Antifungal Peptide Modeling, Folding and Mimetic Design

The antifungal peptides represent diverse structures for drug design. Unfortunately, they provide inferior drug candidates because of their low oral bioavailability, potential immunogenicity, poor in vivo metabolic stability and high molecular weight. Recent efforts have focused on the creation of non-natural peptide mimetics. Their artificial backbone makes most peptidomimetics resistant to degradative enzymes, thus, increasing the stability of peptidomimetic drugs in the body. In the present study, four antifungal peptidomimetics structures named C1 to C4 were designed based on the antifungal decapeptide crystallized structure of Pep-1 using bioinformatics tools. Structures C1 and C2 belong to the N-terminal part of Pep-1 and C3 and C4 belong to the C-terminal amino acid sequence part of Pep-1. Minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) of these structures were estimated against Aspergillus niger N402, Candida albicans ATCC 10231, and Saccharomyces cerevisiae PTCC 5052. Structures C2 and C1 showed more potent antifungal activities against these fungal strains compared to C3 and C4, respectively. This demonstrated that the N-terminal part is more potent for antifungal activity and indicated that the N-terminal part of antifungal peptides is more active and important for antifungal activity than the C-terminal. Structure C2 was demonstrated to be more active against these microorganisms and could be used as a potential target for future antifungal peptidomimetics studies. Important factors/descriptors of 63 antifungal peptides have been studied using Artificial Neural Network (ANN). The most important factors determined were amino acid number 1 (S1), Log P, and their α-helix contents. This is the first study on the structure of C1 to C4 peptidomimetics on Aspergillus niger N402, Candida albicans ATCC 10231, and Saccharomyces cerevisiae PTCC 5052

Aroma encapsulation for antibacterial and eco-friendly textile finishing

Encapsulation imparts new properties and added value to conventional fabrics. Most of the commercially available microcapsules for textile applications are made of melamine-formaldehyde, urea-formaldehyde or phenolformaldehyde resins, which have significant negative health and environmental effects. Recently, there has been a growing interest in the replacement of these resins with safe and environmentally benign materials. The process of fixing the microcapsules onto textile substrates is critical in ensuring their durability and effectiveness. The commonly known industrial methods used for this involve the use of two main groups of binders; polymeric resins, and polyfunctional crosslinking agents. Polymeric resins are reported to partially inhibit the release of fragrance from the microcapsules. The chemical cross-linkers are subdivided into formaldehyde based, e.g., formaldehyde and glutaraldehyde, and non-formaldehyde based, such as polycarboxylic acids. This work aimed at conferring fragrant and antibacterial properties to cotton fabrics employing new methodologies utilizing non-toxic and environmentally friendly materials.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Key Decision-making Phases And Tasks For Outsourcing Information Technology

Outsourcing has become an attractive option for today\u27s organisation. Since outsourcing Information Technology (IT) is a relatively new phenomenon in Australia, little research has been conducted as to IT management strategies needed when considering outsourcing. To guide management in the decision whether or not to outsource IT, the study developed and tested a decision-making model comprising the phases of intelligence, analysis and planning, strategy selection, action, and evaluation and monitoring. The significance of decision phases and tasks contained in the model was established through a survey of major Australian organisations. The sample included Australia\u27s top 390 companies. Such organisations would be likely to have large IT installation and therefore would have greater knowledge of IT outsourcing. The model was also applied in four major case studies to contribute to the survey and to help in interpreting the survey results. Respondent experiences in making IT outsourcing decisions were discussed. The study found that the \u27action\u27 phase of IT outsourcing is the most important decision-making phase. It is largely determined by the track record and the ability of the potential vendor to provide high service levels for the client. The need for an acceptable level of service is also strongly apparent when management evaluates and monitors the outcome of IT outsourcing. In recognition of the importance of the action phase the study presented an expanded model. It shows an expanded representation of the activities, presented in life eyrie form, related to selecting a suitable vendor and entering into an outsourcing contract. The study concluded that the proposed model was sufficiently comprehensive and structured to be a useful guide for IS outsourcing decision making. It enabled decision makers to consider complex, wide ranging and interrelated decision criteria concerning IS outsourcing for their particular circumstances and needs. Knowledge of the above findings should provide the following benefits: *The identification and description of phases, tasks and subtasks provides a checklist of what needs to be taken into account during IT outsourcing decision-making; *The identification of key phases, tasks and sub tasks will help management and others to focus on critical areas that need to be managed well in order for IT outsourcing to be successful; *The identification of the action phase as the most important phase enables management attention to be particularly focussed; *The framework can be used on a \u27as needed\u27 basis thereby making it useful for different outsourcing decision scenarios and situations. The study concludes with the research limitations and suggestions for future research

