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Articles 31 - 52 of 52
Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
Bacterial Host Interactions In Cystic Fibrosis, Máire Callaghan, Siobhan Mcclean
Bacterial Host Interactions In Cystic Fibrosis, Máire Callaghan, Siobhan Mcclean
Articles
Chronic infection is a hallmark of cystic fibrosis (CF) and the main contributor to morbidity. Microbial infection in CF is complex, due to the number of different species that colonise the CF lung. Their colonisation is facilitated by a host response that is impaired or compromised by highly viscous mucous, zones of hypoxia and the lack of the cystic fibrosis transmembrane regulator (CFTR). Successful dominant CF pathogens combine an effective arsenal to establish infection and counter-attack the host response, together with an ability to adapt readily to an unfavourable environment. Hypermutability is common among CF pathogens facilitating adaptation and as …
Extending The Shelf-Life Of Tomato Using By-Product From Cheese Indistry., Lubna Ahmed, Ana Belen Martin-Diana, Daniel Rico, Catherine Barry-Ryan
Extending The Shelf-Life Of Tomato Using By-Product From Cheese Indistry., Lubna Ahmed, Ana Belen Martin-Diana, Daniel Rico, Catherine Barry-Ryan
Articles
The effects of three whey permeates were investigated as potential natural washing treatment for fresh-cut tomato and compared with chlorine (120 ppm). Whey permeate treated samples resulted in equivalent or better than chlorine for all these attributes. Whey permeates were equally effective as chlorine to control the micro-organisms of fresh-cut tomato during storage. The microbial counts at day 10 were significantly reduced (~1.0 log CFU/g) in all the treated samples compared to the control (water treated) samples. Moreover whey permeate treated fresh-cut tomatoes showed lower water activity (2 %) and POD activities (21%) than chlorinated samples after 10 days of …
A Comparative Study On The Polyphenolic Content, Antibacterial Activity And Antioxidant Capacity Of Different Solvent Extracts Of Brassica Oleracea Vegetables, Amit Jaiswal, Nissreen Abu-Ghannam, Shilpi Gupta
A Comparative Study On The Polyphenolic Content, Antibacterial Activity And Antioxidant Capacity Of Different Solvent Extracts Of Brassica Oleracea Vegetables, Amit Jaiswal, Nissreen Abu-Ghannam, Shilpi Gupta
Articles
Brassica vegetables are rich in polyphenols, flavonoids and glucosinolates. Investigation was undertaken to optimise the best solvents among 60% ethanol, acetone and methanol for the extraction of polyphenols from Brassica vegetables. Furthermore, different properties such as antibacterial activity and antioxidant capacity were also investigated. Results showed that a 60% methanolic extract showed the highest total phenolic content which was 23.6, 20.4 and 18.7 mg gallic acid equivalents (GAE) g−1 extract for broccoli, Brussels sprouts and white cabbage, respectively. The hydroxybenzoic acid content of various solvent extracts ranged from 5.86 to 8.91 GAE g−1 extract for broccoli, 2.70 to 5.44 GAE …
Activation Of Mmp-9 By Human Lung Epithelial Cells In Response To The Cystic Fibrosis-Associated Pathogen Burkholderia Cenocepacia Reduced Wound Healing In Vitro, Ciara Wright ], Ruth Pilkington, Máire Callaghan, Siobhan Mcclean
Activation Of Mmp-9 By Human Lung Epithelial Cells In Response To The Cystic Fibrosis-Associated Pathogen Burkholderia Cenocepacia Reduced Wound Healing In Vitro, Ciara Wright ], Ruth Pilkington, Máire Callaghan, Siobhan Mcclean
Articles
