Evaluation of clinical, etiological and antimicrobial resistance profile of pediatric urinary tract infections in a secondary health care centre

Background: Urinary tract infections are common during childhood. The etiologic agents and empirical antibiotics may vary due to age and geographic area. Objectives: This study was designed to investigate the urinary tract infection pathogens, their antibiotic resistance profile and risk factors in a sample of well-child population. Materials and Methods: This retrospective study was conducted in the pediatric clinics of a secondary health-care centre in a one-year period. The source of data was hospital and laboratory records. Toilet trained children and adolescents aged between 5-17 years old with positive urine culture were enrolled into the study. Microbiological studies were conducted according to international guidelines. Results: During the study 3640 urine samples were analyzed and 342(9.4%) had significant growth. Gram negative enterobacteria were the most common infectious agents. Antibiotic susceptibility tests showed low cephalosporine resistance unless ESBL was positive. Multi drug resistance was remarkable. Extended beta lactamase resistance rate was 17%. Previous history of antibiotic use before the present administration was the only significant risk factor for ESBL positivity. Conclusion: Treating urinary tract infections may become an emerging problem soon. Unless there are risk factors, cephalosporines are good options, but if so nitrofurantoin or carbapanems should be preferred for treatment in this population

The Amplitude of Non-Equilibrium Quantum Interference in Metallic Mesoscopic Systems

We study the influence of a DC bias voltage V on quantum interference corrections to the measured differential conductance in metallic mesoscopic wires and rings. The amplitude of both universal conductance fluctuations (UCF) and Aharonov-Bohm effect (ABE) is enhanced several times for voltages larger than the Thouless energy. The enhancement persists even in the presence of inelastic electron-electron scattering up to V ~ 1 mV. For larger voltages electron-phonon collisions lead to the amplitude decaying as a power law for the UCF and exponentially for the ABE. We obtain good agreement of the experimental data with a model which takes into account the decrease of the electron phase-coherence length due to electron-electron and electron-phonon scattering.Comment: New title, refined analysis. 7 pages, 3 figures, to be published in Europhysics Letter

Effect of Celergen, a marine derivative, on in vitro hepatocarcinogenesis

The aim of this study was to test for a potential anticarcinogenic effect of Celergen, a marine derivative devoid of traceable amounts of inorganic arsenic, on cell proliferation, cell cycle progression and apoptosis in the HepG2 human liver cancer cell line. Celergen significantly inhibited the proliferation of cancer cells in a dose-dependent manner while limiting the cell cycle progression at the G1 phase and significantly inducing apoptosis. Further examination showed that Celergen enhanced expression of the p21CIPl1WAF1, GADD153 genes and downregulated the c-myc gene. These results suggest that Celergen exerts promising chemopreventive properties to be further investigated

Improving sperm quality and spermatogenesis through a bioactive marine compound : an experimental study

Dietary lipids may affect sperm membrane structure, fluidity and its susceptibility to oxidative phenomena which may lead to altered sperm viability and proper binding to eggs.Given the recently demonstrated beneficial effects of fish oil diets on turkey fertility and embryo viability, the aim of this study was to test a caviar-derived marine product on spermatogenesis and sperm quality. Sixty mice were divided into four different groups and fed for 3 weeks with normal chow (group A), added with LD-1227 at the dosage of either 5 mg/day (B1) or 10 mg/day (B2) while Group C received standard chow added with 10 mg of a DHArich mixture. At sacrifice tests/body weight ration and spermatogenesis was checked. No toxicity, histological sign or body or testes growth abnormality was noted, irrespective of the treatment. As compared to control, all supplements showed to increase sperm counting and motility although the effect of LD-1227 10 mg was significantly higher than DHA alone (p<0.05). Viability was improved by DHA (p<0.05) but not by low LD-1227 dosage while higher dosage performed better than DHA (p<0.05).Morphology was unaffected by any of the employed supplements. Taken altogether, these data suggest that LD-1227 has a remarkable effect on quali-quantitative parameters of spermiogenesis, some of them being more effective than high dosage DHA. These findings may prove to be of interest in clinical practice

Effect of in vitro gastrointestinal digestion on the total phenolic contents and antioxidant activity of wild Mediterranean edible plant extracts

