Production of hydrogen by borohydride: in search of low cost non-noble efficient catalyst

Hydrogen production by sodium borohydride through hydrolysis in alkaline solutions has been extensively studied as a production/storage option due to the high volumetric and gravimetric efficiency exhibited. The potential application of this option is based on an easily controllable catalysed hydrolysis reaction, non-toxic and recyclable by-products, and the high purity hydrogen produced can be used in fuel cells. This work reports on a comparative study of own-developed, supported and non-supported, nonnoble catalyst. Ru based catalysts are taken as reference. Characterization of the catalyst was accomplished using a FEG-SEM scanning electron microscope and FTIR analysis. Obtained values amount to 10 NLmin-1g-1 for Ni-based catalyst while Ru-based catalyst amount to twice as much in the same experimental conditions. Typical solutions contain sodium borohydride of concentrations between 2 and 10 wt%, stabilized with 3 to 10 wt % NaOH. Produced hydrogen is measured at ambient pressure as a function of catalyst exposure time at controlled temperatures till completion of the reaction. A thorough study of the open literature rendered normalized values for the reaction rate with different catalyst, making comparisons valuable

Seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii antibodies in sheep from Libya

Toxoplasmosis is a worldwide contagious disease of humans and other warm-blooded animals including birds caused by coccidian parasite Toxoplasma gondii. This survey was carried out to show the prevalence of antibodies of T. gondiiin sheep by latex agglutination test (LAT) in different geographical areas in Libya (western area, central area, eastern area, and southern area). The results of this survey are showed that the overall seroprevalence of antibody of Toxoplasma is 71%. There was significant differences in infection to Toxoplasma gondii in the age group of sheep (P = 0.00). The prevalence of anti-Toxoplasma antibody in sheep in the <1 years old was higher than >1 years old sheep. The results showed that there was a significant relation between the seropositivity and presence of abortion in sheep (P = 0.000). Also a significant differences was observed between rate of infection and management system (Extensive and Intensive) of sheep (P =0.022). In total the results of this study together with the previously recorded show high seroprevalence in sheep in Libya and other countries support the impression that Toxoplasmosis is widespread cause for abortion and a latent infection in sheep. Furthermore sheep are suitable host for Toxoplasma gondii. Copy Right, IJAR, 2013,. All rights reserved. Introduction Toxoplasmosis is a worldwide contagious disease of humans and other warm-blooded animals including birds. Clinically it is manifested chiefly by abortion and stillbirths in ewes, and in all species by encephalitis, pneumonia and neonatal mortality Infection by the protozoan parasite T. gondii is widely prevalent in sheep throughout the world. Clinically, ovine toxoplasmosis does not cause any symptoms, but in non-immune ewes an infection acquired during pregnancy may spread to the placenta and fetus and cause abortion, stillbirth or delivery of weak, infected lambs. In nonpregnant ewes the parasites develop cysts containing dormant organisms in the central nervous system and muscle. These cysts could transmit the disease to humans by ingestion of raw or undercooked meat containing tissue cysts (Marca et al., 1996). The seroprevalence of toxoplasmosis in sheep has been reported in several parts around the world. The prevalence rates have been varied among countries and diagnostic methods from 25% to 65% The only documented study on T. gondii seroprevalence in sheep in Libya was in Tripoli (EL-Gomatiet al., 2008) who reported seroprevavlence rates of 40.71 % in adult in Tripoli-Libya, using the Latex agglutination test. The purpose of the present study was to determine the prevalence of T. gondii infection in adult sheep from different agro-ecological zones (Natural regions) of Libya. ISSN 2320-5407 International Journal of Advanced Research (2013) , Volume 1, Issue 9, 148-154 149 Material and Methods We divided Libya into four geographical areas (western area, central area, eastern area, and southern area).A total of 5806 blood samples were obtained from the jugular vein of sheep. These samples were collected randomly from four different geographical areas. The blood samples were collected by veterinarians and veterinary assistants in tubes without anticoagulant directly from the jugular. The samples were transported to the research laboratory in (Libyan National Center for Diseases Control) LNCDC as soon as possible in an ice keeper tanks. Upon arrival, the sera were separated into micro tubes after centrifugation at 4000 rpm for 10 min. Then the micro tubes were stored at -20˚C until analysis. The sera obtained were screened for anti-T. gondii antibodies using the Latex agglutination test (Toxocell Latex, Biokit, Spain). Data analysis was performed with computer software SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Science), version 15. SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL).Statistical significance was taken at P-value of ≤ 0.05. Result Seropositivity according to blood samples collection area

