Isolation and identification of pathogenic bacteria from ready-to -eat fast foods in Al-Quwayiyah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Food-borne pathogens are becoming a globally formidable health problem and perceived as a major health concern in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). Contamination ensued through unclean raw food materials and particles, use of polluted water, unhygienic preparation processes and use of contaminated containers. Herein, the prevalence of food-borne pathogens in ready-to-eat (RTE) fast foods from fifteen different food eateries such as 7 restaurants, 6 cafeterias and 2 two college canteens in Al-Quwayiyah, Riyadh Region of Saudi Arabia was studied. Microbiological analysis of 155 fast food samples which included, Vegetable salad, Falafel, Kibtha and Shawarma. The isolates were detected using biochemical tests and API 20E and slide agglutination test were conducted for Salmonella spp. detection. Bacterial growth was found in all food samples tested. Moreover, the test also showed high levels of total aerobic count: vegetable salad 6.34+0.03, falafel 5.79 + 0.18, kibtha 5.06 +0.02 and shawarma 3.54 + 0.13. Organisms isolated include Salmonella spp. (15%), Escherichia coli (18%) and Staphylococcus aureus (7%). Salmonella is one of the most virulent pathogen implicated in food-borne disease outbreaks. There are numerous transmission routes for Salmonellosis, but the majority of the human infections are derived from consumption of contaminated poultry products. Consistently, Salmonella Enteritidis, Salmonella Typhimurium and Salmonella Heidelberg are the three most frequent serotypes recovered from humans each year. Serologically identified Salmonella serotypes from RTE fast food samples were Salmonella Typhimurium with 65%, the most predominant one compared to Salmonella Enteritidis that was 35%. The bacterial count of vegetable salad, falahfel, kibtha was statistically significant when compared with Shawarma (p < 0.05). This result indicated that most of the ready-to-eat food samples examined in the study did not meet any bacteriological quality standard as recommended by The New South Wales (NSW) Food Authority to be <5.0 log10 CFU g−1 and, therefore, it poses potential risks to consumers. Ready- to- eat fast foods must be cooked and served to the consumers with all hygienic measures.Keywords: foodborne pathogen, microbial quality, Ready- to- eat fast foods, Al-QuwayiyahAfr. J. Food Agric. Nutr. Dev. 2019; 19(3): 14739-1475

Geometric realizations of generalized algebraic curvature operators

We study the 8 natural GL equivariant geometric realization questions for the space of generalized algebraic curvature tensors. All but one of them is solvable; a non-zero projectively flat Ricci antisymmetric generalized algebraic curvature is not geometrically realizable by a projectively flat Ricci antisymmetric torsion free connection

Simple method for the characterization of intense Laguerre-Gauss vector vortex beams

We report on a method for the characterization of intense, structured optical fields through the analysis of the size and surface structures formed inside the annular ablation crater created on the target surface. In particular, we apply the technique to laser ablation of crystalline silicon induced by femtosecond vector vortex beams. We show that a rapid direct estimate of the beam waist parameter is obtained through a measure of the crater radii. The variation of the internal and external radii of the annular crater as a function of the laser pulse energy, at fixed number of pulses, provides another way to evaluate the beam spot size through numerical fitting of the obtained experimental data points. A reliable estimate of the spot size is of paramount importance to investigate pulsed laser-induced effects on the target material. Our experimental findings offer a facile way to characterize focused, high intensity complex optical vector beams which are more and more applied in laser-matter interaction experiments

Secondary electron yield reduction by femtosecond pulse laser-induced periodic surface structuring

The electron-cloud phenomenon is one cause of beam instabilities in high intensity positive particle accelerators. Among the proposed techniques to mitigate or control this detrimental effect, micro-/nano-geometrical modifications of vacuum chamber surfaces are promising to reduce the number of emitted secondary electrons. Femtosecond laser surface structuring readily allows the fabrication of Laser Induced Periodic Surface Structures (LIPSS) and is utilized in several fields, but has not yet been tested for secondary electron emission reduction. In this study, such treatment is carried out on copper samples using linearly and circularly polarized femtosecond laser pulses. The influence of the formed surface textures on the secondary electron yield (SEY) is studied. We investigate the morphological properties as well as the chemical composition by means of SEM, AFM, Raman and XPS analyses. Surface modification with linearly polarized light is more effective than using circularly polarized light, leading to a significant SEY reduction. Even though the SEY maximum is only reduced to a value of ~1.7 compared to standard laser-induced surface roughening approaches, the femtosecond-LIPSS process enables to limit material ablation as well as the production of undesired dust, and drastically reduces the number of redeposited nanoparticles at the surface, which are detrimental for applications in particle accelerators. Moreover, conditioning tests reveal that LIPSS processed Cu can reach SEY values below unity at electron irradiation doses above 10−3 C/mm2

