Novel Nanohybrids of Silver Particles on Clay Platelets for Inhibiting Silver-Resistant Bacteria

We develop a novel nanohybrid showing a strong antibacterial activity on all of the tested pathogens, including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus auerus and silver-resistant E. coli. The nanohybrid consists of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) supported on 1 nm-thick silicate platelets (NSPs). The AgNP/NSP nanohybrid enables to encapsulate bacteria and triggers death signals from the cell membrane. The geographic shape of the NSPs concentrates AgNPs but impedes their penetration into attached cells, mitigating the detrimental effect of silver ion deposition in applied tissues. Moreover, the tightly tethered AgNPs on NSP surface achieve a stronger biocidal effect than silver nitrate, but bypassing Ag+ mechanism, on silver-resistant bacteria. This nanohybrid presents an effective and safe antimicrobial agent in a new perspective

TIMP-2 Fusion Protein with Human Serum Albumin Potentiates Anti-Angiogenesis-Mediated Inhibition of Tumor Growth by Suppressing MMP-2 Expression

TIMP-2 protein has been intensively studied as a promising anticancer candidate agent, but the in vivo mechanism underlying its anticancer effect has not been clearly elucidated by previous works. In this study, we investigated the mechanism underlying the anti-tumor effects of a TIMP-2 fusion protein conjugated with human serum albumin (HSA/TIMP-2). Systemic administration of HSA/TIMP-2 effectively inhibited tumor growth at a minimum effective dose of 60 mg/kg. The suppressive effect of HSA/TIMP-2 was accompanied by a marked reduction of in vivo vascularization. The anti-angiogenic activity of HSA/TIMP-2 was directly confirmed by CAM assays. In HSA/TIMP-2-treated tumor tissues, MMP-2 expression was profoundly decreased without a change in MT1-MMP expression of PECAM-1-positive cells. MMP-2 mRNA was also decreased by HSA/TIMP-2 treatment of human umbilical vein endothelial cells. Zymographic analysis showed that HSA/TIMP-2 substantially decreased extracellular pro-MMP-2 activity (94–99% reduction) and moderately decreased active MMP-2 activity (10–24% reduction), suggesting MT1-MMP-independent MMP-2 modulation. Furthermore, HSA/TIMP-2 had no effect on in vitro active MMP-2 activity and in vivo MMP-2 activity. These studies show that HSA/TIMP-2 potentiates anti-angiogenic activity by modulating MMP-2 expression, but not MMP-2 activity, to subsequently suppress tumor growth, suggesting an important role for MMP-2 expression rather than MMP-2 activity in anti-angiogenesis

HIV testing within general practices in Europe : A mixed-methods systematic review

Funding Information: This work was supported by IWT (Belgium) and the ANRS (France) through the framework of HIVERA JTC 2014. Publisher Copyright: © 2018 The Author(s).Background: Late diagnosis of HIV infection remains a key challenge in Europe. It is acknowledged that general practitioners (GPs) may contribute greatly to early case finding, yet there is evidence that many diagnostic opportunities are being missed. To further promote HIV testing in primary care and to increase the utility of available research, the existing evidence has been synthesised in a systematic review adhering to the PRISMA guidelines. Methods: The databases PubMed, Scopus and Embase were searched for the period 2006-2017. Two authors judged independently on the eligibility of studies. Through a mixed-methods systematic review of 29 studies, we provide a description of HIV testing in general practices in Europe, including barriers and facilitators. Results: The findings of the study show that although various approaches to target patients are used by GPs, most tests are still carried out based on the patient's request. Several barriers obstruct HIV testing in general practice. Included are a lack of communication skills on sexual health, lack of knowledge about HIV testing recommendations and epidemic specificities, difficulties with using the complete list of clinical HIV indicator diseases and lack of experience in delivering and communicating test results. The findings also suggest that the provision of specific training, practical tools and promotion programmes has an impact on the testing performance of GPs. Conclusions: GPs could have an increased role in provider-initiated HIV-testing for early case finding. To achieve this objective, solutions to the reported barriers should be identified and testing criteria adapted to primary healthcare defined. Providing guidance and training to better identify priority groups for HIV testing, as well as information on the HIV epidemic's characteristics, will be fundamental to increasing awareness and testing by GPs.publishersversionPeer reviewe

Live imaging of leukocyte recruitment in a zebrafish model of chemical liver injury

Studying early immune responses to organ damage in situ requires animal models amenable to intravital imaging. Here, we used transparent zebrafish larvae, a powerful animal model for innate immunity, to measure leukocyte recruitment to damaged livers. Bath application of metronidazole (Mtz) to fish expressing nitroreductase (NTR) under a liver-specific promoter damaged the organ within 24 hours causing oxidative stress, distorted liver morphology, accumulation of TUNEL-positive cells, and transcriptional upregulation of apoptotic and antioxidant genes. Inflammatory gene transcription in damaged hepatocytes was attenuated. In line with predominant apoptosis, macrophages were massively recruited into Mtz/NTR-damaged livers. By contrast, neutrophil infiltration was more variable and delayed, consistent with less abundant necrosis and an attenuated inflammatory capacity of damaged hepatocytes

Normal-incidence pulsed-laser deposition: better method for fabrication of multilayer structures

A new normal-incidence pulsed-laser deposition method is presented. Fe/Mn multilayers were fabricated using both 45 degrees- and normal-incidence deposition of a pulsed laser and were characterized using the small-angle X-ray reflectivity measurement. This new method provides much better control of the lateral uniformity and layer thickness than the 45 degrees-incidence deposition method.X1114sciescopu

A Comparative Analysis of Game Engines to Develop Core Assets for a Software Product Line of Mini-Games

International audienc

Granularity of Services – an Economic Analysis

Service-oriented architectures are widely discussed as a design principle for application and enterprise architectures. Nevertheless, an adequate granularity of services has not yet been researched sufficiently from an economic perspective. The finer the granularity to realize the functions of a process, the higher the number of services is, and the more effort has to be directed towards composing them. In contrast, very coarse grained services bear the disadvantages of higher implementation costs and lower reuse potential (e.g., in different processes). The aim of the decision model proposed in this paper is to determine an adequate granularity of services from an economical perspective. Thus, degrees of freedom, which often exist for the choice of granularity after a domain analysis, can be leveraged to realize a cost-efficient solution. We illustrate the applicability and practical benefits of the decision model with an example from the context of a financial services provider