Isolation of a Novel Phage with Activity against Streptococcus mutans Biofilms

peer-reviewedStreptococcus mutans is one of the principal agents of caries formation mainly, because of its ability to form biofilms at the tooth surface. Bacteriophages (phages) are promising antimicrobial agents that could be used to prevent or treat caries formation by S. mutans. The aim of this study was to isolate new S. mutans phages and to characterize their antimicrobial properties. A new phage, ɸAPCM01, was isolated from a human saliva sample. Its genome was closely related to the only two other available S. mutans phage genomes, M102 and M102AD. ɸAPCM01 inhibited the growth of S. mutans strain DPC6143 within hours in broth and in artificial saliva at multiplicity of infections as low as 2.5x10-5. In the presence of phage ɸAPCM01 the metabolic activity of a S. mutans biofilm was reduced after 24 h of contact and did not increased again after 48 h, and the live cells in the biofilm decreased by at least 5 log cfu/ml. Despite its narrow host range, this newly isolated S. mutans phage exhibits promising antimicrobial properties

All-optical tuning of a diamond micro-disk resonator on silicon

High-quality integrated diamond photonic devices have previously been demonstrated in applications from non-linear photonics to on-chip quantum optics. However, the small sample sizes of single crystal material available, and the difficulty in tuning its optical properties, are barriers to the scaling of these technologies. Both of these issues can be addressed by integrating micrometer-scale diamond devices onto host photonic integrated circuits using a highly accurate micro-assembly method. In this work a diamond micro-disk resonator is integrated with a standard single-mode silicon-on-insulator waveguide, exhibiting an average loade

Use of the prevented fraction for the population to determine deaths averted by existing prevalence of physical activity: a descriptive study

Abstract Background: The disease or mortality burdens of unhealthy lifestyle behaviours are often reported. The positive side of the story, the burden that existing levels have averted, is rarely discussed. We present what we believe to be global application of the Prevented Fraction for the Population to obtain estimates of the percentage of premature mortality and number of premature deaths averted by total physical activity levels for 168 countries. Methods: We combined previously published activity prevalence data (2001-2016) and relative risks of mortality in Monte-Carlo simulations to estimate country-specific Prevented Fractions for the Population (percentage of mortality averted) and their 95% confidence intervals. Higher Prevented Fractions indicate a greater proportion of deaths averted due to physical activity. Using mortality data for 40-74 year olds, we estimated the number of premature deaths averted due to activity levels for all adults and by sex. We presented the median and range of the Prevented Fractions globally, by region, and by income classification. Results: The global median Prevented Fraction for the Population was 15.0% (range 6.6-20.5%), conservatively equating to 3.9 million (95% confidence interval: 2.5-5.6) premature deaths averted annually. The African region had the highest median (16.6%, range 12.1-20.5%), the Americas had the lowest (13.1%, range 10.8-16.6%). Low income countries tended to have higher median Prevented Fractions (17.9%, range 12.3-20.5%) than high income countries (14.1%, range 6.6-17.8%). Globally, the median Prevented Fraction was higher for men than women (16.0% (range 7.8-20.7% and 14.1% (range 5.0-20.4%), respectively). Interpretation: Existing physical activity levels have contributed to averting premature mortality across all countries. The Prevented Fraction for the Population has utility as an advocacy tool to promote healthy lifestyle behaviours as, by making the case of what has been achieved, it could demonstrate the value of current investment and services. This may be more conducive to political support.TS, SJS, and SB are funded by the UK Medical Research Council (MC_UU_12015/1 and MC_UU_12015/3). DD is funded by a Future Leader Fellowship by Heart Foundation Australia (No. 101234). At the time of this work, MT was a member of the Centre for Diet and Activity Research (MR/K023187/1), a UKCRC Public Health Research Centre of Excellence. Funding from the British Heart Foundation, Cancer Research UK, Economic and Social Research Council, Medical Research Council, National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), and Wellcome Trust, under the auspices of the UKClinical Research Collaboration, is gratefully acknowledged. MT was also funded on the METAHIT project (Medical Research Council grant MR/P02663X/1)

