Biogenic nanoparticles bearing antibacterial activity and their synergistic effect with broad spectrum antibiotics: Emerging strategy to combat drug resistant pathogens

AbstractThe present study emphasizes on synthesis of bimetallic silver–gold nanoparticles from cell free supernatant of Pseudomonas veronii strain AS41G inhabiting Annona squamosa L. The synthesized nanoparticles were characterized using hyphenated techniques with UV–Visible spectra ascertained absorbance peak between 400 and 800nm. Possible interaction of biomolecules in mediating and stabilization of nanoparticles was depicted with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). X-ray diffraction (XRD) displayed Bragg’s peak conferring the 100, 111, 200, and 220 facets of the face centered cubic symmetry of nanoparticles suggesting that these nanoparticles were crystalline in nature. Size and shape of the nanoparticles were determined using Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) microgram with size ranging from 5 to 50nm forming myriad shapes. Antibacterial activity of nanoparticles against significant human pathogens was conferred with well diffusion assay and its synergistic effect with standard antibiotics revealed 87.5% fold increased activity with antibiotic “bacitracin” against bacitracin resistant strains Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae followed by kanamycin with 18.5%, gentamicin with 11.15%, streptomycin with 10%, erythromycin with 9.7% and chloramphenicol with 9.4%. Thus the study concludes with biogenic and ecofriendly route for synthesizing nanoparticles with antibacterial activity against drug resistant pathogens and attributes growing interest on endophytes as an emerging source for synthesis of nanoparticles

Pesticide Transport with Surface Runoff and Subsurface Drainage through a Vegetative Filter Strip

Vegetative filter strips (VFS) have become an established best management practice during the last 25 years. This study examined the effectiveness of VFS of brome grass in central Iowa for reducing the mass transport of sediment and pesticides (atrazine, acetochlor, and chlorpyrifos) with surface runoff under natural rainfall conditions. Measurements of pesticide concentrations in water from a single subsurface drain under the plots were also made. Overall results showed that many factors affect pesticide transport, such as rainfall timing and intensity, hydrology, source–to–VFS area ratios, and the adsorption properties of pesticides in VFS inflow. Two primary mechanisms (inflow water infiltration and sediment deposition) had a significant effect on pesticide passage through VFS. Sediment deposition increased with decreased flow volume and velocity, and was considerably higher for the 15:1 area–ratio plots than for the 45:1 plots; this in turn aided in the reduction of transport of pesticides adsorbed to sediment. Reductions in atrazine and acetochlor transport were primarily controlled by the infiltration efficiency of the VFS, as they are moderately adsorbed, and the major portion of these pesticides moved in solution in the surface runoff water phase. Chlorpyrifos was highly adsorbed to the sediment, making sediment deposition in the VFS equally, if not more, important than infiltration for mass removal. The herbicides (atrazine and acetochlor) had low to moderate adsorption characteristics and moved primarily in the runoff water phase. Data collected for the subsurface drainage from the tile line showed that there were measurable concentrations of the moderately adsorbed herbicides in the tile flow at the time surface runoff was taking place; however, concentrations of the more strongly adsorbed chlorpyrifos were below detection. The statistical difference was most prominent in the event with the smallest runoff volume. This showed that at lower flow rates, VFS can effectively reduce runoff, sediment, and pesticide transport from cropland

Subsurface Herbicide Application with the Modified John Deere Mulch Master

Subsurface versus surface application can reduce herbicide losses from surface runoff, volatilization, photodegradation, and wind-induced drift. Because distribution in the soil plays an important role in herbicide fate and transport, this study was conducted to analyze the effect of various application methods on herbicide losses with surface runoff. Twelve rainfall simulation plots (three replications of four herbicide application treatments) were established in 1995. Losses of atrazine, metolachlor, and cyanazine with surface runoff were measured for the four different treatments: broadcast spray without incorporation with no-till (NT), broadcast spray with disk incorporation (SD), broadcast spray with Mulch Master incorporation (MR), and subsurface application with incorporation using a modified Mulch Master (MB). For the modified Mulch Master, sprayer nozzles were added to the trailing edges of 61-cm wide Mulch Master sweeps, which were run at a depth of 6 cm. Following herbicide application, rainfall was simulated at 6.35 cm h -1 for 1.5 h on the 3.1 m × 10.7 m plots. Runoff volumes and soil losses were greatest for NT (3.36 cm and 632 kg ha -1 ), followed by MR and MB, with SD showing the lowest total runoff and sediment losses (0.34 cm and 217 kg ha -1 ). Herbicide losses and concentrations were significantly greater (P = 0.10) for NT than for the other three treatments. On the NT plots, runoff began quickly and only occurred on two of the four inter-row areas that had traffic tracks. Herbicide losses decreased in the order of NT, MR, SD, and MB. In addition, MR and MB retained more surface crop residue than SD

