The clinical significance of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli is a strong factor for regular monitoring of their sensitivity to both established and novel antimicrobial compounds. Human isolates of these organisms were collected from different pathological sources and tested for their sensitivity to gentamicin - an established aminoglycoside antibiotic - and to honey, a natural produ...

Natural honey is well known for its therapeutic value and has been used in traditional medicine of different cultures throughout the world. The aim of this study was to investigate the anti-inflammatory effect of Malaysian Gelam honey in inflammation-induced rats. Paw edema was induced by a subplantar injection of 1% carrageenan into the rat right hind paw. Rats were treated with the nonsteroid...

The analyses of various honeys must have three aims: quality control, purity control, and identification of adulterations. Indeed, honey – an outstandingly valuable foodstuff – can be deprived of some of its qualities following inadequate handling. Extraction, processing and storage of honey performed without control often lead to obtaining a low-quality product. On the other hand, modern agric...

The ectoparasitic mite, Varroa destructor, has become the largest threat to apiculture and honey bee health world-wide. Since it was introduced to the new host species, the European honey bee (Apis mellifera), it has been responsible for the near complete eradication of wild and feral honey bee populations in Europe and North America. Currently, the apicultural industry depends heavily on chemi...

Pollination is critical for food production and has the particularity of linking natural ecosystems with agricultural production systems. Recently, losses of bumblebee species have been reported worldwide. In this study, samples from a commercial exploitation of bumblebees of Argentina with a recent history of deaths were studied using a multiplex PCR for the detection of the honey bee viruses ...

Honey is rich in phenolic compounds, which act as natural antioxidants and are becoming increasingly popular because of their potential role in contributing to human health. A wide range of phenolic constituents is present in honey like quercetin, caffeic acid phenethyl ester (CAPE), acacetin, kaempferol, galangin which have promising effect in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases. Many epi...

A preliminary report of this case study was first published in April 2000 in the Nursing Times (Dunford, 2000). It had a huge impact and was immediately picked up by the media. The fact that such a natural agent as honey could be responsible for healing such devastating lesions in a young adult so badly affected by meningococcal septicaemia made it newsworthy. There followed numerous national a...

In this paper, we show the functional similarities between Meta-heuristics and the aspects of the science of life (biology): (a) Meta-heuristics based on gene transfer: Genetic algorithms (natural evolution of genes in an organic population), Transgenic Algorithm (transfers of genetic material to another cell that is not descending); (b) Meta-heuristics based on interactions among individual in...