Publications by authors named "Foong L"

Cell signaling pathways are enriched for biological processes crucial for cellular communication, response to external stimuli, and metabolism. Here, a cell signaling-focused CRISPR screen identified cytochrome c oxidase subunit 4 isoform 1 (COX4I1) as a novel vulnerability in acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Depletion of COX4I1 hindered leukemia cell proliferation and impacted in vivo AML progression.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The inability of existing vaccines to cope with the mutation rate has highlighted the need for effective preventative strategies for COVID-19. Through the secretion of immunoglobulin A, mucosal delivery of vaccines can effectively stimulate mucosal immunity for better protection against SARS-CoV-2 infection. In this study, various immunoinformatic tools were used to design a multi-epitope oral vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 based on its receptor-binding domain (RBD) and heptad repeat (HR) domains.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Phosphorylated histone H2AX (γH2AX) represents a sensitive molecular marker of DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) and is implicated in stem cell biology. We established a model of mouse embryonic stem cell (mESC) differentiation and examined the dynamics of γH2AX foci during the process. Our results revealed high numbers of γH2AX foci in undifferentiated mESCs, decreasing as the cells differentiated towards the endothelial cell lineage.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The efficacy of saving energy standards depends on the ability to anticipate the heat loss of buildings. Environmentally friendly materials, also known as eco-friendly or sustainable materials, have a minimal negative impact on the environment throughout their life cycle. These materials are designed to conserve resources, reduce pollution, and promote sustainability.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a distinct type of head and neck cancer that is highly associated with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection. EBV acts as an epigenetic driver in NPC tumorigenesis, reprogramming the viral and host epigenomes to regulate viral latent gene expression, and creating an environment conducive to the malignant transformation of nasopharyngeal epithelial cells. Targeting epigenetic mechanisms in pre-clinical studies has been shown promise in eradicating tumours and overcoming immune resistance in some solid tumours.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Australia was a world leader in managing the earlier waves of the COVID-19 pandemic. Subsequently, three major turning points changed the trajectory of the pandemic: mass vaccinations, emergence of more transmissible variants and re-opening of Australia's borders. However, there were also concomitant missteps and premature shifts in pandemic response policy that led to mixed messaging, slow initial vaccination uptake and minimal mitigation measures in response to the Omicron variant.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • - The study investigated the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on patients with necrotising fasciitis (NF) in South West Sydney, comparing data from 2017-2019 (pre-COVID) to 2020-2022 (COVID cohort).
  • - Results showed that COVID-19 led to significantly delayed hospital presentations (6.1 days vs. 3.2 days) and affected younger patients (under 40) with longer surgeries, more operations, and longer hospital stays.
  • - Despite these delays, overall clinical outcomes, including operative time and mortality rates, did not significantly differ between the two groups.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Previous studies have demonstrated the anticancer activities of tocotrienol on several types of cancer, but its effects on chondrosarcoma have never been investigated. Therefore, this study aims to determine the anticancer properties of annatto tocotrienol (AnTT), γ-tocotrienol (γ-T3) and δ-tocotrienol (δ-T3) on human chondrosarcoma SW1353 cells. Firstly, the MTT assay was performed to determine the half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC) of tocotrienol on SW1353 cells after 24 h treatment.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objectives: TP53 loss-of-function is commonly found in aggressive prostate cancer. However, a highly-efficient therapy for this tumor subtype is still lacking. In this study, we investigated the relationship between TP53 mutation status and autophagy in prostate cancer and assessed the efficacy of autophagy inhibitors on TP53-deficient tumors.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Regenerative medicine is shaping into a new paradigm and could be the future medicine driven by the therapeutic capabilities shown by mesenchymal stem cell-derived extracellular vesicles (MSC-EVs). Despite the advantages and promises, the therapeutic effectiveness of MSC-EVs in some clinical applications is restricted due to inconsistent manufacturing process and the lack of stringent quality control (QC) measurement. In particular, QC assays which are crucial to confirm the safety, efficacy, and quality of MSC-EVs available for end use are poorly designed.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Prostate cancer is frequently characterized as a multifocal disease with great intratumoral heterogeneity as well as a high propensity to metastasize to bone. Consequently, modeling prostate tumor has remained a challenging task for researchers in this field. In the past decades, genomic advances have led to the identification of key molecular alterations in prostate cancer.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on the delayed presentation of necrotising fasciitis (NF). A retrospective study was conducted of adult patients (≥16 years old) diagnosed with NF at a hospital from 2017 to 2020. A quantitative comparative analysis for the COVID-19 group and control group between 2017 and 2019.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Community concern about climate change in the community in general is strong and getting stronger but greater action on climate change is contingent upon whether the public sees strong links between climate effects and personal and community wellbeing in the present as well as the future. Medical and health-care professions can be effective messengers about the impacts of climate given their trusted status and ability to draw connections between climate change and physical and mental health.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

