Rats ( species) are the most notorious vertebrate pests in Malaysian oil palm plantations. Although many studies have been conducted on Asian rats, little attention has been paid to their species composition and phylogenetic relationships in oil palm plantations in Peninsular Malaysia. We determined the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) gene sequence (708 bp) for 216 individual rats collected from five oil palm plantations in Peninsular Malaysia.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis dataset presents a cross-sectional survey and was conducted to assess the knowledge on Zika Virus infection among adults in Sabah. The data were collected from December 2019 to February 2021, 274 adults living in forest fringe communities were interviewed by trained personnel and have completed the distributed questionnaires. SPSS version 27.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHealthcare (Basel)
November 2021
Purpose: This study analyzed the insights and sentiments of COVID-19 anti-vaccine comments from Instagram feeds and Facebook postings. The sentiments related to the acceptance and effectiveness of the vaccines that were on the verge of being made available to the public.
Patients And Methods: The qualitative software QSR-NVivo 10 was used to manage, code, and analyse the data.
The COVID-19 is difficult to contain due to its high transmissibility rate and a long incubation period of 5 to 14 days. Moreover, more than half of the infected patients were young and asymptomatic. Virus transmission through asymptomatic patients is a major challenge to disease containment.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAt present, there is no effective antiviral agent for Zika virus (ZIKV), an arbovirus that is known for its teratogenic effects on newborns. Baicalein and baicalin were found to be capable of downregulating ZIKV replication up to 10 hours postinfection, while prophylactic effects were evident in pre-treated cells. Baicalein exhibited its highest potency during intracellular ZIKV replication, whereas baicalin was most effective against virus entry.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe past decade has seen the re-emergence of Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) as a major global health threat, affecting millions around the world. Although fatal infections are rare among infected patients, the occurrence of long-lasting polyarthralgia has a significant impact on patients' quality of lives and ability to work. These issues were the stimuli for this study to determine the potential of baicalin, a bioflavonoid, as the novel antiviral compound against CHIKV.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFProblem: Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) is the leading sexually transmitted bacterial infection in humans and is associated with reproductive tract damage. However, little is known about the involvement and regulation of microRNAs (miRs) in genital CT.
Methods: We analyzed miRs in the genital tract (GT) following C.
Purpose: The leading cause of sexually transmitted bacterial infection is Chlamydia trachomatis. The aim of this study is to investigate the early events in colonization of this bacterium within the murine genital tract.
Procedures: An in vivo animal body imaging technology was used to track fluorophore labeled C.
Oxalate toxicity is mediated through generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) via a process that is partly dependent on mitochondrial dysfunction. Here, we investigated whether C-phycocyanin (CP) could protect against oxidative stress-mediated intracellular damage triggered by oxalate in MDCK cells. DCFDA, a fluorescence-based probe and hexanoyl-lysine adduct (HEL), an oxidative stress marker were used to investigate the effect of CP on oxalate-induced ROS production and membrane lipid peroxidation (LPO).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPolymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMN) play a key role in host innate immune responses by migrating to the sites of inflammation. Furthermore, PMN recruitment also plays a significant role in the pathophysiology of a plethora of inflammatory disorders such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), gram negative sepsis, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), lung injury, and arthritis. Of note, chemokine-dependent signalling is implicated in the amplification of immune responses by virtue of its role in PMN chemotaxis in most of the inflammatory diseases.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGenet Vaccines Ther
April 2007
Background: Enterovirus 71 (EV71) is a major causative viral agent responsible for large outbreaks of hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD), a common rash illness in children and infants. There is no effective antiviral treatment for severe EV71 infections and no vaccine is available. The objectives of this study were to design and construct a DNA vaccine against Enterovirus 71 using the viral capsid protein (VP1) gene of EV71 and to verify the functionality of the DNA vaccine in vitro and in vivo.
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