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A micellar thin-layer chromatography method for the quantitative determination and validation of coumarin in Meliloti herba and its ethanolic extracts was developed and validated. For achieving good determination, the mobile phase of 5 x 10-4 mol/L Tween-80 in a mixture propanol-2 – water (5:95 v/v) was used. Densitometric determination was carried out at 275 nm. The calibration curve was linear in the range of 0.1-2.5 μg per band. The proposed method is simple, rapid, precise and accurate; replacing hazardous solvents by greener ones correspond to the modern requirements in “Green chemistry” concepts. The obtained data can be used for the routine analysis of coumarin in medical plant and extracts. 

Scientific interest in low-molecular-weight pectins is not accidental. Despite the experimental material widely presented in the literature on the pharmacological effects of pectins, the clinical application of the developments has not yet been fully implemented. On the one hand, antitumor potential is registered in polymers with a mass of hundreds of kilodaltons, on the other hand, practically nothing is known about such in pectin derivatives weighing less than 20 kDa. In addition, the issues of assessing the nature of the pharmacological interaction of nanoscale pectin and conventional cytostatics are not covered. The aim of this work is an experimental study of the antitumor potential of low-molecular, low-esterified pectin in combination with a cytostatic agent on a model of Walker’s carcinosarcoma. Pectin therapy of Walker’s transplanted tumor in several series of experiments consistently caused inhibition of its growth from 60% to 80%. The combined use of pectin and cyclophosphane caused inhibition of tumor growth up to 72.4%. The increase in life expectancy in the “pectin + cyclophosphane” group versus the “cyclophosphane” group was 200%. It can be concluded that nanoscale pectin is a promising drug for in-depth study since it meets the criteria of primary screening (increase in animal life expectancy, inhibition of tumor growth, survival without tumor growth).

The depletion of non-renewable resources is followed by severe ecological and social impacts, and the heavy usage of raw, virgin resources leaves significant, long-lasting footprints. The transition to a more circular economy, where the value of products, materials and resources is maintained and circulated (by recycling activities) in the economy for as long as possible, is an essential contribution to the EU’s efforts to develop a sustainable, low carbon, resource efficient and competitive economy. In this context, ecological solutions consisting of materials that help carbon sequestration and necessitate small amounts of energy for production are becoming increasingly popular from a building construction point of view, namely: The raw material is cheap and in large quantities; has low thermal conductivity; are from a renewable source. The paper presents an analysis of IZOMIN an innovative thermal insulating product made from renewable or recycled resources and their main technical properties, the purpose being to inform the market in order to increase the present level of technical knowledge and technologies used to facilitate the implementation of buildings with high energy efficiency.

Background: Tetanus continues to threaten the survival of children in spite of it being a vaccine preventable disease. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of post-neonatal tetanus, review the vaccination of affected children, complications encountered and the outcome among affected children in a tertiary health institution in southwestern Nigeria. Methods: The study was a retrospective study. Case notes of children outside neonatal life admitted to the Paediatric ward with clinical diagnosis of tetanus between January 2012 and October 2018 were retrieved and evaluated to identify socio-demographic and clinical characteristics. A review of the immunization history and cards was done where the immunization cards were available. Results: 21children with post-neonatal tetanus were admitted over a period of six years (November 2012 to October 2018) with a prevalence of 0.3%. The M:F was 3.2:1. The mean age in years was 10.14 ±3.44 while the age range of the subjects was 4 to 16years. None of the patients had booster doses of tetanus toxoid (TT) outside the infancy period. Nine (42.9%) subjects had no previous TT vaccination, 2 (9.5%) had 3 doses of TT vaccine in infancy but developed tetanus at age ≥9 years, 1(4.8%) subject had a dose of TT while the remaining 9subjects had no proof of previous TT vaccination. The percentage mortality was 19% (4 out of 21). All the patients that died had no prior record of TT vaccination. Complications identified included laryngeal spasm and autonomic dysfunction. Conclusion: Post-neonatal tetanus is still common in our locality because booster doses of Tetanus Toxoid are not part of the national immunization schedule. Complete dose of tetanus toxoid vaccination during infancy and booster doses at school entry is necessary and should be part of school health programme to forestall post-neonatal tetanus

