Benghal dayflower is an exotic weed species in the United States that is a challenge to manage in agricultural fields. Research was conducted in North Carolina, Georgia, and Florida to evaluate the longevity of buried Benghal dayflower seeds. Seeds were buried in the field for 2 to 60 mo at a depth of 20 cm in mesh bags containing soil native to each area. In North Carolina, decline of Benghal dayflower seed viability was described by a sigmoidal regression model, with seed size having no effect on viability. Seed viability at the initiation of the study was 81%. After burial, viability declined to 51% after 24 mo, 27% after 36 mo, and < 1% after 42 mo. In Georgia, initial seed viability averaged 86% and declined to 63 and 33% at 12 and 24 mo, respectively. Burial of 36 mo or longer reduced seed viability to < 2%. The relationship between Benghal dayflower seed viability and burial time was described by a sigmoidal regression model. In Florida, there was greater variability in Benghal dayflower seed viability than there was at the other locations. Seed viability at the first sampling date after 2 mo of burial was 63%. Although there were fluctuations during the first 24 mo, the regression model indicated approximately 60% of seed remained viable. After 34 mo of burial, seed viability was reduced to 46% and then rapidly fell to 7% at 39 mo, which was consistent with the decrease in seed viability at the other locations. Although there is a physical dormancy imposed by the seed coat of Benghal dayflower, which has been detected in previous studies, it appears that a decline in buried seed viability to minimal levels occurs within 39 to 48 mo in the southeastern United States, suggesting that management programs must prevent seed production for at least four growing seasons to severely reduce the Benghal dayflower soil seedbank.

The results of a new imaging survey of 68 bright (mv < 18) high redshift (z > 0.7) quasars are presented. The distribution of celestial distances between the quasars and the nearest galaxy neighbours shows an excess at small separations (< 15 arcseconds) significant at the 99.96% level. The redshifts of these galaxies are not known, so two interpretations are possible. If the galaxies are in groups physically associated with the quasars then they must be significantly brighter (> 3 magnitudes) than normal M* galaxies at the present epoch. Alternatively, this may be the result of a bias caused by gravitational amplification of background quasars by compact lenses in the halos of the nearest neighbour (foreground) galaxies. Of the present sample, 25% of the quasars have extra galaxies. If this is caused by a gravitational lensing bias, then, allowing for incompleteness, the results imply that as many as 60% of bright quasars may be gravitationally lensed.

Given their low toxicity and natural presence in the human diet, selenium nanoparticles have been established as potential candidates for the treatment of numerous cancers. In this study, red-allotrope selenium nanoparticles (rSeNPs) were synthesized and characterized. Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) and human dermal fibroblast (HDF) cell lines were cultured and exposed to rSeNPs at concentrations ranging from 0.01 to 100μg rSeNP/mL media for one to three days. The cytotoxicity of rSeNP towards HNSCC and HDF was analyzed. Results indicated that the particles were approximately four times as cytotoxic toward HNSCC compared to HDF, with their respective IC50 values at 19.22 and 59.61μg rSeNP/mL media. Using statistical analysis, an effective dosage range for killing HNSCC cells while simultaneously minimizing damage to HDF over a three-day incubation was established as 20 to 55μg rSeNP/mL media. Such results indicate that rSeNPs are a potential option for treating HNSCC. Due to its ability to minimize nanoparticle agglomeration, making a it a candidate with which to functionalize selenium, similar assays were performed using poly(ethylene glycol) with a molecular weight of 200g/mol (PEG200), with results indicating that only a slight cytotoxic effect exists for HNSCC and almost no effect for HDF.

Nacocrinus elliotti new genus, new species, is reported from the beta member of the Naco Formation (Pennsylvanian, Desmoinesian) at the Kohl Ranch locality in central Arizona. This is the first pachylocrinid reported from the Naco Formation.

