Anatomical Variations in Palmar Creases and Their Correlation to The Intelligence Capacity of Libyan Medical and Dental Students of Omar Al-Mukhtar University.

Background: For centuries, clinicians, anthropologists, and palmists have found the creases in the palm interesting. However, only in the last fifty years that research's started to examine the variations in these creases. Based on the three main palmar creases, thenar, proximal, and distal transverse creases, four patterns of palmar creases are identified; nonvariant, Sydney, Suwon, and simian. Previous studies of palmar creases revealed that familial components, race, sex, and age are factors that influence the expression of palmar crease patterns. Simian patterns of palmar creases are linked to various congenital diseases, some characterized by low level of intelligence. Aim: This paper aims to investigate the variations in palmar crease patterns among medical and dental students of Omar Al-Mukhtar University and to study the range of intelligence capacity associated with each pattern. Materials and methods: The study was conducted on 183 students. A paper-based IQ test was performed and photos were taken from both palms of all participants. Results: Out of 183 participants, the nonvariant pattern of palmar creases was found in 92%, in which, 100 students have bilateral 2 points of origin palmar creases and 48 students have bilateral 3 points of origin palmar creases, whereas 18 participants have one palm of 2 points and the other palm of 3 points of origin. Unilateral simian was the dominant type in the aberrant palmar creases, followed by bilateral Sydney, then unilateral Sydney, and Suwon. Conclusion: The students with unilateral simian have the highest average score of 47.166 followed by bilateral nonvariant and unilateral nonvariant. Students with unilateral Sydney have the lowest average score of 41

Systematic review and meta-analysis of the effectiveness of pre-pregnancy care for women with diabetes for improving maternal and perinatal outcomes.

BACKGROUND: Pre-gestational diabetes mellitus is associated with increased risk of maternal and perinatal adverse outcomes. This systematic review was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of pre-conception care (PCC) in improving maternal and perinatal outcomes. METHODS: Databases from MEDLINE, EMBASE, WEB OF SCIENCE, and Cochrane Library were searched, including the CENTRAL register of controlled trials, and CINHAL up until March 2019, without any language restrictions, for any pre-pregnancy care aiming at health promotion, glycemic control, and screening and treatment of diabetes complications in women with type I or type II pre-gestational diabetes. Trials and observational studies were included in the review. Newcastle-Ottawa scale and the Cochrane collaboration methodology for data synthesis and analysis were used, along with the GRADE tool to evaluate the body of evidence. RESULTS: The search identified 8500 potentially relevant citations of which 40 reports of 36 studies were included. The meta-analysis results show that PCC reduced congenital malformations risk by 71%, (Risk ratio (RR) 0.29; 95% CI: 0.21-0.40, 25 studies; 5903 women; high-certainty evidence). The results also show that PCC may lower HbA1c in the first trimester of pregnancy by an average of 1.27% (Mean difference (MD) 1.27; 95% CI: 1.33-1.22; 4927 women; 24 studies, moderate-certainty evidence). Furthermore, the results suggest that PCC may lead to a slight reduction in the risk of preterm delivery of 15%, (RR 0.85; 95% CI: 0.73-0.99; nine studies, 2414 women; moderate-certainty evidence). Moreover, PCC may result in risk reduction of perinatal mortality by 54%, (RR 0.46; 95% CI: 0.30-0.73; ten studies; 3071 women; moderate-certainty evidence). There is uncertainty about the effects of PCC on the early booking for antenatal care (MD 1.31; 95% CI: 1.40-1.23; five studies, 1081 women; very low-certainty evidence) and maternal hypoglycemia in the first trimester, (RR 1.38; 95% CI: 1.07-1.79; three studies; 686 women; very low- certainty evidence). In addition, results of the meta-analysis indicate that PCC may lead to 48% reduction in the risk of small for gestational age (SGA) (RR 0.52; 95% CI: 0.37-0.75; six studies, 2261 women; moderate-certainty evidence). PCC may reduce the risk of neonatal admission to intensive care unit (NICU) by 25% (RR 0.75; 95% CI: 0.67-0.84; four studies; 1322 women; moderate-certainty evidence). However, PCC may have little or no effect in reducing the cesarean section rate (RR 1.02; 95% CI: 0.96-1.07; 14 studies; 3641 women; low-certainty evidence); miscarriage rate (RR 0.86; 95% CI: 0.70-1.06; 11 studies; 2698 women; low-certainty evidence); macrosomia rate (RR 1.06; 95% CI: 0.97-1.15; nine studies; 2787 women, low-certainty evidence); neonatal hypoglycemia (RR 0.93; 95% CI: 0.74-1.18; five studies; 880 women; low-certainty evidence); respiratory distress syndrome (RR 0.78; 95% CI: 0.47-1.29; four studies; 466 women; very low-certainty evidence); or shoulder dystocia (RR 0.28; 95% CI: 0.07-1.12; 2 studies; 530 women; very low-certainty evidence). CONCLUSION: PCC for women with pre-gestational type 1 or type 2 diabetes mellitus is effective in improving rates of congenital malformations. In addition, it may improve the risk of preterm delivery and admission to NICU. PCC probably reduces maternal HbA1C in the first trimester of pregnancy, perinatal mortality and SGA. There is uncertainty regarding the effects of PCC on early booking for antenatal care or maternal hypoglycemia during the first trimester of pregnancy. PCC has little or no effect on other maternal and perinatal outcomes

