Urinary tract infections frequently affect pregnant mothers. This problem causes significant morbidity and healthcare expenditure. Three common clinical manifestations of UTIs in pregnancy are: asymptomatic bacteriuria, acute cystitis and acute pyelonephritis. Escherichia coli remains the most frequent organism isolated in UTIs. All pregnant mothers should be screened for UTIs in pregnancy and antibiotics should be commenced without delay. Urine culture and sensitivity is the gold standard in diagnosing UTIs. Without treatment, asymptomatic bacteriuria in pregnancy is associated with preterm delivery, intrauterine growth retardation, low birth weight, maternal hypertension, pre-eclampsia and anaemia. Acute pyelonephritis can lead to maternal sepsis. Recurrent UTIs in pregnancy require prophylactic antibiotic treatment.
Background: The public health issue of consuming groundwater is a major concern because people often extract groundwater directly from the aquifers either through wells or boreholes without treating it with any form of filtration system or chlorine disinfection. Based on the Malaysian National Drinking Water guidelines the current study was designed to provide a better understanding on the variable factors that are influencing the quality of well-water in an urbanised village in Malaysia. Well water quality assessment of heavy metals, chemicals, microbial and physical parameters were carried out for Sungai Buloh Village in the Klang Valley to ensure it was safe for human consumption.
Materials and Methods: Water samples were collected from wells at four sites (Sites A,B,C,D), a river and a tap inside a house in Sungai Buloh village. Soil was sampled from the riverbed and area surrounding the wells. Samples were collected every two months over a one year duration from all sites. The water samples were processed and examined for viruses, coliforms and protozoa as well as for heavy metal contaminants.
Results: The turbidity and colour ranged in the average of 0.57-0.13 Nephelometric Turbidity (NTU) and 4.16-5.00 Total Conjunctive Use (TCU) respectively for all sites except Site C. At Site C the turbidity level was 2.56 ± 1.38 NTU. The well-water was polluted with coliforms (1.2 to 2.4 x 103 CFU/100 ml) in all sites, E. coli (0.12 - 4 x 102 CFU/100 ml CFU/ 100 ml) and Cryptosporidium oocysts (0.4 cysts/100 ml). All the heavy metals and chemical parameters were within the Malaysian Guidelines’ limits except manganese. The average pH ranged from 5.44 - 6.62 and the temperature was 28 ºC.
Conclusion: In summary, the well water at Sungai Buloh is considered unsafe for consumption due to pollution. Therefore the major thrust will be to provide better quality of drinking water to the residents of the village.
The objective of this study was to evaluate the antimicrobial potential of methanol, acetone and distilled water stem
bark extracts from Canarium odontophyllum against Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923, Bacillus cereus ATCC 6633,
Escherichia coli ATCC 25932, Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 27853, Acinetobacter baumannii strain sensitive, Candida
albicans ATCC 64677, Candida glabrata ATCC 90028, Aspergillus niger and Fusarium solani M2781. The extracts from
C. odontophyllum stem bark from 3.125 mg/ml to 25 mg/ml were screened against the tested microorganisms using disc
diffusion method. The Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and Minimum Bactericidal Concentration (MBC) of the
extracts against susceptible organisms were determined using microbroth dilution method and streak-plate technique,
respectively. From the antibacterial screening assay, the growth of S. aureus, B. cereus and A. baumannii were inhibited
by methanol extract whereas the acetone extract was capable of inhibiting all the tested microorganisms except E.coli,
F. solani and A. niger. The lowest MIC value for methanol extract was against A. baumannii (0.195 mg/ml) whereas
its MBC value was twice its MIC value (0.391 mg/ml), indicating that methanol extract was bacteriostatic against A.
baumannii. While for acetone extract, S. aureus showed bactericidal effect with equal MIC and MBC values at 0.195 mg/
ml. In conclusion, stem bark of C. odontophyllum has the potential to be the source of antibacterial agent and can be
exploited as an alternative phytoantimicrobial.