Background: Schizophrenic patients have a lot higher smoking rates when compared to people in the general population. A variety of pharmaceutical cessation aids are available, which include nicotine replacement therapy (NRT), Bupropion SR, and Varenicline. Our objective was to assess which cessation medication would have lower risks in developing risk factors of cardiovascular diseases. Methods: A population-based retrospective cohort study was conducted using the General Electric (GE) electronic medical record database (1995-2011). The cohort consisted of patients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder (ICD-9 code 295.00-295.99) and who had newly initiated use of any smoking cessation medication. We excluded our cohort who (1) were not prescribed atypical antipsychotics and (2) already had diagnosis of diabetes, hyperlipidemia or hypertension prior to index date. Follow up period was from 12 weeks onwards index date up to one year. The hazard ratio of developing cardiovascular risks was assessed using Cox proportional hazards regression model after controlling for other covariates. Results: A total of 580 patients were included in our cohort. Among those, nearly half (n=276, 47.59%) developed one or more criteria of the metabolic syndromes. We found that smokers who were prescribed NRT were less likely to develop metabolic syndromes as compared to those who were prescribed Varenicline. Conclusions: Physicians are advised to carefully weigh the risks against the benefits before prescribing cessation medications since risks for metabolic syndromes were found to be very high. Healthcare providers should monitor patients’ lab data regularly as this minority population is under higher risks.

Background: Paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH) is a rare acquired hematologic condition which could be revealed by deep venous thrombosis. It could be fatal unless correctly treated. Case report: We report here the case of a 28 year-old male with no medical history who was admitted to the emergency room for severe abdominal pain. Computerized Tomography angiography (CT) scan revealed portal vein thrombosis. Laboratory findings showed pancytopenia with severe regenerative normocytic anemia resulting in PNH. Because of the lack of Eculizumab, treatment was first based on curative anticoagulation until bone marrow transplant, with no success. Conclusion: PNH remains a severe disease with bad prognosis unless treated with Eculizumab.

Over the last few years, the prevalence of thyroid nodules has increased. There are multiple reasons: true increase in incidence and increase in investigations with better technology. Finding a nodule in the thyroid does lead to a flurry of investigations. 

Heterologous expression of proteins often pursues high expression levels, but it can easily result in misfolding and loss of biological function. L-α-glycerophosphate oxidase (GlpO) is a flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD)-dependent oxidase which is widely used in the clinical determination of triglycerides. We found that the total enzymatic activity of GlpO expressed in Escherichia coli (E. coli) was extremely low, probably due to the absence of FAD cofactors and the misfolding of GlpO at a high synthesis rate. Therefore, decreasing the expression rate was used to improve the activity of GlpO. The specific activity of GlpO expressed on the pUC19 vector with lac promotor was approximately 30 times higher than that expressed on the pET28a vector with T7 promotor, but the expression levels of GlpO on the two vectors were completely opposite. It indicated that the specific activity of GlpO was increased as the expression level decreased. However, too low expression greatly influences the total amount and activity of the functional enzyme. In order to resolve this problem, two new plasmids, GlpO-CG4 and GlpO-CG6, were constructed by inserting 4 or 6 nucleotides, respectively, between the ribosome binding site (RBS) and the start code (ATG) on pET28a. Compared with the expression on the GlpO-pET vector, the expression rates of GlpO on the GlpO-CG4 and GlpO-CG6 were dramatically decreased. The total activity of GlpO expressed on GlpO-CG6 was 11 times and 1.5 times higher than that expressed on the GlpO-pET and GlpO-pUC, respectively. Results suggest that the activity of GlpO can be improved by decreasing the expression rate. 

Calcinosis cutis (CC) [1] is an unusual disorder characterized by calcium-phosphate deposition into cutaneous and subcutaneous tissues. There are five subtypes: dystrophic, metastatic, idiopathic, iatrogenic and calciphylaxis.Calciphylaxis or calcifying panniculitis is defined as small vessel calcification mainly affecting blood vessels of the dermis and subcutaneous fat. Despite the predominance of cases in patients with ESRD, calciphylaxis can also be found in patients with normal renal function and normal levels of calcium and phosphate. These cases are often referred to as nonuremic calciphylaxis (NUC), a heterogeneous category with several associations. Literature reveals an association with hyperparathyroidism (28%), malignancy (22%), alcoholic liver disease (17%) and connective tissue diseases (11%) while obesity, liver disease, high-serum calcium (Ca) × phosphorus (P) levels, combined therapies of calcium salts with vitamin D, warfarin and corticosteroids have been observed to increase the likelihood of this disease [2]. The lesions in both nonuremic and uremic calciphylaxis tend to be indistinguishable from each other, initially presenting as tender subcutaneous plaques that progress into nonhealing ulcers with overlying black eschar. Skin changes often begin with a livedo reticularis pattern that can progress to livedo racemes and ultimately retiform purpura.In our clinical case, we describe a patient with multiple risk factors for calciphylaxis, intense widespread calcification (vessels, tendons, joints) and cutaneous calcific stone of calcium and phosphate oxalate not elsewhere described before.