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In-vitro study to investigate the antimicrobial and cytotoxic activity of a periodontal pocket gel: Pocket-X® gel By
(University of the Western Cape, 2024) Moloi, Mpho; Mulder van Staden, Sune
Background. Periodontitis is a common oral disease resulting in periodontal breakdown and ultimately tooth loss. It is characterized by chronic inflammation of the periodontal tissues brought on by the formation and accumulation of substantial quantities of dental biofilm in a susceptible host. Numerous interventions are available for improving the management of periodontitis, including products such as the in situ gel Pocket-X® gel. There are limited studies assessing the efficacy of Pocket-X® gel, particularly in vitro to draw from. This study was aimed to evaluate the in vitro antimicrobial and potential cytotoxicity of Pocket-X® gel. Materials and methods. The antimicrobial efficacy of Pocket-X® gel was tested utilizing Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans (A.a.), Porphyromonas gingivalis (P.g.) and Candida albicans (C.a.), which are pathogens commonly associated with the initiation and development of periodontitis. The zones of inhibition were used to measure the efficacy of Pocket-X® gel by well-diffusion method on Meuller-Hinton Agar over time. The potential cytotoxicity effect of Pocket-X® gel was assessed on buccal fibroblasts to simulate the oral tissue through the calculation of the percentage survival of buccal fibroblasts on tissue culture plates. Results. Pocket-X® gel demonstrated sustained antimicrobial effects over the 28 days test period across the three test organisms with zone of inhibition (ZOI) of 11.70(±0.78), 10.75(±0.68), and 11.86(±1.11) mm in diameter, respectively.
Investigating fadd32 as a target for 7-substituted coumarin derivatives and other potential antimycobacterial agents
(Universty of the Western Cape, 2024) Sean, Shamido; Kapp, Erika
Antimycobacterial agents that can circumvent drug resistance are urgently required. One strategy of finding novel Tuberculosis (TB) drugs is to target new proteins within validated biosynthetic pathways. Targeting FadD32 is one such approach. This protein is an enzyme involved in mycolic acid synthesis, therefore, inhibiting FadD32 leads to Mycobacterium tuberculosis cell death while circumventing resistance to TB drugs such as isoniazid. With that said, investigating compounds with the potential to inhibit FadD32 may contribute towards improving TB treatment. This study mainly focused on the use of a structure-based drug design technique known as molecular docking in order to investigate if a series of 7-substituted coumarin derivatives and other scaffolds from the Maybridge database could potentially bind to FadD32. For this investigation to be carried out, the FadD32 protein had to be downloaded from the protein databank and prepared using an application known as Molecular Operating Environment (MOE 2020).
Estimating groundwater recharge in Jinci karst groundwater system, North China
(Universty of the Western Cape, 2024) Shen, Haoyong; Xu, Yongxin
More than 25% of the world’s population relies on karst groundwater as the primary source for drinking and irrigation. However, due to the global climate change as well as population expansion, the contradictory between supply and demand of water resource becomes more and more pronounced. Karst groundwater supply drinking water and irrigation water to more than thirty large cities in northern China due to its high concentration, stable groundwater flow and good water quality. Meanwhile, due to the excessive development of karst groundwater, a series of aquatic ecological problems have arisen, such as over 30% karst large springs are in process of drying up, the regional karst groundwater level declining and the degradation of karst groundwater quality in the past forty years.
The problem of organisational culture, leadership and military discipline in the South African national defence force
(Universty of the Western Cape, 2024) Daniels, Peter Isaac; Esau, Michelle
The problem of organisational culture, leadership style and its relationship to the implementation and maintenance of discipline in the SANDF was investigated using a case study method. Semi-structured interviews were utilised to elicit responses from recently retired soldiers. This was done because no permission could be sourced from the Department of Defence to conduct interviews with serving members. Documentary analysis, as a qualitative research method, was utilised to interrogate the policies and documents of the SANDF to address some of the concomitant gaps occasioned by interviewing retired soldiers and a lack of female soldiers. Based on both the primary and secondary sources of data, it was found that challenges continue to exist to effectively manage discipline in the SANDF.
The design and development of guidelines to integrate spirituality and spiritual care into occupational therapy education using design-based research
(University of the Western Cape, 2017) Mthembu, Thuli Godfrey; Roman, Nicolette
Spirituality and spiritual care have been gaining importance in recent years in occupational therapy education as constructs related to holistic and personcentred approaches, in order to improve occupational therapy practice. In a South African context there has been little research carried out on how to integrate spirituality and spiritual care into occupational therapy education; this area is thus poorly understood. Increasingly occupational therapy educators, students and clinicians need guidelines to assist them to integrate spirituality and spiritual care into occupational therapy education. The main research question addressed in this thesis is ''How can spirituality and spiritual care guidelines be developed in the context of occupational therapy education for the purpose of integrating spirituality and spiritual care into teaching and learning in order to improve occupational therapy practice?''