Nanomaterial cytotoxicity is composition, size, and cell type dependent

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Despite intensive research efforts, reports of cellular responses to nanomaterials are often inconsistent and even contradictory. Additionally, relationships between the responding cell type and nanomaterial properties are not well understood. Using three model cell lines representing different physiological compartments and nanomaterials of different compositions and sizes, we have systematically investigated the influence of nanomaterial properties on the degrees and pathways of cytotoxicity. In this study, we selected nanomaterials of different compositions (TiO₂and SiO₂nanoparticles, and multi-wall carbon nanotubes [MWCNTs]) with differing size (MWCNTs of different diameters < 8 nm, 20-30 nm, > 50 nm; but same length 0.5-2 μm) to analyze the effects of composition and size on toxicity to 3T3 fibroblasts, RAW 264.7 macrophages, and telomerase-immortalized (hT) bronchiolar epithelial cells.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Following characterization of nanomaterial properties in PBS and serum containing solutions, cells were exposed to nanomaterials of differing compositions and sizes, with cytotoxicity monitored through reduction in mitochondrial activity. In addition to cytotoxicity, the cellular response to nanomaterials was characterized by quantifying generation of reactive oxygen species, lysosomal membrane destabilization and mitochondrial permeability. The effect of these responses on cellular fate - apoptosis or necrosis - was then analyzed. Nanomaterial toxicity was variable based on exposed cell type and dependent on nanomaterial composition and size. In addition, nanomaterial exposure led to cell type dependent intracellular responses resulting in unique breakdown of cellular functions for each nanomaterial: cell combination.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Nanomaterials induce cell specific responses resulting in variable toxicity and subsequent cell fate based on the type of exposed cell. Our results indicate that the composition and size of nanomaterials as well as the target cell type are critical determinants of intracellular responses, degree of cytotoxicity and potential mechanisms of toxicity.</p

Development of bioconjugated nano-molecules against targeted microbial pathogens for enhanced bactericidal activity

The study reports development of bio-conjugated nano-molecules (BCM's) for enhanced antibacterial activity against targeted pathogens of global concern. The conjugation was achieved with biomolecular interaction of silver clusters with 3-Dichloro-5, 6-dicyano-1, 4-benzoquinone (DDQ) which was purified and characterized with TLC which displayed prominent band at R-f 0.5 and HPLC analysis displayed chromatographic peak eluting at (t(R)) 6-8 min. The LC-MS analysis displayed single major peak at t(R) = 4.610 corresponding to molecular ion peak at m/z = 227.19. The developed BCM molecule was determined with UV-Visible spectroscopy which displayed the absorbance peaks of conjugated molecules with shoulder peak observed and morphological characteristics were well defined with TEM analysis which showed cluster formation. The size ranged from 20 to 80 nm in size with majority of the BCM displaying spherical in size. The process of bio-conjugation was further studied with FTIR analysis which corresponded with different vibrational stretches owing to the presence of amide, carbonyl alkynes, nitriles and carboxylic acid groups. The presence of functional moieties was also studied using H-1 and C-13 NMR spectra. The crystalline characteristics was confirmed with XRD analysis which displayed Bragg's intensities along with additional peaks occurring at 2 theta angle corresponds to (111), (200), (220), (311) face centric cube of silver planes. The antibacterial activity of BCM's was profound against all the test pathogen which was validated and compared with standard antibiotics. Among the test pathogens, highest activity was conferred against Staphylococcus epidermidis (MTCC 435) with 29 mm. The minimal inhibition concentration of BCM's was in the range of 0.97-3.12 mu g/ml. The results of MIC were in accordance with well diffusion assay indicating the Gram + ve test pathogen Staphylococcus epidermidis to be the most sensitive. In addition, the broth dilution assay resulted in decrease in the optical density measured at 600 nm against the increase in the concentration of BCM's. The outcome of the present investigation revealed the role of bio-conjugation chemistry to increase fold activity against pathogens which can act as alternative tool to combat drug resistant menace across the globe

A fast feature extraction algorithm for image and video processing

Medical images and videos are utilized to discover, diagnose and treat diseases. Managing, storing, and retrieving stored images effectively are considered important topics. The rapid growth of multimedia data, including medical images and videos, has caused a swift rise in data transmission volume and repository size. Multimedia data contains useful information; however, it consumes an enormous storage space. Therefore, high processing time for that sheer volume of data will be required. Image and video applications demand for reduction in computational cost (processing time) when extracting features. This paper introduces a novel method to compute transform coefficients (features) from images or video frames. These features are used to represent the local visual content of images and video frames. We compared the proposed method with the traditional approach of feature extraction using a standard image technique. Furthermore, the proposed method is employed for shot boundary detection (SBD) applications to detect transitions in video frames. The standard TRECVID 2005, 2006, and 2007 video datasets are used to evaluate the performance of the SBD applications. The achieved results show that the proposed algorithm significantly reduces the computational cost in comparison to the traditional method

Swine Manure Rate, Timing, and Application Method Effects on Post-Harvest Soil Nutrients, Crop Yield, and Water Quality Implications in a Corn-Soybean Rotation

This report documents results from a six-year study (1996-2001) that evaluated effects of liquid swine manure application management practices on soil nutrients, organic matter, pH, crop yield; and also discussed water quality implications. Swine manure management practices included single-rate (SR) and double-rate (DR) nitrogen (N)-based application rates (168 and 336 kg N ha-1, respectively), three timings (fall injection [FI], winter broadcast [WB], and spring injection [SI]), and two methods (broadcast and injection) of liquid swine manure. Analysis of these practices involved comparing levels of residual soil total phosphorus (P) as Bray-1 available P (RSP), residual soil nitrate-N (RSN), percent organic matter (OM%), pH, carbon:nitrogen (C:N) ratio, and crop yields (kg ha-1) in a corn-soybean rotation. Results of this study indicated that long-term application of higher liquid swine manure rates during winter and spring application times resulted in significantly higher post-harvest accumulation of RSN and RSP in the soil profile, with no significant changes in soil OM%, pH, and C:N ratio. These results also showed that incorporation of swine manure during the spring application time produced significantly higher corn yields compared with fall and winter application times. Overall results suggest that while RSN and RSP content may be significantly higher from spring versus fall manure application times, N and P runoff losses and the potential threat to surface water quality may be substantially lower during spring and summer compared with fall and winter due to effects from crop nutrient uptake, microbial activity, leaching, and evapotranspiration during the growing season