Biodegradation of Low Density Polythene (LDPE) by Pseudomonas Species.

Low density polythene (LDPE) is the most widely used packaging material primarily because of its excellent mechanical properties, barrier properties against water, light weight, low cost and high energy effectiveness. However, due to its ubiquitous nature, and resistance to biodegradability, the disposal strategies are crucial and need attention. Recently, microorganisms have become the focus of interest for environmental friendly disposal of plastic and polymer-based waste.

Novel phytochemical-antibiotic conjugates as multitarget inhibitors of Pseudomononas aeruginosa GyrB/ParE and DHFR.

Background: There is a dearth of treatment options for community-acquired and nosocomial Pseudomonas infections due to several rapidly emerging multidrug resistant phenotypes, which show resistance even to combination therapy. As an alternative, developing selective promiscuous hybrid compounds for simultaneous modulation of multiple targets is highly appreciated because it is difficult for the pathogen to develop resistance when an inhibitor has activity against multiple targets.

Methods: In line with our previous work on phytochemical-antibiotic combination assays and knowledge-based methods, using a fragment combination approach we here report a novel drug design strategy of conjugating synergistic phytochemical-antibiotic combinations into a single hybrid entity for multi-inhibition of P.

Bactericidal antibiotic-phytochemical combinations against methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection is a global concern nowadays. Due to its multi-drug resistant nature, treatment with conventional antibiotics does not assure desired clinical outcomes. Therefore, there is a need to find new compounds and/or alternative methods to get arsenal against the pathogen.

Maggot metabolites and their combinatory effects with antibiotic on Staphylococcus aureus.

Background: Maggot therapy has been in practice for effective debridement, disinfection and healing of chronic wounds. Due to their antiseptic action during wound healing, their metabolites have been investigated in the past for antibacterial activity. They have been particularly useful for treatment of wounds infected with multi-drug resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

Cloning and targeted disruption of two lipopolysaccharide biosynthesis genes, kdsA and waaG, of Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 by site-directed mutagenesis.

The emergence of antibiotic resistance in bacterial pathogens poses a great challenge to public health and emphasizes the need for new antimicrobial targets. The recent development of microbial genomics and the availability of genome sequences allows for the identification of essential genes which could be novel and potential targets for antibacterial drugs. However, these predicted targets need experimental validation to confirm essentiality.

Activity and interactions of antibiotic and phytochemical combinations against Pseudomonas aeruginosa in vitro.

In this study the in vitro activities of seven antibiotics (ciprofloxacin, ceftazidime, tetracycline, trimethoprim, sulfamethoxazole, polymyxin B and piperacillin) and six phytochemicals (protocatechuic acid, gallic acid, ellagic acid, rutin, berberine and myricetin) against five P. aeruginosa isolates, alone and in combination are evaluated. All the phytochemicals under investigation demonstrate potential inhibitory activity against P.

In vitro drug interactions of gallates with antibiotics in Staphylococcus Aureus.

The antimicrobial activities of tetracycline, mupirocin, and fusidic acid are tested in combination with Epicatechin Gallate (ECG), and Ethyl Gallate (EG) using 2 Methicillin resistant (MRSA) and 2 Methicillin sensitive (MSSA) strains of Staphylococcus aureus. Sub-inhibitory concentration of EG at 256 mg l-1 is found to be synergistic when used in combination with tetracycline, mupirocin, and fusidic acid; and a sub-inhibitory concentration of ECG at 32 mg l-1 is found to be synergistic with tetracycline in all the four Staphylococcus aureus strains tested. The synergistic combinations reduce the MICs of all the above three antibiotics by 4 fold.

Infrared authentication of ginseng species: the use of the 2-6PC rule.

The quality of herbal products is important for ensuring efficacy and consumer safety. Traditional methods of authenticating herbs like ginseng via their morphology are hardly reliable. Different chemical constituents in herbs like ginseng tend to exhibit characteristic IR fingerprints that enable their identification.

Activity of Chitosans in combination with antibiotics in Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Chitosan and its derivative water soluble Chitosan oligosaccharide are used in a variety of applications in pharmaceutical preparations. In this study, 2 wild (ATCC 15729 and PAO1) and 2 mutant strains (PT121 and PT149) of P. aeruginosa are investigated for drug-drug interactions in vitro.

A Comparative Study of Metabolic Network Topology between a Pathogenic and a Non-Pathogenic Bacterium for Potential Drug Target Identification.

Metabolic network provides a unified platform to integrate all the biological information on genes, proteins, metabolites, drugs and drug targets for a comprehensive system level study of the relationship between metabolism and disease. In recent times, drug-target identification by in silico methods has emerged causing a phenomenal achievement in the field of drug discovery. This paper focuses on describing how microbial drug target identification can be carried out using bioinformatic tools.

A combined computational-experimental analyses of selected metabolic enzymes in Pseudomonas species.

Comparative genomic analysis has revolutionized our ability to predict the metabolic subsystems that occur in newly sequenced genomes, and to explore the functional roles of the set of genes within each subsystem. These computational predictions can considerably reduce the volume of experimental studies required to assess basic metabolic properties of multiple bacterial species. However, experimental validations are still required to resolve the apparent inconsistencies in the predictions by multiple resources.

Biofluid mechanics of the human reproductive process: modelling of the complex interaction and pathway to the oocytes.

