Blur Reduction in Ultrasonic Images Using Pseudo Three-Dimensional Wiener Filtering

The ability to quantitatively image material anomalies with ultrasonic methods is severely restricted by the axial and lateral resolution of the interrogating transducer. Axial resolution is controlled by the pulse duration of the transducer with shorter pulse durations yielding better axial resolution. Lateral resolution is controlled by the width of the interrogating beam with narrower beams providing better lateral resolutio

Activity of the β-Lactamase inhibitor LN-1-255 against carbapenem-hydrolyzing class D β-lactamases from Acinetobacter baumannii

The number of infections caused by Gram-negative pathogens carrying carbapenemases is increasing, and the group of carbapenem-hydrolyzing class D β-lactamases (CHDLs) is especially problematic. Several clinically important CHDLs have been identified in A. baumannii, including OXA-23, OXA-24/40, OXA-58, OXA-143, OXA-235, and the chromosomally encoded OXA-51. The selection and dissemination of carbapenem-resistant A. baumannii strains constitutes a serious global threat. Carbapenems have been successfully utilized as last resort antibiotics for the treatment of multi-drug-resistant A. baumannii infections. However, the spread of OXA carbapenemases is compromising the continued use of these antimicrobials. In response to this clinical issue, it is necessary and urgent to design and develop new specific inhibitors with efficacy against these enzymes. The aim of this work is to characterize the inhibitory activity of LN-1-255 (a 6-alkylidene-2-substituted penicillin sulfone) and compare it to that of two established inhibitors (avibactam and tazobactam) against the most relevant enzymes of each group of class D carbapenemases in A. baumannii. The β-lactamase inhibitor LN-1-255 demonstrated excellent microbiological synergy and inhibition kinetics parameters against all tested CHDLs, and a significantly higher activity than tazobactam and avibactam. A combination of carbapenems and LN-1-255 was effective against A. baumannii class D carbapenemases. Docking assays confirmed the affinity of LN-1-255 for the active site of these enzymes. LN-1-255 represents a potential new β-lactamase inhibitor, which may have a significant role in eradicating infections caused by A. baumannii isolates carrying CHDLsThis work was supported by the Spanish National Plans for Scientific Research, Development and Technological Innovation 2008-2011 and 2013-2016 and funded by the ISCIII- General Subdirection of Assessment and Promotion of the Research-European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) “A way of making Europe”: PI12/00552 to G.B. and PI14/00059 to M.P. and A.B. Also, this study was supported in part by funds from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases of the National Institutes of Health (USA) under award numbers R01AI063517 and R01AI100560, by funds and/or facilities provided by the Cleveland Department of Veterans Affairs, the Veterans Affairs Merit Review Program Award 1I01BX001974 and the Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center VISN 10 to R.A.B., and by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competiveness (SAF2013-42899-R), Xunta de Galicia (GRC2013-041) and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) to C.GB. J.V. was financially supported by the Sara Borrell Programme ISCIII-FEDER (CD13/00373). J.V.H. and A.B. were financially supported by the Miguel Servet Programme ISCIII-FEDER (CP13/00226)S

LN-1-255, a penicillanic acid sulfone able to inhibit the class D carbapenemase OXA-48

This is a pre-copyedited, author-produced version of an article accepted for publication in Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy following peer review. The version of record Juan A. Vallejo, Marta Martínez-Guitián, Juan C. Vázquez-Ucha, Concepción González-Bello, Margarita Poza, John D. Buynak, Christopher R. Bethel, Robert A. Bonomo, German Bou, Alejandro Beceiro; LN-1-255, a penicillanic acid sulfone able to inhibit the class D carbapenemase OXA-48, Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, Volume 71, Issue 8, 1 August 2016, Pages 2171–2180 is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1093/jac/dkw105Objectives Carbapenemases are the most important mechanism responsible for carbapenem resistance in Enterobacteriaceae. Among carbapenemases, OXA-48 presents unique challenges as it is resistant to β-lactam inhibitors. Here, we test the capacity of the compound LN-1-255, a 6-alkylidene-2′-substituted penicillanic acid sulfone, to inhibit the activity of the carbapenemase OXA-48. Methods The OXA-48 gene was cloned and expressed in Klebsiella pneumoniae and Escherichia coli in order to obtain MICs in the presence of inhibitors (clavulanic acid, tazobactam and sulbactam) and LN-1-255. OXA-48 was purified and steady-state kinetics was performed with LN-1-255 and tazobactam. The covalent binding mode of LN-1-255 with OXA-48 was studied by docking assays. Results Both OXA-48-producing clinical and transformant strains displayed increased susceptibility to carbapenem antibiotics in the presence of 4 mg/L LN-1-255 (2–32-fold increased susceptibility) and 16 mg/L LN-1-255 (4–64-fold increased susceptibility). Kinetic assays demonstrated that LN-1-255 is able to inhibit OXA-48 with an acylation efficiency (k2/K) of 10 ± 1 × 104 M−1 s−1 and a slow deacylation rate (koff) of 7 ± 1 × 10−4 s−1. IC50 was 3 nM for LN-1-255 and 1.5 μM for tazobactam. Lastly, kcat/kinact was 500-fold lower for LN-1-255 than for tazobactam. Conclusions In these studies, carbapenem antibiotics used in combination with LN-1-255 are effective against the carbapenemase OXA-48, an important emerging mechanism of antibiotic resistance. This provides an incentive for further investigations to maximize the efficacy of penicillin sulfone inhibition of class D plasmid-carried Enterobacteriaceae carbapenemases.This work was supported by the Spanish National Plans for Scientific Research, Development and Technological Innovation 2013-16 and funded by the ISCIII-General Subdirection of Assessment and Promotion of the Research-European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) ‘A way of making Europe’: PI12/00552 to G. B. and PI14/00059 to M. P. and A. B. Also, research reported in this publication was supported in part by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases of the National Institutes of Health (USA) under Award Numbers R01AI100560, R01AI063517 and R01AI072219 to R. A. B. This study was supported in part by funds and/or facilities provided by the Cleveland Department of Veterans Affairs (USA), Award Number 1I01BX001974 to R. A. B. from the Biomedical Laboratory Research & Development Service of the VA Office of Research and Development and the Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center VISN 10 (USA) to R. A. B. This study was also supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competiveness (SAF2013-42899-R), Xunta de Galicia (Spain) (GRC2013-041) and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) to C. G.-B, and supported by National Institutes of Health (USA) to J. D. B. (1R15AI109624). J. V. A. was financially supported by the Sara Borrell Programme ISCIII-FEDER (CD13/00373). J. V. H. and A. B. were financially supported by the Miguel Servet Programme ISCIII-FEDER (CP13/00226)S

