Multimodal approach for diagnosis of bacterial etiology in brain abscess

Background and purpose

Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (PMRS) has high sensitivity and specificity for the detection of pyogenic brain abscess and the categorization of bacteria. But the metabolite patterns failed to evaluate the etiology of disease when the culture results are sterile. The aim of the present study is to compare the multimodality techniques viz., conventional culture, MR spectroscopy and 16S rRNA PCR and sequencing for rapid diagnosis of etiology in brain abscess and evaluate the PMRS in culture sterile samples and also demonstrate the sensitivity and specificity of these techniques.

Methods

Thirty five patients underwent MRI on a 3 T MRI and in-vivo PMRS for the diagnosis and evaluation of various resonances of metabolites such as lipid (LIP), lactate (LAC), acetate (AC), amino acid (AC), succinate (SUC). Pus was collected for identification of etiologic agents by culture and molecular method.

Results

In 35 samples, metabolite patterns were as follows: LIP/LAC/AA, n = 17, LIP/LAC/AA/SUC with or without AC, n = 17 and LIP/LAC/AA/AC, n = 1. Culture showed bacterial growth in 22 samples (18 aerobic/facultative anaerobic, 9 anaerobic) whereas molecular method was detected 26 aerobic/facultative anaerobic, 13 anaerobic, 4 microaerophilic bacteria. Among the 13 sterile samples, molecular method detected 16 microorganisms along with 3 mixed infections and PMRS recognized metabolite patterns as LIP/LAC/AA, n = 5 and LIP/LAC/AA/SUC with or without AC, n = 8. The sensitivity of in-vivo PMRS in sterile samples was 100% and 75%, and specificity was 75% and 100% for aerobic and anaerobic organisms respectively.

Conclusion

Based on metabolite resonances, PMRS can detect slow growing and fastidious organisms and classify them into aerobic and anaerobic bacteria which are difficult to culture by conventional method. It can categorize microorganisms even in culture sterile samples with rational sensitivity and specificity which may allow early choice of targeted therapy.     

New methods for functionalizing biologically important molecules using triosmium metal clusters

This perspective report summarizes recent work on the interactions of the triosmium clusters of general formula Os(3)(CO)(9)(μ(3)-η(2)-L-H)(μ-H) (L = bicyclic benzoheterocycle) with DNA and proteins. The early work focused on how the structure of the benzoheterocycle influenced the binding of the cluster to plasmid DNA, albumin and the inhibition of telomerase. Later, selective binding of the triosmium clusters to guanine was targeted using a range of alkylating functionalities. In connection with these efforts some very recent unpublished work will be presented. Suggestions for future directions in this area and a summary of the problems and difficulties encountered will be discussed.     

Molecular precursors for the preparation of homogenous zirconia-silica materials by hydrolytic sol-gel process in organic media. Crystal structures of [Zr{OSi(O(t)Bu)3}4(H2O)2]·2H2O and [Ti(O(t)Bu){OSi(O(t)Bu)3}3

