Antibiotic susceptibility pattern of extended spectrum β-lactamase ESBL producing gram negative bacilli in a tertiary care teaching hospital, Bareilly, India

Background: The increasing prevalence of infections caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria makes empirical treatment of these infections difficult. Resistance to a wide variety of common antimicrobials has made the proliferation of extended spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL) producing strains a serious global health concern that has complicated treatment strategies and is very alarming. This study was undertaken to identify ESBL production in various gram negative bacilli isolated and to further study the antibiogram of ESBL producers and their contribution towards anti-microbial resistance.Methods: A total of 2008 samples were taken and studied for positive bacterial growth. Presence of ESBL positivity was detected using Kirby-Bauer sensitivity testing method and their antibiogram was studied. Data was analysed using IBM SPSS version 20. Chi-square test was applied wherever applicable to check the significant difference among the different groups. p value of ≤0.05 was considered to be significant.Results: A total of 2008 samples were studied. Out of which 655 gave positive bacterial growth and amongst these 312 were ESBL producers. Resistance to multiple classes of antibiotics was observed among ESBL producers and mostly imipenem, colistin and polymyxin B were the antibiotics which were sensitive to most of the strains.Conclusions: The frequency of ESBL producing strains among clinical isolates has been steadily increasing. Advance drug resistance surveillance and development of newer antibiotics is necessary to guide the appropriate and judicious antibiotic use

In-vitro study of quality control parameters of three different brands of azithromycin tablets

Background: Azithromycin, being a very important antibiotic, is manufactured by different pharmaceutical companies and available in numerous brands. Therefore, it requires a quantitative evaluation and assessment of tablets chemical, physical and bioavailability properties.Methods: The physicochemical quality pararametrs like weight variation, size, hardness, friability, disintegration time and dissolution profile of three brands of azithromycin tablets were assessed by performing various test procedures according to established methods.Results: The different brands of tablets showed very slight variations in weight and size, not exceeding more than 5% of standard value. Similarly, hardness of all the brands was less than 5kg/f and friability ranged from 0.2 to 0.5%. All the brands tested disintegrated in 75% of the active ingredient within 45 minutes.Conclusions: All the physiochemical quality parameters of three brands of azithromycin tablets were found to be within the pharmacopeial specifications therefore all the brands were pharmaceutically and chemically equivalent and can be freely interchanged

Single bath enzymatic scouring and bleaching process for preparation of absorbent cotton

This study aims at developing an enzyme based single bath scouring and bleaching process for the preparation of absorbent cotton using short staple cotton fibre with high micronaire. Neutral pectinase and cellulase enzymes individually and also in combination for scouring and hydrogen peroxide for bleaching have been used. The enzymatic process has been optimized to get the desired absorbency of less than 10 s as prescribed by pharmacopeia. An attempt has also been made to explore the possibility of combining the enzyme treatment with peroxide bleaching in a single bath. The result indicates that like conventional scouring and bleaching processes the enzymatic process with a mixture of pectinase and cellulase followed by bleaching produces required qualities for the cotton to be used as absorbent cotton. The absorbent cotton thus produced by the above process shows sinking time of 1.8 s, water holding capacity of 24 grams per gram fibre and less than 0.5% sulphated ash. The weight loss for the single bath scouring and bleaching process is found 18% less as compared to conventional process without any significant difference in the whiteness index and absorbency. The carboxyl content of the treated fibres shows that the formation of oxycellulose is lesser in enzymatic process as compared to conventional treatment. The relative crystallinity index obtained from FTIR spectra shows that the change in proportion of crystalline and amorphous regions is lesser in enzyme treated fibres. The developed process is ecofriendly with savings in energy, time and water along with minimum physical and chemical changes in the fibre

Impact of COVID-19 on cardiovascular testing in the United States versus the rest of the world