Ring splitting of azetidin-2-ones via radical anions

The radical anions of azetidin-2-ones, generated by UV-irradiation in the presence of triethylamine, undergo ring-splitting via N-C4 or C3-C4 bond breaking, leading to open-chain amides. This reactivity diverges from that found for the neutral excited states, which is characterised by alpha-cleavage. The preference for beta-cleavage is supported by DFT theoretical calculations on the energy barriers associated with the involved transition states. Thus, injection of one electron into the azetidin-2-one moiety constitutes a complementary activation strategy which may be exploited to produce new chemistry.Financial support from the MICINN (Grants CTQ-2010-14882, CTQ-2009-13699 and JCI-2010-06204), Generalitat Valenciana (Prometeo 2008/90), from CSIC (JAEDOC 101-2011) and from the UPV (Grant No. 20100994 and MCI Program) is gratefully acknowledged.Pérez Ruiz, R.; Sáez Cases, JA.; Domingo, LR.; Jiménez Molero, MC.; Miranda Alonso, MÁ. (2012). Ring splitting of azetidin-2-ones via radical anions. Organic and Biomolecular Chemistry. 10(39):7928-7932. https://doi.org/10.1039/c2ob26528aS79287932103

Visible Light Responsive Photocatalyst Induces Progressive and Apical-Terminus Preferential Damages on Escherichia coli Surfaces

BACKGROUND: Recent research shows that visible-light responsive photocatalysts have potential usage in antimicrobial applications. However, the dynamic changes in the damage to photocatalyzed bacteria remain unclear. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Facilitated by atomic force microscopy, this study analyzes the visible-light driven photocatalyst-mediated damage of Escherichia coli. Results show that antibacterial properties are associated with the appearance of hole-like structures on the bacteria surfaces. Unexpectedly, these hole-like structures were preferentially induced at the apical terminus of rod shaped E. coli cells. Differentiating the damages into various levels and analyzing the percentage of damage to the cells showed that photocatalysis was likely to elicit sequential damages in E. coli cells. The process began with changing the surface properties on bacterial cells, as indicated in surface roughness measurements using atomic force microscopy, and holes then formed at the apical terminus of the cells. The holes were then subsequently enlarged until the cells were totally transformed into a flattened shape. Parallel experiments indicated that photocatalysis-induced bacterial protein leakage is associated with the progression of hole-like damages, further suggesting pore formation. Control experiments using ultraviolet light responsive titanium-dioxide substrates also obtained similar observations, suggesting that this is a general phenomenon of E. coli in response to photocatalysis. CONCLUSION/SIGNIFICANCE: The photocatalysis-mediated localization-preferential damage to E. coli cells reveals the weak points of the bacteria. This might facilitate the investigation of antibacterial mechanism of the photocatalysis

Effects of Human Respiratory Syncytial Virus, Metapneumovirus, Parainfluenza Virus 3 and Influenza Virus on CD4+ T Cell Activation by Dendritic Cells

