Efficacy and safety of nanohybrids comprising silver nanoparticles and silicate clay for controlling Salmonella infection

Developing effective and safe drugs is imperative for replacing antibiotics and controlling multidrug-resistant microbes. Nanoscale silicate platelet (NSP) and its nanohybrid, silver nanoparticle/NSP (AgNP/NSP), have been developed, and the nanohybrids show a strong and general antibacterial activity in vitro. Here, their efficacy for protecting Salmonella-infected chicks from fatality and septicemia was evaluated. Both orally administrated NSP and AgNP/NSP, but not AgNPs alone, effectively reduced the systemic Salmonella infection and mortality. In addition, quantitative Ag analyses demonstrated that Ag deposition from AgNP/NSP in the intestines was less than that from conventional AgNPs, indicating that the presence of NSP for immobilizing AgNPs reduced Ag accumulation in tissue and improved the safety of AgNPs. These in vivo results illustrated that both NSP and AgNP/NSP nanohybrid represent potential agents for controlling enteric bacterial infections

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

Nanohybrids of Silver Particles Immobilized on Silicate Platelet for Infected Wound Healing

Silver nanoparticles supported on nanoscale silicate platelets (AgNP/NSP) possess interesting properties, including a large surface area and high biocide effectiveness. The nanohybrid of AgNP/NSP at a weight ratio 7/93 contains 5-nm Ag particles supported on the surface of platelets with dimensions of approximately 80×80×1 nm3. The nanohybrid expresses a trend of lower cytotoxicity at the concentration of 8.75 ppm Ag and low genotoxicity. Compared with conventional silver ions and the organically dispersed AgNPs, the nanohybrid promotes wound healing. We investigated overall wound healing by using acute burn and excision wound healing models. Tests on both infected wound models of mice were compared among the AgNP/NSP, polymer-dispersed AgNPs, the commercially available Aquacel, and silver sulfadiazine. The AgNP/NSP nanohybrid was superior for wound appearance, but had similar wound healing rates, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-A levels and transforming growth factor (TGF)-β1 expressions to Aquacel and silver sulfadiazine

Novel Preparation of Protein-Clay Hybrids from Stepwise Polyamine Intercalation of Layered Silicates

