Browse publications by year: 2020

  1. Fulltext Spontaneous repositioning of posterior chamber intraocular lens: a mere coincidence?
    Wern-Yih C, Jan-Bond C, Sudha M, Norlelawati A, Shatriah I
    Arq Bras Oftalmol, 2020 Aug;83(4):329-331.
    PMID: 32756777 DOI: 10.5935/0004-2749.20200054
    Despite the recent developments in modern cataract surgery and the application of a vast array of new devices and machines, late in-the-bag intraocular lens dislocation remains a devastating, albeit rare, complication. Various nonsurgical and surgical techniques have been used to manage this complication. We report a case of spontaneous repositioning in the left eye of an anteriorly subluxated in-the-bag intraocular lens. The spontaneous repositioning may have been caused by antagonistic effects related to the topical administration of brimonidine and prednisolone. The dislocation was treated without aggressive manipulation or surgical intervention.
    MeSH terms: Humans; Lens Subluxation; Lenses, Intraocular*; Postoperative Complications; Retrospective Studies; Visual Acuity; Drug Repositioning
  2. Handwashing in averting infectious diseases: Relevance to COVID-19
    Haque M
    J Popul Ther Clin Pharmacol, 2020 07 12;27(S Pt 1):e37-e52.
    PMID: 32757544 DOI: 10.15586/jptcp.v27SP1.711
    After officially declared as a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO), drastic measures to restrict human movements to contain the COVID-19 infection are employed by most of the countries. Maintaining high personal hygiene by frequent handwashing and be vigilant of clinical signs are widely recommended to reduce the disease burden. The national and international health agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the WHO, have provided guidelines for prevention and treatment suggestions. Here, in this brief article, based on available clinical information, the author discusses why handwashing could be protective of COVID-19 infections. Although a detailed and in-depth discussion of various preventive and protective measures is beyond the scope of this article, this review will focus on the utility of frequent handwashing in minimizing the risk of spreading COVID-19 infection.
    MeSH terms: Hand Disinfection/standards*; Humans; Pneumonia, Viral/epidemiology; Pneumonia, Viral/prevention & control*; Pneumonia, Viral/transmission; Infection Control/methods; Guidelines as Topic; Coronavirus Infections/epidemiology; Coronavirus Infections/prevention & control*; Coronavirus Infections/transmission; Pandemics/prevention & control*
  3. Preparing dental students to use social media as a platform to promote oral health
    Rani H, Yahya NA, Rosli TI, Mohd-Dom TN
    J Dent Educ, 2020 Jul 27.
    PMID: 32717105 DOI: 10.1002/jdd.12349
  4. Priorities for primary health care policy implementation: recommendations from the combined experience of six countries in the Asia-Pacific
    Kassai R, van Weel C, Flegg K, Tong SF, Han TM, Noknoy S, et al.
    Aust J Prim Health, 2020 Oct;26(5):351-357.
    PMID: 32746962 DOI: 10.1071/PY19194
    Primary health care is essential for equitable, cost-effective and sustainable health care. It is the cornerstone to achieving universal health coverage against a backdrop of rising health expenditure and aging populations. Implementing strong primary health care requires grassroots understanding of health system performance. Comparing successes and barriers between countries may help identify mutual challenges and possible solutions. This paper compares and analyses primary health care policy in Australia, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam. Data were collected at the World Organization of National Colleges, Academies and Academic Associations of General Practitioners/Family Physicians (WONCA) Asia-Pacific regional conference in November 2017 using a predetermined framework. The six countries varied in maturity of their primary health care systems, including the extent to which family doctors contribute to care delivery. Challenges included an insufficient trained and competent workforce, particularly in rural and remote communities, and deficits in coordination within primary health care, as well as between primary and secondary care. Asia-Pacific regional policy needs to: (1) focus on better collaboration between public and private sectors; (2) take a structured approach to information sharing by bridging gaps in technology, health literacy and interprofessional working; (3) build systems that can evaluate and improve quality of care; and (4) promote community-based, high-quality training programs.
    MeSH terms: Adult; Australia; Myanmar; Female; Health Policy*; Humans; Malaysia; Male; Mongolia; Primary Health Care/methods*; Thailand; Vietnam
  5. A correlation on ultrasonication with nanocrystalline cellulose characteristics
    Mohd Ishak NA, Khalil I, Abdullah FZ, Muhd Julkapli N
    Carbohydr Polym, 2020 Oct 15;246:116553.
