Impact of antiseptics on Chlamydia trachomatis growth.

Science.gov (United States)

Párducz, L; Eszik, I; Wagner, G; Burián, K; Endrész, V; Virok, D P

2016-10-01

Bacterial vaginosis is a frequent dysbiosis, where the normal lactobacillus-dominated flora is replaced by an anaerob/aerob polymicrobial flora. Bacterial vaginosis increases the risk of acquiring sexually transmitted infections (STI) including the most frequent Chlamydia trachomatis infections. Intravaginal antiseptics are part of the bacterial vaginosis treatment, and ideally they should also inhibit the bacterial vaginosis-related STI. Therefore, we tested the antichlamydial activity of four antiseptics: iodine aqueous solution, povidone-iodine, chlorhexidine and borax. First, we measured the impact of antiseptics on the viability of the HeLa cervical epithelial cells, and calculated the maximum nontoxic concentrations. Next, we infected the cells with C. trachomatis preincubated for 1 h with the particular antiseptic. The chlamydial growth was measured by direct quantitative PCR (qPCR) of the infected cells. The minimal inhibitory concentrations (MIC) of chlorhexidine and povidone-iodine were 3·91 and 97 μg ml(-1) respectively; however, the MIC of chlorhexidine was close to its maximum nontoxic concentration. The iodine aqueous solution and the borax showed no antichlamydial activity. Our in vitro studies showed that chlorhexidine and particularly povidone-iodine are potentially able to limit the bacterial vaginosis-related C. trachomatis infection. We measured the antichlamydial effects of various antiseptics. These antiseptics are being used for the treatment of bacterial vaginosis, but their effect on the bacterial vaginosis-related sexually transmitted infections, particularly the most frequent Chlamydia trachomatis (C. trachomatis) infections has not been investigated. We showed that povidone-iodine (Betadine) inhibited the chlamydial growth in concentrations that was not toxic to the epithelial cells. We concluded that due to its additional antichlamydial effect, povidone-iodine could be a preferable antiseptic in bacterial vaginosis treatment. �

Reduction of nasal Staphylococcus aureus carriage in health care professionals by treatment with a nonantibiotic, alcohol-based nasal antiseptic.

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Steed, Lisa L; Costello, Justin; Lohia, Shivangi; Jones, Taylor; Spannhake, Ernst W; Nguyen, Shaun

2014-08-01

Antibiotics used to reduce nasal colonization by Staphylococcus aureus in patients before admission are inappropriate for carriage reduction on a regular basis within a hospital community. Effective nonantibiotic alternatives for daily use in the nares will allow reduction of this bacterial source to be addressed. Our study tested the effectiveness of a nonantibiotic, alcohol-based antiseptic in reducing nasal bacterial carriage in health care professionals (HCPs) at an urban hospital center. HCPs testing positive for vestibular S aureus colonization were treated 3 times during the day with topical antiseptic or control preparations. Nasal S aureus and total bacterial colonization levels were determined before and at the end of a 10-hour workday. Seventy-eight of 387 HCPs screened (20.2%) tested positive for S aureus infection. Of 39 subjects who tested positive for S aureus infection who completed the study, 20 received antiseptic and 19 received placebo treatment. Antiseptic treatment reduced S aureus colony forming units from baseline by 99% (median) and 82% (mean) (P antiseptic was effective in reducing S aureus and total bacterial carriage, suggesting the usefulness of this approach as a safe, effective, and convenient alternative to antibiotic treatment. Copyright © 2014 Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

Screening the Toxicity of Selected Personal Care Products Using Embryo Bioassays: 4-MBC, Propylparaben and Triclocarban

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Tiago Torres

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Recently, several emerging pollutants, including Personal Care Products (PCPs, have been detected in aquatic ecosystems, in the ng/L or µg/L range. Available toxicological data is limited, and, for certain PCPs, evidence indicates a potential risk for the environment. Hence, there is an urgent need to gather ecotoxicological data on PCPs as a proxy to improve risk assessment. Here, the toxicity of three different PCPs (4-Methylbenzylidene Camphor (4-MBC, propylparaben and triclocarban was tested using embryo bioassays with Danio rerio (zebrafish and Paracentrotus lividus (sea urchin. The No Observed Effect Concentration (NOEC for triclocarban was 0.256 µg/L for sea urchin and 100 µg/L for zebrafish, whereas NOEC for 4-MBC was 0.32 µg/L for sea urchin and 50 µg/L for zebrafish. Both PCPs impacted embryo development at environmentally relevant concentrations. In comparison with triclocarban and 4-MBC, propylparaben was less toxic for both sea urchin (NOEC = 160 µg/L and zebrafish (NOEC = 1000 µg/L. Overall, this study further demonstrates the sensitivity of embryo bioassays as a high-throughput approach for testing the toxicity of emerging pollutants.

Comparison of the antiseptic efficacy of tissue-tolerable plasma and an octenidine hydrochloride-based wound antiseptic on human skin.

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Lademann, J; Richter, H; Schanzer, S; Patzelt, A; Thiede, G; Kramer, A; Weltmann, K-D; Hartmann, B; Lange-Asschenfeldt, B

2012-01-01

Colonization and infection of wounds represent a major reason for the impairment of tissue repair. Recently, it has been reported that tissue-tolerable plasma (TTP) is highly efficient in the reduction of the bacterial load of the skin. In the present study, the antiseptic efficacy of TTP was compared to that of octenidine hydrochloride with 2-phenoxyethanol. Both antiseptic methods proved to be highly efficient. Cutaneous treatment of the skin with octenidine hydrochloride and 2-phenoxyethanol leads to a 99% elimination of the bacteria, and 74% elimination is achieved by TTP treatment. Technical challenges with an early prototype TTP device could be held responsible for the slightly reduced antiseptic properties of TTP, compared to a standard antiseptic solution, since the manual treatment of the skin surface with a small beam of the TTP device might have led to an incomplete coverage of the treated area. Copyright © 2012 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Comparative antibacterial effectiveness of alcohol and herbal based commercially available hand antiseptics

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K Vipin Jain

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Background: Human skin is a reservoir of numerous microorganisms. Even though hand washing with soap and water alone reduces the microbial load, the complementary uses of hand antiseptics enhance the antimicrobial effect. Aim: To compare the antimicrobial effectiveness of two commercially available hand antiseptics, routinely used in dental practice, after hand washing with antiseptic soap. Method: A clinical trial with cross over design was carried out on 12 health care workers (HCWs. The antibacterial effectiveness of two hand antiseptics (Alcohol based -Sterillium and Herbal Based-Himalaya′s ′Pure Hands′ compared using fingerprint contact sampling on blood agar. Bacterial samples were obtained before and after hand washing (with antiseptic soap and after hand disinfection. The data was tabulated and analyzed using one way ANOVA and Tukey′s post hoc test for pair-wise comparison. Result: There was a slight decrease in the Colony forming units (CFUs count following use of antiseptic soap when compared to the baseline values. A statistically significant reduction (p<0.000 in the CFUs count was seen following use of both hand antiseptics but the mean number of CFUs reduction was more in case of alcohol based hand antiseptic(sterillium than herbal based hand antiseptic(Himalaya′s ′PureHands". Conclusion: Using alcohol based antiseptic soap before hygienic hand disinfection will provide maximum benefit in reducing the microbial count.

[Use of antiseptic dekasan in complex treatment of peritonitis].

Science.gov (United States)

Nazirov, F N; Aripova, N U; Makhkamova, M N; Dzhamalov, S I; Pulatov, M M; Magzumov, I Kh; Isroilov, B N

2014-01-01

Experience in treatment of 91 patients with peritonitis on various genesis using antiseptic Dekasan are presented. A marked clinical efficacy compared with that of other antiseptics in the complex treatment of peritonitis was noted.

The Role of Antiseptic in Infection Control. | Gibson | Journal of the ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Before the introduction of antibiotics, antiseptics were the only method of infection control. The emergence of organisms that are resistant to antibiotics has called for the increased use of relevant antiseptics in some cases. Antiseptics, like antibiotics, need to be tested in order to determine their antimicrobial activity against a ...

The Effect of Antiseptic on 99mTc-DMSA Scans.

Science.gov (United States)

Firuzyar, Tahereh; Ghaedian, Tahereh

2017-03-01

Approximately 30 years ago, it has been suggested that chlorhexidine, which is used as antiseptic, can produce Tc colloid complex during Tc-dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA) preparation. However, in all cases of liver and spleen uptake in Tc-DMSA scan, it should still be kept in mind because of the introduction of new antiseptic brands with different formulation under various names. Our case is just a sample of this effect, which resulted from application of a new brand of antiseptic by technologists in our center that unintentionally led to low-quality Tc-DMSA scans for a period, and after restrict control of all other confounding factors in the preparation of kit, it was just resolved by changing antiseptic to ethanol.

Removal of two antibacterial compounds triclocarban and triclosan in a waste water treatment plant

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This study investigates the fate of Triclocarban (TCC) and Triclosan (TCS) in a waste water treatment plant (WWTP). Our goal was to identify the most effective removal step and to determine the amount on the solid phase versus degraded. Our influent contained higher TCS than TCC concentrations (8....

Acute irritant reaction to an antiseptic bath emollient

OpenAIRE

Saw, N; Hindmarsh, J

2005-01-01

Antiseptic bath emollients are commonly prescribed for treatment of eczema and are generally safe for frequent application. Although acute irritant reactions are uncommon it is nevertheless recognised and could have significant morbidity. This case describes a young male patient who developed an acute irritant reaction localised to the external genitalia, mimicking Fournier's gangrene, after overnight application of Oilatum Plus antiseptic bath emollients.

Acute irritant reaction to an antiseptic bath emollient

Science.gov (United States)

Saw, N; Hindmarsh, J

2005-01-01

Antiseptic bath emollients are commonly prescribed for treatment of eczema and are generally safe for frequent application. Although acute irritant reactions are uncommon it is nevertheless recognised and could have significant morbidity. This case describes a young male patient who developed an acute irritant reaction localised to the external genitalia, mimicking Fournier's gangrene, after overnight application of Oilatum Plus antiseptic bath emollients. PMID:15701748

Dimethyl Sulfoxide Enhances Effectiveness of Skin Antiseptics and Reduces Contamination Rates of Blood Cultures

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LaSala, Paul R.; Han, Xiang-Yang; Rolston, Kenneth V.; Kontoyiannis, Dimitrios P.

2012-01-01

Effective skin antisepsis is of central importance in the prevention of wound infections, colonization of medical devices, and nosocomial transmission of microorganisms. Current antiseptics have a suboptimal efficacy resulting in substantial infectious morbidity, mortality, and increased health care costs. Here, we introduce an in vitro method for antiseptic testing and a novel alcohol-based antiseptic containing 4 to 5% of the polar aprotic solvent dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO). The DMSO-containing antiseptic resulted in a 1- to 2-log enhanced killing of Staphylococcus epidermidis and other microbes in vitro compared to the same antiseptic without DMSO. In a prospective clinical validation, blood culture contamination rates were reduced from 3.04% for 70% isopropanol–1% iodine (control antiseptic) to 1.04% for 70% isopropanol–1% iodine–5% DMSO (P antiseptics containing strongly polarized but nonionizing (polar aprotic) solvents. PMID:22378911

Effectiveness of Piper betle leaf infusion as a palpebral skin antiseptic

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Husnun Amalia

2009-08-01

Full Text Available The goal of an antiseptic is to eliminate or greatly reduce the number of microorganisms in the surgical field at the time of the surgery. The objective of this study was to verify the effectiveness of 20% Piper betle leaf infusion as an antiseptic solution in pre-surgery cataract patients. A clinical trial with partner-matching design was conducted on 31 pairs of eyelids. From each pair of eyelids, one eyelid was asigned to the Piper betle infusion group and the opposite one to the povidone-iodine group. The microorganisms were collected by swab from the patient’s palpebral skin, inoculated on nutrient agar, and incubated at 37oC for 20 hours. The antiseptic effectiveness was measured by counting the microbial colonies before and after administration of the antiseptic solutions. This study demonstrates that the mean colony counts after application of 20% Piper betle leaf infusion showed a significant reduction of 27-100% compared with those before administration (p=0.001. Mean colony counts after 10% povidone-iodine administration showed a significant reduction of 88-100% compared with the mean counts before the solution was applied (p=0.000. The 20% Piper betle infusion has an antiseptic potential. Nevertheless, the 10% povidone-iodine solution has more effective antiseptic capability.

Effectiveness of Piper betle leaf infusion as a palpebral skin antiseptic

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Husnun Amalia

2016-02-01

Full Text Available The goal of an antiseptic is to eliminate or greatly reduce the number of microorganisms in the surgical field at the time of the surgery. The objective of this study was to verify the effectiveness of 20% Piper betle leaf infusion as an antiseptic solution in pre-surgery cataract patients. A clinical trial with partner-matching design was conducted on 31 pairs of eyelids. From each pair of eyelids, one eyelid was asigned to the Piper betle infusion group and the opposite one to the povidone-iodine group. The microorganisms were collected by swab from the patient’s palpebral skin, inoculated on nutrient agar, and incubated at 37oC for 20 hours. The antiseptic effectiveness was measured by counting the microbial colonies before and after administration of the antiseptic solutions. This study demonstrates that the mean colony counts after application of 20% Piper betle leaf infusion showed a significant reduction of 27-100% compared with those before administration (p=0.001. Mean colony counts after 10% povidone-iodine administration showed a significant reduction of 88-100% compared with the mean counts before the solution was applied (p=0.000. The 20% Piper betle infusion has an antiseptic potential. Nevertheless, the 10% povidone-iodine solution has more effective antiseptic capability.

Surgery for acquired cardiovascular disease: antiseptic treatment of contaminated vein grafts.

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Schmidt, F P; Peivandi, A A; Kohnen, W; Jansen, B

2014-04-01

Saphenous vein grafts harvested for use as bypass conduits can be contaminated intraoperatively, e.g. by being inadvertently dropped to the floor of the operating room (OR). This study was performed to investigate microorganisms most likely contaminating vein grafts and to assess the possible efficacy of measures to treat potentially contaminated vein grafts antiseptically for further use. In a first step we determined the microbiological flora of the OR using surface cultures and cultures from intentionally dropped vein grafts. Several antiseptic agents (PVP-iodine 10%, octenidinhydrochloride 0.1%, polyhexanide 1%) were evaluated for their in vitro efficacy to disinfect artificially contaminated vein segments. The most promising antiseptic regimen was tested on veins contaminated in a real OR setting. Finally, we tested for possible alterations in mechanical properties of the veins caused by antiseptic treatment. Coagulase-negative staphylococci where the predominant bacteria recovered from the OR with 59.9%. Antiseptic treatment with a combination of octenidine and PVP-iodine resulted in a higher rate of negative cultures than any single agent. Treatment of 50 saphenous vein grafts contaminated in the OR with the combination regimen resulted in only 3 positive cultural results within 7 days. Mechanical tear-stress testing comparing antiseptically treated vein grafts with controls showed no difference in their resistance to tear stress. Antiseptic treatment of contaminated vein grafts was shown to be effective in a high percentage of cases without altering mechanical properties of grafts and may be an option for the surgeon in case of a contamination.

Tissue Hypoperfusion, Hypercoagulopathy, and Kidney and Liver Dysfunction after Ingestion of a Naphazoline-Containing Antiseptic

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Yuko Ono

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Naphazoline is a peripheral α2-adrenergic receptor agonist commonly used as a topical decongestant. In Japan, over-the-counter antiseptics often contain naphazoline to effect local hemostasis. We present the first case involving the development of hypercoagulopathy, with kidney and liver dysfunction, following a naphazoline overdose. A 22-year-old Japanese woman with a history of depression ingested 160 mL of a commercially available antiseptic containing 0.1% naphazoline. Three days later, she was brought to the emergency department because of general fatigue, nausea, and vomiting. Physical examination revealed cool, pale extremities. Laboratory data showed evidence of severe kidney and liver dysfunction (creatinine, 9.2 mg/dL; alanine aminotransferase, 2948 IU/L, hypercoagulation (D-dimers, 58.3 μg/mL, and thrombocytopenia (platelet count, 90,000/μL. After infusion of normal saline, intravenous administration of alprostadil, and hemodiafiltration, her organ function completely recovered. Because both the kidney and liver express α2-adrenergic receptors, their failure was likely associated with naphazoline overdose-induced hypoperfusion. The most plausible causes of hypercoagulation are peripheral low perfusion and subsequent microthrombus formation. This case illustrates that severe organ dysfunction can occur following over-the-counter antiseptic ingestion and serves as a caution for both drug manufacturers and healthcare professionals.

Chlorhexidine Keratitis: Safety of Chlorhexidine as a Facial Antiseptic.

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Steinsapir, Kenneth D; Woodward, Julie A

2017-01-01

Effective antiseptic to reduce surgical site infections is a cornerstone of modern surgery. Chlorhexidine gluconate-based antiseptics are among the most effective of these products. Unfortunately, chlorhexidine solutions are toxic to the cornea and middle ear, and they pose a splash risk to both the patient and health care personnel. To examine the clinical evidence that led to the disavowal of chlorhexidine antiseptic solution for use on the face and head. Reference searches were performed using PubMed, Embase, and LexisNexis databases without restriction to the date of publication, language, or study setting. The literature revealed 11 sentinel cases of severe chlorhexidine-related keratitis in the late 1980s. These cases are reviewed together with data on ototoxicity and alternative products to understand why chlorhexidine solution should not be used on the face and scalp. Chlorhexidine antiseptic solutions are highly effective. However, they pose a risk to the middle ear and have the potential to irreversibly damage the cornea with a minimal splash exposure. Povidone-iodine is a safe and effective alternative.

Preoperative skin antiseptic preparations for preventing surgical site infections: a systematic review.

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Kamel, Chris; McGahan, Lynda; Polisena, Julie; Mierzwinski-Urban, Monika; Embil, John M

2012-06-01

To evaluate the clinical effectiveness of preoperative skin antiseptic preparations and application techniques for the prevention of surgical site infections (SSIs). Systematic review of the literature using Medline, EMBASE, and other databases, for the period January 2001 to June 2011. Comparative studies (including randomized and nonrandomized trials) of preoperative skin antisepsis preparations and application techniques were included. Two researchers reviewed each study and extracted data using standardized tables developed before the study. Studies were reviewed for their methodological quality and clinical findings. Twenty studies (n = 9,520 patients) were included in the review. The results indicated that presurgical antiseptic showering is effective for reducing skin flora and may reduce SSI rates. Given the heterogeneity of the studies and the results, conclusions about which antiseptic is more effective at reducing SSIs cannot be drawn. The evidence suggests that preoperative antiseptic showers reduce bacterial colonization and may be effective at preventing SSIs. The antiseptic application method is inconsequential, and data are lacking to suggest which antiseptic solution is the most effective. Disinfectant products are often mixed with alcohol or water, which makes it difficult to form overall conclusions regarding an active ingredient. Large, well-conducted randomized controlled trials with consistent protocols comparing agents in the same bases are needed to provide unequivocal evidence on the effectiveness of one antiseptic preparation over another for the prevention of SSIs.

77 FR 71804 - Antiseptic Patient Preoperative Skin Preparation Products; Public Hearing; Request for Comments...

Science.gov (United States)

2012-12-04

...] Antiseptic Patient Preoperative Skin Preparation Products; Public Hearing; Request for Comments; Correction... ``Antiseptic Patient Preoperative Skin Preparation Products.'' The document was published with an incorrect... New Hampshire Ave. Silver Spring, MD 20903, 301-796-3441, Fax: 301-847-8753, email: CDER- Antiseptic...

RESEARCH IN SENSITIVITY TO ANTIBIOTICS, ANTISEPTICS IN PSEUDOMONAS AERUGINOSA STRAINS ISOLATED FROM PATIENTS WITH INFECTIOUS COMPLICATIONS

OpenAIRE

O. A. Nazarchuk; D. V. Paliy; N. I. Osadchuk

2017-01-01

Background. Infections caused by Pseudomonas are one of the topical issues of medicine. Objective. The aim of the research was to study sensityvity to antibiotics, antiseptics of P. aeruginosa clinical strains that cause infectious complications in patients with burns. Methods. Microbiological study of biological material, received from 435 patients with burns of the 3rd-4th stages (2011-2015 years). In early terms of burn disease 127 clinical strains of P. aeruginosa were isolated fr...

Design of antiseptic formulations containing extract of Plinia cauliflora

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Lara Alexandre de Oliveira

2011-09-01

Full Text Available The leaves of the Brazilian species Plinia cauliflora were used to obtain active hydroalcoholic extract and fractions enabling the development of efficient antiseptic pharmaceutical formulations. A chemical composition of 70% ethanol extract, aqueous and ethyl acetate fractions was analyzed by thin-layer chromatography and for phenol content. Antimicrobial activity was tested against Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Escherichia coli, Lactobacillus acidophilus and Candida albicans by the agar diffusion method and the minimum inhibitory concentration was assayed by broth microdilution. Extract microbiological quality was tested to avoid contamination in the formulations. A mouthwash and a topical cream containing the extract were developed and antiseptic activity was assessed by agar diffusion. Sensory and physicochemical stability of the formulations were assayed. Chromatography indicated the presence of terpenes, flavonoids and tannins in the extract and fractions and total phenol content were found to be high. The plant samples were active against all the microorganisms tested, except for Lactobacillus acidophilus. Both topical formulations showed antiseptic activity and stability. Thus, these may be used as antimicrobials in skin infections, but would be more useful in the treatment of candidiasis.As folhas da espécie brasileira Plinia cauliflora foram utilizadas a fim de se obter um extrato hidroalcoólico e frações ativas proporcionando o desenvolvimento de eficazes formulações farmacêuticas antissépticas. A composição química do extrato etanólico 70%, fração aquosa e acetato de etila foi analisada por cromatografia em camada delgada e teor de fenóis. A atividade antimicrobiana foi testada frente a Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Escherichia coli, Lactobacillus acidophilus e Candida albicans por difusão em ágar e a concentração inibitória mínima foi determinada por microdiluição. A

[Application of antiseptic decasan in purulent infections of pararectal region].

Science.gov (United States)

Zakharash, M P; Kucher, N D; Krivoruk, M I; Iaremchuk, I A

2011-04-01

The results of studying of antiseptic preparation Decasan for the treatment of patients, suffering purulent infections of pararectal region, are adduced. Efficacy of Decasan was analyzed in 102 patients. The results of investigation obtained are trusting hig antiseptic efficacy of preparation, witnessing possibility of its application as a preparation of choice for the treatment of patients, suffering purulent infections of pararectal region.

Estimated hospital costs associated with preventable health care-associated infections if health care antiseptic products were unavailable

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Schmier JK

2016-05-01

approach to estimating the economic impact of health care antiseptic use for HAI avoidance, with the ability to vary model parameters to reflect specific scenarios. While not all HAIs are avoidable, removing or limiting access to an effective preventive tool would have a substantial impact on patient well-being and infection costs. HAI avoidance through use of health care antiseptics has a demonstrable and substantial impact on health care expenditures; the costs here are exclusive of administrative penalties or long-term outcomes for patients and caregivers such as lost productivity or indirect costs. Keywords: anti-infective agents, topical, costs and cost analysis, hospital infections, antiseptic agents

[Local impact of antiseptic medical textile on tissues of organism].

Science.gov (United States)

Nazarchuk, O A; Vernyhorods'kyĭ, S V; Paliĭ, V H; Nazarchuk, H H; Paliĭ, D V; Honchar, O O; Zadereĭ, N V

2013-07-01

Morphological investigation for studying of a local impact on the tissues, localized in the antiseptic textile implantation zone, was conducted. The textile was impregnated by composition of decametoxine with modified polysaccharides. Basing on the investigation result there was established the absence of a toxic impact of antiseptic medical textile on the macroorganism tissues, the regenerative processes course, the wounds epithelization, antioedematous and anti-inflammatory effects.

The Topical Evolution: Free Ions, Orthomolecular Agents, Phytochemicals, and Insect-Produced Substances

OpenAIRE

Conner-Kerr, Teresa

2014-01-01

Significance: A variety of topical antiseptic substances have been used historically to treat open wounds with suspected tissue infection or that are slow to heal. However, the effectiveness of these substances in treating infected or recalcitrant wounds remains controversial.

[Prevention of catheter-related infection: usefulness and cost-effectiveness of antiseptic catheters in children].

Science.gov (United States)

Lenz, Ana M; Vassallo, Juan C; Moreno, Guillermo E; Althabe, María; Gómez, Silvia; Magliola, Ricardo; Casimir, Lidia; Bologna, Rosa; Barretta, Jorge; Ruffa, Pablo

2010-06-01

To evaluate the cost-effectiveness of the antiseptic-impregnated catheter compared with conventional catheters in preventing catheter- related blood stream infections (CR-BSI). Cost-effectiveness analysis; clinical trial, experimental, randomized, controlled, prospective, open label. Patients and methods. A 172 patient cohort, under 1-year-old or less than 10 kg, postoperative cardiovascular children with central venous catheters (CVC) admitted to Cardiac Intensive Care Unit (UCI 35) at Hospital Nacional de Pediatría "Prof. Dr. Juan P. Garrahan", since September 2005 to December 2007. Demographic and CVC data were retrieved to compare: age, gender, weight, diagnosis, surgery, CVC days, costs and complications. Intervention. CVC Arrow, double-lumen, > 48 h of duration; intervention group: antiseptic-impregnated CVC vs. control group: CVC without antiseptics (conventional). The incidence of CR-IE (CR-Infected Events: colonization, local infection and/or CRBSI; combined end point) was 27% for antiseptic- impregnated CVC vs. 31% for conventional catheters (p= 0.6) with similar accumulated incidence of CR- BSI: 2.8 vs. 3.3 per 1000 dayscatheter. We found no differences between groups, except in weight: median 4.0 kg (r 2-17) vs. 4.7 kg (r 2-9) p= 0.0002 and age, median 2 months (r 1- 48) vs. 5 months (r 1- 24) p= 0.0019 in antiseptic-impregnated CVC group. These differences, though statistically significant were clinically non relevant. Median cost per patient during intensive care stay in the conventional CVC group was $3.417 (359-9.453) and in the antiseptic-impregnated-CVC group was $4.962 (239-24.532), p= 0.10. The use of antiseptic-impregnated CVC compared with conventional CVC did not decrease CR-BSI in this population. The cost per patients was higher in the antiseptic impregnated CVC group. These results do not support the routine use of this type of CVC in our population.

Umbilical Microflora, Antiseptic Skin Preparation, and Surgical Site Infection in Abdominal Surgery.

Science.gov (United States)

Kleeff, Jörg; Erkan, Mert; Jäger, Carsten; Menacher, Maximilian; Gebhardt, Friedemann; Hartel, Mark

2015-08-01

Surgical site infections (SSI) following abdominal surgery are frequent and a major cause of postoperative morbidity and prolonged hospital stay. Besides antibiotic prophylaxis, antiseptic skin preparation is an important measure to prevent SSI. Here we prospectively analyzed the effectiveness of antiseptic skin preparation in a cohort of 93 patients undergoing laparotomy, with special emphasis on the umbilical region. The microflora of the umbilicus contained a large number of resident (mostly staphylococci species and corynebacteria) and transient germs (including enterococci species). Following antiseptic skin preparation, bacteria could still be cultured from 24.7% of the patients' umbilici. In case of postoperative SSI, only one of seven SSI was caused by the microorganism that was present in the umbilicus before and after skin preparation. Antiseptic skin preparation fails to completely eradicate the microflora of the umbilical region in one quarter of the patients. However, at least in abdominal surgery, the vast majority of SSI are caused by intra-abdominal contamination rather than the skin microflora.

Selection of an optimal antiseptic solution for intraoperative irrigation: an in vitro study.

Science.gov (United States)

van Meurs, S J; Gawlitta, D; Heemstra, K A; Poolman, R W; Vogely, H C; Kruyt, M C

2014-02-19

With increasing bacterial antibiotic resistance and an increased infection risk due to more complicated surgical procedures and patient populations, prevention of surgical infection is of paramount importance. Intraoperative irrigation with an antiseptic solution could provide an effective way to reduce postoperative infection rates. Although numerous studies have been conducted on the bactericidal or cytotoxic characteristics of antiseptics, the combination of these characteristics for intraoperative application has not been addressed. Bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus and S. epidermidis) and human cells were exposed to polyhexanide, hydrogen peroxide, octenidine dihydrochloride, povidone-iodine, and chlorhexidine digluconate at various dilutions for two minutes. Bactericidal properties were calculated by means of the quantitative suspension method. The cytotoxic effect on human fibroblasts and mesenchymal stromal cells was determined by a WST-1 metabolic activity assay. All of the antiseptics except for polyhexanide were bactericidal and cytotoxic at the commercially available concentrations. When diluted, only povidone-iodine was bactericidal at a concentration at which some cell viability remained. The other antiseptics tested showed no cellular survival at the minimal bactericidal concentration. Povidone-iodine diluted to a concentration of 1.3 g/L could be the optimal antiseptic for intraoperative irrigation. This should be established by future clinical studies.

ANTIMICROBIAL, PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL QUALITIES OF MEDICINAL ANTISEPTIC DRUGS

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Paliy D. V.

2014-12-01

Full Text Available In our research results of the study of antimicrobial, physical and chemical qualities of antiseptic medicines of decamethoxin (DCM. Antimicrobial activity of DCM, palisan, decasan, deseptol against srains of S.aureus (n 56, S.epidermidis (n 26, E.coli (n 24, P.mirabilis (n 11, P.vulgaris (n 8 was studied by means of method of serial dilutions. Obtained data of mass spectrometry study of antimicrobial compositions with constant concentrations of DCM have shown that medicinal forms of DCM are complex physical and chemical systems, because of different origin and number of adjuvant ingredients used during their fabrication. Among synthetic quaternary ammonium agents there have been found the substance (commercial name of medicine is decamethoxin to have high antimicrobial activity against strains of grampositive and gram-negative microorganisms, an also C.albicans. There was found that antimicrobial activity of antiseptic palisan had been higher comparably to DCM in equivalent concentration. The composition and concentrations of acting agents and the methodology of preparation of palisan have been substantiated on the basis of microbiological, mass spectrometry characteristics of antiseptics DCM, palisan.

Use of antiseptic for cord care and its association with neonatal mortality in a population-based assessment in Bihar State, India.

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Dandona, Rakhi; Kochar, Priyanka S; Kumar, G Anil; Dandona, Lalit

2017-01-25

Dry cord care is recommended for all births by the Health Ministry in India. We report prevalence of antiseptic cord care in the context of neonatal mortality in the Indian state of Bihar. Population-based cross-sectional study with multistage stratified random sampling. Households in 1017 clusters in Bihar. A representative sample of 12 015 women with a live birth in the last 12 months were interviewed from all 38 districts of Bihar (90.7% participation) in 2014. Use of antiseptic cord care at birth and its association with neonatal mortality using multiple logistic regression. Topical application of any material on cord was reported by 6534 women (54.4%; 95% CI 53.5% to 55.3%). Antiseptic cord care prevalence was 49.7% (95% CI 48.8% to 50.6%), the majority of which was gentian violet (76.4%). The odds of antiseptic use for cord care were higher in facility births (OR 1.46; 95% CI 1.27 to 1.69) and for deliveries by a qualified health provider (OR 1.44; 95% CI 1.26 to 1.66), but were lower for births that occurred before the expected delivery date (OR 0.77; 95% CI 0.61 to 0.96). A total of 256 (2.1%) newborns died during the neonatal period. The odds of neonatal death were significantly higher for live births with no reported antiseptic use (OR 1.53; 95% CI 1.18 to 1.99), and this association persisted when live births in health facilities were considered separately. Even though dry cord care is recommended by health authorities in India, half the women in this study reported use of antiseptic for cord care mainly with gentian violet; and its use had beneficial effect on neonatal mortality. These findings suggest that the application of readily available gentian violet for cord care in less developed settings should be assessed further for its potential beneficial influence on neonatal mortality. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.

Microbial contamination of disinfectants and antiseptics in four major hospitals in Trinidad

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Gajadhar Tswana

2003-01-01

Full Text Available OBJECTIVE: To assess the microbial contamination of disinfectants and antiseptics in major hospitals on the Caribbean island of Trinidad. METHODS: For this cross-sectional study, disinfectants and antiseptics were sampled from the pharmacy departments, the pediatric/neonatal wards, and the surgical wards of four hospitals. The samples were cultured for aerobic bacteria on nutrient agar using the surface plating method. The antibiotic sensitivity of bacterial isolates was determined by the disk diffusion method, using 14 antimicrobial agents. We studied a total of 180 disinfectant/antiseptic samples: 60 of chlorhexidine gluconate (Hibitane, 60 of chlorhexidine gluconate and cetrimonium bromide (Savlon, and 60 of methylated spirit. RESULTS: Of the 180 samples studied, 11 of them (6.1% were contaminated by aerobic bacteria. All bacteria isolated were Pseudomonas spp. Of the 11 contaminated samples, 6 of them (54.5% occurred at the pharmacy level while 5 (45.5% were from diluted pre-use or in-use samples in the pediatric/neonatal wards or the surgical wards. Chlorhexidine gluconate and cetrimonium bromide accounted for 9 of the 11 contaminated disinfectants/antiseptics (81.8%, and chlorhexidine gluconate accounted for the remaining 2 (18.2%. Only two of the four hospitals had contaminated disinfectant/antiseptic samples. All 24 isolates of Pseudomonas spp. tested were resistant to one or more of the 14 antimicrobial agents tested, with the prevalence of resistance to ciprofloxacin, norfloxacin, tobramycin, and gentamicin being 58.3%, 50.0%, 45.8%, and 41.7%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Our results show that contaminated disinfectants/antiseptics pose a health risk to patients, particularly in the pediatric and surgical wards. The high prevalence of resistance to antimicrobial agents exhibited by the Pseudomonas spp. that were isolated is of special therapeutic concern.

Combined antibacterial effects of tissue-tolerable plasma and a modern conventional liquid antiseptic on chronic wound treatment.

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Klebes, Martin; Ulrich, Christin; Kluschke, Franziska; Patzelt, Alexa; Vandersee, Staffan; Richter, Heike; Bob, Adrienne; von Hutten, Johanna; Krediet, Jorien T; Kramer, Axel; Lademann, Jürgen; Lange-Asschenfeld, Bernhard

2015-05-01

Potential antimicrobial effects of sequential applications of tissue-tolerable plasma (TTP) and the conventional liquid antiseptic octenidine dihydrochloride (ODC) were investigated. 34 patients with chronic leg ulcers were treated with TTP, ODC or a combination of both. The bacterial colonization was measured semi-quantitatively before and immediately after treatment and changes in the microbial strains' compositions before and after antiseptic treatments were analyzed. All antiseptic procedures reduced the bacterial counts significantly. The sequential application of TTP and ODC displayed the highest antimicrobial efficacy. Me combined use of TTP and conventional antiseptics might represent the most efficient strategy for antiseptic treatment of chronic wounds. © 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Synergistic effects in the short-term preservation of hides with antiseptics and gamma radiation

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Du Plessis, T.A.; Russell, A.E.; Stevens, R.C.B.; Galloway, A.C. (Iso-Ster (Pty) Ltd., Kempton Park (South Africa))

1983-01-01

The normal time lapse between the skinning and tanning processes of green hides necessitates the need for a short-term preservation technique to be employed. The most common method of bringing about such preservation is the coarse salting of the flesh side of hides. More recently the antiseptic treatment of hides was introduced to overcome the serious environmental pollution brought about by the salting process. The antiseptic treatment, however, must also be carefully controlled to avoid upsetting the biological breakdown processes in effluent plants. The gamma sterilization of such hides presents a non-polluting alternative to these methods. As the nature of this product demands excessively high radiation doses to be effective, which negatively influences the economics of the process and the physical properties of the resultant leather, a combination process employing radiation and antiseptics was investigated. It was observed that the radiation dose could be lowered from 50 kGy to 8 kGy in combination with certain antiseptics, whilst the required antiseptic concentration could be substantially lowered in the presence of radiation. The resultant leather was of an excellent quality whilst minimizing the environmental pollution problem.

Synergistic effects in the short-term preservation of hides with antiseptics and gamma radiation

Science.gov (United States)

Du Plessis, TA; Russell, AE; Stevens, RCB; Galloway, AC

The normal time lapse between the skinning and tanning processes of green hides necessitates the need for a short-term preservation technique to be employed. The most common method of bringing about such preservation is the coarse salting of the flesh side of hides. More recently the antiseptic treatment of hides was introduced to overcome the serious environmental pollution brought about by the salting process. The antiseptic treatment, however, must also be carefully controlled to avoid upsetting the biological breakdown processes in effluent plants. The gamma sterilization of such hides presents a non-polluting alternative to these methods. As the nature of this product demands excessively high radiation doses to be effective, which negatively influences the economics of the process and the physical properties of the resultant leather, a combination process employing radiation and antiseptics was investigated. It was observed that the radiation dose could be lowered from 50 kGy to 8 kGy in combination with certain antiseptics, whilst the required antiseptic concentration could be substantially lowered in the presence of radiation. The resultant leather was of an excellent quality whilst minimizing the environmental pollution problem.

Synergistic effects in the short-term preservation of hides with antiseptics and gamma radiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Du Plessis, T.A.; Russell, A.E.; Stevens, R.C.B.; Galloway, A.C.

1983-01-01

The normal time lapse between the skinning and tanning processes of green hides necessitates the need for a short-term preservation technique to be employed. The most common method of bringing about such preservation is the coarse salting of the flesh side of hides. More recently the antiseptic treatment of hides was introduced to overcome the serious environmental pollution brought about by the salting process. The antiseptic treatment, however, must also be carefully controlled to avoid upsetting the biological breakdown processes in effluent plants. The gamma sterilization of such hides presents a non-polluting alternative to these methods. As the nature of this product demands excessively high radiation doses to be effective, which negatively influences the economics of the process and the physical properties of the resultant leather, a combination process employing radiation and antiseptics was investigated. It was observed that the radiation dose could be lowered from 50 kGy to 8 kGy in combination with certain antiseptics, whilst the required antiseptic concentration could be substantially lowered in the presence of radiation. The resultant leather was of an excellent quality whilst minimizing the environmental pollution problem. (author)

Effect of oral antiseptic agents on phospholipase and proteinase enzymes of Candida albicans.

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Uygun-Can, Banu; Kadir, Tanju; Gumru, Birsay

2016-02-01

Candida-associated denture stomatitis is the most prevalent form of oral candida infections among the denture wearers. Generally, antiseptic oral rinses used in the treatment of these infections are considered as an adjunct or alternative antifungal treatment. Studies have suggested that the intraoral concentrations of antiseptics decrease substantially to the sub-therapeutic levels on account of the dynamics of the oral cavity. This condition yields the question about the minimum antiseptic concentration that effect the character or pathogenesis of Candida during treatment. The extracellular phospholipase and proteinase enzymes of Candida albicans are regarded to have a crucial role in the pathogenesis of human fungal infections. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the effect of different sub-therapeutic concentrations of chlorhexidine gluconate, hexetidine and triclosan on the production of these enzymes by C. albicans strains isolated from 20 patients with denture stomatitis. Phospholipase test was done by using Sabouraud dextrose agar with egg yolk, proteinase test was done by using bovine serum albumin agar. Phospholipase test was done by using Sabouraud dextrose agar with egg yolk, proteinase test was done by using bovine serum albumin agar. Exoenzyme production of 20 strains which were brief exposured to sub-therapeutic concentrations of three antiseptic agents decreased significantly compared with the strains that were not exposured with antiseptic values (pantiseptics (pantiseptic was compared, there were no significant differences between enzymatic activities (p>0.05). The results of this study show that sub-therapeutic levels of each antiseptic may modulate candidal exoenzyme production, consequently suppressing pathogenicity of C. albicans. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Synthesis of novel 4,6-di(substituted)amino-1,2-dihydro-1,3,5-triazine derivatives as topical antiseptic agents.

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Maeda, Shirou; Kita, Toshiko; Meguro, Kanji

2009-02-12

A series of novel 4,6-di(substituted)amino-1,2-dihydro-1,3,5-triazine derivatives designed to have ClogP of 5.1-7.5 was synthesized and evaluated for their antiseptic properties by MIC and MBC tests against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, including MRSA, VRE, and P. aeruginosa. Among these compounds, 4-alkyl-6-aralkyl derivatives having ClogP of 6.6-7.1 and 4-alkyl-6-aryl or 4,6-dialkyl derivatives with ClogP of 6.0-6.4 showed pronounced antibacterial activities in both tests.

RESEARCH IN SENSITIVITY TO ANTIBIOTICS, ANTISEPTICS IN PSEUDOMONAS AERUGINOSA STRAINS ISOLATED FROM PATIENTS WITH INFECTIOUS COMPLICATIONS

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O. A. Nazarchuk

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Background. Infections caused by Pseudomonas are one of the topical issues of medicine. Objective. The aim of the research was to study sensityvity to antibiotics, antiseptics of P. aeruginosa clinical strains that cause infectious complications in patients with burns. Methods. Microbiological study of biological material, received from 435 patients with burns of the 3rd-4th stages (2011-2015 years. In early terms of burn disease 127 clinical strains of P. aeruginosa were isolated from patients. Standard methods were used to identify clinical isolates of P. aeruginosa by their morphological, tinctirial, culture and biochemical properties. The research of antimicrobial action of antiseptics, antibiotics against Pseudomonas were carried out by means of standard methods according to the Directive of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine (No. 167 from 05.04.2007 р. and guidelines of National Committee of Clinical and Laboratory Study (NCCLS, 2002. Results. It was established that P. aeruginosa caused infectious complications in 23.9% of patients among other pathogens. Clinical isolates of P. aeruginosa were found to be low sensitive to amoxicillin/clavulanate (30.76%, ceftazidime (25.92%, cefoperazonum/sulbactam (46.15%, aztreonam (51.85%, tobramycin (38.46%, amicacin (70.34%, doxiciclini (26.92%, fluoroquinolones (59.26%. The analitical progistic criteria of decrease of sensitivity to ceftazidime, cefepim, meropenem and gatifloxacin were found in P. aeruginosa. This pathogen was determined to be sensitive to decasan ®, antimicrobial composition of decamethoxine ®, iodine pvidone. Conclusions. Clinical strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, being highly resistant to antibiotics, are also very sensitive to antiseptics decasan ®, antimicrobial of decamethoxine®, povidone iodine.

Frequency of antiseptic resistance genes in clinical staphycocci and enterococci isolates in Turkey

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Seyda Ignak

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Disinfectants and antiseptics are biocides widely used in hospitals to prevent spread of pathogens. It has been reported that antiseptic resistance genes, qac’s, caused tolerance to a variety of biocidal agents, such as benzalkonium chloride (BAC and chlorhexidine digluconate (CHDG in Staphylococcus spp. isolates. We aimed to search the frequency of antiseptic resistance genes in clinical Staphylococcus spp. and Enterococcus spp. isolates to investigate the possible association with antiseptic tolerance and antibiotic resistance. Methods Antiseptic resistance genes (qacA/B, smr, qacG, qacH, and qacJ isolated from Gram-positive cocci (69 Staphylococcus spp. and 69 Enterococcus spp. were analyzed by PCR method. The minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs of BAC and CHDG were determined by agar dilution method, whereas antibiotic susceptibility was analyzed by disk diffusion method according to Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI criteria. Results The frequency of antiseptic resistance genes was found to be high (49/69; 71.0% in our clinical staphylococci isolates but absent (0/69; 0% in enterococci isolates. The frequency of qacA/B and smr genes was higher (25/40; 62.5% and 7/40; 17.5%, respectively in coagulase negative staphylococci (CNS when compared to Staphylococcus aureus strains (3/29; 10.3%, and 4/29; 13.8%, respectively. In contrast, the frequency of qacG and qacJ genes was higher (11/29; 37.9% and 8/29; 27.5%, respectively in S. aureus than those of CNS (5/40; 12.5%, 10/40; 25.0% strains. qacH was not identified in none of the strains. We found an association between presence of antiseptic resistance genes and increased MIC values of BAC (>4 μg/mL in staphylococci and it was found to be statistically statistically significant (p < 0.01. We also showed that MICs of BAC and CHDG of vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE isolates were significantly higher than those of vancomycin

Polyhexanide - safety and efficacy as an antiseptic.

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Fjeld, Hilde; Lingaas, Egil

2016-05-01

BACKGROUND Polyhexamethylene biguanide hydrochloride/polyhexanide/polyaminopropyl biguanide (PHMB) is used as a disinfectant and antiseptic. This article discusses the use of the substance as an antiseptic. We summarise published data on its antimicrobial effect in vitro and its clinical effect and safety when used on skin, wounds and mucosa.MATERIAL AND METHOD A literature search was conducted in PubMed for articles published in the last five years. Articles available as of June 2014 were considered.RESULTS Of 332 articles identified, 27 were included. In vitro studies have demonstrated an antimicrobial effect on Gram-negative bacteria, Gram-positive bacteria and Candida albicans. The clinical studies are small, not well controlled and frequently sponsored by industry. Few adverse effects from the substance were reported.INTERPRETATION Better designed, larger-scale clinical studies of effect and safety are needed in order to give recommendations on the use of polyhexanide on skin, wounds and mucosa.

Antiseptic mouth rinses: an update on comparative effectiveness, risks and recommendations.

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Osso, Diane; Kanani, Nehal

2013-02-01

Antiseptic mouth rinses are widely recommended and marketed to improve oral health. This article summarizes current studies on the comparative effectiveness of selected antiseptic mouth rinses in controlling plaque and gingivitis, as well as risks associated with daily exposure, including salivary flow rate, oral cancer and wear of composite restorations. Electronic database searches were conducted using Google Scholar and PubMed to identify articles comparing the effectiveness of 4 commercially marketed antiseptic mouth rinses differing in active ingredients (0.12% chlorhexidine gluconate, essential oils (menthol, thymol and eucalyptol) and methyl salicylate, 0.7% cetylpyridinium chloride and 20% aloe vera gel) for controlling plaque and gingivitis. Criteria for inclusion included controlled clinical trials and systematic reviews appearing in English language publications evaluating the comparative effectiveness of the mouth rinses in controlling plaque and gingivitis, as well as risks associated with daily usage. The majority of studies have shown mouth rinses containing chlorhexidine gluconate or essential oils and methyl salicylate provide clinically significant anti-gingivitis and anti-plaque benefits. Cetylpyridinium chloride has been found to provide only limited clinical benefits compared to inactive control mouth rinse. Inadequate evidence is available to evaluate the clinical effectiveness of aloe vera gel. Chlorhexidine, essential oils and cetylpyridinium have been found to be safe. However, limited data are available on the effects of the mouth rinse on wear patterns of dental restorations. Studies reviewed reported no significant difference in salivary flow rate related to alcohol based mouth rinse. Research supports the effectiveness of antiseptic mouth rinses in reducing plaque and gingivitis as an adjunct to home care. Insufficient evidence is available to support the claim that oral antiseptics can reduce the risk of developing periodontitis or the

Comparison of Outcomes for Normal Saline and an Antiseptic Solution for Negative-Pressure Wound Therapy with Instillation.

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Kim, Paul J; Attinger, Christopher E; Oliver, Noah; Garwood, Caitlin; Evans, Karen K; Steinberg, John S; Lavery, Larry A

2015-11-01

Negative-pressure wound therapy with instillation is an adjunctive treatment that uses periodic instillation of a solution and negative pressure for a wide diversity of wounds. A variety of solutions have been reported, with topical antiseptics as the most frequently chosen option. The objective of this study was to compare the outcomes of normal saline versus an antiseptic solution for negative-pressure wound therapy with instillation for the adjunctive treatment of infected wounds. This was a prospective, randomized, effectiveness study comparing 0.9% normal saline versus 0.1% polyhexanide plus 0.1% betaine for the adjunctive treatment of infected wounds that required hospital admission and operative débridement. One hundred twenty-three patients were eligible, with 100 patients randomized for the intention-to-treat analysis and 83 patients for the per-protocol analysis. The surrogate outcomes measured were number of operative visits, length of hospital stay, time to final surgical procedure, proportion of closed or covered wounds, and proportion of wounds that remained closed or covered at the 30-day follow-up. There were no statistically significant differences in the demographic profiles in the two cohorts except for a larger proportion of male patients (p = 0.004). There was no statistically significant difference in the surrogate outcomes with the exception of the time to final surgical procedure favoring normal saline (p = 0.038). The authors' results suggest that 0.9% normal saline may be as effective as an antiseptic (0.1% polyhexanide plus 0.1% betaine) for negative-pressure wound therapy with instillation for the adjunctive inpatient management of infected wounds. Therapeutic, II.

Antiseptic and antibiotic resistance in Gram-negative bacteria causing urinary tract infection.

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Stickler, D J; Thomas, B

1980-01-01

A collection of 802 isolates of Gram-negative bacteria causing urinary tract infections was made from general practice, antenatal clinics, and local hospitals. The organisms were tested for their sensitivity to chlorhexidine, cetrimide, glutaraldehyde, phenyl mercuric nitrate, a phenolic formulation, and a proprietary antiseptic containing a mixture of picloxydine, octyl phenoxy polyethoxyethanol, and benzalkonium chloride. Escherichia coli, the major species isolated, proved to be uniformly sensitive to these agents. Approximately 10% of the total number of isolates, however, exhibited a degree of resistance to the cationic agents. These resistant organisms were members of the genera Proteus, Providencia, and Pseudomonas; they were also generally resistant to five, six, or seven antibiotics. It is proposed therefore that an antiseptic policy which involves the intensive use of cationic antiseptics might lead to the selection of a flora of notoriously drug-resistant species. PMID:6769972

Efficacy of handrubbing with alcohol based solution versus standard handwashing with antiseptic soap: randomised clinical trial

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Girou, Emmanuelle; Loyeau, Sabrina; Legrand, Patrick; Oppein, Françoise; Brun-Buisson, Christian

2002-01-01

Objective To compare the efficacy of handrubbing with an alcohol based solution versus conventional handwashing with antiseptic soap in reducing hand contamination during routine patient care. Design Randomised controlled trial during daily nursing sessions of 2 to 3 hours. Setting Three intensive care units in a French university hospital. Participants 23 healthcare workers. Interventions Handrubbing with alcohol based solution (n=12) or handwashing with antiseptic soap (n=11) when hand hygiene was indicated before and after patient care. Imprints taken of fingertips and palm of dominant hand before and after hand hygiene procedure. Bacterial counts quantified blindly. Main outcome measures Bacterial reduction of hand contamination. Results With handrubbing the median percentage reduction in bacterial contamination was significantly higher than with handwashing (83% v 58%, P=0.012), with a median difference in the percentage reduction of 26% (95% confidence interval 8% to 44%). The median duration of hand hygiene was 30 seconds in each group. Conclusions During routine patient care handrubbing with an alcohol based solution is significantly more efficient in reducing hand contamination than handwashing with antiseptic soap. What is already known on this topicTo improve compliance with hand hygiene during patient care, handrubbing with an alcohol based solution has been proposed as a substitute for handwashing because of its rapid action and accessibilityExperimental studies show that handrubbing is at least as effective as medicated soap in reducing artificial contamination of handsMany healthcare workers still have reservations regarding its efficacy and are reluctant to use this techniqueWhat this study addsWhen used in routine practice, handrubbing with an alcohol based solution after contact with patients achieved a greater reduction in bacterial contamination of hands than conventional handwashing with medicated soap PMID:12183307

Meta-analysis of randomized and quasi-randomized clinical trials of topical antibiotics after primary closure for the prevention of surgical-site infection.

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Heal, C F; Banks, J L; Lepper, P; Kontopantelis, E; van Driel, M L

2017-08-01

Surgical-site infections (SSIs) increase patient morbidity and costs. The aim was to identify and synthesize all RCTs evaluating the effect of topical antibiotics on SSI in wounds healing by primary intention. The search included Ovid MEDLINE, Ovid Embase, the Cochrane Wounds Specialized Register, Central Register of Controlled Trials and EBSCO CINAHL from inception to May 2016. There was no restriction of language, date or setting. Two authors independently selected studies, extracted data and assessed risk of bias. When sufficient numbers of comparable trials were available, data were pooled in meta-analysis. Fourteen RCTs with 6466 participants met the inclusion criteria. Pooling of eight trials (5427 participants) showed that topical antibiotics probably reduced the risk of SSI compared with no topical antibiotic (risk ratio (RR) 0·61, 95 per cent c.i. 0·42 to 0·87; moderate-quality evidence), equating to 20 fewer SSIs per 1000 patients treated. Pooling of three trials (3012 participants) for risk of allergic contact dermatitis found no clear difference between antibiotics and no antibiotic (RR 3·94, 0·46 to 34·00; very low-quality evidence). Pooling of five trials (1299 participants) indicated that topical antibiotics probably reduce the risk of SSI compared with topical antiseptics (RR 0·49, 0·30 to 0·80; moderate-quality evidence); 43 fewer SSIs per 1000 patients treated. Pooling of two trials (541 participants) showed no clear difference in the risk of allergic contact dermatitis with antibiotics or antiseptic agents (RR 0·97, 0·52 to 1·82; very low-quality evidence). Topical antibiotics probably prevent SSI compared with no topical antibiotic or antiseptic. No conclusion can be drawn regarding whether they cause allergic contact dermatitis. © 2017 BJS Society Ltd Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Fate of triclocarban during soil aquifer treatment: Soil column studies

KAUST Repository

Essandoh, H. M K

2010-04-01

There are current concerns about the presence of persistent chemicals in recharge water used in soil aquifer treatment systems. Triclocarban (TCC) has been reported as a persistent, high production volume chemical with the potential to bioaccumulate in the environment. It is also known to have adverse effects such as toxicity and suspected endocrine disruption. This study was carried out to study the fate of TCC in soil aquifer treatment (SAT) through laboratory simulations in a soil column. The system performance was evaluated with regards to TCC influent concentration, sand (column) depth, and residence time. Results obtained confirmed the ability of SAT to reduce TCC concentrations in wastewater. Sorption and biodegradation were responsible for TCC removal, the latter mechanism however being unsustainable. The removal efficiency was found to be dependent on concentration and decreased over time and increased with column depth. Within the duration of the experimental run, TCC negatively impacted on treatment performance through a reduction in COD removals observed in the column. © IWA Publishing 2010.

In vitro efficacy of teat antiseptics against Staphylococcus aureus strains isolated from bovine mastitis

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Renata Paoli Santos

2016-08-01

Full Text Available The process of teat disinfection is a widely accepted component of successful mastitis control programs by reducing the number of bacteria on the teat skin and healing teat lesions. For contagious pathogens such as Staphylococcus aureus, post-milking teat disinfection remains a simple, effective and economical practice for prevention of new intramammary infections (IMIs of lactating dairy cows. Despite the universal acceptance of teat dipping as a method of mastitis control, variations in the susceptibility and resistance profile of mastitis pathogens among antiseptics have been described. Thus, here we sought to explore the in vitro efficacy of the followings antiseptics against S. aureus isolated from IMIs: chlorhexidine (2.0%, chlorine (2.5%, quarternary ammonium (4.0%, lactic acid (2.0% and iodine (0.6%. We used 50 S. aureus strains isolated from bovine IMIs from 50 dairy herds located at Minas Gerais, São Paulo, Paraná and Rio Grande do Sul States (Brazil. The antiseptics were evaluated at four different specific intervals (15, 30, 60 and 300 s. We found a higher activity for quarternary ammonium and chlorhexidine against S. aureus at all time-points, followed by iodine and then chlorine. Lactic acid treatment produced the worst results for all time-points and strains. Due to variations in the sensitivity and resistance profile of antiseptics against S. aureus isolated from IMIs, the effectiveness of the antiseptics against the major mastitis pathogens should be periodically evaluated in dairy farms in an attempt to reduce the rate of new IMIs in the herd.

Identification and compatibility of the major active principles in some new natural origin antiseptics

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Nikolić, G. S.; Zlatković, S.; Nikolić, N.

2009-09-01

The newly established instrumentation of HPLC/DAD, FTIR, and NMR techniques have been applied for simultaneous identification and physicochemical compatibility determination of the potential major antiseptic constituents ( Hypericum perforatum L. and Usnea barbata extracts) which can be present in some new origin pharmaceutical preparation. Based on the obtained results the conclusion is that a simultaneous use of the analyzed constituents in production of some new preparations with antiseptic properties is possible. The chromatographic separation of antiseptic mixture was performed on a RP-HPLC C18 column. For the NMR detection, the analytes eluted from LC column were trapped and hereafter transported into the NMR flow-cell. The NMR and FTIR techniques allowed the characterization of the major constituent of Hypericum perforatum L., mainly hypericin, as well as of Usnea barbata, mainly usnic acid.

Effects of some antiseptics and disinfectants on Staphylococcus ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

A total of 6 antiseptics and disinfectants at varying concentrations (20% - 100%) and contact time (10-60 minutes) were tested for the efficacy in the reduction of Staphylococcus aureus isolated from the hands of volunteers. Disinfectant 1 was the most effective disinfectant being bactericidal to S. aureus at 100% ...

In vitro investigation of the follicular penetration of porcine ear skin using a nanoparticle-emulsion containing the antiseptic polihexanide

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ulmer, M; Patzelt, A; Lademann, J; Richter, H; Sterry, W; Lange-Asschenfeldt, B; Vergou, T; Kramer, A; Mueller, G

2012-01-01

Earlier investigations regarding the distribution of the bacterial flora on the human skin demonstrate that the hair follicle acts as a bacterial reservoir, providing a quick source for secondary recontamination. These findings highlight the importance of the hair follicle as a target for modern antiseptics. In the present study, we have assessed the follicular penetration of a curcumin-labeled particle-associated antiseptic into porcine skin by laser scanning microscopy. Therefore, the follicular penetration depth of the curcumin-labeled particle-associated antiseptic was compared to the follicular penetration depth of curcumin-labeled particles without antiseptic. The investigation was performed in vitro using porcine skin biopsies. By superposition of the images acquired in the transmission and the fluorescent modus, it was possible to visualize the distribution of the fluorescent dye inside the hair follicles. Quantitative and qualitative results showed that both dispersions penetrated efficiently into the hair follicles. The average penetration depth of the particles with attached antiseptic polihexanide was significantly higher than that of particles without the attached antiseptic. Also, whilst very little sample preparation was needed, laser scanning microscopy was found to be an efficient tool to visualize the skin relief and in particular the hair follicle shaft and localize fluorescent markers within the skin tissue and hair follicles

[CLINICAL EVALUATION OF THE NEW ANTISEPTIC MESHES].

Science.gov (United States)

Gogoladze, M; Kiladze, M; Chkhikvadze, T; Jiqia, D

2016-12-01

Improving the results of hernia treatment and prevention of complications became a goal of our research which included two parts - experimental and clinical. Histomorphological and bacteriological researches showed that the best result out of the 3 control groups was received in case of covering implant "Coladerm"+ with chlorhexidine. Based on the experiment results working process continued in clinics in order to test and introduce new "coladerm"+ chlorhexidine covered poliprophilene meshes into practice. For clinical illustration there were 60 patients introduced to the research who had hernioplasty procedures by different nets: I group - standard meshes+"coladerm"+chlorhexidine, 35 patients; II group - standard meshes +"coladerm", 15 patients; III group - standard meshes, 10 patients. Assessment of the wound and echo-control was done post-surgery on the 8th, 30th and 90th days. This clinical research based on the experimental results once again showed the best anti-microbe features of new antiseptic polymeric biocomposite meshes (standard meshes+"coladerm"+chlorhexidine); timely termination of regeneration and reparation processes without any post-surgery suppurative complications. We hope that new antiseptic polymeric biocomposite meshes presented by us will be successfully used in surgical practice of hernia treatment based on and supported by expermental-clinical research.

Choline and Geranate Deep Eutectic Solvent as a Broad-Spectrum Antiseptic Agent for Preventive and Therapeutic Applications.

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Zakrewsky, Michael; Banerjee, Amrita; Apte, Sanjana; Kern, Theresa L; Jones, Mattie R; Sesto, Rico E Del; Koppisch, Andrew T; Fox, David T; Mitragotri, Samir

2016-06-01

Antiseptic agents are the primary arsenal to disinfect skin and prevent pathogens spreading within the host as well as into the surroundings; however the Food and Drug Administration published a report in 2015 requiring additional validation of nearly all current antiseptic agents before their continued use can be allowed. This vulnerable position calls for urgent identification of novel antiseptic agents. Recently, the ability of a deep eutectic, Choline And Geranate (CAGE), to treat biofilms of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Salmonella enterica was demonstrated. Here it is reported that CAGE exhibits broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity against a number of drug-resistant bacteria, fungi, and viruses including clinical isolates of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Staphylococcus aureus, and Candida albicans as well as laboratory strains of Herpes Simplex Virus. Studies in human keratinocytes and mice show that CAGE affords negligible local or systemic toxicity, and an ≈180-14 000-fold improved efficacy/toxicity ratio over currently used antiseptic agents. Further, CAGE penetrates deep into the dermis and treats pathogens located in deep skin layers as confirmed by the ability of CAGE in vivo to treat Propionibacterium acnes infection. In combination, the results clearly demonstrate CAGE holds promise as a transformative platform antiseptic agent for preventive as well as therapeutic applications. © 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Comparison of Four Antiseptic Preparations for Skin in the Prevention of Contamination of Percutaneously Drawn Blood Cultures: a Randomized Trial

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Calfee, David P.; Farr, Barry M.

