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Stainless steel is ubiquitous in our modern world, however it can become contaminated. This can endanger our health. The aim of our study is to disinfect stainless steel using Bacillus cereus as a model organism. Bacillus cereus is a microbe that is ubiquitous in nature, specifically soil. B. cereus is known to cause illness in humans. To prevent this, we propose to use a glycoconjugate solution (GS) for disinfection of stainless steel after it is contamination by B. cereus spores. In this study, two GS (9, 10) were tested for disinfection effectiveness on B. cereus spores on the surface of stainless steel foil (AISI-Series 200/300/400, THERMA-FOIL, Dayville, CT 0241). The disinfection rate of each GS was assessed by exposing the steel surface to B. cereus spores first and allowing them to settle for 24 hours. GS was used to treat the contaminated surface. The steel is washed and the resulting solution is plated on tryptic soy agar (TSA) plates. The GS with the fewest colony forming unit (CFU) formed on TSA is determined to be the most efficient during disinfection. Results show that both GS demonstrate a strong ability to disinfect B. cereus spores. Between the two, GS 9 shows the highest disinfection efficacy by killing approximately 99.5% of spores. This is a drastic improvement over the 0-20% disinfection of the control. Based on this we find that studied GS do have the capacity to act as a disinfectant on stainless steel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel atmospheric pressure ionization process, Direct Impact Corona Ionization (DICI), is described here. In this process, a corona impinges onto the flat surface of a stainless steel pin carrying a thin film of dried bacterial suspension, the analyte. Two electrodes-a corona electrode and the sample pin-are immersed in hot inert He gas flux, flowing past them towards a 0.4 mm orifice leading to a mass spectrometer analyzer. An electric potential of 1.5-3.0 kV is placed between the two. At distances less than 1 cm, an intermittent arc is formed. At approximately 4 mm, the arc becomes a continuous corona discharge (plasma). The plasma is hot enough to: A) locally melt the impact zone on the steel pin, and B) ablate the dry thin bacterial film deposited on the metal pin. Biomolecular ions as heavy as 790 m/z are generated. Mass spectral fingerprints of bacteria are obtained with a high degree of reproducibility by selecting the highest intensity of an 'indicator ion', 560.5 m/z or another relatively heavy ion whose appearance signals efficient vaporization of low volatility components. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phagocytes generate nitric oxide (NO) in large quantities to combat bacteria. The spore-producing Gram-positive organisms of Bacillus cereus family are causative agents from mild to a life threatening infection in humans and domestic animals. Our group have shown that glycoconjugates (GCs) activate macrophages and enhance killing of Bacillus spores. In this investigation, we will explore the effect of different GCs structures on NO production. The objective of this study is to study effects of GCs 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 on NO release upon exposure to B. cereus and Bacillus anthracis spores by macrophages. Our results demonstrated that GCs activated macrophages and increased NO production using studied GCs ligands compared to macrophage only (p<0.001). GC2 and GC8 were able to further increase NO production in macrophages compared to the B. anthracis spores treated macrophages (p<0.001). Our finding suggests that GCs could be used as potential mediators of NO production in macrophages to fight B. anthracis and other pathogens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tachyzoites are considered to be the most important stage of Toxoplasma gondii which causes toxoplasmosis. T. gondii is, an obligate intracellular parasite which infects a wide range of cells. The present study was designed to develop a method for an early detection of T. gondii tachyzoites. The method comprised of a binding assay which was analyzed using principal component and cluster analysis. Our data showed that glycoconjugates GC1, GC2, GC3 and GC10 exhibit a significantly higher binding affinity for T. gondii tachyzoites as compared to controls (T. gondii only, PAA only, GC 1, 2, 3, and 10 only). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During summer 2010, a two-week-long scientific workshop 'From educational to scientific perspectives: sugar polymers in biology and their applications' was offered for high school teachers and students at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock's Department of Biology. Teacher and student participants took part in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) activities in order to improve math and science skills. Participants were taught various laboratory techniques, computer skills, Public Medical library searches, individual research project, PowerPoint presentation preparation, and a final oral presentation. Each participant was given pre- and post-workshop questionnaires, to gage initial and acquired knowledge. From the questionnaires, it was determined that there was a significant gain in knowledge of basic scientific concepts related to sugar polymers and their applications. It was found that 100% of participants-five teachers and seven students-reported their overall STEM experience as favorable. Furthermore, participants reported that the research project, computer techniques, and PowerPoint presentations were useful. This research experience provides knowledge about basic scientific concepts and is an excellent method to bridge the gap between high school and post-secondary education for both teachers and students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many pathogens stimulate cell death of immune cells while promoting survival of pathogens. Early cell death is characterized by the release of mediators, namely Caspases (Cas). Infections caused by pathogens can be eradicated if immune cells could resist cell death and kill pathogens upon exposure. In this research, we studied whether glycoconjugates (GCs) influence Cas release and cytotoxicity upon pathogen damage. GC1 and GC3 constituted samples studied principally. Bacterial spores were used as a pathogen model. GC effects were determined “prior to,” “during,” and “following” pathogen exposure throughout phagocytosis. Cytotoxic damage was assessed by measuring lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) production. Our data show that GC3 was more effective than GC1 during phagocytosis. GC3 controls Cas release under all three exposure conditions. Minimum production of LDH was noticed in the “following” exposure condition compared to the “prior to” and “during” exposure conditions for GC1 and GC3. The present study provided the selection method of GC ligands bearing anti-cytotoxic and anti-apoptotic properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Members of the Bacillus cereus group demonstrate different pathological effects. B. cereus is a spore-forming, gram positive bacterium responsible for most foodborne illnesses. It was shown that susceptibility to infection and response to vaccines or treatments can be attributed to specific immunogenetic factors including gender and ethnicity. Glycoconjugate polymers (GCs) are potentially important in pharmaceutical and biomedical research. Our group has shown that GCs activate murine macrophages and promote killing of Bacillus cereus spores during phagocytosis. We hypothesized that the GCs effects are independent from gender and race. The goal of the present study was two-folds: A) determine whether GCs influence on human PMNC exposure of B. cereus spores and B) analyze whether gender and ethnicity influence of the effect of GCs. GCs were studied during exposure and post-exposure conditions. Phagocytosis was performed during exposure of PMNC to Bacillus spores. Post-exposure analysis involved cytotoxicity, cell viability and activation, and colonies forming unit. GC1 and GC3 enhance Bacillus spore killing. GC1 proved more effective than GC3 in spore killing while activating PMNC. Results demonstrate GCs effect were independent from ethnicity or gender. Findings of this research demonstrated that GC can be used as ligands to stimulate PMNC and kill B. cereus spores. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Peripheral mononuclear cells (PMNC) including macrophages are key players in the immune responses against pathogens. Any infection could be attenuated if PMNC would be activated and capable to kill pathogen on exposure. It was shown that glycoconjugates (GCs) play an important role in adhesion to, activation, and recognition of pathogens. Nitric oxide (NO) is a regulatory molecule released by immune cells against pathogens that include bacteria, protozoa, helminthes, and fungi. NO is a highly reactive and diffusible molecule that controls replication or intracellular killing of pathogens during infection and immune responses against infections caused by pathogens. Avirulent Bacillus anthracis Sterne spores were used as a model in our study. The purpose of this study was two-fold: A) to analyze PMNC activation through NO production and B) to determine the cytotoxicity effect based on lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) upon exposure to pathogen exerted by GCs. The latter were used “prior to,” “during,” and “following” PMNC exposure to pathogen in order to modulate immune responses to spores during phagocytosis. Post-phagocytosis study involved the assessment of NO and LDH release by macrophages upon exposure to spores. Results have shown that untreated PMNC released low levels of NO. However, in the presence of GCs, PMNC were activated and produced high levels of NO under all experimental conditions. In addition, the results showed that GC1, GC3 are capable of increasing PMNC activity as evidenced by higher NO levels under the “prior,” “during” and “following” to pathogen exposure conditions. On the other hand, GCs were capable of controlling cytotoxicity and decreased LDH levels during phagocytosis of spores. Our findings suggest that GCs stimulate NO production by activating PMNC and decrease cytotoxicity caused by pathogens on PMNC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When doctors see more cases of patients with tell-tale symptoms of a disease, it is hoped that they will be able to recognize an infection administer treatment appropriately, thereby speeding up recovery for sick patients. We hope that our studies can aid in the detection of tuberculosis by using a computer model called an artificial neural network. Our model looks at patients with and without tuberculosis (TB). The data that the neural network examined came from the following: patient’ age, gender, place, of birth, blood type, Rhesus (Rh) factor, and genes of the human Leukocyte Antigens (HLA) system (9q34.1) present in the Major Histocompatibility Complex. With availability in genetic data and good research, we hope to give them an advantage in the detection of tuberculosis. We try to mimic the doctor’s experience with a computer test, which will learn from patient data the factors that contribute to TB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Early recognition of Bacillus cereus group species is important since they can cause food-borne illnesses and deadly diseases in humans. Glycoconjugates (GCs) are carbohydrates covalently linked to non-sugar moieties including lipids, proteins or other entities. GCs are involved in recognition and signaling processes intrinsic to biochemical functions in cells. They also stimulate cell-cell adhesion and subsequent recognition and activation of receptors. We have demonstrated that GCs are involved in Bacillus cereus spore recognition. In the present study, we have investigated whether GCs possess the ability to bind and recognize B. cereus spores and Bacillus anthracis recombinant single toxins (sTX) and complex toxins (cTX). The affinity of GCs to spores + sTX and spores + cTX toxins was studied in the binding essay. Our results demonstrated that GC9 and GC10 were able to selectively bind to B. cereus spores and B. anthracis toxins. Different binding affinities for GCs were found toward Bacillus cereus spores + sTX and spores + cTX. Dilution of GCs does not impede the recognition and binding. Developed method provides a tool for simultaneous recognition and targeting of spores, bacteria toxins, and/or other entities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Representatives of Arkansas medical, research and educational institutions have gathered over the past four years to discuss the relationship between functional developmental perturbations and their neurological consequences. We wish to track the effect on the nervous system by developmental perturbations over time and across species. Except for perturbations, the sequence of events that occur during neural development was found to be remarkably conserved across mammalian species. The tracking includes consequences on anatomical regions and behavioral changes. The ultimate goal is to develop a predictive model of long-term genotypic and phenotypic outcomes that includes developmental insults. Such a model can subsequently be fostered into an educated intervention for therapeutic purposes. Several datasets were identified to test plausible hypotheses, ranging from evoked potential datasets to sleep-disorder datasets. An initial model may be mathematical and conceptual. However, we expect to see rapid progress as large-scale gene expression studies in the mammalian brain permit genome-wide searches to discover genes that are uniquely expressed in brain circuits and regions. These genes ultimately control behavior. By using a validated model we endeavor to make useful predictions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]