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Abstract Background The problem of resistance to beta-lactam antibiotics, which is caused by ESBL and AmpC β-lactamases, is getting worse globally. Infections caused by bacterial isolates harboring these enzymes are difficult to treat with carbapenems being the sole effective treatment option for such infections. The objective of this study was to determine the frequency of ESBLs and AmpC-producing Gram-negative bacilli isolated from clinical specimens and to evaluate the sensitivity of cefepime-tazobactam combination against them. Methods This is an observational cross-sectional study carried out on 100 Gram-negative bacilli at Theodor Bilharz Research Institute Hospital during the period from February 2015 to January 2016. ESBL production was screened by using the disc diffusion test followed by confirmation by the combined disc confirmatory test, the screening for AmpC production was conducted using the cefoxitin disc test, which was subsequently confirmed by the AmpC disc test. Isolates confirmed positive for ESBL and/ or AmpC production were investigated for their susceptibility to antibiotics. Results Among 100 Gram-negative bacilli, 44 isolates were confirmed as ESBL producers by the combined disc confirmatory test out of 56 isolates that tested positive for ESBL production through the disc diffusion test. The presence of AmpC production was assessed using the cefoxitin disc test, 32 isolates were screened to be AmpC producers, and the AmpC disc test confirmed AmpC production in 9 isolates of them. Using the Mast® D68C set, 32 isolates were ESBL producers, 3 were AmpC producers, and 4 isolates were ESBL/AmpC co-producers. The highest sensitivity was to cefepime-tazobactam (91.48%) followed by the carbapenems. Conclusion Cefepime-tazobactam showed remarkable activity against ESBL and/or AmpC-producing Gram-negative bacilli and may be considered as a therapeutic alternative to carbapenems.

The advent of quantum computers could enable the resolution of complex computational problems that conventional cryptographic protocols find challenging. As a result, the formidable computing capabilities of quantum computers may render all present-day cryptographic schemes that rely on computational complexity ineffectual. Inspired by these possibilities, the primary purpose of this paper is to suggest a quantum image encryption scheme based on quantum cellular automata with mixed multi-chaos hybrid maps and a hyperchaotic system with quantum operations. To achieve desirable encryption outcomes, we designed an encryption scheme involving two main operations: (1) pixel-level diffusion and (2) pixel-level permutation. Initially, the secret keys generated using the hyperchaotic system were closely tied to the original image. During the first phase, the establishment of correlations among the image pixels, in addition to the three chaotic sequences obtained from the hyperchaotic system, was achieved with the application of a quantum-state superposition and measurement principle, wherein the color information of a pixel is described using a single qubit. Therefore, the three channels of the plain image were subjected to quantum operations, which involve Hadamard transformation and the quantum-controlled NOT gate, before the diffusion of each color channel with the hyperchaotic system. Subsequently, a quantum ternary Toffoli gate was used to perform the diffusion operation. Next, the appropriate measurement was performed on the three diffused channels. To attain the confusion phase, a blend of mixed multi-chaos hybrid maps and a two-dimensional quantum cellular automaton was used to produce random and chaotic sequence keys. Subsequently, the circular shift was utilized to additionally shuffle the rows and columns of the three diffused components, in order to alter the positions of their pixel values, which significantly contributes to the permutation process. Lastly, the three encoding channels, R, G, and B, were merged to acquire the encrypted image. The experimental findings and security analyses established that the designed quantum image encryption scheme possesses excellent encryption efficiency, a high degree of security, and the ability to effectively withstand a diverse variety of statistical attacks.

