Both the resurgence of tuberculosis (TB) and antibiotic resistance continue to threaten modern healthcare and new means of combating pathogenic bacterial infections are needed. The syntheses of monobactams possessing hydroxamate and N-methylthio functionality are described, as well as their anti-TB, in vitro β-lactamase inhibitory, and general antimicrobial evaluations. A number of compounds ex...

New tuberculosis drug regimens are creating new priorities for drug susceptibility testing (DST) and surveillance. To minimise turnaround time, rapid DST will need to be prioritised, but developers of these assays will need better data about the molecular mechanisms of resistance. Efforts are underway to link mutations with drug resistance and to develop strain collections to enable assessment ...

For centuries, specific instruments or regular toothbrushes have routinely been used to remove tongue biofilm and improve breath odor. Toothbrushes with a tongue scraper on the back of their head have recently been introduced to the market. The present study compared the effectiveness of a manual toothbrush with this new design, i.e., possessing a tongue scraper, and a commercial tongue scraper...

As the number of completely sequenced microbial genomes continues to rise at an impressive rate, it is important to prepare students with the skills necessary to investigate microorganisms at the genomic level. As a part of the core curriculum for first-year graduate students in the biological sciences, we have implemented a web-based tutorial to introduce students to the fields of comparative ...

BACKGROUND There is no gold standard on how national tuberculosis programs should design retreatment regimens. Often drug susceptibility testing (DST) is not available for all patients, and representative DST patterns in patient populations are used to guide therapy. OBJECTIVES To examine DST patterns in different patient populations based on previous treatment and to estimate the number of e...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE Nowadays, the presence of extended-spectrum β-lactamases (ESBLs) producing strains in Serratia genus causes the emergence of resistance to many antibiotics. So, the lack of proper diagnosis of ESBLs strains can lead to failure in the treatment. The objective of the present study was to investigate ESBLs production in Serratia strains isolated from the clinical blood sam...

The study presents an evaluation of changes of dissolved organic carbon concentrations and their associated d13C signatures in dark incubations of stream water from the Tana River, Kenya. The results show substantial decreases in [DOC] within the first 24 to 48 hours, suggesting strong microbial activity with up to 50% of the DOC being respired. These changes are paralleled by changes in d13C s...

The study presents an evaluation of changes of dissolved organic carbon concentrations and their associated d13C signatures in dark incubations of stream water from the Tana River, Kenya. The results show substantial decreases in [DOC] within the first 24 to 48 hours, suggesting strong microbial activity with up to 50% of the DOC being respired. These changes are paralleled by changes in d13C s...

The application of next-generation sequencing technology in microbial community analysis increased our knowledge and understanding of the complexity and diversity of a variety of ecosystems. In contrast to Bacteria, the archaeal domain was often not particularly addressed in the analysis of microbial communities. Consequently, established primers specifically amplifying the archaeal 16S ribosom...

BACKGROUND The current tuberculosis (TB) treatment landscape has been studied extensively, but researchers rarely consider how it creates challenges or opportunities for future regimen change. METHODS In 166 stakeholder interviews in the TB high-burden countries (HBCs), we investigated areas of first-line TB treatment and control that would affect, and be affected by, a future TB regimen chan...