[Zr(OPr(i))(4)·Pr(i)OH] reacts with [HOSi(O(t)Bu)(3)] in anhydrous benzene in 1:1 and 1:2 molar ratios to afford alkoxy zirconosiloxane precursors of the types [Zr(OPr(i))(3){OSi(O(t)Bu)(3)}] (A) and [Zr(OPr(i))(2){OSi(O(t)Bu)(3)}(2)] (B), respectively. Further reactions of A or B with glycols in 1:1 molar ratio afforded six chemically modified precursors of the types [Zr(OPr(i))(OGO){OSi(O(t)Bu)(3)}] (1A-3A) and [Zr(OGO){OSi(O(t)Bu)(3)}(2)] (1B-3B), respectively [where G = (-CH(2)-)(2) (1A, 1B); (-CH(2)-)(3) (2A, 2B) and (-CH(2)CH(2)CH(CH(3)-)} (3A, 3B)]. The precursors A and B are viscous liquids, which solidify on ageing whereas the other products are all solids, soluble in common organic solvents. These were characterized by elemental analyses, molecular weight measurements, FAB mass, FTIR, (1)H, (13)C and (29)Si-NMR studies. Cryoscopic molecular weight measurements of all the products, as well as the FAB mass studies of 3A and 3B, indicate their monomeric nature. However, FAB mass spectrum of the solidified B suggests that it exists in dimeric form. Single crystal structure analysis of [Zr{OSi(O(t)Bu)(3)}(4)(H(2)O)(2)]·2H(2)O (3b) (R(fac) = 11.9%) as well as that of corresponding better quality crystals of [Ti(O(t)Bu){OSi(O(t)Bu)(3)}(3)] (4) (R(fac) = 5.97%) indicate the presence of a M-O-Si bond. TG analyses of 3A, B, and 3B indicate the formation of zirconia-silica materials of the type ZrO(2)·SiO(2) from 3A and ZrO(2)·2SiO(2) from B or 3B at low decomposition temperatures (≤200 °C). The desired homogenous nano-sized zirconia-silica materials [ZrO(2)·nSiO(2)] have been obtained easily from the precursors A and B as well as from the glycol modified precursors 3A and 3B by hydrolytic sol-gel process in organic media without using any acid or base catalyst, and these were characterized by powder XRD patterns, SEM images, EDX analyses and IR spectroscopy.     

Interfacial and aggregation properties of aqueous sodium <Emphasis Type="Italic">N</Emphasis>-dodecanoylsarcosinate solutions at different pH

The pH dependence of an anionic surfactant, sodium N-dodecanoylsarcosinate (SLAS), has been studied by measuring interfacial tension, fluorescence, dynamic light scattering, etc., in aqueous solutions with phosphate and borate buffers. The interfacial tension (γ) of SLAS decreases remarkably with a pH decrease and is constant at pH > 7.3. The observed values for the critical micelle concentration (cmc) and the surfactant concentration at which its γ value is reduced by 20 mN/m from that of pure water (C ₂₀) decrease with a pH decrease, while those also become constant at pH > 6.5 and >7.3, respectively. On the other hand, the interfacial excess of SLAS increases at pH < 7.3. These interfacial behaviors have been further investigated by the addition of Tl⁺ which replaces Na⁺ of SLAS. The observed γ values of LAS⁻ with the different counter cations are in the order of H⁺ < Tl⁺ < Na⁺. In order to reveal aggregation properties of SLAS, the aggregation number (N _agg), the micropolarity, the hydrodynamic radius (R _h) of micelle, and the fluorescence anisotropy of Rhodamine B (r) have been evaluated at various pHs. The N _agg value shows a decreasing tendency with a pH increase. The I ₁/I ₃ ratio and the R _h values do not strongly depend on pH. The r value decreases until pH 7 and remains constant at pH > 7.0. These interfacial and micelle properties have been discussed in detail considering the electrostatic interaction and the molecular structures of the hydrophilic headgroup.     

Compact and efficient coupler to interface hybrid dielectric-loaded plasmonic waveguide with silicon photonic slab waveguide

A coupler is proposed to interface a hybrid dielectric-loaded plasmonic waveguide (HDLPW) with a silicon photonic slab waveguide. The HDLPW is firstly designed and optimized to attain the best tradeoff between the mode confinement and the propagation distance. The designed coupler is inspired from the taper configuration and numerically modeled through finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) simulation. The results demonstrate that a high confinement and low loss of the energy is achieved from a silicon photonic slab waveguide into the dielectric slot of area 50×200 nm² in the HDLPW. The transmission attained through the coupler with a compact size of 400 nm is found to be as high as 80% (1 dB). Further, the planar nature of taper configuration makes the coupler easy to fabricate using the state-of-the-art CMOS facilities. The proposed coupler is useful in enabling the integration between photonic and hybrid plasmonic waveguides and thus realizing on-chip hybrid integrated circuits.     

