Qualitative characterization of healthcare wastes

The biological hazard inherent in the clinical wastes should be considered during the management and treatment process as well as the disposal into the environment. In this chapter, the risks associated with the clinical wastes as well as the management of these wastes are discussed. The chapter focused on reviewing the types of healthcare wastes generated from hospitals and clinics as well as the regulations and management practices used for these wastes. Moreover, the health risk associated with the infectious agents which have the potential to be transmitted into the environment. It has appeared that the clinical wastes represent real hazards for the human health and the environment if they were not managed properly

The Effects of Cocaine on Different Redox Forms of Cysteine and Homocysteine, and on Labile, Reduced Sulfur in the Rat Plasma Following Active versus Passive Drug Injections

Received: 28 November 2012 / Revised: 19 April 2013 / Accepted: 6 May 2013 / Published online: 16 May 2013 The Author(s) 2013. This article is published with open access at Springerlink.comThe aim of the present studies was to evaluate cocaine-induced changes in the concentrations of different redox forms of cysteine (Cys) and homocysteine (Hcy), and products of anaerobic Cys metabolism, i.e., labile, reduced sulfur (LS) in the rat plasma. The above-mentioned parameters were determined after i.p. acute and subchronic cocaine treatment as well as following i.v. cocaine self-administration using the yoked procedure. Additionally, Cys, Hcy, and LS levels were measured during the 10-day extinction training in rats that underwent i.v. cocaine administration. Acute i.p. cocaine treatment increased the total and protein-bound Hcy contents, decreased LS, and did not change the concentrations of Cys fractions in the rat plasma. In turn, subchronic i.p. cocaine administration significantly increased free Hcy and lowered the total and protein-bound Cys concentrations while LS level was unchanged. Cocaine self-administration enhanced the total and protein-bound Hcy levels, decreased LS content, and did not affect the Cys fractions. On the other hand, yoked cocaine infusions did not alter the concentration of Hcy fractions while decreased the total and protein-bound Cys and LS content. This extinction training resulted in the lack of changes in the examined parameters in rats with a history of cocaine self-administration while in the yoked cocaine group an increase in the plasma free Cys fraction and LS was seen. Our results demonstrate for the first time that cocaine does evoke significant changes in homeostasis of thiol amino acids Cys and Hcy, and in some products of anaerobic Cys metabolism, which are dependent on the way of cocaine administration

Simple Metals at High Pressure

In this lecture we review high-pressure phase transition sequences exhibited by simple elements, looking at the examples of the main group I, II, IV, V, and VI elements. General trends are established by analyzing the changes in coordination number on compression. Experimentally found phase transitions and crystal structures are discussed with a brief description of the present theoretical picture.Comment: 22 pages, 4 figures, lecture notes for the lecture given at the Erice course on High-Pressure Crystallography in June 2009, Sicily, Ital

Cognitive impairment induced by delta9-tetrahydrocannabinol occurs through heteromers between cannabinoid CB1 and serotonin 5-HT2A receptors

Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main psychoactive compound of marijuana, induces numerous undesirable effects, including memory impairments, anxiety, and dependence. Conversely, THC also has potentially therapeutic effects, including analgesia, muscle relaxation, and neuroprotection. However, the mechanisms that dissociate these responses are still not known. Using mice lacking the serotonin receptor 5-HT2A, we revealed that the analgesic and amnesic effects of THC are independent of each other: while amnesia induced by THC disappears in the mutant mice, THC can still promote analgesia in these animals. In subsequent molecular studies, we showed that in specific brain regions involved in memory formation, the receptors for THC and the 5-HT2A receptors work together by physically interacting with each other. Experimentally interfering with this interaction prevented the memory deficits induced by THC, but not its analgesic properties. Our results highlight a novel mechanism by which the beneficial analgesic properties of THC can be dissociated from its cognitive side effects

An NMR-based model to investigate the metabolic phenoreversion of COVID-19 patients throughout a longitudinal study.

