Renewable synthesis of MoO3 nanosheets via low temperature phase transition for supercapacitor application.

2D transition metal oxides have created revolution in the field of supercapacitors due to their fabulous electrochemical performance and stability. Molybdenum trioxides (MoO3) are one of the most prominent solid-state materials employed in energy storage applications. In this present work, we report a non-laborious physical vapor deposition (PVD) and ultrasonic extraction (USE) followed by vacuum assisted solvothermal treatment (VST) route (DEST), to produce 2D MoO3 nanosheets, without any complex equipment requirements. Phase transition in MoO3 is often achieved at very high temperatures by other reported works. But our well-thought-out, robust approach led to a phase transition from one phase to another phase, for e.g., hexagonal (h-MoO3) to orthorhombic (α-MoO3) structure at very low temperature (90 °C), using a green solvent (H2O) and renewable energy. This was achieved by implementing the concept of oxygen vacancy defects and solvolysis. The synthesized 2D nanomaterials were investigated for electrochemical performance as supercapacitor electrode materials. The α-MoO3 electrode material has shown supreme capacitance (256 Fg-1) than its counterpart h-MoO3 and mixed phases (h and α) of MoO3 (< 50 Fg-1). Thus, this work opens up a new possibility to synthesize electrocapacitive 2D MoO3 nanosheets in an eco-friendly and energy efficient way; hence can contribute in renewable circular economy.

Adverse drug reaction profile of daily regimen antituberculosis treatment.

Objectives: The objective was to estimate the proportion of adverse drug reactions (ADRs) to daily regimen antituberculosis treatment (ATT) among the ADRs received in the ADR monitoring center (AMC) of the institution and to describe its pattern. Materials and Methods: This was a descriptive study conducted in the Department of Pharmacology of a Government Medical College in Central Kerala and the period under study was October 2017-June 2020. The data on ADR were entered into a structured pro forma and data were analyzed using SPSS for Windows Version 16.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, USA). Results: Of the 643 ADRs, 98 (15.24%) were suspected to be due to the daily regimen of ATT. The most common organ system affected was hepatobiliary 46 (46.9%) namely hepatitis in 35 and asymptomatic elevated liver enzymes in 11 followed by eye with 26 reports of decreased vision. In 96 (97.95%), the suspected ADR had probable causality and in 2 (2.04%) it was possible. Seventy-seven (78.6%) ADR reports were serious as well as moderate-level 4b in severity and 57 (58.16%) were probably preventable. The mean days of onset of ADR after starting the ATT regimen were 56.40 ± 58.29 days (range 1-180). Decrease in vision with a mean duration of 125.23 ± 55.46 days had the longest latency in onset among all the ADRs. Conclusions: Of all the ADRs reported to AMC 15.24% were due to the daily regimen of ATT. Hepatitis was the most common ADR encountered followed by decrease in vision. The majority of the ADRs were probable in causality, serious, moderate-level 4b in severity, and probably preventable.

Gonorrhoea treatment failures to cefixime and azithromycin in England, 2010.

Successful treatment of gonorrhoea is the mainstay of public health control. Cefixime and ceftriaxone, highly active third generation cephalosporins, are today the recommended first-line agents in most countries and azithromycin is a second-line agent. However, there is increasing evidence of decreasing susceptibility and emergence of therapeutic failures. In this report two cases of clinical failure to cefixime are described, one of which additionally shows failure to azithromycin and selection of a less susceptible strain during treatment.

Being seen within 48 hours--what do patients think?

A questionnaire survey of 1000 patients was carried out to determine the proportion of patients attending a large genitourinary medicine department in Newcastle upon Tyne who wish to be seen within 48 hours. The Department of Health target for patients offered an appointment within 48 hours is 100%. Its target for the proportion of patients seen within 48 hours is 95%. Patients were surveyed to ascertain their preference about waiting times for appointments within the clinic. In total, only 33% stated that they wished always to be seen within the government's target of 48 hours.

