Objective.This study was performed to develop a biodegradable periodontal chip containing thymoquinone and to evaluate its effectiveness for managing chronic periodontitis.Methods.Chips were formulated from thymoquinone and chitosan. Twelve patients with periodontal pockets measuring ≥5 mm participated in this study. Overall, 180 periodontal pockets were evaluated. At day zero, all patients were treated with full-mouth scaling and root planning. Periodontal pockets were divided into three groups. Group one served as the control group, while group two received plain chitosan chips. Group three received chips containing thymoquinone. Plaque index, bleeding upon probing, periodontal probing pocket depths, and clinical attachment levels were recorded at days 0 and 60.Results.The statistical significance of differences was tested with a paired samplet-test, a Chi-squared test, and a one-way ANOVA. The results indicated significant improvement in plaque index and bleeding upon probing and a reduction in periodontal pockets from baseline in all four groups(P<0.05). Gains in clinical attachment levels were significantly higher(P<0.005)in the group receiving thymoquinone chips compared to other groups.Conclusion.Periodontal chips containing thymoquinone can be used as adjuncts for the treatment of patients with chronic periodontitis.

Periodical surveillance on nosocomial pathogens is important for antimicrobial stewardship and infection control. The first methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) molecular surveillance in Hospital Canselor Tuanku Muhriz (HCTM), a Malaysian teaching hospital, was performed in 2009. The dominant clone was identified as an MRSA carrying SCCmec type III-SCCmercury with ccrC and sea+cna toxin genes. In this study, we report the findings of the second HCTM MRSA surveillance carried out in 2017, after an interval of 8 years. Antibiotic susceptibility testing, SCCmec, toxin gene, and spa typing were performed for 222 MRSA strains isolated in 2017. Most strains were resistant to ciprofloxacin, erythromycin, clindamycin, cefoxitin, and penicillin (n = 126, 56.8%), belong to SCCmec type IV (n = 205, 92.3%), spa type t032 (n = 160, 72.1%) and harboured seg+sei toxin genes (n = 172, 77.5%). There was significant association between resistance of the aforementioned antibiotics with SCCmec type IV (p < 0.05), t032 (p < 0.001), and seg+sei carriage (p < 0.05). Results from this second MRSA surveillance revealed the occurrence of clonal replacement in HCTM during an interval of not more than 8 years. Investigation of the corresponding phenotype changes in this new dominant MRSA clone is currently on-going.

The main goal of this paper is to investigate the changing in the tensile behavior and the burning rate characteristics of hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene (HTPB) propellantunder the variations of the crosslinking density, which was predominantly determined by the equivalent ratio of diisocyanate to total hydroxyl (NCO/OH ratio), which known as the curing ratio. Four variousbatches with different curing ratios (NCO/OH) percentage were produced in which the production processes were fixed. Uniaxial tensile tests were conducted at different temperatures (-40, 20 and 55°C), and different strain rates (0.000656 1/s, 0.0328 1/s) using a Zwick universal test machine. In order to measure the burning rate, cured solid propellant strands were tested using the acoustic wave emission method under different pressure ranging from 4 to 10 MPa. The experimental results indicate that the tensile behavior of HTPB propellant is remarkably influenced by curing ratio, strain rate, and temperature. It was observed that a great change on stress-strain curves affected various curing ratios and temperatures on the mechanical behavior of propellant composition. The results showed that high curing ratio leads to increase theultimatestress and decrease the strainat maximum stress, but higher temperatures lead to decrease theultimate stress and the strain at maximum stress.The curing ratios (NCO/OH) have an intense impact on mechanical characteristics, but slightly impact on ballistic characteristics for propellant. Furthermore, careful measurements of these parameters are important to control the production quality and to provide a reliable comparison between different propellant batches.

Introduction We report the results of a molecular surveillance study carried out on methicillinsusceptible Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA) isolated in a one-year duration from Hospital Canselor Tuanku Muhriz (HCTM), a tertiary hospital located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Methods The first strain isolated from each MSSA infection in HCTM during the year 2009 was included into the study. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing and agr group typing were carried out for all strains; virulence gene (cna, seh, TSST-1 and PVL) typing results of the strains were obtained from a previous study. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) was done on selected strains from the orthopedic ward. Relationship(s) between different typing methods used in the study was investigated, where a p value of <0.05 indicated significant association between typing methods. Results A total of 880 MSSA strains were included into the study. The strains were generally susceptible to most antibiotics, with most of them carrying cna and agr-I (51.6%, n=454; 39.8%, n=350, respectively). A total of 17 PFGE pulsotypes were identified using an 80% similarity cut-off value, where the main pulsotype (pulsotype E) consisted of 24 isolates (23.5%). agr-III strains were found to be usually positive for both cna and seh (p<0.05). In addition, some PFGE pulsotypes were also characteristic of certain virulence genes or agr groups. Conclusions We did not identify a dominant MSSA clone circulating in HCTM in 2009. Nevertheless, results from this molecular surveillance will provide good baseline data for the hospital's second S. aureus surveillance planned for the year 2020. Keywords Molecular surveillance, methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA), agr typing, virulence gene typing, PFGE.

Antioxidant works against oxidant and free radicals is by donating electrons it encompasses to the radical molecules and therefore neutralising the oxidation process in the biological system. Hypercholesterolemia has been identified as one the primary predisposing factor for chronic health diseases in most industrial and developed countries.Hypercholesterolemia contributes to nonalcoholic fatty liver diseases (NAFLD). Gynura procumbens is not toxic and exhibit anti-diabetic, anti-inflammatory, anti-hypertensive and wound healing properties where the extract of this plant contains active chemical constituents such as tannins, terpenoids, sterol glycoside, saponins and flavonoids. New Zealand White Rabbits were fed with high cholesterol diet for ten weeks. Liver weight and serum liver function test (LFT) including ALP, ALT, AST and GGT were determined and analyzed. Rabbits that were given high cholesterol diet show the symptom of liver injury. ALP, ALT, AST and GGT levels indicate the liver injury. Liver injury of rabbits that were supplemented with Gynura procumbens extracts were reduced compared to rabbits that were given high cholesterol diet but not given any supplement of extract.  ALP, ALT, AST and GGT level on rabbits were given the extract were improved compared to HCD.  Supplementation of the extract lowered the levels of liver enzymes compared to the HCD.