Association of CYBA gene (-930 A/G and 242 C/T) polymorphisms with oxidative stress in breast cancer: a case-control study

Background Oxidative stress (OS) is a key characteristic feature in cancer initiation and progression. Among multiple cancers, NADPH oxidase (NOX) dependent free radical production is implicated in oxidative stress. P22phox, a subunit of NADPH oxidase encoded by the CYBA gene has functional polymorphisms associated with various complex diseases. The present study was aimed to examine the importance and association of the functional polymorphisms of CYBA gene (-930 A/G and 242 C/T) with the oxidative stress in breast cancer (BC) development and progression. Materials and Methods We have performed a case-control study on 300 breast cancer patients and 300 healthy individuals as controls to examine the role of CYBA gene -930 A/G and 242 C/T single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) using As-PCR and PCR-RFLP assays and its association with OS as measured by plasma MDA levels. Linkage disequilibrium (LD) plots were generated using Haploviewtool and Multifactor dimensionality reduction (MDR) analysis was applied to assess high-order interactions between the SNPs. The Insilco analysis has been performed to predict the effect of SNPs on the gene regulation using online tools. Results We have found that genotype frequencies of CYBA gene -930 A/G and 242C/T polymorphism were significantly different between controls and BC patients (p < 0.05). The haplotype combination -930G/242C and -930G/242T were associated with 1.44 & 1.56 folds increased risk for breast cancer respectively. Further, the MDA levels were higher in the patients carrying -930G/242C and -930G/242T haplotype (p < 0.001). Our results have been substantiated by Insilco analysis. Conclusion Results of the present study suggest that GG genotype of -930 A/G polymorphism, -930G/242C and -930G/242T haplotypes of CYBA gene polymorphisms have shown association with higher MDA levels in breast cancer patients, signify that elevated oxidative stress might aid in increased risk for breast cancer initiation and progression

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Not AvailableThree Specimens of Hapalochlaena Nierstraszi were recorded first time at Kasimedu Fisheries Harbour, Chennai. It was Caught by Trawl net gear at a depth of 20-30 m in Bay of Bengal (Latitudes 5N & 22N and longitudes 80E & 100E) along the Chennai Coast. A literature review on the distribution of this species revealed that this is the first report of Hapalochlaena nierstraszi from the Bay of Bengal along Chennai coast of India. A note on the morphological features of this specimen is detailed in this paper.Not Availabl

New records of Blue Ring Octopus, <em>H</em><em>apalochlaena nierstraszi,</em> Adam 1938, from the bay of Bengal along the Chennai coast<em>, </em>Tamil Nadu, India

93-95Three specimens of Hapalochlaena nierstraszi were recorded first time at Kasimedu Fisheries Harbour , Chennai. It was caught by Trawl net gear at a depth of 20-30 m in Bay of Bengal (Latitudes 5°N & 22°N and longitudes 80°E & 100°E) along the Chennai Coast. A literature review on the distribution of this species revealed that this is the first report of Hapalochlaena nierstraszi from the Bay of Bengal along Chennai coast of India. A note on the morphological features of this specimen is detailed in this paper

Femtosecond laser surface structuring of silicon in dynamic irradiation conditions

The process of surface structuring of silicon in dynamic irradiation conditions is investigated by analyzing the features of the surface structures generated on a target moving at different scanning velocities under the irradiation by a 1030 nm femtosecond laser beam. Scanning electron microscopy analysis of the shallow linear craters produced in different experimental conditions allows characterizing the dependence of threshold fluence for the formation of surface structures (ripples and grooves) as well as their spatial periods on the effective number of laser pulses. Moreover, the effect of the accumulated laser fluence dose has been also addressed. Our findings evidence clear trends of the morphological features of the surface structure on the effective number of laser pulses as well as the existence of interesting differences in their characteristics when processing occurs at the same value of the accumulated laser fluence dose achieved by appropriate selection of laser pulse energy and scanning speed