Background: Health worker shortages remain a significant challenge to delivery of health care services globally. Moving tasks, where appropriate, to less specialized health workers is recommended by the World Health O...Background: Health worker shortages remain a significant challenge to delivery of health care services globally. Moving tasks, where appropriate, to less specialized health workers is recommended by the World Health Organization as a strategy to address this challenge. However, this concept is feared to raise specific quality concerns. This research aimed at assessing the performance of health workers to correctly prescribe (target) appropriate antimalarial treatment. Methods: We conducted a cross sectional study at three public health centre IVs in Uganda, with varying malaria transmission intensities (Kihihi-low, Kasambya-medium and Nagongera-high). We categorized prescribers into two groups: specialized prescribers (doctors and clinical officers) and less specialized prescribers (nurses and midwives). At each site, 100 records of patients seen between September and November 2011 and prescribed an antimalarial were retrieved for each group of prescribers. Correctness of the antimalarial drug prescribed and dose given were assessed for each group and compared to the 2005 Uganda national malaria treatment guidelines which recommend Artemether Lumefantrine (AL) for treatment of uncomplicated malaria and Quinine for complicated malaria. Results: Findings of the study showed that specialized health workers were more likely to target correctly as compared to the less specialized health workers [OR = 1.49 (1.00 - 2.22), p = 0.046]. Appropriateness of dosing was higher among specialized prescribers compared to less specialized prescribers however this was not significant [OR = 1.58 (0.77 - 3.25), p = 0.206]. Age of the participants, history of fever, diagnosis of malaria and prescription experience were not associated with correct targeting. Conclusion: This study shows that task shifting at the targeting level is not suitable;however, there is inadequate evidence to show that this also applies to anti-malarial dosing. Task shifting for the treatment of Malaria in Uganda should be investigated further using larger studies if it is to be considered as an option for solving the health worker shortages especially in regions with few specialized health workers but high malaria burden.展开更多
Background: Failure to demonstrate the presence of malaria parasites prior to treatment with anti-malarial drugs remains a challenge in Uganda, often resulting into over-prescription of anti-malarial drugs to febrile ...Background: Failure to demonstrate the presence of malaria parasites prior to treatment with anti-malarial drugs remains a challenge in Uganda, often resulting into over-prescription of anti-malarial drugs to febrile patients suspected of malaria. The aim of this study was to describe the role of utilization of malaria diagnostic tests and associated factors in the receipt of anti-malarial drugs among febrile patients suspected of malaria. Methods: In a cross-sectional study design, client-exit interviews with febrile patients and key-informant interviews with purposively selected health workers were conducted at outpatient clinics of health centre IV facilities in Mukono district. Data entry and analysis were done using EpiData 3.2 and STATA 10 respectively. Data were described using frequency distributions and proportions. Chi square was used in two by two tables, odds ratios as the measure of association and an alpha level of 0.05 was used in all significance tests. Results: Out of 408 respondents, the majority were female (252, 61.8%) and a third of the samples were aged five years and below. The mean age in years was 3.3 with a standard deviation of 2.1. More than half of the respondents (359, 88%) utilized malaria diagnostic tests and about half (241, 59%) received anti-malarial drugs. There were no statistically significant differences between utilizers and non-utilizers in most characteristics except age, history of indoor residual spraying and perceived satisfaction with services at outpatient clinics. Utilizers were 75% less likely to receive anti-malarial drugs than non-utilizers after controlling for age, sex and residence (OR: 0.25, 95%CI: 0.09, 0.66). Frequent power cut-offs as well as limited knowledge on malaria treatment guidelines amongst laboratory personnel were some of the major limitations to microscopic diagnosis of malaria. Conclusion: Utilizers were 75% less likely to receive anti-malarial drugs as opposed to non-utilizers. This implies that increasing utilization of malaria diagnostic tests can reduce the problem of over-prescription of anti-malarial drugs by 75% among those tested for malaria, since anti-malarial drugs would be received by only those with a parasi- tologically-confirmed diagnosis of malaria. Policy implications: To overcome the problem of over-prescription of anti-malarial drugs, there must be a policy that ensures a consistent power supply in all public health laboratories. Training of health workers should encompass all cadres and work-shifts for laboratory personnel should be established to enhance utilization of malaria diagnostic tests especially at night.展开更多
