Antimicrobial Activity of Agarwood Oil Against Multiple-Drug-Resistant (MDR) Microbes of Clinical, Food and Environmental Origin.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Multiple-Drug-Resistance (MDR) among bacteria is an imminent problem and alternative therapies are seen as a future abode. Agarwood Oil (AO) is described to possess antimicrobial activity besides many other medicinal utilities. This paper discusses the antimicrobial activity of AO on MDR and non-MDR strains of microbes of 69 genera isolated from clinical and non-clinical samples. METHODS AND RESULTS: In this study sensitivity of microbes was determined for conventional antimicrobials and AO using disc diffusion assay followed by determination of minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) using agar well dilution assay. A total of 18.5% (522) strains were found sensitive to AO. Carbapenem resistant bacterial strains were more often (p, ≤0.01) resistant to antibiotics with 4.2 times more odds (99% CI, 2.99-5.90) of being MDR than carbapenem sensitive strains but no difference in their AO sensitivity was observed. However, MDR strains were more often (p, <0.001) resistant to AO than non-MDR strains. Bacteria isolated from dogs were more often sensitive to AO than those from buffaloes, human, horse, and cattle. On the other hand, bacteria from pigs were more often (p, ≤0.05) resistant to AO than bacteria from human, cattle, buffaloes, dogs, wild carnivores and birds. Oxidase positive Gram positive bacteria had 4.29 (95% CI, 2.94-6.27) times more odds to be AO sensitive than oxidase negative Gram negative bacteria. Bacillus species strains were the most sensitive bacteria to AO followed by strains of Streptococcus and Staphylococcus. The MIC of AO for different bacteria ranged from 0.01 mg/mL to > 2.56 mg/mL. CONCLUSION: The study concluded that MDR and AO resistance had a similar trend and AO may not be seen as a good antimicrobial agent against MDR strains.

Synthesis and characterization of alumina-coated carbon nanotubes and their application for lead removal.

Alumina-coated multi-wall carbon nanotubes were synthesized and characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and FTIR. They were used as an adsorbent for the removal of lead ions from aqueous solutions in two modes, batch and fixed bed. In the batch mode, experiments were carried out to investigate the effect of contact time, agitation speed, adsorbent dosage and solution pH on the removal of lead. The coated nanotubes exhibit better removal ability over uncoated. For fixed-bed columns, thickness of the layer and flow rate were investigated. Increasing the thickness and decreasing the flow rate enhanced the removal of lead. The prepared adsorbent displayed the main advantage of separation convenience when a fixed-bed column was used compared to the batch adsorption treatment.

Potentiometric sensors enabling fast screening of the benign prostatic hyperplasia drug alfuzosin in pharmaceuticals, urine and serum.

The construction and characterization of potentiometric membrane electrodes are described for the quantification of alfuzosin, a drug used in a mono- and combined therapy of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). The membranes of these electrodes consist of alfuzosin hydrochloride-tetraphenyl borate, (Az-TPB), chlorophenyl borate (Az-ClPB), and phosphotungstate (Az(3)-PT) ion associations as molecular recognition reagent dispersed in PVC matrix with dioctylpthalate as plasticizer. The performance characteristics of these electrodes, which were evaluated according to IUPAC recommendations, revealed a fast, stable and liner response for alfuzosin over the concentration ranges of 8.3 x 10(-6) to 1.0 x 10(-2) M, 3.8 x 10(-6) to 1.0 x 10(-2) M, 7.5 x 10(-7) to 1.0 x 10(-2) M AzCl with cationic slopes of 57.0, 56.0 and 58.5 mV/decade, respectively. The solubility product of the ion-pair and the formation constant of the precipitation reaction leading to the ion-pair formation were determined conductometrically. The electrodes, fully characterized in terms of composition, life span and usable pH range, were applied to the potentiometric determination of alfuzosin hydrochloride ion in different pharmaceutical preparations and biological fluids without any interference from excipients or diluents commonly used in drug formulations. The potentiometric method was also used in the determination of alfuzosin hydrochloride in pharmaceutical preparations in four batches with different expiration dates. Validation of the method showed suitability of the proposed electrodes for use in the quality control assessment of alfuzosin hydrochloride. This potentiometric method offers the advantages of high-throughput determination, simplicity, accuracy, automation feasibility, and applicability to turbid and colored sample solutions.

Use of waste materials--Bottom Ash and De-Oiled Soya, as potential adsorbents for the removal of Amaranth from aqueous solutions.

Bottom Ash, a power plan t waste material and De-Oiled Soya, an agriculture waste product were successfully utilized in removing trisodium 2-hydroxy-1-(4-sulphonato-1-naphthylazo)naphthalene-3,6-disulphonate--a water-soluble hazardous azo dye (Amaranth). The paper incorporates thermodynamic and kinetic studies for the adsorption of the dye on these two waste materials as adsorbents. Characterization of each adsorbent was carried out by I.R. and D.T.A. curves. Batch adsorption studies were made by measuring effects of pH, adsorbate concentration, sieve size, adsorbent dosage, contact time, temperature etc. Specific rate constants for the processes were calculated by kinetic measurements and a first order adsorption kinetics was observed in each case. Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption isotherms were applied to calculate thermodynamic parameters. The adsorption on Bottom Ash takes place via film diffusion process at lower concentrations and via particle diffusion process at higher concentrations, while in the case of De-Oiled Soya process only particle diffusion takes place in the entire concentration range.