After SARS-CoV-2 infection, the molecular phenoreversion of the immunological response and its associated metabolic dysregulation are required for a full recovery of the patient. This process is patient-dependent due to the manifold possibilities induced by virus severity, its phylogenic evolution and the vaccination status of the population. We have here investigated the natural history of COVID-19 disease at the molecular level, characterizing the metabolic and immunological phenoreversion over time in large cohorts of hospitalized severe patients (n = 886) and non-hospitalized recovered patients that self-reported having passed the disease (n = 513). Non-hospitalized recovered patients do not show any metabolic fingerprint associated with the disease or immune alterations. Acute patients are characterized by the metabolic and lipidomic dysregulation that accompanies the exacerbated immunological response, resulting in a slow recovery time with a maximum probability of around 62 days. As a manifestation of the heterogeneity in the metabolic phenoreversion, age and severity become factors that modulate their normalization time which, in turn, correlates with changes in the atherogenesis-associated chemokine MCP-1. Our results are consistent with a model where the slow metabolic normalization in acute patients results in enhanced atherosclerotic risk, in line with the recent observation of an elevated number of cardiovascular episodes found in post-COVID-19 cohorts

S-adenosylmethionine and S-adenosylhomocysteine levels in the aging brain of APP/PS1 Alzheimer mice

Hyperhomocysteinemia and factors of homocysteine metabolism, S-adenosylhomocysteine (AdoHcy) and S-adenosylmethionine (AdoMet), may play a role in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). With liquid-chromatography-tandem-mass-spectrometry AdoMet and AdoHcy were determined in brains of 8- and 15-month-old APP/PS1 Alzheimer mice, and their possible roles in AD brains investigated. The finding that AdoMet levels do not differ between the genotypes in (young) 8-month-old mice, but are different in (older) 15-month-old APP/PS1 mice compared to their wild-type littermates, suggests that alterations in AdoMet are a consequence of AD pathology rather than a cause. During aging, AdoMet levels decreased in the brains of wild-type mice, whereas AdoHcy levels diminished in both wild type and APP/PS1 mice. The finding that AdoMet levels in APP/PS1 mice are not decreased during aging (in contrast to wild-type mice), is probably related to less demand due to neurodegeneration. No effect of the omega-3 fatty acid docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) or cholesterol-enriched diets on AdoMet or AdoHcy levels were found

Molecular dynamics simulation of the behaviour of water in nano-confined ionic liquid-water mixtures.

This work describes the behaviour of water molecules in 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate ionic liquid under nanoconfinement, between graphene sheets. By means of molecular dynamics simulations, the adsorption of water molecules at the graphene surface is studied. A depletion of water molecules in the vicinity of the neutral and negatively charged graphene surfaces, and their adsorption at the positively charged surface are observed in line with the preferential hydration of the ionic liquid anions. The findings are appropriately described using a two-level statistical model. The confinement effect on the structure and dynamics of the mixtures is thoroughly analyzed using the density and the potential of mean force profiles, as well as by the vibrational densities of the states of water molecules near the graphene surface. The orientation of water molecules and the water-induced structural transitions in the layer closest to the graphene surface are also discussed.We acknowledge the supercomputing support from the EPSRC funded ARCHIE-WeSt HighPerformance Computer centre (www.archie-west.ac.uk, EPSRC grant no. EP/K000586/1) and the Galician Supercomputing Centre (CESGA). The financial support of the Estonian Materials Technology Program Project SLOKT12180T, Project of European Structure Funds SLOKT12026T, Estonian Institutional Research Project IUT20-013, Estonian Personal Research Project PUT1107, and Estonian Centres of Excellence in Science Project: High-technology Materials for Sustainable Development TK117 is highly appreciated. The financial support of the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness MAT2014-57943-C3-1-P and MAT2014- 57943-C3-3-P is gratefully acknowledged. Moreover, this work was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (FIS2012-33126) and by the Xunta de Galicia (AGRUP2015/11). All these research projects were partially supported by FEDER. Funding from the European Union (COST Action CM 1206) and by the Galician Network on Ionic Liquids, REGALIs (CN 2014/015) is also acknowledged