A study of the migratory activity of oreochromis SP erythrocyres and leukocytes

The purpose of our study study of the migratory activity of Oreochromis sp. leukocytes and erythrocytes under the action of temperature facto

Performance of Ozonation Process as Advanced Treatment for Antibiotics Removal in Membrane Permeate

There was an investigation into the removal of 6 types of antibiotics from hospital wastewater through membrane bioreactor (MBR) treatment and ozonation processes. Six types of antibiotics, namely, Sulfamethoxazole (SMZ), Norfloxacin (NOR), Ciprofloxacin (CIP), Ofloxacin (OFL), Erythromycin (ERY), and Vancomycin (VAN) which had high detection frequencies in collected samples from hospital wastewater treatment plant (HWTPs). After MBR treatment, the removal efficiencies of SMZ, NOR, OFL, and ERY were 45%, 25%, 30%, and 16%, respectively. Among of them, almost no elimination was observed for CIP and VAN since their concentrations increased by 0.24 ± 0.18 (μgl-1) and 0.83 ± 0.20 (μgl-1), respectively. Then, residues of the antibiotics were removed from the MBR effluent by the ozonation process. The overall removal efficiencies of SMZ, NOR, CIP, OFL, ERY, and VAN were approximately 66 %, 88 %, 83 %, 80 %, 93 %, and 92 %, respectively. The reason might be depended on different ozone consumption of those antibiotics (ABS) in a range of 313 to 1681 μg ABSgO3-1. Consequently, the ozonation process performed better in the antibiotics removal (e.g. CIP and VAN) so ozonation could be considered as important support for the MBR treatment to reduce the risk of antibiotic residues

Safety and efficacy of fluoxetine on functional outcome after acute stroke (AFFINITY): a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial

Background Trials of fluoxetine for recovery after stroke report conflicting results. The Assessment oF FluoxetINe In sTroke recoverY (AFFINITY) trial aimed to show if daily oral fluoxetine for 6 months after stroke improves functional outcome in an ethnically diverse population. Methods AFFINITY was a randomised, parallel-group, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial done in 43 hospital stroke units in Australia (n=29), New Zealand (four), and Vietnam (ten). Eligible patients were adults (aged ≥18 years) with a clinical diagnosis of acute stroke in the previous 2–15 days, brain imaging consistent with ischaemic or haemorrhagic stroke, and a persisting neurological deficit that produced a modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score of 1 or more. Patients were randomly assigned 1:1 via a web-based system using a minimisation algorithm to once daily, oral fluoxetine 20 mg capsules or matching placebo for 6 months. Patients, carers, investigators, and outcome assessors were masked to the treatment allocation. The primary outcome was functional status, measured by the mRS, at 6 months. The primary analysis was an ordinal logistic regression of the mRS at 6 months, adjusted for minimisation variables. Primary and safety analyses were done according to the patient's treatment allocation. The trial is registered with the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry, ACTRN12611000774921. Findings Between Jan 11, 2013, and June 30, 2019, 1280 patients were recruited in Australia (n=532), New Zealand (n=42), and Vietnam (n=706), of whom 642 were randomly assigned to fluoxetine and 638 were randomly assigned to placebo. Mean duration of trial treatment was 167 days (SD 48·1). At 6 months, mRS data were available in 624 (97%) patients in the fluoxetine group and 632 (99%) in the placebo group. The distribution of mRS categories was similar in the fluoxetine and placebo groups (adjusted common odds ratio 0·94, 95% CI 0·76–1·15; p=0·53). Compared with patients in the placebo group, patients in the fluoxetine group had more falls (20 [3%] vs seven [1%]; p=0·018), bone fractures (19 [3%] vs six [1%]; p=0·014), and epileptic seizures (ten [2%] vs two [<1%]; p=0·038) at 6 months. Interpretation Oral fluoxetine 20 mg daily for 6 months after acute stroke did not improve functional outcome and increased the risk of falls, bone fractures, and epileptic seizures. These results do not support the use of fluoxetine to improve functional outcome after stroke

Nitrogen Removal by Sulfur-Based Carriers in a Membrane Bioreactor (MBR)

