The Many Applications of Engineered Bacteriophages-An Overview.

Since their independent discovery by Frederick Twort in 1915 and Felix d'Herelle in 1917, bacteriophages have captured the attention of scientists for more than a century. They are the most abundant organisms on the planet, often outnumbering their bacterial hosts by tenfold in a given environment, and they constitute a vast reservoir of unexplored genetic information. The increased prevalence of antibiotic resistant pathogens has renewed interest in the use of naturally obtained phages to combat bacterial infections, aka phage therapy.

Buyer beware: Inexpensive, high cadmium jewelry can pose severe health risks.

The use of cadmium to produce inexpensive jewelry has recently been documented. Governments have adopted varying standards, with US states focused on either total cadmium content or extractable cadmium from children's jewelry, while the European Union has adopted a limit of 100 mg/kg cadmium for all jewelry. This study evaluated 80 items purchased at a discount jewelry store.

Synthesis, characterization, in vitro SAR study, and preliminary in vivo toxicity evaluation of naphthylmethyl substituted bis-imidazolium salts.

A series of novel bis-imidazolium salts was synthesized, characterized, and evaluated in vitro against a panel of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells. Two imidazolium cores were connected with alkyl chains of varying lengths to develop a structure activity relationship (SAR). Increasing the length of the connecting alkyl chain was shown to correlate to an increase in the anti-proliferative activity.

Phages for Phage Therapy: Isolation, Characterization, and Host Range Breadth.

For a bacteriophage to be useful for phage therapy it must be both isolated from the environment and shown to have certain characteristics beyond just killing strains of the target bacterial pathogen. These include desirable characteristics such as a relatively broad host range and a lack of other characteristics such as carrying toxin genes and the ability to form a lysogen. While phages are commonly isolated first and subsequently characterized, it is possible to alter isolation procedures to bias the isolation toward phages with desirable characteristics.

Bacteriophage T4 long tail fiber domains.

Bacteriophage T4 initially recognizes its host cells using its long tail fibers. Long tail fibers consist of a phage-proximal and a phage-distal rod, each around 80 nm long and attached to each other at a slight angle. The phage-proximal rod is formed by a homo-trimer of gene product 34 (gp34) and is attached to the phage-distal rod by a monomer of gp35.

Recent Developments in the Medicinal Applications of Silver-NHC Complexes and Imidazolium Salts.

Because of their great structural diversity and multitude of chemical properties, N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) have been utilized in a variety of capacities. Most recently, NHCs have been utilized as carrier molecules for many transition metals in medicinal chemistry. Specifically, Ag(I)-NHCs have been investigated as potent antibacterial agents and chemotherapeutics and have shown great efficacy in both in vitro and in vivo studies.

Metal exposures from aluminum cookware: An unrecognized public health risk in developing countries.

Removing lead from gasoline has resulted in decreases in blood lead levels in most of the world, but blood lead levels remain elevated in low and middle-income countries compared to more developed countries. Several reasons for this difference have been investigated, but few studies have examined the potential contribution from locally-made aluminum cookware. In a previous study of cookware from a single African country, Cameroon, artisanal aluminum cookware that is made from scrap metal released significant quantities of lead.

Lead exposure from aluminum cookware in Cameroon.

Blood lead levels have decreased following the removal of lead from gasoline in most of the world. However, numerous recent studies provide evidence that elevated blood lead levels persist in many low and middle-income countries around the world at much higher prevalence than in the more developed countries. One potential source of lead exposure that has not been widely investigated is the leaching of lead from artisanal aluminum cookware, which is commonly used in the developing world.

Sociosexual orientation, commitment, and infidelity: a mediation analysis.

Individuals with an unrestricted sociosexual orientation (SO) are less committed to their romantic relationships and more likely to engage in infidelity. Furthermore, commitment is negatively associated with tendencies to cheat. However, no previous research has examined the possible mediating role of commitment in the relationship between SO and infidelity.

Assessment of leaching potential of highly leaded jewelry.

Lead is a potent neurotoxin particularly toxic to young children, and in response to recent poisonings of children and high levels of lead contamination in children's jewelry, US regulatory standards for lead content in these items have become much more stringent. Parents are often advised to throw out suspect items in the trash. While household wastes are generally exempt from consideration as hazardous waste, the potential for leaching of hazardous quantities of lead from such items is unknown.

Evaluating minority retention programs: problems encountered and lessons learned from the Ohio science and engineering alliance.

The retention rates for African-Americans, Hispanics, and Native-Americans in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) are lower than those of White or Asian college students. In response, the National Science Foundation formed statewide partnerships of universities to develop programs to address this disparity. The deliberations and experiences in evaluating one such partnership are retrospectively reviewed.

Fractured relationships and the potential for abuse of older men.

Elderly men are an understudied population in the area of abuse and neglect. The typical elder abuse or neglect victim is described as a frail woman. The National Elder Abuse Incidence Study shows men to be victims as well and at higher risk than women for abandonment, the most extreme form of neglect.