Solvent Assisted Tuning of Morphology of a Peptide-Perylenediimide Conjugate: Helical Fibers to Nano-Rings and their Differential Semiconductivity.

Understanding the regulatory factors of self-assembly processes is a necessity in order to modulate the nano-structures and their properties. Here, the self-assembly mechanism of a peptide-perylenediimide (P-1) conjugate in mixed solvent systems of THF/water is studied and the semiconducting properties are correlated with the morphology. In THF, right handed helical fibers are formed while in 10% THF-water, the morphology changes to nano-rings along with a switch in the helicity to left-handed orientation. Experimental results combined with DFT calculations reveal the critical role of thermodynamic and kinetic factors to control these differential self-assembly processes. In THF, P-1 forms right handed helical fibers in a kinetically controlled fashion. In case of 10% THF-water, the initial nucleation of the aggregate is controlled kinetically. Due to differential solubility of the molecule in these two solvents, elongation of the nuclei into fibers is restricted after a critical length leading to the formation of nano-rings which is governed by the thermodynamics. The helical fibers show superior semi-conducting property to the nano-rings as confirmed by conducting-AFM and conventional I-V characteristics.

Audit of the use of benzathine penicillin, post-treatment syphilis serology and partner notification of patients with early infectious syphilis.

Recent increases in the incidence of early infectious syphilis have been particularly noted in men who have sex with men (MSM). Case-notes of 40 consecutive patients with infectious syphilis and follow-up data for one year were audited. Of the 40 patients, six were HIV co-infected. In all, 31 men received benzathine penicillin as first line while the remaining had other treatments. About 17 (42.5%) failed to attend for any post-treatment serological tests. Of the remainder, 17 (42.5%) attended for the first appointment and only 13 (32.5%) attended for the full one year follow-up. In all, 40 men in the study had 362 sexual contacts of which only 44 (12.2%) elected to be screened. This study illustrates the successful use of benzathine penicillin as first-line treatment, lack of patient compliance with post-treatment serological follow-up and difficulty with partner notification.

Audit of outcome of super-accelerated hepatitis B vaccination schedule in a genitourinary medicine clinic.

An audit of outcomes from the first year of implementation of a super-accelerated hepatitis B vaccination schedule was performed. One hundred and sixteen patients commenced vaccination for hepatitis B in the study period. All notes were located and reviewed. In all, 72.4% of patients completed three vaccinations compared with 61.5% in an earlier period using the old schedule. Serological response for 39 patients was measured at approximately 12 weeks post commencement of vaccination. Of these 69.2% had mounted some serological response, 48.7% a good response. As expected, a faster vaccination schedule improves completion rates for the first three injections. Early serological responses are encouraging and comparable to published data for new schedule vaccination responses at 12 weeks. It is anticipated that serological response will continue to improve over the year before a booster dose of hepatitis vaccination is due.

Risks and behaviour in patients requesting HIV tests.

A prospective survey to assess reasons for requesting HIV tests, perceived HIV risk and sexual behaviour in genitourinary medicine clinic attenders was carried out. Overall 123 (38.6%) were concerned about casual sexual contacts. Homosexual and bisexual men may have changed their sexual behaviour as a result of public health campaigns but publicity had little immediate effect on prompting people to have an HIV test.

Reiter's syndrome and keratoderma blennorrhagica on glans penis--is this unusual?

Current teaching on Reiter's syndrome is that keratoderma blennorrhagica lesions appear characteristically on the soles of feet, although they can be seen on other parts of the body infrequently. We therefore thought that it would be interesting to report the case of keratoderma blennorrhagica lesions found on the glans penis of a circumcised patient with Reiter's syndrome.

What is new with antibiotic-resistant gonorrhoea in Newcastle, England?