Magnesium (Mg) plays an important role in the body mediating cell-extracellular matrix (ECM) interactions, bone apatite structure and density, and nucleic acid chemistries. While Mg has been investigated as a biomaterial for bone applications, it has not been studied for applications within soft tissues. This study investigated, for the first time, the response of fibroblasts to magnesium oxide (MgO) nanoparticles for soft tissue engineering applications. Primary human dermal fibroblasts were cultured both on tissue culture polystyrene in media supplemented with MgO nanoparticles as well as on poly-L-lactic acid (PLLA)-MgO nanoparticle composites. As this study was conducted concurrently with a study aimed at bone tissue engineering, hydroxyapatite (HA) nanomaterials were used for comparison. Results showed for the first time that fibroblasts adhered onto MgO-containing composites roughly three times better than HA-PLLA samples and roughly 4.5 times better than plain PLLA samples. Fibroblasts also proliferated to statistically higher densities when cultured in medium supplemented with MgO nanoparticles compared to un-supplemented medium and medium supplemented with HA nanoparticles. These preliminary results together suggest that MgO nanoparticles should be further investigated as materials to improve the regeneration of soft tissues as well as bone.

Bacterial infections are commonly found on paper towels and other paper products leading to the potential spread of bacteria and consequent health concerns. The objective of this in vitro study was to introduce antibacterial properties to paper towel surfaces by coating them with selenium nanoparticles. Results showed that the selenium nanoparticle coated paper towels inhibited the growth of S. Aureus and P. aeruginosa by 80%∼90% after 72 hours compared with the uncoated paper towels. Thus, the study showed that nano-selenium coated paper towels may lead to an increased eradication of bacteria to more effectively clean a wide-range of clinical environments, thus, improving health.

The aim of this study was to prepare various sized nano-pits on 316 L stainless steel and examine their effects on the attachment and proliferation of fibroblasts. In this study, 316L stainless steel with tunable pit sizes (0, 25, 50, and 60 nm) were fabricated by an anodization procedure in an ethylene glycol electrolyte solution containing 5 vol.% perchloric acid. The surface morphology of 316L stainless steel were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The nano-pit arrays on all the 316L stainless steel samples were in a regular arrangement. The surface properties of the 316L stainless steel nano-pit surface showed improved wettability properties as compared to the untreated 316L stainless steel. The nano-pit surfaces with 50 nm and 60 nm diameter were rougher at the nanoscale than other samples. The attachment and proliferation of fibroblasts were investigated for up to 3 days in culture using MTT assays. Compared to unanodized (that is, nano-smooth) and smooth surfaces, 50 and 60 nm diameter nano-pit surfaces dramatically enhanced the initial fibroblast attachment and growth up to 3 days in culture. The results reported in this study showed that the 50 and 60 nm nano-pit surfaces promoted fibroblast adhesion and proliferation by increasing the surface roughness and adsorption of fibronectin. Such nano-pit surfaces can be designed to support fibroblast growth and be important for improving the use of 316L stainless steel for various implant applications (such as for improved skin healing for amputee devices or for percutaneous implants).

In this study, an in vitro blood-brain barrier model was developed using murine brain endothelioma cells (b.End3 cells). By comparing the permeability of FITC-Dextran at increasing exposure times in serum-free medium to such values in the literature, we confirm that the blood-brain barrier model was successfully established. After such confirmation, the permeability of five ferrofluid (FF) nanoparticle samples, GGB (ferrofluid synthesized using glycine, glutamic acid and BSA), GGC (glycine, glutamic acid and collagen), GGP (glycine, glutamic acid and PVA), BPC (BSA, PEG and collagen) and CPB (collagen, PVA and BSA), was determined using this model. In addition, all the five FF samples were characterized by zeta potential to determine their charge as well as TEM and dynamic light scattering for determining their hydrodynamic diameter. Results showed that FF coated with collagen had better permeability to the blood-brain barrier than FF coated with glycine and glutamic acid based on an increase of 4.5% in permeability. Through such experiments, magnetic nanomaterials, such as ferrofluids, that are less permeable to the blood brain barrier can be used to decrease neural tissue toxicity and magnetic nanomaterials with more permeable to the blood-brain barrier can be used for brain drug delivery.

Surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) is a sensitive and reproducible vibrational spectroscopic technique used to detect and characterize molecules near the surface of noble metals like Au, Ag, Pt, Cu, etc. SERS enhances Raman signals through light-induced plasmonic vibrations occurring on irregular metal surfaces and localized electromagnetic augmentation. To better define nano-scale regions of the Raman signal enhancement, we generated gold nanoparticles with a unique multi-branched configuration along with surface-adsorbed fluorescent reporter molecules. The reporter molecules included a set of near-infra red active fluorescent dyes IR820 (green cyanine, photo electronic dye), DTTC (3, 3'-diethylthiatricarbocyanine iodide) and DTDC (3, 3'- diethylthiadicarbocyanine iodide). We employed a one-pot synthesis method in order to generate a stellate configuration in gold nanoparticles through the reduction of HAuCl4 with Good’s buffer, HEPES, at pH 7.4 and room temperature. A cell viability assay was performed with normal esophageal cells exposed to the multi-branched gold nanoparticles and SERS molecules to assess their toxicity. Our results demonstrate the capacity of multibranched gold nanoparticles linked to Raman reporter molecules to generate distinct signature spectra and, with the exception of the gold nanoparticles functionalized with DTTC, remain non-toxic to normal esophageal cells.

In hospitals and clinics worldwide, medical device surfaces have become a rapidly growing source of nosocomial infections. Almost immediately after adhering to a device surface, bacteria can begin to form a biofilm, which makes the infection especially difficult to treat and often necessitates device removal. Adding to the severity of this problem is the spread of bacterial genetic tolerance to antibiotics, in part demonstrated by the recent and significant increase in the prevalence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).

Nanomaterials are beginning to be used for a wide variety of biomedical applications due to their unique surface properties which have the ability to control initial protein adsorption and subsequent cell behavior. This “nanoroughness” gives nanomaterials a greater functional surface area than conventional materials, which do not have significant features on the nanoscale. In addition, it is theorized that nanoparticles may also have general mechanisms of toxicity towards bacteria that do not cause problems for mammalian cells.

The objective of the present in vitro study was to develop a nanocomposite material by embedding conventional polyvinyl chloride (PVC) with zinc oxide nanoparticles through a simple and inexpensive procedure. The effect of different nanoparticle sizes and %wts were investigated. Results demonstrated that this technique significantly decreased S. aureus density and biofilm formation without the incorporation of antibiotics or other pharmaceuticals, as well as increased the adhesion of human fibroblast cells. Thus, this material could have much promise for use in the manufacture of common implanted medical devices.

Ventilator associated pneumonia (VAP) is a serious and costly clinical problem. Specifically, receiving mechanical ventilation for over 24 hours increases the risk of VAP and is associated with high morbidity, mortality and medical costs. Cost effective endotracheal tubes (ETTs) that are resistant to bacterial infection could help prevent this problem. The objective of this study was to determine differences in the growth of Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) on nanomodified and unmodified polyvinyl chloride (PVC) ETTs under dynamic airway conditions. PVC ETTs were modified to have nanometer surface features by soaking them in Rhizopus arrhisus, a fungal lipase. Twenty-four hour experiments (supported by computational models) showed that air flow conditions within the ETT influenced both the location and concentration of bacterial growth on the ETTs especially within areas of tube curvature. More importantly, experiments revealed a 1.5 log reduction in the total number of S. aureus on the novel nanomodified ETTs compared to the conventional ETTs after 24 hours of air flow. This dynamic study showed that lipase etching can create nano-rough surface features on PVC ETTs that suppress S. aureus growth and, thus, may provide clinicians with an effective and inexpensive tool to combat VAP.