Overshadow Effect of Psl on Bacterial Response to Physiochemically Distinct Surfaces Through Motility-Based Characterization

Biofilms of Pseudomonas aeruginosa are ubiquitously found on surfaces of many medical devices, which are the major cause of hospital-acquired infections. A large amount of work has been focused on bacterial attachment on surfaces. However, how bacterial cells evolve on surfaces after their attachment is the key to get better understanding and further control of biofilm formation. In this work, by employing both single-cell- and collective-motility of cells, we characterized the bacterial surface movement on physiochemically distinct surfaces. The measurement of cell surface motility showed consistent results that gold and especially platinum surfaces displayed a stronger capability in microcolony formation than polyvinyl chloride and polycarbonate surfaces. More interestingly, we found that overproduction of Psl led to a narrower variance in cell surface motility among tested surfaces, indicating an overshadow effect of Psl for bacteria by screening the influence of physicochemical properties of solid surfaces. Our results provide insights into how Pseudomonas aeruginosa cells adapt their motion to physiochemically distinct surfaces, and thus would be beneficial for developing new anti-biofouling techniques in biomedical engineering

Individual differences in false memory from misinformation: Cognitive factors

This research investigated the cognitive correlates of false memories that are induced by the misinformation paradigm. A large sample of Chinese college students (N=436) participated in a misinformation procedure and also took a battery of cognitive tests. Results revealed sizable and systematic individual differences in false memory arising from exposure to misinformation. False memories were significantly and negatively correlated with measures of intelligence (measured with Raven's Advanced Progressive Matrices and Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale), perception (Motor-Free Visual Perception Test, Change Blindness, and Tone Discrimination), memory (Wechsler Memory Scales and 2-back Working Memory tasks), and face judgement (Face Recognition and Facial Expression Recognition). These findings suggest that people with relatively low intelligence and poor perceptual abilities might be more susceptible to the misinformation effect

Quantitative Amplitude- and Phase- Contrast Plasmonic Microscopy with High Spatial Resolution

Plasmonic microscopy is a powerful tool for nanoscopic bio and chemical sample analysis due to its high sensitivity. Here, we demonstrated the quantitative amplitude- and phase- contrast imaging capabilities of plasmonic microscopy through holographical reconstructions of the interferometric plasmonic patterns. Operating interferometric plasmonic microscopy over the surface plasmon resonance angle separates twin images, and allows for accurately mapping the amplitude and phase of surface plasmon fields. The unique capabilities enable direct visualization of complex surface plasmon fields without the need for nanoscopic probes, and high-spatial-resolution imaging of nanoparticles. The proposed technology is a promising platform for nanoplasmonic study and for various sensing purposes

Study on the Attachment of <i>Escherichia coli</i> to Sediment Particles at a Single-Cell Level: The Effect of Particle Size

The attachment of bacteria to sediment particles has a significant impact on the level of bacterial contamination in water. In this work, the attachment of Escherichia coli to particles was investigated with emphasis on the effect of particle size. To exclude the impact of other facts, e.g., the irregularity of particles, we used regular spherical glass particles in addition to natural sediment particles. Both types of particles are mainly composed of SiO2 and are similar in density. Through a bacterial tracking method together with microfluidic techniques, the attachment of single Escherichia coli cells on the particles was observed. The results showed that only a small portion of the cells that approach the particles remain attached and that the attachment probability per approach increases with surface area for both sediment and glass particles within the size range (8&#8211;62 &#956;m) examined in this study. Therefore, finer sediments with more surface area have a higher E. coli attachment capacity. The attachment probability is higher on sediment particles than on glass microspheres of equivalent size, indicating preferential attachment of E. coli to sediment particles. The partition coefficient of the commonly used linear partition model was calculated based on microscopic measurements and the obtained relation of the partition coefficient with attachment probability and particle size was validated with data from the published literature

Proteomic Analysis Reveals Grb2 as a Key Regulator of Periodic Mechanical Stress Transduction in Chondrocytes

Background/Aims: Periodic mechanical stress could significantly promote chondrocyte proliferation and matrix synthesis. However, the mechanisms underlying the ability of chondrocyte detecting and responding to periodic mechanical stimuli have not been well delineated. Methods: Quantitative proteomic analysis was performed to construct the differently expressed proteome profiles of chondrocyte under pressure. Then a combination of Western blot, quantitative real-time PCR, lentiviral vector and histological methods were used to confirm the proteomic results and investigate the mechanoseing mechanism. Results: Growth factor receptor-bound protein 2 (Grb2), a component of integrin adhesome, was found a 1.49-fold increase in dynamic stress group. This process was mediated through integrin β1, leading to increased phosphorylation of focal adhesion kinase (FAK) and extracellular signal–regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2) respectively and then produce the corresponding biological effects. Conclusion: This was the first time to demonstrate Grb2 has such an important role in periodic mechanotransduction, and the proteomic data could facilitate the further investigation of chondrocytes mechanosensing

Polypharmacy Management in Elderly Patients with Multimorbidity

Active implementation of patient-centered polypharmacy management for older adults with multimorbidity can help to identify and correct the medication errors that patients may have, avoid the occurrence of potential medication errors, reduce and control the development of drug-related diseases, improve the clinical treatment effect, and delay the disease progression, thereby facilitating the achievement of targets for disease control, and improvement of quality of life of patients. In the light of problems of polypharmacy in Chinese elderly patients with multimorbidity, we summarized relevant interventions including strengthening top-level design of management, building multidisciplinary teams, innovating medication management technologies, and meeting patients&apos;needs of drug information, providing a reference for medication management of these patients. We found that problems of polypharmacy in Chinese elderly patients are serious, and actively exploring multiple approaches to polypharmacy management based on medication features of these patients may be a key breakthrough for addressing the problems

Profiling extracellular vesicle surface proteins with 10 µL peripheral plasma within 4 h

Abstract Extracellular vesicle (EV) surface proteins, expressed by primary tumours, are important biomarkers for early cancer diagnosis. However, the detection of these EV proteins is complicated by their low abundance and interference from non‐EV components in clinical samples. Herein, we present a MEmbrane‐Specific Separation and two‐step Cascade AmpLificatioN (MESS2CAN) strategy for direct detection of EV surface proteins within 4 h. MESS2CAN utilises novel lipid probes (long chains linked by PEG2K with biotin at one end, and DSPE at the other end) and streptavidin‐coated magnetic beads, permitting a 49.6% EV recovery rate within 1 h. A dual amplification strategy with a primer exchange reaction (PER) cascaded by the Cas12a system then allows sensitive detection of the target protein at 10 EV particles per microliter. Using 4 cell lines and 90 clinical test samples, we demonstrate MESS2CAN for analysing HER2, EpCAM and EGFR expression on EVs derived from cells and patient plasma. MESS2CAN reports the desired specificity and sensitivity of EGFR (AUC = 0.98) and of HER2 (AUC = 1) for discriminating between HER2‐positive breast cancer, triple‐negative breast cancer and healthy donors. MESS2CAN is a pioneering method for highly sensitive in vitro EV diagnostics, applicable to clinical samples with trace amounts of EVs