    PMID: 32747237 DOI: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2020.116553
    Catalytic ionic liquid hydrolysis of cellulosic material have been considered as a green and highly efficient dissolution process. However, application of a pre-treatment process, i.e; ultrasonication enhances the hydrolysis of cellulose in ionic liquid by providing mechanical force. In this paper, we describe the impact of both chemical and mechanical approaches to produce nanocrytalline cellulose (NCC) with anticipated particle size, and crystallinity with improved yields. The ultrasonication treatment was evaluated in terms of treatment time and vibration amplitude. It was found that the lowest ultrasonication time (5 min) produced the NCC of highest crystallinity (73 %), but the lowest yield (84 %). In contrary, the highest ultrasonication vibration amplitude at 90 % produced NCC with highest crystallinity value (67 %) as well as yields (90 %). It concludes that ultrasonic pre-treatment improves the hydrolysis process of cellulose in ionic liquid with increasing yield and crystallinity of NCC.
    MeSH terms: Catalysis; Cellulose; Hydrolysis; Ions; Particle Size; Restraint, Physical; Solubility; Ultrasonics; Vibration; Physical Therapy Modalities; Ionic Liquids
  6. Fulltext Comparison of eight complete chloroplast genomes of the endangered Aquilaria tree species (Thymelaeaceae) and their phylogenetic relationships
    Hishamuddin MS, Lee SY, Ng WL, Ramlee SI, Lamasudin DU, Mohamed R
    Sci Rep, 2020 Aug 03;10(1):13034.
    PMID: 32747724 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-70030-0
    Aquilaria tree species are naturally distributed in the Indomalesian region and are protected against over-exploitation. They produce a fragrant non-timber product of high economic value, agarwood. Ambiguous species delimitation and limited genetic information within Aquilaria are among the impediments to conservation efforts. In this study, we conducted comparative analysis on eight Aquilaria species complete chloroplast (cp) genomes, of which seven were newly sequenced using Illumina HiSeq X Ten platform followed by de novo assembly. Aquilaria cp genomes possess a typical quadripartite structure including gene order and genomic structure. The length of each of the cp genome is about 174 kbp and encoded between 89 and 92 proteins, 38 tRNAs, and 8 rRNAs, with 27 duplicated in the IR (inverted repeat) region. Besides, 832 repeats (forward, reverse, palindrome and complement repeats) and nine highly variable regions were also identified. The phylogenetic analysis suggests that the topology structure of Aquilaria cp genomes were well presented with strong support values based on the cp genomes data set and matches their geographic distribution pattern. In summary, the complete cp genomes will facilitate development of species-specific molecular tools to discriminate Aquilaria species and resolve the evolutionary relationships of members of the Thymelaeaceae family.
    MeSH terms: Base Composition/genetics; Base Sequence; Nucleotides/genetics; Phylogeny*; Species Specificity; Sequence Analysis, DNA; Thymelaeaceae/classification*; Thymelaeaceae/genetics*; Genome, Chloroplast*; Inverted Repeat Sequences/genetics; Molecular Sequence Annotation
  7. Fulltext Venous thromboembolism in critically ill COVID-19 patients receiving prophylactic or therapeutic anticoagulation: a systematic review and meta-analysis
    Hasan SS, Radford S, Kow CS, Zaidi STR
    J Thromb Thrombolysis, 2020 Nov;50(4):814-821.
    PMID: 32748122 DOI: 10.1007/s11239-020-02235-z
    Many aspects of care such as management of hypercoagulable state in COVID-19 patients, especially those admitted to intensive care units is challenging in the rapidly evolving pandemic of novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). We seek to systematically review the available evidence regarding the anticoagulation approach to prevent venous thromboembolism (VTE) among COVID-19 patients admitted to intensive care units. Electronic databases were searched for studies reporting venous thromboembolic events in patients admitted to the intensive care unit receiving any type of anticoagulation (prophylactic or therapeutic). The pooled prevalence (and 95% confidence interval [CI]) of VTE among patients receiving anticoagulant were calculated using the random-effects model. Subgroup pooled analyses were performed with studies reported prophylactic anticoagulation alone and with studies reported mixed prophylactic and therapeutic anticoagulation. We included twelve studies (8 Europe; 2 UK; 1 each from the US and China) in our systematic review and meta-analysis. All studies utilized LMWH or unfractionated heparin as their pharmacologic thromboprophylaxis, either prophylactic doses or therapeutic doses. Seven studies reported on the proportion of patients with the previous history of VTE (range 0-10%). The pooled prevalence of VTE among ICU patients receiving prophylactic or therapeutic anticoagulation across all studies was 31% (95% CI 20-43%). Subgroup pooled analysis limited to studies reported prophylactic anticoagulation alone and mixed (therapeutic and prophylactic anticoagulation) reported pooled prevalences of VTE of 38% (95% CI 10-70%) and 27% (95% CI 17-40%) respectively. With a high prevalence of thromboprophylaxis failure among COVID-19 patients admitted to intensive care units, individualised rather than protocolised VTE thromboprophylaxis would appear prudent at interim.