Two simple analytical techniques that manipulate the inherent spectroscopic properties of the drug differently were developed for Clobetasol propionate (CP) determination in the presence of its alkaline hydrolytic degradation products. The first method depends on TLC-densitometric determination of the UV–visualized bands after TLC separation of CP in the presence of its alkaline degradation products in its bulk and pharmaceutical formulation. Separation was performed on preactivated silica gel 60 F254 TLC plates using ethyl acetate:hexane:ammonia (5:5:0.2, by volume) as a developing system followed by scanning at 240 nm. Linear correlation was obtained in the range of 0.10–0.50 μg/band. The second method was ratio difference spectrophotometry. It was applied by measuring the difference in peak amplitude of the ratio spectra at 243.40 and 256.40 nm. The selectivity of both methods was checked by analyzing laboratory prepared mixtures containing different concentrations of CP and its alkaline degradation products. The methods were validated in compliance with ICH guidelines. The methods determined CP in its bulk powder with average percentage recoveries of 99.60% ± 1.09 and 99.44% ± 1.60 for densitometry and ratio difference, respectively. Both methods were successfully applied for quantification of CP in its commercial cream.

Three sensitive, selective and reproducible stability-indicating methods are presented for determination of nitazoxanide (NTZ), a new anti-protozoal drug, in presence of its degradation products. Method A utilizes the first derivative of ratio spectra spectrophotometry by measurement of the amplitude at 364.4Â nm using one of the degradation products as a divisor. Method B is a chemometric-assisted spectrophotometry, where principal component regression (PCR) and partial least squares (PLS) were applied. These two approaches were successfully applied to quantify NTZ in presence of degradation products using the information included in the absorption spectra in the range 260â360Â nm. Method C is based on the separation of NTZ from its degradation products followed by densitometric measurement of the bands at 254Â nm. The separation was carried out on silica gel 60F254, using chloroformâmethanolâammonia solutionâglacial acetic acid (95:5:1:1 by volume, pH=5.80) as a developing system. These methods are suitable as stability-indicating methods for the determination of NTZ in presence of its degradation products either in bulk powder or in pharmaceutical formulations. Statistical analysis of the results has been carried out revealing high accuracy and good precision. Keywords: Nitazoxanide, Degradation, Derivative spectrophotometry, Chemometrics, TLC-densitometry, Stability-indicating methods

Net analyte signal (NAS) based methods (NBMs); namely NAS preprocessing (NAP) and hybrid linear analysis (HLA) were applied as multivariate calibration methods for resolving quaternary spectrally overlapped bands of Chlorzoxazone (CXZ), Paracetamol (PAR), Ibuprofen (IBU) and Ketoprofen (KTO) which are commonly co-formulated. The calibration set was composed of 17 mixtures within the concentrations ranges of 8.80-13.20, 10.56-15.84, 7.04-10.56 and 1.76-2.64 pg/mL for CXZ, PAR, IBU and KTO, respectively. A wavelength selection procedure was presented for the introduced NBMs. Figures of merit as limit of detection, selectivity and analytical sensitivity were also calculated based on the NAS concept. The developed NBMs models used smaller number of wavelengths as well as smaller number of latent variables which make NAP and HLA models more simple and interpretable than the conventional partial least squares (PLS). The models were successfully applied to tablets and capsules, and ANOVA was applied in comparison with an HPLC method. Keywords: net analyte signal, hybrid linear analysis, Chlorzoxazone, Paracetamol, Ibuprofen, Ketoprofen DOI: 10.1134/S1061934815040097, Chlorzoxazone, paracetamol, ibuprofen and ketoprofen are frequently co-formulated either as binary or ternary mixtures. CXZ, 5-chloro-3H-benzoxazol-2-one, is a centrally acting muscle relaxant used to treat muscle spasm. PAR, N-(4-hydroxyphenyl)acetamide, has [...]

