Sequential sampling of overwintered sunn pest, Eurygaster integriceps (Het.: Scutelleridae) in rainfed wheat fields in Borujerd, Iran

The sunn pest, Eurygaster integriceps Puton, is the most important pest of wheat and barley in most wheat producing regions of Iran, including Lorestan province. The pest overwinters under bushes in mountains and returns to wheat fields in the next spring. Study of spatial distribution of overwintered sunn pest (OSP) in rainfed wheat fields using two quadrate sizes (50 à 50 cm2 = 0.25 m2 and 70.71 à 70.71 cm2 = 0.5 m2) and their conformity with negative binomial distribution, showed a dispersion pattern of aggregation. In this study, a sequential sampling plan (Waldâs method) was presented by use of 1.5 OSP/m2 as an action threshold and 1.05 OSP/m2 as the safety level, and estimating the common K (Kc) for the both sizes of quadrates in 2004 and 2005. Two sizes of quadrates were used as sample units to estimate densities and dispersion patterns of the pest populations. The decision lines, y = 0.32x ± 7.62 andy = 0.63x ± 7.44 were calculated for 0.25 and 0.5 m2 quadrates, respectively. The operating characteristic (OC) and average sample number (ASN) curves indicated that low numbers of samples are required for control decision making when the population densities are either low (less than 0.22 and 0.44 OSP/q for small and large quadrates, respectively) or high (more than 0.45 and 0.89 OSP/q for small and large quadrates, respectively). However, the number of samples required will be high when the population density is nearly medium and at the point of inflection of OC curve (0.32 and 0.63 OSP/q for small and large quadrates, respectively)

Heavy Metals in Wheat Grain and Its Impact on Human Health: A mini-review

Heavy metals (HMs) form a very varied group of elements that are very diverse in terms of chemical properties and biological functions. Heavy metal contamination in agricultural soil has become a serious environmental problem. These metals are toxic to soil, plants, aquatic life, and human and animal health. These toxic pollutants are caused by natural activities such as volcanoes and mining and smelting metals. These metals are stable in nature, therefore, they accumulate in the soil and agricultural products, and it is necessary to properly understand the relationship between the concentration of heavy metals in the soil and its accumulation in wheat. These metals also interfere with the level of antioxidants in plants and reduce the nutritional value of the product. Consumption of many heavy metals in the diet through the consumption of plants has long-term destructive effects on human health. In this review study, the most important heavy metals in agricultural products, especially wheat, on human health were reported. For this review study, keywords such as Crops, Heavy metal, Human health, Wheat flour were used. The databases searched for in those articles were Google Scholar, SID, Scopus, PubMed, Science Direct, and ISI search engines. Given that bread is the dominant force of the Iranian people, so the quality study of wheat in the country's consumer market in order to maintain the health of consumers seems necessary. Therefore, we need to inform people about this, so this review article explains the presence of HMs in bread and its disadvantages. © 2022, Islamic Azad University. All rights reserved

Potentially toxic elements (PTEs) in cereal-based foods: a systematic review and meta-analysis

The current meta-analysis study was aimed to estimate the potentially toxic elements (PTEs) contamination in cereal grains and their products such as wheat, rice, corn, maize, barley, oat, peas, soybean, cornflakes, and breakfast. Scope and approach: The recommended databases, including PubMed, Scopus, and ScienceDirect databases, were investigated to collect data regarding the PTEs contamination in cereal-based products from 1 January 1983 to 30 May 2019. Key findings and conclusions: Among 1401 retrieved citations in the identification step, 45 articles were included in the conducted meta-analysis. In this context, the overall rank order of PTEs mean concentration in the cereal foods was Fe > Zn > Mn > Cu > Ni > Cr > Cd > As > Pb > Sn > Hg. The results of the current study showed that processing has a strong effect on the reduction of PTEs except in the case of Zn and Sn. The concentration of Cu, Cd, Pb, Fe, Hg and Mn in wheat was higher than corn and rice. The amount of Zn and As in rice was greater than wheat and corn while the concentration of Ni and Cr in corn was higher than wheat and rice. The findings of this meta-analysis may be useful for the building of risk assessment models aiming to derive data for the development of specific actions to reduce exposure to PTEs through the consumption of the cereal-based products963044sem informaçãosem informaçã

Increased food contamination with mold and fungi during COVID-19 crisis

COVID-19, known as the "novel coronavirus disease 2019", is a respiratory illness, and the causative pathogen is officially named as Sars-CAN-2, whose epidemic has spread rapidly worldwide. Thus, human-to-human transmission has reduced as people's attention to health has increased and precautionary measures have been implemented. It is known that the virus can survive on infected surfaces and hands for hours or days. It is possible to get infected by touching the contaminated surface of food packaging by customers in the grocery and then touching their own mouth, nose, or eyes. Thus, the public supposes that touching food or food packing by salesmen and buyers in the grocery can transmit the virus to the customers. Therefore, the World Health Organization encourages people to wash their hands regularly and disinfect areas where the virus can survive, such as metal and plastic surfaces. However, over-waching can cause disadvantages such as moisture penetration into food packages and increased water activity in food, which provides the conditions for fungi to grow and cause spoilage in food. Accordingly, this phenomenon would have shown significant negative effects on public health as the post-pandemic phase of COVID-19. The coronavinis has had a significant impact on people's behavior in the food chain, washing and disinfecting food in these critical situations. People also quickly changed the way they bought and procured food from supermarkets to ensure food safety and eradicate the virus. Use of substances/disinfectants such as Sodium hypochlorite reduce COVID-19 from surfaces and objects or reduce viral particles from surfaces and objects. Washing and disinfecting food packaging may cause damage to products thereby reducing their shelf life and utilization. Therefore, health experts report public awareness of hands and disinfect surfaces regularly to eliminate the virus. It is also recommended to wash and disinfect hands and disinfect surfaces