Burkholderia cepacia complex is a group of bacterial pathogens that cause opportunistic infections in cystic fibrosis (CF). The most virulent of these is Burkholderia cenocepacia. Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are upregulated in CF patients. The aim of this work was to examine the role of MMPs in the pathogenesis of B. cepacia complex, which has not been explored to date. Real-time PCR analysis showed that B. cenocepacia infection upregulated MMP-2 and MMP-9 genes in the CF lung cell line CFBE41o- within 1 h, whereas MMP-2, -7, and -9 genes were upregulated in the non-CF lung cell line 16HBE14o-. Conditioned media from …
Kinetic Evaluation Of Colour, Texture, Polyphenols And Antioxidant Capacity Of Irish York Cabbage After Blanching Treatment, Amit Jaiswal, Shilpi Gupta, Nissreen Abu-Ghannam
Kinetic Evaluation Of Colour, Texture, Polyphenols And Antioxidant Capacity Of Irish York Cabbage After Blanching Treatment, Amit Jaiswal, Shilpi Gupta, Nissreen Abu-Ghannam
Articles
In the present work, York cabbage was blanched between 80 to100°C with an increment of 5°C for up to 14 min and kinetics of the different physio-chemical properties were studied. Significant reductions in the texture, color, polyphenols (PPs) and antioxidant (AO) capacity were observed due to blanching. Total phenolic and flavonoid content retained ranged from 19.6-24.5 and 22.0-25.7%, respectively. Heavy losses in the AO capacity also occurred as a result of blanching, which was evident with a loss of 74.0-82.0% in activity as compared to raw York cabbage. Textural studies showed that blanching caused a significant reduction in firmness in …
An Investigation Of The Subtype Diversity Of Clinical Isolates Of Irish Clostridium Difficile Ribotypes 027 And 078 By Repetitive-Extragenic Palindromic Pcr, Denise Drudy, K. Solomon, S. Murray, L. Scott, S. Mcdermott,, A. Martin, C. O’Donoghue, M. Skally, K. Burns, L. Fenelon, F. Fitzpatrick,, L. Kyne, S. Fanning
An Investigation Of The Subtype Diversity Of Clinical Isolates Of Irish Clostridium Difficile Ribotypes 027 And 078 By Repetitive-Extragenic Palindromic Pcr, Denise Drudy, K. Solomon, S. Murray, L. Scott, S. Mcdermott,, A. Martin, C. O’Donoghue, M. Skally, K. Burns, L. Fenelon, F. Fitzpatrick,, L. Kyne, S. Fanning
Articles
A repetitive-extragenic palindromic PCR (rep-PCR) subtyping method (DiversiLab) in conjunction with ribotyping, toxinotyping and antimicrobial-susceptibility testing was used to detect subtypes within Clostridium difficile ribotypes 027 and 078. Clinical isolates of ribotypes 027 (toxinotype III) (n530) and 078 (toxinotype V) (n523) were provided by health-care facilities across the Republic of Ireland over 2 months in 2006 and 1 month in 2009. Ribotype 027 isolates were significantly more related to each other (9 different subtype profiles) when compared to ribotype 078 isolates (14 different profiles) (P50.001; cut-off .90 % similarity). Almost half of ribotype 078 isolates (45.5 %) showed no relationship …
Optimization Of Application Of Delactosed Whey Permeate Treatment To Extend The Shelf-Life Of Fresh Cut Tomato Using Response Surface Methodology., Lubna Ahmed, Ana Belen Martin-Diana, Daniel Rico, Catherine Barry-Ryan
Optimization Of Application Of Delactosed Whey Permeate Treatment To Extend The Shelf-Life Of Fresh Cut Tomato Using Response Surface Methodology., Lubna Ahmed, Ana Belen Martin-Diana, Daniel Rico, Catherine Barry-Ryan
Articles
