Oguchi's disease: two cases and literature review

Oguchi's disease is a rare form of congenital stationary night blindness, associated with light-dependent golden fundus discoloration. In this report, we describe two cases of Oguchi's disease, both of which had two characteristic features: congenital stationary night blindness and fundoscopic manifestation of the Mizuo–Nakamura phenomenon. In both patients, fundus examination revealed a metallic sheen throughout the retina, which disappeared after 2.5 hours of dark adaptation, suggestive of the Mizuo–Nakamura phenomenon. The characteristic electroretinogram (ERG) changes (i.e., un-recordable rod response and reductions of maximal response, oscillatory potentials, and flicker response) in these patients confirmed the clinical diagnosis of Oguchi's disease. Furthermore, we discuss the results of our literature search for evidence concerning the diagnosis and pathogenesis of this rare disease. Further studies regarding the genes involved in phototransduction and light adaptation are needed to determine the pathogenesis of this rare disease.

HELEN GRIME (b. 1981)In the Mist (2008)

This chapter studies Scottish composer Helen Grime’s In the Mist (2008). In this work, Grime’s writing for the medium of voice and piano shows a healthy resistance against the growing trend amongst younger composers to revisit conventionally expressive, ‘accessible’ styles. Especially distinctive is her treatment of the piano, not as a nineteenth-century Romantic instrument, but as a purveyor of bright, steely resonances that occasionally evoke the metallic sheen of keyed percussion. Void of weighty, sustaining chords, spaces are filled out with decorative figures, as in harpsichord music. There is also much verbal repetition, expanding Lloyd Schwartz’s poem’s spare, gnomic lines. The singer’s part is exhilaratingly physical, requiring fitness and stamina. As a former oboist, the composer thinks in long phrases, which, well controlled, will be of benefit to the voice. A clear, youthful tenor sound is needed—heavier voices could find the highly sprung phrases uncomfortable.

Characterization and Antimicrobial Resistance Profile of Pathogenic Bacteria Isolated from Freshly Sold Amaranthus viridis in Ile-Ife, Southwest Nigeria

Amaranthus viridis is known to have excellent nutritional value because of its high content of essential micronutrients which are considered heat labile, thus little or no heat is applied during its preparation to destroy microbial contaminants acquired during planting, harvesting or processing. This study was conducted to characterize pathogenic bacteria isolated from freshly sold Amaranthus viridis and determine their susceptibilities to commonly used antibiotics. Fresh, green and firm Amaranthus viridis were collected at different retail and cultivation sites across Ife Central Local Government Area of Ile–Ife and microbiologically assayed for the presence of pathogenic bacteria such as Shigella species and Escherichia coli using standard methods described by APHA. The result shows that 21 isolates were recovered of which 7 isolates showed characteristics of Shigella which appear colourless without a black centre on SSA and 5 isolates were typical of Escherichia coli with characteristic green metallic sheen on EMB agar. The isolates were all sensitive to ofloxacilin, more than 86% of the isolated Shigella spp. and Escherichia coli exhibited multi resistance to other antibiotics especially nitrofurantoin and amoxicillin. This study concludes that the freshly sold Amaranthus viridis in Ile-Ife were contaminated with pathogenic bacteria, hence, the result creates awareness on the dangers of consuming these vegetables.

Xalpirta mauryi sp. nov. (Coleoptera: Erotylidae: Tritomini) from Southeast Brazil

Xalpirta mauryi sp. nov. (Erotylidae: Tritomini) is described from Parque Nacional do Itatiaia (in the state of Rio de Janeiro) and Campos do Jordão (in the state of São Paulo), Southeast Brazil. Xalpirta mauryi differs from other described Xalpirta in the uniformly green dorsal coloration, with a metallic sheen, and pronotum without spots or black marks. The pore on the posterior 1/3 of each pronotal edge (present in the other Xalpirta) is apparently absent in X. mauryi. We provide a detailed description of adults, including morphology of mouthparts, and male and female terminalia. Additionally, we discuss the morphological affinities of X. mauryi with other species in the genus and with species of other closely related genera within Tritomini, and provide a new geographical record for X. maderi in Southeast Brazil.