Phytochemical Analysis and Antimicrobial Effect of Essential Oil and Extract of Loranthus europaeus Jacq. on Acinetobacter baumannii, Staphylococcus aureus, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa

With the increase in the use of antibiotics and resistance against them, attention has been paid to natural remedies with the possibility of lower resistance and side effects. In this study, the essential oil of Loranthus europeaus Jacq. was identified chemically and the antimicrobial effects of the essential oil and extract on bacterial agents such as Acinetobacter baumannii, Staphylococcus aureus, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa were investigated. L. europeaus leaves were collected from the Ilam mountains and after drying, essential oil and hydroalcoholic extract were prepared. The chemical compositions of the essential oil and extract of L. europeaus plant were measured by Headspace-solid phase microextraction (HSSPME), Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), and High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) methods. The results showed that the main component of L. europeaus extract was Rutin (223 mu g/mL). The bacterial strains were isolated from clinical samples, and the microbroth dilution method by Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) method were used to evaluate the Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and Minimum Bactericidal Concentration (MBC). The MIC and MBC for the L. europeaus leaf extract were 6 mu g/mL and 196 mu g/mL on S. aureus, respectively. It had no significant effect on the strains of A. baumannii and P. aeruginosa. L. europeaus leaf essential oil also had no antimicrobial effect on bacterial sauces. The results showed that the plant extract of L. europaeus might be used to treat infections due to its very low MIC against S. aureus

The Effects of Toxic Heavy Metals Lead, Cadmium and Copper on the Epidemiology of Male and Female Infertility

Infertility is a major problem in modern society that affects a significant number of couples around the world. Heavy metals and a number of other factors have been causally linked to infertility. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of heavy metals lead, cadmium, and copper on the epidemiology of male and female infertility. Searches for articles published from 1982 to 2020 using related keywords such as male and female infertility and heavy metals were performed in scientific databases PubMed, Google Scholar, Science Direct, and others. The results showed that, in recent years, the number of infertile individuals has increased. Various environmental, occupational, and genetic factors have been described as potential causes. Heavy metals lead, cadmium, and copper cause infertility in couples through various mechanisms, such as changes in sperm motility factors, decreased semen quality, or effects on the egg. Exposure to physical phenomena such as radiation (ionized or microwave) and heat; stress and mental disorders; chemicals from cigarettes, respiratory pollutants (lead), insecticides and pesticides; anesthetic gases; and mercury and cytotoxic drugs may also contribute to the onset of infertility

Phytochemical Analysis and Antimicrobial Effect of Essential Oil and Extract of Loranthus europaeus Jacq. on Acinetobacter baumannii, Staphylococcus aureus, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa

With the increase in the use of antibiotics and resistance against them, attention has been paid to natural remedies with the possibility of lower resistance and side effects. In this study, the essential oil of Loranthus europeaus Jacq. was identified chemically and the antimicrobial effects of the essential oil and extract on bacterial agents such as Acinetobacter baumannii, Staphylococcus aureus, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa were investigated. L. europeaus leaves were collected from the Ilam mountains and after drying, essential oil and hydroalcoholic extract were prepared. The chemical compositions of the essential oil and extract of L. europeaus plant were measured by Headspace-solid phase microextraction (HSSPME), Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), and High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) methods. The results showed that the main component of L. europeaus extract was Rutin (223 mu g/mL). The bacterial strains were isolated from clinical samples, and the microbroth dilution method by Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) method were used to evaluate the Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and Minimum Bactericidal Concentration (MBC). The MIC and MBC for the L. europeaus leaf extract were 6 mu g/mL and 196 mu g/mL on S. aureus, respectively. It had no significant effect on the strains of A. baumannii and P. aeruginosa. L. europeaus leaf essential oil also had no antimicrobial effect on bacterial sauces. The results showed that the plant extract of L. europaeus might be used to treat infections due to its very low MIC against S. aureus

Validation of the 2010 American College of Rheumatology preliminary diagnostic criteria for fibromyalgia in an Iranian population

The aim of this study was to validate the 2010 American College of Rheumatology (ACR) preliminary criteria for fibromyalgia (FM) in an Iranian population. In this multicenter prospective study, we enrolled 168 FM patients and 110 controls. All participants underwent dolorimetry examination by study assessors and completed a questionnaire containing variables of both the ACR 2010 preliminary and ACR 1990 criteria. We compared the performance of the ACR 2010 criteria with the expert diagnosis as well as the ACR 1990 criteria. Receiver operator characteristic analyses and Youden index were used to evaluate the test characteristics of a set of different cutoff points for two subcomponents of ACR 2010 criteria including widespread pain index (WPI) and symptom severity (SS) scale. Considering expert diagnosis as the gold standard, the ACR 2010 criteria showed comparable specificity with ACR 1990 (92.8 vs. 88.3 , P = 0.073), but lower sensitivity (58.9 vs. 71.4 , P = 0.003) and a tendency for lower accuracy (72.4 vs. 78.4 , P = 0.105). Applying the ACR 1990 criteria as the gold standard, we observed a trend toward an increase in overall accuracy (72.4 vs. 79.1 , P = 0.064). Optimal test characteristics were achieved for WPI C6 and SS scale score C4 and improved sensitivity and accuracy of ACR 2010 criteria when compared to expert, 76.1 and 81.7, respectively. The preliminary ACR 2010 criteria performed less desirably in terms of sensitivity in our set of Iranian patients. Selecting lower cutoff points as WPI C6 and SS scale score C4 improved the diagnostic values of the criteria. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2013