Hospital and community isolates of uropathogens at a tertiary hospital in South Africa

Aim. To investigate the profile of common uropathogensisolated from urine specimens submitted to the diagnostic microbiology laboratory at a tertiary teaching hospital and assess their antimicrobial susceptibility patterns to commonly used antimicrobial agents.Methods. We conducted a retrospective analysis of laboratoryreports for all urine specimens submitted for investigations over a 1-year period. Isolates were tested by means of the Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method for susceptibility to amoxicillin, ciprofloxacin, gentamicin, co-trimoxazole and nitrofurantoin, and for extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) production.Results. Out of the total specimens (N=2 203) received over the 1-year study period, 51.1% (1 126) of the urine samples were culture-positive, the majority (65.4%) having come from females. The most common isolate was Escherichia coli (39.0%) followed by Klebsiella species (20.8%) and Enterococcus faecalis (8.2%). The  ram-negative isolates displayed a very high level of resistance to amoxicillin (range 43 - 100%) and co-trimoxazole (range 29 - 90%), whereas resistance to gentamicin (range 0 - 50%) and ciprofloxacin (range 0 - 33%)was lower. E. coli isolates were susceptible to nitrofurantoin (94%), and ESBL production was significantly higher (p=0.01) in the hospital isolates, compared with those from the community referral sites.Conclusions. The culture-positive rate for uropathogens washigh, with a greater incidence among females. E. coli was the most common aetiological agent identified, and remained susceptible to nitrofurantoin. Resistance levels to amoxicillin and co-trimoxazole were very high for all Gram-negative isolates, and it is recommended that these antibiotics should not be used for the empiric treatment of urinary tract infections

Morphological and molecular evaluation of some Egyptian pomegranate cultivars

Six Egyptian pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) cultivars were characterized by fruit characteristics (physical and chemical) and two molecular markers; Inter simple sequence repeat (ISSR) and amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP). Genetic diversity of the pomegranate genotypes was evaluated. Physical fruit traits were determined (weight, volume and diameter), calyx [diameter, length (mm) and Carpels number], fruit firmness (Newton), peel as (weight and thickness), arils weight (g), volume of juice (ml), seeds [fresh and dry weight (g)], and color parameter of (fruit skin, internal peel, arils, juice and seeds). The chemical traits such as soluble solids contents (SSC), vitamin C content, anthocyanin content, pH, and titratable acidity (TA) were assessed and wide variations were observed in each of these traits among the studied cultivars. The genetic variability and relationships among six Egyptian pomegranate cultivars were tested using ISSR and AFLP analyses. The level of polymorphism across cultivars was 53 and 90.7% as revealed by ISSR and AFLP, respectively. ISSR and AFLP revealed different genetic similarities among the six pomegranate cultivars. Each analysis differs not only in its underlying principle, but also in their in-formativeness with regard to the type and amount of polymorphism detected. Genetic similarity matrices estimated from ISSR and AFLP data, showed similarity coefficients to range from 0.77 to 0.94 and 0.33 to 0.73, respectively. ISSR and AFLP characterized the six pomegranate cultivars by a large number of unique markers being 23 and 46 unique markers, respectively. The fruit weight ranged between 479.4 to 185 g of ʻNab El Gamalʼ and ʻAssuityʼ, the firmness was 79.98 of ʻNab El Gamalʼ and 71.84 Newton of ʻManfaloutyʼ cv. The fruit peel thickness varied from 0.6 mm ʻArabyʼ, ʻHegazyʼ and ʻWardiʼ to 0.3 mm ʻAssuityʼ. The arils weight ranged from 87.5 to 275 g of ʻAssuityʼ and ʻNab El Gamalʼ cvs. The percentage net of arils weight/ fruit weight was the highest (59.34% of ʻManfaloutyʼ cv). The juice volume ranged from 62.41 to 71.81 ml/100 g arils for ʻ Wardiʼ and ʻNab El Gamalʼ cvs. The SSC content ranged between 16.01 ʻHegazyʼ and 12.55% ʻAssuityʼ. V.C. content ranged from 3.21 to 14 mg. vitamin/100 ml juice of ʻNab El Gamalʼ and ʻAssuityʼ. The anthocyanin content ranged from 1.47 to 10.03 for ʻArabyʼ and ʻHegazyʼ. The pH values varied from 3.3 (Wardi) to 2.9 (Araby). The Egyptain cultivars of pomegranate have a wide variation in the morphological and chemical characteristics for many uses of fresh fruit and of industry purpose.Keywords: Morphological and chemical fruits characterization, pomegranate, inter simple sequence repeat (ISSR), DNA markers, amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP)African Journal of Biotechnology, Vol. 13(2), pp. 226-237, 8 January, 201

