Articles Related to ACC

Aim: Palm oil processing generally generates lots of wastewater (palm oil mill effluent), this is usually discharged into the environment in the untreated form and subsequently causes several environmental issues. There is therefore need to isolate microorganisms that can be used to clean up the palm oil contaminated environment especially the soil. Methods and Results: Palm oil contaminated soil was obtained from Oba Adeyemi palm oil mill in Oyo, Oyo State, Nigeria, other soil samples which were purposely contaminated with palm oil, were obtained from Ajayi Crowther University Oyo, Oyo State. Isolation, characterization and identification of microorganisms were carried out using morphological and biochemical characterization. The isolates were preliminarily screened for lipolytic activities, this was confirmed by growth on the mineral salt medium after 7 days, signifying hydrolysis. One of the prominent isolates was further identified by sequences analysis of 16S rRNA genes. Forty-one bacterial isolates were identified, which included species of Bacillus (80 %), Pseudomonas (20 %) in the oil mill contaminated soil sample and Bacillus spp. (100 %) in the purposely contaminated soils. Twenty-nine fungal isolates including species of Aspergillus, Oidiodendron, Geotrichum, Penicillum, Saccharomyces were isolated with Aspergillus fumigatus having the highest frequency of occurrence (37.5 %) in artificially contaminated soil and Saccharomyces spp. having the highest frequency of occurrence (91 %) in palm oil contaminated soil from the palm oil mill. Sequencing of the 16S rRNA of one of the prominent isolates showed that it was identified as MN607220 Saccharomyces cerevisae. All the bacterial and fungal isolates had lipolytic activities except Bacillus mycoides and Oidiodendron sp. respectively. Nine of the ten Saccharomyces sp. had lipolytic activities. Conclusion: These screened organisms could therefore be employed for the cleanup of palm oil contamination in the environment. Significance and Impact of Study: Thereby ridding the environment of possible toxic effects especially in areas of need like Malaysia

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Introduction: Knowledge and use of the male condom is not uncommon. This study sought to fill this gap by exploring Female Condom knowledge, attitude, acceptance and use in a sample of population to inform intervention measures aimed at increasing the acceptability and usage of the Female Condom taking into cognizance its safety and effectiveness. Method Study: A cross-sectional survey conducted between May and July 2019, was used to explore knowledge, attitudes and practices on the female condom targeting Congolese population at Brazzaville, Republic of Congo. To allow the participants to respond to the questionnaire at a time comfortable to him/her. Results: Seven hundred and twenty questionnaires were administered and 567 questionnaires were included in the final analysis giving a response rate of 81%. In total, 277 men and 290 women aged 14 to 63 participated in the study. Among the participants who have already seen the female condom, 80 have already used it, i.e. 21.3%. Of the 80 individuals who reported ever using a female condom, 43 (53.7%) used the female condom with a usual partner and 17 (21.3%) used it with a new partner. Concerning factors contributing to low usage of the female condom, the majority either had difficulty installing (26.3%); great difficulty in fitting (17.5%); the use of the female condom was simply uncomfortable (25%). Discussion: Our study population included 68.3% of participants with higher education, which explains the fact that there is (93.8%) has heard talk about the female condom and among them 66.3% have already seen the female condom. Only 66.3% of people have ever seen a female condom, on the other hand very few people have used it. The majority of people had difficulty using the female condom, including difficulty in inserting the female condom. Difficulties related to the female condom insertion were reported by the majority of the respondents. Conclusion: This study revealed critical gaps in knowledge, condom use, and negotiation skills and highlights the unmet need for interventions to further educate and empower women with and without HIV to prevent spread of HIV in this high-prevalence, high-risk population.

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Autoimmune Myasthenia gravis is a neuromuscular junction disease caused by destruction of the acetylcholine receptor on the postsynaptic membrane, mediated by autoantibodies and clinically characterized by skeletal muscle weakness. This can be triggered by drugs, infections, and in rare cases by vaccines. During the COVID pandemic, de novo cases and exacerbations of myasthenia gravis due to viral infection have been documented. Although few cases related to COVID vaccination. A 69-year-old female patient with blurred vision, a clinic that began 10 days later after receiving first dose of COVID vaccine, and diplopia and right palpebral ptosis after the second dose, 30 days later. In the examination, Edrophonium test was clearly positive, treatment with pyridostigmine and prednisone was started and after 14 days the clinic showed improvement until the resolution of the symptoms There are few reports of exacerbations or triggers for the appearance of myasthenia gravis, a series of 27 cases has been published where there are outbreaks of immune-mediated diseases or the new appearance of autoimmune diseases, in which it is observed that the time of appearance of the outbreak was on average 4 days up to a maximum of 25 days. In conclusion, Myasthenia gravis is a rare complication of the BNT162b2 COVID-19 vaccine. Its potential severity and the current lack of knowledge of the real incidence after vaccination makes it necessary to maintain an attitude of vigilance in the face of symptoms that suggest it.