Isolation, identification and antibiogram profiles of enterovirulent Escherichia coli from diarrhoeic goat in some selected areas of Rangpur district of Bangladesh

Enterovirulent Escherichia coli remain as an important etiological agent of goat diarrhoea in Bangladesh. The present study was designed with a view to isolate and identifies E. coli from field cases. For this purpose, a total of 135 faecal samples (85 from diarrhoeic and 50 from apparently healthy goat) were collected during the period from January 2012 to July 2012 from different areas in Rangpur District. It was found that the prevalence of E. coli was higher (18.82 %) in diarrhoeic goats while it was lower (14.00 %) in non diarrhoeic goats. Age wise distribution of E. coli isolates were 26.42% in day old to 1 year, 10.53% in 1-2 years and 11.36% in above 2 years age of goat respectively. All the isolates of E. coli revealed greenish black colony with metallic sheen in Eosine methylene blue agar, bright pink color smooth transparent colony in MacConkey agar and slight pinkish smooth colony in Salmonella-Shigella agar. Gram stain and hanging drop techniques were performed with the cultured bacteria. Biochemical properties of the isolates were studied, and antibiotic sensitivity test was done by agar disk diffusion method. In Gram stain, the organisms revealed Gram negative, small rod shaped, occurs singly or paired. Biochemically, all of the isolates showed fermentation of dextrose, sucrose and maltose with the production of acid and gas, negative result to Voges-Proskauer test, positive result to Methylred test and differential result to Indol test. All the isolates of E. coli were highly sensitive to ciprofloxacin and gentamicin while moderately sensitive to colistin, livofloxacin and azithromycin and less sensitive to ceftraexon and tetracyclin and resistant to amoxycillin, ampicillin, erythromycin, and neomycin. Therefore, ciprofloxacin and gentamicin may be the antibiotics of first choice, and colistin, livofloxacin and azithromycin may be the second choice among the test antibiotics for the treatment of illness caused by these bacteria.Asian J. Med. Biol. Res. March 2018, 4(1): 36-43

Microstructure Study of NiCrAlY and FeCrAlY Exposed to Superheated Steam at 800 °C

Supercritical water-cooled reactor (SCWR) was chosen as Generation IV reactor concept in Canada to utilize Canada's expertise and technical capabilities from past research and designs. The conceptual design of Canadian SCWR has a core outlet temperature of 650 °C at 25 MPa and a peak cladding temperature as high as 800 °C. Corrosion/oxidation resistance is an important factor in material selections and also coating considerations. Most of the reported supercritical water (SCW) test data have been obtained at temperatures up to 700 °C as no autoclave exists that can operate above 700 °C at supercritical pressures and temperatures. Superheated steam (SHS) is used as a surrogate fluid to SCW in this study to evaluate two coating materials, FeCrAlY and NiCrAl, at 800 °C. The results showed that the FeCrAlY became discolored rapidly while NiCrAl still maintained some metallic sheen after 600 h. The weight change results suggest that more oxide formation took place on FeCrAlY than NiCrAl. In particular, grain boundary oxide (Al2O3) formed on FeCrAlY surface upon exposure to steam after 300 h. Further exposure caused more intragranular Al2O3 to form, in addition to magnetite formation on the grain boundary regions. For NiCrAl samples, NiO formed after steam exposure for 300 h. Spinel and (Cr,Al)2O3 were also found after 300 h along with very limited amount of Al2O3. After 600 h, Al2O3 became well developed on NiCrAl and the coverage of spinel and Cr2O3 on the surface reduced.

