In vitro sensitivity of Monilinia laxa to fungicides approved in integrated and organic production systems

The aim of this study was to test the in vitro sensitivity of two isolates of Monilinia laxa to fungicides approved in integrated andorganic production systems. In vitro efficacy of 7 fungicides (Champion 50 WP, Kocide 2000, Nordox 75 WG, Olajos rézkén, Kumulus S,Rézkén, Rézoxiklorid) and another 6 fungicides (Score 25 EC, Efuzin 500 SC, Systane, Folicur Solo, Zato Plusz, Rovral) approved in organicand integrated production systems, respectively, were tested against brown rot of sour cherry. The three isolates showed differences insensitivity to fungicides. Fungicides (with active ingredients of copper and sulphur) applied in organic production showed relatively highpercent growth capacity of M. laxa. Rézkén and Kocide 2000 showed the highest and Kumilus S the lowest efficacy against brown rot.Fungicides applied in integrated production showed relatively low percent growth capacity of M. laxa. Score 25 EC showed the lowest andRovral and Folicur solso the highest efficacy against M. laxa

Persistence with statin therapy in Hungary

Introduction: Persistence with lipid-lowering drug therapy by cardiovascular patients in Hungary has not been studied previously. This study was designed to determine the rate with which Hungarian patients with hyperlipidemia persist in taking lipid-lowering agents, and to compare this with rates reported from other countries. Material and methods: This was a retrospective study that utilized data from the Institutional Database of the National Health Insurance Fund to analyze persistence rates with statins and ezetimibe. The study included data for patients who started lipid-lowering therapy between January 1, 2007, and March 31, 2009. Variables included type of lipid-lowering therapy, year of therapy start, and patient age. Main outcome measures were medians of persistence in months, percentages of patients persisting in therapy for 6 and 12 months, and Kaplan-Meier persistence plots. Results: The percentage of patients who persisted with overall statin therapy was 46% after 1 month, 40.3% after 2 months, 27% after 6 months, and 20.1% after 12 months. Persistence was slightly greater for statin therapy started during 2008 than during 2007. Older patients were more persistent with therapy than younger patients. Persistence with the combination of ezetimibe-statin therapy was greater than with statin or ezetimibe monotherapy. Conclusions: Persistence with statin therapy by patients in Hungary was low compared with other countries. Low persistence may have negated potential clinical benefits of long-term statin therapy

Effects of DMI and strobilurin fungicide combinations on scab and powdery mildew incidence in apple production: a preliminary study

The aim of our study was to evaulate the effectiveness of four DMI and strobilurion fungicide combinations in a season-longdisease management programme against apple scab and powdery mildew in two integrated apple orchards on cultivar Jonagold. The fourspray programmes were: i) standard, ii) DMI dominant iii) strobilurin dominant, and iv) DMI and strobilurin dominant. Apple scab incidencewas generally high in both orchards in the standard fungicide treatment plots ranged between 21.8 and 26.4%. Leaf scab incidence was higherin all treatments compared to fruit incidence. Scab incidence was generally higher at Mándok compared to Ófehértó. In both locations thelowest scab incidence was assessed in DMI dominant treatment ranged between 5 to 10.7%, which was not signifi cantly different from theDMI and strobilurin dominant treatment. Powdery mildew incidence was generally low in both orchards in all fungicide treatments rangedbetween 0.002 and 0.5%. Although there were no signifi cant differences among treatments, the lowest powdery mildew incidence wasassessed in the DMI and strobilurin dominant treatment in Mándok and in the strobilurin dominant treatment in Ófehértó

Effects of DMI and strobilurin fungicide combinations on scab and powdery mildew incidence in apple production: a preliminary study

The aim of our study was to evaulate the effectiveness of four DMI and strobilurion fungicide combinations in a season-long disease management programme against apple scab and powdery mildew in two integrated apple orchards on cultivar Jonagold. The four spray programmes were: i) standard, ii) DMI dominant iii) strobilurin dominant, and iv) DMI and strobilurin dominant. Apple scab incidence as generally high in both orchards in the standard fungicide treatment plots ranged between 21.8 and 26.4%. Leaf scab incidence was higher in all treatments compared to fruit incidence. Scab incidence was generally higher at Mándok compared to Ófehértó. In both locations the lowest scab incidence was assessed in DMI dominant treatment ranged between 5 to 10.7%, which was not signifi cantly different from the DMI and strobilurin dominant treatment. Powdery mildew incidence was generally low in both orchards in all fungicide treatments ranged between 0.002 and 0.5%. Although there were no signifi cant differences among treatments, the lowest powdery mildew incidence was assessed in the DMI and strobilurin dominant treatment in Mándok and in the strobilurin dominant treatment in Ófehértó

Incidence of community acquired ESBL-producing bacteria among asymptomatic University students in Anambra State, Nigeria

