Viable mpox virus in the environment of a patient room.

We conducted a prospective environmental surveillance study to investigate the air, surface, dust, and water contamination of a room occupied by a patient infected with mpox virus (MPXV) at various stages of the illness. The patient tested positive for MPXV from a throat swab and skin lesions. Environmental sampling was conducted in a negative pressure room with 12 unidirectional high efficiency particulate air filter (HEPA) air changes per hour and daily cleaning of the surfaces. A total of 179 environmental samples were collected on days 7, 8, 13, and 21 of illness. Among the days of sampling, air, surface, and dust contamination showed the highest contamination rates on day 7 and 8 of illness, with a gradual decline to the lowest contamination level by day 21. Viable MPXV was isolated from surfaces and dust samples and no viable virus was isolated from the air and water samples.

(Co)variance components and genetics parameter estimation for linear traits in Holstein cattle in Indonesia: traits related to foot/leg and udder.

The availability of (co)variance components and genetics parameter estimates for traits included in a selection program is crucial since the estimated breeding values of the selected traits are computed based on the available (co)variance components and genetics parameters. The present study aimed to estimate (co)variance components and genetics parameters for linear traits related to foot/leg and udder (i.e. rear legs set, foot angle, udder depth, and teat length) in Holstein cattle in Indonesia. Linear traits were measured (instead of scored) on 310 lactating Holstein cows raised in the National Breeding Centre for Dairy Cattle and Forage of Indonesia (BBPTUHPT Baturraden). These were nearly all cows in lactation owned by the centre at the time of study. Lactating cows which were not measured during study were those which are technically difficult to handle. The Average Information Restricted Maximum Likelihood (AI-REML) method of the DMU program was used to estimate the (co)variances and genetics parameters of the considered linear traits. A four-multivariate animal model was employed by including farm (fixed), animal (random), and age (covariate) effects in the model of analysis. The phenotypic means (standard deviation) for rear legs set, foot angle, udder depth, and teat length were 139.70 (6.03), 50.65 (5.04), 10.67 (6.19), and 5.27 (0.96), respectively. The results showed that the estimated heritability ( h 2 ) was 0.334, 0.236, 0.147, and 0.213 for rear legs set, foot angle, udder depth, and teat length, respectively. The genetic (phenotypic) correlations between linear traits rear legs set-foot angle, rear legs set-udder depth, rear legs set-teat length, foot angle-udder depth, foot angle-teat length, and udder depth-teat length were - 0.08 ( - 0.043 ), - 0.6 (0.002), 0.101 (0.036), 0.002 ( - 0.017 ), - 0.186 ( - 0.146 ), and - 0.834 (0.019), respectively. The present study concluded that the linear traits could be used in the selection program, though the traits should be properly weighted to avoid deteriorating selection response.

Gelam honey and ginger potentiate the anti cancer effect of 5-FU against HCT 116 colorectal cancer cells.

The development of chemopreventive approaches using a concoction of phytochemicals is potentially viable for combating many types of cancer including colon carcinogenesis. This study evaluated the anti-proliferative effects of ginger and Gelam honey and its efficacy in enhancing the anti-cancer effects of 5-FU (5-fluorouracil) against a colorectal cancer cell line, HCT 116. Cell viability was measured via MTS (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2- yl)-5-(3-carboxymethoxyphenyl)-2-(4-sulphenyl)-2H-tetrazolium) assay showing ginger inhibiting the growth of HCT 116 cells more potently (IC50 of 3mg/mL) in comparison to Gelam honey (IC50 of 75 mg/mL). Combined treatment of the two compounds (3mg/mL ginger+75 mg/mL Gelam honey) synergistically lowered the IC50 of Gelam honey to 22 mg/mL. Combination with 35 mg/mL Gelam honey markedly enhanced 5-FU inhibiting effects on the growth of HCT 116 cells. Subsequent analysis on the induction of cellular apoptosis suggested that individual treatment of ginger and Gelam honey produced higher apoptosis than 5-FU alone. In addition, treatment with the combination of two natural compounds increased the apoptotic rate of HCT 116 cells dose- dependently while treatment of either ginger or Gelam honey combined with 5-FU only showed modest changes. Combination index analysis showed the combination effect of both natural compounds to be synergistic in their inhibitory action against HCT 116 colon cancer cells (CI 0.96 < 1). In conclusion, combined treatment of Gelam honey and ginger extract could potentially enhance the chemotherapeutic effect of 5-FU against colorectal cancer.