Prevalence of ESBLs in Acinetobacter baumannii isolated from intensive care unit (ICU) of Ghaem hospital, Mashhad, Iran

Acinetobacter baumannii is an important opportunistic pathogen that mainly infects critically patients in intensive care units (ICU). The production of plasmid-mediated extended-spectrum b-lactamases (ESBLs) is one of the most important mechanisms of resistance against b-lactam antibiotics. This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of ESBLs in A. baumannii isolated from ICU of Ghaem hospital, Mashhad, Iran. A total of 140 A. baumannii isolates recovered from hospitalized patients in ICU of Ghaem hospital in Mashhad city from December 2014 to March 2015. Identification of A. baumannii isolates carried out using biochemical laboratory methods and then confirmed by OXA-51 PCR screening. Susceptibility testing performed using disk diffusion (Kirby-Bauer) method as recommended by CLSI guidelines. A. baumannii isolates screened for production of ESBLs using combination disk test. blaPER, blaGES, blaTEM, blaSHV, blaCTX, blaVEB and blaOXA-10 beta-lactamase genes detected using conventional PCR. The most antibacterial resistance was against cefuroxime (­99.3%) and colistin was the most effective antibiotic. None of the isolates were ESBL producer by combination disk test. However, results of PCR revealed that the prevalence of blaPER, blaGES and blaTEM genes were 7.1%, 4.3% and 27.1%, respectively. blaCTX, blaVEB, and blaOXA-10 were not found in any of isolates. According to the results, the high resistance was seen against selected antibiotics and the phenotypic tests are not sufficient alone for determination of ESBLs producer of A. baumannii isolates. So, molecular tests are also necessary for detection of these enzymes

Određivanje donepezil hidroklorida u humanoj plazmi i ljekovitim oblicima pomoću HPLC s detekcijom fluorescencije

A sensitive, isocratic reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatographic method involving fluorescence detection was developed for the determination of donepezil hydrochloride in tablets and in human plasma. Pindolol was successfully used as an internal standard. Good chromatographic separation was achieved by using analytical column C18. The system operated at room temperature using a mobile phase consisting of methanol, phosphate buffer (0.02 mol L1) and triethyl amine (pH 3.5) (55: 45: 0.5 V/V/V) at a flow rate 0.9 mL min1. The analyte and internal standard were extracted from human plasma via liquid-liquid extraction. The proposed method was validated for selectivity, linearity, accuracy and precision. The calibration curve was linear over the range of 5-2000 ng mL1 of donepezil with detection limit of 1.5 ng mL1. Intra- and inter-day relative standard deviations were less than 2.5 %. The method was found to be suitable for the quality control of donepezil hydrochloride in bulk drug as well as in human plasma.Ovaj rad opisuje HPLC metodu određivanja donepezil hidroklorida (DP) u tabletama i u ljudskoj plazmi u nano području. Postavljena je osjetljiva metoda izokratične HPLC s fluorescencijskom detekcijom. Kao unutarnji standard upotrebljen je pindolol. Dobro kromatografsko odjeljivanje postignuto je primjenom analitičke kolone C18. Radna temperatura bila je sobna, a kao mobilna faza upotrebljena je smjesa metanola, fosfatnog pufera (0,02 mol L1) i trietilamina (pH 3,5) (55:45:0.5 V/V/V). Analit i unutarnji standard su ekstrahirani iz ljudske plazme ekstrakcijom tekuće-tekuće. Predložena metoda je validirana s obzirom na selektivnost, područje linearnosti, ispravnost i preciznost. Kalibracijska funkcija bila je linearna u području od 5-2000 ng mL1 donepezila, a granica detekcije iznosila je 2 ng mL1. Relativna standardna devijacija za repetabilnost i intermedijarnu preciznost bila je manja od 2,5 %. Metoda je primjenljliva u kontroli kvalitete ljekovitih formulacija s DP-om i u praćenju DP-a u ljudskoj plazmi

Meta models for real-time design assessment within an integrated information and numerical modelling framework

In situations where rapid decisions are required or a large number of design alternatives is to be explored, numerical predictions of construction pro-cesses have to be performed in near real-time. For the design assessment of com-plex engineering problems such as mechanised tunnelling, simple numerical and analytical models are not able to reproduce all complex 3D interactions. To over-come this problem, in this paper a novel concept for on-demand design assess-ment for mechanized tunnelling using simulation-based meta models is proposed. This concept includes: i) the generation of enhanced simulation-based meta mod-els; ii) real-time meta model-based design assessment in the design tool, and; iii) the implementation within a unified numerical and information modelling plat-form called SATBIM. The capabilities of this concept are demonstrated through an example for the evaluation of tunnel alignment design and the assessment of the impact of tunnelling on existing infrastructure. Moreover, meta models are used for fast forward calculation in sensitivity analyses for the evaluation of the importance of model parameters. The concept proved its efficiency by assessing the design alternatives in real-time with the prediction error of less than 3% com-pared to complex numerical simulation in presented example

