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Lloyd Collier posted an update 3 days, 7 hours ago
The flowers of the common poppy are used for medicinal purposes, both internally and externally. They are reported to have antispasmodic and antitussive properties, to alleviate inflammatory conditions and soothe anxiety-related digestive problems. The aim of the study was to determine the antioxidant potential and the content of vitamin C, polyphenols, and minerals in infusions made from the petals of the common poppy at different temperatures. The infusions were made at various temperatures (25 °C, 70 °C, 80 °C, and 90 °C). The antioxidant potential and the content of polyphenols and vitamin C were determined by spectrophotometric methods. The mineral content was determined using the ICP-OES method. The total polyphenol content ranged from 135.2 to 137.24 ppm and that of vitamin C-from 15.47 to 15.78 mg/100 mL. The temperature of the water used to make the infusions did not appear to have a significant effect on these parameters. The temperature did, however, significantly affect the antioxidant potential of the infusions-the highest antioxidant activity (71.21% DPPH inhibition) was observed in the infusion prepared using water at 80 °C. The infusions included in the study contained a number of minerals. No significant effect of temperature was found for the content of K, Zn, Cu, Fe, and Ni in the infusions. On the other hand, the content of Ca in the infusions was significantly correlated with the increasing temperature of the water. It was concluded that poppy petal infusions may serve as a valuable dietary supplement, providing antioxidants and minerals required by the human body to function properly.Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is one of the most threatening multidrug-resistant bacteria worldwide. Owing to their efficient antimicrobial properties, nanoparticles have been widely used as an alternative approach for combating the antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Consequently, this study was designed to compare in between the bactericidal effect of low doses (5 mg/kg bwt) of nanoparticles of chitosan (Ch-NPs), silver (Ag-NPs), and chitosan-silver nanocomposites (Ch-Ag NCs) both in vitro and in vivo against experimentally chronic infection induced by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). The three forms of nanoparticles were tested for their in vitro antimicrobial potential against MRSA by detection of MICs and MBCs using microdilution method. In vivo, thirty-five male albino Wistar rats were used and divided into five groups (n = 7). Group l (negative control), group 2 (MRSA infected and untreated), groups 3, 4, and 5 (MRSA infected then treated with Ch-NPs, Ag-NPs, and Ch-Ag NCs respectively for 7 days). After 6 weeks, blood samples were collected then rats were euthanized to collect different organs (liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys). Some of them were kept in 10% formalin for histopathological investigations while others used for bacterial re-isolation. Ch-Ag NCs showed the lowest MIC and MBC among the tested nanoparticles. Moreover, the highest histopathological scoring was observed in the infected and untreated group while the lowest scoring was detected in groups treated with Ch-Ag NCs in comparison with the negative control group. The highest bacterial count was noticed in the infected and untreated group followed by those treated with Ch-NPs while the lowest count was observed in group treated with Ch-Ag NCs. Depending on these results, it can be concluded that Ch-Ag NCs have a strong bactericidal effect against MRSA and may be used as alternative option to antibiotics.STUDY DESIGN Retrospective case series. OBJECTIVES To describe how pediatric patients with spinal and pelvic osteomyelitis are diagnosed and treated and assess the diagnostic value of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), needle aspiration biopsy (NAB), and blood cultures in this population. Spinal and pelvic osteomyelitis de novo are uncommon in children and minimal literature exists on the subject. Research has shown that NAB and blood cultures have variable diagnostic yield in adult native osteomyelitis. At our institution, there is no standard protocol for diagnosing and treating pediatric spinal and pelvic osteomyelitis de novo. METHODS All diagnoses of spinal and pelvic osteomyelitis at a pediatric tertiary care center from 2003 to 2017 were reviewed. Patients aged 0-21 at diagnosis were included. Patients with osteomyelitis resulting from prior spinal operations, wounds, or infections and those with chronic recurrent multifocal osteomyelitis were eliminated. All eligible patients’ diagnoses were confirmed by MRI. RESULTS 29 patients (18 men, 11 women) met the inclusion criteria. The median age at diagnosis was 11 years old (range 1-18). More than half of all cases (17/29, 59%) affected the lumbar spine. The most common symptoms were back pain (20/29, 69%), fever (18/29, 62%), hip pain (11/29, 38%), and leg pain (8/29, 28%). Rottlerin The majority of NABs and blood cultures performed were negative, but of the positive tests Staphylococcus aureus was the most prevalent bacteria. 86% (25/29) had an MRI before a diagnosis was made and 72% (13/18) had an NAB performed post-diagnosis. CONCLUSIONS MRI is a popular and helpful tool in diagnosing spinal osteomyelitis de novo. NAB cultures are often negative but can be useful in determining antibiotic treatment. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE Level IV.Periventricular white matter injury (PWMI) is a common cause of spastic cerebral palsy (SCP). Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) shows high sensitivity but moderate specificity for predicting SCP. The limited specificity may be due to the diverse and extensive brain injuries seen in infants with PWMI. We enrolled 72 infants with corrected age from 6 to 18 months in 3 groups PWMI with SCP (n = 20), non-CP PWMI (n = 19), and control (n = 33) groups. We compared DTI-based brain network properties among the three groups and evaluated the diagnostic performance of brain network properties for SCP in PWMI infants. Our results show abnormal global parameters (reduced global and local efficiency, and increased shortest path length), and local parameters (reduced node efficiency) in the PWMI with SCP group. On logistic regression, the combined node efficiency of the bilateral precentral gyrus and right middle frontal gyrus had a high sensitivity (90%) and specificity (95%) for differentiating PWMI with SCP from non-CP PWMI, and significantly correlated with the Gross Motor Function Classification System scores.