The Impact of Air Pollution on Asthma Severity among Residents Living near the Main Industrial Complex in Oman: A Cross-Sectional Study.

BACKGROUND: Asthma is a widespread chronic respiratory disease that poses a significant public health challenge. The current study investigated the associations between air pollution and asthma severity among individuals residing near the Sohar industrial port (SIP) in Oman. Despite the presence of multiple major industrial complexes in Oman, limited knowledge regarding their impact on respiratory health is accredited. Hence, the primary objective of this study is to offer valuable insights into the respiratory health consequences of industrial air pollution in Al Batinah North. METHODS: The state health clinics' records for patient visits related to asthma were collected for the timeframe spanning 2014 to 2022. Exposure was defined as the distance from the SIP, Majan Industerial Area (MIA), and Sohar Industerial Zone (SIZ) to determine high-, intermediate-, and low-exposure zones (<6 km, 6-12 km and >12 km, respectively). Exposure effect modifications by age, gender, and smoking status were also examined. RESULTS: The conducted cross-sectional study of 410 patients (46.1% males and 53.9% females) living in over 17 areas around SIP revealed that 73.2% of asthmatics were under 50 years old, with severity significantly associated with closeness to the port. Risk ratios were estimated to be (RR:2.42; CI95%: 1.01-5.78), (RR:1.91; CI95%: 1.01-3.6), and (RR:1.68; CI95%: 0.92-3.09) for SIP, MIP, and SIZ areas, respectively, compared to the control area. Falaj Al Qabail (6.4 km) and Majees (6 km) had the highest number of asthma patients (N 69 and N 72) and highest percentages of severe asthma cases among these patients (28% and 24%) with significant risk ratios (RR:2.97; CI95%: 1.19-7.45 and RR:2.55; CI95%: 1.00-6.48), correspondingly. Moreover, severe asthma prevalence peaked in the 25-50 age group (RR:2.05; CI95%: 1.26-3.33), and this linkage between asthma and age was much more pronounced in males than females. Smoking and exposure to certain contaminants (dust and smoke) also increased the risk of severe asthma symptoms, but their effects were less important in the high-risk zone, suggesting much more important risk factors. A neural network model accurately predicted asthma risk (94.8% accuracy), with proximity to SIP as the most influential predictor. CONCLUSIONS: This study highlights the high asthma burden near SIP, linked to port proximity, smoking, and wind direction as major risk factors. These findings inform vital public health policies to reduce air pollution and improve respiratory health in the region, prompting national policy review.

Emergent "Bloody Diarrhea" Associated with the Use of Oral Cefdinir in Young Children: A Brief Report and Review of Literature.

BACKGROUND: Cefdinir is an extended-spectrum, third-generation, oral cephalosporin widely used in pediatric population to treat common bacterial infections, including otitis media and streptococcal pharyngitis. It is considered a safe and well-tolerated alternative to penicillin and macrolides. CASE REPORT: This report describes a case series of 3 infants presenting to the emergency department for evaluation of "bloody diarrhea." The parents noticed red stools when their children were started on oral cefdinir when they were previously receiving iron-containing preparations. Reddish-colored heme-negative stools observed in all cases were due to the interaction of the drug with supplemental iron or iron-containing formula feeds. This adverse effect was reversible on discontinuation of cefdinir. WHY SHOULD AN EMERGENCY PHYSICIAN BE AWARE OF THIS?: Red stools due to cefdinir is an underreported benign adverse drug reaction with fewer than 10 cases described in the literature. Thorough history taking with an appropriate focus on diet and drug history are essential to avoid parental anxiety, unnecessary patient workup, and economic burden to the caregivers in these cases. Awareness of this unusual adverse effect among emergency physicians could prevent further inconvenience for already overburdened health systems.

Juniperus oxycedrus L. ssp. Essential Oil Microneedles: A Promising Antimicrobial and Wound Healing Activity.

