Generation, characterization, and toxicological assessment of reference ultrafine soot particles with different organic content for inhalation toxicological studies.

Ultrafine particles (UFP) are the smallest atmospheric particulate matter linked to air pollution-related diseases. The extent to which UFP's physical and chemical properties contribute to its toxicity remains unclear. It is hypothesized that UFP act as carriers for chemicals that drive biological responses. This study explores robust methods for generating reference UFP to understand these mechanisms and perform toxicological tests. Two types of combustion-related UFP with similar elemental carbon cores and physical properties but different organic loads were generated and characterized. Human alveolar epithelial cells were exposed to these UFP at the air-liquid interface, and several toxicological endpoints were measured. UFP were generated using a miniCAST under fuel-rich conditions and immediately diluted to minimize agglomeration. A catalytic stripper and charcoal denuder removed volatile gases and semi-volatile particles from the surface. By adjusting the temperature of the catalytic stripper, UFP with high and low organic content was produced. These reference particles exhibited fractal structures with high reproducibility and stability over a year, maintaining similar mass and number concentrations (100 µg/m3, 2.0·105 #/cm3) and a mean particle diameter of about 40 nm. High organic content UFP had significant PAH levels, with benzo[a]pyrene at 0.2 % (m/m). Toxicological evaluations revealed that both UFP types similarly affected cytotoxicity and cell viability, regardless of organic load. Higher xenobiotic metabolism was noted for PAH-rich UFP, while reactive oxidation markers increased when semi-volatiles were stripped off. Both UFP types caused DNA strand breaks, but only the high organic content UFP induced DNA oxidation. This methodology allows modification of UFP's chemical properties while maintaining comparable physical properties, linking these variations to biological responses.

Within-host delay differential model for SARS-CoV-2 kinetics with saturated antiviral responses.

The present study discussed a model to describe the SARS-CoV-2 viral kinetics in the presence of saturated antiviral responses. A discrete-time delay was introduced due to the time required for uninfected epithelial cells to activate a suitable antiviral response by generating immune cytokines and chemokines. We examined the system's stability at each equilibrium point. A threshold value was obtained for which the system switched from stability to instability via a Hopf bifurcation. The length of the time delay has been computed, for which the system has preserved its stability. Numerical results show that the system was stable for the faster antiviral responses of epithelial cells to the virus concentration, i.e., quick antiviral responses stabilized patients' bodies by neutralizing the virus. However, if the antiviral response of epithelial cells to the virus increased, the system became unstable, and the virus occupied the whole body, which caused patients' deaths.

Bacterial Pathogens Associated with Community-acquired Pneumonia in Children Aged Below Five Years.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the spectrum of bacterial pathogens causing community-acquired pneumonia in children below 5 years of age. METHODS: Children aged below 5 years satisfying the WHO criteria for pneumonia, severe pneumonia or very severe pneumonia, and with the presence of lung infiltrates on chest X-ray were enrolled. Two respiratory samples, one for culture and the other for PCR analysis, and a blood sample for culture were collected from every child. RESULTS: Of the 180 samples processed, bacterial pathogens were detected in 64.4%. Streptococcus pneumoniae and Hemophilus influenzae were most frequently detected. The performance of PCR analysis and culture were identical for the typical bacterial pathogens; atypical pathogens were detected by PCR analysis only. CONCLUSION: S. pneumoniae and H. influenza were the most commonly detected organisms from respiratory secretions of children with community acquired pneumonia.