Initial SARS-CoV-2 PCR crossing point does not predict hospitalization and duration of PCR positivity

This study aimed to determine if the crossing point of the initial positive SARS-CoV-2 PCR test correlated with patient demographics, subsequent hospitalization, or duration of positivity. Seventy-three patients with two or more positive PCR tests had a median time of 23 days to two consecutive negative results.     

Zwitterionic superabsorbent polymer hydrogels for efficient and selective removal of organic dyes

A novel zwitterionic superabsorbent polymer hydrogel [ZI-SAH] was synthesized by free radical polymerization and used for the removal of crystal violet (CV) and congo red (CR) from an aqueous medium. ZI-SAH was composed of pH-sensitive monomers poly(3-acrylamidopropyl) trimethylammoniumchloride (APTMACl) and 2-acrylamido-2-methylpropanesulphonic acid (AAMPSA). The hydrogel was characterized by SEM and FT-IR spectroscopy, while the visco-elastic behavior was studied using rheological tests. The hydrogel showed a point of zero charge (PZC) at pH 7.2 and high swelling abilities of 3715% at pH 9 and 3112% at pH 5. The cationic crystal violet (CV) and anionic congo red (CR) dyes were employed to investigate the removal ability of ZI-SAH using the batch adsorption method. The materials became more selective towards oppositely charged dyes at pH 5 and 9. The effects of parameters such as contact time, initial concentration of dyes, pH, ZI-SAH dosage and ionic strength on the removal performance were investigated. A kinetic study was carried out via Lagergren pseudo first order and pseudo second order kinetics. The adsorption efficiencies of ZI-SAH were 13.6 mg g⁻¹ for CV and 9.07 mg g⁻¹ for CR with % removal values of 97 and 89, respectively. The thermodynamic parameters, namely, ΔG°, ΔH° and ΔS° were determined, and the negative value of free energy showed that the process of adsorption was spontaneous. ZI-SAH was recycled and reused in five consecutive cycles with removal efficiency > 75%.

A novel zwitterionic superabsorbent polymer hydrogel [ZI-SAH] was synthesized by free radical polymerization and used for the removal of crystal violet (CV) and congo red (CR) from an aqueous medium.     

Current and future therapies for hepatitis C virus infection: from viral proteins to host targets

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is the most important problem across the world. It causes acute and chronic liver infection. Different approaches are in use to inhibit HCV infection, including small organic compounds, siRNA, shRNA and peptide inhibitors. This review article summarizes the current and future therapies for HCV infection. PubMed and Google Scholar were searched for articles published in English to give an insight into the current inhibitors against this life-threatening virus. HCV NS3/4A protease inhibitors and nucleoside/nucleotide inhibitors of NS5B polymerase are presently in the most progressive stage of clinical development, but they are linked with the development of resistance and viral breakthrough. Boceprevir and telaprevir are the two most important protease inhibitors that have been approved recently for the treatment of HCV infection. These two drugs are now the part of standard-of-care treatment (SOC). There are also many other drugs in phase III of clinical development. When exploring the various host-cell-targeting compounds, the most hopeful results have been demonstrated by cyclophilin inhibitors. The current SOC treatment of HCV infection is Peg-interferon, ribavirin and protease inhibitors (boceprevir or telaprevir). The future treatment of this life-threatening disease must involve combinations of therapies hitting multiple targets of HCV and host factors. It is strongly expected that the near future, treatment of HCV infection will be a combination of direct-acting agents (DAA) without the involvement of interferon to eliminate its side effects.     

Extraction bradycardia: a pilot case-crossover study

Purpose

Significant vasovagal reaction is one of the untoward events in the course of simple extractions. The present study then aimed to record the patients’ heart rate during the extraction procedure.

Materials and methods

Informed consents were obtained in advance. Patients were placed in the dental chair and their heart rate was measured before /and prior to the anesthetic injection, during, and after dental extraction on a pulse oxymeter device. Data were analyzed using paired t-test.

Results

Sixty one patients were included. The mean heart rates of these patients prior, during, and after extraction were 88, 86 and 81, respectively. Two by two comparisons showed a significant decrease in the mean heart rate during extraction compared to the baseline and also after extraction compared to both before and during extraction (p?<?0.05 for all three).

Conclusions

Despite the presence of sufficient local anesthesia and performing the extraction with the least trauma, a significant decrease in heart rate is evident.

     

Amelioration of motor and non-motor deficits and increased striatal APoE levels highlight the beneficial role of pistachio supplementation in rotenone-induced rat model of PD

Metabolic Brain Disease - Pistachio contains polyphenolic compounds including flavonoids and anthocyanins which have antioxidant and antiinflammatory activity. Present study was aimed to evaluate...     

Recurrent life-threatening hyperkalemia without typical electrocardiographic changes

Hyperkalemia is generally associated with electrocardiographic (ECG) changes and these changes have been used to follow the effects of high serum potassium (K +) levels on the heart. It is known that chronic renal impairment may diminish the toxic effects of hyperkalemia on ECG abnormality formation. ^{,  and}  Here, we report a case of recurrent severe hyperkalemia without any significant ECG changes in a patient with normal baseline renal function.     

Ecological and health risk assessment of heavy metals in the Hattar industrial estate,Pakistan

Abstract

This study aimed to determine the heavy metals (HMs) contaminations in soil of the Hattar industrial estate (HIE), Haripur, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. For this purpose, various types of soils were collected in HIE and analyzed for the HMs concentrations. The HMs showed highest contamination levels in wastewater irrigated agriculture soil (WWIAS), followed by waste dump site soil (WDSS), and the lowest in range land soil (RLS). Determined HMs concentrations were used for pollution quantification factors, including contamination factors (CFs), pollution load index (PLI), ecological risk factor (ER), and potential health risk assessment, including chronic or non-cancer and cancer risk levels.     

An Adaptive Semantic based Mediation System for Data Interoperability among Health Information Systems

Heterogeneity in the management of the complex medical data, obstructs the attainment of data level interoperability among Health Information Systems (HIS). This diversity is dependent on the compliance of HISs with different healthcare standards. Its solution demands a mediation system for the accurate interpretation of data in different heterogeneous formats for achieving data interoperability. We propose an adaptive AdapteR Interoperability ENgine mediation system called ARIEN, that arbitrates between HISs compliant to different healthcare standards for accurate and seamless information exchange to achieve data interoperability. ARIEN stores the semantic mapping information between different standards in the Mediation Bridge Ontology (MBO) using ontology matching techniques. These mappings are provided by our System for Parallel Heterogeneity (SPHeRe) matching system and Personalized-Detailed Clinical Model (P-DCM) approach to guarantee accuracy of mappings. The realization of the effectiveness of the mappings stored in the MBO is evaluation of the accuracy in transformation process among different standard formats. We evaluated our proposed system with the transformation process of medical records between Clinical Document Architecture (CDA) and Virtual Medical Record (vMR) standards. The transformation process achieved over 90 % of accuracy level in conversion process between CDA and vMR standards using pattern oriented approach from the MBO. The proposed mediation system improves the overall communication process between HISs. It provides an accurate and seamless medical information exchange to ensure data interoperability and timely healthcare services to patients.