Cytotoxicity and antimicrobial activity of Salvia officinalis L. flowers

In this study a comparison of the Cytotoxicity and antimicrobial action of the aqueous and 70% methanol extracts from the flower of the herbal species Salvia officinalis L. (Lamiaceae), originating from Sudan was carried out. Material and Methods: Aqueous, and aquatic methanolic extracts of S. officinalis was investigated for its antimicrobial activity and cytotoxicity using brine shrimps lethality assay. Results: The methanol extract was found to contain cardiac glycosides, flavonoids, saponins and alkaloids. It exhibited antibacterial activities against Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus stearothermophilus, Micrococcus luteus, Serratia mascences, Clostridium sporogenes, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Bacillus cereus, Pseudomonas fluorescence. It was also found to be potent against brine shrimps with LC50 value of 55.1- 55.6 ppm. The 70% methanol extract has a stronger antimicrobial activity than the aqueous one. Conclusion: This work has revealed further potentials of S. officinalis L flowers as an antimicrobial agent, especially against P. aeruginosa which is resistant to some antibiotics. Keywords: Salvia officinalis L, Lamiaceae, extracts composition, brine shrimps, antimicrobial..Sudan Journal of Medical Sciences Vol. 3 (2) 2008: pp. 127-13

Antibiotic Susceptibility and Plasmid Profiles of Shigella species in Sudan.

This study was carried out to determine the antibiotic susceptibility, plasmid profile and conjugative abilities of Shigella species isolated from different towns in Sudan during 2005-2007.Methods: Stool specimens were collected in Carry Blair transport medium from patients presenting with diarrhea from different sites in Sudan between the years 2005-2007. All specimens were inoculated on Mac Conkey’s agar and Xylose Lysine Dioxycholate (XLD) (Mast group Ltd.Merseyside U.K.). Bacteria was isolated and subjected to different antibiotics to detect sensitivity and transference of resistance.Results: One hundred and fourteen Shigella isolates were included in the study. Eighty (70.1%) were Shigella flexeneri representing the dominant isolate, followed by 20 (17.5%) isolates of Shigella dysenteriae, 9 (7.9%) Shigella sonnei and 5 (4.5%) Shigella boydii. Most of the isolates showed resistance to streptomycin (70%), tetracycline (52%) and co-trimoxazole (43%). They were highly sensitive to norfloxacin (97%), nalidixic acid (95%), gentamicin (89%) and chloramphenicol (77%). Multi-drug resistance to two or more antibiotics was apparent in most of the isolates (64, 56.1%). Fifty nine of the resistant Shigella isolates were studied for their ability to transfer resistance to the donor E. coli K12 by conjugation. Of these, six were able to transfer resistance to streptomycin, tetracycline and co-trimoxazole. Extraction of the plasmid DNA from both donorsand trans-conjugants showed a single type of plasmid with a molecular weight of 4.6 Kb. Conclusion: The transfer of multi-drug resistant plasmids and the emergence of antibiotic Shigella and other bacterial species should raise the awareness and the seriousness of the uncontrolled (unsupervised)use of antibiotics in the medical practice.Key words: Shigella E. coli, Plasmid, conjugant, resistance transfer

Y-Chromosome short tandem repeat, typing technology, locus information and allele frequency in different population: A review

Chromosome Y microsatellites seem to be ideal markers to delineate differences between human populations. They are transmitted in uniparental and they are very sensitive for genetic drift. This review will highlight the importance of the Y- Chromosome as a tool for tracing human evolution and describes some details of Y-chromosomal short tandem repeat (STR) analysis. Among them are: microsatellites, amplification using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) of STRs, separation and detection and advantages of X-chromosomal microsatellites.Key words: Forensic, population, review, STR, Y- chromosome

Faecal Contamination of Feeding Bottles Contents, Among Artificially Fed Children

This study was carried out to investigate the bacterial contamination of feeding bottles contents in artificially fed children presenting with diarrhoea at the Paediatric outpatient clinic in Khartoum Hospital.Methods: Hundred bottle fed infants presenting with diarrhoea were included in the study. Specimens were collected from the contents of the feeding bottles and the faeces of children.Results: Hundred and ten bacterial species were isolated from the contents. E. coli was the commonest isolate [33 (30%)]. Different other bacterial species were also isolated with very high count (1X106 - > 15X105/ml). Twenty one enteric pathogens were isolated from the stool specimens [Enteropathogenic E. coli (7) and Shigella species (14)]. The antibiotic sensitivity of the E. coli and Shigella species showed high resistance to co-trimoxazole (57.5%, 53.3% respectively) and to coamoxiclav (85% - 53.3% respectively).Conclusion: Awareness to the hazards of the feeding bottles among the community should be raised and breast feeding should be encouraged.Key words: diarrhea, enteric pathogens, E. coli