An isthmocele, also known any indentation that indicates myometrial discontinuity or a triangular anechoic defect in the anterior uterine wall with the base linked to the uterine cavity at the site of a previous cesarean section scar is referred to as a cesarean scar defect or uterine niche. Myometrial flaws are classified as little or large based on the thickness of their wall. Although it usually has no symptoms, abnormal or postmenstrual bleeding is the predominant sign, and it can also result in chronic pelvic pain. Infertility, Complications of this condition include placenta accrete or previa, scar dehiscence, uterine rupture, and cesarean scar ectopic pregnancy. Numerous cesarean sections and a retroflexed uterus are known risk factors for isthmocele. Other factors, such as a lower cesarean position, partial hysterotomy closure, early uterine wall adhesions, and a genetic predisposition, may also contribute to the formation of a niche. Because there are no recognized criteria for diagnosing an isthmocele, a range of imaging techniques can be used to test the uterine wall's strength and identify an isthmocele. However, saline infusion sonohysterography and transvaginal ultrasonography stand out as precise, accurate, and cost-effective methods of isthmocele diagnosis. Clinical or surgical care may be required as part of the treatment, depends on the severity of the problem, the presence of symptoms, the presence of secondary infertility, and the desire to conceive. Depending on the size of the lesion, surgical therapy may include minimally invasive operations using sparing techniques such as hysteroscopic, laparoscopic, or transvaginal procedures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: It is estimated that approximately 30-40% of human pregnancies result in spontaneous abortion during the first trimester after implantation. Significant number of losses predominantly occurs very early in gestation, but once the embryonic heart activity appears the rate of spontaneous abortion gradually decreases to 2-5%.. The yolk sac plays an important role during the period of organogenesis providing metabolic, immunological, endocrinal, nutritional, and hemopoietic functions, and its highest level of functional activity is reached between the 4th to 7th week of development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Factors affecting the performance of polyvinyl chloride based ion selective electrode such as using different cationic exchangers and ionophores as well as sensor fabrication procedures were recently the scope of study by several researchers. This work presents an environment friendly electro-analytical method for the determination of Triprolidine HCl (TRI) and Pseudoephedrine HCl (PSE). A comparative study was held between five suggested sensors for each drug to reach optimum response. They were developed using several exchangers as tetraphenylborate (TPB), phosphotungestate (PT) and tetrakis with different ionophores as β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) and calixarene using nitrophenyl octyl ether (NPOE) as a plasticizer. Also different strategies were applied for their membrane fabrication. Conventional sensors (3a and 3b) and solid contact gold sensors (a and b) showed the best sensitivity as well as the fastest response for determination of TRI and PSE, respectively. The two conventional sensors were composed of (PVC/TPB/β-CD/NPOE) and (PVC/PT/calixarene/NPOE) in addition to the solid contact gold sensors were composed of (TPB/β-CD/NPOE) and (PT/calixarene/NPOE). Moreover those sensors succeeded to determine TRI and PSE in their different pharmaceutical formulations. Method validation was assessed according to IUPAC recommendations. The method is considered to be a green eco-friendly technique that neither requires sample pre-treatment nor derivatization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple, selective and precise four spectrophotometric methods were developed and validated for quantitative determination of Salicylamide (SAD) and Ascorbic acid (ASC, Vitamin C) in their binary mixture. Method A is Area under curve spectrophotometry, in which the area under curve in the wavelength ranges 225-245 nm and 265-285 nm were selected for determination of SAD and ASC. Method B is based on dual wavelength spectrophotometry, where ASC can be determined by difference in absorbance at 249.8 and 285.8 nm. On the same way; SAD is measured by difference in absorbance at 240.4 and 286.4 nm. Method C utilizes isoabsorptive point spectrophotometry where total concentration of SAD and ASC was calculated at their isoabsorptive points at 246.4 and 287 nm, while SAD concentration alone can be determined by first derivative spectrophotometry (1D) at 315.4 nm, then ASC concentration can be determined by subtraction. Method D is ratio subtraction spectrophotometry, where ASC can be determined by dividing the spectrum of the mixture by the spectrum of the SAD (as a divisor) followed by subtracting the constant absorbance value of the plateau region, then finally multiplying the obtained spectrum by the spectrum of the divisor. The developed methods have been successfully applied for determination of the studied drugs in different laboratory prepared mixtures and in their pharmaceutical formulation. Statistical comparison between the results obtained by applying the proposed methods and the reported HPLC method was done, and it was found that there was no significant difference between them regarding both accuracy and precision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]