SnO₂ nanoparticle production using thermal treatment with tin(II) chloride dihydrate and polyvinylpyrrolidone capping agent precursor materials for calcination was investigated. Samples were analyzed using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), diffuse UV-vis reflectance spectra, photoluminescence (PL) spectra and the electron spin resonance (ESR). XRD analysis found tetragonal crystalline structures in the SnO₂ nanoparticles generated through calcination. EDX and FT-IR spectroscopy phase analysis verified the derivation of the Sn and O in the SnO₂ nanoparticle samples from the precursor materials. An average nanoparticle size of 4–15.5 nm was achieved by increasing calcination temperature from 500 °C to 800 °C, as confirmed through TEM. The valence state and surface composition of the resulting nanoparticle were analyzed using XPS. Diffuse UV-vis reflectance spectra were used to evaluate the optical energy gap using the Kubelka-Munk equation. Greater calcination temperature resulted in the energy band gap falling from 3.90 eV to 3.64 eV. PL spectra indicated a positive relationship between particle size and photoluminescence. Magnetic features were investigated through ESR, which revealed the presence of unpaired electrons. The magnetic field resonance decreases along with an increase of the g-factor value as the calcination temperature increased from 500 °C to 800 °C. Finally, Escherichia coli ATCC 25922 Gram (–ve) and Bacillus subtilis UPMC 1175 Gram (+ve) were used for in vitro evaluation of the tin oxide nanoparticle’s antibacterial activity. This work indicated that the zone of inhibition of 22 mm has good antibacterial activity toward the Gram-positive B. subtilis UPMC 1175.
Antibacterial activity of different types of P. odorata leaf extracts was evaluated in combination with
standard antibiotics. Persicaria. odorata leaves were extracted with n-hexane (n-hex), dichloromethane
(DCM) and methanol (MeOH). Each extract was applied on vancomycin (30µg), erythromycin (15µg) and
gentamicin (10µg) discs, respectively. Disk diffusion method was used to evaluate the synergistic activity of
each combination on Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Streptococcus pyogenes,
Streptococcus pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella typhi, and Escherichia coli. Minimum
inhibitory concentration (MIC) and gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GCMS) analysis was performed on
the active extract. Synergistic effects seen were mainly from the n-hex+antibiotics combinations, mainly on
the Gram-positive bacteria (7 additive, 5 antagonistic), with MIC range from 50 µg/ml to 100 µg/ml, as well
as Gram-negative bacteria (2 additive, 2 indifferent, 5 antagonistic). In particular, synergism showed by the
combination of n-hex+van were all additive against the susceptible bacteria. DCM extract combination
showed synergistic effects on three Gram-positive species (S. aureus, S. epidermidis, S. pyogenes).
Meanwhile, MeOH+antibiotics combination showed significant additive synergistic effects (p
Multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs) such as multidrug-resistant (MDR) Acinetobacter baumannii and Escherichia coli are important pathogens associated with nosocomial infections in both human and animal health care facilities. Surfaces of inanimate objects in health care facilities can serve as sources of infection. However, studies on prevalence of these pathogens in veterinary settings are lacking in the country. Therefore, the objectives of this study were to determine the occurrence of A. baumannii and E. coli and the occurrence of MDR isolates on surfaces of inanimate objects in veterinary health care facilities in Klang Valley, Malaysia. In this study, swab samples were taken from 65 surfaces of inanimate objects that included door knobs, examination tables, labcoats, stethoscopes and weighing scales. The swab samples were cultured and all isolates were subjected to antibiotic susceptibility test. The study revealed that the occurrence of A. baumannii was 9.23% and 5 out of 6 (83.33%) A. baumannii isolates were classified as MDR. However, no E. coli was isolated. In conclusion, surfaces of inanimate objects can be a source of MDR A. baumannii in veterinary health care facilities that is of animal and public health concern.
Escherichia coli O157:H7 is a major food-borne pathogen that has resulted in numerous
outbreaks around the world. Widespread distribution of the organism in various ecological
niches impedes the control measures. This study aimed to detect and quantify E. coli O157:H7
in beef sold in wet markets and hypermarkets in Malaysia and to determine the risk of E. coli
O157:H7 infection linked to consumption of beef. The rfbO157 and flicH7 primers targeted on
somatic antigen (O157) and flagellar antigen (H7) respectively of E. coli O157:H7 was used for
the MPN-PCR method. A total of 99 beef samples were collected from local wet markets and
hypermarkets. The highest E. coli O157:H7 contamination rate was observed in beef samples
collected from wet markets (89.50%), whereas the contamination rate in hyper market A and B
were compratively low (35.35 and 20% respectively). However, the microbial load was highest
in the beef samples from hypermarket A (1100 MPN/g) while E. coli O157:H7 bacterial load
in beef samples from hypermarket B and wet market ranged from 3 to 93 MPN/g and 3 to 240
MPN/g, respectively. Using the Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessment (QMRA) approach
the risk was estimated incorporating the findings of the prevalence study and predictions
based on home storage, cooking and consumption patterns. Three different exposure pathways
were investigated to estimate the risk associated with contaminated beef and Monte Carlo
simulation was used to determine the level of uncertainty. The developed model predicated that
consumption of contaminated beef can be accountable for 1.83E+06 E. coli O157:H7 cases per
year in Malaysia. The reliability of the model, data gaps and further research needs, is discussed.
