Synergistic Effect of Propolis Extract and Antibiotics on Multi-Resist Klebsiella Pneumoniae Strain Isolated fom Wound

This study has been done to evaluate the in vitro activity of synergistic effect between ethanolic extracts of Propolis and 12 different antibiotic drugs against multi-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae isolated from infected wounds; this evaluation was done by Agar well-diffusion method and Disc diffusion method. The results of this study showed that the isolation bacteria were resisted to most antibiotics which used in this experiment; especially that drugs containing β-lactam ring. Results of this study showed that alcoholic extracts of Propolis increase the inhibition zones of all antibiotics; and the sensitivity of bacteria increase by direct correlation with the increase in the concentration of alcoholic extract of Propolis. Keywords: Synergistic effect, Propolis, Antibiotics, Multi-resistance, Klebsiella pneumonia

Synergistic Effect of Propolis Extract and Antibiotics on Multi-resist Klebsiella pneumoniae Strain Isolated from Wound

This study has been done to evaluate the in vitro activity of synergistic effect between ethanolic extracts of Propolis and 12 different antibiotic drugs against multi-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae isolated from infected wounds; this evaluation was done by Agar well-diffusion method and Disc diffusion method.The results of this study showed that the isolation bacteria were resisted to most antibiotics which used in this experiment; especially that drugs containing β-lactam ring. Results of this study showed that alcoholic extracts of Propolis increase the inhibition zones of all antibiotics; and the sensitivity of bacteria increase by direct correlation with the increase in the concentration of alcoholic extract of Propolis. Keywords: Synergistic effect, Propolis, Antibiotics, Multi-resistance, Klebsiella pneumonia

The Importance of Character Education for Tweens as Consumers

Tweens is a term that denotes a market segment mentality that falls between children at the lower end and teens at the upper end. Tweens marketing strategies are considered critical for most global brands. Advocates against excessive consumerism and materialism polluting innocent childhood, specifically tweens, call for values implantation through character education in the school to breed more educated consumers. The effect of implanting character building programs in schools on the consumer behavior of the exposed children in the marketplace, however, has never been tested before. This research endeavor is, in essence, an overlap between consumer behavior and educational psychology, investigating the link between personality and behavior in the market. It falls under both positivist and interpretive consumer research, specifically the consumer socialization of children. The aim of this work is to develop a conceptual model linking character education to purchasing lifestyles and consumption patterns of the exposed children as consumers. Following, prospects for future research are highlighted.Educational psychology, character education, attitudes and lifestyles, opinion-leadership, humanitarianism, ethnocentrism, adolescents and middle schools

Efektifitas Pembelajaran Creative Problem Solving Berbasis Eksprimen dalam Pembelajaran Fisika untuk Melatihkan Literasi Teknologi Siswa

Telah dilakukan penelitian tentang dampak penerapan pembelajaran Creative Problem Solving berbasis eksprimen pada konsep hambatan jenis terhadap kemampuan literasi teknologi siswa. Desain eksprimen yang digunakan adalah one group posttest only design. Subyek penelitian adalah 32 siswa SMP di propinsi Riau. Instrumen penelitian yang digunakan adalah tes literasi teknologi tentang konsep hambatan jenis dalam bentuk tes uraian essay yang diberikan kepada kelompok siswa setelah treatment berupa pembelajaran Creative Problem Solving berbasis Eksprimen. Dari hasil analisis statistik diketahui bahwa persentase kuantitas siswa yang mencapai skor diatas 75 untuk skor ideal 100 berjumlah 68,75 %. Hasil penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa Creative Problem Solving berbasis eksprimen merupakan salah satu metode pembelajaran yang cukup efektif untuk digunakan dalam rangka melatihkan literasi teknologi siswa dalam pembelajaran fisika

Cytotoxic, anti-inflammatory and adipogenic effects of selected flavonoids on cell lines

Naturally-occurring flavonoids have tremendous potential for producing of new therapeutic agents that provide many benefits to mankind.This study focused on the evaluation of the in vitro cytotoxic, anti-inflammatory and adipocyte differentiation effects of the selected flavonoids which were inophyllum D, calanone, and isocordataoblongic acid from Calophyllumsymingtonianum as well as morelloflavone from Garciniaprainiana on MCF 7 human breast cancer cells, RAW 264.7 macrophages and 3T3-L1 pre-adipocytes respectively. The cytotoxicity study on MCF 7 human breast cancer cells was conducted by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. Meanwhile, the study of anti-inflammatory effects in RAW 264.7 macrophages and adipogenic effects on 3T3-L1 pre-adipocytes were conducted through nitrite determination assay and induction of adipocyte differentiation respectively. In the cytotoxicity study, inophyllum D was the only compounds that exhibited significant cytotoxic effect against MCF 7 human breast cancer with IC50 of 84 μg/mL. Further, all the compounds have shown anti-inflammatory effects in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced RAW 264.7 macrophages with inhibition of nitrite concentration as compared to the positive control. Besides, all the compounds in the range of the tested concentrations also produced adipogenic effects on 3T3-L1 pre-adipocytes and this may suggest that they exhibited potential anti-hyperglycemic property which mimicking the insulin action. Thus, this study may provide significant implication in the discovery of the potential of these selected flavonoids as alternative anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory and anti-hyperglycemic drugs

Multivariate calibration of antioxidant activity of M. charantia fruits and its fourier transform infrared spectroscopy based fingerprinting

Momordica charantia is widely consumed edible fruit. The food and pharmaceutical industries use it as a natural antioxidant. However, the quality control of M. charantia-based medicinal products is questionable due to the complexity of metabolites in this fruit. Hence, this study has developed a statistical model in predicting the antioxidant value through the 2, 2-diphenyl-1 picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging activity and ferric reducing antioxidant power based on infrared spectroscopy with attenuated total reflectance. This technique was reliably used for quality control. Six ethanol extracts (0, 20, 40, 60, 80, and 100% in water) of this plant’s fruit were prepared. The radical scavenging and ferric reducing antioxidant power activities were measured and the chemical profiling of the extracts was fingerprinted by infrared spectroscopy between 4,000 and 600 cm−1 at a resolution of 4 cm−1. Statistical analysis was developed by correlating the bioactivity and infrared spectra of each extract using orthogonal partial least square discriminant analysis. The C–N, C=O, C–O, C–H, and OH infrared signals were positively correlated with biological activity. The antioxidant activity of the fruit of M. charantia may be due to the presence of several antioxidants that work synergistically

Time varying cell forces – a new paradigm in cellular mechanotransduction

It is well known that cells generate forces on 2D substrates. These forces increase with time till they reach a steady value. The magnitude of the steady force depends on the stiffness of the substrates. This force is beieved to serve as a cue for the cell resulting in a wide variety of cell functions. Here we show, using fibroblasts and high-speed, high-resolution florescent microscopy, that cell forces are dynamic at any state of the cell. Cells generate time varying contractile forces all around the periphery at discrete adhesion points. The forces typically increase with time, drop suddenly over a few millisecond time, and continue to increase again. The direction of the force and the rate of increase remain the same before and after the force drop. The force release at discrete adhesion points do not cause any change in forcing at nearby adhesion sites, implying that these time varying forces are localized. Cells may use such dynamic forcing mechanism to continuously probe the local microenvironment, and consequently sense stiffness gradients. A simple mathematical model, based on acto-myosin machinery, is developed to interpret the dynamic cell forces