Antibacterial Activity of Novel Cationic Peptides against Clinical Isolates of Multi-Drug Resistant Staphylococcus pseudintermedius from Infected Dogs

Staphylococcus pseudintermedius is a major cause of skin and soft tissue infections in companion animals and has zoonotic potential. Additionally, methicillin-resistant S. pseudintermedius (MRSP) has emerged with resistance to virtually all classes of antimicrobials. Thus, novel treatment options with new modes of action are required. Here, we investigated the antimicrobial activity of six synthetic short peptides against clinical isolates of methicillin-susceptible and MRSP isolated from infected dogs. All six peptides demonstrated potent antistaphylococcal activity regardless of existing resistance phenotype. The most effective peptides were RRIKA (with modified C terminus to increase amphipathicity and hydrophobicity) and WR-12 (α-helical peptide consisting exclusively of arginine and tryptophan) with minimum inhibitory concentration50 (MIC50) of 1 µM and MIC90 of 2 µM. RR (short anti-inflammatory peptide) and IK8 ‘‘D isoform’’ demonstrated good antimicrobial activity with MIC50 of 4 µM and MIC90 of 8 µM. Penetratin and (KFF)3K (two cell penetrating peptides) were the least effective with MIC50 of 8 µM and MIC90 of 16 µM. Killing kinetics revealed a major advantage of peptides over conventional antibiotics, demonstrating potent bactericidal activity within minutes. Studies with propidium iodide and transmission electron microscopy revealed that peptides damaged the bacterial membrane leading to leakage of cytoplasmic contents and consequently, cell death. A potent synergistic increase in the antibacterial effect of the cell penetrating peptide (KFF)3K was noticed when combined with other peptides and with antibiotics. In addition, all peptides displayed synergistic interactions when combined together. Furthermore, peptides demonstrated good therapeutic indices with minimal toxicity toward mammaliancells. Resistance to peptides did not evolve after 10 passages of S. pseudintermedius at sub-inhibitory concentration. However, the MICs of amikacin and ciprofloxacin increased 32 and 8 fold, respectively; under similar conditions. Taken together, these results support designing of peptide-based therapeutics for combating MRSP infections, particularly for topical application

Optical study of the vibrational and dielectric properties of BiMnO3

BiMnO3 (BMO), ferromagnetic (FM) below Tc = 100 K, was believed to be also ferroelectric (FE) due to a non-centro-symmetric C2 structure, until diffraction data indicated that its space group is the centro-symmetric C2/c. Here we present infrared phonon spectra of BMO, taken on a mosaic of single crystals, which are consistent with C2/c at any T > 10 K, as well as room-temperature Raman data which strongly support this conclusion. We also find that the infrared intensity of several phonons increases steadily for decreasing T, causing the relative permittivity of BMO to vary from 18.5 at 300 K to 45 at 10 K. At variance with FE materials of displacive type, no appreciable softening has been found in the infrared phonons. Both their frequencies and intensities, moreover, appear insensitive to the FM transition at Tc

Umbilical hernia in children in a developing country: Does the season have an effect on the occurrence of strangulation?

No Abstract

Contemplation Impact of Pulp Seeds Cucurbita Pepo L. and its Paste on Oxidative Stress in Rats

Cucurbita Pepo L. seeds and seeds paste which are rich sources of phytochemicals and act as a rich source of antioxidants. The most important phytochemicals present in the cucurbits are cucurbitacin’s, saponins, carotenoids, phytosterols, and polyphenols. These bioactive phyto-constituents are responsible for the pharmacological effects including antioxidant effect. Aim of this study was to investigate the effect of Cucurbita Pepo L. seeds and seeds paste on rats suffering from oxidative stress. Thirty-six male albino rats were used in the experiment (Sprague-Dawley strain). The animals randomly divided 6 rats each group according to the following the first Group: Rats were fed basal diet and set as negative control. The other rats (n = 30) were fed on basal diet containing monosodium glutamate (120 mg/kg) for induce stress condition. After that, rats further divided into 5 groups (n = 6) each for six weeks as follows: -2nd Group: Rats were fed on basal diet containing monosodium glutamate and set as positive control. 3rd Group: Rats were fed on diet containing monosodium glutamate with addition of Cucurbita Pepo L. seeds 5%. 4th Group: Rats were fed on diet containing monosodium glutamate with addition of Cucurbita Pepo L. seeds 10%. 5th Group: Rats were fed on diet containing monosodium glutamate with addition of Cucurbita Pepo L. seeds paste 5%. 6th Group: Rats were fed on diet containing monosodium glutamate with addition of Cucurbita Pepo L. seeds paste 10%. The experimental period was six weeks; Blood samples were collected. At the end of the experiment, the results showed that using seeds 5% & 10% and seeds paste 5% & 10% in feeding the stressed rats increased (BWG%, FI, FER, Superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase and glutathione peroxidase (GPx)) with highest results in group fed on 10% seeds paste and decreased (Urea, Creatinine, ALT, AST, IL-6 and INF-gamma) with lowest results in group fed on 10% Cucurbita Pepo L. seeds paste