2002-01-01

A number of skin antiseptics have been used to prevent the contamination of blood cultures, but the comparative efficacies of these agents have not been extensively evaluated. We therefore sought to compare the efficacy of four skin antiseptics in preventing blood culture contamination in a randomized, crossover, investigator-blinded study conducted in an emergency department and the inpatient wards of a university hospital. The patient group included all patients from whom blood samples were obtained percutaneously for culture. Skin antisepsis was performed with 10% povidone-iodine, 70% isopropyl alcohol, tincture of iodine, or povidone-iodine with 70% ethyl alcohol (i.e., Persist). The blood culture contamination rate associated with each antiseptic was then determined. A total of 333 (2.62%) of 12,692 blood cultures were contaminated during the study period compared to 413 (3.21%) of 12,859 blood cultures obtained during the previous 12-month period (relative risk = 0.82; 95% confidence interval, 0.71 to 0.94; P = 0.006). During the study, the contamination rates were determined to be 2.93% with povidone-iodine, 2.58% with tincture of iodine, 2.50% with isopropyl alcohol, and 2.46% with Persist (P = 0.62). We detected no significant differences in the blood culture contamination rates among these four antiseptics, although there was some evidence suggesting greater efficacy among the alcohol-containing antiseptics. Among the evaluated antiseptics, isopropyl alcohol may be the optimal antiseptic for use prior to obtaining blood for culture, given its convenience, low cost, and tolerability. PMID:11980938

Antibiotic and antiseptic resistance genes are linked on a novel mobile genetic element: Tn6087

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Ciric, Lena; Mullany, Peter; Roberts, Adam P.

2011-01-01

Objectives Tn916-like elements are one of the most common types of integrative and conjugative element (ICE). In this study we aimed to determine whether novel accessory genes, i.e. genes whose products are not involved in mobility or regulation, were present on a Tn916-like element (Tn6087) isolated from Streptococcus oralis from the human oral cavity. Methods A minocycline-resistant isolate was analysed using restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis on amplicons derived from Tn916 and DNA sequencing to determine whether there were genetic differences in Tn6087 compared with Tn916. Mutational analysis was used to determine whether the novel accessory gene found was responsible for an observed extra phenotype. Results A novel Tn916-like element, Tn6087, is described that encodes both antibiotic and antiseptic resistance. The antiseptic resistance protein is encoded by a novel small multidrug resistance gene, designated qrg, that was shown to encode resistance to cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB), also known as cetrimide bromide. Conclusions This is the first Tn916-like element described that confers both antibiotic and antiseptic resistance, suggesting that selection of either antibiotic or antiseptic resistance will also select for the other and further highlights the need for prudent use of both types of compound. PMID:21816764

Effects of the antimicrobial contaminant triclocarban and co-exposure with the androgen 17â-trenbolone, on reproductive function and ovarian transcriptome of the fathead minnow (Pimephales promelas)

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Triclocarban (TCC) is a widely used antimicrobial agent that is routinely detected in surface waters. The present study was designed to examine TCC’s efficacy and mode of action as a reproductive toxicant in fish. Reproductively mature Pimephales promelas were continuously expose...

Evaluating the Effectivenes of Antiseptic Solution Decasan in Treatment of Necrotic Soft Tisue Diseases.

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Fuss, Julia; Palii, Victor; Voloboyeva, Anna

2016-10-01

Sepsis is a severe generalised infection caused usually by pathogenic bacteria. It is often the cause of hospitalization and death in patients treated in intensive care and other hospital wards. Latest research brought to better understanding of patomechanisms, took place significant development of therapy heading to improvement of general patients condition treated as a basis and additionally supported by local therapy. The aim of the study was to evaluate the possibility of using the solution Decasan in the comprehensive treatment of patients necrosis of soft tissues. The study included 192 patients (W/M 103/89; average -aged 53.35 ± 5.36 years). According to the classification of septic states (Chicago, 1991), patients were divided into three groups: first - patients to the local form of the infection, the second - with Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (SIRS), which lasted up to 72 hours and the third - patients with various forms of sepsis, SIRS in which lasted 72 hours. As a result of our studies carried out in patients where the wound was made decontamination solution Decasanu, received: pain reduction, decrease tissue swelling, early debridement of the wound and the appearance in the wound granulation, to reduce delays wound healing. Proposed algorithms treatment of various forms of sepsis, pointed out the essential elements, ie.: a comprehensive approach to the treatment of infection by early surgical intervention, intensive supportive therapy (fluid resuscitation), antibiotic therapy directed to microorganisms that cause infections and topical antiseptics therapy (solution Decasanu). The preparation antiseptic Decasan can be safely used for disinfection of skin, mucous membranes and wounds in the foci of infections caused by bacteria, fungi and protozoa.

Review on the efficacy, safety and clinical applications of polihexanide, a modern wound antiseptic.

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Hübner, N-O; Kramer, A

2010-01-01

Infected wounds are still one of the great challenges in medicine. In the last decade, it has become increasingly clear that antimicrobial chemotherapy is limited by the spread of antimicrobial resistance. Fortunately, new, highly effective antiseptic substances with a broad antimicrobial spectrum are available, so local treatment is expected to get increasingly more important in wound therapy. This paper reviews the antiseptic agent polihexanide (polyhexamethylene biguanide, PHMB), one of the most promising substances available today, from a clinical point of view, focusing on efficacy, safety and clinical applications. Copyright © 2010 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Response to antiseptic agents of periodontal pathogens in in vitro biofilms on titanium and zirconium surfaces.

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Sánchez, M C; Fernández, E; Llama-Palacios, A; Figuero, E; Herrera, D; Sanz, M

2017-04-01

The aim of this study was to develop in vitro biofilms on SLA titanium (Ti-SLA) and zirconium oxide (ZrO 2 ) surfaces and to evaluate the effect of antiseptic agents on the number of putative periodontal pathogenic species. An in vitro biofilm model was developed on sterile discs of Ti-SLA and ZrO 2 . Three antiseptic agents [chlorhexidine and cetyl-pyridinium-chloride (CHX/CPC), essential oils (EEOOs) and cetyl-peridinium-chloride (CPC)] were applied to 72-h biofilms, immersing discs during 1min in the antiseptic solution, either with or without mechanical disruption. Viable bacteria [colony forming units (CFU/mL)] were measured by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) combined with propidium monoazide. A generalized lineal model was constructed to determine the effect of the agents on the viable bacterial counts of Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans, Porphyromonas gingivalis and Fusobacterium nucleatum on each surface. The exposure to each antiseptic solution resulted in a statistically significant reductions in the number of viable target species included in the in vitro multi-species biofilm, on both Ti-SLA and ZrO 2 (pzirconium surfaces, in spite of the described structural differences between these bacterial communities. Copyright © 2017 The Academy of Dental Materials. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Migration of Parabens, Bisphenols, Benzophenone-Type UV Filters, Triclosan, and Triclocarban from Teethers and Its Implications for Infant Exposure.

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Asimakopoulos, Alexandros G; Elangovan, Madhavan; Kannan, Kurunthachalam

2016-12-20

Parabens (p-hydroxybenzoic acid esters), bisphenols, benzophenone-type UV filters, triclosan, and triclocarban are used in a variety of consumer products, including baby teethers. Nevertheless, the exposure of infants to these chemicals through the use of teethers is still unknown. In this study, 59 teethers, encompassing three types, namely solid plastic, gel-filled, and water-filled (most labeled "bisphenol A-free"), were collected from the U.S. market and analyzed for 26 potential endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) from intact surfaces through migration/leaching tests performed with Milli-Q water and methanol. The total amount of the sum of six parent parabens (Σ 6 Parabens) leached from teethers ranged from 2.0 to 1990 ng, whereas that of their four transformation products (Σ 4 Parabens) ranged from 0.47 to 839 ng. The total amount of the sum of nine bisphenols (Σ 9 bisphenols) and 5 benzophenones (Σ 5 benzophenones) leached from teethers ranged from 1.93 to 213 ng and 0.59 to 297 ng, respectively. Triclosan and triclocarban were found in the extracts of teethers at approximately 10-fold less amounts than were bisphenols and benzophenones. Based on the amount leached into Milli-Q water, daily intake of these chemicals was estimated from the use of teethers by infants at 12 months of age. This is the first study to document the occurrence and migration of a wide range EDCs from intact surfaces of baby teethers.

Antiseptics and microcosm biofilm formation on titanium surfaces

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Georgia VERARDI

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Oral rehabilitation with osseointegrated implants is a way to restore esthetics and masticatory function in edentulous patients, but bacterial colonization around the implants may lead to mucositis or peri-implantitis and consequent implant loss. Peri-implantitis is the main complication of oral rehabilitation with dental implants and, therefore, it is necessary to take into account the potential effects of antiseptics such as chlorhexidine (CHX, chloramine T (CHT, triclosan (TRI, and essential oils (EO on bacterial adhesion and on biofilm formation. To assess the action of these substances, we used the microcosm technique, in which the oral environment and periodontal conditions are simulated in vitro on titanium discs with different surface treatments (smooth surface - SS, acid-etched smooth surface - AESS, sand-blasted surface - SBS, and sand-blasted and acid-etched surface - SBAES. Roughness measurements yielded the following results: SS: 0.47 µm, AESS: 0.43 µm, SB: 0.79 µm, and SBAES: 0.72 µm. There was statistical difference only between SBS and AESS. There was no statistical difference among antiseptic treatments. However, EO and CHT showed lower bacterial counts compared with the saline solution treatment (control group. Thus, the current gold standard (CHX did not outperform CHT and EO, which were efficient in reducing the biofilm biomass compared with saline solution.

Eradication of multidrug-resistant A. baumannii in burn wounds by antiseptic pulsed electric field

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Golberg, Alexander; Broelsch, G. Felix; Vecchio, Daniela; Khan, Saiqa; Hamblin, Michael R.; Austen, William G.; Sheridan, Robert L.; Yarmush, Martin L.

2014-01-01

Emerging bacterial resistance to multiple drugs is an increasing problem in burn wound management. New non-pharmacologic interventions are needed for burn wound disinfection. Here we report on a novel physical method for disinfection: antiseptic pulsed electric field (PEF) applied externally to the infected burns. In a mice model, we show that PEF can reduce the load of multidrug resistant Acinetobacter baumannii present in a full thickness burn wound by more than four orders of magnitude, as detected by bioluminescence imaging. Furthermore, using a finite element numerical model, we demonstrate that PEF provides non-thermal, homogeneous, full thickness treatment for the burn wound, thus, overcoming the limitation of treatment depth for many topical antimicrobials. These modeling tools and our in vivo results will be extremely useful for further translation of the PEF technology to the clinical setting, as they provide the essential elements for planning of electrode design and treatment protocol. PMID:25089285

A systematic review and meta-analysis on the use of prophylactic topical antibiotics for the prevention of uncomplicated wound infections

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Tong Q

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Qiao-Jing Tong,1 Kimberly DP Hammer,2,3 Erika M Johnson,4 Milagros Zegarra,2,3 Michihiko Goto,5,6 Tze Shien Lo3,7 1Department of Infection Control, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China; 2Research Service, Fargo VA Health Care System; 3Department of Internal Medicine, University of North Dakota, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Fargo, ND, USA; 4Library Resources, University of North Dakota, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Fargo, ND, USA; 5Center for Comprehensive Access & Delivery Research & Evaluation (CADRE, Iowa City VA Health Care System, West Iowa City, IA, USA; 6Department of Internal Medicine, University of Iowa, Carver College of Medicine, Iowa City, IA, USA; 7Infectious Disease Service, Fargo VA Health Care System, Fargo, ND, USA Background: The prescription of topical antibiotics for the prevention of infections in uncomplicated wounds is common. However, the efficacy is not well reported. Therefore, the objective of the study was to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis of the available evidence on prevention of uncomplicated wound infections by prophylactic topical antibiotics. Materials and methods: The search included Pubmed, Google Scholar, SCOPUS, Embase, Cochrane, ClinicalTrials.gov, International Clinical Trials Registry Platform, National Technical Information Service, and the National Guidelines Clearinghouse. Results: We identified eight randomized controlled trials and four quasi-randomized trials that met the criteria for the systematic review. Of these trials, 11 studies were pooled for meta-analysis to compare the effects of topical antibiotics versus placebo and 4 studies were pooled for comparison of effects of topical antibiotics versus topical antiseptics on uncomplicated wounds. Fewer wound infections occurred in the topical antibiotic arms compared to placebo (pooled risk ratio: 0.57 [95% CI: 0.37 to 0.86]; p=0.01 and pooled risk

Cytokine expression in human osteoblasts after antiseptic treatment: a comparative study between polyhexanide and chlorhexidine.

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Röhner, Eric; Hoff, Paula; Gaber, Timo; Lang, Annemarie; Vörös, Pauline; Buttgereit, Frank; Perka, Carsten; Windisch, Christoph; Matziolis, Georg

2015-02-01

Chlorhexidine and polyhexanide are frequently used antiseptics in clinical practice and have a broad antimicrobial range. Both antiseptics are helpful medical agents for septic wound treatment with a high potential for defeating joint infections. Their effect on human osteoblasts has, so far, not been sufficiently evaluated. The aim of this study was to investigate the activating potential of polyhexanide and chlorhexidine on inflammatory cytokines/chemokines in human osteoblasts in vitro. Human osteoblasts were isolated and cultivated in vitro and then treated separately with 0.1% and 2% chlorhexidine and 0.04% polyhexanide as commonly applied concentrations in clinical practice. Detection of cell structure and cell morphology was performed by light microscopic inspection. Cytokine and chemokine secretion was determined by using a multiplex suspension array. Cell shrinking, defective cell membrane, and the loss of cell adhesion indicated cell damage of human osteoblasts after treatment with both antiseptics was evaluated by using light microscopy. Polyhexanide, but not chlorhexidine, caused human osteoblasts to secrete various interleukins (1β, 6, and 7), interferon γ, tumor necrosis factor α, vascular endothelial growth factor, eotaxin, fibroblast growth factor basic, and granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor as quantified by multiplex suspension array. Both antiseptics induced morphological cell damage at an optimum exposure between 1 and 10 min. But only polyhexanide mediated a pronounced secretion of inflammatory cytokines and chemokines in human osteoblasts. Therefore, we recommend a preferred usage of chlorhexidine in septic surgery to avoid the induction of an inflammatory reaction.

Suprathel-acetic acid matrix versus acticoat and aquacel as an antiseptic dressing: an in vitro study.

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Ryssel, Henning; Germann, Günter; Riedel, Katrin; Reichenberger, Matthias; Hellmich, Susanne; Kloeters, Oliver

2010-10-01

The treatment of burn wounds is still a challenge regarding the management of antiseptic wound conditioning. Especially, in the United States, silver-containing dressings, such as Acticoat and Aquacel are frequently used. Because silver-containing dressings have well-known drawbacks such as an antimicrobial lack against Pseudomonas aeruginosa, we sought to develop an alternative dressing method. In previous studies, we could demonstrate the excellent antiseptic properties of acetic acid against common burn unit germs, and in another study, the feasibility and suitability of a Suprathel-acetic acid matrix as an antiseptic dressing. This study was designed to test the in vitro antimicrobial effect of a Suprathel-acetic acid matrix versus Acticoat and Aquacel. To cover the typical bacterial spectrum of a burn unit, the following Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria strains were tested: Escherichia coli, extended-spectrum beta-lactamase-positive Klebsiella pneumoniae, P. aeruginosa, Acinetobacter baumannii, Enterococcus faecalis, and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. The tests showed an excellent bactericidal effect of the Suprathel-acetic acid matrix particularly with problematic Gram-negative bacteria such as Proteus vulgaris, P. aeruginosa, and Acinetobacter baumannii. The efficiency was superior to that of Acicoat and Aquacel. Our results support the notion, that the Suprathel-acetic acid matrix has an excellent bactericidal effect and therefore seems to be suitable as a local antiseptic agent in the treatment of burn wounds.

Antiseptic cyclodextrin-functionalized hydrogels and gauzes for loading and delivery of benzalkonium chloride.

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Garcia-Fernandez, Maria José; Brackman, Gilles; Coenye, Tom; Concheiro, Angel; Alvarez-Lorenzo, Carmen

2013-01-01

Prevention and management of wound infections receive a lot of attention, since the presence of micro-organisms interferes with the wound-healing process. The aim of this work was to use cyclodextrins (CDs) to endow hydrogels and gauzes with the ability to take up antiseptics and sustain their delivery for several hours. Benzalkonium chloride (BzCl) can form inclusion complexes with cross-linked CDs that regulate the release through an affinity-driven mechanism. Grafting of CDs to cotton gauzes using citric acid as the linker, at 190 °C and for 15 min, led to grafting yields of about 148%, much larger than those obtained at 180 °C or with shorter reaction times. Microbiological tests revealed that the BzCl-loaded networks can inhibit the growth of Staphylococcus epidermidis and Escherichia coli both on agar plates and in liquid medium. Furthermore, the antiseptic-loaded gauzes were able to inhibit biofilm formation by Staphylococcus aureus RN1HG pMV158GFP when applied in early stages of biofilm formation and could reduce the number of living cells in preformed biofilms grown in a chronic wound biofilm model. These findings highlight the role of CDs as main components of hydrogels and gauzes for the efficient delivery of antiseptics.

In vitro antimicrobial activity of a commercial ear antiseptic containing chlorhexidine and Tris-EDTA.

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Guardabassi, Luca; Ghibaudo, Giovanni; Damborg, Peter

2010-06-01

Minimum bactericidal concentrations (MBCs) of a commercial ear antiseptic containing chlorhexidine 0.15% and Tris-EDTA (Otodine) were determined by broth microdilution for 150 isolates representing the most common pathogens associated with canine otitis. The microorganisms were classified into three groups according to their levels of susceptibility. The most susceptible group included Staphylococcus pseudintermedius, Malassezia pachydermatis, Streptococcus canis and Corynebacterium auriscanis, which were generally killed by 1 : 64 dilution of the antiseptic product (MBC = 23/0.8 microg/mL of chlorhexidine/Tris-EDTA). The most resistant organism was Proteus mirabilis, which survived up to 1 : 8 dilution of the product (MBC = 375/12 microg/mL). Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus displayed intermediate MBCs ranging between 188/6 and 47/1.5 microg/mL. Interestingly, S. pseudintermedius was more susceptible than S. aureus, and no significant difference was observed between meticillin-resistant and meticillin-susceptible isolates within each species, indicating that antiseptic use is unlikely to co-select for meticillin resistance. Although the concentrations required for killing (MBCs) varied considerably with microorganism type, the combination of chlorhexidine 0.15% and Tris-EDTA was active against all the pathogens most commonly involved in canine otitis.

[Sanation of biliary system using antiseptic decasan in complex treatment of cholangitis].

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Aripova, N U; Magzumov, I Kh

2014-02-01

Experience of treatment of 17 patients, suffering cholangitis of various genesis, using antiseptic Decasan, is presented. Clinical efficacy of the preparation in complex treatment of cholangitis, confirmed by results of the bile bacteriological investigation, was noted.

Impact of biosolids on the persistence and dissipation pathways of triclosan and triclocarban in an agricultural soil

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Al-Rajab, Abdul Jabbar; Sabourin, Lyne; Scott, Andrew [Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, London, ON, Canada N5V 4T3 (Canada); Lapen, David R. [Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Ottawa, ON, Canada K1A 0C6 (Canada); Topp, Edward [Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, London, ON, Canada N5V 4T3 (Canada)

2009-11-15

The broad spectrum antimicrobial agents triclosan (TCS) and triclocarban (TCC) are widely used in many personal care products. Knowledge concerning the fate of these two compounds in different environmental matrices is scarce. In this study, the fate of TCS and TCC in soil following direct addition, or when residues were applied via either liquid municipal biosolids (LMB) or dewatered municipal biosolids (DMB) was investigated in laboratory dissipation experiments and under outdoor conditions using radioisotope methods. In laboratory incubations, {sup 14}C-TCC or {sup 14}C-TCS was added to microcosms containing a loam soil and the rate of {sup 14}CO{sub 2} accumulation and loss of solvent-extractable {sup 14}C were determined during incubation at 30 {sup o}C. Compared to when TCC or TCS was added directly to soil, both chemicals were mineralized more rapidly when applied in LMB, and both were mineralized more slowly when applied in DMB. The application matrix had no effect on the rate of removal of extractable residues. In field experiments, parent compounds were incorporated directly in soil, incorporated via LMB, or a single aggregate of amended DMB was applied to the soil surface. During the experiment soil temperatures ranged from 20 {sup o}C to 10 {sup o}C. Dissipation was much slower in the field than in the laboratory experiments. Removal of non-extractable residues was faster in the presence of LMB than the other treatments. Recovery of extractable and non-extractable residues suggested that there was little atmospheric loss of {sup 14}C. Triclocarban readily formed non-extractable residues with DMB whereas TCS did not. Overall, this study has identified that both the pathways and the kinetics of TCS and TCC dissipation in soil are different when the chemicals are carried in biosolids compared to when these chemicals are added directly to the soil.

Impact of biosolids on the persistence and dissipation pathways of triclosan and triclocarban in an agricultural soil

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Al-Rajab, Abdul Jabbar; Sabourin, Lyne; Scott, Andrew; Lapen, David R.; Topp, Edward

2009-01-01

The broad spectrum antimicrobial agents triclosan (TCS) and triclocarban (TCC) are widely used in many personal care products. Knowledge concerning the fate of these two compounds in different environmental matrices is scarce. In this study, the fate of TCS and TCC in soil following direct addition, or when residues were applied via either liquid municipal biosolids (LMB) or dewatered municipal biosolids (DMB) was investigated in laboratory dissipation experiments and under outdoor conditions using radioisotope methods. In laboratory incubations, 14 C-TCC or 14 C-TCS was added to microcosms containing a loam soil and the rate of 14 CO 2 accumulation and loss of solvent-extractable 14 C were determined during incubation at 30 o C. Compared to when TCC or TCS was added directly to soil, both chemicals were mineralized more rapidly when applied in LMB, and both were mineralized more slowly when applied in DMB. The application matrix had no effect on the rate of removal of extractable residues. In field experiments, parent compounds were incorporated directly in soil, incorporated via LMB, or a single aggregate of amended DMB was applied to the soil surface. During the experiment soil temperatures ranged from 20 o C to 10 o C. Dissipation was much slower in the field than in the laboratory experiments. Removal of non-extractable residues was faster in the presence of LMB than the other treatments. Recovery of extractable and non-extractable residues suggested that there was little atmospheric loss of 14 C. Triclocarban readily formed non-extractable residues with DMB whereas TCS did not. Overall, this study has identified that both the pathways and the kinetics of TCS and TCC dissipation in soil are different when the chemicals are carried in biosolids compared to when these chemicals are added directly to the soil.

Impact of Health Care Exposure on Genotypic Antiseptic Tolerance in Staphylococcus aureus Infections in a Pediatric Population.

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McNeil, J Chase; Hultén, Kristina G; Mason, Edward O; Kaplan, Sheldon L

2017-07-01

Staphylococcus aureus possessing either the smr gene or the qacA/B genes is associated with decreased susceptibility to chlorhexidine gluconate (CHG) and other antiseptics. Previous studies of antiseptic-tolerant staphylococci have focused largely on high-risk populations, and the exact role of health care exposure in the acquisition of these organisms is unclear. We sought to describe the risk factors and features of infection caused by antiseptic-tolerant S. aureus in a general pediatric population. Isolates were selected from an ongoing S. aureus surveillance study. Every third sequential isolate in the year 2014 was selected for inclusion. All isolates underwent PCR for the genes qacA/B and smr Medical records were reviewed. Five hundred six isolates were included in the study, with 377 (74.3%) being community acquired. One hundred (19.8%) isolates were smr positive and 79 (15.6%) qacA/B positive. In univariable analyses, the presence of either gene was associated with underlying medical conditions, nosocomial acquisition, recent hospitalization, central venous lines, and CHG exposure. In multivariable analyses, only differences between patients with chronic medical conditions (odds ratio [OR] = 1.72; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.22 to 2.64) and nosocomial acquisition (OR = 2.48; 95% CI, 1.16 to 8.17) remained statistically significant. Among patients without risk factors, 27.9% had infection with an antiseptic-tolerant isolate. smr - or qacA/B -positive S. aureus isolates are common in children and are independently associated with nosocomial acquisition and underlying medical conditions. These findings imply a role for the health care environment in acquisition of these organisms. However, genotypic antiseptic tolerance was seen in >25% of healthy children with an S. aureus infection, indicating that these organism are prevalent in the community as well. Copyright © 2017 American Society for Microbiology.

Effects of antiseptic mouthwash on resting metabolic rate: A randomized, double-blind, crossover study.

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Sundqvist, Michaela L; Lundberg, Jon O; Weitzberg, Eddie

2016-12-30

The nitrate-nitrite-nitric oxide pathway has emerged as a significant source of nitric oxide (NO) bioactivity. Dietary intake of inorganic nitrate has a number of cardiovascular effects as well as a decrease in oxygen cost during exercise and a reduction in resting metabolic rate (RMR). Oral bacteria have a key role in bioactivation of inorganic nitrate since they catalyse the conversion of salivary nitrate to the more reactive nitrite anion. Recent studies demonstrate that blood pressure increases with the use of an antiseptic mouthwash, indicating that endogenous, NO-synthase derived nitrate is recycled into nitrite and NO, sufficiently to modulate cardiovascular function. Here we tested if also RMR would be affected by an antiseptic mouthwash. Seventeen healthy normotensive female subjects (23 ± 4 y) participated in this randomized, double-blinded, crossover study. During two 3-day periods separated by 28 days the subjects consumed a diet low in nitrate combined with rinsing their mouth three times daily with a chlorhexidine-containing mouthwash (mouthwash) or placebo mouthwash (placebo) with similar taste but no antiseptic properties. Resting metabolic rate (RMR) was measured by indirect calorimetry and 24 h ambulatory blood pressure recordings were obtained after each intervention together with blood, saliva and urine samples. Treatment with chlorhexidine-containing mouthwash effectively reduced oral conversion of nitrate to nitrite but had no effect on plasma levels of these anions or plasma cGMP. RMR and 24 h ambulatory blood pressure were unaffected by the intervention. We conclude that in young healthy females an antiseptic mouthwash was effective in disrupting oral bacterial nitrate conversion to nitrite, but this was not associated with changes in plasma nitrite, RMR or blood pressure. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Effect on infection resistance of a local antiseptic and antibiotic coating on osteosynthesis implants: an in vitro and in vivo study.

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Kälicke, Thomas; Schierholz, Jörg; Schlegel, Urs; Frangen, Thomas Manfred; Köller, Manfred; Printzen, Gert; Seybold, Dominik; Klöckner, Stefan; Muhr, Gert; Arens, Stephan

2006-08-01

The purpose of this study was to acquire information about the effect of an antibacterial and biodegradable poly-L-lactide (PLLA) coated titanium plate osteosynthesis on local infection resistance. For our in vitro and in vivo experiments, we used six-hole AO DC minifragment titanium plates. The implants were coated with biodegradable, semiamorphous PLLA (coating about 30 microm thick). This acted as a carrier substance to which either antibiotics or antiseptics were added. The antibiotic we applied was a combination of Rifampicin and fusidic acid; the antiseptic was a combination of Octenidin and Irgasan. This produced the following groups: Group I: six-hole AO DC minifragment titanium plate without PLLA; Group II: six-hole AO DC minifragment titanium plate with PLLA without antibiotics/antiseptics; Group III: six-hole AO DC minifragment titanium plate with PLLA + 3% Rifampicin and 7% fusidic acid; Group IV: six-hole AO DC minifragment titanium plate with PLLA + 2% Octenidin and 8% Irgasan. In vitro, we investigated the degradation and the release of the PLLA coating over a period of 6 weeks, the bactericidal efficacy of antibiotics/antiseptics after their release from the coating and the bacterial adhesion of Staphylococcus aureus to the implants. In vivo, we compared the infection rates in white New Zealand rabbits after titanium plate osteosynthesis of the tibia with or without antibacterial coating after local percutaneous bacterial inoculations at different concentrations (2 x 10(5)-2 x 10(8)): The plate, the contaminated soft tissues and the underlying bone were removed under sterile conditions after 28 days and quantitatively evaluated for bacterial growth. A stepwise experimental design with an "up-and-down" dosage technique was used to adjust the bacterial challenge in the area of the ID50 (50% infection dose). Statistical evaluation of the differences between the infection rates of both groups was performed using the two-sided Fisher exact test (p

Dissipation of triclosan, triclocarban, carbamazepine and naproxen in agricultural soil following surface or sub-surface application of dewatered municipal biosolids

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Al-Rajab, Abdul Jabbar; Sabourin, Lyne [Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, London, ON N5V 4T3 (Canada); Lapen, David R. [Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Ottawa, ON K1A 0C6 (Canada); Topp, Edward, E-mail: ed.topp@agr.gc.ca [Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, London, ON N5V 4T3 (Canada); Department of Biology, Western University, London, ON N6A 5B7 (Canada)

2015-04-15

In many jurisdictions land application of municipal biosolids is a valued source of nutrients for crop production. The practice must be managed to ensure that crops and adjacent water are not subject to contamination by pharmaceuticals or other organic contaminants. The broad spectrum antimicrobial agents triclosan (TCS) and triclocarban (TCC), the anti-epileptic drug carbamazepine (CBZ), and the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug naproxen (NAP) are widely used and are carried in biosolids. In the present study, the effect of biosolids and depth of placement in the soil profile on the rates of TCS, TCC, CBZ, and NAP dissipation were evaluated under semi-field conditions. Aggregates of dewatered municipal biosolids (DMBs) supplemented with {sup 14}C-labeled residues were applied either on the soil surface or in the subsurface of the soil profile, and incubated over several months under ambient outdoor conditions. The dissipation of TCS, TCC and NAP was significantly faster in sub-surface than surface applied biosolid aggregates. In contrast the dissipation rate for CBZ was the same in surface applied and incorporated aggregates. Overall, the present study has determined a significant effect of depth of placement on the dissipation rate of biodegradable molecules. - Highlights: • We characterized the soil fate of four organic contaminants carried in biosolids. • Biosolids were placed on the soil surface or incorporated within the soil profile. • Naproxen, triclosan and triclocarban were dissipated more rapidly when incorporated. • Depth of placement did not influence the rate of carbamazepine dissipation. • Soil incorporation of biosolids will result in more rapid dissipation of contaminants.

Dissipation of triclosan, triclocarban, carbamazepine and naproxen in agricultural soil following surface or sub-surface application of dewatered municipal biosolids

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Al-Rajab, Abdul Jabbar; Sabourin, Lyne; Lapen, David R.; Topp, Edward

2015-01-01

In many jurisdictions land application of municipal biosolids is a valued source of nutrients for crop production. The practice must be managed to ensure that crops and adjacent water are not subject to contamination by pharmaceuticals or other organic contaminants. The broad spectrum antimicrobial agents triclosan (TCS) and triclocarban (TCC), the anti-epileptic drug carbamazepine (CBZ), and the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug naproxen (NAP) are widely used and are carried in biosolids. In the present study, the effect of biosolids and depth of placement in the soil profile on the rates of TCS, TCC, CBZ, and NAP dissipation were evaluated under semi-field conditions. Aggregates of dewatered municipal biosolids (DMBs) supplemented with 14 C-labeled residues were applied either on the soil surface or in the subsurface of the soil profile, and incubated over several months under ambient outdoor conditions. The dissipation of TCS, TCC and NAP was significantly faster in sub-surface than surface applied biosolid aggregates. In contrast the dissipation rate for CBZ was the same in surface applied and incorporated aggregates. Overall, the present study has determined a significant effect of depth of placement on the dissipation rate of biodegradable molecules. - Highlights: • We characterized the soil fate of four organic contaminants carried in biosolids. • Biosolids were placed on the soil surface or incorporated within the soil profile. • Naproxen, triclosan and triclocarban were dissipated more rapidly when incorporated. • Depth of placement did not influence the rate of carbamazepine dissipation. • Soil incorporation of biosolids will result in more rapid dissipation of contaminants

Effects of Antiseptic Solutions Commonly Used in Dentistry on Bone Viability, Bone Morphology, and Release of Growth Factors.

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Sawada, Kosaku; Fujioka-Kobayashi, Masako; Kobayashi, Eizaburo; Schaller, Benoit; Miron, Richard J

2016-02-01

Antiseptic solutions are commonly used in dentistry for a number of sterilization procedures, including harvesting of bone chips, irrigation of extraction sockets, and sterilization of osteonecrotic bone. Despite its widespread use, little information is available regarding the effects of various antiseptic solutions on bone cell viability, morphology, and the release of growth factors. The antiseptic solutions included 1) 0.5% povidone iodine (PI), 2) 0.2% chlorhexidine diguluconate (CHX), 3) 1% hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), and 4) 0.25% sodium hypochlorite (HYP). Bone samples collected from porcine mandibular cortical bone were rinsed in the antiseptic solutions for 10 minutes and assessed for cell viability using an MTS assay and protein release of transforming growth factor (TGF-β1), bone morphogenetic protein 2 (BMP2), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), interleukin (IL)-1β, and receptor activator of nuclear factor κB ligand (RANKL) using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay at 15 minutes and 4 hours after rinsing. After antiseptic rinsing, changes to the surface protein content showed marked alterations, with an abundant protein layer remaining on CHX-rinsed bone samples. The amount of surface protein content gradually decreased in the following order: CHX, H2O2, PI, and HYP. A similar trend was also observed for the relative cell viability from within bone samples after rinsing, with up to 6 times more viable cells found in the CHX-rinsed bone samples than in the HYP- and PI-rinsed samples. An analysis of the growth factors found that both HYP and PI had significantly lower VEGF and TGF-β1 protein release from bone samples at 15 minutes and 4 hours after rinsing compared with CHX and H2O2. A similar trend was observed for RANKL and IL-1β protein release, although no change was observed for BMP2. The results from the present study have demonstrated that antiseptic solutions present with very different effects on bone samples after 10 minutes of

Inhibition of soluble epoxide hydrolase contributes to the anti-inflammatory effect of antimicrobial triclocarban in a murine model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu Junyan; Qiu Hong; Morisseau, Christophe; Hwang, Sung Hee; Tsai, Hsing-Ju; Ulu, Arzu; Chiamvimonvat, Nipavan; Hammock, Bruce D.

2011-01-01

The increasing use of the antimicrobial triclocarban (TCC) in personal care products (PCPs) has resulted in concern regarding environmental pollution. TCC is a potent inhibitor of soluble epoxide hydrolase (sEH). Inhibitors of sEH (sEHIs) are anti-inflammatory, anti-hypertensive and cardio-protective in multiple animal models. However, the in vivo effects anticipated from a sEHI have not been reported for TCC. Here we demonstrated the anti-inflammatory effects in vivo of TCC in a murine model. TCC was employed in a lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-challenged murine model. Systolic blood pressure, plasma levels of several inflammatory cytokines and chemokine, and metabolomic profile of plasma oxylipins were determined. TCC significantly reversed LPS-induced morbid hypotension in a time-dependent manner. TCC significantly repressed the increased release of inflammatory cytokines and chemokine caused by LPS. Furthermore, TCC significantly shifted the oxylipin profile in vivo in a time-dependent manner towards resolution of inflammation as expected from a sEHI. These results demonstrated that at the doses used TCC is anti-inflammatory in the murine model. This study suggests that TCC may provide some benefits in humans in addition to its antimicrobial activities due to its potent inhibition of sEH. It may be a promising starting point for developing new low volume high value applications of TCC. However these biological effects also caution against the general over use of TCC in PCPs. - Graphical abstract: Display Omitted Research Highlights: → Anti-microbial triclocarban (TCC) is anti-inflammatory in a murine model. → TCC significantly shifted the oxylipin profile in vivo as expected from a sEHI. → TCC significantly reversed LPS-induced morbid hypotension in a time-dependent manner. → TCC significantly repressed LPS-induced increased release of inflammatory cytokines.

Antibiotics and antiseptics for pressure ulcers:Version 1: Protocol

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Norman, Gillian; Dumville, Jo; Moore, Zena; Tanner, Judith; Christie, Janice; Goto, Saori

2015-01-01

Background Pressure ulcers, also known as bedsores, decubitus ulcers and pressure injuries, are localised areas of injury to the skin or the underlying tissue, or both. A range of treatments with antimicrobial properties, including impregnated dressings, are widely used in the treatment of pressure ulcers. A clear and current overview is required to facilitate decision making regarding use of antiseptic or antibiotic therapies in the treatment of pressure ulcers. This review is one of a suite...

Sutures coated with antiseptic pomade to prevent bacterial colonization: a randomized clinical trial.

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Cruz, Fernando; Leite, Fabiola; Cruz, Gustavo; Cruz, Silvia; Reis, Juarez; Pierce, Matthew; Cruz, Mauro

2013-08-01

The aim of this study was to assess if an antiseptic pomade could reduce the bacterial colonization on multifilament sutures. A randomized clinical trial was conducted with 40 volunteer patients of both sexes aged 18-70, randomly separated into experimental (n = 20) and control (n = 20) groups. The experimental group received pomade-coated sutures (iodoform + calendula) and the control group uncoated sutures. Two millimeters of the suture was harvested from each patient from the 1st to the 15th postoperative day. The bacteria that had adhered to them were cultured. The number of colony-forming units per milliliter (CFU/mL) was determined and the groups were compared using the Mann-Whitney statistical test (P antiseptic pomade was effective in reducing bacterial colonization on silk braided sutures. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Eradication of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus with an antiseptic soap and nasal mupirocin among colonized patients – an open uncontrolled clinical trial

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Kampf Günter

2004-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Aim of the study was to determine the clinical efficacy of a new antiseptic liquid soap (Stellisept® scrub, based on the combination of undecylenamidopropyltrimonium methosulphate (4% and phenoxyethanol (2%, for eradication of MRSA among colonized patients who do not receive antibiotic therapy. Methods Over two years 50 MRSA patients in 6 hospitals were observed. Treatment was defined as the daily application of Stellisept scrub for the antiseptic body and hair wash (at least 60 s in combination with nasal mupirocin. A treatment cycle was a minimum of 5 days treatment. Screening was carried out at least 48 h after the treatment cycle was finished, with 24 h between each of the requested three or more samplings, which included the nasopharynx, groin, axilla, perineum and other MRSA-positive skin areas. Results Fifteen cases were retrospectively excluded (lack of outcome documentation, concomitant antibiotic therapy, open wounds. All 35 patients had colonization with MRSA before antiseptic treatment on the skin, in the groin (80%, the axilla (25.7%, the perineum (20% or other skin areas (14.3%. Colonization at more than one skin sites was found in 34.3%. Nasal colonization was found in 21 of 28 patients (75%, 7 patients were without nasal screening prior to the antiseptic treatment. After one treatment cycle MRSA was eradicated in 25 patients (71.4%, after a second cycle the total eradication rate was 91.4%, after a third cycle the rate increased to 94.2%. No patient discontinued the antiseptic treatment due to dermal intolerance of the product. Conclusions Progressive eradication of MRSA carriage was observed with the antiseptic soap and mupirocin. The eradication rate was not biased by concomitant antibiotic treatment, screening during treatment or lack of evidence for colonization in contrast to other studies with other preparations.

Class 1 Integrons and the Antiseptic Resistance Gene (qacEΔ1) in Municipal and Swine Slaughterhouse Wastewater Treatment Plants and Wastewater-Associated Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

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Wan, Min Tao; Chou, Chin Cheng

2015-06-02

Class 1 integrons are mobile gene elements (MGEs) containing qacEΔ1 that are resistant to quaternary ammonium compound (QAC) disinfectants. This study compared the abundances of class 1 integrons and antiseptic resistance genes in municipal (M) and swine slaughterhouse (S) wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) and investigated the presence of class 1 integrons and antiseptic resistance genes in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) isolated from wastewater samples. The abundances of intI1 and qacEΔ1 genes in 96 wastewater samples were quantified using real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (real-time qPCR), and 113 MRSA isolates recovered from the wastewater samples were detected class 1 integrons and linked antiseptic resistance genes (qacEΔ1), and minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) for QAC antiseptics. The intI1 and qacEΔ1 genes were detected in all the wastewater samples, and they were more abundant in S-WWTP samples than in M-WWTP samples. A higher percentage of MRSA isolates carried qacEΔ1 in MRSA from swine wastewater samples (62.8%) than in municipal MRSA (3.7%). All the MRSA isolates showed high MICs for antiseptic agents. This study provides important evidence regarding the abundances of intI1 and qacEΔ1 genes in municipal and swine slaughterhouse wastewater, and antiseptic-resistant MRSA strains were detected in swine slaughterhouse wastewater.

Class 1 Integrons and the Antiseptic Resistance Gene (qacEΔ1) in Municipal and Swine Slaughterhouse Wastewater Treatment Plants and Wastewater—Associated Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus

Science.gov (United States)

Wan, Min Tao; Chou, Chin Cheng

2015-01-01

Class 1 integrons are mobile gene elements (MGEs) containing qacEΔ1 that are resistant to quaternary ammonium compound (QAC) disinfectants. This study compared the abundances of class 1 integrons and antiseptic resistance genes in municipal (M) and swine slaughterhouse (S) wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) and investigated the presence of class 1 integrons and antiseptic resistance genes in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) isolated from wastewater samples. The abundances of intI1 and qacEΔ1 genes in 96 wastewater samples were quantified using real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (real-time qPCR), and 113 MRSA isolates recovered from the wastewater samples were detected class 1 integrons and linked antiseptic resistance genes (qacEΔ1), and minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) for QAC antiseptics. The intI1 and qacEΔ1 genes were detected in all the wastewater samples, and they were more abundant in S-WWTP samples than in M-WWTP samples. A higher percentage of MRSA isolates carried qacEΔ1 in MRSA from swine wastewater samples (62.8%) than in municipal MRSA (3.7%). All the MRSA isolates showed high MICs for antiseptic agents. This study provides important evidence regarding the abundances of intI1 and qacEΔ1 genes in municipal and swine slaughterhouse wastewater, and antiseptic-resistant MRSA strains were detected in swine slaughterhouse wastewater. PMID:26042365

Biocompatibility index of antiseptic agents by parallel assessment of antimicrobial activity and cellular cytotoxicity.

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Müller, Gerald; Kramer, Axel

2008-06-01

To assess the suitability of an antiseptic agent, both the microbicidal activity and the cytotoxic effect must be taken into consideration to derive biocompatible antibacterial agents. We defined the biocompatibility index (BI) by measuring the antibacterial activity against the test organisms Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus and, in parallel, the cytotoxicity on cultured murine fibroblasts. The antiseptic agents tested were benzalkonium chloride (BAC), cetylpyridinium chloride (CPC), chlorhexidine digluconate (CHX), mild silver protein (MSP), octenidine dihydrochloride (OCT), polyhexamethylene biguanide (PHMB), povidone iodine in solution [PVP-I(s)], povidone iodine in ointment [PVP-I(o)], silver nitrate (AgNO(3)), silver (I) sulfadiazine (SSD) and triclosan (TRI). Assays were carried out for 30 min of exposure at 37 degrees C in the presence of cell culture medium containing 10% fetal bovine serum. The resulting dimensionless BI was defined as the ratio of the concentration at which 50% of the murine fibroblasts are damaged and the microbicidal effect producing at least 3 log(10) (99.9%) reduction. The resulting rank ordering of BI for the ratio of fibroblast cytotoxicity to E. coli toxicity was OCT > PHMB > CHX > PVP-I(o) > PVP-I(s) > BAC > CPC > TRI > MSP and that to S. aureus was OCT > PHMB > CHX > CPC > PVP-I(o) > BAC > PVP(s) > TRI > MSP. OCT and PHMB were the most suitable agents with a BI greater than 1. The BI presented may be a useful tool to evaluate antiseptic agents for use in clinical practice.

Controlled antiseptic release by alginate polymer films and beads.

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Liakos, Ioannis; Rizzello, Loris; Bayer, Ilker S; Pompa, Pier Paolo; Cingolani, Roberto; Athanassiou, Athanassia

2013-01-30

Biodegradable polymeric materials based on blending aqueous dispersions of natural polymer sodium alginate (NaAlg) and povidone iodine (PVPI) complex, which allow controlled antiseptic release, are presented. The developed materials are either free standing NaAlg films or Ca(2+)-cross-linked alginate beads, which properly combined with PVPI demonstrate antibacterial and antifungal activity, suitable for therapeutic applications, such as wound dressing. Glycerol was used as the plasticizing agent. Film morphology was studied by optical and atomic force microscopy. It was found that PVPI complex forms well dispersed circular micro-domains within the NaAlg matrix. The beads were fabricated by drop-wise immersion of NaAlg/PVPI/glycerol solutions into aqueous calcium chloride solutions to form calcium alginate beads encapsulating PVPI solution (CaAlg/PVPI). Controlled release of PVPI was possible when the composite films and beads were brought into direct contact with water or with moist media. Bactericidal and fungicidal properties of the materials were tested against Escherichia coli bacteria and Candida albicans fungi. The results indicated very efficient antibacterial and antifungal activity within 48 h. Controlled release of PVPI into open wounds is highly desired in clinical applications to avoid toxic doses of iodine absorption by the wound. A wide variety of applications are envisioned such as external and internal wound dressings with controlled antiseptic release, hygienic and protective packaging films for medical devices, and polymer beads as water disinfectants. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Antiseptic barrier cap effective in reducing central line-associated bloodstream infections: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

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Voor In 't Holt, Anne F; Helder, Onno K; Vos, Margreet C; Schafthuizen, Laura; Sülz, Sandra; van den Hoogen, Agnes; Ista, Erwin

2017-04-01

Microorganisms can intraluminally access a central venous catheter via the catheter hub. The catheter hub should be appropriately disinfected to prevent central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs). However, compliance with the time-consuming manual disinfection process is low. An alternative is the use of an antiseptic barrier cap, which cleans the catheter hub by continuous passive disinfection. To compare the effects of antiseptic barrier cap use and manual disinfection on the incidence of CLABSIs. Systematic review and meta-analysis. We systematically searched Embase, Medline Ovid, Web-of-science, CINAHL EBSCO, Cochrane Library, PubMed Publisher and Google Scholar until May 10, 2016. The primary outcome, reduction in CLABSIs per 1000 catheter-days, expressed as an incidence rate ratio (IRR), was analyzed with a random effects meta-analysis. Studies were included if 1) conducted in a hospital setting, 2) used antiseptic barrier caps on hubs of central lines with access to the bloodstream and 3) reported the number of CLABSIs per 1000 catheter-days when using the barrier cap and when using manual disinfection. A total of 1537 articles were identified as potentially relevant and after exclusion of duplicates, 953 articles were screened based on title and abstract; 18 articles were read full text. Eventually, nine studies were included in the systematic review, and seven of these nine in the random effects meta-analysis. The pooled IRR showed that use of the antiseptic barrier cap was effective in reducing CLABSIs (IRR=0.59, 95% CI=0.45-0.77, Pantiseptic barrier cap is associated with a lower incidence CLABSIs and is an intervention worth adding to central-line maintenance bundles. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

In vitro evaluation of the susceptibility of Acinetobacter baumannii isolates to antiseptics and disinfectants: comparison between clinical and environmental isolates

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Sanae Lanjri

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background This study aims to assess the susceptibility of Acinetobacter baumannii isolates to the antiseptics and disinfectants commonly used, and to the non-approved product. Methods This is a prospective study carried out from February to August 2015, in the Bacteriology department of Mohammed V Military Teaching hospital of Rabat on A.baumannii isolates collected from colonized and/or infected patients and environmental samples. The antiseptics and disinfectants susceptibility testing was assessed using the micromethod validated in our department. The antiseptics and disinfectants studied were: 70% ethyl alcohol, chlorhexidine, povidone-iodine, didecyldimethylammonium chloride and a commercial product which was presented as a hospital disinfectant (non-registered product. Results Povidone-iodine, 0.5% chlorhexidine digluconate, 70% ethyl alcohol and didecyl dimethyl ammonium chloride in combination with N- (3-aminopropyl -N-dodecylpropane-1, 3-diamine were effective against all the 81 A.baumannii isolates tested, and their logarithmic reduction ≥ 5 were observed in 100% of the isolates in their undiluted form. The strains isolated from patients were more resistant than environmental strains: at a dilution of ½ for 70% ethyl alcohol (37.77% vs 11.11%, p = 0.007 and at a dilution of 1/10 (100% vs 69.44%, p < 0.001 for povidone iodine. The non-registered product was ineffective with a resistance rate of 96.29% at a dilution of 1/50, 45.67% at a dilution of 1/10 and 13.58% in its purest form. Conclusion Our study revealed the effectiveness of the main disinfectants and antiseptics used in Morocco; three antiseptics tested were effective in their purest form against the 81 A.baumannii isolates. Regarding disinfectants, our results showed an efficacy of didecyl dimethyl ammonium at the recommended use concentration and in its purest form. This study emphasizes the need for using disinfectants and antiseptics in dilutions

Fate of {sup 14}C-triclocarban in biosolids-amended soils

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Snyder, Elizabeth Hodges, E-mail: lizah@ufl.edu [Soil and Water Science Department, University of Florida, 408 Newell Hall, Gainesville, Florida, 32611 (United States); Department of Health Sciences, University of Alaska Anchorage, DPL 404, 3211 Providence Drive, Anchorage, AK 99508-4614 (United States); O' Connor, George A., E-mail: gao@ufl.edu [Soil and Water Science Department, P.O. Box 110510, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611-01519 (United States); McAvoy, Drew C., E-mail: mcavoy.dc@pg.com [Environmental Safety Department, P.O. Box 538707, The Procter and Gamble Company, Cincinnati, OH, 45253-8707 (United States)

2010-06-01

Triclocarban (TCC) is an antibacterial compound commonly detected in biosolids at parts-per-million concentrations. Approximately half of the biosolids produced in the United States are land-applied, resulting in a systematic release of TCC into the soil environment. The extent of biosolids-borne TCC environmental transport and potential human/ecological exposures will be greatly affected by its bioavailability and the rate of degradation in amended soils. To investigate these factors, radiolabeled TCC ({sup 14}C-TCC) was incorporated into anaerobically digested biosolids, amended to two soils, and incubated under aerobic conditions. The evolution of {sup 14}CO2 (biodegradation) and changes in chemical extractability (bioavailability) was measured over time. Water extractable TCC over the study period was low and significantly decreased over the first 3 weeks of the study (from 14% to 4% in a fine sand soil and from 3 to < 1% in a silty clay loam soil). Mineralization (i.e. ultimate degradation), as measured by evolution of {sup 14}CO{sub 2}, was < 4% over 7.5 months. Methanol extracts of the amended soils were analyzed by radiolabel thin-layer chromatography (RAD-TLC), but no intermediate degradation products were detected. Approximately 20% and 50% of the radioactivity in the amended fine sand and silty clay loam soils, respectively, was converted to bound residue as measured by solids combustion. These results indicate that biosolids-borne TCC becomes less bioavailable over time and biodegrades at a very slow rate.

Evaluation of the tissue toxicity of antiseptics by the hen's egg test on the chorioallantoic membrane (HETCAM)

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

Background Antiseptics are frequently used for the prophylaxis and treatment of local infections of chronic wounds. Whereas local antiseptics in general have a positive effect on wound healing an uncritical use may impair wound healing due to toxic side effects. Objective We sought to assess the vascular irritation potential of different antiseptic solutions and ointments commonly used for short and long term application as a measure of tissue toxicity. Method The vascular irritation was evaluated by the hen's egg test (HET) on the chorioallantoic membrane (CAM). The effects on the vessels of a mucous membrane were directly assessed by stereomicroscopic observation in vivo. Results Severe CAM irritation was observed after short-term applications of 1% octenidin-2HCl (Octeni sept™), 72% isopropanol (Cutasept™), 0.35% chloroxylenol (Dettol™) and 10% PVP-I ointment (Betaisodona™). Medium irritations were observed for 10% PVP-I solution (Betaisodona™), 3% lysosomal PVP-I ointment (Repithel™), 1.8% cadexomer-iodine ointment (Iodosorb™) and 1% cadexomer-iodine pellets (Iodosorb™). Finally, slight irritations were observed for 1% PVP-I solution (Betaisodona™), 0.1% polyhexanid plus betain (Prontosan™) and 1% silver-sulfadiazine ointment (Flammazine™), whereas 0.04% polyhexanid solution (Lavanid™), washings from sterile maggots of Lucilia sericata and filtrated enzymes from Clostridium histolyticum (Iruxol-N™) showed no effects of irritation. In the long-term approaches, no vascular irritations were found for polyhexanid, washings from Lucilia sericata and enzyme filtrations from Clostridium histolyticum. Conclusion The vascular injuries caused by the studied antiseptics are an indirect indicator of their tissue toxicity. Strikingly, even therapeutic substances, which have been regarded as safe in their application for the treatment of chronic wounds in clinical studies, showed severe irritations on the CAM. We suggest that agents with no or low

Antiseptic solutions modulate the paracrine-like activity of bone chips: differential impact of chlorhexidine and sodium hypochlorite.

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Sawada, Kosaku; Caballé-Serrano, Jordi; Bosshardt, Dieter D; Schaller, Benoit; Miron, Richard J; Buser, Daniel; Gruber, Reinhard

2015-09-01

Chemical decontamination increases the availability of bone grafts; however, it remains unclear whether antiseptic processing changes the biological activity of bone. Bone chips were incubated with four different antiseptic solutions including (1) povidone-iodine (0.5%), (2) chlorhexidine diguluconate (0.2%), (3) hydrogen peroxide (1%) and (4) sodium hypochlorite (0.25%). After 10 min. of incubation, changes in the capacity of the bone-conditioned medium (BCM) to modulate gene expression of gingival fibroblasts was investigated. Conditioned medium obtained from freshly prepared bone chips increased the expression of TGF-β target genes interleukin 11 (IL11), proteoglycan4 (PRG4), NADPH oxidase 4 (NOX4), and decreased the expression of adrenomedullin (ADM), and pentraxin 3 (PTX3) in gingival fibroblasts. Incubation of bone chips with 0.2% chlorhexidine, followed by vigorously washing resulted in a BCM with even higher expression of IL11, PRG4 and NOX4. These findings were also detected with a decrease in cell viability and an activation of apoptosis signalling. Chlorhexidine alone, at low concentrations, increased IL11, PRG4 and NOX4 expression, independent of the TGF-β receptor I kinase activity. In contrast, 0.25% sodium hypochlorite almost entirely abolished the activity of BCM, whereas the other two antiseptic solutions, 1% hydrogen peroxide and 0.5% povidone-iodine, had relatively no impact respectively. These in vitro findings demonstrate that incubation of bone chips with chlorhexidine differentially affects the activity of the respective BCM compared to the other antiseptic solutions. The data further suggest that the main effects are caused by chlorhexidine remaining in the BCM after repeated washing of the bone chips. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Evaluation of the tissue toxicity of antiseptics by the hen's egg test on the chorioallantoic membrane (HETCAM

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marquardt C

2010-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Antiseptics are frequently used for the prophylaxis and treatment of local infections of chronic wounds. Whereas local antiseptics in general have a positive effect on wound healing an uncritical use may impair wound healing due to toxic side effects. Objective We sought to assess the vascular irritation potential of different antiseptic solutions and ointments commonly used for short and long term application as a measure of tissue toxicity. Method The vascular irritation was evaluated by the hen's egg test (HET on the chorioallantoic membrane (CAM. The effects on the vessels of a mucous membrane were directly assessed by stereomicroscopic observation in vivo. Results Severe CAM irritation was observed after short-term applications of 1% octenidin-2HCl (Octeni sept™, 72% isopropanol (Cutasept™, 0.35% chloroxylenol (Dettol™ and 10% PVP-I ointment (Betaisodona™. Medium irritations were observed for 10% PVP-I solution (Betaisodona™, 3% lysosomal PVP-I ointment (Repithel™, 1.8% cadexomer-iodine ointment (Iodosorb™ and 1% cadexomer-iodine pellets (Iodosorb™. Finally, slight irritations were observed for 1% PVP-I solution (Betaisodona™, 0.1% polyhexanid plus betain (Prontosan™ and 1% silver-sulfadiazine ointment (Flammazine™, whereas 0.04% polyhexanid solution (Lavanid™, washings from sterile maggots of Lucilia sericata and filtrated enzymes from Clostridium histolyticum (Iruxol-N™ showed no effects of irritation. In the long-term approaches, no vascular irritations were found for polyhexanid, washings from Lucilia sericata and enzyme filtrations from Clostridium histolyticum. Conclusion The vascular injuries caused by the studied antiseptics are an indirect indicator of their tissue toxicity. Strikingly, even therapeutic substances, which have been regarded as safe in their application for the treatment of chronic wounds in clinical studies, showed severe irritations on the CAM. We suggest that agents

Antiseptic mouthwashes could worsen xerostomia in patients taking polypharmacy.

Science.gov (United States)

Chevalier, Marlene; Sakarovitch, Charlotte; Precheur, Isabelle; Lamure, Julie; Pouyssegur-Rougier, Valerie

2015-05-01

Polypharmacy is a common cause of xerostomia. This study aimed to investigate whether xerostomia could be an adverse drug event of mouthwashes, when they are used for longer than 2 weeks by patients taking polypharmacy. This cross-sectional observational study included 120 hospitalized patients (60 middle-aged and 60 elderly patients), taking polypharmacy (≥4 drugs daily) and at risk of drug-induced xerostomia. Xerostomia was assessed by questioning participants. A total of 62.5% of patients complained of xerostomia. In the middle-aged group (mean age=44.0 (8.7) years; 35.0% women) xerostomia seemed independently associated to mouthwashes, at the limit of significance (OR=5.00, 95% CI=0.99-25.3, p=0.052). Active principles in mouthwashes were mainly quaternary ammonium compounds (91.9%). Mouthwashes may disturb the healthy balance of the biofilm moisturizing the oral mucosa. The biofilm contains mucins, salivary glycoproteins with oligosaccharides side chains able to sequester water and endogenous bacteria surrounded by a glycocalyx. Oral bacteria are fully susceptible to quaternary ammonium (chlorhexidine, hexetidine, cetylpyridinium chloride) and to other antiseptics used in mouthwashes, such as betain, resorcin, triclosan, essential oils and alcohol. However, caregivers currently recommend such dental plaque control products to patients suffering from xerostomia in order to reduce the risk of caries and periodontitis. This study is the first report that use of antiseptic mouthwashes for more than 2 weeks could worsen xerostomia in patients taking polypharmacy. Oral care protocols should avoid this iatrogenic practice, particularly when xerostomia alters the quality-of-life and worsens malnutrition.

In vitro investigation of the follicular penetration of porcine ear skin using a nanoparticle-emulsion containing the antiseptic polihexanide In vitro investigation of the follicular penetration of porcine ear skin

Science.gov (United States)

Ulmer, M.; Patzelt, A.; Vergou, T.; Lademann, J.; Richter, H.; Kramer, A.; Müller, G.; Sterry, W.; Lange-Asschenfeldt, B.

2012-05-01

Earlier investigations regarding the distribution of the bacterial flora on the human skin demonstrate that the hair follicle acts as a bacterial reservoir, providing a quick source for secondary recontamination. These findings highlight the importance of the hair follicle as a target for modern antiseptics. In the present study, we have assessed the follicular penetration of a curcumin-labeled particle-associated antiseptic into porcine skin by laser scanning microscopy. Therefore, the follicular penetration depth of the curcumin-labeled particle-associated antiseptic was compared to the follicular penetration depth of curcumin-labeled particles without antiseptic. The investigation was performed in vitro using porcine skin biopsies. By superposition of the images acquired in the transmission and the fluorescent modus, it was possible to visualize the distribution of the fluorescent dye inside the hair follicles. Quantitative and qualitative results showed that both dispersions penetrated efficiently into the hair follicles. The average penetration depth of the particles with attached antiseptic polihexanide was significantly higher than that of particles without the attached antiseptic. Also, whilst very little sample preparation was needed, laser scanning microscopy was found to be an efficient tool to visualize the skin relief and in particular the hair follicle shaft and localize fluorescent markers within the skin tissue and hair follicles.

Considering a new domain for antimicrobial stewardship: Topical antibiotics in the open surgical wound.

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Edmiston, Charles E; Leaper, David; Spencer, Maureen; Truitt, Karen; Litz Fauerbach, Loretta; Graham, Denise; Johnson, Helen Boehm

2017-11-01

The global push to combat the problem of antimicrobial resistance has led to the development of antimicrobial stewardship programs (ASPs), which were recently mandated by The Joint Commission and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. However, the use of topical antibiotics in the open surgical wound is often not monitored by these programs nor is it subject to any evidence-based standardization of care. Survey results indicate that the practice of using topical antibiotics intraoperatively, in both irrigation fluids and powders, is widespread. Given the risks inherent in their use and the lack of evidence supporting it, the practice should be monitored as a core part of ASPs, and alternative agents, such as antiseptics, should be considered. Copyright © 2017 Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Practical use of povidone-iodine antiseptic in the maintenance of oral health and in the prevention and treatment of common oropharyngeal infections.