Sensitivity of nucleation phenomena on range of interaction potential

Theoretical and computational investigations of nucleation have been plagued by the sensitivity of the phase diagram to the range of the interaction potential. As the surface tension depends strongly on the range of interaction potential and as the classical nucleation theory (CNT) predicts the free energy barrier to be directly proportional to the cube of the surface tension, one expects a strong sensitivity of nucleation barrier to the range of the potential; however, CNT leaves many aspects unexplored. We find for gas-liquid nucleation in Lennard-Jones system that on increasing the range of interaction the kinetic spinodal (KS) (where the mechanism of nucleation changes from activated to barrierless) shifts deeper into the metastable region. Therefore the system remains metastable for larger value of supersaturation and this allows one to explore the high metastable region without encountering the KS. On increasing the range of interaction, both the critical cluster size and pre-critical minima in the free energy surface of kth largest cluster, at respective kinetic spinodals, shift towards smaller cluster size. In order to separate surface tension contribution to the increase in the barrier from other non-trivial factors, we introduce a new scaling form for surface tension and use it to capture both the temperature and the interaction range dependence of surface tension. Surprisingly, we find only a weak non-trivial contribution from other factors to the free energy barrier of nucleation.     

Modeling of thermal effects in antivascular ultrasound therapy

Antivascular ultrasound consisting of low-intensity sonication in the presence of circulating microbubbles of an ultrasound contrast agent has been demonstrated to disrupt blood flow in solid cancers. In this study a mathematical framework is described for the microbubble-induced heating that occurs during antivascular ultrasound. Biological tissues are modeled as a continuum of microbubble-filled vasculature, cells, and interstitial fluids with compressibility equal to the sum of the compressibility of each component. The mathematical simulations show that the absorption of ultrasound waves by viscous damping of the microbubble oscillations induced significant local heating of the tissue vasculature. The extent and the rate of temperature increase not only depends on the properties of the microbubbles and the sonication parameters but is also influenced markedly by the blood flow. Slow flow conditions lead to higher tissue temperatures due to a stronger interaction between microbubbles and ultrasound and reduced heat dissipation. Because tumors have slower blood flow than healthy tissue, the microbubble-induced ultrasound antivascular therapy is likely to affect cancerous tissue more extensively than healthy tissue, providing a way to selectively target the vasculature of cancers.     

Synthesis of HZSM-5 zeolites with excellent DME aromatization properties by orthogonal test

Abstract

The synthesis conditions of HZSM-5 zeolite, including crystallization temperature, crystallization time and raw material ratio, were investigated by L₃₂ (4⁸) orthogonal test to specifically optimize its performance in dimethyl ether (DME) aromatization for the first time. Based on the total yield of aromatic products, the synthesis conditions of HZSM-5 zeolite with the best DME aromatization properties were obtained by comprehensive analysis and validation experiments. The relationship between the aromatization performance, crystalline structure, pore structure, and acidity of HZSM-5 zeolite were analyzed. The results showed that the HZSM-5 zeolite accompanied by hierarchical structure, an appropriate Brønsted and Lewis acid content and uniform crystal morphology, was successfully synthesized under optimized conditions. Over this unmodified and un-doped catalyst, the conversion of DME approached to 99.3% and the total yield of aromatics reached was 53.5%.     

Measurement of στ product of solid state laser materials by an alternative method: Application to Nd3+ doped YVO4 crystal for 4 F 3/2→4 I 11/2 transition

In this paper an alternative approach for measurement of στ product for ⁴ F _3/2→⁴ I _11/2 transition of Nd³⁺ doped YVO₄ crystal is reported. In this method a microchip laser is formed by keeping a small piece of the sample in plane-plane resonator and a diode laser (808 nm) is used for pumping. The pump power induced thermal lensing effect is used to make the cavity stable. The cavity mode area is estimated by measuring the thermal lens focal length at the threshold and the average pump area is measured by Gaussian fit to the intensity profiles of the pump beam. The value of στ product of Nd:YVO₄ crystal obtained by this method is within 10% of the reported values. The advantage of this method is that it is a simple method for direct measurement of στ product of laser crystals.