Methods: The HCPCA chemical structure was determined using nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. We conducted whole genome sequencing for the identification of the gene cluster(s) believed to be responsible for phenazine biosynthesis in order to map its corresponding pathway, in addition to bioinformatics analysis to assess the potential of S. kebangsaanensis in producing other useful secondary metabolites.
Results: The S. kebangsaanensis genome comprises an 8,328,719 bp linear chromosome with high GC content (71.35%) consisting of 12 rRNA operons, 81 tRNA, and 7,558 protein coding genes. We identified 24 gene clusters involved in polyketide, nonribosomal peptide, terpene, bacteriocin, and siderophore biosynthesis, as well as a gene cluster predicted to be responsible for phenazine biosynthesis.
Discussion: The HCPCA phenazine structure was hypothesized to derive from the combination of two biosynthetic pathways, phenazine-1,6-dicarboxylic acid and 4-methoxybenzene-1,2-diol, originated from the shikimic acid pathway. The identification of a biosynthesis pathway gene cluster for phenazine antibiotics might facilitate future genetic engineering design of new synthetic phenazine antibiotics. Additionally, these findings confirm the potential of S. kebangsaanensis for producing various antibiotics and secondary metabolites.
Methods: PRISMA guidelines were used as the basis of this systematic review. Relevant studies were identified by searching the following databases: Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), MEDLINE (PubMed), as well as Epistemonikos for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and controlled clinical trials published not later than January 2021 involving adults with prediabetes and diabetes mellitus who were consuming brown rice compared to those consuming white rice. The primary outcomes measured were glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) and fasting blood glucose (FBG) levels. The secondary outcomes were body weight, waist circumference, systolic and diastolic blood pressure levels, LDL and HDL-cholesterol levels. The mean differences (MDs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) between brown and white-rice-diet groups were calculated using a random-effects model.
Results: Seven trials involving 417 adults with prediabetes or type 2 diabetes were included in this study. Brown-rice diet did not improve the glycemic control because it had no effect on the HbA1c level (p = 0.15) and the FBG level (p = 0.95) compared to white-rice diet. Brown-rice diet reduced body weight (p
METHODS: This review was performed following the PRISMA guidelines. A systematic search of the study was conducted by retrieving articles from the electronic databases PubMed and Web of Science to identify articles focussed on gene expression and approaches for osteoblast and osteoclast differentiation.
RESULTS: Six articles were included in this review; there were original articles of in vitro human stem cell differentiation into osteoblasts and osteoclasts that involved gene expression profiling. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) was the most used technique for gene expression to detect differentiated human osteoblasts and osteoclasts. A total of 16 genes were found to be related to differentiating osteoblast and osteoclast differentiation.
CONCLUSION: Qualitative information of gene expression provided by qPCR could become a standard technique to analyse the differentiation of human stem cells into osteoblasts and osteoclasts rather than evaluating relative gene expression. RUNX2 and CTSK could be applied to detect osteoblasts and osteoclasts, respectively, while RANKL could be applied to detect both osteoblasts and osteoclasts. This review provides future researchers with a central source of relevant information on the vast variety of gene expression approaches in analysing the differentiation of human osteoblast and osteoclast cells. In addition, these findings should enable researchers to conduct accurately and efficiently studies involving isolated human stem cell differentiation into osteoblasts and osteoclasts.
METHOD: DPSC from murine incisors were isolated through either the outgrowth (DPSC-OG) or the enzymatic digestion (DPSC-ED) method. Cells at passage 4 were used in this study. The cells were characterized through morphology and expression of cell surface markers. The cells' doubling time when cultured using different seeding densities was calculated and analyzed using one-way ANOVA and Tukey's multiple comparison post-test. The ability of cells to differentiate to chondrocyte and osteoblast was evaluated through staining and analysis on the matrices secreted.
RESULTS: Gene expression analysis showed that DPSC-OG and DPSC-ED expressed dental pulp mesenchymal stem cell markers, but not hematopoietic stem cell markers. The least number of cells that could have been used to culture DPSC-OG and DPSC-ED with the shortest doubling time was 5 × 10(2) cells/cm(2) (11.49 ± 2.16 h) and 1 × 10(2) cells/cm(2) (10.55 h ± 0.50), respectively. Chondrocytes differentiated from DPSC-ED produced 2 times more proteoglycan and at a faster rate than DPSC-OG. FTIR revealed that DPSC-ED differentiated into osteoblast also secreted matrix, which more resembled a calvaria.
DISCUSSION: Isolation approaches might have influenced the cell populations obtained. This, in turn, resulted in cells with different proliferation and differentiation capability. While both DPSC-OG and DPSC-ED expressed mesenchymal stem cell markers, the percentage of cells carrying each marker might have differed between the two methods. Regardless, enzymatic digestion clearly yielded cells with better characteristics than outgrowth.
Methods: We carried out fogging with Pyrethroid insecticide (Detral 2.5 EC) at 10 different sites in a forest situated in the state of Selangor, Peninsular Malaysia. Across the sites, we counted the numbers of knocked-down invertebrates and identified them based on morphology to different taxa. We constructed Bayesian hierarchical Poisson regression models to investigate the effects of fogging on: (1) a target invertebrate taxon (Diptera) 3-h post-fogging; (2) selected non-target invertebrate taxa 3-h post-fogging; and (3) an invertebrate pollinator taxon (Lepidoptera) 24-h post-fogging.
Results: A total of 1,874 invertebrates from 19 invertebrate orders were knocked down by the fogging treatment across the 10 sites. Furthermore, 72.7% of the invertebrates counted 3-h post-fogging was considered dead. Our regression models showed that given the data and prior information, the probability that fogging had a negative effect on invertebrate taxa 3-h post-fogging was 100%, with reductions to 11% of the pre-fogging count of live individuals for the target invertebrate taxon (Diptera), and between 5% and 58% of the pre-fogging count of live individuals for non-target invertebrate taxa. For the invertebrate pollinator, the probability that fogging had a negative effect 24-h post-fogging was also 100%, with reductions to 53% of the pre-fogging count of live individuals.
Discussion: Our Bayesian models unequivocally demonstrate that fogging has detrimental effects on one pollinator order and non-target invertebrate orders, especially taxa that have comparatively lower levels of chitinisation. While fogging is effective in killing the target order (Diptera), no mosquitos were found dead in our experiment. In order to maintain urban biodiversity, we recommend that health authorities and the private sector move away from persistent insecticide fogging and to explore alternative measures to control adult mosquito populations.
METHOD: In vitro cell viability, morphology, and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity of MC3T3-E1 cells on HA and PCL scaffolds were determined in comparison to the accepted model outlined for two-dimensional systems. An in vivo study involving the transplantation of MC3T3-E1 cells with scaffolds into an artificial bone defect of 4 mm length and 1.5 mm depth in the rat's left maxilla was conducted. Three-dimensional analysis using micro-computed tomography (micro-CT), hematoxylin and eosin (H&E), and immunohistochemistry analyses evaluation were performed after six weeks of transplantation.
RESULTS: MC3T3-E1 cells on the HA scaffold showed the highest cell viability. The cell viability on both scaffolds decreased after 14 days of culture, which reflects the dominant occurrence of osteoblast differentiation. An early sign of osteoblast differentiation can be detected on the PCL scaffold. However, cells on the HA scaffold showed more prominent results with intense mineralized nodules and significantly (p