Science.gov (United States)

Kanagalingam, J; Feliciano, R; Hah, J H; Labib, H; Le, T A; Lin, J-C

2015-11-01

To better inform medical practitioners on the role of antiseptics in oropharyngeal health and disease, this article focuses on povidone-iodine (PVP-I), an established and widely-available antiseptic agent. Review of the anti-infective profile, efficacy and safety of PVP-I in managing common upper respiratory tract infections such as the common cold, influenza and tonsillo-pharyngitis, as well as oral complications resulting from cancer treatment (oral mucositis), and dental conditions (periodontitis, caries). Antiseptics with broad-spectrum anti-infective activity and low resistance potential offer an attractive option in both infection control and prevention. While there is some evidence of benefit of antiseptics in a variety of clinical settings that include dental and oral hygiene, dermatology, oncology, and pulmonology, there appears to be discordance between the evidence-base and practice. This is especially apparent in the management and prevention of oropharyngeal infections, for which the use of antiseptics varies considerably between clinical practices, and is in marked contrast to their dermal application, where they are extensively used as both a prophylaxis and a treatment of skin and wound infections, thus minimising the use of antibiotics. The link between oral and oropharyngeal health status and susceptibility to infection has long been recognised. The high rates of antibiotic misuse and subsequent development of bacterial resistance (e.g. increasing vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)) in large parts of the world, especially across Asia Pacific, highlight the need for identifying alternative antimicrobials that would minimise the use of these medications. This, together with recent large-scale outbreaks of, for example, avian and swine influenza virus, further underline the importance of an increasing armamentarium for infection prevention and control. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Formaldehyde as an antiseptic in the production of alcohol from molasses

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rosa, M; Vernerova, J; Stros, F

1962-01-01

The effect of formaldehyde as an antiseptic for the noncontaminated alcohol fermentation of molasses was examined with five different yeast-mash batches containing formaldehyde 0.01%. Following 24 hour cultivation, increase in the activity of formaldehyde-inoculated mash was lowered by 47%; the formaldehyde decreased the alcohol fermentation and lessened the rate of fermentation of sugar by 20% in noncontaminated mash. The decrease in the fermentation rate was also observed during the entire course of fermentation. On the other hand, formaldehyde addition to molasses contaminated with lactic acid bacteria accelerated the fermentation rate by inhibiting the bacterial growth; the degree of retardation due to the contamination was greater than that due to the antiseptic. The view that formaldehyde decreased the effectiveness of growth substances by binding the amino acid present in mash mixtures could not be confirmed; it was believed that formaldehyde was absorbed by yeast cells even through the entities thus destroyed could not be differentiated from living cells by methylene blue. Higher resistance of yeast cultures to formaldehyde was obtained by repeated transfers of the yeast in media containing formaldehyde. It was concluded that formaldehyde added to contaminated molasses inhibited the further growth of the contamination, increased yield of ethanol on the basis of the sugar, and simultaneously decreased the net yield of ethanol in contrast to the yield from noncontaminated mashes in the absence of formaldehyde.

Effectiveness of a nonrinse, alcohol-free antiseptic hand wash.

Science.gov (United States)

Moadab, A; Rupley, K F; Wadhams, P

2001-06-01

This study evaluated the efficacy of a novel surfactant, allantoin, and benzalkonium chloride hand sanitizer using the US Food and Drug Administration's method for testing antiseptic hand washes that podiatric physicians and other health-care personnel use. The alcohol-free product, HandClens, was compared with an alcohol-based product, Purell. Independent researchers from the California College of Podiatric Medicine conducted the study using 40 volunteer students from the class of 2001. The results show that HandClens outperformed Purell and met the regulatory requirements for a hand sanitizer. Purell failed as an antimicrobial hand wash and was less effective than a control soap used in the study.

Use of antiseptics in preparing feed yeast for the production of alcohol from cereals and potatoes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cojocaru, C; Iliescu, V

1959-01-01

When the breeding vessels are made antiseptic by NH/sub 4/F, fermentation starts immediately upon seeding. The fermentation cycle is shortened by 16%. No abnormal increase in acidity is observed. The alcohol yield is increased by 1.8%.

[Antiseptics and disinfectants: aiming at rational use. Recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Healthcare Associated Infections. Sociedad Chilena de Infectología].

Science.gov (United States)

Diomedi, Alexis; Chacón, Eiiana; Delpiano, Luis; Hervé, Beatrice; Jemenao, M Irene; Medel, Myriam; Quintanilla, Marcela; Riedel, Gisela; Tinoco, Javier; Cifuentes, Marcela

2017-04-01

Proper use of antiseptics and disinfectants, is an essential tool to prevent the spread of infectious agents and to control of healthcare-associated infections (HAI). Given the increasing importance of environmental aspects, as well as several advances and updates in the field of its proper use at local and intemational level, the SOCHINF HAI Advisory Committee considers that it is necessary to develop a guide for the rational use of antiseptics and disinfectants, which it will provide consistent scientific basis with that purpose.

Antiseptic wick: does it reduce the incidence of wound infection following appendectomy?

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

McGreal, Gerald T

2012-02-03

The role of prophylactic antibiotics is well established for contaminated wounds, but the use of antiseptic wound wicks is controversial. The aim of this work was to study the potential use of wound wicks to reduce the rate of infection following appendectomy. This prospective randomized controlled clinical trial was conducted at a university hospital in the department of surgery. The subjects were patients undergoing appendectomy for definite acute appendicitis. They were randomized by computer to primary subcuticular wound closure or use of an antiseptic wound wick. For the latter, ribbon gauze soaked in povidone-iodine was placed between interrupted nylon skin sutures. Wicks were soaked daily and removed on the fourth postoperative day. All patients received antibiotic prophylaxis. They were reviewed while in hospital and 4 weeks following operation for evidence of wound infection. The main outcome measures were wound infection, wound discomfort, and cosmetic result. The overall wound infection rate was 8.6% (15\\/174). In patients with wound wicks it was 11.6% (10\\/86) compared to 5.6% (5\\/88) in those whose wounds were closed by subcuticular sutures (p = NS). We concluded that the use of wound wicks was not associated with decreased wound infection rates following appendectomy. Subcuticular closure is therefore appropriate in view of its greater convenience and safety.

Methicillin-susceptible and -resistant Staphylococcus aureus with high-level antiseptic and low-level mupirocin resistance in Malaysia.

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Ghasemzadeh-Moghaddam, Hamed; van Belkum, Alex; Hamat, Rukman Awang; van Wamel, Willem; Neela, Vasanthakumari

2014-10-01

The prevalence and spread of mupirocin and antiseptic resistance among colonizing and infectious Staphylococcus aureus were determined. S. aureus isolated from anterior nares and infection sites of patients hospitalized in the largest tertiary care referral hospital in Malaysia was investigated for mupirocin and antiseptic susceptibility testing, and for PCR detection of mupA, qacA/B, and smr genes. Twelve isolates showed resistance to mupirocin by disk diffusion, of which 10 (3.8%) harbored the mupA gene. Minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) ranged from 64 to 768 μg/ml for mupA positive and below 46 μg/ml for negative isolates. The mupA was more common among ST239 isolates (70%). The qacA/B was carried in 67 out of 95 methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) (70.5%) and 3 out of 164 methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA) (1.8%), while smr was carried in 6 out of 95 MRSA (6.3%) strains. MICs ranged from 3.9 to 15.6 μg/ml for benzethonium chloride (BTC) and benzalkonium chloride (BKC), and from 10.3 to 20.7 μg/ml for chlorhexidine digluconate (CHG). Isolates with qacA/B and smr or qacA/B alone showed higher MIC (20.7 μg/ml for CHG and 15.6 μg/ml for BTC and BKC) than the isolates that lacked antiseptic resistance genes (10.3 μg/ml for CHG and 3.9 μg/ml for BTC and BKC). In 16 cases, ST239 was isolated from the infection site and the nares simultaneously, and shared identical resistance patterns (qacAB or qacAB+smr), suggesting possible endogenous infection. Spread of low-level mupirocin resistance expressing ST239 MRSA and high-level resistance expressing emerging ST1, co-existing with antiseptic-resistant genes showing elevated MICs, should be monitored for effective infection control.

Skin preparation with alcohol versus alcohol followed by any antiseptic for preventing bacteraemia or contamination of blood for transfusion.

Science.gov (United States)

Webster, Joan; Bell-Syer, Sally E M; Foxlee, Ruth

2015-02-12

Blood for transfusion may become contaminated at any point between collection and transfusion and may result in bacteraemia (the presence of bacteria in the blood), severe illness or even death for the blood recipient. Donor arm skin is one potential source of blood contamination, so it is usual to cleanse the skin with an antiseptic before blood donation. One-step and two-step alcohol based antiseptic regimens are both commonly advocated but there is uncertainty as to which is most effective. To assess the effects of cleansing the skin of blood donors with alcohol in a one-step compared with alcohol in a two-step procedure to prevent contamination of collected blood or bacteraemia in the recipient. In December 2014, for this third update, we searched the Cochrane Wounds Group Specialised Register; The Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), The Cochrane Library; Ovid MEDLINE; Ovid MEDLINE (In-Process & Other Non-Indexed Citations); Ovid EMBASE; and EBSCO CINAHL. All randomised trials (RCTs) comparing alcohol based donor skin cleansing in a one-step versus a two-step process that includes alcohol and any other antiseptic for pre-venepuncture skin cleansing were considered. Quasi randomised trials were to have been considered in the absence of RCTs. Two review authors independently assessed studies for inclusion. No studies (RCTs or quasi RCTs) met the inclusion criteria. We did not identify any eligible studies for inclusion in this review. It is therefore unclear whether a two-step, alcohol followed by antiseptic skin cleansing process prior to blood donation confers any reduction in the risk of blood contamination or bacteraemia in blood recipients, or conversely whether a one-step process increases risk above that associated with a two-step process.

Formaldehyde as an antiseptic in the production of alcohol from molasses

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rosa, V J; Stros, F

1962-01-01

The effect of formaldehyde as an antiseptic for the noncontaminated alcohol fermentation of molasses was examined with five different yeasts mash batches containing formaldehyde 0.01%. Following 24 hour cultivation, increase in the activity of formaldehyde-inoculated mash was lowered by 47%; the formaldehyde decreased the alcohol fermentation and lessened the rate of fermentation of sugar by 20% in noncontaminated mash. The decrease in the fermentation rate was also observed during the entire course of fermentation. On the other hand, formaldehyde addition to molasses contaminated with lactic acid bacteria accelerated the fermentation rate.

Inhibitory effects of antiseptic mouthrinses on Streptococcus mutans, Streptococcus sanguinis and Lactobacillus acidophilus.

Science.gov (United States)

Evans, A; Leishman, S J; Walsh, L J; Seow, W K

2015-06-01

Oral antiseptics are valuable in controlling oral infections caused by cariogenic bacteria. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of mouthrinses and pure antiseptic compounds on Streptococcus mutans and non-mutans bacteria (Streptococcus sanguinis and Lactobacillus acidophilus). The agar diffusion assay was employed to determine bacterial growth inhibition. Commercial mouthrinses containing chlorhexidine gluconate (0.2%), cetylpyridinium chloride (0.05%) and sodium fluoride (0.05%) produced statistically similar growth inhibition of S. mutans, S. sanguinis and L. acidophilus (with zones of inhibition ranging from 7.56 ± 0.52 mm to 7.39 ± 0.53 mm, 17.44 ± 0.94 mm to 18.31 ± 0.62 mm and 8.61 ± 1.43 to 8.67 ± 1.43 mm respectively, p > 0.05). The chlorhexidine mouthwash produced the greatest mean growth inhibition of S. sanguinis and S. mutans compared to all other mouthrinses tested (p mutans could be detected were chlorhexidine gluconate at 0.005% (wt/vol), cetylpyridinium chloride 0.01% (wt/ vol), povidone iodine 10% (wt/vol) and sodium hypochlorite 0.5% (vol/vol). Chlorhexidine (0.01%), cetylpyridinium chloride (0.01%), povidone iodine (10%) and sodium hypochlorite (0.5%) are effective at inhibiting the growth of S. mutans, S. sanguinis and L. acidophilus. © 2015 Australian Dental Association.

The impact of changing antiseptic skin preparation agent used for cardiac implantable electronic device (CIED) procedures on the risk of infection.

Science.gov (United States)

Qintar, Mohammed; Zardkoohi, Omeed; Hammadah, Muhammad; Hsu, Amy; Wazni, Oussama; Wilkoff, Bruce L; Tarakji, Khaldoun G

2015-02-01

Cardiac implantable electronic device (CIED) infection is a major complication that is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. Recent data suggested a relationship between the antiseptic agent used for skin preparation at time of CIED procedure and risk for infection. On April 30, 2011, we changed the antiseptic agent used for skin preparation at our tertiary care facility from chlorhexidine-alcohol to povidone-iodine for all CIED procedures. We retrospectively reviewed records of all patients who underwent CIED procedure 1 year before and after the change. CIED infection was defined as pocket or endovascular systemic infection that required removal within 1 year of the index procedure. We examined if the change affected the risk of CIED infection. A total of 2,792 patients underwent 2,840 CIED procedures; 1,748 (61.5%) had implantable cardioverter defibrillator procedures and 1,092 (38.4%) had permanent pacemaker procedures. Chlorhexidine-alcohol agent was used in 1,450 (51.1%) procedures, and povidone-iodine agent was used in 1,390 (48.9%). After 1 year of follow-up, 31 patients (1.09%) developed CIED infection that required system removal. The 1-year infection rate was 1.1% among both antiseptic agent groups and there were no significant differences in the infection presentations among both groups (P = 0.950). Multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression model showed that risk factors for infection within 1 year included age, diabetes, and African American race. In one large cohort of patients undergoing CIED procedures, the antiseptic agent used for skin preparation (chlorhexidine-alcohol vs povidone-iodine) was not associated with increased risk of developing CIED infection. ©2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Controlled antiseptic/eosin release from chitosan-based hydrogel modified fibrous substrates.

Science.gov (United States)

Romano, Ilaria; Ayadi, Farouk; Rizzello, Loris; Summa, Maria; Bertorelli, Rosalia; Pompa, Pier Paolo; Brandi, Fernando; Bayer, Ilker S; Athanassiou, Athanassia

2015-10-20

Fibers of cellulose networks were stably coated with N-methacrylate glycol chitosan (MGC) shells using subsequent steps of dip coating and photo-curing. The photo-crosslinked MGC-coated cellulose networks preserved their fibrous structure. A model hydrophilic antiseptic solution containing eosin, chloroxylenol and propylene glycol was incorporated into the shells to study the drug release dynamics. Detailed drug release mechanism into phosphate buffered saline (PBS) solutions from coated and pristine fibers loaded with the antiseptic was investigated. The results show that the MGC-coated cellulose fibers enable the controlled gradual release of the drug for four days, as opposed to fast, instantaneous release from eosin coated pristine fibers. This release behavior was found to affect the antibacterial efficiency of the fibrous cellulose sheets significantly against Staphylococcus aureus and Candida albicans. In the case of the MGC-eosin functionalized system the antibacterial efficiency was as high as 85% and 90%, respectively, while for the eosin coated pristine cellulose system the efficiency was negative, indicating bacterial proliferation. Furthermore, the MGC-eosin system was shown to be efficacious in a model of wound healing in mice, reducing the levels of various pro-inflammatory cytokines that modulate early inflammatory phase responses. The results demonstrate good potential of these coated fibers for wound dressing and healing applications. Due to its easy application on common passive commercial fibrous dressings such as gauzes and cotton fibers, the method can render them active dressings in a cost effective way. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Triclocarban Influences Antibiotic Resistance and Alters Anaerobic Digester Microbial Community Structure.

Science.gov (United States)

Carey, Daniel E; Zitomer, Daniel H; Hristova, Krassimira R; Kappell, Anthony D; McNamara, Patrick J

2016-01-05

Triclocarban (TCC) is one of the most abundant organic micropollutants detected in biosolids. Lab-scale anaerobic digesters were amended with TCC at concentrations ranging from the background concentration of seed biosolids (30 mg/kg) to toxic concentrations of 850 mg/kg to determine the effect on methane production, relative abundance of antibiotic resistance genes, and microbial community structure. Additionally, the TCC addition rate was varied to determine the impacts of acclimation time. At environmentally relevant TCC concentrations (max detect = 440 mg/kg), digesters maintained function. Digesters receiving 450 mg/kg of TCC maintained function under gradual TCC addition, but volatile fatty acid concentrations increased, pH decreased, and methane production ceased when immediately fed this concentration. The concentrations of the mexB gene (encoding for a multidrug efflux pump) were higher with all concentrations of TCC compared to a control, but higher TCC concentrations did not correlate with increased mexB abundance. The relative abundance of the gene tet(L) was greater in the digesters that no longer produced methane, and no effect on the relative abundance of the class 1 integron integrase encoding gene (intI1) was observed. Illumina sequencing revealed substantial community shifts in digesters that functionally failed from increased levels of TCC. More subtle, yet significant, community shifts were observed in digesters amended with TCC levels that did not inhibit function. This research demonstrates that TCC can select for a multidrug resistance encoding gene in mixed community anaerobic environments, and this selection occurs at concentrations (30 mg/kg) that can be found in full-scale anaerobic digesters (U.S. median concentration = 22 mg/kg, mean = 39 mg/kg).

Pre-operative antiseptic shower and bath policy decreases the rate of S. aureus and methicillin-resistant S. aureus surgical site infections in patients undergoing joint arthroplasty.

Science.gov (United States)

Colling, Kristin; Statz, Catherine; Glover, James; Banton, Kaysie; Beilman, Greg

2015-04-01

Surgical site infection (SSI) following joint arthroplasty increases length of stay, hospital cost, and leads to patient and healthcare provider dissatisfaction. Due to the presence of non-biologic implants (the prosthetic joint) in these procedures, infection is often devastating and treatment of the infection is more difficult. For this reason, prevention of SSI is of crucial importance in this population. Staphylococcus aureus colonizes the nares of approximately 30-40% of the population, is the most common pathogen causing SSI, and is associated with high morbidity and mortality rate. A pre-operative shower or bath with an antiseptic is an inexpensive and effective method of removal of these transient skin pathogens prior to the procedure and may be used to decrease SSI. We hypothesize that a preoperative antiseptic shower or bath will decrease the rate of SSI. A retrospective review was performed at two affiliated hospitals within the same system, one with a hospital-wide policy enforcing pre-operative antiseptic shower or bath and the other with no policy, with cases included from January 2010 to June 2012. International Classification of Disease-Ninth Revision-Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) codes and chart review were used to identify patients undergoing joint arthroplasty and to identify those with SSI. Two thousand three-hundred forty-nine arthroplasties were performed at the University of Minnesota Medical Center, a tertiary-care hospital with a pre-operative antiseptic shower or bath policy in place. An additional 1,693 procedures were performed at Fairview Ridges Hospital, a community hospital with no pre-operative policy. There was no difference in the rate of SSI between the two hospitals (1.96% vs. 1.95%; p=1.0). However, the rate of SSI caused by S. aureus was significantly decreased by pre-operative antiseptic shower/bath (17% vs. 61%; p=0.03), as was the rate of methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) infections (2% vs. 24% p=0.002). A pre

Adherence and factors related to acceptance of alcohol for antiseptic hand rubbing among nursing professionals

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Adriana Cristina de Oliveira

Full Text Available Abstract OBJECTIVE Identify rates of adhesion and related factors to acceptance of an alcohol based preparation to hands antiseptic friction among nursing professionals in a unit of intensive therapy. METHOD A cross-sectional study, which involved direct observation of hand hygiene opportunities and nursing professionals’ completion of questionnaires, was conducted at a university hospital between January and July 2015. Descriptive and univariate analyses were performed, with a 5% significance level. RESULTS It was observed 956 opportunities of hand hygiene among 46 nursing professionals. The rate of adhesion to alcohol-based handrub (ABH was 34.8% and about 87.0% preferred handwashing. Nurses used ABH more frequently than nursing technicians (p <0.001, and the report of feeling of clean hands after using the alcohol product was directly related to higher rates of adherence to antiseptic friction through observation (P <0.05. CONCLUSION The finding indicating low ABH usage highlights the need for greater institutional investment in strategies that help health professionals to recognize the advantages of this type of HH with respect to time spent, ease of access to dispensers, effectiveness in eliminating microorganisms, and maintaining skin moisturization.

Detection of stain formation on teeth by oral antiseptic solution using fiber optic displacement sensor

Science.gov (United States)

Rahman, H. A.; Rahim, H. R. A.; Harun, S. W.; Yasin, M.; Apsari, R.; Ahmad, H.; Wan Abas, W. A. B.

2013-02-01

The application of a simple intensity modulated fiber optic displacement sensor for the detection of stain formation on human teeth is demonstrated. The proposed sensor uses a concentric type bundled plastic optical fiber (POF) as a probe in conjunction with the surfaces of five human teeth as the reflecting targets. Prior to the experiment, the stains were produced extrinsically by soaking the teeth in different concentrations of oral antiseptic solution containing hexetidine. The concentration of the oral antiseptic solution is measured in volume%. For a concentration change from 0% to 80%, the peak voltage decreases exponentially from 1.15 mV to 0.41 mV with a measured resolution of 0.48% and 1.75% for concentration ranges of 0-40% and 40-80%, respectively. The correlation between the detector output and variation in the color of human tooth surface has successfully been examined. Simple in design and low in cost, this sensor can detect color changes due to hexetidine-induced stain on a tooth surface in a fast and convenient way. Thus, this sensor will be very promising in esthetic dentistry, dental color matching techniques, chemical and biomedical applications.

Antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-septic potential of phenolic acids and flavonoid fractions isolated from Lolium multiflorum.

Science.gov (United States)

Choi, Ki-Choon; Son, Young-Ok; Hwang, Jung-Min; Kim, Beom-Tae; Chae, Minseon; Lee, Jeong-Chae

2017-12-01

Interest has recently renewed in using Lolium multiflorum Lam. (Poaceae) (called Italian ryegrass; IRG) silage as an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory diet. This study investigated the antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-septic potential of IRG silage and identified the primary components in IRG active fractions. Total 16 fractions were separated from the chloroform-soluble extract of IRG aerial part using Sephadex LH-20 column before HPLC analysis. Antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities of the fractions at doses of 0-100 μg/mL were investigated using various cell-free and cell-mediated assay systems. To explore anti-septic effect of IRG fractions, female ICR and BALB/c mice orally received 40 mg/kg of phenolic acid and flavonoid-rich active fractions F 7 and F 8 every other day for 10 days, respectively, followed by LPS challenge. The active fractions showed greater antioxidant and anti-inflammatory potential compared with other fractions. IC 50 values of F 7 and F 8 to reduce LPS-stimulated NO and TNF-α production were around 15 and 30 μg/mL, respectively. Comparison of retention times with authentic compounds through HPLC analysis revealed the presence of caffeic acid, ferulic acid, myricetin and kaempferol in the fractions as primary components. These fractions inhibited LPS-stimulated MAPK and NF-κB activation. Supplementation with F 7 or F 8 improved the survival rates of mice to 70 and 60%, respectively, in LPS-injected mice and reduced near completely serum TNF-α and IL-6 levels. This study highlights antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-septic activities of IRG active fractions, eventually suggesting their usefulness in preventing oxidative damage and inflammatory disorders.

Prevalence of antiseptic-resistance genes in staphylococci isolated from orthokeratology lens and spectacle wearers in Hong Kong.

Science.gov (United States)

Shi, Guang-sen; Boost, Maureen; Cho, Pauline

2015-05-01

To compare isolation of staphylococci from periorbital tissues and accessories of orthokeratology (ortho-k) lens and spectacle wearers and investigate prevalence of antiseptic-resistance (QAC) genes. To determine minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) of antiseptics and antibiotic susceptibility of isolates. Staphylococci were isolated from eyelids, eyelashes, and conjunctival sacs of 23 ortho-k lens wearers and 20 spectacle wearers. Samples were also collected from ortho-k lenses, lens cases, and spectacle frames. Isolations of Staphylococcus aureus were compared between ortho-k subjects and controls for all samples and for coagulase-negative staphylococci (CNS) from conjunctival sacs. QAC genes were amplified in 110 S. aureus and 59 CNS isolates and prevalence compared in isolates from ortho-k lens and spectacle wearers. Associations were assessed between presence of QAC genes and antibiotic and antiseptic susceptibility. Although isolation of S. aureus did not differ significantly in periorbital samples from ortho-k and control subjects, QAC genes were significantly more common in both S. aureus and CNS from ortho-k subjects (odds ratio 4.4 and 10.74, respectively). Overall, qacA/B was the predominant gene detected, being present in 26.5% CNS and 11% S. aureus. smr and qacH were present in 12% of CNS, but were less common in S. aureus. QAC gene-positive isolates had higher MICs to benzalkonium chloride and chlorhexidine digluconate. Our results suggest that long-term use of multipurpose solutions containing quaternary ammonium compounds may select for carriage of organisms harboring QAC genes. As these genes are associated with antibiotic resistance, their increased prevalence in isolates from contact lens wearers is a concern.

SENSITIVITY TO ANTIBIOTICS, ANTISEPTICAL NOSOCOMIAL PSEUDOMONAS AERUGINOSA, ISOLATED IN UROLOGICAL PATIENTS

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Rymsha E.V.

2015-05-01

Full Text Available Introduction. Given the active introduction into clinical practice of new groups of antibiotics and antiseptics, the problem of treatment of purulent-inflammatory complications after prostatectomy and today is relevant. Of particular concern belated cases of diagnosis and treatment of postoperative complications in urological practice patients receiving antibiotic therapy The use of traditional antibiotics is not prevents the development of infection, because the problem of resistance of microorganisms to antibiotics and antiseptics remains relevant. The solution to the problem of development of infectious complications and prevent the formation of resistant clinical strains largely depends on the isolated pathogen, susceptibility to antimicrobial agents based on its bioavailability , ability to spread and penetrate into cells and tissues, selection of dose, interval, and route of administration to maintain minimum bactericidal concentration Material and methods. The study involved 145 patients who were treated in the urology Department of the Vinnytsia regional clinical hospital named of M. I. Pirogov. Patients underwent the surgical treatment of benign hypertrophic prostate. Material for bacteriological studies of purulent-inflammatory diseases were urine, pieces of the prostate, remote operationally, urinary catheters, through which conducted irrigation of the bladder. Specimen collection, transportation was carried out in accordance with modern requirements. Identification was done by morphological, cultural and biochemical properties. The definition of antibiotic resistance were performed according to "guidelines for the definition of sensitivity of microorganisms to antibiotics by the method of diffusion in agar using discs" (No. 2675-83, Kiev, 2007 12 .]. Evaluation of the results of determining the sensitivity of microorganisms to antibiotics was carried out on the basis of the determination of the zone of growth (mm of the studied

Irritancy of antiseptics tested by repeated open exposures on the human skin, evaluated by non-invasive methods

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Tupker, RA; Schuur, J; Coenraads, PJ

1997-01-01

The aim of the study was to test the irritancy of 6 antiseptics in an open exposure model. The following agents were tested in their normal use concentrations using open exposures, 2x daily for 4 days in 20 subjects: chlorhexidine 4% (CH), chlorhexidine 0.5% in ethanol 70% (CE), ethanol 70% (ET),

Treating infected diabetic wounds with superoxidized water as anti-septic agent: a preliminary experience

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hadi, S.F.; Khaliq, T.; Zubair, M.; Saaiq, M.; Sikandar, I.

2007-01-01

To evaluate the effectiveness of superoxidized water (MicrocynTM) in diabetic patients with different wounds. One hundred known diabetic patients were enrolled. Half were randomized to the intervention group (those whose wounds were managed with superoxidized water) and half to the control group (whose wounds were treated with normal saline) using a table of random numbers. The two groups were matched for age, gender, duration of diabetes and category of wound. All patients received appropriate surgical treatment for their wounds as required. Local wound treatment was carried out daily using superoxidized water soaked gauzes on twice daily basis in the intervention group and normal saline in the control group. The treatment was continued until wound healing. The main outcome measures were duration of hospital stay, downgrading of the wound category, wound healing time and need for interventions such as amputation. Statistically significant differences were found in favour of the superoxidized water group with respect to duration of hospital stay, downgrading of the wound category and wound healing time. Although the initial results of employing superoxidized water for the management of infected diabetic wounds are encouraging, further multicentre clinical trials are warranted before this antiseptic is recommended for general use. It may offer an economical alternative to other expensive antiseptics with positive impact on the prevailing infection rates, patient outcomes and patient satisfaction. (author)

Systematic review and meta-analysis of the effectiveness of antiseptic agents for meatal cleaning in the prevention of catheter-associated urinary tract infections.

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Fasugba, O; Koerner, J; Mitchell, B G; Gardner, A

2017-03-01

Catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs) are among the most common healthcare-associated infections. Antiseptic cleaning of the meatal area before and during catheter use may reduce the risk of CAUTIs. To undertake a systematic review of the literature and meta-analysis of studies investigating the effectiveness of antiseptic cleaning before urinary catheter insertion and during catheter use for prevention of CAUTIs. Electronic databases were searched to identify randomized controlled trials. Pooled odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated and compared across intervention and control groups using DerSimonian-Laird random-effects model. Subgroup analyses were performed. Heterogeneity was estimated using the I 2 statistic. In total, 2665 potential papers were identified; of these, 14 studies were eligible for inclusion. There was no difference in the incidence of CAUTIs when comparing antiseptic and non-antiseptic agents (pooled OR 0.90, 95% CI 0.73-1.10; P=0.31), or when comparing different agents: povidone-iodine vs routine care; povidone-iodine vs soap and water; chlorhexidine vs water; povidone-iodine vs saline; povidone-iodine vs water; and green soap and water vs routine care (P>0.05 for all). Comparison of an antibacterial agent with routine care indicated near significance (P=0.06). There was no evidence of heterogeneity (I 2 =0%; P>0.05). Subgroup analyses showed no difference in the incidence of CAUTIs in terms of country, setting, risk of bias, sex and frequency of administration. There were no differences in CAUTI rates, although methodological issues hamper generalizability of this finding. Antibacterial agents may prove to be significant in a well-conducted study. The present results provide good evidence to inform infection control guidelines in catheter management. Copyright © 2016 The Healthcare Infection Society. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Transformation, Conjugation, and Sequestration Following the Uptake of Triclocarban by Jalapeno Pepper Plants.

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Huynh, Khang; Banach, Emily; Reinhold, Dawn

2018-04-25

Plant uptake and metabolism of emerging organic contaminants, such as personal-care products, pose potential risks to human health. In this study, jalapeno pepper ( Capsicum annuum) plants cultured in hydroponic media were exposed to both 14 C-labeled and unlabeled triclocarban (TCC) to investigate the accumulation, distribution, and metabolism of TCC following plant uptake. The results revealed that TCC was detected in all plant tissues; after 12 weeks, the TCC concentrations in root, stem, leaf, and fruit tissues were 19.74 ± 2.26, 0.26 ± 0.04, 0.11 ± 0.01, and 0.03 ± 0.01 mg/kg dry weight, respectively. More importantly, a substantial portion of the TCC taken up by plants was metabolized, especially in the stems, leaves, and fruits. Hydroxylated TCC (e.g., 2'-OH TCC and 6-OH TCC) and glycosylated OH-TCC were the main phase I and phase II metabolites in plant tissues, respectively. Bound (or nonextractable) residues of TCC accounted for approximately 44.6, 85.6, 69.0, and 47.5% of all TCC species that accumulated in roots, stems, leaves, and fruits, respectively. The concentrations of TCC metabolites were more than 20 times greater than the concentrations of TCC in the above-ground tissues of the jalapeno pepper plants after 12 weeks; crucially, approximately 95.6% of the TCC was present as metabolites in the fruits. Consequently, human exposure to TCC through the consumption of pepper fruits is expected to be substantially higher when phytometabolism is considered.

In vitro activity of antifungal and antiseptic agents against dermatophyte isolates from patients with tinea pedis Atividade in vitro de antifúngicos e anti-sépticos frente a dermatófitos isolados de pacientes com tinea pedis

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Maria Magali Stelato Rocha Soares

2001-06-01

Full Text Available The in vitro activity of antifungal and antiseptic agents were evaluated against dermatophytes isolated from patients with tinea pedis. The antifungals studied were: ciclopirox olamine, cetoconazole, tolciclate and terbinafine, and the antiseptics were: povidine iodine (PVPI, propolis, Fungol®, Andriodermol®, and boric acid. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC or the minimal dilution concentration (MDC was determined by an agar dilution method using modified yeast nitrogen agar base, and the minimum fungicidal concentration (MFC or minimum fungicidal dilution (MFD was determined with subcultures on Sabouraud dextrose agar. All drugs studied were active against the dermatophytes at lower concentrations than those used in products and/or pharmaceutical preparations for topical use. Some antifungal agents, mainly terbinafine and tolciclate, presented higher efficacy than the other drugs, with lower MICs and MFCs values. It was concluded that the use of these antiseptic drugs represent an excellent alternative for the topical treatment of tinea pedis. For the treatment of severe cases these are the antifungal agents of choice.A atividade in vitro de antifúngicos e anti-sépticos foram avaliadas frente a dermatófitos isolados de pacientes com tinea pedis. Os antifúngicos estudados foram: ciclopirox olamine, cetoconazol, tolciclato e terbinafina, e os anti-sépticos foram: iodo povidine (PVPI, própolis, Fungol®, Andriodermol®e ácido bórico. A concentração inibitória mínima (CIM ou a diluição inibitória mínima (DIM foi determinada pelo método de diluição em ágar utilizando "yeast nitrogen" base modificado, e a concentração fungicida mínima (CFM ou diluição fungicida mínima (DFM foi determinada por subcultura em Saboraud dextrose ágar. Todas as drogas estudadas foram ativas frente aos dermatófitos em concentrações menores do que as utilizadas em produtos e/ou preparações farmacêuticas para uso tópico. Alguns

Antiseptic mouthwashes: in vitro antibacterial activity.

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Watanabe, Evandro; Nascimento, Andresa P; Guerreiro-Tanomaru, Juliane M; Razaboni, Ana M; de Andrade, Denise; Tanomaru-Filho, Mário

2015-01-01

Mouthwashes are used as an adjunct to tooth brushing for improving breath and preventing oral diseases. The aim of this study was to compare the in vitro Maximum Inhibitory Dilution (MID) of 3 mouthwashes with different active ingredients against mutans streptococci (MS). The products analyzed were Periogard®, Cepacol® and Plax® Fresh Mint. Their antibacterial activity was assessed in duplicate in 96-well microtiter plates against 36 clinical isolates of MS. Each mouthwash was submitted to a serial two-fold dilution (1/2.5 to 1/5120) using double concentration of Tryptose Soy Broth with 1.0% yeast extract. The final volume in each well was 100 mL plus 5 mL of a bacterial suspension, equivalent to 107 CFU/mL. They were incubated microaerobically at 37 °C for 48 hours and the MIDs determined. MID was 1/320 for Periogard® and Cepacol®, and 1/20 for PlaxR® Statistical analysis revealed that the MID of Periogard® MID did not differ from that of Cepacol® (p>0.05), and was higher than that of Plax® (pantiseptic mouthwashes containing chlorhexidine (Periogard®) and cetylpyridinium chloride (Cepacol®) had higher in vitroantibacterial activity (MID) against MS than the antiseptic mouthwash containing triclosan (Plax®), according to microbiological method employed.

Evidence of incompatibility for topical anionic agents used in conjunction with chlorhexidine gluconate: A systematic review

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Gary Tran

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Chlorhexidine gluconate (CHG is a widely used antiseptic agent for skin and wound disinfection. The cationic properties of CHG may allow its inactivation and precipitation by anionic agents in commonly used topical agents. We conducted a systematic review by searching through PubMed, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science databases and selected original research articles reporting on CHG incompatibility, defined as inactivation or precipitation. The search yielded 22 publications that demonstrated CHG incompatibility via: 1 reduced antibacterial activity (carbomer, acrylates/C10-C30 alkyl acrylate crosspolymer, dentin, bovine serum albumin, copolymer M239144, sodium lauryl sulfate, heat-killed microbes, triethanolamine, and bark cork; and 2 visible precipitate formation (sodium hypochlorite, EDTA, saline, ethanol, andnystatin. Only three publications reported on CHG incompatibility in dermatology, specifically for carbomer, triethanolamine, and acrylates/C10-C30 alkyl acrylate crosspolymer. Although limited evidence linking CHG incompatibility and anionic agents exists, clinicians should carefully consider the nature of topical agents used if CHG is concurrently applied. Increased awareness of CHG incompatibility may result in better antibacterial activity thus ensuring optimal patient management.

Detection of triclocarban and two co-contaminating chlorocarbanilides in US aquatic environments using isotope dilution liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sapkota, Amir; Heidler, Jochen; Halden, Rolf U.

2007-01-01

The antimicrobial compound triclocarban (TCC; 3,4,4'-trichlorocarbanilide; CAS-bar 101-20-2) is a high-production-volume chemical, recently suggested to cause widespread contamination of US water resources. To test this hypothesis, we developed an isotope dilution liquid chromatography electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry method for ultratrace analysis of TCC (0.9ng/L detection limit) and analyzed low-volume water samples (200mL) along with primary sludge samples from across the United States. All river water samples (100%) collected downstream of wastewater treatment plants had detectable levels of TCC, as compared to 56% of those taken upstream. Concentrations of TCC (mean+/-standard deviation) downstream of sewage treatment plants (84+/-110ng/L) were significantly higher (P w/w each) in technical grade TCC (99%). Application of the new method for chlorocarbanilide analysis yielded TCC occurrence data for 13 US states, confirmed the role of sewage treatment plants as environmental inputs of TCC, and identified DCC and TetraCC as previously unrecognized pollutants released into the environment alongside TCC

Metabonomics Indicates Inhibition of Fatty Acid Synthesis, β-Oxidation, and Tricarboxylic Acid Cycle in Triclocarban-Induced Cardiac Metabolic Alterations in Male Mice.

Science.gov (United States)

Xie, Wenping; Zhang, Wenpeng; Ren, Juan; Li, Wentao; Zhou, Lili; Cui, Yuan; Chen, Huiming; Yu, Wenlian; Zhuang, Xiaomei; Zhang, Zhenqing; Shen, Guolin; Li, Haishan

2018-02-14

Triclocarban (TCC) has been identified as a new environmental pollutant that is potentially hazardous to human health; however, the effects of short-term TCC exposure on cardiac function are not known. The aim of this study was to use metabonomics and molecular biology techniques to systematically elucidate the molecular mechanisms of TCC-induced effects on cardiac function in mice. Our results show that TCC inhibited the uptake, synthesis, and oxidation of fatty acids, suppressed the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle, and increased aerobic glycolysis levels in heart tissue after short-term TCC exposure. TCC also inhibited the nuclear peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor α (PPARα), confirming its inhibitory effects on fatty acid uptake and oxidation. Histopathology and other analyses further confirm that TCC altered mouse cardiac physiology and pathology, ultimately affecting normal cardiac metabolic function. We elucidate the molecular mechanisms of TCC-induced harmful effects on mouse cardiac metabolism and function from a new perspective, using metabonomics and bioinformatics analysis data.

Cetylpyridinium chloride and miramistin as antiseptic substances in chronic wound management - prospects and limitations.

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Fromm-Dornieden, Carolin; Rembe, Julian-Dario; Schäfer, Nadine; Böhm, Julia; Stuermer, Ewa K

2015-04-01

The antimicrobial activity of cetylpyridinium chloride (CPC) and miramistin (MST) solutions at different concentrations (5×10(-5) to 0.4%) and a dressing, containing 0.15% CPC, were tested against Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli after 30 (solutions) and 60 min (fleece) incubation, respectively. Furthermore, the cytotoxic effects of CPC and MST were examined in human keratinocyte (HaCaT) and murine fibroblast (L929) cell lines. A dose of 3×10(-3)% CPC or MST was sufficient to entirely eradicate S. aureus after 30 min incubation. To achieve the same effect, higher concentrations were required against E. coli (0.025% CPC; 0.0125% MST) and P. aeruginosa (0.5% CPC; 0.05% MST). The CPC-fleece showed a high antiseptic effect against all three bacterial strains, although it did not completely eliminate P. aeruginosa. Both substances showed a high cytotoxic impact at higher tested concentrations (CPC >3×10(-3)%; MST >8×10(-4)%). CPC showed high antimicrobial potency at low concentrations against S. aureus, accompanied by low cytotoxic (side) effects at these concentrations, whilst the required minimal concentration to eradicate E. coli and P. aeruginosa was shown to be cytotoxic for keratinocytes and fibroblasts. The necessary antibacterial amounts of MST were lower, but also cytotoxic in direct contact with typical human wound cells. With regard to demographic changes and increasing bacterial resistance, new effective antiseptics, such as CPC and MST, incorporated in wound dressings without releasing an active substance could help to improve the treatment and healing rates of chronic wounds. © 2015 The Authors.

Evaluation of disinfectants and antiseptics to eliminate bacteria from the surface of turkey eggs and hatch gnotobiotic poults.

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Sylte, M J; Chandra, L C; Looft, T

2017-07-01

Bird eggs are in contact with intestinal microbiota at or after oviposition, but are protected from bacterial translocation by a glycoprotein cuticle layer, the shell, and internal membranes. In a preliminary study, turkey eggs were hatched in a germ-free environment. Firmicutes 16S rRNA gene was detected in the cecal microbiota of hatched poults, suggesting that poults may acquire spore-formers by exposure to shell contents during hatching. Generating gnotobiotic poults for research requires elimination of bacteria from the egg's surface without damaging the developing embryo. The ability of different disinfectants and antiseptics to eliminate eggshell bacteria without harming the developing embryo was tested. Different classes of disinfectants and antiseptics (halogens, biguanidines, and oxidants) were selected to target spores and vegetative bacteria likely present on the egg's surface. Eggs were treated by fully immersing in heated antiseptic (betadine or chlorhexidine) or disinfectant (alkaline bleach, acidified bleach, chlorine dioxide, Oxysept-333, or Virkon S) solutions for up to 15 minutes. Shells were aseptically harvested for aerobic and anaerobic culturing of bacteria. Toxicity to the developing embryo was assessed by gross evaluation of developmental changes in treated eggs incubated up to 27 d of embryonation. Halogen disinfectants acidified bleach and chlorine dioxide, and oxidants Oxysept-333 and Virkon-S eliminated viable bacteria from eggshells. However, addition of oxidants, alone or in combination with other treatments, produced significant (P eliminated viable bacteria from whole turkey eggs, and produced hatched poults in a gnotobiotic isolator. As a control, eggs were treated with PBS, incubated, and hatched under germ-replete conditions. After hatching, poults were euthanized and treated poults had no detectable bacterial growth or 16S rRNA gene qPCR amplification, demonstrating that acidified sodium hypochlorite, chlorine dioxide, and

Molecular dynamics and docking simulation of a natural variant of Activated Protein C with impaired protease activity: implications for integrin-mediated antiseptic function.

Science.gov (United States)

D'Ursi, Pasqualina; Orro, Alessandro; Morra, Giulia; Moscatelli, Marco; Trombetti, Gabriele; Milanesi, Luciano; Rovida, Ermanna

2015-01-01

Activated Protein C (APC) is a multifunctional serine protease, primarily known for its anticoagulant function in the coagulation system. Several studies have already elucidated its role in counteracting apoptosis and inflammation in cells, while significant effort is still ongoing for defining its involvement in sepsis. Earlier literature has shown that the antiseptic function of APC is mediated by its binding to leukocyte integrins, which is due to the presence of the integrin binding motif Arg-Gly-Asp at the N-terminus of the APC catalytic chain. Many natural mutants have been identified in patients with Protein C deficiency diagnosis including a variant of specificity pocket (Gly216Asp). In this work, we present a molecular model of the complex of APC with αVβ3 integrin obtained by protein-protein docking approach. A computational analysis of this variant is hereby presented, based on molecular dynamics and docking simulations, aiming at investigating the effects of the Gly216Asp mutation on the protein conformation and inferring its functional implications. Our study shows that such mutation is likely to impair the protease activity while preserving the overall protein fold. Moreover, superposition of the integrin binding motifs in wild-type and mutant forms suggests that the interaction with integrin can still occur and thus the mutant is likely to retain its antiseptic function related to the neutrophyl integrin binding. Therapeutic applications could result in this APC mutant which retains antiseptic function without anticoagulant side effects.

Handwashing and antiseptic-containing soaps in hospital

Science.gov (United States)

Jarvis, J. D.; Wynne, C. D.; Enwright, L.; Williams, J. D.

1979-01-01

Two aspects of handwashing in hospital were considered. A study was carried out to examine the contamination of bar soap and containers, and the use of antiseptic soaps in reducing the resident flora of the skin. Swabs were collected from soap dishes on six wards and from a bacteriology laboratory on four consecutive days. The unmedicated bar soap was replaced by bar soap containing 2·5% povidone-iodine, and further swabs were collected over a period of seven days. Ninety-two isolates from 48 samples were obtained when unmedicated bar soap was used, and nine isolates from 42 samples when povidone-iodine (Betadine) soap was substituted. The number of organisms recovered when povidone-iodine soap was used was much reduced, and Pseudomonas spp were recovered in low numbers on only one occasion. Six laboratory workers took part in a study to compare bar soap with other agents—povidone-iodine soap, povidone-iodine surgical scrub, povidone-iodine alcoholic solution, chlorhexidine surgical scrub, and alcoholic chlorhexidine. Samples were collected after standard washes and after surgical gloves had been worn for 90 minutes. The effect of multiple washes was assessed by samples collected after six washes with the agent under study (three per day) followed by 90 minutes wearing surgical gloves. The average percentage reduction in normal flora obtained indicated that alcoholic chlorhexidine was superior to the other agents. PMID:500840

Occurrence of triclosan, triclocarban, and its lesser chlorinated congeners in Minnesota freshwater sediments collected near wastewater treatment plants

Science.gov (United States)

Venkatesan, Arjun K.; Pycke, Benny F.G.; Barber, Larry B.; Lee, Kathy E.; Halden, Rolf U.

2012-01-01

The antimicrobial agents triclosan (TCS), triclocarban (TCC) and their associated transformation products are of increasing concern as environmental pollutants due to their potential adverse effects on humans and wildlife, including bioaccumulation and endocrine-disrupting activity. Analysis by tandem mass spectrometry of 24 paired freshwater bed sediment samples (top 10 cm) collected by the U.S. Geological Survey near 12 wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in Minnesota revealed TCS and TCC concentrations of up to 85 and 822 ng/g dry weight (dw), respectively. Concentrations of TCS and TCC in bed sediments collected downstream of WWTPs were significantly greater than upstream concentrations in 58% and 42% of the sites, respectively. Dichloro- and non-chlorinated carbanilides (DCC and NCC) were detected in sediments collected at all sites at concentrations of up to 160 and 1.1 ng/g dw, respectively. Overall, antimicrobial concentrations were significantly higher in lakes than in rivers and creeks, with relative abundances decreasing from TCC > TCS > DCC > NCC. This is the first statewide report on the occurrence of TCS, TCC and TCC transformation products in freshwater sediments. Moreover, the results suggest biological or chemical TCC dechlorination products to be ubiquitous in freshwater environments of Minnesota, but whether this transformation occurs in the WWTP or bed sediment remains to be determined.

The effects of biocides (antiseptics and disinfectants on the endospores of Rhinosporidium seeberi

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Arseculeratne S

2006-01-01

Full Text Available No data exists on the activity of biocides (antiseptics and disinfectants on Rhinosporidium seeberi that causes rhinosporidiosis in humans and animals. On account of the inability to culture R. seeberi, in vitro , dyes were used to assess the morphological integrity and viability of biocide-treated endospores that are considered to be the infective stage of this pathogen. Evan′s Blue (EvB identifies the morphological integrity of the endospores while MTT (3-[4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2yl]-2, 5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide identifies metabolic activity through its reduction by cellular dehydrogenases to microscopically visible deposits of insoluble formazan. MTT-negativity has earlier been shown to correlate with absence of growth of yeast and mycelial fungi in culture and could thus indicate the loss of viability of MTT-negative rhinosporidial endospores. Hydrogen peroxide, glutaraldehyde, chloroxylenol, chlorhexidine, cetrimide, thimerosal, 70% ethanol, iodine in 70% ethanol, 10% formalin, povidone-iodine, sodium azide and silver nitrate were tested on freshly-harvested endospores and all biocides caused metabolic inactivation with or without altered structural integrity as shown by absence of MTT-staining after 3, 24 or 36 hour after exposure, while EvB stained only the endospores treated with sodium azide, ethanol, thimerosal, chloroxylenol, glutaraldehyde and hydrogen peroxide. With clinically useful biocides - chlorhexidine, cetrimide-chlorhexidine, 70% ethanol, povidone-iodine and silver nitrate, a total period of exposure of endospores to the biocide, for seven minutes, produced metabolic inactivation of the endospores. Anti-rhinosporidial antiseptics that could be used in surgery on rhinosporidial patients include povidone-iodine in nasal packs for nasal and naso-pharyngeal surgery, chlorhexidine and cetrimide-chlorhexidine on the skin, while povidone-iodine and silver nitrate could have application in ocular rhinosporidiosis.

[Effects of antiseptic on the analysis of greenhouse gases concentrations in lake water].

Science.gov (United States)

Xiao, Qi-Tao; Hu, Zheng-Hu; James, Deng; Xiao, Wei; Liu, Shou-Dong; Li, Xu-Hui

2014-01-01

To gain insight into antiseptic effects on the concentrations of CO2, CH4, and N2O in lake water, antisepetic (CuSO4 and HgCl2) were added into water sample, and concentrations of greenhouse gases were measured by the gas chromatography based on water equilibrium method. Experiments were conducted as following: the control group without antisepetic (CK), the treatment group with 1 mL CuSO4 solution (T1), the treatment group with 5 mL CuSO4 solution (T2), and the treatment group with 0.5 mL HgCl2 solution (T3). All groups were divided into two batches: immediately analysis (I), and after 2 days analysis (II). Results showed that CuSO4 and HgCl2 significantly increased CO2 concentration, the mean CO2 concentration (Mco2) of CK (I) and CK (II) were (11.5 +/- 1.47) micromol x L(-1) and (14.38 +/- 1.59) micromol x L(-1), respectively; the Mco2 of T1 (I) and T1 (II) were (376 +/- 70) micromol x L(-1) and (448 +/- 246.83) micromol x L(-1), respectively; the Mco2 of T2 (I) and T2 (II) were (885 +/- 51.53) micromol x L(-1) and (988.83 +/- 101.96) micromol x L(-1), respectively; the Mco2 of T3 (I) and T3 (II) were (287.19 +/- 30.01) micromol x L(-1) and (331.33 +/- 22.06) micromol x L(-1), respectively. The results also showed that there was no difference in CH4 and N2O concentrations among treatments. Water samples should be analyzed as soon as possible after pretreatment. Our findings suggest that adding antiseptic may lead an increase in CO2 concentration.

Phytoaccumulation of antimicrobials by hydroponic Cucurbita pepo.

Science.gov (United States)

Aryal, Niroj; Reinhold, Dawn

2013-01-01

Consumer use of antimicrobial-containing products continuously introduces triclocarban and triclosan into the environment. Triclocarban and triclosan adversely affect plants and animals and have the potential to affect human health. Research examined the phytoaccumulation of triclocarban and triclosan by pumpkin (Cucurbita pepo cultivar Howden) and zucchini (Cucurbita pepo cultivar Gold Rush) grown hydroponically. Pumpkin and zucchini were grown in nutrient solution spiked with 0.315 microg/mL triclocarban and 0.289 microg/mL triclosan for two months. Concentrations of triclocarban and triclosan in nutrient solutions were monitored weekly. At the end of the trial, roots and shoots were analyzed for triclocarban and triclosan. Research demonstrated that pumpkin and zucchini accumulated triclocarban and triclosan. Root accumulation factors were 1.78 and 0.64 and translocation factors were 0.001 and 0.082 for triclocarban and triclosan, respectively. The results of this experiment were compared with a previous soil column study that represented environmentally relevant exposure of antimicrobials from biosolids and had similar root mass. Plants were not as efficient in removing triclocarban and triclosan in hydroponic systems as in soil systems. Shoot concentrations of antimicrobials were the same or lower in hydroponic systems than in soil columns, indicating that hydroponic system does not overpredict the concentrations of antimicrobials.

Serratia marcescens bacteraemia outbreak in haemodialysis patients with tunnelled catheters due to colonisation of antiseptic solution. Experience at 4 hospitals.

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Merino, José L; Bouarich, Hanane; Pita, Mª José; Martínez, Patricia; Bueno, Blanca; Caldés, Silvia; Corchete, Elena; Jaldo, Mª Teresa; Espejo, Beatriz; Paraíso, Vicente

The application of antiseptic solution for handling tunnelled catheters is recommended in patients undergoing haemodialysis. These routine antiseptic procedures in handling catheters are crucial to avoid complications. We report an outbreak of Serratia marcescens (S. marcescens) bacteraemia in numerous haemodialysis units of the Community of Madrid. The first cases of bacteraemia due to S. marcescens were isolated in December 2014. The Preventive Medicine Services were informed of the detection of an atypical pathogen in several patients, suspecting a probable nosocomial outbreak. Information from 4 centres with similar S. marcescens bacteraemia was analysed. Twenty-one cases of bacteraemia related to S. marcescens were identified. The mean age of affected patients was 72±10 years. The mean time on haemodialysis of affected patients was 33±13 months (range: 3-83 months), the median time of tunnelled catheter was 22±13 months. In 11 cases the clinical picture was similar, with hypotension and general malaise during the haemodialysis session. Fever was present in a further 7 cases. In 3 cases the presentation was asymptomatic and was detected by blood cultures. All patients had tunnelled catheters (12 patients with catheter in the right jugular vein, 5 in the left jugular, 2 in the right femoral artery and 2 in the left subclavian artery). Gentamicin intravenous doses (1mg/kg) with catheter lock solution with ciprofloxacin post-dialysis were administered for 3 weeks in 6 patients. In 12 patients the treatment was ceftazidime (2g IV) plus catheter lock solution with the same antibiotic, for 2 weeks. Four patients received oral ciprofloxacin for 2 weeks, in one case together with IV vancomycin. The patients were asymptomatic and without new episodes 48hours after the treatment. No major complications were observed. The teams informed the health authorities of the situation, which then reported the presence of batches of antiseptic (chlorhexidine 0.05 and 2

Antimicrobial Agent of Susceptibilities and Antiseptic Resistance Gene Distribution among Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Isolates from Patients with Impetigo and Staphylococcal Scalded Skin Syndrome

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Noguchi, Norihisa; Nakaminami, Hidemasa; Nishijima, Setsuko; Kurokawa, Ichiro; So, Hiromu; Sasatsu, Masanori

2006-01-01

The susceptibilities to antimicrobial agents of and distributions of antiseptic resistance genes in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strains isolated between 1999 and 2004 in Japan were examined. The data of MRSA strains that are causative agents of impetigo and staphylococcal scalded skin syndrome (SSSS) were compared with those of MRSA strains isolated from patients with other diseases. The susceptibilities to antiseptic agents in MRSA isolates from patients with impetigo and SSSS were higher than those in MRSA isolates from patients with other diseases. The distribution of the qacA/B genes in MRSA strains isolated from patients with impetigo and SSSS (1.3%, 1/76) was remarkably lower than that in MRSA strains isolated from patients with other diseases (45.9%, 95/207). Epidemiologic typings of staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec (SCCmec) and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) showed that MRSA strains isolated from patients with impetigo and SSSS had type IV SCCmec (75/76), except for one strain, and 64.5% (49/76) of the strains had different PFGE types. In addition, the patterns of restriction digestion of all tested qacA/B plasmid in MRSA isolates having different PFGE types were identical. The results showed that a specific MRSA clone carrying qacA/B was not prevalent, but qacA/B was spread among health care-associated MRSA strains. Therefore, it was concluded that the lower distribution rate of qacA/B resulted in higher susceptibilities to cationic antiseptic agents in MRSA isolated from patients with impetigo and SSSS. PMID:16757607

Comparing two polymeric biguanides: chemical distinction, antiseptic efficacy and cytotoxicity of polyaminopropyl biguanide and polyhexamethylene biguanide.

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Rembe, Julian-Dario; Fromm-Dornieden, Carolin; Schäfer, Nadine; Böhm, Julia K; Stuermer, Ewa K

2016-08-01

In this study, polyaminopropyl biguanide (PAPB) was compared to the molecularly closely related polyhexamethylene biguanide (PHMB) with respect to chemical relationship, antiseptic efficacy and cytotoxicity in vitro. Cytotoxicity for human keratinocytes (HaCaTs) and murine fibroblasts (L929) was determined according to ISO EN 10993-5 for both substances. Antimicrobial efficacy tests were performed via determination of the MBC, quantitative suspension method for substances and investigation of two PAPB- or PHMB-containing dressings against Staphyloccoccus aureus, Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, according to international standards. Prior mass spectrometry was performed for chemical differentiation of the investigated substances. PHMB showed high toxicity even in low concentrations for both tested cell lines and a high antimicrobial efficacy against S. aureus and E. coli. In the case of PAPB, no or only low cytotoxicity was detected after 72 h, whilst comparable antibacterial features are lacking, as PAPB showed no relevant antimicrobial effects. Even though chemically closely related, PAPB proved to be ineffective in bacterial eradication, whilst PHMB showed a high efficacy. The discovery and establishment of safe and effective alternative antiseptics are important issues for the treatment of infected wounds. In particular, rising bacterial resistances to established agents, as well as ongoing discussions of potential toxic or carcinogenic effects emphasize this necessity. Nevertheless, the presented results highlight that even small changes in the chemical structure of related agents such as PHMB and PAPB can dramatically affect their efficacy and, therefore, need to be carefully distinguished and assessed side by side.

Enrichment, development, and assessment of Indian basil oil based antiseptic cream formulation utilizing hydrophilic-lipophilic balance approach.

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Yadav, Narayan Prasad; Meher, Jaya Gopal; Pandey, Neelam; Luqman, Suaib; Yadav, Kuldeep Singh; Chanda, Debabrata

2013-01-01

The present work was aimed to develop an antiseptic cream formulation of Indian basil oil utilizing hydrophilic-lipophilic balance approach. In order to determine the required-hydrophilic lipophilic balance (rHLB) of basil oil, emulsions of basil oil were prepared by phase inversion temperature technique using water, Tween 80, and Span 80. Formulated emulsions were assessed for creaming (BE9; 9.8, BE10; 10.2), droplet size (BE18; 3.22 ± 0.09 μ m), and turbidity (BE18; 86.12 ± 2.1%). To ensure correctness of the applied methodology, rHLB of light liquid paraffin was also determined. After rHLB determination, basil oil creams were prepared with two different combinations of surfactants, namely, GMS : Tween 80 (1 : 3.45) and SLS : GMS (1 : 3.68), and evaluated for in vitro antimicrobial activity, skin irritation test, viscosity and consistency. The rHLB of basil oil and light liquid paraffin were found to be 13.36 ± 0.36 and 11.5 ± 0.35, respectively. Viscosity, and consistency parameters of cream was found to be consistent over 90 days. Cream formulations showed net zone of growth inhibition in the range of 5.0-11.3 mm against bacteria and 4.3-7.6 mm against fungi. Primary irritation index was found to be between 0.38 and1.05. Conclusively stable, consistent, non-irritant, enriched antiseptic basil oil cream formulations were developed utilizing HLB approach.

Vaginal preparation with antiseptic solution before cesarean section for preventing postoperative infections.

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Haas, David M; Morgan, Sarah; Contreras, Karenrose

2014-09-09

Cesarean delivery is one of the most common surgical procedures performed by obstetricians. Infectious morbidity after cesarean delivery can have a tremendous impact on the postpartum woman's return to normal function and her ability to care for her baby. Despite the widespread use of prophylactic antibiotics, postoperative infectious morbidity still complicates cesarean deliveries. To determine if cleansing the vagina with an antiseptic solution before a cesarean delivery decreases the risk of maternal infectious morbidities, including endometritis and wound complications. We searched the Cochrane Pregnancy and Childbirth Group's Trials Register (21 July 2014). We included randomized and quasi-randomized trials assessing the impact of vaginal cleansing immediately before cesarean delivery with any type of antiseptic solution versus a placebo solution/standard of care on post-cesarean infectious morbidity. We independently assessed eligibility and quality of the studies. Five trials randomizing 1946 women (1766 analyzed) evaluated the effects of vaginal cleansing (all with povidone-iodine) on post-cesarean infectious morbidity. The risk of bias was generally low, with the quality of most of the studies being high. Vaginal preparation immediately before cesarean delivery significantly reduced the incidence of post-cesarean endometritis from 7.2% in control groups to 3.6% in vaginal cleansing groups (average risk ratio (RR) 0.39, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.16 to 0.97, five trials, 1766 women). The risk reduction was particularly strong for women with ruptured membranes (1.4% in the vaginal cleansing group versus 15.4% in the control group; RR 0.13, 95% CI 0.02 to 0.66, two trials, 148 women). No other outcomes realized statistically significant differences between the vaginal cleansing and control groups. No adverse effects were reported with the povidone-iodine vaginal cleansing.The quality of the evidence using GRADE was low for post-cesarean endometritis

Detection of triclocarban and two co-contaminating chlorocarbanilides in US aquatic environments using isotope dilution liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry.

