Indoor air quality is an essential aspect for occupational health including in a densely populated university. This study aimed to assess the indoor airborne microorganisms via biochemical and molecular approaches in five enclosed workplaces, and their resistance towards six commonly used antibiotics. Cfu/dm2/h for five enclosed workplaces was determined using settle plate technique with 1/1/1 scheme and Gram staining was performed for all pure strains isolated. Two strains with the highest count and with different morphologies were identified using biochemical test as well as 16S rRNA amplification and direct sequencing. Minimum inhibitory concentration for antibiotics was carried out for these two strains. In this study, 27 microbial strains with different morphologies were obtained from all workplaces and 2 strains with the highest count were strain J in café and strain M in library, which were identified as Bacillus cereus and Staphylococcus cohnii, respectively. Both of them were highly susceptible to ampicillin and tetracycline. With resistance up to 0.78 µg/mL; B. cereus was less sensitive to kanamycin and neomycin whereas S. cohnii was less sensitive to streptomycin. In conclusion, antibiotics resistant B. cereus and S. cohnii were two of the microorganisms showing the most abundance in the café and library of a Malaysian public university, respectively. This study may serve as the baseline for the prescriptions of antibiotics to airborne microbial related infections especially to the community in the university who seek for medical treatments; particularly for respiratory and digestive infections which often associated with indoor microenvironment.
antibiotic resistance ; Bacillus cereus ; indoor air quality ; minimum inhibitory concentration ; Staphylococcus cohnii

Double outlet right ventricle (DORV) is an uncommon congenital heart disease with a poor prognosis. We report a rare case of a girl with untreated DORV who survived until adolescence, but then developed infective endocarditis with florid complications and succumbed to it. Although infective endocarditis is seldom encountered in children in developed countries, a high index of suspicion is required for those with congenital heart disease. The roles of cross-sectional imaging are demonstrated, including the usefulness of magnetic resonance imaging not only in evaluating congenital heart disease, but also in detecting incidental lesions in the extracardiac structures.
Adolescent ; Double Outlet Right Ventricle ; complications ; Endocarditis ; diagnosis ; etiology ; Fatal Outcome ; Female ; Humans

Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is a hyperglycemia-induced progressivedevelopment of renal insufficiency. Excessive glucose can increase mitochondrialreactive oxygen species (ROS) and induce cell damage, causing mitochondrial dysfunction.Our previous study indicated that cilostazol (CTZ) can reduce ROS levelsand decelerate DN progression in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced type 1 diabetes.This study investigated the potential mechanisms of CTZ in rats with DN and in highglucose-treated mesangial cells. Male Sprague–Dawley rats were fed 5 mg/kg/day ofCTZ after developing STZ-induced diabetes mellitus. Electron microscopy revealedthat CTZ reduced the thickness of the glomerular basement membrane and improvedmitochondrial morphology in mesangial cells of diabetic kidney. CTZ treatmentreduced excessive kidney mitochondrial DNA copy numbers induced by hyperglycemiaand interacted with the intrinsic pathway for regulating cell apoptosis as anantiapoptotic mechanism. In high-glucose-treated mesangial cells, CTZ reduced ROSproduction, altered the apoptotic status, and down-regulated transforming growthfactor beta (TGF-) and nuclear factor kappa light chain enhancer of activated B cells(NF-B). Base on the results of our previous and current studies, CTZ decelerationof hyperglycemia-induced DN is attributable to ROS reduction and thereby maintenanceof the mitochondrial function and reduction in TGF- and NF-B levels.

Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is a hyperglycemia-induced progressivedevelopment of renal insufficiency. Excessive glucose can increase mitochondrialreactive oxygen species (ROS) and induce cell damage, causing mitochondrial dysfunction.Our previous study indicated that cilostazol (CTZ) can reduce ROS levelsand decelerate DN progression in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced type 1 diabetes.This study investigated the potential mechanisms of CTZ in rats with DN and in highglucose-treated mesangial cells. Male Sprague–Dawley rats were fed 5 mg/kg/day ofCTZ after developing STZ-induced diabetes mellitus. Electron microscopy revealedthat CTZ reduced the thickness of the glomerular basement membrane and improvedmitochondrial morphology in mesangial cells of diabetic kidney. CTZ treatmentreduced excessive kidney mitochondrial DNA copy numbers induced by hyperglycemiaand interacted with the intrinsic pathway for regulating cell apoptosis as anantiapoptotic mechanism. In high-glucose-treated mesangial cells, CTZ reduced ROSproduction, altered the apoptotic status, and down-regulated transforming growthfactor beta (TGF-) and nuclear factor kappa light chain enhancer of activated B cells(NF-B). Base on the results of our previous and current studies, CTZ decelerationof hyperglycemia-induced DN is attributable to ROS reduction and thereby maintenanceof the mitochondrial function and reduction in TGF- and NF-B levels.

BACKGROUND: The prevalence of peanut allergy (PA) among children has increased significantly over the past decade. Even though the prevalence of PA in Singapore is considered low, peanut is the top trigger for food-induced anaphylaxis in Singaporean children.OBJECTIVE: To describe the demographic characteristics and clinical features of children with PA.METHODS: This is a 5-year retrospective review of children diagnosed with PA based on clinical history coupled with a positive skin prick test to peanut or positive oral food challenge results.RESULTS: There were 269 patients (53.9% males) with a clinical diagnosis of PA. The median age at first allergic presentation for the PA group was 24 months old, with interquartile range of 13–39 months. The most common form of peanut introduced was roasted peanut. The rate of peanut anaphylaxis was 7.1%. Concomitant tree nut sensitization was found in 32.3% of this cohort, predominantly to cashew nut. Majority of them have a personal history of atopy – 75.8% with eczema, 63.6% with allergic rhinitis, and 19.7% with asthma.CONCLUSION: This is the first large review of peanut-allergic children in Singapore. Prospective population-based studies are needed to establish the true prevalence and risk factors associated with the development of this potentially life-threatening condition.
Anacardium ; Anaphylaxis ; Arachis ; Asia ; Asthma ; Child ; Cohort Studies ; Diagnosis ; Eczema ; Humans ; Nuts ; Peanut Hypersensitivity ; Prevalence ; Prospective Studies ; Retrospective Studies ; Rhinitis, Allergic ; Risk Factors ; Singapore ; Skin ; Trees

Contrast Media ; Gadolinium ; Glomerular Filtration Rate ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Mass Screening

Aim: FK506-binding protein 35 from Plasmodium knowlesi (Pk-FKBP35), a member of peptidyl-prolyl cis-trans isomerase (PPIase), is considered a viable target for the development of the novel antimalarial drug targeting zoonotic malaria in Malaysia. While FK506 effectively inhibits this protein, this drug is not applicable due to its immunosuppressive effects. This study aims to assess the inhibitory potential of different collagen hydrolysates (CH) against Pk-FKBP35, as FK506 replacers. Methodology and results: Recombinant full-length Pk-FKBP35 was initially over-expressed using Escherichia coli (BL21) host cells and subsequently purified via affinity chromatography coupled with size-exclusion chromatography. In this study, four distinct CH were employed, originating from bovine, bone broth, fish and swine. The results revealed that all CH inhibited PPIase catalytic activity of Pk-FKBP35 with IC50 values 1.63 mg/mL (bovine CH), 2.97 mg/mL (fish CH), 33.01 mg/mL (swine CH) and 13.91 mg/mL (bone broth CH), which were much higher than that of FK506. Furthermore, these CHs retained the ability of Pk-FKBP35 to inhibit calcineurin phosphatase activity, yet not as extreme as FK506. Conclusion, significance and impact of study The inhibition is predicted due to the presence of proline-rich peptides in CH, which were able to block the substrate binding cavity of Pk-FKBP35. This study suggested that CH might have no serious immunosuppressant effect and is promising for further harnessing for antimalarial compounds

We aim to study the diagnostic value of electrocardiogram (ECG) in cardiac tamponade.

Aims: Streptococcus pneumoniae is one the world’s foremost bacterial pathogens that cause massive global mortality and morbidity in young children and immunocompromised adults especially in developing countries. Biofilms have been increasingly recognized as an important prerequisite to disease. Individual S. pneumoniae strains differ markedly in their virulence phenotypes, but genetic heterogeneity has complicated attempts to identify any association between a given clonal lineage and propensity to cause a particular disease type. This study investigated serotype 19 S. pneumoniae from blood and ear isolates for biofilm formation capacity in relation to isolate source, pH and ferric oxide [Fe(III)] supplementation. Methodology and results: Viable count and density biofilm assays, microscopy and multi locus sequence typing (MLST) were applied to investigate biofilm formation capacity and genetic diversity of serotype 19 S. pneumoniae from blood and ear isolates. Generally, blood isolates were observed to produce more biofilms at both pH 7.4 and 6.8 compared to the ear isolates. The supplementation of Fe(III) was also found to support biofilm growth. Upon MLST typing of the isolates, marked differences in biofilm formation within the same sequence types (ST) of ST199 and ST177 was observed. This strongly indicated that strains within the same sequence type show differences in biofilm formation capacity. Conclusion, significance and impact of study This study showed that despite belonging to the same serotype, serotype 19, S. pneumoniae blood and ear isolates showed high diversity in biofilm formation ability in relation to pH and Fe(III) supplementation. Additionally, pneumococcal isolates from sequence types ST199 and ST177 also gave rise to differences in biofilm formation ability within the same sequence type (ST). The diversity of biofilm formation within serotype 19 seen in this study is significant to further inform of vaccination strategies against pneumococcal infections, in that due to variations in biofilm formation capacity within the same ST. It is possible that within serotype 19 may show variable vaccination or drug treatment responses. This also indicates that the current treatment strategy which employs specific serotype selection as for PCV14 and PCV7 pneumococcal vaccines may not produce the desired therapeutic results.
Streptococcus pneumoniae--immunology ; Biofilms--radiation effects