Nanomedicine for SARS-CoV-2: Therapeutic and Prophylactic Approach in Immunocompromised Individuals

SARS-CoV-2 is a novel coronavirus that first appeared in Wuhan, China in December 2019 and then spread all over the world, causing a global respiratory epidemic COVID-19 illness. Certain health conditions can increase your exposure to COVID-19, such as chronic obstructive lung disease, high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes. The immune system of the host is severely compromised in the event of a respiratory viral infection. Immunocompromised patients have a more difficult time avoiding respiratory viral infections, making them more vulnerable to COVID-19 pneumonia and increasing the death rate to 19%. The ability of SARS-CoV-2 to damage the host cell by modifying its own DNA or RNA and proliferating inside the host cell, with antiviral treatments and prophylactic vaccinations being tested. In recent years, numerous innovative technologies have been examined to diagnose, prevent and treat viral infections. Nano technology opens the way to distinguish the living cell mechanisms and develop new technologies that make it possible to diagnose and cure various viral infections in the early stage. The therapeutic and preventative approaches of nanomedicine are essential factors for curing SARS-CoV-2. The delivery of antiviral drugs based on nanocarrier, changes in pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic properties, leading in dose reduction, reductions in toxicity, increased bioavailability, and the prevention of the virus. The overall efficiency and safety of vaccinated adjuvant vaccine nanoparticles (VANs) helps enhance the immune response of older, immunocompromised persons with the greatest death rate of SARS-CoV-2. The review focuses on recent advancements in nanomedicine treatments and prevention strategies for SARS-CoV-2

Is immersion in mint oil or apple vinegar solution a valid antifungal approach for acrylic soft liners?

Objectives: In-vitro assessment of the validity of immersion in mint oil or apple vinegar solutions as antifungal approach for acrylic soft liners. Materials and methods: Sixty disc-shaped specimens: 9mm in diameter and 2mm in length, and sixty cylinders: 12.5mm in diameter and 20mm in length of Vertex-Dental Heat-cured acrylic soft liner were prepared for antifungal activity and resilience measurements respectively. Specimens were divided into three groups; twenty in each, for immersion in mint oil, apple vinegar and distilled water (control). The groups were divided into four subgroups, five in each, for the different immersion periods: one day, one week, three weeks and six weeks. For each group, the daily immersion protocol was 8 h of immersion in the testing solution followed by 16 h in artificial saliva. This was repeated for each immersion period. Antifungal activity was assessed using disc diffusion method by measuring the inhibition zone for each disc twice: after 24 and 48 h incubation. Modulus of resilience was determined using a universal testing machine, where a stress-strain curve was obtained for each specimen and the area under the elastic portion of the curve was calculated. Results: A significantly higher antifungal activity was revealed following immersion in mint oil compared to apple vinegar solution. The immersion period was a significant variable for the antifungal activity measured after 24 h following immersion in either solution whereas it was an insignificant variable for the antifungal activity measured after 48 h following immersion in apple vinegar solution. A significant reduction in the antifungal activity was noted as the incubation period was increased from 24 to 48 h except after six weeks immersion in apple vinegar solution. Modulus of resilience of the acrylic soft liner was adversely affected by immersion in mint oil solution for more than one day and in apple vinegar solution for more than one week. Conclusions: Mint oil and Apple vinegar represent possible natural antifungal immersion solutions for acrylic soft liner provided that the immersion protocol is implemented properly

An Examination of Emotions in the Boston Bombing Twitterverse

Social Network Services (SNS) such as Twitter play an important role in the way people share their emotions or cognitions regarding specific events. Emotions can be spread via SNS and can spur user’s actions. Therefore, managing emotion in SNS is important. In this Research In Progress, we investigate Twitterverse that is associated with event related hazard describing keywords (Explosion, Bomb) and their related emotions in the Boston Bombing context. We compare the results with an exploration of Twitterverse that is not associated with the above hazard describing keywords. A sentiment analysis shows Positive emotion, Discrepancy, Tentativeness, and Certainty had consistent patterns over five days of the Boston Bombing incident. When keywords were excluded, the expressed emotions or cognition were higher than when were keywords included. This paper contributes by examining how emotion and cognition differed across keywords relating to the extreme event