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Sapkota, Amir; Heidler, Jochen; Halden, Rolf U

2007-01-01

The antimicrobial compound triclocarban (TCC; 3,4,4'-trichlorocarbanilide; CAS# 101-20-2) is a high-production-volume chemical, recently suggested to cause widespread contamination of US water resources. To test this hypothesis, we developed an isotope dilution liquid chromatography electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry method for ultratrace analysis of TCC (0.9 ng/L detection limit) and analyzed low-volume water samples (200 mL) along with primary sludge samples from across the United States. All river water samples (100%) collected downstream of wastewater treatment plants had detectable levels of TCC, as compared to 56% of those taken upstream. Concentrations of TCC (mean+/-standard deviation) downstream of sewage treatment plants (84+/-110 ng/L) were significantly higher (P1219-99-4). In addition to TCC and DCC, municipal sludge contained a second co-contaminant, 3,3',4,4'-tetrachlorocarbanilide (TetraCC; CAS# 4300-43-0). Both newly detected compounds were present as impurities (0.2%(w/w) each) in technical grade TCC (99%). Application of the new method for chlorocarbanilide analysis yielded TCC occurrence data for 13 US states, confirmed the role of sewage treatment plants as environmental inputs of TCC, and identified DCC and TetraCC as previously unrecognized pollutants released into the environment alongside TCC.

Hand hygiene with soap and water is superior to alcohol rub and antiseptic wipes for removal of Clostridium difficile.

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Oughton, Matthew T; Loo, Vivian G; Dendukuri, Nandini; Fenn, Susan; Libman, Michael D

2009-10-01

To evaluate common hand hygiene methods for efficacy in removing Clostridium difficile. Randomized crossover comparison among 10 volunteers with hands experimentally contaminated by nontoxigenic C. difficile. Interventions included warm water with plain soap, cold water with plain soap, warm water with antibacterial soap, antiseptic hand wipes, alcohol-based handrub, and a control involving no intervention. All interventions were evaluated for mean reduction in colony-forming units (CFUs) under 2 contamination protocols: "whole hand" and "palmar surface." Results were analyzed according to a Bayesian approach, by using hierarchical models adjusted for multiple observations. Under the whole-hand protocol, the greatest adjusted mean reductions were achieved by warm water with plain soap (2.14 log(10) CFU/mL [95% credible interval (CrI), 1.74-2.54 log(10) CFU/mL]), cold water with plain soap (1.88 log(10) CFU/mL [95% CrI, 1.48-2.28 log(10) CFU/mL), and warm water with antibacterial soap (1.51 log(10) CFU/mL [95% CrI, 1.12-1.91 log(10) CFU/mL]), followed by antiseptic hand wipes (0.57 log(10) CFU/mL [95% CrI, 0.17-0.96 log(10) CFU/mL]). Alcohol-based handrub (0.06 log(10) CFU/mL [95% CrI, -0.34 to 0.45 log(10) CFU/mL]) was equivalent to no intervention. Under the palmar surface protocol, warm water with plain soap, cold water with plain soap, and warm water with antibacterial soap again yielded the greatest mean reductions, followed by antiseptic hand wipes (26.6, 26.6, 26.6, and 21.9 CFUs per plate, respectively), when compared with alcohol-based handrub. Hypothenar (odds ratio, 10.98 [95% CrI, 1.96-37.65]) and thenar (odds ratio, 6.99 [95% CrI, 1.25-23.41]) surfaces were more likely than fingertips to remain heavily contaminated after handwashing. Handwashing with soap and water showed the greatest efficacy in removing C. difficile and should be performed preferentially over the use of alcohol-based handrubs when contact with C. difficile is suspected or likely.

Chronic venous leg ulcers – role of topical zinc

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Maher SF

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Sara F Maher Physical Therapy Program, Department of Healthcare Sciences, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA Abstract: Topical zinc has been used in the treatment of wounds for over 3,000 years, and is reported to have antiseptic, astringent, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and wound healing properties. Fourteen studies were identified and reviewed, to assess the efficacy of this treatment modality as either a bandage or skin protectant in the treatment of venous ulcers. The authors of three studies reported improved healing time or success rate in wounds treated with zinc-based products. However, the authors of one study attributed the faster healing rate mainly to the extra compression (that improved venous blood return, delivered by the non-elastic paste bandage, and not by the zinc oxide alone. The quality of evidence is fair, as 50% of the studies were conducted prior to 2000 and 50% of the studies utilized fewer than 45 patients randomized to two or more groups. Other treatments have been reported to be more cost-effective than zinc, including hydrocolloids, four-layer compression systems, and CircAid Thera-boots. Finally, zinc was reported to be less comfortable, less easy to use, and caused increased pain, in comparison to other products on the market. This literature review, therefore, demonstrated that current evidence is insufficient to determine the effectiveness of zinc-based products in the treatment of venous wounds. Future research is needed focusing on larger, high-quality trials with an emphasis on quality of life issues and cost-effectiveness of treatment. Keywords: chronic wounds, leg ulcers, venous insufficiency, topical zinc

Comparative effectiveness of skin antiseptic agents in reducing surgical site infections: a report from the Washington State Surgical Care and Outcomes Assessment Program.

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Hakkarainen, Timo W; Dellinger, E Patchen; Evans, Heather L; Farjah, Farhood; Farrokhi, Ellen; Steele, Scott R; Thirlby, Richard; Flum, David R

2014-03-01

Surgical site infections (SSI) are an important source of morbidity and mortality. Chlorhexidine in isopropyl alcohol is effective in preventing central venous-catheter associated infections, but its effectiveness in reducing SSI in clean-contaminated procedures is uncertain. Surgical studies to date have had contradictory results. We aimed to further evaluate the relationship of commonly used antiseptic agents and SSI, and to determine if isopropyl alcohol has a unique effect. We performed a prospective cohort analysis to evaluate the relationship of commonly used skin antiseptic agents and SSI for patients undergoing mostly clean-contaminated surgery from January 2011 through June 2012. Multivariate regression modeling predicted expected rates of SSI. Risk adjusted event rates (RAERs) of SSI were compared across groups using proportionality testing. Among 7,669 patients, the rate of SSI was 4.6%. The RAERs were 0.85 (p = 0.28) for chlorhexidine (CHG), 1.10 (p = 0.06) for chlorhexidine in isopropyl alcohol (CHG+IPA), 0.98 (p = 0.96) for povidone-iodine (PVI), and 0.93 (p = 0.51) for iodine-povacrylex in isopropyl alcohol (IPC+IPA). The RAERs were 0.91 (p = 0.39) for the non-IPA group and 1.10 (p = 0.07) for the IPA group. Among elective colorectal patients, the RAERs were 0.90 (p = 0.48) for CHG, 1.04 (p = 0.67) for CHG+IPA, 1.04 (p = 0.85) for PVI, and 1.00 (p = 0.99) for IPC+IPA. For clean-contaminated surgical cases, this large-scale state cohort study did not demonstrate superiority of any commonly used skin antiseptic agent in reducing the risk of SSI, nor did it find any unique effect of isopropyl alcohol. These results do not support the use of more expensive skin preparation agents. Copyright © 2014 American College of Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Thermodynamic clarification of interaction between antiseptic compounds and lipids consisting of stratum corneum

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aki, Hatsumi; Kawasaki, Yuhsuke

2004-01-01

The interactions of antiseptic compounds with quaternary ammonium, such as benzalkonium chloride (BC), benzethonium chloride (BZC), dodecyldiaminoethyl-glycine hydrochloride (AEG), and chlorhexidine gluconate (CHG), with components of the stratum corneum were investigated by isothermal titration calorimetry at pH 7.5 and 25 deg. C. The different mechanisms for their permeation to stratum corneum were clarified. Cationic surfactants of BC and BZC bound to cholesterol and cholesterol sulfate with high affinity (10 5 -10 6 M -1 ) to extract endogenous cholesterol and its derivatives from the stratum corneum and penetrated via an intercellular route. CHG also bound to cholesterol and accumulated in the stratum corneum without removing endogenous cholesterol. On the other hand, an amphoteric surfactant of AEG seemed to be incorporated into the lipid bilayer and bound to ceramide with its polar end close to the lipid polar heads by hydrophobic interaction

Frequency and trends of contact allergy to and iatrogenic contact dermatitis caused by topical drugs over a 25-year period.

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Gilissen, Liesbeth; Goossens, An

2016-11-01

Allergic contact dermatitis is the most common adverse reaction caused by topical drugs. To study the demographic characteristics and lesion locations of patients with iatrogenic dermatitis, and to analyse contact allergy to active principles and trends in frequencies over the years. Between 1990 and 2014, 14 911 patients were patch tested with the European baseline series. Patients with a presumed iatrogenic cause were often tested with a pharmaceutical series, and, if indicated, with photo-patch tests. Most were also tested with the topical products to which they had been exposed, along with their ingredients. Eight thousand three hundred and seventy-four (56%) patients tested positively, and 2600 (17.4%, 95%CI: 16.8-18.0%) of all patients suffered from iatrogenic contact dermatitis. The most important primary sites of dermatitis were the legs, face, and hands. The most common sensitizers included topical antibiotics, antiseptics, and corticosteroids. The most frequent baseline allergens in this subgroup were budesonide, neomycin, and benzocaine, although with a decreasing trend over the years. Many other allergens from different pharmacological classes were identified. With a prevalence of 17.4% of consecutive patients, iatrogenic contact dermatitis is a frequent diagnosis in patients attending a general patch test clinic, involving one-third of the patients with at least one positive reaction. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Antiseptic Effect of Conventional Povidone-Iodine Scrub, Chlorhexidine Scrub, and Waterless Hand Rub in a Surgical Room: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

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Tsai, Jui-Chen; Lin, Yen-Kuang; Huang, Yen-Jung; Loh, El-Wui; Wen, Hsiao-Yun; Wang, Chia-Hui; Tsai, Yin-Tai; Hsieh, Wen-Shyang; Tam, Ka-Wai

2017-04-01

OBJECTIVE Effective perioperative hand antisepsis is crucial for the safety of patients and medical staff in surgical rooms. The antimicrobial effectiveness of different antiseptic methods, including conventional hand scrubs and waterless hand rubs, has not been well evaluated. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS A randomized controlled trial was conducted to investigate the effectiveness of the 3 antiseptic methods among surgical staff of Taipei Medical University-Shuang Ho Hospital. For each method used, a group of 80 participants was enrolled. INTERVENTION Surgical hand cleansing with conventional 10% povidone-iodine scrub, conventional 4% chlorhexidine scrub, or waterless hand rub (1% chlorhexidine gluconate and 61% ethyl alcohol). RESULTS Colony-forming unit (CFU) counts were collected using the hand imprinting method before and after disinfection and after surgery. After surgical hand disinfection, the mean CFU counts of the conventional chlorhexidine (0.5±0.2, Pantiseptic method (P=.0036), but not other variables, predicted the mean CFU count. CONCLUSIONS Conventional chlorhexidine scrub and waterless hand rub were superior to a conventional povidone-iodine product in bacterial inhibition. We recommend using conventional chlorhexidine scrub as a standard method for perioperative hand antisepsis. Waterless hand rub may be used if the higher cost is affordable. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2017;38:417-422.

Thermodynamic clarification of interaction between antiseptic compounds and lipids consisting of stratum corneum

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Aki, Hatsumi; Kawasaki, Yuhsuke

2004-06-24

The interactions of antiseptic compounds with quaternary ammonium, such as benzalkonium chloride (BC), benzethonium chloride (BZC), dodecyldiaminoethyl-glycine hydrochloride (AEG), and chlorhexidine gluconate (CHG), with components of the stratum corneum were investigated by isothermal titration calorimetry at pH 7.5 and 25 deg. C. The different mechanisms for their permeation to stratum corneum were clarified. Cationic surfactants of BC and BZC bound to cholesterol and cholesterol sulfate with high affinity (10{sup 5}-10{sup 6} M{sup -1}) to extract endogenous cholesterol and its derivatives from the stratum corneum and penetrated via an intercellular route. CHG also bound to cholesterol and accumulated in the stratum corneum without removing endogenous cholesterol. On the other hand, an amphoteric surfactant of AEG seemed to be incorporated into the lipid bilayer and bound to ceramide with its polar end close to the lipid polar heads by hydrophobic interaction.

Transformation products and human metabolites of triclocarban and tricllosan in sewage sludge across the United States

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Pycke, Benny F.G.; Roll, Isaac B.; Brownawell, Bruce J.; Kinney, Chad A.; Furlong, Edward T.; Kolpin, Dana W.; Halden, Rolf U.

2014-01-01

Removal of triclocarban (TCC) and triclosan (TCS) from wastewater is a function of adsorption, abiotic degradation, and microbial mineralization or transformation, reactions that are not currently controlled or optimized in the pollution control infrastructure of standard wastewater treatment. Here, we report on the levels of eight transformation products, human metabolites, and manufacturing byproducts of TCC and TCS in raw and treated sewage sludge. Two sample sets were studied: samples collected once from 14 wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) representing nine states, and multiple samples collected from one WWTP monitored for 12 months. Time-course analysis of significant mass fluxes (α = 0.01) indicate that transformation of TCC (dechlorination) and TCS (methylation) occurred during sewage conveyance and treatment. Strong linear correlations were found between TCC and the human metabolite 2′-hydroxy-TCC (r = 0.84), and between the TCC-dechlorination products dichlorocarbanilide (DCC) and monochlorocarbanilide (r = 0.99). Mass ratios of DCC-to-TCC and of methyl-triclosan (MeTCS)-to-TCS, serving as indicators of transformation activity, revealed that transformation was widespread under different treatment regimes across the WWTPs sampled, though the degree of transformation varied significantly among study sites (α = 0.01). The analysis of sludge sampled before and after different unit operation steps (i.e., anaerobic digestion, sludge heat treatment, and sludge drying) yielded insights into the extent and location of TCC and TCS transformation. Results showed anaerobic digestion to be important for MeTCS transformation (37–74%), whereas its contribution to partial TCC dechlorination was limited (0.4–2.1%). This longitudinal and nationwide survey is the first to report the occurrence of transformation products, human metabolites, and manufacturing byproducts of TCC and TCS in sewage sludge.

Phytoaccumulation of antimicrobials from biosolids: impacts on environmental fate and relevance to human exposure.

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Aryal, Niroj; Reinhold, Dawn M

2011-11-01

Triclocarban and triclosan, two antimicrobials widely used in consumer products, can adversely affect ecosystems and potentially impact human health. The application of biosolids to agricultural fields introduces triclocarban and triclosan to soil and water resources. This research examined the phytoaccumulation of antimicrobials, effects of plant growth on migration of antimicrobials to water resources, and relevance of phytoaccumulation in human exposure to antimicrobials. Pumpkin, zucchini, and switch grass were grown in soil columns to which biosolids were applied. Leachate from soil columns was assessed every other week for triclocarban and triclosan. At the end of the trial, concentrations of triclocarban and triclosan were determined for soil, roots, stems, and leaves. Results indicated that plants can reduce leaching of antimicrobials to water resources. Pumpkin and zucchini growth significantly reduced soil concentrations of triclosan to less than 0.001 mg/kg, while zucchini significantly reduced soil concentrations of triclocarban to 0.04 mg/kg. Pumpkin, zucchini, and switch grass accumulated triclocarban and triclosan in mg per kg (dry) concentrations. Potential human exposure to triclocarban from consumption of pumpkin or zucchini was substantially less than exposure from product use, but was greater than exposure from drinking water consumption. Consequently, research indicated that pumpkin and zucchini may beneficially impact the fate of antimicrobials in agricultural fields, while presenting minimal acute risk to human health. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Cationic compounds with activity against multidrug-resistant bacteria: interest of a new compound compared with two older antiseptics, hexamidine and chlorhexidine.

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Grare, M; Dibama, H Massimba; Lafosse, S; Ribon, A; Mourer, M; Regnouf-de-Vains, J-B; Finance, C; Duval, R E

2010-05-01

Use of antiseptics and disinfectants is essential in infection control practices in hospital and other healthcare settings. In this study, the in vitro activity of a new promising compound, para-guanidinoethylcalix[4]arene (Cx1), has been evaluated in comparison with hexamidine (HX) and chlorhexidine (CHX), two older cationic antiseptics. The MICs for 69 clinical isolates comprising methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, methicillin-sensitive S. aureus, coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS) (with or without mecA), vancomycin-resistant enterococci, Enterobacteriaceae producing various beta-lactamases and non-fermenting bacilli (Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Acinetobacter baumanii, Stenotrophomonas maltophilia) were determined. Cx1 showed similar activity against S. aureus, CoNS and Enterococcus spp., irrespective of the presence of mecA or van genes, or associated resistance genes, with very good activity against CoNS (MIC compound against all strains, with broad-spectrum and conserved activity against multidrug-resistant strains. HX showed a lower activity, essentially against Gram-positive strains. Consequently, the differences observed with respect to Cx1 suggest that they are certainly not the consequence of antibiotic resistance phenotypes, but rather the result of membrane composition modifications (e.g. of lipopolysaccharide), or of the presence of (activated) efflux-pumps. These results raise the possibility that Cx1 may be a potent new antibacterial agent of somewhat lower activity but significantly lower toxicity than CHX.

Evaluation of inactivation of intracanal antiseptics by dentin, demineralized dentin, dentin matrix and mineral component of dentin

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Razmi H

2007-01-01

Full Text Available Background and Aim: Many studies have shown that microorganisms are the main cause of pulpal diseases and the main purpose of root canal therapy is their elimination from the root canal system. Antiseptic agents are used to reduce bacteria but their antibacterial activities differ from in vivo to in vitro studies and might be inactivated by dentin and its components in root canal space. This study was designed to investigate the effect of dentin on antibacterial activity of different antimicrobial agents. Materials and Methods: In this experimental study, two antibacterial agents (sodium hypochlorite and chlorhexidine with different concentrations were used in four experimental groups: Group 1: dentin, Group 2: demineralized dentin with EDTA, Group 3: dentin matrix and Group 4: dentin mineral component. The species used in this study was Entrococcus faecalis. Different concentration of agents were added to mixture of each experimental group and bacteria. At the baseline and after one and 24 hours, samples were collected and cultured. After incubation period, colonies were counted. Data were analyzed by Tukey test with p<0.05 as the limit of significance. Results: 2% and 0.2% chlorhexidine, and 5% sodium hypochlorite solutions at the three studied times eliminated Entrococcus faecalis completely. 1% sodium hypochlorite eliminated all bacteria in 1h and 24 hs. Statistical analysis showed significant differences between experimental and control groups (P<0.05. Sodium 1% hypochlorite at time 0, could reduce bacteria significantly (P<0.05 but didn’t eliminate them completely. Conclusion: Inactivation of intracanal antiseptics was not observed in this study. As elimination of bacteria occurred, application of these antibacterial agents are recommended in endodontic treatment. Further investigations on other antibacterial agents, other concentrations and shorter time intervals are recommended.

Effect of perioperative mupirocin and antiseptic body wash on infection rate and causative pathogens in patients undergoing cardiac surgery.

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Kohler, Philipp; Sommerstein, Rami; Schönrath, Felix; Ajdler-Schäffler, Evelyne; Anagnostopoulos, Alexia; Tschirky, Sandra; Falk, Volkmar; Kuster, Stefan P; Sax, Hugo

2015-07-01

Preoperative nasal mupirocin has been shown to reduce surgical site infections (SSIs) in patients undergoing cardiac surgery. We analyzed the effect of mupirocin plus antiseptic body wash on SSI rate and etiology. Prospective SSI surveillance was done for patients undergoing cardiac surgery before and after implementation of mupirocin nasal ointment and chlorhexidine/octenidine body wash. Overall SSI rate was 8.6% (81 out of 945) for the control and 6.9% (58 out of 842) for the intervention cohort (P = .19). In multivariable analysis, the study protocol was associated with an odds ratio of 0.61 (95% confidence interval, 0.41-0.91; P = .015) with regard to any SSI. This effect was exclusively due to a reduction in superficial SSIs and was observed both in patients with preoperative and postoperative treatment initiation. Coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS), the most commonly isolated pathogen, were found in 37% and 48% (P = .19) of patients in the control and the intervention cohort, respectively. CoNS were methicillin resistant in 69% of cases. Mupirocin and antiseptic body wash reduced the rate of superficial but not deep or organ/space SSIs. Postoperative patient treatment may be critical in reducing the risk for superficial SSI, presumably due to a reduction of bacterial skin load. A high proportion of SSI was due to methicillin-resistant CoNS and thus not covered by routine perioperative antimicrobial prophylaxis. Copyright © 2015 Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Polymicrobial Gardnerella biofilm resists repeated intravaginal antiseptic treatment in a subset of women with bacterial vaginosis: a preliminary report.

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Swidsinski, Alexander; Loening-Baucke, Vera; Swidsinski, Sonja; Verstraelen, Hans

2015-03-01

Bacterial vaginosis is a recalcitrant polymicrobial biofilm infection that often resists standard antibiotic treatment. We therefore considered repeated treatment with octenidine, a local antiseptic that has previously been shown to be highly effective in several biofilm-associated infections. Twenty-four patients with recurrent BV were treated with a 7-day course of octenidine (octenidine dihydrochloride spray application with the commercial product Octenisept). In case of treatment failure or relapse within 6 months, patients were re-treated with a 28-day course of octenidine. In case of recurrence within 6 months after the second treatment course, patients were treated again with a 28-day course followed by weekly applications for 2 months. Treatment effect was evaluated by assessment of the presence of the biofilm on voided vaginal epithelial cells through fluorescence in situ hybridisation. The initial cure rate following a 7-day course of octenidine was as high as 87.5%. The 6-month relapse rate was, however, as high as 66.6%. Repeated treatment for 28 days led to an overall cure rate of 75.0%; however, it was also associated with emergence of complete resistance to octenidine in a subset of women. The overall cure rate after three treatment courses with 1-year follow-up was 62.5 %, with 37.5 % of the patients showing complete resistance to octenidine. Our preliminary results showed that octenidine dihydrochloride was initially highly effective, but the efficacy of repeated and prolonged treatment dropped quickly as challenge with the antiseptic rapidly led to bacterial resistance in a considerable subset of women.

Antimicrobial Analysis of an Antiseptic Made from Ethanol Crude Extracts of P. granatum and E. uniflora in Wistar Rats against Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis.

Science.gov (United States)

Bernardo, Thaís Honório Lins; Sales Santos Veríssimo, Regina Célia; Alvino, Valter; Silva Araujo, Maria Gabriella; Evangelista Pires dos Santos, Raíssa Fernanda; Maurício Viana, Max Denisson; de Assis Bastos, Maria Lysete; Alexandre-Moreira, Magna Suzana; de Araújo-Júnior, João Xavier

2015-01-01

Surgical site infection remains a challenge for hospital infection control, especially when it relates to skin antisepsis in the surgical site. To analyze the antimicrobial activity in vivo of an antiseptic from ethanol crude extracts of P. granatum and E. uniflora against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. Agar drilling and minimal inhibitory tests were conducted for in vitro evaluation. In the in vivo bioassay were used Wistar rats and Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 25923) and Staphylococcus epidermidis (ATCC 14990). Statistical analysis was performed through variance analysis and Scott-Knott cluster test at 5% probability and significance level. In the in vitro, ethanolic extracts of Punica granatum and Eugenia uniflora and their combination showed the best antimicrobial potential against S. epidermidis and S. aureus. In the in vivo bioassay against S. epidermidis, there was no statistically significant difference between the tested product and the patterns used after five minutes of applying the product. The results indicate that the originated product is an antiseptic alternative source against S. epidermidis compared to chlorhexidine gluconate. It is suggested that further researches are to be conducted in different concentrations of the test product, evaluating its effectiveness and operational costs.

Human Coronaviruses: Insights into Environmental Resistance and Its Influence on the Development of New Antiseptic Strategies

Science.gov (United States)

Geller, Chloé; Varbanov, Mihayl; Duval, Raphaël E.

2012-01-01

environment and the efficacy of well-known antiseptic-disinfectants against them, with particular focus on the development of new methodologies to evaluate the activity of new antiseptic-disinfectants on viruses. PMID:23202515

Comparison of local metronidazole and a local antiseptic in the treatment of bacterial vaginosis.

Science.gov (United States)

Novakov Mikic, Aleksandra; Budakov, Dragan

2010-07-01

Bacterial vaginosis (BV) is characterized by a mixed flora of pathogenic anaerobic bacteria and associated with risks of pathologic conditions. In the present study, therapy with a local antiseptic spray (octenidine hydrochloride/phenoxyethanol, OHP) for 7 or 14 days is compared against the standard local therapy of BV (metronidazole) in a Serbian patient population. As much as 450 women were treated in groups with either 7 days metronidazole vaginal tablets, 7 days OHP, or 14 days OHP. Control smears were taken after each treatment period. In total, 63.2% of the women were without indications of BV after therapy (metronidazole: 61.0%, OHP 7 days: 57.6%, and OHP 14 days: 71.0%). Significantly fewer women were affected from infections after treatment with 14 days OHP compared to OHP for 7 days. Octenidine hydrochloride/phenoxyethanol spray was as effective as the standard therapy with metronidazole. Patients stated that OHP was more comfortable, easier to apply, and side effects were lesser.

Long-term efficacy of Nd:YAG laser photocoagulation vs. liquid paraffin plus antiseptic cream in the treatment of recurrent epistaxis.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Jing; Qiu, Rongxing; Wei, Chunsheng

2015-12-01

The objective of this study was to evaluate the long-term efficacy of Nd:YAG laser photocoagulation with that of liquid paraffin plus antiseptic cream in the management of recurrent epistaxis. Eighty consecutive patients who suffered from recurrent anterior epistaxis presented to the Otolaryngology Department at the Eye and ENT Hospital, Fudan University between February 2011 and June 2011. These patients with histories of recurrent epistaxis were randomly assigned to receive treatment in an outpatient setting consisting of either a combination of liquid paraffin plus antiseptic cream (Group 1) or Nd:YAG laser photocoagulation (Group 2). the following outcome measures were assessed: bleeding intensity; bleeding frequency 2 years after treatment (0 = no bleeding, 1 = reduced bleeding, 2 = the same, 3 = worse), participant's perception of discomfort during the management (grade 0-10, where 10 is the worst pain), and complications. Finally, 70 patients remain in our study. At 2 years, 86 % of laser patients versus 31 % of control patients had no reported bleeding. The outcome score at 2 years after treatment showed a significant difference between the two groups (P = 0.000, P < 0.01). The median and mean ± SD pain levels experienced were 5.0 and 5.2 ± 2.2. Both groups had no complications. It can be further concluded that Nd:YAG laser photocoagulation is a preferable therapy in the treatment of recurrent epistaxis in long-term efficacy. The level of pain associated with the procedure was well tolerated. It is a simple, easy, safe and rapid therapy, which can be performed in an office setting.

An antiseptic religion: discovering a hybridity on the flux of hygiene and Christianity.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Shin K

2008-06-01

An antiseptic religion is a form of Protestant Christianity that was shaped in the context of colonization in Korea. This term was coined to explain a religious hybrid that was produced by the intermingling of American Evangelical Protestant Christianity, the concept of hygiene (germ theory) and indigenous Korean religiosity. This research deals with a historical process of making 'a medicalized religion' in Asia from a perspective of postcolonialism. Most of the early American Protestant missionaries in Korea were medical doctors who were influenced by the Germ theory of illness and considered Western medicine as an efficient tool to evangelize the country. As a result of their mission, a religious culture which emphasized washing away sins from the soul as analogous to washing away germs from the body was born. In addition, the Korean people developed a very unique form of public bathing ritual centered in the development of public baths to alleviate anxiety and to destabilize the solid strategies of the Japanese and the Americans, the two major colonial powers in Korea's history in the late 19th century.

Influence of antiseptic on the impurities in the preparation of dimercaptosuccinic labelled with {sup 99m}Tc; Influence des antiseptiques sur la presence d'impuretes dans la preparation de l'acide dimercaptosuccinique marque au 99mTc

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Metaye, T.; Rosenberg, T.; Perdrisot, R. [CHU de Poitiers, Service de medecine nucleaire et biophysique, 86 (France)

2010-07-01

Purpose: antiseptic solutions are used to disinfect the rubber stoppers on the bottles of radiopharmaceutical. Small amounts of these solutions can pass into the bottle when the cap is pricked to inject the {sup 99m}Tc. After finding in a patient a suboptimal labelling using biseptin, we studied the effect of various antiseptics on the presence of impurities in the preparation of the dimercaptosuccinic acid labelled with {sup 99m}Tc ({sup 99m}Tc-D.M.S.A.). Conclusions: We recommend using 70% isopropanol or modified alcohol Cooper instead of biseptin to disinfect the D.M.S.A. bottles caps. (N.C.)

Macroscopic and microscopic study of tissue response to oral antiseptics and its influence on carcinigenesis Estudo macro e microscópico da resposta tecidual frente ao uso de anti-sépticos bucais e sua influência na carcinogênese

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Camila Lopes Cardoso

2005-09-01

Full Text Available Studies have related the action of alcohol on the oral mucosa as a promoter of carcinogenesis, once most oral antiseptics contain alcohol. Its utilization for mouthrinses from 30 to 60 seconds, as indicated on the labels, yields a longer-lasting topical action when compared to the intake of alcoholic beverages. This study aimed at conducting a macroscopic and microscopic analysis of the tissue response of tongue mucosa of hamsters to daily topical applications of antiseptics (Anapyon, Listerine, Oral B during 13 and 20 weeks, following the methodology for carcinogenesis investigation developed by the Discipline of Pathology of Bauru Dental School, University of São Paulo. After sacrificing the animals, their tongues were removed and fixed on 10% formalin. Macroscopic examination did not reveal significant alterations, and the specimens were processed by routine histotechnical procedures for HE staining. Three serial sections of each tongue were evaluated, and characteristics related to epithelial hyperkeratinization, atrophy, hyperplasia and dysplasia were organized in tables. Despite the observation for moderate dysplasia in one case in the Anapyon 20 week group, the further results were very similar to the control group (saline solution, eliminating the need of comparative statistical tests. By means of such methodology for testing the carcinogenesis-initiating action, it was concluded that oral antiseptics are unable to trigger the development of neoplasms.Estudos associam a ação do álcool na mucosa bucal como promotora da carcinogênese e a maioria dos anti-sépticos bucais contém álcool. Sua utilização com bochechos de 30 a 60 segundos indicados nos frascos possui ação tópica mais duradoura em comparação com a ingestão de bebidas alcoólicas. Este estudo objetivou analisar macro e microscopicamente a resposta tecidual da mucosa lingual de hamsters após aplicações tópicas diárias de anti-sépticos (Anapyon, Listerine, Oral

Antiseptic effect of vicenin-2 and scolymoside from Cyclopia subternata (honeybush) in response to HMGB1 as a late sepsis mediator in vitro and in vivo.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Wonhwa; Yoon, Eun-Kyung; Kim, Kyung-Min; Park, Dong Ho; Bae, Jong-Sup

2015-08-01

Cyclopia subternata is a medicinal plant commonly used in traditional medicine to relieve pain. In this study, we investigated the antiseptic effects and underlying mechanisms of vicenin-2 and scolymoside, which are 2 active compounds from C. subternata that act against high mobility group box 1 (HMGB1)-mediated septic responses in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) and mice. The antiseptic activities of vicenin-2 and scolymoside were determined by measuring permeability, neutrophil adhesion and migration, and activation of proinflammatory proteins in HMGB1-activated HUVECs and mice. According to the results, vicenin-2 and scolymoside effectively inhibited lipopolysaccharide-induced release of HMGB1, and suppressed HMGB1-mediated septic responses such as hyperpermeability, the adhesion and migration of leukocytes, and the expression of cell adhesion molecules. In addition, vicenin-2 and scolymoside suppressed the production of tumor necrosis factor-α and interleukin 6, and activation of nuclear factor-κB and extracellular regulated kinases 1/2 by HMGB1. Collectively, these results indicate that vicenin-2 and scolymoside could be a potential therapeutic agents for the treatment of various severe vascular inflammatory diseases via inhibition of the HMGB1 signaling pathway.

Effects of 1,1,1-Trichloroethane and Triclocarban on Reductive Dechlorination of Trichloroethene in a TCE-Reducing Culture.

Science.gov (United States)

Wen, Li-Lian; Chen, Jia-Xian; Fang, Jia-Yi; Li, Ang; Zhao, He-Ping

2017-01-01

Chlorinated compounds were generally present in the environment due to widespread use in the industry. A short-term study was performed to evaluate the effects of 1,1,1- trichloroethane (TCA) and triclocarban (TCC) on trichloroethene (TCE) removal in a reactor fed with lactate as the sole electron donor. Both TCA and TCC inhibited TCE reduction, but the TCC had a more pronounced effect compared to TCA. The TCE-reducing culture, which had never been exposed to TCA before, reductively dechlorinated TCA to 1,1-dichloroethane (DCA). Below 15 μM, TCA had little effect on the transformation of TCE to cis -dichloroethene (DCE); however, the reduction of cis -DCE and vinyl chloride (VC) were more sensitive to TCA, and ethene production was completely inhibited when the concentration of TCA was above 15 μM. In cultures amended with TCC, the reduction of TCE was severely affected, even at concentrations as low as 0.3 μM; all the cultures stalled at VC, and no ethene was detected. The cultures that fully transformed TCE to ethene contained 5.2-8.1% Dehalococcoides . Geobacter and Desulfovibrio , the bacteria capable of partially reducing TCE to DCE, were detected in all cultures, but both represented a larger proportion of the community in TCC-amended cultures. All cultures were dominated by Clostridium _sensu_stricto_7, a genus that belongs to Firmicutes with proportions ranging from 40.9% (in a high TCC (15 μM) culture) to 88.2%. Methanobacteria was detected at levels of 1.1-12.7%, except in cultures added with 15 and 30 μM TCA, in which they only accounted for ∼0.4%. This study implies further environmental factors needed to be considered in the successful bioremediation of TCE in contaminated sites.

Effects of 1,1,1-Trichloroethane and Triclocarban on Reductive Dechlorination of Trichloroethene in a TCE-Reducing Culture

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Li-Lian Wen

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Chlorinated compounds were generally present in the environment due to widespread use in the industry. A short-term study was performed to evaluate the effects of 1,1,1- trichloroethane (TCA and triclocarban (TCC on trichloroethene (TCE removal in a reactor fed with lactate as the sole electron donor. Both TCA and TCC inhibited TCE reduction, but the TCC had a more pronounced effect compared to TCA. The TCE-reducing culture, which had never been exposed to TCA before, reductively dechlorinated TCA to 1,1-dichloroethane (DCA. Below 15 μM, TCA had little effect on the transformation of TCE to cis-dichloroethene (DCE; however, the reduction of cis-DCE and vinyl chloride (VC were more sensitive to TCA, and ethene production was completely inhibited when the concentration of TCA was above 15 μM. In cultures amended with TCC, the reduction of TCE was severely affected, even at concentrations as low as 0.3 μM; all the cultures stalled at VC, and no ethene was detected. The cultures that fully transformed TCE to ethene contained 5.2–8.1% Dehalococcoides. Geobacter and Desulfovibrio, the bacteria capable of partially reducing TCE to DCE, were detected in all cultures, but both represented a larger proportion of the community in TCC-amended cultures. All cultures were dominated by Clostridium_sensu_stricto_7, a genus that belongs to Firmicutes with proportions ranging from 40.9% (in a high TCC (15 μM culture to 88.2%. Methanobacteria was detected at levels of 1.1–12.7%, except in cultures added with 15 and 30 μM TCA, in which they only accounted for ∼0.4%. This study implies further environmental factors needed to be considered in the successful bioremediation of TCE in contaminated sites.

Antimicrobial Analysis of an Antiseptic Made from Ethanol Crude Extracts of P. granatum and E. uniflora in Wistar Rats against Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis

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Thaís Honório Lins Bernardo

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Introduction. Surgical site infection remains a challenge for hospital infection control, especially when it relates to skin antisepsis in the surgical site. Objective. To analyze the antimicrobial activity in vivo of an antiseptic from ethanol crude extracts of P. granatum and E. uniflora against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. Methods. Agar drilling and minimal inhibitory tests were conducted for in vitro evaluation. In the in vivo bioassay were used Wistar rats and Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 25923 and Staphylococcus epidermidis (ATCC 14990. Statistical analysis was performed through variance analysis and Scott-Knott cluster test at 5% probability and significance level. Results. In the in vitro, ethanolic extracts of Punica granatum and Eugenia uniflora and their combination showed the best antimicrobial potential against S. epidermidis and S. aureus. In the in vivo bioassay against S. epidermidis, there was no statistically significant difference between the tested product and the patterns used after five minutes of applying the product. Conclusion. The results indicate that the originated product is an antiseptic alternative source against S. epidermidis compared to chlorhexidine gluconate. It is suggested that further researches are to be conducted in different concentrations of the test product, evaluating its effectiveness and operational costs.

A novel approach to bar adsorptive microextraction: Cork as extractor phase for determination of benzophenone, triclocarban and parabens in aqueous samples.

Science.gov (United States)

Dias, Adriana Neves; da Silva, Ana Cristine; Simão, Vanessa; Merib, Josias; Carasek, Eduardo

2015-08-12

This study describes the use of cork as a new coating for bar adsorptive microextraction (BAμE) and its application in determining benzophenone, triclocarban and parabens in aqueous samples by HPLC-DAD. In this study bars with 7.5 and 15 mm of length were used. The extraction and liquid desorption steps for BAμE were optimized employing multivariate and univariate procedures. The desorption time and solvent used for liquid desorption were optimized by univariate and multivariate studies, respectively. For the extraction step the sample pH was optimized by univariate experiments while the parameters extraction time and ionic strength were evaluated using the Doehlert design. The optimum extraction conditions were sample pH 5.5, NaCl concentration 25% and extraction time 90 min. Liquid desorption was carried out for 30 min with 250 μL (bar length of 15 mm) or 100 μL (bar length of 7.5 mm) of ACN:MeOH (50:50, v/v). The quantification limits varied between 1.6 and 20 μg L(-1) (bar length of 15 mm) and 0.64 and 8 μg L(-1) (bar length of 7.5 mm). The linear correlation coefficients were higher than 0.98 for both bars. The method with 7.5 mm bar length showed recovery values between 65 and 123%. The bar-to-bar reproducibility and the repeatability were lower than 13% (n = 2) and 14% (n = 3), respectively. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Topical 5% potassium permanganate solution accelerates the healing process in chronic diabetic foot ulcers.

Science.gov (United States)

Delgado-Enciso, Iván; Madrigal-Perez, Violeta M; Lara-Esqueda, Agustin; Diaz-Sanchez, Martha G; Guzman-Esquivel, Jose; Rosas-Vizcaino, Luis E; Virgen-Jimenez, Oscar O; Kleiman-Trujillo, Juleny; Lagarda-Canales, Maria R; Ceja-Espiritu, Gabriel; Rangel-Salgado, Viridiana; Lopez-Lemus, Uriel A; Delgado-Enciso, Josuel; Lara-Basulto, Agustin D; Soriano Hernández, Alejandro D

2018-02-01

Potassium permanganate has been reported to be an effective treatment for certain types of wounds. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the use of potassium permanganate in the treatment of diabetic foot ulcers. A single-blind, randomized, controlled clinical trial was conducted on patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus that presented with a foot ulcer persisting for >3 months. The control group (n=10) was treated with the current standard treatment, which comprises of measures for reducing pressure in the ulcerated area, daily cleansing of the ulcer with potable water and antiseptic wash solution, and the application of a disinfectant solution on the entire surface area of the ulcer; while the intervention group (n=15) received the standard treatment plus 5% topical potassium permanganate solution applied once a day for 21 days. In the intervention group, 1 patient did not tolerate the treatment and was eliminated from the study on the first day. The remaining patients tolerated the interventions well. At the end of the treatment period, ulcers in the control group had decreased by 38% whereas those in the intervention group decreased by 73% (Ppermanganate is well tolerated and significantly accelerates the healing process of diabetic foot ulcers.

Prospective evaluation of 2% (w/v alcoholic chlorhexidine gluconate as an antiseptic agent for blood donor arm preparation

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Sweta Shah

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Aim: A prospective study was undertaken to evaluate the use of 2% (w/v alcoholic chlorhexidine gluconate (2% AlcCHG in donor arm preparation, to monitor the contamination rate of blood products after the collection and to find incidence of transfusion associated bacteremia. Settings and Design: Optimal skin antisepsis of the phlebotomy site is essential to minimize the risk of contamination. Food and Drug Administration (FDA in India has recommended antisepsis with three-step regimen of spirit-10% povidone iodine-spirit for donor arm antisepsis, but not with chlorhexidine, which is recommended by many other authors. Material and Methods: A total of 795 donors were studied from July 2011 to January 2012. Spirit-10% povidone iodine-spirit was used for 398 donors and 2% AlcCHG was used for 397 donors with the two-step method for arm antisepsis. Swabs were collected before and after use of antiseptic agents for all the donors. All the blood products collected from donors with growth in post-antisepsis swabs were cultured. A total of 123 various blood products were cultured irrespective of the method and result of antisepsis was observed. A total of seven patients had mild transfusion reaction. The transfused blood products, blood and urine specimen of the patients who had transfusion reaction were also cultured. Results: Seven donors out of 398 donors had growth in post-antisepsis swab with spirit-10% povidone iodine-spirit protocol and three donors out of 397 donors had growth in post-antisepsis swab with 2% AlcCHG protocol. All blood products collected from donors who had growth in post-antisepsis swabs when cultured had no growth. There was no contamination of blood products. Conclusions: Two percent (w/v alcoholic chlorhexidine gluconate with two-step protocol can be used as an antiseptic agent for donor arm preparation without considerable cost difference. It is at par with spirit 10% povidone iodine spirit protocol as suggested by FDA in India

The chemical composition and biological activities of essential oil ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

PRECIOUS

2009-12-15

Dec 15, 2009 ... and leaves which are pinnately compound and are dark shiny green. Leaflets have a ... externally for fractures and as a topical antiseptic ... Plant material. The plant material was collected in Zimbabwe with the authorization.

Impetigo: A need for new therapies in a world of increasing antimicrobial resistance.

Science.gov (United States)

D'Cunha, N M; Peterson, G M; Baby, K E; Thomas, J

2018-02-01

Impetigo is a highly contagious bacterial skin infection and is one of the most common skin infections in children. Antibiotics are the first-line treatment when multiple lesions exist, but with an increasing prevalence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria the successful management of impetigo in the future is an area of concern. Current treatment options that favour the use of oral antibiotic therapy are increasingly problematic. Widespread use of these agents contributes to antimicrobial resistance and has adverse consequences for individuals and communities. There is a need for new topical antimicrobials and antiseptics as an alternative treatment strategy. To successfully treat impetigo into the future and ensure that therapy does not contribute to bacterial resistance, additional research is required to ascertain the usefulness of alternative agents, including new topical antimicrobials and antiseptics. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Topics and topic prominence in two sign languages

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kimmelman, V.

2015-01-01

In this paper we describe topic marking in Russian Sign Language (RSL) and Sign Language of the Netherlands (NGT) and discuss whether these languages should be considered topic prominent. The formal markers of topics in RSL are sentence-initial position, a prosodic break following the topic, and

Efficacy and dermal tolerance of a novel alcohol-based skin antiseptic in horses.

Science.gov (United States)

Tannahill, Victoria J; Cogan, Tristan; Allen, Kate; Acutt, Elizabeth; Busschers, Evita

2018-04-14

To determine the efficacy and dermal tolerance of a novel alcohol-based skin antiseptic (ABSA) in horses. Experimental study. Systemically healthy horses (n = 25) with no history or clinical signs of skin disease. Four clipped sites on the abdomen were randomly assigned to a skin preparation protocol: saline (negative control; NC), chlorhexidine gluconate followed by isopropyl alcohol (positive control; PC), saline followed by the ABSA (ABSA A), or a commercially available horse shampoo followed by the ABSA (ABSA B). Microbiological swabs were obtained from each site and cultured on MacConkey and mannitol salt agar plates. Colony-forming units were counted 18-24 hours later. All sites were scored for signs of skin reaction before, immediately after, 1 hour after, and 24 hours after skin preparation. The PC, ABSA A, and ABSA B methods reduced skin microbial burden compared with the NC method (P horses required veterinary treatment. The ABSA preparations tested in this study were as effective and well tolerated as a chlorhexidine gluconate-based method, but required less time in healthy horses. The ABSA tested here provides an efficacious, fast-acting, and well-tolerated alternative to achieve skin antisepsis in healthy horses. These results justify further investigation in clinical cases. © 2018 The American College of Veterinary Surgeons.

Triclocarban mediates induction of xenobiotic metabolism through activation of the constitutive androstane receptor and the estrogen receptor alpha.

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Mei-Fei Yueh

Full Text Available Triclocarban (3,4,4'-trichlorocarbanilide, TCC is used as a broad-based antimicrobial agent that is commonly added to personal hygiene products. Because of its extensive use in the health care industry and resistance to degradation in sewage treatment processes, TCC has become a significant waste product that is found in numerous environmental compartments where humans and wildlife can be exposed. While TCC has been linked to a range of health and environmental effects, few studies have been conducted linking exposure to TCC and induction of xenobiotic metabolism through regulation by environmental sensors such as the nuclear xenobiotic receptors (XenoRs. To identify the ability of TCC to activate xenobiotic sensors, we monitored XenoR activities in response to TCC treatment using luciferase-based reporter assays. Among the XenoRs in the reporter screening assay, TCC promotes both constitutive androstane receptor (CAR and estrogen receptor alpha (ERα activities. TCC treatment to hUGT1 mice resulted in induction of the UGT1A genes in liver. This induction was dependent upon the constitutive active/androstane receptor (CAR because no induction occurred in hUGT1Car(-/- mice. Induction of the UGT1A genes by TCC corresponded with induction of Cyp2b10, another CAR target gene. TCC was demonstrated to be a phenobarbital-like activator of CAR in receptor-based assays. While it has been suggested that TCC be classified as an endocrine disruptor, it activates ERα leading to induction of Cyp1b1 in female ovaries as well as in promoter activity. Activation of ERα by TCC in receptor-based assays also promotes induction of human CYP2B6. These observations demonstrate that TCC activates nuclear xenobiotic receptors CAR and ERα both in vivo and in vitro and might have the potential to alter normal physiological homeostasis. Activation of these xenobiotic-sensing receptors amplifies gene expression profiles that might represent a mechanistic base for

A Randomized Trial Comparing Skin Antiseptic Agents at Cesarean Delivery.

Science.gov (United States)

Tuuli, Methodius G; Liu, Jingxia; Stout, Molly J; Martin, Shannon; Cahill, Alison G; Odibo, Anthony O; Colditz, Graham A; Macones, George A

2016-02-18

Preoperative skin antisepsis has the potential to decrease the risk of surgical-site infection. However, evidence is limited to guide the choice of antiseptic agent at cesarean delivery, which is the most common major surgical procedure among women in the United States. In this single-center, randomized, controlled trial, we evaluated whether the use of chlorhexidine-alcohol for preoperative skin antisepsis was superior to the use of iodine-alcohol for the prevention of surgical-site infection after cesarean delivery. We randomly assigned patients undergoing cesarean delivery to skin preparation with either chlorhexidine-alcohol or iodine-alcohol. The primary outcome was superficial or deep surgical-site infection within 30 days after cesarean delivery, on the basis of definitions from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. From September 2011 through June 2015, a total of 1147 patients were enrolled; 572 patients were assigned to chlorhexidine-alcohol and 575 to iodine-alcohol. In an intention-to-treat analysis, surgical-site infection was diagnosed in 23 patients (4.0%) in the chlorhexidine-alcohol group and in 42 (7.3%) in the iodine-alcohol group (relative risk, 0.55; 95% confidence interval, 0.34 to 0.90; P=0.02). The rate of superficial surgical-site infection was 3.0% in the chlorhexidine-alcohol group and 4.9% in the iodine-alcohol group (P=0.10); the rate of deep infection was 1.0% and 2.4%, respectively (P=0.07). The frequency of adverse skin reactions was similar in the two groups. The use of chlorhexidine-alcohol for preoperative skin antisepsis resulted in a significantly lower risk of surgical-site infection after cesarean delivery than did the use of iodine-alcohol. (Funded by the National Institutes of Health and Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01472549.).

Staphylococcal scalded skin syndrome hos voksne

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mikkelsen, Carsten Sauer; Mikkelsen, Dorthe Bisgaard; Jensen, Thøger Gorm

2010-01-01

parts of her body. The bullae ruptured easily and left a erythematous base. The histopathological changes were characteristic for adult SSSS. The patient was well-treated with intravenous dicloxacillin, topical antibiotic and antiseptic treatment. The patient had marked thrombocytosis, but no interest...

Studies on the antimicrobial properties of formulated creams and ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Their performances were compared with those of standard antiseptic creams and ointments. The results of agar diffusion studies on cream and ointment formulations revealed that the topical bases used to disperse the medicaments could significantly affect the antimicrobial effectiveness of the formulation. Formulations ...

Presence of antiseptic resistance genes in porcine methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

Science.gov (United States)

Wong, T Z; Zhang, M; O'Donoghue, M; Boost, M

2013-03-23

Numerous studies have documented the presence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in meat-producing animals, which has led to concern about its spread into the community. Disinfectants play an important role in reduction of contamination in both animal husbandry and food-preparation, helping control spread of organisms from foodstuffs, including raw meat. Plasmid-borne antiseptic resistance (AR) genes increasing tolerance to several disinfectants have been reported in S. aureus of human origin (qacA/B and smr) and from bovine, equine, and caprine staphylococcal isolates (qacG, qacH, and qacJ). This study investigated the presence of AR genes in porcine MRSA isolates. Plasmid DNA from 100 MRSA ST9 strains isolated from pig carcasses was amplified for the presence of AR genes. Minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) and minimum bactericidal concentrations (MBCs) to benzalkonium chloride (BC) and chlorhexidine gluconate (CHX) were determined in AR gene-positive isolates. qacG was present in 45 strains, eight of which also harbored smr. No strains carried qacA/B, qacH or qacJ. Presence of smr increased MICs to both BC and CHX and MBCs of CHX, but qacG presence only resulted in elevated MBC for CHX. This is the first report of AR genes from a porcine source. AR gene positivity has previously been associated with methicillin resistance and AR gene presence in these strains may increase their ability to persist in the environment. Improved implementation of hygiene measures during transportation and pre- and post-slaughter should be considered to prevent spread in the community. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Evaluation of triclosan and triclocarban at river basin scale using monitoring and modeling tools: implications for controlling of urban domestic sewage discharge.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Jian-Liang; Zhang, Qian-Qian; Chen, Feng; Wang, Li; Ying, Guang-Guo; Liu, You-Sheng; Yang, Bin; Zhou, Li-Jun; Liu, Shan; Su, Hao-Chang; Zhang, Rui-Quan

2013-01-01

Triclosan (TCS) and triclocarban (TCC) are two commonly used personal care products. They may enter into aquatic environments after consumption and pose potential risks to aquatic organisms. We investigated the occurrence and fate of TCS and TCC in five large rivers (the Liao River, Hai River, Yellow River, Zhujiang River and Dongjiang River) in China, and compared the monitoring data with the predicted results from Level III fugacity modeling. TCS and TCC were detected in the five large rivers with the detection frequencies of 100% or close to 100% in surface water and sediments of almost every river. TCS and TCC were found at concentrations of up to 478 ng/L and 338 ng/L in surface water, and up to 1329 ng/g and 2723 ng/g in sediments. Cluster analysis indicated that the sites with higher concentrations were usually located in or near urban area. Meanwhile, principal component analysis also suggested that the mass inventories of TCS and TCC in water and sediment were significantly influenced by the factors such as the total or untreated urban domestic sewage discharge at river basin scale. The concentrations and mass inventories from the fugacity modeling were found at the same order of magnitude with the measured values, suggesting that the fugacity modeling can provide a useful tool for evaluating the fate of TCS and TCC in riverine environments. Both monitoring and modeling results indicated that the majority of mass inventories of TCS and TCC were stored into sediment, which could be a potential pollution source for river water. The wide presence of TCS and TCC in these large rivers of China implies that better controlling of urban domestic sewage discharge is needed. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Topical tags vs non-topical tags : Towards a bipartite classification?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Basile, Valerio; Peroni, Silvio; Tamburini, Fabio; Vitali, Fabio

2015-01-01

In this paper we investigate whether it is possible to create a computational approach that allows us to distinguish topical tags (i.e. talking about the topic of a resource) and non-topical tags (i.e. describing aspects of a resource that are not related to its topic) in folksonomies, in a way that

Multi-residue screening of prioritised human pharmaceuticals, illicit drugs and bactericides in sediments and sludge.

Science.gov (United States)

Langford, Katherine H; Reid, Malcolm; Thomas, Kevin V

2011-08-01

A robust multi-residue method was developed for the analysis of a selection of pharmaceutical compounds, illicit drugs and personal care product bactericides in sediments and sludges. Human pharmaceuticals were selected for analysis in Scottish sewage sludge and freshwater sediments based on prescription, physico-chemical and occurrence data. The method was suitable for the analysis of the selected illicit drugs amphetamine, benzoylecgonine, cocaine, and methamphetamine, the pharmaceuticals atenolol, bendroflumethiazide, carbamazepine, citalopram, diclofenac, fluoxetine, ibuprofen, and salbutamol, and the bactericides triclosan and triclocarban in sewage sludge and freshwater sediment. The method provided an overall recovery of between 56 and 128%, RSDs of between 2 and 19% and LODs of between 1 and 50 ng g(-1). Using the methodology the human pharmaceuticals atenolol, carbamazepine and citalopram and the bactericides triclosan and triclocarban were detected in Scottish sewage sludge. The illicit drugs cocaine, its metabolite benzoylecgonine, amphetamine and methamphetamine were not detected in any of the samples analysed. Triclosan and triclocarban were present at the highest concentrations with triclocarban detected in all but one sample and showing a pattern of co-occurrence in both sludge and sediment samples.

Bactericidal Effects and Mechanism of Action of Olanexidine Gluconate, a New Antiseptic

Science.gov (United States)

Iwata, Koushi; Nii, Takuya; Nakata, Hikaru; Tsubotani, Yoshie; Inoue, Yasuhide

2015-01-01

Olanexidine gluconate [1-(3,4-dichlorobenzyl)-5-octylbiguanide gluconate] (development code OPB-2045G) is a new monobiguanide compound with bactericidal activity. In this study, we assessed its spectrum of bactericidal activity and mechanism of action. The minimal bactericidal concentrations of the compound for 30-, 60-, and 180-s exposures were determined with the microdilution method using a neutralizer against 320 bacterial strains from culture collections and clinical isolates. Based on the results, the estimated bactericidal olanexidine concentrations with 180-s exposures were 869 μg/ml for Gram-positive cocci (155 strains), 109 μg/ml for Gram-positive bacilli (29 strains), and 434 μg/ml for Gram-negative bacteria (136 strains). Olanexidine was active against a wide range of bacteria, especially Gram-positive cocci, including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and vancomycin-resistant enterococci, and had a spectrum of bactericidal activity comparable to that of commercial antiseptics, such as chlorhexidine and povidone-iodine. In vitro experiments exploring its mechanism of action indicated that olanexidine (i) interacts with the bacterial surface molecules, such as lipopolysaccharide and lipoteichoic acid, (ii) disrupts the cell membranes of liposomes, which are artificial bacterial membrane models, (iii) enhances the membrane permeability of Escherichia coli, (iv) disrupts the membrane integrity of S. aureus, and (v) denatures proteins at relatively high concentrations (≥160 μg/ml). These results indicate that olanexidine probably binds to the cell membrane, disrupts membrane integrity, and its bacteriostatic and bactericidal effects are caused by irreversible leakage of intracellular components. At relatively high concentrations, olanexidine aggregates cells by denaturing proteins. This mechanism differs slightly from that of a similar biguanide compound, chlorhexidine. PMID:25987609

Changing the Topic. Topic Position in Ancient Greek Word Order

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Allan, R.J.

2014-01-01

Ancient Greek, topics can be expressed as intra-clausal constituents but they can also precede or follow the main clause as extra-clausal constituents. Together, these various topic expressions constitute a coherent system of complementary pragmatic functions. For a comprehensive account of topic

Influence of triclosan and triclocarban antimicrobial agents on the microbial activity in three physicochemically differing soils of south Australia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Abid Ali, Muhammad Arshad, Zahir A. Zahir

2011-11-01

Full Text Available Antimicrobial agents are being used in numerous consumer and health care products on account of which their annual global consumption has reached in millions of kilograms. They are flushed down the drain and become the part of wastewater and sewage sludge and end up in the ultimate sink of agricultural soils. Once they are in the soil, they may disturb the soil’s ecology as a result of which microbial activity useful for soil fertility and biodegradation of xenobiotics may severely be impacted. The present study was designed to assess the influence of two antimicrobial agents triclosan (TCS and triclocarban (TCC, commonly used in consumer and health care products, on the microbial activity in the three agricultural soils from South Australia having different characteristics. The study was laid out following the two factors factorial design by applying 14C-glucose at 5 µg g-1 with either TCS at 0, 30, 90 and 270 µg g-1 or TCC at 0, 50, 150 and 450 µg g-1 in three agricultural soils, Freeling (Typic Rhodoxeralf–sodic, Booleroo (Typic Rhodoxeralf and Avon (Calcixerralic Xerochrepts. The 14CO2, which was released as a result of microbial respiration, was trapped in 3 mL 1M NaOH and was quantified on Wallac WinSpectral α/β 1414 Liquid Scintillation Counter. The results revealed a significant difference in amounts of 14C-glucose mineralized in the three soils. A significant concentration dependant suppressive effect of TCS on the biomineralization of 14C-glucose appeared in all the tested soils as opposed to TCC where no such concentration dependent effect could be recorded. The reduction in 14C-glucose biomineralization in the Freeling, Booleroo and Avon soils was recorded up to 53.6, 38.5 and 37.4 % by TCS at 270 µg g-1 and 13.0, 5.8 and 1.6 % by TCC at 450 µg g-1 respectively. However, a significant negative correlation of CEC and pH was recorded with TCS and TCC effects. These results may imply that presence of such antimicrobial agents

Maternal exposure to an environmentally relevant dose of triclocarban results in perinatal exposure and potential alterations in offspring development in the mouse model.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Heather A Enright

Full Text Available Triclocarban (TCC is among the top 10 most commonly detected wastewater contaminants in both concentration and frequency. Its presence in water, as well as its propensity to bioaccumulate, has raised numerous questions about potential endocrine and developmental effects. Here, we investigated whether exposure to an environmentally relevant concentration of TCC could result in transfer from mother to offspring in CD-1 mice during gestation and lactation using accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS. 14C-TCC (100 nM was administered to dams through drinking water up to gestation day 18, or from birth to post-natal day 10. AMS was used to quantify 14C-concentrations in offspring and dams after exposure. We demonstrated that TCC does effectively transfer from mother to offspring, both trans-placentally and via lactation. TCC-related compounds were detected in the tissues of offspring with significantly higher concentrations in the brain, heart and fat. In addition to transfer from mother to offspring, exposed offspring were heavier in weight than unexposed controls demonstrating an 11% and 8.5% increase in body weight for females and males, respectively. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR was used to examine changes in gene expression in liver and adipose tissue in exposed offspring. qPCR suggested alterations in genes involved in lipid metabolism in exposed female offspring, which was consistent with the observed increased fat pad weights and hepatic triglycerides. This study represents the first report to quantify the transfer of an environmentally relevant concentration of TCC from mother to offspring in the mouse model and evaluate bio-distribution after exposure using AMS. Our findings suggest that early-life exposure to TCC may interfere with lipid metabolism and could have implications for human health.

Maternal exposure to an environmentally relevant dose of triclocarban results in perinatal exposure and potential alterations in offspring development in the mouse model.