The evolving SARS-CoV-2 epidemic in Africa: Insights from rapidly expanding genomic surveillance

INTRODUCTION Investment in Africa over the past year with regard to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) sequencing has led to a massive increase in the number of sequences, which, to date, exceeds 100,000 sequences generated to track the pandemic on the continent. These sequences have profoundly affected how public health officials in Africa have navigated the COVID-19 pandemic. RATIONALE We demonstrate how the first 100,000 SARS-CoV-2 sequences from Africa have helped monitor the epidemic on the continent, how genomic surveillance expanded over the course of the pandemic, and how we adapted our sequencing methods to deal with an evolving virus. Finally, we also examine how viral lineages have spread across the continent in a phylogeographic framework to gain insights into the underlying temporal and spatial transmission dynamics for several variants of concern (VOCs). RESULTS Our results indicate that the number of countries in Africa that can sequence the virus within their own borders is growing and that this is coupled with a shorter turnaround time from the time of sampling to sequence submission. Ongoing evolution necessitated the continual updating of primer sets, and, as a result, eight primer sets were designed in tandem with viral evolution and used to ensure effective sequencing of the virus. The pandemic unfolded through multiple waves of infection that were each driven by distinct genetic lineages, with B.1-like ancestral strains associated with the first pandemic wave of infections in 2020. Successive waves on the continent were fueled by different VOCs, with Alpha and Beta cocirculating in distinct spatial patterns during the second wave and Delta and Omicron affecting the whole continent during the third and fourth waves, respectively. Phylogeographic reconstruction points toward distinct differences in viral importation and exportation patterns associated with the Alpha, Beta, Delta, and Omicron variants and subvariants, when considering both Africa versus the rest of the world and viral dissemination within the continent. Our epidemiological and phylogenetic inferences therefore underscore the heterogeneous nature of the pandemic on the continent and highlight key insights and challenges, for instance, recognizing the limitations of low testing proportions. We also highlight the early warning capacity that genomic surveillance in Africa has had for the rest of the world with the detection of new lineages and variants, the most recent being the characterization of various Omicron subvariants. CONCLUSION Sustained investment for diagnostics and genomic surveillance in Africa is needed as the virus continues to evolve. This is important not only to help combat SARS-CoV-2 on the continent but also because it can be used as a platform to help address the many emerging and reemerging infectious disease threats in Africa. In particular, capacity building for local sequencing within countries or within the continent should be prioritized because this is generally associated with shorter turnaround times, providing the most benefit to local public health authorities tasked with pandemic response and mitigation and allowing for the fastest reaction to localized outbreaks. These investments are crucial for pandemic preparedness and response and will serve the health of the continent well into the 21st century

Global burden of 288 causes of death and life expectancy decomposition in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations, 1990–2021: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

