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Urban rats are significant reservoirs of zoonotic endoparasites, posing serious health risks to humans. This study aimed to detect common endoparasites in wild brown rats (Rattus norvegicus) in Budapest, addressing the current lack of endoparasite surveys in Hungary. Carcasses of 131 rats collected following extermination were examined. Three zoonotic helminths were identified: Hymenolepis nana and Hymenolepis diminuta in the jejunum, and Calodium hepaticum in the liver. Additionally, non-zoonotic parasites were detected, including Eimeria spp., Entamoeba muris, Heterakis spumosa, Nippostrongylus brasiliensis, Eucoleus gastricus, Aonchotheca annulosa, Syphacia muris (intestine), and Trichosomoides crassicauda (urinary bladder). Helminth infection prevalence was 83.9 %, with no noticeable differences in prevalence or infection intensity between sexes. These findings highlight the potential public health risk posed by zoonotic parasites in urban rat populations, emphasising the importance of surveillance to mitigate possible human infection. This study demonstrates a practical and economical approach to monitoring urban rat populations. Further large-scale studies are recommended to better understand the parasitic landscape in Hungary's rat populations, leveraging data from rat control programs., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare there are no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Although many Pb 2+ -selective optodes have been developed so far, methods using optical sensor membranes have not become widespread in environmental analytical practice. In order to create a bulk optode sensor, which can overcome all of the main drawbacks in the application of conventional optode membranes, - i.e., pH-dependence, long response time and the leakage of the ionic components - unusually thick PVC membrane was developed, embedded in microtiter plates and operated on a novel concept. This is the first reported work, which applies a plate-format optode as well as a direct optode-type sensing membrane for determination of Pb 2+ . We reported here also the first example for the application of an ionic component-free bulk optode membrane to avoid the membrane leakage, improve the regenerability and extend the lifetime of the membrane. The reported sensor has a LOD above 4.0 × 10 -7  M (∼83 μg L -1 ), thus it is unsuitable for the effective monitoring of drinking waters, but considered to be a promising method for monitoring contamination episodes. On the other hand, the widest pH-independent working range of 4.3 < pH < 7.0 among bulk optodes reported in the literature was realized and an unprecedentedly fast response time of <10 s was achieved. The effectiveness of the applied method was investigated by measuring Pb 2+ -spiked multicomponent aqueous solutions as simulated environmental or wastewater samples containing near equimolar amounts of Ag + , Ca 2+ , Co 2+ , Cu 2+ , K + , Mg 2+ , Na + and Zn 2+ as acetate salts. In the presence of these potential competing ions with a concentration not greater than the typical ionic strength of surface freshwaters (∼10 -3  M) the reported sensor proved to be appropriate for the selective detection of Pb 2+ without any preparation of the samples (e.g., preconcentration, buffering, addition of excipients, etc.) with a required sample volume of only 100 μL. An outstanding analytical performance could be achieved within an average time of less, than 5 s/sample. The reported fluorescent probe is considered to be a promising method for replacing atomic absorption spectroscopy- (AAS), anodic stripping voltammetry- (ASV) or inductively coupled plasma- (ICP) based techniques as well as conventional ion-selective bulk membranes in high-throughput preliminary environmental monitoring of Pb 2+ , as it provides a cheap and unprecedentedly fast qualitative analysis of contaminated surface and wastewaters., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Gamma-ray radiation is a unique way to induce chemical transformations of bioactive compounds. In the present study, we pursued this approach to the diversity-oriented synthesis of analogs of 20-hydroxyecdysone (20E), an abundant ecdysteroid with a range of beneficial, non-hormonal bioactivities in mammals including humans. Gamma irradiations of aqueous solutions of 20E were conducted either in N 2 - or N 2 O-saturated solutions. Centrifugal partition chromatography was used to fractionate crude resulting irradiated materials using a biphasic solvent system composed of tert-butyl alcohol - ethyl acetate - water (0.45:0.9:1, v/v/v) in ascending mode. Subsequently, the products were purified by RP-HPLC. Fourteen ecdysteroids, including five new compounds, were isolated, and their structure were elucidated by 1D and 2D NMR and HRMS. Compounds 2-4, 7, 9, 12 and 15 were tested for their capacity to increase the Akt- and AMPK-phosphorylation of C2C12 murine skeletal myotubes in vitro. The compounds were similarly active on Akt as their parent compound. Stachysterone B (7) and a new ring-rearranged compound (12) were more potent than 20E in activating AMPK, indicating a stronger cytoprotective effect. Our results demonstrate the use of gamma irradiation in expanding the chemical diversity of ecdysteroids to obtain new, unusual bioactive metabolites., (Copyright © 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Antibiotic resistance containment strategies at wastewater treatment plants need to be supported by a firm knowledge on the behavior of resistant bacteria within a diverse microbial population in the presence of trace amount of antibiotics. In this study via investigating the population dynamics of resistant/sensitive Staphylococcus aureus co-cultures in several model wastewater matrix systems, valuable insights were obtained into the effect of trace amount of antibiotics (piperacillin and erythromycin) on bacteria, and into the suitability of advanced oxidation treatment (electron beam irradiation) as