Through continuous improvement Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessment provides valuable
insight into controlling and prevention strategies.
Foodborne illness is recognized as an emerging infectious disease. The incidence of foodborne
infections is common and the majority cases are undiagnosed or unreported. Apart from some
diarrhea or minor gastrointestinal problem, some foodborne pathogenic microbes may cause
death, particularly to those people with weakened immune system. In this study, we have
developed a new fermented papaya beverage using symbiotic culture of yeast and acetic acid
bacteria under controlled biofermentation process. An in-vitro assessment of fermented papaya
beverage against few foodborne pathogenic microorganism was conducted to determine
its minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC>99). Three types of foodborne pathogen:
Escherichia coli O157, Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium ATCC 53648, Salmonella
enterica serovar Enteritidis (isolated from infectious chicken) were selected. From minimum
bactericidal concentration (MBC>99) assay, both fermented papaya pulp and leaves beverages
have shown 100% killing rate against three selected foodborne pathogenic microbes. Inversely,
non-fermented papaya pulp and leaves beverages indicated no inhibition at all. In fact, further
dilution of fermented papaya pulp and leaves beverages demonstrated different degree of
MBC>99 and brix value, but the pH value remained less than 3.5. These findings indicated
the combination of soluble solid compounds presents in both fermented papaya beverage and
product acidity play an important role in the inhibition of pathogenic microorganisms. The
preliminary promising results of this work have shown that the great potential of fermented
papaya beverages as a preventive measure to reduce the incidence of foodborne illness.
Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) used in this study were synthesized using pu-erh tea leaves extract with particle size of 4.06 nm. The antibacterial activity of green synthesized AgNPs against a diverse range of Gram-negative foodborne pathogens was determined using disk diffusion method, resazurin microtitre-plate assay (minimum inhibitory concentration, MIC), and minimum bactericidal concentration test (MBC). The MIC and MBC of AgNPs against Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Salmonella Typhimurium, and Salmonella Enteritidis were 7.8, 3.9, 3.9, 3.9 and 7.8, 3.9, 7.8, 3.9 μg/mL, respectively. Time-kill curves were used to evaluate the concentration between MIC and bactericidal activity of AgNPs at concentrations ranging from 0×MIC to 8×MIC. The killing activity of AgNPs was fast acting against all the Gram-negative bacteria tested; the reduction in the number of CFU mL-1 was >3 Log10 units (99.9%) in 1-2 h. This study indicates that AgNPs exhibit a strong antimicrobial activity and thus might be developed as a new type of antimicrobial agents for the treatment of bacterial infection including multidrug resistant bacterial infection.
To gain insight into the microbiological safety of food products routinely traded across international borders in Southeast Asian countries, beef imported from Malaysia to southern Thailand was examined for contamination with Escherichia coli O157 and its subsequent spread into the imported areas. We screened 31 samples exported from Malaysia and 36 domestic Thai samples. Isolation methods including an O157 antigen-targeted immunomagnetic separation technique, screening on CHROMagar O157 medium, and serotype confirmation of E. coli isolates by specific agglutination tests were employed. Fourteen strains of E. coli O157:H7 were isolated from eight Malaysian samples (25.8%) and six strains from four Thai samples (11.1%). These strains were of the stx1-stx2+eae+ genotype except one Malaysian strain which was of the stx1- stx2- eae+ genotype. All 19 O157:H7 strains possessing the stx2 gene produced little or no Stx2 (reversed passive latex agglutination titer ≤ 4). Of the 19 strains, five Malaysian (38.5%) and two Thai (33.3%) strains exhibited resistance to a set of antibiotics. Finally, the results of two DNA fingerprinting
analyses (O157 IS-printing targeted to IS629 and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, PFGE) of the O157:H7 strains possessing the stx2 gene, indicated that the Malaysian and Thai strains are closely related. Therefore, E. coli O157:H7 might be transferred from Malaysia to southern Thailand through beef trade.
