scholarly journals Prevalence of mycotic agents isolated from skin lesions of trade horses in Obollor-Afor, Enugu State, Nigeria

2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-32
Author(s):  
O.N. Okoroafor ◽  
E. Aneru ◽  
J.I. Eze ◽  
I.C. Chukwudi ◽  
T. Anagor ◽  
...  

The study was aimed at identifying mycotic agents that colonize skin lesions in trade horses found in south eastern Nigeria. Skin scrapings were collected from seventy (70) horses with skin lesions in Obollo -Afor market, Enugu state, south eastern Nigeria. Portions of the skin specimen were treated with 10% KOH for microscopic identification of typical hyphae. Sabouraud dextrose agar (SDA) slants, supplemented with cycloheximide were used as a standard substrate for the cultures. Cultures were incubated aerobically for 2 weeks at 37°C and were observed daily for growth of fungi isolates. Identification of fungal species was done based on their cultural and morphological characteristics. From the seventy (70) skin scraping samples studied, fifty-six (56) species of fungi belonging to 6 genera were recovered in different frequencies including Aspergillus sp (54%), Mucor spp (32%), Rhizopus oryzae (7%), Penicilium marneffi (2%), Microsporum fulvum (2%) and Tricophyton equinium (4%). More of the isolates were from the female horses than male horses. At p > 0.05 there was no significant difference in the distribution of fungal isolates between females and male horses. The season of the year had no notable impact on the occurrence or frequency of isolation of the fungi. The isolated dermatophytes may be possible aetiological agents of dermatomycoses in horses, while the Saprobes isolated may be contaminants associated with skin infections in horses. These mycotic agents isolated are not known to primarily, affect humans however there may be a possibility of transmission to human and other susceptible animals that cohabit with these horses. Keywords: Equine, Mycotic agent, Prevalence, Skin lesion

2021 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 103-112
Author(s):  
N.G Iyany ◽  
A.E Ataga

Jatropha curcas is a plant of great economic importance that experiences high incidence of fungal attack. Misidentification of the fungal species is bound to occur with the use of traditional cultural methods where organisms are identified morphologically and/or microscopically. This study was carried out to isolate and identify the fungi associated with Jatropha curcas (L.) using both traditional/ cultural techniques and molecular methods. The fungi were isolated from diseased leaves and stems of J. curcas using both Standard Blotter and Potato Dextrose Agar (PDA) methods. DNA was extracted from the fungal isolates using Zymo Fungal/Bacteria DNA MiniPrep Kit. Amplification of the Internal Transcribed Spacer (ITS) regions of the fungal isolates was carried out using fungi universal primer pairs for ITS4 and ITS5. The amplicons were sequenced and the isolates were identified as Penicillium brevicompactum, Aspergillus sp., Botryosphaeria rhodina, Aspergillus nomius, Aspergillus tamarii, Rhizopus oryzae, Penicillium citrinum and Fusarium solani. Phylogenetic analysis was carried out to know the relationship between the isolates and other closely-related species in GenBank. Jatropha curcas is colonized by many fungal species some of which may be pathogenic to the plant, and molecular techniques pose the best alternative for accurate identification of these organisms. Keywords: Jatropha curcas, fungi, polymerase chain reaction, phylogeny, sequencing


2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 228-234
Author(s):  
Debasmita Ghosh Dhar ◽  
Priyanka Dhar ◽  
Ashok Kumar Das ◽  
Naim Uddin

Fungal spores contribute significant concentration in the bioaerosol of various environmental conditions which may have potential health threats. Our study was aimed at determining the presence of disseminating airborne fungi in a pediatric government hospital in Kolkata. The study was started from the post-monsoon to the middle winter (August to December 2008) in the indoor and outdoor environment of the hospital with temperature and humidity ranges of 11.2 °C-35.2 °C and 70 per cent-90 per cent, respectively. Air sampling was performed at 14 days intervals during the daytime following the gravitation settling method, and the fungal colonies were identified based on micro and macro morphological characteristics. The percentage contribution of individual fungal species from the outdoor section and indoor units (Newborn Baby Ward, Respiratory Care Unit, Step Down Ward, Thalassemia Care Unit) of the hospital environment was calculated. We observed profound aeromycofloral diversity where the outdoor environment was mostly colonised by sterile hyphae (16.43 %) along with the allergenic Aspergillus fumigatus (13.6 %) and Penicillium sp. (12.32 %). Conversely, an abundance of Cladosporium herbarum (24.7 %) and Penicillium sp. (17.85 %) followed by Aspergillus sp. (12.9 %) and sterile hyphae (14.51 %) were found in different indoor units. Our results showed the diversity of airborne mycoflora which promotes the trend to health difficulties and thus the hospital environment monitoring along with proper control measures is essential.


Ergonomics ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 58 (6) ◽  
pp. 1032-1044 ◽  
Author(s):  
Okey Francis Obi ◽  
Boniface O. Ugwuishiwu ◽  
Busayo S. Adeboye

2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Paula Zaghetto de Almeida ◽  
Marita Gimenez Pereira ◽  
Caio Cesar de Carvalho ◽  
Paulo Ricardo Heinen ◽  
Luciana Sobrani Ziotti ◽  
...  

