Four bodybuilders who injected anabolic steroids and ingested commercial protein (78–104 g/day) and creatine (15 g/day) products presented with serum creatinine levels between 229.84 and 335.92 µmol/L (2.6–3.8 mg/dL). Renal biopsies revealed acute tubular necrosis. Four weeks after discontinuing injections and supplements, serum creatinine was in the normal range and estimated glomerular filtration rate > 1.00 mL/s (60 mL/min), including two patients with biopsies showing >30% interstitial fibrosis and tubular atrophy. The findings highlight a risk for acute and potentially chronic kidney injury among young men abusing anabolic steroids and using excessive amounts of nutritional supplements.
A novel propitious nanoporous anodized stainless steel 316L (NASS316L) photoanode was developed for water splitting. The anodization could successfully produce a uniform nanoporous (∼ 90 nm in pore diameter) array (∼ 2.0 μm thick) of NASS316L with a high pore density. Several techniques, including FESEM, EDX, XRD, XPS, ICP-OES, and UV–vis-NIR spectrophotometry, were employed to characterize the catalyst and to assess and interpret its activity toward water splitting. Surprisingly, the NASS316L retained almost the same composition of the bare stainless steel 316L, which recommended a symmetric dealloying mechanism during anodization. It also possessed a narrow band gap energy (1.77 eV) and a unique photoelectrocatalytic activity (∼ 4.1 mA cm–2 at 0.65 V versus Ag/AgCl, 4-fold to that of α-Fe2O3) toward water splitting. The onset potential (−0.85 V) in the photocurrent–voltage curve of the NASS316L catalyst demonstrated a negative shift in its Fermi level when compared to α-Fe2O3. The high (23% at 0.2 V vs Ag/AgCl) incident-photon-to-current conversion efficiency and the robust durability revealed from the in situ analysis of the produced H2 gas continued recommending the peerless inexpensive and abundant NASS316L catalyst for potential visible-induced solar applications.
A protocol for the carbonylative synthesis of acyl amidines from aryl halides, amidines, and carbon monoxide catalyzed by Pd(0) is reported herein. Notably, carbon monoxide is generated ex situ from a solid CO source, and several productive palladium ligands were identified with complementary benefits and substrate scope. Furthermore, sequential one-pot, two-step protocols for the synthesis of 1,2,4-triazoles and 1,2,4-oxadiazoles via acyl amidine intermediates are reported. In addition, this approach was extended to isotopic labeling using [ 11 C]carbon monoxide to allow, for the first time, synthesis of 11 C-labeled acyl amidines as well as a 11 C-labeled 1,2,4-oxadiazole.
Cefoperazone (Cfz) is a member of the third generation of parenteral cephalosporin antibiotics. It is used on a wide scale in prescribed antibiotic drugs as anti-infection, especially for Gram-negative and also against Gram-positive microorganisms. The current study aimed to find a rapid RP-HPLC method of Cfz analysis with high linearity, repeatability, sensitivity, selectivity, and inexpensive. In our developed method, there is no need to use special chemical reagents, a high percentage of organic solvent, a high flow rate, further guard column. The chromatographic system comprises an ODS column (150 mm × 4.6 mm × 5 μm). The mobile phase was prepared by mixing KH2PO4 solution: acetonitrile (80:20) with a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min at detection wavelength 230 nm, at room temperature using injection volume 20 μL. The method manifested a satisfied linearity regression R2 (0.9993) with a good repeatability range (0.34–0.92%) with LOD and LOQ; 4.04 μg/mL and 12.24 μg/mL respectively. The method proved its efficiency via system suitability achievement in the robustness and ruggedness conduction according to the validation guidelines. The shorter analysis time makes the method very valuable in quality control to quantify the commercial Cfz in pharmaceutical preparations. This improved HPLC method has been successfully applied for Cfz analysis for Peracef and Peractam vials in our routine finished and stability studies testing laboratories. Additionally, the detection limit of Cfz has been tested in our quality control lab to detect the smallest amount of traces that may be present after the cleaning process of the production machines for cephalosporins preparations. In a precedent for the first time, we were able to use the current analysis method to determine the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bacteriostatic concentration (MBC). The conventional broth micro-dilution tube method was used to determine MIC at 250 µg/mL and MBC at 125 µg/mL of Cfz against the standard strain of Burkholderia cepacia (B. cepacia) ATCC 25416 as Gram-negative bacteria in vitro.
Fossil foil depletion and their environmental impact make it inevitable to find alternative energy resources. One of the promising energy sources is to generate electricity through degrading organic compounds, using biofuel cells. Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are biofuel cells that produce electricity while treating wastewater, allowing for more sustainable wastewater treatment and energy production1. For MFC to be a real-life application, the material of its components should be efficient, cost-effective, and commercially available. MFCs anodes are the interface where the bio-electrochemical reaction takes place through electron transfer from the bacteria to the electrode to produce an electrical current2. Herein we test a 3D nanostructured 316L stainless steel (SS) anode to provide a high specific surface area for the bacteria to adhere to the surface, and in turn, enhances the bacterial catalytic behavior. Furthermore, the SS nanostructured samples were annealed in various gaseous atmospheres to identify the effect of different surface oxidation states on MFC anodes performance. The surface of the bare SS and the nanostructured anodes were imaged using the field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), before and after using them in the MFCs. The as anodized SS had a 3D nanostructured surface of interconnected nanorods that kept its morphology upon annealing. X-ray diffraction (XRD) was performed at a glancing angle (θ <5°), which interpreted that 316 L as received SS had a face-centered cubic structure that has gamma phase iron with the γ(111), γ (200), γ (220), γ (311), and γ (222) facets 3, while the film formed on the as anodized SS had amorphous regions that were transferred to crystalline film upon annealing for one hour in 450 C temperature. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) was used to characterize the composition of the fabricated SS anodes that interpreted that the film formed on SS was iron-chromium oxyhydroxide film4 and upon annealing the ratio of metal oxides especially Fe2O3 and Fe3O4 increased which increased the metal surface conductivity. The surface conductivity of annealed anodes was tested using cyclic voltammetry (CVs) in the ferricyanide solution. The annealed samples had enhanced to electron transfer kinetics on its surface relative to both the as-received and as anodized samples that showed nearly no redox activity. The fabricated SS samples were tested using a dual-chamber MFCs inoculated with sludge, using acetate as a substrate and potassium ferricyanide as the oxidant in the cathode. The power output of the MFCs with different anodes was observed using a data acquisition system for 20 days. CVs were done on the anodes on the 10th day. The results emphasized that the nanostructured SS samples highly increased cell voltage (≈ 80 times). This enhancement in the MFCs power performance is explained by the enhanced biofilm growth offered by the high specific area for the nanostructured SS. The FESEM images taken after the end of the experiment showed an obvious biomass growth on the surface of the as anodized SS relative to the biofilm on the as-received one. In addition, the annealed samples showed an enhanced activity after annealing. Annealing, especially in O2, increased the surface content of the more biocompatible Fe2O3 component, as interpreted by the XPS, which in turn increased the voltage production (≈ 120 times) relative to the as-received sample. The enhancement of the power generation was further supported using the CVs, with the anodized anode annealed in O2 showing an enhancement anodic current in comparison to smooth SS samples. References 1. B. E. Logan, Nat. Rev. Microbiol. (2009). 2. J. Hou, Z. Liu, S. Yang, and Y. Zhou, J. Power Sources (2014). 3. O. Gokcekaya, S. Yilmaz, C. Ergun, B. Kaya, and O. Yücel, in, p. 135–146, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd (2010) http://doi.wiley.com/10.1002/9780470943960.ch11. 4. M. Ray and V. B. Singh, J. Electrochem. Soc., 158, C359 (2011) http://jes.ecsdl.org/cgi/doi/10.1149/2.047111jes.
This study investigated the spatial and temporal distributions of Chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) in Sabah coastal water using satellite data, and identified the associated oceanographic events which caused large scale water enrichment in the surface layer. Results showed that surface Chl-a experienced seasonality in Sabah waters. At the northwest coast, very obvious increase in the Chl-a was observed from January to March, attributed to wind-driven coastal upwelling during the northeast monsoon (NEM). The southeast coast depicted high Chl-a at Labuan offshore water, related to the reversing direction of Baram River plume towards Sabah during NEM. Labuan bay water had higher Chl-a during the southwest monsoon (SWM) due to the effect of discharged materials from the Padas River during the rainy season at Labuan. On the other side, a slight increase in surface Chl-a was illustrated along the entire northeast coast during NEM, with higher concentrations at the southern part compared to the northern region. The high Chl-a at the southern part (southern Sandakan) was owing to alongshore water transport from the northern region driven by NEM winds and effect of discharged materials from the Kinabatangan River during the rainy season at Sandakan. Water characteristic at the southeast coast was highly influenced by surface water transport from the Sulu and Sulawesi seas and prevailed surface currents. Both inshore and offshore waters off Semporna had peak Chl-a in December, related to Sulu Sea water transport towards Semporna and occurrence of cyclonic eddy at the offshore water during early NEM. Tawau water showed very high Chl-a throughout the year due to the effect of coastal discharge. The discharged material near Tawau was transported to a wider area offshore during SWM. That in turn caused another peak Chl-a at Semporna inshore water in August during SWM.
Background: Coronavirus disorder 2019 (COVID-19) has been a unique virus due to the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 that initially appeared in Wuhan and is subsequently extended globally. In severely affected cases, COVID-19 has a high fatality rate. Objective: The aim of the current study was to identify the medical and biochemical characteristics predictors for severe COVID-19. Patients and methods: A total of 150 admitted patients at Marjan Hospital, Babylon were enrolled in the current study. The recruited patients were divided into 3 groups: Health control with no COVID-19 (n=50), non-diabetic patients with COVID-19 (n=50), and diabetic patients with COVID-19 (n=50). Laboratory investigation for all participants included ALT, AST, CRP, D-dimer, glucose, and serum albumin. The diagnosis and severity of COVID-19 was confirmed by CT scan. Results: The mean age of the healthy control was 55.31 (SD 0.32) years, meanwhile the mean age of nondiabetic patients with COVID-19 was 54.23 (SD 0.21) years, with no statistical significant difference. Non-diabetic patients with COVID-19 had higher levels of AST, ALT, total bilirubin, ALP and CRP compared with the health control groups with P-value <0.001. Compared with the health control, diabetic COVID-19 patients had statistical significant increase in serum urea, serum creatinine, serum glucose and CRP. Conclusion: Age >52 years and high C-reactive protein, AST, ALT, ALP, D-dimer, or albumin are predictors for the development of COVID-19 to severe state.
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