Polyamide-Scorpion Cyclam Lexitropsins Selectively Bind AT-Rich DNA Independently of the Nature of the Coordinated Metal

Cyclam was attached to 1-, 2- and 3-pyrrole lexitropsins for the first time through a synthetically facile copper-catalyzed “click” reaction. The corresponding copper and zinc complexes were synthesized and characterized. The ligand and its complexes bound AT-rich DNA selectively over GC-rich DNA, and the thermodynamic profile of the binding was evaluated by isothermal titration calorimetry. The metal, encapsulated in a scorpion azamacrocyclic complex, did not affect the binding, which was dominated by the organic tail

Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on cardiovascular testing in Asia: the IAEA INCAPS-COVID study

BACKGROUND The coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic significantly affected management of cardiovascular disease around the world. The effect of the pandemic on volume of cardiovascular diagnostic procedures is not known. OBJECTIVES This study sought to evaluate the effects of the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic on cardiovascular diagnostic procedures and safety practices in Asia. METHODS The International Atomic Energy Agency conducted a worldwide survey to assess changes in cardiovascular procedure volume and safety practices caused by COVID-19. Testing volumes were reported for March 2020 and April 2020 and were compared to those from March 2019. Data from 180 centers across 33 Asian countries were grouped into 4 subregions for comparison. RESULTS Procedure volumes decreased by 47% from March 2019 to March 2020, showing recovery from March 2020 to April 2020 in Eastern Asia, particularly in China. The majority of centers cancelled outpatient activities and increased time per study. Practice changes included implementing physical distancing and restricting visitors. Although COVID testing was not commonly performed, it was conducted in one-third of facilities in Eastern Asia. The most severe reductions in procedure volumes were observed in lower-income countries, where volumes decreased 81% from March 2019 to April 2020. CONCLUSIONS The COVID-19 pandemic in Asia caused significant reductions in cardiovascular diagnostic procedures, particularly in low-income countries. Further studies on effects of COVID-19 on cardiovascular outcomes and changes in care delivery are warranted

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

Evaluation of Environmentally Friendly Drilling Fluid Additives in Water-Based Drilling Mud

Drilling wastes generated in large volumes is recognized to have many effects on the environment. Several techniques have been applied by the oil and gas industry to overcome the impacts of drilling waste on the environment, an example of these techniques is using environmentally friendly drilling fluid additives. This work investigates the potential of using Fibrous Food Waste Material (FFWM) as an environmentally friendly drilling fluid additive. This material was prepared in-house. Experimental evaluation has been carried out to investigate the ability of FFWM to enhance several properties of water-based drilling fluid under two different pH conditions. The FFWM was first evaluated at 9.3 pH then the pH was increased using sodium hydroxide to 11.5. Several properties of drilling fluid were measured. The measurements included testing the rheological properties using viscometer, measuring the filtration using standard low-pressure low-temperature filter press, the pH using pH tester, and other important properties. The findings of this work showed that FFWM in 9.3 pH environment reduced the fluid loss by 18% and 30% when 1% and 2% concentrations of FFWM were added, respectively. This reduction in fluid loss was along with forming a thin filter cake. The filter cake thickness of the reference fluid was decreased from 3 mm to 2.14 mm and 1.9 mm at 1% and 2% concentrations of FFWM. Additionally, FFWM resulted in increasing the plastic viscosity (PV) compared to the reference fluid by 33.33% at 1% and 2% concentrations. While the yield point (YP) was increased by 22.22% and 44.44% when 1% and 2% concentrations of FFWM were added, respectively. Both the initial and final gel strengths were increased by 27.27%, 44.44 %, 7.14% and 14.28% at 1% and 2% concentrations, respectively. Moreover, the results in 11.5 pH emphasized the efficient performance of FFWM, and it showed better improvement in the filtration specifications and the rheological properties. In other words, PV, YP, and gel strength were significantly increased; while the fluid loss was very low and the filter cake was very thin at 11.5 pH condition compared to 9.3 pH condition for the same concentrations, proving the ability of FFWM to perform better under higher pH condition. The significant enhancement in the rheological and filtration properties, suggesting the applicability of using this additive as a rheology modifier and filtration control agent. These results showed the potential use of FFWM as an alternative for some of the toxic materials used today in the oil and gas industry. This work demonstrates that this additive will help to reduce both the impact on the environment along with reducing the cost of drilling fluid and drilling waste handling

