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Streptococcus mutans is a cariogenic bacterium in the oral cavity involved in plaque formation and dental caries. The endocannabinoid anandamide (AEA), a naturally occurring bioactive lipid, has been shown to have anti-bacterial and anti-biofilm activities against Staphylococcus aureus . We aimed here to study its effects on S. mutans viability, biofilm formation and extracellular polysaccharide substance (EPS) production. S. mutans were cultivated in the absence or presence of various concentrations of AEA, and the planktonic growth was followed by changes in optical density (OD) and colony-forming units (CFU). The resulting biofilms were examined by MTT metabolic assay, Crystal Violet (CV) staining, spinning disk confocal microscopy (SDCM) and high-resolution scanning electron microscopy (HR-SEM). The EPS production was determined by Congo Red and fluorescent dextran staining. Membrane potential and membrane permeability were determined by diethyloxacarbocyanine iodide (DiOC2(3)) and SYTO 9/propidium iodide (PI) staining, respectively, using flow cytometry. We observed that AEA was bactericidal to S. mutans at 12.5 µg/mL and prevented biofilm formation at the same concentration. AEA reduced the biofilm thickness and biomass with concomitant reduction in total EPS production, although there was a net increase in EPS per bacterium. Preformed biofilms were significantly affected at 50 µg/mL AEA. We further show that AEA increased the membrane permeability and induced membrane hyperpolarization of these bacteria. AEA caused S. mutans to become elongated at the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC). Gene expression studies showed a significant increase in the cell division gene ftsZ . The concentrations of AEA needed for the anti-bacterial effects were below the cytotoxic concentration for normal Vero epithelial cells. Altogether, our data show that AEA has anti-bacterial and anti-biofilm activities against S. mutans and may have a potential role in preventing biofilms as a therapeutic measure.

Perinatal hypoxia induces permanent structural and functional changes in the lung and its pulmonary circulation that are associated with the development of pulmonary hypertension (PH) in later life. The mechanistic target of the rapamycin (mTOR) pathway is vital for fetal lung development and is implicated in hypoxia-associated PH, yet its involvement in the developmental programming of PH remains unclear. Pregnant C57/BL6 dams were placed in hyperbaric (760 mmHg) or hypobaric chambers during gestation (505 mmHg, day 15 through postnatal day 4 ) or from weaning through adulthood (420 mmHg, postnatal day 21 through 8 wk). Pulmonary hemodynamics and right ventricular systolic pressure (RVSP) were measured at 8 wk. mTOR pathway proteins were assessed in fetal ( day 18.5 ) and adult lung (8 wk). Perinatal hypoxia induced PH during adulthood, even in the absence of a sustained secondary hypoxic exposure, as indicated by reduced pulmonary artery acceleration time (PAAT) and peak flow velocity through the pulmonary valve, as well as greater RVSP, right ventricular (RV) wall thickness, and RV/left ventricular (LV) weight. Such effects were independent of increased blood viscosity. In fetal lung homogenates, hypoxia reduced the expression of critical downstream mTOR targets, most prominently total and phosphorylated translation repressor protein (4EBP1), as well as vascular endothelial growth factor, a central regulator of angiogenesis in the fetal lung. In contrast, adult offspring of hypoxic dams tended to have elevated p4EBP1 compared with controls. Our data suggest that inhibition of mTORC1 activity in the fetal lung as a result of gestational hypoxia may interrupt pulmonary vascular development and thereby contribute to the developmental programming of PH. NEW & NOTEWORTHY We describe the first study to evaluate a role for the mTOR pathway in the developmental programming of pulmonary hypertension. Our findings suggest that gestational hypoxia impairs mTORC1 activation in the fetal lung and may impede pulmonary vascular development, setting the stage for pulmonary vascular disease in later life.