Science.gov (United States)

Enright, Heather A; Falso, Miranda J S; Malfatti, Michael A; Lao, Victoria; Kuhn, Edward A; Hum, Nicholas; Shi, Yilan; Sales, Ana Paula; Haack, Kurt W; Kulp, Kristen S; Buchholz, Bruce A; Loots, Gabriela G; Bench, Graham; Turteltaub, Kenneth W

2017-01-01

Triclocarban (TCC) is among the top 10 most commonly detected wastewater contaminants in both concentration and frequency. Its presence in water, as well as its propensity to bioaccumulate, has raised numerous questions about potential endocrine and developmental effects. Here, we investigated whether exposure to an environmentally relevant concentration of TCC could result in transfer from mother to offspring in CD-1 mice during gestation and lactation using accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS). 14C-TCC (100 nM) was administered to dams through drinking water up to gestation day 18, or from birth to post-natal day 10. AMS was used to quantify 14C-concentrations in offspring and dams after exposure. We demonstrated that TCC does effectively transfer from mother to offspring, both trans-placentally and via lactation. TCC-related compounds were detected in the tissues of offspring with significantly higher concentrations in the brain, heart and fat. In addition to transfer from mother to offspring, exposed offspring were heavier in weight than unexposed controls demonstrating an 11% and 8.5% increase in body weight for females and males, respectively. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) was used to examine changes in gene expression in liver and adipose tissue in exposed offspring. qPCR suggested alterations in genes involved in lipid metabolism in exposed female offspring, which was consistent with the observed increased fat pad weights and hepatic triglycerides. This study represents the first report to quantify the transfer of an environmentally relevant concentration of TCC from mother to offspring in the mouse model and evaluate bio-distribution after exposure using AMS. Our findings suggest that early-life exposure to TCC may interfere with lipid metabolism and could have implications for human health.

Okmen et al., Afr J Tradit Complement Altern Med. (2014) 11(5):28 ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

cadewumi

have medicinal and cosmetic properties and is widely used in phytotherapy in the Mediterranean region. The storax produced by injuring L. orientalis has good antiseptic properties (Fernandez, 2005; Lee et al., 2009). Also it is used as a topical parasiticide, expectorant and for the treatment of some skin diseases in Turkish ...

Dakin Solution Alters Macrophage Viability and Function

Science.gov (United States)

2014-07-18

fungi, viruses, and parasites [1]. Dakin’s solution (DS) is buffered sodium hypochlorite, which has a long history of use as a topical antiseptic in...eagle medium (DMEM) supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum, 10 U/mL penicillin, 10 mg/mL streptomycin, and maintained at 37C in 5% CO2. DS (buffered

Freshman Health Topics

Science.gov (United States)

Hovde, Karen

2011-01-01

This article examines a cluster of health topics that are frequently selected by students in lower division classes. Topics address issues relating to addictive substances, including alcohol and tobacco, eating disorders, obesity, and dieting. Analysis of the topics examines their interrelationships and organization in the reference literature.…

Evaluating topic models with stability

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

De Waal, A

2008-11-01

Full Text Available Topic models are unsupervised techniques that extract likely topics from text corpora, by creating probabilistic word-topic and topic-document associations. Evaluation of topic models is a challenge because (a) topic models are often employed...

Topical report review status

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1997-08-01

This report provides industry with procedures for submitting topical reports, guidance on how the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) processes and responds to topical report submittals, and an accounting, with review schedules, of all topical reports currently accepted for review schedules, of all topical reports currently accepted for review by the NRC. This report will be published annually. Each sponsoring organization with one or more topical reports accepted for review copies

Hautreizungen durch Propylenglykol

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andersen, Klaus Ejner; Storrs, F J

1982-01-01

Propylene glycol is used in foods, medicine and cosmetics because it is a good solvent which has, simultaneously, moisture-regulating, antiseptic, and preservative effects. Propylene glycol may produce eczematous skin reactions of toxic and, more rarely, of allergic nature. Positive patch test...... by dermatologists as propylene glycol is used in local steroids and other topical preparations....

J. Grobbelaar, AW Lishman*, WA Botha, DJ MilIar** and SF Lesch

African Journals Online (AJOL)

111mof topical antiseptic (Surgispray, Novo Industries). A 50 mm x 50 mm square of adhesive plaster (Elasto- plast) was moistened with anaesthetic ether and pressed down finnly over the wound. A 50 mm wide strip of masking tape was then wound around the neck of the sheep to shield completely the point of entry into ...

Prevention of Cardiac Implantable Electronic Device Infections: Single Operator Technique with Use of Povidone-Iodine, Double Gloving, Meticulous Aseptic/Antiseptic Measures and Antibiotic Prophylaxis.

Science.gov (United States)

Manolis, Antonis S; Melita, Helen

2017-01-01

Cardiac implantable electronic device (CIED) implantation is complicated by infection still at a worrisome rate of 2-5%. Since early on during device implantation procedures, we have adopted an infection-preventive technique which has hitherto resulted in effective prevention of infections. Herein we present our results of applying this technique by a single operator in a prospective series of 762 consecutive patients undergoing device implantation. A meticulous search for and treatment of active, occult, or smoldering infection was undertaken preoperatively. An aseptic/antiseptic technique was used for implantation of each device. Skin preparation is thorough with initial cleansing performed with alcohol followed by povidone-iodine 10% solution, which is also used in the wound and inside the pocket. In addition, we routinely use double gloving, and IV antibiotic prophylaxis 1 hour before and for 48 hours afterwards followed by oral antibiotic for 2-3 days after discharge. The skin is closed with absorbable sutures. The study includes 382 patients having a new pacemaker (n = 333) or battery change, system upgrade or lead revision (n = 49), and 380 patients having a new implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) (n = 296) or device replacement/upgrade/lead revision (n = 84). The pacemaker group, aged 70.2 ± 16.5 years, includes 18% VVI, 49% DDD, 29% VDD, and 4% cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) devices. The ICD group, aged 61.3 ± 13.0 years, with a mean ejection fraction of 36 ± 13%, includes 325 ICD and 55 CRT implants. Over 26.6 ± 33.4 months for the pacemaker group and 36.6 ± 38.3 months for the ICD group, infection occurred in one patient in each group (0.26%) having a device replacement. A consistent and strict approach of aseptic/antiseptic technique with the use of double gloving and povidone-iodine solution within the pocket plus a 4-day regimen of antibiotic prophylaxis minimizes infections in CIED implants. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The role of topical moxifloxacin, a new antibacterial in Europe, in the treatment of bacterial conjunctivitis.

Science.gov (United States)

Benitez-Del-Castillo, Jose; Verboven, Yves; Stroman, David; Kodjikian, Laurent

2011-01-01

This article discusses current practice in the treatment of conjunctivitis and how the use of topical moxifloxacin can increase therapeutic effectiveness, reduce treatment failures and, consequently, be cost effective and reduce the societal burden of the disorder. Current practice and effectiveness data were derived from the literature. Data on healthcare utilization as a result of treatment failure were collected by survey and the cost of treatment was defined using national costings. A decision-analytic model to assess cost effectiveness was developed and the impact on the healthcare budget was calculated to define the health economic impact. Bacterial conjunctivitis represents a significant health problem and accounts for an estimated 1-1.5% of primary-care consultations. The disorder is highly contagious and causes a substantial healthcare and societal burden. Bacterial conjunctivitis is generally self-limiting, resolving within 1-2 weeks. However, the use of antibacterials significantly improves clinical and microbiological remission, shortens symptom duration, and enables more effective use of healthcare resources, compared with placebo. From a health economic perspective this benefits the healthcare system and society, since fewer healthcare resources are needed and the adult affected, or the parent/caregiver of the child affected, can return to full work capacity sooner, reducing loss of productivity. Treatment strategies vary significantly between countries. Most patients are first seen in primary care, where 'wait-and-see', lubrification and antiseptic or antibacterial treatment is provided. In Europe, when antibacterials are prescribed most general practitioners (GPs) prescribe a broad-spectrum topical antibacterial. The most commonly used drugs are chloramphenicol and fusidic acid, with fluoroquinolones rarely reported as first-line treatment by GPs. At the specialist (ophthalmologist) level, or for second-line treatment at the GP level, topical

Syntacticized topics in Kurmuk

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andersen, Torben

2015-01-01

This article argues that Kurmuk, a little-described Western Nilotic language, is characterized by a syntacticized topic whose grammatical relation is variable. In this language, declarative clauses have as topic an obligatory preverbal NP which is either a subject, an object or an adjunct....... The grammatical relation of the topic is expressed by a voice-like inflection of the verb, here called orientation. While subject-orientation is morphologically unmarked, object-oriented and adjunct-oriented verbs are marked by a subject suffix or by a suffix indicating that the topic is not subject, and adjunct......-orientation differs from object-orientation by a marked tone pattern. Topic choice largely reflects information structure by indicating topic continuity. The topic also plays a crucial role in relative clauses and in clauses with contrastive constituent focus, in that objects and adjuncts can only be relativized...

Efficacy and tolerability of a local acting antiseptic agent in the treatment of vaginal dysbiosis during pregnancy.

Science.gov (United States)

Briese, Volker; Neumann, Gerd; Waldschläger, Juliane; May, Theodor W; Siebert, Jörg; Gerber, Bernd

2011-03-01

In the present study, the efficacy and tolerability of the local acting antiseptic octenidine hydrochloride/phenoxyethanol (OHP) for the treatment of vaginal dysbiosis (VD) and/or bacterial vaginosis (BV) in pregnancy and its potential influence on preterm births and low-weight newborns were examined. One-hundred nine pregnant women with increased pH values (>4.5) and BV characteristic symptoms were treated with OHP for 7 days and a second time in case of a recurrent pH increase. pH values were continuously controlled by women's self-measurements. pH decreased to ≤ 4.5 in 67.9% of patients. Seven of 12 women (58.3%) treated again with OHP due to a recurrent pH increase finally reached the pH target (pH ≤ 4.5). No preterm birth occurred in the OHP group; no newborn had a birth weight <2,000 g. Rates of preterm births and low-weight newborns were comparable between OHP group and pregnant women without VD/BV. OHP is effective and well tolerated in the treatment of VD/BV also in pregnancy without side effects and the occurrence of resistances. It could be an additional therapeutic option in the prevention of the multifactorial disease pattern 'preterm birth' with all their consequences.

Topical Drugs for Pain Relief

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anjali Srinivasan

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Topical therapy helps patients with oral and perioral pain problems such as ulcers, burning mouth syndrome, temporomandibular disorders, neuromas, neuropathies and neuralgias. Topical drugs used in the field of dentistry are topical anaesthetics, topical analgesics, topical antibiotics and topical corticosteroids. It provides symptomatic/curative effect. Topical drugs are easy to apply, avoids hepatic first pass metabolism and more sites specific. But it can only be used for medications that require low plasma concentrations to achieve a therapeutic effect.

Evaluation of the antiseptic efficacy and local tolerability of a polihexanide-based antiseptic on resident skin flora.

Science.gov (United States)

Egli-Gany, Dianne; Brill, Florian H H; Hintzpeter, Matthias; Andrée, Simone; Pavel, Viktoria

2012-09-01

The primary objective of this study was to compare the antimicrobial efficacy of polihexanide 0.02% and 0.04% with chlorhexidine 0.05% after 30 minutes of topical treatment on healthy intact skin. This study was performed as a double-blind, randomized, comparator-controlled, 3-arm, crossover study. : A phase I dermatological study unit. Twenty healthy volunteers with intact skin. : Test areas of 5 cm on the subjects' arms were treated with the investigational products using a polyurethane swab. Skin swabs were taken before and after treatment for quantitative microbial evaluation. The main outcome measure was the log reduction factor of colony-forming units on the skin after 30 minutes of treatment. No statistically significant difference was seen between both of the polihexanide test products (mean lgRF polihexanide 0.02%, 1.2251 [SD, 0.9399]; mean lgRF polihexanide 0.04%, 1.8991 [SD, 0.88]) and the comparator, chlorhexidine 0.05% (P > .1). The results of this study indicate that polihexanide is a suitable alternative to chlorhexidine for skin and wound antisepsis.

Topical report review status

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1982-08-01

A Topical Report Review Status is scheduled to be published semi-annually. The primary purpose of this document is to provide periodic progress reports of on-going topical report reviews, to identify those topical reports for which the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff review has been completed and, to the extent practicable, to provide NRC management with sufficient information regarding the conduct of the topical report program to permit taking whatever actions deemed necessary or appropriate. This document is also intended to be a source of information to NRC Licensing Project Managers and other NRC personnel regarding the status of topical reports which may be referenced in applications for which they have responsibility. This status report is published primarily for internal NRC use in managing the topical report program, but is also used by NRC to advise the industry of report review status

Topical report review status

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1983-01-01

A Topical Report Review Status is scheduled to be published semi-annually. The primary purpose of this document is to provide periodic progress reports of on-going topical report reviews, to identify those topical reports for which the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff review has been completed and, to the extent practicable, to provide NRC management with sufficient information regarding the conduct of the topical report program to permit taking whatever actions deemed necessary or appropriate. This document is also intended to be a source of information to NRC Licensing Project Managers and other NRC personnel regarding the status of topical reports which may be referenced in applications for which they have responsibility. This status report is published primarily for internal NRC use in managing the topical report program, but is also used by NRC to advise the industry of report review status

75 FR 26647 - Ophthalmic and Topical Dosage Form New Animal Drugs; Ivermectin Topical Solution

Science.gov (United States)

2010-05-12

.... FDA-2010-N-0002] Ophthalmic and Topical Dosage Form New Animal Drugs; Ivermectin Topical Solution... are treated with a topical solution of ivermectin. DATES: This rule is effective May 12, 2010. FOR... ANADA 200-340 for PRIVERMECTIN (ivermectin), a topical solution used on cattle to control infestations...

Honey as a topical treatment for wounds.

Science.gov (United States)

Jull, Andrew B; Cullum, Nicky; Dumville, Jo C; Westby, Maggie J; Deshpande, Sohan; Walker, Natalie

2015-03-06

quality evidence); Leishmaniasis (1 trial, n=100, low quality evidence); mixed chronic wounds (2 trials, n=150, low quality evidence). It is difficult to draw overall conclusions regarding the effects of honey as a topical treatment for wounds due to the heterogeneous nature of the patient populations and comparators studied and the mostly low quality of the evidence. The quality of the evidence was mainly downgraded for risk of bias and imprecision. Honey appears to heal partial thickness burns more quickly than conventional treatment (which included polyurethane film, paraffin gauze, soframycin-impregnated gauze, sterile linen and leaving the burns exposed) and infected post-operative wounds more quickly than antiseptics and gauze. Beyond these comparisons any evidence for differences in the effects of honey and comparators is of low or very low quality and does not form a robust basis for decision making.

Women's Health Topics

Science.gov (United States)

... Information by Audience For Women Women's Health Topics Women's Health Topics Share Tweet Linkedin Pin it More sharing options Linkedin Pin it Email Print National Women's Health Week May 13 - 19, 2018 Join us ...

Difficult to control atopic dermatitis

Science.gov (United States)

2013-01-01

Difficult to control atopic dermatitis (AD) presents a therapeutic challenge and often requires combinations of topical and systemic treatment. Anti-inflammatory treatment of severe AD most commonly includes topical glucocorticosteroids and topical calcineurin antagonists used for exacerbation management and more recently for proactive therapy in selected cases. Topical corticosteroids remain the mainstay of therapy, the topical calcineurin inhibitors tacrolimus and pimecrolimus are preferred in certain locations. Systemic anti-inflammatory treatment is an option for severe refractory cases. Microbial colonization and superinfection contribute to disease exacerbation and thus justify additional antimicrobial / antiseptic treatment. Systemic antihistamines (H1) may relieve pruritus but do not have sufficient effect on eczema. Adjuvant therapy includes UV irradiation preferably of UVA1 wavelength. “Eczema school” educational programs have been proven to be helpful. PMID:23663504

Human-competitive automatic topic indexing

CERN Document Server

Medelyan, Olena

2009-01-01

Topic indexing is the task of identifying the main topics covered by a document. These are useful for many purposes: as subject headings in libraries, as keywords in academic publications and as tags on the web. Knowing a document’s topics helps people judge its relevance quickly. However, assigning topics manually is labor intensive. This thesis shows how to generate them automatically in a way that competes with human performance. Three kinds of indexing are investigated: term assignment, a task commonly performed by librarians, who select topics from a controlled vocabulary; tagging, a popular activity of web users, who choose topics freely; and a new method of keyphrase extraction, where topics are equated to Wikipedia article names. A general two-stage algorithm is introduced that first selects candidate topics and then ranks them by significance based on their properties. These properties draw on statistical, semantic, domain-specific and encyclopedic knowledge. They are combined using a machine learn...

Topic Visualization and Survival Analysis

OpenAIRE

Wang, Ping Jr

2017-01-01

Latent semantic structure in a text collection is called a topic. In this thesis, we aim to visualize topics in the scientific literature and detect active or inactive research areas based on their lifetime. Topics were extracted from over 1 million abstracts from the arXiv.org database using Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA). Hellinger distance measures similarity between two topics. Topics are determined to be relevant if their pairwise distances are smaller than the threshold of Hellinger ...

GeneTopics - interpretation of gene sets via literature-driven topic models

Science.gov (United States)

2013-01-01

Background Annotation of a set of genes is often accomplished through comparison to a library of labelled gene sets such as biological processes or canonical pathways. However, this approach might fail if the employed libraries are not up to date with the latest research, don't capture relevant biological themes or are curated at a different level of granularity than is required to appropriately analyze the input gene set. At the same time, the vast biomedical literature offers an unstructured repository of the latest research findings that can be tapped to provide thematic sub-groupings for any input gene set. Methods Our proposed method relies on a gene-specific text corpus and extracts commonalities between documents in an unsupervised manner using a topic model approach. We automatically determine the number of topics summarizing the corpus and calculate a gene relevancy score for each topic allowing us to eliminate non-specific topics. As a result we obtain a set of literature topics in which each topic is associated with a subset of the input genes providing directly interpretable keywords and corresponding documents for literature research. Results We validate our method based on labelled gene sets from the KEGG metabolic pathway collection and the genetic association database (GAD) and show that the approach is able to detect topics consistent with the labelled annotation. Furthermore, we discuss the results on three different types of experimentally derived gene sets, (1) differentially expressed genes from a cardiac hypertrophy experiment in mice, (2) altered transcript abundance in human pancreatic beta cells, and (3) genes implicated by GWA studies to be associated with metabolite levels in a healthy population. In all three cases, we are able to replicate findings from the original papers in a quick and semi-automated manner. Conclusions Our approach provides a novel way of automatically generating meaningful annotations for gene sets that are directly

Effectiveness of a combined (4% chlorhexidine digluconate shampoo and solution) protocol in MRS and non-MRS canine superficial pyoderma: a randomized, blinded, antibiotic-controlled study.

Science.gov (United States)

Borio, Stefano; Colombo, Silvia; La Rosa, Giuseppe; De Lucia, Michela; Damborg, Peter; Guardabassi, Luca

2015-10-01

There is a lack of studies comparing topical antiseptics to systemic antibiotics in the treatment of canine superficial pyoderma. To compare the efficacy of topical chlorhexidine with systemic amoxicillin-clavulanic acid for the treatment of canine superficial pyoderma. A randomized controlled trial was conducted in dogs with superficial pyoderma. Group T (n = 31) was treated topically with 4% chlorhexidine digluconate shampoo (twice weekly) and solution (once daily) for 4 weeks. Group S (n = 20) was treated orally with amoxicillin-clavulanic acid (25 mg/kg) twice daily for 4 weeks. Bacterial culture and susceptibility testing were performed on clinical specimens collected before treatment. Severity of lesions and number of intracellular bacteria were evaluated using four-point scales to calculate a total pyoderma score for each dog. Pruritus was assessed by owners using a visual analog scale (range 0-10). Scores were analysed for statistical differences between groups T and S. Staphylococcus pseudintermedius was isolated from 48 dogs, including eight meticillin-resistant strains (MRSP). Although the number of dogs was small, no significant differences in pyoderma and pruritus scores were observed between groups throughout the study except for day 1, when group S had a significantly higher total score than group T (P = 0.03). Treatment with chlorhexidine products resulted in resolution of clinical signs in all dogs including those infected with MRSP. Topical therapy with chlorhexidine digluconate products may be as effective as systemic therapy with amoxicillin-clavulanic acid. This finding supports the current recommendations to use topical antiseptics alone for the management of superficial pyoderma. © 2015 The Authors. Veterinary Dermatology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of the ESVD and ACVD.

Modeling Uptake of Selected Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products into Food Crops from Biosolids-Amended Soil

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Prosser, Ryan S.; Trapp, Stefan; Sibley, Paul K.

2014-01-01

and comparing them to an acceptable daily intake value. The equilibrium partitioning (EqP) portion of BASL4 overpredicted the concentrations of triclosan, triclocarban, and miconazole in root and shoot tissue by two to three orders of magnitude, while the dynamic carrot root (DCR) portion overpredicted...... by a single order of magnitude. DPU predicted concentrations of triclosan, triclocarban, miconazole, carbamazepine, and diphenhydramine in plant tissues that were within an order of magnitude of concentrations reported in the literature. The study also found that more empirical data are needed on the uptake...

Evidence for a Standardized Preadmission Showering Regimen to Achieve Maximal Antiseptic Skin Surface Concentrations of Chlorhexidine Gluconate, 4%, in Surgical Patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Edmiston, Charles E; Lee, Cheong J; Krepel, Candace J; Spencer, Maureen; Leaper, David; Brown, Kellie R; Lewis, Brian D; Rossi, Peter J; Malinowski, Michael J; Seabrook, Gary R

2015-11-01

To reduce the amount of skin surface bacteria for patients undergoing elective surgery, selective health care facilities have instituted a preadmission antiseptic skin cleansing protocol using chlorhexidine gluconate. A Cochrane Collaborative review suggests that existing data do not justify preoperative skin cleansing as a strategy to reduce surgical site infection. To develop and evaluate the efficacy of a standardized preadmission showering protocol that optimizes skin surface concentrations of chlorhexidine gluconate and to compare the findings with the design and methods of published studies on preoperative skin preparation. A randomized prospective analysis in 120 healthy volunteers was conducted at an academic tertiary care medical center from June 1, 2014, to September, 30, 2014. Data analysis was performed from October 13, 2014, to October 27, 2014. A standardized process of dose, duration, and timing was used to maximize antiseptic skin surface concentrations of chlorhexidine gluconate applied during preoperative showering. The volunteers were randomized to 2 chlorhexidine gluconate, 4%, showering groups (2 vs 3 showers), containing 60 participants each, and 3 subgroups (no pause, 1-minute pause, or 2-minute pause before rinsing), containing 20 participants each. Volunteers used 118 mL of chlorhexidine gluconate, 4%, for each shower. Skin surface concentrations of chlorhexidine gluconate were analyzed using colorimetric assay at 5 separate anatomic sites. Individual groups were analyzed using paired t test and analysis of variance. Preadmission showers using chlorhexidine gluconate, 4%. The primary outcome was to develop a standardized approach for administering the preadmission shower with chlorhexidine gluconate, 4%, resulting in maximal, persistent skin antisepsis by delineating a precise dose (volume) of chlorhexidine gluconate, 4%; duration (number of showers); and timing (pause) before rinsing. The mean (SD) composite chlorhexidine gluconate

Incorporating Topic Assignment Constraint and Topic Correlation Limitation into Clinical Goal Discovering for Clinical Pathway Mining

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiao Xu

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Clinical pathways are widely used around the world for providing quality medical treatment and controlling healthcare cost. However, the expert-designed clinical pathways can hardly deal with the variances among hospitals and patients. It calls for more dynamic and adaptive process, which is derived from various clinical data. Topic-based clinical pathway mining is an effective approach to discover a concise process model. Through this approach, the latent topics found by latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA represent the clinical goals. And process mining methods are used to extract the temporal relations between these topics. However, the topic quality is usually not desirable due to the low performance of the LDA in clinical data. In this paper, we incorporate topic assignment constraint and topic correlation limitation into the LDA to enhance the ability of discovering high-quality topics. Two real-world datasets are used to evaluate the proposed method. The results show that the topics discovered by our method are with higher coherence, informativeness, and coverage than the original LDA. These quality topics are suitable to represent the clinical goals. Also, we illustrate that our method is effective in generating a comprehensive topic-based clinical pathway model.

Health Topic XML File Description

Science.gov (United States)

... this page: https://medlineplus.gov/xmldescription.html Health Topic XML File Description: MedlinePlus To use the sharing ... information categories assigned. Example of a Full Health Topic Record A record for a MedlinePlus health topic ...

Randomized Controlled Trial of Antiseptic Hand Hygiene Methods in an Outpatient Surgery Clinic.

Science.gov (United States)

Therattil, Paul J; Yueh, Janet H; Kordahi, Anthony M; Cherla, Deepa V; Lee, Edward S; Granick, Mark S

2015-12-01

Outpatient wound care plays an integral part in any plastic surgery practice. However, compliance with hand hygiene measures has shown to be low, due to skin irritation and lack of time. The objective of this trial was to determine whether single-use, long-acting antiseptics can be as effective as standard multiple-use hand hygiene methods in an outpatient surgical setting. A prospective, randomized controlled trial was performed in the authors' outpatient plastic surgery clinic at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, Newark, NJ to compare the efficacy of an ethyl alcohol-based sanitizer (Avagard D Instant Hand Aniseptic, 3M Health Care, St. Paul, MN), a benzalkonium chloride-based sanitizer (Soft & Shield, Bioderm Technologies, Inc, Trenton, NJ, distributed by NAPP Technologies, Hackensack, NJ ), and soap and- water handwashing. Subjects included clinic personnel, who were followed throughout the course of a 3-hour clinic session with hourly hand bacterial counts taken. During the course of the trial, 95 subjects completed the clinic session utilizing 1 of the hand hygiene methods (36 ethyl alcohol-based sanitizer, 38 benzalkonium chloride-based sanitizer, and 21 soap-and-water handwashing). There was no difference between hand bacterial counts using the different methods at 4 hourly time points (P greater than 0.05). Hand bacterial counts increased significantly over the 3-hour clinic session with the ethyl alcohol-based sanitizer (9.24 to 21.90 CFU, P less than 0.05), benzalkonium chloride-based sanitizer (6.69 to 21.59 CFU, P less than 0.05), and soap-and-water handwashing (8.43 to 22.75 CFU, P less than 0.05). There does not appear to be any difference in efficacy between single-use, long-acting sanitizer, and standard multiple-use hand hygiene methods. Hand bacterial counts increased significantly over the course of the 3-hour clinic session regardless of the hand hygiene measure used. Hand condition of subjects was improved with the ethyl alcohol

Transfer of wastewater associated pharmaceuticals and personal care products to crop plants from biosolids treated soil.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Chenxi; Spongberg, Alison L; Witter, Jason D; Sridhar, B B Maruthi

2012-11-01

The plant uptake of emerging organic contaminants such as pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) is receiving increased attention. Biosolids from municipal wastewater treatment have been previously identified as a major source for PPCPs. Thus, plant uptake of PPCPs from biosolids applied soils needs to be understood. In the present study, the uptake of carbamazepine, diphenhydramine, and triclocarban by five vegetable crop plants was examined in a field experiment. At the time of harvest, three compounds were detected in all plants grown in biosolids-treated soils. Calculated root concentration factor (RCF) and shoot concentration factor (SCF) are the highest for carbamazepine followed by triclocarban and diphenhydramine. Positive correlation between RCF and root lipid content was observed for carbamazepine but not for diphenhydramine and triclocarban. The results demonstrate the ability of crop plants to accumulate PPCPs from contaminated soils. The plant uptake processes of PPCPs are likely affected by their physico-chemical properties, and their interaction with soil. The difference uptake behavior between plant species could not solely be attributed to the root lipid content. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Identifying Topics in Microblogs Using Wikipedia.

Science.gov (United States)

Yıldırım, Ahmet; Üsküdarlı, Suzan; Özgür, Arzucan

2016-01-01

Twitter is an extremely high volume platform for user generated contributions regarding any topic. The wealth of content created at real-time in massive quantities calls for automated approaches to identify the topics of the contributions. Such topics can be utilized in numerous ways, such as public opinion mining, marketing, entertainment, and disaster management. Towards this end, approaches to relate single or partial posts to knowledge base items have been proposed. However, in microblogging systems like Twitter, topics emerge from the culmination of a large number of contributions. Therefore, identifying topics based on collections of posts, where individual posts contribute to some aspect of the greater topic is necessary. Models, such as Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA), propose algorithms for relating collections of posts to sets of keywords that represent underlying topics. In these approaches, figuring out what the specific topic(s) the keyword sets represent remains as a separate task. Another issue in topic detection is the scope, which is often limited to specific domain, such as health. This work proposes an approach for identifying domain-independent specific topics related to sets of posts. In this approach, individual posts are processed and then aggregated to identify key tokens, which are then mapped to specific topics. Wikipedia article titles are selected to represent topics, since they are up to date, user-generated, sophisticated articles that span topics of human interest. This paper describes the proposed approach, a prototype implementation, and a case study based on data gathered during the heavily contributed periods corresponding to the four US election debates in 2012. The manually evaluated results (0.96 precision) and other observations from the study are discussed in detail.

When the tendon autograft is dropped accidently on the floor: A study about bacterial contamination and antiseptic efficacy.

Science.gov (United States)

Barbier, O; Danis, J; Versier, G; Ollat, D

2015-10-01

Inadvertent contamination of the autograft can occur during anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction if the autograft is dropped on the floor during surgery. A study was undertaken to determine the incidence of contamination when a graft is dropped on the operating room floor and the efficacy of antimicrobial solutions to decontaminate it. Samples from 25 patients undergoing ACL reconstruction with a hamstring tendon were sectioned and dropped onto the floor. Cultures were taken after immersion in antiseptic solutions (a chlorhexidine gluconate solution (group 1), a povidone-iodine solution (group 2), and a sodium hypochlorite solution (group 3)). A fourth piece (group 0) was cultured without being exposed to any solution. Cultures of a floor swab were taken at the same time. The floor swab cultures were positive in 96% of cases. The rate of contamination was 40% in group 0, 8% in group 1, 4% in group 2, and 16% in group 3. There was a significant difference between groups 1 and 2 and group 0 (p<0.05) but not between groups 3 and 0. Immersing a graft dropped on the floor during surgery in a chlorhexidine gluconate solution or povidone-iodine solution significantly reduces contamination of the graft. Soaking of the hamstring autograft in one of these solutions is recommended in the case of inadvertent contamination. Laboratory investigation (level 2). Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Regulatory Information By Topic

Science.gov (United States)

EPA develops and enforces regulations that span many environmental topics, from acid rain reduction to wetlands restoration. Each topic listed below may include related laws and regulations, compliance enforcement information, policies guidance

Identifying Topics in Microblogs Using Wikipedia.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ahmet Yıldırım

Full Text Available Twitter is an extremely high volume platform for user generated contributions regarding any topic. The wealth of content created at real-time in massive quantities calls for automated approaches to identify the topics of the contributions. Such topics can be utilized in numerous ways, such as public opinion mining, marketing, entertainment, and disaster management. Towards this end, approaches to relate single or partial posts to knowledge base items have been proposed. However, in microblogging systems like Twitter, topics emerge from the culmination of a large number of contributions. Therefore, identifying topics based on collections of posts, where individual posts contribute to some aspect of the greater topic is necessary. Models, such as Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA, propose algorithms for relating collections of posts to sets of keywords that represent underlying topics. In these approaches, figuring out what the specific topic(s the keyword sets represent remains as a separate task. Another issue in topic detection is the scope, which is often limited to specific domain, such as health. This work proposes an approach for identifying domain-independent specific topics related to sets of posts. In this approach, individual posts are processed and then aggregated to identify key tokens, which are then mapped to specific topics. Wikipedia article titles are selected to represent topics, since they are up to date, user-generated, sophisticated articles that span topics of human interest. This paper describes the proposed approach, a prototype implementation, and a case study based on data gathered during the heavily contributed periods corresponding to the four US election debates in 2012. The manually evaluated results (0.96 precision and other observations from the study are discussed in detail.

Comparison of the Antimicrobial Effect of Chlorhexidine and Saline for Irrigating a Contaminated Open Fracture Model

Science.gov (United States)

2012-12-01

bladder irrigation fluid,10 and periodontal rinse.11 Interestingly, despite its reputation as an effective antiseptic with low toxicity and its...treating compound fracture, abscess , and so forth; with observations on the conditions of suppuration. Lancet. 1867; 89:326, 357, 387, 507. 2. Browning...topical application of chlorhexidine on the development of dental plaque and gingivitis in man. J Periodontal Res. 1970;5:79–83. J Orthop Trauma

A review of current strategies to reduce intraoperative bacterial contamination of surgical wounds

OpenAIRE

Dohmen, Pascal M.; Konertz, Wolfgang

2007-01-01

Surgical site infections are a mean topic in cardiac surgery, leading to a prolonged hospitalization, and substantially increased morbidity and mortality. One source of pathogens is the endogenous flora of the patient?s skin, which can contaminate the surgical site. A number of preoperative skin care strategies are performed to reduce bacterial contamination like preoperative antiseptic showering, hair removal, antisepsis of the skin, adhesive barrier drapes, and antimicrobial prophylaxis. Fu...

Differential Topic Models.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Changyou; Buntine, Wray; Ding, Nan; Xie, Lexing; Du, Lan

2015-02-01

In applications we may want to compare different document collections: they could have shared content but also different and unique aspects in particular collections. This task has been called comparative text mining or cross-collection modeling. We present a differential topic model for this application that models both topic differences and similarities. For this we use hierarchical Bayesian nonparametric models. Moreover, we found it was important to properly model power-law phenomena in topic-word distributions and thus we used the full Pitman-Yor process rather than just a Dirichlet process. Furthermore, we propose the transformed Pitman-Yor process (TPYP) to incorporate prior knowledge such as vocabulary variations in different collections into the model. To deal with the non-conjugate issue between model prior and likelihood in the TPYP, we thus propose an efficient sampling algorithm using a data augmentation technique based on the multinomial theorem. Experimental results show the model discovers interesting aspects of different collections. We also show the proposed MCMC based algorithm achieves a dramatically reduced test perplexity compared to some existing topic models. Finally, we show our model outperforms the state-of-the-art for document classification/ideology prediction on a number of text collections.

Topic Model for Graph Mining.

Science.gov (United States)

Xuan, Junyu; Lu, Jie; Zhang, Guangquan; Luo, Xiangfeng

2015-12-01

Graph mining has been a popular research area because of its numerous application scenarios. Many unstructured and structured data can be represented as graphs, such as, documents, chemical molecular structures, and images. However, an issue in relation to current research on graphs is that they cannot adequately discover the topics hidden in graph-structured data which can be beneficial for both the unsupervised learning and supervised learning of the graphs. Although topic models have proved to be very successful in discovering latent topics, the standard topic models cannot be directly applied to graph-structured data due to the "bag-of-word" assumption. In this paper, an innovative graph topic model (GTM) is proposed to address this issue, which uses Bernoulli distributions to model the edges between nodes in a graph. It can, therefore, make the edges in a graph contribute to latent topic discovery and further improve the accuracy of the supervised and unsupervised learning of graphs. The experimental results on two different types of graph datasets show that the proposed GTM outperforms the latent Dirichlet allocation on classification by using the unveiled topics of these two models to represent graphs.

Analyses of Research Topics in the Field of Informetrics Based on the Method of Topic Modeling

OpenAIRE

Sung-Chien Lin

2014-01-01

In this study, we used the approach of topic modeling to uncover the possible structure of research topics in the field of Informetrics, to explore the distribution of the topics over years, and to compare the core journals. In order to infer the structure of the topics in the field, the data of the papers published in the Journal of Informetricsand Scientometrics during 2007 to 2013 are retrieved from the database of the Web of Science as input of the approach of topic modeling. The results ...

Analyses of Research Topics in the Field of Informetrics Based on the Method of Topic Modeling

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sung-Chien Lin

2014-07-01

Full Text Available In this study, we used the approach of topic modeling to uncover the possible structure of research topics in the field of Informetrics, to explore the distribution of the topics over years, and to compare the core journals. In order to infer the structure of the topics in the field, the data of the papers published in the Journal of Informetricsand Scientometrics during 2007 to 2013 are retrieved from the database of the Web of Science as input of the approach of topic modeling. The results of this study show that when the number of topics was set to 10, the topic model has the smallest perplexity. Although data scopes and analysis methodsare different to previous studies, the generating topics of this study are consistent with those results produced by analyses of experts. Empirical case studies and measurements of bibliometric indicators were concerned important in every year during the whole analytic period, and the field was increasing stability. Both the two core journals broadly paid more attention to all of the topics in the field of Informetrics. The Journal of Informetricsput particular emphasis on construction and applications ofbibliometric indicators and Scientometrics focused on the evaluation and the factors of productivity of countries, institutions, domains, and journals.

Topical treatments of skin pain: a general review with a focus on hidradenitis suppurativa with topical agents.

Science.gov (United States)

Scheinfeld, Noah

2014-07-15

Hidradenitis Supprurativa (HS) is a painful chronic follicular disease. Few papers have addressed pain control for this debilitating condition. Possible topical agents include tricyclic antidepressants, opioids, anticonvulsants, NSAIDs, NMDA receptor antagonists, local anesthetics and other agents. The first line agents for the topical treatment of the cutaneous pain of HS are diclonefac gel 1% and liposomal xylocaine 4% and 5% cream or 5% ointment. The chief advantage of topical xylocaine is that is quick acting i.e. immediate however with a limited duration of effect 1-2 hours. The use of topical ketamine, which blocks n-methyl-D-aspartate receptors in a non-competitive fashion, might be a useful tool for the treatment of HS pain. Topical doxepin, which available in a 5% commercially preparation (Zonalon®) , makes patients drowsy and is not useful for controlling the pain of HS . Doxepin is available in a 3% or 3.3% concentration (which causes less drowsiness) from compounding pharmacies and can be used in compounded analgesic preparations with positive effect. Topical doxepin is preferred over use of topical amitriptyline because topical doxepin is more effective. Nevertheless, topical amitriptyline increase of the tactile and mechanical nociceptive thresholds and can be used for topical pain control in compound mixture of analgesics . Gabapentin and pregablin can also be used compounded with other agents in topical analgesic preparations with positive topical anesthetic effect. Capsaicin is not useful for topical treatment of the pain of HS. Sometimes compounded of anesthetics medications such as ketamine 10%, bupivacaine 1%, diclofenac 3%, doxepin 3% or 3.3%, and gabapentin 6% can extend the duration of effect so that medication only needs to be used 2 or 3 times a day. Still in my experience the easiest to get and most patient requested agent is topical diclonefac 1% gel.

The Effect of Negative Pressure Wound Therapy With Antiseptic Instillation on Biofilm Formation in a Porcine Model of Infected Spinal Instrumentation.

Science.gov (United States)

Singh, Devinder P; Gowda, Arvind U; Chopra, Karan; Tholen, Michael; Chang, Sarah; Mavrophilipos, Vasilios; Semsarzadeh, Nina; Rasko, Yvonne; Holton Iii, Luther

2017-06-01

This study evaluates the effect of negative pressure wound therapy with antiseptic instillation (NPWTi) in the clearance of infection and biofilm formation in an in vivo model of infected spinal implants compared to traditional treatment modalities. Five pigs underwent titanium rod implantation of their spinous processes followed by injection of 1 x 106 CFUs/100μL of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus through the fascia at each site. At 1 week postoperatively, an experimental arm of 3 pigs received NPWTi, and a control arm of 2 pigs received wet-to-dry dressings. The persistence of local infection in the experimental group was compared to the control group using tissue cultures. Biofilm development on spinal implants was evaluated using scanning electron microscopy. Mean bacterial count showed a statistical difference between the experimental and the control groups (P < .05). Scanning electron microscopy revealed the presence of uniform biofilm formation across the surface of control group instrumentation, whereas the experimental group showed interrupted areas between biofilm formations. The authors concluded that NPWTi is associated with decreased bacterial load and biofilm formation compared to wet-to-dry dressings in an in vivo porcine model of infected spinal instrumentation.

Topical steroid-damaged skin

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anil Abraham

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Topical steroids, commonly used for a wide range of skin disorders, are associated with side effects both systemic and cutaneous. This article aims at bringing awareness among practitioners, about the cutaneous side effects of easily available, over the counter, topical steroids. This makes it important for us as dermatologists to weigh the usefulness of topical steroids versus their side effects, and to make an informed decision regarding their use in each individual based on other factors such as age, site involved and type of skin disorder.

Mental Mechanisms for Topics Identification

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Louis Massey

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Topics identification (TI is the process that consists in determining the main themes present in natural language documents. The current TI modeling paradigm aims at acquiring semantic information from statistic properties of large text datasets. We investigate the mental mechanisms responsible for the identification of topics in a single document given existing knowledge. Our main hypothesis is that topics are the result of accumulated neural activation of loosely organized information stored in long-term memory (LTM. We experimentally tested our hypothesis with a computational model that simulates LTM activation. The model assumes activation decay as an unavoidable phenomenon originating from the bioelectric nature of neural systems. Since decay should negatively affect the quality of topics, the model predicts the presence of short-term memory (STM to keep the focus of attention on a few words, with the expected outcome of restoring quality to a baseline level. Our experiments measured topics quality of over 300 documents with various decay rates and STM capacity. Our results showed that accumulated activation of loosely organized information was an effective mental computational commodity to identify topics. It was furthermore confirmed that rapid decay is detrimental to topics quality but that limited capacity STM restores quality to a baseline level, even exceeding it slightly.

Review of the use of povidone-iodine (PVP-I) in the treatment of burns.

Science.gov (United States)

Steen, M

1993-01-01

Local infection and burn wound sepsis are one of the most severe problems in the treatment of thermally injured patients. Early surgical treatment and the use of topical antiseptics led to a decrease in the infection rate and significantly improved the survival rate of burns patients within the last twenty-five years. Many antiseptics are used in the treatment of burns. Silver nitrate, silver sulphadiazine, sulfamylon and povidone-iodine (PVP-I) are the most common substances used worldwide in burn care facilities. Clinical studies demonstrate that treatment with PVP-I is the most effective against bacterial and fungal infection. Several methodological problems however arise from direct comparison between these antiseptics, and local and systemic adverse effects can make the right choice difficult. Some case reports documented possible side effects in the treatment of patients with PVP-I, leading to general concerns about this treatment. Absorption of iodine and possible changes in thyroid hormones are well known, but evaluation of the clinical consequences is controversial. Reports of severe metabolic acidosis and renal insufficiency with lethal results have condemned the use of PVP-I in the treatment of extensive burns. The case reports, however, dealt with patients suffering from general morbidity and sepsis and therefore these single reports may not be generally valid. Local treatment of burns may cause further problems. The beneficial effect of a decrease of bacterial counts in deeper tissue may be confounded by other effects delaying wound healing, as shown in some experimental studies. Controlled clinical investigations on burn patients however are still missing. The paper will discuss these topics in detail referring to the treatment of burns with PVP-I. It is based on a critical review of the literature and the author's own experience in burns therapy.

Surgical, antiseptic, and antibiotic practice in cataract surgery: Results from the European Observatory in 2013.

Science.gov (United States)

Behndig, Anders; Cochener-Lamard, Beatrice; Güell, José; Kodjikian, Laurent; Mencucci, Rita; Nuijts, Rudy; Pleyer, Uwe; Rosen, Paul; Szaflik, Jacek; Tassignon, Marie-Jose

2015-12-01

To report the results from the first iteration of the European Observatory of Cataract Surgery, which was initiated to track changes in surgical, antiseptic, and antibiotic practices in cataract surgery over the coming years. Practicing European cataract surgeons (n = 479). Internet-based declarative questionnaire or telephone questionnaire. The questionnaire comprised 37 questions divided into 8 categories as follows: screening, surgeon profile, surgical procedure used, product use before arrival at the operating room, techniques for mydriasis and anesthesia, product use during the surgery, product use after the patient leaves the operating room, and surgeon's attitude to guidelines. Cataract surgeons (n = 2700) were initially contacted, of whom 479 (17.7%) were included in the survey. The current baseline survey revealed considerable variation between countries in their implementation of infectious postoperative endophthalmitis (IPOE) prophylaxis. In some countries, adoption of intracameral cefuroxime is almost universal, whereas in others, the use of such prophylaxis is below one half. When intracameral cefuroxime is used, it is generally cefuroxime powder designed for parenteral use. A preparation specifically registered for intracameral use is now available, and this formulation is more commonly used in countries in which intracameral cefuroxime was most widely adopted. The baseline results from this ongoing survey suggest a considerable level of heterogeneity between European countries in IPOE prophylaxis. Further iterations of this survey will monitor whether a consensus begins to emerge. This work was supported by Laboratoires Théa, under the supervision of the expert group. Members of the expert group were remunerated by Laboratoires Théa. J.F. Stolz, MD, PhD, provided editorial assistance in manuscript preparation, for which he was remunerated by Laboratoires Théa. Anders Behndig, Rita Mencucci, and Jacek P. Szaflik report no relevant conflicts of

Topical Treatment of Degenerative Knee Osteoarthritis.

Science.gov (United States)

Meng, Zengdong; Huang, Rongzhong

2018-01-01

This article reviews topical management strategies for degenerative osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee. A search of Pubmed, Embase and the Cochrane library using MeSH terms including "topical," "treatment," "knee" and "osteoarthritis" was carried out. Original research and review articles on the effectiveness and safety, recommendations from international published guidelines and acceptability studies of topical preparations were included. Current topical treatments included for the management of knee OA include topical nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, capsaicin, salicylates and physical treatments such as hot or cold therapy. Current treatment guidelines recommend topical nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs as an alternative and even first-line therapy for OA management, especially among elderly patients. Guidelines on other topical treatments vary, from recommendations against their use, to in favor as alternative or simultaneous therapy, especially for patients with contraindications to other analgesics. Although often well-tolerated and preferred by many patients, clinical care still lags in the adoption of topical treatments. Aspects of efficacy, safety and patient quality of life data require further research. Copyright © 2018 Southern Society for Clinical Investigation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Correlated Topic Vector for Scene Classification.

Science.gov (United States)

Wei, Pengxu; Qin, Fei; Wan, Fang; Zhu, Yi; Jiao, Jianbin; Ye, Qixiang

2017-07-01

Scene images usually involve semantic correlations, particularly when considering large-scale image data sets. This paper proposes a novel generative image representation, correlated topic vector, to model such semantic correlations. Oriented from the correlated topic model, correlated topic vector intends to naturally utilize the correlations among topics, which are seldom considered in the conventional feature encoding, e.g., Fisher vector, but do exist in scene images. It is expected that the involvement of correlations can increase the discriminative capability of the learned generative model and consequently improve the recognition accuracy. Incorporated with the Fisher kernel method, correlated topic vector inherits the advantages of Fisher vector. The contributions to the topics of visual words have been further employed by incorporating the Fisher kernel framework to indicate the differences among scenes. Combined with the deep convolutional neural network (CNN) features and Gibbs sampling solution, correlated topic vector shows great potential when processing large-scale and complex scene image data sets. Experiments on two scene image data sets demonstrate that correlated topic vector improves significantly the deep CNN features, and outperforms existing Fisher kernel-based features.

Topical treatment of psoriasis: questionnaire results on topical therapy accessibility and influence of body surface area on usage.

Science.gov (United States)

Iversen, L; Lange, M M; Bissonette, R; Carvalho, A V E; van de Kerkhof, P C; Kirby, B; Kleyn, C E; Lynde, C W; van der Walt, J M; Wu, J J

2017-07-01

Topical treatment of mild to moderate psoriasis is first-line treatment and exhibits varying degrees of success across patient groups. Key factors influencing treatment success are physician topical treatment choice (high efficacy, low adverse events) and strict patient adherence. Currently, no formalized, international consensus guidelines exist to direct optimal topical treatment, although many countries have national guidelines. To describe and analyse cross-regional variations in the use and access of psoriasis topical therapies. The study was conducted as an observational cross-sectional study. A survey was distributed to dermatologists from the International Psoriasis Council (IPC) to assess topical therapy accessibility in 26 countries and to understand how body surface area (BSA) categories guide clinical decisions on topical use. Variation in the availability of tars, topical retinoids, dithranol and balneotherapy was reported. The vast majority of respondents (100% and 88.4%) used topical therapy as first-line monotherapy in situations with BSA 10%, the number of respondents who prescribe topical therapy decreased considerably. In addition, combination therapy of a topical drug and a systemic drug was frequently reported when BSA measured >10%. This physician survey provides new evidence on topical access and the influence of disease severity on topical usage in an effort to improve treatment strategies on a global level. © 2017 European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology.

Topical botulinum toxin.

Science.gov (United States)

Collins, Ashley; Nasir, Adnan

2010-03-01

Nanotechnology is a rapidly growing discipline that capitalizes on the unique properties of matter engineered on the nanoscale. Vehicles incorporating nanotechnology have led to great strides in drug delivery, allowing for increased active ingredient stability, bioavailability, and site-specific targeting. Botulinum toxin has historically been used for the correction of neurological and neuromuscular disorders, such as torticollis, blepharospasm, and strabismus. Recent dermatological indications have been for the management of axillary hyperhydrosis and facial rhytides. Traditional methods of botulinum toxin delivery have been needle-based. These have been associated with increased pain and cost. Newer methods of botulinum toxin formulation have yielded topical preparations that are bioactive in small pilot clinical studies. While there are some risks associated with topical delivery, the refinement and standardization of delivery systems and techniques for the topical administration of botulinum toxin using nanotechnology is anticipated in the near future.

Topical methotrexate pretreatment enhances the therapeutic effect of topical 5-aminolevulinic acid-mediated photodynamic therapy on hamster buccal pouch precancers.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Deng-Fu; Lee, Jeng-Woei; Chen, Hsin-Ming; Hsu, Yih-Chih

2014-09-01

Topical 5-aminolevulinic acid-mediated photodynamic therapy (ALA-PDT) is effective for treatment of human oral precancerous lesions. This animal study aimed to assess whether topical methotrexate (MTX) pretreatment could enhance the therapeutic effect of topical ALA-PDT on hamster buccal pouch precancerous lesions. Twenty hamster buccal pouch precancerous lesions were treated with either topical ALA-PDT with topical MTX pretreatment (topical MTX-ALA-PDT group, n = 10) or topical ALA-PDT alone (topical ALA-PDT group, n = 10). The intracellular protoporphyrin IX (PpIX) level in another 12 precancerous lesions (n = 6 for either the topical MTX-ALA or topical ALA group) was monitored by fluorescence spectroscopy. The intracellular PpIX reached its peak level in precancerous lesions 6.5 hours and 2.5 hours after topical ALA application for the topical MTX-ALA group (5.63-fold higher in the lesion than in the normal mucosa) and topical ALA group (2.42-fold higher in the lesion than in the normal mucosa), respectively. The complete response rate of precancerous lesions was 80% for the topical MTX-ALA-PDT group and 70% for the topical ALA-PDT group. In addition, the topical MTX-ALA-PDT group required a significantly lower mean treatment number (2.1 ± 0.6) to achieve complete response than the topical ALA-PDT group (4.4 ± 1.3, p topical MTX-ALA-PDT group had a lower recurrence rate (12.5%) than the topical ALA-PDT group (28.6%). We conclude that topical MTX-pretreatment can increase intracellular PpIX production in hamster buccal pouch precancerous lesions and significantly improves the outcomes of the precancerous lesions treated with topical ALA-PDT. Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Short communication: The effect of 4 antiseptic compounds on umbilical cord healing and infection rates in the first 24 hours in dairy calves from a commercial herd.

Science.gov (United States)

Robinson, A L; Timms, L L; Stalder, K J; Tyler, H D

2015-08-01

The objective of this study was to compare the effect of 4 antiseptic compounds on the healing rate and incidence of infection of umbilical cords in newborn calves (n=60). Late gestation Jersey cows were monitored at a commercial farm (Sioux Jersey, Salix, IA) and newborn purebred (n=30) and crossbred (n=30) calves were obtained within 30min after birth. Calves were alternately assigned by birth order to 4 treatment groups: 7% tincture of iodine, 0.1% chlorine created using a novel chlorine disinfectant technology, chlorohexidine gluconate 4.0% wt/vol, and 10% trisodium citrate. Prior to dipping (within 30min of birth), diameter of the umbilical cords (as an indicator of cord drying and healing) were determined using digital calipers. In addition, as an indicator of umbilical infections, surface temperature of the umbilical stump (along with a reference point at the midpoint of the sternum) was determined using a dual-laser infrared thermometer. These measurements were all repeated at 24±1 h of age. All data were analyzed using mixed model methods. All models included fixed effects of breed (Jersey or Jersey cross), sex (bull or heifer), and treatment. Fixed effect interactions were not included in the statistical model due to the relatively small sample size. No treatment differences were noted for healing rate of umbilical cords. Initially, mean umbilical cord diameter was 22.84±3.89mm and cords healed to a mean diameter of 7.64±4.12mm at 24 h of age. No umbilical infections were noted for calves on any treatment during the course of this study. Mean surface temperature of the umbilical stump was 33.1±2.2°C at birth (1.5±1.6°C higher than the sternal reference temperature), and at 24±1 h of age the mean temperature of the umbilical stump was 33.0±4.3°C (0.5±1.8°C lower than the sternal reference temperature). These data suggest that these antiseptic compounds are equally effective for preventing infections and permitting healing of the umbilical cord

Investigating differences in the root to shoot transfer and xylem sap solubility of organic compounds between zucchini, squash and soybean using a pressure chamber method.

Science.gov (United States)

Garvin, Naho; Doucette, William J; White, Jason C

2015-07-01

A pressure chamber method was used to examine differences in the root to shoot transfer and xylem sap solubility of caffeine (log Kow=-0.07), triclocarban (log Kow=3.5-4.2) and endosulfan (log Kow=3.8-4.8) for zucchini (cucurbita pepo ssp pepo), squash (cucurbita pepo ssp ovifera), and soybean (glycine max L.). Transpiration stream concentration factors (TSCF) for caffeine (TSCF=0.8) were statistically equivalent for all plant species. However, for the more hydrophobic endosulfan and triclocarban, the TSCF values for zucchini (TSCF=0.6 and 0.4, respectively) were 3 and 10 times greater than the soybean and squash (TSCF=0.2 and 0.05, respectively). The difference in TSCF values was examined by comparing the measured solubilities of caffeine, endosulfan and triclocarban in deionized water to those in soybean and zucchini xylem saps using a modified shake flask method. The measured solubility of organic contaminants in xylem sap has not previously been reported. Caffeine solubilities in the xylem saps of soybean and zucchini were statistically equal to deionized water (21500mgL(-1)) while endosulfan and triclocarban solubilities in the zucchini xylem sap were significantly greater (0.43 and 0.21mgL(-1), respectively) than that of the soybean xylem sap (0.31 and 0.11mgL(-1), respectively) and deionized water (0.34 and 0.11mgL(-1), respectively). This suggests that the enhanced root to shoot transfer of hydrophobic organics reported for zucchini is partly due to increased solubility in the xylem sap. Further xylem sap characterization is needed to determine the mechanism of solubility enhancement. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Recent advances in topical anesthesia

Science.gov (United States)

2016-01-01

Topical anesthetics act on the peripheral nerves and reduce the sensation of pain at the site of application. In dentistry, they are used to control local pain caused by needling, placement of orthodontic bands, the vomiting reflex, oral mucositis, and rubber-dam clamp placement. Traditional topical anesthetics contain lidocaine or benzocaine as active ingredients and are used in the form of solutions, creams, gels, and sprays. Eutectic mixtures of local anesthesia cream, a mixture of various topical anesthetics, has been reported to be more potent than other anesthetics. Recently, new products with modified ingredients and application methods have been introduced into the market. These products may be used for mild pain during periodontal treatment, such as scaling. Dentists should be aware that topical anesthetics, although rare, might induce allergic reactions or side effects as a result of an overdose. Topical anesthetics are useful aids during dental treatment, as they reduce dental phobia, especially in children, by mitigating discomfort and pain. PMID:28879311

Discriminative Relational Topic Models.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Ning; Zhu, Jun; Xia, Fei; Zhang, Bo

2015-05-01

Relational topic models (RTMs) provide a probabilistic generative process to describe both the link structure and document contents for document networks, and they have shown promise on predicting network structures and discovering latent topic representations. However, existing RTMs have limitations in both the restricted model expressiveness and incapability of dealing with imbalanced network data. To expand the scope and improve the inference accuracy of RTMs, this paper presents three extensions: 1) unlike the common link likelihood with a diagonal weight matrix that allows the-same-topic interactions only, we generalize it to use a full weight matrix that captures all pairwise topic interactions and is applicable to asymmetric networks; 2) instead of doing standard Bayesian inference, we perform regularized Bayesian inference (RegBayes) with a regularization parameter to deal with the imbalanced link structure issue in real networks and improve the discriminative ability of learned latent representations; and 3) instead of doing variational approximation with strict mean-field assumptions, we present collapsed Gibbs sampling algorithms for the generalized relational topic models by exploring data augmentation without making restricting assumptions. Under the generic RegBayes framework, we carefully investigate two popular discriminative loss functions, namely, the logistic log-loss and the max-margin hinge loss. Experimental results on several real network datasets demonstrate the significance of these extensions on improving prediction performance.

Distribution and accumulation of endocrine-disrupting chemicals and pharmaceuticals in wastewater irrigated soils in Hebei, China

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen Feng; Ying Guangguo; Kong Lingxiao; Wang Li; Zhao Jianliang; Zhou Lijun; Zhang Lijuan

2011-01-01

This study investigated the occurrence of 43 emerging contaminants including 9 endocrine-disrupting chemicals and 34 pharmaceuticals in three sites in Hebei Province, north China. Each site has a wastewater irrigated plot and a separate groundwater irrigated plot for comparison purpose. The results showed that the concentrations of the target compounds in the wastewater irrigated soils were in most cases higher than those in the groundwater irrigated soils. Among the 43 target compounds, nine compounds bisphenol-A, triclocarban, triclosan, 4-nonylphenol, salicylic acid, oxytetracycline, tetracycline, trimethoprim and primidone were detected at least once in the soils. Preliminary environmental risk assessment showed that triclocarban might pose high risks to terrestrial organisms while the other detected compounds posed minimal risks. Irrigation with wastewater could lead to presence or accumulation of some emerging contaminants to some extent in irrigated soils. - Highlights: → Some EDCs and PPCPs were detected in the wastewater irrigated soils. → Application of reclaimed water could lead to accumulation of some compounds. → Groundwater has been contaminated by some compounds. → Triclocarban posed high risks to soil organisms. - Application of reclaimed wastewater on agricultural land could lead to the presence or accumulation of wastewater-related contaminants in soils.

Distribution and accumulation of endocrine-disrupting chemicals and pharmaceuticals in wastewater irrigated soils in Hebei, China

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Feng, Chen [State Key Laboratory of Organic Geochemistry, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510640 (China); Ying Guangguo, E-mail: guangguo.ying@gmail.com [State Key Laboratory of Organic Geochemistry, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510640 (China); Lingxiao, Kong [Institute of Plant Protection, Hebei Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Science, Baoding 07100 (China); Li, Wang; Jianliang, Zhao; Lijun, Zhou; Lijuan, Zhang [State Key Laboratory of Organic Geochemistry, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510640 (China)

2011-06-15

This study investigated the occurrence of 43 emerging contaminants including 9 endocrine-disrupting chemicals and 34 pharmaceuticals in three sites in Hebei Province, north China. Each site has a wastewater irrigated plot and a separate groundwater irrigated plot for comparison purpose. The results showed that the concentrations of the target compounds in the wastewater irrigated soils were in most cases higher than those in the groundwater irrigated soils. Among the 43 target compounds, nine compounds bisphenol-A, triclocarban, triclosan, 4-nonylphenol, salicylic acid, oxytetracycline, tetracycline, trimethoprim and primidone were detected at least once in the soils. Preliminary environmental risk assessment showed that triclocarban might pose high risks to terrestrial organisms while the other detected compounds posed minimal risks. Irrigation with wastewater could lead to presence or accumulation of some emerging contaminants to some extent in irrigated soils. - Highlights: > Some EDCs and PPCPs were detected in the wastewater irrigated soils. > Application of reclaimed water could lead to accumulation of some compounds. > Groundwater has been contaminated by some compounds. > Triclocarban posed high risks to soil organisms. - Application of reclaimed wastewater on agricultural land could lead to the presence or accumulation of wastewater-related contaminants in soils.

Topical anesthesia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mritunjay Kumar

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Topical anesthetics are being widely used in numerous medical and surgical sub-specialties such as anesthesia, ophthalmology, otorhinolaryngology, dentistry, urology, and aesthetic surgery. They cause superficial loss of pain sensation after direct application. Their delivery and effectiveness can be enhanced by using free bases; by increasing the drug concentration, lowering the melting point; by using physical and chemical permeation enhancers and lipid delivery vesicles. Various topical anesthetic agents available for use are eutectic mixture of local anesthetics, ELA-max, lidocaine, epinephrine, tetracaine, bupivanor, 4% tetracaine, benzocaine, proparacaine, Betacaine-LA, topicaine, lidoderm, S-caine patch™ and local anesthetic peel. While using them, careful attention must be paid to their pharmacology, area and duration of application, age and weight of the patients and possible side-effects.

Problematic topic transitions in dysarthric conversation.

