Detection and imaging of bacterial biofilms with glutathione-stabilized gold nanoclusters.

Bacterial biofilms colonize chronic wounds and surfaces of medical devices, thus making the development of reliable methods for imaging and detection of biofilms crucial. Although fluorescent identification of bacteria is sensitive and non-destructive, the lack of biofilm-specific fluorescent dyes limits the application of this technique to biofilm detection. Here, we demonstrate, for the first time, that fluorescent glutathione-stabilized gold nanoclusters (GSH-AuNCs) without targeting ligands can specifically interact with extracellular matrix components of Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacterial biofilms resulting in fluorescent staining of bacterial biofilms.

Immunization of Mice with Gold Nanoparticles Conjugated to Thermostable Cancer Antigens Prevents the Development of Xenografted Tumors.

Gold nanoparticles as part of vaccines greatly increase antigen stability, antigen accumulation in the lymph nodes, and antigen uptake by antigen-presenting cells. The use of such particles as part of anticancer vaccines based on heat shock proteins to increase vaccine effectiveness is timely. We prepared and characterized nanoconjugates based on 15-nm gold nanoparticles and thermostable tumor antigens isolated from MH22a murine hepatoma cells.

Imaging and strain analysis of nano-scale SiGe structures by tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy.

The spatial resolution and high sensitivity of tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy allows the characterization of surface features on a nano-scale. This technique is used to visualize silicon-based structures, which are similar in width to the transistor channels in present leading-edge CMOS devices. The reduction of the intensive far-field background signal is crucial for detecting the weak near-field contributions and requires beside a careful alignment of laser polarization and tip axis also the consideration of the crystalline sample orientation.

[Ladasten, the new drug with psychostimulant and anxiolytic actions in treatment of neurasthenia (results of the comparative clinical study with placebo)].

An aim of a randomized blind study was to assess therapeutic efficacy and safety of ladasten used as an antiastenic drug in patients with neurasthenia. Tasks of the study included the investigation of characteristics of therapeutical actions, efficacy of the drug comparing to placebo, possible side-effects and probability of the development of "withdrawal syndromes". The design of the study included a wash-out period, a monotherapy with ladasten and placebo during 28 days and a final 1-week period of receiving placebo.

[Aphobazol--new selective anxyolytic drug].

A standardized clinical and pharmacological trial of the peculiarities of action and efficacy of aphobazol, a new anxyolytic with non-benzodiazepine structure, has been conducted. An effect of the drug on different anxiety disorders has been studied. It is shown that combined anxyolytic and activating action exerted the main effect.