Parkin Mediates Apparent E2-Independent Monoubiquitination In Vitro and Contains an Intrinsic Activity That Catalyzes Polyubiquitination

10.1371/journal.pone.0019720PLoS ONE65

Adsorption of gentamicin on surfactant-kaolinite and its antibacterial activity

Kaolinite is a common component of soil. Negatively-charged kaolinite can act as an adsorbent material and it has the ability to adsorb antimicrobial agents. In this study, local natural kaolinite was used to adsorb gentamicin and cationic surfactant molecules. Gentamicin-loaded surfactant-kaolinite (GSK) was prepared firstly by the attachment of cationic surfactant 4.0 mM hexadecyltrimethyl ammonium (HDTMA) on raw kaolinite to produce surfactant-kaolinite (SK), which was then loaded with gentamicin sulphate (50 and 200 mg/L) to yield GSK. Gentamicin-loaded kaolinite (GK) was also prepared and compared. All samples were characterised by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, and CHNS elemental analysis. The characterisation results proved that the framework structure of kaolinite was not disrupted after modification with antimicrobial agents. The antibacterial activity of the samples was tested against Gram-negative Escherichia coli (ATCC 11229) and Gram-positive Enterococcus faecalis (ATCC 29212) through disc diffusion technique (DDT). Based on the technique, raw kaolinite did not exhibit antibacterial activity but showed antibacterial activity when HDTMA and/or gentamicin was loaded on kaolinite. In addition, GSK showed better antibacterial activity compared to GK and performed better on Gram-positive bacteria compared to Gram-negative bacteria. As a conclusion, immobilisation of HDTMA on kaolinite proved that kaolinite can act as an adsorbent to adsorb antibiotics and it has the potential to be developed as an enhanced antimicrobial agent

Using Expanded Natural Killer Cells as Therapy for Invasive Aspergillosis

Invasive aspergillosis (IA) is a major opportunistic fungal infection in patients with haematological malignancies. Morbidity and mortality rates are high despite anti-fungal treatment, as the compromised status of immune system prevents the host from responding optimally to conventional therapy. This raises the consideration for immunotherapy as an adjunctive treatment. In this study, we evaluated the utility of expanded human NK cells as treatment against Aspergillus fumigatus infection in vitro and in vivo. The NK cells were expanded and activated by K562 cells genetically modified to express 4-1BB ligand and membrane-bound interleukin-15 (K562-41BBL-mbIL-15) as feeders. The efficacy of these cells was investigated in A. fumigatus killing assays in vitro and as adoptive cellular therapy in vivo. The expanded NK cells possessed potent killing activity at low effector-to-target ratio of 2:1. Fungicidal activity was morphotypal-dependent and most efficacious against A. fumigatus conidia. Fungicidal activity was mediated by dectin-1 receptors on the expanded NK cells leading to augmented release of perforin, resulting in enhanced direct cytolysis. In an immunocompromised mice pulmonary aspergillosis model, we showed that NK cell treatment significantly reduced fungal burden, hence demonstrating the translational potential of expanded NK cells as adjunctive therapy against IA in immunocompromised patients

Functional characterization of D9, a novel deazaneplanocin a (DZNep) analog, in targeting acute myeloid leukemia (AML)

10.1371/journal.pone.0122983PLoS ONE104e012298

Cost estimation methods for internet infrastructure deployment in Rural Sarawak: a review

In rural Sarawak, the internet accessibility is low due to unreliable power grids to support telecommunication network and large geographical area. The risk for network infrastructure implementation is high for internet service provider (ISP), thus more practical and accurate cost estimation methods should be used. This paper reviews different types of cost estimation methods and the accuracy and feasibility of each methods are discussed and compared for network infrastructure implementation in rural Sarawak. The unique characteristics of rural Sarawak are considered in this work, including the topography, development of rural areas and acceptance of new technologies. Different cost estimation methods are identified for different senarios and availability of data

Drying characteristics of Orthosiphon stamineus Benth by solar assisted heat pump drying