    MeSH terms: Aged; Anticoagulants/administration & dosage*; Anticoagulants/adverse effects; Blood Coagulation/drug effects*; Female; Fibrinolytic Agents/administration & dosage*; Fibrinolytic Agents/adverse effects; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Pneumonia, Viral/blood; Pneumonia, Viral/drug therapy*; Pneumonia, Viral/epidemiology; Pneumonia, Viral/virology; Risk Factors; Time Factors; Critical Illness; Treatment Outcome; Coronavirus Infections/blood; Coronavirus Infections/drug therapy*; Coronavirus Infections/epidemiology; Coronavirus Infections/virology; Venous Thromboembolism/blood; Venous Thromboembolism/epidemiology; Venous Thromboembolism/prevention & control*; Venous Thromboembolism/virology; Host-Pathogen Interactions; Pandemics
  8. Comparison of two case difficulty assessment methods on cohorts of undergraduate dental students - a multi-centre study
    Shah PK, Duncan HF, Abdullah D, Tomson PL, Murray G, Friend TM, et al.
    Int Endod J, 2020 Nov;53(11):1569-1580.
    PMID: 32748456 DOI: 10.1111/iej.13377
    AIM: To compare the educational benefits and user friendliness of two anonymized endodontic case difficulty assessment (CDA) methods.

    METHODOLOGY: A cohort (n = 206) of fourth-year undergraduate dental students were recruited from four different Dental Schools and divided randomly into two groups (Group A and B). The participants assessed six test endodontic cases using anonymized versions of the American Association of Endodontists (AAE) case difficulty assessment form (AAE Endodontic Case Difficulty Assessment Form and Guidelines, 2006) and EndoApp, a web-based CDA tool. Group A (n = 107) used the AAE form for assessment of the first three cases, followed by EndoApp for the latter. Group B (n = 99) used EndoApp for the initial three cases and switched to the AAE form for the remainder. Data were collected online and analysed to assess participants' knowledge reinforcement and agreement with the recommendation generated. Statistical analysis was performed using the two-way mixed model anova, Cohen's Kappa (κ) and independent t-tests, with the levels of significance set at P 

    MeSH terms: Endodontics*; Humans; Students, Dental*
  9. Fulltext First report of basal rot of dragon fruit caused by Fusarium oxysporum in Bangladesh
    Mahmud NU, Chakraborty M, Paul SK, Gupta DR, Surovy MZ, Rahman M, et al.
    Plant Dis, 2020 Aug 04.
    PMID: 32748716 DOI: 10.1094/PDIS-01-20-0005-PDN
    Dragon fruit (Hylocereus polyrhizus) is a high value newly introduced fruit crop in Bangladesh. It has drawn considerable public attention due to its appealing flesh color, sweet taste and fruit qualities. Recently, basal rot of dragon fruit plants was observed in several farmer's fields, nurseries and in the research field of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University (BSMRAU) where about 10-15% of plants were infected in each location. Initially, the symptoms appeared in the basal part near the soil as brown lesions which gradually extended to the upper stem and finally becoming soft and watery (Figure 1a). Infected plants were collected from Kapasia of Gazipur district (Latitude 24.266 and Longitude 90.633) to isolate the causal organism. Isolations were carried out following the procedure reported by Briste et al. (2019). Briefly, infected plant parts were surface sterilized in 2% NaOCl for 1 min followed by 70% ethanol for 5 min and rinsed 3 times with sterile double distilled water. A large piece of a surface sterilized plant was cut into small pieces (2 mm × 2 mm) from the margin of the necrotic lesion and placed on half strength potato dextrose agar (PDA) and incubated for 7 days at 25 °C. The BTFD1 and BTFD4 isolates were purified from single spores resulting in white colonies with a growth rate of 1cm/day on PDA (Figure 1b). Colonies produced single celled microconidia from unbranched, short monophialidic conidiophores and septate macroconidia as well as chlamydospores in PDA which is consistent with Fusarium oxysporum (Figure 1c). To confirm the identity of the isolates, the internal transcribed spacer (ITS1, 5.8S rRNA and ITS2) and translation elongation factor-1alpha (EF-1α) were amplified using primers ITS-1/ ITS-4 and EF1-728F/ EF1-986R, respectively (Surovy et al. 2018). The ITS sequences of the isolates BTFD1 and BTFD4 (GenBank accession # MN727096 and MN727095, respectively) showed 100% similarity with the sequence from F. oxysporum strain JJF2 (MN626452). Sequence identity for EF-1α (GenBank accession # MN752123 and MN752124, respectively) was 100% with the sequence from F. oxysporum strain CAV041_EO (MK783088). The isolates (BTFD1 and BTFD4) were identified as F. oxysporum based on the aligned sequences of ITS and EF-1α, molecular phylogenetic analyses by maximum likelihood tree (Figure 2a) and maximum parsimony tree methods (Figure 2b). The isolates were stored at 4°C on dried filter paper as well as in an ultra-low temperature freezer (-80°C) at IBGE, BSMRAU, Bangladesh and are