Optimization of delactosed whey permeate (DWP) treatment for fresh-cut tomato was accomplished by evaluating different quality, nutritional and microbial markers. Response surface methodology was applied to obtain polynomial model equations. DWP concentration (0 - 5 %) and storage (0 - 10 days) were used as independent factors in order to optimize the process. The analyses showed that increases in DWP concentration extended the quality of the fresh-cut tomato significantly (p3 % were scored unacceptable by the sensory panel due to perceived off-odours. DWP treatment also improved retention of ascorbic acid and lycopene over storage. The total aerobic counts and yeast …
Virulence Of An Emerging Respiratory Pathogen, Genus Pandoraea, In Vivo And Its Interactions With Lung Epithelial Cells, Gillian Herbert, Anne Costello, Lydia Fabunmi, Kirsten Schaffer, Kevin Kavanagh, Emma M. Caraher, Máire Callaghan, Siobhan Mcclean
Virulence Of An Emerging Respiratory Pathogen, Genus Pandoraea, In Vivo And Its Interactions With Lung Epithelial Cells, Gillian Herbert, Anne Costello, Lydia Fabunmi, Kirsten Schaffer, Kevin Kavanagh, Emma M. Caraher, Máire Callaghan, Siobhan Mcclean
Articles
Pandoraea species have emerged as opportunistic pathogens among cystic fibrosis (CF) and non-CF patients. Pandoraea pulmonicola is the predominant Pandoraea species among Irish CF patients. The objective of this study was to investigate the pathogenicity and potential mechanisms of virulence of Irish P. pulmonicola isolates and strains from other Pandoraea species. Three patients from whom the P. pulmonicola isolates were isolated have since died. The in vivo virulence of these and other Pandoraea strains was examined by determining the ability to kill Galleria mellonella larvae. The P. pulmonicola strains generally were the most virulent of the species tested, with three …
An Assessment Of The Antioxidant And Antimicrobial Activity Of Six Species Of Edible Irish Seaweeds, Sabrina Cox, Nissreen Abu-Ghannam, Shilpi Gupta
An Assessment Of The Antioxidant And Antimicrobial Activity Of Six Species Of Edible Irish Seaweeds, Sabrina Cox, Nissreen Abu-Ghannam, Shilpi Gupta
Articles
Six species of edible Irish seaweeds; Laminaria digitata, Laminaria saccharina, Himanthalia elongata, Palmaria palmata, Chondrus crispus and Enteromorpha spirulina were screened for potential bioactivity. Extraction of secondary metabolites was carried out using different solvents to determine antioxidant and antimicrobial properties of the dried extracts. The total phenolic contents of dried methanolic extracts were significantly different (p < 0.05). H. elongata exhibited highest phenolic content at 151.3 mg GAE/g of seaweed extract and also had the highest DPPH scavenging activity (p < 0.05) with a 50% inhibition (EC50) level at 0.125μg/ml of extract. H. elongata also had the highest total tannin and total flavonoid contents (p < 0.05) of 38.34 mg CE/g and 42.5 mg QE/g, respectively. Antimicrobial activity was determined using a microtitre method which allowed detection of bacterial growth inhibition at low levels. All methanolic seaweed extracts inhibited the food spoilage and food pathogenic bacteria tested; Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella abony, Enterococcus faecalis and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, except C. crispus extracts. It was found that dried methanolic extracts of red and green seaweeds had significantly lower antimicrobial activity than the brown species; H. elongata had the highest antimicrobial activity with up to 100% inhibition. In the studied work, the antimicrobial activity of red and green seaweed extracts significantly increased when ethanol and acetone were used as extraction solvents (p < 0.05). Inhibition of E. faecalis with C. crispus extracts increased from 39.28 to 100% when ethanol and acetone were applied as solvents.
