Absolute stereochemistry of antifouling cembranoid epimers at C-8 from the Caribbean octocoral Pseudoplexaura flagellosa. Revised structures of plexaurolones

Eight cembranoid epimers at C-8 (1-8) were isolated from the organic extract of the Colombian Caribbean octocoral Pseudoplexaura flagellosa. Compounds 2, 4, and 6 are reported for the first time. Although compounds 1, 3, 5, 7, and 8 have been reported previously, their structures and NMR assignments are revised, completed or corrected. The structures of these compounds were established on the basis of detailed analysis of their spectroscopic data. Furthermore, the relative configurations of compounds 1-3 and 7 were confirmed by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The absolute configurations of compounds 1-8 were determined using a combination of the modified Mosher method and unambiguous chemical interconversions. Evaluation of their antifouling properties using quorum sensing inhibition (QSI) and biofilm inhibition bioassays showed that compounds 3, 6, and 7 have excellent QSI activity against Chromobacterium violaceum, as measured by inhibition of the production of violacein pigment, without interfering with its growth. Furthermore, compounds 3, 5, 6, and 8 exhibited inhibition of biofilm maturation without interfering in the growth of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Vibrio harveyi, and Staphylococcus aureus. This is the first report of cembranoids as inhibitors of bacterial biofilm and as compounds that interfere with QS in C. violaceum.     

Direct laser light enhancement of susceptibility of bacteria to gentamicin antibiotic

Objectives

To test the effect of pulsed (Q-switched) and continuous wave (CW) laser light at wavelength of 532 nm on the viability of free-living stationary phase bacteria with and without gentamicin (an antibiotic) treatment.

Methods

Free living stationary phase gram negative bacteria (Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain PAO1) was immersed in Luria Broth (LB) solution and exposed to Q-switched and CW lasers with and without the addition of the antibiotic gentamicin. Cell viability was determined at different time points.

Results

Laser treatment alone did not reduce cell viability compared to untreated control and the gentamicin treatment alone only resulted in a 0.5 log reduction in the viable count for P. aeruginosa. The combined laser and gentamicin treatment, however, resulted in a synergistic effect and viability was reduced by 8 logs for P. aeruginosa PAO1.

Conclusions

Combination of laser light with gentamicin shows an improved efficacy against P. aeruginosa.     

细菌纤维素/聚丙烯酰胺水凝胶的制备及性能表征

通过自由基聚合在细菌纤维素(BC)网络中引入聚丙烯酰胺(PAM),制备了细菌纤维素/聚丙烯酰胺(BC/PAM)复合水凝胶,并采用扫描电子显微镜(SEM)、红外光谱(IR)、热失重分析(TGA)、X射线衍射(XRD)和力学测试等手段对复合凝胶的结构和性能进行了研究.研究结果显示在复合水凝胶中,虽然PAM自身没有交联,但由...     

Foam in pharmaceutical and medical applications

Topical foams are an attractive and promising delivery system for cosmetic, pharmaceutical and medical applications due to their beneficial properties, ease of application and enhanced patients’ acceptability/compliance. Below the recent developments of topical foams for cosmetic and dermal applications are reviewed, classification based on foam formulation is provided and recent assessment methods of important physical parameters of topical foam are reviewed. In spite of the increasing number of studies devoted to topical foams for dermal applications, the majority of studies have assessed the stability and structure of foam in contact with solid nonporous surfaces. Improved understanding of the destabilisation mechanisms of such foams in contact with porous surfaces, such as skin or skin-like membranes still remains elusive. The review ends with recent developments in dermal foams; considerable attention has been paid in developing novel foams for the treatment of chronic skin diseases and disorders, particularly those involving skin infections.     

Bio and soft-imprinting lithography on bacterial cellulose films

Bacterial cellulose (BC) is a biocompatible polysaccharide produced by bacteria currently used in packaging, cosmetics, or health care. A highly attractive feature of BC is the possibility of patterning the BC pellicle during its biosynthesis, a concept coined as bio-lithography. BC-patterned films have demonstrated improved properties for cellular-guided growth, implant protection, or wound dressing. However, aspects such as the diversity and size of the features patterned, how those features withstand postprocessing steps, or if large areas can be patterned remain unanswered. Gathering knowledge on these characteristics could extend the use of patterned cellulose-based materials in emerging fields such as transient devices, nanogenerators, or microfluidics. Here, we show that bio-lithographed BC films present good-quality micropatterned features for various motifs (wells, pillars, and channels) in a wide range of sizes (from 200 to 5 μm) and areas as large as 70 cm². Besides, we have studied the fidelity of the motifs and the fiber organization for wet, supercritical, and oven-dried films. When wells and pillars were patterned, the x and y dimensions were faithfully replicated in the wet and dried samples, but only wet and supercritically dried films afforded mold accuracy in the z-direction. In addition, x/z ratio should be carefully considered for obtaining self-standing pillars. Finally, we compared bio-lithography and soft-imprint lithography. In the latter case, fiber alignment was not observed and the depth of the resulting features dramatically decreased; however, this technique allowed us to produce submicron features that remain after the rewetting of the BC films.     

