Use of Ceftriaxone in Treating Cognitive and Neuronal Deficits Associated With Dementia With Lewy Bodies

Dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) is caused by accumulation of Lewy bodies, destruction of mitochondria, and excess of glutamate in synapses, which eventually leads to excitotoxicity, neurodegeneration, and cognitive impairments. Ceftriaxone (CEF) reduces excitotoxicity by increasing glutamate transporter 1 expression and glutamate reuptake. We investigated whether CEF can prevent cognitive decline and neurological deficits and increase neurogenesis in DLB rats. Male Wistar rats infused with viral vector containing human alpha-synuclein (α-syn) gene, SNCA, in the lateral ventricle were used as a rat model of DLB. CEF (100 mg/kg/day, i.p.) was injected in these rats for 27 days. The active avoidance test and object recognition test was performed. Finally, the brains of all the rats were immunohistochemically stained to measure α-syn, neuronal density, and newborn cells in the hippocampus and substantia nigra. The results revealed that DLB rats had learning and object recognition impairments and exhibited cell loss in the nigrostriatal dopaminergic system, and hippocampal CA1, and dentate gyrus (DG). Additionally, DLB rats had fewer newborn cells in the DG and substantia nigra pars reticulata and more α-syn immune-positive cells in the DG. Treatment with CEF improved cognitive function, reduced cell loss, and increased the number of newborn cells in the brain. To our knowledge, this is the first study showing that CEF prevents loss of neurogenesis in the brain of DLB rats. CEF may therefore has clinical potential for treating DLB

Study on the factors affecting the purchase behaviour of consumers of sports shoes

The project is a study of consumer behaviour in the purchase of sports shoes with recommendations based on the evaluation of results from the research conducted. The text is sub-sectioned into several main chapters. These chapters are respectively the Introduction, Literature Review, Methodology, Results and Analysis, Survey Findings and the Recommendations chapter. The Literature Review covers the past studies conducted by academics and other professionals in the field of consumer behaviour in the purchase of different type of products. It also includes a review of how external environmental factors can influence consumer behaviour. The chapter on Methodology will elaborate on the various statistical tests that were employed, the manner in which primary and secondary research were conducted as well as other procedures pertaining to the information gathering techniques used in the course of the study. The data compiled from the surveys were analyzed in the chapter Results and Analysis. These results were then related to the current marketing programmes and strategies employed by several sports shoes companies in the chapter on Survey Findings. The Recommendations chapter is based on the evaluation of the current marketing strategies employed by the major industry players in the sports shoes industry and a comparison study with the findings by the authors was ·made. Further recommendations were made while taking into consideration gender differences in the development of futu ~, e marketing strategies. The intention of this report is to provide readers with information on local consumer behaviour and decision making process in the purchase of sports shoes and recommendations that may be useful in the development of marketing strategies in future.BUSINES

Assessment of an automatic robotic arm for dispensing of chemotherapy in a 2500-bed medical center

Automation has long been awaited in parenteral drug dispensing. Pharmacists can benefit much in theory from a good automated device to handle the hazardous drugs used in chemotherapy. This paper describes the performance of the first chemotherapy-dispensing robot in the oncology pharmacy of a 2500-bed medical center. The objective of this paper is two-fold: (1) to assess the robot’s performance in terms of its success rate and to summarize the causes of failure, and (2) to find out if the robot can decrease the full-time equivalents (FTEs) of the oncology pharmacy. Methods: We used the computer-generated log from the first week of May 2010 to that of July 2010, supplemented with the pharmacists’ notes on the causes of failure, to determine the success rate and to analyze the incidences of failure. We also assessed the FTEs before and after implementing the robot. Results: Data showed that the success rate rose slowly from 76.8% to 95.3% over the 2-month recording period. The major mechanical problems encountered were air, clamping, and waste bin problems. Manual errors, such as loading wrong drugs or syringes, also caused failures. In terms of manpower saving, CytoCare failed to decrease the number of FTE pharmacists/technicians in our oncology pharmacy practice. Conclusion: We conclude that even though CytoCare could ease the risk of chemotherapy exposure and increase the precision of dosing, it was not able to improve the FTE pharmacists/technicians in our hospital

Production of Mesoporous Magnetic Carbon Materials from Oily Sludge by Combining Thermal Activation and Post-Washing

In this work, the oily sludge (OS) from a local waste oil recycling plant was reused as a precursor for producing porous magnetic carbon composites (CC) by pyrolysis, followed by carbon dioxide activation. Based on the thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) of the OS feedstock, the preparation experiments were performed at 800–900 °C. From the pore analysis of the CC products, it indicated an increasing trend, as the BET surface area greatly increased from about 1.0 to 44.30 m2/g. In addition, the enhancement effect on the pore properties can be consistently obtained from the acid-washed CC products because the existing and new pores were reformed due to the leaching-out of inorganic minerals. It showed an increase from 32.27 to 94.45 m2/g and 44.30 to 94.52 m2/g at 850 and 900 °C, respectively, showing their mesoporous features. These porous and iron-containing features were also observed by the scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDS). In addition, the adsorption removal of total organic carbon (TOC) in the raw wastewater, by the CC product, showed its high performance (>80%)

Risk factors of ifosfamide-related encephalopathy in adult patients with cancer: A retrospective analysis