Dual-Action Hygienic Coatings: Benefits Of Hydrophobicity And Silver Ion Release And Surface Analysis, Niall Stobie, Brendan Duffy, John Colreavy, Patrick Mchale, Steven Hinder, Declan Mccormack
Dual-Action Hygienic Coatings: Benefits Of Hydrophobicity And Silver Ion Release And Surface Analysis, Niall Stobie, Brendan Duffy, John Colreavy, Patrick Mchale, Steven Hinder, Declan Mccormack
Articles
Coatings that demonstrate reduced attachment of crystalline precipitates and the medical device colonising Staphylococcus epidermidis were prepared by the immobilisation of silver doped perfluoropolyether–urethane siloxane thin films on glass substrates. The presence of stratified hydrophobic perfluoropolyether groups protects the coating surface from the attachment of crystalline hydrophilic species such as chlorides and phosphates, whilst silver ion release inhibited attachment of S. epidermidis and subsequent biofilm formation in vitro. The release of silver ions protects the perfluoro groups from the hydrophobic interactions of S. epidermidis cells, which can reduce the hydrophobicity of the protective coating. These coatings also exhibited significant antibacterial …
Real-Time Pcr Method For The Quantification Of Burkholderia Cepacia Complex Attached To Lung Epithelial Cells And Inhibitionn Of That Attachment, Ciara Wight, Gillian Herbert, Ruth Pilkington, Máire Callaghan, Siobhan Mcclean
Real-Time Pcr Method For The Quantification Of Burkholderia Cepacia Complex Attached To Lung Epithelial Cells And Inhibitionn Of That Attachment, Ciara Wight, Gillian Herbert, Ruth Pilkington, Máire Callaghan, Siobhan Mcclean
Articles
To develop a rapid method to quantify the attachment of the cystic fibrosis pathogen, Burkholderia multivorans, to lung epithelial cells (16HBE14o(-)) using real-time PCR with a view to monitoring potential inhibition of lung cell attachment. Mammalian and bacterial DNA were purified from bacteria attached to lung epithelial cells. The relative amount of bacteria attached was determined by amplification of the recA gene relative to the human GAPDH gene, in the presence of SYBR Green. The method was thoroughly validated and shown to correlate well with traditional plating techniques. Inhibition of bacterial attachment with simple sugars was then evaluated by real-time …
Enhancement Of The Antibacterial Properties Of Silver Nanoparticles Using Beta-Cyclodextrin As A Capping Agent, Swarna Jaiswal, Brendan Duffy, Niall Stobie, Patrick Mchale, Amit Jaiswal
Enhancement Of The Antibacterial Properties Of Silver Nanoparticles Using Beta-Cyclodextrin As A Capping Agent, Swarna Jaiswal, Brendan Duffy, Niall Stobie, Patrick Mchale, Amit Jaiswal
Articles
Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) were synthesized by reducing silver salts using NaBH4 followed by capping with varying concentrations of β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) and were physically characterised. Antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus was determined by a microtitre well method. The AgNPs were spherical under TEM while DLS showed average diameters of capped particles to be smaller (4-7 nm) than their uncapped equivalents (17 nm). Capped particles demonstrated superior photostability when exposed to intense UV radiation for 4 hours and a significantly (p
Process Optimization For The Developmenht Of A Functional Beverage Based On Lactic Acid Fermentation Of Oats, Shilpi Gupta, Sabrina Cox, Nissreen Abu-Ghannam
Process Optimization For The Developmenht Of A Functional Beverage Based On Lactic Acid Fermentation Of Oats, Shilpi Gupta, Sabrina Cox, Nissreen Abu-Ghannam
Articles
Oats (Avena sativa) have received considerable interest for their high content of soluble and insoluble fibre and for their high fermentability upon applying probiotic lactic acid bacteria (LAB). In the present study, Box–Behnken optimization design was used to optimize three different levels of oat, sucrose and starter culture concentration on the final viable cell population of Lactobacillus plantarum for the development of a fermented drink. A second-order polynomial response surface equation was developed indicating the effect of the studied variables on L. plantarum growth. Contour maps generated using the response surface equation showed that the experimental variables significantly affected the …
An Evaluation Of Miru-Vntr Analysis And Spoligotyping For Genotyping Of Mycobacterium Bovis Isolates And A Comparison With Rflp Typing., Joanne Mclernon, Eamonn Costello, Orla Flynn, Gillian Madigan, Fergus Ryan
