Antifungal Effectiveness Test of Cinnamon Extract (Cinnamomum Burmannii) Against Candida Albicans

Background: Candida albicans, is a normal flora that lives on the oral mucosa, digestive tract and vagina. Candida albicans can cause infection such as oral candidiasis. A number of antifungal agents are widely used in the treatment of Candida infections, but some antifungal drugs sometimes have unpleasant side effects. This prompted researchers to examine the contents of natural ingredients that have antifungal activity, one of which is cinnamon. Cinnamon (Cinnamomum burmannii) contains several chemical compounds including cinnamaldehyde and eugenol which are components that have antifungal effects. Objective: to analyze the effectiveness of cinnamon (Cinnamomum burmannii) antifungal against Candida albicans. Materials and Methods: The research was performed as laboratory experiment that calculates the diameter of inhibition using the agar-well diffusion method. 25 samples tested were Candida albicans cultured in SDA (Saboroud Dextrose Agar) medium. Variations in treatment concentrations were cinnamon extract (Cinnamomum burmannii) 25%, 50%, 75%, nystatin oral suspension (positive control), and aquades (negative control). Results: The average inhibition of 75% cinnamon extract (Cinnamomum burmannii) was 16.8 mm, whereas in the positive control nystatin oral suspension was 13.4 mm. The hypothesis test has a value of p=0.000 (p<0.05). Conclusion: There is an antifungal effectiveness of cinnamon (Cinnamomum burmannii) against Candida albicans at a concentration of 75%

Muslim Victimization in the Contemporary US: Clarifying the Racialization Thesis

This article draws on in-depth, qualitative interviews with Muslim and non-Muslim Americans in 2016 to specify how Muslim “racialization” is shaped by the racial politics of the United States (US). Anti-Muslim bias is not experienced by religious Muslims as a whole, but by people whose bodies are read to be affiliated with the Islamic religion—often erroneously—because of their perceived racial characteristics. Self-identified black, white, and Hispanic Muslims with no visible markers of their religion do not experience anti-Muslim harassment, while non-Muslim Christians, Hindus, and Sikhs who embody an imagined “Muslim look,” cope with fear and aggression from strangers on a daily basis. These findings are notable for two reasons. First, our respondents demonstrate how racialized religion is mutable: they are active in constructing how Islam is read on their bodies in public. Second, our findings demonstrate how hate crime categorization in the US obscures the role that racism plays in religious victimization. We urge scholars who study anti-Muslim acts to include non-Muslims in their analyses, and advocate for the re-conceptualization of identity-based hate crime categories. Excavating the corporeality of criminal victimization in particular can help to understand the ways in which biases are experienced in the contemporary US

Perceived Usefulness of RFID-enabled Information Services - A Systematic Approach

Even though RFID technology is currently gaining importance mainly in logistics, usage areas, such as shopping or after-sales enhancements beyond the supply chain are envisioned. Yet, while RFID hits the street it is questioned if it may undermine one’s privacy while providing few customer benefits. Meeting this criticism this paper investigates RFID-enabled information services and the drivers of their usefulness for consumers. The article claims that the more risk one associates with a product the more benefit from RFID-enabled information services is perceived. We show empirically that the nature of product risk provides a useful framework to decide on the types of RFID information services a marketer should offer to create RFID usefulness perceptions and increase technology acceptance

Adherence to prescribing restrictions for HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer in Australia: A national population-based observational study (2001-2016)

Background: Targeted cancer therapy is often complex, involving multiple agents and chemotherapeutic partners. In Australia, prescribing restrictions are put in place to reflect existing evidence of cost-effectiveness of these medicines. As therapeutic options continue to expand, these restrictions may not be perceived to align with best practice and it is not known if their use in the real-world clinic adheres to these restrictions. We examined the treatment of women receiving trastuzumab for HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer (HER2+MBC) to determine the extent to which treatment adhered to national prescribing restrictions. Patients and methods: Our population-based, retrospective cohort study used dispensing records for every Australian woman initiating publicly-subsidised trastuzumab for HER2+MBC between 2001±2013, followed through 2016. We used group-based trajectory models (GBTMs) to cluster patients, first on their patterns of trastuzumab exposure, and then on their patterns of lapatinib and chemotherapy exposure. We described the characteristics of patients within each cluster, and examined their treatments and combinations of treatments to determine restriction adherence. Results: Of 5,052 patients initiating trastuzumab, 1,795 (36%) received at least one non-adherent HER2-targeted treatment. The most common non-adherent treatments were trastuzumab combinations involving vinorelbine (24% of non-adherent treatments); capecitabine (24%); and anthracyclines (10%). Non-adherent lapatinib use was observed in 4% of patients. GBTM identified three trastuzumab exposure clusters, each containing three further subclusters. The largest proportions of non-adherent treatments were in sub-clusters with longer trastuzumab exposure and more non-taxane chemotherapy. Patients in these sub-clusters were younger than those in sub-clusters with less non-adherent treatment. Conclusions: Our study highlights that, even during the relatively simpler treatment era of our study period, a substantial amount of treatment did not adhere to prescribing restrictions. As more trials are conducted exploring pertuzumab and T-DM1 in combination with different chemotherapies and other HER2-targeted therapies, the regulation and funding of HER2-targeted treatment will become more challenging