Modern medicine, biological research, and clinical diagnostics depend on the reliable supply and storage of complex biomolecules. However, biomolecules are inherently susceptible to thermal stress and the global distribution of value-added biologics, including vaccines, biotherapeutics, and Research Use Only (RUO) proteins, requires an integrated cold chain from point of manufacture to point of use. To mitigate reliance on the cold chain, formulations have been engineered to protect biologics from thermal stress, including materials-based strategies that impart thermal stability via direct encapsulation of the molecule. While direct encapsulation has demonstrated pronounced stabilization of proteins and complex biological fluids, no solution offers thermal stability while enabling facile and on-demand release from the encapsulating material, a critical feature for broad use. Here we show that direct encapsulation within synthetic, photoresponsive hydrogels protected biologics from thermal stress and afforded user-defined release at the point of use. The poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG)-based hydrogel was formed via a bioorthogonal, click reaction in the presence of biologics without impact on biologic activity. Cleavage of the installed photolabile moiety enabled subsequent dissolution of the network with light and release of the encapsulated biologic. Hydrogel encapsulation improved stability for encapsulated enzymes commonly used in molecular biology (β-galactosidase, alkaline phosphatase, and T4 DNA ligase) following thermal stress. β-galactosidase and alkaline phosphatase were stabilized for 4 weeks at temperatures up to 60 °C, and for 60 min at 85 °C for alkaline phosphatase. T4 DNA ligase, which loses activity rapidly at moderately elevated temperatures, was protected during thermal stress of 40 °C for 24 h and 60 °C for 30 min. These data demonstrate a general method to employ reversible polymer networks as robust excipients for thermal stability of complex biologics during storage and shipment that additionally enable on-demand release of active molecules at the point of use.

In the thrust toward constructing economic value, health care provider firms have been consolidating at a marked rate. Medicaid managed care programs have been rapidly emerging with the objectives of containing health care costs and improving services for beneficiaries. However, there are concerns that the trend toward achieving market efficiency through merger is largely incongruent with the economic and health value objectives of Medicaid managed care programs in the states. Discordance among value objectives arises primarily because of inefficient and market concentrating horizontal merger strategies employed by firms and disruptions in quality of care that occur during the transition to integrated health care systems. By promoting vertical integration strategies and filling in the quality gaps created by an active merger environment, Medicaid offices advance state objectives of cost containment and quality while recognizing that providers operate in a complex and competitive environment that necessitates consolidation for organizational survival.

The phorbol nucleus was succinylated and then conjugated to bovine albumin using dicyclohexylcarbodiimide. Rabbits given injections of the conjugate developed antibodies which rose in titer progressively with repeated immunization. By the ninth bleeding, the binding of one antiserum, diluted 1:15,000, was saturated with about 10 nM [3H]phorbol-12,13-dibutyrate [( 3H]-PDBU) and had an average association constant, Ka, of 2.6 X 10(8) M-1. The serological specificity of the antisera was characterized by examining the inhibition of the [3H]PDBU-anti-phorbol succinate immune system by 18 phorbol-related compounds. The specificities of antibodies from two rabbits tested in detail were qualitatively similar. The rank order of inhibitory activity for certain phorbol-related compounds was PDBU [concentration of inhibitor required to give 50% inhibition of PDBU binding (IC50) = 7.6 nM] = phorbol-13-acetate [IC50 = 8.2 nM] greater than phorbol-12,13-dibenzoate greater than 4-beta-phorbol [IC50 = 124 nM] greater than or equal to phorbol-12,13-diacetate greater than or equal to phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate [IC50 = 184 nM] greater than phorbol-13,20-diacetate greater than phorbol-12-acetate [IC50 = 2300 nM]. The following compounds showed no detectable serological activity: mezerein, 4-0-methylphorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate, ingenol, 4-alpha-phorbol, teleocidin B, and dihydroteleocidin B. These and other results indicated that the 4-beta-phorbol nucleus was required for serological activity, that esterification of the C-13 position with benzoate, acetate, or butyrate enhanced the immunoreactivity of 4-beta-phorbol, and that among the phorbol-related compounds examined there was no direct relationship between serological activity and biological potency as tumor promoters. Using the [3H]PDBU-anti-phorbol succinate immune system, we measured the concentrations of immunoreactive phorbol-related material in crude mixtures such as croton oil and performed pharmacokinetic studies in rats given PDBU s.c.

Reorganisation preached it; the Royal Commission commended it, the new Government has welcomed it. But the 'greater degree of delegation of authority and responsibility' that is the devolutionist's dream has already come true for Claybury Mental Illness Hospital on London's periphery. What Claybyry does today others might wish to try tommorrow. Authors believe they have seen that tomorrow--and it works.

This article simply serves to illustrate how easily central venous catheters may be misplaced and to emphasize the need for radiological control of catheter placement.