Characterization and treatment effects on Mutaka kaolin for additive in coatings: Mineral composition, thermal and structural modifications.

Previous studies in Uganda have primarily explored kaolin's applications in composites, pottery, bricks, and insulation, neglecting its potential for coatings and paints, which is crucial for industrialization and saving foreign exchange. This study investigates the transformation of kaolin through various treatments and analyzes their impacts on its physical and chemical properties for potential use in coating applications. Thermal analysis, X-ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy (XRF), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDS), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) techniques were employed to assess these alterations. The results show that thermal treatment of kaolin at 45.9 °C had minimal impact on mass loss, while the crystallinity of kaolinite was found to be lost around 600 °C, resulting in structural changes. XRF result demonstrates variations in SiO2 and Al2O3 composition, with low TiO2 content desirable for paint and coating applications. XRD results showed well-defined diffractions associated with kaolinite in all treated and untreated kaolin samples. The presence of K-feldspar and quartz are also identified. However, the thermal treatment at 800 °C transforms kaolinite into metakaolin, essential for enhancing coating properties. SEM-EDS results indicate increased porosity and reduced impurities in the thermal-treated sample, which might enhance the whiteness and suitability of pigment and binder dispersion in coatings. TEM images confirmed the hexagonal nature of kaolinite platelets and demonstrated the amorphous nature of kaolin nanoparticles with ammonium molybdate treatment, which led to the delamination and exfoliation of kaolinite layers, improving dispersibility. Kaolin thermally treated exhibited good crystallinity, solid growth, cubic morphology, and uniform size distribution. These findings suggest that tailored treatments can optimize kaolin's properties, making it a promising additive for high-performance coatings.

Hoslundia opposita vahl; a potential source of bioactive compounds with antioxidant and antibiofilm activity for wound healing.

BACKGROUND: Biofilms and oxidative stress retard wound healing. The resistance of biofilms to antibiotics has led to a search for alternative approaches in biofilm elimination. Antioxidants work synergistically with antibacterial agents against biofilms. Hence recent research has suggested plants as candidates in the development of new alternatives in biofilm treatments and as antioxidants due to the presence of phytocompounds which are responsible for their bioactivities. Hoslundia opposita Vahl is one of the plants used by traditional healers to treat wounds and other infections, this makes it a potential candidate for drug discovery hence, in this study, we investigate the antibiofilm and antioxidant activity of methanolic extract of hoslundia opposita Vahl from Uganda. We also identify phytochemicals responsible for its bioactivity. METHOD: the plant was extracted by maceration using methanol, and the extract was investigated for antioxidant activity using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical (DPPH) assay. The antibiofilm activity using microtiter plate assay (MTP) assay where the Minimum biofilm inhibitory concentration required to inhibit 50% or 90% of the biofilm (MBIC50 and MBIC90) and Minimum biofilm eradication concentration required to remove 50% or 90% of the biofilm (MBEC50 and MBEC90) were measured. It was further analysed for its phytochemical composition using quantitative screening, as well as Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and Liquid chromatography mass-spectrometry (LC-MS). RESULTS: H. Opposita Vahl extract showed good antioxidant activity with of 249.6 mg/mL. It inhibited the growth of P. aeruginosa and S. aureus biofilms with MBIC50 of 28.37 mg/mL and 10 mg/mL, respectively. It showed the ability to eradicate P. aeruginosa and S. aureus biofilms with MBEC50 of 23.85 and 39.01 mg/mL respectively. Phytochemical analysis revealed the presence of alkaloids, tannins, flavonoids, and phenols. GC-MS analysis revealed 122 compounds in the extract of which, 23 have evidence of antioxidant or antibiofilm activity in literature. The most abundant compounds were; 1,4- Citric acid, Tetracontane-1,40-diol (43.43.3%, 1, Olean-12-en-28-oic acid, 3-hydroxy-, methyl ester, (3.beta) (15.36%) 9-Octadecenamide (12.50%), Squalene (11.85%) Palmitic Acid 4TMS (11.28%), and alpha Amyrin (11.27%). The LC-MS identified 115 and 57 compounds in multiple reaction mode (MRM) and scan modes respectively. CONCLUSION: H. opposita Vahl showed antibiofilm and antioxidant activity due to bioactive compounds identified, hence the study justifies its use for wound healing. It can be utilised in further development of new drugs as antibiofilm and antioxidants.

Blood bank programs and transfusion sustainability. A serial mediating model.

INTRODUCTION: Researchers establish that the current challenges of blood safety and shortage are based on relationship between master production scheduling and blood transfusion sustainability of blood banks. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study is to evaluate program relationship between master production scheduling and blood transfusion sustainability through total quality management and blood production. METHODS: A survey questionnaire was adopted with staff from regional and government university teaching hospital blood banks. Simple random sampling was used to collect data from respondents. Preliminary and main data analysis was done using SPSS AMOS23. RESULTS: The results revealed that master production scheduling influence blood transfusion sustainability when serially mediated by total quality management and blood production with 34% variation change at 95% confidence interval. Again, the results obtained show that master production scheduling influence total quality management significantly. Furthermore, total quality management influence blood production significantly. Finally, blood production influence blood transfusion sustainability significantly. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS: Master production scheduling program actions has a positive significant relationship with blood transfusion sustainability through total quality management and blood production programs as serial mediators. This research contributes to the management of blood banks and suggests to have a greater relational management of total quality management, blood production and master production scheduling program actions in order to achieve high levels of blood transfusion sustainability, and in general, a greater benefit for society.

