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Despite being a preventable and treatable disease, cholera remains a public health problem in Sudan. The objective of the outbreak investigation was to identify associated risk factors that would help institute appropriate control measures. A case control study design was chosen to identify the risk factors for cholera in Gadarif State. Multi-variate analysis of identified two risk factors and three preventive factors for cholera in Gadarif City. Risk factors: Buying foods or drinks from street vendors (OR = 71.36), 95 % CI: 16.58–307.14), living in an urban setting (Gadarif City) (OR = 5.38), 95 % CI: 2.10–13.81); and the preventive factors were: Washing hands with water after defecation but without soap (OR = 0.16), 95 % CI: 0.04–0.63) or with soap (OR = 0.01), 95 % CI: 0.00–0.03), washing hands before eating (OR = 0.15), 95 % CI: 0.05–0.51) and taking Oral Cholera Vaccine (OCV) (OR = 0.19, 95 % CI: 0.08–0.44). The effectiveness of OCV (VE) was (Unadjusted VE: 80 %, 95 % CI: 69 %-87 %) or (Adjusted VE = 81.0 %, 95 % CI: 56.0 %-92.0 %). Cholera outbreaks, especially in the setting of a complex humanitarian crises, can spread rapidly, resulting in many deaths, and quickly become a public health crisis. Implementation of a community-wide vaccination campaign using OCV as early as possible during the outbreak while implementing other control measures to target hotspots and at-risk populations would expedite halting outbreaks of cholera and save lives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spherical homogeneous 32 nm, protein coated Pseudomonas silesiensis strain A3 CuNPs was investigated for their cytotoxicity effect as well as antimicrobial and antitumor activity. CuNPs cytotoxicity was estimated using human normal lung cell lines (Wi38) against CuNPs with concentrations ranging from 25 to 150 μg/mL using neutral red uptake assay. The cytotoxicity study revealed that the bacterial CuNPs had an impact on Wi38 cell viability at concentrations of 25, 50, 100 and 150 μg/mL CuNPs were 95.8, 91.1, 89.2 and 82.3%, respectively, with a strong correlation coefficient (r = 0.94) and a CuNPs IC 50 value of 1057.0 μg/mL. CuNPs exhibit a broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity against various microorganism species, including fungi and Gram positive and negative bacteria using the agar-well diffusion method. The findings revealed that the most sensitive pathogens were Staphylococcus aureus ATCC5638 and Aspergillus flavus ATCC 9643 which tended to have a high inhibition zone diameter (50 and 47 mm, respectively). The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of CuNPs was 50 μg/mL. The minimum lethal concentration (MLC) values were 50 and 75 μg/mL for S. aureus ATCC 5638 and A. flavus ATCC 9643, respectively. MLC/MIC ratio was ≤2, suggesting the CuNPs had a bactericidal or fungicidal effect on both pathogenic strains. Results also indicated that bacterial CuNPs at varying concentrations of 25, 50, 100 and 150 μg/mL were such a good antitumor agent against A549 lung carcinoma cell lines with an IC 50 value of 137.5 μg/mL and a cell viability of 89.3, 79.6, 64.9 and 44.1%, respectively. The results also suggested that the biosynthesized-CuNPs were an antimicrobial and anticancer agent that could be used in future in food preservation, biomedicine and pharmaceutical fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cellulose/polypyrrole and cellulose/polypyrrole-TiO 2 composites were prepared via in situ oxidative chemical polymerization of pyrrole using FeCl 3 as oxidant. The concentration effect of pyrrole on the structure and properties of prepared matrix has been investigated. Furthermore, the structure of the prepared materials was characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray Diffraction (XRD), and Thermal gravimetrical analysis (TGA). The results exhibited that the addition of cellulose and TiO 2 increase the thermal stability of the polypyrrole system. Moreover, dielectric properties of the obtained composites were studied over frequency range from 42 Hz to 5 MHz. The electrical measurements including dielectric constant, ε′(ω), dielectric loss, ε′′(ω), loss tangent, tan δ and ac conductivity, σac were carried. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aqueous dispersions of citric-acrylate (CAC) oligomer encapsulating C.I. Pigment Blue 15:3 (PB15:3) in the presence of glutaraldhyde were formulated using the phase separation method. FT-IR spectroscopy and centrifuge sedimentation are performed to confirm the encapsulation of pigment into CAC oligomer. The prepared capsules were characterized using thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) and transmission electron microscope (TEM). The results revealed that the encapsulated pigment had a profound multifunctional impact and minimized the driving force of pigment printing on the cellulosic fabrics. Besides, the encapsulated pigment accelerated the pigment fixation on cellulosic fabrics without drying in one step and reduced the required amount of the binder, compared