Emergent Life Sciences Research

8-12

Authors: Ibrahim Ali Altayyar, Alsadig Mohammed Abdalla

The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and the antibiotic susceptibility patterns of Salmonella serogroups isolated from patients attending Saad Specialist Hospital in Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia. A total of 222 Salmonella strains were isolated from different clinical specimens (Blood, Stool, Urine and Abscess) collected from children and adults, males and females. All specimens were collected from both in-patients and out-patients hospitalized in different wards at Saad Specialist Hospital in Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia. Microbiological analysis of all clinical specimens was carried out by using standard methods. Slide agglutination tests were performed by using Salmonella anti sera (ProLab Diagnostic, UK) to determine serogroups of all the isolated and identified colonies of Salmonella. Antibiotic susceptibility patterns of all isolated Salmonella were determined by Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion method against 5 antibiotics. Results revealed that 123 (55%) Salmonella species were isolated from males and 99 (45%) from female patients of different ages, with no significant differences (P-Value = 0.188) and Stool specimens were the major source of Salmonella species 214 isolates (96.4%). A high percentage of Salmonella species, 136 (61.3%) was isolated from children aged between 1 to 15 years. The number and percentages were decreased gradually according to age with significant differences for isolates between different age groups. The highest number 104 (46.9%) was isolated from children of the age group 1-3 years old. All isolated Salmonella species belong to 8 serogroups (A 1.35%, B 18.9%, C 24.35, D 43.7%, E 9.5%, F 0.45, G 1.35% and R 0.45%). Serogroups B, C and D were isolated in higher percentages. All Salmonella isolates were tested for sensitivity against 5 antibiotics. Results revealed that all Salmonella species isolates were highly sensitive (>90%) to Ceftriaxone, Ciprofloxacin and Levofloxacin. Sensitivity to Trimethoprim-Sulfamethoxazole and Ampicillin was 88.3% and 81.5%, respectively.

20-25

Authors: Oluwakemi Yetunde Kolade

Fish meat possesses high nutritional value and is therefore a particularly recommended dietary component. Fish tissue is known as the main source for long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) supply, which positively influence human health. These PUFAs favorably improve lipid profiles and reduce the risk of coronary heart diseases (CHD). Thus, this study was carried out to determine the fatty acid composition in the flesh of Blue whiting fish (Micromesistius poutassou) brought from Badagry market, Lagos west, Nigeria using gas chromatographic method. A total of twelve different fatty acids were obtained in the muscle of Blue whiting fish. The composition of saturated fatty acids (SFA), monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) was found to be 18.8%, 38.2% and 21.5%, respectively. Palmitic acid (C16:0) and erucic acid (C22:1w9) were identified as the major SFA and MUFA respectively. Docosahexaenoic acid (C22:6w3) and eicopentaenoic acid (C20:5w3) had the highest levels amongst the PUFAs. Results show that blue whiting fish is a good source of omega-3 fatty acids.

35-40

Authors: Asha M.S. Nair, J.K. Reshma, Anu Mathew and Aswathy Ashok J.A

The present study was carried out to analyze the plankton diversity of 36 selected ponds in Nedumangad Block Panchayat. It is crucial to observe the physico-chemical features of a water body for different term investigations as the survival and activity of organisms depends on the environmental characteristics of that water body. Plankton analysis showed the presence of phytoplankton belonging to the class Cyanophyceae, Chlorophyceae, Bacillariophyceae and zooplanktons found are Zoea larvae and Mysis larvae of prawn. Moreover, phytoplankton reflects the water environmental condition at the time of growing and sampling.Phytoplanktons are greatly affected by ecological conditions like salt stress, temperature, pH, biological oxygen demand and other environmental factors. The plankton abundance was calculated for 10 selected ponds. Carl Pearson’s correlation coefficients were calculated for abundance with pH, EC, DO and temperature. Abundance depends on the temperature variations and levels of DO as they are positively correlated while abundance does not have any interdependence on both the EC and pH as they are negatively correlated. Results of plankton abundance of various ponds at Nedumangad as studied in the present investigation clearly shows that the water is not good for human consumption and also struggling for their existence. Algal analysis thus showed that water quality of the pond has reached at threshold level and therefore, it needs some corrective measures to maintain the water chemistry of the pond and this will help the society to get an awareness of the quality of the water they are using for daily consumption and thereby rectify the present condition.

