The Comparative Study of the Effectiveness of Cimetidine, Ranitidine, Famotidine, and Omeprazole in Treatment of Children with Dyspepsia

Background. Functional dyspepsia is a common chronic disorder with non specific upper abdominal pain or discomfort. Different approaches with anti-secretory, spasmolytic, prokinetic and anti-inflammatory effects and most preferably reduction of visceral hypersensitivity seem logical. In this study, we compared the effectiveness of the four most drugs used for treatment of dyspepsia in children. Methods. 169 patients between 2 to 16 years old that 47.3% was male and 52.7% was female were enrolled in this clinical trial study by the diagnosis of functional dyspepsia. Then for each patient one of the drugs; Omeprazole, Famotidine, Ranitidine or Cimetidine was administered, for a period of 4 weeks. Patients were followed after 2 and 6 weeks from the beginning of the treatment. Results. The distribution of drugs between these patients were including; 21.9% with Cimetidine, 21.3% with Famotidine, 30.8% with Omeperazole and 26% with Ranitidine that the proportion of patients with all symptoms relief were: 21.6% for Cimetidine, 44.4% for Famotidine, 53.8% for Omeprazole and 43.2% for Cimetidine (P = .024). In followups within 2 and 6 weeks after beginning medical therapy, no side effects due to drugs were seen. Conclusion. If a cure is defined as all symptoms relief after a period of 4 weeks treatment, our findings showed that Omeperazole are superior to Ranitidine, Famotidine, and Cimetidine for management of functional dyspepsia

Amoxicillin degradation with electro-persulfate combined with H2O2 from aqueous solution using response surface methodology

Background: Discharging wastewaters containing antibiotic into the environment causes some adverse effects on the human health and other organisms. The present study investigated the efficiency of electropersulfate combined with hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) process as a chemical oxidation in amoxicillin (AMX) degradation. Methods: Optimization of the significant operational independent variables was explored for removal of AMX. Central composite design (CCD) was employed as a statistical tool for experimental design. High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was used for measuring AMX concentration. The most effective factors of the electro-persulfate and H2O2 on the removal efficiency of AMX such as initial concentration of AMX, initial pH, PS/H2O2 molar ratio, and the current density were measured. Results: The optimum conditions for electro-persulfate removal efficiency of AMX to reach the degradation efficiency of higher than 95.28 ± 2.64% at reaction time of 60 minutes were obtained at pH = 4.23, AMX concentration = 31.9 mmol/L, current density = 39 mA/cm2, and PS/H2O2 molar ratio = 0.82. AMX degradation was satisfactorily predicted by the quadratic model with high possibility and confidence level of 95%. The quadratic model had high regression coefficients (R2 = 0.9964 and R2 adj = 0.9926), which was totally acceptable. The removal efficiency of AMX reduced from 87.3 ± 6.1 to 25.9 ± 9 as pH increased from 5.5 to 7. Conclusion: According to the results, the electro-persulfate and H2O2 process can be suggested as the most effective, high efficient, and in-situ chemical oxidation for degradation of AMX. Keywords: Amoxicillin, Hydrogen peroxide, Oxidation-reduction, Antibioti

Functional and Structural Characterization of SARS-Cov-2 Spike Protein: An In Silico Study

BACKGROUND፡ Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the cause of the global outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19), which has been considered as a pandemic by WHO. SARS-CoV-2 encodes four major structural proteins, among which spike protein has always been a main target for new vaccine studies. This in silico study aimed to investigate some physicochemical, functional, immunological, and structural features of spike protein using several bioinformatics tools.METHOD: We retrieved all SARS-CoV-2 spike protein sequences from different countries registered in NCBI GenBank. CLC Sequence Viewer was employed to translate and align the sequences, and several programs were utilized to predict B-cell epitopes. Modification sites such as phosphorylation, glycosylation, and disulfide bonds were defined. Secondary and tertiary structures of all sequences were further computed.RESULTS: Some mutations were determined, where only one (D614G) had a high prevalence. The mutations did not impact the B-cell and physicochemical properties of the spike protein. Seven disulfide bonds were specified and also predicted in several N-link glycosylation and phosphorylation sites. The results also indicated that spike protein is a non-allergen.CONCLUSION: In summary, our findings provided a deep understanding of spike protein, which can be valuable for future studies on SARS CoV-2 infections and design of new vaccines

Degradation of Organophosphorus Pesticides in Water during UV/H2O2 Treatment: Role of Sulphate and Bicarbonate Ions

Abstract: The photodegradation of two organophosphorus pesticides, malathian and diazinon, by sulfate radicals and bicarbonate radicals in aqueous solution were studied. The effect of the operational parameters such as pH, salt concentration, water type, H2O2 concentration and initial concentration of pesticides was studied. Gas chromatography mass spectroscopy (GC-MS) was used for analyses of pesticides. When salt effect was studied, it was found that sodium bicarbonate was the most powerful inhibitor used, while sodium sulfate was the weakest one. The highest degradation in UV/H2O2 process for malathion was found in alkaline condition and for diazinon in acidic condition. The photodegradation in all waters used in this work exhibited first order kinetics. Photodegradation rate in distilled water was higher than real water. The degradation of pesticides increased with increasing of H2O2 concentration

