Magnesium Hydroxide Nanoparticles Improve the Ocular Hypotensive Effect of Twice Daily Topical Timolol Maleate in Healthy Dogs

Timolol maleate (TM), a beta-adrenergic receptor antagonist, is widely used for canine antiglaucoma eye drops; however, its bioavailability is <5%. Our previous study revealed that magnesium hydroxide nanoparticles (nMH) have potency in improving the bioavailability of fixed-combined TM in rodent models. This study aimed to investigate whether the fixed combination with nMH improves the ocular hypotensive effect of TM and affects pupil size (PS), heart rate (HR), and mean arterial pressure (MAP) in clinically healthy dogs. Five clinically healthy dogs were administered topical saline, commercial 0.5% TM, and a 0.01% or 0.1% nMH–0.5% TM fixed combination (0.01% or 0.1% nMH–TM) twice daily in one eye for 7 days with at least a 28-day interval. The changes from baseline were calculated and were statistically analyzed for each drug. IOP was significantly reduced in both 0.01% and 0.1% nMH–TM-treated-dogs compared with saline- and TM-treated dogs. Meanwhile, 0.01% and 0.1% nMH did not exacerbate the side effects of TM. From these results, nMH improved the ocular hypotensive effect of TM without enhancing side effects. Topical nMH–TM is potentially more effective for canine ocular hypotensive eye drops than TM

Retention, Bacterial Adhesion, and Biofilm Formation between Anionic and Zwitterionic Bandage Contact Lenses in Healthy Dogs: A Pilot Study

This study aimed to compare the in vitro and in vivo retention, bacterial adhesion, and biofilm formation between anionic and zwitterionic bandage contact lenses (BCLs) in healthy canines. BCL retention and tolerance were evaluated in 10 healthy canines via a single-masked, crossover study for 7 days. To compare in vitro bacterial adhesion and biofilm formation, four Staphylococcus strains were incubated with the BCLs at 37 °C for 2 or 24 h, and the bacterial colony forming units (CFUs) adhering to the BCLs were counted. Next, to compare in vivo bacterial adhesion, the CFUs of bacteria adhering to the BCLs worn by canines for 24 h were counted. Anionic lenses significantly retained and reduced in vitro bacterial adhesion than in the zwitterionic lenses. However, the amount of in vitro biofilm formation was more likely to be higher on anionic lenses than on zwitterionic lenses. In vivo bacterial adhesion was not significantly different between the two types of BCLs. Nevertheless, both BCLs were well-tolerated by the canines; thus, their short-term use in dogs can be recommended as safe

Au₂₅-Loaded BaLa₄Ti₄O₁₅ Water-Splitting Photocatalyst with Enhanced Activity and Durability Produced Using New Chromium Oxide Shell Formation Method

We report herein remarkable improvement of activity and stability of an Au₂₅-loaded BaLa₄Ti₄O₁₅ water-splitting photocatalyst. We first examined the influence of refining the gold cocatalyst on the individual reactions over the BaLa₄Ti₄O₁₅ photocatalyst in this water-splitting system. The results revealed that refining the gold cocatalyst accelerates not only the hydrogen generation reaction, but also oxygen photoreduction reaction, which suppresses the H₂ generation via photoreduction of protons. This finding suggests that photocatalytic activity will be enhanced if the O₂ photoreduction reaction can be selectively suppressed by covering Au₂₅ with a Cr₂O₃ shell which is impermeable to O₂ but permeable to H⁺. Then, we developed new method for the formation of the Cr₂O₃ shell onto Au₂₅. Our method utilizes the strong metal–support interaction between them. Water-splitting photoactivity of Au₂₅–BaLa₄Ti₄O₁₅ was improved by 19 times under an optimized coverage of the Cr₂O₃ shell. The Cr₂O₃ shell also elongated the lifetime of the photocatalysts by preventing the agglomeration of Au₂₅ cocatalysts

Data from: Gut bacterial and fungal communities in ground-dwelling beetles are associated with host food habit and habitat

Beetles (Coleoptera) have the highest species diversity among all orders, and they have diverse food habits. Gut microbes may have contributed to this diversification of food habits. Here, we identified the pattern of the relationship between ground-dwelling beetles and their gut microbial communities (bacteria and fungi) in the field. We collected 46 beetle species of five families from secondary deciduous forests and grasslands in Japan and extracted microbial DNA from whole guts for amplicon sequencing. The gut bacterial and fungal communities differed among all habitats and all food habits of their hosts (carnivores, herbivores, omnivores, and scavengers) except for the fungal communities between carnivores and scavengers. Specifically, the abundant bacterial group varied among food habits: Xanthomonadaceae were abundant in scavengers, whereas Enterobacteriaceae were abundant in carnivores and herbivores. Phylogenetically closely related beetles had phylogenetically similar communities of Enterobacteriaceae, suggesting that the community structure of this family is related to the evolutionary change in beetle ecology. One of the fungal groups, Yarrowia species, which has been reported to have a symbiotic relationship with silphid beetles, was also detected from various carnivorous beetles. Our results suggest that the symbiotic relationships between ground-dwelling beetles and these microbes are widespread