This study aimed to investigate the ability of clove and cinnamon extracts to make pathogenic multidrug-resistant (MDR) Klebsiella pneumoniae more sensitive to the host’s immune system and thereby interrupt the bacterial infection process in the rat model. Therefore, 60 Wistar male rats were used in this study. The phytochemical constituents of the plant extract were analysed using the gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) technique. Then, the capability of the plant extracts, as prophylactic and treatment, against K. pneumoniae in rats was studied by estimating the complete blood counts (CBCs) and the serum concentrations of interleukin-4 (IL-4) and interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) before and after the treatment. The results showed that the main phytoconstituent present in the aqueous ethanolic extract of cinnamon was cinnamaldehyde, and eugenol for clove. Concerning the haematological parameter, significant alterations in white blood cell counts, lymphocytes %, monocytes %, granulocytes %, and plateletcrit % were observed in the blood of animals. Increased IL-4 and IFN-γ levels occurred following the administration of cinnamon and clove, and that increase was dose-dependent. To conclude, clove and cinnamon ethanolic extracts exerted potent immunomodulatory effects against K. pneumoniae. The study recommends further exploration of these plant extracts separately or in combination to develop alternative therapies against MDR K. pneumoniae infections.
The immunomodulatory role of clove and cinnamon extracts on Klebsiella pneumoniae infected rats.
cinnamon
clove
complete blood counts
IL-4 and IFN-γ
Klebsiella pneumoniae
Publication Date
Sat Oct 01 2016
Journal Name
Journal Of Theoretical And Applied Information Technology
Factors affecting global virtual teams’ performance in software projects
Today the trend is to perform software development work via distributed geographical area among team
individual or even as an organization. However
due to the global market and international presence of many companies
there is a need to implement a global virtual teams. The global virtual team members are gradually engaged in globalized business environments across space
time and organizational boundaries via information and communication technologies. A global virtual team relies on communication
collaboration
and information exchange are the most important criteria in global virtual teams’ operations. The purpose of this paper is to answer two research questions. The first research question is to identify the factors affecting global virtual teams’ performance. A systematic literature review was conducted to answer the first research question. The second research question is on what the rank of the factor affecting the global virtual teams’ performance according to their level of effect on global virtual teams’ performance. Online survey was conducted within 103 developers and IT managers from eight IT companies to answer the second research question. The Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS 22) was used to analyze the collected data. In this study
we investigated factors that affect global virtual teams’ performance
factors considered include cultural differences
language problems
time-zone differences
team size
technical problems
lack of trust
lack of sufficient training
and ICT problems. Also the findings indicated that lack of sufficient training is the highest level of effect on global virtual teams’ performance. On the other hand
team size is the lowest level of effect on global virtual teams’ performance. © 2005 - 2016 JATIT & LLS. All rights reserved.
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