The hawk–dove game in a sexually reproducing species explains a colourful polymorphism of an endangered bird

The hawk-dove game famously introduced strategic game theory thinking into biology and forms the basis of arguments for limited aggression in animal populations. However, aggressive 'hawks' and peaceful 'doves', with strategies inherited in a discrete manner, have never been documented in a real animal population. Thus, the applicability of game-theoretic arguments to real populations might be contested. Here, we show that the head-colour polymorphism of red and black Gouldian finches (Erythrura gouldiae) provides a real-life example. The aggressive red morph is behaviourally dominant and successfully invades black populations, but when red 'hawks' become too common, their fitness is severely compromised (via decreased parental ability). We also investigate the effects of real-life deviations, particularly sexual reproduction, from the simple original game, which assumed asexual reproduction. A protected polymorphism requires mate choice to be sufficiently assortative. Assortative mating is adaptive for individuals because of genetic incompatibilities affecting hybrid offspring fitness, but by allowing red 'hawks' to persist, it also leads to significantly reduced population sizes. Because reductions in male contributions to parental care are generally known to lead to lower population productivity in birds, we expect zero-sum competition to often have wide ranging population consequences.6 page(s

Synthesis and evaluation of symmetrical biphenyltetrols as aggregation inhibitors for Alzheimer’s amyloid-β peptide

Inhibiting the aggregation of amyloid-beta peptide (Aβ) is one therapeutic target for the prevention and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. We have previously demonstrated that biphenyl-3,3′,4,4′-tetrol (3,4-BPT) effectively abrogates Aβ aggregation at stoichiometric concentrations. To investigate molecular architecture and determine how the positioning of the hydroxyl hydrogen-bond donors impacts inhibitor efficacy, we have synthesized four additional symmetrical biphenyltetrols (2,3-, 2,4- 2,5- and 3,5-BPT). We have evaluated these inhibitors by means of Congo red and Thioflavin T dye-binding assays to monitor Aβ aggregation as a function of time and to determine inhibitor IC50 values for reducing equilibrium levels of aggregation. 2,3- and 2,5-BPT were observed to be promising inhibitors of Aβ aggregation: we have qualitatively assessed their IC50 values to be approximately 7X and 3-4X, respectively. In contrast, 2,4- and 3,5-BPT showed little to no inhibition. Thus, 2,5-BPT was the most successful of the four inhibitors evaluated, however; it was not as effective as 3,4-BPT, studied previously (IC50 = 1.0 ± 0.3X). The four isomers we have characterized exhibit a range of IC50 values spanning more than one order of magnitude, likely due to varying abilities to bind to A assemblies. Future work will involve further evaluation of the symmetrical biphenyltetrols, by methods including circular dichroism and transmission electron microscopy, which will afford greater insight into the Aβ assemblies formed in the presence and absence of inhibitors. These results will aid in the rational design of additional small-molecule aggregation inhibitors, including unsymmetrical biphenyltetrols and other architectures bearing hydroxyl substituents in those positions associated with the greatest inhibitory efficacy

Sensitivity Comparison of Searches for Binary Black Hole Coalescences with Ground-based Gravitational-Wave Detectors

Searches for gravitational-wave transients from binary black hole coalescences typically rely on one of two approaches: matched filtering with templates and morphology-independent excess power searches. Multiple algorithmic implementations in the analysis of data from the first generation of ground-based gravitational wave interferometers have used different strategies for the suppression of non-Gaussian noise transients, and targeted different regions of the binary black hole parameter space. In this paper we compare the sensitivity of three such algorithms: matched filtering with full coalescence templates, matched filtering with ringdown templates and a morphology-independent excess power search. The comparison is performed at a fixed false alarm rate and relies on Monte-carlo simulations of binary black hole coalescences for spinning, non-precessing systems with total mass 25-350 solar mass, which covers the parameter space of stellar mass and intermediate mass black hole binaries. We find that in the mass range of 25 -100 solar mass the sensitive distance of the search, marginalized over source parameters, is best with matched filtering to full waveform templates, to within 10 percent at a false alarm rate of 3 events per year. In the mass range of 100-350 solar mass, the same comparison favors the morphology-independent excess power search to within 20 percent. The dependence on mass and spin is also explored.Comment: 11 pages, 2 tables, 25 figure