Copper Alginate-Cotton Cellulose (CACC) Fibers with Excellent Antibacterial Properties

The present work describes synthesis of copper alginate-cotton cellulose (CACC) composite fibers and detailed investigation of antimicrobial action against the model bacteria E.coli. The CACC fibers were prepared by immersing cotton fibers in aqueous solution of sodium alginate, followed by ionic crosslinking of alginate chains within the cotton cellulose fibers with Cu(II) ions to yield CACC composite fibers. The resulting CACC fibers were investigated for their biocidal action against E.coli, by using zone inhibition and colonies counting method. Finally, CACC fibers were reduced with sodium borohydride to yield copper nanoparticles- loaded composite fibers and investigated for biocidal action. It was found that CACC fibers possessed both, the fair mechanical strength and antibacterial action. The extent of biocidal action was found to depend upon the amount of Cu(II) loaded and concentration of alginate into cotton- cellulose fibers. The fibers showed higher Cu(II) release in physiological fluid as compared to distilled water. Copper alginate-cotton cellulose (CACC) fibers show fair mechanical strength and release copper ions in the presence of physiological fluid and protein solution. These fibers have great potential to be used as dressing materials

EFFECT OF NANOCLAY ON THE MECHANICAL BEHAVIOR OF COMPATIBILIZED ETHYLENE VINYL ACETATE COPOLYMER / HIGH DENSITY POLYETHYLENE BLENDS

This paper presents a part of research on the mechanical properties of compatibilized Poly (ethylene-co-vinyl acetate) (EVA)/ high density polyethylene (HDPE)/ organo modified montmorillonite (OMMT) nanocomposites prepared by melt mixing technique. Use of maleic anhydride grafted polyethylene (MA-g-PE) as Compatibilizer improves compatibility of EVA and HDPE. Blends containing EVA/HDPE blend with 2 phr MA-g-PE shows optimum properties. It observes that the addition of nanoclay improves the mechanical properties like tensile strength, flexural modulus, abrasion resistance and hardness of compatibilized nanocomposites systems. The morphology is studied by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The optimized properties occurrs at clay loading levels of 4 phr with MA-g-PE system

Mechanical and Optical Properies of Poly Lactic Acid Modified Linear- Low Density Polyethylene / Low Density Polyethylene (Lldpe/Ldpe) Blend Blown Film

Poly lactic acid (PLA) is well known aliphatic poly-esters derived from corn and sugar beets, and degrades into nontoxic compounds in landfill. Melt blending of poly lactic acid and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) was performed in an effort to toughen polylactic acid. Melt blending of linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) and polylactic Acid (PLA) and Low density poly ethylene (LDPE) were performed in a twin screw extruder with post extrusion blown film. The blend compositions were optimized by mechanical properties. On the basis of this, LLDPE 80 wt % LDPE 20 wt% and 1-4 wt% poly lactic acid (PLA) were found to be an optimum composition. The blends were characterized according to their mechanical and optical behavior. This blend may be used for packaging application

Studies on Dynamic Mechanical Analysis and Morphology of Carbon Soot Filled Un saturated Polyester Graded Composites

Dynamic mechanical behaviour  of carbon soot filled polyester graded composites was determined  with reference to carbon soot concentration present at different positions of the graded composites. At lower temperatures ,E’ values are maximum for unsaturated polyester resin  whereas above Tg E’ values of graded composites are higher than the pure polyester resin . The loss modulus peaks values decreased on  increasing the carbon  soot concentration .Tg values increased with increase in sootconcentration . Apparent activation energy of the relaxation process of different composites were analyse

Tafenoquine co-administered with dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine for the radical cure of Plasmodium vivax malaria (INSPECTOR): a randomised, placebo-controlled, efficacy and safety study

Background: Tafenoquine, co-administered with chloroquine, is approved for the radical cure (prevention of relapse) of Plasmodium vivax malaria. In areas of chloroquine resistance, artemisinin-based combination therapies are used to treat malaria. This study aimed to evaluate tafenoquine plus the artemisinin-based combination therapy dihydroartemisinin–piperaquine for the radical cure of P vivax malaria. Methods: In this double-blind, double-dummy, parallel group study, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase-normal Indonesian soldiers with microscopically confirmed P vivax malaria were randomly assigned by means of a computer-generated randomisation schedule (1:1:1) to dihydroartemisinin–piperaquine alone, dihydroartemisinin–piperaquine plus a masked single 300-mg dose of tafenoquine, or dihydroartemisinin–piperaquine plus 14 days of primaquine (15 mg). The primary endpoint was 6-month relapse-free efficacy following tafenoquine plus dihydroartemisinin–piperaquine versus dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine alone in all randomly assigned patients who received at least one dose of masked treatment and had microscopically confirmed P vivax at baseline (microbiological intention-to-treat population). Safety was a secondary outcome and the safety population comprised all patients who received at least one dose of masked medication. This study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02802501 and is completed. Findings: Between April 8, 2018, and Feb 4, 2019, of 164 patients screened for eligibility, 150 were randomly assigned (50 per treatment group). 6-month Kaplan-Meier relapse-free efficacy (microbiological intention to treat) was 11% (95% CI 4–22) in patients treated with dihydroartemisinin–piperaquine alone versus 21% (11–34) in patients treated with tafenoquine plus dihydroartemisinin–piperaquine (hazard ratio 0·44; 95% CI [0·29–0·69]) and 52% (37–65) in the primaquine plus dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine group. Adverse events over the first 28 days were reported in 27 (54%) of 50 patients treated with dihydroartemisinin–piperaquine alone, 29 (58%) of 50 patients treated with tafenoquine plus dihydroartemisinin–piperaquine, and 22 (44%) of 50 patients treated with primaquine plus dihydroartemisinin–piperaquine. Serious adverse events were reported in one (2%) of 50, two (4%) of 50, and two (4%) of 50 of patients, respectively. Interpretation: Although tafenoquine plus dihydroartemisinin–piperaquine was statistically superior to dihydroartemisinin–piperaquine alone for the radical cure of P vivax malaria, the benefit was not clinically meaningful. This contrasts with previous studies in which tafenoquine plus chloroquine was clinically superior to chloroquine alone for radical cure of P vivax malaria

Genomic selection for spot blotch in bread wheat breeding panels, full-sibs and half-sibs and index-based selection for spot blotch, heading and plant height

A major biotic stress challenging bread wheat production in regions characterized by humid and warm weather is spot blotch caused by the fungus Bipolaris sorokiniana. Since genomic selection (GS) is a promising selection tool, we evaluated its potential for spot blotch in seven breeding panels comprising 6736 advanced lines from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center. Our results indicated moderately high mean genomic prediction accuracies of 0.53 and 0.40 within and across breeding panels, respectively which were on average 177.6% and 60.4% higher than the mean accuracies from fixed effects models using selected spot blotch loci. Genomic prediction was also evaluated in full-sibs and half-sibs panels and sibs were predicted with the highest mean accuracy (0.63) from a composite training population with random full-sibs and half-sibs. The mean accuracies when full-sibs were predicted from other full-sibs within families and when full-sibs panels were predicted from other half-sibs panels were 0.47 and 0.44, respectively. Comparison of GS with phenotypic selection (PS) of the top 10% of resistant lines suggested that GS could be an ideal tool to discard susceptible lines, as greater than 90% of the susceptible lines discarded by PS were also discarded by GS. We have also reported the evaluation of selection indices to simultaneously select non-late and non-tall genotypes with low spot blotch phenotypic values and genomic-estimated breeding values. Overall, this study demonstrates the potential of integrating GS and index-based selection for improving spot blotch resistance in bread wheat

The impact of immediate breast reconstruction on the time to delivery of adjuvant therapy: the iBRA-2 study

Background: Immediate breast reconstruction (IBR) is routinely offered to improve quality-of-life for women requiring mastectomy, but there are concerns that more complex surgery may delay adjuvant oncological treatments and compromise long-term outcomes. High-quality evidence is lacking. The iBRA-2 study aimed to investigate the impact of IBR on time to adjuvant therapy. Methods: Consecutive women undergoing mastectomy ± IBR for breast cancer July–December, 2016 were included. Patient demographics, operative, oncological and complication data were collected. Time from last definitive cancer surgery to first adjuvant treatment for patients undergoing mastectomy ± IBR were compared and risk factors associated with delays explored. Results: A total of 2540 patients were recruited from 76 centres; 1008 (39.7%) underwent IBR (implant-only [n = 675, 26.6%]; pedicled flaps [n = 105,4.1%] and free-flaps [n = 228, 8.9%]). Complications requiring re-admission or re-operation were significantly more common in patients undergoing IBR than those receiving mastectomy. Adjuvant chemotherapy or radiotherapy was required by 1235 (48.6%) patients. No clinically significant differences were seen in time to adjuvant therapy between patient groups but major complications irrespective of surgery received were significantly associated with treatment delays. Conclusion: IBR does not result in clinically significant delays to adjuvant therapy, but post-operative complications are associated with treatment delays. Strategies to minimise complications, including careful patient selection, are required to improve outcomes for patients