Ifosfamide, a widely used chemotherapeutic agent, has been frequently associated with encephalopathy. A larger-scale study was conducted to identify risk factors of ifosfamide-related encephalopathy, including hepatic function. Methods: Adult patients who had completed at least one cycle of ifosfamide between January 2008 and December 2010 were included. Those with renal failure or liver failure were excluded. Data were collected through chart review. Patients with encephalopathy and patients without encephalopathy were compared on age, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status (PS), baseline serum creatinine (SCr) level, albumin level, white blood cell count, liver function, brain metastasis, and dosage of ifosfamide. Chi-square test or Fisher's exact test, Student t test, and univariate and multivariate logistic regressions were used for analysis. Results: This study enrolled 337 patients. Thirty-eight patients (11%) had ifosfamide-related encephalopathy. They had poorer ECOG PS; higher SCr level, white blood cell count, and aspartate aminotransferase level; and lower serum albumin level compared with patients without encephalopathy. Ifosfamide dosage, brain metastasis, and age were not significant risk factors. Multivariate analysis indicated that only ECOG PS, SCr level, and albumin level contributed significantly to the risk. Conclusion: To date, this is the largest-scale study to have analyzed the risk factors of ifosfamide-related encephalopathy. This study confirms that an ECOG PS of 2–4 and increased SCr level are significant risk factors of ifosfamide-related encephalopathy, whereas increased albumin level decreases the risk, consistent with previous reports. Higher aspartate aminotransferase levels have no significant impact. In contrast to previous studies, ifosfamide dosage and brain metastasis are not significant contributing factors

Recovery of Calcium from Reaction Fly Ash

Reaction fly ash contains a large number of harmful substances, so it is usually solidified and buried in landfills. To improve the problem of insufficient landfill space, this study recovers CaOH from reaction fly ash to achieve mass and volume reduction. The leachate obtained by leaching the reaction fly ash with de-ionized water and 2N hydrochloric acid was used in the experiments, respectively. The volume reduction with 2N hydrochloric acid had better performance than de-ionized water, representing more than 90%. The leaching efficiency of Ca reached 21.06% with de-ionized water for 20 min at a condition of 25 °C and 7 mL/g pump density. The chemical precipitation with NaOH was conducted immediately after the completion of the leaching experiment, with a precipitation efficiency of CaOH reaching 98.55%. The leaching efficiency of Ca reached 70.26% with 2N hydrochloric acid for 30 min at a condition of 25 °C and 10 mL/g pump density. The chemical precipitation with NaOH and ion exchange with IRC748 were conducted, respectively, after the completion of the leaching experiment. After two precipitations, the precipitation efficiency of CaOH was 99.93%. The precipitation efficiency and purity of Ca after ion exchange separation were 99.90% and 98.91%, respectively. This work provided an effective approach to recover CaOH from reaction fly ash and accomplished volume reduction at the same time

A preliminary study of hepatocellular carcinoma post proton beam therapy using MRI as an early prediction of treatment effectiveness.

PurposeTo demonstrate the feasibility of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for early prediction of proton beam therapy (PBT) effectiveness in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).MethodsClinical data of the HCC patients without regional lymph node involvement or distant metastasis who received PBT at this institution between 2014 and 2017 were reviewed. A total of 43 patients were included. Tumor regression pattern after PBT were examined on the basis of follow-up duration. The variables were compared between patients with and without early tumor regression (ETR).ResultsThe median follow-up duration was 40 months (range, 9-62 months). The cumulative overall survival rate at 6 months, 1 years and 5 years was 100%, 88.4%, 63.4%, respectively. Child-Pugh class A, local tumor control (LTC), complete response (CR), and ETR were significantly associated with overall survival (p ConclusionThe post-PBT MRI follow-up at 3 months is helpful for monitoring therapeutic response. ETR of the HCC predicted a higher rate of CR and was associated with overall survival, which provides more accurate clinical management

Phase transformation behavior of 3 mol% yttria partially-stabilized ZrO2 (3Y–PSZ) precursor powder by an isothermal method

The phase transformation behavior of freeze-dried 3 mol% yttria–partially-stabilized zirconia (3Y–PSZ) precursor powder has been studied. When the freeze-dried 3Y–PSZ precursor powder was calcined at 773–1073 K for 2 h, the crystalline structure was composed of tetragonal and monoclinic ZrO2 as primary and secondary phases, respectively. The freeze-dried 3Y–PSZ precursor powder after calcination at 773 K, the monoclinic ZrO2 content abruptly increased from 8.00% to 31.51% and the tetragonal ZrO2 content suddenly decreased from 92.00% to 68.49%, with the duration increasing from 0.5 to 1 min. The activation energy of the isothermal transformation from tetragonal to monoclinic was 7.02 kJ/mol. The kinetics equation for the phase transformation from tetragonal to monoclinic in the freeze-dried 3Y–PSZ precursor powder between 773 K and 1273 K for various durations is described as ln(1/1−α)=1/2.61[t2.61(1.50×10−3)2.61exp(−7.02×310/RT)]; whereas, the HRTEM image shows a typical monoclinic ZrO2 domain because of the stress-induced tetragonal to monoclinic ZrO2 martensitic transformation that has occurred