Malaria has continued to be a health and economic problem in Africa and the world at large. Many anti-malarial drugs have been rendered ineffective due to the emergence of resistant strains of Plamodium falciparum. A ...Malaria has continued to be a health and economic problem in Africa and the world at large. Many anti-malarial drugs have been rendered ineffective due to the emergence of resistant strains of Plamodium falciparum. A key malaria parasite enzyme in glycolytic pathway, P. falciparum lactate dehydrogenase (PfLDH) is specially targeted for anti-malarial drugs development. Thus, the aim of this investigation was to determine the in silico inhibition effects of antimalarial compounds from Hoslundia opposita Vahl. namely hoslundin, hoslundal and hoslunddiol on PfLDH enzyme. The compounds were docked to the three-dimensional structure of PfLDH as enzyme using AutoDock Vina in PyRx virtual screening software. Binding affinity and position of the inhibitors were evaluated using PyMol software. The PfLDH enzyme showed two binding sites: the cofactors binding site (Site A) and secondary binding site (Site B). In the absence of the cofactor all ligands showed higher affinity than NADH, and were bound to the cofactors binding site (Site A). When docked in the presence of the cofactor, site B was the preferred binding site. Binding to cofactor site with higher binding energy than NADH suggests that these ligands could act as preferential competitive inhibitors of PfLDH. However, the binding to site B also suggests that they may be non-competitive allosteric inhibitors. Amino acid residues Gly99, Asn140, Phe100 and Thr97 were indicated to form hydrogen bonds with Hoslundin. Hoslunddiol showed hydrogen bonding with Thr97 and Met30, while Hoslundal formed hydrogen bond with Thr101 and Asn140.展开更多
利用Arnol'd的Legendrian理论,对三维Anti de Sitter空间中Lorentzian曲面进行了研究.引入光维高度函数概念研究了三维Anti de Sitter空间Lorentzian曲面的S1t×S1s-值、光锥Gauss映射的奇点,进行了奇点分类,揭示了类光Causs-kr...利用Arnol'd的Legendrian理论,对三维Anti de Sitter空间中Lorentzian曲面进行了研究.引入光维高度函数概念研究了三维Anti de Sitter空间Lorentzian曲面的S1t×S1s-值、光锥Gauss映射的奇点,进行了奇点分类,揭示了类光Causs-kronecker曲率之间的关系;并研究了Lorentzian曲面的一些基本几何性质.展开更多
It needs the foundation of system and the guarantee of organizational system for anti-corruption,but it is more necessary to build and form an effective anti-corruption mechanism,so that the anti-corruption can be rea...It needs the foundation of system and the guarantee of organizational system for anti-corruption,but it is more necessary to build and form an effective anti-corruption mechanism,so that the anti-corruption can be really put into practice. Anti-corruption mechanism refers to a organic operation system of the interaction,interconnection and constraint between the constituent elements( parts) and elements of national anti-corruption,and as a system,anti-corruption mechanism should have the characteristics of system aticness,comprehensiveness,transparency,legalization,public participation,scientific dynam ic,and internationalism. The construction of deepening anti-corruption mechanism is the need for reconstructing the ruling legitimacy of the party and the governm ent. Adhering to the principle of treating both root causes and symptoms is necessary in the construction of anti-corruption m echanism,com bating and punishing corruption is an important part of anti-corruption,and the prevention and control of corruption is the basic project of anti-corruption. Therefore,the construction of prevention and control mechanism in the anti-corruption mechanism has a more far-reaching significance.展开更多
Introduction: Self-medication is a common practice in Benin. It has many consequences on people’s health in general and develops chemoresistance in particular. Aim: The aim of this work is to study the practice of an...Introduction: Self-medication is a common practice in Benin. It has many consequences on people’s health in general and develops chemoresistance in particular. Aim: The aim of this work is to study the practice of anti-malarial self-medication in the city of Parakou and to identify the associated factors with this practice. Methods: This was a descriptive cross-sectional analytical survey that took place in the period from April 15 to June 24, 2017. Adults who reported having had malaria symptoms in the last 6 months before the survey and living in 9 neighbourhoods randomly selected in the city of Parakou were included. A structured questionnaire collected their self-medication habit, the drugs used, the supply places and the reasons for this practice. Data were analysed using the Epi-data 3.1 software. Results: Of the 335 respondents included in this study, 141 (42.09%) had self-medicated including 130 (38.81%) with anti-malarial drugs. Fever is the main symptom of malaria cited by respondents (129% or 38.51%) followed by headache (93% or 27.76%). The most commonly used anti-malarial drugs for self-medication are quinine (60% or 44.45%) followed by artemisinin-based combination therapy (46% or 34.07%). Eighty-seven respondents (66.92%) did not have a good knowledge of the drug dosage. Reasons for self-medication were mainly the high cost of consultation fees (99% or 54.10%) and good knowledge of one’s illness (53% or 28.96%). Self-medication associated factors were fever (p = 0.04), non-prescription drugs supply in pharmacies (p Conclusion: Self-medication is a common practice in the city of Parakou. Medicines purchased without prescription in pharmacies and drugs availability in street facilitate this practice, which may compromise the effectiveness of anti-malarial drugs.展开更多
A research on the process of cotton fabric flame-re-tarding,anti-bacterial finishing and one-bath finish-ing of anti-bacterial and flame-retarding is discussed.The flame retardant agent was phosphorous-contained,and t...A research on the process of cotton fabric flame-re-tarding,anti-bacterial finishing and one-bath finish-ing of anti-bacterial and flame-retarding is discussed.The flame retardant agent was phosphorous-contained,and the bacteriostatic finishing agent named SFR-1 wassynthesized.The flame retardancy of the fabric finishedcan meet the DOC FF3-71 Children Sleepwear Stan-dard.Its bacterial inhibiting capacity can meet and ex-ceed the requirements of similar products展开更多
Friction spun core yarn has two components: filament core and staple fiber sheath. Under axial rubbing action, the failure mode of the core yarn is the stripping of the sheath from the core. This paper introduces a me...Friction spun core yarn has two components: filament core and staple fiber sheath. Under axial rubbing action, the failure mode of the core yarn is the stripping of the sheath from the core. This paper introduces a method to test the anti - stripping property of the core yarn. With a modified Universal Testing Machine, the stripping resistance of friction spun core yarn can be continuously measured. Some factors Influencing the measurements are discussed in detail. The testing results are compared with those from a Y731 Yarn Abrasion Tester and fur - ther confirmed by weaving practice.展开更多
Most patients with COVID-19 disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus recover from this infection, but a significant fraction progress to a fatal outcome. As with some other RNA viruses, co-infection or activation of lat...Most patients with COVID-19 disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus recover from this infection, but a significant fraction progress to a fatal outcome. As with some other RNA viruses, co-infection or activation of latent bacterial infections along with pre-existing health conditions in COVID-19 disease may be important in determining a fatal disease course. Mycoplasma spp. (M. pneumonaie, M. fermentans, etc.) have been routinely found as co-infections in a wide number of clinical conditions, and in some cases this has progressed to a fatal disease. Although preliminary, Mycoplasma pneumoniae has been identified in COVID-19 disease, and the severity of some signs and symptoms in progressive COVID-19 patients could be due, in part, to Mycoplasma or other bacterial infections. Moreover, the presence of pathogenic Mycoplasma species or other pathogenic bacteria in COVID-19 disease may confer a perfect storm of cytokine and hemodynamic dysfunction, autoimmune activation, mitochondrial dysfunction and other complications that together cannot be easily corrected in patients with pre-existing health conditions. The positive responses of only some COVID-19 patients to antibiotic and anti-malaria therapy could have been the result of suppression of Mycoplasma species and other bacterial co-infections in subsets of patients. Thus it may be useful to use molecular tests to determine the presence of pathogenic Mycoplasma species and other pathogenic bacteria that are commonly found in atypical pneumonia in all hospitalized COVID-19 patients, and when positive results are obtained, these patients should treated accordingly in order to improve clinical responses and patient outcomes.展开更多
