Development and characterization of nnvironmentally friendly high performance polymeric nanocomposite blends of Cellulose Acetate, Poly(Lactic acid) and Polyurethane

The discovery of biopolymers, several years ago have received great interest as biodegradable-biocompatible material for several applications. Cellulose acetate, poly (lactic acid) and polyurethane, are widely employed biopolymers owing to their interesting characteristics. However, CA and PLA exhibit poor mechanical properties. Nanoreinforcement is incorporated into CA/PLA and CA/PU matrices in order to overcome their brittle nature and to improve their properties. This research focused studying the effect of blending PLA and PU with CA at different ratios to form new CA/PLA and CA/PU blend using solvent casting method. The second aspect of this study is studying the incorporation of nanoreinforcement material, functionalized graphene nanoplatelets, at different ratios to form new CA/PLA/0.5wt%GNPS-COOH and CA/PU/0.5wt%GNPS-COOH nanocomposites using solvent casting method. All prepared samples were investigated through stress- strain measurements, FT-IR, DSC, TGA, SEM and dry thermal degradation. GNPS- COOH nanocomposites exhibited the best mechanical behavior for all samples. TGA analysis revealed a slight improvement in the thermal stability. DSC analysis showed no effect on thermal stability. SEM showed uniform distribution of the nanofiller in the matrices. The biodegradation of the nanocomposites when placed in an oven at 100C investigated and it was observed that complete degradation occur at day 14

A Three Echelon Location Routing Problem with Multiple Commodities and Courier Deliveries

Research on location-routing is extensive, providing new variants for numerous applications. It is worth mentioning that most contributions present in the literature of freight distribution are limited to two-echelon, single commodity networks imposing one delivery strategy for all flows. While there are recent variants that consider extensions to this problem, they rarely consider modifying all the features simultaneously. To address this gap, we define a multi-echelon location and routing problem with multi-commodity pick-up-and-delivery (3E-LRP-MC-PD). We further consider the choice between three different transportation strategies for each commodity. The problem is formulated as an integer program and three additional variants of the formulation are considered. A slope scaling decomposition matheuristic is proposed to solve the problem in reasonable computational time. Computational experiments are performed to asses the different formulations and to evaluate the performance of the matheuristic. Finally, additional experiments are conducted to investigate the impact of the unique attributes of the 3E-LRP-MC-PD

Mechanistic insights into TNFR1/MADD death domains in Alzheimer's disease through conformational molecular dynamic analysis

Proteins are tiny players involved in the activation and deactivation of multiple signaling cascades through interactions in cells. The TNFR1 and MADD interact with each other and mediate downstream protein signaling pathways which cause neuronal cell death and Alzheimer’s disease. In the current study, a molecular docking approach was employed to explore the interactive behavior of TNFR1 and MADD proteins and their role in the activation of downstream signaling pathways. The computational sequential and structural conformational results revealed that Asp400, Arg58, Arg59 were common residues of TNFR1 and MADD which are involved in the activation of downstream signaling pathways. Aspartic acid in negatively charged residues is involved in the biosynthesis of protein. However, arginine is a positively charged residue with the potential to interact with oppositely charged amino acids. Furthermore, our molecular dynamic simulation results also ensured the stability of the backbone of TNFR1 and MADD death domains (DDs) in binding interactions. This DDs interaction mediates some conformational changes in TNFR1 which leads to the activation of mediators proteins in the cellular signaling pathways. Taken together, a better understanding of TNFR1 and MADD receptors and their activated signaling cascade may help treat Alzheimer’s disease. The death domains of TNFR1 and MADD could be used as a novel pharmacological target for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease by inhibiting the MAPK pathway

Comparison of the efficacy of mouth rinses camellia sinensis extract, guava leaves extract and sodium fluoride solution, on Streptococcus mutans and Lactobacillus in children (an in vivo study)

Aim: The aim of the present study is to assess and compare intraorally the ef- fectiveness of 0.5% Camellia sinensis extract, 0.5% guava leafs extract, 0.2% sodium fluoride solution on the number of Streptococcus mutans and Lactobacilli spp. in the oral cavity. Materials and methods: Forty four healthy children of age group 7–12 years was carried out. The subjects were randomly assigned to four groups: (A) 0.5% C. sinensis extract, (B) 0.5% guava leafs extract, (C) 0.2% sodium fluoride, and (D) Saline mouth wash, with 11 subjects per group. Plaque samples were taken and streptococcus mutans bacterial count was assessed before and after using the mouth rinses. Salivary samples were taken and lactobacilli bacterial count was assessed before and after using the mouth rinses. Results: In the in vivo analysis Wilcoxon matched pair test and Mann-Whitney U test showed that fluoride, green tea, and guava extract significantly reduced Streptococcus mutans colony counts in plaque compared to saline. While in vivo analysis of lactobacilli in saliva showed that there was a significant difference between the reduction percentage changes of all tested groups but there was no significant difference in the bacterial counts between all the tested groups before and after rinsing. Conclusion: In this in vivo study, green tea extract more effective than guava extract on streptococcus mutans in plaque in comparison to Fluoride while guava extract was more effective than green tea extract on lactobacilli in saliva in comparison to fluoride