Detection of enterotoxin by targeting entFM and hblA genes in Bacillus cereus BC1 strain inoculated into ready to eat food (RTF) and drink samples using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was conducted. The B. cereus BC1 strain was confirmed as a Bacillus diarrhoeal enterotoxin (BDE) when tested by a commercially available Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay-BDE immunoassay (ELISA-BDE immunoassay, TECRA). In the specificity study, both enterotoxin genes were detected on chromosomal DNA of B. cereus BC1 strain by showing a specific band of 1269 bp (entFM) and 874 bp (hblA), respectively. However, none of the target genes were detected for the other 15 genomic DNA bacteria (B. cereus (ATCC 11779), B. subtilis (ATCC 6633), Campylobacter jejuni (ATCC 29428), C. coli (Jabatan Kimia Malaysia, JKM), Clostridium perfringen (ATCC 13124), Enterobacter sakazaki (ATCC 51329), Escherichia coli (ATCC 43888), E. coli (ATCC 11735), Legionella pneumophila (ATCC 33152), Listeria monocytogenes (ATCC 35967), Salmonella typhi (IMR), S. enteritidis (ATCC 13076), S. typhimurium (ATCC 14028), Shigella flexeneri (ATCC 12022) and Vibrio cholerae bengal (Institute Medical Research (IMR), Malaysia) examined. The detection limit of both genes was 0.1 ng of genomic DNA. Thus, in the presence study it is evidence that the PCR analysis targeting enterotoxin of entFM and hblA genes are suitable and useful in detecting enterotoxic B. cereus in RTFs and drinks contaminated sample.
Edible medicinal plants are often used in the treatment of various ailments and spice in traditional food preparation. In this study, 45 of tropical edible medicinal plants extracts from Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand were screened for their antimicrobial activity against five standard microorganisms for food preservative namely Aspergillus niger, Candida albicans, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus. The methanol extracts of Piper nigrum L. seed, Piper cubeba L. seed, and the root of Ligusticum acutilobum Siebold and Zucc. showed antimicrobial activity against five species of standard microorganisms. Among them, P. cubeba L. extract demonstrated the most susceptible against all tested microorganisms. Minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimal bactericidal or fungicidal concentration (MBC or MFC) were performed by the broth microdilution techniques as described by the Clinical and Laboratory Standard Institute. MIC values of P. cubeba L. extract to A. niger, C. albicans, E. coli, P. aeruginosa and S. aureus were 12.8, 1.6, 3.2, 6.4, and 1.6 mg/ml, respectively. P. cubeba extract killed A. niger, C. albicans, E. coli, P. aeruginosa and S. aureus with MBC values of 25.6, 3.2, 6.4, 12.8, and 3.2 mg/ml, respectively. The potent antimicrobial activity of P. cubeba L. extract may support its use for natural food preservative.
Two cocoa bean fermentation methods (spontaneous fermentation and the use of starter culture) for 7 days fermentation were compared in terms of safety and quality fermented beans. Candida sp. was used as a starter culture in this study. The safety of the fermented cocoa beans were measured by the growth colonies of pathogenic microorganisms namely Bacillus cereus, Escherichia coli, Salmonella sp., Staphylococcus aureus, and Pseudomonas sp., on Bacillus cereus agar, eosin-methylene blue (EMB) agar, xylose lysine deoxycholate (XLD) agar, Baird-Parker agar (BPA), and Pseudomonas agar, respectively. B. cereus, E. coli and Salmonella sp. were early present in both fermentations. Candida sp.-fermentation showed detection of B. cereus at 5.34 log10 CFU/g and absence after 24 hours of fermentation while in spontaneous-fermentation B. cereus was too few to count. Moreover, the log10 E. coli number in Candida sp.-fermentation and spontaneous-fermentation were reduced from 5.72 to 3.66 and from 7.15 to 4.46 on day 1 to day 3, respectively. There were no presences of pathogenic microorganisms on day 5 and day 7 for both fermentations. In term of quality, proximate analysis of spontaneous-fermentation resulted that the content of moisture, ash, fat, crude protein, crude fibre and carbohydrate was 56.47%, 2.32%, 3.17%, 7.02%, 28.14% and 2.88%, meanwhile for the Candida sp.-fermentation was 53.96%, 2.19%, 3.44%, 8.25%, 25.46% and 6.70%, respectively. This study showed that both fermentations are considered to be safe and there is no significant difference in proximate value in fermented cocoa beans from spontaneous-fermentation and Candida sp.-fermentation.