Estimation and Correlation Analysis of Heavy Metals of Some Well Water in Zakho City, Iraq

This study was carried out to examine the concentrations of major heavy metals in fifteen different well water in Zakho City, Kurdistan Region, Iraq. The studied heavy metals were iron, copper, chromium, aluminum, cadmium, cobalt, nickel, manganese, zinc and lead. The results obtained in the studied area showed that copper, chromium, cobalt, zinc, manganese, aluminum, iron and lead were within the acceptable limits as recommended by WHO for water drinking. However, in all studied areas, cadmium and nickel were mostly founded to exceed the maximum permissible limit set by WHO. It is found that zinc and copper possess a very good positive correlation between each other. The results obtained in this study confirmed the groundwater pollution and hence it is not suitable for consumption without any prior treatment

First Molecular Epidemiological Study of Cutaneous Leishmaniasis in Libya

Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is caused by protozoan parasites of the genus Leishmania. The disease is characterized by the formation of chronic skin lesions followed by permanent scars and deformation of the infected area. It is distributed in many tropical and subtropical countries with more than 2 million cases every year. During the past few years CL has emerged as a major public health problem in Libya. So far, diagnosis was based on clinical symptoms and microscopic observation of parasites. Disease outbreaks were not investigated and the causative leishmanial species of CL were not identified so far. Our study indicates the presence of two coexisting species: Leishmania major and Leishmania tropica. These results are crucial in order to provide accurate treatment, precise prognosis and appropriate public health control measures. The recent armed conflict in Libya that ended with the Gadhafi regime collapse on October 2011 has affected all aspects of the life in the country. In this study we discussed multiple risk factors that could be associated with this conflict and present major challenges that should be considered by local and national health authorities for evaluating the CL burden and highlighting priority actions for disease control

Single Diffractive Lambda_c^+ Production in Polarized pp Scattering with Polarized Gluon Distribution in the Proton

Based on the hard-scattering factorization which decomposes the diffractive structure function into a pomeron flux and a pomeron structure function, we study the single diffractive Lambda_c^+ production in polarized pp scattering: p + p -> p + Lambda_c^+ + X, which will be observed at forthcoming RHIC experiment. By analyzing the cross section and correlation of the spin polarization between the initial proton and produced Lambda_c^+, we found that the process is quite effective for testing both hard-scattering factorization and models of the polarized gluon distribution in the proton.Comment: 11 pages, LaTex2e, 6 figures, final version to appear in Modern Physics Letters

Selective Immune Suppression Using Interleukin-6 Receptor Inhibitors for Management of Immune-related Adverse Events

