Evaluation of the safety and immune stimulatory effects of multi-strain Lab Mix product on laboratory animals.

Background & aims: Probiotics are alive and beneficial bacteria used as food complements with sufficient amounts to improve and balance the intestinal flora in the human gastrointestinal tract and inhibit harmful microorganisms. In this study, we conducted experiments to evaluate he safety and the effect of one of our probiotics on selected biochemical parameters in animal models. Methods: LabMix is a probiotic product containing three bacterial strains, including Lactobacillus acidophilus LA 304.17, Lactobacillus casei LC 304.08, and Bifidobacterium bifidum BF 304.98, with a density of 9 × 109 CFU/g and being mixed with suitable excipients. In this study, we conducted experiments to evaluate LabMix's acute ttoxicity in mice as well as subchronic toxicity in rats. Results: The LD50 dose in mice of this product could not be determined since no death or disorder was recorded. In rats receiving LabMix with doses of 2.52 × 109 CFU/kg and 12.6 × 109 CFU/kg continuously for 28 days, this product caused no significant changes in the amount of red and white blood cells and platelets. Similarly, no significant changes were recorded in serum concentrations of hemoglobin, alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), glucose, protein, cholesterol, bilirubin, and creatinine. Besides, LabMix products also did not cause any changes in the histology of the liver, kidney, and spleen in rats. Moreover, LabMix was well tolerated without affecting the normal growth and feeding of rats. Furthermore, LabMix also decreased serum cytokines and increased serum and gut mucosal IgA antibodies. Conclusions: LabMix product is possibly considered safe for human., and this sproduct reduced the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-6 and TNF-α), but increased IgA levels. However, it is necessary to further evaluate the product's effectiveness in the preclinical phase as well as in further phases before mass production and commercialization.

Stainless Steel Activation for Efficient Alkaline Oxygen Evolution in Advanced Electrolyzers.

Designing robust and cost-effective electrocatalysts for efficient alkaline oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is of great significance in the field of water electrolysis. In this study, an electrochemical strategy to activate stainless steel (SS) electrodes for efficient OER is introduced. By cycling the SS electrode within a potential window that encompasses the Fe(II)↔Fe(III) process, its OER activity can be enhanced to a great extent compared to using a potential window that excludes this redox reaction, decreasing the overpotential at current density of 100 mA cm-2 by 40 mV. Electrochemical characterization, Inductively Coupled Plasma - Optical Emission Spectroscopy, and operando Raman measurements demonstrate that the Fe leaching at the SS surface can be accelerated through a Fe → γ-Fe2O3 → Fe3O4 or FeO → Fe2+ (aq.) conversion process, leading to the sustained exposure of Cr and Ni species. While Cr leaching occurs during its oxidation process, Ni species display higher resistance to leaching and gradually accumulate on the SS surface in the form of OER-active Fe-incorporated NiOOH species. Furthermore, a potential-pulse strategy is also introduced to regenerate the OER-activity of 316-type SS for stable OER, both in the three-electrode configuration (without performance decay after 300 h at 350 mA cm-2) and in an alkaline water electrolyzer (≈30 mV cell voltage increase after accelerated stress test-AST). The AST-stabilized cell can still reach 1000 and 4000 mA cm-2 at cell voltages of 1.69 and 2.1 V, which makes it competitive with state-of-the-art electrolyzers based on ion-exchange membrane using Ir-based anodes.

Serotype distribution and antibiotic resistance of Streptococcus pneumoniae isolates collected from unvaccinated children with pneumonia at a province in central Vietnam.

Background and Objectives: Identification of pnemococcal serotypes and antimicrobial resistance provides helpful information for the use of suitable vaccines and antibiotics; however, very limited data is available on these issues in Vietnam. The present study aimed to find the serotype distribution and drug resistance patterns of Streptococcus pneumoniae isolated from unvaccinated children less than 5 years of age with pneumonia at a province in centre Vietnam. Materials and Methods: A total of 126 clinical pnemococcal strains isolated from unvaccinated children less than 5 years of age with pneumonia at the Nghe An province, Vietnam between Nov 2019 and Mar 2021. All strains were identified using conventional microbiological method, VITEK® 2 Compact system, specific PCR and sequencing. The serotypes and antimicrobial resistance patterns of pnemococcal strains were determined using the multiplex PCR assays and VITEK® 2 Compact system. Results: The results showed that, eight different pneumococcal serotypes were identified. The most common serotypes were 19F (67.46%), followed by 23F (10.32%), 19A (9.52%), 6A/B (3.17%), 15A (2.38%), 9V (3.17%), 11A (1.59%) and 14 (0.80%), respectively. More than half of the pneumococcal strains were non-susceptible to penicillin. The resistance rate to ceftriaxone and cefotaxime were 41.3% and 50.8%. The percentage of pneumococci strains resistant to clarithromycin, azithromycin, erythromycin, cotrimoxazole, tetracyclin, and clindamycin were more than 93% of all strains. All pneumococcal serotypes were highly resistant to clarithromycin, azithromycin, erythromycin, cotrimoxazole, and clindamycin. Conclusion: Our findings showed high antibiotic resistance rates of the strains causing pneumococcal pneumonia, mostly macrolide resistance, among unvaccinated children.

210Po sequential extraction applied to wetland soils at uranium mining sites.

Former uranium mining activities have led to the presence of naturally occurring nuclides embedded in soil. Such activities have also modified the secular equilibrium between radionuclides in 238U decay series. The objective of this paper is to quantify the long-term effect of former uranium mining activities on the behavior of the final radionuclide in the 238U-series, i.e. polonium-210 (210Po), present in soils. Soil samples are extracted from two uranium sites in France, specifically a quarried site and a natural site. The polonium distribution is studied within the various soil fractions, namely: water soluble, exchangeable, bound to carbonates, bound to iron/manganese oxides, bound to organic matter, and residual. 210Po is mainly found in the residual fraction of both study sites (87-90%), followed by the carbonates fraction (5-9%). The 210Po activity in the other fractions is very small in comparison with total activity.