A di-electrophoretic simulation procedure of iron-oxide micro-particle drug attachment system for leukemia treatment using COMSOL software: a potential treatment reference for LMICs.

Background: Leukemia encompasses various subtypes, each with unique characteristics and treatment approaches. The challenge lies in developing targeted therapies that can effectively address the specific genetic mutations or abnormalities associated with each subtype. Some leukemia cases may become resistant to existing treatments over time making them less susceptible to chemotherapy or other standard therapies. Objective: Developing new treatment strategies to overcome resistance is an ongoing challenge particularly in Low and Middle Income Countries (LMICs). Computational studies using COMSOL software could provide an economical, fast and resourceful approach to the treatment of complicated cancers like leukemia. Methods: Using COMSOL Multiphysics software, a continuous flow microfluidic device capable of delivering anti-leukemia drugs to early-stage leukemia cells has been computationally modeled using dielectrophoresis (DEP). Results: The cell size difference enabled the micro-particle drug attachment to the leukemia cells using hydrodynamic focusing from the dielectrophoretic force. This point of care application produced a low voltage from numerically calculated electrical field and flow speed simulations. Conclusion: Therefore, such a dielectrophoretic low voltage application model can be used as a computational treatment reference for early-stage leukemia cells with an approximate size of 5 µm.

Efficacy of nano encapsulated herbal extracts in the treatment of induced wounds in animal models: a systematic review protocol.

BACKGROUND: Wounds inflict pain and affect human health causing high expenditure on treatment and management. Herbal crude extracts are used in traditional medicine as a treatment for wounds and other illnesses. However, the progress in the use of plants has been deterred due to their poor solubility and poor bioavailability requiring administration at high doses. It has been established that nanoencapsulation of herbal products in nanocarriers (size 1 nm to 100 nm) such as nanofibers, nanoparticles, nanospheres, and nanoliposomes greatly improves their efficacy. Due to their small and large surface area, nanocarriers are more biologically active, improve bioavailability, protect the drug from deterioration, and release it to the targeted site in a sustainable manner. AIM: The review aims to collate and appraise evidence on the efficacy of nano encapsulated herbal extracts in the treatment of induced wounds in animal models. METHODS: The review will be protocol-driven and conducted according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis for Protocols (PRISMA-P) and protocol guidelines for systematic review and meta-analysis for animal intervention studies. The final review will be conducted and reported with reference to PRISMA 2020 statement. Studies will be searched in Pub Med, ProQuest, Web of Science, Medline Ovid, EMBASE, and Google Scholar. The PRISMA flow criteria will be followed in screening the articles for inclusion. Data extraction form will be designed in Excel spreadsheet 2013 and data extracted based on the primary and secondary outcomes. Risk of bias assessment will be done using SYRCLE's risk of bias tool for animal studies. Data analysis will be done using narrative and quantitative synthesis. EXPECTED RESULTS: We hope to make meaningful comparisons between the effectiveness of the herb-loaded nanomaterials and other interventions (controls) in the selected studies, based on the primary and secondary outcome measures. We expect that these findings to inform clinical practice on whether preclinical studies show enough quality evidence on the efficacy and safety of herbal-loaded nanomaterials that can be translated into clinical trials and further research. SYSTEMIC REVIEW REGISTRATION: PROSPERO 330330. The protocol was submitted on the 11th of May 2022.

Green synthesis and characterization of iron-oxide nanoparticles using Moringa oleifera: a potential protocol for use in low and middle income countries.

OBJECTIVE: Green synthesized iron(III) oxide (Fe3O4) nanoparticles are gaining appeal in targeted drug delivery systems because of their low cost, fast processing and nontoxicity. However, there is no known research work undertaken in the production of green synthesized nano-particles from the Ugandan grown Moringa Oleifera (MO). This study aims at exploring and developing an optimized protocol aimed at producing such nanoparticles from the Ugandan grown Moringa. RESULTS: While reducing ferric chloride solution with Moringa oleifera leaves, Iron oxide nanoparticles (Fe3O4-NPs) were synthesized through an economical and completely green biosynthetic method. The structural properties of these Fe3O4-NPs were investigated by Ultra Violet-visible (UV-Vis) spectrophotometry, X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). These nanoparticles exhibited UV-visible absorption peaks at 225 nm (nm) for the sixth dilution and 228 nm for the fifth dilution which indicated that the nanoparticles were photosensitive and the SEM study confirmed the spherical nature of these nanoparticles. The total synthesis time was approximately 5 h after drying the moringa leaves, and the average particle size was approximately 16 nm. Such synthesized nanoparticles can potentially be useful for drug delivery, especially in Low and Middle Income Countries (LMICs).