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There is a need to develop a universal vaccine that can boost immunity to coronaviruses if some modifications in their structure occur. This is what we are dealing with nowadays: a virus that can mutate its structure, while immunity is standing still in facing the virus. We report on preclinical trials of CRCx 3 and CRCx 2 vaccine candidates in inducing an elevated level of positive neutralizing antibodies as well as a cellular immune response in an animal model to provide protection against SARS-CoV-2. Highly efficient protection against SARS-CoV-2 was obtained with three-dose immunization using 0.25 ml of CRCx vaccine with a 25-mm needle at 7-day intervals between successive injections. In addition, CRCx vaccine candidates exhibit efficient productivity and good genetic stability for vaccine manufacture. These results support the further evaluation of CRCx in a clinical trial.

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Several factors have been identified as contributing to medical errors such as labels, appearance, and location of ampules. In this paper, inadvertent intrathecal Injection of tranexamic acid has resulted from similarities in appearance between tranexamic acid and heavy bupivacaine 0.5% ampoules. The patient experienced severe itching in the gluteal region followed by generalized myoclonic seizures after accidental intrathecal administration of tranexamic acid.

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Chronic wounds substantially reduce the quality of life for millions of people worldwide. As a result, researchers have developed various treatments and therapies to reduce the time for a wound to heal. Mathematical models that help better understand and predict the wound healing process have also been developed. This paper presents and validates a mathematical model known as the vibration enhanced wound healing model (VEWH) that includes the effects of vibration treatment in the wound healing process. The model is based on existing models of cutaneous wound healing but includes the effects of vibration on blood flow, macrophages, chemoattractant, and fibroblasts. These parameters were derived from published data on vibration accelerated wound healing of healthy mice. The VEWH model is confirmed with published experimental animal data that show vibration can reduce the wound healing time by 8%. The model reveals that vibration primarily affects healing through the mechanotransduction of vibration by fibroblasts into greater production of extracellular matrix. Model simulations agree with the validation data, with optimal healing predicted to occur with frequencies between 5 Hz and 25 Hz.

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Biofilms are complex sessile microbial community extremely resistant to antibiotics. They typically form on both biotic and abiotic surfaces and are usually associated with high rates of mortality and morbidity in patients in hospital settings. Nosocomial infections are the major cause of infections seen worldwide. Bacterial Urinary Tract Infections (UTIs) represent the most common type of nosocomial infection that affect different parts of the urinary tract in both males and females.

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This investigation studies the potential use of infrared (IR) sensing technology to answer key questions of scalding. In particular, scalding incidents are frequently plagued by conflicting recollections, uncertain details, and litigation. Questions often relate to how a scalding spill occurred, how hot the liquid was, the direction of liquid flow, and the connection between burn patterns and spill patterns. Flow patterns, among others are sometimes, challenging to determine after a spill incident. Nevertheless, IR technology can be used for event reconstruction and can help identify the typical burn patterns that result from spills. Here, IR imaging is applied to common scald situations. The IR imaging provides temperature information that is continuous in both space and time and can be used with currently available burn models to predict burn depths and patterns. The IR images are used to generate a burn-depth map superimposed on the patient’s body. This study shows that IR imaging leads to reproducible results that can be used to predict burn-depth patterns based on situation specific spills.

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African region is thought to contribute to >50% of deadly cases of pertussis worldwide, however surveillance and available data on Bordetella pertussis circulation are limited. Currently, pertussis vaccination schedule in most African countries is restricted to a primary immunization consisting of three doses during the first year of life using whole pertussis vaccines for which effectiveness is not known.

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In this in-vitro study, teeth were imaged using photoacoustic tomography (PAT), cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT), and micro-computed tomography (µ-CT). The study had the following aims: to identify the best wavelength for imaging teeth when using PAT, to determine the accuracy of the three imaging methods, and to determine whether PAT images of teeth can achieve acceptable reconstruction quality.

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History teaches that successful vaccine development is a highly empirical process involving guesswork and tinkering, typically done in the face of woefully incomplete biological understanding. The AIDS vaccine effort effectively abandoned this classical approach early on.

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The emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants raises increasing concerns about the efficacy of currently available vaccines [1]. mRNA vaccines (BNT162b2, Pfizer-BioNTech; mRNA-1273, Moderna) are developed based on one specific part of the viral genome to elicit immune response. Therefore, they might be susceptible to immune escape mutations, such as the ones in the viral Spike protein [2].

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In individuals with no immune disorders, a total of three Hepatitis B virus (HBV) vaccinations is recommended, with no need for booster doses except for certain circumstances. However, some studies have indicated that in infants vaccinated at birth against HBV in the context of a universal vaccination program may have reduced antibody titers over years, with a need for a booster dose at adolescence.