Sulfur-based carriers were examined to enhance the nitrogen removal efficiency in a mixed anoxic&#8315;anaerobic-membrane bioreactor system, in which sulfur from the carrier acts as an electron donor for the conversion of nitrate to nitrogen gas through the autotrophic denitrification process. A total nitrogen removal efficiency of 63% was observed in the system with carriers, which showed an increase in the removal efficiency of around 20%, compared to the system without carriers. The results also indicated that the carriers had no adverse effect on biological treatment for the organic matter and total phosphorus. The removal efficiencies for chemical oxygen demand (COD) and total phosphorus (TP) were 98% and 37% in both systems, respectively. The generation of sulfate ions was a major disadvantage of using sulfur-based carriers, and resulted in pH drop. The ratio of sulfate in the effluent to nitrate removed in the system ranged from 0.86 to 1.97 mgSO42&#8722;/mgNO3&#8722;-N, which was lower than the theoretical value and could be regarded as due to the occurrence of simultaneous heterotrophic and autotrophic denitrification

Application of Physical and Chemical Enhanced Backwashing to Reduce Membrane Fouling in the Water Treatment Process Using Ceramic Membranes

This study investigated the improvement of operating efficiency through physical cleaning and chemical enhanced backwashing (CEB) using ceramic membranes with high permeability and chemical safety compared to organic membranes. The turbidity and DOC (Dissolved Organic Carbon) concentrations were selected to ensure that the degree of contamination was always constant. The operating pressures were fixed at 100, 200, and 300 kPa, and the filtration was terminated when the effluent flow rate decreased to 30% or less from the initial value. After filtration, backwashing was performed at a pressure of 500 kPa using 500 mL backwash water. The membrane was cleaned by dipping in NaOCl, and a new washing technique was proposed for steam washing. In this study, we investigated the recovery rate of membranes by selectively performing physical cleaning and CEB by changing the influent water quality and operating pressure conditions

Performance of Ozonation Process as Advanced Treatment for Antibiotics Removal in Membrane Permeate

There was an investigation into the removal of 6 types of antibiotics from hospital wastewater through membrane bioreactor (MBR) treatment and ozonation processes. Six types of antibiotics, namely, Sulfamethoxazole (SMZ), Norfloxacin (NOR), Ciprofloxacin (CIP), Ofloxacin (OFL), Erythromycin (ERY), and Vancomycin (VAN) which had high detection frequencies in collected samples from hospital wastewater treatment plant (HWTPs). After MBR treatment, the removal efficiencies of SMZ, NOR, OFL, and ERY were 45%, 25%, 30%, and 16%, respectively. Among of them, almost no elimination was observed for CIP and VAN since their concentrations increased by 0.24 ± 0.18 (μg·l-1) and 0.83 ± 0.20 (μg·l-1), respectively. Then, residues of the antibiotics were removed from the MBR effluent by the ozonation process. The overall removal efficiencies of SMZ, NOR, CIP, OFL, ERY, and VAN were approximately 66 %, 88 %, 83 %, 80 %, 93 %, and 92 %, respectively. The reason might be depended on different ozone consumption of those antibiotics (ABS) in a range of 313 to 1681 μg ABS·gO--1. Consequently, the ozonation process performed better in the antibiotics removal (e.g. CIP and VAN) so ozonation could be considered as important support for the MBR treatment to reduce the risk of antibiotic residues

COUPLING OF MEMBRANE BIOREACTOR AND OZONATION FOR REMOVAL OF ANTIBIOTICS FROM HOSPITAL WASTEWATER

Antibiotic residues in the environment and their potential toxic effects have been considered as one of the emerging research area in the environmental field. Their continuous introduction in our environment may increase their negative impacts on human health.  In this study, the eliminations of antibiotic such as Norfloxacin (NOR), Ciprofloxacin (CIP), Ofloxacin (OFL) and Sulfamethoxazole (SMZ) in wastewater of hospital were processed by membrane bioreactor (MBR) coupled with ozonation process. In particular, the MBR was applied for the antibiotic removals followed by ozonation process as a post-treatment stage to create an adequate integration to enhance removal efficiency. Achieved results after MBR treatment showed that the removal efficiency of NOR, CIP, OFL and SMZ were 90 ± 4.0% , 83 ± 13% , 81 ± 13 % and  39 ± 6%, respectivley. In addition, those antibiotic matters were continously removed by ozonation process with the removal efficiency of 87±9.0% , 83±1.0% , 81±2.3% and 66±2.3% for NOR, CIP, OFL and SMZ, respectively. In summary, antibiotics could be basically limited by the combination of MBR and ozonation before discharging in aquatic environment