An Evaluation Of Miru-Vntr Analysis And Spoligotyping For Genotyping Of Mycobacterium Bovis Isolates And A Comparison With Rflp Typing., Joanne Mclernon, Eamonn Costello, Orla Flynn, Gillian Madigan, Fergus Ryan
Articles
Strain typing of Mycobacterium bovis isolates based on the variable-number tandem repeats of mycobacterial interspersed repetitive units (MIRU-VNTR) and on spoligotyping was evaluated in this study and these typing methods were compared with restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) typing. A total of 386 M. bovis isolates from cattle, badgers and deer in the Republic of Ireland that had previously been typed by IS6110, polymorphic GC-rich sequence (PGRS) and direct repeat (DR) RFLP were included in the study. Spoligotyping and analysis of six VNTR loci (2163a, 2163b, 2165, 4052, 2996 and 1895) was performed on the samples. RFLP was the method …
Silver Doped Perfluoropolyether-Urethane Coatings: Antibacterial Activity And Surface Analysis, Niall Stobie, Brendan Duffy, Steven Hinder, Patrick Mchale, Declan Mccormack
Silver Doped Perfluoropolyether-Urethane Coatings: Antibacterial Activity And Surface Analysis, Niall Stobie, Brendan Duffy, Steven Hinder, Patrick Mchale, Declan Mccormack
Articles
The colonisation of clinical and industrial surfaces with pathogenic microorganisms has prompted increased research into the development of effective antibacterial and antifouling coatings. There is evidence that implanted biomedical surfaces coated with metallic silver can be inactivated by hysiological fluids, thus reducing the bioactivity of the coating. In this work, we report the biofilm inhibition of Staphylococcus epidermidis using a roomtemperatureprocessedsilver dopedperfluoropolyether-urethane coating. The release of silver ions from these fluoropolymers over a six-day period inhibited bacterial encrustation – as observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis indicated differences in carbon, fluorine and sodium surface composition …
Relating Fractal Dimension To Branching Behaviour In Filamentous Microorganisms, David Barry, Onwuarolu Ifeyinwa, Shauna Mcgee, Raymond Ryan, Gwilym Williams, Jonathan Blackledge
Relating Fractal Dimension To Branching Behaviour In Filamentous Microorganisms, David Barry, Onwuarolu Ifeyinwa, Shauna Mcgee, Raymond Ryan, Gwilym Williams, Jonathan Blackledge
Articles
The productivity of an industrial fermentation process involving a filamentous microbe is heavily dependent on the morphological form adopted by the organism. The development of systems capable of rapidly and accurately characterising morphology within a given process represents a significant challenge to biotechnologists, as the complex phenotypes that are manifested are often not easily quantified. Conventional parameters employed in these analyses are of limited value, as they reveal little about the specific branching behaviour of the organism, which is an important consideration given the demonstrated link between branching frequency and metabolite production. More recently, fractal geometry has been employed in …
Recent Applications Of Chemical Imaging To Pharmaceutical Process Monitoring And Quality Control, A. A. Gowen, Colm O'Donnell, Patrick Cullen, S. Bell
Recent Applications Of Chemical Imaging To Pharmaceutical Process Monitoring And Quality Control, A. A. Gowen, Colm O'Donnell, Patrick Cullen, S. Bell
Articles
Chemical Imaging (CI) is an emerging platform technology that integrates conventional imaging and spectroscopy to attain both spatial and spectral information from an object. Vibrational spectroscopic methods, such as Near Infrared (NIR) and Raman spectroscopy, combined with imaging are particularly useful for analysis of biological/pharmaceutical forms. The rapid, non-destructive and non-invasive features of CI mark its potential suitability as a process analytical tool for the pharmaceutical industry, for both process monitoring and quality control in the many stages of drug production. This paper provides an overview of CI principles, instrumentation and analysis. Recent applications of Raman and NIR-CI to pharmaceutical …
Prevention Of Staphylococcus Epidermidis Biofilm Formation Using A Low-Temperature Processed Silver-Doped Phenyltriethoxysilane Sol–Gel Coating, Niall Stobie, Brendan Duffy, Declan Mccormack, John Colreavy, Martha Hidalgo, Patrick Mchale, Steven Hinder
Prevention Of Staphylococcus Epidermidis Biofilm Formation Using A Low-Temperature Processed Silver-Doped Phenyltriethoxysilane Sol–Gel Coating, Niall Stobie, Brendan Duffy, Declan Mccormack, John Colreavy, Martha Hidalgo, Patrick Mchale, Steven Hinder
Articles