The present study aimed to purify and identify the metabolites from T. atroviride using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and 1H and 13C nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer (NMR) followed by analyzing their toxicological, antibacterial and anticancer properties. This work identified two metabolites - TM1 and TM2. TM1 was in two forms: (i) 1, 3-dione-5, 5-dimethylcyclohexane; and, (ii) 2-enone-3hydroxy -5,5-dimethylcylohex, while TM2 was 4H-1,3-dioxin-4-one-2,3,6-trimethyl. These metabolites did not exhibit any irritant or allergic reaction as revealed by HET- CAM test. TM2 significantly inhibited the growth of H. pylori and Shigella toxin producing Escherichia coli (STEC) as evident by in vitro and microscopic observations of bacterial cell death. TM2 also induced the cell death and cytotoxicity, as revealed by cell viability test and western blot analysis. According to microscopic, flow cytometer and western blot analysis, TM2 treated cells displayed higher ROS, cell death, and apoptosis-related protein expression than TM1 and control. This study concluded that TM2 derived from T. atroviride was a potential therapeutic agent for anti-prostate cancer and antibiotic agent against MDR- H. pylori and STEC and it is also recommended to carry out further in vivo animal model experiments with improved stability of the metabolites for future pharmaceutical trails.
Many wounds are unresponsive to currently available treatment techniques and therefore there is an immense need to explore suitable materials, including biomaterials, which could be considered as the crucial factor to accelerate the healing cascade. In this study, we fabricated polyhydroxyalkanoate-based antibacterial mats via an electrospinning technique. One-pot green synthesized graphene-decorated silver nanoparticles (GAg) were incorporated into the fibres of poly-3 hydroxybutarate-co-12 mol.% hydroxyhexanoate (P3HB-co-12 mol.% HHx), a co-polymer of the polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) family which is highly biocompatible, biodegradable, and flexible in nature. The synthesized PHA/GAg biomaterial has been characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), elemental mapping, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), UV-visible spectroscopy (UV-vis), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). An in vitro antibacterial analysis was performed to investigate the efficacy of PHA/GAg against gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) strain 12,600 ATCC and gram-negative Escherichia coli (E. coli) strain 8739 ATCC. The results indicated that the PHA/GAg demonstrated significant reduction of S. aureus and E. coli as compared to bare PHA or PHA- reduced graphene oxide (rGO) in 2 h of time. The p value (p < 0.05) was obtained by using a two-sample t-test distribution.
Antibacterial ability is vital in biological approaches as well as functional biomaterials. Besides, cytocompatibility aspect of biologic media, tissue and organs is always concern for appropriate synthesis. From the past, metallic/oxide phases of silver (Ag) material in various macro, micro or nano configurations have been widely used for antibacterial targets. While, background of Ag toxicity within particle, film and composites is posing gradual ion release affected by molecular bounding. Recent researches conducted to control, optimize and neutralize Ag limitations finding the benefits of ideal (∼ 100%) mediation against both Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria. Whereas, non-degradable releases history is still a challenge and its longer accumulation may cause to disrupt biostructures and disease risk. Thus, facile development of large-area organic materials with switchable bacteria toxicity and normal cell compatibility function is interesting for concerned approaches. Here, smart positively-charged stable arginine amino acid incorporated mono layer graphene (Arg-EMGr) nanobiocomposite introduced as useful antibacterial and safe bactericidal agent competitive with Ag direct. The immunity characteristic versus Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) comparably assessed with graphene oxide (GO) and different concentrations GO-AgNPs morphology. As cell viability matter, 1,3,5,7-days vitro culture assay shown attachment proliferation and cytotoxicity due to short interaction.
