Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) of intact Escherichia coli (E. coli) was used to identify non-lipidic targets of the antimicrobial peptide (AMP) MSI-78. The DSC thermograms revealed that, in addition to its known lytic properties, MSI-78 also has a striking effect on ribosomes. MSI-78’s effect on DSC scans of bacteria was similar to that of kanamycin, an antibiotic drug known to target the 30S small ribosomal subunit. An in vitro transcription/translation assay helped confirm MSI-78’s targeting of ribosomes. The scrambled version of MSI-78 also affected the ribosome peak of the DSC scans, but required greater amounts of peptide to cause a similar effect to the unscrambled peptide. Furthermore, the effect of the scrambled peptide was not specific to the ribosomes; other regions of the DSC thermogram were also affected. These results suggest that MSI-78’s effects on E. coli are at least somewhat dependent on its particular structural features, rather than a sole function of its overall charge and hydrophobicity. When considered along with earlier work detailing MSI-78’s membrane lytic properties, it appears that MSI-78 operates via a multi-hit mechanism with multiple targets.

Background: Closed incision negative pressure therapy (ciNPT) may reduce the rate of wound complications and promote healing of the incisional site. We report our experience with this dressing in breast reconstruction patients with abdominal free flap donor sites. Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted of all patients who underwent breast reconstruction using abdominal free flaps (DIEP, MS-TRAM) at a single institution (Royal Melbourne Hospital, Victoria) between 2016 and 2021. Results: 126 female patients (mean age: 50 ± 10 years) were analysed, with 41 and 85 patients in the ciNPT (Prevena) and non-ciNPT (Comfeel) groups, respectively. There were reduced wound complications in almost all outcomes measured in the ciNPT group compared with the non-ciNPT group; however, none reached statistical significance. The ciNPT group demonstrated a lower prevalence of surgical site infections (9.8% vs. 11.8%), wound dehiscence (4.9% vs. 12.9%), wound necrosis (0% vs. 2.4%), and major complication requiring readmission (2.4% vs. 7.1%). Conclusion: The use of ciNPT for abdominal donor sites in breast reconstruction patients with risk factors for poor wound healing may reduce wound complications compared with standard adhesive dressings; however, large scale, randomised controlled trials are needed to confirm these observations. Investigation of the impact of ciNPT patients in comparison with conventional dressings, in cohorts with equivocal risk profiles, remains a focus for future research.

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A preoccupation with fragmentation has defined many recent responses to antiquity. Within scholarship this focus takes the form of poststructuralist-informed readings, which highlight how any text can be perceived as fragmentary due to the epistemologies that we use to frame our readings. Within artistic practice there is a corresponding privileging of fragmentation through the dismembering of text. Yet one does not need to deconstruct a text, or to point to the gaps in meaning that persist in any textual encounter, to think through fragmentation.In this essay, I propose that utilising actual fragments within contemporary theatre is not simply an extension in scale of wider practice but represents a qualitatively different endeavour which holds unique benefits. I suggest that fragmentary texts represent fertile material for contemporary immersive performance, as the sense of lack contained within their form provides a productive impetus for an audience's creation of the unified imaginary world necessary for a ‘deep' form of immersion. Fragments and immersive theatre make for a unique partnership as the fragmentary source text holds synergy with the form of immersive performance, where a complete or ideal experience remains an ever-elusive ambition. I make my argument through an analysis of Punchdrunk's 2017 Kabeiroi, which turned the surviving fragments of Aeschylus' Kabeiroi into a four-to-six-hour immersive experience. I argue that a sense of yearning and incompletion is inevitable in the reception of ancient fragments, but that within immersive experiences this becomes a genuinely productive force. Punchdrunk's approach, I conclude, should be considered a useful method for other artists and represents a new possible direction for classical performance reception.

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