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Leishmaniasis is a protozoan infection with chronic manifestation, having high morbidity and mortality rates, and adversely affecting almost every species of animals. It is a globally prevalent vector-borne disease throughout all tropical and subtropical regions. Twenty intracellular species belonging to the genus leishmania cause all types of leishmaniasis infection, including cutaneous, mucocutaneous, and visceral leishmaniasis in animals and human beings. Sandfly, as a vector, is responsible for its transmission between different hosts. Animals and humans affected with leishmaniasis may be prone to re-infection of another disease, especially the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) syndrome, through trans-activation modification of the immune system. Several diagnostic procedures have been developed and are being used for its detection and confirmation. Hence, there is a need for standard as well as advanced diagnostic tools that are immediately required to identify the species for further treatment and to adopt precautionary and safety measures against leishmaniasis. The current review constitutes a brief picture flowing from microscopic evaluation to all possible immunological techniques that can detect the species and can differentiate between different types of leishmaniasis, along with the morphology and various routes of transmission of the parasite. These methods include serological antigenic screening like direct and indirect agglutination tests, indirect fluorescent antibody test, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, western blotting, and immuno-chromatographic test to advanced molecular techniques like nucleic acid sequence-based amplification, polymerase chain reaction, loop-mediated isothermal amplification assay and some modern techniques like proteomics, transcriptomics and protein biomarkers. The aim of this brief overview of all these diagnostic techniques is to summarize the recent development in the diagnosis to find a cheap and early diagnostic procedure for better detection and control of the infection.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), disproportionately affects immunocompromised and elderly patients. Not only are hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) and chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell recipients at greater risk for severe COVID-19 and COVID-19–related complications, but they also may experience suboptimal immune responses to currently available COVID-19 vaccines. Optimizing the use, timing, and number of doses of the COVID-19 vaccines in these patients may provide better protection against SARS-CoV-2 infection and better outcomes after infection. To this end, current guidelines for COVID-19 vaccination in HCT and CAR T-cell recipients from the American Society of Transplantation and Cellular Therapy Transplant Infectious Disease Special Interest Group and the American Society of Hematology are provided in a frequently asked questions format.

Hydrogenation catalyst is of major importance in the production of eco-friendly oxidant hydrogen peroxide. Herein, in this work co-precipitation and an incipient wetness-impregnation method are use...

Deposition of calcium salts or scaling on heat transfer surfaces is a major industrial problem around the globe. Scales get deposited in industrial process equipments severely affecting its life sp...

BACKGROUNDIncreasing age is a risk factor for COVID-19 severity and mortality; emerging science implicates GM-CSF and dysregulated myeloid cell responses in the pathophysiology of severe COVID-19.METHODSWe conducted a large, global, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study evaluating a single 90 mg infusion of otilimab (human anti-GM-CSF monoclonal) plus standard of care in adults hospitalized with severe COVID-19 respiratory failure and systemic inflammation, stratified by age and clinical status. Primary outcome was the proportion of patients alive and free of respiratory failure at Day 28; secondary endpoints included all-cause mortality at Day 60.RESULTSOverall, 806 patients were randomized (1:1); 71% of patients receiving otilimab were alive and free of respiratory failure at Day 28 versus 67% receiving placebo, although this did not reach statistical significance (model-adjusted difference 5.3% [95% CI −0.8, 11.4]; p=0.09). However, there was a benefit in the pre-defined ≥70-year age group (model-adjusted difference 19.1% [95% CI 5.2, 33.1]; nominal p=0.009); these patients also had a reduction of 14.4% (95% CI 0.9, 27.9%; nominal p=0.04) in model-adjusted all-cause mortality at Day 60. Safety findings were comparable between otilimab and placebo, and consistent with severe COVID-19.CONCLUSIONSAlthough not statistically significant in the overall population, otilimab demonstrated a substantial benefit in patients aged ≥70, possibly reflecting a population that could benefit from therapeutic blocking of GM-CSF in severe COVID-19 where myeloid cell dysregulation is predominant. These findings are being confirmed in a further cohort of patients aged ≥70 in Part 2 of this study. (ClinicalTrials.gov number: NCT04376684).