Since ancient times, traditional medicines have been in the usage for the treatment of Diabetes mellitus. An edible fruit from traditional medicinal plant Capparis zeylanica (CZ) was studied for its anti diabetic, ins...Since ancient times, traditional medicines have been in the usage for the treatment of Diabetes mellitus. An edible fruit from traditional medicinal plant Capparis zeylanica (CZ) was studied for its anti diabetic, insulin secretagogue activities and mechanisms involved in it. In Streptozotocin induced diabetes rats, oral administration of Capparis zeylanica methanolic extract (CZME) (200 mg/kg body weight) for 28 days showed a significant reduction in blood glucose levels by 35.53% and enhanced circulating insulin levels by 81.82% than the diabetic control rats. The insulin secretagogue activity mechanisms of the extract were evaluated by using mouse insulinoma beta cell line (MIN6-β). The extract stimulated insulin release in dependent manner of glucose concentration (3 - 16.7 mM) and extract dose (5 - 500 μg/mL). The insulin releasing effect of the extract was significantly enhanced by 3-isobutyl-1-methyl xanthine, glibenclamide, elevated extracellular calcium and K+ depolarized media. This insulin release was significantly reduced in calcium blocking conditions (by nifedipine and EGTA), in the presence of potassium channel opener (diazoxide). Hence, anti diabetic activity of CZME might be a result of its stimulatory effect on insulin release from pancreatic beta cells via KATP channel dependent and independent ways. These results indicate that CZ fruits have the potential to use in diabetes therapy.展开更多
Tans-Atovaquone is widely used as an effective drug to treat uncomplicated malaria. But its cis-isomer is not a drug. In the present study, we report energy minimized binding pattern of trans-Atovaquone and its cisiso...Tans-Atovaquone is widely used as an effective drug to treat uncomplicated malaria. But its cis-isomer is not a drug. In the present study, we report energy minimized binding pattern of trans-Atovaquone and its cisisomer with cytochrome bc1 (cytbc1) of yeast. The new feature of this molecular docking computation is that structural parameters of the drug molecules have been determined from their crystal structures. The energy minimized structures of protein-drug complexes show that H-bond distant between His-181 of cytochrome bc1 and C=O of Atovaquone for trans-Atovaquone is 2.85 Å and 5.3 Å with the cis-isomer. The role of this H-bonding interaction in dictating drug potency is in conformity with proton-coupled electron transport mechanism of drug action.展开更多
In this work, the exp(-φ (ξ )) -expansion method is used for the first time to investigate the exact traveling wave solutions involving parameters of nonlinear evolution equations. When these parameters are taken to...In this work, the exp(-φ (ξ )) -expansion method is used for the first time to investigate the exact traveling wave solutions involving parameters of nonlinear evolution equations. When these parameters are taken to be special values, the solitary wave solutions are derived from the exact traveling wave solutions. The validity and reliability of the method are tested by its applications to Nano-ionic solitons wave’s propagation along microtubules in living cells and Nano-ionic currents of MTs which play an important role in biology.展开更多
文摘Background: Health worker shortages remain a significant challenge to delivery of health care services globally. Moving tasks, where appropriate, to less specialized health workers is recommended by the World Health Organization as a strategy to address this challenge. However, this concept is feared to raise specific quality concerns. This research aimed at assessing the performance of health workers to correctly prescribe (target) appropriate antimalarial treatment. Methods: We conducted a cross sectional study at three public health centre IVs in Uganda, with varying malaria transmission intensities (Kihihi-low, Kasambya-medium and Nagongera-high). We categorized prescribers into two groups: specialized prescribers (doctors and clinical officers) and less specialized prescribers (nurses and midwives). At each site, 100 records of patients seen between September and November 2011 and prescribed an antimalarial were retrieved for each group of prescribers. Correctness of the antimalarial drug prescribed and dose given were assessed for each group and compared to the 2005 Uganda national malaria treatment guidelines which recommend Artemether Lumefantrine (AL) for treatment of uncomplicated malaria and Quinine for complicated malaria. Results: Findings of the study showed that specialized health workers were more likely to target correctly as compared to the less specialized health workers [OR = 1.49 (1.00 - 2.22), p = 0.046]. Appropriateness of dosing was higher among specialized prescribers compared to less specialized prescribers however this was not significant [OR = 1.58 (0.77 - 3.25), p = 0.206]. Age of the participants, history of fever, diagnosis of malaria and prescription experience were not associated with correct targeting. Conclusion: This study shows that task shifting at the targeting level is not suitable;however, there is inadequate evidence to show that this also applies to anti-malarial dosing. Task shifting for the treatment of Malaria in Uganda should be investigated further using larger studies if it is to be considered as an option for solving the health worker shortages especially in regions with few specialized health workers but high malaria burden.