BACKGROUND: Human respiratory syncytial virus (HRSV), and to a lesser extent human metapneumovirus (HMPV) and human parainfluenza virus type 3 (HPIV3), re-infect symptomatically throughout life without antigenic change, suggestive of incomplete immunity. One causative factor is thought to be viral interference with dendritic cell (DC)-mediated stimulation of CD4+ T cells. METHODOLOGY, PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We infected human monocyte-derived DC with purified HRSV, HMPV, HPIV3, or influenza A virus (IAV) and compared their ability to induce activation and proliferation of autologous CD4+ T cells in vitro. IAV was included because symptomatic re-infection without antigenic change is less frequent, suggesting that immune protection is more complete and durable. We examined virus-specific memory responses and superantigen-induced responses by multiparameter flow cytometry. Live virus was more stimulatory than inactivated virus in inducing DC-mediated proliferation of virus-specific memory CD4+ T cells, suggesting a lack of strong suppression by live virus. There were trends of increasing proliferation in the order: HMPV<HRSV<HPIV3<IAV, and greater production of interferon-γ and tumor necrosis factor-α by proliferating cells in response to IAV, but differences were not significant. Exposure of DC to HRSV, HPIV3, or IAV reduced CD4+ T cell proliferation in response to secondary stimulus with superantigen, but the effect was transitory and greatest for IAV. T cell cytokine production was similar, with no evidence of Th2 or Th17 skewing. CONCLUSIONS, SIGNIFICANCE: Understanding the basis for the ability of HRSV in particular to symptomatically re-infect without significant antigenic change is of considerable interest. The present results show that these common respiratory viruses are similar in their ability to induce DC to activate CD4+ T cells. Thus, the results do not support the common model in which viral suppression of CD4+ T cell activation and proliferation by HRSV, HMPV, and HPIV3 is a major factor in the difference in re-infectability compared to IAV

Blood pressure-lowering effects of nifedipine/candesartan combinations in high-risk individuals: Subgroup analysis of the DISTINCT randomised trial

The DISTINCT study (reDefining Intervention with Studies Testing Innovative Nifedipine GITS - Candesartan Therapy) investigated the efficacy and safety of nifedipine GITS/candesartan cilexetil combinations vs respective monotherapies and placebo in patients with hypertension. This descriptive sub-analysis examined blood pressure (BP)-lowering effects in high-risk participants, including those with renal impairment (estimated glomerular filtration rate<90 ml min-1, n=422), type 2 diabetes mellitus (n=202), hypercholesterolaemia (n=206) and cardiovascular (CV) risk factors (n=971), as well as the impact of gender, age and body mass index (BMI). Participants with grade I/II hypertension were randomised to treatment with nifedipine GITS (N) 20, 30, 60 mg and/or candesartan cilexetil (C) 4, 8, 16, 32 mg or placebo for 8 weeks. Mean systolic BP and diastolic BP reductions after treatment in high-risk participants were greater, overall, with N/C combinations vs respective monotherapies or placebo, with indicators of a dose-response effect. Highest rates of BP control (ESH/ESC 2013 guideline criteria) were also achieved with highest doses of N/C combinations in each high-risk subgroup. The benefits of combination therapy vs monotherapy were additionally observed in patient subgroups categorised by gender, age or BMI. All high-risk participants reported fewer vasodilatory adverse events in the pooled N/C combination therapy than the N monotherapy group. In conclusion, consistent with the DISTINCT main study outcomes, high-risk participants showed greater reductions in BP and higher control rates with N/C combinations compared with respective monotherapies and lesser vasodilatory side-effects compared with N monotherapy

Omecamtiv mecarbil in chronic heart failure with reduced ejection fraction, GALACTIC‐HF: baseline characteristics and comparison with contemporary clinical trials

Aims: The safety and efficacy of the novel selective cardiac myosin activator, omecamtiv mecarbil, in patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) is tested in the Global Approach to Lowering Adverse Cardiac outcomes Through Improving Contractility in Heart Failure (GALACTIC‐HF) trial. Here we describe the baseline characteristics of participants in GALACTIC‐HF and how these compare with other contemporary trials. Methods and Results: Adults with established HFrEF, New York Heart Association functional class (NYHA) ≥ II, EF ≤35%, elevated natriuretic peptides and either current hospitalization for HF or history of hospitalization/ emergency department visit for HF within a year were randomized to either placebo or omecamtiv mecarbil (pharmacokinetic‐guided dosing: 25, 37.5 or 50 mg bid). 8256 patients [male (79%), non‐white (22%), mean age 65 years] were enrolled with a mean EF 27%, ischemic etiology in 54%, NYHA II 53% and III/IV 47%, and median NT‐proBNP 1971 pg/mL. HF therapies at baseline were among the most effectively employed in contemporary HF trials. GALACTIC‐HF randomized patients representative of recent HF registries and trials with substantial numbers of patients also having characteristics understudied in previous trials including more from North America (n = 1386), enrolled as inpatients (n = 2084), systolic blood pressure &lt; 100 mmHg (n = 1127), estimated glomerular filtration rate &lt; 30 mL/min/1.73 m2 (n = 528), and treated with sacubitril‐valsartan at baseline (n = 1594). Conclusions: GALACTIC‐HF enrolled a well‐treated, high‐risk population from both inpatient and outpatient settings, which will provide a definitive evaluation of the efficacy and safety of this novel therapy, as well as informing its potential future implementation