Eradicating Cystic Fibrosis Biofilms by a Novel Non-Toxic, Multi-Pathway Salicylate Therapy
1.1. Cystic Fibrosis Biofilms Biofilms are bacterial aggregates in a matrix of polysaccharides, proteins and nucleic acids (Donlan, 2002). They account for 80% of all chronic infections and cause over 500,000 deaths annually. Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a genetic disorder characterized by mucus accumulation in the respiratory tracts (Morrison et al., 2020). This impairs mucociliary clearance, allowing chronic colonization by bacterial biofilms, leading to fatal respiratory failure, lung scarring, and necrosis of pulmonary epithelial tissues (Martin et al., 2021). 1.2. Obstacles in Current Treatments Three major therapies are used against CF biofilms: (1) aminoglycoside antibiotics like tobramycin, (2)non-aminoglycoside antibiotics such as ciprofloxacin and vancomycin, and (3) non-antibiotic therapies including flushing, chlorination, and ultraviolet disinfection. These have two major flaws. First, they are cytotoxic; 30% of patients experience acute kidney injury after three days of intravenous aminoglycoside therapy (Joyce et al., 2017). Furthermore, non-aminoglycoside therapies can cause phospholipid buildup in lysosomes of proximal tubule epithelial cells, accounting for 10-20% of acute renal failure cases. Second, antibiotic resistance due to horizontal gene transfer and mutations has significantly reduced treatment effectiveness. Therefore, cystic fibrosis biofilms remain a critical threat with few effective treatments. 1.3. Salicylate Derivatives This project tackled this issue using an innovative non-antibiotic approach with salicylate derivatives. Salicylates, a class of benzoic acids—benzene-based carboxylic acids (Figure 1)—used in painkillers and blood thinners, were investigated for their antibiofilm potential through a 3-step process: 1. Literature review: Identified three key biofilm therapeutic targets: quorum sensing, bacterial adhesion, and cell motility. Disrupting these pathways would result in biofilm eradication. 2. Molecule Identification: Recognized key molecules in each pathway: LasR, adhesins, and flagellin. Inhibiting these molecules would disrupt the pathways. 3. Screening: Found that salicylates could inhibit the identified molecules, though they had never been tested against cystic fibrosis biofilms.
Exploring the Potential of Pachyrizus Erosus-Derived Calcium as an Affordable Nutritional Solution for Lactose Intolerance
An exploration of Pachyrhizus erosus as an option for plant-based milk in the 印尼n market for people with lactose intolerance. With its prevalence in tropical climates, Pachyrhizus erosus is an affordable crop in 印尼. Pachyrhizus erosus is a root vegetable containing a calcium content of 15.6 mg per cup (130g) in its unprocessed form, concentrated in its white flesh. Based on its affordability and calcium content, Pachyrhizus erosus can be transformed into a beverage product with nutritional qualities on par with existing plant-based milk, therefore being a solution for calcium sustenance that is more accessible due to its high capability to be locally grown in 印尼. However, this may be a partial case as Pachyrhizus erosus only thrives in regions with long warm seasons. In this research, three trials of Pachyrhizus erosus-based milk recipe have been conducted Trial 1 consists of a 1:1 ratio of Pachyrhizus erosus to water, Trial 2 consists of a 2:1 ratio of Pachyrhizus erosus to water, and Trial 3 consisting of a 10:10:1 ratio of Pachyrhizus erosus to water, and to a small amount of soybean. Based on the results of 14 organoleptic test respondents, it is concluded that the best ratio of ingredients is 10:10:1 (water: Pachyrhizus erosus: soybean) due to an overall preference of the third trial with this ratio, in terms of taste, aroma, color, and consistency. Pachyrhizus erosus is the dominant ingredient in developing alternate plant-based milk. However, findings from the most preferred trial in the organoleptic test suggest that implementing a minor amount of soybean would stabilize the milk-like consistency and flavor. Pachyrhizus erosus’ ability to retain calcium in its water content has been additionally proven in a calcium test using a reagent solution of ammonium oxalate, as even with the trials’ step of straining the liquid content of Pachyrhizus erosus that had been blended with added water, all three trials tested positive based on the high level of the precipitate. Other tests that tackle the quality of each trial include In Silico Testing, biuret protein test, alcohol test, COB test, and pH level testing.
