Isolation of Aphanomyces sp(p). associated with skin lesions and mortalities in the striped (Mugil cephalus) and the thin lip (Liza ramada) grey mullets

Aphanomyces spp. were isolated from skin erosions and ulcers of cultured Striped and thin lip grey mullets. Fungi with non-septated hyphae were found in wet mount preparations of skin. Samples inoculated on glucose peptone liquid medium for three successive steps then mycelial growths were transferred into glucose peptone yeast extract agar medium. Aphanomyces spp. were successfully isolated, in axenic cultures, from seven out of 35 fish samples. The cultures were maintained on glucose peptone yeast extract liquid media. Formation of sporangia in tap water that contained hemp seeds confirmed that the grey mullet isolates are members of tlx genus Aphanomyces. All isolates grew progressively at salinities thar ranged from 2-8 ppt, however, only one isolate survived at 37 degrees C

Corporate governance, firm characteristics and internet financial reporting: evidence from Egyptian listed companies

This study investigates the effect of corporate governance and firm characteristics on the Internet financial reporting (IFR) of the Egyptian listed companies. We develop a disclosure index to measure the three components of the IFR for the Egyptian listed corporations by using an un-weighted checklist. The results find a significant relationship between the three components of IFR (TOTAL, CONTENT and PRESENTATION) and firm size, ownership diffusion, type of business, profitability, audit type, institutional ownership and board size. The results indicate that large non-financial companies that are audited by the big four auditing companies with high diffusion in their ownership and lower presentation of institutions in the ownership structure are more likely to be related to TOTAL and CONTENT. In addition, large profitable companies with high diffusion in their ownership are more likely to be related to TOTAL and PRESENTATION. Finally, companies with a large board size are associated only with PRESENTATION

Enrichment of antioxidant capacity and vitamin E in pita made from barley

This study aimed to enhance total antioxidant and vitamin E content of pita bread, by replacing 50% of the standard baker's flour with flours milled from covered (WI2585 and Harrington) or hulless (Finniss) barley genotypes, previously shown to have high antioxidant and vitamin E levels at harvest. Pita breads were made from either 100% baker's flour (control) or 50% malt flour, whole-grain flour, or flour from barley grains pearled at 10%, 15%, and 20% grain weight. Antioxidant capacity and vitamin E content of flours and pitas were determined by their ability to scavenge 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radicals and high performance liquid chromatography, respectively. The physical and sensory properties of the pitas were also assessed. All pitas made from either whole grain or pearled barley flour had a higher antioxidant capacity and most also had higher vitamin E content than standard pita. The antioxidant and vitamin E levels were reduced in pearled compared to whole grains, however the extent of that reduction varied among genotypes. The greatest antioxidant and vitamin E levels were found in pita made from malt flour or Finniss whole grain flour. Furthermore, sensory analysis suggested these pitas were acceptable to consumers and retained similar physical and sensory properties to those in the control pita.Thi Thu Dung Do, Beverly Muhlhausler, Amanda Box and Amanda J. Abl

Utilisation of an operative difficulty grading scale for laparoscopic cholecystectomy

Background A reliable system for grading operative difficulty of laparoscopic cholecystectomy would standardise description of findings and reporting of outcomes. The aim of this study was to validate a difficulty grading system (Nassar scale), testing its applicability and consistency in two large prospective datasets. Methods Patient and disease-related variables and 30-day outcomes were identified in two prospective cholecystectomy databases: the multi-centre prospective cohort of 8820 patients from the recent CholeS Study and the single-surgeon series containing 4089 patients. Operative data and patient outcomes were correlated with Nassar operative difficultly scale, using Kendall’s tau for dichotomous variables, or Jonckheere–Terpstra tests for continuous variables. A ROC curve analysis was performed, to quantify the predictive accuracy of the scale for each outcome, with continuous outcomes dichotomised, prior to analysis. Results A higher operative difficulty grade was consistently associated with worse outcomes for the patients in both the reference and CholeS cohorts. The median length of stay increased from 0 to 4 days, and the 30-day complication rate from 7.6 to 24.4% as the difficulty grade increased from 1 to 4/5 (both p < 0.001). In the CholeS cohort, a higher difficulty grade was found to be most strongly associated with conversion to open and 30-day mortality (AUROC = 0.903, 0.822, respectively). On multivariable analysis, the Nassar operative difficultly scale was found to be a significant independent predictor of operative duration, conversion to open surgery, 30-day complications and 30-day reintervention (all p < 0.001). Conclusion We have shown that an operative difficulty scale can standardise the description of operative findings by multiple grades of surgeons to facilitate audit, training assessment and research. It provides a tool for reporting operative findings, disease severity and technical difficulty and can be utilised in future research to reliably compare outcomes according to case mix and intra-operative difficulty