Serological, Isolation and Molecular Studies on Brucellosis in an Organized Farm, Jammu and Kashmir, India

The present study was conducted in an organized farm of Jammu region, Jammu and Kashmir state having history of late-term abortions in cattle and buffaloes to elucidate the role of brucellosis in causing abortions on the farm. The farm had 46 animals (23 adults, 15 heifers and 9 calves). The farm was positive in herd test (milk ring test). Serological tests viz., Rose Bengal plate test (RBPT) and serum agglutination test (SAT) were conducted on 30 serum samples and 11 samples were found positive in both tests. Five vaginal swabs from abortion cases were processed for isolation and 3 isolates of Brucella were obtained which on further characterization by biochemical tests, genus-specific PCR and species-specific PCR were identified as B. abortus biovar 1. As brucellosis is an anthropozoonoses, the high prevalence of brucellosis in livestock of farm demands the surveillance of disease in humans working on the farm and necessitates the control of disease on the farm.

Bacterial Investigation and Antibiogram in Corneal Ulcers in Dogs

Corneal ulcers in dogs usually have a traumatic origin. They cause a break in the continuity of underlying corneal stroma and become rapidly contaminated with bacteria. Twenty eight clinical samples were obtained from corneal ulcer affected dogs for bacterial isolation and anti-microbial susceptibility. Bacterial growth was observed in 100% of the samples (n=28) and Staphylococcus spp. was isolated and characterized by culture, gram staining and various biochemical tests. Antibiogram pattern revealed that gatifloxacin and moxifloxacin antibiotics were found to be highly effective in the treatment of corneal ulcers in dogs. Corneal culture and sensitivity testing provided useful information for the diagnosis, determination of appropriate treatment and antimicrobial therapy for corneal diseases in dogs

Association between anterior corneal astigmatism and posterior corneal astigmatism across age groups:a cross-sectional analysis / 国际眼科杂志(Guoji Yanke Zazhi)

AIM:To assess the anterior corneal astigmatism (ACA)and posterior corneal astigmatism (PCA) patterns across various age groups.We also evaluated the association between magnitudes and axes of the ACA and PCA across these age groups.METHODS:The present study was a cross-sectional analysis of clinical data of 381 eyes.We converted the clinical astigmatic notation to vector notation for analysis of ACA and PCA.We estimated the correlation between magnitude and axes of the ACA and PCA in the whole population and in four age groups (5-19,20-39,40-59,and ≥ 60y).We used random effects linear regression models for estimating the association between the magnitudes of ACA and PCA.RESULTS:The mean of the magnitude of the ACA (3.59D) and the PCA (0.50D) was highest in children (5 to 9y).Overall,the magnitude of the ACA ranged from 0D to 10.0 Diopters (D) and the magnitude of the PCA ranged from 0 to 3.5 D.There was a significant correlation between the ACA and the PCA in the younger age group (r=0.85,P＜0.001).In those 60y or older,the PCA increased by 0.04 units (95％ confidence intervals:0.005,0.07;P=0.03) with each unit increase in the ACA,the increase was the smallest in this age group.CONCLUSION:It will be prudent to measure the both the magnitude and axis of the PCA,particularly in those above 60y rather than rely on rule-of-thumb calculations based on ACA parameters for IOL power calculation.

Comparative hepatic and renal toxicity of cadmium in male and female rats.

Rats (male and female) were exposed to 0.5 mg/kg and 1 mg/kg cadmium as cadmium chloride for 3 days and subsequently sacrificed for cadmium concentration and other biochemical variables indicative of hepatic and renal damage. The absorption of cadmium was supported by biochemical changes, which were significantly higher in females than in males. This could be due to higher rate of intestinal absorption of cadmium in females than males. Male and female rats both showed relatively higher cadmium concentration in kidneys than in liver. Female rats also showed the similar trend in tissue metal levels as compared to male rats. However, hepatic and renal histopathological observations showed that female rats suffered from severe hepatic injury like hydropic degeneration of hepatocytes, granulation, bile duct proliferation etc. In comparison to female rats, male rats did not show much remarkable changes. Renal damage was more prominent in female than male in the form of renal tubular damage; most of the tubular nuclei were pyknotic, congestion of the boundary of cortex and medulla etc. The results suggested that females were comparatively more vulnerable to the toxic effects of cadmium than males.