Insights into the Application of New Eco-Friendly Drilling Fluid Additive to Improve the Fluid Properties in Water-Based Drilling Fluid Systems

The objective of this work is to develop an eco-friendly drilling fluid additive to regulate filtrate and mud cake thickness as well as to assess other drilling fluid properties. The biodegradable Grass Powder (GP) was selected as a fibrous fluid-loss agent to be compared with the conventional chemical additive (starch). Fluid samples including GP and starch additives were prepared in various concentrations to examine the effect of concentration variation on the reference fluid. The effects of introducing different concentrations of GP and starch on the physical and chemical properties of the drilling fluid (e.g. mud weight (MW), plastic viscosity (PV), yield point (YP), the filtration characteristics, rheological properties, calcium content (Ca++), solid content (SC), NaCl concentration, and pH) were evaluated. The evaluation included conducting lab experiments with full-set measurements following the specifications of the American Petroleum Institute (API). The test results of 0.5%, 1%, and 1.5% GP were compared to the same concentrations of starch. Starch was less effective than GP in improving filtration specifications. For instance, in low-temperature and low-pressure (LTLP) filtration test, the fluid loss was decreased by 42% and 28% using 0.5% of GP and starch additives, respectively. Similarly, in high-temperature and high-pressure (HTHP) filtration test, 0.5% of GP and starch decreased fluid loss by 26% and 3%, respectively when comparing them to the reference fluid. On the other hand, starch was more efficient than GP in terms of improving the rheological properties for all different concentrations; while both GP and starch had no effect on MW and negligible impact on SC. In addition, GP additives resulted in increasing NaCl more than starch at different concentrations; while GP reduced the alkalinity and Ca++ more than starch for all concentrations as compared to the reference fluid. In brief, this study shows that GP can reduce the amount of non-biodegradable waste, and it has a promising potential to be utilized as a supportive biodegradable drilling fluid additive

Controlling Drilling Fluid Properties using Bio-Degradable Environmental Friendly Additives: Comparison between Conventional Chemical (PAC-LV) and Eco-Friendly Drilling Fluid Additives

The non-biodegradable additives used in controlling drilling fluid properties cause harm to the environment and personal safety. Thus, there is a need for alternative drilling fluid additives to reduce the amount of non-biodegradable waste disposed to the environment. This work investigates the potential of using Mandarin Peels Powder (MPP), a food waste product, as a new environmental friendly drilling fluid additive. A complete set of tests were conducted to recognize the impact of MPP on the drilling fluid properties. The results of MPP were compared to low viscosity Polyanionic Cellulose (PAC-LV), commonly used chemical additive for the drilling fluid. The results showed that MPP reduced the alkalinity by 20-32% and modified the rheological properties (plastic viscosity (PV), yield point (YP), and gel strength) of the drilling fluid. The fluid loss decreased by 44-68% at concentrations of MPP as less as 1-4%, and filter cake was enhanced as well when comparing to the reference mud. In addition, MPP had a negligible to minor impact on mud weight, and this effect was resulted due to foaming issues. Other properties such as salinity, calcium content, and resistivity were negligibly affected by MPP. This makes MPP an effective material to be used as pH reducer, a viscosity modifier, and an excellent fluid loss agent. This work also provides a practical guide for minimizing the cost of the drilling fluid through economic, environmental, and safety considerations, by comparing MPP with PAC-LV