Applications of radiation processing in combination with conventional treatments to assure food safety: New development

Spice extracts under the form of essential oils (Eos) were tested for their efficiency to increase the relative bacterial radiosensitivity (RBR) of Listeria monocytogenes, Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhi in culture media under different atmospheric conditions. The selected Eos were tested for their ability to reduce the dose necessary to eliminate E. coli and S. typhi in medium fat ground beef (23% fat) and Listeria in ready-to-eat carrots when packed under air or under atmosphere rich in oxygen (MAP). Results have demonstrated that depending of the compound added and the combined treatment used, the RBR increased from 2 to 4 times. In order to evaluate the industrial feasibility, EOs were added in ground beef at a concentration which does not affect the taste and treated at a dose of 1.5 kGy. The content of total mesophilic aerobic, E. coli, Salmonella, total coliform, lactic acid bacteria, and Pseudomonas was determined during 28 days. The results showed that the combined treatment (radiation and EOs) can eliminate Salmonella and E. coli when done under air. When done under MAP, Pseudomonas could be eliminated and a shelf life of more than 28 days was observed. An active edible coating containing EOs was also developed and sprayed on ready-to-eat carrots before radiation treatment and Listeria was evaluated. A complete inhibition of Listeria was obtained at a dose of 0.5 kGy when applied under MAP. Our results have shown that the combination of an edible coating, MAP, and radiation can be used to maintain the safety of meat and vegetables.     

A fast method for the identification of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in sputum and cultures based on thermally assisted hydrolysis and methylation followed by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry

A fast gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) method with minimum sample preparation is described for early diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB). The automated procedure is based on the injection of sputum samples which are then methylated inside the GC injector using thermally assisted hydrolysis and methylation (THM). The THM–GC–MS procedure was optimized for the injection of sputum samples. For the identification of Mycobacterium tuberculosis the known marker tuberculostearic acid (TBSA) and other potential markers were evaluated. Hexacosanoic acid in combination with TBSA was found to be specific for the presence of M. tuberculosis. For validation of the method several sputum samples with different viscosities spiked with bacterial cultures were analyzed. Finally, 18 stored sputum samples collected in Vietnam from patients suspected to suffer from TB were re-analyzed in Amsterdam by microscopy after decontamination/concentration and using the new THM–GC–MS method. No false positives were found by THM–GC–MS and all patients who were diagnosed with TB were also found positive using our newly developed THM–GC–MS method. These results show that the new fast and sensitive THM–GC–MS method holds great potential for the diagnosis of TB.     

水体细菌微生物多波长散射光谱快速定量检测

通过分析细菌细胞的结构特征,将细菌菌体的多波长散射分为外部结构散射和内部结构散射两个部分,建立了细菌菌体前向散射光谱解释模型。利用该模型对大肠杆菌400～900 nm波段的前向散射光进行了快速解析,得到了大肠杆菌外部结构、内部结构的平均粒径大小及两结构占细菌体前向散射的比例;基于单细胞的散射光密度与整体细菌悬浮液光密度之间的关系可以快速检测出细菌的浓度。多次细菌浓度测量结果之间的最大差异为1.83%,且与平板法相比较,测量结果在同一量级,相对误差为3.44%。对不同生长时期的大肠杆菌和肺炎克雷伯菌进行了光谱解析,得到了两种细菌浓度及菌体大小随时间的变化曲线。研究结果不仅为细菌微生物生长过程的科学研究提供了一种快捷方法,而且为水体细菌微生物的快速检测与预警提供了技术手段。     

水体细菌微生物多波长透射光谱快速准确获取方法研究

为实现水体细菌微生物快速在线监测,搭建了多波长透射光谱快速测量实验系统,利用该系统分别测量了重铬酸钾标准溶液紫外波段及中性滤光片可见波段的透射光谱,并与紫外-可见分光光度计测得的透射光谱进行对比分析,验证了实验系统测量透射光谱的准确性;以水体中常见的金黄色葡萄球菌作为研究对象,利用搭建的实验系统获取金黄色葡萄球菌溶液在220～900 nm波段的前向小角度透射光谱,进一步验证了实验系统测量细菌微生物透射光谱的准确性和快速性。结果表明,由实验系统和紫外-可见分光光度计测得的重铬酸钾标准溶液,与中性滤光片紫外波段及可见波段透射光谱的线性拟合相关系数分别为0.999 7和0.999 5,光密度误差分别在5.00%和4.58%以内,说明两个系统测量光谱的一致性较好,所搭建的实验系统测量标准样品紫外-可见透射光谱准确度较高;对于金黄色葡萄球菌,实验系统测得的透射光谱经过校正后,与紫外-可见分光光度计测得的透射光谱线性拟合的相关系数为0.999 97,两者相比的光密度误差在0.74%以内;系统重复30次细菌光谱信号采集获得平均透射光谱单次测量时间为15 s,说明该实验系统相对于紫外-可见分光光度计能够快速准确获取水体细菌微生物多波长透射光谱,在保证测量结果准确的同时缩短了光谱测量时间,为水体细菌微生物快速检测提供技术支持。     

Analysis of the reproduction operator in an artificial bacterial foraging system

In his seminal paper published in 2002, Passino pointed out how individual and groups of bacteria forage for nutrients and how to model it as a distributed optimization process, which he called the Bacterial Foraging Optimization Algorithm (BFOA). One of the major driving forces of BFOA is the reproduction phenomenon of virtual bacteria each of which models a trial solution of the optimization problem. During reproduction, the least healthier bacteria (with a lower accumulated value of the objective function in one chemotactic lifetime) die and the other healthier bacteria each split into two, which then starts exploring the search place from the same location. This keeps the population size constant in BFOA. The phenomenon has a direct analogy with the selection mechanism of classical evolutionary algorithms. In this letter we provide a simple mathematical analysis of the effect of reproduction on bacterial dynamics. Our analysis reveals that the reproduction event contributes to the quick convergence of the bacterial population near optima.