BACKGROUND Regular, detailed reporting on population health by underlying cause of death is fundamental for public health decision making. Cause-specific estimates of mortality and the subsequent effects on life expectancy worldwide are valuable metrics to gauge progress in reducing mortality rates. These estimates are particularly important following large-scale mortality spikes, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. When systematically analysed, mortality rates and life expectancy allow comparisons of the consequences of causes of death globally and over time, providing a nuanced understanding of the effect of these causes on global populations. METHODS The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2021 cause-of-death analysis estimated mortality and years of life lost (YLLs) from 288 causes of death by age-sex-location-year in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations for each year from 1990 until 2021. The analysis used 56 604 data sources, including data from vital registration and verbal autopsy as well as surveys, censuses, surveillance systems, and cancer registries, among others. As with previous GBD rounds, cause-specific death rates for most causes were estimated using the Cause of Death Ensemble model-a modelling tool developed for GBD to assess the out-of-sample predictive validity of different statistical models and covariate permutations and combine those results to produce cause-specific mortality estimates-with alternative strategies adapted to model causes with insufficient data, substantial changes in reporting over the study period, or unusual epidemiology. YLLs were computed as the product of the number of deaths for each cause-age-sex-location-year and the standard life expectancy at each age. As part of the modelling process, uncertainty intervals (UIs) were generated using the 2·5th and 97·5th percentiles from a 1000-draw distribution for each metric. We decomposed life expectancy by cause of death, location, and year to show cause-specific effects on life expectancy from 1990 to 2021. We also used the coefficient of variation and the fraction of population affected by 90% of deaths to highlight concentrations of mortality. Findings are reported in counts and age-standardised rates. Methodological improvements for cause-of-death estimates in GBD 2021 include the expansion of under-5-years age group to include four new age groups, enhanced methods to account for stochastic variation of sparse data, and the inclusion of COVID-19 and other pandemic-related mortality-which includes excess mortality associated with the pandemic, excluding COVID-19, lower respiratory infections, measles, malaria, and pertussis. For this analysis, 199 new country-years of vital registration cause-of-death data, 5 country-years of surveillance data, 21 country-years of verbal autopsy data, and 94 country-years of other data types were added to those used in previous GBD rounds. FINDINGS The leading causes of age-standardised deaths globally were the same in 2019 as they were in 1990; in descending order, these were, ischaemic heart disease, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and lower respiratory infections. In 2021, however, COVID-19 replaced stroke as the second-leading age-standardised cause of death, with 94·0 deaths (95% UI 89·2-100·0) per 100 000 population. The COVID-19 pandemic shifted the rankings of the leading five causes, lowering stroke to the third-leading and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease to the fourth-leading position. In 2021, the highest age-standardised death rates from COVID-19 occurred in sub-Saharan Africa (271·0 deaths [250·1-290·7] per 100 000 population) and Latin America and the Caribbean (195·4 deaths [182·1-211·4] per 100 000 population). The lowest age-standardised death rates from COVID-19 were in the high-income super-region (48·1 deaths [47·4-48·8] per 100 000 population) and southeast Asia, east Asia, and Oceania (23·2 deaths [16·3-37·2] per 100 000 population). Globally, life expectancy steadily improved between 1990 and 2019 for 18 of the 22 investigated causes. Decomposition of global and regional life expectancy showed the positive effect that reductions in deaths from enteric infections, lower respiratory infections, stroke, and neonatal deaths, among others have contributed to improved survival over the study period. However, a net reduction of 1·6 years occurred in global life expectancy between 2019 and 2021, primarily due to increased death rates from COVID-19 and other pandemic-related mortality. Life expectancy was highly variable between super-regions over the study period, with southeast Asia, east Asia, and Oceania gaining 8·3 years (6·7-9·9) overall, while having the smallest reduction in life expectancy due to COVID-19 (0·4 years). The largest reduction in life expectancy due to COVID-19 occurred in Latin America and the Caribbean (3·6 years). Additionally, 53 of the 288 causes of death were highly concentrated in locations with less than 50% of the global population as of 2021, and these causes of death became progressively more concentrated since 1990, when only 44 causes showed this pattern. The concentration phenomenon is discussed heuristically with respect to enteric and lower respiratory infections, malaria, HIV/AIDS, neonatal disorders, tuberculosis, and measles. INTERPRETATION Long-standing gains in life expectancy and reductions in many of the leading causes of death have been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the adverse effects of which were spread unevenly among populations. Despite the pandemic, there has been continued progress in combatting several notable causes of death, leading to improved global life expectancy over the study period. Each of the seven GBD super-regions showed an overall improvement from 1990 and 2021, obscuring the negative effect in the years of the pandemic. Additionally, our findings regarding regional variation in causes of death driving increases in life expectancy hold clear policy utility. Analyses of shifting mortality trends reveal that several causes, once widespread globally, are now increasingly concentrated geographically. These changes in mortality concentration, alongside further investigation of changing risks, interventions, and relevant policy, present an important opportunity to deepen our understanding of mortality-reduction strategies. Examining patterns in mortality concentration might reveal areas where successful public health interventions have been implemented. Translating these successes to locations where certain causes of death remain entrenched can inform policies that work to improve life expectancy for people everywhere. FUNDING Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Global, regional, and national burden of disorders affecting the nervous system, 1990–2021: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