available on request. To ensure pathogenicity, isolate BTFD1 was grown on PDA, incubated at 25°C for 7 days and 250 ml conidial suspension (with 1 × 105 conidia/ml) was prepared. Twelve,three-month-old healthy dragon fruit plants were inoculated. Pathogenicity tests were carried out in two sets using three replications in each set. In one set, only the basal part of the plants was dipped into the conidial suspension and in another set the whole plant was dipped into the conidial suspension for two hours. Sterile distilled water was also used in another set of plants as a control. The inoculated plants were placed on wet tissue in a plastic box (31cm × 24cm × 8cm) covered and incubated at 25°C. After 10 days, all inoculated plants in both sets developed rot symptoms similar to those observed in the field, while the control plants remained healthy (Figure 1d). The pathogen was successfully re-isolated from the inoculated symptomatic parts on half strength PDA medium and had morphology as characterized before, thus fulfilling Koch's postulates. This disease has been reported in Argentina and Malaysia (Wright et al. 2007; Hafifi et al. 2019). To the bet of our knowledge, this is the first report of Fusarium basal rot of dragon fruit in Bangladesh caused by F. oxysporum.
  10. Fulltext First Report of Neoscytalidium dimidiatum Causing Fruit Rot on Guava (Psidium guajava L.) in Malaysia
    Ismail SI, Ahmad Dahlan K, Abdullah S, Zulperi D
    Plant Dis, 2020 Aug 04.
    PMID: 32748717 DOI: 10.1094/PDIS-06-20-1267-PDN
    Guava (Psidium guajava L.) is an economically important fruit crop in Malaysia with annual production of 67,087 tons in 2018 (FAO 2018). In February 2019, fruit rot symptoms were observed postharvest on approximately 30% of guava cv. Lohan collected from a commercial orchard in the Rawang district (3°23'22.8"N 101°26'55.7"E) of Selangor province, Malaysia. Symptoms on the fruits appeared as small, circular brown spots (ranging 5 to 20 mm in diameter) that coalesced and rapidly expanded to cover the entire fruit. Severely infected fruits became soft and rotted. Ten diseased guava fruits were collected from the sampling location. Small pieces (5x5x5 mm) of symptomatic fruit tissues were excised from the lesion margin, surface-sterilized with 0.5% sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) for 1 min, rinsed twice with sterile distilled water, plated on potato dextrose agar (PDA) and incubated at 25 °C for 5 days. A Scytalidium-like fungus was consistently isolated from symptomatic tissues on PDA after 4 days. For morphological identification, single-spore cultures were grown on PDA at 25 °C and a representative isolate LB1 was characterized further. The fungal colonies were initially white, powdery, and later turned grayish-black with the onset of sporulation. The mycelia were branched with septa, pigmented, and brown in color. Fungal colonies produced dark-brown arthroconidia with thick-walled, 0 to 1-septa, averaged 9 μm x 5 μm (n=20), and cylindrical to oblong in shape. For molecular identification, genomic DNA was extracted from fresh mycelium of isolate LB1 using DNeasy Plant Mini kit (Qiagen, Germantown, MD, USA). The internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of rDNA and translation elongation factor 1-alpha (TEF1-α) gene were amplified using ITS5/ITS4 (White et al. 1990) and EF1-728F/EF1-986R primer set (Carbone and Kohn 1999), respectively. Both ITS (954 bp) and TEF1-α (412 bp) sequences exhibited 100% identity to Neoscytalidium dimidiatum with GenBank accession numbers FM211432 and MK495414, respectively. The resulting sequences were deposited in GenBank (ITS: Accession no. MT565490; TEF1-α Accession no. MT572846). Based on the morphological and molecular data, the pathogen was identified as N. dimidiatum (Penz.) Crous & Slippers (Crous et al. 2006). A pathogenicity test was conducted on 5 healthy detached mature guava fruits cv. Lohan by wound-inoculating using a sterile needle and pipetting 10-µl of a conidial suspension (1 × 106 conidia/ml) of isolate LB1 to the wound. Five additional fruits were wounded and pipetted 10-µl sterile distilled water to serve as controls. Inoculated fruits were placed in sterilized plastic container and incubated at 25 ± 1 °C, 90% relative humidity with a photoperiod of 12 h, and the experiment was conducted twice. All inoculated fruits developed symptoms as described above 4 to 7 days post-inoculation, while the control fruits remained asymptomatic. N. dimidiatum was re-isolated from all symptomatic tissues confirming Koch's postulates. N. dimidiatum has been reported causing brown spot disease on pitaya (Lan et al. 2012), and stem canker on dragon fruit in Malaysia and Florida (Mohd et al. 2013; Sanahuja et al. 2016) but this is the first report of N. dimidiatum causing postharvest fruit rot on guava in Malaysia. This disease can cause significant postharvest losses to guava production which could lower marketable yield and proper control strategies should be implemented.