文摘Background: Failure to demonstrate the presence of malaria parasites prior to treatment with anti-malarial drugs remains a challenge in Uganda, often resulting into over-prescription of anti-malarial drugs to febrile patients suspected of malaria. The aim of this study was to describe the role of utilization of malaria diagnostic tests and associated factors in the receipt of anti-malarial drugs among febrile patients suspected of malaria. Methods: In a cross-sectional study design, client-exit interviews with febrile patients and key-informant interviews with purposively selected health workers were conducted at outpatient clinics of health centre IV facilities in Mukono district. Data entry and analysis were done using EpiData 3.2 and STATA 10 respectively. Data were described using frequency distributions and proportions. Chi square was used in two by two tables, odds ratios as the measure of association and an alpha level of 0.05 was used in all significance tests. Results: Out of 408 respondents, the majority were female (252, 61.8%) and a third of the samples were aged five years and below. The mean age in years was 3.3 with a standard deviation of 2.1. More than half of the respondents (359, 88%) utilized malaria diagnostic tests and about half (241, 59%) received anti-malarial drugs. There were no statistically significant differences between utilizers and non-utilizers in most characteristics except age, history of indoor residual spraying and perceived satisfaction with services at outpatient clinics. Utilizers were 75% less likely to receive anti-malarial drugs than non-utilizers after controlling for age, sex and residence (OR: 0.25, 95%CI: 0.09, 0.66). Frequent power cut-offs as well as limited knowledge on malaria treatment guidelines amongst laboratory personnel were some of the major limitations to microscopic diagnosis of malaria. Conclusion: Utilizers were 75% less likely to receive anti-malarial drugs as opposed to non-utilizers. This implies that increasing utilization of malaria diagnostic tests can reduce the problem of over-prescription of anti-malarial drugs by 75% among those tested for malaria, since anti-malarial drugs would be received by only those with a parasi- tologically-confirmed diagnosis of malaria. Policy implications: To overcome the problem of over-prescription of anti-malarial drugs, there must be a policy that ensures a consistent power supply in all public health laboratories. Training of health workers should encompass all cadres and work-shifts for laboratory personnel should be established to enhance utilization of malaria diagnostic tests especially at night.
文摘Malaria has continued to be a health and economic problem in Africa and the world at large. Many anti-malarial drugs have been rendered ineffective due to the emergence of resistant strains of Plamodium falciparum. A key malaria parasite enzyme in glycolytic pathway, P. falciparum lactate dehydrogenase (PfLDH) is specially targeted for anti-malarial drugs development. Thus, the aim of this investigation was to determine the in silico inhibition effects of antimalarial compounds from Hoslundia opposita Vahl. namely hoslundin, hoslundal and hoslunddiol on PfLDH enzyme. The compounds were docked to the three-dimensional structure of PfLDH as enzyme using AutoDock Vina in PyRx virtual screening software. Binding affinity and position of the inhibitors were evaluated using PyMol software. The PfLDH enzyme showed two binding sites: the cofactors binding site (Site A) and secondary binding site (Site B). In the absence of the cofactor all ligands showed higher affinity than NADH, and were bound to the cofactors binding site (Site A). When docked in the presence of the cofactor, site B was the preferred binding site. Binding to cofactor site with higher binding energy than NADH suggests that these ligands could act as preferential competitive inhibitors of PfLDH. However, the binding to site B also suggests that they may be non-competitive allosteric inhibitors. Amino acid residues Gly99, Asn140, Phe100 and Thr97 were indicated to form hydrogen bonds with Hoslundin. Hoslunddiol showed hydrogen bonding with Thr97 and Met30, while Hoslundal formed hydrogen bond with Thr101 and Asn140.
