Efficiency of Straw Plants in Removal of Indicator Pathogens from Sub Surface Flow Constructed Wetlands of Municipal Wastewater in Yazd, Iran

Background: Use of wetlands is one of the methods of natural municipal and industrial wastewater treatment. In addition to reducing the cost of treatment, this method has high efficiency in removing pollutants. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of straw plants in Sub Surface Flow Constructed Wetland for removing Indicator Pathogens from Municipal Wastewater in Yazd, Iran. Methods: This is an applied-experimental study in which 100 samples were taken from four sub surface wetlands, which were covered by three straw plants including Bafgh, Yazdbaft and Ali Abad, and a control wetland. The samples were taken during the two seasons of winter and spring and were then transferred to the laboratory by ice. The experiments of total coliform, E. coli and fecal streptococcus were performed, according to the standard methods, on input and output samples of wetlands. Results: The results of the current study showed that the average total removal of the four wetlands for total coliform, E. coli and fecal streptococcus were 80.43%, 74.11%, and 69.08%, respectively. Moreover, the removal efficiency in the Aliabad wetland for total coliform and E. coli were 98.22% and 99.27%, respectively; this was the highest removal rate among the wetlands. Conclusion: One of the main problems of the wastewater treatment method used in Yazd, which is stabilization ponds, is the low microbial removal. Thus, this problem can be solved by using sub surface wetlands with the Aliabad Straw species after the stabilization ponds. Keywords: Wastewater treatment, Straw plants, Indicator pathogens, Constructed wetland

Investigating Root Canal Number and Morphology of Mandibular Anterior Teeth Using Cone Beam Computed Tomography

Background and purpose: Root therapy will be successful if it is done based on a correct diagnosis and appropriate treatment plan with the knowledge of morphology and tooth anatomy, debridement, disinfection, and obturation of the entire root canal system. This study aimed to investigate the number and morphology of canals in root canals mandibular anterior using cone beam computed tomography (CBCT). Materials and methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was performed in a private office in Tehran, Iran 2018, and 902 anterior teeth were evaluated. Teeth were selected according to the following criteria: complete evolved roots, absence of periapical lesion, and no history of root healing. CBCT images were evaluated from three dimensions of sagittal (root number, canal type, and apical foramen deviation from radiographic apex), coronal (apical foramen deviation from radiographic apex), and axial (canal type and apical foramen diameter). Data analysis was done in SPSS V16. Results: The mean apical foramen diameter was 0.21 ± 0.55 and the mean apical foramen deviation from the radiographic apex was 0.66 ± 0.48 mm. Class 1 and 3 morphologies were the most frequent classes observed in anterior teeth and other classes accounted for about 5% of the samples. Conclusion: In this study, there was no relationship between gender and the number of roots and in males the number of canals were higher than that in females

Naturalistic fMRI mapping reveals superior temporal sulcus as the hub for the distributed brain network for social perception

Despite the abundant data on brain networks processing static social signals, such as pictures of faces, the neural systems supporting social perception in naturalistic conditions are still poorly understood. Here we delineated brain networks subserving social perception under naturalistic conditions in 19 healthy humans who watched, during 3-tesla functional magnetic imaging (fMRI), a set of 137 short (~16 s each, total 27 min) audiovisual movie clips depicting pre-selected social signals. Two independent raters estimated how well each clip represented eight social features (faces, human bodies, biological motion, goal-oriented actions, emotion, social interaction, pain, and speech) and six filler features (places, objects, rigid motion, people not in social interaction, non-goal-oriented action and non-human sounds) lacking social content. These ratings were used as predictors in the fMRI analysis. The posterior superior temporal sulcus (STS) responded to all social features but not to any non-social features, and the anterior STS responded to all social features except bodies and biological motion. We also found four partially segregated, extended networks for processing of specific social signals: 1) a fronto-temporal network responding to multiple social categories, 2) a fronto-parietal network preferentially activated to bodies, motion and pain, 3) a temporo-amygdalar network responding to faces, social interaction and speech, and 4) a fronto-insular network responding to pain, emotions, social interactions, and speech. Our results highlight the role of the posterior STS in processing multiple aspects of social information, as well as the feasibility and efficiency of fMRI mapping under conditions that resemble the complexity of real life