  11. Effect of surfactants on the lightning breakdown voltage of palm oil and coconut oil based Al2O3 nanofluids
    Mohamad NA, Azis N, Jasni J, Ab Kadir MZA, Yunus R, Yaakub Z
    Nanotechnology, 2020 Aug 04;31(42):425708.
    PMID: 32748802 DOI: 10.1088/1361-6528/aba1b9
    In this paper, the effect of different types of surfactants on the lightning breakdown voltages of palm oil (PO) and coconut oil (CO) based aluminium oxide (Al2O3) nanofluids is investigated. Three different types of surfactants were used in this study known as cationic (cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB)), anionic (sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)) and non-ionic (oleic acid (OA)). The volume percentage concentrations of Al2O3 dispersed into PO and CO were varied from 0.001% to 0.05%. The ratio of surfactant to the nanoparticles was set to 50% from the volume concentration of nanoparticles which equivalent to 1:2. In total, two types of refined, bleached and deodorized palm oil (RBDPO) and one type of CO were examined for lightning breakdown voltage. The test was carried out based on needle-sphere electrodes configuration with 25 mm gap distance. The presence of Al2O3 improves both positive and negative lightning breakdown voltages of RBDPO and CO. Under the positive and negative polarities, the CTAB does provide further improvements on the lightning breakdown voltages of RBDPOA (1st type of samples) and CO at most of the volume of concentration of Al2O3. SDS and OA could also further improve the lightning breakdown voltage of CO at certain volume concentration of Al2O3. On the other hand, the lightning breakdown voltage of RBDPOB based Al2O3 nanofluid (2nd type of samples) does not further improve with the introduction of surfactants. At most of the volume concentration of Al2O3, the introduction of CTAB further increases the times to breakdown and decrease the average streamer velocities of RBDPOA under both polarities. The same finding is observed for CO under positive polarity with CTAB and SDS as well as under negative polarity in the presence of all surfactants. The streamer velocities and times to breakdown patterns of RBDPOB based Al2O3 nanofluid are inconsistent in the presence of all surfactants. It is found that RBDPO and CO based Al2O3 nanofluids have second mode of streamer whereby the streamer velocities are from 1 km s-1 to 1.63 km s-1 regardless with or without surfactants.
  12. An electrochemical DNA biosensor fabricated from graphene decorated with graphitic nanospheres
    Raja Jamaluddin RZA, Tan LL, Chong KF, Heng LY
    Nanotechnology, 2020 Nov 27;31(48):485501.
    PMID: 32748805 DOI: 10.1088/1361-6528/abab2e
    Graphene decorated with graphitic nanospheres functionalized with pyrene butyric acid (PBA) is used for the first time to fabricate a DNA biosensor. The electrode was formed by attaching a DNA probe onto PBA, which had been stacked onto a graphene material decorated with graphene nanospheres (GNSs). The nanomaterial was drop-coated onto a carbon screen-printed electrode (SPE) to create the GNS-PBA modified electrode (GNS-PBA/SPE). A simple method was used to produce GNS by annealing graphene oxide (GO) solution at high temperature. Field emission scanning electron micrographs confirmed the presence of a spherical shape of GNS with a diameter range of 40-80 nm. A stable and uniform PBA-modified GNS (GNS-PBA) was obtained with a facile ultrasonication step. Thus allowing aminated DNA probes of genetically modified (GM) soybean to be attached to the nanomaterials to form the DNA biosensor. The GNS-PBA/SPE exhibited excellent electrical conductivity via cyclic voltammetry (CV) and differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) tests using potassium ferricyanide (K3[Fe(CN)6]) as the electroactive probe. By employing an anthraquinone monosulfonic acid (AQMS) redox intercalator as the DNA hybridization indicator, the biosensor response was evaluated using the DPV electrochemical method. A good linear relationship between AQMS oxidation peak current and target DNA concentrations from 1.0 × 10-16 to 1.0 × 10-8 M with a limit of detection (LOD) of less than 1.0 × 10-16 M was obtained. Selectivity experiments revealed that the voltammetric GM DNA biosensor could discriminate complementary sequences of GM soybean from non-complementary sequences and hence good recoveries were obtained for real GM soybean sample analysis. The main advantage of using GNS is an improvement of the DNA biosensor analytical performance.