牛血清蛋白 (BSA) 與矽酸鹽層黏土可經由直接插層法或逐步插層法，製備出層間距達~64 Å之複合材料。原始的蒙托土 (Na+-MMT) 與人工合成氟化雲母 (Na+-mica) 藉由離子交換反應將聚醚胺 (POA-amine) 插層進入層間而得高層間距之改質黏土 (由原始層距為12 Å 經由不同的聚醚胺改質可提升至18~53 Å)，而此改質黏土經由POA-amine撐開層間距後隨後可允許蛋白質進入層間，並且維持BSA之構形使其在層間以未壓縮的形式存在 (d spacing = 60~64 Å)。為比較其差異性，使用Na+-mica進行直接插層反應，僅得到吸附在黏土表面或部分已壓縮形式進入層間，而經不同插層步驟而得之複合材更進一步地利用X-ray，TGA，DFM 和TEM印證。此分析發現，經由直接和逐步程序使生物性巨分子進入層間，已被成功製備，為一新方法用於捕捉並固定生物性巨分子於矽酸鹽層，未來可用於藥物或生物感測器之應用。Hybrids of the model bovine serum albumin (BSA) protein and layered silicate clay with d spacing of ~64 Å were prepared from either direct or stepwise intercalation. The pristine montmorilloinite (Na+-MMT) and synthetic fluorinated mica (Na+-mica) was first modified by poly(oxyalkylene)-diamine (POA-amine) salts to a highly-expanded silicate (from the pristine 12 Å to 18~53 Å by different polyamine salts) which became accessible for BSA protein embedding. Subsequent substitution allowed the embedding of BSA into the layered silicate clay in an uncompressed conformation (d spacing = 60~64 Å). For comparison, direct intercalation in Na+-mica rendered only the silicates adsorbed with proteins on the outer surfaces or low d spacing (30 Å) embedment with the compressed BSA. The resultant silicate hybrids were characterized by X-ray diffractometry (XRD), thermal gravimetric analyzer (TGA), dynamic mode atomic force microscopy (DFM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Both of direct and stepwise process of embedding large molecules into the silicate gallery have been successfully developed as a new method for encapsulating biomacromolecules within the rigid silicate layers which may be suitable for medical and biosensor applications.Abstract ……………………………………………………………….... i 摘要 ………………………………………………………………… ii Acknowledgements ………………………………………………………………… iii Chapter 1 Introduction………………………………………………….. 1 Chapter 2 Fundamental Properties of Layered Silicates……………… 4 2.1 Clay Minerals…..……………………………………. 4 2.2 Classification and Structure of Clays..………………. 5 2.3 Comparison of Layered Smectitic Clays…………….. 6 Chapter 3 Literature Background………...……………………………. 10 3.1 Organically Modified Layered Silicate (OLS)………. 10 3.2 Bio-polymers Immobilization in Layered Silicate…... 11 3.2.1 Immobilization by Chemical Methods………...…...... 12 3.2.2 Immobilization by Physical Methods………………... 12 3.2.3 Smectitic clay as substrate for bio-polymers immobilization.............................................................. 13 Chapter 4 Experimental ……….…………………................................... 16 4.1 Materials……………………………………………... 16 4.2 Experimental Procedures…………………………….. 19 4.3 Analytical Instruments……………...………………... 20 Chapter 5 Results and Discussion………………………………………. 22 5.1 Novel Preparation of Protein-Silicate Hybrids from Polyamine Intercalation of Layered Montmorillonite.. 22 5.2 Layered Confinement of Protein in Synthetic Fluorinated Mica via Stepwise Polyamine Exchange.. 34 5.3 Aspect ratio effect the intercalation………………...... 42 Chapter 6 Conclusions…………………………………………………... 45 References ………………………………………………………………… 4

The research of using social marketing to understand cooking oil consumption behavior

國人的飲食行為與過去十幾年相比有了顯著的轉變，而因為飲食方式所引起各種影響健康的疾病問題也有日漸遽增之趨勢。在飲食行為中，食用油即為烹調食物時不可或缺之產品，研究指出消費者在選購油品時，缺乏對食用油成分的整體知識與了解，嚴重影響著消費者對於食用油品的正確使用方式。基於對健康議題之關心，此研究從社會行銷之角度，來探討消費者對食用油知識之了解，希望找出用油知識與用油行為之關聯性，並以健康知識、健康信念、自我效能、功能性價值、行動線索等影響消費者行為之知覺為基礎，對於消費者用油行為做探討，更能了解影響消費者用油行為之因素。 本研究以三十歲以上擁有烹調食物經驗之女性為受訪對象，以實體及網路方式發放問卷。本研究共回收382份可用問卷。而後，利用統計方式來檢定本研究之假設。 結果發現，滿分12分的食用油知識之題目平均分數為8.2分，答對率較低之題目皆是對於食用油成分之問題，顯示消費者對於食用油成分的不了解。健康知識(食用油知識)對用油行為呈現正向相關，說明了健康知識(食用油知識)的確會對健康行為(用油行為)造成影響，而消費者之健康信念與自我效能對用油行為也有顯著關係，另外，消費者內在之行動線索與用油行為有顯著之關係。在人口統計變項方面，年齡與婚姻狀況對健康信念、自我效能、健康知識(食用油知識)有著顯著差異。目錄 目錄 I 表目錄 III 圖目錄 IV 前言.....................1 第一章 緒論.............2 第一節 研究背景與動機.....2 第二節 研究目的..........4 第三節 研究範圍..........5 第四節 研究流程..........6 第二章文獻回顧.............7 第一節食用油概述...........7 第二節社會行銷.............9 第三節健康知識............14 第四節健康信念模式.........16 第五節自我效能............19 第六節理性行為理論.........22 第七節功能性價值...........25 第三章研究設計............27 第一節 研究架構.........27 第二節 研究假設.........28 第三節 變數之操作型定義...30 第四節 問卷開發與設計.....31 第五節 問卷蒐集過程.......33 第六節 分析工具..........34 第四章資料分析.............40 第一節 信效度分析.........40 第二節 樣本敘述性統計分析...42 第三節 T檢定..............45 第四節 變異數分析..........45 第五節 相關係數分析.........47 第六節 迴歸分析............48 第五章結果與討論..............68 研究結果.....................68 第六章研究建議................72 第七章研究限制與未來研究方向.....76 參考文獻.....................77 附錄—正式問卷.................8

