Byzantium
Michael J. O’Dowd in The History of Medications for Women, 2020
The western region had its capital at Rome, while Byzantium was chosen as the chief city in the east. When the last Roman emperor was deposed in AD 476, the Byzantine Empire came into being and it flourished until the fall of Constantinople in 1453. James Ricci studied medicine at Alexandria and practiced at Byzantium where he became the royal physician to Emperor Justinian the First’. During the Byzantine era Paul of Aegina advised powdered round alum wirh herbs as an application for hemorrhoids and described its use: as a vaginal contraceptive; for soothing genital lesions; for uterine hemorrhage; and for fissures or condylomata in the genital area. The medicinal cantharis of the ancients, found in corn or wheat, was the Mylabris Cichorii or Mylabris Fusselini . The ancient Greeks prepared the beetles for medicinal use by killing them with heated vinegar fumes.
Downstream Processing
Debabrata Das, Debayan Das in Biochemical Engineering, 2019
In the chemical and biochemical industries, downstream processing deals with different unit processes. It is crucial for the biochemical industry because the cost of chemicals depends on the purity of products. It has been observed that the downstream processing cost is inversely proportional to the concentration of products. Pretreatment is required to facilitate separation processes. For example, in both chemical and biochemical industries, activated charcoal (AC) is used for the decoloration of liquid. AC has bleaching properties. This depends on the surface area of particles. Alum is a common coagulation compound used in the chemical and biochemical industries. Chemically, alum is represented as aluminum potassium sulfate, K 2 SO 4 •Al 2 (SO 4 ) 3 •24H 2 O. Fine particulates are agglomerated to clump together into a floc, which is known as the flocculation process. In other words, the flocculation process can be described as one where the negatively charged particulates accumulate around the positively charged flocculent.
Aluminum
Bonnie L. Carson, Harry V. Ellis, Joy L. McCann in Toxicology and Biological Monitoring of Metals in Humans, 1986
This chapter provides a detailed discussion on the occurrence and production, uses, chemical and physical properties, exposure and exposure limits, toxicokinetics, and effects of aluminum in humans. Aluminum is a common constituent of the earth's crust, usually combined with oxygen, fluorine, and silicon. Uses for aluminum metal include building construction, aluminum paint, electrical uses such as overhead distribution lines, consumer durables including automobile highway signs, packaging, and containers. Most aluminum is produced by electrolyzing bauxite in molten cryolite. Most bauxite consumed in the United States is imported. Aluminum compounds are used therapeutically to prevent hyperphosphatemia in renal disease, in antacid preparations, and as an antidote. Inhalation of aluminum compounds has been used in the prevention of silicosis. The effects of aluminum in humans include information on acute toxicity, chronic toxicity, biochemistry, specific organs and systems, teratogenicity, mutagenicity, and carcinogenicity.
Calcium phosphate: a substitute for aluminum adjuvants?
Published in Expert Review of Vaccines, 2017
Jean-Daniel Masson, Michel Thibaudon, Laurent Bélec, Guillemette Crépeaux
Introduction: Calcium phosphate was used as an adjuvant in France in diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis and poliomyelitis vaccines. It was later completely substituted by alum salts in the late 80’s, but it still remains as an approved adjuvant for the World Health Organization for human vaccination. Area covered: Thus, calcium phosphate is now considered as one of the substances that could replace alum salts in vaccines. The aim of this paper is to draw a review of existing data on calcium phosphate as an adjuvant in order to bring out the strengths and weaknesses for its use on a large scale. Expert commentary: Calcium phosphate is a compound naturally present in the organism, safe and already used in human vaccination. Beyond comparisons with the other adjuvants, calcium phosphate represents a good candidate to replace or to complete alum salts as a vaccine adjuvant.
Pretreatment with alum or powdered activated carbon reduces bacterial predation-associated irreversible fouling of membranes
Published in Biofouling, 2014
Eun-Ho Kim, Mohammed Dwidar, Young-Nam Kwon, Robert J. Mitchell
This study evaluated the co-application of bacterial predation by Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus and either alum coagulation or powdered activated carbon adsorption to reduce fouling caused by Escherichia coli rich feed solutions in dead-end microfiltration tests. The flux increased when the samples were predated upon or treated with 100 ppm alum or PAC, but co-treatment with alum and predation gave the best flux results. The total membrane resistance caused by the predated sample was reduced six-fold when treated with 100 ppm PAC, from 11.8 to 1.98 × 1011 m−1, while irreversible fouling (Rp) was 2.7-fold lower. Treatment with 100 ppm alum reduced the total resistance 14.9-fold (11.8 to 0.79 × 1011 m−1) while the Rp decreased 4.25-fold. SEM imaging confirmed this, with less obvious fouling of the membrane after the combined process. This study illustrates that the combination of bacterial predation and the subsequent removal of debris using coagulation or adsorption mitigates membrane biofouling and improves membrane performance.
Alum: an old dog with new tricks
Published in Emerging Microbes & Infections, 2016
Aluminum compounds (alum) are the most widely used adjuvants in veterinary and human vaccines. Alum was initially thought to be a simple depot for antigen retention; however, our understanding of the mechanism by which it works has progressed substantially in recent decades. Nonetheless, consensus regarding its roles in different aspects of immune regulation has not been reached, and it remains a long-standing research subject in the field of vaccinology. This review, in chronological order, discusses the various hypotheses proposed in mostly inadequate attempts to illuminate the mechanism by which alum works, from the depot theory to the involvement of the NLRP3 inflammasome and from cell death-associated danger factors to crystalline structure-mediated plasma membrane alteration. In addition, novel findings of unexpected beneficial effects of decreased HBV (Hepatitis B virus) viral load and HBeAg seroconversion in chronically infected patients, as well as significant tumor suppression in experimental mice following multiple alum-only injections are examined, revealing alum’s potential clinical applications beyond its use as a simple tool in antigen preparation. With increasing threats of emerging microbes, originating from natural or man-made sources, that pose significant health concerns at the population scale, the potential use of alum as a ‘first-aid’ vaccine is also discussed.