BACKGROUND: Management of immune-related adverse events (irAEs) is important as they cause treatment interruption or discontinuation, more often seen with combination immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) therapy. Here, we retrospectively evaluated the safety and effectiveness of anti-interleukin-6 receptor (anti-IL-6R) as therapy for irAEs. METHODS: We performed a retrospective multicenter study evaluating patients diagnosed with de novo irAEs or flare of pre-existing autoimmune disease following ICI and were treated with anti-IL-6R. Our objectives were to assess the improvement of irAEs as well as the overall tumor response rate (ORR) before and after anti-IL-6R treatment. RESULTS: We identified a total of 92 patients who received therapeutic anti-IL-6R antibodies (tocilizumab or sarilumab). Median age was 61 years, 63% were men, 69% received anti-programmed cell death protein-1 (PD-1) antibodies alone, and 26% patients were treated with the combination of anti-cytotoxic T lymphocyte antigen-4 and anti-PD-1 antibodies. Cancer types were primarily melanoma (46%), genitourinary cancer (35%), and lung cancer (8%). Indications for using anti-IL-6R antibodies included inflammatory arthritis (73%), hepatitis/cholangitis (7%), myositis/myocarditis/myasthenia gravis (5%), polymyalgia rheumatica (4%), and one patient each with autoimmune scleroderma, nephritis, colitis, pneumonitis and central nervous system vasculitis. Notably, 88% of patients had received corticosteroids, and 36% received other disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) as first-line therapies, but without adequate improvement. After initiation of anti-IL-6R (as first-line or post-corticosteroids and DMARDs), 73% of patients showed resolution or change to ≤grade 1 of irAEs after a median of 2.0 months from initiation of anti-IL-6R therapy. Six patients (7%) stopped anti-IL-6R due to adverse events. Of 70 evaluable patients by RECIST (Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors) V.1.1 criteria; the ORR was 66% prior versus 66% after anti-IL-6R (95% CI, 54% to 77%), with 8% higher complete response rate. Of 34 evaluable patients with melanoma, the ORR was 56% prior and increased to 68% after anti-IL-6R (p=0.04). CONCLUSION: Targeting IL-6R could be an effective approach to treat several irAE types without hindering antitumor immunity. This study supports ongoing clinical trials evaluating the safety and efficacy of tocilizumab (anti-IL-6R antibody) in combination with ICIs (NCT04940299, NCT03999749)

Selective Immune Suppression Using Interleukin-6 Receptor Inhibitors for Management of Immune-Related Adverse Events

BACKGROUND: Management of immune-related adverse events (irAEs) is important as they cause treatment interruption or discontinuation, more often seen with combination immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) therapy. Here, we retrospectively evaluated the safety and effectiveness of anti-interleukin-6 receptor (anti-IL-6R) as therapy for irAEs. METHODS: We performed a retrospective multicenter study evaluating patients diagnosed with de novo irAEs or flare of pre-existing autoimmune disease following ICI and were treated with anti-IL-6R. Our objectives were to assess the improvement of irAEs as well as the overall tumor response rate (ORR) before and after anti-IL-6R treatment. RESULTS: We identified a total of 92 patients who received therapeutic anti-IL-6R antibodies (tocilizumab or sarilumab). Median age was 61 years, 63% were men, 69% received anti-programmed cell death protein-1 (PD-1) antibodies alone, and 26% patients were treated with the combination of anti-cytotoxic T lymphocyte antigen-4 and anti-PD-1 antibodies. Cancer types were primarily melanoma (46%), genitourinary cancer (35%), and lung cancer (8%). Indications for using anti-IL-6R antibodies included inflammatory arthritis (73%), hepatitis/cholangitis (7%), myositis/myocarditis/myasthenia gravis (5%), polymyalgia rheumatica (4%), and one patient each with autoimmune scleroderma, nephritis, colitis, pneumonitis and central nervous system vasculitis. Notably, 88% of patients had received corticosteroids, and 36% received other disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) as first-line therapies, but without adequate improvement. After initiation of anti-IL-6R (as first-line or post-corticosteroids and DMARDs), 73% of patients showed resolution or change to ≤grade 1 of irAEs after a median of 2.0 months from initiation of anti-IL-6R therapy. Six patients (7%) stopped anti-IL-6R due to adverse events. Of 70 evaluable patients by RECIST (Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors) V.1.1 criteria; the ORR was 66% prior versus 66% after anti-IL-6R (95% CI, 54% to 77%), with 8% higher complete response rate. Of 34 evaluable patients with melanoma, the ORR was 56% prior and increased to 68% after anti-IL-6R (p=0.04). CONCLUSION: Targeting IL-6R could be an effective approach to treat several irAE types without hindering antitumor immunity. This study supports ongoing clinical trials evaluating the safety and efficacy of tocilizumab (anti-IL-6R antibody) in combination with ICIs (NCT04940299, NCT03999749)

Resistensi buah beberapa kultivar pisang terhadap isolat Virulen dari Colletotrichum muse penyebab penyakit Antraknosa

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