Augmented Reality Surgical Navigation System for External Ventricular Drain

Augmented reality surgery systems are playing an increasing role in the operating room, but applying such systems to neurosurgery presents particular challenges. In addition to using augmented reality technology to display the position of the surgical target position in 3D in real time, the application must also display the scalpel entry point and scalpel orientation, with accurate superposition on the patient. To improve the intuitiveness, efficiency, and accuracy of extra-ventricular drain surgery, this paper proposes an augmented reality surgical navigation system which accurately superimposes the surgical target position, scalpel entry point, and scalpel direction on a patient’s head and displays this data on a tablet. The accuracy of the optical measurement system (NDI Polaris Vicra) was first independently tested, and then complemented by the design of functions to help the surgeon quickly identify the surgical target position and determine the preferred entry point. A tablet PC was used to display the superimposed images of the surgical target, entry point, and scalpel on top of the patient, allowing for correct scalpel orientation. Digital imaging and communications in medicine (DICOM) results for the patient’s computed tomography were used to create a phantom and its associated AR model. This model was then imported into the application, which was then executed on the tablet. In the preoperative phase, the technician first spent 5–7 min to superimpose the virtual image of the head and the scalpel. The surgeon then took 2 min to identify the intended target position and entry point position on the tablet, which then dynamically displayed the superimposed image of the head, target position, entry point position, and scalpel (including the scalpel tip and scalpel orientation). Multiple experiments were successfully conducted on the phantom, along with six practical trials of clinical neurosurgical EVD. In the 2D-plane-superposition model, the optical measurement system (NDI Polaris Vicra) provided highly accurate visualization (2.01 ± 1.12 mm). In hospital-based clinical trials, the average technician preparation time was 6 min, while the surgeon required an average of 3.5 min to set the target and entry-point positions and accurately overlay the orientation with an NDI surgical stick. In the preparation phase, the average time required for the DICOM-formatted image processing and program import was 120 ± 30 min. The accuracy of the designed augmented reality optical surgical navigation system met clinical requirements, and can provide a visual and intuitive guide for neurosurgeons. The surgeon can use the tablet application to obtain real-time DICOM-formatted images of the patient, change the position of the surgical entry point, and instantly obtain an updated surgical path and surgical angle. The proposed design can be used as the basis for various augmented reality brain surgery navigation systems in the future

Organelle Genome Inheritance in Deparia Ferns (Athyriaceae, Aspleniineae, Polypodiales)

Organelle genomes of land plants are predominately inherited maternally but in some cases can also be transmitted paternally or biparentally. Compared to seed plants (>83% genera of angiosperms and >12% genera of gymnosperms), plastid genome (plastome) inheritance has only been investigated in fewer than 2% of fern genera, and mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) from only one fern genus. We developed a new and efficient method to examine plastome and mitogenome inheritance in a fern species—Deparia lancea (Athyriaceae, Aspleniineae, Polypodiales), and found that plastid and mitochondrial DNAs were transmitted from only the maternal parentage to a next generation. To further examine whether both organelle genomes have the same manner of inheritance in other Deparia ferns, we sequenced both plastid and mitochondrial DNA regions of inter-species hybrids, and performed phylogenetic analyses to identify the origins of organellar DNA. Evidence from our experiments and phylogenetic analyses support that both organelle genomes in Deparia are uniparentally and maternally inherited. Most importantly, our study provides the first report of mitogenome inheritance in eupolypod ferns, and the second one among all ferns