Biofilm-Induced Antibiotic Resistance in Clinical Isolates.

In order to understand the role of biofilm in the emergence of antibiotic resistance, a total of 104 clinical strains were investigated for their biofilm-forming capacities and genes associated with biofilm formation. Selected biofilm-formers were tested for antibiotic susceptibilities when grown in biofilm phase. Reversibility of antibiotic susceptibility in planktonic cells regrown from biofilm were investigated.

Ultracompact optical fiber acoustic sensors based on a fiber-top spirally-suspended optomechanical microresonator.

Acoustic wave sensors with a high sensitivity and small size are highly desired for a wide variety of important and emerging applications such as photoacoustic gas sensing and bio-imaging. Here we present an ultracompact optical fiber acoustic sensor based on an optomechanical resonator that is directly in situ printed on the end face of a standard single-mode optical fiber by using an optical 3D μ-printing technology. The fiber-top optomechanical microresonator is composed of a microscale suspended polymer micro-disk that forms a Fabry-Perot interferometric cavity, together with the optical fiber end face, and acts as the acoustic wave-sensitive micromechanical resonator simultaneously.

Durable Antimicrobial Behaviour from Silver-Graphene Coated Medical Textile Composites.

Silver nanoparticle (AgNP) and AgNP/reduced graphene oxide (rGO) nanocomposite impregnated medical grade polyviscose textile pads were formed using a facile, surface-mediated wet chemical solution-dipping process, without further annealing. Surfaces were sequentially treated in situ with a sodium borohydride (NaBH) reducing agent, prior to formation, deposition, and fixation of Ag nanostructures and/or rGO nanosheets throughout porous non-woven (i.e.

Optical Fiber-Tip Sensors Based on In-Situ µ-Printed Polymer Suspended-Microbeams.

Miniature optical fiber-tip sensors based on directly µ-printed polymer suspended-microbeams are presented. With an in-house optical 3D μ-printing technology, SU-8 suspended-microbeams are fabricated in situ to form Fabry⁻Pérot (FP) micro-interferometers on the end face of standard single-mode optical fiber. Optical reflection spectra of the fabricated FP micro-interferometers are measured and fast Fourier transform is applied to analyze the cavity of micro-interferometers.

Optofluidic tunable mode-locked fiber laser using a long-period grating integrated microfluidic chip.

An optofluidic tunable mode-locked fiber laser using a microfluidic chip integrated with long-period grating (LPG) is presented. The microfluidic chip enables ultrafine adjustment of the liquid's refractive index and, thus, LPG's spectrum via tuning the mixing ratio of the microfluidic flows. With such an optofluidic spectrum-tunable filter, the central wavelength of the mode-locked laser can be tuned continuously, while the mode-locking state is steadily maintained.

Rapid 3D Patterning of Poly(acrylic acid) Ionic Hydrogel for Miniature pH Sensors.

Poly(acrylic acid) (PAA), as a highly ionic conductive hydrogel, can reversibly swell/deswell according to the surrounding pH conditions. An optical maskless -stereolithography technology is presented to rapidly 3D pattern PAA for device fabrication. A highly sensitive miniature pH sensor is demonstrated by in situ printing of periodic PAA micropads on a tapered optical microfiber.

A meta-analysis of tumor necrosis factor-alpha, interleukin-6, and interleukin-10 in preeclampsia.

Inflammation may play a major role in the pathogenesis of preeclampsia (PE). In this meta-analysis, we determined whether maternal polymorphisms and serum concentrations of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and interleukin-10 (IL-10) were associated with PE. All studies investigating the associations between PE and maternal polymorphisms of TNF-α-308G/A, IL-6-174G/C, and IL-10-1082A/G or serum concentrations of TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-10 were reviewed.