Myeloid sarcoma or chloroma is a localised tumour characterised by extramedullary proliferation of precursor myeloid cells. Commonly occurring in association with acute myeloid leukaemia, chloroma can occasionally be seen in myeloproliferative disorders with subsequent blastic transformation. Imaging plays an important role in the diagnosis and evaluation of this entity. A case of chloroma involving the dorso-lumbar vertebral region is presented in a patient with chronic myeloid leukaemia with subsequent blastic transformation.

ABSTRACT In the present study a series of novel benzoxazepine (5a-h) derivatives were synthesized by the thermal cyclization reaction of various pyrazole-chalcones (3a-h) with 2-aminophenol, by conventional heating and microwave irradiation (180 W) in solvent-free conditions in short reaction times (9–12 min), giving high yields of products (80–88%). The homogeneity of all the newly synthesized compounds has been checked by TLC. Their IR, NMR, ESI-mass spectral data and elemental analysis are in accord with the assigned structure. The title compounds were evaluated for their antibacterial activity against Gram-positive bacteria Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, and Gram-negative bacteria Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli. Compounds 3c, 3h, 5b, 5c, 5g and 5h were found to show good antibacterial activity when compared with that of standard drug Ampicillin. Furthermore, the same library of compounds were evaluated for antifungal activity against Aspergillus nigerzeae, Penicillium italicum and Fusarium oxysporum using Grieseofulvin as standard drug. The results of the above studies show that the compounds 3b, 3c, 3e, 3h, 5a, 5c, 5g and 5h showed good antifungal activity against all the tested organisms.

Salmonella enterica and Shigella species are commonly associated with food and water borne infections leading to gastrointestinal diseases. The present work was undertaken to develop a sensitive and reliable PCR based detection system for simultaneous detection of Salmonella enterica and Shigella at species level. For this the conserved regions of specific genes namely ipaH1, ipaH, wbgZ, wzy and invA were targeted for detection of Shigella genus, S. flexneri, S. sonnei, S. boydii and Salmonella enterica respectively along with an internal amplification control (IAC). The results showed that twenty Salmonella and eleven Shigella spp., were accurately identified by the assay without showing non-specificity against closely related other Enterobacteriaceae organisms and also against other pathogens. Further evaluation of multiplex PCR was undertaken on 50 natural samples of chicken, eggs and poultry litter and results compared with conventional culture isolation and identification procedure. The multiplex PCR identified the presence of Salmonella and Shigella strains with a short pre-enrichment step of 5 h in peptone water and the same samples were processed by conventional procedures for comparison. Therefore, this reported multiplex PCR can serve as an alternative to the tedious time-consuming procedure of culture and identification in food safety laboratories.

Investigou-se o efeito da aplicação, no solo, de agentes de biocontrole (Pseudomonas fluorescens, Trichoderma viride e T. harzianum, em combinação com quitina), sobre a indução de enzimas de defesa e fenóis em raízes de coqueiros infectados com Ganoderma lucidum, o agente causal da enfermidade Ganoderma. A aplicação dessas formulações de biocontrole acarretou em aumento significativo nas atividades de peroxidases (PO), polifenol oxidase (PPO), fenilalanina amônia liase (PAL), quitinase e beta-1,3-glicanase nas plantas infectadas com G. lucidum. Após a aplicação de uma mistura de P. fluorescens, T. viride e quitina, as atividades tanto da PAL como da PO foram máximas dentro de 3 d, ao passo que a da PPO foi máxima dentro de 6 d. Análises izoenzimáticas sugeriram que apenas as isozimas PO3 e PPO2 foram induzidas nas plantas tratadas com P. fluorescens + T. viride + quitina. Após a imposição dos tratamentos, o acúmulo de fenóis ocorreu dentro de 3 d, com concentrações máximas dentro de 9 d. A atividade da quitinase aumentou significativamente a partir do terceiro dia após a aplicação das formulações, com incrementos consistentes até 12 d de experimento, nas plantas de todos os tratamentos. A isoforma Chit3 foi a única isozima de quitinase induzida nos coqueiros tratados com P. fluorescens + T. viride + quitina. A atividade da beta-1,3-glicanase foi máxima aos 9 d após a aplicação dos tratamentos. Os mecanismos pelos quais a combinação de P. fluorescens + T. viride + quitina reduziu a incidência da Ganoderma nas plantas podem estar relacionados à capacidade do coqueiro de induzir mecanismos de defesa.

The effect of soil application of biocontrol agents (Pseudomonas fluorescens, Trichoderma viride and T. harzianum) in combination with chitin on induction of phenolics and defense enzymes in coconut roots infected with Ganoderma lucidum, the causal agent of Ganoderma disease, was investigated. Soil application of these biocontrol formulations in combination with chitin induced a significant increase in the activities of peroxidase (PO), polyphenol oxidase (PPO), phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL), chitinase and beta-1,3-glucanase in the G. lucidum infected palms. Activities of both PAL and PO reached maximum levels within 3 d while the activity of PPO reached the maximum level 6 d after application of a mixture of P. fluorescens, T. viride and chitin. Isozyme analysis revealed that unique PO3 and PPO2 isozymes were induced in coconut palms treated with P. fluorescens + T. viride + chitin. Accumulation of phenolics was recorded 3 d after treatment and reached maximum levels 9 d after treatment application. Activity of chitinase was significantly increased from the third day after treatment imposition and continued to increase up to 9 to 12 d in all treatments. Chitinase isozyme analysis revealed that a unique Chit3 isoform was induced in coconut roots treated with P. fluorescens + T. viride + chitin. The beta-1,3-glucanase activity was maximum 9 d after treatment application. The mechanisms by which P. fluorescens + T. viride + chitin reduced the incidence of Ganoderma disease in coconut may be related to its ability to induce defense mechanisms in coconut palms.