Biosurfactants offer numerous advantages over the chemical surfactants, especially in energy and environment-related applications. Microbial enhanced oil recovery (MEOR) is a technique to recover oil from reservoirs by using microbes and their metabolites. In present study, total sixteen morphologically distinct bacterial strains isolated from different salty areas of the district Khairpur Mir’s, Pakistan, were investigated for their MEOR potential. Screening assays for thermotolerance and halotolerance declared 7 out of 16 (43.75%) bacterial isolates as thermotolerant (capable of growing in the temperature range 60-70 °C) and halotolerant (tolerating NaCl concentrations up to 17%, w/v). Moreover, five of them were screened as biosurfactant producers. Among, the lowest surface tension reduction was achieved with biosurfactants produced by the strains KJ2MO (27.8 mN/m) and KJ2SK (29.3 mN/m). The biosurfactant activity was found stable at temperature (100-121 °C, 1 h) and pH (4-10). Moreover, maximum oil recovery was obtained with biosurfactant of bacterial strain KJ2MO (54.7%, 51.25%) followed by KJ2SK (44.7%, 40.5%), KJ1WB (37%, 35.5%) and KJ2MD (37.8%, 31.9%) by using either techniques, i.e., soil washing and sand-packed column, respectively. Moreover, the potent species were identified as Pseudomonas pseudoalcaligenes KJ1WB, Bacillus aerius KJ2MD, Bacillus licheniformis KJ2SK, and Bacillus subtilis KJ2MO using 16S rRNA ribo-typing. The investigated species were found to be promising biosurfactants producers having potential for enhanced oil recovery and could be used in other environmental applications like bioremediation.Streptomyces sp. S501, which was isolated from the sediment of Yalujiang Estuary in China, was the first marine Streptomyces species discovered to act as an excellent petroleum degrader. We analyzed the effect of pH, temperature, and concentration of NH4NO3 on the petroleum degradation of strain S501, and the optimum biodegradation rate reached 63.02% under the condition of 2 g/L NH4NO3 addition at 30 °C and pH 8. The complete genome sequence of Streptomyces sp. S501 was determined by using the PacBio RSII platform, which contains a linear chromosome with 7,173,651 bp and a linear plasmid with 288,181 bp, with GC contents of 71.19% and 67.57%, respectively. The genome sequence suggests that Streptomyces sp. S501 has the ability to degrade several hazardous pollutants, as well as the ability to biosynthesize diverse secondary metabolites and enzymes. There are fifty annotated genes involved in oil component degradation, and there are three genes without known annotation information in Streptomyces sp. S501, which have high homology with genes encoding P450 family enzymes and should be novel genes involved in alkane degradation. This study provides useful genetic information for investigating the molecular mechanisms of marine Streptomyces, with biodegradation and application potential.

Psychedelic therapy is showing promise for a broad range of mental health conditions, indicative of a transdiagnostic action. While the efficacy of symptom-focused treatments foreating disorders (EDs) is limited, improved mental health and psychological wellbeing are thought to contribute to greater treatment outcomes. This study provides the first quantitative exploration of the psychological effects of psychedelics in those reporting an ED diagnosis.

Prospective, online data were collected from individuals planning to take a psychedelic drug. Twenty-eight participants reporting a lifetime ED diagnosis completed measures of depressive symptomology (Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomology; QIDS-SR16) and psychological wellbeing (Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale; WEMWBS) 1-2weeks before, and 2weeks after a psychedelic experience. Twenty-seven of these participants also completed a measure of emotional breakthrough [Emotional Breakthrough Inventory (EBI)] in relation to the acute psychedelic experience.

Bayesian t tests demonstrated overwhelming evidence for improvements in depression and wellbeing scores following the psychedelic experience. Marginal evidence was also found for a correlation between emotional breakthrough and the relevant mental health improvements.

These findings provide supportive evidence for positive psychological aftereffects of a psychedelic experience that are relevant to the treatment of EDs. It is hoped that this will encourage further research and will bolster initiatives to directly examine the safety and efficacy of psychedelic assisted therapy as a treatment of EDs in future clinical trials.

Level III, cohort study.

Level III, cohort study.

Surgeon-performed ultrasound (SUS) for head and neck masses is increasingly being performed by head and neck surgeons. This is the first study assessing its impact in a head and neck surgical oncology clinic, examining the effect on various parameters.

Retrospective analysis was conducted on a database, analysing and comparing all new patients reviewed 6months prior to (pre-SUS group) and 6months following (post-SUS group) the introduction of SUS to the outpatient head and neck surgical oncology clinic. Retinoic acid mouse The numbers of radiology imaging investigations (ordered through a medical imaging department), fine-needle aspirations (FNAs) performed, clinical appointments and time to definitive treatment decision were analysed and compared.

A total of 365 patients were included 169 in the pre-SUS group and 196 in the post-SUS group. There was a statistically significant difference in the number of total radiological imaging investigations performed (1.60 vs. 0.70, p < 0.00001), radiologist-performed FNAs (0.24 vhealth-care system.

Based on current knowledge, the SARS-CoV-2 is transmitted via droplet, aerosols and smear infection. Due to a confirmed high virus load in the upper respiratory tract of COVID-19 patients, there is a potential risk of infection for health care professionals when performing surgical procedures in this area. The aim of this study was the semi-quantitative comparison of ENT-typical interventions in the head and neck area with regard to particle and aerosol generation. These data can potentially contribute to a better risk assessment of aerogenic SARS-CoV-2-transmission caused by medical procedures.

As a model, a test chamber was created to examine various typical surgical interventions on porcine soft and hard tissues. Simultaneously, particle and aerosol release were recorded and semi-quantitatively evaluated time-dependently. Five typical surgical intervention techniques (mechanical stress with a passive instrument with and without suction, CO

laser treatment, drilling and bipolar electrocoagulation) were examined and compared regarding resulting particle release.