BackgroundDisorders affecting the nervous system are diverse and include neurodevelopmental disorders, late-life neurodegeneration, and newly emergent conditions, such as cognitive impairment following COVID-19. Previous publications from the Global Burden of Disease, Injuries, and Risk Factor Study estimated the burden of 15 neurological conditions in 2015 and 2016, but these analyses did not include neurodevelopmental disorders, as defined by the International Classification of Diseases (ICD)-11, or a subset of cases of congenital, neonatal, and infectious conditions that cause neurological damage. Here, we estimate nervous system health loss caused by 37 unique conditions and their associated risk factors globally, regionally, and nationally from 1990 to 2021.MethodsWe estimated mortality, prevalence, years lived with disability (YLDs), years of life lost (YLLs), and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs), with corresponding 95% uncertainty intervals (UIs), by age and sex in 204 countries and territories, from 1990 to 2021. We included morbidity and deaths due to neurological conditions, for which health loss is directly due to damage to the CNS or peripheral nervous system. We also isolated neurological health loss from conditions for which nervous system morbidity is a consequence, but not the primary feature, including a subset of congenital conditions (ie, chromosomal anomalies and congenital birth defects), neonatal conditions (ie, jaundice, preterm birth, and sepsis), infectious diseases (ie, COVID-19, cystic echinococcosis, malaria, syphilis, and Zika virus disease), and diabetic neuropathy. By conducting a sequela-level analysis of the health outcomes for these conditions, only cases where nervous system damage occurred were included, and YLDs were recalculated to isolate the non-fatal burden directly attributable to nervous system health loss. A comorbidity correction was used to calculate total prevalence of all conditions that affect the nervous system combined.FindingsGlobally, the 37 conditions affecting the nervous system were collectively ranked as the leading group cause of DALYs in 2021 (443 million, 95% UI 378–521), affecting 3·40 billion (3·20–3·62) individuals (43·1%, 40·5–45·9 of the global population); global DALY counts attributed to these conditions increased by 18·2% (8·7–26·7) between 1990 and 2021. Age-standardised rates of deaths per 100 000 people attributed to these conditions decreased from 1990 to 2021 by 33·6% (27·6–38·8), and age-standardised rates of DALYs attributed to these conditions decreased by 27·0% (21·5–32·4). Age-standardised prevalence was almost stable, with a change of 1·5% (0·7–2·4). The ten conditions with the highest age-standardised DALYs in 2021 were stroke, neonatal encephalopathy, migraine, Alzheimer's disease and other dementias, diabetic neuropathy, meningitis, epilepsy, neurological complications due to preterm birth, autism spectrum disorder, and nervous system cancer.InterpretationAs the leading cause of overall disease burden in the world, with increasing global DALY counts, effective prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation strategies for disorders affecting the nervous system are needed

Mortality from gastrointestinal congenital anomalies at 264 hospitals in 74 low-income, middle-income, and high-income countries: a multicentre, international, prospective cohort study

