Publications by authors named "W M Mackay"
The human defensins are a group of cationic antimicrobial peptides that range in size from 2 to 5 kDa and share a common structural motif of six disulphide-linked cysteines. Several naturally occurring human α- and β-defensins have been identified over the past two decades. They have a wide variety of antimicrobial effects, and their potential to avoid the development of resistance to antimicrobial treatment makes them attractive as therapeutic agents.
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- Ozone and ultraviolet-C (UVC) radiation are being studied to help kill harmful germs on plastic surfaces, especially those that are tough to get rid of.
- UVC worked better than ozone in getting rid of the germs, completely eliminating them in 60 minutes, while ozone was less effective.
- Using both ozone and UVC together was super effective, taking only 20 minutes to fully kill the germs, making this a promising way to fight infections on surfaces.
The plantation forestry estate in Australia has been in decline for a decade or more. Previous studies attribute observed investment inertia to factors including the long-term nature of forestry investments, high up front establishment cost and more recently water resource constraints. The introduction of plantation forestry methods as part of the Australian Carbon Credit Unit Scheme in 2017 has generated renewed interest in plantation forestry as a carbon abatement option.
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- Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a significant concern in healthcare settings due to its antimicrobial resistance and biofilm-forming abilities, which complicate disinfection efforts; it can also survive and thrive within free-living amoebae like Acanthamoeba.
- Researchers studied Acanthamoeba and P. aeruginosa in a Scottish hospital, finding both organisms commonly present, especially in floor drains, with amoebae harboring a unique microbial community that often goes undetected.
- The study showed that Acanthamoeba enhances the growth rate of P. aeruginosa and reduces the effectiveness of hydrogen peroxide disinfectants, indicating that amoebae play a key role in the persistence and transmission of this pathogen in healthcare environments
Background: Biofilms on dry hospital surfaces can enhance the persistence of micro-organisms on dry harsh clinical surfaces and can potentially act as reservoirs of infectious agents on contaminated surfaces.
Aim: This study was conducted to quantify the transfer of viable Staphylococcus aureus cells from dry biofilms through touching and to investigate the impact of nutrient and moisture deprivation on virulence levels in S. aureus.