Science.gov (United States)

Bloch, Steven; Saldert, Charlotta; Ferm, Ulrika

2015-01-01

This study examined the nature of topic transition problems associated with acquired progressive dysarthric speech in the everyday conversation of people with motor neurone disease. Using conversation analytic methods, a video collection of five naturally occurring problematic topic transitions was identified, transcribed and analysed. These were extracted from a main collection of over 200 other-initiated repair sequences and a sub-set of 15 problematic topic transition sequences. The sequences were analysed with reference to how the participants both identified and resolved the problems. Analysis revealed that topic transition by people with dysarthria can prove problematic. Conversation partners may find transitions problematic not only because of speech intelligibility but also because of a sequential disjuncture between the dysarthric speech turn and whatever topic has come prior. In addition the treatment of problematic topic transition as a complaint reveals the potential vulnerability of people with dysarthria to judgements of competence. These findings have implications for how dysarthria is conceptualized and how specific actions in conversation, such as topic transition, might be suitable targets for clinical intervention.

76 FR 81806 - Ophthalmic and Topical Dosage Form New Animal Drugs; Ivermectin Topical Solution

Science.gov (United States)

2011-12-29

.... FDA-2011-N-0003] Ophthalmic and Topical Dosage Form New Animal Drugs; Ivermectin Topical Solution... solution of ivermectin. DATES: This rule is effective December 29, 2011. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT... ANADA 200-318 for [[Page 81807

Topical methotrexate pretreatment enhances the therapeutic effect of topical 5-aminolevulinic acid-mediated photodynamic therapy on hamster buccal pouch precancers

OpenAIRE

Deng-Fu Yang; Jeng-Woei Lee; Hsin-Ming Chen; Yih-Chih Hsu

2014-01-01

Topical 5-aminolevulinic acid-mediated photodynamic therapy (ALA-PDT) is effective for treatment of human oral precancerous lesions. This animal study aimed to assess whether topical methotrexate (MTX) pretreatment could enhance the therapeutic effect of topical ALA-PDT on hamster buccal pouch precancerous lesions. Methods: Twenty hamster buccal pouch precancerous lesions were treated with either topical ALA-PDT with topical MTX pretreatment (topical MTX-ALA-PDT group, n = 10) or topical A...

Topical immunomodulators in dermatology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Khandpur Sujay

2004-04-01

Full Text Available Topical immunomodulators are agents that regulate the local immune response of the skin. They are now emerging as the therapy of choice for several immune-mediated dermatoses such as atopic dermatitis, contact allergic dermatitis, alopecia areata, psoriasis, vitiligo, connective tissue disorders such as morphea and lupus erythematosus, disorders of keratinization and several benign and malignant skin tumours, because of their comparable efficacy, ease of application and greater safety than their systemic counterparts. They can be used on a domiciliary basis for longer periods without aggressive monitoring. In this article, we have discussed the mechanism of action, common indications and side-effects of the commonly used topical immunomodulators, excluding topical steroids. Moreover, newer agents, which are still in the experimental stages, have also been described. A MEDLINE search was undertaken using the key words "topical immunomodulators, dermatology" and related articles were also searched. In addition, a manual search for many Indian articles, which are not indexed, was also carried out. Wherever possible, the full article was reviewed. If the full article could not be traced, the abstract was used.

Recent Advances In Topical Therapy In Dermatology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohan Thappa Devinder

2003-01-01

Full Text Available With changing times various newer topical agents are introduced in the field of dermatology. Tacrolimus and pimecrolimus are immunisuppressants, which are effective topically and are tried in the management of atopic dermatitis as well as other disorders including allergic contact dermatitis, atrophic lichen planus, pyoderma gangrenosum. Imiquimod, an immune response modifier, is presently in use for genital warts but has potentials as anti- tumour agent and in various other dermatological conditions when used topically. Tazarotene is a newer addition to the list of topical reginoids, which is effective in psoriasis and has better effect in combination with calcipotriene, phototherapy and topical costicosteroids. Tazarotene and adapelene are also effective in inflammatory acne. Calcipotriol, a vitamin D analogue has been introduced as a topical agent in the treatment of psoriasis. Steroid components are also developed recently which will be devoid of the side effects but having adequate anti-inflammatory effect. Topical photodynamic therapy has also a wide range of use in dermatology. Newer topical agents including cidofovir, capsaicin, topical sensitizers, topical antifungal agents for onychomycosis are also of use in clinical practice. Other promising developments include skin substitutes and growth factors for wound care.

Topic Modeling of Hierarchical Corpora /

OpenAIRE

Kim, Do-kyum

2014-01-01

The sizes of modern digital libraries have grown beyond our capacity to comprehend manually. Thus we need new tools to help us in organizing and browsing large corpora of text that do not require manually examining each document. To this end, machine learning researchers have developed topic models, statistical learning algorithms for automatic comprehension of large collections of text. Topic models provide both global and local views of a corpus; they discover topics that run through the co...

Testosterone Topical

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... not apply any testosterone topical products to your penis or scrotum or to skin that has sores, ... are severe or do not go away: breast enlargement and/or pain decreased sexual desire acne depression ...

Credibility improves topical blog post retrieval

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Weerkamp, W.; de Rijke, M.

2008-01-01

Topical blog post retrieval is the task of ranking blog posts with respect to their relevance for a given topic. To improve topical blog post retrieval we incorporate textual credibility indicators in the retrieval process. We consider two groups of indicators: post level (determined using

Topic prominence in Chinese EFL learners’ interlanguage

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shaopeng Li

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The present study aims to investigate the general characteristics of topicprominent typological interlanguage development of Chinese learners of English in terms of acquiring subject-prominent English structures from a discourse perspective. Topic structures mainly appear in Chinese discourse in the form of topic chains (Wang, 2002; 2004. The research target are the topic chain, which is the main topic-prominent structure in Chinese discourse, and zero anaphora, which is the most common topic anaphora in the topic chain. Two important findings emerged from the present study. First, the characteristics of Chinese topic chains are transferrable to the interlanguage of Chinese EFL learners, thus resulting in overgeneralization of the zero anaphora. Second, the interlanguage discourse of Chinese EFL learners reflects a change of the second language acquisition process from topic-prominence to subject-prominence, thus lending support to the discourse transfer hypothesis.

Topical report review status: Volume 10

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1996-03-01

This report provides industry with procedures for submitting topical reports, guidance on how the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) processes and responds to topical report submittals, and an accounting, with review schedules, of all topical reports currently accepted for review by the NRC. This report is published annually

Effect of antiseptic irrigation on infection rates of traumatic soft tissue wounds: a longitudinal cohort study.

Science.gov (United States)

Roth, B; Neuenschwander, R; Brill, F; Wurmitzer, F; Wegner, C; Assadian, O; Kramer, A

2017-03-02

Acute traumatic wounds are contaminated with bacteria and therefore an infection risk. Antiseptic wound irrigation before surgical intervention is routinely performed for contaminated wounds. However, a broad variety of different irrigation solutions are in use. The aim of this retrospective, non-randomised, controlled longitudinal cohort study was to assess the preventive effect of four different irrigation solutions before surgical treatment, on wound infection in traumatic soft tissue wounds. Over a period of three decades, the prophylactic application of wound irrigation was studied in patients with contaminated traumatic wounds requiring surgical treatment, with or without primary wound closure. The main outcome measure was development of wound infection. From 1974-1983, either 0.04 % polihexanide (PHMB), 1 % povidone-iodine (PVP-I), 4 % hydrogen peroxide, or undiluted Ringer's solution were concurrently in use. From 1984-1996, only 0.04 % PHMB or 1 % PVP-I were applied. From 1997, 0.04 % PHMB was used until the end of the study period in 2005. The combined rate for superficial and deep wound infection was 1.7 % in the 0.04 % PHMB group (n=3264), 4.8 % in the 1 % PVP-I group (n=2552), 5.9 % in the Ringer's group (n=645), and 11.7 % in the 4 % hydrogen peroxide group (n=643). Compared with all other treatment arms, PHMB showed the highest efficacy in preventing infection in traumatic soft tissue wounds (p<0.001). However, compared with PVP-I, the difference was only significant for superficial infections. The large patient numbers in this study demonstrated a robust superiority of 0.04 % PHMB to prevent infection in traumatic soft tissue wounds. These retrospective results may further provide important information as the basis for power calculations for the urgently needed prospective clinical trials in the evolving field of wound antisepsis.

Chiropractic: MedlinePlus Health Topic

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... for back pain (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish Topic Image MedlinePlus Email Updates Get Chiropractic updates by ... ENCYCLOPEDIA Chiropractic care for back pain Related Health Topics Back Pain Complementary and Integrative Medicine National Institutes ...

Diets: MedlinePlus Health Topic

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... Spanish Mediterranean diet (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish Topic Image MedlinePlus Email Updates Get Diets updates by ... foods Diet-busting foods Mediterranean diet Related Health Topics Child Nutrition DASH Eating Plan Diabetic Diet Nutrition ...

Colonoscopy: MedlinePlus Health Topic

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... Spanish Virtual colonoscopy (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish Topic Image MedlinePlus Email Updates Get Colonoscopy updates by ... Colonoscopy Colonoscopy discharge Sigmoidoscopy Virtual colonoscopy Related Health Topics Colonic Diseases Colonic Polyps Colorectal Cancer National Institutes ...

Dialysis: MedlinePlus Health Topic

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... access for hemodialysis (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish Topic Image MedlinePlus Email Updates Get Dialysis updates by ... for hemodialysis Show More Show Less Related Health Topics Creatinine Kidney Cysts Kidney Failure Peritoneal Disorders National ...

Menopause: MedlinePlus Health Topic

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... Spanish What is Menopause? (National Institute on Aging) Topic Image MedlinePlus Email Updates Get Menopause updates by ... test Menopause Types of hormone therapy Related Health Topics Hormone Replacement Therapy Menstruation Premature Ovarian Failure National ...

Vaginitis: MedlinePlus Health Topic

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... Spanish Vulvovaginitis - overview (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish Topic Image MedlinePlus Email Updates Get Vaginitis updates by ... Vaginitis test - wet mount Vulvovaginitis - overview Related Health Topics Trichomoniasis Vaginal Diseases Yeast Infections Other Languages Find ...

78 FR 76443 - Safety and Effectiveness of Consumer Antiseptics; Topical Antimicrobial Drug Products for Over...

Science.gov (United States)

2013-12-17

... bacteria from washed hands to a ready- to-eat food item, melon balls. The observed reduction in bacterial... ready- to-eat food was contaminated... Vol. 78 Tuesday, No. 242 December 17, 2013 Part III Department of Health and Human Services Food...

Topical Acne Treatments and Pregnancy

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Topical Acne Treatments In every pregnancy, a woman starts out with a 3-5% chance of having a baby ... This sheet talks about whether exposure to topical acne treatments may increase the risk for birth defects ...

Symbiosis: Rich, Exciting, Neglected Topic

Science.gov (United States)

Rowland, Jane Thomas

1974-01-01

Argues that the topic of symbiosis has been greatly neglected and underemphasized in general-biology textbooks. Discusses many types and examples of symbiosis, and provides an extensive bibliography of the literature related to this topic. (JR)

Prediabetes:MedlinePlus Health Topic

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... in Spanish Prediabetes (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish Topic Image MedlinePlus Email Updates Get Prediabetes updates by ... Glucose tolerance test - non-pregnant Prediabetes Related Health Topics A1C Diabetes Diabetes in Children and Teens Diabetes ...

Diabetes: MedlinePlus Health Topic

Science.gov (United States)

... High blood sugar (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish Topic Image MedlinePlus Email Updates Get Diabetes updates by ... ketones test Show More Show Less Related Health Topics A1C Blood Sugar Diabetes and Pregnancy Diabetes Complications ...

Novel Antiseptic Urinary Catheters for Prevention of Urinary Tract Infections: Correlation of In Vivo and In Vitro Test Results▿

Science.gov (United States)

Hachem, Ray; Reitzel, Ruth; Borne, Agatha; Jiang, Ying; Tinkey, Peggy; Uthamanthil, Rajesh; Chandra, Jyotsna; Ghannoum, Mahmoud; Raad, Issam

2009-01-01

Urinary catheters are widely used for hospitalized patients and are often associated with high rates of urinary tract infection. We evaluated in vitro the antiadherence activity of a novel antiseptic Gendine-coated urinary catheter against several multidrug-resistant bacteria. Gendine-coated urinary catheters were compared to silver hydrogel-coated Foley catheters and uncoated catheters. Bacterial biofilm formation was assessed by quantitative culture and scanning electron microscopy. These data were further correlated to an in vivo rabbit model. We challenged 31 rabbits daily for 4 days by inoculating the urethral meatus with 1.0 × 109 CFU streptomycin-resistant Escherichia coli per day. In vitro, Gendine-coated urinary catheters reduced the CFU of all organisms tested for biofilm adherence compared with uncoated and silver hydrogel-coated catheters (P < 0.004). Scanning electron microscopy analysis showed that a thick biofilm overlaid the control catheter and the silver hydrogel-coated catheters but not the Gendine-coated urinary catheter. Similar results were found with the rabbit model. Bacteriuria was present in 60% of rabbits with uncoated catheters and 71% of those with silver hydrogel-coated catheters (P < 0.01) but not in those with Gendine-coated urinary catheters. No rabbits with Gendine-coated urinary catheters had invasive bladder infections. Histopathologic assessment revealed no differences in toxicity or staining. Gendine-coated urinary catheters were more efficacious in preventing catheter-associated colonization and urinary tract infections than were silver hydrogel-coated Foley catheters and uncoated catheters. PMID:19805562

Tracking topic birth and death in LDA.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wilson, Andrew T.; Robinson, David Gerald

2011-09-01

Most topic modeling algorithms that address the evolution of documents over time use the same number of topics at all times. This obscures the common occurrence in the data where new subjects arise and old ones diminish or disappear entirely. We propose an algorithm to model the birth and death of topics within an LDA-like framework. The user selects an initial number of topics, after which new topics are created and retired without further supervision. Our approach also accommodates many of the acceleration and parallelization schemes developed in recent years for standard LDA. In recent years, topic modeling algorithms such as latent semantic analysis (LSA)[17], latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA)[10] and their descendants have offered a powerful way to explore and interrogate corpora far too large for any human to grasp without assistance. Using such algorithms we are able to search for similar documents, model and track the volume of topics over time, search for correlated topics or model them with a hierarchy. Most of these algorithms are intended for use with static corpora where the number of documents and the size of the vocabulary are known in advance. Moreover, almost all current topic modeling algorithms fix the number of topics as one of the input parameters and keep it fixed across the entire corpus. While this is appropriate for static corpora, it becomes a serious handicap when analyzing time-varying data sets where topics come and go as a matter of course. This is doubly true for online algorithms that may not have the option of revising earlier results in light of new data. To be sure, these algorithms will account for changing data one way or another, but without the ability to adapt to structural changes such as entirely new topics they may do so in counterintuitive ways.

Topics in lightwave transmission systems

CERN Document Server

Li, Tingye

1991-01-01

Topics in Lightwave Transmission Systems is a second volume of a treatise on optical fiber communications that is devoted to the science, engineering, and application of information transmission via optical fibers. The first volume, published in 1985, dealt exclusively with fiber fabrication. The present volume contains topics that pertain to subsystems and systems. The book contains five chapters and begins with discussions of transmitters and receivers, which are basic to systems now operating in the field. Subsequent chapters cover topics relating to coherent systems: frequency and phase m

Comparison of the antiseptic effects of Betadine and Sterillium on microbial load of surgical hands

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ahmad Entezari

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Background and Objective: Hand washing is an essential measure in controlling the infection in the operating room, the correct implementation of which requires time. Therefore, the use of fast-acting and safe disinfectant is of great importance in this regard. Regarding this, the present study aimed to compare the antiseptic effects of Betadine and Sterillium on the microbial load of the surgical hands. Materials and Method: This quasi-experimental study was conducted on 93 operating room staff working at teaching hospitals of Yazd, Iran, in 2013, using random sampling method. Hand washing was first performed uniformly using 5 ml of non-antibacterial soap for 1 min. Subsequently, the hand washing was performed on two separate occasions with an interval of one week with 12 ml of Betadine and Sterillum for 3 min following the instructions of each solution. The sampling was carried out immediately after hand washing. In order to evaluate the lasting effects of the disinfectants, another sampling was also performed after the surgery. The data were analysed using Chi-square tests, independent t-test, and repeated measures ANOVA through the SPSS version 17. Results: At post-intervention stage, the mean difference of microbial load of the hands washed with Betadine was 15.97±3.08 CFU/ml which decreased to -0.64±0.28 CFU/ml (P=0.012. Regarding the Sterillum, the mean microbial loads of the hands were 16.73±3.0 and -0.032±0.64 CFU/ml at the pre- and post-intervention stages, respectively (P=0.037. This difference between the two solutions was significant (P=0.04. Conclusion: The findings of the present study revealed that the Sterillum was more fast-acting, than the Betadine. However, Betadine showed more lasting effect as compared to the Sterillum. Therefore, it is suggested to choose the disinfectant with regard to the onset and duration of the surgery.

Preliminary stop of the TOPical Imiquimod treatment of high-grade Cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (TOPIC) trial

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Koeneman, M. M.; Kruse, Arnold-Jan; Kooreman, L. F. S.; zur Hausen, Axel; Hopman, Anton H N; Sep, S. J. S.; Van Gorp, T.; Slangen, B. F. M.; van Beekhuizen, H. J.; de Sande, Michiel A. J. van; Gerestein, Cornelis G.; Nijman, H. W.; Kruitwagen, R. F. M. P.

2017-01-01

The "TOPical Imiquimod treatment of high-grade Cervical intraepithelial neoplasia" (TOPIC) trial was stopped preliminary, due to lagging inclusions. This study aimed to evaluate the treatment efficacy and clinical applicability of imiquimod 5% cream in high-grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia

Deep Unfolding for Topic Models.

Science.gov (United States)

Chien, Jen-Tzung; Lee, Chao-Hsi

2018-02-01

Deep unfolding provides an approach to integrate the probabilistic generative models and the deterministic neural networks. Such an approach is benefited by deep representation, easy interpretation, flexible learning and stochastic modeling. This study develops the unsupervised and supervised learning of deep unfolded topic models for document representation and classification. Conventionally, the unsupervised and supervised topic models are inferred via the variational inference algorithm where the model parameters are estimated by maximizing the lower bound of logarithm of marginal likelihood using input documents without and with class labels, respectively. The representation capability or classification accuracy is constrained by the variational lower bound and the tied model parameters across inference procedure. This paper aims to relax these constraints by directly maximizing the end performance criterion and continuously untying the parameters in learning process via deep unfolding inference (DUI). The inference procedure is treated as the layer-wise learning in a deep neural network. The end performance is iteratively improved by using the estimated topic parameters according to the exponentiated updates. Deep learning of topic models is therefore implemented through a back-propagation procedure. Experimental results show the merits of DUI with increasing number of layers compared with variational inference in unsupervised as well as supervised topic models.

Bimatoprost Topical

Science.gov (United States)

... not use a cotton swab or any other brush or applicator to apply topical bimatoprost.To use the solution, follow these steps: Wash your hands and face thoroughly with soap and water. Be sure that all makeup is removed. Do not let the tip of ...

Topics in quantum field theory

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dams, C.J.F.

2006-01-01

In this PhD-thesis some topics in quantum field theory are considered. The first chapter gives a background to these topics. The second chapter discusses renormalization. In particular it is shown how loop calculations can be performed when using the axial gauge fixing. Fermion creation and

Learning topic models by belief propagation.

Science.gov (United States)

Zeng, Jia; Cheung, William K; Liu, Jiming

2013-05-01

Latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) is an important hierarchical Bayesian model for probabilistic topic modeling, which attracts worldwide interest and touches on many important applications in text mining, computer vision and computational biology. This paper represents the collapsed LDA as a factor graph, which enables the classic loopy belief propagation (BP) algorithm for approximate inference and parameter estimation. Although two commonly used approximate inference methods, such as variational Bayes (VB) and collapsed Gibbs sampling (GS), have gained great success in learning LDA, the proposed BP is competitive in both speed and accuracy, as validated by encouraging experimental results on four large-scale document datasets. Furthermore, the BP algorithm has the potential to become a generic scheme for learning variants of LDA-based topic models in the collapsed space. To this end, we show how to learn two typical variants of LDA-based topic models, such as author-topic models (ATM) and relational topic models (RTM), using BP based on the factor graph representations.

Consensus guidelines for the identification and treatment of biofilms in chronic nonhealing wounds

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schultz, Gregory; Bjarnsholt, Thomas; James, Garth A.

2017-01-01

diagnostic options; clinical indicators of biofilms; future options for diagnostic tests; treatment strategies; mechanical debridement; topical antiseptics; screening antibiofilm agents; and levels of evidence when choosing antibiofilm treatments. Conclusion: This consensus document attempts to clarify...... misunderstandings about the role of biofilms in clinical practice, and provides a basis for clinicians to recognize biofilms in chronic nonhealing wounds and manage patients optimally. A new paradigm for wound care, based on a stepped-down treatment approach, was derived from the consensus statements....

Bare quantifier fronting as contrastive topicalization

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ion Giurgea

2015-11-01

Full Text Available I argue that indefinites (in particular bare quantifiers such as ‘something’, ‘somebody’, etc. which are neither existentially presupposed nor in the restriction of a quantifier over situations, can undergo topicalization in a number of Romance languages (Catalan, Italian, Romanian, Spanish, but only if the sentence contains “verum” focus, i.e. focus on a high degree of certainty of the sentence. I analyze these indefinites as contrastive topics, using Büring’s (1999 theory (where the term ‘S-topic’ is used for what I call ‘contrastive topic’. I propose that the topic is evaluated in relation to a scalar set including generalized quantifiers such as {lP $x P(x, lP MANYx P(x, lP MOSTx P(x, lP “xP(x} or {lP $xP(x, lP P(a, lP P(b …}, and that the contrastive topic is the weakest generalized quantifier in this set. The verum focus, which is part of the “comment” that co-occurs with the “Topic”, introduces a set of alternatives including degrees of certainty of the assertion. The speaker asserts that his claim is certainly true or highly probable, contrasting it with stronger claims for which the degree of probability is unknown. This explains the observation that in downward entailing contexts, the fronted quantified DPs are headed by ‘all’ or ‘many’, whereas ‘some’, small numbers or ‘at least n’ appear in upward entailing contexts. Unlike other cases of non-specific topics, which are property topics, these are quantifier topics: the topic part is a generalized quantifier, the comment is a property of generalized quantifiers. This explains the narrow scope of the fronted quantified DP.

Resources for Topics in Architecture.

Science.gov (United States)

Van Noate, Judith, Comp.

This guide for conducting library research on topics in architecture or on the work of a particular architect presents suggestions for utilizing four categories of resources: books, dictionaries and encyclopedias, indexes, and a periodicals and series list (PASL). Two topics are researched as examples: the contemporary architect Richard Meier, and…

Web directories as topical context

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kaptein, R.; Kamps, J.; Aly, R.; Hauff, C.; den Hamer, I.; Hiemstra, D.; Huibers, T.; de Jong, F.

2009-01-01

In this paper we explore whether the Open Directory (or DMOZ) can be used to classify queries into topical categories on different levels and whether we can use this topical context to improve retrieval performance. We have set up a user study to let test persons explicitly classify queries into

Link-topic model for biomedical abbreviation disambiguation.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Seonho; Yoon, Juntae

2015-02-01

The ambiguity of biomedical abbreviations is one of the challenges in biomedical text mining systems. In particular, the handling of term variants and abbreviations without nearby definitions is a critical issue. In this study, we adopt the concepts of topic of document and word link to disambiguate biomedical abbreviations. We newly suggest the link topic model inspired by the latent Dirichlet allocation model, in which each document is perceived as a random mixture of topics, where each topic is characterized by a distribution over words. Thus, the most probable expansions with respect to abbreviations of a given abstract are determined by word-topic, document-topic, and word-link distributions estimated from a document collection through the link topic model. The model allows two distinct modes of word generation to incorporate semantic dependencies among words, particularly long form words of abbreviations and their sentential co-occurring words; a word can be generated either dependently on the long form of the abbreviation or independently. The semantic dependency between two words is defined as a link and a new random parameter for the link is assigned to each word as well as a topic parameter. Because the link status indicates whether the word constitutes a link with a given specific long form, it has the effect of determining whether a word forms a unigram or a skipping/consecutive bigram with respect to the long form. Furthermore, we place a constraint on the model so that a word has the same topic as a specific long form if it is generated in reference to the long form. Consequently, documents are generated from the two hidden parameters, i.e. topic and link, and the most probable expansion of a specific abbreviation is estimated from the parameters. Our model relaxes the bag-of-words assumption of the standard topic model in which the word order is neglected, and it captures a richer structure of text than does the standard topic model by considering

Microbiological evaluation of different antiseptic povidone-iodine and chlorhexidine formulations after intentional contamination of containers Evaluación microbiológica de las diferentes formulaciones antisépticas, polivinil-pirrolidona-yodo y clorexidina, después de la contaminación intencional de los recipientes Avaliação microbiológica das diferentes formulações anti-sépticas, polivinilpirrolidona-iodo e clorexidina, após contaminação intencional das almotolias

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christiane Moreira Padovani

2008-12-01

Full Text Available This study aimed to evaluate the survival rate of microorganisms within different antiseptic formulations - povidone-iodine (PVP-I and chlorhexidine (CHX - after intentional contamination, and to establish the minimum care necessary to ensure sterilization of non-disposable antiseptic solution containers. A laboratory study was performed with 180 antiseptic containers, which were contaminated with Serratia marcescens [1 x 105 UFC/mL]. The containers were closed and stored, at room temperature, during seven days and shaken daily. The antiseptic cultures were evaluated to be 100% negative to Serratia marcescens in all of the non-disposable containers. These results suggested that antiseptic solutions inactivate microorganisms [1 x 105 UFC/mL]. Since cleaned antiseptic containers have around 102 UFC coming from tap water, it can be inferred that cleansing is a safe minimum procedure to ensure reuse of containers for distribution of CHX and PVP-I solutions in aqueous, detergent and alcoholic formulations.Los objetivos de este estudio fueron evaluar la sobre vivencia de los micro organismos en las diferentes formulaciones de los antisépticos clorexidina (CHX y polivinil-pirrolidona-yodo (PVP-Y, después de una contaminación intencional de los recipientes y extrapolar los resultados de los laboratorios para el cuidado mínimo a ser dispensado a los recipientes de múltiple uso para el envase de los antisépticos probados. Para esto, fue desarrollado un estudio de laboratorio, en que 180 recipientes fueron contaminados con 1 x 105 UFC/mL de suspensión conteniendo S.marcescens. Después de la contaminación, seis diferentes formulaciones de antisépticos (clorexidina y PVP-Y en los vehículos alcohólico, detergente y acuoso fueron distribuidos y sometidos a la cultura diaria durante siete días, a fin de verificar se hubo crecimiento del microorganismo. Los resultados de esta investigación permiten recomendar la limpieza como el procedimiento m

Unsupervised topic discovery by anomaly detection

OpenAIRE

Cheng, Leon

2013-01-01

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited With the vast amount of information and public comment available online, it is of increasing interest to understand what is being said and what topics are trending online. Government agencies, for example, want to know what policies concern the public without having to look through thousands of comments manually. Topic detection provides automatic identification of topics in documents based on the information content and enhances many ...

Topical cyclosporine for atopic keratoconjunctivitis.

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González-López, Julio J; López-Alcalde, Jesús; Morcillo Laiz, Rafael; Fernández Buenaga, Roberto; Rebolleda Fernández, Gema

2012-09-12

Atopic keratoconjunctivitis (AKC) is a chronic ocular surface non-infectious inflammatory condition that atopic dermatitis patients may suffer at any time point in the course of their dermatologic disease and is independent of its degree of severity. AKC is usually not self resolving and it poses a higher risk of corneal injuries and severe sequelae. Management of AKC should prevent or treat corneal damage. Although topical corticosteroids remain the standard treatment for patients with AKC, prolonged use may lead to complications. Topical cyclosporine A (CsA) may improve AKC signs and symptoms, and be used as a corticosteroid sparing agent. To determine the efficacy and gather evidence on safety from randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of topical CsA in patients with AKC. We searched CENTRAL (which contains the Cochrane Eyes and Vision Group Trials Register) (The Cochrane Library 2012, Issue 6), MEDLINE (January 1946 to July 2012), EMBASE (January 1980 to July 2012), Latin American and Caribbean Literature on Health Sciences (LILACS) (January 1982 to July 2012), Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) (January 1937 to July 2012), OpenGrey (System for Information on Grey Literature in Europe) (www.opengrey.eu/), the metaRegister of Controlled Trials (mRCT) (www.controlled-trials.com), ClinicalTrials.gov (www.clinicaltrials.gov), the WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP) (www.who.int/ictrp/search/en), the IFPMA Clinical Trials Portal (http://clinicaltrials.ifpma.org/no_cache/en/myportal/index.htm) and Web of Science Conference Proceedings Citation Index- Science (CPCI-S). We did not use any date or language restrictions in the electronic searches for trials. The electronic databases were last searched on 9 July 2012. We also handsearched the following conference proceedings: American Academy of Ophthalmology, Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, International Council of Opthalmology and Societas

21 CFR 868.5170 - Laryngotracheal topical anesthesia applicator.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Laryngotracheal topical anesthesia applicator. 868... topical anesthesia applicator. (a) Identification. A laryngotracheal topical anesthesia applicator is a device used to apply topical anesthetics to a patient's laryngotracheal area. (b) Classification. Class...

Decolonization in Prevention of Health Care-Associated Infections

Science.gov (United States)

Schweizer, Marin L.

2016-01-01

SUMMARY Colonization with health care-associated pathogens such as Staphylococcus aureus, enterococci, Gram-negative organisms, and Clostridium difficile is associated with increased risk of infection. Decolonization is an evidence-based intervention that can be used to prevent health care-associated infections (HAIs). This review evaluates agents used for nasal topical decolonization, topical (e.g., skin) decolonization, oral decolonization, and selective digestive or oropharyngeal decontamination. Although the majority of studies performed to date have focused on S. aureus decolonization, there is increasing interest in how to apply decolonization strategies to reduce infections due to Gram-negative organisms, especially those that are multidrug resistant. Nasal topical decolonization agents reviewed include mupirocin, bacitracin, retapamulin, povidone-iodine, alcohol-based nasal antiseptic, tea tree oil, photodynamic therapy, omiganan pentahydrochloride, and lysostaphin. Mupirocin is still the gold standard agent for S. aureus nasal decolonization, but there is concern about mupirocin resistance, and alternative agents are needed. Of the other nasal decolonization agents, large clinical trials are still needed to evaluate the effectiveness of retapamulin, povidone-iodine, alcohol-based nasal antiseptic, tea tree oil, omiganan pentahydrochloride, and lysostaphin. Given inferior outcomes and increased risk of allergic dermatitis, the use of bacitracin-containing compounds cannot be recommended as a decolonization strategy. Topical decolonization agents reviewed included chlorhexidine gluconate (CHG), hexachlorophane, povidone-iodine, triclosan, and sodium hypochlorite. Of these, CHG is the skin decolonization agent that has the strongest evidence base, and sodium hypochlorite can also be recommended. CHG is associated with prevention of infections due to Gram-positive and Gram-negative organisms as well as Candida. Conversely, triclosan use is discouraged, and

Topical therapy of atopic dermatitis: controversies from Hippocrates to topical immunomodulators.

Science.gov (United States)

Tilles, Gérard; Wallach, Daniel; Taïeb, Alain

2007-02-01

Although atopic dermatitis can be treated efficiently, there is still much controversy about the risk/benefit ratio of both topical corticosteroids and topical immunomodulators. Conflicting data may be found about the usefulness of bathing, diet regulation, and other therapeutic interventions. These controversies result in part from the persistence of Hippocratic doctrines in modern medical thinking. Humoralist and diathetic doctrines, as they pertain to eczema, are reviewed. The paradoxical worsening of oozing and the deadly hazards of hospitalization before the era of antibiotics are brought to mind. We hope that this historical review will improve the understanding of current controversies and help dermatologists to manage patients with atopic dermatitis and other chronic skin diseases.

Economic impact of interventional study on rational use of antiseptics and disinfectants in Super Speciality Hospital of Nagpur.

Science.gov (United States)

Agarwal, Vandana; Gharpure, Kunda; Thawani, Vijay; Makhija, Sushil; Thakur, Anita; Powar, Rajaram

2008-03-01

To measure the impact of interventions on rational use of antiseptics and disinfectants (A and D) for cost containment in Super Speciality Hospital (SSH) of Government Medical College, Nagpur (GMCN), India. This study was conducted from October 2003 to March 2007 in SSH of GMCN. In the pre-interventional phase (Phase-I), purchase, stocking and distribution of A and D was studied to find problem areas. Based on this formative data an intervention was planned (Phase-II) during which rationing of the A and D was done. Rational quantities needed for different A and D procedures were calculated based on recommendations of National Aids Control Organization (NACO) with modifications to suit our hospital setup. Detailed information, education, communication and training about rational use of A and D were provided to the hospital staff. In the post-interventional phase (Phase-III), the use of A and D was rationalized at the distribution level and the efficacy of in-use A and D was tested at user sites. Data about medicine expenditure, patient record and A and D usage in various departments was obtained from hospital records. Savings on A and D as against total annual medicine expenditure was calculated taking the cost of A and D in the post-intervention period. The expenditure on A and D as a result of intervention decreased by 20.7%. Out of the total medicine expenditure, the expenditure on A and D which accounted for 6.2% before intervention, decreased to 1.95% after the intervention. The information, education and communication (IEC) interventions attempted by us resulted in significant decrease in the use and expenditure of A and D.

Topic Time Series Analysis of Microblogs

Science.gov (United States)

2014-10-01

may be distributed more globally. Tweets on a specific topic that cluster spatially, temporally or both might be of interest to analysts, marketers ...of $ and @, with the latter only in the case that it is the only character in the token (the @ symbol is significant in its usage by Instagram in...is generated by Instagram . Topic 80, Distance: 143.2101 Top words: 1. rawr 2. ˆ0ˆ 3. kill 4. jurassic 5. dinosaur Analysis: This topic is quite

Topic modelling in the information warfare domain

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

De Waal, A

2013-11-01

Full Text Available for interesting and relevant topics. The objectives of this paper is to describe topic modelling, put it in context as a useful IW technique and illustrate its use with two examples. They discuss several applications of topic modelling in the safety and security...

Task-Driven Comparison of Topic Models.

Science.gov (United States)

Alexander, Eric; Gleicher, Michael

2016-01-01

Topic modeling, a method of statistically extracting thematic content from a large collection of texts, is used for a wide variety of tasks within text analysis. Though there are a growing number of tools and techniques for exploring single models, comparisons between models are generally reduced to a small set of numerical metrics. These metrics may or may not reflect a model's performance on the analyst's intended task, and can therefore be insufficient to diagnose what causes differences between models. In this paper, we explore task-centric topic model comparison, considering how we can both provide detail for a more nuanced understanding of differences and address the wealth of tasks for which topic models are used. We derive comparison tasks from single-model uses of topic models, which predominantly fall into the categories of understanding topics, understanding similarity, and understanding change. Finally, we provide several visualization techniques that facilitate these tasks, including buddy plots, which combine color and position encodings to allow analysts to readily view changes in document similarity.

Topical Session on Materials Management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2002-01-01

At its second meeting, in Paris, 5-7 December 2001, the WPDD held two topical sessions on the D and D Safety Case and on the Management of Materials from D and D, respectively. This report documents the topical session on the management of materials. Presentations during the topical session covered key aspects of the management of materials and meant to provide an exchange of information and experience, including: Experience and lessons learnt from VLLW and non-radioactive material management in Spain and Germany with special attention to recycling (How specific solutions came about? Are there 'generic' examples for wider adoption?); Risk assessment of recycling and non-recycling: a CPD study; Waste acceptance issues within different national contexts (What constraints are there on the waste receiving body and what flexibility can the latter have? What constraints does this impose on D and D implementers? What about wastes are without current solution? What needs to be done? What about large items and 'difficult' waste in general?); Radiological characterisation of materials during decommissioning, particularly difficult situations - large volumes, large items,.. wastes, heterogeneous streams (What examples of established practice? What are the approaches or aspects that set the regulatory requirements? How can the flow rates be large but the answers acceptable? How much is needed to be known for later action, e. g., disposal, release, protection of worker, etc.); Radiological characterisation of buildings as they stand, in order to allow conventional demolition (What are strategies for optimisation of characterisation? How much needs to be known to take action later? e.g. for storage, disposal, release, cost estimation and ALARA? What needs to be done in advance and after decommissioning/dismantling?). At the end of each presentation time was allotted for discussion of the paper. Integral to the Topical Session was a facilitated plenary discussion on the topical

Topical steroid addiction in atopic dermatitis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fukaya M

2014-10-01

Full Text Available Mototsugu Fukaya,1 Kenji Sato,2 Mitsuko Sato,3 Hajime Kimata,4 Shigeki Fujisawa,5 Haruhiko Dozono,6 Jun Yoshizawa,7 Satoko Minaguchi8 1Tsurumai Kouen Clinic, Nagoya, 2Department of Dermatology, Hannan Chuo Hospital, Osaka, 3Sato Pediatric Clinic, Osaka, 4Kimata Hajime Clinic, Osaka, 5Fujisawa Dermatology Clinic, Tokyo, 6Dozono Medical House, Kagoshima, 7Yoshizawa Dermatology Clinic, Yokohama, 8Department of Dermatology, Kounosu Kyousei Hospital, Saitama, Japan Abstract: The American Academy of Dermatology published a new guideline regarding topical therapy in atopic dermatitis in May 2014. Although topical steroid addiction or red burning skin syndrome had been mentioned as possible side effects of topical steroids in a 2006 review article in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, no statement was made regarding this illness in the new guidelines. This suggests that there are still controversies regarding this illness. Here, we describe the clinical features of topical steroid addiction or red burning skin syndrome, based on the treatment of many cases of the illness. Because there have been few articles in the medical literature regarding this illness, the description in this article will be of some benefit to better understand the illness and to spur discussion regarding topical steroid addiction or red burning skin syndrome. Keywords: topical steroid addiction, atopic dermatitis, red burning skin syndrome, rebound, corticosteroid, eczema

Eye Wear: MedlinePlus Health Topic

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... When You Exercise (National Institute on Aging) - PDF Topic Image MedlinePlus Email Updates Get Eye Wear updates by email What's this? GO Related Health Topics Refractive Errors National Institutes of Health The primary ...

21 CFR 524.1193 - Ivermectin topical solution.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 6 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Ivermectin topical solution. 524.1193 Section 524...) ANIMAL DRUGS, FEEDS, AND RELATED PRODUCTS OPHTHALMIC AND TOPICAL DOSAGE FORM NEW ANIMAL DRUGS § 524.1193 Ivermectin topical solution. (a) Specifications. Each milliliter (mL) of solution contains 5 milligrams of...

Eosinophilic Esophagitis: MedlinePlus Health Topic

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... Esophagitis (EoE) (American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology) Also in Spanish Latest News Eosinophilic Esophagitis May ... Pediatric and Adolescent Patients (American College of Gastroenterology) Topic Image Related Health Topics Eosinophilic Disorders Esophagus Disorders ...

Female Infertility: MedlinePlus Health Topic

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... Prolactin blood test (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish Topic Image MedlinePlus Email Updates Get Female Infertility updates ... Serum progesterone Show More Show Less Related Health Topics Assisted Reproductive Technology Infertility Male Infertility National Institutes ...

Mobility Aids: MedlinePlus Health Topic

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... Mobility Problems (AGS Foundation for Health in Aging) Topic Image MedlinePlus Email Updates Get Mobility Aids updates ... standing and walking Using a cane Related Health Topics Assistive Devices Other Languages Find health information in ...

Genetic Testing: MedlinePlus Health Topic

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... Your Family's Health (National Institutes of Health) - PDF Topic Image MedlinePlus Email Updates Get Genetic Testing updates ... testing and your cancer risk Karyotyping Related Health Topics Birth Defects Genetic Counseling Genetic Disorders Newborn Screening ...

Folic Acid: MedlinePlus Health Topic

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... acid in diet (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish Topic Image MedlinePlus Email Updates Get Folic Acid updates ... acid - test Folic acid in diet Related Health Topics Vitamins National Institutes of Health The primary NIH ...

Pneumococcal Infections: MedlinePlus Health Topic

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... Prevention, Immunization Action Coalition) - PDF Also in Spanish Topic Image MedlinePlus Email Updates Get Pneumococcal Infections updates ... ray Meningitis - pneumococcal Sputum gram stain Related Health Topics Meningitis Pneumonia Sepsis Sinusitis Streptococcal Infections National Institutes ...

Wilms' Tumor: MedlinePlus Health Topic

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... Spanish Wilms tumor (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish Topic Image MedlinePlus Email Updates Get Wilms Tumor updates ... ENCYCLOPEDIA After chemotherapy - discharge Wilms tumor Related Health Topics Kidney Cancer National Institutes of Health The primary ...

Child Safety: MedlinePlus Health Topic

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... injuries in children (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish Topic Image MedlinePlus Email Updates Get Child Safety updates ... safety Preventing head injuries in children Related Health Topics Infant and Newborn Care Internet Safety Motor Vehicle ...

Pneumocystis Infections: MedlinePlus Health Topic

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... Pneumocystis jiroveci pneumonia (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish Topic Image MedlinePlus Email Updates Get Pneumocystis Infections updates ... GO MEDICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA Pneumocystis jiroveci pneumonia Related Health Topics HIV/AIDS HIV/AIDS and Infections Pneumonia National ...

Collapsed Lung: MedlinePlus Health Topic

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... Spanish Pneumothorax - infants (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish Topic Image MedlinePlus Email Updates Get Collapsed Lung updates ... Lung surgery Pneumothorax - slideshow Pneumothorax - infants Related Health Topics Chest Injuries and Disorders Lung Diseases Pleural Disorders ...

Male Infertility: MedlinePlus Health Topic

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... Spanish Testicular biopsy (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish Topic Image MedlinePlus Email Updates Get Male Infertility updates ... analysis Sperm release pathway Testicular biopsy Related Health Topics Assisted Reproductive Technology Female Infertility Infertility National Institutes ...

Healthy Aging: MedlinePlus Health Topic

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... Aging National Institute on Aging Also in Spanish Topic Image MedlinePlus Email Updates Get Healthy Aging updates ... 65 Health screening - women - over 65 Related Health Topics Exercise for Seniors Nutrition for Seniors Seniors' Health ...

Psoriatic Arthritis: MedlinePlus Health Topic

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... Handouts Psoriatic arthritis (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish Topic Image MedlinePlus Email Updates Get Psoriatic Arthritis updates ... this? GO MEDICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA Psoriatic arthritis Related Health Topics Arthritis Psoriasis National Institutes of Health The primary ...

Hip Replacement: MedlinePlus Health Topic

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... invasive hip replacement (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish Topic Image MedlinePlus Email Updates Get Hip Replacement updates ... replacement - precautions Minimally invasive hip replacement Related Health Topics Hip Injuries and Disorders National Institutes of Health ...

Platelet Disorders: MedlinePlus Health Topic

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... Thromobocytopenia - drug-induced (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish Topic Image MedlinePlus Email Updates Get Platelet Disorders updates ... Willebrand disease Show More Show Less Related Health Topics Bleeding Disorders Blood Clots Blood Count Tests Blood ...

Cardiac Rehabilitation: MedlinePlus Health Topic

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... in Spanish Electrocardiogram (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish Topic Image MedlinePlus Email Updates Get Cardiac Rehabilitation updates ... How to take your pulse Pulse Related Health Topics Heart Attack Heart Diseases How to Prevent Heart ...

Cardiac Arrest: MedlinePlus Health Topic

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... Handouts Cardiac arrest (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish Topic Image MedlinePlus Email Updates Get Cardiac Arrest updates ... this? GO MEDICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA Cardiac arrest Related Health Topics Arrhythmia CPR Pacemakers and Implantable Defibrillators National Institutes ...

Kawasaki Disease: MedlinePlus Health Topic

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... Spanish Kawasaki disease (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish Topic Image MedlinePlus Email Updates Get Kawasaki Disease updates ... GO MEDICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA Electrocardiogram Kawasaki disease Related Health Topics Vasculitis National Institutes of Health The primary NIH ...

Diabetic Diet: MedlinePlus Health Topic

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... Sweeteners - sugar substitutes (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish Topic Image MedlinePlus Email Updates Get Diabetic Diet updates ... you have diabetes Sweeteners - sugar substitutes Related Health Topics Blood Sugar Diabetes Diabetes in Children and Teens ...

Infection Control: MedlinePlus Health Topic

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... Staph infections - hospital (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish Topic Image MedlinePlus Email Updates Get Infection Control updates ... infections when visiting Staph infections - hospital Related Health Topics Hepatitis HIV/AIDS MRSA National Institutes of Health ...

Hearing Aids: MedlinePlus Health Topic

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... for hearing loss (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish Topic Image MedlinePlus Email Updates Get Hearing Aids updates ... MEDICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA Devices for hearing loss Related Health Topics Cochlear Implants Hearing Disorders and Deafness National Institutes ...

Kidney Tests: MedlinePlus Health Topic

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... Spanish Total protein (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish Topic Image MedlinePlus Email Updates Get Kidney Tests updates ... hour volume Show More Show Less Related Health Topics Kidney Cancer Kidney Diseases National Institutes of Health ...

Ischemic Stroke: MedlinePlus Health Topic

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... Spanish Thrombolytic therapy (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish Topic Image MedlinePlus Email Updates Get Ischemic Stroke updates ... cardiogenic embolism Stroke - slideshow Thrombolytic therapy Related Health Topics Hemorrhagic Stroke Stroke Stroke Rehabilitation National Institutes of ...

Pulmonary Rehabilitation: MedlinePlus Health Topic

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... Handouts Postural drainage (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish Topic Image MedlinePlus Email Updates Get Pulmonary Rehabilitation updates ... this? GO MEDICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA Postural drainage Related Health Topics Lung Diseases National Institutes of Health The primary ...

Antibiotic Resistance: MedlinePlus Health Topic

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... GO GO About MedlinePlus Site Map FAQs Customer Support Health Topics Drugs & Supplements Videos & Tools Español You Are Here: Home → Health Topics → Antibiotic Resistance URL of this page: https://medlineplus.gov/antibioticresistance. ...

Large-Scale Topic Detection and Language Model Adaptation

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Seymore, Kristie

1997-01-01

.... We have developed a language model adaptation scheme that takes apiece of text, chooses the most similar topic clusters from a set of over 5000 elemental topics, and uses topic specific language...

Quantum mechanics II advanced topics

CERN Document Server

Rajasekar, S

2015-01-01

Quantum Mechanics II: Advanced Topics uses more than a decade of research and the authors’ own teaching experience to expound on some of the more advanced topics and current research in quantum mechanics. A follow-up to the authors introductory book Quantum Mechanics I: The Fundamentals, this book begins with a chapter on quantum field theory, and goes on to present basic principles, key features, and applications. It outlines recent quantum technologies and phenomena, and introduces growing topics of interest in quantum mechanics. The authors describe promising applications that include ghost imaging, detection of weak amplitude objects, entangled two-photon microscopy, detection of small displacements, lithography, metrology, and teleportation of optical images. They also present worked-out examples and provide numerous problems at the end of each chapter.

Topical application of hemostatic paste

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohammad Mizanur Rahman

2017-02-01

Full Text Available As a measure to control minor surgical bleeding, surgeons usually depend on a number of hemostatic aids. Topical use of bovine thrombin is a widely used procedure to arrest such minor bleeding. A 35 year old male sergeant of Bangladesh Air Force presented with repeated development of hematoma in his left thigh without any history of trauma or previous history of bleeding. Critical analysis of the patient’s history, routine and sophisticated hematological investigations revealed that the patient developed anti-thrombin antibody following the application of hemostatic paste in the tooth socket five years back during minor dental procedure to stop ignorable bleeding episodes. Therefore, topical use of hemostatic glue/paste or bovine thrombin should be avoided to desist minor bleeding as recombinant human thrombin is now available for topical use.

Sodium hypochlorite-induced acute kidney injury

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Brandon W Peck

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Sodium hypochlorite (bleach is commonly used as an irrigant during dental proce-dures as well as a topical antiseptic agent. Although it is generally safe when applied topically, reports of accidental injection of sodium hypochlorite into tissue have been reported. Local necrosis, pain and nerve damage have been described as a result of exposure, but sodium hypo-chlorite has never been implicated as a cause of an acute kidney injury (AKI. In this report, we describe the first case of accidental sodium hypochlorite injection into the infraorbital tissue during a dental procedure that precipitated the AKI. We speculate that oxidative species induced by sodium hypochlorite caused AKI secondary to the renal tubular injury, causing mild acute tubular necrosis.

Aerodynamics of wind turbines emerging topics

CERN Document Server

Amano, R S

2014-01-01

Focusing on Aerodynamics of Wind Turbines with topics ranging from Fundamental to Application of horizontal axis wind turbines, this book presents advanced topics including: Basic Theory for Wind turbine Blade Aerodynamics, Computational Methods, and Special Structural Reinforcement Technique for Wind Turbine Blades.

SETI: A good introductory physics topic

Science.gov (United States)

Hobson, Art

1997-04-01

If America is to achieve the science literacy that is essential to industrialized democracy, all students must study such topics as scientific methodology, pseudoscience, ozone depletion, and global warming. My large-enrollment liberal-arts physics course covers the great principles of physics along with several such philosophical and societal topics. It is easy to include the interdisciplinary context of physics in courses for non-scientists, because these courses are flexible, conceptual, and taught to students whose interests span a broad range. Students find these topics relevant and fascinating, leading to large enrollments by non-scientists even in courses labeled ''physics.'' I will discuss my approach to teaching the search for extra-terrestrial intelligence (SETI), a topic with lots of good physics and with connections to scientific methodology and pseudoscience. A textbook for this kind of course has been published, Physics: Concepts and Connections (Prentice-Hall, 1995).

Affinity between information retrieval system and search topic

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ebinuma, Yukio

1979-01-01

Ten search profiles are tested on the INIS system at the Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute. The results are plotted on recall-precision chart ranging from 100% recall to 100% precision. The curves are not purely systems-dependent nor search-dependent, and are determined substantially by the ''affinity'' between the system and the search topic. The curves are named ''Affinity curves of search topics with information retrieval systems'', and hence retrieval affinity factors are derived. They are obtained not only for individual search topics but also for averages in the system. By such a quantitative examination, the difference of affinity among search topics in a given system, that of the same search topic among various systems, and that of systems to the same group of search topics can be compared reasonably. (author)

Analyzing the history of Cognition using Topic Models.

Science.gov (United States)

Cohen Priva, Uriel; Austerweil, Joseph L

2015-02-01

Very few articles have analyzed how cognitive science as a field has changed over the last six decades. We explore how Cognition changed over the last four decades using Topic Models. Topic Models assume that every word in every document is generated by one of a limited number of topics. Words that are likely to co-occur are likely to be generated by a single topic. We find a number of significant historical trends: the rise of moral cognition, eyetracking methods, and action, the fall of sentence processing, and the stability of development. We introduce the notion of framing topics, which frame content, rather than present the content itself. These framing topics suggest that over time Cognition turned from abstract theorizing to more experimental approaches. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Topics of Bioengineering in Wikipedia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vassia Atanassova

2009-10-01

Full Text Available The present report aims to give a snapshot of how topics from the field of bioengineering (bioinformatics, bioprocess systems, biomedical engineering, biotechnology, etc. are currently covered in the free electronic encyclopedia Wikipedia. It also offers insights and information about what Wikipedia is, how it functions, how and when to cite Wikipedian articles, if necessary. Several external wikis, devoted to topics of bioengineering, are also listed and reviewed.

Updates of Topical and Local Anesthesia Agents.

Science.gov (United States)

Boyce, Ricardo A; Kirpalani, Tarun; Mohan, Naveen

2016-04-01

As described in this article, there are many advances in topical and local anesthesia. Topical and local anesthetics have played a great role in dentistry in alleviating the fears of patients, eliminating pain, and providing pain control. Many invasive procedures would not be performed without the use and advances of topical/local anesthetics. The modern-day dentist has the responsibility of knowing the variety of products on the market and should have at least references to access before, during, and after treatment. This practice ensures proper care with topical and local anesthetics for the masses of patients entering dental offices worldwide. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Anesthesia: A Topic for Interdisciplinary Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Labianca, Dominick A.; Reeves, William J.

1977-01-01

Describes an interdisciplinary approach for teaching the topic of anesthesia as one aspect of a chemistry-oriented course for nonscience majors which focuses on timely topics such as the energy crisis and drugs. Historical treatment with the examination of literature is emphasized in teaching. (HM)

Efficacy, tolerability and consumer acceptability of terbinafine topical spray versus terbinafine topical solution: a phase IIa, randomised, observer-blind, comparative study.

Science.gov (United States)

Brown, Marc; Evans, Charles; Muddle, Andrew; Turner, Rob; Lim, Sian; Reed, Jessica; Traynor, Matt

2013-10-01

Tinea pedis is one of the world's most prevalent dermatophyte infections. MedSpray™ tinea pedis 1 % w/w (topical spray) is a novel, easy-to-use propellant-based spray formulation containing 1 % w/w terbinafine, requiring no manipulation at the site of infection. This is in contrast to the only formulation currently approved in Europe for single application (none are approved in the USA for single use), which is Lamisil(®) Once 1 % w/w (topical solution), containing 1 % w/w terbinafine hydrochloride, which requires manipulation on the affected area. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy, tolerability and consumer acceptability of a topical spray versus a topical solution in the treatment of tinea pedis. This study is a phase IIa, randomised, observer-blind, non-inferiority comparative study of the topical spray compared with the topical solution over a 12-week study period. The study was conducted at Bioskin GmbH, Hamburg and Berlin. Patients (n = 120) who presented with the presence of interdigital tinea pedis caused by dermatophytes on one or both feet were enrolled in the study. Patients were randomly assigned between the two treatment groups. Either the topical spray or the topical solution was administered by the study nurse and consisted of a single application (equivalent to 20 mg of terbinafine per foot) on day 1 of the study. No further applications were made for the duration of the study. The hypothesis formulated before commencement of the study was that the topical spray would prove to be non-inferior to the topical solution. Efficacy assessments, including clinical signs and symptoms, mycology and microscopy were performed at baseline and 1, 6 and 12 weeks after treatment. The rate of mycological cure at week 1 was statistically equivalent for both treatments. There was a significant reduction in the overall clinical score as assessed by the Physician's Global Assessment of signs and symptoms for both treatment groups. The topical

In Vitro Evaluation of Mitochondrial Function and Estrogen Signaling in Cell Lines Exposed to the Antiseptic Cetylpyridinium Chloride.

Science.gov (United States)

Datta, Sandipan; He, Guochun; Tomilov, Alexey; Sahdeo, Sunil; Denison, Michael S; Cortopassi, Gino

2017-08-22

Quaternary ammonium salts (QUATS), such as cetylpyridinium chloride (CPC) and benzalkonium chloride (BAK), are frequently used in antiseptic formulations, including toothpastes, mouthwashes, lozenges, throat and nasal sprays, and as biocides. Although in a recent ruling, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) banned CPC from certain products and requested more data on BAK's efficacy and safety profile, QUATS, in general, and CPC and BAK, in particular, continue to be used in personal health care, food, and pharmaceutical and cleaning industries. We aimed to assess CPC's effects on mitochondrial toxicity and endocrine disruption in vitro . Mitochondrial O 2 consumption and adenosine triphosphate (ATP) synthesis rates of osteosarcoma cybrid cells were measured before and after CPC and BAK treatment. Antiestrogenic effects of the compounds were measured by a luciferase-based assay using recombinant human breast carcinoma cells (VM7Luc4E2, ERalpha-positive). CPC inhibited both mitochondrial O 2 consumption [half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC 50 ): 3.8μM] and ATP synthesis (IC 50 : 0.9μM), and additional findings supported inhibition of mitochondrial complex 1 as the underlying mechanism for these effects. In addition, CPC showed concentration-dependent antiestrogenic activity half maximal effective concentration [(EC 50 ): 4.5μM)]. BAK, another antimicrobial QUATS that is structurally similar to CPC, and the pesticide rotenone, a known complex 1 inhibitor, also showed mitochondrial inhibitory and antiestrogenic effects. In all three cases, there was overlap of the antiestrogenic activity with the mitochondrial inhibitory activity. Mitochondrial inhibition in vitro occurred at a CPC concentration that may be relevant to human exposures. The antiestrogenic activity of CPC, BAK, rotenone, and triclosan may be related to their mitochondrial inhibitory activity. Our findings support the need for additional research on the mitochondrial inhibitory and

Topical thrombin-related corneal calcification.

Science.gov (United States)

Kiratli, Hayyam; Irkeç, Murat; Alaçal, Sibel; Söylemezoğlu, Figen

2006-09-01

To report a highly unusual case of corneal calcification after brief intraoperative use of topical thrombin. A 44-year-old man underwent sclerouvectomy for ciliochoroidal leiomyoma, during which 35 UNIH/mL lyophilized bovine thrombin mixed with 9 mL of diluent containing 1500 mmol/mL calcium chloride was used. From the first postoperative day, corneal and anterior lenticular capsule calcifications developed, and corneal involvement slightly enlarged thereafter. A year later, 2 corneal punch biopsies confirmed calcification mainly in the Bowman layer. Topical treatment with 1.5% ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid significantly restored corneal clarity. Six months later, a standard extracapsular cataract extraction with intraocular lens placement improved visual acuity to 20/60. This case suggests that topical thrombin drops with elevated calcium concentrations may cause acute corneal calcification in Bowman layer and on the anterior lens capsule.

Topics in the Journal of Counseling Psychology, 1963-2015.

Science.gov (United States)

Oh, JungSu; Stewart, Alan E; Phelps, Rosemary E

2017-11-01

Historical trends in a scientific field should be apparent in the changing content of journal articles over time. Using a topic modeling approach, a statistical method for quantifying the thematic content of text, 70 topics were extracted from the abstracts of 3,603 articles published in the Journal of Counseling Psychology from 1963 to 2015. After examining interpretability of 70 topics derived from the model, 64 meaningful topics and their trends were named. In addition, the authors also classified some of the related topics into 4 categories-counseling process and outcome, multiculturalism, research methodology, and vocational psychology. Counseling process and outcome related topics have decreased recently, while topics relating to multiculturalism and diversity have shown increasing trends. The authors also discussed trends that were observed and tried to account for the changing frequencies of some important research topics within these categories. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Influence of number of topics, topic duration, and curricular focus on biology achievement of Population 3 TIMSS countries

Science.gov (United States)

Hodges, Eddie Louis

The purposes of this study were to determine if a relationship exists between biology achievement and (1) number of topics, (2) topic duration, (3) curricular focus, and (4) science achievement using TIMSS data from Population 3---the final year of secondary school. Students included in this study were subsets of the 55,675 students from 22 countries who participated in the science literacy portion of TIMSS at the Population 3 level (IEA, 1997). The sample included in this study for the four research questions were comprised of between (1) 17,769 and 37,794 students from 15 countries, (2) 17,769 and 37,794 students from 15 countries, (3) 21,715 and 46,458 students from 18 countries, and (4) 19,518 and 46,458 students from 18 countries, respectively. A Pearson's product moment correlation was used to determine whether a relationship exists between the number of biology topics addressed by intended national science curricula and mean student achievement on selected items by country. No statistically significant correlation was found by country between biology achievement and number of topics. To determine whether a relationship exists between the topic duration of biology topics addressed by released, biology-oriented, Population 3 Science Literacy items and student achievement on those items, a Pearson's product moment correlation was also used. A statistically significant correlation between biology achievement and topic duration for only one topic (Interdependence of Life) was found at the .05 level of significance. A possible relationship between the degree of curricular focus of Population 3 TIMSS countries and student achievement on selected items by country was evaluated using a Pearson's product moment correlation. No statistically significant correlation by country between biology achievement and degree of curricular focus was found. A Pearson's product moment correlation was used to determine whether a relationship exists between science literacy

Pharmaceutical and personal care products in tile drainage following surface spreading and injection of dewatered municipal biosolids to an agricultural field.