Detection and tracking of discrete phenomena in sensor-network databases

This paper introduces a framework for Phenomena Detection and Tracking (PDT, for short) in sensor network databases. Examples of detectable phenomena include the propagation over time of a pollution cloud or an oil spill region. We provide a crisp definition of a phenomenon that takes into consideration both the strength and the time span of the phenomenon.We focus on discrete phenomena where sensor readings are drawn from a discrete set of values, e.g., item numbers or pollutant IDs, and we point out how our work can be extended to handle continuous phenomena. The challenge for the proposed PDT framework is to detect as much phenomena as possible, given the large number of sensors, the overall high arrival rates of sensor data, and the limited system resources. Our proposed PDT framework uses continuous SQL queries to detect and track phenomena. Execution of these continuous queries is performed in three phases; the joining phase, the candidate selection phase, and the grouping/output phase. The joining phase employs an in-memory multi-way join algorithm that produces a set of sensor pairs with similar readings. The candidate selection phase filters the output of the joining phase to select candidate join pairs, with enough strength and time span, as specified by the phenomenon definition. The grouping/ output phase constructs the overall phenomenon from the candidate join pairs. We introduce two optimizations to increase the likelihood of phenomena detection while using less system resources. Experimental studies illustrate the performance gains of both the proposed PDT framework and the proposed optimizations

Feasibility of diffusion and probabilistic white matter analysis in patients implanted with a deep brain stimulator.

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) for Parkinson\u27s disease (PD) is an established advanced therapy that produces therapeutic effects through high frequency stimulation. Although this therapeutic option leads to improved clinical outcomes, the mechanisms of the underlying efficacy of this treatment are not well understood. Therefore, investigation of DBS and its postoperative effects on brain architecture is of great interest. Diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) is an advanced imaging technique, which has the ability to estimate the structure of white matter fibers; however, clinical application of DWI after DBS implantation is challenging due to the strong susceptibility artifacts caused by implanted devices. This study aims to evaluate the feasibility of generating meaningful white matter reconstructions after DBS implantation; and to subsequently quantify the degree to which these tracts are affected by post-operative device-related artifacts. DWI was safely performed before and after implanting electrodes for DBS in 9 PD patients. Differences within each subject between pre- and post-implantation FA, MD, and RD values for 123 regions of interest (ROIs) were calculated. While differences were noted globally, they were larger in regions directly affected by the artifact. White matter tracts were generated from each ROI with probabilistic tractography, revealing significant differences in the reconstruction of several white matter structures after DBS. Tracts pertinent to PD, such as regions of the substantia nigra and nigrostriatal tracts, were largely unaffected. The aim of this study was to demonstrate the feasibility and clinical applicability of acquiring and processing DWI post-operatively in PD patients after DBS implantation. The presence of global differences provides an impetus for acquiring DWI shortly after implantation to establish a new baseline against which longitudinal changes in brain connectivity in DBS patients can be compared. Understanding that post-operative fiber tracking in patients is feasible on a clinically-relevant scale has significant implications for increasing our current understanding of the pathophysiology of movement disorders, and may provide insights into better defining the pathophysiology and therapeutic effects of DBS

Bipolar sealing devices versus endoscopic vascular staplers during laparoscopic splenectomy in children with benign hematological diseases