Abstract Filamentous fungi are widely diverse and ubiquitous organisms. Such biodiversity is barely known, making room for a great potential still to be discovered, especially in tropical environments - which are favorable to growth and species variety. Filamentous fungi are extensively applied to the production of industrial enzymes, such as the amylases. This class of enzymes acts in the hydrolysis of starch to glucose or maltooligosaccharides. In this work twenty-five filamentous fungi were isolated from samples of decomposing material collected in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. The two best amylase producers were identified as Aspergillus brasiliensis and Rhizopus oryzae. Both are mesophilic, they grow well in organic nitrogen-rich media produce great amounts of glucoamylases. The enzymes of A. brasiliensis and R. oryzae are different, possibly because of their phylogenetical distance. The best amylase production of A. brasiliensis occurred during 120 hours with initial pH of 7.5; it had a better activity in the pH range of 3.5-5.0 and at 60-75°C. Both fungal glucoamylase had wide pH stability (3-8) and were activated by Mn2+. R. oryzae best production occurred in 96 hours and at pH 6.5. Its amylases had a greater activity in the pH range of 4.0-5.5 and temperature at 50-65ºC. The most significant difference between the enzymes produced by both fungi is the resistance to thermal denaturation: A. brasiliensis glucoamylase had a T50 of 60 minutes at 70ºC. The R. oryzae glucoamylase only had a residual activity when incubated at 50°C with a 12 min T50.


2016 ◽  
Vol 54 (2) ◽  
pp. 249-253 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Banovic ◽  
S. Dunston ◽  
K. E. Linder ◽  
P. Rakich ◽  
T. Olivry

In humans and dogs, toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN) is a life-threatening dermatosis characterized by sudden epidermal death resulting in extensive skin detachment. There is little information on the pathogenesis of keratinocyte cell death in canine TEN. We studied the occurrence of apoptosis in skin lesions of dogs with TEN to determine if apoptosis contributes to the pathogenesis of this disease. Immunostaining with antibodies to activated caspase-3 and the terminal deoxynucleotidyl-transferase (TdT)–mediated deoxyuridine triphosphate (dUTP) nick-end labeling technique revealed positive apoptotic keratinocytes in basal and suprabasal epidermal compartments in 17 biopsy specimens collected from 3 dogs with TEN and 16 from 3 dogs with erythema multiforme (EM). There was no significant difference in the number of positively stained epidermal cells between TEN and EM. These results suggest that apoptosis of epidermal keratinocytes and lymphocytic satellitosis represent one of the early steps in the pathogenesis of canine TEN, as in the human disease counterpart.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 57
Author(s):  
Jacqueline Dalbelo Puia ◽  
Leandro Camargo Borsato ◽  
Marilize Cristina Gonçalves de Oliveira ◽  
Adriano Thibes Hoshino ◽  
Marcelo Giovanetti Canteri ◽  
...  

Wheat seeds can be infested and/or infected by microorganisms that might cause deterioration of this propagation structure. The aim of this study was to evaluate the health quality of sixteen wheat genotypes grown in northern Paraná. Therefore, seeds of each genotype were submitted to the blotter test with 16 repetitions, 400 seeds per sample, for phytosanitary quality evaluation. The identification of the fungi was performed based on their morphological characteristics and quantified data. The results revealed variations in incidence, with 20 fungi genera in the analyzed samples. The fungi Rhizopus sp., Aspergillus sp., Penicillium sp. and Bipolaris sp. were found in 100% of the analyzed samples, while Mucor sp. and Alternaria sp. were in 89% and 78% of the samples, respectively. The main pathogens that cause diseases in the aerial part of wheat were not found, or were low incidence in all materials analyzed. The pathogens with the highest incidence associated with wheat seeds were groups of storage fungi and known to produce mycotoxins.


