RESULTS: By using a basal growth medium containing N-(3-oxohexanoyl)homoserine lactone (3-oxo-C6-HSL) as the sole source of carbon and nitrogen, the ginger rhizosphere associated bacteria were enriched for strains with AHL-degrading capabilities. Three isolates belonging to the genera Acinetobacter (GG2), Burkholderia (GG4) and Klebsiella (Se14) were identified and selected for further study. Strains GG2 and Se14 exhibited the broadest spectrum of AHL-degrading activities via lactonolysis while GG4 reduced 3-oxo-AHLs to the corresponding 3-hydroxy compounds. In GG2 and GG4, QQ was found to co-exist with AHL-dependent QS and GG2 was shown to inactivate both self-generated and exogenously supplied AHLs. GG2, GG4 and Se14 were each able to attenuate virulence factor production in both human and plant pathogens.
CONCLUSIONS: Collectively our data show that ginger rhizosphere bacteria which make and degrade a wide range of AHLs are likely to play a collective role in determining the QS-dependent phenotype of a polymicrobial community.
METHODS: The study used data from wave 1 of the International Tobacco Control Southeast Asia Survey. 2006 adult smokers (95.3% male) from Malaysia and 2000 adult smokers (94.5% male) from Thailand were interviewed face to face in 2005.
RESULTS: 29% of Malaysian respondents reported currently smoking light cigarettes and 14% menthols, with 19% agreeing that lights are less harmful and 16% agreeing that menthols are less harmful. 38% of Thai respondents reported currently smoking light cigarettes and 19% menthols, with 46% agreeing that lights are less harmful and 35% agreeing that menthols are less harmful. Malaysian smokers reporting current use of light or menthol cigarettes were more likely to believe that they are less harmful. Reported use of lights did not relate to beliefs for Thai respondents. The belief that light and/or menthol cigarettes are less harmful was strongly related to the belief that they have smoother smoke.
CONCLUSIONS: The experience of smoother smoke is likely to produce some level of belief in reduced harm, regardless of how brands are labelled and whether or not Federal Trade Commission FTC/International Organisation for Standardisation tar, nicotine and carbon monoxide yield figures are used.
METHODS: The study was conducted over a span of three years with a total of 8142, 8134, and 8114 blood culture samples processed for the years 2008, 2009, and 2010 respectively. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) for ciprofloxacin and chloramphenicol was determined using an agar dilution method. The MIC for ciprofloxacin was also confirmed by Epsilon-test (E -test) strips.
RESULTS: Of the total 302 Salmonella spp. isolated, 257 were Salmonella enterica serotype Typhi (85.1%) and 45 (14.9%) were S. enterica serotype Paratyphi A. The majority of the isolates recovered were from the pediatric age group (54.6%) and males (60.6%). Complete susceptibility was observed to chloramphenicol, cefotaxime, ceftriaxone, and azithromycin over the last two years (2009 and 2010), with an increase in resistance to nalidixic acid (100%) and ciprofloxacin (13.6%).
CONCLUSION: In our study, we found augmentation of resistance to nalidixic acid and fluoroquinolones and complete sensitivity to ceftriaxone along with reemergence of chloramphenicol sensitivity for Salmonella isolates. This report emphasises the necessity of continuous surveillance of antibiograms of enteric fever isolates in an area.
Methods: This cross-sectional study, which was carried out at the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit of Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia (HUSM) in Kelantan, Malaysia, had involved 60 neonates admitted for suspected sepsis. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive values (PPV), negative predictive values (NPV) and the area under receiver operating characteristics curve (AUC) for PCT were determined at initial presentation (0 h) as well as 12 h and 24 h after presentation in comparison to blood culture as the gold standard.
Results: The study consisted of 27 (45.0%) male and 33 (55.0%) female neonates with a mean (SD) age of 76.8 (48.25) h. At cut-off PCT value of > 2 ng/mL, the sensitivity, specificity, PPV and NPV were 66.7%, 66.7%, 33.3% and 88.9% at 0 h. The respective parameters were 83.3%. 56.3%, 32.3% and 93.1% at 12 h and 83.3%, 52.1%, 30.3% and 92.6% at 24 h. AUC was 71.6%, 76.6% and 71.7% at 0 h, 12 h and 24 h.
Conclusions: Diagnostic performance and discrimination values of PCT for diagnosis of neonatal sepsis varied with time of obtaining the blood samples. The PCT result at 12 h demonstrates the most optimal diagnostic performance and discrimination values.
Methods: A conditioned medium of umbilical cord-derived MSCs (UCMSC-CM) was generated by culturing the cells on serum-free αMEM for 24 h. Following this, human GBM T98G cells were treated with UCMSC-CM for 24 h. Quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was then performed to measure the mRNA expression of survivin, caspase-9, TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL), DR4 and DcR1.
Results: mRNA expression of caspase-9 in CM-treated T98G cells increased 1.6-fold (P = 0.017), whereas mRNA expression of survivin increased 3.5-fold (P = 0.002). On the other hand, TRAIL protein expression was upregulated (1.2-fold), whereas mRNA expression was downregulated (0.4-fold), in CM-treated cells. Moreover, there was an increase in the mRNA expression of both DR4 (3.5-fold) and DcR1 (1,368.5-fold) in CM-treated cells.
Conclusion: The UCMSC-CM was able to regulate the expression of molecules involved in GBM cell apoptotic pathways. However, the expression of anti-apoptotic molecules was more upregulated than that of pro-apoptotic molecules.
METHODS AND STUDY DESIGN: A randomized controlled intervention study was carried out to determine the impact of self-efficacy education based on the Health Belief Model (HBM) in 240 patients with type 2 diabetes at the Golestan Hospital, Ahvaz, Iran between October 2014 and August 2015. The education duration was three months followed by a 24-week follow-up visit to determine the progress of the subjects. In this study, reliable and validated diabetes educational booklet and questionnaires based on knowledge, health beliefs and quality of life were used. The participants were randomly allocated to either the intervention group (n=120) or to the conventional dietary counseling group as controls (n=120), and assessed at the baseline, week 12 and week 36. The study was divided into primary outcome measurements consisting of glycated hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), fasting blood glucose, lipid profile, and anthropometric levels. Secondary outcome measures were related to nutrition knowledge, health beliefs and quality of life.
RESULTS: The results showed that subjects in the intervention group had significantly better metabolic and glycemic profiles compared with those in the control group. It also showed that knowledge, health belief and quality of life significantly increased in the intervention group.
CONCLUSIONS: Findings indicate that through tailored self-efficacy education, the quality of life and metabolic profile of diabetes patients can be improved.