Surveillance of Aeromonas sobria and Aeromonas hydrophila from commercial food stuffs and environmental sources

In tropical countries like India, commercial food items are often contaminated by various food-borne pathogens. Present research work reports the surveillance of A. sobria and A. hydrophila from commercial food stuffs and environmental sources across Tamil Nadu and Kerala, India. Samples were aseptically collected throughout the year and processed for isolation and identification of A. sobria and A. hydrophila. Isolates of Aeromonas were characterized for arrays of biochemical and phenotypic traits and finally assayed for antibiotic susceptibility test. A total of 71 suspected Aeromonas strains were isolated from 154 commercial food and environmental samples. Upon biochemical characterization of these isolates, 56(79%) were identified as A. sobria and remaining 15(21%) isolates were A. hydrophila. Upon detailed biochemical and phenotypical investigation, distinguishable results were obtained on esculin hydrolysis, acid production from L- arabinose, amylolytic, lipolytic and nuclease activities. All the isolates were 100% resistance to ampicillin, carbenicillin, cephalothin and clindamycin; 100% sensitive to colistin and moderate to cefuroxime, chloramphenicol, nalidixic acid, neomycin and nitrofurantoin. The present research suggested that colistin could be useful for motile Aeromonas infection but there has also been prevalence of multi drug resistant strains of Aeromonads in the Sothern states of India. The results aided our efforts to prove the strong occurrences of A. sobria and A. hydrophila as food borne pathogens in human consumable foods than in the environmental samples.&nbsp

Wave attenuation and dispersion due to floating ice covers

Experiments investigating the attenuation and dispersion of surface waves in a variety of ice covers are performed using a refrigerated wave flume. The ice conditions tested in the experiments cover naturally occurring combinations of continuous, fragmented, pancake and grease ice. Attenuation rates are shown to be a function of ice thickness, wave frequency, and the general rigidity of the ice cover. Dispersion changes were minor except for large wavelength increases when continuous covers were tested. Results are verified and compared with existing literature to show the extended range of investigation in terms of incident wave frequency and ice conditions

EVALUATING RISK FACTORS, CLINICAL AND THERAPEUTIC PROFILE OF STROKE PATIENTS PRESENTING TO A TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL

Objective: According to the World Health Organization, stroke is the second leading cause of death for people above the age of 60 years, and the fifth leading cause in people aged 15–59 years old. This study mainly aims to evaluate the prevalence of risk factors, clinical features, pattern of drugs prescribed, and severity of stroke among patients. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out in a tertiary care teaching hospital on 210 patients for a period of 6 months. Patients aged 18 years and above were included in the study. The severity of stroke was assessed using National Institute of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS). Results: The majority of the patients were under the age group of 61–70 years (31%). The incidence of ischemic stroke (81%) was more common compared to hemorrhagic stroke (19%). Males (66%) are prone to stroke compared to females (34%). The most common risk factor was hyperlipidemia (29%) followed by hypertension (17%). Antihypertensives (28%) were most commonly used drugs followed by antihyperlipidemics (23%). Most of the prescriptions were prescribed with 4–6 drugs per prescription (62%). Moderate stroke (69%) was most commonly observed in patients. A total of 147 drug-drug interactions were observed. Among 147 drug-drug interaction, the most commonly observed drug-drug interaction was aspirin with metformin (15%). Conclusion: The present study emphasizes on the need to identify risk factors and providing awareness among the patients by a pharmacist in minimizing the disease burden. Early identification of risk factors and pattern of therapy based on therapeutic guidelines plays a crucial role in qualitative patient care

Periodic Quasi - Exactly Solvable Models

Various quasi-exact solvability conditions, involving the parameters of the periodic associated Lam{\'e} potential, are shown to emerge naturally in the quantum Hamilton-Jacobi approach. It is found that, the intrinsic nonlinearity of the Riccati type quantum Hamilton-Jacobi equation is primarily responsible for the surprisingly large number of allowed solvability conditions in the associated Lam{\'e} case. We also study the singularity structure of the quantum momentum function, which yields the band edge eigenvalues and eigenfunctions.Comment: 11 pages, 5 table

Gravitational wave background in the quasi-steady state cosmology

This paper calculates the expected gravitational wave background (GWB) in the quasi-steady state cosmology (QSSC). The principal sources of gravitational waves in the QSSC are the mini-creation events (MCE). With suitable assumptions the GWB can be computed both numerically and with analytical methods. It is argued that the GWB in QSSC differs from that predicted for the standard cosmology and a future technology of detectors will be able to decide between the two predictions. We also derive a formula for the flux density of a typical extragalactic source of gravitational waves

Complete axial torsion of the gravid uterus by 180 degrees

Minimal rotation of the gravid uterus, till 45 degrees, is a normal finding in the third trimester of pregnancy. However, a pathologic rotation of the uterus beyond 45 degrees-torsion of the entire uterus-is rarely seen in obstetrical practice. We present a case of uterine torsion in pregnancy diagnosed at caesarean section. A 25-years-old primigravida was admitted with pain abdomen and tenderness over the lower abdomen. She underwent emergency LSCS (lower segment caesarean section) for foetal bradycardia. Intra-operatively, the uterus was rotated 180 degrees right to left. There was an urgency to deliver the foetus due to bradycardia and hence, an incision on the posterior wall of the uterus was made as there was no time to delineate the anatomy. Torsion was corrected and the uterus was sutured. Prompt recognition and management of this condition is necessary for better maternal and foetal outcome. Uterine torsion is an infrequently reported and potentially dangerous complication of pregnancy that occurs mainly in the third trimester with adverse maternal and neonatal consequences