Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Life Sciences Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 1 - 2 of 2

Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

Silver Doped Perfluoropolyether-Urethane Coatings: Antibacterial Activity And Surface Analysis, Niall Stobie, Brendan Duffy, Steven Hinder, Patrick Mchale, Declan Mccormack Jan 2009

Silver Doped Perfluoropolyether-Urethane Coatings: Antibacterial Activity And Surface Analysis, Niall Stobie, Brendan Duffy, Steven Hinder, Patrick Mchale, Declan Mccormack

Articles

The colonisation of clinical and industrial surfaces with pathogenic microorganisms has prompted increased research into the development of effective antibacterial and antifouling coatings. There is evidence that implanted biomedical surfaces coated with metallic silver can be inactivated by hysiological fluids, thus reducing the bioactivity of the coating. In this work, we report the biofilm inhibition of Staphylococcus epidermidis using a roomtemperatureprocessedsilver dopedperfluoropolyether-urethane coating. The release of silver ions from these fluoropolymers over a six-day period inhibited bacterial encrustation – as observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis indicated differences in carbon, fluorine and sodium surface composition …


Relating Fractal Dimension To Branching Behaviour In Filamentous Microorganisms, David Barry, Onwuarolu Ifeyinwa, Shauna Mcgee, Raymond Ryan, Gwilym Williams, Jonathan Blackledge Jan 2009

Relating Fractal Dimension To Branching Behaviour In Filamentous Microorganisms, David Barry, Onwuarolu Ifeyinwa, Shauna Mcgee, Raymond Ryan, Gwilym Williams, Jonathan Blackledge

Articles

The productivity of an industrial fermentation process involving a filamentous microbe is heavily dependent on the morphological form adopted by the organism. The development of systems capable of rapidly and accurately characterising morphology within a given process represents a significant challenge to biotechnologists, as the complex phenotypes that are manifested are often not easily quantified. Conventional parameters employed in these analyses are of limited value, as they reveal little about the specific branching behaviour of the organism, which is an important consideration given the demonstrated link between branching frequency and metabolite production. More recently, fractal geometry has been employed in …