199 research outputs found
Isolation and antibiotic susceptibility profile of Vibrio cholerae isolated from catfish (Pangasius hypothalmus)
To date, cholera has cycle the world seven times through the seven pandemic cycles that has affected tens of millions of people. The objective of this study was to determine the presence and density as well as the antibiotic resistance profile of Vibrio cholerae isolated from catfish (Pangasius hypohthalamus). From the combination of the Most Probable Number-Polymerase Chain Reaction-plating on TCBS agar methods, V. cholerae was detected in 32 samples and V. cholerae O139 was detected in 7 samples, with a density ranging between <3.0 to 75.0 MPN/g and <3.0 to 9.3 MPN/g respectively. The results obtained in this study indicate that V. cholerae will continue to be a major healthcare burden, as the pathogen can be transferred from the aquatic environment to the catfish and the consumption of catfish by humans will present a route of exposure to V. cholerae. Proliferation of antibiotic and multiantibiotic resistant bacteria is a public health threat worldwide. Results of antimicrobial susceptibility investigation of V. cholerae isolates collected from catfish reported in this study will establish an important baseline data. All the V. cholerae isolates were multiantibiotic resistant towards the ten antibiotics tested, including 6 isolates that were resistant to all ten antibiotics and 38 antibiotic resistance patterns. The MAR index values of 0.2 to 1.0 indicate that the isolates were exposed to high risk sources in the environment. Taken together, the information on the prevalence and antibiotic resistance of V. cholerae indicate that catfish consumption presents a potential risk to human health and highlight the need for ongoing epidemiological and antimicrobial resistance surveillance
Detection of Vibrio cholerae in street food (satar and otak-otak) by LoopMediated Isothermal Amplification (LAMP), multiplex Polymerase Chain Reaction (mPCR) and plating methods
Microwave and terahertz dielectric properties of MgTiO3–CaTiO3 ceramics
The THz dielectric properties of MgTiO3–CaTiO3 ceramics are reported. The ceramics were prepared via a solid-state reaction route and the sintering conditions were optimized to obtain ceramics with high permittivity and low loss in the terahertz frequency domain. The amount of impurities (MgTi2O5) and grain size increased with increasing sintering temperature. The dielectric properties improved with increasing density, and the best terahertz dielectric performance was obtained at 1260 °C, with a permittivity of 17.73 and loss of 3.07×10−3. Ceramics sintered above 1260 °C showed a sharp increase in loss, which is ascribed to an increase in the impurity content
Antimicrobial resistance profile of Salmonella present in organic farming in Selangor, Malaysia
Presence of Salmonella in organic farming may lead to contamination in fresh produce. This study was designed to detect Salmonella contamination in organic vegetable farm situated in Serdang and to evaluate the antibiotic susceptibility profiles of the isolates. A total of 460 samples of brinjal, cucumber, ladies’ fingers and soil were collected and examined for the presence of Salmonella. The obtained isolates were identified and confirmed by biochemical characterization and serotyping. Antibiotic sensitivity profiles of the isolates were determined by using agar disk diffusion method. Salmonella spp. was detected in brinjal (1.7%, n=2), cucumber (1.7%, n=2), ladies’ fingers (2.5%, n=3) and soil (5.0%, n=5) samples. The prevalent serovars were Salmonella enterica ser. Senftenberg, S. enterica ser. Weltevreden and S. enterica ser. Corvallis. All strains were resistance to penicillin and vancomycin, with multiple antibiotic resistance (MAR) index between 0.21 and 0.36, demonstrated here as multi-drug resistant (MDR) Salmonella. The result highlighted that organic vegetables constituted potential sources of Salmonella, informing continuous monitoring and tightened surveillance are necessary to ensure food safety
Prevalence and antibiotic profile of Shiga-toxin producing Escherichia coli and Escherichia coli O157: H7 in beef and buffalo
Occurrence of Escherichia coli harbouring stx genes in popiah, a Malaysian street food
Irrespective of its health effects, street foods are very popular with the consumers. The main
purpose of this research was to study the biosafety of Escherichia coli in popiah, a Malaysian
street food sold at a roadside food stall and a restaurant in Sri Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia,
using the combination of the most probable number (MPN)-Polymerase Chain Reaction
(PCR) assay-plating on Eosin Methylene Blue (EMB) agar methods. Using these biomolecular
methods, E. coli was detected in 12/15 (80%) and 11/15 (73%) of the collected samples from
the roadside food stall and the restaurant respectively. The incidence of stx virulence-associated
genes was detected in 1/15 (7%) among the E. coli isolated from samples taken from the
roadside food stall while the E. coli isolated from the restaurant was 3/15 (20%). The density
of E. coli ranged from 1100 MPN/g and the density of E. coli positive with stx genes
was <3 to 53 MPN /g in samples from both the roadside food stall and the restaurant. The
presence of the stx-positive E. coli in popiah are significant to risk assessments of food and
epidemiological studies. Therefore, from the information obtained in this study, it is obvious
that the screening for STEC markers in food samples would be useful for food safety survey
A review of culture-dependent and molecular methods for detection of Salmonella in food safety
Magnetism in Dense Quark Matter
We review the mechanisms via which an external magnetic field can affect the
ground state of cold and dense quark matter. In the absence of a magnetic
field, at asymptotically high densities, cold quark matter is in the
Color-Flavor-Locked (CFL) phase of color superconductivity characterized by
three scales: the superconducting gap, the gluon Meissner mass, and the
baryonic chemical potential. When an applied magnetic field becomes comparable
with each of these scales, new phases and/or condensates may emerge. They
include the magnetic CFL (MCFL) phase that becomes relevant for fields of the
order of the gap scale; the paramagnetic CFL, important when the field is of
the order of the Meissner mass, and a spin-one condensate associated to the
magnetic moment of the Cooper pairs, significant at fields of the order of the
chemical potential. We discuss the equation of state (EoS) of MCFL matter for a
large range of field values and consider possible applications of the magnetic
effects on dense quark matter to the astrophysics of compact stars.Comment: To appear in Lect. Notes Phys. "Strongly interacting matter in
magnetic fields" (Springer), edited by D. Kharzeev, K. Landsteiner, A.
Schmitt, H.-U. Ye
Occurrence and antibiotic resistance of Salmonella spp. in raw beef from wet market and hypermarket in Malaysia
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