Background: Splenectomy, whether open or laparoscopic, is considered a step of management in many children with benign hematological diseases such as immune thrombocytopenia, thalassemia, autoimmune hemolytic anemia, and spherocytosis. The major challenge during laparoscopic splenectomy (LS) is the rich blood supply of the spleen. Many techniques were considered to control the vascular supply of the spleen. Staplers, clips, either titanium or hemoclips, a bipolar sealing device (BSD), or ultrasonic shears were all used to complete LS. We aimed to compare the results of using BSD versus endoscopic staplers for vascular control of the pedicle during LS.Patients and methods: The study was carried out on 30 children with benign hematological diseases who presented to the Pediatric Surgical Unit. They were grouped randomly into two groups: group A and group B. Group A included 15 patients who were subjected to LS in which BSD was used for vascular control, whereas group B included 15 patients subjected to LS in which endoscopic staplers were used for vascular control of the pedicle.Results: The mean age of the children in group A was 9.60 years, whereas the mean age of the children in group B was 10.40 years. In group A, the mean estimated amount of blood loss was 72.27 ml. However, this was 80.67ml in group B. In group A, the mean operative time required was 39.00 min, whereas it was 56.27 min in group B. The indications for splenectomy were thalassemia in 15 cases (seven for group A and eight for group B), idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura in 13 cases (seven for group A and six for group B), and spherocytosis in two cases (one for each group). The mean splenic size in group A was 10.43 cm, whereas it was 11.73 cm in group B.Conclusion: LS has evolved over the last decade because of the advancements of BSDs and endoscopic staplers. According to our data the use of LigaSure reduces the overall operative time, operative blood loss, and associated complications compared with the use of staplers.Keywords: children, laparoscopic, splenectom

Two Spectrophotometric Assays for Dopamine Derivatives in Pharmaceutical Products and in Biological Samples of Schizophrenic Patients Using Copper Tetramine Complex and Triiodide Reagent

Two simple, rapid, and sensitive spectrophotometric methods are proposed for the determination of levodopa (LD). The first method is based on coupling of 4-aminoantipyrine (4-AAP) with one of the dopamine derivatives (LD, CD) to give a new ligand that reacts with copper tetramine complex to give intensely colored chelates. The colored products are quantified spectrophotometrically at 525 and 520 nm for LD and CD, respectively. The optimization of the experimental conditions is described. The method has been used for the determination of 19.7–69.0 and 18.1–54.3 μg mL(−1) of LD and CD, respectively. The accuracy of the method is achieved by the values of recovery (100 ± 0.2%) and the precision is supported by the low standard deviation (SD = 0.17–0.59) and relative standard deviation (CV = 0.4%–1.54%) values. The second method is based on the formation of ion-pair iodinated inner sphere or outer sphere colored complexes between the LD and triiodide ions at pH 5 and room temperature (23 ± 3(°)C). This method has been used for the determination of LD within the concentration range 39.44–78.88 μg mL(−1) with SD = 0.22–0.24 and recovery percent = 100 ± 0.3%. The sensitivity of the two methods is indicated by Sandell's sensitivity of 0.014–0.019 g cm(−2). The results of the two methods are compared with those of the official method. The interference of common drug additives, degradation products, and excipients was also studied. The proposed methods were applied successfully to the determination of the LD-CD synthetic mixture and Levocare drug. The determination of LD in urine of some schizophrenic patients was applied with good precision and accuracy. The reliability of the methods was established by parallel determinations against the official British pharmacopoeia method

Interaction of vortices in superconductors with kappa close to 2^(-1/2)

Using a perturbative approach to the infinitely degenerate Bogomolnyi vortex state for a superconductor with kappa = 2^(-1/2), T -> T_c, we calculate the interaction of vortices in a superconductor with kappa close to 2^(-1/2). We find, numerically and analytically, that depending on the material the interaction potential between the vortices varies with decreasing kappa from purely repulsive (as in a type-II superconductor) to purely attractive (as in a type-I superconductor) in two different ways: either vortices form a bound state and the distance between them changes gradually from infinity to zero, or this transition occurs in a discontinuous way as a result of a competition between minima at infinity and zero. We study the discontinuous transition between the vortex and Meissner states caused by the non-monotonous vortex interaction and calculate the corresponding magnetization jump.Comment: v1:original submit v2:changed formate of images (gave problems to some) v3:corrected fig v4v6 (was -v4v6) orthographic corrections (and U_lat/int) mismatch v4:more small orthographic corrections v5:converted to revtex4 and bibTex v6:Renamed images to submit to pr