Curcuma longa L. (Zingiberaceae family) and its polyphenolic compound curcumin have been subjected to a variety of antimicrobial investigations due to extensive traditional uses and low side effects. Antimicrobial activities for curcumin and rhizome extract of C. longa against different bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites have been reported. The promising results for antimicrobial activity ...

The search for better antimicrobial agent due to rapid appearance of multidrug resistant microorganism and antimicrobial properties of semicarbazones and 2,5-disubstituted 1,3,4-oxadiazoles prompted us to undertake the synthesis of a few novel N-[5-(4-substitutedphenyl)-1,3,4-oxadiazol-2-yl]-N-(4substitutedbenzaldehyde)-semicarbazone and N-[5-(4-substitutedphenyl)-1,3,4-oxadiazol-2-yl]-N-[1-(4s...

Porcine β defensin 2 (pBD2) is a small, cationic and amphiphilic antimicrobial peptide. It has broad antimicrobial activities against bacteria and plays an important role in host defense. In order to enhance its antimicrobial activity and better understand the effect of positively charged residues on its activity, we substituted eight amino acid residues with arginine or lysine respectively. Al...

A contingency of observed antimicrobial activities measured for several compounds vs. a series of bacteria was analyzed. A factor analysis revealed the existence of a certain probability distribution function of the antimicrobial activity. A quantitative structure-activity relationship analysis for the overall antimicrobial ability was conducted using the population statistics associated with i...

Production of antimicrobial peptides and proteins is an important means of host defense in eukaryotes. The larger antimicrobial proteins, containing more than 100 amino acids, are often lytic enzymes, nutrient-binding proteins or contain sites that target specific microbial macromolecules. The smaller antimicrobial peptides act largely by disrupting the structure or function of microbial cell m...

Antimicrobial packaging is one of the most promising active packaging systems. Antimicrobial packaging is the packaging system that is able to kill or inhibit spoilage and pathogenic microorganisms that are contaminating foods. A tremendous effort has been made over the last decade to develop and test films with antimicrobial properties to improve food safety and shelf life. For food preservati...

We surveyed infectious diseases physicians to determine their practice patterns with regard to both antimicrobial lock prophylaxis and antimicrobial lock therapy. Antimicrobial lock prophylaxis is relatively uncommon; only 19% of infectious diseases physicians reported using it at least once. Although antimicrobial lock therapy is more commonly used, we found a significant variation in practice...

OBJECTIVE We found previously that inappropriate inpatient antimicrobial use was often attributable to erroneous diagnoses. Here, we detail diagnostic errors and their relationship to inappropriate antimicrobial courses. DESIGN Retrospective cohort study. SETTING Veterans Affairs hospital. PATIENTS A cohort of 500 randomly selected inpatients with an antimicrobial course. METHODS Blinde...

OBJECTIVE Many hospitals utilize antimicrobial management teams (AMTs) to improve patient care. However, most function with minimal computer support. We evaluated the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of a computerized clinical decision support system for the management of antimicrobial utilization. DESIGN A randomized controlled trial in adult inpatients between May 10 and August 3, 2004....

PROBLEM In Thailand, antimicrobial resistance has formed a small component of national drug policies and strategies on emerging infectious diseases. However, poor coordination and a lack of national goals and monitoring and evaluation platforms have reduced the effectiveness of the corresponding national actions. APPROACH On the basis of local evidence and with the strong participation of rel...