Neisseria gonorrhoeae isolates that were resistant to ciprofloxacin and/or penicillin were analysed to investigate the escalating problem of antibiotic-resistant gonorrhoea in the north east of England. Opa-typing (outer membrane opacity protein) was carried out on isolates resistant to ciprofloxacin and of nutrient nonrequiring (NR) auxotype. In the year 2000 there were 265 cases of gonorrhoea, of which 44 (16.6%) were resistant to penicillin and 12 (4.5%) were resistant or had reduced sensitivity to ciprofloxacin (with only four of these acquired outside the UK). Three (7.5%) of the non-beta-lactamase penicillin-resistant isolates were imported from abroad. By Opa-typing of ciprofloxacin-resistant strains, one pair of the isolates was similar, two were unique and one was similar to the Oldham/Rochdale outbreak strain described early in 2000. This marked increase in the prevalence of indigenous ciprofloxacin resistance requires continued surveillance and may soon necessitate an alteration in our first line treatment.

Audit of gonorrhoea test of cure at the genitourinary medicine department in Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.

The aim of the audit was to assess the need for a microbiological test of cure for gonorrhoea when a sensitive antibiotic has been used. All cases of gonorrhoea attending our clinic in 2001 were reviewed. One hundred and seventy-three cases were diagnosed, 137 men and 36 women. Of the 126 cases where tests of cure were taken, none were positive from an infective site when a sensitive antibiotic was used. Cases of gonorrhoea from year 2000 were then analysed for test of cure. Of 125 tests of cure again none were positive. These results question the need for routine tests of cure which current national guidelines state are usually performed in UK practice. The implications of abandoning a test of cure visit are discussed.

Neisseria gonorrhoeae in Newcastle upon Tyne 1995-1997: increase in ciprofloxacin resistance.

Fluoroquinolones and third generation cephalosporins are the most effective antimicrobial agents for the treatment of gonorrhoea. However, clinically significant resistance to fluoroquinolones in Neisseria gonorrhoeae has been reported worldwide including Britain. The aim of this analysis was to study the factors relating to ciprofloxacin resistance and treatment failure. A total of 201 patients attending the Newcastle Genitourinary Medicine (GUM) clinic from 1995-1997 who were diagnosed with culture positive gonorrhoea was analysed. Treatment failure rates for ciprofloxacin were determined and the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) was measured for all cases of treatment failure. The case notes of all patients who had strains with MICs of ciprofloxacin in the resistant range (>0.05 microg/ml) were reviewed to determine the clinical outcome. The ciprofloxacin resistance with treatment failure was seen in 5% (8/160). All the 8 cases of treatment failure were heterosexual and had isolates resistant to penicillin and 4 cases (50%) were also resistant to tetracycline. All were sensitive to spectinomycin and ceftriaxone. Most of the cases probably acquired their infection from the Far East. As ciprofloxacin resistance seems to be associated with overseas exposure, changes in the standard treatment of gonorrhoea are not justified but consideration should be given to appropriate alternatives when the infection may have arisen from where such resistant strains are endemic. Monitoring fluoroquinolone resistance is now essential for ensuring adequate treatment of infections with resistant strains and for maximizing the time of usage of fluoroquinolones to treat gonorrhoea.

Does bacterial vaginosis alter the sensitivity of screening tests for Chlamydia trachomatis? An analysis of patient characteristics.

The aim of this study was to assess if patient characteristics could influence the sensitivity of enzyme immunoassay (EIA) testing used for chlamydia screening. Our cohort consisted of 56 patients who were known polymerase chain reaction-positive for chlamydia, but with variable EIA results. Characteristics analysed included those already known to influence the EIA (menstruation, pregnancy, difficult examination) and those suspected from clinical observation (including presence of symptoms or signs, coexistent gonorrhoea, duration from last sexual exposure). An unexpected finding was that significantly more cases of bacterial vaginosis were found in those chlamydia EIA-negative compared to those with positive results. We postulate that an enzyme produced in bacterial vaginosis, proline aminopeptidase, may cause destruction of the chlamydial cell wall, therefore affecting the EIA adversely. Further research is needed to explore this hypothesis.