Evaluation of the Predictive value of C-reactive Protein, Interleukin-6 and their derived immune-inflammatory indices in COVID-19 Egyptian patients

Background: In coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), finding sensitive biomarkers is critical for detecting severe cases early and intervening effectively. Aim of the work:  To compare and evaluate the value of pretreatment c-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and their derived immune-inflammatory indices (CRP/albumin (CRP/alb), lymphocyte/CRP (L/CRP), and lymphocyte/IL-6 (L/IL-6)) in the prediction of COVID-19 severity and in-hospital mortality. Methods: This cross-sectional study included 85 confirmed COVID-19 patients, their complete blood count with differential, as well as albumin and IL-6 levels on the day of their hospital admission, were assessed and compared. We followed all patients till their in-hospital death or discharge from the hospital. Results: On admission levels of CRP, IL-6, and CRP/alb were significantly higher (p < /em>=0.001) in severe patients and non-survivors, but L/CRP and L/IL-6 were significantly lower (p < /em>=0.001) compared to non-severe patients and non-survivors. CRP/alb and L/CRP at cut-offs of 1.65 and 260.86, respectively, were the best predictors for COVID-19 severity, while IL-6 and L/IL-6 at cut-offs of 120 pg/ml and 5.40, respectively, were the best predictors for COVID-19 in-hospital mortality. IL-6 was an independent risk factor associated with severe disease development (odds ratio (OR): 1.033; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.002-1.066). Conclusions: Pretreatment levels of CRP, IL-6, and their derived indices should be included in the diagnostic work-up of COVID-19 to determine the severity and predict the outcome

Therapeutic and antioxidant potential of bionanofactory Ochrobactrum sp.-mediated magnetite and zerovalent iron nanoparticles against acute experimental toxoplasmosis.

The control of toxoplasmosis, a rampant one health disease, has been focussed on conventional antitoxoplasmic agents with their adverse outcomes, including serious side effects, treatment failure and emergence of drug resistant strains. Nanobiotechnology may provide a strong impetus for versatile alternative therapies against toxoplasmosis. Bionanofactory Ochrobactrum sp. strain CNE2 was recruited for the biosynthesis of functionalized magnetite iron nanoparticles (MNPs) and nanozerovalent iron (nZVI) under aerobic and anaerobic conditions and their therapeutic efficacy was evaluated against acute toxoplasmosis in murine model. The formation of self-functionalized spherical nanoparticles varied in size, identity and surface properties were substantiated. Mice were orally administered 20 mg/kg of each formulation on the initial day of infection and continued for seven consecutive days post infection (PI). Parasitological, ultrastructural, immunological, and biochemical studies were performed for assessment of therapeutic activity of biogenic iron nanoparticles (INPs). Parasitologically, MNPs showed the highest antitoxoplasmic efficacy in terms of 96.82% and 91.87% reduction in mean tachyzoite count in peritoneal fluid and liver impression smears, respectively. Lesser percentage reductions were recorded in nZVI-treated infected subgroup (75.44% and 69.04%). In addition, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) examination revealed remarkable reduction in size and extensive damage to the surface of MNPs-treated tachyzoites. MNPs-treated infected mice revealed a statistically significant increase in the serum levels of both interferon gamma (IFN-γ) to 346.2 ± 4.6 pg/ml and reduced glutathione (GSH) to 8.83 ± 0.30 mg/dl that subsequently exerted malondialdehyde (MDA) quenching action. MNPs showed a superior promising antitoxoplasmic activity with respect to both spiramycin (SPI) and nZVI. To best of our knowledge, this is the first study of a bio-safe oral iron nanotherapeutic agent fabricated via an eco-friendly approach that offers promising potential against acute experimental toxoplasmosis

Knowledge, attitude and practice of Lebanese community pharmacists with regard to self-management of low back pain

