Biosynthesis of AgNPs by B. maydis and its antifungal effect against Exserohilum turcicum.

In the present study, Bipolaris maydis was used to synthesise silver nanoparticles (AgNPs). Several parameters that influence the synthesis of AgNPs such as fungus age, the concentration of Ag nitrate (AgNO3), and incubation time were explored to find the optimum synthesis condition. Furthermore, the antifungal activity of AgNPs against Exserohilum turcicum was determined by measuring inhibition zone diameter, colony formation, and conidia germination. The optimal biosynthesis system included fungus age of 7 days, 8 mM AgNO3, and an incubation time of 120 h. Under these conditions, synthesised NPs were near round, and the average particle size was about 21 nm. At the experiment, the diameter of the inhibition zone reached a maximum of 8 mM AgNO3 and 72 h. In addition, the inhibition rate of colony and conidia reached 83.39 and 100%, respectively, with 200 µg/ml AgNPs. The results offer a novel pathway for phytopathogen control and make it likely to develop new eco-friendly antimicrobial.

The maximum value of bispectral index predicts outcome in hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy after resuscitation, better than minimum or mean value.

OBJECTIVE: Although bispectral index (BIS) has been widely used for predicting neurological outcomes in clinical practice, its optimal value concerning maximum (BISmax), minimum (BISmin) and mean (BISmean) on accurately predicting the prognosis of patients with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) after resuscitation has not been clearly determined. METHODS: For a total number of 45 cases, the duration of each BIS measurement was 12 h, with the data collected at a 30 min interval. Outcome was recorded as survival and non-survival count 60 days after the resuscitation. Receiver operator characteristic curve was used to assess the BISmax, BISmin and BISmean for predicting clinical outcome. RESULTS: By the end of observation, 20 cases (44.4%) survived with a significantly higher BISmax. The area under the curve for BISmax of predicting survival was the highest compared to BISmin and BISmean. The optimal cut-off value of BISmax was 71.5 with 100% sensitivity and 60% specificity. Ten patients presented BIS value down to zero at any time point did not survive the observation. CONCLUSION: The BISmax is a better outcome predictor than BISmin or BISmean for patients with HIE after resuscitation. Lower BISmax represents higher risk of mortality. Additionally, BIS value decreases to zero represents a poor outcome.

[Role of neuron specific enolase and S100 protein in evaluation of brain damage in patients resuscitated from cardiac arrest].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the prognostic value of serum neuron specific enolase (NSE) and S100 protein in evaluation of brain damage in patients resuscitated from cardiac arrest (CA). METHODS: According to whether the patients regained consciousness after 6 months or not, 25 patients after cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) were divided into 2 groups, and blood samples were obtained for determination of NSE and S100 protein at 2, 12, 24, 48 and 72 hours after recovery of spontaneous circulation (ROSC), then the values at each time point were compared between 2 groups and also with that of 7 healthy volunteers. Receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curves of serum NSE and S100 protein were depicted and used area under curve (AUS) to scale the ability in evaluating the state of consciousness in patients after CPR. RESULTS: (1)The levels of serum NSE at 12, 48 and 72 hours and S100 protein at 2, 12, 48 and 72 hours were significantly higher in patients who did not regain consciousness compared with patients who regained consciousness (all P<0.01). (2)Compared with healthy volunteers, the levels of NSE at 12 and 24 hours and S100 protein at 12 hours were higher in patients who regained consciousness (all P<0.05), the levels of NSE at all time points and S100 protein at 12, 48 and 72 hours were significantly higher in patients who did not regain consciousness (P<0.05 or P<0.01). (3)Area under curve AUC(NSE) =0.848 (P=0.000), AUC(S100) =0.896 (P=0.000), therefore both serum NSE and S100 protein had diagnostic value for predicting whether patients resuscitated from CA could regain consciousness or not. Serum S100 protein cut-off was 0.165 microg/L, with a sensitivity of 94.4%, a specificity of 100%, a positive predictive value of 100%, a negative predictive value of 80% and an accuracy of 95.5% at 2 hours after ROSC. Serum NSE cut-off was 45.6 microg/L, all values reached 100% 48 hours after ROSC. CONCLUSION: Measurement of serum NSE and S100 protein concentrations can help judge the degree of brain damage and whether patients can regain consciousness after CPR. It will be more valuable to prognosticate a serious and continuous brain damage with dynamic observation of the serum NSE together with S100 protein.