Clinical and Functional Characteristics of Subjects with Asthma, COPD, and Asthma-COPD Overlap: A Multicentre Study in Vietnam

Introduction. Subjects with asthma-chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) overlap (ACO) share common features of patients with asthma and COPD. Our study was planned to describe the clinical and functional features of subjects with ACO compared to asthma and COPD patients. Subjects and Methods. Study subjects who met the inclusion criteria were classified into three different groups: asthma, COPD, and ACO groups. All study subjects underwent clinical examination and biological and functional testing. They were then followed for 6 months to evaluate the response to conventional treatment. Results. From March 2015 to March 2017, 76 asthmatic (mean age: 41 ± 22 years), 74 COPD (59 ± 13 years), and 59 ACO (52 ± 14 years) subjects were included. The percentage of subjects with dyspnea on excretion in the ACO group was higher than that in asthma and COPD groups (P 15/hour had a significant probability of risk for ACO (OR = 33.2, P<0.001, and OR = 3.4, P<0.05, resp.). Conclusion. Subjects with ACO share the common clinical and functional characteristics of asthma and COPD but are more likely to have sleep apnea. The majority of patients with ACO have a favourable response to combined treatment

Effect of the Optimize Heart Failure Care Program on clinical and patient outcomes – The pilot implementation in Vietnam

Background: The Ho-Chi-Minh-city Heart Institute in Vietnam took part in the Optimize Heart Failure (OHF) Care Program, designed to improve outcomes following heart failure (HF) hospitalization by increasing patient awareness and optimizing HF treatment. Methods: HF patients hospitalized with left ventricular ejection-fraction (LVEF) <50% were included. Patients received guideline-recommended HF treatment and education. Clinical signs, treatments and outcomes were assessed at admission, discharge, 2 and 6 months (M2, M6). Patients' knowledge and practice were assessed at M6 by telephone survey. Results: 257 patients were included. Between admission and M2 and M6, heart rate decreased significantly, and clinical symptoms improved significantly. LVEF increased significantly from admission to M6. 85% to 99% of patients received education. At M6, 45% to 78% of patients acquired knowledge and adhered to practice regarding diet, exercise, weight control, and detection of worsening symptoms. High use of renin-angiotensin-aldosterone-system inhibitors (91%), mineralocorticoid-receptor-antagonists (77%) and diuretics (85%) was noted at discharge. Beta-blocker and ivabradine use was less frequent at discharge but increased significantly at M6 (from 33% to 51% and from 9% to 20%, respectively, p < 0.001). There were no in-hospital deaths. Readmission rates at 30 and 60 days after discharge were 8.3% and 12.5%, respectively. Mortality rates at 30 days, 60 days and 6 months were 1.2%, 2.5% and 6.4%, respectively. Conclusions: The OHF Care Program could be implemented in Vietnam without difficulty and was associated with high usage of guideline-recommended drug therapy. Although education was delivered, patient knowledge and practice could be further improved at M6 after discharge. Keywords: Heart failure, Optimize, Education, Knowledge, Mortality, Readmissio

Optimization of Oligomer Chitosan/Polyvinylpyrrolidone Coating for Enhancing Antibacterial, Hemostatic Effects and Biocompatibility of Nanofibrous Wound Dressing

A synergistic multilayer membrane design is necessary to satisfy a multitude of requirements of an ideal wound dressing. In this study, trilayer dressings with asymmetric wettability, composed of electrospun polycaprolactone (PCL) base membranes coated with oligomer chitosan (COS) in various concentrations of polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), are fabricated for wound dressing application. The membranes are expected to synergize the hygroscopic, antibacterial, hemostatic, and biocompatible properties of PCL and COS. The wound dressing was coated by spraying the solution of 3% COS and 6% PVP on the PCL base membrane (PVP6–3) three times, which shows good interaction with biological subjects, including bacterial strains and blood components. PVP6–3 samples confirm the diameter of inhibition zones of 20.0 ± 2.5 and 17.9 ± 2.5 mm against Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus, respectively. The membrane induces hemostasis with a blood clotting index of 74% after 5 min of contact. In the mice model, wounds treated with PVP6–3 closed 95% of the area after 10 days. Histological study determines the progression of skin regeneration with the construction of granulation tissue, new vascular systems, and hair follicles. Furthermore, the newly-growth skin shares structural resemblances to that of native tissue. This study suggests a simple approach to a multi-purpose wound dressing for clinical treatment