Science.gov (United States)

Edwards, M; Topp, E; Metcalfe, C D; Li, H; Gottschall, N; Bolton, P; Curnoe, W; Payne, M; Beck, A; Kleywegt, S; Lapen, D R

2009-07-01

Land application of municipal biosolids can be a source of environmental contamination by pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCPs). This study examined PPCP concentrations/temporally discrete mass loads in agricultural tile drainage systems where two applications of biosolids had previously taken place. The field plots received liquid municipal biosolids (LMB) in the fall of 2005 at an application rate of approximately 93,500 L ha (-1), and a second land application was conducted using dewatered municipal biosolids (DMB) applied at a rate of approximately 8Mg dw ha (-1) in the summer of 2006 [corrected].The DMB land application treatments consisted of direct injection (DI) of the DMB beneath the soil surface at a nominal depth of approximately 0.11 m, and surface spreading (SS) plus subsequent tillage incorporation of DMB in the topsoil (approximately 0.10 m depth). The PPCPs examined included eight pharmaceuticals (acetaminophen, fluoxetine, ibuprofen, gemfibrozil, naproxen, carbamazepine, atenolol, sulfamethoxazole), the nicotine metabolite cotinine, and two antibacterial personal care products triclosan and triclocarban. Residues of naproxen, cotinine, atenolol and triclosan originating from the fall 2005 LMB application were detected in tile water nearly nine months after application (triclocarban was not measured in 2005). There were no significant differences (p>0.05) in PPCP mass loads among the two DMB land application treatments (i.e., SS vs. DI); although, average PPCP mass loads late in the study season (>100 days after application) were consistently higher for the DI treatment relative to the SS treatment. While the concentration of triclosan (approximately 14,000 ng g(-1) dw) in DMB was about twice that of triclocarban (approximately 8000 ng g(-1) dw), the average tile water concentrations for triclosan were much higher (43+/-5 ng L(-1)) than they were for triclocarban (0.73+/-0.14 ng L(-1)). Triclosan concentrations (maximum observed in 2006

Extracting Hot spots of Topics from Time Stamped Documents

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Wei; Chundi, Parvathi

2011-01-01

Identifying time periods with a burst of activities related to a topic has been an important problem in analyzing time-stamped documents. In this paper, we propose an approach to extract a hot spot of a given topic in a time-stamped document set. Topics can be basic, containing a simple list of keywords, or complex. Logical relationships such as and, or, and not are used to build complex topics from basic topics. A concept of presence measure of a topic based on fuzzy set theory is introduced to compute the amount of information related to the topic in the document set. Each interval in the time period of the document set is associated with a numeric value which we call the discrepancy score. A high discrepancy score indicates that the documents in the time interval are more focused on the topic than those outside of the time interval. A hot spot of a given topic is defined as a time interval with the highest discrepancy score. We first describe a naive implementation for extracting hot spots. We then construct an algorithm called EHE (Efficient Hot Spot Extraction) using several efficient strategies to improve performance. We also introduce the notion of a topic DAG to facilitate an efficient computation of presence measures of complex topics. The proposed approach is illustrated by several experiments on a subset of the TDT-Pilot Corpus and DBLP conference data set. The experiments show that the proposed EHE algorithm significantly outperforms the naive one, and the extracted hot spots of given topics are meaningful. PMID:21765568

Topics in supergravity and string theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Eastaugh, A.G.

1987-01-01

The first topic covered in this dissertation concerns the harmonic expansion technique and its application to the dimensional compactification of higher dimensional supergravity. A simple example is given to explain the method and then the method is applied to the problem of obtaining the mass spectrum of the squashed seven-sphere compactification of eleven dimensional supergravity. The second topic concerns the application of Fujikawa's method of anomaly calculation to the calculation of the critical dimension of various string models. The third topic is a study and explicit calculation of the Fock space representation of the vertex in Witten's formulation of the interacting open bosonic string field theory

Topical nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs for the treatment of pain due to soft tissue injury: diclofenac epolamine topical patch

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

David R Lionberger

2010-11-01

Full Text Available David R Lionberger1, Michael J Brennan21Southwest Orthopedic Group, Houston, TX, USA; 2Department of Medicine, Bridgeport Hospital, Bridgeport, CT, USAAbstract: The objective of this article is to review published clinical data on diclofenac epolamine topical patch 1.3% (DETP in the treatment of acute soft tissue injuries, such as strains, sprains, and contusions. Review of published literature on topical nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs, diclofenac, and DETP in patients with acute soft tissue injuries was included. Relevant literature was identified on MEDLINE using the search terms topical NSAIDs, diclofenac, diclofenac epolamine, acute pain, sports injury, soft tissue injury, strain, sprain, and contusion, and from citations in retrieved articles covering the years 1978–2008. Review of published, randomized clinical trials and meta-analyses shows that topical NSAIDs are significantly more effective than placebo in relieving acute pain; the pooled average relative benefit was 1.7 (95% confidence interval, 1.5–1.9. In a limited number of comparisons, topical and oral NSAIDs provided comparable pain relief, but the use of topical agents produced lower plasma drug concentrations and fewer systemic adverse events (AEs. The physical–chemical properties of diclofenac epolamine make it well suited for topical use. In patients with acute soft tissue injuries treated with DETP, clinical data report an analgesic benefit within hours of the first application, and significant pain relief relative to placebo within 3 days. Moreover, DETP displayed tolerability comparable with placebo; the most common AEs were pruritus and other application site reactions. Review of published literature suggests that DETP is generally safe and well tolerated, clinically efficacious, and a rational treatment option for patients experiencing acute pain associated with strains, sprains, and contusions, and other localized painful conditions

Topics in modern differential geometry

CERN Document Server

Verstraelen, Leopold

2017-01-01

A variety of introductory articles is provided on a wide range of topics, including variational problems on curves and surfaces with anisotropic curvature. Experts in the fields of Riemannian, Lorentzian and contact geometry present state-of-the-art reviews of their topics. The contributions are written on a graduate level and contain extended bibliographies. The ten chapters are the result of various doctoral courses which were held in 2009 and 2010 at universities in Leuven, Serbia, Romania and Spain.

Key Topics in Sports Medicine

OpenAIRE

2006-01-01

Key Topics in Sports Medicine is a single quick reference source for sports and exercise medicine. It presents the essential information from across relevant topic areas, and includes both the core and emerging issues in this rapidly developing field. It covers: 1) Sports injuries, rehabilitation and injury prevention, 2) Exercise physiology, fitness testing and training, 3) Drugs in sport, 4) Exercise and health promotion, 5) Sport and exercise for special and clinical populations, 6) The ps...

Salicylic Acid Topical

Science.gov (United States)

... the package label for more information.Apply a small amount of the salicylic acid product to one or two small areas you want to treat for 3 days ... know that children and teenagers who have chicken pox or the flu should not use topical salicylic ...

Topical report review status. Volume 9, No. 1

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1995-02-01

This report provides industry with procedures for submitting topical reports, guidance on how the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) processes and responds to topical report submittals, and an accounting, with review schedules, of all topical reports currently accepted for review by the NRC. This report is published semiannually

Topical nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs for the treatment of pain due to soft tissue injury: diclofenac epolamine topical patch.

Science.gov (United States)

Lionberger, David R; Brennan, Michael J

2010-11-10

The objective of this article is to review published clinical data on diclofenac epolamine topical patch 1.3% (DETP) in the treatment of acute soft tissue injuries, such as strains, sprains, and contusions. Review of published literature on topical nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), diclofenac, and DETP in patients with acute soft tissue injuries was included. Relevant literature was identified on MEDLINE using the search terms topical NSAIDs, diclofenac, diclofenac epolamine, acute pain, sports injury, soft tissue injury, strain, sprain, and contusion, and from citations in retrieved articles covering the years 1978-2008. Review of published, randomized clinical trials and meta-analyses shows that topical NSAIDs are significantly more effective than placebo in relieving acute pain; the pooled average relative benefit was 1.7 (95% confidence interval, 1.5-1.9). In a limited number of comparisons, topical and oral NSAIDs provided comparable pain relief, but the use of topical agents produced lower plasma drug concentrations and fewer systemic adverse events (AEs). The physical-chemical properties of diclofenac epolamine make it well suited for topical use. In patients with acute soft tissue injuries treated with DETP, clinical data report an analgesic benefit within hours of the first application, and significant pain relief relative to placebo within 3 days. Moreover, DETP displayed tolerability comparable with placebo; the most common AEs were pruritus and other application site reactions. Review of published literature suggests that DETP is generally safe and well tolerated, clinically efficacious, and a rational treatment option for patients experiencing acute pain associated with strains, sprains, and contusions, and other localized painful conditions.

Topical treatment of psoriasis: questionnaire results on topical therapy accessibility and influence of body surface area on usage

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Iversen, L.; Lange, M.M. De; Bissonette, R.; Carvalho, A.V.E.; Kerkhof, P.C.M. van de; Kirby, B.; Kleyn, C.E.; Lynde, C.W.; Walt, J.M. van der; Wu, J.J.

2017-01-01

BACKGROUND: Topical treatment of mild to moderate psoriasis is first-line treatment and exhibits varying degrees of success across patient groups. Key factors influencing treatment success are physician topical treatment choice (high efficacy, low adverse events) and strict patient adherence.

Hot topics: Signal processing in acoustics

Science.gov (United States)

Gaumond, Charles F.

2005-09-01

Signal processing in acoustics is a multidisciplinary group of people that work in many areas of acoustics. We have chosen two areas that have shown exciting new applications of signal processing to acoustics or have shown exciting and important results from the use of signal processing. In this session, two hot topics are shown: the use of noiselike acoustic fields to determine sound propagation structure and the use of localization to determine animal behaviors. The first topic shows the application of correlation on geo-acoustic fields to determine the Greens function for propagation through the Earth. These results can then be further used to solve geo-acoustic inverse problems. The first topic also shows the application of correlation using oceanic noise fields to determine the Greens function through the ocean. These results also have utility for oceanic inverse problems. The second topic shows exciting results from the detection, localization, and tracking of marine mammals by two different groups. Results from detection and localization of bullfrogs are shown, too. Each of these studies contributed to the knowledge of animal behavior. [Work supported by ONR.

Topical Valproate Solution for Hair Growth

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anil Kakunje

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Valproate is used regularly in the treatment of various seizure disorders, bipolar disorder, migraine prophylaxis and off label in many other conditions. Alopecia or hair loss is cosmetic side effect of oral valproate administration. Hair loss with valproate is diffused, non-scarring and dose related. A large number of drugs may interfere with the hair cycle and produce hair loss. We have only a few drugs like Minoxidil, Finasteride used for hair regeneration and both have its own side effects and limitations. In contrast to oral ingestions of valproate causing hair loss, early experiments with topical Valproic acid cream showed hair regeneration. Valproic acid cream is currently unavailable in the market, alternatively, we do have valproate and divalproex solutions available in various strengths which have a potential to be used topically for hair regeneration. The side effects and cost of topical valproate solution could be much less than the available options in the market. Valproate solution topically has the potential to be used for hair growth.

Evaluating topic model interpretability from a primary care physician perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Arnold, Corey W; Oh, Andrea; Chen, Shawn; Speier, William

2016-02-01

Probabilistic topic models provide an unsupervised method for analyzing unstructured text. These models discover semantically coherent combinations of words (topics) that could be integrated in a clinical automatic summarization system for primary care physicians performing chart review. However, the human interpretability of topics discovered from clinical reports is unknown. Our objective is to assess the coherence of topics and their ability to represent the contents of clinical reports from a primary care physician's point of view. Three latent Dirichlet allocation models (50 topics, 100 topics, and 150 topics) were fit to a large collection of clinical reports. Topics were manually evaluated by primary care physicians and graduate students. Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Tests for Paired Samples were used to evaluate differences between different topic models, while differences in performance between students and primary care physicians (PCPs) were tested using Mann-Whitney U tests for each of the tasks. While the 150-topic model produced the best log likelihood, participants were most accurate at identifying words that did not belong in topics learned by the 100-topic model, suggesting that 100 topics provides better relative granularity of discovered semantic themes for the data set used in this study. Models were comparable in their ability to represent the contents of documents. Primary care physicians significantly outperformed students in both tasks. This work establishes a baseline of interpretability for topic models trained with clinical reports, and provides insights on the appropriateness of using topic models for informatics applications. Our results indicate that PCPs find discovered topics more coherent and representative of clinical reports relative to students, warranting further research into their use for automatic summarization. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Topics on continua

CERN Document Server

Macias, Sergio

2005-01-01

Specialized as it might be, continuum theory is one of the most intriguing areas in mathematics. However, despite being popular journal fare, few books have thoroughly explored this interesting aspect of topology. In Topics on Continua, Sergio Macías, one of the field's leading scholars, presents four of his favorite continuum topics: inverse limits, Jones's set function T, homogenous continua, and n-fold hyperspaces, and in doing so, presents the most complete set of theorems and proofs ever contained in a single topology volume. Many of the results presented have previously appeared only in research papers, and some appear here for the first time. After building the requisite background and exploring the inverse limits of continua, the discussions focus on Professor Jones''s set function T and continua for which T is continuous. An introduction to topological groups and group actions lead to a proof of Effros''s Theorem, followed by a presentation of two decomposition theorems. The author then offers an...

Topical cholesterol in clofazimine induced ichthyosis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pandey S

1994-01-01

Full Text Available Topical application of 10% cholesterol in petrolatum significantly (P< 0.05 controlled the development of ichthyosis in 62 patients taking 100 mg clofazimine daily for a period of 3 months. However, topical cholesterol application did not affect the lowering of serum cholesterol induced by oral clofazimine. Probable mechanism of action is being discussed.

Topical antibiotic monotherapy prescribing practices in acne vulgaris.

Science.gov (United States)

Hoover, William D; Davis, Scott A; Fleischer, Alan B; Feldman, Steven R

2014-04-01

The aim of this study is to evaluate the frequency of dosing topical antibiotics as monotherapy in the treatment of acne vulgaris, and physician specialty prescribing these medications. This study is a retrospective review of all visits with a sole diagnosis of acne vulgaris (ICD-9-CM code 706.1) found on the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NAMCS) in 1993-2010. We recorded the number of visits surveyed where acne vulgaris was the sole diagnosis, number of visits where topical antibiotics were the only treatment prescribed, and the specialty of physician in each encounter. Topical erythromycin or clindamycin were the sole medication prescribed in 0.81% of the visits recorded, with 60% of these prescriptions arising from dermatologists and 40% from non-dermatologists. The trend of prescribing topical antibiotic monotherapy is declining (p acnes to topical antibiotic regimens has led to the need to re-evaluate the use of topical antibiotics in the treatment of acne vulgaris. While the rate of topical antibiotic monotherapy is declining, their use should be reserved for situations where the direct need for antibiotics arises. If a clinician feels that antibiotics are a necessary component to acne therapy, they should be used as part of a combination regimen.

Baby Health Checkup: MedlinePlus Health Topic

Science.gov (United States)

... Know (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) - PDF Topic Image MedlinePlus Email Updates Get Baby Health Checkup ... GO MEDICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA Well-child visits Related Health Topics Childhood Immunization Common Infant and Newborn Problems Infant ...

Laser Eye Surgery: MedlinePlus Health Topic

Science.gov (United States)

... corneal surgery - discharge (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish Topic Image MedlinePlus Email Updates Get Laser Eye Surgery ... surgery - what to ask your doctor Related Health Topics Refractive Errors National Institutes of Health The primary ...

Child Mental Health: MedlinePlus Health Topic

Science.gov (United States)

... events and children (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish Topic Image MedlinePlus Email Updates Get Child Mental Health ... in childhood Traumatic events and children Related Health Topics Bullying Child Behavior Disorders Mental Disorders Mental Health ...

Bone Marrow Transplantation: MedlinePlus Health Topic

Science.gov (United States)

... marrow transplant - discharge (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish Topic Image MedlinePlus Email Updates Get Bone Marrow Transplantation ... transplant - slideshow Graft-versus-host disease Related Health Topics Bone Marrow Diseases Stem Cells National Institutes of ...

Nutrition for Seniors: MedlinePlus Health Topic

Science.gov (United States)

... America) National Institute on Aging Also in Spanish Topic Image MedlinePlus Email Updates Get Nutrition for Seniors updates by email What's this? GO Related Health Topics Nutrition Seniors' Health National Institutes of Health The ...

Blood Count Tests: MedlinePlus Health Topic

Science.gov (United States)

... Spanish WBC count (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish Topic Image MedlinePlus Email Updates Get Blood Count Tests ... WBC count Show More Show Less Related Health Topics Bleeding Disorders Blood Laboratory Tests National Institutes of ...

Hormone Replacement Therapy: MedlinePlus Health Topic

Science.gov (United States)

... of hormone therapy (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish Topic Image MedlinePlus Email Updates Get Hormone Replacement Therapy ... Estrogen overdose Types of hormone therapy Related Health Topics Menopause National Institutes of Health The primary NIH ...

Topics in millimeter wave technology

CERN Document Server

Button, Kenneth

1988-01-01

Topics in Millimeter Wave Technology, Volume 1 presents topics related to millimeter wave technology, including fin-lines and passive components realized in fin-lines, suspended striplines, suspended substrate microstrips, and modal power exchange in multimode fibers. A miniaturized monopulse assembly constructed in planar waveguide with multimode scalar horn feeds is also described. This volume is comprised of five chapters; the first of which deals with the analysis and synthesis techniques for fin-lines as well as the various passive components realized in fin-line. Tapers, discontinuities,

Topical report review status. Volume 7, No. 2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1984-11-01

Purpose of this document is to provide periodic progress reports of on-going topical report reviews, to identify those topical reports for which the NRC staff review has been completed and those which are under review and to provide NRC management with sufficient information regarding the conduct of the topical report program to permit taking whatever actions are deemed necessary or appropriate. This document is also intended to be a source of information to NRC Licensing Project Managers and other NRC personnel regarding the status of topical reports which may be referenced in applications for which they have responsibility

Development and Evaluation of Topical Gabapentin Formulations

Science.gov (United States)

Alcock, Natalie; Hiom, Sarah; Birchall, James C.

2017-01-01

Topical delivery of gabapentin is desirable to treat peripheral neuropathic pain conditions whilst avoiding systemic side effects. To date, reports of topical gabapentin delivery in vitro have been variable and dependent on the skin model employed, primarily involving rodent and porcine models. In this study a variety of topical gabapentin formulations were investigated, including Carbopol® hydrogels containing various permeation enhancers, and a range of proprietary bases including a compounded Lipoderm® formulation; furthermore microneedle facilitated delivery was used as a positive control. Critically, permeation of gabapentin across a human epidermal membrane in vitro was assessed using Franz-type diffusion cells. Subsequently this data was contextualised within the wider scope of the literature. Although reports of topical gabapentin delivery have been shown to vary, largely dependent upon the skin model used, this study demonstrated that 6% (w/w) gabapentin 0.75% (w/w) Carbopol® hydrogels containing 5% (w/w) DMSO or 70% (w/w) ethanol and a compounded 10% (w/w) gabapentin Lipoderm® formulation were able to facilitate permeation of the molecule across human skin. Further pre-clinical and clinical studies are required to investigate the topical delivery performance and pharmacodynamic actions of prospective formulations. PMID:28867811

Selected topics in nuclear structure

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Solov` ev, V G; Gromov, K Ya; Malov, L A; Shilov, V M

1994-12-31

The Fourth International Conference on selected topics in nuclear structure was held at Dubna in July 1994 on recent experimental and theoretical investigations in nuclear structure. Topics discussed were the following: nuclear structure at low-energy excitations (collective quasiparticle phenomena, proton-neutron interactions, microscopic and phenomenological theories of nuclear structure; nuclear structure studies with charged particles). heavy ions, neutrons and photons; nuclei at high angular momenta and superdeformation, structure and decay properties of giant resonances, charge-exchange resonances and {beta}-decay; semiclassical approach of large amplitude collective motion and structure of hot nuclei.

Topics in current aerosol research

CERN Document Server

Hidy, G M

1971-01-01

Topics in Current Aerosol Research deals with the fundamental aspects of aerosol science, with emphasis on experiment and theory describing highly dispersed aerosols (HDAs) as well as the dynamics of charged suspensions. Topics covered range from the basic properties of HDAs to their formation and methods of generation; sources of electric charges; interactions between fluid and aerosol particles; and one-dimensional motion of charged cloud of particles. This volume is comprised of 13 chapters and begins with an introduction to the basic properties of HDAs, followed by a discussion on the form

Selected topics in nuclear structure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Solov'ev, V.G.; Gromov, K.Ya.; Malov, L.A.; Shilov, V.M.

1994-01-01

The Fourth International Conference on selected topics in nuclear structure was held at Dubna in July 1994 on recent experimental and theoretical investigations in nuclear structure. Topics discussed were the following: nuclear structure at low-energy excitations (collective quasiparticle phenomena, proton-neutron interactions, microscopic and phenomenological theories of nuclear structure; nuclear structure studies with charged particles. heavy ions, neutrons and photons; nuclei at high angular momenta and superdeformation, structure and decay properties of giant resonances, charge-exchange resonances and β-decay; semiclassical approach of large amplitude collective motion and structure of hot nuclei

Topical Antibacterials and Global Challenges on Resistance ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

skin infections can be easily treated with topical antibacterial medication that is available over the counter or by ... infection in minor cut or burn, eyes and ear infection [5]. .... Sensitive/dry skin ... includes both oral and topical antibiotics, but.

Topical phenytoin for treating pressure ulcers.

Science.gov (United States)

Hao, Xiang Yong; Li, Hong Ling; Su, He; Cai, Hui; Guo, Tian Kang; Liu, Ruifeng; Jiang, Lei; Shen, Yan Fei

2017-02-22

Pressure ulcers are common in clinical practice and pose a significant health problem worldwide. Apart from causing suffering to patients, they also result in longer hospital stays and increase the cost of health care. A variety of methods are used for treating pressure ulcers, including pressure relief, patient repositioning, biophysical strategies, nutritional supplementation, debridement, topical negative pressure, and local treatments including dressings, ointments and creams such as bacitracin, silver sulphadiazine, neomycin, and phenytoin. Phenytoin is a drug more commonly used in the treatment of epilepsy, but may play an important role in accelerating ulcer healing. To assess the effects of topical phenytoin on the rate of healing of pressure ulcers of any grade, in any care setting. In September 2016, we searched the following electronic databases to identify relevant randomized clinical trials: the Cochrane Wounds Specialised Register; the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL; the Cochrane Library); Ovid MEDLINE; Ovid Embase; and EBSCO CINAHL Plus. We handsearched conference proceedings from the European Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel, European Wound Management Association and the Tissue Viability Society for all available years. We searched the references of the retrieved trials to identify further relevant trials. We also searched clinical trials registries to identify ongoing and unpublished studies. There were no restrictions with respect to language, date of publication or study setting. We included all randomized controlled trials (RCTs) addressing the effects (both benefits and harms) of topical phenytoin on the healing of pressure ulcers of any grade compared with placebo or alternative treatments or no therapy, irrespective of blinding, language, and publication status. Two review authors independently selected studies, extracted information on participants, interventions, methods and results and assessed risk of bias using

Topics in Finance Part VII--Dividend Policy

Science.gov (United States)

Laux, Judy

2011-01-01

This series inspects the major topics in finance, reviewing the roles of stockholder wealth maximization, the risk-return tradeoff, and agency conflicts. The current article, devoted to dividend policy, also reviews the topic as presented in textbooks and the literature.

Topics in Nuclear Astrophysics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chung, K.C.

1982-01-01

Some topics in nuclear astrophysics are discussed, e.g.: highly evolved stellar cores, stellar evolution (through the temperature analysis of stellar surface), nucleosynthesis and finally the solar neutrino problem. (L.C.) [pt

Uptake of pharmaceutical and personal care products by soybean plants from soils applied with biosolids and irrigated with contaminated water.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Chenxi; Spongberg, Alison L; Witter, Jason D; Fang, Min; Czajkowski, Kevin P

2010-08-15

Many pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) are commonly found in biosolids and effluents from wastewater treatment plants. Land application of these biosolids and the reclamation of treated wastewater can transfer those PPCPs into the terrestrial and aquatic environments, giving rise to potential accumulation in plants. In this work, a greenhouse experiment was used to study the uptake of three pharmaceuticals (carbamazepine, diphenhydramine, and fluoxetine) and two personal care products (triclosan and triclocarban) by an agriculturally important species, soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.). Two treatments simulating biosolids application and wastewater irrigation were investigated. After growing for 60 and 110 days, plant tissues and soils were analyzed for target compounds. Carbamazepine, triclosan, and triclocarban were found to be concentrated in root tissues and translocated into above ground parts including beans, whereas accumulation and translocation for diphenhydramine and fluoxetine was limited. The uptake of selected compounds differed by treatment, with biosolids application resulting in higher plant concentrations, likely due to higher loading. However, compounds introduced by irrigation appeared to be more available for uptake and translocation. Degradation is the main mechanism for the dissipation of selected compounds in biosolids applied soils, and the presence of soybean plants had no significant effect on sorption. Data from two different harvests suggest that the uptake from soil to root and translocation from root to leaf may be rate limited for triclosan and triclocarban and metabolism may occur within the plant for carbamazepine.

Case Of Iatrogenic Cushing's Syndrome By Topical Triamcinolone.

Science.gov (United States)

Zil-E-Ali, Ahsan; Janjua, Omer Hanif; Latif, Aiza; Aadil, Muhammad

2018-01-01

Cushing's syndrome is a collection of signs and symptoms due to hypercortisolism. Prolong use of topical steroid may cause this syndrome and suppression of hypothalamic and pituitary function, however such events are more common with oral and parenteral route. There are very few cases of Cushing's syndrome with a topical application amongst which triamcinolone is the rarest drug. We report a case of 11-year-old boy is presented who developed Cushing's disease by topical application. The child had body rashes for which the caregiver consulted a local quack, a topical cream of triamcinolone was prescribed. After application for three months, the patient became obese and developed a moon-like face. A thorough biochemical workup and diagnostic test for Cushing's disease was done to confirm. The following case report a dramatic example of development of the syndrome from chronic topical application of the least potent corticosteroid.

Interpretable Topic Features for Post-ICU Mortality Prediction.

Science.gov (United States)

Luo, Yen-Fu; Rumshisky, Anna

2016-01-01

Electronic health records provide valuable resources for understanding the correlation between various diseases and mortality. The analysis of post-discharge mortality is critical for healthcare professionals to follow up potential causes of death after a patient is discharged from the hospital and give prompt treatment. Moreover, it may reduce the cost derived from readmissions and improve the quality of healthcare. Our work focused on post-discharge ICU mortality prediction. In addition to features derived from physiological measurements, we incorporated ICD-9-CM hierarchy into Bayesian topic model learning and extracted topic features from medical notes. We achieved highest AUCs of 0.835 and 0.829 for 30-day and 6-month post-discharge mortality prediction using baseline and topic proportions derived from Labeled-LDA. Moreover, our work emphasized the interpretability of topic features derived from topic model which may facilitates the understanding and investigation of the complexity between mortality and diseases.

Exploring Topic Structure: Coherence, Diversity and Relatedness

NARCIS (Netherlands)

J. He (Jiyin)

2011-01-01

htmlabstractThe use of topical information has long been studied in the context of information retrieval. For example, grouping search results into topical categories enables more effective information presentation to users, while grouping documents in a collection can lead to efficient information

topicmodels: An R Package for Fitting Topic Models

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bettina Grun

2011-05-01

Full Text Available Topic models allow the probabilistic modeling of term frequency occurrences in documents. The fitted model can be used to estimate the similarity between documents as well as between a set of specified keywords using an additional layer of latent variables which are referred to as topics. The R package topicmodels provides basic infrastructure for fitting topic models based on data structures from the text mining package tm. The package includes interfaces to two algorithms for fitting topic models: the variational expectation-maximization algorithm provided by David M. Blei and co-authors and an algorithm using Gibbs sampling by Xuan-Hieu Phan and co-authors.

Topical Research: Africa.

Science.gov (United States)

Lynn, Karen

This lesson plan can be used in social studies, language arts, or library research. The instructional objective is for students to select a topic of study relating to Africa, write a thesis statement, collect information from media sources, and develop a conclusion. The teacher may assign the lesson for written or oral evaluation. The teacher…

Topic structure affects semantic integration: evidence from event-related potentials.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Xiaohong; Chen, Xuhai; Chen, Shuang; Xu, Xiaoying; Yang, Yufang

2013-01-01

This study investigated whether semantic integration in discourse context could be influenced by topic structure using event-related brain potentials. Participants read discourses in which the last sentence contained a critical word that was either congruent or incongruent with the topic established in the first sentence. The intervening sentences between the first and the last sentence of the discourse either maintained or shifted the original topic. Results showed that incongruent words in topic-maintained discourses elicited an N400 effect that was broadly distributed over the scalp while those in topic-shifted discourses elicited an N400 effect that was lateralized to the right hemisphere and localized over central and posterior areas. Moreover, a late positivity effect was only elicited by incongruent words in topic-shifted discourses, but not in topic-maintained discourses. This suggests an important role for discourse structure in semantic integration, such that compared with topic-maintained discourses, the complexity of discourse structure in topic-shifted condition reduces the initial stage of semantic integration and enhances the later stage in which a mental representation is updated.

Diclofenac Topical (osteoarthritis pain)

Science.gov (United States)

... gel (Voltaren) is used to relieve pain from osteoarthritis (arthritis caused by a breakdown of the lining ... Diclofenac topical liquid (Pennsaid) is used to relieve osteoarthritis pain in the knees. Diclofenac is in a ...

Diclofenac Topical (actinic keratosis)

Science.gov (United States)

... topical gel (Solaraze) is used to treat actinic keratosis (flat, scaly growths on the skin caused by ... The way diclofenac gel works to treat actinic keratosis is not known.Diclofenac is also available as ...

Digital Social Network Mining for Topic Discovery

Science.gov (United States)

Moradianzadeh, Pooya; Mohi, Maryam; Sadighi Moshkenani, Mohsen

Networked computers are expanding more and more around the world, and digital social networks becoming of great importance for many people's work and leisure. This paper mainly focused on discovering the topic of exchanging information in digital social network. In brief, our method is to use a hierarchical dictionary of related topics and words that mapped to a graph. Then, with comparing the extracted keywords from the context of social network with graph nodes, probability of relation between context and desired topics will be computed. This model can be used in many applications such as advertising, viral marketing and high-risk group detection.

Development and Evaluation of Topical Gabapentin Formulations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christopher J. Martin

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Topical delivery of gabapentin is desirable to treat peripheral neuropathic pain conditions whilst avoiding systemic side effects. To date, reports of topical gabapentin delivery in vitro have been variable and dependent on the skin model employed, primarily involving rodent and porcine models. In this study a variety of topical gabapentin formulations were investigated, including Carbopol® hydrogels containing various permeation enhancers, and a range of proprietary bases including a compounded Lipoderm® formulation; furthermore microneedle facilitated delivery was used as a positive control. Critically, permeation of gabapentin across a human epidermal membrane in vitro was assessed using Franz-type diffusion cells. Subsequently this data was contextualised within the wider scope of the literature. Although reports of topical gabapentin delivery have been shown to vary, largely dependent upon the skin model used, this study demonstrated that 6% (w/w gabapentin 0.75% (w/w Carbopol® hydrogels containing 5% (w/w DMSO or 70% (w/w ethanol and a compounded 10% (w/w gabapentin Lipoderm® formulation were able to facilitate permeation of the molecule across human skin. Further pre-clinical and clinical studies are required to investigate the topical delivery performance and pharmacodynamic actions of prospective formulations.

Antimicrobial topical agents used in the vagina.

Science.gov (United States)

Frey Tirri, Brigitte

2011-01-01

Vaginally applied antimicrobial agents are widely used in the vagina in women with lower genital tract infections. An 'antimicrobial' is a general term that refers to a group of drugs that are effective against bacteria, fungi, viruses and protozoa. Topical treatments can be prescribed for a wide variety of vaginal infections. Many bacterial infections, such as bacterial vaginosis, desquamative inflammatory vaginitis or, as some European authors call it, aerobic vaginitis as well as infection with Staphylococcus aureus or group A streptococci, may be treated in this way. Candida vulvovaginitis is a fungal infection that is very amenable to topical treatment. The most common viral infections which can be treated with topical medications are condylomata acuminata and herpes simplex. The most often encountered protozoal vaginitis, which is caused by Trichomonas vaginalis, may be susceptible to topical medications, although this infection is treated systemically. This chapter covers the wide variety of commonly used topical antimicrobial agents for these diseases and focuses on the individual therapeutic agents and their clinical efficacy. In addition, potential difficulties that can occur in practice, as well as the usage of these medications in the special setting of pregnancy, are described in this chapter. Copyright © 2011 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Influence of input matrix representation on topic modelling performance

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

De Waal, A

2010-11-01

Full Text Available Topic models explain a collection of documents with a small set of distributions over terms. These distributions over terms define the topics. Topic models ignore the structure of documents and use a bag-of-words approach which relies solely...

Topical methotrexate pretreatment enhances the therapeutic effect of topical 5-aminolevulinic acid-mediated photodynamic therapy on hamster buccal pouch precancers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Deng-Fu Yang

2014-09-01

Conclusion: We conclude that topical MTX-pretreatment can increase intracellular PpIX production in hamster buccal pouch precancerous lesions and significantly improves the outcomes of the precancerous lesions treated with topical ALA-PDT.

A Data-Based Approach to Discovering Multi-Topic Influential Leaders.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xing Tang

Full Text Available Recently, increasing numbers of users have adopted microblogging services as their main information source. However, most of them find themselves drowning in the millions of posts produced by other users every day. To cope with this, identifying a set of the most influential people is paramount. Moreover, finding a set of related influential users to expand the coverage of one particular topic is required in real world scenarios. Most of the existing algorithms in this area focus on topology-related methods such as PageRank. These methods mine link structures to find the expected influential rank of users. However, because they ignore the interaction data, these methods turn out to be less effective in social networks. In reality, a variety of topics exist within the information diffusing through the network. Because they have different interests, users play different roles in the diffusion of information related to different topics. As a result, distinguishing influential leaders according to different topics is also worthy of research. In this paper, we propose a multi-topic influence diffusion model (MTID based on traces acquired from historic information. We decompose the influential scores of users into two parts: the direct influence determined by information propagation along the link structure and indirect influence that extends beyond the restrictions of direct follower relationships. To model the network from a multi-topical viewpoint, we introduce topic pools, each of which represents a particular topic information source. Then, we extract the topic distributions from the traces of tweets, determining the influence propagation probability and content generation probability. In the network, we adopt multiple ground nodes representing topic pools to connect every user through bidirectional links. Based on this multi-topical view of the network, we further introduce the topic-dependent rank (TD-Rank algorithm to identify the multi-topic

A Data-Based Approach to Discovering Multi-Topic Influential Leaders.

Science.gov (United States)

Tang, Xing; Miao, Qiguang; Yu, Shangshang; Quan, Yining

2016-01-01

Recently, increasing numbers of users have adopted microblogging services as their main information source. However, most of them find themselves drowning in the millions of posts produced by other users every day. To cope with this, identifying a set of the most influential people is paramount. Moreover, finding a set of related influential users to expand the coverage of one particular topic is required in real world scenarios. Most of the existing algorithms in this area focus on topology-related methods such as PageRank. These methods mine link structures to find the expected influential rank of users. However, because they ignore the interaction data, these methods turn out to be less effective in social networks. In reality, a variety of topics exist within the information diffusing through the network. Because they have different interests, users play different roles in the diffusion of information related to different topics. As a result, distinguishing influential leaders according to different topics is also worthy of research. In this paper, we propose a multi-topic influence diffusion model (MTID) based on traces acquired from historic information. We decompose the influential scores of users into two parts: the direct influence determined by information propagation along the link structure and indirect influence that extends beyond the restrictions of direct follower relationships. To model the network from a multi-topical viewpoint, we introduce topic pools, each of which represents a particular topic information source. Then, we extract the topic distributions from the traces of tweets, determining the influence propagation probability and content generation probability. In the network, we adopt multiple ground nodes representing topic pools to connect every user through bidirectional links. Based on this multi-topical view of the network, we further introduce the topic-dependent rank (TD-Rank) algorithm to identify the multi-topic influential users

Topical melatonin for treatment of androgenetic alopecia.

Science.gov (United States)

Fischer, Tobias W; Trüeb, Ralph M; Hänggi, Gabriella; Innocenti, Marcello; Elsner, Peter

2012-10-01

In the search for alternative agents to oral finasteride and topical minoxidil for the treatment of androgenetic alopecia (AGA), melatonin, a potent antioxidant and growth modulator, was identified as a promising candidate based on in vitro and in vivo studies. One pharmacodynamic study on topical application of melatonin and four clinical pre-post studies were performed in patients with androgenetic alopecia or general hair loss and evaluated by standardised questionnaires, TrichoScan, 60-second hair count test and hair pull test. FIVE CLINICAL STUDIES SHOWED POSITIVE EFFECTS OF A TOPICAL MELATONIN SOLUTION IN THE TREATMENT OF AGA IN MEN AND WOMEN WHILE SHOWING GOOD TOLERABILITY: (1) Pharmacodynamics under once-daily topical application in the evening showed no significant influence on endogenous serum melatonin levels. (2) An observational study involving 30 men and women showed a significant reduction in the degree of severity of alopecia after 30 and 90 days (P melatonin solution can be considered as a treatment option in androgenetic alopecia.

Interactional Organization and Topic Control in Conciliation Hearings

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wânia Terezinha Ladeira

2011-07-01

Full Text Available We analyse discursive topic in talk-in-interaction within the institutional setting of three conciliation hearings held in a kind of small claims court for consumption conflict resolution. This research is based on Interactional Sociolinguistics and Conversation Analysis theories. The analysis shows that the participants of those meetings have asymmetric rights regarding the choice of discussion topics. Thus, the mediator is the one who has the right to suggest and control the discursive topics of the conversation. This topic control is the most important institutional procedure that can cause a reduction in accusations and adjacent replies. Consequently, the chance of mediators achieving their institutional task of reaching an agreement between parts in conflict is increased.

The use of compound topical anesthetics: a review.

Science.gov (United States)

Kravitz, Neal D

2007-10-01

The author reviewed the history of, federal regulations regarding, risks of and adverse drug reactions of five compound topical anesthetics: tetracaine, adrenaline/epinephrine and cocaine (TAC); lidocaine, adrenaline/epinephrine and tetracaine (LET); lidocaine, tetracaine and phenylephrine (TAC 20 percent Alternate); lidocaine, prilocaine and tetracaine (Profound); and lidocaine, prilocaine, tetracaine and phenylephrine with thickeners (Profound PET). The author reviewed clinical trials, case reports, descriptive articles, and U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations and recent public advisory warnings regarding the federal approval of and risks associated with the use of compound topical anesthetics. Compound topical anesthetics are neither FDA-regulated nor -unregulated. Some compounding pharmacies bypass the new FDA drug approval process, which is based on reliable scientific data and ensures that a marketed drug is safe, effective, properly manufactured and accurately labeled. Two deaths have been attributed to the lay use of compound topical anesthetics. In response, the FDA has announced the strengthening of its efforts against unapproved drug products. Compound topical anesthetics may be an effective alternative to local infiltration for some minimally invasive dental procedures; however, legitimate concerns exist in regard to their safety. Until they become federally regulated, compound topical anesthetics remain unapproved drug products whose benefits may not outweigh their risks for dental patients.

Topical Apigenin Alleviates Cutaneous Inflammation in Murine Models

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mao-Qiang Man

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Herbal medicines have been used in preventing and treating skin disorders for centuries. It has been demonstrated that systemic administration of chrysanthemum extract exhibits anti-inflammatory properties. However, whether topical applications of apigenin, a constituent of chrysanthemum extract, influence cutaneous inflammation is still unclear. In the present study, we first tested whether topical applications of apigenin alleviate cutaneous inflammation in murine models of acute dermatitis. The murine models of acute allergic contact dermatitis and acute irritant contact dermatitis were established by topical application of oxazolone and phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (TPA, respectively. Inflammation was assessed in both dermatitis models by measuring ear thickness. Additionally, the effect of apigenin on stratum corneum function in a murine subacute allergic contact dermatitis model was assessed with an MPA5 physiology monitor. Our results demonstrate that topical applications of apigenin exhibit therapeutic effects in both acute irritant contact dermatitis and allergic contact dermatitis models. Moreover, in comparison with the vehicle treatment, topical apigenin treatment significantly reduced transepidermal water loss, lowered skin surface pH, and increased stratum corneum hydration in a subacute murine allergic contact dermatitis model. Together, these results suggest that topical application of apigenin could provide an alternative regimen for the treatment of dermatitis.

Knowledge-Based Topic Model for Unsupervised Object Discovery and Localization.

Science.gov (United States)

Niu, Zhenxing; Hua, Gang; Wang, Le; Gao, Xinbo

Unsupervised object discovery and localization is to discover some dominant object classes and localize all of object instances from a given image collection without any supervision. Previous work has attempted to tackle this problem with vanilla topic models, such as latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA). However, in those methods no prior knowledge for the given image collection is exploited to facilitate object discovery. On the other hand, the topic models used in those methods suffer from the topic coherence issue-some inferred topics do not have clear meaning, which limits the final performance of object discovery. In this paper, prior knowledge in terms of the so-called must-links are exploited from Web images on the Internet. Furthermore, a novel knowledge-based topic model, called LDA with mixture of Dirichlet trees, is proposed to incorporate the must-links into topic modeling for object discovery. In particular, to better deal with the polysemy phenomenon of visual words, the must-link is re-defined as that one must-link only constrains one or some topic(s) instead of all topics, which leads to significantly improved topic coherence. Moreover, the must-links are built and grouped with respect to specific object classes, thus the must-links in our approach are semantic-specific , which allows to more efficiently exploit discriminative prior knowledge from Web images. Extensive experiments validated the efficiency of our proposed approach on several data sets. It is shown that our method significantly improves topic coherence and outperforms the unsupervised methods for object discovery and localization. In addition, compared with discriminative methods, the naturally existing object classes in the given image collection can be subtly discovered, which makes our approach well suited for realistic applications of unsupervised object discovery.Unsupervised object discovery and localization is to discover some dominant object classes and localize all of object

The effects of daily chlorhexidine bathing on cutaneous bacterial isolates: a pilot study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Soma VL

2012-04-01

Full Text Available Vijaya L Soma1, Xuan Qin2, Chuan Zhou1, Amanda Adler1, Jessica E Berry2, Danielle M Zerr11Department of Pediatrics, 2Department of Laboratory Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USAAbstract: Chlorhexidine gluconate (CHG is a topical antiseptic used in a myriad of clinical settings. Recently, CHG baths have been shown to decrease multidrug-resistant organism acquisition and infections and catheter-associated bloodstream infections. The present study examined the effects of daily bathing with CHG on the recovery and antimicrobial susceptibility of cultivable cutaneous bacteria. The objectives of this study were to (1 explore the effects of clinical CHG bathing on cultivable cutaneous bacteria, (2 study the relationship between CHG minimum inhibitory concentration and antimicrobial susceptibility of coagulase-negative staphylococci, and (3 demonstrate the feasibility of the approach so a more definitive study may be performed. Significant decreases in bacterial colony counts and phenotypic diversity occurred with greater CHG exposure. The findings also suggest an inverse relationship between CHG minimum inhibitory concentration and antimicrobial susceptibility. Larger prospective studies are necessary to fully investigate the clinical impact of CHG usage.Keywords: antiseptic, resistance, Staphylococcus, coagulase-negative

Topic Prominence in Chinese EFL Learners' Interlanguage

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Shaopeng; Yang, Lianrui

2014-01-01

The present study aims to investigate the general characteristics of topicprominent typological interlanguage development of Chinese learners of English in terms of acquiring subject-prominent English structures from a discourse perspective. Topic structures mainly appear in Chinese discourse in the form of topic chains (Wang, 2002; 2004). The…

A Discourse Perspective of Topic-prominence in Chinese EFL Learners’ Interlanguage

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shaopeng Li

2014-07-01

Full Text Available The present study aims to investigate the general characteristics of topic-prominent typological interlanguage development of Chinese learners of English in terms of acquiring subject-prominent English structures from the discourse perspective. We have selected as the research target “topic chain” which is the main topic-prominent structure in Chinese discourse and “zero anaphora” which is the most common topic anaphor of topic chain. Topic structures mainly appear in Chinese discourse in the form of “topic chain” (Wang, 2002; 2004. Actually, in the event of a topic chain, research on topic structures should go into the typical range of discourse. Two important findings were yielded by the present study. First, the characteristics of Chinese topic chain are transferrable to the interlanguage of Chinese EFL learners, thus resulting in overgeneralization of zero anaphora; second, interlanguage discourse of Chinese EFL learners reflects the characteristics of a second language acquisition process from topic-prominence to subject-prominence, thus lending support to the discourse transfer hypothesis.

Topical reports on Louisiana salt domes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1983-09-01

The Institute for Environmental Studies at Louisiana State University conducted research into the potential use of Louisiana salt domes for disposal of nuclear waste material. Topical reports generated in 1981 and 1982 related to Vacherie and Rayburn's domes are compiled and presented, which address palynological studies, tiltmeter monitoring, precise releveling, saline springs, and surface hydrology. The latter two are basically a compilation of references related to these topics. Individual reports are abstracted

Data Mining Thesis Topics in Finland

OpenAIRE

Bajo Rouvinen, Ari

2017-01-01

The Theseus open repository contains metadata about more than 100,000 thesis publications from the different universities of applied sciences in Finland. Different data mining techniques were applied to the Theseus dataset to build a web application to explore thesis topics and degree programmes using different libraries in Python and JavaScript. Thesis topics were extracted from manually annotated keywords by the authors and curated subjects by the librarians. During the project, the quality...

Selected topics in e+e- physics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sau Lan Wu

1981-01-01

Selected topics of recent experimental results from the high-energy electron-positron storage rings are presented. The topics include some of the tau and charm physics from SPEAR, the upsilon physics from DORIS and CESR, and the γγ physics and quark and gluon physics from the PLUTO and TASSO Collaborations at PETRA. Related data from the JADE and MARK J Collaborations at PETRA are discussed in separated papers at this school. (orig.)

An overview of topic modeling and its current applications in bioinformatics.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Lin; Tang, Lin; Dong, Wen; Yao, Shaowen; Zhou, Wei

2016-01-01

With the rapid accumulation of biological datasets, machine learning methods designed to automate data analysis are urgently needed. In recent years, so-called topic models that originated from the field of natural language processing have been receiving much attention in bioinformatics because of their interpretability. Our aim was to review the application and development of topic models for bioinformatics. This paper starts with the description of a topic model, with a focus on the understanding of topic modeling. A general outline is provided on how to build an application in a topic model and how to develop a topic model. Meanwhile, the literature on application of topic models to biological data was searched and analyzed in depth. According to the types of models and the analogy between the concept of document-topic-word and a biological object (as well as the tasks of a topic model), we categorized the related studies and provided an outlook on the use of topic models for the development of bioinformatics applications. Topic modeling is a useful method (in contrast to the traditional means of data reduction in bioinformatics) and enhances researchers' ability to interpret biological information. Nevertheless, due to the lack of topic models optimized for specific biological data, the studies on topic modeling in biological data still have a long and challenging road ahead. We believe that topic models are a promising method for various applications in bioinformatics research.

Comparison of alcohol, povidone-iodine and octenidine dihydrochloride as skin disinfectants to reduce bacterial count prior to peripheral venous catheter insertions in newborn infants

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lily Rundjan

2011-10-01

Results Ninety subjects were divided into 3 groups of 30, each group using either 70% alcohol swabs, 10% povidone-iodine, or octenidine as skin antiseptic. Skin swabs were taken before and after antiseptic application and drying, as well as 5 minutes after application. The mean reductions in CFU/cm2 (% after antiseptic application (and fully dried were 97.54% for povidone-iodine, 97.52% for octenidine, and 89.07% for alcohol. There were no significant differences in mean CFU reductions among the three antiseptics groups (P=0.299. Furthermore, 5 minutes after application, there were still no significant differences in the three antiseptic groups (P=0.289. Conclusions Although octenidine showed a significant bacterial count reduction after application, it was not significantly different from those of alcohol or povidone-iodine. [Paediatr Indones. 2011;51:277-81].

Control of pain with topical plant medicines

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

James David Adams Jr.

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Pain is normally treated with oral nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory agents and opioids. These drugs are dangerous and are responsible for many hospitalizations and deaths. It is much safer to use topical preparations made from plants to treat pain, even severe pain. Topical preparations must contain compounds that penetrate the skin, inhibit pain receptors such as transient receptor potential cation channels and cyclooxygenase-2, to relieve pain. Inhibition of pain in the skin disrupts the pain cycle and avoids exposure of internal organs to large amounts of toxic compounds. Use of topical pain relievers has the potential to save many lives, decrease medical costs and improve therapy.

Topics in Finance Part VI--Capital Budgeting

Science.gov (United States)

Laux, Judy

2011-01-01

This series on the theory of financial management offers insight into the roles of stockholder wealth maximization, the risk-return tradeoff, and agency conflicts as they apply to major topics in finance. The current article investigates capital budgeting. Much literature addresses this topic, with a number of articles challenging mainstream…

Fostering Topic Knowledge: Essential for Academic Writing

Science.gov (United States)

Proske, Antje; Kapp, Felix

2013-01-01

Several researchers emphasize the role of the writer's topic knowledge for writing. In academic writing topic knowledge is often constructed by studying source texts. One possibility to support that essential phase of the writing process is to provide interactive learning questions which facilitate the construction of an adequate situation…

Ego Involvement and Topic Controversiality as Related to Attitude Change.

Science.gov (United States)

Sledden, Elizabeth A.; Fernandez, Katherine A.

Attitude change was measured on four different topics before and immediately after a persuasion was presented in order to compare the degree of change with the level of ego involvement as it relates to topic controversiality. Ego involvement was based on self-ratings of concern for each topic. Objective topic controversiality was based on the…

EvoRiver: Visual Analysis of Topic Coopetition on Social Media.

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Guodao; Wu, Yingcai; Liu, Shixia; Peng, Tai-Quan; Zhu, Jonathan J H; Liang, Ronghua

2014-12-01

Cooperation and competition (jointly called "coopetition") are two modes of interactions among a set of concurrent topics on social media. How do topics cooperate or compete with each other to gain public attention? Which topics tend to cooperate or compete with one another? Who plays the key role in coopetition-related interactions? We answer these intricate questions by proposing a visual analytics system that facilitates the in-depth analysis of topic coopetition on social media. We model the complex interactions among topics as a combination of carry-over, coopetition recruitment, and coopetition distraction effects. This model provides a close functional approximation of the coopetition process by depicting how different groups of influential users (i.e., "topic leaders") affect coopetition. We also design EvoRiver, a time-based visualization, that allows users to explore coopetition-related interactions and to detect dynamically evolving patterns, as well as their major causes. We test our model and demonstrate the usefulness of our system based on two Twitter data sets (social topics data and business topics data).

Selected topics in magnetism

CERN Document Server

Gupta, L C

1993-01-01

Part of the ""Frontiers in Solid State Sciences"" series, this volume presents essays on such topics as spin fluctuations in Heisenberg magnets, quenching of spin fluctuations by high magnetic fields, and kondo effect and heavy fermions in rare earths amongst others.

Topics in quantum theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yuille, A.L.

1980-11-01

Topics in the Yang-Mills theories of strong interactions and the quantum theories of gravity are examined, using the path integral approach, including; Yang-Mills instantons in curved spacetimes, Israel-Wilson metrics, Kaehler spacetimes, instantons and anti-instantons. (U.K.)

Risk assessment of topically applied products

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Søborg, Tue; Basse, Line Hollesen; Halling-Sørensen, Bent

2007-01-01

The human risk of harmful substances in semisolid topical dosage forms applied topically to normal skin and broken skin, respectively, was assessed. Bisphenol A diglycidyl ether (BADGE) and three derivatives of BADGE previously quantified in aqueous cream and the UV filters 3-BC and 4-MBC were used...... as model compounds. Tolerable daily intake (TDI) values have been established for BADGE and derivatives. Endocrine disruption was chosen as endpoint for 3-BC and 4-MBC. Skin permeation of the model compounds was investigated in vitro using pig skin membranes. Tape stripping was applied to simulate broken...... parameters for estimating the risk. The immediate human risk of BADGE and derivatives in topical dosage forms was found to be low. However, local treatment of broken skin may lead to higher exposure of BADGE and derivatives compared to application to normal skin. 3-BC permeated skin at higher flux than 4-MBC...

Detecting Hotspot Information Using Multi-Attribute Based Topic Model.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jing Wang

Full Text Available Microblogging as a kind of social network has become more and more important in our daily lives. Enormous amounts of information are produced and shared on a daily basis. Detecting hot topics in the mountains of information can help people get to the essential information more quickly. However, due to short and sparse features, a large number of meaningless tweets and other characteristics of microblogs, traditional topic detection methods are often ineffective in detecting hot topics. In this paper, we propose a new topic model named multi-attribute latent dirichlet allocation (MA-LDA, in which the time and hashtag attributes of microblogs are incorporated into LDA model. By introducing time attribute, MA-LDA model can decide whether a word should appear in hot topics or not. Meanwhile, compared with the traditional LDA model, applying hashtag attribute in MA-LDA model gives the core words an artificially high ranking in results meaning the expressiveness of outcomes can be improved. Empirical evaluations on real data sets demonstrate that our method is able to detect hot topics more accurately and efficiently compared with several baselines. Our method provides strong evidence of the importance of the temporal factor in extracting hot topics.

Detecting Hotspot Information Using Multi-Attribute Based Topic Model

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Jing; Li, Li; Tan, Feng; Zhu, Ying; Feng, Weisi

2015-01-01

Microblogging as a kind of social network has become more and more important in our daily lives. Enormous amounts of information are produced and shared on a daily basis. Detecting hot topics in the mountains of information can help people get to the essential information more quickly. However, due to short and sparse features, a large number of meaningless tweets and other characteristics of microblogs, traditional topic detection methods are often ineffective in detecting hot topics. In this paper, we propose a new topic model named multi-attribute latent dirichlet allocation (MA-LDA), in which the time and hashtag attributes of microblogs are incorporated into LDA model. By introducing time attribute, MA-LDA model can decide whether a word should appear in hot topics or not. Meanwhile, compared with the traditional LDA model, applying hashtag attribute in MA-LDA model gives the core words an artificially high ranking in results meaning the expressiveness of outcomes can be improved. Empirical evaluations on real data sets demonstrate that our method is able to detect hot topics more accurately and efficiently compared with several baselines. Our method provides strong evidence of the importance of the temporal factor in extracting hot topics. PMID:26496635

Prevalence of antiseptic resistance genes increases in staphylococcal isolates from orthokeratology lens wearers over initial six-month period of use.

Science.gov (United States)

Guang-Sen, Shi; Boost, Maureen; Cho, Pauline

2016-06-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence of antiseptic-resistance (QAC) genes in staphylococci colonizing periorbital tissues and accessories of orthokeratology (ortho-k) lens wearers over a 6-month period and determine the effect of their presence on minimum inhibitory (MIC) and bactericidal concentrations (MBC) of disinfectants and log reduction of multipurpose contact lens solutions (MPS). Staphylococci were isolated from periorbital tissues and accessories of patients before commencing ortho-k therapy and at two subsequent visits. Presence of QAC genes in 116 S. aureus and 67 CNS isolates was determined by PCR and association with period of ortho-k use determined. MICs and MBCs of staphylococci gene-positive were compared with gene-negative strains and the effectiveness of four MPS for rigid contact lenses investigated. S. aureus carriage rates in the conjunctiva decreased significantly from 41.2 % (baseline) to 11.8 % (3-months), and 13.3 % (6-months) (p trend 0.03), while CNS increased from 58.8 %(baseline) to 94.1 % (3-months), and 93.3 % (6-months) (p trend 0.02). Prevalence of qacA/B increased considerably over time (S. aureus: 4.4 % to 15.4 %, CNS: 6.7 % to 25 %), but frequency of smr was relatively stable. Only five CNS isolates harboured qacH. MICs and MBCs of gene-positive isolates were significantly increased and three MPS did not achieve a 3-log reduction of many QAC-positive strains. Ortho-k lens wear contributed to changes of staphylococcal carriage rates in the conjunctival sac. Use of MPS containing quaternary ammonium compounds may select for the carriage of organisms harbouring QAC genes, as the low concentration of disinfecting agents is not adequate for killing gene-positive strains.

Spectral Learning for Supervised Topic Models.

Science.gov (United States)

Ren, Yong; Wang, Yining; Zhu, Jun

2018-03-01

Supervised topic models simultaneously model the latent topic structure of large collections of documents and a response variable associated with each document. Existing inference methods are based on variational approximation or Monte Carlo sampling, which often suffers from the local minimum defect. Spectral methods have been applied to learn unsupervised topic models, such as latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA), with provable guarantees. This paper investigates the possibility of applying spectral methods to recover the parameters of supervised LDA (sLDA). We first present a two-stage spectral method, which recovers the parameters of LDA followed by a power update method to recover the regression model parameters. Then, we further present a single-phase spectral algorithm to jointly recover the topic distribution matrix as well as the regression weights. Our spectral algorithms are provably correct and computationally efficient. We prove a sample complexity bound for each algorithm and subsequently derive a sufficient condition for the identifiability of sLDA. Thorough experiments on synthetic and real-world datasets verify the theory and demonstrate the practical effectiveness of the spectral algorithms. In fact, our results on a large-scale review rating dataset demonstrate that our single-phase spectral algorithm alone gets comparable or even better performance than state-of-the-art methods, while previous work on spectral methods has rarely reported such promising performance.

Image Re-Ranking Based on Topic Diversity.

Science.gov (United States)

Qian, Xueming; Lu, Dan; Wang, Yaxiong; Zhu, Li; Tang, Yuan Yan; Wang, Meng

2017-08-01

Social media sharing Websites allow users to annotate images with free tags, which significantly contribute to the development of the web image retrieval. Tag-based image search is an important method to find images shared by users in social networks. However, how to make the top ranked result relevant and with diversity is challenging. In this paper, we propose a topic diverse ranking approach for tag-based image retrieval with the consideration of promoting the topic coverage performance. First, we construct a tag graph based on the similarity between each tag. Then, the community detection method is conducted to mine the topic community of each tag. After that, inter-community and intra-community ranking are introduced to obtain the final retrieved results. In the inter-community ranking process, an adaptive random walk model is employed to rank the community based on the multi-information of each topic community. Besides, we build an inverted index structure for images to accelerate the searching process. Experimental results on Flickr data set and NUS-Wide data sets show the effectiveness of the proposed approach.

Recent topics in NMR imaging and MRI

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Watanabe, Tokuko

2002-01-01

NMR and NMR imaging (MRI) are finding increasing use not only in the clinical and medical fields, but also in material, physicochemical, biological, geological, industrial and environmental applications. This short review is limited to two topics: new techniques and pulse sequences and their application to non-clinical fields that may have clinical application; and new trends in MR contrast agents. The former topic addresses pulse sequence and data analysis; dynamics such as diffusion, flow, velocity and velocimetry; chemometrics; pharmacological agents; and chemotherapy; the latter topic addresses contrast agents (CA) sensitive to biochemical activity; CA based on water exchange; molecular interactions and stability of CA; characteristics of emerging CA; superparamagnetic CA; and macromolecular CA. (author)

Sexual Problems in Men: MedlinePlus Health Topic

Science.gov (United States)

... Spanish Retrograde ejaculation (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish Topic Image MedlinePlus Email Updates Get Sexual Problems in ... Premature ejaculation Reifenstein syndrome Retrograde ejaculation Related Health Topics Erectile Dysfunction Penis Disorders Prostate Diseases Testicular Disorders ...

Cancer--Living with Cancer: MedlinePlus Health Topic

Science.gov (United States)

... during cancer treatment (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish Topic Image MedlinePlus Email Updates Get Cancer--Living with ... care plan Show More Show Less Related Health Topics Cancer Cancer Chemotherapy Palliative Care National Institutes of ...

Full Text or Abstract? : Examining Topic Coherence Scores Using Latent Dirichlet Allocation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Syed, S.; Spruit, M.

2017-01-01

This paper assesses topic coherence and human topic ranking of uncovered latent topics from scientific publications when utilizing the topic model latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) on abstract and full-text data. The coherence of a topic, used as a proxy for topic quality, is based on the

Infantile generalized hypertrichosis caused by topical minoxidil.

Science.gov (United States)

Rampon, Greice; Henkin, Caroline; de Souza, Paulo Ricardo Martins; Almeida, Hiram Larangeira de

2016-01-01

Rare cases of hypertrichosis have been associated with topically applied minoxidil. We present the first reported case in the Brazilian literature of generalized hypertrichosis affecting a 5-year-old child, following use of minoxidil 5%, 20 drops a day, for hair loss. The laboratory investigation excluded hyperandrogenism and thyroid dysfunction. Topical minoxidil should be used with caution in children.

Pharmaceuticals and personal care products in untreated and treated sewage sludge: Occurrence and environmental risk in the case of application on soil - A critical review.

