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In the presented study, the effectiveness of a siloxane polyether (HOL7) coating on glass against microbiological colonization was assessed using microalgae as a key component of widespread aerial biofilms. The siloxane polyether was successfully synthesized by a hydrosilylation reaction in the presence of Karstedt’s catalyst. The product structure was confirmed by NMR spectroscopy and GPC analysis. In addition, the thermal stability of HOL7 was studied by thermogravimetric measurement. Subsequently, the surfaces of glass plates were modified with the obtained organosilicon derivative. In the next step, a microalgal experiment was conducted. A mixture of four strains of algal taxa isolated from building materials was used for the experiment—Chlorodium saccharophilum PNK010, Klebsormidium flaccidum PNK013, Pseudostichococcus monallantoides PNK037, and Trebouxia aggregata PNK080. The choice of these algae followed from their wide occurrence in terrestrial environments. Application of an organofunctional siloxane compound on the glass reduced, more or less effectively, the photosynthetic activity of algal cells, depending on the concentration of the compound. Since the structure of the compound was not based on biocide-active agents, its effectiveness was associated with a reduction in water content in the cells.

The patient´s microbiome has become a focal point in cancer research. Even for pancreatic cancer, alterations in the microbiome appear to influence cancer formation and progression. The aim of our single-center analysis was the examination of microbiological colonization of pancreas tissue at the time of surgery and its potential influence on complications and outcome. We prospectively evaluated patients undergoing pancreatic surgery over a three-year period from June 2018 to June 2021. We focused on the microbiological colonization of pancreatic tissue which was acquired during pancreatic surgery. Tissue samples were cultivated at our institute of microbiology. Patients´ characteristics, complications and postoperative outcome were analyzed using a prospectively maintained SPSS database. Between June 2018 and June 2021, we collected pancreatic tissue samples of a total of 178 patients undergoing pancreas resections, mostly due to ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC; 50.6%). We could cultivate bacterial or fungal species in pancreatic tissue samples of 50 of our patients (28.1%). The majority of cases were characterized by the presence of a single microbial species, but 20 patients (11.2%) showed colonization with up to four different species. Among the bacterial species detected were , and . We found significantly more microbiological culture growth in patients with a preoperative biliary stent (74.0% vs. 15.6%, p < 0.001). Concerning postoperative complications, we found no difference concerning pancreatic fistula, but colonization with was associated with a significantly higher rate of postpancreatectomy hemorrhage (30.0% vs. 8.9%, p = 0.032). Interestingly, survival of PDAC patients seems to be negatively affected by positive microbiological findings at the time of surgery, but without reaching statistical significance (p = 0.770). In this first analysis of our patient cohort, we could show a microbiological colonization of pancreatic tumor tissue in almost a third of our patients. There seems to be only a minor impact on postoperative complications, but long-term outcome seems to be worse in patients with a positive pancreas microbiome. Further observation is needed to evaluate the influence of the tumor microbiome on the long-term oncological outcome in PDAC patients.

Careful hand hygiene of healthcare workers is recommended to reduce transmission of pathogenic microorganisms to patients. Mobile phones are commonly used during work shifts and may act as vehicles of pathogens. To assess the colonizsation rate of intensive care unit healthcare workers’ mobile phones before and after work shifts. Prospective observational study conducted in an academic, tertiary-level intensive care unit. Healthcare workers (including doctors, nurses and healthcare assistants) had their mobile phones sampled for microbiology before and after work shifts. Samples were taken with a swab in a standardizsed modality. Fifty healthcare workers participated in the study (91% of the department staff). One hundred swabs were taken from 50 mobile phones. Forty-three healthcare workers (86%) reported a habitual use of their phones during the work shift. All phones (100%) were positive for bacteria. The most frequently isolated bacteria were Coagulase Negative Staphylococci, Bacillus sp. and Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (97%, 56%, 17%, respectively). No patient admitted to the intensive care unit during the study period was positive for bacteria found on healthcare workers’ mobile phones. No difference in bacteria types and burden was found between the beginning and the end of work shifts. Healthcare workers’ mobile phones are colonized even before the work shift and irrespective of the patients’ microbiological flora.

Statement of problem The 3D-printed denture base resin needed reinforcement. Purpose To evaluate the effects of adding nano ZrO2 and nano TiO2 on microbial colonization and patient satisfaction with 3D-printed maxillary complete dentures. Materials and methods Twenty-four patients who needed complete dentures were randomly distributed into three equal groups. Group I: Patients used maxillary complete dentures 3D printed without the addition of any additives. Group II: Patients used maxillary complete dentures 3D after reinforcement by Nano-ZrO 2 (0.4%) by weight. Group III: Patients used maxillary complete dentures 3D printed after reinforcement by Nano-TiO 2 (0.4%) by weight. For microbial evaluation, a cotton swab was taken from the mucosa of the palate and the intaglio surface of maxillary dentures, and microbial colonization was evaluated by calculating the number of colony-forming units of S. aureus on mannitol salt agar plates and C. albicans on Sabouraud’s dextrose agar plates after 48 h of incubation at insertion, 6 months, 12 months and 18 months. Patient satisfaction was evaluated 15 days after insertion and at 6, 12, and 18 months. The values of microbial colonization and patient satisfaction were analyzed via repeated-measures ANOVA followed by Tukey’s multiple comparison test. Results No significant differences in microbial colonization were detected among the three groups concerning Staphylococcus aureus in the palatal mucosa. There was a significant difference between Group I, the lowest antimicrobial group, and the other groups, while between Groups II and III, there was no significant difference in the number of S. aureus on the fitting surface of the denture. There were significant differences between Group II, the highest antifungal group, and the other groups at 12 and 18 months concerning Candida albicans in the palate and in the dentures. There was a significant difference in patient satisfaction between Group I, the lowest, and the other groups, whereas there was no significant difference between Groups II and III. Conclusion Compared with the other groups, the nano-ZrO 2 group presented greater antimicrobial effects until 18 months, whereas the nano-TiO2 group presented antibacterial effects until 18 months and antifungal effects until 6 months. The addition of nano-ZrO 2 and nano-TiO 2 to 3D-printed denture base resin improved the aesthetic, speech, masticatory efficiency, hygiene, and comfort of patients. Trial registration The trial was registered in the Clinical Trials Registry under the number NCT06921577 on 10/04/2025 (retrospective registration).

Background: Neonatal sepsis is one of the most important causes of elevated morbidity and mortality rates in neonatal intensive care units worldwide. While the clinical manifestations of neonatal sepsis tend to be nonspecific, its rapid development and life-threatening potential call for reliable markers for early detection. Methods: We conducted a retrospective single-center study including all neonates suspected of having developed neonatal sepsis from 2013 to 2016. Perinatal and clinical characteristics as well as microbiological and laboratory findings were evaluated. Neonatal sepsis was defined as either culture-proven sepsis (positive blood culture) or clinical sepsis (at least one symptom and elevated C-reactive protein (CRP) concentrations within 72 h with negative blood culture). We further differentiated between early-onset (EOS) and late-onset (LOS) sepsis. Results: Microbiological colonization screening by throat and rectal swabs frequently did not detect the organism that subsequently caused the sepsis. Depending on the age of the newborn with sepsis (EOS or LOS), associations between different anamnestic and clinical factors (prenatal or postnatal ones) were found. In particular, the central–peripheral temperature difference showed a strong association with LOS. Laboratory results useful for the early detection of neonatal sepsis included interleukin-6 (IL-6) and CRP concentrations. Conclusions: Elevated IL-6 >100 ng/L was a strong marker for neonatal sepsis. When choosing the antibiotics for treatment, data from microbiological colonization screening should be considered but not solely relied on. Some indicators of infection also depended on postnatal age.

The risk of infectious complications after water birth which might be due to water contaminated by faecal bacteria or environmental microbes from the water supply system is still in discussion. We performed a microbiological study comparing neonatal bacterial colonisation after water birth to conventional bed deliveries with or without relaxation bath. In all three groups (96 deliveries) we isolated most frequently from ear and palate of the newborns Staphylococcus epidermidis, E. coli and enterococci, which belong to the normal vaginal flora. Neonatal outcome, infantś and maternal infection rate did not differ between the three groups.