Perfluoroalkyl acids and their precursors in indoor air sampled in children's bedrooms

The contamination levels and patterns of perfluoroallcyl acids (PFAAs) and their precursors in indoor air of children's bedrooms in Finland, Northern Europe, were investigated. Our study is among the most comprehensive indoor air monitoring studies (n = 57) and to our knowledge the first one to analyse air in children's bedrooms for PFASs (17 PFAAs and 9 precursors, including two acrylates, 6:2 FTAC and 6:2 FTMAC). The most frequently detected compound was 8:2 fluorotelomer alcohol (8:2 FTOH) with the highest median concentration (3570 pg/m(3)). FTOH concentrations were generally similar to previous studies, indicating that in 2014/2015 the impact of the industrial transition had been minor on FTOH levels in indoor air. However, in contrast to earlier studies (with one exception), median concentrations of 6:2 FTOH were higher than 10:2 FTOH. The C8 PFAAs are still the most abundant acids, even though they have now been phased out by major manufacturers. The mean concentrations of FOSE/As, especially MeFOSE (89.9 pg/m(3)), were at least an order of magnitude lower compared to previous studies. Collectively the comparison of FTOHs, PFAAs and FOSE/FOSAs with previous studies indicates that indoor air levels of PFASs display a time lag to changes in production of several years. This is the first indoor air study investigating 6:2 FTMAC, which was frequently detected (58%) and displayed some of the highest maximum concentrations (13 000 pg/m(3)). There were several statistically significant correlations between particular house and room characteristics and PFAS concentrations, most interestingly higher EtFOSE air concentrations in rooms with plastic floors compared to wood or laminate. (C) 2016 Published by Elsevier Ltd.Peer reviewe

Investigating the modern human settlement of Mainland Southeast Asia using mitochondrial DNA

Many questions remain about the settlement of anatomically modern humans in Mainland Southeast Asia (MSEA). During the last Ice Age, the Sunda shelf was exposed and the Sunda continent connected MSEA with western ISEA (Java, Sumatra and Borneo), but global warming after about 20,000 years ago (20ka) led to rises in sea levels which flooded a large part of Sundaland. This region is a key area of initial settlement of anatomically modern humans, who likely expanded along the coastal route from the Horn of Africa via Arabia and South Asia towards Australasia. In this work, I aimed to investigate the first arrival of modern populations in MSEA, clarify the timing and process, and study the subsequent demographic history of its populations from the perspective of the maternal line of descent. I have studied phylogeographic and phylogenetic relationships of populations in North, South, and Southeast Asia using mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) genome variation, using both control-region sequence and whole mitogenomes, in order to gain a more comprehensive insight into the evolutionary history of the MSEA population. Using next-generation sequencing I have analysed 909 new complete mtDNA sequences from MSEA population, including 506 Lao, 387 Vietnamese and 16 Burmese samples in the context of the available published world-wide database. Most of the basal lineages within the major non-African founders, the roots of haplogroups M and R, represent the indigenous inhabitants who first arrived in the region from the west. The founder ages for M and R were dated by maximum likelihood in this study to ~61 ka and ~64ka, with a 95% confidence range of 55 ka to 73 ka, confirming that this was most likely and shortly after the volcanic eruption of Mount Toba in Sumatra at 74 ka, with MSEA and ISEA beginning to diverge as early as ~54 ka. I have used founder analysis with the new mitogenomes in order to quantify the fraction of maternal lineages that arrived at various times throughout prehistory. This showed that approximately 11-21% of modern mtDNA lineages date to the first settlement, with several subsequent major waves of arrival, mainly from the north in what is now South China, since the Last Glacial Maximum. These subsequent events are primarily focused on three time intervals, and suggest a strong demographic impact from climatic changes following the end of the last Ice Age. The first is the Late Glacial, ~13 ka, at the time of the first major sea-level rise (17-19% of modern mtDNAs), but the largest fraction dates to the early postglacial, at the time of the final major sea-level rise, ~7 ka (36-37%). This early Holocene process corresponds to the middle Neolithic, or coastal Neolithic, a dispersal of primarily hunter-gatherer groups adapted to coastal resources and possibly practising early forms of horticulture and/or arboriculture. Only a minority of lineages, amounting to 18-24%, date to the spread of late Neolithic rice agriculture from South China ~4 ka

Depression and anxiety as significant barriers to well-being in a changing world

Depression and anxiety were viewed for many years as undiagnosed emotional diseases. People eventually experience grief or anxiety due to new factors including biological warfare, political unrest, climate change, and nuclear war threats in addition to economic degradation and a fall in the number of plant species. Through the findings of studies and surveys conducted in the previous ten years, this essay seeks to shed light on the connection between anxiety, depression, and the new causes