Honeybee gut bacterial strain improved survival and gut microbiota homeostasis in exposed to clothianidin.

Unlabelled: Pesticides are causing honeybee mortality worldwide. Research carried out on honeybees indicates that application of pesticides has a significant impact on the core gut community, which ultimately leads to an increase in the growth of harmful pathogens. Disturbances caused by pesticides also affect the way bacterial members interact, which results in gut microbial dysbiosis.

Advances in screening and diagnostic lab-on-chip tools for gynaecological cancers - a review.

Gynaecological cancers are a major global health concern due to the lack of effective screening programmes for ovarian and endometrial cancer, for example, and variable access to vaccination and screening tests for cervical cancer in many countries. Recent research on portable and cost-effective lab-on-a-chip (LoC) technologies show promise for mass screening and diagnostic procedures for gynaecological cancers. However, most LoCs for gynaecological cancer are still in development, with a need to establish and clinically validate factors such as the type of biomarker, sample and method of detection, before patient use.

Assessing the immunosuppressive activity of alginate-encapsulated mesenchymal stromal cells on splenocytes.

Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) show immunosuppressive effects both cell-to-cell contact (direct) with immune cells and by producing paracrine factors and extracellular vesicles (indirect). A key challenge in delivering this therapeutic effect is retaining the MSCs at the site of injection. One way to address this is by encapsulating the MSCs within suitable biomaterial scaffolds.

Controlling human platelet activation with calcium-binding nanoparticles.

Human platelets aggregate at sites of blood vessel damage in response to a rise in their cytosolic calcium concentration. Controlling these cytosolic calcium rises would provide a method to inhibit platelet activation and prevent the unwanted blood clots that causes heart attack and strokes. Previously we have predicted that calcium accumulation within the lumen of an infolded portion of the platelet plasma membrane called the open canalicular system (OCS) is essential for maintaining this cytosolic calcium rise.

Performance of Xpert MTB/RIF in comparison with light-emitting diode-fluorescence microscopy and culture for detecting tuberculosis in pulmonary and extrapulmonary specimens in Bamako, Mali.

Background: The diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB) has mostly been relied on a long-used method called sputum smear microscopy. In 2010, Xpert MTB/RIF assay was approved by the World Health Organization for simultaneous TB diagnosis and detection of resistance. Our current study was undertaken to compare the diagnostic performance of Xpert MTB/RIF assay to auramine staining-based light-emitting diode-Fluorescence Microscopy (LED-FM) considering culture as the gold standard method for pulmonary and extrapulmonary TB.

The potential of magnetic hyperthermia for triggering the differentiation of cancer cells.

Magnetic hyperthermia is a potential technique for cancer therapy that exploits heat generated by magnetic nanoparticles to kill cancerous cells. Many studies have shown that magnetic hyperthermia is effective at killing cancer cells both in vitro and in vivo, however little attention has been paid to the cellular functioning of the surviving cells. We report here new evidence demonstrating the onset of thermally triggered differentiation in osteosarcoma cancer cells that survive magnetic hyperthermia treatment.

The cellular magnetic response and biocompatibility of biogenic zinc- and cobalt-doped magnetite nanoparticles.

The magnetic moment and anisotropy of magnetite nanoparticles can be optimised by doping with transition metal cations, enabling their properties to be tuned for different biomedical applications. In this study, we assessed the suitability of bacterially synthesized zinc- and cobalt-doped magnetite nanoparticles for biomedical applications. To do this we measured cellular viability and activity in primary human bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells and human osteosarcoma-derived cells.

In situ measurement of magnetization relaxation of internalized nanoparticles in live cells.

Magnetization relaxation mechanisms strongly influence how magnetic nanoparticles respond to high-frequency fields in applications such as magnetic hyperthermia. The dominant mechanism depends on the mobility of the particles, which will be affected in turn by their microenvironment. In this study AC susceptometry was used to follow the in situ magnetic response of model systems of blocked and superparamagnetic nanoparticles, following their cellular internalization and subsequent release by freeze-thaw lysis.

Interoperator and intraoperator variability of whole blood coagulation assays: a comparison of thromboelastography and rotational thromboelastometry.

Objectives: Near-patient viscoelastic tests have proved useful in decreasing blood and blood product use in cardiac surgery. Two different analyzers are available, TEG and ROTEM. Many different individuals operate these devices, which raises concern that this factor may significantly affect results.

Bacterially synthesized ferrite nanoparticles for magnetic hyperthermia applications.

Magnetic hyperthermia uses AC stimulation of magnetic nanoparticles to generate heat for cancer cell destruction. Whilst nanoparticles produced inside magnetotactic bacteria have shown amongst the highest reported heating to date, these particles are magnetically blocked so that strong heating occurs only for mobile particles, unless magnetic field parameters are far outside clinical limits. Here, nanoparticles extracellularly produced by the bacteria Geobacter sulfurreducens are investigated that contain Co or Zn dopants to tune the magnetic anisotropy, saturation magnetization and nanoparticle sizes, enabling heating within clinical field constraints.

Controlled cobalt doping in biogenic magnetite nanoparticles.

Cobalt-doped magnetite (CoxFe3 -xO4) nanoparticles have been produced through the microbial reduction of cobalt-iron oxyhydroxide by the bacterium Geobacter sulfurreducens. The materials produced, as measured by superconducting quantum interference device magnetometry, X-ray magnetic circular dichroism, Mössbauer spectroscopy, etc., show dramatic increases in coercivity with increasing cobalt content without a major decrease in overall saturation magnetization.

Caesarean section using total intravenous anaesthesia in a patient with Ebstein's anomaly complicated by supraventricular tachycardia.

Ebstein's anomaly is a rare congenital cardiac defect associated with both displacement and incompetence of the tricuspid valve. The condition is commonly complicated by supraventricular tachycardias. We describe the management of a patient with this condition undergoing caesarean section.

Generating performance test batteries relevant to specific operational tasks.

The present review focuses on the development of a performance battery generation system that selects performance tests most applicable to particular jobs. First, a list or taxonomy of cognitive and performance skills that are involved in real-world jobs or missions is developed. Based on this list, an "armory" of performance tests probing those skills is identified.

Venous malformations in blue rubber bleb nevus syndrome: variable onset of presentation.

Blue rubber bleb nevus syndrome (BRBNS) is a rare disorder characterized by discrete venous malformations of varying size and appearance that are present on the skin and within the gastrointestinal tract. The characteristic cutaneous lesions consist of deep-blue, soft, rubbery blebs, which are easily compressible. A serious complication is gastrointestinal bleeding.

Pulmonary artery blood temperature and the measurement of cardiac output by thermodilution.

Thermodilution cardiac output measurement assumes that the temperature within the pulmonary artery is stable during the measurement period. This may not be achieved in clinical practice because of temperature changes that are not solely produced by the thermal indicator. Such temperature changes constitute thermal noise.

Medulloblastoma. Results of a sequential combined treatment.

Actuarial progression-free survival rate at 5 years of a series of 34 patients with medulloblastoma treated by combined surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy was 71%. No relapses were observed in 14 patients followed for more than 5 years. Treatment consisted of a short postoperative course of vincristine (VCR) and intrathecal (IT) methotrexate (MTX) followed by irradiation to the entire cranio spinal axis.