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Background and purpose: Acute bacterial sinusitis is a very common disease among children. Empirical therapy for acute bacterial sinusitis often includes a 10-14-day period of β-lactamase. Azithromycin, a sustained high tissue level macrolide, due to its pharmacokinetic profile can be used once daily in a shorter treatment course of 3 to 5 days. This study aimed to compare azithromycin and common β-lactamases in treatment of acute bacterial sinusitis. Materials and methods: In this randomized clinical trial study, the population consisted of children aged 1 month to 14 years, referred to a tertiary referral hospital from March to July 2011 with the diagnosis of acute bacterial sinusitis. Patients were divided into three groups randomly based on computer and azithromycin amoxicillin and amoxicillin/clavulanic acid (co-amoxiclav) were prescribed to the group I, II and III, respectively. Signs and symptoms at the days of 2 to 4 and 10 to 14 were evaluated and the collected data were recorded. Results: 155 patients were enrolled with the mean age of 23.23 ± 3.20 months. The response rate was more significant in the group receiving azithromycin compared to other groups (P = 0.0130 and P = 0.0001). On the other hand, the response rate between the two groups receiving amoxicillin and amoxicillin/ clavulanic acid was not significantly different (P = 0.1210). Conclusion: According to this study, further studies need to carry out in order to evaluate azithromycin as a first-line empiric therapy in sinusitis.

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Background and purpose: Continuous input of antibiotics to the environment causes many problems such as antibiotic resistance in pathogenic microorganisms. Therefore, researchers are aiming to find solutions to reduce antibiotics in hospital effluents and polluted waters. Amoxicillin is an antibiotic which is widely used to treat infections. Due to inappropriate use it enters the wastewater and finally the environment in almost unmetabolized form. This study was conducted to evaluate the performance of multi-walled carbon nanotubes for Amoxicillin removal from aqueous solutions. Materials and methods: In this study the efficacy of multi-walled carbon nanotubes for the removal of amoxicillin was investigated in a batch system considering pH (10-4), ionic strength (0 to 0.1 mol/ L sodium chloride), and adsorbent dose (0.4 – 1.8 g /L). Finally, isotherms and kinetics of the adsorption was analyzed. Results: The results showed that the maximum removal of amoxicillin occurred at pH 8. Also, increase in the ionic strength decreased the removal efficiency while increase in the adsorbent dose increased the removal efficiency. The equilibrium adsorption isotherm data well fitted with Langmuir model (R2= 0.9108) and adsorption kinetics fitted with pseudo second order model. Conclusion: According to the results multi-wall carbon nanotubes could be assumed as an acceptable adsorbent for Amoxicillin removal in the aquatic solutions.

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Background and purpose: Amoxicillin is one of the antibiotics that has received especial attention as it causes resistance in bacteria. This compound enters the aquatic environment through different routes including human and animal waste, sewage, and waste disposal of medical health centers, veterinary and pharmaceutical industries. The aim of this study was to remove amoxicillin from aqueous environments by advanced oxidation method using synthesized bimetallic CuFe₂O₄ nanoparticles.

Materials and methods: For the purpose of this study, CuFe₂O₄ was synthesized through the sol-gel method. The physical and structural characteristics of this catalyst were analyzed using SEM, TEM, XRD, EDX, and VSM techniques. Additionally, this study investigated the effects of pH, initial concentrations of amoxicillin and hydrogen peroxide, and catalyst dosage on the reduction of amoxicillin and Total Organic Carbon (TOC). The concentrations of amoxicillin and TOC were determined by HPLC and TOC analyzers, respectively.

Results: The highest efficiency in removal of amoxicillin was 99.27% obtained in optimum conditions with CuFe₂O₄ at 50 ppm, pH= 4, amoxicillin concentration of 90 ppm, hydrogen peroxide concentration of 30 mmol, 30 min contact time, and 20°C temperature. In this condition the removal of TOC was found to be 36.42%.

Conclusion: The process studied here has a proper efficiency in removal of amoxicillin; but higher contact time is needed for adequate removal of TOC.

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Background and purpose: Nowadays, amoxicillin is one of the most important and most frequently used antibiotics that has received especial attention as it causes resistance in bacteria. This compound enters the aquatic environment through different routes including sewage and waste disposal of medical centers, veterinary centers and industries. The aim of this study was to evaluate the performance of graphene-cobalt nano-catalyst for activation of peroxymonosulfate and amoxicillin removal from aqueous solutions.
Materials and methods: In this experiment, graphene oxide was prepared by Hummers method from natural graphite. Then, magnetic graphene-cobalt nanocatalyst was made in several steps. The structural order and textural properties of the magnetic graphene-cobalt nanocatalyst were studied by EDS, SEM, TEM, and XRD. Several operational parameters were examined including the peroxymonosulfate (PMS) dosage, solution pH, reaction time, catalyst dosage, and initial concentration of amoxicillin. The amoxicillin concentration was quantified by High HPLC.
Results: In this study, the graphene-based CoFe₂O₄ was successfully synthesized. Optimum condition for removal of pollutants was achieved in 3 mM peroxymonosulfate, 0.5 g/L G/CoFe₂O₄, pH 6.0, 60 m reaction time, and amoxicillin concentrations of 10 mg/L. In this condition, the amoxicillin, chemical oxygen demand (COD) and total organic carbon (TOC) removal efficiency was 99.27%, 83.1%, and 61.11%, respectively.
Conclusion: In this study, the graphene-based CoFe₂O₄ with effective activation of peroxymonosulfate had high efficiency in removal of amoxicillin. According to current study, G/CoFe₂O₄/PMS process can be used as an effective and efficient process for treatment of aqueous solutions in related industries.

 

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Background and purpose: One of the main problems of pollution of aquatic environments is hardly biodegradable chemicals with high toxicity such as antibiotics. If they are not removed from the wastewater, particularly the hospital wastewater, many health and environmental hazards are created. Therefore, appropriate management and treatment of this type of wastewater is highly necessary. This research aimed at investigating the efficiency of advanced oxidation process by ozone photocatalytic method combined with zinc oxide in removal of amoxicillin from wastewater.
Materials and methods: The present study was conducted on laboratory scale in a pre-designed reactor. The effects of ozone concentration (5-10 mg/min), catalyst concentration (0.25-1.5mg/l), amoxicillin concentration (10-100 mg/l), and pH (3-11) were investigated on the process efficiency by HPLC. Thirty specimens were studied using central composite design method and the information was evaluated by surface response method using Design Expert7. Data analysis was done applying ANOVA and regression analysis.
Results: The removal efficiency of amoxicillin was 93% under optimal conditions (ozone dose: 3 mg/min, pH 11, catalyst dose: 0.875 mg/l, and amoxicillin concentration: 55mg/l). ANOVA and regression analysis showed that the fitted model properly matched with laboratory results.
Conclusion: This study showed that the ozone photocatalytic process along with zinc oxide could be applied as a suitable and effective method in treatment of antibiotics in aqueous environments.