Objectives: This study sought to quantify and compare the decline in volumes of cardiovascular procedures between the United States and non-US institutions during the early phase of the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the care of many non-COVID-19 illnesses. Reductions in diagnostic cardiovascular testing around the world have led to concerns over the implications of reduced testing for cardiovascular disease (CVD) morbidity and mortality. Methods: Data were submitted to the INCAPS-COVID (International Atomic Energy Agency Non-Invasive Cardiology Protocols Study of COVID-19), a multinational registry comprising 909 institutions in 108 countries (including 155 facilities in 40 U.S. states), assessing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on volumes of diagnostic cardiovascular procedures. Data were obtained for April 2020 and compared with volumes of baseline procedures from March 2019. We compared laboratory characteristics, practices, and procedure volumes between U.S. and non-U.S. facilities and between U.S. geographic regions and identified factors associated with volume reduction in the United States. Results: Reductions in the volumes of procedures in the United States were similar to those in non-U.S. facilities (68% vs. 63%, respectively; p = 0.237), although U.S. facilities reported greater reductions in invasive coronary angiography (69% vs. 53%, respectively; p < 0.001). Significantly more U.S. facilities reported increased use of telehealth and patient screening measures than non-U.S. facilities, such as temperature checks, symptom screenings, and COVID-19 testing. Reductions in volumes of procedures differed between U.S. regions, with larger declines observed in the Northeast (76%) and Midwest (74%) than in the South (62%) and West (44%). Prevalence of COVID-19, staff redeployments, outpatient centers, and urban centers were associated with greater reductions in volume in U.S. facilities in a multivariable analysis. Conclusions: We observed marked reductions in U.S. cardiovascular testing in the early phase of the pandemic and significant variability between U.S. regions. The association between reductions of volumes and COVID-19 prevalence in the United States highlighted the need for proactive efforts to maintain access to cardiovascular testing in areas most affected by outbreaks of COVID-19 infection

Eco-friendly dyeing of cotton fabric with tender green coconut soft husk

225-231Tender coconut husk, a waste after consuming the coconut water, has been explored as a dye for the colouration of cotton fabric. It is abundant in polyphenolic compounds which are the main coloring agent. The aqueous extraction method is used for obtaining the dye. Different mordanting techniques, such as pre-mordanting, simultaneous mordanting and post mordanting, are used to dye cotton fabric. Tannic acid and alum are used as primary mordants, and ferrous sulphate and copper sulphate are used as secondary mordants. A range of shades is obtained by varying mordants and different mordanting methods. Overall fastness properties of these shades are found good. Dyed fabrics are also found to have an excellent UV protection property

Eco-friendly dyeing of cotton fabric with tender green coconut soft husk

227-233Tender coconut husk, a waste after consuming the coconut water, has been explored as a dye for the colouration of cotton fabric. It is abundant in polyphenolic compounds which are the main coloring agent. The aqueous extraction method is used for obtaining the dye. Different mordanting techniques, such as pre-mordanting, simultaneous mordanting and post mordanting, are used to dye cotton fabric. Tannic acid and alum are used as primary mordants, and ferrous sulphate and copper sulphate are used as secondary mordants. A range of shades is obtained by varying mordants and different mordanting methods. Overall fastness properties of these shades are found good. Dyed fabrics are also found to have an excellent UV protection property

Eco-friendly dyeing of cotton fabric with tender green coconut soft husk

AbstractTender coconut husk, a waste after consuming the coconut water, has been explored as a dye for the colouration of cotton fabric. It is abundant in polyphenolic compounds which are the main coloring agent. The aqueous extraction method is used for obtaining the dye. Different mordanting techniques, such as pre-mordanting, simultaneous mordanting and post mordanting, are used to dye cotton fabric. Tannic acid and alum are used as primary mordants, and ferrous sulphate and copper sulphate are used as secondary mordants. A range of shades is obtained by varying mordants and different mordanting methods. Overall fastness properties of these shades are found good. Dyed fabrics are also found to have an excellent UV protection property