List of Titles

Molecular Detection of Antibiotic-Resistant Genes in Pseudomonas aeruginosa from Nonclinical Environment: Public Health Implications in Mthatha, Eastern Cape Province, South Africa

- Mojisola Clara Hosu, Sandeep Vasaikar, Grace Emily Okuthe, Teke Apalata

Authors: Mojisola Clara Hosu , Sandeep Vasaikar , Grace Emily Okuthe , Teke Apalata
Date: 5 January 2021
Subjects: Microbiology
Language: English
Type: Journal Article
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/11260/2417 , vital:41877
Description: Evaluation of resistant profiles and detection of antimicrobial-resistant genes of bacterial pathogens in the nonclinical milieu is imperative to assess the probable risk of dissemination of resistant genes in the environment. .is paper sought to identify antibiotic-resistant genes in Pseudomonas aeruginosa from nonclinical sources in Mthatha, Eastern Cape, and evaluate its public health implications. Samples collected from abattoir wastewater and aquatic environment were processed by membrane filtration and cultured on CHROMagarTM Pseudomonas medium. Species identification was performed by autoSCAN-4 (Dade Behring Inc., IL). Molecular characterization of the isolates was confirmed using real-time polymerase chain reaction (rPCR) and selected isolates were further screened for the possibility of harboring antimicrobial resistance genes. Fifty-one Pseudomonas species were recovered from abattoir wastewater and surface water samples, out of which thirty-six strains were Pseudomonas aeruginosa (70.6%). .e P. aeruginosa isolates demonstrated resistance to aztreonam (86.1%), ceftazidime (63.9%), piperacillin (58.3%), cefepime (55.6%), imipenem (50%), piperacillin/tazobactam (47.2%), meropenem (41.7%), and levofloxacin (30.6%). Twenty out of thirty-six P. aeruginosa displayed multidrug resistance profiles and were classified as multidrug-resistant (MDR) (55.6%). Most of the bacterial isolates exhibited a high Multiple Antibiotic Resistance (MAR) Index ranging from 0.08 to 0.69 with a mean MAR index of 0.38. In the rPCR analysis of fifteen P. aeruginosa isolates, 14 isolates (93.3%) were detected harboring blaSHV, six isolates (40%) harbored blaTEM, and three isolates (20%) harbored blaCTX-M, being the least occurring ESBL. Results of the current study revealed that P. aeruginosa isolates recovered from nonclinical milieu are resistant to frontline clinically relevant antipseudomonal drugs. .is is concerning as it poses a risk to the environment and constitutes a public health threat. Given the public health relevance, the paper recommends monitoring of multidrug-resistant pathogens in effluent environments.
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A Feasibility Study on the Efficacy of Functional Near-Infrared Spectrometry (fNIRS) to Measure Prefrontal Activation in Paediatric HIV

- Zondo, Sizwe, Ferreira-Correia, Aline, Cockcroft, Kate

Authors: Zondo, Sizwe , Ferreira-Correia, Aline , Cockcroft, Kate
Date: 2024
Subjects: To be catalogued
Language: English
Type: text , article
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/450556 , vital:74960 , xlink:href="https://www.hindawi.com/journals/js/2024/4970794/"
Description: Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection is associated with disturbed neurotransmission and aberrant cortical networks. Although advances in the imaging of brain microarchitecture following neuroHIV has added to our knowledge of structural and functional changes associated with HIV, no data exists on paediatric HIV using optical neuroimaging techniques. This study investigated the feasibility of optical neuroimaging in paediatric HIV using functional near-infrared spectrometry (fNIRS). We measured prefrontal brain activation while participants executed a sustained attention task. We specifically tested whether patients living with HIV and study controls could perform the study protocol and whether we could measure the typical fNIRS haemodynamic response associated with neuronal activity. Eighteen participants (10 HIV participants, mean age: 13.9, SD = 1.66 years; 8 controls, mean age: 14.8, SD = 1.28 years), matched for sex, grade, and socio-economic status, were included in the study. All participants completed the Stroop colour word test (SCWT). Oxygenated haemoglobin concentration and the deoxygenated haemoglobin signal were recorded from the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and the frontopolar area (FA) using fNIRS. The control group performed significantly better in terms of reaction time on the congruent and incongruent condition (congruent: t (16) = −3.36, : incongruent: ). A pooled group analysis of the sample indicated significant activation in the DLPF and FA to the congruent condition of the SCWT (). Although cortical activation was noted in the DLPF and the FA in each of the groups when analysed independently, this neural activation did not reach statistical significance. The results show promise that fNIRS techniques are feasible for assessing prefrontal cortical activity in paediatric HIV. Future studies should seek to reduce the signal-to-noise ratio and consider inter-individual variability when measuring prefrontal activation in paediatric samples.
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Date Issued: 2024

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Electrodeposited Benzothiazole Phthalocyanines for Corrosion Inhibition of Aluminium in Acidic Medium

