Isolation and Antimicrobial Susceptibility of Bacteria from Chronic Suppurative Otitis Media Patients in Kerman, Iran

Background: Chronic supportive otitis media (CSOM) is one of the commonest illnesses in ENT practice. This study was conducted to find out the various aerobic microorganisms associated with CSOM and their current antimicrobial susceptibility patterns to commonly used antimicrobials. Methods: samples were collected from 117 clinically diagnosed cases of CSOM and processed according to standard protocols. Results: Out of 117 CSOM cases, 105 (86) showed positive bacterial culture. The Staphylococcus aureus was the commonest aerobic isolate in CSOM. The sensitivity of Staphylococci spp. to commonly used antimicrobials varied from 27.2 for cefixime to 95.5 for gentamicin and coagulase positive. Pseudomonas isolates showed complete (100) resistance to amoxicillin/clavulanate (co-amoxiclave), cloxacillin and cefixime, and high sensitivity to ciprofloxacin (95) and cephalexin (90). Conclusion: An appropriate knowledge of antibacterial susceptibility of microorganisms would contribute to a rational antibiotic use and the success of treatment for chronic supportive otitis media. © Iranian Red Crescent Medical Journal

BlinkML: Efficient Maximum Likelihood Estimation with Probabilistic Guarantees

The rising volume of datasets has made training machine learning (ML) models a major computational cost in the enterprise. Given the iterative nature of model and parameter tuning, many analysts use a small sample of their entire data during their initial stage of analysis to make quick decisions (e.g., what features or hyperparameters to use) and use the entire dataset only in later stages (i.e., when they have converged to a specific model). This sampling, however, is performed in an ad-hoc fashion. Most practitioners cannot precisely capture the effect of sampling on the quality of their model, and eventually on their decision-making process during the tuning phase. Moreover, without systematic support for sampling operators, many optimizations and reuse opportunities are lost. In this paper, we introduce BlinkML, a system for fast, quality-guaranteed ML training. BlinkML allows users to make error-computation tradeoffs: instead of training a model on their full data (i.e., full model), BlinkML can quickly train an approximate model with quality guarantees using a sample. The quality guarantees ensure that, with high probability, the approximate model makes the same predictions as the full model. BlinkML currently supports any ML model that relies on maximum likelihood estimation (MLE), which includes Generalized Linear Models (e.g., linear regression, logistic regression, max entropy classifier, Poisson regression) as well as PPCA (Probabilistic Principal Component Analysis). Our experiments show that BlinkML can speed up the training of large-scale ML tasks by 6.26x-629x while guaranteeing the same predictions, with 95% probability, as the full model.Comment: 22 pages, SIGMOD 201

Nanoliposomes and Tocosomes as Multifunctional Nanocarriers for the Encapsulation of Nutraceutical and Dietary Molecules

Nanoscale lipid bilayers, or nanoliposomes, are generally spherical vesicles formed by the dispersion of phospholipid molecules in a water-based medium by energy input. The other nanoscale object discussed in this entry, i.e., tocosome, is a recently introduced bioactive carrier made mainly from tocopheryl phosphates. Due to their bi-compartmental structure, which consists of lipidic and aqueous compartments, these nanocarriers are capable of carrying hydrophilic and hydrophobic material separately or simultaneously. Nanoliposomes and tocosomes are able to provide protection and release of sensitive food-grade bioactive materials in a sustained manner. They are being utilized for the encapsulation of different types of bioactive materials (such as drugs, vaccines, antimicrobials, antioxidants, minerals and preservatives), for the enrichment and fortification of different food and nutraceutical formulations and manufacturing of functional products. However, a number of issues unique to the nutraceutical and food industry must first be resolved before these applications can completely become a reality. Considering the potentials and promises of these colloidal carrier systems, the present article reviews various aspects of nanoliposomes, in comparison with tocosomes, including the ingredients used in their manufacture, formation mechanisms and issues pertaining to their application in the formulation of health promoting dietary supplements and functional food products

Liposomes in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine

Liposomes are vesicular structures made of lipids that are formed in aqueous solutions. Structurally, they resemble the lipid membrane of living cells. Therefore, they have been widely investigated, since the 1960s, as models to study the cell membrane, and as carriers for protection and/or delivery of bioactive agents. They have been used in different areas of research including vaccines, imaging, applications in cosmetics and tissue engineering. Tissue engineering is defined as a strategy for promoting the regeneration of tissues for the human body. This strategy may involve the coordinated application of defined cell types with structured biomaterial scaffolds to produce living structures. To create a new tissue, based on this strategy, a controlled stimulation of cultured cells is needed, through a systematic combination of bioactive agents and mechanical signals. In this review, we highlight the potential role of liposomes as a platform for the sustained and local delivery of bioactive agents for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine approaches. liposomesscaffoldsdelivery systemsbioactive agentsstem cellsThe authors thank the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology for the PhD grant to N.S.M. (SFRH/BD/62465/2009), the post-doctoral grants of A.M. (SFRH/BPD/73663/2010). This study was also partly supported by POLARIS (FP7-REGPOT-2012-2013-1), RL3-TECT-NORTE-01-0124-FEDER-000020, co-financed by the North Portugal Regional Operational Programme (ON.2-O Novo Norte), under the National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF), through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the OsteoGraphy (PTDC/EME-MFE/2008) and MaxBone (PTDC/SAU-ENB/115179/2009) projects

Electrically conductive nanomaterials for cardiac tissue engineering

© 2019 Elsevier B.V. Patient deaths resulting from cardiovascular diseases are increasing across the globe, posing the greatest risk to patients in developed countries. Myocardial infarction, as a result of inadequate blood flow to the myocardium, results in irreversible loss of cardiomyocytes which can lead to heart failure. A sequela of myocardial infarction is scar formation that can alter the normal myocardial architecture and result in arrhythmias. Over the past decade, a myriad of tissue engineering approaches has been developed to fabricate engineered scaffolds for repairing cardiac tissue. This paper highlights the recent application of electrically conductive nanomaterials (carbon and gold-based nanomaterials, and electroactive polymers) to the development of scaffolds for cardiac tissue engineering. Moreover, this work summarizes the effects of these nanomaterials on cardiac cell behavior such as proliferation and migration, as well as cardiomyogenic differentiation in stem cells

Anticancer Potential of Temozolomide-Loaded Eudragit-Chitosan Coated Selenium Nanoparticles: In Vitro Evaluation of Cytotoxicity, Apoptosis and Gene Regulation

Resistance to temozolomide (TMZ) is the main cause of death in glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). The use of nanocarriers for drug delivery applications is one of the known approaches to overcome drug resistance. This study aimed to investigate the possible effect of selenium-chitosan nanoparticles loaded with TMZ on the efficacy of TMZ on the expression of MGMT, E2F6, and RELA genes and the rate of apoptosis in the C6 cell line. Selenium nanoparticles (SNPs) were loaded with TMZ and then they were coated by Eudragit(R) RS100 (Eud) and chitosan (C-S) to prepare Se@TMZ/Eud-Cs. Physicochemical properties were determined by scanning electron microscope (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDAX), thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and dynamic light scattering (DLS) methods. Se@TMZ/Eud-Cs was evaluated for loading and release of TMZ by spectrophotometric method. Subsequently, SNPs loaded with curcumin (as a fluorophore) were analyzed for in vitro uptake by C6 cells. Cytotoxicity and apoptosis assay were measured by MTT assay and Annexin-PI methods. Finally, real-time PCR was utilized to determine the expression of MGMT, E2F6, and RELA genes. Se@TMZ/Eud-Cs was prepared with an average size of 200 nm as confirmed by the DLS and microscopical methods. Se@TMZ/Eud-Cs presented 82.77 +/- 5.30 loading efficiency with slow and pH-sensitive release kinetics. SNPs loaded with curcumin showed a better uptake performance by C6 cells compared with free curcumin (p-value < 0.01). Coated nanoparticles loaded with TMZ showed higher cytotoxicity, apoptosis (p-value < 0.0001), and down-regulation of MGMT, E2F6, and RELA and lower IC50 value (p-value < 0.0001) than free TMZ and control (p-value < 0.0001) groups. Using Cs as a targeting agent in Se@TMZ/Eud-Cs system improved the possibility for targeted drug delivery to C6 cells. This drug delivery system enhanced the apoptosis rate and decreased the expression of genes related to TMZ resistance. In conclusion, Se@TMZ/Eud-Cs may be an option for the enhancement of TMZ efficiency in GBM treatment

Future sustainability scenarios for universities: moving beyond the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development

As achievements of the completed United Nations Decade (2005–2014) of Education for Sustainable Development are contemplated globally, along with potential steps forward for the future, Member States have urged that this decade continue after 2014 through “The Future We Want”; the outcome document of the 2012 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development. More recently, commitments to furthering the advancement of sustainable development through education have also been re-enforced in the recently adopted post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals. This study systematically analyzed the implications of sustainable development trends and future directions universities might take under a potential second decade (2015–2024). For this purpose, a model for generating “trend-based scenarios” is proposed, based upon a combination of various futures studies methods. Results suggest that the advancement of sustainability through societal collaboration and various functions such as education, research and outreach will increasingly constitute a core mission for universities. Projecting this trend out into the following decade, the authors frame possible future orientations through three unique scenarios; namely, a socially-, environmentally- and economically-oriented university. Pursuit of sustainable development through each of these would see unique and fundamental changes. These would affect the principle university mission, focus areas, emphasized disciplines, view of Education for Sustainable Development, core external partners, projects and outputs with external stakeholders, geographical focus, and main functions involved. The authors then examine how one or more of these scenarios might be actualized through various external and internal policy and incentive measures. The depiction of these three scenarios, along with potential measures to guide universities to either of these, provides scholars, university leaders and government policy makers with some conceptual and practical instruments to consider strategically how any of these futures might be realized