a remediation measure. It appears that environmentally relevant concentration levels of the antibiotic present in a wastewater matrix leads to a shift in the population in favor of the sensitive subtype, presumably on account of triggering protective biochemical processes in the resistant mutant, which confer no selective advantage since the sensitive strain remains unaffected in this concentration range. The impact of these conditions on the population dynamics can be diminished by using advanced oxidation treatment, considering that degradation products from the wastewater matrix constituents (such as humic acid) might also have an effect. Furthermore, it became also apparent that the presence of trace amount of antibiotics while triggers biological processes in the resistant subtype, concomitantly makes the bacteria more sensitive towards the attack of free radicals during advanced oxidation treatment. The behavior of resistant bacteria under environmental conditions at the cellular and population level clearly merits more attention., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The rate constants of carbonate radical anion (CO 3 - ) reaction with organic molecules, mainly of environmental interest, were collected from the literature and structure effects were discussed together with methods of rate constant determination and reaction mechanisms. These rate constants are essential for modelling chemical processes taking place with participation of reactive radicals in the environment determining the persistence of certain toxic compounds. The rate constants span over a very wide range from 10 2 to 10 9  mol -1  dm 3  s -1 , but, even the highest values are smaller by a factor of 2-5 as the diffusion controlled limit. This survey shows that only those molecules have high rate constants in the 10 7 -10 9  mol -1  dm 3  s -1 range which have special electron rich part(s). These molecules are removed selectively in CO 3 - reactions. Such electron rich moiety is the NH 2 group attached to an aromatic ring. High vales were measured e.g., for most of anilines or the sulfonamide antibiotics. -CO group attached to the N-atom (in acetanilides and in phenylurea herbicides), or strong electron withdrawing substituents on benzene ring strongly decrease the rate constant. High values were also measured for aromatic molecules with dissociated -OH group (O - , phenoxides). The thioether group (e.g., in amino acids, or in fenthion or phorate insecticides) also activates the molecules in CO 3 - reactions., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: Radiofrequency denervation of the facet joints is performed via a well-established method. Its primary, direct indication is a positive response to a nerve block injection (MBB). Our study aimed to find other, effective but indirect indication signs through the retrospective analysis of our patients treated earlier., Patients and Methods: In our institute between 1 January, 2008 and 31 December, 2017 facet joint denervation has been performed in more than 2000 cases, and we included 529 patients in our retrospective study. We had separate groups for vertebral compression fractures and for spondylarthrosis of different severity (Grade 1; 2-3; 4), thus we assessed the postoperative condition of these patients using Visual Analoge Scale (VAS). The efficacy of the intervention was examined in every groups separately according to symptoms and previous spine surgeries., Results: In view of our results, chronic lumbago and dorsalgia that are attributable to osteoporotic vertebral compression fracture are obvious indications if they do not respond to conservative therapy, as 76.8% of such patients remained asymptomatic for minimum 6 months (p = 0,000). Another indication is Grade 2 or 3 chronic spondylarthrosis without radicular involvement, since these groups reported a 51.4% success rate (asymptomatic for minimum 6 months) (p = 0,015). Long term pain relief is obviously impaired by the presence of radicular compression, as we were not able to decrease the pain of 97% of such patients. Our findings also suggest that the vast majority of those who have previously undergone spine surgery cannot benefit from the intervention., Conclusion: Based on this study, facet joint denervation can serve as an effective therapy supplement in a properly selected group of patients who do not respond to oral NSAIDs, exercise and physiotherapy. By this procedure we found we can reach long term benefit in the groups of osteoporotic vertebral fracture patients and patients with moderate spondylarthrosis. According to our results and the literature datas the properly patient selection for the indication of the RF ablation can be as effective as the controversial diagnostic nerve block injections., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

SALEN- and SALAN-based complexes with catalytically active metal centers are very promising small molecules to be utilized as part of antioxidant therapies. Here we discuss a modified SALAN-type molecule armed with two phosphonate groups that significantly increase its water solubility and aid to furnish mono- or dinuclear complexes with Cu 2+ ions. The regulation of the SOD-mimicking (i.e., catalytic) disproportionation reaction of the superoxide radical anion (O 2 •- ) at pH ~7.5 could be achieved by adjusting the metal-to-ligand stoichiometry as confirmed by McCord-Fridovich and pulse radiolysis tests. The higher antioxidant activity of the dicopper complex can be explained by the better access of O 2 •- to the copper centers and their more positive Cu(II)/Cu(I) redox potential. Simultaneously the analysis of in vitro effect on cells morphology indicates that cytotoxicity is also affected by the metal-to-ligand ratio, however, the active complex molecules do not show notable cytotoxicity that, together with the observed SOD-like activities, makes them potential candidates for antioxidant therapies., (Copyright © 2019. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Advanced oxidation processes are promising technologies for removal of antibiotic residues from wastewater in terms of their high efficacy. However, recent studies have reported the remaining antibacterial activity of the products at early-stages of treatment. The present study investigates the effect of such products of model β-lactams (amoxicillin, ampicillin, cloxacillin) on bacteria introducing structure-based, and biological approaches involving Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacterial strains. Chemical analysis revealed the destruction of the β-lactam pharmacophore in competition with the reaction at the aromatic ring. Multisite attack occurs on the penicillin skeleton producing OH-substituted products. The enhanced hydrophilicity confers higher diffusion rate through the porin channels of Gram-negative bacteria and through the hydrophilic cell wall of Gram-positive species. Accordingly, an increase in acute toxicity of treated samples was observed at the beginning of the treatment. The same tendency was observed for target-specific antimicrobial activity investigated with antibiotic susceptibility testing (agar-diffusion, bacterial growth). Prolonged treatments yielded products, e.g. polyhydroxylated phenolic compounds, being also deleterious for bacteria. Therefore, the advanced oxidation process should be judiciously optimized., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The emergence of multidrug resistant (MDR) cancer phenotypes dramatically attenuates the efficiency of antineoplastic drug treatments often leading to the failure of chemotherapy. Therefore there is an urgent need to engineer new therapeutically useful agents and propose innovative approaches able to defeat resistant cancer cells. Although the remarkable anti-cancer features of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) have already been delineated their impact on MDR cancer has never been investigated. Herein, we report that AgNPs have notable anti-proliferative effect and induce apoptosis mediated cell death both in drug sensitive and in MDR cancer cells. Furthermore we show evidence that AgNPs exert an inhibitory action on the efflux activity of MDR cancer cells which feature could be exploited to enhance drug accumulation. We verified synergistic interactions of AgNPs with six different antineoplastic agents on drug resistant cells which emphasizes the excellent potential of AgNPs as combinational partners in the chemotherapy of MDR cancer., From the Clinical Editor: The treatment of cancer often fails due to the development of multidrug resistant (MDR) cancer cells. Hence, novel approaches are being investigated to combat drug resistant cancer cells. One particular method studied here uses silver nanoparticles (AgNPs). The authors showed that AgNPs had anti-proliferative effect and ?exerted an inhibitory action on ABC transporter. The findings could suggest the possible use of AgNPs in combination with other chemotherapeutic agents in the clinical setting., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Due to the recent changes in yeast taxonomy, a novel wine-related species Candida zemplinina as well as a "reinstated" species Saccharomyces uvarum have been accepted in addition to Candida stellata, Saccharomyces bayanus and Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and the use of the different taxon names has been inconsistent in the literature of food microbiology. The aim of this work is to make an exact comparison of genetically identified strains of these species, under oenological conditions. Dynamics and some important products of alcoholic fermentation were investigated in laboratory fermentations. The results show that C. zemplinina and C. stellata are similar in their strong fructophilic character. C. stellata produces more glycerol and fare more ethanol, which is comparable with that produced by S. uvarum. Strains of the latter species differed from S. cerevisiae mainly in low acetic acid production and lower ethanol yield. Revision of the oenological traits of these yeasts provides new data for consideration in the control of fermentation, with special regard to botrytized sweet wines, where they are frequently found in mixed population., (Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Objective: Our purpose was to test the hypothesis that chronic inhibition of nitric oxide synthesis in pregnant rats can produce a preeclampsia-like syndrome., Study Design: Pregnant rats were instrumented on day 14 of gestation (parturition day 21 to 22) and infused continuously through a venous catheter with L-nitro-arginine, a potent inhibitor of nitric oxide synthase, or with sterile saline solution from day 18 until 24 hours post partum. A group of virgin rats was treated identically. Blood pressure was recorded in unrestrained animals with an aortic catheter for 30 minutes before infusion and repeated each day throughout the experiment. Urinary albumin, platelet count, weight of newborn pups, blood chemistry, and several other parameters were determined. Data were analyzed by one-way, repeated-measures analysis of variance, with Dunnett's t test or by Student t test., Results: Mean arterial pressure increased from 102.6 +/- 2.8 to a mean maximum of 152.5 +/- 7.3 on the second day of infusion and remained in this range until delivery, after which it fell significantly, in spite of continuing infusion of L-nitro-arginine. This treatment increased urinary albumin (milligrams per 24 hours) from 8.3 +/- 1.5 to 56.3 +/- 14.3 in gravid and from 8.2 +/- 0.8 to 18.2 +/- 2.4 in virgin rats. Weight of newborn pups was reduced by L-nitro-arginine from 5.62 +/- 0.10 to 3.37 +/- 0.32 gm (p < 0.005) without affecting time of delivery or litter size. Platelet count was reduced 58% in gravid and 50% in virgin rats., Conclusion: Chronic inhibition of nitric oxide synthesis in gravid rats leads to sustained hypertension, proteinuria, thrombocytopenia, and intrauterine growth retardation, providing a simple animal model for preeclampsia.