Rapid and sensitive methods for detection of Allorhizobium vitis, causal agent of grapevine crown gall

A rapid method and sensitive methods for extraction of bacterial DNA from pure culture and directly from plant materiel were compared in polymerase chain reaction with specific primers VCF3/VCR3 to see the reliable method that can used in the detection of tumorigenic strain of Allorhizobium vitis causal agent of grapevine crown gall. From the three tested methods of DNA extraction from pure culture, the alkaline method is the most effective technique for the extraction presenting a high sensitivity with a detection threshold equal to 5.104 CFU/ml. Five different protocols for extracting bacterial DNA from plant tissues of infected tomato, based on the use of an extraction buffer, were tested to see its usefulness in detecting pathogenic strain of A. vitisS4. Two protocols based on the use of Triton X-100 and Tween 20 were efficient for detecting A. vitis S4 directly from tomato tumors with a sensitivity of 103 CFU/ml for the both protocols. Consequently, these protocols were proposed as specific protocols for the detection of tumorigenic strain of A. vitis from symptomatic and asymptomatic plants

Fullerenes and Nanodiamonds for Medical Drug Delivery

Carbon is a chemical element has the ability of forming long carbonic chain. Due to its special electronic structure, each carbon atom can be linked with another carbon atom or with another element via single, double or triple covalent bonds. The special electronic structure of carbon atom affecting on its properties also affecting on its ability of existing in different forms called allotropes. During few last decades, new carbon-based nanomaterials have been described including fullerene, carbon nanotube, graphene and nanodiamond. These new allotropes attracted the interest of science and industry and became as a new and important class of materials due to its outstanding features which candidate for numerous applications. In parallel with new developments in nanomedicine especially in drug delivery field, the targeted delivery systems became an important to overcome the limitations of the old fashion systems. So, it become very important to translate this idea into reality. Fullerene and nanodiamond have a unique combination of structure, morphology and biological properties that make them as a powerful tools for targeted delivery system. So, this chapter will focus on two major aspects: synthesis routes of fullerenes and nanodiamonds, and their role in nanomedicine as drug delivery systems

IMPACT OF COVID-19 ON MULTIPLE BODY ORGAN FAILURE: A REVIEW

COVID-19 is a highly contagious disease caused by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome CoronaVirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2); which is a novel single-stranded positive RNA infection which consist of cytokines that activate the pathogenic systems that cause high respiratory pain condition, and adversely affect on multiple body organ in humans as per their immunity standards to fight against the virus. SARS-CoV-2 enters the host cell through Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2 (ACE 2). ACE 2 is a sub-part of the Renin-Aldosterone Angiotensin System (RAAS), intelligently communicated in the body's kidney, heart, lungs, and malignant tissues. The malfunctioning of RAAS in the body leads to hypertension, cardiovascular sicknesses, endocrine system and negatively affects a brain-body communication channel. Treatments on the RAAS structure, 'thiazolidinedione's and smoking, toxemia, kidney, lungs disorder due to the SARS-CoV-2 attack on the host cell and notice the behavioral changes of body organs the arrival of cytokines that causes multi-organ damage. This paper involves the study of the effects of coronavirus disease on multiple body-organ injuries

Synthesis and Study of the Antimicrobial Activity of Modified Polyvinyl Alcohol Films Incorporated with Silver Nanoparticles

       A new class of biologically active nanocomposites and modified polymers based on poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA) with some organic compounds [II, IV, V and VI] were synthesized using silver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs). All compounds were synthesized using nucleophilic substitution interactions and characterized by FTIR, DSC and TGA. The biological activity of the modified polymers was evaluated against: gram (+) (staphylococcus aureus) and gram (-): (Es cherichia coli bacteria). Antimicrobial films are developed based on modified poly (vinyl alcohol) MPVA and Ag-NPs nanoparticles. The nanocomposites and modified polymers showed better antibacterial activities against Escherichia coli (Gram negative) than against Staphylococcus aureus (Gram positive). This work also studied the effect of using different amounts of nanoparticles on the effectiveness against bacteria and it was found that nanocomposite (P2/Ag 5%) has superior antibacterial properties against Escherichia coli