Growth response of eight tropical turfgrass species to salinity

Irrigation seawater of different salinity levels (0, 24, 48 and 72 dSm-1) were applied to experimental plants grown in a plastic pots filled with a mixture of sand and peat (9:1). The results were analyzedusing SAS and treatment means were compared using LSD Test. The results indicated that Paspalum vaginatum (seashore paspalum) (SP), Zoysia matrella (manilagrass) (MG), Pasplaum vaginatum local(SPL), Cynodon dactylon (common bermuda) (CB), Cynodon dactylon (bermuda greenless park) (GLP), Eremochloa ophiuroides (centipede) (CP), Axonopus compressus (cow grass) (CG) and Axonopusaffinis (narrowleaf carpet grass) (NCG) experienced a 50% shoot growth reduction at the EC of 39.8, 36.5, 26.1, 25.9, 21.7, 22.4, 17.0 and 18.3 dSm-1, respectively, and a 50% root growth reduction at the ECof 49.4, 42.1, 29.9, 29.7, 26.0 24.8, 18.8 and 20.0 dSm-1, respectively. The ranking for salinity tolerance of selected grasses was  SP>MG>SPL>CB>GLP>CP>NCG>CG. The results indicate the importance of the selection of turfgrass varieties according to the soil salinity and seawater salinity levels to be used for irrigation

Assessment of respiratory involvement in children with mucoplysaccharidosis using pulmonary function tests

Background: Mucopolysaccharidosis (MPS) are classified into seven clinical types based on eleven known lysosomal enzyme deficiencies of glycosaminoglycan (GAG) metabolism. Respiratory involvement seen in most MPS types includes recurrent respiratory infections, upper and lower airway obstruction, tracheomalacia, restrictive lung disease, and sleep disturbances.Aim of the study: To delineate the pattern of respiratory compromise and pulmonary function abnormalities in MPS patients.Methods: This is a cross section observational study conducted on 30 patients recruited from the Neurometabolic Clinic, Children’s Hospital, Cairo University over a period of 18 months. All patients were screened first by the quantitative determination of GAGs in urine, and diagnosis was confirmed by unidimensional electrophoresis for GAGs in urine and/or specific enzymatic assay in blood leucocytes. Infant pulmonary functions (IPFT) were done in twenty-two patients (<3 years of age), while 8 cases performed impulse oscillometry (IOS) test (3–6 years of age).Results: Ages at diagnosis ranged from 1 to 9 years with a median of 2.3 years. Male to female ratio was 4:1. Consanguinity was observed in 53.3% whereas similar family condition was present in 40% of cases. Lumbar kyphosis was detected in 60% of cases, while scoliosis was detected in 46.7%. Results of pulmonary functions were mainly obstructive in 20 (66.6%) cases; however, combined obstructive and restrictive were detected in only 6 (20%) of cases. Data showed no association between the presence of scoliosis or the presence of organomegaly and the pattern of pulmonary function abnormalities.Conclusions: Evaluation and follow up of patients with MPS using pulmonary function tests are essential to detect early involvement of respiratory system and hence start treatment for respiratory complications early in the course of the disease

Screening the Efficacy of Some Traditional Herbal Drugs for Treatment of Hymenolepis diminuta Infection in Rats