Phyto-Mediated Copper Oxide Nanoparticles for Antibacterial, Antioxidant and Photocatalytic Performances.

The greatest challenge of the current generation and generations to come is antimicrobial resistance, as different pathogenic bacteria have continuously evolved to become resistant to even the most recently synthesized antibiotics such as carbapenems. Resistance to carbapenems limits the therapeutic options of MDR infections as they are the only safe and effective drugs recommended to treat such infections. This scenario has complicated treatment outcomes, even to the commonest bacterial infections. Repeated attempts to develop other approaches have been made. The most promising novel therapeutic option is the use of nanomaterials as antimicrobial agents. Thus, this study examined the efficacy of Camellia sinensis extract (CSE) and Prunus africana bark extract (PAE) green synthesized Copper oxide nanoparticles (CuONPs) against carbapenem-resistant bacteria. Furthermore, the photocatalytic and antioxidant activities of CuONPs were evaluated to determine the potential of using them in a wide range of applications. CuONPs were biosynthesized by CSE and PAE. UV vis spectroscopy, X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Dynamic light scattering (DLS), Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) were used to characterize the nanoparticles. CuONPs susceptibility tests were carried out by the agar well diffusion method. The photocatalytic and antioxidant activities of the CuONPs were determined by the methylene blue and DPPH free radical scavenging assays, respectively. UV vis absorbance spectra registered surface plasmon resonance peaks between 272 and 286 nm, confirming the presence of CuONPs. The XRD array had nine strong peaks at 2θ values typical of CuONPs. FTIR spectra exhibited bands associated with organic functional groups confirming capping and functionalization of the CuONPs by the phytochemicals. DLS analysis registered a net zeta potential of +12.5 mV. SEM analysis revealed that the nanoparticles were spherical and clustered with a mean diameter of 6 nm. Phytosynthesized CuONPs exhibited the highest growth suppression zones of 30 mm with MIC ranging from 30 to 125 µg/ml against MDR bacteria. Furthermore, the CuONPs achieved a methylene blue dye photocatalysis degradation efficiency of 85.5% and a free radical scavenging activity of 28.8%. PAE and CSE successfully bio-reduced copper ions to the nanoscale level with potent antimicrobial, photocatalysis, and antioxidant activities.

A systematic review of modeling and simulation approaches in designing targeted treatment technologies for Leukemia Cancer in low and middle income countries.

Virtual experimentation is a widely used approach for predicting systems behaviour especially in situations where resources for physical experiments are very limited. For example, targeted treatment inside the human body is particularly challenging, and as such, modeling and simulation is utilised to aid planning before a specific treatment is administered. In such approaches, precise treatment, as it is the case in radiotherapy, is used to administer a maximum dose to the infected regions while minimizing the effect on normal tissue. Complicated cancers such as leukemia present even greater challenges due to their presentation in liquid form and not being localised in one area. As such, science has led to the development of targeted drug delivery, where the infected cells can be specifically targeted anywhere in the body. Despite the great prospects and advances of these modeling and simulation tools in the design and delivery of targeted drugs, their use by Low and Middle Income Countries (LMICs) researchers and clinicians is still very limited. This paper therefore reviews the modeling and simulation approaches for leukemia treatment using nanoparticles as an example for virtual experimentation. A systematic review from various databases was carried out for studies that involved cancer treatment approaches through modeling and simulation with emphasis to data collected from LMICs. Results indicated that whereas there is an increasing trend in the use of modeling and simulation approaches, their uptake in LMICs is still limited. According to the review data collected, there is a clear need to employ these tools as key approaches for the planning of targeted drug treatment approaches.

Isolation and characterization of chitosan from Ugandan edible mushrooms, Nile perch scales and banana weevils for biomedical applications.

Of recent, immense attention has been given to chitosan in the biomedical field due to its valuable biochemical and physiological properties. Traditionally, the chief source of chitosan is chitin from crab and shrimp shells. Chitin is also an important component of fish scales, insects and fungal cell walls. Thus, the aim of this study was to isolate and characterize chitosan from locally available material for potential use in the biomedical field. Chitosan ash and nitrogen contents ranged from 1.55 to 3.5% and 6.6 to 7.0% respectively. Molecular weight varied from 291 to 348KDa. FTIR spectra revealed high degree of similarity between locally isolated chitosan and commercial chitosan with DD ranging from 77.8 to 79.1%. XRD patterns exhibited peaks at 2θ values of 19.5° for both mushroom and banana weevil chitosan while Nile perch scales chitosan registered 3 peaks at 2θ angles of 12.3°, 20.1° and 21.3° comparable to the established commercial chitosan XRD pattern. Locally isolated chitosan exhibited antimicrobial activity at a very high concentration. Ash content, moisture content, DD, FTIR spectra and XRD patterns revealed that chitosan isolated from locally available materials has physiochemical properties comparable to conventional chitosan and therefore it can be used in the biomedical field.