    MeSH terms: DNA/analysis*; Electrodes; Graphite/chemistry*; Pyrenes/chemistry; DNA Probes/chemistry*; Biosensing Techniques/methods*; Nanospheres/chemistry*; Electrochemical Techniques/methods; Limit of Detection; Immobilized Nucleic Acids/chemistry
  13. Role of the Serine/Threonine Kinase 11 (STK11) or Liver Kinase B1 (LKB1) Gene in Peutz-Jeghers Syndrome
    Altamish M, Dahiya R, Singh AK, Mishra A, Aljabali AAA, Satija S, et al.
    Crit Rev Eukaryot Gene Expr, 2020;30(3):245-252.
    PMID: 32749111 DOI: 10.1615/CritRevEukaryotGeneExpr.2020033451
    Peutz-Jeghers syndrome (PJS) is a well-described inherited syndrome, characterized by the development of gastrointestinal polyps and characteristic mucocutaneous freckling. PJS is an autosomal prevailing disease, due to genetic mutation on chromosome 19p, manifested by restricted mucocutaneous melanosis in association with gastrointestinal (GI) polyposis. The gene for PJS has recently been shown to be a serine/threonine kinase, known as LKB1 or STK11, which maps to chromosome subband 19p13.3. This gene has a putative coding region of 1302 bp, divided into nine exons, and acts as a tumor suppressor in the hamartomatous polyps of PJS patients and in the other neoplasms that develop in PJS patients. It is probable that these neoplasms develop from hamartomas, but it remains possible that the LKB1 or STK11 locus plays a role in a different genetic pathway of tumor growth in the cancers of PJS patients. This article focuses on the role of LKB1 or STK11 gene expression in PJS and related cancers.
    MeSH terms: Gene Expression Regulation; Humans; Mutation; Neoplasms/genetics; Peutz-Jeghers Syndrome/enzymology*; Peutz-Jeghers Syndrome/genetics*; Peutz-Jeghers Syndrome/pathology; Protein-Serine-Threonine Kinases/physiology*; Genetic Predisposition to Disease; Genetic Association Studies
  14. Going Beyond Antibiotics: Natural Plant Extracts as an Emergent Strategy to Combat Biofilm-Associated Infections
    Kou J, Xin TY, McCarron P, Gupta G, Dureja H, Satija S, et al.
    J Environ Pathol Toxicol Oncol, 2020;39(2):125-136.
    PMID: 32749122 DOI: 10.1615/JEnvironPatholToxicolOncol.2020032665
    Biofilms are a collective of multiple types of bacteria that develop on a variety of surfaces. Biofilm development results in heightened resistance to antibiotics. Quorum sensing plays an important role in biofilm development as it is one of the common communication mechanisms within cells, which balances and stabilizes the environment, when the amount of bacteria increases. Because of the important implications of the roles biofilms play in infectious diseases, it is crucial to investigate natural antibacterial agents that are able to regulate biofilm formation and development. Various studies have suggested that natural plant products have the potential to suppress bacterial growth and exhibit chemopreventive traits in the modulation of biofilm development. In this review, we discuss and collate potential antibiofilm drugs and biological molecules from natural sources, along with their underlying mechanisms of action. In addition, we also discuss the antibiofilm drugs that are currently under clinical trials and highlight their potential future uses.
    MeSH terms: Anti-Bacterial Agents; Bacteria; Biological Products; Communicable Diseases; Plants; Biofilms; Quorum Sensing
  15. CRISPR-Cas9 Genome Editing Tool for the Production of Industrial Biopharmaceuticals
    Khan AH, Tye GJ, Noordin R
    Mol Biotechnol, 2020 Sep;62(9):401-411.
    PMID: 32749657 DOI: 10.1007/s12033-020-00265-9
    A broad range of cell lines with characteristic features are used as bio-factories to produce recombinant proteins for basic research and therapeutic purposes. Genetic engineering strategies have been used to manipulate the genome of mammalian cells, insects, and yeasts for heterologous expression. One reason is that the glycosylation pattern of the expression hosts differs somehow from mammalian cells, which may cause immunogenic reactions upon administration in humans. CRISPR-Cas9 is a simple, efficient, and versatile genome engineering tool that can be programmed to precisely make double-stranded breaks at the desired loci. Compared to the classical genome editing methods, a CRISPR-Cas9 system is an ideal tool, providing the opportunity to integrate or delete genes from the target organisms. Besides broadened applications, limited studies have used CRISPR-Cas9 for editing the endogenous pathways in expression systems for biopharmaceutical applications. In the present review, we discuss the use of CRISPR-Cas9 in expression systems to improve host cell lines, increase product yield, and humanize glycosylation pathways by targeting intrinsic genes.