The recent interest in wild edible plants is associated with their health benefits, which are mainly due to their richness in antioxidant compounds, particularly phenolics. Nevertheless, some of these compounds are metabolized after ingestion, being transformed into metabolites frequently with lower antioxidant activity. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the influence of the digestive process on the total phenolic contents and antioxidant activity of extracts from four wild edible plants used in the Mediterranean diet (Beta maritima L., Plantago major L., Oxalis pes-caprae L. and Scolymus hispanicus L.). HPLC-DAD analysis revealed that S. hispanicus is characterized by the presence of caffeoylquinic acids, dicaffeoylquinic acids and flavonol derivatives, P. major by high amounts of verbascoside, B. maritima possesses 2,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid, 5-O-caffeoylquinic acid, quercetin derivatives and kaempferol-3-O-rutinoside, and O. pes-caprae extract contains hydroxycinnamic acids and flavone derivatives. Total phenolic contents were determined by Folin-Ciocalteu assay, and antioxidant activity by the ABTS, DPPH, ORAC and FRAP assays. Phenolic contents of P. major and S. hispanicus extracts were not affected by digestion, but they significantly decreased in B. maritima after both phases of digestion process and in O. pes-caprae after the gastric phase. The antioxidant activity results varied with the extract and the method used to evaluate the activity. Results showed that P. major extract has the highest total phenolic contents and antioxidant activity, with considerable values even after digestion, reinforcing the health benefits of this species.European Union (FEDER funds through COMPETE)European Union (EU)European Union (FEDER)European Union (EU)Programa de Cooperacion Interreg V-A Espana - Portugal (POCTEP) 2014-2020 [0377_IBERPHENOL_6_E]project INTERREG - MD. Net: When Brand Meets PeopleFCT Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technolog

Drama and discounting in the relational dynamics of corporate social responsibility

Employing theoretical resources from Transactional Analysis (TA) and drawing from interviews with managers dealing with social or environmental issues in their role, we explain how CSR activity provides a context for dramas in which actors may ignore, or discount aspects of self, others, and the contexts of their work as they maintain and reproduce the roles of Rescuers, Persecutors and Victims. In doing so, we add to knowledge about CSR by providing an explanation for how the contradictions of CSR are avoided in practice even when actors may be aware of them. Specifically, we theorise how CSR work can produce dramatic stories where adversity is apparently overcome, whilst little is actually achieved at the social level. We also add to the range of psychoanalytic tools used to account for organisational behaviours, emphasising how TA can explain the relational dynamics of CSR

A comparative investigation on phenolic composition, antioxidant and antimicrobial potentials of Salvia heldreichiana Boiss. ex Bentham extracts

The purpose of the present work is to screen phenolic composition and evaluate the antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of the main extract and subextracts of Salvia heldreichiana, an endemic plant from Turkey. The aerial parts have been powdered and extracted with MeOH initially and then partitioned with chloroform (CHCl3), ethyl acetate (EtOAc) for the generation of subextracts along with the remaining water (R-H2O). Total phenolic, phenolic acid, flavonoid and proanthocyanidin contents present in the MeOH, CHCl3, EtOAc and R-H2O extracts were measured. Presence of 22 phenolic metabolites were confirmed by utilizing LC-MS/MS in MRM scan mode and then Rosmarinic acid (RA) contents of each extract were quantified by HPTLC-densitometry, since the biological effects of many medicinal plants, including Salvia sp. is attributed to RA content. Antioxidant capacities of the aforementioned extracts were estimated using several procedures including free radical scavenging and metal-associated activity and then disc diffusion method was employed to designate their antibacterial and antifungal activities. The results obtained from the current study has revealed a positive correlation between the phenolic composition and the antioxidant profile as well as the antimicrobial activities of the extracts. Among the tested extracts, EtOAc subextract showed the highest antioxidant and antimicrobial activities consistent with the highest phenolic and RA content. (C) 2019 SAAB. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Antioxidant properties of Prangos ferulacea (L.) Lindl., Chaerophyllum macropodum Boiss. and Heracleum persicum Desf. from Apiaceae family used as food in Eastern Anatolia and their inhibitory effects on glutathione-S-transferase

Therapeutic effects of several medicinal plants and vegetables, which are commonly used as food and in folk medicine against many disease, are well known. Antioxidant capacities of Heracleum persicum Desf., Prangos ferulacea (L.) Lindl., Chaerophyllum macropodum Boiss. species from Apiaceae family were evaluated by determining their effects on DPPH radical scavenging, and lipid peroxidation inhibition, as well as their total phenolic contents. Potential natural glutathione-S-transferase inhibitors have gained great importance in the last decade especially because of the role of glutathione-S-transferases in developing resistance to chemotherapy. Selected plants were therefore further investigated for their influence on the activity of glutathione-S-transferase enzyme