values ranging between 2.6 and 17.2 g kg−1. The annual effective dose resulting from meat consumption for a typical adult in Kuwait has been estimated to be 217 µSv y−1, somewhat less than the 290 µSv y −1 assessed by UNSCEAR (2008) to prevail more globally. Findings from this research are intended to underline the importance of periodic monitoring of foodstuffs in efforts towards mitigating radiological risk. Keywords: Processed and fresh meat, Gamma-ray spectrometry, NORM and artificial radionuclides, Committed effective dose, Radiological safet

Assessment of health risk due to the exposure of heavy metals in soil around mega coal-fired cement factory in Nigeria

Mobilization and dispersion of potentially toxic elements into the atmosphere and human environment due to industrial and anthropogenic activities have been associated with significant human health challenges. In this investigation, 20 surface soil samples collected around a coal-fired cement factory in northeast Nigeria were analysed for their heavy metal (Cr, Pb, Ni, Cu, Zn and Mn) concentrations using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. The results showed that mean concentrations of heavy metals, except for Cr were lower than their normal backgrounds (Cr = 76.44 > 64 mg kg−1, Pb = 19.32 < 70 mg kg−1, Ni = 29.09 < 50 mg kg−1, Cu = 5.03 < 63 mg kg−1, Zn = 10.15 < 200 mg kg−1) provided in the Canadian soil quality guidelines. Potential health risk assessment for adults and children for lifetime exposure through ingestion, inhalation and dermal contact were estimated. Statistical analysis identified anthropogenic activities as the principal source of metal contamination in the studied soils. Risk assessments indicated that ingestion pathway is the primary exposure route for both adults and children. Children were found to be prone to higher health risk possibly due to their hand-to-mouth dietary habits. Carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic health risk values were within safety limits for all the metals, though Cr showed a high potential for occurrence of non-carcinogenic health effects in the subpopulations. Keywords: AshakaCem environment, Soil samples, ICP-MS, Heavy metals exposure, Risk assessmen

Towards the development of doped silica radioluminescence dosimetry

We discuss recent investigations by members of this group concerning the performance of P-doped silica for radioluminescence-based dosimetry. Comparisons are made against that of an in-house developed Ge-doped silica system and carbon-doped alumina (Al2O3:C). The readout obtained for dose-rate evaluations herein make use of the phenomena of radioluminescence (RL), which is enabled by defects giving rise to electron trapping. We have compared the RL signal originating from our Ge- and P-doped silica optical fibres (doping of Ge and P being the primary sources of defects in the silica media) and commercial nanoDot Al2O3:C dosimeters, the RL signal being guided through PMMA optical fibres to obtain real-time measurements. In regard to afterglow, the P-doped fibre retains the least memory of prior irradiation, favouring its use in real-time evaluations in the use of pulsed beams, improving upon the performance of the Ge-doped fibre

Radioluminescence sensing of radiology exposures using P-doped silica optical fibres

In previous work we investigated the real-time radioluminescence (RL) yield of Ge-doped silica fibres and Al2O3 nanodot media, sensing electron- and x-ray energies and intensities at values familiarly obtained in external beam radiotherapy. The observation of an appreciable low-dose sensitivity has given rise to the realisation that there is strong potential for use of RL dosimetry in diagnostic radiology. Herein use has been made of P-doped silica optical fibre, 2 mm diameter, also including a 271 µm cylindrical doped core. With developing needs for versatile x-ray imaging dosimetry, preliminary investigations have been made covering the range of diagnostic x-ray tube potentials 30 kVp to 120 kVp, demonstrating linearity of RL with kVp as well as in terms of the current-time (mAs) product. RL yields also accord with the inverse-square law. Given typical radiographic-examination exposure durations from tens- to a few hundred milliseconds, particular value is found in the ability to record the influence of x-ray generator performance on the growth and decay of beam intensity, from initiation to termination

Measurement of dose enhancement close to high atomic number media using optical fibre thermoluminescence dosimeters

Present interest concerns development of a system to measure photoelectron-enhanced dose close to a tissue interface using analogue gold-coated doped silica-fibre thermoluminescence detectors and an X-ray set operating at 250. kVp. Study is made of the dose enhancement factor for various thicknesses of gold; measurements at a total gold thickness of 160. nm (accounting for incident and exiting photons) produces a mean measured dose enhancement factor of 1.33±0.01 To verify results, simulations of the experimental setup have been performed. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd

Thermoluminescence response of flat optical fiber subjected to 9 MeV electron irradiations

We describe the efforts of finding a new thermoluminescent (TL) media using pure silica flat optical fiber (FF). The present study investigates the dose response, sensitivity, minimum detectable dose and glow curve of FF subjected to 9. MeV electron irradiations with various dose ranges from 0 Gy to 2.5 Gy. The above-mentioned TL properties of the FF are compared with commercially available TLD-100 rods. The TL measurements of the TL media exhibit a linear dose response over the delivered dose using a linear accelerator. We found that the sensitivity of TLD-100 is markedly 6 times greater than that of FF optical fiber. The minimum detectable dose was found to be 0.09 mGy for TLD-100 and 8.22 mGy for FF. Our work may contribute towards the development of a new dosimeter for personal monitoring purposes