Three New Escherichia coli Phages from the Human Gut Show Promising Potential for Phage Therapy

peer-reviewedWith the emergence of multi-drug resistant bacteria the use of bacteriophages (phages) is gaining renewed interest as promising anti-microbial agents. The aim of this study was to isolate and characterize phages from human fecal samples. Three new coliphages, ɸAPCEc01, ɸAPCEc02 and ɸAPCEc03, were isolated. Their phenotypic and genomic characteristics, and lytic activity against biofilm, and in combination with ciprofloxacin, were investigated. All three phages reduced the growth of E. coli strain DPC6051 at multiplicity of infection (MOI) between 10−3 and 105. A cocktail of all three phages completely inhibited the growth of E. coli. The phage cocktail also reduced biofilm formation and prevented the emergence of phage-resistant mutants which occurred with single phage. When combined with ciprofloxacin, phage alone or in cocktail inhibited the growth of E. coli and prevented the emergence of resistant mutants. These three new phages are promising biocontrol agents for E. coli infections

Thermally tuneable integrated diamond micro-disk resonators fabricated by micro-assembly

We present a method for the fabrication of single crystal diamond micro-resonators and their hybrid integration with silicon waveguides. Devices with loaded Q-factors up to ~7.4x104 are demonstrated in the optical fibre telecommunications C- and L-bands. Resonant wavelength tuning is achieved using thermo-optic effects at mW on-chip optical pump powers

Dedication - John Simpson Hastings

The Board of Editors dedicates this issue of the Indiana Law Journal to the memory of the honorable John Simpson Hastings. In a manner befitting the man, many of Judge Hastings\u27 friends and associates have provided their personal remarks regarding his achievements on the bench and as an active alumnus of Indiana University. We hope that these remarks will serve in some small way to preserve the memory of a truly great man

An in vitro study to assess bioaccessibility and bioavailability of calcium from blue whiting (Micromesistius poutassou) fish bone powder

peer-reviewedThe aim of this study was to determine how well calcium-rich mineral extracts derived from blue whiting fish bone powders compare with existing calcium sources (commercially available fish bone supplement, calcium carbonate and milk powder) in terms of physicochemical properties, in vitro bioaccessibility and bioavailability using simulated gastrointestinal tract treatment and a Caco-2 cell culture model. Blue whiting calcium-rich fish bone powders (A to E) were supplied by Bio-marine Ingredients Ireland (BII) and a commercial calcium-rich fish bone powder was used as the positive control F. The BII calcium-rich fish bone powders analysed through atomic emission spectrometry were shown to have similar levels of mineral content in comparison with powder F. Solubility and rheology tests were performed on the rehydrated powders. The pH of BII calcium-rich fish bone powders in water solution (10% w/v) ranged from 6.96 to 9.09 compared to control F (pH 7.33). Following simulated oral, gastric and duodenal in vitro digestion using the COST INFOGEST standardised static adult digestion method, the fish powders A, E and F showed higher values of soluble ionic calcium than rehydrated milk powder. We compared in vitro bioavailability of the powders using the Caco-2 cell line to test the effects of calcium on human colonic epithelial cells, which confirmed that calcium from blue whiting fish bone was more bioavailable than calcium from milk and calcium carbonate. These data indicate that calcium-rich blue whiting fish bone powder compares well with existing calcium sources, in terms of physicochemical properties, bioaccessibility and bioavailability

Transfer-printing enables multi-material assembly of integrated photonic systems

Hybrid integration of photonic membrane and nanowire devices from multiple material platforms is demonstrated using high-accuracy transfer printing. The deterministic assembly technique enables serially printed devices with separations as low as 100 nm

MEMS Gradiometers for Attitude Determination on CubeSats

This paper presents the design, fabrication and testing of a new high sensitivity gravity sensor for attitude determination in CubeSats. The project is a collaboration between the Institute for Gravitational Research at the University of Glasgow and ÅAC-Clyde. The gravitational gradiometer takes advantages of the technology of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) and determines the attitude of the satellite by a differential gravity measurement, the principle at the base of gravitational gradiometry. The capacitive readout allows to measure the rotation of the MEMS gradiometer and consequently evaluate the angle changes of the CubeSat. The developed geometry consists of two symmetrical masses connected to a fixed support by four thin flexure hinges. The all-Silicon sensor resonates at a frequency of 6 Hz, and has a total mass of less than 2 g. It is expected that the sensor geometry and the readout demonstrated would be suitable to achieve the performances required from CubeSat systems and detect a rotation of the small satellite of 1 degree, in order to offer performance comparable to other state-of-the-art sensors currently available on the market