EDs play a crucial role as frontline health services throughout public health emergencies, including pandemics. The strength of the Australian public health response to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has mitigated the impact of the pandemic on clinical services, but there has still been a substantial impact on EDs and the health system. We revisit major events and lessons from the first wave of COVID-19 in Australia to consider the implications and avenues for system-level improvements for future pandemic and public health emergency response for EDs.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Carotenoids are a diverse group of lipid-soluble pigments that exhibit potent biological activities such as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and provitamin A activities. The potent health benefits of carotenoids result in the surge in the market demands for carotenoids, especially natural carotenoids from sustainable sources. Microbial carotenoids have attracted considerable interests for many industrial applications because of the low costs and ease of scaling-up with shorter production time.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Impatiens balsamina L. is a tropical ornamental and traditional medicinal herb rich in natural compounds, especially 2-methoxy-1,4-naphthoquinone (MNQ) which is a bioactive compound with tested anticancer activities. Characterization of key genes involved in the shikimate and 1,4-dihydroxy-2-naphthoate (DHNA) pathways responsible for MNQ biosynthesis and their expression profiles in I.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: The global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has caused significant worldwide disruption. Although Australia and New Zealand have not been affected as much as some other countries, resuscitation may still pose a risk to health care workers and necessitates a change to our traditional approach. This consensus statement for adult cardiac arrest in the setting of COVID-19 has been produced by the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine (ACEM) and aligns with national and international recommendations.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Using single layer microchannels accompanied by nanofluids is one of the most practical solutions in thermal management of high power density devices. The main challenge in cooling systems of electronic devices is to provide a uniform temperature distribution. In the present study, fluid flow and heat transfer in a fractal microchannel heatsink have been simulated employing the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Research and development in the applied sciences at the atomic or molecular level is the order of the day under the domain of nanotechnology or nano-science with enormous influence on nearly all areas of human health and activities comprising diverse medical fields such as pharmacological studies, clinical diagnoses, and supplementary immune system. The field of nano-dentistry has emerged due to the assorted dental applications of nano-technology. This review provides a brief introduction to the general nanotechnology field and a comprehensive overview of the synthesis features and dental uses of nano-materials including current innovations and future expectations with general comments on the latest advancements in the mechanisms and the most significant toxicological dimensions.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background And Objective: In this work, using Sisko model, blood flow is simulated inside an artery which have cone shape of stenosis with different angles of φ = 0.25, φ = 0.5, φ = 0.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

One of the most studied topics in analytical chemistry and physics is to develop bio-sensors. Aptamers are small single-stranded RNA or DNA oligonucleotides (5-25 kDa), which have advantages in comparison to their antibodies such as physicochemical stability and high binding specificity. They are able to integrate with proteins or small molecules, including intact viral particles, plant lectins, gene-regulation factor, growth factors, antibodies and enzymes.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

There are many debates on the preparation methods and the role of ultrasonication on the stability, thermophysical properties, and heat transfer performance of nanofluids. The present study, which is the continuation of the authors previous study, the effects of ultrasonication on the thermal and fluid dynamic performance of MWCNT-water nanofluid, over a different range of temperatures and solid concentrations, based on the thermophysical properties of the nanofluid, has been investigated. The effects of ultrasonication time on the stability and thermophysical properties of the nanofluid were studied over 30 days of the samples preparation.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF