Human microbial colonization begins at birth and continues to develop and modulate in species abundance for about three years, until the microbiota becomes adult-like. During the same time period, children experience significant developmental changes that influence their current health status as well as their immune system. An ever-expanding number of articles associate several diseases with early life imbalances of the gut microbiota, also referred to as gut microbial dysbiosis. Whether early life dysbiosis precedes and plays a role in disease pathogenesis, or simply originates from the disease process itself is a question that is beginning to be answered in a few diseases, including IBD, obesity and asthma. This review describes the gut microbiome structure and function during the formative first years of life, as well as the environmental factors that determine its composition. It also aims to discuss the recent advances in understanding the role of the early life gut microbiota in the development of immune-mediated, metabolic, and neurological diseases. A greater understanding of how the early life gut microbiota impacts our immune development could potentially lead to novel microbial-derived therapies that target disease prevention at an early age.

/pdf/the-intestinal-microbiome-in-early-life-health-and-disease-5c3axjm8wn.pdf

The Intestinal Microbiome in Early Life: Health and Disease

A Manual of Soil Fungi

High-performance bioceramics are required for preventing failure and prolonging the life-time of bone grafting scaffolds and osseous implants. The proper identification and development of materials with extended functionalities addressing socio-economic needs and health problems constitute important and critical steps at the heart of clinical research. Recent findings in the realm of ion-substituted hydroxyapatite (HA) could pave the road towards significant developments in biomedicine, with an emphasis on a new generation of orthopaedic and dentistry applications, since such bioceramics are able to mimic the structural, compositional and mechanical properties of the bone mineral phase. In fact, the fascinating ability of the HA crystalline lattice to allow for the substitution of calcium ions with a plethora of cationic species has been widely explored in the recent period, with consequent modifications of its physical and chemical features, as well as its functional mechanical and in vitro and in vivo biological performance. A comprehensive inventory of the progresses achieved so far is both opportune and of paramount importance, in order to not only gather and summarize information, but to also allow fellow researchers to compare with ease and filter the best solutions for the cation substitution of HA-based materials and enable the development of multi-functional biomedical designs. The review surveys preparation and synthesis methods, pinpoints all the explored cation dopants, and discloses the full application range of substituted HA. Special attention is dedicated to the antimicrobial efficiency spectrum and cytotoxic trade-off concentration values for various cell lines, highlighting new prophylactic routes for the prevention of implant failure. Importantly, the current in vitro biological tests (widely employed to unveil the biological performance of HA-based materials), and their ability to mimic the in vivo biological interactions, are also critically assessed. Future perspectives are discussed, and a series of recommendations are underlined.

https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1944/11/11/2081/pdf

Cationic Substitutions in Hydroxyapatite: Current Status of the Derived Biofunctional Effects and Their In Vitro Interrogation Methods.

On Chemical Protection against Ionizing Radiation

Hyaluronic acid/corn silk extract based injectable nanocomposite: A biomimetic antibacterial scaffold for bone tissue regeneration.

Objective To identify the risk factors, characteristics and outcomes of necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) at our institution. Study design A retrospective case-control analysis of the charts of all late preterm and term infants, who had NEC of Bell's stage ≥ II from 1995 to 2009, along with infants of the same gestational age. Thirty-two late preterm infants had NEC meeting criteria and 128 late preterm and term infants were chosen as matched controls. Results The 32 NEC infants were more likely to have the following characteristics: a culture-proven sepsis (p = 0.0001), be small for their gestational age (p = 0.003), have a congenital heart disease (p = 0.007), and suffer from hypoxic- ischemic encephalopathy (p = 0.04). The presence of hypotension, metabolic acidosis, thrombocytopenia, and pneumoperitoneum was associated with a poor prognosis. Twelve of the 13 (92%) NEC infants who died had a surgical intervention. Conclusion In this study, late preterm and term infants who developed NEC had other underlying clinical diagnoses and had culture-proven sepsis. Mortality rate was high in infants who required surgical intervention, indicating that they were gravely ill from the onset. Thrombocytopenia, hypotension and metabolic acidosis in late preterm and term infant with NEC were associated with poor prognosis.

Risk factors, characteristics and outcomes of necrotizing enterocolitis in late preterm and term infants.

Hydroxy apatite (HA) is a biocompatible material used as bone-substitute materials in both orthopedics and dentistry due to its excellent osteo-conductive and chemical composition similar to that of the inorganic part of bone in comparison with other implant materials . HA (S1) and Cr loaded hydroxy apatite (S2, S3, S4 and S5) of different chromium concentrations have been prepared. many techniques used to analyze the changes occurred due to the substitution. The XRD (X-ray diffraction) and FTIR (Fourier transform infrared radiation )spectroscopy were used as analytical techniques for the prepared HA and Cr loaded HA. The effect of the heat treatment on structural change of the samples was examined by DTA. It was found that all the samples have the same crystalline structure. The crystallinity of the samples decreased as the chromium ions concentration increase.

/pdf/synthesis-and-characterization-of-hydroxyapatite-contain-c1ji0svf02.pdf

Synthesis and characterization of hydroxyapatite contain chromium

Silver nanoparticles (SN) were synthesized via the green approach of gamma radiation. Chitosan was used as both reducing and stabilizing agent. Studies involved the influence of various parameters of four irradiation doses and three silver precursor concentrations on the produced silver nanoparticles. The UV–vis spectra proved characteristic surface plasmon resonance (SPR) of SN whose intensities and positions were dependant on silver concentrations. X-ray diffraction analyses and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observations proved the fabrication of spherical crystalline face centered cubic SN with a mean diameter of 7–22 nm. Further characterization of the fabricated silver nanoparticles/chitosan composite (SNCC) was conducted using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and zeta potential measurements. Finally, the bactericidal effect of the SNCC with glutaraldehyde was tested against three different medically relevant strains of gram negative and gram positive bacteria. Excellent selective inhibiting function of the films was proved by the gram positive strain compared to the other gram negative ones. The synthesis and successful size selection of SN obtained through gamma irradiation reduction of silver nitrate using chitosan as a protective agent was achieved presenting high bactericidal functions, especially for the gram positive strain.

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/2053-1591/1/3/035024/pdf

Functionality, antibacterial efficiency and biocompatibility of nanosilver/chitosan/silk/ phosphate scaffolds 1. Synthesis and optimization of nanosilver/chitosan matrices through gamma rays irradiation and their antibacterial activity

Abdelsattar M. Sallam

Papers

Risk factors, characteristics and outcomes of necrotizing enterocolitis in late preterm and term infants.

Synthesis and characterization of hydroxyapatite contain chromium

Functionality, antibacterial efficiency and biocompatibility of nanosilver/chitosan/silk/ phosphate scaffolds 1. Synthesis and optimization of nanosilver/chitosan matrices through gamma rays irradiation and their antibacterial activity

Effect of mineral constituents in the bioleaching of uranium from uraniferous sedimentary rock samples, Southwestern Sinai, Egypt.

Tailoring the properties and functions of phosphate/silk/Ag/chitosan scaffolds.