Antibiofilm activity and cytotoxicity of silk sericin against Streptococcus mutans bacteria in biofilm: an in vitro study

Objective: To investigate the potential of sericin extracted by different methods to inhibit biofilm formation (prevention) and disrupt already formed biofilm (treatment). Method: In this in vitro study, sericin was extracted by heat, acid, alkali and urea. Streptococcus mutans bacteria were cultivated in the presence of various concentrations of sericin to evaluate antibiofilm formation using cell density assay (inhibition effect before biofilm formed). Conversely, various concentrations of sericin were added to a biofilm already formed by Streptococcus mutans bacteria, and the viability of bacteria assessed by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay (disruption effects after biofilm formed). Structures of extracted sericin were evaluated using circular dichroism and Fourier-transform infrared spectrometer. Results: The urea-extracted sericin at all concentrations (12.5mg/ml, 25mg/ml, 50mg/ml and 100mg/ml) showed the highest potential antibiofilm activity in terms of both inhibition and disruption effects, compared with sericin extracted by heat, acid or alkali. The heat-extracted and acid-extracted sericin were found to reduce the biofilm formation dose-dependently, while the alkali-extracted sericin did not show either inhibition or disruption effect on the bacterial biofilm. The urea-extracted sericin also killed the bacteria residing within the biofilm, possibly due to its modified structure which may destabilise the bacterial cell wall, leading to membrane disintegration and, finally, cell death. Conclusion: Our results demostrated the antibiofilm activity of sericin. This could form the basis of further research on the mechanism and application of sericin as a novel antibiofilm agent.

Why synthetic virus-like nanoparticles can achieve higher cellular uptake efficiency?

The disruption effect of spikes leads to the superior penetrability of virus-like nanoparticles during the translocation process.

Scientific Publication Management Transformation In Disruption Era

New innovations enter the market and create a strong disruption effect, a sign that the era of the decade that is currently happening has experienced many changes in various sectors, including economics, technology, education and politics. This study aims to examine the aspects and direction of the development of research related to the Disruption Age that affects technological developments, one of which is in the field of publication management. The approach used is a study of various definitions and model frameworks that developed around the era of disruption and management of publications as well as mapping and analysis of a number of publications. Judging from the research method, most of the research was carried out through descriptive and conceptual methods in which technological aspects became the focus of research by researchers. Disruption innovation has an impact on publication management, where publication management is increasingly developing with additional technological spices. Management of online-based scientific publications or e-journals that are able to manage scientific publication activities to create better management and publications and improve accessibility. The Ministry of Research, Technology and Higher Education targets 7,000 nationally accredited journals with six ratings. In 2018 there were 20,610 internationally published scientific works in Indonesia. The application of this online-based or e-journal scientific publication management system is able to improve the quality of the process of managing scientific journals to be more systematic and organized to achieve efficiency and improve publications to be global. Keywords: Disruption, Innovation, Scientific Publication Management, Technology.

The effect of a secondary task on identification accuracy of oxygen saturation ranges using an enhanced pulse oximetry sonification

In the operating theatre, anesthesiologists monitor an anesthetized patient’s oxygen saturation (SpO2) with a visual display but also with an auditory tone, or sonification. However, if the anesthesiologist must divide their attention across tasks, they may be less effective at recognising their patient’s SpO2 level. Previous research indicates that a sonification enhanced with additional sound dimensions of tremolo and brightness more effectively supports participants’ identification of SpO2 ranges than a conventional sonification does. This laboratory study explored the effect of a secondary task on participants’ ability to identify SpO2 range when using a conventional sonification (LogLinear sonification) versus an enhanced sonification (Stepped Effects sonification). Nineteen non-clinician participants who used the Stepped Effects sonification were significantly more effective at identifying SpO2 range ( Md = 100%) than were 18 participants using the LogLinear sonification ( Md = 80%). Range identification performance of participants using the Stepped Effects sonification tended to be less disrupted by a concurrent arithmetic task (drop from Md = 100% to 95%) than it was for participants using the LogLinear sonification (drop from Md = 80% to 73%). However, the disruption effect in each case was small, and the difference in disruption across sonifications was not statistically significant. Future research will test the sonifications under more intense cognitive load and in the presence of ambient noise.