Author(s):  
H. O. Stanley ◽  
M. E. Amesi

This study was conducted to assess the outdoor air quality of some urban slums in Port Harcourt. Six sampling sites were selected, from the Port Harcourt urban slums; two sites from each slum represented with a suffix 1 or 2.  The slums are designated Marine base (#1 and #2), RSU BG, Obudu 2, Bundu (#1 and #2). The air quality was analyzed using portable handheld air quality analyzer and the microbiological parameters were determined by standard cultural method. The study revealed that the sampled sites were laden with bacterial and fungal species. namely; Klebsiella sp., Micrococcus sp., Escherichia sp., Pseudomonas sp., Baccilus sp., Aeromonas sp., Streptococus sp., Serratia sp., Aerococcus sp., Proteus sp. Penicillium sp., Fusarium sp., Candida sp., Aspergillus sp., Mucor sp., Rhizopus sp. and Tricorderma sp. Highest obtained noise level was at Marine base 1 which was  66 db, highest relative humidity of 54.8% at RSU BG, CO2  (ppm) values of 4.8, 80, 796, 850, 638, 698 for Marine base 2, Marine base 1, Obudu 2, RSU BG, Bundu 1 and Bundu 2 respectively. The values for NO2 (ppm) was (0.05, 0.053, 0.071, 0.022, 0.035, 0.023), suspended particulate matter (ppm) was (7.1, 8.7, 9.5, 9.5, 6.2, 6.2), SO2 (ppm) was (0.42, 0.15, 0.50, 0.34, 1.26, 0.41) CO (ppm) was (4.8, 1.7, 2.2, 3.0, 3.9, 3.6) and volatile organic compound (ppm) was (1.0, 1.1, 0.9, 75 and 1.2). This study has shown that Port Harcourt urban slums are experiencing some degree of contamination not acceptable for healthy living that requires attention to curb. These areas require all-round improvement in sanitation.   M Give one sentence on methodology.


Author(s):  
Suchithra Erath Thadathil ◽  
Jaya Koothupalakkal Viswambharan ◽  
Alok Kanjhoor Premdas ◽  
Ashwin Raj

Background: Air pollution leads to several health effects, the major systems affected were respiratory, dermatology, neurology and ophthalmology. This study is an attempt to find out various health effects of pollution, from a food factory to the nearby residents.Methods: A cross sectional comparative study was performed on 248 residents nearby a food factory, situated in rural area of Thrissur district and a comparative group of 266 participants taken 5km away from this factory.Results: Both the groups were comparable in socio-demographic profile except religion and occupation. There was no statistically significant difference (p>0.05) between the use of firewood in both the groups. The symptoms of major systems involved were respiratory (odds ratio 3.9, 95% CI 2.2 to 6.8), dermatological (odds ratio 18.3, 95% CI 8.3 to 40.7), neurological (odds ratio 13.5, 95% CI 4.1 to 44.7) and ophthalmological (odds ratio 5.9, 95% CI 2.6 to 13.6). The major symptoms complained by them were pruritus (32.7%), skin lesions (17.7%), breathlessness (16.9%), itching eye (13.3%) watering from eye (11.7%) and headache (11.3%). All these symptoms among the case group compared to control group were very high and these associations were highly statistically significant (p<0.001).Conclusions: This study showed an increased occurrence of adverse health effects among the individuals who were residing near the food factory. Therefore this study points out the possibility of environmental pollution (mainly air pollution) as a main factor for the increased prevalence of symptoms among those who reside nearby the factory.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anggi Cecilia Safaningrum

The study identified research competency needs of postgraduate students of Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education in research writing in Nigerian Universities. The study adopted a survey research design and was carried out in South-Eastern Nigeria. Two research questions and a hypothesis guided the study. The population for the study was 372 comprising 222 master and 150 PhD students of STEM Education in nine Universities in south-eastern Nigeria. Proportionate simple random sampling techniques were used to select 50% of the population, which gave a sample size of 186 (111 master and 75 PhD students). Structured questionnaire developed from the literature which was reviewed by the researchers was used to collect data. Each item in the instrument had two columns of needed and difficult with each of the columns assigned a four response options with values 4, 3, 2 and 1. The instrument was validated by specialists. Cronbach alpha method was used to determine the internal consistency of the items and a coefficient of 0.85 was obtained. Data collected were analyzed using mean while the null hypothesis was tested using t-test. The findings revealed that postgraduate students needed 32 competencies in research writing; 25 of the competencies were difficult to employ by the students. The hypothesis tested revealed that there was no significant difference in the responses of the two groups of students on the difficult competencies. It was recommended that lecturers should utilize the 32 competencies while emphasizing the 25 difficult ones to make students competent in producing a quality research work.


2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 287
Author(s):  
Ivan Kovačević ◽  
Đurađ Hajder ◽  
Danijela Kondić ◽  
Dragan Mandić ◽  
Desimir Knežević

Barley is a small grain cereal, tolerant to high temperatures and drought. Due to this characteristic, it can be regarded as a promising crop for production in dry conditions. Research on five spring landraces of two-rowed barley lasted two experimental years (2011 and 2012) in agro-ecological conditions of Banja Luka. In the experiment, the standard cropping practices were applied, without irrigation. The experiment was set as a complete randomized design with four replications. All measurements were performed in 10 plants per replication. Morphological characteristics included plant height (cm), spike length (cm), grain number per spike and grain weight per spike (g). Obtained data were subjected to two-way analysis of variance with landrace and growing season as main factors. Significant treatment or interaction effects were further analysed by Fisher's least significant difference (LSD) test, often utilized for pairwise comparisons among arithmetic means. In all tested traits the maximum average values were obtained in barley landrace AM2, i.e. the plant height (86.89 cm), the spike length (8.90 cm), the grain number per spike (24.74) and the grain weight per spike (1.17 g). Due to these facts, two-rowed barley landrace AM2 can be marked as the most productive in this research, bearing a potential for different crop breeding practices.


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