Processing methods of Misai Kucing still remain crude and lack technological advancements. In terms of drying, very few studies have attempted to apply advanced drying technology to improve Misai Kucing quality and drying time. This paper presents first attempt to improve Misai Kucing drying kinetics and product quality through solar-assisted heat pump drying and comparison was made against solar drying. Experimental results showed that solar-dried samples had the greatest total color change and loss of two bioactive ingredients as compared to solar-assisted heat pump-dried samples due to its longer time process, higher drying temperature, and chlorophyll degradation. By comparing the statistical values, it showed that the Page model had the best goodness of fit at all tested dried samples by both drying methods

Study on retention of metabolites composition in misai kucing (orthosiphon stamineus) by heat pump assisted solar drying

In this research, the effects of different drying methods on the two biomarker compounds concentrations, such as sinensetin (SEN) and rosmarinic acid (RA) of Orthosiphon staminues Benth leaves, flowers, stems and mix were investigated. SEN and RA retention among the dehydrated samples were maximum 83.07% in leaves and 92.54% in flowers, respectively by heat pump assisted solar drying method. For heat pump assisted solar dried samples, there are no significant differences (p > .05) in the retention of SEN and RA as compared to fresh samples. However, there are significant differences (p < 0.05) in SEN and RA retention in solar dried leaves, flowers, stems and mix as compared to fresh samples. Besides, an optimization study was performed to evaluate the optimal drying conditions for obtaining high SEN yields from Misai Kucing's leaves, flowers, stems and mixes with high RA contents within the drying parameters

Comparison of Mortality Outcomes in Acute Myocardial Infarction Patients With or Without Standard Modifiable Cardiovascular Risk Factors

Background: Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) cases have decreased in part due to the advent of targeted therapies for standard modifiable cardiovascular disease risk factors (SMuRF). Recent studies have reported that ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) patients without SMuRF (termed "SMuRF-less") may be increasing in prevalence and have worse outcomes than "SMuRF-positive" patients. As these studies have been limited to STEMI and comprised mainly Caucasian cohorts, we investigated the changes in the prevalence and mortality of both SMuRF-less STEMI and non-STEMI (NSTEMI) patients in a multiethnic Asian population. Methods: We evaluated 23,922 STEMI and 62,631 NSTEMI patients from a national multiethnic registry. Short-term cardiovascular and all-cause mortalities in SMuRF-less patients were compared to SMuRF-positive patients. Results: The proportions of SMuRF-less STEMI but not of NSTEMI have increased over the years. In hospitals, all-cause and cardiovascular mortality and 1-year cardiovascular mortality were significantly higher in SMuRF-less STEMI after adjustment for age, creatinine, and hemoglobin. However, this difference did not remain after adjusting for anterior infarction, cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), and Killip class. There were no differences in mortality in SMuRF-less NSTEMI. In contrast to Chinese and Malay patients, SMuRF-less patients of South Asian descent had a two-fold higher risk of in-hospital all-cause mortality even after adjusting for features of increased disease severity. Conclusion: SMuRF-less patients had an increased risk of mortality with STEMI, suggesting that there may be unidentified nonstandard risk factors predisposing SMuRF-less patients to a worse prognosis. This group of patients may benefit from more intensive secondary prevention strategies to improve clinical outcomes

Association between smoking status and outcomes in myocardial infarction patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention

Smoking is one of the leading risk factors for cardiovascular diseases, including ischemic heart disease and hypertension. However, in acute myocardial infarction (AMI) patients, smoking has been associated with better clinical outcomes, a phenomenon termed the “smoker’s paradox.” Given the known detrimental effects of smoking on the cardiovascular system, it has been proposed that the beneficial effect of smoking on outcomes is due to age differences between smokers and non-smokers and is therefore a smoker’s pseudoparadox. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between smoking status and clinical outcomes in ST-segment elevation (STEMI) and non-STEMI (NSTEMI) patients treated by percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), using a national multi-ethnic Asian registry. In unadjusted analyses, current smokers had better clinical outcomes following STEMI and NSTEMI. However, after adjusting for age, the protective effect of smoking was lost, confirming a smoker’s pseudoparadox. Interestingly, although current smokers had increased risk for recurrent MI within 1 year after PCI in both STEMI and NSTEMI patients, there was no increase in mortality. In summary, we confirm the existence of a smoker’s pseudoparadox in a multi-ethnic Asian cohort of STEMI and NSTEMI patients and report increased risk of recurrent MI, but not mortality, in smokers