Analysis of heavy metals and coliform in samples of drinking water collected from municipal ward offices of western suburbs of Mumbai, India

14 drinking water samples were collected from Vile Parle to Dadar of Suburban’s of (P-South ward offices of B.M.C (Bombay Municipal Corporation) Mumbai in the month from June to December 2012. The samples of drinking-water were analyzed for Cu, Zn, Mn, Fe, As, Cr, Ni, Pb, Cd and Hg. From the results so obtained, the contamination due to heavy metals – Zn (3.115 ppm and 7.816 ppm), Mn (3.115 ppm and 7.426 ppm), Fe (1.124 ppm and 2.872 ppm), As (0.011 ppm to 0.091 ppm), Cr (0.188 ppm and 0.998 ppm ), Pb (1.587 ppm and 4.56 ppm) and Cd (0.011 ppm and 0.051 ppm ) was found to be high whereas the contamination due to Cu (0.012 ppm and 0.313 ppm), Ni (0.126 ppm and 0.774 ppm), were found below the acceptable limits and no Hg was detected in the samples of drinking-water. In the present work, MacConkey Broth was used as a differential medium for detection and enumeration of coliforms from a wide variety water samples. The presence of positive doubtful presumptive test immediately suggests that the water is non potable (i.e., both acid and gas develops in a tube after 48 hours incubation). Confirmation suggests that there is fecal contamination in the water under investigation and hence it is non potable. All the fourteen samples (streaked from positive Ma cConkey broth tubes) were found to be contaminated with E. coli, which was further confirmed by the presence of colonies with green metallic sheen observed under a microscope confirmed that the said samples were contaminated with E. coli - the major indicator of fecal contamination.

Prevalence, Characteristics and Antibiogram Profiles of Escherichia coli Isolated from Apparently Healthy Chickens in Mymensingh, Bangladesh

Escherichia coli known to cause food-borne illnesses worldwide that are closely associated with the consumption of conta-minated poultry and egg products. This study was undertaken for cultural, biochemical and antibiotic sensitivity analyses of E. coli recovered from apparently healthy chickens. Cloacal samples (n=350) were aseptically collected from layers (n=150), broilers (n=150) and indigenous chickens (n=50). The samples were enriched in nutrient broth and streaked onto eosin methylene blue (EMB) agar, MacConkey (MC) agar, blood agar, salmonella-shigella (SS) agar and brilliant green agar (BGA) for cultural characterization of the E. coli isolates. Culture-positive samples yielded characteristic colonies of E. coli with metallic sheen on EMB agar, bright pink or red colonies on MC agar, hemolysis on blood agar, slight pink smooth colonies on SS agar and green color colonies on BGA media. The E. coli isolates produced acid and gas by ferm-enting sugars (dextrose, sucrose, lactose, maltose and mannitol) and gave positive reaction to indole, methyl red (MR) and catalase tests, but were negative to Voges-Proskauer (VP) test. The prevalence of E. coli in layers, broilers and indigenous chickens were 78.67, 82 and 70%, respectively. The antibiotic sensitivity pattern demonstrated that E. coli isolates were mostly sensitive to ciprofloxacin, gentamicin and cephalexin, and resistant to streptomycin, tetracycline, amoxicillin and nalidixic acid. Data of this study suggested that intestine of chicken could be a major reservoir of antibiotic resistant E. coli.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/mh.v1i1.13710 Microbes and Health Vol.1(1) June 2012 pp.27-29

Detection of Virulence Potential of Diarrhoeagenic Escherichia coli Isolated from Surface Water of Rivers Surrounding Dhaka City

A total of 21 isolates were included randomly on the basis of their initial identification by the appearance of metallic sheen and from the biochemical traits to detect virulent markers of diarrhoeagenic E. Coli isolated from surface water. The antibiotic susceptibility pattern of the isolates were determined against six most commonly used antibiotics. About 52% of the isolates showed resistance to at least one of the antibiotics. About 38% of the isolates were resistant to more than one antibiotics. However, all the isolates were sensitive to gentamicin (CN). Among the 21 isolates, a total of 5 randomly selected isolates were examined for the detection of virulent genes (elt, est and stx) by PCR based method. Among the 5 tested isolates, 3 harbored the gene stx encoding Shiga toxin (Stx) and 2 to elt encoding heat-labile enterotoxin (LT). None of the isolates contained est encoding heat-stable enterotoxin (ST). Data revealed that as the virulent marker genes were detected, diarrhoeagenic E. coli strains present in the surface water would become a major public health concern. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/jbas.v36i1.10927 Journal of Bangladesh Academy of Sciences, Vol. 36, No. 1, 109-121, 2012