Probing the Water Stability Limits and Degradation Pathways of Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs)

A comprehensive model to describe the water stability of prototypical metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) is derived by combining different types of theoretical and experimental approaches. The results provide an insight into the early stages of water-triggered destabilization of MOFs and allow detailed pathways to be proposed for the degradation of different MOFs under aqueous conditions. The essential elements of the approach are computing the pKa values of coordinated water molecules and geometry relaxations. Variable-temperature and pH infrared spectroscopy techniques are used to corroborate the main findings. The model developed herein helps to explain stability limits observed for several prototypical MOFs, including MOF-5, HKUST-1, UiO-66, and MIL-101-Cr, in aqueous solutions, and thus, provides an insight into the possible degradation pathways in acidic and basic environments. The formation of a metal hydroxide through the autoprotolysis of metal-coordinated water molecules and the strength of carboxylate–metal interactions are suggested to be two key players that govern stability in basic and acidic media, respectively. The methodology presented herein can effectively guide future efforts, which are especially significant for in silico screening, for developing novel MOFs with enhanced aqueous stability

Changes in skeletal integrity and marrow adiposity during high-fat diet and after weight loss

The prevalence of obesity has continued to rise over the past three decades leading to significant increases in obesity-related medical care costs from metabolic and non-metabolic sequelae. It is now clear that expansion of body fat leads to an increase in inflammation with systemic effects on metabolism. In mouse models of diet-induced obesity there is also an expansion of bone marrow adipocytes. However, the persistence of these changes after weight-loss has not been well described. The objective of this study was to investigate the impact of high-fat diet (HFD) and subsequent weight-loss on skeletal parameters in C57Bl6/J mice. Male mice were given a normal chow diet (ND) or 60% HFD at 6-weeks of age for 12-, 16-, or 20-weeks. A third group of mice was put on HFD for 12-weeks and then on ND for 8-weeks to mimic weight-loss. After these dietary challenges the tibia and femur were removed and analyzed by microCT for bone morphology. Decalcification followed by osmium staining was used to assess bone marrow adiposity and mechanical testing was performed to assess bone strength. After 12-, 16-, or 20-weeks of HFD, mice had significant weight gain relative to controls. Body mass returned to normal after weight-loss. Marrow adipose tissue (MAT) volume in the tibia increased after 16-weeks of HFD and persisted in the 20-week HFD group. Weight loss prevented HFD-induced MAT expansion. Trabecular bone volume fraction, mineral content, and number were decreased after 12-, 16-, or 20-weeks of HFD, relative to ND controls, with only partial recovery after weight-loss. Mechanical testing demonstrated decreased fracture resistance after 20-weeks of HFD. Loss of mechanical integrity did not recover after weight-loss. Our study demonstrates that HFD causes long-term, persistent changes in bone quality, despite prevention of marrow adipose tissue accumulation, as demonstrated through changes in bone morphology and mechanical strength in a mouse model of diet-induced obesity and weight-loss

MAT-724: LOW ENERGY CONCRETE

The escalating demand on energy consumption as well as the scarcity of non renewable energy resources represents a major concern worldwide. Hence, efforts are being exerted to resort to lower energy alternatives in almost all aspects of life. Portland cement concrete has been known as an energy intensive material that emits large amount of CO2 during its various stages of manufacturing. While concrete has been classified over the decades based on its performance, it has seldom been assessed and evaluated based on its embodied energy. This work aims at evaluating concrete mixtures based on energy and CO2 emission together with strength and durability characteristics. Alternative mixtures were targeted for both normal as well as moderate strength concrete as ones potentially having less energy and less CO2. The results were used to establish a simplified user-friendly model for this process. Results reveal that concrete that is somewhat environmental-friendly can be prepared while fulfilling performance criteria and at a relatively less cost