文摘利用Arnol'd的Legendrian理论,对三维Anti de Sitter空间中Lorentzian曲面进行了研究.引入光维高度函数概念研究了三维Anti de Sitter空间Lorentzian曲面的S1t×S1s-值、光锥Gauss映射的奇点,进行了奇点分类,揭示了类光Causs-kronecker曲率之间的关系;并研究了Lorentzian曲面的一些基本几何性质.
文摘It needs the foundation of system and the guarantee of organizational system for anti-corruption,but it is more necessary to build and form an effective anti-corruption mechanism,so that the anti-corruption can be really put into practice. Anti-corruption mechanism refers to a organic operation system of the interaction,interconnection and constraint between the constituent elements( parts) and elements of national anti-corruption,and as a system,anti-corruption mechanism should have the characteristics of system aticness,comprehensiveness,transparency,legalization,public participation,scientific dynam ic,and internationalism. The construction of deepening anti-corruption mechanism is the need for reconstructing the ruling legitimacy of the party and the governm ent. Adhering to the principle of treating both root causes and symptoms is necessary in the construction of anti-corruption m echanism,com bating and punishing corruption is an important part of anti-corruption,and the prevention and control of corruption is the basic project of anti-corruption. Therefore,the construction of prevention and control mechanism in the anti-corruption mechanism has a more far-reaching significance.
文摘Introduction: Self-medication is a common practice in Benin. It has many consequences on people’s health in general and develops chemoresistance in particular. Aim: The aim of this work is to study the practice of anti-malarial self-medication in the city of Parakou and to identify the associated factors with this practice. Methods: This was a descriptive cross-sectional analytical survey that took place in the period from April 15 to June 24, 2017. Adults who reported having had malaria symptoms in the last 6 months before the survey and living in 9 neighbourhoods randomly selected in the city of Parakou were included. A structured questionnaire collected their self-medication habit, the drugs used, the supply places and the reasons for this practice. Data were analysed using the Epi-data 3.1 software. Results: Of the 335 respondents included in this study, 141 (42.09%) had self-medicated including 130 (38.81%) with anti-malarial drugs. Fever is the main symptom of malaria cited by respondents (129% or 38.51%) followed by headache (93% or 27.76%). The most commonly used anti-malarial drugs for self-medication are quinine (60% or 44.45%) followed by artemisinin-based combination therapy (46% or 34.07%). Eighty-seven respondents (66.92%) did not have a good knowledge of the drug dosage. Reasons for self-medication were mainly the high cost of consultation fees (99% or 54.10%) and good knowledge of one’s illness (53% or 28.96%). Self-medication associated factors were fever (p = 0.04), non-prescription drugs supply in pharmacies (p Conclusion: Self-medication is a common practice in the city of Parakou. Medicines purchased without prescription in pharmacies and drugs availability in street facilitate this practice, which may compromise the effectiveness of anti-malarial drugs.
基金The project serial number 92B0716Shanghai Natural Science Foundation
文摘A research on the process of cotton fabric flame-re-tarding,anti-bacterial finishing and one-bath finish-ing of anti-bacterial and flame-retarding is discussed.The flame retardant agent was phosphorous-contained,and the bacteriostatic finishing agent named SFR-1 wassynthesized.The flame retardancy of the fabric finishedcan meet the DOC FF3-71 Children Sleepwear Stan-dard.Its bacterial inhibiting capacity can meet and ex-ceed the requirements of similar products
文摘Friction spun core yarn has two components: filament core and staple fiber sheath. Under axial rubbing action, the failure mode of the core yarn is the stripping of the sheath from the core. This paper introduces a method to test the anti - stripping property of the core yarn. With a modified Universal Testing Machine, the stripping resistance of friction spun core yarn can be continuously measured. Some factors Influencing the measurements are discussed in detail. The testing results are compared with those from a Y731 Yarn Abrasion Tester and fur - ther confirmed by weaving practice.