- Nnaji, Nnaemeka, Nwaji, Njemuwa, Nyokong, Tebello

Authors: Nnaji, Nnaemeka , Nwaji, Njemuwa , Nyokong, Tebello
Date: 2020
Subjects: To be catalogued
Language: English
Type: text , article
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/186112 , vital:44464 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1155/2020/8892559"
Description: Tetrakis[(benzo[d]thiazol-2-yl-thio) phthalocyaninato] gallium(III)chloride (1) and tetrakis[(benzo[d]thiazol-2ylphenoxy) phthalocyaninato] gallium(III)chloride (2) were successfully electrodeposited onto aluminium for corrosion retardation in 1.0 M hydrochloric acid solution. The aim of this study was to compare the corrosion resistance of electrodeposited metallated phthalocyanines. Scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), and polarization confirmed the aluminium corrosion inhibition potentials of complexes 1 and 2. EIS and polarization techniques showed that complex 2 performed better than complex 1, with values from EIS measurements of 82% for 1 and 86% for 2 in 1.0 M hydrochloric acid solution. The importance of electrodeposition in industries and a dearth of research on the use of electrodeposited metallated phthalocyanines necessitated this study, and results show that coatings formed by electrodeposition of 1 and 2 onto aluminium reduced its susceptibility to corrosion attack.
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Date Issued: 2020

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Metabarcoding Analysis of Bacterial Communities Associated with Media Grow Bed Zones in an Aquaponic System

- Kasozi, Nasser, Kaiser, Horst, Wilhelmi, Brendan S

Authors: Kasozi, Nasser , Kaiser, Horst , Wilhelmi, Brendan S
Date: 2020
Subjects: To be catalogued
Language: English
Type: text , article
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/429461 , vital:72612 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1155/2020/8884070"
Description: The development of environmentally sustainable plant and fish production in aquaponic systems requires a complete understanding of the systems’ biological components. In order to better understand the role of microorganisms in this association, we studied the bacterial communities in the dry, root, and mineralized zones of a flood-and-drain media bed aquaponic system. Bacterial communities were characterized using metabarcoding of the V3-V4 16S rRNA regions obtained from paired-end Illumina MiSeq reads. Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, and Bacteroidetes accounted for more than 90% of the total community in the dry zone and the effluent water. These phyla also accounted for more than 68% of the total community in the root and mineralized zones. The genera Massilia, Mucilaginibacter, Mizugakiibacter, and Rhodoluna were most dominant in the dry, root, and mineralized zones and in the effluent water, respectively. The number of shared operational taxonomic units (OTUs) for the three zones was 241, representing 7.15% of the total observed OTUs. The number of unique OTUs in samples from dry zone, root zone, mineralized zone, and effluent water was 485, 638, 445, and 383, respectively. The samples from the root zone harbored more diverse communities than either the dry or mineralized zones. This study is the first to report on the bacterial community within the zones of a flood-and-drain media bed. Thus, this information will potentially accelerate studies on other microbial communities involved in the bioconversion of nitrogen compounds and mineralization within these types of aquaponic systems.
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Date Issued: 2020

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Investigating the chaperone properties of a novel heat shock protein, Hsp70. c, from Trypanosoma brucei

- Burger, Adélle, Ludewig, Michael H, Boshoff, Aileen

Authors: Burger, Adélle , Ludewig, Michael H , Boshoff, Aileen
Date: 2014
Subjects: To be catalogued
Language: English
Type: text , article
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/431155 , vital:72749 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1155/2014/172582"
Description: The neglected tropical disease, African Trypanosomiasis, is fatal and has a crippling impact on economic development. Heat shock protein 70 (Hsp70) is an important molecular chaperone that is expressed in response to stress and Hsp40 acts as its co-chaperone. These proteins play a wide range of roles in the cell and they are required to assist the parasite as it moves from a cold blooded insect vector to a warm blooded mammalian host. A novel cytosolic Hsp70, from Trypanosoma brucei, TbHsp70.c, contains an acidic substrate binding domain and lacks the C-terminal EEVD motif.The ability of a cytosolic Hsp40 from Trypanosoma brucei J protein 2, Tbj2, to function as a co-chaperone of TbHsp70.c was investigated.The main objective was to functionally characterize TbHsp70.c to further expand our knowledge of parasite biology. TbHsp70.c and Tbj2 were heterologously expressed and purified and both proteins displayed the ability to suppress aggregation of thermolabile MDH and chemically denatured rhodanese. ATPase assays revealed a 2.8-fold stimulation of the ATPase activity of TbHsp70.c by Tbj2. TbHsp70.c and Tbj2 both demonstrated chaperone activity and Tbj2 functions as a co-chaperone of TbHsp70.c.In vivo heat stress experiments indicated upregulation of the expression levels of TbHsp70.c.
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Date Issued: 2014

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