Sol–gel coatings which elute bioactive silver ions are presented as a potential solution to the problem of biofilm formation on indwelling surfaces. There is evidence that high-temperature processing of such materials can lead to diffusion of silver away from the coating surface, reducing the amount of available silver. In this study, we report the biofilm inhibition of a Staphylococcus epidermidis biofilm using a low-temperature processed silver-doped phenyltriethoxysilane sol–gel coating. The incorporation of a silver salt into a sol–gel matrix resulted in an initial high release of silver in de-ionised water and physiological buffered saline (PBS), followed by a lower sustained …
Extending And Measuring The Quality Of Fresh-Cut Fruit And Vegetables: A Review, Ana Belen Martin-Diana, Daniel Rico, Gary Henehan, Jesus Maria Frias, J. Barat
Extending And Measuring The Quality Of Fresh-Cut Fruit And Vegetables: A Review, Ana Belen Martin-Diana, Daniel Rico, Gary Henehan, Jesus Maria Frias, J. Barat
Articles
The market sales of ready - to - use vegetables have grown rapidly in recent decades as a result of changes in consumer attitudes especially consumption of fresh-cut lettuce and carrot due to their use in prepared salads. Chlorine solutions have been widely used to sanitise fruit and vegetables in the fresh-cut industry. However, the association of chlorine with the possible formation of carcinogenic chlorinated compounds in water has called into question the use of chlorine in food processing. There is a real need to find alternatives for preservation of fresh-cut fruit and vegetables in order to improve the efficacy …
Human Papillomavirus Prevalence And Genotypes In An Opportunistically Screened Irish Female Population, Helen Keegan, Fergus Ryan, Alison Malkin, Mairead Griffin, Helen Lambkin
Human Papillomavirus Prevalence And Genotypes In An Opportunistically Screened Irish Female Population, Helen Keegan, Fergus Ryan, Alison Malkin, Mairead Griffin, Helen Lambkin
Articles
This study aims to evaluate human papillomavirus (HPV) prevalence and predominating genotypes in liquid-based cervical cytology samples from an Irish urban female population. In addition to use of routine cervical cytology testing, women are screened for HPV using the MY09/11 primers for the HPV L1 gene and primers for β-globin amplification in a multiplex format. Overall, 996 women between the ages of 16 and 72 years (average age: 35) are included in the study and HPV prevalence was 19.8%. Cytology results showed that 88.9% were normal, 9% borderline or mild dyskaryosis, 1.1% moderate dyskaryosis and 0.9% severe dyskaryosis. Human papillomavirus …
Newly Identified Vitamin K-Producing Bacteria Isolated From The Neonatal Faecal Flora, Gordon Cooke, John Behan, Mary Costello
Newly Identified Vitamin K-Producing Bacteria Isolated From The Neonatal Faecal Flora, Gordon Cooke, John Behan, Mary Costello
Articles
Fat-soluble vitamin K is an essential component of the blood clotting process. Menaquinones are the naturally occurring form of vitamin K identified in bacteria. Lipid extracts were made from three bacteria originally isolated from the human neonatal gut and identified as Enterobacter agglomerans, Serratia marcescens and Enterococcus faecium. Following preparative thin layer chromatography (TLC), the lipid extracts were subjected to liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) analysis. Peak analysis of the LC-MS data showed that the three bacteria produce various forms of menaquinone.
Comparing The Gut Flora Of Irish Breastfed And Formula-Fed Neonates Aged Between Birth And 6 Weeks Old, Gordon Cooke, John Behan, Nicola Clarke, Winifred Gorman, Mary Costello
Comparing The Gut Flora Of Irish Breastfed And Formula-Fed Neonates Aged Between Birth And 6 Weeks Old, Gordon Cooke, John Behan, Nicola Clarke, Winifred Gorman, Mary Costello
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The exact composition of the complex microsystem that constitutes the gut flora continues to be explored as molecular methodology supplements traditional microbiological studies. The current study reports a random analysis of the faecal flora composition for 31 neonates in the 0–1 day age group, 41 neonates aged 2–5 days and 33 6-week-old neonates. All infants, born at the National Maternity Hospital, Ireland, were considered healthy, full-term normal deliveries and were either exclusively breastfed or formula-fed from birth. Microbiological and biochemical analyses of the faecal samples were used to specifically enumerate Lactobacillus spp., Bifidobacterium spp., Enterococcus spp., Staphylococcus spp., Bacteroides spp., …