The Coulomb phase shift revisited

We investigate the Coulomb phase shift, and derive and analyze new and more precise analytical formulae. We consider next to leading order terms to the Stirling approximation, and show that they are important at small values of the angular momentum $l$ and other regimes. We employ the uniform approximation. The use of our expressions in low energy scattering of charged particles is discussed and some comparisons are made with other approximation methods.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures, 1 tabl

Ethanol-Induced Hepatic and Renal Histopathological Changes in BALB/c mice

This study was to investigate the histopathologic changes of different concentrations of ethanol on the mice liver and kidney. Forty albino mice of the Mus musculus species, BALB/c strain mice underwent this study and were divided into four groups; control, %20, %40 and %60 of ethanol administration groups. The mice of each group (%20, %40 and %60 of ethanol) were orally administered with 1ml of ethanol 4days/week for 3 weeks. Hematoxylin and eosin staining indicated development of mild to severe lesions in kidney and liver which included; In %20 of ethanol administration group there was mild lesion development; hydropic swelling in liver and swelling of kidney parenchyma while in %40 of ethanol administration group developed moderate changes; hydropic swelling of hepatocytes and kidney tubules with hyaline degeneration and in %60 of ethanol administration group produced severe lesion; focal macro and micro abscess in liver parenchyma and focal neutrophil infiltration within renal parenchyma and hyaline cast within renal tubules. Based on our study, it can be concluded that ethanol intoxication leads to a various disorders of the liver and kidney which arrange from mild to severe injury which was depended on the concentration of ethanol. Keywords: Ethanol, Mice, Kidney, Liver, H&E stain

Understanding The Effect Of Anaphoric Expressions In Some Selected Iraqi Socio-Political Discourse On Social Media: A Critical Discourse Analysis

In the philosophy of persuasive language, reference is a widely accepted global semantic notion that argues the relationship between a statement and its referent for meanings. This is to recognize and understand things in discourse, especially for persuasive ends in public discourse. The aim of this work then is to present a critical analysis to the effect of anaphoric expressions in some selected Iraqi socio-political discourse delivered on social media. The study highlights the effect of referential strategies on media discourse delivered during the time of COVIDE 19. The analysis limits itself to 20 videos, which are randomly selected from various YouTube channels. For doing so, the study incorporates some of the widely applied CDA analytical categories used in the DHA (Discourse-Historical Approach), including referential strategies (Resigil & Wodak, 2001). This is to account for how the use of referential strategies / expressions can be used for persuasive ends, especially in /out group. The analysis of the selected data demonstrates that: social media in general and YouTube in particular have an exceptional and powerful impact on in/out group. Thereof, personal references are the most predominated cohesive device that employed in the selected data by which the speaker represents membership in the semantic categories of in-group and out group. Statistically, the analysis found that personal references are the highest percentage of the investigated data, while the demonstrative and comparative once are not utilized

In vitro effect of Aqueouscalotropis procera root extract on ammonium sulphate precipitated liver marker enzymes of albino rats

The in vitro effect of aqueous root extract of C. procera on liver marker enzymes; alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) of albino rats was evaluated. ALT was precipitated at 40% ammonium sulphate saturation whilst AST and ALP were precipitated at 35 % saturation from rat liver homogenate. The   enzymes were assayed at varying concentrations (mg/ml) of the extract (0.00, 0.05, 0.10, 0.15, 0.20, 0.25, 0.30, 0.35, 0.40, 0.45. 0.50) at 37oC. At 0.00µmg/ml extract; ALT, AST and ALP activities of 5.91 ~ 10-4, 2.70 ~ 10-4 and 3. 74 ~ 10-5 µmol/min respectively. Upon incubation with  extract, the enzymes had respective mean activities of 6.38 } 0.35 ~ 10-4, 4.07 } 0.62 ~ 10-4and 2.80 } 0.44 ~ 10-5µmol/min. The activities of ALT and AST were significantly increased (P < 0.05) in presence of C. procera extract with significant decrease (P < 0.05) in the activity of ALP. It  indicates that the aqueous root extract of C. procera activated ALT and AST and inhibited ALP in vitro.Keywords: in vitro, C. procera,liver marker enzymes, ammonium sulphat