Background: Hymenolepis nana (human infecting tapeworm) and H. diminuta (rodent infecting tapeworm) are currently incriminated to be the cause of non-specific bowel disturbances. They are in most instances resistant to the available anticestodal compounds due to misuse of drugs and probably adaptation of the parasites to the commercially available drugsObjective: Our objective is to study the toxicity and curative efficacy of different medicinal plants that are candidate for the treatment of tapeworm infections in man.Methods: Four medicinal plants were tested for their ability to treat Hymenolepis diminuta tapeworm infection in rats. These plants are Amaranthus viridis, Cucurbita maxima, Hagenia abyssinica and Balanites aegyptiaca. Selection of these plants was based on ethnobotanicalinformation. The evaluation of the efficiency of these medicinal plants was based on the “controlled test design”, modified from Moskey and Harwood10: Following pre-infection screening, and life cycle establishment rats were grouped to six experimental groups for each plant. Stool specimens were collected from all groups, the mean of eggs counts per gram of faeces were counted. The reduction percentage of eggs per gram (EPG) was calculated and time to clear eggs was compared with that of Niclosamide. Niclosamide drug was used in this study as a control treatment14.Results: There were no signs of toxic effect on the rats due to administration of any of the tested medicinal plants. Amaranthus viridis leavs exhibited a very weak efficacy. It did not reduce eggs ineither water or food significantly as compared to the untreated control group (p> 0.05). The deparasitization activity of this plant (35%) was not significant. Similarly, Balanites aegyptiaca seeds were not effective in treatment of the infection in rats. Egg counts and deparasitization infood and water, were not significantly (p> 0.05) different from those of the untreated control group. On the other hand, Cucurbita maxima and Hagenia abyssinica seeds were very effective in the treatment of Hymenolepis diminuta infection in rats. Egg reduction (100%) was highly significant (p< 0.01) in food and water as compared to that of the untreated control group of rats (zero%). C. maxima seeds in food deparasitized 80% of the worms, while Hagenia abyssinica deparasitized 100%.Conclusion: Our conclusion was that Hagenia abyssinica was the most active plant of this group in the treatment of Hymenolepis diminuta infection in rats

Controlled cavity collapse: scaling laws of drop formation

The formation of transient cavities at liquid interfaces occurs in an immense variety of natural processes, among which the bursting of surface bubbles and the impact of a drop on a liquid pool are salient. The collapse of a surface liquid cavity is a well documented natural process that leads to the ejection of a thin and fast jet. Droplets generated through this process can be one order of magnitude smaller than the cavity's aperture, and they are consequently of interest in drop on demand inkjet applications. In this work, the controlled formation and collapse of a liquid cavity is analyzed, and the conditions for minimizing the resulting size and number of ejected drops are determined. The experimental and numerical models are simple and consist of a liquid reservoir, a nozzle plate with the discharge orifice, and a moving piston actuated by single half-sine-shaped pull-mode pulses. The size of the jetted droplet is described by a physical model resulting in a scaling law that is numerically and experimentally validated

Evaluation Of The Essential Oil Of Foeniculum Vulgare Mill (Fennel) Fruits Extracted By Three Different Extraction Methods By Gc/Ms

Background: Hydrodistillation (HD) and steam-distillation, or solvent extraction methods of essential oils have some disadvantages like thermal decomposition of extracts, its contamination with solvent or solvent residues and the pollution of residual vegetal material with solvent which can be also an environmental problem. Thus, new green techniques, such as supercritical fluid extraction and microwave assisted techniques, are potential solutions to overcome these disadvantages.Materials and Methods: The aim of this study was to evaluate the essential oil of Foeniculum vulgare subsp. Piperitum fruits extracted by three different extraction methods viz. Supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) using CO2, microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) and hydro-distillation (HD) using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS).Results: The results revealed that both MAE and SFE enhanced the extraction efficiency of the interested components. MAE gave the highest yield of oil as well as higher percentage of Fenchone (28%), whereas SFE gave the highest percentage of anethol (72%).Conclusion: Microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) and supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) not only enhanced the essential oil extraction but also saved time, reduced the solvents use and produced, ecologically, green technologies.Keywords: Foeniculum vulgare subsp. Piperitum, microwave-assisted extraction (MAE), Supercritical fluid extraction (SFE), Essential Oils,Anethol, Fenchone, Limonene, Pinene, GC/MS