Recent revelations in the human reproductive process have fuelled much interest in this field of study. In particular, the once prevailing view of large numbers of ejaculated sperms racing towards the egg has been refuted recently. This is opposed to the current views derived from numerous clinical findings that state that only a very small number of sperms will ever enter the oviduct.

Differential genome analyses of metabolic enzymes in Pseudomonas aeruginosa for drug target identification.

Complete genome sequences of several pathogenic bacteria have been determined, and many more such projects are currently under way. While these data potentially contain all the determinants of host-pathogen interactions and possible drug targets, computational tools for selecting suitable candidates for further experimental analyses are currently limited. Detection of bacterial genes that are non-homologous to human genes, and are essential for the survival of the pathogen represents a promising means of identifying novel drug targets.

A computer-aided MFCC-based HMM system for automatic auscultation.

Auscultation, the act of listening to the sounds of internal organs, is a valuable medical diagnostic tool. Auscultation methods provide the information about a vast variety of internal body sounds originated by various organs such as heart, lungs, bowel, vascular disorders, etc. In this study, a cardiac sound registration system has been designed incorporating functions such as heart signals segmentation, classification and characterization for automated identification and ease of interpretation by the users.

Changes induced in the lower- and upper-limb pulse transit-time ratio during inspiratory resistive breathing.

The ankle brachial index (ABI) has been widely used to monitor the pathogenesis of peripheral arterial diseases such as ischemia of the extremities. Owing to the occluding nature of ABI measurement, this may not be appealing to less cooperative patients when multiple prolonged screening is required. Recently, a simple non-occluding technique termed pulse transit-time ratio (PTTR) has shown potential as a surrogate ABI marker.

Study of pulse transit time oscillations during obstructive sleep apnoea by using a distributed model.

The study of arterial compliance is useful in understanding the geometrical and mechanical properties of a systemic arterial tree. Numerous mathematical models have shown their potential in relating the physical phenomena in the arterial tree to properties of the wall itself. However, limited model is available that describes the pulse transit time (PTT) oscillations of a sleeping child during tidal breathing and obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA).

Development of a home screening system for pediatric respiratory sleep studies.

To develop a simple and portable home screening monitor for sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) in children. In such a system, identifying the respiratory events and occurrences of motional artifacts are two essential elements that can affect the accuracy of the study. Moreover, such a system needs to be easy to set up and user friendly.

Phonocardiographic signal analysis method using a modified hidden Markov model.

Auscultation is an important diagnostic indicator for cardiovascular analysis. Heart sound classification and analysis play an important role in the auscultative diagnosis. This study uses a combination of Mel-frequency cepstral coefficient (MFCC) and hidden Markov model (HMM) to efficiently extract the features for pre-processed heart sound cycles for the purpose of classification.

Authentication of traditional Chinese medicine using infrared spectroscopy: distinguishing between ginseng and its morphological fakes.

The quality of pharmaceutical products such as ginseng is important for ensuring consumer safety and efficacy. Ginseng is an expensive herb, and adulteration with other cheaper products may occur. Quality assurance of ginseng is needed since many of its commercial products now come in various formulations such as capsules, powder, softgels and tea.

Dual-channel photoplethysmography to monitor local changes in vascular stiffness.

Objectives: Monitoring arterial distensibility changes is important to understand the cardiovascular status of patient. Pulse transit time (PTT), which is an inverse equivalent of pulse wave velocity (PWV), has shown its potential in such studies. However, its methodological approach in using an electrocardiogram and a peripheral photoplethysmography (PPG) is limited due to the inclusion of pre-ejection period (PEP) in its computation.

Evaluation of blood pressure changes using vascular transit time.

Imbalance of the human haemodynamic system can provide a prognosis of syncope, dizziness or hypertension. This can be assessed by monitoring its responses to postural change. Examining variations in blood pressure (BP) is deemed an effective means to identify symptoms of this associated condition.

Pulse transit time as an indirect marker for variations in cardiovascular related reactivity.

Study of cardiac functions has shown to be important in understanding the prognosis and pathogenesis of vascular diseases. A physiologic parameter termed pulse transit time (PTT) has been studied intensively to be used as an indirect marker of such pathologic conditions. It is defined as the time it takes a pressure pulsation to travel between two arterial sites.

Pulse transit time based on piezoelectric technique at the radial artery.

Objectives: Pulse transit time (PTT) has shown its potential in relevant cardiovascular and cardiorespiratory studies. However, the use of photoplethysmography (PPG) in PTT measurement can be limited in events of poor peripheral perfusion. Uninterrupted PTT monitoring may also not be achievable when less cooperative patients distribute the PPG probe due to its prominent light source.

Overview on the analytical tools for quality control of natural product-based supplements: a case study of ginseng.

The quality of pharmaceutical products like ginseng is important for ensuring consumer safety and efficacy. Many ginseng products sold today are in various formulations such as powder, capsules, tablets, soft-gels, liquid extracts, and tea. This renders ginseng less identifiable by smell, taste, or physical appearance.

Comparison of human and porcine aortic valves.

We compared the anatomy of human and porcine aortic valves. Porcine hearts were collected from the abattoir. Human hearts from patients who had died of non-cardiac causes were examined in the mortuary; only undamaged and anatomically normal hearts were used.