Antibiotic resistance is a global human health threat, causing routine treatments of bacterial infections to become increasingly difficult. The problem is exacerbated by biofilm formation by bacterial pathogens on the surfaces of indwelling medical and dental devices that facilitate high levels of tolerance to antibiotics. The development of new antibacterial nanostructured surfaces shows excellent prospects for application in medicine as next-generation biomaterials. The physico-mechanical interactions between these nanostructured surfaces and bacteria lead to bacterial killing or prevention of bacterial attachment and subsequent biofilm formation, and thus are promising in circumventing bacterial infections. This Review explores the impact of surface roughness on the nanoscale in preventing bacterial colonization of synthetic materials and categorizes the different mechanisms by which various surface nanopatterns exert the necessary physico-mechanical forces on the bacterial cell membrane that will ultimately result in cell death.Newly developed antibacterial nanostructured surfaces show excellent prospects as next-generation biomaterials. In this Review, Ivanova, Stoodley and colleagues explore the different mechanisms by which various surface nanopatterns exert the necessary physico-mechanical forces on the bacterial cell membrane that will ultimately result in cell death.

Although enteroaggregative E. coli (EAEC) has been implicated as a common cause of diarrhea in multiple settings, neither its essential genomic nature nor its role as an enteric pathogen are fully understood. The current definition of this pathotype requires demonstration of cellular adherence; a working molecular definition encompasses E. coli which do not harbor the heat-stable or heat-labile toxins of enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC) and harbor the genes aaiC, aggR, and/or aatA. In an effort to improve the definition of this pathotype, we report the most definitive characterization of the pan-genome of EAEC to date, applying comparative genomics and functional characterization on a collection of 97 EAEC strains isolated in the course of a multicenter case-control diarrhea study (Global Enteric Multi-Center Study, GEMS). Genomic analysis revealed that the EAEC strains mapped to all phylogenomic groups of E. coli. Circa 70% of strains harbored one of the five described AAF variants; there were no additional AAF variants identified, and strains that lacked an identifiable AAF generally did not have an otherwise complete AggR regulon. An exception was strains that harbored an ETEC colonization factor (CF) CS22, like AAF a member of the chaperone-usher family of adhesins, but not phylogenetically related to the AAF family. Of all genes scored, sepA yielded the strongest association with diarrhea (P = 0.002) followed by the increased serum survival gene, iss (p = 0.026), and the outer membrane protease gene ompT (p = 0.046). Notably, the EAEC genomes harbored several genes characteristically associated with other E. coli pathotypes. Our data suggest that a molecular definition of EAEC could comprise E. coli strains harboring AggR and a complete AAF(I-V) or CS22 gene cluster. Further, it is possible that strains meeting this definition could be both enteric bacteria and urinary/systemic pathogens.

Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) has shown efficacy in treating recurrent Clostridium difficile infection and is increasingly being applied to other gastrointestinal disorders, yet the fate of native and introduced microbial strains remains largely unknown. To quantify the extent of donor microbiota colonization, we monitored strain populations in fecal samples from a recent FMT study on metabolic syndrome patients using single-nucleotide variants in metagenomes. We found extensive coexistence of donor and recipient strains, persisting 3 months after treatment. Colonization success was greater for conspecific strains than for new species, the latter falling within fluctuation levels observed in healthy individuals over a similar time frame. Furthermore, same-donor recipients displayed varying degrees of microbiota transfer, indicating individual patterns of microbiome resistance and donor-recipient compatibilities.

For more than 30 years, the association between the Hawaiian bobtail squid, Euprymna scolopes, and the bioluminescent bacterium Vibrio fischeri has been studied as a model system for understanding the colonization of animal epithelia by symbiotic bacteria. The squid–vibrio light-organ system provides the exquisite resolution only possible with the study of a binary partnership. The impact of this relationship on the partners’ biology has been broadly characterized, including their ecology and evolutionary biology as well as the underlying molecular mechanisms of symbiotic dynamics. Much has been learned about the factors that foster initial light-organ colonization, and more recently about the maturation and long-term maintenance of the association. This Review synthesizes the results of recent research on the light-organ association and also describes the development of new horizons for E. scolopes as a model organism that promises to inform biology and biomedicine about the basic nature of host–microorganism interactions.In this Review Nyholm and McFall-Ngai describe recent advances in understanding the squid–vibrio symbiosis, specifically the strides that have been made in recent years in the study of bobtail squid symbiosis from the host viewpoint.