Purpose: To determine the knowledge, attitude and reported practice of Lebanese community pharmacists who advise persons who present with low back pain.Methods: This was a multi-center cross-sectional study conducted in over 300 community pharmacies across Lebanon from December 2017 to May 2018. Pharmacists working at a community pharmacy were considered eligible, and those who volunteered to participate completed the questionnaire. The questionnaire was designed for self-completion by the pharmacist and included demographic questions about the respondent, questions that assessed knowledge and attitude toward low back pain, and questions about treatment to reflect and characterize the nature of practice. The primary outcome was to determine the knowledge, attitude and reported practice of the Lebanese pharmacists advising people who presented with low back pain. The secondary outcome was to assess factors that affect knowledge, attitude, and practice.Results: The response of 320 community pharmacists was analysed. The proportion of pharmacists with good knowledge about low back pain (51. 7 %) was slightly higher than those with poor knowledge (48. 3 %). Oral therapy was the most prescribed dosage form for back pain compared to local patch and cream. Among oral dosage forms, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs were the most prescribed medications (42 %). Of the patients’ referral to the physician if necessary, 73.1 % of the referrals were by pharmacists.Conclusion: Community pharmacists in Lebanon demonstrate an acceptable level of knowledge of back pain, yet major gaps still exist, particularly in terms of the quality of advice. Hence, more education is needed to provide better quality of advice. Keywords: Attitude, Knowledge, Low back pain, Reported practice, Quality of advic

Investigating pharmacy students’ therapeutic decision-making with respect to antimicrobial stewardship cases

Background: Antimicrobial stewardship programs (ASPs) play a big role in minimizing antimicrobial resistance. Pharmacists are essential members of the health care team and in order for them to fulfill roles on ASP teams and become antimicrobial stewards, they must be prepared adequately by pharmacy schools prior to entry into actual practice. Although programming has been implemented into entry-to-practice programs worldwide, little is known about how students interpret antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) data and arrive at clinical decisions. We aimed to explore students’ cognitive processes and determine how they formulate therapeutic decisions when presented with AMS cases. Methods: This was a qualitative study conducted using a case study approach, in which a sample (n=20) of pharmacy students was recruited to interpret AMS cases. Semi-structured 1-on-1 interviews were arranged with each participant. A think-aloud procedure with verbal protocol analysis was adopted to determine students’ decision-making processes. Thematic analysis was used to interpret themes from the interview data. Results: Two themes were interpreted from the data: students’ focus and students’ approach to case interpretation. Students’ focus relates to external factors students consider when interpreting AMS case data and use to make and justify therapeutic decisions including patient-centered factors, drug-related factors, AMS interventions, and pharmacist’s role. Students’ clinical reasoning describes the approach that students use to interpret the data and the decision-making processes they employ to arrive at a clinical decision including a systematic approach versus non-systematic approach. Conclusions: Students vary in their focus and the cognitive strategies used to interpret AMS cases. Findings support the notion that clinical reasoning and decision-making should be explicitly taught in pharmacy curricula, in order to help students become aware of their own cognitive processes and decision-making abilities.This study was completed with funding from an Internal Student Grant from Qatar University (QUST-2-CPH-2020-9)

Effect of activity particle size distribution on deposition fraction of inhaled radon decay products in human respiratory system

The activity particle size distribution is an important factor governing if the aerosols can be deposited at various respiratory tract regions in human. Radon decay products are the second cause of lung cancer after smoking. A lot of dosimetric models have been built in to calculate the effective dose and effective depth dose in different region and tissues of human respiratory system. The deposition fraction estimation is the first step of dose calculation. Therefore, the dependence of radioactive aerosols deposition fraction in human respiratory system on their size should be studied. In this work, the activity size distributions of 222Rn decay products (218Po, 214Pb and 214Bi,) are measured in indoor air. Only unattached fraction of 218Po (active median thermodynamic diameter AMTD∼1-1.5 nm) was measured with developed diffusion battery. Nearly 85% of 218Po activity is free with its short half-life time. Most of the measured attached activities of (214Pb and 214Bi) are associated with the aerosol particles of the accumulation mode (0.2 μm to 2 μm). The activity distribution of the two radionuclides is typically identical. The active median aerodynamic diameter (AMAD) is 0.42 μm with a geometric standard deviation (GSD) of 3.4. Given that dose estimation is sensitive to environmental conditions and based on the obtained experimental results, the local energy deposition of (214Pb and 214Bi) by adult male for various levels of physical exertion (sleeping, sitting, light exercise and Heavy exercise) is computed with LUDEP program. For unattached particles (1-5 nm) nearly 98% are deposited unlike accumulated fraction (0.42 μm in our case) not more 30 % is deposited in the respiratory system. © 2019 Author(s)