The use of essential oil (EO) in treating infected wounds is still challenging. A lot of effort has been made to make such an application more convenient. Recently, microneedles (MNDs) have been considered as a smart dermal delivery system to overcome the poor absorption and distribution, low bioavailability, and skin penetration of some drugs. The aim of our study is to evaluate the wound healing activity of juniper-EO-loaded MNDs (EO MNDs) against wounds with bacterial and fungal infection. The Polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) MNDs were prepared using the gel-filled mold technique and loaded with juniper EO. In vivo models were created and wounds on rats were infected with two clinically isolated bacterial strains Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus. Furthermore, Candida albicans was used to mimic fungal infection and juniper EO MNDs were tested. The obtained results showed an improvement in wound healing which started from the third day after application of the juniper EO MNDs, and at the sixth day post-infection, the treated wounds were significantly smaller than untreated wounds. A complete healing was shown by the 12th day after infection. Furthermore, our cytotoxicity results showed a cytotoxic effect of juniper EO MNDs on epithelial cells, which explained the faster wound healing in rats. Our study showed that juniper EO MNDs represent a novel strategy in EO delivery with minimal invasion. Juniper EO MNDs demonstrated significant antimicrobial activity against both the bacterial strains Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus and against one fungal strain, Candida albicans. Finally, application of juniper EO MNDs exerted promising activity in the treatment and healing of wound infection.

Preparation of Specific Polyclonal Antibody Against the Recombinant Mutacin Produced by sfGFP Fusion Protein Technology.

Mutacin I, a bacteriocin produced by streptococcus mutans, displays an antimicrobial activity against many gram positive and some gram negative bacteria. Because of its medical importance, production of this short peptide in large scale for future applications is a significant challenge. This work described the improvement of a novel system to produce the recombinant mutacin using fusion protein technology. The short peptide was expressed directly as a fusion protein with a superfolder form of the green florescent protein (sfGFP), resulting in a high yield expression of soluble sfGFP-mutacin fusion protein (30 kDa) in the cytoplasm of E. coli. Mutacin was released from the fusion by enzymatic cleavage at the tobacco etch virus (TEV) protease recognition site and separated from the carrier sfGFP by nickel affinity and gel filtration chromatography. An additional advantage of this fusion system was tested in the generation of mutacin-specific polyclonal antibodies. Specific anti-mutacin IgGs were affinity purified, and were able to recognize the mutacin-sfGFP fusion protein or the cleaved forms of mutacin. Even though it was efficiently produced (25 mg/L) by this method, pure mutacin was devoid of antibiotic activity. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis revealed the absence of thioether bonds in the purified mutacin, which are critical for final structure and function of this antibiotic. Determining whether the activity of pure mutacin could be recovered by the reformation of such structures by chemical reaction needs more investigations. The development of this system will provide large quantities of mutacin for future studies and applications as broad spectrum antibacterial peptide.

Characterization of camel nanobodies specific for superfolder GFP fusion proteins.

Superfolder green fluorescent protein (sfGFP) is a fusion tag which plays a dual role in monitoring and purifying the recombinant fusion proteins using specific binders. Nanobodies are the smallest intact antigen binding fragments derived from heavy chain-only antibodies (HCAbs) occurring in camelids. They are produced as recombinant proteins in E. coli and have different biotechnological applications, including the detection and purification of their specific antigens. To produce anti-sfGFP specific nanobodies, an adult one-humped camel was successfully immunized and immune response was evaluated by ELISA, which showed an active participation of HCAbs in this response. A relatively large nanobody "immune" library of 5 × 10(8) individual transformants, with 87.5 % positivity, was prepared from the blood of the immunized camel. Phage display biopanning on this nanobody library resulted in the isolation of seven anti-sfGFP specific nanobodies, referred to as NbsfGFP01, 02, 03, 04, 06, 07 and 08. These nanobodies were able to recognize sfGFP tag as free or in fusion with growth hormone in ELISA and immuno-blotting. Furthermore, they showed important apparent affinities in the detection and capture of sfGFP by ELISA, and they targeted three different epitopes on the surface of their antigen. The interesting characteristics of these molecular binders make them valuable tools for more in-depth structural and functional studies related to sfGFP fusion proteins.