First-Ever Study on Groundwater Discharge Zones in Tumon Bay, a Protected Marine Preserve: Novel Insights into Coral Reef Conservation
Current research shows Northern Guam to be composed of porous limestone bedrock which allow groundwater to flow out. One large discharge point has already been identified last year in north-western Guam at Ayuyu Cave. However, little is known about Tumon Bay which is known to comprise karst watersheds which should allow for SGD. This project has examined invisible groundwater discharge using a salinity meter and was able to detect two areas of concentrated freshwater discharges in Tumon Bay, with a few minor ones scattered throughout the bay. These seeps were found to have consistently lower salinity while pH varied, and hosted more marine life than other high salinity areas. Further unique coral growth in Tumon Bay’s inner lagoon was associated with these two freshwater discharges with the pH levels further segregating the types of coral species found during on-site observation. Two coral communities, staghorn Acropora and massive Porites, were found adjacent to the surveyed groundwater seeps. It’s inferred that lower wave energy in eastern Tumon Bay allows for greater plankton and other microbial growth leading to more heterotrophic coral growth, favoring Porites corals, while Western Tumon Bay has higher wave energy which leads to the growth of more autotrophic corals, such as the Acropora found in the first area surveyed. This is the first study to document the presence, location, and consequences of invisible freshwater discharges across the billion-dollar bay. This study gauges the effects of SGD on inner shore habitats, also providing a coral cover assessment across Tumon Bay using transects and quadrats. These discoveries allow for strategic coral planting, designated areas needing government protection, and show areas of appealing inner lagoon coral growth for tourism.
Whose feather is that? A cross-views between a naturalist and a molecular biologist
Identifyingthespeciesorsexofabirdbasedonafeatherfoundinnatureisoftenchallenging,evenwith the help of reference books. However, determining the presence of a rare species in a habitat using an indirectpresenceindicator,suchasafeather,canhelpinimplementingspecificmeasuresforpreserving the species. The aim of this study is to investigate whether DNAgenotyping is better than specialized books when identifying bird feathers. Toanswerthisquestion,Icollectedfeathersinthewildand,withthehelpoftwobooks,triedtoidentify theirspeciesandsex.Then,assistedbyDrGwenaëlJacob(UNIFR),Iisolatedtwogenesinnineselected feathers. The investigated genes were the CHD gene for sexing and the COI gene for species identification.Todothis,theDNAwasfirstextractedfromthefeathers,purified,andamplifiedbyPCR. Subsequently,anelectrophoresis wasperformedtosexthe samples andcheckthatthe PCRamplification hadworkedproperly.Finally,thesamplesweresequencedbytheMicrosynthlaboratory(St-Gall),and the obtained sequences were entered into the NCBI database. Acomparisonoftheresultsobtainedwitheachofthetwodifferentmethodsshowsthattheidentification with specialized books was fairly successful. 56% of the species identification made with the books were indeed confirmed by genotyping. DNAanalysis provided a different result only for feather #16. However,33%ofgeneticidentificationfailed,eitherduetogeneticmaterialqualityorlaboratoryerrors. Asitwaspossibletoidentifythesexofonlyonesample(feather#14)withthebooks,itwasnotpossible tomakeatruecomparisonofthetwoapproaches.However,asgeneticsexingworkedwell(onefailure, feather #28), it can be inferred that genetic sexing is more effective than using books. This work demonstrated that DNAis not infallible and that sometimes books are equally effective in identifyingbirdspeciesfromafeather.However,insexingbird,DNAremainsmoreefficient.Thus,one can conclude that DNAgenotyping is not superior but rather complementary to specialized books for identifying bird feathers.
Sequentially bidirectional gastrovascular flows in highly branched digestive tracts of panocerid flatworm
Examination of the predation behavior of polyclad flatworms is extremely rare. This study collects Paraplanocera oligoglena, the most common species in Taiwan. Tank-based feeding experiments reveal that Paraplanocera oligoglena can prey on several species of gastropods, such as sea snails and sea hares. Predation behavior encompasses attack, invasion and ingestion periods. This research pioneers the use of stained clam and static image analysis to observe the highly branched digestive system of flatworms. The sequentially bidirectional flow of gastrovascular cavity is first found in polyclad flatworms by the post-stain active tracking technique. Measuring peristalsis movement in inward and outward directions and segmented movement, the contraction frequencies are roughly the same in subsequent order of given branches. Confirmation is provided that the circular membrane-like muscles within the digestive tract are the main driving force for transporting and mixing food. The food dyeing technology used in this experiment also provides the possibility of future research on food chains in the wild.
On the Application of Inequalities Containing Sums of Minimum/Maximum of Numbers
Retail inventory management is a crucial part of many businesses due to the high profit associated with it as well as the uncertainty around it, especially for industries with short production cycles and a complex supply chain.Proper management ofretail inventories can lead to decreased inventory costs, prevent spoilage and obsoles- cence, and improve customer satisfaction, all of which lead to increased profits for the company.Inthispaper,wefirstproposeextendingawell-knowninequalityandtry to generalize it to other conditions and similar inequalities.The inequality involves multiple variables and how the maximum/minimum values of a subset of the numbers compare to the maximum/minimum values of the whole set of numbers.Our main contribution is applying such inequality in inventory management to help estimate the total cost of inventory management, which would allow us to determine the shutdown pointforaspecificcompanyusingthegeneralizationsoftheinequality.Lastly,weshow thatourestimatesarereasonableandproposesomefutureareaswheremoreworkcan be done.