Quality Assessment of Waste Waters Generated by some Important Hospitals from Cluj County

Hospitals produce large quantities of waste water that may contain various potentially hazardous materials. Moreover, these effluents usually do not undergo any specific treatment before being discharged into the urban sewage networks. As a consequence, a proper management of the hospitals effluents is vital. In the present study, the quality of the effluents, generated by 11 important hospitals from Cluj County was investigated. The analyzed parameters were: pH, chemical and biochemical oxygen demand, total suspended solids, residual free chlorine, and detergents. For all the effluents, the biochemical oxygen demand and the detergents content were within the permissible limits for waste water discharged in the urban sewerage system, while the other parameters exceeded the permissible limits

An Overview of Biopolymers for Drug Delivery Applications

Nowadays, drug delivery has an important role in medical therapy. The use of biopolymers in developing drug delivery systems (DDSs) is increasingly attracting attention due to their remarkable and numerous advantages, in contrast to conventional polymers. Biopolymers have many advantages (biodegradability, biocompatibility, renewability, affordability, and availability), which are extremely important for developing materials with applications in the biomedical field. Additionally, biopolymers are appropriate when they improve functioning and have a number of positive effects on human life. Therefore, this review presents the most used biopolymers for biomedical applications, especially in drug delivery. In addition, by combining different biopolymers DDSs with tailored functional properties (e.g., physical properties, biodegradability) can be developed. This review summarizes and provides data on the progress of research on biopolymers (chitosan, alginate, starch, cellulose, albumin, silk fibroin, collagen, and gelatin) used in DDSs, their preparation, and mechanism of action

The Effect of Copper Salts on Bioactive Compounds and Ultrastructure of Wheat Plants

Abiotic stress agents, among them metal stress, can cause oxidative damage to plant cells. In defense, plants can increase the production of secondary metabolites in order to mitigate the harmful effects caused by them. The purpose of this work was to evaluate the effect of two types of copper salts (CuSO4 and Cu(NO3)2), added in two different amounts in soil (150 mg/kg, respectively 300 mg/kg), on assimilating pigments, total polyphenols, antioxidant activity and the elemental composition of wheat. The obtained results were compared with those from control plants grown in the same conditions but without copper salts. The amount of assimilating pigments, total polyphenols, and antioxidant activity respectively increases or decreases in the plants treated with copper salts compared to the control depending on the stage of development of the plant. No significant damage induced in the leaves of the wheat plants treated with the selected salts was observed following the TEM analysis. In six-week-old plants it was observed by EDX analysis that the salts are transformed into nanoparticles. The bioactive compounds, elemental composition and their interaction is influenced by concentration of metal’s salt, type of salt and exposure period

The Antibacterial Properties of Nanocomposites Based on Carbon Nanotubes and Metal Oxides Functionalized with Azithromycin and Ciprofloxacin

Different microorganisms are present in nature, some of which are assumed to be hazardous to the human body. It is crucial to control their continuing growth to improve human life. Nanomaterial surface functionalization represents a current topic in continuous evolution that supports the development of new materials with multiple applications in biology, medicine, and the environment. This study focused on the antibacterial activity of different nanocomposites based on functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotubes against four common bacterial strains. Two metal oxides (CuO and NiO) and two antibiotics (azithromycin and ciprofloxacin) were selected for the present study to obtain the following nanocomposites: MWCNT-COOH/Antibiotic, MWCNT-COOH/Fe3O4/Antibiotic, and MWCNT-COOH/Fe3O4/MO/Antibiotic. The present study included two Gram-positive bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus and Enterococcus faecalis) and two Gram-negative bacteria (Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa). Ciprofloxacin (Cip) functionalized materials (MWCNT-COOH/Fe3O4/Cip) were most efficient against all tested bacterial strains; therefore, we conclude that Cu and Ni reduce the effects of Cip. The obtained results indicate that the nanocomposites functionalized with Cip are more effective against selected bacteria strains compared to azithromycin (Azi) functionalized nanocomposites. The current work determined the antibacterial activities of different nanocomposites and gave fresh insights into their manufacture for future research regarding environmental depollution

The Effect of TiO2 Nanoparticles on the Composition and Ultrastructure of Wheat

The present work aims to follow the influence of TiO2 nanoparticles (TiO2 NPs) on bioactive compounds, the elemental content of wheat, and on wheat leaves’ ultrastructure. Synthesized nanoparticles were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The concentration of phenolic compounds, assimilation pigments, antioxidant capacity, elemental content, as well as the ultrastructural changes that may occur in the wheat plants grown in the presence or absence of TiO2 NPs were evaluated. In plants grown in the presence of TiO2 NPs, the amount of assimilating pigments and total polyphenols decreased compared to the control sample, while the antioxidant activity of plants grown in amended soil was higher than those grown in control soil. Following ultrastructural analysis, no significant changes were observed in the leaves of TiO2-treated plants. Application of TiO2 NPs to soil caused a significant reaction of the plant to stress conditions. This was revealed by the increase of antioxidant capacity and the decrease of chlorophyll, total polyphenols, and carotenoids. Besides, the application of TiO2 NPs led to significant positive (K, Zn, Br, and Mo) and negative (Na, Mn, Fe, As, Sr, Sb, and Ba) variation of content