Trends and Progress on Antibiotic-Resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Genes in relation to Human Immunodeficiency Virus.

Human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) and tuberculosis (TB) are among the infectious diseases that cause high rates of mortality worldwide. The epidemiology of antibiotic resistance in correlation to people that live with TB and HIV has not been thoroughly investigated particularly in South Africa. Numerous cases of multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) and extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR-TB) have been announced immensely worldwide. The spread and control of the MDR-TB pandemic due to unsuccessful treatment is one of the most serious public issues of concern, and this challenge is of international interest. Despite all measures that have been executed to overcome the challenge of MDR-TB in recent decades, the global MDR-TB trends have kept on accelerating with more and more people becoming victims. This is attributed to the abuse, misuse, and overuse of different antibacterial agents in human medicine, animal farms, and agricultural activities which serve as a wellspring for the evolution of antimicrobial resistance within the population. Over and above, the impetuous evolution, mutation, and the transfer of resistant genes via horizontal gene transfer are well-known contributive factors towards the antimicrobial resistance problem. Among the public health concerns in the world currently is the ever-increasing problem of antibiotic resistance which outpaces the progress of newly developed antimicrobials. The propagation of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is even more amplified in areas where the pressure of antimicrobial resistant pathogens is elevated, and hence the population with ubiquitous HIV and AIDS is considered the hotspot. This review therefore aims to give in-depth coverage on the trends and the progress on the development of TB and HIV-resistant strains, highlight strategies to solve the problem, and accentuate the repercussions of the COVID-19 epidemic on the AMR.

The occurrence and exposure risk assessment of psychoactive drug residues and metabolites in aquatic environment.

Increased use of psychoactive drugs and their continuous release into the aquatic environment threatens the aquatic life, human and animal's life. As such this study was aimed at investigating the occurrence and the associated exposure human health risks of psychoactive drugs residues. The psychoactive drugs investigated include amphetamine, methylphenidate, heroin, cocaine and metabolites included are mainly morphine, 6-acetylmorphine and benzoylecgonine. Method for analyzing these drugs was optimized and validated using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to quadrupole-time of flight mass spectrometer (UHPLC-QTOF-MS) after solid phase extraction (SPE) sample pretreatment. Analytes of interest were separated through Acquity UHPLC BEH C18 column at 20 °C. The recovery percentages for the target analytes ranged from 82 % (amphetamine) to 121 % (heroin). The accuracy assessed through bias calculation ranged from 80 % (amphetamine) - 123 % (amphetamine) and the precision reported as a percentage of error in relation to the theoretical concentration values was between 0.03 % (6-acetylmorphine) and 1.93 % (morphine). The limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) varied from 0.03 µg/L (amphetamine) - 0.11 µg/L (morphine) and 0.09 µg/L (amphetamine) - 0.36 µg/L (morphine) respectively. Further to this, this study evaluated the associated potential toxicities of these compounds. The toxicological effects were evaluated using the margin of exposure (MOE) risk assessment approaches. The MOE of all psychoactive drugs in wastewater (influent and effluent) was above 1000, suggesting lesser adverse effects and toxicity on human. However, MOE of less than 1000 (755.86 and 994.04) were observed for heroin in Florida lake and Florida stream, suggesting that heroin possess a significant health risk to human through possible drinking of such contaminated water.

Preparation and use of maize tassels' activated carbon for the adsorption of phenolic compounds in environmental waste water samples.

The determination and remediation of three phenolic compounds bisphenol A (BPA), ortho-nitrophenol (o-NTP), parachlorophenol (PCP) in wastewater is reported. The analysis of these molecules in wastewater was done using gas chromatography (GC) × GC time-of-flight mass spectrometry while activated carbon derived from maize tassel was used as an adsorbent. During the experimental procedures, the effect of various parameters such as initial concentration, pH of sample solution, eluent volume, and sample volume on the removal efficiency with respect to the three phenolic compounds was studied. The results showed that maize tassel produced activated carbon (MTAC) cartridge packed solid-phase extraction (SPE) system was able to remove the phenolic compounds effectively (90.84-98.49%, 80.75-97.11%, and 78.27-97.08% for BPA, o-NTP, and PCP, respectively). The MTAC cartridge packed SPE sorbent performance was compared to commercially produced C18 SPE cartridges and found to be comparable. All the parameters investigated were found to have a notable influence on the adsorption efficiency of the phenolic compounds from wastewaters at different magnitudes.

Analysis and quantification of parabens in cosmetic products by utilizing hollow fibre-supported liquid membrane and high performance liquid chromatography with ultraviolet detection.

A simple and direct method based on hollow fibre-supported liquid membrane (HFSLM) extraction and liquid chromatography equipped with a UV detector was developed for analysis and quantification of parabens in cosmetic products. The parabens analysed included methyl, ethyl, propyl, isobutyl and butyl paraben. The HFSLM extraction was carried out by employing di-n-hexyl ether as organic liquid that was immobilized in the hollow fibre membrane. The HFSLM extraction is simple, cheap, minimizes the use of solvents and uses disposable material. In an investigation of 11 paraben-containing cosmetic products, the levels of parabens (sum of all parabens in a product) ranged from 0.43% to 0.79% (w/w) for skin care products, 0.07-0.44% for hair fixing gels and 0.30-0.52% for soap solutions. The levels of individual parabens in individual cosmetic products ranged between 0.03% and 0.42% w/w for skin care products, 0.07% and 0.26% w/w for hair fixing gels and between 0.11% and 0.34% w/w for soap solutions. Parabens were found in the highest concentrations in skin care products followed by soap solutions and the least amounts were found in hair fixing gels. Of the paraben-containing products tested, all of them contained methyl paraben and about 90% contained propyl paraben in addition to methyl paraben. One product contained all the parabens analysed.