47-52

Authors: Aswathy Ashok J.A, Reshma John, Anu Mathew, Rajesh Raghunath, Asha M.S. Nair

The present study was carried out in 37 ponds of 5 panchayaths within Athiyannoor Block in Thiruvananthapuram dist., Kerala, India. Water samples were collected from the ponds for the analysis of physico-chemical parameters. The physico-chemical factors have great importance in defining the trophic status of aquatic habitats. The gathering of different types of pollutants and nutrients through the municipal effluents, and agricultural activities in to the ponds makes alterations in the physico-chemical features of fresh water. Present work was conducted to examine water quality of Athiyannoor pond due of its prominence in ground water recharging, irrigation and drinking purposes. The temperature varied between 26.5 and 29.6˚C, EC between 49.19 and 517.70μS, the value of pH ranges between 4.51 and 7.7. The values observed were not within the acceptable range (6.5-8.5) of WHO for natural waters, DO was found to be between 10.96mg/L and 0.62mg/L. Outcomes of physico-chemical factors of numerous ponds studied in the present investigation clearly showed that the water is not good for human consumption. So there is an immediate need of restoration, improvement and proper management of these underground water bodies for the human and environment.

4-7

Authors: Anton Kolev Tachev, Valentina Lubomirova Christova-Bagdassarian

A number of reports published worldwide create awareness on the harms of global usage of phthalates in various products. The concern towards potential exposure of consumers to phthalates through many sources and different routes of administration is increasing day by day. Evidences of phthalates in toys and phthalate metabolites in the urine of children are becoming common. Children under 3 years are more sensitive as compared to general population towards this problem due to their additional intake of plasticizers by chewing toys. Phthalates are found to cause allergy, asthma and affecting kidney, liver and endocrine system, especially at a young age. As phthalates bear the property to soften the hard plastic material, soft toys possess their higher content in comparison to hard toys. Their usage is restricted in EU, United States and Canada and several other countries mainly in toys suspected to be kept in mouth. Phthalates basically included in the banned for toys category are DEHP, DBP, BBP, DNOP, DIDP and DINP. Usage of less than 0.1% phthalates has been allowed for plastic toys and directives are given to producers to label the age of children who may use the toys and specify its hazards. Parents are suggested to control these labels before buying the phthalate plasticizers based products.

13-17

Authors: Saumya Choudhary, Anamika Pandey, Mohd Kamran Khan, George Thomas

Antioxidants received from plant sources are found to be one of the best remedies for a number of human diseases. Guava with high amount of dietary fiber is recommended as natural and secured source of antioxidants. In this study, antioxidant capacity in guava fruits is determined by the assessment of total phenol content and DPPH scavenging activity. Results obtained emphasize on the usage guava fruits to eradicate destructive free radicals from the human body. Daily intake of guava fruits can help fighting noxious diseases like cancer and arthritis.

38-45

Authors: Rameshprabu Ramaraj, Yuwalee Unpaprom, Niwooti Whangchai, Natthawud Dussadee

The freshwater alga Spirogyra ellipsospora, a filamentous charophyte, collected from the stream, was identified on the basis of morpho-anatomical characters. In this study, we tried to utilize the natural water resource to develop the algae growth system by ecological engineering concept to develop a low cost medium for macroalgae growth. The outdoor photo-reactor was used to grow macroalgae through using natural water as medium. The results showed that the reactor had good performance on algae growth. Culture media for growth of this study species have not yet been tested for long-term experiments, stock maintenance and biogas production. Here we tested the S. ellipsospora growth with natural water medium in a 6-weeks laboratory experiment. Consequently, the study consists of laboratory tests showing S. ellipsospora growth, harvesting, chlorophyll extraction, biomass analysis and anaerobic fermentation for biogas production.