Summary Background Congenital anomalies are the fifth leading cause of mortality in children younger than 5 years globally. Many gastrointestinal congenital anomalies are fatal without timely access to neonatal surgical care, but few studies have been done on these conditions in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). We compared outcomes of the seven most common gastrointestinal congenital anomalies in low-income, middle-income, and high-income countries globally, and identified factors associated with mortality. Methods We did a multicentre, international prospective cohort study of patients younger than 16 years, presenting to hospital for the first time with oesophageal atresia, congenital diaphragmatic hernia, intestinal atresia, gastroschisis, exomphalos, anorectal malformation, and Hirschsprung’s disease. Recruitment was of consecutive patients for a minimum of 1 month between October, 2018, and April, 2019. We collected data on patient demographics, clinical status, interventions, and outcomes using the REDCap platform. Patients were followed up for 30 days after primary intervention, or 30 days after admission if they did not receive an intervention. The primary outcome was all-cause, in-hospital mortality for all conditions combined and each condition individually, stratified by country income status. We did a complete case analysis. Findings We included 3849 patients with 3975 study conditions (560 with oesophageal atresia, 448 with congenital diaphragmatic hernia, 681 with intestinal atresia, 453 with gastroschisis, 325 with exomphalos, 991 with anorectal malformation, and 517 with Hirschsprung’s disease) from 264 hospitals (89 in high-income countries, 166 in middleincome countries, and nine in low-income countries) in 74 countries. Of the 3849 patients, 2231 (58·0%) were male. Median gestational age at birth was 38 weeks (IQR 36–39) and median bodyweight at presentation was 2·8 kg (2·3–3·3). Mortality among all patients was 37 (39·8%) of 93 in low-income countries, 583 (20·4%) of 2860 in middle-income countries, and 50 (5·6%) of 896 in high-income countries (p<0·0001 between all country income groups). Gastroschisis had the greatest difference in mortality between country income strata (nine [90·0%] of ten in lowincome countries, 97 [31·9%] of 304 in middle-income countries, and two [1·4%] of 139 in high-income countries; p≤0·0001 between all country income groups). Factors significantly associated with higher mortality for all patients combined included country income status (low-income vs high-income countries, risk ratio 2·78 [95% CI 1·88–4·11], p<0·0001; middle-income vs high-income countries, 2·11 [1·59–2·79], p<0·0001), sepsis at presentation (1·20 [1·04–1·40], p=0·016), higher American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) score at primary intervention (ASA 4–5 vs ASA 1–2, 1·82 [1·40–2·35], p<0·0001; ASA 3 vs ASA 1–2, 1·58, [1·30–1·92], p<0·0001]), surgical safety checklist not used (1·39 [1·02–1·90], p=0·035), and ventilation or parenteral nutrition unavailable when needed (ventilation 1·96, [1·41–2·71], p=0·0001; parenteral nutrition 1·35, [1·05–1·74], p=0·018). Administration of parenteral nutrition (0·61, [0·47–0·79], p=0·0002) and use of a peripherally inserted central catheter (0·65 [0·50–0·86], p=0·0024) or percutaneous central line (0·69 [0·48–1·00], p=0·049) were associated with lower mortality. Interpretation Unacceptable differences in mortality exist for gastrointestinal congenital anomalies between lowincome, middle-income, and high-income countries. Improving access to quality neonatal surgical care in LMICs will be vital to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 3.2 of ending preventable deaths in neonates and children younger than 5 years by 2030

Enterotoxigenicity And Typing Of Clostridium perfringens Isolates From Some Poultry Products In Egypt

Abstract: Nearly 113 non outbreak raw and processed chicken meat products were collected from grocery stores and supermarkets namely chicken quarter, chicken fillet, drum stick, chicken paneé, and luncheon and nagets. C.perfringens were isolated in percentage of 27.43, typing of C.perfringens isolates by I/D injection in guinea pig revealad types A,D and non-toxigenic strains. The incidence of toxigenic strains were 83.9% while 16.1% were non-toxigenic strains. 70.8% of the toxigenic isolates classified as C.perfringens type A while 12.9% of the isolates classified as C.perfringens type D. Studying the enterotoxigenicity of C.perfringens type A by using suckling mouse bioassay revealed that 45.5% of the isolates were enterotoxigenic (produce enterotoxin). Using PCR for confirmation the presence of á and enterotoxin gene in enterotoxigenic type A isolates yielded cpa and enterotoxin genes in the predicted 1167bp and 233bp fragments respectively

Self-assembling peptide and nano-silver fluoride in remineralizing early enamel carious lesions: randomized controlled clinical trial