This study was conducted to investigate the incidence of community acquired extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL)-producing bacteria among asymptomatic students of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra State, South-East Nigeria. A total of 102 non-duplicate strains of Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Pseudomonas aeruginosa were isolated from fecal samples (n=273) collected from the participating students. The isolates were subjected to antimicrobial susceptibility tests to determine their antimicrobial resistance profile. Their multiple antibiotic resistance (MAR) indices were also evaluated.  Screening of the isolates for possible ESBL production was carried out by disk diffusion test using cefotaxime and ceftazidime disks. ESBL-production by the resistant strains was confirmed using the double-disk synergy test. Most of the isolates were found to be multi-drug resistant, as all K. pneumoniae and P. aeruginosa strains (100%), and 98.4% of the E. coli strains, had MAR indices ≥0.2. A total of 22 ESBL-producing bacterial species were confirmed, and the frequency of E. coli, K. pneumoniae and P. aeruginosa isolates among the ESBL-producing bacteria were n=20 (90.9%), n=2 (9.1%), and n=0 (0.0%) respectively. The total number of ESBL-producing bacterial strains isolated accounted for 8.1 % of the entire sample population. Although this prevalence rate may not indicate an alarming situation, it is important that the proliferation of ESBL-producing bacteria in the community be contained, since a high incidence of ESBL-producing organisms will create significant therapeutic problems in the near future. There is therefore need to develop strategies to reduce their spread in the community especially through monitoring, surveillance and proper detection protocol. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.131471

Biologically active phenolic acids produced by Aspergillus sp., an endophyte of Moringa oleifera

This study investigates the secondary metabolites of an endophytic Aspergillus sp. isolated from leaves of M. oleifera growing in Anambra State, South-Eastern Nigeria. Antimicrobial and antioxidant screening of the fungal extract and isolated compounds, as well as cytotoxicity assay of the extract against cisplatin-sensitive A2780 (sens) and cisplatin-resistant A2780 (cisR) ovarian cancer cell lines were carried out using standard methods. Chemical investigations of the fungal extract involving a combination of different chromato-graphic methods and spectroscopic techniques were carried out to isolate and characterize the constituents of the extract. At a concentration range of 1-4 mg/ml, the crude extract of Aspergillus sp. showed mild antimicrobial activity against Bacillus subtilis, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Candida albicans. The fungal extract showed good antioxidant activity at 500 µg/ml, with an inhibition of 72.1%. Also, at 100 µg/ml, the extract showed excellent cytotoxic activity against A2780 (sens) and A2780 (cisR), with growth inhibitions of 105.1% and 105.5% respectively. Two known pharmacologically active phenolic compounds (p-hydroxyphenyl acetic acid and ferulic acid) were isolated from the fermentation extract of the endophytic fungus. At 250 µg/ml, ferulic acid exhibited an excellent antioxidant activity with an inhibition of 90.4%, while an inhibition of 35.4% was recorded for p-hydroxyphenyl acetic acid. Ferulic acid also showed a mild antifungal activity at 500 µg/ml against A. niger with an IZD of 2 mm. p-Hydroxyphenyl acetic acid showed no antimicrobial activity. These results further confirm the potentials of endophytic fungi associated with Nigerian plants as source of bioactive compounds with pharmaceutical or industrial applications. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.140498

Quaternion-Octonion Unitary Symmetries and Analogous Casimir Operators

An attempt has been made to investigate the global SU(2) and SU(3) unitary flavor symmetries systematically in terms of quaternion and octonion respectively. It is shown that these symmetries are suitably handled with quaternions and octonions in order to obtain their generators, commutation rules and symmetry properties. Accordingly, Casimir operators for SU(2)and SU(3) flavor symmetries are also constructed for the proper testing of these symmetries in terms of quaternions and octonions

Some aspects of reduced disease management against Blumeriella jaapii in sour cherry production

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of reduced spray programmes against cherry leaf spot in integrated and organic sour cherry orchards. Altogether four spray programmes were performed i) standard integrated: sprays followed by forecasting systems during the season, ii) reduced integrated: sprays followed by forecasting systems but only 75% of the spray numbers used during the season-long spray programme, iii) standard oragnic: sprays applied every 7–14 days during the season and iv) reduced organic: 60 % of the spray numbers used during the season-long spray programme. Our study showed that cherry leaf spot did not increase above 3.1, 7.4, and 8.9% in 2008, 2009, and 2010, respectively, in the integrated orchards. However, leaf spot incidence was above 20% in all years in the organic field. Reduced spray programme did not increase significantly cherry leaf spot incidence in the integrated field in either years. However, leaf spot incidence increased significanly (above 20%) in the reduced spray programme for the organic orchard

Microbiological safety assessment of food handlers in Wudil Local Government Area of Kano State, Nigeria

This study was conducted to investigate the bacteriological safety levels of food handlers in Wudil Local Government Area (LGA) of Kano State, Nigeria. A total of 200 hand-swab samples were collected from different male [100 (50%)] and female [100 (50%)] food handlers/peddlers in the study area. From these samples, 200 non-duplicate bacterial isolates consisting of strains of Salmonella typhi [60 (30%)], Salmonella choleraesuis [52 (26%)], Proteus mirabilis [10 (5%)], Morganella morganii [10 (5%)], Pseudomonas aeruginosa [10 (5%)], Escherichia coli [18 (9%)] and Staphylococcus aureus [40 (20%)] were isolated. A significant proportion (33.3%) of the food handlers sampled was children within the age range of 8-12 years. In addition, only 33.5% of the food handlers had basic level of primary education and a majority (96.5%) of the food handlers displayed poor levels of personal hygiene, especially with regards to safe food handling. S. typhi, S. cholaeresius and S. aureus were found to be the common bacterial species that colonized the hands of food handlers/peddlers in Wudil LGA, Kano State. This highlights a lack of food safety and the resulting risk of spreading foodborne diseases in the area. In addition, low literacy levels and lack of safe food handling practices contribute to the prevalence of these pathogens among the food handlers. It is important for food handlers to obtain training on safe food practices, undergo periodic health checks and practice proper hand hygiene. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.381334