Chemical Engineering Department, Vidyasagar National Institute of Technology Nagpur, Nagpur-440 010, Maharashtra, India Department of Chemical Engineering, Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai-40019, India E-mail: ab.pandit@ictmumbai.edu.in Manuscript received online 10 April 2020, accepted 08 June 2020 The catalytic hydrogenation of 2-ethylanthraquinone in the anthraquinone process of production of hydrogen peroxide gaining more interest to meet environmental demands of hydrogen peroxide as green oxidant. Noble metal palladium becomes a new category of catalyst due to their significant applicability in the catalytic hydrogenation reactions. Herein, wet impregnation method was used for synthesis of palladium supported on hollow ceramic microsphere catalysts. The palladium supported on hollow ceramic microsphere exhibits high catalytic selectivity, activity and stability in the liquid phase hydrogenation of 2- ethylanthraquinone. The reaction obeyed zero and first order kinetics with 2-ethylanthraquinone and hydrogen respectively. The average value of reaction rate constant observed was 2 mol L–1 h–1 and 6 L h–1 respectively. Highest yield of hydrogen peroxide obtained was 96.5% with a less consumption of 2-ethylanthraquinone.

Department of Chemical Engineering, Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai-40019, India ASAL, Department of Chemical Engineering, Vidyasagar National Institute of Technology, Nagpur-440 010, Maharashtra, India E-mail: ab.pandit@ictmumbai.edu.in Manuscript received online 07 April 2020, accepted 12 June 2020 Metal salts deposition on the surfaces of heat transfer equipment is one of the critical problems faced in chemical industries. A slight change in operating parameters of the process fluid after coming in contact with a foreign surface or particle often results in equilibrium shift of the dissolved metal ions leading to scale deposition. This causes reduced thermal efficiency, high maintenance cost and increased pressure drop in the unit has been observed followed by plant shut down for maintenance. The present work involves a systematic simulation and modelling of a Stirred Tank Reactor (STR) with different orientations of the impeller. The effect of the fluid flow and hydrodynamic condition on surface of the impellers was studied and compared with experimental values from literature to confirm its significance on gypsum scale deposition or removal from the metal surface. The system was modelled using multiphysics software COMSOL version 5 for understanding of the process. It was observed that on increasing Reynolds number (Re), linear tip velocity (V) and shear rate (s–1) of the fluid, the rate of scale deposition increased up to Re of 21,000, V of 3.5–4 m/s and s of 25–33 1/s respectively. However, beyond these values the rate of scale formation and deposition started reducing and further increase in these parameters leads to physical attrition of the metal surface.

In industries where water is used for heating/cooling purpose i.e. water desalination, oil fields operations are carried out, one of the major problem is deposition of metal salts on the surface of the different heat transfer equipments reducing its overall heat transfer efficiency, increased pressure drop and increasing the maintenance cost of the unit and due to shut down of the plant there is a reduction in the production. It also decreases the purity of the desired product. When the various metal salts present in the process fluid combine with each other due to a change in the pH, pressure, concentration and temperature of the operating system, leads to a change in the solubility of the ions present in the system. This leads to the process of nucleation and crystal growth in the system. In the current work, we have examined the process of deposition of gypsum crystals in a supersaturated brine on the Mild steel (MS) metal surface and its inhibition under different hydrodynamic conditions. It was observed in this work that on increasing the severity of the hydrodynamic conditions the depositions of gypsum (CaSO4.2H2O) was increasing up to certain limit and beyond it the deposition of the salts was not observed. Even the particle or crystal structure was greatly influenced due to the changing hydrodynamic conditions.

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