Science.gov (United States)

Verlicchi, P; Zambello, E

2015-12-15

This review is based on 59 papers published between 2002 and 2015, referring to about 450 treatment trains providing data regarding sludge concentrations for 169 compounds, specifically 152 pharmaceuticals and 17 personal care products, grouped into 28 different classes. The rationale of the study is to provide data to evaluate the environmental risk posed by the spreading of treated sludge in agriculture. Following discussion of the legislative scenario governing the final disposal of treated sludge in European countries and the USA, the study provides a snapshot of the occurrence of selected compounds in primary, secondary, mixed, digested, conditioned, composted and dried sludge originating in municipal wastewater treatment plants fed mainly with urban wastewater as well as in sludge-amended soil. Not only are measured values reported, but also predicted concentrations based on Kd values are reported. It emerges that in secondary sludge, the highest concentrations were found for fragrances, antiseptics and antibiotics and an attenuation in their concentrations occurs during treatment, in particular anaerobic digestion and composting. An in-depth literature survey of the (measured and predicted) Kd values for the different compounds and treated sludge are reported and an analysis of the influence of pH, redox conditions, sludge type was carried out. The data regarding measured and predicted concentrations of selected compounds in sludge-amended soil is then analyzed. Finally an environmental risk assessment posed by their occurrence in soil in the case of land application of sludge is examined, and the results obtained by different authors are compared. The most critical compounds found in the sludge-amended soil are estradiol, ciprofloxacin, ofloxacin, tetracycline, caffeine, triclosan and triclocarban. The study concludes with a focus on the main issues that should be further investigated in order to refine the environmental risk assessment. Copyright © 2015

Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection following Topical Hormone Replacement Therapy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alexander L. Pan

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Spontaneous coronary artery dissection is a rare condition, usually presenting as an acute coronary syndrome, and is often seen in states associated with high systemic estrogen levels such as pregnancy or oral contraceptive use. While topical hormonal replacement therapy may result in increased estrogen levels similar to those documented with oral contraceptive use, there are no reported cases of spontaneous coronary dissection with topical hormonal replacement therapy. We describe a 53-year-old female who developed two spontaneous coronary dissections while on topical hormonal replacement therapy. The patient had no other risk factors for coronary dissection. After withdrawal from topical hormonal therapy, our patient has done well and has not had recurrent coronary artery dissections over a one-year follow-up period. The potential contributory role of topical hormonal therapy as a cause of spontaneous coronary dissection should be recognized.

Do scientists trace hot topics?

Science.gov (United States)

Wei, Tian; Li, Menghui; Wu, Chensheng; Yan, Xiao-Yong; Fan, Ying; Di, Zengru; Wu, Jinshan

2013-01-01

Do scientists follow hot topics in their scientific investigations? In this paper, by performing analysis to papers published in the American Physical Society (APS) Physical Review journals, it is found that papers are more likely to be attracted by hot fields, where the hotness of a field is measured by the number of papers belonging to the field. This indicates that scientists generally do follow hot topics. However, there are qualitative differences among scientists from various countries, among research works regarding different number of authors, different number of affiliations and different number of references. These observations could be valuable for policy makers when deciding research funding and also for individual researchers when searching for scientific projects.

#Healthy Selfies: Exploration of Health Topics on Instagram.

Science.gov (United States)

Muralidhara, Sachin; Paul, Michael J

2018-06-29

Social media provides a complementary source of information for public health surveillance. The dominate data source for this type of monitoring is the microblogging platform Twitter, which is convenient due to the free availability of public data. Less is known about the utility of other social media platforms, despite their popularity. This work aims to characterize the health topics that are prominently discussed in the image-sharing platform Instagram, as a step toward understanding how this data might be used for public health research. The study uses a topic modeling approach to discover topics in a dataset of 96,426 Instagram posts containing hashtags related to health. We use a polylingual topic model, initially developed for datasets in different natural languages, to model different modalities of data: hashtags, caption words, and image tags automatically extracted using a computer vision tool. We identified 47 health-related topics in the data (kappa=.77), covering ten broad categories: acute illness, alternative medicine, chronic illness and pain, diet, exercise, health care & medicine, mental health, musculoskeletal health and dermatology, sleep, and substance use. The most prevalent topics were related to diet (8,293/96,426; 8.6% of posts) and exercise (7,328/96,426; 7.6% of posts). A large and diverse set of health topics are discussed in Instagram. The extracted image tags were generally too coarse and noisy to be used for identifying posts but were in some cases accurate for identifying images relevant to studying diet and substance use. Instagram shows potential as a source of public health information, though limitations in data collection and metadata availability may limit its use in comparison to platforms like Twitter. ©Sachin Muralidhara, Michael J. Paul. Originally published in JMIR Public Health and Surveillance (http://publichealth.jmir.org), 29.06.2018.

Postradiation therapy skin complications and aspects of their treatment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Derveniece, A.; Hartmane, I.; Cema, I.; Strode, E.; Mikazans, I.

2001-01-01

X-ray is a common therapy for malignant skin cancers. 60-70 Gy is the necessary therapeutic dose for squamous cell carcinoma. Early and late postradiation complications are X-ray dermatitis, erosions, ulcers and atrophies. The therapy for complications includes topical antiseptics and antibacterial agents, debridement, dressing, and even plastic and reconstructive surgery. Capillary regrowth, immunosuppression, local ischemia and epithelialisation are to be considered. The aim of this study was to observe and compare the topical agents in treatment of postradiation skin compilations. Early compilations were treated effectively using Diaethonum ointment (prophylaxis and therapy), Fucicort cream, Linoladiol-HN cream. With late complications Chlorhexidine gluconate 0.05% solution, Iruxol and Desitin ointments showed good results, dealing with trophical ulcers. There is no universal drug for treating X-ray caused complications, in every case the therapy is to be considered individually. (authors)

Infantile generalized hypertrichosis caused by topical minoxidil*

Science.gov (United States)

Rampon, Greice; Henkin, Caroline; de Souza, Paulo Ricardo Martins; de Almeida Jr, Hiram Larangeira

2016-01-01

Rare cases of hypertrichosis have been associated with topically applied minoxidil. We present the first reported case in the Brazilian literature of generalized hypertrichosis affecting a 5-year-old child, following use of minoxidil 5%, 20 drops a day, for hair loss. The laboratory investigation excluded hyperandrogenism and thyroid dysfunction. Topical minoxidil should be used with caution in children. PMID:26982785

Lecture Notes on Topics in Accelerator Physics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chao, Alex W.

2002-01-01

These are lecture notes that cover a selection of topics, some of them under current research, in accelerator physics. I try to derive the results from first principles, although the students are assumed to have an introductory knowledge of the basics. The topics covered are: (1) Panofsky-Wenzel and Planar Wake Theorems; (2) Echo Effect; (3) Crystalline Beam; (4) Fast Ion Instability; (5) Lawson-Woodward Theorem and Laser Acceleration in Free Space; (6) Spin Dynamics and Siberian Snakes; (7) Symplectic Approximation of Maps; (8) Truncated Power Series Algebra; and (9) Lie Algebra Technique for nonlinear Dynamics. The purpose of these lectures is not to elaborate, but to prepare the students so that they can do their own research. Each topic can be read independently of the others

Lecture Notes on Topics in Accelerator Physics

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chao, Alex W.

2002-11-15

These are lecture notes that cover a selection of topics, some of them under current research, in accelerator physics. I try to derive the results from first principles, although the students are assumed to have an introductory knowledge of the basics. The topics covered are: (1) Panofsky-Wenzel and Planar Wake Theorems; (2) Echo Effect; (3) Crystalline Beam; (4) Fast Ion Instability; (5) Lawson-Woodward Theorem and Laser Acceleration in Free Space; (6) Spin Dynamics and Siberian Snakes; (7) Symplectic Approximation of Maps; (8) Truncated Power Series Algebra; and (9) Lie Algebra Technique for nonlinear Dynamics. The purpose of these lectures is not to elaborate, but to prepare the students so that they can do their own research. Each topic can be read independently of the others.

Relativity theory - topical

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schmutzer, E.

1979-01-01

Issued on the occasion of Albert Einstein's 100th birthday the book deals topically with the special and general relativity theory. The latest experiments to confirm the relativity theory are described and the historical development of the theory is presented in detail. Emphasis is given to the disclosure of deep insights into the nature of matter. Of interest to experts in physical and natural sciences and to mathematicians

Analyzing research trends on drug safety using topic modeling.

Science.gov (United States)

Zou, Chen

2018-04-06

Published drug safety data has evolved in the past decade due to scientific and technological advances in the relevant research fields. Considering that a vast amount of scientific literature has been published in this area, it is not easy to identify the key information. Topic modeling has emerged as a powerful tool to extract meaningful information from a large volume of unstructured texts. Areas covered: We analyzed the titles and abstracts of 4347 articles in four journals dedicated to drug safety from 2007 to 2016. We applied Latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) model to extract 50 main topics, and conducted trend analysis to explore the temporal popularity of these topics over years. Expert Opinion/Commentary: We found that 'benefit-risk assessment and communication', 'diabetes' and 'biologic therapy for autoimmune diseases' are the top 3 most published topics. The topics relevant to the use of electronic health records/observational data for safety surveillance are becoming increasingly popular over time. Meanwhile, there is a slight decrease in research on signal detection based on spontaneous reporting, although spontaneous reporting still plays an important role in benefit-risk assessment. The topics related to medical conditions and treatment showed highly dynamic patterns over time.

A novel topical association with zinc oxide, chamomile and aloe vera extracts - stability and safety studies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Catarina Reis

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Currently, natural products show an enormous potential for pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. The goals of this study were to formulate and to characterise a novel combination of natural products. Formulations were 1 an oil-in-water emulsion, 2 a water-in-oil emulsion and 3 a cleansing solution. Zinc oxide was chosen as an active ingredient due to its healing properties, and chamomile and aloe vera extracts were chosen due to their antiseptic, anti-inflammatory and tissue regenerating properties. Organoleptic characteristics, pH, viscosity and in vitro efficacy for the most common bacteria and yeast of human skin were evaluated. Preliminary and accelerated stability studies and safety tests were also performed. All optimized products were stable, smooth in texture, effective against bacteria and yeast, and safe, justifying further studies. Results suggest that these novel products might be a promising source of natural compounds with soothing and regenerative properties for skin care.

Radiation risks -a possible teaching topic

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Howes, R.W.

1975-01-01

Radiation risks has been the subject of hot debate since 1969 due in main to the energy crisis and the switch to nuclear power. Topics of this debate including; the controversy concerned with the late radiobiological effects of low level radiation, the social responsibility of modern scientists, the sometimes acrimonious discussion which has taken place over many years concerning radiation standards, and present day misgivings over the environmental aspect of the nuclear power programme, are discussed and suggestions are made of ways in which the topics could be introduced into teaching courses. (U.K.)

Efficacy of adding topical simvastatin to topical calcipotriol on improvement of cutaneous plaque psoriasis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fariba Iraji

2014-01-01

Conclusion: This study indicates that topical simvastatin is not associated with significant impacts in the treatment of psoriasis as compared to oral form. This study indicates that psoriasis is a systemic disorder with variable skin manifestations.

Nuclear safety - Topical issues

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1995-01-01

The following topical issues related to nuclear safety are discussed: steam generators; maintenance strategies; control rod drive nozzle cracks; core shrouds cracks; sump strainer blockage; fire protection; computer software important for safety; safety during shutdown; operational safety experience; external hazards and other site related issues. 5 figs, 5 tabs

Real-time topic-aware influence maximization using preprocessing.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Wei; Lin, Tian; Yang, Cheng

2016-01-01

Influence maximization is the task of finding a set of seed nodes in a social network such that the influence spread of these seed nodes based on certain influence diffusion model is maximized. Topic-aware influence diffusion models have been recently proposed to address the issue that influence between a pair of users are often topic-dependent and information, ideas, innovations etc. being propagated in networks are typically mixtures of topics. In this paper, we focus on the topic-aware influence maximization task. In particular, we study preprocessing methods to avoid redoing influence maximization for each mixture from scratch. We explore two preprocessing algorithms with theoretical justifications. Our empirical results on data obtained in a couple of existing studies demonstrate that one of our algorithms stands out as a strong candidate providing microsecond online response time and competitive influence spread, with reasonable preprocessing effort.

Topical minoxidil: cardiac effects in bald man.

Science.gov (United States)

Leenen, F H; Smith, D L; Unger, W P

1988-01-01

Systemic cardiovascular effects during chronic treatment with topical minoxidil vs placebo were evaluated using a double-blind, randomized design for two parallel groups (n = 20 for minoxidil, n = 15 for placebo). During 6 months of follow-up, blood pressure did not change, whereas minoxidil increased heart rate by 3-5 beats min-1. Compared with placebo, topical minoxidil caused significant increases in LV end-diastolic volume, in cardiac output (by 0.751 min-1) and in LV mass (by 5 g m-2). We conclude that in healthy subjects short-term use of topical minoxidil is likely not to be detrimental. However, safety needs to be established regarding ischaemic symptoms in patients with coronary artery disease as well as for the possible development of LV hypertrophy in healthy subjects during years of therapy. PMID:3191000

Medical adherence to topical corticosteroid preparations prescribed for psoriasis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Svendsen, Mathias Tiedemann; Andersen, Flemming; Hansen, Jakob

2017-01-01

OBJECTIVE: Topical corticosteroids and corticosteroid combinations are the principal treatments in psoriasis. The aim of this study was to investigate published literature dealing with medical adherence to topical corticosteroid or corticosteroid combinations in patients with psoriasis. MATERIALS...... health outcome in topical treatment of psoriasis, further studies should be conducted addressing determinants of nonadherence and test interventions to improve adherence. Validated measurements of medical nonadherence, prescription registers, or medication-weight are needed....

Topical erythropoietin promotes wound repair in diabetic rats.

Science.gov (United States)

Hamed, Saher; Ullmann, Yehuda; Masoud, Muhannad; Hellou, Elias; Khamaysi, Ziad; Teot, Luc

2010-01-01

Wound healing in diabetic patients is slower than in healthy individuals. Erythropoietin (EPO) has non-hemopoietic targets in the skin, and systemically administered EPO promotes wound healing in experimental animals. This study investigated the effect of topical EPO treatment on defective wound repair in the skin of diabetic rats. Full-thickness excisional skin wounds were made in 38 rats, of which 30 had diabetes. The wounds were then treated topically with a cream that contained either vehicle, 600 IU ml(-1) EPO (low dose), or 3,000 IU ml(-1) (high dose) EPO. We assessed the rate of wound closure during the 12-day treatment period, and microvascular density (MVD), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), and hydroxyproline (HP) contents, and the extent of apoptosis in wound tissues at the end of the 12-day treatment period. Topical EPO treatment significantly reduced the time to final wound closure. This increased rate of closure of the two EPO-treated wounds in diabetic rats was associated with increased MVD, VEGF, and HP contents, and a reduced extent of apoptosis. In light of our finding that topical EPO treatment promotes skin wound repair in diabetic rats, we propose that topical EPO treatment is a therapeutically beneficial method of treating chronic diabetic wounds.

Comparative evaluation of topical Sodium fusidate cream in common pyodermas with topical gentamicin ointment and systemic antibiotics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Roy AK

1996-01-01

Full Text Available ABSTRACT: One hundred cases of common pyodermas consisting of four groups, namely impetigo, furunculosis and chronic folliculitis were taken. Each group containing twenty five cases were divided again into three subgroups. From each group, 15 were treated with 2 percent Sodium fusidate cream, 5 were with 0.1 percent Gentamycin sulphate cream and the rest 5 with systemic Erythromycin stearate. In the group of Impetigo, Bockhart′s Impetigo and Furunculosis, topical Sodium fusidate cream showed excellent result, better than Gentamycin topical and equal to that of systemic Erythromycin stearate.

Characters and Topical Diversity

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Eriksson, Rune

2014-01-01

The purpose of this article is to contribute to our understanding of the difference between the bestseller and the non-bestseller in nonfiction. It is noticed that many bestsellers in nonfiction belongs to the sub-genre of creative nonfiction, but also that the topics in this kind of literature i...

Analysis and application of opinion model with multiple topic interactions.

Science.gov (United States)

Xiong, Fei; Liu, Yun; Wang, Liang; Wang, Ximeng

2017-08-01

To reveal heterogeneous behaviors of opinion evolution in different scenarios, we propose an opinion model with topic interactions. Individual opinions and topic features are represented by a multidimensional vector. We measure an agent's action towards a specific topic by the product of opinion and topic feature. When pairs of agents interact for a topic, their actions are introduced to opinion updates with bounded confidence. Simulation results show that a transition from a disordered state to a consensus state occurs at a critical point of the tolerance threshold, which depends on the opinion dimension. The critical point increases as the dimension of opinions increases. Multiple topics promote opinion interactions and lead to the formation of macroscopic opinion clusters. In addition, more topics accelerate the evolutionary process and weaken the effect of network topology. We use two sets of large-scale real data to evaluate the model, and the results prove its effectiveness in characterizing a real evolutionary process. Our model achieves high performance in individual action prediction and even outperforms state-of-the-art methods. Meanwhile, our model has much smaller computational complexity. This paper provides a demonstration for possible practical applications of theoretical opinion dynamics.

Topic structure for information retrieval

NARCIS (Netherlands)

He, J.; Sanderson, M.; Zhai, C.; Zobel, J.; Allan, J.; Aslam, J.A.

2009-01-01

In my research, I propose a coherence measure, with the goal of discovering and using topic structures within and between documents, of which I explore its extensions and applications in information retrieval.

Generative Topic Modeling in Image Data Mining and Bioinformatics Studies

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Xin

2012-01-01

Probabilistic topic models have been developed for applications in various domains such as text mining, information retrieval and computer vision and bioinformatics domain. In this thesis, we focus on developing novel probabilistic topic models for image mining and bioinformatics studies. Specifically, a probabilistic topic-connection (PTC) model…

Progressive Learning of Topic Modeling Parameters: A Visual Analytics Framework.

Science.gov (United States)

El-Assady, Mennatallah; Sevastjanova, Rita; Sperrle, Fabian; Keim, Daniel; Collins, Christopher

2018-01-01

Topic modeling algorithms are widely used to analyze the thematic composition of text corpora but remain difficult to interpret and adjust. Addressing these limitations, we present a modular visual analytics framework, tackling the understandability and adaptability of topic models through a user-driven reinforcement learning process which does not require a deep understanding of the underlying topic modeling algorithms. Given a document corpus, our approach initializes two algorithm configurations based on a parameter space analysis that enhances document separability. We abstract the model complexity in an interactive visual workspace for exploring the automatic matching results of two models, investigating topic summaries, analyzing parameter distributions, and reviewing documents. The main contribution of our work is an iterative decision-making technique in which users provide a document-based relevance feedback that allows the framework to converge to a user-endorsed topic distribution. We also report feedback from a two-stage study which shows that our technique results in topic model quality improvements on two independent measures.

Selected topics in nuclear structure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1994-01-01

The collection of abstracts on selected topics in nuclear structure are given. Special attention pays to collective excitations and high-spin states of nuclei, giant resonance structure, nuclear reaction mechanisms and so on

Topical anti-infective sinonasal irrigations: update and literature review.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Jivianne T; Chiu, Alexander G

2014-01-01

Sinonasal anti-infective irrigations have emerged as a promising therapeutic modality in the comprehensive management of chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS), particularly in the context of recalcitrant disease. The purpose of this article was to delineate the current spectrum of topical anti-infective therapies available and evaluate their role in the treatment of CRS. A systematic literature review was performed on all studies investigating the use of topical antimicrobial solutions in the medical therapy of CRS. Anti-infective irrigations were stratified into topical antibacterial, antifungal, and additive preparations according to their composition and respective microbicidal properties. The use of topical antibiotic irrigations has been supported by low-level studies in the treatment of refractory CRS, with optimal results achieved in patients who have undergone prior functional endoscopic sinus surgery and received culture-directed therapy. Multiple evidence-based reviews have not established any clinical benefit with the administration of topical antifungals, and their use is not currently recommended in the management of routine CRS. Topical additives including surfactants may be beneficial as adjunctive treatment for recalcitrant CRS, but additional research is needed to investigate their efficacy in comparison with other agents and establish safety profiles. Topical anti-infective solutions are not recommended as first-line therapy for routine CRS but may be considered as a potential option for patients with refractory CRS who have failed traditional medical and surgical intervention. Additional research is necessary to determine which patient populations would derive the most benefit from each respective irrigation regimen and identify potential toxicities associated with prolonged use.

Building bridges across electronic health record systems through inferred phenotypic topics.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, You; Ghosh, Joydeep; Bejan, Cosmin Adrian; Gunter, Carl A; Gupta, Siddharth; Kho, Abel; Liebovitz, David; Sun, Jimeng; Denny, Joshua; Malin, Bradley

2015-06-01

Data in electronic health records (EHRs) is being increasingly leveraged for secondary uses, ranging from biomedical association studies to comparative effectiveness. To perform studies at scale and transfer knowledge from one institution to another in a meaningful way, we need to harmonize the phenotypes in such systems. Traditionally, this has been accomplished through expert specification of phenotypes via standardized terminologies, such as billing codes. However, this approach may be biased by the experience and expectations of the experts, as well as the vocabulary used to describe such patients. The goal of this work is to develop a data-driven strategy to (1) infer phenotypic topics within patient populations and (2) assess the degree to which such topics facilitate a mapping across populations in disparate healthcare systems. We adapt a generative topic modeling strategy, based on latent Dirichlet allocation, to infer phenotypic topics. We utilize a variance analysis to assess the projection of a patient population from one healthcare system onto the topics learned from another system. The consistency of learned phenotypic topics was evaluated using (1) the similarity of topics, (2) the stability of a patient population across topics, and (3) the transferability of a topic across sites. We evaluated our approaches using four months of inpatient data from two geographically distinct healthcare systems: (1) Northwestern Memorial Hospital (NMH) and (2) Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC). The method learned 25 phenotypic topics from each healthcare system. The average cosine similarity between matched topics across the two sites was 0.39, a remarkably high value given the very high dimensionality of the feature space. The average stability of VUMC and NMH patients across the topics of two sites was 0.988 and 0.812, respectively, as measured by the Pearson correlation coefficient. Also the VUMC and NMH topics have smaller variance of characterizing

Topic Modeling of NASA Space System Problem Reports: Research in Practice

Science.gov (United States)

Layman, Lucas; Nikora, Allen P.; Meek, Joshua; Menzies, Tim

2016-01-01

Problem reports at NASA are similar to bug reports: they capture defects found during test, post-launch operational anomalies, and document the investigation and corrective action of the issue. These artifacts are a rich source of lessons learned for NASA, but are expensive to analyze since problem reports are comprised primarily of natural language text. We apply topic modeling to a corpus of NASA problem reports to extract trends in testing and operational failures. We collected 16,669 problem reports from six NASA space flight missions and applied Latent Dirichlet Allocation topic modeling to the document corpus. We analyze the most popular topics within and across missions, and how popular topics changed over the lifetime of a mission. We find that hardware material and flight software issues are common during the integration and testing phase, while ground station software and equipment issues are more common during the operations phase. We identify a number of challenges in topic modeling for trend analysis: 1) that the process of selecting the topic modeling parameters lacks definitive guidance, 2) defining semantically-meaningful topic labels requires nontrivial effort and domain expertise, 3) topic models derived from the combined corpus of the six missions were biased toward the larger missions, and 4) topics must be semantically distinct as well as cohesive to be useful. Nonetheless,topic modeling can identify problem themes within missions and across mission lifetimes, providing useful feedback to engineers and project managers.

Getting Started with Topic Modeling and MALLET

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shawn Graham

2012-09-01

Full Text Available In this lesson you will first learn what topic modeling is and why you might want to employ it in your research. You will then learn how to install and work with the MALLET natural language processing toolkit to do so. MALLET involves modifying an environment variable (essentially, setting up a short-cut so that your computer always knows where to find the MALLET program and working with the command line (ie, by typing in commands manually, rather than clicking on icons or menus. We will run the topic modeller on some example files, and look at the kinds of outputs that MALLET installed. This will give us a good idea of how it can be used on a corpus of texts to identify topics found in the documents without reading them individually.

Is topical haloperidol a useful glaucoma treatment?

OpenAIRE

Lavin, M. J.; Andrews, V.

1986-01-01

A randomised, double blind, single dose study of topical haloperidol, a dopamine receptor blocking drug, was performed on 20 healthy volunteers. After its administration a modest reduction in intraocular pressure was recorded over the six-hour study period, but the difference was not significant at the p less than 0.05 level. Although dopamine blocking agents are effective in reducing intraocular pressure in experimental animals, topical haloperidol appears unlikely to be clinically useful in...

Topical Melatonin for Treatment of Androgenetic Alopecia

OpenAIRE

Fischer, Tobias W; Tr?eb, Ralph M; H?nggi, Gabriella; Innocenti, Marcello; Elsner, Peter

2012-01-01

Background: In the search for alternative agents to oral finasteride and topical minoxidil for the treatment of androgenetic alopecia (AGA), melatonin, a potent antioxidant and growth modulator, was identified as a promising candidate based on in vitro and in vivo studies. Materials and Methods: One pharmacodynamic study on topical application of melatonin and four clinical pre-post studies were performed in patients with androgenetic alopecia or general hair loss and evaluated by standardise...

New guidelines for topical NSAIDs in the osteoarthritis treatment paradigm.

Science.gov (United States)

Altman, Roy D

2010-12-01

Osteoarthritis (OA), the most common form of arthritis, often affects hands, hips, and knees and involves an estimated 26.9 million US adults. Women have a higher prevalence of OA, and the risk of developing OA increases with age, obesity, and joint malalignment. OA typically presents with pain and reduced function. Therapeutic programs are often multimodal and must take into account pharmaceutical toxicities and patient comorbidities. For example, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are associated with cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, and renal adverse events. Topical NSAIDs offer efficacy with reduced systemic drug exposure. This is a review of current guideline recommendations regarding the use of topical NSAIDs in OA of the hand and knee. Articles were identified by PubMed search (January 1, 2000 to May 21, 2010). Several current guidelines for management of OA recommend topical NSAIDs, indicating them as a safe and effective treatment. One guideline recommends that topical NSAIDs be considered as first-line pharmacologic therapy. A US guideline for knee OA recommends topical NSAIDs in older patients and in patients with increased gastrointestinal risk. The consensus across US and European OA guidelines is that topical NSAIDs are a safe and effective treatment for OA. Because the research base on topical NSAIDs for OA is small, guidelines will continue to evolve.

The effects of oral and topical corticosteroid in rabbit corneas.

Science.gov (United States)

Araki-Sasaki, Kaoru; Katsuta, Osamu; Mano, Hidetoshi; Nagano, Takashi; Nakamura, Masatsugu

2016-09-05

To determine the most effective route of administration of corticosteroids in the treatment of ocular surface disease, by characterizing the difference between oral prednisolone and topical dexamethasone administration using an animal model. Pharmacokinetic analyses determined the corticosteroid concentrations in the normal ocular tissues of rabbits after oral or topical administration of corticosteroids using LC-MS/MS. In wound healing analyses, the area of the epithelial defect created by keratectomy using a 6-mm trephine was calculated with an image analyzer using an orally or topically steroid-administrated animal model. The average size of basal epithelial cells, the frequency of mitotic basal epithelial cells, the number of squamous cells, and the number of hypertrophic stromal fibroblasts were determined in the enucleated corneal tissues after wound closure. By slit lamp examination, no remarkable differences were observed between orally and topically administered groups. Pharmacokinetic analyses showed that the distribution of dexamethasone after topical administration was superior to that after oral administration in the cornea. In contrast, both concentrations of corticosteroid applied topically and orally were similar with regards to AUCs (area under the concentration-time curve) in the conjunctiva. Although the healing rate was slower in the topical group, all corneas were almost healed within 96 h in the wound healing analysis. According to the histological analyses of epithelial cells, the average basal cell size was larger, the frequency of mitotic basal cells was greater, and the number of squamous epithelial cell layers was lower in the topically administered group although all of these differences were with no statistical significance. However, the number of hypertrophic stromal fibroblasts in the topically administered group was significantly lower than that in the orally administered group. There are different distributions and effects between

Preferred Writing Topics of Urban and Rural Middle School Students

Science.gov (United States)

Shippen, Margaret E.; Houchins, David E.; Puckett, DaShaunda; Ramsey, Michelle

2007-01-01

This study compared the preferred writing topics of urban and rural middle school students. Eighth graders (n = 205) responded to a brief survey of preferred writing topics in the descriptive writing genres of real or imagined stories, reports, and opinions. While some preferred writing topics were divergent such as society, crime, and violence,…

Oral Versus Topical Diclofenac Sodium in the Treatment of Osteoarthritis.

Science.gov (United States)

Tieppo Francio, Vinicius; Davani, Saeid; Towery, Chris; Brown, Tony L

2017-06-01

Osteoarthritis (OA) is one of the most common causes of joint pain in the United States and non-steroidal anti-inflammatories (NSAIDs), such as Diclofenac sodium, which is currently available in two main routes of administration; oral and topical distribution have been established as one of the standard treatments for OA. Generally, oral NSAIDs are well tolerated; however our narrative review suggests that the topical solution had a better tolerability property than oral Diclofenac sodium, especially due to side effects of gastrointestinal bleeding with the utilization of the oral format. In addition, the topical route may be considered a reasonable selection by clinicians for management of musculoskeletal pain in those patients with a history of potential risk and adverse side effects. Most studies reviewed comparing oral versus topical solution of Diclofenac sodium revealed comparable efficacy, with minimal side effects utilizing the topical route. The key point of this narrative review is to help clinicians that currently must decide between very inexpensive diclofenac oral presentations and expensive topical presentations especially in the elderly population and the pros and cons of such decision-making process.

Topicality and impact in social media: diverse messages, focused messengers.

Science.gov (United States)

Weng, Lilian; Menczer, Filippo

2015-01-01

We have a limited understanding of the factors that make people influential and topics popular in social media. Are users who comment on a variety of matters more likely to achieve high influence than those who stay focused? Do general subjects tend to be more popular than specific ones? Questions like these demand a way to detect the topics hidden behind messages associated with an individual or a keyword, and a gauge of similarity among these topics. Here we develop such an approach to identify clusters of similar hashtags in Twitter by detecting communities in the hashtag co-occurrence network. Then the topical diversity of a user's interests is quantified by the entropy of her hashtags across different topic clusters. A similar measure is applied to hashtags, based on co-occurring tags. We find that high topical diversity of early adopters or co-occurring tags implies high future popularity of hashtags. In contrast, low diversity helps an individual accumulate social influence. In short, diverse messages and focused messengers are more likely to gain impact.

Topical nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs for the treatment of pain due to soft tissue injury: diclofenac epolamine topical patch

OpenAIRE

Lionberger, David

2010-01-01

David R Lionberger1, Michael J Brennan21Southwest Orthopedic Group, Houston, TX, USA; 2Department of Medicine, Bridgeport Hospital, Bridgeport, CT, USAAbstract: The objective of this article is to review published clinical data on diclofenac epolamine topical patch 1.3% (DETP) in the treatment of acute soft tissue injuries, such as strains, sprains, and contusions. Review of published literature on topical nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), diclofenac, and DETP in patients with ac...

Topical medication instillation techniques for glaucoma.

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Li; Wang, Xuemei; Wu, Meijing

2017-02-20

Glaucoma is a leading cause of irreversible blindness worldwide and the second most common cause of blindness after cataracts. The primary treatment for glaucoma aims to lower intraocular pressure (IOP) with the use of topical medicines. Topical medication instillation techniques, such as eyelid closure and nasolacrimal occlusion when instilling drops, have been proposed as potential methods to increase ocular absorption and decrease systemic absorption of the drops. To investigate the effectiveness of topical medication instillation techniques compared with usual care or another method of instillation of topical medication in the management of glaucoma or ocular hypertension. We searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) (which contains the Cochrane Eyes and Vision Trials Register) (2016, Issue 12), MEDLINE Ovid (1946 to 8 December 2016), Embase Ovid (1947 to 8 December 2016), PubMed (1948 to 8 December 2016), LILACS (Latin American and Caribbean Health Sciences Literature Database) (1982 to 8 December 2016), International Pharmaceutical Abstracts Database (1970 to 8 December 2016), the metaRegister of Controlled Trials (mRCT) (www.controlled-trials.com) (last searched 13 May 2013), ClinicalTrials.gov (www.clinicaltrials.gov) (searched 8 December 2016) and the WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP) (www.who.int/ictrp/search/en) (searched 8 December 2016). We did not use any date or language restrictions in the electronic searches for trials. We included randomized controlled trials which had compared any topical medication instillation technique with usual care or a different method of instillation of topical medication. Two review authors independently screened records from the searches for eligibility, assessed the risk of bias, and extracted data. We followed methods recommended by Cochrane. We identified two trials (122 eyes of 61 participants) that had evaluated a topical medication instillation technique. We

Electrocautery Superior to Topical Treatments for Precancerous Anal Lesions

Science.gov (United States)

... Professional Anal Cancer Treatment Anal Cancer Prevention Research Electrocautery Superior to Topical Treatments for Precancerous Anal Lesions ... randomized clinical trial conducted in Amsterdam suggest that electrocautery is better than topical imiquimod or fluorouracil at ...

Skin penetration and tissue permeation after topical administration of diclofenac.

Science.gov (United States)

Hagen, Martina; Baker, Mark

2017-09-01

Topical delivery of drugs is an alternative to oral administration, often with similar efficacy but potentially a more favorable tolerability profile. However, topical formulations need to be able to penetrate the skin and permeate to the target areas in quantities sufficient to exert a therapeutic effect. Many factors can affect this process, including the physicochemical properties of the drug, the formulation used, and the site and mode of application. It is believed that measurement of drug concentrations at the sites of action may be an indicator of their likely efficacy. This review addresses these issues, with reference to topically administered diclofenac in osteoarthritis. Articles relevant to this review were identified after a systematic search of Medline and Embase, using the key words "diclofenac", "topical administration" and "osteoarthritis" in the search strategy. The sparse data available indicate that topical diclofenac can penetrate and permeate to deeper tissues, with a lower plasma to tissue ratio than oral diclofenac. The tissue diclofenac levels after topical delivery are sustained over time (at least several hours). However, there is not enough data to establish how diclofenac levels in the joint compare with IC 50 levels (50% of the maximum inhibition of prostaglandin synthesis) established following oral administration. After topical application, diclofenac can penetrate the skin and permeate to deeper tissues, where it reaches a concentration that appears to be sufficient to exert a therapeutic effect. More robust methods are required for in vivo characterization to better estimate the clinical efficacy of topically applied drugs.

Laser-assisted delivery of topical methotrexate - in vitro investigations

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Taudorf, Elisabeth Hjardem

2016-01-01

of the correlation between laser parameters and tissue effects was used to deliver methotrexate (MTX) topically through microscopic ablation zones (MAZs) of precise dimensions. MTX is a well-known chemotherapeutic and anti-inflammatory drug that may cause systemic adverse effects, and topical delivery is thus......Ablative fractional lasers (AFXL) are increasingly used to treat dermatological disorders and to facilitate laser-assisted topical drug delivery. In this thesis, laser-tissue interactions generated by stacked pulses with a miniaturized low-power 2,940 nm AFXL were characterized (study I). Knowledge...... zones of varying thickness. The ratio of skin deposition versus transdermal permeation was constant, regardless of MAZ depth. Impact of transport kinetics on AFXL-assisted topical MTX delivery: MTX accumulated rapidly in AFXL-processed skin. MTX was detectable in mid-dermis after 15 min. and saturated...

Armenian media coverage of science topics

Science.gov (United States)

Mkhitaryan, Marie

2016-12-01

The article discusses features and issues of Armenian media coverage on scientific topics and provides recommendations on how to promote scientific topics in media. The media is more interested in social or public reaction rather than in scientific information itself. Medical science has a large share of the global media coverage. It is followed by articles about environment, space, technology, physics and other areas. Armenian media mainly tends to focus on a scientific topic if at first sight it contains something revolutionary. Media primarily reviews whether that scientific study can affect the Armenian economy and only then decides to refer to it. Unfortunately, nowadays the perception of science is a little distorted in media. We can often see headlines of news where is mentioned that the scientist has made "an invention". Nowadays it is hard to see the border between a scientist and an inventor. In fact, the technological term "invention" attracts the media by making illusionary sensation and ensuring large audience. The report also addresses the "Gitamard" ("A science-man") special project started in 2016 in Mediamax that tells about scientists and their motivations.

How to Prevent Heart Disease: MedlinePlus Health Topic

Science.gov (United States)

... and your heart (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish Topic Image MedlinePlus Email Updates Get How to Prevent ... your heart Stress and your heart Related Health Topics Blood Thinners Cholesterol Heart Diseases Heart Health Tests ...

Tetanus, Diphtheria, and Pertussis Vaccines: MedlinePlus Health Topic

Science.gov (United States)

... Know (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) - PDF Topic Image MedlinePlus Email Updates Get Tetanus, Diphtheria, and ... updates by email What's this? GO Related Health Topics Childhood Immunization Diphtheria Immunization Tetanus Whooping Cough National ...

Graph-based Techniques for Topic Classification of Tweets in Spanish

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hector Cordobés

2014-03-01

Full Text Available Topic classification of texts is one of the most interesting challenges in Natural Language Processing (NLP. Topic classifiers commonly use a bag-of-words approach, in which the classifier uses (and is trained with selected terms from the input texts. In this work we present techniques based on graph similarity to classify short texts by topic. In our classifier we build graphs from the input texts, and then use properties of these graphs to classify them. We have tested the resulting algorithm by classifying Twitter messages in Spanish among a predefined set of topics, achieving more than 70% accuracy.

Topics in computational linear optimization

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hultberg, Tim Helge

2000-01-01

Linear optimization has been an active area of research ever since the pioneering work of G. Dantzig more than 50 years ago. This research has produced a long sequence of practical as well as theoretical improvements of the solution techniques avilable for solving linear optimization problems...... of high quality solvers and the use of algebraic modelling systems to handle the communication between the modeller and the solver. This dissertation features four topics in computational linear optimization: A) automatic reformulation of mixed 0/1 linear programs, B) direct solution of sparse unsymmetric...... systems of linear equations, C) reduction of linear programs and D) integration of algebraic modelling of linear optimization problems in C++. Each of these topics is treated in a separate paper included in this dissertation. The efficiency of solving mixed 0-1 linear programs by linear programming based...

Efektivitas Mencuci Tangan Menggunakan Cairan Pembersih Tangan Antiseptik (Hand Sanitizer) Terhadap Jumlah Angka Kuman

OpenAIRE

Desiyanto, Fajar Ardi; Djannah, Sitti Nur

2013-01-01

Background: Hand washing is one of the sanitation actions by washing fingers with water or other liquid for the purpose of getting clean, religious ceremony or others. Antiseptic was chemical substance to prevent multiplication of microorganism on the surface of body, by killing the microorganism or blocking the growth and activity of its metabolic. The commonly used antiseptic of hand sanitizer was alcohol; alcohol has been widely used as skin antiseptic because it had an effect of blocking ...

Two topics in quantum chromodynamics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bjorken, J.D.

1989-12-01

The two topics are (1) estimates of perturbation theory coefficients for R(e + e - → hadrons), and (2) the virtual-photon structure function, with emphasis on the analytic behavior in its squared mass. 20 refs., 4 figs., 2 tabs

Vaccine Hesitancy in Discussion Forums: Computer-Assisted Argument Mining with Topic Models.

Science.gov (United States)

Skeppstedt, Maria; Kerren, Andreas; Stede, Manfred

2018-01-01

Arguments used when vaccination is debated on Internet discussion forums might give us valuable insights into reasons behind vaccine hesitancy. In this study, we applied automatic topic modelling on a collection of 943 discussion posts in which vaccine was debated, and six distinct discussion topics were detected by the algorithm. When manually coding the posts ranked as most typical for these six topics, a set of semantically coherent arguments were identified for each extracted topic. This indicates that topic modelling is a useful method for automatically identifying vaccine-related discussion topics and for identifying debate posts where these topics are discussed. This functionality could facilitate manual coding of salient arguments, and thereby form an important component in a system for computer-assisted coding of vaccine-related discussions.

Characterizing interdisciplinarity of researchers and research topics using web search engines.

Science.gov (United States)

Sayama, Hiroki; Akaishi, Jin

2012-01-01

Researchers' networks have been subject to active modeling and analysis. Earlier literature mostly focused on citation or co-authorship networks reconstructed from annotated scientific publication databases, which have several limitations. Recently, general-purpose web search engines have also been utilized to collect information about social networks. Here we reconstructed, using web search engines, a network representing the relatedness of researchers to their peers as well as to various research topics. Relatedness between researchers and research topics was characterized by visibility boost-increase of a researcher's visibility by focusing on a particular topic. It was observed that researchers who had high visibility boosts by the same research topic tended to be close to each other in their network. We calculated correlations between visibility boosts by research topics and researchers' interdisciplinarity at the individual level (diversity of topics related to the researcher) and at the social level (his/her centrality in the researchers' network). We found that visibility boosts by certain research topics were positively correlated with researchers' individual-level interdisciplinarity despite their negative correlations with the general popularity of researchers. It was also found that visibility boosts by network-related topics had positive correlations with researchers' social-level interdisciplinarity. Research topics' correlations with researchers' individual- and social-level interdisciplinarities were found to be nearly independent from each other. These findings suggest that the notion of "interdisciplinarity" of a researcher should be understood as a multi-dimensional concept that should be evaluated using multiple assessment means.

The Effect of Testosterone Topical Solution in Hypogonadal Men With Suboptimal Response to a Topical Testosterone Gel.

Science.gov (United States)

Burns, Patrick R; Kim, Edward D; Ruff, Dustin D; Seftel, Allen D

2018-05-01

This study evaluated the effect of axillary administration of a 2% testosterone solution (Axiron ® ) in hypogonadal (HGN) men who had had a suboptimal response to treatment with a commercially available topical testosterone gel. HGN men averaging 57 years old, with a mean body mass index of 31.9 kg/m 2 and median baseline testosterone level (T-level) of 185.2 ng/dL, who had failed to reach normal T-levels with a topical testosterone gel (Androgel 1.62%, Androgel, Testim, or Fortesta) were treated with a 2% testosterone solution until T-levels reached a normal range (from ≥300 to ≤1,050 ng/dL) or for up to 9 weeks. Outcomes included the cumulative percentage of men with a serum T-level in the normal range during treatment with Axiron and improvement in symptoms of low energy level and low sexual drive. During the study, 95% of HGN men (72/78) attained a T-level in the normal range. The median T-level at endpoint was 495.7 ng/dL, a threefold increase over baseline, p levels within the first 2 weeks of treatment. In a post hoc analysis, all subjects with baseline body mass indexes >35 kg/m 2 ( n = 19) achieved T-levels in the normal range. Prior to treatment, over 61% of subjects (48/78) reported impairment in either energy level or sexual drive. After treatment (or testosterone normalization), energy level improved in 75% of subjects and sexual drive improved in 70%. Topical 2% testosterone solution is a safe and effective treatment for HGN men who have had a suboptimal response to previous treatment with topical testosterone gels.

Conference on Stochastic Analysis and Related Topics

CERN Document Server

Peterson, Jonathon

2017-01-01

The articles in this collection are a sampling of some of the research presented during the conference “Stochastic Analysis and Related Topics”, held in May of 2015 at Purdue University in honor of the 60th birthday of Rodrigo Bañuelos. A wide variety of topics in probability theory is covered in these proceedings, including heat kernel estimates, Malliavin calculus, rough paths differential equations, Lévy processes, Brownian motion on manifolds, and spin glasses, among other topics.

Topical use of dexpanthenol: a 70th anniversary article.

Science.gov (United States)

Proksch, Ehrhardt; de Bony, Raymond; Trapp, Sonja; Boudon, Stéphanie

2017-12-01

Approximately 70 years ago, the first topical dexpanthenol-containing formulation (Bepanthen™ Ointment) has been developed. Nowadays, various topical dexpanthenol preparations exist, tailored according to individual requirements. Topical dexpanthenol has emerged as frequently used formulation in the field of dermatology and skin care. Various studies confirmed dexpanthenol's moisturizing and skin barrier enhancing potential. It prevents skin irritation, stimulates skin regeneration and promotes wound healing. Two main directions in the use of topical dexpanthenol-containing formulations have therefore been pursued: as skin moisturizer/skin barrier restorer and as facilitator of wound healing. This 70th anniversary paper reviews studies with topical dexpanthenol in skin conditions where it is most frequently used. Although discovered decades ago, the exact mechanisms of action of dexpanthenol have not been fully elucidated yet. With the adoption of new technologies, new light has been shed on dexpanthenol's mode of action at the molecular level. It appears that dexpanthenol increases the mobility of stratum corneum molecular components which are important for barrier function and modulates the expression of genes important for wound healing. This review will update readers on recent advances in this field.

Retrospective Evaluation of Topical Bimatoprost and Iris Pigmentation Change.

Science.gov (United States)

Zaleski-Larsen, Lisa A; Ruth, Nadine H; Fabi, Sabrina G

2017-12-01

Topical bimatoprost is a topical prostaglandin analog originally used to treat glaucoma and more recently used to cosmetically induce hypertrichosis of the eyelashes. Iris pigmentation change has been noted in the treatment of glaucoma but has not been assessed with the cosmetic periorbital application of bimatoprost. To evaluate for iris pigmentation change with the long-term cosmetic use of topical bimatoprost. A retrospective chart review in a cosmetic dermatology practice of women (N = 50) who consistently purchased topical bimatoprost over an average of 4.59 years was compared with that of age-matched non-bimatoprost patients (N = 50). A blinded evaluator assessed each patient for iris pigmentary change. No iris pigmentation change was noted with the cutaneous application of bimatoprost. The cutaneous application of bimatoprost appears to be safe with minimal risk for iris pigmentation change.

Increased Topical Generic Prices by Manufacturers: An Isolated Trend or Worrisome Future?

Science.gov (United States)

Bhatt, Mehul D; Bhatt, Birju D; Dorrian, James T; McLellan, Beth N

2018-03-12

There is limited data regarding generic medication prices. Recent studies have shown price changes at the retail level, but much is not known about the pharmaceutical supply chain or price changes at the manufacturer level. We sought to examine the extent of price changes for topical generic medications. A comprehensive review of average wholesale prices (AWP) and manufacturers of topical generics and available corresponding branded medications was conducted for 2005 and 2016. A total of 51 topical chemical entities were examined. Between 2005 and 2016, the AWP of topical generics increased by 273% and the AWP of topical branded increased by 379%. The topical generic with the most price change increased by 2529%. Eight of the top twenty topical generics with the highest increase in AWP also had an increase in the number of manufacturers. These findings are not generalizable to medications used in other areas of medicine CONCLUSIONS: Topical generic prices are rapidly increasing at the manufacturer level. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Topical Session on the Decommissioning and Dismantling Safety Case

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2002-01-01

Set up by the Radioactive Waste Management Committee (RWMC), the WPDD brings together senior representatives of national organisations who have a broad overview of Decommissioning and Dismantling (D and D) issues through their work as regulators, implementers, R and D experts or policy makers. These include representatives from regulatory authorities, industrial decommissioners from the NEA Cooperative Programme on Exchange of Scientific and Technical Information on Nuclear Installation Decommissioning Projects (CPD), and cross-representation from the NEA Committee on Nuclear Regulatory Activities, the Committee on Radiation Protection and Public Health, and the RWMC. The EC is a member of the WPDD and the IAEA also participates. This ensures co-ordination amongst activities in these international programmes. Participation from civil society organisations is considered on a case by case basis, and has already taken place through the active involvement of the Group of Municipalities with Nuclear Installations at the first meeting of the WPDD At its second meeting, in Paris, 5-7 December 2001, the WPDD held two topical sessions on the D and D Safety Case and on the Management of Materials from D and D, respectively. This report documents the topical session on the safety case. The topical session was meant to provide an exchange of information and experience on the following issues: What topics should be included in a safety case? Of what should it consist? Is there sufficient and complete guidance nationally and internationally? How do practices differ internationally? Main boundary condition to this session was that it would deal with plants where spent fuel has been removed. Also the topical sessions was kept at a level that makes the most of the varied constituency of the WPDD. Namely, interface issues are important, and issue-identification and discussion was the immediate goal. There was less interest in examining areas where variability amongst national

Dressings and topical agents for preventing pressure ulcers.

Science.gov (United States)

Moore, Zena E H; Webster, Joan

2013-08-18

Pressure ulcers, which are localised injury to the skin, or underlying tissue or both, occur when people are unable to reposition themselves to relieve pressure on bony prominences. Pressure ulcers are often difficult to heal, painful and impact negatively on the individual's quality of life. The cost implications of pressure ulcer treatment are considerable, compounding the challenges in providing cost effective, efficient health services. Efforts to prevent the development of pressure ulcers have focused on nutritional support, pressure redistributing devices, turning regimes and the application of various topical agents and dressings designed to maintain healthy skin, relieve pressure and prevent shearing forces. Although products aimed at preventing pressure ulcers are widely used, it remains unclear which, if any, of these approaches are effective in preventing the development of pressure ulcers. To evaluate the effects of dressings and topical agents on the prevention of pressure ulcers, in people of any age without existing pressure ulcers, but considered to be at risk of developing a pressure ulcer, in any healthcare setting. In February 2013 we searched the following electronic databases to identify reports of relevant randomised clinical trials (RCTs): the Cochrane Wounds Group Specialised Register; the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) (The Cochrane Library); Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects (The Cochrane Library); Ovid MEDLINE; Ovid MEDLINE (In-Process & Other Non-Indexed Citations); Ovid EMBASE; and EBSCO CINAHL. We included RCTs evaluating the use of dressings, topical agents, or topical agents with dressings, compared with a different dressing, topical agent, or combined topical agent and dressing, or no intervention or standard care, with the aim of preventing the development of a pressure ulcer. We assessed trials for their appropriateness for inclusion and for their risk of bias. This was done by two review

Topical minoxidil in the treatment of alopecia areata.

Science.gov (United States)

Fenton, D A; Wilkinson, J D

1983-01-01

A modified double blind crossover study was performed to assess the effect of 1% topical minoxidil as compared with placebo in 30 patients with alopecia areata and alopecia totalis. The active preparation produced a highly significant incidence of hair regrowth. A cosmetically acceptable response was noted in 16 patients. No side effects were seen. The study confirmed that topical minoxidil will induce new hair growth in alopecia areata but that it is less likely to do so in more severe and extensive disease. Furthermore, patients with alopecia universalis and totalis may not respond at all. Nevertheless, as compared with other drugs minoxidil applied topically is relatively non-toxic, is easy to use, and has no systemic or local side effects. Images p1016-a PMID:6412929

Topics in Bioethics: A Development of Student Perspectives

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Keith A. Johnson

2014-10-01

Full Text Available Exposing students to current biotechnological and medical issues is eye-opening for many students in a way that is not always achieved through lecture-based learning. Lecture or investigative teaching styles provide a tremendous knowledge base for the students, but sometimes these teaching styles do not allow the student to fully develop, especially personal attitudes to issues in bioethics. Through online videos, Hollywood movies, guided readings and classroom discussions, students in this course are informed of some bioethical topics, encouraged to learn about other topics, and use this gained knowledge to develop personal positions regarding the value and/or risk of the issues. This course has been well-received by previous students as a favorite in terms of both topics covered and style.

Selected topics in grand unification

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Seckel, D.

1983-01-01

This dissertation is a collection of four pieces of research dealing with grand unification. The topics are neutron oscillation, CP violation, magnetic monopole abundance and distribution in neutron stars, and a proposal for an inflationary cosmology driven by stress-energy in domain walls

An effective coherence measure to determine topical consistency in user-generated content

NARCIS (Netherlands)

He, J.; Weerkamp, W.; Larson, M.; de Rijke, M.

2009-01-01

When searching for blogs on a specific topic, information seekers prefer blogs that place a central focus on that topic over blogs whose mention of the topic is diffuse or incidental. In order to present users with better blog feed search results, we developed a measure of topical consistency that

Applied atomic and collision physics special topics

CERN Document Server

Massey, H S W; Bederson, Benjamin

1982-01-01

Applied Atomic Collision Physics, Volume 5: Special Topics deals with topics on applications of atomic collisions that were not covered in the first four volumes of the treatise. The book opens with a chapter on ultrasensitive chemical detectors. This is followed by separate chapters on lighting, magnetohydrodynamic electrical power generation, gas breakdown and high voltage insulating gases, thermionic energy converters, and charged particle detectors. Subsequent chapters deal with the operation of multiwire drift and proportional chambers and streamer chambers and their use in high energy p

Topical antifungal agents: an update.

Science.gov (United States)

Diehl, K B

1996-10-01

So many topical antifungal agents have been introduced that it has become very difficult to select the proper agent for a given infection. Nonspecific agents have been available for many years, and they are still effective in many situations. These agents include Whitfield's ointment, Castellani paint, gentian violet, potassium permanganate, undecylenic acid and selenium sulfide. Specific antifungal agents include, among others, the polyenes (nystatin, amphotericin B), the imidazoles (metronidazole, clotrimazole) and the allylamines (terbinafine, naftifine). Although the choice of an antifungal agent should be based on an accurate diagnosis, many clinicians believe that topical miconazole is a relatively effective agent for the treatment of most mycotic infections. Terbinafine and other newer drugs have primary fungicidal effects. Compared with older antifungal agents, these newer drugs can be used in lower concentrations and shorter therapeutic courses. Studies are needed to evaluate the clinical efficacies and cost advantages of both newer and traditional agents.

Topical report review status, July 15, 1983. Vol. 7, No. 1

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1983-08-01

A Topical Report Review Status is scheduled to be published semi-annually. The primary purpose of this document is to provide periodic progress reports of on-going topical report reviews, to identify those topical reports for which the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff review has been completed and, to the extent practicable, to provide NRC management with sufficient information regarding the conduct of the topical report program to permit taking whatever actions deemed necessary or appropriate. This document is also intended to be a source of information to NRC Licensing Project Managers and other NRC personnel regarding the status of topical reports which may be referenced in applications for which they have responsibility

The role of preventive topical antibiotic treatment prior to intravitreal injection

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elena Vladimirovna Ageeva

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Treatment of wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD requires frequent intravitreal injections of anti-VEGF agents, sometimes on monthly basis during a long period of time. Endophthalmitis is a rare but extremely severe complication of intravitreal injections. As it has been proven before, the flora from the conjunctival surface is the main source for endophthalmitis. Using Povidone-iodine solution (Betadine10 % Povidone-iodine, EGIS PHARMACEUTICALS is the only way to prevent endophthalmitis. The efficacy of it was proven by numerous studies. No evidence exists that topical antibiotiotics prior and after injections could be effective for prevention of endophthalmitis. Purpose: To study the advisability of topical antibiotic application before intravitreal injection. Materials and methods: Under investigation, there were 25 eyes of 25 patients with wet AMD treated by anti-VEGF intravitreal injections. All patients used topical antibiotics 3 days before injection. Conjunctival culture from injection eye was collected three times: before topical antibiotic use; after topical antibiotic use, and after Betadine 5 % application. Results: The rates of Staphylococcus epidermidis before and after topical antibiotic use were approximately equal. However there was no Staphylococcus epidermidis found after Betadine 5 % application. Conclusion: Our study showed the effectiveness of Betadine 5 % solution in conjunctival flora reduction. Use of topical antibiotics 3 days prior intravitreal injections is not effective. Key words: age-related macular degeneration; endophthalmitis; intravitreal injection; topical antibiotics; endophthalmitis prevention.

An overview of topical treatment for atopic eczema | Motswaledi ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

... on the elbows and knees in younger children, and the cubital and popliteal fossae in older children and adults. Treatment modalities include emollients, topical corticosteroids, calcineurin inhibitors, phototherapy and immunosuppressive therapy. This article provides a brief overview of topical treatments for atopic eczema.

Treatment Duration of Topics in Senior Secondary School Core ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

kofimereku

years to better equip the students for university education (Daily Graphic of. September 15th 1998). .... five items similar to those in the SS Mathematics Book 3, and covered all the sub-topics of the topic ..... Soviet Union. United States. 181. 188.

Toxic keratopathy due to abuse of topical anesthetic drugs.

Science.gov (United States)

Yeniad, Baris; Canturk, Serife; Esin Ozdemir, Fatma; Alparslan, Nilufer; Akarcay, Koray

2010-06-01

To describe 8 cases of toxic keratopathy due to abuse of topical anesthetic drugs. Clinical findings from patients with toxic keratopathy were investigated retrospectively. Two patients had toxic keratopathy bilaterally. Five of 8 patients had an ocular history of a corneal foreign body, 1 had basal membrane dystrophy, 1 had ultraviolet radiation, and 1 had chemical burn. All patients had undergone psychiatric consultation. Four patients had anxiety disorder and 1 had bipolar disease. Clinical signs were improved in all patients with discontinuation of topical anesthetic drug use along with adjunctive psychiatric treatment. Penetrating keratoplasty was performed in 2 patients. Toxic keratopathy due to topical anesthetic abuse is a curable disease. Early diagnosis and prevention of topical anesthetic drug use are the most important steps in the treatment of this condition. As these patients commonly exhibit psychiatric disorders, adjunctive psychiatric treatment may help to break the chemical addiction.

White blood cell count - series (image)

Science.gov (United States)

... the hand. The puncture site is cleaned with antiseptic, and a tourniquet (an elastic band) or blood ... or young child: The area is cleansed with antiseptic and punctured with a sharp needle or a ...

Recent advances and perspectives in topical oral anesthesia.

Science.gov (United States)

Franz-Montan, Michelle; Ribeiro, Lígia Nunes de Morais; Volpato, Maria Cristina; Cereda, Cintia Maria Saia; Groppo, Francisco Carlos; Tofoli, Giovana Randomille; de Araújo, Daniele Ribeiro; Santi, Patrizia; Padula, Cristina; de Paula, Eneida

2017-05-01

Topical anesthesia is widely used in dentistry to reduce pain caused by needle insertion and injection of the anesthetic. However, successful anesthesia is not always achieved using the formulations that are currently commercially available. As a result, local anesthesia is still one of the procedures that is most feared by dental patients. Drug delivery systems (DDSs) provide ways of improving the efficacy of topical agents. Areas covered: An overview of the structure and permeability of oral mucosa is given, followed by a review of DDSs designed for dental topical anesthesia and their related clinical trials. Chemical approaches to enhance permeation and anesthesia efficacy, or to promote superficial anesthesia, include nanostructured carriers (liposomes, cyclodextrins, polymeric nanoparticle systems, solid lipid nanoparticles, and nanostructured lipid carriers) and different pharmaceutical dosage forms (patches, bio- and mucoadhesive systems, and hydrogels). Physical methods include pre-cooling, vibration, iontophoresis, and microneedle arrays. Expert opinion: The combination of different chemical and physical methods is an attractive option for effective topical anesthesia in oral mucosa. This comprehensive review should provide the readers with the most relevant options currently available to assist pain-free dental anesthesia. The findings should be considered for future clinical trials.

Topic shift impairs pronoun resolution during sentence comprehension: Evidence from event-related potentials.

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Xiaodong; Zhou, Xiaolin

2016-02-01

This study investigated how topic shift and topic continuation influence pronoun interpretation in Chinese. ERPs recorded on pronouns in topic structure showed stronger and earlier late positive responses (P600) for the topic-shift than for the topic-continuation conditions. However, in nontopic structure where the subject (denoting only subjecthood), rather than the topic (denoting both topichood and subjecthood), acted as the antecedent of the pronoun, almost indistinguishable P600 responses were obtained on the pronoun regardless of whether it was referring to the subject (i.e., subject continuation) or the object (i.e., subject shift). Moreover, stronger and earlier P600 responses were elicited by pronouns in the topic-shift than in the subject-shift conditions, although there was no difference between the topic-continuation and the subject-continuation conditions. These findings suggest that topic shift results in greater difficulty in the resolution stage of referential processing, although the bonding process is not sensitive to the manipulation of topic status, and that topic has a privileged cognitive status relative to other nontopic entities (e.g., subject) in real-time language processing. © 2015 Society for Psychophysiological Research.

Health-related hot topic detection in online communities using text clustering.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yingjie Lu

Full Text Available Recently, health-related social media services, especially online health communities, have rapidly emerged. Patients with various health conditions participate in online health communities to share their experiences and exchange healthcare knowledge. Exploring hot topics in online health communities helps us better understand patients' needs and interest in health-related knowledge. However, the statistical topic analysis employed in previous studies is becoming impractical for processing the rapidly increasing amount of online data. Automatic topic detection based on document clustering is an alternative approach for extracting health-related hot topics in online communities. In addition to the keyword-based features used in traditional text clustering, we integrate medical domain-specific features to represent the messages posted in online health communities. Three disease discussion boards, including boards devoted to lung cancer, breast cancer and diabetes, from an online health community are used to test the effectiveness of topic detection. Experiment results demonstrate that health-related hot topics primarily include symptoms, examinations, drugs, procedures and complications. Further analysis reveals that there also exist some significant differences among the hot topics discussed on different types of disease discussion boards.

Topics in industrial mathematics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vatsya, S.R.

1992-01-01

Mathematical methods are widely used to solve practical problems arising in modern industry. This article outlines some of the topics relevant to AECL programmes. This covers the applications of transmission and neutron transport tomography to determine density distributions in rocks and two phase flow situations. Another example covered is the use of variational methods to solve the problems of aerosol migration and control theory. (author). 7 refs

Topical beta-Blockers and Mortality

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Muskens, Rogier P. H. M.; Wolfs, Roger C. W.; Wittenian, Jacqueline C. M.; Hofman, Albert; de Jong, Paulus T. V. M.; Stricker, Bruno H. C.; Jansonius, Nomdo M.

Purpose: To study the associations between long-term and short-term use of topical beta-blockers and mortality. Design: Prospective population-based cohort study. Participants: To examine long-term effects, 3842 participants aged 55 years and older were recruited. To examine short-term effects, 484