The aim of this study is to investigate the antimicrobial synergistic effect against , a leading foodborne pathogen that causes human gastroenteritis, by cinnamon oil, encapsulated curcumin, and zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs). We compared three approaches to study the antimicrobial interactions, including the time-killing method, the fractional inhibitory concentration index (FICI) method, and a mathematical concentration-effect model. Isobologram analysis was performed to evaluate the synergy in different combinations, and a median-effect equation was applied to identify the combinations of synergistic effects at median, bacteriostatic, and bactericidal reduction levels. The time-killing method overestimated the synergistic interaction between antimicrobials, while the FICI method failed to detect an existing synergistic phenomenon. This lack of accuracy and sensitivity was mainly due to combining antimicrobials without a deep understanding of their concentration-effect relationships. Our results showed that each antimicrobial had a unique concentration-effect curve. Specifically, encapsulated curcumin showed a sharp sigmoidal curve unlike cinnamon oil and ZnO NPs. A mathematical model was applied to study the interaction between antimicrobials with a different shape of concentration-effect curve. We observed an additive effect of cinnamon oil/ZnO NPs and synergistic interactions of other binary combinations (cinnamon oil/encapsulated curcumin and ZnO NPs/encapsulated curcumin). The tertiary combination of cinnamon oil/ZnO NPs/encapsulated curcumin at IC (additive line <1-log CFU/mL) presented the greatest synergistic effect by reducing the bacterial population over 8-log CFU/mL. This mathematical model provided an alternative strategy to develop a new antimicrobial strategy.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
---|---|
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6527739 | PMC |
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2019.01038 | DOI Listing |
Cogn Sci
January 2025
Department of Psychology, Binghamton University.
It has become widely accepted that standard connectionist models are unable to show identity-based relational reasoning that requires universal generalization. The purpose of this brief report is to show how one of the simplest forms of such models, feed-forward auto-associative networks, satisfies two of the most well-known challenges: universal generalization of the identity function and the reduplication rule. Given the simplicity of the modeling account provided, along with the clarity of the evidence, these demonstrations invite a shift in this high-profile debate over the nature of cognitive architecture and point to a way to bridge some of the presumed gulf between characteristically symbolic forms of reasoning and connectionist mechanisms.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDevelopment
January 2025
Department of Botany and Plant Pathology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA.
Land plants alternate between asexual sporophytes and sexual gametophytes. Unlike seed plants, ferns develop free-living gametophytes. Gametophytes of the model fern Ceratopteris exhibit two sex types: hermaphrodites with pluripotent meristems and males lacking meristems.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBiometrics
January 2025
Department of Statistics and Data Science, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117546, Singapore.
Pharmacogenomics stands as a pivotal driver toward personalized medicine, aiming to optimize drug efficacy while minimizing adverse effects by uncovering the impact of genetic variations on inter-individual outcome variability. Despite its promise, the intricate landscape of drug metabolism introduces complexity, where the correlation between drug response and genes can be shaped by numerous nongenetic factors, often exhibiting heterogeneity across diverse subpopulations. This challenge is particularly pronounced in datasets such as the International Warfarin Pharmacogenetic Consortium (IWPC), which encompasses diverse patient information from multiple nations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnviron Sci Process Impacts
January 2025
Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Department of Geosciences, Schnarrenbergstraße 94-96, 72076 Tübingen, Germany.
Concentrations of pollutants like pharmaceuticals in soils typically decrease over time, though it often remains unclear whether this dissipation is caused by the transformation of the pollutant or a decreasing extractability. We developed a mathematical model that (1) explores the plausibility of different dissipation pathways, and (2) allows the quantification of concentration differences between aqueous soil extracts and soil solution. The model considers soil particles as uniform spheres, kinetic sorption towards an equilibrium (Freundlich model), and two dissipation pathways, irreversible transformation and mineralization (following 1 order kinetics) as well as the formation of non-extractable residues intraparticle diffusion.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFChaos
January 2025
Institute of Technical Physics and Materials Science, HUN-REN Centre for Energy Research, P.O. Box 49, H-1525 Budapest, Hungary.
The dynamics of electric power systems are widely studied through the phase synchronization of oscillators, typically with the use of the Kuramoto equation. While there are numerous well-known order parameters to characterize these dynamics, shortcoming of these metrics are also recognized. To capture all transitions from phase disordered states over phase locking to fully synchronized systems, new metrics were proposed and demonstrated on homogeneous models.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!