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The synergistic effect of ceftriaxone-loaded CNPs is a useful finding for the treatment of MRSA and E. coli infections.

Atypical dopamine reuptake inhibitors, such as modafinil, are used for the treatment of sleeping disorders and investigated as potential therapeutics against cocaine addiction and for cognitive enhancement. Our continuous effort to find modafinil analogues with higher inhibitory activity on and selectivity toward the dopamine transporter (DAT) has previously led to the promising thiazole-containing derivatives CE-103, CE-111, CE-123, and CE-125. Here, we describe the synthesis and activity of a series of compounds based on these scaffolds, which resulted in several new selective DAT inhibitors and gave valuable insights into the structure–activity relationships. Introduction of the second chiral center and subsequent chiral separations provided all four stereoisomers, whereby the S-configuration on both generally exerted the highest activity and selectivity on DAT. The representative compound of this series was further characterized by in silico, in vitro, and in vivo studies that have demonstrated both safety and efficacy profile of this compound class.

BackgroundEnterococci have emerged as more virulent and multidrug-resistant in community and hospital settings. The emergence of vancomycin resistant enterococci (VRE) in hospitals has posed a serious threat to public health. The widespread use of antibiotics to treat VRE infections has resulted in the development of resistant forms of these organisms.ObjectivesPresent study deals with the efficacy of antibiotic-nanoparticle combination against clinical isolates of VRE. This study has effectively evaluated the anti-enterococcal activity of metallic nanoparticles and their combination with antibiotics with the aim to search for new biocidal combinations.Materials and MethodsInitially, the isolates were identified by various biochemical tests and also by PCR, targeting ddl, vanA and vanB genes. Antibiotic susceptibility testing was carried out by disc diffusion method. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of both antibiotics and metal nanoparticles against VRE was done using broth dilution method. On the basis of MICs, a combination of both antibiotics and nanoparticles was used by physical mixing of antibiotics and different concentrations of nanoparticles.ResultsThe MIC of metal nanoparticles were found in the range of 0.31 - 30 mM. The combination of both antibiotics and nanoparticles has effectively reduced the MICs of ciprofloxacin from 16 - 256 μg/mL to 2 - 16 μg/mL, erythromycin 1024 - 2048 μg/mL to 128 - 512 μg/mL, methicillin 32 - 256 μg/mL to 8 - 64 μg/mL and vancomycin 2 - 512 μg/mL to 0.5 - 64 μg/mL.ConclusionsAmong the nanoparticles, ZnO was found as a potent metallic nanoparticle which effectively reduced the MIC upon combination with the antibiotics. The combination exhibited enhanced bactericidal activity against multidrug resistant clinical strains of VRE with dose dependency. Further extensive study on this aspect can prove their beneficial clinical use against resistant pathogens to combat increasing resistance to antibiotics.

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Today's world is facing a serious challenge of high carbon emissions. A large number of studies are examining the deteriorating impact of carbon emissions at the country or firm level, but the literature on the voluntary carbon disclosure project (CDP) by cities is not rich. Therefore, this study seeks to examine the effect of the population (Pop) and gross domestic product (GDP) on carbon emissions of cities by using data of CDP. The dataset refers to a set of numerous cities from around the world, spanning the period from 2012 to 2016. Random effects panel regression and generalized method of moments (GMM), and quantile regressions techniques have been employed to empirically investigate the discussed relationship and to control the potential endogeneity issues, respectively. According to the results, population and GDP are substantial predictors of carbon emissions in sampled cities. Findings show that not only factories contribute to increasing carbon emissions rate, but cities are equally responsible for these emissions as they put no checks on their economic growth and population. The findings are also robust for policy implications.

A large population is not only the burden to a country's economy but can be a threat to the environment. However, the role of the population density in the quality of the environment is silent in the literature. On this note, the current study focuses on the effect of population density on ecological footprints in Pakistan for the period from 1981 to 2016 in the framework of EKC theory. The result from the autoregressive distributive lag model summarized that the effect of population density on ecological footprint is negative and statistically significant, implying that population density does not contribute to environmental degradation. No causality is evident in economic development and ecological footprint. Unlike others, the findings of this study suggest that if the population is suitably spread, it can help to reduce environmental degradation. Moreover, policymakers need to reconsider the density of the population to avoid an ecological deficit.

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