Survey of noise exposure and permanent hearing loss among Shadris spinning factory workers of Yazd using Task Base Method (TBM)

Background and aims  During last decades one of the hazardous agents on workers health has been workplaces noise. The aim of this study was to investigate the level of noise exposure in different jobs and noise induced permanent threshold shift in relation to noise level and work experience.   Methods  This is a cross-sectional and descriptive study that performed among total workers. Dosimetry was done for determination of accurate noise exposure level during an eight-hour s shift for each job group. Audiometry was performed in a standard acoustic room by the audiologist. The obtained data was analyzed by means of SPSS software.   Results  Mean of age was 36.58 ± 6.76(19-52 years) and minimum, maximum and mean of work experience were 1 , 18 , 11.08 ± 5.47 respectively. Mean of hearing loss was 15.38 ±8.63 in right ear and 16.31 ±9.51 in left ear and total hearing loss was 14.72 ±8.33. A significant relationship was also identified between noise intensity and work experience with hearing loss (Pvalue?).   Conclusion  Findings of this study indicated that there is a high prevalence of noise pollution in different parts of workplace. Considering the obtained results, that shows positive effect  of noise and work experience on hearing loss,  the necessity of  improvement of control  and protection measures is of prime importance

In vitro Antifungal Effect of Aqueous Garlic (Allium Sativum) Extract and its Combination with Fluconazole Against Five Common Clinical Candida Isolated from Candidiasis Lesions

Abstract: Introduction: Increasing rate of candidiasis prevalence and consequently use of antifungal drugs as prophylactic and curative agents has led to the widespread emergence of resistant strains. Therefore this study was designed to evaluate the in vitro antifungal activity of an aqueous extract of garlic and the synergic effect of garlic extract with fluconazole against common clinical isolates of Candida species from patients with candidiasis. Methods: The antifungal activity of aqueous garlic extract was investigated in an in vitro system using standard broth microdilution method against five common clinically isolates of Candida species including C. albicans, C. tropicalis, C. glabrata (T.glabrata), C. parapsilosis, C. krusei and 3 standard strains of Candida. The synergic antifungal effect of garlic extract in combination with fluconazole was also determined. Results: The strongest activity of garlic extract was seen against Candida tropicalis (MIC=0.78mg/ml), C. glabrata (MIC=1.56mg/ml), and C. albicans (MIC=3.12mg/ml) respectively. C. krusei was the most resistant species against garlic extract (MIC 6.25mg/ml). The minimum inhibition concentration of fluconazole was reduced eight folds against C. tropicalis, 4 folds against C. albicans and C. glabrata, and 2 folds for other Candida species in the presence of 3.12 mg/ml garlic extract. In comparing means, the isolated colonies (CFU) in wells without garlic extract and CFU in other wells showed statistical significant differences for C. tropicals (P=0.0001), C. glabrata (P=0.001) and C. albicans (P=0.002). Conclusion: Candida species particularly resistant species such as Candida tropicalis and Candida glabrata are sensitive to aqueous extract of garlic, and combination of garlic extract with fluconazole in topical use could increase the efficacy rate of fluconazole. Keywords: Allium sativum, Candida, Antifungal, in vitro, Synergism, Floconazol

Study of the effect of Titanium dioxide nano particle size on efficiency of the dye-sensitized Solar cell using natural Pomegranate juice

Dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) using natural Pomegranate juice as dye-sensitizeris fabricated and characterized. DSSCS consist of a working electrode, a redox electrolyte containing iodide and tri-iodide ions and a counter electrode. A nanocrystalline TiO2 semiconductor with a wide band-gap coated with a monolayer dye-sensitizer is used as working electrode. The effect of titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticle size on efficiency of the DSSC based Pomegranate juice as a sensitizer is studied. For monolayer structure, we used two sizes of TiO2 nanoparticle (25 nm and 100 nm) and a mixture of these two sizes. The highest efficiency of 0.61% was obtained with mixture of 25 and 100 nm TiO2 nano-particles in working electrode. For double-layer structure, we used 100 and 400 nm size TiO2 particles as light-scattering. The best efficiency was obtained using 400 nm TiO2 as light-scattering particles