    MeSH terms: Animals; Biological Products*; Cell Line; Insects; Mammals; Yeasts; CRISPR-Cas Systems*; Gene Editing*
  16. Resolution of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)
    Habas K, Nganwuchu C, Shahzad F, Gopalan R, Haque M, Rahman S, et al.
    Expert Rev Anti Infect Ther, 2020 12;18(12):1201-1211.
    PMID: 32749914 DOI: 10.1080/14787210.2020.1797487
    INTRODUCTION: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was first detected in China in December, 2019, and declared as a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) on March 11, 2020. The current management of COVID-19 is based generally on supportive therapy and treatment to prevent respiratory failure. The effective option of antiviral therapy and vaccination are currently under evaluation and development.

    AREAS COVERED: A literature search was performed using PubMed between December 1, 2019-June 23, 2020. This review highlights the current state of knowledge on the viral replication and pathogenicity, diagnostic and therapeutic strategies, and management of COVID-19. This review will be of interest to scientists and clinicians and make a significant contribution toward development of vaccines and targeted therapies to contain the pandemic.

    EXPERT OPINION: The exit strategy for a path back to normal life is required, which should involve a multi-prong effort toward development of new treatment and a successful vaccine to protect public health worldwide and prevent future COVID-19 outbreaks. Therefore, the bench to bedside translational research as well as reverse translational works focusing bedside to bench is very important and would provide the foundation for the development of targeted drugs and vaccines for COVID-19 infections.

    MeSH terms: Anticoagulants/therapeutic use; Antimalarials/therapeutic use; Antiviral Agents/therapeutic use; Humans; Immunization, Passive/methods; Life Support Care; Palliative Care; RNA, Antisense/therapeutic use; Oligonucleotides, Antisense/therapeutic use; Hospice Care
  17. Fluorescence-based immunoassay for the detection of Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae in rice leaf
    Awaludin N, Abdullah J, Salam F, Ramachandran K, Yusof NA, Wasoh H
    Anal Biochem, 2020 12 01;610:113876.
    PMID: 32750357 DOI: 10.1016/j.ab.2020.113876
    The identification of rice bacterial leaf blight disease requires a simple, rapid, highly sensitive, and quantitative approach that can be applied as an early detection monitoring tool in rice health. This paper highlights the development of a turn-off fluorescence-based immunoassay for the early detection of Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo), a gram-negative bacterium that causes rice bacterial leaf blight disease. Antibodies against Xoo bacterial cells were produced as specific bio-recognition molecules and the conjugation of these antibodies with graphene quantum dots and gold nanoparticles was performed and characterized, respectively. The combination of both these bio-probes as a fluorescent donor and metal quencher led to changes in the fluorescence signal. The immunoreaction between AntiXoo-GQDs, Xoo cells, and AntiXoo-AuNPs in the immuno-aggregation complex led to the energy transfer in the turn-off fluorescence-based quenching system. The change in fluorescence intensity was proportional to the logarithm of Xoo cells in the range of 100-105 CFU mL-1. The limit of detection was achieved at 22 CFU mL-1 and the specificity test against other plant disease pathogens showed high specificity towards Xoo. The detection of Xoo in real plant samples was also performed in this study and demonstrated satisfactory results.
    MeSH terms: Antibodies, Bacterial/immunology; Antibodies, Bacterial/chemistry; Fluorescent Dyes/chemistry; Gold/chemistry; Graphite/chemistry; Immunoassay/methods*; Plant Diseases/microbiology; Oryza/microbiology*; Xanthomonas/immunology; Xanthomonas/isolation & purification*; Plant Leaves/microbiology; Quantum Dots/chemistry; Metal Nanoparticles/chemistry
  18. Effect of the molecular mobility of water adsorbed by disintegrants on storage-induced hydrolytic degradation of acetylsalicylic acid incorporated into tablets under humid conditions
    Ougi K, Okada K, Leong KH, Hayashi Y, Kumada S, Onuki Y
    Eur J Pharm Sci, 2020 Nov 01;154:105502.