Antibacterial activity of zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles have received significant interest, particularly by the implementation of nanotechnology to synthesize particles in nanometer region. ZnO nanoparticles were successfully synthesized through microwave heating by using chitosan as a stabilizing agent and characterized by UV-vis, FTIR, XRD and FESEM-EDX. The aim of the present study is to determine the antibacterial activity of ZnO nanoparticles against Gram-positive bacterium Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and Gram-negative bacterium Escherichia coli (E. coli). The antibacterial effect of ZnO nanoparticles was investigated for the inhibition zone and inactivation of cell growth. The absorption of ZnO nanoparticles was found to be around 360 nm. FTIR results showed the stretching mode of ZnO nanoparticles at 475 cm-1 of the absorption band. EDX results indicated that ZnO nanoparticles have been successfully formed with an atomic percentage of zinc and oxygen at 23.61 and 46.57% respectively. X-ray diffraction result was confirmed the single-phase formation of ZnO nanoparticles and the particle sizes were observed to be around 50 to 130 nm. The results showed that ZnO nanoparticles have displayed inhibition zone of 16 and 13 mm against S. aureus and E. coli respectively. Gram-negative bacteria seemed to be more resistant to ZnO nanoparticles than Gram-positive bacteria.
This paper provided comprehensive data on spectroscopic and antibacterial activities of thioureido compounds which are relevant with research article entitled "Synthesis, Spectroscopic Studies and Antibacterial Activity of New Lauroyl Thiourea Amino Acid Derivatives" [1]. Based on the reported study, four new thioureido derivatives, namely 3-(3-dodecanoyl-thioureido)propionic acid (R1), 2-(3-dodecanoyl-thioureido)-3-methyl butyric acid (R2), (3-dodecanoyl-thioureido)acetic acid (R3) and 2-(3-dodecanoyl-thioureido)-3-phenyl propionic acid (R4) were characterized by elemental analysis, Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR), 1H Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (1H NMR) and 13C Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (13C NMR), and Ultraviolet Visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis). The preliminary results from antibacterial assay which were tested against Gram-positive bacteria such as Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Staphylococcus aureus and Gram-negative bacteria such as Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhimurium are also described.
The synthesized titanium dioxide nanotubes (TiO2-NTs) were emerged as wound healing enhancer as well as exhibited significant wound healing activity on Sprague Dawley rats. In our present study, the blends of GG and TiO2-NTs bio-nanocomposite film was characterised by fourier transform infrared (FTIR), x-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), thermogravimetric analysis, atomic force microscopy (AFM). The morphology of TiO2-NTs was investigated using transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The mechanical properties study shows that the GG + TiO2-NTs (20 w/w %) bio-nanocomposite film possessed the highest tensile strength and young modulus which are (4.56 ± 0.15) MPa and (68 ± 1.63) MPa, respectively. GG + TiO2-NTs (20 w/w %) also displays the highest antibacterial activity with (16 ± 0.06) mm, (16 ± 0.06) mm, (14 ± 0.06) mm, and (12 ± 0.25) mm inhibition zone were recorded against Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus, Escherichia coli, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The prepared bio-nanocomposite films have good biocompatibility against 3T3 mouse fibroblast cells and caused accelerated healing of open excision type wounds on Sprague Dawley rat model. The synergistic effects of bio-nanocomposite film like good swelling and WVTR properties, excellent hydrophilic nature, biocompatibility, wound appearance and wound closure rate through in vivo test makes it a suitable candidate for wound healing applications.
In Sarawak, pig farm operators are required to treat the wastewater containing pig waste and spilt food in oxidation ponds before discharge. However, information on the impact of this industry on surface water quality is lacking. Therefore, the objective of this study is to determine the impact of pig farm effluent on the water quality of Serin River and its tributaries. Results of analysis show that the tributary that received pond effluent has significantly higher mean of total suspended solids (TSS), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5) chemical oxygen demand (COD), ammonia-nitrogen (NH3 -N), reactive phosphorus (SRP) and Escherichia coli (E. coli) concentrations when compared to those of the tributary that did not receive pond effluent. Comparisons between the stations upstream and downstream of the discharge point indicated that BOD5 and COD were significantly higher at the downstream station that received pond effluent. Dissolved oxygen (DO) was the lowest at the tributary receiving effluent from pig farms with a mean of 2.40 mg/l. According to the Interim Water Quality Standard of the Department of Environment, water quality at the tributary that received pig farm effluent falls into Class III whereas that of the other stations falls into Class II. It is recommended that further studies be conducted on the management of waste to explore the possibility of turning the waste into a resource so that water quality of rivers can remain pristine for drinking and recreation.