文摘Most patients with COVID-19 disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus recover from this infection, but a significant fraction progress to a fatal outcome. As with some other RNA viruses, co-infection or activation of latent bacterial infections along with pre-existing health conditions in COVID-19 disease may be important in determining a fatal disease course. Mycoplasma spp. (M. pneumonaie, M. fermentans, etc.) have been routinely found as co-infections in a wide number of clinical conditions, and in some cases this has progressed to a fatal disease. Although preliminary, Mycoplasma pneumoniae has been identified in COVID-19 disease, and the severity of some signs and symptoms in progressive COVID-19 patients could be due, in part, to Mycoplasma or other bacterial infections. Moreover, the presence of pathogenic Mycoplasma species or other pathogenic bacteria in COVID-19 disease may confer a perfect storm of cytokine and hemodynamic dysfunction, autoimmune activation, mitochondrial dysfunction and other complications that together cannot be easily corrected in patients with pre-existing health conditions. The positive responses of only some COVID-19 patients to antibiotic and anti-malaria therapy could have been the result of suppression of Mycoplasma species and other bacterial co-infections in subsets of patients. Thus it may be useful to use molecular tests to determine the presence of pathogenic Mycoplasma species and other pathogenic bacteria that are commonly found in atypical pneumonia in all hospitalized COVID-19 patients, and when positive results are obtained, these patients should treated accordingly in order to improve clinical responses and patient outcomes.
文摘Since ancient times, traditional medicines have been in the usage for the treatment of Diabetes mellitus. An edible fruit from traditional medicinal plant Capparis zeylanica (CZ) was studied for its anti diabetic, insulin secretagogue activities and mechanisms involved in it. In Streptozotocin induced diabetes rats, oral administration of Capparis zeylanica methanolic extract (CZME) (200 mg/kg body weight) for 28 days showed a significant reduction in blood glucose levels by 35.53% and enhanced circulating insulin levels by 81.82% than the diabetic control rats. The insulin secretagogue activity mechanisms of the extract were evaluated by using mouse insulinoma beta cell line (MIN6-β). The extract stimulated insulin release in dependent manner of glucose concentration (3 - 16.7 mM) and extract dose (5 - 500 μg/mL). The insulin releasing effect of the extract was significantly enhanced by 3-isobutyl-1-methyl xanthine, glibenclamide, elevated extracellular calcium and K+ depolarized media. This insulin release was significantly reduced in calcium blocking conditions (by nifedipine and EGTA), in the presence of potassium channel opener (diazoxide). Hence, anti diabetic activity of CZME might be a result of its stimulatory effect on insulin release from pancreatic beta cells via KATP channel dependent and independent ways. These results indicate that CZ fruits have the potential to use in diabetes therapy.
文摘Tans-Atovaquone is widely used as an effective drug to treat uncomplicated malaria. But its cis-isomer is not a drug. In the present study, we report energy minimized binding pattern of trans-Atovaquone and its cisisomer with cytochrome bc1 (cytbc1) of yeast. The new feature of this molecular docking computation is that structural parameters of the drug molecules have been determined from their crystal structures. The energy minimized structures of protein-drug complexes show that H-bond distant between His-181 of cytochrome bc1 and C=O of Atovaquone for trans-Atovaquone is 2.85 Å and 5.3 Å with the cis-isomer. The role of this H-bonding interaction in dictating drug potency is in conformity with proton-coupled electron transport mechanism of drug action.
文摘In this work, the exp(-φ (ξ )) -expansion method is used for the first time to investigate the exact traveling wave solutions involving parameters of nonlinear evolution equations. When these parameters are taken to be special values, the solitary wave solutions are derived from the exact traveling wave solutions. The validity and reliability of the method are tested by its applications to Nano-ionic solitons wave’s propagation along microtubules in living cells and Nano-ionic currents of MTs which play an important role in biology.