On conditional skewness with applications to environmental data

The statistical literature contains many univariate and multivariate skewness measures that allow two datasets to be compared, some of which are defined in terms of quantile values. In most situations, the comparison between two random vectors focuses on univariate comparisons of conditional random variables truncated in quantiles; this kind of comparison is of particular interest in the environmental sciences. In this work, we describe a new approach to comparing skewness in terms of the univariate convex transform ordering proposed by van Zwet (Convex transformations of random variables. Mathematical Centre Tracts, Amsterdam, 1964), associated with skewness as well as concentration. The key to these comparisons is the underlying dependence structure of the random vectors. Below we describe graphical tools and use several examples to illustrate these comparisons.The research of Félix Belzunce, Julio Mulero and José María Ruíz is partially funded by the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (Spain) under Grant MTM2012-34023-FEDER. Alfonso Suárez-Llorens acknowledges support received from the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (Spain) under Grant MTM2014-57559-P

Perfluoro-Alcohol-Induced Complex Coacervates of Polyelectrolyte–Surfactant Mixtures: Phase Behavior and Analysis

Perfluorinated alcohols and acids such as hexafluoroisopropanol (HFIP), trifluoroethanol, trifluoroacetic acid, pentafluoropropionic acid, and heptafluorobutyric acid induce coacervation and phase separation in aqueous solutions of a wide variety of individual and mixed amphiphiles [Khaledi Langmuir 2013, 29, 2458]. This paper focuses on HFIP-induced complex coacervate formation in the mixtures of anionic polyelectrolytes, such as sodium salt of poly­(methacrylic acid) (PMA) or poly­(acrylic acid) (PAA) and cationic surfactants of alkyltrimethylammonium bromides. In purely aqueous media and over a wide concentration range, mixtures of PMA and CTAB form the catanionic complex (CTA⁺PM^–) that is insoluble in water (white precipitate). Upon addition of a small percentage of HFIP, the mixture goes through phase transition and formation of two distinctly clear liquid phases. The phase diagram for the HFIP–PMA–CTAB coacervate system was studied. The coacervate volume was determined as a function of system variables such as charge ratio as well as total and individual concentrations of the system components. These results, combined with the chemical composition analysis of the separated aqueous top-phase and coacervate bottom-phase, shed light on the coacervation mechanism. The results suggest that exchange of counterions and ion-pair formation play critical roles in the coacervation process. This process facilitated by HFIP through solvation of the head groups and dehydration of the hydrophobic moieties of the catanionic complex. Because of the presence of HFIP, coacervation occurs over a wide range of concentrations and charge ratios of the oppositely charged polyelectrolyte and surfactant

Comparative evaluation of curcumin and curcumin loaded- dendrosome nanoparticle effects on the viability of SW480 colon carcinoma and Huh7 hepatoma cells

Background and objectives: Colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer and a major cause of morbidity globally. Hepatocellular carcinoma is a leading cause of death in the world. About 80% of all anticancer drugs are somehow related to natural products. One of the most important of these natural compounds is curcumin, the main component of turmeric that has a wide range of pharmacological activities. Curcumin has been found to suppress cell proliferation and decrease cell viability in various types of cancer cells; however, owing to lack of aqueous solubility, curcumin has shown reduced bioavailability in studies. Recent studies have shown that new 400th generation of dendrosome nanoparticle can increase bioavailability of curcumin and thus enhance the cytotoxic properties.  The aim of this study was to determine effectiveness of curcumin alone and in combination with 400th generation dendrosome nanoparticles (DNC) on cell viability rate in SW480 and Huh7 cells. Methods: SW480 and Huh7 cells were incubated with different concentrations of curcumin and DNC (0-50μM) for 24, 48 and 72 h. Then cytotoxicity was assessed by MTT assay and IC50 was determined. Results: The results suggested that the concentration-dependent inhibitory effect of DNC was stronger than curcumin on SW480 and Huh7 cells. Conclusion: The results suggest DNC as a more effective herbal anticancer agent for colorectal and hepatocellular tumors