The clinical presentation of Post-Transplant Lymphoproliferative Disorder (PTLD) following pediatric liver transplantation

Post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder is a life-threatening complication of solid organ transplantation. In pediatric recipients, PTLD has been reported in 6.4-19.5 of lung, heart and heart-lung transplants, 4-15 of liver transplants and 1.2-10.1 of kidney transplants. Although most lymphomas typically occur in lymph nodes, extranodal involvement is also common. The aim of our study was to determine the site and symptoms of PTLD in children who underwent liver transplantation during 2009-2012 in Liver Transplantation Center of Nemazee Hospital. Material and methods: This study is a cohort study on existing data of children who received liver transplant between Juanury 2009 and December 2012 at Liver Transplant Center of Nemazee Hospital in Shiraz. During the study period, the PTLD occurrence was assessed in follow up visits, if the diagnosis of PTLD was confirmed the affected patient was entered the study and additional information was obtained. The diagnosis of PTLD was considered in patients with fever of undetermined origin, lymphadenopathy, allograft dysfunction, and pulmonary infiltrates. The data was analyzed using SPSS software ver.18. Statistical descriptive methods, Chi square test, and independent t-test, were used for analyzing the data. P value smaller than 0.05 were considered significant. Results: Totally, 203 children undergoing liver transplant surgery were evaluated. The age range of patients was 8 months to 18 years with mean of 8.8±5.6 years old. In our study 17 (8.4) patients developed PTLD. The mean interval between transplantation and PTLD diagnosis was 8.4 ±5.61 months ranging from 4 to 24 months. A total of five patients (2.5) died during the follow-up period and all of them were PTLD affected children (29.4 of PTLD patients). Lymph nodes were the most predominant site involved (64.7), while liver and GI involved in 35.2. Conclusion: The results of this study emphasize the relatively high incidence of PTLD after liver transplantation in children. Because of its impact on patient's outcome and reducing recipient's survival, it is important to minimize this problem by early diagnosis and providing effective treatment

Organophosphorous Pesticides in Surface Water of Iran

Abstract This research aims to evaluate the presence and distribution of pesticides in Babolrood River of Mazandaran Province in Iran. Mean diazinon levels in surface water ranged from 77.6 to 101.6 lg L-1 with maximum level of 768.9 lg L-1 and mean malathion levels ranged from 55.7 to 75.9 lg L-1 with maximum level of 506.6 lg L-1 . The residues of malathion and diazinon pesticides in all of the stations, 2 weeks after spraying, were more than allowed limits

A new two-stage algorithm for solving optimization problems

Optimization seeks to find inputs for an objective function that result in a maximum or minimum. Optimization methods are divided into exact and approximate (algorithms). Several optimization algorithms imitate natural phenomena, laws of physics, and behavior of living organisms. Optimization based on algorithms is the challenge that underlies machine learning, from logistic regression to training neural networks for artificial intelligence. In this paper, a new algorithm called two-stage optimization (TSO) is proposed. The TSO algorithm updates population members in two steps at each iteration. For this purpose, a group of good population members is selected and then two members of this group are randomly used to update the position of each of them. This update is based on the first selected good member at the first stage, and on the second selected good member at the second stage. We describe the stages of the TSO algorithm and model them mathematically. Performance of the TSO algorithm is evaluated for twenty-three standard objective functions. In order to compare the optimization results of the TSO algorithm, eight other competing algorithms are considered, including genetic, gravitational search, grey wolf, marine predators, particle swarm, teaching-learning-based, tunicate swarm, and whale approaches. The numerical results show that the new algorithm is superior and more competitive in solving optimization problems when compared with other algorithms

Degradation of phenanthrene and pyrene using genetically engineered dioxygenase producing Pseudomonas putida in soil

Bioremediation use to promote degradation and/or removal of contaminants into nonhazardous or less-hazardous substances from the environment using microbial metabolic ability. Pseudomonas spp. is one of saprotrophic soil bacterium and can be used for biodegradation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) but this activity in most species is weak. Phenanthrene and pyrene could associate with a risk of human cancer development in exposed individuals. The aim of the present study was application of genetically engineered P. putida that produce dioxygenase for degradation of phenanthrene and pyrene in spiked soil using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method. The nahH gene that encoded catechol 2,3-dioxygenase (C23O) was cloned into pUC18 and pUC18-nahH recombinant vector was generated and transformed into wild P. putida, successfully. The genetically modified and wild types of P. putida were inoculated in soil and pilot plan was prepared. Finally, degradation of phenanthrene and pyrene by this bacterium in spiked soil were evaluated using HPLC measurement technique. The results were showed elimination of these PAH compounds in spiked soil by engineered P. putida comparing to dishes containing natural soil with normal microbial flora and inoculated autoclaved soil by wild type of P. putida were statistically significant (p 0.05) but it was few impact on this process (more than 2%). Additional and verification tests including catalase, oxidase and PCR on isolated bacteria from spiked soil were indicated that engineered P. putida was alive and functional as well as it can affect on phenanthrene and pyrene degradation via nahH gene producing. These findings indicated that genetically engineered P. putida generated in this work via producing C23O enzyme can useful and practical for biodegradation of phenanthrene and pyrene as well as petroleum compounds in polluted environments