Bartonella species detection in captive, stranded and free-ranging cetaceans

We present prevalence of Bartonella spp. for multiple cohorts of wild and captive cetaceans. One hundred and six cetaceans including 86 bottlenose dolphins (71 free-ranging, 14 captive in a facility with a dolphin experiencing debility of unknown origin, 1 stranded), 11 striped dolphins, 4 harbor porpoises, 3 Risso's dolphins, 1 dwarf sperm whale and 1 pygmy sperm whale (all stranded) were sampled. Whole blood (n = 95 live animals) and tissues (n = 15 freshly dead animals) were screened by PCR (n = 106 animals), PCR of enrichment cultures (n = 50 animals), and subcultures (n = 50 animals). Bartonella spp. were detected from 17 cetaceans, including 12 by direct extraction PCR of blood or tissues, 6 by PCR of enrichment cultures, and 4 by subculture isolation. Bartonella spp. were more commonly detected from the captive (6/14, 43%) than from free-ranging (2/71, 2.8%) bottlenose dolphins, and were commonly detected from the stranded animals (9/21, 43%; 3/11 striped dolphins, 3/4 harbor porpoises, 2/3 Risso's dolphins, 1/1 pygmy sperm whale, 0/1 dwarf sperm whale, 0/1 bottlenose dolphin). Sequencing identified a Bartonella spp. most similar to B. henselae San Antonio 2 in eight cases (4 bottlenose dolphins, 2 striped dolphins, 2 harbor porpoises), B. henselae Houston 1 in three cases (2 Risso's dolphins, 1 harbor porpoise), and untyped in six cases (4 bottlenose dolphins, 1 striped dolphin, 1 pygmy sperm whale). Although disease causation has not been established, Bartonella species were detected more commonly from cetaceans that were overtly debilitated or were cohabiting in captivity with a debilitated animal than from free-ranging animals. The detection of Bartonella spp. from cetaceans may be of pathophysiological concern

Drug-prescribing patterns during pregnancy in the tertiary care hospitals of Pakistan: a cross sectional study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The rationale for use of drugs during pregnancy requires a careful assessment as in addition to the mother, the health and life of her unborn child is also at stake. Information on the use of drugs during pregnancy is not available in Pakistan. The aim of this study was to evaluate the patterns of drug prescriptions to pregnant women in tertiary care hospitals of Pakistan.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This was a cross-sectional study conducted at five tertiary care hospitals of Pakistan. Copies of outpatient medicinal prescriptions given to pregnant patients attending the antenatal clinics were collected. The drugs were classified according to the pharmacological class and their teratogenic potential.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>All the pregnant women attending the antenatal clinics received a prescription containing at least one drug. A total of 3769 distinct prescriptions given to different women were collected. Majority of the women who received the prescriptions belonged to third trimester (55.4%) followed by second (33.6%) and first trimester (11.0%). On an average, each prescription contained 1.66 ± 0.14 drugs. The obstetricians at Civil Hospital, Karachi and Chandka Medical College Hospital, Larkana showed a tendency of prescribing lesser number of drugs compared to those in other hospitals. Anti-anemic drugs including iron preparations and vitamin and mineral supplements (79.4%) were the most frequently prescribed drugs followed by analgesics (6.2%) and anti-bacterials (2.2%). 739 women (19.6%) received prescriptions containing drugs other than vitamin or mineral supplements. Only 1275 (21.6%) of all the prescribed drugs (n = 6100) were outside this vitamin/mineral supplement class. Out of these 1275 drugs, 29 (2.3%) drugs were prescribed which are considered to be teratogenic. Misoprostol was the most frequently prescribed (n = 6) among the teratogenic drugs followed by carbimazole (n = 5) and methotrexate (n = 5). Twenty nine pregnant women (0.8% of all the women studied) were prescribed these teratogenic drugs.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Less than one percent of the pregnant women attending tertiary care hospitals in Pakistan are prescribed teratogenic drugs. The prescribing practices of Pakistani physicians are similar to those in western countries.</p

Effect of tube material on convective heat transfer of various nanofluids

This work presents the convective heat transfer and friction loss characteristics of novel functionalized graphene-based and metal oxide nanofluids. The convective heat transfer in circular tubes of different materials (copper, aluminium and stainless steel 316) was used at constant wall heat flux of 23,870 W m−2. An innovative approach was used to prepare highly dispersed propylene glycol-treated graphene nanoplatelets–water (GNP1) and trimethylolpropane tris amine–water (GNP2) by functionalization method. The measured thermal conductivity of GNP1 and GNP2 nanofluids showed incredible performance which increased up to 32% and 31% higher than that of basefluid. By comparing material effect, copper tube showed the highest HTC up to 119% in GNP1 at 0.1 mass%, while in aluminium and stainless steel 316 tube the highest heat transfer coefficient (HTC) was 110.2% and 100.68%. Besides, alumina and silicon dioxide nanofluids also presented decent increment in HTC which was up to 29.1% and 31.6%, respectively. The highest rise in friction factor for GNP1 and GNP2 was obtained up to 10.2% and 10%, respectively. For alumina and silicon dioxide nanofluids, the friction factor was measured up to 5.92% and 7.14% at velocity range of 1–3 m s−1. The maximum enhancement in Nusselt number (Nu) for GNP, GNP2, alumina and silicon dioxide nanofluids was achieved up to 84%, 72%, 26% and 28%. The results suggest that the copper tube which is a good conductor of heat could be used in the heat exchangers and functionalized GNP nanofluids can be used as the heat exchanging fluids in heat transfer applications which could give a decent substitute to traditional working fluids in heat exchangers and in thermal fluid systems

Risk Assessment of Macronutrients and Minerals by Processed, Street, and Restaurant Traditional Pakistani Foods: a Case Study

The current work is aimed to assess the impact of macronutrient and mineral contents in food products of packaged food, restaurant food, and street food in Hyderabad. The estimated daily intake of macronutrients and minerals, followed by the toxic risk assessment of microminerals by consuming studied food dishes, was also conducted. The collected products were freeze-dried and standard procedures for measuring macronutrients were followed. At the same time, the acid digestion method was used to prepare the solution for detecting minerals by atomic absorption spectrometry. The resulting data indicated that all the food dishes supplied 134–454 kcals/100 g. The chicken/meat and pulse food dishes of all three categories were enriched with protein except bhindi masala. All the food dishes have a massive variation in fat contents and differ based on the used quantity of hydrogenated oil during their preparations. A significant difference in the macro- and microminerals in studied food products was observed. However, all food dishes are a good supplementary source of fundamental nutrients, supplying the recommended daily allowances for adults. The estimated hazardous index (Ih) of microminerals in some street and restaurant food products (based on a survey) showed possible toxicity risk, especially for the workers of automechanic workshops (Ih > 1.00). Thus, it is concluded that the contaminated (cheap) raw materials and unhygienic conditions for preparing street and restaurant foods and hawking places (atmospheric pollution) are the significant sources of micromineral contamination