Abstract Background Nanoparticles and regenerative biomineralization are new caries prevention technologies. This study assessed the remineralizing effect of self-assembling peptide (P11-4), Nanosilver Fluoride (NSF) and sodium fluoride (NaF) on white spot lesions (WSLs) in permanent teeth. Methods Sixty six young adults with WSLs on buccal surfaces in permanent teeth and ICDAS code 1 or 2, were randomly assigned to one of three groups; P11-4, NSF or NaF. Assessment of ICDAS scores, lesion activity (Nyvad scores) and diagnodent readings of lesions were done at baseline and after 1, 3, 6 and 12 months of agents’ application. Comparisons between groups were made using chi squared test and comparison within groups were made using McNemar test. Multilevel binary logistic regression was used to assess the effect of agents on change of ICDAS scores after 3, 6 and 12 months (reduction versus no reduction). Results There were 147 teeth in 66 patients; mean ± SD age = 13.46 ± 4.31 years. There were significant differences in the change of ICDAS scores among the three groups after 3 and 6 months (p = 0.005). The reduction in ICDAS score increased steadily in all groups across time with the greatest increase in the P11-4 group: 54.5% after 12 months. Lesion activity (Nyvad scores) showed significant differences among the three groups with the greatest percentage of inactive cases in the P11-4 group. Multilevel binary logistic regression showed non-significant reduction of ICDAS in P11-4 and NSF varnishes compared to NaF varnish (AOR = 2.56, 95% CI: 0.58, 8.77 and AOR = 2.12, 95% CI: 0.59, 7.64 respectively). Conclusion P11-4 and NSF varnish reduced the ICDAS scores, caries activity and diagnodent readings of WSLs in permanent teeth. However, the change in ICDAS scores was not significantly different from NaF. Trial registration This trial was prospectively registered on the clinicaltrials.gov registry with ID: NCT04929509 on 18/6/2021

Stability indicating methods for selective determination of Oxetacaine in the presence of its degradation products

Two methods, HPLC and TLC were presented for the determination of Oxetacaine (OXT) in the existence of its different degradation products. HPLC method was based on the separation of OXT from its degradation products using reversed phase C18 column at room temperature and isocratic elution with mobile phase mixture of acetonitrile: 5 mM sodium dihydrogen orthophosphate dihydrate, pH was adjusted to 2.4 with orthophosphoric acid (50:50 v/v). Quantitation was based on peak area at 210 nm. The second TLC-densitometric method relies on the separation and quantitation of OXT from its degradation products on TLC silica gel 60 F254 plates, using 2-propanol: triethylamine (10:0.5 v/v) as a developing system and densitometric measurement of the developed bands at 210 nm. Validation of the proposed methods was performed according to the ICH guidelines and applied to evaluate the stability of OXT under different stress conditions. Keywords: Oxetacaine, RP-HPLC method, TLC-densitometric method, Stability indicatin

Improvement of Aspergillus flavus saponin hydrolase thermal stability and productivity via immobilization on a novel carrier based on sugarcane bagasse

Soyasapogenol B (SB) is known to have many biological activities such as hepatoprotective, anti-inflammatory, anti-mutagenic, antiviral and anticancer activities. Enzymatic conversion of soyasaponins to SB was carried out using saponin hydrolase (SH) extracted from Aspergillus flavus. The partially purified enzyme was immobilized on different carriers by physical adsorption, covalent binding or entrapment. Among the investigated carriers, Eupergit C and sugarcane bagasse (SCB) activated by DIC and NHS were the most suitable two carriers for immobilization (the immobilized forms recovered 46.5 and 37.1% of the loaded enzyme activity, respectively). Under optimized immobilization conditions, immobilized SH on Eupergit C and on activated SBC recovered 87.7 and 83.3% of its original activity, respectively. Compared to free SH, immobilized SH on Eupergit C and on activated SCB showed higher optimum pH, activation energy, half-lives and lower deactivation constant rate. Also, their SB productivities were improved by 2.3- and 2.2-folds compared to free SH (87.7 and 83.3 vs. 37.5%, respectively). Hence, being SCB more sustainable and an inexpensive material, it can be considered a good alternative to Eupergit C as a support for SH immobilization. SH immobilization on industrially applicable and inexpensive carrier is necessary to improve SB yield and reduce its production cost. The chemical structure of SCB and the resulting cellulose derivatives were studied by ATR-IR spectroscopy. The thermal analysis technique was used to study the chemical treatment of SCB and coupling with the enzyme. This technique confirmed the removal of lignin and hemicellulose by chemical treatment of SCB