    PMID: 32750421 DOI: 10.1016/j.ejps.2020.105502
    The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of molecular mobility of water adsorbed by disintegrants on the hydrolytic degradation of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). Fourteen different disintegrants were tested. First, powdered disintegrants were stored at conditions of 40 °C/75% relative humidity ("humid conditions") and their T2 relaxation times were measured by time-domain nuclear magnetic resonance for examination of the molecular mobility of water adsorbed by the disintegrant. From the observed T2 values, the water molecular mobility was fully characterized. In particular, the molecular mobility of water adsorbed by crospovidones was much higher than the molecular mobility of water adsorbed by the other test disintegrants because of longer T2 values. The next study examined the hydrolytic degradation of acetylsalicylic acid (ASA), a model moisture-sensitive API, stored under humid conditions. Physical mixtures of ASA and disintegrants or their model tablets were used as test samples, and they were stored for 7 d. The disintegrants contained in the samples clearly affected the ASA degradation: the most significant ASA degradation was observed for the crospovidone-containing samples. Finally, we analyzed the effect of the molecular mobility of water adsorbed by disintegrants on the ASA degradation by the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (Lasso) regression techniques. As in the T2 experiment, various properties of disintegrants (i.e., water content, pH, and water activity) were used in this experiment as the explanatory variables. From the Lasso analysis, we successfully showed that the higher molecular mobility of water adsorbed by disintegrants significantly enhanced ASA degradation. These findings provide profound insights into the chemical stability of moisture-sensitive APIs in tablets.
    MeSH terms: Excipients; Powders; Solubility; Tablets; Water
  19. Effect of iterative reconstruction algorithm levels on noise index and figure-of-merit in CT pulmonary angiography examinations
    Harun HH, Karim MKA, Abbas Z, Sabarudin A, Muniandy SC, Ibahim MJ
    J Xray Sci Technol, 2020;28(5):893-903.
    PMID: 32741801 DOI: 10.3233/XST-200699
    PURPOSE: To evaluate the influence of iterative reconstruction (IR) levels on Computed Tomography (CT) image quality and to establish Figure of Merit (FOM) value for CT Pulmonary Angiography (CTPA) examinations.

    METHODS: Images of 31 adult patients who underwent CTPA examinations in our institution from March to April 2019 were retrospectively collected. Other data, such as scanning parameters, radiation dose and body habitus information from the subjects were also recorded. Six different levels of IR were applied to the volume data of the subjects. Five circles of the region of interest (ROI) were drawn in five different arteries namely, pulmonary trunk, right pulmonary artery, left pulmonary artery, ascending aorta and descending aorta. The mean Signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) was obtained, and the FOM was calculated in a fraction of the SNR2 divided by volume-weighted CT dose index (CTDIvol) and SNR2 divided by the size-specific dose estimates (SSDE).

    RESULTS: Overall, we observed that the mean value of CTDIvol and SSDE were 13.79±7.72 mGy and 17.25±8.92 mGy, respectively. Notably, SNR values significantly increase with increase of the IR level (p 

    MeSH terms: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Algorithms*; Female; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Radiographic Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted/methods*; Young Adult; Signal-To-Noise Ratio; Computed Tomography Angiography/methods*
  20. Fulltext Characterization of Bovine Lactoferrin Nanoparticle Prepared by Desolvation Technique
    Taguchi K, Chuang VTG, Hashimoto M, Nakayama M, Sakuragi M, Enoki Y, et al.
    Chem Pharm Bull (Tokyo), 2020;68(8):766-772.
    PMID: 32741918 DOI: 10.1248/cpb.c20-00222
    Lactoferrin (Lf) nanoparticles have been developed as a carrier of drugs and gene. Two main methods, desolvation technique and emulsification method, for preparation of protein nanoparticles have been reported so far, but most of the previous reports of Lf nanoparticles preparation are limited to emulsification method. In this study, we investigated the optimal conditions by desolvation technique for the preparation of glutaraldehyde-crosslinked bovine Lf (bLf) nanoparticles within the size range of 100-200 nm, and evaluated their properties as a carrier for oral and intravenous drug delivery. The experimental results of dynamic light scattering and Transmission Electron Microscope suggested that glutaraldehyde-crosslinked bLf nanoparticles with 150 nm in size could be produced by addition of 2-propanol as the desolvating solvent into the bLf solution adjusted to pH 6, followed by crosslinking with glutaraldehyde. These cross-linked bLf nanoparticles were found to be compatible to blood components and resistant against rapid degradation by pepsin. Thus, cross-linked bLf nanoparticles prepared by desolvation technique can be applied as a drug carrier for intravenous administration and oral delivery.
    MeSH terms: Administration, Oral; Animals; Biocompatible Materials/pharmacology; Biocompatible Materials/chemistry; Cattle; Drug Carriers/chemistry; Glutaral/chemistry; Hemolysis/drug effects; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; Lactoferrin/blood; Lactoferrin/chemistry*; Particle Size; 2-Propanol/chemistry; Rats; Nanoparticles/toxicity; Nanoparticles/chemistry*
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