Spall Fault Quantification Method for Flight Control Electromechanical Actuator

Flight control electro-mechanical actuators (EMAs) are among the primary onboard systems that significantly influence the reliability and safety of unmanned aerial vehicles. Recent reliability studies have shown that the ball-screw element of a flight control EMA is subject to oscillating operating conditions that may initiate rapid degradation, such as fatigue spall defects. Accordingly, detecting and quantifying such faults are crucial for developing efficient fault prognostic and remaining useful life estimation capabilities. In this study, a vibration-based fault quantification method is developed to quantify the fatigue faults of a ball-screw mechanism of an EMA. The method is based on identifying the ball passing instants through a localized surface defect on the vibrational jerk rather than the vibrational acceleration measurement. The jerk is numerically determined from conventional accelerometers using a Savitzky–Golay differentiator. This method was successfully tested for ball bearings and it is adjusted in this paper for ball-screw faults. The experimental validation is investigated on a set of fault-seeded samples on NASA’s Ames Research Center Flyable Electro-Mechanical Actuator test stand

Abrasive water jet drilling of advanced sustainable bio-fibre-reinforced polymer/hybrid composites : a comprehensive analysis of machining-induced damage responses

This paper aims at investigating the effects of variable traverse speeds on machining-induced damage of fibre-reinforced composites, using the abrasive water jet (AWJ) drilling. Three different types of epoxy-based composites laminates fabricated by vacuum bagging technique containing unidirectional (UD) flax, hybrid carbon-flax and carbon fibre-reinforced composite were used. The drilling parameters used were traverse speeds of 20, 40, 60 and 80 mm/min, constant water jet pressure of 300 MPa and a hole diameter of 10 mm. The results obtained depict that the traverse speed had a significant effect with respect to both surface roughness and delamination drilling-induced damage responses. Evidently, an increase in water jet traverse speed caused an increase in both damage responses of the three samples. Significantly, the CFRP composite sample recorded the lowest surface roughness damage response, followed by C-FFRP, while FFRP exhibited the highest. However, samples of FFRP and hybrid C-FFRP recorded lowest and highest delamination damage responses, respectively. The discrepancy in both damage responses, as further validated with micrographs of colour video microscopy (CVM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray micro-computed tomography (X-ray μCT), is attributed to the different mechanical properties of the reinforced fibres, fibre orientation/ply stacking and hybridisation of the samples.Peer reviewe

أساليب الجمل وتأثيرىا النفسية فى نبينا يوسف عليو سلام (دراسة تحليلية في علم النفس الأدبي)

Surah Yusuf merupakan surah yang terdapat didalam Al-Qur’an, surah ini memiliki kandungan ilmu di dalamnya yang memungkin untuk dianalisis, salah satunya analisis psikologi sastra. Surah Yusuf menceritakan tentang kisah seorang Nabi yang mengalami nasib yang berganti-ganti, antara kesengsaraan dan kebahagiaan. Kisah Yusuf merupakan kisah terbaik, yang teruji kesabarannya ketika saudara-saudaranya membencinya sampai di celakakan dan di masukkan ke dasar sumur, kemudian di ambil oleh musafir dan di jual sebagai budak. Pada saat dewasa ia di goda oleh istri Aziz sampai akhirnya dipenjara. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mempelajari tingkah laku dari kisah Nabi Yusuf dalam Al-Qur’an dengan analisis psikologi sastra. Penelitian ini menggunakan pendekatan penelitian kualitatif deskriptif. Metode pengumpulan data dengan dokumentasi melalui buku, jurnal, dan literature lainnya yang berhubungan dengan penelitian ini. Adapun analisis data yang digunakan adalah analisis data secara deskriptif. Teori psikonalisa ya digunakan ini adalah teori Sigmund Freud untuk mengkaji tokoh Yusuf. Teori ini membedakan kepribadian menjadi tiga Yaitu Id, ego dan superego. Dari hasil penelitian ini terdapat 27 ayat yang mengandung psikologi di dalamnya. Di antaranya Id terdapat 9 ayat, ego terdapat 7 ayat, id dan ego terdapat 1 ayat dan superego terdapat 10 ayat