Occurrence of vancomycin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in the oral cavity of patients with dental caries

Oral streptococci are the major group of microbes isolated from oral microflora. They represent frequent pathogens of infective endocarditis (IE), and it is assumed that in most of the cases oral streptococci are acquired via mucosa layer of oral cavity. Staphylococcus aureus is also frequently isolated from IE as it accounts for 20%–30% of all cases. Vancomycin has been the most reliable therapeutic agent against infections caused by methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA). The main objective of this study was to examine the occurrence of S. aureus species in dental caries specimens. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing of S. aureus to four antibiotics namely vancomycin, linezolid, teicoplanin, and daptomycin was performed. Detection of vancomycin resistance was conducted using polymerase chain reaction. Among the tested 150 strains, 98 were MRSA and of that 54 were vancomycin sensitive and 27 were resistant. All 98 MRSA strains were positive for mecA and 36 yielded pvl, whereas 13 carried vanA and only 2 were positive for vanB. Majority of the isolates showed sensitivity toward daptomycin and linezolid. Strains of S. aureus exhibiting decreased susceptibility to different antibiotics like vancomycin, daptomycin, and linezolid severely compromise the therapeutic alternatives and require a considerable amount of time, public awareness, and integrative health-care strategies to prevent the emergence of resistance to these compounds

Mother’s physical activity during pregnancy and newborn’s brain cortical development

Background Physical activity is known to improve mental health, and is regarded as safe and desirable for uncomplicated pregnancy. In this novel study, we aim to evaluate whether there are associations between maternal physical activity during pregnancy and neonatal brain cortical development. Methods Forty-four mother/newborn dyads were included in this longitudinal study. Healthy pregnant women were recruited and their physical activity throughout pregnancy were documented using accelerometers worn for 3–7 days for each of the 6 time points at 4–10, ∼12, ∼18, ∼24, ∼30, and ∼36 weeks of pregnancy. Average daily total steps and daily total activity count as well as daily minutes spent in sedentary/light/moderate/vigorous activity modes were extracted from the accelerometers for each time point. At ∼2 weeks of postnatal age, their newborns underwent an MRI examination of the brain without sedation, and 3D T1-weighted brain structural images were post-processed by the iBEAT2.0 software utilizing advanced deep learning approaches. Cortical surface maps were reconstructed from the segmented brain images and parcellated to 34 regions in each brain hemisphere, and mean cortical thickness for each region was computed for partial correlation analyses with physical activity measures, with appropriate multiple comparison corrections and potential confounders controlled.ResultsAt 4–10 weeks of pregnancy, mother’s daily total activity count positively correlated (FDR corrected P ≤ 0.05) with newborn’s cortical thickness in the left caudal middle frontal gyrus (rho = 0.48, P = 0.04), right medial orbital frontal gyrus (rho = 0.48, P = 0.04), and right transverse temporal gyrus (rho = 0.48, P = 0.04); mother’s daily time in moderate activity mode positively correlated with newborn’s cortical thickness in the right transverse temporal gyrus (rho = 0.53, P = 0.03). At ∼24 weeks of pregnancy, mother’s daily total activity count positively correlated (FDR corrected P ≤ 0.05) with newborn’s cortical thickness in the left (rho = 0.56, P = 0.02) and right isthmus cingulate gyrus (rho = 0.50, P = 0.05). Conclusion We identified significant relationships between physical activity in healthy pregnant women during the 1st and 2nd trimester and brain cortical development in newborns. Higher maternal physical activity level is associated with greater neonatal brain cortical thickness, presumably indicating better cortical development

Applications of raman spectroscopy in dentistry part II: Soft tissue analysis

Raman spectroscopy is rapidly moving from an experimental technique for the analysis of biological molecules to a tool for the real-time clinical diagnosis and in situ evaluation of the oral tissue in medical and dental research. The purpose of this study is to identify various applications of Raman spectroscopy, to evaluate the contemporary status and to explore future directions in the field of dentistry. Several in-depth applications are presented to illustrate Raman spectroscopy in early diagnosis of soft tissue abnormalities. Raman spectroscopy allows to analyze histological and biochemical composition of biological tissues. The technique not only demonstrates its role in the disclosure of dysplasia and malignancy but also in performing guided biopsies, diagnosing sialoliths, and assessment of surgical margins. Raman spectroscopy is used to identify the molecular structures and its components to give substantial information about the chemical structure properties of these molecules. In this paper, we acquaint the utilization of Raman spectroscopy in analyzing the soft tissues in relation to dentistry

Maternal Adiposity Influences Neonatal Brain Functional Connectivity

The neural mechanisms associated with obesity have been extensively studied, but the impact of maternal obesity on fetal and neonatal brain development remains poorly understood. In this study of full-term neonates, we aimed to detect potential neonatal functional connectivity alterations associated with maternal adiposity, quantified via body-mass-index (BMI) and body-fat-mass (BFM) percentage, based on seed-based and graph theoretical analysis using resting-state fMRI data. Our results revealed significant neonatal functional connectivity alterations in all four functional domains that are implicated in adult obesity: sensory cue processing, reward processing, cognitive control, and motor control. Moreover, some of the detected areas showing regional functional connectivity alterations also showed global degree and efficiency differences. These findings provide important clues to the potential neural basis for cognitive and mental health development in offspring of obese mothers and may lead to the derivation of imaging-based biomarkers for the early identification of risks for timely intervention

RNA delivery by extracellular vesicles in mammalian cells and its applications.

The term 'extracellular vesicles' refers to a heterogeneous population of vesicular bodies of cellular origin that derive either from the endosomal compartment (exosomes) or as a result of shedding from the plasma membrane (microvesicles, oncosomes and apoptotic bodies). Extracellular vesicles carry a variety of cargo, including RNAs, proteins, lipids and DNA, which can be taken up by other cells, both in the direct vicinity of the source cell and at distant sites in the body via biofluids, and elicit a variety of phenotypic responses. Owing to their unique biology and roles in cell-cell communication, extracellular vesicles have attracted strong interest, which is further enhanced by their potential clinical utility. Because extracellular vesicles derive their cargo from the contents of the cells that produce them, they are attractive sources of biomarkers for a variety of diseases. Furthermore, studies demonstrating phenotypic effects of specific extracellular vesicle-associated cargo on target cells have stoked interest in extracellular vesicles as therapeutic vehicles. There is particularly strong evidence that the RNA cargo of extracellular vesicles can alter recipient cell gene expression and function. During the past decade, extracellular vesicles and their RNA cargo have become better defined, but many aspects of extracellular vesicle biology remain to be elucidated. These include selective cargo loading resulting in substantial differences between the composition of extracellular vesicles and source cells; heterogeneity in extracellular vesicle size and composition; and undefined mechanisms for the uptake of extracellular vesicles into recipient cells and the fates of their cargo. Further progress in unravelling the basic mechanisms of extracellular vesicle biogenesis, transport, and cargo delivery and function is needed for successful clinical implementation. This Review focuses on the current state of knowledge pertaining to packaging, transport and function of RNAs in extracellular vesicles and outlines the progress made thus far towards their clinical applications

A study of FFT pruning and its applications

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