with the control sample. Furthermore, the printed fabrics exhibited good antibacterial performance against both Escherichia coli ( E. coli ) and Staphylococcus aureus ( S. aureus ). The presence of the crosslinker could be stabilized the encapsulated pigment on the cellulosic fabrics. Moreover, the light and washing fastness for the printed fabrics using encapsulated pigment are higher than that in case of using control samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This work aims at preparation, characterization and electrical conductivity evaluation of novel poly (methyl methacrylate), PMMA, based nanocomposites. The sodium titanate nanowire (Na2Ti n O2n+1) was prepared using titanium dioxide nanoparticles via hydrothermal treatment method. The hybrid PMMA nanocomposites were prepared by in situ emulsion polymerization of methyl methacrylate in presence of cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide and potassium persulfate as a cationic surfactant and initiator, respectively. In addition to, PMMA/polyaniline (PA)-based nanocomposites were obtained by adding sodium titanate nanowires and/or silver nitrate nanoparticles into the polymer mixture. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) transmission electron microscope (TEM), scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray diffraction pattern (XRD) and infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) were used to characterize the structures of the nanocomposites. The resultant nanocomposites exhibited core–shell structure. Moreover, the conductivity of the prepared hybrid PMMA nanocomposites was increased from 1.32×10−8 to 5.9×10−5 scm−1 with an increasing of the titanium dioxide nanowires concentration. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The combination of gelatin (Gel) with a bioactive component hydroxyapatite (HA) and cartilage powder (CP) to form biocomposites takes advantage of the osteoconductivity and osteoinductivity properties. The studies on bionanocomposites containing HA, CP fillers and Gel are still being conducted. In this present study, the bioactive fillers were loaded onto poly(hydroxylethylmethacrylate) and poly(hydroxylethylmethacrylate-co-methyl methacrylate) grafted gelatin copolymers to produce novel bionanocomposites having osteoconductive and osteoinductive properties. The resulting bionanocomposites were assessed by ATR-IR and SEM-EDX techniques to prove the interaction between different matrices. In vitro behavior of these bionanocomposites was performed in SBF for 21 days at pH 7.4 to verify formation of the apatite layer on the surfaces and its enhancement. The results confirmed the formation of thick plentiful aggregated (hexagonal or spherical) nanoparticles with a bright color (apatite layer) containing carbonate ions onto the surface of composites especially these containing CP and P(HEMA-co-MMA) having bone cement formation in their structure. These novel bionanocomposites have unique bioactivity that can be applied in bone implants as scaffolds and tissue engineering in future. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

UV-curable hyperbranched polyester acrylate is formulated for encapsulation of phthalocyanine pigments using liquid-phase separation method. The encapsulated pigments were used as a UV-curable binder incorporated the pigment colours to eliminate the solid content, slow dry rate and hardness of conventional UV curable systems. Thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), transmission electron microscope (TEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), dynamic light scattering (DLS) and X-ray diffraction pattern (XRD) were examined in details. The characterization demonstrated the successful encapsulation of phthalocyanine pigments via UV-curable hyperbranched polyester acrylate. Thermal gravity analysis indicates that the encapsulated pigment films have better thermal stability than the pure pigments. The roughness and colour fastness to rubbing, washing, and light of the printed fabrics by encapsulated pigment, were compared to the same fabrics printed by conventional pigment printing using the UV curable formulation system with the linear counterpart of polyester acrylate as well as the conventional UV curable binder. The results showed that the printed samples with encapsulated pigment displayed the highest colour strength compared with the conventional printed samples. Additionally, the UV-curable hyperbranched polyester acrylate can be cured by short exposure to UV light and eliminate the surface roughness effect of UV curable system, decreased the solid content which increased the durability properties, rubbing and washing of printed fabrics. Image 1 • UV-curable hyperbranched polyester acrylate incorporated the pigment colours. • This process eliminates the drawbacks of conventional UV curable systems. • The printed samples acquired colour durability compared to conventional UV curable systems. • This work meet the wearability and comfort requirements for pigment printing of textiles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]