Objective: This study was done to investigate the effect(s) of glaucoma on the ocular optic nerve sheath diameter and lens thickness using B-mode ultrasonography. Materials and methods: One hundred and twenty study participants were recruited; 60 subjects with glaucoma and 60 age-and sex-matched controls without glaucoma. The optic nerve sheath diameter and lens thickness of both eyes were measured using a linear high frequency transducer with frequency of 6.5-12MHz. Results: The mean optic nerve sheath diameter of the glaucomatous eyes (3.57 ± 0.19mm and 3.59 ± 0.33mm on the right and left, respectively) were significantly thinner than that of controls (4.23 ± 0.34 mm and 4.26 ± 0.30 mm on the right and left, respectively; p < 0.001). There is increased mean lens thickness in the glaucomatous eyes (4.15 ± 0.43mm and 4.18 ± 0.46mm on the right and left, respectively) than in the controls (4.01 ± 0.56mm and 3.99 ± 0.45mm on the right and left, respectively) with a statistically significant difference seen in the left eye (p = 0.024). Conclusion: B-mode ultrasound is a reliable tool of assessing the nerve sheath diameter and lens thickness in glaucoma. Optic nerve sheath diameter is reduced in glaucoma.

Screening donors has practically eliminated viral pathogens in blood for transfusion; however, transfusion-associated bacterial sepsis remains an important health-care concern. Currently, it is the most frequently reported cause of transfusion-related fatality from infection. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and type of bacterial contamination in donor blood and/or blood products, in a semi-urban university teaching hospital in Nigeria.

Despite the growing demand of tourism in Malaysia, there are no resolute efforts to develop beaches as tourist destinations. With no incentives to monitor public beaches or to use them in a sustainable manner, they might eventually degenerate in quality as a result of influx of pollutants. This calls for concerted action plans with a view to promoting their sustainable use. The success of such plans is inevitably anchored on the availability of robust quality monitoring schemes. Although significant efforts have been channelled to collation and public disclosure of bacteriological quality data of rivers, beach water monitoring appears left out. This partly explains the dearth of published information related to beach water quality data. As part of an on-going nation-wide surveillance study on the bacteriological quality of recreational beaches, this paper draws on a situation analysis with a view to proffering recommendations that could be adapted for ensuring better beach water quality in Malaysia.

To determine the relationship between bacterial colonization of tooth surfaces and dental caries, selective agar media-MM10 Sucrose, Rogosa SL and Blood agar were used to isolate bacteria from the scrappings of 60 tooth surfaces of 30 children and young adults. Mean age +/- SD was 13.3 +/- 4.1 (range seven to 19 years). Streptococcus mutans was isolated from 36 surfaces representing 60pc Lactobacillus species from 38 surfaces (68pc), and Actinomyces species from 12 surfaces (20pc). The individual prevalences of these organisms decreased with age. The distribution of bacteria according to surfaces examined showed that the pits and fissures were the main habitat of Streptococcus mutans and Lactobacilli were sensitive to erythromycin. Actinomyces species were 100pc sensitive to Penicillin. All the bacteria species isolated were also found to be 100pc sensitive to Olfoxacin (Tarivid). It is suggested that the use of antibiotics may stop the growth of cariogenic bacteria in individuals and thereby contribute to a decline in the incidence and prevalence of dental caries in the community.

A loop (Q, ·) is called a Basarab loop if the identities: (x · yxρ)(xz) = x · yz and (yx) · (xλz · x) = yz · x hold. It is a special type of a G-loop. It was shown that a Basarab loop (Q, ·) has the cross inverse property if and only if (Q, ·) is an abelian group or all left (right) translations of (Q, ·) are right (left) regular. In a Basarab loop, the following propertiesare equivalent: flexibility property, right inverse property, left inverse property, inverse property, right alternative property, left alternative property and alternative property. The following were
proved: a Basarab loop is a weak inverse property loop if it is flexible such that the middle inner mapping is contained in a permutation group; a Basarab loop is an automorphic inverse property
loop if a semi-commutative law is obeyed such that the middle inner mapping is contained in a permutation group; a Basarab loop is an anti-automorphic inverse property loop if every element
has a two-sided inverse such that the middle inner mapping is contained in a permutation group; a Basarab loop is a semi-automorphic inverse property loop if the Basarab loop is flexible, the
middle inner mapping is contained in a permutation group such that a semi-cross inverse property holds; a Basarab loop with the m-inverse property such that a permutation condition is true is
a cross inverse property loop if it is flexible. Necessary and sufficient conditions for a Basarab loop to be of exponent 2 or a centrum square were established.