Decreased fish diversity found near marble industry effluents in River Barandu,Pakistan

In a recently published study we observed that effluents from marble industry affected physicochemical characteristics of River Barandu in District Buner, Pakistan. These changes in water quality due to marble effluents may affect fish community. The present study was therefore conducted to evaluate the impacts of marble industry effluents on fish communities in River Barandu using abundance, richness, diversity and evenness of fish species as end point criteria. The fish samples were collected by local fishermen on monthly basis from three selected sites (upstream, effluents/industrial, and downstream sites). During the study period, a total of 18 fish species were found belonging to 4 orders, 5 families and 11 genera. The Cyprinidae was observed to be the dominant family at all the three selected sites. Lower abundance and species diversity was observed at the industrial (22 %) and downstream sites (33 %) as compared to the upstream site (45 %). Effluents of marble industry were associated with lower abundance of species in River Barandu. It is recommended that industries should be shifted away from the vicinity of river and their effluents must be treated before discharging to prevent further loss of fish abundance and diversity in the River.     

Prognostic Effect of Adenosine-related Genetic Variants in Metastatic Colorectal Cancer Treated With Bevacizumab-based Chemotherapy

Background

Adenosine has an immunosuppressive and angiogenic modulation of the tumor microenvironment. The present study explored the efficacy of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in adenosine-related molecules for patients with metastatic colorectal cancer treated with bevacizumab-based chemotherapy.

Coping with oral cancer: the impact of health and disease-related personality traits

Purpose

Oral tumours lead to critical reductions in quality of life and well being. Coping with illness is a multidimensional construct that is affected by various factors, including social structure, social support, locus of control and religious considerations. However, the effect of personality on coping with illness has hardly been studied. In this context, just one personality model has been developed, but this defines personality in very wide dimensions. Therefore, this study considered the personality factors related to health and disease and aimed to identify potential clinical applications in patients with oral cancer.

Methods

We enrolled 104 patients suffering from oral cancer. Participants were asked about their personality and illness coping styles using the Freiburg Personality Inventory and the Freiburg Questionnaire of Coping with Illness, respectively.

Results

Regression analyses revealed that specific personality structures of the patients determine their way of coping. Patients primarily used active and problem-oriented coping styles; spirituality, depressive coping and minimization were used less frequently.

Conclusions

The results demonstrate that personality affects coping behaviour. When treating patients, both situational factors and personality traits affect how patients cope with their disease. We note that it is important to give particular attention to patients who use depressive coping styles, as these patients are often incapable of coping with their diseases without external support.     

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.