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Sysmex UF-4000/5000 uses fluorescence flow cytometry technology and hydrodynamic focusing for urine sediment analysis, where particles are stained by specific fluorochromes for nucleic acids and surface structures and then sent through the semi-conductor laser beam. Atypical cells show side fluorescence and scattered light properties indicating their enlarged nuclei and increased nucleus/ cytoplasm ratio

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The beneficial effects of brown seaweed Ascophyllum nodosum and its corresponding extract (ANE) on crops have been widely reported. However, the bioactive components within ANE and associated modes-of-action are poorly understood. Mycophycias ascophylli is a naturally occurring mutualistic endosymbiont of A. nodosum. In the making of ANE, polysaccharides from the cell walls of both A. nodosum and, M. ascophylli, create corresponding oligosaccharides which make up the major components within ANE.

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Two basic reactions occur during the anodizing of aluminum: 1) the aluminum is consumed and 2) an oxide grows. By accepting this statement as true, the anodizing process can be viewed as a corrosion process, and anodizing can be modeled using the Tafel Equation. Anodizing process parameters of electrolyte chemistry and concentration, temperature, aluminum substrate resistance and current density are presented as they relate to the Tafel Equation and how they impact the anodic aluminum oxide structure and properties. Understanding this relationship is consequent in making anodizing an engineering process, one that enables tuning the structure such that it yields distinct characteristics to fulfill design and application requirements.

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Human odor detection technologies have drawn attention due to the wide possibility of potential applications they open up in areas such as biometrics, criminal investigation and forensics, search for survivors under rubble, and security checkpoint screening. Gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) has been the most successful and powerful analytical approach developed to date for human odor analysis, and hundreds of human odorants have been identified using this tool.

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The application of electronic-nose (E-nose) technologies in forensic science is a recent new development following a long history of progress in the development of diverse applications in the related biomedical and pharmaceutical fields. Data from forensic analyses must satisfy the needs and requirements of both the scientific and legal communities. The type of data collected from electronic-nose devices provides a means of identifying specific types of information about the chemical nature of evidentiary objects and samples under investigation using aroma signature profiles of complex gaseous mixtures containing volatile organic compounds (VOCs) released from manufactured products and parts of the human body. E-nose analyses also provide useful qualitative information about the physicochemical characteristics and metabolic conditions of human subjects without the need for time-consuming analyses to identify all chemical components in human-derived volatile mixtures.

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Carbon nanotube (NT) based electronic vapor sensors were tested against synthetic sweat solutions, consisting of 13 volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in saline, in order to probe the device ability to analyze and differentiate vapors derived from complex biological samples.

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The collection of human odor volatiles is of interest to forensic applications as a path to investigate canine scent discriminations in legal investigations. A study using a selected array of previously identified human odor compounds has been conducted to determine the retention and release capabilities of five (5) natural and synthetic fabric types, cotton (mercerized fabric and gauze matrix), polyester, rayon and wool.

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The anodization of aluminum foils having micrometer thickness is a common process and results in hexagonally self-ordered alumina membranes. However, anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) membranes fabricated from nanometer-thin films present new challenges to the anodization process, since aluminum films adheres poorly on supporting substrates and the smoothness of the film is highly related to the kind of substrate.

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Anodisation of pure titanium has been carried out in sulphuric and in phosphoric acid solutions at potentials ranging from 50 to 150V. The SEM and AFM morphological analysis indicates that, within this potential range, oxidation in sulphuric acid solution produces better developed mesoporous oxide layers.

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We investigated a method for preparation of ordered nanopore arrays with the interpore distance of 60 nm by guided self-organization of anodic aluminum oxide with a prepatterned array of pits in the starting Al film.

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The design of an electrochemical reactor for the preparation of self-supported comparatively thin (up to 10 μm) and large area (up to 50 cm2) anodic alumina membranes is described allowing growth of porous alumina at high applied potential (up to 150 V) without burning.

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Vertical Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) nanowire arrays have been synthesized via two-step electroplating method into anodized aluminum oxide template. For deposition of CZTS nanowires, anodized aluminum oxide (AAO) was used as the growth mask for the growth of the nanowires. AAO templates with hole sizes of 70 nm in diameter were used in the experiments.

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Anodic aluminum oxide doped with vanadyl citrate chelate complex anions was formed by a two-step self-organized anodization in 2 wt. % sulfuric acid containing 0.04 M V2O5 and 0.08 M citric acid at voltage range 13-23 V, and at 0 and 15 oC. The combination of two temperatures and at least four voltages (depending on the applied temperature) was applied as the operating conditions of anodization.

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In this paper, we report on the synthesis of BaTiO3 nanowires via the anodic aluminum oxide template method. To fill in the precursors of BaTiO3 into anodic aluminum oxide templates, the vacuum and drop loading method developed in our previous study was used. Ba(CH3COO)2 (barium acetate) and C12H28O4Ti (tetraisopropyl orthotitanate) were used as Ba and Ti sources, respectively. Anodic aluminum oxide membranes with the through-hole diameter of ~200 nm were used as the template for BaTiO3 nanowires.

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