Infective endocarditis (IE), a heart valve infection primarily caused by bacteria such as streptococci or staphylococci , causes significant morbidity and mortality. Despite the long-term use of broad-spectrum antimicrobials, the infection is often difficult to manage. The latest diagnostic modalities for IE are discussed in this study. Blood culture use in pathogen identification can lead to loss of precious time as well as generation of false negative reports. The first steps in diagnosis are blood cultures and echocardiography, but molecular techniques can be extremely useful and may be used for an accurate and early diagnosis.

Purpose: To investigate the histopathological and cardiac depressant effect of the aqueous methanol extract of Caralluma tuberculata N.E. Br (AMECT) (family: Asclepiadaceae)’ and to determine if there is a scientific basis for its cardiovascular diseases-related folkloric use. Methods: The effect of AMECT in different concentrations ranging from 0.00001 to 1.0 mg/mL were evaluated in isolated perfused rabbit heart to assess their effect on the force of contraction and heart rate using Langendorff’s apparatus. Atropine and adrenaline were used to identify the underlying mechanism of response produced by AMECT. The extract was studied for its possible mechanism in the absence and presence of atropine and adrenaline. In addition, sub-chronic toxicity and histopathological study of heart tissues in rats were assessed by administering 500 mg/kg of extract. Results: At all concentrations, AMECT produced significant (p < 0.001) negative ionotropic and negative chronotropic effects. The most significant effect was observed at 0.001 mg/mL and higher concentrations hence 0.001 mg/mL was selected for further studies. Pre-incubation with atropine did not significantly inhibit the effects of AMECT. However, AMECT significantly (p < 0.01) blocked the cardiac stimulant effect of adrenaline. In the histopathological studies, AMECT did not produce any significant cellular changes or signs of toxicity in the sub-chronic toxicity study. Conclusion: The cardiac-depressant responses of AMECT may involve the β-adrenergic receptors in the myocardium of isolated rabbit heart thus confirming the rationale for its use in ethnomedicine for cardiac diseases.

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Large scale separation of liquid mixtures into their various components is one of the major operations in the process industries. Distillation remains one of the predominant separation techniques that is use for these separations. It accounts for about 90% of product recovery and purification in the process industries. The strength of the distillation technique lies on its simplicity, low capital investment, and low risk as compared to other traditional separation techniques. In the present study, the synergistic effects of multiple packings in binary distillation column operations was investigated. The investigation was done using Aspen HYSYS process simulation software. Specifically, the study was done to establish a packing order that will be required to achieve a reduction in energy consumption and the overall cost of separation processes that involve distillation operation. The packed distillation was simulated using Berl saddles, Intalox saddles, and Pall rings as the column internals. Single, dual and triple packing arrangements were evaluated. The multiple packing arrangement investigated were Berl/Intalox, Berl/Pall, Pall/Intalox, and Berl/Intalox/Pall. Binary mixtures of pentane and hexane was used as feed to the column. The results of this simulation revealed that the use of multiple packing arrangement had a significant effect on the energy consumption, the height of packing and hence the cost of equipment fabrication. For instance, the estimated cost of packings  (USD) are 524.89 for Berl, 406.85 for Pall, 303.77 for Intallox, 427.09 for Berl/Intalox, 473.06 for Berl/Pall, 323.51 for Pall/Intalox, and 388.60 for Berl/Intalox/Pall. These results clearly revealed that multiple packing arrangements can be used to reduce the cost of column fabrication without compromising the performance of the equipment.