In Vitro Antimicrobial Activities of Organic Acids and Their Derivatives on Several Species of Gram-Negative and Gram-Positive Bacteria.

The objective of this study was to determine the in vitro antimicrobial activity of several organic acids and their derivatives against Gram-positive (G+) and Gram-negative (G-) bacteria. Butyric acid, valeric acid, monopropionin, monobutyrin, monovalerin, monolaurin, sodium formate, and ProPhorce-a mixture of sodium formate and formic acid (40:60 w/v)-were tested at 8 to 16 concentrations from 10 to 50,000 mg/L. The tested bacteria included G- bacteria (Escherichia coli, Salmonella enterica Typhimurium, and Campylobacter jejuni) and G+ bacteria (Enterococcus faecalis, Clostridium perfringens, Streptococcus pneumoniae, and Streptococcus suis). Antimicrobial activity was expressed as minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of tested compounds that prevented growth of tested bacteria in treated culture broth. The MICs of butyric acid, valeric acid, and ProPhorce varied among bacterial strains with the lowest MIC of 500-1000 mg/L on two strains of Campylobacter. Sodium formate at highest tested concentrations (20,000 mg/L) did not inhibit the growth of Escherichia coli, Salmonella Typhimurium, and Enterococcus faecalis, but sodium formate inhibited the growth of other tested bacteria with MIC values from 2000 to 18,800 mg/L. The MIC values of monovalerin, monolaurin, and monobutyrin ranged from 2500 to 15,000 mg/L in the majority of bacterial strains. Monopropionin did not inhibit the growth of all tested bacteria, with the exception that the MIC of monopropionin was 11,300 mg/L on Clostridia perfringens. Monolaurin strongly inhibited G+ bacteria, with the MIC value of 10 mg/L against Streptococcus pneumoniae. The MIC tests indicated that organic acids and their derivatives exhibit promising antimicrobial effects in vitro against G- and G+ bacteria that are resistant to antimicrobial drugs. The acid forms had stronger in vitro antimicrobial activities than ester forms, except that the medium chain fatty acid ester monolaurin exhibited strong inhibitory effects on G+ bacteria

Planimetría de alta resolución del dolmen de Menga (Antequera, Málaga) mediante escaneado láser terrestre, levantamiento 3D y fotogrametría

Dielectric metasurfaces can achieve flexible beam manipulations. Herein, we study dielectric metasurfaces with different refractive indices, periods, incident angles, and cross-sectional shapes to determine the metasurface working mechanisms. Perfect transmission mainly depends on multipolar interference that can be used to control the transmission modes through the hybrid periods, hybrid cross sections, and multilayers. Perfect reflection is strongly influenced by the period of the metasurface and occurs only when the period is shorter than incident wavelength, which can be attributed to the lattice coupling. Furthermore, lattice coupling can be classified into two types with distinct properties: vertical mode and horizontal mode coupling. The vertical mode appears when the effective wavelength matches the feature size, whereas the horizontal mode only appears when the incident wavelength is close to the period. The horizontal mode is sensitive to the incident angle. The revealed functioning mechanisms enable further practical applications of metasurfaces

Topological Atomic Spinwave Lattices by Dissipative Couplings

Recent experimental advance in creating dissipative couplings provides a new route for engineering exotic lattice systems and exploring topological dissipation. Using the spatial lattice of atomic spinwaves in a vacuum vapor cell, where purely dissipative couplings arise from diffusion of atoms, we experimentally realize a dissipative version of the Su-Schrieffer-Heeger (SSH) model. We construct the dissipation spectra of the topological or trivial lattices via electromagnetically-induced-transparency (EIT) spectroscopy. The topological dissipation spectrum is found to exhibit edge modes at dissipation rates within a dissipative gap, decoupled from the bulk. We also validate chiral symmetry of the dissipative SSH couplings. This work paves the way for realizing topology-enabled quantum correlations and non-Hermitian topological quantum optics via dissipative couplings.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Beam Manipulation Mechanisms of Dielectric Metasurfaces

Dielectric metasurfaces can achieve flexible beam manipulations. Herein, we study dielectric metasurfaces with different refractive indices, periods, incident angles, and cross-sectional shapes to determine the metasurface working mechanisms. Perfect transmission mainly depends on multipolar interference that can be used to control the transmission modes through the hybrid periods, hybrid cross sections, and multilayers. Perfect reflection is strongly influenced by the period of the metasurface and occurs only when the period is shorter than incident wavelength, which can be attributed to the lattice coupling. Furthermore, lattice coupling can be classified into two types with distinct properties: vertical mode and horizontal mode coupling. The vertical mode appears when the effective wavelength matches the feature size, whereas the horizontal mode only appears when the incident wavelength is close to the period. The horizontal mode is sensitive to the incident angle. The revealed functioning mechanisms enable further practical applications of metasurfaces

The cellular composition of the tumor microenvironment is an important marker for predicting therapeutic efficacy in breast cancer

At present, the incidence rate of breast cancer ranks first among new-onset malignant tumors in women. The tumor microenvironment is a hot topic in tumor research. There are abundant cells in the tumor microenvironment that play a protumor or antitumor role in breast cancer. During the treatment of breast cancer, different cells have different influences on the therapeutic response. And after treatment, the cellular composition in the tumor microenvironment will change too. In this review, we summarize the interactions between different cell compositions (such as immune cells, fibroblasts, endothelial cells, and adipocytes) in the tumor microenvironment and the treatment mechanism of breast cancer. We believe that detecting the cellular composition of the tumor microenvironment is able to predict the therapeutic efficacy of treatments for breast cancer and benefit to combination administration of breast cancer

The efficacy of dapagliflozin for type 1 diabetes: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled studies

Introduction: The efficacy of dapagliflozin for type 1 diabetes remains controversial. We conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis to explore the treatment efficacy of dapagliflozin versus placebo in patients with type 1 diabetes. Methods: We have searched PubMed, EMbase, Web of science, EBSCO and Cochrane library databases through May 2019 for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) assessing the effect of dapagliflozin versus placebo for type 1 diabetes. This meta-analysis is performed using the random-effect model. Results: Six RCTs are included in the meta-analysis. Overall, compared with control group for type 1 diabetes, dapagliflozin treatment shows favorable impact on glycated hemoglobin HbA1c ( standard mean difference SMD=-3.93; 95% confidence interval CI =-4.44 to -3.48; P<0.00001), HbA1c reduction of 650.5% (risk ratio RR=1.98; 95% CI=1.65 to 2.39; P<0.00001), and fasting plasma glucose FPG (SMD=-0.93; 95% CI=-1.77 to -0.10; P=0.03). There is no statistical difference of hypoglycemia (RR=1.09; 95% CI=0.66 to 1.79; P=0.75) or adverse events (RR=1.07; 95% CI=0.96 to 1.20; P=0.20) between two groups, but the incidence of ketone-related events is higher than those in control group (RR=0.28; 95% CI=3.96 to 11.52; P=0.01). Conclusions: Dapagliflozin treatment benefits to reduce HbA1c and FPG for type 1 diabetes