Influence of parasite load on the diagnosis and occurrence of eosinophilia in alcoholic patients infected with Strongyloides stercoralis.

Alcoholic patients are more susceptible to Strongyloides stercoralis infection. The chronic use of alcohol raises the levels of endogenous corticosteroids, which regulates the development of larvae and stimulates the differentiation of rhabditiform into infective filariform larvae, thus inducing internal autoinfection. Therefore, early diagnosis is important to prevent severe strongyloidiasis. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of parasitological methods, according to the parasite load and the number of stool samples, for diagnosis of S. stercoralis infection, as well the peripheral blood eosinophil count in alcoholic patients. A total of 330 patients were included in this study. The diagnosis was established using three parasitological methods: agar plate culture, Baermann-Moraes method and spontaneous sedimentation. Peripheral eosinophilia was considered when the level was >600 eosinophils/mm3. The agar plate culture (APC) had the highest sensitivity (97.3%). However, the analysis of multiple samples increased the sensitivity of all parasitological methods. The sensitivities of the methods were influenced by the parasite load. When the larval number was above 10, the sensitivity of APC was 100%, while in spontaneous sedimentation the sensitivity reached 100% when the larval number was above 50. In the present study, 15.4% of alcoholic patients infected with S. stercoralis (12/78) had increased peripheral blood eosinophil count (above 600 eosinophils/mm3). For an efficient parasitological diagnosis of S. stercoralis infection in alcoholic patients, repeated examination by two parasitological methods must be recommended, including agar plate culture due to its higher sensitivity. Moreover, S. stercoralis infection was associated with eosinophilia, mostly in patients excreting up to 10 larvae/g faeces.

Controlling the atomic distribution in PtPd nanoparticles: thermal stability and reactivity during NO abatement.

In situ X-ray absorption spectroscopy and mass spectrometry measurements were employed to simultaneously probe the atom specific short range order and reactivity of Pd and PtPd nanoparticles towards NO decomposition at 300 °C. The nanoparticles were synthesized by a well controlled, eco-friendly wet chemical reduction of metal salts and later supported on activated carbon. Particularly for the bimetallic PtPd samples, distinct atomic arrangements were achieved using a seeding growth method, which allowed producing a random nanoalloy, or nanoparticles with Pt- or Pd-rich core. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and X-ray diffraction provided additional insights on their electronic, morphological and long range order structural properties. The results revealed that the higher the thermal induced atomic migration observed within the nanoparticles during thermal treatments, the least were their reactivity for NO abatement.

Charge transfer effects on the chemical reactivity of Pd(x)Cu(1-x) nanoalloys.

This work reports on the synthesis and characterization of PdxCu1-x (x = 0.7, 0.5 and 0.3) nanoalloys obtained via an eco-friendly chemical reduction method based on ascorbic acid and trisodium citrate. The average size of the quasi-spherical nanoparticles (NPs) obtained by this method was about 4 nm, as observed by TEM. The colloids containing different NPs were then supported on carbon in order to produce powder samples (PdxCu1-x/C) whose electronic and structural properties were probed by different techniques. XRD analysis indicated the formation of crystalline PdCu alloys with a nanoscaled crystallite size. Core-level XPS results provided a fingerprint of a charge transfer process between Pd and Cu and its dependency on the nanoalloy composition. Additionally, it was verified that alloying was able to change the NP's reactivity towards oxidation and reduction. Indeed, the higher the amount of Pd in the nanoalloy, less oxidized are both the Pd and the Cu atoms in the as-prepared samples. Also, in situ XANES experiments during thermal treatment under a reducing atmosphere showed that the temperature required for a complete reduction of the nanoalloys depends on their composition. These results envisage the control at the atomic level of novel catalytic properties of such nanoalloys.